Coach Fred Schultz (no relation) is one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met. He joined the Gonzaga coaching staff my junior year as the defensive line coach and had played college football at the University of Toledo. Coach Schultz had an international man-of-mystery vibe to him, often alluding to ‘work he had done in Russia’ and he seemed just as comfortable debating the pros and cons of mutual assured destruction as he was breaking down proper pass-rush technique.
As a quarterback, Coach Schultz didn’t coach me directly. In fact, he loved reminding me that he had “spent the better part of his adult life learning different ways to destroy people like me.” Still, I enjoyed hearing his coaching points secondhand from one of my best friends and First-Team All-WCAC defensive end Billy McNamara during our carpool rides home. One lesson in particular stood out then and still sticks with me today:
“If it’s too good to be true, go back through.” – Coach Fred Schultz
He was teaching his defensive linemen how to sniff out a screen pass. For those unfamiliar, a screen pass is designed to take advantage of an aggressive defense. After an initial pass block set, the offensive line intentionally allows the rush to penetrate, drawing defenders deep into the backfield, while the running back slips out behind them with blockers in front advancing to the second level of the defense. If the defense is too eager, they run themselves right out of the play.
Coach Schultz taught his linemen that if getting through a block felt unusually easy that was the signal to stop, retrace their steps, and find the running back to blow up the screen before it could develop.
Our natural instinct in work and business is to get into the backfield. Close the sale. Finish the project. Expand the team. After all, without aggression and drive, it’s easy to get passed and never build the career or life we’re working toward. But blind ambition can also cause us to run ourselves out of the play.
Maybe it isn’t the right time for a client to make a move, and the best thing we can do is slow down, understand their full perspective, and act in their best interest. Perhaps we’re operating at 100 miles per hour trying to maximize revenue, and in doing so we overlook the finer points of a deal or neglect another area of the business that needs attention.
Yes, we need the motor to chase the quarterback. But sometimes the right move is easing off the gas, checking our surroundings, and fully assessing what’s unfolding around us to make sure we don’t run ourselves right out of the play.
“If it’s too good to be true, go back through.” – Coach Fred Schultz
