Name? Age?
Will- Will Larson, 32 years old.
Andy- Where are you from/where do you live now?
Will- I grew up in Seattle, WA and live there today. I spent a year in Bellingham, WA going to school and another six months living in Portland, OR after college. Other than that I've lived in Seattle.
Andy- I knew there was a reason you didn't respond at 8 am eastern time when I sitemail you in the mornings. Married, single, kids?
Will- Single. Not much going on there lately that doesn't involve alcohol and a foggy memory.
Andy- I think many GDers wish they had that problem. What do you do for work?
Will- I'm a programmer/analyst for Jobster.com. I work primarily on streamlining internal processes, often involving SalesForce, and writing a lot of SQL.
Andy- Do you ever use SQL with GD (or other games)? I don't know much about programming, but I know SQL is related to databases.
Will- Not too much. Early on I downloaded mysql at home and started setting up a database to track player development, but never got around to writing the code necessary to import data. I still think it would be useful, but copying and pasting rosters once per season is pretty quick. Not sure it makes sense unless you're going to evaluate your entire conference, division or world.
Andy- Have you ever done anything for yourself like gt or paranoid, with rankings of recruits and teams?
Will- Recruits are little harder to pull. I have a site mail somewhere from Perry and/or Aaron on how to get the starting/ending recruit ids, but to answer your question no I haven't tried.
I'm interested in writing a parser that reads play by play data and writes it into a database, to track effectiveness of formations. IE which is better vs the run, 4-4 or 5-2. vs ND or WB? Which is better vs the pass? I'd like to track how each formation does against opposing formations vs the run and pass. You could mix in aggr/cons for your teams, but for most teams you'll never know. I'd want to be able to filter out sim schools however, or at least filter on/off schools with known tendencies (sim ai defense is always pass, very conservative). The same parser could help track punt/kickoff return data, fumbles, penalties, # pass attempts to a WR, etc. There's a ton of data generated by GD that simply isn't stored as statistics, never mind the stuff we'd like added (pancakes, snaps played, missed tackles, tackles for loss, etc).
Andy- Where did you go to school?
Will-Long story.... I started at Western Washington University in Bellingham, then decided it was a waste of mom's money and went to Shoreline CC for a year. Got my AA from Shoreline and decided to take a break from school, moved to Portland and worked for a sports retailer. Moved back up to Seattle and got a job at Amazon.com, where I worked for 5 years. After that I took some time off and returned to school at the University of Washington, where I graduated in 2005 with a BA in communications.
Andy- I think a lot of people find out later that college can be aimless, so are you glad you found out sooner rather than later and went back when it seemed more importat?
Will- In many ways, yes. I got a lot more out of the classes I took in my late 20s than the ones I took in my teens. That said, I've no regrets about my early college years. Would I take pre-med classes 1st quarter freshman year again? Not a chance. Would I take English 101, poli sci and art history? You bet. I think your first year or two at school should be focused on adjusting to life away from home, meeting new friends, and experiencing new things. Don't push yourself too hard scholastically and get some of those electives out of the way. Basically, give yourself some room for error. I had very little, fell behind, and got never caught up. I also thought playing hoops at noon was more important than studying Greek and Roman history. Yeah maybe my priorities needed some work, but I also could have taken class at a time that better meshed with my other interests.
Andy- I hope jj and the underage crew are listening. Do you have any hobbies (books, music, cooking, etc)?
Will- When I bus to work I read about a book a week. Liked The Da Vinci Code and read a few other Dan Brown books. Deception Point is particularly good. I like to read architecture and design magazines, am a big fan of Dwell lately. I pick up The Surfer's Journal too, but more because I want to surf than because I can surf. I've tried it but don't get a lot of chances up here. There are WA surf bums but the whole wet suit and freezing cold don't do it for me. It can be fun, but prefer San Diego or Hawaii for my boogyboarding/surfing. I try to cook but being single and living in Seattle... it's so easy to just eat out. There are at least a dozen good restaurants within walking distance of my home. Recently I tried cooking homemade chicken soup with spices instead of salt for seasoning. I didn't think it would work, but eventually got a flavor I was happy with. Getting older, eating healthier, you know how it goes. I have a guitar but it's similar to surfing. I just never find the time. I'll mess with it for a week or two, then forget about it for six months.
