Gretz - All about Fundamentals

[Hammock Parties]

Good article, IMO. Now bitch about Herm's offense like there's no tomorrow!

http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2008/05..._fundamentals/

It was Day 2 of the Chiefs 2008 schedule of OTAs. The sun was bright, the wind was bracing and nearly 90 players were working on the team’s three practice fields at the Truman Sports Complex.

The calendar said May, but this was football and almost football weather.

And it was football in its most basic forms.

In the first week of on-field work for the 2008 season, Herm Edwards and his coaching staff have broken down the teaching to simple things.

Like the stance a player takes on every play.

“If you don’t get this right, you can’t play this defense,” Gunther Cunningham loudly told his linebackers as they worked on reacting to the offense. He even had the video crew on the field, taping his linebackers in their stances.

It was the same at other defensive positions and on the offense as well. It’s the biggest part of this first week of work; something as simple as the correct placement of the feet.

“We started everybody on the same page, page one,” Edwards said. “Here’s the name of this. Here’s how we are going to do this. Here’s how this is going to be coached. Here’s how we line up.

“We are starting with the very beginnings of football. This is how you line up, this is your stance. We want you to get in this stance. No, not that stance, but this stance. We are training them and conditioning them, but we haven’t done any team stuff yet. We have done some 7-on-7 (a passing/pass coverage drill) but not the whole team stuff. There’s a reason for that. We are going to bring them along slowly, to teach them the fundamentals, the techniques, the systems. Next week, we’ll start competing against each other.”

Why so basic? It’s the players on the field. The Chiefs have 92 players available to them. Make that 91, since veteran safety Greg Wesley is not taking part in the practices ahead of his trade or release. Two rookies are missing because their schools remain in session.

So that’s 88 bodies and 31 of those are rookies, another 10 are first-year players and 15 more are in their first off-season with the Chiefs.

“With so many young guys, you are going to have an opportunity to teach them the Chiefs Way,” Edwards said. “They are going to find out that this is how we do things. We are teaching them, not having to de-program them from another team or system.”

All this becomes even more important to the new Chiefs offense under coordinator Chan Gailey. The playbook has been pared down considerably and so has the approach. While former play-caller Al Saunders frequently did not call the same play more than twice in a month, this year’s offense may run the same play three times in the same series.

A more basic offense makes the fundamentals much more important.

“It’s called execution,” Edwards said. “Here’s the A gap (between center and guard.) They know we are going to run it there. We know we are going to run it there. Now run it there and be successful through execution. If we run there three times and they stop us once, that means we win twice.”

At least once during the season, every coach feels like he needs to take his team back to the basics. This usually occurs when the team is struggling. But, going back to the basics only works if there are basics to go back to.

That’s what the Chiefs are working on right now. They are building a base to becoming a more disciplined, a more fundamentally sound and a more mentally tough team.

More on that final attribute on Friday.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

meltdown coming

[Reerun_KC]

Holy Christ....


This cant be real can it? We cant be trying to relive 1989 again can we? Two years in a row?

[Deberg_1990]

Herm is absolutely right. Its always about execution more than anything. Every type of offense has won championships.

[Reerun_KC]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Chan is absolutely right. Its always about execution more than anything. Every type of offense has won championships.

Only if that offense believes in scoring TD's over FG's....

[the Talking Can]

having just shot myself in the face, I am now reloading....

[milkman]

“It’s called execution,” Edwards said. “Here’s the A gap (between center and guard.) They know we are going to run it there. We know we are going to run it there. Now run it there and be successful through execution. If we run there three times and they stop us once, that means we win twice.”

And punt on fourth down.

[Hammock Parties]

I wonder if we ever see another flea flicker.

[Chiefnj2]

I like how they act as if Solari didn't even exist.

Herm spent the entire offseason last year talking about how they simplified everything on offense. The team wants everyone to believe that they called some complex offense the last two years when they didn't.

In any event they need to go back to the basics.

[Reerun_KC]

Originally Posted by GOATSE

I wonder if we ever see another flea flicker.

What? That is crazy Arena League talk!

[Reerun_KC]

Originally Posted by Chiefnj2

I like how they act as if Solari didn't even exist.

Herm spent the entire offseason last year talking about how they simplified everything on offense. The team wants everyone to believe that they called some complex offense the last two years when they didn't.

In any event they need to go back to the basics.

Predictable R2P2 is pretty basic..... What else can you do?

[MIAdragon]

Originally Posted by GOATSE

I wonder if we ever see another flea flicker.

Its difficult to run that three times in a series, so no we wont.>>

[Coogs]

So, for example, if LJ gets loose around the left end for a 30 yard run, we might run the play again?

[Hydrae]

“It’s called execution,” Edwards said. “Here’s the A gap (between center and guard.) They know we are going to run it there. We know we are going to run it there. Now run it there and be successful through execution. If we run there three times and they stop us once, that means we win twice.”

I like it. This speaks to the mental toughness mentioned at the end of the article. Line up mano a mano and play the game. Tricks can be nice but they do not win the season. Beating the other guys head-to-head starting in the trenches does though.

[FAX]

I have an idea.

Let's don't tell the enemy we're going to run through the A gap!!!

FAX