What makes great or even good play caller?! I've often wondered about this very topic. I've had a lot of reason to do so because sadly I'm a lifelong Chicago Bears fan (Thanks, Dad.... #1 Pick, Baby! Don't worry, we'll screw it up, but I digress...). But back to our original conversation. In identifying who I consider great play callers, I see a number of common traits and I'm convinced Petrino has all of them. This leads to my cautious optimism and confidence in our offense for next year. Without further ado...
1. Personnel Understanding 512 - I'll never be one to say one to say "he's a born play caller." I don't think that person exists. I do believe there are people better wired to call plays, but I'm still convinced it takes years and years of practice to refine the skill. What about first year OCs like Riley, you say? Does everyone here not believe that Riley and other young OCs have spent years watching, absorbing and mimicking other coaches in preparation for their "turn?!" I certainly think they have. With that, good play calling calls for a deep understanding of your players' capabilities. It is football graduate work. Play callers have to put in the time and study to see what their "students" can and cannot do on a football field. This is a skill Petrino excels at. Look at just the types of QBs he has developed. Ryan Mallet. Tyler Wilson. Lamar Jackson. These guys could all be from three different planets and yet Petrino "understood" all three . He adjusted his play calling to each one accordingly. Petrino has never had some many toys in the toy box as he does with us (insert obligatory volleyball player turned staffer joke here). It might take him a minute to adjust. But when he realizes he has Buzz Lightyear, Sheriff Woody and all the Army Guys on his team, Watch Out!
2. Stubbornly Adaptable - It was difficult for me personally to watch Jimbo struggle with consistent play calling last year. I don't think he forgot everything he learned and filed away about calling plays in one year. I can make a case Jimbo plainly just got "distracted" from his play calling duties (insert second obligatory volleyball player turned staffer joke here). Can't fault him with everything that went on, though when the buck stops with you, you are responsible. For play calling, I think his situation cost him one edge an OC simply cannot lose...unpredictability. Unpredictability is the hallmark of any great play caller. Run it or throw it where they're not or where we have more guys. Have to have it. Non negotiable.
When I can sit at home watching the game and know what play's coming next, I can assure you that smarter guys than me across the field know it, too. Adapting on the fly is what great OCs do and yet sometimes adaptability is doing the same thing that's been working all game. I've reminded y'all of the painful comeback win Petrino (at Arkansas) put on us calling the same damn deep in route over and over in the 2nd half in 2011. Saw it, called it, stuck with it, won the game. Stubbornly Adaptable.
3. Lose the ego (at least a little) - Football, boiled down to its essence, is the ultimate game of matchups. It's me saying I can beat you mentally and physically over the course of three plus hours. Don't give me basketball. That's only five guys. This is 11 on 11, with one on one battles of attrition every play, just ask the guys playing against David Hicks (Keep'em comin', Mark!). It's also the ultimate game of strategy and wits, and therein my fellow Ags, lies the greatest trap for play callers...having to be the smartest guy on the field. Dick Butkus was famously quoted as saying, "If I was smart enough to be a doctor, I'd be a doctor. I ain't, so I'm a football player." Even great OCs can get caught trying to become doctors in one day on a Saturday afternoon. It's understandable. These guys are used to success, used to winning the battle of wits with the DC on the other sideline...play to play, series to series, game to game. It's hard to be humble. Humility, I wouldn't say from watching the guy, is one of Petrino's biggest personal traits. That said, he has to be humble as a play caller. You have to assume the other guy is just as smart as you and you have to adjust accordingly. I believe Petrino has been humbled at Missouri State. His hunger to be successful again is going to to help him pack away that ego just enough. That'll get him back to being the outstanding OC we know he can be....
4. Play Callers are Closers - Someone, anyone, I need some coffee so I can close this deal and this post! Do I have to say his name or mention the opponent?!... okay, grrrr...Noel Mazzone, UCLA.... Okay, y'all can stop gagging now. Trust me, no one here wants us to throw 70 points all down the chinstraps of everyone we play next year and I do think we'll get near at least once. But our OC has know when to take the money and leave the table.
Petrino's previous teams have always run the ball. Sometimes he does when defenses dictate those calls. Sometimes when it's just the smart play to run clock. He's going to be tempted to throw it around Kyle, by Weigman, and by all the weapons outside. That's fine. We score. We score more. That's fine. But, when it's time to close, close. On this matter, I think he an Jimbo will be aligned in thought. After all, it's both their butts on the line to make this work.
