Evening star., 1960-01-06
WIN, LOSE OR
DNAV By FRANCIS STANN
Pros and Cons

SEVEN YEARS AGO almost to the day the rules COM
mttee OF the NC stunned the college coaches by
aooshng free substitution the platoon system in foot
oa Such hue and cry from the coaches Red Drew who
was coach at Alabama at the time called it "a return to
the horse and buggy days. Bobby of Georgia Tech
painvey has been asking since How can we COM
pete with pros without it?"
Now the coaches making their annual pitch for
the restoration of free substitution and are asking for
the goal posts to be to the goal line where most
coaches think they belong This not to say that all
coaches feel the same way, but is safe suggest the
majority is for platoon football.
As one noted Southern coach disgruntedy put it.
Those fellows on the rules committee many of them
aren't coaching and haven't for years. They don't know
how important it is to us in the modern game Right or
wrong, he speaks as if sorely put upon.
CERTAINLY THE LIMITED substitution rule as it has
been in effect in varying forms platoon football was
banned in January 1858 has been wholly satisfactory
The fans complain that takes too long troops
In and out OF that it makes games run from 20 to
80 minutes longer. the more satistcal-minded
draw up elaborate charts to show how much of college
game is dead time" widespread expression
The officials complain they have become little more
than auditors, human time clocks The coaches beef
because, as many put it pousy, 1T takes so much
longer to teach boy how to play both oense and defense
With specialist football boy has only half much to
learn and twice as much time to learn it,"
Oh, yes the pros. They have interest of Sort too
because the more football players (actuay, about
more), Ine easier TO NIL their
to COACH too because they getting specialists George
Marshall chief owner of the Redskins been wondering
aloud for why the colleges outawed free substitution
and kept the goal post 10 yards back of the playing field
The college kids kick as the pros yet they
are required to kick longer" Marshall has said uncom-
prehendingy.
AS THE WIRE STORIES out of New York point out
the NCAA rules committee does not always pay much of
mind to the coaches recommendations fact the rules
committee conducted poll nearly 10 years ago and learned
that 357 out of 463 coaches favored retention of
liberal substitution similar poll the year reflected
the same preference yet the rules committee its action
in 1858.
The coaches not only wanted the two-plaoon system
but the goal posts the goal line They didn't get the one
and lost the other lot of them agreed they were deprived
Of the best football game in history.
The pros and the argument are almost endless
despite the unity among the coaches Some fans depore
engthening the games others prefer dead time" to
faceless units alternating the field College presidents
who are budgetmnded dislike the extra expense of out
fitting many athletes and hiring so many coaches
Other educators consider it advantageous to have more
boys playing the game.
CERTAINLY THE PROS have made tremendous
mroadS on college balls popularity in point is in
Baltimore where the enthusiasm for the Colts boundess
and the loss of such college powers Navy Maryland
is considered minor For that matter there is not
much demand for college football in Washington chiefly
because of the Redskins.
Granted that pros are more expert it nevertheless
is evident that they have the rules going for EN- They
have faster game, higher scoring The committee
college coaches protest, giving the pros that edge
Probably the coaches never have been more bitter
ABOUT the whole business than this year. which finds the
Big Ten threatening to adopt it's own set of rules the
rules committees versions do not satisfy And Nore Dame
repeatedly has indicated will go along with its Big Ten
cousins.
Whether tWo-platoon football is the whole beneh-
ic
easily be decided but for sport as big as football it
seems ridiculous for the high schools to follow one set of
rules the colleges another maybe couple of others) and
tna pros still anoth9s That's not the way tennis played