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Post by revtaz on Dec 14, 2006 11:46:08 GMT -6
I know I will get a ton of "We play to win" responses, but here it goes anyway...
Jon Gruden, against Pittsburgh, kicked a last second field goal from the 2yd-line so that he could say that Tampa was not shutout.
I do not agree with this, no matter what you should be playing to win. I would much rather empty out the playbook than just sit on my laurels and hope, at that point, it doesn't get too out of hand.
I guess my question is...
Do you play to win, or do you just not want to lose?
Now can you also say that at the end of a losing game (I mean really out of hand) do you play to win, or do you just go through the motions?
Just trying to get a few opinions
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Post by coachbw on Dec 14, 2006 12:10:59 GMT -6
We actually did something similar this year. We kicked at the end of a blowout to avoid a shutout. This was my first year at the school, and they had been shut out 5 times last year. One of the kids goals was to not get shut out this year, so I made the decision to kick. Otherwise without that goal, I think that we would try for the touchdown.
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Post by Coach Huey on Dec 14, 2006 12:17:00 GMT -6
if behind 9 or more, what does it matter if you get the field goal in that situation?
no matter how you spin it ...
21-0? 21-7? 21-3? still a loss right? so, you have to start thinking about mindset of the team ... will scoring ANY points be more helpful to your demeanor for next week -- would it be better than if you went for the TD and don't get it?
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Post by djwesp on Dec 14, 2006 12:26:32 GMT -6
At a certain point in time when you are down by a lot you have to concede the game.
I'm a big fan of this gung ho we play to win until the very end stuff but sometimes you just have to be realistic. If you are down 21+ with two minutes left to play, the main thing you need to do is focus on coaching, getting guys playin time, AND working on stuff that needs help (like special teams).
If kicking a field goal was something you needed to work on, by all means provide that instruction to your kids, otherwise keep the offense on the field and get in as many reps as possible with as many guys as possible.
Kicking the field goal, just so you don't get shut out, doesn't seem very logical to me. Do what helps the kids, and most of the time in this situation it is providing instruction. If it comes down to the last few seconds of the game, work your hail mary drill you might use it and it is hard to simulate that situation in practice (as hard as we try). The kicker and the holder can work on last second kicks as much as they want to.
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Post by wildcat on Dec 14, 2006 13:09:48 GMT -6
Some nights you are the bug, some nights you are the windshield...
On those nights that you are the bug, I think that it is important to try and come away with something "positive', however small of a victory that may be.
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Post by groundchuck on Dec 14, 2006 13:17:03 GMT -6
Some nights you are the bug, some nights you are the windshield... On those nights that you are the bug, I think that it is important to try and come away with something "positive', however small of a victory that may be. I agree. Especially if you are trying to build a program. Try to get any positive thing you can out of a 1-sided loss. The bottom line is find a way to have something good to talk about if you can. |
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Post by texasokie on Dec 14, 2006 13:40:02 GMT -6
Great point Huey. More important than the score in that situation is building some momentum for next week. You need to find some positives somewhere to build off of. Do teams rebound better from a shutout or a loss where they at least scored? Too many shutouts, and hope is lost. Something is better than nothing.
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Post by revtaz on Dec 14, 2006 20:18:53 GMT -6
I don't know how many of you guys read Gregg Easterbrook's column on ESPN.
I have been reading it religiously for about two and a half years now, an interesting column. A lot of football, but a bunch of other things that are just neat too.
He has this thing that he does every week called "Why are you KICKING?!??!?" He brings up situations from the previous week where teams are down (by 17+) and then get into opponents territory and then get really close to getting a touchdown but do not get in three plays and then kick for it on fourth down. The rule he has for it is kick it early, go for it late. He also states that going for it on fourth down says to the players that you trust in them to try and win the game. He asks this "What do you have to lose? Down by 17 in the fourth quarter, not any better time to try and win"
I do understand that a loss is a loss, no matter if it is by a million or by one point.
I coached a freshmen football team this past year. Great kids, really geat attitude, and had what I like to call the "fire." Even when they were down, they wanted to win. Anyway, we were playing this really great team (Top to bottom, best football program in the state. A lot of class and incredible well coached as an organization). We got down by 7 with 32 seconds left. I looked at the players and they said to me "Coach, we are going to win today." Granted we didn't win, but they had that same fire two weeks before when we were down by 32 going into the 4th.
Now I ask, do you psychologically tell them that you have complete trust in them to go for it? I think that getting them together and saying "We are going to win today gentlemen because I trust that you can do it for us" will go a long way more than kicking it.
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