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[Illustration: HECTOR COWAN.
Princeton.]
AMERICAN FOOTBALL
BY
WALTER CAMP
WITH THIRTY-ONE PORTRAITS
NEW YORK
HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE
1891
Copyright, 1891, by HARPER & BROTHERS.
_All rights reserved._
PREFACE.
The progress of the sport of football in this country, and a
corresponding growth of inquiry as to the methods adopted by experienced
teams, have prompted the publication of this book. Should any of the
suggestions herein contained conduce to the further popularity of the
game, the object of the writer will be attained.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
ENGLISH AND AMERICAN RUGBY 1
END RUSHER 23
THE TACKLE 39
THE GUARD 53
THE CENTRE, OR SNAP-BACK 67
THE QUARTER-BACK 79
THE HALF-BACK AND BACK 91
SIGNALS 115
TRAINING 131
A CHAPTER FOR SPECTATORS 165
LIST OF PORTRAITS.
[P. stands for Princeton, Y. for Yale, and H. for Harvard.]
HECTOR COWAN, P _Frontispiece._
HARRY W. BEECHER, Y _Facing p._ 4
HENRY C. LAMAR, P " 8
D. S. DEAN, H " 12
E. L. RICHARDS, JR., Y " 16
W. A. BROOKS, H " 20
R. S. CHANNING, P " 28
L. K. HULL, Y " 32
E. A. POE, P " 36
EVERETT J. LAKE, H " 44
WYLLYS TERRY, Y " 48
B. W. TRAFFORD, H " 56
T. L. MCCLUNG, Y " 60
V. M. HARDING, H " 64
JESSE RIGGS, P " 72
W. H. CORBIN, Y " 76
ALEXANDER MOFFATT, P " 84
RALPH WARREN, P " 88
JOHN CORBETT, H " 96
W. BULL, Y " 100
KNOWLTON L. AMES, P " 104
W. C. RHODES, Y " 112
P. D. TRAFFORD, H " 120
R. HODGE, P " 124
H. H. KNAPP, Y " 128
A. J. CUMNOCK, H " 136
JEREMIAH S. BLACK, P " 140
C. O. GILL, Y " 150
E. C. PEACE, P " 156
W. HEFFELFINGER, Y " 160
R. M. APPLETON, H " 168
ENGLISH AND AMERICAN RUGBY
AMERICAN FOOTBALL.
Rugby football--for it is from the Rugby Union Rules that our American
Intercollegiate game was derived--dates its present era of popularity
from the formation in England, in 1871, of a union of some score of
clubs. Nearly ten years before this there had been an attempt made to
unite the various diverging football factions under a common set of
laws; but this proved a failure, and the styles of play became farther
and farther apart. Of the Association game one can say but little as
regards its American following. It is quite extensively played in this
country, but more by those who have themselves played it in Great
Britain than by native-born Americans. Its popularity is extending, and
at some day it will very likely become as well understood in this
country as the derived Rugby is to-day. Its essential characteristic is,
that it is played with the feet, in distinction from the Rugby, in which
the ball may be carried in the hands.
To revert to the Rugby Union. Years before the formation of this
association the game was played by sides almost unlimited in numbers.
One of the favorite school matches was "Sixth form against all the rest
of the school." Twenty on a side, however, became the ruling number; but
this was, after a time, replaced by fifteens, as the days of twenties
proved only shoving matches. With the reduction in numbers came
increased running and an added interest. This change to fifteens was
made in 1877, at the request of Scotland. At once there followed a more
open style of play, and before long short passing became common. In 1882
the Oxford team instituted the long low pass to the open, and by the use
of it remained undefeated for three seasons.
[Illustration: HARRY W. BEECHER.
Yale.]
After the decrease to fifteen men the number of three-quarter-backs, who
really represent our American half-backs, was increased from one to two,
and two full-backs were played. A little later British captains put
another full-back up into the three-quarter line, playing with only one
full-back.
The Englishmen also play two men whom they call half-backs, but whose
duties are like those of our quarter-back, for they seize the ball when
it comes out of the scrimmage and pass it to a three-quarter for a run.
Nine men is the usual number for an English rush line, although a
captain will sometimes take his ninth rusher back as a fourth
three-quarter-back. There is much discussion as to when this should be
done. The captain selects his men much as we do in America, and he is
generally himself a player of some position behind the line, centre
three-quarter being preferred. The opening play in an English Rugby game
is, as a rule, a high kick well followed up. If one will bear in mind
that the half-backs are, like our quarter, the ones to seize the ball
when it emerges from a scrimmage and pass it to the three-quarters, he
will gain some idea of the character of the English method. He should
understand, however, that the English half-back is obliged to look out
sharply for the ball, because it comes out by chance and at random, and
not directly as in our game, where the quarter can usually expect to
receive the ball without trouble from the snap-back.
