Was it really a Decade ago?!

I was included in a tweet that went out earlier today by from a former player and current official that said that it was 10 years ago that we (the Carlstad Crusaders) won the EFAF tournament. My first thought was "holy crap, 10 years have gone by and I am still in Sweden and not back in the U.S.A!" That thought was quickly followed by a flood of memories from coaching that team, making that trip, winning that game on the road and the bus ride home from the game. I was as proud of that group of Swedish guys has I every have been of any group. They remain today, the only Swedish club team to ever win a European Tournament! Some of them still play today. Some of them could still play today but all of them are quality people and were apart of a great experience. So I thought I would take a quick minute while at The Kennedy Compound for a weekend and fill you in on some stories from that great adventure.

The End Result:
I thought I would start at the end and go backwards, but reality is I will bounce around...here is an excerpt from the web about the EFAF Cup. Which, by the way, may become an official part of history as I believe the IFAF is running everything now and the EFAF will not really exist soon. I apologize for not understanding everything, but the politics of sports has never been my thing...this story will be about the Crusaders 10 years ago...anyway it's recorded here:

A new visitor record in 2003: 4000 people followed the EFAF-Cup Final 2003 between Papa Joe`s Tyrolean Raiders (Austria) und Carlstad Crusaders (Sweden). The Scandinaviens did win the thunderstorm game and became EFAF-Cup Champion 2003. 

So the end result of that journey to the EFAF-Cup Championship game, would be a big win for the Crusaders, an unbelievable road trip to and from a game and finally, 10 years later, it would bring a smile on an old ex-coaches face in the middle of a great summer.

"Thunderstorm Game":
The HC of the Raiders (at that time) told me that it would rain before kick-off because it always does about that time of the day but usually stops by kick-off. Well, rain I could handle. The fact that, while warming up it started to "drop water from the sky" and there was a dude with a long gray beard building a big boat in the end zone and animals were lining up in pairs to get in that boat was not something I had mentally prepared myself for!! We were on the field and started warm-ups. I was doing my HC/OC/OL/RB/WR coach thing and walking around to all the groups, trying to say the right thing, make sure they were focused and ready to play. Then the ocean began to drop from the sky. I mean a steady rain like when somebody pours a bucket of water over your head. I told myself, "OK, B.D., just walk around and act like it's just a little rain, no big deal." I didn't want anybody to think, "we run the option...the ball is wet...oh shit...we'll fumble...oh rain...noooooo." So I was clapping and walking around trying to act like it was no big deal. That was of course until I begin to wonder if a person has every drowned while walking around in a rain that was coming down so hard that water went up his nose and he actually choked on it!! Yep, that is what happened to yours truly right there on about the 25 yard line in the middle of a beautiful soccer stadium. I chocked on rain, while walking around on the field....It did quit at some point, but instead of disappearing, it stayed around. We had a few turnovers, but at the end of the day, the boys played great and did what they needed to do to win! In the meantime, my cell phone died because it had gotten too wet while in my pant pocket at the game!

The Alps:
We road the bus from Karlstad, Sweden all the way to Innsbruck, Austria. That in itself was an adventure. I am not sure how long it took, or exactly how many other countries we went through, but we were on a bus, parked the bus on a boat and road the boat, got back on the bus from the boat and continued to drive. There were a few stops along the way. Quite a road trip for an old dude from Oklahoma that used to think that traveling abroad was going to Arkansas to see his uncle. So the trip continued and we arrived in what somebody told me was Innsbruck. I was relieved and excited. We got checked into our hotel. I had a room to myself on the top floor, maybe 3 floors up. It was a small but nice room with a window in the ceiling that you could open up and actually look out and see the mountains that surrounded the city. I remember one of my assistant coaches and I, having a conversation while he was looking out of his window in the roof from the next room over. We were talking about what a beautiful sight this was and also talking about how we could win the game tomorrow and then actually talking about how it would look to strangers if someone actually saw us having this conversation with our heads sticking out of the roofs. So we decided to head of to the team meal.

10 years ago, I was looking at the Alps. Today
I am looking at a cow outside my summer stuga
in Sweden. I don't own a cow...at least I didn't own
a cow until today. (that was a joke Internet police).

How it all came to be:
Here is a brief story about how we actually got into the tournament. We had lost to the Stockholm Mean Machine in the Swedish final in 2002. I had never heard of the EFAF Cup tournament, but Robert Sundberg told me that since we finished second, we could qualify for a tournament in Europe. From the minute I heard about it I thought it was a great idea. The thought of taking a team outside of the country and playing other club teams from around Europe in a tournament was a no brainer. What I didn't understand was how it all worked economically. It was a risk. We had a meeting before a practice with Robert, myself and a couple of board members. I remember that there was a discussion about the cost to play the tournament, some discussion that we would have to travel at some point and money was a concern. I remember saying, "hey, let's do this, if we don't win it and lose money then you can fire me." Now that is how I remember it, we then stuck our hands in the middle and broke it down in some version. The club was going to play in this tournament and we were going to give it all we had! I also remember walking over to practice thinking to myself..."what the hell did I just say!"

