Donovan Raiola Officially Named Offensive Line Coach

MyBloodIsRed16 said:
exactly my first thought. Maybe its one of those things that he just misspoke.  Like other guys on the line are like WTF are you talking about that's not what we were coached, no wonder you don't start. 
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I think it's more just in how he phrased it.  And then people make too big of a deal of it.

In a zone scheme, you don't have a specific guy to attack right at the snap.  So to some extent you move to your spot and then block who shows up.  In a man scheme, you fire out at your guy right away.

So there is a difference between them.  But not as drastic as it sounds in that quote.

 
Mavric said:
I think it's more just in how he phrased it.  And then people make too big of a deal of it.

In a zone scheme, you don't have a specific guy to attack right at the snap.  So to some extent you move to your spot and then block who shows up.  In a man scheme, you fire out at your guy right away.

So there is a difference between them.  But not as drastic as it sounds in that quote.
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There's an equally big difference in how you teach a zone scheme.  Some coaches run tracks, which is more like you're describing, & others employ the system more in line with what Milt taught.  

Regardless, I think if you want to understand what Bando is talking about, look no further than Farniok.  That kid was built to be a people mover & yet what he did was engage (catch) and attempt to turn, rather than drive.  That was clearly taught, and I think that's the crux of the comment.  

 
Savage Husker said:
Anyone else read Bando’s quote and then immediately hear their coach’s voice in the back of their head say “it’s better to hit (pause for dramatic effect) than be hit?” 
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Yes, we use to hear that said about RBs and QBs also    I remember the day when taking the sideline exit instead of administering a hit on a defender and trying to get extra yards was a ticket to the bench for a while. 

 
BigRedBuster said:
I think the deer in the headlights comes from not having good fundamentals and technique. If you are confident and good in those aspects, the rest of the game is a lot easier. And, if you’re bad in these areas, you’re going to look weaker. 
 

Im so happy we have a line coach that is known for teaching this. 
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Benhart was brought in for his size, he has a ton to learn and a rookie coach to help?

 
Word is Frost and Austin butted heads quite a bit about the style of blocking employed.  Raiola teaches more the style Frost wants.

No idea why that (apparently) went on for so long but we'll see if it helps.

Also, Raiola much more open to moving guys from the one side of the line to the other than Austin was.  Not sure if that will be a big deal but it could help with injuries.

 
Mavric said:
Word is Frost and Austin butted heads quite a bit about the style of blocking employed.  Raiola teaches more the style Frost wants.

No idea why that (apparently) went on for so long but we'll see if it helps.

Also, Raiola much more open to moving guys from the one side of the line to the other than Austin was.  Not sure if that will be a big deal but it could help with injuries.
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having a good two deep will allow for more consistency playing next to the same guy game after game.

 
In his most recent podcast, Rob Zatechka went into some detail on the offensive line blocking style preferred by Austin, in that it's a "NFL" style.  In the NFL, offensive linemen don't have an advantage over defensive linemen in terms of size, power, and athleticism.  The best d-linemen are often stronger and quicker than the o-linemen.  Because of that, the o-linemen are taught to "shield" the defensive linemen instead of attacking and trying to over-power the d-linemen. 

It works in the NFL, because the NFL just needs their o-linemen to play the d-linemen to a stalemate, and the NFL linemen can spend so much time on technique.  In college, it doesn't allow bigger, stronger, faster o-linemen to use their physical dominance, and if one guy fails in creating that "shield", it fails.  This is what we saw countless times over the past few years, which would result in runs for no gains or losses.  I am not sure why Frost had an o-line coach who taught this technique, but Frost and Austin often butted heads over this philosophy.

It sounds like Raiola favors an "attacking" offensive line which seeks out the guy they are trying to block, and use their size and power to their advantage.  We will see if it works better.  I think it at least work better against teams in which NU should own a size and athleticism advantage over.

 
ColoradoHusk said:
In his most recent podcast, Rob Zatechka went into some detail on the offensive line blocking style preferred by Austin, in that it's a "NFL" style.  In the NFL, offensive linemen don't have an advantage over defensive linemen in terms of size, power, and athleticism.  The best d-linemen are often stronger and quicker than the o-linemen.  Because of that, the o-linemen are taught to "shield" the defensive linemen instead of attacking and trying to over-power the d-linemen. 

It works in the NFL, because the NFL just needs their o-linemen to play the d-linemen to a stalemate, and the NFL linemen can spend so much time on technique.  In college, it doesn't allow bigger, stronger, faster o-linemen to use their physical dominance, and if one guy fails in creating that "shield", it fails.  This is what we saw countless times over the past few years, which would result in runs for no gains or losses.  I am not sure why Frost had an o-line coach who taught this technique, but Frost and Austin often butted heads over this philosophy.

It sounds like Raiola favors an "attacking" offensive line which seeks out the guy they are trying to block, and use their size and power to their advantage.  We will see if it works better.  I think it at least work better against teams in which NU should own a size and athleticism advantage over.
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Begs the question of why keep him so long?   He didn't need to bring him from UCF, he could have pushed him out after a year or 2 of seeing it not work in the BigTen.  I do wonder how much truth there is to them butting heads often over this.  

 
ColoradoHusk said:
In his most recent podcast, Rob Zatechka went into some detail on the offensive line blocking style preferred by Austin, in that it's a "NFL" style.  In the NFL, offensive linemen don't have an advantage over defensive linemen in terms of size, power, and athleticism.  The best d-linemen are often stronger and quicker than the o-linemen.  Because of that, the o-linemen are taught to "shield" the defensive linemen instead of attacking and trying to over-power the d-linemen. 

It works in the NFL, because the NFL just needs their o-linemen to play the d-linemen to a stalemate, and the NFL linemen can spend so much time on technique.  In college, it doesn't allow bigger, stronger, faster o-linemen to use their physical dominance, and if one guy fails in creating that "shield", it fails.  This is what we saw countless times over the past few years, which would result in runs for no gains or losses.  I am not sure why Frost had an o-line coach who taught this technique, but Frost and Austin often butted heads over this philosophy.

It sounds like Raiola favors an "attacking" offensive line which seeks out the guy they are trying to block, and use their size and power to their advantage.  We will see if it works better.  I think it at least work better against teams in which NU should own a size and athleticism advantage over.
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That's interesting because Raiola came from the NFL where he was highly regarded by the team.  So, I'm guessing he was coaching this technique in the NFL.

 
BigRedBuster said:
That's interesting because Raiola came from the NFL where he was highly regarded by the team.  So, I'm guessing he was coaching this technique in the NFL.
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Yeah Raiola came from the NFL, but he wasn't even the main offensive line coach for the Bears.  Maybe he has preference of having an attacking/power/college style to the offensive line, which is why he wanted to get his career in college coaching a try.  There could be a philosophical difference on what Raiola wants, and what his bosses in the NFL wanted.  I am not sure what Wisconsin taught/teaches, but I can see Donovan being impacted by his own experience in college.

 
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