Wilkommen bei den Schatten » ve a pretty special thing going here

Jabrill Peppers lined up in the slot for Michigans offense on a cold day in early November last year. He started in motion before the snap, running behind his quarterback and bubbling toward the sideline. After catching a lateral pass, the freshman cut upfield around one Rutgers defender, plowed through a pair of arm tackles and outraced the Scarlet Knights secondary to the corner of the Big House end zone.It wasnt so much the score -- or the fact that Peppers is ostensibly a defensive player -- ?that led coach Jim Harbaugh to pull his most dangerous and versatile athlete over to the sideline to tell him, Man, youre really good.It was effortless. It was graceful. It was smooth, the type of rhythm usually achieved only after countless reps and reviews. It was the second time Peppers had ever run the play. The first came in practice earlier that week; the second was an 18-yard sprint for his second career touchdown.Its just football, man, says Peppers about his ability to play at least a half-dozen positions across all three phases of the game during his first season at Michigan. I personally dont know how to explain it to you guys. Im just playing football.Earlier that same afternoon, Pittsburghs Jordan Whitehead, also a freshman defensive back, ran for two touchdowns against Notre Dame on the first four offensive carries of his career as a Panther. Marylands?William Likely?started on both offense and defense for the first time against Wisconsin that?day, leading the Terps in rushing yards.On the West Coast, Oregons Charles Nelson caught a touchdown pass for the Ducks offense and also started at cornerback, and USCs Adoree Jackson picked up 130 all-purpose yards for the Trojans -- 131 in net gain if you want to tack on the yard he supplied via a tackle for loss on defense. All of them made it look easier than it should.Meet college footballs new burgeoning breed of weapons, versatile players who can change a game on a single play no matter which team has the football. They are dazzling athletes, making life equally miserable for opposing teams and the poor souls who have to try to pin down their position on the depth charts each week.The main trait that seems to link them all and allows them to contribute in so many ways -- besides their obvious athleticism -- is what scouts like to call FBI: football intelligence. FBI is the sport-specific intuition that allows players like Peppers to carve up an opposing defense the first time he tries something new. Like Mozart and Beethoven on the piano or Will Hunting with organic chemistry, when it comes to football, these guys can just play.Theyre artists, said John Baxter, who coached Peppers as a punt returner at Michigan last season and is now at USC with Jackson. Look at it like its a guitar. Most of us can go to a guitar lesson and theyll teach us where to put our fingers on the fret and how to pull the string and then we can play a chord. Those guys hear it and play it.This current wave of three-phase players is far from the first to bounce from one side of the ball to the other since Fritz Crisler christened two-platoon football in Ann Arbor. Peppers mentor, for example, is Michigan Heisman winner and its most accomplished three-way athlete, Charles Woodson. This rising crop of football maestros, though, is pushing the idea of players undefined by position to new heights. They are taking advantage of a faster paced game, better fitness technology and a changing mentality about how to use your best athletes. And they are making a strong case that every program in college football should be searching for their own jacks-of-all-trades.The letters ATH were printed beside Jacksons name the first time he saw his USC locker. Jackson was surprised and a little confused. He wasnt quite sure what they meant at the time. Everyone else in the room had a designated position stamped onto their placards. Two years later, Jackson says there are three or four other Trojans who now have the ATH suffix: Athlete.Its evolution, Jackson said. A lot of people see that a guy can affect a game and they think, Man, if I could have my best player affect the game in all those ways I want to do that. I think that starts to spread to everybody in the country.Players, as much as anyone, have helped preach the gospel of versatility. Jackson made sure Lane Kiffin knew that he wanted to play both ways the first time USCs former coach came to recruit him. The only schools he took seriously during the recruiting process, he said, were those that could show him a package for how they planned to use him on offense.Michigans all-conference cornerback Jourdan Lewis waited until this summer to make his plea for some offensive touches. The senior saw Peppers with the ball in his hands and decided he was good enough to do the same. At Big Ten media days, Lewis said he was putting it out there that he wanted to run some routes as a receiver in 2016. A week later, without having a formal discussion between them, Harbaugh said Lewis would get a shot on offense.Marylands old coaching staff joked with Likely, the teams punt returner and interception specialist, about playing on offense during September last year. In October, he told them he seriously wanted to give it a try, and by the first week of November he was starting on all three units.Likely got his own locker room surprise when he showed up for his first practice of the season under new head coach D.J. Durkin earlier this month. Marylands defensive players had red jerseys hanging below their helmets. The offensive players had white jerseys. Likely and the quarterbacks would be wearing gold.It was a no-brainer for them, Likely said. Before I could even say a word [Durkin] said it for me. I would be playing offense defense and special teams. I didnt have to say too much.Durkin, of course, saw firsthand the benefits of sharing your best athletes while coordinating Michigans defense last season. His track record with playing guys both ways dates to his days with Harbaugh at Stanford where linebacker/fullback Owen Marecic once scored a rushing touchdown and a pick-six on back-to-back plays. Marecic was the first winner of the Paul Hornung Award, given to the countrys most versatile player starting in 2010. The competition for that trophy gets more crowded each year.Once someone does something and is successful with it, others are going to fall in line, Durkin said.Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi learned how to manage a multiuse player during his long stint as defensive coordinator at Michigan State. So when Whitehead showed himself to be up to the task, Narduzzi had a place in place.Whitehead had to master Pitts defense before he could think about expanding to offense, a common requirement for coaches that have been down this road before. When the freshman safety (who led Pitts defense with 109 tackles) was ready, the coaching staff installed the Whitehead package to ease their new weapon into his role.The staff also closely monitored Whiteheads workload using the Catapult GPS system that many college sports teams now use to track how hard their athletes are working. The data collected from Whiteheads GPS unit allowed coaches to hold him back and keep him fresh as they continued to ask for more from him on game day.Coaches have traditionally held two main fears that keep them from putting their most capable athletes on the field as much as possible. The first is the concern about watering down a players ability to understand one position by taxing him mentally to learn many. The second is the potential wear and tear that could lead to injuries by taxing him physically.Its really about being smart with them and make sure youre not wearing them out, Narduzzi said. Its one thing to have a guy play both ways, but if you wear him out and get him hurt and hes not playing as well because of that, youve got a problem. If he gets knocked out of a game, then how dumb am I?Todays technology makes the physical side easier than ever to track. More sophisticated coaching in high school and earlier access to film also produces more prospects that show up on campus ready to grasp some higher-level concepts. Custom-made packages also give athletes a chance to learn the playbook in digestible bites while transitioning to a new phase of the game.These guys arent turning back the clock on specialization in football, theyre taking the next step forward. Peppers isnt filling in a spot where any running back or slot receiver would otherwise be doing the same thing. Hes lining up at a position and running plays that have been specially created for him and his unique ability to slice through a defense the way he did in the first week of November last fall.Improvements in training and coaching help get the most out of top-notch athletes and keep them safe as they press to do more. Players are more likely to speak up and ask for opportunities. All of this adds up to proliferation of some of footballs most electric athletes shining in all phases of the game. The mystery that remains lies in how these guys develop the football intelligence -- that play-it-by-ear ability -- to do so many different things in the first place. Its uncoachable, and its impossible to pin down even for the veteran assistants who have worked side-by-side with special athletes for their whole careers. What is it? Baxter asks rhetorically. Who knows? Who cares? If youve got Beethoven, just enjoy it and let him play.More and more coaches are starting to agree. Let them play, and let them play in as many places as possible.Hector Neris Jersey . -- New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis is retiring after a 16-year career to become the goalie coach for the Los Angeles Galaxy. Willie Jones Jersey . Canada is now down to its 22-player limit, although but players wont be registered until Christmas Day. Changes could still be made as a result of a suspension or injury. https://www.cheapphilliesjerseys.us/757n-eric-bruntlett-jersey-phillies.html . The Browns coaching search remains incomplete. Adonis Medina Jersey . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. Phillies Jerseys 2020 . -- Matt Ryan needed one of the best games of his career to lead the Falcons and their depleted offence out of their three-game losing streak last week.TORONTO -- The speed and skill of Team North America has captured the imagination of fans watching the World Cup of Hockey.The methodical, self-proclaimed boring play of Team Europe has just captured two victories.Three days into the World Cup of Hockey, Europe is the first team to four points and has shown it belongs in this tournament. By beating the United States and the Czech Republic, the European all-star group of players from Slovakia, Germany, Switzerland, Slovenia, Denmark, Austria, Norway and France sent a message that its not an underdog.Coming in here at 33-1 longshot, the Las Vegas bookies, its a lot of fun, coach Ralph Krueger said. I just never believed those numbers. Weve never used any negative motivators in our process. Its always been about us finding our potential, and the belief that we could match with anybody here at this tournament.Europe has found its potential. Offensive production has come from Germanys Leon Draisaitl, Slovakias Zdeno Chara, Slovenias Anze Kopitar and more.But no one expected even this collection of European stars from non-power countries to come together like this and play like a national team.Theres just complete buy-in on this group, Krueger said. Ive never experienced anything quite like this as a coach in 25 years of head coaching, where a group just bought in so quickly and sacrificed for each other.Players have their native flags stitched on their shoulders, but the NHL-created Team Europe crest isnt something they dreamt of playing for. North Americas Johnny Gaudreau even scoffed at a question about the crest on his jersey on Sunday, because its not something that existed even a year ago.Thats what makes Europes impressive showing at the World Cup even moree impressive.ddddddddddddIts 33-to-1 odds were the longest of any team on the board, and Draisaitls overtime goal against the Czech Republic on Monday put Europe on the verge of a spot in the semifinals.Im just so proud of the way the players have come together in this short period of time, how theyre representing their countries on their arms and as a group how weve come together, Krueger said. This is really not luck, guys.Its not luck. Its talent.Slovak goaltender Jaroslav Halak has stopped 63 of 65 shots in his first meaningful games since March because of a groin injury, Chara is doing his job on defense and Kopitar and Marian Hossa are supplying strong play up front. Those players are all NHL stars and together theyve fared better than any one of their national teams would have against this level of competition.Were certainly very excited at what we did so far with the two games, Kopitar said. Were staying in the moment. Weve certainly realized that we have a pretty special thing going here.After winning two games, Krueger proclaimed Europe is not done. A win by Canada in its game against the United States puts Europe into the semifinals, but dont expect this sewn-together all-star team to suddenly think its not a 33-to-1 shot to win the World Cup.Favored Canada awaits Wednesday.Definitely thats going to be a different animal, Hossa said. Its going to be a great measurement of where were at. Obviously theyre huge favorites at home, so well try to surprise them.Just like Europe has surprised everyone so far.---Follow Stephen Whyno on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/SWhyno . ' ' '