New York, NY (WFAN) -- I had the opportunity to spend four hours at the Jets facility at Hofstra on Tuesday, with fellow reporters Rich Cimini, JP Pelzman, Dennis Waszak, Dave Hutchinson, Eric Boland, Lisa Zimmerman & Erik Allen. (I'm sure I'm forgetting someone) The purpose of the session was for head coach Eric Mangini to teach us the club's basic offensive formations & the defensive scheme of the 3-4.
Let me say this. I played Pop Warner football for six years, as well as playing some in high school. I've watched the NFL for 31 of the 34 years that I've been on this earth. And today I learned, that I know absolutely NOTHING about football. Remember these were basic formations, with basic reads and I was lost inside of 90 seconds.
Mangini began by allowing us to take a look at the team's playbook, which is hundreds of pages long. From there we discussed the terminology, which is when I learned that words like Doug, Dragon, Rocket & Echo are more than just names, scary reptiles & things that launch into space. Then we moved to the team's offensive & defensive sets, spending alot of time learning what the defense looks for every time they set up at the line of scrimmage & the adjustments that need to be made. In a film session Mangini broke down busted plays from a season ago, pointing out plays & tackles that were missed by specific players and play calls from the coaching staff that were just wrong.
He treated us like he treats the players in terms of quizzing us at the end on what we learned (but a lot nicer to us I'm sure), and answered our questions. By far the thing that struck me most was the complexity of each & every down. Every time the opposing team makes a move, a shift or a shout, the defense adjusts to what they see and hear. When the fullback moves in motion, the defense changes. Depending upon where the tight end lines up, the defense changes. If the running backs line up in an "I" set the defense lines up one way. And if the running backs are in a split set the defense goes the other.
It really was eye opening to see how the 11 guys on the field have to see and react to the same thing the same way. If they don't, it's likely 7 for the other team.
At the end of the day, Mangini sat down with us to talk about training camp. He seems very optimistic & positive, and why not? Woody Johnson gave Mike Tannenbaum the ok to spend on needed free agents & Tannenbaum delivered. Now, it's up to Mangini to make sure the players deliver.
Mangini talked about the quarterback competition, saying whoever plays the best will be the starter. All in all, it should be an interesting summer at Hofstra, the team's last before moving to Florham Park in September.
Anyhow, enjoy the last days being "football-free" because the 2008 preseason begins next Thursday with the first practice. It will be a split double session, with one practice at 8:45AM, and the other at 5:45PM. Talk to you then!
JR
E-Mail Story
Print Story
