Old Dogs, etc.

It is so refreshing when you learn new things….if you’re not intimidated by the new info. The amount of new ideas I processed a couple of weeks ago is probably more at any one time since I started coaching at Fountain Valley High back in 1994. As I may have mentioned before, back then whenever I went to clinics I took a ridiculous amount of notes, because I didn’t know anything. As my knowledge base grew, I tended to only jot down new ways of teaching the same techniques – maybe a new buzzword or some other slight tweak. EVERYONE was teaching basically the same thing as far as OL technique was concerned. (That is, unless you were a Wing-T or Double Wing guy – then you were in your own little world.) About the only variant was whether you were a “lead step” guy or a “bucket step” guy.

Now I’ve completely embraced a relatively new technique. According to X and O Labs, the “double under” technique started showing up around 4 years ago, mostly in the NFL. It has now started trickling downhill. I’ll admit I do tend to be an “early adopter” of things. I started teaching a skip pull, I dunno, maybe five years ago, before it was popular. Now I see a lot of guys teaching it at clinics. Back then, I learned it from a coach named Brent Myers, who is the OC at Weber State. He also espoused a double under technique for pass protection. At the time, I thought it made some sense, but it wasn’t enough to make me switch all my teaching. Besides, everyone else was still teaching what I was, and it was working. So why change? The advantages of the skip pull were obvious to me, so I changed that right away.

Anyway, enter Jim McNally. Coach started his coaching career in 1965…..I was 4 years old. He is widely known as the Godfather of the zone run game, implementing it back in 1978. What I didn’t know is that he also brought the kick slide and post step techniques for pass pro into the NFL in 1980. So when he comes out and says that things he basically invented are now obsolete, you sorta have to sit up and listen. And the great thing is that every film clip he used was from the 2014 NFL season. Even though he’s now retired (at age 71), he’s still out there as a consultant for the Bengals and staying not only relevant, but ahead of the curve!

I still had some reservations – would my players be able to execute the technique? It looks like it requires some strength to do it? Here’s the thing….those questions are important. But when I look at our game film, I see that we end up in the finishing position of the double under anyway, no matter how much I coached to keep a flat back, feet behind you and drive. So I figure that if we’re going to end up that way anyway, we might as well mean to, and get the most out of it on the way. Also, now Coach Myers’ double under technique in pass pro all of a sudden makes a lot more sense! No need to teach different hand movements for the run game and pass pro – it’s all consolidated. Right now, we’re getting our butts handed to us by the defense a little in practice, but we’ve only had 4 practices so far. My rookies still play like rookies (no surprise there), but it’s my veterans that are having the hard time, and I understand that as well. They’ll get it, it’ll just take reps!

Back to my first sentence, learning something so totally different from what I was doing is refreshing, especially when I can see that sooner or later, it will probably be the norm. I also know that there are plenty of experienced coaches out there who won’t change. Heck, I’ve run into a few that still insist on man blocking everything – talk about your 1980’s thinking! So I’ve been approaching practice with new excitement. I think that my veteran players, although them having to relearn things is a pain, are also refreshed by not doing the same drills some of them have done for 5-10 years. I would try and liven things up every once in awhile, but when the same basic movements are at the core of what you do, there’s only so much you can change up without straying from those fundamentals, you know?

What I’ll be interested in is how my men’s players react – and how my men’s OL coach will react. I’m excited to be able to teach younger guys who may still have aspirations of playing at a higher level, the techniques that are current and relevant at that level. Maybe if they go in with a working knowledge they’ll stand out a bit more. That’s my hope anyway.

Go out and see how you can refresh yourself!