Football coach's specialty has no bearing on success of hire

Sometimes you have to make people think about blanket statements.

As the 2017 NFL regular season prepares to draw the curtain, there will be 12
teams preparing for the playoffs. There will be some teams that make news with
coaching changes, otherwise known as Black Monday. The term refers to Oct.
19, 1987, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost almost 22% in a single
day. That event marked the beginning of a global stock market decline, making
Black Monday one of the most notorious days in financial history. By the end of
the month, most of the major exchanges had dropped more than 20%.

As of this writing, Ben McAdoo (New York Giants), Chuck Pagano (Indianapolis)
and Jack Del Rio (Oakland) have been relieved of their head coaching duties.
Jim Caldwell (Detroit), John Fox (Chicago), Marvin Lewis (Cincinnati), Bruce
Arians (Arizona), Hue Jackson (Cleveland), and Bill O’Brien (Houston)
are deemed most likely to get fired.

If there is one pattern that I cannot help but notice is that teams often hire a coach
that is the opposite of the one they fire as it pertains to sideline demeanor or which
side of the ball he specializes. Fire an outwardly emotional coach, hire an outwardly
stoic one. The same can be true in reverse. Fire an offensive coach because the
defense sucks, then hire a defensive minded coach. The same can be true in reverse
as well.

The common narrative I hear uttered is that it is better to hire an offensive-minded
coach as opposed to a defensive-oriented one. The reason behind that line of thinking
is that with an offensive-minded coach, the team is likely to be more aesthetically
pleasing to watch. It is generally believed that a team that scores points is going to
be more exciting to watch. Such a coach is also believed to be more of a risk-taker.

The belief behind a defensive-minded coach is that he will prefer to rely on his defense
and an offense that is ground game dominated, which leads to low scoring games.
Such a coach is also believed to take a more conservative approach.

Are there offensive coaches that are more likely to be risk-takers and defensive
coaches that are conservative? Of course there are. However, I have seen plenty
of defensive coaches be risk-takers.

In theory, I can understand why an offensive-minded coach is an easier sell to a fan
base but it does not make a such a coach an automatic success and conversely, does
not mean a defensive-minded coach is destined to fail.

History is full of examples how either specialty can and will work. Since people like
to judge a coach by how many championships are won, Paul Brown, George Halas,
Curly Lambeau, Bill Belichick, Vince Lombardi, Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh and Joe Gibbs
are among the all-time leaders in coaches that have led their teams to NFL titles
and/or Super Bowls. I cannot readily ascertain where Brown, Halas and Lambeau
specialized because in that era coaches were not coordinators before becoming head
coaches.

Lombardi, Gibbs and Walsh had offensive backgrounds before becoming head
coaches while Belichick and Noll had defensive backgrounds.

It is also generally assumed that because the rules of the game have changed to
benefit offenses, the emphasis for strong defenses is less important.

Since 2000, twelve different head coaches have led their teams to a Super Bowl
title. Belichick, Mike Tomlin, Bill Cowher, Pete Carroll, Tony Dungy, and John Harbaugh
have defensive backgrounds. Cowher and Harbaugh have a mixture of defensive and
special teams backgrounds. Conversely, Mike McCarthy, Gary Kubiak, Tom Coughlin,
Brian Billick, Sean Payton and Jon Gruden have offensive backgrounds.

Whether it’s better to have an offensive or defensive-minded coach is a matter of
preference and opinion. The fact is, no approach is any better or worse than the other.

Before you fixate on which path is better, it is important to remember that the head
coach is in charge of the entire team, not just the offense or defense like when he
was a coordinator. The reason why coaching hires fail have zero to do with specialty.
It has more to do with short-changing the non-specialty side of the ball. For example,
if you are an offensive-minded coach, that’s all well and good but if you fail to bring
in a quality defensive coordinator and fail to bring in enough talent via the draft, free
agency or recruiting, you are destined to fail. The same can equally be said for a
defensive-minded coach that similarly short-changes the offensive side of the ball.

Liebengood was a multi-faceted journalist

Some days you learn about another linkage to your childhood leaving but you
discover something else you grew to admire about that person.

As a San Francisco Bay Area native growing up in Napa, CA, I remember feverishly
flipping through the newscast channels (between the local FOX, NBC, ABC, or
CBS affiliates), seeing which batch of sports highlights I could watch first. Suffice
it to say, I wore out a few remotes.

From time-to-time, I would see Pete Liebengood for KRON (Bay Area NBC affiliate)
deliver the Bay Area sports news. That was, if I couldn’t get Wayne Walker, Joe
Fonzi, Martin Wyatt or Dan Lovett first. That was how I rolled, whoever was first
to my remote, that’s my news source for the day. Liebengood was that man more
than a few times.

