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Coach Babers’s show this year show will be Thursday nights at 7PM except when the game is not on a Saturday. The show is two days before the game, except for Thanksgiving week. Here is the schedule:
Thursday, Aug. 29 – 7 pm; Thursday, Sept. 5 – 7 pm; Thursday, Sept. 12 – 7 pm
Thursday, Sept. 19 – 7 pm; Thursday, Sept. 26 – 7 pm; Tuesday, Oct. 8 – 7 pm
Wednesday, Oct. 16 – 7 pm; Thursday, Oct. 24 – 7 pm; Thursday, Oct. 31 – 7 pm
Thursday, Nov. 14 – 7 pm; Thursday, Nov. 21 – 7 pm; Tuesday, Nov. 26 – 7 pm
They are now adding the “Gomez Hour” that they do from 8-9PM for the Jim Boeheim basketball shows to the Dino Babers football show. I’ll be summarizing the comments directly related to the team and the next game (late) on the night of the broadcast and anything else interesting the next day, (if there is anything else that seems interesting). I’ll have a “first hour” and a “second hour” question.
The show will originate from PressRoom Pub, located at 220 Herald Place in Syracuse's historic Herald Square, each week this season.
You can also listen to the show live each week on the Syracuse IMG Sports Network and Cuse.com. Wednesday's show will be on 99.1 FM and 97.7 FM, as well. The show will regularly air on 99.5FM (Syracuse) 99.1 FM (Utica) and 1200 AM.”
You can also get it on: Home | Free Internet Radio | TuneIn
There hasn’t been any change in the phone numbers, which last year were 315-424-8599 (local) or 1-888-746-2873. You can call to ask questions or submit them via Twitter at: https://twitter.com/CuseIMG
#AskDino or through Cuse.com, (the SU Athletic website):
cuse.com
You can (or could last year, anyway), listen to a podcast of the show, probably the next day, at: Search results for babers | Free Internet Radio | TuneIn
I’ve been asked to continue doing the summaries, even by people who listen to the podcasts. I may focus on the major points, rather than trying to record everything.
My Question(s) or Comments
First Hour:
“Coach, it’s great that Tommy DeVito will be able to play in Thursday’s North Carolina State but his injury gets me wondering about the players we have behind him. Could you describe the skill sets of Clayton Welch, Rex Culpepper, David Summers and Drew Gunther?”
Second Hour:
“Coach, we’ve been using bubble screens a lot. I wonder if you could explain the concept behind them. If there are more defenders than blockers, does that mean that the play should not have been called against that defense or that it has been improperly executed? Or is it supposed to look like that?”
The Show
(I sometimes re-arrange the comments so that statements made on the same subject are reported together, even if they came at different points of the show.)
They praised the chef at the Newsroom Pub, Frank who is “trying to get me bigger”, per Dino.
They talked about playing a Thursday night game- the only college game in the country that night, with everybody watching, followed by a Friday game with a lot of the country watching. It’s an opportunity to show off a bit. (That’s not exactly what we have been doing.) “I came to the ACC for the big stage, the highest level and the national TV games” Coach feels that NC State has a 3-4 point advantage from playing as home, just as we would here. When you play on the road, “You have to figure out how you are going to make up those 3-4 points and get one more. That’s what makes it exciting.”
“The whole thing in the ACC is that everybody is re-charging. Their younger players are better than their older players. The league will be better next year and outstanding in two years.” He sees NC State and Syracuse as similar. “Both teams had high expectations and they still do. Both have had injuries to key players. They are not as dominant but are still good without them. Both could have a good run now. It will be a battle royal.“
Matt said that both teams would be aided by a bye week and that NC State was changing its quarterback. He said that it would be a left handed quarterback and Dino said he was a Florida State transfer. That would make it Bailey Hockman, who played most of the Florida State game. “He’s very accurate but doesn’t have the legs as far as escaping. He stands in the pocket. He likes to spread the ball around which he can do better when they run the football as they have.”
