New-York tribune., 1906-11-18
College Coach Finishes His
Series on Changed Grid
iron Conditions.
Copyright. 1906. All rishs reserved)
By George H. Brooke.

ARTICLE X.
This is the last of the series of ten articles on
How to Play Football Under the New Rules" and
I will consider OF the most important lessons
to be learned from the seasons play.
Most all of the coaches of prominence have
adopted what is called the shifted attack" but
have it combined with the attack from simple
formation.
The simple formation Is where three backs stand
exactly behind centre. The line is evenly divided
also.
The shifted attack is where you shift one or
more lnemen to side or the other. and also the
back field to that same side II you shift the
weight of your attack TO one side the opponents
will naturally shift to meet It,
II they did not shift TO meet It you would have
a tremendous advantage, SO therefore the object
is to keep the defence from shifting as much as
possible.
There are two ways of doing this
First by making your shift before the defence
Is ready for it and putting the ball into play SO
quickly that they are not shifted TO meet your
shift This Is done by giving the signal before you
line up by series play.
Second by having clever tricks and crossbucks
to the weak side. If you keep the opposing de-
fence in continual fear OF these latter. you will
| make your shifted attack the strong side moro
| effective. ,. ..,,..
him shsr siiy on the % line or just back
side of the other end. ,
on 6a ne bssd the the anu MIN
Third bringing tackle and END both sg eyer
shifting g. any iinemen.
In all shifts the backs should be shifted little
These are. the principal shifts and simply vary
| Beyond all doubt the defence should be trained
sg Tns hs fhf b for sse s ihe
| Some one on the defensive team should warn
h e mght eaSe ye q nas for s each shf
For nc noa wep sy o1sr as e4a
! every one of his team should instantly know what
In this way the defence does not become con-
The in s Of .Tey
ing play each shift and plan his defence accord
m SsaFH What svfs' aif tes Hs9E = s
footed ted kicker & and from 'hs Sh' runs can De maze
This keeps the opposing team guessing;
not n op f the 4s possb ruRs bH Wis
the opposng ends ds, as well as have two men back
This is a very pretty problem t to figure on;
The he o You ar no
forced to expect a regular rum but rather a fake
Princeton this year has used fewer I shifts m thYs
quick oPsning generally coPfsaled opf { Cornell
sed ee7da m9rEard the use smps
The exceeding. amount of vigilance and clear
very TfEs1ss Ss the s' VIII
A coach this should take team into his
confidence in every particular and teach them to
think for themselves by making them help him
out on all knotty problems.
In other words. he should get them thoroughly
Interested in every possible move and should make
each one of them invent attack and defence for
himself, and then when both the coach and his
players ali have systems they should get together
and work out one system Of play which will be
adopted by the team. In this way every member
feels that he is a part and parcel Of the system
and will take keener and more understanding
The future Of the forward pass. think. will
that is, when a is tackled he will pass the
ball forward to another player, and not till then.
Eventually think, the defence will be invented
which will spoil most forward passes made from
behind the line Of scrNnmage.
We have all been learning together this season
and In anything new, as the rules this year have
been It is hard get our ideas concise and sys-
tematzed until toward the end Next year I ez-
pect to write another series OF articles similar
10 these. but hope to have them more concise
I and instructive In every way . -
There is great axiom IN FOOTBALL which L VIII
wind mp with climax.
/ Systems of play tricks. etc. are nothing IN i'm
portance as compared TO the rudiments of the
game So therefore spend moro time and thought
on the rudinents than you do on systems Not
every one knows this.