batchaps4me
2022 Poster of The Year!
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Fall camp has started and many of us have new staff and we all have new players vying for positions. I am curious about everyone's evaluation of their team. Since Auburn has had a complete overhaul, I will go first:
Coaches- I am happy so far with the energy and effort the staff has put into recruiting. We signed 14 former 4 star recruits from the portal which is more than any other team. We needed it to be competitive with any of our SEC opponents this season. This past week saw us pick up commits from two four star and 2 five star recruits, FWIW ... I don't put much stock in commits until signing day. That's not a knock on the kids, a coach could say the wrong thing to momma or a spot on their dream school could open up, so it ain't over until it's over.
Where I had most concern was game management and philosophy because it has been five or so years since I have seen him call a game. A lot has changed in the NCAAF rules so I was curious enough to watch Liberty @ Wake(36-37) and @Arkansas(21-19) this week and going to watch more Liberty games this week and see how they looked in their other losses. My preliminary observations are that his team:
1. was well disciplined and fundamentally sound. There were few, perhaps two, false start/illegal shift penalties that I remember and I can't think of
any off sides. The moments were not too big for them and they didn't slow or quit when things were going against them. I hope those two things
are a part of Auburn's culture this year and have no reason to doubt they will.
2. was attacking on both sides of the ball. I don't have the skills to break down plays, you could see the concepts of all the routs on a play. It is
almost like every receiver had a purpose. Forgive me guys, but that is a new concept to Auburn football.
3. game planned. He uses formations and shifts to force favorable matchups and then took his shots with those matchups. Again, forgive me but
that is also a new concept for Auburn football.
4. overall got the best from his players. They were out talented, I would say vastly out talented, by both Wake and Arkansas, but you couldn't see
that play to play. They played as peers.
Now for a few things I didn't like:
1. The meerkat. For some reason, I have never like the team looking like meerkats at the line of scrimmage on every play. I understand the
advantages vs disadvantages but I guess I am just too old-school to like that. On balance, his NH can use pace but is not HUNH.
2. Pass/run ratio was about 58/42. Again, I am a bit old-school and would like it closer to 55/45. Hell, 40/60 would please the hell out of me ...
3. He was either slow at adjusting for certain edge players/blitzers or he just didn't have the talent to counter. In all fairness, we have all been there,
but I never saw help in the form of chip blocks from the running backs or tight ends.
4. There was not a big presence of TEs. I never saw two TE sets and rarely saw a TE on the line. This could be just a personnel or philosophy thing,
IDK. But IMHO TEs are the QB's best friend and safety valve.
I will do our QB battle later, this post is long enough even after I edited out a lot of things. What about everyone else's teams?
Coaches- I am happy so far with the energy and effort the staff has put into recruiting. We signed 14 former 4 star recruits from the portal which is more than any other team. We needed it to be competitive with any of our SEC opponents this season. This past week saw us pick up commits from two four star and 2 five star recruits, FWIW ... I don't put much stock in commits until signing day. That's not a knock on the kids, a coach could say the wrong thing to momma or a spot on their dream school could open up, so it ain't over until it's over.
Where I had most concern was game management and philosophy because it has been five or so years since I have seen him call a game. A lot has changed in the NCAAF rules so I was curious enough to watch Liberty @ Wake(36-37) and @Arkansas(21-19) this week and going to watch more Liberty games this week and see how they looked in their other losses. My preliminary observations are that his team:
1. was well disciplined and fundamentally sound. There were few, perhaps two, false start/illegal shift penalties that I remember and I can't think of
any off sides. The moments were not too big for them and they didn't slow or quit when things were going against them. I hope those two things
are a part of Auburn's culture this year and have no reason to doubt they will.
2. was attacking on both sides of the ball. I don't have the skills to break down plays, you could see the concepts of all the routs on a play. It is
almost like every receiver had a purpose. Forgive me guys, but that is a new concept to Auburn football.
3. game planned. He uses formations and shifts to force favorable matchups and then took his shots with those matchups. Again, forgive me but
that is also a new concept for Auburn football.
4. overall got the best from his players. They were out talented, I would say vastly out talented, by both Wake and Arkansas, but you couldn't see
that play to play. They played as peers.
Now for a few things I didn't like:
1. The meerkat. For some reason, I have never like the team looking like meerkats at the line of scrimmage on every play. I understand the
advantages vs disadvantages but I guess I am just too old-school to like that. On balance, his NH can use pace but is not HUNH.
2. Pass/run ratio was about 58/42. Again, I am a bit old-school and would like it closer to 55/45. Hell, 40/60 would please the hell out of me ...
3. He was either slow at adjusting for certain edge players/blitzers or he just didn't have the talent to counter. In all fairness, we have all been there,
but I never saw help in the form of chip blocks from the running backs or tight ends.
4. There was not a big presence of TEs. I never saw two TE sets and rarely saw a TE on the line. This could be just a personnel or philosophy thing,
IDK. But IMHO TEs are the QB's best friend and safety valve.
I will do our QB battle later, this post is long enough even after I edited out a lot of things. What about everyone else's teams?