Gomez later asked if the team had practiced against a left-handed quarterback. “Gomez, you have opened a whole can of you-know-what. You’re talking to an ex-left-handed quarterback.” They talked about whether it’s easier or harder to catch a ball from a left-handed quarterback- when they throw it, the spiral tends to be in the opposite direction. Dino said that should make no difference to a college-level receiver. “The problem isn’t the spiral. It’s the wobble.” He did say that a left footed punter is harder to catch because “the ball comes out of the sky at a different angle”. They discussed the top left-handed quarterbacks in history and agreed that Kenny Stabler was #1. Gomez said that there were three lefties who had won the Heisman at quarterback: Terry Baker, Matt Leinhart and Tim Tebo. Coach thought maybe Lamar Jackson, “I still have a mental image of him jumping over somebody”. Then he thought maybe he was thinking of Teddy Bridgewater. (No and No.)
Dino doesn’t want to look ahead to Pitt yet but Matt pointed out that the last four Dome games against Pitt have been decided by 3 points or less. Dino added that last year’s game at Pitt had gone into overtime and the one before that we scored 61 points – and lost.
I called in my question about the back-up quarterbacks. Dino, (who was in a much better mood than in his Monday press conference), said he wasn’t going to talk about the freshmen. He said that “Rex has been in games before. He’s started two games.” (Per Cuse.com, as a freshman “Saw action in all 12 games, including four under center, with one start”, a sophomore: “Appeared in six games on kickoff return after switching from quarterback to tight end…Did not record any statistics”.) Clayton Welsh “has really grown. He has good command of the offense.” But “there’s a reason why they are 1-2-3. Last year we were as solid as any team, (with Dungey and DeVito). We could do a lot of things most teams can’t do. This year we have to be really careful in the stuff we do.”
Matt mentioned that “Tommy has a bit of an owie”. DB: “Hardly ever do you feel perfect in this game. It’s hard for a player not to have a dingy or an owie. The question is: can you play through it. Tommy will start Thursday.”
Ron in Rochester called in to ask Matt if that was him he’d heard doing an NFL game on Sunday. No, it wasn’t.
They had several questions from the newsroom Pub audience, submitted in writing. What was the most intimidating venue Dino has played or coached in? Dino refused to acknowledged that any of them are intimidating – “a strong word. We’re not allowed to say that. Really good competitors don’t get into that situation. Oregon was the loudest. Phil Knight built an open-air stadium that somehow has great acoustics. You have to use sign language. The only time you can talk is in the locker room before the game and at halftime. I’ve never been to Alabama. Michigan is just a lot of people. It’s fearful to some but exciting to a different cut of people.
Are the players refreshed after the break? DB: “They had a chance to watch other teams play and see their mistakes. You are about to see something lightning fast.”
Will the injured starters, (Heckel, Williams, Cisco, Melifonwu), be back this season? “When their injuries started I expected them back. The longer it goes the less excited I am. It’s out of my control. It’s part of the game. It’s exciting when you have to have someone step up.” Matt said that “it’s your job as coach of the team to keep players from getting exposed.” (Which I took to man the weaknesses of back-ups, not the bodies of starters). Babers responded with something I didn’t quite understand, saying that some chess players use the rook, some the bishop and some the queen. I guess he meant there were different strategies available to the coach.
Joe called in to ask how Dino keeps players who don’t play much motivated. Dino: “We are a multiple formation football team. All groupings play 10 or 15 or 25 or 50% of the game. The battle for playing time begins in the spring. The groupings work together to get stronger. During games 4-6 you decide which groupings are playing the best. Every year it’s different.” I guess it’s like basketball where JB plays everybody in November and December and then settles on his rotation for January, February and March.
Michael submitted three questions: What is your favorite NFL team? Dino doesn’t have one. If one of his former players, (he’s had 40 of the make the league), is playing on TV, he’ll watch for a couple series. He roots for players, not teams. He noted Jimmy Garoppolo’s good game against the Browns last night. The Eagles have a linebacker named Kamu Grugier-Hill, who got the last scholarship Dino gave out in his first year as head coach at EIU back in 2012. It’s the kind of story he likes.
