CFL Central Columns

The Tale of Two Coaches

September 11th, 2011

I am going to tell you a little story about the two coaches in my short football career… my high school coach, and my junior football coach.
Two vastly different individuals, and in watching the TSN series on the Argonauts – made me think back to my coaches.

In high school, our coach was very similar to Wally Buono… a quiet friendly guy – but make no mistake, he was all about the business of the team all the time.
He was not our buddy, but he treated the players with respect – whether we were in the starting lineup, or as backups… and all of us enjoyed playing for him.
Coach had a gameplan, and he knew just who to plug into the various positions to get the most out of his concepts.
He led by example with his own actions and conduct – both on the sidelines, and in his personal life.
The result: we went undefeated in my grade 12 year, and won the Saskatchewan Provincial Championship.

In junior football, our coach was similar to Jim Barker… a guy who could be laughing it up one minute, and the next reading us the riot act.
I learned early on that the term “player’s coach” actually meant “some players’ coach”… catering to the local neighborhood guys, and treating the rest of us who traveled as outsiders.
It didn’t matter whether we came from the other side of Winnipeg, or from outside the city – if you weren’t a player from the local high schools, you had to work quite a bit harder for any breaks.
Off the field coach loved to hang with the guys, and tried his best to be our “bud” when we were socializing… but most of us who enjoyed the details of the game, really never cared for him as a coach.
The ironic part was… to a man, there was far more talent on our junior roster than we ever had on our unbeaten high school team.

Coach was great at giving pregame speeches… but was woefully deficient at coming up with an effective gameplan during the week.
Unlike high school – there never were any “situation drills”, “defensive schemes”, or “offensive packages” for the upcoming team… just the same thing week after week.
The result: winless… not only for one season, but two. Sadly it got to the point where we became “used to losing”.
Coming into junior ball, I had never endured a loss on the football field… leaving after my years of junior, I never had another win after my HS Championship.
Although a few of us considered requesting a release so we could go to another team – some decisions are easier to make today with the benefit of hindsight and 25 years of life experiences.

Bottom line to my comparison saga… there is a reason some coaches win, and some coaches don’t.
Jim Barker would do well to realize he is a pretty good GM, and vacate the sidelines in favor of another coach.
Statistics and history do not lie – Barker will never be a good CFL coach… and in contrast, there is a reason that David Braley leaves Wally alone to figure things out.

dave@cflcentral.net

Entry Filed under: CFL Football