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Princeton University Athletics
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Football Coach Looks At Offense, '05 In First Part Of Annual Spring Chat
April 27, 2006 | Football
April 27, 2006
Coming off the program's best season in a decade and feeling good about his team's spring developments, Princeton football head coach Roger Hughes spent time with GoPrincetonTigers.com recently for his fourth annual spring chat. In this first part, Hughes looked at the exciting 2005 campaign and the questions facing his 2006 offense.
THE 2005 SEASON
Before the 2005 season started, you said that while you didn't know exactly how many games you would win, you really liked coaching this team. How much of what you liked factored in to that seven-win season, Princeton's best in a decade?
I think it had everything to do with it. I feel like that team was the beginning of a new culture around here. It's one where the team comes first. Everybody fights for their role, and everybody understands their role and contributes in any way they can. We really didn't have any prima donnas. It was just a close-knit group of guys. I think that had everything to do with our ability to win the close games. Look at the wins we had. One comes in overtime, a few others come from the ability to drive the ball in the final 4-5 minutes of the game and not give the ball back. I think that all goes back to the cohesiveness of our unit.
Going back over your career as both a head and assistant coach, including your days with Jay Fiedler, how many performances over one season have you seen that were comparable to the one Jay McCareins put forth last season?
I think it was very similar to the ones I saw with Fiedler. You know it's a great season when he makes almost every highlight. If you look at our highlight film this year, it does look like the Jay McCareins Highlight Film. He found ways to score any way he could without playing a single snap on offense. For him to be one of our leaders in all-purpose yards without touching the ball on offense is another remarkable feat. It just speaks to the fact that he was able to take over the game from the corner position or as a returner. You could take him out of the game defensively if you gameplanned well, and yet he still would find ways to affect the outcome. McCareins had a great year, and I think our guys rallied around him. He made plays to win games, and he did in most of our victories. Obviously it was important for last year, but also now for the 2006 season and those in the future, what does it mean to have players who have now experienced wins over Penn and Harvard? Will that carry into this season?
It's not only just winning those games, but the ability to do it in their own stadium that matters. In my time, we have been very close to beating Penn three times. We have been very close to beating Harvard three times. This time, we physically played our best game against Penn, and we found ways to beat Harvard. Now they can take that confidence that, if some adversity should arise in a game, it's not, "Here we go again." The guys know they've been here before. We won't panic, and we'll find ways to get over the hump.
What lesson does this team need to take away from the fourth quarter against Yale?
What matters most is showing up every game and playing as hard as you can. Turnovers killed us in that game. Not being able to win third down against them defensively in the fourth quarter killed us. We just need to understand that it doesn't matter how somebody else is playing. If we don't show up every weekend ready to play with our `A' game, we're not going to win. The talent level in the league is so close, you have to understand that you can't take a week off, a half off, a quarter off. We try to take a positive from that game. While we were pleased with a 7-win season, all our kids talk about is the fourth quarter of the Yale game, and how we were 1:14 from an Ivy League title. We're going to use that as motivation this offseason. All the hard work, all the great plays, and it still came down to one minute and 14 seconds. The kids are going to push themselves even harder to try to finish that goal this season.
THE 2006 OFFENSE
Let's talk about the 2006 team and start on the offensive side of the ball. You return your quarterback, Jeff Terrell. Especially for somebody that had a solid grasp of your offense last season, what is the natural progression for a second-year starter that you expect from Jeff?
Last year we were sacked 12 times. Six of them could have been avoided if Jeff had thrown it away or changed the protection. So we're looking to improve on the number of negative plays we had. Number two, whether he's throwing the ball or keeping it on an option, he's got to let those decisions come more natural. Sometimes, it's just instinct. Instead of saying "I saw this," it will be "I just felt this was going to happen." When those instincts take over, everything becomes smoother. And frankly, with a new offensive line, his confidence can help their transition. If they make a mistake on protection, he can see it and change it to the correct scheme. I can take it for granted that he knows why we do what we do, so he be ready to make the correct checks and make us look smart as a coaching staff.
There was plenty of backfield-by-committee last fall, especially when you include Terrell and all of his yards rushing. Looking ahead to next season, is that something you are comfortable with, or do you hope somebody establishes himself as the clear No. 1 back by then?