What is Dino’s favorite restaurant? The Newsroom Pub, of course. He lauded the “bourbon wings”. Matt pointed out that they are the “bourbon bacon maple wings”. What is his favorite sports quote? Bud grant said that the key to success in football is “a good wife, a good dog and a good quarterback, not necessarily in that order.” Matt recalled that Bum Phillips explained that he always takes his wife on the road “because she’s too ugly to kiss goodbye”. Nice.
We are averaging 3.4 yards per rush attempt and lack ‘explosive’ plays. What can be done to change that? Dino didn’t want to get into too many specifics. Someone from the opposition might be monitoring this show. (He said he monitors other coach’s shows for information). “Some things can be tweaked. Sometimes we just miss something. Sometimes it’s about where to run and who to run behind. The throwing game can help develop the running game. Tempo can make a difference. Hopefully we won’t be talking about this at the next break.”
Matt talked to defensive ends coach Steve Standard after Dino told him Alton Robinson and Kendall Coleman are “outstanding, stand-up guys, very talented. I will enjoy watching them finish their careers but I’ll be sorry to see them go. I’m not sure when we’ll have a pair like them.”
Standard said there had been both a quarterback change and a tackle change. Their right tackle Justin Witt is hurt. They are shifting their left tackle to right tackle, (appropriate since they are going to a left-handed QB). “We need to get after them like Florida State did.” He said that while Robinson and Coleman have fewer sacks than they did last year but the team still has 19 sacks after just 5 of 12 games. They are just more spread out. Linebacker Lakiem Williams has a couple. Robinson is great at stripping the ball, especially from the left side. Brandon Berry, Kingsley Jonathan and Tyrell Richards are good back-ups. Jonathan only played two years of high school ball but “absorbs things like a sponge and keeps improving”.
Matt asked about recruiting in the Carolinas, not a traditional region for SU to get players from. Standard said it’s the same thing in Georgia. “We’ve got to ID guys who are willing to leave the south, like Steve Linton, who doesn’t like the heat.” (We are a mecca for people who don’t like to be warm.) He said there’s an amazing number of New York and New Jersey transplants in the south who still have families up here.”
Gomez came on for the second hour, which is broken up by musical interludes they can apparently hear in the bar. The first one was a Phil Collins song. I didn’t pay close attention but I think it was “Take Me Home”:
When they came back, Dino said it made him very nostalgic because it was what was playing over the Muzak when he bought his first car in 1987, right after he’d been hired for his first coaching job at EIU by Bob Spoo. He bought an Olds Cutlass and drove it until the year 2000. The first player he met on campus was Sean Payton. “I have a little history with him.” He said the song brings back images of all the cornfields in Charleston, Illinois.
Dino said that “works 12-16 hour days, but it’s not like work. People have to call us and tell us to go home. It’s not work when it was what I was put here to do: to give the players the best experience they can have playing college football so they can be good citizens, husbands and fathers.”
Gomez said he was unaware that there was a rule against high-fiving with the fans. Dino: “I think it’s OK if you do three or less and the ref hasn’t had a bad meal.”
He felt that Syracuse was very physical in the Holy Cross game and so were the crusaders, who were a strong representative of their conference. “There were grown man shots given and taken in that game. We need to carry it on.”
Floyd Little told Gomez that his all-time favorite movie was “Tombstone”. Dino loves that one, too and loved the dialogue between Doc Holiday and Johnny Ringo:
Tombstone Doc Holliday meets Johnny Ringo
Tombstone / Standoff between Doc Holiday and Johnny Ringo
Sterling Hofrichter “has quite a leg”. HCDB: “He’s an NFL kicker and he’s probably already graduated. I don’t know if he has a girlfriend but if he doesn’t he should have one.”
I called in my question about bubble screens and got a clinic. “There’s going to be three levels of this: undergraduate, graduate and masters.
Undergrad: We will have 1 blocker against two defenders. He’s supposed to block the outside man and the receiver is supposed to run away from the inside man and circle the defense from the hash to the sidelines and get maybe 4 yards, which we regard as a successful play.
Graduate: In the second version we do try to out-number them by bringing out and offensive lineman so we have one blocker for each defender. The receiver can get to the second level and maybe have an explosive play.
