re: High School coach who never punts is trying something new

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I completely understand why a coach may be a bit more conservative there due to backlash and what not, but if you're allowing those factors to creep into your decisions, it shows a real lack of leadership.

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I don't think they consciously decide not to go for it when they should for fear for criticism. I just think it is built into the culture that it's a "smart" play to punt because that's what everyone else does. Like small ball in baseball, it is so ingrained. The biggest obstacle is it that most people don't understand statistics and there is no way to say that without coming across as a condescending a-hole unfortunately. Saying you can't judge whether something was a good or bad decision based on the outcome sounds stupid to most people.

The NE play is a perfect example, it was absolutely the right call but that doesn't mean it will work 100% of the time. If they punt and Manning marches down the field to win people can accept that for some reason, but if the Faulk pass gets the first, the game is over. Poor execution doesn't change the fact it was the right call.