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AUGUST 2005

NO MORE 2005 CLINICS 2005 Clinics COACHES - TAKE A MINUTE OR TWO TO ENROLL YOUR TEAM IN THE BLACK LION AWARD PROGRAM NOW. YOU WILL BE GLAD YOU DID. SO WILL YOUR PARENTS AND KIDS. YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A DOUBLE-WING TEAM. YOUR TEAM CAN BE YOUTH, MIDDLE SCHOOL OR HIGH SCHOOL. FOR MORE INFO - (BLACK LION AWARD) (UPDATED WHENEVER I FEEL LIKE IT - BUT USUALLY ON TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS) August 30, 2005 - "I don't care if you are tall, but I do care if you play tall." John Wooden   *********** Take a minute to say a prayer for all those folks hit hard by Hurricane Katrina. They are going to need great strength and determination to rebuild their homes and lives. Yes, football is disrupted there. And yes, football is very important in the Deep South. But as important as football is to all of us, it's way down the list of priorities for people whose lives have been shattered.   *********** It's an ill wind that blows no good... Watch for Tom Benson, owner of the Saints, to use the damaged condition of the Superdome as leverage in his scheme to force the city of New Orleans to (a) build him a new stadium (b) renovate the Superdome or (c) let him out of his contract (it runs until 2010) so he can bolt for Los Angeles. *********** Steve Rushin writes in Sports Illustrated that the New York Jets have a season-ticket waiting list of more than 10,000 people, and that those 10,000 people pay the Jets $50 each - every year - to remain on the list. That's $500,000 a year, if you don't feel like doing the math yourself. But I wouldn't call it greed, or gouging or anything. I mean, it's not as if the Jets don't have any costs involved in maintaining that list. Hey - all those names take up valuable storage space on the team's computers. Have you checked out the cost of memory these days?   *********** "Typewriters are making their return," said the headline.   Apparently there is a trend among artsy young intellectuals to reject computers and word processors and go back to using typewriters. They claim they want to do the same thing that real writers like Hemingway and Faulkner did. The computer, you see, is so... sterile.   Said a woman whose family owns a typewriter store in the Bay Area (where else?) "They have no feeling about their computer, but they like their charming little typewriter. It's got character, and it's more alive than a computer is."   Yeah, alive. And a horse and buggy is more alive than a car. And who wants an iPod when you can listen to 78 rpm records on a wind-up Victrola? Talk about character.   The reason for this mini-phenomenon, says a professor at Syracuse University who is billed as an expert on popular culture, is that "a lot of young people...find the tactile, analog stuff very appealing."   "Tactile," huh? Speaking as a person with plenty of experience with "tactile, analog stuff" - specifically, a typewriter - I can only hope that someday one of those artistes will have a job like the one I once had - updating the training camp roster of a professional football team several times daily, as players are cut, traded, picked up on waivers, and brought in for tryouts. While newspaper reporters demanded to know who this guy was or where that guy got to ("what do I have to do to get an up-to-date roster around this place?") updating a 100+ man roster entailed cutting and pasting (literally) until the roster looked like a ransom note, at which point it could no longer be photocopied, and had to be completely re-typed.   I suppose photocopy machines lack character, too. Somebody be sure to tell them that they'll have to hit the keys on the typewriter extra hard when they're making carbon copies.   These nuts are headed backward into a world of retro thrills.   Since they're so into the "tactile, analog stuff", they'd probablly love going down into the cellar and shovelling some coal into the furnace.   *********** GEORGIA -Nathanael Greene Academy 36 Monroe Academy 14 - The first win was a big one to me because after a very shakey start with a loss to a team we though we should have beaten. It was important to come out and right the ship. We still almost got in trouble again putting the ball on the ground when we could have put them away. We fumbled it away and they took advantage and we found ourselves in a dogfight 20-14 and they had BIG MO on their side. After they scored their 14th point we took first play from scrimmage and broke it for a TD. That took the wind out of them. I'm proud of my kids but we have so much to do, to get better, that I'm dizzy. I guess I'll plow into it on Monday.   Congrats to Kevin Latham on his great win. He knows how important a first win can be I assure you!!!   Tell all our DW friends that Harrison says hello! Thanks for everything!   Coach Larry Harrison, Head Coach, Nathanael Greene Academy, Siloam, Georgia   *********** Hello Coach, thought I'd share with you yet another new experience for me as a new Head Football Coach in the state of ---------.  Our first opponent had not contacted me all week about our up coming saturday scrimmage or as to if he wished to exchange a tape.  Saturday morning we go out to scrimmage and I was visiting with the parents briefly to give them a run down as to how the scrimmage would unfold and finally ended it with informing them that our opponent had not made contact with us about scouting or tape exchange.  Long story short, they showed up and the parents "ran them off" as they figured out who they were.  One of the coaches actually heard me tell the parents about the lack of communication.  So the parents ran them off and of course I got a call from their head coach a few hours later.  He claimed they were "on the field for last years scrimmage" and that is how they have always done things in Nebraska!  What a hoot!  So I said "would you like to exchange a tape?"  He of course said yes.  So thats what we did at 9:00 p.m. last night.  I gave him a decent tape with a press box view.  What he gave me was only an end zone view of his offense from a fair distance.  The camera was "panned in" so that when he spread his formations you can not see his recievers or their routes.  We also could not see his defense as the whole tape was shot from the end zone view.  What a trip eh coach.  Has this ever happened to you?   As understand it, a scrimmage is a practice. It is closed to scouts, unless it is mutually arranged that there will be an exchange of visits for scouting purposes.   Watching someone else's practice is called "skunking," and amonf coaches it is considered about as low as you can get.   Next on the list is exchanging an inferior tape for a quality tape.   I guess that there are a--holes everywhere. I can't stand people who no have no respect for their opponents or for the game itself. They seem to think that they are more important than the integrity of the game.   Has it happened to me? In our league, yes. All the time. We get third-generation copies, dubbed in EP mode, that look as if they were shot from the bed of a pickup truck parked on the running track behind the home team's bench. By a freshman member of the A-V class. Using a camera with vaseline smeared on the lens. That's in "exchange" for our sending them pristine footage, the kind used in our "highlights" tapes. No more.   *********** Hey everyone, It is game week as we prepare for Friday nights season opener here in NW Kansas. We had our annual intra-squad scrimmage last Saturday night, and now we are getting ready for week 1. For those who are wondering, yes I am still running that outdated, old-fashioned double wing offense. Our photographer only got one good photo from the scrimmage, and I have attached it. Take care and God bless you. Greg Koenig, Colby, Kansas   *********** Hi Coach.Hope all is well.Hello to Connie.Around here had a jamboree on Saturday.Beat one team.Tied the other.The one tied is a Region power house.A lot of the younger guys stepped up. Good to see. I'm putting in motion this week - Rip,Liz - Now that we are running all our base plays well. .Over,Under formations too.Well it is getting worse now.This is when I used your name. Former O coordinator (they have him for some strange reason that I as the new coordinator would've never gone for) in the booth,"Spotting".Now he criticizes players and play calling thru the head sets.Then the former Head Coach was yelling instructions from the stands.The other coach thought it was funny.I found it disturbing and made that known to the new head coach.I said Coach Hugh Wyatt would never go for that.This gets crazier and crazier down here. Name Withheld    Feel free to use me any time it can help you.   You simply have to get rid of the old regime, and get them totally out of the picture.   No management takes over a business and allows the old management to roam the halls and talk trash about the new management.   The new head coach is making things very difficult for his staff and eventually it will bring him down if he doesn't deal with it.   If the old head coach is a teacher, the principal has to have a talk with him. A serious talk.   I can't imagine what earthly good that old OC is doing anybody up in the booth, but anyone that close to the program who is critical of kids and coaches (by criticizing the play calling) has to go.   Who is running the program? It is time for the head coach to cut the apron strings and become the real head coach. Simple as that.   *********** Your video is excellent excellent excellent and we have put in the offense and had our first game yesterday against a neighboring town that we only scored one lucky touchdown against last year (as 5th graders our team scored only 5 times all of last year in five games).   Running the double wing yesterday we amassed 250 yards rushing and scored on 3 of our 6 positions, however. Still lost 20-18 because our defense is bad news and we just could not get it in for the two point conversions. Yet still an incredible success.   Anyway, my question relates to our Junior Football League board here which has called me in for a special meeting with the "Coaches' Committee" because I'm not running the high school's Power I. I figure you have experienced the same opposition to the double wing  yourself or have heard from other coaches in similar situations. Would you have any advice regarding the advantages or disadvantages of a junior football league running the same offense as the high school or any advice as to what I can say to convince these people that the DW is the best thing for our kids' confidence, success, and their continued interest in football   Coach- My stock answer... I personally think that most HS coaches would do well to coach their own kids and - so long as kids in the lower level programs are (1) being taught good work habits and how to take coaching; (2) being taught how to block and tackle correctly; (3) being given a reasonable chance to win; and (4) left wanting more football when it is over - I question how involved they should be with their youth programs.   However, should lower-level coaches be deficient in those basic areas, I would work to have them removed.   I coached for eight years at a large high school (Hudson's Bay High, Vancouver, Washington) and for six of those years, we didn't even have freshmen at our school. We got kids as sophs. And there was nothing we could do about their junior high programs, because they came to us from FIVE different junior highs, all with their own coaches, who all had their own programs and systems. All we could ask for was coachability, and solid fundamentals, and an eagerness to play football. Given that, I figured that it was MY job to teach them my offense, and somehow I managed.   And your coach can, too.   Any high school coach who's worth a damn can teach his offense to his freshmen.   *********** Hello Coach Wyatt,   Thought I would update you on DW in the Lone Star State. We lost Friday night 24-10 to San Antonio Central Catholic. They are a quality program in the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools. We, as true double wingers know, really stopped ourselves as much as they stopped us. Some of our kids were unclear on assignments, etc. on both offense and defense. Might need to make some personnel adjustments, mostly on defense. Good news: no major injuries, 100% ball security. I believe we will get better. A-back Andy Reyna had 77 yds., QB Joey Gonzalez had 105 rushing and 36 passing.   Also, Coach Wayne Gandy at Joaquin HS (over in East TX) got off to a great start with a 70-0 win over Chester HS (Tx)   Hope Coach Steve Jones in Ocean Springs, Ms. has everything tied down.   Good luck, thanks for everything.   Don Davis, Head Football Coach, Martin High School, Laredo, Texas   *********** Bud Withers writes in the Seattle Times that when Notre Dame went after Tyrone Willingham, they also talked to Oregon's Mike Bellotti.   Bellotti recalled, "The one thing they could tell me they could hang their hat on was, they had never fired a coach. They had always let him finish out his contract. It's very interesting that the next coach they hired, they didn't allow that to happen."   *********** You probably hadn't heard that the rapper formerly known as Puff Daddy, who then changed his name to P. Diddy, has decided to drop the "P," and henceforth be known as plain ole "Diddy." Said that that doggone li'l P was "getting between me and my fans."   *********** Q. Can I let my young sons watch "The Power, The Passion and The Glory? A. Yes. By all means.   Q. How about "Year of the Bull?" A. Only if they are used to hearing "motherf--ker" around the house.   ********** MISSISSIPPI - OCEAN SPRINGS 35, St. Martin 12 - We are pre-season ranked # 5 in the state. We won our first game Thursday night 35-12. It was 35-0 at the 6:00 minute mark of the third quarter. We emptied our bench.   That was win # 20 since arriving at Ocean Springs. (Record now 20-7)   Coach Pruett (McLaurin) won his opener tonight as well.   Good luck this season. Coach Steve Jones, Ocean Springs, Mississippi (For those detractors who say, "the Double-Wing is a small school offense," Coach Jones' Ocean Springs Greyhounds, playing in Mississippi's largest classification, made it to last year's state title game before finally falling to South Panola, ranked #10 in USA Today's final poll. By the way, Coach Jones writes that as a result of Katrina, his game this coming weekend will probably not be played. HW)   *********** No other sport has been affected by weather to the extent college football has. Consider hurricanes. As another one beat the hell out of the Gulf Coast, I was reminded of how hard hurricanes have indirectly hit West Coast football in recent years.   In 1998, UCLA's early-season game with Miami had to be postponed because of a hurricane until after the end of each team's regular season. By the time they eventually met, UCLA was sporting a 20-game win streak - the nation's longest at the time - and was ranked third in the nation. For the Bruins, coming off a highly-emotional 34-17 win over archrival USC, the post-season trip to Miami to play a game that should have been played weeks before had to be somewhat anticlimactic. But not for Miami. The Bruins ran into a Miami team that was fired up to fever pitch, and the result was a 49-45 Miami victory. Chalk up a win for the Hurricanes - and for a hurricane. So shaken were the Bruins that a few weeks later, they were beaten by Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl.   And then, two years ago, there was the Cal-Southern Miss game, similarly rescheduled to season's end because of a hurricane. Cal did beat the Goldern Eagles, but not by enough to satisfy certain BCS voters, especially those with Big 12 ties looking for an excuse to make their schools a little extra money by slipping Texas into the series ahead of the Golden Bears (you'll never convince me there wasn't a conspiracy).   *********** What pass pattern do you recommend for 3rd and long? Most of our passes so far are getting the underneath pattern open but short of 1st down yardage.   If you knew a little more about my philosophy, you'd know that we may not throw at all on 3rd and long. A trap, counter or tackle trap is usually as effective for us. When we routinely throw on 3rd and long, we are playing the other guy's game. Of course, there is one nice thing about our offense - unless you or your kids do something really stupid, you won't face many third-and-longs. HW   *********** ILLINOIS - Coach Wyatt, Ridgeview is 1-0 after a hard fought 21-0 victory over the Heyworth Hornets friday night. The Mustangs rushed for 291 yards on 54 carries and except for about 8 penalties (a flag happy crew tonight) we looked pretty good. Next week we play the Woodland Warriors. Mike Benton, Colfax, Illinois - www.ridgeviewfootball.us   *********** Coach, I guess I missed some information.  Your last email seemed to indicate that you had taken over a new program or team.  Sorry, I have been so busy trying to get my kids ready that I missed that input on your site.  Hope things are  going well, at least as well as pre-season can go.   An upbeat note:  I put in the DW this month.  Our first scrimmage against two decent teams resulted in a touchdown every four plays.  This week we are putting in Stack I.  One of our scrimmage opponents came into the game really wanting to prove something.  Their kids were trash-talking (which, is obviously bad, but given that they were the rich-kid white team from the northern foothills that didn't win a game last year was doubly out of place) and ACTING super aggressive - up until the first play when we wedged them.   In our first 10 plays, we scored three times.  Their coach, who was actually MY TEAM's coach last year, wouldn't speak to me after the scrimmage.  Afterward, I saw him screaming at his kids to get lower and hit harder.  Heck, his linebackers would get into our backfield, but unfortunately for his kids, our running backs would be upfield 20 yards.  This abuse after two hours of scrimmaging.  Oh well, those boys (many of whom I have coached in other sports) are in for a long season of being screamed at and belittled.   It is unfortunate that all too often that is what passes for "coaching."   I'm glad that things are going well for you.   It must have been quite a surprise for your kids - and quite a shock to your opponents - to discover that all the play-acting and braggadocio meant nothing after one good wedge!   *********** (In addition to my responsibilities at the high school) I got thrown back in as commisioner of the youth league as well. I don't think I could ever coach youth ball, the parents drive me nuts. After 4 years, all the High School parents are afraid of me, but the youth parents are like little pit bulls. One of our coaches is using 3 quarterbacks because he does not want to upset the parents. We will be having a meeting on Saturday to fix that problem. I had another coach tell me he can't run our system because out of 17 kids he can't find any players that can pull. I think we just have a coach that can't pull, another topic for Saturdays meeting.   Good luck with those youth parents. Unless someone takes them on, they are going to be MONSTERS when their kids get to high school - if they make it that far.   You will be doing some future coach a great favor if you lay down the law to these jerks. Best of luck trying. *********** I got an unsolicited e-mail from one Pennsylvania State Representative Mike Gerber, who represents an area in Montgomery County, not far from where my wife grew up. I don't know the guy, and I don't know what his party affiliation is, but I greatly admire what he's trying to do: I participated in a Little League opening day ceremony with another soldier who had served in Iraq. Again, his bravery and selflessness humbled me. This soldier, U.S. Marine Corps. Reserve Staff Sgt. Joe Renner of Conshohocken, thanked me for supporting the little leaguers and in the same breath, said he was headed back to Iraq. His care for others, modesty and selflessness struck me and made me realize that I was doing nothing to say "thank you" to those in service. With the guidance of a constituent, Beverly Hahn of Whitpain, I am organizing a collection of new or used CDs and DVDs to be sent to our troops serving overseas to let them know people back home are appreciative and care. We chose CDs and DVDs because Staff Sgt. Renner explained to us that many soldiers have CD and DVD players and like the escape the music and videos provide. You know, I'll bet there are guys over there who would even enjoy looking at your highlights DVDs. (Most of them that I've seen are quite well done.) Send them to 20 E. 11th Ave., Conshohocken, PA 19428 ---- Rep. Gerber's office phone number is 610-832-1679 (I wrote for permission to post this on my site, and I heard back from Rep. Gerber's office. Turns out I do know the guy. This is sort of freaky - a couple of years back I got a call from a Mike Gerber, a youth coach in Pennsylvania, who purchased some of my materials. One thing led to another, and it turned our that we'd gone to the same school - Germantown Academy - although many years apart. We probed further, as usually happens in cases like this, and it turned out that his close friend and classmate, Mike Turner, was the present coach at GA, and Mike was the son of a former longtime GA coach - and a classmate and teammate of mine - Jack Turner. Mike played football at GA and at Penn, and like so many of you, despite having a real life, he was hooked on coaching youth football. Completely off the wall came his e-mail, and it turns out that that Mike Gerber, the youth football coach, and this Mike Gerber, the state representative, are one and the same! Also turns out, by the way, he's a Democrat. What do I give a sh--? He's a football coach, isn't he? And he's a damn good man to be doing something like this. HW) More From Representative Gerber: Dear Coach, One of my staffers just showed me the posting on your site re: my CD/DVD drive for the troops. Thanks so much. I want you to know that your help several years ago has turned into a double wing tidal wave in this area. My organization, the Ambler-Whitpain Trojans, as well as several other organizations in the Philadelphia suburbs and in the city are running some form of your offense now. I was unable to coach last year because of my campaign, but I look forward to getting back into it someday. Our mutual friend, Jack Turner, is doing great. His son, Michael, is also doing well, having won the Inter-Ac two years in a row. I hope all is well with you. Thanks again. Best wishes, Mike  *********** BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND... 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

