What too look for when scouting

• defense by formation ... fronts
  
• blitz by formation ... who is blitzing
  
• coverage by formation ... zone/man; mofo/mofc; who from front is in coverage
  
• coverage by down/distance ... zone/man; mofo/mofc
  
• blitz by down/distance ... overall %; % inside pressure vs % outside vs no pressure
  
• defense when offense is coming out (minus 20) ... overall scheme; does it change based on how they normally defend the formation
  
• defense inside the 20 ... overall scheme; does it change how they normally defend the formation or % they normally blitz
  
• goalline defense (inside 5) ... front; coverage; blitz %; inside vs outside pressure; who has the back out
  
• motion adjustments ... coverage adjustments; front adjustments
  
• shift adjustments ... coverage adjustments; coverage adjustments; do people flip sides on the shift or slide
  
• blitz based on field/boundary ... where is it coming from
  
• adjustment to trips and/or twins into the boundary ... is coverage or front affected or played differently than normal
  
• who has contain on play away ... backside end or lb on such plays as toss, zone, fly, etc.
  
• how to DE's play things such as GT, counter, etc.
  
• how fast to LB's play ... do they fill hard, get one read and hit it on run plays, fly out to zone on pass key, etc.
  
• who is their best DL vs run; best pass rusher; weakest
  
• who is their best cover guy; who is their weakest
  
• who is their best LB on runs away, runs to; who is worst
  
• who can we get isolated on our best receiver; how (formation, motions,shift, down-distance, etc.)
  
• who must we set the protection to ... who must we assure we get an potential extra body fo

Off-season evaluation

2008 reflection
-what did we do well
-what do we need to do better/change - scheme, practice, game management - anything
-responsibilities - game/practice set, positions coached, special teams coordinated, etc.

2009 Depth Chart
-who are we losing
-who do we have
-what do we need
-who can we develop - weight room, agilities, etc.

Pre-Clinic Plan
-what do we want to do better
-what offenses do we want to learn
-who do we want to hear speak about it

Game Film Break Down (Our own game films)
- Gap Chart
- Field Chart
- Formation Break down

Gave each assistant 2 game films, I let them choose 2 of the 10 games. While they are doing that, I go back through the film and chart out who cost us and why...was it a scheme issue, was it a technique issue, was it a key issue, was it a kid issue. I also draw up any adjustments anyone made during the game and what that meant in terms for us defensively.

We will have monthly defensive staff meetings.

A Good way to call motion

Z = Z receiver
W = X receiver
B = Fullback
T = Tailback (A back)
Y = Y receiver (Tight End)

op = arc motion
ap = crack motion
ip = across the formation
oom - motion to lead
ail = away from strength (for players in the backfield)
een = to strength (for players in the backfield)
urn = motion half way and back

Top, Tap, Tip, Tomb, Tail, Teen, Turn
Bop, Bap, Bip, Boom, Bean, Burn
Zop, Zap, Zip, Zoom, Zeen, Zurn
Wop, Wap, Whip, Womb, Ween, Wurn
Yop, Yap, Yip Yoom, Yeen, Yurn

How discipline works

The many pay for the sins of one.

Here's the question, what do you want the team to look like under the lights?

Then that is how you have to make them look all the time, it's not a light switch, it can't be a little tardy to practice is OK, it can't be loafing in form running is overlooked. Whatever you want to see has to be reinforced everyday you're with the kids and you have to stay on top of it.

Here's a couple of examples:
1. When we form run we start behind the line. A coach stands at the line and if anyone starts on the line we either start over, OR we do up/downs as a team.

2. We run...not a sprint, definitely not a jog...but a run to and from every drill or station. If anyone...and I do mean ANYONE is not running...we do up/downs as a team. (we had so slow learners this year).

3. Team meal starts at 3:30 - if you're late, you don't start and we do team up/downs in pre-game. Guess what..we only had to do this once, humility is a bich.

You just have to make "this is how we do things" a point of emphasis in every phase of the program. Here's a great example, where I was at before the kids didn't have lockers, they had stahls, a shelf, 3 hooks and a chair.
Their helmet was to sit on the shelf facing to the right, shoulder pads on the first hook, pants on the 2nd, girdle on the 3rd, shoes side by side under their chair. We did several penalties for this from throwing all that kid's stuff on the floor by his chair to up/downs, to running but we did it all (except stuff on the floor) as a team.

