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JANUARY 2007

A Great Coach Throws in the Towel at Army! (See"NEWS") Uh-Oh - Here Comes Another Guy to Put Us Out of Business! (See"NEWS") "Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it." (Proverbs, Chapter 8, Verses 10-11)   January 30, 2007 - "There is a certain blend of courage, integrity, character and principle which has no satisfactory dictionary name but which has been called different things at different times in different countries. Our American name for it is 'guts.'" Louis Adamic, "A Study in Courage"   2007 - SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CLINIC ANNOUNCED!   The 2007 Coach Wyatt Southern California Clinic will be held Saturday, April 28 in Valencia at Rancho Pico Middle School, 26250 West Valencia Blvd.   Valencia is about 20-30 minutes north of Burbank Airport. For those needing a place to stay here is a Residence Inn, Comfort Suites and Hilton Suites all within 5 minutes of the school. Like the Atlanta clinic, this one will be AM session indoors followed by a PM session on the field. 2007 ATLANTA CLINIC FEB 24   The 2007 Coach Wyatt Atlanta Clinic will be held on Saturday, Feb. 24 at Holiday Inn Airport North - 1380 Virginia Ave., Atlanta GA 30344 (same location as the last 6 years)   The AM clinic session will go from 9-12, then after a lunch break the clinic will relocate to a nearby HS for a hands-on, on-the-field session from 1:30-4.   A limited number of rooms are available at a special rate of $79 - reservations: 404-762-8411 mention COACH WYATT CLINIC. (There are also a number of other hotels within a short walk of the Holiday Inn.)   ALSO ANNOUNCED...   2007 RALEIGH-DURHAM CLINIC MARCH 31   2007 PHILADELPHIA/BALTIMORE CLINIC APRIL 7   2007 PROVIDENCE CLINIC APRIL 14 - Clinic speakers lined up so far: John Dowd,Oakfield-Alabama HS - 2006 New York state finalist; Mike Emery, formerly of Fitch HS, Groton, CT - two-time state champion; Bill Mignault, of Ledyard, Connecticut - winningest coach in state history; Jack Tourtillotte, Boothbay Harbor, Maine - two-time state champion   *********** I first heard the news about Bobby Ross' retirement Sunday night and it came as a great shock to me.   By midday Monday, it was official. After three years, Coach Ross had had enough, and announced his "retirement."   Numerous reasons come to mind. First and foremost health issues. From Coach Ross' point of view, I certainly hope that is not the case. I would like him and Mrs. Ross to enjoy retirement.   But from Army's point of view, I hope that it is not an underlying problem that in Coach Ross' opinion made it impossible for him to continue working there.   There certainly are some underlying problems, certain issues bubbling under the surface.   This decision appears to be totally Coach Ross'.   I am a great admirer of Coach Ross, and I am upset by the way things played out. He brought great dignity and class to a very difficult job, and I am especially sorry that he will not be there to see all his efforts come to fruition. It is always a disappointment when a coach leaves a job feeling unfulfilled.   With all the talk about his reasons for leaving at this most inopportune time, I find it interesting that no one so far has mentioned the elephant in the living room - the War in Iraq, and the frustrations of recruiting to the US Military Academy (as opposed to Navy and Air Force), when any kid bright enough to get into a service academy knows that for the most part, those are soldiers getting sent to Iraq. This is not to disparage in any way the other academies, or their graduates, or those who choose to go there. Those services have served us bravely in other wars, and they can be called on at any time to get involved in any future war. But it is a simple fact that in this particular war, at this particular time, with the exception of some Marine officers we are not shipping AFA or USNA grads over there.   *********** I have been asked by a few people if the Black Lion Award will be affected in any way by Coach Ross' departure, and the answer is an emphatic NO. Coach Ross has been a member of the Board of Advisors of the Black Lion Award, and it's our hope that he will continue to serve. But the Black Lion Award at Army exists thanks to the efforts of the Army Football Club, the association of former Army football players. The plaque that they donated, which is on permanent display in the football locker room, has enough blank brass plates on it for at least another 50 Army Black Lions.   *********** Coach Ross' successor will be Stan Brock, who played under Coach Ross at San Diego and was his offensive line coach for three years at Army. Coach Brock is a native of Beaverton, Oregon, and a product of Jesuit High School and the University of Colorado. His brothers Pete and Willie also played in the NFL.   I have never heard a bad thing about Stan Brock. By all accounts, he is a good man and a good coach.   But the job facing him is enormous, and although he has spent 25 years in football as a player and a coach, the emphasis there is on playing, and the coaching experience is scanty. In addition to his three years as an assistant at Army, he spent five years as a head coach in the Arena Football league.   *********** Internet Humor - THE YEAR'S BEST HEADLINES OF 2006:   Crack Found on Governor's Daughter   Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says   Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers   Is There a Ring of Debris around Uranus?   Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over   Miners Refuse to Work after Death   Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant   War Dims Hope for Peace   If Strike Isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile   Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures   Enfield ( London ) Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide   Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges   Man Struck By Lightning: Faces Battery Charge   New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group   Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas In Spacecraft   Kids Make Nutritious Snacks   Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half   Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors   And the winner is....   Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead   *********** I guess it's all over for us Double-Wing guys... Here comes a guy with the Polonium Defense, guaranteed to kill us all.   This time it's some guy who coached out here in the Northwest (and didn't do a bad job, either, at a place where traditionally it's been difficult to win), and I guess the sales of his "Equalizer" defense have slowed down, so now he's got his eyes on the huge "stop the Double-Wing" market.   Here's an excerpt of what he wrote on a forum...   Ever had trouble stopping the Double Wing Teams?   Here's the deal. We have never lost to a double wing offense, and we live in Oregon with Markham and Bandon to the South and Hugh Wyatt to the North just across the Columbia River we get to see the DW several times a year depending on the schedule.   The DW is part of the "T Schemes" in football &endash; Split T, Wing T, Fly T and is closely related to the old Spin T of the 40s & 50s. The Double Wing is so old IT"S NEW. And therein lies the difficulty.   When you go to a coaching clinic today to try and talk defense with some college coach, the problem is that he will never have to face the DW and most likely not have to face the Wing T either. Therefore, the schemes he will advise you to use will basically not work at the high school level against these different schemes. As long as the opposition uses zone blocking techniques or runs shotgun one back passing offense it may work . . . but that 3-5 pass protect defense is not geared to stop double tight-double wing (full house) grind it out attack.   He goes on to say,   Email me and I will send you a cut-up of our basic DW defensive call, "Force Five." This particular clip is against the returning offensive player of the year for our conference. In this game, he became extremely frustrated gaining less than 50 net yards. In fact, we were so effective in stopping him that the coach changed his entire offensive scheme the very next week. I have also included a page from our playbook that lays out our basics for stopping all the T Schemes.   Not challenging this guy's record as a coach, you understand, because he has done quite well, but as for his record against the Double-Wing, permit me to do a little reading between the lines...   He says he "never lost to a double wing team." That may very well be true. But I'm not all that sure that he's played any.   He does say "we get to see the DW several times a year," and that could also be true, in the sense that he "sees" them as a spectator, and not as a coach. I don't doubt that he could very possibly "see" the Double-Wing several times a year now, since I believe that he's retired. But seeing it and playing against it aren't quite the same.   I get the impression that he'd like gullible readers to infer that he lives at Ground Zero of the Double-Wing, and perhaps has even played Don Markham and me. Not a chance. He has never played me or any Double-Wing team on the Washington side of the Columbia River. And I don't really know what Double-Wing teams he could have played in Oregon - there aren't that many of them - but I'm as certain as I can be that he never played one that ran my system.   Oh - and Don Markham is coaching in California and hasn't coached in Oregon in almost 10 years.   But this is America, where people still make money selling baldness remedies and male enhancement products, and if people want to pay him good money for a sure-fire cure for all this Double-Wing sickness that's going around, that's their problem.   (Just to be on the safe side, I am doing to start taking a good, long look at a five-wide package.)    *********** It's too bad that Malzahn didn't get a job at a 1-AA or lower level,then Mustain could play next year,then he could turn pro . Right? Tim Brown, Jackson, Tennessee (You got to admit, Coach Malzahn has taken some giant steps from coaching high school just over a year ago. Used to be that a high school coach started off in college coaching as a GA. Mustain? Don't know a thing about the kid other than what I've read - which isn't good (essentially while still a HS kid calling for Houston Nutt's firing, plus a mommy who goes over the coach's head and whines to the AD about strategy and/or playing time). Comparing him to Jeff George might not be fair to George, who was a much better college QB. HW)    *********** (You wrote) Apparently the "Men of the Square Table" and their "Man Law" campaign wasn't selling enough Lite beer to please the people from Miller, so it's gone. Like that. Damn shame. I enjoyed it. Not nearly as much, though, as I enjoyed the original "Tastes Great/Less Filling" Lite Beer campaign that broke ground by using former jocks to "hang a set of balls" (advertising talk) on a product that at the time wasn't considered acceptable for real men to drink.   I enjoyed those Man Law commercials, too, but I am concerned about our society when a beer company has to instruct men on how to be men. (True. But better that beer drinkers - even Lite beer drinkers - should be doing it than cognac-swilling rappaz. HW)   (You wrote) While a whole lot is being made of the fact that both Super Bowl coaches are Coaches of Color, the real sign of progress this week is that I read through the entire story about the Steelers' new coach and didn't see a word about is being a black man. Guess they just hired the guy they thought could make them a winner. But on the other hand, you do begin to wonder what a black coach is up against when the Raiders hire a 31-year-old guy who has spent exactly one year in the NFL - at the age of 25 - as a defensive "quality control coach" (think film analyst) for the Jacksonville Jaguars.   You must not have read ESPN (lucky you) because their headline on the website was "Steelers hire their first black coach" or some such. I am sure those clowns conveniently overlooked the fact that the Steelers have had just 2 coaches since I was born (in 1970).   Larry Hanson, Mukwonago, Wisconsin   *********** Coach Wyatt- Nahhh Diddy has nothing on the West Coast. Ain't no party like a West Coast Party cuz a West Coast Party don't stop. (insert favorite gang sign/rapper name here)   Has Charlie Weis seen the size of some of the college coaches out there? I mean come on, are we expected to be stupid enough to believe that he underwent gastric bypass to get a college job? I was born at night, but not last night.   Terry Bowden should keep his mouth shut. If I remember correctly he left Auburn under "pressure" because in fact he like to chase college coeds (if rumors are true).   I too liked the Miller Lite Table. Man Laws dictated that even though I am not a Miller Lite guy, I still had to listen to Man Laws and vote my opinion.   Some guys just do not get it - our offense is Addition by Subtraction. We spend more time perfecting fewer plays. That is what makes us successful. I always have said it is okay to add a wrinkle here or there, but one needs to avoid the temptation to try to do too much, as it steals from what makes us successful - running the hell out of super power!   First our favorite alternative lifestyle-loving lesbian, Rosie O'Donnell wants to take on Donald "worst combover ever" Trump. Now she has set her sights on impeaching President Bush. What is next? Endorse Senator Hillary Clinton for president? I mean for Christ's sake this woman couldn't even manage her own marriage. How can any person with half a brain think that she could manage a country? Maybe Rosie will jump the bandwagon because I do think there is a very good chance that Hillary herself may in fact enjoy the company of other women. Why else would she hang out with Billy ("I did not have sexual relations with that woman") Clinton? (I worry about our country being led by a woman who didn't have the stones to deal with a creep like Slick Willy. Lorena Bobbitt for President! HW)   My solution to Iraq....simple minded maybe...call up all the troops, send them all. Kick some ass because we have "numbers" and come home. Massive deployment of superior troops, with superior weaponry, leads to victory. Instead of trying to more with less, let's do more with more. Give em say 1 month or 2 to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Kill anyone who needs killed, blow up anything that needs blown up. In this case, might makes right. (maybe) (I concur with Michael Savage, who advocates cordoning off an area, giving the people 72 hours to vacate it, and then calling in the Air Force. HW)   Okay, I am done ranting for now. My best to you and Connie!   Brad Knight, Holstein, Iowa   *********** Dear Coach Wyatt, my name is Vittorio Malpassuti and I coach (years-in and years-out, depending on my freetime because here is a volunteering job) in Italy.   I am part of  National Team coaching staff (I actually coached DBs + Special Teams in first World Championships, 1999).   This year I was asked to support a team who plays in 9-men league, and I realy don't have any knowledge about this.   Could you please give me some support about finding some literature about it?   Thank you very much.   Yours in football,   Coach Vittorio Malpassuti   Coach Malpassuti,   It so happens that I have had some experience using my system in the 9-man game.   Our approach is simply to imagine that we have lined up in "Spread" formation (with both ends split), and then magically, our two split ends have disappeared, along with the DB's who were covering them.   And then from there, with the remaining 9 men, we play exactly as we always do.   Here is a page from my site that should help - http://www.coachwyatt.com/9man.html   I do have a few video clips somewhere of my team playing a 9-on-9 intrasquad game.   I hope this has helped you.   *********** When did two-a-days start being the norm in HS football in the US?  I am determined to try it here, but it's only known at the university level.  We start school the day after Labour Day; our constitution says we can't distribute equipment before the 1st of September.   Any tips on enforcing training/conditioning?  I am still trying to overcome the 19th-century British mindset that 'playing games gets you into shape'.  Sure, a lot of the kids wrestle or play basketball, but there is a physical and mental toughness that comes from doing hard work that is not immediately gratifying.  (I do find lifting to be immediately gratifying; nothing like straining to pick up a personal best.)  I will be able to help myself by having all of the players in our rugby program: we start indoor training in February for a late April/May season.   Duncan Luciak, Halliburton, Ontario   In the states, high school football has become pretty much a 12-month-a-year thing. Most of the coaches I know already are well into their winter strength programs (for all but the basketball players and wrestlers).   Many schools - the bigger ones, for the most part - have athletic training as part of the school curriculum. It is an actual course, for actual credit, with the coach as the teacher. And supportive administrators do what they can to get all football players into these classes.   Where that is not possible, and training has to take place outside the school day, many coaches choose early morning sessions, before school starts. That accomplishes a couple of desirable things: - it makes sure that the kids get up early (and don't stay out late), it allows kids to take part in after-school activities (including jobs), and it sorts out the ones who don't have the drive to be of much help to you, anyhow.   But you have to do what's feasible, and a structured off-season program may not be feasible where you are.   I think that it is useful to have some sort of incentive program for those who do participate. If you can afford tee shirts for those whose attendance and work habits and physical performance meet your expectations, that always works. Maybe some business in the community would donate them, in return for putting their company's name on the back or sleeve.   If you can't do that, you could recognize top performers by putting their names on a wall chart, and/or giving them certificates. I am waiting for approval from the Black Lions to institute an "Iron Lion" conditioning award for players to shoot for.   Strength-training is important, but you shouldn't overlook the team-building aspect of off-season work. Pay no attention to the kid who tells you he's got a set of weights at home, or he belongs to a club. Tell those guys that football is a team sport, and strength -training is a team activity. And try to have a little team activity occasionally, to break up the monotony. It could be basketball, or hockey, or touch football in the snow - almost anything fun that they all do together.   As for two-a-days --- by no means do all schools do that. I haven't had two-a-days for years. I find that if players are in good condition, they can learn what I need to teach them in one fairly long session. This is especially true when we are teaching "holdovers" - kids who have already had some experience with our offense and defense.   But I do insist that players be in superb physical condition when they report, and to ensure that, I have always required that players undergo a certain specified number of hard workouts during the three weeks prior to the start of actual practices. That means making myself and other coaches available 2 or 3 times a day during that three-week period to accommodate the players' different schedules.   You simply have to do the best you can, and remember that anything positive that you can do that you didn't do before is going to make an improvement in your program.   *********** Back at start of the New Year, Nick Daschel, a sports columnist for our local Vancouver Columbian, made a number of tongue-in-cheek predictions for 2007.   For July, he wrote, "A local high school basketball coach decides to pull a fast one. He gets the team together days before the Fourth of July and tells them to take the rest of the summer off. "Be kids," he says. It takes them a while, but they finally figure out this kid/summer thing. Meanwhile, rival coaches get wind of this deep-thinking concept and threaten a riot. Eventually, they give up and continue their 1,872 game summer schedule."   Fast forward to December: "The high school basketball coach who gave his team most of the summer off finds that a few weeks into practice, his players are remarkably interested and, gaps, even remember the plays. A few even decided to try a new sport during the fall."   *********** Hugh, Bryant Gumble's show on HBO, "Real Sports", had a segment on oversized linemen, etc.  They showed some disturbing trends, etc.  I laughed out loud when they talked about high school coaches pushing their kids to gain weight, especially so they could play D-I.  Really, how many of us have D-I linemen?  My wife asked why I was laughing, and I told her that we do the opposite.  We have been more successful when we've been smaller, and therefore more athletic.  We suggest that our big guys lose weight (by getting them out for track, educating them on healthy eating/snacking, etc.).  Funny to think that our power running game depends on us getting our larger linemen to slim down, while finesse passing games are trying to bulk theirs up.   Have a great day.   Todd Hollis, Head Football Coach   Elmwood-Brimfield Coop, Elmwood, Illinois (Funny about the oversized linemen, isn't it? The biggest personnel complaint I hear from experienced Double-Wing coaches is that they have too many oversized kids who can't move! I can't remember the last time I heard one say, "we're too small up front." HW)   *********** There is evidently no shortage of people old enough to be considered adults who still believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. So the old chestnut about Bill Gates and AOL offering to pay you $245 for each person you send an e-mail to, as part of some product test or another, is making the rounds again. Now, if you want to believe that B-S, that is your business, but please take my name off your f--king list and try to get by without the $245 I would have been worth to you.   *********** Gump Worsley died last week at the age of 77. Playing goalie for the New York Rangers in the pre-expansion days when the NHL had only six teams, and everybody had a great man in the nets, he was one of the best. He was a contemporary of all-time great goalies Jacques Plante of the Canadiens, Johnny Bower of the Maple Leafs, Glenn Hall of the Blackhawks and Terry Sawchuk of the Red Wings, and like all but Plante, he played without a mask.   He was also known for his sly sense of humor. Asked once by a reporter which team had given him the most problems that season, he answered, "Rangers."   *********** San Jose Airport is now Norman Y. Mineta International Airport. Norman F--king Mineta. As Secretary of Transportation he insisted that there be no profiling of airline passengers, preferring instead that e randomly scrutinize grandmothers and 4-year-olds, as part of the travelers' monstrosity misnamed "Airport Security" - and they name a f--king airport for him!   *********** Back in the baseball winter meetings, Chicago White Sox GM Ken Williams was quoted as saying that he didn't intend to spend large sums of money in what was going to be a "mediocre" free agent market.   Uh-oh.   One of his pitchers, Mark Buehrle, heard that (being a baseball player, it's rather doubtful that he read it), and, since he's about to become a free agent, well - Williams' comment (sniff) hurt his feelings!   And so GM Williams, who felt bad that anything he'd say would hurt someone, had (and I quote) "a 30-minute, morning sit-down with Buehrle and his parents to offer an apology and try to clear the air."   Excuse me - parents?   Mom! Dad! Your f--king little boy is 27 years old.   As a pitcher, Buehrle was 12-13 in 2006. Some people might call that mediocre, but he probably made $5,000,000 this year.   Maybe Mom and Dad want the GM to shut up because they figure that if their little boy can lucky in the free agent market, he'll finally be able to move out of his room.   *********** Thom Lovero writes in The Washington Times,   "If Washington Nationals owner Ted Lerner thinks that free agent salaries are out of control, he should get a look at the prices for jerseys at the team store in White Flint Mall in Bethesda (Maryland).   "A Rick Short Washington Nationals batting practice-worn jersey sells for $199. He played just 11 games as a National. For a game-worn jersey by Hector Carrasco &emdash; a journeyman relief pitcher &emdash; the price is $299.   "Now I know why the Nationals are bringing 70 players to spring training. That's a lot of jerseys to sell, maybe enough to even pay the Nationals' paltry 2007 team payroll."   *********** Anybody onto the Step-Ups vs. Squats controversy? - http://www.fituncensored.com/forums/allenamento-periodizzazione-e-programmazione/869-bondarchuk-step-up-vs-squat.html   All football programs are invited to participate in the Black Lion Award program. The Black Lion Award is intended to go to the player on your team "Who best exemplifies the character of Don Holleder (see below): leadership, courage, devotion to duty, self sacrifice, and - above all - an unselfish concern for the team ahead of himself." The Black Lion Award provides your winner with a personalized certificate and a Black Lions patch, like the one worn at left by Army's 2005 Black Lion, Scott Wesley, and at right by Army's 2006 Black Lion, Mike Viti. There is no cost to you to participate as a Black Lion Award team. FOR MORE INFORMATION BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Will Sullivan, Army's 2004 Black Lion wore his patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners   Take a look at this, beautifully done by Derek Wade, of Sumner, Washington --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yy6iA_6skQ

FLASH! Study Finds Many HS Linemen Are Obese! (See"NEWS") Poor Tank Johnson - Guy's Sure Been Through a Lot! (See"NEWS") "Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it." (Proverbs, Chapter 8, Verses 10-11)   January 26, 2007 - "There is no party like a Diddy party, cuz a Diddy party don't stop!" Sean (Puff Daddy, Puffy, P Diddy, Diddy) Combs   2007 ATLANTA, RALEIGH-DURHAM, PHILADELPHIA AND PROVIDENCE CLINICS ANNOUNCED   The 2007 Coach Wyatt Atlanta Clinic will be held on Saturday, Feb. 24 at Holiday Inn Airport North - 1380 Virginia Ave., Atlanta GA 30344 (same location as the last 6 years)   The AM clinic session will go from 9-12, then after a lunch break the clinic will relocate to a nearby HS for a hands-on, on-the-field session from 1:30-4.   A limited number of rooms are available at a special rate of $79 - reservations: 404-762-8411 mention COACH WYATT CLINIC. (There are also a number of other hotels within a short walk of the Holiday Inn.)   ALSO ANNOUNCED...   2007 RALEIGH-DURHAM CLINIC MARCH 31   2007 PHILADELPHIA/BALTIMORE CLINIC APRIL 7   2007 PROVIDENCE CLINIC APRIL 14 - Clinic speakers lined up so far: John Dowd,Oakfield-Alabama HS - 2006 New York state finalist; Mike Emery, formerly of Fitch HS, Groton, CT - two-time state champion; Bill Mignault, of Ledyard, Connecticut - winningest coach in state history; Jack Tourtillotte, Boothbay Harbor, Maine - two-time state champion   *********** ITEM: The shocking - shocking - news this week is that researchers at Iowa State University found nearly half of the offensive and defensive linemen playing on Iowa high school teams qualify as overweight, and one in 10 meet medical standards for severe obesity.   Of course this was shocking! You mean to say only half are overweight? And only one in 10 severely obese? Shocking!   This is not an indictment of Iowa, by the way. Do this survey in any state in the country, and I'll bet the percentages will be the same - and furthermore, I'll bet they would be double that if the study were restricted to offensive linemen only.   I blame it on the emphasis on the passing game and the zone play, and liberalized holding rules, but no matter.   Wait till the people who managed to get smoking banned in public places find out about this one. It's only a matter of time before they get to the Surgeon General, who will then address the nation on this urgent health issue and announce that in the interest of public health, he is immediately forming a new government agency, the Stop Linemen Obesity Brigade (SLOB).   And then, in time for next season, the new agency will impose rules requiring linemen at any school receiving any form of federal assistance to play both ways, requiring teams at those schools to run the ball at least twice as much as they throw, and calling for stiff fines and/or prison terms for coaches whose offensive linemen are caught holding.   The new regulations would be enforced by SLOB agents randomly auditing game tapes.   *********** Hugh, I am sure you have heard of this sort of thing being near a big city, but many HS football forums are popping up on the internet.  I was aware of one in Syracuse and I admit I looked at it (mostly to find out about teams we might play in states and to get some bulletin board material when we played them).  Apparently we are getting one in the Rochester area now.  I think these sort of forums have major potential for harm.   As far as these sites go, they seem like a sounding board for kids to trash talk, parents to trash coaches publicly, and the worst - a forum where people can openly criticize players.  I have seen hurtful comments made about coaches and kids on the Syracuse forum.  Yes many people are respectful and are just fans, but the problem with such forums is that there is no control.  I don't know - I just thought that between this and HS football on TV, and all the other stuff we hear about going on - it seems we are losing OUR game.  I am as intense as the next guy, but it is HIGH SCHOOL. Let the kids have fun get written about in the paper by a professional who should be adhering to a set of values and ethics (hopefully).  Just my take. John Dowd, Oakfield, New York   Coach, I guess like so many things in our culture, this garbage starts on the West Coast. We have had high school football forums on oregonlive.com for several years now, and they can get pretty nasty.   It does bother me to read some of the things that a bunch of snotnose pukes - and their parents - write about high school players, but it really inflames me to read what they write about coaches.   Most coaches I know tell their players not to look at those things, but it's far too great a temptation for most kids to resist. I mean, these are kids who look for where Christmas presents are hidden.   There are, of course, those adults who see such forums as very "empowering" of the young people.   They, not the kids, are the ones whose asses I'd like to kick. HW   *********** Terry Bowden has laid his weekly egg of dubiosity. This time he's advocating free transfers for football players.   http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news;_ylt=AsyWxhAWT_B23KC7sHWw_30cvrYF?slug=tb-transfer012407&prov=yhoo&type=lgns   He says that athletes such as Mitch Mustain of Arkansas should be allowed to transfer without sitting out. He argues that because Gus Malzahn has left the school and Nutt can get hired away (even though he hasn't), the players should be allowed to go anywhere they want and play without sitting out a year. He also has a hilarious line that an athlete may want to transfer because "his girlfriend back home is pregnant and he wants to be closer to home."   I actually think his argument is backwards - Mustain's are exactly the kind of cases the sit-out-a-year rule was designed for; there is a price to be paid for changing your mind or deciding you don't like the coaching staff (or you don't see the field). After all the effort put into their recruiting, players sign a commitment to the coach and school.   I think if a coach pulls a Franchione and abandons his program, the kids should be allowed free transfers - that might keep athletic directors honest to avoid massive exodus of players. But letting today's spoiled athletes flop from school to school is ridiculous. Christopher Anderson, Palo Alto, California   "His girfriend back home is pregnant," is she? Don't you mean his "fiancee?" Har, har. Like he wants to go home to that. Like he hasn't already dropped her and moved on to college girls. Or strippers.   Even less believable, Bowden suggests that maybe a kid wants to go home because his grades are suffering. That's a good one. Most of these guys don't even know courses they're taking, let alone what their grades are. Har, har.   I'd suggest going even further with those vagabond coaches - if a coach breaks his contract to go to another school, players at BOTH schools - the one he's leaving and the one that's hiring him - should be allowed free transfers. Either that, or the coach has to sit out a year. Or maybe even both. As it is right now, there is no hardship whatsoever imposed on the school that does the poaching. Maybe this would cause them to think twice. HW)   On USC and these "smoking gun" tapes:   I will first say I have never had much of a problem with today's USC. I like Pete Carroll's attitude and I've enjoyed watching their tremendous football players. (I also despise UCLA.) But...if even part of these allegations are true (agents/boosters greasing up players on the sideline, in the locker room, buying Reggie Bush's family a house) I don't see any alternative but to vacate the national title and the Heisman Trophy, or hit them with the scarlet "institutional control."   USC fans will say they are being targeted because they are successful.   To which I will have two words: Ben Johnson. He wasn't the only one in his race who was drugging, but he won - so he got caught. Christopher Anderson, Palo Alto, California (As one who greatly enjoyed the interregnum when USC was down and the Northwest schools took advantage of it, I say if they're guilty, give 'em the chair. HW)   *********** Many of you have no doubt seen this... Coach Marvin Garcia writes from Albuquerque, New Mexico, "I thought you may enjoy this. I long for these days. Oh, and I especially like the paragraph about the baseball tryouts. Have a blessed day."   CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE 1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!   First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.   They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.   Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.   We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking   As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.   Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.   We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.   We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.   We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because...... WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!   We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.   No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.   We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem   We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no text messaging, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!   