The guys over at College Football Resource have written a hell of an article about “physical genius” and how the concept applies to athletes such as Wayne Gretsky, Michael Jordan, Reggie Bush, Vince Young, and Pete Carroll. Huh? Pete Carroll? Say Wha?
“Because he’s not an athlete, I won’t bother to show highlights documenting his physical gifts. That’s alright, because his mental gifts make a strong case for his status as a physical genius”
That’s quoting the article itself (LINK). Ok, up until that point they had me. Reggie Bush and Vince Young are two of the most gifted athletes to put on pads in the last quarter century or so. Bar none, hands down. Bush did things that made you go “ooo and ahhh” USC fan or not. The kid was special. Young was even more of a “special player” being that he touched the ball on EVERY offensive play that the Longhorns ran, a point that CFR touches on.
Bush had all of those highlight reel plays that ultimately won him the Heisman Trophy, but Young imposed his will on the opposing teams, the last 5 minutes of the Rose Bowl are a perfect example of this.
Ok, let’s get back to Carroll being a physical genius. I’ll be the first one to admit that Pete Carroll is an above average coach, but to even qualify him as a “coaching genius” is a stretch. A “recruiting genius” maybe, probably. But neither a genius of the coaching or physical entities. Hell, Gerry DiNardo could have gotten 10 wins a year out of the USC teams of the past three years. Carroll knew how to maximize his most talented players to the best effect in any given situation. This is not “genius”, it’s coaching, pure and simple. You want to talk about maximizing the available talent? Talk about what Navy did last year, or the fact that ANY of the military academies can field a competitive team on a yearly basis.
Personally, I think that a lot of coaches do alot more, with a lot less than Pete Carroll. But the guy has had a pretty good run. 1 National Championship, and played for a 2nd in 3 years time. Hell of a coach, even better recruiter. But “genius”, No.
-SF
Bobby Johnson didn’t have jack poop, and he still almost got into a bowl game. Yes…almost. But with “almost” that’s damn near winning a crystal football as far as Vanderbilt is concerned. He maximized his talent in Cutler, and organized his O line to best affect. Is Carroll a good coach? Yes, he is. Did he have the talent, and the offensive X’s and O’s to make a good run, yeah, and he proved it. John Brady had the same thing, and his team made it to Teh Final Four. Airforce and Navy have SURVIVED on teh option. Jeebus, how many OTHER teams make that work? With LIMITED talent? THAT is coaching. Texas Tech, granted, not a chance for a NC, but what other team can put up passing yardage like that in a BCS conference? THAT’S coaching. Genius? No…it’s working with what you have. Hell, Even Miles went teh whole season only losing to Tenn. and Georgia, and that’s a first year coach having NO idea what it is to play in teh SEC. Hurricanes aside…only Hurricanes LSU were worried about got decimated in teh Peach Bowl by Flynn. Even Saban wasn’t a “Coaching Genius”, he knew defense, and exploited others lack of knowledge of it, and used his players to be teh best defense he could field.
Carroll is NOT teh be all to end all in NCAA Coaching.
Agreed. CFR was dead on with the breakdowns of Bush and Young. But Carroll was a stretch.