Nomenclature in Football

[stinger78]

It wasn’t Curry was it? I thought he was a center.

I used to know those players but time has erased the files.

My take on “quick” versus “strong” was that in the mid 60s you have national powers like Alabama who had offensive linemen as light as 195 (Cecil Dowdy) and you other national powers like Notre Dame who were running 30-35 pounds heavier. It was still an open question as to which approach was better, the quicker players or the stronger players. Some teams, including a few years at Tech under Carson, split the difference by having one side of the line lighter and one side heavier. I don’t honestly know but I wonder if one side was for straight power running and the other side was for pulling guards, traps and sweeps.

Thurston and Kramer.

 

[DeepSnap]

It wasn’t Curry was it? I thought he was a center.

I used to know those players but time has erased the files.

My take on “quick” versus “strong” was that in the mid 60s you have national powers like Alabama who had offensive linemen as light as 195 (Cecil Dowdy) and you other national powers like Notre Dame who were running 30-35 pounds heavier. It was still an open question as to which approach was better, the quicker players or the stronger players. Some teams, including a few years at Tech under Carson, split the difference by having one side of the line lighter and one side heavier. I don’t honestly know but I wonder if one side was for straight power running and the other side was for pulling guards, traps and sweeps.

Quick/Weak vs Strong is formation based. Put someone in the Slot & that becomes the strong side..... go unbalanced & that side become the strong side.... split a WR out with no Back to that side & it's the weak side. I remember the quick v strong bit, but it quickly changed to formation strength. You can easily change the strongside just by shifting your backs. Hardly anyone flipflops their OL anymore, so the physical weak-strong/big-little has pretty much gone away.

As for Carson's "Tech" Defense, wherever the TE lined up, that was the side the Stinger & SDE went to..... The Wrecker went to the other side..... think Stan Beavers & Brad Bourne as opposed to Dave Beavin & Smylie Gebhart on the other.

Different defenses look at it their own way & there have been volumes written describing those defensive tactics.