Fitch’s Consistent Message for Vanderbilt Offense
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt’s offense will be moving in a new direction in 2020.
First-year offensive coordinator Todd Fitch joined the Commodores this offseason and is anxious to hit the field running when the team opens spring practice Tuesday. One of his goals over the next five weeks will be to let all the student-athletes who play offensive positions know where they stand.
“We’re going to post that rotation and what it looks like to our guys this spring as unfolds,” Fitch said. “It’s kind of like a stock market, some goes up and some goes down. But we want to set our depth post-spring heading into fall camp and see who has earned a starting spot, who has earned a backup and then go look at a new guy to see if he can go occupy one of those spots.”
Photo Courtesy: Vanderbilt Football
Creating depth will be important for a team with so many positions up for grabs.
Vanderbilt saw wide receivers Kalija Lipscomb and Justice Shelton-Mosley, tight end Jared Pinkney, running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn, quarterback Riley Neal and offensive linemen Devin Cochran and Saige Young, among others, all play their final games for the program in November. Fitch and his offensive staff are charged with finding the personnel to fill those voids.
Running backs Keyon Brooks and Jamauri Wakefield, wide receivers Cam Johnson, Chris Pierce, and James Bostic, offensive linemen Tyler Steen and Grant Miller and tight end Ben Bresnahan are just some of returning playmakers on the offensive side of the ball.
“What we’re trying to do is really find your strengths and identify your weaknesses. Where do our talents lie, so to speak,” Fitch said. “Spring is more about personnel and scheme to me. We’ll do a lot of personnel evaluations. Put guys in situations – who can make a play, who can’t make a play, who can do this, who can do that, whatever it may be.
“As we walk out after the spring as an offensive staff we can sit down and say, ‘You know what? We’re pretty strong in this area, we need to find some help here.’ Maybe an incoming player may have to help create depth. So you highlight your strengths and work on areas you need to improve on.”
Photo Courtesy: Vanderbilt Football
Fitch spent the last four seasons at Louisiana Tech where he and his staff helped create an explosive and high-scoring offense in Conference USA. He explained that part of the reason for his team’s success in 2019 (the Bulldogs ranked 32nd nationally in passing offense and 35th in scoring) was the ability to stay steadfast in communicating the narrative.
Belief, approach, energy, and attitude are all key components of that narrative. Fitch said consistency in those areas will be critical and how much the Commodores buy into that message will determine where they stand going into summer workouts.
“At the end of the day, everybody talks about what sort of offense you run. But it’s about two things – are you going to play physical and play with great fundamentals? And are you going to execute?” Fitch said. “If you do that, you’re going to win anyway. I’ve talked a lot about that to our team the few times I’ve been in front of them.
“Hey we’re no-huddle, we’re spread, that’s great. But we got to play physical, we got to execute and we got to play with great fundamentals. If we don’t, it won’t be a very good offense. You can’t lose that message.”
Note: Release Courtesy Vanderbilt Football
Chad Bishop covers Vanderbilt for VUCommodores.com. Follow him @MrChadBishop.
