Colorado State University Athletics
Offense Looks at Nuances to Adjust Bigger Picture
8/17/2021 12:00:00 PM | Football
Mental strain needed to improve where needed
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The sample size was small – just four games -- which Steve Addazio sees as unfortunate. He also feels those contests were against good teams, so at least the look was good. It was true.
Still, not enough for his liking when judging his team in his first season. On the offensive side, quarterback Todd Centeio didn't get to play all that much, staring the first game and finishing out the season in a backup role and doing so injured. If the outside world wants to judge him on that, so be it. Addazio won't.
The good news was the 15 spring practices ran uninterrupted, and it gave a chance for newly hired offensive coordinator Jon Budmayr to introduce his twists. It also gave the offense a chance to look back on the small sample size and get to work on some deficiencies.
For Addazio, the most specific comes on third down. For both sides of the ball, but when it comes to his offense, it translates into manageable snaps, which were in shorter supply than any coach would like.
"It's critically important whether we choose to run the ball on first down or second down that we're able to get a minimum of 4 yards," Addazio said. "So that if we try to take our play-action game, which is a huge part of what we do, if we have an incompletion, then we're not worse than third-and-6. We'd really like to be third-and-5. If you start averaging less than 3 yards on first down, and then you take the risk on second down, or vice versa, then you end up on third down at third-and-7-plus, you're not going to win a lot of football games; that's not a great advantageous down for an offense. We're highly focused on that."
For a detail-oriented coach, a lot goes into reaching the stated goal, and the players knew what all had to lead into specific improvements. It could be running the ball, or being more accurate when throwing it down field. Being in the right situation takes discipline and grit, an area Centeio admitted was not a strength, but one he feels is turning around.
Finishing plays. Addazio talked about it in terms of finishing a block. It also means being able to fight through the adversity of wearing down. Call it mental toughness. Centeio said it still plagued the Rams at times in the spring, but it was getting better toward the end and carried through the summer. Now, with preseason camp a week into swing, he sees it even more.
"Sometimes in the spring, we'd get tired and we wouldn't execute as well. Even in some of the workouts we did in the summer, they focused on mental strain," he said. "I feel like you can see it right now at practice. We're mentally straining a little longer. It's preparation. Everybody is knowing their stuff. It's a smoother process when we're out there in practice than what it was in the spring. Having those phases to really get to fall camp, I feel like we all really took advantage of it to learn the offense."
Even if the base drive of the offense remains the same, changing the guard at the coordinator's position early in a coach's tenure isn't ideal. Budmayr and Addazio say they click, but Budmayr also installed some drop-back concepts new to the squad, as well as some other tweaks. All of those things take time to learn, and stacking spring practices together helped.
Running back A'Jon Vivens said the unit most definitely had a taste for what's in store, but still, he's not sure everybody has a complete read on what his offense will look like and how he'll call a game, at least not yet. But what he does feel confident in is the learning process they all undertook, as well as a binding factor being created.
"I feel like to become the offense we need to be we had to be able to jell together and really buy into the system and learn those little nuances," Vivens said. "This is because of this, and we run these plays against that type of coverage; that type of thing. Everybody got to learn that type of stuff, and it makes it where we're more comfortable and be able to execute at a higher level."
In short, he came out of the spring feeling much more prepared about what they learned and what more was to come. With those spring reps, Centeio felt the offense came away with a good feel for the different profiles of the offense and where he's supposed to deliver the ball. Again, he's seeing more progression in the first week.
Addazio has heard the talk through the years, guys being dubbed an offensive or defensive genius. It's not true, he feels. In fact, it's all rather simple, he said, and any system will work when paired with the right personnel and mindset.
The second part is very important, and is exactly what Centeio touched upon.
"I think we've identified the problems and we addressed them in spring football, and we'll continue to address them," Addazio said. "One of the biggest things was the mentality of our team and our ability to handle the workload both physically and mentally. Mentally is a big part of that, and how to really be a student of the game."
Summer conditioning was a step. So was diving into the playbook, and for one, Centeio is taking the time to not only take notes, but go over them again and again. Trey McBride has spoken to knowing the tasks of every offensive player, not just his assigned duties. Others are doing the same.
The reasons are in the numbers. The Rams averaged 22.2 points per game, threw for less than 200 an outing and averaged 3.2 yards per carry. The solutions dive a little deeper to the bare bones of it all, beyond a back churning his legs through contact or a lineman carrying through with a block.
Finishing plays, then finishing games. It's a mindset, and the Rams set out to expand their capacities. Because to get a manageable third down takes drive, desire and discipline.
"It goes hand in hand with mental strain. Having that grit about you that you have to finish this play, you have to finish this run," Centeio explained. "I'm dead tired, but I have to drop back and make this read and make this throw. I just feel we really worked that, and it was a focus of ours in summer workouts. I feel it's translated for us."
