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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.

 

In sports, and football in particular there are different levels of coaching.  This positioning is generally based upon how much experience you have and at times your availability.

For instance, there are three sections of NCAA football – Division I, Division II and Division III with DI being regarded as the highest in regards to player talent.  (Also this group of schools like Michigan State, Rutgers and Alabama have the most resources to allocate to athletics).

Almost every coach when they are younger wants to attain a high level for various reasons.  You get to work with some very talented players, coach with knowledgeable peers and of course there is the chance to play in front of large crowds and many times compete on television.

Obviosly there is a lot of glamor involved – plus there can be a great deal of money involved (especially amongst the head coaches).

****Please note – there is a great deal of pressure for the guys at the highest levels.  This year we have seen many guys get “whacked” (fired) already and the season isn’t even into it’s final stage yet. ( My good friend at Texas El Paso – Sean Kugler resigned a few weeks ago, Jim McElwain was fired earlier this week at Florida,  Hugh Freeze at Mississippi didn’t even make it to the season due to his mistakes with his school phone.). But when you get paid a lot you face a great deal of scrutiny.

I assure you more firings are on the way!

Guess what happens when they fire the top guy – yup the assistants will generally all get their walking papers at the end of the season.  You can be a great coach, but you are probably out of work with no more insurance or pay checks coming in – off to try and find another job!****

One question that is always asked by young coaches – how do you get started?  How do I get to be like David Shaw (head coach at Stanford) or Jim Mora (head coach at UCLA) or even Bill Belichick the five time Super Bowl winning coach of the New England Patriots?  How did they start out?

Well, first of there are no guarantees….each path to the upper echelon jobs is a little different – yet they are also similar.  But many coaches have worked their way thru the “system” and never make it into what would be called a “Big-Time” job.  Many coaches never attain a job of a coordinator much less become head coaches.

Often coaches aspire to find their way into high level jobs, only to find they cannot break into those positions.  Sometimes it is just lack of experience, sometimes the wrong experience, and other times it is as simple as being in the wrong place when a job becomes available.

Like I said earlier it is not an exact science and often the trail has a lot of distractions and detours.  For instance you might find an opportunity on the opposite coast.

Wow seems romantic glamorous even.   ….speaking of romance – maybe you find that interesting job in State “X” but the pay is low and your significant other says…..I have a job here making much more money than that and if I move to state “X”  I have no guarantee of a job there!  Well deceisions – hard decisions have to be made.

Maybe that nice job shows up when you are a HS coach with ten years experience  and a district pension plan…plus a family and two kids.  Explain  to your wife you are giving up that nice house and security to take on a lower pay and a much riskier job at a college – just to pursue your dream of a full time coaching job with no teaching.  Guess how that conversation is going to go down?

So I might as well tell my own little story.

My personal path was a lot easier – albeit without any guarantees either.  After two years of coaching as an unpaid volunteer (with my close friend Scot Dapp) at Kutztown State I finally caught what was the eventual “break”.

***Scot and I were both school teachers and that is how we made our living….we showed up at Kutztown to coach football every day after our school day ended.***

After two years of typing about ten resumes per week and mailing them to every school in the NCAA that I could think of I got a call from a coach looking for some help.  By the way no computers or spell check in the mid seventies so those resume’s took a lot of time to type on my old Olivetti Underwood!).  …..In case you don’t know there are a lot of schools in the NCAA.  I finally got ONE SINGLE response.

I was able to secure a graduate assistant position at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico (“The Land of Enchantment”).   To this day I love the place because of the people  and friends I made there….and just the experience of living there.  (AND NO – New Mexico is not NEW and it is not in MEXICO – it is one of the 50 states!)

My mother could not understand how I could give up my elementary school teaching job of $11,000  per year (that was a fair salary in 1977 by the way) to take a job that paid $300 per month.  Also to travel to the great southwest where I knew no one and had no connections??!!

My girlfriend had also dumped me and it didn’t look like she was coming back and she was smart enough not to – so I was out the door and on my way across the  Mississippi River for the first time in my life.  No worries – single man with no baggage. So I started out pretty much without having to worry about anything but coaching football and having fun  (I am good at that fun thing by the way.)

A year later I was fortunate to get a full-time job at Arizona State which was one of the luckiest things that ever happened to me.  First of all I was like the fourth choice for the job (My Boss at the time Darryl Rogers -always introduced me to other people…..”Don was our fourth choice but he is ours now and hey we love him!”)  I worked with DR for ten years and believe me he introduced me to MANY people over that time span.

I was lucky in many ways – first – I had just the right amount of experience to  do the job, also just enough to keep my salary reasonable, second  – a few  other fools turned down the job, third – I could get to Arizona State more quickly than anyone else by driving six hours from Las Cruces to Phoenix,  fourth – the fools at the NCAA hadn’t  yet implemented a rule which prevented a coach from working on the  field and also serving as the strength coach (ASU wanted someone who could do two things – that was the versatile me!).

I was able to more than triple my teaching salary and move to a fantastic but very hot southwestern city – Phoenix.  Coach in the PAC-10 (Unlike the Big 10 which has 14 teams – we can you count our teams in the PAC-12 – there are 12).  Single man with cash in a college town – look out!

Five years later I was coaching in Detroit with Darryl Rogers – still introducing me as his “Fourth” choice by the way!  A few decades later sitting at Moravian writing this silly blog.