The forwards in an English match endeavor, when a scrimmage occurs, by
kicking and pushing to drive the ball in the direction of their
opponents' goal line, and they become extremely expert in the use of
their feet. There are two umpires, whose duty it is to make claims
(which they do by raising their flags), and a referee, who allows or
disallows these claims. The penalty for fouls, which was at first only a
down, is now in many cases a free kick.
The American game, it must be remembered, came from the Rugby Union in
1875, and not from the Rugby Union of to-day, although the changes in
the English game have been by no manner of means commensurate with
those made on this side the water. Being bound by no traditions, and
having seen no play, the American took the English rules for a
starting-point, and almost immediately proceeded to add and subtract,
according to what seemed his pressing needs. And they were many. A
favored few, whose intercourse with Canadian players had given them some
of the English ideas, were able to explain the knotty points to a small
degree, but not enough to really assist the mass of uninitiated players
to an understanding. Misinterpretations were so numerous as to render
satisfactory rulings almost out of the question and explanatory
legislation imperative. In the autumn of 1876 the first game under Rugby
rules between American colleges was played at New Haven, and before
another was attempted a convention had tried its hand at correcting the
weak points, as they appeared to the minds of the legislators, in the
Rugby Union Rules.
[Illustration: HENRY C. LAMAR.
Princeton.]
The feature of the American game in distinction from the English is,
just as it was within a year from the time of the adoption of the sport,
the _outlet of the scrimmage_.
In this lies the backbone to which the entire body of American football
is attached. The English half-backs stand outside the scrimmage, and
when the ball pops out it is their duty to seize it and pass it out to a
three-quarter, who runs with it. The American quarter-back stands behind
the scrimmage and gives a signal, immediately after which he knows the
ball will come directly into his hands to be passed for a run or a kick.
What is, therefore, in the English game a matter of considerable chance
is "cut-and-dried" in the American game; and the element of chance
being eliminated, opportunity is given for the display in the latter
game of far more skill in the development of brilliant plays and
carefully planned manoeuvres.
The Americans started with the English scrimmage, kicked at the ball,
and pushed and scrambled for a season, until it was discovered that a
very clever manifestation of the play was to let the opponents do the
kicking--in fact, to leave an opening at the proper moment through which
the ball would come, and a man a few feet behind this opening could
always get the ball and pass it while the men who kicked it were still
entangled in the scrimmage. After a little of this, no one was anxious
to kick the ball through, and the rushers began to roll the ball
sidewise along between the lines. Then almost immediately it was
discovered that a man could snap the ball backwards with his toe, and
the American outlet was installed.
At first the play was crude in the extreme, but even in its earliest
stages it proved distinctly more satisfactory to both player and
spectator than the kicking and shoving which marked the English method.
The same man did not always snap the ball back as he does now, but any
one of the rushers would do it upon occasion. The men did not preserve
their relative positions in the line, and any one of the men behind the
line would act as a quarter-back. Such a condition of affairs could not,
however, last long where intercollegiate rivalry proved such an
incentive to the perfection of play, and the positions of centre-rush or
snap-back and quarter-back became the most distinctive of any upon the
field. The centre-rush at that time was selected more for his agility,
strange to say, than for his weight and strength; but in case he was a
light man he was always flanked by two heavy guards. One season's play
convinced all captains that the centre section of the forward line must
be heavy, and if any light-weights were to be used among the rushers
they should be near the wings.
Quarter-back has, from the very outset, been a position in which a small
man can be used to great advantage. The half-backs and backs have
usually been men of speed coupled with skill as kickers.
The number originally adopted for matches in this country was eleven on
a side. From some silly notion that it would increase the skill
displayed, this number was changed to fifteen, although the Englishmen
were moving in the other direction by reducing their numbers from
twenties to fifteens. A year or two of fifteen on a side drove the
American players back to elevens, and there the number has rested.
[Illustration: D. S. DEAN.
Harvard.]
In the early days of the sport, while the players individually were
courageous, the team play was cowardly; that is, the tacticians were so
taken up with a study of defence--how to protect the goal--that the
attack was weak. The direct result of this was to place too few men in
the forward line and too many behind it. If to-day we were to revert to
fifteen on a side, there is little doubt that we should throw eleven of
them up into the rush line, and upon occasion even twelve. We now
realize that the best defence does not consist in planning how to stop a
man after he has obtained a fair start towards the goal, but in throwing
all available force up against him before he can get free of the forward
line. The only way to effectively defeat this aggressive defence is by
means of skilled kicking. It is possible with really good kickers to
throw a team playing in this fashion into disorder by well-placed and
long punting, followed up most sharply; but it requires nerve and an
unfailing accuracy of aim and judgment.
