Packers' Bates viewed by some as a miracle worker
NERDMANN
Packers' Bates viewed by some as a miracle worker
BY LORI NICKEL
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
GREEN BAY, Wis. - Coaches are expected to be able to handle injuries,
mistakes and criticism and get players to believe in their philosophies and
strategies.
But try coaching for a bush league outfit where the lights would go out in
the middle of a game, the team was the subject of numerous lawsuits and the
players' paychecks bounced.
Back in the mid-1980s, that's what Jim Bates faced as the head coach of the
San Antonio Gunslingers of the United States Football League.
Team owner Clinton Manges was in all kinds of trouble with his team, the
community and the league, and in the 1985 season, when the paychecks didn't
come, there was almost a player revolt.
Yet Bates actually managed to convince his men to show up for practice and
games.
``Here's a team that didn't even get paid for a whole year,'' said Bates'
youngest son, Jeremy. ``He got the players to play like high school kids,
college kids. They played for free and had fun doing it.
``At the end of the day, that's what it's about. It's still a game. You have
to enjoy what you're doing, play full speed, have passion for the game.
That's what you preach. If everyone believes in it, and everyone just goes
out there and plays the game for the game, then what he's trying to do gets
done.''
Fast forward 20 years. The USFL is long gone and Bates, 59, is in his 15th
season in the National Football League and first as the Green Bay Packers'
defensive coordinator. About the only consistently good thing going for the
Packers in this 2-7 season is Bates' 10th-ranked defense. He is viewed by
some as a miracle worker.
That's funny to Bates because there's nothing miraculous about it. He says
football all comes down to the fundamentals. That's what the Gunslingers
bought into, that's what he began selling when he took over one of the worst
defenses in Packers history, that's what was ingrained into him when he
played himself.
Growing up, Bates attended a two-room school house in Oxford, Mich. His
parents worked in the assembly line at Pontiac Motors for 35 years. He
didn't follow college or pro football because he hunted, fished and played
sports from sun up to past sun down. His high school gathered about 28 kids
every fall for the football team, and everyone played both ways.
``Then I stepped on the football field as a freshman in high school,'' Bates
said. ``After three or four days, I knew right then I was going to coach.''
Bates would later stand alongside colleagues like Bill Belichick, Steve
Spurrier and Barry Switzer on the sideline, but it was his high school
coach, Walt Braun, who most influenced him by stressing fundamentals.
Bates was intimidated by his role model but still had the nerve to walk into
Braun's office and tell him he was starting the wrong player, who happened
to be a very good 195-pound athlete. Bates pointed out to Braun that the
other player wasn't making enough tackles. Bates took a verbal scolding from
his coach, but he started the next game and never looked back.
He could have played at Central Michigan, at Hillsdale College for coach
Frank ``Muddy'' Waters or at Albion College. Weighing just 158 pounds and
standing a mere 5 feet 10 inches, Bates walked on at the University of
Tennessee instead, at linebacker, in 1964.
``I got it in my mind I wanted to play big-time football,'' Bates said.
At Tennessee, there were ``45 scholarships and 200 players lined up,'' Bates
said. He climbed from last place, the 18th linebacker on the depth chart, to
earn a free ride as a top linebacker and played alongside future pros Jack
Reynolds and Steve Kiner. He played on three bowl teams under coach Doug
Dickey, including the second-ranked squad that won the Southeast Conference
title before losing to Oklahoma, 26-24, in a thrilling Orange Bowl game on
Jan. 1, 1968.
That ended his playing days, but Bates has had a coaching job every year
since then. He has coached at every level: high school, college, the Arena
Football League, USFL and NFL. His two sons, James and Jeremy, caught his
love for the game. James was the defensive captain for the 1996 national
champion Florida Gators and Jeremy quarterbacked at Rice. Now 29, Jeremy is
the youngest quarterbacks coach in the NFL, with the New York Jets.
``Ever since I was 5 years old, I attended two-a-days with him and I was
always his ball boy,'' Jeremy said. ``If you've ever been out to practice
watching him, he's coaching everybody on every play. Everything he does is
with high energy. His passion is just amazing, no matter what the scenario
is. And then what he teaches is fundamentals, old school football. He
probably teaches the same thing he taught at Sevier County (Tenn.) High
School back in the '70s, just tacklin' and runnin' to the ball. It's not
real complicated but if you get 11 guys believing in it, it's successful.''
