(03-01-2023 08:29 AM)Zorch Wrote: I’m confused by the reference to the NY Times. The link says the article is from The Athletic and it also won’t even let me read it without paying first. Can someone please quote or summarize some of the key passages that make this article so great (as several posters have said how good it is)? Thanks!
The NY Times owns the Athletic.
'Taylor’s offensive philosophy is, “You gotta do something most teams aren’t doing.” His system is geared toward utilizing the personnel he has. Previously, he was more tight-zone driven and relied on the power but conceded that many teams were doing that. He started going to more wide zone in his last season at USD. Last year, the Tribe ran more wide zone than anyone in football. But heading into 2022, Taylor felt it was crucial to find ways to slow down the backside of the defense.'
'The result for William & Mary was employing the triple option threat but dressing it up out of pro-style sets, from all sorts of formations, and motions coming out of it, with bootlegs, play action off it and screens. What’s even more vexing for defenses is all of the two-quarterback stuff the Tribe has built into it. What that has led to is essentially a positionless offense, where they’re often workshopping the idea of, “Which player are we gonna put at which position?”'
'William & Mary approaches each opponent by trying to assess how the Tribe will block the top five or six defenses they’re going to face and what issues they might have. “Then, we start dressing it up, trying to stay away from the motions and shifts that are gonna give us those issues,” Acitelli said. “We think about how are we gonna attack their structure? If we can make them pause for just a count, it really gives us an advantage. And it kinda goes week by week.”'
It is a paywalled article, so I don't want to quote too much, since that's how the Athletic makes their money.
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The Athletic: William & Mary has the most creative offense in CFB.
