This is Part 4 of the Football 202 series that this writer attended on July 25th. Today on KOZN (with Matt S and Mike L Severe), they talked about what a Football 303 might be like. Really, the material we discussed in Football 202 is about as far as you can go even with an avid fan. As Tom Shatel said in his column, "Finally my head has stop spinning!"
One thing this writer would like to know about is the preparation the coaches do the week before a game. How much film do they watch? Where do they get the film? What basic tendencies do they look for? Can they talk to other coaches that maybe this team has faced?
It would be interesting to know more about what the team does the night before a game. They used to attend a movie and stay at a motel as a team. Will that change? What is game day like? What do the coaches like to see as the temperament of the team? What about the pre-game speech... or is there one? How does does Coach Pelini come up with a way to motivate his team week in and week out?
Now on with the substance of Football 202. Coach Pelini is passionate about his job, his fellow coaches, and his players.
He said "EFFORT is the center of everything I believe. We will outwork our opponents! As to what is expected of the team, it will be clearly defined for the players. There will be no gray areas. Accountability and effort is vital."
Coach Pelini talked about coaching defense. He talked about a term called "Conceptual Perception". The ingredients to this term are:
1. Relentless effort
2. Personnel
3. Formation Identification
4. Defensive concepts and team
5. Defensive Installation
6. Communicate adjustments
A subpart to this is the fundamentals:
1. Alignment
2. Stance
3. Vision
4. Footwork
5. Defeating blocks
6. Tackling
Coach Pelini talked about relentless effort. "Linebackers set the effort box. this kind of culture will lead to an increase in turnovers and a decrease in big plays."
When Coach Pelini says his team will be ready when the games begin, you believe him and this writer believes the players believe in him and his assistants also.
The middle part of the afternoon was spent with Coach Watson showing how the offensive coaches implement a new play. The offense meets as a team and Coach Watson and Coach Cotton will review the play. Then the position players take their respective players to their offices and they go over the play in detail.
Coach Watson showed us the play book. It wasn't as thick as you might expect and it is a little thinner than last year. We were asked to NOT put the play they discussed on the internet, so this writer won't for two reasons: 1) Because they asked us not to. 2) This writer's head was spinning too!
Some other notes from the offensive coaches presentation:
1. It was noted that the offensive is called the "Nebraska Offense" not a west coast offense.
2. Coach Cotton was very happy with the offensive line he has this season and complimented Coach Wagner for his coaching ability.
3. Coach Ron Brown was always coaching and teaching his section of "students" as Coach Watson explained the play.
4. The video equipment and film that the coaches have make it a great teaching tool. It is easier to show problem areas or great technique by the players.
This writer split off with Coach Cotton. He is very passionate and knowledgeable about his job!! It is evident that he knows how to teach the kids.
The final segment of the day before pizza and pop was going onto the field, and then meeting back in the "classroom" to ask four players questions. The four players were Marlon Lucky, Niles Paul, Cody Glenn, and Barry Turner.
These are my observations of the four players:
Marlon Lucky- Modest and confident. This pre-season all Big 12 player will be a key for the season. When asked by a student as to whether he or Niles Paul would have more receiving yards this season, they just looked at each other and laughed.
Nile Paul- Seems like a great kid. He said right now he is in line to return punts. You could tell he would like to do that job.
Cody Glenn- He is happy and having more fun. He said defense is more fun than playing tailback. The players think that Cody Glenn is going to be good.
Barry Turner- He looks lighter but said he had only lost ten pounds. He is well spoken and a leader of the team. He is very complimentary of the new coaching staff and you can feel that he is going to have a great season.
The players respect their new coaches and they are excited to get the season started.
This writer would like to thank is daughters for Football 202. It was a great present!!
After attending Football 202, this writer feels NU will have a great year. In 2006, we won the North Division of the Big 12. We were supposed to repeat that in 2007 but something went wrong. We have more talent than we did in 2006 and 2007. We have a great coaching staff and the players support them, and we have Kansas, Missouri, and Colorado at home. Look to NU to win the Big 12 North Division in 2008!! It makes sense!
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