Jack’s Blog

How was your Saturday?  Late in the afternoon I walked into our family room and saw a message on the TV screen, which was on when I left the room a few moments earlier, that said, “One moment please.  This station will return shortly.”  No matter which channel I clicked onto, same message.  So I went to the computer - which had no Internet connection.  Since I nearly always use my cell phone, I had no idea our landline was dead as well. 

It’s what happens when everything is connected to Comcast and the signal goes out.  A call to their 800 number had a guy initially tell me he’d send out a repairman on Wed morning at 8 am.  After a brief chat, with me mostly doing the talking, we came to an understanding that Sunday at 8 am was a much better plan.  

Not trying to bore you, simply explaining why there was no blog yesterday.  Enjoy this one.

Although he didn’t have to, since he was under contract, Fresno State football coach Pat Hill agreed to the university’s request he shave $200,000 off of his 2010-11 salary.  “Sure, now he’s only making a cool mil,” some Bulldog supporters retorted.  My question to those detractors is, “How much would you take in salary reduction if your employer was having budget issues?”  My guess is not even two hundred.

One thing I noticed during my three decades in the college game is that coaches, whether or not they produce the results the fans, boosters and administrators want (expect), put in more hours than anyone else on - or off - campus.  As far as compensation is concerned, you might be surprised at Hill’s take, “Salaries are completely out of control now in college football.“  Spoken by a guy who loves the coaching aspect as much as he did when he entered the profession  - for a lot less money.  For the record, Pat’s salary barely gets him into the top 50 highest paid collegiate football coaches.

“But is he worth a million?”  Wrong question.  Other than Nick Saban and Chris Petersen, what coach in the country satisfied its fan base last season?  Mack Brown?  Pete Carroll?  Jim Tressel?  The question ought to be, “Is the school getting its money’s worth out of its coach?”  Even there we’ll find disagreement, but at least it’s a more fair standard.

To a football coach (and, from my experience, a basketball coach), what day of the week it is has no relevance.  For that matter, what time of day is usually of little significance as well.  In addition to practice and meetings (depending on the calendar), there’s always another recruiting call to be made, another player to work out, more film to break down, another game plan to help devise, camp to set up, another speech to give, - pick one (or more).  Meaning if there’s a spare moment, there’s always something you can do - and probably ought to be doing.  Tuesday or Saturday?  What difference does it make?

Of course, some guys work harder, or longer, than others, but I’ve always maintained that if all the employees on campus would put in the time that its coaches do, the school would run much more efficiently.  Plus, if this were the rule, the lazy people, e.g. tenured ones, would be forced to find another line of work or become more accountable.

One story I’ve repeated numerous times is about the times at Fresno State we’d check to make sure our guys were in class.  I can recall walking down the hall of academic buildings and seeing signs posted on classroom doors that read, “CLASS CANCELED.”  How can a professor cancel a class?  Isn’t that what they’re paid to do - teach?  The only time a class should be canceled is if the professor gets in a car wreck - on the way to class!  Sure, the students love it.  They get an unexpected mini-vacation.  They never stop to think they’re paying for that class their prof just blew off.

And office hours for college professors?  If anyone ever needed a definition of the word “fiction,” read the office hours on a syllabus.  If students actually find their prof in the office during office hours, the first thing they should do is buy a lottery ticket. I’ve had professors tell me the only reason they post office hours is that it’s required.

I have yet to touch on people in other walks of life but suffice to say, even if they work as long and hard as coaches do (and I’d give fairly substantial odds on that - if we’re talking over the course of a year and not a selected day here and there), none are under the intense scrutiny coaches are.

There’s absolutely no doubt coaches are overpaid, especially when they’re doing what they love to do.  And I’m fully aware they’re paid to win.  Heck, anybody can lose.  But when it’s time to criticize coaches, keep in mind that if everybody put in the effort and time coaches did, we’d all be better off.  And a heckuva lot more tired.

As Stephen Covey said:

“We judge others by their actions (and accomplishments); ourselves by our intentions.”

Fans know weird things can happen to their teams.  When they actually do, though, there’s still major shock value.  For youth, e.g. players, the first time something like occurs, especially when it directly affects them, their world can be turned upside-down.