It is only a few years ago that it required considerable argument to
convince a captain that he could with safety send one of his halves up
into the forward line when his opponents had the ball; but it will take
better kicking than is exhibited in most of the championship matches to
frighten that half-back out of the line now. Even the quarter was wont
upon occasion to drop back among the halves and assist them rather than
the rushers.
All the tendency for the last two years has been towards diminishing
the number of men held in reserve, as it were, behind the line, and
increasing by this means the crushing force by which the forwards might
check either runner or kicker before his play could be executed.
Should the English ever adopt an outlet for their scrimmage, making the
play as direct as is ours, their men would gravitate to the forward line
as rapidly as have our players.
Next to the difference in scrimmage outlet between our game and that of
the British stands a much more recent development, which we call
interference. This is the assistance given to a runner by a companion or
companions who go before him and break a path for him or shoulder off
would-be tacklers. This, to the Englishman, would be the most detestable
kind of off-side play, and not tolerated for an instant upon any field
in the United Kingdom.
Even into this the Americans did not plunge suddenly, but rather little
by little they stepped in, until it was necessary to do one of two
things--either legalize what was being tacitly consented to, or penalize
it heavily. The result was that it was legalized. With this concession,
though, there went a certain condition which gained a measure of
confidence for the new ruling.
[Illustration: E. L. RICHARDS.
Yale.]
To understand just how this state of affairs above mentioned came about
one should know that, in the attempt to block opponents when the
quarter-back was receiving and passing the ball, the forwards fell into
the habit of extending their arms horizontally from the shoulder, as by
this method each man could cover more space. For a number of years this
went on without detriment to the sport in any way, but after a time
there was more or less complaint of holding in the line, and it was
ruled that a man must not change his position after the ball was
snapped, nor bend his arms about an opponent at such a time.
Unfortunately the referee (for at this stage of the game there was no
umpire) could not watch the ball and the players with sufficient care to
enforce this ruling, and the temper of the players suffered accordingly.
It is always the case when a rule is not enforced unflinchingly, no
matter from what cause, that both sides suffer, and the tendency always
is towards devising additional infringements. The additional
infringement in this instance was even worse than could have been
foreseen; for, not content with simply blocking or even holding an
opponent until the quarter should have passed the ball in safety, the
players in the forward line saw an opportunity for going a step
farther, and actually began the practice of seizing an opponent long
after the ball had been played, and dragging him out of the way of the
running half-back. In the thick of the rush line this was frequently
possible without risk of discovery by the referee; and, emboldened by
successes of this kind, men would reach out even in the open, and drag
back a struggling tackler just as he was about to lay his hands upon the
runner. It was this state of affairs which brought up the question, "How
much should a comrade be allowed to aid the runner?"
American football legislators answered this question satisfactorily,
after long discussion, by determining that the runner might be assisted
to any extent, provided the assistant did not use his hands or arms in
performing this office. The first result of this was to lower the arms
of the rushers when lined up, and, in spite of some forebodings, this
proved really a benefit to the game. The second result has been to
perfect a system of flanking a runner by companions who form almost an
impassable barrier at times to the would-be tacklers.
At the same time with mention of the solution of this problem, one
should also call attention to a menace which threatened American
football far more seriously than did this; and that, too, at a time when
the sport was by no means so strong in years or popularity as when this
later difficulty arose. I refer to the "block game." This method of
play, which consisted in a succession of "downs" without advance and
without allowing the opponents any chance of securing possession of the
ball, proved a means by which a weak team could avoid defeat. The whole
object of the match was thus frustrated, the game resulting in no
score.
To meet this difficulty a rule was introduced making it incumbent upon a
side to advance the ball five yards or retreat with it ten in three
"downs." If this advance or retreat were not accomplished, the ball went
at once into the possession of the opponents. Never did a rule in any
sport work so immediate and satisfactory a reform as did this five-yard
rule.
[Illustration: W. A. BROOKS.
Harvard.]
Within the last few years there has been no important change in the
conduct of the American game, nor in the rules. Outside of the above
mentioned points of difference between it and the English game, there is
only that of the methods of enforcing rules and determining differences.
The English have a referee and two umpires, although the umpires are
sometimes replaced by touch-judges. The umpires act, as did the judges
in our game of ten years ago, as advocates for their respective sides,
and it is this advocacy which is causing them to fall into disfavor
there exactly as they did here. Touch-judges merely watch the lines of
the field, and decide when and where the ball goes into touch. In cases
where they are employed, the referee renders all decisions upon claim of
the captains. In our method there is a division of labor, but along
different lines. Our two officials, the umpire and referee, have their
separate provinces, the former ruling upon the conduct of players as to
off-side and other offences, while the latter determines questions of
fact as to when the ball is held or goes into touch, also whether a goal
is kicked or not. As the rule has it, the umpire is judge for the
players, and the referee for the ball.
