http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/feature/255...ne-of-fire
Among other things, it talks about Pro Football Focus.
This is a great quote and something I never thought of or heard put quite this succinctly.
Quote:
Every last one. That's how it is. We're responsible for the whole offense. We say this all the time. An offensive lineman can give up a sack every game, and he'll be out of the league. A defensive lineman gets one sack every game, and he'll make $100 million.
It's the Mushroom society. I'm thinking that football will always operate this way.
Every [BAD WORD REMOVED] coach in the League should read this piece and ask themselves the very difficult question of whether or not they are doing everything that they can to help their players be great.
Quote:Every [BAD WORD REMOVED] coach in the League should read this piece and ask themselves the very difficult question of whether or not they are doing everything that they can to help their players be great.
Agreed completely.
I found myself intrigued by the academy that Bentley is running. It's along the lines of the passing academy run by Manning and the receiving school run by Fitzgerald.
I can't see how players can go without these things especially since the amount of time coaches and teams can spend with them are limited.
But the article was humbling, too. I know there's a TON of stuff I don't know about the intricacies of line play. Combined, what I don't know would overflow the Grand freaking Canyon. I knew that before the article.
But it doesn't stop me from saying "so and so played well" or "so and so did not play well."
I see a blocker engaged with a defender. If it appears the defender has no impact on the play, I say the lineman did his job. If it appears the defender makes a play, maybe the OL did not do his job.
But there is often so much more than that.
It goes back to that classic clip from Jim Mora.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHipzGL4dwM
I like that rant better than the "Playoffs Tirade"
I cringe listening to Frangie, Martineau and Ackerman. They really don't know. All they need to add is Ryan O.
HeadSlap
It irks me when fans, media, etc., try and critique what is going on. I know that they are just being passionate and truly love their team, but no one but the guys in the locker room and coaches know who really fouled up on a given play. No one knows the blocking assignments, the audibles and who may have missed it on that play, who ran the wrong route, was it the QB who threw it to where the receiver should of been or vice versa, did this DL not run a stunt that ended up creating that massive hole, who busted the coverage, who didn't get the check before the play, etc., etc., etc.
You don't know what you don't know. This is why I try to comment so little on why something didn't go right and point fingers at who fouled up or not.
Quote:It irks me when fans, media, etc., try and critique what is going on. I know that they are just being passionate and truly love their team, but no one but the guys in the locker room and coaches know who really fouled up on a given play. No one knows the blocking assignments, the audibles and who may have missed it on that play, who ran the wrong route, was it the QB who threw it to where the receiver should of been or vice versa, did this DL not run a stunt that ended up creating that massive hole, who busted the coverage, who didn't get the check before the play, etc., etc., etc.
You don't know what you don't know. This is why I try to comment so little on why something didn't go right and point fingers at who fouled up or not.
Yep.
We can see the end result, but we don't necessarily know why the end result occurred.
A pulling lineman can run right past a LB who ends up making a tackle, and still end up grading well on the play because the LB was not his assignment, but we fans can make the mistake of thinking he missed a block.
We don't necessarily know why a secondary was beat deep on a TD.
To me, and Trav can probably back this up, the biggest roadblock to being an effective coach is ego. And not the ego of the player, even though that can have a profound effect as well, but the ego of the
coach.
If a coach is not willing to take feedback from his players and be able to work that into the system / scheme that he is running, then he is most likely doing more harm than good. People see football coaches that yell and scream and have that perpetually ticked off look on their face, and they think that they are a good coach. It's similar to George Costanza's take that
as long as you look annoyed, folks will think you're busy. But what's really important is that the players are given the tools and opportunity to get their job done and to grow as professionals.
Now don't disregard the idea that the player has to commit to putting his trust into what the coach is teaching them. Just because someone hasn't blocked a Defensive Lineman before doesn't mean that he can't help you do just that. Coaching is different than playing, and although the obvious statement is obvious, it's a totally different skill set. It takes a tandem of a player and the coach in order for success on the field to occur.
Quote:To me, and Trav can probably back this up, the biggest roadblock to being an effective coach is ego. And not the ego of the player, even though that can have a profound effect as well, but the ego of the coach.
If a coach is not willing to take feedback from his players and be able to work that into the system / scheme that he is running, then he is most likely doing more harm than good. People see football coaches that yell and scream and have that perpetually ticked off look on their face, and they think that they are a good coach. It's similar to George Costanza's take that as long as you look annoyed, folks will think you're busy. But what's really important is that the players are given the tools and opportunity to get their job done and to grow as professionals.
Now don't disregard the idea that the player has to commit to putting his trust into what the coach is teaching them. Just because someone hasn't blocked a Defensive Lineman before doesn't mean that he can't help you do just that. Coaching is different than playing, and although the obvious statement is obvious, it's a totally different skill set. It takes a tandem of a player and the coach in order for success on the field to occur.
Do you think that contributes to a player becoming a bust as much as just about any other factor? If a coach is not sufficiently flexible/interactive such that a player under his tutelage can't develop the proper technique to succeed, can't that lead to a player failing even if the player was drafted into the right scheme, etc.?
Quote:Do you think that contributes to a player becoming a bust as much as just about any other factor? If a coach is not sufficiently flexible/interactive such that a player under his tutelage can't develop the proper technique to succeed, can't that lead to a player failing even if the player was drafted into the right scheme, etc.?
I absolutely believe that's the case, but I'm not ready to state that it is
the biggest reason. There are just so many things that go into professional development at any level.
I think the idea that the coach-player interaction is a two-way street is something that does not get enough credence. I see it all the time as I frequent a few coaching discussion boards and there are several Old School types that believe that it's the Player's job to do what the coach tells them to do. That if the coach was not on the Sideline, then the team would simply not be able to function. Then, there is another line of thinking that strives to get the players to own the team and that as time went on the coach would become less and less important as the player understood more and more about the philosophy and became self sufficient.
To me, the two biggest factors required for a unit's success is the Player's work ethic and the Coach's ability to adapt the scheme to the Player's strength. The Player must be willing to constantly improve and the Coach must work to develop trust from the Player that what he is
trying to teach them is in their best interest. I say trying because if a player can't do something, then no matter how many times you talk about it, drill it, encourage it, etc. if the Player can't do it then you didn't
teach it.
Teaching / Coaching isn't done until the skill is learned and is repeatable. And that is on both parties.