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APRIL 2006

Coach Dogg Causes a Scene Overseas! (See"NEWS") More Thoughts on Coaching the Offensive Line! (See"NEWS") My Offensive System My Materials for Sale My Clinics Me     April 28, 2006 - "Nothing is worse than war? Dishonor is worse than war. Slavery is worse than war." Winston Churchill   *********** So. The Oilers will take the full 15 minutes to make their pick. They've had since last December, and they still claim they're not sure if they'll take Reggie Bush. Oh, the suspense. The guys at ESPN will love it.   *********** Speaking of Reggie Bush - if giving a kid's family the use of a $750,000 house in an attempt to get him to sign with an agent is enough to make the kid (Reggie Bush) ineligible, USC could be forced to forfeit several games.   Yee-haw! Oregon wins the Pac-10! Open the champagne!   It reminds me of the time years ago when Oklahoma was forced to forfeit some games, including a lopsided win over Oregon. Oregon's sports information director then was a bit of a wit, and he called Oklahoma asking if they'd mind sending the Ducks the game ball.   Another very interesting possibility... would Mr. Bush have to return the Heisman Trophy?   *********** At least it does appear certain that this year, for only the second time in the last nine years, a quarterback will not be the first player taken.   *********** College football coaches everywhere worry about losing players they've been counting on. Sometimes it's because of personal problems. Sometimes it's academic eligibility. Sometimes a kid finds out he's not going to start, and he transfers out. Sometimes a kid gets into serious trouble with the law.   Gene McIntyre worries about players gaining too much weight. That's because he's head coach of Army's sprint football team.   Sprint Football, little-known outside the East, is tackle football, played with NCAA rules, using smaller players. Once known as 150-pound football, it has made accomodations to the fact that people are bigger than they once were, and now places a limit of 172 pounds on its players.   As in wrestling, there are weigh-ins. As in wrestling, there are ways to determine whether a player can safely lose the weight necessary to play. And as in wrestling, there are those occasions when a player doesn't make weight.   That can be a problem for Gene McIntyre, because young men continue to grow, and that promising freshman, the one who turned into a dynamite sophomore, could very well add another 10 pounds before his junior season.   Sprint football is played by Army, Navy, Cornell, Penn and Princeton. At Army, Coach McIntyre is currently in the process of having to reduce his roster from more than 120 players down to the 65 permitted by the league, a job complicated by the fact that he isn't allowed to have formal spring practice.   The job is also made difficult by the fact that in sprint football, everybody is athletic! As coach McIntyre said when I dropped in on him recently, it seems as if everybody on the team played quarterback in high school!   Which leads to other problems you and I rarely have to deal with. Since few of his men played on the line in high school, he finds himself having to (1) persuade former quarterbacks that if they want to play at all, it is going to have to be on the line, and (2) turn those former quarterbacks into linemen.   For that reason and a few others, he runs the spread wishbone, drawing heavily on the offense run by Jim Young in building some powerhouse Army varsity teams in the 1980s. One advantage of being able to run the 'bone in sprint football, Coach Mcintyre pointed out, is that his centers are quick enough and athletic enough to block the opponent's free safeties!   He isn't able to "recruit" in the usual sense of the word, but he is able to get the names of applicants and incoming cadets who have played football, and in a situation where he gets no linemen, and has no worries about finding enough "skill" people, the one thing he told me he looks for - the thing he prizes above all else - is the guy who can make the long snap!    *********** When Vince Lombardi left West Point (in 1954) he went to the Giants to become their offensive coach, with Tom Landry serving as the defensive coach. Jim Lee Howell, the Giants' head coach, seemed perfectly happy to serve as most present-day NFL head coaches do, as something of a CEO, letting his two chief two assistants (the title of "coordinator" had not yet been coined) run the offense and defense without inteference from him. Thus was created the NFL staff organizational structure that so pervades today's game that even youth coaches taking on their first coaching assignment feel compelled to designate one equally inexperienced assistant as "offensive coordinator" and another as "defensive coordinator."   *********** Hugh: I couldn't resist commenting on your great pictures of West Point, particularly the headstone of Major Fred Terry and his Dad right alongside. Fred Terry was one dynamic soldier and human being. He always had a smile on his face and a good word for everyone. I remember the day he was killed in an aircraft collision with another aircraft(he was commander of the aviation troop of the 1/4 Cavalry, 1st Infantry Division(The Big Red One). He was really a fearless man who was always flying with his men. He was on his third tour in Vietnam. His first tour was with the 1st Special Forces Group, his second with the 101st Airborne Division(Airmobile) and his third tour was with the Big Red One. He was a recipient of the Silver Star, the Bronze Star Medal with Valor device, three Bronze Star Medals for meritorious service,four Distinguished Flying Crosses, 43 Air Medals and two Purple Hearts and the Combat Infantryman's Badge.A great soldier. Black Lions Jim Shelton, Englewood, Florida *********** In the Wildcat package how do you solve the problem of the QB and /or FB being on one side or the other?  I run out of the double slot and would like a gun package.  I also want to be able to run the sweep and trap, etc., but I don't want the FB being on one side as a key.   Unless you have two guys who are equally proficient at running, passing and blocking, you can't avoid it.   *********** Coach - I feel sorry for Coach Doba (Washington State coach who just lost his wife) , seems like a real Football Coach's Coach that has paid his dues NO B***LL SH**t with him, that's to bad. people are aloof and oblivious towards Cancer, including MYSELF then when it hits your family, you get stunned, My Uncle died a few years back because of Melanoma, and my oldest sister has been battling Leukemia for a 1 1/2, luckily for us Dana-Farber in Boston found a Bone-Marrow match and her transplant went good. we still have our fingers crossed ( 6 Kids and No matches ? can you believe that One ? )   Coach another reason I liked Doba is I found out he was a Native of South Bend, I have been out there 5 times and reminds me a lot of a bigger version of my home town Lynn, Mass ( but Flat as a Pancake), a Tired old Industrial Town that has seen better days, and it even has a Slavic section ( Polish / Hungarian ) and some other sections I wouldn't even go in during Day Time LOL !!!, A great Bar in that Polish section is Joe's Tavern ( Where the Fight seen in RUDY was Filmed ) don't let the Neighborhood scare you off if you ever go out there Coach you have to Hit Joes Tavern. Is Doba of Polish Decent ? or another Slavic Tribe Czech, Uke, Russikie, Lith ? another reason to root for the guy LOL !! see ya Friday Coach - John Muckian Lynn , Massachusetts (I am in Providence as I write this, and I have invited John Muckian down for a beer Saturday after my clinic. After years of corresponding with him, I have got to meet this guy! HW)   *********** Hello Hugh... sure hope this spring is being good to you.... how is everything going??.... I have some great news to share with you..... I will be coaching football this fall.... I have been hired as the tight ends/wide reciever coach for Hiram College..... small Division III college in Ohio... southeast of Cleveland and northwest of Youngstown...... our son is going to be a freshman there this fall and is playing football.........he will be snapping for all punts and extra points.................he is being moved to nose tackle.................he stands just short of 6 feet and is weighing right around 230ish....... what a blessing from God.......... I will have about 10 wide outs and 4-5 tightends to work with........... the head coach is a wing guy from Shippensburg College in PA...... he is running an wide open offense..... likes the passing game and one man back with zone blocking....... 3-3-5 stack defense.... once again..... as I was back in the '90's.... I am very excited about coaching football...... now at the college level..........how sweet is that!!..... Stay in touch and GOD BLESS!!... Michael Glodowski, Richmond Heights, Ohio (Welcome back to Mike Glodowski, a good man and a very good coach. Mike hosted one of my first-ever clinics, at his high school in the Cleveland area, where with his Double-Wing he built his school into a Northeastern Ohio power. Eventually, though, he got fed up with administrative meddling and said good-bye. Got out on top. Since then, he's worked as a football assistant and coached track - and his old school hasn't had a winning season since. HW)   *********** Coach Wyatt, I thought I'd pass this along. I 'm not sure how athletes from different parts of the country compare so I'd thought I'd tell you about some of my middle school kids who just finished running track. Our ass't football coach runs our track program for boys and girls and he does a great job. My starting left defensive end who migrated from South Korea two years ago ran a 56.5 400 meters Monday. My other De threw the discuss 126 feet. My C back ran the 100 meters in 11.78 and did the 200 meters under 25 seconds. My starting B back ran the 1600 in 6 minutes flat and he is funny to watch because he is so much bigger than the other kids he runs against. I think that this says we have pretty good athletes playing football. Have a great summer. Dan King, Riverside Middle School, Evans, Georgia   *********** My son, Ed, accused me of going soft - specifically, of going easy on the California Clausen QB Clan, following Jimmy's Clausen's breathtaking announcement last Saturday, in front of the College Football Hall of Fame, that he was committing to Notre Dame, a mere couple of hours before the Irish, by no coincidence, were getting ready to play their spring game nearby.   Hell, if I'd known more of the details, I'd have been all over this obnoxious show...   The news media were properly put on notice by an LA public relations firm that something big - really big - was about to happen. "A major college recruiting announcement will be made this coming Saturday ... at the College Football Hall of Fame" read the news release.   Alerted, the news media were there, TV cameras at the ready, when a white stretch Hummer limo pulled up to the Hall, and out stepped 15 people - a high school junior and his entourage.   Jimmy Clausen stepped up to the mike and told a crowd estimated at 300 that he was committing to Notre Dame, and his goal was "... to get four national championship rings." (He still has his senior year in high school ahead of him. Oh, yes - and Notre Dame does have two freshman quarterbacks coming in this fall who might not be ready to roll over and play dead when Jimmy shows up a year from now.) Gushed CSTV recruiting analyst Tom Lemming, (whose pro-Notre Dame gushings have called into question his objectivity, "This is the biggest announcement in the 25 years I've done this. The message is that Notre Dame is back."   "In terms of hype," wrote a writer from CBS.com, "it was one of the more glorious days in recent Notre Dame history. It also made you want to grab the nearest bottle of Listerine to get the taste out of your mouth."   In terms of spoiled, pampered, brat kids, it was a milestone. Daddy Clausen, who's had Jimmy and another son repeat a grade so that they'd be more mature, will no doubt be moving to South Bend, just as he earlier moved to Knoxville to "observe" Jimmy's older brothers at Tennessee.   Dad's first e-mail to Coach Weis (I'm thinking) might go like this: Well, I've given you the makings of four national titles. Between Jimmy and all those Tom Lemming blue-chippers that you've signed, you don't have to do anything except not screw things ups..   My e-mail to Coach Weis (if I were to send one) would go like this: With all that talent that the so-called experts say you're bringing in, you ought to be a cinch to win 11 games a year. Not to say that expectations are excessively high, but anything less than that, and I have two words for you - FRANK SOLICH.   *********** Here is a random thought on the head coach coaching the OL.   The offensive line is probably the toughest, most detail-oriented area to coach in football. It requires a total commitment and great concentration to coach. The only other area that compares may be the defensive secondary. I felt that I was better able to coach the position as an assistant coach than I was as a head coach, especially early in my head coaching career. The head coach must in "worry" about every position on the field and sometimes gets preoccupied with the overall picture. An assistant that is coaching the line can completely commit all his energies to that group. The head coach or offensive coordinator must attempt to monitor everything during a team segment. The line coach can more effectively supervise the five linemen and their performance and make immediate corrections.   Also the head coach has all the off field concerns to deal with where an assistant has a minimal number of these distractions. This allows an assistant to have more focused planning time for his group. Some of the best line coaches that I have seen build a team within a team in their position groups that a head coach can seldom afford to do.   John Bothe, Oregon, Illinois (Excellent answer. I should mention that Coach Bothe, an All-American lineman on Bob Reade's NCAA champion Augustana teams, is one of this year's nominees for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame. He got my vote. HW)   *********** how come every head coach/offensive coordinator at my clinics talks about how important the line is, but invariably, every one of them coaches the backs and ends?   Hugh, Very good point. I did not respond to this in a hurry as I really wanted to think about this. There is no doubt this is true.   It may be that because the offensive coach calls all the plays from the side lines (nowadays) he may relates that to himself as the one actually playing QB. I also think most coaches like to coach the positions that they have played and have experienced. I feel the same thing applies to the offence and defense. Since most head coaches take the offense, I would like to think that is because the offense requires more finesse and timing. Also because the offensive coach is the one that actually draws out or chooses the plays, and this gives him the felling of being in charge (the head coach).   However we have learned that we are much better coaches and our teams are more competitive since running the "Wyatt Double Wing System". One of the reasons is that it allows us more time to work on our defensive techniques and strategies. Lets face it, if you can't keep the other people off the score board if really doesn't matter what you do.   I have a unique situation having a line (and defensive) coach that has been with me so long (over 30 years). However I spend a lot of time with the line because he cannot get to practice on time everyday (due to his working schedule).   Therefore I lay out a practice schedule for my Backs and Ends coaches to work from, while myself and one of the younger assistants coach the line. This gives him experience and teaches him how we want it done. This also gives me time to teach and go over s   ome of the things that I feel need tuning, and see first hand what the strengths and weakness of the individual players are. When the line coach gets there he finishes up drilling the techniques he feels necessary, and I simply move from group to group to see that everything is coordinating towards the proper end results. When we put it all together and start our scrimmage session, I take the offense and he takes the defense. And yes! we have our knock down, drag-em-out disagreements, but I still have final say. Then we get on with the cameraderie, the love of the game, and the fun.   I think there is a delicate balance, and that all particulars of the game are just as important as the other, and that it takes time and hard work to find the proper, winning combination.   Plus we want to make the big guys feel needed and loved.   Frank Simonsen, Cape May, New Jersey (You are right- you do have a unique setup. I happen to know the line/defensive coach you are referring to - Flash Hughes - and he is the best. Not everybody has the luxury of the kind of assistants you have. But when you do, I think that your organizational setup is one of the things you can evolve into, once you've been running a system as long as you have (thanks for the plug).HW)   *********** Hi Coach, I had a great time at the L.A. Clinic and it was great meeting some of the other DW coaches. I couldn't help but chuckle when you posed the question about why head coaches coach the backs instead of the line if line play is that important.   I really, like Coach Waters, believe that most coaches, youth in particular, have no clue as to what it takes to coach the line. They have no idea about the mentality, the feelings, and the preparation necessary to have these kids execute a play properly. They usually assign a "dad", who just volunteered to help, as a line coach and consequently the linemen spend time hitting bags and doing mundane drills that have nothing to do with what is coming in the game. Lack of knowledge and lack of desire to learn is the culprit.   It might seem like more fun to coach the backs and the "receivers", but only to those that know not what they are talking about. Our kids love to watch game film and want to replay over and over a block in which they pancaked a linebacker or trapped an unsuspecting dlineman. When these kids start to understand line play, and its importance to the team, they look forward to playing the game. On our teams we have a deal. 12 pancake blocks in a game equals breakfast at the International House of Pancakes. These kids really go after it and take pride in their job and all the backs have been coached to thank their linemen for outstanding blocks.   Last year at a scrimmage we ran 3 Trap 2 and our guard absolutely crushed the DT who was waiting for the fullback. The FB, a hair from being crushed himself prior to the trap, came back to the huddle and said "Tanner, thanks for saving my life". Can't tell you what that does for making this sport a TEAM game.   I will NEVER coach the backs except for team drills and walk throughs. And by the way, your FINE LINE tape is all we use to coach the linemen. Best tape I have seen in 8 years of coaching.   Thanks Coach and keep up the good work. Akis Kourtzidis, Chino Hills, CA (Fun for the linemen is what our offense is all about! I think we're one of the few offenses that you can name that doesn't cheat the offensive linemen. The so-called "skilled" kids? They have fun and get to do spectacular things. I always wanted an offense that was fun for the linemen! HW)   *********** I was reading some of the game recaps from some of the "Best Games of 2005" and was wondering what you would do in the following situation.   You are in overtime (college rules except that we start at the 10) and your opponent got the ball first and threw an int.  Do you run on your kicker and kick the FG or start at the 10 and go for the TD?  I know that your level of trust in the kicker would play a role but, what would you do.  We had a great kicker last season but, I think that I would go for the TD and if I had to, kick on 4th.  Am I nuts??!!   Unless my kicker was GREAT, I would go for the TD on two downs. Then I would consider the third-down field goal or maybe even a third-down fake field goal (because if we fail to score or we throw incomplete, we still have another down).   *********** Luckily for Iran, I was unable to smuggle this out of the West Point Museum. It's a bomb casing, the twin brother of the casing which contained - and delivered - the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki after the Japanese seemed not to get the message intended by the one we dropped a few days earlier on Hiroshima. This one was nicknamed "Fat Man" (the first one was "Little Boy"). I probably couldn't have taken it with me on the plane anyhow - it weighed some 8,000 pounds   *********** Snoop Dogg has acted inappropriately. And overseas, at that? Oh, dear. Who could have seen that coming?   And what will people in Europe think of us Americans as a result?   Dogg, renowned youth football coach, was arrested along with five members of his 30-member entourage by London police following a fracas in Heathrow Airport that left one police officer with a broken hand and others with assorted cuts and bruises.   According to reports, Coach Dogg and his troupe were refused admittance to the British Airways first class lounge (much to the great relief of those already in the lounge, I would think), whereupon they took their act to a duty-free shop where they are alleged to have thrown bottles of whisky and argued with staff.   