A Candid Conversation With Nebraska Offensive Coordinator Tim Beck, Parts 1 & 2

[lo country]

 

The most confusing / frustrating thing to read was

 

....the whole thing...i am not sure about Beck anymore.

 

Read it last night and thought the exact same thing. Letting the D dictate what we do, TE obsolete, BB on grass. Dude has no clue..............Not a fan when named, even less after the initial read.

[HuskerFowler]

Why doesnt he go tell this to Rob Gronkowski? Who when healthly earns my fantasy team up there and over Calvin Johnson.

I think you guys are taking the comment out of context. He's not saying they are obsolete as a position. The TE position is changing. Guys like Gronkowski and Graham are splitting out wide lining up as H backs, they are evolving and I think he means they are obsolete in a sense of how they are typocally thought of.

[NUpolo8]

 

Why doesnt he go tell this to Rob Gronkowski? Who when healthly earns my fantasy team up there and over Calvin Johnson.

I think you guys are taking the comment out of context. He's not saying they are obsolete as a position. The TE position is changing. Guys like Gronkowski and Graham are splitting out wide lining up as H backs, they are evolving and I think he means they are obsolete in a sense of how they are typocally thought of.

He pretty much said it in black and white terms.

[Abdullah the Butcher]

 

 

Why doesnt he go tell this to Rob Gronkowski? Who when healthly earns my fantasy team up there and over Calvin Johnson.

I think you guys are taking the comment out of context. He's not saying they are obsolete as a position. The TE position is changing. Guys like Gronkowski and Graham are splitting out wide lining up as H backs, they are evolving and I think he means they are obsolete in a sense of how they are typocally thought of.

He pretty much said it in black and white terms.

 

 

 

 

So it's turned in to more basketball on grass, and as schematics, if you have four legitimate wide receivers lined up, you have to cover em, so you wanna have no help? Play what we call Cover Zero and there's nobody helping?

[sd'sker]

I think you guys are taking the comment out of context. He's not saying they are obsolete as a position. The TE position is changing. Guys like Gronkowski and Graham are splitting out wide lining up as H backs, they are evolving and I think he means they are obsolete in a sense of how they are typocally thought of.

He pretty much said it in black and white terms.

 

http://www.cornnation.com/2014/6/29/5844500/nebraska-football-offensive-coordinator-tim-beck-interview

 

CN: Would you say tight ends and fullbacks are becoming obsolete in college football?

 

TB: Absolutely.

 

he really did not mince his words.

[True2tRA]

Coach Becks concepts and philosophies are hard to understand, for me they are anyway. I don't quite understand what exactly he's trying to do. It seems there are so many variables. When I hear him speak, it's hard to follow the point he's trying to make. Often times I don't even believe he answers the question that was asked of him. I have hard enough time straining information when he speaks, but even when written out in print, in a long interview like this one, I still just come away from this wondering what in the heck Beck is trying to do.

 

I don't know how the players could learn from this guy. It seems like it would be difficult.

[Treand3]

 

The most confusing / frustrating thing to read was

 

....the whole thing...i am not sure about Beck anymore.

 

 

I wasn't sure about him his 1st year...Hopefully he finally proves me wrong.

[Hunter94]

Coach Becks concepts and philosophies are hard to understand, for me they are anyway. I don't quite understand what exactly he's trying to do. It seems there are so many variables. When I hear him speak, it's hard to follow the point he's trying to make. Often times I don't even believe he answers the question that was asked of him. I have hard enough time straining information when he speaks, but even when written out in print, in a long interview like this one, I still just come away from this wondering what in the heck Beck is trying to do.

 

I don't know how the players could learn from this guy. It seems like it would be difficult.

 

[zeWilbur]

Coach Becks concepts and philosophies are hard to understand, for me they are anyway. I don't quite understand what exactly he's trying to do. It seems there are so many variables. When I hear him speak, it's hard to follow the point he's trying to make. Often times I don't even believe he answers the question that was asked of him. I have hard enough time straining information when he speaks, but even when written out in print, in a long interview like this one, I still just come away from this wondering what in the heck Beck is trying to do.

 

I don't know how the players could learn from this guy. It seems like it would be difficult.

 

 

His verbiage certainly does not help but the concepts are not complicated. There are two driving principles: make the defense unable to disguise anything. And win with small battles rather than large ones.

