college offenses

Colts offense not that much different from what Coryell & Gibbs ALWAYS did in 2 TE/2 WR, AND, 1 TE/3 WR personnel. These are the two most prevelant personnel groupings in the NFL, & (imo) give you the BEST of BOTH worlds (run AND pass). Their "sophistication" comes thru their "SIMPLICITY" (IE: "DON'T GET CUTE - JUST OUT-EXECUTE")!

In COLLEGE Southern Cal is SIMILAR, as are many others. What I personally like about the Colts offensive "philosophy" is expressed below is a series of QUOTES I have collected by their staff:


TOM MOORE OFFENSIVE THINKING

1. “LESS IS BETTER”!

2. “IF THINGS ARE GOING BAD – REDUCE. GET BETTER AT WHAT YOU DO BEST”!

3. “DON’T ADD OR CHANGE THINGS (IF IT WAS THAT GOOD – WE WOULD HAVE PUT IT IN DURING AUGUST”)!



FROM AN ARTICLE: Offensive coordinator Tom Moore is a brilliant minimalist who keeps it simple. He stretches the canvas and lets his quarterback paint masterpieces. Sometimes it seems like the Colts only have four formations and seven plays, but defenses never know what's coming next.


TONY DUNGY PHILOSOPHY:

1. BE SIMPLE

2. TEACH FUNDAMENTALS

3. PLAY HARD


PEYTON MANNING: “KEEP IT SIMPLE”:

MANNING’S STRAIGHT FORWARD BUT EFFECTIVE PHILOSOPHY: “EVERY TIME YOU DROP BACK TO THROW, YOUR GOAL IS TO POSSESS THE BALL ON THE NEXT PLAY”!!!!!

MOST run either the "Pro Scheme" (Southern Cal; etc.), or the "Spread Option Read Zone" (W Va; Florida; etc.) scheme! That's where the game is now.

It's the TALENT more than the X's & O's. There are LOTS of teams that are losing with the same system.

The only "evolutionary" thing the defense can do is RECRUIT MORE SPEED & ABILITY!

For example - if EVERY team in the USA ran the SAME offense, HALF of them would lose each week - so even the "best" offense would be only a .500 system at best!

PS: Bill Parcells stated last night (Monday night football) that "half the teams in the NFL have copied Joe Gibbs' offense". That doesn't mean that all of them get the same results.

I think it is more technique and fundamentals rather than TALENT or X's and O's. You could have the best scheme in the world but without the athletes to execute it, you're done. You could have the best athletes in the world, but if they don't block or tackle, you are done.

Give me 11 average athletes who hit and who come off the ball and play low and run hard and I will win a lot games.

The GREAT coaches I have studied (Sid Gillman, Paul Brown, Ara Parsehghian, Vince Lombardi, ETC.) ALL agreed that the four most important ingredients to success (IN THIS ORDER) are:

THERE ARE 4 PARTS TO A FOOTBALL PROGRAM. LISTED IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE THEY ARE:

A) MORALE (CONTROLS THE “WHO”, “HOW”, & “WHAT”)
B) PERSONNEL (“WHO”)
C) TECHNIQUE (“HOW”)
D) STRATEGY (“WHAT”)

*IF YOU HAVE A & B, C & D WILL COME EASY!

NOTE: I do NOT have time to debate this (who DOES "in-season"?), but I in coaching HS, College, & PRO ball for over 40 years - I have found this to be ABSOLUTELY ACCURATE!

Jerry - bear with me & read this thru: THIS I BELIEVE!

I heard Vince Lombardi say at the All-American Clinic in Atlantic City (mid 1960's) that:

"YOU CAN LOSE WITH TALENT, BUT YOU CANNOT WIN WITHOUT IT. YOU LOSE WITH TALENT WHEN A TEAM HAS NO MORALE. YOU WIN WITH TALENT WITH A TEAM THAT HAS THE MORALE TO PLAY WITH HIGH INTENSITY (IE: A TEAM THAT DOESN'T LOAF OR TAKE A PLAY OFF EVERY NOW & THEN). WHEN THE TALENT IS ANYWHERE NEAR EVEN - A HIGH STATE OF MORALE IS THE DIFFERENCE. THE MENTAL IS TO THE PHYSICAL AS 4 IS TO 1"!