Was it a little extreme? Sure, matter of fact I think it was down right being an a-hole BUT what it did was eventually a kid or 2 would check the room before they left to make sure it looked right, eventually they got tired of running or up/downs and tired of doing it for the other kids and finally they opened their mouth and said "this is how it's going to be, YOU need to...." and a leader was born. I was as proud as I could have possibly have been of the 2 kids who spoke up.

I promise you he wasn't the only kid in that locker room tired of up/downs because Jimmy couldn't remember what went on which hook and because he said something, the other players who were tired of it too filled in right behind him.

In the weight room - you'll do what you're suppose to do our we do this thing we call "Plate Paradise". It sucks, the kids hate it, but that's why we do it. If we do it, we make sure we emphasize why we are doing it...most specifically WHO. For the kids who are doing it right, it's not worth it to let you screw around they will police themselves eventually.

We've had players quit, parents complain but they are only complaining or quitting because they want things to be the way they were before.

INSANITY - doing things the same way and expecting different results.

What is Y-Stick?

A horizontal stretch on the flat defender

Pass Pro

Pass Protection

We try to keep our pass protection very simple, but we do have a few forms because we like to vary the launch point for our QBs. However, our two main protections are our 1 back protections and our 2 back(which actually also is used with no back).

On all pass plays the line will take normal splits, smaller on 3-step, and the guards and tackles are to be as far off the ball as possible, but cannot bow the line. (Tackles must be even with guards.)

All of our pass plays are called in the huddle with a callside. This refers both to the frontside for receivers and also for protection. 2 indicated playside right, 1 indicates playside left. Immediately after any playcall is the protection call. We used to call our protection strengths at the line but this greatly simplified things.

E.g. 262 Green is playside right, 62 which is our 60(quick) game and 2 is our slant/shoot package.

---

1-Back:

This is a very simple protection scheme that we use with all of our 3-step routes as well as any one back formations. There are two protection calls, Red and Green. The base rules for this protection are as follows:

Linemen to callside block man on until the first bubble, or essentially uncovered linemen. (We don't say uncovered because of stunting DL but it is generally uncovered). From the bubble to backside the other will linemen will all slide away from the callside to that gap, and, as we like to say, pick up trash. For example versus a standard 4 man front, with the center uncovered, the center, backside guard and tackle will slide that way. Playside guard and tackle will block man on.

The RB essentially blocks LBs inside to out, from the bubble to outside rusher, or if you like Mike to Sam. If they don't come he releases.

Often, against 2 safety Ds and most spread formations he doesn't usually have to dual read.

The difference between Red and Green is simply that in Red, the Tight end (Y) will stay in, and his rules will be exactly like the other linemen. He often will block the DE. In Green he will release. This has been easy for us and is easy to remember(Green-Go, Red-Stay).

This has needed a minimal amount of adjusting. We use this as our 3-step pass protection, and we tell the QB that the 4th rusher to either side is his man, he must have the ball gone. Also we use it as our 5-step protection when we have only 1 back. If we have a tight end on the field, we will use Red in 5-step, we do not use Red in 3-step except against cover 0 type blitzing teams.

---

Two-Back/No-Back(Man Scheme):

This has been very easy for us also. The rules are:

OTs block man(DEs almost always, unless stunt, in which case pick up man coming to you)

Playside Guard, if uncovered, dual read ILB to OLB, Mike to Sam.

If playside guard is uncovered, C and Backside Guard form a 2 man area/zone and will pick up trash.

If playside guard is covered, both guards and center form a 3 man area/zone and pick up trash(DTs, ILBs)

Both backs check release. Backside back checks OLB to outside rusher to release.

Playside back checks OLB(Sam) to outside rusher to release.

This is what we do and it has been very effective. With this we form a cup protection, the tackles want to keep a "half-man advantage" to quote Jerry Cambell, and the interior linemen must stay square and set up, not allowing much penetration up the middle.

We try to focus on the how rather than who.

---

Play-Action:

For our play action, we essentially just do the same thing as Red/Green protections, even from two back, but we more often keep the tight end in. We simply make a call on top of the normal play call, which for us is Gator. E.g. Doubles Rt 252 Red Gator. Doubles RT, the formation, flanker and tight end right, split end and slot left, single back. 252 Callside right, 52 5-step series, 2 is the playcall, which is our corner/smash routes. Red, protection, with Gator adjustment.