Liebengood passed away on Dec. 22 because of lung cancer. Though Liebengood’s
passing has been over a week, the news only started to travel en masse today.

Liebengood, who was 73 years old, wore many hats as a reporter, anchor, producer
and author. He divided most of his work between KCRA (Sacramento), KRON (San
Francisco) and ESPN. He also developed a passion for writing, publishing six novels.  
Liebengood was a man for all seasons, playing offensive tackle for San Francisco
State, where he was all-conference in 1965 before being inducted into the school’s
athletic Hall of Fame in 1988.

Liebengood’s most prominent work came as a sportscaster with KRON from
1978-1990. After which time, I must be honest, I lost track of Liebengood. However,
his time as a sports anchor is what I remembered as my childhood. If you could not
watch the game, you had to call a family member or friend if you wanted to know the
outcome immediately. If you wanted localized highlights, you either had to watch
the news at 6 p.m. of 11 p.m. By the way, you had to wait until the end of the newscast
to see the sports highlights.

With KRON though, there was also a dessert dish known as “Sports Final.” Liebengood
and Gary Radnich co-hosted the program. The former struck me as more straightforward.
The latter struck me as one that tried too hard to be funny. To each their own. What I
remember most about “Sports Final” was that it started at 11:30 p.m. but being in high
school at the time, I stayed up (sometimes secretly) to watch the show. I wanted to hear
the insight of Liebengood and/Radnich.

What makes me respect Liebengood’s talent even more was that he was an accomplished
broadcaster and author. As one who received his degree in broadcast journalism in
1997 from the University of Nebraska that later became a newspaper reporter for 18
years, I know the importance of having multiple skills. I just wish I discovered it earlier
than I did.

As I see Liebengood now, he can take his pick as that anchor or author in the sky.

Here's to Joe and Iris D'Adamo!

Some days you see a milestone that has you saying to yourself, “process that for
a moment.”

For my family, that milestone arrived on Friday and as of this writing will be celebrating
en masse among immediate and extended family at the Napa Elks Lodge today. My parents,
as in Joe and Iris D’Adamo, uttered the famous words “I do” at St. Helena Catholic Church
on December 22, 1957. St. Helena is a town with a population of about 5,000 people in
Northern California in the Napa Valley, which is located in the Northern part of the San
Francisco Bay Area.

I know I speak for my four siblings (Katherine, Dorene, Michael and Annette) and many
others but 60 years of marriage is an achievement that no single adjective could do justice.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau based on 2010 studies, only 5% of married couples
reach 60 years of marriage. Let that sink in for just a moment.  

So how much has life changed since 1957? I could come up with a list long enough to
measure first downs but here are a few: 1) The cost of gas was 24 cents per gallon, 2)
The final new episode of I Love Lucy aired on CBS, 3) Elvis Presley purchased a mansion
in Memphis and called it Graceland.

As a 45 year old who has been married for 14 years, I consider myself incredibly blessed
to be raised in an environment where such structure existed. That milestone becomes
exceedingly significant in an era where divorce rates have greater odds than a coin flip.

My parents are a prime example of those who lived the American dream. Both were born
and raised in Italy but irony is that they met in the United States. My father’s side of the family
came to the U.S. in 1948 and settled in Napa, CA. My mother’s side came to the U.S. in
1954 and settled in St. Helena, CA, just 14 miles apart. One of my father’s friends had been
dating my mother. This friend, knowing my father was from Italy, said something to the effect
of “Joe I know this gal from Italy. I’d like you to meet her.” That woman was Iris. The two
began dating and later married. The rest as they say is history.

Before I was born, my family was well traveled as my father was in the U.S. Air Force,
spending time stationed in Iceland, Alaska, Wyoming and the Mojave Desert. My father,
however, discovered that military life would be too limiting for a family. So he went into
business as a service station owner in 1965, retiring in 2002.

My mother spent these years as a homemaker and helping my father at the business
so as to facilitate his life. I frequently described my household as being “the last of the
Leave It To Beaver” era, where the husband worked and the mother took care of the
household and the children.

Like most kids, I have not always seen eye-to-eye with my parents but that is part of being
human. I could make a list of various things I learned from my parents throughout the year
but that list might be longer than the New York telephone book.

The things I learned include but are not limited to kindness, compassion, integrity, and the
value of a strong work ethic. I would be remiss not to include cooking as it pertains to my
mother. My family grew up eating some of the most heavenly Italian food on planet Earth.
As a cook, I couldn’t hold a torch to my mother but I do believe I have applied enough of
what I learned from her to be considered at least a functional cook.

I would also be remiss not to include my father’s skills as an entrepreneur. Though I do not
own a business, as a route sales representative, we are told to treat our route like a business.
On a daily basis, I find myself speaking my father’s language when dealing with consumers.

