New-York tribune., 1914-12-13
Grads and Students Unite
in Favoring One-Man
Coaching System.
POE MAKES ATTACK
ON TEAMS DEFENCE
Dillon Suggests Committee OF
Alumni and Captain BE
Formed to Pick Coach.

Princeton is in such a state OF mind
concerning it's football affairs that 1t
has taken to symposiums to discover
some royal road to victories: Ihe
Alumni Weekly" began by writing to
all the members of the 1914 team, ask
ing them their views of the Princeton
coaching system and possible changes,
and now "The Princetonian" has taken
the matter up and is printing series
of letters from famous football grad
yates of Princeton, and outside ex-
perts as we'll
All the opinion, both graduate and
undergraduate, seems to be pretty well
agreed that a one-man coaching sys-
tenn would be beneficial, but there is
no great unanimity as 10 the type OF
man needed and little mention of any
particular person who would fill the bill.
Logan Cunningham, IL; Fred Tibbott,
'09, and Steve McClave, '03. were among
the possible candidates named by un-
dergraduates, but the graduates fought
pretty shy of committing themselves
definitely to any one man. The players
Of the 1914 team take crack, one and
all, at Princeton's kicking game this
season, and favor a more radical Of
fensive policy. One Of the men, in dis
cussing both coach and policy best
suited for Princeton football, said:
Qualifications Outlined.
"If we could get man who has fol-
lowed up the game since he has been
out of college; who is quite some older
than the players; who insists that what
he says, and only that, must be carried
out, and who does not believe in playing
for the other teams errors, or IN work
ing up a good defence, and when the
time comes to use il. giving 1t up and
resorting to punting, when it is appar-
ent that the other team has punters
and punt catchers better than ours
then perhaps we may carry off another
championship. We will never win it at
this rate"
In regard to the kicking game an
other player wrote: Kicking on first
downs when the team Is behind is SIM
ply stupid" Another said: mo team
can play football which punts as much
as ours does; there is nothing so hard
on players as to run down the field un-
der punts."
The suggestion is made by many Of
the writer's that Keene Fitzpatrlck
should have more say and should be
called into consultation by the coaches.
Turning from the opinion of the
undergraduates to that of the older
men, Edgar Allan Poe, Of the class OF
1891, finds that the trouble with
Princeton football to-day lies not en-
tirely in the lack Of a one-man coach
ing system, but in faulty conception
of the theory of the game. He finds
fault with the Princeton attack, but
even more with the Princeton defence,
which, he declares, lacks aggressive
ness.
Poe's letter is as follows:
Trouble Lies Deep.
"You have asked me for my views
upon the coaching system now prevail
ing at Princeton. In the face of defeat
the natural tendency is to criticise and
find fault and unconsciously to be uh-
just. After making however, all prsper
allowances, I think the majority OF
those who ought to know feel that
there is something radically wrong
somewhere. Just what this something
is it should be our earnest endeavor to
discover. My personal belief is that
the remedy is not TO be found merely
in the substitution of the one-man sys-
TEN for the committee system. The
trouble lies deeper.
"The traditional Princeton style Of
game is too conservative and not suf-
ficiently aggressive: This was evident
in nv day, twenty-five years ago, more
especially in connection with our meth
cd of defence. The linemen were in
st ucted that their main duty was to
guard the openings assigned to them
and to play safe and get the runner
at the line rather than charge through
and get him before he reached the line.
az understand that the same policy
is still substantially in force. The one
method has a tendency to put a team
on the defensive, the other on the
offensive. The one style is the more
sure, perhaps, but the other certainly
the more stimulating and the more
productive of results. | would suggest
a change in this system of defence.
Again, kicking invariably on the first
down in your own territory should be
done away with-eXcept perhaps Yhen
the ball is within our 25-yard line.
"Our present method of attack seems
to lack power, steam and confidence.
Games are not won by plays, but by
PLAYERS. The driving force behind a
play is what really counts. Snap and
dash, aggressiveness and the fighting
spirit are the real secrets of success.
All of the great football men Of this,
and. indeed, Of every season, invariably
possess these essential characteristics.
Zone of the chief tasks, in my opin-
ion, therefore, of the coaches should be
to instil these traits into each player
and to eliminate from the team every
one who fails to exhibit them.
Development of Individual.
an my judgment the really first es-
sential is the development of the indi-
vidual player. To this end the early
part of the season should be devoted
almost entirely to instruction and prac-
tice in the fundamentals Of the game.
"The men should be encouraged TO
think for themselves as much as pos
sible and to work out, within the gen.
eral principles TO be explained to them,
their own style of game. In this way
individuality Will be secured and self
reliance will be inculcated, without
both of which a player is OF but little
value.
"Only simple plays should be tried
at first. but they should be run of
quickly and have the driving force OF
every man at his full strength behind
them. More complicated plays should
be gradually added, but a multiplicity
OF them should be avoided. The eXpe-
rience of each season proves that much
valuable time is wasted in attempting
10 learn what is never even tried in
the big games.
"The captain should, think, be given
more authority than he apparently has
had for the last few years and should
have real say in the selection Of the
players and the determination of the
policies to be pursued. 1t should be