But, that is kind of one path into a full-time coaching position.

In reality the clearest entry way to a full time coaching job is through a job as a graduate assistant coach. They are hard to come by as I have already mentioned.  But I am pretty sure that finding a grad assistant job now is much harder that when I started out.

As a grad assistant you are offered free graduate level classes, a small stipend to cover your expenses and housing.  (Did I mention SMALL stipend??). In return you get to begin coaching in a college setting.  You begin on the bottom rung of the college football coaching.

***At smaller schools like Moravian we have internships which are the same idea.***

Trust me – although becoming a GA is a right of passage that almost everyone in college coaching goes thru….it can be a very trying experience.  I really enjoyed my experience because the majority of the “Full time” coaches and how they taught me and brought me into their families.

I was a GA at New Mexico State and I can’t begin to thank the men  (who were the major coaches on the NMSU staff) I learned football from – Don Christiansen, Fred Graves and Tony DiBiasse and these men also brought me into their families.  Don’s son Steve and I remain great friends – Tony and his wife Martha had dinner with me every time the Lions played in Cincinnati….Fred and I coached again with the Lions.  Awesome people.

But in some colleges the primary or full-time coaches treat the GA’s as their personal assistants giving them a variety of tedious jobs in the office – sometime involving coaching and other times just using them to run around campus taking care of jobs they should be handling themselves.

Other times they treat you like dirt and just run over the top of you.  This behavior is pretty much tolerated and the GA just has to take it because these are the guys who will be recommending you for jobs later.

Every GA has their story about someone who treated them badly along the way.  Some coach who gave them a thankless “shit” job that you don’t even get a thank you for.  Yet you press on because you want to get one of those coveted full time jobs.  Just shut up and remember not to treat anyone like you were treated!

There were four of us GA’s at New Mexico State during my time.  We developed a strong bond as our head coach Gil Krueger treated us like his personal dogs.  We stuck together and helped each other with some of the shitty jobs he threw at us.

I might have been handed the shittiest job of the GA’s….but it was also the funniest in my opinion.  It taught me very little about coaching football, but it did teach me to laugh at myself and realize that I was just a regular guy and not some high flying college football coach.

I was in charge of the player’s laundry.  In other words I was to make sure that after our practices all the t shirts, jocks, pants, jerseys etc were cleaned and dried for the next practice.  Shouldn’t have been a hard job. BUT – a big BUT!

BUT we had no laundry equipment on campus.  We had to take all of that wet, sweaty, smelly gear three miles downtown into Las Cruces and wash and dry it there.  I was in charge of it….but I had an assistant.

I had a football player who was injured to take care of the laundry.  He kept his scholarship by taking care of the gear.  I will never forget Dee Taylor – I’m sure he doesn’t remember me – but I will always remember him.

Well, after a few days Dee stopped coming to work.  The laundry stayed wet and dirty one day.  I complained to Gil Krueger – the head coach – that Dee did not show up.

Gil Krueger told me that if the kid wasn’t doing it….well I had to do it!  Actually Gil said this: ” I don’t give a fu*k about Dee Taylor and I don’t give a fu*k about you – get the job done or get the fu*k out of here.”

Those are pretty much his words verbatim….well I looked at my life and where I wanted to go….pretty much knew I didn’t want to turn out like Gil Krueger but knowing I wanted to coach football.  So I shut up and got busy.

So for the entire season I cleaned and dried the laundry for our 100 or so players.

I would wake up at 4:30 in the morning get into a white 1956 Chevrolet Apache panel truck with no front seat or windshield wipers and take the four or five duffel bags of laundry downtown to a laundromat.

My front seat was a 10 gallon carpet glue can with a piece of foam on it.  Didn’t need the windshield wipers because it rarely rained in the southern New Mexico desert.

The owner of the Laundromat met me each morning and gave me a stack of  quarters and I proceeded to place the laundry into ten or so washing machines and get them going with the quarters.  Then after 45 minutes loaded them into the dryers and finished my job.  Every day of the season I did the team’s laundry.

Sometimes I did the laundry in the evenings and had to jostle with some locals and NMSU students for the machines.  Actually met some good friends, met a few girls that I dated….but the best thing there was a bar across the street where I drank a lot of beer those evenings.

The final week of the season I drove the three miles to the do the laundry in an all out downpour!  If my friends could have seen the big-time football coach driving that panel truck with his head sticking out of the front window just to see in a driving rainstorm.

But it really all paid off in my opinion – kept my head from getting to big and met some lifelong friends.

But, let’s get to our GA’s – or interns –  as they are called here at MOCO.

They are all great young guys who have a really good chance to move on to find bigger jobs.

First off you have to understand – our interns are truly not interns or graduate assistants.  In the situation we are working with at Moravian these guys are basically full-time coaches.  They do everything that any one of us older guys do.  Actually I do less work than they do – I am  in charge of drawing the cards for our scout teams.  That’s pretty easy to do.

These guys have to coach a group of guys at their position.  They also have to run meetings and handle problems that come about on campus.  It is not an easy thing to do for a young man who was wearing helmet and pads just a year ago.

We need these guys to be on there game and we count on them to be professional.

Arturo Gyles and Evan Harvey were standouts at Lehigh and work on the defensive side of the ball.  Matt Chiappelli (Shippensberg) and Doug Turrell (Villanova) work for the offense.

