FRID

IT'S NOT TOO LATE -
TO PRESENT THE BLACK LION AWARD TO A PLAYER ON YOUR TEAM -  COACH GREG KOENIG (ON THE RIGHT IN THE PHOTO) HAS PRESENTED IT TO PLAYERS AT THREE DIFFERENT SCHOOLS IN COLORADO AND KANSAS SINCE 2001 - AND NOW HE'S AT HIS FOURTH SCHOOL - WHERE HE STILL PRESENTS IT!  IT'S THE ONLY AWARD HE GIVES!  IT'S ABSOLUTELY FREE - YOUR PLAYER RECEIVES A CERTIFICATE AND AN OFFICIAL BLACK LION PATCH.    NOW'S THE TIME TO SIGN YOUR TEAM UP AND  - EMAIL ME THE NAME OF THE TEAM AND THE HEAD COACH'S CONTACT INFO:

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*********** Seen this bumper sticker yet? Honk if you’re thinking about running for the Democratic nomination in 2020.

*********** A reader observed that Tom Brady’s success has given him a certain advantage:  he’s had a first round bye 13 times in his NFL career -  that’s 13 fewer games taking hits, mentally preparing for opponents, etc…

I reminded him about all those extra games beyond the first round that Brady did play in - while most other QBs were sitting at home resting their bodies.

*********** Picture yourself taking your football team on a field trip.  Maybe you’re taking them on a visit to a college.

You’ve been on the road a couple of hours and, being kids, the players are getting hungry.

Up ahead, we see a bunch of restaurants at the next interchange.  Let’s pull off and see what they have…

Look! Over there -   Pierre’s Fine Cuisine.  Knives and forks and white tablecloths and real waiters…

And there’s Sylvia’s Salad Bar.  An all-you-can-eat salad bar and other healthy foods…

But wait -  there’s a cluster of fast-food places: McDonald’s… Burger King… Wendy’s… Chick-fil-A.

Let’s leave it up to the kids…

Hey guys… how many for Pierre’s? (“Coach, what’s ‘coo-sign?’”)

Hmm. Thought so.

How about Sylvia’s?

Didn’t think so.

So, fast food it is.  And after the bus comes to a stop,  it’s all you can do to get out the door without being trampled by players in their mad rush to the front of the line at one or another of the fast-food places.

You know where this is going, right?   President Trump treating the Clemson football team to fast food and pizza at the White House.

Other than the fact that a certain former first lady  - you know, the one who tried to force less filling, low calorie lunches on school kids - might object, what’s the big deal?

Oh yeah, there was some witch on CNN who thought it was “misogynist” of the President to suggest that as an alternative, the First Lady and Second Lady might have made salads. But who gives a big rat’s ass what that harpy thinks?

In addition to giving the players food they really liked - and an experience they’ll talk about the rest of their lives - I think it the whole thing was absolutely hilarious.   Great theatre!

It was also totally in character for Mr. Trump, who, like him or not, is real - unlike Elizabeth Warren who has to fake it by saying “I’m gonna get me a beer,” or Barack Obama by eating a hot dog. Or sipping a beer.  Or throwing a baseball.


*********** Proctor and Gamble, with its new Gillette anti-bullying/anti-sexual harassment ad, can go screw itself.  I’ve been a Gillette user for years, but I’ll grow a beard or I’ll pluck out my whiskers with clamshells - one by one, like the Indians did - before I’ll buy another one of their products.

The Gillette people call it “having a conversation,” when what they’re really doing is giving us another lecture, and I am  f—king sick of being lectured to by one company or another.

I’m sick of all these losers throwing around “white privilege” and “toxic masculinity.”

Yeah, “White privilege” - as if that exempts you from getting a job, studying, paying your bills, obeying the law, paying taxes.  As if that gets you a discount on sneakers and smartphones and season tickets. 

And then there’s “Toxic Masculinity” - as if it’s one word:  as if being masculine means being toxic.

I got news, girls (and soyboys) - the problem in our society isn’t “toxic” masculinity - it’s not enough masculinity.  You damn feminists have done everything possible to emasculate boys in our schools,  and you’ve chased men out of the family to the point where nearly 50 per cent of all children are now born out of wedlock. 

You realize, don’t you, that that means that a large percentage of our boys are being raised solely by women?  That there are no responsible men in their lives? We football coaches see all too well what that means. 

It means, first of all, that without a man’s influence, fewer boys play our man’s game.  And it means that without a man’s influence, many of those who do choose to play have difficulty accepting rules and structure and authority because it’s the first time they’ve been exposed to it.  And it means that many coaches find themselves acting as surrogate fathers to their players.

We coaches, white or black, accept our responsibilities to our young men, white or black. Unless it’s the military, I don’t know of a less prejudiced group of people than football coaches.

We try to instill in them a sense of brotherhood - a belief that they can trust their teammates to be there for them even when times are tough. 

Have you ever seen two teams fighting with each other after a game?  It’s not a pretty sight, and it’s something to be avoided at all costs.

But as bad as it is, as deplorable,  at its root it’s brothers, black and white,  sticking up for each other.

*********** Maybe you don’t remember the  coach who offered an eighth-grader a scholarship to USC, but it was a fellow named Lane Kiffin.

Now, to do him one better,  Jim Harbaugh, the Lane Kiffin of the Big Ten, has made an offer to a seventh-grader.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/bigten/2019/01/15/jim-harbaugh-7th-grade-isaiah-marshall-michigan-wolverines/2586948002/


*********** Jason Clarke, a longtime friend from Maryland, wrote to me asking if I had any video of the “serpentine” huddle break made famous by UCLA coach Red Sanders.  The Bruins’ default places in their huddle corresponded to where they would line up in single wing right (”Strong Right.”)

When the formation flipped, the entire UCLA team did, too (except the center, of course) and to avoid the collisions that could result from all those bodies trying to  get past each other to the opposite side, UCLA’s linemen wound out of the huddle in a snakelike, or  “serpentine” path.

I told Coach Clarke that while it would take me a while to locate the video, I could do him one better - I could send him a page from a UCLA playbook.  In the belief that there’s someone out there who might be interested (someone who flip-flops his line), here it is…




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In the past few decades, the N.F.L.’s emphasis on the passing game and quarterback protection has led teams to stock their offensive and defensive lines with ever-larger men, many of them weighing well over 300 pounds. But their great girth, which coaches encouraged and which helped turn some players into multimillion-dollar commodities, leaves many of them prone to obesity problems.

In retirement, these huge men are often unable to lose the weight they needed to do their jobs. Without the structure of a team and the guidance of coaches for the first time in decades, many of them lose the motivation to stay in shape, or cannot even try, as damage to their feet, knees, backs and shoulders limits their ability to exercise.

This is a big reason that former linemen, compared with other football players and the general population, have higher rates of hypertension, obesity and sleep apnea, which can lead to chronic fatigue, poor diet and even death. Blocking for a $25-million-a-year quarterback, it turns out, can put linemen in the high-risk category for many of the ailments health experts readily encourage people to avoid.

I have graduated from the University of Alabama with my bachelor’s degree in public relations — and I couldn’t be prouder. This accomplishment means so much to me.

But the education that I received at Alabama goes beyond a degree. Coach Saban taught me the values and principles of business, as well as what it takes to be a great leader. My teammates taught me the importance of togetherness, brotherhood, and love. And this past season……. it taught me a lifetime’s worth of lessons about how to deal with adversity.

Now, I’m an alumnus of the University of Alabama.

Now I’m Bama for LIFE — and that right there will never change!

But now it’s also time for me to start a new chapter in my story.

I’ve decided to take my talents to the University of Oklahoma, where I will continue my development as both a quarterback and as a student.

I’m very fortunate to have this opportunity, and I’m excited for the journey ahead.

(Good luck to Jalen Hurts. And whoever wrote that “taking my talents” line for LeBron James - damn you.  Now we’ve got to hear that stupid line every time a kid transfers. Anybody want my talents?  Take ‘em.)

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/jalen-hurts-thank-you-alabama

*********** NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT - Former collegiate and professional standout Archie Manning (Ole Miss) is the 2018 recipient of the Walter Camp Football Foundation’s Distinguished American award.  Manning will be honored at the organization’s National Awards Dinner on Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019.

“The Manning name is synonymous with football and greatness,” said Walter Camp Football Foundation president Michael Madera. “Archie Manning is everything good about football, from his exploits on the playing field and his tireless work off the field promoting it.”

A native of Drew, Mississippi, Manning attended Ole Miss where he was the starting quarterback for three seasons.  He was a two-time All-Southeastern Conference selection and finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1970.  He was the first Ole Miss player to have his number (18) retired.  Manning was also an outstanding baseball player, having been drafted four times by major league teams.

Manning was the second overall pick in the 1971 NFL Draft and played 10 seasons for the New Orleans Saints.  He earned two Pro Bowl selections and was the NFC Player of the Year in 1978.  He concluded his professional career with the Houston Oilers (1982-83) and Minnesota Vikings (1983-84).    He passed for 23,911 yards and 125 touchdowns in his NFL career.

Following his playing career, Manning has created a reputation as a leading humanitarian, assisting with a variety of causes, including cystic fibrosis, Special Olympics, Boy Scouts, and Salvation Army.

Manning was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989, and in 1993, he was named to the organization’s board of directors.  In 2007, he accepted the role as chairman of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame which is currently still holds.

A current resident of New Orleans, Manning and his wife, Olivia have three sons, including Peyton (a 1998 Walter Camp All-American quarterback at Tennessee) and Eli (a two-time Second Team All-America quarterback at Ole Miss).   In 2006, the National Father’s Day Council named Archie ‘Father of the Year,” and in honor of the Manning’s college football accomplishments, the Sugar Bowl has created the Manning Award which goes to the nation’s top college quarterback.

Walter Camp, “The Father of American football,” first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp – a former Yale University athlete and football coach – is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation – a New Haven-based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967.  The organization’s mission is to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team and honoring deserving individuals.

TAKE A LOOK AT THE LIST OF RECIPIENTS!
Lee Corso – Florida State University (2017)
Mike Ditka – University of Pittsburgh (2016)
Tim Shriver – Yale University (2015)
Verne Lundquist – Texas Lutheran (2014)
Joe Theismann – University of Notre Dame (2013)
Tom Osborne – Hastings College (2012)
Floyd Little – Syracuse University (2011)
Chuck Bednarik – University of Pennsylvania (2010)
Robin Roberts – Southeastern Louisiana University (2009)
Len Dawson – Purdue University (2008)
Frank Broyles – Georgia Institute of Technology (2007)
Dick Vermeil – San Jose State University (2006)
Arthur Blank – Babson College (2005)
Pat Summerall – University of Arkansas (2004)
Bill Walsh – San Jose State University (2003)
Regis Philbin – University of Notre Dame (2002)
New York City Police, Fire and Emergency Medical Service Personnel and Port Authority Policy (2001)
Gene Upshaw, Texas A&I University (2000)
Glenn “Bo” Schembechler – Miami (Ohio) University (1999)
Steve Young – Brigham Young University (1998)
Steve Largent – University of Tulsa (1997)
Dick Ebersol – Yale University (1996)
Keith Jackson – Washington State University (1995)
Paul Tagliabue – Georgetown University (1994)
The Reverend Theodore M. Hesburgh – C.S.C (1993)
Carm Cozza – Miami University, Yale University (1992)
Susan Saint James – (1991)
Alexander Kroll – Rutgers University (1991)
Texas E. (Tex) Schramm – University of Texas (1990)
Richard W. Kazmaier – Princeton University (1989)
Burt Reynolds – Florida State University (1989)
Y.A. Tittle – Louisiana State University (1988)
Sid Luckman – Columbia University (1988)
Weeb Ewbank – Miami University (1987)
Tom Landry – University of Texas (1986)
Bob Hope – (1985)
Major General William “Bill” Carpenter – U.S.M.A. (1984)
Tom Harmon – University of Michigan (1983)
Edward “Eddie” Robinson – Grambling State University (1982)
Harold “Red” Grange – University of Illinois (1981)
Hon. Alexander M. Haig, Jr. – U.S.M.A. (1980)
George S. Halas – University of Illinois (1980)
David A. “Sonny” Werblin – Rutgers University (1979)
James Crowley – University of Notre Dame (1978)
Donald Miller – University of Notre Dame (1978)

https://waltercamp.org/events/awards-dinner/awards/distinguished-american/


***********  On the air Tuesday, CNN legal analyst Areva Martin accused conservative radio talk show host David Webb of “white privilege.”

