Cowboys interview Brian White

[InmanRoshi]

Cowboys | Meet with White - from www.KFFL.com
Tue, 15 Feb 2005 10:29:34 -0800

Jennifer Floyd Engel, of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, reports the Dallas Cowboys recently discussed their vacant running backs coach position with Brian White, who currently serves the same role at the University of Wisconsin.

Couple of interesting notes on White.

a) He won the award for Div I Assistant Coach of the year as Wisconsin's RB Coach and Off. Coordinator.

http://www.afca.com/lev3.cfm/1016

b) He's no dummy.

The former Harvard quarterback (school’s No. 2 career passer when he left) earned his B.A. in 1986, an M.A. from Fordham in 1988 and an M.B.A. from Notre Dame in 1990.

http://www.uwbadgers.com/sport_news/...an_fb&sport=fb


An underhyped Norm Chow?

[AsthmaField]

Hello Anthony Davis?

[Avery]

Originally Posted by AsthmaField

Hello Anthony Davis?

Isn't Brian White a country singer? Something about wishing on someone else's star or something?

[InmanRoshi]

Pretty sad statement on coaching when someone who uses excell is conidered to be a "IT guru" for his profession. Anyway, this was a role that Steve Hoffman used to fill, so the Cowboys have a need for it.

Success Is Coming In Bunches At Wisconsin

by Timothy Nott

According to the Acromania Index on the Ziff Davis website www.zdnet.com, Information Technology is defined Pronounced as separate letters, IT refers to the broad subject of managing and processing information. In contrast, Vince Lombardi noted, "football is only two things - blocking and tackling." How can one reconcile the differences between the general study and application of data and this strict, physical discipline? Barry Alvarez and company at the University of Wisconsin have been working on the equation for the past decade.

[View Full Quote]An initial technology investment in video has slowly grown to incorporate additional aspects of the program. In the past four years alone, recruiting, public relations, fundraising, gameplans, play analysis, scouting and video editing have all come to rely on technology. Not all of the technologies are in the hands of the coaches, but each makes its impact on the program. Boosters, sports information and office staff have also come to depend upon technology to get their jobs done - one less thing on the minds of the coaches, granting them the freedom to focus on how technology can make their lives easier.

1990 brought two significant changes to UW football. The most obvious was the acquisition of Barry Alvarez from Notre Dame. The second was the decision by the Big Ten Conference to move from film to video. The former meant a new winning tradition, increased fan support and financial solvency. The latter would be the first of many tools adopted to maintain and improve upon these successes. Wisconsin's investment in video included an in-house production studio and the staff to run it. Long-time equipment manager Jim Roberts was asked to assume the role of Video Coordinator, and so Information Technology took root at UW.

Since its inception, video has evolved from analog tapes to the digital format. Roberts notes the difference comes down to speed. "Synchronizing edits took hours in analog for a 30-minute tape. . . this is now done in only half an hour."

The real advantage comes when coaches want to answer 'what if' questions with video. Graduate assistant Matt Sheldon analyzes footage, recording backfield sets, field position and down-and-distance to empower the coaching staff to be able to filter, sort and view the video they need on demand.

Tony Yacu, a UW student majoring in Computer Science, works with both systems to provide printed reports using Microsoft Excel. Yacu and Sheldon have collaborated to implement formulas, AutoFill, searches, sorting, macros and Visual Basic for Applications to fix incompatibilities between the two systems and reduce the data entry necessary to produce the reports coaches need. Less data entry means faster turnaround and more specific reports.

Offensive coordinator and running backs coach Brian White also uses Excel. He takes information provided in the reports and creates game plans using the spreadsheet program. This makes formatting the information easier and allows for more readable information on a page, for easy access in the coaching booth.

Each of these uses of IT spring from the introduction of video to the program. Likewise, video acted as a seed that grew into the Technical Services department within UW Athletics. Roberts, now Director of Technical Services, oversees all aspects of both video and computing. Once a small crew of three full-time employees with student assistants, the department has grown to over 30 employees. The majority of staff is devoted to either video production or computer support and implementation.

