MOBILE, Ala. – This is the third installment of FootballScoop’s exclusive, week-long look inside the annual Reese’s Senior Bowl through the eyes of an NFL assistant coach who’s on staff this week for college football’s annual top all-star showcase.
Brian Bratton, an offensive assistant coach with the Indianapolis Colts who was selected to coach wide receivers this year for the American squad, has agreed to provide a daily diary that brings a first-person view throughout the week to the audience at FootballScoop.
Bratton opened with his first piece Tuesday, added more insight from the practice field Wednesday and continues his insights with his third journal entry:
Very similar to Tuesday, we started out with our offensive meeting as a staff and then we were in with the players and actually watched our practice film from Day 1. The guys got to see themselves on tape, and I think as players that’s one of the best ways to get better. I got a chance to coach and give constructive criticism and a chance to teach.
I thought that was very valuable time, and it’s something I want to continue to get better in that aspect for me. I want to help the players get better, and I want to get better. That’s a big part of this thing.
We continued with our offensive installation, handling new plays for the day. Again, we get to get on the board, get on the field and teach, answer their questions. Our guys have done a great job of diving in and learning, texting us questions after meetings and practice. That makes it so much easier to teach with guys that are really interested and bought in so that we can help them do the best that we can.
We were in offensive staff meeting again at 7:45, film review at 9 and those meetings until around 11. We broke for lunch and were on the buses headed for practice at 1.
It’s really well designed by the Senior Bowl. It’s a good chunk of meeting time. Not just throw it up on the board and see how they do. It’s very similar from a daily basis to what a day is like in the NFL. It’s a good test drive, to get up, go to team meetings, special teams meeting, offensive unit meetings. It’s very good examples for what a day is like in an NFL game week.
And then when we get to the practice field, again, the Senior Bowl staff just do such a great job here with the energy, the music, the logistics for everything, it’s just a great environment and energy walking out on the field.
We got started with our walk-throughs, jog-throughs. We get guys loose and then we just go down our practice schedule from individual drills to 1-on-1s to competitive periods to team periods.
We have an emphasis every day, and our first practice was first- and second down emphasis. On Wednesday, we had third down stuff and two-minute emphasis.
#UVa’s Dontayvion Wicks runs through a drill with Colts assistant Brian Bratton. pic.twitter.com/0vzRV1a3kP
— Greg Madia (@GregMadia) February 2, 2023
It’s really good to get that work, and I think that’s how a lot of guys do it in college, but it’s good to get the routine down of how an NFL practice works.
I think that the same things that we kind of emphasized Day 1 carry over to Day 2, and our concepts for third down are specific for third down or what we need to work to get to first down. That’s really important to stress.
As Coach (Luke) Getsy said it, the NFL is all about situational football. And on third down, you have to be exactly where you are supposed to be and exactly when you are supposed be there. So as wideouts, your route disciplines have to be great, you have to catch the ball, put it away, know the situation and get to the first down.
You have to be on point, very detailed and in the NFL, it’s the only way to succeed in those situations.
Obviously, on third down, you don’t want to punt. So there’s a significant emphasis to get alignment, assignment, technique and adjustments as we need in order to go execute to get the first down.
I think the Senior Bowl and everyone who helped with the selection of the staffs, I think they have done a great job of putting together not only good coaches but good guys. There’s no egos, we’ve worked hard, we’ve worked together, to put together game plans, install it to our guys and give them a chance for success.
I feel like I’ve known some of these guys so much longer than what I actually have, and that’s testament to the type of guys who are in here. From a people standpoint and a football standpoint, I think it’s because we all understand what we’re trying to get accomplished.
Coach Getsy has done a great job with the organization, the feedback on practice and it’s been running smooth, like we’ve done it before and guys have done it before.
Charles London has done a great job putting together the offense, all the assistants are working together, and I think we’ve each grabbed our little part to run with it and make it the best we can. There’s a lot of pride and willingness to work together to get the results we want. And that’s, No. 1, to win the game while giving the players a structure so that they can go perform well and be evaluated.
After we wrapped up practice on the field, we went back together and watched practice film, once we finished that up it’s starting prep for the next day, the next part of install, talking about what we want to see from guys, what improvements did we see and going from there.
We got a break to go grab dinner, and like any other event, you want to connect with people, connect with coaches and staff who you know and don’t know. And in our hotel, the Senior Bowl has our practices constantly replaying on all the TVs, so it’s a chance to see some more of what you saw on the field. And, I even got a chance to get a haircut, so I’m feeling fresh and clean and ready to go.
Practice Day 3 will be our last work day, and then we’ll have a walk-through Friday and game prep like a typical NFL week. We’ll have what we’ve emphasized, then we want to wrap it up and be ready to execute come gameday.
I think we’ve had two really good days, I think guys had a good time and had a blast here. It’s been a great experience, one that I’m so very thankful to the Colts and to the Senior Bowl to have this experience.
We’ll continue, look to see improvement in the players and in myself and hope that I can get better and deposit it to these guys so they can continue to grow. Hopefully I can add to this staff so we can do something to win on Saturday.