Thanksgiving Forgotten?

It seems like anymore these days there's a big buildup for Halloween and then when Halloween is over the Christmas decorations go up. I love Christmas, don't get me wrong, but what the heck happened to Thanksgiving? And why the big deal and increased emphasis over Halloween? Nice day to let the kids have some fun dressed in a costume and go out and get some treats. But anymore it gets treated like a national holiday when it's not. I even had a woman at work tell me it was her favorite "holiday". I just smiled and nodded. OK, I got that off my chest.

Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday. I love the family time it always brings, the warmth of being with my family, the feast before me and yeah, a little football. It just seems to be a great atmosphere and such an appropriate time to give thanks to the Lord who supplies our every need. The crops have finally been harvested and here in America it's always bountiful.

To be truly thankful requires a humble heart. We have to put away our self sufficient pride and humble ourselves before God. Sometimes in my pride I think I am the one who needs to figure things out, I am the one who needs to provide all for my family. If that's the case, I really don't need to be thankful to anyone or anything other than myself. And believe me, if I or anyone else is counting on me for anything, they're in trouble.

So, I am taking time this week and on Thanksgiving Day to be truly thankful to the Lord for my family, my house, the bounty at my dinner table, the freedom to worship as I choose, my country, and most of all to Jesus Christ who had the courage and love in his heart to make a path for me to be with Him and the Father.

Happy Thanksgiving and good luck to all those high school football coaches around the country playing for state championships this weekend.  Chiefpigskin.com

Autumn Mornings

*The following is a post from the archives Oct. 2010*

I absolutely love the fall, particularly October here in the Midwest. The colors of the changing leaves, the cooler air, and maybe best of all, the high school playoffs are just around the corner. Of course, www.chiefpigskin.com is all about high school football, and it’s an exciting time of year, but there was a long period in my life I enjoyed another sport in the fall besides football. Cross country. Yes, cross country. Now what’s an old football coach doing writing about cross country?

Well, it’s like this. I had three daughters, Angela, Olivia, and Natalie, who ran cross country in junior high and high school. They were spread out enough in age that they all went through high school separately. That’s at least twelve years of watching cross country meets. I couldn’t go to the meets during the week, they were right after school and I was coaching at football practice. But I could make their Saturday morning meets and that’s what I did. My daughters were really sprinters and excelled at track, earning some place medals at the state meet, but used cross country as a way to stay in shape in the off-season. It was good for their physical conditioning as well as mental. I’ve always taken pride in how tough football players are but I’ll tell you something, cross country runners have to be mentally tough. That three mile race is a grind and they run hard. My daughters were solid team members and always ran in the top five of the team. The Saturday meets were usually large invitationals and a lot of fun to watch. The atmosphere was completely different than Friday night. Friday night football was always intense, hard hitting, emotional, and draining. It was under the lights, cool, and the game lasted two hours. A cross country race lasts about twenty minutes and the atmosphere is pretty relaxed most of the time (unless you’re a runner). It gets a little intense at the finish, especially for a parent.

On a typical Saturday my wife and I would get up around 7:00 a.m. for a 9:00 a.m. cross country meet. Most of the meets would be around thirty to forty five minutes away. It was usually a bright, sunny, crisp fall morning and we would be out the door by 7:30. On the way to the meet, we would stop and get some coffee to go. Ahh, tasted so good! Arriving at the meet site around 8:30 or so I would find my daughter and talk to her briefly about how she was feeling and say good luck. Not sure why I wished her luck, I don’t believe in luck, but it’s something we say at times. As I walked around with my cup of coffee, there would always be some parents there watching their kids run who had been at the game the night before and we’d talk a little football. Of course, if we won the previous night, I enjoyed the conversations a lot more. By race time I would have a good spot picked out near the starting line to watch my daughter(s) take off. When you’ve got a hundred runners or so lining up at the start, it’s quite a sight. The beginning was fun to watch as the whole mob of runners would try to get as good of a start as possible. The frontrunners would try to get out quickly and get a lead. The rest of the pack would settle in just behind and try to stay close. We’d watch them disappear around the first bend and take a sip of that last drop of coffee. After watching the start it was jog or walk quickly to another spot on the course that we could cheer for the girls as they ran by. Courses usually wind around streets and parks so you have to select spots you can get to before the runners get there. As we waited, we just enjoyed the morning and my wife and I would talk about how we thought our daughter was running or just strain our eyes looking for the pack to appear. Soon the runners would come by our carefully marked spot and we’d yell encouragement as our team members ran by. After watching most of the runners go by us, it was a jog to the finish line to cheer them home. I didn’t usually get right at the finish, I would pick a spot about two hundred yards from the finish so I could give them some encouragement for that final push. It was cool to watch the runners finish and sprint with what they had left for the final push to the chutes.

