Borges ESPN Article
You've probably heard most of this but it was an interesting read about Borges and Denard's evolution during the season. The one point I had never heard and found hilarious/scary was Borges consulted with a spread coach before the season. That coach was Florida's Debord, Steve Addazio. Of all the spread coaches he could have met with he met with the only man to slow down Urban Meyer's offense?
I'm always on the board defending coordinators and position coaches because we don't know much if anything that is happening behind the scenes so I have no problem with this move at all, I'm just poking fun. Addazio might be a very good coach I have no idea, but if this season had been a disaster and they came out with this news Brian would have been beyond words he would have been so mad.
I was hoping to hear Borges was more open to keeping some of the spread elements, but they sound pretty sure it's gone when Denard goes.
December 28th, 2011 at 11:27 AM ^
I wonder--if we have a great deal of success running the hybrid system next year with Denard (e.g., B1G Championship, Heisman consideration), would Borges and Hoke start looking to continue some of the spread elements and try to bring in dual-threat quarterbacks going forward? I know Borges has his system, and that's what we're moving towards, but it's hard to argue with success, and it might be hard to ignore the advantages of incorporating spread elements.
I know that Shane Morris is a pro-style QB, but he has decent running ability, and the spread can also work with a more traditional QB. My guess is that we'll end up with a West Coast offense in 2013, but I wouldn't be surprised if we continue some of the spread, especially if the offense explodes (even more) next year.
December 28th, 2011 at 11:35 AM ^
We'll definitely be full west coast by the time Devin leaves, that's Borges' system and he has said he wants to stick with it. If a great dual recruit comes along who wants to go to Michigan Borges may be willing to mix it up a bit (especially knowing what he knows now), but I'm sure he's happy to plug in 4/5star pro style QB after 4/5 star pro style QB, which looks to be where we're heading.
December 28th, 2011 at 11:34 AM ^
Another day, another Ziff72 thread taking a passive-aggressive shot at our staff.
December 28th, 2011 at 12:08 PM ^
Do you hate Santa Claus as well? Do you ever joke? You read more into shit than a woman.
It's a decent article about our team so I posted it. In the article it mentions we consulted with one of the least respected(among know nothing fans) in the country. This was not a shot at our staff it was another example of how little we know about what goes on.
If I really thought it mattered who our coaches met with I would have ripped Borges to shreds. He met with the fucking Lions 3 years ago!!!
December 28th, 2011 at 12:09 PM ^
Ha, yup. Worth noting that Borges didn't just consult with Temple's coach, but a bunch of college, and pro, spread coaches from across the country. Take us back down to Defcon-0
December 28th, 2011 at 12:10 PM ^
You're not alone in noticing that.
December 28th, 2011 at 12:13 PM ^
"we've got one of the most prolific running quarterbacks maybe in the history of this game." -Al
Heck yeah we do.
Thanks Ziff for the link, and you can stop worrying, Brians head is safe from explosion for another day :o) "an (transitional) offense that averages more points (34.2 ppg) than last year's unit shouldn't be dismissed"
December 28th, 2011 at 3:19 PM ^
But I LOVE our offense. Call it a hybrid or whatever...but I LOVE the fact that we do both. It makes us hard to defend and keeps us rounded. The fact that we can get under center and throw a PA Rollout like Griese to Tuman...or go 4-wide and run a zone-read makes us a little different than most teams.
I'd love to see someone with a little better arm (and Gardner may be that guy) in this offense. The way we stretch the field horizontally AND vertically is HUGE!
December 28th, 2011 at 12:29 PM ^
Double post, so I'll make it worth something.
The future at QB is bright, and I'm not sure we'll ever have to turn back the clock to '97 in terms of offense.
I think Gardner will see an offense a little more pro-style, but still similar to what we have.
I think Morris will see an offense that resembles what we saw vs. Florida in 2008 with Henne, Hart, Mannigham and Arrington. It'll be some under center, some shotgun...but rather than zone-read, it'll be more spread/Air Raid type shotgun.
December 28th, 2011 at 12:55 PM ^
I would love to see that materialize as the primary offensive direction. Watching that game was one of the most entertaining and exciting games I have ever witnessed.
December 28th, 2011 at 12:47 PM ^
It is interesting to learn that Borges took a year off in 07 and voluntarily went out to other camps to learn more of his craft before getting on with Coach Hoke at SDSU...that is admirable to see someone do that to improve their skills at the expense of immediate earnings from a job...and it seems to have worked out for Al too in the long run.
December 28th, 2011 at 12:52 PM ^
I thought the article was misleading. DR looked much better in my opinion verse Nebraska and OSU because he spent the majority of his snaps in the shotgun and not under center. The label of pro set was because that is what the pros supposedly run. I think you can make a case that the NFL is slowly moving to more spread elements. GB and NO obliterated everything in their path in the NFC while NE did pretty darn well. At what point does the spread become the dominant offense in the NFL and pro set is for dinosaurs.
Personally I hope that both styles remain as variety is the spice of life. It is kind of boring if everyone runs a 3-4 and spread or 4-3 and proset.
December 28th, 2011 at 1:30 PM ^
You can't really compare what GB, NO, and NE run to the college spread game. They do spread the field with multiple WR sets, but theirs is a primarily passing game, while the college spread is primarily a running game. And, those teams don't even share very similar passing concepts. NE is very much built on short passing, even utilizing multiple tight ends. GB and NO are more about downfield passing, multiple vertical routes. What most of us call the spread is pretty much the read option offense. No one runs that in the NFL but the Broncos, and they actually don't spread the field at all. Most of their read options are run out of double tight packages. So, you are conflating multiple schemes under the umbrella term of "spread", and it ends up meaning next to nothing.
That aside, you are also wrong about what the term "pro style" means. It isn't about what the pros run, it's more of a historical look at what the pros used to (traditionally) run. And, it is almost only concerned with formation: under center, two backs, tight end. Schematically, we'll slowly become an offense based on West Coast passing concepts, which is very different than other "pro-style" schemes.