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One of the first things I noticed in Japan is what seems to be a general aversion to risk; it appears to be the case on the gridiron and off. This culture of doing things in a safe and predicable manner is probably obvious to non-natives. As far as football is concerned there’s a certain irony in enduring rigorous training, strapping on a gladiator’s armor only to revert to being careful. I'd always thought the purpose of stepping on the gridiron was to boldly impose your will on the opponent.
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A motley crew (2009 - 2010)
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By late 2008 we'd finally acquired enough players to field a team. In addition to the six inexperienced players from the previous year there were eleven new tenth graders bringing our roster up to seventeen total. Poor kids, they had no idea of what was in store for them.
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I had no illusions of running the table with a hand full of undersized kids, but I wouldn’t allow conventional thinking to be a factor either. I had no idea what the kids expected out of this experience, but I knew exactly what we'd do to prepare for our opponents. The only chance we had to be competitive was if the players could gain confidence in themselves and that would come from long term game experience. Naturally, they’d have to take some lumps.
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| .Johoku alumni game In blue are the new incoming players (9th graders). The first two on the left in the front row are seniors who'd just finished their eligibility. The other six in the white uniforms were 10th graders at the time this picture was taken. Johoku field - Hiroshima, Japan - December (2008) |
I had no illusions of running the table with a hand full of undersized kids, but I wouldn’t allow conventional thinking to be a factor either. I had no idea what the kids expected out of this experience, but I knew exactly what we'd do to prepare for our opponents. The only chance we had to be competitive was if the players could gain confidence in themselves and that would come from long term game experience. Naturally, they’d have to take some lumps.
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| .Johoku H.S. vs Osaka Kindai Fuzoku H.S. On this day we had sixteen players, of whom eleven were first year beginners, and five juniors. Our opponents had thirty six players and they jumped out to a 19 - 0 lead by half-time. Osaka, Japan (2010) .. |
Everyone wants to win; it's doing what's necessary to do so where folks usually fall short. Initially, the kids were resistant to the difficult training and the regimen. It took a thrashing or two at the hands of stronger teams before the players realized it took more than desire to win. After those early losses I had their full attention. Although, for this group it seemed the lessons would always be retained the hard way. There's nothing like the physical and emotional trauma of a good old butt kicking to add clarity.
Being forcibly humbled was the player's biggest motivation. Witnessing my boys beating also forced me to elevate my own game. When queried about their reasons for joining the team, many expressed wanting to improve themselves physically. Some said they wanted to be better people. I cautioned them about perseverance and the changes they'd have to make in their habits. They seemed sincere so I accepted their wish as my official charter. Naturally, I'd have to remind them later.
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| .Johoku vs Sotoku An early beating at the hands of a physically stronger team got the young guys attention. Koiki Koen - Hiroshima, Japan (2009) . . |
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Initially the Johoku players understanding of the game itself was very low. In Hiroshima there are no televised football games for kids to emulate. The couple of games that do get broadcast only involve Japanese teams, who typically play a different brand of football.
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In Japan, American football is regarded as the "red headed step child" of sports, and as such doesn't enjoy the same popularity or resources as baseball. Despite having gained a small following, football is relatively undeveloped locally compared to the United States. As a result of this environment the Johoku players were naturally inclined to play conservatively. From the first time they put on their helmets as sophomores until their senior year, my efforts were intended to change this mentality.
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In Japan, American football is regarded as the "red headed step child" of sports, and as such doesn't enjoy the same popularity or resources as baseball. Despite having gained a small following, football is relatively undeveloped locally compared to the United States. As a result of this environment the Johoku players were naturally inclined to play conservatively. From the first time they put on their helmets as sophomores until their senior year, my efforts were intended to change this mentality.
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Young folks are keen on responding to what they see firsthand as opposed to what they're told. As I had no hope of getting through to them with mangled Japanese, I decided to show them a series of handpicked NCAA games. The American style of play is much more dynamic, and has the added benefit of multiple camera angles and instant replay. The NCAA games had an enormous effect on them.