After about twenty minutes, the race was over. There would always be kids milling around near the finish getting water, finding their warm-ups, talking to the coach or patting their teammates on the back. We’d find our daughter and let her know we watched the finish, tell her she ran well and give her a high five or a hug.

Now it was time to head home. By this time the sun was warming things up a little more and it was turning into another beautiful autumn day. I always found this a good way to unwind from the night before. Home by eleven, time for chores around the house and watch some game film. Time to start getting ready for next Friday nights opponent. No wonder I love the fall.  Chiefpigskin.com

Puttin' on the Uniform

I happened to notice a post on a forum the other day from a football coach who had just handed out equipment to his players. He was so excited and the kids were excited just to get their equipment. It made me think a little bit about the magic of putting on a uniform. It doesn’t just have to be a football uniform but I just happen to believe, based on my own experiences, that the football uniform is the most special. And I can give you a lot of stories to back up my belief. Anyway, one particular story involving my son and me came to mind.

It was early August of 1992 and we had just finished our football camp the week before. We hadn’t handed out equipment yet, that would be done the day before official practice started around August 10th. Now it’s important to know that my son had never played organized football before. I was never sure if he was ready for it so he played a lot of other sports. So here he was 14 years old and he had never put on a real football uniform. I don’t count the one I got him at K-Mart when he was 7. Well, I was on the football staff and I had a key to the equipment room so I asked the head coach if I could get my son’s equipment early. One afternoon I said, “Let’s go get you fitted for your football gear.” He was pumped. He had waited for this day for a long time.

We got to school (which was right across the street) and got out some gear. Helmet, shoulder pads, practice jersey, pants, and pads. Got him all fitted so everything fit well. He only weighed 105 and stood about 5-2 so I had to get some small stuff. Once we got everything fitting well he put it all on and he went and stood in front of a big mirror. We both just stood and looked in the mirror. He with his uniform and me standing next to him. I don’t know who had the bigger smile, him or me. I slapped the top of his shoulder pads a couple of times to simulate a hit. “How’d that feel”? “Good,” he replied. More smiles.

Who would have thought that just putting on a uniform could be so much fun? We had BOTH waited for this day a long time. Practice was just around the corner and he was ready to go. This is the time of year that anticipation for the season starts to mount. The first order of business is “Puttin’ on the uniform!”
Chiefpigskin.com

Moving Forward

On June 28, 2010 I posted my first blog. That makes Football,Fathers,Husbands,and Life just over two years old. I have always assumed that the majority of my readers are men and most of those are football coaches. I have noticed, however, that there are a few other followers that may fit different categories. I came up with the name of my blog because my main focus was football. But I also felt that after 40 years of marriage and 4 children that I might be able to give younger parents and younger husbands some advice and tips that I had learned along the way. I hope I have done that. I added the word Life at the end of my blog just so I could write about anything else in life I wanted to.

I started this blog because my son told me I had a lot of good stories to tell and I figured this was also a good way to eventually leave my stories, thoughts, ideas, and opinions to my children, grandchildren, and beyond. I didn't want to write a book so I just started telling short stories. Eventually I'll have a pretty good collection of my stuff that hopefully my family after me will enjoy.

So, moving forward I have made it my goal to try to post 2 articles a week. Even though my focus is on Football, Fathers, and Husbands, I will continue to write about other subjects, do an occassional book review, and tell stories about my youth.
Hopefully I'll share something I've learned in life from those older and wiser than me.

Oh, by the way, football, and particularly high school football is just around the corner. And I love high school football. I can't wait! Chiefpigskin.com

Lucky or Good?

I’ve never believed in luck. What is luck anyway? A football that takes a funny bounce? A baseball that takes a bad hop? A ball that just barely catches the out of bounds line? If those events go your way, you’re lucky. If they go against you, you’re unlucky, right? Nope. Those things are going to happen every game,that’s just sports.

The year was 1966. We were playing a sophomore football game at Glen Oak Park in Peoria, Illinois against Spalding Institute. I didn’t start that day and was getting limited playing time. I played a little corner and a few plays at running back. It was about the middle of the third quarter and we were trailing 14-0. Spalding had been running a little counter play that was killing us. I remember our coach just kept yelling at our linebackers “Stay home! Stay home!” He was so frustrated and started looking up and down our sideline. He looked at me, grabbed me, and spat out the words, “Grant! Get in at linebacker and STAY HOME!” I asked no questions and hustled in.

