Earlier today, Beamerball.com posted an article where the offensive coaching staff commented on observations they had during Saturday's scrimmage. One quote stood out from Coach Searels: " I came away from this scrimmage with three guys who I thought were solid and played winning football; Eric Gallo, Augie Conte and Parker Osterloh."
Jonathan McLaughlin and Wyatt Teller were noticeably absent from the discussion (good or bad.) I thought very little of it until I watched the pass protection and team vs team work from today's practice on VT Football Snap Chat.
Working with the first team offense was
Left Tackle: Yoshua Nijman
Left Guard: Parker Osterloh
Center: Eric Gallo
Right Guard: Augie Conte
Right Tackle: Jonathan McLaughlin
Wyatt Teller was working with the second group, along with:
Left Tackle: was Colt Pettit (who was beaten badly by Houshun Gaines in his first rep of pass pro)
Teller was at left guard
Center: Tyrell Smith (who had a strong solo rep against Nigel Williams and then switched off well in drills against stunts. It looks like when he figures out the snapping part, he could be a very good player along with Gallo)
Right guard: Braxton Pfaff
Right Tackle: Darius Redman
Teller looked strong in his drill work, so I can't comment as to the reason he is working with the twos, however it is easy to say that you would be hard pressed to find someone that follows the Hokies that would have predicted Teller working behind Parker Osterloh. That said, Osterloh had a good scrimmage, and Searels may feel the need to motivate Teller. Otherwise, I am dumbfounded.
Other observations:
The running backs faced off against the linebackers in pass protection drills. Trey Edmunds stonewalled the best pass rushing linebacker on the team in Deon Clarke. Steven Peoples (who also broke the ankles of an unfortunately linebacker in a passing route drill) had a really nice block against Carson Lydon. He delivers a blow without getting overextended. JC Coleman didn't deliver as much of a wallop, however he stayed balanced and moved laterally smoothly against a spin move.
Travon McMillian struggled a bit in both of his reps. On his first rep, he delivers a strong blow, but gets extended with too much weight out over his toes. That forward momentum pulls him off balance, and Dahman McKinnon rips himself by. Later, a mystery LB (#39, which is Jaylen Bradshaw's number) beats him quicker on a similar move. Later, Ronny Vandyke had a nasty pull/rip to beat Jerome Wright badly.
In team vs team work, the offensive line group, with Coleman and Edmunds working at #1 tailback and the same #1 OL group from above, worked on blitz pick ups. Michael Brewer moved well in the pocket and made some throws while moving that got there, but certainly were not the way you draw up QB mechanics. Coleman had a nice blitz pickup on Terrell Edmunds, who came off the edge on a corner blitz.
Yosh Nijman was matched up against Ken Ekanem during the team work. Between the drills and the team work, Nijman was noticeable. He had a good day moving around against a very good ACC DE.
The camera was turned around, and Cam Phillips beat Kendall Fuller cleanly on a post route for a touchdown, with the catch almost being made right in your lap (great angle!)
The last two clips were short yardage plays. Shai McKenzie scored on a physical run as he steamrolled Sean Huelskamp behind the second team/third team OL group against the 2/3 D. That was followed up by a Trey Edmunds score that wasn't quite as challenging. The angle isn't great, but it looked like Motuapuaka may have been a bit out of position, as Deon Clarke was flowing to the left and Motuapuaka wasn't coming with him (and you could hear one of the coaches yelling "FIT FIT FIT." I love the enthusiasm from the offense here. They need that hunger around the goal line (it has been missing since Ryan Williams finished his Hokie career.)
It will be interesting to see how this Teller story manifests itself. The good news is that Parker Osterloh is showing that he can play, and that gives Coach Searesl more options up front. I have not been particularly high on my hopes for Osterloh, but he looked like he belonged with the first group today.
Comments
Can't hurt to have these guys mix it up with the second teamers for a day here and there. Seeing what happened with injuries last year, maybe they feel like its worth it to train them all together more often to help make them all interchangeable should injuries happen?
At least that's what I would hope.
Same here. I'm hoping it's mixing to get guys reps alongside others, not a demotion. Hard to think that Teller would have gotten passed by.
It may be brief, but it sure seems like Searels is trying to light a fire under some asses. Teller was the only guy normally working with the starters that was working with the 2's, AND keep in mind this is with Hansen being out.
Searels screamed at McLaughlin for having way too high a pad level on his repetition in the pass pro drill.
Nobody is as high on Wyatt Teller than I am. The guy has such a unique skill set that I don't know how you don't play him. But, I also 100% advocate for coaches to play the guys who are their best five guys, and Searels went out of his way not to include McLaughlin and Teller as "guys who were playing winning football." And, Osterloh and Nijman sure didn't look out of place.
OL depth is probably what has me most concerned going into the year, so if guys are stepping up and earning first-team reps, all the better. I suspect that Teller will be with the 1's when it's all said and done, but if others are learning, I am happy. Searels seems like a high-expectations kind of guy, and I like that.