NO MORE 2005 CLINICS 2005 Clinics (UPDATED WHENEVER I FEEL LIKE IT - BUT USUALLY ON TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS) August 26, 2005 - "I'll tell you what war is about. You've got to kill people, and when you have killed enough, they stop fighting." General Curtis LeMay, Air Force legend   COACHES - TAKE A MINUTE OR TWO TO ENROLL YOUR TEAM IN THE BLACK LION AWARD PROGRAM NOW. YOU WILL BE GLAD YOU DID. SO WILL YOUR PARENTS AND KIDS. YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A DOUBLE-WING TEAM. YOUR TEAM CAN BE YOUTH, MIDDLE SCHOOL OR HIGH SCHOOL. FOR MORE INFO - (BLACK LION AWARD)   *********** I was wondering which playbook software program you utilize to put your playbook together.  If you could give me a name, web address, telephone number, etc…on where to acquire that software that would be fantastic.  Thanks again for all your insights into the double wing. Believe it or not, I have never used any special playbook software.   I use a program called Appleworks, which although it is primarily intended for use with Macs is, I believe, also available for PCs.   It is a multifaceted, integrated program containing a word processor, a data base and a spread sheet, and also a drawing program. I use the drawing program, and because I have become fairly adept at using it, it does everything I need.   It is also pretty inexpensive - $79. I get a lot of use out of it. www.apple.com/appleworks/ (No, I don't get a commission.)   *********** Coach Wyatt-- My husband, Monte Deere, has enjoyed using your materials in coaching our son's 7th grade little league team. No games yet--but it seems to be all he talks about!   And yes, he is related to Monte Deere the OU QB from the early '60s. That's my husband's father. My sons were thrilled that someone remembered their Grandpa. "Was Papa, like, famous or something?" my 13-year old asked when he saw your note.   Thanks for remembering-- Bobbi Deere, Alpine, Utah ("Papa" may not be famous in some places, but I bet he still is in football-mad Oklahoma, where he lettered for three seasons (1959-60-61) under the great Bud Wilkinson, first as a halfback (running back) and then, to fill a need, at quarterback his senior year. In addition, he played defensive back and returned punts. Like so many of "Bud's boys," he went on to a successful career after football, as president and CEO of United Bank and Trust Company, in Norman. HW)   *********** Hugh, I agree that the Director of Football Operations sounds much more official and impressive, and I may even start using it with my name! However, (and I know you already know this) I can't think of any other title that I would want my players calling me than COACH! I absolutely love it when former players contact me and refer to me as nothing more than COACH. And here in Colby most of the parents and many community members have now taken to just calling me COACH, which is much better than having them call me KOENIG! In the classroom, I only allow my football players to call me COACH. Everyone else must call me MR. KOENIG.   Anyway, I hope your first day as Director of Football Operations wasn't too stressful and that things are going well. Take care and God bless you. Greg Koenig, Colby, Kansas (I hope nobody thought I was serious about that "Director of Football Operations" crap. I was just poking fun at the way some people think they can glamorize a job by giving it a fancy title. My title is "Coach," like most of my readers.   There is nothing in the world I would rather be called than "Coach." I am very proud of the title, and when a kid calls me by my last name only, I "gently" correct him and tell him that I've worked hard to earn the right to be called "Coach."   In how many other fields is a person known by a title that conveys respect? I can think immediately of "Father," "General" (or "Colonel," or "Major," or "Captain", or "Sergeant"), and "Doctor." That's pretty good company for us coaches to be in. HW)   *********** Hey Coach, A belated congratulations on your new position as the Director of Football Operations - Madison High School. I am sure that you guys will do great again this season.   Well, we are going into our 4th week of football down here in Florida and are beginning our second campaign with the DW at Belleview HS. After graduating 25 seniors from last years 10-1 team, nobody really expects a whole lot from us this season (nobody but us of course). We are going to be very young this season (many 10th and 11th graders will be starting on both sides of the ball) but, if we can get a couple of wins under out belt early and our kids mature quickly, we may be able to make a playoff run.   We played the pre-season favorite, North Marion, in our Spring Game (scrimmage) and beat them 14-13. We fumbled 3 of our first 8 snaps (new QB and Center) and that kind of killed our first 2 drives and our D gave up a couple of long passes for TDs and we found ourselves down 13-0 at the end of the 1st Quarter. But, our kids settled down and we put together a 75 yard TD drive to start the 2nd Quarter to make the score 13-7. Our D held the Colts to 3 and out and the DW again drove the length of the field to score the go ahead TD making the score 14-13 with only 1:13 left. North Marion came out in spread, but our D stiffended and when one of their receivers caught a slant pass, he got drilled, fumbled and we recovered. End of scrimmage.   Our kids really grew up quite a bit in that scrimmage and they worked hard in the weight room all summer. Even after beating the county favorites in the Spring, we are still only ranked 3rd in our District. I really think that is a bit low considering we were undefeated last year in the County but, its okay, I am looking forward to sneaking up on a few teams this year.   We played our Fall Classic last Friday night and won 22-6 in a half of play. We never attempted a pass and ran for 271 yards on 34 attempts against a Defensive Coordinator that has flat out told me that he knows how to stop the DW. Apparently he did not impart his knowledge to his players. Heck coach, I know how to stop the DW but I have coached against it three times and haven't been able to stop it, and I won one of those games (26-25).   Anyways, I will wrap this up by saying that I am really looking forward to this season. At this point in the season, we run the ball better than we did last year, our Defense is MUCH improved, and if our kids mature a little and we stay healthy, we may be a pretty formidable team come playoff time.   Best Regards, Coach Donnie Hayes, Belleview, Florida   *********** Hugh; I must be the world's biggest dumbass! I have finally realized that you are the head coach at Madison this year. In the August 5th news where you show the pictures of "my guys," they really are your guys! I didn't get it until now!!   I haven't had a computer since June so I have not seen the News for June and July. I started with the August 5th news and didn't put 2 and 2 together. We also changed computer systems and I have been trying to redo my address book from scratch and put my website favorites back in this new up grade of Windows.   I was going to write and congratulate you on becoming a member of the Army Football Club. A great honor and well deserved I would like to add! Now, I will congratulate you on being a head coach again. I am going to go back to the June and July News and find the details of you running the Madison program this season.   I wish that I could come out and help you coach your guys. I am like Wimpy! I would gladly work for cheeseburgers payable on Friday's.   Congratulations again on both of your new situations in the wonderful wide world of football. David Crump, Owensboro, Kentucky   *********** Another great answer for those who want to know if 8- and 9-years-olds can actually run this offense...   Dear Coach Wyatt: I wanted to send you an email to give you some feedback on how our 8/9 year old youth team is doing with your Double Wing offense.  As you might recall, I purchased the tapes and playbook back in April and have been studying voraciously since that time.  Per your suggestion, I got all of my coaches together and we met for 6 hours reviewing the tapes and playbook together.  They were all very impressed with the system, however, since the tapes show high school level (and above) kids running the system, they were apprehensive that we could teach it to 8 and 9 year old kids.  **( Is it possible to show youth programs running the DW in the future???)   They were "convinced" that we would not be able to have our Guards pull --let alone the Guards AND Tackles--since no other team in our conference, at our age group can pull.  They were also "convinced" that even if by some act of God our Guards and Tackles did manage to pull, that there was "no way" that our QB would be quick enough to get out of their way.  They described it as the "Malachi Crunch" taking place in our backfield with Guards, Tackles and Backs colliding and crashing down like dominos.    Now,  you must understand that my coaches are not green.  In fact, one of my coaches was drafted by the NY Jets and played LB in NFL for 9 years.  Another one of my coaches, was a Div 1 all American as a receiver.  I was also a full scholarship Div 1 Defensive Back and Kick and Punt Return Specialist.  We are not simply dads with the best seat in the house hanging out on the sidelines.  We know football.    I listened to their objections of how we couldn't do this and we couldn't do that, before I ever said a word.  After a little while (and a lot of "piling on") they were adamant that we needed to stick with the same offense that the high school runs--the Delaware Wing T, which is similar to the Double Wing.  Once they came to that conclusion, I decided that it was time to chime in.  First, I reminded them that the elements that make the Wing T successful are the same tactics that make the Double Wing work so well.  The name of the game is getting as many blockers to the point of attack--to overwhelm the defense by having more blockers than they have tacklers at the POA.  The fact is, that our team has won 1 game in three years with the Wing T and we needed to change to a more modernized system that we could understand, teach to the kids, and get some success under our belts.  I also reminded them that statistics show that approximately 1 out of every 10 youth football players will actually play football at the high school level.  We have 50 kids on our squad --so to keep our offense the same as the local high school for the ~5 kids that would play at that level, to me, did not make much sense.  They agreed to my counterpoints and agreed to give the DW a try.    The way that we approached it was as follows;   1) We have won 1 game in three years   2) Our numbers keep going up every year despite the losing record (kids really love the game)   3) Our kids deserve the right to try something that can give them a taste of competing   4) We have nothing to lose (except another miserable season) to try the system   Since then, we have been running the DW for 5 weeks so far.  Guess what? Our guards and tackles ARE pulling (and finishing off with wonderful downfield blocking); our QB is not getting tangled up with them because we taught him how to get out of there quickly to avoid the pull; the play side line is doing a great job of sealing to prevent leakage.  And we have won our first two scrimmages (convincingly) against last year's defending conference champions and another very good playoff team.  Now I fully realize that we are not quite at "chapter one" yet--more like the "table of contents" as it pertains to our regular season, but confidence is contagious and our kids are full of confidence right now.  They've never had the feeling before and it's very rewarding to see it as their coach.  They are kids and they deserve it.   Bottom line-our full story is a little bit away from being told, and I will keep you updated as we approach our regular season and let you know how we're doing.  I wanted to thank you for your influence and all of your work on the DW offense.  It is beginning to make a big difference in our program.   I like to tell my coaches that in order for us to be successful we need to subscribe to the 4 P's of the Double Wing Offense:   1) PRACTICE   2) PATIENCE   3) PERSISTENCE   4) PERSEVERANCE   PS- My assistant coaches are now asking me why we didn't look into your system years ago......    Stay tuned for more updates..........   Best regards, Joe Cosgrove, Clearview Youth Football, Mullica Hill, New Jersey   *********** In view of the way we are surrendering our American values - the things that made us unique - the things we once held dear - in the interest of "multiculturism" and "diversity", I found the following article especially refreshing... Accept Australian values or get out   By Michelle Grattan   August 25, 2005   EDUCATION Minister Brendan Nelson has bluntly told Islamists who do not want to accept and teach Australian values that they should "clear off".   And (Preime Minister) John Howard has warned that mosques, prayer halls and Muslim schools will be watched "to the extent necessary" to ensure they do not give comfort to terrorism.   A day after the Prime Minister's summit with Muslim leaders, the Government stepped up its push to get "Australian values" &emdash; epitomised, it says, by the Anzac story of Simpson and his donkey &emdash; taught comprehensively to Muslim children.   On Tuesday Treasurer Peter Costello said people thinking of coming to Australia who did not like Australian values and preferred a society that practised sharia law should go elsewhere.   Dr Nelson said he would soon meet the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils to discuss programs to ensure those in Islamic schools and all other children fully understood Australian history and values.   "We don't care where people come from; we don't mind what religion they've got or what their particular view of the world is. But if you want to be in Australia, if you want to raise your children in Australia, we fully expect those children to be taught and to accept Australian values and beliefs," he said.   "We want them to understand our history and our culture, the extent to which we believe in mateship and giving another person a hand up and a fair go. And basically, if people don't want to be Australians and they don't want to live by Australian values and understand them, well basically they can clear off."   Dr Nelson said if the country lost sight of what Simpson and his donkey represented, "then we will lose the direction of the country". John Simpson Kirkpatrick, carrying wounded soldiers on his donkey, is the iconic image of Gallipoli. "He represents everything at the heart of what it means to be Australian."   Mr Howard, asked on Perth radio if the Government was prepared to get inside mosques and Islamic schools, said it had a right to know if the "virtues of terrorism" were being preached in the Islamic community.   "It is very hard for a government or any of its agencies to penetrate every aspect of life, and we don't want to interfere with people's enjoyment of life," he said.   "But equally, if people are not willing to give their first loyalty to this country, they obviously must understand that that will arouse enormous concern within the rest of the Australian community."   Dr Nelson also demanded an explanation from University of Western Sydney vice-chancellor Janice Reid over a speech to a student meeting this week by former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib.   Mr Habib, who returned to Australia this year when the United States did not press charges, addressed a students' association forum on war, terrorism and civil liberties.   Dr Nelson said Mr Habib had "peddled his anti-American view of the world".   Professor Reid said the university had followed protocols and informed the authorities, who had monitored the meeting. "Although we may not condone what a visitor to the university says, we support free speech as long as it does not foster hate, bigotry or violence."   *********** Coach, I suspended our team's most gifted athlete yesterday for what I considered disrespectful and more importantly selfish behavior. As I tried to coach this kid on offense he did nothing but give me attitude and refused to respond to me if I asked him if he understood what I was trying to teach.   After practice I asked him what the problem was and he told me that "this offense wasn't going to cut it" and "when we played a good team we we're gonna lose" and that "he only wanted to play defense".  I told him that his attitude was very selfish and explained to him what the Black Lion Award was all about. Well, he could care less about that and things quickly deteriorated. His attitude and mouth made it very difficult for me to remain professional and eventually I told him exactly what I thought about his childish antics. He even came in the locker room and threw his helmet down the hallway.   Coach, I honestly wanted this kid gone from the team and actually told him so. But after meeting with the coaches, we agreed on a two-game suspension. The kid has a tendency to lash out, (this is the same kid I was helping get through summer school when he lashed out at  his mom and grandmother) but he generally regrets what he has done and is able to humble himself. Coach , I'm just trying to determine the terms in which I can honestly fell good about letting this kid back on the team, because right now I really can't see it.   I'll appreciate any thoughts you might have on this. Thanks Coach.   I would have to ask you if there is any good that can come to the team from keeping such a kid around.   Personally, I think that your assistants are being overly compassionate, but they can afford to be. They do not have the burdens that the head coach does. It is really no skin off their hides.   I am truly afraid that it is too late - that this kid is hard-wired to do the wrong thing. I can't believe that despite his talent, he won't hurt the team at some poiont. Selfishness that runs that deep is not going to be easy to keep hidden, and it could infect others.   I do not think that you have an obligation to allow one kid to serve as a distraction from your main mission, which is to lead the team. I would have made the suspension about seven games longer.   I will admit to being a bit hard-nosed, but the kid sounds to me like a cancer. *********** A coach writes from Europe...   could you tell me some drills for my QB to increase his throw power? I already searched in the web, but I only found a few drills. And those few, I couldn'd understand because of my bad english.   For increasing the quarterback's arm strength, I would consult with a good javelin coach. That advice was given me several years ago by a famous quarterback coach named Homer Smith. And I would have him embark on a strength-training program, which includes the legs as well as the upper body, because much of what we call "arm strength" actually comes from the legs.   And then there is the technique itself, but I couldn't help you there without watching him throw.   One thing that would help would be for him to throw a weighted (heavier than normal) ball. I believe you can find them online.     *********** Dear Coach Wyatt;I hope things are going well with Madison. I checked out your players, and they look impressive. I think you've got the makings of a pretty good team there. There's a certain maturity in their eyes that looks good.   I would like to register Tomales High School varsity and JV for the Black Lion award for the 2005 season. I think we'll be giving the award out on the JV level this time. We have no numbers, no talent, and no brains, but we're going to do some winning this season because these kids have HEART. We can coach the rest, but HEART is the big one!   By the way, I'm watching the Atlanta/Jacksonville crapfest. Can you believe some of the sh_t? First off, who got the bright idea to put a freaking Nike Soccer commercial on during a freaking NFL game, even an exhibition scrimmage? We need to find them and beat them, preferably with something what has pointy bits on it.   Second, Joe Theismann (rhymes with "Heismann," remember) needs an ass-kicking, and if anyone is taking numbers I want to be first in line. Did you hear the condescension in his voice when he was talking about the youth football scrimmage they did at halftime? "The boys were handling the football the same way the adults were."   I wanted to throttle him, but first I wanted to tell him, "No, Joe, they were probably handling the ball BETTER than the professionals. They almost certainly tackled better, and it might have something to do with the fact that we still do the occasional work on FUNDAMENTALS."   You know, I really wish that Lawrence Taylor had choked up on that tackle. Maybe if Joe had played a few more seasons he'd have gone into something other than broadcasting in search of a paycheck.   Anyway, my best to you and Connie. I hope practice is going well. I predict big things in the Madison future.   Very Respectfully, Derek A. "Coach" Wade, Tomales, California   *********** Coach Wyatt, Congrats on your HC position with Madison. I know you will teach the boys all aspects of the game. Good luck.   In Minnesota we get live coverage of the CFL game of the week (Toronto Arg. vs. Edmonton Esk) on one of our independent channels (45), it is the Canadian Broadcasting Co. not sure of the actual name. Anyways, there were no announcers, a crawler at the bottom of the screen told us the reason was a labor dispute at the network. The production crew had the field mikes way up, the sounds of the game were great, and all you heard for commentary was the Edmonton stadium PA announcer. It was the most enjoyable viewing experience I have had in years. Wonder if the NFL would ever allow us to just watch a game without Madden, Randy Cross, or any of the other yahoos.   Just wondering if you or any of your other readers noticed this.   Take care, Yours in football, Mick Yanke, DCHS, Cokato, Minnesota   *********** For all the Bitchin my old-man did stomping his feet - He WAS NOT going to renew his B.C. season tickets,because he is Pissed Off at the move to the ACC ( and the way they handled it ),No more Cuse,Pitt or West Va , he is even going to miss Rutgers ? What? - he ended up renewing them ( Ray Charles could of called that move even in the state he is in ! ),the schedule comes out and Army is either the 2nd or 3rd Game, He said " Thank Christ we play Willie Pep early, because I don't want to play Willie Pep late in the season with that SOB's track record !!!" ( His nickname for Bobby Ross is Willie Pep, says his Face looks like Willie Pep's kisser ), he compares Bobby Ross with Don Nehlen from West Va. says each week their teams improve and physically beat the Sh-- out of you Win,Lose or Draw,then you get them late in the season and they're a real Pain in the Ass to Play and a Bitch to beat !!! So he would rather have to play Army in September than late Oct or Nov, when Willie Pep will really have them at their peak - see ya friday Coach John Muckian, Lynn, Massachusetts (Although I rather doubt that Coach Ross, whom I greatly admire, would be flattered by a facial comparison with Willie Pep, the famous featherweight champion from Hartford, Connecticut whose broken nose and scars revealed his profession, he would be pleased to know that his teams are respected for the hard-nosed brand of football they play. HW) *********** I got an unsolicited e-mail from one Pennsylvania State Representative Mike Gerber, who represents an area in Montgomery County, not far from where my wife grew up. I don't know the guy, and I don't know what his party affiliation is, but I greatly admire what he's trying to do: I participated in a Little League opening day ceremony with another soldier who had served in Iraq. Again, his bravery and selflessness humbled me. This soldier, U.S. Marine Corps. Reserve Staff Sgt. Joe Renner of Conshohocken, thanked me for supporting the little leaguers and in the same breath, said he was headed back to Iraq. His care for others, modesty and selflessness struck me and made me realize that I was doing nothing to say "thank you" to those in service. With the guidance of a constituent, Beverly Hahn of Whitpain, I am organizing a collection of new or used CDs and DVDs to be sent to our troops serving overseas to let them know people back home are appreciative and care. We chose CDs and DVDs because Staff Sgt. Renner explained to us that many soldiers have CD and DVD players and like the escape the music and videos provide. You know, I'll bet there are guys over there who would even enjoy looking at your highlights DVDs. (Most of them that I've seen are quite well done.) Send them to 20 E. 11th Ave., Conshohocken, PA 19428 ---- Rep. Gerber's office phone number is 610-832-1679 (I wrote for permission to post this on my site, and I heard back from Rep. Gerber's office. Turns out I do know the guy. This is sort of freaky - a couple of years back I got a call from a Mike Gerber, a youth coach in Pennsylvania, who purchased some of my materials. One thing led to another, and it turned our that we'd gone to the same school - Germantown Academy - although many years apart. We probed further, as usually happens in cases like this, and it turned out that his close friend and classmate, Mike Turner, was the present coach at GA, and Mike was the son of a former longtime GA coach - and a classmate and teammate of mine - Jack Turner. Mike played football at GA and at Penn, and like so many of you, despite having a real life, he was hooked on coaching youth football. Completely off the wall came his e-mail, and it turns out that that Mike Gerber, the youth football coach, and this Mike Gerber, the state representative, are one and the same! Also turns out, by the way, he's a Democrat. What do I give a sh--? He's a football coach, isn't he? And he's a damn good man to be doing something like this. HW) More From Representative Gerber: Dear Coach, One of my staffers just showed me the posting on your site re: my CD/DVD drive for the troops. Thanks so much. I want you to know that your help several years ago has turned into a double wing tidal wave in this area. My organization, the Ambler-Whitpain Trojans, as well as several other organizations in the Philadelphia suburbs and in the city are running some form of your offense now. I was unable to coach last year because of my campaign, but I look forward to getting back into it someday. Our mutual friend, Jack Turner, is doing great. His son, Michael, is also doing well, having won the Inter-Ac two years in a row. I hope all is well with you. Thanks again. Best wishes, Mike  *********** BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND... 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

