Jamie Nye
CFL.ca
REGINA — Imagine my surprise when interviewing Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive end Brent Hawkins the day before the 2010 Grey Cup in Edmonton, when he whispered, “I don’t know if you know this and it may sound crazy, but we haven’t seen a playbook the entire season.”
Crazy!?
That, plus some other colourful words could be used to describe a defensive unit in professional football to go from day one of training camp to the championship game without ever seeing a playbook.
It was just one of the many quirks that Defensive Coordinator Gary Etcheverry brought to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the previous two years. Etcheverry wouldn’t even allow the players to take notes, added Hawkins.
Or so we thought.
“(Mike McCullough) was the only guy who would take notes and he’d keep everything in there,” explained veteran defensive back Lance Frazier when asked what it’s like to have a playbook for the first time in two years.
“He would sneak behind Etch’s back because Etch would get pissed if you wrote anything down so it was good.”
The notes McCullough took from defensive meetings with Etcheverry was just a small chapter in what he refers to as ‘The Bible.’
And ‘The Bible,’ which is now three notebooks and over 100 pages long, truly has the ins and outs of every defence he’s ever seen.
“It’ll be year nine now, it’s got everything you need. Every defensive name, code number, coverage, front – it’s got it all,” admits McCullough.
And the players, when needed, would seek out McCullough to review what was going on within Etcheverry’s defence.
“It was good I just had it all down and if there was some confusion, which at times there were, you just go back to the original notes and bang there you go.”
There was method to the apparent madness within the walls of the Roughriders meeting rooms and on the field. When explained by Frazier, it somehow makes a little more sense why a veteran coach in the CFL would not hand out playbooks to start the season.
And it’s much more than just paranoia.
“Not having a playbook, and this was Etch’s whole deal and it was brilliant, it makes us rely on one another and he always said you learn best by teaching. So for us vets we all had to step up and be leaders and help the young guys. And for us vets, as we were teaching we were learning a little bit as we went.”
But that wasn’t good enough for McCullough, who despite the coaches wishes, continued to put pen to paper.
“I understood what (Gary Etcheverry) was saying, it’s just different people learn different ways so I liked having it down. Although I didn’t need to refer to it a whole lot, but it was nice to have it down so if there was some confusion or an issue I could just go back to it. But I understood what he wanted to do but that’s just my way of learning.”
Going into 2011, however, things have changed. Richie Hall has printed and handed out playbooks to everyone as they re-implement some of Hall’s schemes and also carry over some of what worked from Etcheverry’s system.
It’s just a matter of getting over the initial shock of having something tangible to refer to.
“It’s a beautiful thing, man, I almost didn’t know what to do with the thing,” joked Frazier. “I didn’t know whether to throw it across the room like a frisbee or read it. It’s definitely nice to have one of those to relate to.”
But the Saskatchewan Roughriders will go into the 2011 season carrying over the positives Gary Etcheverry brought to the team from his time as an assistant in 2008, as a defensive coordinator in 2009 and 2010, and up until his resignation just days before training camp.
“Effort, definitely, running to the ball and he also had some different schemes that I think we’re kind of incorporating as well,” reflected McCullough about his former coach.
McCullough will surely be adding a few more notes this season, although after nine years of professional football, there’s not much more he needs to add.
