Untitled - Fast and Furious Football

176 FOOTBA],L COACHING STRATEGIES
do what I want to do. Control-what a fanrasuc
revelation. I said when I g€t to be a coach, I am
going to teach my guys that, too, becarse it
changed my life.
Whar a runderfirl Fxpprience. ptayrng high
school football in Snyder, Texas, lor men whom I
loved and admircd. My life changed because I
wanted to dedicate my life to the game, to coaching.
I wanted to b€ just like them, so I made up
my mind I waE going to coach. That's what I
want€dto do.I didn't know how I was going to do
ityet, but Ihadtoplaythis gam€ to do it. I had to
be dn Fducaled p€r"on. I had to ger a degrep, hecause
I was gojng to coach.
Attracted
to the Game
I remember th€ first football game I ever saw.
That was in Colorado City, and I was about 6 or 7
years old. I might have been to a game before
then, but I don't remember it. My dad liked high
school football, though he didn't play. He took me
to Colorado City, becauEe Snyder was ptaying
Colomdo City, and I remember vividly being on
the sidelines.
In those dayF, the men of the town always
walked the sidelines. They didn't sit in the stands;
rhFy walked the "idclinp follos ing the chain, "o
they could see what was going on. They could
holler at the referces and the guys on the field,
and all the way across the field to the fellows
walking down the other sideline.
I rcmember &iving over there and going out
on the field, and there was a pretty good crowd.
They evidently had a good garne, and I kind of
Iiked it, you know. First tim€ I had ever seen it:
Two guys line up and hit each othe! then go tackle
the suy with the football. I said this is good, and
after the game we were on the side ofthe field.
When thefinalwhistle bleweverybody ran tothe
middle ofth€ field. My dad ran, and he is draggingme
along. He's got me by the hand, andl am
hangrng on,
We eet out to th€ middle ofthefield, and I look
around, and everybody is squared up. They are
all swinging away The playen fighting the players;
coaches fighting coaches. These folks out of
the Colomdo City stands frghting the guys from
Snyder. It was about thrce years before I realized
that wasn't a part of the game offootball.
Lat€I my dad took me to see my first college
same in Abilene;McMuny andACC-what a rF
valry We hear about aI the big rivalries, but there
arc m€n in this room tbat coach at some of the
schoolB that many of us never hear about, but
their rivalry is just as intense as that of Michigan
and Ohio State, Texas and Texas A&M, and
all olthe other big rivalries that you hear about,
and so it was with McMurry andACC.
When I saw the game, I was smitt€n. I loved
that college game. They ivere bigger, they were
faster The coach had a strong influenc€ and impact,
so I decided on that day that's what I am
g,,ing to do. I m gorng lo be a collegp coach.
The Goaching llail
Leaving Snyder High School and going to college,
I came under the influence ofsome oth€rcoacheE.
Max Baumgartner was at San Angelo College (it
was ajunior coll€ge). He was a guy that had fun
with coaching, ard I l€anled a lot from him. Max
loved life and was a good kind man, y€t wanted
ro win and belipved In winnins, and did q in
I was with Coach Baumgartner for two seasons.
We seldom put on a pad except on game
day He beli€ved in havins fun, but I tell you,I
learned something. When we st€pped on that football
freld, we were ready to hit somebody.
Then I went to McMurry College where I
played for Wilfred Moore. He wasjust out ofthe
military. This was in 1953 when I started playins
for Willied Moore. In 1947, he had suys out
ofthe military,and many were older than he was,
so he was tougher than the back end of a shooting
gallery. Fotrl hour workouts were nothing;
head-on tackling at 20 yards apart was daily fare.
I mean to tellyou,I learned so much from that
man that I couldn't eve. express it today. I also
leamed a lot ofwhat not to do.I learned also that
it is important to tell your players that they are
doins a good job.
Coach Moore didn't say much, but what he said,
you listened to. I thought he did not like me; I
played every down for him, and h€ never said a
word to me. He wouldjust look at me. Then, on
the last gam€ that I played, we won. I'm in the
dressing mom trying to get my stuff offand I feel
somebody behind me, and a slap on my dbs.
I tumed around, and it was Coach Moore. H€
hadjust this little smile on his face, and he said,
"Good job, Grant." Momma, Momma, Coach
Moore said, "Good job!" I'm telling you, I would
have run through a brick wall for him that day. I
learned the impodance oft€lling peopl€ that they
did a goodjob, that they are doinggood, that they
are doing what you ask.
I think one ofth€ things you soon understand
when you decide to go into coaching is to deter-