The Disaster Plan - Tony DeMeo, Retired College Head Coach

The legendary Bill Walsh was a believer in planning for all contingencies, and that belief is the theme of this episode from our archives.

In this episode, retired college head coach Tony DeMeo talks about preparing for the worst and implementing his “Disaster Plan.”

None of us like the idea of getting behind big in a game. We’d prefer to leave that idea out of our players' psyche, but discussing it and teaching players and coaches a way to handle it is sound practice. Coach DeMeo shares that exact strategy as well as how he prepared his teams to handle this situation.

Tony DeMeo is a retired college head coach, most recently at the University of Charleston (West Virginia). His coaching career spanned 37 years and 12 college teams. It included stops at the FBS, FCS, and NCAA Division II levels. DeMeo was the Head Coach at Charleston for six seasons before stepping down in 2010. He held a 43-23 record with the Golden Eagles and had them ranked as high as tenth in NCAA Division II back in 2009.

In his career, DeMeo worked as a head coach at four schools, offensive coordinator at three, and assistant coach at five schools. He compiled a 137-108-4 record as a head coach at Charleston from 2005-10, Washburn University (Kansas) from 1994-2001, Mercyhurst University (Pennsylvania) from 1981-87, and his alma mater Iona College (New York) from 1975-78. His other coaching stops included the University of Richmond, Murray State, James Madison, Temple, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Delaware, the University of Massachusetts, and Pace University (New York). DeMeo graduated from Iona in 1971 and was a four-year player at running back for the Gaels.

Show Notes:

• Creating the “Disaster Plan” in football
• Making stops on defense and shifting momentum
• How to practice coming back when trailing
• Reasoning for being close with six minutes to go
• Playing with a lead and not losing it
• Preparing players in close-game scenarios
• Using unconventional strategy to win the game
• Best way to give up a safety and take a knee at the end of the game
• Having your players ready for the unexpected

Follow Tony DeMeo on Twitter @TDCoach.

Watch All of Tony DeMeo's courses on CoachTube: https://bit.ly/3SFXfnw

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