Random things to worry about versus Techs Momentum (read tipping point)

 

I am not a coach. I like the game. I played the game and

have a host of nagging injuries to prove it. DIV 1 Team sport demands

professional, objective oriented and programmatic approach to competing. The

Air raid was or is a defining system designed to put an offensive Ferrari on

the the field of play up against Chevys; they might even be corvettes but note

they are not Ferraris. The spread offense is as advertized it requires the opponent to cover everyone and routinely exposes someone who is a little slower than the offensive guy across from him to lose ground. The defense cannot be strong everywhere. The unique thing about the Leach era was that unlike any other coach/ system / program resident at Tech it continued to improve every year. The air raid - the Leach system had enough energy that it trended upward. It trended upward despite upheaval, despite resources, despite recruiting mistakes, despite injuries - the staff always got better; the trend was moving to improve a team performance.  It continued to churn out athletes who could beat anybody anytime because they were so consistent at doing those 17 to 25 – total plays on the Leach - napkin - every day. So our much loved institute of higher learning got a reputation for innovation. It was a hard offense to stop, it bucked the norms, it defied conventional logic played to score not to maintain field position. Yes it's a positional game but the  whole time of possession, punting away to force a defensive turnover or gain a 10 yard advantage for your place kicker was largely ignored. Because the repetition's were there which allowed the players to make routine plays over and over which moved the ball down the field with a view to score. The score was the pressure cooker. I think that is why I am worried. The kernel of truth is that the single minded focus on scoring might be lost as we trend back towards a more conventional right brain way of doing business. I am worried and probably unjustifiably so that balance will now be defined by play selection. # of runs  vs. # of passes. Last week it was defined by the team leader as distribution to all possible eligible receivers. Football is a copy cat business so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that success is mimicked.

I am worried that a level of complication will defuse the success the team has enjoyed. Put simply too many plays to be adequately repped in practice. The reason why the Air Raid wore people down was simplicity the 2 x deep had few blocking schemes to learn, few routes to learn and QB had relatively few "calls" to memorize. So it could be executed short or long little time or plenty. Ahead or behind. The beauty was of course to us fans that we all knew Leach would never let off the gas. Scoring was the thing this scheme of offense did. It’s the opposing defensive coordinator and his charges job to get the Raiders off the field. Simple. So I worry some of that simplicity will be eroded. Probably wrongly so. Tuberville has a loaded weapon in his holster. Senior QBs x 2, a senior Running Back, the O line Coach is in place and his contingent of big eaters have remained. So I worry that the Raiders won’t score 45 points on the Horns because we took our foot of the gas in the 4th period. I worry that as the men in black snap the Sooners winning streak in Norman someone whispers to Coach TT that scoring in the last 2 minutes is unkind. I worry that when the Raiders shut out OSU, aTm and Baylor that the Tech A.D. calls Tommie to remind him that making coaches Gundy, Sherman and Briles look bad makes you unwelcome at the Big 12 end of the year hoopla. Really folks I could lose sleep over this. I worry that after the Tuberville coached team wins the Big 12 next year with a Leach concocted team btw - that he pulls a David McWilliams scam and departs for the nearest college town with a Ruth Christ Steakhouse and palm trees on campus.

There is something to be said for continuity.  Red Raiders team statistics for 2009 -  To that end I am excited that Bennie Wylie is still the Raider taskmaster. I am excited to see another Mainord on the field (kinda like two for one). Coach Willis will inject a level of seize control, destructive, scheme busting defense which could be suffocating. I hope I’m right. I’m excited to see some Leach acolytes x 3 hanging around  i.e. Coach D.Simmons, GA Cumbie and the new OC Neal Brown (a former player). Its official Matt  Moore O line and Charle Sadler  the D line coaches will stay. Semi offcial  that Tommie McVay  dir of football ops stays.  I think its entirely possible the same practice and repetition rigor we have been used to seeing with regards to the QB and receivers will be retained and strengthened. IMO its really the corner stone of what Leach did to gain success. I am excited that a "cool" guy like Tuberville is around to scour up recruits. Now let’s see that acumen and pedigree applied to bringing in those 4 stars to the high plains.

In the end it’s about organizational momentum. It’s been a rocky ten days.

Change is a constant. Embrace the change. And don’t worry.

 

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