They are all competent and capable guys who will be very good as full time coaches somewhere if they hand with the profession.  They also are really gregarious and each very personable.

***I am teaching them how to drink Beer!!!***

To say there is teasing between them in the office – well that is an understatement.  Especially in the week where Villanova and Lehigh played each other early in the season. Quite a few barbs thrown around – the testosterone ramped up etc.

But, that is actually a daily thing now.  Always ragging on each other.   But, I promise you these guys have gotten really close and will always be friends as they move through their careers.

One of the funniest pranks pulled off within their group was by Doug – he invented the “Intern of the Week” award.  Obviously there is no such thing.  But he placed a placard on Evan’s bulletin board declaring that Doug was the “Intern of the Week.”

Well, a few of us spotted this placard and decided to intercede a little.  We found a picture of Doug to add to the award.  It was a “Leave it to Beaver” type shot of a young Doug Turrell from perhaps his freshman year at Nova.  We inked in a front tooth and added it to the bulletin board with the “Intern of the Week” tag.  Nice touch if you ask me.

So Evan, Matt and Arturo had a good laugh about the “Intern of the Week” idea.  But we all found it even more hilarious when Doug walked in the office and saw we added his picture to the award.  Just one of those quid pro quo moments that had us laughing at each other.

 

 

It might not seem all that funny to many people.  But at one o’clock in the morning when you are all working in close quarters with some pressure hanging over your head….it is really funny.

I have no doubt that if these guys stick with it they will become fantastic coaches and perhaps even head coaches!

What a Life!

We prepare this week for the Red Devils from Dickinson College.  They travel to Steel field for a game this Saturday.

In the realm of “Small World” –  My neighbor in Rochester Hills, Michigan – Martha, she actually attended  and played basketball at Dickinson.

The Devils are currently 2-6 with one more victory than we have.  But our guys continue to stay sharp and work to improve each day.

The weight room remains full – the guys continue to work hard in the classroom.  No stepping back here.  All oars remain in the water and the guys are putting their back into each stroke.

Coaches keep working hard and teaching the guys…no backing down here.  We have watched our roster continue to change due to injuries – yet the coaching continues.  Lucky to be around this talented group of guys.  Each of our guys are committed to getting the job done.  They work countless hours in the office watching film….studying tendencies and also learning new techniques.

 

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Under first year coach Brad Fordyce Dickinson has also faced some injuries.  Early in the season their quarterback Billy Burger (#8) went down with the injury and although he played a little bit two weeks ago he did not play last week.

No way to find out what has happened at their QB situation at Dickinson.  Hey I get it,  theDickinson coaches don’t want us to know who their QB is going to be.  But in general you can’t find out anything about a CC team unless you do the research yourself.

Like most things in the Centennial Conference all information is shrouded in secrecy.  Trying to get up to date information from the sports information people at any school is nearly impossible – most of these guys (girls too I suppose) must be preparing for jobs in the secret service.

It’s amazing how difficult it is to get an accurate 2-deep depth chart from these people.  They are generally late in giving the information and many times they are inaccurate.

Most of these people would be amazed what a real PR department is like in Division I or professional sports.  Sometimes you have to get up off your ass and do some work.

Burger (#8) has been replaced by Freshman Robert Geuss.  Except that Robert Geiss is not a Freshman he is a FY…..(Fancy Dan schools now refer to  Freshman as FY or First year people….god forbid you refer to them as FreshMEN – the word MEN on the end of fresh must offend some people …let’s get politically correct!)

Geiss (#7) has played well since entering the lineup and appears to be a passer first and runner second.  He has completed 51.3% of his passes hitting 80-156 for 779 yards and is 10th among the Centennial Conference signal callers.  His favorite target has been Daniel Salmone (#21) who has 37 catches for 270 yards which is 8th in the CC.

Interestingly enough Salomone (#21) only averages 7.3 yards per catch which shows that he is an underneath receiver.  Most of his catches have been in ball control situations as the coaching staff is trying to make sure their young QB has manageable throws.

Their offensive line has been improving as the season moves along.  They have allowed sophomore Jeremy Walsh (#9) to get loose for 473 yards and a 3.5 yards per carry average.

Last weekend Sam Peck (#14) a sophomore ran for  121 yards in the loss to Juniata.  Walsh (#9) also ran for over 100 yards to build a productive running game.

Defensively the Devils are similar to us.  They have spent a lot of time on the field and rank as one of the lower teams statistically.

Finding consistency has been a problem plaguing Dickinson throughout the year.  Having a youthful roster and new coaching systems is often trouble on game day.  This has been apparent in most of their games to date.

Defensively the Devils have had trouble creating big plays and their tackling has been spotty at times.  But one thing about Dickinson they always play hard and show great effort in getting to the ball.

Dickinson has trio of very solid defenders.  Sophomore linebacker James Turner (#26) has 10.5 tackles for losses on the season and is one of their top defenders. He is joined by Thomas Nocka (#55) who has 4.5 sacks and one of their best overall players in Tyler Heisey (#33).

The Devils have one of the best facilities in the Centennial Conference and it is a fantastic school.

Their new stadium locker facilities are excellent and the additions they have made to their athletic complex have mad the school one of the most attractive schools in Eastern Pennsylvania.

