For years and years and years, an assortment of routines in college football have remained the same because, well, that's the way they've always been done.
There seems to be more interest these days in going away from orthodox blueprints and doing more outside-the-box stuff. Interesting insights from Florida State's strength and conditioning guy and his views on various methods, thanks to our Rivals friends at Warchant.com.
In the past, conditioning was a simple task for Florida State head strength and conditioning coach Vic Viloria - have guys run until they can't anymore, and have the trash bins ready for receiving.
But now that a higher quality of athlete is being produced at the high school level, Viloria and his staff have adjusted how they prepare players for the upcoming season.
"I think we've always looked at conditioning, as a former football player and coach, I think we look at conditioning as if you don't have a few guys throwing up it's not conditioning," Viloria said. "If guys aren't passing out it's not conditioning. I think those days are gone. The athletes are so much better. They're trained in high school, the speeds at which they can run are tremendous. The size and strength has allowed us now to fine tune."
Hard to disagree. Back in, say, 1986, football players spent much of their summers on the beach or on the lake and doing stuff most other college kids do. Much different story now, with just about everyone spending their entire summers busting their tails. The acceleration of the recruiting calendar has put earlier pressure on recruits to get into shape and to specialize. So it would naturally follow that strength and conditioning techniques change with the times.
Times in the 40-yard dash have long been the gospel metric when it comes to appraising speed and comparing one guy to the next. But there are some flaws in using that as the measurement, and FSU's staff has incorporated miles per hour to their evaluations.
"When we train speed we want to train absolute speed," Viloria said. "Being able to look at it has always been available with GPS and radars, you can track miles per hour, look at baseball. Sometimes if it's a 40-yard (dash) it can be based off of who jumps first, but this kind of puts a number on the thing. We've kind of started looking into that process of tracking that actual speed instead of the 40-time."
A few Monday links:
-- Some interesting tidbits in this article by Jay Tate of the Auburn Rivals site.
* Kiehl Frazier will be Auburn's starter at quarterback this season. We "know" this because his primary challenger, Clint Moseley, has been struggling with a bum shoulder since camp opened. Frazier worked exclusively with the first-team offense for a week straight until Moseley earned some first-team reps in the scrimmage.
* Ryan Smith and Jermaine Whitehead are the top players at safety right now. Smith says it's been that way since camp started in terms of personnel rotations. It's surprising that Erique Florence isn't being mentioned with that first-team group, but remember that both Florence and Demetruce McNeal are known more for their hitting than their coverage skills. It appears that VanGorder prefers cover guys in the back.
* Mike Blakely apparently played quite well in both scrimmages and has moved into contention for significant playing time this fall. His inability to bring full effort during spring practices frustrated his position coach, but Blakely has been exhibiting a steady level of production so far this fall. He banged up a knee Saturday, but told an observer that he was feeling better after the scrimmage.
* Tight end Brandon Fulse told me the other day that this offense puts a huge emphasis on pre-snap shifts to disguise its plans. He thinks there's at least one shift prior to 95 percent of all plays. That adds a ton of complexity for receivers and backs, who must adapt flawlessly to the changes in real time. When Moseley said Saturday's scrimmage was marred by "mental penalties," we know why.
-- Auburn fullback Jay Prosch seems to be loving the new offense.
And awesome quote here:
Dubbed the Juggernaut in the spring, Prosch has picked up a few more aliases.
""We call him the Proschernaut, we call him War Daddy," backup fullback Blake Burgess said. "There's all sorts of names. Coach Loeffler just likes to yell, "I eat people" at him."
-- Looks like Auburn's defensive line has been doing a lot of smashmouth-stuff against the more conventional offense.
Auburn's plan in the first weeks of fall practice -- and likely for the season, too -- centers on establishing a running game.
That suits defensive lineman Jeff Whitaker just fine.
He gets to practice against the run every day, and what better way is there to spend a practice when you're 6-foot-4, 307 pounds and you can stay in a confined area?
"We're big boys. We want to run 10 yards, and that's it," Whitaker said. "We want to take on the run. The reason you started to play this game is because you want to hit somebody."
Interesting insight on Brian VanGorder's scheme:
"I think we're on a good pace," Whitaker said. "We've had some ups and downs -- new scheme and everything, but we've been well aware of the scheme for some time now."
The scheme is taking shape, with the safeties making calls, apparently that even involves the defensive ends. The linebackers will be setting the defense, too.
"Communication is going well. It's not great right now. But it's going to get better," Whitaker said.
-- In Blacksburg, looks like the Hokies' offensive brain trust is genuinely interested in doing some cutting-edge things.
The issue is whether the offense and kicking game can generate enough points.
"Those guys are really starting to turn it up," linebacker Bruce Taylor said, "especially with us going more to a spread offense. … If (they) keep it up, we have a chance to be just as good an offense as we are a defense."
Quarterback Logan Thomas gives Tech that chance, and he'll be orchestrating an attack that play-caller Mike O'Cain said will be faster and more deceptive. More pistol formation, more mis-direction, occasional no-huddle.
Toward that end, O'Cain, offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring and running backs coach Shane Beamer traveled to Texas during the offseason to exchange ideas and schemes with the Longhorns' staff.
"I've been in my past more stationary, see where the defense lines up and attack it," O'Cain said. "Now here, you don't know where (the defense is) going to line up. … It's probably a little more risk involved. But sometimes by taking those risks, you have a chance at bigger plays. …
"We've got a lot of work to do offensively. The optimism is there, but it's cautious. … I know we're talented. It's just a matter of getting that talent molded and moving in the right direction."
O'Cain attributes the changes to football's evolution rather than the Hokies' personnel. That said, the rugged, athletic, cerebral Thomas is an ideal quarterback to manage not only the different schemes but also inexperienced linemen and tailbacks.
"A little bit nasty at times and explosive," Thomas said of the identity he'd like the offense to assume.
-- And boom goes more dynamite in Chapel Hill.
LW
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