Betts talks Iowa running backs
It was just over a year ago when Ladell Betts returned to Iowa City and took over as the running backs coach for the Hawkeyes. Even though he played the position at Iowa and in the NFL, he's learned plenty in the past year as far as coaching the position and the entirety of the offense. He talks about those topics and more with the media this week.
Q: Both your top backs have been straight ahead, kind of like how you can the ball. Do you see that in those guys?
BETTS: I do. I think that's a good analogy. Tyler Goodson was definitely good in open space very quickly. That's not saying that these guys aren't dangerous in space too, but they are different runners.
Everyone has their own skill set own way of doing things and I think both of these guys we've talked about Gavin and LeShon, have that ability to get north and south and they're not afraid to contact. They will run through people who get yards after contact
That’s really what kind of to the point where, at least for me, what I like seeing is that those chains continue to move. Make it easy for the play caller to feel good about calling another run make keep us in front of the chain so that we can move the ball more.
Q: With LeShon, we got a chance to speak so he spoke about the opportunity that he had during bowl for every bowl practice to step up and a lot of opportunity now in the spring with a lot of reps. In his second year is one of your top guys. Have you seen him continue to seize that opportunity in spring practice building off of what he did?
BETTS: I said this last year, and I think LeShon has grown the most because Gavin had a better understanding of the offense. Even when I first got here as a coach because he was up on the top. LeShon didn't have a grasp of the offense. So when I got here he was kind of learning for me the plays and what the expectations were.
I think he's grown a lot because now he's got a clearer understanding of what he's supposed to do, where he's supposed to be, why he's supposed to be there. And now you get a chance to see that talent really unfold. I think that's its good for him for his confidence. It's good for him to get these opportunities just like he got in the bowl game and continue to get him in spring ball. And it's going to propel them I think we get into fall camp to really unlock his full potential. That's really the goal of spring is to get out there. Get all the kinks ironed out and all the stuff ironed out in practice, all the guessing all the wandering, get all that stuff ironed out. So that we get to the all, we are rolling
Q: It’s such a fine line between being patient and pressing too quickly or or not, or getting swallowed up and what have you on especially on the outside zone than the slant. How do you tell them to try to get up field as quickly as possible while still being patient and what's that line for you so you don't end up with 2nd and 12?
BETTS: One of the things I preach most of time is patience to the hole. I think with young backs, really any back for that matter, especially young backs tend to be in a hurry. They want to take off crow's feet out of a stance and that's really not the design of the play, whether it's inside zone or outside zone.
It's like that fine line of being under control, yet ready to step on the gas when the hole presents itself. To your point about the outside zone. That's kind of what we talked about is patience to the hole and then speed through the hole.
If you have an opportunity to get those shoulders square at any point, take it. That means you may miss something outside, we’ll live with that for now. But I'd rather you get there press the hole, get those shoulder square the moment you can and let's get north and south and see what happens.
Q: As somebody who has gone through the draft process yourself have played a lot of years in the NFL, how have you seen Tyler manage the draft process during the time that he's been here working out and otherwise? And I guess the second part of this question is him being a player who thrives in space the way that the NFL game is going, how do you think translate into the next level?
BETTS: I think Tyler's handled himself well in terms of the draft process. One thing you've never had to worry about Tyler's whether he was going to be in shape. From the moment I got here, I picked up on that. I mean, he's always working out and he's got personal training. He does everything he's going to eat right he's going do all that.
So from the start, he's going to give himself an opportunity. On top of that he's smart. As far as football and understanding, you know, defenses, leverage, all those kinds of things, all the little nuances. Tyler is very, very astute to the NFL game. He should be fine I think the way the game is played now. You can see him doing some third down stuff you can see him getting carries up the middle. I think he has a multifaceted game which is which should lead to him doing well in the NFL.
Q: You know depth can go at running back. We're mainly talking about two names thus far and I know you got two freshmen coming in and you have a conversation with them about hey, we might need you right away? Do you think they have the skill to make an early impact?
BETTS: That remains to be seen. I don't know I don't want to speculate on that. But I do remain in contact with both of them. Kaleb and Jazz, I talked to him about just making sure that they're in shape. Anyone can get hurt in any given time. You know, you're not going to want to see that happening but you always need a stable of backs. And I preach that to the guys coming in. Hey, make sure you're ready. Because you never know when that opportunity is going to come and if it does come you don't want to you don't want to show up out of shape or or have missed that opportunity. So those guys will be ready.
Q: When you guys did your self-analysis last year's team did you land on a style of running back to you guys want to have recruits that kind of thing. Now that you've been here a year, Brian's getting his footing position here. As an offense, do you like the straight ahead type guy or something else?
