Live Spring Press Confrence

[teachercd]

Watson and BC were similar (from things I heard and then saw at coaches clinics) that they did teach the "what" part but never the "why"

 

It can become confusing.

[Saunders]

The main thing I'm hearing from this presser is what I've heard whispers of several times – there was a lot of WHAT being taught by Watson, but almost zero WHY. There was so much time spent on scheming this or that play that the guys had no concept of the whole, thus a lot of it just didn't make sense to people. That explains the general confusion we saw on offense several times, where it seemed like, from the OC down to the O Line, people had no idea what they were doing.

Ding ding ding..... EXACTLY. This is how our defense works. It designed around letting our guys make plays. Not just "go here and do this." but also explaining WHY you do this, so you can adjust on the fly and use your instincts.

[kchusker_chris]

I was hoping we'd heard the last of the word "multiple" - but nope - seems like it's the only way Bo knows how to describe an offense.

[huskerjack23]

Multiple =/= jack of all trades, master of none. Multiple gets a bad rap because Shawn Watson was a stubborn guy who puts square pegs into round holes and not being able to even coach the round holes in the first place.

 

You could look at the 95 orange bowl to the 98 orange bowl to see how multiple Tom Osborne was.

[knapplc]

The main thing I'm hearing from this presser is what I've heard whispers of several times – there was a lot of WHAT being taught by Watson, but almost zero WHY. There was so much time spent on scheming this or that play that the guys had no concept of the whole, thus a lot of it just didn't make sense to people. That explains the general confusion we saw on offense several times, where it seemed like, from the OC down to the O Line, people had no idea what they were doing.

 

I wrote that ^^^ before listening to Bo's portion of the presser. I've just listened to it, and that's nearly word for word what he said. Here's my recap of Bo:

 

 

They made coaching staff changes because they want to win championships. He likes the way the staff came together. Good few weeks, the meetings have gone well and he's liking the way everything is coming together. He's excited about where they are.

 

Beck was the guy he wanted because he felt he was the best thing for the football team. He just kept coming back to the same guy. He has a lot of trust and confidence in Beck. Same page philosophically. Easy choice for Bo. You have experience with someone – and he went that way with all of his choices on his staff.

 

You have to be on the same page as the people you have on your staff, and they have to be able to represent Bo and the program the right way. In football it's not just what you do it's how you do it. #1 he has to have people he trusts, people with high character, you have to bring in people who are the same type. Bo wants the program represented in a certain way and he thinks these guys will do that. He trusts these guys and he has a bunch of guys now who believe in the same values he has, discipline and accountability. He knows he has that now and he's excited about that.

 

Bo wants to see efficiency from his offense. He doesn't want to get into what they're doing offensively – that'll play out in time. It's not what you do, it's how you do it. They have the same philosophy, multiple but simple. The players are not just going to memorize what they're doing but why they're doing it. He wants to mirror the philosophy from defense onto the offensive side.

 

You have to have an identity and live it every day. He likes where they are right now as far as that's concerned. It's clear to him what he wants, and that's why he hired the guys he hired. He has a very clear picture of what he wants and that's what they're working towards.

 

He considered other OC's, but it just kept coming back to Beck. You consider all your options, but kept coming to the same thing for Bo – and that was Beck.

 

Bo thinks Wats is a tremendous football coach. Smart, intelligent, good teacher, but he felt that the system needed changed. You just get to a certain point where you feel like a change is needed, and that was in the best interests of the program. New ideas, a whole new system and he felt like this was the right time to do it in the best interest of the program.

 

Bo won't talk about when he made this decision. It doesn't happen just at the end of the year, it's week by week – you ask yourself what you have to do to get better.

 

The team and the recruits have reacted well to the change. Kids are resilient. Very few people in the world like change. But it's all part of the deal. You have to teach them and build their confidence, and they're resilient. He thinks they're going to be more excited as they develop better knowledge of where they're going. Bo thinks it'll be obvious to them that things are going to be better.

 

Bo says we'll see what we're doing on offense in September (NOT IN THE SPRING GAME?). They're going to be attacking in a lot of different ways, getting after them. It's multiple but simple. They'll be an aggressive attacking style of offense. He's not going to tell us what that means, though.