"I am in Italy, I'll meet you at the game.":
Not sure how many people know this, but our starting QB, Johan Larsson, one of the most winning Swedish QB's in the history of American Football in Sweden (yes I wrote it that way, because trust me if I am wrong there will be about 20 people come up with a list of names of Swedish QB's that have a better winning percentage, but that list I would like to see) had a work assignment in Italy. AND of course that came the week we would play for the EFAF-Cup championship.  The team makes the trip down to Innsbruck and arrive the night before the game. On Saturday morning we are up and have a walk through in the stadium to get a feel for where we would play. Of course, our QB is in Italy and on the way up to Austria in a rental car in order to make it to the game in time. He arrives, has two hot dogs and some soda to wash it down. Then he goes out and leads the team to the win. After the game, he headed back to Italy to finish his work obligations. Only in Europe, baby!!

Because, that is what the game is about:
I also remember the Semi-final game.  We hosted a team from Denmark. The Tyrolean Raiders where already qualified for the final so their HC called me and said he was going to come and watch the game. I do apologize, but I cannot remember his name. So I told Coach, that after the game, he should come by the house and we could grill up some food and talk football. After the game, he met me outside of the locker room. I took him to my house where we continued with a few drinks and some nice grilled food. He was a true gentlemen and took time to speak with my wife. Tracey Gere and his wife, Åsa joined us and it was a great evening of football stories about coaching in Europe. There was no doubt that when we played each other, both he and I expected our teams to win. But in the time outside of the game clock, it was a great experience sharing the brotherhood of being apart of the greatest game on earth.

A Decade ago:
There maybe a nice mini-series that could be made out of that entire experience. It would make for some great entertainment. The bus ride home edition would only be available on the Director's cut version of the DVD. The after game celebration at Pappa Joes Sports Bar in Innsbruck was be one for the ages. I had a good seat and it was a great joy to sit and watch the guys celebrate a big win on the road. Many great memories and big smiles come up as I sit here and type this. So, 10 years later, still one of the greatest memories I have in football is taking a group of grown (and some growing) men to Innsbruck, Austria and winning a football game. Something I am not sure anybody else thought we could do, but we did. Nobody in Sweden has done it since. Damn, you guys did a great job!! I could write a ton more short stories about that game and trip, but maybe I'll save it for later so that I can update the old blog more than once every 6 months!! In the meantime, I'll leave the players, organization and fans with one more "Thank You" for providing me with a great memory and thank you for believing your were great and proving it! One thing about winning the last game of a tournament, is the fact that it proves, you were the best on that day and nobody can say you weren't!

Until next update. Enjoy life...it's not like you're gonna get a second chance!!
PS:
Todays version of the Tyrolean Raiders is coached by Shuan Fatah. He has done a tremendous job with that program and is one of the top teams in Europe. Google them. Follow them. Watch the high-lights the club makes...it's top notch stuff.
The Crusaders of today continue to claim the top sport of football here in Sweden. They are 3 time defending National Champions and are lead by Coach Doug Adkins. They are going into the break with one loss for this season, but looking like the trophy is still theirs until somebody comes and takes it. And, I would guess, the Crusaders aren't planning on giving it away.
As for me...I have one more month until school starts up again. Football goes on without me, but life sure as hell, keeps me rolling! I still follow the game here in Sweden and abroad and am always willing to give a current coach my opinion...that is of course if they answer when I call...damn that caller ID!!!

A look at Big Plays and Turnover Margin

A few months ago I was reading an article at www.xandolabs.com and I came across this quote.

"according to Mike Eayrs, Head of Research and Development for the NFL’s Green Bay Packers, over the last 30+ years in the NFL, the distance of 12 or more yards on runs and 16 or more yards for passes are the minimum distance needed to trigger a dramatic increase in scoring probability. When these distances are achieved on a run or a pass they are labeled Explosive Plays. As you’ll see, most QB decision making structures on pass plays hinder explosive opportunities.
In that same timeframe, the NFL team with a positive turnover ratio and more explosive plays (You get more than you give up) win 91% of the time! Lesson learned: We need more explosive plays in our offense."

When I read that quote I was intrigued and wondered if the same stat would hold true here in Sweden. The study of "big plays and winning percentage" is not really new. I remember working with Tony DeMeo at Washburn University and winning the "big play" battle was one thing we always wanted to do. According to Eayrs here, if you can win the big play battle and the turnover margin, you would win 91% of the time.
Well, now that I have time on my hands...what that really means is that I have taken the time when my daughter naps in the afternoon, or when the family is all in bed, and checked the stats from the Super Series games here in Sweden to do my own little study and see what it looks like in regards to 30+ years of research in the NFL.

Now, please keep in mind that I have only gone through the stats that are available to look at on-line. As of today, I have gone through a total of 12 games. I am missing two because there was no play-by-play stats available and I haven't taken the time to go back and watch the archived game film (Kristianstad Predators at Tyresö Royal Crowns & AJ vs TRC). I also have not seen stats of the Predators upset over the Carlstad Crusaders from last weekend or STU Northside Bulls win over Stockholm Mean Machine.