END RUSHER
The end rusher must get into condition early. Unless he does, he cannot
handle the work that must fall to his share, and the effect of a poor
performance by the end is to produce disorder at once in the proportion
of work as well as the quality of the work of the tackles and
half-backs. This is not well understood by captains and coaches, but it
is easy to see if one follows the play. A tired end rusher, even one who
has experience and a good idea of his place, will lope down the field
under a kick, and by his lack of speed will allow a return; and, against
a running game, while he will, it is true, force his man in, he will do
it so slowly that the runner is enabled to pass the tackle. The first
will surely result in his own halves shortening their kicks, and the
second in drawing his own tackle too widely from the guard. Both these
results seriously affect the value of the practice for halves and
tackles; consequently, the end must be put in condition early. The finer
points of his position can be worked up gradually, but his endurance
must be good at the outset, in order that the others may become
accustomed to rely upon him for regular work. But it sometimes happens
that the captain or coach has no chance to make sure of this. His
candidates may be raw, and only appear upon the first day of fall
practice. In that case there is a method which he can adopt to
advantage, and which answers the purpose. It is to play his candidates
for that position one after the other in rotation, insisting upon hard
playing even if it be for only five minutes at a time. In this way not
only will the tackle receive the proper support, but the ends themselves
will improve far more rapidly than under the usual method. Every player
upon a team has to labor under two distinctly different sets of
circumstances: one set arising from the possession of the ball by his
opponents, and the other from the possession of the ball by his own
side. Many an error in instruction or coaching arises from terming the
tactics adopted under these two conditions defensive and offensive. It
is no uncommon thing to see an end rusher, who has been told that such
and such is his defensive play, so affected by the word _defensive_, as
applied to his action, as to fail entirely to perform any aggressive
work when his opponents have the ball. And a similarly undesirable state
of affairs is brought about by the term _offensive_ when his own side
have the ball. In this latter case, he seems inspired to become
aggressive in his conduct towards his opponent from the moment the men
are lined up, and this very often leads him to make any interference of
his so premature as to render it useless towards favoring his runner.
One of the first things, therefore, for a coach to tell an end rusher is
that the terms offensive and defensive, as applied to team work, have
nothing to do with the aggressiveness of any individual. Then, as a
matter of still better policy, let him avoid using these terms in
individual coaching.
[Illustration: R. S. CHANNING.
Princeton.]
When the opponents have the ball, the end rusher must, in the case of a
kick, do his utmost to prevent his _vis-a-vis_ from getting down the
field early under the ball. That is the cardinal point, and it is not
necessary for him to do much thinking regarding anything else when he is
facing a kicking game. When his opponents are about to make a run, the
situation is much more involved. He must then consider himself as the
sole guardian of that space of ground extending from his tackle to the
edge of the field, and he must begin at the touch line and work in. That
is, he must remember that, while on one side of him there is the tackle,
who will do his utmost to help him out, there is on the other side--that
is, towards touch--no one to assist him, and a run around the end means
a free run for many yards. "Force the man in" is always a good motto for
an end, and one he will do well to follow conscientiously. To force the
man in does not mean, however, to stand with one foot on the touch line,
and then reach in as far as possible and watch the man go by, as nine
out of every ten ends have been doing for two years. It means, go at the
runner with the determination of getting him any way, but taking him
always from the outside. An end cannot tackle as occasionally does a
half-back or back, slowly and even waiting for his man, then meeting him
low and strong. An end always has to face interference, and good
interference will bowl over a waiting end with ease. An end must go up
as far and fast as he dares to meet the runner, and when his moment
comes--which must be a selected moment--he must shoot in at his man,
reaching him, if possible, with his shoulder, and at the same time
extending his arms as far around him as possible. Many times this
reaching enables an end to grasp his man even though a clever interferer
break the force of his tackle. And when his fingers touch the runner,
he must grip with the tenacity of the bull-dog, and never let go.
It seems almost unnecessary to say that a high tackler has no chance
whatever as an end rusher. He may play guard or centre, but before a man
ever essays the end he must have passed through all the rudimentary
schooling in tackling, and be such an adept that to pass him without the
assistance of the most clever interference is an impossibility.
An end should be a good follower; that is, if the runner make in towards
the tackle, the end should run him down from behind when interference
cuts off the tackle. This is one of the best points for cultivation,
because it effectually prevents any dodging by the runner. If he fail to
take his opening cleanly, a following end is sure of him. This is not a
safe point, however, to teach until the player has fairly mastered the
ordinary end-work; for the tendency is to leave his own position too
soon, giving the runner an opportunity to turn out behind him, and thus
elude the tackle without difficulty.