Most people would probably say this about their parents but any experience or endeavor
that I or any of my siblings wanted to pursue, they supported us even if it was not lockstep
with what they believed.

In the meantime, my family is ready to party like it’s 1957.

Cheers, mom and dad. We love you!

Enberg's grace was a thing of beauty behind the mic

Some days you look up and see yet another part of your childhood disappear.

In the sports broadcasting world, that pattern has become all too common for
most people in my generation the last five years between Pat Summerall, Craig
Sager, Joe Garagiola, and Wayne Walker. Before I established this blog, there
was Stuart Scott, Jack Buck, Hank Stram, Bill King and Frank Gifford to name a
few.

I logged online before I went to work on Friday morning only to discover yet another
link to my childhood is gone as the great Dick Enberg died at age 82. Enberg
provided play-by-play for various sports on numerous radio and television networks
(including but not limited to NBC, CBS and ESPN), and for various teams, over the
course of an approximately 60-year career.

His most recent broadcasting duty was radio voice of the San Diego Padres. Two
years ago, I was on driving my truck on route for Alhambra Water and listening to
95.7 The Game (KGMZ, San Francisco). The Padres were playing the Giants.
Hence, Enberg was a guest one one of the shows. Listening to the interview, I was
reminded of what an eloquent speaker that Enberg exuded. His style was a mix of
articulate grace and humor but the latter was natural as opposed to forced.

Most every broadcaster I followed had their catch-phrases that took on a life of their
own. With Marv Albert, there is “YES and it counts!” With Bill King it was, “Holy
Toledo!” With former San Francisco 49ers/California Golden Bears radio broadcaster
Joe Starkey it was, “Oh what a Bonanza!”

For Enberg, his catch-phrases were “Touch ‘em all” for home runs in baseball. With
sports like football or basketball, it was “Oh, my!” in reference to exciting or athletic
plays.

You associate certain broadcasters with a sport, even if they broadcast other sports
as well. Listen to Keith Jackson, you know it’s college football season. Listen to Vin
Scully, you know it’s baseball. With Enberg, the sport could be anything from baseball
to football (college or pro), basketball (college or pro), boxing, tennis, golf, Olympics,
Rose Bowl, Super Bowl or Breeder’s Cup horse racing. Enberg won so many trophies
for his broadcasting prowess that a metal detector would not be safe. He earned
numerous Emmy Awards and other forms of recognition from the pro football,
basketball and baseball halls of fame and various other honors.

If there was one word that described Enberg’s personality, it was versatility. I was
fortunate enough to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcast Journalism from
the University of Nebraska in 1997. Though I eventually shifted my focus to writing,
I have an appreciation the talent it takes to broadcast sports events, newscasts and
talk shows.

Whether he was broadcasting football, basketball, or any of his 28 Wimbledon
tournaments, Enberg brought a steadfast preparation coupled with a story-telling
approach. Keep in mind, each sport requires different mannerisms.

I have seen broadcasting styles evolve other the years but not necessarily for the
better. Play-by-play voices like Sean McDonough, Brad Nessler and Mike Tirico
could fit in any era. However, it is the sports talk show climate that makes me
appreciate Enberg’s style even more. Though Steven A. Smith, Max Kellerman,
Skip Bayless and Colin Cowherd are entertaining, they feed too much into the
“louder is better” category.

When I first started watching sports, and very naive about a lot of it, I had to rely
on one of the commentators to let me what was what. Enberg, above all others,
was my favorite. He wasn’t too technical. Translation, he never came off like a
know-it-all. He also wasn’t a buffoon. There are too many of those today but I
digress.

Though Enberg remained on top of his game before retiring in 2016, listening
to him reminded you of a different era of broadcasting. In today’s climate, social
media blurs the lines of traditional media. The volume of media covering events
has clouded trust between coaches/athletes and media.

Enberg, however, was a trusted source.

Enberg was beyond a shadow of doubt, an elite broadcaster. If there is a Mount
Rushmore of broadcasters, he belongs.

The next football game I watch that involves an incredibly athletic play, Enberg will
be looking down from heaven exclaiming, “Oh, my!”

Time machine: 2001-2002 Bethel Jaguars football

Often times a consistent run of success is remembered on the grassroots level. Jesse
Bethel High in Vallejo opened its doors in the 1998-1999 school year, beginning with
only sophomores and juniors. The following school year, 1999-2000, the junior class
was added. From 2000-2001 forward, there would be all four grades.

To this day, Jeff Turner is the only football coach the Bethel Jaguars have ever known.
The last three seasons the program has struggled in going 7-22 but 2001-2002 remain
great moments if you are a Jaguar fan.

Bethel competed in the Monticello Empire League from 2000-2002 before joining the
Solano County Athletic Conference. The SCAC is disbanding next school year with four
of the six schools moving from the CIF Sac Joaquin Section to the North Coast Section.

