What shall become of football coaches?

Urban Meyer stepping down as Head Coach at the University of Florida was the big news over the weekend. He was hospitalized with chest pains following the SEC Championship game; and several times in the past he has suffered problems with headaches, indicating another possible health problem. It appears that the stress from coaching could be enough to endanger his life.

The Gators were the NCAA defending FBS champions. Meyer is considered at the top of his profession, having brought quick success in his stops at Bowling Green, Utah, and now ending his fifth year at Florida, where they have won two national championships. Florida is now considered a prime head coaching job because of its facilities and fan base, and especially its location in the recruit-rich state of Florida.

It's not surprising- only surprising that it doesn't happen much more often. I wonder if (and I hope) this will begin a discussion in the US about head coaching and head coaches- their health, their roles, and the sometimes inhuman expectations place upon them. Nowadays, football coaching is definitely one of the most intense and stressful jobs imaginable.

It's not just about practice and games and meetings. Add to this the ever-expanding and intensified duties of recruiting. Coaches rarely have much time to spend with their wives and families. It is a 7-day a week job much of the year, 80-120 hours a week. Meals with their families are virtually unknown.

College head coaches are held responsible not only for mentally and physically preparing athletes (over one hundred at a larger program like Florida) for a dozen or so games a year. But they also are held responsible for for monitoring their student-athlete's academic and social activities, pretty much year-round. Then they must spend time and energy dealing with the fans and the press. They are also involved with meeting boosters and fund-raising. The head coach, his staff, and a hundred others are under critical media scrutiny round the clock all year long. anything out of line, and the Head Coach has to answer for it. As Bobby Bowden, who is finally retiring this year, once said: "most parents can't keep track of only 1 or 2 teenagers every hour of the day; I am expected to do it for 105 of them!"

While often compared to CEOs, the reality is that most head coaches are involved with- and worry about- every single detail of their programs. They have to. They dare not leave a single stone unturned, lest they be criticized. Guilt also haunts them. They become obsessed with "out-working" their opponent. When asked what time he woke up and started working in the morning, he answered: "10 minutes earlier than whatever time Jon Gruden said he did." [Gruden is a notorious short sleeper and early riser]. Coaches spend much time doing what is known in the coaching profession as "chasing ghosts", i.e. working through every single possible scenario- of which there are too many to predict.


Apparently Meyer was offered a chance to take a sabbatical by Florida AD Jeremy Foley, which he declined.

I have recently begun to think the sabbatical idea is an interesting concept which should be given more consideration- say after every 5 seasons or so. Of course coaches who are fired or resign are often given an involuntary one, but many seem to benefit from a year or two away
It would allow a coach to spend time with his family and look after his health. It would also give him time to research and visit other programs and learn more about the game. Of course, something like that could hardly happen unilaterally. It would probably have to be something imposed by the Coaches Association and the NCAA, and written into their contracts.


Here's an interesting possible development worth considering. Meyer says he will step down as Head Coach, but will attempt to be involved with the Florida Gators in some way. What role? In the US, some administrative duties are delegated to Director of Football Operations, a position that has developed over the last twenty years or so. Perhaps we will see Meyer move into an expanded Director of Football Operations role, or perhaps there will be some new sort of position created for him. Maybe we will see more duties of head coaches become divided, or they'll become more like corporate CEOs, delegating more to their Recruiting Directors and Coordinators. It will be interesting to see how football evolves.


One of the curious things about Japanese football that is sometimes is difficult to explain to foreigners is how football teams generally have both a Kantoku and a Head Coach. Kantoku is a title (and also an honorific) that is used for skipper of a baseball team (the Manager in English); it is also used to indicate the director of a film. But exact division of labor and authority and ranking between the Head Coach and the Kantoku seems to vary from team to team, and so is hard to define.

Sometimes the Kantoku is the ultimate authority. At others the Head Coach runs the show, while the Kantoku is more of a figurehead, or a liaison with the school or sponsor or alumni network. Hosei University is an example where the Kantoku (Aoki-san) is the spokesman and leader and decision-maker, and directs general policy for the team; yet he is rarely involved with the exact X's and O's. For other teams, such as the Kajima Deers, Head Coach Mori handles all game and practice decisions, while the Kantoku is more of a general manager type. It all seems to depend on culture and needs of the specific organization, and the individual personalities involved.

Is it just possible that executive authority positions in the US may evolve in a way that they more closely resemble the Japanese model?

