Almost Famous wrote:Now that everyone is getting their ideas out on who they believe will be the starters, I would like to know what the fans opinions are on what should be the main focus in coaching points for the players?
All insults aside, if you became coach for the spring, what will you do to improve certain positions?
1. Since we're switching to the 3-4 as the base defense this year, the biggest task for the coaches is going to be teaching the schemes and nuances of the system to every defensive player on the roster, to the extent that they react rather than think about things. It has to be second-nature, and the front seven has to be able to recognize the offense's blocking schemes from their new points of view.
2. Iron out the safety spot  Chris Banjo is the only clear-cut starter, but whether the other starter becomes Tyler Jones, Shaun Moore, Rock Dennis, Bryce Hudman, Ryan Smith or someone else, someone needs to step forward and take the position over. Depth must be solidified, too.
3. Those moving to new positions must spend extra time in the playbook and in their position coach's office, studying tape and asking questions  lots of questions: Moore, Youri Yenga, Patrick Fleming, Emmanuel Sanders, Bryan McCann, Kellis Cunningham, etc. ... time to put in major overtime in order to earn playing time in the fall.
4. The return game needs to be clarified. Who's back deep on punts? Kickoffs? Some combination of Aldrick Robinson, B.J. Lee, Bryce Lunday, Cole Beasley, Terrance Wilkerson, etc., has to get thoroughly comfortable with the blocking personnel in front of them.
5. Offensive line depth. The starting unit isn't what any of us thinks it needs to be  yet  but four of the five starters (LT Beachum, LG LeRibeus, C Enright, RG Tennison) are probable, if not guaranteed. RT is open to competition, I assume, but the question is who? Turner? Nwangwu? Brooks? Maybe a freshman steps in in the fall and takes one of the spots, and there are other veterans who certainly are in the mix. But this is still an extraordinarily young group, and even with Enright's hand injury and Poynter's knee injury last year, we lost surprisingly few games to injury along the line last year  that's something we can't count on every year. Coach McKnight obviously knows the strengths and weaknesses of each guy, but a second group  at least  has to be developed to the point that Coach McKnight and Coach Jones will feel comfortable throwing the backups in there.
6. Get McDermott acclimated to the offense. Barring a disaster of some kind, Mitchell is going to remain the starting QB. Braden Smith certainly has a leg up on the backup spot after a year in the system. But chances are we'll need a third QB at some point during the season, because a QB making it through the season unscathed doesn't happen all that often. McDermott is a big guy with a strong arm, but until he's comfortable in the system, he's little more than a batting practice pitcher with a 95-MPH heater. Mitchell and Smith know a lot of the offense, so McDermott needs to get a boatload of reps this spring.
Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 7:03 pm