Masters: it’s a tempo play. The defense is looking to the sidelines to the defensive coordinator to see what defense he wants them in. We whip the ball to the receiver. There could be three guys to one blocker but we are only looking for a 3-4 yard gain. We want to force them to stop looking to the sideline so they won’t know what the defensive coordinator wants.”
He asked me if understood the bubble screen. I told him I do now and he laughed.
They played something by Lenny Kravitz and Coach recalled that he was the son of one the Jefferson’s neighbors. “Don’t let anybody know that I have a bunch of information floating around up there.”
Jesse Sapolu was Dino’s teammate at Hawaii and later played for 49er teams that won four Super Bowls. He was in the huddle in Super Bowl 23 against the Bengals when Joe Montana relaxed his team by pointing out John Candy in the stands, then said, “OK, now let’s go out and win this thing.” He said that “The special ones are always special. They are a little weird but that makes them special.”
What were the huddles like in Hawaii? Coach remembered when their team was down by a couple points and kicked off late in the game. There was a fumble but the returner fell on the ball. Then the Hawaii team fell on him. “The players on top knew the situation and refused to get off the pile. The players below them “were trying to get him to see our point of view. We did some things to make him more receptive to the idea that we should get the ball. We got it and kicked the winning field goal. What happens in the pile stays in the pile.”
A question texted in referred to a statement from a previous shows that Dino saw Gene Mills, SU’s former All-American wrestler and said that he liked players with a wrestling background. What other sports does he like his players to have played? Dino said he liked wrestlers because they have good hand-to eye coordination: “Where they eyes got the hand needs to follow. They have good balance. They know it’s going to be a struggle, that they will be hit and that it’s going to hurt.”
“I like the ability to play multiple sports. You can learn something from each one of them. A star basketball player might be a bench player in baseball and he learns to be a good teammate. Early specialization does our kids a disservice. They shouldn’t have to make a decision until high school. Reduce it to two sports, then to one.”
Todd in Oswego said he was going to donate a dollar to the University’s sports program for every touchdown we score against NC State. Dino thanked him. Maybe if we all did that…
Thursday, Aug. 29 – 7 pm; Thursday, Sept. 5 – 7 pm; Thursday, Sept. 12 – 7 pm
Thursday, Sept. 19 – 7 pm; Thursday, Sept. 26 – 7 pm; Tuesday, Oct. 8 – 7 pm
Wednesday, Oct. 16 – 7 pm; Thursday, Oct. 24 – 7 pm; Thursday, Oct. 31 – 7 pm
Thursday, Nov. 14 – 7 pm; Thursday, Nov. 21 – 7 pm; Tuesday, Nov. 26 – 7 pm
They are now adding the “Gomez Hour” that they do from 8-9PM for the Jim Boeheim basketball shows to the Dino Babers football show. I’ll be summarizing the comments directly related to the team and the next game (late) on the night of the broadcast and anything else interesting the next day, (if there is anything else that seems interesting). I’ll have a “first hour” and a “second hour” question.
The show will originate from PressRoom Pub, located at 220 Herald Place in Syracuse's historic Herald Square, each week this season.
You can also listen to the show live each week on the Syracuse IMG Sports Network and Cuse.com. Wednesday's show will be on 99.1 FM and 97.7 FM, as well. The show will regularly air on 99.5FM (Syracuse) 99.1 FM (Utica) and 1200 AM.”
You can also get it on: Home | Free Internet Radio | TuneIn
There hasn’t been any change in the phone numbers, which last year were 315-424-8599 (local) or 1-888-746-2873. You can call to ask questions or submit them via Twitter at: https://twitter.com/CuseIMG
#AskDino or through Cuse.com, (the SU Athletic website):
Submit a Question! - Syracuse University Athletics
Submit your question for Syracuse Learfield Sports Network programs.
You can (or could last year, anyway), listen to a podcast of the show, probably the next day, at: Search results for babers | Free Internet Radio | TuneIn
I’ve been asked to continue doing the summaries, even by people who listen to the podcasts. I may focus on the major points, rather than trying to record everything.
