Simulated Gameday Experience

So I picked this idea up from here, but it’s something I had been noticing over the past few weeks. Tennessee’s offensive renaissance hasn’t been a function of improved playcalling, new schemes, or anything of the like; it’s simply been a function of improved execution. And those schemes? Those schemes are incredibly simple; they’re just working because they’re run very well.

Tennessee’s running a classic pro-style offense right now – and by pro-style I mean the entire gamut: motions, formations, and the same 15 plays over and over again. From what I can tell, the running plays consist of basically inside zone, outside zone, power, and some dive variant. Even something as relatively simple as a stretch play has been avoided, which is something I’m personally happy about. It’s one of my pet peeves to see stretch plays run to the near sideline when the defense is equally as fast as the offense; you can get most of the same effect by running an outside zone without having to have the RB waste time running toward the sideline. With the zone plays, he keeps his shoulders facing the end zone and can hit the hole strong.

That’s been the main point of emphasis with the offense this season; the Tennessee coaches are doing what they can to put Montario Hardesty and Bryce Brown in a position to succeed. Hardesty in particular has responded well to it – his runs are some of the most aggressive I’ve seen this season from anywhere. Given the complexity of last year’s Clawfense, simplifying the offense was likely going to be the best thing moving forward for the offensive line.

As for the passing game, it’s been remarkably simplified, as Jonathan Crompton’s seen simplified pass concepts and route packages. It’s likely that he’s not even looking at the entire field when he’s dropping back – as a matter of fact, I doubt he is. That’s one of the easiest ways to get a QB understanding how to read the field; just start cutting it into pieces. (One thing to keep in mind – it’s a coaching point, but still – is you want to have all the WRs expect, or at least act like they expect, the ball once they complete their route; savvier DBs on slower-developing plays will recognize this, adjust, and react.) Crompton’s likely looking at half the field and a checkdown route – that should be three guys to read, max. Of those three guys, two of them are running a route concept (say, they’re attacking the CB on the short side of the field); in this example, if the CB cheats back, hit the guy underneath. If he goes down to get the underneath guy, go over the top. If there’s a safety above the CB taking both routes away, look to the checkdown. If that guy’s covered, roll and throw it away. It’s a simple enough progression that should only take 2-3 seconds to complete, provided it’s taught correctly.

Really, the entire thing isn’t smoke and mirrors; it’s just easy. I expect it to get progressively more complex as the staff both picks up things they like and can install packages faster, but for now that’s all it is, and it works. Hey, if it’s good enough for Texas Tech (that super-prolific offense has maybe 20 plays, tops), it’s good enough for Tennessee.

Tags: Bobby Petrino wants this job, Tennessee Vols