The Obvious

April 11^th, 2015:

Pool play of the Illinois Conference Championship, NUT is in a tough game with Illinois State.  For some reason NUT refuses to guard an in cut.  ISU runs a vert stack and NUT is just watching cuts come from the back of the stack and go straight to the under space for easy passes.  ISU gets near the endzone, the back of the stack blows right past Burger and catches a goal, Sahaj turns toward the team in general and yells, “What sport are you even playing?”

This was a moment that should go down in NUT lore.  90% of the team is upset with Sahaj for losing his cool, 10% are supportive of the tough love.  I agree with Sahaj.  During the game I am at a loss to explain why NUT is struggling to guard the vert.  I blame the players for not focusing/trying/having any pride.

November 30^th, 2015:

I am having a meeting with the captains.  BK postulates that NUT players are totally unaware of the idea that cutting from the back of a vert stack is a thing.  Since NUT’s endzone is a vert that cuts from the front of the stack, NUT gets used to defending that and the back of the stack becomes a time to either zone out or take a quick nap.  Then in games teams just walk down the field as we are shocked that they cut from the back of the stack.  BK wants to practice defending a vert where cuts come from the back in order to get NUT familiar with the scenario.

Right here, right now:

Nothing is obvious.  I have been taught this lesson more times than I can count and yet it still comes up and bites me from behind.  In the above example, I assumed that NUT knew that in the vert cuts typically come from the back of the stack and thus I blamed them for not trying.  Months later I learned that NUT had no idea that cuts typically come from the back and so the blame falls on me for not stating the obvious. 

I have a personal rule for coaching – always assume the players are trying their hardest.  When you violate this rule and tell your guys they just need to try harder, you risk missing the obvious.