All Gator does for the line and tight end is tell them to be slightly more aggressive at the snap, to help sell run. The bottom line however is to get their men blocked. Gator is really for the QB and the RB, as it tells them to carry out their run fake to the callside. The back has the difficult job of using correct steps, faking the handoff, selling it and then carrying out a block or if no one comes releasing into the route. So we spend a lot of time with them practicing this.

This is how we carry out or pocket-style play action passing. We always use green or red with a gator call, with our 5-step route series. There are some of our 5-step plays that we run almost exclusively from play action.

Here are a few notes from an article Bill Walsh wrote about play action passing, they are so helpful, I will quote them at length:

"The offensive line can be an easy place for defenses to find indicators[that it is a play-action pass and not a run]. One of the easy reads for the defense, is if a lineman's helmet pops up. The helmets and pads of offensive linemen have to stay at the same level as on a run play. The secondary defenders, corners or safeties. will see those helmets pop up or the tackle drop back and they know immediately that it is a pass. (For example, if the corner to the open side of the field is looking through an offensive tackle right to the quarterback and he sees that tackle's helmet pop up and step back-he will not care what the fake is, unless it is a fake draw-he will automatically know that the play is a play-pass.)

The quarterback must understand that play pass blocking is not as sound and can break down. He must be prepared for a pass rusher to get off of his blocker and be penetrating early. The quarterback must understand this, concentrate down field, and possibly take a hit just after he throws.

[The Running back's] faking technique requires shoulders at waist-high level, arms and hands held exactly as in taking a hand off-except the far hand is placed flat against the stomach so the ball can be inserted in the pocket then pulled out smoothly.

Basic [play-action pass protection] requires the onside linemen (center-guard-tackle) to employ controlled, quick protection. This is taught as a technique. Contact is made at the line of scrimmage. The defenders cannot be given space. Any space between the defensive and offensive linemen indicates to the defense its a pass. Contact should be sustained but in balance and in control, lunging forward can be disastrous. The ability to move laterally with the defender is critical."

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Half-Roll:

Our half-roll protection is one that we for some reason in our great coaching wisdom, had wanted to get rid of several seasons ago. However, the kids liked it so much and it was always successful and easy for us, that we had to continue using it. It is very similar in concept to the half-roll protection used by the run and shoot, except our QBs have more freedom to keep rolling out and we try to design it as such.

Also, it has continually proven to be positive to vary our launch points for all, and this has also been effective for QBs without very strong arms, and shorter ones to see better. I think many QBs can be more comfortable with this than certain dropbacks.

We use this with our 50 series, but it is independant of callside, because we may not always want to roll to the strongside. We do it by making a Rocket or Laser call, Rocket being half-roll right, Laser being Half-roll left. So for example: Doubles Rt Open 154 Rocket. So players must listen and not confuse the normal callside with the half-roll callside. Anyway, here are the rules:

Backside Tackle: Backside Tackle: Turn and Hinge

Backside Guard: Turn and Hinge

Center: If covered or shade to callside, reach. If uncovered with no shade to callside, turn and hinge.
(Note, on turn and hinges, unless you make immediate contact begin to get depth to stay between the QB and your man. You do not want to be still on the LOS as the DE comes upfield)

Playside Guard: Reach, plug hole/backside

Playside Tackle: Reach (Note: On any reach block, if you are unable to reach, ride your man out to the sideline. Don't get beat outside trying to hopeless reach. A man pushed out of bounds and kept on the LOS is just as effective.)

RB: Take two steps to callside, looking at outside rusher. Look for OLB or outside rusher to come shooting, block first color that shows. If none show, check middle and then backside. You are QBs bodyguard. Step to rush, do not wait for him to get to the QB.

Pre-snap look is key. QB will go at a 45 degree angle to a depth of 5-6 yards and then will level off. He will need to get his eyes up, and look downfield. He can continue moving parrallel to the LOS, but he must know when he must stop and step up in the pocket and deliver the ball. If he breaks contain he can continue out, he does not have a set place he has to be, but he must be smart.

