Daily Trainer #8: Bobcat 'D' a Family Matter
8/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Some might call Montana State's defensive evolution from a 4-3 alignment to a 3-4 trickle-down football. Bobcat linebacker coach Rob Christoff has a simpler explanation for the nuts-and-bolts of the process.
"We brought my old man in," MSU's sixth-year assistant coach says in his understate style. "He helped us."
Christoff's 'old man' is A.J. Christoff, a long-time college coach, the co-defensive coordinator at Stanford last year, who currently coaches San Francisco 49er linebackers. The elder Christoff coaches with one of professional football's chief proponents and practitioners of the 3-4 alignment, Mike Nolan, and as such helps smooth the Bobcats' transition away from the program's trademark 4-3.
The transition, says senior linebacker Nick Marudas, has been mostly smooth. "Learning the new defense has taken a while," he said, "but it hasn't been all that hard. Learning (pass) coverage takes more time than the run fits. You have to learn where each player fits together in the zone."
In essence, Montana State's new defense will allow the Bobcats to rely more heavily on zone pass coverage while simultaneously disguising and simplifying the fronts better, Christoff said. "This (defense) gives us a lot of flexibility," Christoff said. "We don't have to give players five different adjustments off of each personnel package. It eliminates a lot of the thinking and allows players to just concentrate on making plays."
The elder Christoff has helped facilitate Montana State's transition to the 3-4. "We talk to him about once a week" about the intricacies of the new defensive scheme, Rob Christoff said. "It was more often in the spring. I'd say about one-third to one-half the teams in the NFL are running this scheme now."
According to Bobcat head coach Mike Kramer, this top-down flow of information is typical. "Coaches at smaller colleges watch what the bigger schools are doing, coaches at the bigger schools watch what the NFL is doing, that's the food chain in this sport."
The Bobcats laid the foundation for this fall's transition to the 3-4 with a solid work of spring, according to MSU defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski. "We got a lot of the work done in the spring, the basic stuff, and we put everything we had worked on in the spring in the first day (of fall camp)," Kwiatkowski said.
* * * *
SCRIMMAGE #2: Montana State stages its second and final scrimmage of the fall on Thursday at 3 pm in Bobcat Stadium. Bobcat head coach Mike Kramer's wish list for the session is simple. "I'm looking for crispness. I'm looking for better execution by the offense and better tackling by the defense."
While Kramer acknowledges the defense's progress this month, he says the focus of the time between now and MSU's season opener at Oklahoma State on September 3. "I want to see us evolve into a defense that is forcing second-and-long and third-and-long situations. You can't play this kind of coverage effectively in short-yardage situations."
Kramer indicated the scrimmage would run approximately 60 plays evenly split between the first, second and third units.
CATCHIN'... Mike Kramer has tentatively settled on a rotation for his return specialists. Michael Bass is penciled in as the punt returner, with Tramaine Murray slated to return kickoffs. "We have some really good candidates," Kramer said. "All those guys have good speed and pretty good vision. Michael Bass seems to do a nice job tracking the ball in the wind, and Tramaine has good speed."
...AND KICKIN': While Kramer gains certainty on his returners, he has made no such progress on his kickers. "Right now the kick-scoring is between Jeff (Hastings) and Tyler (Bolton)," Kramer said, indicating that Eric Fisher of Billings is likely to redshirt this fall. "We have a long way to go before making that decision, maybe Friday or Saturday (of game week). The same is true of the kickoff situation."
MATAKIS TAKING YEAR OFF: A day after announcing the retirement of defensive lineman Ryan Cogley and center Zack Wolf, both of whom will remain in the program and complete their educations at MSU, Kramer said injured nose tackle Andy Matakis is likely lost for the season. Matakis is believed to have injured his surgically repaired left knee this week. "Andy is lost for the season and headed for another surgery," Kramer said. All three players -- Matakis, Wolf and Cogley -- suffered or, in Cogley's case aggravated, the injury during spring drills. "It makes me want to play two-handed touch in the spring."
"We brought my old man in," MSU's sixth-year assistant coach says in his understate style. "He helped us."
Christoff's 'old man' is A.J. Christoff, a long-time college coach, the co-defensive coordinator at Stanford last year, who currently coaches San Francisco 49er linebackers. The elder Christoff coaches with one of professional football's chief proponents and practitioners of the 3-4 alignment, Mike Nolan, and as such helps smooth the Bobcats' transition away from the program's trademark 4-3.
The transition, says senior linebacker Nick Marudas, has been mostly smooth. "Learning the new defense has taken a while," he said, "but it hasn't been all that hard. Learning (pass) coverage takes more time than the run fits. You have to learn where each player fits together in the zone."
In essence, Montana State's new defense will allow the Bobcats to rely more heavily on zone pass coverage while simultaneously disguising and simplifying the fronts better, Christoff said. "This (defense) gives us a lot of flexibility," Christoff said. "We don't have to give players five different adjustments off of each personnel package. It eliminates a lot of the thinking and allows players to just concentrate on making plays."
The elder Christoff has helped facilitate Montana State's transition to the 3-4. "We talk to him about once a week" about the intricacies of the new defensive scheme, Rob Christoff said. "It was more often in the spring. I'd say about one-third to one-half the teams in the NFL are running this scheme now."
According to Bobcat head coach Mike Kramer, this top-down flow of information is typical. "Coaches at smaller colleges watch what the bigger schools are doing, coaches at the bigger schools watch what the NFL is doing, that's the food chain in this sport."
The Bobcats laid the foundation for this fall's transition to the 3-4 with a solid work of spring, according to MSU defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski. "We got a lot of the work done in the spring, the basic stuff, and we put everything we had worked on in the spring in the first day (of fall camp)," Kwiatkowski said.
* * * *
SCRIMMAGE #2: Montana State stages its second and final scrimmage of the fall on Thursday at 3 pm in Bobcat Stadium. Bobcat head coach Mike Kramer's wish list for the session is simple. "I'm looking for crispness. I'm looking for better execution by the offense and better tackling by the defense."
While Kramer acknowledges the defense's progress this month, he says the focus of the time between now and MSU's season opener at Oklahoma State on September 3. "I want to see us evolve into a defense that is forcing second-and-long and third-and-long situations. You can't play this kind of coverage effectively in short-yardage situations."
Kramer indicated the scrimmage would run approximately 60 plays evenly split between the first, second and third units.
CATCHIN'... Mike Kramer has tentatively settled on a rotation for his return specialists. Michael Bass is penciled in as the punt returner, with Tramaine Murray slated to return kickoffs. "We have some really good candidates," Kramer said. "All those guys have good speed and pretty good vision. Michael Bass seems to do a nice job tracking the ball in the wind, and Tramaine has good speed."
...AND KICKIN': While Kramer gains certainty on his returners, he has made no such progress on his kickers. "Right now the kick-scoring is between Jeff (Hastings) and Tyler (Bolton)," Kramer said, indicating that Eric Fisher of Billings is likely to redshirt this fall. "We have a long way to go before making that decision, maybe Friday or Saturday (of game week). The same is true of the kickoff situation."
MATAKIS TAKING YEAR OFF: A day after announcing the retirement of defensive lineman Ryan Cogley and center Zack Wolf, both of whom will remain in the program and complete their educations at MSU, Kramer said injured nose tackle Andy Matakis is likely lost for the season. Matakis is believed to have injured his surgically repaired left knee this week. "Andy is lost for the season and headed for another surgery," Kramer said. All three players -- Matakis, Wolf and Cogley -- suffered or, in Cogley's case aggravated, the injury during spring drills. "It makes me want to play two-handed touch in the spring."
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