T. Scott Boatright
Minden Press-Herald
The term “four corners” in sports often refers to the offensive stall strategy popularized by North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith in the 1960s.
But Grambling State football coach Broderick Fobbs has his own “four corners philosophy” that deals with both football and life in general.
Fobbs has spent recent days and practices focusing on the little things —- the intangibles he says can mean the difference between winning or losing on the gridiron.
And it all starts long before a player hits a football field.
“It’s about taking care of everything — every aspect — you need to take care of to accomplish whatever you’re trying to do,” Fobbs said. “Think about cleaning a room. You can have the middle of the room totally clean and straight, but if the corners are still dirty and not taken care of, is the room really clean?
‘We’re trying to get the players to think about everything they do preparing for game day, making sure they’re taking care of all the testing protocols and everything all the way back to taking care of academics and making sure they can be out there.”
During Wednesday night’s practice, that included thinking about the way his Tigers enter Eddie G. Robinson Stadium on game day, complete with a run-through of showing their head coach how they will do that.
Before the full pads practice kicked into high gear Fobbs also spent time talking with his team about where players should stand during a game based on units on the field.
“That’s how coaches will know how to find you,” Fobbs told his players. “You have to pay attention. You don’t want a coach having to rush another player in there because you didn’t realize you need to be out on the field.”
The G-Men will next turn their attention toward opening game day as Grambling continues preparations to take on Tennessee State at 3 p.m. Sept. 5 in the Black College Hall of Fame Game at Tom Benson Stadium in Canton, Ohio.