Practice vs real game day. Steve Spurrier

#1
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btate

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#1
Several years ago I remember Florida had a player who had been sitting on the bench listed as a wide receiver, punt return and kick off. He was a little guy but fast as can be, once he got in the game he wore us out. After the game Steve Spurrier said apparently we coaches do not know who our best players are. I believe there just a little extra in the Tank on game day.
 
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#5
#5
If you are going to mention Steve Spurrier and how his philosophies apply to the 2020 Tennessee Vols, it would be how he handled QB's.

He....

A) Believed that they were like any other position on the field and should be benched if they weren't doing their job.

B) The nature of college football means you can't lose. If a player is struggling, you can't progressively get better as the year goes along and gear up for a playoff run. You have to win. So, if a player is struggling, you don't have the luxury of waiting for him to figure it out. You lose once and you might be out of the national title hunt, not win the SEC, not win the division, etc.

C) If they were too mentally fragile that they would be broken by being benched, they weren't going to be mentally tough enough to get it done anyway.
 
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#6
#6
btate said:
Several years ago I remember Florida had a player who had been sitting on the bench listed as a wide receiver, punt return and kick off. He was a little guy but fast as can be, once he got in the game he wore us out. After the game Steve Spurrier said apparently we coaches do not know who our best players are. I believe there just a little extra in the Tank on game day.
Click to expand...
1568326558611.gif
 
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#7
#7
As much as I do not like Steve Superior he was way ahead of his time on offense. I remember watching an interview with one of his QB's (can't remember which one). I am paraphrasing here, but the QB basically said that they only really had about 10 pass plays but that they ran those 10 plays from about 10 different formations. They used the different formations in different games based on what defense the team they played ran. He (QB) said that they ran the same play over and over in practice until the timing and pass were perfect. He (QB) also said that you knew if you did not play well in both practice and the game you would be riding the bench as Spurrier did not put up with mediocrity.

This last statement is where I think Pruitt and Spurrier differ. Pruitt is allowing mediocrity at the QB position, arguably the most important position on the field and the TN team is starting to turn on him for it.
 
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#9
#9
savannahfan said:
My Dad who was at UT during the late 30's said that those teams would run a single play for days until it suited the coach. He said sometimes the team would not run more than 5 or 6 plays in a game.....
Click to expand...
Dont practice a play until you get it right....practice it until you cant get it wrong...that is a philosophy lost in the Playstation generation where having 100s of plays at your disposal, even if they are half-assed
executed, equals being good.
 
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#10
#10
99gator said:
If you are going to mention Steve Spurrier and how his philosophies apply to the 2020 Tennessee Vols, it would be how he handled QB's.

He....

A) Believed that they were like any other position on the field and should be benched if they weren't doing their job.

B) The nature of college football means you can't lose. If a player is struggling, you can't progressively get better as the year goes along and gear up for a playoff run. You have to win. So, if a player is struggling, you don't have the luxury of waiting for him to figure it out. You lose once and you might be out of the national title hunt, not win the SEC, not win the division, etc.

C) If they were too mentally fragile that they would be broken by being benched, they weren't going to be mentally tough enough to get it done anyway.
Click to expand...

I hate it when a dam gator makes more sense than half of our fanbase. No offense 99.
 
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#12
#12
I meant to say that Spurrier also found that the whole QB room is “engaged” that way.

They all know they might play. They also know that they can be benched today and play next week. So, they all continued to work hard because they all thought it was possible to get in the game
 
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#14
#14
99gator said:
I meant to say that Spurrier also found that the whole QB room is “engaged” that way.

They all know they might play. They also know that they can be benched today and play next week. So, they all continued to work hard because they all thought it was possible to get in the game
Click to expand...
Which might be a big part of our problem. If our backups see someone playing so poorly in game time and not get pulled, what incentive is there for them to practice hard.
 
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#15
#15
Smartvol17 said:
Bowden Wyatt not recruiting Spurrier in the early 60s has cost UT at least three-four national championships
Click to expand...
I always heard that Spurrier was recruited by UT. He chose not to come because Tennessee was still running the single wing, which practically every school in the country had discarded in favor of variations of the T formation.
 
