Calling Space Coyote and other coaches: please help me understand three things
November 11th, 2013 at 9:30 PM ^
As the backside player, he needs to understand the player behind him better. In this case, he should keep his eyes inside to his gap but help backside. At worst, he should slide and then hinge step back to the DE when he sees no one coming inside his gap.
November 11th, 2013 at 10:16 PM ^
it's plays like that which boggle my mind. that's about as easy a concept you can get. i understand young guys missing the occasional blitzer. but consistently have 2-3 defenders blowing through the line. youth or not. worse o-line ever. and it's inexecusable.
November 11th, 2013 at 10:40 PM ^
These guys played high school ball. They were highly regarded as recruits. They were supposed to be pretty good coming in. They come to Michigan and suddenly they're incompetent.
That they can't figure out a basic blocking scheme they should have been already using for years is difficult to comprehend. It's like they've never played football before.
November 11th, 2013 at 9:33 PM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 9:38 PM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 9:44 PM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 9:51 PM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 9:56 PM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 10:01 PM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 9:50 PM ^
Shut the fuck up. I've heard a hundred of you assholes say the same shit since 2008. It's now 2013 and I'm not waiting until 2017. Nebraska's scrubs patched together their offensive line on Saturday and still ran the ball 100x better than we have all year. I'm not buying the youth excuse. There's been too many of our players thrown in the mix this year that look as bad as the last guy that played. Funk isn't teaching shit to these players and it shows every week. How many practices does a guy need for this shit to sink in?
November 11th, 2013 at 9:55 PM ^
"How many practices does a guy need for this shit to sink in?"
November 11th, 2013 at 9:57 PM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 9:58 PM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 10:12 PM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 10:22 PM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 10:26 PM ^
Without actually giving credit to Brian.
And don't worry about this guy, he's been trying to troll me since he joined. You can look at his history, it's full of times trying to call me out (even when I wasn't a part of the conversation or even in certain threads).
November 11th, 2013 at 11:26 PM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 10:34 PM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 10:30 PM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 10:07 PM ^
Plenty of coaches out there have accomplished more with a hell of a lot less. Seniors aren't the only guys who can go out and win your football games for you. Alabama graduated nearly its entire offensive line from last year and yet they're still manhandling everyone they play. Great teams find a way to replace the guys they lost and still keep on winning.
November 11th, 2013 at 10:39 PM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 11:11 PM ^
Regarding Ryan, I was probably his biggest supporter early on, but the fact is that Beyer did just as good at the sam lb when Ryan was out...and now Beyer is in the wrong spot at DE...so I am not concerned any longer about losing Ryan like before. I like the way he plays, and is my favorite defender, nonetheless.
November 11th, 2013 at 9:40 PM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 9:41 PM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 9:54 PM ^
Kudos to you trueblueintexas for asking some specific questions and in a rational tone. It's a welcome reprieve from some of the OMG! The Oline sux! Fire the coaches! outbursts.
November 11th, 2013 at 9:58 PM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 10:13 PM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 10:13 PM ^
Lewan and Schofield to guard? To at least take away the A-gap blitz that is destroying us. Run quicker pass plays so Devin doesn't get blown up on the edge where Kalis and Magnuson will be playing tackle? Then maybe we can grind out at least 2 yards a carry up the middle. I understand you want your best past protectors as pillars on the edge, but we need a stop gap at this point. It couldn't be worse, right?
November 11th, 2013 at 10:15 PM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 10:23 PM ^
I thought I was losing it for a second. I swore I was asked very close to the same question. I saw I was above. But you had me losing it for a second like that Reese's commercial.
November 11th, 2013 at 10:33 PM ^
Didn't think you saw the question before. This is very depressing that there is nothing they can do at this point to salvage any of it.
November 11th, 2013 at 10:36 PM ^
They can still improve bit by bit. They can still get closer to actually getting it. There is certainly still important work and growth to be done this season from that unit. Just, I doubt it gets to the point it needs to get to be consistent this year.
I wouldn't be surprised, honestly, if the coaches think Lewan and Schofield on the same side makes sense, to see it in the bowl game. There is enough time then to rep it and it may help Schofield with his next level position a bit.
