Deep Shades of Blue

Over the last two weeks we have mentioned a lot about preparation for games and knowledge of assignments.  I figured it would be a good idea to go through the week and show exactly how we prepare for a game.

Saturday:

Immediately after the games players are handed their scout DVDs.  These DVDs have four games of our next opponent on them.  These games are selected by the coaches by how closely they match what we expect to see in our own game.  For example, this week’s DVDs for the defense will show SDSU’s offense against teams this year that also play a 3-4, most recent game and any other game the coaches feel will most closely resemble what we expect.

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Photo by Greg Olsen

In all honesty the weather doesn’t play a huge role in the outcome of the game. Yeah it’s cold in the stands, but down on the field the training and equipment staff take numerous precautions to keep the players warm.

For instance there are propane furnaces stationed all over the sidelines. These sideline space heaters keep your legs and feet warm in between series. The equipment staff also passes out those giant coats that are extremely insulated and keep the rain/snow off of your body.

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It is a very undesirable place to get caught. Specifically, the bottom of an nine+ player pile up, six of which are offensive and defensive linemen weighing in access of 300 lbs. There are a couple of bad situations. The first is the “face where it shouldn’t be” scenario or ”just concentrate until you can breath again,” and it’s two-fold. I’ll discuss them in a bit. The other is the worst scenario, or the “I just got run over and my leg is bent behind me and everyone is laying on me, and I hurt, get off quickly, move, move, move!” scenario. Both are laden with negatives.

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Crowton’s head coaching years have been talked about and analyzed by everyone under the sun. Everyone has their own opinion about his coaching abilities, both good and bad. My experiences during these years varied, but I noticed significant differences in the way the program operated during the Crowton years as opposed to the Mendenhall era. In this first installment, I want to discuss the developmental aspects of the program also known as the weight-training.

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I wanted to let everyone know what they can expect from me this week.  The bye will allow me to catch my breath and address a few things from the programs past. During game weeks, I am trying to concentrate on the upcoming opponent and I don’t get to discuss the program as much as I would like to.  I am going to use this week to talk about the following:

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To understand whether a bye week is needed let’s look at what we do during the bye week.  Monday, the players will go through all of their normal meetings, and then hit the field for a very short practice that will consist of mostly individual position specific drill.  This practice is used to get back to the fundamentals that sometimes are forgotten as we prepare for specific opponents.

Tuesday, the practice will again be short, but will have more time allocated to the team, than individual work.  The team will have one-on-ones, whereas the offensive line go against the defensive linemen and the receivers run routes against the DB’s.  Again, this practice is focused on refreshing and getting back to the fundamentals. (Fundamentals include: stance, footwork, positioning, pad level, running precise routes, timing, reads, and last but not least, having fun.) (more…)

I wanted to post a few answers on the main page that I thought more people could appreciate.  This one came via Rex who asked if I could explain zone coverage’s a little bit…I would love to.

Cover 2:

Cover 2 is a basic 5 under 2 deep zone coverage.  There are 5 underneath zones that are occupied by 3 linebackers and 2 corners.  The safeties play over the top providing coverage and help on the deep balls.  Zones are based on players’ positions on the field.  Corners cover the outside shallow routes, outside linebackers cover the hook/curl zones and the Middle backer patrols the middle of the field.  Defensive players first read whether the play is a run or a pass, if it is a run they (more…)

During the year you are playing six away games, which means six different hotels, plane rides and stadiums.  I was thinking back on those experiences and wanted to post the good, the bad and the ugly about games on the road.

GOOD- The team normally leaves on Friday at around eleven, which means no school on Friday.  I know, you are supposed to be a “student athlete”, but let’s face it; most players are “athlete students”.  Bronco’s goal for academics is much higher than other programs. (a 3.0 average for the team),  he also provides incentives for players to maintain a 3.0 GPA throughout the semester.  Incentives include Ogio school bags, Nike apparel, and a dinner at the end of the year for the players that achieved the needed grade point average.  I have been on one team that achieved the goal.  The other times were normally in the 2.95 area, which is always #1 in the country.

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We just had a somewhat questionable performance on Saturday, and everyone watched the UCLA game last night.  Lets not get ahead of ourselves and start looking forward to the UCLA game.  Coach Mendenhall will do his job keeping the team focused on the task at hand, but the team will be back in school.  That means they will be approached by students, and faculty about what they thought about the UCLA game.  Wait, what? Don’t we play Washington this week.  It can be tough for some guys to stay focused during the first week of school and practice.  Players start to see how demanding playing football and being a full-time student can be.  The football staff will be sure to pound the concept of taking one game at a time, because for BYU, this next game is the most important.  Then after that game, the UCLA will become the most important.  Do not think Washington is going to come into their own stadium, lay down and give us the keys to the house.  This next game and every game after it, will be a dog fight.  Everyone in the country is waiting for the Cougars to lose, so they can talk about how superior the BCS conference teams are.

I heard the Huskies said that Pitta would be an offensive tackle on their team, and they said that Max’s article in the Times sucked.  I think I just heard Mr. Locker laugh and ask what kind of person would name their son Jan, and he said the only Cougars that could tackle him were the BYU Cougarettes in the endzone.

Get a Bronco scowl on your faces and get to work.

Basically the night before the game is filled with meetings, eating, and waiting.  You have various meetings, reviewing film and talking about the “keys” to the game.  Some coaches get nervous before games and some are very relaxed and easy going.  Coach Hill is always relaxed.  He exudes that been there, done that attitude that can calm a nervous player.  After arrival at the hotel the team is steered to a dinning room to eat.  This is probably the best “perk” to being on the team (if there are any), and the part that I will miss severely.  The night is kick started with a smorgasbord of food from Ruby River.  Then after you have eaten to your hearts content you retire to your room for a bit to get ready for the fireside.  (the firesides are something I will address later)

After the fireside the defense goes to campus for another walk through before, what my wife calls, second dinner.  At around 9 o’clock we have a snack of cheese burgers, hot wings and everything else.  You are most certainly not left wanting.  After second dinner you head back to your room to watch some TV or film and normally lights are out by 10:30 or so.

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A normal football work week will consist of the following:

Monday: Lifting weights, a necessary evil.  After a game you normally feel like you have been in a ten car pile-up.  Lifting weights helps work out the kinks and soreness and will get you back into playing condition.  Meetings, meetings and more meetings.  My guess is that the normal corporation doesn’t have as many meetings as a football team.  Film study, this of coarse is what all the meetings are about.  Each play from the previous game is graded on a sheet and watched, sometimes over and over depending on how funny you look.  After all that, you then put on your cleats and hit the field for a short and intense 12-14 period practice.  With lifting and meetings and everything, it takes about 4 hours of your day.  Then you have to factor in the time in the training room, classroom, individual film study and the ladies, and well, your out of day light and out of energy.

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