Tag: Scheme

Luke Fickell on his upcoming offensive coordinator hire: ‘We want to be more of a pro style’

Luke Fickell on his upcoming offensive coordinator hire: ‘We want to be more of a pro style’

Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell updated the Badgers’ search for their vacant offensive coordinator position when meeting with the media on Wednesday.

The position opened when the program fired Phil Longo after its 16-13 Week 12 loss to No. 1 Oregon. It has yet to be filled, now almost one full week after the team’s season-ending loss to Minnesota.

Related: Everything Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell said about Badgers’ finalized class of 2025, his vision for the offense

“It’s an ongoing process. I’d like to tell you that ‘in three days we’ll be able to do this thing,'” Fickell said on Wednesday. “But we have to do our due diligence. We can’t hastefully just jump into this. Look, I wanted it done yesterday. I wanted it done a week ago. I wanted to know who it was.”

Wisconsin has seen significant roster movement in the time since Longo’s departure. It landed four-star quarterback Carter Smith to headline its class of 2025, but also saw the high-profile departure of ascending wide receiver Trech Kekahuna.

The current lack of a coordinator did not hurt the program’s class of 2025 recruiting efforts. And Kekahuna may have departed regardless, as he was a tailored fit in Longo’s air raid attack.

But as the winter transfer season continues, Wisconsin will obviously need somebody in place. The hire will likely precede quarterback movement and other scheme-based changes — two critical parts of the team’s upcoming offseason.

Fickell outlined his vision for that hire, hinting at a move away from Longo’s air raid scheme.

“There’s a vision that we have to continue to grow and evolve what we’re doing offensively,” Fickell continued. “The stereotype of saying before we were an air raid, which is whatever that is. It’s just a label. I’ll tell you we want to be more of a pro style. And what does that mean. That doesn’t mean anything more than we want to be multiple. We want to be able to play in 11 personnel, we want to be able to play in 12 personnel. We have 13 personnel. If that’s possible, 21 personnel. We want to be in the shotgun and be able to do the things that we’ve done out of the gun in the passing game, but we also want to see ourselves under center for 6, 8, 10 snaps a game.”

The comments do not narrow down any candidates specifically. But they do signal a philosophy shift from when Fickell took the job two years ago.

“We want to be able to build upon what it is that we’ve done,” Fickell specified. “What we’ve done in the last two years and our ability to spread it out and play the passing game, be out of the gun, is obviously where we build from. But our ability to play under center and get some play-action…That’s the idea, that’s the vision for us going forward.”

His hire will be tasked with turning around a unit that averaged just 22.6 points per game in 2024, down from 23.5 points per game in 2023. The unit will also likely have new faces all over the field. Where the word ‘unknown’ defines the current state of the unit, the word ‘change’ appears to define where it is heading in 2025.

Fickell also closed with a notable addition — he may look to hire a quarterbacks coach in addition to an offensive coordinator.

Those two hires in tandem will define Wisconsin’s offseason, and could define the Fickell era with the program. The Badgers face a gauntlet schedule in 2025. The success of the new coordinator and offensive system will be necessary for Fickell to return the team to bowl eligibility and reestablish its baseline of success.

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How his time with Rams was beneficial for Seahawks LB Bobby Wagner

Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner looks to fit right into Seattle’s defense under coordinator Clint Hurtt after his year away with the Rams.

Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner spent just one year in Los Angeles with the Rams before re-signing with Seattle as a free agent this offseason. As it turns out, the time in LA was beneficial to his return to the Seahawks.

Wagner had much to explain during his Seattle Sports radio interview on Wednesday.

“The scheme that I went to with the Rams was the scheme that Seattle was transitioning to, so I was able to play in that system for a year, get a little bit of an understanding,” Wagner told the Brock and Salk Show. “The biggest thing that will be an adjustment for me will be learning the terminology that they use and the different intricacies to how they do it, but they’re still going to be running some of the stuff they ran when I was here before.”

Things did indeed change over the last year with Seattle’s defense under the tutelage of defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt. Wagner, who is not sure of his exact role yet this season, is looking forward to doing his part.

“I’m just excited to compete and find my way on the field and keep playing at a high level, ” Wagner said.

Welcome back, Bobby.

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Clint Hurtt determined to put Jamal Adams in best position to excel

One of these is strong safety Jamal Adams

With the Seahawks in the midst of a retooling of sorts, they will not be expected to compete in 2022 and eyes will be on the team’s long-term future.

This means that key pieces will be constantly monitored. One of these is strong safety Jamal Adams, who is signed through 2025 and set to make quite a bit of money over the next four seasons.

The Seahawks traded two first-round picks and a third-round pick among other things for Adams in 2020 in the hopes that he would be the missing piece to the puzzle of a championship contender, but the trade has not paid off in spades. In fact, it has been criticized as one of the worst trades in recent memory by numerous pundits across the NFL.

However, Adams’ contract means that he will likely be in Seattle for a while, and Seattle must get the most out of the veteran safety and his abilities.

Defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt is determined to do just that. He has publicly emphasized that Adams must get healthy and learn his new scheme as well as he can so his strengths can be maximized.

“Right now the most important thing is, one,  him continuing to get healthy like he’s been doing,” Hurtt said on Mike Salk’s Seattle Sports podcast. “And then, obviously, ​​there’s the carryover in the scheme. There is some carryover for certain things in it, but there’s a lot of new learning as well.”

“I’ve been speaking with him, he’s been speaking with coach (Sean) Desai and coach (Karl) Scott as well, continuing to learn his stuff and get him up to speed and also in putting him in positions to be successful to be the best version of himself.”

“He got a lot better,” Hurtt continued. ​​”We hear all the little talk and stuff like that about these things he has to get better at. Jamal is a guy that’s a workaholic, he pays attention to the details. He got a lot better playing quarter coverage safety last year with those things and now it’s continuing to accentuate what he does great.”

Adams will need to work to rectify the weaknesses in his game, particularly in coverage, but Hurtt will also need to take advantage of the opportunities Adams gives him with his strengths.

“And what is that? He’s great as an underneath defender, he’s an outstanding run fit defender and tackler, and aggressor,” Hurtt said. “Obviously, we already know what he is as a blitzer. That comes very natural to him. But it’s just continuing to detail out his coverage responsibilities and whatnot, and he’s putting all his work in on that right now along with getting healthy.”

Adams will hopefully prove to be an asset in Hurtt’s system and live up to his sizable contract. This will certainly be something to keep an eye on moving forward.

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Why tight end Noah Fant will fit well in Seahawks ‘balanced offense’

Tight end Noah Fant sees the Seattle Seahawks offense as similar to what was run in Denver and thinks he’ll fit right into the scheme.

Seahawks tight end Noah Fant plans to “take the leap” this year entering into his fourth professional season in the NFL and thinks Seattle is just the place to do it.

“I’ve gotten to talk to the OC, the tight ends coach, coach (Pete) Carroll,” Fant told reporters during his press conference this week. “I know this is a balanced offense. This is the offense that runs the ball, that’ll play off play–action, that uses their tight ends, and I’m excited to be a part of that.”

Fant believes he’ll be a natural fit into the Seahawks’ scheme because of the similar personnel style the Broncos used in Denver.

“We had two powerful backs that we had to block for, and both of them rushed for close to a thousand yards last year,” Fant explained. With Chris Carson hopefully on the mend and Rashaad Penny inked to a contract extension, that’s exactly what the Seahawks want to have this season.

“I think it’s going to be something similar in that aspect,” Fant continued. “And so that’s exactly why I want to make sure I get in and understand the offense and then really be able to contribute in the run game, which will help me even more in the pass game also.”

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Damon Harrison’s exit from Detroit centered around scheme fit

The Detroit Lions and nose tackle Damon Harrison mutually parted ways this offseason and now it appears his exit was centered around his fit within their scheme.

The Detroit Lions and nose tackle Damon Harrison mutually parted ways this offseason and now it appears his exit was centered around his fit within their scheme.

Harrison recently joined Chris Long, former defensive end, on his the Green Light Podcast — as first reported by 97.1 the ticket — and discussed his time in Detroit.

The Lions originally traded for Harrison because of his stout run defense but Harrison said his trepidation to join the team was there from the beginning, noting, among other things, he had concerns about fitting into the Lions defense.

“When I got there I didn’t know anything about the scheme. I was a nose tackle my entire career, 1-technique, shade, zero, some 2-wide. I get there and it’s 2-, 3- techniques. Now for me, in my career, the most frightening thing was playing 3-technique because of how far back the guards would sit.”

In the Lions multiple scheme, the defensive linemen are asked to be able to operate at several spots along the line. Trey Flowers has to be comfortable lining up anywhere from the 3- to the 7-technique, Da’Shawn Hand 1- to 7-technique, while nose tackles are often asked to line up at the 0-, 1-, 2-, and 3-techniques.

“We had some conversations about not doing it anymore, and they kind of incorporated some of that zero nose, shade to kind of fit my play style. But it was something that I wasn’t comfortable with. I had some success doing it, but this past year I think it kind of came back to bite me in the (expletive).”

As our friend Jeremy Reisman at Pride of Detroit pointed out, “In his time in Detroit, his (Harrison’s) split between three-tech and the nose was almost 50/50. Per PFF, he played 426 snaps around the three-tech and 454 at the nose.”

The proximity between the 1- and 3-techniques may not seem like a big difference in positioning on the field, but it is actually a pretty big adjustment for a defender to make in terms of adjusting to the blocker in front of them.

The 1-technique lines up between the center and the guard, forcing the offensive lineman to make their initial move laterally towards Harrison. But when at the 3-technique — lines up in between the guard and tackle — the offensive linemen are set back a bit further and can make their initial move forward, creating a different angle of attack for the defender.

