Calm before the Storm

 The night before the Russian invasion on Ukraine. A former colleague sent me a link to live feed from downtown Kyiv.  It was o'dark thirty in the morning over there and all was quiet.  In the days leading up to what we now know was an all out attempt to wipe Ukraine off the map by Putin, I was struck by the beauty of this former Soviet Union republic.

Thanks to google and google maps you can quickly learn more about lands far away.  You can also take an up close look at something you would not otherwise see.  Sadly, I knew that just as easily, this place could be wiped off the face of the Earth.

I remember taking my kids to the beach when they were really small.  They couldn't wait to run up and down the beach and splash in the water.  One time, we found a sandcastle that someone left behind.  They had obviously taken time to collect the wet packing sand, put it in a mold and construct the walls before building the main castle.  

Like kids will do, they started directly towards this curiosity.  I had to hold them back from plowing right through it and destroying someone else's work.  I don't know if the person who built it was watching. It didn't matter, I was going to use this as a teachable moment  for my kids to respect others even if no one is watching.

You would think that if kids who are 4-5 years old could learn this lesson, it would be a lay up for a grown man to learn this lesson too.

It goes way beyond losing buildings for sure.  The loss of life is the main reason wars don't make sense to me.

In 1996, I went to Bosnia while working as Petersburg Bureau Chief for WWBT.  The most poignant moment of the trip came when Gene Lepley, my sidekick for the trip, and I were filming a 
Bosnian women who was mourning at the graveside of her child.  This had become a frequent ritual for her after her son was killed when the enemy lobbed a shell into the middle of the town square on a bright and sunny day.  The sad news was she wasn't alone in her grief.

In fact on that day, the square was full of young people and many of them were buried in that same cemetery.

Now, more than two decades ago right here in America, we are burying more young people than ever due to gun violence. 

Since, manning the news desk at WBTV, I have been overwhelmed by report after report of teenagers being killed in the streets of Charlotte and across the country.  At the same time, we are not hearing anyone come up with solutions to the problem.   After a 10 year-old was sent to the hospital with life-threatening injuries sustained during a random shooting at a car wash, our reporter reached out to a high ranking city official.

After a few hours, we were told that she was unavailable.  I can't quit wrap my head around exactly what unavailable would mean in this circumstance.  One teen dying is a problem.  Two is extremely disturbing but four or five is a crisis.  So that being said, I think it's time that our city and county leaders become crisis managers.

Just as they took steps to manage the covid pandemic, it's past the time to curb this latest plague:

- The city needs to initiate a curfew.  Anyone  who is under the age of  18 and is on the streets after 10 pm they need to be scooped up and escorted home.  That also means that businesses, like fast food restaurants, need to be held accountable for scheduling underage employees to work pass the curfew.  Also, high school sporting events will have to start early enough, so that students and athletes can be home when required.

- I give the school system credit for making an effort to keep guns and other weapons out of schools. Every single school needs to have a body scanners installed.  Forget testing and forget piece-mealing this solution.  Not only make the search mandatory at the start of school day but also make the penalty for violating the weapons ban permanent.  Anyone caught with a weapon on school ground should be expelled permanently.

- Parents have to do their part as well by removing an equally dangerous weapon from their child's hand - the cell phone.  As a former teacher, I know without a doubt that the majority of beef's inside the school walls start in cyberspace.  Parents need to take away cell phones and throw them in the trash can.   Nothing good comes from opening a young mind to the garbage that is pumped through Tik Tok and Instagram.  When we were on virtual schooling during the height of covid,  I know that kids were consuming hours and hours of violence, vulgar language and God knows what else during the time they should have been participating in class or studying.  Many of the students that I taught, were so dependent on their phones that they would literally breakdown when they weren't allowed to have them.  If a child ask you - "Why can't they have a cell phone?"  Tell them some thing are just not for you.

In most cases, I spend very little time telling other people what they should do.  I am more likely to look in the mirror and ask the person looking back - what can I do?  I do know that there are six seats up for re-election on Mecklenburg County's School Board in 2022, so I will be calling on close friends and associates in the political arena as I consider running.  As I get closer to retirement age, it won't take much to make myself available.  Stay tuned.

Like is Such a Strong Word

Many years ago, I was on a first date in Richmond, Virginia.  After a nice lunch on Cary Street, I decided to take the young lady (not named Sonya) to Byrd Park.  I know my Richmond friends and family will agree that on a nice spring day that is one of the nicest places to be in the City by the James.

The radio station we were listening to in the car started playing a Luther Vandross song. As we listened along, my date who I only knew casually to this point turned to me and said, "I love you."

