Coaches' Corner . . .

BOB BLACKMAN: At the time this is being written, the Dartmouth football team is still looking for its first victory (and possibly by the time this is being read, the team may still be looking for its first win). The natural question that alumni are entitled to ask is "What happened?" Anything I say in reply to this question sounds like an alibi. I don't think any excuse is necessary when a group of young fellows are doing the best they can, but I would like to discuss some of the reasons why the team hasn't lived up to expectations.

Last year in winning the championship we had the strongest starting team but probably the least depth of any team in the league. Although we tried to substitute by teams when we could, in most of our tough games our starters all averaged at least 56 minutes of play. Eight of our starting eleven graduated last June and since we have not had strong freshman teams in the past few years, it was illogical for some of the experts to pick Dartmouth to be on top again this year just because of last year's play. We knew that our one chance for success this fall depended upon really tremendous performances by a few key men. It was only natural that our team was to be built around Gundy and Crouthamel, whom we rated as good as any backs in the Ivy League and potentially in the country. In addition to being a fine ball-handler, passer, and punter, Captain Gundy has the poise and experience in calling plays and leading the team that we need. Unfortunately, Bill missed three weeks of practice and the Holy Cross game with a sprained ankle, and then upon returning for the Penn game, he received a deep muscle bruise in the shoulder that further hampered him and kept him out of the Brown game. Jake Crouthamel has the same drive and fighting spirit that made him a great player the past two seasons, but he has been so slowed up by a combination of minor injuries, that he hasn't yet come close to equaling the form he has shown in the past.

Tackle Lee Horschman improved considerably during the 1958 season and was figured to be the bulwark of our line this year. Lee broke his ankle last winter while skiing and it apparently still bothers him, as he has not yet been able to equal last year's performance. One position at which we felt we had good depth was left end, with two returning squad members in Rog Hanlon and John Henry and two promising sophomores in John Mussman and Bob Vetrone. Henry contacted mononucleosis during the summer and Mussman has had a kidney ailment since the second week of practice, so neither boy has yet been able to play. Early in our first game against Holy Cross Rog Hanlon dislocated an elbow and Vetrone received a back injury and both are expected to be out of action for the major part of the season. Since then Connie Persels, our second-team right end, has had to be our starting left end, giving little depth at either end position. There have been other problems, but I think I have already conveyed the idea of what can happen to the best of pre-season plans.

In recent years depth has become increasingly important to the success of a football squad, since most colleges now alternate two or three teams. It has been found that no matter how good he may be, if one player is kept in the game continuously he will "run out of gas" in the last quarter and his effectiveness will be cut down just when it may be necessary for him to be at his best. Last year our second team wasn't nearly as strong as our first, and this year we felt there would be an even greater difference between the teams. We knew that our starters couldn't play continuously, and since behind the first eleven there was a group of boys of about equal ability, none of whom has had much previous experience, we decided to adopt the "three platoon" substitution system. When you hear that a team is using "three platoons" the first reaction is to think that that team must be loaded with talent, when actually we decided upon this plan of substitution for just the opposite reason. In this system, the starting team plays approximately the first nine minutes of each quarter and then an offensive team and a defensive team alternate during the remainder of the quarter, depending .upon who has the ball. When players are of average ability and have had little experience, it is obvious that they can improve more rapidly by concentrating, in practice and in games, on either offense or defense. This year this method of substituting was the only possible solution in some positions.

When a team isn't winning, a common question is "Is there something wrong with the team's spirit?" I can honestly say that I have never seen a team work harder in practice or have greater desire to win than this year's team has. It is true that we do not have quite the "fire" on the field that I would like to see. You couldn't possibly find a finer group of young men than the seven fellows on our starting line, yet it so happens that they are all the quiet, soft-spoken type of individual. Last year players such as Krutsch, Bathrick, and Colehower were "firebrands" that could kick one of their teammates in the rear end and make him play even beyond his capabilities.

In addition to willingness to work and desire for victory, one other important phase of team spirit is confidence. The past few years our team has always had complete confidence that they would come out on top even when trailing in the fourth quarter, and when a crucial fourth-down situation occurred they were always confident that they would make the necessary yardage. This year we seem to lack that confidence, partly because key men such as Gundy have been out and partly because we haven't been able to move the ball consistently enough to build confidence. Unquestionably the physical beating we took in losing to a powerful Holy Cross team in our opener also hurt the confidence of our players in their own ability. It is surprising how thin the line can sometimes be between having confidence and not having it.

As long as I have discussed the situation in this much detail, I should add one final thought. Each day our coaching staff meets to try and think of what else can be done to make Dartmouth a better team and to get back on the winning trail. The sobering thought keeps coming up that perhaps our team is already playing the best football they are capable of. The seniors who helped Dartmouth win the Ivy League championship last year (men such as Krutsch, Burke, Morton, Henander, Hepburn, Palmer, Bathrick, Colehower, Pettway, etc.) were members of an undefeated freshman team in their first year. Since that time we have not had a strong freshman team. Coach Hamilton does an exceptionally fine job of working with our freshman squad, but the fact remains that we simply have not had the outstanding freshman players that the other Ivy League schools have been getting. In the past few years, the only Ivy League team our freshmen have defeated has been Brown. Although the record of a freshman team doesn't tell the complete story, a strong freshman squad in 1955 paid off with an Ivy League championship in 1958, and now we are seeing the results of weak freshman squads the past few seasons. Alumni of the other Ivy colleges have been working hard in the last few years to locate top high school talent and influence them to attend their institutions. Here at Dartmouth we are more dependent upon our alumni than any of the other Ivy schools, since geographically Dartmouth is farthest away from the areas where good high school football is played. Really good college football prospects are scarce and we have found that only about one out of every twenty such players has the high academic qualifications now necessary for admission to Dartmouth. This means that if Dartmouth is going to hold its own in Ivy League competition in the future, a greater effort must be made in seeking out top young men and selling them on the advantages of Dartmouth.