Computer support has been a valuable tool behind the scenes, providing the technology necessary for office staff to do what they need to do efficiently. Whether it's comparing travel costs or mapping routes from hotels to facilities, it's all getting done on the Internet - and getting done quickly. Phone calls and faxes have given way to websites and email. Expedia.com, priceline.com, and MapQuest are all favorites of staffer Sandy Frye. Asked for hotel or flight information, Sandy can turn to her computer and have an answer in moments. Sure beats being put on hold by a busy airline.

Another role for the Internet has been in serving the university's public relations and sports information personnel. Wisconsin boasts an award-winning athletics website (www.wisc.edu/ath) that gets millions of visits from rabid Badger fans each football season. In addition, fund-raising functions have found a home on the Web.

Although the Web does not currently affect the coaches directly, harnessing its power will soon be a reality for them, as well. UW already uses a database to track recruit information, but this data is not available to coaches while they travel on recruiting trips. One plan to fix this problem calls for cell phones with email capability. This tool would provide crucial, up-to-the-second information about who has committed, and where coaches should direct their efforts. White has devised an immediate solution using Lotus Organizer. Organizer tracks contact information such as names, phone numbers and addresses. White uses Organizer's calendar function to document calls placed to recruits in order to comply with NCAA regulations. He also keeps notes on each call and can view these notes when he calls a specific recruit. In this way, his laptop computer acts as a central collector of recruit info, eliminating the need for - and the failure rate of - handwritten notes.

White and Joe Baker (now with the New Orleans Saints) were the first on the Wisconsin coaching staff to use personal computers to improve how they coached. Orders have now been placed for four more computers to outfit the remainder of the staff - even the head coach. Alvarez is going deluxe digital with a 600 MHz processor and a 17" flat panel monitor. What will he do with all that computing power? Check email, sources say, but plans are in the works for a completely tape-free video system, which would let coaches use their PCs to view video-on-demand right at their desks.

While the first two machines purchased for coaches were laptops, the recent purchases have all been desktop units with plenty of power and large monitors. "I don't see them carrying traditional laptops (on the road)," says Roberts. For traveling, the full size laptop is simply too big. Its dimensions and weight (5-8 lbs.) make it impractical for coaches who are accustomed to carrying only a game plan, a clipboard and a change of clothes.

This is in keeping with current trends showing a move from laptops to portable devices. These devices - such as cell phones, palmtop computers and hybrids of the two - sport the scaled-down functionality of personal computers without all the bulk. These devices would provide for last-minute edits to gameplans and instant access to breaking information such as weather conditions and injury reports.

Although football was the first UW sport to use video as a tool, as a sport, it has lagged behind other programs at Wisconsin in the widespread implementation of Information Technology. Most coaches have been using computers for everything from communication with recruits to tracking student-athlete NCAA eligibility. Though they are late techno-bloomers, UW football has embraced IT as a tool necessary to getting the job done.

White recalls how IT tools helped alleviate frustration with the outside run through the first four games of the 1999-00 campaign: "We weren't having success with our best play, so we looked at all the video of those plays after the Michigan game and found the problem. Then we brought Ron [Dayne] in and we could show him exactly what was happening."

Dayne made the correction, and the rest is history.

For UW, technology has become a teaching tool that gets results - an alternative to lectures and a chalkboard. "We've only just hit the tip of the iceberg," says a smiling White when asked about the future of technology in the program.

Indeed, there are many tools available to any coach looking to integrate IT into the gameplan, but there is a cost. Technology changes every day and personnel who are proficient in computer skills are paid top dollar in every industry.

Aside from timesavings and results, what does IT have to offer today's football coach?

"We have to stay ahead of the learning curve," White says. "The tools give us more time to spend with the players, working on the intangibles like team building. If we're on top of technology, we can maintain an advantage that would otherwise go to someone else."

If Lombardi were with us today, I'm sure he'd agree. Technology has found a place in football - somewhere amidst the blocking and tackling you'll find frequency sorts and video reports. So long as it translates into winning - "the only thing", IT will be integral.
Timothy Nott, a UW Athletics IT professional from 1997 to 2000, is a developer for Omni Resources (www.omniresource.com) and proprietor of The Clue Bus Information Technology Group (www.thecluebus.com).

[InmanRoshi]

Another article ... his dad was a coach. Another Parcells plus.