          

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I am really looking forward to watching our guys play this weekend.  They have prepared hard and are really finding their groove.  I especially like the way our young defensive line is continuing to make progress every day.

We are lucky to have seniors like Connor Rooney, Fouad Haddad and Vinnie Caporrino for leadership in that room.  Really big contributors, but even better young men.  These guys are all going to be an impact wherever they land after graduating.

    

Love these guys and everything they have done at Moravian over the last four years.  Can’t find better people!

The defense continues to create turnovers, but we have to play better on third down and get off of the field.  Like Dickinson we have found it hard to play consistently on every play.  Yet there is continued improvement and it is visible as we practice.

Defensively we have to “win” on first down….in other words hold the opponent to less than four yards.  This puts the offensive team into a second and long situation and it allows you to be more flexible with your defensive calls.  When you get to third down we have to find a way to get off the field – players have to make stops….knock down passes at the line – break up throws – create turnovers etc.

Sounds easy when you say it that way….but obviously it is not easy to do.  But we will keep working to get it right.

Again….nice to see how supportive family and friends are of this team.  It is great to see how much backing all of our guys have.  Between this support group and former players coming back to Steel Field and lending their help it is obvious that it is only a matter of time until we get our program back on track.

 

 

 

As we enter the eighth week of the season we face a very powerful opponent in Franklin and Marshall College.  The Diplomats are certainly in contention for the post season with a 6-1 record.

This is a well coached team with several excellent players in key positions across the board.  John Troxell the head coach has done a fantastic job thru his tenure.  With a record of  61-44  and five post season appearances over eleven seasons he is one of the most established coaches in the region.

***A short aside – Former Greyhound great Kevin Bracken is also on the Diplomat coaching staff – but then former F&M QB John Harrison now serves as our offensive coordinator.***

The Dips have a strong defense surrendering under 20 points a game and ranking fourth in the CC in total defense allowing 317 yards per game.  They are a physical bunch who play with very good technique.

They have great schemes…but what really stands out is their effort and toughness.  We certainly can match up with them and there is no doubt that our troops will be looking to get after their collective asses from the starting kickoff until the final whistle.

One thing that is never lacking in a Moravian football team is strength and effort.  With all the time we spend in the weight room with Coach Tom Long year round…… our guys are certainly strong and willing to give a great effort every Saturday.

****Just a short aside here ….Tom Long and his excellent staff of Amanda and Laurie do a fantastic job strength training  the troops.  You can look out in the parking lot on any number of mornings and see their cars there at 5:00 in the morning because that is when they start their day.  Often they are still hanging around after 9:00 at nite.  I’m not good in math and don’t add very well – but I think that is more than 12 hours.  I guarantee you that there are few – if any cars –  in the faculty parking lot during those hours.  Thanks guys you are the best!****

In keeping with their aggressive nature Franklin and Marshall’s is second in the league in sacks.  Junior Joe Granahan (#90) leads the Centennial Conference with 10 and teammate Dylan Jones (#3) chips in with 3.5 as well.  Granahan (#90) also has  11.5 tackles for loss and has forced a pair of fumbles.

Freshman Brendan Dearing (#85)  is an outstanding returner with more than 25 yards per KO return and one TD.

We will have to be disciplined and aggressive in our kick coverage.  But with the emergence of John Miller (#82) as our kicker we can see more and more kicks getting into the end zone which will limit returns by our opponents.

John was selected as the special teams player of the week in the centennial conference as his 34 yard field goal in the final seconds pushed us to the win.

Look for our young and improving front wall on offense to give F&M all they can handle.  Chris Leavenworth has these guys on a solid upward curve.  This is going to be a dogfight up front and I look forward to seeing our guys playing at a high level and matching the Diplomats blow for blow.

Currently our opponents play a very solid and efficient offense.  They have an outstanding QB in junior Tanner Erisman (#15). ? ! Am I crazy or is the name Tanner a popular one – we have three on our team as well – I don’t think I went to school with anyone named Tanner !?  Anyway back to the point – Tanner Erisman (#15) is a fine player.

He is leading the Centennial in pass efficiency and is tops with a 65.9 completion percentage – this is excellent work.  They have always had a very solid passing game and this year is no different for F&M.  Erisman’s (#15) 18 TD passes are second only to the QB we faced at Juniata last week.

Speedy senior Taalib Gerald (#7) is leading the team with 476 yards rushing (3.8 yd avg) and has added 110 more on 14 catches.  He has always been a big weapon for the Diplomats.

The receivers are led by dangerous KJ Pretty(#1)  a junior from Bethlehem Freedom who has 39 catches for 715 yards and 8 TD’s.  An excellent player who can score from anywhere on the field.  Senior Dillon Alderfer (#84) is next with 29 caches for 357 yards and 4 scores.

On the Moravian side of the ledger – our young secondary continues to get better.  We picked off three passes – two by freshman Jackson Buskirk who earned CC player of the week for his efforts.  Veteran Nick Zambelli also had one ending a threat just before half time.

****I kind of like these little asides……Jackson Buskirk once lived in my home area of Lehigh Township and could have been a Konkrete Kid – but he moved to Whitehall.  Like they say on ESPN  “Come’on Man”  you could have been a  KKid!  Oh well even if he was a Zephyr glad to have him standing with us at Moravian!****

It is good to see Eli Redmond back on the field.  He was able to rush for 59 yards on 14 tries    and was just an arm tackle away from going the distance on at least one occasion.  Looking forward to watch his production from here on out.

