Good Evening to the GI world, and welcome to the inaugural edition of Coaches Corner. I'm your host Mercutioh and I plan on using this column to cover some of the basics of the game with some of the Great Coaches of GI. Tonight I sat down with Toledo Rockets Owner Squish, who has lead his team to an 8-1 start and a fine showing in the North American cup.

Mercutioh:First off thanks for taking the time to sit down with me in the Coaches Corner.I really appreciate being able to pick your brain!

Squish: No Problem,I'll help you out as much as I can!

Mercutioh:What do you think is the key to a successful team in GI?

Squish: The key to teams in Grid-iron at the moment are defense and passing. The teams that are actually good in game right now are the ones that can stop the run effortlessly. Usually a nose tackle makes this possible and a good number of guys with tackling 5+. If you can stop a run right now, you can stop a team...

Unless they have a decent passing attack. Let's face it, everybody's passing sucks right now. Nevertheless, when you play with the big boys, passing is everything. A completion generally means a TD 80% of the time. If you are up against a stout defense like mine that has held it's last 6 opponents to less than 20 yards rushing, your only option is to pass. A team that can rely on the pass at this point is a team that wins their respective regional cup. With a run-stopping defense and a solid pass attack, you will be undefeated for a long time to come.

Mercutioh:Do you scout your opponents from game to game?

Squish: I personally don't scout teams more than a basic minimum. I find that it's useless more than half the time. Even if you pick the right defense, having players on the wrong side of the field will make it a horrible scenario. I play a general offense and defense every game. I do look to see how good a team has been and whether there is a glaring weakness on either run or pass defense. If so, I may switch out a TE in favor of a WR. Other than that, it's business as usual. I haven't changed my league/cup lineup since the cup started. I play my young guns in friendlies to get their team chemistry up.

Mercutioh:When Placing your players do you look for Best fit of skills, or natural position?

Squish:In terms of who starts, I generally put attributes before rating and best position. I also don't play anyone at a position worse than one they play adequate at. I do have exceptions for young players though. For example, I have a 16 year old CB that is not listed as being able to play at QB. Yet his 7 passing, 7 vision, 7 positioning, and 15 intelligence told me that it didn't matter. He plays at QB in my friendlies in the hopes that he'll eventually be best at QB. I am really just shaping a young team right now. I have only a few players over 25. I've found for the most part also that nobody is worth playing on defense unless they have at least 5 tackling. I've found that I have a lot of linemen that are best on both sides of the ball so that's where I play them. I don't think anyone really knows exactly how the match engine works but I've found the safe play is generally the better one.


Mercutioh:I'd like to take the time again to thank you! I know coaches everywhere will benefit from your outlook!

Great idea! Although Squish isn't a good choice

Merc, you have way too much time on your hands.

Guru!

Ill have to remember this if i run into him in the cup which if we both continue to win has to happen at some point

But this sure took a lot of time to toss together im sure b ut a good "report"

Nice to read others managers opinions.

a couple of for Mercuriot and Squish!