Bethel’s maiden voyage as a varsity program featured rough seas without seniors in
going 2-8 with only Hogan, which went winless, having a worse season. Hogan, which
is also in Vallejo, closed as a high school and has sinced become a middle school in
2011.

In 2001, help arrived as Dallas Bernstine (running back/defensive back) and Andrew
Green (wide receiver/defensive back) transferred from crosstown rival Vallejo to Bethel.
Both players were athletically gifted that could add explosiveness to an offense that
already had running back Carl Jiles.

They also could put their athleticism to use to make the Jaguars into at least a serviceable
defense.

From 2001-2002, the Jaguars went 94-64-1 with 11 playoff appearances and six postseason
victories. Bethel reached the SJS Div. III title game in 2007 before falling to Rodriguez. In
2011, Bethel reached the SJS Div. I semifinals. Though it is fun watching Jaguar alum C.J.
Anderson play on Sundays for the Denver Broncos, the 2001 and 2002 Bethel Jaguars will
always be known as the group that kick-started the run of consistent success.

Besides the aforementioned Bernstine, Green and Jiles, Maurice Butler, Duane Jones,
Jacob Vegas, Julius Davis, Emmett Wright, Norman Bowier, Ronald Heywood, Jonathan
Brooks, Davon Scott, Maurice Dupont, Jesse Smith and Ray Stafford to name a few.

In 2001, Bethel started like a house of fire in blasting Oakland (46-0) and Hogan (49-20).
From there, the Jaguars alternated weeks of wins and losses. The victories came against
Wood (26-22), Napa (39-21), Vintage (59-38) and Benicia (46-14), The losses came against
Fairfield (27-7), Armijo (21-14), Vallejo (35-14), Vacaville (65-54) and Elk Grove (21-14). The
win over Vintage served notice and turned out to be the difference between reaching the
postseason and staying at home as Bernstine turned in a performance for the ages:

http://vincedadamo.blogspot.com/2015/03/time-machine-2001-vintage-at-bethel.html

Though Bethel lost to eventual SJS Div. I champ Elk Grove, the Jaguars gained more
respect after that loss than they did after any victory:

http://vincedadamo.blogspot.com/2016/06/time-machine-2001-football-playoffs.html

In 2002, the MEL was split into two leagues with Bethel in the MEL II with Vintage, Armijo,
Hogan, Rodriguez and Benicia. That season would present a different challenge than
2001 when the Jaguars were the unknown commodity. How would they perform with
expectations?

The Jaguars went 8-3-1 on the way to winning the MEL II but not without driving over a
couple potholes. The season started 2-0 with wins over Oakland (50-0) and Ukiah (8-6).
One week later, the Jaguars encountered a 21-20 setback to Armijo, which started that
season 5-0 before losing its final five contests.

Suddenly, Bethel’s margin for error decreased. Fortunately for the Jaguars, their remaining
hiccups (27-14 loss to Vallejo and 27-27 tie to Davis) were nonleague foes. The Jaguars
won their final four MEL II games (27-3 over Vintage, 73-18 over Benicia, 34-8 over Hogan,
41-0 over Rodriguez).

The Jaguars made history with their first football playoff win in school history before losing
at Granite Bay one week later:

http://vincedadamo.blogspot.com/2016/06/time-machine-2002-high-school-football.html

My beyond the boxscore memories: Between the players and coaches, these Jaguars
were characters. There were some colorful nicknames like AC Slater (Vegas), Dub-Silly
(Bernstine), C-Jizzy (Jiles), Bad Luck (Green), JuDeezy (Davis), MacReece (Butler) and
Freaky (Brooks).

The coaching staff had an interesting mix that could be like oil and water. You had the
at-times hard-edged approach with Turner. Then you had the mild-mannered types like
Clay Muster and Philip Shelley. Then, there was the outwardly boisterous Dave Salias.
The players and coaches would get a kick out of my impersonation of Salias. At first,
they looked at us as if to say, “Who are these Jabronis?” Then, they laughed with us as
opposed to at us.

Just an aside: The online publication I worked for was known as GetLocalNews.com.
I had two tremendous co-workers in Brian Cornelius and Chris Navalta.

We had a lot of fun being part of a startup news organization. We did creative things such
as create rosters with bios. Since I was new to covering the team, I did not know the
players. So I told the players to write their names in my notebook in the order I took their
picture. So this young man identifies himself as Maurice MacReece. So I identified him
as such. Half the season goes by and I start getting needled by a father: “why ain’t you
be identifyin’ my kid!” I go, “Well, who’s your kid?” He replies: “Maurice Butler, No. 1.” So
putting two and two together, I ask, “The only No. 1 I have on the roster identified himself
as Maurice MacReece.” The father replies: “Damn, that kid!” He and I laughed for about
64 minutes.