Let me preface by saying what initially jumped out at me was as myself and Damian were away from OU football for a bit, I came back to get caught up and while watching some raw work on drills I said to myself, “man, I’m not sure who #3 is but his mechanics are very clean. No wasted motion.”
Then after a second or so I said to myself, “duh, that’s MHJ.”
But then that made me dig more into what I was seeing them do and even though things that the public sees are limited, I’m incredibly aware of what LR used to do with QB’s and his philosophy on rearing them up in the college game.
So let me breakdown some things I see Arbuckle doing already, that as someone in the field of coaching, I can greatly appreciate AND see why it’s working so well.
#1. Well-Structured: one of my biggest pet peeves is seeing drills that do not build off of one another. Every drill should have a purpose and serve to feed the next drill. Additionally, the drills are simple and the expectations are precise and nonnegotiable. One of the things we saw and heard of a year ago was the lack of precision in practice at the quarterback position and guys, trusting their own development to themselves. Not only am I not seeing that with Arbuckle at the helm but I see a lot of things that Riley did in terms of footwork, reading running lanes, and how to manage the run game as a quarterback, as well as throwing mechanics in drills that actually work, not some nonsense of just throw into a target or trying to put the ball in a bucket.
#2. The mechanics are solid. Each QB looks like a carbon copy of the other which means “if you’re throwing motion ain’t quick, accurate, and with ferocity, then you ain’t playing.” Hawkins Jr. had a very elongated motion which impacted his ability to get the ball home on time. His eyes were actually very good and his velocity was solid but he threw from the shoulder and because of that, it required a longer “whip” of the arm to generate any power and velocity. In turn, the ball arrives late and/or floated on him.
Mateer’s mechanics are as solid as they come. He is where Hawkins Jr. would probably be much closer too had he had a primary ball coach this last offseason which is absolutely a failure on BV’s part but it has been addressed.
#3. Footwork drills ACTUALLY work. As OU Insider’s resident sport science nerd, I take immense amount of time and care into leveraging drills that work and I am a stickler for leaving out nonsense. Just like agility ladders are generally a waste of time unless you’re dealing with young athletes and working general coordination, there are drills I see QB’s do that are training “footwork” that will not translate because they are:
A: Bad drills that don’t mimic real game scenarios
B: They lack urgency and variability that manifests as the anxiety a QB should feel when needing to perform the footwork.
C: It’s poorly coached and really A-C are a factor because the athlete isn’t even doing the things he’s going to do in a game.
I LOVE the way Arbuckle is coaching some of the common drills too. You can tell what is prioritized and what isn’t.
Whether it is footwork when pressing the LOS on QB Power or flipping the hips on a rollout, downfield throw, there is a method to what is going on and I have not seen QB work at OU look, overall, this clean since the 2021 offseason.
Thoughts and opinions are always welcome as we dive into these nuances
Then after a second or so I said to myself, “duh, that’s MHJ.”
But then that made me dig more into what I was seeing them do and even though things that the public sees are limited, I’m incredibly aware of what LR used to do with QB’s and his philosophy on rearing them up in the college game.
So let me breakdown some things I see Arbuckle doing already, that as someone in the field of coaching, I can greatly appreciate AND see why it’s working so well.
#1. Well-Structured: one of my biggest pet peeves is seeing drills that do not build off of one another. Every drill should have a purpose and serve to feed the next drill. Additionally, the drills are simple and the expectations are precise and nonnegotiable. One of the things we saw and heard of a year ago was the lack of precision in practice at the quarterback position and guys, trusting their own development to themselves. Not only am I not seeing that with Arbuckle at the helm but I see a lot of things that Riley did in terms of footwork, reading running lanes, and how to manage the run game as a quarterback, as well as throwing mechanics in drills that actually work, not some nonsense of just throw into a target or trying to put the ball in a bucket.
#2. The mechanics are solid. Each QB looks like a carbon copy of the other which means “if you’re throwing motion ain’t quick, accurate, and with ferocity, then you ain’t playing.” Hawkins Jr. had a very elongated motion which impacted his ability to get the ball home on time. His eyes were actually very good and his velocity was solid but he threw from the shoulder and because of that, it required a longer “whip” of the arm to generate any power and velocity. In turn, the ball arrives late and/or floated on him.
Mateer’s mechanics are as solid as they come. He is where Hawkins Jr. would probably be much closer too had he had a primary ball coach this last offseason which is absolutely a failure on BV’s part but it has been addressed.
#3. Footwork drills ACTUALLY work. As OU Insider’s resident sport science nerd, I take immense amount of time and care into leveraging drills that work and I am a stickler for leaving out nonsense. Just like agility ladders are generally a waste of time unless you’re dealing with young athletes and working general coordination, there are drills I see QB’s do that are training “footwork” that will not translate because they are:
A: Bad drills that don’t mimic real game scenarios
B: They lack urgency and variability that manifests as the anxiety a QB should feel when needing to perform the footwork.
C: It’s poorly coached and really A-C are a factor because the athlete isn’t even doing the things he’s going to do in a game.
I LOVE the way Arbuckle is coaching some of the common drills too. You can tell what is prioritized and what isn’t.
Whether it is footwork when pressing the LOS on QB Power or flipping the hips on a rollout, downfield throw, there is a method to what is going on and I have not seen QB work at OU look, overall, this clean since the 2021 offseason.
Thoughts and opinions are always welcome as we dive into these nuances
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