The Chris Rawle Show

The largest part of a football coach’s responsibility is establishing the identity of a team. When it comes to a coach’s impact on wins and losses, this weekend featured a bevy of examples both good (Andy Reid, Kevin Stefanski, Mario Christobal) and bad (Mike McCarthy, Clay Helton, Mike Norvell).

One of the biggest questions of every NFL season is who can stay healthy. Last year’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers squad is a testament to the impact of good health, riding a talented roster and fortunate injury luck to a Super Bowl win. What role does injury luck play in shaping every NFL season? And what are expectations for star players (like Odell Beckham, Dak Prescott, Saquon Barkley, Nick Bosa, and David Bakhtiari) as they return from injury?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers return all 22 starters from last year’s Super Bowl championship squad, an unprecedented blend of talent and continuity. On the opposite end of the spectrum are teams like the New York Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars, seeking to establish that continuity and cohesion with new coaching staffs and quarterbacks. In a sport that relies on 11-man units working in concert with one another, what is the value of continuity?

In present day, football is all about offense. Over the opening weekend of college football, however, multiple defenses (Penn State, Iowa, Georgia) seized the day. Is it possible for the sport to return to a balance of explosive offenses and ferocious defenses, with either capable of winning a national championship? Or is the transitioning of Alabama from defensive juggernaut to offensive powerhouse showing us that in college football, offense is king until Nick Saban says otherwise?

College football is anarchy presented as stable fact, a sport that emphasizes chaos over calm. Week one begins in earnest this weekend. What matchups seize the day? Ohio State-Minnesota or Boise-UCF? Penn State-Wisconsin or Indiana-Iowa? ULL-Texas or Alabama-Miami? How much chaos awaits in Georgia-Clemson? College football is back and it’s time to celebrate the most beautiful, imperfect sport in the world.

Nearly everything in life has a healthy dose of luck involved. Sports are no different, with one of the oldest cliches (“a game of inches”) continually ringing true. Football games can be decided by a fourth down mark (like 2016 Michigan-Ohio State) or even more absurdly, referee Gene Steratore measuring margins with an index card (like 2017 Cowboys-Raiders). When it comes to putting percentages on the PGA Tour, the difference 12 inches can make is vast. Many times it all boils down to luck.

Choking is one of the most common terms in the sports lexicon and for many, synonymous with losing. Bryson Dechambeau and Patrick Cantlay engaged in a scintillating duel at the BMW Championship with Cantlay emerging victorious after six playoff holes. This battle — one that featured emotional swings and incredible shot making in equal quantities — is the perfect place to ask and examine one simple question: what constitutes choking?

How do you find meaning in anything you do? There is no overarching answer to this question and motivation must be found on an individual level. Golf psychologist Bob Rotella once proclaimed you must “love the challenge of the day, whatever that may be,” words that contain revelatory truth for the Nebraska football program after a stunning season opening loss to Illinois. How does Nebraska embrace the challenge of rebuilding a once-proud program that makes the same mistakes, over and over, regardless of coaching staff or administration, with no end in sight?

Warped narrative has gained popularity as hot take culture has consumed the world of sports. If people see something talked about enough, many times it becomes reality. In this vein, Tom Brady is acknowledged as the ultimate winner while Chris Paul has been stamped as a perennial loser. As narrative continues to battle reality, are the words of Paul — “nobody cares about your story unless you win” — true?

Four teams (Alabama, Ohio State, Oklahoma, & Clemson) have a stranglehold on their conferences like never before. College football has always existed under the umbrella of two truths: there will always be a ruling class, but who those teams are is cyclical. Since the playoff was instituted in 2014 that has not been the case. Is the cyclical nature of things being replaced by the status quo?