My Question(s) or Comments
First Hour:
“Coach, it’s great that Tommy DeVito will be able to play in Thursday’s North Carolina State but his injury gets me wondering about the players we have behind him. Could you describe the skill sets of Clayton Welch, Rex Culpepper, David Summers and Drew Gunther?”
Second Hour:
“Coach, we’ve been using bubble screens a lot. I wonder if you could explain the concept behind them. If there are more defenders than blockers, does that mean that the play should not have been called against that defense or that it has been improperly executed? Or is it supposed to look like that?”
The Show
(I sometimes re-arrange the comments so that statements made on the same subject are reported together, even if they came at different points of the show.)
They praised the chef at the Newsroom Pub, Frank who is “trying to get me bigger”, per Dino.
They talked about playing a Thursday night game- the only college game in the country that night, with everybody watching, followed by a Friday game with a lot of the country watching. It’s an opportunity to show off a bit. (That’s not exactly what we have been doing.) “I came to the ACC for the big stage, the highest level and the national TV games” Coach feels that NC State has a 3-4 point advantage from playing as home, just as we would here. When you play on the road, “You have to figure out how you are going to make up those 3-4 points and get one more. That’s what makes it exciting.”
“The whole thing in the ACC is that everybody is re-charging. Their younger players are better than their older players. The league will be better next year and outstanding in two years.” He sees NC State and Syracuse as similar. “Both teams had high expectations and they still do. Both have had injuries to key players. They are not as dominant but are still good without them. Both could have a good run now. It will be a battle royal.“
Matt said that both teams would be aided by a bye week and that NC State was changing its quarterback. He said that it would be a left handed quarterback and Dino said he was a Florida State transfer. That would make it Bailey Hockman, who played most of the Florida State game. “He’s very accurate but doesn’t have the legs as far as escaping. He stands in the pocket. He likes to spread the ball around which he can do better when they run the football as they have.”
Gomez later asked if the team had practiced against a left-handed quarterback. “Gomez, you have opened a whole can of you-know-what. You’re talking to an ex-left-handed quarterback.” They talked about whether it’s easier or harder to catch a ball from a left-handed quarterback- when they throw it, the spiral tends to be in the opposite direction. Dino said that should make no difference to a college-level receiver. “The problem isn’t the spiral. It’s the wobble.” He did say that a left footed punter is harder to catch because “the ball comes out of the sky at a different angle”. They discussed the top left-handed quarterbacks in history and agreed that Kenny Stabler was #1. Gomez said that there were three lefties who had won the Heisman at quarterback: Terry Baker, Matt Leinhart and Tim Tebo. Coach thought maybe Lamar Jackson, “I still have a mental image of him jumping over somebody”. Then he thought maybe he was thinking of Teddy Bridgewater. (No and No.)
Dino doesn’t want to look ahead to Pitt yet but Matt pointed out that the last four Dome games against Pitt have been decided by 3 points or less. Dino added that last year’s game at Pitt had gone into overtime and the one before that we scored 61 points – and lost.
I called in my question about the back-up quarterbacks. Dino, (who was in a much better mood than in his Monday press conference), said he wasn’t going to talk about the freshmen. He said that “Rex has been in games before. He’s started two games.” (Per Cuse.com, as a freshman “Saw action in all 12 games, including four under center, with one start”, a sophomore: “Appeared in six games on kickoff return after switching from quarterback to tight end…Did not record any statistics”.) Clayton Welsh “has really grown. He has good command of the offense.” But “there’s a reason why they are 1-2-3. Last year we were as solid as any team, (with Dungey and DeVito). We could do a lot of things most teams can’t do. This year we have to be really careful in the stuff we do.”
Matt mentioned that “Tommy has a bit of an owie”. DB: “Hardly ever do you feel perfect in this game. It’s hard for a player not to have a dingy or an owie. The question is: can you play through it. Tommy will start Thursday.”
Ron in Rochester called in to ask Matt if that was him he’d heard doing an NFL game on Sunday. No, it wasn’t.