NO MORE 2005 CLINICS 2005 Clinics (UPDATED WHENEVER I FEEL LIKE IT - BUT USUALLY ON TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS) August 23, 2005 - "Those who give up essential liberties for temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin   *********** Please excuse the late posting. I have already heard from one disgruntled subscriber named T. Hinger, in Winter Haven, Florida. I think I was able to buy him off with an offer of an autographed 8 x 10 glossy photo of the Director of Football Operations (I think that sounds much more impressive than just "head coach") at Madison High School in Portland, Oregon.   *********** If I may offer up an excuse... Yesterday (Monday) was our first day of practice, and despite all the best preparations, things happen. Gosh, it was easier when those things were the head coach's concerns.   But overall, things went well. We introduced the new staff - from just two of us from last year, we are now six, and it is a great staff.   I took plenty of time to let the players know what they can expect from me and what I will expect from them - my "Three R's" - Respect, Responsibility, and Resilience. (I did have to explain for the benefit of some of the players what that word means).   Believing that kids basically want to please, and for the most part don't want to challenge you on the rules, I've long felt that it is incumbent on me as both a coach and a teacher to let them know what buttons not to push.   I tell the kids that success in life is often nothing more than finding out what pisses people off - and then not doing it - so I said I thought it was fair to let them know what pisses me off. I call those things my pet "HATES" - "H" - I hate it when people don't Hustle; "A" - I hate it when people don't pay Attention; "T"- I hate it when people are Tardy; "E" - I hate it when poeple make Excuses or try to Explain; "S" - I hate Selfishness.   I do think that spending time on these things right at the beginning of the season or the school year pays great dividends in creating a good teaching atmosphere in the classroom or on the field.   *********** Pray for the soul of Thomas Herrion.   *********** Pray also for a little sanity to enter a game which rewards morbid obesity in its offensive linemen at a time when it is acknowledged that obesity in our young people is a danger to their health at least equal to second-hand smoke. With so many pro offensive linemen force-fed until they look like sumo wrestlers in pads, the miracle is that more of them aren't keeling over.   *********** Hearty congratulations to my good friend, Kevin Latham, whose Columbia High Eagles (Decatur, Georgia) opened Kevin's third season with a 21-6 win over perennial power Southwest DeKalb. It was only the second time in Columbia's 22-year history that the Eagles had ever beaten SW DeKalb, and only the first time since 1987. (And it was Coach Latham's first win over his former high school offensive coordinator, Buck Godfrey, who is now a legend in Atlanta-area coaching circles. The win is a major step in the rebuilding of Columbia's fortunes, and it has to be sweet vindication for Kevin's principal, who saw enough good things in Kevin, a successful middle school coach, to buck public opinion and hire him over more experienced high school guys.   *********** Hi Coach, I see that you and your team have started practicing. That is a late start but not as late as here in Connecticut.  We begin today, August 22, 2005.  We have five day with no pads, and on Saturday we are allowed to go with full gear.  Just thought I'd let you know.  "Connecticut, probably the last state in the Union to start practice."  Best of luck this season. Sincerely, A.J. Massengale, Stonington High School Football, Stonington, Connecticut   Coach, Our "practices" were actually workouts. Monday, August 22 was also our first official day.   But then, we can hit on Thursday, so you may be "last state in the union to have contact."   Best of luck (and don't forget to sign up for the Black Lion Award!)   *********** Think the NFL isn't ripping people off with these exhibition (sorry - "preseason") games? Friday night. Vikings at Jets. Score tied, 21-21. Fourth quarter just under way. Maybe 10,000 season ticket holders left in the stadium.   *********** There used to be a joke about a guy who told the police officer who pulled him over for speeding that he must have misread the sign that said, "FINE FOR SPEEDING." In many cities, that's how police seem to read the laws that, last I heard, made it a crime to enter the United States illegally.   Think about this sh-- the next time somebody threatens to call in the federal marshals to enforce Title IX because "it's the law." In Eugene, Oregon, police openly admitted the other day that they don't enforce immigration law. Eugene is typical of many other feel-good cities that take the same approach.   So how is it that, if a college receives one thin dime from the federal government, it must jettison men's opportunities to play sports while creating non-sports for women, in order to comply with "federal law," while police departments, which receive all sorts of federal money (i.e., your taxes and mine) go about setting up speed traps and dressing up officers as prostitutes, but otherwise seem free to choose which federal laws they care to enforce?   So which federal law do I get to break? I was thinking maybe the one that says I have to pay federal income tax.   *********** Coach Wyatt, I have been a longtime visitor to your site, a fan of the double wing, and have purchased videos and a playbook two years ago to try to learn the system, but have never been motivated to write. Our youth football organization has approximately 200 kids on ten teams from 6 to 13 years old in Southwestern Pennsylvania. This year, I became a coordinator for our three 10 & 11 year old teams. It is hard work but very rewarding. All three of our 10 & 11 year old teams run the double wing.   The real reason that I am writing is to share the experience I had last night. One of our coaches sustained life-threatening injuries in an accident at work and one of our parents organized a candlelight service to pray for his recovery. As practice was finishing, a long line of cars started to arrive. The entire high school football team quit practice early and drove several miles from their camp to join in the service. There were over 200 youth players, their parents, and an entire high school football team and coaches present. It was a very powerful and emotional moment for me and I hope it had some impact.   I have heard many stories from other organizations about how their high school coach wants everyone to use their system or is just uninterested. We are very lucky to have such an invested and supportive high school program. They provide players and coaches for our clinics and year end banquets, allow us to use the high school stadium for our home games, and even let our kids "practice" with the varsity one day.   While I never played the game, I have developed a sense of what a great sport football is from a teamwork and life skills standpoint. Keep up the good work. Jeff Hall, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania   *********** Hi I am ---------, 17 and live in --------- . I've Had a great love for the game of football for years and especially Coaching, its the main thing I wanted to do for a awhile. I've tried playing for my High School  to get experience but couldn't pass the physical. So i would like to get some help on how to start to get my coaching career going so I would love to get some tips. Please Reply you would be a great help.   There are many successful coaches who do not have much playing experience in their backgrounds.   But although you don't have to be a player to become a coach, you do have to get involved with the game, and you do need to get around coaches.   At this point, you probably should contact your HS coach and tell him what your aspirations are, and ask him if there is some way you can help him and his staff.   *********** I am an assistant coach for youth (3rd and 4th grade) football in ------- Texas. The head coach has chosen to install the double wing system on our team. We have 17 players on the team 2 are overweight limits  and the rest are under 80 pounds....basically a first year team full of running backs with no line to protect them.... Of our 17 players 7 have played before...... We have a VERY solid and knowledgeable guard and he is doing well but the inexperience of other players allowed us to truly be WIPED by our first opponent (scrimmage). I am convinced this is a great offensive system but I am overwhelmed by the lack of blocking by our line...we do fine walk thrus and even full speed against skelly or "parent" defenses but once the other team lined up in front of us ...every one abandoned their blocking assignments....What do I do about this?    About all you can do here is drill the kids on their assignments and teach them how to double-team and use their angle blocks, and work on sustaining their blocks.   For example, we insist that on every block, even in practice, every player takes 12 steps AFTER making contact with a defender. We call it the "12-step cure."   And, of course, work a lot on wedges, where it doesn't matter how big a defender is, because if all your kids wedge on him, he can't withstand them.   I wish I had a magic solution for you, but I don't. The problem is, what system CAN you run without linemen?   *********** CHECK THIS OUT... Total football revenues per Conference, during a recent year...   SEC $350,193,187   Big Ten $276,809,402   Big XII $258,812,765   ACC $180,171,498   Pac 10 $176,744,243   Big East $84,659,903   Conference USA $62,565,804   Mountain West $53,061,04 (only 8 teams reported - Air Force does not release football revenues)   WAC $34,756,625   MAC $25,297,901   SCARIEST FIGURE - Notre Dame alone - one single school - had $38,596,090 in revenues, out-earning the entire WAC and the entire MAC   *********** Coach Wyatt - I know I am not suppose to Judge a Book by it's cover ,but that team of yours looks like a bunch of TOUGH-ASS CITY KIDS !!! ( a team after my own heart by the way , the way I like High School Football teams ), I take it Madison IS NOT one of these candy-ass, pasty suburban teams where I am going to find a lot of Volvo's, Saabs, BMW in the parking lots during their Games LOL !!!! I don't know what you guy have in terms talent, and skill, but if I can Judge Toughness by looks , it appears you are all set in the department.   Madison looks like one of the Lynn teams or Everett,Malden,Medford,Lowell,Haverhill, Waltham, Salem,Leominster ,Brockton,New Bedford,Durfee,Fitchburg, in Mass Football terms, all these teams and some others are "City Teams" ( take that as a compliment coach)   Good Luck !!! in 2005 - John Muckian Lynn, Massachusetts  (I must say that I like John's, uh - directness - and truthfully, I can't think of a higher compliment for someone to pay our kids than to call them "tough-ass city kids." I'd like to think they are. We will see. HW)   *********** Double-Wing coach Pete Porcelli, Troy, New York, is a former Arena League football player who also remains fairly active in weight lifting. Fairly active, did I say? http://www.ironasylumgym.com/ironass2005/pp   *********** Just for your information: Florence HS, since I left-------4 wins -26 loses; Columbia HS -------3-19... Both schools went to 4 wide offenses! Steve Jones, Ocean Springs, Mississippi (For those fools who insist that the Double-Wing "won't work" at a "big school," Coach Jones, running the Double-Wing, took Ocean Springs to the Mississippi Class 5A - largest class - state final last year, losing to defending champion South Panola, 39-21. South Panola had given up an average of only 10 points per game up to that point. HW)   *********** I know rugby is big in New Zealand, but this is ridiculous...   A chauffeur and two police officers who drove Helen Clark's motorcade as fast as 170km/h so the New Zealand prime minister could watch the New Zealand All Blacks beat the Australian Wallabies at rugby have been fined for dangerous driving.   Prime Minister Clark was a backseat passenger in the one of the three cars and - get this - she claimed she was so engrossed in reading some paperwork that she had no idea how fast they were going.   *********** To show that we can even learn from soccer coaches, my son, Ed, writes from Melbourne, Australia, where he covers soccer, among other sports...   From the "Dealing with egos" primer from Chelsea manager (coach) Jose Marinho.   One of his players, Roberto Carvalho, complained about not playing in the opening game of the season. Marinho said "...(we) had a private conversation on Saturday and that was not enough - he gives his reaction to the world; everybody could read it."   So Marinho dressed him down in front of the entire team, explained logically why he wasn't picked, quoting statistics and saying it's "pure mathematics, not philosophy," then (here's the best part)... refused to let Carvalho explain himself..."I gave him no chance to explain what he said. My meeting is my meeting. He speaks only when I want."   Just FYI, Chelsea won the English Premier League last year.   *********** I got an unsolicited e-mail from one Pennsylvania State Representative Mike Gerber, who represents an area in Montgomery County, not far from where my wife grew up. I don't know the guy, and I don't know what his party affiliation is, but I greatly admire what he's trying to do: I participated in a Little League opening day ceremony with another soldier who had served in Iraq. Again, his bravery and selflessness humbled me. This soldier, U.S. Marine Corps. Reserve Staff Sgt. Joe Renner of Conshohocken, thanked me for supporting the little leaguers and in the same breath, said he was headed back to Iraq. His care for others, modesty and selflessness struck me and made me realize that I was doing nothing to say "thank you" to those in service. With the guidance of a constituent, Beverly Hahn of Whitpain, I am organizing a collection of new or used CDs and DVDs to be sent to our troops serving overseas to let them know people back home are appreciative and care. We chose CDs and DVDs because Staff Sgt. Renner explained to us that many soldiers have CD and DVD players and like the escape the music and videos provide. You know, I'll bet there are guys over there who would even enjoy looking at your highlights DVDs. (Most of them that I've seen are quite well done.) Send them to 20 E. 11th Ave., Conshohocken, PA 19428 ---- Rep. Gerber's office phone number is 610-832-1679 (I wrote for permission to post this on my site, and I heard back from Rep. Gerber's office. Turns out I do know the guy. This is sort of freaky - a couple of years back I got a call from a Mike Gerber, a youth coach in Pennsylvania, who purchased some of my materials. One thing led to another, and it turned our that we'd gone to the same school - Germantown Academy - although many years apart. We probed further, as usually happens in cases like this, and it turned out that his close friend and classmate, Mike Turner, was the present coach at GA, and Mike was the son of a former longtime GA coach - and a classmate and teammate of mine - Jack Turner. Mike played football at GA and at Penn, and like so many of you, despite having a real life, he was hooked on coaching youth football. Completely off the wall came his e-mail, and it turns out that that Mike Gerber, the youth football coach, and this Mike Gerber, the state representative, are one and the same! Also turns out, by the way, he's a Democrat. What do I give a sh--? He's a football coach, isn't he? And he's a damn good man to be doing something like this. HW) More From Representative Gerber: Dear Coach, One of my staffers just showed me the posting on your site re: my CD/DVD drive for the troops. Thanks so much. I want you to know that your help several years ago has turned into a double wing tidal wave in this area. My organization, the Ambler-Whitpain Trojans, as well as several other organizations in the Philadelphia suburbs and in the city are running some form of your offense now. I was unable to coach last year because of my campaign, but I look forward to getting back into it someday. Our mutual friend, Jack Turner, is doing great. His son, Michael, is also doing well, having won the Inter-Ac two years in a row. I hope all is well with you. Thanks again. Best wishes, Mike  *********** BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND... 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

NO MORE 2005 CLINICS 2005 Clinics (UPDATED WHENEVER I FEEL LIKE IT - BUT USUALLY ON TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS) August 19, 2005 - "I did not come into the Army to be a lieutenant, or a captain, or a major. I always thought I was going to be a general. At least I intended to be a general If I started pumping gas, I would want to be the CEO of Shell Oil. So, I always aimed high, my sights were always set very high, I always dreamed high." General Norman Schwarzkopf   *********** As we head into our first practice (Oregon is probably the last state in the Union to get started) here are MY GUYS!   *********** No doubt noticing all the pub T.O.'s been getting for playing the jerk, Randy Moss stepped out of his new-found role of model camper and admitted to "occasional" marijuana use in the past. Now, who would ever have suspected?   *********** Coach, Congratulations on your membership into the Army Football Club. It is a well-deserved reward for all of your hard work with the Black Lion award.   I would like you to add the Duxbury Youth Football Pee Wees varsity to the list of Black Lion teams.   This will be the 3rd year that this group of boys have been associated with the award, and I feel that the ideals set forth by Don Holleder and the Black Lion award have had a profound impact on how the boys conduct themselves. I had a referee tell me after the last game of the season last year that he loved to ref our games b/c we had the "best group of boys in the league."   I had a coaches meeting last night and one of my assistants asked me about the award, and with a grin on his face asked me if "I was going to get run out of town" for handing out the award. I told him that I was pretty sure that that wouldn't happen.   I'm always open to learning new blocking/tackling techniques, coaching points, etc., but in the end, I always come back to your techniques on your "A Fine Line" and "Safer and Surer Tackling" videos for teaching blocking and tackling. They're the best.   As always, thanks for inspiring youth and HS football coaches around the country.   Kind regards, Rick Davis, Duxbury Youth Football, Duxbury, Massachusetts (If you've already signed up for the award in the past, just e-mail me - coachwyatt@aol.com - and tell me you'd like to continue with it this year, so we know how many certificates to print and patches to order! HW)   *********** Hey Coach- I drove to Salem, Oregon last week with my son in a 25 ft. truck to help him with his move.  He starts law school this week at Willamette.  Do you know how uncomfortable it is riding in one of the trucks on the passenger  side for 13 hours? There is no leg room.  I am going to miss them, especially my 3 year old  granddaughter.  But then you know all about that.   To football: Our local youth league president called me and ask me to take the 8-9 year old "A" team.  The guy who was supposed to take it skipped out on them.  I told him I would do it, since I am now retired and have lots of time.  Well, same play, different cast!  As I was doing a form blocking drill the way we do it, I noticed an assistant coach teaching a hands technique.  I informed him that we teach not getting separation, and besides that 8-9 year olds will hold if you give them a chance.  This guy has coached at the high school level, knows a lot about football, but said nobody teaches my technique anymore.  He ripped me a new one.  I tried to explain the whole concept to him, but he would have nothing to do with it.  I was teaching the wrong stuff.  His buddy has a boy on the team who is 9 and 160 pounds, and some good athletic ability.   He said that this boy would not play unless he was coached by him.  So, in other words, this kid would only play on the "B" team, or not play at all.  I did explain that this wasn't fair to the kid in his development.  I am just curious as to what you would do in my situation.    It seems over the years our communication has been about parents, or assistant coaches who don't buy in.  It is getting old.    The guy is a cancer. I would be tempted to ask him why he doesn't just go back and coach HS. But I suspect it is because he is not welcome because he couldn't accept the fact that it was his job to teach what the head coach wanted him to teach.   You might want to talk with the kid's dad, but I'll tell you one thing - what this so-called assistant is trying to pull is blackmail, pure and simple, and no SOB is ever going to blackmail me that way. I don't need ANY kid THAT bad, and I sure as hell don't need any coach that bad. Win or lose, I want to enjoy my meals and sleep well.   *********** After watching "Deadliest Catch," and seeing the crew of an Alaska crab boat pray for the Lord's blessing before setting out onto the icy water of the Bering Sea, I'd love to see Michael Newdow, the atheist who sued to get "under God" removed from the Pledge of Allegiance, try his luck on one of those crews.   *********** As modeled by Army freshman fullback Collin Mooney, of Katy, Texas, the Army football jersey, the traditional black with gray-and-gold sleeve stripes, will carry extra meaning this year. Above the Nike swoosh is the number 41, to be worn in honor of Army great Glenn Davis, the Army three-time All-American and Heisman Trophy winner who died this past spring. *********** Coach , I hope things are going good for you! We have had a good preseason, and barring injury should be pretty good this year. The heat and humidity is tough! The heat index right now is 102! I must admit that I laughed about the monkey roll question, because the kid said that he did a google on monkey roll and your name came up! ( all in good humor) If he had typed in big ape, I bet my name would have!   I thought that you would enjoy this. I heard from one of our former players yesterday that is coaching youth league in LA. He was asking about the D-wing and plans to run it. This kid played for us when we first came to Ware Shoals. He never played on a winning team, but his group was the class that started to turn the thing around. They broke the 19 game losing streak. Went 2-8 as Seniors and were competitive in every game. (A Huge Accomplishment) The Kids name was Adam Purser. Adam was not athletically gifted, but he played with heart and a wide open motor. After graduation Adam went into the Army and is an Airborne Ranger. During conditioning he used to sing " I wanna be Airborne Ranger, Live a life of sex and danger" I don't know if that is the right words, but that is what he called out. He has been to Afghanistan and Iraq. During his last tour they discovered a weapons stockpile, and was in the process of destroying it. In his words, "The enemy had planted an IED in the stockpile, I went behind a big rock to take a p--- and the thing went off." The rock protected most of his body. He did suffer a broken leg, and had shrapnel in his leg and back. He has about 80% use of his leg. He is now at a desk job stateside, and it is killing him! He said that we lost 12 men in the explosion. This kid played guard, DT, and was our second string QB! Ain't some of the people we come in contact with in this profession amazing!?   Another kid that was a JR. on that team, was our starting QB. His brother was killed in a shootout over drugs. His name is Terrance Leverett. He was the best player on the team and a great kid. His Sr. season we went 8-3. Jet had to beg him into a local college. He had the grades, but he started to school early and when he graduated he had just turned 17. He had a Medical redshirt one year and that allowed him to catch up. Anyway, this 170 lb QB, is now a 240 lb preseason DII All America LB. He will graduate this year and will enter for the NFL draft. And just to think that Jet had to co-sign his student loan for that first year. The coach that was at that college is no longer there. Coaches have the ability to help kids change their life! Not a claim that many "Core subject" teachers can make! Jeff Murdock, Ware Shoals, South Carolina   *********** I have a question in regards to the numbering system I see used in pop warner league.The current number system is 1 thru 9 starting from your right to the left. (wing 'T'' set up) the center is always #5, the gap between the center and the right G is #4, the gap between the right G and T #3 and so on. everything to the left is 6,7,8,9 etc. I was taught to number the players and not the gaps between the players. Is this right or wrong? Or is this just another way of teaching the system?   There are lots of ways to number, whether it's holes or players. In our case, we number players, even numbers to the right of center and odd to the left of center. My rationale is that we may not know where holes are, but we know where our players are, which is essential to us in establishing landmarks for our backs on most plays. Plus, the player who is at the place where we are running at knows that he is expected to block to the inside at the point of attack, and therefore the "hole" will be just outside his block.   *********** Coach I am truly befuddled at the amount of letters from HS guys regarding the difficulty of installing DW. I have been in pads 4 days and have played a scrimmage. Dennis Cook, (Youth Coach) Roanoke, Virginia (Actually, most of the "problems" I hear about occur before actual coaching begins. After a day or so of teaching the Double-Wing, most guys I hear from are amazed at how smoothly things have gone! HW)   *********** When we run 88 power most of the tacklers come from the outside.  Outside linebacker, corner & end who have figured out our best play and they all line up outside to stop it.  With the line play side blocking down & the tight end & wing on that side we are able to wall off the inside (mostly the inside linebacker).  I am telling my Pulling guard & tackle to look to the outside for men to block, is this correct.  The defense is basically a 53 with the end outside the wing, corner on the line of scrimmage and outside backer outside the tight end 3 yards off the ball.  As a play caller this offense is a dream because once we get more practice time and can run the traps correctly, that play is wide open against this defense.  But we have only had two day of offense so far.   Coach, the backside linemen turn upfield and block people coming from the inside.   Not that you can't run Super Power at that defense (simply kicking out the man on the outside shoulder of the TE, and making sure that your runner aims his motion at the B-Back's heels so he does not get too deep, and telling him to get his inside hand onto the back of his pulling tackle, which means he is better able to tuck inside the B-Backs' block), but I would also say that mathematically, you are missing a bet here. If they have six men outside both your ends, that means that they only have 5 men left inside your ends, and one of them is probably a safety. You ought to be able to hammer them with wedges and you need to run 6-G, because if we saw this defense they'd see a lot of both of those plays (traps, too) until they came to their sense. And, of course, with those rolled-up corners, you should be looking at red-red/blue-blue or a HB Pass.   *********** My A back is my stud who gets me 5 tough yards, he runs the power plays to the right side and he is left handed.  My C backs are my speed guys who run the counters to the left, I run plays in & out with these two kids and they are both right handed.  All 3 kids complain that they want to switch sides so they can carry the ball in their dominant hand, but I feel by doing that I will be running to the right of the defense most of the time and that gives the entire defense an advantage.  Should I just let them switch side's?   Coach- I would say that either you switch the kids - and switch your thinking, thereby making 99 your base play - or you tell the kids to get over it. That is my suggestion. They are only 11 years old, and way too new to the game to be deciding that they "can't" do something. Consider yourself as doing them a big favor by getting this point across, because at some point in their careers they are going to be asked to do something, and if they resist doing what the coach wants, they will be sent packing. Not to mention the fact that there are kids up front who are not carrying the ball at all who are doing much tougher things than having to carry the ball in the proper hand.   *********** I coach a Jr. High level football team and am interested in your double wing system. According to the information I read, this system has been used by youth teams, but 101 pages seems like a lot of info for players of this age. Also we would like to teach it to our lower level team which consists of players in 5th and 6th grade. Is this system workable for our program?   The short answer is "Yes," this system is teachable at all levels and effective at all levels.   The long answer is that I encourage coaches to be as simple as necessary to make sure that their kids can execute their plays properly. The fact that the playbook is as long as it is reflects the tremendous versatility of our system, and all the extra things that you might want to do at some point, depending on your personnel situation.   There are people running my system that have made so much use of its versatility (running from Tight Stack, Wildcat, Slot, Spread, etc.) that you might not always recognize them as Double-Wingers, but at the core, their base offense is a relative handful of Double-Wing plays. HW   *********** Coach Wyatt, Earlier in the year I purchased your playbook and several of your videos including "Installing the Double Wing" and "Surer and Safer Tackling". We've completed our second week of practice and I must say our offense looks spectacular!!!   I introduced 3 plays to our offense; 1) Tight Rip 88 Power & Super Power, 2) Tight Rip 3 trap 2, and 3) Tight Rip 47-C and I was surprised how fast our kids picked it up. I'm the head coach for our Jr. Pee Wee division of 8, 9, and 10 year olds and have a full roster of 35 kids. We've split into 3 offensive teams, 1st, 2nd and 3rd string. All three teams have demonstrated with confidence the ability to run all 3 plays. This week was our first week of full contact. I took the first team and ran them against several scout defense's, 5-4 basic, 4-4 & a 6-2, each play got us at least 20 yards before the running back ever got touched. Most of our yards came from the 47-C play. It was hard to believe, so I told our defensive coach which play we will be running to see how our offensive linemen would adjust, we still moved the ball at least 10 to 15 yards before the running back was ever touched. Your explanation on the "TNT" look, the 6,7 & 9 TE call, blocking down from the point of attack or the next man out, numbering system, proper 3-pt stance, offensive linemen's first step, etc...all proved to be extremely useful and easy to teach.   Although we haven't scrimmaged another team yet, I'm confident our offense will move the ball down field. I plan on running the same 3 plays to the other side, adding the Wedge & Tight Rip Criss-Cross 47-C, and introducing 2 pass plays within the next few weeks. I've already received compliments from some of our parents as well as my coaching staff on how well our offense looks.   We still have a lot of work ahead us before we play our first game on Labor day weekend. I will keep you posted as our season progresses and I'm sure I'll be contacting you for troubleshooting purposes. Sincerely, Jay Robinson, Lakewood, California   It sounds as if you've done a good job of digesting the material and then teaching it to the kids. Your decision to teach those same plays the other way is also sound.   And to think that you haven't even put in the Wedge yet! Your kids will LOVE that! *********** I got an unsolicited e-mail from one Pennsylvania State Representative Mike Gerber, who represents an area in Montgomery County, not far from where my wife grew up. I don't know the guy, and I don't know what his party affiliation is, but I greatly admire what he's trying to do: I participated in a Little League opening day ceremony with another soldier who had served in Iraq. Again, his bravery and selflessness humbled me. This soldier, U.S. Marine Corps. Reserve Staff Sgt. Joe Renner of Conshohocken, thanked me for supporting the little leaguers and in the same breath, said he was headed back to Iraq. His care for others, modesty and selflessness struck me and made me realize that I was doing nothing to say "thank you" to those in service. With the guidance of a constituent, Beverly Hahn of Whitpain, I am organizing a collection of new or used CDs and DVDs to be sent to our troops serving overseas to let them know people back home are appreciative and care. We chose CDs and DVDs because Staff Sgt. Renner explained to us that many soldiers have CD and DVD players and like the escape the music and videos provide. You know, I'll bet there are guys over there who would even enjoy looking at your highlights DVDs. (Most of them that I've seen are quite well done.) Send them to 20 E. 11th Ave., Conshohocken, PA 19428 ---- Rep. Gerber's office phone number is 610-832-1679 (I wrote for permission to post this on my site, and I heard back from Rep. Gerber's office. Turns out I do know the guy. This is sort of freaky - a couple of years back I got a call from a Mike Gerber, a youth coach in Pennsylvania, who purchased some of my materials. One thing led to another, and it turned our that we'd gone to the same school - Germantown Academy - although many years apart. We probed further, as usually happens in cases like this, and it turned out that his close friend and classmate, Mike Turner, was the present coach at GA, and Mike was the son of a former longtime GA coach - and a classmate and teammate of mine - Jack Turner. Mike played football at GA and at Penn, and like so many of you, despite having a real life, he was hooked on coaching youth football. Completely off the wall came his e-mail, and it turns out that that Mike Gerber, the youth football coach, and this Mike Gerber, the state representative, are one and the same! Also turns out, by the way, he's a Democrat. What do I give a sh--? He's a football coach, isn't he? And he's a damn good man to be doing something like this. HW) More From Representative Gerber: Dear Coach, One of my staffers just showed me the posting on your site re: my CD/DVD drive for the troops. Thanks so much. I want you to know that your help several years ago has turned into a double wing tidal wave in this area. My organization, the Ambler-Whitpain Trojans, as well as several other organizations in the Philadelphia suburbs and in the city are running some form of your offense now. I was unable to coach last year because of my campaign, but I look forward to getting back into it someday. Our mutual friend, Jack Turner, is doing great. His son, Michael, is also doing well, having won the Inter-Ac two years in a row. I hope all is well with you. Thanks again. Best wishes, Mike  *********** BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND... 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

NO MORE 2005 CLINICS 2005 Clinics (UPDATED WHENEVER I FEEL LIKE IT - BUT USUALLY ON TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS) August 16, 2005 - "No one has a right to come into someone else's society and insist on playing by the rules of some other society." Thomas Sowell   *********** Coach, Please sign Elmwood/Brimfield HS up for the Black Lion Award. Just a note about last year's recipient, Clayton Powers. Clayton earned all-conference honors at linebacker, having started at that spot and fullback for three years. He also was our first Academic All-State awardee. Clayton graduated in the spring as his class's valedictorian. He entertained the idea of applying to a service academy, which I strongly encouraged, but in the end decided that the right thing for him to do was to enlist in the Navy. He scored high on his tests, and will be attending "nuke" school after his basic training. Clayton was going to quite his freshman year due to some hazing incidents by upperclassmen. I talked to him, letting him know that things would change only if someone like himself stuck with it and did something about it. He did, attitudes changed, and we were 18-4 his last two years (he was a captain both years). Well, I just received a letter from him that every coach would love to get. In part, Clayton wrote "You have helped mold me into who I am today. If asked today what I am most proud of, I wouldn't answer with my academics or my Navy decision. I would state that I am most proud of the fact that I played for Coach Hollis and the E/B Trojans!" I was humbled to read those words from such an outstanding young man. Good luck to you and every double wing coach out there. Todd Hollis, Elmwood/Brimfield Coop, Elmwood, Illinois   *********** Not that I am exactly in favor of Islamic Fundamentalist Extremists destroying our culture or anything, but after watching a little bit of the Eagles-Steelers Monday Night game, and seeing a couple of ads for "40-Year-Old Virgin" (starts Monday) and at least one for some sort of Male Enhancement Product - on a f--king football game! - I can't help wondering if we might offer to stand back and let them do a little, uh pruning.   *********** Well we are going into our 4th day of practice. Things have gone considerably slower than I had hoped or anticipated. Our boys aren't learning as quickly as I anticipated, partly due to having almost the entire team on IEP's where last year we only had 5-6 players, and largely due to my having to re teach material and fix the other coaches errors. I need your advice on this one because yesterday I found out that the other coaches (one of whom is the head guy) haven't read the playbook which I gave them over a month ago, the other assumed because he ran a Wing T in HS he could teach everything the same way. I attempted to have staff meetings before the season to watch the videos and cover the plays we would be teaching (request denied) and I attempted to install the system in two separate practice with the line in one and the backs in the other (request denied). Now I'm finding myself in a situation where the players are loosing faith in the staffs ability to teach and in the Double Wing (as you know it's already an uphill battle with parents and EA Sports Games), and the staff is starting to believe the offense is too hard to learn (blame the players intelligence, heaven forbid it's the coaches fault for teaching the material wrong) and while I'm teaching the Wing T guy is in the HC's ear downing our blocking schemes and "suggesting" ways to "fix" the system. At this point here is where we stand going onto practice 4. We can run 88/99 Power & SP (trouble getting the backs inside the B backs block), 2 wedge, 2 black O, red red, 47 counter, 6/7 G(all very rough). At this point all we have been able to cover is Tight formation. I need your advice on how to turn this around, the good thing is we have two weeks before our first game.   I wouldn't even worry about "turning anything around." It sounds to me as if you're on schedule, and now you need plenty of reps. Whatever you do, though, don't - DO NOT - try to diversify. I know you'd like to be creative - we all would - but you told me yourself that these kids are limited, and it is our job as coaches to put aside what we'd like to do and tailor what we do to what our kids can do.   If you stick with this, you will be surprised at your first scrimmage - and the kids will, too - at your ability to move the ball.   As for the other coaches on the staff, it is time for a challenge - I think you have to go to the head coach and tell him that since no one else has made the effort to learn what is going on, you expect him to keep them out of your way and out of his ear, and you want his backing when you tell the kids that the offense isn't going to go away. They might as well get things down cold, because they're going to be running the same plays all season long.   At this point, I think you need to get a VERY strong commitment from your head coach that YOU are the offensive coordinator, and you have his full support - for the rest of the season.   Coach: Well I took your advice and I got the commitment to the offense I needed.  We had our intersquad scrimmage this morning in a near blinding rainstorm.  We ran 36 plays starting each drive from the offenses 5 yard line, we scored 4 times.  Granted it is our second string on defense but that's over 400 yards (all but 25 rushing)  in 36 plays on the first full contact practice. I think we can be much better (the offense is still very rough).  My struggle now is to relate performance against our second string to potential performance vs a opponent.   The important thing is that you now have a confidence-builder - second-string defense or not.   I once heard Lou Holtz say, "moving the ball is nothing more than confidence," and I have found that to be true.   Now that you have your head coach's assurance of support, I'm sure that you will justify it.   *********** I would like to have more information on your tackling video. I am a single mother and I would like to teach my son the right way to tackle without getting hurt. Because he is simply not being taught the right way.   Naturally, I wouldn't be able to say whether or not your son is being taught properly without seeing what is happening, but I would venture to say that - depending on the age of your son - it may be a bit early in the season for full-speed contact in teaching tackling. And my experience is that there are some youth coaches who right now are getting a great deal of enjoyment out of watching kids hit each other as hard as possible, without really having been taught the fine points of what they should be doing.   Whatever the football skill, I am a firm believer in teaching correct techniques, and doing so very slowly, over and over, until a young player is very confident in what he is doing - and the coach is confident that the player can do it correctly - before even beginning to pick up the pace.   You might liken it to making sure that you don't immediately take an inexperienced driver out on the freeway.   My Safer and Surer Tackling tape shows the way I have taught tackling for years. It might be a big help to your son's coaches, but it might not. First of all, a lot of coaches will be insulted that someone might suggest a better way than what they are doing; second, I should point out that there are still far too many youth coaches who think that teaching tackling is a simple matter of weeding kids out by finding out "who wants to hit". (Answer: not nearly as many as we'd like, until we first get them confident.)   *********** Coming up on American Experience, on PBS, October 17 - The story of the Black Lions in Vietnam (actually, something of a recap of David Maraniss' prize-winning book, "They Marched Into Sunlight").   AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: TWO DAYS IN OCTOBER - Some stayed. Some went. All fought.   In October 1967, history turned a corner. In a jungle in Vietnam, a Viet Cong ambush nearly wiped out an American battalion, prompting some in power to question whether the war might be unwinnable. On a campus in Wisconsin, a student protest against the war spiraled out of control, marking the first time that a campus anti-war demonstration had turned violent.   Told almost entirely by the people who took part in the events of those two days -- American soldiers (Doc HInger is quoted extensively) , police officers, relatives of men killed in battle, protesting students, university administrators and Viet Cong fighters -- the film offers a window onto a moment that divided a nation and a war that continues to haunt us.   *********** Hey Coach, Is there anything on the market that is as good as Coach's Office product.  I can't believe they charge $295 for Just the Chalkboard and the Playbook.  Then limit you to 75 pages.  There has to be something out there that can compare with a reasonable price.   Coach- I use Macs only, and Coach's Office software is written for PCs (which makes good business sense, seeing as how we Mac guys are such a minority.)   Honestly, though, I haven't heard anything negative about it until now.   