They were debating  whether experience was more important than race in determining someone’s fitness for a particular job.

Webb: “I’ve chosen to cross different parts of the media world, done the work so that I’m qualified to be in each one. I never considered my color the issue, I considered my qualifications the issue.”

Martin:  “That’s a whole, another long conversation about white privilege, the things that you have the privilege of doing, that people of color don’t have the privilege of.”

Webb:  “How do I have the privilege of white privilege?”

Martin: “David, by virtue of being a white male you have white privilege.”

Webb: “Areva, I hate to break it to you, but you should’ve been better prepped. I’m black”

https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/cnn-legal-analyst-areva-martin-accuses-david-webb-of-white-privilege-before-learning-hes-black



*********** This photo has not been Photoshopped, and I have not shrunken. But I am a midget next to my friend Ralph Balducci and “Little Alex” who as a tyke used to play on the floor with our toy trucks. Ralph is a big guy, a former college offensive lineman, but Alex is even bigger: 6-5, 315. My wife and I often joke about “Little Alex,” because when he was a little guy he’d come over to our place with Ralph and he’d play on the floor with all the toy trucks and cars we kept around for our grandsons. In truth, though,  Alex has never been “little.”  Alex started for the Oregon Ducks for 3 years at nose guard and, now in the NFL, he’s been moved to offense - guard and center. He’s spent a year with the 49ers and a year with the Redskins and he’s now a free agent and talking to several teams.

*********** Inter-service rivalry knows no bounds…

One of the great spectacles at the Army game is the pre-game  “March-On” as the midshipmen and cadets enter the stadium, line up by campanies, give a mass cheer, then march to their seats.

Shown below,  before this past season’s Army-Navy game, the Brigade of Midshipmen and the Corps of Cadets.

On the Left, the Navy… On the Right, the Army…

Notice any difference?  If you think Army guys didn’t notice the difference in the precision of the lineups - and gleefully point it out to their rivals from Navy - think again.



*********** I read a great article in The Athletic recently about student equipment managers.  I’d include a link but it’s a subcription site, and I don’t want guys getting pissed at me for sending them to sites with firewalls, so I’ll paraphrase.

The article dealt with the Iowa team and managers, and I found it interesting that after they’ve earned the coaches’ trust, the managers responsibilities extend to assisting on the field in practices and games…

Laundry and loading lockers comprise just a small part of a student manager’s chores. Most are assigned to specific position groups and help with portions of practice. During the games, they remain embedded in those groups with tasks that could alter game outcomes.

Theilen has spent the last five seasons with the linebackers. He scouts opposing teams early in the week to know the numbers of key personnel. If there’s fog or bad weather or poor lighting and graduate assistant Marty Hopkins can’t see the field from the press box, then Theilen helps identify players and personnel groupings.

“I’m on a headset with Coach (Phil) Parker, Coach (Seth) Wallace and all the defensive guys,” Theilen said. “I have colored cards with numbers on it. If there’s one tight end and one running back in the game, 11 personnel, I’ll hold the sign up. I started that in 2015; that was a great season to do that. I was like, ‘Holy crap, this is awesome.’ You really get to hear what’s going through the coach’s minds when they lay it out. What they’re thinking, the process. ‘If it’s this personnel, we’re going to run this play.’ You’ve got to be focused.”

*********** It always amazes me that there are so many coaches who blithely break training rules. It’s not that I’m surprised at their lack of ethics, but I am surprised that, In these days of litigation on steroids,  it’s never occured to them that if anything should go wrong  (say, someone gets hurt), things could get very costly. Right, Coach Taggart?

https://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/01/10/oregon-willie-taggart-being-sued-by-ex-duck-for-11-5-million/

*********** DUKE WRESTLING’S FINESILVER BROTHERS… Two sets of twins - from the same family - on the same wrestling team.  And, happily, they wrestle in four different weight classes…

https://www.denverpost.com/2018/02/02/finesilver-brothers-wrestling-cherry-creek-duke/


*********** I sure would like to go for a spin in my Wayback Machine back to 1965 and punch Ted Kennedy in the nose, but since it's in the shop  I guess I’ll have to settle for pissing on his grave…

"First, our cities will not be flooded with a million immigrants annually. Under the proposed bill, the present level of immigration remains substantially the same ... Secondly, the ethnic mix of this country will not be upset ... Contrary to the charges in some quarters, [the bill] will not inundate America with immigrants from any one country or area, or the most populated and deprived nations of Africa and Asia ... In the final analysis, the ethnic pattern of immigration under the proposed measure is not expected to change as sharply as the critics seem to think."      Edward Kennedy (D-MA.) 1965 on the Hart-Celler Immigration Bill

Forty-seven years before Oregon placed a huge image of quarterback Joey Harrington on Times Square, 36 years before Brigham Young mailed cardboard ties to entice votes for quarterback Ty Detmer and 13 years before Notre Dame changed the pronunciation of Joe Theismann’s name to rhyme with a certain college football trophy, no less a straight-laced custodian of the game than Bud Wilkinson got in on the Heisman Trophy campaigning.

Late in the 1954 season, according to OU historian and then-sports information director Harold Keith, Wilkinson pointed out that Burris was “probably more deserving of the Heisman than any other man in the nation in any position.” Keith wrote in his book, Forty-Seven Straight, that “we both knew that the sports press had always ignored interior linemen and that Burris, a center, was as interior as one could get. But we decided to try anyhow and strike a blow not only for Burris but for all deserving interior linemen of the future.”

So Keith and Wilkinson hatched a plan. They wrote a short, personal letter to every sports editor in the nation — approximately 3,500 were listed in Editor and Publisher Yearbook — making the case for Burris. They called in a colleague from OU’s Department of Office Administration, who commissioned 100 students to help type the letters. Most were Burris fans, the letters were whipped out in a day or two and Keith got them mailed off first-class from the old post office on Gray Street.

The campaign worked. Oh, Wisconsin’s Alan Ameche won the Heisman. That was a Midwest era. From 1947 through 1956, seven Heisman winners were from the Big Ten or Notre Dame.

But Burris finished a strong second, with 838 points in the voting to Ameche’s 1,058. Sixty-one years later, the Burris campaign remains the closest a lineman has come to winning the Heisman.

https://newsok.com/article/5437160/why-late-ou-football-great-kurt-burris-was-the-boss

TUESD

First down, Kansas City. 

*   https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=181&v=RGJb2iLvOKE

*********** Haw, Haw.  There was Belichick,  going forward by going back - back to the old, outmoded I-formation, fullback and all, and using one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time to simply  hand the ball to the tailback. 

And whaddaya know?  It helped the Patriots start Sunday's game with a touchdown drive that went 86 yards in 14 plays - and ate up seven minutes.

Announcers who’ve never played the game call that sort of drive “making a statement.”

Most of those who have played the game - or coached it - tend to express our admiration in somewhat more vulgar terms.

Sony Michel carried 24 times for 129 yards and three TDs. Most of that yardage - and all of three TDs - came out of the I formation, and most of it came in the first half, as the Pats piled up a 35-7 lead.

What made it all work, besides the stones of a head coach who isn’t afraid to look old-fashioned, was a fullback.  A real, honest-to-God fullback,  a position now missing from many NFL rosters as more and more teams employ what amount to 7-on-7 offenses with pads.  You know, the kind of teams that line up on fourth-and-one - and throw the ball.

The Patriots, despite the presence of Tom Brady, were not one of those teams Sunday. No, as one of the dwindling number of NFL teams that have a fullback, they used theirs as a blocker.  On fourth and one. On first and 10.  On second and three.  And so on.

He wears Number 46 and his name is James Develin.  He’s 6-3, 255 and he’s 30 years old.  He’s paid his dues to earn his spot on the Patriots’ roster, playing on teams with names like Oklahoma City Yard Dawgs and Florida Tuskers before making it to the NFL.

Oh - and although he’s plenty tough, he’s got a lot going for him beside football.  He’s an Ivy-Leaguer, a graduate of Brown where he majored on engineering.

*********** My son, Ed, sent me this one.  He says that Arlo White, a British soccer announcer who has called the “action” for the Seattle Sounders and now works for NBC, is a “great guy” and a “big American football fan.”



(Leicester, for you Yanks, is pronounced “Lester.”)

“Everards” is a Leicester-based brewery, a team sponsor.

Note the Budweiser patches on the jersey.  I was coaching in Finland at the time and we envied English teams because they played in the “Budweiser League.”

*********** Apart from the fact that ACC and SEC teams play only eight conference games while the other Power 5 conferences play nine - virtually guaranteeing all ACC and SEC teams one more win (and one less loss) than their counterparts in the Big 10, Big 12 and Pac-12, there’s this, as John Walter in The Athletic adds…

Alabama’s non-conference road games over the last 15 years:

2004-2005-2006-2007-2008- 2009 - NONE

2010 - at Duke
2011 - at Penn State

2012-2013-2014-2015-2016-2017-2018 - NONE

He goes on, “A constant and somewhat annoying question that ESPN’s anchors posed over the previous fortnight was, “Is Alabama’s and Clemson’s dominance good for college football?” The more pertinent question, which was never posed, is, “Is it good for college football that one of its premier teams is so staunchly unwilling to play home-and-home contests against worthy nonconference foes?” As a point of reference, Bear Bryant took his dominant 1970s Alabama squads to Lincoln, South Bend and USC (twice). Miami, in becoming The U, trekked to Ann Arbor, Norman and South Bend in the 1980s.”

*********** THE LAW OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES STRIKES THE NFL: The NFL, in its rush to make its game safer, has taken away one of its most exciting, come-from-behind-late-in-the-game  plays: the onside kick.

As a result of its effort to cut down on kick returns by requiring more return-team players to line up close to their restraining line, and at the same time to cut down on high-speed collisions by preventing kicking-team players from getting a running start, onside kicks this past season had a puny eight per cent success rate.

And that’s for all onside kicks, including those of the surprise variety, which have a much higher success rate than the last-minute variety, when the receiving team is prepared.

*********** A friend who sold for Riddell told me to compare the brain inside a helmet to an egg, and then to imagine giving the egg a good hard shake.  Nothing will happens to the shell (the skull) but inside (the brain), it’s a mess.

All the helmet can be expected to do - which it does - is protect the shell.  But it really can’t be expected to keep the contents from getting scrambled.

Yet while helmets are being expected to do something they can’t do, the helmet manufacturers, in their quest for more bucks, suggest that they can.   For a price, that is. 

Helmets really don’t have that much to do with preventing concussions, and I think the manufacturers are making a big mistake - and screwing us in the process - by implying that they can actually make that big a difference. 

Meanwhile, what they’re doing is driving the price of their innovative, space-age helmets up to - and over - the $1,000 mark, and creating in the public’s mind the belief that we can protect our kids if we’ll just spend the money.  And if we don’t, why, we’re heartless.  We don’t care about their kids’ safety.

Once that belief becomes widespread,  it’s GAME OVER for high school football.  (And for helmet manufacturers as well.)

*********** A 16-team playoff would mean a 16-game season for two of the teams.

Coaches who’ve been through such a season - at college levels below FBS - are justifiably proud of their accomplishment, but they don’t seem to recommend it.

https://theathletic.com/748646/2019/01/04/college-football-playoff-expansion-16-games-fcs-division-ii-teams-impact/

*********** BILL CURRY WROTE ABOUT HIS TIME WITH THE BALTIMORE COLTS, AND THE WISDOM OF JOHNNY UNITAS:

It was very hot, and the Shula practices were incredibly demanding. I was exhausted and discouraged when I looked over at the battered old quarterback walking down the hill with me. When I asked how he was doing, this was his answer. I knew I had been challenged, and I have never forgotten his message.