Andy- I liked the DaVinci code but the movie was laughable. I actually read the book Holy Blood, Holy Grail, which you may have heard of because of Dan Brown's "borrowing" ideas. You say you bus to work. Is that a conscious decision about saving money or fuel or both? I live out in the suburbs of Richmond and it's about a 15 mile drive to work, but if I could safely bike to work I would give it a go.
Will- Well, I read a lot when I bus to work. Lately I've been driving and that puts a serious dent in my reading time. I have an old '66 Volvo that leaks a little when it rains, so I don't drive it a lot during winter. That's my reading season.
Andy- What are your favorite musical acts?
Will- Tom Waits is my guy. His new triple disc album is great, really
like 'Bottom of the World'. I listen to a lot of music though. Recently discovered Amy Winehouse. She's awesome, 'You Know I'm No Good' and 'Stronger Than Me' are my current favorites.
Andy- I saw Tom Waits perform "Day After Tomorrow" on the Daily Show a while back and I was blown away. I have some of his stuff but it's never been a priority. I did enjoy him in the Jim Jarmusch movie "Down by Law". I've probably lost a few people by now, so we'll move on. How about some of your favorite foods?
Will- Thai food for sure, my favorite is the Curry Fried Rice. They make it with pineapple so you get a good contrast with the spicy curry. The best pizza in town is at Northlake Tavern, they just pile the toppings on. Their pies are probably 2 inches tall. I've recently started eating more Mediterranean; I'm a big kalamata olive fan.
Andy- My girlfriend loves Thai and Indian food and wants to eat them whenever I seem to want a hamburger, but I agree with you that Thai is great. Favorite movies? Tv shows?
Will- I don't watch a lot of TV lately, but have a DVR and record 24 and Friday Night Lights. I'll watch Entourage and The Shield when they're on, but tend to catch both on DVD. I recently saw Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang and Casino Royale on Blue-Ray. Those movies were both really good, and the Blue-Ray is sweet. My HDTV is 4-5 years old so I'm a little behind the times as far as HD goes, but could still notice a big difference.
Andy- Casino Royale is one of my recommendations these days. Best Bond movie since Goldeneye and maybe even top five. I was extremely impressed with the new (old) direction.
As for 24, I've got to ask you what your take on it is. Do you watch it as an american Bond type show, or do you take it seriously? I finished watching the second season a few weeks ago where Jack simply kills and beheads a witness and no one seems to bat an eye.
Will- 24 is pretty ridiculous. Season 2 especially, but they're always doing stuff that is beyond absurd. I don't know, it's hard to justify watching but I keep doing it. Agree on the Bond film, just awesome.
Sports interest:
Andy- What sports do you like? Favorite teams? Favorite players? Most memorable sports moments?
Will- I like them all. Becoming more of a college fan as I get older. Professional sports I struggle with these days. I just think all the money involved ruins it. It's an issue with college sports too, unfortunately. I like rooting for the underdog. I loved Dwayne Wade at Marquette and his first year in Miami, but now he's a big star going to the line for phantom calls. You're not supposed to get half your points on BS until you're over the hill and need the help. At his age he should still be earning his keep. Same for LeBron, Carmelo and whoever the 'next big thing' is this year. If there were more PGs like Jason Kidd and Steve Nash I'd watch a lot more NBA basketball. As it is now I haven't watched a game all year. I'm a Husky so UW is my team for all college sports. Really hoping Willingham can turn them around.
Andy- Sounds pretty reasonable to me. I think 99% of GD players dream of coaching their alma mater. Did you or will you end up at UW?
Will- Haven't coached UW yet. I thought about applying in Bryant this last season, and if showrunner hadn't taken them I probably would have. I think it's a terrible location to recruit from and am still a little peeved they aren't an Elite (Nebraska, Florida, LSU????), but it just hasn't happened yet. Hopefully one day I'll coach there.
Andy- How do you think steroids effect sports and your appreciation of sports?