Police were called, and at some point, when Coach Dogg's party was informed they would not be permitted to board their flight (to Johannesburg), and were being herded by police toward the baggage claim area, number of them "became abusive and pushed officers."   Coach Dogg and five associates were arrested on charges of "violent disorder and affray" and were taken to two west London police stations.   *********** Regarding Coach Dogg's latest episode, Kirk Umphress of Mission Viejo, California writes...   Coach Wyatt, Another example of fine role model behavior from the celebrated Southern California youth football coach(?). I guess I should be glad we did not make too big a stink when his entourage bum rushed a youth football superbowl a few years back.   *********** It's a good thing the Steelers won the Super Bowl, because otherwise this is not a good time to be a western Pennsylvanian.   First it was Iron City.   Could Rolling Rock be next?   A few months back, Iron City Beer, for years an integral part of the Pittsburgh scene, announced it would bite the dust. (Iron City was also an integral part of my social development - many's the quart of Iron City my buddies and I downed. Clear on the other side of the state, in Philadelphia, Iron City was not particularly well thought-of, but when you are very young and you can buy three quarts of Iron City for 99 cents, how bad can any beer be?)   Iron City came out with commemorative cans, including one with a team photo of the Super Bowl Steelers (1970s versions) and another of the Pirates' Bill Mazeroski crossing home plate to win the 1960 World Series. (True to its Pittsburgh heritage, Iron City was one of the last holdouts to use steel cans.)   Every Christmas, Iron City also gave western Pennsylvanians Olde Frothingslosh, "the beer with the head on the bottom. That's a story in itself, a memory all Pittsburghers know and cherish.   Now comes word that Rolling Rock Beer could be the next to go. The brewery may be put up for sale. That's bad news, because in a business that has long suffered from overcapacity, who in the world needs a used brewery?   Oh, the brand will probably survive, just like dozens of other products of defunct brewers have - the Schaefers, and Schmidts, and National Bohemians and Strohs. Somebody will buy the brand - some contract brewer someplace else in the country that couldn't care less what label is on the cans it happens to be filling with its swill.   But it won't be real Rolling Rock. Not if it isn't made in Latrobe. Rolling Rock has been brewed in Latrobe, Pennsylvania since 1939, and it's been known to generations of thirsty Pennsylvanians for its green bottles. Seven-ounce green bottles (the perfect chaser for a shot of whiskey in shot-and-a-beer places). Little "pony" bottles with the labels painted on.   Latrobe, a former steel town like so many others in western Pennsylvania, claims to be the place where the banana split was invented. And it takes great pride in being the home of Arnold Palmer and Mister Rogers.   Latrobe also takes pride in being the home of Rolling Rock. But for the last few years, Rolling Rock Brewery has been owned by an international giant, InBev, whose headquarters were first Belgium and now Brazil. When ownership is that far away, ownership tends to lose interest in anything other than the bottom line. Nothing else matters. Not the brand, not the brewery, not the workers, and not the town. Not the drinkers, either.   As my friend Tom Hinger, a native of Latrobe said when he passed along the bad news, "Say it ain't so, Joe!"   *********** A busload of gay-rights activists calling themselves the Soulforce Equality Riders planned on wrapping up a cross-country tour this Wednesday with a visit to the US Military Academy at West Point, the last stop on their tour of 20 Christian and military colleges.   Soulforce opposes college admissions policies that exclude lesbian and gay students, calling such policies discriminatory and "hurtful" to students forced to deny their sexual orientation.   The policy for the U.S. miltary as well as its service academies, was set by Congress and signed by President Clinton. Dubbed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", it allows gays and lesbians to serve in the armed forces provided they abstain from homosexual activity and do not disclose their sexual orientation.   Members have been arrested at five campuses; ten were handcuffed and charged with disorderly conduct at the US Air Force Academy on April 14. Military police had to be called when the protesters took out signs and used a loudspeaker.   At the start of their seven-week tour, 24 of them were charged with trespassing at Rev. Jerry Falwell's Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Along the way, six members were charged with trespassing when they tried to step onto the campus at Rev. Pat Robertson's Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va. Six were charged at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and 24 were charged at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.   Soulforce spokesman Richard Lindsay said the group declined to agree to West Point's restrictions against handing out literature, carrying signs or making formal presentations. "We mainly just want to discuss the policy with cadets," he said.   Good luck.   Lt. Col. Kent Cassella, West Point spokesman, said visitors can enter West Point grounds for scheduled appointments or business, and the academy also has a contracted tour bus service for visitors.   "But Soulforce had made it clear that they weren't coming here as tourists," he said. "They've already made it clear that their purpose is to protest," "In accordance with federal law, it's unlawful for them to engage in demonstrations or picketing or protest at the U.S. Military Academy."   "From our position freedom to express personal opinion is one of the hallmarks of our democracy," LTC Cassella said. "But federal law has long recognized ... that military installations are not public forums so in order for military installations to carry out their missions they have to remain politically neutral and therefore can't serve as forums for political debate or expression."     BUFFALO CLINIC DATE & LOCATION SET - The Buffalo clinic will be held Saturday, June 3 at the Holiday Inn Buffalo International Airport, 4600 Genesee St in Cheektowaga (716-634-6969) PACIFIC NORTHWEST CLINIC DATE & LOCATION SET - The Pacific Northwest clinic will be held Saturday, June 10 at the Phoenix Inn & Suites, 12712 SE 2nd Circle, Vancouver, Washington (360-891-9777) - For those driving, it is located about 1/2 mile East of I-205 (Mill Plain Blvd East exit) , and there is shuttle service from Portland International Airport, about 10 minutes away   2006 DOUBLE-WING CLINIC SCHEDULE - AS OF 4-1-06 (2006 CLINICS) CLINICS START AT 9 AM SHARP AND GO UNTIL 4 PM WITH A 1-HOUR BREAK FOR LUNCH CLINIC LOCATION FEB 25 ATLANTA HOLIDAY INN AIRPORT NORTH - 1380 Virginia Ave - 404-762-8411 MARCH 11 LOS ANGELES HOLIDAY INN-MEDIA CENTER -150 E. Angeleno, Burbank - 818-841-4770 MARCH 18 CHICAGO ST. XAVIER UNIVERSITY - 3700 West 103rd St., Chicago APRIL 8 RALEIGH-DURHAM MILLENNIUM HOTEL - 2800 Campus Walk Ave - Durham - 919-383-8575 APRIL 15 PHILADELPHIA HOLIDAY INN, 432 Pennsylvania Ave, Fort Washington, PA. - 215-643-3000 APRIL 29 PROVIDENCE COMFORT INN AIRPORT - 1940 POST RD, WARWICK RI - 401-732-0470 MAY 6 DENVER WESTMINSTER HS - Westminster, CO (Further details to come) MAY 13 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS - LATHROP, CA. JUNE 3 BUFFALO HOLIDAY INN BUFFALO AIRPORT- 4600 Genesee St, Cheektowaga NY - 716-634-6969 JUNE 10 PACIFIC NORTHWEST PHOENIX INN & SUITES - 12712 SE 2ND Circle, Vancouver WA - 360-891-9777 NEXT CLINIC - PROVIDENCE - SAT APRIL 29 - COMFORT INN AIRPORT - 1940 POST ROAD, WARWICK, RI (NEXT TO THE PROVIDENCE AIRPORT)     Attendees will receive a complimentary DVD breaking down, play-by-play, the Full-House Belly-T offense of the powerful 1953-1954 Army teams, coached by Earl "Red" Blaik, with Vince Lombardi as his offensive assistant. On the video you will see action clips of Army greats, including the immortal Don Holleder, whose memory is honored by the Black Lion Award. This DVD is not for sale. It is provided by the Board of the Black Lion Award in the interests of furthering football and the Black Lion Award itself.     Osama shows that he will stop at nothing in his plot to weaken America... BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Army's Will Sullivan wore his Black Lion patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners

A Visit to a Hallowed Place! (See"NEWS") Durham's Two Football Coaches Stand Up For Their Community! (See"NEWS") My Offensive System My Materials for Sale My Clinics Me     April 25, 2006 - "It's better to be a pirate than to join the navy." Steve Jobs   *********** Whenever I am back East, I try to find a way to visit West Point, home of the US Military Academy. It is only about 45 miles north of New York City, but it really is a world apart. Its setting, on a high plain overlooking the Hudson River where it makes a sharp zig-zag turn made it an important part of the American strategy during the Revolutionary War, and it was by selling to the British the details of the American fortifications here that American hero Benedict Arnold hoped to become wealthy. It is no longer of great strategic importance, but it remains every bit as important to America as a place where many of our military leaders are trained. it is a place of great natural beauty whose very location symbolizes strength.   We spent a considerable amount of time in the West Point Museum, which houses a fantastic collection of memorabilia, uniforms, flags and weapons, in illustrating the history of warfare, of weapons, of the US Army.   I also try, on every visit, to stop by the post cemetery, where are buried West Point graduates famous and unknown. As many times as I have visited, I never fail to learn something new, never fail to see something absolutely amazing. (You may note the stones placed atop some headstones; it is customary for visitors to a grave to mark their visit by leaving a stone. In these photos, if you see only one, you know who left it there.)   One thing is for sure - a visit to the West Point cemetery is a lesson in the history of sacrifices people have made for the sake of our country...   Look in one direction from the cemetery, and there's Storm King Mountain... Look in another, and there's the majestic Hudson Valley There's the grave of Col. Red Reeder, Army coach and WW II hero, appropriately marked with a red stone. Vince Lombardi said he learned a lot of what he knew about leadership from Red Reeder. There's the famed "Mister Outside," Heisman Trophy winner Glenn Davis, with the football-shaped stone of his coach, Earl "Red" Blaik, in the background And there's the fresh grave of Maggie Dixon, Army women's basketball coach who passed away unexpectedly and, like so many others buried here, much too young The grave of Gen. Garrison Davidson, West Point football player, head coach and superintendent, and World War II hero - buried here along with his wife - "His Best Teammate" The Bryans - former Academy Superintendent Gen Blackshear Bryan, and his son, Major Blackshear Bryan, Jr., killed in action in 1967 in Vietnam. Gen. Bryan was the Supe during the Holleder years at Army, 1954-1956 Major General Edward White is buried with his wife, and mention is made on their stone of the loss of their son, James Blair White, declared Missing in Action in Vietnam, 1969... ...next to Gen. and Mrs. White's grave is that of another son who died before they did. Astronaut Colonel Edward "Ed" White II, first American to walk in space, died in 1967 in a fire aboard the Apollo Spacecraft at Cape Kennedy, Florida The Terrys, father and son - Lt. Col Frederick Terry, killed in action on Saipan in 1944, just days after his son and namesake's seventh birthday; and next to him that same son, Major Frederick Terry, Jr., killed in action in Vietnam, 21 years later When Anna Warner's father lost most of his fortune the family was forced to move to their summer home on Constitution Island in the Hudson River near West Point. Anna and her sister Susan began writing to try to earn money, and they conducted Bible classes for cadets at the nearby Military Academy. In her memory the Constitution Island Association manages the Warner family's island property as an historic site. For many years, Susan and Anna were the only civilians buried in the West Point cemetery.   *********** (LEFT) You think you're suffering? This was shot just outside West Point last Friday - (note the "Favre's Auto Body" sign.)     *********** From Saturday's NEWS ---- It has become something of a routine the last several years that I start out the day of my Philadelphia clinic having breakfast with Jason Clarke, from Millersville, Maryland , and then having a "debriefing" session over a cold Yuengling with Chris Galloway, from Elverson, Pennsylvania. This time, Chris asked me one that I didn't have an answer for: how come every head coach/offensive coordinator at my clinics talks about how important the line is, but invariably, every one of them coaches the backs and ends?   Coach Wyatt, I think I have an answer to your question, and it's probably one that won't be too popular. I think, although they don't want to admit it, the reason too many head coach/offensive coordinators don't coach the line is because of their egos. Heck, the lineman don't get any credit. They don't get their names in the newspaper. When they interview the quarterback after the game the head coach wants to have his star QB mention his name, not the name of some assistant. Many, I'd even say most, offensive coordinators/Head Coaches were QB / backs during their playing days and don't understand real line play. I too think the line is absolutely the most important unit on the field. Although I was a lineman myself, back in the glory days, I didn't have that opinion until a mentor coach who I coached under taught me. Ironically enough, he was a quarterback as a player but a line coach. He taught me that the head coach/offensive coordinator MUST coach the lineman. That is where he can have the most positive impact on the outcome of the offensive side of the football game. I have always been a line coach and continue to do so after I became a head coach 6 years ago. I also insist that my freshman and JV offensive coordinators coach the line. I try to have a competent, intelligent, trustworthy guy coach the backs and figure that I'll get enough influence on them during team time at practice.   The only other idea I can think of to explain the phenomenon is just like how many guys talk about "making special teams special" and "special teams are the most important 1/3 of the plays in a game" but you can clearly see by the way their team executes, or doesn't execute, their special teams that they are just giving it lip service.   That's my story and I'm sticking too it.   Mike Waters, La Joya High School, Avondale, Arizona (It's a plausible theory. I propose that another reason is that it's simply more fun, and a lot less drudgery, to work with the kids who handle the ball, who run with it and (occasionally) throw it and catch it. Right on with the statement about special teams. I don't pay the usual "1/3 of the game" lip service to special teams because I don't think of them that way. I think that we have the power to reduce the importance of special teams relative to offense and defense (by such tactics as punting out of bounds or squib-kicking, for instance). We can't do the same with offense or defense. HW)   *********** Gimme a break... A national publication recently quoted a female Duke student as saying that keeping up with her schoolwork was made more difficult by having to look over her shoulder, wondering if those white guys were members of the lacrosse team.   *********** While the Mainstream Media beat Duke around, while certain Duke feminists brand all lacrosse players as rapists and certain Duke faculty members come out from under their rocks to attack all intercollegiate athletes, while certain students at North Carolina Central claim that the Duke rape case shows that the law isn't applied evenly to blacks and whites and certain "civil rights leaders" try to leverage the events to their advantage...   the football coaches at Durham, North Carolina's two schools are setting an example for everyone in the community. Duke head coach Ted Roof and NCCU head coach Rod Broadway have joined to promote an appearance by former Syracuse All-America and Baltimore Colts' All-Pro Joe Ehrmann on Duke's campus on May 3. Ehrmann, one of the meanest, toughest NFL defensive tackles you could ever imagine, has spent his post-NFL life in service to others, as a pastor and a volunteer high school football coach.   *********** "Before You Go" is a song offered as an expression of heartfelt gratitude to those who fought and won the Second World War - for their bravery, gallantry and sacrifices that assure the continued enjoyment of freedoms unprecedented in the history of mankind. I warn you - it is very moving - http://www.managedmusic.com/viewopen.htm   *********** From today - "(Coach- I become more and more aware every day of how little the public really knows about our service academies, and so I am grateful for any young man who might become interested in one as a result of the Black Lion Award. HW)"   Coach &endash; just thought you might like to know that Austin is returning to Annapolis for another 3 weeks this summer…seems he's really interested in attending the USNA. I really do think it all started with the Black Lion award, actually. Then winning that award at the Navy SEAL camp last season just primed the pump.   Anyway, I recently TIVO'd a show on the MILT channel called "Inside America's Military Academy's" It's a great look at West Point (USA), Annapolis(USN), Colorado Springs(USAF) and even the Coast Guard Academy. It focuses on the first year, including the application process and what they are looking for in Academy candidates. Austin really enjoyed it, as did I. I'm sure it will come on again, so fire up the TIVO and take a look.   Scott Barnes, Rockwall, Texas   *********** National Championship Me Arse, PART II - Florida won the NCAA basketball tournament, but they couldn't even beat the NIT champ. South Carolina, which didn't even qualify for the NCAA tournament, settled instead for the NIT, and won it.   South Carolina, champion of the far less-prestigious NIT, beat NCAA champ Florida in the regular season. Twice.   *********** Ron Johnson, former Michigan All-American, top draft choice of the Cleveland Browns and NFL MVP with the New York Giants, has been named of chairman of the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame. He is only the fifth chairman of the NFF in its 59 years of existence, and the first African-American to head it up. Mr. Johnson was himself inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1992.   An academic All-American, while still an NFL player Mr. Johnson began a career as a real estate executive and entrepreneur. In 1983, he founded the Rackson Corporation, which operates 24 KFC franchises in New Jersey, Tennessee, and Michigan.   *********** While waving good-bye to the New Year's Day bowl games...   The BCS people would like the "national championship" game to take place this year ONE WHOLE WEEK after the other so-called major bowl games. In fact, it would be considered an entirely new game - ANOTHER GAME WHOSE NAME THEY CAN SELL TO A SPONSOR!!!!!! - and will require NCAA approval.   It will allow all the so-called major bowls to take place somewhere on or around New Year's Day (provided that doing so does not greatly inconvenience the NFL and its sponsors), with one of them - this year the Fiesta Bowl - hosting the Big Guy a week later.   It also - very clever - puts in place the logistics of a "Plus One" (guess they can't get "And 1" to sponsor it) playoff, matching two teams selected after the conclusion of the regular bowl games.   This new bowl game requires the approval of the NCAA, along with three others - the Birmingham Bowl, the New Mexico Bowl, and the International Bowl (to be played in Toronto, noted hotbed of college football interest).   *********** The Navy football team will visit President Bush at the White House on Tuesday to be honored for winning their third straight Commander-In-Chief's trophy, which goes every year to the winner of the Army-Navy-Air Force series.   *********** Florida Gators will celebrate its 100th year of playing football with several promotions, including wearing "throwback" jerseys in at least one game.   *********** Is nothing sacred? Ohio State has evidently submitted to a Nike "Queer Eye For the Straight Guy"-type redo which has resulted in the elimination of gray from the sleeve-striping on the Buckeyes' jerseys. With minor alterations over the years, gray - one of Ohio State's colors, Nike designers might be interested in knowing - has been on the Buckeyes' sleeves since at least World War II.   Next: I can just picture some guy with a shaved head and pierced eyebrow asking his design associates at Nike why LSU insists on wearing those gaudy stripes on their shoulders, and what kind of a statement Michigan is trying to make with those silly stripes on their helmets.   *********** Judy Doba, wife of Washington State head coach Bill Doba, lost a four-year battle with cancer Friday. She was a native of South Bend, Indian, and met Bill Doba when they were both freshmen at Ball State. They were on graduation day, June 9, 1962. Mrs. Doba spent her married life as the wife of a football coach, and in addition to her husband is survived by a son and two daughters and six grand-children, My prayers go to Coach Doba, a genuinely good man, in his time of great loss.   *********** Randy Moss, who finally settled in at home-state Marshall after failing to, uh, measure up to behavioral expectations first at Notre Dame then at Florida State, announced plans to endow a scholarship at Marshall. I am almost afraid to ask what the criteria might be. *********** Jimmy Clausen, latest in the line of the much-hyped California Clausen QB Clan, announced his commitment to Notre Dame this past Saturday. Can't say the kid doesn't like the spotlight - he made his announcement at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, a few hours prior to Notre Dame's annual spring game. Bear in mind that his "commitment" is non-binding, and he still has a high school season to play. I won't say that things have gotten out of hand - not until NBC, the Notre Dame Network, drops whatever else it is doing at the time and starts to televise this nonsense. Expect it.   *********** Nebraska's spring football game drew 57,000 people. Meantime, "Pro" soccer in the US struggles to draw crowds of 20,000 people, and many of them are foreign nationals. They might consider making the ball a little more pointed, running with it or throwing it, instead of kicking it.   *********** I need your advice.  I have been asked to take over the JV football team.  Currently I coach the Middle school team.  I have been assured that the JV will be separate from the varsity, and that I will be allowed to run the DW.  The varsity runs the veer, and spread offense.  I trust what the varsity coach has told me, but I have some reservations.  I am concerned about the middle school and youth programs.  I have developed a good relationship with the youth teams.  They run some of the DW, and participate in the middle schools summer camp.  If I leave, I'm not sure who will be the middle school coach, and the person I want to take it over I want to take with me to the jv.  There are others who can do the job, but they will not run the DW.  What do you think I should do?   Not that this is anything along the lines of making a suggestion, and maybe you didn't notice this yourself, but in your e-mail you gave me lots of good reasons for staying at the middle school, and not a single one for accepting the JV position.   I would just add that you have only the head coach's word that you can run your offense at the HS. Not that there is any reason to believe he isn't a man of his word, but people being people, my guess is that it wouldn't be long before you were asked to at least "tweak it a little."   If what you're looking for is a chance to become a HS head coach some day, I'm not so sure that you aren't better positioned as a head coach of a successful middle school program than as an assistant coach in a mediocre high school program. (You didn't say how the varsity does, but if they are trying to run both the veer and the spread, I have my suspicions.)   *********** Ryan White of the Portland Oregonian, commenting on the near-insane preoccupation with the NFL draft as the Big Day approaches, notes, "The draft is like Christmas; every year the decorations go up a little earlier."   He also goes on to point out the idiocy of the draft - a team that has had the first draft choice - and known it - since the end of last season will still take the full 15 minutes allowed it to make its selection:   "Houston, which picks first, has had since the end of the regular season to figure out whom it will choose. The Texans, however, will wait while the ESPN crew breaks down the team's strengths and weaknesses and shows highlights of each of the 68 times David Carr was sacked last season.   "And then, the Texans will select USC running back Reggie Bush.   "That will be 14 minutes, 53 seconds of nothing and seven seconds of commissioner Paul Tagliabue saying, 'With the first pick in the 2006 NFL draft, the Houston Texans select Reggie Bush from the University of California.'"   BUFFALO CLINIC DATE & LOCATION SET - The Buffalo clinic will be held Saturday, June 3 at the Holiday Inn Buffalo International Airport, 4600 Genesee St in Cheektowaga (716-634-6969) PACIFIC NORTHWEST CLINIC DATE & LOCATION SET - The Pacific Northwest clinic will be held Saturday, June 10 at the Phoenix Inn & Suites, 12712 SE 2nd Circle, Vancouver, Washington (360-891-9777) - For those driving, it is located about 1/2 mile East of I-205 (Mill Plain Blvd East exit) , and there is shuttle service from Portland International Airport, about 10 minutes away   2006 DOUBLE-WING CLINIC SCHEDULE - AS OF 4-1-06 (2006 CLINICS) CLINICS START AT 9 AM SHARP AND GO UNTIL 4 PM WITH A 1-HOUR BREAK FOR LUNCH CLINIC LOCATION FEB 25 ATLANTA HOLIDAY INN AIRPORT NORTH - 1380 Virginia Ave - 404-762-8411 MARCH 11 LOS ANGELES HOLIDAY INN-MEDIA CENTER -150 E. Angeleno, Burbank - 818-841-4770 MARCH 18 CHICAGO ST. XAVIER UNIVERSITY - 3700 West 103rd St., Chicago APRIL 8 RALEIGH-DURHAM MILLENNIUM HOTEL - 2800 Campus Walk Ave - Durham - 919-383-8575 APRIL 15 PHILADELPHIA HOLIDAY INN, 432 Pennsylvania Ave, Fort Washington, PA. - 215-643-3000 APRIL 29 PROVIDENCE COMFORT INN AIRPORT - 1940 POST RD, WARWICK RI - 401-732-0470 MAY 6 DENVER WESTMINSTER HS - Westminster, CO (Further details to come) MAY 13 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS - LATHROP, CA. JUNE 3 BUFFALO HOLIDAY INN BUFFALO AIRPORT- 4600 Genesee St, Cheektowaga NY - 716-634-6969 JUNE 10 PACIFIC NORTHWEST PHOENIX INN & SUITES - 12712 SE 2ND Circle, Vancouver WA - 360-891-9777 NEXT CLINIC - PROVIDENCE - SAT APRIL 29 - COMFORT INN AIRPORT - 1940 POST ROAD, WARWICK, RI (NEXT TO THE PROVIDENCE AIRPORT)     Attendees will receive a complimentary DVD breaking down, play-by-play, the Full-House Belly-T offense of the powerful 1953-1954 Army teams, coached by Earl "Red" Blaik, with Vince Lombardi as his offensive assistant. On the video you will see action clips of Army greats, including the immortal Don Holleder, whose memory is honored by the Black Lion Award. This DVD is not for sale. It is provided by the Board of the Black Lion Award in the interests of furthering football and the Black Lion Award itself.     Osama shows that he will stop at nothing in his plot to weaken America... BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Army's Will Sullivan wore his Black Lion patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners

Penn State Prescribes Torture For its Womens Basketball Coach! (See"NEWS") A Guy is in Our Country - and He Doesn't Know Who Brett Favre is! (See"NEWS") My Offensive System My Materials for Sale My Clinics Me     April 22, 2006 - "Weapons change, but man, who uses them, changes not at all." General George S. Patton, Jr.   SEEN AT THE PHILADELPHIA CLINIC... *********** In the photo at bottom right, a panel of long-time Doouble-Wing coaches answered questions from other coaches in attendance. Fom left, the coaches are Jason Clarke, championship youth coach from Millersville, Maryland; Bryan Mackell, offensive coordinator at Arhcbishop Curley HS, Baltimore; Gordon Leib, head coach at James Madison HS, Vienna, Virginia; Floyd "Flash" Hughes and Frank Simsonsen, championship youth coaches from Cape May, New Jersey *********** It has become something of a routine the last several years that I start out the day of my Philadelphia clinic having breakfast with Jason Clarke, from Millersville, Maryland , and then having a "debriefing" session over a cold Yuengling with Chris Galloway, from Elverson, Pennsylvania. This time, Chris asked me one that I didn't have an answer for: how come every head coach/offensive coordinator at my clinics talks about how important the line is, but invariably, every one of them coaches the backs and ends?   *********** Following the Philadelphia clinic, my wife and I spent a couple of days at one of my favorite places on earth - West Point, New York.   Adding to the attraction was the chance to catch two spring practice sessions.   We couldn't stay for Saturday's Black-Gold intrasquad game, but we did stay through Thursday's final regular practice, when Coach Ross presents the spring practice awards that he has made an integral part of the Army program.   First he presented "Most Improved" awards to four players - safety Jordan Murray, cornerback Sean Grevious, quarterback David Pevoto and punter Owen Tolson.   Then he announced this year's winners of the "Sledgehammer" Award, which he instituted his first spring at West Point to recognize the player or players demonstrating the greatest mental and physical toughness during spring practice.   This year's winners - offensive lineman Matt Weisner from East Fishkill, New York and safety Caleb Campbell, from Perryton, Texas - each received a full-size sledgehammer with a gilded head. In addition, their names will be engraved on a permanent plaque stating that they "STRAPPED IT ON, CAME TO PLAY, AND WIELDED STEEL."   Every bit as impressive to me was the presenting of tee-shirts bearing the slogan, "EVERY PLAY, EVERY DAY." Because there are no athletic scholarships at service academies - every person at West Point is on scholarship - there are no restrictions on numbers, so Coach Ross has worked hard to get equipment and locker rooms space for all the men who are capable of playing football at Army.   This spring there were 151 men in uniform - quite a sight to see, and quite a challenge to coaches to keep things moving - and Coach Ross presented the "EVERY PLAY, EVERY DAY." tee-shirts to 122 of them who did not miss a single play or drill for any reason through the entire 14-session spring practice schedule.   122 out of 151 struck me as a rather amazing number.   "It's phenomenal," Coach Ross said, "because we're out here hitting every day, and the hitting has been very intense. For that many guys to come out here and be part of every play is a very positive thing for us."   *********** Coach, what are your thoughts on having youth kids pulling on the line? We practice 2 days a weeks for 2hours each day. Do you think maybe a few plays with pulling lineman, start out with just a few plays until they grasp it? Since you are a high school coach and have plenty of coaching experience do you find many kids coming up from youth football with experience in pulling and trapping experience or do they normally experience it first in high school(9th grade JV and varsity) . In your area does your youth programs, pop warner, do you see pulling lineman a lot or sparingly. Just want your thoughts.   If you are NOT pulling, you are NOT running the Double-Wing. You are merely using a formation and running plays.   The use of your linemen and the blocking schemes they employ is what sets this apart from other offenses.   I may be a high school coach, but if you have been a regular reader of my NEWS page, you know that I have worked with several hundred youth programs around the country over the past ten years, and I have yet to run into a coach who couldn't teach his kids to pull.   It's not a question of whether the kids come to me knowing how to pull - the point is that knowing how to pull helps those kids to be successful at the youth level. And that's all that matters.   *********** Galva-Holstein would like to schedule Coach Bass's team week one for the next 2 years. We could use an early season win! Brad Knight, Galva-Holstein HS, Holstein, Iowa   *********** Online humor sent to me by Jeff Murdock, in Ware Shoals, SC -   After numerous rounds of "We don't know if Osama is still alive", Osama himself decided to send Ted Kennedy a personal letter in his own handwriting to let him know he was still in the game.   Kennedy opened the letter. It contained a single line of code:   370HSSV-0773H   Kennedy was befuddled, so he handed it to John Kerry, but not even the brilliant Kerry or his aides had a clue, so they called in the FBI. But to one there could solve it, so it went to the CIA, then on to the NSA.   When all those failed, the FBI finally asked British MI-6 code-busters for help, and within a minute MI-6 cabled back this reply:   "Tell Ted Kennedy that he is holding the message upside down."   *********** You thought the so-called Duke Rape Scandal had everything, didn't you? It had sex, alchohol, race, violence, social class.   Now, though, there's more - it's also an educational and religious issue.   You didn't have to be a genius to see a couple of other directions this story was headed, when you read the Associated Press' wrapup of its story about the two indicted Duke lacrosse players:   "Both players are products of wealthy New York City suburbs and all-male Roman Catholic prep schools."   Wow. Wealthy and suburban is bad enough. But all-male schools, and Roman Catholic, at that. Why, with a combination like that, those boys didn't have a chance of turning out right, did they?   Forget the tens of thousands of young men who every year graduate from such schools with solid educations and go on to become useful, productive citizens and good family men (including someday, we can hope, the young men charged with the crime). There are plenty of nuts out there, anti-male or anti-Roman Catholic or both, who delight at the prospect of making some connection between the education those young men received, and the crime that they may (or may not) have committed.   Next thing you know, reporters will do some really serious digging and find out that the kids' parents are registered Republicans, too. Ohmigod. It's Bush's fault.   *********** You may remember that no sooner was Kobe Bryant, ultra-celebrity, charged with rape than attacks began on his accuser. She was vilified and savaged, no stone in her background left unturned. If she wasn't raped by Kobe, she was surely raped by the news media.   By contrast, some college kids in North Carolina are charged by a woman who we are told has been supporting her kids and paying her college tuition in one of the lowliest of manners - as a "stripper" (yeah, stripper - although she was supposedly working for an "escort service," which I'm sure the defense will point out is a euphemism for whore-to-door delivery. Yet we are no supposed to judge her by her way of "making a living," as if she has been working for Catholic Charities or Habitat for Humanity. Have we become that brainwashed by a Julia Roberts fantasy movie about a whore who becomes Cinderella?   *********** "I'm sure Bush has something to do with it." So said a guy responding to a Philadelphia Inquirer man-in-the-street opinion survey about the high price of gasoline. The poor guy said he has been economizing by driving his wife's Ford Escort instead of his Jeep Cherokee.   *********** While softies have been out worrying about Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib, they totally missed the torture of Rene Portland.   Portland, Penn State women's basketball coach has been on the hot seat for a while after a former player claimed Coach Portland suggested she try to dress and act a little more "feminine," the implication being that she thought the player might be a lesbian. The player, who claims she is not, nonetheless filed a complaint with the school, which launched an investigation which just concluded that the coach was in violation of the school's anti-discrimination policy.   She will get to keep her job, but with the condition that any further violation of the policy will result in her dismissal.   She has also been fined $10,000 by the university.   AND she has been ordered to take "professional development" classes "devoted to diversity and inclusion."   Now that is as close to torture as you can get in America.   I dream of a Guanatanamo Bay where our interrogators have real tools to work with...   NO! NOT DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION CLASSES!!! COOULDN'T YOU JUST DOUBLE THE FINE??? OKAY, OKAY - MAKE IT $30,000!!! $50,000???? BUT, PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD - NOT D & I!!! I'LL TELL YOU ANYTHING YOU WANT TO KNOW!!! AIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!   *********** There once was a time when we had such a thing as an American culture, one in which everyone participated or, in the case of newcomers, aspired to participate. Back in the latter stages of World War II, when English-speaking Germans wearing captured American uniforms tried to slip behind our lines, one sure-fire way of exposing them was to ask them a sports question that every red-blooded American male - but no Nazi dog - would know the answer to. Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik recalled that American MP's had success exposing infiltrators by asking them, "Who won the Notre Dame game?" (Every Army man knew the answer: Army, by a score of 59-0, the Cadets' first win over Notre Dame in years.)   What would we ask nowadays?   One sure-fire question I could think of would be "Who's the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers."   A real American would say, "Brett Favre." All others would be taken out and shot.   In the small town of Fort Montgomery, New York, not far from West Point, there's a business establishment named "Favre's Auto Body," right behind a service station/convenience store. I'D driven by it dozens of times in the past, wondering if there was any kinship, and this past visit I was determined to find out.   It was early morning, and nothing was stirring in the body shopyet , but the convenience store was open and I parked and went in.   I asked the clerk if they pronounced the name "Farve." the same way as the quarterback.   I might as well have said, "Omnia Gallie est divisa in tres partes..."   The guy stared at me blankly.   "THE AUTO BODY SHOP," I said, enunciating clearly. "THE ONE OUT BACK. DO THEY PRONOUNCE THEIR NAME 'FARVE?' YOU KNOW - THE SAME AS THE PACKERS' QB?"   Now he really appeared to panic. A question like this was above his pay grade. He turned to a guy in the back room and said something to him - in Spanish. And the guy in the back room looked out at me quizzically and shrugged his shoulders.   America in the Twenty-First Century.   Memo to our hard-working Congressmen, intent on immigration reform:   Not only should everyone have to speak English within six months of coming to America, but they should be required to renounce soccer, and take a crash-course on American sports. (Come to think of it, that wouldn't be a bad idea for a lot of so-called Americans.)   *********** Not suggesting that you might want to keep an eye on Rutgers this coming season, but coach Greg Schiano told the Newark Star-Ledger that his main concerns after spring ball are that he doesn't have a backup center or a backup long snapper.   *********** Whew. I'm glad he wrote it, because I never could. ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, who writes a column in the Philadelphia Inquirer, can be as opinionated in print as he is on TV. In a column this past week he really took the wood to The Reverend Jesse Jackson, who anybody in the free world could have guessed would eventually surface in Durham, North Carolina to lend his expertise to the Student Stripper Scandal (known to the mass media as the Duke LaCrosse Scandal).   *********** I can remember when $20 would buy my wife and me a good meal at a nice restaurant.   What will $20 get you now?   How about admission to the New York Giants' Draft Day Party?   According to the big ad in the Newark Star-Ledges, here's what you get...   (1) Watch ESPN First Round Draft Coverage   (2) Meet players   (3) Tour the Locker Room and Press Box   (4) Autograph Opportunities   (5) Food and Merchandise on Sale   (6) Giants Youth Fan Fest   (7) Walk on the Field   I was going to watch at home (actually, I'll be at a clinic) but I'll admit that I started to waver when I read that I woould be able to buy food and merchandise, and that last one really won me over. Wowie. Walk on the field 'n' everything!   (Actually, wouldn't you think those money-grubbing bastards would just throw open the doors to their fans?)   *********** Remember the famous Coke commercial when a little kid gives Mean Joe Greene a drink of his Coke, and a grateful Mean Joe, God bless his heart, throws his jersey to the kid? ("Gee, thanks Mean Joe!")   Well, we won't be seeing any more of that nonsense. Not if NFL teams take their cue from the New York Rangers, and it's hard to believe they won't, one of these days.   I only caught the end of a Rangers' game, but it appeared that they'd had some sort of auction or lottery, the winners of which got to come out on the ice and receive - from the players themselves - their just-worn hockey sweaters.   Can somebody fill me in on this one?   *********** Years ago, in another life, my sales territory took me through parts of Virginia and West Virginia, and one of the places where I'd often stay overnight was Harrisonburg, Virginia, a quiet, pleasant town in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley. Harrisonburg in those days was home to Madison College, an all-women's state school. Sometime in the early 1970s, Madison went coed, became James Madison University, and instituted a complete men's (and women's, of course) sports program. For a time, the storied Lefty Driesell served as JMU's basketball coach, and in 2004, the JMU Dukes won the NCAA Division I-AA football championship.   