The Stats
National Championships - 15
Conference Championships - 73
Record - 1662-218
Winning Pct - .884
Playoff Record - 204-71 .742
Bowl Record - 12-5 .706
The Man
Scottso14: First off, whats your real name?
Plague: Jim Osswald
Scottso14: Tell me a little about yourself
Plague: i am 41 yrs old. my life is pretty simple at 41, most of my hobbies were competitive athletics and at 41 that is hard to do.
now i enjoy being lazy.
Scottso14: Where are you from?
Plague: Born in Sacramento CA, live in Stockton Ca, went to grade school in Wausau Wisconsiin
Scottso14: Ahh...sunny, beutiful California. How i'd love to move out there and give up the cold winters on the Jersey shore. Are you married, single, or have any kids?
Plague: single and no kids
Scottso14: What do you do for work?
Plague: Expeditor for the US Post Office
Scottso14: Sounds like a good job, and one you can probably retire from at an early age. What are some of your favorite activities?
Plague: i don't get to do much of any of this anymore but Basketball, Football, baseball, and Camping/Hiking
Scottso14: Hobbies?
Plague: Strat-O-Matic, ex-sports card collector. the cards now stay packed away.
Scottso14: Sounds like we have alot in common there Jim. I also am a big fan of Strat-o-Matic games. Have you ever played the Strat-o-Matic game over at Sportingnews.com. I actually spent several years playing that game before being turned on to GD by another GD user that played over there. I am also a huge collector of sports cards and memorabilia. I was a huge fan of Marshall Faulk when he was a rookie, and thats where it all started. I've since cut back, as the hobby just got way too expensive for me. I'll pass it on to my 12 year old son some day.
Plague: i played about 10 teams on the sporting news web site and won about 3 world series. i also played about 10 teams of diamond legends, i was curious and googled my name one day and my diamond legends record came up.
Scottso14: Looks like you were pretty successful over at the Sportingnews site as well. Winning 3 World Series in with only 10 teams is amazing. I believe i played over 100 seasons over there, and maybe won 6-7 Titles. Before i stopped playing over there, i was able to recruit 5-6 of the people i played over there to GD. Buffalo_Rob was one of them.
Scottso14: Do you have any favorite video games you play? Current, past or both.
Plague: Resident Evil, Heroes Might & Magic 3, Civilization 3,
Final Fantasy 3(whichever one had kefka), Gran Tourismo,
Romance of the 3 Kingdoms.
Scottso14: Looks like you are into playing alot of the role playing games (RPG). I recently got Oblivion; The Elder Scrolls for the X-Box 360. Talk about an amazing game with outstanding graphics. There are well over 1 million quests in the game if you want to play it in its entirety. I've played all kinds of games on all the different systems, but this game is by far the best RPG i've ever seen. If you have that system, and a high def TV, i highly reccomend it.
Scottso14: How about some of your favorite foods?
Plague: Chicken
Scottso14: Whats your favorite type of food..Italian, Chinese, Mexican, etc.
Plague: probably Chinese, but its not a clear cut favorite.
Scottso14: Favorite sports figures?
Plague: none.
Scottso14: Favorite sports teams?
Plague: Miami Dolphins and Sacramento Kings
Scottso14: Thats cool...my wife is a huge fan of the Dolphins. Myself, a die hard Cowboys and Yankee's fan.
The Coach
Scottso14: Now on to GD:
Scottso14: How did you find out about the WIS website?
Plague: i played the USA today fantasy games and someone posted the site on the forums
Scottso14: How did you come up with your user name?
Plague: my original name in the USA today game was Black Plague. i just shortened it.
Scottso14: Do you play any other WIS games? if yes, which ones?
Plague: i played the Sim Baseball game on occasion, i tried the Football and Basketball sim and didn't care for either of them. now i just play GD and HBD.
Scottso14: Do you have any other WIS IDs that you use?
Plague: i created another user name but have yet to use it. i have considered taking a terrible division 3 team and rebuilding it then quitting, i don't like the idea of 1 person having 2 teams and having even a .000001 chance that those teams could have a conflict in any matter.. right now i won't take on a division 3 team with the worlds filling up i don't want to take a team away from someone else who might be playing for the first time.
Scottso14: You have some great accomplishments so far in GD. I particularly am impressed with your overall winning pct. You have an .887 winning pct. after nearly 2,000 games played. .
