For those of us that live and breath for some form of football, February was just about the cruelest month. The Super Bowl ended the season and the NFL Players Combine seemed like more hype than substance.

March is not a lot better but at least most colleges have spring practice under way. You can follow your favorite team via their web site even though when it comes to the annual ‘spring game,’ the event itself is usually nothing more than a glorified scrimmage.

April is not only the first sign of spring but also the long-awaited NFL Draft. This year, for the first time, the event begins in prime time, Thursday, April 22nd and continues through the weekend. Only one thing is certain in this year’s draft: no matter who the Giants and Jets select as their first round picks, the local fans are sure to boo.

A few states allow spring high school practices in May and most NFL teams conduct their mini-weekend Organized Team Activities in May and June. For those waiting for NFL camps to open in July, the NFL Network may be a way of surviving to that first NFL Pre-Season game on August 8th.

Anyway, the countdown is on…only 150 days to go.

Villanova was losing to undefeated Montana last December, 14-3, midway through the second quarter when the Wildcats rallied and then held on to win the Football Championship Subdivision National Championship, 23-21. In the process, head coach Andy Talley reached the pinnacle of his profession in his 25th season at the school.

The Wildcats finished 14-1 and for Talley, an assistant and head coach for over 40 years, it was a special moment. “It’s hard to explain how much this means, not just to me, but to the entire program,” Talley said. “We have been close before but I knew this was a very good team and had a chance to go all the way. For me, you don’t get a chance to come through on the national scene very often. It is extremely special.”

In his quarter century on the Main Line, Talley’s overall record now stands at 179-102-1. He is the winningest coach in Wildcat history. In fact, Talley has won everywhere he’s coached and helped turn around a number of programs. After graduating from Southern Connecticut State, his resume reads as follows:

1967-1968: Assistant Coach, Simsbury High School (CT)

1969: Secondary Coach, Springfield College (MA)

1970-1973: Backfield Coach, Middlebury College

1973-1978: Backfield Coach, Brown, 1973-1978

1979-1983: Head Coach, St. Lawrence University, 1979-1983

1984-Present: Head Coach, Villanova

While at Brown, Talley helped the Bears to an Ivy League title in 1976. At. St. Lawrence, with Talley leading the team, the Saints won the Lambert Cup in 1982. Talley now has over 200 wins as a head coach but the crowning achievement was last December.

Patrick Ross was hired as the head coach at Lindenwood University in the spring of 2004. In the three previous seasons the NAIA college in St. Charles, MO had won a total of seven games. There was really only one way to go.

Not only did the Lindenwood Lions move in the other direction, they won their first ever conference championship in Ross’ first year as their head man. Lindenwood has been in the conference picture each year in Ross’ six years at the school and have improved in each of the last three seasons: in 2007, the Lions finished 10-2, losing in the first round of the playoffs; in 2008, Lindenwood completed the season 11-2, losing in the NAIA National Semifinals; and this past fall, Ross’ team completed an undefeated season but lost to Sioux Falls in the NAIA Championship game, finishing 13-1. His six-year record at the school stands at 57-17.

Probably Lindenwood’s most impressive performance this past season was a 42-35 win over perennial NAIA power Carroll College in the semifinals. The Lions snapped Carroll’s 24 game home winning streak, amassing 570 yards of offense against the #2 ranked defense in the country.

Ross credits his team’s success mainly to two things: a consistent staff of assistant coaches and team chemistry. “It’s important to have continuity with your staff,” said Ross. “That factor and having team chemistry, especially when there is some adversity, can make the difference.”

There’s more good news in St. Charles. Lindenwood’s starting quarterback and leading rusher both return for next season.

American Football monthly was a proud participant in this year’s annual AFCA Convention that took place in Orlando, January 10-13. We were able to meet many new coaches and revisit with those we’ve gotten to know over the last few years. Similarly, AFM met with all of our current advertisers and sponsors and began developing relationships with new ones. AFM’s new College Directory was introduced, as well, at the convetion. The directory is the most comprehensive listing of all football staffs across the nation encompassing nearly 900 programs. Take a look at it: www.AFM CollegeDirectory.com.