They had several questions from the newsroom Pub audience, submitted in writing. What was the most intimidating venue Dino has played or coached in? Dino refused to acknowledged that any of them are intimidating – “a strong word. We’re not allowed to say that. Really good competitors don’t get into that situation. Oregon was the loudest. Phil Knight built an open-air stadium that somehow has great acoustics. You have to use sign language. The only time you can talk is in the locker room before the game and at halftime. I’ve never been to Alabama. Michigan is just a lot of people. It’s fearful to some but exciting to a different cut of people.
Are the players refreshed after the break? DB: “They had a chance to watch other teams play and see their mistakes. You are about to see something lightning fast.”
Will the injured starters, (Heckel, Williams, Cisco, Melifonwu), be back this season? “When their injuries started I expected them back. The longer it goes the less excited I am. It’s out of my control. It’s part of the game. It’s exciting when you have to have someone step up.” Matt said that “it’s your job as coach of the team to keep players from getting exposed.” (Which I took to man the weaknesses of back-ups, not the bodies of starters). Babers responded with something I didn’t quite understand, saying that some chess players use the rook, some the bishop and some the queen. I guess he meant there were different strategies available to the coach.
Joe called in to ask how Dino keeps players who don’t play much motivated. Dino: “We are a multiple formation football team. All groupings play 10 or 15 or 25 or 50% of the game. The battle for playing time begins in the spring. The groupings work together to get stronger. During games 4-6 you decide which groupings are playing the best. Every year it’s different.” I guess it’s like basketball where JB plays everybody in November and December and then settles on his rotation for January, February and March.
Michael submitted three questions: What is your favorite NFL team? Dino doesn’t have one. If one of his former players, (he’s had 40 of the make the league), is playing on TV, he’ll watch for a couple series. He roots for players, not teams. He noted Jimmy Garoppolo’s good game against the Browns last night. The Eagles have a linebacker named Kamu Grugier-Hill, who got the last scholarship Dino gave out in his first year as head coach at EIU back in 2012. It’s the kind of story he likes.
What is Dino’s favorite restaurant? The Newsroom Pub, of course. He lauded the “bourbon wings”. Matt pointed out that they are the “bourbon bacon maple wings”. What is his favorite sports quote? Bud grant said that the key to success in football is “a good wife, a good dog and a good quarterback, not necessarily in that order.” Matt recalled that Bum Phillips explained that he always takes his wife on the road “because she’s too ugly to kiss goodbye”. Nice.
We are averaging 3.4 yards per rush attempt and lack ‘explosive’ plays. What can be done to change that? Dino didn’t want to get into too many specifics. Someone from the opposition might be monitoring this show. (He said he monitors other coach’s shows for information). “Some things can be tweaked. Sometimes we just miss something. Sometimes it’s about where to run and who to run behind. The throwing game can help develop the running game. Tempo can make a difference. Hopefully we won’t be talking about this at the next break.”
Matt talked to defensive ends coach Steve Standard after Dino told him Alton Robinson and Kendall Coleman are “outstanding, stand-up guys, very talented. I will enjoy watching them finish their careers but I’ll be sorry to see them go. I’m not sure when we’ll have a pair like them.”
Standard said there had been both a quarterback change and a tackle change. Their right tackle Justin Witt is hurt. They are shifting their left tackle to right tackle, (appropriate since they are going to a left-handed QB). “We need to get after them like Florida State did.” He said that while Robinson and Coleman have fewer sacks than they did last year but the team still has 19 sacks after just 5 of 12 games. They are just more spread out. Linebacker Lakiem Williams has a couple. Robinson is great at stripping the ball, especially from the left side. Brandon Berry, Kingsley Jonathan and Tyrell Richards are good back-ups. Jonathan only played two years of high school ball but “absorbs things like a sponge and keeps improving”.
Matt asked about recruiting in the Carolinas, not a traditional region for SU to get players from. Standard said it’s the same thing in Georgia. “We’ve got to ID guys who are willing to leave the south, like Steve Linton, who doesn’t like the heat.” (We are a mecca for people who don’t like to be warm.) He said there’s an amazing number of New York and New Jersey transplants in the south who still have families up here.”
