Calling plays from the O-line
I'd never heard of this idea and I thought the article was a fun read:
Are any coaches in the crowd familiar with this?
September 30th, 2012 at 8:54 AM ^
September 30th, 2012 at 9:06 AM ^
I've never heard of doing this before either. The center is already doing quite a bit with blocking assignments. I do remember an article about NFL draft Wunderlich scores. The claim was that the closer to the ball the players were, the higher their Wunderlich scores. Centers scored highest, then guards then QBs.
September 30th, 2012 at 9:08 AM ^
September 30th, 2012 at 10:03 AM ^
That's probably because it keeps calling a dive on every play. You need to run a little play action to open up holes for your ground game.
September 30th, 2012 at 9:44 AM ^
September 30th, 2012 at 10:44 AM ^
The author is a weekly guest on WTKA. I wonder if he'll go into more depth with this this week.
September 30th, 2012 at 11:57 AM ^
Centers already know most of the playbook and have to read the defenses, and call out the blocking as it is. Many of them are some of the most cerebral players on the team, too. I remember former Center Dave Moosman was an English major and Chess champion. I guess it's like having a junior Offensive Coordinator on the field.
September 30th, 2012 at 12:01 PM ^
And Molk was an academic AA for that matter. Right, most centers call out Mikes and assign guys but this is an interesting progression.
September 30th, 2012 at 12:25 PM ^
Every few years, it seem like it is a time of change in FB.
1. Forward pass.
2. T-formation
3. Split-T, split end
4. Defense with three layers of defenders (DL, LB, DBs)
5. Zone defense and mixed coverages
6. Shot-gun first time around (1950's with the 49er's)
7. Wishbone, triple option
8. 2, 3 deep zone, zone blitz
9. Shot-gun again - aka the Spread
10. Never punting, always kicking onside
11. Wagging plays in (Browns used messenger guards in the 1950's), now someone other than the QB calls the cadence.
12. Wildcat - or the return of single wing and so on
But maybe the game is always evolving. We're just focused on the moment, this game, this season and this coaching regieme that we may not notice that it has always been evolving game.
September 30th, 2012 at 1:26 PM ^
Nebraska used a formation yesterday that I had never seen but looked potent, especially for a spread option team. In the 3rd or 4th quarter, they lined up in the pistol with the a wishbone set and two split ends. Maybe pistol teams do this regularly but it was just another example of the past getting tweaked a bit (or a lot).
September 30th, 2012 at 4:46 PM ^
Nebraska also had that double pitch play last year that had Mattison and Hoke shaking their heads and saying to each other, "I've never seen that before, have you?"
September 30th, 2012 at 10:23 PM ^
But with the right center, maybe it makes sense. However, it would be more difficult for him to see the DB's and LB's from his position even when he's cranking his neck around for some of the audibles that a QB would call, especially those last few seconds before snapping it. O-Line is generally the smart unit over any other part of the team though. I'd like to see how it works in person. Tough for him to get his calls out beyond the tackles in a loud crowd environment too. I had a hard enough time hearing the QB or even our tackles when we were making line calls. The devil would be in the details.