Tennessee Vols offensive coordinator Alex Golesh has perfect response to teams faking injuries to slow UT's tempo
When the Tennessee Vols played the Ole Miss Rebels last month, there was an inordinate amount of injuries suffered by Rebels players. The popular theory is that Ole Miss was faking injuries to slow down Tennessee's up-tempo offense. This is obviously hard to prove, but it certainly appears to be a thing that's happening around […]
When the Tennessee Vols played the Ole Miss Rebels last month, there was an inordinate amount of injuries suffered by Rebels players.
The popular theory is that Ole Miss was faking injuries to slow down Tennessee's up-tempo offense.
This is obviously hard to prove, but it certainly appears to be a thing that's happening around the country (the Vols have likely been guilty of doing it, too).
On Tuesday, Vols offensive coordinator Alex Golesh was asked how stoppages for defensive injuries impact Tennessee's offensive tempo.
And I thought he had a perfect response.
"It might sound cliche a little bit, but control what you can control," said Golesh on Tuesday. "All we can control is what we do and us executing on that first play to be able to, like I said, when we’re able to pick up that first first down, we’ve been pretty successful."
"Obviously it halts your play, but it’s a mental standpoint," added Golesh. “To those guys, and I’m upstairs (in the booth), so I’m on a headset, I’m not in front of them, but, ‘Hey, awesome. Got them right where we want them. They’re obviously nervous. They’re obviously on their heels. You’ve got them exactly where you want them. Go execute.’ It’s just part of the game and it is what it is, and for our guys, it’s just a matter of resetting. But obviously, it kills your tempo there for that second, then you’ve just got to restart and come up with creative ways to create the illusion of tempo.”
This is a terrific answer from Golesh. Instead of getting angry at what Ole Miss, or another team, is doing, Golesh has the mindset that Tennessee has to deal with it because it's out of their control.
That's the proper way to run a football team. If you worry about things you can't control, you're likely going to fail.
Golesh and the Vols see the obstacles in front of them and they're working on finding creative ways to overcome those obstacles — instead of trying the same things over and over again without success.
This is one of the many reasons why I think this UT coaching staff has a high ceiling on Rocky Top.
Featured image via YouTube.com
