Maze Run with Pete

Back again with another sit down. This one is with everyone's favorite legend. As the headline suggests we have a little run with the legend. We heard before from other coaches and figured why not talk to the MAN. Figured the people would want to hear from the man who understands the game better than most. With all that said I had a virtual sit down with the man, the myth, the legend, below are the results of that virtual sit down. I hope you enjoy.

Q: How do we find you doing today? A: Physically I am well except for some normal Spring time allergies, I am finally almost over the bruises and pains from the auto accident that I had as my dog Goldie and I traveled to out favorite fishing site on the Tennessee River. It has been several weeks since that fateful day and neither of us has felt much like fishing or even taking any unnecessary car rides lately, but I think it is about time for us to load up again and spend a day out on the river. Q: How is the GD world treating you these days? A: Things are good except with warmer weather arriving here in Alabama I no longer have enough time to spend on my teams. Normally this would be the time of year when I would end any experiments that I had running and pare down my teams to just those that were built and running more or less on their own. But this time around I have an exciting Shotgun experiment running in Bryant world that was made even more interesting after a close loss to a Wishbone team in the playoffs. That team is being led by the extremely talented ebel331 and that was one heck of a ballgame. I was already waffling on giving up my team when that happened, and that game was so intense and so interesting that we both agreed that we needed to try to repeat the experience. I also have a newly started Notre Dame Box/Dime experiment going in Warner world that I just can’t give up right now. In this case I had some ideas that I just couldn’t get off of my mind, and even though we were approaching Spring of the year and the time for me to end my experiments, this one just couldn’t wait until cold weather to get going. So now here I sit with too many teams for the amount of available time and they will probably all suffer for it. Q: Are there any other games you have tried that are similar to GD or maybe better than GD? How are those games different from GD? Would you recommend them to the other coaches? A: Not really. Some people say that they have a one track mind while they are juggling a dozen totally different projects, but I truly do have a one track mind and I just can’t concentrate when trying to shift gears all of the time. I changed from playing Civilization III to playing Gridiron Dynasty years ago, and only occasionally have went back to that game just to clear my head and do something different for a couple of days, but I pretty much stick to one thing at a time. A few weeks ago the hard drive on my computer crashed and I had to reload everything, so instead of reloading Civ 3 I decided to upgrade and try Civ 5. I may end up just removing it from my computer though because I just don’t feel the desire to learn a new game, and if I did I would probably leave Gridiron Dynasty to do so. Q: Now back to GD, what is your favorite part of this game? And obviously what is your least favorite part of the game? A: If I had to pick one thing that was my favorite part of the game I guess it would be team building, there is something very satisfying about taking a team from a gutter dwelling Sim team to a National Championship team. I also love the competition, I enjoy game planning and watching a good plan fall into place. I even enjoy getting beat occasionally if it was because someone out foxed me or had a better or a more unique game plan. But this game is a lot more about relationships and people than a lot of coaches think and they miss out on that very rewarding aspect. I have met and made friends with people from all over the United States and Canada, I believe that one coach that I talked to was even living in England. Some of these great friends that I have made I can even refer to as brothers now because we have grown that close and have confided in one another on that level. How can you quantify something like that? My least favorite part of the game is dealing with rude or obnoxious coaches who just want to tear down or cause trouble. There are honest times and proper ways to complain or to make a point, but mean spiritedness and foul or abusive behavior is a big downer for me. Q: What would you like to see be improved in this game: • As far as recruiting? A: There are obviously a lot more details that could be used in this game to make recruiting both more exciting and more difficult. Every word in the replies that we get back from players that we are recruiting or the scouts could mean something and give clues about how well that recruit will fit into our team. A real coach has to try and recruit like minded players as much as possible so that they all get along and jell as a team. Those type aspects and more seems to have been included with the idea of future game expansions in mind but have never actually been put into practice. I believe that the game would be more fun with 70 man rosters instead of the 50 that we have now, if that were the case then I would heartily agree that bringing injuries, early losses to the draft, and team discipline actions into the game would very much enhance the realism. Honestly though I have become so used to the way things are now that it would be hard for me to change and to learn to do things a different way with added work. • As far as game planning? A: Like most coaches I like the idea of