It Wasn't All Arm-Tackling

Many a member of Dawg nation (me included) has criticized Willie Martinez for the GA Tech debacle. On so many plays, a Jacket ball carrier would break away, have open field, see that field closed down by a faster defender but be kept alive by sloppy tackling. So, what should have been 8-12 yard gains (still unacceptable yardage) turned into 50-60 TD runs. Why? Well, yes, arm tackling. You're not bringing down Jonathon Dwyer by slapping a forearm across his tree trunk thighs. You have to wrap up. Where do you learn that? Well, honestly, pee wee leagues. Where should it be further defined and ingrained into your physical programming? High school. Where should it be a constant, unerring action? A thing so basic it just 'is' without coaching? College. And when it's not there, it must be enforced, reprogrammed and players must be corrected and re-educated. We didn't see that. So yes, arm tackling was a problem...but after much reflection and reading things like this, arm tackling is more of athe symptom than the sickness.

The true illness was strategy. The reason so many thought the triple option would fail is that it is old-fashioned and simple. But that's how Johnson thrives with it. When everybody ran it, it was probably easier to adjust to, but now it's an anomaly that is blowing defensive minds. You can't play assignment ball against the Trip.Opt. - at least not Johnson's - because he will adjust. Watch the videos in the Smart Football Piece above. When we had it read correctly and assigned coverages properly, we limited the productivity. But Johsnon countered. And we answered with nothing. Nothing but open field and D'backs caught in headlights. What does that lead to? A soft middle for dives and isos, a jittery outside for sweeps and options, and a strung out defense covering everyone and noone and paying frustrated football. What happens when defenders are frustrated? You guessed it: arm tackling.

I'm not defending Martinez. I'm just saying maybe we're crucifying him a bit early and for the wrong reason. In reality, who should be able to counter the counter? The DC. It's his role as coordinator to catch the change and adapt accordingly. It's this level of strategy that makes football the greatest sport and we came up on the short end of it last year. So in reality it is his responsibility. But the arm tackling is just a part of the bigger beating. The real test will be to see what happens this season, after a year of film, practice and planning. And, chances are, if we don't come ready to dance and Willie-boy can't adjust, our d'backs might jsut arm tackle him into a new job next year.

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UPDATE:

Here's more. So, Willie Martinez learned to defend the option attack from Dave Wannstedt, who coordinated the 'Canes D in blowout wins over Nebraska and Oklahoma 20 years ago. Here's the problem: Paul Johnson has thrown in more wrinkles and can match wits with any DC. Coach M. cannot rest on the ol' Backbone D of the eighties to stop Tech. He has to adapt and counter more effectively - and efficiently - to win. Another problem? (And this is a purely personal, gut-feeling): But playing in an offensive system like this can be a bit boring at times. There's a lot of formulaic assignments to learn and execute, which can lead to unexcited players. Unexcited players lead to mediocre play and that's what we saw several times from GA Tech last season. What really sucks about this though is that they will ALWAYS be more excited to play us then we will to play them. That's just how it is.

Oh yeah, and the bad tackling; It's being out-coached and arm tackling. This line sums it up best:

"The A-back blocking the safety, plus some bad tackling on Georgia’s part, also led to Tech’s last touchdown." True, true.