Head Coaches Risk Disgrace for Brilliance

A few years ago, when Bill Rigney was managing the Angels, he took pitcher Dean Chance out of a game and replaced him with a relief pitcher who promptly surrendered a home run.

After the game, a fan approached him with what he expected to be a reproach.

“I can’t believe how smart you were, Mr. Rigney,” the fan said, “getting Dean out of the game before that home run.”

Obviously, this particular fan was a little easier on Rigney than Charger fans have been on Coach Dan Henning this week. The poor guy makes the effort to lose 30 pounds in the off-season, and now it seems everyone in San Diego would like to lose his head as well.

It’s never much fun to make decisions which bridge a gap between genius and fool in the perceptions of fans.

As Al Luginbill, San Diego State’s football coach, said this week: “The toughest decisions I have to make come within special teams and at the quarterback position. That’s what everybody sees.”

These were exactly the areas in which Henning made his fateful decisions in Sunday’s 17-14 loss in Dallas. The first, the failed fake punt on fourth down, led to a Dallas touchdown that, in turn, led to the second, the change from Mark Vlasic to Billy Joe Tolliver at quarterback.

Yes, Al, those were rather visible decisions.

And those decisions led to derision.

Every coach (or manager) has to make them. Some of them work. Some of them don’t. Some of the ones that don’t work cause grumbling all the way home. Some cause grumbling all the way to next year.

Others?

Do you think Tommy Lasorda would let Tom Niedenfuer pitch to Jack Clark if he had it all to do over? How long ago was that?

“My toughest decision,” said Greg Riddoch, the Padre manager, “is when is the right time to take out a pitcher. It depends on the hitters coming up and it depends on who the other team has to come in to pinch hit and it depends on the pitcher. Sometimes, you just have to do what feels right.”

But what feels right can turn out so ridiculously wrong.

Right, Tommy?

Right, Dan?

If it’s any consolation to Dan Henning, not all of San Diego has shoved him into a corner with a pointed hat.

Guys such as Luginbill and Riddoch understand. So does Ron Newman, the Sockers’ coach.

These guys have all been in the kitchen. These guys have all felt the heat. These guys recommend asbestos ear plugs.

“My heart goes out to Dan,” Luginbill said. “In a situation like that that goes bad, you second-guess yourself. From what I hear, it should have worked . . . but that’s the life of a coach. A businessman makes a decision that doesn’t work and a few of his office-mates know about it. A football coach makes a decision that doesn’t work and millions see it.”

What amazes these guys is how smart all those millions can be.

“ After it didn’t work,” Riddoch said, “99.9% know the answer. Not many can tell you the answer prior to . Assistant directors or assistant managers in any walk of life can make tremendous decisions, because the ultimate responsibility falls in the director’s or the manager’s spot. When it’s your responsibility, it’s not as easy as it was before. It changes everything.”

The nature of Newman’s decisions do not frequently expose him to the criticism of the magnitude Henning or Riddoch or Luginbill are likely to encounter.

“Pulling the goalkeeper is one thing people can focus on in our sport,” Newman said. “But (football coaches) can be second-guessed so easy. Everyone knows what they’d do differently.”

Soccer is much more subtle. The average fan is not likely to notice changes within playing shifts or shifts within playing tactics. Changes come within the flow of the game and not at pivotal, and therefore highly visible, pauses.

There was, indeed, that pause in the action Sunday while the Chargers sent their punting unit onto the field. It huddled, lined up . . . and then didn’t punt. Gary Plummer came up four yards short on fourth and six.

“If it works,” Riddoch said, “you’re a genius.”

That’s what I wonder. That’s the real test criticism should stand.

If Plummer had run for the first down, would Henning have been hailed for a daring call that put a victory away? Or would the multitudes insist the Chargers had won in spite of the stupid coach’s bonehead call . . . that worked?

Dan Henning himself has an opinion that, while prejudiced, may be very close to the mark.

“If it had worked,” he said, “there would have been no clamor. In fact, there would have been euphoria. The films show that, if it had been blocked correctly, Plummer probably would have scored or at least run to the 10-yard line. We would have taken advantage of a glaring weakness to put the game out of reach.”

That’s if it had worked, right, Greg?