Now you have to remember from some of my previous stories that I was bit undersized for linebacker (5’4”, 120 lbs.) but Coach knew I would hit and not back down. I had never played nor practiced linebacker but I figured what the heck, “I’ll line up where I would in a sandlot game, find the ball and tackle the ball carrier.” That’s what you do on defense, right? But I remembered the “stay home” part and I would delay just a bit before getting on my horse and running down ball carriers. Finally, they ran a counter back to my side. Now, you tell me, was I lucky or was I good? I saw the ball going away but I delayed a count or two. Just as I was getting ready to pursue a ball carrier came right back at me from the other way. No one blocked me and I was just kinda standing in the seam that he had been hitting on the counter all day. He was so shocked to see me he almost fell down by himself. We collided and went down in a heap. I was as surprised as he was that we had come face to face. Coach was screaming on the sidelines, “That’s how you play the counter”, over and over. All my teammates were hitting me on the helmet and back congratulating me on such a fine play. Heck, the guy RAN INTO ME! They tried one more counter later but they couldn’t run it.

Yeah, we ended up losing that game 20-0 as we did most of our games. Coach gave me a pat on the back at the end of the game and just kinda chuckled. And I’ll ask again, “Was I lucky or good?” I don’t believe in luck and I really don’t think I was that good. I’ll just say I did what I was asked to do and then just played football. I tackled the ball carrier. Chiefpigskin.com

My First Campout

When we weren't playing football, baseball, Army, or just riding our bikes around, we were off in the woods exploring. We had what we called the "little woods" and the "big woods”. Now, the little woods were just a little stand of trees just behind a small field at the edge of our subdivision. Of course, they seemed bigger to a seven-year-old. Beyond the little woods was another small field and then behind that were the big woods. When we walked into those woods the path was narrow and dark. These were woods that made us feel like Daniel Boone when we went exploring. It was like hiking in the Appalachians to us.

My buddies and I had been itching to head out to the big woods one night for an overnight campout but all of our parents insisted we have an adult with us. Well, somehow we talk my dad into volunteering. My aunt and uncle were living with us at the time and my uncle Dave volunteered to go also. At the time dad was about 30 years old and uncle Dave about 24. You have to know my uncle Dave. He was a pure all round athlete, loved all sports, and would try anything. He was a joker, boaster, and just plain fun loving. I really thought he was cool. The details of this campout are sketchy, but here is how I remember the highlights. (It was, after all, 53 years ago).

We tramped into the big woods around 6 PM. I was anxious to show my dad where my buddies and I hiked. After about ten minutes we came to a little clearing on a sloping hill that had an old fire pit dug out in the middle. Perfect campsite. All we brought to sleep on was one blanket and pillow. Dad and uncle Dave brought the food. The idea was to lay on one half of the blanket and cover with the other half. Everyone picked their spot to sleep and then we all gathered wood. No tent, no sleeping bag. We were men! We got a fire going a little and as I looked at our fire pit I saw my dad squirting lighter fluid on it and pretending to be peeing on the fire! All my buddies roared with laughter but I was a little embarrassed. Come on, dad! After roasting some hotdogs we settled into our blankets on the hard ground. Isn't it something how you can sleep anywhere on any surface when you're a kid? As soon as it got dark and things were winding down a blood curdling cry echoed from the woods. OCK’aWA’ka ! OCK’aWA’ka ! It scared the daylights out of us all. Two minutes later appearing out of the darkness and into our camp like a ghost walks my uncle Dave with a big smile. "I shore scared you guys, huh? Heh, heh, heh”. Yeah, he did.

That morning I peeked my head out of my blanket and saw about 10 bodies wrapped up like mummies. We had all gotten so cold we just wrapped ourselves up. Pillows were scattered everywhere and no one was even using their pillow. But you know what? It was fun back then. I don’t think I’d find sleeping on the hard ground on a cold night with just one thin blanket much fun now. But when you’re seven or eight years old, what an adventure! As we came out of the woods that morning I envisioned old Dan’l Boone himself coming home to his wife Rebecca after a six month outing. Life couldn’t be much better.
Chiefpigskin.com

Playing Hard

I heard a college coach the other day talking about his first spring ball scrimmage. He told his players that the only thing he would be evaluating is how hard they play. Not how well they knew their plays, or how correctly they lined up, or even how well they executed, but only how hard they play. That just shows the importance of getting your guys to play hard. But what does that really mean? Does it mean playing hard 75% of the time? 100% of the time? Or getting most of your guys playing hard all of the time? Of course, that would be the goal,100% of your players 100% of the time.

So it just got me thinking about this subject (it seems like I do that a lot), just thinking about things. I started thinking about the overall goal of playing hard. In my mind that would be when all eleven guys are playing hard on every play of the game. Let's say your team has seventy five plays in a game, half on offense and half on defense. Of those seventy five plays you evaluate how many times in that game you actually got all eleven guys playing as hard as they can. Now I realize that could be very hard to measure. It would have to be subjective as you watched the game tape. But let's say after watching the tape you determined that of the seventy five plays, you found that there were ten plays that all eleven of your players played as hard as they can. How good is that? Maybe just getting eight or nine to play hard every play is pretty good, I’m not sure. Then, those three guys that kind of “took the last play off” played like crazy the next play, but two or three guys that played hard the last play took this next play off. There were also ten plays that ten out of your eleven players played as hard as they can. Or, let's say you had five plays in a row that only six or seven guys played as hard as they can. What is actually realistic? So I guess what I'm asking is what would be a realistic goal to determine how hard our team is playing and how many of you out there actually put a number on that? Heck, high school coaches can only watch so many hours of film, we have a full load of classes to teach. When I was coaching I never really sat down and evaluated this number. So, I would be curious as to what the norm is out there. Have any of you ever evaluated this number and determined how it can be quantified?

