Coaches' Gameday Positions
Morning ladies and gents-
Last season, after the Purdue game, I wrote into Brian's Mailbag with a question about coaches being in the box or on the field. I was really getting after the fact of Shafer being up in the box and having an awful defense giving up numerous third and long coversions (thing MSU and NW, and yes the rest of the games). IIRC Brian did not think the defense was bad because of Shafer being up in the box. Nothing against Brian, but what do you all say about this? Is it even worthy of discussion? Does a coach being on the field and able to instantly communicate with players make a difference from play to play? Or was it simply because his packages were just not any good? I'll hang up now and listen to your comments. Go Blue!
It's really all about how the coach gathers information... some guys can read the field a lot more successfully from the vantage point of the press box, while others can pick it up right alongside the rest of the team down on the field. Probably anyone can read the overall scheme of things better from a distance, but it comes at a price...
So I think what you're really asking is how much does removing the coach, and more specifically, his personality, from the players' in-game experience affect the overall performance of the team? I'd think it's different between every coach-- but in the heat of battle, a coach IS a source of discipline, confidence, and naturally leadership. Now if you ask me, you gotta lose some of this coming through the other side of a phone...
As for the Gerg, I'm curious to see if he's a fire and brimstone spit-on-the-field kinda guy, or the calm, cool and calculated iceman type. And let's hope he has a good hands-on-knees survey-the-field pose, because we all know every good coordinator has to have one. Say what you want about Jimmy Herrmann, but he had that whole about-to-take-a-dump-without-sitting-down-or-looking-away-from-the-field pose down cold.
That is all. GO BLUE.