X-Bowl 2009 (12/21 Big EGG report)

After losing to the Fujitsu Frontiers on a game-ending field goal in the regular season and trailing at the half, the Kajima Deers came back to win the 23rd annual X-Bowl, 21-14. It was another close, hard-fought match-up between two of the top Kanto League perennial powers. The attendance topped 22,000, filling the lower deck and portions of the upper deck as well.

After several drives that stalled in the first half, the Deers came roaring back (can deers roar?), scoring on their first four drives of the second half, capped by a 78 yard touchdown pass from Yuusuke Ozaki to Naoki Maeda. They twice failed on 2-point conversions and sop so only led 18-11 with 4 minutes left, when they added a 22 -yard field goal to make it 21-7, before Fujitsu frantically tried to come back.

The Frontiers scored with 2:25 left on a 6-yard pass from Izuhara to Brad Brennan to make it 21-14. They failed to gain the on-side kick but were able to get the ball back with around 17 seconds left and were able to move the ball to midfield, but ran out of time.

The Frontiers moved well on their opening drive, scoring on a 32 yard run by RB Yuichi Kon, and holding Kajima scoreless in the first half. But mistakes and missed opportunities plagued their efforts. QB Izuhara seemed to lack arm strength on many of the throws that required them, and was intercepted 3 times, and had another easy interception dropped. He was 12/22 and 121 yards passing, and Motoki Yoshida added 19 yards going 2/4.

The Deers threw the ball for 245 yards, with Takuya Yamashiro going 10/13 and Ozaki going 3/5 including that TD pass Maeda, and had one interception. The Deers held the ball for nearly ten minutes longer than the Frontiers, and out-gained them 408-275.

12/20 Yokohama Stadium report (JPFF)

A report on an exciting day in Kawasaki coming up in a few hours or so, but first, made an early morning visit to Yokohama Stadium for the the 10AM kickoff of the JPFF Kanto All-Star game, which, fittingly, ended in a 14-all tie.

This is probably the loosest of all the football leagues (certainly looser than the other shakai-jin leagues in the Tokyo area), with little of the grim seriousness of the top university or X-League teams. In the All-Star game, it seemed hardly a play went by without officials or players on one side or the other- and often both- chuckling at some tumble or another. While attendance was small, the early morning game was blessed by brilliant sunshine throughout the whole stadium to warm things up.

By contrast, as the cold late afternoon shadows enveloped most of the field and stands at Yokohama Stadium, the JPFF Kanto championship game between the Kawasaki Grizzlies (in blue) and the Kamakura Lazarus (in red) heated up rather late. It was scoreless at halftime. In the second half, both teams seemed to move the ball more efficiently. But several Lazarus turnovers near the Grizzly goal line kept the game a 6-all tie until late in the contest, when the Lazarus were finally able to score and come away with a 12-6 victory, and the Kanto division crown.



The Lazarus will face the Kansai winner in February (!) 7th for the JPFF Championship. The Kansai League champ will be determined on 1/10, matching the winner of the KGL (either the Riverside Jokers or the Kyoto Southpaws) and the winner of the OFL (Bootlegs or the Nagoya Club Brutus). Those four teams will meet in semi-final action in a double-header in Kansai on Wednesday 12/23.

12/13 Outreach Bowl and Urban Bowl report

While perhaps not quite as exciting as the Koshien bowl, the games at the Edogawa Track and Field Stadium were still quite close to the end.

In the Outreach Bowl, the Over 39ers scored with just over a minute left, and defeated the Under 59ers 13-0. The 39ers team consisted of older players from several teams in the UF.

The game was played with special rules that essentially forbade contact below the waist or tackling below the ground, and did away with kickoffs. But it was still a good, exciting match.

After a prolonged ceremony my various Edogawa officials (and singing of the rousing Edogawa anthem), the 18th annual Urban Bowl kicked off at 13:30.


The game featured a rematch of the top two teams in A-Block, who won their semi-final games on November 29th. In their regular season game in October, the Beattle Hawks scored the only touchdown in first quarter in a 10-6 victory.

This game would turn out to be even closer. While perhaps not quite as exciting as the Koshien bowl, the Thunderbirds repeated as champions of the UFL by defeating the Battle Hawks by the lowest score possible in a football game actually played: 2-0. (A forfeit is recorded as a 1-0 score). It came on a safety early in the 2nd Quarter.

