Norwich bulletin., 1915-08-11


resents the new idea in college athletic
directors. He is a trained football
coach and director Of physical exercise.
and he was taught his football in
school that for the last decade has been
progressive among progressives. At
least, that is what one gathered from
him in an hours conversation in the
Thompson Gymnasium, at Columbia
University, where he Is spending the
summer teaching physical training and
directing a class in football coaching
Metcalfe is a young man, not yet
past his twenty-fifth birthday, and he
is mild hammered to an extent that
affords q striking contrast to the usual
mental picture Of a football coach. His
ideas concerning football are not mild
hammered, however. and the kind Of
football that Columbia will play next
fall will be the fast. aggressive style of
play that has marked the Western type
of game since the new rules have been
in vogue.
Where to make a beginning is the
problem which seems to be puzzling
Metcalfe more than anything else just
now. Although he was at Columbia all
last year as a graduate student, he did
not come into touch with the student
body, and therefore knows scarcely any
more about the type of men he will
have to coach than If he were a per-
feet stranger.
He. has roughly outlined his plans,
however. He will have complete per-
sonal jurisdiction over the entire coach
volunteer coaches drawn from old Co.
| lumbia players and graduate students
| in the university who have played var
| city football at other colleges.
Inasmuch as freshman will be barred
from the varsity eleven, there will be
freshman coach, who will take the
| first year men and pilot them through
a schedule OF their own. This fresh
| man coach will work in harmony with
Netcalfe, but the varsity coach will
have no direct supervision over the
/ freshman team.
Metcalfe is a thorough believer in
the Western style of open play, and
| he believes that this will be particular
4 ly well adapted to the material with
i which he will have to work on Morn
| ingside Heights. The statistics which
have been gathered by the Columbia
! athletic committee show that the men
from whom the team will be drawn
| are light. as general rule. Hence
Metcalfe will coach a style of game
best suited to light players.
By delving into the football coach
ing systems in vogue at OberIin one
soon finds that it is indebted to Har-
ward for it's fundamentals. These were
impaired to the Oberlin players BY
Harvey Synder. Snyder left Oberlir
in 1910. and since then Oberlin has
evolved a modified system of play thai
has been highly successful. Metcalft
is a product Of this modified Harvard
system.
J Metcalfe is a firm believer in the
scheme of athletic control, whereby
the coach is directly amenable to the
, university authorities, and all his foot.
, ball as player and coach has been di.
!, rected by a man who was a faculty
officer. 1t is an advantage, he thinks
rather than a handicap to have thu
coach responsible in this way to tht
university, for 1t gives him better con
troll over the players.
, There will be five weeks of prac
tice between the first call for candi
dates and the opening game, and al
though Metcalfe will be obliged Il
begin at the very bottom, with no foun
dalton whatever upon which to work
Ehe believes he will be able to put
representative eleven on the field. Tn
opening practice session will be hell
on September 81 and the first gam
will be on October %. In this time
: team will have to be moulded from ma
terial which has never played colleg
football.
} Naturally. under these condition
Metca1fe does not desire to be pitte
against teams of more than ordinar
ability in his first year. 1t is probabl
) that games will be scheduled with Ste
vens Institute, st. Lawrence Univer
D sity, New York University and Yves
ISydH- Inc " eSleydn game VIII d
l played on Thanksgiving Day and Wi
, bring Metcalfe against Edgar Fauve1
! another Oberlin man. By another yea
Metcalfe feels he can point his team
higher than the elevens he will b
} matched against this season.
} Columbia will set about the equip
, ping of South Field for football with
{ out delay, now that a coach has bee
named. The field will be resodded Il
: part, and grandstands will be bull
) along the north and south sides.
the crowds at the early games warran
4 it, stands will also be built on the cas-
! and west ends. The total number G
seats will accommodate about seve
thousand spectators.
Unless unforeseen changes are neces
sary in the plans, all the games on tn
schedule will be played on the HON
gridiron.