I manage to get by with the Drawing feature of Appleworks, an integrated program made by Apple for Macs. It is a lot cheaper than any playbook or playcard software on the market and it does the job for me, but that's probably because I have so much experience with it. If I were starting fresh, who knows? I might be looking at something like Coach's Office.   *********** To illustrate another subtle difference between us and our English-speaking cousins to the north of us, there is a pub in Vancouver, British Columbia which caters to a Canadian Football crowd. It is named The 13th Man.   *********** The latest transportation bill included hundreds of millions of dollars to build a "bridge to nowhere" - actually, from an island of 8,000 people across a narrow waterway to an island of less than 1,000 people.   The 8,000 people live in and around Ketchikan, Alaska - a town built on an island - and the bridge will take them to another island where their airport is located. Right now, the airport is a 5-minute ferry boat ride from town. When the bridge is built, it will probably take drivers 10-15 minutes to drive over. (Oh - did I mention that at most there are two commercial flights in and out daily?)   The channel is maybe 1/4 mile wide, so the bridge's span really wouldn't need to be that great, except that it has to be high enough to permit large cruise ships, an important part of the local economy, to pass underneath. That means high towers and long, elaborate approaches. Which means a lot of money.   How much money?   How about $350 million? Ketchikan resident Richard Cropp tells me that the attitude of most people there is - "Just pay us the $350 million and we'll divide it by 8,000 - and then we'll all leave."   *********** Such is the devotion of old teammates... I received a sad e-mail recently from General Jim Shelton, who has been preoccupied the past couple of months with the impending death of a soldier who once served under him, a sergeant named Rudy Ortiz. Sergeant Ortiz died last week. Bear in mind that Jim Shelton, a college graduate and an officer and Rudy Ortiz, an enlisted man from rural Puerto Rico, had little in common except respect for each other as soldiers. But it was enough to bond them for life.   I am in Lauderdale today at my buddy Rudy Ortiz's funeral. I will fly to Puerto Rico tonite and stay with Rudy until he is in his home ground in Bayoman, Puerto Rico. I was on Cape Breton Island when I got the word of Rudy's death.   There is nothing particularly noteworthy about Sergeant Ortiz' obituary, except that if you read it closely, you will read about a man - a so-called Hispanic - who was an All-American.   Ortiz, Rodolfo (Rudy) Eugenio, Master Sergeant, United States Army (Retired) of Boca Raton and Bayamon, Puerto Rico passed away peacefully on Tuesday, August 9, 2005. Visiting hours will be held on Thursday from 2:00-4:00pm & 6:00-8:00pm at Babione Funeral Home (west chapel 561-483-9500), Boca Raton. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:00am on Friday, August 12th at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, 22094 Lyons Rd., Boca Raton, Final place of rest will take place at The National Cemetery in Puerto Rico. Rudy was born on November 15, 1930 in Puerto Rico to Benito and Gregoria Ortiz. He was a distinguished member of the 82nd Airborne serving in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. After serving three years as a Red Hat Advisor in the Vietnamese airborne division he retired after more than 20 years at the age of 38. He stayed on in Vietnam as a civilian contractor for the US Army until the fall of Saigon. He then worked as a civilian contractor for the army in Saudi Arabia and Spain, returning to Boca Raton in 1985 for full retirement. Master Sergeant Ortiz is the father of three sons: Rudolph (Rudy, Jr) of Boca Raton, Gregory of Fuquay-Varina, NC, and Ronnie of AL; four daughters: Mattie Skidmore of Raleigh, NC, Teresa of AL, Edna and Tanya of Boca Raton; and seven grandchildren. He is also survived by his brother Heriberto and his sister Marta. Rudy was preceded in death by siblings Benito, Jr., Julio, Luis, Olga and Puri. Rudy was also known as an outstanding baseball second baseman, playing for unit or post teams at Ft. Bragg, Ft. Belvoir, in Korea and Germany. He was an accomplished amateur golfer well known for his prowess on the golf course. A life member of the 82nd Airborne Division Association and the Red Hats Advisory Team 162. His awards and decorations include the Combatinfantryman's Badge with Star, the Master Parachutist Badge and the Glider Badge, the Bronze Star Medal with V Devise and two Oak Leaf clusters (three awards), the Army Commendation medal with V Devise, the Air Medal, the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf cluster, three awards of the Good Conduct medal, six other service medals, seven overseas bars, the Vietnamese Parachute Badge, Vietnamese Gallantry Cross, RVN Staff Service, RVN Multinational Force & Observers Medal, and RVN Technical Service Medal. A biography of his life entitled, THE ALL AMERICAN: The life of Master Sergeant Rudy Ortiz: An American Hero, is being written to memorialize his great contributions to his country. May he rest in peace. Donations in his memory may be sent to: Hospice of Palm Beach County-5300 East Avenue, West Palm Beach, FL 33407 (561-848-5200).   Gen Shelton read the eulogy, which was written by another of Rudy Oritz' admirers, General Barry McCaffrey, who at the time of his retirement was the most highly decorated four-star general in the U.S. Army.   *********** A coach sent me the following exchange between himself and a father of one of this players, who is temporarily away from home...   Coach: My wife was upset last night on the phone saying that our son hasn't played Safety in the past two days. Saying that Coach ____ has put his son in his place and put our son blocking at TE both days. Is that true? What is your plan for our son on either side of the ball? If he isn't going to touch the ball on Offense and just block the entire year, that's a quick way to get him not to enjoy football anymore. Especially when he is one of the fastest kids on the team. I know he knows how to play the safety position better than _______. It could be just a practice thing possibly. Let me know. ___   The coach wrote the parent back (tell me he doesn't have stones like bowling balls)...   Sir: Good work, this phrase that you emailed me is the single most selfish statement I have heard or seen so far this season. "If he isn't going to touch the ball on Offense and block the entire year, that's a quick way to get him not to enjoy football anymore."   Here are some random, unorganized thoughts:   * (Your son) is doing fine. He is one of the hardest hitting kids on the B Team. He pays attention and he works very hard. He will play a great deal. I believe that he understands the whole TEAM concept. I believe that maybe his Mom and Dad do not.   * I believe that he is having fun. I know that all I hear from the B-Team coaches is how well he is doing.   * I feel that I have gone out of my way to make sure (your son) gets a fair shot.   * I am the one that stood up in front of the League and requested that he remain on the B team even though he is above the age requirement. I did that because I want (your son) to experience success as a football player.   * I am the one who asked the coaches to move people around on offense and defense so that they can learn more than just one position. This was not a B-Team coach decision. It was a Head Coach decision.   * Every child needs to learn to BLOCK and Tackle. If that means that during a scrimmage, (your son) plays TE or Tackle then that is what he will play.   * If you remember, at the beginning of last year, I had to move my son to Center just so we could get the snap. If, in order to help the team, I am willing to move my son to a position that he has never played, I damn sure will move someone else's son.   * If you remember, I did not allow my son to play defense at all last to ensure that other players that played the same Defensive position, but did not play an Offensive position, did not have to sit out. I believe that one of those players was (your son). If I sacrifice my own son's playing time for the sake of the team, I damn sure will sacrifice someone else's.   * There is no hidden agenda, there is no personal attack, and there is not one coach or parent that is out to get you or your son. Stop the paranoia!   * The purpose of this league and of this team is to turn your child and every other child into fundamentally sound football players.   * To say the least, I am offended.   * I find your judgment of an 8 year old (assistant coaches son) to be quite disturbing and uncalled for. He is a good boy, does very well and has a lot of football desire and understanding. You have not even seen him play this year. Maybe (your son) is better than (assistant coaches son), he should be, he is 2 years older.   * In regard to your statement that (your son) is one of the fastest kids on the team. That is true. The fastest kid on our team is John Doe. He is a pulling guard on the A Team. We use his speed to get him out if front because he is also a good blocker. Many skills factor into a ball carrier, speed being only one.   * I understand that you are frustrated from being so far away. I would like to believe that if you were here, this negativity would not have happened.   * I will in no way allow your email or my reply to affect the way (your son) is treated. He will not be treated any differently.   * Out of anybody, whom would you rather trust to teach your child how to be a football player?   ___, please understand that I am not angry, just offended and disappointed that you and (your wife) would believe that your son is treated unfairly. Especially before we even have a scrimmage, let alone a game.   I wish you were here; you would be quite excited at (your son's) progress. Your Friend,   I wrote to him---   Coach: I must say, you have STONES. That is a FANTASTIC letter, and one that thousands of today's selfish parents could stand to receive   And thousands of coaches would like to be working with someone like you.   I find the single most interesting part of the whole scenario is that the kid seems to be having a good time. It's Dad who isn't happy with things. Isn't it amazing how often that's the case? *********** Christopher Anderson's role as a sports columnist for the Stanford Daily affords him the opportunity of talking to some very interesting people, and he wrote me recently about one of them, former Texas QB Major Applewhite, who's now on the coaching staff at Syracuse... Coach, Talked with Major Applewhite for about 4 minutes this morning. What a guy. Really charismatic. Rick Neuheisel said once 'I bet he was the kid where everyone in the neighborhood wanted to know what he was doing that day.' I asked him if he considered LSU or any Louisiana schools, since he's from Baton Rogue, but he said he and his parents sort of wanted him to get out of LA. He committed to A&M, withdrew, committed to Texas and didn't want to change gears again when LSU offered in January. I asked if he wanted to be a head coach...he said he felt pretty much every coach wants to be one at some point, but he was concentrating on learning from his supervisors and helping out the team. The only quarterback controversy I asked about was the one at Syracuse. Asked if he had a lady. He got married in July (I'm sure he had his pick of women in Austin) and said she was really supportive of his coaching and such. A football wife. Said she didn't mind moving from Austin to Syracuse. I asked what it was like helping a guy win the Heisman Trophy (Ricky Williams). He said 'you've been there, when you're 19 you don't know anything, so it was great to just be a part of it and have him help me out by running hard.' Sounded like a great guy. I can only imagine his leadership. Seemed like a smart kid too. He did get screwed, but with a career and a wife, I guess not playing when he should have been isn't so big of a deal. God bless him. All the sportswriters said Simms had the good looks, but I go on the Internet and find the Major Applewhite Cutest Quarterback award. Go figure. Major went to Catholic high school in Baton Rogue and is active in the Fellowship of Christian athletes. Some real nice guys in that organization!   *********** My name is ------- and I was named Head Football coach at --------- in ---------. This is my first head coaching position. At my previous school in Florida we were studying the DW to run this season so I decided to bring it with me. We have not played yet but the kids absolutely love it. These are kids that ran a no huddle 4-5 wide passing attack last season. OL are begging me to run the G, they love it. The FB is salivating to run the ball. It has brought excitement to the program and the kids are buying into the system.   We introduced the "Wildcat" yesterday and should have seen the smile on the backs faces, they are pumped.   Hopefully we will experience some success. Last year the school was 1-9. They have won 3 games over the past 2 seasons.   When you took over the La Center job what was the main thing that you stressed with turning the program around? I appreciate any advice that you could give a young coach.   The main thing(s) I stressed were getting the people in the right positions (you have to be willing to tell an end he's now a tackle, and vice-versa), and then eliminating the ways you beat yourselves - fumbles, stupid penalties, poor tackling, poor kick coverage, lack of discipline.   And finding a defense that our kids could play. That took me a while. It is much easier to hide a lesser athlete on offense than on defense.   *********** On counters, my FB who is up tight to the QB, is having trouble getting a good DT without bumping our OT who is pulling?   Not sure where you got the idea of putting your B-Back up against the QB, but it wasn't from me.   On page 3 of the playbook, I write, regarding his depth, "Not quite able to reach out with down hand and touch QB's tail."   Others may teach differently, but you have encountered one of the problems in trying to run my system with a guy whose helmet is bumping the QB's butt.   Another problem is that it makes it nearly impossible for us to run 6-G/7-G and 4-Lead/5-Lead, staples from my days as a Delaware Wing-T guy which aren't found in other Double-Wing systems.   But finally, the depth of our B-Back is important in my system because the B-Back's heels are the landmark for men going in motion.   Move him back about 2-3 feet and see if that doesn't help. *********** My name is Kevin Cottingham and I am 9 years old.  I am playing tackle football for St. Mary's in Olmsted Falls, OH.  I have played flag before, but not tackle.  We are in our first week of camp and doing monkey rolls.  I wondered if you have any good tips on how to do them.  I was doing a google search and found your name and it said to email you if you have any questions.  I hope you don't mind. Thanks for your help.  Dear Kevin: The trick is to roll over the man who is rolling toward you just before he gets to your legs, and then, after you have rolled, get up very quickly - as fast as you can - and be ready to roll again, in the other direction. Keep repeating it that way. Just remember - after you roll, get up quickly and get ready to roll again. Best of luck to you. *********** I got an unsolicited e-mail from one Pennsylvania State Representative Mike Gerber, who represents an area in Montgomery County, not far from where my wife grew up. I don't know the guy, and I don't know what his party affiliation is, but I greatly admire what he's trying to do: I participated in a Little League opening day ceremony with another soldier who had served in Iraq. Again, his bravery and selflessness humbled me. This soldier, U.S. Marine Corps. Reserve Staff Sgt. Joe Renner of Conshohocken, thanked me for supporting the little leaguers and in the same breath, said he was headed back to Iraq. His care for others, modesty and selflessness struck me and made me realize that I was doing nothing to say "thank you" to those in service. With the guidance of a constituent, Beverly Hahn of Whitpain, I am organizing a collection of new or used CDs and DVDs to be sent to our troops serving overseas to let them know people back home are appreciative and care. We chose CDs and DVDs because Staff Sgt. Renner explained to us that many soldiers have CD and DVD players and like the escape the music and videos provide. You know, I'll bet there are guys over there who would even enjoy looking at your highlights DVDs. (Most of them that I've seen are quite well done.) Send them to 20 E. 11th Ave., Conshohocken, PA 19428 ---- Rep. Gerber's office phone number is 610-832-1679 (I wrote for permission to post this on my site, and I heard back from Rep. Gerber's office. Turns out I do know the guy. This is sort of freaky - a couple of years back I got a call from a Mike Gerber, a youth coach in Pennsylvania, who purchased some of my materials. One thing led to another, and it turned our that we'd gone to the same school - Germantown Academy - although many years apart. We probed further, as usually happens in cases like this, and it turned out that his close friend and classmate, Mike Turner, was the present coach at GA, and Mike was the son of a former longtime GA coach - and a classmate and teammate of mine - Jack Turner. Mike played football at GA and at Penn, and like so many of you, despite having a real life, he was hooked on coaching youth football. Completely off the wall came his e-mail, and it turns out that that Mike Gerber, the youth football coach, and this Mike Gerber, the state representative, are one and the same! Also turns out, by the way, he's a Democrat. What do I give a sh--? He's a football coach, isn't he? And he's a damn good man to be doing something like this. HW) More From Representative Gerber: Dear Coach, One of my staffers just showed me the posting on your site re: my CD/DVD drive for the troops. Thanks so much. I want you to know that your help several years ago has turned into a double wing tidal wave in this area. My organization, the Ambler-Whitpain Trojans, as well as several other organizations in the Philadelphia suburbs and in the city are running some form of your offense now. I was unable to coach last year because of my campaign, but I look forward to getting back into it someday. Our mutual friend, Jack Turner, is doing great. His son, Michael, is also doing well, having won the Inter-Ac two years in a row. I hope all is well with you. Thanks again. Best wishes, Mike  *********** BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND... 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

NO MORE 2005 CLINICS 2005 Clinics (UPDATED WHENEVER I FEEL LIKE IT - BUT USUALLY ON TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS) August 12, 2005 - "The opinion of 10,000 men is of no value if none of them knows anything about the subject." Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor   *********** A Football Coach's Prayer of Thanks... Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for allowing me to coach. And I thank you that in Your Almighty Wisdom, You have chosen to inflict the curse of Terrell Owens on Andy Reid, and not on me.'   *********** Hey - was that Packers-Chargers game a thriller, or what? I had to laugh at Joe Theismann, who evidently has got religion, telling us you're "darned if you do, and darned if you don't." Maybe he was afraid that if he'd said "damned," some people would raise heck. *********** Coach, Our organization wants us to sign a document stating we have taught proper tackling to all out kids. We have to list the kids name and date he was taught. The problem? When I ask for them to define "proper tackling", they won't. Do I need a lawyer? Ha ha! Would you sign it? FYI. I teach same technique as Safer and Surer Tackling. I would be happy to testify that I taught my kids to the best of my knowledge and ability, and I would be willing to sign something saying that I taught tackling the way the association told me to teach it - but beyond that, I would not sign anything like that without checking with a lawyer. No matter how well you teach kids, juries are juries, and there may be a rogue coach somewhere in America who would be willing to accept a plaintiff attorney's money in exchange for serving as an "expert" witness and telling a jury that what you taught them was not "proper tackling" - even if, in the opinion of 99.9 per cent of your fellow coaches, it was. You will notice my disclaimer at the beginning and end of "Safer and Surer Tackling" - "CAUTION! Football is a rough sport - it can't ever be made perfectly safe, and this tape is not intended to imply otherwise" HW   *********** Coach Wyatt, I would like to enroll the Marlboro High School Football "Iron Dukes" in the Black Lion Program for the third consecutive year. Giving the Award is always the highlight of our end of year banquet. Good Luck in your upcoming season.....We start 8/15 and have gone 16 - 3 since the double wing invaded Marlboro 2 years ago. Thanks, Bob Koonz, Marlboro, New York *********** Q1 - I have a big strong lineman who can explode off the ball but doesn't look fluid pulling square. I was thinking of making him my TE. I thought he would best serve us caving in one side of the line with his down blocks. He is also tall with soft hands which I like to throw a dump pass for extra points. What do you think? I think that you are thinking the way a good coach ought to think. Take advantage of your players' strengths, and don't box yourself in. Q2- I don't know if you have run it this way but I was thinking of running 38/29 G-O Reach with X over slot and Y over slot. I figure I can get a nice crack back block on their end with my X and have the RE+RT block down. Is this sound? That is the major reason for our Over slot and Under Slot. By all means, do it.   *********** A modest proposal (apologies to Jonathan Swift) - I'd like to see the non-BCS schools stop settling for the crumbs tossed their way by the BCS, and start their own bowl championship series, not unlike the way the NIT competes with the monopolistic NCAA. And I'd like to see the BCS try to crush the rival series - at this very time a jury is looking into the NCAA's "alleged" efforts to crush the NIT. *********** How about a Bubble Pass?  Is that when the receiver runs to an assumed empty, meaning uncovered area?  Is that the one when, the QB upon the snap, looks and throws laterally across the LOS to the WR.  (That's one of those plays I hate.) A "Bubble Pass" better known as a "Bubble Screen" is thrown laterally (or nearly laterally) to a receiver running away from the QB and out toward the sideline, with other receivers blocking downfield for him.One use for it is that it takes advantage of defenses that put two men out to cover three receivers. It is almost a running play - a quick toss - in that it gets the ball quickly into the hands of a good runner, in the open field. Normally, the receiver gives a little ground to make sure the pass is completed behind the line of scrimmage, otherwise those blocking receivers will be guilty of offensive pass interference. Also, another question Coach. At the LOS, defensively, is there a set number of down lineman that cannot move before the snap?  Who can move (stunt), and who cannot?  How many are allowed to line up in a 2-point vs. 3,4-point stance, minimum number of players, and/or maximum, etc.  