Homework on Jeff Tedford

3rd String Kicker · 2014-01-03T16:45:50Z

Offensive Coordinator Jeff TedfordBy 3rd String Kicker I don't watch a lot of teams on the west coast, so when I heard we were bringing in a coach from college football, my eyebrow raised. Jeff Tedford, the former California University coach has built himself quite a resume over the past two decades. He's groomed several 1st round draft pick quarterbacks, earning him the moniker, QB Guru. Think Smith, Carr, Harrington, Boller, Dilfer, Rodgers. Maybe they all didn't pan out, but he had a way to build around his guys and bring out their best qualities. Maybe none of them had noodle arms, but they were all in their own right, very different players. I took it upon myself, over the past few days to skip watching most of the bowl games and just watch some California games to see what it was we 'might' be doing. I can't promise these numbers are exact, they are more approximations. Some things are hard to take into account when I'm, sitting at home eating a hot pocket and the guys who actually know what's going on are calling the shots on the field. Play Call TendenciesHis play-calling is alien to me. Jeff likes to spread the field and run some finesse plays. His offense does feature a lot of screens and outside runs, so the offensive line is going to need to be quick. I fear our line, as it is currently built, may be a liability under the new scheme and I expect we will target some new lineman, in either or perhaps both the draft and free agency. I expect that Demar Dotson should do well with this offense. This new offense won't feature as much carries for Doug Martin, but he'll still see a lot of touches. He may be used similarly to how Matt Forte was used in Chicago, but I'm not saying that because Lovie is the head coach now. It just seems Tedford features his backs in the passing game. I am on record now and since he was drafted, of being a fan of Erik Lorig. He's a quality fullback, but looking at this offense, I don't feel confident he will be a part of it. It looks like Jeff likes to use his fullback quite a bit in the passing game and I haven't seen enough progress from Erik the past few seasons in the passing game to give me the confidence he'll do well under the new scheme. I would like to see the team keep Erik, which looks to potentially be void of power personnel, but he may be on the bubble if the team feels they can find someone who provides a better fit.Something I thought was interesting was the layout of the formations, specifically out of the gun. He'll throw 3 or 4 receivers on one side and overload it quite a bit. I saw a little bit of the pistol formation, but I don't expect to see it in the professional league. Also, he'd feature shotgun with two backs to the quarterbacks side very frequently, sometimes both backs on the same side as opposed to being on each side of the quarterback. His offense seems to have some wrinkles that could fit well for an H-back type of player.PlayactionThe playfakes always seem variable on how the opposing teams respect the back. With a Marshawn Lynch, a defense would stay home for example. Sully did a great job utilizing play fakes in Tampa, I think this is going to get scaled back in Tedford's offense. This is one where the jury is out if this will be positive or not. If you play fake all the time, it is less effective. If you don't do it enough, you may find yourself on the wrong end of a third and long and also at the bottom of the league for 20+ yard plays.AudiblesThis one is a bit harder to decipher. I basically looked for moments where the quarterback looked over to the sideline and made a drastic change to the play. In about 6% of the plays, I could see the quarterbacks checking with Tedford to see what needed to be adjusted. Professionally, I would expect that Mike is going to make these adjustments on the field and not look over to Tedford. Another reason why this is important to note, is the overall temp of the game. In Tedford's offense, I frequently saw them approaching the LOS with about 15-20 seconds, which is plenty of time to make pre-snap reads and get the ball off. In Sullivan's offense, it was much more down-tempo, the team would get to the line. I hope to see less delay of game penalties with this new offense, it looks that way based on what I've seen.MotionI really like seeing an offense utilize motion, perhaps I was spoiled as a fan under Jon Gruden. Putting a receiver in motion can do a number of things and create matchup advantages for an offense. I watch teams like Green Bay and New Orleans utilize this appropriately and it works great. The concept, by putting a receiver in motion you hope to see a defender trailing the motion man. This identifies, generally, a man coverage defense. If no defender is trailing, this lets the quarterback know there may be a zone defense. You also create the opportunity to give a receiver momentum or catch a defense off-balance for a finesse run to the outside. Under Sullivan, I would see Vincent Jackson d...

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Anonymous

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I don't believe glennon is the perfect fit. His motion is too slow, and he's just not able to move as fast as tedford would probably like.

Posted : Jan. 3, 2014 3:10 pm

Anonymous

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Commentator mentioned that Glennon has a long windup. Surprised he didn't have more batted balls if he was telegraphing the throws like that. Pump-fakes might be a good skill but might take too long to develop. I get the impression that quick-twitch arms will succeed better.

Posted : Jan. 3, 2014 3:15 pm

Anonymous

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Dark Uncle,Good article on the play-calling responsibilities of Tedford. Looks like from about 2004-2010, it was delegated. Afterward and prior, Tedford called the shots.Link: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/oct/10/sports/la-sp-1011-kiffin-tedford-usc-cal-20111011

Posted : Jan. 3, 2014 3:17 pm

Anonymous (@Anonymous) Posts: 0 And he makes some good adjustments, running screens to beat pressure, looking back at the Texas game in 2011, he should have found an answer for their edge rushers, especially Jeffcoat. They really had their way all day with Cal's offense. That was an ugly game to watch and perhaps not the best endorsement of him, but I'm sure it's a side of his offense we'll see at one point, not to scare anyone. ;) Posted : Jan. 3, 2014 3:21 pm Anonymous (@Anonymous) Posts: 0 Interesting article, even when he had an OC he would interfere. Hope he can deal with Lovie calling a few plays during the game. Posted : Jan. 3, 2014 3:57 pm Anonymous (@Anonymous) Posts: 0 Also, if you have trouble against edge rushers, isn't that a great reason to keep Lorig in the backfield? He can pick-up the blitzers or jump out and double on an edge as needed? Posted : Jan. 3, 2014 3:58 pm

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Homework on Jeff Tedford

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