Here's how it broke down:

• The team that has produced more big plays on offense (Runs of 12+ or Passes of 16+) has won 10 of the 12 games.
• In the one game that the big plays were tied,  the winning team won the turover margin.
• In the one game (TRC vs 86ers) where the losing team actually had more big plays than the winning team (TRC=6 and 86ers=3) the 86ers won the turnover battle plus scored a TD with special teams (blocked punt)
• In looking at strictly turnover margin there were 5 games where the turnover margin was tied. In those 5 games the winning team had more big plays in 4 of the wins and a score on a turnover in the other.

If you break down the number big plays made vs the number of big plays given up it looks like this (please keep in mind that I do not have all the stats from all the games, but everything is based on the information available):

• CC  has made 28 and given up 12 (in 3 games)
• TRC has made 18 and given up 10 (in 3 games)
• ÖBK has made 30 and given up 30 (in 4 games)
• 86ers have made 33 and given up 25 (in 3 games)
• STU has made 15 and given up 24 (in 3 games)
• KP has made 12 and given up 16 (in 3 games)
• SMM has made 5 and given up 18 (in 3 games)
• AJ has made 3 and given up 4 (in 1 game)

So, that is where it breaks down in Sweden as of today. Interesting. It would be great to have all the stats to check out, but that will most likely not happen. But, based on what we see here, it does appear that to win games, it is important to win the big play battle and the turnover margin. Offensive coaches need to find ways to break off that big run or get the ball downfield on a pass play, while Defensive coaches need to find a way to stop the big play and create turnovers. 

One area that is also big in regards to Defense is scoring off a turnover.  Also, don't forget the fact that the team that has scored on special teams has yet to lose a game (again based on the stats that I have)

So that wraps up another blog update and my daughter is up and running around so I need to get back to the important part of life. To all of thos out there in the Football world around the world, keep up the good work and good luck!!

(dang it, smells like I have to go and change a diaper!!)

Player Evaluation

One topic I have been thinking about for a long time is the topic of player evaluation. In my opinion, this is one of the most important topics that a coach must do. It is more important than research for new ideas and crucial for a coach if he wants to measure his ability to communicate, educate and motivate his team.

Definition of Player Evaluation:
For me, player evaluation is two phases. First is to measure the player to find out at what level of athlete he is. This is done more often than any other evaluation. This is measuring his size, speed, strength, speed and explosive abilities. We do this in the Bench Press, Squat, Power Clean, L-cone, Broad Jump, Vertical Jump, Pro-Agility, 40 and/or 20 yard dash among many other tests. This gives us an idea of where each player is as simply an athlete. When we accumulate this information, it will help us determine whether or not a player has the desired physical abilities he needs to play football. This information can be compared by position and by "standards" that have shown up in other research. Here in Sweden, we have all this information filled in on a portal the player reports to and are able to rate a football player's results. Each player can be compared to the team standard for international competition or the world standard. The portal allows a National Team coach to go in and review the results of a player over a period of time and also to compare those results to other international averages. It is a great way to identify athletic ability. It is also clear as to where an individual is in regards to his physical abilities. I mean a 5.0 forty-yard dash is exactly that. If a player can rep 100kg (225lbs) 15 times then that is what he can do. Club teams can use the same evaluation process and put together a battery of tests to measure the athletic ability of their players in Speed, Strength and Explosiveness. Compare to the other players on the team or the same standards at the national team. One super important key is to then monitor these results to see a steady rise, a platue or a dip in results, then  manage that situation correctly.

The second phase of the evaluation is all football. Now, I will interject this here. I learned this grading system from Tony DeMeo when I worked for him as his OL coach at Washburn University. So I give all credit to this idea to Coach D. Of all the different football grading systems I have used or seen, this was the one that I truly believe is one of the best I have every used. You can read more about Coach Demeo at his website and also more about the "Gun Option" along with thoughts on leadership and coaching http://tonydemeo.com/ That is simply giving credit where credit is due...
What we did basically is Coach wanted us to define "Effort." When you think about each position on the field, we wanted to give the players examples of things they could do that would show extra effort. It is so much better for a player to understand what the definition of effort was than to just hear a coach say "come on, you just gotta give me more effort" or "Try harder." By having a definition of what extra effort was, the player would have a clear picture of what it was we were looking for. Now, when a player was in on a play he would be graded simply with a + or a - based on whether or not he did his job on that play. We will say that on the play we are talking about, the player executed his assignment correctly and used good technique. So he did his job. He would get a "+" on that play. Now in order to get a "E" or effort point on the play, he had to do one of the things that were defined as extra effort on that play. Here is a sample of what an offensive lineman could do on a play, that if he earned a +, he could have the opportunity to earn an extra effort point:

• Pancake: Blocking a defender and planting that defender directly on his back.
• Heel Shot: A second level of the defense block where he cut blocked a defender and the defender went down to the ground, usually head first with his heels flying high into the air.
• Road Kill: What we called Lineman's block on a DB where he runs over him like a Mack Truck hits a deer.
• Wired: A pass block where we pass set and stick the guy right on the line of scrimmage and he gets no rush at all.
• Knock Down: I used this one for anytime an offensive lineman knocked a defensive lineman to the ground on a pass play.
• 2 Blocks on a play: Any time an OL blocked more than one defender on a play.
• Blitz Pick-up: Picking up a blitz by the defense.

