After years of spread offense, Vols 'have a fullback now'

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Tennessee coaches and players have remained understandably quiet when asked about any specific changes to the offense under first-year head coach Jeremy Pruitt and offensive coordinator Tyson Helton.

Junior tight end Eli Wolf didn't budge at SEC Media Days when a reporter asked about the schematic changes under Pruitt and Helton.

Wolf channelled his inner coach with an impressive vague answer.

"I won't get into specific changes, but it's just, you know, a wide variety of things," he said. "We can do just about anything. West Coast-style offense, that comes in, obviously, with Coach Helton coming from USC."

A follow-up question revealed at least a little information, though.

It's no secret that Tennessee's quarterbacks will be under center much more than they ever were under predecessor Butch Jones' offense. Jones had multiple offensive coordinators during his five-season tenure at Tennessee, but Jones had an offensive background and the Vols' offense was always his offense - a shotgun-based spread attack. Aside from the occasional short-yardage situation, running backs and quarterbacks were the only guys in the backfield.

Tennessee now has fullbacks, though. Perhaps you'd call them H-backs since the team doesn’t seem to have a pure fullback type, but Wolf said the Vols will "obviously" have more power running plays after using lots of zone-read and gap-scheme plays the past few years.

After years of spread offense, Vols 'have a fullback now'

The modern game had wandered so far from its roots that most kids today don't even know what a fullback is. I recall hearing that when facing Stanford, Washington HC Petersen had to explain what a fullback is. I for one welcome our return to smash mouth football.
 
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#2
#2
I just wonder how many seasons it will take to get full compliment of personnel to run Pro Style , vs spread type O that previous staff recruited to? I mean all the coaching and schemes can only help so much. There is a certain skill set and body type required for either offensive type, and they are different.
 
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#3
#3
Well, there's an obvious reason why one is called a FULLback and one is called a HALFback.










Btw, could someone out there tell me what those reasons are? ....
 
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#4
#4
Well, there's an obvious reason why one is called a FULLback and one is called a HALFback.




Btw, could someone out there tell me what those reasons are? ....

One has a full meal before the game so he can be heavier and the other has half a meal so he can be lighter on his feet.
 
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#5
#5
Well, there's an obvious reason why one is called a FULLback and one is called a HALFback.


Btw, could someone out there tell me what those reasons are? ....


I believe it is old rugby nomenclature describing their position as related to the scrummage/line of scrimmage. Somehow over time the half and fullback were reversed. Quarter, half and full. Well, that's my best SWAG (scientific wild assed guess), anyway.
 
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#6
#6
I just wonder how many seasons it will take to get full compliment of personnel to run Pro Style , vs spread type O that previous staff recruited to? I mean all the coaching and schemes can only help so much. There is a certain skill set and body type required for either offensive type, and they are different.

Considering the fact that last year’s offense wasn’t capable of competently executing a spread offense, I don’t think the adjustment may big as large as you think.
 
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#8
#8
I just wonder how many seasons it will take to get full compliment of personnel to run Pro Style , vs spread type O that previous staff recruited to? I mean all the coaching and schemes can only help so much. There is a certain skill set and body type required for either offensive type, and they are different.

The updated player weights recently posted by Evergrenvol, shows me that they're changing the body types of the players who they already have.
 
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#9
#9
I just wonder how many seasons it will take to get full compliment of personnel to run Pro Style , vs spread type O that previous staff recruited to? I mean all the coaching and schemes can only help so much. There is a certain skill set and body type required for either offensive type, and they are different.

2 or 3
 
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#11
#11
I just wonder how many seasons it will take to get full compliment of personnel to run Pro Style , vs spread type O that previous staff recruited to? I mean all the coaching and schemes can only help so much. There is a certain skill set and body type required for either offensive type, and they are different.

Don’t know but it won’t be immediate, which is why I reject the idea that we could win 8-9 games and lose no more than 6. Almost every job in college football is a rebuild job if the previous coach was fired.
 
#12
#12
y'all can say 'smashmouth' football all you like, and, while i dont disagree...am taking a wait-and-see approach to pronouncing us 'smashmouth'.

Bama is smashmouth. UGA, well, who cares. What i'll say is Im' happy as hell with the decision to return to pro style. I realize and understand that it will take years to rwvamp our team to recruit the types of players needed to execute at a top level. Pruitt and staff are also new.

We have to exert our wills on KY and Vandy before smashmouthing SC and FL.
 
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#13
#13
I believe it is old rugby nomenclature describing their position as related to the scrummage/line of scrimmage. Somehow over time the half and fullback were reversed. Quarter, half and full. Well, that's my best SWAG (scientific wild assed guess), anyway.

I'm also glad you broke down "SWAG"....:thumbsup:
 
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#14
#14
Considering the fact that last year’s offense wasn’t capable of competently executing a spread offense, I don’t think the adjustment may big as large as you think.

This^^^ Butch never truly recruited a full spread offense. Only two areas really were RB and QB. Add the weight and they are there. Butch recruited stars more than he did a true spread position player. Get the boys to add weight and we will have most of what we need. Main recruiting will need to be on a NT, taller CBs, and if the weight cant be added quick, beefier and meaner OL.
 
