Offensive Scheme

Daddy Dumpsalot · January 28, 2011

I was thinking about this and apologize if I have missed where it was talked about but do we know what sort of offensive and defensive schemes D-Mac is going to be running next season?

I assume it will be the spread but will he throw in a few other looks? That was the frustrating part about Dodge's offense because you knew how we were going to set up every play whether 3-1 or 3-15, always in the shotgun.

I am hoping to see some more looks the new coaching staff.

Mean Green 93-98 · January 28, 2011

As far as I know, Coach Chico will be running a pretty similar offense to what he did last year.

FloMoGrad · January 28, 2011

Similar to what he did in his role as Interim HC. I'd expect to see a more balanced attack, TE's used effeciently and a more polished system this yr. It'll be his reins.

Defense will be Coach Mac's baby. We'll stay with the 4-3 based on everything we've heard and committments we've seen in recruiting. I imagine a more fundamentally sound defense with playmakers at safety and LB and a physical defense that gets to the point of attack. I also expect to see more aggressive blitz schemes and better DLine technique and rotations.

One of the biggest areas of need in improvement has been our Special Teams. I think we have the answer at Punter, Kicker, deep snapper, I think it's more of a focus and attention to detail issue, which all defensive minds brought aboard have made a priority at their previous stops. Blcoked Punts, Blocked FG's, big punt and Kick-Off returns and dismal punt returns have been bothersome for far too long.

My best dumb guess.

Yellow Snow · January 28, 2011

I was thinking about this and apologize if I have missed where it was talked about but do we know what sort of offensive and defensive schemes D-Mac is going to be running next season?

I assume it will be the spread but will he throw in a few other looks? That was the frustrating part about Dodge's offense because you knew how we were going to set up every play whether 3-1 or 3-15, always in the shotgun.

I am hoping to see some more looks the new coaching staff.

Posted in a different thread. Re-posted here for relevance.

Mac at I-State was really open to letting the OC run their offense. He was pretty hands off. That is one reason I wasn’t shocked he kept Canales. At I-State he had a hard time keeping offensive coordinators because they were getting hired away for more money, so he let the guys come in and do their thing with very little meddling from him.

Some of our best offenses were pro-set style with a good running game and a solid (if not spectacular) QB. Expect to see Dunbar featured prominently… Mac is completely of the mindset that running the ball is a MUST… that said if what Canales wants to run works, Mac won’t meddle with it. At least he didn’t at Iowa State. We ran different offenses under 3 different coordinators, each distinctly different and working in different ways, all with success under Mac.

Defensively, he is most certainly a bend but don’t break guy. I have heard him speak at camps and other engagements about various aspects of defense, and his main theme is… Don’t beat yourself… Make the other team beat you if they can.

Basically, at the college level, a lot of things need to go right for a team to put a 16 play scoring drive together, so make them do just that. Sooner or later, more often than not, they will drop a pass, commit a penalty, turn the ball over, etc. The more snaps you make them take, the more chances there are for them to screw something up. If you give up 3 play, 32 second, 76 yard TD drives, obviously you aren’t making them work for it. There isn’t the opportunity for your defense to make a play because they are only on the field for 3 snaps.

Against typical college competition, the offense will muff something more often than the defense will in a bend but don’t break system. This scheme has problems with the really elite teams that have the skill to put long drives together over and over, but the vast majority of college teams don’t have this. UNT won’t see any in the SBC and Iowa State only saw maybe 2 (if that) a year in the Big 12.