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Having established the all important mental precedent of possibility, I went about task of addressing the physical. How does one get sixteen undersized beginners to perform athletic feats deemed impossible in the local mentality? I merely reverse engineered the most difficult and dynamic aspects of offensive and defensive skills and drilled them in a repetitive manner. The unique aspect of our training was that everyone was required to execute everything, regardless of position. Naturally, we adjusted factors (distance, speed, angle, ball trajectory) within the drills to emulate game day variables.
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It seems that fundamentals, though essential can be limiting at times. Big plays often come as a result of combining fundamentals with a little something extra. We added that "little something extra" to our practices. Accepting the norm as a goal makes no sense, especially when facing exceptional odds.
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Easy? Hell no. Endless, tedious work? Yes. A high bar for the young fellows? Absolutely. The ultimate exercise in preparation.
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Having established the all important mental precedent of possibility, I went about task of addressing the physical. How does one get sixteen undersized beginners to perform athletic feats deemed impossible in the local mentality? I merely reverse engineered the most difficult and dynamic aspects of offensive and defensive skills and drilled them in a repetitive manner. The unique aspect of our training was that everyone was required to execute everything, regardless of position. Naturally, we adjusted factors (distance, speed, angle, ball trajectory) within the drills to emulate game day variables.
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It seems that fundamentals, though essential can be limiting at times. Big plays often come as a result of combining fundamentals with a little something extra. We added that "little something extra" to our practices. Accepting the norm as a goal makes no sense, especially when facing exceptional odds.
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Easy? Hell no. Endless, tedious work? Yes. A high bar for the young fellows? Absolutely. The ultimate exercise in preparation.
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| .Johoku vs Kobe Rokko A hard lesson about details and communication. After being down 13 - 0 in the second half and dominating the 4th quarter, we botched two different two point conversion attempts. Final score Rokko 13 Johoku 12. Kobe, Japan (2010) |
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When gambling is survival....
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As a result of having sixteen kids on a good day I resolved
to be extremely aggressive in play calling. I knew that if we played
conservatively we’d get worn down by man power alone. I realized I’d have to
build the team based on deception, misdirection, and
plain old physics. Audacity was our
calling card.
Early in games we’d bait opponents into mental traps, only to ensnare them with them later. I rarely
adhered to convention. The kids thought I was nuts
initially. Aside from my players, nobody in the stadiums ever knew what to expect; that’s just the way we liked it.
Our offense was fairly complex. We operated primarily out of the shotgun
spread and our passing game allowed for two check downs. Our shotgun triple option meshed like a Swiss
watch and was a beautiful thing to behold. When viewed from the defense's perspective our elfish backs would dart every which way and would seemingly vanish behind the offensive line. The skill position players each had different strengths which were taken into consideration in play calling. Our line was small which
dictated our finesse approach as knocking folks off the ball wasn’t our
strong suit.
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Our skill position players played each of the receiver and back positions. We had three quarterbacks, of whom two were starters at other positions. Player interchangeability was the strength of the team. Each quarterback saw action and the offense never missed a beat. On defense we blitzed and moved around so much the opposing offenses got dizzy. Field goals didn't exist and we always went for two after touchdowns.
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Our skill position players played each of the receiver and back positions. We had three quarterbacks, of whom two were starters at other positions. Player interchangeability was the strength of the team. Each quarterback saw action and the offense never missed a beat. On defense we blitzed and moved around so much the opposing offenses got dizzy. Field goals didn't exist and we always went for two after touchdowns.
Execution in clutch situations is where we excelled; although, our success was probably more a result of the conservative culture of football in Japan than our skill. We had three pass plays from punt formation with an outrageous 80% conversion rate.
