Rams News

Rams game preparation begins in meeting rooms

Saturday, September 5, 1998

By Elizabethe Holland
Of The Post-Dispatch

Eight o'clock in the morning and Rams special teams coach Frank Gansz is spring-loaded, full-throated, optimistic and eager to inject the Rams with the same optimism and ebullience.

"Get . . . off that block! . . . Close the gate! . . . When taking on a blocker you don't stand there taking him on; you attack him!"

Gansz has spent four to five hours preparing for the special teams meeting in the Rams' conference room, and he wants more than anything to use the time to teach his notebook-wielding audience the intricacies of successful kickoff and punt returns and other such game necessities.

His energy and fast-talking are assets in helping him run a productive meeting - something every NFL coach realizes he must be able to do. After all, although most people assume a football team's preparation takes place on the football field, players often spend more time in meeting rooms examining game film and discussing game plans than they do sweating it out on the practice field.

"There's a lot more than just practice," Rams defensive tackle D'Marco Farr said. "Practice is actually the shortest thing we do. We go for about three hours on the field (each day) and each player probably gets about an hour total of practice time. Other times you're watching or taking a water break or whatever.

"Most of the stuff is done during meetings."

That fact comes as somewhat of a shock to rookies, whose college memories don't include hours spent strategizing and picking over points in meetings.

"It's definitely different than college," said rookie Robert Holcombe.

Rams offensive tackle Ethan Brooks recalls that in his time at Division III Williams (Mass.) College, players would meet a couple of hours a week, as opposed to the three or more hours a day Rams players spend in meetings.

"It's not overtaxing," Brooks said of the meetings. "It's not like we've got that much stuff to memorize. We're just going over stuff, kind of repetitive."

And going over and over and over stuff can get boring. So it helps when a coach is well-versed in juicing up the team with good stories, strong humor and endless energy.

Among the Rams coaches who run the most effective meetings, according to some players, are Gansz and offensive line coach Jim Hanifan.

"We go to some pretty funny O-line meetings and he's (Hanifan) a great teacher, too, so it helps when you can be a little funny and get your point across," Brooks said. "He's been in the league for so many years so he's got stories about everything and everybody so it keeps us interested.

"And then there's Frank Gansz . . . who's just 100 percent intense all the time."

Farr agrees with that assessment. Some of the meetings that players are required to attend are "borderline doze-offs," he said. But never special teams meetings led by Gansz, who the players call Crash.

"You don't dare fall asleep in Crash's meetings," Farr said. "He will turn on the lights and look you eye to eye and wake you up. And waking up to Crash is not good. . . .

"But I think that's when you learn better, when you're scared to death to fall asleep."

The coach believes the learning process is best when it involves audio and visual, as well as kinetic methods, so if a player isn't following the red dot he shoots onto the screen with his laser pointer and isn't listening to Gansz's breakdown of game film, that player may be missing out on a load of learning.

For those who have a difficult time grasping what is preached to them in the meeting room, there is the option of even more time with the coaches, head coach Dick Vermeil said.

"If the only reason a guy can't play is he makes a lot of mental mistakes,
and he has the talent to help us, then we get him more meeting time," Vermeil
said. "Tutor him."

ARCHIVE

HOME