Addicted To Quack - Duck Tape: Film Study Compilation of Oregon’s 2022 Football StaffAn Oregon Ducks Blog: Often Imitated, Never Duplicated, Always Fashionablehttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46661/atqfavicon.png2022-08-04T07:01:00-07:00http://www.addictedtoquack.com/rss/stream/228000382022-08-04T07:01:00-07:002022-08-04T07:01:00-07:00Duck Tape: Film Study of Head Coach Dan Lanning
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<p>A review of Oregon’s new defensive scheme from the 2021 Georgia tape</p> <p id="ROHdWf"><em>Nota bene</em>: This article is an overview of Georgia’s defense from a schematic and philosophical perspective, since it will in all likelihood be the structure that Oregon uses in 2022. It is not a preview of the 2022 Georgia defensive personnel, with its returning players and new coaches - that article will be published later in the month as Oregon’s opener against Georgia approaches.</p>
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<p id="DDOPuJ">The most significant observation from reviewing the defensive tape of Georgia’s 2021 championship season — for which new Oregon head coach Lanning was the coordinator — is that there are no major schematic or philosophical differences between that team and new Oregon DC Lupoi’s 2018 championship defense at Alabama. I <a href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2022/2/7/22921310/duck-tape-film-study-of-dc-tosh-lupoi">reviewed Lupoi’s film</a> earlier this offseason and went over some of the history and principles of the “Mint” defensive structure developed at Alabama by Nick Saban and Kirby Smart, before Smart took it with him to Georgia and Lanning operated successfully it in recent years. There are some minor differences in the blitz schedule, mostly having to do with bringing the nickel vs a backer, though that’s more likely to be about specific personnel strengths rather than a strong coordinator preference.</p>
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<p id="E6ut5r">As a variation on the “Tite” front popularized by Dave Aranda (the head coach at Baylor and previous employer of new Oregon co-DC/DB coach Powledge), Mint teams use a 3-down front in a <a href="https://ftw.usatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/90/2019/08/tite-front.jpg">4i-0-4i configuration</a>, with the nose controlling both A-gaps and the big DEs plugging the B-gaps. The edge rush comes from the OLBs, and typically Georgia used one on the line with two ILBs at depth and a nickel secondary, though on obvious passing downs they’d play 2-down with two OLBs or even lose a backer and play dime, and they’d lose the nickel and switch to 3-down with two OLBs in run situations when the offense brought out multiple tight ends.</p>
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<p id="tzyOvF">This should sound fairly familiar to Oregon fans, because the Ducks have been employing and recruiting for a 3-3-5 over the last five seasons, and these personnel concepts are virtually identical to what the last few years’ teams have been doing. This isn’t so much a scheme change (in the way that, say, going to a 4-3 would be) as simply some adjustments to priorities and assignments. Given the depth and talent of <a href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2022/7/19/23269291/duck-dive-oregon-football-2022-preview">Oregon’s returning defensive front</a> with the appropriate body types and position ratios for this scheme, I don’t expect any issues installing the defense or the staff needing to make significant changes to the way they’ve called it at their previous stops.</p>
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<p id="eiteyX">Philosophically, the main insight of the Tite and Mint defenses is that in modern football the pass is more lethal than the run, and so they devote as much of their resources as practical to stopping intermediate and deep passing without totally surrendering their rush defense. The secondary typically plays zone coverage though will switch to man on 3<sup>rd</sup> downs, but that’s common to a lot of defenses.</p>
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<p id="xLGADC">There are two unusual aspects of this front in pass defense. First, everybody but the nose tackle is capable of dropping into coverage – the ILBs play pretty patiently against RPOs and assume it’s a pass until they see the back has the ball, the OLB frequently backs out while an ILB or the nickel rushes, and the ends will even drop out for some exotic pressures. Second, the variety of blitzes is bewildering (though interestingly, I never saw a corner blitz), and the defense frequently uses simulated pressure and “creepers” to make the QB think he’s getting a blitz when really they’re only rushing four or even three. Essentially, the pass rush is constantly keeping the passer and the protection guessing about where it’s coming from, and are trying to create unblocked defenders whether they blitz or not. Some examples of the blitz strategy:</p>
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<p id="NZ8BSQ">(Reminder – you can use the button in the lower right corner to control playback speed)</p>
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<li id="uQOADb">:00 – The nickel (to the field, since that’s the passing strength) and the OLB are both on the line here, but both drop and the ILB crashes through. The OLB is taking away the checkdown and then gets the TFL when the QB tucks. Note the layered zone coverage on the reverse angle – the nickel is covering two throwing lanes, and the non-blitzing ILB hands the TE off to the safety to cover the crosser from the other side.</li>
<li id="HQN3U2">:14 – This is a pretty common 3<sup>rd</sup> down look, 2-down with OLBs on both sides, one ILB in the middle of the line and the other at depth. Both OLBs drop and both ILBs plus the nickel blitz. The LT thinks the edge is coming so the LG takes the DE, leaving the blitzing ILB free and clear.</li>
<li id="vqkv5Q">:25 – This was the first actual 5-man blitz of the game, and the 1<sup>st</sup> quarter stats reflected it. Bringing numbers had a salutary effect – three rushers against two linemen on the right meant the back had to try and pick up a 3<sup>rd</sup> round draft pick and that was no match at all.</li>
<li id="0DrRDJ">:34 – Both ILBs are creeping up to the line making this look like a 6-man blitz, but back out to cover the crosser. That little bit of extra pressure was all that was needed for the RT to jolt inside, leaving the end unblocked with a direct shot on the QB who has to scramble and try a risky throw against tight man coverage.</li>
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<p id="Ysj6x7">The benefits of successfully simulating pressure are obvious – get the effect of hurrying the QB without sacrificing a fifth defender to the pass rush – and they’ve been getting <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-003-tite-fronts-sims-creepers-oh-my-w-ron-roberts/id1473232876?i=1000446347034">more prominent throughout college football</a> in recent years. Duck fans will recall seeing quite a bit of this basic idea during <a href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2019/10/1/20892443/duck-tape-film-review-of-oregons-new-defense">Andy Avalos’ tenure</a> as Oregon’s DC.</p>
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<p id="qiXeCL">What really caught my interest from reviewing Lanning and Lupoi’s film is the extent to which they were using sims (and exacting research into the opponent’s tendencies) to actually cut off plays before they began. Some examples:</p>
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<li id="KMZkCT">:00 – Same personnel as standard downs, but in a fairly common variation one of the ILBs is up on the line due to the offense being unbalanced to the field. He backs out while the ILB at depth rushes, and is free to make the play on the screen pass. Nice job by the nickel in block destruction too, though that’s not schematic.</li>
<li id="vUOw49">:07 – The guy with his fist down to the field is an OLB so this is technically a 2-down look. The boundary OLB drops, making this only a 3-man rush, and he takes away both the boundary options. The ILB is tracking the back the entire way and gets a TFL on the checkdown.</li>
<li id="9GICpY">:19 – A TE and a fullback means Georgia has 3-down and two OLBs. The weakside one drops to cover the crosser (and the flat if the QB runs), freeing the backside ILB to track the tailback the entire way. The blocking scheme assumes the OLB rushes and the ILB would be occupied with the crosser and so doesn’t account for him running from the far side of the field, and therefore no one is available to stop him.</li>
<li id="OBcTkC">:25 – The 2-down linemen are to the right side of the OL, with a fist-down OLB on the other side and one of the three ILBs on this play over the center. He backs out while the fieldside ILB rushes, creating the desired effect – the C goes to the right to help with the d-linemen, the LT takes the OLB, and no one is left to block the crashing ILB from depth.</li>
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<p id="CVcsoG">The biggest plays against Georgia’s defense came from simple player error rather than schematic vulnerability, just as the biggest successful plays came from the Bulldogs’ extraordinary talent in the defensive front (including 1<sup>st</sup> round draft pick Jordan Davis moving in ways that defy my understanding of human physiology). Those aren’t useful for the purposes of this article so I’ll skip that film for now. There are a few areas, however, where the structure allows the passing offense some breathing room: throws to the flat, rubs vs man, and the extra strain put on the ILBs in coverage. Some examples:</p>
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<li id="geCF5Q">:00 – Zone coverage is pretty clear by leverage. That means the CB has to carry the No. 2 receiver on the go route and the safety needs to collapse into the flat, but he’s in conflict and keeps dropping even though the CB is pointing and telling him to get the No. 1 camping out.</li>
<li id="Oo76Q7">:07 – Really physical play by the backers on short-to-intermediate routes is a hallmark of this defense; they walk right up to the line of defensive holding and try to intimidate the QB from making the quick throw without committing a safety to it. It backfires here, where the bigger TE just goes up and gets the ball anyway.</li>
<li id="n6KFP5">:23 – Rub routes against man coverage are effective against most defenses and this is no exception. The safety’s positioning ensures it’s never a huge gain but throws like this are pretty much an automatic four yards for the offense.</li>
<li id="g08xRy">:30 – The backer’s assignment is to play tight to the releasing TE, since per philosophy that throw is more of a threat than leaving the middle of the field open to a scrambling QB. Turning his back to the play means there’s really no shot of stopping the QB at all, and Georgia gave up an average of about three and a half more yards than typical offenses I chart on scrambles that got past the line of scrimmage.</li>
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<p id="LtxHYz">In rush defense, this scheme uses a “spill & kill” philosophy – completely stone inside A- and B-gap running with the three linemen and force the back to bounce outside, giving the backers and safeties time to come down from pass coverage before the back can turn the corner from East-West to North-South. Oregon fans may be familiar with Pete Kwiatkowski’s 2-4-5 that he ran at UW for years which has a similar “stop the pass at all costs” philosophy, but that scheme takes it so far that physical, disciplined teams could run all over them. Tite/Mint defenses represent something of a compromise in that sense, and doesn’t produce such <a href="https://i.imgur.com/Y10qop9.png">wild disparities</a> in pass vs rush yards allowed (Georgia was 12<sup>th</sup> and 2<sup>nd</sup> ranked, respectively, in those raw stats in 2021).</p>
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<p id="ANeawQ">Here are some examples to illustrate the rush defense philosophy:</p>
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<li id="AFfFKA">:00 – The playside OLB has his leverage right – not too far upfield, able to get off the LT inside to get into the lane – but the hit is delivered by the safety who comes screaming down from off screen to deliver the hit and save the conversion on this 1<sup>st</sup> & 5. He has the extra moment he needs because of the ILB taking on the pulling C with inside leverage – that means the back has no shot of taking this run inside off the LG’s heels and has to go outside.</li>
<li id="ks33BC">:07 – The ILB doesn’t get the tackle here but he’s tracking the back the whole way, forcing an outside run to go even wider and giving the DBs time to get off their blocks and work him out of bounds.</li>
<li id="M9ZLEm">:14 – The end gets his hat inside the RG and closes down the inside running lane, forcing the back to try and bounce out. But that’s where the OLB is waiting for him, so he tries inside again, however it’s too late as the nose has gotten off his double team and the read end from the other side are free to bring him down. Note how the B-gap is non-existent even though both the end and OLB are outside of it.</li>
<li id="m7Ur6b">:20 – The front has stemmed off the usual 4i-0-4i, but the principle is still the same – clog the B-gaps. This requires some high-quality technique from the big guys to move laterally and deal with double-teams, but they get it done and the back has to bounce out. That’s more than enough time for the safety to come down and wrap him up.</li>