Will- It's tough. Sometimes I think it's not that big a deal, other times I get sick of professional sports policing themselves. Do you think a guy already making 2 million a year would juice and risk spending 5 years in jail for an extra 3-4 million per year? Sure it's a lot of money, but he's already making more than anyone can hope to spend. But if they didn't police themselves, how well could the federal government police them? They'd need a warrant for each investigation, etc. We probably need a national agency for policing professional athletes, but that'll be a giant headache of it's own. Nevermind a giant waste of money for anyone that doesn't care about prof sports or the millionaire high school and college drop out that play them.
Andy- How did you find out about the WIS website?
Will- I was looking for a basketball simulation website and found WIS via Google. Read up on the college dynasty games and have been here ever since!
Andy- Google is amazing. Do you play any other WIS games? What do you think the best games are?
Will- Pretty sure I've played them all: GD, HD, Sim baseball/football/ basketball/hockey, CRD, HBD. Think that's all of them. Obviously I'm a big fan of GD. Don't care much for HD but have one team that I try to 'get it' with. So far I feel pretty clueless about HD. CRD I have stuck with, but am not sure it has a dev and spend very little time on. I renewed for 5 more seasons a bit ago and will probably be done when they run out. HBD I enjoy a lot, but the start of the season is too time intensive. I think they need to spread it out a little more, make the season last longer if necessary.
Andy- HBD is ridiculous. When it started I thought I would focus 90% on that and 10% on GD. Now I find myself relaxing with GD and having a hard time managing two minor league systems in HBD. I never thought I would find D-IA recruiting and gameplanning relaxing, but there it is.
Do you have any other WIS IDs? How do you feel about the multiple ID controversy?
Will- I created a 2nd ID once, fndmntl, and coached Maryville in Bryant. I also coached La Verne with my wlarson username at the time. Both teams were pretty good and in fun, competitive conferences (including you if I remember correctly). Anyways, the season was going great. I got both teams into the playoffs, something I wasn't accustomed to doing back then, and made it to the quarterfinals. Where, of course, my teams had to play each other. That experience stunk so I talked a friend into taking over the fndmntl account. I don't really judge others for using two IDs, but it wasn't for me. I'm a pretty competitive person and playing myself isn't something I'm comfortable with.
Andy- Don't really judge others??? Are you sure you're a GD player? And now that I recall, yes I was with you and bronco in that Bryant conference. Of course I had no earthly idea it was you, but it makes perfect sense. I handed bronco his only defeat that season in route to the NC. But enough about me, let's move on to Wlarson the coach.
THE COACH.
Andy- I'm going to try to ask the hard hitting questions, because I know you're very knowledgable about GD. When you began with GD did you have any help learning the game?
Will- No doubt. richramirez and bronco2rings were the top coaches in two of my early conferences. They both helped but bronco especially. I peppered him with what seems like daily site mails for a long while. It also helped being in good conferences. My first team in Leahy was in the ASC with bronco2rings, meade2004, camelspider, bludluciano, muddapucka and I'm sure a few others I'm forgetting. It was a great, great conference.
Andy- What was the most difficult thing for you to learn?
Will- Well, I'll never figure this one out but my first team in Rockne, Buena Vista, had what seemed then and now like a very good team with a killer QB. I think I threw 26 INTs that season. I started out throwing aggressive, tuned that down to conservative, then very conservative, then balanced. My first two years there I basically stunk it up, turning it over 2+ times per game.
Anyways, I still can't tell you what I was doing wrong, but I turned that team around but not passing and instead running the crap out of the ball. I kept pro-set and trips, but picked up wishbone and ran the ball down teams throats. I went 14-1 my 3rd season running the ball and started running with all of my teams.
Andy- Have you learned anything recently about the game that has helped you succeed more?
Will- I'm still figuring this one out, but ddingo's comments about not using always pass vs teams that literally always pass, because always pass defense results in defenders lining up off the line and giving up short routes, is something I'm definitely experimenting with. I have always built my teams around aggressive attacking defenses, so having DBs line up closer, and presumably cover their men tighter, is absolutely something I'm interested in. Now to test and see if the results support the hypothesis.