We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents   If you lived in South Dakota, where there was no legal driver's age limit, you began driving alone at age ten and didn't get a drivers license until you left to go to college in another state   We played with worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.   We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.   We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!   Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!   The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!   This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!   The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.   We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!   And YOU are one of them!   CONGRATULATIONS!   You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good. And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.   Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!   *********** Do you ever run the triple option from Tight formation?   Coach, I have addressed this topic often and at some length on my NEWS page and in clinics.   The reasons are many. I guess the simplest way of explaining it is that running the option, especially the triple option and all the reading that it entails, is very time-consuming, and doesn't leave a lot of time for anything else. I prefer to do the "anything else."   Another reason is return relative to risk. I don't know of an offense that offers the high return for low risk that mine does.   As a Texas HS coach named Jim Jordan once said it best at one of my clinics in Houston, "If you're going to run option - run option."   *********** For those of you who are stuck in a place where the kids are spoiled and unmotivated and nothing you do seems to work - don't lose faith in yourself. Show biz people know that sometimes all a "failing" act needs to be successful is a different audience, and sometimes all a "losing" coach needs is a different school. Consider: Not so long ago, a friend of mine coached in a town that will remain nameless, but let's just say it could easily be called COACH KILLER, USA. He worked his tail off, but eventually the parents felt that he was working their little boys too hard, and they got to him just as they had all the other coaches before him. Fortunately for him, though, he wound up in a much, much better place, and he is a winner. How good is this place, where he could stay until he retires? Here's what he wrote me this week-   "This morning in the weight room I mentioned that football practice starts in about 200 days, and one of my sophomore linemen said, 'It starts now! I am telling you, the kids here really get it."   *********** This is No Name-Calling Week. I am not kidding. It is billed as "an annual week of educational activities aimed at ending name-calling of all kinds and providing schools with the tools and inspiration to launch an on-going dialogue about ways to eliminate bullying in their communities."   Its inspiration was a novel, "The Misfits", which evidently (I confess that I haven't read it yet) is the story of four kids at school trying to get through seventh grade despite numerous taunts based on their body size and shape, intelligence, and "sexual orientation/gender expression" (these are seventh graders, remember).   I pledge to do my part in...   Hey, a$$hole! look at me! I'm talking to you! Yes, you, Sh-- For Brains!   *********** Coach Wyatt, Just an update on using the double wing system. We implemented the system into out program this year. It took a little while for my middle school team to catch on, but once they did we were strong. We had one strong full back that we used with dive plays and superpowers. We utilized the Wildcat and baffled the teams we played because no one in Louisiana uses a direct snap.   Our 9-10 year olds is where we had the most success. We went 4-1 in the city league and went to the playoffs. Once again using the Wildcat 90% of the time. As these kids get older using this system, I think we are heading in the right direction.   Duane Clemmons, Episcopal Day School Eagles, Lake Charles, Louisiana   *********** Dan Knab, from New York's Long Island, sent me a DVD of his team's season. His team, the North Shore Colts, finished their season unbeaten, winning the Suffolk County 11-year-old championship (Suffolk County, New York, has one of the nation's largest youth football associations.) Coach Knab wrote,   A funny "politically correct" story is that I told my son Corey when I was playing youth ball the team would say a "Hail Mary" before each game. During halftime of the championship game I gave my speech and walked away. One of the other coaches taps me on the shoulder and tells me to turn around. Corey has the team on one knee holding hands leading them in the "Our Father." The funny part is that we have one Jewish kid on the team so at the after party I was talking with his Dad and I asked him if his son mentioned the prayer. The Dad said that his son said "Dad, I didn't know what they were saying?" to which the father replied "The way you guys keep winning, you say whatever prayer they want!"   *********** While a whole lot is being made of the fact that both Super Bowl coaches are Coaches of Color, the real sign of progress this week is that I read through the entire story about the Steelers' new coach and didn't see a word about is being a black man. Guess they just hired the guy they thought could make them a winner.   But on the other hand, you do begin to wonder what a black coach is up against when the Raiders hire a 31-year-old guy who has spent exactly one year in the NFL - at the age of 25 - as a defensive "quality control coach" (think film analyst) for the Jacksonville Jaguars.   *********** Apparently the "Men of the Square Table" and their "Man Law" campaign wasn't selling enough Lite beer to please the people from Miller, so it's gone. Like that. Damn shame. I enjoyed it. Not nearly as much, though, as I enjoyed the original "Tastes Great/Less Filling" Lite Beer campaign that broke ground by using former jocks to "hang a set of balls" (advertising talk) on a product that at the time wasn't considered acceptable for real men to drink.   *********** Back in 2002, figuring that his chronic obesity was costing him shots at head coaching jobs, Charlie Weis underwent gastric bypass surgery. Apparently he thought he could get it done quickly and quietly, in and out of the hospital before anyone noticed. But there were complications, and as a result, he nearly died.   Now, Weis is suing the doctors, claiming that they acted negligently, and he has even structured Notre Dame's spring football schedule to accommodate the trial, set to begin February 12.   His strategy worked, and got him the job at Notre Dame, but in his recent book, "No Excuses: One Man's Incredible Rise Through the NFL to Head Coach of Notre Dame," Weis called the decision to undergo the surgery "probably the biggest mistake of my life."   His problem now is that even if he wins the suit, he'll still be obese. Maybe he should settle out of court for a do-over - another operation, free of charge.   *********** Portland Oregonian's Ryan White said he disappointed when the Bears' Tank Johnson celebrated a sack near the end of the Bears-Seahawks game and booth suck-up Joe Buck, calling the action, was heard to say, "After all he's been through..."   "After all he's been through?" wondered White. It would have been a lot more appropriate, he said, to say, "after all he's put so many others through," and then White went on to list Johnson's three arrests in the last 18 months, the most recent one for illegal possession of a small arsenal, while still on probation for an earlier weapons violation.   I'm sure that for a while there, all true Bears' fans were afraid that justice might be applied fairly and impartially, and that Mr. Johnson would not be allowed to leave Cook County, Illinois, even to play in the Super Bowl. Yes, Mr. Johnson might be dangerous - but the Bears need him.   So whew! It came as welcome news to anyone who appreciates the glory of sports at the highest level that Mr. Johnson will play in the Super Bowl after all. A judge has decided he can go and play because, see - it's work-related.   But he's not exactly getting off scot-free. No, sirree. The judge ordered him to behave himself. Oooooooooooooo.   Why do I think that if this had been a bartender or a plumber or a schoolteacher named Tank Johnson, he'd either still be behind bars for that earlier gun charge, or he'd be behind bars awaiting trial on this one?   My apologies, though, to bartenders, and plumbers and schoolteachers. , I think the great majority of them would have more sense than to have been hanging in the places Johnson did, and with the people Johnson did, and wouldn't have felt the need to arm themselves like drug lords.   *********** In Tuesday's Oregonian, the sub-headline read, "Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy Will Give the World a Rare View of African Americans in Prominent Leadership Roles."   Excuse me. The world? Prominent Leadership Roles?   Nothing against coaching football, you understand. And if coaching in a Super Bowl was still needed to validate Tony Dungy or Lovie Smith as excellent coaches, then great.   But coaching a football team does not trump the "prominent leadership roles" of such people as Colin Powell, Clarence Thomas and Condolleeza Rice.   Oh, sorry. I nearly forgot. They're not "real" African Americans. They're Republicans.   *********** Coach Wyatt, Boy were you right! ESPN is going out of its way to call Rush a bigot. I heard the afternoon guy on ESPN radio, whose name escapes me, interview Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated. Actually, Reilly was worse than the ESPN guy (oh yea, it was Dan Patrick). Then the MFN guy and Wilbon on PTI were beside themselves. Of course it was obvious that they didn't even hear what he said. How typical, to call someone a racist based on what someone told you that they said. I though his comments were on the mark, and as usual with Rush, I thought, "Wow, that's exactly how I feel." John Zeller, Tustin, Michigan (You would need three guys completely full of themselves to beat a pair like Rick Reilly and Dan Patrick. Reilly is the worst kind of liberal - the one who shows you how warm and compassionate he is by trashing conservatives. I guess that for fear of being similarly attacked by the deep thinkers of sports journalism, I'll just have to show how liberal and un-racist I am by looking the other way and ignoring the ignorant, immature louts who play on the NFL stage. HW)   *********** Coach Wyatt, It's been a while since I've written you but I'm still here! I noticed in your news this week a coach was looking for a video clip:   "I stumbled upon your website because I'm looking for a video clip of any sports movie that may contain the words "Not in Our House." I figured you might know if such a clip exists. "   I think he can find what he wants at the end of the movie "Rudy". The character playing Coach Devine says that, or something close to that, before the last game. Maybe you can pass that along.   I hope all is well for you as you enter the clinic season. I wish you had one closer to Texas. Thanks for all the help you've given me and countless other coaches over the years.   Jimmy Glasgow, Arlington, Texas   All football programs are invited to participate in the Black Lion Award program. The Black Lion Award is intended to go to the player on your team "Who best exemplifies the character of Don Holleder (see below): leadership, courage, devotion to duty, self sacrifice, and - above all - an unselfish concern for the team ahead of himself." The Black Lion Award provides your winner with a personalized certificate and a Black Lions patch, like the one worn at left by Army's 2005 Black Lion, Scott Wesley, and at right by Army's 2006 Black Lion, Mike Viti. There is no cost to you to participate as a Black Lion Award team. FOR MORE INFORMATION BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Will Sullivan, Army's 2004 Black Lion wore his patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners   Take a look at this, beautifully done by Derek Wade, of Sumner, Washington --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yy6iA_6skQ

Black Lions-Wildcats PT Challenge is a Huge Success! (See"NEWS") Ohio College to Take a Long Look at the Double-Wing! (See"NEWS") "Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it." (Proverbs, Chapter 8, Verses 10-11)   January 23, 2007 - "I think the element that most separates who wins and who loses is the speed and accuracy of your movement and reaction." Bud Wilkinson   2007 ATLANTA, RALEIGH-DURHAM, PHILADELPHIA AND PROVIDENCE CLINICS ANNOUNCED   The 2007 Coach Wyatt Atlanta Clinic will be held on Saturday, Feb. 24 at Holiday Inn Airport North - 1380 Virginia Ave., Atlanta GA 30344 (same location as the last 6 years)   The AM clinic session will go from 9-12, then after a lunch break the clinic will relocate to a nearby HS for a hands-on, on-the-field session from 1:30-4.   A limited number of rooms are available at a special rate of $79 - reservations: 404-762-8411 mention COACH WYATT CLINIC. (There are also a number of other hotels within a short walk of the Holiday Inn.)   ALSO ANNOUNCED...   2007 RALEIGH-DURHAM CLINIC MARCH 31   2007 PHILADELPHIA CLINIC APRIL 7   2007 PROVIDENCE CLINIC APRIL 14   *********** When I spoke to General Jim Shelton Sunday morning, he was at the Kansas City airport, waiting to catch a flight home to warm, sunny Florida fromcold, snowy Kansas. As Honorary Colonel of the Black Lions, Jim had spent the weekend at Fort Riley, Kansas, taking part in assorted activities prior to the Black Lions' deployment to Iraq. But when we spoke, he couldn't stop talking about Friday morning's "PT Challenge," a combat training based physical competition among teams made up of US Army Black Lions and Kansas State football players.   "I've never seen such enthusiasm," said the veteran of 30 years of leading men. "When they started out, it was pitch black, and maybe 10 degrees, and it wasn't long before they were sweating - and everybody was smiling."   He said the best part of it for him was watching a 300-pound lineman climb up a cargo net. He said he told the guys at the bottom, holding the net steady, to be ready to jump out of the way at any moment if he fell!   General Shelton said that there was no question in his mind that those football players would remember that activity the rest of their lives.   *********** Story from The Daily Union, Junction City, Kansas - Sunday, Jan. 21, 2007   Wildcats Sample Soldiers Training   By Laura Stroda   The Daily Union   FORT RILEY -- For a chilly hour Friday morning, Kansas State University football players got to personally experience what soldiers do every day -- physical training.   The Wildcats competed in a physical training challenge with the "Black Lions" soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division.   The college players wore desert camouflage over their K-State purple mock turtlenecks. Instead of combat boots, they wore football cleats. Other than that, the players were just like Black Lion soldiers Friday. They carried 40-pound rucksacks and M-16 rifles and had to keep up with the soldiers on the 3-mile obstacle course.   The football players paired up with Black Lions in teams of about eight and competed to see which team finished the fastest. It took most teams about an hour. The winning squad came in at just under 50 minutes.   But the competition wasn't so much about seeing if the football players could keep up with the soldiers. It was about how much the two groups have in common.   "What you do out there on the football field really isn't that much different from what we do on the battlefield," said Col. Ricky Gibbs, commander of the 4th Brigade.   This isn't the first time the Black Lion battalion has teamed with the Wildcats. Lt. Col. Patrick Frank, Black Lions commander, said earlier this year, K-State recruits and their parents visited Fort Riley for a quick tour of "what the Army is like."   Soldiers from the 1st Battalion., 28th Infantry., escorted the group around post and, by the time they left two hours later, "the parents were hugging our soldiers. That's how tight of a bond they developed just in those few short hours," Frank said.   Football is nothing new to the Black Lions either. The regiment has a national "Black Lion Award" program that recognizes football players who personify the unit's core values of leadership and teamwork.   "Really, the core of the partnership is about leadership -- Coach (Ron) Prince developing leaders on the football field and Black Lions developing leaders in combat," Frank said.   Coach Prince elected to participate in the program this year, but he hasn't named his Black Lion Award winner yet, Frank said. About a dozen high schools across Kansas participate in the program and hundreds of football teams across the nation -- from Pop Warner youth leagues to NCAA Division I schools like K-State.   The Black Lion Award is in honor of Maj. Don Holleder, a former West Point All-American defensive end who was killed in combat in Vietnam while rescuing wounded Black Lion soldiers.   "He was a hell of a football player," said retired Brig. Gen. Jim Shelton, the battalion's honorary colonel. "I played football at University of Delaware and we went up to scrimmage (Army). I must have tackled him 20 times. It was like trying to tackle a horse."   Shelton and retired military Chaplain Wes Geary, the battalion's honorary chaplain, watched the soldiers and players in action Friday. Geary said that many people in America today don't feel much attachment to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.   "Things like today, these are things that help (the players) feel like they're part of it," Geary said.   The 1st Bn., 28th Inf., is deploying with the rest of the 4th Brigade in a few weeks for a year-long tour in Iraq.   Not that the New York Times needs my help in giving any story an anti-military slant, but I hereby offer, free of charge, my suggested lead, should they write about the event:   "It was Kansas, but it might just as well have been North Korea, as impressionable young college student/athletes underwent forced military training and right-wing indoctrination, taking part in a top-secret war exercize code-named 'Operation PT Challenge.' In reality the "challenge" was a survival-type competition in various military-based skills, to determine who would be deployed to the front lines in Iraq."   *********** How'd you like to have someone write something like this to your superintendent?????   The following e-mail was sent to the President of Kansas State University by Black Lions Battalion Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Pat Frank...   From: Frank, Patrick D LTC 1-28 IN   Sent: Saturday, January 20, 2007 12:37 PM   Subject: Black Lion & Wildcat PT Challenge (UNCLASSIFIED)   Classification: UNCLASSIFIED   Caveats: NONE   Sir,   First, the Black Lions are extremely proud of the strong relationship that has developed between 1-28 IN and K-State Football. As Coach Ron Prince began to discuss his coaching philosophy with the local sportswriters, we stood up and took notice - his message of building leaders is the same message we present to our Soldiers. Coach Prince understands the meaning of discipline, teamwork, work ethic, and leadership as it applies on the gridiron or on the battlefield (attached a note we sent the Team after the Nebraska Game at the bottom of this message).   As the senior officer of Kansas State University, you would have been very proud of the Wildcat Football Players yesterday as they "attacked" the Black Lion / Wildcat PT Challenge. The course was developed to highlight the strengths of different types of athletic attributes - endurance, strength, and agility. The Teams were evenly matched (tremendous prior coordination between staffs) with athletes and Soldiers, and they rapidly became a cohesive TEAM (about 1/2 mile into the course they had bonded). Perhaps the most athletic team took a wrong turn along the 3-mile route! I do want to focus on Kenny Mayfield (#74), an offensive lineman that had just gotten over a serious cold, he did not give up - a true display of tremendous spirit - great heart demonstrated by Kenny.   Sir, again it has been a great privilege to partner with Coach Prince, his world class staff, and the Wildcat Team. BLACK LIONS - AIR ASSAULT (GO STATE!!)   LTC Pat Frank, 1-28 IN, 4IBCT, 1ID *********** Who will be next? Representing the three college Black Lion Award teams are (Left to Right), Coach Bobby Ross of Army (aka West Point), Ron Prince of Kansas State, and Tim Stowers of Rhode Island. Army, the alma mater of Don Holleder, whose heroic death in combat in Vietnam inspired the award, was the first, thanks to the efforts of the Army Football Club, the association of former Army football players. Kansas State was the next team to come on board, thanks to the efforts of LTC Pat Frank, Battalion Commander of the Black Lions at nearby Fort Riley, Kansas (It didn't hurt that Coach Prince is himself the son of a career Army man, and attended high school in Junction City, Kansas while his dad was stationed at Fort Riley). Most recent program to sign up is Rhode Island, thanks in great part to the efforts of Black Lion George Crume, whose son, Kane, played there. Rhode Island's Coach Stowers, who played his college ball at Auburn and brought his triple option offense to the Rams from Georgia Southern, is also the son of an Army man. *********** Former Notre Dame QB Ron Powlus has been hired to coach the Irish QB's and Corwin Brown has been named defensive coordinator. A friend from the Chicago area who told me that Charlie Weis turned off a lot of coaches ("even Notre Dame lovers") at a big clinic last year said that Brown could be just the person Notre Dame needs to reinvigorate recruiting in Chicagoland, once the foundation of the Notre Dame program.  *********** Despite the way that the easy resort to the field goal acts as an anchor on NFL offensive thinking, don't look for the NFL to de-emphasize place-kicking any time soon. Not when their target market is a billion and a half Chinese. The NFL would dearly love to tap into even a small share of the potentially lucrative Chinese market, but there are huge cultural obstacles to overcome. First of all, as a recent Wall Street Journal article noted, football is a violent sport, and violent sports are unknown in a nation whose favorite sport is ping pong. So the NFL intends to sneak into the Chinese market in the most nonviolent way possible - through place-kicking. A nationwide field-goal kicking contest is planned, and the winners are going to be paid a generous (by Chinese standards, anyway) stipend and brought to the US to work on their place-kicking. And their English. And then, the plan goes, while all their countrymen are looking on, they will get into an actual NFL game. And keek a touchdown!!! *********** Coach Wyatt, Hey. Just wanted to say - Just got finished with a 7-4 season with the system. we had two 1000 yard rushers and a 1000 yard receiver. I also had two lineman named to the all state team. I was named 1A Coach of the Year. I also was named Southwest Alabama Coach of the Year. I just wanted to tell Coach Wyatt thank you for the system. Your friend, James J. Rutherford ,Jr., Head Coach, McIntosh High School, McIntosh , Alabama *********** It was all so... so Portland. After spending.. and spending... and spending... millions... and millions... and millions of taxpayer dollars to build an aerial tram to whisk people a half mile or so from a parking lot at river level to a medical school and hospital high on a hill overlooking the river, the massive boondoggle is finally finished. And the finishing touch came last week when openly gay city commissioner Sam Adams notified a breathless public that the two large tram cars (each about the size of a bus) would not be given names like Frick and Frack, or Jack and Jill (or, as many suggested, Boon and Doggle), but would be named Walt and Jean. Walt, now an elderly gentleman, was the first black man to graduate from medical school in Oregon. Jean, also elderly, was the first female to graduate from an Oregon college with a degree in engineering. That's nice. To complete the PC Trifecta, the trams' stations have been given nearly unpronounceable Indian names.   *********** Coach Wyatt, I have accepted the job at Trinity H.S. We will be a DW team. Time for me to brush off my material. I'll keep you updated. I appreciate your support. Take care. Trish, (John Trisciani), Manchester, New Hampshire (This ought to be good. John Trisciani built an impressive record in New England as a youth football coach, and as Scott McGilvray's offensive coordinator at Manchester Memorial High helped bring about Memorial's first win over Manchester Central in years. Big deal, right? Wrong. Principal didn't like winning if it meant running that damn Double-Wing. But now, Coach Trish is back, as head man at Manchester's Trinity High, a small, private Catholic school. Trinity has traditionally been a tough place to win at, but one of our guys, Joe Gutilla, now of Columbus, Ohio, did it several years ago before moving to Minneapolis to do the same thing at Benilde-St. Margaret's school. I am trying to get Coach Trisciani to speak at the Providence clinic on April 14. HW)   *********** The 2006 college football season is barely over, and already Fox is out with its 2007 pre-season Top 25 - (http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/6376944)   1. USC - 2006 Record: 11-2   2. LSU - 2006 Record: 11-2   3. Texas - 2006 Record: 10-3   4. Florida - 2006 Record: 13-1   5. Wisconsin - 2006 Record: 12-1   6. Ohio State - 2006 Record: 12-1   7. Oklahoma - 2006 Record: 11-3   8. Arkansas - 2006 Record: 10-4   9. UCLA - 2006 Record: 7-6   10. Michigan - 2006 Record: 11-2   11. West Virginia - 2006 Record: 11-2   12. Georgia - 2006 Record: 9-4   13. Virginia Tech - 2006 Record: 10-3   14. Auburn - 2006 Record: 11-2   15. Nebraska - 2006 Record: 9-5   16. Tennessee - 2006 Record: 9-4   17. Florida State - 2006 Record: 7-6   18. California - 2006 Record: 10-3   19. Boston College - 2006 Record: 10-3   20. Texas A&M - 2006 Record: 9-4   21. Rutgers - 2006 Record: 11-2   22. Georgia Tech - 2006 Record: 9-5   23. TCU - 2006 Record: 11-2   24. Penn State - 2006 Record: 9-4   25. Oregon State - 2006 Record: 10-4   What? No Notre Dame? Got to be a misprint. No way that Charley Weis, the Sun Coach, God's Gift to College Football, won't have them in the national title game in his third year. Why, look what he's been able to do up to now with all that junk that Tyrone Willingham left him - you know, Brady Quinn, and Jeff Zamardzija, and Tom Zbikowski. Imagine what he'll do now that he'll be coaching his own recruits. Besides, he's got to win it this year if Jimmy Clausen's gonna get those four rings.   *********** A coach who was given the assignment of coming up with a "Mercy Rule" asked me if I had any thoughts on the matter. I did, and here they were...   Certain leagues in our area have a "mercy" rule, as does our 8-man football statewide - once the margin hits 45 points from halftime on, there is a running clock.   About the only thing you can say about a "Mercy Rule" is that you don't see horribly lopsided scores in the paper, so that school administrators don't have to feel bad about allowing such imbalances to occur in school sports. You know what I mean - the inner-city school with a couple dozen kids (max) on its football team plays a team in the same school district whose kids - all 70 of them - all go to summer camps.   Most people dislike running clocks because it deprives kids of a chance to play. Count me among them. Yes, I have been "Mercy Ruled," and my kids weren't happy about it because it shortened the game and cut down on their playing time. They knew they weren't as good as the other team, but they still wanted to play football because they loved to play. They'd worked hard all week for a chance to play a full game, and they felt cheated. I felt that if the other team had simply substituted sooner we could have kept playing. There was no way we were going to win, and it would have been a great opportunity for our opponents to play kids who wouldn't ordinarily have seen much playing time. The opponents agreed, but by that point it was out of our hands - our league stipulated that a running clock had to be used. (You would be amazed at how quickly the clock runs out when there are no stoppages for any reason. Really, they might just as well send the two teams home.)   I think the best arrangement I have heard of to deal with run-em-up coaches is to have the winning coach - and the principal - fill out a form explaining what steps were taken to keep the game under control, once it was obvious that the game was going to be a slaughter. They would answer questions such as (1) Once the game was under control, did you at any point go for two points after score? (2) Once the game was under control, did you go for it on fourth down rather than punt? (3) Once the game was under control, did you ever blitz? (4) Once the game was under control, did you show up the opponent by running any trick plays? (5) Once the game was under control, did you ever onside kick? (6) When did you begin to substitute? (7) At what point did you have all substitutes on the field?   The form is filled out and signed by the coach and principal and faxed to the league (or state association) by noon Monday following the game. Failure to do so will result in the coach's suspension for one game.   In the case of a second such occurrence, the coach will be suspended for one game.   In the case of a third such occurrence in a two-year period, the coach would be suspended from coaching in the state for one full year.   It bothers me greatly to admit that there is often so little sense of ethics among certain coaches that the solution has to rest with administrators.   *********** And in Oklahoma, of all places!!!   Oklahoman Gabe McCown told me that an essay question on the Oklahoma PE Teachers' certification test accounted for 1/4 of the points, and its topic was: "What Steps Would You Take to Establish a Community Soccer Program?"   I thought I'd heard right, but I had to write back and verify, and here's what he wrote...   I took the test they refer to as the OGET and OSAT. That was my essay question on the OSAT for Physical Education. You had to describe the steps you would take to establish the program and the practice organization/schedule for teaching the basic skills required to play the sport. (I resisted the urge to put that Day 1 would be crying, Day 2 would be sensitivity training, and Day 3 would be faking injuries) I took the approach of what I would do for the same situation relating to football and changed every instance of football to soccer. The skill portion I covered basic skills such as kicking, passing, spacing on the field, and running interference for a teammate…the miracle is that I got a perfect score on the essay…higher than a friend who plays soccer…go figure.   *********** Coach Wyatt; Hope all is well with you and the family.   I don't watch much Pro football cause there really isn't anything pro about it... but I smiled today and shed a small tear when TWO Afro-American head coaches made the Super Bowl......   I told my son Xavier ANYTHING is possible as long as you remember:   "It's Not the color of your skin...but the content of your character"   Respectfully; Coach Dwayne Pierce, Washington, DC. (I think it is wonderful that both Super Bowl coaches seem to be fine men of good character in addition to being good coaches. We all know that they are black men, which is something to be duly noted and celebrated, and their coaching in the Super Bowl is a proud moment. I do hope that too much isn't made of the whole deal by certain "Civil Rights Leaders," because I believe that you nailed it - the message that this should convey to young people of all races is "Yeah, as a matter of fact the Super Bowl coaches are both black men. So? So what's the big deal? They had what it takes and they paid the price to become coaches and they've got good teams. And now they're in the Super Bowl. And if you've got what it takes, and you're willing to pay the price, and you've got a good team, you could be coaching in the Super Bowl yourself some day."   I really do believe that that's the way most young people see it now. HW)   *********** CAN SOMEONE HELP???   Hello Coach Wyatt:   I stumbled upon your website because I'm looking for a video clip of any sports movie that may contain the words "Not in Our House."   I figured you might know if such a clip exists.   I'm working on a presentation for my music & entertainment company...   A little background...I grew up in South Jersey...played O-line and D-line for Joe DeVito at Willingboro H.S.  (of Carl Lewis fame).  Graduated in 1981 and played on the offensive line at the Univ. of Notre Dame, although never started.  I chuckled at one of your recent comments about 'Charlie Weis eating a cheeseburger or two....'  Whew!  He seriously needs to be careful with his weight.   Currently live in Orlando and have recently partnered with Bob Stoops, Les Miles, and some ex-Florida Gators on a very cool music project.   I'm checking out YouTube to see if I can find what I'm looking for.   Anyway, just wanted to compliment you on your blog.  Quite entertaining....   God Bless, Joe Fazio, Orlando, Florida   (I'm assuming that Joe has already heard the audio of this past season's Miami-Florida International game where words to that effect, if not those exact words, were voiced by the color analyst during the post-game fight. HW)   *********** Full disclosure: I didn't see it. But a friend whose vision I trust watched one of these All-Star games and said he saw a wide receiver from Fresno State named Paul Williams score a touchdown after turning and taunting at least the last five yards of the play. His team was penalized. Fifteen yards on the following kickoff. Big deal. No skin off him. He's got his touchdown.   The guys in the booth evidently said what a classless thing it was, but only moments later, the sideline bimbo was interviewing the guy on camera.   Time to (1) call this crap tightly, and (2) enforce the penalty from the spot of the foul. If he starts his antics on the five, penalize his team from the f--king five. No touchdown.   *********** What does this mean? Mitch Mustain has reenrolled in classes at Arkansas, after asking for - and getting - his release from his scholarship.   *********** NCAA RULES UPDATE...   After just one year, Division I schools voted to override the NCAA rule that allowed graduated athletes with eligibility remaining to transfer to another school and play right away, without sitting out a year.   The NCAA has decided to wait until April to vote on coaches' use of text messaging during recruiting. From what I understand, unrestricted text messaging at all hours has become an unbelievable intrusion on players' lives, and has even become a problem in schools. 60 percent of almost 100 Division I coaches surveyed want to repeal the new rules passed before this past season whose intentions were to speed up games. (Such as starting the game clock on kickoffs when the ball is kicked, and starting the clock after a change of possession as soon as the ball is set.) They did manage to do that, but in the process, they changed the conduct of the game itself.   