Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

For many of today's college teams, on EVERY play the quarterback and other position players line up and then look to the sidelines for the offensive coordinator to change the play. The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers are one of those teams, and MULTIPLE times Ohio State was still substituting players when the Gophers were already lined up in formation. If they had snapped the ball, Ohio State would have been penalized (that's correct, right?), but instead they're looking to the sidelines for guidance. I thought helicopter parenting was bad, but this helicopter coaching is even worse, and it's also the reason why North Dakota State University, an FCS school, has been able to send their last three quarterbacks to the NFL, two of them through the draft and one through free agency. All three of their last three quarterbacks are currently on NFL rosters. NDSU insists on having their quarterbacks read defenses and call the signals to make the adjustments. Their quarterbacks coach is Randy Hedberg who started four games for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1977.

I think that would be a logical conclusion, but you kind of see the same thing in the NFL with the QB/Coach headset. The Rams would do no-huddle just so Sean McVay could read the defense for Jared Goff and give instruction before the 15-second time limit shut off the transmission. Football has probably become a bit too over-coached in general.

Bryan wrote:I think that would be a logical conclusion, but you kind of see the same thing in the NFL with the QB/Coach headset. The Rams would do no-huddle just so Sean McVay could read the defense for Jared Goff and give instruction before the 15-second time limit shut off the transmission. Football has probably become a bit too over-coached in general.

Wow, I didn't realize that. I guess it's a little less obvious.

In some ways it reminds me of the way corporate America approaches human resources issues sometimes. I've worked in more than one company that liked to remind you that you are a "fungible asset," and that anyone can fill your spot because of the system they have in place, not because you as an individual are anything special. Do coaches figure that quarterbacks, too, are just "fungible assets" they can shuffle around so long as the coaches are the ones reading the defenses and they have their special system in place?

Crazy.

RyanChristiansen wrote:

Bryan wrote:Do coaches figure that quarterbacks, too, are just "fungible assets" they can shuffle around so long as the coaches are the ones reading the defenses and they have their special system in place?

I don't know about all N.F.L. coaches but I've read that that definitely was Tom Landry's attitude, even with all the talent he had at his disposal.

Bryan wrote:I think that would be a logical conclusion, but you kind of see the same thing in the NFL with the QB/Coach headset. The Rams would do no-huddle just so Sean McVay could read the defense for Jared Goff and give instruction before the 15-second time limit shut off the transmission. Football has probably become a bit too over-coached in general.

John Madden, in one of his books in the 1980s, seemed to pine for the days when QBs called their own plays. Howie Long, in "Football for Dummies," states that the reason play-calling "migrated" away from QBs is because head coaches "basically wanted more control over what happens on the football field."

If I were a coach, I'd rather be fired for my poor play calling than for my QB's poor play calling

If there's anything I've learned during my 67 years, it's that we're all very, very fungible. We can all be replaced---and forgotten---in a minute. And usually are.

I once did a book on cemeteries. According to demographers, roughly 110 billion human beings have lived and died on this planet. Even the richest, most powerful, most accomplished, and most famous dudes from 10,000 B.C. are unknown to us today. (Well, except for George Blanda, who was playing for the Babylonia Clay Tablets at the time.) Helps put things in perspective.

RichardBak wrote:If there's anything I've learned during my 67 years, it's that we're all very, very fungible. We can all be replaced---and forgotten---in a minute. And usually are.

I once did a book on cemeteries. According to demographers, roughly 110 billion human beings have lived and died on this planet. Even the richest, most powerful, most accomplished, and most famous dudes from 10,000 B.C. are unknown to us today. (Well, except for George Blanda, who was playing for the Babylonia Clay Tablets at the time.) Helps put things in perspective.

Well, it is called "pre-history" for a reason...
Most (educated) people have heard of Alexander or Caesar (or Jesus, Mohammed and/or Buddha) so there is some hope... I mean, not for us per say but possibly for Tom Brady (succeeded Blanda on the Clay Tablets), Jerry Rice, Jim Brown or Ken Crippen...

racepug wrote:John Madden, in one of his books in the 1980s, seemed to pine for the days when QBs called their own plays. Howie Long, in "Football for Dummies," states that the reason play-calling "migrated" away from QBs is because head coaches "basically wanted more control over what happens on the football field."

Bud Grant is famous for hiring good guys and then stepping back. His long-time offensive coordinator Jerry Burns, too, took that approach because his quarterbacks called the plays. The Vikings were pretty damned successful under Grant and Burns, Super Bowl losses aside. Tommy Kramer recently talked about Jerry Burns after his death and shared a funny story. When Burns first tossed Kramer into a game, Kramer found himself in a third-down situation and called timeout. He went over to Burnsy and asked, "What should we do now?" Burnsy replied, "Hell if I know. You figure it out." Kramer said the last time they were in third-down situation, the opposing defense played a certain coverage, so maybe such-and-such a play would be the right call. Burnsy replied, "Yeah. Do that." In other words, you're the man in charge, so be a man and be willing to make mistakes.

You don't create leaders unless you expect them to be leaders.

RyanChristiansen wrote:You don't create leaders unless you expect them to be leaders.

That was kinda John Madden's take 35-odd years ago. Except his was more along the lines of: "Maybe some of these young QBs would be great play-callers, but because they aren't asked to be, we'll never know."