Notre Dame’s ‘Five-Minute’ Plan

[BGIF]

The Irish theme of "giving five minutes to Our Lady."

Lou Somogyi BGI
5/6/12

...

After Parseghian’s Northwestern team finished 0-9 in 1957, the fiery young head coach was on the hot seat. He had just completed the second season of a three-year contract, so the clock was ticking.

With his career as a head coach on the line, Parseghian analyzed every detail of the program, from the equipment the players were wearing to off-season habits. During one film study, he studied the different length of plays in time duration. The longest play was usually a kickoff return, about 12 seconds, and the shortest were less than two seconds, a no-gain dive into the line.

On average, an offense will run about 70 to 80 plays per game, as will the defense. On average, each play worked out to about four seconds. So if you multiply four seconds by 70 to 80 plays, it translated into 280 to 320 seconds, or about 5 minutes of live, active, playing time.

Yes, talent was essential. No one could win without it. But the edge in a program, or a leg up on others, came from the three Es: Effort, Execution and Endurance.

...

 

[sharksamardzija8345]

nice article.. it is pretty interesting to think about the amount of time (or lack of) that an actual football game is spent actually playing football, lol. five minutes doesn't seem like a lot of time, but those 5 minutes are physical hell lol. I've played plenty of sports (except hockey, so I can't compare that) and by far the sport I sweated most was playing football.. probably has to do with the pads

seems like an easy enough philosophy though.. "we have to be better than them for five minutes".. let's see it translate into success on the field.. good read, BGIF

 

[Patulski]

nice article.. it is pretty interesting to think about the amount of time (or lack of) that an actual football game is spent actually playing football, lol.

And that was before all the TV timeouts. I remember leaving the house at 1:00 for a 1:30 game, and being home by 3:15-3:30. I'd love to see how much time the players stand around and wait for the action to start again during a game today.

 

[sharksamardzija8345]

And that was before all the TV timeouts. I remember leaving the house at 1:00 for a 1:30 game, and being home by 3:15-3:30. I'd love to see how much time the players stand around and wait for the action to start again during a game today.

well if a game is 3 or 3.5 hours, then roughly 2 or 2.5 hours of a "game" the clock isn't running, lol.. it is pretty amazing that football can capture our attention for 3 or 3.5 hours when the game is decided in 5 or 6 minutes of actual playing..

 

[phork]

And here I thought it was the 20 year plan.

 

[Kak7304]

well if a game is 3 or 3.5 hours, then roughly 2 or 2.5 hours of a "game" the clock isn't running, lol.. it is pretty amazing that football can capture our attention for 3 or 3.5 hours when the game is decided in 5 or 6 minutes of actual playing..

It's the brilliance of Tom Hammond that keeps us captivated.

 

[sharksamardzija8345]

It's the brilliance of Tom Hammond that keeps us captivated.

lol not I.. I mute ND games and either chill with buddies and BS or listen to music.. gave up on Hammond a while ago

 

[BobD]

Good article! Thanks BGIF