Please clarify. The five interior offensive linemen may not move once they have established a stance, which normally means putting a hand down. And there must be at least seven offensive men on the line of scrimmage. But there are no such rules that apply to the defense. They may line up as many men as they want (or none at all, if they wish), wherever they want (so long as it's on their side of the neutral zone), in any kind of stance. And furthermore, they may adjust their stances or positions as often as they wish, before, during and after the snap. Lining up in one position and then shifting before the snap is called "stemming." I can't tell you why it's called that. I always thought, well before I knew DLmen do not need to be set, shifting around was called "stunting". Stemming is moving from one alignment to another before the snap. Stunting takes place after the snap, and involves taking a different charge from the one ordinarily taken, and often in conjunction with other linemen or linebackers. Also, there's always been controversy about "chopblocking" and/or "cut-blocking". There's plays I've seen where OLmen actually drop and roll into the DL. What's the precise definition of each mentioned block, or are they the same same depending where the play is? "Cut" blocking, although it sounds ugly, is not necessarily illegal. Without getting involved in a lengthy explanation of the rules, blocking low (below the waist) is permitted in HS ball under limited conditions; in NCAA ball (and in Massachusetts and Texas high schools), it is permitted under most conditions. "Chop" blocking involves a second blocker coming in low on a defender's legs, while the defender is already engaged by another blocker who has hit him high. It is illegal under all conditions. *********** I find myself in a bit of a pickle as the season starts and I was wondering if you could give me your opinion on how to handle this situation I find myself in? I have 2 players from last year's team (both 2 way starters) that signed up for the freshman football team at our local high school but have since changed their minds and want to play with us this year. In no way did I ever recruit these kids to come back and play for me, especially when I found out that they were going to play freshman football. I feel that, as a youth coach, my job is to get these players ready for the next level. I believe that they are both physically ready to play school football. At the same time, I am also flattered that they would rather play for me than the school, which is what their parents told me was their major decision maker. Tonight our high school head coach was at our practice field and he made it a point to talk with both of these kids. I know that he wants them to play with the school freshman team. I have great respect for our new high school head coach and I understand what he is trying to do. However, if I encourage these 2 kids to play school ball then I am doing a disservice to the other 18 kids on my team. I feel stuck in the middle. Damned if I do and damned if I don't, so to speak. If I try to get them to stay with our team then it will probably cause a rift between our program and the school program. We both have worked very hard the last 2 years to try and co exist and we have come a long way in our relationship than with the previous coaching staff at the school. I would appreciate it if you could give me your 2 cents worth on this situation. I am sure you have run into something like this in your coaching career a time or two. Many thanks! This is a unique one for me, because there really aren't that many cases where a high school program and a community program overlap. Mostly I have seen it with middle schools and youth programs. In the best of all possible worlds - in my opinion - the school program would be sufficient. But competition is what keeps everyone on their toes, and obviously, in your case, there are still two programs because parents (or kids) evidently feel that the community program provides something that the school program does not. I can believe it, because just as there are good youth coaches and bad, there are also good middle school coaches and bad. I have definitely seen middle school coaches who seem to think that as school employees they had a God-given (or union-given) right to a coaching job, and their coaching has reflected that attitude. They are the bane of their high school coaches. They couldn't possibly compete for kids with the kind of passionate, knowledgeable youth coaches I keep running across. On the other hand, I know middle school coaches who are highly professional, as contrasted with youth coaches who are totally in it for the W's. Years ago, I heard an old coach say that you should put your best coaches in your middle school, or on your freshman staff, but in reality, with good coaches becoming harder to find at all levels, that is seldom the case. All too often the freshman coaching positions are the last ones filled, and high school head coaches have to settle for someone who can just keep the freshmen busy and out of his hair. Truthfully, I don't see how you can expect to coexist peacefully with your school program, when in essence you are going after the same kids. I think the best you can hope for is a truce. The only way you can stay alive is to provide an attractive alternative to the school program, and if the school program isn't as attractive to the kids who go there as yours is, then they have a problem they need to address. If there is a reason that kids prefer to play in your program rather than the high school frosh program, the high school coach needs to get to the bottom of it and deal with it. You are doing them a favor by lighting a fire under their ass. That's what competition does. So long as you are not doing anything unethical, it seems to me that you have a right to provide an attractive program, and let kids and parents know about it. They will be the judges of whether or not you are living up to their expectations. I can understand the high school coach's point, certainly, but knowing kids at that age, while they might be impressed that the high school varsity head coach is taking the time to talk to them, they are a lot more concerned about who is going to be coaching them this year - not in two or three years. From what you have told me, I am guessing that there are problems at the freshman team level. Finally, you say that you have great respect for your new head coach, but from the way you tell it, I get the idea that he was at your practice field to try to entice kids away from your team. If my impression is correct, it sounds as if he isn't returning the respect. Ultimately, those kids and parents are going to decide what they think is best, and no amount of arguing on your part or on the part of the high school coach is going to sway them. I would advise you to stay out of it. If the high school coach makes it a recruiting issue, and thinks that the solution lies in his powers of persuasion rather than trying to fix what's wrong with his own program , he isn't helping his cause. *********** I met Chris Ashcraft last summer when I worked with him in Ketchikan, Alaska. Chris was a promising sophomore QB and safety whose dad, Blaine was head coach of the Kay-Hi Kings, and with a lot of kids coming back from last year's team, it looked like a great season for Chris and the Kings. And then, I got this e-mail from Kay-Hi Coach Richard Cropp... Chris Ashcraft was in a car accident last night. For an unknown reason he drifted into an on coming truck at over 50 miles an hour. He shattered his clavicle and took out most of his upper left arm and shoulder. He also had some pretty bad facial cuts. The good news is he has no spine, nerve, artery, or brain injuries. He is semi alert and is communicating. This morning he asked the doctor to just fix his left hand so he can throw the ball on Friday. He is being flown to Seattle as I write this. They are going to rebuild his shoulder and do some skin grafts. We obviously cancelled practice last night, but I got all the kids together before I went to the hospital to give them an update and then I called them all last night when I got home. We have a lot of work to do in just 2 days to get ready for Juneau, but I cannot think of a better bunch of kids to step up to the challenge. Ricky Gramms will take over as QB and we still have Kenny and Ryan in the backfield. Those 3 boys may be the 3 best athletes in all of Ketchikan, they will do what needs to be done. Obviously Blaine went down south with Chris so I guess I better figure out how to call a game. Our wrist coach will be pretty bare so it shouldnt be to hard. We'll have 88/99, 47/56, 2 Wedge, 6/7G, 5X and 5 Base, and at least 800/900 (which we are having great success with) and hopefully Red/Red. Should be plenty for an early season game. Our defense punished the fire department and that was without Ryan at safety. We did get Ryan running from the deep tailback spot and it is an amazing thing to watch, so that should help. Chris will be able to listen to the game on the internet and I am sure the rest of the kids will play their hearts out for him. Chris is one of the toughest kids I have ever seen on a ball field and he will rise above this no matter what it takes. It is amazing, we have 3 Ashcraft boys playing QB, one on our team and 2 on youth teams. One of the boys only has one eye (an injury from football), and the other only one kidney and yet they play with more tenacity than any I have ever seen. I remember a game last year where Chris was literally knocked out on the field for a few seconds, he jumped to his feet, brought the team to the line and called a 2 wedge before the play clock expired, then he collapsed. Blaine and I didn't even know he was hurt until after the second play. Sorry to run on so long, my brain is pretty fried at the moment. Remember Chris in your prayers. If you are going to be in the Seattle area anytime this week, let me know and I'll get you the info to go see him. In a subsequent letter, Coach Cropp wrote, Chris is at Harborview Medical Center ICU (Seattle). They have assigned a team of 3 surgeons to Chris. They started his first surgery at 2:00 this morning. In addition to the already described injuries he has a broken leg, a few broken ribs, and he has broken both arms. He is actualy doing very well considering the circumstances. He can talk and respond to questions and is actually being quite the comedian. He is quited doped up, but chewed out a nurse today when he was told he couldn't play later this season. He had promised his dad he would be back in a week. If any kid can come back from this Chris can. I fully expect him to be playing his Senior year. We will be carrying his jersey out to center field for the coin toss on Friday. Say a little prayer for Chris Ashcraft, and if you get a chance, send him a card at Harborview Medical Center, 325 Ninth Avenue Box 359894 Seattle, WA 98104 *********** Coach Wyatt: I just thought I would let you know that you can add another school to the double wing list. Toledo High School in Toledo WA. I was just hired about an hour ago. (I'm still teaching at Winlock.) I'm looking forward to applying all I've learned from your videos to the field. I just want to send you a huge thank you for this outstanding system. I'll keep in touch. Mike Voie, Winlock, Washington. (Coach Voie beat me in overtime back in 1997, stopping our 2-point conversion on the goal line - of course, I still say our fullback was in - but evidently he was impressed enough that he decided that at his next job, he was going to run the Double-Wing. HW) *********** The Positive Coaching Alliance, started at Stanford. They strike me as a gang of soccer ninnies who put 'fairness' ahead of competition. Christopher Anderson, Palo Alto, California People like that seem to be coming out of the woodwork - like the ACEP people who take our money in return for telling us we shouldn't raise our voices, much less swear at kids. One problem with them that I've seen is that they take a generic approach to coaching - as if coaching football is the same as coaching girls' soccer. Another is that the messages and the messengers come across as far too soft. They sound like all too many preachers nowadays - they come across as such weenies that they just can't get the attention of the people who most need to hear their message. *********** Coach Wyatt, Can I have your permission to print off the information about the Black Lion Award on your web page so I can include it in my packet to hand out at my parent meeting on Friday?  I hope things are going well for you.  Best of luck for the season!! Jonathan Thompson, Head Football Coach, Sedgwick, Kansas Coach Thompson (and any other coaches reading this) - You certainly may use anything at all that furthers the purposes of the Black Lion Award. (Let no one question Kansans' patriotism. At this point Kansas, although not a large state, leads all other states with five schools registered for the Black Lion Award!)HW *********** Coach, I have a question you can probably answer. In regards to legal jersey numbers - Is it possible for a player who plays linebacker, Offensive Line and running back to wear the same number? I am presuming that you are not talking about the NFL, which fairly tightly prescribes what numbers players must wear (yet then turns around and allows guys with ineligible numbers to go out for passes). A linebacker, of course, can wear any number he wants. A running back can wear any number he wants, but if it's an ineligible number (50-79) he can't go out for a pass. An offensive lineman can wear any number as well, but if he doesn't have an ineligible number (50-79), then at least five other guys on the line must - that's the rule. That would mean then, mathematically, that one of your ends would be wearing an ineligible number, and therefore, he couldn't legally go out for a pass. *********** NORAD, the joint U.S.-Canadian military command responsible for protecting North America from terrorists, has gone the PC route and changed the names of key readiness exercises to more politically correct words, so as not to offend American Indians. NORAD, based at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs has replaced the word "warrior" with "phantom." according to an internal message, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Times. A NORAD spokesman (gee- don't they mean spokesperson?) said "warrior" and other words were changed with Indians in mind . An exercise called "Amalgam Chief" has been renamed "Amalgam Arrow," and an exercise named "Amalgam Fabric Brave" has been renamed"Amalgam Fabric Dart." "Fabric Indian" is now "Fabric Sabre." Writes the Washington Times: The bottom line: warrior, chief, brave and Indian are out; phantom, arrow and dart are in. Next on the PC hit list (I'm betting): Apache helicopters. Meanwhile, quips Tom "Doc" Hinger (who's recuperating nicely at his home in Florida), our government leaders like to shove this PC garbage down our throats, "but they'll take free tickets to the f--king Redskins' game every Sunday." *********** I got an unsolicited e-mail from one Pennsylvania State Representative Mike Gerber, who represents an area in Montgomery County, not far from where my wife grew up. I don't know the guy, and I don't know what his party affiliation is, but I greatly admire what he's trying to do: I participated in a Little League opening day ceremony with another soldier who had served in Iraq. Again, his bravery and selflessness humbled me. This soldier, U.S. Marine Corps. Reserve Staff Sgt. Joe Renner of Conshohocken, thanked me for supporting the little leaguers and in the same breath, said he was headed back to Iraq. His care for others, modesty and selflessness struck me and made me realize that I was doing nothing to say "thank you" to those in service. With the guidance of a constituent, Beverly Hahn of Whitpain, I am organizing a collection of new or used CDs and DVDs to be sent to our troops serving overseas to let them know people back home are appreciative and care. We chose CDs and DVDs because Staff Sgt. Renner explained to us that many soldiers have CD and DVD players and like the escape the music and videos provide. You know, I'll bet there are guys over there who would even enjoy looking at your highlights DVDs. (Most of them that I've seen are quite well done.) Send them to 20 E. 11th Ave., Conshohocken, PA 19428 ---- Rep. Gerber's office phone number is 610-832-1679 (I wrote for permission to post this on my site, and I heard back from Rep. Gerber's office. Turns out I do know the guy. This is sort of freaky - a couple of years back I got a call from a Mike Gerber, a youth coach in Pennsylvania, who purchased some of my materials. One thing led to another, and it turned our that we'd gone to the same school - Germantown Academy - although many years apart. We probed further, as usually happens in cases like this, and it turned out that his close friend and classmate, Mike Turner, was the present coach at GA, and Mike was the son of a former longtime GA coach - and a classmate and teammate of mine - Jack Turner. Mike played football at GA and at Penn, and like so many of you, despite having a real life, he was hooked on coaching youth football. Completely off the wall came his e-mail, and it turns out that that Mike Gerber, the youth football coach, and this Mike Gerber, the state representative, are one and the same! Also turns out, by the way, he's a Democrat. What do I give a sh--? He's a football coach, isn't he? And he's a damn good man to be doing something like this. HW) More From Representative Gerber: Dear Coach, One of my staffers just showed me the posting on your site re: my CD/DVD drive for the troops. Thanks so much. I want you to know that your help several years ago has turned into a double wing tidal wave in this area. My organization, the Ambler-Whitpain Trojans, as well as several other organizations in the Philadelphia suburbs and in the city are running some form of your offense now. I was unable to coach last year because of my campaign, but I look forward to getting back into it someday. Our mutual friend, Jack Turner, is doing great. His son, Michael, is also doing well, having won the Inter-Ac two years in a row. I hope all is well with you. Thanks again. Best wishes, Mike  *********** BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND... 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

NO MORE 2005 CLINICS 2005 Clinics (UPDATED WHENEVER I FEEL LIKE IT - BUT USUALLY ON TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS) August 9, 2005 - "Complacency Kills" Marine slogan in Iraq     *********** Two kids from Franklin... Don Kovach, on the left, and Jim Shelton (note the Black Lions hat) have been best buddies since they were kids growing up in Franklin, New Jersey, a zinc-mining town in the hills (yes, New Jersey has hills) way up in the state's northwest corner, near where Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York come together.   Don was always a sports star, and he wound up playing football at Virginia, where was a three-year starter (in those days of three years of eligibility). His closest teammate at UVa was a big lineman named Henry Jordan, who went on to become a Hall of Fame defensive tackle with the Green Bay Packers of Lombardi. Don, in fact, was Henry's presenter at his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction.   "Don," says Jim Shelton now, "made a man out of me." That's because at the start of their sophomore year at Franklin High, Don was already a football star, but Jim was a big kid playing the sousaphone in the band. After much urging by his best friend, Jim finally went to the football coach and asked if he could still come out for the team, and when the coach said "Yes," Jim's life changed for good.   The two buddies were teammates for the rest of their high school careers, Jim as the single-wing center, Don as the fullback.   After Franklin High, their paths diverged. Don, heavily recruited, went to Virginia. Jim went on to the University of Delaware where under line coach Mike Lude he started for three years at guard in the Blue Hens' Wing-T. He was a member of ROTC at Delaware, and after his mandatory tour of duty in the Army following graduation, he and his wife decided that he should stay in and make a career of it. Thirty years later, Jim retired with a general's star.   Don went on to get both a business degree and law degree at Virginia, and settled down in Franklin to a long and successful career in business and politics. Today, among his many activities, perhaps the most prominent is his role as president of Sussex Bank, headquartered in Franklin.   Not too bad for a couple of kids from a small mining town in Northern Jersey. The two old buddies have stayed close over the years, and now, although Jim lives in Florida, they get to see each other several times a year.   Don and Sussex Bank sponsored at hole at the Army Football Club's recent golf outing. (Don also donated balls for all the players, but not nearly enough, in my opinion; I managed to lose my supply rather quickly.)   There was a time not so long ago when the men of Franklin earned their money underground, as hard-rock miners. They worked hard, and for recreation they liked their sports tough: Franklin gained a bit of fame in eastern football circles between the 1930s and the 1960s thanks to the Franklin Miners, a legendary semi-pro team that in one 10-year stretch from 1954 through 1963 won 120 games and lost just 15. Many of the people who settled in Franklin to seek their fortunes way down in the mines came from eastern Europe, and the rosters of those old Miners' teams are studded with names like Stefkowich, Kovalesky, Lacika, Luscik, Pietrzak and Zidek.   And Kovach. Don is proud of his Hungarian ancestry. He played for the Miners. So did Jim Shelton. They both played for the 1956 Miners. But wait a minute - didn't they also play on their college teams that same year? (That's what their colleges' record books say.) Hmmm. You don't suppose... It's probably way too late to get them or their schools in any trouble now, but just in case, let's not ask them how they managed to do that.   Regardless, the next time you wonder whether you should pressure a kid to play football, think about what a difference football made in General Jim Shelton's life - and what might have happened if his best buddy hadn't persuaded him to put down that sousaphone and play football.   *********** No trip to West Point is complete without a side trip to Montgomery, New York, home of my favorite dysfunctional family in the entire custom motorcyle world, the Teutuls of Orange County Choppers. You can't get into the factory (between taping the show "American Chopper" and their trips to motorcycle shows, they do have to build an occasional motorcyle), but you can get into their nearby showroom/store, where if you wish you can place an order for a chopper of your own, or for a little bit less buy your kid a lunch pail, shaped like the gas tank of a chopper. My favorite items? The OCC coloring books. Top Left: Paul, Sr. glares menacingly out the window of the OCC showroom/store; Paulie must be late again; Top Right; an "Old-School" chopper; Middle Left: Not exactly a chopper but a great retro bike; Middle Right: The POW-MIA chopper, featured on a show; Bottom Left: the NYPD chopper; in my opinion, it's their best; Above - another view of the NYPD chopper; the wall behind it is covered with patches from fire departments all over the US *********** Powerless to do a damn thing about the scandalous professionalization of college sports, or the idiots and thugs who play college games but have no business even being in college, the NCAA has chosen instead to go the PC route, putting the squeeze on teams nicknamed "Indians," "Braves," "Warriors," "Choctaws," "Fighting Sioux," "Seminoles," "Fighting Illini," etc.   