Career Record - 1493-241
Career Winning PCT. - .861
National Championships - 6
Conference Championships - 56
Bowl Record - 12-15
Playoff Record - 141-60
Current Teams - Boston College (Rockne), Northern Arizona (Camp), Valdosta State (Bryant), Humbolt State (Wilkenson), Northwestern State (Leahy), Ohio State (Stagg), Long Island (Warner), and USC (Heisman)
The Man:
Scottso14: First off, whats your real name?
Cravedogg: Timothy (Ty) Smith
Scottso14: Where are you from Tim?
Cravedogg: Cincinnati Area
Scottso14: Are you married, single, kids?
Cravedogg: Married with a 2 yr old son - Tyson -- he has already a rocket for an arm
Scottso14: What do you do for work?
Cravedogg: Attorney -- spend a lot of time doing consulting work for the Wireless Industry and also provide some legal services for a Football Scouting Service which is owned by one of my best friends. I think half the time I do the work just to get the inside scoop on some of the football teams.
Scottso14: I'll certainly have to keep you in mind if i should need any legal advice...lol. What are some of your favorite activities?
Cravedogg: golf, snow ski, and watch/play football, -- I have a group of buddies and we get together about 4 or 5 times a year and play football, it is two hand touch but it still gets pretty rough. It is nothing like the movie Invincible but somebody usually gets hurt.
Scottso14: What are some of your favorite hobbies?
Cravedogg: Las Vegas -- it is a big O' playground for Adults
Scottso14: I've never made it out to Vegas, but definatly look forward to getting out there someday soon. I have Atlantic City within a 45 car ride from me, and probably get there 4-5 times a year. But AC is nothing like Vegas. What games to you like to play when your in Vegas?
Cravedogg: I like Blackjack, Craps, and the one arm Bandits. I have played Poker a couple times but would rather move around from game to game and control my table. One of my favorite things about Las Vegas is just going from place to place and hanging out. My suggestion for anyone is go out on Wednesday night and come home on Saturday, this gives you Sunday to rest the body.
Scottso14: What are some of your favorites musical groups or types of music you like to listen too?
Cravedogg: I really like Metallica, Queen, Lenny Kravitz, a lot of Rap, and have been hooked on Johnny Cash the past year
Scottso14: Wow..quite a range of music you listen to...from Johnny Cash to Metallica...interesting.
Cravedogg: I really liked the movie Walk the Line. The scene where he is playing at Fulsom Prison is something you would never see today. This is probably why I got hooked on Johnny Cash and I love the Black Suits -- "Johnny, you look like you are going to a funeral, well maybe I am."
Scottso14: What are some of your favorite foods?
Cravedogg: NY Style Pizza and Sushi
Scottso14: What type of food do you prefer...Italian, Chinese, Mexican, etc.?
Cravedogg: Italian..my wife is Italian and we go to her parents house for a big meal almost every Sunday. I really enjoy their family traditions and the big Sunday dinners.
Scottso14: I know exactly what you mean. My wife is Italian as well, and her mother is the greatest cook i know. There is nothing like having Thanksgiving at her familys house. She prepares everything from soup to nuts. Not only the normal Thanksgiving preparations, but with all the Italian ones as well. The Italians sure know how to feast. Now, if i could only get my wife to learn to cook like that...lol. One thing for sure, i never leave her moms house hungry...she won't let me.
Scottso14: Who are some of your favorite sports figures?
Cravedogg: Carson Palmer - he is the reason the Bengals are cool again; Barry Bonds - I like how he doesn't put up with the Media BS, John Elway - one of the greatest athletes of our decade. I know many hate Bonds but I say put him in baseball in any era and he would dominate.
Scottso14: How about some of your favorite sports teams?
Cravedogg: Bengals, Ohio State Football, Kentucky Basketball.
Scottso14: You must be a little dissapointed with the outcome of the National Championship game this season against Florida.
Cravedogg: Hats off to Florida, they whipped us pretty good. I was more suprised than dissapointed because our team wasn't able to make adjustments, but Florida was the superior team.
Scottso14: Who do you think will get into the Super Bowl this season? Of course, this was asked before we knew the outcome...lol.
Cravedogg: I really thought San Diego was going to win, they had the most talent of any team...
Scottso14: I'm with you on that one. I think San Diego has the most complete package....both offense and defense. Baltimore may have a great defense, but are no where's close to San Diego's offense. But you can never count out the Colts as well in the AFC. The AFC seems to have all the great teams this year. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
Scottso14: What are some of your favorite movies/actors
Cravedogg: Long Gone (greatest baseball movie of alltime), Brothers McCullough, Old School -- I really like Ed Burns, Wil Ferrel, and Vince Vaughn
Scottso14: How about some of your favorite Cities you've visited.
Cravedogg: Las Vegas - greatest place on earth and San Diego - best weather in the world. I see myself moving to the west coast within the next 5 years.
The Coach:
Scottso14: How did you find out about the WIS website?
Cravedogg: my best friend got me hooked
Scottso14: How did you come up with your user name?
Cravedogg: I actually took over his account after season 2 and then WIS allowed me to change it to Cravedogg (my nickname in college was cravedogg -- the only thing I will share is I was constantly on the prowl for coeds)
Scottso14: Do you play any other WIS games? if yes, which ones?
Cravedogg: I only play GD
Scottso14: Do you have any other WIS IDs that you use?
Cravedogg: I started the sportssfan user ID and Michaeldartt and I coached teams together for a long time and recently richramirez took over for MikeD.
Scottso14: What are some of your favorite GD moments?
Cravedogg: winning the national title with Ohio State in Stagg. This probably sticks out the most because I was the first coach to win a title with Ohio State in any world and I left a loaded Oklahoma team so I could build an Ohio State squad. It took awhile but eventually I was able to recruit enough talent to win the conference and got a shot to play in the big game. The National Title with Alabama in Rockne was pretty cool as well but I am a OSU Alumni.
Scottso14: What do you look for when applying for new teams?
Cravedogg: now it is strictly based on location and/or other coaches in the conference. I really like coaching in a competive conference and am now really starting to try and build dynasties at a couple of schools as opposed to moving up all the time.
Scottso14: Do you look to run all your teams the same way, or do you run each one differently.
Cravedogg: I have 3 different offenses I use and will use one according to the talent on my team (trips/proset/ndb; trips/shotgun/iform; proset/iform/trips) I really like passing the ball in D2 and D3, but it is tough to win the big games in D1A throwing the ball too much. I have yet to see a QB take over a game in D1A.
Scottso14: I couldn't agree with you more there. Can you give us any tips on recruiting?
Cravedogg: read Michaeldartt's book on recruiting! he is the most efficient and effective recruiter I have seen in this game, watching him firsthand with the sportssfan account taught me a lot about recruiting. One of the keys to recruiting is knowing when to spend your bankroll and going after a monster class. I don't think you can get a monster class every season, but you have to land one every so often to keep your team on top. I also monitor my conference opponents to see how they are building their teams so I can defend them with the right personel.
Scottso14: Where can i find this book..i'd love to pick up a copy...lol. How about advanced settings tips?
Cravedogg: a minimum of 90% effectiveness in the 1st half and adjust from there. I think I lost a lot of my big games early on because I was playing at 75% to 80% effectiveness and my teams had nothing for the second half of the game.
Scottso14: How about some tips on allocating practice time?
Cravedogg: 15 minutes minimum for primary offense/defense sets. I find anything less than 15 minutes will result in an increase in penalties.
Scottso14: Aggressiveness settings?
Cravedogg: I used to play a lot of aggressive settings but have changed to more balanced and it has led to me winning more consistently especially in the big games.
Scottso14: Thats a great tip. I still find myself trying to find a comfort zone with my aggresive settings. I basically set them based on the talent of my team. If i have a great team, i generally play more aggressive. There seems to be alot of pro's and con's to playing both styles. But when i'm at a team that still needs alot of work, and i'm lacking depth and talent, i tend to play far less aggressive.
Cravedogg: I think a lot of coaches play aggressive so I try to counter it with balance and I find that it helps control turnovers in my direction.
Scottso14: What teams in your opinion are the most successful on offense...All pass, all run, or balanced. Why?
Cravedogg: In D1A the name of the game is Running. If you can't run the ball in D1A it is going to be a long season. In the D2/D3 I prefer to throw the ball because an excellent QB can take over the game at those levels.
Scottso14: Which type do you fear playing against the most.
Cravedogg: I really don't like playing against a team that runs the ball effectively out of Trips. With the right personel I think it is the best offense on the game.
Scottso14: Who are your most feared top 5 GD coaches?
Cravedogg:
Richramirez -- he has my number
Michaeldartt -- top 3 coaches alltime in GD
Andynomore -- mixes up his offense very well
Wlarson -- his teams are always very talented
Scottso -- record speaks for itself
Scottso14: Thanks for the props, but i feel i'm far less a threat to anyone at the D1A level just yet. Believe it or not, i'm still reletively new to playing at that level, and i have been humbled up there so far on many occasions. I finally have a few teams now though that i feel are on the brink of a few good seasons. I'll see how i do then when i at least have equal talent to the other great teams and coaches in my conference's.
Scottso14: Who are your top 5 GD friends?
Cravedogg:
Michaeldartt -- class act
Richramirez -- very nice guy
BirdieParma -- overall fun person and respectful
Showrunner -- need to hook up for a Bengals Game
Dwhit -- we talk a lot about real football
there are some other coaches I really like and would like to get to know better -- RC1990, Carpediem33
Scottso14: From my experience, these are all great guys and coaches. You certainly can't go wrong keeping company like that around here. I'm sure you've learned alot from all of them.
Scottso14: What are some of your long term GD goals?
Cravedogg: To win a national with Humboldt State in Wilkinson, and one more with Ohio State in Stagg
Scottso14: Well Coach Cravedogg, i must say it was a real pleasure having the opportunity to sit down with you and find out more about what makes you tick as a person and a coach. Is there anything else you'd like to add before we sign out?
Cravedogg: The last thing I would like to say I have played sports my entire life and have always been in an enviroment where my teammates and opposition just constantly bust chops and talk a little smack. I could probably write a book on one liners I have heard over the years and this side of my competitive spirit carries over to this game. I usually bust out on people in this game on a daily basis but it is never mean spirited and love it when other coaches punch back. I hope I haven't offended anyone and would like to see more guys step up and crack some jokes.
Scottso14: I think thats one of the things i like about you the most. Its definatly more fun running into coaches with that kind of spirit and attitude towards the game. Its coaches like you that make this game more enjoyable to play. Would you like to share any of your favorite one liners before we finish up?
Cravedogg: "Are you ugly or do you just look like that?" This is still one of favorites of all time, you can use it anywhere and of course can change the ugly to anything else, some of which are probably not allowed on this website
Scottso14: Well Crave, thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to chat with us. We certainly learned alot about what makes you such a great coach, and a very respected coach within the GD community. Thanks again.
