Head Football Coaches Say The Darndest Things
It’s that time of the year again. That time when head football coaches are addressing the media after a bad or maybe even embarrassing loss. Granted, it’s a hard spot to be in and sometimes the media questions can be silly and unintelligent.
However; after watching this for over 45 years and being an actual part of it for 30 years there are some head coach responses that I find amusing. These are just my thoughts. I worked for some very good head football coaches at the NFL and college football level.
I’m going to start with this very popular “go to” statement. It’s when a head coach says “I am going to evaluate everything”. I once worked with an NFL coach who pointed out to me “Oh now you’re going to evaluate everything?”
Isn’t evaluating everything what a head football coach does pretty much every day of every football season? Isn’t that what he or she sold the Athletic Director or General Manager on when they interviewed for the job?
If a head coach has not been evaluating every aspect of their football team on a daily basis then that’s pretty revealing. Maybe it’s not the breakdown in execution as much as a lack of detail on the head coach’s part.
Perhaps a better and more honest way of saying it is “I evaluate every aspect of our program every day. I honestly did not see this coming or I would have prevented it.” “This is on me. I will work with our coaches and players to see what went wrong and fix it.”
Isn’t “Evaluating Everything” What A Head Football Coach Does Every Day?
Now I get it that after an embarrassing loss the media and the fans want blood and somebody’s head. They want someone to lose their job over what happened. That’s why they are fans and media and not coaches and players.
This is never going to change and if that intimidates you into throwing a player, a coach or a unit under the bus, it’s a matter of time until they get you too. That’s why regardless of how obvious a particular play or player or unit failed at a critical time in the game, a good head coach points out that every coach, player and unit had a hand in the loss.
“Special Teams lost the game for us tonight” would not be my go to line. That is unless I was prepared to say that about the offense, the quarterback or myself as the head coach and play caller at some point.
Anyone who has coached a down of football at the high school, college or NFL level knows this. Football coaching is full of offensive and defensive “Gurus” who become Head Coaches. Some are overly focused on scoring points or preventing them, at the expense of special teams emphasis and personnel decisions.
So as the football season progresses and you start seeing players cut and assistant coaches fired during the football season, remember this. The head football coach either single handedly or had a partial say in making the decision to hire those coaches or play those players.
The “I’m going to evaluate everything” approach may be valid. However; before they throw any player, coach or unit under the bus, the first place to start is with the mirror in the head football coach’s office.
