Links: NFL’s ‘Spot’, Noel Mazzone, Alex Gibbs, & Chief Pigskin on Becoming a Real Man…

– A brief but succinct analysis by Matt Barrows of National Football Post on the ‘spot’ concept used in the NFL. 

– Previously, I had put together an article on similar concepts here.  Unfortunately, some of the video I had added to illustrate these concepts  has since been removed due to copyright issues – and I’ve been too lazy to edit the older post.  Instead, I offer you this: a very comprehensive piece surrounding these concepts and their relationship to vertical, horizontal and triangle stretch reads from Chris Brown at smartfootball.com.

– I could always just send you to Brophy’s excellent website, Cripes! Get back to fundamentals… and tell you that everything you find there is gold.  I have his site bookmarked on my toolbar, and literally, as I look at the titles of his 20 or so most recent posts, every single one of them begs to be delved into and broken down, piece by piece, to uncover some incredibly valuable nuggets of football coaching information.  He writes about all facets of the game, but I have been especially interested in his offerings centered on Noel Mazzone’s (former NFL WR/offensive coordinator and most recently ASU’s offensive coordinator) melding of pro style passing with college style spread and run game, college and pro adaptations of inside zone and stretch in the run game, and his overall access to some great coaching cutups and clinic films presented for your leisure, or in-depth study.  Try these on for starters:

Back to the future: Sliding with Noel Mazzone

Why Noel Mazzone: Dennis Erickson and the one-back spread offense

Mazzone Revisited

Airraid Wrinkle (Part II) & Airraid Adaptation (cntd)

Alex Gibbs: Stretch/Run Game Developments (part 1) (This post features nearly 5 hours of clinic discussion – between Gibbs and former Florida Gator Offensive Coordinator, now Mississippi State Head Coach, Dan Mullen, and former Florida Gator Offensive Line Coach, now Temple Head Coach, Steve Addazio – on the inside and outside zone game implemented at the NFL level.)

Alex Gibbs: Stretch/Run Game Developments (part 2) (Continues with nearly 4 more hours of discussion of Gibbs’ system and how to adapt it to the college game with shotgun and reads.)

Rod Dobbs: Teaching & Installing Zone Runs

Attack Nodes: Running From the Gun

– Lastly (for now), I have been gathering information recently on all things relevant to running a high school football program.  I came across a great website titled Cheifpigskin: Football Video Haven.  This is a great site for coaches looking to grow as there are TONS of great videos concerning all areas of high school football development including overall program development, practice scheduling, O/D drills, in-depth documentaries, and more.  And it’s all FREE (most of it, anyway).  They even offer you a free downloadable eBook titled, Playbook for Manhood,  for joining their mailing list.  I have only perused it briefly, but it looks like it will be helpful in providing some real world examples in the effort to lead some of those uncertain youngsters – whom we often come across in the coaching profession – in the right direction; toward becoming a real man.  From a description on the website, the book’s author, Frank DiCocco, “The Playbook for Manhood addresses an important problem in our society today: the breakdown in the positive developmental process of our world’s young men.”

 

Quick links and video: Baalke and staff talk Kaepernick, Harbaugh and future of 49er football

49ers GM, Trent Baalke, talks in detail to the local media about QB Colin Kaepernick’s ability to grow at the next level.  Give it a watch, and if you are a fan of offensive football in general (let alone a 49er fan), the part where he talks about Kaepernick bringing a QB driven run game to the 49ers offense is quite exciting.  You can’t help but conjure up images of Michael Vick related to the strain that he puts on a defense because of the threat that he poses in the run game.

Baalke also mentions something interesting when he alludes to the fact that they may tailor some of their offensive attack to include Kaepernick early on.  “Who’s to say that we’re not going to have him in the pistol … having some variation of that working for him,” Baalke said.

(See also: Matt Bowen’s take from the National Football Post on the 49ers ability to run the read option with Kaepernick)

Another entertaining video from 49ers.com is the following preview of their ‘Coach ’em up’ series.  Linebackers coach Jim Leavitt, quarterbacks coach Geep Chryst, secondary coach Ed Donatell, and special teams coordinator Brad Seely are among those featured in this clip.  Between Donatell and Seely, the staff can draw from the experience of six (6) Super Bowl Championships.  Donatell earned three (3) during his time with the Denver Broncos and Seely also accumulated three (3) under New England Patriots Head Coach, Bill Belichick.

Geep Chryst’s synopsis of Jim Harbaugh‘s coaching career and potential with the 49ers hints toward what many 49er fans may be hoping – that he is able to recreate the success he has had at each of his previous two head coaching posts.

Chryst explains what he expects based on trends Harbaugh built at the University of San Diego and Stanford:

“I knew in no short order, when he took the University of San Diego head job, that it wasn’t going to be a typical bus stop to bus stop type trip for Jim.  And, sure enough, from the University of San Diego he got hired at Stanford, which for a lot of people was quite a dramatic leap, but for Jim I think he was doing the same thing that he was doing from day one at the University of San Diego, and he’s doing the same thing here [with the 49ers], that he did day one at Stanford.”

In 2004, Harbaugh was named head coach at the University of San Diego.  There, he promptly led the Toreros to records of 7-4, 11-1, 11-1.  His first season at Stanford (2007) brought a major upset victory over 41 point favored University of Southern California, initiating a surge in the changing of the guard in the Pacific-10 Conference.  After showing moderate improvement and overachieving in his first two seasons, finishing 4-8 (2007) and 5-7 (2008), the Cardinal made a dramatic improvement in 2009, going 8-5 and being narrowly defeated by Oklahoma University in the Sun Bowl.  The improvement continued into 2010 when Harbaugh and the Cardinal finished with a school record twelve (12) victories.  His final campaign included a strong performance in a win versus Virgina Tech in the Orange Bowl, notching the school’s first ever BCS bowl victory, and finishing the year ranked 4th in both the Coaches and AP rankings (Source).

Still jonesing for more 49er breakdown and analysis?

Enjoy the following video links to catch up with Harbaugh, Baalke, and new 49er coaching staff and roster additions:

– Jim Harbaugh is featured on NFL’s Total Access in 32 Teams in 32 Days-49ers.

– Trent Baalke breaks down the latest additions to the 49er roster in Aldon Smith, Kendall Hunter and Ronald Johnson. 

– 49ers.com ‘Coach ’em up’ series focus on Secondary Coach Ed Donatell and  Quarterbacks Coach Geep Chryst.

– Official 49ers press conferences with Offensive Coordinator Greg Roman, Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio, and Special Teams Coordinator Brad Seely. 

– NFL Network’s feature on brothers Jim and John Harbaughs’ Thanksgiving matchup between the 49ers and Ravens.

Still want more?

– Check out 49ers.com’s list of news headlines here.

– Get The Bleacher Report’s stream of 49er headlines here. 

Quick Links and Video

Former New England Patriot’s CMO Lou Imbriano writes about making mistakes, taking responsibility, making amends, learning, growing, and more here.

Great defensive article about disguising blitz looks with coverage looks from Blitzology here.

From the same website a 4-2-5 research guide here.

Smart Football breaks down the west coast offense: timing, planning, balance, limitations, and personnel here.

A detailed west coast offense reference site here.

Kokoro – A warrior spirit; mental toughness training through SEALFit by Crossfit

More from SEALfit by Crossfit here.