Scottso14: You have also have accumalated 73 Conference Championships and 15 National Titles as a coach at the time of this interview. Whats your secret to all that amazing success.
Plague: i think evaluating/recruiting and then developing talent is my biggest assett, i don't consider my gameplanning to be my strong point, i don't think i am weak at it, i just think there is better gameplanners out there.
Scottso14: There may be, but hard to not put you near the top with the success you've had. I've played against your teams quite a few times in the playoffs with equal, or maybe even better talent, and you've beaten me. Your definatly a coach i feel i need to be at my best when it comes to gameplanning against, or i will definatly lose.
Scottso14: Do you have any secrets to your success that you would never share with anyone else. By this i mean certain settings you do that you feel are extremely important to your success, but would rather have other coaches figure them out themselves? Hint, hint...do tell if you'd like...lol.
Plague: i can't think of anything i would not share in a private conversation, on average i don't care to post everything in a open forum.
Scottso14: Fair enough. What divisions are your favorite to play in and why?
Plague: Division 1 and Division 2. division 1 because talent is not as important as gameplanning and the coachs are more experienced. division 2 because you can make a big diffrence by recruiting/developing talent and i like the playoffs alot better than the bowl system.
Scottso14: I'm suprised you didn't mention D1AA over D2. You still have the playoff system, but generally more experienced coaches to play against there as opposed to D2. In the Divisions that have a playoff system, my favorite was always D1AA..and where i enjoyed most of my success.
Plague: a few things i like better about division 2 than 1AA. Defense can stop offenses better in division 2 than division 1AA, i have had division 1AA running games that were unstoppable even against the best teams, 2 seasons in a row i played jeffkahleb in NC and we couldn't stop each others running game. at division 2 you have to mix it up. other things i like about division 2 over division 1AA is the variables on players you recruit, the increase in player development, and the lack of a higher division battling the same players in recruiting.
Scottso14: What are some of your favorite conferences to play in?
Plague: Stagg Pac 10 is my favorite confrence, but its the 1 i have played in the longest, all my other confrences i have only been at for 1 to 3 seasons..
Scottso14: Favorite GD moments
Plague: my 1st NC with Case Western in Camp, my 3 straight NC with Western Co in leahy, and my 1st division 1 NC with Florida in Heisman.
Scottso14: Some pretty impressive moments indeed. I'm sure i will have to put a D1A championship at the top of my list if it ever happens...lol.
Scottso14: What do you look for when applying for new teams?
Plague: talent of the team, location of the team, and coachs in the confrence.
Scottso14: Do you look to run all your teams the same way, or do you run each one differently.
Plague: i run most of them the same way, i might vary on a few teams, but i generaly have 1 style that dominates my gameplanning on my teams.
Scottso14: Same here. I always lean towards a strong running game, and am comfortable using the same formations on all of my teams. And try to recruit accordingly.
Scottso14: Any tips on recruiting?
Plague: for lower levels don't be afraid to recruit long distance, focus on the core attributes, look for good growth potential on scouting reports, take stamina into consideration, and look for long distance undecideds after the 1st couple cycles.
Scottso14: What are your thoughts on people who come in late on recruits...whether its you doing it, or someone doing it to you?
Plague: i have a personel code and i stick by that code unless someone else violates it, then i don't give that coach the same leeway anymore. i generaly won't go after a player that is considering another coach the last 12 hours before signings, unless he has gone after one of mine in the past.
Scottso14: I think i may have violated that code against you in the past and have paid the price...lol. Do you generally try to work things out with other coaches who are going after the same recruits as you? What are your thoughts on coaches sharing recruiting lists?
Plague: this is a often debated topic, i would love a world where no one shares lists, but its never going to happen, so if you do not share lists then you play at a disadvantage. WIS has made it clear that list sharing is acceptable, as a coach if you wish to handicap yourself then that is your problem. in general i rarely initiate list sharing, but if someone contacts me i will talk to them about it and i will usualy cooperate with the coach..
Scottso14: Pretty much the same for me as well. How about advanced settings tips?
Plague: thats tough to tell because depth and stamina play a factor, if i have alot of depth with good stamina i will stick the players in the 85-95 range, if i don't have enough depth i will stick them as low as 60.
Scottso14: That makes sense, as depth should always determine what your effectiveness settings should be. I've actually set them as high as 99 if i am well stocked at a certain position.
Scottso14: Tips on practice time?
