SWC75
Bored Historian
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 34,001
- Like
- 65,618
Every Thursday night of the football season at 7PM, Head Coach Scott Shafer does a call0in show with Matt Park on TK99, (99.5 FM) in Syracuse. To submit a question during the show, you can call 1-888-746-2873 or, locally 315-424-8599. You can send a question to Matt Park via Twitter at Matt Park 1. You can also send one in ahead of time with this link:
http://suathletics.syr.edu/sb_output.aspx?form=4
Eventually, (use a broad definition), the show gets podcasted on this site:
http://suathletics.syr.edu/podcasts.aspx
Please note that my summary is not verbatim and I will combine statements made from different parts of the show that were on the same or similar subjects.
MY QUESTION
“Coach, congratulations on being the first Syracuse coach to have beaten North Carolina State in football. That was a real hard-nosed Ben Schwartzwalder type of win, running for 362 yards and passing for 74. But this is modern football and we need to be a little bit more balanced. Is it a case of being patient with young players as they learn the techniques of the passing game? Are there different strategies that could help, (such as using the tight end more)? Could someone on the bench such as Funderburke, Lewis or Cornelius give us something that we’re not getting from the starters?”
COACH SHAFER
Coach was enthusiastic about “Our first ACC win…down south…it was a blast!. There were a lot of unknowns. I love the way the kids responded when things were tight. Their mindset on the sidelines was great. They didn’t change their personalities at all.” (I assume he meant attitude). “We won the game because we ran the football and stopped the run. Matt Park reminded him that he stressed “small targets- do the small things than the big things will take care of themselves”. Coach said “We do- what we do on first down, protecting the football, net yardage on punts. But, even in modern football with all the spread offenses and so on, you’ve got to be able to run the ball and stop the run. “
Matt noted that Syracuse is 22nd in the country in both running the ball and stopping the run but that Georgia Tech is #6 in running the ball with 290 yards a game. They run it on 76% of the plays. Coach: “Georgia Tech is a unique animal- it’s an old-school triple option. The challenges keep you up at night but it’s what makes you tick…I haven’t coached against the option in a long time. If we can slow them down early, what will they go to? Meanwhile they’ll put 9 men in the box against us. It will be about game planning on the run. ”
He discussed the triple option: “You see a lot of it in high school football. Back in the day it used to be a like a cult. The people that ran it would get together in the off season to discuss their problems. It used to be in vogue. You can run it with kids who lack the athleticism and skill sets to get out and walk in space, (anybody seen “gravity”?), or go throw it down the field well….Paul Johnson has run it everywhere he’s been. He won two national championships at Georgia Southern and went to 5 straight bowls at Navy, which nobody thought anybody could do. Now he has better athletes at Georgia Tech…..Any team that runs the same play constantly can do it well. They know what they are doing…Georgia Tech pounds you into submission. They take advantage of human nature. Defending them is so simple it’s hard. You have to have the discipline to do the job and not take the bait play after play. Don’t get bored. Do the job- that’s the goal. Jay Bromley might see something and think he can make a big play- but he’s got to do the job. We need about 85% team defense. Right now it’s about 76%.” (Not 100% sure what he means by that.) We’ve done a lot of repetitions. But a lot of people have done a lot of repetitions and still struggle. I hope the offense starts fast and creates a change element so they’ll have to throw it more. “
Coach said there’s actually a triple option in every spread offense. “In the zone read, the quarterback can fake to the running back next to him pulls it is the end goes in toward the line of scrimmage or throws it if the end comes for him.” I assume “pulls it” means he keeps the ball and runs with it. “They stress you with plays you wouldn’t normally worry about if you didn’t have to worry about the other things.” (Meaning they can throw long on simple pass routes because they’ve got you covering the triple option.)