After intercepting a pass on the Thunderbird's first play from scrimmage, the battle Hawks drove down to the Thunderbird 3-yard line, where they fumbled the ball. After that, the Thunderbirds generally had the better field position throughout the day, twice downing punts in front of the Battle Hawk goal line early on.

Early in the 2nd Quarter, after two straight dives into the middle of the line, the Battle Hawks an a zone play to the right. But the running back Kohei Akahori was tackled behind the line of scrimmage by Sunada resulting in two points for the Thunderbirds.



The Thunderbirds used play action passing quite effectively to complement their run game.





After the halftime show- featuring four cheerleading teams associated with the Edogawa League, the teams continued in the second half much as they had in the first.- mostly a field position game. While both teams moved the ball between the thirties, they were unable to score. A late drive by the Thunderbirds, throwing(!) most of the way, brought them to 4th and goal from the 5 yard line. They tried another play action roll-out pass, which fell incomplete in the end zone.

Taking over with 1:46 remaining, the Battle Hawk used their own Wild Hawk formation to run the ball for a few plays, and then began throwing the ball to around midfield. Remarkably, they still huddled.

They were able to get the ball to the Thunderbird 45 yard line. But on their last play, a sort of tunnel screen, the receiver was tackled after a few yards to end the game.

It was the Thunderbird's fourth Urban League title, as they also won in 2001 and 2004, as well as in 2008. The Battle Hawks won 8 of the first 9 Urban Bowls, and won again in 2006.

2009 Koshien Bowl report

The amazing success of the Kansai University Kaisers this season continued on Sunday, as they defeated the Hosei Tomahawks 50-38 to capture their first Koshien Bowl win in 61 years.

While many were probably expecting a low scoring game, it was 17-16 at halftime, and 33-31 after three quarters. But three scores for Kansai in the 4th quarter put the game away for Kansai. It was primarily the running ability of Yutaka Fujimori and Daichi Haraguchi that made the difference. Haraguchi was awarded as the Best Player, while senior LB Kenjiro Odate received the NFL Special Award. Takuto Hara finished his fine career forHosei, receiving the Fighting Spirit award.

Junior Fujimoiri had said he had always dreamed of playing at Koshien- though he had thought that would come as a high school baseball player in the national tournament.

But on the ground in football, he not only got his wish, he returns home with the Chuck Mills trophy. More importantly he and his teammate bring home the the national collegiate championship trophy.


They will face the X-League champion (to be determined at Tokyo Dome on December 21st) in the nationally televised Rice Bowl on January 3rd.

12/13: All Ages

The game down in Koshien Bowl is not all that is happening this Sunday.

In the Tokyo area, at Edogawa Rikujo-kyogi-jo track and field stadium in Nishi Kasai, the Urban League Championship game will kick off at 13:30. Vying for the crown will be the Battle Hawks and the Thunderbirds. Each won a hardfought semifinal game to reach the championship game: the Battle Hawks scored a lone touchdown in the 3rd Quarter, but that was enough to defeat the (Edogawa River) E.R. Cougars 7-0. In second semi-final game, the Thunderbirds took even longer to defeat the Roebucks: in a game that went scoreless in regulation, the Thunderbirds scored a TD in overtime to win 6-0.

But perhaps the most interesting game on Sunday- from a human perspective that is- will be at the same stadium before that. The 2nd Annual Outreach Bowl will feature two teams of guys who just can't hang up their cleats. The Over 39ers will face the Under 59ers-and apparently not all of them really are under 59(!)- but essentially guys in their forties and fifties, strappin'em up, and bringin' it on. Apparently there a re a few special rules to protect the knees and limiting tackling, but still football for those whose passion for the game just will not fade away.

Koshien Bowl 2009

The 64th Annual Koshien Bowl- the contest for supremacy of Japanese collegiate football, will take place Sunday on Japan's most hallowed sports ground, Koshien Stadium in Osaka. This year, Kansai U. will make its first appearance in 61 years, facing perennial contender Hosei University. The Tomahawks lost to Ritsumeikan in last year's Koshien Bowl.

Koshien is in its 86th year of existence, and it hosts the National High School Baseball Championship tournament every summer, and the National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament every march, as well as being home of the Hanshin Tigers baseball team. It seats approximately 50,000.

Kickoff is at 1:00 PM.

