I think for the most part I did a pretty good job of spending time with my kids and family and doing some fun things. I suppose we could all do better, but there is one particular instance that has always bothered me. In fact, it’s bothered me a lot over the years. I have always been a big baseball fan and my son also loves baseball. The idea came to me one time that my son and I should take a baseball trip for about a week or two during the summer. Now this was when my son was about eight years old and I figured we had the next few years to make this trip. He would be the perfect age. This was back in the mid-to-late 80’s and baseball games were still much more affordable than they are now. Here was the plan. We would travel during the day from baseball town to baseball town, get tickets and see a ball game, then spend the night in a nearby state park campground. By leaving early in the morning we could travel to the next city, get a campsite, and then head to the ballpark. After the game, go to our tent (yes, tent) get some sleep, then do it again the next day in another city. This way, we could catch a lot of ballgames in different cities, see a lot of different parks and spend the night camping. The whole idea, I thought, would be an affordable trip. Not only affordable but a lot of fun too.
I figured we would head out for the East from central Illinois and then loop on back to the Midwest. As I looked at the map it looked like we could hit cities like Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, New York, and come back visiting St. Louis and then back home. Oh yeah, we could visit Cooperstown in New York and see the Hall of Fame. In this way we could get some good father-son time together, travel to some great cities and ballparks, and campout at night. I thought it was a great idea and really believed we would get it done someday.
Of course we all know how busy football coaches can be in the summertime. We had our summer camp, we had weight room supervision, seven on seven games, and of course coaches meetings. On top of that, if www.chiefpigskin.com had been around, I would've been learning more football. Besides all this I was a driver education teacher and so I taught a lot of driver ed. in the summer. Some people think that teachers have the summer off but I sure never did. I was always very busy with other things.
Before I knew it my son was 10 and we still hadn’t taken the trip. But I told him someday we would. And I meant it. Before I could blink he had turned 12 and we still hadn’t taken the trip but I assured him that SOMEDAY we would. The next thing I knew, you guessed it, he had turned 14 and it was his turn to start playing high school football. Now he was just as busy with football as I was. And guess what? We didn't take that baseball trip I planned on all those years. By this time we were in the early 90’s and it just didn't get done. It's one of the things that I look back on now with regret. We should've taken that trip and I’m still convinced it was a great idea. I guess the moral of this story is to take time out from that busy schedule to do something different and fun with kids.
Years later when he was in college, my son and I took a cool trip together over spring break and had a great time. Maybe I’ll tell that story sometime. But you know what? I’ve got three grandsons now and I’m starting to get this neat idea…
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Short Yardage Defense
Back when I was a defensive coordinator we played a pretty basic 4-4 defense. Over the years we tweaked it a bit here and there and we came up with a quick call that was easy for the kids to get into in short yardage situations. I realize it’s pretty simple and we all have good schemes but if you’re like me you just like seeing other methods. That’s what’s cool about www.chiefpigskin.com, we get to share and just talk about football.
Now, in this case I’m talking very short yardage defense out in the middle of the field, not goal line. If we had our opponents in 3rd and 1 or less or 4th and 1 or less and we just knew they were going to sneak or dive, we would get into our “tight 22 up”. Let’s take a look at our base D.
.................O..O..O..X..O..O
..................E.....T.......T......E
...............B...........B.......B.......B
Our tackles lined up in what we called a 2, 3, or 4 alignment. We would make the call from the sideline. 2 is inside shoulder of the guard, 3 is head up and 4 is outside shoulder. If we called a 33, they would both be head up, 42 was outside-inside, etc. with A or B gap responsibility. Our ends would be in a 5 technique if no tight end and in a 7 technique if there was a tight end with C gap responsibility. Our outside backers would be in a 3 x 3 alignment outside the last man on the LOS. So, for our short yardage defense 22 meant both tackles get into inside shoulder of the guards. “Tight” meant to tighten up. Our outside backers would walk up to the line, get into a 9 technique of the tight ends and kick the D ends to a 5 technique, or “tighten” up. Our inside backers would line up in B gap and move “up” closer to the LOS. Thus, the tight 22 up call.
...................O..O..O..X..O..O..O
..................B..E......T...T......E....B
.............................B........B........
