Denison/Marshall 2009 3rd round Texas High School Playoffs

I could have chosen any of our 15 games to post highlights of, but I chose this one because it illustrates a lot of what our offense is really about. Our passing game is designed to be able to take advantage of any coverage. Our objective last Spring was to really cut things out of our passing game that we very rarely did and get good at a few things. This gave us an opportunity to rep more in practice those few things, and we have a plan of what we are going to do with any coverage we see. We got a ton of man free mixed with a little 2 in this game. Marshall had the best corners we saw all year. The were not very big, but they were extremely quick, aggressive, and played the game hard. Anyway back to how this game illustrates our offense....We were down 19-7 at halftime. We are a running team by nature and this was not a time to panic. We came out and established the inside zone. They were an odd/odd stack team and our 2-time 1st team all-state center handled (excuse me, man-handled) the nose. We were able to get off to backers and away we go. this sets up everything for us. It will get a defense out of 2 high, and set up our play-action, double move routes. bingo bango bongo. jackets win. And of course, this is possible becuae our defense came out and shut the door in the second half.

RUDY RUDY RUDY

RUDY is a great movie and I think everybody looking at this website would agree. This little video talks a little about how the movie came about.

More about Gus and his influencial offense

clcik the "More about Gus" or enther the following in your browser.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Deconstructing-Auburn-s-Malzahn-at-the-gates-a?urn=ncaaf,193416

Great stuff here pulled from smartfootball.com Quotes from Kiffin sums it all up for me.

OLINE IN THE NFL

Refering to myu earlier post about college qb's from Texas, I did a little research on the number of lineman from each college conference. I was a little surprised. I took rosters from all NFL teams today and broke them down including guys in the injured reserve list. I will post other positions as I get them done.
SEC - 15.3 %
Big 10 - 13.9%
ACC - 12.8%
Big 12 - 11.7%
FCS schools - 8.9%
PAC 10 - 8.4%
BIG EAST - 5.6%
MOUNTAIN WEST - 5.6%
MAC - 4.5%
WAC - 4.2%
CUSA - 3.9%
Indys - 2.5%
D2's - 2.2
SUN BELT - 1%

Malzahnitude: Not just an offensive philosophy but a winning philosophy..now how do I sell that to my DC?

I have been very fortunate to have been exposed both as a player and as coach to some very good football. This includes learning "how to win" in a number of ways. In my high school days we were successful by classicly controlling the rushing game (controlling the rush on both sides of the ball), protecting the football, and playing great special teams. In the mid '80's I had the opportunity to play at Angelo State University in the Lone Star Conference known for progressive and aggressive offensive styles pressuring defenses by mixing both the pro dropback style and the option attack. My first high school coaching job was at Clarksville, Texas High School where under coach Jerry Fausett I learned the greatness of the wing "I". When I had the chance to coach at the Junior College level my knowledge grew more learning the complexities of a real pro style multiple offense. The throwing game at Cisco was based on timing and steps and blended San Francisco 49'er and Brigham Young University concepts. While at Cisco we had incredible success finishing in the top 5 in the NJCAA team offensive stats two years in a row. With this diverse background knowledge I could really appreciate the diiffering spread offenses as they began to grow to become successful. Some were primarily passing oriented while others were running oriented. Still though there was not a "hurry up no huddle" attitude to combine with this offensive prowess that one could embrace for a plan to win football games. That is one big reason why I became a huge fan of coach Gus Malzahn after reading his work "The Hurry Up No Huddle: An Offensive Philosophy". Link here http://www.amazon.com/Hurry-Up-No-Huddle-Offensive-Philosophy/dp/1585186546#noop. He openly points out the fact that this philosophy will not be the best for your team if you are not at least of average ability compared to your opponents. The increased number of snaps per game in this case would just lead to a larger margin of defeat too often. In this case more of a manage the game and clock style would have to be utilized (ALA Marty Schottenheimer style with KC Chiefs and SD Chargers)). What about methodology? Does coach Malzahn state or suggest a certain best method to achieve succes in the Hurry up no huddle system? No, he does not. Coach Malzahn has employed the system as a head high school football coach emphasizing both running and passing. This of course has to to mainly with personnel. All of this makes commom sense but I feel needs to be brought out as so many people feel "their way" (ie. Franklin System) is the best and or only way. Gus really got it right hitting on that philosphy idea first. This is something we all have a tendency to forget at times. O.K now that we are straight on this concept let's move on to the high value that coach Malzan places on snaps per game versus time of possession. (keep in mind we do have an average or better team!) Each snap is valued not only as an opportunity to score but to "mentally and physically wear down the opponent"(It is about attitude!). What do the extra snaps mean though from a defensive standpoint? Coach Malzahn does mention that some "selling " has to be involved in getting needed buy in from many defensive coaches. One reason pointed out for this is the statisitics game and the need for good stats to move up in the coaching ranks. Reminder here that only 1 stat counts and that is the W and L column. It is imperative though that everyone buy into the philosophy if it is to be employed. This is obvious so that offense,defense,and kicking games can complement each other helping obtain victory. I thought I would try an exercise of sorts here to attempt to gain a better understanding of this philosophy. Your input is needed so please post a few descriptive words, terms, notes, comments that you think best describe this philosophy in each pahse:
OFFENSE,DEFENSE,KICKING. I will get this started. And yes i realize there may be afew negative remarks..That is OK not everyone has to agree on the same philosophy. That would be such a BORE! Thanks for your comments!