[Illustration: L. K. HULL.
Yale].
A few years ago there was quite a fashion for the man putting the ball
in from touch to run with it along the edge of the field. For some
unknown reason this play seems to have been abandoned, but it is likely
at any time to be revived, and the end rusher should therefore be posted
upon the _modus operandi_ of it, as well as the best method of
preventing its success. The most popular execution of this manoeuvre
was the simplest; that is, the man merely touched the ball to the ground
and plunged ahead as far as he could until brought to earth or thrown
out into touch. This was accompanied by more or less helpful
interferences upon the part of his own end and tackle. There were more
intricate methods, however; and surely, with the amount of interference
allowed in these days, it is odd that the side line has not been more
fancied by those who have generalled the great games. There was one team
a few years ago whose captain used to deliberately place the ball just
inside the line on the ground, as though only thoughtlessly leaving it
there, and then spring in, crowding the end rusher three or four feet
from the touch line, while a running half, who was well started, came
tearing up the field, seized the ball, and usually made a long run
before he was stopped by the astonished halves. Many also were the
combination passes in which the ball was handed to the end rusher, who,
turning suddenly with his back to the foes, would pass to his quarter
or running half. Of these close double passes at the edge of the field
the most effective were those wherein the runner darted by just inside
the touch line, and the weakest the ones wherein the attempt was made to
advance out into the field. For this reason there ought to be no
particular necessity for coaching any but the end rusher and the tackle
upon means to prevent advances of this nature. To the players in the
centre of the line there is no apparent difference whether the ball be
played from touch in any of these ways above mentioned, or through the
more customary channel of the quarter-back. To the end and tackle,
however, the difference is marked, because the runner comes so much
sooner and the play is so greatly condensed and focussed, as it were,
directly upon them.
The instructions to the end are to handle the ball as much as possible
while the opponent is endeavoring to get it in, and thus make the work
of that individual as difficult as possible; and, secondly, to plant one
foot close to the touch line and the other as far out into the field as
is consistent with stability, and to maintain that position until the
play is over. He must neither try to go forward nor around, but, braced
well forward, hold his ground. If he does this, no runner can pass
within three feet of the touch line, and outside of that the tackle can
take care of him. This player, like the end, should, when the ball is
played from a fair, be very loath to plunge forward until the play is
located, because in the present stage of development of the game one can
be quite sure that the opponents will not play the ball from touch
unless they have some definite and usually deceptive line of action.
Without such it is by far the better policy to walk out the fifteen
paces and have it down. The quarter-back also has work to do upon
side-line plays, in assisting at the edge as much as possible. But to
return to the end. When his own side have possession of the ball, his
play, like that of any other man, must be governed by the character of
the intended move, and the knowledge of what this move will be is
conveyed to him by the signal. The nearer the play is to his end, the
greater is the assistance he can render. There is little need of
coaching him to do his work when the run is along his line, nor, in
fact, when it is upon his side of the centre. The knowledge of the
proximity of the runner stirs him up sufficiently, if he have any
football blood in him. The point towards which coaching should be
directed and where it is needed is in starting instantly to render
assistance when the play is upon the other side of the line. There is no
limit to the amount of work an end may perform in this direction. A good
end can toss his man back so that he cannot interfere with the play, and
then cross over so quickly as to perform effective interference even
upon end runs. In "bucking the centre" he can come from behind with
valuable weight and pressure. A coach should remember, though, that it
will not do to start an end into doing too much unless he is able to
stand the work, for an end had better do the work well upon his own side
than be only half way useful upon both ends. A tired-out end makes the
opponents doubly strong.
[Illustration: E. A. POE.
Princeton.]
THE TACKLE
Those teams upon which the work of end and tackle has been best
developed have, for the last few years, been markedly superior in the
opposition offered to plays of their opponents. This fact in itself is
an excellent guide to the style of play one ought to expect from these
two positions. The four men occupying them are the ones to meet nine
tenths of the aggressive work of the opponents. The position of end has
already been dwelt upon at length. That of tackle, a position much later
to reach the full stage of development than the end, has nevertheless
now attained almost an equal prominence. The tackle is an assistant to
both end and guard, while he has also duties of his own demanding
constant attention.
