Sun Tzu and the Art of Football

              I believe that most coaches have at least heard of the book The Art of War by Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu. Written in the 2nd Century BC, the book is said to be the definitive work on military strategies and tactics of its time. It is still widely read, not only in military circles, but also in several other professions in which competition is a key component, including certain levels of coaching. Most coaches have at least a passing familiarity with the most common sayings, such as "Know the Enemy", but I became curious as to how much of the actual writing can carry over to coaching the game of football. What I found is that a huge amount of this book can be regarded as relevant specifically to the game of football. By no means am I comparing coaching football to war, but if you look as this book as a guide to competition while directing larger numbers of people (as many business leaders do), then it is a fascinating piece of coaching material.
               The Art of War is divided into 13 chapters, each devoted to a different aspect of warfare. For the purpose of this analysis, I have used the translation that was edited by author James Clavell. For each relevant  chapter, I have included a sample of the writing, followed by notes connecting the strategy to
 the game of football.

Chapter 1   Laying Plans

The art of war is governed by five constant factors, all of which need to be taken into account. They are: The Moral Law, Heaven, Earth, The Commander, and Method & Discipline.

The Moral Law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger.

• The Head Coach is in charge and the players and assistant coaches believe in him.

Heaven signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons.

• Weather variables on gameday

Earth comprises distances, great and small; danger and security; open ground and narrow passes.

• Down and Distance, Time factors

The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage, and strictness.

• The players play hard and are mentally ready.

Method & Discipline are the marshaling of the army in its subdivisions, the graduations of rank among the officers...

• Every player and coach knows his role and his job.

The general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand.

• Which coaching staff does a better job of gameplanning before the actual game?

Chapter 2  On Waging War

Cleverness has never been associated with long delays. The value of time - that is, being a little ahead of your opponent - has counted for more than numerical superiority.

• The team that is more sure of itself, more sure of its assignments, can play faster that a team with more stopwatch speed.

Chapter 3  The Sheathed Sword

The highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy's plans...

• The most difficult coaching to accomplish is to completely surprise the opponent.

...The next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy's forces...

• Coaches should try to take away the opponent's best plays.

...the next in order is to attack the enemy's army in the field...

• This is when the coach leaves it up to his players to out-athlete the opponent. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

...and the worst policy is to beseige walled cities...

• This is when the coach attacks the opponent's strength. For example, playing a single, static front against an opponent with a superior offensive line.

If a general is ignorant of the principle of adaptability, he must not be entrusted with a position of authority. The skillfull employer of men will employ the wise man, the brave man, the covetous man, and the stupid man.

• A good coach must be able to put his players in a position to be successful. He must be able to determine "How can a player help us?" by focusing on what the player can do, not what he cannot.

There are five essentials for victory:
  He will win who knows how to fight and when not to fight.

• The coaching staff must have a good sense of play-calling strategy on both sides of the ball.

  He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.

• The coaching staff must have a plan for games when they have better athletes than the opponent, as well as for games where they do not match up athletically.

  He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.

• The coaching staff must have the entire team mentally prepared and ready to play hard.

  He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared. 

• The coaching staff must prepare and have plans for whatever strategy the opponent may employ. They must go into the game anticipating possible strategies and they must have already thought of possible counters that the opponent would not anticipate.

  He will win who has the military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign. 

• The coaching staff must have the support it needs from administration without being handcuffed or limited.

The following is probably Sun Tzu's most famous teaching:

If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.

• If you know your team's strengths and weaknesses and your opponent's strengths and weaknesses and you can take advantage of that knowledge, then you will win most of the time.

If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.

• If you know your team's strengths and weaknesses, but cannot determine your opponent's strengths and weaknesses, then you will lose as much as you win.

If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

• If you, as a coach, cannot figure out your own team's strengths and weaknessess, you will lose many games.

Chapter 4      Tactics

What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease. He wins his battles by making no mistakes

• A cliche, but true: The team that makes the fewest mistakes wins.

