The Washington times., 1917-11-12

masters OF the Individual duties Of play.
have been most necessary TO assure the
success OF these teams.
And we have been too prone to laud
our Eastern coaches for many successes
which. in the nature OF things. must be
attributed TO their environments. They
have had material which knew the rJdi-
ments OF the game before II reached
college, material that had seen the best
OF football played and material which.
given a system-which Is nothing more
than placing the individuals at an ad-
vantage in each maneuver-has been
able to run rouBhshod over all opposi-
ton. All Of which goes TO show that
without material the best OF them are
due for big upsets.
Rarely Teach COlIegians-
1t has rarely been the task Of q
college coach to teach men football
True. he has had to instruct some of
his candidates in the A-B-C's Of the
game. I know of but one instance in
the modern game in which the coach
OF q big university eleven has had TO
start in at the bottom and coach his
candidates IN every department of
football. They had not seen the game
played; they knew nothing about Il.
II would be a task similar to sending
one OF our coaches 20 Oxford or Com
bridge for the purpose Of developing
an eleven.
Last fall California discarded Rug
by football for the American article.
Andrew L. Smith, former Penn full
back and coach, who had also coached
at Purdue. was appointed to coach the
California eleven. Smith came and
met a new task for q bootball mentor
that was staggering.
Results had to be obtained in a
hurry. Smith knew that the men he
wanted to mold into q team were
those who could tackle and interfere.
He instructed the squad in these
points on the dummy and after thor
oughly grounding them In this way
took his next step.
1t was necessary for him to know
who had profited by these dummy
lessons before he could pick a team
or begin scrImmags. He had to learn
in a hurry as q football season does
not wait for the coach. This is his
own story Of how he picked his men:
Had Squads Of Three.
"I divided my candidates into
squads OF three men each. put
three OF them, with the ball. on the
25-yard line and three others on the
goal line. told the men with the
ball TO make a touchdown and of
they would 20, two interfering and
one running back OF the interference.
The three on the goal line were to
make the tackle that would prevent
touchdown. BY rotating the men
each had a chance to carry the ball,
to follow interference, to make inter-
ference, and to tackle.
I'VE kept a squad or sixty men
going that way and II was not long
before We knew who was who. By
carefully watching them We soon
learned which OF them were suited for
the various positions on the team.
Then we began team drill. Every
step had to be simplifed and eX-
planned in advance. Making them
follow the ball was a big problem.
hit on a scheme Of blowing a whistle
after each run. each man stopping
when he heard it. In that way
soon got results
Used Only sIPNpIe Plays.
"Of course we used only few for
nations and simple plays last year.
But we got to know them and could
execute them. The one thing, though,
that got results was working :he men
in souads OF three against squads of
tbree never saw anything get re-
suIts a. that cid. We were able very
early in the game to weed out the
weak players"
Smith has been getting results IN
tbIs his second year. A victory over
the oregon AGEies 10 already chalksd
dowr and California Is on the rapid
road 10 success. Best Of all the pub
lie has taken to the American game
With a will. The open attack last
wear won everyone over to Il.
Copyright, 1917. by Sol Metzger.)