Defensively our team was able to create three turnovers as we continue to see our hard work in this phase of the game pay off.  Winning the turnover battle is always going to be a key in any football game.

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OK – not trying to offend anyone here but we have to look at what we are battling here at Moravian.  Our coaching staff is fighting with one hand tied behind their back when recruiting.

F&M finished their new stadium complex and played their first game in it this past weekend (56-0 rout of Dickinson).  It is a fantastic addition to their sports program.

This ups the “arms race” in the Centennial Conference.  There are several state of the art stadiums in our league.  Although our own Steel Field is unique – it certainly is not even close to any of the places we play in the CC.  With the outdated and worn out turf and aged locker facility – we lag far behind in this “arms race.”

Many people say that you have to make due with what you have.  Yup, I get it….but when you recruit against these schools with many more weapons than you can show off – you start at the bottom of the hill.

We also have to play the Bullets at Gettysburg – they are a little different in the eyes of recruits as well.

I also know about academic reputations and that we have a fine school.  But any recruiter worth his salt will pull out the US News and World Report and show them the rankings of the Centennial Conference schools.  I won’t go into the numbers you can check them yourself – but there are some excellent schools we compete with – Johns Hopkins does beat some Ivy League schools on players from time to time..

 

On the Visitors side you can see one of the scaffolds constructed to so we can film the game.  Can’t film from the Home bleacher roof because it was declared unsafe.  If it is unsafe to stand on – maybe unsafe to sit under?

I am not trying  to be disrespectful here –  I love everything about Moravian and the type of school it is.  But, this is the reality of the situation that we face here in Bethlehem.

There is a difference in the facilities at Moravian and the locker room and stadium at Gettysburg and Franklin & Marshall.  We haven’t even looked at our neighborhood rival the Mules yet.

So, add Academics – Facilities…..well……..just….. heck it is hard to compete in this era when you fall behind in too many areas.

!!!!!

Now a week or so I mentioned that Hannibal crossed the Alps with elephants and his troops to attack Rome.  Well apparently my understanding of history is somewhat off kilter a little.

My friend Bob Gratz (a Moravian Hall of Famer who I actually played against while I was a Muhlenberg.  I’m sure he was one of many backs who ran over me at one time or another.).   Wow that is a “run on sentence”

Let me start over–

My friend Bob Gratz gave me the low down on Hannibal crossing over the Alps.  He did do that and with elephants.  He dropped down into Italy and fought all over that region for fifteen or so years.

He controlled the area during this time….but never did march on Rome.  Oh well I’m not smart  – but I want to be.

Another great week comes to an end in the Lehigh Valley!

 

Wow…what a big win for the Hounds.

John Miller drills a FG with seconds left to win the game.  Here is a guy who put in his time to just to have a chance to “stand on the stage.”  Then he goes out there and gets the job done.  My prediction is this.  John will become one of the finest kickers ever to play at Moravian.

New snapper Mike O’Hagan steps into the breach to snap (due to an injury to one of our top players Nick Tone)…yup perfect center to Cordell Theadford….great placement by the senior….bang John kicks it thru.  Could have made it from 50!

****Just an aside here…..Mike O’Hagan also had a critical tackle on a punt earlier in the game!  Never complains – he just does what is asked of him****

What will make this team great in the future is the unselfish nature of the guys on the team.  But, they are learning this from key seniors.  They probably think it goes unnoticed….but no it doesn’t…..Connor Rooney, Kyle Conroy, Tanner Mish…..amongst others.  We see you…we see you every single day help your teammates become better.

It’s shame that many of our parents can’t see us practice.  Our practices are awesome – the speed is incredible – much of it is because because of guys like Stanton Santos.  You should have seen his one handed catch in practice last week.

Here is a guy who plays hard every single snap in the game.  He makes every play count.  But this is what makes the Greyhound great.

Will Russell…..the “Lake Hopatcong Anaconda”….this is someone who you can go to war with anytime!  (I am biased here but Will is one of my favorites because he epitomizes the word teammate!  He is always quick to volunteer…will do anything asked of him!  I don’t know what he will do when he graduates – but I assure you it will be great!)

I will talk about our senior troops as we go along over the next few weeks left in the season.  I truly love and respect each and every one of them…all have contributed…all have given their time and hearts to help make Moravian better!

Our seniors are unbelievable….some have selflessly changed positions to help the team.  Perhaps even giving up playing time to just help the team.  Justice Anderson goes from being a fantastic receiver over three years  and comes over to help our defense at corner.

Justice had one of the prettiest KO returns I have ever seen only to have it called back on an unbelievably bad call.  (Look I have coached my entire life –  Centennial refs are by far the poorest I have ever seen –  including HS – call it whatever you want…but more than 40 years in this business all over the world – I know poor performance when I see it.  These officials are absolutely terrible!  But, there is nothing we can do about it…we have to soldier on.). So Justice – hats off to you and your effort.

What a game on Saturday…back and forth.  The Hounds defense countering one of the best offenses in the Centennial.  Big plays all over the place.  Vinny Caporrino plays hard each week but he had to play almost every snap due to the injury to Nick Tone.  He had to be exhausted but what a game he had.

