Shoop's solution to Vols' slow starts: 'Just play better'

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weallvol

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Once Bob Shoop’s mind starts going, it’s hard for him to slow it down.

And asking Shoop why Tennessee seems to be stumbling out of the gates is a surefire fire to get that going.

Shoop chuckled a bit when asked earlier this week why the Vols seem to start so poorly before looking like world-beaters down the stretch.


“No, and we’ve tried,” Tennessee's first-year defensive coordinator said.


It is possible to try too hard?

Definitely, according to Shoop.

“You can start to overanalyze it, too, I think at times,” he said. “You know, you start to say, ‘Is it the way we’re practicing?’ Or, ‘Is it the game plan?’ Or, ‘Is it what I’m saying to the guys before the game?’ Or, ‘Is it the breakfast they’re having before the game?’ Or, ‘Is it the walk-through?’

“Then you start to do all those things, and a person like me, with a mind that races like that, it starts to go along those lines.

As much as Shoop loves the analytical side of the game — he always thinks there’s an edge to be gained there, and he’s usually right — the coordinator said sometimes you just have to keep things simple.

In other words, just play better in the first quarter. That’s even more important for teams playing in hostile environments on the road.

That’s the goal for 11th-ranked Tennessee (4-0, 1-0 SEC) heading into Saturday’s game at 25th-ranked Georgia (3-1, 1-1) in Sanford Stadium.

“Really I think we just have to play better,” Shoop said. “I’m trying not to overanalyze it. Whether it’s calling aggressive plays on defense on what have you, for whatever reason we’ve seemed to on our heels to start the game, and we’ve got to turn that around.

“That can’t happen any longer.”

Bob Shoop's simple solution to Tennessee Vols football's slow starts: 'Just play better'
 
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#2
#2
Interviewers asked Shoop and the players about his halftime adjustments last week, to a person they all said about the same thing. We really didn't make any major adjustments we were told to just play better or play harder. Shoop is running a tight ship, he ain't talking and neither are his guys, ain't nobody sinking that ship. lol
 
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#3
#3
Interviewers asked Shoop and the players about his halftime adjustments last week, to a person they all said about the same thing. We really didn't make any major adjustments we were told to just play better or play harder. Shoop is running a tight ship, he ain't talking and neither are his guys, ain't nobody sinking that ship. lol

Yeah, everything that was just quoted is bs. He makes adjustments, just enjoy em. Im not giving yall ****e. And he shouldn't bc if you're good at something you dont' give it away for free...
 
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#4
#4
UT played tight last week. Getting over that hurdle should help them tremendously going forward.
 
#6
#6
Yeah, everything that was just quoted is bs. He makes adjustments, just enjoy em. Im not giving yall ****e. And he shouldn't bc if you're good at something you dont' give it away for free...

UT played pretty much the same thing defensively in the 2nd half as they did in the first half. A few adjustments but nothing major. The difference was the players executed and played loose. They got to their spots in time and picked up their assignments in time.
I've heard coaches on many, many teams say that people make a much bigger deal out of half time adjustments and over state them. They almost all say the adjustments are pointing out to the players mistakes they made and correcting those mistakes.
 
#7
#7
Shoop is gonna be a hot commodity for a head coaching gig if we/he keeps it up. The guy knows his foosball
 
#8
#8
Yeah, everything that was just quoted is bs. He makes adjustments, just enjoy em. Im not giving yall ****e. And he shouldn't bc if you're good at something you dont' give it away for free...

Well I ah.....what was it you....ah, he'll yea. Go Big Orange!
 
#9
#9
Shoop is gonna be a hot commodity for a head coaching gig if we/he keeps it up. The guy knows his foosball

After the 3 National Championships and 5 SEC champ rings we are going to get over the next 5 years even DeBord will be a hot commodity :rock:
 
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#11
#11
It's all about matchups and play calls. If we get caught blitzing when they run a screen, it could make us look bad. If we are playing the run and bite on the stop and get burnt on the go, we look bad. But sure playing better that will work too.

We got this.

Go Vols!
 
#12
#12
Yeah, everything that was just quoted is bs. He makes adjustments, just enjoy em. Im not giving yall ****e. And he shouldn't bc if you're good at something you dont' give it away for free...

This.

My high school coach was a defensive guru, had offers to be linebacker coaches at several smaller colleges and stayed small town because of his kids. My college coach was a defensive guru, had several D1 jobs in his younger days and then got old and went to a small D3 school to be both football coach and AD.

The one thing both had in common is how you watch film. You dissect, you watch the same play 20 times for tells and patterns. And you can apply it to the defensive side of the ball. I noticed it against App st. It was repeated against VT. and after Florida its almost a 100% confirmation. Shoop makes better in game adjustments than almost any defensive coordinator I've seen in college. Some of them are subtle (some of the Florida stuff) and others are patently obvious (Virginia Tech) but they're all the same.

I don't mind him saying they didn't really make adjustments, because that terrifies other players who don't get film study or understand the game, and especially terrifies fans who don't understand the game at a fairly high level, but for those of us who have spent weeks of our lives in a film room, we can see it bright as day.

Of course, we can also almost perfectly call Debord's plays early on as well, so it may just be a balancing act.
 
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