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#16
#16
I was running some errands this morning and somehow ended up getting a sports talk station from Palm Beach and they were talking about Jeremy Pruitt and how upset the fan base is with him...They were very unbias and gave truthful statements about how he refuses to change to help the team and pointed out that the one year Kiffin was here he played tons of freshman to get them ready for the future and how Pruitt has put himself in a very bad position not only with the fans but with his own team and they said if he loses to Arkansas the team is going to give up on him and they will probably lose a couple of bigtime recruits they have committed...They just can't understand what his problem is...They also said something along the lines of they are not sure this fanbase can take another coaching search with Fulmer as he wants a coach who will do it his way and refuses to give complete control to any head coach which will make it hard to find a coach who will go by those rules...Was an interesting listen to.
 
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#17
#17
HollowaytoSeivers said:
I always heard that Spurrier was recruited by UT. He chose not to come because Tennessee was still running the single wing, which practically every school in the country had discarded in favor of variations of the T formation.
Click to expand...
He absolutely wanted to be a Vol and has always held a grudge against us because we didn’t want him.
 
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#18
#18
HollowaytoSeivers said:
I always heard that Spurrier was recruited by UT. He chose not to come because Tennessee was still running the single wing, which practically every school in the country had discarded in favor of variations of the T formation.
Click to expand...
Now that you mentioned that, I believe it is also my recollection.
 
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#19
#19
GetYouSomeofThat said:
Dont practice a play until you get it right....practice it until you cant get it wrong...that is a philosophy lost in the Playstation generation where having 100s of plays at your disposal, even if they are half-assed
executed, equals being good.
Click to expand...

Lol....you think this mentality is only started in the "Playstation" generation? And what exactly is the "Playstation" generation, since the Playstation first came out 25 years ago.
 
#20
#20
99gator said:
I meant to say that Spurrier also found that the whole QB room is “engaged” that way.

They all know they might play. They also know that they can be benched today and play next week. So, they all continued to work hard because they all thought it was possible to get in the game
Click to expand...

I feel like this is what happened with our team and JG last year. They all knew they could play and it drove them all to work harder. JG benefited the most from this. I honestly think he doesn’t prepare as well as the starter. So let’s roll with this mentality going forward. Play the hot hand.
 
#21
#21
VolBricks said:
As much as I do not like Steve Superior he was way ahead of his time on offense. I remember watching an interview with one of his QB's (can't remember which one). I am paraphrasing here, but the QB basically said that they only really had about 10 pass plays but that they ran those 10 plays from about 10 different formations. They used the different formations in different games based on what defense the team they played ran. He (QB) said that they ran the same play over and over in practice until the timing and pass were perfect. He (QB) also said that you knew if you did not play well in both practice and the game you would be riding the bench as Spurrier did not put up with mediocrity.

This last statement is where I think Pruitt and Spurrier differ. Pruitt is allowing mediocrity at the QB position, arguably the most important position on the field and the TN team is starting to turn on him for it.
Click to expand...

Kiffin has a similar philosophy on being really good at a handful of plays and running them out a several formations. Less thinking and more reacting. Execution of these handful of plays is key to moving the ball. These formations can be adjusted with the game plan for different opponents.
 
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#22
#22
99gator said:
If you are going to mention Steve Spurrier and how his philosophies apply to the 2020 Tennessee Vols, it would be how he handled QB's.

He....

A) Believed that they were like any other position on the field and should be benched if they weren't doing their job.

B) The nature of college football means you can't lose. If a player is struggling, you can't progressively get better as the year goes along and gear up for a playoff run. You have to win. So, if a player is struggling, you don't have the luxury of waiting for him to figure it out. You lose once and you might be out of the national title hunt, not win the SEC, not win the division, etc.

C) If they were too mentally fragile that they would be broken by being benched, they weren't going to be mentally tough enough to get it done anyway.
Click to expand...

Can't argue with the TRUTH--good post!
 
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#25
#25
Smartvol17 said:
Bowden Wyatt not recruiting Spurrier in the early 60s has cost UT at least three-four national championships
Click to expand...
This statement is highlt speculative. No wayvto know if that would have happened. Cant blame Wyatt for not changing his entire offensive style to recruit one player whose future success as coach could not be foreseen. It is fun to speculate on what could have been though. Kinda like SNL what if scenarios in the 70s, like
Kal-el's space ship landing in Nazi Germany, resulting in Uberman.
 
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