Untitled - Fast and Furious Football

PHILOSOPHY. MOTIVATION. AND MANAGEMENT I93
Cosell and. Grambling QBs
Bach in the 1970s, e hdd seDeral
outstand.ine quarterba&s. At this time,
the question was uhether anJ bldch could
euer plclr quarterbach for the NFL. We
uere in New Yorh, and Houard Cosell
(who helped us quite a bi.t, helped. our
teams, helped eet a lot of people drufted'
helped us eet our game in Neu Yorh) told.
me he anted me to be on his shou. I tol.l
him. "Hoaa , I don't mind being on your
shoa, but I don't udnt Jou ta ask me alL
those taz! qu*tiorc."
He said, "Well, I bon't ash Jou anJ
questions like that, that Jou haDe to
answer" Now, on the show: "Larlies ancl
genrlenen. I hat r Eddr R"htn!'n. EJdp.
do rou thinh, uith low Dast elper;ence
and. the number of xecLrs that you haL)e
coached, that Jou coul.d prepare in four
years a young man who coul.d plax football
in the NFL and direct the team"
What uas I supposed to say I'm a
c.mch.I saidJes.I uasjust trying to hurry
and eet olf. when I eot on the airplane
and left New Yorh, I went straight to
James Harris'house. He's 6-5,210 and I
told James Harris, "I am re(ruiting lou
to play quafterbach in the NFL." He tnk
the chalLenge. James Harris stepped out
ofs, hool and uos thp firtt d" t' sto.t in
the NFL, in Buffalo.
After that, I wond.ered. if in mr tifetitk,
uith mJ years runninq out, will I live to
see a Gramblins QB in the Super BouL
So I'ue neuer been more satisfied than
seeins Doue wiUiams set off the eround
and uin the Super Boul for the
Washington Re&kins.
Since 1941, there have be€n so manythings to
be pleased about at Grambling. We have three
people in th€ pm football Hall ofFame. We have
Willie Davis in the '50s, and Willie Bro$n ald
Buck Buchanan in the'60s.Vince Lombardi said
Davis' quickness, power, and intelligence made
him the besi dcfansive end that he'd ever coached.
We've had t€levision covelage, great teams, and
great players.
But with all the succesB Grambling has had
over the yeals, sometimes you still have to ask
somebody for help. You probably won't agree with
this, but George St€inbrenner helped us keep our
program soine. When the Urban League couldn't
"ponsor Ihp game in New York anlmore. h"
siepped in and guaranteed the guarantee. Since
he's been connected with this sroup, the Yankees
have played at Gramblinstwo times, and 46 kids
graduated from collese on tho tunds that we rcceived
from those games.
Leadership
You young coaches have to creat€ in the men you
are coachins a real love for the same and a spirii
for work- Yor have to give them the will to win,
because that's the deciding factor in close
ballgames. After you teacb the fundamentals of
blocking and tackling, you have to t€ach them to
erecute. You have to have morale and create a
good feeling among the teams.
All coaches must be absolutely sincer€ to the
work ethic. You cannot $.in th€ confidence of the
men you coach unless you are dead honest in
what's soins on. You can't fool the kids ifyou are
not sincere, ifyou're not doine the work.
Each pmctice should be carefully planned in
advanc€, with rcom for modification. You've eot
to know exactly what is to be done on the field.
B€forc you so on the field, you have to be ready.
The same will be won or lost by what the playem
know, not what the coaches know. Coaching
is repetition, explanation, illustration, imitation,
couection, repetition, and that is the way that
you'll do it.
Hello, Remember lle
I'd like to leave you with something I always finish
with when I speak somewherc:
Some peopk caII me OLd Glat.\, others all
me b! the Star-Spangkd Banne. but
uhatzuer the! 0II me, I arn your flag
of the United States ofAnerica.
Somethins has heen bothering me, so
I thought I mieht talk it orcr uith
you, because it is ahout lou and tne.
I rcnember some time ago, peopk lined up
on both sides of the street to watch the