Letter From the Editor

A \'blueprint\' for success
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Wouldn’t it be great if a foolproof plan existed to guarantee success? You know, one that we could study to ensure success at everything we attempted. After all, that way I could be assured of a Pulitzer Prize and you, the coach, could be guaranteed national championships and Schutt Sports Coach of the Year awards presented by this magazine. Sounds nice, huh?

This reminds me of an interview I conducted while a sports writer in New Orleans with then-Tulane head coach, Tommy Bowden, in 1998. Now Coach Bowden, who is currently entering his fifth-year at Clemson, had just come off an impressive 7-4 season during his first year with the Green Wave (1997), a team that had not enjoyed too many seasons of success. In fact, before Bowden, Tulane had only managed three winning campaigns in its previous 18 seasons.

I can remember talking with Coach Bowden about his team’s recent turnaround and the bright future that would become an undefeated ‘98 run that would catapult the Green Wave to No. 7 in the final AP standings with a perfect 12-0 record, which included a C-USA championship and a 42-27 victory over Lavell Edward’s BYU squad.

What really captured my attention during the interview was his mentioning of a theoretical “blueprint” for success that his father, Bobby Bowden, had created while taking the job at Florida State back in 1976.

Tommy talked how his father had faced many of the same hurdles at FSU during the early days of building the Seminole dynasty ... he mentioned the lack of support from both the school and the alumni, he mentioned the lack of facilities and the lack of talent needed to be competitive at the college football’s highest level. During the interview, Tommy reached into a cabinet and pulled out a binder filled with pages on Florida State’s early days ... he showed me how by changing the program and winning, Bobby Bowden was able to overcome the obstacles he faced. According to Tommy, “winning solves a lot of problems,” which is a statement that I can totally agree with.

Of course, Tommy used this “blueprint” for success in building a championship football team and applied it to Tulane football ... not only were the Green Wave highly successful during the ‘98 season, but the program has been in pretty good shape under the watch of head coach Chris Scelfo, who replaced Bowden in ‘99.

What does all this mean? Well, we may not all have a binder in our office cabinet that contains a “blueprint” for success, but what you do have is a magazine such as American Football Monthly that continually strives to provide you all the things that can help you become the championship-caliber coach that you want to be. AFM provides education and entertainment through numerous vehicles, such as the magazine – which you should be telling all of your colleagues about; the Web site: www.AmericanFootballMonthly.com – which you should be using to browse the vast archive of AFM clinic articles, features and a 24-hour message board; the email newsletter – which, if you are not already signed up to receive, do so today to have great articles delivered right to your mouse; and with the many valuable coaching videos available at www.AFMvideos.com – which if you have not checked this out, do so soon ... you’ll find a vast array of clinic videos by the names you trust.

So don’t think that just because your father is not the second-winningest football coach in Division I-A (326) that you are at a disadvantage ... after all, even Bobby Bowden reads this magazine.

Respectfully,

Aaron S. Lee
Managing Editor
American Football Monthly

Respectfully, Aaron S. Lee Managing Editor American Football Monthly aslee@lcclark.com

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