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<p id="yJpwnF">The areas where this scheme chooses to allocate resources away from to shore itself up against bigger threats all come in the rush defense. Because the Mint defense typically aligns the nickel to the passing strength (this is the most noticeable change from the Tite front, which usually uses field/boundary instead), offenses can create big running room outside to the field as well as some space for delayed QB runs after the ILBs drop out. Also, because of the extra pressure on the front to stop the run with fewer resources, they tend to sub a lot and so rush defense pays a bigger price when they’re caught off-guard by tempo than the pass defense does. Some examples:</p>
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<li id="nNOHCD">:00 – The offense is using an unbalanced formation to the boundary, which per the typical rules of this defense means the only defenders to the wide-side grass are the OLB and the field safety. The OLB is somewhat distracted by the RT illegally taking his helmet off so when the back gets outside the only one left to track him down is a big linemen who’s not quite quick enough for it. The safety does come down to stop a big play but schematically they don’t have anyone to prevent a ~10-yard pickup.</li>
<li id="ZX7u76">:17 – It’s a sign of how the worm has turned in college football that the toughest run for Georgia to defend is I-formation outside power toss, since the Bulldogs won their second most recent national championship in 1980 on this play. The ILB gets cut brutally by the center and is losing his footing so I don’t count it against him too much that he can’t make this tackle; the bigger issue is that every defender is accounted for by the blocking scheme.</li>
<li id="mwSx6d">:34 – Most defenses would assume 2<sup>nd</sup> & 14 is a passing down but philosophically this defense is definitely going to drop the ILBs immediately and deep to play the pass. That opens things up for a decent gain on the QB draw.</li>
<li id="aHZGIX">:42 – The officials could have flagged this for 12 men on the field at the snap, the sub is a little late and tempo in general got under this defense’s skin. The boundary safety is messing with his gloves or something instead of coming down on this RPO with a screen component.</li>
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https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2022/8/4/23291592/duck-tape-film-study-of-head-coach-dan-lanninghythloday12022-04-18T07:01:00-07:002022-04-18T07:01:00-07:00Duck Tape: Film Study of OL Coach Adrian Klemm
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<figcaption>Photo by Shelley Lipton/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Reviewing the film from UCLA’s 2015 and 2016 seasons, offensive line performance and NFL futures</p> <p id="535tta"> New Oregon OL coach Klemm has been coaching offensive linemen since 2009. His first three seasons as an on-field coach were with SMU, then he spent five years at UCLA when Jim Mora took over there in 2012. Due to recruiting violations, Klemm was suspended for the first two games of the 2015 season, his second-to-last in Los Angeles, and in September of 2016 the NCAA issued a two-year show-cause order that would have made it difficult to find college coaching employment. He finished coaching that season, and was dismissed in January of 2017 (Mora lasted one more season before UCLA cleaned out that entire staff for Chip Kelly’s arrival for the 2018 season). As far as I can tell, Klemm didn’t work as a coach for the 2017 and 2018 seasons, then was hired by the Steelers as an assistant OL coach for 2019 and 2020, then promoted to OL coach for 2021.</p>
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<p id="IdfnGT">Oregon fans have become accustomed to – or one might say, taken for granted – the excellent offensive line play the Ducks have enjoyed for the past 20 years under OL coaches Steve Greatwood and Alex Mirabal. I consider those two to be part of a very small fraternity of high quality o-line developers in the eleven-year history of the Pac-12 (the other three being Mike Bloomgren, Stanford 2011-17; Chris Strausser, UW 2014-16; and Jim Michalczik, Cal 2011-13, Arizona 2014-17, OSU 2018-present). Mostly, offensive line play in this conference is well below the standard set in the other Power leagues, and in my opinion that’s the primary reason its teams have struggled in big out-of-conference and bowl games. Klemm has big shoes to fill, figuratively speaking, to continue the o-line tradition in Eugene that’s separated Oregon from the rest of the Pac-12 with the conference’s best winning percentage for the last two decades.</p>
<p id="G2Fdfi">For this article, I reviewed the film of UCLA’s 2015 and 2016 seasons — excluding the two games Klemm didn’t coach — which are his most recent college offensive line performances, entirely with players whom he recruited and developed. Twelve different linemen will appear in the video clips below, reflecting some significant injury problems and personnel turnover between seasons. Here’s how they were recruited, and where they are today:</p>
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<p id="henAVc"> I’ve never seen a resume like this. It is astonishing that eight of the 12 are still playing in the NFL as of the most recent season (and none for Pittsburgh, in case the reader is concerned about favoritism), since putting 75% of one’s active roster in the league over a two-year span would make Klemm the most successful position coach by that metric I’ve ever studied. And it’s not the blue-chips who’d ostensibly be sure-fire picks, either – it’s mostly 3-stars and even a 2-star who were drafted or signed.</p>
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<p id="qVqgEL">It is also astonishing that two of these linemen – and one more lineman I didn’t see on the field, plus a fourth player – have filed lawsuits alleging injury mistreatment and abusive behavior, including neglect of concussion protocols. (Content warning: the allegations discussed in the following links are upsetting.) The best write-up I’ve found of <a href="https://www.ocregister.com/2019/05/30/jim-mora-adrian-klemm-ucla-staff-bullied-injured-players-lawsuits-allege/">these cases is here</a>, with an <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/now/uconn-aware-ucla-lawsuits-involving-191600500.html">update</a> when Mora was hired last December at UConn, and the <a href="https://www.ocregister.com/2022/03/29/norm-chow-former-ucla-assistant-coach-adrian-klemm-wanted-to-punish-a-player/">most recent news</a> I can find regarding their progress.</p>
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<p id="yxePRd">I’m not equipped to evaluate the claims in those lawsuits from film study, or attempt to connect on-field performance to any injury issues. I’m also not equipped to say why so many of these players have had multi-year pro careers, since I wouldn’t have guessed it from the film I reviewed – that showed fairly standard Pac-12 offensive line play, some good stuff but a lot of inconsistency and frequently poor technique.</p>
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<p id="lOGoCw">Here are the grades for UCLA’s o-linemen in 2015-16 on my tally sheet. In my charting system, a per-play error rate over a season’s worth of data measured in the single digits is pretty good (Penei Sewell had a 4% career error rate, for example), the low teens is mediocre, and the high teens is bad. Anything over 20% is discouraging. </p>
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<p id="JYj7Mv"> A few observations just from the numbers: first, run blocking was pretty consistently poor, but pass blocking was actually pretty decent. And while it’s usually the case that run-blocking grades out worse for most o-linemen (actively opening holes is harder than dropping into protection), disparities this wide between run and pass are remarkable. Second, for the players who continued from 2015 to 2016, their grades improve significantly. Third, James is something of a standout, but it should be noted that he came in as a backup tackle in 2016 for the last seven games when Miller was injured, and it was clear to me that he was very young when forced into action and that he’s naturally built as a guard instead (indeed he switched to center in the pros). For a complete, color-coded chart that correlates all the above recruitment, NFL, and performance data plus additional information mapping out when exactly each lineman played, <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZzWznqDr1jCZpPApP8wwT33ml8mWEFOI7n43Q4sSy48/edit?usp=sharing">see here</a>.</p>
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<p id="0bCSEE">It seems to me that the best fit for that data is that Klemm has a good eye in the high school recruiting process for future pro potential in frame and aptitude — including quite a few that escaped the scouting services — but I remain skeptical of his ability to teach that talent himself, and concerned that there were so many injury issues surrounding this team.</p>
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<p id="T5xkQ1">The last piece of relevant context before we get to video review is that the offensive system changed significantly over the course of these two years, arguably twice. The OC for Mora’s first three seasons, Noel Mazzone, left after 2015 for Texas A&M (some UCLA fans believe Mora fired him for scoring too fast and disadvantaging the defense, something I find inane even by Bruins’ standards). He was replaced by Kennedy Polamalu in 2016, who implemented a staggeringly unproductive pro-style offense which was abandoned halfway through the year to resume a kludged spread offense, and was promptly fired at the end of his first season … and probably not soon enough.</p>
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<p id="UBS40i">To make matters worse, UCLA lost a generational running back, Paul Perkins, at the end of 2015, and he was the only back in that year capable of salvaging otherwise poor run-blocking into significant gains. So they lost three lineman, their most gifted back, and an acceptable run scheme for 2016 – it should have been expected that their rushing performance suffered, and indeed it did, falling to #127 out of 128 in FBS in both rushing yards per game and yards per carry (Oregon, also 4-8 that season, ranked #27 and #15 respectively). And then after six games their starting QB, Josh Rosen, got hurt and was replaced by a QB I genuinely did not remember at all, whose career NCAA passer rating was a poor 112.6, compared to Rosen’s pretty good 140.1.</p>
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<p id="89qHYh">All of these reasons are why, on the advice of fellow film reviewer <a href="https://twitter.com/osgoodck">Chris Osgood</a> of Bruin Report Online, I went back and watched UCLA’s 8-5 season in 2015 in addition to just the miserable 2016 season as I’d originally planned, and why this article is a <a href="https://twitter.com/hythloday1/status/1512186885225197569">week later than expected</a>. His comments on UCLA’s 2016 coaching staff are not reproducible in a family publication, but they were welcome and useful all the same.</p>
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<p id="Em8VMA">Let’s start with what UCLA was trying to accomplish in the run game. In 2015 under Mazzone, we’re seeing a lot of 11-personnel spread formations with zone blocking, relatively uncomplicated and familiar to West coast football fans for the last couple decades. Then in 2016 under Polamalu, the first half of the year it’s trying to recreate Stanford’s glory days (or perhaps Polamalu’s at USC) with very compact formations and frequently three-TE sets, a fullback, and an attempt at complex power blocking. That goes sideways, predictably (the OL issues aside, the TE and FB blocking were even more problematic), and in the back half of the season they practically dug Mazzone’s playbooks out of a closet and we get back to the spread and a lot of RPOs. To illustrate:</p>
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<p id="SmIPE1">(Reminder - after pressing play, you can use the left button to slow any video to 1⁄4 or 1⁄2 speed)</p>
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<li id="sqqltr">:00 – This was the Bruins’ most effective type of zone run, simply washing down the entire line where the big bodies can just lean on the defense. It minimizes the impact of a few issues, like the RG losing control and the LG getting his hat on the wrong side of the second-level block, and of course the TE misses his block on the backer so the run doesn’t get any more than a 1<sup>st</sup> down, but as long as the LT wins the gap is going to be there.</li>
<li id="WaKljU">:06 – Good zone blocking here from the left side of the line, and the LT wins his by running over the defender, so it’s a big gap to run through. The way the defense is configured, with no safety behind the backer since he’s going after the second back in motion, this would have been a touchdown if the LG got in a better second-level block.</li>
<li id="ZMP75E">:12 – First game of 2016, under-center in 12-personnel. The line is all going one way and winning their blocks, with the H-back slicing under to kick out the DE. The offense gets what it wants from the backer who chases the other TE on the fake RPO (there are a lot of fake RPOs this season). The Z-receiver just needs to pick which DB to block, probably should have taken the CB instead, but in a microcosm of this entire season, runs into the ballcarrier and the back has to do the work himself.</li>
<li id="G57qeo">:33 – Back to an 11-personnel spread for week 8, and this is some of the best zone blocking all season. Good combo then move up by the center with the LG successfully taking over the block entirely, the backup RT gets his hat placement right so that even with losing his feet he creates enough of a gap initially, and the RG escorts his defender out of the way.</li>
</ol>