I've said it before - "Redskins," I can understand. That does sound derogatory to me.   And I can understand wanting to get rid of goofy cartoon Indians on uniforms.   But "Braves?" "Warriors?"   Is there something wrong with attributing to your team the noble characteristics of a group of people? Are there really many red-blooded American Indians who don't take pride in the fact that the courage of their ancestors is celebrated in a team's nickname?   Worried about uncomplimentary stereotypes? Several years ago, Seattle comedy show called "Almost Live" joked that in honor of the opening of a new Indian casino in a nearby town, the local high school was planning to change its name to the "Fighting Blackjack Dealers."   *********** After coming in from our workout Monday night I caught just a little of the Bears-Dolphins game, and at the end, Michelle Tafoya was talking to Bears' rookie QB Kyle Orton and said, "I was talking to Lovie..."   She was referring to Bears' coach Lovie Smith. "Lovie?"   I wanted to grab her and say, Damn, girl - you ain't nothing but a sideline bimbo.The guy is a head coach in the NFL. There are only 32 of them. Show some respect for the man's position.   Think of it - there are 100 senators, and she sure as hell wouldn't refer to any of them by their first names. Like any media suckup, she'd be "Senator this," and "Senator that" until you wanted to wretch.   Lovie Smith has worked as hard as any senator to get to where he is today. He has earned the right to be called "Coach Smith."   *********** Coach Wyatt: Last weekend I was required to work on well sites in the OK panhandle (if you've ever been there you know the population of cows is far greater than humans...). Since we start practice Tuesday I took my play book and some notes with me to work on. On my way home yesterday I stopped in a little (population 8) place called Four Corners (cleverly named for the 4 way intersection which the 3 buildings in four corners surround) for lunch (a very good cafe at the only gas station for 40 sq miles) and I took the playbook in with me to work while I ate. As I was glancing through it the two men sitting at the adjacent table said that looks like double wing...I came pretty close to falling out of my chair! Turns out they run your system in Yarbourough, OK (adapted for the 8 man game). Larry Williams (the off cord.) coached at Meade, KS where they ran the 11 man version, he convinced the staff to install the system last year and they went 7-1 (best in program history). Pretty interesting to say the least...so we spent about a hour having sort of a mini clinic in the cafe and I think they are going to try running a 8 man version of green and gold this year. Gabe McCown, Piedmont, Oklahoma   *********** Coach Wyatt: I would like our team The 100# class Hanover Park Hurricanes to be eligible to recieve this honorable award. My son Nick Pantaleo was a recipient of the Black Lion award in 2002 and still wears it proudly on his high school jacket. Frank Pantaleo, Hanover Park, Illinois   SIGN UP FOR THE BLACK LION AWARD NOW - AND IF YOU'VE GIVEN OUT THE AWARD IN THE PAST, PLEASE E-MAIL ME NOW AND LET ME KNOW TO COUNT YOU IN AGAIN THIS YEAR, SO WE HAVE AN IDEA HOW MANY AWARDS TO PREPARE   *********** Although I'm not officially coaching this year i agreed to help out (my friend's) team this past Friday night with the offense.  While there I watched as they were going over their double team drill, I noticed they weren't using their "icepicks" and "chicken wings" as I always taught.   They were using the "hands up-pushing" technique used by so many whitebread teams I've seen.   I told him this offense is designed to deliver blows rather than pushing or "tittiebumping."   He said he had talked to you during one of the breaks at the last clinic at (-----------) and you had approved of this method.   My argument with this is that his line blocking is not consistant.  Teaching chickenwings on one play such as Wedge or on the kickout, and pushing/hands up on a doubleteam. The kids are sure to get confused.   Your thoughts on this???  I'd appreciate it....I don't know how to feel about this situation.   It seems they're not running the wing-T blocking that's been so effective in the past   What I said must have been misinterpreted. Let's put it this way - I may have said "I can't coach your team," and I may have said "it's possible that if you have a head coach who refuses to do it any other way, and maybe you can make the best of it."   It is my way of dealing with people who appear dead set on going with the pushy stuff.   But "approve" of it? That is way too strong a word. Let's put it this way - other coaches are free to do as they wish. But I would NEVER "approve" of pussy blocking on my team. HW   *********** Hey Coach, I notice you get a lot of mail from coaches working with 7,8,9 year olds wondering if they can use the double wing at that level. Feel free to refer them to me. (mc2yuma@sprynet.com) I've been using your system for six years now ( coaching 7-9 year olds the entire time). Maybe I can ease their minds about using the double wing. I don't pretend to know it all but, maybe I can share my experiences using the DW at that level. L. E. "Stew" Stewart, Yuma, Arizona   *********** For years, I've tried to chase down Frank Lovinski. Frank was the sports editor of the Hagerstown, Maryland Morning Herald, back when I was general manager and head coach of the minor league Hagerstown Bears. Most of the sports people in town treated us like a minor irritant that would simply go away if they just ignored us, but Frank insisted on treating us as an important part of the local sports scene. Perception is everything, and thanks to Frank's coverage of us, we became a very big fish in that small pond. Frank and I went our seperate ways back around 1973 or so, and in the years since, even with Google, I hadn't been able to find him. I knew that he'd retired as editor of the Detroit News (not bad, huh?) but that was as far as my searches ever got me. And then, one day, thanks to the miracle of the Internet...   Hello Coach Wyatt, My son picked up my name in a Google search in an item your wrote about the Hagerstown Bears so I checked it out.   That's quite an impressive resume you have built since we last saw each other in the newsroom of The (Hagerstown) Morning Herald more than 30 years ago. I went back over to News after leaving Hagerstown and stayed on the News side until I retired.   So, stay tuned for some old news here for a minute!   Seeing your name reminded me of a very funny story. I am foggy about the exact circumstances but seem to recall that you were maybe at QB or DB then (until I could find a QB, I had to play it myself. HW), I think, at home vs. the Cumberland Colts. You came off the field after a play and I was standing on the sideline.   "These poor guys don't have a chance tonight against us and for good reason," Coach Wyatt said.   "Why?" I asked.   "Well," Coach Wyatt said, "two of them have the horseshoe decals upside down on their helmets."   The sight of those guys running around with those upside down decals was just too precious and distracted me during the game. Had I known then what I learned later about writing, I could have written a pretty funny piece about the whole thing.   I obviously never forgot that little exchange and have recounted it several times. It is a classic in my book. Your sophisticated commentary and amusing observations baffled the other "serious" sports writers working with us in the newsroom but I appreciated it always.   It is great to see you succeeding in your venture and love of your life.   Best wishes, Frank Lovinski, Wintersville Ohio   (I should also mention that after our football seasons ended, Frank hired me part-time during the winter to cover high school basketball. He was a real pro, and I learned a tremendous amount from him about journalism.)   *********** Hello Coach, My name is -------- and I am a young single mom and my son plays for the ------- in -----.  This is his first year in tackle football.  He is built like a little football player, he loves the sport, but I feel he needs some extra coaching at home.  I know the game but not the key elements of actually becoming a good football player.  I was wondering if you have any tips on what I can show him at home that will allow him to catch better, and throw better? Thanks for your time   Dear Kaleena- Learning to throw a football is a fairly complex skill that I can't get into here. But as for catching - I think that the best training for a youngster is to catch a lot of balls, and I think that catching a baseball or tennis ball barehanded is great.   It teaches a player to catch with his hands, not his wrists and forearms, as a lot of young players do when they try to catch a football; it teached him to use both hands and keep them together (or the ball will go through) and it teaches him to focus on something a lot smaller than a football.   A baseball is good because it is hard and it will sting his hands until he learns to "give" a little when the ball hits his hands. This develops what is called "soft hands."   The tennis ball is good because if he doesn't have anyone to throw to, he can get plenty of practice throwing it against a wall and catching it.   Inside the house, he can lie on his back and toss the ball in the air and catch it (hands out in front of the body).   Be sure to teach him to reach out with his hands and catch the ball out in front of his body - thumbs together and fingers up in most cases, but little fingers together and thumbs out on balls thrown below the waist or balls thrown way past him.   To keep his hands working as one, it is important for him to keep his elbows in, never wider than his shoulders.   Strong hands are helpful. He can strengthen his hands by doing fingertip pushups and squeezing a tennis ball.   That should get him started.   *********** Dad I forgot to mention that former Geelong (Australian Football League) star Ben Graham is doing well in his competition to win the Jets punting job. We had the special teams coach &endash; Mike Westhoff &endash; on radio the other night and he said that it's pretty even between Ben and Micah Knorr (former Denver punter).   Also, the Springboks (South African National rugby team) have started in style, beating the Wallabies and All Blacks in South Africa. They're fast and hit hard and &endash; maybe it's just coincidence, but I think not &endash; the new coach Jake White is very progressive and has incorporated plenty of Black players into the side. They just look as if they're having some fun for a change. I know, South Africans and fun, an oxymoron.   One other thing &endash; ironically from an MLS soccer game. The announcers throw to the sideline chick who says 'I've got coach so-and-so with me' and she asks him a question. The coach says 'Hold on' and proceeds to ignore the woman and yell directions at his players. He never did do the interview! Love, Ed   *********** Coach, Terry Bowden says he wants to see a 16-team playoff. He apparently isn't interested in actually determining the 'national champion,' because if he was ten or twelve of those teams have no business being involved.   But as far as the argument goes that 'every other sports has a playoff,' I think the Rose Bowl is the oldest postseason contest in American sports that has survived. It's a year older than the World Series, even. Why should the bowls have to change when the Grandaddy was there first?   (I think a Final Four or Two after the bowls may be the best solution to satisfy everybody. That way each team gets a month to prepare, and the non-elite teams can play a fun game and go home happy.) Christopher Anderson, Palo Alto, California   If they have to have a "playoff," then a "Final Four" scenario will work. That's what they do in Connecticut, for example, although Connecticut's final four (sorry, I guess that's trademarked) is computer-selected. Yes, I'm sure that there have been many good, deserving teams excluded by the Connecticut system, but it also culls out a lot of undeserving teams without having to waste a weekend or two of early-round games to do so, and I don't think that Connecticut's state champions are any less legitimate than those of states with 32-team playoffs. They may even be more legit. I mean, who's kidding who(m)? Does anybody in the world really think that a 16th seed that happens to put together a few playoff upsets would truly deserve to be called a "champion," national or state?   *********** Coach Wyatt, I got some encouraging news about a couple of local kids who helped coach our community swim team.   Our two coaches did a great job teaching our neighborhood swim team. We ended up in 2nd place in our division by only 3 points.   The thing that separates these coaches who are both heading off to college this year is that they showed what honesty and sportsmanship is all about. It seems that two of our swimmers were on vacation and did not swim in the meet. The computer that scores the meet gave them points anyway for two 5th place finishes. Our coaches caught the error which caused a 5 point swing in the points. This was enough for the other team to edge us out for the championship. My dad once said that the true sign of a honest man is one who will do the right thing when no one is looking. Good Luck this year. Dan King, Evans, Georgia *********** I got an unsolicited e-mail from one Pennsylvania State Representative Mike Gerber, who represents an area in Montgomery County, not far from where my wife grew up. I don't know the guy, and I don't know what his party affiliation is, but I greatly admire what he's trying to do: I participated in a Little League opening day ceremony with another soldier who had served in Iraq. Again, his bravery and selflessness humbled me. This soldier, U.S. Marine Corps. Reserve Staff Sgt. Joe Renner of Conshohocken, thanked me for supporting the little leaguers and in the same breath, said he was headed back to Iraq. His care for others, modesty and selflessness struck me and made me realize that I was doing nothing to say "thank you" to those in service. With the guidance of a constituent, Beverly Hahn of Whitpain, I am organizing a collection of new or used CDs and DVDs to be sent to our troops serving overseas to let them know people back home are appreciative and care. We chose CDs and DVDs because Staff Sgt. Renner explained to us that many soldiers have CD and DVD players and like the escape the music and videos provide. You know, I'll bet there are guys over there who would even enjoy looking at your highlights DVDs. (Most of them that I've seen are quite well done.) Send them to 20 E. 11th Ave., Conshohocken, PA 19428 ---- Rep. Gerber's office phone number is 610-832-1679 (I wrote for permission to post this on my site, and I heard back from Rep. Gerber's office. Turns out I do know the guy. This is sort of freaky - a couple of years back I got a call from a Mike Gerber, a youth coach in Pennsylvania, who purchased some of my materials. One thing led to another, and it turned our that we'd gone to the same school - Germantown Academy - although many years apart. We probed further, as usually happens in cases like this, and it turned out that his close friend and classmate, Mike Turner, was the present coach at GA, and Mike was the son of a former longtime GA coach - and a classmate and teammate of mine - Jack Turner. Mike played football at GA and at Penn, and like so many of you, despite having a real life, he was hooked on coaching youth football. Completely off the wall came his e-mail, and it turns out that that Mike Gerber, the youth football coach, and this Mike Gerber, the state representative, are one and the same! Also turns out, by the way, he's a Democrat. What do I give a sh--? He's a football coach, isn't he? And he's a damn good man to be doing something like this. HW) More From Representative Gerber: Dear Coach, One of my staffers just showed me the posting on your site re: my CD/DVD drive for the troops. Thanks so much. I want you to know that your help several years ago has turned into a double wing tidal wave in this area. My organization, the Ambler-Whitpain Trojans, as well as several other organizations in the Philadelphia suburbs and in the city are running some form of your offense now. I was unable to coach last year because of my campaign, but I look forward to getting back into it someday. Our mutual friend, Jack Turner, is doing great. His son, Michael, is also doing well, having won the Inter-Ac two years in a row. I hope all is well with you. Thanks again. Best wishes, Mike  *********** BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND... 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

NO MORE 2005 CLINICS 2005 Clinics (UPDATED WHENEVER I FEEL LIKE IT - BUT USUALLY ON TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS) August 5, 2005 - "It is absurd to believe that soldiers who cannot be made to wear the proper uniform can be induced to move forward in battle. Officers who fail to perform their duty by correcting small violations and in enforcing proper conduct are incapable of leading." General George S. Patton Jr., April 1943   *********** Last weekend, along with General Jim Shelton and Tom Hinger, I was the guest of the Army Football Club at its annual golf outing held at West Point. Tom, who is at home in Winter Haven, Florida recovering from major surgery, couldn't attend, but I'd like to think that the General and I had enough fun and came away with enough stories to keep him fired up for next year's event.   Nearly 250 former Army football players, alumni of teams from 1948 to the present, returned to take part in a two-day fest of golf and fellowship. The golf ranged from the poor (thanks in large part to me) to the spectacular; the fellowship was consistently good.   To drop a few names... I had a chance to talk with Coach Bobby Ross, and my golfing partner was defensive coordinator John Mumford. I was given a tour by Major Bill Lynch, a former Army footballer who now serves as Army's Director of Football Operations, of the locker facilities, where I got my first look at the beautiful bronze Black Lion Award plaque, donated by the Army Football Club. It is posted on a wall that the players pass every day, going in and out of the locker room. In fact, to give you some idea how prominent a position it occupies, Coach Ross was not happy with Army's special teams performance last year, and he has placed a high priority on improvement in the area of special teams - right next to the Black Lion Award plaque is the "Special Teams Goals" chart.   I met classmates and teammates of Major Don Holleder, who were only too willing to share some of their favorite remembrances of a fallen teammate they obviously love and admire and will never forget. And I had my picture taken between two All-Americans from the undefeated 1958 team, Bob Novogratz and Bob Anderson. Bob Anderson will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Indiana on August 12. (Read more about him - http://www.collegefootball.org/news.php?id=658   I also received some gracious offers from former Army football players to help present your Black Lion Awards after this season.   One of our goals while at West Point was to make Bob Novogratz and Coach Ross both honorary Black Lions, which General Shelton managed to do at Friday night's get-together. But unbeknownst to us, a major reason for our being invited there, it turned out, was to make us honorary members of the Army Football Club. (Are you sh---ing me? Me, a guy who never served a day in the armed forces, an Ivy Leaguer - and a mediocre one at that, - a member of the Army Football Club? With a varsity "A" to prove it?) I am awed and humbled. I have never been so proud of anything in my life. You can't go back and do things over, especially things that happened nearly 50 years ago, but this is the nearest thing I will ever get to going back and being an Army football player, and I will settle for it.   Gen Shelton makes honorary Black Lions of Coach Bobby Ross (Left) and Bob Novogratz (Right) An Ivy League puke sandwiched between Army All-Americans Bob Novogratz (left) and Bob Anderson (Right) The Holleder Center, named in honor of Major Don Holleder, the Army football player and war hero who inspired the Black Lion Award, is West Point's home for basketball and ice hockey games My Army Football honorary letter. I didn't earn it, but it means so much to me that if you break into my house, you will have to kill me to get it from me. LEFT: Army's Director of Football Operations, Major Bill Lynch, stands next to the Black Lion Award plaque, prominently displayed in the Army locker room RIGHT (TOP): It's just a wall of players' personal lockers. Nothing unusual except for one thing - no locks. One of the beauties of life in a place with a strict honor code. RIGHT(BOTTOM): A stern reminder of why Army football players are at West Point - How many other places in America will you find BDU's (Battle Dress Uniforms) hanging up in a football player's locker? *********** Hey Coach, I was wondering what is it you look for when game planning for a youth game.  I know it is a lot different than High School were you have a lot of resources on your opponents like film and scouting reports.  In youth football the best you can know is what kind of formation the defense run.  Usally 5-3 or 4-4.  This year the head coach wants to have the 1st 10 plays or so scripted.  I know when you script plays you are looking for the defense point of weakness but how do you come up with something like that.  I mean I could run sweep, trap, boot and depending on 4th down punt or go off tackle.  If you can help me I would appreciate.  This is the first time someone asked me to script plays.  I usally call the play on the spot and had success.  The bane of youth football - coaches imitating the pros without understanding why the pros do what they do - strikes again. I do not script plays. For my purposes, and for yours, too, it makes no sense. Scripting, which is basically a form of intelligence-gathering - in-game scouting, if you will - may or may not work for the pros, where they have a half-dozen highly-trained assistants up in the booth analyzing defensive reactions to your formations and plays, where they have the people with the kills to take advantage of what they spot, and where their games consist of many more plays than ours, so that at some point they may be able to come back and use the information they picked up. But I don't have the luxury of wasting plays just to try to find out how a defense lines up against us, and neither do you. I could wind up stalling our offense to the point where we fall behind and I never will be able to take advantage of whatever intelligence I gathered in those first couple of stalled drives. When you run a series offense such as the veer, the wishbone, the wing-T, the Double-Wing - and I can't think of many good reasons for not doing so at the youth level - you are not into grab-bagging. You run a base play and see if they can stop it, and if so, what they did to stop it. You don't go on to "Play Number Two" if they can't stop "Play Number One." You can beat a team with one play if the opponents can't stop it. The illustration I like to use is the wishbone. Most wishbone coaches are going to run the fullback at you, and if you can't stop him - game over. If opponents can stop the fullback, the experienced wishbone coach is knowledgeable enough about his system to figure out what you've done, and go on to a play that takes advantage of that. So it is with us. How are they set up to stop super power? If they can't stop it, it is all over. If they can stop it, they can't stop everything we have. Know-how will help you find what they are giving you. Until you acquire that know-how, you probe until you find it. And, of course, even if it appears that they are stopping Super Power, you still need to be patient with it and not discard it entirely, because it does wear opponents down. I always tell people at my clinics - if I were to script my plays, and the first play I ran gained us 15 yards, do you really think I'd go right to play number two? Remember this - don't help the defense. It is not your job to stop your offense - it is the defense's job to stop your offense. It is very demoralizing to a defense when they know what's coming and they still can't stop it. I think this "scripting" nonsense is one more manifestation of one of the biggest problems our game faces - coaches (and kids) trying to imitate the pros, without the talent or the know-how of the pros. HW *********** Coach -  One thing I am noticing is that with more formations we will have our practice reps and time will be spread a bit more thin.  