Quote:
Originally Posted by IGGcitable
How much can a fatass who never set foot on the field, even in high school, know a goddamn thing about technique?
Stud HS football players are elite athletes (certainly compared to you and me).
They generally have a very dismissive attitude toward people in terrible physical shape. This can be overcome of the players know the guy was a good athlete decades ago or was a good player despite being a lardbucket. But stud football players see a gut-bucket like Weis, who never played anything beyond HS gym class, and their first subconscious instinct is, "this guy doesn't have a freaking clue what it's like to be world-class fast or world-class strong or a world class athlete in anything. Why the hell should I listen to him on how to save steps on pass routes, how to shed blockers, how to use leverage in tackles, etc etc. How the hell would he know?"
So the players will stand there and nod their heads, "Yep, yup, you betcha, yessir," as Weis goes into his spiel. But the second --- the instant -- things start coming apart on the field, the players think, "Mmmm hmmmm. I knew it."  |
I don't nesessarily agree as there are several large D1 coaches who have found success (Mark Mangino at Kansas, Ralph Friedgen at Maryland) after taking over programs that had been struggling.
As a former player I didn't expect Darryl Rogers to physically perform a drill in order for me to understand what he was trying to teach me. As a youth I attended kicking camps hosted by Edward "Doc" Storry and Lou Groza, and neither of these men were physically able to show me how to kick a football. Storry was well into his eighties when I attended his camp, and Groza could barely walk due to having an artificial hip, yet each of these men knew how to instruct myself and others in how to kick a football. I volunteer with the Wake Forest punters and placekickers and offer them instruction even though my physical ability to punt or placekick a football has greatly diminshed with age. What I notice that grabs a players attention is their actual improvement in performance after they have implemented what a coach has instructed them on as far as fundamentals/technique.
I agree that some of the ND players may have started to tune out Charlie, but it is because what they are being taught hasn't improved their performance, or the coaches are allowing the players to get away with bad habits. Don't believe me, just look at
MSU last year versus 2006. JLS lost that team and the players quit because the coaches were routinely making poor decisions. Dantonio took over a squad that had largely failed to perform the basics and quickly got the team to perform.