 

Limiting the ability to disguise: By taking a legitimate receiving tight end and splitting him out wide you are able to force whoever is covering him to show their hand. This is even more visible when a linebacker is the one in coverage. It is hard enough to help in run support or cover a receiver so the defender will usually cheat towards their primary responsibility. Very few defenders are athletic enough to get away with not tipping their hand. Beck will use this information in his play calling to have more of an educated guess as to where weaknesses will be in the defense. It also allows for smaller battles by getting men out of the box.

 

Winning with small battles: Nebraska purists love nothing more than to see a fullback and running the ball down the throat of the defense. There is nothing wrong with that. But trying to understand what Beck is doing from that mindset is not going to work. The classic running style is all about getting more bodies at the point of attack. However, due to the nature of a tighter formation there are more defenders able to help on a play. That is exactly what Beck is trying to avoid. The example below should show this more clearly.

 

Simple example demonstrating the differences assuming a running play from an I-formation and a defense in a base 4-3.

This scenario would give 7 blockers for 7 defenders and the running back does his best to find a hole in the crowd. Even if you pull a lineman and create a numerical advantage you still have 7 blockers for 6 defenders. The danger is that you have to have 6 successful blocks or risk the play being blown up. This is the key, for me at least.

Now, if you split out the tight end(and they actually have to honor him as a receiving threat) then you have removed 1 blocker and one defender from the equation. Everything else from above being the same, the net result is only needing 5 successful blocks. If you were to run a 4-wide set it lowers the number to only needing 4 successful blocks. Being able to effectively use a qb run game drops the number to 3. So, essentially, he would rather rely on 3/4 people being successful than 6.

 

This style is seen as gimmicky because it is not traditional and enables teams to neutralize talent deficiencies. It is all about finding what 3 or 4 guys on my team can compete with 3 or 4 of yours. Once you have that matchup figured out you just scheme it so the others players have as little impact on the play as possible.

 

Hope this helped.

[Abdullah the Butcher]

 

Coach Becks concepts and philosophies are hard to understand, for me they are anyway. I don't quite understand what exactly he's trying to do. It seems there are so many variables. When I hear him speak, it's hard to follow the point he's trying to make. Often times I don't even believe he answers the question that was asked of him. I have hard enough time straining information when he speaks, but even when written out in print, in a long interview like this one, I still just come away from this wondering what in the heck Beck is trying to do.

 

I don't know how the players could learn from this guy. It seems like it would be difficult.

 

 

His verbiage certainly does not help but the concepts are not complicated. There are two driving principles: make the defense unable to disguise anything. And win with small battles rather than large ones.

 

Limiting the ability to disguise: By taking a legitimate receiving tight end and splitting him out wide you are able to force whoever is covering him to show their hand. This is even more visible when a linebacker is the one in coverage. It is hard enough to help in run support or cover a receiver so the defender will usually cheat towards their primary responsibility. Very few defenders are athletic enough to get away with not tipping their hand. Beck will use this information in his play calling to have more of an educated guess as to where weaknesses will be in the defense. It also allows for smaller battles by getting men out of the box.

 

Winning with small battles: Nebraska purists love nothing more than to see a fullback and running the ball down the throat of the defense. There is nothing wrong with that. But trying to understand what Beck is doing from that mindset is not going to work. The classic running style is all about getting more bodies at the point of attack. However, due to the nature of a tighter formation there are more defenders able to help on a play. That is exactly what Beck is trying to avoid. The example below should show this more clearly.

 

Simple example demonstrating the differences assuming a running play from an I-formation and a defense in a base 4-3.

This scenario would give 7 blockers for 7 defenders and the running back does his best to find a hole in the crowd. Even if you pull a lineman and create a numerical advantage you still have 7 blockers for 6 defenders. The danger is that you have to have 6 successful blocks or risk the play being blown up. This is the key, for me at least.

Now, if you split out the tight end(and they actually have to honor him as a receiving threat) then you have removed 1 blocker and one defender from the equation. Everything else from above being the same, the net result is only needing 5 successful blocks. If you were to run a 4-wide set it lowers the number to only needing 4 successful blocks. Being able to effectively use a qb run game drops the number to 3. So, essentially, he would rather rely on 3/4 people being successful than 6.

 

This style is seen as gimmicky because it is not traditional and enables teams to neutralize talent deficiencies. It is all about finding what 3 or 4 guys on my team can compete with 3 or 4 of yours. Once you have that matchup figured out you just scheme it so the others players have as little impact on the play as possible.

 

Hope this helped.

 

 

 

 

He doesn't use a tight end in many of the plays already, he has the goofy double receiver set up like this.