Over the years, I've driven past the campus - "driven through the campus" is more appropriate, split in two as it is by Interstate 81 - but this time I left the freeway for a better look. Conclusion - Very positive. Nice setting. Nice campus. Nice facilities. Nice kids.   I took a quick look around their stadium and their all-purpose athletics facility. Nice. Inside the latter, a group of young women who the strength coach informed me were the varsity field hockey team was hard at work in the weight room. (May all your football players work as hard as those women were working.)   High atop a dormitory across the street from the athletic facility, a group of ROTC students was taking a test, but NOT a written test. They were rapelling down the blank wall of the building. Maybe I'll try it some day. The day I turn 20 again.     *********** The Talk Radio guys in Philly were hyping up Monday night's 76ers game as possibly Allen Iverson's final home game as a Sixer. (It's been a bummer of a seasonb, and as exciting as the guy is, it may be time to come to terms with the fact that - if winning still matters - they haven't been winning with him.)   Fans from all over the Pennsylvania-Delaware-New Jersey are decided to take advantage of what might be their last chance to see "A.I." Many brought their kids. This is an area that treasures its Big Moments in Sports.   So an unusually large crowd (for a so-called meaningless game at the end of the season) of 19,000+ showed up at the Wachovia Center, only to discover - quite late - that Iverson wouldn't be playing. Chris Webber either. There seems to be some question as to who told them at the morning shootout that because of certain injuries they needn't play that night, but management did know in advance, and failed to communicate the news to fans in a timely manner.   But as late as word was in getting to the fans, it wasn't anywhere near as late as Iverson's and Webber's entrances. Webber showed up at 7:01 (Philly reporters note such details) and Iverson at 7:07, with tipoff scheduled for 7:10. Neither one sat on the team bench.   In meeting with the media afterward, team GM Billy King was clearly outraged by the players' cavalier conduct.   One Philadelphia reporter said he was far more upset with Iverson than with Weber: "Webber's just a millionaire mercenary who won't ever be more than a footnote in Sixers history. Iverson is a Philadelphia icon."   He noted that for all Iverson's failings and shortcomings, Philadelphia fans have stuck by him and defended him fiercely whenever a reporter criticized him - and "I've got the e-mails to prove it," he wrote.   These sure are strange times. Times when athletes who are paid handsomely to do what they once loved to do - play a kid's game - jump at the opportunity to sit one out. It sometimes seems that they more they're paid, the more they dislike playing.   Oh, yes - it was Fan Appreciation Night.   *********** Army football Club Treasurer Paul Watkins has followed former AFC executive director AFC John Simar in volunteering to return to active Army duty. Like John, he is now stationed in Iraq, where he is assigned to the Rapid Equipping Force, a new unit in the Army whose mission, in his words, is "to find equipment and technology that makes soldiers' jobs easier and safer and get it into the soldiers' hands as quickly as possible."   That's Paul in the middle of the photo, between his two sons who were already in Iraq when he arrived. His younger son is serving on his second tour.   Bear in mind that Paul Watkins and John Simar did not have to go. They have already served. They'd gotten well along on their life's work, but they felt the call of duty to serve their country again.   People like them, who put their lives on hold in order to return and serve, exemplify the "Duty" in West Point's code - Duty, Honor, Country.   *********** Coach: We just got back from a family trip, spending a few days in Washington DC and a few days in Annapolis. DC is great, so many great things to see. We really liked the WWII monument. When my son Ian was a freshman, the senior swim captain was someone he really looked up to, and he ended up going to West Point (he did it in a roundabout way - his grades weren't strong, and he joined the Army after his jr year in HS, went to boot camp, came back for his senior year, got into the prep school, and now is a freshman at West Point).   Ian has been interested in the military and in West Point, but has applied for summer seminars (1-week experiences) at all of the academies, including the Coast Guard academy. We found out at the USNA that he was chosen for one of the summer seminars there and he was pretty excited. It's competitive to get a spot and we were all pretty proud....about 30% of kids who go to the summer seminar end up going to the USNA. I have to admit, Annapolis is a beautiful spot, but I couldn't bring myself to buy any Navy shirts, etc. I know that he's still hoping to get a chance for the summer session at West Point. It would certainly be an honor to get into any of the academies.... luckily the admissions person at the USNA discouraged him from joining the Navy or Army in his junior year.   Anyways, I guess there isn't much of a point to all this except that once again, the Black Lion award has had an impact on my life in that I certainly know a lot lot more about the academies than I would have without the award. I can't help but think that Ian hearing me talk about the award and meeting the cadets at the banquets has also gotten him thinking about the military. He is certainly turning out to be a fine young man....it's also been hard to come to terms with the fact that soon his bedroom will be empty for most of the year.   Looking forward to the clinic next weekend. I'll get my form out to you tomorrow.   Rick Davis, Duxbury, Mass (Coach- I become more and more aware every day of how little the public really knows about our service academies, and so I am grateful for any young man who might become interested in one as a result of the Black Lion Award. HW)   2006 DOUBLE-WING CLINIC SCHEDULE - AS OF 4-1-06 (2006 CLINICS) CLINICS START AT 9 AM SHARP AND GO UNTIL 4 PM WITH A 1-HOUR BREAK FOR LUNCH CLINIC LOCATION FEB 25 ATLANTA HOLIDAY INN AIRPORT NORTH - 1380 Virginia Ave - 404-762-8411 MARCH 11 LOS ANGELES HOLIDAY INN-MEDIA CENTER -150 E. Angeleno, Burbank - 818-841-4770 MARCH 18 CHICAGO ST. XAVIER UNIVERSITY - 3700 West 103rd St., Chicago APRIL 8 RALEIGH-DURHAM MILLENNIUM HOTEL - 2800 Campus Walk Ave - Durham - 919-383-8575 APRIL 15 PHILADELPHIA HOLIDAY INN, 432 Pennsylvania Ave, Fort Washington, PA. - 215-643-3000 APRIL 29 PROVIDENCE COMFORT INN AIRPORT - 1940 POST RD, WARWICK RI - 401-732-0470 MAY 6 DENVER WESTMINSTER HS - Westminster, CO MAY 13 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS - LATHROP, CA. JUNE 3 BUFFALO HOLIDAY INN BUFFALO AIRPORT- 4600 Genesee St, Cheektowaga NY - 716-634-6969 JUNE 10 PACIFIC NORTHWEST PHOENIX INN & SUITES -12712 SE 2ND Circle, Vancouver, WA - 360-891-9777 NEXT CLINIC - PROVIDENCE - SAT APRIL 29 - COMFORT INN AIRPORT - 1940 POST ROAD, WARWICK, RI (NEXT TO THE PROVIDENCE AIRPORT)     Attendees will receive a complimentary DVD breaking down, play-by-play, the Full-House Belly-T offense of the powerful 1953-1954 Army teams, coached by Earl "Red" Blaik, with Vince Lombardi as his offensive assistant. On the video you will see action clips of Army greats, including the immortal Don Holleder, whose memory is honored by the Black Lion Award. This DVD is not for sale. It is provided by the Board of the Black Lion Award in the interests of furthering football and the Black Lion Award itself.     Osama shows that he will stop at nothing in his plot to weaken America... BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Army's Will Sullivan wore his Black Lion patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners

A Visit to a Virginia HS With a Storied Athletic History! (See"NEWS") A Legendary NFL Coach Takes His Best Shot at the Double-Wing! (See"NEWS") My Offensive System My Materials for Sale My Clinics Me     April 18, 2006 - "Discipline is training which makes punishment unnecessary." saying at The Citadel   NOTE - THE REGULARLY-SCHEDULED APRIL 21 UPDATING OF THIS NEWS PAGE WILL BE POSTPONED A DAY - THE PAGE WILL BE UPDATED INSTEAD BY SATURDAY AM, APRIL 22   A VISIT TO ROANOKE, VIRGINIA The Cave Spring High Knights pose for a team shot following a one-day mini-camp (Left) On the wall of the Cave Spring High gym is a large photo of the 2002 State Championship team; the player fourth from the left in the front row is a kid named Redick - J.J. Redick. His younger brother, David, a 6-4, 235-pound Tight End, signed with Marshall where he will be a freshman next year; (Right) on the wall above the trophy case hang the jerseys of two former Cave Spring players who have have gone on to distinguish themselves first in college (Virginia) and then in the NFL - brothers Rhonde and Tiki Barber A couple of shots from the camp Coach Tim Fulton, who'd turned the team over to me for the camp, tells the players "Well done." Members of the Cave Spring staff (L to R) Armando Castro, Head Coach Tim Fulton, Mike Riley and Jamie Harless (Coach Harless has just been named DC at Franklin County HS) Coach Armando Castro and his son, Alan, sophomore QB Coach Castro and his lovely wife, Carmen Roanoke calls itself the Star City. High above the town, atop Mill Mountain, a giant star - red, white and blue in a spirit of patriotism - looks down on the city (that's the moon, peeking over the upper lefthand corner of the star); At right, the view at night from Mill Mountain, looking down on the Roanoke Valley My old friend, Armando Castro, helped arrange for my visit to Roanoke. Coach Castro and his wife, Carmen, are both Cuban-born, and were living in Miami almost 10 years ago when they took the giant step of moving away from home and family to start a new life in Roanoke, a lovely city in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Southwest Virginia that is about as different from Miami in temperature, setting, and pace of life as a city could be. Shortly after arriving, Coach Castro was in The Market Place, a unique food court in downtown Roanoke where he met another Cuban-American, Juan Garcia y Eduardo, who had arrived in 1994. Juan and his wife run a Cuban restaurant (Cuban coffee is VERY strong and VERY sweet and I love it), but like a true entrepreneur, he is also on the verge of releasing a film he's produced - scripted, shot and edited - that features a Cuban singer and cuts back and forth between scenes in Miami and scenes in present-day Cuba. Not being a fan of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, he did not have the easiest of times shooting on location in Cuba. He's already planning his next project, a comedy based on the often-ridiculous lengths people in Cuban will go to in order to be able to buy a car! *********** Located in Chester County, Pennsylvania, Lincoln University is something of an anomaly - a historically-black college in the North.   Although it is among the oldest - founded in 1854, before the Civil War, when Pennsylvania was one of the destinations of the Underground Railroad - and among the most distinguished - in its first hundred years of existence it produced about 20 per cent of America's black doctors and 10 per cent of its black lawyers - Lincoln is not nearly so well known as many other historically-black colleges.   The reason is simple - Lincoln hasn't had a football team since 1960.   That is going to change. At a time when many colleges are looking for men's sports to eliminate, Lincoln's president, Ivory V. Nelson, announced recently that Lincoln plans to have a varsity team in time for the 2009 season, playing at the NCAA Division II level. Interestingly, it seems to be a consequence of the declining percentage of men in college student bodies nationwide.   "Every time we would ask students we recruit about student life on campus, one of the questions was, 'do you have football?'" he told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "Another question is, 'do you have a marching band?'   "So we put out a survey, and our stuidents said yes, it's important in attracting students to our university."   President Nelson shose to make the announcement on the occasion of an awards program in Philadelphia honoring a gentleman named Frank "Tick" Coleman, who atarted at quarterback for Lincoln from 1931 to 1935, and has since served as the school's unofficial historian. He has lobbied tirelessly for the return of Lincoln fotball, and when the president made the announcement, Mr. Coleman put up the first $1000.   It is fair to say that President Nelson did not have to be coerced into making his decision.   "Hey, I was born and raised in the South," he told the Inquirer, "and I went to Grambling State, where football and marching bands on fall Saturdays is a way of life. The Grambling-Southern game in New Orleans draws 80,000 people. So it's truly understandable that social events like this are great morale builders."   As college enrollments nationwide approach 55-60 per cent female, perhaps it is time for colleges to consider whether eliminating such so-called "minor" men's sports as wrestling, baseball, swimming and track might be hurting their attempts to attract male students.   If they care.   *********** Friend John Torres sent me some advice Coach Tom Bass, a former NFL defensive coordinator, gave a young fellow named "Steve," who asked him what defense " would work well against a double wing offense?"   Coach Bass' stuff, like mine, is copyrighted, so I must quote sparingly and paraphrase...   "Start with a two-deep zone coverage," he says. "Two defensive backs, one on either side of the formation that can come up, turn the ball carrier back to inside and be in position to cover the pitch... "if the team runs the option."   (Coach Bass, with all due respects, if your defensive backs are "turning the ball carrier back inside," that sounds to me as if they're going to be taking on my fullback on power plays. Bad decision. That's the mismatch we're looking for.)   "Most double wing teams will use some form of short motion," notes Coach Bass, so your defensive linemen and linebackers should "start with predetermined gap responsibility and then have the ability to slant the line once one of the wings starts in motion."   (He didn't say what to do if he faces a Double-Wing team that rarely uses motion, or makes it so sudden the defenses don't have time to react. Nor does he say what can happen to a line that's slanting when the offense runs a wedge against them.)   He notes, "I would certainly use some form of 7-man front [3-4, 4-3, 5-2, 6-1] so that I could have four defensive backs in the game."   (I haven't come up against any team good enough to play the Double-Wing with a 7-man front; they wind up having to walk those corners up into a 9-man front.)   "Since this type of offense is based on deception you really want to keep your defense sound and simple and give your defensive players as many repetitions during practice so that they see the opponents best four or five plays over and over."   (Actually, "this type of offense" is based every bit as much on power as on deception, but otherwise it's good advice. Of course, that's good advice no matter what defense you plan to run.)   "If you know you are going to face this type of offense during the year, it is good to start introducing one or two plays per week, to your team at the start of the season. Then when the week comes, they will feel that they are prepared for and comfortable with an offense that they have already seen and worked against,   (Also good advice. BUT... if you are a spread-em-out-and-chuck-it offensive team yourself, you are going to have a hell of a time getting a scout team to give your defense much of a look.)   With all due respect to Coach Tom Bass, whose credentials as a pro coach are unquestioned, I did enjoy a good laugh at his answer.   That's because, as you also may have noticed, except for offering up a few generalities, he really didn't really have an answer.   I've gotten rid of the pests who ask me how to stop the Double-Wing with answers just like his.   I do suspect, though, that Coach Bass, like so many people who operate at the "next level," maybe doesn't respect the power of the Double-Wing simply because he really hasn't taken the time to understand it.   In fact, I hate to come right out and say this, but talent being roughly equal, if that was really Coach Bass' best shot, I can think of, oh, maybe 500 Double-Wing coaches who would eat his lunch.   *********** Coach: I am at a bit of a compromise here.  Our association president (newly elected as well) nervously agreed to back me in adopting the DW.  He went to some of the high school coaching staff and presented the idea which was not warmly received.  He has asked me to devote at least "a portion" (not quantified) of practice time, a couple days a week, to running the high school's offense.  The base set of the offense is unbalanced (Tackle Over) Slot I   We also flipped the formation, ran shotgun spread, and I sometimes moved the wing to the short side of the line.  I ran this offense successfully for the 2nd, 3rd & 4th grade JV last year but I had a set of twins in my backfield that could usually outrun everyone else on the field.  They got outside and they were gone.  The 3rd and 4th grade varsity had less success but weren't particularly well coached.  Both teams used pretty wide line splits (1.5' - 2.0')(Cause that's how the high school did it...)   I intend to feature the DW.  How much am I compromising my chances for success if I try to appease these guys by shifting one wing to TB and moving a tackle for a given set of plays.  If I spend time on it in practice I should probably find an opportunity to use it in a game.  I will eliminate the line splits in this offense.  In the past we always had the entire line even with the LOS.  Is it beneficial to move the line back to the center's midpoint in this set as is done in the DW?  How difficult do you think it will be for the backs to adjust to the timing issues?  Can I use the base blocking schemes of the double wing to block something useful in this set?  Can I use our old numbering system to number the DW plays?  (TB = 2 back, FB = 3 back, WB = 4 back / 2 hole between center & right guard, etc.) How confused are my kids going to be?   My uneducated opinion is that I can probably do it and avert disaster but that it will take something away.  Give me your honest educated one.  The above offense has been in use at this high school for 20 years!  The situation at hand has everything to do with ego and politics and little to do with the development of football players.  I don't mind rocking the boat a little, it's necessary and long overdue.  But if possible I'd like to avoid completely upsetting it.   One other question.  I'll have a roster of about 35.  We have a 2 play minimum in our league.  In the past our many of our minimum play guys would rotate in and out at split end (bringing in the plays with them).  Where and when are the best places to substitute a MP player in the DW when the game is still in question?   The quick answer is that while I can't predict how successful you will be, I can tell you that you will not be as successful as you could be.   To be blunt, if you try running a couple of different offenses, you will not be able to devote the time to the Double-Wing that is necessary to run it well. It is not a low-maintenance offense. There are lots of things that can go wrong, and you have to be on the watch for them to make the corrections. This takes lots and lots of practice reps. You will never have enough time in practice for all the reps you need. No coach does. Time is the coach's enemy.   My guess is that you will in all likelihood do a less-than-satisfactory job of running the Double-Wing. I question your use of the word "feature." In my opinion, if you are going to run Double-Wing you must run Double-Wing. Truthfully, it sounds as if you are already doing too much, especially with young kids. You as good as admitted that you did it last year with personnel (the twins).   There are strategic and tactical reasons for running other formations, but doing so to please someone else is, in my judgment, a recipe for failure.   As for the numbering, you will limit yourself if you don't jump in and take advantage of my system, which because of its uniqueness allows you far greater flexibility. Believe me, before I invented my terminology, I had been through all the "2 back at the 6 hole" business - that stuff is as almost old as football itself.   I think, frankly, that you should go all their way or all your way. It's a tough choice.   As for "must-play" guys --- If you have the coaches, you can do what a youth coach in Calif did - put together a Double-Wing unit made up of backups, and then coach 'em up. Tell them they'll stay in as long as they get first downs. You may be surprised at how well they do. IT worked well for the coach I mentioned.   