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Our high success rate was probably due in part to using an experienced quarterback as our punter. Our punt team had exactly the same personnel as the offense with the exception of the starting quarterback. Our punter, unbeknownst to the opponent, was our back-up quarterback. We practiced converting fourth and ten situations from punt formation as a normal part of our offense. It had become a long running joke among us that fourth down and eight was no different than third and eight. We’d even become so brazen as to call time outs in obvious punt situations to make adjustments.
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Our high success rate was probably due in part to using an experienced quarterback as our punter. Our punt team had exactly the same personnel as the offense with the exception of the starting quarterback. Our punter, unbeknownst to the opponent, was our back-up quarterback. We practiced converting fourth and ten situations from punt formation as a normal part of our offense. It had become a long running joke among us that fourth down and eight was no different than third and eight. We’d even become so brazen as to call time outs in obvious punt situations to make adjustments.
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Down 19 - 0 at the half...
.Johoku vs Osaka Kindai Fuzoku - Part 1
Osaka, Japan (2010)
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.Johoku vs Osaka Kindai Fuzoku - Part 2
Osaka, Japan (2010)
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Final: Johoku 26 - Osaka Kindai Fuzoku 25.
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Johoku executed
the extreme angle onside kick with impunity. We always lined up in the same
formation for normal kick-offs so there was never any commotion or huddle to give away
our intentions. The team operated off of a covert signal delivered just
before the referee’s whistle. Out of ten onside attempts five were recovered by
us, two were recovered by the opposing team, and three went out of bounds. We could have converted more but for some kids it's just too much pressure to go after a live ball. I've witnessed onside attempts where both teams danced around a live ball as if it were a cornered rattlesnake.
Most of the time other teams suspected
the onside kicks were coming, but seemed unaware of how to play them. Our brazenness seemed to have caused a kind of paralysis. I can
only remember seeing one adjustment by an opposing team. We’d just scored a
touchdown and were preparing for an obvious second on side attempt when inexplicably
the opposing team’s coach ordered his whole team to the area just in front of
their bench where the previous onside attempt had sailed out of bounds. They left 50%
of the field uncovered.
Our high success rate with deceptive plays was probably due cultural differences in how the game is played in Japan. The rules of engagement are somewhat different. I remember officiating a scrimmage and the team on defense asked the other team's offense if they where going to "gamble" on fourth down. The offensive team said "yes" so the defense huddled and prepared. Apparently, in Japan football is a gentleman's sport..
In general, kick returning in the Japanese archipelago leaves much to
be desired. Punts often go unfielded or fair caught with no coverage threat
within the same zip code. Not fielding a punt on the run is blasphemy where I came from; I
doubt if we even knew fair catches were possible.
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I forced my young kick returners catch everything; in the air, off the bounce, in traffic, and on the run. When the guys inquired about fair catches I feigned ignorance. Even the back-up returners had to prove they were willing and able to field balls in traffic under hostile conditions. To return kicks for Johoku you had to be a proven daredevil.
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I forced my young kick returners catch everything; in the air, off the bounce, in traffic, and on the run. When the guys inquired about fair catches I feigned ignorance. Even the back-up returners had to prove they were willing and able to field balls in traffic under hostile conditions. To return kicks for Johoku you had to be a proven daredevil.
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My players were able to understand my butchered Japanese in everyday situations; however, in the heat of battle when precise situational instructions were needed off the hip I was helpless. Also, as a result of having so few players on game day, we didn't have the luxury of using a substitute to run in new plays. If I was lucky enough to have a spare player next to me on the sideline, they were usually terrible at English. A couple of the guys even seemed incapable of understanding Japanese.
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Our language dilemma necessitated that we prepare and rehearse for all possible scenarios ahead of time. I used a system of colored cards, Spanish, coded Japanese, and numbers to communicate from the sideline. If anything unrehearsed were to occur, we were dead in the water.
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Our language dilemma necessitated that we prepare and rehearse for all possible scenarios ahead of time. I used a system of colored cards, Spanish, coded Japanese, and numbers to communicate from the sideline. If anything unrehearsed were to occur, we were dead in the water.