There were few other things, but this will serve as a good example of what we defined as "Extra Effort". If we look at the examples you can see that if a lineman is doing these things, they require more than just blocking your assignment. We were looking for guys that "can play the game with passion" or guys that "had a fast motor." I will interject this...my own opinion based on my work on many different levels of National Teams here in Sweden along with 11 years worth of club coaching, is we need this type of performance evaluation in our clubs and national teams. Here in Sweden we have this "krav" (standard) we want players to be at physically in order to play at the National Team level. Niclas Carlsson is the mastermind behind this and I do mean mastermind in a good sense!! He has information based on the physical testing where we can  evaluate if a player SHOULD be able to physically compete on an international level. Those physical tests are compared with other national teams that take the same tests and the World Team. The first thing we as coaches usually say, is "old Sven is a hell of a player but he doesn't meet the standard so we can't look at him." This is where we need to be open and have a system where we can evaluate old Sven as a football player. Then if we see that he his an "effort" player, then maybe we can work with him on the physical part, which in turn will make him a better athlete and raise his level of play even further. At the same time, this gives us a chance to evaluate Björn, Sven's brother, who is one of the best "testers" but can't seem to block a pee-wee player. If we evaluate Björn we can work with him to develop his football playing technique and then he will become better at playing football, because he already has all the other tools...So back to the "Extra Efforts" you can see that a player who grades out at 95% with 3 EE's in 10 plays is a solid performer. He is doing his job good and he his giving extra effort about 30% of the time.  Now, if the other guy is grading out at 80% and getting 6 EE's in 10 plays, I would tell you to evaluate that boys mistakes and get him to do his job correctly at a higher percentage, but get him on the field. He is giving you a 60% Extra Effort quotient...he is out there knocking people off the ground, picking up blitzes, getting two blocks on a play...he is performing the game at a level that is great.

Now let's take a step back and evaluate the minus. If a player made a mistake on a play, meaning he did not do his job. Then we would not just write - on his grade sheet. We would identify the minus. Coach DeMeo had a system we used where the minuses were broken down into 4 areas:

• "A" was assignment. The player simply did the wrong thing on the given play.
• "C" was concentration which was technique. The player was not able to do his job on the play because he did not use the proper technique. Coach used to say that in order to use the right technique you had to "focus on the task at hand."
• "E" was a lack of effort. The player did not get his job done because he loafed. He didn't give effort. If this accord, it would most likely occur on the backside of a play. Isn't the backside of the play important to cut off the defensive pursuit? I will add here that the first two mistakes, are easily corrected by coaching. This mistake was simply not tolerated. This player needs to be set down an talked to as to what the problem is.
• "S" was a synergy mistake. In other words the player did not do anything to help the team on that play. Most usually was a penalty on a play.

So we would take all the minuses and see where the mistakes were being made. This is an extremely useful tool for a coach, because it is your report card on how you are coaching. Here is an easy example. You look at a game and you see that the majority of your minus A's (assignments) are happening on a certain play. Well that tells you as a coach that you need to get those guys together and work out what they don't understand in order to run that play. If you see that the majority of minus C's (concentration = technique) is on your pass sets on your 5 step game, then you need to spend some more practice time teaching the players exactly how you want the pass set executed. This allows you to really keep tabs on how to improve your players and get the most out of them and also allows you as a coach to evaluate the job you are doing.

Wrap up and Confession:

I know this has been a long one and I have had this on my mind for a very long time. I am a true believer that we are headed the right direction here in Sweden in most clubs and at the national team level. I also believe that if we are going to have a physical standard, we should also have a football performance standard. A system where live scrimmages, insides runs and 7-on-7 drills are graded at a camp, then you as a coach will really find who is the best player right then and there. I mean if you have a new guy that shows up at a camp and he is grading out higher than an old favorite. He is getting more effort points, then you have to get that player on the field. Now, time for the confession part...I was never able to totally use this grading system when I coached here in Sweden at the club level. It is a little bit time consuming. Back in the day when I was at the WU, I could come in on a Sunday morning after a Saturday night game and sit in my office and grade out every lineman that played in the game on his own individual sheet. It would take from about 8:00am to noon to get done.(Then me and the DL coach would go get a bucket a KFC and start getting ready for the next week). I had planned on using this grading system in preparation for the World Championships in 2007. I went as far as go through with the entire staff how it should work. I was not available to be at that camp because my new born son was in the hospital and the grading didn't get done like I wanted. But I think in a situation nowadays where you have film systems like Hudl and film after a practice is readily available, something like this would be extremely important and effective to develop players to their max and help coaches find the best players for the given game or tournament. At the club level, to be one or two coaches grading all the players, well it's tough, but it is do able. Some clubs do have bigger staffs and I think it would be able to develop those players to reach their potential faster. And don't forget that the players grades are also a report card to you as a coach on how well you are communicating your expectations.

