CoachesClinic Featured Match-up: #7 Notre Dame vs. #20 Texas A&M

Aug 31, 2024 2:01 pm

Coach -

College football is here! I know we all spend a ton of time in the office getting ready for next week’s game, but it’s always great to head home and watch college ball, and this weekend is packed with interesting match-ups.

We will be featuring those and the insight we can gain from coaches who have presented at our clinics!

Our CoachesClinic Featured Game of the Week is back! Here’s what Coach Kauffman has for us in highlighting these two Top 25 programs.

Have a great Labor Day weekend!

-Coach Grabowski

MATCHUP: Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Texas A&M

Adjustments are constantly at the forefront of a coach's mind. How can we put our players in the best situation for success? That’s the focus behind the clinic presentations we feature in this Week 1 match-up of Notre Dame and Texas A&M.

This game brings an interesting twist of offensive and defensive minds. But, perhaps the storyline here will be the idea of a coach and player reuniting. But now they are on opposite sidelines.

Mike Elko and Riley Leonard looked to be putting together something special last season when they were together at Duke prior to the Quarterback finding himself injured and Elko relying on backup QB Grayson Loftis for the final 5.5 games of the season.

The interesting dynamic comes into play with the staff shuffles and familiarity. Elko being a defensive coach has seen Leonard behind the scenes and more in depth than anyone could simply scout him. But, it's not to say that there won't be a Riley Leonard out there as well.

Led by new Fighting Irish Offensive Coordinator Mike Denbrock, things could get interesting as he is fresh off leading Heisman winner Jayden Daniels to a historic season producing 4,946 yards of offense combined through the air and on the ground and winning 9 games in the process. That is exactly where we are going to kick this one off.

Notre Dame OC Mike Denbrock - The Advantages of TE RPO

TE Driven RPO`s- Mike Denbrock

Video: Facing Base 3 Down Look

Coach Denbrock explains the various benefits and wrinkles that are added when placing RPOs with the TE into your system. From easy passes that he labels as “gifts” based on the defensive alignment to showing you how to disrupt various boxes and attack a variety of fronts, the TE RPO schemes could be the added to maximize a talented TE position and put defenders constantly on their heels.

With a variety of base 2x2 and 3x1 looks as well as motion integration the movement of the TE creates constant gap shifts and in a variety of coverages can provide mismatches or atleast leverage advantage when it comes to these positions.

Texas A&M Mike Elko - Mirror to Disrupt the QB

Developing A Championship Defense - Mike Elko

Video: Free Mirror

On the flip end of the spectrum, we have to find a way to disrupt the offense and get their flow out of rhythm. The idea of putting an offense off pace and having a more favorable D&D is a huge thing in today's game.

The integration of statistics into modern day football and being able to break down the personality of an offensive coordinator’s play calling as well as situations tendencies allows you a much greater advantage in determining what to run.

In some situations as well this can take away the RPOs or other read based situations and allow your athletes to understand true Run vs Pass situations.

The more we are able to do this on 2nd and third down the greater probability of a stop we will have. One way to do this is the disruption of a passing lane. The effect of active hands matching the QB’s throwing motion and disrupting the passing lanes can be just as effective as a sack or a TFL. Dive into this idea as well as the application with Coach Elko in this course.

Enjoy the Game!

Coach Kauffman

More Courses from these staffs all 50% off this weekend:

Linebackers Manual - Max Bullough, LB

Skip RPO - Mike Denbrock, OC/TE

The Moore Method "OL UNIVERSITY"

3rd Down Defense - Mike Elko, HC

Linebacker Play - Jay Bateman, DC/LB

3rd Down Defense - Jay Bateman, DC/LB

2024 COOL Clinic - Adam Cushing, RGC/OL

Creating a Consistent Offensive Lineman - Adam Cushing, RGC/OL

Creating Culture: Clarify,Simplify,What Does This Make Possible - Adam Cushing, RGC/OL