The convneiton was considered a huge success with estimates of between 6,000 and 6,500 attending the event. In talking to a number of coaches at all levels it became clear that there are many outstanding coaches that for the most part go unnoticed. We asked a number of them what they woulod like to see more of in upcoming issues of AFM.

The one topic almost overwhelming brought up by many coaches was drills. More specifically, detailed position drills that coaches can use right away. We plan to include a detailed drills report in every future issue. The second topi cmentioned by many coaches was off-the-field subjects such as off-season conditioning and motivation. Future issues will include both and concentrate on coaches’ different methods to motivate players.

Veteran football coach Lou holtz once said that fear is the greatest motivator. “If a player fears something–his life, his family, even his position on the team–you know he’ll give you 100%.” Let us know your thoughts on the topic of motivation. That is, what’s worked and what hasn’t. We want to hear from you.

American Football Monthly is about to release the first ever AFM College Football Directory. Published online, this complete listing of football contacts throughout the country is now available for only $49.00. No organization has ever compiled a more comprehensive college football resource. Consider what it includes:

*A complete directory of all 841 colleges that have football programs (FBS, FCS, Division II, Division III, NAIA, and NJCAA colleges) which translates into a listing of nearly 9,800 coaches.

*Contained within each college listing are web sites, complete coaching staffs, athletic directors, recruiting coordinators, and sports information directors along with phone numbers and email addresses.

*A specific coach, recruiting coordinator, athletic director, of SID can be searched by name, college or conference.

*The directory’s most unique feature is that it will be updated WEEKLY! With changes in both coaching staffs and athletic department’s happening as we speak, you are assured of the most accurate and up-to-date information available.

All this…all online…for $49.00. If you’re a high school or college coach, a football advertiser or supplier, or a member of the media—you can’t live without it. It’s also the perfect directory for high school players who want to get noticed by recruiters at all levels or coaches that want the latest information related to coaching changes.

Just go to www.AFMCollegeDirectory.com….talk about one-stop shopping. Wait a minute—there’s been another coaching change…

The recent developments related to Urban Meyer’s health situation transcend decades. Other coaches over the years have left their passion because of health-related issues. The pressure, the stress, the all-encompassing commitment have forced many head coaches to leave the game they love prematurely.

Meyer is the perfect example. His drive and ambition have been well-documented. He was quoted as saying that “…I’ve got to take better care of my health.” After resigning last week, Meyer changed his mind and decided to take an “indefinite leave of absence.” An analogy can be made to former Notre Dame coach Ara Parseghian.

The ‘Era of Ara’ began in 1964 when Parseghian began an 11-year run as Irish Head Coach. From a 2-7 record in 1963, Parseghian rocked the college football world as Notre Dame came within an eyelash of winning the National Championship. The Irish finished 9-1, losing to USC in the last game of the season, 20-17. Two National Championships did come later in 1966 and 1973. But the pressure-cooker of being the face of Notre Dame football took its toll. By the end of the 1974 season, Parseghian, then only 51, said stress had affected his health and he resigned.

He never coached again. Parseghian helped build a successful life insurance business and was both a television college football studio commentator and game analyst for a number of years. He’s now 86 and still living in South Bend.

Maybe a similar path is next for Urban Meyer. Or maybe it should be.

In the Southeast if you mention USF, most sports fans know you’re referring to the University of South Florida. In San Francisco’s Bay area, if you talk about USF, it’s the University of San Francisco. But in America’s Midwestern heartland, USF now refers to only one place—the University of Sioux Falls. Under Head Coach Kalen DeBoer, Sioux Falls just won their second straight NAIA National Championship, defeating Lindenwood in the title game, 25-22. In fact, since DeBoer took over for legendary coach Bob Young in 2005, his resume includes:

*Three NAIA Championships (2005, 2008, and 2009)

*An overall five-year record of 67-3.

*A stunning 28-13 win earlier this year over the University of North Dakota, a Football Championship Subdivision team.

