Does Hard Knocks Make Sense from a Coaching Standpoint?

by Rupert, The Ghosts of Wayne Fontes

While the verdict is not out on HBO’s Hard Knocks from a quality perspective, we would like to pose a different debate in the meantime. Say you are the head coach of an NFL team; do you want your training camp transformed into a nationally televised reality show? Well, I gave this a good deal of thought over the course of the first three episodes with the Chiefs and came up with a laundry list of pluses and negatives as to help us answer that very question.

For starters, let’s hammer out the positives.

1) Moolah you fool: Certainly, signing off on HBO filming 700 hours of footage of the camp comes with a little wallet cushioning. The Chiefs front office surely had a lot to do with this decision

2) We Do It For the Fans: This is probably what those same front office fat cats would like us to believe. It’s true that it does give the fans an inside look at life during training camp, but I don’t really see this as an altruistic measure by the Chiefs. Nevertheless, it works. I watched the Cowboys season religiously a few years ago and always feel personally invested when I see Billy Cundiff miss a field goal. He was a rookie trying to make the team back then and we really became good friends at camp that year.

3) Fame: The players and coaches certainly reap the benefits of becoming television personalities. Surely the response to this comment is, “Well, most of these guys are famous already. That doesn’t make sense.” Oh contraire. These guys are indeed famous as athletes, but not as personalities. We know them with the pads on, but how much do you really know about Larry Johnson or Herm Edwards. Now, we know that Herm enjoys one dozen HOT glazed donuts. The sign has to say HOT. Otherwise, keep driving.

4) Players try harder on television: This sounds like the load of manure in Biff Tannen’s car if you ask me, but Herm Edwards made that very comment on the show. While I doubt he believes it, perhaps it is true that the players want to look good on the show, so they give even more during camp in a televised setting. While I am certain that making an NFL team is incentive enough for the young and unproven, I suppose there could be a little merit to this argument for the veterans. Maybe a guy who is in his 8th camp needs a little extra push to get in shape.

5) Celebrity girlfriends: Clearly, the highlight of the show up through episode 3 is Brodie Croyle’s super hot wife, Kellie. I think Kellie is keeper. She packs for Brodie, calls him three times a day while he is at camp, and even reminds him, “Don’t forget yer huntin DVDs.”

6) Humble those egos: If anything will cool off an NFL ego, admitting you are about to poop your pants on national television should do the trick.

Sure, that all sounds good, but let’s look at the downers to the airing of the camp.

1) The team is portrayed like wild cheetahs on Animal Planet: My favorite part of the show to date – by far - is when DeMarcus “Tank” Tyler is talking about the cornfields growing behind Arrowhead and HBO cues the tribal theme music. Within seconds, the deep voiced narration comes in and says, “Tank worked hard, but food was always on his mind. He prowled the corn fields, but somebody got there first.” They portray Tank as if he is scavenging dead carcasses, when really he just wanted to grab a couple cobs for the road. It’s not really that dramatic. Cut the dude some slack.

2) They demonize the rookies and stars in holdout: Televising training camp brings to light one of the more disappointing elements to the NFL preseason. The players that fans are the most excited to see, are sitting on their asses waiting for their agents to weasel out a couple extra million before they show up to practice. This is an unfortunate part of the game and I’ll be happy to go on ad nauseam about it, but for now let’s just chalk it up as “extremely disappointing” that Dwayne Bowe and Larry Johnson didn’t make it on time. Every time I see this, I want to say, “Go tell your fucking agent that you want to be at camp.” In the words of gay Tim from Project Runway (yeah I watch it, shut up), “Make it happen people.”

3) The whole world realizes that these players are morons: See Brackenridge, Tyron. Don't get me wrong, these are some nice dance moves actually, but not exactly the kind of thing you want to see from a defensive fire plug.

4) The informational advantage to other teams: Take a guy like Belichick who made his living by pouring over game film for 70 hours per week to gain even just the slightest informational advantage; viewing a league competitor at the camp provides a serious advantage. Maybe they do not give up wildly important secrets, but we see the changes in the depth charts, the progression of young players, and which players make the roster, etc. There is a lot of insight that is easily accessible. I would classify this as a major disadvantage for the Chiefs.

5) Distractions - Let’s face it. A lot of these NFL players are showing off for the camera. Some might call it “goofing off” or having fun, but camp is supposed to be a serious grind, not a rap music video, a practical joke contest, or a fan/media day care center. In a time when instilling discipline into the team is critical, these distractions could be a nuisance to the coaching staff.

Well, pros and cons all accounted for, what’s the verdict? I personally would choose not to televise camp for the sole reason of #4 on the negatives list – the informational advantage you give the competition. It seems like with 700 hours of footage, there is too good a chance that information will leak out that is not intended for the viewing public, particularly to the conference rivals. That said, it probably is not that big of a deal one way or the other, so keep it up- I like watching. Let us know your opinion in the comments.