Watching some of the NFL games over the weekend, there was one thing I kept noticing about some of these teams, notably with Seattle. They have their best playmakers out there making plays on special teams. At one point they had their starting safety, Earl Thomas III out there making tackles and bringing guys down on kickoffs and... I kind of miss that out of our teams. In fact, the more I watch Seattle, the more and more they look like a vintage Beamer coached team. Very strong on defense, they are built around running the ball, but aren't afraid to pass when they have to. They have a mobile QB that can make something out of nothing the second a play breaks down. They put their best guys out there on Special Teams to tilt the game in their favor in scenarios other teams might overlook. And even more importantly, they play with a badass chip on their shoulder, a mentality that carries over the fans filling a stadium where, it might not be the biggest in the game, but it absolutely gets the loudest and creates the biggest home field advantage in the game. The more I thought about it, the more it dawned on me... Seattle is built upon the same blueprint that made Virginia Tech football the entity we know and love.
So my question is... where did that kind of intensity go from our team? Its not like Seattle had this because they won the Super Bowl last year, they have been playing with that chip on their shoulder for a while. How do we get back to playing with the same intensity that they do?
Comments
Pete Carroll is a difference maker at HC... he's been contagiously energetic and successful everywhere he's been. I'll just stop there.
After being exposed to it firsthand in 2004 he decided to copy it and that bastard got the right talent and won.
More than talent, I would say MENTALITY. He has a few game-breakers, but most of the guys Pete built the team around are the kind of guys that were overlooked.
He gets the 3* guys of the NFL and gets them to play all out. Because he believed in him, they put it all on the line for him.
One of the things about the vintage BeamerBall teams was, we beat the "Sweats" of the world with the "Sam Rogers". Watching the Blue Chip Miami players disappointment as we celebrated a gutty win over a more talented team was classic.
Great point, although I'm not sure I'd classify some of those guys as 3* talent. I think they are just really good at finding guys that fit their system.
Probably right. At that level there really isn't such a thing as a 3*.... Still, they have their own system of draft grades they abide by.... Here's a great article on how they are built.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000318407/article/how-the-seattle-seahawks-were-built
I agree with yak. Carroll coaches with a lot of intensity but can still relate to his players. I hated him at USCw (that wasn't offensive pass interference), but as I get older I can't deny that fact that he took players, won their respect, and got them to play at their best potential.
I saw a video via Hudl not to long ago where he spoke repeatedly about intensity & competition in practice. I tried to find the video, but to no avail. I did find another 4 minute video where he was speaking on the same subject.
If you ignore the Nike Sparq plug towards the end it's very good. He is always talking about the intensity & competitive nature of their practices. I think that is the difference maker.
Plus they've got Kam Chancellor
And also had Darryl Tapp when to help groom this defense when Carroll took over
Sweet, my first green post. Thanks, guys!
Oh... I thought you knew - Bud Foster coaches the Seahawks' defense on Sundays...
Pete Carroll has always had good teams ever since he started paying his players..
So like, 2002?
"HAVE THE SEATTLE SEAHAWKS PERFECTED BEAMERBALL?"
Well, it would make sense if they have, considering their Special Teams Assistant Coach is Nick Sorensen, a HOKIE.
A legend from Marshall high school in ffx
Thanks, I had lost track of Nick. I knew that he had a long career as a backup safety and Special Teams Specialist and I think I knew that he had been coaching Special Teams, just not sure where. Now I know.
Sorensen ended up spending a decade playing in the NFL, with a salary of nearly $1mil annually by the time he retired. Now he is coaching in the NFL for the Super Bowl champs.
I can still remember some message board posters from way back when ridiculing him for his appearance and 'lack of talent'. Nick has earned quite the career.
Not the best athlete on the field, but a very smart player. He understood his limitations and his strengths and took full advantage of what he had.
I love watching Seattle play... a match up at Green Bay in the NFC Championship would be a blast.
Just wanted a place to post this:
I remember the very first play I saw Cam on the field for Tech. He was either a Freshman or a R-Freshman, I'm not sure. He came into the game late in mop up duty, and the other team threw a deep ball on him along the west sidelines near the south endzone. The ball was high and headed out of bounds when he went up and snagged it with his left hand for the pick, but he came down out of bounds. My dad and I were at the game and we looked at each other and said; Damn, who is this kid? We've got a good one here.
I get the point the OP is making, but it is more correct to say that Beamerball was a function of special teams/defense acting 'offensive' to create points and momentum in the 90's early 00's. The Seahawks have moved beyond Beamerball. Seattle's approach has moved beyond that, as have other teams.
Nick Sorenson is one of the Assistant Special Teams coaches so they have an inside track when it comes to Beamerball.
I know the wife of one of the Seattle's players. According to her husband the biggest difference between Seattle and other teams is how intense the practices are. The way it was described was that you either learn and perform or get left behind.
Something dropped off in VT football after about 2007 in terms of toughness in the program, in my opinion. Granted VT won the Orange Bowl in the 2008-09 season and should have won the 2011-12 Sugar Bowl, something's been missing. As ugly as the 2002 and 2003 seasons ended up being, if you watched those teams for the first 7 games of the season, they were nasty. They would hit hard, they would gang tackle, they would run to the ball, and they would kill teams. Of course these VT teams didn't always have the greatest team chemistry which eventually led to the late season collapses, but imagine a team with the chemistry of the 2004 team, and the talent of the 2002 or 2003 team and you have a top 4 team. Kevin Jones, DeAngelo Hall, Lee Suggs (2002 only), Jake Grove, Ernest Wilford, Cols Colas, Jimmy Williams, Garnell Wilds, Nathaniel Adibi, Vincent Fuller, Doug Easlick, etc. etc. etc.
I, like many others can't stand Pete Carroll, but he might be the second best coach in the league behind Belichick. That or he at least knows how to put together a strong coaching unit. The guys they get production out of on that team is insane. I get sick of how many Seahawks fans popped out of nowhere after 2013, but the work they have done with that team is amazing. Aside from Beast Mode, who else on their current roster was a noteworthy stud before coming to Seattle? Whether through draft picks or free agent moves, the green guys out west really know how to play great football with limited amount of resources.