A new order from the AFCA stipulates that coaches who agree to vote in the USA Today Coaches Poll next season will not be allowed to abstain from voting. You may recall that Ohio State's Jim Tressel did so, rather than have to choose between Michigan or Florida for Number Two - and the right to play the Buckeyes. (Bet he wishes now he'd voted for Michigan.)   *********** Hugh - flipping channels during Colts game and saw a bit of the movie "Everybody's All American" - with Dennis Quaid.  There was a scene early in the movie where they go into a dance and "Hot Nuts" are performing.   Don't think it is actually the real guys you mentioned, (but I'm sure that's who they were supposed to be).  I never would've known who they were except for your site.  PS - I know that the Colts can still win (21-3 right now).  But I can't help seeing them like the 80's Dolphins - finesse passing team with questionable defense.   Meanwhile the Bears go to the Super Bowl on tough ass defense and a running game (with a weak QB).  Seems like that formula has worked for so many teams in the past. When will the pro guys learn to run and play defense and put a steady guy at QB (and don't completely rely on him to do everything.) John Dowd, Oakfield, New York   The movie is based on the book by the same name by Frank DeFord. He is only a little older than me and an Ivy League from Baltimore, and he would likely have known about the Hot Nuts. And because the book took place in North Carolina, (not LSU as in the movie), that group in the movie is at least "inspired by" the real Hot Nuts, who were from Durham, as I recall.   The book, by the way, was pretty good.   The inspiration for the book was the career of North Carolina great Charlie "Choo Choo" Justice. Despite all the artistic license DeFord took in creating a work of fiction, nowadays they would probably say the movie was "inspired by a true story."   It is amazing how every Bears' team that makes it to the Big Game looks like a re-creation of the previous ones - just good enough on offense but terrific on defense.   *********** You would have thought that with an entire season of broadcasting AFC games to prepare, CBS could have done a little more with the player-introduction graphics in the Colts-Pats game. No heights and weights - we're sorta used to that. No colleges (that's pretty much in keeping with the NFL's promotion of itself as the One True Faith).   But NO FIRST NAMES?   Are you kidding me? People spend $1,000 or more on a wide-screen set, large enough to display the players' college transcripts (okay, okay - I'm figuring that most of them will be only a couple of lines), and the geniuses at the network give them player mug shots with their last names and a first initial ("L. Mankins")   Interesting how they devote as much effort to the credits - letting us know who the producer is, and the director, and the cameramen, and so forth - as they do to the players.   Well, most of the players.   In keeping with the Star System that show business people know so well and insist on imposing onto football, the entertainment-oriented dweebs who don't understand that football is a team game decide in advance what the "story line" is going to be, and they build it around stars. To them the game Sunday was Payton Manning vs. Tom Brady (you did notice that, didn't you?), and all those other guys were simply extras , what they call the spear carriers in an opera - the guys who stand in the background while the real stars perform on center stage.   *********** Coach Wyatt: Now, ironies of ironies..... The 2 Super Bowl teams are led by an ex-Tennessee and an ex-Florida QB. Unfortunately, the ex-Florida QB is playing for the hometown team. And, I'm still loyal to my alma mater (Tennessee). I'll let you know who I decide to root for later. Regards, Keith Babb, Northbrook, Illinois   *********** In Denver Sunday night, I actually heard some guy on TV with blow-dried hair celebrate the Colts; win over the Patriots as the "best playoff game ever."   Gimme a break. I think for it to go down as the "best playoff game ever," more than just Colts' fans have to agree that it was.   Yes, it was a great come-from-behind win, but accompanying every great comeback is a great fold by the loser. View it as a Colts' fan, and it was a fantastic comeback. View it as a Patriots' fan, and it was El Foldo. Zero sum.   Best playoff game ever? View it dispassionately:   The lead changed hands exactly once.   Easy touchdown passes were dropped by both teams.   And then there were the freak-show aspects, which would have been an embarrassment to most high school teams. Three touchdowns were scored by offensive linemen, one after a pair of professionals couldn't execute the simplest of handoffs, one after a player entrusted with the ball fumbled on the goal line, and one on a bogus "lineman out of the backfield" play."   Best playoff game ever?   You need to watch more football, fella. Yes you, in the dark suit. The one with the blow-dried hair.   You've obviously been watching too much pro phootball. You need to start watching football on Saturdays.   Best playoff game ever?   Of course, after all the horrible football the NFL has given us lately, it is understandable that some people might get a little carried away. It was a little like the Republicans in the last election breaking open the champagne at National Headquarters because they won a county commissioner's race in West Texas.   *********** Best playoff game ever? Pfffff. Sounds like Manning hype - I respect the guy, but it's just getting sick how many syncophants he's collected in the press.   It was the most exciting NFL playoff ballgame I'd seen, but since I've been watching closely for only about the past 8 years, I think it shows the weakness of today's rule-jiggered NFL that they have put on so many stinkers over the past decade. I could pick a dozen college games this year that were better than this one.   Let's not forget that #3 and #4 seeds were fighting for the Super Bowl berth.   Christopher Anderson, Palo Alto, California   *********** Coach Wyatt, Did you catch Rush on Friday? He was asked about the L.T./Patriots' flap and went into a monologue about the "Classless NFL culture." It was pretty good stuff! At one point he said that NFL games are like, "...the Crips versus the Bloods without the weapons." He went on to hold ESPN partially for blame. If you didn't hear it, I think it will still be on the website until after today's program (rushlimbaugh.com).   While I've got you, I've been watching my tapes of the bowl games while sweating away on the Airdyne each morning, and I wanted to spout off about two trends I've spotted in college football. First, punters (and kickers too, I suppose, but it was the punters that I noticed) with tattoos. There's nothing like a punter with barbed wire tattooed on his skinny little arms.   The other thing is, can't these college coaches teach the kickers (and punters too, I suppose, but it was the kickers I noticed)to tackle?!? I guess now is as good a time as any to come clean...I, was a kicker. Not a keeker mind you. In high school I was a 155 pound guard and linebacker. I knew I wanted to play college ball because I wanted to coach, and it just so happened that I could kick. I was the guy who always carried three shoes around (the third one of course being my square-toed kicking shoe). But when I played college ball, I always took part in everything, playing on the scout D, lifting , sprints, individual position work (I was a DB). Heck, I had my senior season wrecked when I broke my jaw in a tackling drill the week of the first game. So, can't these coaches give the kickers some tackling work, rather than just sending the over to the baseball outfield (that's how the other kickers handled it where I went to school) to kick? They not only didn't make the tackles, but they looked pathetic in the process.   The Rutgers kicker looked like he got shot when the return man from Kansas State got close to him. The others looked like they had no idea what to do with their feet, just stumbling all over the place. They are college football players, the least they should do is find a way to deserve the tattoos!   John Zeller, Tustin, Michigan (Rather than listen to what he says and admit that he may have a point, and rathern than consider the destructive effect that the NFL's quasi-gang culture is having on our sport - not to mention our society - the great unwashed will simply call Rush Limbaugh a RACIST. And that, in our trembling society, is usually enough to stop any chance of an intelligent discussion in its tracks. I can't stand the "Look at Me! Look What I Just Did! Everybody Watch me Dance!" culture of the NFL, either, and if that gets me called a racist, then I guess I will have to live with that. ESPN certainly bears a major portion of the blame for providing the stage. And, lest we forget, it was an obnoxious white guy named Mark Gastineau who gave us the Sack Dance.   There are kickers and there are keekers, and I really lose respect for coaches who allow non-football players to take a football player's place in the lineup. HW)   *********** Nice to see the success that Reggie Bush has enjoyed this season. Hell of a football player. Shame he is so damned immature. I mean, what real man turns around as he is about to score a touchdown and taunts his opponents? I don't suppose another year or two at USC would have made any difference.   *********** Happy New Year 2007 to you and your family Hugh.................hard to believe that January is moving into 4th week already......... how is everyone in your family??.....I am hoping you had a wonderful holiday season....... .everything our way is fine......... we had a warm holiday with temperatures in the 50's most of the time......... this week it finally got cold and snow..... we are way behind in the snow........believe me, no complaining here......... we have been busy recruiting......... slow but we making progress........ we had a pretty good day today with recruits and their parents on campus............. I HAVE SUPER NEWS TO SHARE!!........... HIRAM IS GOING TO RUN DOUBLE TIGHT WING and variations off of it........... I FOUND OUT TODAY THAT THE HEAD COACH WOULD LIKE FOR ME TO COORDINATE THE RUNNING GAME WITH ANOTHER WING COACH......... we have some work to do.......... but I was behind closed doors last Saturday with the coach............ I went to work on the board going through the offense as I ran back at Richmond Heights.............. I must have impressed him because he likes it..... he would like to spread out a bit........ his concern is 9-10 guys in the box.......... I said that is fine....... we need to have PATIENCE......... once we do that......... and we break the box........ off to the goal line we go............. of course we are going to be stopped like anything else........... I said this offense is FUN, EXCITING for the players and fans..... .EXPLOSIVE......... REWARDING..... AND it takes time for the defense to prepare for.......... gosh I feel like Richmond Heights all over again............... remember I said "Watch out for RH?".....now we have to say "Watch out for Hiram"........... I am just so excited and you are the second person I am telling this to................. what a day.............. I ran my son through a 75 minute sprint/plyo workout and then I went and ran 5 miles on the indoor track........ showered............ kissed my son good bye........... came home and went to 6:00 clock mass and gave thanks................ can you tell I am excited??........... I wanted to share this awesome news with you right away.... I may be calling to ask some questions as we go along.......... we shall stay in touch..............and I must say thank you to again........... .and guess what???...just thought of this.......... it will be 10 years this coming fall that I went to double tight double wing.....gosh!!!...........PEACE and GOD BLESS.........Michael Glodowski, Cleveland, Ohio (Mike Glodowski, one of my earliest "converts" to the Double-Wing, used our system to turn a doormat Richmond Heights High School team into a powerhouse. Mike hosted one of my first clinics, back in 1998. We've remained friends over the years, and recently, as his note indicates, Mike has been an assistant at Hiram College. Hiram plays in the North Coast Athletic Conference and has not enjoyed great success lately, but with Hiram's new head coach Bob Wolfe wanting to incorporate the Double-Wing into the offense, Mike's excitement is understandable. I share his excitement, because there is no doubt in my mind that Mike can have a major impact on the program. HW)   *********** Owen Marecic, a 6-3, 215 pound linebacker from Portland's Jesuit High and Oregon 6A Player of the Year, has signed with Stanford.   Nothing all that startling, except that it makes a strong statement in the Northwest that Stanford is once again serious about recruiting outside California. Under the last two coaches, Stanford never seemed to make a serious effort to capitalize on the great prestige it enjoys in our part of the country.   Kids with the ability to play in the Pac-10 yet still get into Stanford are few and far between, and to find enough of them, it's necessary to "high spot" - to recruit all over the country. In other words, to go outside the state of California, good as the in-state talent is.   It annoyed me the way the last couple of coaching staffs at Stanford seemed to treat Stanford's Ivy-League-type academic standards as a negative, when to me it is a positive: Stanford offers the prestige of an Ivy education along with Division I-A competition, and in one of the most glorious locations imaginable. As obvious a positive as that would seem to be, it's a concept that new Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh's immediate predecessors couldn't seem to grasp.         Take a look at this, beautifully done by Derek Wade, of Sumner, Washington --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yy6iA_6skQ     (BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM!). BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Army's Will Sullivan wore his Black Lion patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners

A New Black Lion College is Announced! (See"NEWS") The Black Lions and The Wildcats Go At It Today! (See"NEWS") "Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it." (Proverbs, Chapter 8, Verses 10-11)   January 19, 2007 - "It isn't the great athlete who loses it for you; it's the average athlete trying to do things that he just can't do." Pepper Rodgers   2007 ATLANTA, RALEIGH-DURHAM, PHILADELPHIA AND PROVIDENCE CLINICS ANNOUNCED   The 2007 Coach Wyatt Atlanta Clinic will be held on Saturday, Feb. 24 at Holiday Inn Airport North - 1380 Virginia Ave., Atlanta GA 30344 (same location as the last 6 years)   The AM clinic session will go from 9-12, then after a lunch break the clinic will relocate to a nearby HS for a hands-on, on-the-field session from 1:30-4.   A limited number of rooms are available at a special rate of $79 - reservations: 404-762-8411 mention COACH WYATT CLINIC. (There are also a number of other hotels within a short walk of the Holiday Inn.)   ALSO ANNOUNCED...   2007 RALEIGH-DURHAM CLINIC MARCH 31   2007 PHILADELPHIA CLINIC APRIL 7   2007 PROVIDENCE CLINIC APRIL 14     RHODE ISLAND'S BLACK LION *********** First it was Army - West Point - The US Military Academy (not everyone knows that they're all the same place). Then it was Kansas State. Now, the University of Rhode Island has become the nation's third Black Lion Award team. And the Rhode Island Rams' first Black Lion is redshirt senior tight end Kyle Edwards, of North Attleboro, Massachusetts.   Wrote Coach Tim Sowers in his letter of nomination, "Kyle represents the spirit of the award - leadership, courage, devotion to duty, self-sacrifice, and an unselfish concern for the team. Kyle is the epitome of BIG TEAM/ little me. He always put the Team first and his personal aspirations second. Kyle has been our starting Tight End for four consecutive years. He has been an outstanding player and one of the main reasons why we set the all time Atlantic 10 rushing record in 2003 at 4005 total yards and rushed for more than 300 plus yards per game three out of four years he started. "Kyle has tremendous character. He has been a member of the Player Value Committee which is a leadership council voted on by his fellow teammates. Kyle has also been the liaison for our annual philanthropy, the "Autism Walk", where Kyle and his fellow teammates walk to raise money for finding a cure for autism. Kyle is an outstanding student as well as athlete. Kyle graduated from URI Summer '06 with a 3.46 gpa in Political Science. Actually Kyle played every down the fall of 2006 as an alumnus of the University of Rhode Island. "Kyle is basically everything you want in a student-athlete." *********** In a unique example of the kind of results that can come out of two imaginative leaders' putting their minds together, soldiers from the 28th Infantry (Black Lions) and football players from Kansas State will be competing today at Ft. Riley, Kansas in what has been billed as the "PT (Armytalk for Physical Training) Challenge." I'd love to see it. The idea sprang from the creative minds of Black Lions Battalion Commander LTC Pat Frank and K-State head coach Ron Prince, who both saw value to their organizations besides the obvious physical training, including morale, camaraderie and team building. (To which I would add patriotism .) Combined teams of football players and soldiers (who by the way have their orders to deploy to Iraq), will compete in a number of physically demanding events, including Equipment Carry, Buddy Carry, Vehicle Recovery, and Obstacle Course. Read more about it *********** The NFL Poobahs in their high-rise Manhattan offices may have to stop preening themselves long enough to read the contention of a Pittsburgh neurologist that there may be a connection between the multiple concussions the late NFL DB Andrew Waters suffered and the depression that led his suicide. They might also want to come out of their luxury boxes and listen to an occasional game, and put a stop to the fools in the broadcast booths who get all proclaim "Nice Hit" whenever a defensive back tackles head first, and praise him for "sticking his hat in there." New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/18/sports/football/18waters.html?ex=1326776400&en=92b6c7940365593e&ei=5089&partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss    *********** I was talking with my friend Tom Hinger and he said, "Any time I watch one of these all-star games and they start listing all the rules changes they've made for this game, I don't take the game very seriously."   You know what I'm talking about - No blitzing, No cover two, no rushing on punts or placekicks, etc.   And then it hit me - that's exactly what the NFL has come to. A long series of all-star games, whose players and coaches aren't really with them long enough to execute their offenses as well as they could against very athletic defensive players.   And so, in an attempt to circumvent the truth, which is that defensive players are far more athletic than all but a handful of offensive players, the league has kept adding to the list of rules changed designed to help produce touchdowns. Most of them are related in some way to the passing game.   If the NFL were required to comply with Truth in Advertising requirements, they'd have to show this before every telecast:   NOTICE: In order to artificially enhance offensive performance, the game you are about to watch has been altered from real football in several ways, including (but not limited to):   Hash marks no farther apart than the width of the goal post uprights, giving the quarterback two "wide sides" to throw to, and placekickers advantageous angles... Quarterbacks in the pocket are not to be hit too high or too low... In order to avoid a sack, quarterbacks may run out of the pocket and intentionally throw a ball out of bounds, even with no receiver nearby... In order to avoid being tackled, quarterbacks may conclude a run by sliding, feet first... A quarterback can gain a free time out by intentionally grounding the ball, "spiking" it directly into the ground... The coach can communicate directly with the quarterback via a radio in the QB's helmet... Defensive backs may "chuck" a potential receiver only once, and then only within five yards of the line of scrimmage... Defensive pass interference assumes that a catch would otherwise have been made, and is penalized by giving the offense possession at the spot of the foul, even if the foul was committed 50 yards downfield... Holding by offensive personnel will not be called unless it results in the tearing of a jersey or the takedown of a defender... and while we're at it, I'd like to see this warning notice... WARNING: Because of insufficient attention to fundamentals by players and coaches who can't be bothered, the viewer must expect a certain amount of poor tackling, careless ball handling and dropped passes. The techniques employed by NFL players are not intended to be taught by youth coaches or imitated by their players, and the NFL cannot be held responsible for any unsound or unsafe tactics employed by its players, or for any youth games lost or young players injured as a result of imitating NFL players. *********** Welcome to Atlanta, Coach Petrino. The Brushback ( http://thebrushback.com/petrino_full.htm ) had a great satirical article about Bobby Petrino leaving Atlanta after two weeks or so to take the Dolphins' job. Funny article and all that, but with the discovery that Michael Vick was caught by TSA personnel at Miami Airport trying to sneak a water bottle past them with "traces of marijuana" on it (or in it), Bobby Pinocchio may wish he'd taken another job. Maybe Mora the Elder was right about Michael. The bottle in question supposedly contained a "secret compartment" hidden behind the label, and the compartment is said to have contained "a small amount of dark particulate and a pungent aroma closely associated with marijuana." If they'd looked in Vick's suitcase they'd probably have found a Whizzinator. In any event, Mr. Vick, like so many NFL players, seems to have a serious immaturity problem. And just think - Bobby plans to build his team around him.   Welcome to Atlanta, Coach Petrino.   *********** One word about Minnesota's hiring of Broncos' tight ends coach Tim Brewster to succeed Glen Mason: interesting.   Tim Brewster seems to be very well thought of, but he has never been a head coach. In fact, he has never been a coordinator. And he's been out of the college game for a while.   Having worked for a time as Mack Brown's recruiting coordinator, he does have something of a reputation as a recruiter. This is certainly important, but he can't recruit all the kids on the list himself. For that, he's going to have to put together a staff. And hope that they can recruit as well as he could.   Because somehow, that staff is going to have to persuade kids with the ability to play in the Big Ten that they should go to Minnesota, rather than to places with established, stable operations (Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin) or places that have made solid commitments to improvement (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan State, Northwestern).   Considering that Minnesota's president's stated aim is to be among the league elites, this would seem to be a risky time and place to find out for the first time if a guy is a head coach.   *********** Hugh; Did you ever bring back some old memories with your reference to the Hot Nuts group! I am not writing the name of the group or the filter will probably not let me send this e-mail. I remember that group! It was the fall of 1965 at Beach Bend Park outside of Bowling Green. They caused a riot. Weeks before the concert signs were posted all over campus and in the city of Bowling Green. Students myself included were taking the signs and putting them up in our rooms. None of us knew who they were or what they were, but we liked the signs!   The school administration, local government all wanted the signs confiscated or destroyed. This caused an uproar. My roommate and I hid our signs. When we found out that it was a rock group everyone wanted tickets. We got tickets and went to a wild event. Everyone was drunk and they had no crowd control and many people got in without tickets. Several fights broke out when the people without tickets tried to sit in places where people had paid for seats. The sheriff and the security people finally got things settled down and the concert started about 9:30 instead of 7:30.   By chance did your Hot N. group perform in transparent raincoats and neon red colored jock straps? What a sight!! My roommate bought an album of their songs. His wife threw it away some years later. She never did have a sense of humor!   I will never forget that group or night! My old roommate and I were talking about them last month when I was in Bowling to see my dentist. My dentist is a fraternity brother who cuts me a big discount on all dental work, that is why I go to Bowling Green. We had lunch after my appointment and something came up about Beach Bend Park and the Hot Nuts group immediately came into the lunch conservation. We relived the entire evening. It sent a shiver up my spine when you mentioned them in yesterday's news.   David Crump, Owensboro, Kentucky   *********** In California, they've had freezing weather for several nights now, and it's killing citrus growers. Around the Portland-Vancouver area, it started snowing Tuesday morning and it was still snowing by nightfall. As I write this, there is still quite a bit of snow on the ground. Despite the fact that we're as far north as Montreal (check it out), it doesn't snow much around here because normally our weather is moderated by the influence of the Pacific Ocean. This was our first measurable snow in a few years, and it pissed me off because I wasn't able to get to the Al Gore talk on global warming.   ************* A friend of mine knew that with a new school in his district due to open the next year, he would be losing some kids, but no one knew exactly where the boundaries would be, or whether there would be any exceptions, so my friend saw to it that just about every sophomore in the program lettered. And then their parents went out and spent big bucks buying them letter jackets for Christmas. And then they screamed bloody murder when the district tried to move their little boys to the new high school. And sure enough, the district made a few key exceptions.   *********** In announcing that next year the NFL plans to stage a regular-season game in London, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told a borderline untruth. (Marketers will sometimes do that.)   First of all, he said, "There's a great history of NFL football in London, and British fans have been great fans of football over the years," conveniently overlooking the fact that NFL Europe's London Monarchs failed, and the once-ambitious European edition of the NFL ("World League of American Football") has pulled back to where other than one team in Amsterdam, it is an all-German league.   But he really displayed the league's arrogance in implying that London somehow needs the NFL: "There are fans here that we think will like the idea and respond to it because it puts your city on a world stage and the city will be showed as a world class city itself."   You know that the NFL is full of itself when it's commissioner thinks that hosting an NFL game will be the finishing touch in making London, the cradle of our Anglo-Saxon culture, a "world Class city."   Wow. Rome and Paris and Berlin and Singapore and Sydney are really going to be jealous.   *********** With the Miami Dolphins now talking with Mike Shula, the obvious question arises - why didn't Alabama and the Dolphins just work out a trade?   *********** Steve Jones has just been named new football coach at Biloxi, Mississippi High School.   Coach Jones is well known on the Mississippi coast for turning around the Ocean Springs football program. In his three years there (2003-2005) he compiled a 27-11 record, took the Greyhounds to the Class 5A state playoffs all three years, and made it to the 2004 state championship game, won by nationally-ranked South Panola.   Before coming to Ocean Springs, Coach Jones coached at Florence and Columbia, and he coached at Richland, Mississippi this past season.   Coach Jones, a Mississippi State graduate, has done wonders with his double-wing attack. He runs the ball, but he knows how to throw when he has the athletes. And from what he tells me, he will have them at Biloxi.   "I always thought Biloxi had a lot of skilled athletes," he said. "The year we went to the state championship game, we had 5,500 yards of total offense at Ocean Springs and we threw for 2,100 yards. We weren't just three yards and a cloud of dust offense. People think that when you say double wing."   Over the last 25 years, Biloxi has had a run of tough luck. Steve Jones is just the guy to turn things around.   *********** I had an exchange of e-mails with a wing-T coach who nonetheless keeps looking at what we're doing to see if there are ways he can blend some of our stuff into what he's doing. He wrote that our power game helps him:   We are running more power out of wing-t and less inside belly than we used to.  It is helpful against all the gap defenses and blitzing we see.  It is not quite like your power play but it did a good job for us.  We have gone to tighter splits also for the same reasons.   I get value out of seeing your offense in action.   I wrote him back:   I think that we can all benefit from cross-pollination.   The trick is to eliminate all the stuff that is merely going to cause us to have to add a bunch of totally new things, instead of being able to fold nicely into they system we're already running.   *********** I can't wait to hear your take on the Arkansas OC going to Tulsa for what I heard was about 1/2 the money. Can't wait  for your response. Tim Brown, Jackson, Tennessee   I'm guessing that Arkansas OC Gus Malzahn, who in one year made the startling jump from HS head coach to SEC offensive coordinator, may have received a nudge. After what went on this past season (whining parents meeting with the AD to argue for Malzahn - who evidently was not acting as a true OC - to have more of a role in the offense, to the greater glorification of their kids) I suspect that Arkansas coach Houston Nutt may have gently suggested that Malzahn might want to look for work elsewhere.   And then he braced himself for when Mitch Mustain would come in and ask for his release, which, shortly after, he did.   (Mustain, you may remember, was a highly rated QB from Springdale, Arkansas, so highly rated, in fact, that in the process of recruiting him, Arkansas' head coach Houston Nutt recognized what a genius his high school coach was - and offered him a job on his staff. Not a job filling the Gatorade jugs either - he offered him the job of offensive coordinator.)   It sure did appear unusual that a major college would hire a HS coach as a coordinator, and it's undoubtedly just a coincidence that Mustain and a teammate or two decided to sign with Arkansas not long afterward, because everybody just knew that hiring a high school coach to run the offense was just the thing Arkansas needed to get things turned around.   Mitch Mustain, though, did not come without some baggage.   According to a recently published book about his high school's 2005 season, while still a high schooler Mustain was quoted as having said that Arkansas "would have a better chance of getting me" if Nutt were no longer the coach.   Nice. A high school kid going after a college coach's job.   And then there was the incident this past season when the parents of three former Springdale players, among them Mitch Mustain's mother, were given the courtesy of an audience with Arkansas AD Frank Broyles at which they vented their frustrations at the supposedly conservative Arkansas offense (which, relying heavily on the running game and outstanding runner Darren McFadden, managed to run off 10 straight wins and earn a berth in the SEC championship game).   Seems they wanted the new offensive coordinator - their kids' former coach - to be running more of the wide-open game that they'd all been used to at Springdale High.   I'm guessing that after that soap-operatic episode, Coach Nutt didn't break down and cry when he granted Mitch Mustain his release, knowing full well that he was getting rid of the mother, too.   I think of Mitch Mustain and all that talent, but I also think of what seem to be clear signs of self-absorption and immaturity. And I'm reminded of another guy with even more talent than Mitch Mustain who kept letting his personality get in his way. Jeff George.   *********** My son, Ed, who lives in Australia and covers basketball there (in addition to assorted other sports) sent me a great article about Mike Dunlap, highly successful head basketball coach at Denver's Metro State, who recently took a job with the Denver Nuggets. Dunlap coached an Australian professional team for three years before taking the job at Metro State in 1997. Here are some excerpts from the article...   After leaving Australia in 1997, Dunlap accepted the head coaching position at Metro State, a Division II school in Denver. Two seasons removed from a 6-21 debacle, the Roadrunners were a team in turmoil. But Dunlap kept his vision in mind, saw right through the players' bickering and simply eliminated the problems.   "We moved five players out," he said. "We found most of them other places to play and some just moved on. If we were going to build a special organization, we had to set high standards. If you want to have something special, you have to increase your rigors. It was just a matter of getting the right people on the bus."   He wanted players that were willing to wake-up at 4 a.m. for 6 a.m. practices. He wanted players who were focused on the task at hand; players that were dedicated both in the classroom and on the court. He wanted players with character.   "I don't drive a fancy car, and I don't live in a fancy house," he said. "That stuff's just smoke in your eyes ... it clouds your vision. There are no shortcuts when it comes to character. If you compromise character when recruiting athletes, you're also compromising their behavior. I guarantee if you find 14 kids that are willing to get up at 4 a.m. to practice, when they get into a tight game, they're going to compete and want to win. Because in the back of their minds, they know how much work and time they've put in, and they don't want to lose. We've had opposing players ask our guys, 'you really get up at 4 a.m. for practice?' Our guys just point to the scoreboard."   Dunlap says it's easier than one would think to get young college players to buy in to his old-school philosophies. Seven consecutive trips to the Division II NCAA Tournament, including winning a pair of national titles in 2000 and in 2001, hasn't hurt the cause.   "The key is to be confident that you know your topic and then paint a picture for the players of how your system is going to result in wins." Dunlap owns a school record 191 wins at Metro State.   Once the players are on board, Dunlap provides them with a nurturing environment that emphasizes academic and basketball success. Metro State players are taught anything from where to sit in the classroom to table manners and sex education. When they are in the classroom, the players are students and are not allowed to wear any Roadrunner gear. The coaching staff keeps up on attendance as well as the players' notebooks they keep in class. The punishment for not keeping up with one's notebook or missing class is a two-mile run with a 15-pound medicine ball.   *********** The big news in the Pacific Northwest is LSU's hiring away of Oregon's OC, Gary Crowton. Before coming to Oregon, Crowton was head coach at BYU, and before that was OC for the Chicago Bears, and he is going to LSU for what is said to be twice what Oregon was paying him - about $200,000 per - and a three-year contract. (My, ain't they starting to treat some of the assistants good!)   Oregon started out like a house afire this past season, but went into a steep slide, when it couldn't develop a running game but could develop a quarterback controversy. From the beginning of the season when Oregon was able to play head to head with Oklahoma, to the end of the season when Oregon was blown out in a bowl game by BYU, Oregon's offense went steadily downhill, and took the program with it.   *********** Hugh, I read in SI in 1998 that Mike Riley instituted 8 am practices in his first stint at Oregon State, with meetings in the afternoon. Early in his time at Virginia Tech, Frank Beamer dictated that any kid who was injured had to be in the training room at 7AM. He said that got kids square with their rehab, and I bet it kept away the kind of guys who go in the training room for bruises.   Can't say I'm excited about the Pats' chances, although I'd never bet against The Bill. I think Indy's defense is a paper tiger but Marvin Harrison is good. The Pats miss their big-play guys on both sides. The thing that sucks is that neither of these teams would beat their own franchise two or three years ago. Lots of dogs and weak horses in this year's playoffs.   Christopher Anderson, Palo Alto, California *********** Good Morning Hugh, We are digging out this morning from a winter storm and predicted wind chills tomorrow of 40 below it is going to be cold.   Anyway, my frustration this morning is with those teams I love (Eagles and Ravens) to follow losing over the weekend because they could not convert 3rd or 4th and short. When are the pro teams going to put into place a good old fashioned angle blocking scheme and pick-up those short yardage situations. Time and again those teams that lost did so because they could not convert short yardage situations. It was frustrating.   I was glad the Patriots won but they did so because San Diego made really fundamental mistakes that most DW wing coached teams would not have made. Intercepting the ball on a 4th down with so little time to go, and a general lack of discipline -- discipline is something we teach everyday.   Finally, I know what you think about field goals and it sure was a weekend full of them.   Jack Tourtillotte, Boothbay Harbor, Maine (I always wondered whether I was up to a REAL northern New England winter, and now I am having serious doubts. Yikes!   I can't believe some of the "football" I've been watching on those occasions when I've looked up.   The NFL really has a sorry product on its hands, but fortunately but its continued prosperity is assured, because it has the marketing muscle to keep convincing the Great Unwashed that it is the One True Faith.   If the decision to go for a field goal (80 per cent success rate) weren't such an easy one, you would undoubtedly see NFL coaches spending more time on their short yardage offenses. That's my corollary of the Danny Kaylor theory. Danny is a hardened Maine lobsterman who thinks coaches should simply forget about with punting and go for it every time, arguing, "If they knew you weren't going to punt, they'd try harder!" HW)    Take a look at this, beautifully done by Derek Wade, of Sumner, Washington --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yy6iA_6skQ   (BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM!). BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Army's Will Sullivan wore his Black Lion patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners

I Sorta Think the Pats Had a Right to Dance! (See"NEWS") Boise State Had a Great Win - Can't We Leave it at That? (See"NEWS") "Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it." (Proverbs, Chapter 8, Verses 10-11)   January 16, 2007 - "Trust in the integrity of the game is all that separates sports from the show-business spectacle that it daily threatens to become. We can stand for choreographed introductions of players, sculptured cheerleaders and dramatically produced half-time shows if we believe that at least between the lines the game itself is honest, that the team that won actually won...Once fans stop believing in the game, it is only a show." Skip Rozin, Wall Street Journal, Jan 11 2007   2007 ATLANTA CLINIC ANNOUNCED-SAT FEB 24!   The 2007 Coach Wyatt Atlanta Clinic will be held on Saturday, Feb. 24 at Holiday Inn Airport North - 1380 Virginia Ave., Atlanta GA 30344 (same location as the last 6 years)   The AM clinic session will go from 9-12, then after a lunch break the clinic will relocate to a nearby HS for a hands-on, on-the-field session from 1:30-4.   A limited number of rooms are available at a special rate of $79 - reservations: 404-762-8411 mention COACH WYATT CLINIC. (There are also a number of other hotels within a short walk of the Holiday Inn.)   2007 RALEIGH-DURHAM CLINIC MARCH 31   2007 PHILADELPHIA CLINIC APRIL 7   2007 PROVIDENCE CLINIC APRIL 14   *********** The Colts won! Damned Irsays. I just wish that Payton Manning and Marvin Harrison and Dallas Clark and Tony Dungy were Baltimore Colts.   *********** So how do you like playoff football, anyhow? Had enough thrills yet? Seven field goals. No touchdowns. Pro phootball at its best.   After a season of watching college football, I find watching pro phootball to be a combination of pro wrestling, pushing a stalled car, and a Budweiser Select commercial. And a bull fight. Finally, after the picadors and other assorted players have had their shot, in prances the man in tights - in this case the placekeeker - to finish things off.   There... is... something... about... the... overall... pace... of... the... pro... game... that.. seems... sluggish. It's like watching two over-the-hill, overweight, out-of-shape heavyweight boxers trying to make it to the end of the round.   *********** I thought of the Hot Nuts when I read that Michael Strahan has been ordered to pay his ex-wife half of his net worth, and 20 per cent of his income. It's estimated that it could wind up costing him $15 million (depending, I suppose, on whether he plays until he's 50).   At college, from time to time we'd have a live band play at a fraternity party, and one great campus favorite was a group of black guys out of Durham, North Carolina called the Hot Nuts (not very subtle).   A key part of the Hot Nuts' repertoire was something they called The Alphabet. The leader would have a funny, sort of off-color joke for every letter.   The letter "A" was always the same: "Alimony: the screwin' you get for the screwin' you got."   *********** We're heading into The Tunnel... that dark, cold, depressing time of the year when there is no more real football, and assorted college knuckleheads begin announcing that they will pass up their senior years (probably megahours shy of graduating) in order to declare themselves legible for the NFL draft, and vanish forever into the void that is Pro Phootball.   *********** "People say the game has changed. I say, 'No, the game hasn't changed, it's the people within the game that have changed...the players have changed. You have to be more involved with them and things that have nothing to do with the game. It takes a lot of your time putting out fires, consoling players, soothing players." Frank Robinson, Hall of Fame player and longtime baseball manager, on why he doesn't want to manage again.   *********** Coach Wyatt, First off I wanted to thank you for the great online forum you maintain. I was first exposed to your double wing offense in 1997 in Ohio with a middle school squad I was an assistant coach with. As my coaching career has progressed, I have constantly sung the praises of your offense. Now I am going to be coaching a peewee team in Kenova, West Virginia (outside Huntington). The old Ceredo Kenova High School had a great track record in football before it was consolidated with 2 other High Schools into a mammoth new school, they were 12 time state champions in football. The youth football system there has been running the old high school's offense for years and I hope to change that with the installation of your double wing system with the 8-9 year olds. It's going to be a chore because no one here has ever been exposed to a different offense, and the old cronies in the organization will balk at the idea I'm sure. However another coach from here is supportive of the double wing and we're ready to put it in this year. Hopefully he and I will be able to attend a clinic this year. It will be difficult with work and families but we're going to try very hard as he is really intrigued. I'm also going to enroll us in your Black Lion program as I'm sure it will be great for the kids. Again, thank you for such a great offense and your online forum. Sincerely, Tony Douglas, Ceredo Kenova WV youth football coach   *********** ABC News had a feature last week about pro athletes and guns. According to their research, 50% of NBA players and 90% of NFL players own guns, and we're not talkin' hunting, fellas.   Many of the guys interviewed said that they "needed" to carry guns because people want what they have.   Former NBA All-Star Karl Malone was also interviewed. He's a gun owner and a hunter, and he's a member of the NRA, and he thinks the self-defense thing can easily be taken care of without having to pack.   His advice to players: "Stop hanging out in the places you're hanging out in."   *********** Good Morning Hugh, We are bracing for an old fashion Nor'easter-- chance of lots of snow. Doubted I would ever be saying this but it will be a nice change form the warm open winter we have been having.   I wanted to comment on today's News and Ohio State. It is hard for me to cheer against the Buckeyes being an old Woody Hays fan. However, my daughter now lives in Florida so I was cheering for both teams. My disappointment was that the "The Ohio State" looked unprepared for the team they were facing. I know the coaching staff must have been ready and done the game plan but it sure looked as if they were surprised. I was also concerned that there seemed to be little variation in their game plan from the first to second half -- as if they thought they were the more talented team and were waiting for the talent factor to favor them. Frankly it looked as if they had no idea on how to defend the Florida offense.   I am preparing to dig out from under the coming storm and hoping that another year brings the Big Ten better luck in the bowl Games. Jack Tourtillotte, Boothbay Harbor, Maine (You are right about Ohio State not appearing ready to stop the Florida offense.I keep reading that Florida would have won no matter what offense they ran, because their defense was so suffocating. No question that Ohio State simply couldn't deal with the speed, especially those two DE's on the edge, but it seems to me that the Gators' offense was pretty much unstoppable, too, and the Gators would have won even if THE Ohio State University had score a couple more touchdowns. HW)   *********** Coach, I really enjoyed your NEWS segment on Coach Austin. I know that a lot of youth coaches, including me, owe a lot to you.   The statement about the "kids confidence in the system" really rings true to me and my boys. They are just comfortable in the knowledge of what they're going to do on each play, and in their ability to block anything that any team throws at them. I think that this is very powerful for a kid and goes a long way to their success with the Double Wing. I rarely see a youth team play without some kids just running around not knowing what they're doing (our midget varsity team was a good and sad example - good kids, good athletes, and they ran the DW for me 2 years ago as well as any team I've coached, but last year were 1-7 and the kids were clueless...tough to watch. I saw a couple of my former kids just giving their all, trying to chase breakaways down, trying as hard as they could, but they just didn't know what to do.). Probably the best compliments I got were from my son, who has filmed every game that my boys have played in for the last 5 years. He said that the team was dominant...the kids were like machines on the field and he also said that he wished that he could have played on a team like mine when he was a youth player (ironically, he had many of the same coaches as that 1-7 midget team, kids swearing at each other in the huddle, players getting punished for losing without spending time on improving on what they were doing wrong, went 0-8, etc., - not as much fun, I'd guess).   Each year one of my coaches forgets and tries to get my kids to sprint to the LOS after they break the huddle....I like that they walk to the LOS, thinking about their assignment the whole way, talking it over with their "battle buddy," etc. They know someone's butt is about to be kicked, they're just figuring out who it's going to be. I'm already counting the days until next season. I love it when the parents tell me that the kids already start talking about football during lacrosse season in the spring.   I've been enjoying your Clinic 2 DVDs...I watch them while I'm on the treadmill. I've finished 2 and will watch the third one tonight. I know that I need to pass better next year to make it less likely that a team will be able to shut me down. Fortunately, I have 2 big TEs who are good athletes and can catch...up until now I've used that position for my weaker players, who can shoeshine and double-team and be very successful. I liked the couple of tricky ways to get the QB outside if the teams are really bunching up on us, and need to put in a couple of plays off of wedge action. It was hard this year though....one, because of EEE, our practice time was cut nearly in half, so I couldn't put in as much as I would have liked, two, we only averaged 22 offensive plays per game b/c of the way our JV games are run, and three, when I was averaging more than 10 yards per carry on both my wedge and 4 base lead....it's hard to get too fancy...and there's no need to pass if the other team is not stopping you on the ground.   Anyways, I enjoyed your news section as always. Hope all is well.   The Pats' win wasn't pretty, but they found a way to get the job done.   So let me get this straight...according to LT, it was disrespectful for the Pats to dance at midfield because that is the dance that Merriman does apparently after they win? But how is it is not disrespectful to the losing opponent when Merriman dances at midfield after San Diego wins? I'm not defending the Pats. I didn't see the celebratory dances and that does seem a bit out of character for the Pats, but assuming they did, then yes, perhaps uncalled for and maybe disrespectful. But LTs rationalizing and his comments about Belichick were classless (IMHO).   The big choking sound you will hear next Sunday evening will be Peyton Manning once again, not being able to finish the job....hey, how about the 7 field goals vs Baltimore? Quite exciting. I didn't get a chance to watch the game, but I always think of you whenever I hear of a game with loads of field goals. Looking forward to next Sunday.Rick Davis, Duxbury, Massachusetts   (Surely the NFL must realize that all this taunting and showboating is headed inexorably toward the one thing that it fears the most - the one thing that it absolutely refuses to even let us see, because our tender sensibilities can't stand the sight of it. I'm not talking about semi-nude cheerleaders or disgusting halftime shows, either. I'm talking about players fighting.   To be honest, I am surprised that we haven't seen some guy say "f--k it - I'll pay the fine," and then go slam some dancing boy who is dissing them.   I find it hilarious that these fools go on and on postgame about "nobody showing us any respect," yet on the other side of the coin they are the most disrespectful people imaginable. It is beneath their dignity to show someone else a simple sign of respect.   If a player on a team we just beat was a strutter, the kind of guy who has been making a point of showing people up, I would be sorely tempted to let my kids put it in his face. Even if that meant dancing at midfield. Sorry, LT - you come across as a great guy, but you were wrong. Your teammate is a jackass, and your team just got beaten, and now it's payback time, and you're going to have to understand that what goes around comes around. Suck it up and take it like a man. HW)   *********** What the hell did I just see.Some pretty European and his fake tits wife landing in the U.S.A.Flash bulbs flashing,The weiners excited.250 million dollars! SOCCER CRAP! Maybe this is old news already but I just saw it.We are in a World War people in government talking about crap.And now this.Well I decided to write to you to see what you think about all this. Did you see this guy? He thinks he is a movie star. Have we reached the abyss and think that our answers are with the Europeans? Armando Castro, Roanoke, Virginia (A fool and his money are soon parted. But $250 million? Hell, if the idea is to sell soccer to Americans, they should forget paying all that money to one metrosexual Brit. I have a better plan. We find 5 million young American guys who like to go to real sporting events (football, basketball, baseball, hockey) and we tell them that if they'll go to just one soccer game and take a friend, we'll give them $50 between them to spend on beer and food. But they have to stay for the whole game. The only hitch is that I haven't yet figured out how we can force them to do that. HW)   *********** Hi Coach, Great as always! A couple of things:   - the sideline "babe" for National Championship game was a GUY! (maybe the TV guys are catching on?)   - the latest issue of SI has a picture of the late USC kicker. Notice the where the bottom of the knee pad is on his left leg!   Finally, I believe in your coaching background, you were part of a team that ran the run and shoot. Do you think there is some reason why college QB's from that system don't seem to make it in the NFL? I would think that given the quick read and reaction necessary, they should. Was thinking about this after watching Hawaii.   Regards, Matt Bastardi, Montgomery, New Jersey (The run and shoot will work. Mouse Davis at Hawaii would be happy to spend three or four hours telling you why. He has seen it work at enough places. It got Andre Ware a Heisman Trophy, and it got Jim Kelly into the NFL (and eventually, the Pro Football hall of Fame).   I think that the problem is that, probably because it wasn't properly taught and coached, the word is out and around that "it won't work," and that is usually enough to stifle most good ideas. Believe me, I heard my share of that in the early going with my "Pop Warner Offense."   As for the knee pads, what is so unclear about this (from the NCAA rule book)?     *********** Coach Wyatt - I have enjoyed reading your news site for years. Your coach's perspective on life and our present society I love. I would like to point out your analogy on Boise State playing in the national championship was interesting.   Boise State is like that 4.0 GPA student at the school with the lower reputation who didn't have the opportunity to take the AP classes. When given the chance and opportunity, low and behold, they were able to perform at the same level. Besides, would Boise have done any worse than the perceived more qualified (student) Ohio State?   Regards, Kevin Jackson, Nampa, Idaho (Dear Kevin,    I'm glad you've enjoyed reading my news site, and I hope you'll continue to do so.    I suppose it was inevitable that I'd write something that didn't quite go down right. That's me.    First of all, though, I want to assure you that no disrespect to Boise State is intended. They have established themselves as a quality program, and they had a great season and, given a spot in the BCS picture, they delivered.   However.... I think my analogy is apt. Yes, there is an outside chance that the 3.8 kid from the quality high school will fail; and yes, there is an outside chance that the 4.0 student from the poor high school "who didn't have the opportunity to take A.P. classes" (I didn't say that, but I've heard the Boise State argument along those lines, so I can see where that one was headed) will succeed.   But if you were an admissions officer and you went against the odds like that, you would be derelict in your duty.   In college admissions, in business, in football - in life itself - the best chance for success in the long run lies with playing the odds.   "The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong," it says in Ecclasiastes.   ("But that's the way to bet," added a famed sportswriter.)   Going with the odds means that  if Boise State and Oklahoma were to play again, I have a feeling that the Vegas guys would still have Oklahoma favored. And probably, if they were to play ten games, Oklahoma would win eight or nine of them.   But what makes football so great, and what made this Fiesta Bowl so exciting, was that Boise State beat the odds. And we Americans love our underdogs. That's pretty much the way our nation came to be.   The Jets beat the odds, too, in Super Bowl III. But if they'd played the Colts nine more times, the Colts probably would have won 'em all.   What does Boise State's win prove?  It proves that on the night they played, Boise State beat Oklahoma, and not much else.   Forget about an automatic spot for next year's WAC or Conference USA or Mountain West winner.   And, Boise State folks, enjoy the well-earned win, but drop the  calls  for a shot at Florida. Would Boise State have beaten LSU? Louisville? Wisconsin? USC? Ohio State? Texas? Michigan? Notre Dame, even? I'm thinking the oddsmakers would say no, and they're right a lot more than they're wrong.  It's how they stay in business.   It is great to be able to claim that Boise State could beat Florida. We'll never know, so go ahead and say so.  To me that is one of the beauties of a no-playoff system.   Don't get me wrong - I'm a northwesterner, and I take pride in the accomplishments of kids from our part of the country, including Idaho. I am proud of the fact that Jared Zabransky is an Oregon kid.   But simply playing the odds - undefeated or not, a team that comes out of a weak conference, one whose members could do no better than  3-15 in out-of-conference games against BCS-conference schools, is not a team that deserves to jump in line ahead of teams that have come out of tougher conferences with one or even two losses.   Be happy for what happened.   It was a thing of beauty and a whole nation enjoyed it.   *********** Coach Wyatt, I wanted to wish you and your family a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year and let you know that your new DVD is awesome! Even though I was at the Providence clinic listening intently and taking as many notes as possible, nothing can replicate having the information right from the source, with the ability to pause, replay and continually reference things.   Take care and see you in Rhode Island.   Scott Wendel, Woodstock, Connecticut   *********** I find it sort of interesting that President Bush - and many, many others - think that after allowing the Iraqis to depend on us, we will eventually pull out and they will fend for themselves. Presto. End of war.   I hate to give that crowd in Washington the bad news, but we've been fighting another war for more than 40 years, and from what the liberal news media tell us, we're not making any progress.   It was called the War on Poverty, and in the same way that we have created Iraqi dependence on us, we created such a dependency among some Americans that there is no incentive for them to fend for themselves.   *********** There are five colleges in the country (Army, Cornell, Navy, Penn and Princeton) playing Sprint Football. Once called 150-pound football because no player on the team could weigh more, it is now called Sprint Football and the weight limit is now up somewhere around 175. The football is very fast and hard-hitting. The players are very athletic. I spoke with Army coach Gene McIntyre last spring and he told me that there have been times when half of his players were former high school quarterbacks.   Here's a good look at Sprint Football --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxiq-BzSKWk   *********** "What execution!!!" raved the guys in the booth, after the Patriots, did no more than what high school teams all over the US (and a few youth teams) do routinely - lined up in the shotgun and snapped the ball to someone other than the quarterback.   *********** Lord, I'd love to hear real football guys call NFL games, and not whores who know that they only keep their jobs so long as they remain largely uncritical of what we're watching. Example - when one of your kids takes a cheap shot at a guy from the other team and it costs your team 15 yards, do you excuse it because "football's an emotional game?"   Do you suppose that for a million dollars a year you could learn to control your emotions?   *********** "At the end of the day, I have to do what's best for my wife and my kids," said Todd Graham. And at the end of the day - and at the end of his first year at Rice - he left to take the head coaching job at Tulsa.   The day was Thursday - only two days earlier, on Tuesday, he had agreed to a multi-year contract extension to stay at Rice.   It's like sitting across the table from your fiance and proposing, while looking over her shoulder at the rack on the waitress.   Pretty nice thing to do to the kids at Rice - who don't have the same option of leaving that their coach had.    You have to hand it to the Owls' QB Chase Clement. "We're not worried about anything," he said.   "It is what it is. Whoever comes in, they're going to be part of a winner."   It makes you want to become a Rice Owls' Booster.    *********** watching your DVDs and the 7C...have you ever stood on the defensive side and watched 7C? Holy Moly....bodies flying everywhere.......ran it a couple of times this season for moderate gains, but both times just one kid got a hand on the FB's uniform and held him up enough. I didn't pull backside tackle but will try that next year. I've always done a lead counter, but didn't pull backside tackle, but next year will try out regular 47/56C....I will have pretty good athletes in the tackle positions, so the tackles should be able to get through the hole and do something.   *********** A coach told me that another coach in his organization asked him, "are you still running that offense that's all about execution and everything?"   My friend quipped, "as opposed to an offense that's not about execution?"   *********** I can't stand the practice in certain all-star games of cluttering up helmets with decals from other schools. First of all, it's very hard to take one of those games seriously.   Secondly, I think it is a slap in the face of their own school and of the people who've supported a player for for years to go there wearing his school's helmet and then deface it by slapping stickers all over it.   And then there's the recognition factor.   The game I was watching, called the Inta Juice North-South game, had jersey problems. First of all, there were no names on the jerseys (and ESPN didn't help any by not telling us what colleges the players represented), and then, to compound the problem, there were a few jersey switches.   Along with the goony helmets, well, let's just say it's pretty bad when a certain college coach I know was watching the game and had to reach a kid's dad on his cell phone to ask him what his son's number was.   Inta Juice's spokesman was none other than Randy Moss. What- T.O. wasn't available? Actually, I understand Moss owns a piece of the company.   So, because you can't broadcast a game these days without having something other than the game to talk about, they had to have him up in the booth for a while, and he let us know that the award named for him, which is intended to go to the outstanding college return man, is "Black History - Me being the first African-American to have an award named for me."   Now, technically, he may be correct - if we're referring only to Division I-A. But there is the Walter Payton Award, which is the Heisman equivalent for Division I-AA.   Moss was his usual egotistical self, telling us, "I worked hard... I deserve a ring." Sounds as if he won't be back in Oakland.   The most amusing part of the game came when the North lined up for a long field goal but then two players jumped and they had to send in the punt team. The camera was full-on North coach Dick Tomey's face as he said "F--K!"   Now that I've embarrassed Coach Tomey, I have to give him credit for his early morning practices. I believe I read that he got the idea from basketball coach John Cheyney at Temple, whose early AM practices made sure that his players thought twice about staying out late the night before, and greatly increased the likelihood that, since they were awake anyhow, they might actually eat breakfast and go to classes. Coach Tomey has been doing the same thing at San Jose State, and the Spartans' 9-4 record, including a bowl win, would seem to indicate that it worked for him.   BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Army's Will Sullivan wore his Black Lion patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners

California Double-Winger Wins Pop Warner Super Bowl (See"NEWS") What if Urban Meyer Had Kept His Mouth Shut? (See"NEWS") "Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it." (Proverbs, Chapter 8, Verses 10-11)   January 12, 2007 - "If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog." Harry S. Truman   2007 ATLANTA CLINIC ANNOUNCED-SAT FEB 24!   The 2007 Coach Wyatt Atlanta Clinic will be held on Saturday, Feb. 24 at Holiday Inn Airport North - 1380 Virginia Ave., Atlanta GA 30344 (same location as the last 6 years)   The AM clinic session will go from 9-12, then after a lunch break the clinic will relocate to a nearby HS for a hands-on, on-the-field session from 1:30-4.   A limited number of rooms are available at a special rate of $79 - reservations: 404-762-8411 mention COACH WYATT CLINIC. (There are also a number of other hotels within a short walk of the Holiday Inn.) BLACK LION AWARD WINNER- WEST BERLIN, NEW JERSEY Writes Jeff Belliveau, of West Berlin, New Jersey, "Just wanted to send you a picture of Robert Hart, our Black Lion winner from this past season- that's my ugly mug on the left and his proud papa on the right. *********** Back in 1994, when Coach Chris Austin showed up at my Northern California clinic wearing the shirt shown at left, he got plenty of laughs. It read, "THERE IS NO I IN FOOTBALL."   By that point, Coach Austin, from Buena Park, California, was a confirmed Double-Winger. He was double-dipping - that was his second Double-Wing clinic that year.   Last week, I received a package in the mail from Coach Austin, containing a nice letter and several DVD's.   In the letter, he wrote that his team of 9-10-11 year olds ("and small 12's"), the Griffins from Los Alamitos, California, had recently won the Pop Warner national championship - the Super Bowl - in Orlando, Florida. Wow.   He ended his note by writing, "Coach, throughout the years, your videos and teaching and the various clinics have helped me immensely and I just wanted you to see what we've been able to do and accomplish with it. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!"   Whoa. You have no idea how that makes a guy feel.   As fast as I could, I popped in the first of the DVD's, which traced the Griffins' progress through their last four games, the regional semifinal and final games, then the "Qualifying" game in Orlando against the Holliston, Mass. Panthers and, finally, the Super Bowl championship game against the San Marin, California Colts.   Lemme tell you, these kids were good. I had to call my wife in to watch, and she wound up getting hooked, too.   First of all, there was something about the way the kids carried themselves. They were 9, 100 and 11 years old, but they didn't look like little kids. They looked, acted and played like little men. (Hey - maybe they were!) They sure were athletic.   And they were very well coached. Their ball carriers protected the ball and their blockers sustained their blocks (my wife noticed that right away). On Super Powers, their backside linemen were disciplined to "run the circle" better than most high school teams. Some of of their double-teams were things of beauty. And they were sharp on their assignments - they knew who to block.   Their quarterback handled the ball well, threw effectively, and was always a threat to run on bootlegs. Their fullback ran the wedge, the trap and the "G" effectively, and their wings (including Coach Austin's son, Caleb) were threats to break it on every Super Power and Counter. (They had obviously been drilled to look for the cutback on Super Powers.)   They ran the basic core of plays and executed them beautifully, but they always seemed to have a little something extra up their sleeve as well. Not that they needed anything extra - they could have beaten any of those teams with Super Power Right, Super Power Left, and Wedge.   On defense, I was impressed with the way they tackled - they didn't miss many tackles and they got a lot of players on the tackles - and by the way they played pass defense. Their secondary play was exceptional.   On special teams, they didn't do anything to hurt themselves. They rarely kicked off deep. Instead, they made ample use of an onside kick in which the kicker simply rolled the ball slowly forward as a thundering herd of Griffins escorted it. It was reminiscent of the old flying wedge play, and had to be terrifying to the kids on the front line of the receiving team. A high percentage of those "kicks" was recovered (and needless to say, not a one was returned.)   Not one of the games was close, and in two of them, despite their best efforts to keep from doing so, the Griffins went ahead by 28 points or more, at which point the Pop Warner "mercy" regulations kick in: from that point on, there is a running clock, and there is to be no more scoring - even if that means a running back who breaks into the clear has to run out of bounds (I saw it happen) - plays can only be run between the tackles (lots and lots of different kids got to run the Wedge), and linebackers have to play at least five yards off the line. Taking a knee is not necessarily an option, either, because every kid must play a specified minimum number of plays, and a "take a knee" play does not count toward the required minimum.   I took note of the subbing, and noticed that the Griffins gave a lot of kids significant action. They used two different lines and didn't appear to drop off all that much when going from one to the other.   I had to call Coach Austin to tell him how impressed I was, and he gave a lot of credit to his line coach. He said they'd been working together for four years, and he said the important thing was that his line coach knew exactly what needed to be coached. Significantly, when he first came to Coach Austin, "He had no experience, " Coach Austin told me. "He said, 'I'll do whatever you want.'"   