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<p id="Q1a7qI">The abysmal run performance at the start of the 2016 season aside, the main issue I was seeing over these two years was what typically plagues Pac-12 offenses – poor development of the offensive line strength, technique, and footwork. The following aren’t <em>representative</em>, of course, since even with an unacceptable error rate of 20% for instance, a lineman is still doing just fine four-fifths of the time. But they are<em> illustrative</em> of the typical issues I’d see over and over again when there were run problems.<em> </em>Some examples:</p>
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<li id="yZl0VH">:00 – It might seem like the failed pull by the RG is the biggest problem here, but not really, he makes enough contact with the ILB so that the back can step through. The real problems are the LT’s and C’s techniques. The LT is lunging at the DE with his hands first, before getting his feet in place so that his weight is over his feet and he can block with power. The C simply loses in a “low man wins” contest with the nose – he’s forced high and that lets the NT throw him to the side.</li>
<li id="znfiOj">:08 – A pin & pull to the boundary just requires way more technically sound linemen than this. Good work by the LT and the C recovers well, but the RG is way too high and his hat is on the wrong side, and he gets worked so far into the backfield that it interrupts the LG’s pull and blows up the play.</li>
<li id="q4DB6V">:16 – This was the most common type of run performance out of these offset-Is – very good blocks by the LG and C, but the RT takes a bad first step and loses inside to a 7-tech (!), and the RG’s footwork at the second level is so unsound he gets knocked to the turf by a Wazzu LB (!!). Also note the basically useless blocks by the TE and FB.</li>
<li id="hMA0yX">:24 – Pretty bad whiff by the RT against the OLB, and the center is lunging into his hit on the overhang backer which lets him both get outside contain and then spin around to pursue inside. Good job by the LT, the LG loses his guy but it doesn’t really matter, and the RG driving back a DT of this size is pretty impressive.</li>
</ol>
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<p id="zSbsx4">More concerning, I was seeing quite a few assignment errors in the run game – not just failing to block properly, but being in the wrong place or engaging the wrong defender (or no one at all). The complexity of run blocking schemes are why o-linemen are typically the smartest members of the squad, and I’m sure Klemm’s unit was made up of bright guys, but there sure were a lot of boneheaded plays like these:</p>
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<ol>
<li id="CWGzQZ">:00 – This play has been an Oregon staple for as long as I can remember, and it was tough for me to watch it blocked incorrectly so often. The defensive strength is aligned to the field (three over two) so this should be a run to the boundary, through the offense’s right A-gap. The right side of the line and the LT have it right, and the LG and C start out with the correct combo on the DT, but it’s the LG who’s supposed to take over the block while the C moves up to hit the ILB on the offense’s right (the back is supposed to accelerate away from the unblocked fieldside ILB). Instead they get it <em>backwards</em>, with the LG going up, and to the wrong ILB, and he still misses him, and the third field defender gets a shot in too.</li>
<li id="NGhmlk">:14 – Again this is a really basic zone run. The defense has three down linemen, so it’s an LT-LG combo and a RG-C combo to start out with, and then the LG and C are supposed to move up to take on the backers, while the LT and RG take over the DL blocks fully. Instead, the LG turns his body and is late to get off his combo so his backer runs past him (and he gets flagged for a hold when he belatedly realizes it). The RG doesn’t combo <em>at all</em> much less take over the block, so that DL gets a free shot at the back, and he trips the C who’s moved up to his backer.</li>
<li id="uPmsq4">:22 – One of many horribly executed I-formation runs. The RG and C don’t know which defender is their man, and given that the FB hits the OLB and so this is presumably outside power to the right, I have no idea what the left side of the line is doing.</li>
<li id="FEe7MV">:29 – The LT gets beat inside, which happened often but isn’t really an assignment error. Same thing with the C losing his guy by getting high and not readjusting his hand placement to maintain control – that’s a technique deficiency. The worrying thing here is how the LG handles the stunt by the ILB. This is zone, not man, so when the ILB follows the unblocked DE to the <em>backside </em>of the play, he’s supposed to let him go and move up to hit a safety or help the right side of the line. Chasing the ILB around is useless and makes the LT’s problem worse.</li>
</ol>
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<p id="qtp5ud">By contrast, the pass blocking was fairly effective and almost every lineman graded out well on my tally sheet, some very well. There are some technique issues we’ll look at below and I especially dislike the tackles short-setting, but most defenses didn’t have Myles Garrett and Daeshon Hall (like A&M did in their 2016 opener) who could exploit them. In addition to setting up pretty decent pockets for deep shots or getting late in the progression for intermediate routes over the middle, this line was particularly good at RPO blocking and rolling the pocket, which require some special practice. Some examples:</p>
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<ol>
<li id="qfRinM">:00 – The RT is risking a holding flag for a takedown and the LT is playing with his helmet off, but those aside this is a nice handoff of the twist by the LG and LT. It’s also good re-anchoring by all the pass blockers, keeping hand contact while dropping hips and keeping the feet positioned properly to strike again with power.</li>
<li id="UkvxPp">:10 – Very well executed RPO here, at the most successful general category of playtype UCLA recorded on my tally sheet. The RG’s hat is on the wrong side if this would have been a stretch run, but other than that the LT is bullying his guy, the RT actually has his sealed properly, there’s a nice legal cut, and the center’s pull sells the run while also not getting 3 yards past the LOS to avoid an IDP flag (he even turns and checks that it’s a throw).</li>
<li id="ECCkY8">:19 – Nice job across the board here, against a very good pass-rushing defense. The RT escorts his guy around allowing the QB to step up and the left side of the line is dealing with the T-E stunt perfectly, with the RG handling the 1-tech so well the C is free to help the LG with that stunting end. Rosen airmails the ball for no good reason but that’s not the line’s fault.</li>
<li id="f1wCdt">:34 – Rollout passes, either naked or moving with the line like this one, were more than 15 percentage points more successful on a per-play basis than standard dropback pass-pro across the two years I studied. It takes some agility to move laterally like this while keeping shoulders square to the line of scrimmage to maintain blocks – pay attention to the footwork on the replay.</li>
</ol>
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<p id="COZlQD">But when pass protection did break down, my stars it was catastrophic. I saw every goof typical to Pac-12 line play – lunging, imbalanced weight, improper hand placement, playing high, stiff knees, you name it. Some examples:</p>
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<ol>
<li id="1B2AdI">:00 – The tackles are doing well here, but all three of the interior guards are playing way too stiff and their defenders get past them without much effort or advanced d-line moves. The LG needs a better base to keep moving, the C doesn’t have his hands on the DT’s chestplate, and the RG is bent at the waist so he gets rocked back and can’t re-anchor when his guy swipes him.</li>
<li id="Lt2c3M">:09 – The LG is lunging at this inside move instead of keeping his feet moving so he can absorb the hit squarely, that turns him and takes the C away from any possible help with the stunt. The LT is doing the best he can with that late shove, but the real problem is that the QB has nowhere to move because of how bad the RT is beat. Even before contact, the RT is turned 90 degrees and is trying to drop while perpendicular to the LOS, which I see constantly from these tackles in pass-pro.</li>
<li id="lKSMSW">:30 – The RT here is showing all three kinds of common poor technique: poor footwork in not establishing a proper base, lunging into contact to lose weight balance, and not maintaining hand contact (I saw this wild hand flailing all the time from these tackles). Again the LT is handling the stunt as well as he can, but the LG needs to take over this block so he can do that but he’s got his left leg planted incorrectly and so that guy just runs past him.</li>
<li id="UBBtdX">:37 – The C is leaning to the side instead of dropping quickly and hitting the rusher squarely, the RG has three different guys he could hit and gets none of them, and – I can’t reiterate this enough – one should not be put on roller skates by a Wazzu d-lineman.</li>
</ol>
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<p id="df1Wfp">The really problematic thing in pass protection was handling blitzes and stunts, which requires a lot of communication between linemen that I just wasn’t seeing much of. It was particularly painful to watch both years’ games against Arizona St, in which Todd Graham’s Sun Devils just blitzed UCLA into submission on nearly every play and the Bruins never developed an effective response. I could have filled this section five times over with just clips from those ASU games, but it certainly wasn’t limited to them:</p>
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<ol>
<li id="IFo7ah">:00 – When the DE makes an inside move, the RT shouldn’t be turning and chasing him like this. He should be dropping and swiveling his head, looking for that OLB possibly coming off the H-back, or, as actually happens, the DT looping around to his side. (The LT isn’t getting a full drop here and instead turning 90 degrees as I mentioned earlier, but that’s technique and he doesn’t pay a price for it here anyway.)</li>
<li id="mN3TTQ">:07 – It was pretty clear by this point in the game that ASU was going to bring all six here, and this pickup strategy is baffling. The defense has two to the right of the nose and three to the left (from the offense’s perspective), so why is the o-line slanting to its right? The LT taking the DE means they’ve got four blocking three in the middle while the back somehow has to block two blitzers and he can’t even handle one. Meanwhile both the RG and RT get embarrassed.</li>
<li id="ReCoNm">:13 – The LG not being able to decide which blitzer to hit is a problem, but the real issue here is the C lacking awareness of the blitz entirely. There’s only one guy going to the offense’s right, leave him for the RG and help the LG with the inside twist.</li>
<li id="Tk8Dg3">:21 – Here’s an unbalanced formation with all four potential targets going out. I don’t understand the strategy here for the LT. The LG doesn’t need help since no one could be coming up the middle (except possibly the ILB but if so then the crosser as hot route is built into the play). But with the back running to the sideline there’s no one to protect the edge – who is supposed to pick up that backer who’s clearly showing blitz?</li>
</ol>
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https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2022/4/18/23017442/duck-tape-film-study-of-ol-coach-adrian-klemmhythloday12022-04-05T07:01:00-07:002022-04-05T07:01:00-07:00Duck Tape: Film Study of WR Coach Junior Adams
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<img alt="Syndication: The Register Guard" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/d2pa4JfSx0NsDJPrS0vitVjYLjc=/0x0:3849x2566/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70711985/usa_today_17867667.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A review of the last 9 seasons of an 18-year career, at Eastern Washington, Boise St, Western Kentucky, and Washington</p> <p id="xIFYHK"></p>
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<p id="J8XAu0">New Oregon WR coach Adams has coached that position every year of the last 18 seasons, starting in 2004 for three seasons at Montana St, then a year apiece at Prosser HS in Washington and FCS Chattanooga. He then had an eight-year stretch from 2009 to 2016 at FCS Eastern Washington (five seasons) and Boise St (three), two schools that produced a whole lot of future Pac-12 coaches and NFL players over that time. Adams then went to Western Kentucky for two seasons in 2017-18 before spending the last three years in Seattle staring in 2019. (Curiously, new Oregon RB coach Locklyn was at both Chattanooga and WKU too, but he and Adams don’t overlap at all and that appears to be a coincidence.)</p>
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<p id="4CXNXz">Nobody in this industry gets hired by eight different coaches over 19 years at the same position without enjoying and being fairly competent at it. And if his last employer were any other school, it probably would have sufficed to leave it at that – I expect Adams to be at least a replacement-value coach for Oregon, with the possibility of developing another great NFL receiver. But that last school was Washington, and needs must when the devil drives.</p>
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<p id="yCWXxU">I’ve been writing off-season and in-season previews of the Huskies for every year Adams coached there, including all the painstaking research for what would have been the 2020 game (which I’ve sometimes referred to as “the best story I never wrote”). It’s arguably the worst stretch of the post-Sarkisian era for wide receivers, though that’s not saying much, since outside of John Ross the Huskies never had very good WR play. Adams arrived at a chaotic time with one head coach unexpectedly quitting, another predictably getting fired, and a global pandemic in between.</p>
