Nuss Effect on Who Plays Center

I suppose we could wait till fall to find out.

Disagree if you want, and I understand that this is a college football blog so we are supposed to partake in this kind of conversation. But, nobody on this board can possibly have an informed opinion on this kind of thing. Literally, no one has a clue.

We are not at practice, we are not at meetings. We don't see how these kids perform. No one here can know if Miller can make the proper cline calls or not. No one here even knows what kind of calls he has to make.

I guess these things are fun to rattle on about in the post season, but I think it's pretty meaningless.

The thing about having a new OC is that most preformed opinions go away and the players get a clean slate (too a degree) so other than Jack Miller (and freshmen) I could really see any combo of linemen start next year.

Whoever blocks the best

Like others have stated, I have no idea what will happen at Center next fall. However, I can talk about what I would like to see happen. It would be great if Kugler is a beast at the position from day one and allows Glasgow to shift over to another position. That would mean we have the Center position locked down for a long time, would add more competition / depth to the other positions, and would still leave us with an experienced backup in Miller. My opinion is based on absolutely nothing other than what seems like it would work out best for he short and long term.

Who ever executes and isn't young.

I think Glasgow will keep the job for 2014. We went through alot of growing pains last year and we are not going backwards. Kugler will probably have to wait for his turn. Glasgow wasn't just practicing at center last year. Also he was learning the more complicated power blocking scheme. I think this year he improves at center and gets better synergy with Gardner.

I think mcgary is the runway favorite at center once he's back from his injury.

Kugler.  With him, having taken a redshirt and his dad being an o-line coach for an NFL team, i'm sure he has the mechanics/technique down.  I don't see how with our center shuffle last year that we would keep this kid off the field unless a "play the best player regardless of starting experience" approach is not taken.

Sure I graduated 15ish years ago, but I still have all 4 years of my eligibility.

If Kugler is healthy and can go full strength in offseason conditioning, you have to like his chances. Miller is not a D-I football player, and Glasgow is a stopgap at center.

still has something to do with our guards. Most would agree that Glasgow was our best player at more than one position last season and guard might be his best position. Kugler is not only competing with him for playing time, but with Bosch, Dawson or anyone else that could be replaced at guard by Glasgow.

I feel like you're assuming these guys will be at the same level next fall as they were before this fall. Miller is definitely not going to be as superior if at all in the mental aspects of the position. Glasgow, however, will still be bigger and stronger. Miller is on the outside looking in when it comes to ever playing again and that's how it should be unfortunately. He's very small for an Olineman.

Even if the IZ does become our base running play, it's not going to look like basketball on grass anymore than 'Bama's offense did.

Make no mistake about it: Hoke, Funk, and Nuss want big, powerful players (power = speed x strength) that can move the LOS.  For this reason, I think Miller is done as a starter.  The biggest, baddest, meanest guys are likely to start, especially on the inside.

Glasgow, I believe, will stay at center unless Blake Bars or Patrick Kugler can make the strength gains necessary to dominate the LOS.

While I'm a huge Kugler fan, I just don't see it happening.  His body needs to develop quite a bit.  This is a good thing--you really don't want RS Freshmen starting on your O-Line.

I just hope Glasgow works on his snapping.  Hopefully the experience from this season helps with making calls.  It'd be nice to see Miller get stronger, then I suppose you never know.  Kugler I worry about where he'll be strength-wise after that injury.  He may be a sophomore but could be a freshman physically if the injury set him back enough.  So if Miller's liability is his strength, as opposed to his fundamentals and intelligence, then I don't know how Kugler is going to win the job unless he is a freak of nature in the gym.

 

I'm gonna be optimistic and hope that all three are viable players.  But I'll give the edge to the returning starter at this point.  If we had graduated any guards, that might make for more uncertainty because there'd be a need at guard.  But theoretically, Kalis and Bosch will be better this year, and we've got returning experience backing them up on top of that.

I disagree on Miller being a good fit for the zone play. His profile looks good for the outside zone, or stretch, where his lack of size is mitigated by his agility and theoretical ability to scoop or reach block. But inside zone is a downhill play, and he showed little ability to get movement. He wasn't really that good at the stretch, either. Where I think he had an edge was in snapping. His calls seemed to be fine. And I think he was better in protection than Glasgow when he wasn't alone. In short, inside zone is a zone play, and Miller is a supposed zone blocker, but he's built more for the stretch and he hasn't shown any great ability there either. FWIW, I'd love him to win a job so we could kick Glasgow to guard and maybe have some flexibility elsewhere.

I am unsure who would be the best fit, but I think the competiton for center will be between Glassgow and Kugler.  Anyone know what his dad taught while being an OL coach?

Double poooooooooost

We are used to seeing Denard and Gardner drop-pump their fist to signal the C to snap the ball.  I've also seen the Braxton Miller hand-clap (and fake-clap) as a functional alternative.  Seemed like Nebraska did that too with Kellogg (??). 

Wondering if the existing system is somehow too predictable?  I don't know what Bama does with their snap.  Its almost like there's a rhythm where the C sees the signal, then looks straight ahead/up and snaps the ball....that the D can sort of cue on over and over.  And I wonder if opposing teams picked up on that over time.  It would seem to negate the millisecond advantage that the OL has in a typical QB-directly-under-center situation.

Obviously some sort of signal other than barking the snap count is advantageous for a stadium so noisy that the OL and WR can't hear.

So I don't have a perfect system to propose.  Just curious how this might change if at all under the focused guidance of the Nuss?

I'm admittedly on the Kugler hype train, so here's where that leads me:

LT - Magnusson

LG - Glasgow/Bosch

C - Kugler

RG - Kalis

RT - Glasgow/Braden

 

I think the coaches continue with the best five strategy, and I believe Kugler will be in the best five.  Since he's really only a fit for center, it let's us move Glasgow to whichever position is weaker, either LG or RT.  I think they'd probably rather keep Glasgow inside with the importance of the IZ, but if Bosch grows well and no better option at RT, Glasgow could bring some stability to the tackle positions.