My mind raced, my sweat glands went into overdrive as I tried to come up with the right answer in milli-seconds.  I looked back and I said, "Me too."  

I know it seemed like a cop out to not go all the way, but remember this was a first date.  You don't make a leap like that on the first date.  What had I done to deserve such an outpouring of emotion?  

At that point, I wasn't ready to commit to the "L-word". Well at least not that one.  I would reserve that one for a later date and time.

Just as quickly as the moment came,  it subsided and we returned to listening to the master of love songs.  Then I got the clue that maybe my hearing wasn't quite right.  After the young lady continued to talk about the singers others songs, I realized that what she actually said earlier was, "I Love Luther."

Bare with me, because I have always wanted to put that story in writing and now I have.  My point to all of this is that there has been a cosmic shift in "L-words".  It seems to me that now, especially among millennials, "Like" has become all powerful.

I started innocently enough with social media outlets like Facebook.  When you see something nice, gently use the index finger on your right hand to press the left mouse button - "click".  

Eventually, it evolved into any overall referendum on the "SANCTITY OF MANKIND".  That's yelling I know but ask yourself if all of this isn't a little over done?

One like becomes two likes and so fourth and so on until you get a million likes.  Then people, some with no discernable skills, become famous and in some cases become quite wealthy.

Of course, there may be some people who might say that I built a 30-plus year career in broadcasting without a lot of talent either. So, I am not throwing stones.  And my concern is not for the folks who garner the lion's share of likes.

My concern is for the ones who don't.  What about the people who broadcast to the world their greatest joys and accomplishments, only to have them come back like a boomerang that misses it's mark. 

Are they judging their joy and in some cases their value to the world by the number of likes or the lack  of "likes".

On another fateful ride, this time taking my daughter, Mikaela to school, I ripped off a "Coach Craft" classic.  I encouraged her to make sure in her pursuit of a career in musical theater or acting to not do it for the applause.  I said, "Don't do it to see your name in lights. Don't do it so everyone will know your name and say how great you are."

I added that, "Even if you get all those things, it will be empty."

I maintain that like is such a strong word in this day and age but love is still stronger. More importantly it stands the test of time.

I encouraged Mikaela to instead of falling in love with the likes, fall in love with the work itself.  Take stock of the fact that you are doing something that 99.9 percent of the people will never attempt and even if they do an even smaller percentage will put in the work necessary to succeed.

Instead of counting on the world for praise and approval,  give it to yourself.  My advice: take a break from  Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok or even Facebook .  Instead look in the mirror and give the person looking back a smile and two thumbs up.  Heck, if you got them, give four thumbs up.

More importantly, look that person in the eye and say what I didn't say on that first date - "I love you."

 

Intellectual Atrophy

One of the strongest and most powerful variants of Covid-19 -- the virus that made the world stand still -- has had a profound affect on our children.  I call it "intellectual atrophy". 

Before you disregard my use of a mixed metaphor, something that I did frequently during my broadcast career for humorous effect, hear me out. 

In most cases, atrophy is used to describe the effect of inactivity on an organ or tissue like muscle.  One definition describes atrophy as, "gradually decline in effectiveness or vigor due to underuse or neglect."  

In my first year of high school football, I broke a bone in my foot in the fifth game of the season.  The doctor put it in a cast for four weeks to heal.  I held out hope that I would get the cast off and play in the last game of the year.  I really hated watching from the sideline but when I took a look at my foot after the doctor removed the cast -- it was a wrap.  

As a teacher, I had that same kind of reaction after a half semester working with my students.  A year and a half of showing up as a blank screen on zoom, many of them returned to the school building this past year suffering the side effects.

During the fall semester of 2021, I was guiding a student to an answer that was right in front of him on the computer screen.  At one point, I had to catch myself from saying in frustration, "What is wrong with you?"  Thankfully cooler heads prevailed.  More importantly I didn't have to ask the question when I already know the answer.

When muscles have experienced atrophy and you put them to work the outcome is inevitable. Any muscle that is put under stress after a prolonged period of inactivity will exhaust quickly.  I saw this coaching high school football as well.  When players are forced to do wind sprints for the first time in training camp most look like they are going to die. One thing coaches know is that the majority of players will never push themselves in the offseason  enough to be ready for the real thing.

The day I got my cast off, I could barely make it out of the doctor's office.  I certainly couldn't put my full weight on that sliver of a foot.  In an instant, I had totally given up on playing football instead I was just focused on walking across the parking lot.

A few months ago, I noticed that even my best students were hitting a wall near the end of the first quarter.  Now mind you, I wasn't teaching rocket science and I understand that my students have to reserve their energy for doing some heavy lifting like chemistry and math 3.  However, I was finding that even some of my brightest students were struggling with what I considered simple tasks.