He went on to say: "the difference between men is certainly in energy, in invincible determination, in the strong will; but leadership is in sacrifice, in self-denial, in love and fearlessness and in humility and the disciplined will. This is the distinction between great and little men, and quite often has nothing to do with how talented they may be”!

He ALSO said: “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will”!


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Do you have Bear Bryant's BOOK on "Championship Football"? If so - look up the famous poem in there entitles "IT'S ALL IN A STATE OF MIND". It ends by saying:

"LIFE'S BATTLES DON'T ALWAYS GO TO THE BIGGER OR FASTER MAN,

BUT SOONER OR LATER THE FELLOW THAT WINS IS THE MAN THAT THINKS THAT HE CAN"!!!!!!


Bryant 's FAMOUS QUOTE: "I HAVE WON A LOT OF GAMES WITH KIDS THAT WERE NOT TALENTED, BUT DIDN'T KNOW IT"!

EXAMPLE: Bryant said that the "BEST QB I EVER HAD WAS PAT TRAMMELL" (Called Bear Bryant's favorite player at Alabama). We ALL know that Trammell did NOT have HALF the ability of Parilli, Namath, Stabler, Todd, etc. - but Bryant chose him as his "ALL TIME QB"! Bryant himself said that "he couldn't run, he couldn't throw, but he could LEAD (now THAT'S where the "morale factor" comes into play), & he could find a way to BEAT YOU"! He had that inner "something" that "refused to lose"!

Trammell died young of lymphatic cancer - his death devastated Paul Bryant. The following reminds me of Pat Trammell:

According to the laws of
physics a bumble bee can't fly
because his wings are too small
for his size and mass. No one
has told him he can't, so, he
flies anyway.

Bill,

I agree with his statement that you can lose with it, but you can't win without it. I would really be insane to say I do not agree with what he is saying in general. I saw Pat Tramel play, the good die young as they say. In a lot of ways it is that old semantics thing again, but in this instance I believe there is a real dichotomy between TALENT as I define it, and all the rest. As always, you know I greatly respect your opinion, but as I told the other coach I just don't believe it as strongly as I do mine. You know me better than to think I am to even be mentioned in the same breath with Lombardi, Bryant, etc. but am very opinionated in certain aspects.

Jerry

Little Sisters of the Poor is a little extreme lol. i'd go with Apalachian State against Michigan? IMO, if athleticism was all you needed, then there would never be losses by the most athletic teams. the Oakland Raiders would be the best team since Al Davis drafts nothing but athletes. Vick would be the greatest quarterback. i'll take smart, disciplined, focused, well prepared over athletic anyday. Larry Bird was the most unathletic guy on the court but he was also the smartest. he anticipated and was where he needed to be before the more athletic opponent. Stockton was the same way. why play games if you're not as athletic? why even coach since schemes don't matter?

to me, 30+ years ago athleticism was the way to go because football was simple compared to today. it's become very complex presently and you need to be smart, you need to scheme and you need to go out and do multiple things while processing information quickly.

Peyton Manning is well known to have troubles with 3-4 zone blitz schemes. barely beat an injury depleted Patriots defense by 4 points AT HOME....not to mention a few defensive players cramped up in the second half because of the flu. basically, let's see Manning do it this year against the Pats and without a BS pass interference call.

Weis is playing Freshmen at skill positions so obviously they lack the experience. experince to me, is more important than athleticism. i think this is Weis' second year, not 3rd? Brady Quinn became Brady Quinn when Weis arrived.

yes, you are a coach and i am not, so obviously your opinion counts and mine doesn't. you are a tremendous coach without question, so my intent wasn't to make it sound like you're wrong, you're not, there is no right right or wrong IMO. this isn't an open/shut question, many coaches believe as you do and others believe like i do. this is what makes coaching great, different viewpoints, strategies, emotions....it's really good stuff.

Andreas - you PROVED MY POINT. If Peyton Manning had trouble with the Patriots zone blitz - WHY DIDN'T HE HAVE TROUBLE WITH OTHER TEAMS THAT RAN IT (the NFL is a "copycat league)?? Answer that for me!