College QB's from Texas high school football

Great story in Sports Illustrated talking about the # of college qb's that come form Texas. I would be interested in seeing a breakdown of other positions. I would also like to know what percentage of current NFL oline guys are from the big 10. Its seems like every time I watch a game and they do the player intros, 2-3 of the oline guys are Michigan, Penn State, Wisc, Minnesota, etc. Click the "College Qb's from Texas" above or load the link below in your browser.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1163421/index.htm

TEBOW in the NFL

Tebow is a football player. My opinion there is no way he will play qb in the league. Mechanics are an issue, but after watching cutups from 08 & 08 I see bigger problems. He will be an H-back/TE if he can transition to that. Anyway, if you guys arent memmbers of coachhuey.com you really need to jump on that train. There is always great information about a variety of topics there. A post was put on there about Tim's mechanics and the QB guru Darin Slack responded with this, and it has more to do with the entire process more than making mechanical adjustments :
"This isn't the response I wrote, but I am going to wait on that...

Fundamentally, this is a circular argument, because there is so much that can be talked about - because a QB has to do so much in his position.

If you get the mechanics right, you not only get a better player, you get all the rest of it as well. Why? Like simple life, you meet my needs as a person, I will listen to you and do what you ask.

When you help a young man solve a major mechanics problem in his heart, his understanding of how to play the position, et al, goes up. In the end, you have a kid who plays with more confidence.

Getting by on bad mechanics isn't something to use as a justification, for not teaching them - and you AREN'T suggesting that MP - you said - "who doesn't need work?"

I am saying that those who diminish mechanics as less important might be missing a SERIOUS OPPRTUNITY, AND NEED inside a kid to understand, and when you skip that, you leave that kid to his own conclusions about it - and get Tim Tebow.

In the absence of a compelling argument, or reason, for doing something that a kid sees as valuable most kids just do what they think is best. I totally get your attitude toward mechanics, because the BS that has been passed off as "good mechanics" would make me say the same thing.

heck with it, most coaches just want a kid that can throw the ball when and where they want it - they just have to find one that can already throw, and voila, problem solved."
post 2 :
"Here is my take on Tebow and what I have done and thought about this…

I have it on good authority that Scott Loeffler, a good coach from all I have heard, made his best effort to get Tim to change his windup in the Spring, but whenever Tim returned to the pocket under pressure he just reverted.

I am not sure what Loeffler told him, or how much "buy in" he got from Tim.

Must not have stuck with Tim in the case here, because Tim got WORSE – and it makes me VERY ANGRY. Why? BECAUSE THAT AMOUNT OF TALENT SHOULDN’T HAVE TO BE SUBJECTED TO THE ABUSE HE IS ABOUT TO FACE IN HIS NFL DRAFT PREPARATION. IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THAT WAY!

Truth is, Loeffler had a “no arm change” collar put on him by Urban in the media, not sure how strong it was behind the scenes – other than Urban’s comments of – “Just don’t mess with Tim’s motion.”

Here is the problem, Tim has had two "Interventions" in his mechanics. One with Mullen and the Bio-mechanics lab as a sophomore, and one with Loeffler, and both were largely unsuccessful. Honestly, the reason they were, was simply because that while both of these guys are phenomenal coaches in their own right, they seem to be missing some key ingredients in the "changing" of motions...I apologize if that sounds arrogant, I am just answering the question.

So, does that make Scott a bad coach, HECK NO, He is a GREAT COACH, but that isn’t the issue here. We are talking about something he had no REAL permission to mess with – Tim’s motion. What he did, apparently didn’t work.

These guys have so much God-given talent, and they can do so many things well, but struggle in some key area of their mechanics, and they experience SO MUCH heavy abuse that could be avoided. I am not sure I would do as well as Tim has with it...

I’m done.

Thanks for your patience, have a great day in football."
There is more there from Slack and the responses by others will open your eyes also.

cover 2 vs tampa 2

tell me boys, what is your #1 cover 2 beater in a balanced set and from 3x1. defense guys tell me your thoughts about tampa 2. at our level I think the idea of running tampa 2 is great, but how many high school teams have mike lb's that can run the pipe/pole/middle like wanted. i think its possible in obvious passing situations, but as a normal d/d situation I see issues with it. My favorite 2 beater is simply smash games. I think corners have got better at playing underneath the corner routes, but for my money its still a very simple read for the qb and with post tags, etc this concept is money. My #1 issue witht he smash is the qb being greedy and not taking the short throw.

taking you back to our youth

Ode to Ricky Joe..

