I will look more at the communication of linebackers coach Mike Vrabel. It is good, and interesting, to see Vrabel working with Jadevon Clowney. Notice the difference in how Vrabel talks and works with Clowney, compared to last week when he was working with Lynden Trail.
Vrabel works on pass rush technique with Clowney. He says: “Sell that, don’t be in a big rush, lay it in there so he can feel it.” “Turn your shoulders – you just made yourself longer.” Then on the sidelines he encourages Clowney saying: “Remember it’s a process, it’s good to have you out here.”
Where was this kind of technique work and encouragement with the other players – specifically the rookies? Most times Vrabel either tells players what not to do – or says things that anyone can say. There is very little teaching/coaching. Every good coach is a good teacher. Vrabel’s approach in this episode is called “tough love.” Any coach can yell – yelling is not coaching, teaching or love.
Vrabel working with linebacker Kourtnei Brown is a good example. When Vrabel is criticizing Brown, Brown says: “I don’t understand what you’re saying.” Vrabel’s response is” You’re in G and the tight end cuts you off and you don’t make the play – you’re wrong.” Brown then tries the play again and does it wrong – then has to run as punishment. Brown said he did not understand, he was not told what to do or shown how to do it- and of course did it wrong the next time.
Many coaches make these same mistakes – they try to be tough- yell, make player run – but don’t teach. A better approach would be when Brown says he does not understand for Vrabel to explain and show Brown what he is suppose to do – then ask Brown if he understands. The next step would for Vrabel to ask Brown to show him the proper technique- this would show Brown now knows, understands and has learned what to do.
The only good thing Vrabel say to Brown was: “Your eyes should be on his hips.” There is no point in comments like: “Loose the lackadaisical shit – you should be perfect out there.”
During the game against the Bronco’s the T.V. commentators point out that Brown is not playing good technique. He is running in too far up the field and the Bronco running backs are cutting by him for big gains. Coach O’Brien says, “The edge is getting killed.”
What a good coach would do at this point in time is explain to the linebackers what they are doing wrong and what they need to do to correct their mistakes. A guy in the stands could say what Vrabel says: “Hey, outside linebackers, we’re gonna keep the four guys that set the edge and rush and right now Kourtnei that’s two guys – go make a difference in the game.” Then at halftime Vrabel says: “We’re running out of time, the clock is ticking, this is the last chance, we’re either gonna be an NFL player or not – it ain’t for everybody.” Notice there is ZERO instruction. Good technique comes from good coaching.
In the second half Vrabel says to Trail: “Let’s go, get some juice, Trail, I can’t beg you to play.” Trail makes some good plays and Vrabel says to no one in particular: “Trail finally came down and stood the guy up and make a tackle.” Then to Trail: “You made a hell of a tackle.” Here Vrabel misses a teachable moment. He could have pointed out to Trail why he is playing better. He could point out the technique and skills that were working here. The problem is that when a coach yells at a player and then the player plays well – the coach thinks that yelling at the player led to the good performance. Most times this is not the case.
After the game Coach O’Brien tells the position coaches exactly what he is looking for. He tells the quarterback coach he wants to make sure the quarterbacks, when in the film room, always know the situation, the down and distance and the coverage. He tells the running backs coach he wants more focus on alignments, pad level, route running and ball security. These are specific instructions that hopefully he will follow up on – and hold the coaches accountable for the changes he wants to see. How he speaks to the position coaches – is how the position coaches should speak to their players – with specific instructions.
A couple thoughts:
The rookie skits were good clean fun -some of these skits in previous years they have been degrading.
I would have liked to see what happened in the quarterback meeting after O’Brien left the room. He did a great job of explaining his decision about which quarterback would be the starter – but it would be telling to see how they reacted – and how the quarterback coach followed up on the conversation.
It is great how Coach O’Brien encourages and congratulates players during the game.
The more I see of O’Brien and of J.J. Watt – the more I am impressed with both of them.