There are tons of great resources on www.chiefpigskin.com but I don’t recall anything on this subject area. Perhaps some of you can share your ideas here or on Chiefpigskin. Anyway, I’ll just keep sitting around thinking about things and in particular football. That’s what I love anyway!

Footballs Impact

You think football coaches have a lot of influence? Heck yeah, we all know the positive impact a good coach can have on a large group of young men. A lasting impact over a lifetime. But I was reminded of the influence football and football coaches have had in other areas as well.

I was reading an article in the Champaign News-Gazette in which new Illinois football coach Tim Beckman was quoted about his practices. Beckman said, "Our typical spring practice is going to be fast. Constant coaching. We'll coach from stretch to that last whistle. We're going to coach effort. We're going to coach football. We're going to coach enjoying this game we are blessed to play. We're very organized. It's all on paper and ready to roll. Our coaching staff knows it. I'll be as gung ho as ever. We're going to compete in every drill we do. Our practices are fun. They’re fast, but they're fun. You're going to work your tail off. When we get off that field after two hours, they're going to understand they worked for two hours. There's no downtime. We don't have that."

Now I know that's pretty typical for most football practices. But it does point out the fact that football coaches are among the most organized and time efficient people out there. They have to be. How else do you get 100 guys ready to work in such cohesive units? And that knowledge of time management has spilled into other fields as well. I know when I was a head wrestling coach I borrowed some ideas that I learned on the football field. I tried to have a well-organized, fast-moving practice to really challenge kids.

But it appears baseball has learned from football also. I was listening to the radio the other night and Mike Shannon, the voice of the St. Louis Cardinals was talking about how spring training these days is much different than before. "I think baseball has learned a lot from football coaches," said Shannon, "the way they become much more organized with no wasted time." I thought that was a pretty good compliment to football coaches and I know other areas of sport and even business have learned from the football world. I think we can all be proud of the positive impact that football has had in many areas of our society. And the thing is, we just keep learning on how to get better. That's what makes sites like Chiefpigskin.com so great. There are hundreds of free videos to help coaches keep learning and keep getting better.

Patience

There was a kindergarten teacher who was getting her students ready to go home for the day. She noticed that one little boy was struggling with his cowboy boots. He was having a hard time getting them on, so she decided to go over and help him. She pushed and pushed, he pulled and pulled, finally, she got the boots on. The little boy looked up at the teacher and said," They’re on the wrong feet." So she took the boots back off of the little boy. She pulled and pulled, he pushed and pushed, and finally they got the boots off. She switched the shoes to the other feet and pushed and pushed as the little boy pulled. Finally, they got the boots back on. The little boy looked at the boots, then looked at his teacher and said, “These are not my boots." So, the teacher helped him get the boots back off with much pushing and pulling. When they finally got them off the little boy looked at the teacher and said, "They are my brother’s boots. My mom told me to go ahead and wear them today”. So the teacher helped the little boy put the boots back on. She pushed; he pulled until they got the boots back on. She took the little boy over to get his coat on and helped him with his coat and put on his hat. "Where are your mittens?" she asked. "They’re in my boots," replied the little boy.

Patience is required of a kindergarten teacher. Heck, patience is required of all of us. We need to have patience with our own children, our spouse, friends, and coworkers. And we certainly need to have patience with our team when the season is not going as planned. Or, maybe the season is going like you thought it would. You knew it was going to be a long year. Either way, this is the time of year when we are tested. Not everyone is undefeated or only has 1 or 2 losses at this point. For every 7-0 team there is an 0-7. For every 6-1 team there is a 1-6, and so on. I’ve been on both sides and believe me; I know how tough it is to hang in there with many disappointments.

But the fact is we have to keep coaching, keep teaching, and keep doing things the right way. The kids deserve that, and they’re watching us. So my encouragement to you is to be patient and stay the course. When all is said and done, you won’t be sorry. By the way, I’ve noticed on Chiefpigskin.com that some of the teams doing documentaries are struggling. Not all are winning every game. Real teams, real life, and we’re all in it together.

For the teams that are winning, it’s getting exciting. The playoffs are just around the corner and I can’t wait. Good luck down the stretch!

