Didinger: A Few From The Hall - Andy Reid

[PhillyPhreak54]

Full link to R. Diddy's great write-up

The Chiefs were leading 17-0 three plays into the second quarter. The sellout crowd at Arrowhead Stadium was in a full-throated roar. Joe Buck, seizing on the early storyline, was telling the Fox TV audience: "Things could not have started worse for the Eagles."

Then the cameras cut to a shot of Reid, glasses perched on the end of his nose, calmly studying his play chart. He looked like a guy reading the morning paper at the bus stop. OK, fess up. How many of you threw the remote at the TV? How many of you shouted: "Do something, will ya?"

Well, Reid was doing something. He was coaching, which is not to be confused with screaming, cussing, slamming down headphones or kicking over tables, all of which would have been wonderful fodder for the network highlight shows, but would not have done a whole lot to help the Eagles get back in the game.

A decade ago, I wrote a book called "Game Plans for Success" in which 10 NFL head coaches discussed their philosophies of organization and motivation. What I learned in writing the book was there was no one "right" way to coach. Each coach was different. Bill Walsh won by designing plays on a blackboard; Mike Ditka won by punching holes in a blackboard, but the bottom line was the same. They both won.

One of the most fascinating coaches was Bud Grant, who led the Minnesota Vikings to 11 division titles and four Super Bowls. He was known as "The Glacier" because he was so unemotional. Jim Murray of the Los Angeles Times once wrote: "If you came into a game late, it was impossible to tell from looking at Grant whether he was 10 points ahead or 30 behind." He was called cold and dispassionate, yet he won enough games to earn a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

When I asked Grant about his image, he said: "It amused me that some people mistook my lack of outward emotion for a lack of involvement in the game. Nothing could be further from the truth. I was very involved...I tried to stay two or three plays ahead. To do that, you have to concentrate. I could not waste time hollering at officials, hollering at players or jumping up and down, leading cheers. I was totally immersed in the game.

"If that behavior made me appear stoic and unemotional, so be it," Grant said. "I would rather be stoic and in control than animated and out of control, like some coaches I've seen."

Reid said something very similar in a 2004 interview. "Players will look at you to see how you react to different situations," he said. "If you are a mess, there is a big chance they will be. So you want to make sure you hang onto that iron rod and keep going forward."

[Rome]

Awesome read from Diddy as usual.

[Wingspan]

the bud grant comparisons are a little worriesome

[Rome]

I would have been more worried if he used Marv Levy though.

[Sgt PSN]

Either way they both lost 4 Super Bowls.  One just happened to lose 4 in a row. 

[shorebird]

If Grant was the Glacier, then Reid might be "The Frozen Rump Roast."

[MURP]

good find. thanks phreak.