Andy- I think for the coaches that were listening, ddingo's comments really shook things up. I will admit that I've tinkered with a few of his ideas but with most of my D-IA games either being ridiculously one sided (Bryant) or too important (Stagg or Rockne) I've been too timid to fool around too much.
Which division do you prefer? Where have you had the most success?
Will- Well, I've won half my NCs in D3 and the other half in D2. I think i've done pretty well everywhere, but the NCs are definitely harder to come by in DI-A. It's hard to pick a favorite. What I like most is highly competive conferences, whether that's D3 Camp ASC, D2 Wilkinson NCIAC, or a higher division. And although 4 of my 6 teams are in DI-A, it has a few things going against it in my mind:
* Too many sims
* Bowls vs playoffs/etc - I actually like having bowls. What I don't like is seeing teams in crap conferences get BCS bowl invites. With an 8-5 schedule I think bowls will work a lot better. I think self scheduling will help too, as you can then control your SOS.
* Everyone can see every recruit. It sounds fair and equal, blah
blah, but it just makes location even more important in recruiting. As if it wasn't important enough already. Whether they limit view of DI-A recruits based on success, or make prestige more important than it is currently, I don't know. Whatever they do, DI-A recruiting needs a change or two.
* Too much offense. My current theory is the recruits were just too good and it breaks the sim. Basically a RB with 85+ ath, spd, str, elu, tec with a 90/90/70 OL is going to get 8+ yards per carry no matter how good the defense is. I'm okay with stud RBs putting up big numbers, but in lower divisions a top defense can slow them down. That needs to be possible in DI-A. Obviously run blitzes and negative gains would help a lot here.
Andy- I definitely agree with the 5-8 schedule. It's needed, especially in D-IA. I do think that the reduction in recruit talent recently in D-IA has helped with the super offenses. Unfortunately, defensive recruits seem to be reduced as well.
How do you pick a team when you move up?
Will- Well, I either want a conference full of tough coaches that will challenge me or a team I can experiment with. I'm currently trying to do both in the Camp ASC and It's not going so well. You just can't have a single defense 3-4 team in conference full of ND Box all rushing offenses with top notch rosters and great coaches. Other things I look for are location (for recruiting) and proximity to lites. I really dislike deferring to other schools, which is what you often have to do when coaching a non-elite near an elite.
Andy- Have you ever attempted to rebuild a team? What do you think is key to the rebuilding effort?
Will- Absolutely, I've done it a number of times. Forget your current roster. Look at the other teams in your conference: what formations, tendencies, etc. Pick what formations you wan to run and decide how many roster spots you need at each position, then recruit to fill them. Your priority every season in recruiting is getting the best players possible and filling every class. I don't believe in changing formations every season to fit your roster, just lean on the formation(s) you have the most depth at. At WWU in Wilkinson I screwed up recruiting this season and only have 3 RBs for a I-Form/Trips offense. I kept the same formations, gave my QBs some carries, and relied on trips more than in the past. Next season I'll recruit an extra RB and go back to a more balanced split between I-Form/Trips.
RECRUITING
Andy- How much do you prepare for recruiting?
Will- Not much... I used to spend more time on it, but I basically sit down a few days before recruiting, add a bunch of local guys I like, and move my initial targets to 'High'. Sometimes a few days before recruiting' turns into '11:15AM PST on day 1 of recruiting'. In DI-A local coaches like to exchange lists, so I tend to start recruiting for those teams a day or two before. For lower division teams I dozero prep work.
Andy- Would you say you have a recruiting strategy, or are you adaptable?
Will- Totally adaptable, normally to my work and/or social schedule. Sometimes I'm done after the first few cycles, sometimes I don't start until day 2, sometimes not until signings. I feel like a post-signings class will be below par but cheap, which isn't such a bad thing every now and then. Especially early on when rebuilding a school. Just don't do it when you're a NC contender with 20 openings.
Andy- How important is carryover?