If the fans in Tuscaloosa, Knoxville, and Baton Rouge are going to use it as a joke on Bobby and Us, I'm going to turn it into a positive...
Gig'em & Let's Ride!!!
1. Personnel Understanding 512 - I'll never be one to say one to say "he's a born play caller." I don't think that person exists. I do believe there are people better wired to call plays, but I'm still convinced it takes years and years of practice to refine the skill. What about first year OCs like Riley, you say? Does everyone here not believe that Riley and other young OCs have spent years watching, absorbing and mimicking other coaches in preparation for their "turn?!" I certainly think they have. With that, good play calling calls for a deep understanding of your players' capabilities. It is football graduate work. Play callers have to put in the time and study to see what their "students" can and cannot do on a football field. This is a skill Petrino excels at. Look at just the types of QBs he has developed. Ryan Mallet. Tyler Wilson. Lamar Jackson. These guys could all be from three different planets and yet Petrino "understood" all three . He adjusted his play calling to each one accordingly. Petrino has never had some many toys in the toy box as he does with us (insert obligatory volleyball player turned staffer joke here). It might take him a minute to adjust. But when he realizes he has Buzz Lightyear, Sheriff Woody and all the Army Guys on his team, Watch Out!
2. Stubbornly Adaptable - It was difficult for me personally to watch Jimbo struggle with consistent play calling last year. I don't think he forgot everything he learned and filed away about calling plays in one year. I can make a case Jimbo plainly just got "distracted" from his play calling duties (insert second obligatory volleyball player turned staffer joke here). Can't fault him with everything that went on, though when the buck stops with you, you are responsible. For play calling, I think his situation cost him one edge an OC simply cannot lose...unpredictability. Unpredictability is the hallmark of any great play caller. Run it or throw it where they're not or where we have more guys. Have to have it. Non negotiable.
When I can sit at home watching the game and know what play's coming next, I can assure you that smarter guys than me across the field know it, too. Adapting on the fly is what great OCs do and yet sometimes adaptability is doing the same thing that's been working all game. I've reminded y'all of the painful comeback win Petrino (at Arkansas) put on us calling the same damn deep in route over and over in the 2nd half in 2011. Saw it, called it, stuck with it, won the game. Stubbornly Adaptable.
3. Lose the ego (at least a little) - Football, boiled down to its essence, is the ultimate game of matchups. It's me saying I can beat you mentally and physically over the course of three plus hours. Don't give me basketball. That's only five guys. This is 11 on 11, with one on one battles of attrition every play, just ask the guys playing against David Hicks (Keep'em comin', Mark!). It's also the ultimate game of strategy and wits, and therein my fellow Ags, lies the greatest trap for play callers...having to be the smartest guy on the field. Dick Butkus was famously quoted as saying, "If I was smart enough to be a doctor, I'd be a doctor. I ain't, so I'm a football player." Even great OCs can get caught trying to become doctors in one day on a Saturday afternoon. It's understandable. These guys are used to success, used to winning the battle of wits with the DC on the other sideline...play to play, series to series, game to game. It's hard to be humble. Humility, I wouldn't say from watching the guy, is one of Petrino's biggest personal traits. That said, he has to be humble as a play caller. You have to assume the other guy is just as smart as you and you have to adjust accordingly. I believe Petrino has been humbled at Missouri State. His hunger to be successful again is going to to help him pack away that ego just enough. That'll get him back to being the outstanding OC we know he can be....
4. Play Callers are Closers - Someone, anyone, I need some coffee so I can close this deal and this post! Do I have to say his name or mention the opponent?!... okay, grrrr...Noel Mazzone, UCLA.... Okay, y'all can stop gagging now. Trust me, no one here wants us to throw 70 points all down the chinstraps of everyone we play next year and I do think we'll get near at least once. But our OC has know when to take the money and leave the table.
Petrino's previous teams have always run the ball. Sometimes he does when defenses dictate those calls. Sometimes when it's just the smart play to run clock. He's going to be tempted to throw it around Kyle, by Weigman, and by all the weapons outside. That's fine. We score. We score more. That's fine. But, when it's time to close, close. On this matter, I think he an Jimbo will be aligned in thought. After all, it's both their butts on the line to make this work.
If the fans in Tuscaloosa, Knoxville, and Baton Rouge are going to use it as a joke on Bobby and Us, I'm going to turn it into a positive...
Gig'em & Let's Ride!!!
