Everyone agrees that Bud Foster is the best D coordinator in the country right? Correct. If that's the case, do we see other teams try to emulate his scheme? If not, why not? Are there secrets to it that no one else knows?
Seems like everyone should be running Fosters scheme since it works so well.
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You have to work with what youve got, Foster can play man D with his DB's because he trusts them and coaches them up on certain talents and skills. Other D coaches may focus on a completely different style of play.
Plus you have to change your D up sometimes weekly to match up different types of offense. I mean look at how we played Boston College, We could not Stop that RUN offense even though we were able to stop the GT offense.
Bud is the master of disquise with blitzes, cover 2, you name it. He's got the personnel to run just about any type of scheme he wants right now (base 4-3, 4-4, nickel). Even the little things, like have D Hopkins lined up a certain way on a 'Bama Guard to allow Tyler to smash Yeldon for a loss (when in the Power I formation). I remember French pointing this out after the 'Bama game in his analysis. Foster is that 12th guy out there on D.
And sometimes batts down more passes than the defense from the sideline
Someone help me out with the gif of him batting down that pass this year... Work restrictions won't allow me to view/find it..
I could draw a picture of melting clocks but that doesn't make me Picasso.
...or if HOAT is aware the melting clocks are Dali.
I'll show my faith in you with a Turkey Leg.
Sh!t! Salvador Dali. You shouldn't have put any faith in me. Thanks for the 'leg, though. I should have said an old guitarist.
So, in response, yes, serious, just wrong.
To be fair, though, my statement was accurate.
Either way, you're correct.
The more I learn about football, the more I realize how little the actual scheme a team uses matters.
Coaching isn't about drawing up a playbook or a coverage. Anyone can do that. Coaching is about getting the most production out of your available talent.
Foster is a GREAT coach because he is able to communicate his scheme to his players. He is able to make adjustments to his scheme to put his players in the position where they are most likely to be successful. He is able to recruit the athletes that best fit his requirements. He is able to get his players to work harder for him then they would for another coach.
Foster's scheme doesn't make him a great coach, it's his ability to squeeze every available ounce of talent out of his players that makes him one.
I am sure this has been discussed before but I've never seen a direct answer to it.
A lingering question I have always had about Foster's scheme is whether or not the scheme does a disservice (using loosely as couldn't think of better word) to a few positions when they are looking to transition to NFL. In the scheme Hokie DE's generally translate as OLB and Hokie OLB sometimes translate as Safeties. Tapp and Grimm are good examples of this.
When I look at a player like Dadi I think he is a) speed and motor b)undersized for NFL DE. So does putting him at DE for 4 - 5 years and teaching him that position hurt his draft stock when he will be expected to play OLB? And subsequently does this hurt chances in recruiting big time recruits at these positions because they see Hokies move players around to fit the scheme?
I always figured that this was because we didn't get the NFL sized guys a lot of the time. And when we do get, say, a DE Gayle's size, they're generally athletic enough to play the hybrid OLB in the league, but generally not so big as to be a full time DE. Either way, getting to the league matters
I would say Dadi is in the mold of a Dwight Freeney with a little more size to him. Dadi is going to do well in the new defensive schemes in the NFL!
Freeney might not be tall (6' 1""), but he is 260-270. Some on here have said Freeney is terrible on run defense, but the man got paid big time money for a long time and has the size to play 4-3 DE run defense. Dadi may never play at 260-270.
There are exceptions like Kuechly (think more people will scheme for him putting TEs, FBs, WRs, RBs on him), but the NFL is a league meant for big people. 250 is a lower bound on DE... may be a lower bound on 3-4 OLB who have to rush the QB.
Dadi looks about 225 where he is listed, 6'3". I've seen intramural basketball games where 225 6'3" gets you abused on the blocks. Frankly I'd like to see him play straight up LB. Don't care which but would rather see him with less coverage responsibility just to see if he can play in space. I really think he could hit like Ray Ray the way he runs. Can he play in space? Could he cover? Ray Ray could do both. If he can play in space I think he could make 250 lb and play 3-4 OLB for along time. Much more realistic for him to get to 250 after a couple of NFL years with good weight than it is 270. Really hope he has a 10 pound summer or two of good weight gain. Otherwise he is potentially an NFL tweener.... not quite 4-3 DE, not skilled enough at the 3-4 OLB unless drafted by someone like the Steelers who can develop for two or three years.... or unless we give him more developmental playing time at LB.
Would love to hear about the new defensive schemes in the NFL. In theory some people are looking for speed over size, just seems hard to see how real the movement is.
I think these are good questions. Hard to answer unless you've seen Dadi play in space. From what little I know if you can't play in space you can't play zone defense very well (forget man to man) and will always be a liability as an NFL OLB. Also don't know how big his frame is. Is he a 230, 250, 270 pound frame guy? Putting too much weight on a frame that can't handle the weight slows a guy down. A guy playing in space well at 250 could be an awesome NFL 3-4 OLB. He seems incredibly athletic so I could see him playing that position around 240. If he can't play in space, it would really would be good to be in that 250-270 range to play 4-3 DE.
I didn't watch the details of the games last week to see if they gave Dadi snaps at WHIP. Big fan of that idea, although worry about the coverage responsibilities. Teams will try to exploit. He looks so athletic, would almost love to see him try to cover. Dadi with two sacks, two picks, three pass breakups! I don't fully understand it but its way more likely he has DE hips. Hips differentiate players in space. NFL DBs generally have awesome hips that allow flipping around changing direction incredibly fluidly. I don't know how much you can teach good hips, but I would guess you can teach body control and thus hips but if a guy doesn't have good hips from the start, getting him from there to NFL reasonable OLB hips probably takes a couple of years. Also may be that when you get DE lower body size and strength that may limit hip flexibility. I can't imagine that at 225 Dadi is too big in the lower body yet. Guys like Suggs and R Lewis are the exception not the norm. Good enough hips, great hips in 260 - 250 pound bodies respectively. I think Lewis played at 235 his last couple of seasons, so all of this has to play at this weight has to play at that weight stuff has to be put in context. I do think at 235 he was trying to rugby tackle most NFL size RBs (225+) instead of trying to crush there soul by knocking them out of the hole into the backfield.
Anyway sorry so stream of consciousness.
given what you've just said, what do you make of Loeffler to date (I know that you have a small sample size and if you can't give an answer I completely understand...I know that I'm personally giving him 3 years to work with before passing serious judgement, but I'm curious what you think)........(whew, that was a long parenthetical statement)
He has the scheme, I think...based on what I've read here, his passing scheme is way more effective than anything from the previous regime (he says he wants to run it..we haven't seen much of that yet)
I don't know much about football, or what a QB is supposed to look like, but I think it's fair to say that LT3 has improved under the tutelage of Loeffler
Do you think he'll be able to coach the way Foster does on his side of the ball?
Emulate Foster?