First and Ten (In the Shadow of the Goalposts)

What do you do when your first season as head coach has been a disaster?

If you are Arne Viimets, a brilliant but controversial iconoclast who likes to discuss football strategy with his dog, you ignore the advice of your alumni, your coaching staff, and, critically, your athletic director. You bench experienced starters in favour of undersized and unproven back-ups. You put together a team which features a rush end who ritually sprinkles antler ash on his head, an offensive tackle who plays the cello, a running back who listens to lectures by Richard Feynman before games, a rugby player from England who views Canadian football and his teammates with contempt, and a preternaturally gifted receiver whose discipline problems threaten to scuttle everything.

And you dress Kevin Willister, who has nothing to offer except heart and attitude.

It's the second season. First and ten.

Gary J. Kirchner played linebacker for the McGill Redmen, served as team captain, and was a two-time winner of the Fred Wiggle Memorial Trophy for sportsmanlike play. He coached with the Redmen for twenty-seven years, receiving Football Canada's Gino Fracas Award in 1995. Along with his coaching career, he taught physics at John Abbott College, and in 2014 was given La Mention d'honneur de l'Association québécoise de pédagogie collégiale. Gary is the author of the dystopian novel Cromby's Axiom. He lives in Dorval, Quebec, with his Estonian wife Hille.