Coach Austin said it all started for him several years ago when he went up to a youth coach he knew and offered to help in any way he could ("if you need someone to hold a bag..."). He was working and going to school at the time, and wasn't planning on committing to any coaching, but the head coach told him, "I need an offensive coordinator - I haven't seen mine in two weeks."   Just like that. Coach Austin accepted the challenge. But now, he needed an offense.   "I got on the Web," he said. And he found my site, "and I bought everything you had." And he came to a couple of my clinics.   Five years (and a lot of hard work and study and teaching) later, his team went 15-0 and won the Pop Warner Super Bowl.   It was no fluke. This was not the Griffins' first trip to Florida. A year earlier, in 2005, they also made it to Orlando, but lost in the qualifying (semifinal) game and finished 14-1.   "You started it all for me," he told me. "It was a huge, eye-opening experience for me...if it wasn't for you giving me the foundation of a system... if it wasn't for you making it so simple."   In typical modest fashion, Coach Austin says the reason his kids executed the offense so well was, "Their confidence in the system."   *********** You are the director of admissions of a prestigious university. You have one spot left to fill in next year's freshman class, and you have in front of you two applications. One is from a student from a very well thought-of high school, whose students typically come to your school very well prepared and generally excel academically. This student has taken mostly college prep and Advanced Placement classes, and has a 3.8 GPA. The other application is from a student attending one of the lesser-rated high schools in your area. In the past, with all good intentions, you have admitted students from that school as something of a do-good experiment, but few of them have been ready to do college-level work and most of them have washed out. This student, taking mostly lower-level classes, has a 4.0 GPA.   Please don't take this as showing any disrespect for Boise State. I greatly admire what they've done and I like what they do. But let's get serious a minute - they are the best of a lesser calibre of competition. You would have to take the kid with the 4.0 GPA from the inferior high school over the one with the 3.8 from a top quality one, to think that Boise State belonged in the national championship game.   *********** $250,000,000 to a soccer player? To play in America? Good luck. They can even go out and maybe get themselves a big TV contract on the strength of LA's signing of David Beckham. But they still haven't figured out a way to get Americans to watch that sh-t.   *********** Is it true that Bill Belichick is being paid big bucks by Goodwill Industries to wear that old gray cut-off sweat shirt on the sidelines?   *********** It was an amazing thing for me, a Philly guy, to move to Baltimore at the height of Colt Fever. I'd been born and raised no more than three hours or so from Baltimore, yet even though I'd passed through it on trips to the South, it might as well have been in another country for all I knew about it. Moving there was like going behind the walls of a Secret City, because nobody from the outside really seemed to know (or care) much about Baltimore. Yet inside its walls was the most unique culture, very exciting and charming in its own way, and much of it was focused on the fact that for us (I quickly bought in), the Colts were our ambassadors to the Outside World.   There aren't many pro phootball ("ph" for phony) games that I would even walk across the street to watch for free at the local field, but I will be on the edge of my chair Saturday, hoping that the Ravens will crush the Colts. Not that my heart is with the Ravens. My heart is with the Colts. The Baltimore Colts. Not the Indianapolis Irsays, those thieves who stole Baltimore's football team in the middle of the night and left Baltimore without an NFL football team for 12 f--king years.   That the NFL stood dumbly by and did nothing while Robert Irsay, its problem owner, robbed a city and its fans of their most prized asset (yes, even more than their beloved Orioles) is one giant stain that all the league's feel-good public relations and revisionist history will never erase.   The Dirty Irsays not only took the franchise - they took the name... and the colors... and the horseshoes on the helmets! They might just as well have taken the stripes off the American flag.   Oh - and they took the Colts' records, too. Imagine - John Unitas' and Raymond Berry's and Lenny Moore's records belong to the f--king Irsays!   "What disturbs me," one Colts (Baltimore Colts) fan told Stan Grossfeld of the Boston Globe, "is that we went to Canton to see John Mackey inducted into the Hall of Fame, I got my camera up there and I'm shooting all the statues and it says 'Indianapolis Colts' on the bottom. I made some comment, and there's a guy standing next to me and he says, 'I think that's terrible, son.' It was Gale Sayers."   "Take a look at all the memorabilia that's in the Hall of Fame," said Tom Matte, former (Baltimore) Colt great. "It's under 'Indianapolis Colts.' John Unitas was called an Indianapolis Colt. John Unitas was a Baltimore Colt."   Was he ever. John Unitas may have been the greatest quarterback in the history of the game, but he was first and foremost a Baltimorean, and Baltimoreans loved him for that as much as for the thrills he gave them. He was an unpretentious working class guy from an unpretentious working class town (Pittsburgh) who made it big in another unpretentious working class town. And he never forgave the Irsays for taking him away from Baltimore, trading him away at the end of his career. And he never forgave them for deserting his adopted city.   As one longtime Colts' fan told Stan Grossfeld, "John owned a restaurant called the Golden Arm and he had a Bob Irsay room -- the bathroom. That's what John thought of him."   *********** So your AD - or, if you're a youth coach, your commissioner - comes up to you and tells you that this year, because there is a limited number of spots on your team, you are going to have to fill them by lottery. Any kid who expresses an interest in playing football will fill out an application and take a number, and you will draw numbers from a hat until all the roster spots are filled.   Huh? you ask. What about tryouts? Suppose some kid who has never played before and has no physical gifts at all holds a winning ticket? What if a truly gifted athlete gets shut out?   That very well could happen, says the AD/Commissioner. But see, the way we've been doing it up to now discriminates against kids who weren't exposed to football at home. Not every young man is fortunate enough to have someone at home who is able to play catch with him, or teach the rules of the game. Is it fair to give the edge to the kid whose father taught him how to play football?   In our view, he says, the only fair way is that everyone who is interested should have an equal shot.   And what, exactly, are we trying to accomplish with this? you ask.   Diversity, he says.   Relax, fellas. It isn't happening to us. Yet.   But in Beaverton, Oregon, one of the state's largest and most affluent school districts is proposing to use the system described above to fill scarce openings in its Arts and Communications Magnet Academy, well regarded as a school for dancers, actors and musicians.   Up to now, students interested in the school have been required to write essays, submit teacher recommendations, and go through interviews to win coveted places in the school.   But now school leaders propose a simple lottery process. No essays, no recommendations, no interviews. Simply take a number. No muss, no fuss, no pots to clean.   Seems that the goal here is - drum roll, please - "diversity." In Beaverton, the People Who Know What's Best For Us believe that they can create a more "diverse" student body by encouraging more "minority and low-income students" to apply. To accomplish this feat of social engineering, though, it's going to require "removing barriers."   Such "barriers" as essays, recommendations, and interviews. The superintendent said that in his view, the current practice discriminates against those students who aren't normally exposed to the arts and sciences in their homes.   Said the superintendent, "Everyone who has an interest should have an equal shot."   Added a district spokesman, "This is a public school system, and we want equal access for all students."   Look out, coaches.   *********** Coach Wyatt: I haven't emailed you in a couple years.  I have been running the double wing here in ----- for 8 years now.  The past two years we have been 17-3 and went deep in the playoffs.    My question to you: have you been experimenting with some new formations or are you still sticking with the double tight set.  We have not been out of that set in 2 years but with all the team speed we have we are looking either for another couple formations or a package that can get us outside and exploit our speed.   Hi Coach- As a matter of fact, I have found after thorough analysis that I have been running about 1/3 Double Tight/Double Wing (plain vanilla), 1/3 balanced line (including split and flexed ends) with varied backfield sets, and 1/3 various unbalanced fronts with assorted backfield sets.   I have addressed the issue of flexibility in my last two years of clinics.   You would undoubtedly get a lot from my "Virtual Clinic 1" and "Virtual Clinic 2", which were filmed at actual clinics and deal extensively with the topic.   *********** Coach. As I was reading your newsletter I had a moment of deep thought. Or it might be a piece of Cuban pork sandwich dislodging from my arteries. Anyway, here it is. You contact NFL team. You do it for minimum living expenses. I will be your assistant in whatever you need. My minimum living expenses are real minimum. Even if they give me my current salary it is peanuts for NFL.   We put in Double Wing. If it does not work we walk away. But I have been studying the situation and I think we can make it work. I even have a team in mind. Dolphins or Detroit. The first one is because we will have a HECK of a good time. (Coach Castro is a Miami guy. HW) The latter, well that is obvious. Plus imagine what that will do for my resume. I can join the ranks of the geniuses of Roanoke.What do you think? Give me the word and I will contact them.Blessings Armando Castro, Roanoke, Virginia PS. Tell Connie not to worry. She will have a great time in Miami. I can even provide security for her in anything she wants to do. (Coach Castro is also a former Miami cop. HW)   Your idea is a great one. You no doubt read Jack Tourtillotte's annual offer. But as you know, people with good ideas are usually most unwelcome in the places where they are most needed.   This truth was driven into me back in 1967 or 1968 when I was working for a brewery in Baltimore. Now, I don't know if you realize what an advertising agency does, but basically it comes up with a marketing idea and then pitches it to the advertiser's marketing people, and from there, if the advertiser likes it, the agency runs with it, including purchases of advertising on various media. Our ad agency people thought very highly of their creative ability, and at the same time, like most people in their business, they thought that they had a monopoly on creativity, and they tended to be somewhat paranoid about anybody else coming up with fresh ideas. And just as an animal kills off any young potential rivals, many a good idea that we at the brewery had submitted to them had just disappeared, simply because it wasn't their idea.   It so happened that I submitted a marketing idea to my boss one day. I thought it was a damn good concept, and I had put a fair amount of work into working up the plan. My boss was very bright, and the kind of guy that you didn't submit something to unless you had dotted all your "i's" and crossed all your "t's". I had done that.   He was also a very good judge of human nature.   He read over my work very carefully, then handed it back to me and said, "That's good stuff. Now if we can just figure out a way to have the agency come up with the idea..."   That is why I always tell people that I can't sell the Double-Wing to somebody. He has to buy it. There is a difference - It has to be his idea.   And that is why no NFL coach will ever do what you suggest until you can figure out a way for him to come up with the idea.   *********** David Crump, in Owensboro, Kentucky, no great Bobby Petrino fan, sent along a rather creative song from a Louisville radio station --- http://images.radcity.net/6099/1757319.mp3   *********** Coach Jody Hagins of Summerville, South Carolina, a diehard South Carolina Gamecocks' fan, wrote regarding my respect for Jamarcus Russell's arm...   Coach Wyatt, Don't forget about another LSU QB with a cannon, Bert Jones.   Personally, I hope JaMarcus does go to the NFL. You see, LSU rotates onto our schedule, and it seems their "down" years are when they are OFF. I surely do not want to play AT LSU with him at QB next year. For grins, our other road games next year are Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas. We get Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Florida, Mississippi State, and Clemson at home (in addition to the 2 "extra" games... Louisiana Lafayette and SC State).   Damn, I think of an SEC schedule and I'm reminded of an old Dave Dudley truck drivin' song called "There Ain't No Easy Runs."   *********** I woke up last night in a cold sweat... I dreamt that Urban Meyer had kept his mouth shut, the way I once said he should, and as a result we wound up with an Ohio State-Michigan rematch to give us a True National Champion and settle all the questions once and for all.   Whew! Was I wrong. And now, after that close call - after seeing how close we came to having a totally bogus "national championship" game - I don't see how the BCS can avoid at least a "plus one" playoff.   *********** Coach Wyatt, I was searching for a baseball cap supplier last week when I came across the site: www.bigplay.com . I thought it might be a sign of the way things were going to go last night (Official Ohio State National Championship Apparel: Hats, Caps, T-Shirts, Bags, Blankets, and More.) Thought you might be interested. I wonder if they are planning an inventory reduction sale.   Respectfully, Mike Bordeau, Plattsburgh, New York   Funny you thought of that--- I was just telling a friend that one of these days we will probably start seeing news photos of guys in Third World countries herding goats and wearing OHIO STATE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS shirts that they got in CARE packages.   Actually, so cocky had certain people in Columbus become that I understand the Macy's stores in the Columbus area made special arrangements to reopen at 11 PM (after the all-but-assured Buckeye win) to sell National Championship souvenirs.   *********** For some reason the other night, I found myself just before game time deciding I was going to root for Florida. This is unusual for me, because for some reason I never root for any Florida team unless they're playing another Florida team. In this case, maybe I've grown tired of semiliterate NFL types announcing pretentiously that they are from "THE Ohio State University."   The game turned out to be an ass-kicking identical - even down to the score - to LSU's dispatching of Notre Dame. And, just like the LSU win, it wasn't a fluke.   I think that we all got caught up in a case of mass hysteria after Ohio State beat Texas, in the second game of the year. The self-deception continued to grow to the point where Ohio State was acknowledged unquestioningly as Number One because one by one, other BCS-conference unbeaten teams dropped out until only Ohio State remained. That, and the fact that everybody else said Ohio State was Number One, without really getting into quality of opposition. Ohio State was great because everybody said Ohio State was great.   What tricked us all was that just as Texas got a hell of a lot of carryover effect after beating Ohio State in 2005, Ohio State got an huge bump in rep after beating Texas this year.   And even though subsequent events would prove that Texas was not all that good, from that point on, Ohio State was held out as the gold standard, without any more basis for the claim than that win over Texas.   The close win over Michigan was supposed to be the clencher. Forget the bowl games, some of the Wise People said. We've just seen the national championship game. Just give the trophy to Ohio State.   And so Ohio State was supposed to me great because it beat Michigan, which as we have since learned was not a great team.   Things look a lot different in retrospect, now that we can analyze schedules a little more carefully. I've compared Ohio State and Florida, using three arbitrary categories of opponents - A- Quality teams having good years; B- Usually good teams having so-so years, or decent teams from lesser conferences; C- Weaker teams   Ohio State Wins: C- Weaker teams (5) - Bowling Green, Michigan State, Indiana, Illinois, Northwestern; B- Usually good teams having so-so years, or decent teams from lesser conferences (4) - Northern Illinois, Cincinnati, Iowa, Minnesota; A- Quality teams having good years (3) - Texas, Penn State, Michigan   Florida Wins: C- Weaker teams (3) - Central Florida, Vanderbilt, Western Carolina; B- Usually good teams having so-so years, or decent teams from lesser conferences (3) - Southern Mississippi, Alabama, Florida State; A- Quality teams having good years (6) - Tennessee, Kentucky, LSU, Georgia, South Carolina, Arkansas; Florida Loss (1) - Auburn   Looking at it in hindsight, Ohio State - the entire Big Ten for that matter - has been exposed. I question whether Ohio State would have made it to the SEC championship game.   The saddest thing about it all is the discovery that we are still at the mercy of the polls, and the football media are no better qualified than the coaches to vote for a national champion - after the whipping that Ohio State took, they still finished second in the AP poll.   *********** After one time around the BCS, Fox showed that it is an NFL network, and is not up to the job of covering college football. The studio group - some guy I never heard of, plus Jimmy Johnson (that great friend of college football whose legacy is Miami thugs in camouflage outfits), plus Emmitt Smith and Eddie George, was really lame. The best they could give us was two former pro stars woofing about their former schools, meanwhile cutting into the start of the national anthem.   Up in the broadcast booth? Didn't know the play-by-play guy. Guess that's because I'm a college football fan, and Fox doesn't know from college football. Barry Alvarez was a hell of a coach but he's nothing special as an analyst, and who the hell is Charles Davis?   FOX loves to impose its brand on us, going way over the top with bizarre graphics, and more than any other network, it seems to feel the need to be bigger than the show itself. As just one example, the people in the seats were treated to the spectacle of the Ohio State band doing not one, but two script "Ohios", but instead of seeing that those people were seeing, the director repeatedly took us back and forth, from the wide-angle shot of one of the wonders of the college football spectacle, to the worst place in the stadium to watch a band from - down on the field - so that we could look into the faces of band members.   *********** Did anybody else notice that on the opening kickoff, Florida's Reggie Nelson might have made the tackle except that he was held from behind? Somebody grabbed that f--king mop of hair hanging out from under his helmet!   *********** Definition of " Irony" Ohio State players on the sideline near the end of the game last night wearing "GATORADE" towels over their heads. Tim Brown, Jackson, Tennessee   *********** Coach, Your last paragraph of today's News hits it all right between the eyes. The overwhelming affluence that occurs in some areas of our society has created the "beyond the reach of the rest of us" rich in both politics and sports. BTW, what will Saban contract foist now upon colleges/AD's for future hires at that level of football?   Best wishes for a Happy New Year for you and your family Hugh!   Regards, Matt Bastardi, Montgomery, New Jersey (Saban's hire was what I call a "ratchet job." Its effect will be felt throughout college football. I remember a few years ago when I was talking with a former college AD, who said that all the other ADs were pissed at Barbara Hedges - then UW's AD - for paying far more money to Rick Neuheisel than she had to, and thereby ratcheting up every other coach's - and agent's - salary expectations. HW)   *********** Coach- You caught that too? Diversity/adversity...my first thought after pissing myself laughing was that this is exactly why we should not teach vocabulary in HS. In trying to sound smart this guy uses a big word he has heard incorrectly.   I need ketchup so I can eat my words. Florida played like the real deal. The Buckeyes looked like my favorite Big 10 team all year (the Hawkeyes).   I turned down Alabama...they only offered me $2 million a year. Told 'em I needed to be able to feed my family. LOL (actually I offered them $2.50 a month to let me be the head coach, but they said they needed more if I was going to run Double Wing. If I would change to a modern offense my amount would be okay.   I know you are excited to hear that Jay Z is back (at least according to the commercial for Bud Select). Never knew he had gone anywhere....   So my excuse if I get beat next year in week 1 is that we had a really long layoff (much longer than the 51 days tOSU had).   I like Mora Sr.s commercial...I still get a kick out of "Playoffs? Playoffs? Playoffs?".   Send T.O. and Romo to the Raiders. I saw enough of TO to puke, and saw Romo pouting on the sideline...my reaction to that was "Get Bledsoe ready!" Bledsoe (whom I really do not like much) never pouted in public. Even when Brady took over for him in New England. Cowboys need to get Jamarcus Russell or Chris Leak from what I saw.   tOSU (Smith especially) - can anyone say Ronnie Harmon (Iowa - Rose Bowl vs. UCLA)   I know I have hit many topics. I am in a rambling mood today due to my having to face so dang much diversity today.   My best to you and Connie.   Thinking Kala will be buying me your new DVD set for my birthday coming up. do not be surprised if she calls you!   Will get some possible camp dates to you soon, now trying to finalize my summer schedule based on our proposed school calendar.   Brad Knight, Holstein, Iowa     The Black Lion Award, beautifully explained by Coach Derek Wade, of Sumner, Washington --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yy6iA_6skQ   (BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM!). BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Army's Will Sullivan wore his Black Lion patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners

Anybody Else Want a Piece of Florida??? (See"NEWS") Hey Cowboys - You Ever Heard of "FIRE?" (See"NEWS") "Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it." (Proverbs, Chapter 8, Verses 10-11)   January 9, 2007 - "History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. History is who we are and why we are the way we are." Historian David McCullough   WESTMINSTER, MARYLAND BLACK LIONS     *********** Just think, all you fans of a playoff - or even a "Plus One" - it could be Florida against USC next week.   STOP! ENOUGH ALREADY! Florida did what they had to do. Give it to them!!!   They are fun to watch and they played a hell of a game. How would you like them to beat you? Defense? Running? Passing? They were modern and they were Old School. Their last touchdown was scored on a classic single-wing tailback off-tackle play, with the blocking back kicking out.   If you think that USC (or Boise State) could have beaten the Gators, cool. Tell it to the people from Auburn. (Isn't it great that it still isn't settled?)   *********** My final argument FOR the present system and AGAINST a playoff... Half that stadium was Ohio State people and half were Florida people. There was enthusiasm. If those teams had played the week before, who knows how many of their fans could have afforded to come back for another game? The result, undoubtedly, would have been a Super Bowl-type crowd, with maybe 10 per cent of the people big Ohio State boosters and 10 per cent big Florida boosters, with the rest of the tickets scattered around their conferences and the other BCS conferences. What we would have would be less of a game and more of an event. *********** Joey Harrington was at the UCLA-Oregon basketball game Saturday, and he was interviewed at halftime. Barry Tompkins asked him about the difference between the college and the pro game, and Harrington said that the pro game is "all business." He said that there is a lot more "continuity and stability" in college football, noting that the next Dolphins' head coach will be his fifth head coach in five years.   Joked Tompkins (jokingly), "You're a coach killer!"   "Easy does it," said Harrington, no doubt aware of Jim Mora, Sr.'s unfortunate characterization of Michael Vick.   *********** Does anybody really think this deal was done in the short time since Mora left? To believe that, you'd have to believe that he's not the kind of guy to be making deals while a coach is still in place. What's that? You say he did the same dance with Auburn while Tommy Tuberville was still coaching the Tigers? Never mind.   So Bobby Petrino finally found the deal he wanted. But not before he got Louisville to cut him a new ten-year deal. Then he left for Atlanta. In two or three years, like Nick Saban, he'll be back at a college that agrees to pay him more money, saying that his family likes the college atmosphere better. It certainly won't be about the money. He and pro football deserve each other.   Saban for Petrino - it's a fair swap.   *********** "I think it'll bring us extra-closer," a Louisville player was quoted as saying about Petrino's departure.. "We've faced diversity this whole season."   I think he meant "adversity," but sometimes, the way "diversity" is shoved in our faces, it's hard to tell the difference.   *********** Hugh, We were listening to Mel Kiper and his booth buddy on the way up to my cousin's wedding yesterday. Kiper tried to argue that Oklahoma wasn't properly motivated for the Fiesta Bowl "because they weren't playing for a national championship."   He said if it had been a playoff "and they had something to play for" OU would have prepared harder.   I said, wait a second - OU took the lead after trailing by 18 points, and was in position to win if any of those Boise State gadget plays had failed. It's not like they go wiped off the field. Kiper said the Fiesta Bowl was "a meaningless game for Oklahoma."   This kind of crap is really starting to offend me, in that journalists try to insult my intelligence by telling me I shouldn't care about nationally-televised college football events because they aren't playing for the big one. With his status as a "draft guru," I question how much Kiper actually knows about the game itself. Christopher Anderson, Palo Alto, California (At first, Mel Kiper, Jr. was simply a highly energetic, extremely ambitious draftnik; all he knew was the telephone numbers of people on the inside who gave him the information that he foisted off on us as his. By now, it is possible that he has absorbed enough of what he has heard over the years that he actually knows something about pro personnel. But he knows next to nothing about the game itself.   So it was a meaningless game for Oklahoma because they weren't playing for the national championship? They knew weeks before, when they picked up their second loss, against Texas, that that wasn't going to happen, but somehow they sucked it up and won eight "meaningless" games in a row - five of them over bowl teams - including the conference championship.   That doesn't sound to me like a team that folded its tents once it learned it wouldn't be playing for the national championship.   Oklahoma didn't play badly. They were simply not a great team. On those occasions against Boise State (such as the first play of overtime) when we saw flashes of the old Adrian Peterson, it wasn't hard to see how how good they could have been with him - and a stronger passing game.   The Oklahoma that played Boise State was a good team, but they were not a great team. I think it was a hell of a great game, and I admire Boise State for beating them, but undefeated record or not, there is no way that a miraculous one-point win over that Oklahoma team qualifies Boise State for a shot at Ohio State. HW)   -Press people like to say dramatically "NOBODY thought Boise State was gonna beat Oklahoma!" I've seen enough football that I thought they could beat them, and I don't think I'm alone in that.   What I find interesting is that the press fawned over Florida's strength of schedule to back up the BCS' selection of the Gators. But now, all wrapped up in Boise State's emotion, they think the Broncos - with by far the weakest schedule in the Top Ten - should get a shot at Ohio State.   If I didn't think Boise State had a chance of winning, I wouldn't have watched.   Good point regarding the strength of schedule. You can't use it to bolster one argument while dismissing it when it gets in the way of another.   *********** Tell me again how exciting the playoffs are - you know, when it's all on the line, and there's no tomorrow? As "meaningless" as we're told they were, were there any bowl games as dull as the Colts-Chiefs game? Were there any as poorly played as the Cowboys-Seahawks game?   Listening to ESPN radio Sunday morning, I twice heard them say something that I've been saying for years - the NFL is putting a poor product on the field. Now, if they're saying it on ESPN, it is only a matter of time before every football fan in America who doesn't paint his face on Sundays wakes up and realizes that the NFL emperor isn't wearing any clothes - that college football is a far superior game.   A major reason the ESPN guys gave was coaching turnover - over the last two years, there have been 16 coaching changes in a 32-team league! Not only does this mean that coaches scarcely have time to install their systems before they're canned, but it also means that the tremendous number of NFL coaching openings - combined with the fact that college coaches can strike it rich right where they are, without ever having to go to the pros - results in what appears to be a real dearth of highly-qualified people to fill those openings.   I think part of the problem of sloppy, inconsistent play is that there are too many players who do not really belong playing at the top level of the game. There are too teams, with too many people on the rosters, and there are simply not enough really quality players to fill those rosters. (Think quarterbacks.) There were fewer dropped passes in the average college bowl game than in either of Saturday's two NFL playoff games.   I think another part of the problem is overcoaching - operating with playbooks as thick as the New York phonebook and ending up doing way too many things in a half-assed way, rather than doing fewer things and doing them well.   And then there is free agency, which means that players are constantly having to become acquainted with new coaches, new systems, new plays and new teammates. Vince Lombardi could never have built his Packer dynasty under today's chaotic system.   And, in perhaps the biggest contrast with college football, in the NFL free agency - and agents - create a climate of selfishness, which has had a lethal effect on team spirit. There is about the NFL a sense that players are totally in it for themselves.   And then there is the sedative known as the field goal effect. The Eagles showed it off against the Giants. Tied, 20-20 with just under two minutes to play, they faced a 38-yard field goal, yet so sure were they that they'd make it that they ran the clock all the way down to a second or two - and then made it. Imagine a basketball team being able to stall until there was one second left, then sending a guy out to win the game with an uncontested free throw. Be still, my beating heart.   Oh- and did I mention the lifetime that passes between plays? The intervals are so long that it's very easy to get distracted and miss a play.   And then there are the TV networks. They are so busy using football to push other programs and interview celebrities who "just happen" to be in attendance (and "just happen" to be on a show that'll be on the network that week) that they are killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.   *********** It wouldn't be a national championship game without at least one Ohio State player wanting to be paid. A couple of them sounded off the other day about all the money they're making for the university, while receiving no pay.   Now, without getting into the simple fact that they're getting a chance for a free education, and if they wish to blow it by signing up for a bunch of public administration and ethnic studies courses and then skip classes anyhow, that's unfortunate.   But they show their total ignorance of the economics of big-time sports by implying that bowl money is "found money."   Not so. With an NCAA-high 36 sports to support, even Ohio State needs every nickel it can get its hands on.   As it is now, according to Ohio State's report to the NCAA, last year their football program brought in $60.8 million. After expenses of $32.3 (unusually high because of almost $17 million toward debt service and operations and maintenance on assorted facilities) the football program showed a profit of $28.5 million - but all of it went toward the support of Ohio State's 35 other sports, and by the time the year was over, the entire program showed a profit of only $2.9 million.   That's all that's left to pay athletes, and that $2.9 million is going to have to be divided many, many ways, and not just paid out to football players.   That's because in the event that college players ever were to get paid, I have two words for any of those football players who think that they would be the only ones splitting up the loot: TITLE IX.   You can be sure that for every male, revenue-producing athlete who gets paid something, there will be one non-revenue-producing female athlete also being paid the same amount.   Assuming that Ohio State would be willing or able to commit its entire athletic department surplus to "athletes' payroll," I rather doubt that the sums of money being paid out would be what OSU football players had in mind when they thought about bowl revenues (much of which will have to be distributed among the other Big Ten conference members).   It all could prove to be academic, anyhow, because the whole business of big-time college sports is in Congress' crosshairs right now. With both houses of Congress already highly skeptical about any relationship between college sports and education and bringing college sports' tax-exempt status into question, Alabama's extravagant offer to Nick Saban is not going to make them go away.   *********** One of the talking heads on the Chiefs-Colts broadcast mentioned that once you get to the playoffs, the officials are "all-stars," too.   "They make the playoffs just the same as you do as a team," he said.   I had visions of officials scouting other officials, and taking cheap shots at them, and checking their stats to make sure they don't call too many holding penalties.   *********** Listed among recent births in our local newspaper were the latest entrants in the children-as-pets phenomenon, best exemplified by the way people name their kids as if they were puppies and kittens.   One was a baby boy named Maverick and the other was a baby girl named Princess.   Predicts my wife, who spent the last several years of her 30-year elementary school career dealing with such designer names, "They'll live up to those names."   *********** The Kansas City Chiefs lost a touchdown - and maybe the game? - because they spend so much time on their passing game that they didn't have the time to teach their quarterback the correct footwork.   They were on the Colts' one-yard line, and as Trent Green reverse-pivoted to the left make a simple handoff, his left guard, sealing to the inside, stepped on his left foot, which hadn't even begun to move even though the ball had been snapped. Green stumbled and lost yardage, and that was the closest the Chiefs would get to the end zone all day.   There aren't many Double-Wing coaches out there - youth, middle school or high school - who don't know how to deal with pulling guards by getting the QB out of there.   *********** I'll be damned if I can understand the point of those Coors Light "post-game press conference" commercials, but now they've added Mike Ditka and Jim Mora (Sr.) to their all-star cast.   Almost makes you wish for a return of Kid Rock and the Twee-uns.   *********** There are 45 second left in the half, too far to kick a field goal, but the Cowboys' Tony Romo appears to pick up the first down, throwing it to Terrell Owens coming across the field.   And Owens drops another one.   If he were a kid on your team, you'd probably pull him. At the very least, you'd tell your QB not to throw to him (assuming he hasn't figured that out on his own).   Do you suppose nobody down there in Dallas has the stones to tell Jerry Jones that he's gone and guaranteed millions to a guy who can't play any more?   *********** The thing I haven't heard mentioned about the Romo blunder is that the Cowboys lost to the Steelers because they didn't have what EVERY high school team worth a sh-- does. Built into every PAT or FG play is a "FIRE!" call, meaning that when there is any screwup in the operation, the holder yells "FIRE!" and the two ends break for the corners as pass receivers. Considering that Romo was left with no option but to run, it appears that the Cowboys, with a dozen or so coaches on their staff, were too busy to deal with such a small detail.   *********** Based on the Cowboys' late-season swoon, has it occurred to anybody that maybe - just maybe - Bill Parcells, who initially got so much praise for replacing Drew Bledsoe with Tony Romo, might have committed a colossal blunder in doing so?   *********** While Tony Romo was sulking on the bench after mishandling the snap on the FG attempt, wouldn't you have thought somebody on that coaching staff would have come over and said, "Hey- Get your head outtta your a$$! We're gonna get the ball back!!!"   *********** The people at Anheuser-Busch are great marketers, so I guess they've considered this in their positioning Budweiser Select as the beer of choice of rapper Jay-Z and his like - but has it occurred to them that those commercials are alienating a huge segment of the beer-drinking market that finds the whole hip-hop scene offensive?   *********** Saw a lot of commercials for "The Hitcher." They tell us it's "From the Producers of the Texas Chain Saw Massacre," so you know it's got to be good.   *********** Paul Brown once said that the best play in football is the one that goes straight ahead. And the second-best play in football is the one that goes almost straight ahead.   The Seahawks had a first-and-goal at the one, and damned if they didn't choose the third- or fourth-best play in that situation, and run wide on first down - and lose four yards.   *********** Because of the climate of political correctness now pervading America, those of us in KENTUCKY will no longer be referred to as HILLBILLIES. We ask that you now refer to us as BLUEGRASS-AMERICANS.   Thank you!   Now if you'll excuse me, I got possums to fry. David Crump, Owensboro, Kentucky   *********** Keith Babb, a former youth coach from Northbrook, Illinois who got the bug so bad he's now employed fulltime with a professional recruiting service, National Collegiate Scouting Association (www.ncsasports.org), offered to write me a little summary of the Army All-Star game last weekend:   Coach Wyatt: Here are a few thoughts about what I observed the last few days (Jan 3rd - 7th) in San Antonio, TX.   First, I had the pleasure of speaking to a number of Army officers and non-com's. The benefit the Army receives from sponsoring this game is recruitment and retention. Out of the 35,000 plus people attending at least 7,000 are current soldiers and there were quite a number of veterans who stood up when asked. There is a large space outside of the Alamo Dome that accommodates displays of various Army equipment. I got to speak extensively with Major General Knightner who confirmed the value of sponsoring this game to the Army. During the pre-game activities, the 80 participating athletes were introduced to the crowd and to one of 80 decorated "heroes" who served in Afghanistan or Iraq. During half-time, 100 new recruits took recited their oath and 2 newly minted 2nd Lieutenants had their bars pinned on. And you'd be proud of the soldier who sang the National Anthem the right wa y . Oh by the way, I didn't hear anyone start cheering early. All waited respectfully until the singer finished the last word.   As for the game, there were too many artificial timeouts, including the "hat" ceremony, so the game lasts 45 minutes longer than it should. Ryan Mallett, who's going to Michigan, was much better than the highly touted Jimmy Clausen. The MVP, Chris Gallipo (USC), was a beast on the field. He clearly deserved the trophy. Unfortunately, he'll be joined at USC with a D - lineman out of Arizona who is a total tool. He thumped his chest after a tackle for loss, but he didn't thump his chest when he jumped off sides about 3 plays later. Go figure!   The real reason for me being there was to evaluate kids at the combine that is run at the same time as the game. So I saw and met roughly 500 juniors and 50 sophomores who participated in the combine. I really enjoyed talking to the parents. As a group, the kids were respectful and competitive. Some of the parents were out of control in their praise of their kids. But no one struck me as being over the top bad kids. No one had a posse or an entourage. I met a number of ex-college and NFL football players. Among them, Major Ogilvie, ex - Alabama running back, Frank Ros, captain of Georgia's 1980 national championship team, Manu Tuiasosopo, ex - KC Chiefs, and a few others. All of their kids have been raised well and were a pleasure to talk to. As you might imagine, I discussed the newly hired football coach with Mr. Ogilvie. Obviously, Alabama is glad to have him but I wonder, like you, what k ind of precedent that kind of money will do to the major college game. More harm than good, I fear. My week was made when I asked Mr. Ogilvie about the Tennessee vs Alabama rivalry compared to the Alabama vs Auburn rivalry. He said that he's asked about that from time to time and he always explains to people that Auburn never cost Alabama a national championship. Tennessee has.   From a recruiting standpoint, roughly 1500 kids were invited to this combine and 550 showed up. Out of those 550, about 65 - 75 will have no problem being recruited. They are the blue-chippers that every major college program wants and knows about. Another segment of about 75 players probably had no business being there. As such, they probably learned that they won't play in college. The remaining players have a legitimate shot of playing college football at the lower levels. Depending on their grades, they can all receive a first-class education and have it paid for because of their football skills. I hope to work with a few of those kids to help them achieve their goals. It's always gratifying to meet such motivated and outstanding student-athletes. A number of them had great grades and test scores. They impressed me as having great character, also. It seems that the only news we get from this age group is neg ative. I'm happy to report that in the large majority of cases, this generation is doing a good job of living up to high standards and the parents that are raising them are doing a good job.   Finally, I had the good fortune of spending a lot of time with Coach Bob Chmeil. Coach was on Bo Schembechler's staff for 15 years and was with Lou Holtz at Notre Dame during his tenure. Coach Chmeil was recruiting coordinator for both programs. He also worked with Lee Corso early in his career. Coach told a lot of great stories about Coach Schembechler and Coach Holtz. He also had the inside scoop on the Bob Davies' mutiny. It's a classic example of the rogue, disloyal assistant. It also confirms your excellent advise to coaches to get rid of disloyal assistants immediately. Nothing good comes out of keeping them around. Coach gave a great speech to the assembled student-athletes and their parents. In it he gave the following advice. You need to do 3 things to have a chance to play in college. First, have great character. That means doing the right thing and not hanging around with the wrong pe ople. Second, earn good grades. There are student-athletes who could be playing in college but didn't earn the grades to do so. And, finally, play hard on every play. He received a great ovation.   I'll close with two items from Coach Chmeil. First, when I asked him about the hat ceremony, he said that he'd tell any recruit who wanted to do that to pick another school, don't be putting his school in that position. Second, he told a joke that is going around among football coaches: What do marijuana and Notre Dame have in common? They both get smoked in a bowl!   Regards, Keith Babb (Keith offered to help anyone with questions about recruiting - babbrenta@comcast.net)   *********** With few exceptions, NFL coaches are a generally humorless, unsmiling lot, and the Giants' Tom Coughlin comes across as perhaps the sourest of them all.   The Giants give you the impression of a team ready to mutiny against his rule at any time, yet the amazing thing is that I have heard Army fans say what a great hire Coughlin would be at West Point.   Now, apart from the fact that I happen to believe in the coach that Army already has, I think, after a whole day of the stuff they have to deal with, the last thing those Army football players need is to go out on the field and listen to Tom Coughlin's sh--.   David Maraniss writes in his biography of Vince Lombardi ("When Pride Still Mattered") that Lombardi tried that when he first arrived at West Point, and head coach Earl Blaik had to remind him that he didn't want his players coached that way.   Writes Maraniss,   The irony was that the cadets spent most of their hours at West Point with someone in their face, as they rehearsed drills on the Plain, and marched through archways to classes and meals, and made their beds and lined up for inspection, always with someone vociferously demanding more of them - and they looked forward to football practice as a respite from the daily grind. Lombardi threatened the equilibrium - he came in attacking - and there was some culture shock at first. The players were not accustomed to being confronted so vigorously; some hated him for it. This was part of the "rough soul" that Blaik saw in him and tried to soften. "He toned down my temper, or tried to," Lombardi said of Blaik years later. "When I'd get too intense or explosive on the field, he'd call me into the office the next day and sit there and look at me and twirl his class ring - West Point 1920 - and say, 'Vince, we just don't do it that way at West Point. You can't talk that way to cadets. You can't drive them that way because they're being driven all day.'"   *********** Hugh, I was watching the Giants game when Jeremy Shockey's helmet popped off. The announcers (Boomer Esiason, I think, who I tend to like) talked about how much desire he has and how tough he is because he kept going without his helmet.  I wanted to scream at them that his helmet came off probably because it doesn't fit properly, and that didn't make him a tough guy.  Too many helmets come off at contact in the NFL (you've addressed this before).  Too many chin straps are only single snapped (except for the "big play").  Too many players obviously don't wear, or even pretend to wear, the required equipment.  It makes our jobs very difficult when this is what our kids have to look up to   Did you notice that to have success this weekend teams had to RUN THE BALL?  One announcer even mentioned a "sub-par performance by Peyton Manning that was overcome by Adai (spelling?)."  Along with good running games came poor tackling.   I don't remember the game, but it was 1st and goal on the 1 and they kicked a field goal.  Threw twice.  Grow a set and punch it in.    I liked the Giants using their 285 pound quarterback from Kentucky to get the first down on 4th and short.    Have a great day. Todd Hollis, Head Football Coach, Elmwood-Brimfield Coop, Elmwood, Illinois (Your observation about the helmet is SO right on. I watch those guys pop them on and off and shake my head. But then, who's going to stand up to those prima donnas and tell them what to wear or how to wear it? I can't remember the last time I saw a helmet come off in a high school game, and I don't want to hear that it's because the pros hit so hard.   Don't even get me started on the pants.   Who ever thought he'd see the day when football pants were shorter than basketball "shorts?" HW)   *********** Coach, I am making an "call to arms" for a great cause. Sgt. Hector Rodriguez, a youth football coach, is stationed in Afghanistan defending our way of life. He wants to learn all about the single wing so he can coach his boy this autumn when he returns home. That said, I am asking everyone I know who has something to share (a cutup DVD or VHS, scans on CD-ROM, a playback, a systemwide implementation, etc.) to please mail them to me. I will offer my services as a "collection point", accumulate everything into one box and ship it out to his APO. My goal is to ship this the 1st week of February.   Mail to: Todd Brass - 218 Butler Road - Union, ME 04862   *********** Good Morning Hugh, Wonderful job with the News today full of great stuff. A couple of comments-- Boise State play for the winning two points, although, coming off the pass fake sure reminded me of our 7C.   Secondly Here is my yearly offer to any NFL teams to install a goal line offense that will score touch downs 80% of the time form the ten yard line in or they don't have to pay me (notice I did not say field goals). Of course I am talking about the Double Wing. A perfect balanced front with great goal line plays and play action passes. Given the scouting at that level and choice of talent I am sure any good DW coach could install such an offense and be very successful.   Third, The Boston College but their win is rooted in something I have heard you say numerous times. Head coaches should not do anything to lose the game for their teams with their play calling -- over the years you have given numerous examples and talks on this subject. Also could not help but think of another example of your teaching when the option pitch went awry. The numerous times you said the option is a great play but it takes so much to perfect that DW coaches need to consider that before doing much with the option. Navy has hours of time to perfect the pitch but fumbled it at most inappropriate time.   Finally, I think you should do DVD release just on the DW passing game and play action passes. I know it would be a great seller and you have so much knowledge in this area you should consider doing it -- just my thought.   Jack Tourtillotte, Boothbay Harbor, Maine   *********** Now on to the matter of Nick Saban...I got sick listening to him BS his way through his press conference at Alabama. The $$$ involved is likewise sickening. I got the sense that Wayne Huizenga was relieved to see him go, b/c with his paltry results with the Dolphins, another bad season and Wayne would have had to fire him. I think I mentioned to you before that I had a soft spot in my heart for Bama...well the emphasis is now squarely centered on the word "had." I will be ordering a Boise State hat on my next paycheck. I have always admired the way they play and keep going despite being a stepping stone for so many coaches. I hope coach Peterson sticks around, he seems like a good guy.   Best Wishes in '07.   Sam Keator, Litchfield, Connecticut   *********** Coach, Happy New Year to you and your family. I hope you enjoyed the bowl season as much as I did. I found this clarification of WVU's "sleeper play" posted online and thought I'd share it with yo.   The "Sleeper Play" is not a play at all. It happens all the time but usually it isn't quite so dramatic and on national TV.   Here's the deal: The lineman are trained to go on the snap count, not the ball movement. Dan Mozes, being an All-World center and a pretty sharp cookie, has the option of snapping the ball whenever he thinks he can catch a defender across the line of scrimmage. The QB has the option on falling on the ball or executing the called play. This time, since it was a streak route and the receiver got free, White decided to go for it and it worked. Mozes holding his position so long and then falling on his face at the end was a nice touch.   This "play" has been a regular part of WVU's offense since Rodriguez got here. It is one of those things that he thinks demonstrates the discipline that he demands in his team.   The other thing they do to demonstrate discipline that people seldom notice is to hand the ball to the official after every play. Even on huge game-turning plays when the first instinct is to spike the ball or dance around, the WVU player will first seek out the nearest official and hand them the ball. Not throw it to them, not leave it on the ground, but hand the ball to the official. It is a team rule. It started as part of the "Spot the Ball" strategy Rodriguez preached the first two years, but I first became aware of the practice last year when I read a comment from an official that said how much he enjoyed working WVU games because he didn't spend so much time running after the ball.   I've seen the Mountaineers do that against my beloved Scarlet Knights several times over the years. It really is demoralizing to the other team (especially when it happens several times against undisciplined teams). I was unaware of them always handing the ball back to the official, I'll have to go back and watch for that.   Craig Torres, Flemington New Jersey (Thanks, Coach- Actually, the true "sleeper" play was when the offense would huddle with only 10 men, and just before the ball was snapped, a receiver, unnoticed, would step off his team's sideline and onto the field. And then the ball would be snapped.   At one of the first college games I ever saw, in 1948, Washington and Jefferson pulled it off against Lafayette, in Easton, Pa. Future Rams' All-Pro Dan (Deacon Dan) Towler was on the receiving end. I had no idea, of course, what had gone on, and my brother (nine years older than me and the source of a lot of my love and knowledge of the game) had to explain it to me. But after all these years, here's what I still would like to know: as good as everybody knew Towler was - how could he have slipped onto the field unnoticed? HW)   *********** Evidently New Mexico State is giving "Pistol Pete" back his guns back after complaints from students and fans.   *********** Archie Manning, recently hired as a spokesman for AstroTurf, helped Nicholls State get a new $500,000 AstroTurf. field, and in return the new field will be named in honor of the Manning family.   *********** We keep hearing politicians talk about the ever-growing gap between the Very Rich and the Rest of Us. I wonder when they're going to get around to looking at what's happening in the field of football coaching, with 40 or so college coaches making well in excess of $1 million a year. At that point, with rare exceptions, they become indistinguishable from our ruling-class politicians, with all the ethics that implies. They are football's version of US Senators, the super stars of our politics, and like those lordly members of our ruling class, they have won numerous political battles to get where they are, and now they are preoccupied with amassing (and protecting) wealth and power. They are totally insulated from the hoi polloi. Just like senators, they are surrounded by bloated numbers of staffers totally dedicated to them and totally at their mercy. As an illustration of the royal style to which they are accustomed, you would be amazed at the perks specified in their contracts, from cars to country-club memberships to luxury boxes, and at the "bowl bonuses" and assorted incentive clauses (LSU's Les Miles' contract specifies that should LSU win the national championship, his salary will be adjusted so that it is no lower than the third highest among all college coaches). And then there are the large sums the super star coaches are paid for being "advisors" to shoe and apparel companies, which in effect means offering up their players as unpaid models and tacit endorsers. They have almost nothing in common with the average high school head coach who is paid an annual stipend of maybe $5000 along with his teaching job, or the youth coach who works for free. It is the difference between a Lord John Kerry-Heinz and a member of the local school board.   (BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM!). BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Army's Will Sullivan wore his Black Lion patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners

Hey, BCS: Time to Take Another Look at ND! (See"NEWS") Nick Saban Finds Another Home He'll Never Leave! (See"NEWS") "Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it." (Proverbs, Chapter 8, Verses 10-11)   January 5, 2007 - "Truth is the glue that holds government together - not only government, but civilization itself." President Gerald Ford   *********** Coach Armando Castro writes from Roanoke, Virginia...   Coach. Reading this e mail was truly uplifting and re assuring to me. In a time when my worry for our country is at an all time high.I receive this e mail from an institution that is still molding young men like this. God bless,Armando   From: Michael.Viti@usma.edu   Sir, First off, please excuse my tardy response. We just arrived back at West Point and I did not access my email account while on leave. I wanted to thank you for your extremely kind words and support. I will take them all into next season and look forward to returning to the field next season with as much vigor as I can supply.   Tomorrow night will be our annual banquet where I will receive the award. I will be sure to send a picture to the young man you mentioned in your previous email. Again, thank you very much and please forgive my unacceptable delayed response. Have a great day.   Very Respectfully,   CDT Viti   *********** While the BCS is doing a little off-season tweaking (which gave us Boise State this year), let's hope they tweak it a little more and raise the BCS bar for Notre Dame, since it is obvious after nine straight bowl losses that Notre Dame's privileged status has allowed it to bypass better qualified teams (I can think of Auburn and Wisconsin just this year), and worm its way into bowl games it's not prepared to compete in.   At the same time, the BCS should modify its payout to non-conference independents (i.e., Notre Dame). Notre Dame's share of BCS money should be no greater than what the highest participating conference member's share would be, after making distributions to the rest of its conference. From the standpoint of the schools against whom Notre Dame recruits and competes, the present system of allowing one single school to rake in as much money from a bowl game as an entire conference is insane.   *********** I don't watch a whole lot of baseball any more, but I guess a female named Jeanne Zelasko endeared herself to baseball fans while covering the 2005 All-Star Game in Detroit. Evidently, while interviewing Tigers' longtime announcer Ernie Harwell, she abruptly cut him off a mere 17 seconds into the interview, as Harwell was talking about Tiger Hall of Famer Al Kaline. Gee, what hardcore baseball fan would want to hear a Hall of Fame announcer talking about a Hall of Fame outfielder when he can listen to a ditzy female?   Now, Ms. Zelasko is the latest in the seemingly unending line of sideline bimbos inflected on football fans. Thanks a lot, Fox.   Making her debut at the Sugar Bowl, she came off as a tactile sort, who couldn't keep her hands off the coaches she was interviewing. And she wouldn't shut the f--k up, thinking somehow that we wanted to hear her rather than Les Miles. (Actually, she was right in one respect - I'd rather hear anybody than Charlie Weis.)   She saved her best for the end, though, when she closed her interview with LSU wide receiver Dwayne Bowe by saying, "Continued success in the NFL... You got your celebration dance already worked out?"   *********** The guys in the booth said ND needed more speed. Uh-oh. Remember Paul Hornung ("We need to lower the academic standards")? And Fisher DeBerry ("We need more Afro-Americans")? I would suggest that they say no more. STOP... RIGHT... THERE....   ********** Hugh, I agree it was a hell of a game and afterwards I couldn't go to sleep/ I mean I thought they were doomed after the INT for a TD. But like in the Rocky movie "it ain't over till it's over"! I like BSU's staff, and as with my dealings with Coach Peterson, he is a humble man, and a man of his word/ he told Hawkins numerous times he wouldn't leave and I also know he thought of his family as one of his sons has battled cancer and he thought Boise was the best place to fight it. Also it is amazing how many players on that BSU team are walk ons and contributors. take care Mike Foristiere, Boise, Idaho   *********** To think that if we had a playoff system, all that Boise State joy would have been shortlived, because BSU would have had exactly 24 hours to enjoy the win, then get to work on next week's game.   Which they might very well lose.   And so, instead of spending the off-season on the high of a big win, they'd go home losers.   And all those Boise State people in the stands at the Fiesta Bowl? They had weeks to arrange time off from work, get baby-sitters, make travel arrangements.   Think they'd be able to fly back to Boise and in two or three days' time pull that off again?   All this so we can "finally" have a "true national champion?"   All you people crying for one - shouldn't you be getting back to your Fantasy League?   *********** Coach, Isn't this the greatest??? One bowl after another...but I have to admit that you west coast guys have it all over us here on the eastern front. I only caught the first quarter of the Boise St. game the other night (early to bed early to rise, etc. etc.)   A few notes.   1) The Navy game really upset me and my staff. We were at my house (wives included) celebrating the New Year and watching the game. We're New Englander's, but you know we love the ground game. "WTF was that?" is all I could think of. Damned shame. Another thought about the Navy game....why put in "Mr. Alabama Football" at the very beginning? He cost a turnover. My thought is "stick with what got you there." But what do I know. I'm just a high school coach.   2) WTF is "trickeration"?   3) Boise St. really pulled out all of the stops. They will be the highlight of the bowls, for sure. I can just hear it now. "Why don't you run the 'statue of liberty', it worked in the bowl game last year," said mommy who knows nothing. Exciting game apparently, but I would argue it will promote what we (as DWer's) hate to see and hear.   4) Lots more to say. Most importantly is Happy New Year to you and yours. Enjoy what we have left as far as quality football, we are soon to enter the great black hole of television viewership.   Already looking forward to Providence.   Patrick Cox, Tolland H.S., Tolland, Connecticut   *********** Hey Coach, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I hope you and Connie had a great Christmas, Tami, the boys and I drove up to Michigan to see her folks for Christmas and we had a real good time until we started to head for home. A few hours before we were going to leave, Tami started to complain of a sore throat and later that she really wasn't feeling too good. No worries though, I am fully capable of driving the 21 hours myself. Well, about 5 hours into the trip, Tami is full-on sick and so was I. Flu-like symptoms, fever, chills, achy body, headache, nausea, the whole shootin' match. Long story short, we had to stop 3 times so that I could just sleep and recharge. We finally got home after 32 hours in the car. That was probably the single most miserable experience of my life. Thankfully, we arrived home safely and neither of the boys contracted our illness and Tami and I are both on the mend.   Last night Donovan got the unique experience of playing football in front of about 60,000 fans at the Champs Sports Bowl here in Orlando. His Pop Warner team along with three other Tiny Mite (6-7 year olds) teams were selected to play exhibition "games" before the start of the Purdue-Maryland game. Each team got 8 offensive and 8 defensive plays. Even though they (they officials) don't keep score Donovan's St. Cloud Bulldogs team was thrilled to come out on top 24-18 against the Avalon Timber Wolves. The offensive team got the ball on the 10 yard line and got 4 plays and then the other team got the ball. Donovan's team (we run the DW) scored twice on each possession and, not to brag or anything, but Donovan made a TD-saving tackle from his OLB position to keep the other team from tying the score. Donovan also played right TE and opened some huge holes for our 88 power. All 4 backs scored a TD (how's that for spreading the wealth). A-Back Westin Wood scored from 10 yards out on an 88 Power, C-Back Treyvon Bradley also scored from 10 yards out on a 99 Power, B-Back Chase Summers scored from 3 yards out on a Wedge and QB Lucas Hatchey scored on a QB Wedge from 1 yards out. It was great to hear the crowd roar each time a hole opened and one of our backs cut up field. After the game, all 4 teams sat up in the stands in the same area and several fans there for the "real" game commented on how great all the kids played and were patting them on the back or high-5ing them. All the kids felt like superstars!   All of our kids did a great job blocking and tackling, especially if you take into account that we were really only able to practice about once a week since the end of our season about 5 weeks ago. 40 rushing yards on 8 carries isn't too bad for a bunch of 6-7 year olds. We (all the coaches) are very proud of our boys' performance on the "big stage". I'm sure it will be something that they will remember for the rest of their lives. By the way, the coaches got a pretty big kick out of it too.   Anyhow, I would like to go ahead and order a copy of your Virtual Clinic II, the first one was great and can't wait to look at this one. I will send a check out in the mail on Tuesday, as our mailman has already come and gone today. Also, any word on the date for the Atlanta Clinic yet? I know you are working on it and will let me know ASAP but, I have several people here asking about it and I told them I would try to find out for them. Thanks in advance and again, Happy New Year!!   Donnie Hayes, Viera HS, Viera, Florida   *********** Good Morning Hugh and Happy New Year, I spent a far amount of time over the Christmas break viewing and taking notes from Virtual Clinic 2 and that in conjunction with the Virtual Clinic 1 and the Core Play DVD, in my opinion are the best materials out there on the DW. Great job and #2 is a must for any coach who runs the DW.   I spend a lot of time collecting DW information from all over the country and your stuff is by the far the best. I never fail to learn something from your materials after all these years of running the DW. I especially liked the material on the pass game and in spite of the fun we as Double Wing coaches make of the forward pass it is an important part of the offense and tremendous weapon for us when used as part of the overall philosophy-- pass to score, pass when it is least expected, and throw the ball to someone who can catch it. One of the things I have noticed is that your teams passed the ball when you got close to the goal line and for extra points. Anyway the Virtual clinic tape is full of great material -- did Connie do the taping? (what a great partner she is to you!!).   I thought your son's comments on reasons for not having a play-off really is a good point. The aggressive nature of bowl coaches sure makes the games a lot of fun to watch. Georgia Tech's onside kick to start the second half is just another example-- although they lost to West Virginia they certainly pulled out all the stops to win. I also noticed that during this game that West Virginia used the scramble block to the front side, you talk about in the virtual clinic 2, when rolling out on their pass game.   Thanks again for virtual clinic DVD and my old copy of the original, Dynamics of the DW, is in the mail with the check -- please send the DVD upgrade.   Thanks, Jack Tourtillotte, Boothbay Harbor, Maine   *********** Hugh - the clinic 2 dvds are awesome. So many ideas - I am a bit overwhelmed right now. Formation possibilities seem endless. Every year I try a few new plays or variations that I think will help and I usually keep a few, as well as toss a few out (and sometimes replace an old play like 38 go reach with a new play like 88 g reach). I am really looking at having a better passing game right now and also different ways to combat hard corners. I would like to improve our G play as well (we haven't been getting as much out of it as we used to). I like the idea of the reverses as we have a lot of backside chase and encounter a lot of teams who pinch down tight enough to give our counters trouble at times. A reverse should help with that. I also really like 800 scramble left - especially if our QB situation works out next year (great runner). I will let you know more later. ps- funny commentary as well - you kept me laughing. John Dowd, Oakfield, New York   *********** Hi Coach Wyatt, I watched your latest clinic on DVD and it was great. For coaches who find it hard to travel it lets us get updated on new ideas in the DW, I will be using the 800 series for sure. More important, the virtual clinics show us other coaches doing what we are doing. This is valuable as so many idiots are telling us and our coaches what to do based on what they see the pros do on TV.   Last year I coached a small 14-15 year old team, we had to bring up 12 year olds to play some games. We won one game, but were close in three more. Without the DW we would have been blown out in every game.   I have almost every tape you sell, and I am proud to say I always bought the original from you. You are always quick to get back to me on any technical matters I am unclear on.   Regards, Ron Singer, Toronto, Canada   *********** They told us on the Sugar Bowl telecast that several of Notre Dame's seniors may graduate and still come back to play next year, as graduate students. But there's one condition - first, we were told, they have to be admitted to graduate school! Oooo scary - that could be real tough. Gee, I hope somebody tells them to be sure to mention on their applications that they are football players.   *********** Have you ever seen anybody throw a long pass as effortlessly as LSU's JaMarcus Russell? He doesn't even has to use his feet - just flicks the damn thing - and it goes a mile. The guys in the booth said he can throw the ball 85 yards max, 50 yards kneeling, and 40 yards sitting. His short and medium passes aren't too bad, either. In fact, he may have the best arm I've ever seen. Hope he stays in college one more year. I think the prospect of being drafted by the Raiders might be enough to convince him to stay.   *********** Tom Brokaw, speaking at President Ford's funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral, noted that "football was a metaphor" for President Ford's career as a leader: he played center, right in the middle of things... He never got much notice, but he had his hands on the ball on every play, and no play could start without him... And when the play was over, he stood back while others took the credit.   *********** My wife's closest friend in high school was a girl named Bobbie Wells. Bobbie's dad, whom I didn't really get to know until just before he passed away several years ago, was a great sports fan. He was a native of Superior, Wisconsin, whose brother Marshall, I learned, had played on the line at the University of Minnesota during the glory years of Bernie Bierman, playing on the Gophers' national championship team of 1936 (along with a blocking back named Bud Wilkinson) and then had gone on to become a college coach.   In doing some research on President Ford's coaching career, I came across the photo below, and there, by golly, standing next to the new guy from Michigan was a guy named Marshall Wells. Could it be anybody other than Bobbie's Uncle Marshall?     I wrote to Bobbie and included the photo. Bobbie (now Bobbie Ryan and living in Washington state, a few hours from us), wrote back, " Oh, Hugh! Of course it's Marshall! Thank you so much. I have some old film of a game played at Yale when he was coaching there and had it transferred to VHS about 20 years ago. It's out on loan to a cousin at the moment, but when it comes back I'll mail it to you. Typical of the Fords, they kept in touch with Mary and Marshall all through the years. When Ford was going to speak in the Boulder/Denver area sometime during his presidency, he called Mary (Marshall had died by that time) and asked her to sit with them on stage. She did. A great thrill for her."   And then Bobbie sent the photo to her cousin, Marshall's daughter, who wrote back,   "YES - that's definitely my dad next to Gerry Ford!! From what I remember my mom telling me about those Yale days, they were pretty good friends. Years later, after Dad died, my mother got a call from someone saying that she should keep her phone line clear for the next few minutes because the White House would be calling. She thought "oh sure", but it WAS in fact President Ford calling her!! She was so thrilled. She received Christmas cards from the Fords for years and was invited to their condo in Vail one year, but didn't go - don't know why. I'll see what I can find on the Yale years. Thanks for the pic!"   *********** A Michigan man...   It was said that whenever President Ford paid a visit to Ann Arbor, he would make it a point to get out to watch Michigan football practice, and he would always ask Coach Bo Schembechler if it was all right if he listened in on the huddle.   Such was the respect between the two men that President Ford, a former Michigan center whose No. 48 was retired in 1994, had arranged in advance for Coach Schembechler to be a pallbearer at his funeral.   "He was so excited about it," Bo's widow, Cathy, told the Detroit News. "When he had heard from President Ford asking him quite awhile ago if he would do this (Ford) had written Bo a letter, and Bo was so excited and so honored. He kept saying, 'I can't believe it, I can't believe that he would select me for this.' "   Unfortunately, Coach Schembechler died a little over a month before President Ford, on November 17, and so, in his absence, Mrs. Schembechler was an honorary pallbearer at another Michigan man's funeral.   *********** Speaking of a Michigan man... As a columnist for the Stanford Daily, Christopher Anderson, home in Wisconsin for the holidays, got in touch with Jack Harbaugh, the father of new Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh. Jack, if you don't know, was a career coach whose last stop was as head guy at Western Kentucky, where in 2002 he won the D-1AA championship. Along the way, he was also on Bob Schembechler's staff at Michigan (where Jim played). Now, Jack is associate AD at Marquette where, by chance, his son-in-law Tom Crean, is the head basketball coach. Christopher writes...   I had lunch with Jack Harbaugh on Tuesday. We went to a pub across the street from the Marquette athletic office. He was wearing his Iggles gear, since his son John coaches the specialty teams in Philly and they had beaten the 'Boys the day before.   I asked him how he got to Michigan. Jack played for Doyt Perry, who once employed Bo as an assistant at Bowling Green. Perry recommended Jack to Bo when he was at Michigan.   On Stanford: Dennis Green was a GA at Iowa when Jack was a coach there. Green had asked Jack to be his DC if he got the Stanford job in 1979. Green didn't get it, but Paul Wiggin did and hired Green to be the OC, and he convinced Wiggin to hire Jack as DC. Jack was there in 80-81, then went to WMU, to Pittsburgh with his cousin Mike Gottfried, and then WKU.   Jack's successor as secondary coach at Michigan was an assistant at Illinois named Lloyd Carr.   He had lots of great Bo stories (including the time when Bo ran into a Michigan politician who advocated legalizing marijuana.) He sounds a lot like Bo in his accent and cadence. He promised I'd see some Bo in Jim's coaching.   On coaching: Jack lamented that today's college/pro coaches are less and less likely to have coached in middle or high schools. "They might not know how to tell a kid how to get into a stance."   *********** Hugh, Lots of fun games today. Too bad Michigan wasn't playing in one of them. They've got a serious program in LA. That USC team should have been playing Ohio State - how they lost to UCLA given the game they played today is beyond me.   Michigan really misses a Troy Smith-Dwayne Jarrett kind of guy, who can produce no matter what. I sent the Michigan AD an email advising him to not listen to the vultures who want Lloyd's carcass. The heat will be on again, but we don't need to pull a Frank Solich job. Yet.   At least the Big Ten has already clinched the Big 10-SEC Bowl Challenge trophy.   Boise State - what a ball game. Just unbelievable. Fighting back after blowing it. And THREE perfectly executed trick plays with the game in the balance each time. Serious guts.   Christopher Anderson, Palo Alto, California ---- The USC loss to UCLA resulted from one simple factor: on the day that USC played Notre Dame, UCLA was off. The next week, UCLA, with two weeks to prepare, beat USC, coming off a highly emotional win over Notre Dame. All college coaches know that it is very, very tough to get kids to get up for two big games in a row, something that the "we need a playoff" guys never consider.   If we were to have a playoff system, I'll bet that the Notre Dame-USC series would be one of the first casualties of the creative scheduling that would result.   I think, Frankly, that USC would beat Ohio State. But that will have to remain a conjecture. And that's fine, because during the college football off-season, we'll have plenty of interesting things to talk about, whereas during the pro football off-season, they talk about such interesting things as free agency and cap space and million-dollar contracts and assorted drug-related felonies and misdemeanors committed inside fast cars and outside nightclubs.   When I saw the OU defender hightail the interception into the end zone, I said "that's the WORST thing he could have done!" leaving a minute on the clock. Hard to tell a guy to not cash in the game winning points, but with the game tied and OU with the momentum, downing it outside the goal line wouldn't have been the worst move. (Now that's what I would have called REAL clock management! HW)   *********** Despite being an Okie I couldn't help myself in rooting for Boise State…that is the best bowl game I can remember watching. Major stones award to the B. St. coach.   I also loved the fact that the announcers were sooooooo amazed at the fact that Boise state was beating OU by running the football almost like they were doing the impossible…..running the ball…pulling linemen to lead through the hole…outnumbering the defense at the POA…who ever thought of that…   Gabe McCown, Piedmont, Oklahoma (Anytime you can beat Oklahoma you are accomplishing something. It takes a great team and a great effort to do it. That was not a great Oklahoma team, but it was a damn good one, thanks to a super coaching job. Major props to Coach Stoops for overcoming the loss of Bomar and Peterson.   It sure is annoying, isn't it, listening to guys from a network that hasn't gone near college football in years come in and pose as experts, expressing amazement at stuff we are used to seeing all the time, and feeling the need to explain things (like the college overtime) as if all anybody ever watches is that Pro Phootball garbage, and we normally wouldn't be watching college football except that it was on Fox? HW)   *********** I don't know if you noticed or not but Fox actually presented the Fiesta Bowl better than I thought they would. At half time there were two former coaches that recommended establishing the running game and not to focus on passing. It makes you think of how much change has occurred in the last 10 years at every level. Remember when "mobile" quarterbacks were said to never be worth drafting in the "NFL"? Now every team wants a Michael Vick or Vince Young on their side. Remember how they told Steve Spurrier that his 5 wide sets would not work in the NFL. Now look at what is happening. I am saying this just to show that the NFL will take what they are given and adapt to what is going on in the lower levels of football. If you want to see a double wing system come into place it just needs to be implemented at a major college and executed correctly to be seen in the NFL within the next 10 to 15 years. I knew Boise State could pull an upset, but I am amazed at how Boise State saved all of there trick plays for the end of the game, when they were going to be needed most. And they managed to go toe to toe with big bad Oklahoma the whole game. Anyone who thinks that a playoff system would not do Division 1A Football justice needs to think twice. I think a top 32 team playoff system incorporating every conference champion would work out. I believe it is totally ridiculous to put mediocre teams against each other no matter how good the game was. Division 1A needs a playoff system to have a real National Championship. And all of this arguing that a playoff system would not pay the same amount of $$$ that a bowl system does need only to look at the institutions that drive up the price of College Football, the coaches are making $MILLIONS!!!! Why else would they need a bowl game? Ben Rushing Fort Worth, Texas    You make a good point about what has always been the copycat nature of coaches. I do not think, however, that the American public is in any danger of having to watch the Double-Wing because no matter how successful it may be, no matter how much its followers believe in it, it does not meet the aesthetic standards of the Great American Fan.   I respect your right to an opinion on a playoff, but that dog is dead on my doorstep and has been for years. I am dead-set opposed to the idea, for reasons I've repeated over and over on my pages. Among other things, I simply don't see any compelling need to send 31 teams home as losers in order to boil things down to produce one survivor. As it is now, I am happy for the players, fans and coaches from Boise State, and Texas Tech and Penn State and Maryland and Texas and Oregon State and Auburn and TCU and South Carolina and Rutgers and Utah and San Jose State, etc. They all went home winners, while in a playoff system they all would have gone home losers at some point. Actually, many of them wouldn't even have been in a 16-team playoff.   Forget a 32-game playoff. You're never going to see it. It may be nice and inclusive and all that, but this isn't basketball. The only thing worse than watching a #1 seed beat up on a #16 seed is watching it happen twice, on each side of the brackets. That bracket trickery may work in basketball (although a #16 has NEVER beaten a #1) but in actuality, with a 32-team tournament, "#1 against #16" is an illusion - with two brackets, it's actually the #1 and #2 teams against the #31 and #32 teams. Talk about mismatches.   If the NCAA basketball tournament were honest and were to show us that in the opening round it's really #1 against #63, or #3 against #61, and so forth, even casual fans would be asking, "what the f--k are they even doing playing each other?"   In college football, that's a hell of a spread in quality, and people are going to get hurt.   Ugh. I'd much rather watch two "mediocre" (but well-matched) teams play in a nameless bowl. If others don't want to watch, there is always Phootball on the NFL Channel. HW   *********** Coach Wyatt, As much respect as I have for Coach Stoops he was out coached, and Boise got a little lucky, and somewhere Mark Speckman must be smiling. After your clinics my next stop is one of his. Us guys from smallvilles everywhere love the BRONC'S..... Mike Studer Kittitas, Washington (I'm not sure that I'd call it being outcoached. To be honest, there's not a whole lot of us out there who wouldn't have been caught flat-footed by those cool Boise State plays. What bothers me is that I hear certain ESPN experts (remember, ESPN didn't get to carry the game!) are dissing Boise State because they had to win with "trick" plays. HW)   *********** Coach, Happy New Year and all the best to your family and you. I have a few thoughts regarding information from your most recent column:   1) Could someone explain to me why Barry Alvarez (I think he is still the AD at Wisconsin) was doing TV color commentary on, I believe, the Rose Bowl? Shouldn't he have been with the Badgers before, during, and after their win over Arkansas?   2) Boise State's program was also outstanding in the early to middle 1970's when Tony Knap was the head coach. The Broncos were a team that threw the ball well from spread sets but also ran the ball equally well. They were Big Sky conference champions for a number of years (and defeated our Idaho State squad on a blocked field goal in 1975 - that cost the Bengals a shot at tying for the conference championship - both Coach Knap of BSU and Coach Bob Griffin of ISU were co-recipients of the AFCA regional coach of the year award following the 1975 season) before Coach Knap went to Nevada-Las Vegas to head up their program.   3) Glen Mason's firing was an unusual one to say the least. The Minnesota AD, Joel Maturi, went on TV and stated, in a response to a question, that if the Gophers had not lost to Texas Tech that Mason would probably not have been fired. Mr. Maturi went on to state that the Gopher program was in far better shape than when Coach Mason arrived and that Mason had done his best to promote (aka "sell") the concept of the Gophers getting a new, on campus football stadium. It should also be noted that the Gophers went to a bowl game only three times before Coach Mason arrived - they went to something like seven bowls in his 10 years at Minnesota. (Even with the tremendous number of bowls now available, Minnesota would not have qualified for any of them as before Coach Mason, the Gophers were a sub-.500 team for a very long time.) It appears that Coach Mason ran a clean program that had the most wins in any five year period since 1910 and that his players generally were solid representative of the community and the state. But, after 10 years of trying to win a conference title, because of one loss, Coach Mason is fired. That may be typical of the attitude in athletics but very strange.   4) I would hope that the University of Minnesota tries to seriously go after Frank Solich. He is a quality person (not without some warts) and an excellent coach. Nebraska has always recruited the Minnesota area well and I am sure Coach Solich still has a number of ties to Minnesota kids and coaches.   5) Finally, I loved the Alabama lateral for the TD. We ran that out of the DW ("Blue-Right Tackle Throwback" as well as "Blue-Right Tackle Throwback Pass"). On the first, we lateralled to the ROT and had him run after dropping for pass protection and getting deeper than the QB and on the second our ROT (who had been a TE the year before and a very good athlete) took the lateral and then threw the ball. That one was ALWAYS open.   Hugh, take care and talk to you soon.   Mike O'Donnell, Pine City HS, Pine City, Minnesota Great to hear from you. I guess that Coach Alvarez must have had this in his contract, and he was undoubtedly confident that they wouldn't need him. On the other hand, it does look almost disrespectful of the Wisconsin people not to be at their bowl game.   I'm aware of the job that Tony Knap did. Jim Criner didn't do a bad job there, either. But the ramping up of the program to Division IA and then on to the BCS really dates to Pokey Allen, and from what I gather, Dan Hawkins really deserves the credit for having the vision to project Boise State as a potential BCS team.   I also appreciate the insight into the Glen Mason situation. I've always maintained that in many cases a coach doesn't get fired because of losing. He gets fired because he pissed some people off, and the losing gives them the excuse they need to get rid of him. Patrick Reusse obviously was one of those he pissed off. Maturi did a real about-face, making me think, based on comments by the president, that he must have been one of the people Glen Mason pissed off.   Personally, I would think Glen Mason would be a great coach almost anyplace, and I'm sorry they waited to let him go until it was too late for him to hook up someplace else.   *********** Comments from the President of the University of Minnesota, Robert Bruininks -   "People need to know that we're not going to be satisfied with competing against the best of the bottom of the Big Ten. We need to set higher standards. I totally reject the notion that you can't win at Minnesota in football or men's basketball."   "We have made major investments in football. I put my own career on the line to bring Gopher football back onto campus. If that doesn't demonstrate our commitment to athletics, I don't know what will. I want this program to compete at the highest level, and I think it's important for people to know that we are going to do everything possible to make that happen."   "We have not gotten to that next level. We have higher expectations than to just win enough to get to a bowl game that is less competitive than the ones played on New Year's Day."   *********** Coach: I just had to talk about these items. If they don't get in your newsletter that is fine!   I was just sickened during the USC/Michigan game. What the heck was up with that Jarret (spelling) and his celebrations during/after plays? That long 50-yard touchdown pass after Michigan had cut the lead. Not only does he turn around and taunt the guy during the play by pointing the ball, but then the Michigan guy gets a 15-yarder during for trying to hit him. Well, Ref, why do you think the Michigan guy did that? Then later he makes another reception, and he turns and puts the ball in the Michigan guys lap. Both plays go unpenalized. I guess if no one is going to get flagged anymore for celebration, then explain to me how a Hawai'i receiver gets ejected from the game for doing no more than running into the endzone and smacking the hands of some of his fans in the endzone. I'm really missing something here. Clay Harrold--Delhi, Iowa   I consider acts of showmanship to be distasteful and out of place in a college game, but I suspect that the officials may be somewhat intimated.   Maybe Jarrett heard that Keyshawn Johnson was saying that he wasn't ready for the NFL yet and he wanted to show the world that in terms of self-celebration he most certainly is!   *********** I put Notre Dame's Jeff Zamardzija in a class with Jarrett or Johnson. Good receiver. Big jerk.   *********** Forget Brady Quinn. Forget Jamarcus Russell. Forget Troy Smith.   Nothing against those guys, but they are NOT heroes. Celebrities, yes. Sports idols, yes.   But HEROES?   A hero is a guy who does something for the good of others and puts himself or herself at some risk in doing it.   That guy who jumped down onto the subway racks and kept another person from being run over by a train? HE is a HERO.   *********** And this is the spiritual successor to Paul "Bear" Bryant?   On December 21st, NIck Saban, latest in a long line of heirs to the legacy of Bear Bryant, said, "I guess I have to say it. I'm not going to be the Alabama coach. ... I don't control what people say. I don't control what people put on dot-com or anything else. So I'm just telling you there's no significance, in my opinion, about this, about me, about any interest that I have in anything other than being the coach here."   On December 27th, Saban said, "I'm just making a rule to never comment on something like that again because every time you comment on it, it just makes for another story. So I'm not going to comment on it five years from now, and I'm not going to comment on it next week."   On January 3, in the words of the Miami Herald's Greg Cote, "He left his job in Miami unfinished and his contract unfulfilled, and he skittered off to Tuscaloosa like a rat through a drainpipe."   Rolled, Tide.   *********** There are a lot of good people in Alabama, and I know a lot of them. And the University of Alabama has a storied football history. At the current time, one of the books I am reading is "The Last Coach," Allen Barra's biography of Alabama's legendary coach, Paul "Bear" Bryant.   But folks, it's a dark, ugly day for college football when Alabama's flagship state university provides cover for the sort of people who will offer a football coach a contract guaranteeing him $32 million over the next eight years.   The thought that an athletic department could be so outside "institutional control" ( as the NCAA likes to put it) as to commit a sum of money sufficient to pay the undergraduate tuition of almost 1,500 Alabama freshmen every year for the next eight years in order to hire a football coach makes one wonder if there is any limit to what they might do in search of a winning program.   Probably not.   Require players to take college-level courses and actually go to class? Get serious, man. What do you think this is - a university?   Bribe high school coaches and pay off high school kids? Already tried that in Memphis and got caught.   Put out contracts on opposing coaches' lives?   Or on professors who flunk football players?   Hmmm. When they've shown what they'll do just to get a coach, anything is possible.   It's not as if there's anybody with a spine over in the president's office to tell them they can't.   *********** A former University of Alabama Trustee named Garry Neil Drummond said Wednesday that Nick Saban's $4 million a year salary is too much and it sends the wrong message about the University of Alabama's mission.   "It's incredible," said Drummond, the president of Birmingham-based Drummond Co., a large, family-owned coal mining and real estate development firm. "It's OK for sports to be important. But this is disproportionate."   "What are we about as a university?" he said in an interview with the Birmingham News. "Football is a big part of it, but paying the dollars we are talking about here is more than anyone else is getting."   He noted that Saban is not only guaranteed the $4 million a year for eight years, but incentives in his contract could amount to another $800,000 a year.   "This is CEO pay," Drummond said. "I think it is one of the worst things we have ever done."   Indeed, it is CEO pay. And then some. In fact, the News points out, Saban's $4 million annual salary is more than the combined yearly compensation of any head of any publicly-traded Alabama Company. The closest to him is the CEO of a company called Vulcan Materials, who earned $3.7 million in salary and bonus in 2005, the last year for which such figures are available.   *********** I have a feeling that Alabama's extravagant spending on one football coach may have repercussions that could change the face of college football as we know it.   And I'm not talking about forcing others to emulate them, either.   I'm talking about the last days of college football as we now know it.   It is time for all college sports fans to get to know Congressman Bill Thomas better. Soon enough, they will.   Congressman Thomas, a Republican from Bakersfield, is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee - they're the ones who write tax law - and back in October he sent a letter to the NCAA asking some very uncomfortable questions.   Noting that the annual returns filed by the NCAA with the IRS state that the primary purpose of the NCAA is to "maintain intercollegiate athletics as an integral part of the educational program and the athlete as an integral part of the student body, " Congressman Thomas said that corporate sponsorships and big television deals have created the impression among much of the public that major college football and men's basketball very closely resemble professional sports.   Among the major questions he posed to the NCAA:   "How does playing major college football or men's basketball in a highly commercialized, profit-seeking, entertainment environment further the educational purpose of your member institutions?"   To get more to the point---   "From the standpoint of a federal taxpayer, why should the federal government subsidize the athletic activities of educational institutions when that subsidy is being used to help pay for escalating coaches' salaries, costly chartered travel and state-of-the-art athletic facilities?"   What he's getting at is that at the present time, for some damn reason, rentals of luxury boxes - the engine that drives a lot of the idiotic spending - are tax-deductible, because they are being paid as "contributions" to "educational institutions."   College athletic departments are typically self-supporting and relatively independent of university control, yet they operate under the umbrella of the colleges' tax-exempt status, and Congressman Thomas' very strong suspicion is that the average taxpayer doesn't see a lot of difference between a big-time college team and a pro team. One stroke of the pen and the removal of the tax-exempt status and it all starts to crumble.   The NCAA wriggles and spins, and continues to try to baffle us with the notion that the hoodlums that increasingly infest major college football and basketball are actually college students, referring to them as "student-athletes." It perpetuates the hoax by running tasteful promos showing former NCAA athletes (almost certainly non-scholarship athletes from non-revenue sports) who've gone on to be contributors to society at large, as if to counterbalance all the evils of big-time programs.   "We educate student-athletes," says a NCAA spokesman named Erik Christiansen. "They are students first."   Right.   Oh- and Congressman Thomas noted that at the time he wrote, more than 35 college coaches were reportedly receiving salaries of at least $1 million a year.   "Paying coaches excessive compensation also makes less revenue available for other sports, causes many athletic departments to operate at a net loss, and may call into question the priorities of educational institutions," he said.   Wonder what he thinks about committing $32 million to Nick Saban.   Those fools in the Alabama athletic department must not have understood the meaning of the Congressman's letter, but they soon enough will. Their latest action will make it very, very difficult for colleges to answer his questions.   *********** Police seized some 550 rounds of ammunition from the home of Chicago Bears defensive tackle Tank Johnson during last month's raid, according to court documents.   The ammunition was discovered in Johnson's kitchen, basement, garage and bedroom.   Police also found six guns, marijuana and unlabeled pills believed to be the prescription painkiller hydrocodone.   Johnson was charged with six counts of possession of a firearm without a gun-owner identification card. Authorities said they found a semiautomatic rifle with 19 live rounds in the master bedroom, and two unloaded rifles and two unloaded handguns elsewhere in the house, and a loaded .45-caliber handgun under a chair in the basement.   This was his third arrest in the last 18 months.   It's not as if the NFL looks the other way at such offenses. Johnson was given a one-game suspension by the Bears.   Oh - and he also apologized. That should count for something.   Coach Lovie Smith, whom I generally admire, sounded very understanding, referring to him as "a member of the family."   Whew. Now, I don't know about your family, but...   *********** Ken Goe, a friend and a top-notch sportswriter for the Portland Oregonian wrote a piece on Wednesday arguing that Boise State deserves a shot at Ohio State. And so, I had to write back.   It's not often that I disagree with you, but in my opinion you are caught up in the euphoria of the underdog beating the favorite.   Believe me, I was as thrilled by Boise State's win as any of the million others who were pulling for the Broncos.   But let's be realistic here ---   1. That was not a great Oklahoma team. It was good, but not so good that a one-point win over it establishes Boise State as a worthy opponent for Ohio State. Or Florida. Or USC. Or Louisville. Or LSU. Or Wisconsin. Or Auburn. Or, even, Michigan.   Boise State play Ohio State? Penn State might be more like it. Penn State lost four games - to Notre Dame, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio State. All but Wisconsin are BCS teams, and Wisconsin would have been one except for the 2-team limit from each BCS conference (making it possible for Boise State to get in). Admitting my prejudices as a Penn State fan, after seeing the way they played against Tennessee I'd put everything I have on the Nittany Lions against Boise State.   2. Boise State's unbeaten record has to be looked at in the context of its schedule. It included exactly one game against a BCS-conference team, a win over Oregon State. The win over Utah was a big one. I won't say anything about the win over Sacramento State or the 7-point win over Wyoming. But eight of Boise State's wins were over conference opponents, and let's face it, Boise State is stuck in a conference that is worse than "mid-major." Boise State's conference opponents were 3-15 against BCS-conference opponents. And one of those three wins was San Jose State's one-point win over Stanford!   It was great for Boise State that BCS rules allowed it into a BCS game ahead of the likes of Auburn and Wisconsin, and to the great credit of the Boise coaches and players, they made the most of it.   But I go with Ian Johnson, who was prodded by a TV jackal to say that Boise State should get to play Ohio State and very modestly said, "We got our bowl game and we won it and we're happy."   He's right. They got their bowl and they got their win. So why can't that glorious win over Oklahoma be enough? Why does a great win like that have to be made anticlimactic by yet another game, for some artificlal "national championship,", whether playoff or BCS-contrived?   Why does there always have to be more?   *********** Coach - Just got done watching the Boise St -Oklahoma game. Boise St is about to go For the Two to Win the Game, that F**kin idiot Play by Play guy Brenneman goes on a diatribe about a Play-Off, Boise St gets  the two to Win the Game, and he almost jumps out of the booth on the call ( these NFL idiots will never get it ) - John Muckian, Lynn, Massachusetts (The TV guys are fools. To hell with them. One of the reasons you get bad football in the NFL is that the NFL has playoffs and therefore there is no point in taking chances. With the bowl games, every bowl game IS a championship game, and since there are no more games, nobody has any reason to play conservative. HW)   *********** Coach: It is annoying. I was surprised that the announcers in the WVA game actually admitted that they ran quite a bit of single wing, and that zone blocking doesn't work without a great athlete at RB. By the way what did you think of the "sleeper" play? I'd never seen anything like it. It's the perfect scheme for the NFL to steal…then it doesn't matter how big and unconditioned the line is..they no longer have to do anything at all…literally…just get in a stance and hold it for a few seconds. We could make a lot of money marketing the new fangled "hippo" offense as a solution for the fat, slow lineman who isn't capable of holding due to hand strength or an old fashioned morality. Gabe McCown, Piedmont, Oklahoma   *********** The Flyers are losing, and with Iverson gone, the Sixers are no longer filling the place, but Philadelphia's Wachovia Center is already sold out for the Wing Bowl 15.   The place will be filled to the gills when contestants attempt to do the same in one of zaniest and best-attended "competitive eating" contests takes place on February 2.   Some of the eating feats performed by people attempting to qualify are stupendous. You can read about them here...   http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/special_packages/wingbow/   I should point out that when you read on there about someone eating a "cheesesteak," a "whole" is about two feet long.   It is so quintessentially blue-collar Philly that it is impossible to describe.   When my friend Tom Hinger was in Philly for the last Army-Navy game, he said that the bouncer at a watering hole near the stadium complex told him that at last year's "event," his place was packed until closing time, which in Pennsylvania is 2 AM, after which the place emptied and all the customers headed over to the Wachovia Center to wait for the doors to open at 6 AM. By 8 AM, the place was out of beer.   *********** The worst part of the whole Fox/BCS deal is that we won't be seeing the Boise State-Oklahoma game on ESPN Classic anytime soon. Not to worry. ESPN is already working on my screenplay "Bravo Broncos!", (inspired by a true story), in which a young football player from the mean streets of Oakland is passed up by all the big schools and finally has to go to the only place that offers him a scholarship, a rich, artsy-fartsy college that has never had winning season.   There, he happens to meet the richest and most popular girl in school, and, not being bashful, tells her he's going to marry her someday. "Yeah, right!" she says sarcastically. "On the day we win the national championship!"   But the team picks up a few wins, and he reminds her of her answer. At first, she laughs it off, but as the wins continue to mount, she begins to worry.   And when the team finishes the season unbeaten and is selected to play in the national championship game, she is forced to tell her parents of the foolish pledge she made, back when she thought there was no chance this would ever happen.   Her father goes to great lengths, even to offering bribes to key players and coaches if they will throw the game, but it's no use - they pull off the win.   And as the young man goes to claim his prize after the game, national television catches him kneeling down in front of the girl and proposing to her, when out of the corner of his eye he happens to see a beautiful woman in a revealing dress, beckoning him to come to her.   It's Carmen Electra, and she wants him to take her bowling.....   *********** Hello Coach Wyatt, and Happy New Year! I recently picked up a book at a fundraiser sale called "Playing the Offensive Line" by Karl Nelson and Bob O'Conner.  The book cover indicated that it would be a valuable teaching aid for coaches of all levels, so for 5 bucks, I said "what the heck" and sprung for it.   In the chapter on reach blocking, Nelson, a former New York Giant, indicates something that I believe is very indicative of the way the game has evolved, or rather devolved.    He first describes the "proper" way to make the cutoff or reach block, taking the shallow pull step and ripping the backside arm up and through the defender's playside shoulder, squaring up, and driving.  He then describes the "lazy man's" way, the dirty player's easy way out, of executing the same block.  He describes the shoeshine block!  He says that it is perfectly within the rules, as the action takes place in the free-blocking zone, but that only a coward does this.  He singles out the Denver Broncos as being the dirtiest team in the league, because they use this technique.  He said that his Giant teammates urged his O-linemen to reciprocate whenever they played the Giants, but they refused.   Apparently, there is a gentleman's agreement in the NFL that blockers shall NOT engage defenders below the waist at the LOS.  I believe that this mindset contributes to the anemic running games that we see.  You get huge 300-plus pound sumo wrestlers attempting to make the cutoff block in the "gentlemanly" manner and it is obviously ineffective.  They are nowhere near athletic enough to do execute the block that  way, but refuse to execute a legal and effective blocking technique on the grounds that it is too dangerous.  What strikes me as funny is that these guys have absolutely no problem executing an ILLEGAL blocking maneuver (holding), with the league's tacit approval.   I was interested in seeing if you had noticed the same thing, and had drawn similar conclusions.   Respectfully yours, Mark Rice, Brighton Township Bears, Beaver, Pennsylvania   You have hit on a point I've been making for some time.   Blocking low is hated by the sumo guys because it's not easy for people in such abysmal shape to go low and then have to get up again, and it's hated by the defenders because it's a lot easier for them just to chicken fight with the sumo guys without somebody hitting them in the legs. So it's dismissed as cowardly football.   To me, cowardly football is a defensive back putting the hands in the pockets and launching one's self at a receiver coming across the middle. While greatly endangering the receiver, there is almost no risk at all to the defender.   Or tackling a pass rusher because you're not able to block him.   Or a quarterback hook-sliding... or maneuvering into position so he can throw the ball away without being penalized for intentional grounding.   Or professional football players whining about having to block low or being blocked low.   Mark my words - we are very close to seeing the NFL outlaw low blocking in the free blocking zone.   The merger of the NFL and Dancing with the Stars.   *********** ON SOMEWHAT THE SAME TOPIC...   Coach - Did you catch the Gator Bowl ? The Two Pass Plays West Va pulled off, where the Offensive Line did not move out of their stance, one was for a Touch Down, was that a designed play call, or a broken play ? I think Rodriguez has used that before, But On ESPN Sports Center ( NOT the Gameday Post Game Show with Holtz and crew) they were trying to explain , since GA.TECH jumped off-sides, they are coached not to move out of there stance, but I am pretty sure GA.Tech was Not Off sides on either Pass Play and On the CBS broadcast Gary Danielson ( who is Top Notch in my book ) I swore he explained it as a design Play and the reasons the O-Line does not move was to freeze the LB's and DB's - John Muckian, Lynn, Massachusetts (Based on the way those big pro linemen hate going to the ground, if Rodriguez ever tried that stuff in the NFL, the offensive linemen would file a grievance with the NFLPA. HW)   (BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM!). BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Army's Will Sullivan wore his Black Lion patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners

Lotsa Bowl Stuff! (See"NEWS") The NFL's Greed Kept You From Seeing Texas Tech's Comeback and Tiki's Great Performance! (See"NEWS") "Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it." (Proverbs, Chapter 8, Verses 10-11) My Offensive System My Materials for Sale My Clinics Me January 2, 2007 - ""I learned that a great leader is a man who has the ability to get other people to do what they don't want to do and like it" Harry S. Truman   *********** F--K THA PLAYOFFS!!! Just give me a game like Boise State-Oklahoma and I don't care who winds up as the so-called National Champion. One of the best games I've ever seen. I can't believe that after some of the bowl games that have been on TV, people will still paint their faces and go to NFL games and kid themselves into thinking they're watching real football.   *********** F--K THE PLAYOFFS!!! Running back Ian Johnson, when baited in a postgame interview into saying whether Boise State deserved a shot at Ohio State: "We're not going to say that. We got our bowl game. We're happy to win our bowl game."   *********** Congratulations to Coach Chris Davis of Slayton, Minnesota and his wife, Wendy on the birth of Eric Ryan "Bo" Davis, who arrived Dec 15th. Dad says Bo, a big 'un at 10 pounds (22 1/2 inches long"), has "a bad attitude." Probably a defensive player.   *********** Big year for Jersey - First Rutgers gets a big bowl win, and both Rose Bowl MVP's - Duane Jarrett (New Brunswick) on offense and Brian Cushing (Parkridge) on defense - are Jersey kids.   I should also point out that the Rose Bowl Game was Presented by Citi.   *********** I guess I was too busy celebrating it to mention that this past weekend marked the 20th anniversary of the first "branded" bowl game - the John Hancock Sun Bowl.   *********** Just to show you how the idea of a college football playoff would diminish the value of the regular season... with a playoff, I would bet money that USC, with two losses, would be in the final against unbeaten Ohio State. And might even be favored.   *********** Bret Bielema, Wisconsin's coach, was up in the booth at some damn game, and he was asked how helpful former Badgers' coach Barry Alvarez had been to him in his first year as head coach.   He said that it was great to have Coach Alvarez around, and that he had been especially helpful in dealing with the unexpected.   "I've been a coach for one season," he said, "and I can say that every day something's going to pop up that you could never see coming."   From head coaches everywhere, at every level, welcome, Coach Bielema, to our world.   AND THEN, SHORTLY AFTERWARD, I GOT THIS LETTER...   Happy New Year Coach-I have been volunteering at my high school for over 45 years.This year we got a new head coach.He and I had a meeting to see if he still wanted me to help.My job is what ever the coaches and kids want.The coach is a nice guy and family man. The school did him an injustice by not giving him a teaching job. So he teaches at another school 25 miles away. This is his first head coaching job. We have mostly females running the school and have not had the football coach in the high school in 11 years. We had 3 coaches in 54 years and 4 in the last 11. This year we had a kid get thrown out of a game Friday night for f--ing the referee. The next Monday he got thrown out of school for 3 days so he could not practice. The kid starts the next game and gets 2 personal fouls in the first quarter and stays in the game. The next game he starts also. He is a junior. I give advice when asked. I try to stay within my job description. The coach asked me if I was coming back next year and I said it was a waste of my time and money if he doesn't get in the school system and also his discipline is nonexistent. I think it's time for me to go fishing and golfing because I don't drink any more. NAME WITHHELD   I think that if that new coach doesn't realize what a valuable asset it is to have a guy on his staff who has been through the wars and can see what's coming before he can, then he's probably headed 100 miles an hour toward an open switch, and you're better off not being around.   That doesn't necessarily mean it's time to hang it up, though - just time to move on! HW   *********** Some might call it luck. Navy had the ball, and a two-point lead, with under two minutes to play, and Boston College was out of timeouts. Navy appeared to have made a first down on BC's side of the 50, and that would probably have been enough to get them out of Dodge safely, but a Navy linemen was caught holding (in fairness, he tackled a BC defender). So on 3rd and 15, Navy went with an option, and the QB pitched the ball, and the pitch man mishandled it. Maybe the pitch was a little high. Whatever - BC recovered, and went on to win on a last-play field goal.   Now, as anybody who runs the option (or defends against it) knows, the option is not without its risks, and the riskiest part of the option is the pitch. And to prove the point, there was Navy, which executes the option about as well as you'll ever see, blowing the game because of a botched pitch.   But before you go calling it luck...   Lou Holtz was spot-on in his post-game comments - there are certain things you just don't do under certain conditions.   I have the utmost respect for Navy coach Paul Johnson, but above all, it is a coach's job not to lose it for his team, and on a third-and-15 with under two minutes to play, Coach Johnson's decision to run the option and risk putting the ball on the ground did just that.   *********** In taking taking risks, in football as well as in business, one must always assess the upside and the downside.   Kentucky's Rich Brooks pulled off a very daring fake punt from deep in his own territory. It was successful, and on the very next play, Kentucky threw for a 70 yard TD. Yes, there was some downside potential - it could have been a game-turner for Clemson. But there was a huge upside. And, since it came just before the half, there was still plenty of football to be played.   Oregon State's Mike Riley decided to go for two when his Beavers pulled within a point of MIssouri with only seconds remaining. I personally would have gone for one, especially with Alex Serna, one of the nation's best placekickers, on my team, and that's what Riley initially intended to do. But then, while the officials were reviewing Oregon State's TD - at Missouri's request - the OSU staff had time to reconsider, and it was the unanimous choice of both players and coaches to go for two.   But then, there was Navy's Paul Johnson. In his case, with just under two minutes to play (1:52) and BC out of timeouts, the job at hand was to run the clock down as far as possible. Navy had the ball at midfield, faced with a 3rd and 15. And Coach Johnson called an option. And the quarterback pitched the ball. And the pitch was bobbled. And when the dust cleared, it was BC's ball at the Navy 40, with 1:45 to play. And BC won it on a field goal on the last play of the game.   In relation to the potential downside of the call, there was little chance of an upside. There was little likelihood of their gaining even 10 yards. But there was a downside that any option person, and anyone who defends against the option, is always aware of - any time you run a read option, there is a chance that the QB will pitch it, and any time you pitch it, there is a chance that something will go amiss. Johnson had to know that BC knew that Navy would not throw in a situation like that, and therefore they could commit plenty of people to the option.   It was not a triple option - the fullback didn't hit into the line but instead went wider, blocking on the man who would normally take the QB - except that the man who would normally take the pitch jumped across the line and slow-played the QB somewhat, forcing him to pitch - but not before, knowing that there was little threat of a pass, two or three guys were able to come flying out of the secondary to go after the pitch man (should be catch the ball). The pitch relationship, which in my opinion is the hardest thing about the option to coach, was poor. The pitch might have been okay with a better relationship, but the QB and the pitch man appeared to be too close to each other. Of course, even if he had caught the ball, that play was doomed.   *********** It's hard to believe that this past Saturday marked the 10th anniversary of the death of Pokey Allen. What a guy.   For three of the five years he coached at Portland State, I did the color on the team's telecasts, and what I saw was the most amazing staff, the most amazing job of coaching, that I've ever seen.   From PSU, Pokey and his staff went on to Boise State, where in 1994, the Broncos made it to the NCAA D-1AA finals.   And shortly afterward, the sharp pain in his arm that he'd dismissed as a pulled muscle or a calcium deposit was found to be caused by a cancerous tumor. He underwent all manner of treatments and made it through the 1995 season with things seemingly under control, but in early August, 1996, he learned the cancer had returned and spread, and he had to take a medical leave of absence. Tom Mason, who had been his defensive coordinator at Portland and continued on at Boise State in that same role, took over in the interim.   By December 30, Pokey Allen was dead.   Barry Sacks happened to be in Boise on the 10th anniversary of his death. Coach Sacks played for Pokey at Montana before coaching under him at Portland State and then at Boise State, and he was back in Boise as Nevada's co-defensive coordinator, getting ready to play Miami.   Coach Sacks was a pallbearer at Pokey Allen's funeral service in his hometown of Missoula, Montana, and he recalled how he and many of Pokey's buddies asked each other what Pokey, a great lover of a good time, would have wanted them to do on the night before his funeral, which happened to be New Year's Eve.   "We all looked at each other," he told the Idaho Statesman, "and said, 'What would Pokey want us to do tonight?' He'd want us to go to Stockman's Bar and Red's Bar and Grill in Missoula and celebrate his life the right way, and that's what we ended up doing. We celebrated his life rather than his death."   *********** Whatever Boise State is now, Pokey Allen started it all. Before he even went to Boise, the Boise State job was seen as a diamond in the rough. Idaho is not a populous state, and Boise is not a major metro area, but it is big enough and it has the frontier spirit of "can-do." It is the state capital, and it is the home base of a surprising number of major businesses. And Boise State sports are the focus of the community.   Pokey Allen arrived in 1993 and started the Broncos on their way, taking them to the Division 1AA finals in 1994 where they lost to Jim Tressel and Youngstown State. (Earlier that week, he had made good on a promise that if 20,000 showed up for Boise State's semi-final game against Marshall - which the Broncos came from 17 points down to win, 28-24 - he would rise horseback down the main street of town to the weekly boosters' luncheon.)   After Pokey's death, following a disastrous 2-10 season, he was replaced by a young guy named Houston Nutt, who stayed one year before getting the call to Arkansas. Nutt's replacement, an Idaho guy named Dirk Koetter, had finished second to Nutt in the previous go-round of interviews, and he did a good job until he left for Arizona State. Koetter was replaced by a guy from his staff named Dan Hawkins, and Hawkins really kicked the Broncos' program up a notch before leaving for Colorado. And now Chris Peterson, who was Hawkins' offensive coordinator, has taken over and has carried on the winning tradition without missing a beat.   *********** It was 1989, and Pokey Allen had the Portland State Vikings in the Division II finals against North Dakota State in Florence, Alabama. Because of my involvement with Portland State telecasts, I was there, but the game was televised nationally, so I had no duties.   A friend of mine who happened to be an AD of a college in search of a football coach asked me if we could arrange surreptitiously to get Coach Allen up to my room just for the purpose of feeling each other out. A sort of preliminary interview -   (Without overstating it, Pokey's budget at Portland State was slim. His coaches worked for next to nothing, and at one point. several of them were sharing the same small apartment, taking turns sleeping on the floor. Yet the product they put on the field was comparable to that of most big-time programs. They knew their stuff and they worked hard, because they loved the game. And they loved their boss.)   The discussion in my room in Florence hadn't gone too far when Coach Allen laid all his cards out on the table: "I won't even consider going any place else if I can't take my whole staff with me."   For various reasons, my friend had to go in another direction, but that unconditional expression of loyalty to his staff had won his respect, and it earned Pokey Allen my lifelong respect.   *********** By the way, if thanks to the greed of the NFL you don't get the NFL Network, you missed Texas Tech's comeback from a 38-7 deficit to defeat Minnesota in overtime. Hard to believe.   It's also hard to believe that Minnesota's Glen Mason, the same coach who had built the 38-7 lead over one of the most explosive teams in college football, was then judged unworthy of being the Gophers' coach after blowing that lead. He was fired the next day.   Part of me is angry with Minnesota. The guy built a winning program there, and as Mark May said, "Who does Minnesota think they are?" I have to agree with him when he says, "You're a mid-level Big Ten team!"   Legendary Minneapolis Star-Tribune columnist Sid Hartman said there is a reason why Minnesota hasn't won a Big Ten title since 1967 - a lack of administration support. Noted Hartman, Minnesota has had nine coaches since Bernie Bierman resigned in 1950. "I have seen all of these coaches come and go," he wrote, "and while Mason and I had an up-and-down relationship, I don't think they will be able to hire a better coach." (Although he does think that Frank Solich will be the leading candidate: "He was 58-19 in six seasons at Nebraska and was fired for no reason at all.")   But you can also build a case for Minnesota's letting Mason go. Yes, Glen Mason bult a winning program. But a lot of those wins came against the likes of Florida Atlantic, Illinois State, Louisiana Monroe, Louisiana Lafayette and Buffalo. And although creative scheduling enabled a four year run of season-opening win streaks (4-0 in 2002, 6-0 in 2003, 5-0 in 2004, 4-0 in 2005), it also unduly elevated fans' hopes - hopes that invariably came crashing down once the Gophers got into league play.   In my many stopovers in the Twin Cities to change planes, it seems to me I read more than one article about what appeared to be Mason (or his agent) putting the squeeze play on his AD for more money.   And always, among Minnesota fans and media, there was what another Minneapolis Star-Tribune columnist, Patrick Reusse, called "Mason's low likability factor." And in the very place that gave us the term "Minnesota nice," likability is an important quality   "What we saw was this," wrote Reusse: "a guy who came off as if he considered himself God's gift to football."   Said Reusse, "One word was always close at hand with Mason. Smug."   Glen Mason's a good coach. He'll work again. If he wants to. And if he doesn't, he's got three years coming on his contract. At more than a million per.   I rather doubt that anybody in Kansas is interested. That was his last stop before Minnesota. Yes, he did a terrific job of building the Jayhawks' program, but then he jerked them around big-time, first taking the Georgia job, then turning down the Georgia job to remain at Kansas - only to bolt, days later, for Minnesota.   But hey - maybe Alabama's interested in him. He'd be a good hire. Georgia was ready to hire him 10 years ago, and he hasn't gotten any worse since then.   *********** I'm sorry... but after watching that Texas hip-hop style introduction, I think from now on I'll watch The Weather Channel for the first couple of minutes of all ESPN bowl games. Call me when the intros are over.   *********** Finally a good game, after a bunch of turkeys - Oklahoma State over Alabama.   Alabama, in the hands of long-time assistant Joe Kines, held nothing back. One of the Tide's scores came from down near the goal line when they lined up in what we'd call an Over set (left end split wide to the right), with only a guard and tackle on the backside). The QB sprinted right, then pulled up and threw back to the left tackle, who'd made it a point to set up until he was deep enough for it to be a backward pass. The big guy caught the pass and lumbered into the end zone.   Man, you should have heard the guys in the booth dithering over whether the tackle had "reported in" (a la the NFL), and only when they actually got an official to come into the box did they seem to understand something that all announcers should have explained to them long before they go on the air - whether thrown overhand or underhand, the direction of the pass is the only thing that matters, and so long as the direction of the pass is not forward, it is a lateral (Despite the fools you hear on TV, there is simply no such thing as a "forward lateral." It is an impossibility).   And any player on the team is eligible to catch a lateral.   *********** CBS cut into the Oregon State-Missouri game to bring us what they called (ever notice how every event has to be given a title?) "Death of a President." Except, instead of seeing a President die, right before our eyes, we got talking heads, telling us about the late President Ford's private funeral services in California. There were a few minutes of things happening, mostly President Ford's casket being carried into the church by military pallbearers, but then, because the service was private, a word that seems to mean nothing to CBS, we became a bunch of snoops, looking in from the outside and seeing nothing, while listening to the service via some mic probably smuggled in by some network gopher.   *********** Poor Clemson. They had to play without their leader. Some guy named Coleman. We were told that they'd "miss his leadership." Seems he was suspended from the bowl game after being busted for marijuana.   Excuse me? That's leadership?   Hate to tell you folks, but maybe it was "leadership" like that that caused you to lose four of your last five games, turning a hot 7-1 start into a good, but not great, 8-5 season.   *********** I found myself working at my computer while on the TV next to me CSPAN2 was featuring authors talking with small groups about their latest books. I wasn't paying a lot of attention at first, but then I happened to look over and catch one of the weirdest women I think I've ever seen.   I use the term "woman" loosely. Her name was Eve Ensler, and evidently she's the one who gave us this grotesquery called The Vagina Monologues.   Her audience, needless to say, was mostly female. Well, entirely female, unless you count the poor bugger who got stuck with having to carry the boom micorophone.   She was talking in a lot of sociobabble, and then, out of nowhere, I head her say, "I was disconnected from my vagina..."   Say what? At first, that sounded sort of strange, but the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. I could definitely see some guy saying, "Here, you can leave that with me. Now get lost."   *********** Ouch- Houston is down, 30-28 but they're inside the South Carolina 10, third and goal, when the shotgun snap, intended to lead the QB as he sprints right, goes awry, and rolls.. and rolls... and rolls... until finally the QB, afraid that Carolina might recover it, kicks it out of bounds.   Uh-oh. Wrong sport. This is football, fella, and that's called illegally kicking the ball. 15 yards from the spot of the kick - total loss of 42 yards. Oh - and loss of down, too. From third and goal at the eight to 4th and goal on the 50.   *********** Hugh, just saw Kentucky pull out a win over Clemson. had my boys watch it and explained to them who Rich Brooks was and how he was dad's coach at Oregon. The boys kept saying he must really be old. I told them maybe but he has probably got a better memory than their old man. As for Kentucky they came to "Play to win and not play to lose".   I was very happy for Coach Brooks, and especially how the commentators said that people wanted him gone after last year. I didn't realize he has only 6 scholarship seniors?? Anyway take care,   PS there was an article in the paper how some of those big bad Miami players were scared to go down the 800 foot run of the tubing hill up at Bogus Basin. Too Funny!! Mike Foristiere, Boise Idaho (After suffering with Rich Brooks for the last four years, knowing that he was the man for the job, that win over Clemson in the Music City Bowl was a wonderful thing to see. And I'd have given anything to see those big, tough Miami street kids totally out of their element and dealing with a whole bunch of strange things - cold, snow, and steep-ass slopes. HW)   *********** Apart from the fact that I'm a long time Penn State fan, I was happy to see the Lions defeat Tennessee because it may have gone a long way toward determining Joe Pa's successor. Think of it - Penn State has had only two coaches since 1950 (Truman was President), and the best thing about it was that they haven't had to interview a coach in all that time. The transition from Rip Engle to Joe Paterno, who'd been his quarterback and Brown and a long-time assistant, was absolutely seamless.   And in the three and a half games since Joe Pa was injured, it sure seems to me that head assistant Tom Bradley   *********** From my son, Ed, in Melbourne, Australia... Dad, I didn't get to see any of yesterday's (Friday's) games, but from the "Sportscenter" highlights and online recaps I can tell you two things...   1 &endash; Fans and players of Texas Tech would not be celebrating the way they did yesterday if there was a playoff. Hell, Tech wouldn't even have been in a playoff.   2 &endash; There's no way teams would have played gambling, what-the-hell football (eg Oregon State) during a playoff. Don't forget the dreaded conservative style of play that has affected virtually all playoffs world-wide. The NFL settles for field goals, the NBA is all about "defense and the half court game," rugby turns into a game of kicks rather than tries and big soccer games turn into 1-0 results or "taking your chances with penalty kicks."   PS How 'bout them Beavers? (Right on both counts. Playoff football is damn ugly.   Also, if they ever have playoffs, we will be treated to a lot of football versions of Ohio State 91, Coppin State 54 (is there any top 25 team that hasn't picked up its win over Coppin State yet?), Oklahoma State 84, Texas-San Antonio 47 and Notre Dame 95, Stony Brook 66 as teams pad their records early in order to get into the Big Dance.   At least football still has a certain amount of integrity in permitting only a certain number of wins over D-1AA opponents to count for bowl eligibility. When it comes time for "Bracketology" in basketball, all they seem to care about is wins, without seeing how many were against the likes of Coppin State.)   *********** Hugh, Those NFL Network guys don't just suck, they're downright stupid. They were talking about Bill Snyder, and here's a rough summary of the discussion:   "Ron Prince suceeding Bill Snyder, who turned around the Wildcat program in the late 90's that had back to back 1-11 seasons, and culminated in the 2003 Big XII Championship."   No mention of a #1 ranking in 1998 or a Heisman Trophy runner up. And they seemed unimpressed by the gargantuan turnaround job Snyder had pulled off - maybe the most dramatic in recent college football history.   I am honest to say that our student radio football crew could go on with a day's preparation and do a better job than those guys. The network can't forever ignore the atrocity of their product. Christopher Anderson, Palo Alto, California (I think it was Barry Switzer who said that in building the K-State program, Bill Snyder did the greatest coaching job in college football history. I agree.   Typical of the NFL Network, they even felt they had to explain certain differences between pro football and college football, as if their audience consisted entirely of pro football fans who just happened to be caught watching a college game.   I did think that the Texas Tech-Minnesota game was much better called than usual, but chiefly because Dick Vermiel, a real pro (and a former college coach), was the analyst. HW)   *********** Speaking of the NFL Network... They schedule the Giants on the NFL Network on the Saturday night before New Year's Eve, and 90 per cent of TV viewers in the New York area miss what could have been Tiki Barber's final NFL game - and his 220-yard performance.   *********** Happy New Year Coach. I'm holding my breath over the AFA hire. As you know my (injured) son is really interested in Air Force or USNA. No USMA bias here, he has wanted to fly fixed wing aircraft since he was a little boy. Anyway I'm having palpitations contemplating the falcons in a single back zone stretch offense. Getting pummeled on an every Saturday basis I might add.  Dan Lane Canton, Massachusetts   In my opinion, they may go to some shotgun spread like everyone else, and run some option from that, but I don't think that they will be doing a whole lot of five-wide, empty-backfield stuff.   You may remember Fisher DeBerry catching hell last year after a loss to TCU for saying that AFA had to recruit more "speed." He'd have been okay if he'd stopped there, but he went ahead and said what everybody knows - that AFA could use some more "Afro-Americans" (his words) - and was accused of being a racist. Maybe if he'd just said, "We're too white," he'd have been okay.   In any event, Coach DeBerry understood one of the problems AFA faces in considering a pro-style offense. HW   *********** Maybe the best line of the Bowl Season... Purdue missed a field goal - badly - and ESPN's Brad Nessler quipped, "That looked like one of those halftime deals where you're trying to win something.   *********** I don't want to say that all the sideline bimbos are phonies, but I did a Google search on one of them named Sam Ryan and I'll be damned if Wikipedia doesn't tell me her real name is Denise Dombroski. Dombrowski! Now that's a real football name! Who in the world thought that someone named Sam Ryan would have as much credibility in front of a football audience as someone named Denise Dombrowski?   *********** Maybe it was Sam Ryan - hell, I don't know - who was talking with the CEO of Insight.com and he happened to mention the synergies of his company. And there I was, wanting to get her the f--k off the air so we could get back to the game, and I'll be damned if she didn't ask him, "And what are some of the synergies?"   *********** I am really offended when a sideline bimbo calls a coach by his first name. I cringed when this Alex Flanagan started in by asking Glenn Mason, "Glenn..." and when Holly/Erin/Suzy (or whatever) called Brett Bielema "Brett."   *********** The bowl season has been marked by an astonishing escalation in the number of sideline interviews and the amount of off-the-subject talking in the broadcast booth while the action on the field goes on unacknowledged.   *********** Is it possible that Terrell Owens has become the sports version of the latest phenomenon in the world of entertainment - relatively low-on-talent types, such as Paris Hilton, who are famous simply because they're famous?   *********** Is anyone else out there as happy as I am that Bobby Knight got that win, so we won't have to be hearing any more about that history-making 880th win? For a while there, it was distracting me from the Barry Bonds Watch as he closes in on Henry Aaron.   *********** TOP SIDELINE BIMBO AWARD... Heather Cox, asking Larry Coker at halftime, "Coach, how are you handling the emotions?"   *********** For all you guys out there who don't use tight ends in your offenses... You are missing something. I saw some awfully big plays made just in one day - Saturday - by big, athletic tight ends like Missouri's Chase Coffman, Oregon State's Joe Newton, Kentucky's Jacob Tamme, Maryland's Joey Haynos, and Minnesota's Jack Simmons.   *********** Wrote one guy on a forum after listening to Lou Holtz: "I had to clean my glasses every time he talked."   *********** Mark May did a little bit on tough-guy running backs and mentioned Army's Black Lion, Mike Viti, as one of his favorites. He also noted that Viti was Bill Curry's favorite college player.   *********** They interviewed Eddie Martin, Navy football player who was diagnosed with cancer just before the season started. Since then, although unable to play while undergoing treatment, he's remained part of the team, carrying the flag and leading the team onto the field for every gaame. When it was pointed out by the interviewer that he could have left the Naval Academy if he had wanted (an indication that the interviewer just doesn't understand what sort of young men go to service academies) he said, "It never entered my mind to leave my team."   *********** On the Bears-Packers telecast, they showed an old black-and-white photo of Bears' owner-coach George Halas and Packers' coach Vince Lombardi. Commented Madden, "To me, that's just the NFL."   Yeah, John. That's the NFL all right - the one that you've helped destroy with all the monkeyshines and gyrations and celebrations on the f--king Madden games that have made you rich beyond the wildest dreams of avarice.   If those two guys were alive today, and saw what you're peddling, they'd kick you right in the ass for your contribution to the league's degradation.   *********** One thing becomes immediately apparent in watching an NFL game after feasting on college games - the tackling in the NFL.   First of all, if anyone ever wants to take on the project, I am willing to bet that in any college game there are at least two more defenders within five yards of the tackle on every play than there are in a pro game. Man, some of those pros are dogs if the play isn't right at them.   And then there's open-field tackling. NFL defensive backs are so into pass coverage and getting on SportsCenter by drilling helpless receivers coming across the middle that they've totally neglected a very important part of defense.   Not to take anything from Tiki Barber's tremendous performance against the Redskins, but poor tackling and non-tackling made a lot of those yards possible.   BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Army's Will Sullivan wore his Black Lion patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners