Shanahan: Looking for Players Who Fit Your Scheme is Overrated

Mavric

Mavric

Yoda
Staff member
Not directly related to the Huskers but I thought it was interesting considering the discussions that have often come up over the last couple years.

“I think (adding) players to fit your scheme, to me, is a little overrated,” he said. “Usually, a really good football player is a good football player in every scheme. I think you can get a little more into specifics when it comes to maybe the quarterback, maybe the offensive line. But, a receiver is a receiver, a running back’s a running back, a tight end’s a tight end, for the most part O-Linemen are O-Linemen.”

As Shanahan put it, if an offensive lineman blocked zone in college but now has to do man, or his feet don't fit a blocking scheme, that could affect an evaluation. Or if it’s a dual-threat QB but you want your guy in the pocket, you take that into account.

“If you’re going to be asking them to do a certain type of run the majority of the time as opposed to another, sometimes it does fit a little different body size or guys who can run a little bit more than the other,” Shanahan said. “Same with the quarterback. If you bring in a quarterback who is the best when he’s a dual-threat and can do all those type of things, that affects an entire offense. That doesn’t just affect one guy. That’s a huge commitment to your entire team.

“So, when you bring in someone like that when you’re going to have to tinker the offense to fit one player, you’ve got to know you’re tinkering every single person on that offense, too. So, when it comes to the quarterback and some O-Linemen, you look into that a little bit more. After that, I think it’s all pretty overrated.”
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The entire premise of the NFL contradicts what he's saying.

It's not just OL and QB either. There are definitive body types and skill sets that all NFL coaching staffs look for in players.

For example, in the NFL, what type of defense do you run? A 3-4 or a 4-3? Cuz the types of OLBs you'll be evaluating are different. A 230-240 pound DE in college in a 4-3, can he make the transition to OLB in a 3-4?

Can a DT in a 4-3 slide to NT in a 3--4? Or slide out to DE?

RBs that are used to running in a zone scheme tend to struggle when they are required to run through a specific hole on a play and vice versa.

That's evaluating a player and finding players that fit your scheme.

I do agree that CBs, Ss, WRs and TEs, and FBs are about the positional groups that "fit within a scheme" is usually not a big deal.

But other than those positions, "Fit within a scheme" is huge--especially at the NFL level..

 
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I would agree with his assessment and I think given his assessment it is fair to say this team was slightly hampered by coaches and quarterback being on a different page as to style of play they prefer or are best at. Now that this staff has their guy at the one position it really matters, Langsdorf is really under the microscope this season along with all other offensive staff. This unit needs to produce this year at a level that shows we can be elite. I think 2018 will really be the season our offense will be in position to be great, but we can show some signs of that this year and definitely improve our performance over last year.

Quickly about 18 though, assuming we don't have anyone declare for the draft early, our offensive roster will be looking very good. We will only be losing DPE, Hoppes, and Knevel correct? In my opinion these are players we can replace with guys we already have in the fold. DPE will probably be the toughest, but I have a feeling Tyjon or JD won't make us miss him so much.

 
Not sure what this has to do with Husker football, but...

Shanahan's comments apply pretty accurately to the NFL. But that's about it.

Unless he would have just as soon had Eric Crouch at QB instead of John Elway :lol:

 
That's the big difference between college and pro ball. In the pros every team is full of supreme athletes who are capable of doing whatever the coaching staff asks of them.If not, there are 2 or 3 other guys on the roster who can, College ball you may not have any players who fit your scheme and certainly not 2 or 3 deep. you get the players you get and have to use their best abilities to win football games.Most of the elite college coaches started out winning with players they didn't recruit . Saban, Urban Meyer. Peterson etc are examples.

 
Landlord of Memorial Stadium said:
Not sure what this has to do with Husker football, but...

Shanahan's comments apply pretty accurately to the NFL. But that's about it.

Unless he would have just as soon had Eric Crouch at QB instead of John Elway
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That pretty much sums it up.