When the opponents have the ball and are about to kick, the tackle is
one of the most active components of the line. He may not be moving
until the ball is snapped, but upon the instant that it is played he is
at work. He may himself go through to prevent the pass or kick, or still
oftener he may make a chance for a line half-back to do this. By a line
half-back is meant that one who, upon his opponents' plays, comes up
into the line and performs the duties of a rusher. This method has
become so common of late that it is well understood. The play of this
line half-back must dovetail into the work of the tackle so well as to
make their system one of thoroughly mutual understanding. For this
reason they should do plenty of talking and planning together off the
field, and carry their plans into execution in daily practice until they
become in company a veritable terror to opponents, particularly to
kicking halves.
One of the very simple, yet clever and successful, combinations worked
in this way has been for the line half to take his position outside the
tackle, who immediately begins to edge out towards the end. This opens a
gap between the opposing tackle and guard, for the tackle will naturally
follow his man. This line half simply watches the centre, and as he sees
the ball played goes sharply behind the tackle and through the opening.
This play can be greatly aided by cleverness on the part of the tackle,
who, to perform it to perfection, should edge out most cautiously, and
with an evident intention of going to the outside of his man. He should
also watch the centre play, and, most important of all, jump directly
forward into his man when the ball is snapped. This will enable the half
to take almost a direct line for the half, and with his flying start
have more than a fair chance of spoiling the kick. The tackle must not
be idle after his plunge, but should follow in sharply, because there
will always be an opposing half protecting the kicker; and if the line
half be checked by this man, as is not unlikely, the following tackle
has an excellent opportunity by getting in rapidly. The tackle and half
should alternate in their arrangement, neither one always going through
first, and thus add to the anxiety and discomfort of the opponents.
[Illustration: EVERETT J. LAKE.
Harvard.]
When the opponents are about to run instead of kick, the same
combination of line half and tackle can be put in operation, except that
it will not do for these two to follow each other through with such
freedom, as there is too much danger of both being shunted off by a
clever turn coupled with well-timed interference. The cardinal point to
be remembered is, to be far enough apart so that a single dodge and one
interference cannot possibly throw off both men.
The tackle's duties towards the end have been partially described in
dwelling upon the work of the latter, but there is plenty of detail to
be studied. One of the first things to impress upon the tackle is, that
he must watch the ball, not only upon the pass from the quarter, but
also after it settles in the runner's arms, for the most successful
double or combination passes are those which draw the tackle in towards
the centre and give the second recipient of the ball only the end to
pass. It has been too common a mistake of coaches to caution a tackle
who has been deceived by this double pass against "going so hard." This
is wrong. It soon results in making a slow man of the player, for he
hangs back to see if the runner be not about to pass the ball, until he
is too late to try for the man before he reaches the rush line; and,
with the present system of interference and crowding a runner after he
reaches the rush line, there is no chance to stop him short of three,
and it may very likely be five, yards. The proper coaching is to send
him through on the jump, with his eyes open for tricks. Let him take a
step or two towards the runner, so that, if no second pass be made, the
tackle will be sure to meet him before he reaches the rush line, and not
after it. This method of coaching makes not only sharp tackles, but
quick and clever ones, with plenty of independence, which will be found
a most excellent quality.
As regards the relations between the tackle and guard, they are best
defined by saying that the guard expects to receive the assistance of
the tackle in all cases requiring agility, while in cases requiring
weight the guard is equally ready to lend assistance to the tackle.
[Illustration: WYLLYS TERRY.
Yale.]
When his own side has the ball, the tackle has far more than the end to
do. In fact, the tackle has the most responsible work of any man along
the line, having more openings to make, and at the same time the
blocking he has to perform is more difficult. The earlier description of
the work of a line half and the tackle in getting through is sufficient
to indicate the difficulties which the opposing tackle must face in
preventing this breaking through. While blocking may not be the most
important duty, it is certainly the one which will bear the most
cultivation in the tackles of the present day, for the ones who are
really adept in it are marked exceptions to the general run. It is no
exaggeration to say that more than two thirds of the breaking through
that does real damage comes between the end and guard, and therefore in
the space supposed to be under the care of the tackle. By successful
blocking is meant, not unfair holding, which sooner or later will result
in disaster, nor backing upon a runner or kicker as the charger
advances, which is almost as bad as no blocking, but that clever and
properly timed body-checking of the opponent which delays him just long
enough to render his effort to reach his man futile every time. This
kind of blocking looks so easy, and is so difficult, that it is found
only in a man who is willing to make a study of it. Coaching can but
give any one wishing to acquire this a few points; the real
accomplishment depends upon the man's unflagging perseverance and study.
