Television Development of Michigan State College in cooperation with the Athletic Department presents the Spartan Sports Clinic featuring this week the end coach at Michigan State Earle Edwards along with your College Station Sports Director Bob Shackleton. This program is presented each week at this time to better acquaint you with the fundamentals of the game and take you behind the scenes of collegiate football and now to the office of the College station sports director and Bob Shackleton. [Bob Shackleton] Hello there everyone welcome again to the fourth in our series of Spartan sports clinics. Well in the past couple of weeks we've been talking about the backfield and different formations and also the work that's cut out for the linemen. This week we want to concentrate our attention if we can on the ends and what they have to go through in collegiate football and we have Michigan State's very capable and end coach Earle Edwards with us to talk about it today so I'd like to start things off Earle by asking you a question that's been on my mind for some time and that is what do you look for besides ability in a good offensive end? [Earle Edwards] Well Bob they ought to be big for one thing those defensive tackles are the biggest men on the field and we've got to be big enough to handle them and then of course height is a great advantage to an offensive end past receiving and speed is important always the faster the better. [Earle Edwards] [Bob Shackleton] Then the three real important things: their height, their speed and stocking/weight. Well what are the different phases so to speak that an offensive end goes through in his training? [Earle Edwards] Well there are three main departments of offensive end play: one is blocking a second pass receiving and third covering punts and we spend a lot of time on the first two and we try to devote enough attention to the third one to do a good job of it. [Bob Shackleton] Well what do stress in blocking? well everybody pretty much agrees [Earle Edwards] Well everybody pretty much agrees on what constitutes a good block in football we try to get under the shoulder of our opponent we try to hit quick and hard with lots of drive and we try to have good balance and stay with him stay right with the block it's the same for an end as it is for any of the linemen up front there to clear a path for the ball carrier. [Bob Shackleton] Well does an end have more downfield blocking responsibilities than than other players or say other line blocking? [Earle Edwards] well I believe our left end blocks downfield more than other linemen do but our right end does a lot of blocking at the line of scrimmage and the left then has some of that to do too. [Bob Shakleton] So then the blocking assignments are pretty varied as far as the end. [Earle Edwards] Oh yeah he blocks all over the field. [Bob Shackleton] Earle I want to ask you one question here and that is about how many plays would a player have to memorize during a season? well he might have [Earle Edwards] well he might have to know oh a hundred variations we might have 30 that we use a lot but they've got to know little variations from from the ordinary plays. [Bob Shackleton] And almost each one of those might have a different blocking assignment so he'd really have to be on his toes. oh yes we have options [Earle Edwards] Oh yes we have options and boys have to go up there and realize what changes the defense has made and they have to make adjustments right there just in a second or two. I noticed that that a lot [Bob Shackleton] I noticed that that a lot of the downfield blocks we see today the the boys are they have their hands and shoulders high their arms high and we don't see so much of the old-fashioned right down at the knees block as we used to we all we see them on their feet more is there a reason for that? [Earle Edwards] Well we we stress more position and timing in downfield blocking it doesn't do any good to go down and roll a man down and have him get up in time to make the tackle and a good ball carrier will use a blocker who perhaps is not even making contact as long as he is a screen between the runner and the tackler. [Bob Shackleton] I think a lot of people think of the offensive end primarily as a pass receiver and I wonder what are the things that they have to think about while they're receiving passes? [Earle Edwards] Well we spend a lot of time on that Bob and if I can step up here to the chart I'll show you what I mean. We have a lot of drills and we work on a good bit man against man we have a defensive back here and then a passer who throws these ends take turns going downfield and using various maneuvers to get away from that defensive half back. Now here you see what we call an out pattern a very popular pass he comes down gets close to the defender then does a quick head and shoulder fake and breaks directly to the sideline. Hard pass to intercept and if the defensive man is too close a good passer will throw the ball on over the sideline out of bounds to avoid interception. Here if an end goes straight downfield about eight or nine yards and turns and faces the passer that's called a hook pass. Now if we call a "hook- and-go" he'll come down and face the passer, the passer will fake to him and then he'll go in some other direction. Here we have one of