First of all…what a fantastic day to spend here in the Lehigh Valley. Sun shining temps in the low 50’s. You can’t find a better day to play a football game.
Senior Day!
The game!
Many years ago a friend of mine – Dick Jauron – told me you can learn a lot about your opponent if you watched them warm up. Dick is a Yale grad and one of the three smartest people I have ever met. So when he mentioned things I listened.
Dick played defensive back for the Lions in the 70’s (While he was in school he played running back – unusual shift from RB to DB for a true college free agent). Later he was a head coach with the Chicago Bears and later with the Buffalo Bills.
Trust me a fantastic coach – taught me so much. But, better yet just had such a great time hanging around with him and the one-and-only George Catavolos.
He was fired from both of those jobs…but one thing about Dick – he never put the blame on anyone else….never complained about the personnel he was given….always carried himself with such grace and class.
I have met many people who have influenced me. But if there was anyone who I would love to emulate it would be Dick. I have never heard anyone say a bad thing about him.
So when he would tell me things about football and his observations I really took them to heart. He saw so much and understood the game so well….was a good person to learn from.
But, back to watching your opponent warm up. You can learn a lot of things – especially at the Division III level. Your opponent will almost invariably run the same plays in the game that they run in warm ups. They will use the same formations, motions and pass plays.
You can see if anyone has an injury taped up and where they might have potential injuries. Maybe it is something you can exploit??!! I actually saw a RB sprain his ankle in warmups before we played Minnesota. I don’t know if it helped us, but we did win the game!
You can truly get an edge if you pay attention. Many times your opponent will run the same plays – just out of different formations and perhaps wth different motions. Now you can anticipate some adjustments before the game even starts.
Always look for that slight edge!
***Another one of the three really smart guys I know was my high school and college teammate Eric Butler – he was off the charts smart – he pops up as one of those three smart guys as well. Plus he was a fantastic player and a great friend all the way. By the way you will never ever see my name on a list of smart people! I actually had a 26% on a mid term for the easiest math class at Muhlenberg. (Might have done better had I attended class more than once a month!)***
We didn’t learn a lot from Dickinson’s warm up yesterday. But we found out pretty quickly that they would be starting their #3 QB because their starter and his backup were both injured. We didn’t know that before warmups.
Well, obviously you now know that they would have to simplify their game plan due to the difference in personnel. Also opened them up for blitzes because a young inexperienced QB doesn’t have the experience and vision to pick up changes as quickly as a veteran.
We have had a lot of tough games this season….we knew that we would have our hands full with Dickinson because they always play 
us tough. The Hounds were fortunate to get off to a great start on Senior Day.
We racked up more than 500 yards in offense despite three turnovers. (Turnovers are unacceptable and something we have been pretty good about all season – we have to be secure with the ball to be a consistent team). I know sometimes things happen and we lose the ball….but we have to keep the pressure on our guys during practice so we can win the turnover battle in each game.
Our seniors really stood out during the game – many have been big time players their whole career. Others have been really big behind the scenes. Many things they have done go unnoticed – but we know!
So happy to watch Aaron Hudson have a giant TD catch and run. to open the second half. This guy is so exciting and so much a leader…..bang he gets the ball – 75 yards later he scores his 10th career TD on his 118th catch. (Just imagine if we used him more his freshman year.)
He is an awesome player and he will be a great player in Europe if he decides to go over there with me next year. This guy can play ball. But his leadershiskills are unparalleled.
We had Vinny Caporrino play thru a painful injury and do a tremendous job on the line defensively. We wanted to rest him, but he refused to take time off – fantastic effort.
Fouad Haddad played his usual solid game and always is trying to encourage his teammates to play even better.
Defensively we played a strong and consistent game. Steve Ewald was all over the field making tackles and dominating the Red Devil blockers. Between he and Joe Milano early in the game we just over ran Dickinson’s offense.
Was really great to see Tanner Stokes and Will Russell step up and play so well after an unfortunate injury to Joe. I do have to tease Steven though…..he makes a great interception – clear field in front of him.- yup sure TD! Then that white yard stripe just jumped up and tripped him preventing a TD!
Personally was just so happy to watch all things fall into place as the game went on. These guys certainly deserve to see success. But as I have said many times – no one said it would be easy – and no one said it would be fair.
Gotta love this team. Results are not always what we want, but such a great experience being with them!
Time to become consistent!
This week we will talk a.little about lagniappe. This is a custom that is practiced in many areas….but is common in New Orleans and the Deep South.