This is a protection reliant on the QB. He must help his blockers by not getting into trouble, thinking he can outrun everyone, and he must have a good sense of timing and be well practiced, as this type of dropback is not as carefully calibrated as our 5 and 3 step drops are. However, its simplicity and ability to move the QB around has been a real asset to us, as shown by the fact that for a time we were too blind to see it.

QB development

QBs should do four main things multiple times a week:

(1) have a 5-10 minute progression of throwing drills with a partner QB; throwing from a knee, feet together, etc. you can find good ones all around. once they learn this they should be doing this on their own before and/or after practice.

(2) route lines: QBs and receivers line up and cycle through all your routes from both sides. Make the drill competitive. If dropped balls then one side has to do up downs. If the ball never hits the ground, then coaches do pushups. (you should also integrate this with man to man drills with DBs)

(3) Routes on Air: Airraid drill. Line up QBs and receivers and put out dummies/trash cans where zone defenders are. Biggest part of the drill is that there's lots of throwing and catching, and the QBs must go through all their reads.

(4) 7 on 7 - You must do this with some regularity. The more you throw the more you must do it. Run all your route packages, let the defensive coordinators surprise you a bit. Guys have to get used to having people fly around. If you want to distract your QB throw dummies at him while he drops back, make him move around in the pocket.

Settle & Noose is a good one but I find it's not as relevant if you're not an Airraid/chuck it type team (though others may disagree).

DEVELOPING YOUR COACHING PHILOSOPHY By Heidi Thibert, US Figure Skating

- NASPE National Standards for Sport Coaches, 2nd Edition
The National Standards BENCHMARKS for developing a coaching philosophy are:

• Identify and communicate reasons for entering the coaching profession.
• Develop an athlete-centered coaching philosophy that aligns with the organizational mission and goals.
• Communicate the athlete-centered coaching philosophy in verbal and written form to athletes, parents/guardians, and program staff.
• Welcome all eligible athletes and implement strategies that encourage the participation of disadvantaged and disabled athletes.
• Manage athlete behavior consistent with an athlete-centered coaching philosophy.

A coaching philosophy that is well-thought out clarifies many aspects of the coach's delivery and presents a consistent and positive message to the athletes being coached. Coaches carry out our roles based on our experience, knowledge, values, opinions and beliefs. With that in mind, each one of us that coach need to take the time to think through and formalize our personal coaching philosophy. So how do we develop a coaching philosophy?

START AT THE VERY BEGINNING, A VERY GOOD PLACE TO START

According the experts in the field of coaching, to develop a formal coaching philosophy, start by creating a coaching philosophy document that states the goals of: improving coaching skills, improving coach/athlete satisfaction, and improving athletic results.

The late great Canadian coach, Frank Reynolds teaches us that, to be successful in the coaching field, use three components to guide you, and adapting them to skating, they would look like this:

1. Know yourself as a coach: your strengths, weakness and areas requiring improvement.
2. Know what you are up against and the obstacles you may encounter in coaching.
3. Understand your athletes, their personalities, abilities, goals, and why they are in the sport.

WHAT KIND OF COACH AM I?

It takes an honest self-assessment to admit to having weaknesses, but of course, we all have them. It is just best that they do not interfere with good coaching judgment. If you emphasize your strengths, you will be able to identify consistent ways to coach that best utilizes those strengths. To find out what your coaching strengths are, you can ask yourself a few questions: Are you?

• A former athlete, a natural teacher, or dynamic motivator, or efficient communicator?
• Easy going, energetic and dynamic, serious and strict, or outgoing and friendly?
• Perceived by others the same way you perceive yourself?

The opportunity to make a full assessment of your strengths and weaknesses and recognizing your morals, values and beliefs, you are better able to adjust your style of coaching to the athletes you are coaching. At the same time, you will answer the important questions on why you chose to be a coach, how you communicate and produce as a coach and what goals objectives you have as a coach. The saying is that “Self-knowledge leads to self-confidence”, and you want to radiate what your values are.

WHO AM I COACHING?

With regard to your background and experience and the athletes you work with, it is equally important to understand the perimeters of your coaching context. You need to have a good understanding of the age, gender and training level of the athletes you work with. You can ask yourself several questions to answer those questions:

1. How much time do you have to devote to coaching?
2. What is your coaching commitment level?
3. How much time do your athletes have to devote to train and compete?
4. What is the level of commitment that your athletes have?
5. What are the stages that your developmental clientele currently in?
6. What resources do you have available to help your athletes by enhancing and incorporating other aspects such as sport psychology, nutrition education or sophisticated technique analysis (i.e. Dartfish, etc.)?
7. What are your short-term, intermediate and long-term goals for your athletes?

