Tennessee ran one of Tom Brady’s favorite plays and it shows that concerns about Vols’ offense translating to the NFL are overblown
It doesn’t matter if the Tennessee Vols score 50 plus points against one of the best defenses in college football — it seems like there are always questions about Josh Heupel’s offense and how it translates to the NFL. Heupel’s offense often utilizes tempo and wide splits to create opportunities to get playmakers the ball […]
It doesn’t matter if the Tennessee Vols score 50 plus points against one of the best defenses in college football — it seems like there are always questions about Josh Heupel’s offense and how it translates to the NFL.
Heupel’s offense often utilizes tempo and wide splits to create opportunities to get playmakers the ball in space via advantageous matchups.
(The wide hash marks in college football allow for wide splits — it’s not unusual to see Tennessee’s wide receivers line up outside of the numbers.)
Critics of Heupel’s offense like to suggest that Tennessee’s concepts don’t translate to the NFL (those critics also suggest that this hurts of the development of UT’s players).
A recent film breakdown of the Vols’ offense from former Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Guarantano, however, shows that Heupel’s offense incorporates plenty of NFL concepts — including one made famous by seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady.
Tennessee ran one of Tom Brady’s favorite plays in the Vols’ win against Syracuse
In Guarantano’s film breakdown, he noted that Tennessee’s first play from scrimmage against Syracuse is a play the New England Patriots often ran with Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski.
“What you’ll see is on this play is this is literally Tom Brady’s New England Patriots play to Gronk,” said Guarantano. “We ran this in Arizona with the Cardinals and we also ran it with Denver with Sean Payton. But we love this play. It’s literally called Y Gronk in Denver.”
Here’s a look at the formations. There are some slight differences. For starters, the Vols are lined up in shotgun while the Patriots are under center. There’s also the motion that Guarantano mentions in his breakdown (seen in the clip below), which isn’t included in the Patriots’ play. Otherwise, the formation from Tennessee, which strays from the Vols’ typical wide splits, is very similar to the Patriots’ formation.
Here’s a look at the whole play from Tennessee followed by the Patriots’ version.
That’s a pro style concept from Tennessee that one of the greatest players in the history of the game loved (and used often).
Tennessee certainly uses some concepts that you won’t see in the NFL. But there’s no doubt that there are elements of an NFL pro-style offense included in Heupel’s offense.
I doubt this will quiet all the noise around Tennessee’s offense, but it’s at least a clear example of a pro-style play that Vols fans can point to in defense of Heupel’s system.