Take, for example, a group of America’s finest football players who recently, after having their senior years adjusted so they could graduate early, enrolled in the University of Tennessee.  In many cases, these youngsters gave up winter and spring sports in which they may have excelled (not even taking events that become lifelong memories like the prom, the senior class trip and graduation parties into account).  No matter how cool a front a kid puts up, i.e. like he’s not really fazed by all the attention and gear (and that’s some pretty sweet swag), you know there’s an little man inside him jumping up and down, excited as all get-out.

One of those youngsters is the San Joaquin Valley’s Tyler Bray, player-of-the-year, billed as UT’s next quarterback savior - and if you think there’s no one the people of Knoxville have to compare him to, let me remind you of a guy who just won his (unprecedented) fourth NFL MVP.  It’s fair to say the bar is rather high for a QB in Big Orange Country.  Ty was an outstanding (6-7) shooting guard/”small” forward for KHS’s basketball team and an accomplished pitcher for the baseball squad. 

Yesterday, the man who recruited him, Lane Kiffin, as well as the guts of his staff, called an emergency meeting.  We can only wonder what went through his mind when the reason for the hastily called meeting was to inform one and all that the head coach was leaving to replace Pete Carroll at USC.  Obviously, this was a quick courtship of Kiffin, since SC seemed to be directing its efforts elsewhere.  Nonetheless, this has to be quite a shock for young Mr. Bray too.  I mean what if the Big Orange brass decide to hire a guy who prefers the “Wildcat?” 

At least he’s not alone.  His family recently moved to Tennessee.  However, all of this hubbub may not be any cause for concern.  In fact, if rumors are true that Duke’s head coach, David Cutcliffe, is being offered the job, Bray will be trading a young, talented and brash mentor for a wise football mind who tutored the Manning brothers, Peyton as QB coach at UT and Eli as the head man at Ole Miss.  

That depends on whether Tennessee can lure Cutcliffe to Knoxville.  While some may question whether SC’s a better job than UT, the opinion’s as close to unanimous as one can be that the Vols program trumps Duke’s - although Duke is certainly the superior academic school.  Then again, if the institution’s graduation rates really mattered in college football, Stanford and Vanderbilt (or maybe even Duke) would play each other for the National Championship every year.

What Bray and the other “new Vols” are experiencing is similar to what SC’s recruits are going through.  Some, allegedly, “uncommitted” to the Trojans when Carroll left.  With Kiffin and what may be the strongest coaching staff ever assembled coming to SC, they might wish they never reversed field, especially if some of them popped off about loyalty, etc., as young kids are prone to do.  They will surely welcomed back - after all, talent wins out in the end - but their first meal on campus may be crow.

As far as loyalty and breaking hearts, consider that Tyler Bray had verbally committed to San Diego State prior to changing his mind.  I remember one coach saying that a kid backing out of a commitment was akin to saying, “I’ll commit to you . . . unless I get a better offer.”  The coach then made the statement, “How would kids like it if schools offered a scholarship and then, withdrew it saying they found a better player?”  How prophetic.

Egos may be bruised, dreams (temporarily) crushed, but ultimately everybody will survive.  The lesson that will be learned is one articulated by the late John Lennon:

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

Pete Carroll is the latest coach the pundits and fans are discussing in relation to what his “legacy” will be.  First of all, I’m not sure coaches have “what their legacy will be” anywhere near the top of their list of considerations when they make their career decisions.

In Pete Carroll’s case, it’s seems to be a case of “Strengthen the weak by weakening the strong” when reporters “inform” the public why Carroll would flee.  They’re quick to say that Pete and Kobe Bryant own LA, inferring (or saying out loud) that what’s happening at USC must be the cause of his leaving.  I mean, who would up and leave a city they “own?”  

The implication is that the university’s self-imposed penalties on the basketball team, the NCAA’s looking into the Joe McKnight situation, the judge’s ruling that Carroll could be deposed in the Reggie Bush saga and the defection of players to the NFL are weighing so heavily on his mind that the decision to go to Seattle is his way out.  And maybe they are. 