Mike Lucas: White pushed by many 'Big' challenges

By Mike Lucas
December 15, 2004

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University of Wisconsin offensive coordinator Brian White hit the "pause" button, freezing the red-shirted Georgia defenders on the screen. Much to his chagrin, LSU coach Nick Saban didn't have the option to slow down the pass rush in Athens, like White did in his meeting room at Camp Randall Stadium. As a result, Saban's two quarterbacks, Marcus Randall and JaMarcus Russell, felt the wrath of the aggressive Bulldogs, who came up with five sacks and three fumble recoveries during a 45-16 rout of the defending co-national champions in early October. How bad was it?

[View Full Quote]Georgia quarterback David Greene threw five touchdown passes, a school record, against a Tigers defense that was ranked No. 5 in the nation in points and yards allowed. The Bulldogs finished with 438 yards of total offense, while LSU managed just 314 - just 67 rushing on 29 carries. As White glanced up at the screen, he couldn't avoid making eye contact with No. 10, Thomas Davis, a bigger-than-life 220-pound Georgia free safety who caused two fumbles by LSU running backs, both of which led to scores.

Even though the indefatigable David Pollack, the Lombardi and Lott award winner, was the main headliner on the Georgia defense, Davis, the Bulldogs' leading tackler, has also earned some national recognition, including being selected as a first-team All-American by the American Football Coaches Association.

White recently was honored by the same organization when he was named the Division I-A assistant coach of the year. White will receive a plaque and an educational stipend during the AFCA's January convention in Louisville, Ky. The criteria for this particular award was all-encompassing - spotlighting the strength of an assistant on the field, his commitment to players, his volunteer work in the community and his AFCA involvement. White was singled out by a committee of his peers, making it more gratifying.

"There's a variety of factors when you receive an individual award and so many other people that should be recognized for it," White said, naming names. Like his fellow coaches at Wisconsin, his extended family (the players) and his family (wife Salli and the kids, Cassi and Jackson). For the last 2 years, Sha'juan Waddell, who just turned 9, has also been a part of the White family. Brian and Salli have been Sha'juan's Big Brother and Big Sister, respectively.
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Nobody has more respect for this organization than White, who was first exposed to the Big Brothers Big Sisters program when he was a freshman at Harvard University. "My sister was an upperclassmen who was involved," he remembered, "and she really encouraged me to explore (it) and get involved, too."

To this end, White was also a Big Brother at two other coaching stops - at Fordham University and UNLV - before coming to Madison. "The one common denominator with all the kids," he said, "is that they're just full of optimism, full of hope and full of enthusiam for life and exposures." And because his coaching schedule is so full, especially now as an offensive coordinator, he's quick to deflect praise to the family coordinator, Salli. "I get recognized but, honestly, my wife does a majority of the work as is typically the case."

With a coach's wife. At that, White was a coach's kid. His dad, Don, was a prep coach after graduating from Notre Dame, where he played quarterback and defensive back for the Irish in the late '50s. Tuesday, while breaking down film of Georgia for the Jan. 1 Outback Bowl, White, now 40, was asked if he still wants to be a head coach. "Absolutely," he said without hesitation.

Have you been disappointed that it hasn't come faster? "Yes and no," he replied. "I've always been of the belief that when the timing is right, it will happen and it will be the right situation. For whatever reason, there hasn't been that situation, there hasn't been that match. And I've always believed if you do a good job where you're at, then good things will happen to you."

Any parameters? "I'd like to be a head coach in Division I-A," he said. "That has always been a goal. In terms of what league, what school, you have to research everything. You have to do a good job of knowing what resources are available and whether you can be productive at that place."

White's name has come up in conjunction with some head coaching vacancies. Or so it has been reported. Who can you believe? "I can tell you this much, a lot of it isn't true," he said. "It doesn't bother me. But it's just pure conjecture from people, providing grist for the rumor mill."

Does White have a timetable? "I try not to put timetables on things," he said. "You just have to do a good job with the role you have."

Has dad offered advice? "He has just told me to keep plugging away," he said. "Charlie Weis is a perfect example. You just keep working, and developing a reputation ..." And good things will happen. As they have for Weis, the offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots who has taken over the Notre Dame program.

White, who once worked as a graduate assistant under Lou Holtz in South Bend, acknowledged that his dad grew a little frustrated with how the Irish conducted their business. "It's obviously a transitional time," Brian White said, "and precedents have been broken and new precedents have been set with what's going on."

