The East

There was a time not too long ago when eastern football was so faintly regarded that the rest of the nation politely guffawed the moment the subject was raised.

De-emphasis in the Ivy League, stricter recruiting regulations everywhere in the East, and heavier recruiting among eastern high school stars by football powers from outside the region helped to create the situation. The Ivies were content to engage in their own battles and the big independents—Syracuse, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Army and Navy—were losing out in the fight to keep the homebreds home.

But suddenly Syracuse is up and proclaiming an eminence that once was almost exclusively reserved for Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Minnesota. First in the nation in 1959, the Orangemen are likely to stay at the top just as long as bigger and better tackles, more talented quarterbacks and quick halfbacks continue to be attracted to Piety Hill by Coach Ben Schwartzwalder. And right behind them are Penn State and Pittsburgh, which achieved notable success in intersectional games last year.

There are several reasons for the improvement in quality. The most obvious, of course, is more effective recruiting. But as important, perhaps, is the fact that eastern coaches no longer ignore the rest of the nation and nowadays resolutely adjust their style of play to the national trend. The imaginative wing T has attracted the most followers. Others have polished and refurbished the conservative split-T. And still others have turned to double wings and slots to make their T more palatable.

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Some oldtimers insist that none of these ideas are new. Boston College's new coach, Ernie Hefferle, who spent a season with the Washington Redskins, takes exception. He claims that college football is changing so rapidly that "I would have lost complete touch with the game if I had stayed with the pros any longer." The greatest changes: the increased offensive role of the quarterback, the plenitude of big tackles, and oddly, the absence of good centers and punters.

Hefferle, who will use the wing T at BC, points out, "Increased use of. the belly series and the option makes it imperative to have a quarterback who can run with the ball as well as pass it." He has just such a player in John Amabile. And there are some others in the East. Syracuse's Dave Sarette, Yale's Tom Singleton, Harvard's Charlie Ravenel and Bucknell's Paul Terhes are among the best.

"Centers are probably the hardest to find," says Hefferle. "Most of today's centers are converted guards and fullbacks. There is very little glamour to the position, except for the linebacking. Kids just don't think about playing center. Give a youngster a football, and the last thing he will want to do is to hand it back between his legs to somebody else.

"Why are good punters scarce? Maybe because of the times. In the Depression days, when I was a kid, we had no money to go any place. Anybody who was lucky enough to have a football first learned how to throw it, then to kick it. Why, I can kick better left-footed today than most of the kids on my squad!"

Pitt's John Michelosen, who plays what appears to be the most difficult schedule in the country this year, is another who believes the game scene has changed. "The quarterback is going to do a lot more on offense this year than just be a hand-off man and thrower," he says. "He will run and block more. Also, the trend to change the defense is giving tackles a wider area to roam. They can shoot the gap, take quicker pursuit and enter into more spectacular play."