Yet, seldom (and that’s giving it the benefit of the doubt) is it mentioned that coaches are intensely competitive individuals and that Pete, after going 97-19 at SC, would like to prove he can also win in the NFL - the highest level of football played in the world.  As tends to be the case with a large section society, when his SC teams began to dominate college football, people would say, “Yeah, he’s found the level where he can succeed - after failing in the pros.”  Comments like that tend to eat away at competitors - to the point that more success in college simply goes to further prove that remark.  And that makes them want to “right a wrong.”

In Carroll’s mind, which has been made public, he felt he could have had more success in the NFL had he had more control of his roster - which a college coach certainly has.  In Seattle, he’s also in charge of personnel, giving him the ultimate decision of which players he’ll be coaching.  Sounds great in theory, but an extension of hours in the day unfortunately isn’t a negotiable item.  It still must stick in his craw, however, that he so thoroughly ruled the collegiate football roost, yet had that professional stain on his record. 

The terms of his new deal have been disclosed - or at least no one’s refuted the numbers so far - but they haven’t been the primary focus of what might have gone into his decision.  It also must be noted that while he wasn’t scraping by on what the Trojans were paying him, it still is a far cry from $7 million/year - for five years - that he’ll be making in Seattle.  Throw in the difference in cost of living and his decision becomes more clear.

The media’s message is a powerful one.  As if to remind me how strong it is, when my wife asked what I was blogging on and I told her Pete Carroll, she said:

“I can’t believe he’s leaving SC.”

The overwhelming majority of people in and out of football - from those who know just a little something about the game to the “experts” claim that quarterback is the most important position on the team.

If that’s so (and who out there says it’s not?), then using a draft pick - especially a high one, e.g. the first three rounds - must take considerable thought and planning.  Yet, a number one overall pick like Peyton Manning threatens to break every record for that position in the history of football, while a number two overall pick (the same year) like Ryan Leaf threatens seemingly everything (and everyone) else.  Tom Brady gets drafted late and several other QB’s go before him.  I’d imagine there was considerable reevaluating the draft decisions that year. 

Bill Parcells, legendary coach and now president of the Miami Dolphins, seems to have found the “Rules to Draft by” when it comes to picking future signal callers.  These were announced during last night’s Dolphins-Jets Monday Night Football game and, while they may seem rather restrictive, Parcells (and his track record in the game) are not to be scoffed at, lest the “scoffer” be ready for battle, as Parcells has be known to threaten a time or two.

Whatever the case, here are the Tuna’s rules for drafting a quarterback:

1) He must be a senior.  (Bill’s not known for his patience and, usually, the younger the QB, the more time he takes to properly master the job).

2) He must be a graduate.  (Hey, if you’re paying your guy a lot of money and he’s going to handle the ball on every offensive play, he’d better not be a quitter.  Rather, you want someone who takes his responsibilities seriously, e.g. no blowing off the spring semester to get ready for the combines).

3) He must be a three-year starter.  (Once again, a lot of dough, as well as a good portion of the game plan, goes to this guy and it would be awful to get stuck with a “flash-in-the-pan,” someone who waited, got his opportunity but what was overlooked, was that he took over a veteran team that only needed someone to keep a ship from sinking, not one to direct it to the shore).

4) He must have at least 23 wins.  (It’s too easy to put up big numbers with a losing team who chucks it 50 times a game). 

Very stringent demands and not every year will they be met.  That must be exactly what’s behind the big guy’s thinking.  And if no one meets the standards, there’s always a trade, or easier yet, free agency.

After watching the show Chad Henne put on last night - in a game that Steve Young called the best duel he’d ever seen between two young QB’s (and Steve’s someone with the creds to judge quarterbacks), the Dolphins seem to have found their quarterback of the future - and maybe, the present.  Then, again, one-year-starter Mark Sanchez (whom even his own college coach, Pete Carroll - also no stranger to success - said he needed another year of college) looked mighty promising.

Yet, one of the qualities a leader must have is decisiveness and Parcells certainly qualifies in that category.

I have no idea who Eric Langmuir is, but, when his quote is put in the context of drafting a quarterback, it becomes one of the greatest understatements of all time:

“A decision without the pressure of consequence is hardly a decision at all.”