Also had great effort from the entire front seven.  Great hustle as usual by the big guys up front.  Love watching them work!

Our safeties continue to stand out game after game.  Nick Zambelli with a big interception at the end of the half and Jackson Buskirk picking off two drive killing passes and knocking another one away.  We had a few other chances to make big plays – that is something that we need to continue to do.

Offensively we did some great things.  Continuing to improve every week our guys played really hard and found a way to get it done at the end of the game.  The offensive line paved the way for Eli and Frank creating some big plays throughout the game.  But that last drive…a thing of beauty.

Runs, throws and scrambles – we make Juniata pay dearly for their mistakes.

How about we catch the Juniata defense playing man defense.  So the secondary defenders are chasing receivers down the field with there backs to the QB.  So what does Doug Erney do – yeah alertly he takes off running and the defensive backs can’t react  fast enough because they don’t see him!

Sets up the FG!

Moravian lines up…John blasts the ball through the goal posts and the Hounds move on with a big win!  Oh, by the way….Juniata is offsides on the play – yup the officials missed that one too!  Incredible!

We had great plays all day long from everyone.  But how about these efforts – Aaron Brown shaking free for three big catches including a key 25 yarder.  How about Alex Pierce having a day – five. catches…..well earned.  These guys work hard in practice every day.

Also have to mention Nick Petros and his timely punting…..trapping their offense inside the five.  Big tackle on another punt by Mike O’Hagen – critical stop.  Andrew Nieves knifes through on a kickoff and jacks up the returner.  Vince Pianaforte chasing down the QB forcing him into Connor Rooney’s arms for a sack.

We still have a lot of work to do…we keep coming together as a team but there are still many things we need to improve on.

We must continue to grow as a team over these next three weeks.  It is imperative that our seniors teach the younger players about maturity.  We have some outstanding leaders like Aaron Hudson (I am going to get him a job playing football in Europe next year if I have something to say about it).  Aaron works really hard on the offensive side of the ball……then he steps in and works for the scout team to help the defense as well.  What an awesome young man!

We all have a lot of work to do to help our team….everyone has a part to play.  Need to keep our focus at all times and that concentration has to be intense so we are ready for Franklin and Marshall on Saturday.

 

OK….back from Switzerland, things settling in again as we get prepared to play the Eagles from Juniata College this Saturday.  Since all the Centennial Conference teams had their bye last week the Hounds should be rested and as healthy as can be expected.

Unfortunately we have had so many injuries that it is hard to imagine being even “somewhat” healthy.  To date we have lost 10 players to season ending injuries and even never got five others on the field because they reported unable to play.

These are not complaints…just pointing out the reality of the situation.  It has been hard to practice at times.  Not because we don’t have enough players.  But, because we cannot get all of our starters there at one time.  We are filling in with backups and moving guys around constantly to field a competitive team.

This is not even counting the players that miss either the beginning of practice, or the end of practice due to class or lab schedules.  It’s been tough at times….oh yeah we don’t have very good lights either.  So, when daylight savings time shows up in a few weeks our practice will be drastically effected.

Anyway….back to Juniata.  We leave for our game in Huntington on Friday – Beautiful four or so hour drive touring thru some awesome scenery in central Pennsylvania.  Staying at the Raystown Lake Resort in cabins!

From what I understand a few players can stay in each cabin – bunk beds I guess.  I just hope that there aren’t any bears in the woods – let alone freshwater sharks in that lake!  I intend to do some fishing off of the dock when we get there.

Juniata enters our game with a 2-4 record, and like us they have struggled to find consistency.  They have some impressive younger players and they have been able to make some big plays.  However, they have made some big errors as well.

We need to prepare like we always do and trust our training.  Concentrate on executing our fundamentals and doing our jobs.  It is the same mantra week in and week out.  But, it is the only way to develop a successful team.

There are no shortcuts to winning – you have to concentrate on all of the details regardless how small they may be.  For instance we work on creating turnovers every week.  This has started to pay off – we are exactly even with takeaways and give aways right now.  That is quite an accomplishment despite our record.

The turnover battle is one of the most critical parts of any game.  Teams that can play on the plus side of that ledger always put themselves into a position to win.  Developing a “turn over” mentality takes hard work and constant attention during practice.

It is a double edged sword.  You are always working with the defense to strip the ball in practice and on the other side of the coin the offense is always protecting the ball.  Coaches always screaming to get the ball out, and the other side harping on ball security.

This constant give and take in practice causes the team to be alert.  You can’t afford to let down at any time because eventually you will pay for it.  Need to have that slight edge on game day – that edge can provide you the difference between winning and losing.

But, football – like any sport – it comes down to those small advantages.  It doesn’t take much…but when you add them up over a long period allows you to find a way to win.  That is why it is so important to stay up on these things during the week of practice.

Juniata has an excellent offensive team – one of the top teams in the conference.  Playing behind a very talented sophomore quarterback in Austin Montgomery (#12).  He has thrown for 1771 yards and already has 18 TD’s.  He is one of the top passers in the Centennial Conference with a completion rate 61.6% (125-203).

He is one of the true throwing QB’s in the conference.  Although you would not call the Juanita offense a “pro” style offense – they have always brought in QB’s who are cut out in the mold of a drop back  (“pro” style player).