Uniforms Gone Wild

I like Boise State and I like Georgia. I like their coaches and respect their programs. But when I turned on the TV on opening night I had a hard time watching the game because of their uniforms. Their UGLY uniforms. In a game of the “ugly uniforms”, Boise St. won 35-21. I thought I had seen the ugliest until a few days later I saw Maryland play and, oh my, Maryland topped them all! In a mosaic of the state flag, the Maryland team was really a sight to see. I couldn’t watch the game. Am I overreacting? Perhaps, probably, but that’s how I feel. Yeah, I know, I’m showing my age.

Who started this ugly uniform trend? I think it might have been Oregon. And the thing about Oregon is they have several different ugly uniforms with different colors and designs. An array of ugliness. Now many teams have jumped on the bandwagon and it’s like they are trying to outdo each other. I think the idea is to be modern and flashy but sometimes modern isn’t so cool. It reminds me of the 70’s and 80’s in baseball. Remember those blue collared uniforms with shorts that the White Sox broke out? Yeah, I’m trying not to remember either. Or how about the rainbow striped orange uniforms of the Houston Astros? Ugh! The Padres had some awful uniforms too. For awhile major league baseball was adorned in wild colors, polysester, and elastic waistbands. It was all very modern. But a few years later, by the late 80’s, most teams were going back to their old, traditional uniforms. Nearly all have stuck with the traditional look and they look sharp. I’m hoping football learns their lesson soon.

What uniforms do I like? Well, in college it would be Ohio St., Iowa, Alabama, and Texas. Wisconsin looks sharp and there are many others. Pennsylvania State is about as plain as you can get but I like them OK. In the pros I like the Bears, Packers, Colts, Browns and Dolphins to name a few. When I was a kid the Bears had all black (very dark blue) helmets. Then they got fancy and put a white “C” on the side. Then they REALLY got fancy and colored it orange several years later. Simple but cool.

Okay, I got that off my chest. Now for all you coaches, who have gone modern, go ahead and shake your head at my traditional ideas. I can take it. As always, feel free to give me your opinions here or on Chiefpigskin.com. By the way, we’re getting deeper into the season already! Isn’t it crazy how fast the season goes once we get started? Good luck to all.

It's Time for a Rule Change

You’re going to think I’m nuts. You’re going to think I’m advocating football blasphemy but it’s time to keep the clock running on incomplete passes. Oh, not completely keep the clock running, but start the clock once the ball has been spotted in place for the next down. Exactly the way we do the clock for setting the chains. Hear me out, my friend.

We have to think logically. Think back to the games origins (imagine) and try to figure out WHY the clock was stopped on an incomplete pass. They had to have a reason. The only logical answer is they stopped the clock to chase down the ball. The thinking must have been, “Let’s not run the clock while we’re retrieving the ball”. They probably didn’t have as many refs as we do now nor as many footballs and ball boys. It may have been time consuming to chase the ball down. Now, why the rules makers didn’t restart the clock when the ball was ready for play from the very beginning, I don’t know. Help me on that if you can. At any rate, there is no reason why the clock can’t be started when the ball is ready for play.

Why do we need this rule change? Because with passing attempts going up at all levels it’s starting to take too doggone long to play a game. Particularly at the pro and college level once you add in TV timeouts and the like. A team that throws three incomplete passes in a row might burn ten seconds and that in turn extends the game too much. I propose stopping the clock on an incomplete pass and then restarting it once it’s ready. Will that change some strategy? Sure, but so what? A good coach can still manage the clock with timeouts and utilizing the sideline. Remember, the clock can be stopped by going out of bounds although I can’t think of the reason for that. Another story some day. And what about spiking the ball? That will make that strategy useless you say. Good. I think it’s dumb anyway. Spiking the ball looks like a fumble to me. My proposal would speed up the game and still allow for strategy in stopping the clock.

Well, there it is. What do you think? Let me know by replying here or get on the forum on Chiefpigskin.com and give your opinion there. I’d like to hear from you. But you can’t say, “That’s the way it’s always been.” Give me a logical reason to keep the clock stopped until it’s snapped for the next play. Food for thought, huh?

Why Boys Love It

What is it about football that guys love so much? If you have a love for football it probably started when you were just a kid. Now, the reasons you love it at this point might be somewhat different than when you were six, but never the less, the love never goes away. My love for football and all sports is what motivated me to be a teacher and coach. But most of all, it was my love for football.

I recently just finished writing a book about the basics of football. It’s called “Understanding Football and Why Boys Love It”. My primary motivation in writing the book was to provide Moms a short book that gave a big picture of the game their boys (sons, husbands, grandsons, nephews) love. It had always been an interest of mine to give my views on the basics of the game. I didn’t want to delve into too many rules, penalties, and terms that would be boring and cause the book to be too thick and intimidating for the novice to read. I have seen a few books out there that explain the basics but they are 200 plus pages. I asked myself, “Who’s going to read that?” So, my book is under 70 pages with a lot of diagrams to help get my point across. With the help of my family, I think I ended up with the result I was looking for.