After one student grew frustrated while trying to debug some html code she said, "Can't you just tell me what's wrong with my code?"  I made a conscious decision then, as always to not just simply tell students the answer.  

What I did was tailor my instruction to help those who were ready to run, those who are ready to walk as well as those who are barely limping along.  This was a switch for me because I am hyper competitive.  I very rarely take my foot off the gas pedal but this past year, I was forced to do just that.

During that semester, I started giving my students 10 minute breaks at the beginning and end of class.  In my longer third block, I also wrapped 10 minute breaks around lunch.  

Before covid, I asked my students to commit to learning one thing a day.  Post covid, I sometimes asked them to learn one thing over a three day period.  It wasn't the same lesson three days in a row, but the same lesson taught three different ways.

Near then end of the semester, my classes stunned me during a game we call vocabulary baseball.  Each student comes up to bat and has to give the word that matches a definition in order to get on base. I didn't expect much because I thought they weren't approaching this unit with any enthusiasm but when the game started each class knocked it out of the park.  

That game didn't alleviate all my fears for these students but it was a glimmer of hope.  

That glimmer will have to suffice because at the end of the semester, I made the tough decision to shut it down as a teacher.  Well, at least shut it down in the physical since.  Even though my personal battles with covid, sapped me of a lot of the energy necessary to handle the rigors of teaching and coaching day to day, I still plan to contribute in other ways (stay tuned).

To my former colleagues who keep fighting the good fight,  I salute you for continuing to positively affect the lives of the next generation. God Bless.

Coach Mike Craft

Black Americans Owe Donald Trump a Great Deal of Gratitude

 Black Americans Owe Donald Trump a Great Deal of Gratitude

By  Mike Craft

    When history looks back at the one term of the 45th President, he will be celebrated by more people than you could imagine. Black folks young and old will look in reverence at the man who woke us up.

    It seems that after Barak Obama's election, we patted ourselves on the back and said "Let the brother man handle this." At the same time, the "alt's" kicked it in to high gear. That monster gain was followed by a thousand paper cuts that bled our advancements dry. During the height of the black lives matter protest across the country, I told my football players if they were looking for someone to blame -- to blame me.

    I wanted to fall on the sword because, I had laid mine down after it looked like we had finally crossed the finish line in 2008. Instead, I figured that the only thing left to do was sit back and watch my 401k grow.

    Now, in my own defense I wasn't totally idle. I volunteered at my children's schools. Then there was the time, I stepped up to fight a greedy developer whose intentions for our neighborhood were less than honorable.

    However, since then I have been M.I.A. when it comes to truly shaping my community politically.

    As they say, "Life gets in the way."

    Then along comes Trump who entered politics mouth first.  It was laughable when he first starting talking about putting our Hispanic brothers on the other side of a great wall.

    It was a little unsettling when he struck fear into the hearts of Muslim Americans.  I was heart broken to hear about the traumatic impact this was having from my new sister in law's mother, a women with a beautiful spirit. Still I did nothing.

    One by one, Trump pointed out THOSE people to his people and said they are not worthy.
Then he came for me.

    The "dog whisperer" made it loud and clear who the fine people were while at the same time began to attack members of my extended family.  If he came to the hood and trashed talked one of our women folk like he did Maxime Waters...enough said.  In doing so, he lifted the veil of racism and made it plain as day. For that, we owe him thanks.

   I used to hear my elders say the Klan put up their robes a long time ago and put on three piece suits.

    They weren't burning crosses in a field in the back woods, but torching the hopes of our people with roll backs, red lining and other hateful policies.

      Even if they weren't card carrying members, they were doing the white supremacist business by making separate not equal and justice for some.

    Still some of us, benefitted greatly from the advancements won by people like my father in law, former state senator Henry L. Marsh.

    I for one, rested on their laurels while the opposition hammered home messages of reverse discrimination and stripped away many of the programs that gave our people a leg up.

    A true confidant and mentor of mine who happens to be white asked me  - what can be done?
I said, "The next time you get a chance, promote free pre-school for all children. That would be a step in the right direction."  As Frederick Douglas said, "It's easier to build up a child than to fix a broken man."

    I don't want to hear that it's a luxury we can't afford when, at the same time, we spend millions in aid to other countries.

    Please don't confuse this for nationalism.  I believe that we ultimately will be judged by the fruit on the tree. Without a proper educational foundation, our fruit will fall far from the tree and our country's promise will wither and die.

    On election day, I think we as a people finally realized what was a stake.