I have no idea.  I mean, there’s no explanation. 

Sure, you could say that Oregon State was totally focused on the game and nothing else because they hadn’t started school yet (classes at OSU start on Monday), but do you really think the Trojans had their minds screwed up by some homework assignment or professor’s lecture?  Independent of what else could be used as an excuse, one fact remains paramount.  USC has infinitely more talent than the Beavers.  There might be a handful of guys on Oregon State’s squad that the Trojans would like to be wearing the Cardinal and Gold (Jacquizz Rodgers may have had a sensational game, but do you think for a Hollywood minute SC coaches are rethinking their philosophy of recruiting tailbacks to include one that stands 5′6″)?  On the other hand, that number pales in comparison to the number of SC players the OSU coaching staff tried to recruit and couldn’t even get into the picture - much less the homes of - with when it came to luring them to Corvallis.

Sure, all the factors occurred in an upset, e.g. the Trojans fumbling and the turnover leading to an Oregon State touchdown; an uncharacteristic, undisciplined cheap shot by an Southern Cal player offering the Beavers an additional opportunity which, naturally, they cashed in on, not only for a TD, but for a score that first looked like an interception just before the half ended, only to be bobbled by the Beaver receiver (rhyme intended, but no pun as this is a family blog) screwed the Trojans for six.

The reason I can’t find an explanation for this incredible upset is because of the way USC’s marvelously talented offense played in the second half.  It seemed like Mark Sanchez’s sideline antics got his guys fired up and they so easily did after intermission what they could not do in the opening 30 minutes.  (Therein lies the question: Why couldn’t they - didn’t they - do the same in the first half)?  I guarantee you everybody in Trojan Country is perplexed by that question.  They needed a score to keep from getting completely embarrassed (they trailed 21-0 at the half), so they went out and scored a pair (while the defense throttled the Beavers offense which had been so amazing in the first half).  Another Why?

At 21-14, Sanchez made a costly mistake, throwing into coverage, actually overthrowing into coverage, got picked off and returned so close to a score, it was a simple blast away from the clinching touchdown.  Yet, even at that point, the Trojans, under the fiery leadership from their highly skilled QB, put up another score and was a recovery of an onside kick away from a certain comeback of epic proportions.  But onside kicks aren’t ever a very reliable method to lean on and that was the case in this game.

Following the game, USC head coach Pete Carroll was his usual magnamimous self, giving all the credit to OSU (kind of easy when you lose an average of one game a year), although he did wrap up his remarks by saying his team didn’t play well.  Duh!  The Men of Troy are so vastly superior in talent to the guys from Corvallis that they entered the game between three and four touchdown favorites. 

Some might point out that, because there is so little to do in Corn Valley, that had something to do with the upset.  Puh-lease.  Do you really think the lack of entertainment prior to a road game ever has anything to do with a college football team losing.  These guys are so singleminded of purpose, it wouldn’t matter if the Presidential debates were held the night before the game and each player was given a front row seat.  They simply wouldn’t go (although don’t let the NCAA know they’d probably sell the tickets since such a ducat would fetch big-time dough and don’t think there isn’t a person - or two - who make a living off of ticket scalping - and who would be close enough by to gladly take such a distraction off their hands - for a price.

When all is said and done, SC still can’t be ruled out for the National Championship. They’re just going to have to hope that no more than one team goes through the season undefeated (or that no team does) and SC wins out.  With their remaining schedule (although when Coach Carroll made the statement, “The Pac-10 is so ridiculously hard,” I wondered what he’d say if they were in the SEC, where each game actually is ridiculously hard - and then you have to a conference playoff, against the winner from the other side - which is ridiculously harder), it’s not a stretch to see the Trojans in the final game.    

However, at the conclusion of this particular game, the fans let their enthusiasm pour onto the field, the identical enthusiasm the Beavs played with throughout (most of) the evening.  So maybe this is just one of those games that Dee Andros, the late OSU football coach, known as The Great Pumpkin, for his rotund figure and propensity for dressing all in orange, would have quoted Andrew Carnegie:

“A person can succeed at almost anything in which they have unlimited enthusiasm.”