Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Presser: Period. End.

This week's Loeffler presser was actually very interesting.  I'd recommend that any fan pop over to YouTube and give it a listen.  Coach talked a lot and in significant detail about what he is trying to accomplish, various little nuggets in how he measures things...just very interesting to me.  And encouraging.

He was asked right away to comment on his rather startling comment after the game Saturday that BG left 50 points on the field.  That's hard to believe, given that we scored, you know, 7! 

He stayed with it.  He said we left 9 TDs on the field...and he gets it that you aren't going to get them all (and sometimes they are on the same drive), but that BG should have had 6 additional touchdowns and the FG for a total of 45 points.

Somehow I love that.

More.  He said that BG had 85 snaps and there were 5 play calls and that he needs to get that down to 3 to be in the right range. 

Name me the last time one of our coaches a) admitted to making a bad call and b) told us how many.  Impressive.

He knew what he was referring to, also.

When asked for an example, he said that there was a play on the 3rd drive.  From the 45 yard line, left hash, play-action pass.  The Bulldogs blow the coverage and Ortega-Jones is racing all alone down the sideline, but we blow the protection (as we had done in practice, but supposedly fixed) and Wade has to scramble and throws INC to Morris.

He also said that in the red zone there were 2 QB draws which would have been a walk-in and a messed up run option that was kept and if given would have been a walk-in.

You get the idea.  Loeffler attributes these problems to poor game week preparation.  He said the offense was poor during the week, dropping the ball several times in the drop through.  He said that the team needs to act like it is game day during the week.  He said Urban called it "competitive excellence."  (Real way with words, that Urban). 

He said he felt like it was a wake-up call in the locker room after that game, which you would hope (my comment here) and losing 35-7 at home on homecoming to a G5 team you should have competed with.

He said the defense practiced better this week.

One note is that he said that the players were not expecting the in-season practices to rival the pre-season practices in intensity.  They are starting to get the message, but Loeffler has seen a turnaround in a situation like this to take as long as a year.

He was asked about playing Coleman-Abrams and Pence at the same time and having 2 MLBS out there...he felt it worked and communication was good. The only issue was the explosion plays for the defense, especially the 75-yard run.

He also talked about the "Daily Double."  He says that if you can win the turnover battle and win the explosive play battle, you win 85% of those games.

From there he was asked about whether he was an analytics guy.  He said that you had to know the numbers and apply them to the situation.  We went for it on 4th because we needed TDs and there was no wind or other variables to change that calculation.

We want to be different...hard to simulate...because it gives opponents a difficulty simulating your play in practice...prep issues.

When asked about Grant Loy...he said there are no thoughts "yet"

Analytics.  Situations can change those.  Went for it on 4th because we need TDs.

The only head-scratcher question was about Woody Barrett, who is not starting currently for the Flashes.

My impression on Loeffler is consistent.  He knows what he is doing and how to build this program.  He is focused...like ridiculous focused.  Whether it works or not, time will tell.  As he says, winning is hard, even when you do things right.  But I think we got a guy who can make it happen.

3 comments :

Anonymous said...

Are you kidding me? "No thoughts yet" about switching QB's? How can he not give Loy a chance? It's pretty obvious Ward is not going to get the job done. What do we have to lose by at least giving Loy a chance?

Orange said...

The one thing to remember is that we don't see the two of them practice. It's possible that Wade is clearly better. The most popular guy with any fanbase is the backup QB.

Mark Lohrum said...

He also made it clear the offensive woes cannot fall exclusively on Wade. Execution problems were all over the place.

I would hope to see Loy. Not necessarily because he is better, but as a change of pace. As stated above, I do not see practice every say so I am not insightful.