Harbaugh's Offensive Philosophy
Ace just tweeted a post at jimlightfootball.com that I figure many posters will be interested in. It's a run down of Harbaugh's passing offenses. The first paragraph contains links that outline his running philosophy (i.e. POWER!!!). Have at it. I am not a football coach so I won't expand on what's linked here. Others are more qualified. I'm sure much of this material will be broken down in detail on the front page over the offseason.
http://jimlightfootball.com/2015/01/15/jim-harbaughs-passing-concepts-p…
January 15th, 2015 at 9:01 PM ^
My personal favorite part is a quote Stanford's coaches use as a foundation for their offensive line's identity: "There is no greater feeling than to be able to move a man from point A to point B...against his will." - Russ Grimm
January 15th, 2015 at 9:14 PM ^
He was a coaching candidate for the Lions job, before Millen ended up hiring Rod Marinelli.
January 15th, 2015 at 9:22 PM ^
Russ Grimm sighting. Havn't heard about that guy since he was the #2 candidate for the Bears when they ended up hiring Lovie Smith instead.
January 15th, 2015 at 9:24 PM ^
January 15th, 2015 at 10:36 PM ^
Semi-OT, but here is a quote from David Shaw while speaking at a Nike clinic and discussing the cutback lane on inside zone...
"We teach our backs that sometimes, a giant cutback lane will open on the backside A gap, if they see it they should take it, but they shouldnt be looking for it all of the time. It is like a $20 dollar bill. If you are walking down the block, and you see a $20 you should take it, but if you spend your whole life walking around looking at the ground as you go hoping to see a $20 bill, youll most likely get hit by a fucking bus!!!"
Saw that on this article: http://coachjbird.blogspot.com/2013/08/david-shaw-stanford-nike-ac-clinic.html
I recommened it. Very good breakdown of the Stanford running game under David Shaw (which is very similar to the Harbaugh running game).
January 15th, 2015 at 9:02 PM ^
January 15th, 2015 at 9:08 PM ^
Inverted veer could make an appearance given the right QB. In the immortal words of Bart Scott...
January 16th, 2015 at 2:23 AM ^
CAN'T WAIT?
January 16th, 2015 at 10:51 AM ^
I approve this message.
January 15th, 2015 at 9:39 PM ^
You could consider it a benefit that we done not have a return starting qb. It looks like Harbaugh is going to implement something simular to what Hoke was trying to do, but had to modify it because of Denard'so talents could not be ignored. When I compare Hoke with Harbaugh, it is very high level like down hill running game. I am not an expert by any means, just some basic knowledge from plying high school fb.
January 16th, 2015 at 1:53 AM ^
They tried to run plenty of power while Denard was here, it's a handoff, the offensive line could never execute it with any consistently. A lot of that is coaching, Hoke wanted to run power here, then hired a West Coast OC and IZ Oline coach to go with his Read/Option personnel.
January 16th, 2015 at 8:33 AM ^
January 16th, 2015 at 10:41 AM ^
January 15th, 2015 at 9:43 PM ^
It won't be a case of "here we are, you know what the play is, try to stop us." It's a lot easier to "move someone from Point A to Point B against his will" if he doesn't know exactly where you are trying to move him beforehand.
January 15th, 2015 at 9:53 PM ^
Bravo, yes it will be exciting to watch an offense that the play calling will be dynamic. I remember watching the Nebraska game in 2013 & it .was 3rd & short. Borges sent in 3 TEs. Everyone including the defense knew exactly what we were running & we last 2 yards.
January 16th, 2015 at 1:09 AM ^
That s*** worked in 1977 when our 2nd string was better than a lot of team's 1st string. We could just plow teams under even when they knew where we were running. Kind of like Wisconsin did to us in 2009 or whatever year that was. Ugh.
When you are running against competent defenses today, you need to have some deception at work to keep them off balance. Then when they are off balance, slam them in the mouth and knock them over. But don't TELL them exactly how, when and where you are going to do it first. Exhaust them mentally just trying to figure out where you are going to hit them from next.
January 15th, 2015 at 9:58 PM ^
H-backs (Shallman, Hill) and the tight ends will love this offense. They are essential to the run schemes as blockers (something Hill seemed very adept at. He was willing to hit guys in the mouth pre-injury) and in the passing game, they are often the quarterback's first read.
