The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-11-25

shock of Purdue, 8. M. u, Georgis
Tech, Iowa, Northwestern, Carnegie
Tech and the other bruising teams
the Irish have met this year, rnucl;
better than their coach.
Perhaps this was because human
arms, legs, shoulders and back are
less vulnerable than the human
brain, and the last mentioned 4
where o coach takes his beating.
didn't realize what a terrific Job Il
Is to handle football team, espe.
cially during O game, until I talked
TO DR.. Jock Sutherland, the former
Pittsburgh coach, who is making his
winter home In the press boxes Of
the country this year.
Here for the game today, suther.
land sat at q table at the Notre
Dame smoker last night and, with
out undue consideration for The
tablecloth, outlined O few Of the one
thousand and one things that q
coach must do while his team Is en-
gagged In battle.
Il can think Of no more exhaust
ing work than that Of coach for two
or three hours on Saturday" he
said. 1T really will wear a man out
I've played and I've coached and the
beating you take on the. bench L
twice as bad as the one you take Out
there on the field, blocking and run
ming and tackling."
A coach must ready his team fol
o game to start with, and that
means bringing each individual TO @
point where he Is willing and cap
able OF giving his best.
Double Header
Once the game starts he must
watch two games, not one. When his
team Is on the offensive he must
see every action Of every one Of his
own players, but, more important
he must catalogue In his mind every
move OF the defensive team. It Is the
defense Of the enemy that Is OF FIRST
Importance. This once was O simple
task, as Sutherland pointed out, be-
cause there was time when O team
had but one defense. Now O team,
Will use six, seven, or even q dozen
defensive formations In one game
and 1t Is the duty Of the opposing
coach to analyze each and every one
Of them.
When one Of your teams players
doesn't work, you must know the
answer" Sutherland said. "If you
don't, how are you going to instruct
your quarterbacks when you bring
them In for instructions?"
When the opponent has the ball
the chief task is the study OF the
offense. This, too, was-a simple task
at one time, because offenses were
very simple. Sutherland explained
that when he was playing for Por
Warner, one Of the great Offensive
coaches Of all time, the offense con-
sisted o fthree line bucks, a reverse
an on tackle play, and two or three
forwardp asses. Now the average
high school squad has O repertoire
Of 10 times that scope. And while
studying the offense q coach must
keep q careful eye on his own de-
tense.
The coach Is In charge of all SUBJ
stitutions. He must make them al
the right time and the right place
He must keep careful watch on his
players to detect WEAKNESS, injury on
lack Of tight. To allow q PLAYER "a
stay In the game after he is tired
may result IN q missed assignment
or tumble that win cost the game
The coach must watch the wea-
ther like a sailor. Changes of wind
changes in the condition of the turf
changes Of temperature must be mel
with changed tactics.
The coach must hold consulta-
tons with his assistants during a
game, condense their reports and
utilize or discard their suggestions
Acoach - but by the time DR.
sutherland had reached this point
] was SO worn out Just from hearina
about so much work thta asked II
there were doctor In the house.
He said, yes, there was.
so ] asked him who was going Ia
win today's game.
He said he thought Notre Dame
would.
! said I thought Southern Cali
fornia would.
You can figure out for yourself
who knows more football, Suther-
land or myself. and make up your
own mind.