“Billy, remember, you’re a long time dead. You  better enjoy this day and this football practice.  You never know how many you'll get!”

What is and what isn’t pass interference?  It’s time for the league, the officials and the announcers to let us all in on what constitutes pass interference.



*********** I was browsing (is that what it’s called?) on Facebook and I came across this photo and I recognized it immediately.

I commented:  “That has to be Gary Wichard. Coached against him in 1972 when he played for the Long Island Chiefs.” (Pictured here, Gary Wichard was a highly-publicized QB at C.W. Post, on Long Island.)

Bill Cherry, now a coach on Long Island, played with Wichard (that’s Bill, #85, at tight end) and asked “What team did you coach?”

“Hagerstown Bears, Hagerstown, Maryland,” I replied.  “We went up there to play them thinking we'd be playing on Hofstra's then-new Astroturf field but instead wound up playing them (if you can believe this) in the infield of the Freeport Motor Speedway. Not only a dirt field, but auto parts scattered all over, lights that were trained on the track and not the field, and end zones whose corners ran up onto the banked track. In the minor leagues, you see it all.

Wichard had a receiver named Bruce Cerone who was really good.

Added Bill: “Yes, they played at Freeport Stadium. It was a Stock Car Track with a dirt infield... I played against Freeport HS there... Yes, Bruce Cerrone was a great receiver, I played 8 man touch with him... Great hands, played a year or two with a pro team…”

*********** A few years ago, I worked with Rob Everett, a young coach from Virginia who was the lead tester for the Go Army Edge app.  At the time, Rob was defensive coordinator at Westfield High in Chantilly, Virginia.
Westfield is very good.  Playing in Virginia’s largest classification, in the last 8 years, they’ve lost only 11 games.  Their worst record in that time was 11-3 in 2013.  They’ve had four one-loss seasons and one 15-0 perfect season.

Rob impressed me as a very bright guy with a love of the game, a lot of football knowledge and a thirst for more. He sure was a whiz with the Go Army Edge app, and a tremendous help to me.  I was impressed with the way he used it with his team.

In 2016, Rob moved on to D-III Bridgewater College as its DC, and this past November he was hired by the Memphis Express in a new league called The Alliance.  The league’s management consists of people with decent knowledge of the workings of professional sport - Bill Polian, whose pro football management credentials are solid, and Charlie Ebersol, media executive and son of former TV giant Dick Ebersol (who as head of NBC Sports started Sunday Night Football, and had a hand in the creation of the XFL).

Memphis’ head coach is Mike Singletary.  Other well-known football guys involved in the new league as coaches or executives are Brad Childress, Steve Spurrier, Hines Ward and Troy Polamalu.

The Express open (or should that be  “opens?”) at Birmingham on February 10.

I’m not going to demean the new league in any way. I wish nothing but the best for the players and coaches, and I know that they’re going into this with high hopes.  But having once been part of a startup league with  ambitions of establishing itself as a rival to the NFL,  I know what a formidable opponent the NFL is, and I have a pretty good idea what’s in store for them.

https://aaf.com/jeff-fisher-the-alliance-is-way-ahead-in-terms-of-preparation/

https://aaf.com/leadership/

https://aaf.com/memphis-express/schedule/

FRID

Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne’er succeed

You can’t learn the things that football teaches you until you’ve known the sting of defeat.  Real defeat.

And you can’t fully understand football’s great lesson until you pick yourself up and resolve not to let it happen again.

And if it does happen again?

Lather, rinse, repeat.

You’re not beaten until you quit.

Is there anyone who doubts that Alabama will come back resolved not to let that happen again?

What Ms. Dickinson was telling the young Alabamians was that now that they’ve tasted defeat, victory will really be sweet.

Next game?

Friday, August 21, 2019.  Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.  The Chik-fil-a Kickoff Game.

Alabama versus Duke. 

Oh, dear.

*********** One of the places my wife and I like to support is Boys Town.

Boys Town, Nebraska (it really is a town) is now a suburb of Omaha, but 1917 it was considered far out of town.  It’s where a Catholic priest, Father Edward Flanagan, founded a home for boys left homeless for any number of reasons.   Some were orphans, some were abandoned by poor parents, some were runaways, some were delinquents.  In his stated belief that “there’s no such thing as a bad boy,” Father Flanagan ran a home where boys between the age of 10 and 16 could get an education and learn a trade and go out into the world better men.

Boys Town was made famous by a 1938 movie “Boys Town” starring famed actor Spencer Tracy as Father Flanagan, and Mickey Rooney as one of the boys.

Tracy won the Oscar for best actor in that role, and he devoted his entire acceptance speech to Father Flanagan, concluding by saying, “If you have seen him through me, then I thank you.”

In the Christmas edition of Boys Town Journal, a newsletter sent out to supporters, there’s a story about a Boys Town graduate named Joe Renteria, who turned 100 in July, 2017 (which by coincidence was the 100th anniversary of Boys Town’s founding).

Mr. Renteria told about arriving at Boys Town in 1933 as a runaway, after having lived in a number of orphanages.   “I was at loose ends,” he said, “always going from one place to another.”

A self-described “rebellious child,” he said that Father Flanagan and Boys Town provided him with the stability he craved. And once he found it, he said, he never wanted to lose it.

He told a story which he said left a lasting impact on him.

“Father Flanagan took me aside and said, ‘I’m not going to order you or tell you what to do, but since you’re one of the older boys, it would be very encouraging to the younger boys if you attended church.’”

Although not Catholic himself, he said he began to attend church at least once a month.

As he grew, he found spirituality, and he said that the way Father Flanagan had asked him that day “made all the difference.” 

Think about that, coaches.  More than one person has said that leadership - coaching -  is the art of getting people to do things that they don’t want to do. 

Father Flanagan would have been a hellofa - pardon, Father - heck of a coach.

*********** I had a peek at the future of our game last Saturday, and it made me realize that old age isn’t necessarily bad - not if it means I might not be around when that future arrives. 

What I saw - briefly - was two high school All-Star Games, featuring highly rated college prospects.

Actually, what I saw was a bunch of peacocks, wearing garish, multi-colored outfits, no two of them the same on either team.

By far the more garish and repulsive of the two games was the UnderArmor-sponsored game.    It featured a team called the Flash against another called the Ballaholics.  (None of the usual dull “East-West” All-Star crap for them.)  

It really did appear that the kids were in charge, a case of - metaphor alert (since it’s possible that an occasional dolt stumbles on my page) - inmates running the asylum.

They strutted and swaggered and flashed suspicious-looking signs and taunted and, just like the big boys in the NFL, after big plays they mugged for simulated group photos in the end zone.


"Look at me!" - Sportsmanship on display at the Underarmor All Star Game


Hey - the kids just want to have fun.   And they definitely want to stand out from everybody else. Uniform?  That’s for old-timers?  These kids want to wear gloves, shoes, wrist bands, and stockings - all in a variety of flashy colors.

Of course they do.  They’re children.  Children also want to have soda pop and M & Ms for breakfast.  Anyone who’s been a father understands that.  And doesn’t allow it.  As the adults in the room, as coaches and fathers, we get it - we understand that it’s our job to provide kids with proper direction. To teach them what’s appropriate and what isn’t.

But not these coaches.  Did I say “adults in the room?”  Did I say “coaches?” One of the Underarmor coaches was Deion Sanders. Yeah, he’s a coach. And I’m a neurosurgeon.

The other game, the All-American Bowl (or somesuch) , used to be sponsored by the Army, for reasons I’ve never quite been able to understand - talk about government waste.  But no more. They got smart and realized that very few kids who play in these games will ever serve in the Army, and very few potential recruits care enough about the games to watch them on TV.

But, some insurance company having been sold on the idea that sponsoring this thing will somehow be seen by the public as helping our young people, the game goes on.

The worst - or best - part of the whole deal was the announcements.  Or, in LeBron’s terms, The Decisions.

During breaks in the action, they’d take us to a set where one of the players, with assorted relatives and well-wishers in the background looking on, stood in front of a table on which sat several baseball caps, representing the colleges to which he’d narrowed down his choice.

After a few words by the announcer, there came the time we’d all been waiting for (drum roll, please).  The player reached for the cap of the lucky school, and - here’s where it got really good - like every other player before and after him, began his announcement by saying, “For the next three or four years…”

Haw, haw, I thought.  Wait till you get to Alabama, and Coach Saban tells you you’ve got to redshirt.


*********** Sure enough, ESPNEWS went ahead and dropped the four-college-coaches format of its “Film Room” and subbed in the Monday Night Football crew (NFL guys) on what it retitled “Monday Night Film Room.”

I was expecting the worst.

To be sure, it was panned afterward.  Big time.  Whitten showed on the opening kickoff that he didn’t know about the colleges’  fair catch rule.  McFarland spouted cliches.  They talked over each other.

But, as prepared as I was to hate the act, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I’d expected.

Yes,  I enjoyed it less than hearing college coaches discuss the game.  But I did enjoy it a lot more than  I would have, listening to those same guys in their customary format - Whitten and Tessitore in the booth, McFarland in some goofy-ass contraption down on the sidelines that mainly serves to block the views of the poor schlubs who thought sitting down low would let them see the action up close.

BOOGER'S SIDELINE PERCH (HE'S ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MONITOR)

Sure, Whitten made some mistakes, but he seemed more relaxed and natural and he made some good comments.  Booger, I thought, came across as more thoughtful and not just coming off the top.  Tessitore, who isn’t the problem on normal Monday nights anyhow, was competent as usual. 

Yes, they talked over each other.  But it wasn’t like a table full of women at happy hour in your local pub.

Yes, they got off-topic, but not the way sports talk radio guys can go off for 20 minutes on the best hamburger in town.

Yes, they said some stupid things - who doesn’t, when they’re sitting and watching a football game? - but overall, I’d say there were more smart than stupid observations.

The one unforgiveable thing for me was the excessive references to the NFL and the pro game.  Poor fellows: they really must  think that college football people revere the pro game as much as they do. (There was a fourth member of the crew, one Todd McShay, indentified as an “NFL Draft Analyst.” He was okay, but when I watch a college game, do I really want an “NFL Draft Analyst”  on hand to tell me which round this guy or that guy is likely to go in?)

And if I could, I’d have strangled whoever it was who, thinking about Clemson’s freshman QB, Trevor Lawrence, said it was a damn shame the NFL can’t change the draft rule so they could draft freshmen.

To their credit, though,  they did say some insightful things, and they never shouted excitedly, as if they were human versions of the electronic stadium signs that order the chumps in the stands to “MAKE NOISE.” 

What I liked most about the college coaches, though,  was (1) the fact that they never - not once - talked about the NFL in any context, and (2)  their ability to tell us not just what happened - as any number of NFL color guys could do - but what’s about to happen: no sooner would the ball be snapped then one of them would say, matter-of-factly, “there it is.”  And sure enough, a split second later, there would be a receiver, wide open up the middle, just as he had anticipated.

In sum, although I’d much prefer to listen to real college coaches, I’d  still rather watch a game done this way - even by Whitten, McFarland and Tessitore - than listen to the endless chatter of two (or, God help us, three) guys in the press box.

*********** ESPN2 ran “Sideline Pass” with the sideline guys giving us their commentary. Not bad.  But then, one of them, Rod Gilmore is more than just a sideline guy.  He is a college football guy - played DB at Stanford - who is an analyst up in the box during the regular season.  He is good.

*********** Can somebody PLEASE explain to me how Georgia can get handled by Texas in the Sugar Bowl and then, a week later, be ranked ahead of Texas in the final poll?

*********** While many question the thinking behind the Arizona Cardinals’ hiring of Kliff Kingsbury (“He didn’t have a winning record at Texas Tech, for Pete’s sake!”) Gil LeBreton, in pressbox DFW (a subscription site), offers another perspective, and a very interesting one at that:

Arizona was dead-last in the league last season in just about every major offensive category – passing yards, rushing yards, first downs, etc. In the first nine games that rookie quarterback Josh Rosen played, the Cardinals scored in the 20s only once.

