Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-03

"A clQe0 TO go DdCh " ACAIi6-
4 ton in the early Spring. My
mother went down with me
and we took a house. / bought a horse
and spent most of the day on horse
back. The Virginia Military lnstt-
tute Athletic Association had been
pretty hard hit by the loss Of revenue,
due to curtailment of the foot ball
season on account of the typhoid fever
epidemic. AS they did not have a base
ball coach and as 1 was right on the
ground l offered my services. l had
played some base ball at college.
While this was my only experience
coaching the game, would say it was
easier to coach base ball than foot
ball.
Possibly I make this statement be-
cause our ball team at V. NJ. l. was
much better than either of our foot
ball teams. There isn't the mental
element in base ball that one finds in
foot ball and it Is much easier for one
man to handle the practice sessions.
I had a lot of fun with the ball team.
AS / was a volunteer coach, l did not
feel quite the same responsibility /
did when 1 was coaching foot ball.
We won all the important games on
the schedule.
Loses MOSI OF FTSt IedTh.
When the Fall came around l was
much better equipped to handle my
job intelligently than l had been In
my first year. Unfortunately, l did
not know the material, as the last
Fall our foot ball had stopped in mid
season, l had only been able to get a
line on the playing ability Of the first
team and they had all, with one or
two exceptions, been seniors. We did
not even have a captain when the
squad got together. I was at a bit OF
a loss how to proceed.
It seemed to me 1t would be mis-
take to hold an election at once, as
there was no line on who would make
the best man. Some suggested that
I, as coach, appoint captain, but l
was not in favor of this plan, as
always have been of the opinion that
the foot ball team, and the team alone,
should elect its leader. / do not be-
lieve in the coach taking any part in
the selection of the captain or giving
any suggestions on the subject at all
The choice is distinctly a team matter.
I decided to put off the selection for
two weeks. at the end of which time
I called. the best % men together and
had them vote for the captain. They
selected a cadet by the name of James.
who was the ranking cadet officer at
the academy. He never had played
foot ball until the last Fall when he
played on the scrub. On the whole
their choice was a wise one. James
was born leader and absolutely fear
less. While not very big, he prob
ably was the strongest man on the
squad, with a great personality He
took hold in fine shape and played a
very creditable game all Fall, though
he was injured rather early, I think
because he played so hard.
Plans to Stress Defense.
When the season opened I was a
bit uncertain as to the style of attack
I would give the team The fact that
Princeton in the Yale game last Fall
had discarded the offense we used
when I was player, and the further
fact that Poe had used with consid-
cradle success at Virginia a modif1-
cation of the Yale tackleback, had
shaken my confidence in my offense of
last Fall which was what we had at
Princeton during my own playing
days. / decided to look the material
over before coming to any decision
as to style of attack. After a careful
survey it seemed to me that we might
get together a fair defensive team.
and James, the captain, was a very
good kicker. Outside of this, 1t didn't
look as If we had much, so 1 gave the
team a few simple plays and put most
of my time on the kicking and defense.
We had very hard schedule, par
ticularly so in view of the material.
The third game of the year was with
the Naval Academy at Annapolis,
while the following week we went to
Charlottesville to play the University
Of Virginia. These games were two
pretty hard nuts to crack. The Navy
game greatly stimulated general in
terest in foot ball at Virginia Military
Institute. The authorities there Justly
prided themselves that the institute
ranked as the West Point of the South
and everyone from the superintendent
down was anxious to see our team
make a good showing at Annapolis.
could tell from the zest shown at
the early practice that the entire
squad, from the captain down to the
lowest rat" on the squad Uhey called
the first-year men rats), was straining
every nerve every minute of the time.
I was greatly surprised to receive
word from the commandant, Col
Strother, the week before the Navy
game that the foot ball squad would
be excused from drill. This was I'M
heard Of at the institute.
The V. NJ. I. team put up a great
game when the day came. We held
them to a 90 score the first half.
Our team got great hand from the
crowd when we came off the field. The
Navy team was much bigger and
stronger and was a better foot ball
team. Everyone could see that, but
the V. NJ 1. cadets fought their heads
off In the second half superior re-
serves told. The Navy had three teams
Of nearly equal strength, while we
had only one eleven. Our substitutes
were much smaller than our first team
and goodness knows our flrst.team
men were small enough. Every man
on our team played as long as he could
stand up, and each had to be literally
managed to push over two touchdowns
in the second half, but they had no
easy Job doing it.
we were a tired lot that boarded
the Southern train that night. / think
l was as tired as any member of the
squad. That game showed me what
fight and spirit could do against supe-
rior odds.
Effects Felt All Season.
We never recovered from the effects
of the Navy game all season. did
not realize at the time how grueling
game 1t was and how much 1t took out
Of the team. We were in no shape to
play Virginia the next Saturday, and
they ran over US rather easily. We
last the final game against v. p. l., so
d season was not much Of q success.