In the same vein, it seems like pro-style offenses are often criticized for being overly complex and difficult on the quarterback, but Harbaugh's schemes seem to mitigate that. A lot of the first reads are curl routes and flat routes, i.e. fairly simple throws if the QB makes the correct read. A lot of the plays are designed to create YAC, which again is something which should excite WR/TE recruits while also simplifying QB play, which is so difficult at its fundamental level that not attempting to simplify reads and throws is just silly.
Edit: Here is a piece by Chris Brown which dives into how Harbaugh has tweaked the West Coast offense in order to make it easier on his QB.
January 15th, 2015 at 10:24 PM ^
January 16th, 2015 at 10:46 AM ^
January 16th, 2015 at 11:31 AM ^
we did set an all-time single-season passing record with Borges. So that, plus the ability to run = good, right?
January 16th, 2015 at 3:07 PM ^
I know it's been a subject of lively dialogue, but without getting into playcalling, do you think that was the big issue with QBs the last few years--simply position coaching? If you could put a percentage of blame on different things for how QBs have performed in the last 2 years, how much would you apportion to each of:
-Position Coaching
-Scheme (overall)/OC Philosophy
-Game planning
-Play calling
-Talent Level
-Other categories I'm missing/luck?
January 15th, 2015 at 9:48 PM ^
The next logical move would be to look at, and break down, the game film from the last few S.F. - Seattle games, and see what Pete Carroll has been doing to stop this Offense, for they have done so the last three or four times these teams have met.
If I were an opposing coach, I would look to do to us what Carroll has done to the 49ers, and if I was Harbaugh, or one of his offensive staff, I would look at these films, and study the defense, expecting my opponents, especially Ohio State, to have studied the same film, and emulate Carroll's defense, and then game plan to take advantage of what they do on defense.
January 15th, 2015 at 9:53 PM ^
January 15th, 2015 at 11:05 PM ^
all you need is a sherman, kam, and et, insert a half decent other cb and you're set!
not like sea has beasted every other offense while healthy
January 16th, 2015 at 1:21 AM ^
Are only part of it, you have to have a plan, and be able to execute it flawlessly.
The NFL is. and probably always will be, a "film league", where everything is on film, watched, and either exposed or copied, and now college football is the same way. Teams watch film of each other and devise game plans based on what other people do, and what they see on film.
Not every team can get up to play every single week, but the great ones pick their times and as you said "beast" their opponents in the big games. If I could, I would bet you that Seattle beats Green Bay and goes to the Super Bowl.
January 16th, 2015 at 1:08 AM ^
Any defense can do what any other defense can do.
Maybe not as well, but they can do it.
Schematically.
January 16th, 2015 at 6:08 AM ^
Anybody can go to the golf course too. All having the same general scheme...
January 16th, 2015 at 1:11 AM ^
after 1997. We tried to keep doing the same thing we did in 1997, but we no longer had Charles Woodson. Whoops.
When you have the best cornerback in the country, you can do a lot on defense.
January 16th, 2015 at 1:30 AM ^
On top, but we had a really great all-around defense that year. The defensive line could rush and sack the passer using only four guys, the linebackers were fast and made plays, and the secondary had Ray at safety to go with Woodson, and they were very well-coached by Vance Bedford (Current Texas D.C.) It was a team effort with Woodson as the star.
January 15th, 2015 at 10:54 PM ^
January 15th, 2015 at 10:56 PM ^
January 15th, 2015 at 11:41 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
January 16th, 2015 at 7:52 AM ^
January 16th, 2015 at 8:48 AM ^
January 16th, 2015 at 9:35 AM ^
See the whiteboard in this pic?
SPIDER 2/3...... That means we may see the famous SPIDER 3 Y Banana!
January 16th, 2015 at 12:12 PM ^
We willl. The Gruden quote is from his pre-draft QB Camp session with Luck.
January 16th, 2015 at 11:04 AM ^
Is the it's not overly QB dependent. Which ever guy ends up there, he needs only to complete easy passes and make/extend a few plays with his feet. Drevno and Wheatley are the make or break guys on staff.