Undoubtedly, there may be other restrictions that will affect your coaching effectiveness, such as competition with other sports, school pressures and outside activities, even parental interference. Knowing what else is out there enables you to create your annual training program to the specific needs of the athletes you work with. By understanding the outside influences that will affect your coaching, you can incorporate into your coaching some policies on safety, training habits, and behavior, and adapt to the fact that others make decisions that affect you and your athletes.

Relationships with parents can be stressful, and a clear plan on how to deal with an irate or manipulative parent will minimize or avoid a reaction that might make matters more difficult for you. By developing your coaching philosophy to encompass the coaching environment you are in, you can become more effective, productive, and minimize obstacles and other difficulties.

Communication is a vital aspect in your relationships with your athletes. It is very important to talk to your athletes individually to determine what their values and beliefs are, what their goals are and why they are participating. As a coach, you are a powerful role model and can have a tremendous influence on your skaters if you and your athletes are on the same page. Just as you examined your own values, beliefs and habits, take the time to get to know each of your athletes.

Once you know and understand each of your athletes, their strengths, weaknesses abilities and skills, then develop an approach to coaching them. Will you focus on the stars? Will you treat everyone equal in terms of your attention and help? Are you into the team coaching approach, or do you prefer to be a solo act? Questions like these are important to identify your unique style of coaching.


THE JOURNEY IS THE PRIZE

How you as the coach view the results of both training and competition should be a major point of every coaching philosophy. Not many athletes are realistically “Olympic-bound,” and educating athletes that it is more important to focus on their process of development and how they performed in the competition, rather than the results that they achieved, cannot be emphasized enough.

In an athletic competition there can be only one first place. Does that mean everyone else is a loser? Of course not! Therefore, to build confidence and to see measurable progress, and to learn positively from mistakes made, coaches should focus on the process and not the outcomes with athletes. Encourage the athletes and parents to follow your lead. Because the outcomes are obvious, it takes extra effort from the coach, parent and athlete to see the benefit and results of the process of preparing for the competition.

CONCLUSION

Whether we take the time to design a coaching philosophy or not, all coaches operate under a coaching philosophy of some kind that is defined by our actions and beliefs. It can happen by default, or it can happen by a plan that will create a coaching roadmap for you that is realistic and rewarding for both you and your athletes in the form of improved performance. Coaching is all about helping athletes achieve their dreams. It should be done positively, intelligently and with dedication. The positive coach and role model, following a well defined coaching philosophy will be a key ingredient in the success of his or her athletes. For that reason alone, the development of a formal coaching philosophy statement is an essential first step for all coaches.

A Seriers Based Offense by Ted Seay

Let me take you through the thought process behind a series-based offense. Then I'll quickly touch on the other alternative, non-series based offenses.

Let's start with the most basic example possible: the single wing. The original, unbalanced-line version looked like this:



Look carefully at the formation, and you will see that it was designed with one idea in mind -- to run off-tackle to the strong (TE/WB) side. That play forms the core of the most basic series in single wing football, the so-called "straight" or "power" series. When a single wing coach chooses a play from the straight series, he does so with the intention of threatening the strong C gap first and foremost.

His game plan will reduce to this: He will test the defense in the strong C gap and see if it can stop him consistently for less than 4 yards a play. If it can't, he will continue to run off-tackle through the strong C gap.

If the defense can only stop the power off-tackle play short of the minimum offensive payoff (3.3+ yards a crack, or 2.5+ in four-down territory) by unbalancing, that is by bringing other defenders over to the C gap to plug the leak, then the other plays in the series enter into consideration.

For example, if the defense starts crashing the Cornerback and/or outside Linebacker in towards the C gap to shut off the off-tackle play, the offense will now look at running a sweep or optional running pass to get outside of containment and take the ball to the sideline and/or downfield. If the defense weakens its interior strength to try and shore up the C gap, you can expect the offense to run a trap, wedge or seam buck to take advantage of that new weakness.

There are also counter, reverse, and play action plays that will try to exploit other defensive over-adjustments to the basic threat of the power off-tackle play to the strong C gap.

