I have played at a high level in HS. Was invited to walk on at UF, part scholly at Troy State, MSJC, and Maryville College.
Wanted UF so bad I could taste it. OL back then averaged about 280-290 and 6'4 to 6'5. Never thought I could get there and I was right. I would have been converted to LB or TE.
I have coached at a high level in HS. State Championships in 2 different states and 3 straight state champ game appearances with 2 different teams.
Those 2 skill sets are as different as waiting tables and brain surgery. I think Tebow is a great person, great UF representative, football player, etc., and he MAY be a great coach, but to go from no coaching experience to OC / HC / strength coach is a bridge too far. What works as a player doesn't work as a coach. I started coaching rec ball and was asked to move to the local HS varsity team as an assistant to the HC. Then the next year was coaching OL as an assistant (part time, unpaid) and then it went from there.
I learned more about coaching rec ball than at any other level. You have to COACH/TEACH at that level and I found as you progress to higher levels the assumption is the players know the game and the lingo. Saw a former P5 All Conference player from a traditional powerhouse program (multiple NCs) get all in this OLB because the kid wouldn't "come down in the box". He was a great athlete and first year player. He just froze. I started laughing because I knew what the problem was because I coached rec ball for almost 10 years. I went over to him and asked him "do you know what he means?" He said no. I explained to him what the "box" meant and he was like "why didn't that ****er just tell me that!!".
I remember as a player (OL) that I had my blocking rule and that is what I executed. I didn't understand the concepts, WHY the rule was gap, on, linebacker on 42 trap, I just knew what I had to do. These kids don't either. So if you don't teach them, they won't know and can't adjust on the fly. Army is no different. Crawl, walk, run. I used chalkboard in a classroom for the first 3 practices, then we went out and practiced lining up. Then would draw up plays on the chalkboard, then we would walk thru the plays and the players could actually see where the hole SHOULD be, why I am blocking this way, etc. I installed my playbook in about 3 days because we weren't memorizing "rules".
NONE of the above has jack squat to do with knowing football. I learned all that in the Army, the Infantry specifically. Explain your operations order so the dumbest Soldier in the unit understands it. Once he is good to go, execute. Most coaches think you have to be out in the heat and run drill after drill and hit and do all this crap, but in my experience, very few TEACH the WHY. Once a Soldier understands WHY we must take this objective, he doesn't need to be told HOW to do it once bullets start flying, because that WILL change and the new way becomes obvious.
"Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face" ring a bell? Our players don't understand why the edge needs to be set, why the DL don't need to make tackles, why LBs HAVE to maintain gap integrity, why our DBs and OLBs should not just guard a "spot" on the field in zone coverage. I taught a man/zone concept. You do HAVE a zone to cover, but receivers are taught to find the hole in the zone and "sit it down". I can't tell you how many times I have seen us in a zone, mainly the underneath guys, looking at the QB and a receiver is 3-4 yards from them "sitting it down". If that receiver is in your zone, move the 3-4 yards over to where they are and carry him thru your zone. Too much time looking at the QB and not enough on the receiver. Remember the big 4th down play last year where they needed like 30 yards and they got 31? Same thing. All those defenders looking at the QB and the receiver was wide open in the zone because no one moved the 5 yards over to where he was. Whole damn defense flat footed. I wonder what the hell these coaches are teaching these players. Drives me nuts.
