Letter from AFM - Happy Holidays

As we conclude another football season, our thoughts move ahead to next year and the things that we hope will be different and better for ourselves and for the game. 

We are thankful for the support of our subscribers and advertisers and especially for the generosity of those coaches that are willing to share their plays, strategies, drills and coaching advice with AFM readers. Without them, we would not have been able to serve the coaching community for over 15 years. 

But we all have our own “wish lists” around the holidays, whether they’re personal or professional. In this month’s AFM, Coach Bryon Hamilton shares his 2011 Christmas wishes for the game in his popular Coach to Coach column. One of our wishes is that Coach Hamilton continues to share his coaching insights for years to come.

To expand on Coach Hamilton’s list, we thought we would add some of our other wishes for 2012.

•  We wish for a 2012 college football season that’s free of scandal. Between bowl controversies, rule breaking by players, coaches and agents – and worse – the off-the-field version of the 2011 college season is one to forget.

•  We wish that the media would devote more coverage to the non-FBS divisions of college football. There’s good football being played in the FCS, D-II, D-III, the NAIA and junior colleges, largely without the benefit of multi-million dollar budgets. There are great coaches and great players that deserve more attention than they’re getting. Plus, they settle their championships the right way – through playoffs.

•  Speaking of playoffs, we wish that the power brokers of the BCS and the NCAA would design and implement a true playoff that would settle the FBS national championship on the field. Using polls to determine which teams get to play for the title is an idea whose time has come and gone.

•  We wish that Mike Leach would land a head coaching job with a leading FBS university, as college football is more fun when he’s in it.

•  We wish a peaceful and productive retirement for two of our favorite coaching legends, Howard Schnellenberger of FAU and Brent Steuerwald of Shenendehowa High School.

AFM readers recently submitted their wishes for 2012. Here are two that we sincerely hope will come true.

From Ed Maloney, Assistant Coach, Dundee High School (MI):  After having our field destroyed by a tornado in June 2010 and spending a year cleaning glass from the field so it is safe for players and patching it together with sod this past spring, our wish is for a safe, playable field for 2012.

From Dan MacLean, Head Coach, Detroit Country Day School (MI): The biggest wish I have for the game and all those involved in it is to enjoy the level where you are right now, be it grade school, high school, college or pro. I know everyone is super competitive and always looking ahead to the next thing as that is our nature as coaches and players and society. But you really need to reflect and be thankful for where you are and all the good things that can happen and have happened to you. The people, places and opportunities of this game have the ability to teach us great things if we are wise enough and humble enough to accept them.

We second your thoughts, Coach MacLean.

On behalf of everyone at American Football Monthly, our biggest wish is that you and your family have a wonderful Holiday Season and a healthy and prosperous New Year. 
                           
                            John Gallup
                            Editor & Publisher