Agreed- however things are better all-around if Teller is meeting said high expectations. They need him to be dominant, especially against teams with big time nose tackles. (See Adolphus Washington)
Hear, hear. Leg.
Wait, wait, wait, wait....
Do I understand this right and we have a OL coach who is actually coaching and trying to light fires under asses and strategerizing and trying to hammer home fundamentals that will benefit the team on gamedays?
That's allowed?
It's so...
... unusual.
It's almost as if someone dangled the carrot of being headcoach from within the current staff or something..........
Or maybe just the carrot of "winning games".
French, do you think Nijman is legit going to be ready to contribute this season? I kind of figured his transition would make him a work in progress this year, but from everything I'm hearing, dude has made strides since the spring. Do you think he'll be good to contribute as a second string lineman?
If he can move the pile in the running game, and be strong against stunts and blitzes like he looked today (patient and let the play develop without getting out of position) he certainly can. It sounds like he and Osterloh are the swing guys right now.
Me- watching SnapChat of today's practice.
Damn, French. There is a strong resemblance!
Shouldn't have shaved the mullet, it was the source of his pancake power...
You get demoted to 2nd team, you cut off your mullet.
Which came first the demotion or the haircut is the question? Was he demoted first, and so became unworthy of the mullet? Or was it truly the source of his power and he couldn't hang with first OL after the cut? These are important questions.
I have no idea, but every repetition on the snap chat has Nijman at left tackle and Osterloh at left guard with the first group (McLaughlin at right tackle) and Teller as the number 2 left guard.
Sounds like the defense had a rough day...
We saw two clips- the D could have won the other 10. It is hard to tell, but it sure looked like the energy level was with the O by the end of practice.
I couldn't see the cut by Phillips on Kendall, but it was a pretty throw and catch with Kendall in his hip pocket.
Also- as Joe asked in his Tell-A-Thon post this morning, if you like a column like this, please tweet it out/share on Facebook and any other social media. I am going to go talk about it in an AOL chat room.
#SoOld
I think Chris Hanson's the only guy left in AOL chat room haha
headed to Compuserve right now to spread the word....
Did anyone post this on myspace yet?
I can't even look at MySpace anymore. All I see are posts about LOLUVa football beating us.
So I can't add you to my top 8?
Tom won't let you.
Last time I updated Myspace was prior to Sept. 8th, 2007. The song on the miniplayer? Louisiana Saturday Night, probably there to this day, which is how I know when it was updated (along with a countdown timer to the LSU game). At least we got to see Tyrod for the first time.
...break up the shutout
Wow, you are old. All the cool kids left MySpace when Zanga came out!
I'll cover Prodigy.
I copied this post down in my three ring binder. I'm going to make 1000 copies on the mimeograph, and post them all over town... that is, if I'm not too drunk off of mimeograph ink.
How about the old ditto machine? This is the 20th century, man.
[image - imremembering.com]
No lie, my high school (I was there 2002-2006) still used mimeographs for handouts in class. That blue ink definitely had an interesting aroma.
Usenet's covered.
Hold on, let me boot up Netscape and I'll be right there
Let me just set the type on my guttenberg press and I'll paste the town with broadsides
Also, I alerted my town crier
So here's my complete speculation. Coach thinks Teller's been a little of a distraction and being too much of the "little brother" and not taking things seriously enough. Teller shaves the mullet and will rise to the challenge.
Just reading some of the quotes I was getting the feeling about something like this. I'll be shocked if he's not out there steamrolling OSU though.
I suspect this as well. I think it's meant to be a wake up call to Teller and also reward guys who have been working hard and improving (Osterloh and Nijman). Considering how disappointing Nijman seemed to be switched from DE to OL, I'm hoping this is an indication of his mindset changing and him starting to realize his potential on that side of the ball.
I can get behind this theory. Class clown wake up call.
Having been a class clown and had a few wake up calls in my life, this smells similar to me. I'm sure he will get the clue.
Hope he comes out super-pissed off.
Along those lines, can you imagine if they "benched" Rogers for a practice or two closer to game time?
Sam would look at the bench and this would be the result.
i'm going to be mr. positive and say teller is on team 2 because he is the best VThas and it gives the 2nd team OL the chance to work with a guy with his intensity.
I think way to much read in this . We don't know and during camp I would definitely be trying out combos so that if, when the need arises you have guys that have worked together . Saw Smith knock Settle off the ball the other day I am impressed with him . I think with Smith , Osterloh , Nijman , Pfaff and Chung if we can keep the last 2 healthy we are back from the OL despair of years past . If we stay healthy I think the OL will make a big step this year under Searels .
Steven people's had the best block of all the backs in the lbs and rbs drills IMO, that boy going to be a stud!
Frech, I'm with you on some of brewer's throws today.
Watching my phone i was like, "Why the heck did he throw that?", and then the ball went right into the receivers hands, shocking me on several throws.
It looked like Brewer only missed of the throws we saw.
the throw to Phillips for the touchdown was on play action and he faced some pressure. That looked like a heck of a play by Brewer.