I think we have a number of backs who are talented in different ways. I don't think we have somebody in the backfield like a Keith Elias, who was the whole package. I think our guys have their own talents, and we are trying to be selective and put them in positions to maximize those talents. For example, Rob Toresco was great at making cuts, holding on to the football and carrying guys the extra couple yards. He became a great inside zone runner off our option game and he was a great pass receiver. Cleo [Kirkland] had a great game against Columbia, and as we've given him more, he's really improved his hands and his ability to catch the football. Pete Ploszek is starting to get back into the picture. He's heavier now, he's faster now and he's just more mature. He should have a bigger part in the offense. Both fullbacks Joe Kovba and Evan O'Reilly had their best springs from the standpoint of physicality. Joe did a great job blocking people, so his role might be in that third-and-short type of offense. R.C. Lagomarsino had a tough year with injuries, but he showed things during the spring in terms of quickness and cut-ability. Am I comfortable with it by committee? It's the way we practice it, so yes. One guy I forgot to mention was Derek Brooks. He's a great cutter with great vision and needs to work on his acceleration. The guys practice this way and actually pull for each other, and the good thing is that we have fresh legs when the game is on the line. One of the reasons we were able to run the ball in the fourth quarter to hold on to a win was because Robbie was fresh and wouldn't go down on an arm tackle. Hopefully because we'll still be running the ball first, the quality depth will help us, especially when somebody gets nicked up during the season.
Toresco was always listed on the depth chart as a fullback, but most of the time he served as a tailback. What is the role of the fullback in your offense?
It really depends on what package we're in. If we're in a two-back package, the fullback primarily is a pass-catcher and a blocker. In a one-back package, he's a viable ball-carrier. The neat thing is, hopefully, we can keep our two-back, one-tight end personnel and get to every formation. Our offense is best when we have two tailback-like runners in the game. Robbie was a tailback in high school and brings those skills to the fullback position. He's just a stockier, bigger tailback. If you have that kind of flexibility at the position, you can put more pressure on the defense by lining up in any formation. Defenses can't tell by the personnel in the game what we plan on doing.
In terms of wideouts, it seems like there is a similar committee-type approach that you have with the backs. Different players have different skills. When a play had to be made last year, though, it typically went to [graduating senior tight end] Jon Dekker. Do you need somebody to jump into that role for Terrell next season?
I think it always helps when a quarterback has somebody he trusts that when the ball is thrown, he knows his guy will find a way to come down with it. I think Brian Brigham is becoming that guy for Jeff. As for wideout-by-committee, we use everybody's skills because get into a number of four-wideout sets, and since we not only throw the ball, but use our wideouts to run on options. It's nice for them because it gives them extra touches. During the spring, we certainly had the wideout-by-committee approach because we have a lot of young guys at the position. We only have one senior next year, Brian Shields, and he runs track. The rest are underclassmen, so we're trying to figure out who has what skills. We used Greg Fields as a tailback on the perimeter and found ways on screens and reverses to get him the ball, and we're trying to find somebody for that role. You'll see us rotate a lot of people, and because of how much we use them - running routes, faking reverses, constantly blocking on the perimeter, which you have to do in our offense - we need to have 5-6 guys to handle it all. One surprise from the spring has been Chris Gueits, who we moved from the defensive backfield. He's really added depth, and he has some niftiness to him that we think we can use in certain situations.
At the tight end spot, especially with a brand new offensive line, is it imperative to find a Dekker-like, pass-catching tight end, or could he become more of a sixth blocker on the line?
I think he has to be a viable receiver in our offense. I think he has to be a viable threat, because we're going to split him out in certain formations. Going back to what I said earlier, if we want to get from all our formations from a two-back, one tight-end set. We're looking for that option, and we've gone away from the smaller tackle type of mentality. We want an athlete on the perimeter who is bigger and can handle blocking the strong safety. On defenses now, outside linebackers and strong safeties are lining up in that second receiver position, and we need to have the physicality there to be able to block them. That's what an athletic tight end does. At that position, Brendan Swisher has been very receptive to that role, but he may have to move to the offensive line in the fall as well. Jake Staser, who is a fullback but was injured last season, was moved out there, and we had two freshmen, Billy Mitchell and Zack Kranz, who took most of the reps in the spring and really improved. We feel we have to that tight end who can catch as well as block, and we think we'll be able to find that guy in the fall.