Oh yeah, one more thing:

This system is built on the "Reward the behaviour that you want" philosophy. We would keep a chart of EE's throughout the regular season on a big board so every player could see how many EE's everybody else had. It increased the competition to be the "Effort Leader." We also had a standard set for each positon that if they graded out at or above a certain percentage and at or above a certain number of EE's they were awarded a certificate on Monday's practice following the game. We used unit EE's. Example, anytime the offense had a penalty on a drive, but over came that penalty and got a first down to keep the chains moving, everybody on the field received and extra effort point. It rewarded the behaviour we wanted. I could go on all night here, but this has been the most I have every written since I did my Senior English paper back in 1982. I hope that you find it useful, I hope that it is something that you can use and I hope it gets you thinking about how you can develop players both physically and in the area of football performance.

Good luck to all the Junior teams who have kicked off their season here in Sweden and good luck to the Senior teams that will kick-off soon. Also, to you Junior players that want to and will be apart of the adventure to the European Championship tournament...keep working, keep believing take it one step at a time. To you Senior players who are working to make the team for the World Championships 2015 which will be played here in Sweden...seize the opportunity...work hard, be physically prepared and be an EFFORT player!!

Good night...

Thoughts on a Train

Well, I made it back to the train station after the game. Now it will be the long trek home. The Swedish Jr. National team defeated Holland in a qualification game (34-12) and will now continue the quest toward making the 4 team tournament for the Jr European Championships which will be held in Germany sometime in August this year.
The win today means we will be playing against Denmark later this summer. Win that game and we are in.
The game was exciting and I was really happy with the teams play. I have to give a shout out to the OL. They did a good job of executing their assignments and played hard. We had zero sacks, which is always good, and almost went penalty free up front. So my initial feeling is that the OL rose to the occasion. The next step will be to grade the film and see what the "big eye in the sky" says.
As I have made this trip I have been thinking about how these games & the camps leading up to the games are put together. There is an enormous commitment by a lot of different people. The players all have to find their way to the camps and games. Every event costs money, plus the cost of travel to and from the game. It is always encouraging to see how the players always seem to get there and they arrive excited and ready to work.
The support staff is incredible. They get the equipment organized, water ready , after dinner snacks organized, air mattresses checked out, hotel keys organized along with dealing with a host of other things that come up during the weekend of the camp or game.
This weekends game was a big deal and the Helsingborg Jaguars did a tremendous job getting everybody to and from bus stations to the hotel, back and forth to practices & to the field on game day.
I heard the attendance was around 650 which was a very nice crowd. I am not sure how many people watched the game streamed, but I heard it was over 1000.
When I sit back and watch all this happen, the words "For the Love of the Game" seem to be echoing through my head.
So thanks to all the players, coaches, support staff & volunteers that made the camps leading up to today & of corse the game itself a great experience!
Now, time to prepare for Denmark.
Good luck to all the teams here in Sweden who will soon kick-off the 2013 season! Play hard!

And...I'm back

We have moved with a little help from our friends.

Well, since it has been over year since I have updated this blog, I thought it would be a good time for a post. So much has happened since my last update. January of 2012...seems like it has been awhile...anyways, We are now living in Karlstad, Sweden. This will be the first year of my life, since the fall of 1987, where coaching football is not my career. As of August 2012, I have started working at a school called Internationella Engelska Skolan in Karlstad. My job is Activities Director for the 7-9 grade. I also serve on the student care team and assist with the jr club one day a week. It is a good job and I work with great people and great students. My role allows me keep that "coach" feeling. 

But as I said, coaching has been my job and passion for the greater part of my life, so I have decided to use this old blog as my "team" and continue to post my thoughts, ideas, opinions about what is going on in football here in Sweden.

Finding Some Inspiration in Perspiration:

I have been following a lot of what has been going on in football here in Sweden over the past several months. I have had some good opportunities to be somewhat involved. I am currently coaching Sweden's Junior National Team (U-19) offensive line. There is a camp coming up this weekend with a game against Holland on Sunday April 28th in Helsingborg, Sweden. Another thing I was able to do was spend a Saturday in Örebro working a one day camp with their OL. We had a practice followed by a film session. It was a very fun and rewarding day (for me anyways...I am assuming the players enjoyed it too :-). I have had a couple of other opportunities working with individual players here in Karlstad and also a few opportunities that I could not fit into my schedule, but all in all, it sure has been fun to keep the whistle a little wet anyways.

     The other inspiration to re-activate this blog is actually because of the perspiration of others. If you want to really follow American Football in Sweden you need to follow SFN (Swedish Football Network) http://www.swedishfootballnetwork.se/ the guys that work the site are doing a really great job with articles, videos and news about what is going on in Sweden. You may have to use some google translate if you are not fluent in Swedish, but you will find the site very professional and it seems to be going strong and is here to stay. Another thing that has really inspired me lately is the formation of a coaching group on Facebook called SAFCO (Sweden American Football Coaches Organization). I have been around Sweden for just over 10 years. I have been involved a few times (sometimes with more effort than other times) with trying to get this organization up and running. It seems with the formation of this group on Facebook, it has stirred up a higher level of information sharing among the coaches here in Sweden than what I have ever noticed before. 