Up-Down

Several of the "Replacement" games were held this weekend. I attended the ones at Komazawa Dai 2 Stadium. Neither of the Area League teams was able to unseat the last placed Division III teams, but the Shibaura Fighting Engineers gave the Fighting Seagulss of Yokohama City University all they could handle, finally succumbing by a 17-10 score.




In the earlier game, Bunkyo University defeated Takasaki City University of Economics 35-7.

12/6 Kawaski: X semi-final

The Fujitsu Frontiers dominated the Asahi Silver Stars in their contest on Sunday at Kawasaki Stadium, setting up a rematch with the Kajima Deers in X-Bowl 2009 at Tokyo Dome on December 21st.

The Frontiers led 17-6 at halftime, and scored another TD 17 seconds into the 3rd quarter, before Asahi was able to score a pair of TDs n the second half. The Silver Stars outgained the Frontiers in total offense, accumulating 333 yards through the air on 51 attempts. But the Frontiers held the Silver Stars to 26 yards on 26 carries on the ground, and were stopped several times in the second half, including a goal line stand on 4th and goal, to ensure the victory.

Had some great shots of the action, the fans, and of the cheerleaders for both teams as well as the all-league cheerleading squad which performed at halftime...but they mysteriously disappeared on the ride back to Tokyo. Hope to redo some of those at the X-Bowl.

Fujitsu defeated Kajima on a last second FG in their showdown on October 25th to win the X-League Central Division.

The X-Bowl is scheduled to kick off Monday, December 21st at 7 PM.

12/5: More X-Men

For the first time in memory (in my memory, anyway), the initial Saturday in December was not warm and sunny afternoon in the Tokyo. But it was still quite a fine day- if you happen to be a creature from the woods.

In X2 action at Kawasaki, Club Oaks held the Wranglers to 99 yards rushing and only 5 of 22 passing, as they came away 27-13 victors, their first victory of the season.

In the afternoon game, The Dentsu Caterpillars proved mightier than the Warriors 30-7. That makes them 5-0, while the Warriors are 3-2.


The big news of the day in X-League came from Nagai Stadium in Osaka. Despite giving up 348 yards passing and 520 yards of total offense, the Kajima Deers defeated defending X-League champions Panasonic Impulse 34-26. The Deers trailed 17-0 midway through the 2nd quarter before an 89 yard kickoff return by Maeda got them on the board. They followed that with a FG and three TDs in the 3rd quarter. In spite of Panasonic going 23 for 29 passing, it was 3 interceptions- including one returned for a TD- which proved their undoing.


The Deers has earned a right to go to the X-Bowl in Tokyo Dome on December 21st where they'll meet the winner of the other semi-final game played at Yokohama Stadium on Sunday between Fujitsu Frontiers and Asahi Silver Stars.

X-Men

In 2009, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of American football in Japan, (and after all, we have, according to the KCFA yearbook "A CHALLENGE STARTS TO THE 100th ANNIVERSARY"!) the post-season schedule formats for the top university and shakai-jin leagues were altered to try to improve things. In the case of the shakai-jin X-League Division I that meant changing the format, dividing the season into two "stages". The First Stage concluded at the end of October.

The top 3 teams of the East, Central, and West divisions then were put into a pool to play each other in a Second Stage. The bottom 3 teams in each division did likewise. The goal was to was to create more balanced games later in the year. This makes more sense to me for several reasons. Perhaps greatest of all was that formerly, the (regular) season was over for most teams early in November. In most parts of Japan September suffers from the oppressive heat of summer giving way to taiphoon season. In Tokyo, some of the best football weather of the year comes in November and December. This gave us more games (and hopefully more evenly-matched games) that could be played and viewed in comfort.

There may have been some question as to whether those 3rd place teams actually belonged this year- they were mostly trounced by the higher placed teams- but this is obviously a work in progress. Each team played two games against their 2nd Stage pool. Then 4 teams were chosen to represent the divisions, along with a wild-card team (this year the Kajima Deers) based on their combined record in the two stages.

Nevertheless, the semi-finals will be played on December 5th (at Nagai)- a rematch of last year's X-Bowl (Kajima versus Panasonic), and December 6th (at Yokohama Stadium), where the Fujitsu Fronteirs will take in the Asahi Beer Silver Stars. Kickoff for both games will be at 14:30.

The winners of those games will meet on Monday evening, December 21st at Tokyo Dome, for the 23rd X-Bowl.