Coach Taylor: “Their will to play will be overcome by their will to breathe.”

[Great1Ute]

So…I’m intrigued by Coach Taylor and the offense he plans to install.  On the one hand, we’ve got a guy who appears to have a clear idea of what his offense is all about–a clear offensive identity.  He also seems to be a “quarterback whisperer,” someone many, including myself, have said this staff has been missing.  I think there is room for optimism that Coach Taylor will be the missing link to take us over the top.

On the other hand, when I read quotes like the one above in the topic title, I can’t help but wonder if this isn’t this just another way to say ‘go fast go hard’. Up-tempo offenses were kind of the rage around here a few years ago.  We even went up-tempo with Travis Wilson during his sophomore year, IIRC.  We rejected that offense because the talent we could recruit–including road graders at O-line, were better suited to slow things down and then pound people.  Will we have to recruit new talent (different types of players) for Coach Taylor’s offense?

Anyway, looking foward to spring ball to see how the implementation of the offense is coming along.

[PorterRockwell]

Taylor has said numerous times he tailors the offense to fit the personnel.  This won’t be what was run in Provo   He doesnt strike me as someone whom has to reinvent the wheel. He strikes me as someone whom will adjust his scheme to fit  the personnel he has available to him 

[Utahute72]

To me that is good coaching.  Maximize your player’s strengths, minimize their weaknesses.  I know the Patriots get a lot of flak on here, but Bellichek is great at fitting his scheme to his players, if Taylor can do that we will have a lot of success.

[Utah]

This is what makes Belichick so smart. Take Eric Rowe and Kyle Van Noy for example. Philadelphia looks at Rowe and says, “we will turn him into a slot CB” and the Lions say “we will turn Van Noy into a 4-3 LB”.  They both failed at that. 

Belichick looks at Rowe and says, “The guy was very successful at safety and outside CB. I’ll just have him do that, and give him some tips to be better.” He looks at Van Noy and says, “The dude weighs the same as he did as a freshman. He is a fast kid, good in coverage and blitzing the QB. I’ll take him out on run downs and have him cover TE’s and blitz the QB.”

And guess, what? By having Rowe and Van Noy do what they do well, and making them better at that, he gets a ton of production out of them in the postseason. 

What a concept, right? 

[Utah]

He has also said time and time again that the run techiniques and plays that he runs are the same as what we did last year. 

Basically our run game won’t change, there will just be less running plays called. 

[Ultimate Ute]

John Wooden adjusted his schemes every year to his players strengths, some years wildly different.

[jamarcus24]

I don’t think the offense will be run at a break neck pace like some people fear.  If you watch EWU games from last season they normally get up to the line quick but they spend 20+ seconds getting set up and calling the play in from the sideline.  A lot of times the playclock is somewhere between 10-15 seconds before they snap the ball.  We actually ran this kind of tempo when Dave Christensen was here but we eventually slowed it down in conference play.

[Utah]

I read somewhere that we averaged like 70 plays a game last year and EWU averaged like 73. So, we will be faster, but not ridiculously faster. 

The key is tempo. Tempo can be fast or slow. You use tempo to your advantage. If it is the first quarter, and you are down 10, you slow things down. You regroup. You get first downs. You let your defense rest. 

If you are up 7, your defense just created a turnover, get out there and attack. 

If you are tied, you score a TD, your defense gets a quick three and out, then freaking attack. 

If you are up 14 in the fourth, get to the line quick, then make a decision to attack or slow it down. 

FBYU-P was no execution, no variety to plays…it was just “go fast” and hope that you eventually get tired or out of position and then they take advantage of that. It was a GREAT strategy for the MWC, because FBYU-P was just better than most teams, but they always lost to more talented teams because of it. 

This will be different. They will get to the line fast, and then sometimes they will go fast. Other times, they will audible plays, make adjustments, then run the play. 

The key is getting to the line fast. If you get set with 20 secs on the clock, you now have time to change plays, move players, etc. 

If you get to the line with sub 10 secs (like ARod did), then you have no options but to run the play called. 

[noneyadb]

That and the limited number of plays they ran from each set made it fairly easy to predict what play was being ran by end of season.