Homer Smith - The Complete Handbook of Clock Management

2012 Coaches Choice. Revised edition. Al rights reserved. Printed in the United States.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of Coaches Choice.

ISBN: 978-1-60679-204-9

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012930040

Book layout: Deborah Oldenburg

Diagrams: Deborah Oldenburg

Cover design: Jennifer Bokelmann

Front cover photo: Tony Leon/Southcreek Global/ZUMAPRESS.com

Coaches Choice

PO Box 1828

Monterey, CA 93942

www.coacheschoice.com

More than three decades ago, I had the opportunity to serve on Homer Smiths football staff at the United States Military Academy. During that three-year period, I was able to observe Coach Smith on countless occasionsas a leader, as my boss, and as someone who cared very deeply about the game of football. Homer was a teacher who was totally committed to the value of learning and the sharing of his knowledge with others. This he did frequently, openly, and freely.

As such, when I was asked to help continue Coach Smiths work on clock management, I proudly, humbly, and readily agreed. While Coach Smith had a number of books and articles published over the course of his lifetime, it could be argued that no topic interested him more than the importance and intricacies of sound football clock management. This book is a tremendous affirmation of Coach Smiths passion for this all important body of football knowledge.

It has been often said that learning has no off-season. Certainly, it doesnt for efficient and effective football coaches. Truth be known, the best coaches have always been great teachers. This book is dedicated to Homer Smithone of the best teachers the game of football has ever known.

Steve Axman

My appreciation to the head coaches for whom

I played and worked is inexpressible.

The late Charlie Caldwell at Princeton, my coach,

made me want to be a coach.

The late Jack Curtice at Stanford, an offensive pioneer, encouraged my first writing efforts.

Ben Martin at the Air Force Academy, an exemplar,

demonstrated how to bring out the power in young people.

Pepper Rodgers at UCLA, brilliant and daring, sold me on systematic football.

Terry Donahue at UCLA, wise and thorough,

let me do crazy things to make crucial points.

Frank Gansz at the Kansas City Chiefs, a former military pilot, showed me what preparation for fail-safe performance means.

Bill Curry at Alabama, a 10-year NFL center, had answers for my questions.

Dick Tomey at Arizona, a winner, gave me my final chance to get clock management right.

Special thanks to veteran SEC referee Al Ford for listening and advising, and to University of Georgia coach,

Mark Richt for a stimulating exchange.

Extra special thanks to my wife Kathy

who typed football materials for 46 years.

Homer Smith

The playing of football is at its best when players accept responsibility for the playing. When one player blames one coach for one problem, the playing is not at its best.

The managing of the clock is at its best when coaches accept responsibility for the managing. When one coach blames one player for one problem, the managing is not at its best.

Preparing for the playing is year-around and is supported by staffs and facilities. Preparing for the managing should be year-around and be supported by whatever will help. This book is designed to help.

You need a system for dealing with a moving clock, multiple variables, necessary barriers, ever-changing relativities, and demanded decisions. You need a system with structures, reference points, procedures, and warnings. You need a system for thinking ahead.

A system has answers. Systematic clock management, like systematic theology, covers everything that can happen. This book describes a system.

You have to plan forward on a clock that moves backward. You have to think ahead in numbers that require subtraction. You have to do arithmetic when numbers will not stand still.

Before a play you have to know the possible plays to call after the play. Before the play there may be five possible best-calls for five possible situations after the play, depending on the possible results and on what the clock might be doing.

Each of three variablestime, points, and ball-positionaffects the effect of each of the other two.

Each of these familiar tactics can be wrong:

throwing for a sideline

spiking to stop the clock

getting out-of-bounds to stop the clock

saving a time-out for a field goal

taking a knee to consume remaining seconds

After a game, your critics may take two days to figure out what you should have done. You may have had two seconds.

Case: Louisville is going to beat Florida State. On the field, it is clock city. In the final two minutes the TV commentators cover: a statue of Johnny Unitas, the Louisville QB having met Unitas, FSUs sack history, the weather, the FSU aura that is not there, the fields ability to take rain, Michael Jordan returning to the NBA, the defensive player of the game, and what went on earlier. Few things are more difficult than thinking ahead in a football game when the clock is involved, and the commentators avoided doing it.

Imagine yourself in situations that suggest the primary focus of the 22 chapters in this book:

You want to improve your clock offense. Where do you start? Is there a right approach? What are you in for? Chapter 1 INTRODUCING THE CHALLENGE

You are on his 12 in the second quarter, with one time-out and 00:36 on a first-down clock. What can you get done? Chapter 2 FIGURING TIME

Needing 10 points to win, you are on his 42, with the clock stopped at 02:19 for a measurement. It will be 2nd-and-inches or 1st-and-10. What should your team be doing during the measurement? Chapter 3 PLAYING FAST