Put Me In Coach...

It isn't easy being a coach.

Whether you are a volunteer parent coaching kids or a well paid man coaching 53 professional football players there are many stresses, hand holding and decisions that have to be made. Some are better than others, and right now we seem to have very few good ones.

Two situations highlighted this over the weekend;
Les Miles at LSU Tigers vs. Ole Miss Rebels. LSU was considered a national title contender but have already lost twice and were trying to continue almost a decade worth of winning vs. Ole Miss. The Rebels played a spirited game and took the lead into the last minute of the game - 35-34, but LSU had the ball and were threatening, just needing a field goal to win. After making a couple of bad plays on first and second down the LSU QB took a sack on 3rd down to set up a 4th and 26 with just under 30 seconds left, but for some inexplicable reason, they don't call a timeout until there were 9 seconds, they let 21 seconds expire. Hail Mary play and miraculously the receiver pulls it down with one second on the clock (think they could have used those extra seconds?). At this point Coach Les Miles had to run out his field goal unit for a chip shot to win the game. The players aren't ready, so the offense stays on the field for the final play and with only one second on the clock the QB for some unexplainable reason, spikes the ball, the clock expires and the LSU Tigers lose. With one second left, don't you just throw the ball in the endzone if you aren't going to kick the field goal to win.

After the game Coach Miles said that there wasn't time to get the field goal unit on the field. I disagree. Last year, the Denver Broncos pulled off something similar at the end of the first half of a game versus the Buffalo Bills. Later, it was shown that Coach Miles was actually yelling at his QB to down the ball. The player was so confused he just did what his coach told him.

Coaches need to be in control and understand the game situations, getting paid as much as Coach Miles does, he needs to know how to handle this and WIN the game.

The other coaching situation that put the lack of coaching skills on display was in the NFL. Brand new Buffalo Bills interim coach Perry Fewell had a brain cramp at the end of the first half with five seconds left and the ball at the Jacksonville 7 yard line. With a timeout remaining, the Bills had a chance to take one shot at the endzone to try for a touchdown. If they succeed, they go into the half with a commanding lead, if they fail, call your last timeout and kick the field goal. Coach Fewell by choosing a running play allowed the clock to expire. The Jags looked to have a victory, but one of the referees took pity on the first time coach and granted him his timeout. The Bills kicked the field goal and ended up losing the game by 3 points - think they could have used the extra 4 points a touchdown would have given them?

Other more seasoned NFL coaches are notorious for mis-managing clock, from Andy Reid to Norv Turner. Why can't these guys get it right? When every fan at home is screaming at the TV for a coach to call a timeout or run a play into the endzone and then they do the complete opposite...ESPN's Bill Simmons has been calling for teams to hire 16 year old kids that play Madden to help with clock management at the end of games. Better yet, why not just hire another coach? They have too many as it is and it is the one thing that isn't capped (like player salaries). If it helps you win a game, that coach could be more valuable than you Assistant Long Snapping Coach.