Chapter 5        Energy

Amid the turmoil and tumult of battle, there may be seeming disorder and yet no real disorder at all.......Simulated disorder postulates perfect discipline.

• Be effective at disguising, stemming, and moving on defense. Use misdirection and play-action on offense.

The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined energy, and does not require too much from individuals. He takes individual talent into account, and uses each man according to his capabilities. he does not demand perfection from the untalented.

• A good coach evaluates his player's abilities and put his them in a position to be successful.

Chapter 6    Weak Points & Strong

Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy will be fresh for the fight.

• Try to be the first team out of the huddle and lining up.

Appear at points that the enemy must hasten to defend; march swiftly to places where you are not expected.

• No-huddle, hurry-up offense can put a great deal of pressure on the opponent.

Therefore, the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him.

• A good football team can use tempo, both fast & slow, to dictate the pace of the football game and what their opponent is allowed to do.

You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places that are undefended. The spot where we intend to fight must not be made known, for then the enemy will have to prepare against a possible attack at several different points.....with his forces being thus distributed in many directions

, the numbers we shall have to face at any given point will be proportionately fewer.

• A good team is multiple on offense and can attack in several different ways.
• By being multiple, a good coach forces the opponent to prepare for several things, limiting the number of quality reps practiced against any one aspect of the offense.

Numerical weakness comes from having to prepare against several possible attacks. Numerical strength comes from compelling our adversary to make these preparations against us.

• A good coach forces the opponent to waste valuable preparation time on several different things.

To Be Continued...

Venting about the lack of imagination defending the flexbone in college football.....

              Last Friday, we picked up our 2nd victory of the season with a hard- fought 17-14 win over a Double Wing team. Over the last several years, we have faced this offense at least a half a dozen times. A few years ago, we put together a package that we called BULL to defend this and it has worked very well. Since we began to use this package, we have tweaked it and used it against other run-oriented offenses as well.
                 Saturday night, I watched Navy's offense give South Carolina extreme trouble in a narrow 24-21 victory, despite the Gamecocks having defensive line talent equal to or surpassing anyone else in the country. As I listened to the ESPN announcers constantly praise the option as if it is a magic pill capable of rendering any top level defensive players instantly useless, I shook my head. While I have great respect for the offense, it is simply a scheme; like most schemes, it is dependent upon execution and is vunerable to Jimmys and Joes like all Xs and Os are. Ellis Johnson, South Carolina's highly-regarded DC, seemed content to take a bend but don't break approach that did hold Navy well below it's season rushing average. Still, the attack, coupled with the passive way the Gamecocks defended it, allowed Navy to push a Top 10 SEC team with outstanding DL talent to the brink. Former South carolina player and high school coach Marty Simpson does a great job breaking down the defensive approach in this link  http://southcarolina.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1267364  (should be free).
 I caught myself wondering how our schemes ,coupled with South Carolina's talent, would hold up against the Midshipmen. Two of our other coaches called me during the game wondering the same thing. Whether or not it would is not necesarily the point. (I think it would; I'll come back to this in another post.)
                 The point is that there is an extreme reluctance to think outside the box on defense in big-time college football. It is as if coaches would rather play a scheme that is probably going to struggle instead of taking a chance. If a college coach runs the same stuff that they have seen other teams run and they fail, they can say "Well, we did the same thing everyone else did...nobody else had a better idea." as opposed to a situation where they run something unorthodox (not unsound) and fail, leading critics to criticize the signall caller for not being a good coach.
                The same philosophy is everywhere now in recruiting, where the first question you hear when recommending a player is "Who else has offered?". Recruiters today have no interest in finding that diamond in the rough that nobody knew about;they are interested in the rating from the recruiting services. Because if you sign a 5 star kid that had 20 other offers and he turns out to be terrible, the coach can cover his a## by saying,"Everybody else offered him too." If the diamond - in - the - rough kid doesn't pan out, then the accountability falls squarely on that coach. So the college recruiter is trying to avoid being solely held accountable.
                 While I disagree with this, I do understand it. I understand that coaches are trying to protect their job in a tough,unforgiving environment. I understand that taking chances, whether it is on unheralded kids or on unorthodox schemes, can leave a coach vunerable to criticism that could cost him his job. But the way I see it, this is the job you signed up for. If you are the DC, you are supposed to put the players in a position to win the game (which the Gamecock staff did by the way) ,whether it is by running a 4-3 or a shade 50 or the Facemelter 3000 defense. If you are a recruiter, you are supposed to sign the best players for your team, whether it is Joey Five Star from the State Champs or some kid from a single A school in the sticks. And if you signed up for this job, what is wrong with being held accountable?  (And FYI, I know a lot of high school coaches that could take Jadaveon Clowney and Melvin Ingram and make Navy's head hurt.)