    It was only fitting that the folks from cities like Philadelphia and Atlanta made their presence felt.  No doubt the phrase better late -- well actually it was early - than ever comes to mind.

    Mr. Resident for everything you have done to wake us up over the past four years, I offer this advice - "Be a man about it." You don't have to go home but you have to get out of our house.

The Catch of a Lifetime

Today was my 56th birthday. So this afternoon, I decided to cap a quiet day with a little fishing. While heading out the door, I grabbed my prized straw hat that my son, Morgan gave me as a birthday present two years ago.  He bought it for me while we were on a family vacation in Cherokee, NC. It's a quality hat but if you know me, anything my kids give me is worth it's weight in gold.  

Often at Christmas time or on my birthday, I will immediately put on anything they give me and will often wear it with the tags still on it for weeks.  

So you can imagine the sheer terror when a gust of wind  blew it off my head and into Lake Norman.

I hadn't caught a thing and to add insult to injury there set my prized hat bobbing up and down on the water.

The symbolism was almost overwhelming and began to break me as cast after cast I came up empty handed. The frustration started to build. The sun was in my face and  made it hard to see especially when tears began to well up in my eyes. Some might say it's just a hat.

For me, it was a microcosm of parenthood. For most of their lives, I always kept my kids within reach. In the blink of an eye, they have spread out from coast to coast. Begrudgingly, I allow them to pursue their dreams wherever it may lead. To make matters worst, covid has also upended our lives. We had to shelter in different places because of various health concerns. And this year, we had to forgo our annual fourth of July family vacation - a promise I force them to keep.  Through no fault of theirs, you feel like they are drifting away.

No, I wasn't going to let Morgan's birthday gift go that easily. 

There it sat. I was amazed it stayed on top of the water. Thankfully, it landed right side up so there must have been enough air trapped underneath preventing it from sinking into this deep area near our community dock.

After several near misses with my fishing line and lure, I paused and said out loud, "Lord, don't let me loose this hat."

A few cast later, I hooked the back end of the hat and began to reel it in. The now soggy hat was heavier that any fish I had ever caught on the 8 pound test line. To keep from breaking the line, I slowly cranked the handle and ever so carefully lifted it over the rocks that lined the bank.

Sometimes, it seems like families are held together by the thinnest of  threads.  You wonder are you doing all you do to keep them close to you.  Shamefully, in brief moments of doubt, I wonder do they even need me any more?

The good thing about my pity parties is I don't throw them often and the ones I do aren't well attended.  I'll keep making the cast over and over again because as they say anything worth having is worth fighting for.

Just the facts...Coach

      This time of year, coaches across America are gearing up for spring football.  Most have spent the winter, combing over stats as they self scout their team and find their direction.  Many will attend conferences like the AFCA, which by the way was held in my hometown of Charlotte.  A great number go to these clinics to find the latest, greatest play.
       My philosophy has been to look for little nuggets on process - especially more efficient ways to practice and teach.
       Early in my coaching career, I was fortunate to work with Greg Richardson, former defensive coordinator at Johnson C. Smith University.  The career coach was always dispensing words of wisdom.  One of the first things he told me was to go through his drill book and find my every day drills.
       He said, "A position coach is only as good as his drill set."
       That sage advice really helped jump start my coaching career.
       Another big boost came from a YouTube video of the late Bill Walsh doing a clinic while at Stanford University.  Walsh talked about finding the balance between the number of plays that you were trying to run and making sure that you had enough practice time to run all the drills necessary to master each play in your playbook.

      That being said, the next question is -- how much is too much?  That answer can slap you in the face, especially when you consider that on every level - little league to the NFL - limitations are being placed on the amount of time that you have on the field.
        I found that on the college level the 20 hour rule has severely hindered coaches ability to really teach the game.  However, rules are meant to be followed.   So, no matter on which level you coach, adjustments have to be made on exactly how much you are trying to accomplish.
        As a journalist, one of the things that I have mastered over three decades is - asking the right question.  Every time I come into contact with a fellow coach I ask, "Coach, what do you hang your hat on?"
   

The answer varies.  Former South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier gave me one of the best answers during a break at the South Carolina coaches convention several years ago.  The Ole Ball Coach said, "Well, it's real simple. I try to get the ball in  the hands of our best players."  Spurrier's inference was, of course, that this isn't rocket science.
         Well, if you buy into that premise then you will probably agree that it doesn't take a playbook the size of a phone book to accomplish the feat of winning football games.
         I was taught this lesson first hand going head-to-head with coaching legend Jim Oddo for three years.  You could call it a baptism under fire or you could just say we got baptized.
         The former Charlotte Catholic head coach has long been known for running the triple option.  Truth is when they run it, they run all over you.

