The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-09-19

 Rockne always gave credit for the Notre Dame shift. It was Stagg who first conceived the idea of shifting backfield men to get the most power at the point where the play is to be run. Then Dr Henry L. Williams. who died last June at the age of 62, brought out his Minnesota shift, in which line- men are moved just before the ball is snapped.
 Jesse c. Harper, present direc- tor of athletics at Notre Dame and student of the Stagg method at the University of Chicago prior to his graduation in 1906, used the backfield shift at Notre Dame from 1913 to 1917 inclusive.
 Worked On Ends.
 Rockne played in 1913 and then was assistant coach to Harper un- til 1918, when he became head football mentor. Rockne's chief contributions to the system was the shifting of ends in or out to suit the play; he retained the back field shift and never considered Williams line juggling.
 Shifting of the ends, as done at Notre Dame, enables the wing man to draw his opposing tackle off balance and to hit him from the best possible angle when the play is started. This accounts for the game. This moving does not ham, per the end from going down un- der a punt or receiving pass.
 tho VI hn Ia vaa line on the grounds that 1t does not actually give added strength and that 1t provides tip-off. If the play is to the weak side, he said, it is uusually ineffective. The balanced line and shifting ends aid in the deceptiveness of the play In the Notre Dame system, while the backfield shift concentrates block ing power in the right spot.
 Taking each position separately, we find the need of fast travelling on the part of Notre Dame play CTS. The center seldom does any, thing but block after he has snap ped the ball, though he may go through occasionally to work on the secondary.
 On defense, however, he must be the sparkplug of the line. On line smash he must fill the hole made by the opposing line; on an end run he must be through the line trying for tackle from be- hind of smashing the interference; on passes he must pick up his re- ceiver coming through and try to break up the pass. This takes mental as well as physical speed.
 The same is true of the guards on defense. In addition, on of- fense they have to streak down the field for the tackle on punts, they must pull out of the line to lead the interference through the hole on end runs and off tackle plays, at times they drop back and pro- tect the passer. Some plays re- quire that they pull out, cut in front of the fast travelling back field and hit the opposing end who has drifted across the line of scrimmage and the backfield doesn't wait for them.
 Tackles, while they don't come into the public eye much during the course of the season, perform yeoman's work and they must have height, weight, brains and speed. On every play, as a rule. they must get across the line of scrim- mage to make the tackle, smash the interference on an end run, or rush the passer.
 Their tackling is done mainly in the center of the line, there is a pile-up and the press box guesses at who did the work. On punts they must fill the gap left by the guards when the latter go down the field. The same is true when ever the guards pull out; you see the guards but the tackles are buried.
 Duties of Wingmen.
 Ends must be fast, especially on onense. On defense they usually merely cross the line of scrirn- mage and wait for the play to come to them, covering in case of reverse play. Occasionally they float out to cover an opposing half back who may receive a pass.
 On offense they must often cross the line of scrimmage and go clear to the opposite side of the field 10 block out a member of the secon- dary on running play; on a pass they may have to hesitate A full second or more and then tear into the open to receive before the on. posing tackles have . chance to block the passer.
 While the quarterback never carries the ball in the Notre Dame rv tenn, he must nearly always Ket through the hole before the bali carrier and work on the secondary, The same 10 true of the other '