Will- Moderately important. A lot of good coaches think they've figured the game out, and assume that other good coaches have 'figured out' the same things they have. I'm sure there are a lot of similarities among topcoaches, but am not sure carryover is one of them. Either way, I don't mind coaches assuming I've got a giant stash. Every now and
then someone is going to challenge you on your turf. You want enough carryover to blow them out of the water in such a fashion that they don't try that stunt again. Carryover is also useful for the opposite effect; going into another coaches backyard and stealing a top recruit. Carryover simply for the sake of carryover is banking, something I get more than enough of in the real world.
Andy- I simply don't listen when coaches begin a sentence with the phrase "I have so and so in the bank".
Are there differences in recruiting by division?
Will- D3 and D2 are very similar, DI-AA and DI-A have their own dynamics. DI-AA loses a bunch of recruits, particularly QBs, OL and DL, to DI-A. DI-A has the location factor, where every team can see every recruit. DI-AA has the most risk/reward of any division, for sure.
Andy- Do you use any recruiting tactics that some might consider questionable?
Will- I don't think so. I'm pretty open with other coaches when recruiting. I'm not a big fan of list sharing/etc, but I do it occasionally and let other coaches know where I stand. Either way I'm credible.
Andy- I'll vouch for you. Do you use GD's recruiting interface to the fullest?
Will- Umm... I think so. I use the sort functions to rank recruits by the attributes I value most, running multiple sorts for each position.
Andy- Do you think that GD needs to improve recruiting? In what ways?
Will-I've mentioned a few ideas above, but here goes.
Easy fix:
* make prestige more important
Hard fix:
* track formation usage and run/pass tendencies. get rid of promised starts and instead use formation usage and tendencies to incentivize recruits.
* in season recruiting
* save scouting info to recruit details page
* longer cycles
* limits on # of recruiting actions per cycle
I used to play EA Sports NCAA Football a lot and think there are many, many elements of their recruiting that would improve GD. Overall I prefer GD, primarily the competition and community created by other users, but I much prefer the complexity of recruiting in the EA Sports game.
TEAM MANAGEMENT
Andy- How do you set up practice?
Will- It varies by team. In DI-A, where I experiment less often, I go with 15-20 minutes per formation on offense and defense, 10-15 on special teams. Whatever is left goes to individual practice, but it's normally close to a 90/90 split. In lower divisions I often have fewer formations, but rarely use less than 15 minutes on any formation.
Andy- How important is individual practice compared to team practice?
Will- I feel like team practice is important, hence the 15-20 minutes per formation. Individual I struggle with. I've had players grow a ton with 10 minutes per item and others struggle with 20 per. There are so many factors in player growth it's hard to figure out what the optimal # of minutes would be. DI-A players start out so close to their skill caps (yes I believe there are skill caps) that I think ind. practice is less important than lower divisions. That said, it takes more time to move a guy from 90 to 91 than 70 to 71. It's tough to know the right answer.
Andy- How do you use the advanced depth charts? the effectiveness %? the distribution %?
Will- With effectiveness I like to set my starters very high, 90-95% when possible, so they rotate in and out all game and stay fresh. Distribution I tend not to use, though I've started using it for RBs to prevent WRs from running. I used to focus on my best WR, move him to #3 or #4 in the depth chart, and let them wrack up numbers. Had a number of all american WRs using that strategy, but lately just leave them all at 0s and let my QB do his thing.
Andy- How do you use redshirting?
Will- I try to redshirt 3 players every season. I see a lot of top teams not using their redshirts and instead having extra depth. It's a lot like not signing a K or P and using those roster spots. Basically I think having three 5th year SRs lead the charge is more important than having 3 backups pulling up the rear. I'd redshirt more if I could, even with the current roster size of 50.
Andy- That's my team to a tee. I prefer the depth to redshirting and rarely do it. Force of habit I suppose.
How do you determine your team's style?
Will- I go with a good mix of run and pass, out of all formations, with each of my teams. I did the all run thing early in my GD career, to good success, but it's not my style. I like balanced, unpredictable offenses and build my teams with that in mind. I'd probably win a few more games in DI-A by running more, but I'm content with the results.
Andy- I respect your offensive gameplans immensely because of that philosophy. I know you're not afraid to run or throw out of any formation which adds another dimension to defensive gameplanning.
Is there anything with regard to team management that GD could improve?