more control over game planning and the idea of designing new formations, new plays and making on the fly changes through shifts and sending players in motion. But all of the different factors that I can think of add more difficulty to the game and would add to the overall time consumption tremendously. What sounds good when talking among ourselves could actually be a programming nightmare to make happen and it might be something that would lock out a lot of potential coaches just due to the complexity and the time required to operate a team. So I would be hesitant to add any major game planning changes. I would definitely love to have more options concerning where my players, skill players in particular, line up on the field for a play and in which direction the play is to be run. It would be very helpful if TE’s, RB’s, WR’s and QB’s could be lined up in any of their respective positions and perform each others functions. This would open up the opportunity for trick plays, more running plays out of Shotgun, running a Pistol offense out of any formation ect. On the defensive side a coach would need to be able to assign DB’s and LB’s to cover specific receivers or positions in order to counter such plays. • As far as the simulation? A: For myself I would like to be able to see a freeze frame second by second simulation of any given play using a graphic with X’s and O’s and player numbers so that I could see the execution and what happened on the play. This way I could see which defender covered which receiver and why, who made blocks, who defeated blocks and where the guy who made the play came from. By actually seeing what each player is being simulated as doing on a play we could all become a lot better and more original with our game planning, defensive alignments, and recruiting. My personal opinion is that WIS probably could not do this, either because it would give us too much information such that we were game planning the simulator more than the other coaches, or because in actuality there are only a handful of players being simulated by the game engine on each play. • As far as realism and all the other bells and whistles? A: To me this is where a lot of coaches get confused and run into problems in this game. We all play because we desire that experience of what it is like to be a real coach of a college football team, and WIS does a fair job of giving it some of the look and feel of real life coaching. But in fact it is nothing more than a bunch of one’s and zero’s being crunched out by a computer program in order to make it look that way. This is nothing more than a sophisticated board game, or role playing game that uses playing dice, power cards, random chance and other such mechanisms to make it all work out at the end of a game like we all expect it to. When you try to add in human emotions, feelings or real life expectations you are going to get disappointed. You have to play the odds and try to steer things in your favor, and you have to learn to weather the strings of bad luck that often happens in a regular board game with friends. Sometimes the dice or the deck of cards is just against you and you feel cheated, it happens and it is not always the game engines fault so get over it. Sure you were the better coach, and sure your team was stacked, too bad you couldn’t roll anything but snake eyes! Q: How many teams do you have and why that many? A: I currently have seven teams, I would have more if I could afford them, keep them straight and have time to recruit and game plan for them all. Two of my teams under “pistol76” are my experimental teams, I usually have a couple of these type teams during the Winter when I get bored and can’t go outside and do anything. The other five teams are under pete_61, I would eventually like to have a dynasty under this username at every level in the game. I have often thought of having a different D1A team in every world and giving up all other teams, if I ever do this it would be because I have decided to go into semi retirement and everything for these teams except recruiting and depth charts would probably be in automatic. Q: Why have you picked the schools that you picked, through time and the one you have now? Which school would you want to coach if you could and why? A: There are a whole lot of reasons for picking some of the teams that I have picked lol, some of those reasons may seem odd. I have often picked a team just because it was available and I liked it’s name. My first team fit this role, I’m a Baptist, Maranatha Baptist was available so I went with it. At some point I found out that some schools were in stronger recruiting areas than others, so I use this sometimes when I’m looking for a new team. It also helps to know how many other human coaches are in close proximity to a school, if the school is in an overly crowded area you might find recruiting life tough at that school. There are a few schools that I like or that I have some sort of an emotional tie to, I often check to see if those schools are open when I am choosing a new team. That is how I managed to end up at JSU in Wilkinson World because that was the University that my son attended, without JSU you might not even be doing this interview right now. The one school that I really want to coach at and my original goal when I joined this game is one place that I have never been, The University of Alabama! I’m still waiting until I’m good enough to be worthy of coaching at that school. Q: Was there any personal reasons to take certain teams? Everyone wants to know about your thinking in moving out to Hawaii and how you are finding life out there? How long before we see your team running