Watson: Offensive meetings full of 'creative discussions'
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BY BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star
Class is in session. They gather in the mornings usually, five guys with the shared opinion that a dry-erase board looks best when cluttered with Xs and Os.
Since the craziness of last football recruiting season has ended, Nebraska offensive coaches now have time to actually sit together in the same room, football ideas bouncing around the table, the marker board seeing plenty of use.
“A lot of creative discussions,” Nebraska offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said.
It is only February, but spring football is less than six weeks away — not much time for an offensive staff that just came together in December.
The coaches come to the table with different perspectives, sure. Running backs coach Tim Beck has insightful background on the spread offense after his recent experiences at Kansas. Tight ends coach Ron Brown was at Nebraska in the days when option football permeated the playbook. And offensive line coach Barney Cotton brings the flavor of past offensive coordinator experience.
Then there’s receivers coach Ted Gilmore and Watson, the remaining coaching pieces from last year’s offense that finished 11th in the country. They come heavy with information about the West Coast offense, the label attached to Nebraska’s offense under Bill Callahan the past four years.
But when talking about what Nebraska’s offense will become next fall, Watson would rather stay clear of labels.
“We’re not going to be a spread offense, that’s not the deal,” Watson said. “But that’s the beautiful thing about the Nebraska offense. We’re not going to be West Coast, we’re not going to be spread. Those terms are overused by everybody. We’re going to be the Nebraska offense. We’re going to be multiple, balanced and use the field, make the defense defend the field and defend us formationally.”
One might think that the varying offensive backgrounds of Nebraska’s new assistants could make it difficult for them to get on the same page, but Watson said that’s not the case.
“There hasn’t been any obstacles because of the caliber of people I’m working with,” he said. “Everybody has been great around the table in terms of helping to tweak and develop that vision for where I’d like to see us go based on our people.”
During the meetings, Watson said coaches talk through every play, going through every position’s assignment in detail. The coaches talk about why they’d use certain offensive structures, why they’d use certain audibles and how they’d conduct those audibles to make sure the right play was in place.
At some point, the play gets diagrammed on the board, “and then it’s always reinforced by watching it on film,” Watson said. “And when you watch it on film, there’s a reinforcement that comes with it, because you’re seeing the principle being executed on film.”
So far Husker offensive coaches have focused on the running game. Next week Watson anticipates moving the discussion along to the passing game.
Although Brown had been out of coaching four years, the learning curve hasn’t been as difficult as some may think. The terminology may be different, but as Brown said, many basic principles in football stay the same no matter the scheme.
As for the various coaching backgrounds in the meeting room, Brown thinks it only helps.
“Tim Beck may have a slight adjustment about how he did things and that becomes a great idea,” Brown said. “Or Barney maybe will suggest a little different thing here on the line.”
There’s also been talk about simplifying the offense some, Brown said. Watson has said in the past that he’d like to simplify parts while still having multiplicity in the offense’s formation looks, always built around his personnel.
Said Brown: “As a coach, you can really get the players saturated with volumes of knowledge, and more plays and more ideas. But there’s a point of diminishing return.
“There’s a point where a very smart football coach can become too smart for himself and not be able to teach things well to players, where they don’t get enough repetitions.”
Last year, the Huskers were seventh in the country in pass offense (323.8 yards-per-game) and 66th in rushing (144.4).
A bad defense and big deficits were major reasons for those stats being slanted in such a manner. “It’s not fair to talk about last year,” Watson said on the topic of the running game. “You got to throw that out, just situationally.”
Watson believes he’s got the personnel there this fall to be a strong running team, but also a team that brings great physical presence be it a run or pass play.
“And that has nothing to do with plays, it has everything to do with heart,” he said.
“And we feel like our No. 1 mission is to coach that type of effort and create that type of desire to be that type of offense, to be able to take the will of another team just because you’re so relentless in what you do.”
Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7439 or bchristopherson@journalstar.com.
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