So that's it. After spending a very long time thinking some updates to "the old blog" it seems I have found a little inspiration out there to start it up again. No club team to coach this year. Going to finish up with the JLL soon, but no matter what, I guess I am and always will be a coach. So I'll use the time when I find it to update and share some thoughts around the game and also a few good stories. You may have heard the stories before, but I have a special talent to change them just ever so slightly each time...keeps them exciting every time.

Fundamentals, do you really have the patience for these?

How much time do you spend teaching a lineman (or any position) the proper stance? As an offensive lineman, your stance is THE "fundamental" that puts you in a position to execute your assignment. It's that simple. Without a good stance, a lineman will reduce his chances of taking off on the correct angle. If the stance is too wide, he will not be able to take a proper step, if there is too much weight forward he can't pass set quick enough, if he has his weight back on his heels, then he can't fire off the ball. It is extremely important to be in the right stance. So, the question is: do you really have the patience to teach the proper stance? I had this thought the other day after I had worked with some young linemen (and linewomen) here in Karlstad. I was watching the film of the drills I took these young players through and one of my repetitive notes was "need to correct stance."  That got me thinking, let's say I had these same players in the weight room and we were squatting. Let's say that one of them was putting their chin down and looking at the floor during the squat, what would I do? Well, I sure as heck wouldn't add any weight to the bar and just tell them to keep their eyes up. I would go back, review proper squat technique. Lower the weight if necessary and have them squat using the best possible form. Why would I take these same players and keep doing different blocking drills, without getting them in the best possible stance? That is the challenge for coaches today out here in Europe where you may be coaching alone. You may have a young player who is trying out this thing called American Football. Do we take the time to teach him the proper stance and see that he can repeatedly get in that stance before going to block somebody? Now don't panic here, I am not saying that you should have a two week camp where all you do is get in a stance. What I am saying is that as a coach, you have to have a high level of "attention to detail" and continually coach it to the players. Use a stance and start drill or block progression drill and write yourself a note on the practice schedule "check stances." Go into the huddle before the first play of team and tell the linemen, "gentlemen, make sure your stance is perfect every play." Follow that up by checking out the stances, praising the good stances and correcting the ones that need to be corrected. Stay on those little things. Those little things make big things possible!

If you broke down why a block failed. Why a lineman was not able to make that gap block or reach that guy. You will get back to one of two break downs in technique. One: it will be a bad step or footwork. Two: the stance the lineman was in did not put him in a position to take off properly to use the footwork he needed. Pay attention to detail. Start out with the fundamentals of a good stance, get in it often and fire out of it often.

Final words after a long break from the blog world:

So looks like my next update might just be how to get in a good stance...have done that earlier but that was a long time ago. In the meantime, it will be fun to keep up with the football scene in Sweden as just a fan. There are a lot of great things coming up. This year the Swedish Championship will be played at the new big arena in Stockholm. In 2014 the first ever University World Championships will be played in Uppsala, Sweden and in 2015 the Senior World Championships will be played at the same arena back in Stockholm. So it looks like American Football will have a chance to make a big move here in Sweden. Let's get the game out there and see how big it can be.

And lastly, a little look back at "the winter that just won't let go"

Today was an interesting day

Well in our world of football in Sweden today, things were happening big time. Carlstad Crusaders announced the Anders Hermodsson was going to be leaving his home club team and moving on to the Crusaders. I am not a big fan of recruiting each others players and that is no secret, but at the same time there are no rules against it and it does do one thing in our little world of American football in Sweden...it gets things stirred up.

HERE ARE MY THOUGHTS  IN REGARDS TO THE NEWS:
The Crusaders put out a "twitter alert" that there would be a press conference this afternoon at 5:00pm (later moved to 5:30pm) to introduce their new quarterback. This created a buzz right away, many of us were aware that Anders might be going to CC, but it was a cool way to get people talking about the move.
Also, what this sends is a message that has been sent for many years to all clubs and that is "your players may not stay your players." This is a level that I am not sure Swedish football should be at right now, but it is where we are just now.
The QB is a special position and according to HC Tracey Gere, they are expecting Anders to play the position for many years. This will allow them to bring over an import player that can serve in many capacities and roles for the team. Not a bad move in my opinion.
Also, I thought it was a great job that Carlstad did a professional press conference and interviews to announce this signing. All of it was done in good taste and most importantly professionally which is good for the sport.
It will be interesting to see what happens at STU. I mean Anders is one of the top 3 QB's if not the best in Sweden that I am aware of. I have been around him at the national team level and coaching against him for many years. He is very good without a doubt. Will STU now go out and get an import QB to come in? Do they have some young QB's coming up to fill those big shoes left behind by Mr. Hermodsson? Time will tell, either way it generates some talk and excitement in the world of American Football here in Sweden and will be interesting to follow.
Here is a link that has some quotes and video about the announcement:
http://lirresblog.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/anders-jarod-hermodsson-klar-for-crusaders/#comments

