European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 28, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Monday january 28, 1991. The stars and stripes Page 25 Mckay still picks pm by John Underwood Tampa Fla. Not a people poured into this City for the 25th stupendous bowl. V. A. John Mckay the smartest coach never to coach in one was pulling out. Mckay gave away his six tickets up an offer of $1,000 apiece which he says a tells you How smart i really Amand he and his wife Corky we re to Fly to a Retreat they lease in Palm Springs calif., every year there Mckay was to Hack around the Golf courses for a few Days before sett Ling in on super sunday to watch the game on television at which time he would cheer not for either team but for the coaches. Nowadays he says he always cheers for the coaches if Only As response to the geniuses Madden Maguire it. Al that the networks hire to second guess them from the to Booth. Mckay thinks second guessing in its advanced form is about the Only thing new in pro football these Days. When he says a geniuses a it comes out sounding a lot like a in his Hall of Fame career at the uni varsity of Southern California from i960 to 1976, Mckay a teams won four National championships and went to nine Rose bowls. Then abruptly he quit to become the first coach of the Tampa Bay Bucca neers a High paying but lower flying Job that despite Early successes that included making the National football league playoffs in record time crash landed in 1984 when he quit for Good. Knowing the amount of bile in that last episode it was surprising the other Day to find Mckay living in Tampa and at peace with what had been an unfit finale to a supernal coaching career the bristling Mckay wit was still intact the bitterness was mostly gone. But he said he had t talked to the press for publication in five years a which would make a Happy Man out of he said he had watched the giants beat the bears and heard the analysts raving about the giants four Man line a was if they a invented but it worked he said because it was the equivalent of an eight Man front with the safety cheating up As a fourth linebacker f a the thing is the bears were using the same defense a he said. A the experts never said a thing about it. The difference giants did what you re supposed to do when you see an eight Man front. They passed on first Down. The bears ran. They got nowhere. One of the experts said a we never saw that before Well the University of Oregon in 1954. A so i cheer for the coaches now. I think Bill Parcells of the giants does a he if of a Job so 1 cheer for him. Mike the spit Ter Ditka i cheer for him. The teams Don t mean anything to me.�?�. Mckay said he still thought the Best offence tar running and passing was the i formation which he. Fashioned into a Force at us he was pleased to see the raiders and an old us tailback. Marcus Allen apply it so Thunder ugly against Cincinnati. A he said the Only thing he wished he had been Able to use at Tampa Bay was the option a which the pros never see although there s some of it available now with the Mckay also thinks specialization is out of hand in pro football with coaches making four or five mostly unnecessary Susti Tut ions every Down a so people will see How much they re coaching a and that slows the i used to like to run plays fast get some Tempo going get momentum keep the other Guy off balance a he said. A now they be got the equivalent of 45 seconds Between plays and they go through All those signals on the sidelines and by the time the team drags up to the line they barely get the playoff. V. A then the team that does the Best Job does no to even use a huddle the quarterback just comes up to the line arid Calls the play and goes i was watching Buffalo beat Miami and they re saying a Kelly a calling his own plays a and All Kelly does is take the team tight Down the Field a the next Day Mckay said his health was what had made him quit. A and too 1 did no to think the people Here wanted me a he said. A i thought hell if they done to want me ill get -. A a. A. Its difficult to imagine anyone not wanting Mckay. Bear Bryant the former Alabama coach once said Mckay ranked among the smartest football coaches f Bryant and Lombardi May have been the most awesome and Parseghian a Tern Shula and now scan Ellenburger would be among the greats. But Mckay was the smartest. �?onobody1 knew offence better than John Mckay Quot Bryant said. The Alabama coach made it a Point to get to know Mckay belter the better to pick his brain. They became fast friends and drinking buddies. Once when Bryant was offered the Moon and the stars to coach the dolphins he said Alabama would release him Only if he d Quot get somebody As Good As . Bryant chose Mckay. Though flattered Mckay said he did t think he could a master the . Lekay Triever really figured to leave at us his winning ways and prickly wit made commodity and he. Surfed High on a wave of admiring alumni and Hollywood headliners. The Only thing sharper than his mind was his Tongue. When he modified the old 1-formation and turned Simpson and the other tailbacks Loose writers asked if it Wasny to a mistake to run Simpson 30 or 40 limes a game. A Why Quot Mckay asked puffing on his Cigar. A is he in a Union. The Ball s not heavy.�?�. He wowed his athletes with stratagems and wrinkled their hides w Ith sarcasm. At halftime of one game he scorned their ineptitude that a the worst Kickoff blocking in be Ever seen. Eleven men left standing if you can to do better than that full give you one Guy s number and you can All go Down and Block him.�?�. Eventually however 53-year-old men tire of the indignities of trying to persuade 18-year-old boys where to hang their helmets. Mckay weighed All the scrambling around he had to do a re cruising making speeches conducting clinics a and went to the Money in Tampa Bay in 1976, he said much of pro football is an argument against doing things. 