“I’ve been taught to attack who’s trying to block me. Fight pressure with pressure. If the center’s going away and the guard’s coming, I’m going to attack the guard. That’s just the way I was taught and that wasn’t the way that we played it in Coach (Matt) Patricia’s defense.”

These can be difficult adjustments for players to make. Some players who have experience operating between positions will feel comfortable in the Lions scheme, while others will never settle in. This is a big reason why the Lions have added multiple players who have previous experience in this particular scheme — like Lions new nose tackle Danny Shelton — as they have proven they are comfortable with what is being asked of them.

The Lions believed Harrison could make the adjustment, and to his credit, Harrison tried to make it work, but he never felt comfortable. This is why the two sides both “mutually agreed” to part ways in February.

It’s worth noting, that while several players who have left the organization recently have addressed their poor relationship with Patricia, Harrison made it clear that was not the case with him and the Lions organization.

“Matt Patricia’s a great coach, a great guy. I have a lot of respect for Matt Patricia. It had nothing to do with him personally.”

Bears’ Trubisky is slumping but these plays could solve Cowboys defense

Dallas’ pass defense hasn’t been sharp, but they’ll need to watch for these concepts when on the field in Chicago

The Dallas Cowboys 2019 season sits at a tipping point entering their Week 14 Thursday Night Football matchup with the Chicago Bears.

In many ways, the Cowboys and Bears are mirror images of one another, teams with very high level talents in many areas, playoff teams in 2018 and entered 2019 considered Super Bowl contenders in the NFC. 13 weeks into the season, they sit at 6-6 with as many questions as answers.

For the Bears, the questions begin at the quarterback position, where third-year signal caller Mitchell Trubisky has struggled to take the step the team expected and needed him to take for the team to become the mainstays at the top of the ultra competitive NFC North.

Trubisky’s problems with accuracy, pocket management, and decision making have put the clamps on the offense that through it’s design and creativity propelled head coach Matt Nagy to win the Coach of the Year award in the 2018.

How will Nagy try to help Trubisky attack a Cowboys defense that has been inconsistent at best this year?

First off, he’ll use design to create easy completions on early downs.

On this play, the concept is extremely simple, to the top side, its Slant/Flat which is a staple concept of the west coast offense tree that Nagy comes from. On the near side, Nagy is going to use the tight end to create traffic for the linebacker trying to run inside-out to cover the running back.

Combine this “rub” with the deep comeback from the nearside receiver, and there is a lot of room for running back David Montgomery to make the catch and run for the first down, keeping Trubisky from having to deal with the designer pressure packages and coverage looks that come on third downs.

When he does get to third down, Nagy will use formations and motions to give Trubisky’s best weapon, wide receiver Allen Robinson opportunities to win and move the sticks.

On this play, Nagy lines Robinson up as the #3 receiver to the trips side. The explosive Anthony Miller is lined up as #2 and versatile running back Tarik Cohen is lined up as the #1 on the outside.

The slot fade from Miller, along with the short hitch from Cohen give Robinson the room to win one on one on the inside.

Having Robinson lined up so far inside, not far from where a tight end might traditionally line up, is a brilliant way for Nagy to clear up the picture for his quarterback, and shorten the distance the ball has to travel to move the sticks.

When the Bears get into Dallas territory, the Cowboys need to be prepared for them to take a shot down the field.

Teams know the Cowboys prefer to line up in single high, and play Cover 1 and Cover 3 variations, many of which involve pattern or man-match principles. One of these variations is often called when offenses line up in 3×1 sets against them.

Dallas likes to roll the coverage towards the three wide side of the field, and leave the single receiver to the back side in man coverage. This allows them to maintain a numerical advantage to the trips side, without leaving the single wide out to roam free.

But because offensive coordinators know this tendency they have developed ways to attack it.

On this play, the Bears are in 3×1 with a bunch to the top side, and they are running a variation of 4 verticals. What this allows them to do against a defense like Dallas’ is to put the deep safety in a major bind using the deep over route.

This route, run here by Miller, creates issues because it transitions from the zone half of the coverage into the man half of the coverage. The free safety has to stay on top of this route because with the backside corner in man coverage, there’s not a deep third defender to that side to pick up that route as it comes across the field, so an underneath defender, usually a linebacker or strong safety, has to pick up the route and run with it.

With a player like Miller on this route, that’s a mismatch so the deep safety has to over play it. But if he over plays it too early, or too far, the seam route, here run but the tight end has a huge window to the inside for the easy completion.

Releasing the running back to the man coverage side adds even more effectiveness to this concept because it pulls an underneath defenders eyes forward and might cause him to pause his feet, rather than sinking to give him a chance to run with Miller on the deep route.

If the Cowboys defense is going to shut down the Bears and pave the way for a Dallas victory, they’ll need to have answers for these concepts, many of which will have to come from high-level performances from coverage players like Jourdan Lewis and Xavier Woods, and from their stable of pass rushers led by Demarcus Lawrence, Robert Quinn, and Michael Bennett.

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