Geneseo football fans know that new Leafs head coach Matt Furlong comes to us after 12 seasons at Cary-Grove, a northwest suburban, multi-state championship power where he was the defensive coordinator.
One of the conditions for getting this job was that he honor the tradition of the Geneseo program.
So, what defense is he going to run? And will his Leafs still run the ball?
Just to put you at ease, Cary-Grove plays absolutely stifling defense. So did Geneseo while coach Bob Reade was building the program, and beyond.
THE DEFENSE
“We'll be taking a lot of what we do from my 12 years at Cary-Grove,” Furlong said in a May 8 interview.
“Our schemes will include multiple fronts,” he said. “We'll take advantage of our strengths to force opponents out of what they want to do.”
The coach said the Geneseo secondary “will use various zone coverages, but we'll use some matchups, based on the kind of athletes we have.”
“A big part of this is building a strong foundation, using the fundamentals,” Furlong said. “The key will be getting our guys to react at the snap, and getting them to the football.”
“There are a lot of different ways to do that,” Furlong said. He said keys will be a lot of repetitions in practice, and a word that came up several times in our conversation . . .execution.
Furlong has been studying Geneseo on tape. “I'm seeing similarities (to Cary-Grove),” in principle,” he said.
“We want to defeat the opponents' defensive linemen,” Furlong said. “Tackling drills and leverage will be important.”
“Early in the season, we'll focus on the basics and get in as many reps as we can.”
“Putting in time and work leads to execution on Friday night,” Furlong said.
THE OFFENSE
Furlong described the Cary-Grove offense as a modern version of the wing-T, which he said many of the state's stronger programs run now.
“Our offense will be run-based, with play-action passing mixed in,” he said. “It has a lot of flexbone principles.”
You'll recall that I sometimes called Bob Reade's offense a “wingbone,” because of the wishbone principles it included. The Leafs also could throw from it – and did.
“There has to be a connection between our defense and our offense,” Furlong said.
“One is physicality. We need to finish off our blocks,” he said.
“The offense is adaptable. There are a lot of ways you can get the ball to a guy.”
Will fans recognize the Geneseo offense?
“We may at times look a little different formation-wise,” he said. That includes some time running from a shotgun, “because it opens up possibilities,” he said.
PROGRAM IN GENERAL
“Geneseo has an identity as a program. We can't be complacent,” he said.
Furlong said “this will be giving the program a fresh start.”
“It's not a one-year thing,” he said. “I'll need to have patience.”
“I'm anxious to see the kids on the field, so we can see their strengths,” the coach said.
Furlong is a big believer in strength training and having his players in other sports, which he said “provides training and enhances competitiveness.”
Those also can lead to. . . . great execution.