I have talked to players from our own team that have been offered cash to go and play for another team. I even had a former player over a "chat" conversation say that he decided to go where he did for money. Not massive amounts, but still some help to get situated and make something instead of paying something to play. Again, this is nothing new and has been going on for many years, but seems to get more attention this year. My over all hope is that we just get stability in our top league. I don't care how many teams we have, we just need to have a group of teams that compete and play some exciting, close games that attract fans. Our gameday environment and product on the field needs to be such that people want to come back to see the next game. Club colors, noise, tailgating action around the stadium. Good music and excitement. Make the game day experience something special. Since I have been in Sweden (starting year 10 now) only Arlanda, Karlstad & Stockholm have continueslsy been in the Super Series. Everyother team that is in the Super Series today has dropped out for one reason or another at some point in the last 10 years or before. Now, things are looking stronger and I think some of these new teams are trying to make moves that keep them in the Super Series for a long time. I just hope that we all continue to recruit and develop young players in our clubs because some of our best players may go to the US or to another team and we have to be able to replace them. We also need to build strong senior teams that attract our players that comeback to Sweden after playing in the US so that we don't lose them. But that is another blog post for another time...hell I have the entire year ahead of me...
WHO PUT THESE BOWL GAMES AT 2:00am:
I have mentioned this many times, but this bowl season is killing me. All these games coming on in prime time in the USofA are working me over here in Sweden. I made it through the Sooners bowl game, it actually kicked off at 4:00am. That was easy, go to bed and set the alarm. What usually happens is I keep trying to stay up which results in going to sleep sometime during the 2nd quarter and sleeping all night on the couch. I have received advice from friends about watching the replay the next day. Well that would be great, but I will admit right here on my very own blog, I am the King of my castle ONLY when the Queen ain't here. Not to mention the 5 and half year old prince that makes a heck of a lot of decisions!! I am still looking for my "parents owners manual" but can't find it. In the meantime, it'll be trying to watch as many of the games as I can. There have been some great ones for sure. I will say that the Big 12 is doing pretty good. I am counting Mizzou and A&M as Big 12 teams until after the bowl season is over since they played a Big 12 schedule.

HEADED "OVER THERE":
At our teams workout Tuesday night we said good-bye to a couple of our young ones. We had a visit from Joshua Akena. A young and talented player that went to HS on an exchange program and ended up at Grand Valley State in Michigan playing some football. Joshua was there and working out with us. It was fun to see a young kid from your youth program that is chasing his dream of playing college football. Also, William James was working out for the last time as he will leave for the University of North Dakota in just a few days. He will show up in great shape.  He has worked his tail end off. It will be exciting to follow his adventure. He will get right into the off-season program and be there for spring ball so we can only wish him the best.
I mention these two guys, not to brag about our club, but to bring up a point.  There are a ton of really good Swedish football players. I remember when I first moved here, the main question I would get from my buddies back home was "Do the women really go topless there all the time?" and after I relayed the story of meeting two of my wife's...mothers friends topless...yeah, your read it correctly, right out of "Something about Mary" there...at the lake we would quickly change the subject. The next question usually involved something to do with how good the players were. I noticed right away that there was talent. My first thought was that there were some really good players, but they were chronologically older than their talent. I hope that makes sense, but I would see a guy that I know could have played at some level back in the US, but he would be 25 or 26 years old. The longer I have been here and the more I have seen Junior football here and followed many of the athletes, I can tell you it is amazing the young men that have been over to the US from Sweden, played and contributed to their teams at both the High School and College levels. I truly wish we would start a list of young men that have done that. Not to mention the few that made it to NFLE and even NFL be it practice squad or camp. It's quite an accomplishment. So when I was asked the question by an American player that I was talking to about coming here, "what is the talent level compared to here in the states?" I told him that it is all individual. In any given game, he could get tackled by, pass to, hand off to or be protected by a player that is just as good as anywhere he has been. I also told him than on any play he could see somebody that might not have the experience level of a junior high player. By saying that, it is in no means an insult to our level of play here in Sweden, it is a way to explain to a potential player that there are really good football players here and there are some not so good football players here and the gap, on any given team, can be great.  I may have to try and start my list, because I know that there have been a lot of guys that have made that journey over to the land of football opportunity and done well at the High school and/or College level. So the message to the young Swedish kid that might have the dream to go play in the States...go do it, it ain't easy, but it's been done. Work hard and never stop believing. And my message to the Americans coming here to play...yeah, you'll see some things that might make you look twice...but when the ball is snapped, you need to make sure your head gear is fastened and your mouth piece is in...cause you are gonna get hit by somebody that might be pretty good...

Well, I'm on a roll updating the old blog. I'll try to keep it up. I plan on moving into a little more about O-Line play and some thoughts on drill progressions and practice plans along with fundamentals...so I have lots of ideas...of course I had those last year too...we'll see how it goes. Until next time....high hat, then cut...get's 'em everytime...