BETTS: I wouldn't say straight ahead guy. I'm old school. I like guys, a little bit of guys that can run between the tackles. So I think naturally when I'm watching and trying to recruit, I seek that.
There’s also a place for guys that can that can branch out and move in space and do things from the slot. So we look for it all depends on the size but speaking to the two guys that we did get, they are downhill runners. Jazz is in between the tackles physical kind of kind of guy. Kaleb is a big body guy that has some smooth transition to his running style. He’s 6-1 and 215, so he's a big kid so these guys can get downhill.
Q: Is Hilson still in your room?
BETTS: He is still in my room. Hilson was off to a good start in the spring and he had a setback. I don't know the extent of where that's going to put him or his timetable, but he was off to a good start.
He was he was definitely getting carries and moving along. He was actually starting to understand the offense as a whole too and he was on scout team last year so he never really got a chance to run our plays. So he was really starting from ground zero. And he made a lot of strides and unfortunately he had a setback.
Q: So what does that mean for Saturday? You can’t really give your main guys twenty carries each, can you?
BETTS: It’s been that way most of spring. We've tried to take care of them. We have Gavin and LeShon and then there’s Zach as well. Yeah. So Zach's getting carries and he's getting the bulk of the carries with it with the second group. Probably more than he likes sometimes. He's out there plugging away.
Q: In terms of you said, running downhill. I believe it was last year that coach said that LeShon was somebody who plays better in pads than maybe in the practice setting. In terms of his skill set and how he runs the ball what type of physicality aspect you expect him to bring to the running game this year?
BETTS: Well, I think you guys saw that the bowl game. The ballgame. He does run behind his pads. He's got good pad level. He's a little shorter than Gavin. They both run behind their pants, but I think what people will be surprised to see is LeShon does have more wiggle than people expect.
In the bowl game we saw him trucking people and putting that shoulder, but he has the ability to make people missed him. So you guys get to see that as the year goes on.
Q: He said he probably should have made a few more people miss in the bowl game.
BETTS: You know I'll take a guy who can put people on their back for six too. I'll take that.
Q: How are those guys catching the football and how are they developing in that area?
BETTS: Doing well. We actually have been probably the last week or two, we've really worked on one on one routes with the linebackers trying to free those guys up and teaching how to run the routes. Some of the numbers have been a little bit more than expected at the receiver position, so we've actually been out there at slot.
These guys are really getting a lot thrown at him right now in terms of not just the running game but the passing game as well. They've lined up at slot run routes from their motion down one route so they're getting the whole gamut so that they're getting all this stuff.
Q: Are the fullbacks in your room or are they with the tight ends?
BETTS: The full backs are in the tight end room, but they do practice with me sometimes. For instance, when we go we'll decide to do pass installer. Pass MD they'll come down with me we'll work past protection when we do one on ones versus linebackers terms of routes and pass protection, the full backs so they come down and they get to work with me as well. And sometimes they get carries the practice.
Q:How are Gavin and LeShon doing as far as pass blocking?
BETTS: They are both doing a good job and that's the beauty of the two of them. There's really, and I say this in all truthfulness, there's really nothing that I'm like uncomfortable putting them on the field for whether it's two minute third down short yardage you know, first and ten, it doesn't matter that I think they're complete players.
Q: They are going up against one of the best defenses in the country on a daily basis. Are they gaining confidence from that?
Depends on which day (laugh). There's some days where we may feel like we got the best of them and vice versa. So we're holding our own. That’s the good thing about having a defense that's so good is that we get a chance go out there and practice against them and see where we really stack up. It’s been pretty chippy. You guys get a chance to go practice on Saturday. You probably see it gets a little chippy out there.
Q: How have you like your first year here and coaching at this level?
BETTS: It was a big jump and actually, probably February we started doing the self-scout. That was probably the most fun for me because it was a time for me to find out really the whole offense. What are the receivers doing? What is the quarterback? What is offensive line thinking because we all sit in there together and we evaluate why a play successful and why it's not successful.
So you get to see everything unfold. So for me that was was a big learning curve for me just to sit there and really get a full grasp of it. Now I can take that back to my room, which I really couldn't do when I first started I was more focused on teaching those guys how to play running back, which is what I know. But I didn't understand all the entire offense now I have a better grasp and I could go back and teach those guys what we talked about. So I feel like I'm more effective as a coach.
Q: Are you still recruiting Florida and Ohio too?
BETTS: Minnesota and Florida, more specifically Tampa and Jacksonville. I will venture down to South Florida a little bit too. You don’t have to twist my arm for that.