Ralph Brown speaks out
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Scheme is just a small part of the advantage SF brings to the table- Its also how HE PRACTICES< how he teaches, how he does quality control and PACE
LOTS of it learned from TO
“When I was on defense, at one of our stations there were three groups of offenses coming at us after each play would end. We had to hurry up and get back before the next play getting snapped off. I’m watching other stations where the offense is running the option, throwing plays, it’s so fast-paced. There were four or five stations going on and everybody’s rotating in, everyone’s blocking hard, everyone’s doing their job, everyone’s competing.”
This appears to be another throwback to what Frost’s mentor felt was one way to get a major leg up on his opponents.
“Coach Osborne knew the power of repetition and psychology. That’s one of his gifts. He knew if he could get 1,000 more reps than his opponent, he’ll be that much more prepared whether (using) a first-string or backup. They’re going to be ready to perform at a high level. That’s why you saw second-string quarterbacks, backup cornerbacks, and defensive linemen come in while (playing) as if it was the norm. It wasn’t something new to them.”
LOTS of it learned from TO
“When I was on defense, at one of our stations there were three groups of offenses coming at us after each play would end. We had to hurry up and get back before the next play getting snapped off. I’m watching other stations where the offense is running the option, throwing plays, it’s so fast-paced. There were four or five stations going on and everybody’s rotating in, everyone’s blocking hard, everyone’s doing their job, everyone’s competing.”
This appears to be another throwback to what Frost’s mentor felt was one way to get a major leg up on his opponents.
“Coach Osborne knew the power of repetition and psychology. That’s one of his gifts. He knew if he could get 1,000 more reps than his opponent, he’ll be that much more prepared whether (using) a first-string or backup. They’re going to be ready to perform at a high level. That’s why you saw second-string quarterbacks, backup cornerbacks, and defensive linemen come in while (playing) as if it was the norm. It wasn’t something new to them.”
A Reality check for the current and future Blackshirts and the whole team!
Brown had a few things to say about exactly what wearing a Blackshirt in practice means, or perhaps should mean.
“If you have a Blackshirt, it means you are not afraid to get on your teammates in practice. You are not afraid to let one know if he’s taking plays off, you don’t take plays off. It means you’re a leader, you’re selfless. You help the next man underneath you who’s not a Blackshirt.”
He recalled when he came in and started as a true freshman. He was approached by players such as Jason Peter and Grant Wistrom who gave him a bit of a dressing down and didn’t mince words when it came to the brotherhood that he was a part of.
They emphasized the necessity to never take plays off, leaving all of what he had in the tank both on the practice field and in game situations. That the honor — and it was clearly an honor — was not to be taken lightly. Clearly, Brown took their message to heart.
For Frost to come in and address his players rather bluntly in regards to things running poorly and their conditioning being flat out subpar, a fine line may have needed to be walked. That said, Brown feels how Nebraska’s new head football coach approached the situation was best for laying the foundation for his new culture.
“You have to be honest and direct with these kids. I think the previous staff babied them a lot. I heard so many different things about practices and how a lot of the players were babied, even with coach Pelini. Coach Frost is not going to baby the kids. He’s going to tell them exactly what they need to do. He’s going to point out exactly where they need to improve, and if it affects you in an adverse way, maybe you’re not built for their system.”
Brown had a few things to say about exactly what wearing a Blackshirt in practice means, or perhaps should mean.
“If you have a Blackshirt, it means you are not afraid to get on your teammates in practice. You are not afraid to let one know if he’s taking plays off, you don’t take plays off. It means you’re a leader, you’re selfless. You help the next man underneath you who’s not a Blackshirt.”
He recalled when he came in and started as a true freshman. He was approached by players such as Jason Peter and Grant Wistrom who gave him a bit of a dressing down and didn’t mince words when it came to the brotherhood that he was a part of.
They emphasized the necessity to never take plays off, leaving all of what he had in the tank both on the practice field and in game situations. That the honor — and it was clearly an honor — was not to be taken lightly. Clearly, Brown took their message to heart.
For Frost to come in and address his players rather bluntly in regards to things running poorly and their conditioning being flat out subpar, a fine line may have needed to be walked. That said, Brown feels how Nebraska’s new head football coach approached the situation was best for laying the foundation for his new culture.
“You have to be honest and direct with these kids. I think the previous staff babied them a lot. I heard so many different things about practices and how a lot of the players were babied, even with coach Pelini. Coach Frost is not going to baby the kids. He’s going to tell them exactly what they need to do. He’s going to point out exactly where they need to improve, and if it affects you in an adverse way, maybe you’re not built for their system.”
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Outliers. According to outliers it takes 10,000 hours to perfect a skill. I don’t know if tha translates to football, but it makes a great deal of sense that the team that gets the most reps might be better. Osborne also did not have many plays compared to today’s offenses. He might have had different blocking schemes or formations, but the basic plays remained limited.
From former players I know
On game days TO had a handful of plays he felt extremely confident would work against that weeks opponent. Im talking 12 or less plays. They practiced the heck out of those plays during practice that week
Then they sparingly went over some of the plays they MIGHT run
Compare that with Callahan/Rileys 500 page WCO playbook- where in a game- they might call a play using the long tail nomenclature that they HAD NEVER EVEN RUN IN PRACTICE- is happened= not a fan
I agree
It was a hodgepodge of everything he saw and liked
Used very little constraint theory and didnt have complements to every play
Frosts offense really puts defense in a bind- he has answers for everything
Nightmare to defend- not because he has a bunch of different stuff and is fast- HE GOES SLOW SOMETIMES and medium sometimes- its not all super fast
Because you cant load up on any of his stuff without getting burned- and badly
I’m so glad to see the Osborne culture coming back. IIRC, Solich slowly started going away from the focus and attention to detail.
I don't remember the opposing coach, but he said something similar about preparing for an Osborne offense. He said Nebraska really only ran out of a few set formations, but he would run a half dozen different plays on each formation so he really never had a clue what was coming based on the formation. He said it was a nightmare to defend.
