Tag: self-indulgence

Self-Indulgent Post of the Week: Take Your Eye Off the Ball

What I’ve been reading: I just finished reading Take Your Eye Off the Ball by Pat Kirwan. Kirwan is a former NFL coach and staffer who worked with, among others, Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick. I’ve been asked before what a good book is for beginners, and this is probably the best one I’ve read for that purpose. It’s a little elementary if you’re a hardcore fan or an experienced player/coach, but there are still some good stories in there, even if they’re spread out a little bit. If you’re getting into football or don’t really understand offense, defense, roster movement, the scouting process, etc., I highly recommend it.

What I’ve been watching: Black Mirror on Netflix. I just finished season two. This isn’t a new show or anything, so you’ve probably heard of it if you have Netflix, but it’s a very thought-provoking look at the future of technology use and the direction our society is headed.

What I’m looking forward to: Going to the gym. The off-season is a great time for me to get into shape. (Conversely, the season is a great time for me to get out of shape.) Now that I have time to work out between football meetings, workouts, etc., I’m in better shape than I have been in a long time. I used to do a lot of cardio, but right now I’m just eating healthfully and lifting a lot of weights. Exercise has always been a big part of my life, but it’s hard to get in a good workout when you’re supervising a football team and doing other football-related tasks. Naturally, I do a variety of exercises, but I’ve been doing a lot of deadlifts lately.

What are your answers to these questions?

Self-Indulgent Post of the Week: It’s feeling a little drafty in here

What am I reading? I just finished reading The Last Patriot by Brad Thor, another Scot Harvath novel. I’m knocking these down left and right. This one seemed a lot like a Dan Brown novel, except with a lot better dialogue. On the side, I’m reading It by Stephen King. I really like King’s stories, but his books are often a little too wordy for me. But I’m giving this one a shot, and it’s enjoyable so far.

What am I googling? I’m looking up a bunch of stuff about the Air Raid offense. We’re making some offensive changes this year, and we’re introducing some (more) Air Raid concepts. We’re going to go all Mike Leach on our league! Okay, maybe not.

What am I looking forward to? There’s a little thing called the NFL Draft that’s starting up on Thursday. I look forward to it every year. Several friends and I get together over at a buddy’s house, and most of us are or were football coaches. So it’s fun to talk football with other people who actually know stuff about football, rather than random dudes at the bar or on Twitter who think their favorite team should draft their favorite college player, and if they don’t draft that guy, the whole front office needs to be fired.

Self-Indulgent Post of the Week: Take Down the Five Beasts You Meet in Heaven

After a couple weeks on the back burner, the self-indulgent posts are back with the three questions of the week:

What am I reading? I just finished reading Takedown by Brad Thor, which is a Scot Harvath novel about a terrorist attack on New York City. These Harvath novels don’t always end with cliffhangers, but this one did. Usually I order books three at a time and would have the next one ready, but I don’t have the next one yet, dangit. So I grabbed Beast by Doug Merlino off the shelf, which had been sitting there for a year or so. Merlino embedded himself with a few aspiring (or has-been) fighters and wrote a book about it. I love watching MMA fights, even though a lot of people think it’s barbaric. And the book I have in my car is The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom.

What am I googling? I’ve been looking up clinic videos of inside zone and power RPOs. Next year we should have a quarterback who can do some of this RPO stuff, so I’m looking at some stuff to give him options. He’s a good athlete without a cannon arm, so we need to find ways for him to spread the ball out laterally and within 15-20 yards of the line of scrimmage.

What am I looking forward to? The spring and summer include some 7-on-7s, so I’m looking forward to getting in some 7-on-7 action when the weather allows. It’s a little early still, but we’re putting together our rosters.

Self-Indulgent Post of the Week: The Force

What am I reading? I’m actually reading three books at once right now, but the one that has really been a page-turner is The Force by Don Winslow. It’s a fictional piece about New York police detective Denny Malone, a crooked cop who ends up being squeezed by a lot of seedy elements in the city. It’s set in 2017 and has a pretty modern vibe to it, and one reason I like Winslow is his dialogue. His characters speak more realistically than characters in a lot of books.

What am I googling? I went to see Alita: Battle Angel and saw some previews for other movies I’ve been looking into a little bit, like the new Pet Sematary and Jordan Peele’s Us.

What am I looking forward to? I’m looking forward to football season. Like, high school football season. I went to a clinic last weekend, and it got me all excited to get back out there in August. Of course, we have a lot of things to do to get ready for the year, but clinics have a way of refreshing your mind while making you impatient to implement some of the new things you learned.

Self-Indulgent Post of the Week: Signing Day!

This was a big week for our high school football program, which sent a few guys to play college ball. It’s a bit tense toward the end of the recruiting season, when the time comes to find out whether any bigger offers are coming, whether coaches are offering scholarships, grayshirts, or walk-on opportunities, etc. It’s great and exciting . . . and also a bit of a relief when it’s done.

What am I reading? I’m reading Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams. Adams is best known for authoring The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which I greatly enjoyed when I read it several years ago, so I thought I would check out some of his other stuff. It’s . . . not as good.

What am I googling? I have been looking at running the Tite front. Against spread teams, a lot of college programs are running “Tite,” which includes a nose tackle and two 4i defensive ends. A 4i lines up on the inside shoulder of the offensive tackle. It’s a good way to take away inside runs against the spread but also have some flexibility to bring guys off the edge without sacrificing too much in coverage.

What am I looking forward to? I’m looking forward to hitting up the Glazier Clinic in Detroit (well, Novi) next weekend. Don Brown and Ed Warinner are both slated to speak, so it will be a good chance to learn some things while also playing the role of a fan.S