Learn from the Coaches of the Games We’ve Been Waiting For All Bowl Season

Dec 31, 2023 5:45 pm

Coach ,

Happy New Year! We’ve made it through a bowl season that was full of unique situations and drama we really haven’t seen to this level in the past. With coaches like Kirby Smart and Chip Kelly calling for change, it will be interesting to see what bowl season looks like in the future in our NIL and transfer portal world.

Thankfully we have some truly meaningful games ahead of us and Coach Trent Kauffman breaks it down and shares insight from the coaches. Enjoy and best wishes for you, your family, and your team in 2024!

Coach Grabowski

Game Previews:

Rose Bowl - Michigan Wolverines vs. Alabama Crimson Tide

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The first leg of the College Football Playoff finds the eyes of the country fixed on the Granddaddy of 'Em All as the 2024 Rose Bowl Game finds the No. 1 and No. 4 teams on the same field in a marquee Big Ten vs. SEC matchup, as top-ranked Michigan squares off against SEC champion Alabama for the right to play for the national title.

Michigan earned a third-straight College Football Playoff bid after winning another Big Ten championship, while Alabama bested defending champion Georgia in its conference title game to jump undefeated Florida State.

No team has more CFP experience than Alabama: The Tide are making their eighth appearance in the College Football Playoff, which is two more than the next closest team (Clemson, which has six). The Rose Bowl marks Alabama's 14th CFP game, which is four more than Clemson's 10 contests. Alabama has won the CFP three times and reached the championship game six times. The only time it failed to win its semifinal was the first year of the CFP era (2014) when it lost to Ohio State 42-35 in the Sugar Bowl.

Michigan is making its third consecutive CFP trip: The Wolverines are a case study in how results affect perception. This will be their third College Football Playoff appearance. That matches Georgia, but the difference is in the results. Georgia reached the title game in all three of its CFP appearances, winning the last two. Michigan, meanwhile, has yet to win a playoff game. It was crushed by Georgia 34-11 in the 2021 Orange Bowl and upset 51-45 by TCU in last season's Fiesta Bowl. It's one thing to get to the CFP, it's another to win once you're there. Michigan is hoping the third time will prove the charm.

This will be the fourth Rose Bowl semifinal game: The first College Football Playoff game ever was hosted by the Rose Bowl, and it wasn't competitive. Oregon blew out Florida State, 59-20. The last time the game was played in Pasadena, California, it was a similar result as Alabama spanked Notre Dame 31-14 during the 2020 season. However, the 2017 game between Georgia and Oklahoma was one of the greatest College Football Playoff semifinals we've ever seen. Georgia beat Oklahoma 54-48 in double overtime to send the Bulldogs to the title game, where they lost (in overtime once more) to Alabama. Let's hope this year's Rose Bowl is more like the 2017 game than the 2014 or 2020 versions.

Let’s take a look at some insight from Michigan Special Teams Coordinator Jay Harbaugh.

The idea of understanding your personnel on the special teams unit is no different than on offense and defense and we have to adapt our scheme to our players. See how Jay Harbaugh evaluates his personnel to adapt his scheme in this video from his clinic presentation.

Video: Coverage Considerations

Two Sides to Every Coin

We talk about evaluating our personnel but, we also have to evaluate our scheme with the personnel attached. Knowledge of a player's skills and aptitude contribute to this. In an instance where we are susceptible to a fake or attack in one area I probably also don’t want to put a speedy guy, who is young and also playing offense for the first time. Inviting something in that direction is going to hurt us.

Checkout out Coach Harbaugh’s thought process on these decisions here in this video:

Video: What Can Our Cover Guys Do?

The Process of Skills

Teach your special teams in a manner like you would an offense or defense. Progress through your drills and the order of importance in the same manner you do the vitals plays and coverages first and the lesser used items secondary to those. Athletes learn best in a process if we are constantly building and stacking days and drills to reach an end goal we are lightly going to achieve a good outcome. The entire second half of Coach Harbaugh's presentation guides you through their progression of coverage.

Other Clinics from These Staffs:

Michigan Gap Scheme

Michigan Zone Scheme

Gap Schemes and Attacking Defenses

Kirk Campbell - QB Development & Coverage Identification

WR Fundamentals/RPOs - Holmon Wiggins, Alabama

Q&A with Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban

Q&A with Nick Saban

Sugar Bowl - Washington Huskies vs Texas Longhorns

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These teams have a lot in common. Both are led by terrific offensive play callers who do a tremendous job of creating ways to put the ball in their best players' hands. Both have excellent quarterbacks surrounded by a deep cadre of talent at the skill positions and strong offensive lines to boot. If there's a difference between them, it's on the defensive side of the ball. Texas' defensive line, led by T'Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy, could be the best in the country. It's certainly the best the Washington offense will have faced this season.

The problem for Texas? If there's a weak spot on the Longhorns defense, it's the secondary, and that's a terrible place to have problems when you're going against Michael Penix Jr., Rome Odunze, Ja'Lynn Polk and the Huskies. My suspicion is this game goes back and forth seeing plenty of points put on the board, but Texas strikes me as the more complete team, so that's the side I'm taking. But don't worry, Washington. I felt the same way about Oregon, and you know how that went.

The Texas Longhorns and Washington Huskies played one another almost exactly a year ago in the Alamo Bowl. The Longhorns and Huskies meet again Sunday in the Sugar Bowl with much higher stakes this time around.

For Texas, this is its first College Football Playoff appearance and best season since 2009, which ended with a loss in the national championship to Alabama. Washington has made it to this stage before, but not since its 2016 loss in the semifinals, which was coincidentally also to the Crimson Tide.

The No. 3 Longhorns (12–1) won the Big 12 Championship in a big way in their final season in the conference. Texas blew out Oklahoma State 49–21 in the title game and beat ’Bama 34–24 in Tuscaloosa earlier in the year — the only blemish on its resume was a 34–30 loss to rival Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry. The No. 2 Huskies (13–0) beat Oregon 34–31 to win the Pac-12 title, also in their last year in the league, behind the play of Heisman Trophy runner-up Michael Penix Jr.

As I mentioned, a solid defensive passing game plan will be necessary for the Longhorns, and they have one of the best in Terry Joseph putting it together. He’s put on a tremendous clinic on this topic.

Developing a Defensive Passing Game Planning

Looking into the idea of defensive gameplan there has to be a consistent plan of attack as to how you want to formulate your package. For those in the off season these same items apply just not in a one week period. Take this approach from Coach Joseph to your opponents, no doubt there will be change as they grow as a program as well but, you can scout them and self scout yourself to adequately develop your package as best as possible.

After taking this approach you will have your package primarily developed and then in season will have an easier time streamlining Coach Joseph’s checklist to tailor your package and contain your teaching. This limits the amount of time you are taking to teach the desired defenses each week and will additionally make it less likely you are implementing something new or outside your package in the week of a game. In the event you do, it will be able to be taught over the 3-4 days of prep that you possess and not crammed within other information or later in the week.

Video: What Do We Look For?