Do we know as much football as coaches?

Paper Champion · Oct 3, 2007

Not even close.

If we knew the game as well as coaches, why do we keep asking them questions?

forever_town · Oct 3, 2007

I would have to say no.

I've had friends paint me as being the uber expert of everything football, but I don't even try to paint myself as being more than a writer for a newspaper when I'm around football coaches or players.

Unless I were to sit with coaches or players and soak up everything I can about the game, I wouldn't have a chance to know as much football as they do. And even then, I doubt I could do it having never played a down of anything beyond pick up football.

Twoback · Oct 3, 2007

hondo said:

I got the idea for this on about page 37 of the Gundy/Ok. State thread, and I wanted to open it up to more discussion.

At a certain point, after we've covered a certain number of high-level college or NFL seasons, do we know as much football as the coaches do? I say yes, and furthermore, I saw there are many, many knowledgable fans who knows the Xs and Os as well as coaches.

I'm not talking in terms of personnel, how to use the players, etc., in various situations because they have the advantage of being around them and knowing them much better. But I think good beat writers and columnists know the game, in general, as well as the coaches -- who try to use a lot of high-tech talk and perceived superior knowledge to more or less cover their asses.
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Absolutely we as media people DO NOT.
We do not know as much baseball.
We do not know as much basketball.
We do not know as much football. Especially football, which is a more complicated game.
Now, do we know enough to understand what is being told to us, to recognize what's going on, to see mistakes being made by players and coaches? If we're paying attention and reasonably astute, yes.
To assert that any writer knows as much as the worst professional football coach -- and by that, I mean he makes his living at it, not that he coaches professionals -- is absurd.

Big_Space · Oct 3, 2007

Twoback said:

hondo said:

I got the idea for this on about page 37 of the Gundy/Ok. State thread, and I wanted to open it up to more discussion.

At a certain point, after we've covered a certain number of high-level college or NFL seasons, do we know as much football as the coaches do? I say yes, and furthermore, I saw there are many, many knowledgable fans who knows the Xs and Os as well as coaches.

I'm not talking in terms of personnel, how to use the players, etc., in various situations because they have the advantage of being around them and knowing them much better. But I think good beat writers and columnists know the game, in general, as well as the coaches -- who try to use a lot of high-tech talk and perceived superior knowledge to more or less cover their asses.
Click to expand...

Absolutely we as media people DO NOT.
We do not know as much baseball.
We do not know as much basketball.
We do not know as much football. Especially football, which is a more complicated game.
Now, do we know enough to understand what is being told to us, to recognize what's going on, to see mistakes being made by players and coaches? If we're paying attention and reasonably astute, yes.
To assert that any writer knows as much as the worst professional football coach -- and by that, I mean he makes his living at it, not that he coaches professionals -- is absurd.
Click to expand...

what he said

Kevlar · Nov 28, 2007

Apparently Randy Edsall doesn't think so.

http://www.courant.com/sports/columnists/hc-sunjeffcol1125.artnov25,0,6913802.column

Yet when a harmless question about defending the West Virginia rush was asked, Edsall started to answer and then said, "I won't get into the details of the coverage, because you guys wouldn't understand it anyway."

That's a pretty good jab.

And when you lose by 45 points, well, "grace in defeat" aren't the first three words that rush to mind.

West Virginia won because it has amazing talent, amazing speed. West Virginia blew out UConn because it's on its way to a national title.

But when a guy asked about a couple of play calls in the second quarter, Edsall started fencing with him and, out of curiosity, I asked about the third-and-1 play that ended in a sack.

"If you think that one play made a difference in the ballgame, you people are nuts," Edsall said. "That's it. I'm done."

And then Edsall walked away.

We may all be nuts, but nobody thought that one play made a difference — even though I definitely would have run the ball.

Every week, we came to understand to ask about this week — not last week, not next week, Edsall always said. And suddenly it was about last week and the week before and the week before that.

The rules changed.

Sorry, I didn't get the memo, Randy.
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Do we know as much football as coaches?

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