They need to fix that. And who better to do that than college football’s best young quarterback whisperer?
Here lies Kingsbury’s problem, though: Does he want to fix the Arizona offense with drop-back passer Rosen?
Or does he go extremely rogue and choose Plan B?

Back in October, Kingsbury was asked about Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray.

“I don’t have enough good things to say about him,” said the man who taught Mayfield and Mahomes. “He’s phenomenal.

“I’d take him with the first pick of the draft if I could.”

And whaddya know? As of Tuesday, Kingsbury has the first pick in the NFL Draft.

*********** For this, you sit on your ass in front of the TV for 3-1/2 hours. This graphic appeared  in  the Wall Street Journal in 2010 (note Brett Favre in the Vikings’ uniform) but it’s every bit as true now as it was then.  It shows  how little of a televised NFL “game” - the part of the telecast that isn’t given over to commercials -  is action. 

  

*********** Shep Clarke, of Puyallup, Washington, sent me this clip which he called “The Clash of the Soyboys,” two guys repeatedly giving each other the finger.  Where/when guys my age grew up, there would never have been a second flip-off.  The first one would have been followed right up with a punch in the nose. But then, we were brought up by, and taught school by, and coached by, World War II Vets.

https://twitter.com/apiecebyguy/status/1069947397982351360/video/1

*********** Here we go again.  USA Football, self-proclaimed “national governing body for amateur American football in the United States,”   continues to “improve” tackling, with the very latest ultimate tackling technique, 2019 version:

https://footballdevelopment.com/advanced-tackling

*********** A coach who runs open wing and does a nice job of it wrote me looking for a good way to run power to the open side.

I wrote,  “the best way to attack where you want to attack is the simplest: 5-XO Follow, with or without motion.” (“Follow” means that we run 5-X-O as usual, except that instead of handing off to the B-Back, the QB keeps, and follows the B-Back, who becomes the lead blocker.)

Not completely convinced, he replied, “My QB is a good passer, great leader and average runner.”

Me:  “This offense is designed for an athletic QB who runs as well as passes.  If your QB isn’t a runner you are running this offense at maybe 30 per cent effectiveness.”

Coach: “I think we are at a place where he will need to help with the run game.  Any coaching points for the average running QB in the open wing?”

Me:  “Yes. Protect the ball. Eyes up.  Protect the ball. Follow your B Back. Protect the ball. Know which is the most likely way to cut. Protect the ball. When tackled, don’t overdo it trying for extra yardage.  Protect the ball. “

*********** I was talking with longtime coaching friend Kevin Latham, of Decatur, Georgia, and we got talking about Georgia Tech and Kevin's nephew, Devin Ellison.

Devin, a highly recruited running back from Bartram Trail High in Jacksonville, had offers from Boise State, Syracuse, Kentucky, Purdue and Wake Forest.  And Columbia and Yale (he has a 4.1 GPA).

But he chose Georgia Tech - much to Uncle Kevin’s excitement - and although head coach Paul Johnson “retired” recently, Devin’s commitment has never wavered.

His position coach, Chad Parker, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Devin’s main interest was more the Tech education  than who the coach was.

“He was like, coach, it doesn’t matter who’s there,” Parker said. “I didn’t go to Tech for the coaching staff. I went for the education. Football’s a bonus.

https://www.ajc.com/sports/college/georgia-tech-commit-devin-ellison-good-with-geoff-collins/RfFQDv6fcYPRhjUSeAA9OP/

*********** At the AFCA convention this week, college coaches have asked for a revision of the targeting rule.

The coaches want a two-tier system, somewhat on the order of the 5-yard facemask/15-yard facemask business.

With Targeting 1,  a player making an otherwise  safe tackle who happens to collide with the helmet of an offensive player who lowered his head at the last moment -  would call for a 15-yard penalty and the offender could remain in the game

Targeting 2 would be the type of hit that the rule was intended to eliminate - but hasn’t.  This would remain the same as now, with removal for the rest of the game and, in the event the foul occurs the second half, for the first half of the next game as well.

According to Zach Barnett, of footballscoop, we fans are “tired of seeing targeting misdemeanors treated like felonies.”

Not this fan.  Actually,  I’m on record as saying that when a player is ejected, a coach should be, too - starting with the head coach, and if “Targeting 2” were to include that proviso, I’d be all for the two-tier system.


http://footballscoop.com/news/afca-lays-2019-legislative-agenda-starting-fixing-targeting-rule/

*********** TRIGGER WARNING!!! I know this isn’t football, and it’s barely even guy stuff, but…

As the great humorist Dave Barry would say, I’m not making this up.

I was reading an article about guys in England who’ve decided to bypass dealing with the demands and needs of real, live women and instead take up with sex dolls. 

They’re getting sophisticated, I guess.  The dolls, that is, not the guys.  Apparently they can be customized in any number of ways. (I didn’t check.)

They cost in the neighborhood of 6000 pounds - about $7600.  A lot, yes, but not when you realize that for $7600 Jeff Bezos could have taken up with a doll and saved himself $70 billion.

Here’s the part I didn’t understand.  A muff - a beaver - will run you an extra $100.

*********** It’s official: Jalen Hurts is transferring.  Where to?

To Penn State, now that Trace McSorley’s gone?

To Ohio State?   Dwayne Haskins is off to the pros… Tate Martell would have been the next man up, but he’s transferring out…  Justin Fields is transferring in from Georgia, but he has to wait out a year. So…

To Maryland, where former Bama OC MIke Locksley is the new head coach?

To Oklahoma?  They may be losing Kyler Murray, but they’re bringing in Spencer Rattler, a kid from Phoenix considered to be the top QB recruit in the country.

TCU?  All they lack is a QB.  And Hurts is a Texas kid.

UCLA?  It’s the West Coast.  It’s LA.  And it's Chip Kelly…

Here’s the wildest one of all - Auburn.   Auburn needs a quarterback.  He wouldn’t do that. Would he?

The betting line:  https://247sports.com/Article/Jalen-Hurts-transfer-Alabama-Auburn-Tennessee-Florida-127600267/

*********** Coach,

Happy New Year!

Do you think that Paul Johnson is finished? I could see him heading west to a school that has long struggled in football such as New Mexico State, UNLV, or maybe "down" (actually return) to FCS.

Tyler Trent's grandparents live in this town, although I don't know them. He was quite a young man who made a big difference with many, many people during his short life. Purdue is famous for its notable graduates, especially astronauts, engineers and scientists. It may not attract the best football talent, but it consistently attracts many outstanding young people. Tyler Trent will not be forgotten soon.

Jim Franklin
Flora, Indiana

Hi Jim,

Happy New Year to you, too!

I do think that Paul Johnson is finished.  It’s not that he couldn’t win at GT.  He still has it, I believe.

It’s not a matter of winning.  It’s also a matter of selling tickets.  This is even more acute a problem at non-Power 5 schools, because they don’t get near the TV money that the Power 5 schools do, so they depend heavily on gate revenue.

The problem is that to AD’s, he’s selling last year’s calendar.  Nobody wants to bring in his offense because  they don’t believe they can sell it to their fans, whether it wins or not.

As a grandfather of kids at Vanderbilt and Wake Forest, I have a lot of respect for Purdue, like them a great academic institution that has to overachieve just to keep up.

*********** Commenting on the poll that showed that 40 per cent of women under 30 would like to leave the US, preferably for Canada, I wrote,   "To help things along, I would be in favor of paying them some sort of severance, and  providing foreign aid to Canada.  (Should would we let Canadian men know what they’re getting? Nah.  That might kill the deal.)”

Coach Wyatt, if Canada finds out that they're likely to be inundated by that 40%, they'd be wise to just build a wall.

Dave Potter
Cary, North Carolina

*********** Hugh,

We returned to school yesterday (faculty/staff in-service), and had a number of people ask me  who I thought would win the college football national championship.  I told them Clemson would win.  Why?  Because I felt Georgia exposed Alabama in the SEC title game (regardless if Georgia handed Bama the game in the end).  And...I felt Clemson's coaching staff had likely taken some serious notes, and that Clemson had a better team than Georgia, and that Clemson's athletes matched up well (if not better) with Alabama's athletes.  I thought it would be a thriller with Clemson pulling it out in the end.  Boy...was I wrong!

My wife asked me from the kitchen who was singing the anthem.  I told her Kelsey Grammer.  Oops...

The defensive gameplan devised by Clemson DC Brent Venables was masterful.

I see your point regarding FCS schools losing those FBS "guarantee" games.  However if I'm an AD at one of those schools, and I chose to "play up" to help the budget, I would be asking some of those Group of Five schools before I'm asking the big-time Power Five guys.  I might get away with scheduling a lower tier Group of Five team, but I would stay away from the likes of Clemson, Alabama, etc.  Best for them to stay away from an FCS opponent.

Speaking of FCS schools...North Dakota State is in a class by itself.  They're as good (if not better) than a number of Mountain West teams.

Joe Gutilla
Auston, Texas

Joe - A major reason why they play the Clemsons and Alabamas - and not the Group of Five schools - is that’s where the money is.  There are Group of Five schools that are so hard-up for money themselves that they have to sell wins just like FCS schools.

*********** John Walters, in The Athletic, wonders if the fact that ESPN owns the ACC network (which starts next season) might have something to do with this…

As lovable and adorable as Clemson and head coach Dabo Swinney may be, the Tigers were the one team with three players who tested positive for a prohibited drug that is not about to be mistakenly used as a pizza topping. Did anyone utter the term “ostarine” during Monday’s coverage (we don’t recall hearing it) or wonder how not one but three Clemson players came to test positive for it? And sure, someone might have offered that “everyone does it,” but as an excuse that went out the window during nursery school. Even if steroid use is widespread in college football, Clemson, your national champion, saw an All-America defensive linemen and two teammates get nabbed for it. This isn’t a ruptured Achilles; this is cheating.

*********** Creeping NFLism. What happens when they put the pro touch on a college football game…





*********** QUIZ ANSWER:  Roy Riegels was an All-American center, and in his senior year he was captain of his University of California football team. 

But he’s best known for what happened to him in the Rose Bowl game following his junior season.   (We’re talking about the days, long before there was a Super Bowl, when the Rose Bowl was by far football’s biggest game.)  In the second quarter, playing defense as what was then called “roving center” (the forerunner of today’s Middle Linebacker position) he picked up a Georgia Tech fumble on the Tech 30 and, after being knocked off course, set out for the goal line - his own goal line, 70 yards away.

He made it all of 69 yards before being tackled from behind by a teammate - on his own one-yard line.

The Cal coach, choosing to play it safe, called for a punt on first down, but it was blocked by Tech, resulting in a safety.

Unfortunately for him and for Cal, the Bears, lost, 8-7, the safety providing the margin of victory for Georgia Tech, which finished undefeated at 10-0 and won the national championship.

Humiliated by his mistake, he at first refused to return to play in the second half, but after being persuaded by his coach to do so, he played, and played well.  His teammates honored him by electing him captain, and he played so well his senior year that he was named All-American.

But the Rose Bowl was THE Big Game of the year, broadcast coast-to-coast on the radio, and his blunder made headlines all over the country and earned him a derogatory nickname - "Wrong-Way Riegels" -  that haunted him for years.

He showed such grace in dealing with his setback that the way in which he dealt with it  has been used often as an illustration of resilience by motivational speakers.

After Alabama’s Tommy Lewis made headlines for leaving the sideline to tackle Rice’s Dicky Moegle as he was on his way to what was awarded by penalty as a 95-yard touchdown run in the 1954 Cotton Bowl, he was asked what advice he’d give young Mr. Lewis.

“Laugh with them - that’s all you’ve got to do,” he said. “He’ll hear about it for a long time.  But what the heck difference does it make?  It’s just a football game.”

Fifty years after that Rose Bowl game, he accepted an invitation by Georgia Tech football alums to come to Atlanta, where they awarded Roy Riegels an honorary “GT” monogram.