*A current 29 game-winning streak.

DeBoer played at USF where he was an All-American wide receiver and the school record holder in receptions (234), receiving yards (3.400) and touchdowns (33). He then became a graduate assistant at USF and eventually moved up to offensive coordinator, a position he held from 2000-2004. At 32, DeBoer was named head coach, and, in his first year guiding the Cougars, USF won the NAIA Championship.

USF plans to move up to Division II status in 2011. DeBoer and his staff promise they’ll be ready for the change. But will their competition?

Critics have been bashing the Bowl Championship Series for 12 years, or, since its inception. Then, and now, only six conferences receive automatic bids: The Big East, Atlantic Coast Conference, Southeastern Conference, Big Ten, Big Twelve and Pac-10. The BCS then awards one automatic berth to a top-rated team from one of the five middle-level conferences—the Mountain West, Conference USA, Western Athletic Conference, Mid-American Conference, and the Sun Belt. This year two teams from these conferences landed in the BCS line-up for the first time: TCU and Boise State. They will be playing each other in the Fiesta Bowl. Two ‘At-Large’ teams complete the BCS field: Florida and Iowa.

The bulk of the $150 million in revenue among the BCS games goes to those six conferences and their 65 schools. The six conferences are expected to pull in a collective $116 million. About $34 million is projected for the five lower profile Football Bowl Subdivision conferences.

You can argue with this system but until there is an actual playoff, this format works. With five major undefeated teams, the potential match-ups are endless but without the playoff system, it becomes a moot point. While the imbalance is apparent, the irony is that there is more revenue generated for all the bowl games than ever before in the history of the sport. Each of the 34 bowl games that runs this year from December 19th to January 7th has a corporate sponsor and the total amount of payouts is double what it was 15 years ago. And that means a payday for 68 colleges.

Later this afternoon most of the nation’s football fans will be clued to CBS Sports to watch coverage of the SEC Championship game in Atlanta that matches two unbeaten teams, Florida and Alabama. At about the same time and nearly a thousand miles away the semi-finals of the Division II Championship will take place on ESPN II where Grand Valley State hosts Carson-Newman.Set in Allendale, Michigan, Grand Valley State is a member of the Great Lakes Conference. Under sixth year head coach Chuck Martin, the GVSU Lakers have been, in a word, incredible. Including this year’s 12-1 record, the Lakers have gone 73-6 under Martin with two national championships during his tenure. They are the winningest D-II program in the country.An All-American free safety while at Millikin University, Martin began his coaching career at Mankato State in 1992. He then had stops at Wittenberg, his alma mater, and  Eastern Michigan. It was then on to GVSU where Martin was the Defensive Coordinator of the 2003 National Championship team. The Lakers that fall led the nation in two defensive categories: rushing defense and turnovers forced.If successful this afternoon, Grand Valley State plays next Saturday for another D-II championship. And that game will also be televised. But the competition this time is only Army vs. Navy.

I experienced watching both a college overtime game and an NFL overtime contest over the last month. One was an enjoyable experience as my college team won. The other was a disaster as my NFL team lost.The college rule lets both teams have a shot at winning; the NFL rules do not. My NFL team came back in the fourth quarter with two touchdowns and sent the game into overtime. They then lost the coin flip and the rest is history. They never saw the ball as their opponent marched down the field and kicked a 35-yard field goal. The range of my emotions went 180 degrees from euphoria as the game went into overtime and then disappointment when the winning field goal was made.The NFL has to change the overtime rule. Period. Both teams need a chance to win the game. One writer suggested keeping the same basic overtime rules but that a touchdown (rather than a field goal) must be scored. In this scenario field goals are not allowed. Can you imagine the strategy used on those fourth and two situations? It will also make for a more exciting finish.You can debate the pros and cons of the college overtime rules but it works. Both teams have an equal opportunity to win the game and they play until there is a winner. The NFL doesn’t even do that. A game is counted as a tie if the 15-minute overtime period is scoreless. Someone said that’s like kissing your sister.