Take this as you will, but I am a big fan of Bill Walsh and I thought the following story applied to this discussion:

 

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<p style="font-family:arial, verdana, helvetica;color:rgb(34,34,33);margin-left:40px;">My most lasting image of Walsh comes from a story that former NFL quarterback Phil Simms shared with me from one of Simms' pre-draft workouts at Morehead State before the 1979 draft. Walsh, beginning his first year as the 49ers' coach, was in search of a quarterback that he hoped would lead the franchise from the mire of a 2-14 finish in 1978. He thought Simms would be a good prospect.


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<p style="font-family:arial, verdana, helvetica;color:rgb(34,34,33);margin-left:40px;">Before Walsh's visit to Morehead, Simms had auditioned for about nine teams. Simms' forte was an exceptionally powerful arm, and each of the nine previous NFL visitors wanted to see how hard he could throw.


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<p style="font-family:arial, verdana, helvetica;color:rgb(34,34,33);margin-left:40px;">Not Walsh.


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<p style="font-family:arial, verdana, helvetica;color:rgb(34,34,33);margin-left:40px;">'I started working out, throwing hard as usual, and Bill said, 'Oh, that's way too hard. Throw a little softer. Throw with a little more rhythm," Simms recalled. 'So I took a little off of my passes, but Bill again said, 'Oh, it's way too hard. Softer.' Now I was thinking, 'Okay."


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<p style="font-family:arial, verdana, helvetica;color:rgb(34,34,33);margin-left:40px;">Walsh instructed Simms to "drop back really gracefully, to be "really light" on his feet, to make his passes "really pretty," to deliver "nice spirals," to throw with "beautiful rhythm." Simms had never received such coaching. He didn't even knew such a passing style existed.


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<p style="font-family:arial, verdana, helvetica;color:rgb(34,34,33);margin-left:40px;">'After about 10 minutes I finally got it. I finally got to a speed that he liked. For the next 30 minutes I threw just the way he wanted me to. My passes were at a nice pace, the perfect pace. They were easy for the receivers to catch. They were on time. I was throwing nothing but perfect spirals. As I was getting into it I was thinking, 'Hey, this is really cool. Man, this is great. This guy has been here fifteen minutes and I am like a machine.


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<p style="font-family:arial, verdana, helvetica;color:rgb(34,34,33);margin-left:40px;">'I had always been taught to throw it hard; just drop back and rip it. But when you throw the ball hard it gets away from you every now and then or at times the receivers drop the ball. In about 15 minutes to a half-hour, I learned about the rhythm of throwing and being a little better technically. The results were awesome. That was one of the more enjoyable days I've ever had in my life...
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