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Minnesota Week Practice Thread: 30 August: Depart For Minnesota

Flat Water said:
Everyone likes bravado and confidence when it works. But taking unnecessary risks can be a losing strategy.

Remember when Oregon used to like to go for 2 after each touchdown just to show that they could rub it into an opponent? They did that to us against our first HCMR and took an 8-0 lead. Unfortunately for them, it didn't work after any of their other four touchdowns and they lost 35-32 in a game that would have been 35-35 if they had kicked all of their extra points.
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So what kind of strategy is it to tell the kids special teams are important, we want our best on it, and if you are not absolutely certain you won't get to the 25 on a kick off fair catch or I'll be pissed because you all sucked at this for the last 10 years under different coaches and though Ive told you I want you to make plays I really don't trust you to do it?

Going for two all the time is much different than this. Faux equivalence.
 

Jeez Louise, let’s not be afraid of our shadows. Having a bias toward returning punts is positive attitude change for the team. You know HCMR is giving them guidance on what the acceptable risks are and you know he isn’t telling them to field a coffin corner punt on the two yard line and return it. It’s coach speak that is setting the tone and expectations. Let the kids play.
 
wcbsas said:
The other point is we were usually on the losing end of these kind of plays with FHCSF.

Being risk adverse is a fine line … it usually results in less mistakes but it also doesn’t allow for positive plays either.
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FHCSF used special teams as a place to get freshmen and younger players playing experience. Until the end, he did not use a special teams coordinator and I had the impression from watching his special teams, that he did not consider special teams important and did not practice them accordingly. Consequently they made numerous execution errors and lots of losing plays. I’m hoping that the execution will be improved. If so, critical errors should be decreased.
 
hskrdavey said:
I'm sure he's referring to not taking the 'easy way out' approach allot of schools use. The return might be there but 'let's just take it at the 25'.... If it's a high kick and coverage is close (like a punt return fair catch situation), he's fair catching it. I think he means a more, 'were going to try and get a good return and set the offense up for better field position', approach. Or score.
All gas, no fear.

I like it.
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We will still let the ball roll into the endzone, but if it's returnable outside the endzone, why not return it? If injuries are an issue, we will adjust. How many games have we lost in the past 5 years where another team had a great ST play that ended up being a deciding factor?
 



Brew City Husker said:
FHCSF used special teams as a place to get freshmen and younger players playing experience. Until the end, he did not use a special teams coordinator and I had the impression from watching his special teams, that he did not consider special teams important and did not practice them accordingly. Consequently they made numerous execution errors and lots of losing plays. I’m hoping that the execution will be improved. If so, critical errors should be decreased.
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Bill Snyder always said "Special teams is 1/3 of the game, so why wouldn't you practice special teams 1/3 of the time"
 
Californication said:
So what kind of strategy is it to tell the kids special teams are important, we want our best on it, and if you are not absolutely certain you won't get to the 25 on a kick off fair catch or I'll be pissed because you all sucked at this for the last 10 years under different coaches and though Ive told you I want you to make plays I really don't trust you to do it?

Going for two all the time is much different than this. Faux equivalence.
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The touchback rule for kickoffs was changed a few years ago from the 20 to the 25 to encourage fair catches because most kick-off returns don't go past the 25 (especially with all too frequent penalties factored in). The point is that there are risks worth taking and risks not worth taking. I'm all for taking calculated risks. But on most kick-offs the vast majority of teams are better off taking the free yardage that comes with a fair catch. That doesn't mean you suck any more than it would mean you suck if you decide not to go for it on 4th and 10 on your side of the 50. It means you can do a rational cost/benefit analysis.
 
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Brew City Husker said:
I’m not surprised. As of right now Emmet Johnson and Ramir Johnson are our two main KO return guys. While losing both of them might be a problem for depth, losing one probably wouldn’t have much negative effect on the offense.

Special teams plays offer unique opportunities to flip the field and to hurt the opponent with sudden, momentum swinging plays. KO returns can be particularly large as momentum changers. I know, turnovers can occur and things may not go in your favor. But if you aggressively pursue big plays in the return game, you scheme for it, you put good players in position to make plays and you make the other team prepare for it a lot of good things can happen.

I like the aggressive approach to gaining advantage over your opponent. I’m very happy that Rhule prefers to have his players get out there and “play football”.
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Minny had a 70 yard return against Syracuse that sealed their victory having a short field and fired up their poor offense for a score.
So there's recent history of making this an advantage.
Their Young qb was hurt too in that game, but not on STs
 




Brew City Husker said:
FHCSF used special teams as a place to get freshmen and younger players playing experience. Until the end, he did not use a special teams coordinator and I had the impression from watching his special teams, that he did not consider special teams important and did not practice them accordingly. Consequently they made numerous execution errors and lots of losing plays. I’m hoping that the execution will be improved. If so, critical errors should be decreased.
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It goes both ways, if we're returning kickoffs in games, our STs defense is going up against our STs offense in practice.
 
Flat Water said:
The touchback rule for kickoffs was changed a few years ago from the 20 to the 25 to encourage fair catches because most kick-off returns don't go past the 25 (especially with all too frequent penalties factored in). The point is that there are risks worth taking and risks not worth taking. I'm all for taking calculated risks. But on most kick-offs the vast majority of teams are better off taking the free yardage that comes with a fair catch. That doesn't mean you suck any more than it would mean you suck if you decide not to go for it on 4th and 10 on your side of the 50. It means you can do a rational cost/benefit analysis.
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It was changed to prevent collisions / prevent concussions.

if you're an accountant, just look at data. My guess is Rhule knows the data better than you or I. But football involves momentum and emotions. I'll go with the successful head football coach and his risk calculations. plus, I pretty much agree with him.
 
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Change Is Hard For People Van Jones GIF - Change Is Hard For People Van Jones Big Think GIFs
 




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