Best of luck. You are not in a good situation. *********** THINGS YOU'LL HAVE TO STRAIN TO HEAR A FOOTBALL PARENT SAY - By Hugh Wyatt You're the expert, Coach - You put him where he can help the team the most. We cut our family vacation short and raced back here so that he wouldn't be late for the first practice. If the coach got on your case 'cause you weren't hustling, son, you need to get to him - fast - and apologize and tell him you'll do better. We told him he couldn't drive his car during the season because walking's better for him. If you say he did it, Coach, that's good enough for me. Make sure you teach him a lesson he won't forget. It's too bad we didn't make the first down, but Coach made the right call. The kids just didn't execute. When you get finished with him, Coach, he's going to have to answer to me at home. If he doesn't start,I know it's because Coach believes in putting the best 11 men on the field. I wish we wouldn't throw so many passes. He would probably have better stats if we ran another offense, but this one gives the team the best chance of winning. Oh, I wouldn't feel right going over the coach's head and talking to the principal about it Coach, if you don't punish him, I will You just sit still and don't go out on the field, dear - let the trainer handle it. Ohmigosh, no - we can't buy them a keg for his brithday. Remember those training rules the kids signed? He thinks he can play Division I football, but I'm just hoping Coach can find him a good Division III school where he'll be happy I'd hoped my son might have been selected MVP but I really have to admit the award wnt to the most deserving player I know he only got honorable mention, but it's not easy picking an All-Star team. No more going out weeknights for him - he's going to stay home and study until he gets straight A's I'd better get to bed - I have to get up early and fix him a good breakfast every day. It's a sprain. The doctor said to stay off it for two weeks, so we're just going to go see another doctor. I can't see spending the money on a personal trainer when he ought to be spending more time in the weight room. My associate at work is a former pro, but I told him Coach knows more about football than he does. I'd better watch what I say - Coach doesn't it like it when we criticize our kids' teammates. Thanks, Coach, for all that extra time you put in in the off-season. He thinks he's being recruited, but we all know they send those letters out to thousands of kids like him. It'll do him good to spend a season backing-up the number one guy. You know, after watching so much pro football, it's fun to go to a high school game and see them actually run the ball for a change. Just because we sent him to a couple of camps and the coaches there raved about him, that doesn't mean he deserves any special consideration. Coach told him that if he didn't come to summer weight training he wouldn't, that's why. I told him not even to think about transferring - he owes it to his buddies to stay with them. Puke out on the field did you? Ha! Told you you weren't in shape! Coach teaches things differently from the way I was taught, but he knows more football than I do, so I'd better keep my mouth shut Coach had to get in his face yesterday for not hustling. I'm glad - he needed a kick in the ass. My son'll never be good enough to win a scholarship. I just want him to have a good high school experience. Well, there certainly was beer at the party, and he shouldn't have been, so I guess he'll just have to take his medicine. Would you please sign this petition asking the school board to make sure they never let Coach go anyplace else? Coach must be hurting for talent this year. My son's starting. Yes, my son was the leading rusher on the JV team last year, but that really doesn't mean a thing at the varsity level. We could have moved anywhere we wanted, but we chose to move here because we heard that Coach emphasizes teamwork. You can't blame the coaches if they don't have the talent to work with. I mean, they can't go out there and play the game for the kids. We never figured he'd get a football scholarship. That's why we've always told him to work hard and get good grades. The basketball coach thinks he can play Division I if he concentrates on basketball year-round, but I think he should play all the sports If you want to play more, why don't you just go and ask Coach what you need to work on?   Copyright 2006, Hugh Wyatt - all rights reserved   *********** Of all the things adults say to discourage kids from cheating on exams, one of the dumbest is: "You're only cheating yourself." First, it's simply not true. Cheaters don't just cheat themselves. They cheat everyone affected by their cheating. We call them "stakeholders." They cheat honest students who are put at a competitive disadvantage, as well as college admission officers and employers who think that a student's grade accurately reflects competence. What's more, cheaters dishonor their families, teachers and schools. It's dumb also because it's not persuasive. The idea behind the statement is that when you cheat you don't learn, and therefore you cheat yourself. The problem is that most kids who cheat think that what they're asked to learn is unimportant. Thus, they can comfortably live with the idea that they may never know the value of X or the capital of Zimbabwe. And as for mastering skills, especially cynical students could plausibly claim that learning to cheat may well be more useful than learning the material. Finally, the statement is dumb because it promotes a self-centered approach to cheating that subordinates the crucial moral issues to an expediency-oriented cost-benefit calculation. If a student thinks it's in her self-interest to cheat because she won't get caught and she'll get a better grade, telling her she is cheating herself isn't likely to change behavior. After all, 74 percent of all high school students cheat every year. So instead of promoting self-interest, stress virtue. Whether you get away with it or not, cheating is wrong. It's dishonest and it's unfair. And it destroys credibility and weakens character. Michael Josephson - Character Counts.   *********** A guy named Ken Ball from Horsham, Pennsylvania, wrote the following letter to the sports section of the Philadelphia Inquirer...   I had a bit of a dilemma recently. A good friend of mine called and said he had an extra ticket to the 76ers game on a Friday night. Another friend left me a message asking if I wanted to go to see the Phillies play the Dodgers than same night.   "Jeez, what should I do?" I asked myself.   I was about to make this difficult decision when a girl I absolutely cannot stand called and asked if I wanted to come over and watch the movie Gigli while she doused me in gasoline and lit me on fire.   Suddenly, my decision was made. The bandages come off next week.   *********** Two members of the College Football Hall of Fame, head the list of 46 former coaches and players on the ballot for the very first College Baseball Foundation Hall of Fame class. Bobby Layne, a 1968 College Football Hall of Fame inductee, starred as a quarterback at Texas from 1944-1947, establishing 11 school records and leading the Longhorns to a 10-1 mark and a Sugar Bowl victory his senior season. Jackie Jensen, who was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1984, starred as a fullback, defensive back and punter while at the University of California from 1946-1948.   Layne and Jensen actually faced each other as pitchers in the first NCAA college baseball tournament in 1947, with Jensen coming out the winner.   Other football players on the baseball ballot include famed Yankee slugger Lou Gehrig, who was a multi-sport star at Columbia, and Hall of Fame pitcher Christy Mathewson, who played football at Bucknell.   2006 DOUBLE-WING CLINIC SCHEDULE - AS OF 4-1-06 (2006 CLINICS) CLINICS START AT 9 AM SHARP AND GO UNTIL 4 PM WITH A 1-HOUR BREAK FOR LUNCH CLINIC LOCATION FEB 25 ATLANTA HOLIDAY INN AIRPORT NORTH - 1380 Virginia Ave - 404-762-8411 MARCH 11 LOS ANGELES HOLIDAY INN-MEDIA CENTER -150 E. Angeleno, Burbank - 818-841-4770 MARCH 18 CHICAGO ST. XAVIER UNIVERSITY - 3700 West 103rd St., Chicago APRIL 8 RALEIGH-DURHAM MILLENNIUM HOTEL - 2800 Campus Walk Ave - Durham - 919-383-8575 APRIL 15 PHILADELPHIA HOLIDAY INN, 432 Pennsylvania Ave, Fort Washington, PA. - 215-643-3000 APRIL 29 PROVIDENCE COMFORT INN AIRPORT - 1940 POST RD, WARWICK RI - 401-732-0470 MAY 6 DENVER WESTMINSTER HS - Westminster, CO (Further details to come) MAY 13 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS - LATHROP, CA. JUNE 3 BUFFALO HOLIDAY INN BUFFALO AIRPORT- 4600 Genesee St, Cheektowaga NY - 716-634-6969 NEXT CLINIC - PROVIDENCE - SAT APRIL 29 - HOLIDAY INN - 1940 POST ROAD, WARWICK, RI (NEXT TO THE PROVIDENCE AIRPORT)     Attendees will receive a complimentary DVD breaking down, play-by-play, the Full-House Belly-T offense of the powerful 1953-1954 Army teams, coached by Earl "Red" Blaik, with Vince Lombardi as his offensive assistant. On the video you will see action clips of Army greats, including the immortal Don Holleder, whose memory is honored by the Black Lion Award. This DVD is not for sale. It is provided by the Board of the Black Lion Award in the interests of furthering football and the Black Lion Award itself.     Osama shows that he will stop at nothing in his plot to weaken America... BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Army's Will Sullivan wore his Black Lion patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners

Photos From the Raleigh-Durham Clinic! (See"NEWS") An Effort to Bring Wrestling to New York's Schools! (See"NEWS") My Offensive System My Materials for Sale My Clinics Me     April 14, 2006 - "You can learn a line from a win and a book from a defeat." Paul Brown, legendary coach   *********** Happy Birthday to my wife. And Happy Tax Day to you all. And to all those who are in our country illegally - you're welcome!   Shots from the Raleigh-Durham clinic... *********** Coach Wyatt, I was at your Raleigh/Durham Clinic. A question that I was wondering about is, how would you go about your practice session if you have a new assistant coach that knows nothing about the double wing offense. Would you work with the backs and receivers or linemen? Or would you handle your practice similar to the way you outlined with the German team. Last year we split into two groups and I worked with the backs and receivers. This year I think I think I may need to focus on the line. Any suggestion would be helpful.   Coach, What I would do is exactly what I did with the German team - everybody together - with the new coach at my side the entire time, giving him a little more responsibility as he showed that he was learning.   In the early stages, though, there is no way you can benefit by splitting your team up and turning half of it over to an assistant who doesn't know much more about it than the kids.   *********** Nothing more to add about the Duke Lacrosse deal other than the fact that it gets more and more bizarre. As we were leaving Durham Tuesday, the DA, Mike Nifong, was sitting in on - and getting a police escort out of - a "forum" at North Carolina Central University. Noe bear in mind that this is a guy who from the very start has been shooting his lip off about how a rape took place (maybe it did, maybe it didn't) and that the alleged rape was committed by one or more members of the Duke Lacrosse team (maybe, maybe not), and that furthermore, it didn;t make any difference to him whether or not the DNA samples taken from the team members linked any of them - or, in fact, the alleged victim - to the supposed rape scene (they didn't) - he was going ahead with the case anyhow.   So after the DNA test results were revealed, this guy, in an apparent effort to save his case - and also his election campaign - goes to the one group of people who still believe him - or want to - members of the black college community. (The alleged victim, a stripper, is also a student at NCCU.)   Problem was, although he expected to feel expressions of support, what he found instead was anger at the fact that he hadn't moved quicker, and skepticism about whether he'd have "delayed" the way he had if the races of the "victim" and the "attackers" had been reversed.   He needed a police escort out of the forum.   All the idiot managed to do was fan the fire of racial anger - a fire that he, in his campaign for election, has done his level best to keep going.   *********** That's my oldest grandson, Matt Love, a sophomore at Jordan High in Durham, North Carolina, where he plays on the varsity lacrosse team. (I can guarantee you that he didn't touch a beer the whole time I visited, and there wasn't a stripper anywhere to be seen.)   *********** The last team was coached to stay at home on the powers. Thus, the ends or LBs did not penetrate .I am thinking of getting my wings to run outside of the play? Thoughts? If DE and LB are not penetrating, you should be able to power them back off the ball. Perhaps the play will on occasion bounce outside, but I wouldn't encourage the runner to do it because once he does, you'll never get him back to running inside the hole again. What you need against that is a reach sweep, such as 29/38 g-o reach. Of course, that requires guards who can run, which leads right into the next question: I have a huge team (Big not just Bubbas).They are not as fast as some .I am thinking of putting a couple of smaller quicker guards to do the kickouts on the g and c blocks .Is this necessary? Don't put guys at guard just because they are big. if your guards are not reasonably athletic and able to run, it will hold your offense back.   *********** You have heard me write about Bob Novogratz, a former Army All-American guard-linebacker who serves on the Board of the Black Lion Award. Bob, as I have mentioned, is currently a strong candidate for induction to the College Football Hall of Fame. But Bob was also an eastern champion heavyweight wrestler while at Army, and his son Mike was a college wrestler, too. Mike is now a successful businessman in New York, and he has been devoting his energies and resources to bringing wrestling to New York City's schools. What an opportunity for wrestling to grow - introducing it to the kids in our largest city!   Here's Bob's note to me, followed by Mike's letter. (If you're anywhere close to New York City and you love wrestling, it is an invitation to you...   Hugh, when I read your news today I was reminded of the Stammtisch...the table in the Gasthaus (German: "guest house") reserved for regulars to drink and chat. You have your own Stammtisch. It is spread over the entire country. You're a lucky guy.   I thought you'd find the attached of interest....one of Michael's big initiatives is to return wrestling to the city schools.   We had a few Sister Campions in Our Lady of Hungary School in Northampton (PA). They were German-trained and rough. They had a wide range of punishment. Their methods worked. Today, they'd get arrested.   Have a good day. Bob   Following is Mike Novogratz' letter...   A gathering of the Clan -   A night of beer, food, music and wrestling… all free….all you need to do is hear a ten minute pitch (sound like a time share sale…don't worry)   Who's invited - all former or present-college wrestlers, high school wrestlers, coaches, and super fans (there will be a test for fans).   All you need to show at the door is any or all of:   Cauliflower ear   Foul smelling plastic   Singlet (worn)   Letter jacket with wrestling insignia   Special Guest &endash; John Smith--Olympic Gold Medalist, world champ, now 5 straight NCAA titles as a coach.   Why-- Wrestlers are a special breed and I figured it would be a hell of a lot of fun to get us all together for a night.   And….We are trying to get wrestling programs in 100 high Schools and 100 Intermediate schools in NYC within 4 years. Last year we had 1 intermediate school.   This year we have 23. Our program is called 'Beat the Streets'. Our fearless leader is big Al Bevilacqua. If you don't know him you should. He's 75 years young and can probably still kick most of your butts. And if he can't, he's got some tough sons.   The pitch will last 10 minutes. Support for wrestling begins with wrestlers. So this is our base for support, spirit, encouragement, etc.   E-mail this to wrestling friends and have them e-mail me back. I'll send time place etc in a separate e-mail as soon as I pick the place. This is a viral marketing campaign to get a list of wrestlers….please help me out.   Right now save the night. -- MAY 11th….we will make it a night to remember…. 7-9pm just wrestlers and 9pm on wives, girlfriends, groupies, and assorted other guests….there is a great band from Allentown that probably will rock the house….   Mike Novogratz - mnovogratz@fortressinv.com   Fortress Investment Group LLC   1345 Avenue of the Americas, 47th Floor, New York, NY 10105   Direct: (212) 798-6142 - Cell: (212) 220-1620 - Fax: (212) 798-6131   (Meantime, while some good men are working to kick-start wrestling in New York, others are slitting its throat at the college level. While in Roanoke, Virginia this week, I learned that nearby Virginia Tech is mulling discontinuing wrestling! Damn! HW)   *********** I'm in the East now, but news from back home is that Lake Oswego, Oregon's Gabe Miller, Oregon Class 4A football defensive player of the year, ruptured an Achilles' tendon while running the 110-meter high hurdles last Friday. Miller, a 6-4, 230-pound linebacker who has been timed in the 40 in 4.63, was recruited by Cal, Colorado, Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA and Washington, and he eventually signed with the Oregon State Beavers. At the time of his signing, OSU coach Mike Riley said, "Gabe Miller is a very, very big recruit for us...You don't say this about many true freshman, but we're looking for something from him right off the bat."   Ouch. A ruptured achilles can take four months to heal.   Be sure to show this to the next mother who tells you she doesn't want her son playing football because he might get hurt.   *********** I've emailed you before and I have your Dynamics book and CD. My question is about power using the o block. We are a traditional Delaware wing-t team and I'm looking to add this play to our arsenal without changing too many things we already do. More specifically, we're looking to add it as a complement to the rocket sweep (toss) we run.   My question is about the playside blocking for the OG, OT, TE and WB. The dynamics book only has the play against one look and I'm looking to interpret your blocking assignments against all fronts. The book also doesn't have the TE's blocking assignment other than the call for the WB. The page that goes over the TE/WB assignment has not mention of the TE double teaming with the OT as you have it drawn in the book. Nor does it mention the WB scraping off the TE double team to an ILB.   I guess I'm just looking for a little more detail for that play. If you could provide me with drawings against all fronts or more detailed blocking rules, or both, that would be great. I cant say that I've dissected all of the video that you sent me, so if what I'm looking for is in the video, I apologize in advance. Just let me know where I can find it. Thank you for your help   Coach, We don't teach plays against specific defenses.   We teach rules. I can't stress that enough. We never talk to kids in terms of "5-2" or "4-4" etc.   By applying the rules you will see that you can block any front with the "O". Pay special attention to page 21 and the TE's call.   He follows his basic rule: Gap, On, Read Up and then he communicates this to his wingback.   The main thing is that the wingback is NOT to block a man on the line unless he is doubling with the TE. If he is not doubling, he walls off a LBer to the inside. Do NOT let him try to block a man on him or outside him.   Our playside rules may not work if you don't tighten down your splits. I would suggest going to the Delaware book.   Also, we run "Super Power" and "Super O" because our QB blocks the playside corner, and if he doesn't, you have no other way of taking care of him.   PS -Not sure what you mean by my "Double Wing CD." The basic video is only available on VHS.   *********** Watching the street demonstrations earlier this week, I shook my head in wonderment at the realization that with thousands coming across our border daily, they'll be a lot bigger next year. If I ever have a chance to meet one of our exalted lawmakers, I will ask him/her which of our laws I can get a pass on. Personally, I was thinking about the one that requires me to pay my taxes.   *********** Rules of the Air from the "Australian Aviation" magazine: 1. If you push the stick forward, the houses get bigger. If you pull the stick back the houses get smaller -- that is unless you keep pulling the stick all the way back, then they get bigger again. 2. Every takeoff is optional. Every landing is mandatory. 3. Flying isn't dangerous. Crashing is dangerous. 4. It's always better to be down here wishing you were up there, than be up there wishing you were down here. 5. The propeller is just a big fan in front of the plane that keeps the pilot cool. When it stops, you can actually see the pilot start to sweat. 6. Always try to keep the number of landings equal to the number of takeoffs. 7. There are three simple rules to a smooth landing. But no one seems to know what they are. 8. Good judgment comes from experience. Unfortunately, experience comes from bad judgement. 