Still, not enough for his liking when judging his team in his first season. On the offensive side, quarterback Todd Centeio didn't get to play all that much, staring the first game and finishing out the season in a backup role and doing so injured. If the outside world wants to judge him on that, so be it. Addazio won't.
The good news was the 15 spring practices ran uninterrupted, and it gave a chance for newly hired offensive coordinator Jon Budmayr to introduce his twists. It also gave the offense a chance to look back on the small sample size and get to work on some deficiencies.
For Addazio, the most specific comes on third down. For both sides of the ball, but when it comes to his offense, it translates into manageable snaps, which were in shorter supply than any coach would like.
"It's critically important whether we choose to run the ball on first down or second down that we're able to get a minimum of 4 yards," Addazio said. "So that if we try to take our play-action game, which is a huge part of what we do, if we have an incompletion, then we're not worse than third-and-6. We'd really like to be third-and-5. If you start averaging less than 3 yards on first down, and then you take the risk on second down, or vice versa, then you end up on third down at third-and-7-plus, you're not going to win a lot of football games; that's not a great advantageous down for an offense. We're highly focused on that."
For a detail-oriented coach, a lot goes into reaching the stated goal, and the players knew what all had to lead into specific improvements. It could be running the ball, or being more accurate when throwing it down field. Being in the right situation takes discipline and grit, an area Centeio admitted was not a strength, but one he feels is turning around.
Finishing plays. Addazio talked about it in terms of finishing a block. It also means being able to fight through the adversity of wearing down. Call it mental toughness. Centeio said it still plagued the Rams at times in the spring, but it was getting better toward the end and carried through the summer. Now, with preseason camp a week into swing, he sees it even more.
"Sometimes in the spring, we'd get tired and we wouldn't execute as well. Even in some of the workouts we did in the summer, they focused on mental strain," he said. "I feel like you can see it right now at practice. We're mentally straining a little longer. It's preparation. Everybody is knowing their stuff. It's a smoother process when we're out there in practice than what it was in the spring. Having those phases to really get to fall camp, I feel like we all really took advantage of it to learn the offense."
Even if the base drive of the offense remains the same, changing the guard at the coordinator's position early in a coach's tenure isn't ideal. Budmayr and Addazio say they click, but Budmayr also installed some drop-back concepts new to the squad, as well as some other tweaks. All of those things take time to learn, and stacking spring practices together helped.
Running back A'Jon Vivens said the unit most definitely had a taste for what's in store, but still, he's not sure everybody has a complete read on what his offense will look like and how he'll call a game, at least not yet. But what he does feel confident in is the learning process they all undertook, as well as a binding factor being created.
"I feel like to become the offense we need to be we had to be able to jell together and really buy into the system and learn those little nuances," Vivens said. "This is because of this, and we run these plays against that type of coverage; that type of thing. Everybody got to learn that type of stuff, and it makes it where we're more comfortable and be able to execute at a higher level."
In short, he came out of the spring feeling much more prepared about what they learned and what more was to come. With those spring reps, Centeio felt the offense came away with a good feel for the different profiles of the offense and where he's supposed to deliver the ball. Again, he's seeing more progression in the first week.
Addazio has heard the talk through the years, guys being dubbed an offensive or defensive genius. It's not true, he feels. In fact, it's all rather simple, he said, and any system will work when paired with the right personnel and mindset.
The second part is very important, and is exactly what Centeio touched upon.
"I think we've identified the problems and we addressed them in spring football, and we'll continue to address them," Addazio said. "One of the biggest things was the mentality of our team and our ability to handle the workload both physically and mentally. Mentally is a big part of that, and how to really be a student of the game."
Summer conditioning was a step. So was diving into the playbook, and for one, Centeio is taking the time to not only take notes, but go over them again and again. Trey McBride has spoken to knowing the tasks of every offensive player, not just his assigned duties. Others are doing the same.
The reasons are in the numbers. The Rams averaged 22.2 points per game, threw for less than 200 an outing and averaged 3.2 yards per carry. The solutions dive a little deeper to the bare bones of it all, beyond a back churning his legs through contact or a lineman carrying through with a block.
Finishing plays, then finishing games. It's a mindset, and the Rams set out to expand their capacities. Because to get a manageable third down takes drive, desire and discipline.
"It goes hand in hand with mental strain. Having that grit about you that you have to finish this play, you have to finish this run," Centeio explained. "I'm dead tired, but I have to drop back and make this read and make this throw. I just feel we really worked that, and it was a focus of ours in summer workouts. I feel it's translated for us."
Players Mentioned
Thursday, May 14
Monday, May 11
Friday, May 08
Tuesday, April 28