The less the offense needed for a 1st down, the more our inside backers moved up. For example, if it was 4th and inches, they would get into the B gap almost on the LOS. If it was 4th and 2, they might be about 2 yards behind the D line. This D had to: 1) stop the QB sneak and 2) stop the quick dive. Tackles were responsible for A gap and stopping the sneak. Inside backers had B gap, tackles C gap, and outside backers the edge and alley. We had great success with this simple adjustment and the kids had confidence they could make a key stop.
My best story, (I always have a story), was from 1997 and we were playing a very good Maroa-Forsyth team at our place. It was early in the 2nd quarter and they had the ball 4th and about half a yard on their own 30. They decided to go for it. We had a real good team too, one of our better ones. They had confidence they could get half a yard. We got into our tight 22 up and stuffed a QB sneak for no gain. It was very emotional and our guys were pumped as they came off the field. Me too! I think I was yelling “How dare they? How dare they?” as our guys were getting to the sideline. Before I could look up, on the very next play, our head coach John Beccue called a skinny post pass and we connected for a score. He was good at taking advantage of opportunities like that. What a turnaround! We went on to get a hard fought 16-14 win and those two plays were a great lift.
So often a tough game comes down to making one or two key plays at just the right time. It’s difficult to be ready for everything but that’s the task we are called to do, as much as possible. And I’ve learned you’ve got to have “playmakers”, those kids who just have a knack for making big plays when you need them. You can’t coach that and sure is fun to watch.
Now, in this case I’m talking very short yardage defense out in the middle of the field, not goal line. If we had our opponents in 3rd and 1 or less or 4th and 1 or less and we just knew they were going to sneak or dive, we would get into our “tight 22 up”. Let’s take a look at our base D.
.................O..O..O..X..O..O
..................E.....T.......T......E
...............B...........B.......B.......B
Our tackles lined up in what we called a 2, 3, or 4 alignment. We would make the call from the sideline. 2 is inside shoulder of the guard, 3 is head up and 4 is outside shoulder. If we called a 33, they would both be head up, 42 was outside-inside, etc. with A or B gap responsibility. Our ends would be in a 5 technique if no tight end and in a 7 technique if there was a tight end with C gap responsibility. Our outside backers would be in a 3 x 3 alignment outside the last man on the LOS. So, for our short yardage defense 22 meant both tackles get into inside shoulder of the guards. “Tight” meant to tighten up. Our outside backers would walk up to the line, get into a 9 technique of the tight ends and kick the D ends to a 5 technique, or “tighten” up. Our inside backers would line up in B gap and move “up” closer to the LOS. Thus, the tight 22 up call.
...................O..O..O..X..O..O..O
..................B..E......T...T......E....B
.............................B........B........
The less the offense needed for a 1st down, the more our inside backers moved up. For example, if it was 4th and inches, they would get into the B gap almost on the LOS. If it was 4th and 2, they might be about 2 yards behind the D line. This D had to: 1) stop the QB sneak and 2) stop the quick dive. Tackles were responsible for A gap and stopping the sneak. Inside backers had B gap, tackles C gap, and outside backers the edge and alley. We had great success with this simple adjustment and the kids had confidence they could make a key stop.
My best story, (I always have a story), was from 1997 and we were playing a very good Maroa-Forsyth team at our place. It was early in the 2nd quarter and they had the ball 4th and about half a yard on their own 30. They decided to go for it. We had a real good team too, one of our better ones. They had confidence they could get half a yard. We got into our tight 22 up and stuffed a QB sneak for no gain. It was very emotional and our guys were pumped as they came off the field. Me too! I think I was yelling “How dare they? How dare they?” as our guys were getting to the sideline. Before I could look up, on the very next play, our head coach John Beccue called a skinny post pass and we connected for a score. He was good at taking advantage of opportunities like that. What a turnaround! We went on to get a hard fought 16-14 win and those two plays were a great lift.
So often a tough game comes down to making one or two key plays at just the right time. It’s difficult to be ready for everything but that’s the task we are called to do, as much as possible. And I’ve learned you’ve got to have “playmakers”, those kids who just have a knack for making big plays when you need them. You can’t coach that and sure is fun to watch.
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