Chucky Training Helps In New England
June 26th, 2009
A highly intelligent Stanford alumni says the New England Patriots’ complex playbook rivals Jon Gruden’s notoriously fat, oft-blasted playbook used with the Bucs over the last several years.
That Stanford man is former Bucs tight end Alex Smith, who was traded to New England weeks ago. The dude was a standout academic in high school and college.
Smith has a good shot to adapt to the New England system after spending four years playing for Gruden’s multifaceted offensive scheme.
“It’s different, but at the same time, there’s a lot of similarities as well,” Smith said. “Gruden had that very complex offense as well, with lots of formations, lots of personnel groupings. You see a lot of similarities here. There’s a lot of volume here. I thought Gruden had a lot, but it’s definitely a lot of plays, a lot of switching in and out. But fortunately, I’m able to come with a bit of a background with Gruden.”
Smith said New England’s tight ends have to read and react more to defenses, and they’re also held accountable for everyone else’s assignments. He thinks he has gotten off to a good start in the Patriots’ organized team activities and minicamp.
Joe finds this very interesting. Smith almost implies the Patriots playbook is tougher than Gruden’s. Mighty New England demands their players learn an overly complex playbook? How could this be?
Chucky was mauled over the years by players and media for having too much fat and needless confusing garbage in his playbook, to the point some players reportedly just couldn’t figure it out.
Now perhaps the Patriots playbook is just filled with loads of important stuff, whereas Gruden’s features 40 different ways to gain five yards on 3rd-and-6 and endless shifts that don’t confuse the defense.
But Joe suspects the Patriots have a lot of stuff that would be blasted by media and players, as well. Except the Pats win, so nothing is questioned.
It’s a good lesson for Raheem The Dream. Just win, baby.
June 26th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Without knowing the playbooks, the difference is one is more vertical, one is more horizontal. You guess.
June 26th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
Without knowing the playbooks all you need to know is ONE fact:
Since 2003-2008:
One playbook is 76-20
One playbook is 45-51
Regular season only.
Now you know why Chuckie is in the booth and not in Tampa!
Good luck Alex
June 26th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Mr Lucky,
Had Gruden had Brady(and even Moss. Pats with Moss in 2 yrs are 27-5) those win-loss stats would be totally different.
June 26th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Yes, but the one Playbook was accompanied by Tom Brady.
June 26th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
If if and buts were candy and nuts what a wonderful Christmas it would have been….
June 26th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
If Gruden had Brady the stats would be different Mr. oar. You have apparently not been paying attention the last 5 years. Gruden had a knack for not using talent or trading it off. How do you explain winning a Superbowl then dismantling a team with cast aways and don’t give me the Glazer excuse. They did not own the kickball team then. Gruden is in the booth for a reason. And he will remain there. I am sure he will do fine in the booth. He has enough bs to fill a stadium.
June 27th, 2009 at 7:14 am
Hey Oar, I guess you want to imagine Gruden’s great coaching during their SuperBowl run – and while that’s nice all I can remember about the great Gruden’s coaching is the 30+ pass attempts Gruden call for Bruce Gradkowski in the swirling 20+ mph winds in the Meadowlands as the Bucs lost to the Giants.
Or wait how about Gruden not being able to get Joey Galloway and Antonio Bryant on the field at the same time? I guess Jon didn’t write enough plays?
June 27th, 2009 at 9:16 am
Mr. Lucky you said it all. Apparently you watched the same thing I did.
June 27th, 2009 at 11:21 am
Trash and bash Chucky all you want, but the truth is that he inherited a mess and a Salary Cap nightmare. There was no way of keeping the SB winning team together. Take away the 2- 1’st & 2’nd round picks, and the story gets worse. You don’t fix these problems overnight. Grads was only playing because he had no one else or so he felt. That day in the Meadowlands, the run game wasn’t very effective. The Giants are tough, even better at home, and may have beat any of the other 30 teams that day. The Eagles are one of the few teams that have matched up well against the Giants over the last few years. Jon Gruden had almost as many haters as George Bush, but most could never do his job, and the few that could, not nearly as well. Winning a Superbowl with any team is a great accomplishment. To do it with a QB like Brad Johnson has only been topped by the Ravens who did it with Dilfer. Gruden made some key acquisitions that year that most of the haters don’t give him credit for. Gruden made some bad calls at times. He also had some poor draft choices, but all NFL Coaches do that and they all rely on Scouts. They are all looking for a steal. I never saw Jon throw anyone under the Bus. he always took responsibility for losses and mistakes and he always gave credit where it was due, including opponents, and that is leadership. He had the few players that have since bashed him, one being Vasoline Hands, but he had many players that loved him. One being Derrick Brooks, and I would put more stock in what Brooks says than the other 52 combined. A coach that is everybody’s best friend is a loser most of the time. A coach is a Father to 53 men. During the last several years that Jon Gruden has been criticized so heavily, his team had well over 100 key injuries. When Graham went down last year, that was critical. Then losing Flip and having the D Tackles get hurt just pretty much ended it. It’s a tough sport and many things are controlled by luck and chance. I look forward to seeing him on MNF this fall.
June 27th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Big Mac, that’s the best post I have read on this site. Everything you mentioned is right on. Keep up the good work.
June 27th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
The difference is that the Patriots have the quality players and experience, most notably at QB, to put the complex offense into effect. I bet that playbook wasn’t so fat when Brady first started.
To be effective with the complex offense, you need to have continuity, which Gruden never head, especially at QB.
June 29th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
MTM, They didn’t own the team then? And you are asking me I if I paid attenetion the last 5 yrs!
And Mr Lucky, Wow, 2 games you recall good for you! BTW I had a three-legged dog named Mr Lucky.