Matt Park noted that they don’t’ have a Calvin Johnson any more. Coach agreed but said “Georgia Tech draws the backs up and passes effectively over them. They have big, strong receivers. Some of their younger kids have speed but lack consistency. They are no different than us- developing that part of the game.” Matt noted that the Yellow Jackets had had several injuries in their defensive backfield and are playing guys who were intended to be their 2nd or 3rd stringers but that those guys have a lot of experience now. Coach: “They have had some blown coverages, bitten on some play-action or has a bigger, more experienced wide-out go up and get the ball.” All things that have happened to us to. It looks like another week where seem to be playing ourselves, in some respects, anyway.
He seemed fairly obsessed with the subject of cut blocks, where one man holds up a defender and another comes in below the waist. “It’s a fringe area. They use a cut blocking scheme. …You have to do your job while being aware that someone from your blind side might take your knees out.” Later he jokingly said “There are people in the media I’d like to cut block and then call them and ask them about their injuries.”
Coach likes the away the ACC does its injury reports. “On Monday you announce anyone who is out for the season. On Thursday you announce who is probably, questionable or out for Saturday’s game.” Matt said the Big East tried that for one year but abandoned it. He didn’t say why. Coach Shafer said that a lot of things have changed since he came into coaching and some of them he doesn’t like much but some he does and the ACC injury report system is one of them. “
I called in my question. Coach went right to the last part of with a classic coach’s comment: “We are going to put our best personnel on the field at all times. Those players who are ahead of the young men you mentioned are there because they have consistently done a better job the practice field.” (Like Drew Allen did coach?) “But the competition continues. We have no set players.”
Matt said “There’s a Yin and a Yang”. Coach: “Balance is always the goal. It’s a work in progress. We knew that coming in.. You play to your strength and work on your weaknesses.”
He discusses Terrell Hunt. “His anticipation has to improve. Throw through the windows even when they are not open yet. The players have to get there. He has to show patience. We have good schemes. He’s left open players while taking off with the ball. He’s gotten away from staying with his reads a split second longer. I show him some film of some open receivers he missed and he said “Dang, coach!” He’s gotten some added practice time this week. “
Tom in Syracuse asked if we could sue more roll-outs with Terrell in there. Coach: “That was part of the game plan last we. But it’s hard to limit your attack to half or a third of the field. As a defensive coordinator I loved it when a team rolled out because you can cheat on defense with the flow. Terrell can do the drop-back stuff.”
Matt suggested they “love up Jerome Smith” (?) He noted his 66 yard run vs. Clemson and his 57 yarder vs. North Carolina State, which was “between the hashmarks”. (I guess that means he didn’t run at an angle to avoid anyone-just flat out-ran them, although they did catch-up.) Coach: “He’s a little faster than people realized. He has good football speed. We had some speed guys around him when he first came here. His pass protection has improved immensely, as has his leadership. Everybody looks up to him.” Coach praised the offensive line: “I could have gained 20 yards.” That’s high praise, indeed. He also praised running back coach DeAndre Smith who coached two national rushing champs at Northern Illinois, Michael Turner and Garrett Wolf. Apparently the guy knows what he’s doing.
They also loved up Cam Lynch and Durrell Eskridge. “I’m extremely pleased with Cam Lynch. He had been the defensive player of the year Georgia. He was not as tall as some of the other prospects and got passed up.” Durrell was named the ACC defensive back of the week, despite playing with a cast that made his hand basically a club, according to Matt. “When I first saw him he was a skinny kid making one-handed catches in high school. I loved him but we passed on him. Then his coach called me and told me he’d been switched to safety and his team had won the state championship. He’s a good football player but he can be a very good player. And he’s doing great in school, despite coming from Liberty City, one of the toughest neighborhoods in Miami.”
Matt mentioned that Tulane was doing well. Coach said he keeps track of those things. “Our opponents have won 64% of their games and I suspect Georgia Tech opponents are about the same.”