 

We WILL be physical. Everyone wants to talk about the Spread as if it's not physical. There's a lot of different ways to run the Spread offense. You have to be precise and you have to execute and you have to have efficiency no matter what you do. There's a lot of ways to be physical. You have to be multiple in what you do, but at the same time you have to have a lot of Same As for your players so they understand the scheme and can make changes as necessary.

 

There's a lot of carryover from the old offense, but a lot the same, too.

 

How long is the process for the players to learn this? There's enough carryover for the players to not take half a season for the light to click on like in 2009. They're not even where they want to be defensively yet. What has changed offensively is how they get there. They've simplified a lot of things. He could sit there and talk X's and O's all day and give people a lot to listen to (but he won't). He thinks people will be really excited about it.

 

Like every other position, QB has a lot of guys with talent but a lot of guys who have to get better. That's what Spring ball is for and they have to work hard at it. Just work towards being a better football team position by position. We need to get better across the board.

 

Couple of guys with injuries. Stache and Sirles had shoulder surgery. They're in great shape and will be ready to roll soon after spring. They could go through the end of spring but they'll wait until they get to 100%. Kenny Anderson had surgery and won't be out there. Jake Cotton went from D Line to O Line to provide depth and they think he'll do well. Cotton will be a Tackle. EMart is staying at DE. Fisher is ready to roll.

 

Garrison will also work with the TEs. You need more eyes up there. When Bo put together the staff, almost to a man every guy can coach multiple positions. That helps getting a lot of eyes on lots of positions. Fisher has been on the offensive side and the defensive side. Cotton has been an OC, can help with the running game and passing game. He likes the flexibility this gives them and it makes their football team better.

 

He's known Fisher a long time and talked a lot of football with him. Almost hired him in 2003. Great principles and great communicator. In 2003 Fisher was looked at for LB coach.

 

Zone Read is still part of the offense. The coaching staff changes played out exactly how he expected it to play out.

 

Bo has spent a lot of time in the past month familiarizing himself with the Big Ten. There are some similarities, but not many. It's a physical style of football, not as complex as the Big 12. Week to week in the Big 12 you had to chuck out some of your schemes because you were playing an entirely different style of offense. It's not so much like that in the Big 10.

 

Bo is very excited about what they're doing on offense. It's going to be multiple and involve a lot of position groups, but at the same time there will be a simplicity about it that will give the players confidence. Stressed that the players will have to know not just WHAT they are doing but WHY. There will be some Spread, some big sets, and it's going to create a lot of problems for defenses. He looks at it like, what will give the defenses problems, and trust him, they're going to give the defenses problems.

 

The old offense was doing some things that didn't allow them to have the best offense they could have. That's why he made the changes.

 

We have a lot of guys back on defense. We lost some good football players in Prince and Gomes and Allen and Eric, but they get a lot of good guys back like Fisher who is a tremendous LB, and Fonzie is one of the best corners in the country. They feel really good about their depth, and the quality of their depth. Crick and LoVonte will be two of the best at their positions in the country. They have a chance to be pretty formidable on that side of the ball. The Peso will be part of the package, but they'll be able to play three linebackers or two, whatever they have to do.

 

They have some guys on the defense right now who could be the next Gomes or Hagg. They have a lot of moving parts, a lot of guys who could do different things. They're excited to do some different things. They're going to pose some problems for people.

 

The whole offense cannot be installed in the spring. You establish your foundation, and that’s the same thing you do on defense. Once you have that established then you build off of it. Offensively really mirrors what they're doing on defense.

 

They've had a tremendous winter. The guys have worked hard and been committed. Nobody on the football team, Bo included, is happy how they finished the season, including the bowl game. Sometimes you get hit in the mouth, and it's how you respond to that. We'll see. Bo is looking forward to the challenge.

 

Bo is looking for Taylor to be a leader. He's had a good winter as have a lot of guys. Their guys understand. They're going into Bo's fourth year and there are a lot of guys who are getting used to hearing Bo's same message. He likes where they are.

 

They started their processes earlier this year as coaches. If you're wondering why Bo hasn't been available to the media, he actually does some work, and he's been getting all the coaches on the same page philosophically and on top of all that, getting ready for a bunch of new opponents. On top of that he's getting ready for Spring ball.

