Notebook: Slight change to practice format will benefit coaches as well as players

Notebook: Slight change to practice format will benefit coaches as well as playersPlus items on position battles, the potential for open practices, injuries and a position change

Posted by ROB MOSELEY

03/22/13
6:00am

From today's editions:

When he was promoted to replace Chip Kelly as Oregon’s head coach, Mark Helfrich said most changes to the program would be so slight as to be imperceptible to outsiders.

On Thursday, Helfrich shed light on one such subtle change. When spring practices kick off April 2, the Ducks will incorporate a few more unscripted scenarios than usual, in part to benefit a retooled coaching staff.

Typically practices are a mix of periods in which a pre-planned set of plays are run, and also live game-like scenarios in which plays are called on the fly. Though Kelly had final play-calling say during games as coach, his offensive coordinator — Helfrich — called them in those live practice situations; this spring, new offensive coordinator Scott Frost will do so, and they will be more frequent.

“I think that’s a great way to make people think and react, rather than having just another scripted situation,” Helfrich said during a conference call with reporters Thursday.

Frost is in his second stint as a coordinator, but his first on offense. He was defensive coordinator for one year at Northern Iowa, in 2008 before joining Kelly’s staff in 2009.

Helfrich said upon being promoted that the staff would wait until after spring drills to determine how plays will be called come fall. A year ago, the offensive staff would game-plan together, Helfrich would provide insights from the press box in games, and Kelly would make the calls on the field.

This year, not only is Frost new to the offensive coordinator role, but receivers coach Matt Lubick carries the title of “passing game coordinator.” Offensive line coach Steve Greatwood