Straight Season for the Seniors 2012

Probably one of the coolest emails I ever received was the one that said that here in Sweden, we would play the 2012 in a straight (no breaks outside of a bye week) season. This has been a topic of discussion for the 9 full years I have been in Sweden. In my years here, I have never gotten accustomed to playing half the season in two months, then taking 4-6 weeks off, then finsihing the season over the next two months. I personally don't think football is supposed to be played that way. It is a consecutive week type sport. One game each week until the season is over. Usually followed by play-offs unless you are a member in the BCS...then you can take a month off, comeback and play in a bowl game, then move on to the next season.
I will be the first to admit, that as time went on, I did enjoy my summer more and more. In the beginning of my time here in Sweden most weeks "off" in July meant that I would be doing something with either the Senior or Junior National teams, or both. I travelled with those teams to see some wonderful places. As of late, I actually enjoyed a real Swedish vacation and hung out with my family for the entire break time. The problem with last season was the fact that  Djurgården dropped out last year and when you add that to an odd number of teams in a league, you were given an extra by week. That created gaps in schedules. For example, in 2011 we (Arlanda Jets) played a game on June 11th, August 7th and then again on Aug 27th.  I Just don't think that is the way you are supposed to play football.
There is a group of guys called the Super Series Råd that began meeting after the season and discussing what can be done to make things better and one of the many things they discussed was whether we should play a straight season or continue the one with the break. So, long story short, between the work of the SSR and discussions with the Board of Directors here in Sweden, a decision has been made and it appears that kick-off will be in Mid-April with the finals scheduled in Mid-July. A classic American football schedule.
Now...we finally got what we wanted...and that will be the challenge.

WHAT A STRAIGHT SEASON MEANS TO THE PLAYERS & COACHES:
The straight season will mean that you will have less times to recover from game to game. This is something that we must take into consideration in physically preparing for a straight season. In the past few years, injuries could be a little easier dealt with in that you might have two weeks off or a long summer break to recover from that nagging injury. This year you will play each week so you must prepare yourself physically to perform each week. An unfortunate injury can cause a player to miss a large part of the season as opposed to missing 6 weeks, but maybe two games. I am a big fan of a straight season, but that is something we must be prepared for as coaches and players. 
Physical preparation and depth will play a key role in the 2012 season in my opinion.
One area the shorter, straight season should help is the ability to bring over import players and/or coaches. Not having to pay a coach or player for a full month to 6 weeks where there is no football, should save some money. The difference in one to two months of salary, might make a difference in affording an import player.
The most important thing we can do as teams is to make each week an exciting week of football. Play hard and entertaining football. Create an exciting atmoshpere around the games and leave the public talking about what a great time they had at the game they attended.

Needless to say, 2012 will be an exciting year of challenges and opportunities for those of us in the football world here in Sweden. I have high expectations for a very competitive Super Series. The bulk of the responsibility lays on us teams who have been at the bottom of the pack in recent years, to raise our standard and compete not only with each other, but go against the two leaders of the league (Carlstad Crusaders & Tyresö Royal Crowns) and give them games that are exciting and unpredictable.

THE CHALLENGE OF WATCHING LIVE FOOTBALL IN SWEDEN:
I have to admit that the older I get the harder it is to watch live football. I have spent more time watching a kick-off then waking up on the couch and watching the last two drives of a game than ever before. As a family man with an active 5 year old in the house it's not easy to see the "early" kick-off game which usually is at  7:00pm here. So it comes down to if I am up to catch the 10:15pm game or want to stay up and catch the "big game" that kicks-off at 2:30am. Not a totally bad schedule, but as a huge college football fan, I try to watch as much college football as possible. This leads to a crazy sleep schedule. Not to mention trying to follow the Sooners, who seemed to have more night games than I can ever remember, which in turn saw me putting coffee on at 4:00am and watching the Insight.com bowl. Just glad the Sooners won. Just thank goodness for NFL gamepass and ESPN 360...I know I'm old school to actually use those, but I really like the quality...so know I can go back and watch all the games I slept through on demand...that is, when I am not playing "Star Wars" or other activities with my son...he get's the cool light saber and I am forced to use the extra long shoe horn...I mean it is an IKEA produt, but not as good as an actual light saber...

FIREWORKS IN SWEDEN:
Just a quick note to let everyone now that these Swedes are crazy about their fireworks. I grew up in Oklahoma and the 4th of July was always special. I have shot bottle rocket out of bottles, out of the ends of BB guns, I have even held them, lit them and thrown them both up in air and towards other people. But after experiencing a few New Years here in Sweden I can tell you these folks get after it over here. I am not talking about the organized fireworks show put on by the local community. I am talking about the old "hold my beer and watch this" type of fireworks show that goes on from about 11:00pm to 12:30am. I have never seen anything like it. All credit to my Swedish friends...I like it...I'll watch it very year...from behind my window, locked in my apartment...

OK...5 SENTENCES THAT MEAN YOUR NEW YEARS EVE PARTY MIGHT GET HAIRY:

1. The above mentioned, "hold my beer and watch this"
2. "I wonder if I could...."
3. "No, really, just try it..."
4. "just light it with a cigarette..."
5. "hey, get this on video..it'll go viral"

And there you have it. The years first update. A little about football in Sweden and a little about  life in Sweden through the eyes of an old boy from Blanchard, Oklahoma...until next time remember, pass set, attack near hand to near pec..be strong inside and move your feet...and have a great 2012...