Understanding Football, not only gives the novice a basic understanding of the game but also some of the reasons why we boys/men love it. I know why I love the game and I figured most guys share my feelings based on what I’ve observed and heard from others. When we were kids any kind of rough housing was fun and football gave us a chance to run around, tackle, spin, fall down, and get dirty. As we got older those same things still appealed, but now other things probably drew us to the game. The strategy and preparation for “battle” can really get guys juiced.

Right now the book can be bought on Chiefpigskin.com. The cost is $8.95 for a single copy and for reduced prices when bought in multiples for a team. One of my ideas is that coaches can purchase them for their freshman moms as a gift at the beginning of the season. Whatever the reason you have for purchasing this book, just click on www.chiefpigskin.com to check out the book and see what you think.

It was a fun project and I’m really hoping that a lot of moms (and others) benefit from it. I’d love to get feedback from anyone who reads it and let me know what you think. I’ve never attempted anything like this before and would like to get your reaction. By the way, I learned that anyone can write a book if you’re willing to put the time in. Pick a subject that you’re passionate and knowledgeable about and jump in. It’s a lot of work but when finished, it feels pretty good. Enjoy the upcoming season. I can’t wait!

I Know You Know

Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them. 2 Peter 1:12a

Peter wanted to remind a group of believers of some important truths that they had been taught. He knew they knew, but reminded them anyway because of the importance.

So, even though I know you know, let’s remind ourselves anyway. It’s gonna be hot. It’s gonna be grueling. It’s gonna be tough as ever as high schools all across the country get two a day’s started in just a few days. What does that mean? Don’t forget to monitor your players closely. Make sure they have plenty of water, rest when needed. We live in a different time than 20 or 30 years ago. For a little humor and a look at the past on hydrating during practice, see the August 12, 2010 blog, It’ll Make you Sick, in the archives. I think you’ll get a kick out of it.

Also, allow me to remind you that as coaches it is up to us to build up our athletes not only physically but mentally, socially, and spiritually. What does that look like? Well, that’s a lot but let’s look at mentally real quick. Make sure your players are getting some sort of positive feedback every day. Even the annoying ones? Yes, even the annoying ones. Even the “trouble makers”? Yes, even the trouble makers. Remember, we don’t know everyone’s home life. We might be the most important influence in their lives. It’s up to us to build our athletes up.

There are plenty of tips on www.chiefpigskin.com for coaches to help their athletes in all areas so be sure to take advantage of all there is to offer on that site. OK, I’m done with THOSE reminders. Now, good luck to everyone as they begin practice this week and good luck on your upcoming season. This is an exciting time!

When Baseball was King

I love football. I've always loved football, ever since I was about six years old. And I love getting on www.chiefpigskin.com to see what’s new. But let me tell you, baseball has always been a close second. You have to remember, I grew up in the 50’s and 60’s when baseball was still king. Especially in the late 50’s, when I was just starting to learn the game, baseball was truly the national pastime. I first became interested in the game in 1957 when the heroes were guys like Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial, and Warren Spahn. Collecting baseball cards was something every little boy did, and every boy had his own glove.

How many of you older fellas out there can remember this? When I was a kid I rode my bicycle everywhere and I never went anywhere without my glove. I always hung my glove on my handlebars, so that if I saw a game going on in a vacant lot or on the school grounds I could just get off my bike and join the game. I would get up early in the morning, eat some cereal, and tell my mom, “See you later.” I was off to join the local baseball game. How did I know there would be a baseball game going on? Are you kidding me? There were always some games going on. I would play ball all day, come home at night and eat my supper, then put on my Little League uniform to play more baseball.

Regular baseball games are not all we played. We played games of workup, sometimes called scrub, or we played games of 500, wiffleball, cork ball, or any other game we could make up. We didn't need adults, and we didn't need their supervision, telling us how to play the game. We just played. We played “right field is out” if we had to, and we had invisible base runners if we didn’t have enough players. We did whatever it took.

The game of 500 was a good learning experience for all of us. How many of you remember that? One guy would toss the ball up and hit it out of his hand to the rest of us five or six guys playing out in the field. If you caught a fly ball it was worth 100 points, a one hopper was worth 75, a two hopper worth 50, and ground balls worth 25. The first guy in the field to reach 500 or more points got to be the new batter. We use to fall all over each other going after that ball. It taught me how to get a good jump so that I could beat the other guys to the ball and it taught me how to catch fly balls and grounders. It taught me to be aggressive and out jump the other guys in trying to catch the ball. Heck, it was just a lot of fun. If you dropped a fly ball, you lost 100 points. And if you dropped or muffed a one hopper you lost 75 points, and so on. So you had to make sure that when you got to the ball, you fielded it cleanly. We could play 500 all morning and all afternoon. As long as it was some form of baseball.