Coaching Knowledge Project #5 Barry Alvarez

Over the last few summers, I have started taking notes on some of the coaching biographies and books that I have read. One problem that I have had over the years is that I read so much and look at so much different info that I don't ever retain the knowledge for future use. I will read about a drill or a philosophy and I will think "Hey, that fits pretty good with my guys. I wanna use that this year." Then I will lay the book or the info to the side and forget all about it.
             Earlier this year, I began to compile & organize these notes & axioms into a single document. Ideally I would like to eventually have a notebook that I could add to each offseason and look at again each pre-season as I reevaluate my program. I thought that as part of this blog and my compilation efforts, I would share some of the things that I've found.
           These are quotes about coaches, quotes from coaches about their influences, and outside observations on coaches and their programs. Some of these are Hall of Fame coaches, some have losing records, and some are career assistants; all have good things to offer.
             Being from the South, I was that familiar with Barry Alvarez. A friend recommended his book and I found it to be one of my top five coaching books of all time.Alvarez served as the head football coach at Wisconsin for 16 seasons from 1990 to 2005, compiling a career college football record of 118–73–4. He has the longest head coaching tenure and the most wins in Wisconsin Badgers football history. He also played for Bob Devaney at Nebraska and coached the defense on Lou Holtz's Notre Dame National Championship team. Alvarez stepped down as head coach after the 2005 season, remaining as athletic director. Alvarez was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 2010.

BARRY ALVAREZ

·         He made us feel like we had an edge on every opponent.

·         His personal motivation each day in practice was an inspiration to every player.

·         He instilled confidence in the team.

·         I’ve established a philosophy that fits my personality and developed my plan to win.

·         I wanted them to dress nicer than the other team’s players. I don’t care what the competition is. We’re sending a message – we came here to win everything we do.

·         We know the game plan and there’s no reason to be hesitant. If you make a mistake, you make a mistake. But play fast. Let’s go turn it loose, men.

·         As a more mature player, you have to lead by example – making sure things are done the right way.

·         I tried to get everyone involved at every level because I needed to sell myself and my program.

·         7 areas of a football game

-Turnovers

- Kicking Game

- Big Plays

- Goal Line Fundamentals

- Mental Errors

- Minus Yardage Plays

- Foolish Penalties

·         When you get in big games, you have to realize that you can drain your kids by getting them too cranked up, too emotional. Just concentrate on the game and don’t try to be superhuman. There is nothing magical about the formula. Your great players have to play great.

·         I was confident, and I wanted to send him one message – loud & clear – that I was ready to be a head coach.

·         A rebuilding project is about creating an attitude and an image, and it’s about making a statement “This is how we are going to run our program.”

·         I wanted to learn the history behind everything. I wanted to identify certain hurdles.

·         In the after practice meeting on Thursday, sometimes I might hand out pens & postcards and tell them to write a note to their mother or someone special in their life, someone they really care about. Take the time to tell them you love them.

·         The best teams take tremendous pride in their chemistry.

·         Leaders: Don’t change, just try to set an example for everybody else.

·         If you have 5 great players – and you surround them with players who wouldn’t hurt you – you had the makings of a championship contender.

