Give players the reins of responsibility. We’ll all gain in the long term

The Super Bowl interaction between coach and player was something to behold. For Foles to feel so empowered in that moment, and for a coach to be willing to relinquish control of such a hugely significant play call was remarkable, writes Mike Quirke.

In the dramatic Super Bowl between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots, there was a moment right before half-time that jumped out, from a coaching perspective. With the Eagles looking at fourth down deep in Pats’ territory, traditional NFL coaching wisdom would take the field goal all day long, bag three points and get the defence back out on the field. The analytics of the situation normally dictate that coaches play the percentages. But Philadelphia had other ideas.

During the time-out, their journeyman quarterback Nick Foles jogged to the side-line to talk to his head coach, who was perusing the playbook searching for an act of inspiration he might come up with. As Foles approached, he called out to his coach “Philly Philly”. It was name of a trick play they had practised but had never run in an actual game. Foles was suggesting they do it for the first time ever, not only in a real game, but in a huge moment, in the biggest game of his entire career. It was a massive call.