Post by coachdoug on Apr 12, 2010 14:35:52 GMT -6
Went to the Glazier clinic in Phoenix this past weekend. Good stuff - I saw the SF 49ers secondary coach, the Denver Broncos line coach, a couple high school coaches on the screen game, QB runs, and practice organization, and the big highlight for me - 6 sessions with Dub Maddox on the entirety of the Darin Slack system - QB Mechanics (C4), QB Expert System - Reading Defenses & Decision Making (R4), and WR Play (E4).
A few observations and random thoughts from the weekend:
A few observations and random thoughts from the weekend:
- I have definitely been drinking the Darin Slack cool-aid. The more I learn about his stuff, the more impressed I am with it. As Dub described it, it's not an offensive scheme or system, but rather an operating system that you can overlay over any offensive scheme/system (at least, the passing portion of those scheme/systems). Great stuff and it left me really wanting to learn more.
- I got some great ideas on how to work our QB into the running game more this year. I don't know exactly what I'll have to work with this year, but I've been lead to believe that the QB I'll have is pretty athletic, so if that's the case, I would love to borrow some SW principles and get him involved in the run game.
- It was good to hear a high school coach describing his screen game almost exactly how we do it. Even though I didn't get a lot of new info from that session, it was reassuring to hear that we do things just like they do.
- I was amazed at how simple some of the stuff from the NFL guys was. You think these NFL guys have some incredibly complex schemes, and in some cases they do. But, for instance, the 49ers coach described their base 3rd down coverage and even though it might be a little complex for our level, it was still pretty simple. He said they run it about 80% of the time on 3rd down and are successful with it about 70% of the time.
- I was also amazed at how poor some of the technique was by the NFL players. I know we all joke that NFL guys don't tackle properly (especially in the open field), and that they sometimes lack fundamentals, but still, I think of them as the best players in the world and would expect them to do certain things close to flawlessly. However, watching the video of the Broncos line, it was unbelievable how often those guys got their footwork wrong or just used the wrong technique in game situations. Maybe my expectations were too high, or maybe the NFLguys are just such phenomenal athletes that they think they don't have to worry about technique. I don't know, but I was surprised by what I saw.
- I got one new saying that I intend to use a lot with my staff this year - "You get what you emphasize." This came from one of the local high school coaches, and he's exactly right - let's make sure we're emphasizing our most important priorities (blocking, tackling, fundamentals, character, sportsmanship, etc.), because those are the things the kids will focus on as well.