The first thing to be noted is, that a really good forward cannot
possibly be blocked every time in the same way. He soon becomes used to
the method, and is able to avoid the attempt. Dashing violently against
him just as he is starting may work once or twice, and then he will make
a false start to draw this charge, and easily go by the man. Standing
motionless, and then turning with a sharp swing back against him, will
disconcert his charge once in a while. Shouldering him in the side as he
passes will throw him off his balance or against some other man, if well
performed, occasionally. Falling down before him by a plunge will upset
him even when he has quite a clear space apparently, but it will not
work if played too often. By a preconcerted plan he may be coaxed
through upon a pretended snap, and then the ball played while he is
guarded and five yards gained by his off-side play, but he will not be
taken in again by the same method. These are but a few of the strategies
which engage the study of the tackle. How soon to let the man through is
also an important question. When the ball is to be punted, the tackle
upon the kicker's side must block long and hard, while the tackle upon
the other end should block sharply, and then let his man through for the
sake of getting down the field under the kick. When a drop is to be
attempted, the blocking upon both sides must be close and long, much
longer than for a punt. Moreover, it is by no means a bad policy to have
the blocking last until the ball is actually seen in the air in front
of the line, because then, if the kick be stopped, the tackles can go
back to assist the backs in recovering the ball. The blocking for a
kick, as a rule, should be close; that is, every opponent must be
matched from the centre out, leaving the free man or men on the ends.
This rule has its exceptions, but when there is any doubt about the play
it is safest to block close, and take the chances from the ends rather
than through breaks in the line.
In blocking for a run the case is very different, and depends upon the
point of assault. If the run is to be made around the right end, for
instance, by the left half-back, the right tackle must block very slowly
and long. That is, he must not dash up to his man the instant the ball
is snapped and butt him aside, for the runner will not be near enough
to derive any advantage from this, and the opponent will easily recover
in time to tackle him. Rather should he avoid contact with his man until
his runner makes headway, and then keep between the opponent and runner
until the latter puts on steam to circle, when it is his duty to engage
his man sharply, and thus let the runner pass. In blocking for an inside
run upon his own side, he should turn his man out or in, as the case may
be, just as the runner reaches the opening, being particularly careful
not to make the break too early, lest the opponent reach the runner
before he comes to the opening.
THE GUARD
The position of guard, while it requires less agility than that of
tackle, can never be satisfactorily filled by a man who is slow. Many a
coach makes this mistake and fails to see his error until too late to
correct it. I remember once seeing upon a minor team a guard who weighed
at least 190 pounds replaced by a man of 155, and the latter actually
filled the position--greatly to my astonishment, I confess--in excellent
fashion. This does not at all go to prove that weight is of no value in
a guard. On the contrary, it is a quality especially to be desired, and
if one can find a heavy man who is not slow he is the choice by all
means. But weight must be given work to do, and that work demands
practice, and slowness of execution cannot be tolerated. At the outset
the coach must impress this fact upon the guards, and insist upon their
doing their work quickly. It is really wonderful how much better the
effect of that work will prove to be when performed with a snap and dash
that are not difficult to acquire.
[Illustration: B. W. TRAFFORD.
Harvard.]
When the opponents have the ball and are about to kick, the guard should
have in his mind one persistent thought, and that is, to reach the
quarter before the ball is away from his hand, but not to stop there. It
is only once in a great while that fortune favors sufficiently to crown
this attempt with success. When it does, so much the better; but the
guard should take in the quarter only in a general sweep, making on for
the kicker, and at the same time getting his arms up in the air when he
comes before him, so as to take every possible chance of stopping the
ball. Just here it may be well to explain the confidence with which in
these details of coaching the phrases are used "when the opponents are
about to kick" and "when the opponents are about to run." It is true
that one cannot tell infallibly every time whether the play will be a
kick or a run, but experienced players are really so seldom at fault in
their judgment upon this point that it is safe to coach as though there
never existed any doubt about the matter.
[Illustration: T. L. McCLUNG.
Yale.]
To continue with the work of the guard when the opponents are about to
attempt a run. One of the most important features of the play in this
position is to guard against small wedges. If a guard simply stands
still and straight he will be swept over like a wisp of straw by any
well-executed wedge play directed at him. An experienced man knows this,
and his chief thought is how to avoid it, and how, first, to prevent the
formation; second, to alter the direction, and, finally, to stop the
progress, of this terror of centre work, the small wedge. There are as
many ways of accomplishing these results as of performing the duties of
tackle or end, and it rests with the individual player to study them
out. To prevent the formation of small wedges, the most successful
method is that of sudden and, if possible, disconcerting movements.