Moving to the offensive line, let's start with the new coach. This isn't a young guy just breaking into the profession. Gregg Perry is a pretty established guy who brings 20 years of experience. What have you seen from his so far, not only in practices, but in meetings with the rest of the offensive coaching staff?
He brings a wealth of experience, and I consider him a very good teacher. I felt that with the youth of our offensive line, we really needed to bring in a good communicator who could teach a number of different techniques. The other thing he brings is, when you have such a young offensive line, there is bound to be adversity, and he just has such a wealth of experience that there really isn't anything he hasn't seen. Through 200 wins, postseasons, championships, there isn't much you haven't experienced. He's not going to be up and down emotionally. He's not going to be any different whether his line has a good practice or a bad one. I wanted the consistency there, not only with the players, but also with our staff in the meetings. Another thing he brings is that, with Delaware doing some different things offensively in the latter stages of his career, his knowledge in those areas can benefit us from a schematic standpoint and make it more difficult for defenses to gameplan against us.
Last year, your team was in the opposite situation, and you said you would rather have an experienced offensive line and a new backfield. What do you have to do this season to make it work with a new offensive line?
What happens now is, because our skill players do have more experience, they have to take some of the pressure off the offensive line, especially at the quarterback position. Our quarterback has to help them direct protections against blitzes. He can call better audibles. If he sees we've called a play that doesn't match up well against the defense in front of him, he can put us in a better situation by changing the call. Last year, it was Andy Wilson making those calls at the center position, and Jeff really didn't have to worry about it. Now that Jeff and our backups have experience, they can make those calls and take the pressure off the line. The nice thing is that we don't have inexperience at both positions, so we use the experienced spot to try helping the other one out.
It seems that every position is an open battle, but the one guy who seems to be there right now, and could have been there last year if he wasn't injured, is Kyle Vellutato. Does he need to be the focal point, the anchor of next year's line?
He has to have a major role in the attitude, toughness and work ethic of our offensive line. In the beginning of spring, he was a little rusty, so it was great to see him in the last five sessions or so get rid of some of that rust and show what had him lined up to start for us at right guard last year. The other nice thing about Kyle is that he can play tackle or guard, so if there is an injury or we just realize that we're in a better situation by putting him at one position or the other, we can do that. He has to have a great year for us to be successful on offense.
One other move that seemed interesting was the move of Brett Barrie from the defensive line to the offensive line, similar to the move you made with Ben Brielmaier two years ago. Was there something similar you saw in the two of them that made you believe this would work, or was it more of a need-based decision?
I think the fact that Ben had success making that move gave us the confidence to do it. Brett was great, saying to us that whatever he needed to do to make us better, he would do. There were a couple of reasons we did it. One, we felt he would be one of our more athletic linemen. Two, we felt we had some quality depth on the defensive line that we would be OK bringing him over. Three, he's got such an unbelievable tenacity and work ethic-he plays to the echo of the whistle and will try to block two or three people-we felt that attitude would help the line. He's so strong mentally that he might make a mistake, but he won't let it affect his game. He brings some personality to the offensive line that I hope those guys will rally around. Ben was the same way. He brought a physicality and toughness to the offensive line.
Even though you had 12 spring practices, do you still have to let the summer happen and see how players come back, or do you already have a projected starting line for the fall in your head already?
We have a projected line, but it's a dynamic one and not as solid as in previous years because of the lack of experience. Therefore, this summer is critical. If guys don't work hard this summer, if they don't lift and work on their footwork, they're going to be a step behind when they get back and we're going to have to make some quick decisions. We also will need some freshmen to come in and at least add quality depth to the position. It's definitely going to be a lot more wide open than it has been in the past at that position.
check back to GoPrincetonTigers.com next week for part two, with a look at the 2006 defense and special teams, along with some other thoughts on the program, including his views on this season's recruiting