Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1917-09-03

angles with the writer-the wonderful
progress of the game in the West in
recent years. together with a COM
parison of the development in the
Middle West and East; methods and
slogans to be employed with ones
charges in order to get out the best
there is in them, etc
There are perhaps two things that
would lead one to view the Western
wizard as a distinctive figure in foot
ball, as compared to other coaches.
These are, that he believes in the
"one man. coach, rather than a squad
system. although he is not averse to
having one assistant, and he never
appears on the field in togs even
while drilling his charges in some
very intricate play. He says he has
not worn football garments since he
left Minnesota.
Asked to what he attributed mis-
great success in Pacific Coast foot
ball, Mr.. Dobie replied that he could
not ascribe any one reason but a COM
bination of things. "The players must
be thoroughly versatile in bucking,
running, and passing, and other points
of the game" he said, and then, of
course, good football general Will
always employ the tactics that will
gain the most ground, once the weak
ness of the opponent is discovered.
But if there is cne factor that l
would call important in the develop
ment of q successful team" said
Dobie, "it is that of keeping the play
ers in the right frame of mind all the
time; that is, in sending them into an
important game, they must be keyed
to the very pitch to do their best, and
dc it right"
Asked whether he is a strong eX-
ponent of the open style of play,
Dobie replied that the open game is
surely the leading feature in the at
tack these days, but he said he does
not favor deyoting too much energy
to one form of attack or defense, but
there should be variations and that
one factor should not purposely be
made secondary to another Dobie
believes in driving system of plays
That is, as he went on to explain,
"the men must not be driven too hard,
but a half an hour of strenuous drill
ing is far better than two hours of
light work.
Drifting back to football in his for
mer haunts, the new Navy coach drew
a brief sectional comparison, based
upon information furnished by scouts
sent out from the Western institu-
tions to observe the playing in the
East and Middle West. and from what
has been observed in the games that
Eastern teams, notably Pennsylvania,
Syracuse and Brown, have played in
the West and others in the Middle
West. He particularly instanced the
game which Pennsylvania played with
the powerful Oregon eleven last fall
when Penn went down to defeat IA to
o. Oregon had tremendously heavy
and fast team, he said, and should
have won by much larger score, but
the conditions of weather were un-
favorable. Dobie said ii has always
been the policy of his Alma Mater to
keep tab on the progress of the best
Eastern teams, and also those in the
Middle West. The majority of East
ern teams, he says, have shown
greater versatility, and varied and
up-to-date game that the East is
much mere conservative than the Mid
die West The miracle man then re-
called a long string of coaches who
have attained fame over a period of
years, the individual systems that are
worked out. and said that working out
ones own ideas counts for a great
deal in the handling of a team.
Dobie takes charge of the Middle
gridironists confronted by condition
unparalleled in the history of foot
ball at Annapolis, and if he achieves
success anywhere comparable with
that which has marked his career in
the West, he will indeed be more than
entitled to be called the football wiz
of Midshipmen have been graduated
from the Academy since last fall, in
consequence of which the cream of
material for the building of this years
eleven is lost There are several good
men in the second and third classes
. who will be available. but the task
which is staring the new coach in the
face is that of the formation of prac-
tically an entire new team. A call
for candidates for the squad was cir
culated among the new fourth class,
which has a roll of nearly 500 mem
bers, this week, and about 100 were
prompt in responding. Dobie has
been spending the last few days look
ing over these green men, although
scme of them have had experience in
smaller schools. He has not, how
ever, had sufficient time to look them
over with any degree of satisfaction,
though several have impressed him as
good timber The older men will re-
turn from their leave about Septem-
Der 20, and the preliminaries to the
seasons campaign will then get under
way in earnest The new schedule of
games will be announced within few
days.
Coach Dobie is a man of tall, wiry
build, standing trif1e over six feet.