 
I agree. I don't think you guys are correctly interpreting what he's saying. He's not saying, oh hurr Durr let's throw Eric Crouch in there instead of Elway and you'll get the same results. He's also not saying you SHOULDNT scout players based on scheme. He's saying it's overrated.

Tom Brady is going to be Tom Brady whether he's in a West Coast Offense or a spread offense.

Adrian Peterson will be Adrian Peterson. Calvin Johnson is Calvin Johnson and Rob Gronkowski will be elite despite the scheme he's in.

If your football player is good at his position he will be good regardless. I think he's just saying don't pass on Barry Sanders just because you have a power running game.

 
Shanahan is merely speaking about the dynamic between having a good football player and having a guy who fits the scheme well, and it's relatable to more than the NFL.

This kind of stuff happens in college all the time. We've all seen programs make big turnarounds with the right coaches in place, even when those coaches come in with different schemes and concepts. They'll take players they didn't recruit and get them to play at a high level.

I also see a nexus between his comments and Nebraska. A hearty defense this fan base has relied upon for years is needing to get the right players in place in order to perform at a high level. Shanahan is effectively saying there's more to it than that.

 
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BrooklynsFinest said:
Landlord of Memorial Stadium said:
BrooklynsFinest said:
If your football player is good at his position he will be good regardless.
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yeah...unless it's dependent highly on scheme.
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Like who? In a spread offense, a scheme tailored for Taylor Martinez, he still couldn't throw like a quarterback. Troy Smith was a terrible QB in the NFL despite playing in a spread at San Francisco.
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Taylor Martinez was a first team all conference quarterback in our scheme. That's pretty good.

Eric Crouch won the Heisman in our scheme. That's really good.

They wouldn't have been good at all in other schemes.

 
Landlord of Memorial Stadium said:
BrooklynsFinest said:
Landlord of Memorial Stadium said:
BrooklynsFinest said:
If your football player is good at his position he will be good regardless.
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yeah...unless it's dependent highly on scheme.
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Like who? In a spread offense, a scheme tailored for Taylor Martinez, he still couldn't throw like a quarterback. Troy Smith was a terrible QB in the NFL despite playing in a spread at San Francisco.
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Taylor Martinez was a first team all conference quarterback in our scheme. That's pretty good.

Eric Crouch won the Heisman in our scheme. That's really good.

They wouldn't have been good at all in other schemes.
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Which is what Shanahan said.

 
Making Chimichangas said:
The entire premise of the NFL contradicts what he's saying.

It's not just OL and QB either. There are definitive body types and skill sets that all NFL coaching staffs look for in players.
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If every coaching staff wants a definitive body type and skill set, it totally supports what he's saying.

Since we regularly take great athletes and throw them into positions they never played in high school, scheme itself wouldn't appear to be a major issue.

Except for quarterback. Like everyone says.

 
Guy Chamberlin said:
Making Chimichangas said:
The entire premise of the NFL contradicts what he's saying.

It's not just OL and QB either. There are definitive body types and skill sets that all NFL coaching staffs look for in players.
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If every coaching staff wants a definitive body type and skill set, it totally supports what he's saying.

Since we regularly take great athletes and throw them into positions they never played in high school, scheme itself wouldn't appear to be a major issue.

Except for quarterback. Like everyone says.
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Except, you can't have a 250 pound DE in a 3-4. Let me re-phrase, you can have 250 pound DEs in a 3-4 if you want to get dominated along the line of scrimmage.

Basically, finding players who can physically do what you're asking is what it is all about (contrary to popular belief it is NOT the hokey pokey).

That's "finding players that fit your scheme."

Not all LBs have equal coverage ability. Not all LBs can rush the passer equally, etc.

Maybe we're discussing semantics here, but I see what goes on in the NFL as coaches and GM's using the draft and free agency to find guys that "fit" what they want to do. You can call it scheme, you can call it "fit", call it anything except late for dinner...but "fit" is huge.

 
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