9. Helicopters can't fly; they are just so ugly the earth repels them. 10. In the ongoing battle between frail aluminum objects going hundreds of miles per hour and the ground going zero miles per hour, the ground has yet to lose. 11. It's always a good idea to keep the pointy end of the plane going forward as much as possible. *********** Hi Coach! My name is ------- . I'm brand new to coaching youth football (Pop Warner). I played football in high school and love to watch it, but never coached it. I have a few books on the subject, but they all lack one thing... THE LINGO! I don't have a clear understanding of what red, blue, black, gold, etc. mean. I read your tips. I can figure out some of the things, but I'm still rusty when I read those 'code names'. Could you please enlighten me on them? It sure would make following everyone a lot easier. It's better that you should have the guts to ask than to be like so many guys nowadays who pose and pretend but don't know and won't ask. There are what I would call three football vocabularies: 1. Those that most knowledgeable fans are familiar with; 2. Coaching jargon - those terms which are somewhat "inside" and known mostly by coaches and are pretty much standard from coach to coach - no matter what offense or defense they're running - the better to be able to communicate with each other; Some of those terms may vary somewhat from region to region, but generally, there is a standard lingo. 3. Those terms which are used as code by individual programs, to simplify the wording of a complex set of instructions, to make something easier to remember, or to conceal something from opponents. Don't be intimidated by them. Colors are used routinely, and what I mean when I say "Red" or "Green" or "Gold" could vary greatly from what another coach you might run into means. "Red" for me might be a pass; for another coach it might be a type of pass coverage, or a particular blitz, or an offensive formation. For yet another it could mean "run the play to the right." Or it could be a signal at the line of scrimmage for a team to check off to another play than the one called in the huddle; or it could be pure distraction and mean nothing at all. Excellent question. Never be afraid to ask whenever you hear something you don't understand. It's what I do and it's how I learn. (Emphasis on "learn" in the present tense. I learn something new every day.)   2006 DOUBLE-WING CLINIC SCHEDULE - AS OF 4-1-06 (2006 CLINICS) CLINICS START AT 9 AM SHARP AND GO UNTIL 4 PM WITH A 1-HOUR BREAK FOR LUNCH CLINIC LOCATION FEB 25 ATLANTA HOLIDAY INN AIRPORT NORTH - 1380 Virginia Ave - 404-762-8411 MARCH 11 LOS ANGELES HOLIDAY INN-MEDIA CENTER -150 E. Angeleno, Burbank - 818-841-4770 MARCH 18 CHICAGO ST. XAVIER UNIVERSITY - 3700 West 103rd St., Chicago APRIL 8 RALEIGH-DURHAM MILLENNIUM HOTEL - 2800 Campus Walk Ave - Durham - 919-383-8575 APRIL 15 PHILADELPHIA HOLIDAY INN, 432 Pennsylvania Ave, Fort Washington, PA. - 215-643-3000 APRIL 29 PROVIDENCE COMFORT INN AIRPORT - 1940 POST RD, WARWICK RI - 401-732-0470 MAY 6 DENVER WESTMINSTER HS - Westminster, CO (Further details to come) MAY 13 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS - LATHROP, CA. JUNE 3 BUFFALO HOLIDAY INN BUFFALO AIRPORT- 4600 Genesee St, Cheektowaga NY - 716-634-6969 NEXT CLINIC - PHILADELPHIA - SAT APRIL 15 - HOLIDAY INN - 432 PENNSYLVANIA AVE, FORT WASHINGTON, PA    Attendees will receive a complimentary DVD breaking down, play-by-play, the Full-House Belly-T offense of the powerful 1953-1954 Army teams, coached by Earl "Red" Blaik, with Vince Lombardi as his offensive assistant. On the video you will see action clips of Army greats, including the immortal Don Holleder, whose memory is honored by the Black Lion Award. This DVD is not for sale. It is provided by the Board of the Black Lion Award in the interests of furthering football and the Black Lion Award itself.     Osama shows that he will stop at nothing in his plot to weaken America... BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Army's Will Sullivan wore his Black Lion patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners

A Young Coach Dies, Well Before Her Time! (See"NEWS") A Photo of a Pork Sandwich Draws More Interest Than My Football Articles! (See"NEWS") My Offensive System My Materials for Sale My Clinics Me     April 10, 2006 - "It's bad coaching to blame your boys for losing a game, even if it's true." Jake Gaither, long-time Florida A & M coach   *********** Between clinics, as I enjoy life in Durham, North Carolina...   *********** My heart was sick when I heard about Maggie Dixon's passing. Just 28 years old, she had performed miracles in her first year as Army's women's basketball coach, taking her team to the NCAA tournament.   Her older brother, Jamie is head coach of the Pitt men's team, and not so long ago, little sister Maggie looked ahead and said, "Jamie and I are going to be doing this for a long time. Hopefully people will still think it's a cool thing in 20, 30 years."   How unbelievably sad.   *********** So where are all these soccer fanatics?   They played an exhibition pro soccer match in Raleigh last week. And drew 1,600 people.   *********** The lacrosse thing continues to occupy the front pages down here in North Carolina. Otherwise, life goes on as normal around here, without any obvious black-vs-white tensions. I have been impressed at the way people get along down here, and I am confident that the goodwill that's been built up through years of effort will not break down.   It really does seem to be a matter of a bunch of a$$hole kids allowed to do pretty much as they damn please and always getting off with a slap on the wrist whenever they got into scrapes with the law. Get this - over the last seven years, roughly 1/3 of the guys on the lacrosse roster have been charged at least once for a violation, usually involving alcohol, of one sort or another. I'll bet Florida State football can't match that.   My suspicion is that it is another manifestation of the us-against-them cult mentality that I would occasionally see among minor sports, most notably certain high school wrestling programs, where the athletes would be taught that they were something special, and that their athletic prowess entitled them to a different standard of behavior. (Note my emphasis on "occasionally," and "certain wrestling programs," because I have worked with wrestling programs that were credits to our school.   It is also an unintended consequence of the zero tolerance for alcohol policies adopted by most colleges, with the result that serious partying now takes place off-campus, at "party houses," confrontations with members of the community at large are far more likely.   These places may be outside the jurisdiction of the colleges - so far ordinary students are concerned. But in this case, with offenses regularly taking place in and around this particular lacrosse house, they were known by the university, and because members of one of its teams were involved, it was certainly in a position to take action, and failed in its responsibility to the community to do so.   Sadly, the big losers in this whole mess - evidence does not seem to confirm the charges of rape - are Duke University and the City of Durham. It has been easy for the national news media - the "parachute journalists" to portray this incident as a black-vs-white thing, and to make all Duke students out to be spoiled rich white kids and Durham to be a "gritty" (that word has been used a lot), run-down old tobacco town.   In reality, Duke has the resources to provide financial aid for any student it accepts, meaning that more than half of the student body receives financial aid, and hundreds of Duke students are involved in helping out in the community. And the reality is that Durham is home to Duke and its medical center, one of the best in the world, as well as North Carolina Central University, a historically-black college, and numerous high-tech industries located in and around world-class Research Triangle Park.   Durham has also been portrayed as a heavily-black city as well, which, while true, seems intended to imply that it is a poor community, when the truth is that Durham has a large and growing middle-class black community.   At the core of all this has been a prosecutor, up for reelection and loving the spotlight, who from the start mouthed off and as good as convicted in the news media 46 young men of rape, when the most he has ever seemed to have going for his case has been a woman's claim that she was sexually assaulted - by three of them.   Neither Duke nor Durham deserve the black eye that a group of out-of-control athletes and an overzealous prosecutor have given them.   *********** Hugh, I know this is late, but anyway, Welcome Back. I hope you and Connie had a great time in Germany. The pictures of Bremen brought back memories of my time in Germany. It really is a beautiful, and CLEAN country, and as I'm sure you know, the beer is the best. I'd trade in my Black and Tans any day for a local German town's Pilsner or Weissen. Hell I even can go for some pomme frittes  with mayo.   Just read today's news page and I had a comment about the boy - girl debate. I have been at QM for 7 years, and when I took over last year as the H/C it was the first time we never lost a boy to a "discipline" slip. I did loose three kids for grades being too low, under a 75%, and I agree with that.   When I took over I instituted my "Battle Buddy" plan, just like I had in Basic Training, and like you mentioned at the Chicago Clinic. My plan was that if a kid got a discipline in his class, his teammates in that class would have hell to pay. We call it "Track Practice" when somebody screws up, and the kids do not like it at all. We get to know Mother Earth real well and the concept of "Army air conditioning", the faster you run, the cooler you get. I fondly remember using Army A/C while in Alabama, in June, and I guess I just never ran fast enough. I had to use "Track Practice" once last year, for an off the field incident, but I was pleased  not having to use it during the season for any school related disciplines.    My point of the matter is, at Queen of Martyrs there are a lot of female teachers, not Nuns mind you, just civilians. (Nuns ran my school when I was a kid, and discipline was at the forefront of my education, that and a cut off hockey stick named "DISCIPLINE" - Sister Campion got the stick from Bobby Orr). It seems at Martyrs the boys will get discipline slips for any little thing like having blue socks instead of black, or for missing a homework assignment (not sure how that is discipline and not academic), and for other minor discipline issues: gum, talking, running in the halls, etc. and the girls do not get them.   Well after football was over with, the discipline slips started for some of my former players. These are good kids, in fact almost everyone of them helped at the clinic, who are now getting hammered with only 7 weeks to go in the year. For stupid stuff like blue socks and the like. One teacher (Mrs. Ward, 70 + in age), who I have never met, but I have heard about her for 7 years, because she always hammers the boys around this time of year. I know that they can get 8th grade-itis but it seems unreasonable to me, and I do not have a kid at the school. So I talked to some of my neighbors kids, the girls who are at QM and who went to QM, and they all told me "Mr. Murphy, the boys get picked on a lot. Especially by Mrs. Ward. We never get disciplines. If we are caught talking in class, we get a warning...they boys get a discipline slip each time".   Again, I'm not saying my kids are perfect but they ARE good kids, and they are just being boys. I have seen a hell of a lot worse, as I know you and Connie have seen in your time, I just wish some of these p*#$y types could open their eyes too. It seems like this just doesn't happen only at Martyrs after reading the most recent news page.   I am going in for a third surgery on my shoulder either in the end of April or the beginning of May. I hope the third time is the charm. I went to the White Sox opening series, which was awesome, except that they lost 2 of 3. I can now die happy, having seen my team win a Super Bowl and a World Series, which is a HUGE thing in Chicago, especially after you see how bad our teams are. Almost makes me feel bad for Cubs fans......who am I kidding, I LOVE it! All the abuse I took for being a SOX fan working up on the North Side, I love their 98 years of misery.   I also am working on an idea about paying you back for dinner, and for getting you and Connie to come back, but I'll talk to you later about that. I know you are going to North Carolina for a clinic and this is a real long rant. Have a great time and I'll talk to you later.. Best, Bill Murphy, Chicago   *********** Hi Coach,  You've probably been waiting for me email about this. You HAVE to tell me about this sandwich!    Do you think it saw a real hard wood fire? In that its sliced it probably wasn't taken to BBQ temps/standards, correct? Do you know which part of Porky it came from (I'm guessing a ham)? Are those baked beans on it? What's under it?    It looks great. Kill me & tell me you washed it down with a great German beer. Oh yeah...German beer. Care to share about that?    Todd Bross, Beaver, Pennsylvania   That is a thick slice from a roast of pork, which may or may not have been roasted right at the stand.   What appear to "beans" were as I recall a spoonful of pan drippings, and I was told that no roast pork - sandwich or otherwise - is acceptable without a small helping of the cracklings - the crisp fat layer on top of the roast. It is like the cherry on top of the sundae.   They do like their pork dishes. Sausage ("wurst") of all types is a favorite food. One night we ate a chain restaurant called Schweinske's (I"m guessing means something like "Porky's"), a very nice place that featured - what else? - pork dishes.   As with so much German food, roast pork goes very well with Bier - my favorites on this trip were Warsteiner and Holstener. The current favorite of the young people in and around Hamburg seemed to be Astra and Beck's Gold.   Americans used to watching barmaids fill beer glasses to the very top, without so much of a trace of a head - an abomination in the eyes of any true beer lover - would be amazed at the care Germans exercise in pouring a glass of beer. Actually, it is not so much poured as drizzled. The tap is not held fully open, and the beer goes straight to the bottom, never down the side of the glass. And it is done in stages, about a third or a fourth of the glass at a time. I have seen them spent five minutes just getting the last two or three inches right. You find yourself wanting to say, "Okay, now just fill it and give me my beer," but no - they insist on doing it their way, on giving every glass of beer a perfect "cuff." And you know, they're right - the beer itself is excellent enough on its own, but poured with care, it is beervana. *********** Coach, I think I had more fun reading about your exploits in Germany than any other posting to date. Those are some BIG boys they have over there, must have been some wedge. I have to admit my favorite picture may have been the giant pork sandwich. Maybe we are feminizing our young men if they never get a chance to eat a giant chunk of pork on a hearty bun. I was raised in a good German household myself. I still remember my Grandmother actually adding fat (it was called suet I believe) to her cooking. I wonder if that had anything to do with me growing up a bit on the large side. Along those lines, I work with a girl that forbids any type of violent toys such as play guns (I am not sure if a football is a violent toy) and is going to teach her young son how to dance and play the guitar. I thought this issue needed immediate attention so I am going to have her start reading your website and I will try to find her some chunky pork baby food. Just wanted to say hello. I think my wife would be much happier about me coaching if I could take her to Europe every now and then. Of course hi to Connie as well. Richard Cropp, Brunswick, Georgia *********** Coach- I just finished reading "The Last Coach" by Allen Barra. It is a biography of the great Paul Bryant. If you haven't already done so, you MUST read it. I don't remember much about Coach Bryant (I was a little kid when he passed away) but I knew of his legend before I picked up this book. One of the things I found interesting were the stats that Alabama racked up year in and year out throughout the 1970's and early 80's having switched to the wishbone from the pro set. Ball control was an essential cornerstone to their game plan. Throwing to score was a goal of the Tide offense. Utilizing multiple (4) runners kept the opposition off balance (compared to say Ohio St and their I formation). Having a fullback who could really play the game would often tie up 4 or 5 defenders in any given game...ANY of this sound familiar? One stat that made me chuckle was the comparison of the 79 Tide to the 2004 USC Trojans (who many will argue was the best team ever with their high flying O and talented group of core players) - both undefeated, both national champs. The Trojans out scored the Tide by an average of about 7 points a game. However, with their brutal, multifaceted ground game and one tough defense the Tide gave up over 120 points less over the course of the season. As much fun as it was to learn about the many great seasons that Bear Bryant had at the four colleges he coached at, it was also a tremendous experience to learn about his upbringing, beliefs, and methods that made him great. Again, if you haven't already read it you have to put it on top of your must read list. Sincerely, Patrick Cox, Tolland High School Football, Tolland, Connecticut P.S. I will be attending a speech delivered by Coach Bill Belichick at Southern CT State University. Mostly big wigs and their friends attending - I was lucky enough to be invited by one. I am hopeful that there will be a few "pearls" to pass along to you. See you in Rhode Island. *********** A report from semi-pro football... Well...Sadly...First things first. We lost to the #4 team in the country (Lawton Rebels( 33-14 Saturday night. They came into the game on a 25 game win streak. We played our hearts out but we were just plain outmatched. However, we did turn a few heads by leading 8-7 at the half and going into the 4th tied 14-14, 14 points is the most offensive points scored on this team in a single game in two years. On another note, late in the 3rd quarter our starting center and DT (one person) lost his temper and physically attacked our head coach. He is no longer a part of our organization and we may loose several other players due to his removal. Now for the good news. Below are selected quotes regarding the team and offense from coaches and players on the Rebels squad. (taken from emails and the rebels forum) From the DC- "I got to watch the game film today and your a hell of a coach! That is the first offense I haven't been able to figure out during a game in my career. I'm sure Ada will go as far as you take them. "This is my second year coaching the Rebels and you're only the second team to score two offensive TD's on us since I got here, the other was Joplin in last years Championship. We thought our D-Line was going to push you guys around, but you lined up and kicked our A.., we've never had that happen. I couldn't believe your guys go both ways the entire game and still block like that!" From the HC- "Your line is tougher than a $2 steak" From a Rebels Defensive Tackle (2 year all star) with spelling corrected. "I thought Ada was going to come to Lawton and take an A$$ whipping, but I was wrong. They played very well, and played a clean game. I would have to say the Ada game is the best game we've had all year. (before this game they had outscored the previous 5 opponents 127-16) I think teams should feel lucky they played Ada early before they added players. They are trying to make a run for the championship and I will say that with the exception of the rebels they are the team to beat in the West division...the score 33-14 by far does not show how good they are." The truth is we lost to a much better, more organized, football team. But they were a perfect example of what semi pro ball is all about. They are a team owned by the players who spend time and money to play and better a game they love. My hat's off to them and I hope I get the honor of coaching against them in the future. Gabe McCown Piedmont, Oklahoma *********** The Women's Final Four now sells out every year (about 19,334 in Boston last week). All 63 games of the tournament are carried on ESPN or ESPN2, and ticket prices have gone as high as $140. Meantime, though, in other respects women's college basketball is stuck in low gear. With a few notable examples, the crowds simply aren't there for regular season games. National champion Maryland, for instance, averaged 4,530 at home this season. *********** Marshall "Biggie" Goldberg, also known as "Mad Marshall" Goldberg, died last week in Chicago at the age of 88. Mr Goldberg was a member of Pitt's "Dream Backfield" of the late 1930's (Goldberg, Stebbins, Chickerneo and Cassiano) and a 1958 inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame. In 1937 he finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting, and 1938 he was runner-up to TCU's Davey O'Brien. Mr. Goldberg made All-American both years. His Pitt teams, running Hall of Fame coach Jock Sutherland's powerful single wing, went 25-3-2 (with three straight scoreless ties against Vince Lombardi and the Fordham Rams). The 1936 Pitt squad defeated Washington in the Rose Bowl, and the 1937 team won the national championship but refused to accept a second Rose Bowl invitation. (Legend has it that the players insisted on being paid.) At the time of his graduation, he held all of Pitt's rushing records. Mr. Goldberg went on to an outstanding career in the NFL, and as part of another "Dream Backfield" (along with Paul Christman, Pat Harder and Charlie Trippi), played on the Chicago Cardinals' 1947 NFL championship team. (It remains the only championship the Cardinals' franchise has ever won, whether in Chicago, St. Louis or Phoenix.) The fact that he was Jewish when there were few Jewish football players made him a great favorite among New York's many Jewish football writers. Hailing from little Elkins West Virginia, where he was all-state in football, basketball and track, his heritage and his Mountain State background led one AP sportswriter to refer to him (in those less sensitive times) as "The Jewish Hillbilly." Said Coach Sutherland, one of the hardest-nosed men ever to coach the game, "Marshall is a football player's player. He's the first fellow on the practice field and the last one off.  