CORRECTLY IDENTIFYING ROY RIEGELS

JOSH MONTGOMERY - BERWICK, LOUISIANA
GREG KOENIG - CIMARRON, KANSAS
MIKE FRAMKE - GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN
ADAM WESOLOSKI - PULASKI, WISCONSIN
JOE GUTILLA - AUSTIN, TEXAS
TIM BROWN - FLORENCE, ALABAMA
KEN HAMPTON - RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA
JOHN VERMILLION - ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA
TOM DAVIS - SAN CARLOS, CALIFORNIA
BILL NELSON - THORNTON, COLORADO
KEVIN MCCULLOUGH - LAKEVILLE, INDIANA

TUESD

FRID

*********** In Scandinavia, it’s been called “Going into the tunnel” - entering the long, hard winter, with its dark, dreary days.

Begging their pardon, but they don’t know what a tunnel is - unless they’ve also come to the end of a college football season.

Talk about long and hard. Talk about dark and dreary.

Unless you count playoffs - pro, almost-pro, and FCS - it’s all over.  It’s not as if we’re going into that tunnel with a host of great bowl memories, either.  And please don’t try to make me feel better by mentioning the XFL.

Meanwhile, here in the Northwest, the local forecast calls for seven straight days of rain.

Not whining, you understand.  Not about the weather, anyhow. 

*********** Texas’ win over Georgia was possibly the most impressive performance of the bowl season.  Look out, Big 12.  With all their resources (such as the Longhorn Network) they are going to be hard to dislodge once they get to the top.  It’s the way we West Coasters feel about USC making it back.

*********** A Wall Street Journal article may have found a major reason why Alabama is the great program that it is: a smaller percentage of its seniors leave early than from any other program.  What that means, of course, is that Alabama not only recruits well and coaches well - but it gets an extra year of play out of those well-recruited, well-coached players.  And in that extra year, they’re almost certainly at their very best.

Reading that, I couldn’t help wondering how much of the early leaving and bowl bailing we’re seeing is attributable to recruiting substandard people in the first place and then providing them with poor leadership.

*********** I really liked watching Kentucky’s Benny Snell.  Heck of a player and really good in the post-game interview.

*********** UCF built up a lot of popular support over the last year or so, largely because America loves an underdog, and then  in one afternoon squandered it all against LSU. My warm and fuzzy feelngs for them went right out the window after the first dirty hit on the LSU quarterback, and I soon found myself pulling for the Tigers to whip their asses.

*********** People from other parts of the country will be excused if they don’t know that it’s the Washington Huskies and the Washington State Cougars, and not the other way around, and it can get confusing at times like Tuesday when it was Washington, not Washington State, that “Couged it”  in the Rose Bowl.

It was a massive step back for the Pac-12 to watch the way Ohio State mistreated its champion, and I had to laugh reading the local newspaper accounts of Washington’s 28-23 loss. Looking at the score, you’d think it was close, wouldn’t you? That’s the spin our papers put on it, focused on the 20-0 fourth quarter in which Washington staged a nice comeback, instead of the 28-3 first three quarters during which Ohio State nearly ran them out of the Rose Bowl. 

Please.  It sure appeared to me that Ohio State took their foot off the pedal. 

I had grown sick up to here with all the pregame media stories trying to morph Urban Meyer into a sympathetic character riding off into the sunset, and the Huskies’ early ineptness especially annoyed me because by halftime it was obvious I wasn’t going to see him ride off a loser.

*********** Anybody else notice how many times the TV cameras missed the snap in the Rose Bowl game because the director was busy showing us replays/graphics/crowd shots?

*********** Those of us who think that bowl bailers may be revealing something about their character will find Randy Shannon in agreement.

Shannon, former Miami head coach and currently DC at UCF, believes that they might one day find reasons not to suit up when they’re in the pros.

One day, he told ESPN, “ the NFL is going to have to make a decision. If you draft a young man that leaves early and now you're not a playoff team, that young man [is] going to say, 'I'm not going to play.' Same situation. Right, wrong or indifferent."

He said he’s reminded of Jimmy Johnson, his coach when he played at Miami.  He remembers Johnson saying that players who make mistakes off the field will make the same mistakes on the field.

Another Johnson saying that Shannon remembers: "What you see is what you're going to get. So don't cover up your eyes and say, 'I can change him.'"

Shannon said that applies to recruiting: ”You see things in recruiting and you say, 'Oh, I can change him. Oh, I can change him.'

"If the guy's been doing that for 18 years, there's nothing you can change about him."

http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/25634322/randy-shannon-ucf-knights-says-players-skip-bowl-games-likely-tank-nfl




*********** I took these screen shots from a video I have of the 1983 Maryland-West Virginia game.

Maryland (in red) is shown playing the wide-tackle six that Jerry Claiborne brought with him from Virginia Tech in 1972.  Maryland at this time was was coached by Bobby Ross, who had coached linebackers under Coach Claiborne.  Maryland’s QB was Boomer Esiason. 

West Virginia was coached by Don Nehlen; its QB was Jeff Hostetler, who would become Coach Nehlen’s son-in-law.

The two teams were both good.  Maryland finished 8-4, West Virginia 9-3.  West Virginia won this game, 31-21.

The wide-tackle six is a bend-but-don’t-break defense. It's heavy on the technique.  Played well, it may give up yardage - grudgingly - but done well, it won’t give up the big play. Along the same lines as a grind-it-out, ball-control offense, it requires patience and persistence.  And an emphasis on consistency.  In today’s instant gratification society, few guys could run this without panicking.

***********  Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune nailed it.

Ohio State's Urban Meyer is teaching leadership and character? Seriously?

What’s that look on your face?

Just because it seemed like Meyer, at last check, still had a few things to learn on this subject?

Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business apparently believes the world needs more MBAs thinking and acting like football coaches in general and Meyer specifically.

It explained in a statement Thursday: “Urban Meyer brings extensive leadership experience and a unique perspective to students seeking to engage with top leaders.”

“Unique perspective” is a great way to put it so long as “unique” is emphasized over “perspective.”

1. When at least 25 workers under you are arrested or charged during your six years in a previous job, this is an example of:
A. Character.
B. Leadership.
C. Who cares? The Florida Gators won two national titles in their six seasons under Meyer.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/ct-spt-urban-meyer-ohio-state-leadership-20181221-story.html


*********** PETA is making noise about the pre-game intro-of mascots-gone-wrong between UGA, the Georgia bulldog, and Bevo, the Texas Longhorn.

I advise them to stop worrying about that dog.  He was smart enough to get out of the way. 

And there’s definitely no need to worry about Bevo.

I’d say what’s needed is some kind of society to advocate for Dumbasses, because the way that bigass steer was swinging those horns, it’s a miracle none of the fools getting in close for photos didn’t get thrown up into the cheap seats.

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/peta-calls-on-texas-georgia-to-end-live-mascot-use-after-sugar-bowl-incident

*********** Some day I’ll learn what happened to Ross Bowers.

In the words of the Cal student newspaper, “Bowers’ career at Cal has been unusual.”

It’s also over.  Prior to Cal’s loss to TCU, Bowers, who started all 12 games in 2017 as Cal’s quarterback, announced that he planned to transfer.

He was dumped after one half of this past year’s opener, and never played another down.

The TCU loss, if you watched, was all the evidence you needed that Cal did not replace him with anything better.

I’m prejudiced.  Ross Bowers, now a former Cal quarterback, is from Bothell, Washington, where he led his high school team to a state title.   His dad, a college coach, is a native of Hagerstown, Maryland,  where I first coached, and he once admitted that as a kid growing up he used to go watch my team’s games.

The kid waited his turn at Cal, and last season he started all 12 games, completing 272 of 461 passing attempts (3039 yards) for 18 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.  He is one of seven quarterbacks in Cal football history to pass for more than 3000 yards.  He led Cal to a 37-3 upset win over Washington State, then ranked 8th in the nation.

Kind of sad to think of a kid transferring from one of the top academic colleges in the country, but I can’t say I blame him.

It’s not as if it was a clear knockout, either.   Cal’s offense has sucked all season, and quarterback play has been a major part of the problem.

Someday, I’ll find out.

*********** Does Northwestern Mutual really think it’s a good idea to portray young girls as spoiled little brats?

*********** Does anybody else think that Mayhem has jumped the shark and it’s time to retire his ass?

*********** Steelers’ camp (in Latrobe, PA) ought to be fun next summer if Antonio Brown is still on the squad. 

The Steelers so f—ked up and management waited so long that it’s too late to can Brown’s Great Enabler - aka Mike Tomlin - because with eight other teams looking for coaches, it’s not a time to be in the market.

https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2019/1/2/18164161/steelers-news-ryan-clark-paints-ugly-picture-of-antonio-brown-as-a-teammate-mike-tomlin-trade-rumors

*********** The news that Tyler Trent died was not unexpected, but that doesn’t make it any less sad.

He was 20, and he’d been seriously ill for some time.

What made him part of a national story was his love for Purdue, and the way the Purdue team responded to him and his devotion to them.

Those of you who watched the Purdue-Ohio State game saw him and know how much the upset win by his beloved Boilermakers meant to him.


*********** Sad that so many college football players are jerks…

From the National Football Foundation…

  Clemson defensive end Christian Wilkins, who early last month claimed the NFF William V. Campbell Trophy as the best football scholar-athlete in the nation, will become the first recipient of the coveted award to appear in a College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship, which this year will feature No. 1 Alabama (14-0) against the No. 2 Tigers (14-0) at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Jan. 7.

The milestone creates a unique confluence of events as the recipient of the Campbell Trophy has been recognized on the field between the first and second quarters of the national title game since the 2013 season. Previous recipients have all appeared on the field with NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell for a special presentation during the game.

"Understanding the symbolism of the Campbell Trophy, the leaders of the CFP have been fabulous partners in creating a tradition to showcase the winner each year," said Hatchell. "Obviously, we now have a few new details to iron out since Christian will be playing in the game, but we could not be more thrilled to shine a light on him and all he represents during the events surrounding the national championship. Christian is destined for great things in life."

The New York Times  profiled Wilkins before the semifinal game, highlighting the possibility that the three-time All-American defensive end could play Jan. 7 in the title game as well as be honored as the Campbell Trophy recipient.

"I hope I can come out and get honored in my uniform. That would be pretty cool. Maybe we'll find a bow tie or a big blazer to throw over me," Wilkins joked with New York Times reporter Marc Tracy.
 
As Clemson now prepares to face Alabama in Santa Clara, current plans call for a video tribute, which will not require Wilkins' participation, in the traditional slot between the first and second quarters. Coach Dabo Swinney, who will have his team focused on the game at that moment, has a deep appreciation for the award.

"I was so excited when he first got the call that he was a finalist," said Swinney in an interview after Wilkins won the award in New York City. "We do a video of the day, and that was the video of the day [click to watch]. I wanted the team to know. I wanted everybody to know. This is a big deal. I don't do it for any other award... They're all great, but they're all football awards....
 
"But to me, this is the epitome for what we want our program to be about, and that is truly valuing the journey over the result or whatever, the destination, and valuing education and how that empowers you for the rest of your life, and valuing all the things that you are there to tap into from career development to social development, life skills, networking, relationships and Christian is the epitome of that."
 
Wilkins became the first scholarship player in Clemson football history to finish school in two and a half years, earning a bachelor's degree in communication studies with a 3.33 GPA. Last month, he added a master's degree in athletic leadership to his list of classroom accomplishments, receiving two degrees in just three and a half years. His academic accolades, along with being a three-time First Team All-American (unanimous in 2018) and his multiple contributions as a leader in the community, made him the 29th recipient of the trophy, which he accepted Dec 4 at NFF Annual Awards Dinner in New York City [click to watch his acceptance speech].

"My name's going to be on the accomplishment, but awards like this you don't win on your own," Wilkins said during his acceptance speech. "It takes a lot of people just pushing you in the right direction and guiding you...I definitely want to thank my family because the odds were against me my whole life. I'm from a broken home with a single mother. This wasn't supposed to be me up here. It was my mom and other siblings who drove home the value of an education and doing what's right."

"Football is such a great game," Wilkins continued. "It really brings a lot of people together, no matter your upbringing, no matter your circumstance. No matter what you've been through in life, it brings everyone together. We're all guys from all different walks of life and different backgrounds, but through the game of football we were able to be seen as equals. Where we come from, that doesn't matter. We're all here tonight to be honored and be up for the same award."