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<p id="T4F4bq">Unlike the remarkable stability of the rest of the staff — almost every coach who came in with Petersen in 2014 lasted all eight years — WR coaching was quite a carousel in Seattle. Incoming WR coach Jamarcus Shepard will be the sixth in 10 years, with Adams coming in at the end and lasting the longest at three. The rest of the time the WR room saw a bunch of coaches who had been or would be fired – Eric Kiseau, Brent Pease, Bush Hamdan, and Matt Lubick. The playcallers Adams worked with, Hamdan and John Donovan, were in my opinion the least capable of any OC in his entire career and both were fired after two seasons. Reportedly, future head coach Jimmy Lake’s <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheathletic.com%2F3204079%2F2022%2F03%2F29%2Finternal-documents-text-messages-provide-look-into-final-days-of-jimmy-lake-era-at-washington%2F&referrer=sbnation.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.addictedtoquack.com%2F2022%2F4%2F5%2F23009968%2Fduck-tape-film-study-of-wr-coach-junior-adams" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">problematic tenure</a> was causing <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/uw-husky-football/suspended-uw-football-coach-jimmy-lake-faces-allegations-he-shoved-player-in-2019/">locker room problems</a> with Adams’ WR unit as early as 2019.</p>
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<p id="ivSKPM">In both my <a href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2019/10/18/20920236/duck-tape-film-analysis-of-washington">2019</a> and <a href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2021/11/5/22763951/duck-tape-film-analysis-of-washington-2021">2021</a> in-season previews of UW, I acknowledged fan theories that the WRs weren’t playing well — in particular because they were asking naturally built inside receivers to play outside due to some recruiting, injury, and transfer problems — but reserved most of my criticism those years for the QBs, o-line, and play design. (For an audio version of the argument I’ve consistently made that UW’s receiver room isn’t the problem with its offense, check out <a href="https://quack12podcast.com/quack-12/2021/6/20/washington-roster-review-with-gabey-lucas-2021">this summer 2021 podcast</a>, the six-minute stretch starting at 43:17.)</p>
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<p id="VvzTz9">All of which is to say that even though I’ve charted every one of Adams’ games at UW and would usually use those three years alone as the basis of an article such as this, I think it’s useful to go back and look at his previous stops at EWU, BSU, and WKU to consider the longer sweep of his career. I already had most of those games in my library for other projects, such as this <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/CFB/comments/3hblch/">write-up of Vernon Adams</a> as he was transferring to Oregon in 2015, which brought back some interesting memories of his connection with future Super Bowl-winning receiver Cooper Kupp.</p>
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<p id="2a9la5">The conclusion I’ve reached is that Adams is a pretty good wide receivers coach and I see the same techniques in route-running, hand- and footwork, and the fight for extra yards at every school. I think that UW made some screwy decisions with its WR deployments during Adams’ tenure there, and while I have no way of knowing how much responsibility he had in those decisions as opposed to being orders from on top, it’s probably not zero and it’s not like he resigned in protest.</p>
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<p id="9w747g">The most striking thing about Adams’ receivers is their consistently excellent hands in reeling in even somewhat inaccurate passes, which makes the rash of drops in 2019 such an anomaly. That issue doesn’t show up on the film at all before, and it gets fixed by the 2021 season (<a href="https://gfycat.com/rareemotionalcopperhead">here’s a video</a> from my article last year documenting that explosive passing was the <em>only</em> competitive thing about that offense), so I’ll spend some time below trying to figure it out. Otherwise, Adams’ career features a lot of standout receivers who can catch just about anything and win contested balls, and not just one guy at any given stop. Some examples:</p>
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<ol>
<li id="90tvk8">:00 – EWU had four receivers with 700+ yards in 2013, here’s the fourth of them in the FCS playoffs beating the corner, making the catch despite the obvious restriction on his right arm, and then throwing that dude to the ground en route to a touchdown.</li>
<li id="IvlwJX">:19 – This is the Fiesta Bowl against the only team besides national champion Ohio St to beat Oregon in 2014. Good legal physical contact from the slot, then reaching back to catch a ball that’s thrown behind him.</li>
<li id="SxMfHa">:34 – The receiver here is a transfer from TCU who <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/CFB/comments/3j85w2/tcu_fans_ive_now_watched_the_last_13_games_and_i/">I wasn’t real thrilled with</a> in Ft Worth and got to WKU very late in his career, and Adams got a lot of improvement out him of in short order. This high catch in double coverage and surviving the hit that takes off his helmet was pretty impressive.</li>
<li id="R5CQhD">:48 – Dumb play design forces both these receivers to slow up into coverage when they should be accelerating away from it, so this wobbly RPO throw is ahead of the receiver and he has to lunge for it, but pulls it in nicely.</li>
</ol>
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<p id="Cb1rDJ">The tape also shows consistently high quality route-running, with only a small handful of miscommunications in the nine seasons I reviewed. Even during UW years which were bumpy in other areas, I didn’t see any footwork problems and in fact did see quite a bit of advanced stuff like stutters and false steps to get the DB out of the way. Some examples:</p>
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<ol>
<li id="O5i5J5">:00 – This is EWU’s second leading receiver, with a great outside step to move the safety then getting around the blocked throwing lane by the linebacker. Clean acceleration gets him 20 yards after catch without being touched, and an extra ten with a guy on his back.</li>
<li id="MoKfqS">:17 – The receiver here caught the fourth most passes on the team this season, but it’s clear the QB has a lot of faith in him to let this ball go as the protection breaks down. He’s got the man coverage beat soundly and has to accelerate at the last second to catch an overthrown ball.</li>
<li id="aI1J3V">:25 – Great double move here by BSU’s leading receiver, including the head fake that gets the Wazzu DB totally turned around.</li>
<li id="KMnYGk">:41 – This out and up cut is so crisp that it gets Utah’s freshman 4-star flying the wrong way. A woefully underthrown ball from UW’s latest noodle-armed QB gives him a chance to recover and try a pass break-up, but the WR gets it secured and sends him crashing into another DB.</li>
</ol>
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<p id="tcTRjD">I also observe a lot of fight in Adams’ receivers to get extra yardage, and awareness of where the sticks are to get a 1<sup>st</sup> down. I don’t have any film of the “alligator arms” issue where receivers are afraid of contact and don’t lay out to get the ball, but instead see a lot of physical, even violent play after the catch. Some examples:</p>
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<ol>
<li id="FUmJGG">:00 – The other safety is covering the H-back so Kupp doesn’t have anyone but the back judge to his left and could have run to the pylon, but instead he turns back into the DB to fight him the last six yards into the endzone.</li>
<li id="v8G2bR">:09 – The receiver always knows where the line to gain is here – he keeps himself across it rather than crossing back to come to the ball, then when he’s forced back he fights it off to regain the 1<sup>st</sup> down. He takes quite a pounding here and had to be helped off the field, though he came back on the next drive and was productive the rest of the game.</li>
<li id="smoLpA">:29 – This receiver is fighting four tacklers to pick up five extra yards, turning what would have been a 3<sup>rd</sup> & medium into a 3<sup>rd</sup> & short (they picked it up with a run the next play).</li>
<li id="6YhLBH">:39 – Great catch of a fastball here, with one of the best safeties the Pac-12 has produced in the last 10 years coming down hard onto him and forcing him to fight the last several yards to convert the 1<sup>st</sup> down with the game on the line.</li>
</ol>
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<p id="3ohLoe">So how can the grumbling about the Huskies’ receivers, particularly in 2019, be resolved? Some of it, I think, really is on the WRs’ performance – short-statured seniors who were built like inside receivers were asked to play outside and got punished for it, they had a hard time catching the rockets from QB Jacob Eason after four years of catching softballs from QB Jake Browning, and attempts at really aggressive play just weren’t working for this crew. Some examples:</p>
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<li id="bgYux1">:00 – Here’s that same senior receiver as the last clip earlier in the same game. The ball’s a little ahead of him but he doesn’t have his hands up fast enough for Eason’s heater. He played 42 games (missing a few to injuries) in five years from 2015-19, and the first four of them he definitely wouldn’t have been handling this kind of velocity from Browning.</li>
<li id="hM8rLA">:07 – This senior was the leading receiver in both 2018 and 2019, but despite that he never got on the same page with Eason. If he were a longer strider he might have made it to the sideline in time for this ball, it’s not a badly run route but that chemistry between QB and WR didn’t develop.</li>
<li id="0bJkSi">:13 – I thought this was the Huskies’ most talented receiver by far (he’s since transferred to BYU) and if anyone should have caught a fastball thrown behind him on a crosser this is it. Instead it bounces off his chestplate and he sulks about it.</li>
<li id="p87gpR">:33 – We’ve seen Adams’ receivers successfully leaning into man coverage then breaking away to create separation before, but this WR doesn’t get it done and the CB is in range for a PBU.</li>
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<p id="arJkQ1">However, as I wrote about quite a bit during the last three seasons, I think the rest of the Huskies’ passing offense, including both scheme and playcalling as well as QB and OL play, had a lot more to do with it. I have literally hundreds of examples of good WR play behind sabotaged by everyone else wearing purple on my tally sheets over the last three years, so many that I felt somewhat overwhelmed writing this section and had the computer select these clips at random:</p>
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<ol>
<li id="nmd9BC">:00 – There’s no reason for this ball to be high on a comeback, if anything it should be low and away if it’s not on the numbers (I suspect it has something to do with the RT getting crushed, something that happens a lot with their unbelievably still-employed OL coach). The WR’s courage going up for it is admirable but he just doesn’t have the height to be playing outside and this throw nearly gets him broken in half.</li>
<li id="Xk8PEB">:07 – Gorgeous throw and remarkable catch for 20 yards. Too bad the Huskies were in 3<sup>rd</sup> & 26 on their goalline.</li>
<li id="m5NqlL">:15 - I could write an entire article about how stupid this whole passing pattern is on the opponent’s 10-yard line, and in fact was prepared to had the 2020 UW-UO game not been canceled. Instead I will merely submit that this is excellent effort and concentration by the WR to pick up three yards.</li>
<li id="qWRM5D">:32 – Nice moves by the receiver to mess with the corner without losing momentum and he’s got him beat by half a stride. This is easily a touchdown if the ball isn’t eight yards underthrown.</li>
</ol>
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https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2022/4/5/23009968/duck-tape-film-study-of-wr-coach-junior-adamshythloday12022-03-31T07:01:00-07:002022-03-31T07:01:00-07:00Duck Tape: Film Study of RB Coach Carlos Locklyn
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<img alt="NCAA Football: Western Kentucky at Marshall" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/47M1fgdT-huLFlrbQ5kxM82Y1og=/136x0:4624x2992/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70693737/usa_today_17243557.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>A review of Locklyn’s 2021 season at Western Kentucky, including Oregon transfer RB Noah Whittington</p> <p id="eRbToX"></p>
<p id="MDC6qV">New Oregon RB coach Locklyn has one year of on-field college coaching – 2021 at Western Kentucky as RB coach – but he’s been involved in football coaching since 2009. After a college career as a running back with FCS Chatanooga (as he recounted on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DZIvMyFYa0">this entertaining podcast</a>) and then making a go at pro football, he returned to the state of Tennessee where he was a high school offensive coordinator for eight years at four different schools with some pretty impressive records. He made the leap to college coaching at Memphis in 2017 and spent three seasons there in off-field roles, overlapping with future Oregon head coach Dan Lanning, OC Kenny Dillingham, and special teams coach Joe Lorig. He finally left the state of Tennessee in 2020, following head coach Mike Norvell to Florida St as director of high school relations.</p>