·         These are the principles I want coached. Take care of these and you’re not going to have any problems with me.

·         He was nurturing me. That’s the greatest sign of a leader – if he can get you to do things without you knowing it.

Coaching Knowledge Project #4 Bill Snyder

Over the last few summers, I have started taking notes on some of the coaching biographies and books that I have read. One problem that I have had over the years is that I read so much and look at so much different info that I don't ever retain the knowledge for future use. I will read about a drill or a philosophy and I will think "Hey, that fits pretty good with my guys. I wanna use that this year." Then I will lay the book or the info to the side and forget all about it.
             Earlier this year, I began to compile & organize these notes & axioms into a single document. Ideally I would like to eventually have a notebook that I could add to each offseason and look at again each pre-season as I reevaluate my program. I thought that as part of this blog and my compilation efforts, I would share some of the things that I've found.
           These are quotes about coaches, quotes from coaches about their influences, and outside observations on coaches and their programs. Some of these are Hall of Fame coaches, some have losing records, and some are career assistants; all have good things to offer.

In the 1990s, Bill Snyder left the offensive coordinator position at Iowa under Hayden Fry to become the Head Football Coach at Kansas State University. He is widely regarded as steering the biggest turnaround of any college football program in history. This is good stuff by and about Bill Snyder:

BILL SNYDER

·         He was clearly organized, had a vision and an expectation. Visible toughness was demanded.

·         The idea was that if each one of us found a way to make that daily improvement, then individually we would grow, which means collectively we would be growing.

·         Some guys didn’t stick. Snyder didn’t view those guys as bad guys or guys with poor character. To them, it just wasn’t worth the price, which was ok to admit.

·         It was a way of showing how we cared and we were going to do everything possible to help them live their lives in a positive manner.

·         When we came to Iowa, every visual image of the past, and losing, had to go.

·         The players wore blazers. It is a way of saying, “I’m going to do my part.” It demonstrates a professional presence and sets an example for the players in the program. To the players, it’s likely that everyone they have known in their life that wore a suit held some position of authority.

·         Win your games and you’ll get where you want to go.

·         Being persistent in what you believe in, sticking to your guns, and when things are bad, finding a way to make them better.

·         His attention to detail and his organizational skills on a day to day basis were just astonishing

·         Commitment - We wanted everyone committed to a common cause.

·         Unity - There was a commonality of purpose and caring about one another and our team.

·         Toughness – There has to be the ability to get thru and extend that breaking point.

·         Expectations – But if you do collectively prepare to win; players & coaches there is every reason to believe that it can culminate in success.

·         Leadership - On a football team, you want only 2 groups, Leaders & Followers

·         Improvement – Do something each day to help you improve in each of the key areas.

·         Eliminate the types of mistakes that we had total control over.

·         Expect more out of ourselves than anyone else.

·         Responsibility – The responsibility comes with holding yourself accountable to achieve the things that you have control over.

·         My message to the team was the greater the investment, the greater the pain in defeat, and I didn’t see any great pain. The pain was going to be equivalent to what you’re putting into it during the course of the week.

·         No task was beneath me. I wanted our players to know that. It was about setting the example.

·         What I assessed the year on was steady improvement made during the course of the year individually, and to some degree, collectively and that we had gotten ourselves into the fourth quarter with a chance to win in four of our games.

·         Confidence is a quality that allows abilities to surface.

·         We didn’t all of a sudden become a better football team. We were a better football team by first being individually better, and then collectively better.

·         The secret to success is constancy of purpose.

·         He had such attention to detail for absolutely every facet of our football program.

·         Here is what we expect the opponent to do, and here is what we want to do.

·         This was a way to have players perform under pressure. You knew they were going to answer most of the questions right, which allowed the team to gain confidence.

·         Make sure you take 5 minutes today to come up with something that can make you a better coach. Practice was to be thought through with a sense of purpose.

·         We play with one heart and eleven heads.

Human Computer Post of the Week

School has begun, the season is underway, and my spare time has all but disappeared. Still, this is why I started this blog, so that it would force me to sit down for a minute (even if its at 1:00am) and reflect on what is important.

FAITH:  "Lord, when I am wrong, make me willing to change; when I am right, make me easy to live with. So strengthen me that the power of my example will far exceed the authority of my rank."
                                                                 The Supervisor's Prayer

              "...to offer ourselves as a model for you, that you might follow our example."
                                                              2 Thessalonians 3:9

FAMILY:  "Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
                        Theodore Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss)

FOOTBALL:   "Anyone can become angry - that is easy, but to be angry with the right person at the right time, and for the right purpose and in the right way - that is not within everyone's power and that is not easy."
                      Aristotle
Wow, just wow....as a coach who oftentimes wears his heart on his sleeve, I am sometimes conflicted about whether I am doing things the right way. Do I yell too much? Do I show too much frustration? I am still not sure if I am doing things right, but this quote really helped me self-reflect.

Game Preparation: Breaking Down Our Opponent

As I prepare for my 16th straight season opener as a coach and my 11th as a Defensive Coordinator, I have once again started to think about how I break down opponents. I can honestly say that I have never done it the exact same way in any two seasons. There has always been some new idea from a book, or some nugget from a clinic, or some hard lesson taught to me by a good opposing coach that has caused me to change things from year to year. Over the last few years,the changes have become fewer as I have become more experienced and more comfortable with my own philosophy as a coach. I have developed a framework that works for me and the coaches that I work with. Like most things in any coaching philosophy, this framework is a collection of ideas poached, borrowed, and inspired by other coaches.

Offensive Complexity

We like to determine the complexity of an opponent’s offense. We base this on how much of their attack includes any of the following concepts:

•        TRICK PLAYS or GIMMICKS

•        EMPTY Formations

•        FULL HOUSE Formations

•        OVERLOADED Formations

•        SCREENS

We will then break down the opponent film in the following order:

•        Split RUN Plays & PASS Plays

•        Group plays by FORMATIONS

•        Determine TRUE RUN GAME

•        Determine TRUE PASSING GAME

Running Game

We want to find out the opponent’s TRUE RUNS. To do this, we break down all offensive plays into Run or Pass. We will then evaluate the run plays and throw out the following:

•        Goal – Line Runs

•        QB Scrambles

•        Trick Runs (Wildcat, Reverse, etc)

•        Runs w/ 1 yd to go

•        Runs w/ 3 TD lead (game by game)

•        Runs in the 4th quarter (game by game)

What we are left with is the core of the opponent’s run game.We will then match these with formations and core surfaces to see what we need to stop.

Passing Game

When we analyze the passing game, we will first classify the pass plays by the QB action:

QUICK = 3 step from under / 1 step from gun

DROPBACK = 5 step from under / 3 step from gun

SPRINT = rolling movement of the QB to a side

PLAY ACTION = coordinated QB ball fake & RB action

After we have divided the plays this way, we will attempt to match up protections with the QB action. We try to group Pass Protections into one of three categories: FULL SLIDE, BOB, or HINGE.

Pass Routes & Combinations

We want to draw each pass play that we see on film. Then we want to look at the favorite routes broken down by position in the formation (#1 WR, #2 TE, etc).

•        We want to be able to tell the CB what the top three routes he will see from #1 are.

•        We need to tell the Safety & Spurs what the top 3 routes from #2 are.

•        We need to tell the LBs what the favorite RB routes are & what routes attack the low hole.

We will then also look at the combinations between the receivers on a side. We want to identify the favorite 2 man combination & the favorite 3 man combination.

Surfaces

We want to evaluate how offenses are attacking towards certain surfaces in their formations. To do this we will identify the formational surfaces used by an offense & what plays they run to that surface. We classify surfaces by the following eight labels:

•        OPEN = 1 split WR

•        PRO = an attached TE & 1 split WR

•        TWINS = 2 split WRs

•        TRIPS = 3 split WRs

•        TREY = an attached TE & 2 split WRs

•        NUB = an attached TE

•        WING  = an attached TE & a WB

•        WING OPEN = a WB & 1 split WR

All other surfaces, such as QUADS or OVERLOAD, are regarded as Exotics

Field Zone / Down & Distance Breakdowns

      We compile all of the formation & play information so that we can feel secure in knowing our opponent’s “identity” on offense. We then turn our attention to compiling Down & Distance info in search of a clear picture of the opponent’s tactics. We break down the following categories into percentages & favorite plays:

•        1ST PLAY OF A DRIVE

•        1ST & 10 AFTER A RUN

•        1ST & 10 AFTER A PASS

•        2ND & LONG AFTER A RUN

•        2ND & LONG AFTER A PASS

•        2ND & MEDIUM

•        2ND & SHORT

•        3RD & MEDIUM

•        3RD & SHORT

•        3RD & LONG

We will then examine each Down & Distance category both as a whole & divided into Field Zones.

Putting It All Together

Now, the next question is, Do I type all this up & give it to the players? The answer is HECK NO! One of the biggest problems that I faced as a younger coach was PARALYSIS BY ANALYSIS. That means that I would compile so much information that I was unable to put it into a form that it was useful for the players. As I have matured as a coach, the amount of stuff that I give to my players becomes smaller, simpler, and more clearly-defined each year. Now the coaching staff will use all of the information at hand to compile a game plan, and we will use the information to gain a familiarity with our opponent that will enable us to hopefully call a better game. But everything doesn't necessarily need to be shared with the players.

           Case in point: We have broken down 150 snaps of an opponent. Earlier in the year, they ran a tailback pass one time and it was successful for a TD. All of our coaches need to be aware that if the game is tight, we might need to be on the lookout for this. However, we do not need to run it against our defense 10 times that week in practice or give it a whole page in the scouting report. I am more worried about stopping the trap that they have run 38 times.

I will also spend a great deal of time looking at formations & backfield sets. I am looking for some common denominator that can tell me Run or Pass. ( For me to consider something a tendency that I will share with the players, it has to be 70% or more.) I can remember attending a clinic a few years ago and listening to a young college coach talk playing this defense against the run and another defense against the pass. Someone asked him," How do you know if it going to be a run or a pass?" The speaker got a funny look on his face and kind of stuttered and said,"Well, we just know." I almost fell out of my chair. If anyone out there can help me with that special method of just knowing whether it will be a Run or a Pass, please let me know.

In summary, what we usually give to our players consist of the following:

• a one page summary of the opponent's season and their offensive identity
• their top 3 run plays
• their top 3 passes
• any formation tendency (for example: any formation with 2 TEs is 80% bootleg pass)
• The LBs must know the top RB and the top run play most likely to threaten their position
• The DBs must know the top individual pass routes that they will see
• The DL must know the best OL and the best blocking scheme
• a final page outlining 3 key Defensive goals for this game

This framework has worked for us but as I said, it changes every year. I am very interested to hear what other coaches do so feel free to share. Thanks!

Human Computer Post of the Week

Putting this in my head every day this week:

FAITH:
    "The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise man grows it under his feet."
                                                                                     James Oppenheim
         I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
                                                                              Philippians 4:11

FAMILY:
      "Children learn to smile from their parents."
                                           Shinichi Suzuki (Japanese Violinist & Instructor)
With two children under 3 in the house, I really need to keep this in mind. They are like sponges, watching everything my wife and I do.

PHILOSOPHY:
                                   Make Full Use of What Happens To You
    Every difficulty in life presents us with an opportunity to turn inward and to invoke our own submerged inner resources. The trials we endure can and should introduce us to our strengths. Remember to turn inward and ask what resources you have for dealing with the problem.
                                                                     Epictetus

FOOTBALL:
           Two key points to motivating kids:

• They have to know you care.
• They have to be getting better at what they are doing.