I had been trying to show some alternate looks to core plays (like trap with spin and trap with boot fake, or wedge and then wedge with xx fake, power keep and then power option, or something like 58-C to throw off the DE)  Doesn't seem like much - but we don't ever seem to have enough time to rep all the alternatives and have time to practice extra formations.  I know we should only be working tight and maybe one or two other formations per week - and I am sticking to that, but still it seems like we don't have a lot of time.  Should I do like Ive always done and "just run the basics" but mix formations more.   Or should I try to keep the alternative looks (as we do see the same 7 teams every year and there is another dwing team in our league).  I think what it comes down to is you can't possibly practice every play from every look every day and do justice to your execution. But you don't have to. In the early going, it's not a bad idea just to expose the kids to all the things you're able to do, but as you get into game preparation, I think you have to narrow down your selections from week to week and decide what wrinkles look best for that particular opponent - what you're going to hang your hat on that week. HW *********** Hugh, Congratulations on becoming a Head Coach again! I'm sure with you guiding the team it'll be a great season. My sense is that your kids are looking forward to playing for you and getting started. We start practice next week, I'll let you know how it goes. We could have a real good year if everything works out. Have you read Football as a War Game? The author is Dr Andy Kozar, a Single Wing Fullback at Tennessee in the early Fifties. The book is essentially the Football Notebooks of General Neyland. (A damn good coach even if he did graduate from that school along the Hudson.) It gives a great insight into the mind of one of football's greatest coaches. (The original "Loose Tackle Tennessee = Wide Tackle Six was his 55 Defense. His Football Maxims are listed, play diagrams from his balanced line Single Wing Offense etc... ) The book is leather bound and a bit expensive but, for anyone interested in hard-nose football, worth it. (You'll recall that in the early Fifties Neyland pushed for the return to single platoon football and when it was passed by the rules committee his comment was something like "No More Chicken Sh-- Football") Take Care, Nick Mygas, Virginia Beach, Virginia (Coach Mygas, a captain of the Navy football team that beat BYU 23-16 in the first-ever Holiday Bowl game in 1978, can be forgiven for referring to West Point as "that school along the Hudson.") HW *********** Coach Wyatt, I'm not sure you remember me but we traded e-mails some time ago.  I remember you informing me that you like South Carolina but "despise" Spurrier.  There is much controversy down here regarding his taking scholarships away from players that were on the team when he got here and awarding them to walk-ons.  The Association of High School Coaches sent him a letter of protest calling this practice "unethical".  90 High School Coaches signed the letter.  They recommended to the South Carolina High School League to remove the "Week-End of Champions" from Columbia to an alternate site.  This is an annual week-end of High School Football Playoffs for each classification to determine State Champions.   It is sort of a tournament for High School Football.  They did this in protest.  I didn't know if you had heard about this.  I would be most interested in your thoughts.   Best regards, Danny Brackett, Florence, South Carolina   (The coaches' letter follows. HW)   To: Steve Spurrier From: South Carolina Football Coaches Association Board of Directors CC: Eric Hyman (Athletic Director. HW) Coach Spurrier, On Wednesday, July 27, 2005 at 3 p.m. at the South Carolina Football Coaches Association meeting, our board of directors will recommend to the South Carolina High School League to move the location of the Weekend of Champions from the University of South Carolina to another location starting in 2005. The board feels that USC has shown a lack of commitment to numerous athletes by threatening to revoke and by revoking scholarships to athletes who are meeting all the established requirements by your football program. We understand athletic scholarships are a one-year commitment. However, we feel unless an athlete breaks the rules or embarrasses the institution, to revoke a scholarship because you feel an athlete cannot play at the level needed to compete in the Southeastern Conference is unethical. A decision made in such a manner reflects poor recruiting and a poor job of evaluating that high school athlete by USC. The athlete should not be punished for USC's error. We the South Carolina Football Coaches Association are all about commitment, and USC's lack of commitment to its recruited players has prompted our action. The board of directors would be more than willing to listen to, and would appreciate, any response that you may have. Signed, South Carolina Football Coaches Association Board of Directors   It sounds like Spurrier stuff.   It also sounds like a BIG mistake.   I suppose in a state the size of Florida you can pretty much do as you damn please, but South Carolina, although a very good football state, is a small state, and it has two major programs who hate each other and fight to get and keep the upper hand in recruiting in-state.   It would just seem to me that coming into a situation like that, the first thing you want to do is win your own state. That's where most of your alumni live, and it does get embarrassing to the loyal alums when the local stars get scooped up by the archrival. Embarrassment translates into anger, and anger translates into impatience, and no matter who you are, it's nice to have alumni who can be patient.   The last thing you want to do is alienate the in-state coaches.   I am reminded of the situation in Indiana several years ago, when Joe Tiller was hired at Purdue and at the same time, Cam Cameron was hired at IU. Cameron closed all his practices and was considered inaccessible and inhospitable by Indiana high school coaches; Joe Tiller, on the other hand, went out of his way to make himself available to them. Both programs, of course, still had to get a lot of their players from out of state, but Coach Tiller had his state's high school coaches solidly on his side. Don't know if that had anything to do with it, but Cam Cameron is long gone from Indiana, while Joe Tiller has built himself something of a dynasty at Purdue.   *********** Coach, Good afternoon.  I am coaching a 7 & 8-year-old youth football that will not be doing a lot of passing.  I was looking to install an offense that would give us the best opportunity to move the ball.  We will not be a very big team, nor will we be exceptionally fast.  I don't have much experience with this offense, but it looks like it would be great for these kids.  I would like to order your package combo and will put a check in the mail tomorrow.  Do you have any suggestions for coaching this age group (my experience is with older kids).   For seven years, I coached in Finland. They were grown men, but in football terms, they were like little kids, and I learned a great deal about teaching the game from working with them.   Coaching young kids isn't much different from coaching older kids, except that you have to have a great deal more patience and understanding, because today's kids are especially sensitive to being corrected, and you have to give a great deal more thought to how you teach what you're teaching. You can't take anything for granted. And you have to deal with the fact that especially at a young age, kids learn in many different ways. You have to explain, demonstrate, walk-through.   The old expression I use is "talk it, walk it, run it, rep it."   "Talk it" - explain the drill or the play. Speak slowly and clearly and don't use football terms without explaining what they mean. Explain things in more than one way, if necessary. Demonstrate if you can. Use a white board or a chalk board. Show a video clip if possible. Constantly ask questions of them, not just to find out who is learning and who isn't (and what teaching technique is working and what isn't), but to create a certain tension while you are teaching, causing them to pay closer attention because they know that you will be asking them questions.   "Walk it" - whatever you teach, whether it's a specific skill, such as tackling or blocking, or an actual play, walk them through it. Do it very slowly at first and don't be in a hurry to pick up the pace until you - and they - are very confident in what they're doing. Especially where physical contact is involved, understand that most kids are scared to death initially. Take it slowly. This is way too early to have kids engaged in heavy contact drills to "find out who wants to hit."   "Run it" - as they get better, step up the pace bit by bit until you believe that they are ready to do it full speed. But again, don't be in too big a hurry.   "Rep it" - practice the skill or the play repeatedly until it is second nature. Never accept a poor rep by a player in a drill or by the team if you're running a play. Impress on the kids that fact that only successful reps make them better. Who knows? Some of them may even seen how that applies to schoolwork.   Above all, make sure they have fun. There are way too many other things that kids could be doing instead of football, including playing video games in the air-conditioned comfort of their bedrooms. The football experience is too great and too important for us to drive kids off by making it sheer drudgery.   You might also be interested in my "Practice Without Pads" video, which deals with a lot of these points.   *********** Last year we had problems finding a running back.  At the second half of the season our staff did some eval and decide to put some of our best players on the line and put a starting center at tailback.  He was a DE on defense.  He had moderate speed.  He did better than anybody else.  Averaged 40 -50 yards a game.  The way we executed the wing T last year made me a believer that you don't need the fastest guys on the field.   A big mistake we all make is getting too caught up in a kid's physical talents. It is like saying that a rose smells better than a cabbage, so the rose must make better soup.   We can't lose sight of the fact that the number one thing still is - who can get the job done? HW   *********** How to deal with red-neck fathers who know nothing about double wing who also know everything ever invented about football? Now that's a problem I have no answer for. The world is full of football experts, whose "education" consists of watching the NFL and playing "Madden." No doubt you will hear "if it's so good, why don't the pros run it?" (A. The pros are in the entertainment business, and fans demand that they throw the ball. They also spend millions on scouting and signing players with the skills to run their offenses.) You will also hear "It's not preparing these kids for the 'next level.'" (A. The best way I know to prepare kids for the "next level" is to teach them to block and tackle, to develope their confidence, to teach them to play together as a team, and teach them to love the game so they want to play again next year.) I do believe that those with any brains at all will understand the argument that this offense (1) involves more kids in every play than anything else you could do; (2) spreads the ball around to four backs; (3) adjusts to their skill levels; (4) gives young kids a far better chance of success as a team than any spread offense. would *********** Dear Sir, I noticed the note in the news section from a Seattle Prep grad about the players from Prep who played for the service academies. I played football for Seattle Prep and five men from my class (2004, our senior season was the fall of 2003) will serve as officers in the Army or Air Force. Seattle Prep is a relentlessly liberal climate and it is driven by both the teachers and a majority of the students. Seattle Prep is also a fairly wealthy school and the combination of the two make it an unlikely place for anyone to choose the military. A number of my classmates had trouble understanding why anyone would join the military. That was not a new felling for us. In 2002 we went 2-7 and became a joke. People had trouble understanding why we played football and an Army recruiter I spoke to was surprised to learn that Seattle Prep had a football team. Looking back on it, I can see what the two situations had in common. Our values clashed with the dominant culture at the school. It is my belief that understanding military values made us better football players and the lessons we learned playing football will make us better officers. I guess this email went a little long and it could have easily been much longer. Thank you, and I enjoy reading your news section. Sincerely, Cliff Evans, New York, NY(Thanks for writing. Your situation at Seattle Prep - and that of guys at numerous other places similarly set up to educate the children of the elite (my apologies to you) - is a microcosm of society in general. When someone from other than the lower rungs of society chooses to enter the service, he is looked on with wonderment, a sure sign of our society's decadence. This is what happens when we delude people into thinking that they are not responsible for their own - and their nation's - security, other than paying taxes to support what is essentially a mercenary force. This is not to denigrate in any way the people who protect us by implying that they are soldiers of fortune, whose loyalties are for sale. They are certainly not Hessians - they are Americans, motivated for the most part to serve their country, but we have come a long way from the concept of the militia that guarded colonial towns, and we are a decadent society because of it. Soccer is easier than football. "Alternative service" is easier than the military. Both, to me, are signs of our decadence. HW *********** Coach, Just wanted to congratulate you on your new job. I know Madison will enjoy having you as the leader of their young men and I am sure you will be able to keep the program going in the direction it has been heading. I just watched your Madison highlights from last year again, and I saw a lot of good things going on. Wanted to endorse your comments about Iowa football and Midwestern values. After coaching in Bennington, Nebraska (about 15 miles outside of Omaha) for nine years if there is one thing I miss in Florida it is my players working in the hay fields and driving tractors for their families all summer. It was a great place to live and a great place to coach. The kids had a great work ethic when they got to high school and all you had to do was point them in the right direction. I am fortunate to have a place in Florida, Umatilla High School, that is much like Bennington. We have a couple of local feed stores, old time restaurants with breakfast specials, and kids with a good work ethic. I don't know how I got so lucky. Just some food for thought. Talked to Doc Hinger the other day after he got home from Tampa and I think he doing pretty well considering all he has been through. I am going to try and make a field trip to Winter Haven in the next week or so. He is sure appreciative all all the people who have contacted him. Hope you did well at the Army football golf outing. Monday we start three days in shorts and then put on the pads on Thursday. It seems great to think it is so close. Later, Ron Timson, Umatilla, Florida *********** The restaurant critic in the Middletown, New York Times Herald-Record wrote a review of an Italian restaurant in the town of Montgomery. Overall, he seemed to like it, but he said, "Quite frankly, I feel the same way about Italian-American restaurants that I do about attorneys: they have their good points, but there are simply too many of them." Hey - I live in Washington, not New York. Could you send us a few? (Italian restaurants, I mean.) *********** I am wanting to take a look at running the power & counter without motion.  We have tried it in camp and our A & C backs are complaining that they cannot hit the hole with authority.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.  To be frank, I think that you have a coachability issue. I think that your backs have found themselves faced with the idea of doing something different and they are finding an excuse not to change. Can't run with "authority?" I have never heard such a thing. Rather than call them whiners, I'd say it sounds like something they heard on TV - or a video game. How old can they be? How experienced can they be? What does "authority" mean, anyhow? You have only to see either of my highlights videos to see what running with authority means - our 2004 A-Back gained over 1700 yards, and most of it was without motion. However, if you would like to do something that will remove all excuses, go to the front of the book where it shows backs' formations, and run from "Right" and "Left" occasionally, and run from those formations. You will be amazed at how well they will work for you. *********** A young man wrote me and asked what it was going to take for him to eb successful as a football player, and I wrote back: I have to give you five keys. I would say first of all coaching. You will be fortunate if you have a coach who is a good teacher and knows what he is teaching and demands your best from you; second, as a player, you need to be coachable - you need to be able to accept what the coach tells you, and to accept coaching positively; third, you need the mental toughness to deal with the demands of the sport without letting things hardship defeat you; fourth, you need teammates whose respect and trust you value; and finally, you do need a certain amount of God-given talent and physique. *********** americasbestonline has attempted to rank the "top 25 college football stadiums," and I guess their opinion is as good as anyone else's, but I do suspect that there may have been an Aggie on the selection board... 1. Kyle Field, Texas A&M 2. Notre Dame Stadium, Notre Dame   3. Neyland Stadium, University of Tennessee 4. Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, University of Florida 5. Tiger Stadium, LSU 6. Ohio Stadium, Ohio State University 7. Memorial Stadium, University of Nebraska 8. Doak Campbell Stadium, Florida State University  9. Sanford Stadium, University of Georgia 10. Camp Randall, University of Wisconsin 11. Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn University 12. Folsom Field, University of Colorado 13. Bryant-Denny Stadium, University of Alabama 14. Michigan Stadium, Unversity of Michigan 15. Beaver Stadium, Penn State 16. Autzen Stadium, University of Oregon 17. L.A. Coliseum, University of Southern California 18. Michie Stadium, Army 19. Memorial Stadium, Clemson 20. Rose Bowl, UCLA 21. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, University of Texas 22. Husky Stadium, University of Washington 23. Falcon Stadium, Air Force Academy 24. LaVell Edwards Stadium, BYU 25. Bulldog Stadium, Fresno State *********** I got an unsolicited e-mail from one Pennsylvania State Representative Mike Gerber, who represents an area in Montgomery County, not far from where my wife grew up. I don't know the guy, and I don't know what his party affiliation is, but I greatly admire what he's trying to do: I participated in a Little League opening day ceremony with another soldier who had served in Iraq. Again, his bravery and selflessness humbled me. This soldier, U.S. Marine Corps. Reserve Staff Sgt. Joe Renner of Conshohocken, thanked me for supporting the little leaguers and in the same breath, said he was headed back to Iraq. His care for others, modesty and selflessness struck me and made me realize that I was doing nothing to say "thank you" to those in service. With the guidance of a constituent, Beverly Hahn of Whitpain, I am organizing a collection of new or used CDs and DVDs to be sent to our troops serving overseas to let them know people back home are appreciative and care. We chose CDs and DVDs because Staff Sgt. Renner explained to us that many soldiers have CD and DVD players and like the escape the music and videos provide. You know, I'll bet there are guys over there who would even enjoy looking at your highlights DVDs. (Most of them that I've seen are quite well done.) Send them to 20 E. 11th Ave., Conshohocken, PA 19428 ---- Rep. Gerber's office phone number is 610-832-1679 (I wrote for permission to post this on my site, and I heard back from Rep. Gerber's office. Turns out I do know the guy. This is sort of freaky - a couple of years back I got a call from a Mike Gerber, a youth coach in Pennsylvania, who purchased some of my materials. One thing led to another, and it turned our that we'd gone to the same school - Germantown Academy - although many years apart. We probed further, as usually happens in cases like this, and it turned out that his close friend and classmate, Mike Turner, was the present coach at GA, and Mike was the son of a former longtime GA coach - and a classmate and teammate of mine - Jack Turner. Mike played football at GA and at Penn, and like so many of you, despite having a real life, he was hooked on coaching youth football. Completely off the wall came his e-mail, and it turns out that that Mike Gerber, the youth football coach, and this Mike Gerber, the state representative, are one and the same! Also turns out, by the way, he's a Democrat. What do I give a sh--? He's a football coach, isn't he? And he's a damn good man to be doing something like this. HW) More From Representative Gerber: Dear Coach, One of my staffers just showed me the posting on your site re: my CD/DVD drive for the troops. Thanks so much. I want you to know that your help several years ago has turned into a double wing tidal wave in this area. My organization, the Ambler-Whitpain Trojans, as well as several other organizations in the Philadelphia suburbs and in the city are running some form of your offense now. I was unable to coach last year because of my campaign, but I look forward to getting back into it someday. Our mutual friend, Jack Turner, is doing great. His son, Michael, is also doing well, having won the Inter-Ac two years in a row. I hope all is well with you. Thanks again. Best wishes, Mike  *********** BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND... 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