<p id="QA5nlp">Prior to the 2021 season, WKU’s running back room was kind of a mess. Its leading rusher in 2020 was a converted DB, and two other backs with significant carries were two-way players as well. Their cumulative average in 2020 was 4.5 YPC. WKU head coach Tyson Helton made a staffing change in 2021, bringing in Zach Kittley to run the offense from the Texas Tech Air Raid tree, and Locklyn took over the backs.</p>
<p id="hFgWm9">Those three defensive players were then out of the RB room, and Locklyn reset the lineup with a four-back rotation — all full-timers, two of them getting carries for the first time — and the average rose to 5.3 YPC. The leading back in terms of carries (101), yards (617), and average (6.1), Noah Whittington, has since transferred to Oregon. The other three also did pretty well with similar body types and running styles, averaging between 4.6 and 5.3 and getting between 27 and 81 carries apiece.</p>
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<img alt="NCAA Football: Memphis at South Florida" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Q-Zuz9IbZV4UQ6tUcPCqzDjGb84=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349067/usa_today_13701399.jpg">
<cite>Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports</cite>
<figcaption>The only photo Getty or USA Today has of Carlos Locklyn</figcaption>
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<p id="cklOpJ">The Hilltoppers’ offense threw the ball about twice as often as they ran it, and quarterback Bailey Zappe set all-time FBS single season passing records in yards and TDs. But the running game wasn’t like some Air Raid offenses I’ve watched like Wazzu for several years, where they were all surprises checked into by the QB. Instead they were more or less the standard set of zone- and power-blocked runs from spread looks that virtually all modern college offenses use, called from the booth like any other. I also didn’t see much of opposing defenses selling out to stop the pass by using very light boxes, like UW has done for several years (actually, two defenses did that against WKU in 2021, but I’ve excluded those games from the clips in this article).</p>
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<p id="lPexED">The only real schematic assistance that the offense gave the run game was fairly frequent use of RPOs; otherwise their rushing success came down to what it usually does - quality backs and strong offensive line play. I expect all three of those factors to continue at Oregon.</p>
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<p id="BWTpRk">The most striking thing about all of Locklyn’s backs in 2021 was how patiently they ran, waiting for blocks get in place and then exploding through the hole. That’s something that often takes years for backs to develop (I recently spent about three seasons at Oregon waiting to see it consistently) so it was remarkable to see at WKU across the board with a new staff and basically a new set of players. Some examples:</p>
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<p id="wOg2Nl">(Reminder - after pressing play, you can use the left button to slow any video to 1⁄4 or 1⁄2 speed)</p>
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<ol>
<li id="o866i0">:00 – Pretty classic counter here, watch the back’s footwork (this is Adam Cofield, the #2 RB). First the counter step, then a little outside shuffle to get the OLB to stay outside, waiting for the LT to come around to put his foot down, cuts through the hole, lowers his shoulders into contact, keeps his feet and stumbles into the endzone.</li>
<li id="US8xWg">:12 – This is an outside stretch zone and Whittington is showing a lot of patience while it develops. He’s thinking about that far B gap since the RT has it opened up so wide, but sees that two of the d-linemen and both inside backers do not have square shoulders to the line of scrimmage and his o-line is going to clear them out completely, so he makes the smart cut in to open grass.</li>
<li id="WoBa8Z">:32 – Again, nice patience waiting for the pull. This is Whittington, but his running style (particularly footwork) is almost indistinguishable from Cofield, despite the fact they’d never seen the field together before this season.</li>
<li id="IT1Yrz">:40 – The three outside blocks all develop late on this play – the H-back, the LT, and the slot receiver – and it could have gone a couple different ways. Whittington stutters just enough for it to become clear, then goes.</li>
</ol>
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<p id="akOn4B">The other main factor that I think contributed to WKU’s rising rushing average during Locklyn’s tenure was a consistent fight for extra yardage. Every back I watched showed hard running into contact and diving to pick up a few more while airborne when they were being tripped up. Some examples:</p>
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<ol>
<li id="pd9YQ2">:00 - The RT is losing control of his block and the center (who I thought was the weakest of WKU’s run blockers) isn’t engaging and turning his at all, so the blocking only gets about 3 yards of this run. The additional 4, very typical of this RB room, comes from Cofield’s fight, including getting picked up and slammed down during an attempted rip of the ball.</li>
<li id="xPdbTU">:08 – It’s 3<sup>rd</sup> & 3 despite what the chyron says, and the fake double screen holds the backside safety but not the playside one. Also the C and RG aren’t controlling their blocks at all. So Whittington gets creamed by three guys from two directions (plus some extra-curriculars), but gets the 1<sup>st</sup> down.</li>
<li id="A9roIq">:24 – This is Kye Robichaux, the #3 back. Really impressive balance here, breaking three tackles and then securing the ball tight as he takes the final hit.</li>
<li id="rPkJlx">:42 – Blocking gets the first 4 yards here including the 1<sup>st</sup> down, but watch the footwork by Robichaux at the 38-yard line, that little inside move makes the safety hesitate and prevents him from getting a clean wrap-up to stop the run dead, instead allowing another 5 yards even though he does get the tackle.</li>
</ol>
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<p id="YUdf2j">The old adage in football is that you can’t coach speed. I didn’t see any lightning-fast backs at WKU, but I did see guys who knew what to do with their speed, both when the play was there for them to hit and get extra, and when it wasn’t and they had to improvise. Some examples:</p>
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<li id="51B0my">:00 - WKU ran outside from these twin stacks a couple times per game to keep the defense honest, and the backs had to do the hard work to pay them off. Whittington is fast enough to get to the edge even with the slight detour he has to make to get around the ILB crashing in, and with no help because the LG turned around to deal with that backer.</li>
<li id="yJoTRK">:16 – The inside run blocking just isn’t there for this play, the RG pulls but his hat is on the wrong side. The perimeter blocking is sound but those guys are expecting it to be an inside run so Whittington has a lot more traffic when he chooses to bounce outside. Good balance lets him get 5 yards on 1<sup>st</sup> down from what might have been a stuff at the line of scrimmage.</li>
<li id="duJGVE">:24 – Here’s Cofield again, this time on a nice draw play that I’ve been wishing would come to Oregon for several seasons now. The defense takes the bait so he just needs to accelerate from a standstill into the open grass, and he winds up wearing the OLB like a backpack for 12 yards.</li>
<li id="BY36rk">:32 – I picked this one because the field was in pretty bad shape in Boca Raton and a lot of runners went down trying to make cuts. Whittington keeps his balance nicely and just explodes after putting his foot down, and finishes with a nice dive for extra yardage.</li>
</ol>
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<p id="c4p4cT">Finally, while Kittley’s offense didn’t feature the backs in the passing game too much (actually something of an anomaly for both Air Raid and RPO-based offenses), I thought the backs all showed pretty good hands when the ball went their way on checkdowns and the occasional screen or wheel route. I don’t have a single embarrassing drop charted, but I do have a couple remarkable catches of wobbly balls thrown under pressure. Here’s a representative sample of passes thrown to running backs:</p>
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<ol>
<li id="DPVWHQ">:00 - Here’s a checkdown to Cofield, by far the most common usage of backs in the passing game. Textbook technique here: slips out, quickly shows his numbers, smooth catch with the ball completely secured before he turns, then a burst downfield for 12 yards.</li>
<li id="PP7GtM">:09 – I don’t have much film on backs in pass-pro since most defenses didn’t want to blitz against Zappe and leave holes open, so that’s the biggest question mark I still have left for Locklyn’s backs in general and Whittington in particular. This is what I saw much more often – Whittington waiting for a green dog, and when it doesn’t come he leaks out and looks for a pass. Same smooth catch, properly securing it before turning, and the burst to quickly get 8.</li>
<li id="pvKbWb">:18 – The scheme didn’t have a lot of these inside screens and Zappe’s a little rusty at throwing them, this one is higher than it needs to be. Whittington has to go up and get it, which is not easy when moving forward, turning back, then turning forward again without losing momentum.</li>
<li id="NWjt3m">:26 – Here’s Robichaux on a wheel, he gets a big middle linebacker on him and easily outpaces him. The throw’s a little long but the back reaches out and secures it with nice soft hands.</li>
</ol>
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https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2022/3/31/22998937/duck-tape-film-study-of-rb-coach-carlos-locklynhythloday12022-03-23T07:01:00-07:002022-03-23T07:01:00-07:00Duck Tape: Film Study of OC Kenny Dillingham, Part 2: Quarterback Coaching
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<img alt="Syndication: Montgomery" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/q9A8LqCfuN21FMKrGy4wCX7Zn8k=/0x0:2500x1667/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70661353/usa_today_13700659.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Jake Crandall, Montgomery Advertiser via Imagn Content Services, LLC</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A review of the last six years as QB coach, including Bo Nix’s SEC Rookie of the Year season</p> <p id="n38feF"></p>
<p id="PKpBoU">Last week I <a href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2022/3/14/22975900/duck-tape-film-study-of-oc-kenny-dillingham-part-1-playbook-design">reviewed the film</a> on new Oregon OC Dillingham’s three seasons as coordinator with Memphis in 2018 and Florida St in 2020-21 under head coach Mike Norvell, focusing on the scheme that I expect Dillingham will bring with him. The other job title he’ll have at Oregon, QB coach, is one he’s had since he started coaching six years ago, including the two seasons at Memphis (one unofficially) before becoming OC there and one at Auburn in 2019 when he was also the OC but head coach Gus Malzahn was calling plays in his own offense.</p>
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<p id="hctrRV">Having the same person as both OC and QB coach is pretty common in modern football, when so much of the game runs through the quarterback’s decision-making process. With the rise of RPO offenses — which both Norvell and Malzahn use extensively — the quarterback is making multiple reads on virtually every play, run or pass. When reviewing Dillingham’s film over the last four years, I paid extra attention to how his quarterbacks went through their reads and progressions; this article will break down how Dillingham as QB coach developed those players.</p>
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<p id="0BvvjB">Dillingham worked with four QBs over that time: Brady White in his first of three years as starter at Memphis, Bo Nix in the first of his three as starter at Auburn, Jordan Travis for two years as starter at Florida St, and McKenzie Milton who had transferred to Florida St after missing extensive time rehabbing an injury suffered at UCF and who played in six games at FSU while Travis was unavailable. Each of their NCAA passer ratings are pretty healthy and I didn’t detect much in the way of boneheaded errors from any of them. Three of those four are transfer QBs and the fourth, Nix, was a true freshman in 2019. Nix was named SEC Rookie of the Year that season and has since transferred to Oregon.</p>
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<p id="OZP1np">The most important element in both Norvell and Malzahn’s offenses during Dillingham’s time with them is operating the RPO successfully in terms of correct QB reads of the defense on each play. In fact if I were to select <em>representative</em> video clips for this article instead of <em>illustrative</em> ones, it would be almost entirely RPOs. My understanding from interviews and presentations with RPO-heavy coaches is that the threshold for a successful RPO offense is the QB getting 95% of his reads correct, which works out to no more than one or two screw-ups per game. By that standard all of Dillingham’s QBs were effective in the scheme. Some examples:</p>
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<p id="GpR5Ux">(Reminder - after pressing play, you can use the left button to slow any video to 1⁄4 or 1⁄2 speed)</p>
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<li id="jvmirj">:00 – Pretty standard RPO throw into the flat, the read is the overhang backer whose zone responsibilities are in conflict – he has to hit the back on a run and also close the throwing lane for the slot. The QB is reading his hips and shoulders and has already decided to pull the ball and throw it even before the backer takes the wrong step inside.</li>