I realize that these days kids are a lot different. I'm not going to criticize them for playing video games all the time. I probably would've done the same. So as I look back I'm glad we didn't have some of the things that kids today have. I don't think I would've had as much fun. It was a different time, wasn't it? By the way, if you’re not sure what a game of Scrub is, I’ll tell you about it next week. Catch you later.

Let The Games Begin

Did you hear that there is a pretty good football tournament going on right now? The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) is holding its Senior World Championships (20 and older) in Austria July 8-16. Three cities are hosting the games, Innsbruck, Graz, and Vienna. I had not even heard of this organization until a year ago and am surprised at how little publicity this organization and its events receive. For a nation that loves our football, this gets overlooked completely. I see nothing on ESPN, other networks, magazines, or newspapers.

There are levels of competitions, Senior and Junior (19 and under), flag football , and women’s flag football. It’s all actually pretty cool and you can check it out on their website at www.ifaf.org. There are more countries from around the world than you might think playing American Football (is there any other kind?) and at the international level the United States is a relative newcomer. That’s hard to imagine, since it’s our game.

Japan became the first ever World Champions of American Football in a 6-0 overtime victory over Mexico in Palermo, Italy in 1999. Four years later in Frankfurt, Germany, Japan again defeated Mexico, 34-14. Japan hosted the 2007 Senior World Championship as the United States entered for the first time and outlasted Japan 23-20 in double overtime to return home triumphant from Tokyo.
As you can see, Japan and Mexico are extremely competitive. Here is the schedule.

2011 IFAF Senior World Championship Schedule

Date Game Time Venue
Fri July 8 USA vs. Australia 61-0 Tivoli Stadium, Innsbruck
Fri July 8 Germany vs. Mexico 15-22 Tivoli Stadium, Innsbruck
Sat July 9 Austria vs. Japan 3pm UPC Arena, Graz
Sat July 9 France vs. Canada 7pm UPC Arena, Graz
Sun July 10 Mexico vs. Australia 3pm Tivoli Stadium, Innsbruck
Sun July 10 Germany vs. USA 7pm Tivoli Stadium, Innsbruck
Mon July 11 Japan vs. France 3pm UPC Arena, Graz
Mon July 11 Canada vs. Austria 7pm UPC Arena, Graz
Tue July 12 Australia vs. Germany 3pm Tivoli Stadium, Innsbruck
Tue July 12 USA vs. Mexico 7pm Tivoli Stadium, Innsbruck
Wed July 13 Canada vs. Japan 3pm UPC Arena, Graz
Wed July 13 Austria vs. France 7pm UPC Arena, Graz
Fri July 15 Seventh Place Game 3pm Ernst Happel Stadium, Vienna
Fri July 15 Bronze Medal Game 7pm Ernst Happel Stadium, Vienna
Sat July 16 Fifth Place Game 3pm Ernst Happel Stadium, Vienna
Sat July 16 Gold Medal Game 7pm Ernst Happel Stadium, Vienna


Defending world champion the United States kicked off the fourth IFAF Senior World Championship with a convincing 61-point shutout of Australia at the Tivoli Stadium in Innsbruck on Thursday. Mexico joined the U.S. atop Group A with a 22-15 win over Germany. The teams are in two pools and medal games will be played next week. The two group winners will meet in the Gold Medal Game in Vienna on Saturday, July 16 at 7pm. The two group runners up will meet for the Bronze Medal at 7pm on Friday, July 15. Third place finishers (3pm on July 16) and fourth place finishers (3pm on July 15) will also progress to placement games in Vienna.

The majority of games will be aired on ORF television in Austria and across the European continent by Eurosport 2 and some games will be available via a webcast on www.IFAF.org. For football fans unable to access either the TV coverage or webcast due to international broadcasting restrictions, a daily highlight show focusing on each day's games will be available, along with previews and features at the IFAF YouTube site www.YouTube.com/IFAFinsider. Live scoring updates and details of key plays from all games will keep fans informed through www.Facebook.com/IFAF.org and Twitter @IFAFinsider.

I’m going to follow the games as close as I’m able to and try to have a little fun with this. Football is just around the corner and this is a great warm up. Have fun and continue to visit www.chiefpigskin.com for more football resources.

How To Survive an Anaconda Attack

From a 1970’s Peace Corps Manual

1. Do not run. The snake is faster than you are.
2. Lie flat on the ground, put your arms tight against your sides and your legs tight against each other.
3. Tuck your chin in.
4. The snake will begin to nudge and climb over your body.
5. Do not panic.
6. The snake will begin to swallow your feet first.
7. You must lie perfectly still. This will take a long time.
8. When the snake has reached your knees, reach down, take your knife, slide it into the side of the snake's mouth between the edge of its mouth and your leg. Quickly rip upward, severing the snake's head.
9. Be sure you have your knife.
10. Be sure your knife is sharp.

