A couple of things caught my eye while reading through yesterday's stories from the beat guys. The quote plastered on the picture above is from Logan Thomas talking about Scot Loeffler (via Chris Lang's latest post, New coaches' energy infectious at Tech spring practice). If toughness was the primary thing the coaches were emphasizing this spring, it seems like attention to detail might be their second priority. Here's more from Thomas.
"He said I have a lot of work to do, in certain aspects," Thomas said. "That's what we've been working on as much as we can. You all were out there today. You saw him coaching at me a little bit. That's because he wants me to be perfect. That's not to say I was doing it bad or wrong. But he wants me to do it 100 percent the right way. For me, I love that type of thing. I want to be the best there is. Whatever is going to make me the best I can.
Recall last season when we all nitpicked Logan's lackadaisical play fakes, and watched balls sail high or skip off the turf due to degradation in mechanics. Loeffler is working to perfect and correct the little things in Thomas' game in an effort to produce and excellent quarterback. Here's more from Andy Bitter.
Loeffler, in particular, was animated throughout the practice, stepping in to correct every small detail he didn't feel was right — from completing fakes at full speed to using proper throwing mechanics to making sure the cadence of the play-call was to his liking.
While at Tech, Thomas has only shown the desire to learn and get better. Hopefully he's able to soak up the new coaching.
Another interesting tidbit from Lang's post, only a single running play is being taught over the first four days of practice.
"Right now, we're working on the wide zone. That's the play we're trying to perfect right now," sophomore tailback J.C. Coleman said. "We have that one play that we're running, in a variety of formations. I'm excited about that play. That's kind of my style, you know, one cut and keep it going."
Bread. And. Butter. Last season Tech didn't have a play they could rely on to consistently gain yards. Rather, there was an all you can buffet of no-gains and one-yard losses. Having fewer plays ran from multiple formations cuts down on the learning curve for the offense, but maintains complexity from a defender's perspective. Also, over the course of the season players develop confidence in a handful of plays they work on and execute each practice.
Comments
I'm gonna' go change my pants now.
I'm loving that focus on execution in the run game. Impressed by the approach of new coaches so far.
Nick Saban would be proud of Loeffler.
With that said, #BeatBama.
We'll take any improvement we can get on offense, over the last decade.
LT3's ceiling is practically unlimited, given his strength and raw physical ability. He's also got a good head on his shoulder, and we don't have to worry about off-field issues with him.
We've seen what he can do when he's playing well. I also was struck last season by how there never seemed to be a coach reassuring him on the sidelines, when he was watching our defense contain the other team and thinking about how to correct his mistakes. As flawed as he was as OC, I do think Stiney was missed on the sidelines.
Was watching Loeffler coach the QBs on drop backs and rollouts some earlier. Logan looked pretty good and of the rest, Carlis Parker stood out to me a little, though that is easy for him to do being the only lefty QB on the roster.
I can't wait to see how all of this plays out on the field during the season. Excited!!
On the topic of play fakes, I do wish that ours would be run a little faster. I have always felt that whenever we ran some sort of play action, it took SOO long to happen. Even during the game I felt they were run at a slower pace than they should be.
Each day, more information comes out that gets me more excited for these changes. I'm so ready to #BEATBAMA. This wait is just killing me.
*wipes eyes*
Y'know, before the spring, I was most excited about Jeff Grimes and the attitude he was going to bring to our O-Line for this season and hopefully many to come. However, from what I've seen and heard of Loeffler as a coach, and evern Moorehead, I'm really thinking we might just have hit a grand slam with each one of these guys.
I have it on high authority that a primary play that the Hokies have practiced as a core play is a zone stretch play to the weak side from the I formation. We discussed the play when we examined how the Temple and Auburn offenses operated under Loeffler and Grimes direction: http://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2013/january/21/loeffler-grimes-and-fu...
In today's game, most 4-3 teams play an under front (eagled nose or one technique strong side, a 3 technique on weak side.) On the play, the weak side guard and tackle zone-reach block to the play side. The center blocks back on the one technique. The fullback reads and takes the first unblocked man. If the 3 technique goes inside the guard, you may see the fullback blocking an unblocked defensive tackle. The tailback takes his belly step, plants his outside leg, and then picks a seam.
this makes me so excited abt all aspects of the offense. getting back to the ground and pound game we didn't have at all last year is awesome. I really like the attention to detail with Logan. we all know he can be great and hopefully this new practice style and offensive attitude will help him get there
I bet the surprise star of the team will be a special teams unit that has a bunch of guys who could start on O or D but who are back in the depth chart. We'll get a coupla insane ST plays against Bama and shock the world like when Gayle hit Moses with the stutter-step spin move for the sack!
I'm so restless for more practice news...
Here's a good read from SI.com, via hokie football twitter page. Good info regarding the relationship between Loeffler & Logan.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20130403/logan-th...
Good gravy, you mean we finally have a QB Coach/OC that seems to be doing everything you'd expect or want him to do? This is a promising development, indeed!