like a well oiled machine like you had at D-1AA? A: Besides Jacksonville State University I have coached at Navy (I spent almost 9 years in the Navy), at the University of North Alabama (I practically live on campus), and at Florida State (My brother lives in Marianna, Florida and is a big fan). I also have ties to USC, Minnesota, LSU, Idaho State, Iowa State, and Texas, so I have a lot of good choices for the future. Hawaii came about because a bunch of dunderheads got together and came up with a plan to get rid of me lol. What are you supposed to do after you get voted into a “hall of Fame?” I really did need a new challenge and it was something that I had been thinking about for a long time, I believe that Hawaii has to be the greatest challenge for any coach to take on. Those who expect me to rule from Hawaii are going to be very disappointed and may mark this adventure down as a total failure. I have made no false pretenses and I have no wild hopes of winning National Championships from the Islands, this is simply a grand challenge to see what is possible from Hawaii and it is a great opportunity to really learn how to recruit. It is learn or get embarrassed very badly, and the later is looking like a distinct possibility for me about now lol. Thankfully some of the coaches who have already been through this experience have been quick to offer great advice, I listened and am still listening while at the same time adding my own thoughts and ideas along the way. Q: When job openings start, how often do you consider moving? A: Almost never. I don’t really like change and I’m pretty loyal to a school, especially if they have been good for me. But when circumstance arise when it is better for other people and for the game for me to move on, then I make the decision and start looking for a new challenge. I have also become bored and burned out a couple of times and just felt the need for a change. Q: What schools would you like to coach the most, besides Alabama? Also how do you rate the current Alabama coach both in the game and in real life? A: I would love to coach at USC, Texas, Miami and especially at Penn State one day. I also want to coach a Navy team in a world with a strong Sun Belt Conference, or maybe get a group of friends to follow me into a world to fill up that Conference and turn it into a powerhouse. The University of Alabama in Wilkinson has, in my opinion, one of the greatest coaches and best attributes that Gridiron Dynasty and What if Sports has to offer. Chris (AWAGS) is one of my favorite people in the entire game and I have tremendous respect for him and all that he does. I love it when he is on one of the radio programs and I really enjoy his sense of humor and sharp wit. I hope that he settles in at Alabama and makes a career out of it. As for coach Saban, I do believe that he has proved himself to be the best overall head coach in college football. I’m not sure if I would like him personally or if we could ever be good friends or not, but I like a lot of his philosophy of the game and I have somewhat tried to emulate his techniques for success on the field with my teams in Wilkinson. Q: What are your hopes with your current team? A: I have reached my initial goal of beating the Sims on my schedule and winning more games than I lose, the goal now will be to make it to a conference championship and play in a bowl game. My end game goal is to build a roster (8 seasons minimum) and see what the highest rank and best bowl game I can attain with this team. After I feel like I have done all that I can do at Hawaii (10-20 seasons down the road) I will probably eventually give it up for a school on the mainland. Q: What would make you just drop the game all together? A: My wife and I are both retired and disabled, which means that we have a limited income and available resources. So if it were to get too expensive to justify I might give it up. I can potentially have health issues that would take me away from the game overnight. I have spent more than my fair share of time in hospitals and I have far outlived my original prognosis, so health reasons is probably the biggest possibility. Then there is the burn-out factor, if that starts to happen I will first cut back, and if that doesn’t cure it I will leave the game. I would also seriously consider leaving if a lot of my long time friends left the game, it would just not be the same without some of these guys around giving me a hard time and pushing me along. Q: What is the best advice for new coaches that they probably can’t find on the forum? A: Listen to everyone’s advice, but develop your own philosophy and style of play, be your own coach and own your team! If you have never built a team from the bottom up then stop what you are doing right now and do so, until you learn what it takes to build a dead team into a successful team you will never be able to take an already built up team and be successful for long. If you are looking for a friend who will love you unconditionally, will never stab you in the back or say something that you don’t like, then get a dog. Q: For the current season who do you think are going to be the national championship contenders? Also how long before you join the list of contenders? A: Until the season starts in my mind I am the only true contender for a championship and I “Pity-Da-Fool” that gets in my way lol.

I would like to say many thanks to Pete for taking the time to go on a run with me in the Maze. There are some golden nuggets in there for everyone to pick up and hold on to. Thanks for taking the time to read through this Maze run and many thanks again to Pete. Until the next time take it easy everybody.