I like those last two instructions. Be sure you have your knife and be sure your knife is sharp. Now I really don’t know if these were authentic instructions from a Peace Corp manual but it illustrates one thing; when going into the jungle, you’d better be prepared. You’d better be prepared for being a coach, for being a father, for being a husband – heck, you’d better be prepared for going to the grocery store. And you’d darn well better be prepared for the season coming up just around the corner in August. Players are in the weight room, camps are rolling, and coaches are meeting. Everyone is in preparation mode and I always found it kind of exciting just getting ready for the season. In fact, there were times as I began to prepare and thought of all the scenarios we had to be ready for, I sometimes got overwhelmed.

We can’t be prepared for everything, there are situations that come up that no one could have anticipated. But how we react to those situations can be the difference between a win or a loss. Especially in high school if a starter gets injured we may have just lost a position on offense and defense. We may have just lost our wing player on the PAT team and we may have just lost our contain man on the kickoff team. By losing one player we just had to replace four spots on the football team. You get the idea.

Here’s hoping that all of you coaches out there are having a wonderful summer and that all preparations are being made. Take some time with the family and don’t neglect those opportunities that come along at improving yourself and being prepared to being a better father and husband as well as a coach. We’ll talk about that sometime and don’t forget to check out www.chiefpigskin.com for more ideas on being prepared for the season. By the way, has anyone out there ever had to follow those instructions to survive an Anaconda?

Staying on the Trail

I take no pleasure in watching any good man take a fall-I still believe coach Jim Tressel, the former Ohio State coach is a good man, but he made some obvious mistakes. I am saddened by the resignation of Tressel at OSU. How the heck does a guy make such poor decisions and lose his dream job? I can imagine his thoughts and tears as he cleans out his office. Does he have to pay the consequences for his actions? Oh, sure. But I'm not going to criticize, there will be plenty of people that do that. Besides, I’ve made my share of mistakes, worse than Tressel’s. I'm not going to rant about all of the other issues that come up with this subject. Yes, the money in college football has become too big. Yes, there is too much pressure on college football coaches to win. The pressure to win overcame Tressel’s good judgement. Yes, the recruiting has become ridiculous. But those are all other stories.

The point is this; we are all one bad decision from losing our dream job or our steps to our dream job. We're all one bad decision from losing our reputation. We are all one bad decision or step away from losing our family. Don't take anything for granted, don't get complacent in where you are.

We've all got to stay on the trail, the good trail of life that God has intended for us. Off the trail is all kind of temptation, glitter, and shortcuts. After Tressel made a mistake (or two) he tried to fix things by taking a shortcut instead of being honest. Shortcuts are tempting. The short cut led to a disastrous patch of underbrush and thistles that became so entangling it cost him his job. We've got to stay on the trail-not get sidetracked-not take shortcuts. When we do get off the trail, and we all do at some point, we must admit our blunders and honestly get back on the trail. We won't be sorry.

Lone Wolf

Some time ago, an old acquaintance of mine told me a story of a police officer who served in a northern native settlement in Canada. One day a rabid wolf wandered into the aboriginal settlement. The police officer eventually shot it, but not before it attacked a young man and his grandmother in their home making kindling out of the chair the young man used to protect himself and his attacker.

There were about 150 sled dogs in the village - more than a match for one sick wolf - yet the intruder was left alone to do its work. Why? My friend explained that in order to prevent the dogs from fighting and wounding each other, they had been tied to wooden stakes spaced far enough apart to prevent them from reaching any neighboring animal. Because of this the wolf walked freely among the dogs killing some and badly wounding others. In isolation they were no match for their foe and they suffered terribly for it.

What a picture for the need for every man to be a part of a bigger body of like minded men. (PreachingToday.com, Awlwyn Balnave, Calgary, Canada) As football coaches, husbands, and fathers, we need other men in our lives for accountability and support. We all share ideas about football. That's part of what www.chiefpigskin.com is all about. Football coaches are very generous in sharing ideas and techniques with others. That’s how we continue to improve. Do we also share ideas on how to be a better husband?

A few years ago I began meeting with a group of men on Monday mornings for a bible study. Before beginning the meeting we ask each other how the “Trail” has gone the past week or so. We get varying answers as each man has the freedom to share as little or as much as he likes. This has been a great opportunity to learn from other men on many subjects including such topics as being a better father or husband. It also serves as a certain degree of accountability with each other. It’s been my experience that most men aren’t crazy about sharing such personal subjects. We like to “go it alone”. I don’t think we were made that way; we need the support of others.

Whether it’s through a group of friends, joining a bible study, joining a church, or just getting together with another guy for a cup of coffee on a Saturday morning, I would encourage all of us to have one or more men in our lives that can ask the hard questions, not just, “how about that game Saturday?” Let me know what you think, or better yet, give it a try and let me know how it’s going. I’d love to hear from you.

The Trip That Never Was

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…

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.