November 11th, 2013 at 11:14 PM ^
Ive thought this many many times..... at the very least put Schofield at RG, and Kalis at LG, and Miller back at C, and have Braden at RT. At least this would lend more experience in the interior...
Your suggestion is not far-fetched...its actually playing to our strength, even putting Lewan at LG.... the key is who would play LT....maybe Magnuson....
Boy I hope this picks up steam.
November 11th, 2013 at 10:28 PM ^
no amount of Space Coyote rationale is helping me anymore. I am convinced: some subset of coaches aren't very good at their job. It could be just Funk, it could be Funk + Al, and (here's the bad news), it might go all the way to the top man.
November 11th, 2013 at 10:36 PM ^
But even I get tired of rabble, rabble...fire Borges, screw Funk, Hoke is a cheerleader, etc. I'm pissed, but nothing we say will change the situation. So might as well try to understand why we suck and then bitch. But yeah, coaches clearly aren't getting through to the players. No rationalization or apologist can change my mind on that.
November 12th, 2013 at 7:47 AM ^
What else no one talks about is how badly Hoke manages end of half/game/time outs. He made huge fuck ups in the LSU game (delay of game x 2), time out after out of bounds pass and then vs Nebraska he sat on 3 time outs when he should have used them to give us more time. And this is without wearing a headset!!!! He just isn't that sharp. These coaches I just can't see giving us a tactical advantage outside Mattison at any point in the future. Do you guys honestly think that this level of ineptitude is a requisite at a school like Michigan with the talent we have star-wise to almost lost to Akron who hadn't one a road game in 8 years?!?!
November 12th, 2013 at 7:53 AM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 10:34 PM ^
Protection where the entire line gap blocks one direction and the back the other is pure gap scheme. As such, the back is responsible for the outside gap to the side he blocks.
Slide protection goes like this:
- In the video embedded above, it is slide left. Starting from the right side of the line, each OL in pass pro blocks the DL over him.
- The first uncovered OL-man (in this case OT Schofield) gap blocks (or slides) to the left, and will communicate across the line that he starts the slide.
- So, Williams has the RDE, then Schofield is uncovered, so he has right B-gap (his left side, hence the terminology slide left), the ROG has right A-gap, the C has the left A, etc.
- The back is responsible to pick up a blitzing LB or stunting DL from inside out. If two or more players show from the C gap out, the RB takes the inside most defender, and the QB "takes" the remaining by throwing hot, usually designated by a flat route or shallow cross. The back does not check release outside, but if no one shows he is a check down right behind the DL.
So, in the embedded video above, the play at 1:10, the player coming at Schofield is a blitzing LB. If he went inside Scho, Scho would've taken him. Since he went outside, he's Fitz's man. Fitz should've had his eyes on that LB pre-snap, and as soon as he started blitzing, assumed he would be taking him unless he went inside Schofield, making sure that Schofield was engaged with him in the B gap. Fitz also should've seen that the OLB to his blocking side didn't come, and that the DE was manned up by Williams, meaning that the only threat was that blitzing LB or a looping DT or LB, who would be coming off Schofield's butt late. I don't know why Fitz is popping outside like that; there's zero threat there. This one's on Fitz.
November 11th, 2013 at 10:47 PM ^
They showed a replay in game from the backside and that LB was crashing right at Schofield after his slide. So Schofield's eyes were inside on that guy but he continued to slide past. They guy did attack Schofield's inside gap from my memory of the replay.
Now, looking at it again I do agree more re: Fitz I still don't know. There was the stacked LB over the DE that Fitz was looking at and stepping directly to. I really think the replay view from the back shows this much better.
Here's a link of the replay
November 11th, 2013 at 10:54 PM ^
...saying he should've gotten help from Schofield, confirming that the LB was Fitz's man. Fitz simply got juked, but he should've made sure that he was engaged with Schofield b/c Fitz had no other threat.
November 11th, 2013 at 10:58 PM ^
There was a LB stacked directly over the DE.