Will- Hmm I haven't that about that much. Decisions need to be finished or gotten rid of. To date it's just a waste of time. An autofill button on the basic depth chart might be useful. Ditto for practice minutes. Something to get you started, particularly new coaches, that can then be adjusted as necessary. I'd like FBs to have their slot on the depth chart. Ditto for safeties, assuming someone actually knows what purpose they serve in GD (I don't).
GAMEPLANNING
Andy- I realize this might be the most hairy subject for you to talk to me about, since we're in three conferences, but I doubt there will be too many surprises...
What is the first thing you do to gameplan for an opponent?
Will- Scout their offensive tendencies and adjust my defense accordingly. I spend some time looking at their roster, particularly for injuries and position depth, but formations and run/pass tendencies are the key.
Andy- Is it more important to play to your strengths or your opponent's weaknesses?
Will- While I prefer balanced offenses, I'm certainly open to attacking an opponent's weakness. Say for example someone defends ND Box with 5-2. I may have an advantage passing, but it's never a good idea to abandon the run. Say for example I run 75% of the time out of ND Box, against a 5-2 I'll run just 50% of the time. Or if someone defends trips 100% pass with dime, I'll adjust to pass just 50% of the time. I think adjustments are good, but don't abandon what you built your team to do.
Andy- Do you use formations you don't practice?
Will- Nope, never.
Andy- What is your favorite gameplanning wrinkle?
Will- I haven't done this one in a long time and am not certain I ever benefited from it, but 99.9% of coaches in GD have an always pass 2 minute defense. If you set your 2 minute offense to 15 minutes and down by 1, you can hypothetically run all over them. Not necessarily a good idea with 2 minutes to go, but with 15 minutes you've got some time to work with.
Andy- That's one that has never occurred to me, but a very very interesting one. Of course, if it backfires you're running with two minutes left down by three...
Will- I'll add another here, one that new coaches probably aren't aware of. At the start of a game the sim picks plays from your gameplan in a totally random fashion. If you've got ND Box all run, ND Box all pass and Trips all pass, you'll: run nd box 33% of the time, pass nd box 33%, and pass trips 33%. If you're up by 30 in the second half, without making any adjustments to your game plan, your team will run nd box 100% of the the time. The sim tries to pick the best play from your game plan for a given situation. When trying to kill the clock, the sim wants to run. When trying to come back the sim wants to pass. A lot of coaches complain about the unpredictability of the sim playcalling, but if you take the time to understand how the sim works you can use it to your advantage. I only rarely make halftime adjustments, yet my teams often run very different offenses in the 2nd half of games.
Andy- What sort of team is the most difficult to gameplan against?
Will- A stud roster using a trips balanced attack is extremely difficult to gameplan against. It's basically a lose-lose situation. You can defend it with a 4-3 defense, give up multiple 40+ yard bombs, and still give up 5+ yards a carry.
Andy- Does D-IA homefield advantage change the way you gameplan?
Will- I'm more concerned about the run on the road, and I'm always concerned about the run. I tend to pass more on the road, knowing that my run will be less effective, but running is useful if only to slow the game down. And slowing the game down has huge value on the road, where a similarly talented DI-A team suddenly has a big advantage. Anyways, it doesn't change my gameplan much but I'm definitely aware of the advantage gained by the home team.
GD COMMUNITY
Andy- What do you think would help the GD community become more lively as it was about 8 seasons ago?
Will- What really boosts the forums is user content. Bruski's Dan Patrick show, Bronco's P.T.I., Buffalo Rob had something similar in Leahy. I greatly appreciate the value provided by the rankings Paranoid, GT, and Leppy do, but the editorial type stuff was huge and is sorely missed. I joined Bryant specifically because of their forums. The value elbruskinm added to GD in that world has never been approached by anyone. I still see this occurring in spots: cyph's D3 Teams with a realistic NC chance in Camp, elbrown's D2 Power Rankings in Rockne, dunblinuf's D3 alltime % in the main forum. It's happening but the time those guys, particuarly bruski, put into writing that stuff was immense.
Andy- What is your favorite GD moment? favorite title?
