9781422283059

T he I ntense W orld of a P ro F ootball C oach ALL ABOUT PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL

by Jim Gigliotti

ALL ABOUT PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL

F antasy F ootball

F ootball and P layer S afety

I nside C ollege F ootball : P reparing for the P ros ?

I nside H igh S chool F ootball : A C hanging T radition

I nside P ro F ootball M edia

T he I ntense W orld of a P ro F ootball C oach

T he P ro F ootball D raft

P ro F ootball P layers in the N ews

R unning P ro F ootball : C ommissioners , O wners , F ront O ffice , and M ore

T he S uper B owl : M ore T han a G ame

by Jim Gigliotti T he I ntense W orld of a P ro F ootball C oach

Mason Crest 450 Parkway Drive, Suite D

Broomall, PA 19008 www.masoncrest.com

© 2017 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc.

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Printed and bound in the United States of America.

Series ISBN: 978-1-4222-3576-8 Hardback ISBN: 978-1-4222-3582-9 EBook ISBN: 978-1-4222-8305-9

First printing 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2

Produced by Shoreline Publishing Group LLC Santa Barbara, California Editorial Director: James Buckley Jr. Designer: Bill Madrid Production: Sandy Gordon www.shorelinepublishing.com

Cover photograph by Rick Scuteri/AP Photo.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Gigliotti, Jim. Title: The intense world of an NFL coach / by Jim Gigliotti. Description: Broomall, PA : Mason Crest, [2017] | Series: All About Professional Football | Includes index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016007574| ISBN 9781422235829 (Hardback) | ISBN 9781422235768 (Series) | ISBN 9781422283059 (eBook) Subjects: LCSH: Football--Coaching--Juvenile literature. | National Football League--History--Juvenile literature. Classification: LCC GV954.4 .G54 2017 | DDC 796.33207/7--dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016007574

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C ontents

Key Icons to Look For Words to Understand: These words with their easy-to-understand definitions will increase the reader’s understanding of the text, while building vocabulary skills. Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Educational Videos : Readers can view videos by scanning our QR codes, providing them with additional educational content to supplement the text. Examples include news coverage, moments in history, speeches, iconic sports moments, and much more! Introduction: Decision Time …….…….…….…….…… 6 Chapter 1: NFL Coaching History …….…….…….…… 10 Chapter 2: The Coaching Ladder …….…….…….…… 24 Chapter 3: A Coach’s Week …….…….…….…….…… 40 Chapter 4: Game Day …….…….…….…….…….…… 52 Find Out More …….…….…….…….…….…….…….… 62 Series Glossary of Key Terms …….…….…….…….… 63 Index/About the Author …….…….…….…….…….… 64

Text-Dependent Questions: These questions send the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented here.

Research Projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connected to each chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis. Series Glossary of Key Terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains ter- minology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader’s ability to read and comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field.

I ntroduction

Seattle coach Pete Carroll faced a tough decision as Super Bowl XLIX came down to the final play. Would he make the right call?

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D ecision T ime

If you have ever questioned how intense the world of an NFL head coach can be, just cue up the video to the final minute of Super Bowl XLIX in February 2015. The AFC-champion New England Patri- ots led the NFC-champion Seattle Seahawks 28–24 in the game at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. But Seattle was threatening to pull out a dramatic victory. After the Patriots took the lead on a touchdown with 2:02 remaining, the Seahawks drove the ball 79 yards to New England’s 1-yard line. Only 30 seconds remained, the clock was running, and the 70,288 fans in attendance were on their feet, screaming at the top of their lungs. More than 114 million more were watching on television in the United States, and even more in dozens of countries around the globe. It all had come down to this.

Words to Understand 24/7 twenty-four-hours-a-day, seven days a week manic energetic, excited

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On one sideline, Seattle head coach Pete Carroll, a man bursting with manic energy that belied his 63 years, chewed fran- tically on a wad of gum. On the other side- line, New England head coach Bill Belichick stood grim-faced as usual, arms folded in front of his dark blue Patriots’ hoodie. Carroll and Belichick had played out this chess match of a Super Bowl for 59 minutes and 30 seconds. Now, with the championship on the line

and the whole world watching, they made the final decisions that would win or lose the most closely followed game in sports.

Across the field from Carroll, New England’s Bill Belichick tried to figure out his next move, too.

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Carroll and Belichick are two of the biggest names in coaching. But only one of them could walk away from this game a winner. One of them would be hailed as a genius; the other would be a goat for let- ting the game get away. Which of them would come out on top? Welcome to the world of NFL coaching, a 24/7 job that quite often comes down to a split-second decision to determine winners and losers.

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C hapter 1

Keeping track of what plays to call in a game is only a small part of the job of an NFL coach such as Bruce Arians of the Cardinals.

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NFL C oaching H istory

The head coach is the face of an NFL franchise. He is the man who is front and center all week long—answering questions from report- ers, rehashing the game on the team website, welcoming drafted and signed players into town, or dealing with them when they’ve done something against the law. Think of him as the chief executive officer (CEO) of a major business corporation—except that a CEO’s scorecard comes over time, in the form of company stock price or market share for his or

Words to Understand

adapt to change behavior charter first or part of the beginning of something

eschew to avoid something fedora a type of men’s hat

feedback information used to improve something founder someone who establishes an organization innovations things done in a new way mocked made fun of

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her product. An NFL head coach has more immediate feedback , in the form of wins and losses. Some- times, he has only a single season of 16 games to prove himself. It’s little wonder, then, that in today’s NFL the search for a head coach is followed intently by the media and fans. The franchise’s success depends on it. The First Coaches When the NFL was formed in 1920—it was called the American Professional Football Associa-

tion (APFA) until 1922—most of the coaches were star players. The team founder picked out one of the best players on the squad and figured the others would follow his lead. (Sometimes the team founder was the star player!) For instance, the first coach of the Chicago Bears—the team was a charter member of the NFL

George Halas of the Chicago Bears was one of several men who acted as player- coach for their teams.

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in 1920 as the Decatur Staleys—was George Halas, who also was a standout end. The first coach of the Chicago Cardinals—the team that is now the Arizona Cardinals—was Paddy Driscoll. That future Pro Foot- ball Hall of Fame back also was the team’s top player. In Green Bay—the Packers joined the NFL in 1921— the top player was tailback Curly Lambeau. He also was the team’s head coach. That’s not a surprise. Football was a relatively new game when the NFL began, and the sport was still finding its way. Its best players forged the path. Indeed, the man most responsible for molding the sport in its early days was one of its top stars. His name was Walter Camp. When Camp was the captain of the Yale team

in the late 1870s and early 1880s, football was not very different from its European an- cestors soccer and rugby. But Camp, who became Yale’s head coach and is some- times called the Father of American Foot- ball, established rules that made the cur- rent game possible. He limited sides to 11

Take a trip back into NFL coaching history

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players each, established alternating possession and the center snap, and made touchdowns worth more points than kicking field goals. Camp also named the first All-America college team. Yale’s Amos Alonzo Stagg was on that team; later, as head coach at theUniversity of Chicago, Stagg was responsible for many football innovations , such as the huddle, the man in motion, uniform numbers, and much more. After the NFL was formed, head coaches such as the Bears’ Halas continued to mold the game. Halas was the first coach to study film of his opponents and have his players practice every day. At about the same time, the Packers’ Lambeau was the first head coach to make significant use of the forward pass as an offensive tactic, not just a desper- ation move. (Passing was not legal until 1906, and even then had to be from five yards behind the line of scrimmage; beginning in 1933, passes could be made from anywhere behind the line.) Those men must have known what they were doing because they remained head coach of their

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