Of all the assistant coaching stints he has had, from the University of
Florida to the Miami Dolphins, Bates fondly recalls those bare bones days in
San Antonio. He didn't exactly inherit a stable of talent. When the USFL
folded, the NFL took 150 of its players, but only one was from that San
Antonio team.
``We had nobody, just guys who loved football,'' said Bates, who finished
last season as the Dolphins' head coach after Dave Wannstedt resigned. ``And
we're playing against the Herschel Walkers, the Jim Kellys, the Steve
Youngs. We beat Steve Young. If I were to say, `This team overachieved,'
that would be the team of my whole career. We turned the ball over some 40
times, we had 28 interceptions, scored eight times on defense. I'll never
forget that year. That was probably the most gratifying season I have ever
had in football because nobody thought we could line up and play.''
In Green Bay this year, Bates has benefited from a healthy unit for the most
part, and consistent play from the defensive line.
There's still great room for improvement beyond what Bates has done in nine
weeks, but clearly there have been signs of the headway Bates has already
made, especially in the run defense.
The game has vastly changed since he played 40 years ago. He recalls his
college defense having two fronts and three coverages: three-deep,
man-to-man or blitz.
``The sophistication of the game with all the personnel groups, all the
different formations, all the matchups, it is a much different game than it
was 15, 20 years ago, especially 30 years ago,'' Bates said. ``But the
foundation to me, of football, is still fundamentals. Technique. As long as
I have any part in the game, it will be the heaviest emphasized.''
One of the first things Jeremy Bates does every Sunday when the Jets are
finished playing their game is to check for the Packers score.
``I have tremendous respect for what he does,'' Jeremy said. ``The reason I
am coaching the game is because of all the years being a ball boy just
watching him run around the field and the love he had for the game. He's
flying around the practice field like it's the last practice he'll ever be
at. That really left a big mark on my life, just how much fun he had doing a
job. You watch him, it's a refreshing sight to see a coach flying around,
giving high fives, patting people on the back. He's so positive.''
J2
Colonel Angus
back, but that was a lifetime ago.
Speaking of pulses, half of the old New England team (players and
coaches) is in dallas now. That is what brought a pulse to them.
On Wed, 16 Nov 2005 18:31:53 GMT, Spike <sp...@spike.spike> wrote:
>On 16 Nov 2005 07:32:25 -0800, "J2" <aswa...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>>miracle worker is a perfect description of that man.
>
>Figures it would take a former Cowboys coach to generate a pulse on
>that team.
Edw
"Spike" <sp...@spike.spike> wrote in message news:3oumn1t2kud3co92n...@4ax.com...
>
> that team.
Figures you would post something totally irrelevant.
>
Edw
"Spike" <sp...@spike.spike> wrote in message news:er7pn19lpm5vm233i...@4ax.com...
Look up the word "irony."
Len
"Spike" <sp...@spike.spike> wrote in message
> On Thu, 17 Nov 2005 15:53:50 GMT, "Edw" <the...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
>>
>>"Spike" <sp...@spike.spike> wrote in message
>>news:er7pn19lpm5vm233i...@4ax.com...
>>> On Thu, 17 Nov 2005 03:07:17 GMT, "Edw" <the...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Spike" <sp...@spike.spike> wrote in message
>>>>news:3oumn1t2kud3co92n...@4ax.com...
>>>>> On 16 Nov 2005 07:32:25 -0800, "J2" <aswa...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>miracle worker is a perfect description of that man.
>>>>>
>>>>> Figures it would take a former Cowboys coach to generate a pulse on
>>>>> that team.
>>>>
>>>>Figures you would post something totally irrelevant.
>>>
>>> Eh, it's as relevant as the Marco "Riviera" thing.
>>
>>Look up the word "irony."
>
>
> Look up the phrase "2-7".
phrase
LOL
PC
"Len" <y66s...@s888w288e8.com> wrote in message
news:h%8ff.1738$vq1...@tornado.rdc-kc.rr.com...
>
>>
>> Look up the phrase "2-7".
>
> phrase
>
> LOL
No kidding. What a dork.
Edw
"Spike" <sp...@spike.spike> wrote in message news:g1prn1pugrpmb7gfm...@4ax.com...
> Snipes a dork.
No it isn't.
>