AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2007 > July > 12 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USForce’s Plank proves he can coach
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
The man was spreading mayonnaise on a Whopper when he suddenly thought, “You know, there’s more to life than this.”
Now, I’m fairly certain Sid Gillman wasn’t dropping fries when he thought, “Hmmm, the forward pass.” But everybody evolves in their own way.
This is indoor football. Most consider it a mind-numbing, genetic mutation between sport and pinball. But if you can get past that, one thing has become abundantly clear: Doug Plank can coach.
In three seasons running the Georgia Force, your Arena league entry, Plank is 37-17, including playoffs. His team is a win away from reaching the league championship game for the second time in three years. He was just named coach of the year for the second time. And coaching is coaching.
I tell you this because there’s a decent chance Doug Plank will be gone before anybody ever realized he lived or worked here.
He acknowledges there have been coaching feelers from elsewhere. He acknowledges even a position coaching offer in the NFL would be tempting. Any Arena league player would leap at a chance to coach in the NFL, and it’s no different for a coach. It’s a step up.
“Having been in the NFL,” he said, “I understand the hierarchy in football.”
One day you’re managing minimum-waged burger-flippers. The next day you’re drawing up a playbook. Sort of takes the luster off that whole “coaching genius” concept, doesn’t it?
“It sounds crazy, but those same skills that I had when I was at Burger King, I used when I became a coach,” Plank said. “It’s all coaching. It’s just not called coaching. It’s managing people. It has the same fundamentals in terms of trying to motivate and inspire. The bottom line is you’re really just a salesman. You’re trying to sell your philosophies to your employees or your players.”
Plank knows real football. He played real football. He grew up and played high school ball in Western Pennsylvania. Then Ohio State. Then the Chicago Bears. He was a smart, overachieving safety in Buddy Ryan’s 46 defense (named for Plank’s jersey number). He hit hard. He tucked smelling salts in his pants’ waistband, just to have them handy if he got knocked dizzy.
But after eight seasons, he was toast. “A hundred tackles a season for eight years — that’s like 800 train wrecks,” he said.
His body told him to quit. His head didn’t debate the subject.
Multiple concussions. Five knee surgeries. A spinal concussion that to this day has left his left leg partially numb. He admits becoming “very disenchanted with football. I wanted to get as far from it as I could.”
So he traded physical anguish for mental. He operated 22 Burger Kings in three states over a 20-year span, and as many as 13 at once. The restaurants were open 20 hours a day, seven days a week, 363 days a year. (Quoting: “I’m one of the few people who can say they’ve made more sandwiches than their mother.”)
The restaurants took over his life. Then came just another work day, an intended drive from his home in Scottsdale, Ariz., to the lunch rush in Tempe. Plank tuned on the car radio. He heard the NFL’s Cardinals were naming Ryan their new head coach. He decided to take a detour to offer congratulations. That turned into a career detour. At the news conference, he was asked to be on pre- and post-game shows. That led to other broadcasting jobs. That led former Dallas quarterback Danny White, then coach of the Arizona Rattlers, to ask him if he wanted to get into coaching.
Plank said no. But he thought about it. Then, a month later: “I had this epiphany at the restaurant while I was spreading mayonnaise.” Enough with the condiments.
Three years as Arizona’s defensive coordinator and three Arena Bowl appearances led to his hiring by the Force. This coaching job almost certainly will lead to another.
“I know in my heart I can do this,” he said.
He says he’s 5 feet 10. Swears he used to be 5-11 3/4. Something about age and tackles and compressed bones.
He has occasional memory loss, but joked, “I’m no different than anybody in their 50s who walks into a room and thinks, ‘Why am I here?’ “
Fortunately, that doesn’t happen when he walks into a locker room. Plank knows why he’s there. No more mayo-infused epiphanies are needed.
Permalink | Comments (13) | Post your comment | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Jeff Schultz
Comments
By Brian Hunt
July 12, 2007 8:45 PM | Link to this
Plank has been excellent and I’m proud of the Force.
By famuan
July 13, 2007 5:31 AM | Link to this
LOL! The AJC is funny…nice job, changing that first comment so quickly…..LOL!!
Congrats Force on a great season!
By Glen H
July 13, 2007 8:25 AM | Link to this
Congratulations on another great year, Coach Plank, and good luck this weekend!
By ForceHorse
July 13, 2007 10:41 AM | Link to this
It is a good thing Mike Vick doesn’t play for Coach Plank.
I don’t want Coach P to be dead because of Vick, too.
By Connie Lingous
July 13, 2007 11:29 AM | Link to this
After observing Doug Plank in his time here with the Force, I believe he should be coaching another professional team in the Atlanta area. Maybe some day … .
By AJC is a high school paper
July 13, 2007 11:34 AM | Link to this
AJC is a censoring high school paper
By Marc Martinez
July 13, 2007 1:04 PM | Link to this
Why not title it “AFL Coaching: so easy a caveman could do it”? What a lousy, back-handed article.
I know as a columnist you’re paid for your opinion, not necessarily your objectivism, much less insightfulness, but insulting the game and the Falcons/Force organization isn’t too bright when working for the local newspaper.
Why anyone would want to let you near the players or coaches in Flowery Branch is beyond me.
By famuan
July 13, 2007 1:22 PM | Link to this
I can’t wait for the total backlash that’s coming……get ready AJC.
By AJC is a high school paper
July 13, 2007 2:03 PM | Link to this
Do we need to make a Force page?
Why is there Force information on the Falcons page?
Because the AJC is a … . .
By Falcons Fan
July 13, 2007 2:08 PM | Link to this
Good luck getting interviews this year AJC.
By Dirrtybird
July 13, 2007 2:21 PM | Link to this
“Time for the AJC to cut ties with Schultz”
By Iceman
July 13, 2007 3:31 PM | Link to this
Go Force!!!
By wareagle
July 13, 2007 4:13 PM | Link to this
Good job Coach. the team provides good entertainment and the players give 100% all the time.