That PROVES that the Patriots had more talent (& better motivation and/or organization) than the other teams that were ineffective with the same scheme. It STILL did'nt keep the Colts from becoming World Champions last season.

WHY isn't the Patriots OFFENSE working at Notre Dame right now? CAN IT BE THAT YOU TRULY "WIN WITH PEOPLE"??


PS: I got this from the Colts' QB Coach a few seasons ago & it outlines their basic thinking vs. Zone Blitz. This has WORKED FOR US as well:

Attacking the Zone Blitz


Every year we all come up with "new" and improved ways to out-attack our opponents. The zone blitz of the 1990s is one such defensive innovation that has created havoc for quarterbacks at all levels. Historically, QBs have been taught to pre-snap read safeties to alert themselves of the potential of a "dog" (LB) or blitz (DB). The difficulty caused by the zone blitz is that effective use of the package does not allow the QB to trust any pre-snap gathering of information by alignment, making him a totally reactive player and essentially putting him on the defensive.

Coaches must have excellent research and prep on what our opponents do by formation, tendencies, and personnel. As we prepare our game plans, our job is to arm the QB with the knowledge necessary to "attack the defense," rather than sit back and be attacked. Providing our QBs with a thorough idea of what coverages an opponent's defense will be in, their intentions, and tendencies in specific situations vs. specific formations, is the key to counter-attacking. The following are some examples of zone dogs and blitzes.

Offenses during the '70s and '80s had the tendency to free release four or five receivers, with the QB responsible for handling a "hot" LB or DB, and with a sight adjustment by a receiver or a built-in quick receiver route. Too often with the use of the zone blitz, the defense is able to trap the "hot" receiver - exposing the quarterback to being hit hard and often.

When an offense free-releases three receivers to the strength of the formation, the defense can create and trap the hot receiver, TE or TB. By showing a two-deep alignment, the QB has no pre-snap read for the two-man blitz or dog. The strong safety (linebacker) takes away the flat-breaking route and the weakside LB runs to the TE look-in route, forcing the QB to throw away the ball or eat it.

Vs. the one-back offense with four free receivers, the Cover two zone dog creates a "hot" one side or the other, with a DL and corner trap on the in- or out-breaking receiver.

Sometimes the best way to beat a new scheme is to look back at the past. That's where being true students of the game comes into play. We need to re-examine the old playbooks of the '60s and review the plays that called for backs and receivers to "check release" - still allowing the QB five potential receivers, but protecting him from seven defenders. These can be very effective vs. the zone blitz.

Offensively, we need to take a look in the past and give the QB protection, then release our five receivers.

Once we protect the QB, we can now exploit the big holes in the zone defense.

All that is left is deploy your receivers in places that are good vs. the dog or blitz, and, also, will work vs. coverage employed. But that's another story. Remember, never lose the attack mode on offense.

P.S. If your QB does not make $48 million, don't forget the lead option.

TIGER ONE:

Gotcha. You made your point well and I think we are in total agreement. I think today a lot of coaches would prefer to be jockeys instead of trainers ie. riding a good horse instead of training an average horse to be better.

Bill,

We are on the same page, as most often we are!

jerry

The Colts are WORLD CHAMPIONS! Nothing the opponents did last year could change that!

Someone asked me for advice on BRAIN SURGERY the other day, but I had to sadly inform them that I was NOT a BRAIN SURGEON!

PS: You're dropping names of pro teams & do not know what you are talking about. The defensive CAPTAIN of the Steelers (James Farrior) PLAYED FOR ME for 3 years. He disagrees with what you said. They used a very MINIMUM zone blitz vs Manning because he uses 7 man protection, plus gets rid of the ball so quick!

Steeler "DC" Dick LeBeau is the "father" of the zone blitz. ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli wrote: "LeBeau called only a handful of standard zone-blitz defenses against Seattle's passing game.
Pittsburgh blitzed early but, as LeBeau pointed out, the Seahawks were using "max" protection blocking schemes, and "we didn't see anything good that could come from just constantly banging our heads against a wall." THERE YOU HAVE IT FROM THE HORSE'S MOUTH!!!!!!!


