Finally, I have a short interaction I had with Matt Rhule about the Baylor defense. This came after a few questions in which he praised Taylor Young for helping lead this team through the 2017 season and in which he accidentally indicated that he has a high level of trust in Charlie Brewer. Also after … [Read more…]
With the season and recruiting classes firmly in the rearview mirror I was keen to check in on something I didn’t devote much time to previously, the status of the #RhuleofLaw defense. I studied Temple fairly intensively last offseason partly because they were an interesting team that won a fascinating league and partly because Baylor … [Read more…]
The average pundit said that Matt Rhule was going to struggle to recruit Texas replacing Art Briles and coming in to a program that had just endured a PR nightmare but that he’d be able to win early by utilizing Briles’ players. I had a very different sense of things, I was never terribly worried … [Read more…]
This should be our final piece to this puzzle and then I’ll begin to move on to the always popular Big 12 class breakdowns. In part I we focused on the ways in which teams still run 3-4 and 4-3 base defenses in the spread era today. These are increasingly less common because of how … [Read more…]
Baylor’s profoundly changing run game I noticed from @CraigSmoak that Baylor has elevated freshman Ryan Miller to starting center on the depth chart while moving converted TE Sam Tecklenburg to starting left guard. When I broke down Baylor’s 2017 recruiting class I noted that Ryan Miller was liable to play early thanks to coming from … [Read more…]
Over at Pistols Firing they’re talking about the increasing prevalence of the 3-3-5 in their defensive package. I’ve mentioned this myself as an explainer for what they’re up to moving Ramon Richards to the free safety position that has normally been handled by bigger thumpers like Jordan Sterns and Daytawion Lowe. What’d I’d be curious … [Read more…]
Is up at Inside Texas, if you follow this link. Interestingly, Texas and Baylor are both pursuing similar paths to dominance in the Big 12. The Bears are mixing modern pro-style offense (drop back passing with 11 personnel) with a 22 personnel jumbo set for when they need to run the ball. That might work…I … [Read more…]
I went on David Smoak’s radio show on ESPN Central Texas 1660 to talk about Matt Rhule’s overhaul of Baylor, the new offense, and how the current players will fit in. You can check out the interview here. The column series we discussed on Rhule’s overhaul of Baylor is a three-parter. Part one on Rhule’s recruiting/player … [Read more…]
The Briles-era Bears were defined more by anything by Art Briles’ own, unique “Veer and Shoot offense.” There wasn’t another offense quite like it across college football and his disciples still have particular access to some of its secrets even as some of the tactics and style of it have proliferated across the country. I … [Read more…]
One of the biggest shocks that has come from the new #RhuleofLaw in Waco has been the physical nature of Baylor Bear practices. This has been a major departure from the Art Briles regimen of extremely rep-heavy, up-tempo practices designed to get as many reps in as possible every day. Most teams find that these up-tempo, … [Read more…]