He was one of the finest backs I ever saw on any college team, and just about the best I ever coached" *********** Last week's Sports Illustrated (The One With "Gator Ball" on the cover) contains a great excerpt from David Maraniss' latest book, on Roberto Clemente. As always with David, it is masterfully done. His biography of Vince Lombardi, "When Pride Still Mattered," is a football classic, and his book on the Black Lions, "They Marched Into Sunlight," is one of the great books on the Vietnam War. 2006 DOUBLE-WING CLINIC SCHEDULE - AS OF 4-1-06 (2006 CLINICS) CLINICS START AT 9 AM SHARP AND GO UNTIL 4 PM WITH A 1-HOUR BREAK FOR LUNCH CLINIC LOCATION FEB 25 ATLANTA HOLIDAY INN AIRPORT NORTH - 1380 Virginia Ave - 404-762-8411 MARCH 11 LOS ANGELES HOLIDAY INN-MEDIA CENTER -150 E. Angeleno, Burbank - 818-841-4770 MARCH 18 CHICAGO ST. XAVIER UNIVERSITY - 3700 West 103rd St., Chicago APRIL 8 RALEIGH-DURHAM MILLENNIUM HOTEL - 2800 Campus Walk Ave - Durham - 919-383-8575 APRIL 15 PHILADELPHIA HOLIDAY INN, 432 Pennsylvania Ave, Fort Washington, PA. - 215-643-3000 APRIL 29 PROVIDENCE COMFORT INN AIRPORT - 1940 POST RD, WARWICK RI - 401-732-0470 MAY 6 DENVER WESTMINSTER HS - Westminster, CO (Further details to come) MAY 13 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS - LATHROP, CA. JUNE 3 BUFFALO HOLIDAY INN BUFFALO AIRPORT- 4600 Genesee St, Cheektowaga NY - 716-634-6969 NEXT CLINIC - PHILADELPHIA - SAT APRIL 15 - HOLIDAY INN - 432 PENNSYLVANIA AVE, FORT WASHINGTON, PA    Attendees will receive a complimentary DVD breaking down, play-by-play, the Full-House Belly-T offense of the powerful 1953-1954 Army teams, coached by Earl "Red" Blaik, with Vince Lombardi as his offensive assistant. On the video you will see action clips of Army greats, including the immortal Don Holleder, whose memory is honored by the Black Lion Award. This DVD is not for sale. It is provided by the Board of the Black Lion Award in the interests of furthering football and the Black Lion Award itself.   Osama shows that he will stop at nothing in his plot to weaken America... BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Army's Will Sullivan wore his Black Lion patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners

I Don't Think the Duke "Scandal" Would Have Happened on Mike Lude's Watch! (See"NEWS") A New HS Coach is Warmly Welcomed to the Community! (See"NEWS") My Offensive System My Materials for Sale My Clinics Me     April 7, 2006 - "The supreme values are self-respect, integrity of mind, contempt of fear, and hatred of sham."  On a building at the University of Virginia - I'm guessing its author may have been Thomas Jefferson *********** Coach: Man did we have a great offensive game! This is the first game in semi pro where we've executed to a point I'm proud of, not satisfied with, but proud of. We played the # 3 team in our division (CFL West) and beat them 36-8. We had 54 carries for 368 yards and six touchdowns. There was absolutly nothing they could do to stop the Super Powers and Wedges. (and they tried everything) We threw a little and ended the game with 70 offensive plays for 464 yards. If it wasn't for penalties we would have had over 500 yards of offense. Next week we travel to Lawton to play the Oklahoma Rebels who are currently #1 in the league and ranked in the top 5 in the nation. The good thing is that our players are finally buying into it. One of the linemen (who was actually drafted into the NFL before a car wreck ended his pro career) who was by far my worst critic is now defending the offense agianst fans and other teammates. In the 3rd quarter last week we went on a 16 play scoring drive that didn't involve a pass and one of the "receivers" started throwing a fit over it. He very quickly put the guy in his place, stated how good the offense looked, and there wasn't one complaint rest of the day. The team is really starting to buy in overall, with only a few egos holding out. Gabe McCown, Ada, Oklahoma (Coach McCown has had the "Stones" to take on selling a semi-pro team on running the Double-Wing. It has been a long, daunting task, but as you can see, he is beginning to get results and win some - but not all - people over. Double wingers everywhere wish him the best. HW) *********** Donnie Marbut, head baseball coach at Washington State, got caught in another one of those "misrepresenting academic credentials" deals. You know - falsifying things on the ole resume. After the Seattle Times discovered that a teaching certificate that he'd claimed in his biography did not exist, the school conducted its own investigation and determined that no, he didn't have one. Imagine Coach Marbut's shock at discovering that he didn't have a teaching certificate after all! "You mean to tell me that all these years I thought I'd taken hours of education classes and done my student teaching - and I really didn't? Wow." His public response to getting nailed was, "It was never my intent to deceive others." Yeah, sure, he deceived. But see- he didn't mean to, so Coach Marbut got off with a meaningless "official letter of reprimand" for his file. In other words, he skated. Hmmm. George O'Leary would probably still be coaching at Notre Dame if it weren't for a similar case of "misrepresentation." Boy, am I pissed. Years ago, I had to go out and get a teaching certificate, and getting it meant wasting my time and money taking some of the damnedest, dumbest, most useless classes I could ever have imagined. It pisses me off to think that all I had to do was put down on my resume that I had a teaching certificate - without having to endure all those boring, bogus education classes, not to mention student teaching in the nearest thing to a reform school - and I could have skated, too. Provided I was the baseball coach at Washington State. At the very least, he should have been given 30 semester hours in the WSU School of Education. *********** With the Duke lacrosse coach gone and the program shut down for at least the rest of the season, it is time to speculate on the responsibility of the Duke athletic director, who had to be aware of the long-time pattern of obnoxious conduct by members of the lacrosse team, yet apparently allowed things to continue. It seems to me that a real athletic director would have had the lacrosse coach - and maybe the entire team - in his office long ago, letting them know in no uncertain terms that he was sick and f--king tired of getting complaints from neighbors about loud, rowdy parties at their off-campus party house, and sick and f--king tired of hearing about lacrosse players being arrested (15 over the last three years) for offenses ranging from underage drinking to furnishing alcohol to a minor to public urination. For corroboration, I went back to the memoirs of Mike Lude, retired after a long and successful career as AD at Kent State, Washington and Auburn, after a neighbor who'd been a track star at Washington told us that she remembered her team meetings with Mike before every season. Where conduct is concerned Mike makes clear what he feels an AD's, a coach's, and an athlete's responsibility is... I totally believe that those involved in the leadership of intercollegiate athletics are held to a higher standard. They should be held to a higher standard and conduct themselves with the knowledge of that standard. In my view, anybody who says he or she shouldn't be or doesn't want to be a role model shouldn't be a teacher. When I was athletic director at Kent State, Washington and Auburn, I made a point of meeting personally with each squad and their coaches in every sport once a year and talked about this responsibility. I made it an absolute must to go over the rules and regulations and the forms the athletes had to sign for the NCAA. I would read the rules and emphasize my philosophy and beliefs. I emphasized that each of them would be identified as an athlete the rest of their lives. I told them, "Good or bad, you will carry that label." Right now I may be retired, but if I go out and misbehave - whatever way - the media will refer to me as "former athletic director at the University of Washington." When coaches and athletes said they didn't want to be considered role models and protested, "I'm on my own time," I had a standard response: "You are until you get into trouble." Mike Lude- "Walking the Line", Seattle, 2004 (MIKE LUDE - THE FIRST WING-T LINE COACH IN HISTORY) *********** Coach: I really enjoyed the commentary on boys and how they are getting short-changed in our schools. I've read the books you mentioned in your commentary, but I really didn't need to. I just had to take a look at what was going on in my son's classrooms and on the playground. Mind you, the middle school kids only get about 5 minutes for recess each day. Although my memory might not be 100% accurate, at my recesses in grammar school, I seem to remember being able to pick baseball teams, toss the bat (and argue about it for a couple of minutes) for first-ups, and then play a couple of innings....and we did that a couple of times a day. A couple of years ago, one wimpy aministrator banned all balls at recess (his had been removed previously I suppose) because the boys were playing "tackle the kid with the ball" or more-likely "smear the queer with the ball". So what do the boys do but play the same game the next day using someone's sneaker. So rather than just keep an eye on the proceedings in case it got out of hand, his ridiculous solution was to ban all balls....the boys found a way to be rough and tumble, blow off a little steam, and well, basically be boys. Another wimpy male science teacher told me that he wasn't sure if any of the boys in his 8th grade physical science class were "mature enough" to handle biology in their freshman year of high school (you had to pass a test to get into the freshman biology class, my son scored the highest of all the 8th graders and higher than anyone else in previous years)....and that the boys started to get a bit twitchy towards the end of his 90-minute labs....no kidding Dick Tracy, I coached these kids and needed to keep them focused for 2 hours.....so they just couldn't sit still be 90 minutes while the girls could...hmmm, maybe there is a difference between boys and girls. Anyways, I tell parents that we are more or less providing a public service for the boys, giving them a chance in youth football to blow off some steam that they don't get to blow off anywhere else. My wife videotaped and interviewed my 6th grade boys during a water break last season, and the answers from 4 different boys (my linemen and one of them my Black Lion winner) as to what their favorite thing was about playing football....their responses, "nailing people". Probably not what a girl would say. But what do I know, I'm not a trained educator. Sorry to sound so cynical, but I wholeheartedly agree that boys are getting shortchanged a bit in our schools. The teachers my son had in middle school were a history-teacher mom of 3 adopted boys and a math-teacher dad of 3 boys. They didn't seem to have a problem handling the boys. Enjoy your commentary as always, and am looking forward to Providence. Rick Davis, Duxbury Youth Football, Duxbury, Massachusetts (It is a major problem in America today, just one more manifestation of the fear of feminists that dominates our society. I have three daughters who were all raised (I hope) to believe that they could be successful in the field of their choice. Although all college educated, they chose to stay home and raise their kids (one of them works from a hoime office). They all have boys, and two of them have girls, and they all very quickly learned that the notion that boys and girls are the same is pure bunk. My wife, a 30-year vet of elementary school teaching, agrees. She appreciated the fact that boys acted - and learned - differently from girls, and recognized that their were times that she had to adjust her teaching to accomodate their higher energy levels. She agrees with the assessment that for the most part, moder-day education looks at boys as "defective girls." More than ever, America needs football coaches. HW) *********** I found some irony in reading your article on the feminization of boys. I was, helping out, coaching my son's soccer team (yes, I admitted that) this past Monday, they have one girl on the team, and she was the only one that was attentive in the group. The boys, on the other hand, were doing what boys do best (playing grab ass and horsing around) I did not show it outwardly, but I found myself getting a little bit upset because they were not as attentive as the one girl was. Mind you that these were 5 & 6 year old boys who have the attention span of a gnat. I was talking to my wife about this and she pretty much had the same thoughts that you had that boys will be boys. So thank you for that article. I guess I need to be reminded. Speaking of wives, yours is a trooper. I saw her at the Atlanta Clinic in 2005. I came with Greg Meyers and John "Stumpy" Mitchell. She was right there helping out where needed and conversing with the other coaches. This soccer thing is my son's first foray into sports lets hope this leads into wanting to play other sports (did somebody say football?) Be Cool Coach. Larry Bolden, Lake Wales, Florida P.S. I also teach Social Studies, and I like the analogies you used between the Fall of Rome and what we are going through today in America. I have used something like that in the past but I did not put it in those terms. Real Good. *********** What whores! ESPN, which with its near-monopoly power should be in a unique position to hold the frauds of sport to some sort of accountability, is doing some sort of weekly show called "Bonds on Bonds." What whores. How can we watch ESPN and expect them to comment effectively on the sleaze that is baseball, when they are in bed with the biggest juicer of them all? Why do I think that most of the witty guys on Sportscenter will be following the Party Line, the one that says that if what Bonds did wasn't against the rules of baseball when he did it (forget the fact that it was against the laws of the United States), then what's the big deal about his use of steroids? Oh - and that "investigation" by former Senator George Mitchell? Uh, he's, um, Chairman of the Board of Disney, which, if you didn't know, owns ESPN. No conflict there, certainly. Look for him to come down hard - really hard - on Barry Bonds, star of ESPN's weekly show. And away goes baseball down the drain... *********** Did I tell you that Greg Koenig found himself a great place to coach when he took the job in Beloit, Kansas? Get a load of this letter... Welcome Coach! I just wanted to drop a short note on behalf of the 5th-Grade Beloit Buccaneers Salvation Army Football team, to let you know that we are EXCITED about having you as our new BHS Trojan Football Head Coach! We welcome you and your family with open arms and want to extend our appreciation for choosing BHS as your new school and Beloit, KS as your future new home! We can't express enough how excited we are to have you! Jeff Adams, our team's community director, and I have spoken many times already and we are both very excited about the BHS football program's future now that you are in the picture! Afterall, the whole reason behind us starting our program was to help build BHS into a football powerhouse and to start winning state titles again in the future as our past once did! If there is anything in anyway our youth program can be of assistance to you, please...don't hesitate to ask. In fact, we would appreciate any guidance you might like to offer to us. We are getting ready for our 5th year in the program with the 2006-2007 upon us. We just completed our initial staff meeting for this up-coming season last night. As usual, we were all in attendance...community director, both 5th & 6th grade team commissioners, and both full coaching staffs. There are many things we strive to complete with our program. However, our main goal is to provide our youth with the beginning steps of the fundamentals for the game, to establish a competitive nature with good sportsmanship, then create desire, determination, and dedication. After last night's meeting, I began to ponder a few things that I thought you might be able to assist me with, but only if you want to and if you feel comfortable doing so! The following questions have come to mind: 1. Would you like us to focus our offense around the "Double-Wing"? I understand that you have used it in the past and plan to use this offense in the future. 2. If so, would you be willing to provide us with copies of the basic formation and any plays that you prefer? 3. Would you like us to focus our defense around the "4-4"? Again, I understand that you have used it in the past most commonly and plan to use it again in the future. 4. Would you mind sitting down and visiting for a few minutes some day? 5. Would you mind our coaching staff visiting your summer camp? Again, we thank you for coming to Beloit High and our community. We look forward to hearing from you in the future! Jason L. Chancellor, Head Coach Beloit Buccaneers 5th-Grade *********** Coach Wyatt, I can't believe Ron Schipper is gone. I just attended the Michigan High School Football Coaches clinic at the end of January and listened to him speak there. The passion that man had for football and his players was incredible. On that day he was emotional (and not afraid to show it) about the game, his family, his players, and his beliefs. The first thing I said to my assistant TJ when we walked out was, "I would have loved to have played for him, much more than I the coaches I played for at Hope College." And that was after only 45 minutes of ever listening to the man speak. What a blow to lose a great man and coach like that. Roger Doorn, Deerfield, Michigan *********** Back in the fall I was teaching a kindergarten class, reviewing and wrapping up a Locomotor skill unit. We finished the unit by playing a game that incorporated many of the skills that the students had just learned in their PE classes prior to the week of their review lesson. The activity that we played I called "Giants and Midgets". (A great game by the way!) Anyway, It just so happened to be a lesson in which my building administrator also observed me teaching the class. The lesson went great and so did the evaluation. Except for one thing. My principal ripped me for the name of the game! She said, and I quote, "Your reference to Midgets is absolutely and totally inappropriate!" I looked at her like she was kidding. But she was serious! She continued by saying, and again I quote, " We simply can not make references such as this, because some child could have a situation where midgets or dwarfism could run in their families and we can't degrade them." As you can imagine I looked at her in total disbelief. I thought to myself, you have got to be %#@*ing kidding me! But she was dead serious! I paused and said, " How about Elves?" She said "What?" I said "How about Elves instead of Midgets?" She paused and said, "That will be fine because Elves are fictional characters and not real people." Coach, I am not making this up. This really happened! I left our evaluation meeting thinking that my principal had completely lost her frigging marbles! Now, guns, bombs and violent type of stuff I can understand why people might get, shall we say, "concerned" over these types of outward displays. But midgets! Please. Now this is absolutely beyond crazy!!!!!!!!! NAME WITHHELD   *********** And then there are the UCLA cheerleaders, those perky little lovelies with their mix of good looks, enthusiasm, and - trash talking??? According to Joakim Noah, star of Florida's NCAA champions, the lovely young Bruin ladies shouted at him during the game, telling him he was "ugly." He had the last laugh, of course, as he and the Gators thumped the Bruins, but an athlete shouldn't have to take that kind of crap from anyone, especially someone who is part of another team's official party. I mean, those girls were right on the sidelines, and they should have been held to the same standards of sportsmanship as the team. They didn't pay their own way in, so they can't fall back on the old "I paid for my ticket so I can say anything I want" defense. Amazing. Those lovely little hangers-on apparently felt entitled to abuse a player - yet if Noah had smacked one of the (w)itches, there would have been hell to pay. *********** Still on the cheerleader beat... Oregon State has told its cheerleaders to knock it off with the pyramids and other "risky acrobatics." It's not that they've experienced any serious injuries. It's that the university's medical staff and trainers have been spending too much time dealing with cheerleaders' injuries, taking them away from "working with varsity athletes." Uh-oh. I can hear them now - "CHEERLEADERS ARE VARSITY ATHLETES, TOO!" I am not touching that one. Instead of the high-risk moves, OSU's athletic department announced that it would "refocus the program squarely on cheering." Sheesh. Talk about hard-core. Cheering. Next thing you know they'll be telling them they have to start watching the games. *********** With the FB close to the QB in the DW offense, I suppose then running some midline option type of plays would certainly not be out of the realm of possibility, or would it? Have you ever tried much option stuff from the DW? There are a lot of things you can run from a Double-Wing formation, but unless you have an unlimited amount of practice time, there is no point in trying to run anything that requires much extra time away from the time you need in order to run the Double Wing as well as you can. For that reason, although we do run some option, if you are going to run any option, it had better be something simple. HW 2006 DOUBLE-WING CLINIC SCHEDULE - AS OF 3-20-06 (2006 CLINICS) CLINICS START AT 9 AM SHARP AND GO UNTIL 4 PM WITH A 1-HOUR BREAK FOR LUNCH CLINIC LOCATION FEB 25 ATLANTA HOLIDAY INN AIRPORT NORTH - 1380 Virginia Ave - 404-762-8411 MARCH 11 LOS ANGELES HOLIDAY INN-MEDIA CENTER -150 E. Angeleno, Burbank - 818-841-4770 MARCH 18 CHICAGO ST. XAVIER UNIVERSITY - 3700 West 103rd St., Chicago APRIL 8 RALEIGH-DURHAM MILLENNIUM HOTEL - 2800 Campus Walk Ave - Durham - 919-383-8575 APRIL 15 PHILADELPHIA HOLIDAY INN, 432 Pennsylvania Ave, Fort Washington, PA. - 215-643-3000 APRIL 29 PROVIDENCE COMFORT INN AIRPORT - 1940 POST RD, WARWICK RI - 401-732-0470 MAY 6 DENVER WESTMINSTER HS - Westminster, CO (Further details to come) MAY 13 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS - LATHROP, CA. JUNE 3 BUFFALO HOLIDAY INN BUFFALO AIRPORT- 4600 Genesee St, Cheektowaga NY - 716-634-6969 NEXT CLINIC - RALEIGH-DURHAM - SAT APRIL 8 - MILLENNIUM HOTEL -2800 CAMPUS WALK, DURHAM -     Attendees will receive a complimentary DVD breaking down, play-by-play, the Full-House Belly-T offense of the powerful 1953-1954 Army teams, coached by Earl "Red" Blaik, with Vince Lombardi as his offensive assistant. On the video you will see action clips of Army greats, including the immortal Don Holleder, whose memory is honored by the Black Lion Award. This DVD is not for sale. It is provided by the Board of the Black Lion Award in the interests of furthering football and the Black Lion Award itself.             