<li id="NCgbZB">:08 – The H-back is supposed to at least chip the backer here and he kind of whiffs so the viewer might think that guy is the read (the commentator did), but it’s actually the safety who’s walking down into the box at the snap. He keeps coming down onto the back, so there’s no underneath coverage on the throw.</li>
<li id="Q87Xq9">:15 – I feel like I watched this particular RPO about a hundred times on the Auburn 2019 film; Nix executed it very well every time. There’s two reads here, the unblocked OLB for give/keep, then the safety coming upfield on the fake sweep for run/throw. Both decisions are correct, and the ball is very nicely placed to lead the sweep man downfield with no loss of momentum.</li>
<li id="j6qvgL">:29 – The X-receiver forgets to block here, it’s going to be a run or a screen no matter what so he should be engaging immediately. Regardless, the reads are the unblocked end on give/keep, then the safety over the No. 3 receiver for run/throw. The QB gets both correct and shows good awareness of where the line of scrimmage is so the throw is legal.</li>
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<p id="9QV2ri">As a dropback passer, the QB is making a different set of decisions and reads of the defense. Both offenses I observed used progression passing systems, though Norvell’s was more traditional pocket passing and Malzahn’s was almost entirely quick passing except for a few surprise deep shots. At each school – Memphis, Auburn, and FSU – there was a pretty wide distribution of targets, including frequent passes to TEs and RBs, though among the WRs there was definitely a single favored target those QBs liked to hit more than the rest on dropback passing plays: Damonte Coxie, Seth Williams, and Ontaria Wilson, respectively. Regardless of who’s catching it, what I’m watching for a QB coach developing is proper ball placement, both finding the open man and delivering a catchable ball away from the defense. Some examples:</p>
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<li id="ysL0cp">:00 – The defense doesn’t re-align properly when the TE shifts here, so he’s open before they figure it out. Mechanically this throw isn’t easy but it’s pretty clear they’ve practiced it a lot.</li>
<li id="XP3U6s">:09 – Nix has made the decision to throw to the outside of this double-slant the instant the safety over the slot shifts his weight inside, indicating he’s not going to fall off into the outside throwing lane and let the backer cover the inside route. Crisp throw after a quick decision and leads the receiver into the endzone.</li>
<li id="QnKQF1">:19 – Watch the QB’s helmet here, he’s effectively looking off the high safety in cover-1. The throw’s not bad either.</li>
<li id="wB23U5">:40 – FSU did so much QB power out of empty with a tight end that pocket passing took some defenses by surprise. The QB is moving through his progression effectively and drops the ball into the hole nicely on target.</li>
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<p id="ARAugR">RPO offenses often de-emphasize the long ball and so I was concerned I wouldn’t get much tape on that aspect of Dillingham’s QB development. That only turned out to be true for part of one season – the first half of Nix’s true freshman year. The rest of the film I watched (including the Tigers’ upset of the Tide in the 2019 Iron bowl) featured quite a bit of midfield and deep shots, and I think Dillingham’s QBs have a pretty respectable resume in terms of producing explosive yards through the air:</p>
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<li id="EHfCmT">:00 – Cover-1 and the safety is moving to the field, the QB quickly checks out of all that and finds the split-out back just dusting the DB. Not the ideal catching mechanics, but it’s a perfect back shoulder ball that leads him into the endzone.</li>
<li id="Fp1wEH">:15 – Pre-snap motion reveals zone, and Nix steps up in the pocket when he clocks the CB blitzing. That leaves a hole in coverage and just a turned-around backer to deal with the post route.</li>
<li id="6HhOIo">:31 – Pretty typical o-line performance here: both tackles are beat, the RT is holding, and the center is illegally downfield on what’s a designed downfield passing play with no RPO component. But somehow there’s no flag, and Nix places this ball perfectly down the sideline where only the receiver can get it.</li>
<li id="zFFoxQ">:41 – Maybe two of the blocks on this play are adequate, but the QB drops this deep throwback perfectly while he’s falling backwards.</li>
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<p id="d6NOJy">I saw quite a bit of scrambling from these QBs, especially at <a href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2019/8/28/20835944/observations-questions-auburn-personnel-breakdown">Auburn</a> and Florida St, both of which I’ve written about in the past as having pretty significant problems with their offensive line protections. Every QB I watched was fairly mobile and escaped collapsing pockets effectively, though I thought Nix showed some freshman tendency to break too early in 2019, and this is my biggest criticism of both him and Dillingham. I’ve left out the plays of QBs tucking the ball and running on scrambles because footspeed and suddenness seem to come down to raw talent rather than coaching, but I’ll note that all four QBs did a good job keeping their eyes downfield and seeking out pass plays even under pressure. Some examples:</p>
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<ol>
<li id="qaeBC8">:00 – The center has a tough job to do here because he has to block for a run going to the boundary but also keep the DT off the QB if he keeps it to run to the field. It’d be easier if he had the power to drive the d-lineman back, but he doesn’t and so Nix immediately gets that guy in his face after his first (correct) RPO read. This is a tough throw to do on the hoof and falling back but he nails it.</li>
<li id="DXlCep">:08 – The blitz protection isn’t holding up real well here and Nix doesn’t get the time to set up properly going through his progression. What a throw off his back foot, right where only the receiver has a chance at the ball. The corner can’t defend this any better and he’s forced to make it one-handed, but the placement of this ball with the degree of difficulty from the pressure is incredible.</li>
<li id="hqo34m">:27 – This is a screen so the QB knows he’s going to have a rusher in his face and has to throw while drifting back. The remarkable thing here, which should be clear on the reverse angle, is that he has to keep his eyes on the TE even with the OLB in his sightline the whole way.</li>
<li id="jc9sPw">:45 – The LG pulling fools the ILB and the safety is held off the sideline by the TE in the slot. The pocket is collapsing fast and there’s open grass to run to away from pressure and shielded by that pull, but the QB doesn’t take it – he sees the corner is out to lunch (looks like zone-man assignment confusion) and hits the deep sideline pass.</li>
</ol>
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<p id="MZAAT4">Finally, while I don’t think the QB coach can do much to make his quarterbacks faster runners, I do think it’s his responsibility to ensure that they do run when the playcall and read of the defense calls for it, and that the QB uses good technique to protect himself from injury. Green lights here too:</p>
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<ol>
<li id="k9OOHi">:00 – Correct read to keep, any Oregon fan should be able to recognize that by now. When Nix had to go down in bounds I didn’t see him throwing his body around recklessly into contact, but I didn’t see a lot of foot-first slides either (those are counted as down as soon as his hip drops). Instead this was the most common, diving for extra yardage but still giving himself up.</li>
<li id="68GCXX">:09 – Alabama made this exact same defensive mistake earlier in the game and Nix walked in for a touchdown, so it was odd to see it again. At any rate, Nix knows it too and gets an easy gain, and trots out of bounds safely.</li>
<li id="Ge6BgW">:18 – Classic bootleg out of the I-formation, it’s been a minute since anyone saw this in Eugene. The QB has to watch for that outside-most backer – his weight is transferred to his inside foot to get on that TE who’s supposed to leak out for the throw, so he’s not going to be able to catch the QB to the pylon.</li>
<li id="3aVban">:32 – It’s possible that the pitch is a fake here and the QB is going to keep all the way, but at any rate it gets three different backers moving outside and the QB goes inside. Not a great lead block by the pulling RG but the QB keeps churning anyway. He can’t safely get down here, there’s no way out but through.</li>
</ol>
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https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2022/3/23/22975904/duck-tape-film-study-of-oc-kenny-dillingham-part-2-quarterback-coachinghythloday12022-03-14T07:01:00-07:002022-03-14T07:01:00-07:00Duck Tape: Film Study of OC Kenny Dillingham, Part 1: Playbook Design
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<img alt="Syndication: Montgomery" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/sqJXrzPvnUJd5rdPza6UdFpBkZQ=/0x0:3000x2000/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70619842/usa_today_13324452.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Jake Crandall, Montgomery Advertiser via Imagn Content Services, LLC</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A review of three seasons as OC under Mike Norvell at Memphis and Florida State </p> <p id="sIrNVh"></p>
<p id="n7juZk">New Oregon offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Dillingham has spent the last four seasons in the same role – at Memphis in 2018, at Auburn in 2019, and at Florida St in 2020-21. He started his coaching career in 2014 at Arizona St as an offensive assistant for two years, then as the QB coach at Memphis for the next two before his promotion to OC. In all but one of those eight years (Gus Malzahn resumed playcalling duties in his offense for that season at Auburn), Dillingham has worked under Mike Norvell, who was OC at Arizona St then head coach at Memphis and Florida St.</p>
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<p id="tLry0w">It’s unclear exactly what Dillingham’s playcalling duties were as OC under Norvell, with all credible sources indicating a “collaborative” effort and none indicating it was exclusively one or the other. At any rate, I expect Dillingham’s offensive playbook at Oregon to be heavily influenced by Norvell and similar to those run at Memphis and Florida St. I reviewed the film from those three years for this article to see what kind of offense that might be; next week I’ll focus on Dillingham as a QB coach and include the Auburn tape, which features SEC Rookie of the Year and Oregon transfer Bo Nix.</p>
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<p id="hCnEiC">The first thing that struck me when turning on the Memphis tape is how structurally similar the RPO playbook was to former Oregon OC Joe Moorhead’s. The trademark “triple-option” RPO that we saw repeatedly at Oregon over the past two years doesn’t show up, but otherwise we see almost identical concepts of putting the opposing backers and safeties in conflict, as well as a lot of the exact same QB power, pitch option, and screen plays. The two biggest differences in the RPO playbook are far more downfield passing options for tight ends than Moorhead had designed, and an extensive use of two-back sets instead of the near-exclusive single-back sets Oregon has used for the better part of a decade.</p>
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<p id="LcVe5h">Here are some examples of what that RPO playbook is trying to achieve. Note that the clips selected for this article are not <em>representative</em> of these offense’s success rates, but <em>illustrative</em> of playbook principles:</p>
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<p id="366H68">(Reminder - after pressing play, you can use the left button to slow any video to 1⁄4 or 1⁄2 speed)</p>
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<ol>
<li id="eCBq0n">:00 – The most basic of RPO plays is the slant reading the overhang backer or safety; this one complexifies it a bit by throwing to the outside receiver with the slot moving to the sideline. The DBs switch off well in zone, but without underneath coverage this is impossible to stop.</li>
<li id="WobOLP">:12 – Screen option here, with the second back going in motion pre-snap showing zone coverage. The safety has no hope of getting to this in time.</li>
<li id="kIPIJI">:22 – Readers of this series of the last two years should know this play well, power sucker vs man. The twist is a throwback to the tight end, something Oregon had as an option several times but rarely actually threw. Good thing the QB let it go, his line has a couple assignment errors.</li>
<li id="gKzz01">:42 – This is the same as the first play of this game, and shows a couple of staples: the LG pulling to block the right edge, and the TE blocking as though it’s a run play then releasing for a catch. Both get the defense moving down for run defense and leaving the middle of the field open.</li>
</ol>
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<p id="a7pkSw">If the two high-level strategic poles in designing an offense can be described as winning through personnel matchups vs attacking angles and grass (as Moorhead advocated), I would say that the offenses I observed from Dillingham and Norvell occupied a middle ground between the two. In the downfield passing game I saw a lot of legal rub concepts and play-action to pull down the safeties, but I also saw a lot of plays designed to isolate a DB against a WR who was simply a better athlete. Some examples:</p>
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<li id="Dqfcpg">:00 – Good job by the Z-receiver here to threaten contact but then avoid it so as to not get an OPI flag. It gets the same thing done against man coverage – the backer over the RB can’t get to the sideline.</li>