PPS: Belichick himself ran a minimum of zone blitz vs the Colts last season, & played practically NO "3-4"! In this article in the "Sporting News" - it tells that the Colts have "riddled Belichick's zone blitz CONSISTENTLY". The "Sporting News" is an authoritative source!

The NFL's Upon Us

Jul 21, 2007 02:46 AM
Filed under:NewEnglandPatriots

As the Houston Texans, Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins all commence their training camps in the next few days, it's time to post some predictions for the upcoming NFL season. First of all, I have to look at the Indianapolis Colts as prohibitive favorites as Peyton Manning's still in his prime and he has finally riddled Bill Belichick's zone blitz schemes consistently, while Tony Dungy, obviously the NFL's best coach, continues to motivate his players without threatening them. The major issue for the Colts is in the linebacking corps where Freddie Keiaho must replace Cato June. If this goes seamlessly, I expect the Colts, with studs such as Manning, Marvin Harrison, Dallas Clark, Joseph Addai and Bob Sanders returning to once again be Super Bowl champions. Nevertheless, the Chargers will be strong contenders for the Lombardi trophy as will be my Denver Broncos. The Patriots are too weak in the defensive back seven (linebacking corps and secondary) to match up with the Colts, Chargers and Broncos consistently while the Jets and Dolphins are improving swiftly and can catch them in the AFC East as soon as 2008. In boldness, I think the Broncos can supplant the Chargers as the premiere team in the AFC West as the addition of Dre' Bly bolsters an already solid Broncos defense considerably. Jay Cutler is the real McCoy, and he'll make stars out of Brandon Marshall and Tony Scheffler to go along with Javon Walker and Travis Henry who have already attained that status. Nevertheless, if the AFC Championship comes down to the Broncos battling the Colts, I've still got to go with Indy. In the NFC, the Seattle Seahawks will experience a decisive resurgence as Matt Hasselbeck seems to have completely recovered from his previous injuries while Shaun Alexander has gone through a comparable transition. The defense for the 'Hawks will be better than expected and they should be able to outlast a stout Rams team, which will surprise many fans with their excellence for the NFC West title. I also like the New Orleans Saints to make some vast strides in the NFC South, especially if Drew Brees, Reggie Bush & Co. get some assistance from their much-maligned defense. I also expect the Vikings and Lions to be vastly improved in the NFC North, although the Bears are still the team to beat in the interim. In the NFC East, the division is the Eagles to lose. However, the Redskins are finally ready to live up to their high payroll, particularly if Jason Campbell receives judicious assistance from one of the great running back duos in the NFL. With all of this said, I like the Colts over the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLII at Glendale, Ariz. in a 41-38 shootout. Well, that's all for now, it's just 15 days until the preseason commences with the Steelers and Saints in the Hall of Fame game. I can hardly wait!!!

I usually TRY to document what I say!

COACHES,

Please let me enlighten you. Coach Bill Mountjoy probably has more contacts in the NFL than all of us put together and I personally have several of my own. He is personal friends with Joe Gibbs and has been for many years. I personally have coached 14 players who have had successful NFL careers, some of which are stars today and not just roster players. Coach Mountjoy has probably twice as many as that. His knowledge of the one back offense would rival that of any of the Redskin's staff and he has taught their stuff since 1981. Larry Zierline, Joe Bugel, Russ Grimm, Russ Hanifan and the list goes on are all personal friends of his. He is not only profecient in the one back offfense, but is very knowledgeable in EVERY FACET OF THE GAME.

My reason for this post is to recommend strongly that you who are newcomers to the board, listen to what the man has to say because he is not going to tell you anything that is not correct. I, personally, had to retire after a 42 year on field career of coaching due to failing health issues. He is a highly sought after clinic speaker and speaks each year for the Mega Clinics, conducts QB and 0 line football camps, as well as works with several NFL coaches who run clinics in the summer as a defensive coach. He can do it all and is willing to help anyone he can. Do yourself a favor and instead of being contentious, listen to the man and learn from him.

Coach Easton-TIGER ONE