the oldest patterns one of the oldest maneuvers for getting away from a halfback and that's the old Z. They come down here starting in the direction they're going to end then they put the Z in and break away. In addition to those we have a change of pace and and other little maneuvers that all designed to help a good end get away from a defensive halfback if the back backs up too fast backs away from us so that we can't do this kind of thing then we stop and hook on him. does a pass receiver [Bob Shackleton] Does a pass receiver usually run in a - I notice these are all straight breakaways here - do they ever run in a curve, er curve form? [Earle Edwards] Hardly ever, Bob. It isn't a good policy to run curved patterns, they're too easily covered. The sharp breaks are what enable us to get away from the defensive halfback. [Bob Shackleton] You could shoot a decoy out there in a curve to try and broaden defense. [Earle Edwards] That wouldn't matter very much and we tell our decoys of course if we throw to our number one receiver and he makes the catch then those decoys must get back and try to help him they must be ready to do some blocking just as soon as they can. are there [Bob Shackleton] Well are there fundamentals in actually catching the ball that you have to know about? [Earle Edwards] [Bob Shackleton] [Earle Edwards] [Bob Shackleton] [Earle Edwards] [Bob Shackleton] [Earle Edwards] [Bob Shackleton] [Earle Edwards] [Bob Shackleton] [Earle Edwards] [Bob Shackleton] [Earle Edwards] Well nothing more than any than what is almost instinctive for baseball players and anybody who catches a ball. If the ball comes to you below your waist you generally turn thumbs out to catch it and if it comes above your waist you generally catch it with thumbs in and if it comes over your shoulder you're running away from the ball you generally reach up for it like this and make a stop for it with your thumbs out but most boys we don't have to do much about that most boys do that instinctively. [Bob Shackleton] When a pass receiver is taking the ball over his shoulder why does he have any idea where that would be tackler would be that defensive man? Or should he know where he is? [Earle Edwards] Well he can't always know. Sometimes a good defensive man is right on his back and he's got to concentrate on making the catch but sometimes he realizes that he's broken into the clear and it's a matter of catching it and trying to score with it. well I think we've covered that [Bob Shackleton] Well I think we've covered that pretty well I'd like to ask you about that third phase you mentioned and that is punt coverage. What are the things that an offensive end has to do on covering a punt? [Earle Edwards] [Bob Shackleton] [Earle Edwards] [Bob Shackleton] [Earle Edwards] [Bob Shackleton] [Earle Edwards] [Bob Shackleton] [Earle Edwards] Well we tell them Bob to get downfield just as fast as they can and to use their hands, be rough with those defensive halfbacks we want them to get away from those men and get down there to a certain place down there where they make it almost impossible for that receiver to return a punt. Each end tries to make that punt receiver run toward the other fellow and then if we can get him in a pocket if our two ends can pocket that receiver then our linemen coming down will generally make a tackle that we can't get to them ourselves. [Bob Shackleton] Well what if they have a double safety man down there and they start the crisscross then how do compensate for that? [Earle Edwards] Well, the right is,  the right end always plays the man who comes his way. We have to know for sure and we take the man that comes our way the left and we'll do the same thing and some cases we've assigned other men also to take the man on the right and the man on the left so that we're sure that they don't fool us down there. [Bob Shackleton] Now usually a defensive man - the, the safety man is a pretty fast man isn't he? [Earle Edwards] He's generally the best runner the opponents have yes. [Bob Shackleton] I can see then the main objective as far as punt coverage is concerned is for the two ends to go downfield close in on the safety man or that would be ball Receiver and try to force them toward each other. Is that the idea? [Earle Edwards] That's right. [Bob Shackleton] If they break to the center, you've got your (mumbled) [Earle Edwards] body get him in a pocket where the lineman can can come in and tackle him. [Bob Shackleton] Well that's uh, certainly very clear, clear enough at least I think perhaps we could illustrate a little further by those training films that you brought over under actual game conditions. I remember once I think it was in the 1951 Michigan-Michigan State game down at Ann Arbor that there were a couple of pretty good examples there with the offensive end punt coverage isn't that correct? [Earle Edwards] Well there were other boys doing some great punt covering that day too. Leroy Crane you know made a great tackle on the five yard line and Wayne Benson made some good tackles punts, were covered real well that day by both teams. [Bob Shackleton] Now that was the case where the ends drove him toward the center and then the fullback came down and and really nailed him right in the spot. Well, supposing we show a couple of those films then Earle and you could