Change to Scout team this year

[SANJAY]

Apparently, there is no scout team.  Interesting tidbit below.  I guess an old dog can learn a new trick or two.  Stuff like this along with the new coordinators give me hope that we can avoid what happened the last 2 years. 

You want to make the South Florida scout team? Too bad -- coach Jim Leavitt eliminated it this season. Leavitt said it’s hard to get enough talent to give your starters a true-to-life picture of the opponent. He also said that watching scout team video is a sure cure for insomnia. On a tip he got during a ball-talking visit earlier this year with Washington coach Steve Sarkisian, Leavitt has his second team do the scout-team work and run the opponent’s stuff against the starters. If it works, you’ll see a lot of coaches eliminate scout teams.

http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/8788/three-point-stance-scrapping-the-scout-team

[DELdaBull]

So,

That basically means we always go ones vs twos instead of 3s. This means we build depth because the 2s play against real 1-A BCS starters and the 1s stay sharp because the people they are scrimmaging against have real talent.

I like it.

[FazaUSF]

Um, I don't understand why this hasn't always been the case. I thought the scout team DID mean the 2nd team. Why the heck wouldn't it? That makes way too much sense for the majority of people NOT to have thought of it. I guess I was wrong! Glad it got "fixed" though!

[gobulls83]

I don't really have an opinion on this, but there IS a downside. Having the second team act as the opponents in practice takes away from time they could be preparing for the opponents themselves. Who do the second-team players practice against? I don't see how this can't make the backups less prepared to enter the game.

[NormalBull]

Most teams do not want to risk their second teamers to injury when they go against the first teamers in practice.  It can erode depth quickly.  Also, and more importantly, most coaches want the second teamers to get reps against the other teams' offense and defense because they are an injury away from being on the field.  While George Baker is learning Syracuse's defensive schemes and playing the role of Cuse CB, he is NOT practicing against the Cuse offense.  If a CB gets hurt early in the game, George may not know OUR defensive approach because he was busy pretending to be a Cuse defender.  That is why most teams use their scout players to simulate the other team.

Normal

[BleedGreenAndGold]

Yes, the possibility for injury exists but I like the idea that both the first and second teams are actively engaged in the preparation.