Also, Spielman says that Fitz goes to chip him, implying he is Schofield's man but Fitz is going to be the primary blocker. He attacked Schofield straight up and pulled a swim move on Schofield to get around him. He was directly over Schofield and Schofield never even reached. Fitz was going to chip off of Schofield block and likely work out into a route. Maybe we'll have to agree to disagree here, but I hear Spielman saying that it's Schofield's guy and Fitz is trying to chip, but he doesn't get any help from Schofield (as in Schofield didn't do his job, which is to allow Fitz to simply chip). I mean, his starting path is even inside of Schofield, it's not until Schofield slides directly beneath him that the rusher desides to swim outside of him. But the move if very clearly done on Schofield.
November 11th, 2013 at 10:45 PM ^
that our coaches ran a play that purposely isolates Fitz, perhaps the worst blocking back in Michigan history to block a LB or DE 1 on 1. No, this one is not on Fitz. It's on the morons that draw up the plays that highlight our weaknesses. Just like when we tried to turn Denard into a west coast QB last year. These fuckers are clueless and will continue their square peg round hole approach regardless of evidence against their brilliant strategies.
November 11th, 2013 at 10:46 PM ^
What he saying is technically correct. The slide protection is a gap scheme where your blockers are pass protecting a particular gap to one direction or the other. Because of that, yes, it does sometimes isolate your RB, that's the downside of not being able to do a more man blocking pass protection scheme that is more complex.
I personally disagree with him based on the replay that I linked, but everything he stated is technically correct based on what he saw.
November 11th, 2013 at 10:51 PM ^
we should not run shit where the RB is a key blocker. On a blitz we have no choice, but fuck, why add to the cluster fuck when Fitz is back there by designing plays where he is counted on to block. On that note, we shouldn't run shit where our TE needs to block, as since Williams was injured, that isn't going to fly either. Just give up on the play action slow developing shit, the slow developing max protect shit, and the run up the middle shit. It AIN'T happening this year.
November 12th, 2013 at 1:47 AM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 10:59 PM ^
A DT? Double team?
If you have Fitz simply helping, that's 2 blockers for 1 defender, and either someone else is free or you're in max protect and the D is playing coverage, which happened when Devin was sitting back there for days with 2 or 3 receivers trying to get open against 6 or 7 pass defenders.
I don't have as much problem with assigning Fitz or Green to do it, but asking them to do it so many times a game by living in 3rd and long.
November 11th, 2013 at 10:52 PM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 10:50 PM ^
....I personally wouldn't be doing slide with three rookies at G-C-G and poor pass blockers at RB. I would be pure man (aka big-on-big or pop-dual), which is simple: you block the DL over you. If you're uncovered, you look for stunters and blitzers from inside-out. The RB is responsible for any blitzing LB to his side who is unaccounted for, also inside-out. It's hard on the guards when they're uncovered and then they have to pop out to pick up overhang defenders blitzing off the edge with speed, but then the QB has a huge pocket to step up into and big-time running lanes to scramble into (a particular strength of Devin's).
Also, I'd be doing a lot of 3-step and sprint-out on early downs. High percentage throws and run/pass options for Devin. No way any defense in this league (or maybe any) could cover double slants from Gallon and Funchess. The only way you take that away is by playing zone D with OLBs and safeties getting into passing lanes. Boom, there's your softer box in which to run. But you have to throw those routes a lot to give enough tendency info to the opposing coaches to get them to honor it.
Lastly, the best blitz beaters are screens, as evidenced by the ones to Fitz and Funchess. Hoke claimed those types of things only work once, and can't be repeated. Well, it's worth trying to repeat more than non-functional manball runs into defenses where everyone outside of the corners and free safety are screaming downhill.
Mind-boggling why they weren't doing these things since after the Penn State game. Also mind-boggling that they either don't self-scout or think they're good enough to outplay obvious tendency give-aways.
November 11th, 2013 at 10:54 PM ^
Though I think I'd stick to more throws to the sideline, smash routes and those types of concepts so DG isn't forced to try to read those undercutting defenders as much.
November 11th, 2013 at 11:47 PM ^
/f5
/f5