CLEVELAND, Ohio – Browns center and NFLPA president JC Tretter wrote on Thursday that he believes the 2020 season has shown that the league’s off-season program is not as necessary as previously thought.
Tretter, writing on the NFLPA website, cited new and first-year coaches having success, newbies having success and newly assembled teams having success as reasons why representatives during OTAs and minicamps may not have the importance that some believe they have. The league conducted its off-season program virtually in the spring. The New Orleans Saints, an NFC contender this season, canceled their offseason program completely.
“After experiencing this change, there is no reason to return to the previous off-season program,” wrote Tretter. “We are the only major sports league with an off-season program. The most physically demanding sport is the only league that brings its players back for extra off-season training. “
He pointed out data that indicate a high quality of play, even with limited off-season and training camp and without pre-season games. He also recalled that the CBA in 2011 eliminated the two-day practice, a controversial move at the time, but that he wrote created a better quality of play and a change that he says some former players said could have extended their careers.
Tretter also writes the sloppy move that many feared for less time on the pitch that didn’t happen.
“Sloppy play would normally be evident with low-scoring games, a large number of penalties and more wrong tackles,” he wrote, “all the things that have historically been attributed to insufficient practice time to improve our fundamentals. But we saw the exact opposite this year, with the highest points per game ever, a decrease in the number of penalties and even fewer missed tackles compared to last year.
“We don’t need to be brought in from April to June to practice against each other. It is simply unnecessary. “
Currently, the off-season program starts in April with a start time determined by the fact that a team has a new head coach or a return coach. The first phase consists of conditioning and no fieldwork. The activities of the organized team include 10 practices after the draft and are voluntary. There is also a mandatory mini-field, which most teams hold in June, at the end of the program.
Teams also run programs for newbies, including a mandatory minicamp for newbies during one of the two weekends after recruiting. Tretter did not specifically address the newbies program in his post.
The Browns coaches, as expected, respected Tretter and the work he did as president of the NFLPA, but disagreed with the idea of ending the program out of season.
“As a coach, obviously, we would love to have you in the spring to train you,” said offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt. “Reflecting as a defender and defender coach, this is a valuable time that we lost in the spring of talking about footwork, details, protections and adjustments and everything that comes with the mental aspect.”
Van Pelt remembers taking part in the defenders’ school as a player, a part of the off-season program lost to the 2011 collective bargaining agreement.
“The health and safety of everyone is the most important thing,” said Van Pelt, “but if we could get together, we, as coaches, would love to have them, because there are so many things that we miss by not going through OTAs and seeing the looks and seeing the different problems that arise All of that you put in that memory bank that you use during the season. “
Special teams coordinator Mike Priefer said he expects some changes to the off-season program after experimenting this year, but says he would never like it to be eliminated.
“I think it is extremely important for the development of our young players,” said Priefer, “especially our draft choices, our free college agents and really players who come from other teams to integrate them into our locker room and make them the players get closer to each other. “
Priefer said he understood where Tretter was coming from in his post, but still thinks the program is valuable.
“Part of keeping us all in the spring is the team’s camaraderie, building chemistry in the locker room and understanding and looking your players in the eye and telling them what you expect from them,” he said.
Tretter believes that players can do what needs to be done in the off-season.
“Our players are professionals,” he wrote. “They understand what they need to do to prepare. Many of us train all year to reach physical peak. They also study their manuals to prepare themselves mentally. “
The off-season program is likely to become a key point in future negotiations, especially as the league continues to expand the number of games played, something they have already done by adding an extra playoff team to each conference this season – adding two games Additional Wild Cards – and plan to do more, probably expanding to a regular 17th season game next season.
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