Anyone else wonder how much fun the coaches are having choosing which clips to release to the public? "Hey let's put Teller with the 2nd team for a couple clips then only release those. Urban won't know what to do if he thinks our left guard is even better than teller."
I doubt any coach worth his salt would not waste all the practice time required to film this many clips with the lineup I described, no matter how much they value misinformation. I'd imagine that Teller may be in the dog house for a day or two coupled with good work from Osterloh.
sheesh, French, way to ruin my fun.
On a serious note, whatever the reason for it, I like that we're getting more guys quality practice time. While I hope they stay 2nd string all season, if the injury bug bites again, it will be nice to have some 1st team snaps under their belts when they're asked to step up.
I think it is a wake up call. If someone is playing well and busting his ass...reward him. I think Teller will come back ready to go.
Actually, thanks for the Beamerball link. I enjoyed reading more about Carroll. And Sergio "the outdoorsman" Render. All he needs is a Dan'l Boone hat. Wish both those guys the best. Virginia Tech making a difference.
The good news from this is we have two linemen in Osterloh and Nijman that are about ready to play that we werent so sure on a few weeks ago. We are close to having a two deep of Olineman we can count on, that is something we havent had in these last three down years.
I would have to say after watching the snap chat video, that our coaches are some of the best in the nation. (I think we already knew that) But not just schematically, but how they teach technique is amazing to watch. Not every coach has that ability, they may have the knowledge but to teach it like our Coaches do is awesome. We are very lucky.
And the way we are practicing, it is no question they are getting ready for a big game against a great opponent. The team will be ready, and I bet you we are still going harder and more motivated than the Buckeyes. I'd like to see what the 'Hoos are doing as well. I bet it is a joke in comparison.
loluva is going through preperations to start 0-4
Precisely this, you can hear the coaches actually coaching technique. The clip with Settle on the sled is a perfect example, coach tells him to fix his hand placement. Those are the small things that didn't matter for a guy his size in high school, but now are extremely important.
I almost feel sorry for lolUVA players and their obvious lack of adequate coaching.
Sooooo what's with the "clocking out"?
Lunch pail...blue collar...time to go to work...and possibly NCAA compliance.
Just an idea that I'll give a little background on:
My senior year in high school, we spent all fall hyping up this basketball player who was supposed to be lights out. I'm talking we hyped up to 25 pts a game, 50% from 3. Everything. Season rolls around and he's averaging 16 pts a game and 30% from 3. It's not his fault. We overhyped him as fans.
Maybe. Just maybe. And I know JC had a great four game streak when Wyatt took over at left guard full time... But MAYBE we as fans fell in love with the blue collar, mullet rocking (RIP), muddy boot wearin' badass a little too much. We aren't coaches. Just Sunday morning quarterbacks.
Just a thought! No need for hate!
I don't believe that to be the case. He was straight up manhandling defenders similar to Jake Grove/Duane Brown. He was driving DTs into LBs on some plays to create huge runs.
Again, I'm just being devil's advocate...
In my honest opinion, I think the more likely scenario is that Wyatt is already a lock to start at LG, the OL coach isn't congratulating him on a good scrimmage because high levels of performance are expected from Wyatt on every snap at this point, and the OL coach simply wants to see the depth behind the obvious starters.
Devil's advocate's advocate says Erick Green did average 25 points per game his senior season. So there's that.
The Teller situation is interesting for sure. I just can't believe that this would be a permanent thing. The man almost single-handedly jump started our running game last year with his attitude and play. He had some issues in the scrimmage but they certainly were not for lack of effort.
Maybe the accolades are dwindling that attitude and the coaches are reminding him he has to bring it every play.
No Mullet no start
I mentioned this in a Fan Day post how Augie Conte appeared very business like at the event; very stoic. His personality seems to be a complete 180 from Teller.
I'm going to go with the thought that Wyatt's our best lineman and he's running with the two's to improve them, not as a demotion. The idea that you get better by playing with the best and if the two's are floundering a bit they perhaps needed to play with a great one.
with the comment from SS about who played with a winning effort in the scrimmage I doubt he's playing with the 2s to improve them. This is to get him motivated.
Hope Bucky can get to 100% soon.
How awesome is it to have a "good problem" where we arent sure if one of our "better" OL could be put on the 2nd string.? Around here its been: "We have 2 good linemen, who could potentially fill the spot of the rest of the line?". If this line stays healthy, it would be a great foundation to build/recruit on.
My thoughts exactly.
If someone really good gets passed up on the depth chart, that means you have 2 sombodies who are really good...
Why hasn't SS grown a goatee yet?
Perhaps the half-way-through-camp doldrums have set in and this is Searels way of shaking things up a bit. No complacency.
My Bro-In-Law was a coach of Parker in high school and he just told me that Parker has been working hard.
I got the chance to meet him when he played in a Senior HS all star game near Fed-EX.
Happy for him he was a Very Nice Kid!
My take is we have more depth than we thought on OL as well as some "Motivational Coaching".
The whole dam line is soft i thought i heard joey bosa's backup say. And a couple of linebackers too. And there could have been some ACC guys saying that too.