Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-12-18
BY II. C. BYRD.

BY n. C. BYRD.
The arguments that have been ad-
vanced regarding the relative ad-
vantages OF the professional and grad
uate systems of coaching are too nu-
merous to mention. and probably both
sides Of the question are supported by
good reasons. The best way. though
to judge the. comparative merits of
any two systems is to try both and
then accept the one which gives the
most success.
The fact that practically every insti-
tuition in the country which has tried
the graduate system is about to or has
gone back to the professional is proof
enough that they have found the lat
ter system the better and the more ef-
fective as far as turning out winning
foot hall teams is concerned, and that
is the goal toward which all schools
which foster foot ball aim. Every
school which represented on the
gridiron wants it's eleven to win as
many of its games as possible. and
within fair bounds all such institutions
will do all they can to further the in
tereSts of their teams. Then Whatever
system is in vogue in the majority OF
these schools is mighty apt to be the
one which is the better, or the more
successful.
Coach Needs Experience.
There is one prime essential to be
successful coach and that is experience.
No matter how much foot ball man
may think that he knows when he leaves
college. he never really learns the game
until he has studied it from all the
angles from which a coach has to look
at 1t from the sidelines and on the field.
There has been evidence after evil
dence of men who were stars the
teams on which they played and upon
leaving school have started to- coach and
have failed to make good, or have barely
done so because they lacked that some
through years Of experience. Tad Jones
of Yale, one of the best quarterbacks
who ever played the game. was failure
when he started to coach. Brown. the
Michigan halfback. and others have &C
,complished practically nothing when
they attempted to coach teams the year
after they left school. 1t cannot be ex-
the game from its every angle and does
not know its fine points. as no player
does can develop an eleven as success
fully can a man who has spent years
studying the game and the men, which In
itself is no small matter.
Strictly Interpreted, the graduate sys-
tenn Of coaching is that wherein a men,
Der OF the previous years eleven returns
and is assisted at different times during
the season by other graduates who re-
turn to help. While this system is ad-
hered to In part in some schoolsa in the
majority it is not even attempted.
Yale Not an Example.
When anybody wants to advocate the
0Hs,ot 10
out that Princeton and Yale are excellent
examples of what may be accomplished
by that method Of developing foot ball
.teams. But when the facts Of the case
are considered i, is a very debatable
question Us to whether these two schools
really have the graduate system. None
OF the men who return to the two schools
from the previous years elevens to coach
70 really in charge OF the teams. as both
have men in charge of foot ball who have
practically spent their lives studying the
game and can be looked upon only as
professional coaches. That these two
men, Bill Roper and Walter Camp are
the men back of the foot ball successes
attained by Yale and Princeton has been
pf we'd
differences at Yale regarding the coach
ing policy, and Camp took his trip
through the west, leaving Coy in sole
charge Of the squad. 1t was found that
there was something lacking-lacking to
such an extent that the first part of the
season at New Haven was the most DIS
astrous in the history of the school. The
differences were adjusted. Camp went to
the head of affairs and Yale again was
successful the gridiron- Princeton
thought that II did not especially need
Roper. but when Roper left and went
out to Missouri Princeton suffered the
worst defeat in years from Yale. Prince
ton got Roper back and Princeton again
started along the successful route. OF
course both Camp and Roper are grad
yates of Yale and Princeton. but they can
hardly be regarded in the light Of grad
uate coaches when both are highly paid
specialists.
Chicago. Nebraska. Illinois. Minnesota.
Wisconsin, Michigan. Yale. Harvard.
institution of prominence in the country
which supports a foot ball team have
well paid foot ball specialists directing the
policy Of their teams during and out of
season. There is not one Of these schools
which would care to take chance with
the graduate system alone. because in
the instances where IL has been done los
ing teams have been the result
Results Do Not Matter.
In a great many of the instances in
which the graduate coaching system is
urged il is claimed that there is little
matter whether the team wins or loses,
because the main object, the securing of
a better physical development for the
players. will have been reached Whether