(FYI, Chris Brown's excellent Smart Football blog talks about using complementary plays like the sweep, wedge, counter and play action passes to constrain the defense from its ability to over-adjust and shut down the core play in this series, the power off-tackle. Here is the link:

http://smartfootball.blogspot.com/2008/01/constraint-theory-of-offense.html)

Now: What if the defense can stop him for less than 3.3 yards a play while still staying balanced against his other threats (running to other gaps and/or passing)? It means the defense probably has a personnel advantage.

As a result, the single wing OC will have to reach into his bag of tricks to try and misdirect the defense away from his intended points of attack if he is going to succeed. Now the "constraining" plays gain new importance, as do the other series in the offense, which are predicated more on deception and less on raw power: The fullback full-spin series, the fullback or tailback half-spin series, the buck lateral series, a Jet Sweep series, etc.

These additional play series may even be joined by some out-and-out trickeration in an attempt to move the ball and hang some points on the board -- it's all a function of just how overmatched the single wing team is based on personnel.

So -- coaches that don't base their playcalling on series have a different way of looking at things, right? So let's hear from them how their non-series scheme of playcalling is the most effective way to use their available talent on the football field.

[CRICKETS CHIRPING]

It's OK, guys, I have all day...



Seriously, unless you have your plays organized into:

• core plays, the ones you want to go to against balanced defenses because you are confident you will gain yards with them;
  
• counter plays, which you use to sting defenses which are overbalancing in an attempt to slow down your core plays; and
  
• play-action, which you use to throw the ball when they expect a run (either core or counter), OR run the ball when the defense is expecting a pass
  

...how can you effectively attack a defense? Unless you make these distinctions among your various classes of plays, how will you know what tool to pull out of the box in a given situation? (This is what we are talking about when we accuse coaches of "grab-bagging" on offense by calling any play that pops into their head.)

And if you ARE dividing your plays into core/counter/play action, you are a series-based offense, whether you call yourself one or not.

Reflections from a First Year Football Coach

First and foremost.. The game is simple.. if you cannot block and tackle better than the other team.. YOU LOSE!!

Being a HC actually has very little to do with X's and O's..

You give me the best X's and O's guy and put him in a situation where he is not capable of dealing with the nuances of the situation around him.. and he will not be successful..

You have to have assistants you can trust.. not only trust to be on your side.. but trust to do what is asked of them.. and to be capable of doing what is asked of them.. They don't have to be the best coaches in the world.. but they have to be willing to do what is expected of them.. If not.. you will fail..

There are 3 components of a GOOD football player..

1. Football IQ.. he doesn't have to be the smartest person in the world.. but he needs to KNOW his assignment and be able to think within the confines of what you expect him to do. YOU as a staff have to make sure he KNOWS what and how to do his job.

2. Will and Determination.. You have to have players who want to win day in and day out.. if they do not want to win.. if its not important to them.. then its just a hobby for them.. you don't need those kind of players.. they will be the first to lay down when the going gets tough.. Always choose a football player over an athlete.

3. Physical ability.. Strength and Speed can be developed.. but there is a process.. Potential will always remain potential if not developed.. You have to work to get faster and stronger.. it doesn't just happen.. and if you are playing teams who are working while you are not.. then you will LOSE.

Never underestimate the importance of the little things.. Always ASSUME your players have NO idea about what you are saying.. break it down.. accentuate the positives and fix the negatives..

Yelling doesn't make it better.. learning has to be facilitated.. yelling at a player only puts distance between him and yourself.. you will need to bring him back in to facilitate that learning.. Keep him close by TALKING to him.. and teach him..

Only keep people around who care as much or as little as you do.. If you are there every Saturday, then your assistants need to be willing to do the same.. If you don't want to work on weekends and after hours.. then don't hire guys who do want to be up there.. you are only holding them back from being successful..

You don't have to like the people you work for.. but you do need to respect them.. this is a two way street.. and as a HC you do not have to try to earn being liked by your assistants.. but you do need to do things that they will respect.

Never gripe about a problem that you yourself do not have a solution to. Griping for the benefit of griping is what fans do.. not coaches..

Kids are impressionable.. They will do as you do.. and say as you say.. that can be a good thing or a bad thing.. you choose..

and finally..

when you are up to your eyeballs in crap.. keep your mouth closed!!