Locals get pigskin lesson from ‘Our Boys’

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January 14, 2012 - 12:00 AM

The best way to learn about football is to watch games, Jeff Kluever told a dozen listeners at the Iola Public Library Thursday night.
The presentation by Kluever, executive director of the Allen County Historical Society and a former coach, kicked off the spring session of Iola Reads. “Our Boys,” an account of the sterling success of the Smith Center High School football team, as well as its fans and the community, is the selection.
“What’s important is to know enough to enjoy watching” football, said Kluever, who suffered a career-ending knee injury in high school, and then kept close to the game through coaching.
A tendency is “to make the game the most technical thing in the world,” Kluever observed. “It isn’t. It’s just a matter of blocking and tackling, passing and catching, and running.”
Watching on television is enjoyable, he added, “but it’s better in person.” Being at a game permits a fan to take in all that’s peripheral to what occurs on the field, views of the sidelines, what other fans are doing, kids playing in the stands.
Responding to a question, he said, “Everyone gets hurt. It’s kind of like boxing,” a player may not take a big hit that’s debilitating, but “the little punches add up.”
When professional players say playing the game takes years off their lives, “they’re not kidding,” Kluever added. To prevent more injuries, the pros seldom wear have contact in practice and don’t have full-scrimmage practices after the preseason.
“In college, we didn’t let our kids knock each other to the ground in practice,” he noted.

KLUEVER gave a look at the main parts of the game – offense, defense and special teams.
“In my previous life they paid me to coach the offensive and defensive lines,” he said, with his expectation that coaching football would be his career. In 2009, with the economy in free fall, his position on the Carroll University, Waukesha, Wis., staff was cut. “I came here (with ACHS) and it’s worked out well.”
He handed out playbooks for the defensive unit at Carroll and for the Wartburg College offense, which gave graphic views of what players were expected to learn, “the thousands of sets, plays and schemes that can be used in a game.”
He pointed out that a role of his, as an assistant coach, was to analyze game films of upcoming opponents, with liberal computer assistance, “which makes it much easier than it used to be” to identify tendencies and help develop his team’s preparation.
With offense, Kluever noted five linemen – center, two guards and two tackles – had to be on the line of scrimmage, as well as two others, tight ends, who might or not be eligible to catch a pass, or wide receivers.
“Players always in the same positions on every play are the linemen and the quarterback, who handles the ball every play and is the most important player on offense. That’s why quarterbacks are paid so much in the pros,” he said.
Teams have many offensive sets – configurations of where players are when the ball is snapped – and “thousands of plays,” Kluever observed, the object being to confuse the defense and make yardage.
“Remember,” he added, “we’re dealing with 18-, 19-, 20-year-old kids (in college) and if you get them confused their minds explode.”
He drew on a white board various offensive formations and noted that if a wide receiver was on the line of scrimmage, outside a tight end, “the tight end is covered up and is ineligible to receive a pass.” He also quipped that “offensive linemen, at 6-6 and 330 pounds, are freakishly good. They’re incredible athletes.”

“DEFENSES have a ton of schemes and a million different plays,” Kluever continued. “Basically, there are three linemen and four linebackers or four linemen and three linebackers,” with the linebackers usually positioned in strong, middle and weak positions, determined by how the offense sets itself and to take advantage of the linebackers’ individual skills.
Once both teams are set, the quarterback “reads” the secondary, usually two cornerbacks and two safeties intent on stopping pass plays, to determine whether a blitz is likely. Linebackers can feint an effort to crash through the line and tackle the quarterback, but when secondary players move, that’s a dead giveaway because they don’t have as much time to retreat.
A blitz, Kluever explained, is a player other than a lineman crashing through the line meaning to make life miserable for the quarterback. He drew scenarios to show how defensive coaches tried to overload offensive linemen to open lanes to the quarterback.
Third phase of the game is special teams, which take the field for punts, kickoffs and field goals.
They, too, have specific plays to cover kickoffs and punts, to return either and to try to make and block fields.
Turning to rules, Kluever said a common penalty was a false start. Offensive players have to be set a second before the ball is snapped and even something as innocuous as a sneeze that causes a player’s head to bob a bit can trigger a penalty of five yards for a false start.
Holding by offensive linemen and defensive backs also is common, as are pass interference and illegal blocks. Their flagging is subjective, Kluever said, and holding “probably could be called on every play,” although officials usually overlook an offensive lineman holding onto a defender’s jersey if it is done inside his shoulders. He told players he coached to use the strategy, Kluever said.
“There also are lots of little situational penalties,” he added. “Many are for player safety, such as helmet-to-helmet hits,” discouraged because they often lead to concussions.

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