Wilkins has led the Tigers to the CFP playoffs the past four years, including a thrilling 35-31 victory over Alabama in the title game following the 2016 season. A projected top ten NFL Draft pick this spring, Wilkins had the chance to turn pro last year, but he opted to return for his final year of eligibility with the Tigers despite many people believing he would leave.
 
"First of all, he loves the experience, he just loves college and his teammates," said Swinney in commenting on Wilkins' surprise return. "He's one of those guys who is a deep thinker. He's a big perspective guy. He said 'Coach I am going to play pro football for a long time. I won't get a chance to play college anymore, and that's how he thinks, with a sense of perspective. He's not in a hurry with life. He just truly enjoys his life...
 
"It's so hard to do what's he has done, first of all, but then he has done it with this amazing flare. You know, he makes it look so easy, and he makes it look like so much fun because it truly is him. He's just one of the easiest people to be around on a day-to-day basis, and he challenges his teammates. He truly sets the standard."

TUESD

FRID

TUESD

*********** To Progressives:
 
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, to be practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion - or secular practice - of your choice, with no disrespect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others (or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all).  I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated  2019,  the generally accepted calendar year, not to slight in any way the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to our society have helped make America the country that it is. (Not to imply that America, in view of its racist foundings and its imperialist history,  is particularly great, or that it is in any way greater than any other country - nor is it the only “America” in the Western Hemisphere.) 

By accepting these greetings you signify that you are accepting of the terms. These greetings are subject to clarification or revocation. They are freely transferable with no alteration to the original greetings.  They imply no promise by the grantor to actually implement or guarantee the granting of any of the wishes for the wishee or his/her/its designee, and they are void where prohibited by law. These wishes are warranted only to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of any subsequent holiday greeting - whichever comes first - and the warranty is limited to replacement of these wishes or issuance of any new wishes at the sole discretion of the grantor.
 
To Everybody Else:
 
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

(From the Internet)

************  GO ARMY - BEAT HOUSTON!




*********** In case you’ve wondered about how colleges get their football equipment to the sites of away games… in almost all cases, they load the stuff on tractor-trailers and it’s driven there.

Maybe you’ve seen one of the trucks on the road - some of them are pretty cool looking.

Utah State’s equipment truck driver  - nicknamed “Night Rider” - was legendary.

And now, he's retired.



http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/25529990/utah-state-night-runner-steve-wiley-made-last-ride

*********** There were a bunch of people out on the field for the coin toss prior to the Pac-12 title game but we never did find out who they were.  They weren’t reporters, and if they were political dignitaries you can be sure they’d have been introduced.

They leaves money as the only explanation.  They were probably connected in some way with sponsors.

And that left me thinking about all the money conferences and colleges could be leaving on the table.

Why not, I thought,  sell the right to be out at midfield for the coin toss? (For a little extra we’ll introduce you; for a little more, you can shake hands with the captains.

What the hell - why not sell the right to toss the coin?

We’re on a roll now - why not sell the coin itself?  First, we sell advertising space on both sides of the coin: “The Golden Arches will be heads… the Ford oval will be tails…”

And then we’ll sell the replica coins: “Hi. I’m William DeVane…”

*********** Stephen Curry has announced that he doesn’t believe we landed on the moon. 

Everybody has a little skeptic in him, I guess.  Me, I’m just hoping someday to see Barack Obama’s college transcript.


*********** Greg Koenig, in Cimarron, Kansas sent me this one…

Coach Chad Frigon, of Liberty, Missouri, HIgh School wrote in Preps KC:

Last spring I was in a pre-practice running backs meeting at the University of Arkansas with Arkansas Running Back’s coach, Tim Horton. As he lost me in the many checks and blitz pick up responsibilities of the running backs, my eyes wondered to a large poster on his wall that described members of any team as being either Corrupt, Compliant, or Compelled. I talked to Coach Horton after the meeting and have since used this concept to help us in our football program at Liberty High School.
 
Every football team has players that will fall into each of these categories. It is our job as coaches and teammates to help players become compelled to do what is right, and identify what problems may be holding a certain team member back.
 
Corrupt athletes on a team are the players that cause problems for themselves, teammates, and coaches through their actions. Corruptive players think of themselves first and not the team. These players are resistant to change and what it takes to succeed. A natural action for a corruptive player is to try to bring other players down with them to help justify their actions.
 
Compliant players do what is expected of them so they won’t get in trouble. They blend in trying not to get noticed. These players don’t improve much and don’t improve their teammates. When a compliant player shows up on time or goes hard in a work-out, it is to avoid punishment and consequences, not because they know that it is what they need to do in order for themselves and the team to be successful.
 
Compelled players do what is right because they know deep down inside, it is the right thing to do for themselves and also the team. They go above and beyond what is asked of them and improve and help their teammates.  Compelled players readily accept coaching and see it as a tool to improve. Compelled players are driven by the success of the entire program both on and off the field.
 
http://prepskc.com/columns.php?id=1040

The open-enrollment rules passed by the state legislature two years ago have opened the door for a flash flood of high school athletes transferring from one school or to another without regard to commitment or community or to what school district they actually live in.

“I feel the legislature, when they made that rule, ruined high school athletics,” Darlington said on our Open Mike radio show. “At Apopka, we’ve always built things on pride and loyalty and integrity and being a good man and sitting in the front of your class and wearing a tie on Tuesdays and saying, ‘Yes sir.’ These are things we believe are part of building men.

“Those things have sort of become punchlines when you have other schools where kids can go and act a whole different way. If kids don’t like the way I think they should act, they can just go somewhere else. It tears at what I believe is the fabric of high school sports; where you play for your team and your town and the people you grew up with; where you try to do great things and make your hometown proud of you.

“That’s what we had at Apopka,’” he added. “The kids grew up together, they won state championships together and the faculty and the town loved ’em. It’s getting harder and harder to keep kids home if they don’t like the way things are being done or if another school looks shinier and provides them with the flavor of the month.”

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/open-mike/os-sp-apopka-rick-darlington-enterprise-alabama-20181208-story.html

*********** Bailey Goss was dead and gone by the time I joined the team at the National Brewing Company, in Baltimore, but around Baltimore he was still legendary.

He’d arrived in Baltimore from Reading, Pennsylvania, where he’d worked in radio, and with his good looks and good voice he was a natural for the new medium of television.  And that made him a natural for National Brewing, which was quick to realize the commercial potential of sports on TV.

He was hired by the brewery to call games on all kinds of sports - baseball, football, bowling (duck pins were the big favorite in the Baltimore up until the 60s), wrestling, golf - working often with the legendary Chuck Thompson, longtime voice of the Orioles and an immortal as the guy who called the overtime period in the famous Colts-Giants “sudden death” championship game. 

He also co-hosted a weekly show called “Corralin’ the Colts,” and, another of his job’s requirements, did PR work for the brewery.

That meant getting out and about - getting out among the people.  The ones who drank our beer.

He was good at that, too, making appearances all over town, and, one would presume, consuming his share of the company’s products.

He died at the age of 49, killed in a late-night automobile accident.  I have no idea whether alcohol had anything to do with it - it wasn’t something that I ever heard discussed around the company.  (Not exactly what you’d call good PR.)

In doing a little research on him, I learned of his roots in Pennsylvania and his German ancestry, and came across his version of “A Night Before Christmas,” in Pennsylvania Dutch (German) dialect.

(His name on the record label is misspelled.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHM-YztFs8I


*********** QUIZ ANSWER - FROM HIS HALL OF FAME CITATION

Jerry Claiborne was famous for three things. He was a winner. He took over washed-up programs and gave them new life. And he taught his players to be good students. He was a head coach 28 years with this record: 179-122-8. The College Football Association in 1988 gave his school, Kentucky, an award for leading the nation in number of football players graduated on time. He coached four Academic All-Americas and 87 all-conference academics.

His teams were in 11 bowl games. He coached Virginia Tech 1961-1970 with a 69-31-2 record.  Then Maryland called. The school had won just nine games in five years. He had a winner his second year. Beginning in 1973 his teams made it to six consecutive bowl games. The Sporting News in 1974 named him the nation's Coach of the Year. His 1976 team went 11-1 and ranked eighth in the Associated Press poll. For ten years at Maryland his record was 77-37-3.

In 1982, his alma-mater, Kentucky called. The school had endured four straight losing seasons. He took Kentucky to bowl games his second and third years. He retired after the 1989 season.

Sports Illustrated said in 1976 his great virtues were "organization, motivation, and hard work.” He said, "Coaching is one of the few professions where you can change people and help them to be good citizens and parents."

Jerry Claiborne was born August 2, 1928 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. He played halfback for Bear Bryant at Kentucky in 1946 and 1948-49. He was a Bryant assistant at Texas A&M and Alabama before launching a carrer as a successful head coach. In June of 1999, the Lexington, Kentucky chapter of the National Football Foundation was named after him. He died September 24, 2000.

CORRECTLY IDENTIFYING JERRY CLAIBORNE

KEN HAMPTON - RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA
JOHN VERMILLION - ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA
GREG KOENIG - CIMARRON, KANSAS
MIKE FRAMKE - GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN
ADAM WESOLOSKI - PULASKI, WISCONSIN
JOSH MONTGOMERY - BERWICK, LOUISIANA
KEVIN MCCULLOUGH - LAKEVILLE, INDIANA
TIM BROWN - FLORENCE, ALABAMA
DAVE POTTER - CARY, NORTH CAROLINA
JOE GUTILLA - AUSTIN, TEXAS
JOHN BOTHE - OREGON, ILLINOIS
MARK KACZMAREK - DAVENPORT, IOWA
OSSIE OSMUNDSON - WOODLAND, WASHINGTON

*********** Jerry Claiborne was a good man - a Christian gentleman who didn’t drink or cuss.  But don’t be fooled.  He wasn’t soft.  Not by any means.  From my experience with people who knew him - one guy who played for me in Hagerstown, Maryland and had played for Coach Claiborne at Virginia Tech and another whom I worked with in Philadelphia who had assisted him at Maryland - he was one tough son of a gun.  He ran a tough program; he expected his players to be hard-nosed and his assistant coaches to be tough sons of guns.  How could he have assisted Bear Bryant for six years and not been hard-nosed to begin with?  How could he not have acquired some of the Bear’s legendary toughness?  One former Tech player, Ron Hawkins, was a player-coach for me, and he remains, 45 years later, the hardest hitter I’ve ever coached. (Not that my coaching had a damn thing to do with it.)

Coach Claiborne was legendary throughout the coaching fraternity for his thoroughness in preparation - and for the hours that preparation required of him and his assistants.  There they would be, I was told, itching to break out of a late-night staff meeting and get home to their wives, as Coach Claiborne continued to play “What if?”, coming up with one contingency after another that they might encounter in the upcoming game.  What if they do this?  What do we do? And what if they do that?  Then what?

Once those meetings broke up, they said it looked like a Le Mans start as the coaches sprinted aross the parking lot to get in their cars and race home.

*********** Those were different times… Check out the guest coaches


*********** Q. Why is Coach Claiborne’s favored defense called the “Wide Tackle” Six?

Well, duh.  Because the tackles line up wider than they would do in a “regular” six.

Return with me to the years before, during and after World War II when offenses were fairly standard - usually a single wing or some form of the then new-fangled T formation - and so were defenses, one of the most common of which was a “6-2-2-1” (six linemen, two linebackers, two “halfbacks” and one safety).

Players played both ways, and for simplicity’s sake, their offensive positions dictated their defensive positions: in Frank Leahy’s words, the six-man front “necessitates moving only one man out of the line.  Only this man must play a comparatively different position.”   That meant that a guard on offense was a guard on defense, a tackle on offense was a  tackle on defense, and so forth.  That "one man" that moved “out of the line” when they went on defense was the center - he and the fullback became the linebackers.

In today’s terms, of course, what coaches formerly called defensive guards we now call tackles, and what they called tackles we now call ends.  And their ends are now our outside linebackers.