<li id="ldbgqP">:08 – It’s 21-personnel again, and the defense is expecting a run with a heavy box and the safety coming down. That leaves no one over the top, and the replay angle shows the WR turning the corner around and leaving him in the dust.</li>
<li id="4CWt34">:24 – Another wheel to the boundary with the Z rubbing the backer, three years later. The variation is adding a slot receiver to run off the safety when the defense blitzes.</li>
<li id="eeY5zc">:31 – There’s only two receivers in the pattern, with almost the entire defense moving into the box against 12-personnel when the WR goes in motion. He runs laterally almost as far as he does vertically, and simply outpaces the corner … with a little help from the other receiver getting in the way.</li>
</ol>
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<p id="zMhyiC">The final thing that caught my attention in the passing game was how well integrated it was with the run game. RPOs and play-action are some examples we’ve already covered, but this also includes sequencing – presenting the defense with similar looks in rapid succession, but running a different play each time to get them to react the wrong way. Pulling this off successfully is one of the arts of <em>playcalling</em> (as opposed to game planning or playbook design, things fans often conflate) and since we don’t know the extent of Dillingham’s playcalling duties it’s hard to say if he has the touch, so to speak. But I certainly saw some well called sequences over the time Dillingham and Norvell worked together, like this one last year against Miami:</p>
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<ol>
<li id="Tp39MG">:00 – Two tight ends and the running back split out – it’s a QB power run Oregon fans should know by now. The LT has to be able to seal the backer better than this, but the WR gets outside leverage and that lets the QB bounce out.</li>
<li id="mixFMM">:09 – Still 12-pers, now the back is next to the QB and the second TE is split out. The OL blocks the same way with the RG pulling and the QB starts to run with it, enough to get the OLB’s attention (while the DT crushes the center and RT). But now it’s a pitch, and the TE – who’d initially moved inside – seals his DB outside.</li>
<li id="LQzNrB">:19 – 12-pers again, next play. LG pulls, QB tucks as if to run then nods at the RB as if to pitch, TE looks like he’s heading to block the DB. But he keeps going downfield for the throw.</li>
</ol>
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<p id="1rpUVa">The offenses I watched put a lot of demands on the offensive linemen. That’s not so much because they have to stay in pass protection for extended time — the ball is usually out of the QB’s hand fairly quickly in dropback passing — but rather because the run game mixes zone and power in roughly equal proportions, and because a lineman is pulling on almost every play including passes to help sell play-action or the RPO. Oregon has been making similar demands of its o-linemen for the past several years so I don’t anticipate many problems in that regard.</p>
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<p id="n2adpA">It was, however, a very big problem for Florida St. The Seminoles’ well advertised issues with their OL that Dillingham and Norvell inherited from the previous staffs were the biggest single difference I could see between Memphis’ top-5 offense and FSU’s highly inconsistent performances, since I thought QB play, play design, and running back talent were all the same while TE and WR talent was somewhat better in Tallahassee. That presented several problems in evaluating the tape: first, it effectively eliminated several of the Tigers’ plays from the Seminoles’ playbook, like the frequent use of the wildcat in Memphis. Second, it made the inside run and deep downfield passing playbooks tough to evaluate, since we simply did not see not consistently capable guards climbing to the second level on the former or tackles protecting the edge rush on the latter. Third, there’s a huge discrepancy between FSU’s performance between the 20s vs inside the redzone – I watched an incredible number of drives get to the goalline and then sputter out because the staff couldn’t scheme their way into the endzone when the field contracts and the o-line execution couldn’t punch it in.</p>
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<p id="M0UJql">The main adaptation I saw from the FSU coaching staff was shifting most of their “bread & butter” running to the outside, behind some very good TE and WR blocking … or sometimes going weakside and playing off of the defense’s expectation that they have to run strongside for that reason. Some examples:</p>
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<ol>
<li id="R78S5D">:00 – The back moves out then makes a downfield cut, a consistent hallmark of this offense. Watch both the Memphis guards here get up to the second level to block the inside backers and make this zone play work. It isolates the back on the high safety and he jukes him, turning a 5-yard gain into a 17-yard one.</li>
<li id="jXLDAT">:06 – Here’s 21-personnel, with the TE lined up to the boundary side. Memphis runs the other way, because they know they’ll get great downfield blocking from the line, particularly the RT. The back walks in.</li>
<li id="2HgqFI">:20 – In the pistol with 12-personnel, and everybody in that stadium knew any run was going to the boundary because of those tight ends. The RG gets a nice pull and it’s fun watching the LG, WR, and even QB (!) hustling downfield to block, but the TEs are doing the dirty work here.</li>
<li id="07YUgh">:43 – Very interesting to see a read of the 4i on this play (he seems surprised by it too). The OL blocking here is regrettable, with the LT blocking the wrong guy and the LG falling down, but the scheme makes up for it.</li>
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<p id="RZU3Oe">If the line can execute these pulls, there are some really interesting run plays as well as some of the novel power RPO stuff I <a href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2021/12/29/22857948/duck-tape-film-analysis-of-oklahoma-2021">recently reviewed from Oklahoma</a>. In fact at Memphis I saw quite a few I-formation runs, something I don’t believe I’ve seen in Eugene since the 90s. I suspect that absence will continue, but here are some other examples of such plays that I think would be right at home in Autzen:</p>
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<li id="7tdeDf">:00 – I really liked watching the blocking on this play – good pull by the LG, TE coming underneath to crush his man, RG knocks his man to the ground, and the chip then move up by the RT was excellent.</li>
<li id="wq04r7">:14 – Earlier in this drive, Memphis had lined up in the same way – 21-pers, TE to the boundary — and the Tigers put the ball in their star RB’s hands running to the field with the second back as the lead blocker. Here they flip it – the second-stringer runs to the boundary with the star RB as lead blocker and the TE smashing the ILB. Watch how pre-snap the defense is moving the other way – they’re reacting to the previous play and get it wrong. Nice pull and second-level block by the OL, too.</li>
<li id="2eSd2x">:29 – This is half of a well blocked power run, but the LT comically pursues his man as that back wraps around the backside, instead of coming off to hit the safety who actually has a shot.</li>
<li id="JsH6Ey">:45 – This was my favorite play of the season for FSU – endaround to fake screen to QB counter. Good pull by the RG, the LT finally gets a good seal, and I like the RB getting a block of the blitzing DB, but the RT is kind of pinballing around.</li>
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<p id="rXe63y">Finally, while I didn’t see many of what I’d call “trick” plays out of this staff, there was a certain playfulness to these offenses, even in high pressure situations, that I don’t see often when watching Pac-12 teams in recent years. Some examples of “keep football weird”:</p>
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<li id="EpqqV7">:00 – A spread under-center look, which you rarely see out of the huddle much less after initially lining up in the I-formation, and the defense is misaligned by the quick shift.</li>
<li id="B1Zw7n">:18 – Wildcat with two TEs was relatively common for Memphis, in fact in this game they ran two entire drives exclusively out of this look. But this was the first time the back threw a pass out of it. He finished his college career with a 231.8 NCAA passer rating.</li>
<li id="PIWcd2">:29 – Two offensive linemen get beat and two others are illegally downfield on this forward pass (ACC refs earn their rep), and generally throwing into triple coverage is a bad idea. But the RPO did its job and the safeties are occupied, so when the corner gets beat the WR is just open enough for this heave.</li>
<li id="YWlm2C">:47 – The reader may recall that I repeatedly pointed out the RPO shovel option last season for Oregon, but Ducks never actually went for it. The very first opportunity FSU had to do it in 2021, with the backup QB and overtime on the line no less, they executed it perfectly.</li>
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https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2022/3/14/22975900/duck-tape-film-study-of-oc-kenny-dillingham-part-1-playbook-designhythloday12022-03-01T07:01:00-08:002022-03-01T07:01:00-08:00Duck Tape: Film Study of CB Coach Demetrice Martin
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<img alt="COLLEGE FOOTBALL: OCT 19 Arizona at USC" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-Z4kWTxCt-OnbvLgdBYbG-5mYcc=/0x0:5184x3456/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70564761/1177197426.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Jevone Moore/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>A review of Oregon’s new CB coach during his 13-year tenure in the Pac-12</p> <p id="pM8LFK"></p>
<p id="AfDFin">Oregon’s new CB coach Martin has spent the last 13 seasons coaching cornerbacks in the Pac-12. This is the fifth time he’s been hired to the position as part of a new staff:</p>
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<li id="fDIfwT">2009-11: First on-field FBS coaching job was with Steve Sarkisian at UW.</li>
<li id="voAfnB">2012-17: Hired away to join Jim Mora at UCLA. That entire staff was let go when Chip Kelly came in for 2018.</li>
<li id="LyZWc6">2018-19: Joined Kevin Sumlin at Arizona. Only defensive coach <em>not</em> fired midseason in 2019; role was going to expand from CBs to all DBs for the 2020 season.</li>
<li id="tebtxo">2020-21: Instead, in March of 2020 joined Karl Dorrell at Colorado.</li>
<li id="ECT1Be">2022: Joined Dan Lanning at Oregon.</li>
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<p id="R0wUDR">I reviewed my charts of Martin’s most recent four seasons at Arizona and Colorado for this article, but I also found a classic game in my library against USC and its four future NFL receivers from his first season at UCLA.</p>
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<p id="qNI6rP">Schematically, the most important thing for cornerbacks in what I expect Oregon’s 2022 defense to look like is that they know their responsibilities in layered zone coverage. And that’s exactly what I see when I turn on the tape for Martin’s units over the years, though there’s also a healthy amount of man coverage, especially at Arizona.</p>
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<p id="MS4WJA">At a couple of Martin’s stops when they played a nickel structure, that fifth secondary member was classified as a cornerback and I believe Martin was responsible for coaching those players, since I would see them switch back and forth between playing over the slot or an outside receiver. I’ve included clips in which those inside corners make plays, but I expect that in 2022 <a href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2022/2/14/22932412/duck-tape-film-study-of-safeties-coach-matt-powledge">safeties coach Powledge</a> will handle the nickelback with Martin working with the outside corners, so mostly we’re going to watch the latter.</p>
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<p id="JztoP4">Physically, it seems that Martin prefers longer athletes at corner who can play off a bit but close the gap once the ball is in the air to get pass break-ups. I also see a lot of pre-snap posture from CBs that looks like it’ll be man, only to turn and drop at the last second into zone. Some examples:</p>
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<p id="XU5iYQ">(Reminder - after pressing play, you can use the left button to slow any video to 1⁄4 or 1⁄2 speed)</p>
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<li id="Pj5jfr">:00 – The corner drops into zone and is playing about five yards off. Watch his helmet, he’s tracking the ball the entire way while also keeping the position downfield of the receiver. He closes, and uses his length to play the ball for a clean PBU and no flag, over a future first-round draft pick.</li>
<li id="z4Uzuh">:19 – It’s cover-1 with a six-man blitz so the coverage has to be tight and the CB isn’t getting any help. Nice legal contact the whole way here, never letting the receiver get any separation. Watch the helmet – he turns to look when the receiver turns, and plays the ball.</li>
<li id="oTN5gk">:36 – Back to zone, the CB is eight yards off at the snap, but has closed tight enough once the WR breaks in to get an arm around him. This is close but there’s no restriction or twisting of the receiver – watch how his right hand easily comes off the WR’s torso with no grip. He gets his hand out front on the ball not the arms, that’s physical play without getting flagged.</li>