 

x xxxxx x

x x x

x

[zeWilbur]

 

 

Coach Becks concepts and philosophies are hard to understand, for me they are anyway. I don't quite understand what exactly he's trying to do. It seems there are so many variables. When I hear him speak, it's hard to follow the point he's trying to make. Often times I don't even believe he answers the question that was asked of him. I have hard enough time straining information when he speaks, but even when written out in print, in a long interview like this one, I still just come away from this wondering what in the heck Beck is trying to do.

 

I don't know how the players could learn from this guy. It seems like it would be difficult.

 

 

His verbiage certainly does not help but the concepts are not complicated. There are two driving principles: make the defense unable to disguise anything. And win with small battles rather than large ones.

 

Limiting the ability to disguise: By taking a legitimate receiving tight end and splitting him out wide you are able to force whoever is covering him to show their hand. This is even more visible when a linebacker is the one in coverage. It is hard enough to help in run support or cover a receiver so the defender will usually cheat towards their primary responsibility. Very few defenders are athletic enough to get away with not tipping their hand. Beck will use this information in his play calling to have more of an educated guess as to where weaknesses will be in the defense. It also allows for smaller battles by getting men out of the box.

 

Winning with small battles: Nebraska purists love nothing more than to see a fullback and running the ball down the throat of the defense. There is nothing wrong with that. But trying to understand what Beck is doing from that mindset is not going to work. The classic running style is all about getting more bodies at the point of attack. However, due to the nature of a tighter formation there are more defenders able to help on a play. That is exactly what Beck is trying to avoid. The example below should show this more clearly.

 

Simple example demonstrating the differences assuming a running play from an I-formation and a defense in a base 4-3.

This scenario would give 7 blockers for 7 defenders and the running back does his best to find a hole in the crowd. Even if you pull a lineman and create a numerical advantage you still have 7 blockers for 6 defenders. The danger is that you have to have 6 successful blocks or risk the play being blown up. This is the key, for me at least.

Now, if you split out the tight end(and they actually have to honor him as a receiving threat) then you have removed 1 blocker and one defender from the equation. Everything else from above being the same, the net result is only needing 5 successful blocks. If you were to run a 4-wide set it lowers the number to only needing 4 successful blocks. Being able to effectively use a qb run game drops the number to 3. So, essentially, he would rather rely on 3/4 people being successful than 6.

 

This style is seen as gimmicky because it is not traditional and enables teams to neutralize talent deficiencies. It is all about finding what 3 or 4 guys on my team can compete with 3 or 4 of yours. Once you have that matchup figured out you just scheme it so the others players have as little impact on the play as possible.

 

Hope this helped.

 

 

 

 

He doesn't use a tight end in many of the plays already, he has the goofy double receiver set up like this.

 

x xxxxx x

x x x

x

 

It doesn't matter if it is a receiver or a tight end as long as it gets the defender out of the box.

 

Have Homer Simpson call me whatever you like. I am just trying to help the "3 yard and a cloud of dust" crowd understand what Beck is trying to do. The complaining about him won't stop, but hopefully be better informed.

[Cougar74]

Yeah, I like what beck and bo are doing. I think their handle on the changing dynamics and responsibilities of a tight end are ahead of the curve. It is creating a superback position like northwestern uses. A guy who can block edge and interior, help in back field, also can be split out to create mismatches. Athletic and fast enough not to get jammed and a viable third down drag route and corner red zone threat.

I think their is in interest in both dillman and the qb from Georgia in this role maybe. The hardest thing about high level athletes is to get them to play physical , IMO the mental aspect ever down.

[alwayshusking]

Year 7 and our offensive identity is what the opposing defense tells us it is.

 

Get your Holiday Bowl tickets while you can.

[NUpolo8]

Count me in the camp that if it can work in Palo Alto, CA, Auburn AL, Madison WI and Tuscaloosa it can work here. Again.

 

I'm sick of the counter punching offense.

[ZRod]

Count me in the camp that if it can work in Palo Alto, CA, Auburn AL, Madison WI and Tuscaloosa it can work here. Again.

I'm sick of the counter punching offense.

Because having a run heavy offense, the conference's top rusher, and the nation's #9 rusher who is only behind someone from one of the schools you listed isn't working. Not to mention we rank 3 spots behind those dudes from Palo Alto and 5 spots ahead of the boys from Tuscaloosa all with our 1-2 rushing combo being reduced to a 1 for the majority of the season.