Note in the diagrams below, Frank Leahy’s defense, drawn in 1951. It reflected the fact that they were still playing two-way football, and so the inside linebackers were designated as “F” (for Fullback) and “C” (for Center).   By 1985, though, football was a two-platoon game, and in Kentucky’s scheme, the inside Backers are both designated by “B’s.” Possibly because it was too hard for him to change something he’d been doing for his entire career, Coach Claiborne still continued to use “G’s” for “defensive guards.”




A year or so before he died I spoke with Coach Claiborne on the phone and asked him where he got the defense from.  His answer: “Coach Bryant.”   (He’d played under him at Kentucky and assisted him at Texas A & M and Alabama.) Coach Claiborne was one of the last of the big-college coaches to use it.  The last, I believe, was Bobby Ross, who assisted Coach Claiborne at Maryland before taking the head coaching job at The Citadel, then spent five years as an assistant with the Kansas City Chiefs before succeeding Coach Claiborne at Maryland in 1982.  I still have video somewhere of a Maryland-West Virginia game (Boomer Esiason was the Maryland QB) and damned if Coach Ross wasn’t running a wide-tackle six front.  

In principle, the wide-tackle six lives on as the forerunner of today’s 4-2-5.  I’ve run a wide-tackle as part of my defensive package since the mid-1980’s and I’ve found it to be an extremely versatile defense that's especially good against run and shoot, veer and (as the resident wishbone specialist, Charlie Wilson notes) almost a requirement against a wishbone. I find that an I-formation with a good blast play complemented by a  counter dive can be a pain in the ass.

I won’t kid you - it takes work to teach the inside linemen (I call them “tackles”).  The tackles’ jobs are counter-intuitive, because they don’t penetrate - they strike a blow, they make sure nothing runs between them (“this is the key to the defense,” according to Coach Claiborne), and they make plays along the line of scrimmage:

“When the flow goes, it’s lateral pursuit. They cross the face of the offensive man and come right down the line of scrimmage.”

The only times they penetrate are on a sprint-out or a drop-back pass:

“If the flow is pass, one man has “whip his man and go.” The other man has draw.  They call draw responsibility before every snap, no matter what.  If it’s sprint-out, we want to get into the backfield with the backside tackle. The frontside tackle has lateral pursuit and works upfield.”

Coach Claiborne said, and I concur: “The toughest thing we have to teach incoming freshmen is to stay on the line of scrimmage.”

And he added (I can’t say I have any experience in this regard) “and that’s one of the toughest things our players have to unlearn when they go on to play pro ball.”

Below is Georgia Tech coach Bobby Dodd’s wide-tackle six drawn up against an unbalanced single wing. (From “Bobby Dodd on Football” 1954). Although it’s drawn against an unbalanced line,  for most of his career his primary single wing opponent was his alma mater, Tennessee - the Vols ran General Neyland’s balanced-line single wing.





*********** Coach Claiborne on the Wide Tackle Six - http://www.coachwyatt.com/widetacklesixclaiborne.pdf


*********** QUIZ - Born in Arkansas City, Kansas, he played his high school ball in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

As a quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners from 1950-1952, he was a backup his sophomore season when Oklahoma won its first national championship,  and the starter his junior and senior years.   Playing both ways - he also played safety on defense - he was named All-Big Seven both seasons, and was the All-American QB in 1952.

Drafted second by the New York Giants, he went to Canada instead and played one year with the Edmonton Eskimos before being called to serve in the US Army.

While in the Army, he served a year as an assistant to Earl “Red” Blaik at West Point, then was hired by his college coach, Bud Wilkinson, to coach the running backs at Oklahoma.

After seven seasons at Norman, he was hired in January, 1963 as head coach at Colorado.
 
Colorado was in trouble.  The Buffs had fired Sonny Grandelius a year earlier when, following a seventh-place finish  nationally and a berth in the Orange Bowl,  allegations surfaced that he had a slush fund that was being used to pay recruits.  NCAA sanctions followed and at least 20 players left the program for various reasons.  Alumni director Bud Davis was hired as interim coach for the 1962 season, and as might have been expected with an inexperienced coach working with a depleted roster,  the Buffs finished 2-8. The wins were over an 0-10 Kansas State team (by a 6-0 score) and Air Force.

Our man also went 2-8 in his first two seasons, but things turned around in his third season, when the Buffaloes finished 6-2-2.

In all, in his 11 years as head coach at Colorado, his teams went   67-49-2.  Five of his teams were nationally ranked, and at a time when bowl games were far fewer than today, five went to bowls.

His best team was his 1971 team, which finished 10-2 and was ranked third nationally - behind fellow Big Eight Conference members Nebraska (number one) and Oklahoma.  Although they lost to both conference rivals, they beat #9 LSU in Baton Rouge, and they beat #6 Ohio State in Columbus.

Since 1965 he had been doing double duty as Colorado Athletics Director, and in 1974 he devoted full time to that job. As AD, he hired the next three Colorado head football coaches: Bill Mallory, Chuck Fairbanks and Bill McCartney.

Mallory carried on the winning ways, posting a .623 winning percentage in five years. Fairbanks, who had been highly successful at Oklahoma before moving on to the NFL, was hired away from the Patriots thanks largely to the influence (and dollars) of wealthy alumni. He laid an egg, going 7-26 in three years. But in McCartney, he pulled a rabbit out of his hat.  McCartney would go on to become the winningest coach in school history, posting a 93-55-5 record (.624) and winning Colorado’s only national title in 1990.

TUESD

Clemson University defensive lineman Christian Wilkins has been named the 29th recipient of The William V. Campbell Trophy at the 61st National Football Foundation Annual Awards Dinner in New York City tonight.

"Christian Wilkins' exceptional accomplishments on and off the field rank him among the best student-athletes in the history of our sport, making him the ideal Campbell Trophy recipient," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "He truly embodies the scholar-athlete ideal and we are proud to have him as a member of this elite fraternity. He stands as the perfect example for the next generation to emulate."

The Campbell Trophy ranks as one of college football's most sought after and competitive awards, recognizing an individual as the absolute best in the country for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary community leadership. The award, which is prominently displayed at its official home inside the New York Athletic Club, comes with a 24-inch, 25-pound bronze trophy and a $25,000 postgraduate scholarship.
 
A total of $241,000 was awarded tonight to Wilkins and the 12 other members of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class, who comprised the list of Campbell Trophy finalists. Each member of the class claimed an $18,000 scholarship for their postgraduate educations. Fidelity Investments is a proud partner of the Campbell Trophy and the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards.

"Christian and his fellow members of the 2018 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class represent more than just their standout athletic ability seen on the field," said NFF Chairman Archie Manning, whose sons, Peyton (Campbell Trophy winner) and Eli, were NFF National Scholar-Athletes in 1997 and 2003, respectively. "Their academic achievements and their contributions as leaders in the community send a powerful message about the young men who play our sport. They have taken full advantage of the educational opportunities created by college football, and they have created a compelling legacy for others to follow."
 
Wilkins personifies the scholar-athlete ideal, having already earned his degree while twice claiming First Team All-America honors and guiding Clemson to a national championship.
 
After graduating in December 2017 with a 3.33 GPA in communication studies, Wilkins became the first scholarship player in Clemson football history to finish school in two and a half years. He will graduate this December with a master's in athletic leadership. In addition to being a three-time All-ACC Academic Team member, Wilkins has twice received First Team Academic All-District honors. He was named the ACC's 2018 Jim Tatum Award recipient as the top senior student-athlete among the conference's football players.
 
A two-year team captain, Wilkins has guided Clemson to the No. 2 ranking, a perfect 13-0 record, the 2018 ACC title and a trip to the College Football Playoff Semifinal. A finalist for the 2018 Bednarik Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy and Outland Trophy, he has amassed 45 tackles on the season, including 13.5 tackles for loss. The 2018 First Team All-ACC defensive lineman is also a finalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy and has five sacks, one forced fumble, and two fumble recovery to his name this year. Wilkins was the runner-up for both the ACC Player of the Year and the ACC Defensive Player of the Year for 2018.

Wilkins leads a Clemson unit that tops the ACC and is tied for second in the nation in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 13.7 points per game. Clemson's rushing defense is also atop the ACC, limiting opposing teams to 93 yards per game on the ground, which is the third best average in the nation. The Tigers rank second in the ACC and fourth in the nation in total defense, limiting offenses to 276.8 yards per game.

On Oct. 27, Wilkins recorded the first rushing touchdown of his career on a one-yard run against Florida State. He would add another rushing touchdown in the regular season finale against in-state rival South Carolina. Following a 27-7 win at Boston College on Nov. 10, Wilkins was named ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week after playing a key role as the Tigers secured their fourth straight ACC Atlantic Division title. He posted five tackles in the game, including one for loss, as part of a defensive line that limited Boston College to only nine rushing yards. On Nov. 17, he broke the school record for career starts by a defensive tackle.
 
A three-year letterman, Wilkins made an immediate impact at Clemson, earning 2015 First Team Freshman All-America honors. A three-time All-ACC selection, he earned first-team honors in 2018 and 2017 while claiming second team laurels in 2016. A finalist for the 2016 Nagurski Trophy, Wilkins was named the 2017 Willis Award recipient as the National Defensive Lineman of the Year by the Columbus (Ohio) Touchdown Club. Wilkins guided the Tigers to the 2016 College Football Playoff (CFP) national title, two CFP National Championship game appearances and now four consecutive trips to the CFP Semifinals. In addition to winning four consecutive ACC titles, Wilkins helped Clemson finish with No. 2 (2015), No.1 (2016) and No. 4 (2017) rankings.
 
Making a difference off the field, Wilkins became a certified substitute teacher during the 2018 offseason, indicating that he wanted to provide inspiration and guidance to K-12 students. An avid volunteer, Wilkins has worked with Habitat for Humanity, the Clemson Miracle Fundraiser, Colleges Against Cancer Relay for Life and the "Kicks, Cleats, Kids" initiative. He has also taken part in the Taylor Elementary Visionary Leaders program.

A funny thing happened when Klieman told his team he was leaving for K-State last week.

His players gave him a standing ovation.

Most of the time, when a football coach leaves for a new job there is venom involved. Players are disappointed and fans are angry. There are usually boos. Not here.

When Klieman walked off the field for the final time following his team’s 44-21 demolition of South Dakota State in the FCS playoffs on Friday, “thank you Klieman” chants broke out all across the Fargodome. Some fans even brought signs.

“There isn’t anybody around here who is mad at him for leaving,” NDSU fan Martin Rud said. “He has earned it. All these seniors are his kids. They love him. The coaches all work good together. You guys are getting a good coach.”

“He’s a good coach, a good mentor and just a good all-around person,” Fargo local Kent Ness added. “He has done so much for North Dakota State. We are just happy he gets to move on to bigger and brighter things.”

There are only so many programs such as Georgia and Florida for the Kirby Smarts and Urban Meyers of the world.

For every one of those, there is Paul Rhoads, a hot-shot coordinator at Auburn who stepped into a trap at Iowa State, or Turner Gill or Charlie Weis at Kansas.

Good luck, Les Miles.

Many of these are dead ends.

Chad Morris at Arkansas has his work cut out for him. What (Matt) Campbell and Mark Stoops have done at Iowa State and Kentucky is nothing short of extraordinary, but can they sustain it?

While no one really knows why Littrell didn’t take the Kansas State job, he’s probably better off staying and waiting, if indeed his future is somewhere else.

It’s difficult for a coach to turn down the money a Power 5 conference school can offer, but many times the offer is from a place it’s difficult – impossible? — to achieve success. Had he left, Littrell would have at least doubled the $1.2 million annual base salary he earns at North Texas. A buyout clause, somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.5 million and $2 million, would have triggered.

The only guy who has cracked the code at Kansas State was Snyder who, once upon a time, was one of those young up-and-comers as an assistant to Hayden Fry at North Texas and then Iowa.

Snyder had unprecedented success in Manhattan, winning 210 games in 27 years split into two tenures.

