July 21, 2022 at 8:07 a.m.
Hodag football looking to be more versatile on offense
Hodag football looking to be more versatile on offense
Mosinee limited Rhinelander to 81 yards on the ground in a 14-7 loss while the Hodags had only 126 yards on the ground in a 13-7 playoff defeat at Baraboo.
As the team held its summer camp this week in preparation for the upcoming season, coach Aaron Kraemer vowed Rhinelander would be more multi-dimensional on offense this year.
"The one thing that happened late in the year is we didn't have the opportunity, when a team packed it in with eight or nine guys in the box, to throw the football," he said. "That's nothing against our quarterback or receivers from last year. We just didn't rep it. As a coach, that made me feel absolutely handcuffed in the playoffs, and it was my fault. That's not going to happen this year."
Of course, this year's offense won't look much like last year's, at least from a personnel standpoint. The running back tandem of Cayden Neri and Caleb Olcikas, which accounted for 86.1% of Rhinelander's yards from scrimmage last year, graduated. The Hodags also graduated quarterback Jacksen Smith and the majority of the skill position players from last year's squad.
The team also has a new play caller, with Luke Roberts elevated to offensive coordinator this year while Kraemer turns his attention to calling the defense to replace long-time defensive coordinator Gary Zarda.
Already at camp, things looked different, with the Hodags reverting back to a pistol alignment, like they had in 2020. The philosophy has been simple - attack the areas vacated by the defense.
"One thing that coach Luke talks about is let's find the grass, let's exploit the grass and let's win in the grass," Kraemer said. "So if everyone's packing it inside, we've got to use the grass to the outside and use our athletes. We do have good guys out there. We have quarterbacks that can throw it out there, so let's utilize it."
That was one of the main points of emphasis during the four-day team camp that concluded yesterday. It marked the final offseason activity for the program before football practice for the fall begins Aug. 2.
Kraemer said there were in excess of 70 players at camp this week, which was for players entering grades 6-12. That's combined with strong turnout for 7-on-7 throughout the summer and offseason strength and conditioning. That stands to reason for a program that has gone 22-7 over the last three seasons after decades of mediocrity.
"Success breeds success but, at the same time, I think kids are getting more comfortable with their coaches," Kraemer said. "Kids are more comfortable with the program and kids want to play football. That's our job, to make them want to play and stay around and make them the best they can be."
Much of the week's camp focused on individual drills as well as installing the basic tenets of the Hodags' offense and defense.
On the defensive side of the football, though Kraemer is calling the plays, he's maintaining the vast majority of Zarda's 3-4 scheme that had great success last year - holding opponents to 8.8 points 144.2 yards per game.
"I learned a lot from coach Zarda in his several years coaching with me, almost 10 years of me coaching with him. I've just tried to soak it in all these years and now I'm trying to emulate what he did, but throw my own twists on it," Kraemer said. "We go through a principle I call ASKA - so alignment, stance, key read and assignment. We're trying to get our guys aligned correctly. We're trying to get them into the correct stance and to read their keys. The assignments and the defensive plays, they all come later. Right now, we're just asking them to get aligned and communicate so that we can play defense and make sure we cover things up."
Much of the same could be said for the offense, which worked on its base plays and formations.
"Offensively, we're working our base offense - our inside zone concept and our verts concept," Kraemer said. "Those are our two main starter concepts. We've been running them the same since I took over as offensive coordinator. Those two base plays, but with little wrinkles in there this year."
"(Last year) we ran the ball a ton. We had the guys to do it. We had a good offensive line, which we still have a good offensive line coming back. We had a dynamic tailback. We still have a dynamic tailback."
Center Conner Jensen and guards Owen Kurtz and Tyler Morrison headline the key returning players on the offensive line. A pair of juniors - James Heck and Payton Campbell - took the majority of the No. 1 reps at quarterback and tailback, respectively, during Tuesday's session.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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