A rant about Zorn’s coaching style…

Zorn is a smart guy. I think that we would all agree about that. However, being smart is not a prerequisite for being a good football coach. Zorn has a high football IQ in several areas. He knows how the players feel, because he was a player. He knows how the position coaches feel, because he was a position coach. He thinks that he knows how head coaches become successful, because he has been around successful coaches all of his life.

But, every coaching job is different. There are always a unique cast of players which a coach needs to mold into a successful team. Zorn doesn’t have the experience that he needs in this area. There’s a big difference between watching and learning from a head coach, and actually being the man yourself.

So, until he gains that requisite experience by learning on the job, he needs to apply general tactics that have proved to work in the past. I’ll just address one of them.

In today’s NFL, the teams are so evenly matched that you can beat the Giants one week and lose to Cincinnati the next. So, many coaches start out the game by presuming that the game will be close throughout and won in the fourth quarter by successfully executing one or two significant plays.

Well, that philosophy is usually fine if you are playing a team which is perceived as an equal. However, when you are playing Cincinnati, you need a different tact. You need to start the game off by assuming that you need to get a lead early by playing aggressively and creatively. Then, after you get that lead, you can demoralize the opponent by dominating the clock with the running game and short passes.

So, you don’t start the game by running Portis up the middle on first and second down, and then throwing to Cooley on third and six. That is what the opponent expects you to do.

My notion is that you need to instill in the players the concept that when the score is tied, you are actually behind. Nobody wins if the game ends 0-0. In order to win, you need to score at least one point. So, on the opening drive, use the plays that you would normally use if you were down by more than a touchdown. Throw on first down. Run reverses. Run from a Wildcat formation with the quarterback flanked out.

The idea that you should play conservatively at the beginning of the game is ridiculous to me. That is the time of the game when you need to be aggressive and bold. Stick it down the opponent’s throats and then hammer them again the next drive.

And, so what if that strategy results in you falling behind early. Just keep up the aggressiveness until you get more than a touchdown lead or the time runs out. If you do get the lead, you can start running Portis up the middle twice and throwing to Cooley on third down. If you never get the lead, then you have at least given it your all the whole game.

Play the game to win big from the first snap, instead of playing not to lose.