Jostling, so far as it is allowed, sudden change of position, a
pretended charge--all these tend to break up the close formation. Once
formed and started, the change of direction is usually the most
disarranging play possible; but this should not be attempted by the
player or players opposite the point of the wedge. At that spot the
proper play is to check advance, even temporarily; for the advance once
checked, the wedge may be swung from the side so as to take off the
pressure from behind. So it is the men at the side who must endeavor to
turn the wedge and take off this pressure. Without the actual formation
upon the field it is difficult to fully explain this turning of the
wedge; but if the principle of the defence be borne in mind, it will not
be found so hard to understand. Check the peak even for a moment, and
get the weight off from behind as speedily as possible. The men who are
pushing must necessarily act blindly; and if their force is not directly
upon the men at the point of the V, they pass by the man with the ball
and so become useless. Both guards must keep their weight down low,
close to the ground, so that the wedge, if directed at either, cannot
throw that one at once off his balance backward. If this occurs, the
wedge will always make its distance, perhaps go many yards. Lying down
before the wedge is a practice based upon this principle of keeping
close to the ground, and is by no means an ineffectual way of stopping
an advance, although it is not as strong a play as bringing about the
same result without actually losing the power to straighten up if the
wedge turns. Moreover, the men in the front of a wedge are becoming so
accustomed to meeting this flat defence that they not infrequently
succeed in getting over the prostrate man and regaining headway upon the
other side. This, as one can readily see, must always yield a very
considerable gain. When a run is attempted at some other point in the
line, it is the duty of the guards to get through hard and follow the
runner into his opening, even if they cannot reach him before he comes
into the line. In this class of play a guard should remember that if he
can lay a hand upon the runner before he reaches the line he can spoil
the advance to a certainty, for no runner can drag a heavy guard up into
and through an opening. It is like dragging a heavy and unwieldy anchor.
A guard can afford to, and must sometimes, tackle high. Not that he
should, in the open, ever go at the shoulders, but in close quarters he
often has no time to get down low, and must make the best of taking his
man anywhere that the opportunity offers. He must always, however, throw
him towards the opponent's goal. Another point for guards to bear in
mind is, that in close quarters it is often possible to deprive the
runner of the ball before he says "down." A guard who always tries this
will be surprised at the number of times he will find the referee giving
him the ball. He will also be astonished at the way this attempt results
in the runner saying "down" as soon as he finds some one tugging at the
ball. A man gives up all thought of further advance the instant he finds
the ball slipping at all in his grasp; and when his attention is
distracted from the idea of running, as it is when he is fearful of
losing the ball, he can never make use of his opportunities to good
advantage. For this reason the coach should impress upon all the
forwards the necessity of always trying to take away the ball; but the
men in and near the centre are likely to have the best opportunity for
this play, because it is there that the runner encounters a number of
men at once rather than a single individual.
When his own side have the ball the guard must block sharply until the
quarter has time for receiving the ball, and, at any rate, beginning the
motion of the pass. It is safer, in the case of inexperienced guards, to
tell them to block until the quarter has time to get rid of the ball.
The distinction is this: that an experienced guard sometimes likes to
gain just that second of time between the beginning of the pass and the
completion of the swing, and utilize it in getting down the field or
making an opening. So accustomed does he become to measuring the time
correctly that he will let the opponent through just too late to reach
the quarter, although it seems a very close call. It is not safe to let
green guards attempt anything so close. They must be taught to block
securely until the ball is on its way to the runner or kicker. The
blocking of a guard is much less exacting in its requirements than that
of the tackle. Not that he must not block with equal certainty, but the
act requires no such covering of two men as often happens in the case of
a tackle. The guard forms closely towards the centre, and then follows
his man out if he moves out, but only as far as he can go, and still be
absolutely certain that the opponent cannot pass between him and the
snap-back. To be drawn or coaxed out far enough to admit of an
opponent's going through the centre shows woful ignorance in any guard.
[Illustration: V. M. HARDING.
Harvard.]
When a kick is to be made the blocking must be prolonged a little, and
on a drop-kick (as mentioned earlier) it should last until the ball goes
from the foot. When blocking for a run, of course much depends upon
where the opening is to be made, and a guard must be governed
accordingly. The method itself is, again, different in the guard from
that exhibited in the tackle. A guard may not move about so freely and
must face his man more squarely than a tackle, for the guard must
protect the quarter first, while the tackle considers the half only. If
a guard allows his opponent to get a fair lunge with outstretched arm
over or past his shoulder, he may reach the quarter's arm even though
his body is checked, while such a reach at the point in the line
occupied by the tackle would be of no value whatever. Previous to the
snap-back's playing the ball it is the duty of the guards to see that
their individual opponents do not succeed in either kicking the ball out
from the snap-back's hand or otherwise interfering with his play. This
is quite an important feature, and a centre should always feel that he
has upon either hand a steady and wide-awake assistant, who will neither
be caught napping nor allow any unfair advantage to be taken of him. The
guard should bear in mind one fact, however, and that most clearly. It
is that squabbling and general pushing about are far more liable to
disconcert his own centre and quarter than to interfere with the work of
the opponents.
THE CENTRE, OR SNAP-BACK