Link to article by clicking above or just use this link..
http://www.myssnews.com/news-telegram/sports/1476-then-and-now--a-touching-tribute-cumby-honors-former-coaches-frazier-lawrence-by-re-naming-trojan-stadium.html

A few years ago a dear coaching friend and accomplice of offensive football who mentored me in many ways (some good and some not so good!)passed away. His name was Rick Frazier and it is my hope and prayer that he is resting now with Our Lord. The former Cisco Jr. College (where I worked for him for two seasons) head man and also former boss of the Milwaukee Mustangs (Arena League) and Cisco High School (where he stepped down from CJC to coach his son Donnie). His claim to fame with me was that his first job was a head job at a small school nobody wanted to touch. THe place was Cumby, Texas, and the rest as they say is history. Here is a great story about that situation. I was also fortunate enough to befriend Coach Chuck Lawrence (now the head coach at Mineral Wells,Tx.). While coaching at Cisco I heard quite a few Cumby stories from Rick and Chuck. One of the funniest I recall is of the time when the Jr. High kids were showing up for their first workout and one kid showed up on the field in full gear plus a pair of cowboy boots. Hilarious! ANother I recall is their first year playing and they were getting beat pretty bad so Rick just started subbing defenders in each play without pulling a player off the field. When it got to a count of 15 players the flag finally came out! While at Cisco while defensive coordinator they played Snow College in a Bowl game. They could air it out big-time and so Rick was so flustered he could not get pressure or defend the pass that he dropped all 11 defenders. He said it looked classic on film to see all 11 defenders drop. THe bad news is that the QB still found a window and completed a pass!.After that game I believe he changed a lot philosophically.He went on to be very successful as defensive coordinator and head coach in the Arena Football League for Milwaukee. .Very great man and coach. HE always talked about being in the "KIDS" business in reference to being a coach and teacher and somewhere he still has my carbine rifle clip (from deer hunting trip) that was never returned. I'll get it later from you Ricky Joe!

What I did not know about LaVell Edwards.. Thanks to a comment from Jon E here on our blog!

We all know the greatness of LaVell Edwards and his impact on college football with his incredible success at BYU and his awesome passing attacks. Thanks to a comment from Jon E now we know the rest of the story. Coach Edwards got his start partially because of his single wing football knowledge. Here is the link..http://www.collegefootball.org/news.php?id=336
or just click the title above for the details..
Enjoy! Sorry to say Jon that I think we are talking about two different Coach Tommy Hudspeths. More Later...
Greg

Powahhhh! Football!

Great cutups of some power mixed with spread single wing. It sets up devastating play=action when mixed with the half-spin and carzy or loco option shovel. Some really nice variations shown here. Thanks to the gentleman listed who put this together apparently there is some affiliation with the Run to Daylight runningback academy. Great stuff!

Good article in Sports Illustrated about Wildcat

click above "good article in sports Illustrated" or enter the following into your browser
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/stewart_mandel/10/01/malzahn/index.html?eref=sihp

This is a good article about Gus and the wildcat.

Something tells me Gus had a little bit to do with this too..

A good simple look at a "Wildcat" package.

This Looks like aTruck I've seen before!

After viewing the "I Love me Some Gus" post I had to go back and get some retro inspiration...I think it looks a little familiar to some popular power sweep plays of today. don't you think so?

I love me some GUS!!!!

Greg Wright got me started in trading football videos in 2006 with about 10 videos. We now have 600 dvds. Anyway, part of that original 10 were the Gus Malzahn set that he made when he was the head coach at Shiloh Christian High School in Arkansas. Gus is Mr. wildcat, but much more than that. He is now the OC at Auburn and a cult hero. Here is my Gus story. Greg & I have had many discussions about Gus. We were having one of these chats after a offseason workout inthe indoor facility. Former yellow jacket, Ryan Taylor, was hanging around. He was a soph at Tyler Junior College being recruited by many D1 schools. We walked out the door talking about Gus and BAM there he was. Shock, awe, reverence, whatever you want to call it, I had it. We didnt' get to talk to him that day but the seed was planted.

A NEW BEGINNING OF SORTS

This Spring is the first of my coaching years that I will not coach baseball. I made a family decision in the Fall of 2008 that I thought was best for my family. I am hurting. Baseball is the ONLY reason I am a college graduate. It has opened a lot of doors for me and the relationships that were created with coaches/players/umpires etc. are priceless. Anyway, I am a track guy now. I have not been thrilled about this but I welcome it. I am a professional educator and work-ethic has never been an issue. Here are the stats. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest, I am about a 1.5 on any knowledge level about track. I have been given the hurdlers. My knowledge level about hurdlers is a 0. I look forward to this challenge and can't wait to see what impact, if any, I will have on my boys & girls this Spring.