Osama shows that he will stop at nothing in his plot to weaken America... BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Army's Will Sullivan wore his Black Lion patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners

Bill Gates' Offer to You! (See"NEWS") More Photos From Germany! (See"NEWS") My Offensive System My Materials for Sale My Clinics Me     April 4, 2006 - "Football is one of our great American games. It is the duty and responsibility of each of us to see that it is kept in its proper perspective, and that it is protected. We should see that it is used to attain the objectives that mean so much to our way of life."  Bobby Dodd, Hall of Fame (Georgia Tech,1945-1966)   *********** Dear friends, Please take the time to read this letter...   As you may know, William F. Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and currently the richest man in the United States, is from the state of Washington. As you may also know, I am also a Washingtonian. (I live in Camas, Washington.)   In order to stimulate the use if the Internet by Washington citizens, while at the same time testing out Microsoft's new Web-measurement software, I have persuaded Mr. Gates to pay $10 per visit to every person who visits my site over the next 30 days, every time they visit, up to a maximum of $300 per person.   So not only can you profit from visiting my site, but for every person you refer to here, you will receive another $10 the first time he (or she) visits here.   THIS IS NOT A JOKE, like all those other other stupid e-mails you keep receiving about all the ways Mr. Gates is supposedly eager to give his away his fortune to ordinary people for doing effortless, everyday things.   Please pass this on. And if you haven't received your check by May 10, you should write to Mr. William Gates, Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Washington.   (A belated April Fool).   SCENES FROM A RECENT VISIT TO GERMANY Left: My host and hostess, Mathias Bonner and his lovely wife, Nina; Right: Mathias and I say Auf Wiedersehen (Good-bye) Left: Mathias and Nina's pug puppy, "Wedge."; Right: You haven't eaten until you've had Nina's roast pork and dumplings! In Bremen, a beautiful old city in North Germany, you could spend days exploring its many narrow alleys and walking its broad streets At left is the Bremen Town Hall, and at right is the cathedral Maybe you've heard of the Bremen Town Musicians, a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, but it's supposed to be good luck to grab the legs of the donkey - enough people do so that they are kept bright and shiny; at right, toward the top of the building, the pipe jutting from up near the roof is a, uh, "drain" - not the most pleasant thing for anyone walking below, but a whole lot better than a bedpan if you happened to be upstairs when nature called If you work up an appetite walking around Bremen, you could stop in for some American-type food, but why - when just off the town square you can buy a typical German snack - a bratwurst on brötchen (bun), or, as shown at right, a hot roast pork sandwich At Left - This dockside tavern in the port city of Bremerhaven calls itself "The Last Bar Before New York," and for generations of sailors, it has been just that; Right - Despite much more ominous warning signs and much higher cigarette prices, smoking is still far more common in Europe than in the US   *********** Coach - what do you tell your guys (on G reach) as far as the numbering goes when the defense is stemming???    When a defense is stemming (lining up in one defensive look and shifting to another before the snap) we don't run anything else but wedge on the first sound. Maybe that's why we don't see much of it.   When they're off-balance and poised to shift sideways, defensive men are not in a good position to defend against the wedge.   *********** From Steve Staker, former Iowa HS coach who's now on the staff of Coe College, comes the sad news of the unexpected passing of Ron Schipper (pronounced "Skipper"), Ron Schipper, longtime coach at Central College of Iowa. Coach Schipper was 77 years old. In his 36 years at Central, Coach Schipper won 287 games, and never had a losing season. Under Coach Schipper, Central won the Division III National Championship in 1974, and made it to the final game in 1984 and 1988. Coach Schipper was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2000, joining Vern Den Herder, one of his former players, as Central's only two representatives in the Hall of Fame.   *********** ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. If you were to set out to kill the sport of college basketball, you would only need to stage a couple more Final Fours exactly like this one. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.   *********** Like so many youth coaches, my good friend Scott Barnes, of Rockwall, Texas, is a coach in one compartment of his life, and a successful businessman and family man in other compartments. Over the years, we have had many a good discussion about the things that make people successful in all of those areas, and just the other day I received a gift from him in the form of a book entitled "Cowboy Ethics - what Wall Street can learn from the Code of the West."   Scott wrote,   I know you aren't big on these sort of books, but I just LOVE this one. And I did immediately think of you when I picked it up. I long to do business with people who share these values. It's why I joined the Marine Corps, it's why I joined (my present company) and it's why I'm going to join my partner in our new adventure.   I'm going to try to run my new business based on these ethics. I treasure their core meaning, and I treasure others who respect a code like this. I certainly place you in the small group of Americans who truly understand what it took to build this great nation. Unfortunately, I think we are now outnumbered by guys like T.O. and that ridiculous bunch in Washington. But that's not an excuse to change our beliefs, and not an excuse to not pass our beliefs on to others.   I'm never politically correct around my kids. I think it's important that they know how I feel about issues such as homosexuality, lying, stealing, bigotry, etc. I strongly believe that if I don't teach them, someone else will.   It doesn't take a community (or whatever the F she calls it) to raise a child. It takes a STRONG mom and dad who are willing to set some boundaries, goals and rules - and THEN hold them accountable for delivering. How many WWII heroes lived in "communities" anyway?? they freakin' lived on farms where they busted their backside from morning to night.   How many of these cowboys lived in "communities"??? NONE. They all lived on ranches where their nearest neighbor was a day's ride. But they all had parents who set high expectations and developed a strong set of values and character -- they developed by example. That hasn't changed.   Our kids will emulate us. And we can't fool them with who we are.   *********** There is no end to the honors heaped on my favorite author, David Maraniss. David, biographer of Vince Lombardi ("When Pride Still Mattered") and of chronicler of the Black Lions' combat in Vietnam, has just released his latest work, "Clemente: the Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero." If you don't know, Roberto Clemente is an former Pittsburgh Pirate and all-time baseball great who lost his life in a plane crash while flying aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. David's latest honor (in addition to a Pulitzer Prize) is being chosen to throw out the first pitch at the Pirates' game on Mother's Day.   *********** While trying to cull out some old videotapes, I popped in a Tennessee-Syracuse game tape from 1998.   I got started watching, and I couldn't stop - it was that good. It was the opening game for both teams, and it was Tennessee's first game without Peyton Manning, who'd gone on to the NFL, and Tee Martin was at quarterback. The Vols had a pretty good runner whom you may have heard of named Jamal Lewis, and a decent receiver named Peerless Price. Syracuse was not exactly weaponless, with a QB named Donovan McNabb, and a rough customer at fullback named Rob Konrad.   It was a hell of a game, with Tennessee finally winning on a last-season field goal (and then going on to win the national championship.)   I got a couple of laughs, too, one from commentator Bill Curry, and one from a MasterCard commercial.   Curry noted that receivers and DB's had begun wearing pants that didn't come down below their knees, and said that the rules makers had instructed officials to crack down on the practice. Yeah, right.   Meantime, whoever thought he'd live to see the day when basketball "shorts" would be longer than football pants?   The MasterCard commercial, true to its "Priceless" theme, listed the price of various items at a baseball game. Then it showed Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa, who were at the time locked in a (drug-augmented?) home-run contest. "The race for 72?" it asked. "Priceless." *********** Q. How is your system different from the Delaware Wing-T, and why? A. When you get right down to it, my system IS the Delaware Wing-T - but a lot tighter. I have run the pure Delaware Wing-T, and I think it's a great offense. It has proven its effectiveness over and over, and I have nothing bad to say about it. Perhaps it was because of coaching shortcomings on my part, but there were a few problems I ran into when I ran the pure Delaware Wing-T that I think my present system addresses: 1. The vulnerability of the A-gaps. Every coach knows - or will one day find out - how difficult it is to protect the inside gap, even when you constantly work at it. The people at Delaware, the people who invented the offense (at Maine, to be technical), saw it as a constant area of concern. It has become gospel among many defensive coaches that the first thing to do against a Wing-T team is check out their ability to block those A-gaps. I once lost a game in OT when an opponent shot through the A-gap on a 2-point conversion attempt and grabbed my QB's legs, with a receiver wide open in the end zone; 2. Maintaining those splits. If you are committed to having splits, maintaining them is one more detail that you must stay on top of. 3. Wider splits meant that we really couldn't pull the backside tackle on power plays. 4. The difficulty of teaching the wingback's down block against the opposing defensive end when you run the buck sweep. Usually there is a mismatch in size, strength, courage, and/or football ability in favor of the defender. If the wingback doesn't get his block, the defensive end can stop your pulling playside guard in his tracks, blowing the play up before it ever has a chance to get started. 5. The difficulty of the fullback's getting a consistent inside-out kickout block on power plays. Coming from four yards or so deep, as he does in the Delaware Wing-T, even when he takes a good angle of attack he can find himself being wrong-shouldered by a defensive end. At our shallower depth, his angle of approach is nearly the same as that of a guard. When all is said and done, though, my system is a variant of the same Delaware Wing-T that I started running in 1983. *********** *********** More than 25 years ago, as part of my Master's Degree program, I took a short course in world history at the University of Portland, taught by a professor named James Covert. Now, my B.A. was in history, and I had some of the real greats of the history field as my teachers at Yale, and I have to place Dr, Covert right up there with him. I will never forget the time Dr. Covert discussed the Causes of the Fall of Rome. I can't forget it, because I wrote everything down on an index card, and that card has been on my office wall ever since. I keep it there to remind me of the fact that we tend, as all previous great civilizations do, to revel in the sort of arrogance that allows us to think that ours will be the one - the first one in history - that lasts forever. Yet our supremacy as a society has been relatively short-lived. It can't really be traced further back than 1848, when by good fortune the discovery of gold in California led to our becoming the richest nation on earth. Others would say that because of the massive disruption and disunity of the Civil War and its bitter aftermath, it didn't even begun until 1919, when victorious American troops returned from World War I, and America survived while war-torn Europe suffered. No matter. I am worried. I truly believe that our enemies abroad and their enablers here at home, however well-intentioned, are about to overwhelm us, helped along by our loss of national unity and spine. Every day, I look at that card and marvel at the parallels between the cause of the collapse of ancient Rome, as glorious a civilization as the world has known, and what we see in today's America.  THE CAUSES OF THE FALL OF ROME 1. THE COST OF GLADIATORIAL GAMES (PARALLEL: FACTORY JOBS LEAVE OUR SHORES, PUBLIC SCHOOLS GO TO HELL, JAILS GO UNBUILT AND POLICE JOBS UNFILLED, WHILE SPENDING HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS TO BUILD STADIUMS FOR MILLIONAIRE ATHLETES TO PERFORM IN) 2. HIRED ARMIES, RATHER THAN CITIZEN ARMIES (PARALLEL: THE IVY LEAGUE ELITISTS WHO RUN OUR GOVERNMENT AND TEACH OUR KIDS DON'T CONSIDER THE DEFENSE OF THE COUNTRY TO BE THEIR JOB) 3. POPULATION PRESSURES FROM OUTSIDE (PARALLEL: IS THERE ANY INTELLIGENT AMERICAN WHO DOESN'T SEE THE WHAT'S HAPPENING AS A RESULT OF OUR OPEN BORDERS AND OUR COWARDLY POLITICIANS' REFUSAL TO DEAL WITH THEM?) 4. GOVERNMENTAL CORRUPTION (PARALLEL: ENOUGH SAID. IS THERE A SINGLE POLITICIAN WHO WOULD PUTS HIS (OR HER) COUNTRY'S GOOD AHEAD OF HIS OR HER OWN REELECTION?) *********** "Things that you'll never hear a teacher say" 1. "Our principal is sooooooo smart. No wonder he's an administrator and we're just teachers!" 2. "Thank goodness for these evaluations. They keep me focused!" 3. "I'd like to see Red Lobster offer a meal like this!" 4. "I bet all the people in administration really miss teaching!" 5. "I can't believe that I get paid for this!" 6. "I think that the discipline around here is a little too strict!" 7. "It's Friday? Already???" 8. "I don't think we spend enough money on athletics!" 9. " We'd be able to educate our children better if they'd let us teach through the summer, too." 10. "Have you noticed that we teachers all drive better cars than the students?" 11. "This in-service training has really been useful!" 12. "It must be true - the superintendent said so!" ***********  Feminist Gloria Steinem once said, "We need to raise boys like we raise girls." Unfortunately, too many people in our feminist-dominated educational system took her advice. Christina Hoff Sommers, in her book, "The War against Boys: How Misguided Feminism Is Harming Our Young Men" (Simon & Schuster, 2000), disagrees with Steinem. She argues that studies claiming to show that girls are at greater risk than boys in schools today have it all wrong - that boys are getting the short end of the stick. Boys, as most of us can attest, have been suffering from a watering down of competition in all aspects of their lives, and well as from a mindset that simply can't accept the fact that boys are different - that they are more active and restless than girls, and not, to use the words of the authors of a recent publication, "defective girls." Ms. Summers points out that far more boys than girls are suspended from school or held back; more drop out. As a rule, girls get better grades, and they outnumber boys in almost every extracurricular activity. They're even catching up to boys in sports participation, as girls' teams are emphasized while some boys' teams are eliminated. The consequences can be readily seen - about 25 percent more girls than boys take Advance Placement exams, the U.S. Department of Education predicts that by 2007, more than 9 million women will be in college, but fewer than 7 million men. Much of the problem, say authors Dan Kindlon and Michael Thompson, of "Raising Cain : Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys," is that "Girl behavior becomes the gold standard," and as a result, "Boys are treated like defective girls.'" Time to counterattack, Men of America. Never pass up a chance to tell any wussy educator you run into - "BOYS ARE NOT DEFECTIVE GIRLS! THEY ARE BOYS"   2006 DOUBLE-WING CLINIC SCHEDULE - AS OF 3-20-06 (2006 CLINICS) CLINICS START AT 9 AM SHARP AND GO UNTIL 4 PM WITH A 1-HOUR BREAK FOR LUNCH BUFFALO CLINIC DATE & LOCATION SET - The Buffalo clinic will be held Saturday, June 3 at the Holiday Inn Buffalo International Airport, 4600 Genesee St in Cheektowaga (716-634-6969) CLINIC LOCATION FEB 25 ATLANTA HOLIDAY INN AIRPORT NORTH - 1380 Virginia Ave - 404-762-8411 MARCH 11 LOS ANGELES HOLIDAY INN-MEDIA CENTER -150 E. Angeleno, Burbank - 818-841-4770 MARCH 18 CHICAGO ST. XAVIER UNIVERSITY - 3700 West 103rd St., Chicago APRIL 8 RALEIGH-DURHAM MILLENNIUM HOTEL - 2800 Campus Walk Ave - Durham - 919-383-8575 APRIL 15 PHILADELPHIA HOLIDAY INN, 432 Pennsylvania Ave, Fort Washington, PA. - 215-643-3000 APRIL 29 PROVIDENCE COMFORT INN AIRPORT - 1940 POST RD, WARWICK RI - 401-732-0470 MAY 6 DENVER WESTMINSTER HS - Westminster, CO (Further details to come) MAY 13 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS - LATHROP, CA. JUNE 3 BUFFALO HOLIDAY INN BUFFALO AIRPORT- 4600 Genesee St, Cheektowaga NY - 716-634-6969 NEXT CLINIC - RALEIGH-DURHAM - SAT APRIL 8 - MILLENNIUM HOTEL -2800 CAMPUS WALK, DURHAM   DIRECTIONS TO ALL CLINICS     Attendees will receive a complimentary DVD breaking down, play-by-play, the Full-House Belly-T offense of the powerful 1953-1954 Army teams, coached by Earl "Red" Blaik, with Vince Lombardi as his offensive assistant. On the video you will see action clips of Army greats, including the immortal Don Holleder, whose memory is honored by the Black Lion Award. This DVD is not for sale. It is provided by the Board of the Black Lion Award in the interests of furthering football and the Black Lion Award itself. Osama shows that he will stop at nothing in his plot to weaken America... BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Army's Will Sullivan wore his Black Lion patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners