Coaching 101=F

Christmas came early for Clint Sovie, who got a ball from Al Golden.

Photo courtesy Baltimore Sun

By Mike Gibson
There is a reason all 30 NFL coaches have been taking a knee for the last 30 years.
Herman Edwards.
Joe Pisarcik.
The Miracle of the Meadowlands.
It's not questioned.
It just is.
It's coaching 101 and not the advanced math stuff guys like Bruce Arians and Wayne Hardin know in their sleep.
It's simple stuff even pee-wee coaches know.

Temple had the ball with 37 seconds left in its 33-27 overtime loss to Navy today, up 27-20.
Thirty-seven seconds.
Or, as Chase Utley might say, thirty-seven fucking seconds.
Both of the announcers in the game knew what the strategy would be.
Heck, the Navy coaching staff probably knew would the strategy would be.
The five guys I was watching the game with pretty much agreed that Adam DiMichele should take a knee and no more than one second later the guys announcing the game agreed with us.The announcers were advising Temple to take a knee and kick the ball out and punted the ball back to Navy, a triple-option team, with no timeouts and 17 seconds left and 80 yards to go.
Those are difficult waters to navigate, even for a team named Navy.
Temple's Jeff Wathne has been one of the best punters in the nation all year and undoubtedly would have booted the darn thing into the end zone.
"This is easy," CBS-TV analyst Trev Alberts said.
Easy for anyone but Al Golden.
Inexplicably, unbelievably, he chose to handoff to the running back.
Just like Pisarcik chose to handoff to Larry Csonka on Nov. 19th, 1978.
Fumble.

I like Al Golden
and believe he's one
of only two guys who
can make this team a
perennial MAC champ
(Bruce Arians is the
only other one I can
think of). But he's
not immune from
criticism nor should
he be. ...

Herman Edwards picks up the ball on one bounce and takes it in for a score.
Kee-Ayre Griffin, fighting for extra yardage he didn't really need, was stripped of the ball by Navy linebacker Ross Pospisil and teammate Clint Sovie played the role of Herman Edwards.
Game, set and match.
I like Al Golden and believe he's one of only two guys who can make this team a perennial MAC champ (Bruce Arians is the only other one I can think of). But he's not immune from criticism nor should he be.

"I was surprised
they ran.
I thank God
they did."
_Navy linebacker
Ross Pospisil

After the fumble, my head was buried in my hands, feeling much like what those Giants' fans must have felt in 1978.
"Why, Al?" I kept yelling at the screen. "Why? Why?"
"I was surprised they ran," Pospisil said. "I thank God they did."
Is just me or have I missed the first time Al has ever accepted the blame for a bad decision? So far, my count stands as never.
Your call, but it seems to me it's always someone else's fault, not his.
"Certainly we could have kneeled down, but you give it to the running back, tell him to put two hands on it. That's what running backs do," Golden said.
Since when?
Maybe before 1978, but not since.
At least not with the lead and 37 bleeping seconds left.
Ask anybody who has coached in the NFL or pretty much anywhere else for the past 30 years.
When the bad guys need a miracle to beat you, don't go to Lourdes, fly back and hand them a gallon of Holy Water.