Coach said something about a Lead Zeppelin song and Matt noted he’d made a reference to “Raisin in the Sun” in his news conference today. (We never got that from Coach P.) Coach said “I get bored sometimes. That’s why I have other interests….I have to do a better job balancing things out.” IHTDABJ?
http://suathletics.syr.edu/sb_output.aspx?form=4
Eventually, (use a broad definition), the show gets podcasted on this site:
http://suathletics.syr.edu/podcasts.aspx
Please note that my summary is not verbatim and I will combine statements made from different parts of the show that were on the same or similar subjects.
MY QUESTION
“Coach, congratulations on being the first Syracuse coach to have beaten North Carolina State in football. That was a real hard-nosed Ben Schwartzwalder type of win, running for 362 yards and passing for 74. But this is modern football and we need to be a little bit more balanced. Is it a case of being patient with young players as they learn the techniques of the passing game? Are there different strategies that could help, (such as using the tight end more)? Could someone on the bench such as Funderburke, Lewis or Cornelius give us something that we’re not getting from the starters?”
COACH SHAFER
Coach was enthusiastic about “Our first ACC win…down south…it was a blast!. There were a lot of unknowns. I love the way the kids responded when things were tight. Their mindset on the sidelines was great. They didn’t change their personalities at all.” (I assume he meant attitude). “We won the game because we ran the football and stopped the run. Matt Park reminded him that he stressed “small targets- do the small things than the big things will take care of themselves”. Coach said “We do- what we do on first down, protecting the football, net yardage on punts. But, even in modern football with all the spread offenses and so on, you’ve got to be able to run the ball and stop the run. “
Matt noted that Syracuse is 22nd in the country in both running the ball and stopping the run but that Georgia Tech is #6 in running the ball with 290 yards a game. They run it on 76% of the plays. Coach: “Georgia Tech is a unique animal- it’s an old-school triple option. The challenges keep you up at night but it’s what makes you tick…I haven’t coached against the option in a long time. If we can slow them down early, what will they go to? Meanwhile they’ll put 9 men in the box against us. It will be about game planning on the run. ”
He discussed the triple option: “You see a lot of it in high school football. Back in the day it used to be a like a cult. The people that ran it would get together in the off season to discuss their problems. It used to be in vogue. You can run it with kids who lack the athleticism and skill sets to get out and walk in space, (anybody seen “gravity”?), or go throw it down the field well….Paul Johnson has run it everywhere he’s been. He won two national championships at Georgia Southern and went to 5 straight bowls at Navy, which nobody thought anybody could do. Now he has better athletes at Georgia Tech…..Any team that runs the same play constantly can do it well. They know what they are doing…Georgia Tech pounds you into submission. They take advantage of human nature. Defending them is so simple it’s hard. You have to have the discipline to do the job and not take the bait play after play. Don’t get bored. Do the job- that’s the goal. Jay Bromley might see something and think he can make a big play- but he’s got to do the job. We need about 85% team defense. Right now it’s about 76%.” (Not 100% sure what he means by that.) We’ve done a lot of repetitions. But a lot of people have done a lot of repetitions and still struggle. I hope the offense starts fast and creates a change element so they’ll have to throw it more. “
Coach said there’s actually a triple option in every spread offense. “In the zone read, the quarterback can fake to the running back next to him pulls it is the end goes in toward the line of scrimmage or throws it if the end comes for him.” I assume “pulls it” means he keeps the ball and runs with it. “They stress you with plays you wouldn’t normally worry about if you didn’t have to worry about the other things.” (Meaning they can throw long on simple pass routes because they’ve got you covering the triple option.)
Matt Park noted that they don’t’ have a Calvin Johnson any more. Coach agreed but said “Georgia Tech draws the backs up and passes effectively over them. They have big, strong receivers. Some of their younger kids have speed but lack consistency. They are no different than us- developing that part of the game.” Matt noted that the Yellow Jackets had had several injuries in their defensive backfield and are playing guys who were intended to be their 2nd or 3rd stringers but that those guys have a lot of experience now. Coach: “They have had some blown coverages, bitten on some play-action or has a bigger, more experienced wide-out go up and get the ball.” All things that have happened to us to. It looks like another week where seem to be playing ourselves, in some respects, anyway.
