There were not a lot of interesting story lines from Monday’s media availability at Texas. Things were pretty quiet a few days after a victory against Iowa State. Texas coach Charlie Strong is looking ahead to Saturday’s road game against Kansas State. So are most of his players.
However, there was one interesting note worth passing along.
Longhorn defensive players wore wristbands with plays on them against Iowa State. It was actually the first time Strong’s group wore them during a game. I asked Strong about the wristbands on Monday, and he said it was strategic.
“The reason why you go wristbands is that if you watch now, everybody is trying to steal your signals,” Strong said. “We knew that they would always come up and then the quarterback would make a check to the sidelines. We would show them something, and then we wanted the wristbands. Now all of a sudden, you hit the wristband and give them whatever call is on the wristband, they would all look. It's just more of them just trying to steal your signal.”
Strong may have implemented the wristbands to prevent Iowa State from knowing their defensive scheme, but the biggest benefit was actually improved communication among players.
“For me, I don’t it necessarily had any effect just because I look to the sideline and we get the call,” Texas safety Dylan Haines said. “Now we get the call, and we have to look at the wristband, even though the call was simpler even though the call was simpler since it was referring to something there. But maybe for the corners it kind of helps, especially if you’re playing the backside corner. You can’t always see, so you can get the number from somebody, you can look at it, there it is. I think that is something they wanted to change up because some of the issues we were having sometimes with communication, obviously, early on, not everybody was getting the call because not everyone was relaying it.
“As far as that helping some of the other players, I’m sure it did ... Especially for the d-lineman, too. Sometimes they’re going hurry up, which a lot of teams like to do. Especially, Iowa State. Iowa State, when we watched them, it was all kind of 'check with me.' For some reason against us, they kind of got up there and they tried to do a little hurry up at the beginning of the game, and it kind of caught us off guard. The wristbands probably did a good job of keeping us relaxed, knowing we just had to look there, and there was the play.”
I asked Texas cornerback John Bonney about the wristbands, and he said it really helped the cornerbacks play better.
“That was the main thing, as far as communication,” Bonney said. “That’s really what they were for. I like the wristbands. It really helped. We were able to communicate and get things across the defense.
“Especially if you’re a corner on the backside. It’s really hard to see the coaches on the sidelines. That’s why communication is key. The corner on that side gets a call, we relay it, and I’ll be able to get it if I’m on the far side (with the wristband).”
That being said, the wristband did not help linebacker Breckyn Hager.
“To be honest, I was getting most of the calls from Malik (Jefferson),” Hager said. “I was asking him. I was just trying to go out there and go fast, so thank you Malik for that. I appreciate it.”
However, there was one interesting note worth passing along.
Longhorn defensive players wore wristbands with plays on them against Iowa State. It was actually the first time Strong’s group wore them during a game. I asked Strong about the wristbands on Monday, and he said it was strategic.
“The reason why you go wristbands is that if you watch now, everybody is trying to steal your signals,” Strong said. “We knew that they would always come up and then the quarterback would make a check to the sidelines. We would show them something, and then we wanted the wristbands. Now all of a sudden, you hit the wristband and give them whatever call is on the wristband, they would all look. It's just more of them just trying to steal your signal.”
Strong may have implemented the wristbands to prevent Iowa State from knowing their defensive scheme, but the biggest benefit was actually improved communication among players.
“For me, I don’t it necessarily had any effect just because I look to the sideline and we get the call,” Texas safety Dylan Haines said. “Now we get the call, and we have to look at the wristband, even though the call was simpler even though the call was simpler since it was referring to something there. But maybe for the corners it kind of helps, especially if you’re playing the backside corner. You can’t always see, so you can get the number from somebody, you can look at it, there it is. I think that is something they wanted to change up because some of the issues we were having sometimes with communication, obviously, early on, not everybody was getting the call because not everyone was relaying it.
“As far as that helping some of the other players, I’m sure it did ... Especially for the d-lineman, too. Sometimes they’re going hurry up, which a lot of teams like to do. Especially, Iowa State. Iowa State, when we watched them, it was all kind of 'check with me.' For some reason against us, they kind of got up there and they tried to do a little hurry up at the beginning of the game, and it kind of caught us off guard. The wristbands probably did a good job of keeping us relaxed, knowing we just had to look there, and there was the play.”
I asked Texas cornerback John Bonney about the wristbands, and he said it really helped the cornerbacks play better.
“That was the main thing, as far as communication,” Bonney said. “That’s really what they were for. I like the wristbands. It really helped. We were able to communicate and get things across the defense.
“Especially if you’re a corner on the backside. It’s really hard to see the coaches on the sidelines. That’s why communication is key. The corner on that side gets a call, we relay it, and I’ll be able to get it if I’m on the far side (with the wristband).”
That being said, the wristband did not help linebacker Breckyn Hager.
“To be honest, I was getting most of the calls from Malik (Jefferson),” Hager said. “I was asking him. I was just trying to go out there and go fast, so thank you Malik for that. I appreciate it.”
