Wednesday Roundup

Quick roundup of the news:

• Has the OL improved? With 2 positions changes, including the most important position of center, and with a 4th OL coach in 5 years, the OL is a critical question mark going into the season. Last year the OL was abysmal. Judging from the Spring, the OL could be our great weakness this year. What do you think Dorrell has to say? Happy talk as expected, Robert Kuwada, OC Register hits it:
• In the spring, the offense struggled to rush the football and the line also had difficulty protecting the passer. And yet Coach Karl Dorrell kept praising the work of those up front. He continually said the line had shown the most improvement. There have been some position changes and a new coach is in place, but they are going to have to prove it.
• Training Jay says he will open up the offense and that he is a pass-first coordinator. That’s definitely a change for Dorrell. We like hearing it. But what will happen if we get a lead late in the game, will Dorrell force him to go conservative as is his nature (Notre Dame anyone)? Training Jay hasn’t called one play yet in college football and until he does we will withhold praise.
• “I love to throw the football,” Norvell said - but he added the running game needs to be efficient, “which means 4 yards an attempt.”"I think the best combination is a physical running game and play-action passing, and high-percentage passes,” Norvell said. “The beauty of what we do is balance.”
• Training Jay made DVDs and cue-cards of his playbook for the players. Chris Markey got a 7-set DVD to study. Not a good sign. Right there is the main problem with the WCO. Too many plays, too much to learn in too short a time. There will be undoubtedly be mistakes made. But give the guy credit for going all out. Not hard to do when you’re making $300,000 a year (which we are cool with).
• “He made the DVDs of the system, of the plays and the concepts, and he actually put in plays from the spring, and he is on the DVD talking about each play,” Markey said. “That shows how much he is committed. … It boosts our confidence because we know that he knows the offense like the back of his hand.”

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