Plague: rebuilding teams i put alot of minutes into player minutes, i would say 120-140 minutes and put 15-20 in your main offense, then as your team starts competing for the confrence start lowering your minutes to 100-120 and start upping formation.
Scottso14: Have you ever really noticed any difference in the amount of minutes you put into your team formations? Myself, i really hate to put too many minutes into anything i can't see. It would be nice if they at least put a letter grade similar to HD next to the formations you practice so you can at least see what these minutes are doing for you. What are your thoughts on that?
Plague: long time ago i had a stacked division 3 team in Bryant (guilford), with that team i was playing 150 minutes for player practice during the exibition season then switch to 100 minutes once the regular season started. one of the disadvantages of running 8 teams is you tend to make mistakes, and i made a mistake with that team and did not notice it til the CC game, i forgot to switch my practice time for the regular season, and the one thing i kept thinking to myself all season was why is my team not running as well as they usualy do, i believe it was because i forgot to change my practice plan and i was practicing 10 less minutes in the box than i normaly do.
Scottso14: What about your aggressiveness settings?
Plague: this is 1 part of the game i vary quite a bit, i will switch around based on my opponents and thier gameplanning.
Scottso14: I do as well to an extent, but basically i set them up a certain way in the beginning of the season, and rarely touch them again. I generally set mine based on the talent i have. The talent my team has usually dictates how aggressive i play.
Scottso14: What teams in your opinion are the most successful on offense...All pass, all run, or balanced. Why?
Plague: the game changes, once upon a time i won some National Championships just running the ball all the time and not even the best teams would stop me, WIS has nerfed that and those days are over. you can't run your way through 5 playoff games anymore, you can win a bowl game that way, but in order to win in the playoffs you have to be able to pass and run out of the same formation. i like a team that can win both passing and running and then search my opponents for their weaknesses then exploit it.
Scottso14: I couldn't agree more. I've seen teams that did nothing but run all season, only to get shut down trying to run in the playoffs. I'm a true believer that you need to be able to do both well if you want to make a strong playoff run and have a shot at a Championship. Although, i have seen all pass teams just cruise all the way through with just that style.
Scottso14: Which brings me to my next question...What type of team do you fear playing against the most.
Plague: balanced teams. if a team goes either run or pass heavy then you play to defend it and then let the game decide, but if a coach is inconsistent and unpredictable then you have to get in thier head and make a educated guess.
Scottso14: Agreed. Give me a coach that always run out of the ND, and always passes out of the Trips any day. At least you know exactly how to set up your game plan with them. If they beat you, its not because of your settings, but because they were able to execute their game plan. successfully even though you guessed correctly.
Scottso14: Favorite top 5 GD coaches that you look up to. You can add more or less if you desire. Basically the ones you respect and fear to play against the most.
Plague: i can't really narrow it down to 5 for reasons to follow. i will use you and I as a example, we have probably played 10-15 times, but except for D2 Camp either you or I had a definite advantage, that one time when i played you at Georgia Tech it was your 1st season with the team, i won fairly easy if i recall, but i had a large advantage.
Plague: i will mention some coachs i respect that i have played many times on equal terms where i feel its easier to judge.
Showrunner, we have played against each other in like 7 straight CC in Stagg and our games have been extremly close.
Buffalo Rob, i have played him alot in playoffs.
Jeffkahleb, same as Rob.
Paronoid, up until about 6 months ago i pretty much owned him every time we played, then what seemed like overnight he elevated his game to the next level, i now find him to be one of the toughest coachs to beat.
there is alot of coachs i respect, just haven't played them on even terms enough to make a fair judgement like the previos 4 i mentioned.
Scottso14: Your top 5 GD friends?
Plague: i don't chat with people on a consistent basis like i once did, i think the people i played with have lost some of the interest over time, but the people i have chatted with the most are Deang, Fastec, mgraczykowsk, and on occasion Jeffkaleb. Dean goes back the farthest, we both played together in 3 straight Semi-finals in Camp and we chatted ever since.
Scottso14: Some pretty good company you've kept. Chatting with these coaches, i can see why you've become one of the best yourself.
Scottso14: What are your long term GD goals?
Plague: i have accomplished all my goals. i am now playing til i get tired of GD. if i had to choose a goal it would be to win a NC with California in Stagg.
Scottso14: Well, thanks for taking the time to chat with us Jim, and also, thank you for being the first coach to be interviewed. The pleasure was certainly all mine.
Scott (Scottso14)