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#15
#15
Well, there's an obvious reason why one is called a FULLback and one is called a HALFback.


Btw, could someone out there tell me what those reasons are? ....

Before teams began running with QBs under center with the T formation, your 4 offensive backs would line up some distance behind the line.

The FB lined up the farthest behind the OLine. The QB lined up the closest and the two HBs were in between.
 
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#16
#16
I like to have two fullbacks, one who is a rectangular shaped human bludgeon and then another multifaceted fullback like Greg Amsler or Shawn Bryson; but there will never be another Shawn Bryson:

[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYxbnfj0dcs[/YOUTUBE]​
 
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#17
#17
Best Tenn FB might be a good topic... not enough of them to make it's own thread but how about this list:

1) Shawn Bryson
2) William Howard
3) Greg Amsler
4) Sam Henderson
5) Will Bartholemew
6) Mario Brunson
7) Roland Poles
8) Troy Fleming


Getting back to running out of a Power I should make it so much easier to recruit TB's. What TB wouldn't rather play in that than a spread?
 
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#18
#18
Before teams began running with QBs under center with the T formation, your 4 offensive backs would line up some distance behind the line.

The FB lined up the farthest behind the OLine. The QB lined up the closest and the two HBs were in between.


I think your answer is closer to the historical reason why the positions were QB, HB, and FB. You need look back no further than the old single wing offenses of Pop Warner. The ball in that offensive set was most often directly snapped to the halfback (most often the fastest best runner) or the fullback which was usually the bigger heavier runner but definitely your most punishing blocker in the backfield. The quarterback was traditionally the slowest smallest guy in the backfield but he also was closest to the LOS and was primarily a blocker as well. Although in that offense he would occasionally take a direct snap by literally taking the ball from the center's extending it backward. I watched an East Tennessee team in the state championship in Nashville a couple of decades ago run the side saddle single wing where the QB literally was turned sideways right behind the OG. But I think that's how the position names came about is how I understand it.
 
#19
#19
The modern game had wandered so far from its roots that most kids today don't even know what a fullback is. I recall hearing that when facing Stanford, Washington HC Petersen had to explain what a fullback is. I for one welcome our return to smash mouth football.

You can play physical smash mouth football from the spread. It's just a mentality that the coaches teach to the players.

The 2015 Vols were certainly very physical on offense they went to Florida and ran right at the Gators for over 300 yards from the spread.

I prefer an offense that is very multiple and situational which is what I hope to see from the Vols this season.
 
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#21
#21
You can play physical smash mouth football from the spread. It's just a mentality that the coaches teach to the players.

The 2015 Vols were certainly very physical on offense they went to Florida and ran right at the Gators for over 300 yards from the spread.

I prefer an offense that is very multiple and situational which is what I hope to see from the Vols this season.

I hear what you're saying... but there is nothing physical about putting your QB in shotgun on 3rd and 1 and handing the ball to your back without a lead blocker. We did that all the time under Jones.
 
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#22
#22
Best Tenn FB might be a good topic... not enough of them to make it's own thread but how about this list:

1) Shawn Bryson
2) William Howard
3) Greg Amsler
4) Sam Henderson
5) Will Bartholemew
6) Mario Brunson
7) Roland Poles
8) Troy Fleming


Getting back to running out of a Power I should make it so much easier to recruit TB's. What TB wouldn't rather play in that than a spread?
No Tommy Bronson? No Richard Pickens? No Curt Watson?
 
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#23
#23
I just wonder how many seasons it will take to get full compliment of personnel to run Pro Style , vs spread type O that previous staff recruited to? I mean all the coaching and schemes can only help so much. There is a certain skill set and body type required for either offensive type, and they are different.

That's the thing though. Butch really didn't recruit players that fit his offense. Guys like Dormady and Hurd were better suited for a pro style, and that's a big reason why they are no longer here.
 
#24
#24
You can play physical smash mouth football from the spread. It's just a mentality that the coaches teach to the players.

The 2015 Vols were certainly very physical on offense they went to Florida and ran right at the Gators for over 300 yards from the spread.

I prefer an offense that is very multiple and situational which is what I hope to see from the Vols this season.


Judging by the modicum of information that they have divulged, I gather that this will be a multidimensional offense that can line up in a pro set or I formation on one play and then go to a four wide shotgun formation on the next. We did, as you said, have a physical running game in 2015, but the spread just seems to extract the brutish nature from an offense that is needed to methodically crush the will of an opposing defense.
 
#25
#25
Judging by the modicum of information that they have divulged, I gather that this will be a multidimensional offense that can line up in a pro set or I formation on one play and then go to a four wide shotgun formation on the next. We did, as you said, have a physical running game in 2015, but the spread just seems to extract the brutish nature from an offense that is needed to methodically crush the will of an opposing defense.


Use the talent on the roster to dictate what our offense will be
Can't put round peg in a square hole
 
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