A mark of this – Montgomery (#12) – has rushed for only 60 yards in 6 games.  This is not the signal of a spread offense QB.  He is in the game to throw the ball – not create option opportunities.

Matt Lehr (#29) a senior, is the leading rusher for the Eagles and he has been a big contributor for Juniata over his career.  He is ranked 6th in the conference in rushing with 475 yards and a 5.5 average.

The Eagles have a one of the bigger offensive lines we will face and as we know they are always a physical bunch.  Our guys are ready for a tough game in the trenches.  But, what else is new for the warriors we have up front?

Juniata has always had effective receivers and they certainly have them again. Justin Heisel (#4) is one of the more productive receivers in the CC.  He has caught 11 passes and has 5 TD’s with an impressive 17.6 yards per catch.  The Eagles also have two other pass receivers with more than 20 catches in Dalton Snyder (#2) and Jake Notestine (#10).

Notestine (#10) also averages almost 26 yards a kickoff return which is at the top of the Centennial Conference (Freshman Shaheed Ross (#11) also is a dangerous kickoff returner with a 22.6 yard return average.  Both of these players have changed the field position battle in different games with their returns.

The Eagles lead the CC in both Kickoff and Punt Return – something that is very hard to do.

Defensively Juniata  has had their issues in playing effectively over the course of a game.  But, they have shown the ability to make plays when they needed to.  As with all football teams you need all three phases on your team playing at a high level to attain success on Saturday.

In the secondary John McClay (#26) has intercepted three passes to lead the Eagles.  Another of his backfield mates was Centennial League and Division III player of the Week. – Joel Reighard (#3).

 

GO HOUNDS!

OK….. continuing with our two day jaunt thru Italy and Switzerland to sow the seeds of American Football and try to find out how we can help their two leagues get better.  By the way the taxi drive thru Milan and to Varesci was not for the faint of heart.

You think New Jersey has bad drivers…well these guys over here seemed to get some letters screwed up – I think they mistook OFFensive driving for DEFensive driving .  These people are completely insane.

The word courtesy has no room in the lexicon of driving terms here.  The traffic circles seem like a race to see who can cut off more drivers and narrowly miss more pedestrians.  Getting from one side of the street to the other  is a cross between an art form and a death wish.

I also learned where the phrase “Italian Salute” came from.  You see it being exchanged all the time.  Must be a lot of service men and women in Italy!

Driving on the highways.  Three lanes of cars – well remember those rocket cars on the Bonneville Salt Flats? – imagine cars…. three across going as fast as they can.

Flashing headlights is a courteous way of telling the guy in front of you he is going too damn slow and to get the hell out of the way.  It usually works this way….flash the lights, blow the horn…..put your front bumper four and a half inches from the other guy’s rear bumper……Car A moves over….Car B roars past…Both drivers (obviously in the military) exchange Italian Salutes!

We made it up to Varesci and the Three Amigos morphed into the Fantastic Four as my friend Giorgio Volpi joined us from Lugano, Switzerland.  It was the first time that Curtis and Terry met the “Ambassador” of Football.

With our unit in place we were ready to show our project to the Italian directors of the U19 football team.  We were hoping to generate a little momentum and pick up some information and ideas for our discussion tomorrow with the Swiss National team.

We were met by Paolo who was the coach of the local U19 team – the Varesci Gorrillas (I shit you not)!  He was going to set us up with a Skype meeting with four other coaches / directors including the president of the Italian Football League who was in Rome.  Colorful names like Lusciano, Febbrizzio, gotta be a Mario in there.  Come on, we are in Italy after all.

I have become a bit of a Skype master myself.  Having used it to communicate with my Swiss and German friends.  Doing it from Italy, piece of cake….Mr International Skyper can handle it.  Much too my chagrin I have become more fluent in various forms of media.  Truly I miss the rotary phone and pen and paper as well.

We spent a good hour and a half with the Italian group.  Both sides were gathering information.  Our goal was to try and find out if we could supply some support to their league thru the use of the “Sound Mind Sound Body” model Curtis had developed more than 15 years ago – possibly some coaching clinics and symposiums as well.

*****Check it out on the internet – Sound Mind Sound Body*****

We were also trying to gauge the interest in European football players in coming to the states.

Obviously European athletes have had an impact on every sport in the US.  To this point American Football coaches have not felt the need to go across the pond to find players.  The uniqueness of American football has slowed development in Europe.  But, I believe it is just a matter of time.

Lack of American coaches and really the inability of the European leagues that play American football to practice with regularity has held development back.  But there are thousands and thousands of teams across Europe into Asia – Japan and Australia (But not the NGL in the land down under  thanks to Marcin Soluch and his hoodwinking of thousands of people).

Football continues to get better and better.  There have been several foreign players who have played in the US and there are some playing right now at the college level.  It is just a matter of time till we see athletes from all over Europe playing in the states.

One of our goals as a group is going  to try and find the the European athletes who want to come to the US.  We are trying to become a bridge for them to get here.  With my contacts with the Swiss and Giorgio’s widespread contacts on the Continent we were looking to gain some traction with the Swiss and Italians.

It is hard to gauge the level of interest to this point.  Several Swiss players have approached me personally but until now we had done nothing about it.  This is our first venture into this uncharted territory…there are some who have given this idea shot, but gave up – a few work on, but there doesn’t seem to be much organization.

So we have decided to try and develop some  organized programming to help improve the players and coaches in the ways that they want.  We don’t want to step in to anyone’s pumpkin patch…so we want to get involved with the leagues and teams and supply what they need if they want us to become involved.

Between Terry and Curtis there is an avenue to get this moving forward.  It is probably several years away from paying large dividends.  But what a fantastic experience to be involved with.

Giorgio will get us home to Milan….we will all eat a late dinner.  Drink some beer and wine.  Evaluate what we found out.  Compare notes and then hit the sack.

Tomorrow (Saturday) is going to come fast and hard.  Quick stop in Lugano, Switzerland to view a venue for a future coaching clinic – training session for players and coaches.  Then on to Lucerne to gather with the Swiss group of coaches and administrators.

I am looking to see my coaching friends – hearing what they have to say.  Perhaps a dozen beers or so!

 

Wow….when you travel some unusual things can happen to you.  But in traveling with two pretty calm guys in Terry Copacia and Curtis Blackwell – you just learn to roll with the punches that are thrown your way.

First time meeting  Curtis is at the airport – had spoken to him a few times via conference calls.  He is the co-founder and is the anchor for “Sound Mind, Sound Body”. You should look it up – This is a fantastic group started by him to help the youth around the Detroit area.  He has been doing this for fifteen or so years.

They apply academics, mentoring and also athletic training – especially focusing in on football.  They have very strong core values that are impressed upon the kids.  SMSB has moved into the big-time and has organized operations across the country for many years.

****This is a program that potentially could be established in Europe – and Switzerland in particular.*****

Terry Copacia is a long time friend of mine with coaching ties that criss cross the country.  He was the developer of “The All-State Football School” and is a tremendous coach who knows more about the QB position than many guys working in many college teams – at any level.

Our friendship has probably covered more than thirty and since he has trained my younger son as a QB – I know what kind of a coach he is.  Also instills great values in the players he trains.  “The All State Quarterback School” is one of the best run football operations I have ever seen.

 

He probably has had his hand in developing more that ten thousand QB’s.  Terry is a fantastic coach – but more than that he everything you want your child’s teacher to be.  His values are imprinted on these young guys as well.

Lucky to be going overseas with these two as my traveling companions – awesome guys.  We will have plenty of time to discus and analyze what we are going to be doing for the next two days in Italy and Switzerland.  But first we have to get across the ocean to do it.  As we found out – not going to be that easy.

I was fully checked in and passport cleared to Detroit Metro Airport (DTW in your basic airline lingo) at 11:30 for a 3:30 flight.  I have to admit…always need to get there early – missing flights kind of worries me (Yeah once missed a flight to Switzerland once because they changed the gate on me – I wasn’t the only one….so can’t take all the blame).  Anyway plenty of time to settle in and settle my Coors Light induced headache from last nite.

Connect with Curtis and Terry as they  arrive at the gate and we  settle in for the wait for our departure and eventual 11 -12 hours of combined flights..  Ah…not so fast young soldier.

Yup…suddenly our flight to JFK (JFK by the way)  and the first leg of our journey is announced as cancelled.  Well, the problem with that is we can’t get to Italy and on to Switzerland unless we can jump on over to NYC first.  One way or another-  not going to make that connection.

Woman at airline gate says to head over to the help phone and maybe Delta can come thru.  But I have visions of our brief expedition flying (pun intended) out  of the window.  Since Terry is the commander in chief he has to handle the situation.  Amazingly after about  15 minutes he has all three of us rerouted from Detroit to Paris (CDG if you are interested – tough if you don’t care because I am going to tell you anyway).  Then on to Milan, Italy and the Malpensa Airport (MXP – and again…. tough I am going to tell you anyway.)

Paris…why not.  As they say – “another country heard from!”  This international football stuff has it’s benefits.  Oh yeah – we will see so much of Paris.  Inside of the airport (CDG – I promise to stop this nonsense of giving the airport’s call letters at some point!).

Delta also got us each an aisle seat – obviously key for a 7 hour flight.  Now – wish they felt bad enough to give us first class seats.  Alright not happening, apparently they didn’t feel that bad I guess..

Well, we did see the inside of the airport, several long corridors with enormous  lines (“queues” in Europe I guess).  Stood in some other long lines getting our passports checked six hundred and twenty-two times.  I know working in airports must be a tedious and perhaps it is an under appreciated job……but man six hundred and twenty-one of those six hundred twenty-two checkers looked at me like I was a dumbass – because I am sure everyone else besides me knows how to scan a passport you know.  One guy actually got a kick out of my Konkrete Kid sweatshirt so I give him a gold star.

Plus, it was hot in the airport….combined with the fact it was packed with people well you can imagine what a rain forest is like.  Well OK not quite that bad.  So we got in some good sight-seeing of the “City of Lights”.  Fat guys sleeping and shoulder to shoulder crowds make for scenic pix. But at least I can check France off my “Bucket List”…..not that it ever been on it..

Several hour later we  find ourselves in the Westin Hotel in central Milan – beautiful hotel.  High ceilings, marble floors, detailed ceramic and wood work.  But after another hour or so the three musketeers are ready to head for their meeting with the Italian Federation of American Football at a law office in Varesi, Italy.  I don’t know where it is either – so look it up on the internet if you really want to know that badly!