Will- It's hard to say. I probably gave a different answer a few months ago in the WIS interview, but beating Redlands and Centre my first season at La Verne in Bryant was huge. Those teams were running coaches out of the SIAC forever and I got to help knock them off their perches, even if I did take over Centre a few seasons later. The two titles I won at West Chester in Rockne were my first and favorites. I can't remember who all I went through to win it, but D2 Rockne had some really awesome coaches at that time. Crave/MD doing their sportsfan thing at Valdosta St, you at Winona St, rboyer at WWU, 98avg at Long Island, Scottso was in there somewhere and a bunch of others I'm forgetting. Last season in D2 Wilkinson, our conference put 3 teams into the final four (crave could have been #4, slacker! :-). That was definitely a memorable moment.
Andy- What coaches helped you with your GD success?
Will- I've discussed strategy with a number of coaches, but primarily you, bronco, dean, rich, and dwhit.
Andy- Who are some of your favorite GD coaches?
Will- Anyone that tries something unconventional. For example I noticed lukagirl having a lot of success with a 3-4 defense a while back in Stagg. I studied her teams and changed the way I evaluate and recruit LBs. Ddingo's comments about always pass defense was huge too, again inspiring me to change my tactics.
Andy- What coaches do you think are the best recruiters?
Will- paranoid, michaeldart, dean, captb, ddingo, bronco, andynomore,
crave, gt, gaheel,...
Andy- If I ask any more of these coach questions the guys are going to think I'm fishing for complements, but we'll keep going. What coaches do you think are the besgameplanners?
Will- ddingo, md, dean, captb, crave, rlahann, andynomore, plague. There are a lot of coaches I haven't had a lot of exposure to, and others that are great recruiters but predictable gameplanners. You can be very successful in GD as a great recruiter and predictable gameplanner. Most understand the predictable nature of their gameplan but think the benefits outweigh whatever costs are associated with predictability. I can't blame them, but it's hard to tell who knows what they're doing and who's just copying everyone else.
Andy- What coaches do you have rivalries with?
Will- paranoid, dwhit, crave, andynomore, cbriese, vichuck, scottso, bunch more i'm forgetting.
Andy- What coaches do you have the most difficult time beating?
Will- Lately, you!!! paranoid has been handing it to me pretty regularly lately in Wilkinson, though I got him this season. We'll see what happens in the playoffs. Chgunnz ran it down my throat more times than I'd like to admit at South Carolina in Stagg. Plague flat out owns me. He has the best run oriented system around: scholarship allocation, recruiting, advanced depth charts, game plan, etc. If he was in my conference I'd build a team specifically to stop him. When in another conference you cant afford to do that, and face off unprepared in the playoffs.
Andy- What coaches do you own?
Will- Alright I'll try to be diplomatic here. richramirez is a great, great coach and we haven't played lately, but I had his number for a while. Since I left the Big East for Miami in Rockne he's had just 1 loss in 5 seasons, winning 2 NCs along the way. Do I own him now? No way. Can I reminisce about my glory days in the Big East? Sure. Same for Perry (paranoid). I had his number for a long, long time, but those days are over.
Andy- This sort of thing is like a circle. In Stagg I couldn't lose against chgunnz and couldn't get past both you and reeeems, but you couldn't get past Chad. You had Perry's number, I couldn't beat Perry to save my life in Bryant, yet you say I've had your number recently. That's the best part of the GD community.
If you had to pick one coach to run your team when you're away, who would it be? One coach to help you win the NC?
Will- In the past I've asked Bronco and I'd definitely ask him again. A game planner for one game to win it all, I'd have to go with Dean. The guy was pupil to many, soaked up everything people shared with him, figured a million other things out for himself, and is undoubtedly the master now. Totally fearless. I hope he comes back to GD soon!
Andy- Dean was a breath of fresh air and insanely difficult to gameplan against, so I agree with that choice. One last question, is there a question you'd wanted to be asked, and what is your answer to it?
Will-
Q: Will you ever win a DI-A NC?
A: YES! Miami or Alabama, probably Alabama. Hopefully this season.
Andy- Hrmmm. No wonder I didn�t ask that question, since I�d prefer neither. It�s been great talking to you Will and thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.
