Fundamentals! Fundamentals! Fundamentals!And More Fundamentals!

Fundamentals!Fundamentals! Fundamentals! And More Fundamentals.

Since Day one, the moment Greg Schiano stepped into One Buc Palace he stressed that he and his coaching staff are all about teaching the fundamentals. And it has been evident in practice in each position group on the field. players are noticing as well.

 “This coaching staff, they treat you like it’s your first time playing football, but I mean that in a good way, because I think it’s a great thing we’re doing,” six-year veteran defensive tackle Amobi Okoye said. “Not only do they teach you these things, but they do it in situations that help you to understand why you’re doing it. I like it, and we’ll obviously have to wait and see what the end result is, but I think the impact is going to be great.’’

Starting with the offensive line, nearly everyday they are either practicing staying low by blocking each other underneath chutes. Or either smashing and driving the sled, which was not utilized as much under Raheem Morris. The running backs and quarter backs constantly taking snaps and just handing the football off which are very small unnoticed things. But such small things make such big differences when the lights are on.

“We’ve set a high standard here as far as football IQ is concerned, because it’s not good enough just to be able to go out there and run fast and play hard,” right guard Davin Joseph said. “So this camp is really about learning football, and it may seem very elementary, but learning the fundamentals of football is a very important part of playing at a high level, and that’s what we’re trying to achieve.”

Another thing you will see everyday when you walk out on the practice fields at One Buc palace is the ball security drill with running backs receivers, everyone. One thing that will make Greg Schiano blow a gasket is fumbles and penalties as well, but focusing on ball fumbles  which in his words are just unexpectable, with ball security.

 "No one who touches the football will get touches if they don't protect the football. That is one of our core covenants -- the ball. It's so important they named the game after it. We make a big deal about it."  Greg Schaino said.

Defensively they practice the technique, and fundamentals  of tackling everyday. Which some players were not accustom to such a s Gerald McCoy.

“We do a tackling circuit before every practice, and I’ve never done anything like that before,” McCoy said. “I realize now that, before, I was just playing football. Now, I’m really learning how to tackle and I think it’s going to help me a lot.”

Yes Greg Schiano has many different drills that the offense, defense, and special teams go through on a daily basis. Not one phase of the game is left out. And with the focus on all the small things, such as josh Freeman taking bad shotgun snaps. Special teams on blocking punts and scooping them and scoring. Defense working techniques of tackling situations. Schiano believes is critical to developing how his team operates his team.

As you can tell Schiano is a very detailed head football coach. He wants teachers on his staff that he has assembled, to teach what he believes, techniques and fundamentals of the game. And he believes that focusing oncall of the small detailed things lead to big picture success.

Written By: Chris Anderson