         In our match ups, it was always such a stark difference -- our fast-paced spread offense would move down the field with the ability to take it the distance on any play while Oddo's team would play keep away for what seemed like hours when we didn't score.  I wondered why they were so good.
         My quarterbacks coach Wayne Starkes would say, "Those kids have been running those same seven plays since they were in elementary school. 
         The thought occurred to me and was confirmed by Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo that the key is indeed repetition.
          Their offense, and in turn their practices, were designed to make sure that players got enough reps to master the techniques as Walsh discussed. So, what is the right number?  Personally, I went on a quest to boil down my offense to the bare essentials.
          After years of self study, I arrived at a formula of 5 runs and 10 passing plays.  To be more specific, it's concepts not plays.  For instance,  outside zone is a blocking concept or scheme.  Using the same blocking scheme, we can hand the ball to the running back, slot back (jet sweep) or even have the quarterback run.  The largest group on the field, the offensive line, only learned one concept no matter what goes on behind them.
           In the passing game, we run schemes that attack front to back and challenge the defense from sideline to sideline.   Each scheme can be run in two-by-two, or three-by-one sets.  Motions and tags can challenge the defense as well. The result is an offense that can be installed quickly and more importantly get players playing fast because they are not bogged down with too much information.
           From that point, coaches can focus on refining techniques to make sure that these plays are run correctly. 
           Here are a few questions to ask when developing an offense:

1.  How many total plays do you run in a game? I hear the number 80 thrown around a lot.  I'm not sure if defenses coaches would be in full agreement but it's a round number.

2.  How many unique plays or concepts do you run in a game?  I remember when I first started putting together a play sheet.  It was printed on 11 by 14 inch paper.  To steal a line from my full time work - a lot of that was left on the cutting room floor.

3)  How many times do you run those plays during practice?  If you have three heavy lifting days of practice a week with 12 plays of team each day that means you have the opportunity to run 36 plays during the week.  One of the things I tried to do on my practice script was carry the same play from team apart (two offensive huddles running our first ten script in rapid succession) on to inside run or seven on seven and eventually onto the script for team.  

4)  How many times do your players (1st and 2nd team) run each play during the week?Dividing up reps can be tricky. While you want to make sure your starters get enough to be ready, you also have to consider that at some point you may have to count on one of your reserves at some point of the game.

5)   Is that enough to get good at it?  I remember Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy saying that he sent his coaches home at 6 o'clock because he said,  "If they stayed any longer, they would come up with some plays that we don't have time to practice."   One of my biggest fears would be to get into a game and call a critical play knowing that my team may have only run that play once or twice in team during the week.

     You can get a further explanation by watching this Players2Pros clinic at Village Christian Academy in Fayetteville in February 2018.

       
To hear it straight from the Master Bill Walsh himself click on these two links to here his clinic:

Bill Walsh Clinic Part 1
Bill Walsh Clinic Part 2

Please email me with questions and comments at coach.mcraft@gmail.com.



     

Check Downs to First Downs

Very few people get excited about the check down pass.  These mundane little plays usually never make the cut on the highlight film.  But for those closest to the game, they are the building blocks to bigger and better things.
Check downs can extend drives.  More importantly, check downs beat the alternative of taking a sack or throwing an interception. 
There are times when this last option is the only option.  This happens when the defense is bound and determined to not get beat deep.   As seen in the picture below, on third-and-long in the second quarter, the 49ers’ defense is lined up with one high safety and the other safety is hovering in the middle of the field as a "robber". 

When the ball was snapped, the corners will drop into a cover-3 defense. The corners and safety divide the field into thirds to make the offense pay for any throw down field.  With the coverage retreating downfield, the defense is vulnerable in the flats.
Instead of risking the turnover, offensive coordinator Mike Shula calls a simple swing pass to running back Christian McCaffrey.  You can tell it's a called play, because right tackle Darryl Williams pulls as if it's a run play (picture 2).

In reality, it is a run play with a long handoff and it makes total sense.  It's also worth noting that the Panthers didn't even block the play side defensive end on the play.  Tight end Greg Olsen headed up field to block, along with wide receiver Devin Funchess.   Newton's quick throw negated the rush.

When the Panthers drafted McCaffrey in the first round of the 2017 draft, plays like this had to come to mind.   When Newton gets the ball into McCaffrey's hands, he has the ability to turn a simple check down into a special play.
In this case, McCaffrey caught the ball five yards behind the line of scrimmage (Picture 3) and after a burst of speed he cruised out of bounds with a 16 yard gain and the first down.    The play helped set up a field goal heading into halftime on the way to an opening day win.