Is White still positive that he wants to be a head coach, given that Ty Willingham was fired after just three years?

"It certainly makes you realize that you're in a business," White said. "And it's not like a normal business. Our annual reports are weekly ... you get defined after 3 hours every Saturday and they judge you accordingly. They judge your decision-making, and they critique you from talk radio to TV talking heads to the internet. At times, it's an inescapable black hole and you get thrown right into the vortex of information overflow. But that's what it is. That's why you have to almost have a little tunnel vision: work and coach."

Stressing that the good far outweighs the bad in the coaching profession, White went back to work, tapping the "play" button on his VCR, which triggered a chain reaction. Suddenly, those redshirted Georgia defenders were moving at full speed on his screen. "Very, very athletic. Big, physical safeties. Defensive backs who will hit. Linebackers who can run. Pollack is relentless," White said, knowing that he has his work cut out for him.

With or without tailback Anthony Davis. "He's practiced and he looks good to me," he said. "You just have to game-plan that he's going to be there." If only it was as simple as hitting the "play" button.

[joseephuss]

Originally Posted by InmanRoshi

Pretty sad statement on coaching when someone who uses excell is conidered to be a "IT guru" for his profession. Anyway, this was a role that Steve Hoffman used to fill, so the Cowboys have a need for it.

Good film or video study and analysis can put players in good position to achieve Lombardi's two most important points of "blocking and tackling". I hope the guys is very good at EXCEL.

[Chocolate Lab]

Good find, Inman...

Just a shot in the dark here, but I wonder if this could have anything to do with David Lee. I know he was the "quality control" guy who had to learn to get all the game film into video form on the computer. Maybe he's going to become the QB coach if Payton is promoted, or maybe the Browns are even interested in him, and someone else will need to do those duties (plus more of course).

[NorthTexan95]

"Alvarez is going deluxe digital with a 600 MHz processor and a 17" flat panel monitor. What will he do with all that computing power? Check email, sources say"

Ohmygosh! "600 MHz processor and a 17" flat panel monitor" was deluxe ... back in the early 90's. Checking email will be about all he can do if he's running Windows XP. My old 650 MHz laptop is very slow running XP. Maybe they are planning on using Windows NT.

I'd offer to be his new IT guy but it's just too cold up there.

[Jimz31]

Geez, just WHO the freak are these guys that BP is continuing to try to surround himself with?

BP to JJ: "Let's go bargain-hunting.".

[HeHateMe]

Ron Dayne (I know he sucks now, but he was great at UW).

Michael Bennett.

Anthony Davis.

Pretty good recent resume.

[junk]

Originally Posted by Jimz31

Geez, just WHO the freak are these guys that BP is continuing to try to surround himself with?

BP to JJ: "Let's go bargain-hunting.".

I don't know, I think this guy looks like an up and comer to me. You know assistants that aren't coordinators usually aren't household names. They become that way by putting in some time with the big names.

I, for one, would be glad to see BP bring some young blood in.

[Dale]

Yeah I would rather have White than some NFL assistant who was fired in the same role.

[Portland Fanatic]

Originally Posted by HeHateMe

Ron Dayne (I know he sucks now, but he was great at UW).

Michael Bennett.

Anthony Davis.

Pretty good recent resume.

Those are some impressive names...when they were in college anyways...as for Davis...heck I like the kid with a 5th or 6th...would be a nice return man, and back up for JJ. Kid can run!

[Gooch]

Originally Posted by NorthTexan95

Ohmygosh! "600 MHz processor and a 17" flat panel monitor" was deluxe ... back in the early 90's. Checking email will be about all he can do if he's running Windows XP. My old 650 MHz laptop is very slow running XP. Maybe they are planning on using Windows NT.

I'd offer to be his new IT guy but it's just too cold up there.

A quick search on goolgle gave me this url from this article (links out)

www.americanfootballmonthly.com/Subaccess/Magazine/May'00/UofW.html

I didn't have a flatscreen in 2000.
You the new IT guy huh?

[Hostile]

I really liked the articles. Thanks Inman.


Never heard of this guy, but I'm intrigued. Like Avery said, I saw the title and thought about the country singer. I figured it was about a tribute song or something.