<li id="UvsGYZ">:48 – The CB here is Christian Gonzalez, the 4-star who started as a true freshman at Colorado under Martin and is transferring to Oregon as a junior. This is textbook perfect coverage of a comeback route in zone, watch at how he maintains the spatial relationship to the receiver without looking at him but instead keeping his eyes on the QB. Hips are open, and able to make a dive on the ball to break it up.</li>
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<p id="4UlwDP">Usually zone coverage isn’t so dramatic, however, since the point is to take away options to get the QB to check out of a throw, giving the pass rush time to get home. The vital thing for corners is to know their responsibilities, because chasing a target out of your zone invites disaster. I didn’t see that on Martin’s film, instead I saw pretty stifling coverage with appropriate handoffs and keeping eyes in the backfield:</p>
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<ol>
<li id="StNjQJ">:00 – Lots of replays here on how the zone coverage works – even with the X-receiver cutting across the field he’s always got someone over and under him, and the field CB doesn’t chase him but instead gets out over the back who’s leaking. The CB over the Z-receiver is playing this the same way I saw a lot during Martin’s tenure over the years, which is initial contact to work the WR to the sideline, then flipping around to play under him with his eyes on the QB and a safety over the top.</li>
<li id="P6cRBb">:23 – This looks like man by alignment pre-snap, and the offense is throwing a screen on the expectation that the field CB will be run off by the X. But surprise, it’s zone … that CB has his eyes on the QB, comes off his guy, and fires into the slot receiver to knock the ball out. Note the wrap-up tackle and turning his head to lead with the shoulder. This is before targeting was an ejection, but it’s nonetheless a clean hit with good technique.</li>
<li id="BU1JFl">:35 – The inside and outside corners to the boundary know the safety is on top of this boundary-trips so they’re staying in between with their eyes on the QB. The ball has to be high to get it over the outside CB, who importantly is not over-pursuing the H-back into the flat – he’s in position to hit him if it goes there, but he’s also in the lane to force a high throw over him.</li>
<li id="Ki5XdA">:41 – The ball goes away from Gonzalez but watch his technique on the replay – he’s protecting the sideline and staying on top, with the safety underneath. To the field it’s just nice zone coverage with the OLB dropping to give them a numbers advantage.</li>
</ol>
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<p id="mENg21">Finally, while I didn’t see much cat blitzing on Martin’s tape, corners have to be able to fire down on outside runs and screens. This is another area where I think his preference for bigger, more physical corners shows up:</p>
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<ol>
<li id="h7xGfK">:00 – The corner doesn’t make the tackle here but his playing with proper outside leverage – and size to keep the receiver from moving him – is essential to the play. The back can’t get to the sideline and has to bounce back inside where the defense has help.</li>
<li id="fI1u5G">:06 – Great job by both the inside and outside corners here. On the outside he fires down immediately, faster than the slot can set up to block, and on the inside he wraps up and tackles the receiver instead of cutting his ankles as I see many CBs do.</li>
<li id="lqmvPt">:14 – This offense hadn’t run this sweep-to-pitch play before this game, so this was pretty impressive adjustment on the fly by the defense. The inside corner breaks down properly, forcing the pitch but maintaining outside leverage, and has the speed and positioning to still run down the pitch man.</li>
<li id="txQDzk">:32 – Gonzalez is doing such a good job with his leverage that he not only denies the sideline, which is his schematic responsibility, but he gets around the WR blocking and contributes to the tackle, which is going above and beyond.</li>
</ol>
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https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2022/3/1/22955143/duck-tape-film-study-of-cb-coach-demetrice-martinhythloday12022-02-21T07:01:00-08:002022-02-21T07:01:00-08:00Duck Tape: Film Study of DL Coach Tony Tuioti
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<img alt="COLLEGE FOOTBALL: AUG 28 Nebraska at Illinois" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/c-EglZF23gP2Q8IJD0nrOHktjrA=/0x0:3000x2000/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70533655/1234957304.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>A review of Oregon’s new DL coach during his last four seasons at Cal and Nebraska</p> <p id="nXqXYj"></p>
<p id="w68Tm5">Oregon’s new DL coach Tuioti graduated from Hawaii in 2000, and has spent time as a high school head coach, as an assistant DL coach with the Cleveland Browns, and as director of player personnel for Hawaii and Michigan, plus two years as Hawaii’s DL coach and another two in Honolulu at LB. He’s spent the last five seasons in the Power-5, joining HC Wilcox’s new staff at Cal in 2017 as the linebackers coach, moving over to the Bears’ defensive line in 2018, then taking the Nebraska DL job in 2019. This article will review the film on those last four seasons.</p>
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<p id="IDEgw4">The defensive coordinators at both Cal and Nebraska were Oregon coaches at other points in their careers – Tim DeRuyter for the former and Eric Chinander for the latter. Both employed similar schemes that map onto what Oregon has been doing for the last several seasons, including both 2-down and 3-down fronts, and I expect Tuioti’s line for the Ducks to be a bridge between last year’s structure and the new Mint/Tite scheme that HC Lanning, <a href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2022/2/7/22921310/duck-tape-film-study-of-dc-tosh-lupoi">DC Lupoi</a>, and <a href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2022/2/14/22932412/duck-tape-film-study-of-safeties-coach-matt-powledge">co-DC Powledge</a> have been coaching.</p>
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<img alt="North Carolina v California" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vxWn_UAbZTWKQL-Adi3DIgKkRdA=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23259838/1025988954.jpg">
<cite>Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images</cite>
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<p id="4JdhgX">As discussed in my two previous articles on this defensive staff linked above, I expect the 2022 Ducks defense to go to a variety of 2-3-6 dime looks on obvious 3<sup>rd</sup> down passing situations, and I saw something pretty similar on Tuioti’s tape throughout the last four seasons. The main difference is that, unlike Alabama and Baylor which stuck with a 3-down Tite front with one Jack OLB and one nickel DB on virtually all remaining downs, Cal and Nebraska would alternate between a 2-4-5 (two OLBs, no nose) and a 3-4 (two OLBs, no nickel) on standard downs. There was also a strong tendency last year at Nebraska to bring out the 3-4 only when the offense had two or more tight ends on the field; such a tendency didn’t exist with the Bears or the 2019-2020 Husker defenses. For a deeper background on how Wilcox and Baylor HC Aranda deploy Tite fronts differently, <a href="https://throwdeeppublishing.com/blogs/news/the-bay-and-the-bayou-justin-wilcox-and-dave-aranda-s-defenses">here’s an excellent primer</a>.</p>
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<p id="Q0oGeA">The reason I think Tuioti’s line will bridge the gap is that when they were in a 3-4, his three linemen were always in the 4i-0-4i Tite configuration that DeRuyter has recently adopted (for most of his career he favored a 5-0-5, but with the rise of spread offenses he switched to the B-gap clogging Tite front at some point during his 2012-2016 Fresno St tenure). Chinander used the same structure at Nebraska. The clips in this article will include only those 4i-0-4i fronts, as I expect them to be the primary d-line configuration for Oregon in 2022. As with previous articles, these clips are<em> not representative</em> of Cal and Nebraska’s defense, but<em> illustrative</em> of the schematic choices that I believe will carry over to Oregon, and Tuioti’s development of linemen within that type of front.</p>
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<p id="qgu4gX">Let’s start with execution, because even more than scheme it’s what impressed me the most with Tuioti’s linemen. In this type of 3-down front, the main job of the line isn’t getting penetration or performing stunts, it’s controlling gaps - the DEs stay inside the tackle to clog the B-gap, and the nose gets both A-gaps. They make the backers (and sometimes DBs) shine by letting them do the edge rush or interior penetration to get tackles and negative-yardage plays. I thought Tuioti’s units did great work in that role, especially considering he was mostly working with low-to-mid 3-star talent … and arguably his best performer was Cal’s nose guard in 2018, Chris Palmer, who was unranked out of high school and has been sorely missed at Cal over the last three seasons. Some examples:</p>
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<p id="uWXZcv">(Reminder - after pressing play, you can use the left button to slow any video to 1⁄4 or 1⁄2 speed)</p>
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<p id="Sp1GLF">Even though Cal and Nebraska were using two OLBs instead of one OLB plus a nickel as I expect at Oregon, I still consistently observed the same basic principle in rush defense as in all Tite fronts – “spill & kill.” The linemen stay inside the tackles and prevent any interior running, forcing the back to bounce outside and giving the backers and DBs time to come upfield (that is, out of pass coverage) to make the tackle. So while I think these double-eagle fronts will be rare at Oregon, readers of the previous two articles should find what they see here to be pretty familiar by now:</p>
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<ol>
<li id="QlLNaU">:00 – This run is meant to go through the offense’s right B-gap, but the DE has that completely closed down with a great jump inside, forcing the back to reverse and go outside where the rest of the defense converges on him. Note the nose and other DE keeping their eyes on the play, disengaging and getting to the ballcarrier too.</li>
<li id="2aapnQ">:10 – Good leverage by the DE here – the RG wants to work him inside but he stays outside to close the B-gap while the nose is closing that A-gap. The back tries the other side of the formation instead, but there’s no one to account for the ILB on that side and he’s playing patiently according to scheme, so he gets an easy tackle.</li>
<li id="maEhxb">:19 – Note the pre-snap shading as the TE goes in motion, now both DEs are inside the tackles at the snap against this heavy I-formation run. The defense is playing this properly, with the cornerback and high safety unaccounted-for and in-position to stop this after only two or three yards, but check out the nose and backside DE getting off their blocks to stop it even sooner.</li>
<li id="qkyQ8p">:27 – This is the other way that d-linemen contribute to run stopping without actually tackling themselves – occupying double teams. The RG can’t pry the DE out of the B-gap, and misses the ILB coming through the A-gap. The OLB maintains proper outside leverage so the back runs back into him.</li>
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<p id="jGoFLd">The sacrifice that Tite front linemen make is that they don’t often get to be the heroes on a play – they’re not coming of the edge or penetrating into the backfield based on exotic stunts, and they get basically the same responsibilities during blitzes as with standard pass rushes. So sacks and QB hurries that d-linemen contribute to either take the form of liberating a backer or DB to get to the passer, or just straight-up beating your o-lineman and getting in the backfield yourself. I saw plenty of both for Tuioti’s units:</p>
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<ol>
<li id="axKAsX">:00 – Here Cal is dropping an OLB and bringing an ILB on a blitz. The other ILB takes the TE releasing downfield to maintain four over three to the field (and two over one to the boundary, with the back staying in for protection). The OLB beats the RT and gets to the QB but he wriggles free, fortunately the DE has also gotten past the RG to clean up.</li>
<li id="BWOowt">:09 – This is still a 3-4, after extensive movement pre-snap the fieldside OLB is now over the slot receiver. Nebraska has adjusted by sliding an ILB over a bit and the DE is now outside the tackle; I suspect Oregon would have adjusted differently. At any rate, the DE in the 4i position on the other side does a great job not getting trapped inside and keeping an outside arm free to collapse on the scrambling QB. The flag at the end is for intentional grounding so this counts as a sack.</li>
<li id="qb5lVJ">:21 – The DB fails pretty spectacularly at this attempt of a jam so the slot is wide open; this is something else I doubt Oregon would try. The OLB has done his job and gotten around the RT which unnerves the QB (who should have just thrown immediately at the top of his drop). The DE is crushing the LG so the QB can’t go that way, and the nose does a great job disengaging the center and keeping the pressure up to cause a bad throw.</li>
<li id="lfObJa">:31 – This should look pretty familiar from previous weeks – it looks like a blitz but the OLBs and DBs back out and the ILB comes up the middle instead. Maximum coverage, penetration rushing only four, and the other ILB acting as a spy against a scramble – this is much closer to what I expect to see in 2022.</li>
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https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2022/2/21/22943756/duck-tape-film-study-of-dl-coach-tony-tuiotihythloday1