Wide receiver coaching

Proxigean Tide · October 17th, 2005, 11:43 AM

I'm definately not one to bash the staff...especially when we are 6-0. However, has anyone else thought we should be having more consistant success through the air with Brodie playing QB?

My thought is that the WR coaching might be less than perfect. Specifically, don't seem to get much separation despite being pretty fast as a group.

I'm not suggesting that speed is coachable, but route running, cuts and other techniques like finding seams in zone defenses, breaking jams at the LOS and aggressively battling defenders for the ball certainly can be coached.

What I've seen this season is that Brodie can and will throw to a reciever despite close coverage. In addition, he often doesn't do much to "look off" his primary although this may be more a function of being coached to get the ball out quickly vice trying dupe the defense. However, the end result of too many routes are Bama wideouts trying to field passes with a defender all over them.

The reciever knows where he is going and the defender doesn't. Speed, cuts, jukes, body language and head position are the tools receivers use to create separation and get truly open. Also, what about coaching the primary responsibility of simply making the catch.

I haven't had a chance to look at the stats, but how many dropped balls do the coaches need to see before they begin looking at ways to correct this deficiency? Is coaching the problem or is it the athletes? RTR.

Tide64 · October 17th, 2005, 11:55 AM

You might want to note that they are all very young...
And didn't have Brodie most of their freshman year.

11 Matt Caddell, FL So
22 D.J. Hall, SE So
81 Keith Brown, FL So
84 Ezekial Knight, FL So
7 Will Oakley, SE Fr

Proxigean Tide · October 17th, 2005, 12:05 PM

Ok. So you're saying its the athletes. I can buy that. It does take time and game experience to become a proficient SEC receiver.

Does anyone think a fair amount of drops are caused by the difficulty inherant to catching the often high velocity throws from BC? I noted one 3rd down conversion squelched late against Ole Miss when normally sure-hended McLain droped one on a flare route out off the backfield. The announcers mentioned they heard the sound of the ball popping off his hands from up in the press box.

I love the fact that Brodie has an NFL arm and with incredible accuracy. However, like Elway when he first hit the NFL, is it so great if nobody can handle it? RTR.

GulfCoastTider · October 17th, 2005, 12:14 PM

I think part of it is the juice Brodie's putting on the ball, with part of it also going towards youth in the receiving corps. They just haven't had enough experience playing with a QB who has that much firepower, and Brodie's passes sometimes resemble a Sidewinder missile...

kgbama16 · October 17th, 2005, 12:49 PM

Just catch the ball! These guys are college receivers. They shouldn't have to coached to catch a pass!

TENNTIDE1 · October 17th, 2005, 01:02 PM

Brodie had a lot of passing yards in High School too. Somebody was catching those passes. I have seen too many balls that hit receivers in the hands being dropped. That drives me crazy, especially in 3rd down situations.

Bamabuzzard · October 17th, 2005, 01:15 PM

It's called lack of focus and probably a little bit of lack of preparation, which comes with young players.

A lot of the balls that have been dropped this year have been mostly "routine" catch type balls. The ball hits them either between the numbers or square in the hands and they just drop it. They're not focusing.

But rest assure if this continues it will cost us a few games. It's bound to catch up with us sooner or later. I know for sure that one dropped pass (vs Ole Miss) cost us a first down and another cost us a td. Then another caught pass was fumbled which cost us giving up seven points. That is a 14 pt swing and a potential 21 pt swing.

TIDE-HSV · October 17th, 2005, 01:24 PM

is new to this position, but he's done a lot of extra work to get up to speed. I forget where all he's gone for training...

Proxigean Tide · October 17th, 2005, 01:45 PM

Tide-HSV:

I was going to mention that I remember wondering, when Coach Harbison came back as an assistant, what he knew about coaching a receiving corps. I know he is probably one of the top 1 or 2 recruiters on the staff, but his coaching experience was mostly on defensive side of the ball. RTR.

Tide64 · October 17th, 2005, 02:56 PM

It's nice to have this discussion. Last year, they couldn't get the ball to any of the receivers, so it didn't matter if they could catch or not.

Boclive · October 17th, 2005, 02:57 PM

It's a balancing act between throwing a soft, catchable ball and not being intercepted very often.

Contrast the swing pass Brodie attempted to the fullback in the Ole Miss game with the hot read slant to the tight end in the Sou. Miss game.

A drop or two in a game won't kill you.

An interception or two will.

Bamabuzzard · October 17th, 2005, 03:00 PM

	Quote:	Boclive
	It's a balancing act between throwing a soft, catchable ball and not being intercepted very often. Contrast the swing pass Brodie attempted to the fullback in the Ole Miss game with the hot read slant to the tight end in the Sou. Miss game. A drop or two in a game won't kill you. An interception or two will.

A drop or two on third down conversions leads to 10-10 ties at the end of games rather than 21-10 (or maybe more) leads.

NYBamaFan · October 17th, 2005, 03:14 PM

	Quote:	kgbama16
	Just catch the ball! These guys are college receivers. They shouldn't have to coached to catch a pass!

Didn't ESPN do a piece on the Texas Tech reciever training program? I believe that they use tennis balls and a machine to teach their kids to catch the ball with their hands. It develops "softer" hands, better hand/eye coordination, and better technique. And the machine can be cranked up to over 90 MPH.

Seems to be working for them...