VERY interesting reading about "padding games" for young assistants. Think about it. That's 22 SEPARATE interactions on each play, times an average of 80+ plays per game. That would be 1,760 separate comments PER game that the assistant would be responsible to make, PLUS the time required to determine the 22 different responsibilities each player had, which had to be inferred by interpreting how the play unfolded....on EACH play. Breaking down ONE game in a 12 hour day would be an accomplishment, given it might take a rookie coach an hour or more to breakdown a SINGLE play to that kind of detail.
That is an INCREDIBLE amount of work, but when completed, the amount of knowledge that the young assistant would have gained would be immense. Then, when you add the vast gamut of games to be broken down, the understanding attained would be vast. Also it would be a very effective indicator of who can grasp the intricacies of football and who can't. It's like my Freshman year in college. I was pre-med. Then I took organic chem....then I wasn't.
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If the difference in the Patriots system is their team's understanding of the tiny details of what is makes up each play, then having coaches to can communicate those "details" is an integral factor in its success. Padding games is the perfect teaching tool. BTW- they probably learn more when they get back their "grade" than they did doing it. It's learning what they DIDN'T see the first time that's the secret sauce.
But here's a question for you to investigate, Steve. Just who ARE these young coaches that are undergoing this training. Who are the guys who are "in the pipeline" doing that drudge work. Right now, no one is telling us. IIRC it took Steve Bellichick around 4 years of being a "quality control" guy before they actually gave him a position to coach. Brian is in his 2nd or 3rd year of anonymity.
I'm guessing there are 3 of 4 other guys currently in that position as well. Given the dearth of position coaches right now, it would be a scoop on your part if you can find out who these potential future position coaches are.
