MLive: Article on Nussmeier-Gardner relationship
http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2014/07/michigan_devin_gardne…
Couple of interesting bits:
One of those challenges is the freedom to change offensive line protection schemes. One offseason emphasis from Nussmeier has been to call plays quickly, allowing the offense to break the huddle and get to the line of scrimmage with plenty of available time.
With that time, Nussmeier wants Gardner to evaluate the opposing defense and assure that the offensive line is correctly assigned.
“He’s given me the opportunity to protect myself before the play starts,” Gardner said. “If I see something the offensive line might not see, I can make the change to make sure I’m protected.”
Was that an option a year ago?
“Not as much, no.”
It sounds like two of the (related) things we've been clamoring for are going to become reality this year. A) Gardner having some more freedom to audible at the line and B) getting out of the huddle and to the line fast enough to have time to make those changes. At the moment, only protection scheme is mentioned, but reading between the lines, I wonder if Gardner will have more freedom to check out of plays as well.
I think Devin is going to have a fine year if the OL plays as they should. Last year was his first year as a starter and it looked like it at times. Other times ND & OSU he looked like a superstar.
The year of playing time and a 2nd full off season knowing he was going to play QB will pay off with improved play. Devin was pretty raw coming from the Inkster High School program so I think he just needed a little more time.
a run up the middle against 9 in the box to a quick pass to a WR with a 10 yard cushion I will be ecstatic. The team left so many yards on the field last because Borges was stubborn as a mule or a complete idiot (your choice).
*after reading the article and commenters
So this is what optimism sounds like. I LIKE IT! BRING ON FOOTBALL!!!!!
I think Devin can audible. But I'm still confused and would love to know the truth.
I distinctly remember a back and forth last year from a Borges presser where he said Devin had permission to audible. It seems like Devin doesn't necessarily agree.
And does anyone else remember shortly after Denard went down how it seemed Devin was calling a load more audibles than Denard ever did? And they seemed to work?
So why did they seem to severely decrease over last season?
Both QBs had the capability to audible to a speed option to the boundary whenever they had a proper read of the defense. Gardner had a limited scope for which he could audible, from my understanding. However, I think as the offense struggled, particularly the blocking and Gardner's confidence, they scaled back on the amount of audibles they allowed for in an effort to simplify things.
The article by Bruce Feldman also calls to the fact they did not focus on hot reads last year...and continues my hatred for not having something so simple available. Not only did Borges make everything so complex, it took forever to get to the line, with no time/option to audible and no focus on having a hot read for an obvious situaiton where a team was bringing the house....insert MSU here.
Gardner said Nussmeier's system is "a lot more simple" than predecessor Al Borges was for his teammates to handle. "It makes it easier for them to understand so that they can play fast," he said, adding that he now has the flexibility to "throw hot when I need to.”
Hot reads are not simple, and was a part of Borges's offense that was scrapped in order to "simplify" the offense last year. Good or bad, that depends on philosophy. Borges believed that the players needed to learn how to run the nominal play before making adjustments within it. In order to hypothetically allow for this, he went to more simplified pass protections, 7 man blocking schemes, so that hot routes were not needed (it is uncommon to run hot routes with 7 man protections, because you should be able to pick up all blitzes).
Nussmeier believes in the philosophy that you run fewer plays, but you are more capable of adjusting within that play. He runs a lot more 6 man protections, and loves to leak the RB. His WRs generally have a hot to compensate for that.
But hots aren't simply. WRs and TEs (sometimes both in the same play) need to quickly diagnose the defense, while getting into their nominal route, break off their nominal route, get to their spot with proper timing, and have the QB see all those same exact things. The exact route can change depending on where the defense comes from (a TE can run a bench if the blitz comes from the outside, a stick if the blitz comes form the inside), and certainly the feel for where to settle against zone blitzes will change. This all requires a lot of reps to do correctly, or else it turns into not only incompletions, but interceptions that are going the other way in a hurry.
So it's a philosophy thing. It's not something that you put into an offense simply within making considerations elsewhere.
August 1st, 2014 at 10:35 AM ^