Germany's schemes seem to impress at Jackson State
A conference championship-winning offensive coordinator being a good strategist isn’t exactly groundbreaking news.
But Jackson State offensive coordinator Chad Germany's schemes were a topic of discussion for some members of the program this week.
“(His offense is) all about numbers, really,” said Tigers running back Robert Johnson IV. “We have this thing: ‘Numbers to a side, go opposite. Numbers in the box, strike up The (Sonic) Boom.’ He’s all about numbers. He wants us to be in the best position to win, and he wants to take advantage of the defense and he knows how to run the offense.”
JSU defensive coordinator John Hendrick is familiar with Germany’s offense. He practices against it every day, but he also coached against it when he was the defensive line coach at Alabama State, while Germany was the offensive coordinator at Southern.
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Earlier this week, Hendrick said Germany forces the Tigers’ defense to communicate better because of all stress he creates with his offense.
He expanded on what it’s like squaring off with Germany, who won a SWAC title as the Jaguars' co-offensive coordinator in 2013, a little later.
“It’s a challenge. He has a great knack of isolating you and getting the matchup he likes to have one-on-one with your guy,” Hendrick said. “He does a great job of that. You have to always be in position to counteract some of the things he does. He’s made us have to make a whole bunch of adjustments.”
Strategy has always been a big emphasis for Germany. Coming up with audibles was one of the things he said he was best with in Madden video games.
Germany also serves as quarterback coach. He feels playing quarterback is 90 percent mental, so he places a large priority on that facet of the game.
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“I had at least three quarterback coaches in my four years there,” former Southern quarterback Dray Joseph told The Clarion-Ledger this summer. “Coach Germany spent the whole time with me doing mental work. I can remember nights being up, after studying, drawing plays and things like that and it actually helped when I got to the practice field and it carried over to the game.
“It was actually fun, because I saw those things a billion times in practice and visualized those things. Coach Germany implemented a great off-the-field work ethic as far as the mental part of the game.”
Contact Antonio Morales at amorales2@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @AntonioCMorales on Twitter.