 

Bo's not that excited about the conference change. Football is football. There's not a lot you can do that he hasn't seen before. At the end of the day you have to do what you do and do it well. They're focusing on their part of that right now, nobody else's.

 

Bo loves Marvin. He has to do what he feels right for his family situation at the time. They'll always be good friends and Bo supports him and the decision he made. Fortunately he was able to hire a coach he has the utmost confidence in and respect for. The personal side of it is that he's sad to see Marvin go, but football-wise they got the guy who was best for their football team.

[Nexus]

Stai is coming to help? Never heard about this!

 

Caputo says Stai is an intern!

 

I caught that too. Music to my ears. All-American in college with a National Championship ring to show for it as well as playing in Super Bowl XXX with the Steelers. His experience should prove valuable to a struggling OL unit.

[The Dude]

"we goin where they aint"

 

love it.

 

I hope everyone realizes this is the exact same thing as "taking what the defense give us."

A concept Shawn Watson could just never grasp.

[bshirt]

"we goin where they aint"

 

love it.

 

I hope everyone realizes this is the exact same thing as "taking what the defense give us."

A concept Shawn Watson could just never grasp.

 

But he did grasp "If it works, stop it".

[I am I]

"we goin where they aint"

 

love it.

 

I hope everyone realizes this is the exact same thing as "taking what the defense give us."

A concept Shawn Watson could just never grasp.

 

But he did grasp "If it works, stop it".

 

 

actually, zoogies, it's NOT THE EXACT SAME THING.

the very second I read that quote from Beck, I was thinking "that's the problem Watsgrove always had. He'd run some decent plays, then outscheme his own freaking players and himself, change the play to go exactly where the Defense IS."

 

"taking what the defense gives you" is like White in chess castling on his 4th move, essentially giving up the strategic advantage of playing first, being one step ahead, being able to strike first, etc...

 

"going where they ain't" is a strike first, scheme later mentality. Line up, know exactly what you're doing on the play despite what the defense is, snap the ball, execute DURING the play instead of in the booth before and after.

 

quit defending Watsgrove, he sucked ass and he's gone.

[zoogs]

Haha!

 

We'll see.

 

I'm not defending Watson here, I like Beck and his promise. And I think what every offense does is take what the defense gives them. But we'll see I suppose. I hope it's not "scheme later."

[Fuzzy]

I saw Caputo's interview. Brenden Stai is coming on as an intern?

 

I like the fact that Carl maintained the notion that the Peso was a personnel package and not a base defense. We will still run a 4 - 3 defense and quite possibly not see the Peso unless there is someone who they feel can take that personnel spot for that package.

 

I liked his reaction to being asked if Lavonte David would play the Peso spot, and Carl responded that he would if he lost his mind. lmao.

 

Also liked Carl's comment on depth. Doesn't believe you develop young players to be the backup, you develop them to compete for the starting positions. That kind of comment makes me feel good about the talent that Bo and the coaching staff brings in. It should be a huge recruiting advantage that when high school kids and JUCO kids come to this school, your not competing for a backup spot, your competing to start.

[Hercules]

Something tells me it's going to be a long time before zoogies stops reminding us that everything good about Beck really came from Watson, and that everything bad about Beck is why we should have kept Watson.

[zoogs]

 

When people crow for months that our offense needs to stop being a "take what the defense gives you" offense, and it turns out that is what we are continue going to be, just like almost every offense in college football, I'll point it out.

 

Heck we might even be passing more next year. And we might keep passing on third down. Imagine that.

[knapplc]

When people crow for months that our offense needs to stop being a "take what the defense gives you" offense, and it turns out that is what we are continue going to be, just like almost every offense in college football, I'll point it out.

 

Heck we might even be passing more next year. And we might keep passing on third down. Imagine that.

 

Or, we could stop focusing on the words our coaches say and focus on the product they put on the field and the results thereof. That's how I judged Watson, that's how I judged Callahan, and that's how I'll judge Beck. Nobody gets a pass because I arbitrarily decided they were "my guy." It's a refreshing, real-world stance that I strongly encourage.

[zoogs]

Alright then, should we shut off talk about the OC's words until the season begins?

 

But isn't that discussion precisely what this thread is about?

 

I never arbitrarily decided Watson was 'my guy', or that Beck isn't, if that is what is being suggested here.