talk about it as we go along. We'll just turn on the projector here. [Earle Edwards] This first play here Yewcic is punting and Bob Carey our left end, captain of the team, comes down and hits this Michigan boy just about the right time in the right place. No return on that one at all Here again, Yewcic kicks and Bob Carey again makes the tackle and this picture shows you how quickly those linemen other teammates are on that ball. Bob hits him first. And now here in just a second or two are five or six more of our players This time Bill Carey makes the tackle, Yewcic kicking again. This is in the Colorado game this past fall. Bill Carey hits him pretty hard here And separates him from the ball and we're down fast on it recover it and I believe we went on to a score. [Bob Shackleton] Earle, there's  one question about punt coverage I'd like to ask you. When these ends are going down the field, do they keep their eye on the would-be ball carrier or do they ever watch the flight of the ball? [Earle Edwards] Well, you can tell by looking at that receiver where the ball is generally and you dare not look up too much because the defensive halfbacks are taught to take you when you look up. [Bob Shackleton] They kind of look for a cue there. [Earle Edwards] That's a good time to belt you when you're looking up at the ball. [Bob Shackleton] Well, we've talked quite a bit about the our offensive play I'd like to go into the defensive aspect of end play now in the few moments we have remaining. With this two platoon system, uh, platoon system we have in vogue today, I imagine that you concentrate one man for an offensive job and another man for a defense. [Earle Edwards] We do pretty much. [Bob Shackleton] Well, can you show us some of the defensive angles that an end has to think about? [Earle Edwards] Yes I've got a formation here on the chart, an offensive single wing formation. And we tell our ends pretty much the same things, the same fundamental principles. One of course is to come in here to a point and to play the first man who attacks them. It might be a pulling lineman, It might be this blocking back or it might be this man or even a quick hook by this fellow. They've got to be ready for the first man who comes to them. And also, they're told to resist the type of block that's being attempted. If this man pulls out and tries to take our end out, then he fights hard against that and tries to close this gap. He stays in here real close. If this man or someone like that comes out and tries to hook him in, that tells the end that they're going to run around him. So he hand fights that and tries to force it back and over to the sideline so that his halfback and linebacker can come up and help make the tackle. We hardly ever go very deep in here because if you come in very far you're easily turned out however if a pass develops then of course he's got to boil in there just as hard as he can and this man against single wing is in a good position to rush because he's a little bit closer to the passer. Now this man sometimes doesn't have a good opportunity to rush a pass from single wing so we often drop him back on pass defense and in that case he too has to practice some extra things he's got to learn to run backwards and got to learn to keep himself between the passer and the receiver. [Bob Shackleton] Supposing your offensive team is in punt formation I imagine that's one of the primary functions of a defensive end is to get at that -block that punt. [Earle Edwards] Indeed we worked on that quite a bit. [Bob Shackleton] What kind of a drill do you teach for that? Do you tell them to go right on in that there and try and get that ball? no we give them [Earle Edwards] No, we give them places to go. Most boys have a tendency to run at the kicker and they'll never block one And they've got to get over in front of him, over in the line of flight of the ball. And it's pretty hard to get them to do that sometimes. But we work on it, and Ed Luke has done some good work there, and so has DeHoney. And I think maybe we'll block some this year. [Bob Shackleton] I remember, I think it was two years ago, down in Notre Dame, where Jimmy King went in and really did a good job. [Earle Edwards] He blocked one, and we got a touchdown on it. [Bob Shackleton] Well, Earl, I want to thank you very much. Our time is just about gone now. It's certainly been very interesting on this discussion of end play in collegiate football. (turns to audience) And I want to thank you also for being with us on the Spartan Sports Clinic for this particular week. Now next week if you'll join us We're going to talk about the various problems that are connected with coaching the freshman with Michigan State's freshman coach Danny Devine. So for now this is Bob Shackleton saying so long and good luck to everybody The Spartan Sports Clinic returns again next week over the same station with more inside information behind the scenes of college football. Featured today was the end coach at Michigan State, Earle Edwards, along with your college station sports director, Bob Shackleton. Don't forget next week at this same time for the next edition of the Spartan Sports Clinic. This series prepared by Claire Tettemer. Television direction by Harold Niven. This has been a video recording by Michigan State College Television.