Gomez came on for the second hour, which is broken up by musical interludes they can apparently hear in the bar. The first one was a Phil Collins song. I didn’t pay close attention but I think it was “Take Me Home”:
When they came back, Dino said it made him very nostalgic because it was what was playing over the Muzak when he bought his first car in 1987, right after he’d been hired for his first coaching job at EIU by Bob Spoo. He bought an Olds Cutlass and drove it until the year 2000. The first player he met on campus was Sean Payton. “I have a little history with him.” He said the song brings back images of all the cornfields in Charleston, Illinois.
Dino said that “works 12-16 hour days, but it’s not like work. People have to call us and tell us to go home. It’s not work when it was what I was put here to do: to give the players the best experience they can have playing college football so they can be good citizens, husbands and fathers.”
Gomez said he was unaware that there was a rule against high-fiving with the fans. Dino: “I think it’s OK if you do three or less and the ref hasn’t had a bad meal.”
He felt that Syracuse was very physical in the Holy Cross game and so were the crusaders, who were a strong representative of their conference. “There were grown man shots given and taken in that game. We need to carry it on.”
Floyd Little told Gomez that his all-time favorite movie was “Tombstone”. Dino loves that one, too and loved the dialogue between Doc Holiday and Johnny Ringo:
Tombstone Doc Holliday meets Johnny Ringo
Tombstone / Standoff between Doc Holiday and Johnny Ringo
Sterling Hofrichter “has quite a leg”. HCDB: “He’s an NFL kicker and he’s probably already graduated. I don’t know if he has a girlfriend but if he doesn’t he should have one.”
I called in my question about bubble screens and got a clinic. “There’s going to be three levels of this: undergraduate, graduate and masters.
Undergrad: We will have 1 blocker against two defenders. He’s supposed to block the outside man and the receiver is supposed to run away from the inside man and circle the defense from the hash to the sidelines and get maybe 4 yards, which we regard as a successful play.
Graduate: In the second version we do try to out-number them by bringing out and offensive lineman so we have one blocker for each defender. The receiver can get to the second level and maybe have an explosive play.
Masters: it’s a tempo play. The defense is looking to the sidelines to the defensive coordinator to see what defense he wants them in. We whip the ball to the receiver. There could be three guys to one blocker but we are only looking for a 3-4 yard gain. We want to force them to stop looking to the sideline so they won’t know what the defensive coordinator wants.”
He asked me if understood the bubble screen. I told him I do now and he laughed.
They played something by Lenny Kravitz and Coach recalled that he was the son of one the Jefferson’s neighbors. “Don’t let anybody know that I have a bunch of information floating around up there.”
Jesse Sapolu was Dino’s teammate at Hawaii and later played for 49er teams that won four Super Bowls. He was in the huddle in Super Bowl 23 against the Bengals when Joe Montana relaxed his team by pointing out John Candy in the stands, then said, “OK, now let’s go out and win this thing.” He said that “The special ones are always special. They are a little weird but that makes them special.”
What were the huddles like in Hawaii? Coach remembered when their team was down by a couple points and kicked off late in the game. There was a fumble but the returner fell on the ball. Then the Hawaii team fell on him. “The players on top knew the situation and refused to get off the pile. The players below them “were trying to get him to see our point of view. We did some things to make him more receptive to the idea that we should get the ball. We got it and kicked the winning field goal. What happens in the pile stays in the pile.”
A question texted in referred to a statement from a previous shows that Dino saw Gene Mills, SU’s former All-American wrestler and said that he liked players with a wrestling background. What other sports does he like his players to have played? Dino said he liked wrestlers because they have good hand-to eye coordination: “Where they eyes got the hand needs to follow. They have good balance. They know it’s going to be a struggle, that they will be hit and that it’s going to hurt.”
“I like the ability to play multiple sports. You can learn something from each one of them. A star basketball player might be a bench player in baseball and he learns to be a good teammate. Early specialization does our kids a disservice. They shouldn’t have to make a decision until high school. Reduce it to two sports, then to one.”
Todd in Oswego said he was going to donate a dollar to the University’s sports program for every touchdown we score against NC State. Dino thanked him. Maybe if we all did that…