He seemed fairly obsessed with the subject of cut blocks, where one man holds up a defender and another comes in below the waist. “It’s a fringe area. They use a cut blocking scheme. …You have to do your job while being aware that someone from your blind side might take your knees out.” Later he jokingly said “There are people in the media I’d like to cut block and then call them and ask them about their injuries.”
Coach likes the away the ACC does its injury reports. “On Monday you announce anyone who is out for the season. On Thursday you announce who is probably, questionable or out for Saturday’s game.” Matt said the Big East tried that for one year but abandoned it. He didn’t say why. Coach Shafer said that a lot of things have changed since he came into coaching and some of them he doesn’t like much but some he does and the ACC injury report system is one of them. “
I called in my question. Coach went right to the last part of with a classic coach’s comment: “We are going to put our best personnel on the field at all times. Those players who are ahead of the young men you mentioned are there because they have consistently done a better job the practice field.” (Like Drew Allen did coach?) “But the competition continues. We have no set players.”
Matt said “There’s a Yin and a Yang”. Coach: “Balance is always the goal. It’s a work in progress. We knew that coming in.. You play to your strength and work on your weaknesses.”
He discusses Terrell Hunt. “His anticipation has to improve. Throw through the windows even when they are not open yet. The players have to get there. He has to show patience. We have good schemes. He’s left open players while taking off with the ball. He’s gotten away from staying with his reads a split second longer. I show him some film of some open receivers he missed and he said “Dang, coach!” He’s gotten some added practice time this week. “
Tom in Syracuse asked if we could sue more roll-outs with Terrell in there. Coach: “That was part of the game plan last we. But it’s hard to limit your attack to half or a third of the field. As a defensive coordinator I loved it when a team rolled out because you can cheat on defense with the flow. Terrell can do the drop-back stuff.”
Matt suggested they “love up Jerome Smith” (?) He noted his 66 yard run vs. Clemson and his 57 yarder vs. North Carolina State, which was “between the hashmarks”. (I guess that means he didn’t run at an angle to avoid anyone-just flat out-ran them, although they did catch-up.) Coach: “He’s a little faster than people realized. He has good football speed. We had some speed guys around him when he first came here. His pass protection has improved immensely, as has his leadership. Everybody looks up to him.” Coach praised the offensive line: “I could have gained 20 yards.” That’s high praise, indeed. He also praised running back coach DeAndre Smith who coached two national rushing champs at Northern Illinois, Michael Turner and Garrett Wolf. Apparently the guy knows what he’s doing.
They also loved up Cam Lynch and Durrell Eskridge. “I’m extremely pleased with Cam Lynch. He had been the defensive player of the year Georgia. He was not as tall as some of the other prospects and got passed up.” Durrell was named the ACC defensive back of the week, despite playing with a cast that made his hand basically a club, according to Matt. “When I first saw him he was a skinny kid making one-handed catches in high school. I loved him but we passed on him. Then his coach called me and told me he’d been switched to safety and his team had won the state championship. He’s a good football player but he can be a very good player. And he’s doing great in school, despite coming from Liberty City, one of the toughest neighborhoods in Miami.”
Matt mentioned that Tulane was doing well. Coach said he keeps track of those things. “Our opponents have won 64% of their games and I suspect Georgia Tech opponents are about the same.”
Coach said something about a Lead Zeppelin song and Matt noted he’d made a reference to “Raisin in the Sun” in his news conference today. (We never got that from Coach P.) Coach said “I get bored sometimes. That’s why I have other interests….I have to do a better job balancing things out.” IHTDABJ?