Before Snyder, Stan Parrish went 2-30 from 1986-89. Jim Dickey – father of former North Texas coach Darrell Dickey – went 24-54 from 1978-85. Ellis Rainsberger won six games between 1975-77.

To find any modicum of success, one has to scroll all the way up to 1928-33, the era of Bo McMillin. McMillin, once a QB for the Centre Praying Colonels, went 29-21.

That’s Knute Rockne-type stuff at Kansas State.

During Snyder’s first tenure at Kansas State, 1989-2005, he transformed the Wildcats into a national player.

People stood mouth wide open in wonder watching as if seeing Marilyn Monroe naked. Snyder won nine or more games 10 times. The Wildcats won 11 games six times.

How the hell he did it, he might take to his grave.

Ron Prince took over in 2006-08 and more than met the standards of Manhattan mediocrity.

Snyder was rehired in 2009 and made a return with everything except the “hosannas.”

And he did it again.

Kansas State won 10 and 11 games in 2011 and 2012, including a Fiesta Bowl appearance. The Wildcats went 5-7 this year, but the previous two years won 17 games.

Not exactly insignificant, and neither is walking in the footsteps of Bill Snyder, whose shadow is as large as the Christ the Redeemer art deco in Rio.

Littrell either didn’t get the job as Snyder’s successor or didn’t take it.

In other words, he was either lucky or played his cards right.

What we did discover during our afternoon-long visit was that news of the Dallas Cowboys’ resuscitation has not yet reached the banks of the Loire. American “football” remains a novelty act in France, home of soccer’s reigning World Cup champions.

I picked up the country’s daily sports paper, L’Equipe, and soccer stories regularly filled the tabloid’s first 23 pages.

Page 24? Team handball’s women’s world championships.

There were three pages of rugby news. A few pages of cycling and skiing. And though this will come as a blow to Jerry Jones’ self-esteem, no mention whatsoever of him or the NFL.

“What I do like,” said Jean-Hubert LeBreton, “is the NBA.

“We love basketball. We follow the NBA. Tony Parker. LeBron James.”

And Jean-Hubert’s favorite NBA team?

Ugh.

“The Lakers.”

Oddly, though soccer in a myriad of languages is now readily available on American TV, NBA games are hard to find on the French télé. When I was there, there was a Raptors-76ers game on one night – at 2 a.m.

“It’s complicated,” Jean-Hubert said of being an NBA fan in France.

On most nights, a prime-time surfing of televised French TV offerings showed no less than six soccer matches, some skiing and the always popular biathlon.

Don’t tsk-tsk, though. Just imagine what a French tourist thinks when he turns on an American TV and sees Stephen A. Smith.

FRID

Paul Amen - Wake Forest
George Blackburn - Virginia
Chief Boston - New Hampshire
Eddie Crowder - Colorado
Paul Dietzel - LSU, Army, South Carolina
Bobby Dobbs - Tulsa, Calgary (CFL)
Sid Gillman - Cincinnati, LA Rams, LA/San Diego Chargers
Jack Green - Vanderbilt
Andy Gustafson - Miami
Dale Hall - Army
Tom Harp - Cornell, Duke
Herman HIckman - Yale
Eddie Hirschberg - Carnegie Tech
Stu Holcomb - Purdue
Frank Lauterbur - Toledo, Iowa
Vince Lombardi - Green Bay
John Sauer - The Citadel
Dick Voris - Virginia
Murray Warmath - Mississippi State, Minnesota
Bob Woodruff - Baylor, Florida
Bill Yeoman - Houston

*********** Damn.  The Black Lions’ hoodie - the one Army coach Jeff Monken was wearing Saturday on ESPN College Game Day  - is already sold out for Christmas.  Oh well.  I’ll wait.  But I’m getting one - even if I have to put black duct tape over that damn Nike swoosh.



https://www.wpaoggiftshop.com/shop/black-lions-therma-hoodie-5074


*********** Give the Black Lion Award! to a deserving player

It’s that time of year again -  time to submit your nominee for the Black Lion Award, and I find that in many cases coaches aren’t entirely sure what they need to do.  It’s not that difficult.  (1) Register your team and go over our FAQ’s; (2) Select a nominee who meets our criteria; (3) Submit your letter nominating him; (4) Make the presentation; (5) OPTIONAL - Send us a photo of your nominee and his parents or the nominee and his coach - or his parents and his coach

To give you an idea of the kind of player we’re looking for, and the sort of letter we require, here are a few excellent examples:

Dear Coach Wyatt,

It is my honor and pleasure to nominate Ricky Todd for the prestigious Black Lion Award.  As a coach and graduate of Aquinas Institute in Rochester, NY, Major Don Holleder’s Alma Mater, I am aware of the many wonderful things he accomplished in his short life.  Ricky has exemplified many of the traits throughout his high school career that Major Holleder had throughout his athletic career.

Ricky has played Football at Aquinas for the last 6 years.  Through each of those years Ricky has been an extremely valuable member of his football team as he climbed through the program.  His value was not only for his ability on the field, but also the leadership ability and the hard work and dedication he brought with him to the “office” every day.  His work ethic and leadership by example was the reason the Coaching Staff selected Ricky as one of our team Captains.  Ricky embraced the role and took charge.  He led his teammates everyday by example.  Over the years Ricky played as a Tight End, Right Tackle, and Left Tackle.  He was an asset in all 3 positions through his time in the program.

Ricky’s selection as captain was instrumental to our team’s State Championship run and the overall success of the season.  His leadership both verbally and by example were important for getting the younger players on the track to success.   Ricky embraced the program philosophy, the expectations of our captains, and worked hard to convince his teammates that the philosophy in place would allow us to have a successful season.  He always worked hard and pushed others to work hard.  The fact that he held his teammates accountable was important for our success.  His ability to adapt to change and accept challenges is what makes him a special person.  His drive to succeed not only on the field, but in the class room makes Ricky our nomination for this year’s Black Lion Award.
    
Ricky’s entire High School career was about sacrifice for the team.  He gave 100% in every workout, practice, and game.  His physical toughness while battling through injuries, not missing practices or games, helped lead us to a championship.  He is a more than deserving candidate based on what he has done in the past.  I know that Ricky will continue to give his best effort and his leadership will rub off onto his future teammates.  Thank you.

Sincerely,

Derek Annechino
Head Football Coach
Aquinas Institute
Rochester, New York

*****

Dear Coach Wyatt,

My name is Harry Flaherty and I am the head football coach at The Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey – the alma mater of West Point legend Dennis Michie. I would like to nominate Quinn Kieselowsky for the Black Lion Award in 2018. Quinn was a postgraduate defensive back for us this season, and in less than one year, he has clearly demonstrated the aggressive leadership, courage, devotion to duty, self-sacrifice, and unselfish concern for his teammates that this award represents.

Quinn’s path to a postgrad year at Lawrenceville revealed almost as much about him as the actual season he played for us. Quinn was a starting quarterback at Hudson Catholic High School, but missed his entire senior year due to a torn ACL and accompanying knee surgery. Since Quinn felt his work was unfinished, his coach reached out to me about a postgraduate year, and eventually Quinn was admitted to Lawrenceville in the spring. I could sense early on that Quinn had a special mindset. Early on in the process, I explained to him we would likely need to use him as a defensive back, as we had a returning starter at quarterback.

Quinn enthusiastically agreed to make this switch, and spent the offseason not only rehabbing his knee, but working intentionally on learning the safety position and training himself to be ready to play in the secondary. By the time we reached training camp, Quinn was still not at one hundred percent strength or flexibility, but it was clear he had prepared himself to compete as best he could. From the start of training camp, he put in extra prehab and rehab work to ensure he would be at full strength and speed by the start of the regular season. He went the extra mile to prepare.

Once Lawrenceville football practice began, it became clear that Quinn was a courageous competitor and a natural leader. It can often be awkward for postgrads to come in as brand new team members and try to assume leadership roles. However, for Quinn this transition was seamless, as his work ethic and passion made him an obvious team leader – even if he had only been with us for a few weeks. Unprompted, he sat in the front row of every team meeting and must have filled two notebooks full of notes from those meetings by the season’s end. Clichés aside, he was the first one out to practice every day and the last to leave, to the point I would have to ask him to leave the practice field. Quinn filled many roles for us and was ready to help the team wherever he could. He played strong safety, free safety, and cornerback on defense. He was the league’s best kicker and the league’s best punter, and also served as our emergency quarterback.
He knew our system inside and out, and was able to provide vocal, on-field leadership during practices and games. He played with relentless focus, effort, and courage, inspiring his teammates and earning the trust of his coaches.

Yet it was Quinn’s leadership off the field that left the biggest impression at Lawrenceville. I have never seen a young man so committed to doing things “the right way” as Quinn. Unsolicited, Quinn decided to assume the role of locker room and bus clean-up. He would wait after every practice and after every bust trip to make sure nothing was left behind. He wanted to be certain we were leaving places better than we found them. Additionally, Quinn would take it upon himself to work with younger players after practice if he noticed they were struggling with a technique or if he felt they were discouraged. I could name several other examples, but in the interest of page space, I will say, generally, that Quinn has raised the bar for what it means to be a leader within our football program here at Lawrenceville. This type of commitment and selflessness is what will make Quinn an outstanding leader in life. Quinn represents all the qualities of the Black Lions, and would be an ideal representative of the award. Please accept my nomination.

Sincerely,

Harry Flaherty
Head Coach
The Lawrenceville School
Lawrenceville, New Jersey

*****

Coach Wyatt -

The 8th grade Timberline Blazers football team would like to nominate Kaleb McNeely for the Black Lion Award.

Kaleb played the following positions for us throughout our championship season this year: Quarterback, Fullback, Tight End, Defensive End, Mike Linebacker and Safety. Kaleb's primary position was quarterback and defensive end. Kaleb was not our first choice for QB as we had another player. Kaleb would fit the position better but was needed to play RB for us. This has been the case for the past several seasons. In the past it was clear Kaleb would rather play a different position but this season not only did he embrace his role he took it upon himself to be a leader of the team. Not once did he complain, get frustrated (even when there were many opportunities to do so) or have a bad day.

Kaleb's offensive stats don't jump off the page. He ran the ball only a couple of times a game but his knowledge of the offense, who should be where and what their assignments were was like having a coach on the field. He was routinely assisting others, while playing a position that in our offense sacrifices personal glory for team success. His leadership and sacrificing for the team on the offensive side of the ball made it so we could place players in other positions that would help us succeed as a team. I know Kaleb wanted to run the ball more or play a position that had him scoring more but not once did he ever voice this.

On defense Kaleb shined. Again, we placed him at defensive end because we needed him there. He tried out for linebacker early in the season and would have played great there, but other areas of our defense would have suffered. From the defensive end position Kaleb was an absolute stud. He was a top 3 tackler on the team, led the team in sacks and forced fumbles. He also blocked numerous extra points. In our semi-final game he blocked 2 extra points and we won by 1 point. In our championship game he blocked 1 extra point and pushed his teammate, who was faster than him, into the path of another extra point. We won that game by 2 points. When players on our team had to come out on defense the player we usually moved was Kaleb, even if he had not practiced in that position. We knew he would play hard and that his leadership on the field was such a huge factor in our success that we did not want to take him off.

Kaleb was the first player to celebrate with his teammate for scoring and with his teammates on defense for making big plays. Our team would not have had the success it did without Kaleb sacrificing personal glory for his team. He did this with a smile, thanking all the coaches after each practice.

There is not one certain thing that stands out about Kaleb, but it is what he did over the entire season. Leading his teammates by example and in words, playing positions that suited the team so they could succeed.

Thank you for your consideration of Kaleb as a Black Lion Award recipient.

Josh Vivet
Head Coach
Timberline Blazers
Lacey, Washington

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The Washington Post reported last week that Snyder is getting help from Washington officials, congressional Republicans and the Trump administration as he tries to clear a major roadblock to building a new 60,000-seat stadium at the site of RFK Stadium.  Nearly three years after the Redskins unveiled designs for their next football stadium, the team has been working with local and federal officials to insert a stadium provision into the massive spending bill that the Republican-controlled Congress is rushing to complete this month, The Post reported.