1 in said lie would use the i and let his tailback carry the Ball 25 times a game even if Quot they a did no to think you could. Privately he says Nowr that he knew he had ruffled the feathers of some people a but it was t As if they did t deserve Mckay promised Tampa Bay he would a beat Pittsburgh a timetable a in winning a first Nel feelers did it in 41 years a he said. At one stretch the buccaneers lost 26 games in a Row and the Only thing that stayed buoyant was Mckay a bristling wit. After one particularly galling defeat he was asked to comment on the hues exc up John Mckay coached us Tampa buy. A Praise from Bear Bryant. Cution i m in favor of it a he rep Lieck by 1979, Mckay had beaten the Buena neers Plo shares into Broadsword they went to the playoffs that year the first expansion Teini to make it so quickly and came within a game of the super bowl their tailback Ricky Bell ran for More than 1.2 h Yards and their quarterback Doug Williams was blossoming in 1980, however the hues lost As Many games As they won the year before. Drugs were a contaminating Factor but no revelations were made and Mckay bore the criticism in silence. Quot it burned my i ail a he said Quot hut i got Over he rallied after that and made two More playoffs before the final blow Williams defection to the . Football league in 1983 after a rancorous con tract dispute with culverhouse Williams agent hinted at racism. Mckay notoriously Colo Blind most of his great players were Blackway appalled and finally embittered. After two More losing seasons lie quit. A a referee feels it s just another game by Walt Morrissette staff writer f Tampa Fla. A after 16 seasons of calling National football league games referee Jerry Seeman wore the White hat for the last time sunday As the Crew chief for super bowl xxv. Seeman 54, will replace retiring Art Mcnally As nil director of officiating at league Headquarters in new York on Friday. In an interview saturday at super bowl Headquarters a Seeman said he did no to have the butterflies about refereeing his second super bowl game. He also worked super bowl xxii in Miami a Joe Robbie you get ready and prepare for a super bowl just like any other game and you work it just like any other league game a Seeman said. A the people working the super bowl were judged to be the Best by position among 15 total Crews who worked together the whole season.�?�. A a. A the Crew members by position Are a the referee the familiar White hat who wears the. Microphone explains the penalties to the camera and controls the game. A. A the Umpire who is positioned behind the defensive linebackers. A the head Linesman and the line judge who Are to sinned at each end of the line of scrimmage to Call scrimmage infractions offsides false starts Etc a the Side judge who is positioned 17 Yards Down the sideline from the head Linesman. A the Back judge w to is positioned 17 Yards Dow n the sideline from the head Linesman on the reverse Side. A the Field judge is behind the defensive Backfield 28 Yards front the line of Quot scrimmage. He also Calls defensive Backfield penalties. A the instant replay official who is usually a former Field official. He reviews certain plays to Correct possible errors. But because of the Way instant replay has delayed games despite the two minute review limit instant replay is always under scrutiny and is reviewed annually. This year there have been indications it might be abolished. A . A Quot. A. A instant replay will be Analysed by the Competition committee a Sec Nan said. A and make any recommendations to the owners who will vote on asked his opinion of instant replay he said a was an employee of the nil i will Only say that i want what s in the Best interests of the nil Quot. In his new Job As director of officiating Seeman will be responsible for the hiring of new offi eals training new officials working with the Competition committee on establishing new rules assembling Crews and assigning them to games worldwide. For 16 years Seeman commuted Between two worlds. Purim the week he was an assistant superintendent of schools in charge arid personnel Tor a suburban Minneapolis school District. Livery week he would take a rules exam with two other officials in the Minneapolis area. He would also work out twice a week to stay in shape. Quot we Fly to our game site on saturday morning a Seeman said Quot. A we spend four hours studying the game video from the previous week that has been reviewed by the league office. Quot on game Day we go Over the rules exam go to Church arid get to the stadium two hours before game a. Y Seeman Calls the Crews he worked with each week his family. Will he miss Quot his family and calling the games after he goes to hark Avenue a this will be the very last game i referee a Seeman said. A it will probably hit me when i take my uniform off. My greatest Joy in this game has been to help other people. Instead of helping my family of seven my family will now be 105.�?� not to mention his wife three grown sons and five grandchildren. A. World league update Frankfurt Galaxy general manager Oliver Luck has narrowed his list of coaching candidates Down to three but he will not name his new head coach until he returns to Germany next week. A the leading candidate is former Stanford coach Jack. Elway Luck said. A Jack was also a scout for the jets in 1990, which will be Good because he know s who is coming in from College . A Luck also interviewed Minnesota defensive coordinator Floyd Peters and Wally English. A former head coach ask Tulane and former quarterback coach for Miami. A a. has hit the ground running since he took Over the Frankfurt club j be talked about the Job saturday Al a we aft International news conference. A Quot it s a great Challenge and pretty excited about. It Quot said. A with each passing Day i see More excitement about this league. 1 see people starting to pay attention. They know the league is for real and things arc going Tei a
