 The Lovat Scouts is a famous Scottish
regiment that has had a colorful and distinguished history from the early
days as Imperial Yeomanry in South Africa, through the horrors of World
War I and World War II, and still boasts an existence in today's modern
army. Lord Lovat's Commandos were among the Allied forces hitting the shores
of Normany Beach during the D-Day landings in 1944, capturing ground and
soon vanquishing the foe.
Tom Lovat was a youngster at the time of the Normandy landings, but his career
would ultimately entail similar tactics to those of his namesake.
Lovat is in his fifth year as Offensive Line Coach for the Seahawks, in
charge of pass protection and the run game, blocking for the run game and
setting up the run game.
With experience to spare.
"I've been doing this for 41 years now," says Lovat. "I started
in Hayward, California, as an assistant football coach. Later I moved on
to Salt Lake City, Utah, and became the defensive line coach there (1967).
I went on to Idaho State (1968-70) and coached the secondary and the offensive
line. I went to Canada and was the defensive coordinator with the Ottawa
Rough Riders (1971), and then went back to Utah as an assistant (1972-73)
and then became the head coach (1974-76). Then it was on to Stanford (1977-79)
with Bill Walsh, his first coaching job, and from there I was hired by Bart
Starr to go to Green Bay as the assistant offensive line coach (1980). From
there I went to St. Louis with Jim Hanifan (1981-84), and I was his line
coach. Then I went to Indianapolis with Rod Dowhower as his line coach (1985-88),
and then back to Phoenix-I was there when the team moved to Phoenix-and
I was there with Joe Bugel as his line coach (1990-91). And from there I
was hired by Mike (Holmgren/Packers 1992-98), and I've been with Mike for
the last 12 years."
Lovat has that work schedule so familiar to the NFL coaching ranks: long
days of preparation for the battle that ultimately looms ahead.
"I get here between 5 and 5:30, that's my schedule," says Lovat.
"On Tuesdays when the players are off, that's when we put our game
plan together. We study it, and at 6:30 we meet as an offense-the tight
ends coach and myself, the backfield coach and Bill Laveroni, my assistant-we
meet and set the run game. We go through and say these are the runs we're
going to run, and then we present them to Mike and Gil (Haskell-Offensive
Coordinator), and generally that's our run game. We'll spend from 6:30 am
to 8:30 am going over it, and once we've set it then it's a matter of drawing
the plays up, getting the blocking patterns together, and that takes a good
portion of the day. And then I'll study the pass-protection problems, the
blitzes and stunts, to make sure that when we meet with the quarterbacks
on Wednesday they know the problems and we've ironed them out. That takes
another good portion of the day, and then by evening around 9 o'clock the
point of diminishing returns hits. So then we go home and get some rest
and then come back and start over again."
The combine, the draft, minicamps...it's anything but quiet time for Tom
and the staff as they prepare for the business ahead.
"That's the major focus right now," says Lovat, "But we're
also dissecting our last year's offense and eliminating things we should
eliminate, as well as adding to and improving on a few things. That takes
half of your day, and the other half you're working on the draft."
Speaking of last year's offense, Lovat details what it was that made the
team come around and turn into the most potent offense in the NFL during
the latter part of the season.
"It was a combination of the whole team. Matt Hasselbeck feeling comfortable
with the offense and honing the offense to fit around him. At the outset
of the season we were a little ambitious at what we were trying to do, and
as the season went on we decided there were things that Matt could do and
that he couldn't do, and once we did that the offense took off. And getting
Chris Terry in here as a free agent right tackle, because we were hurting
at the tackle position all year. We must have rotated three or four guys
through there, and that had a big part of it. But I think the whole attitude
of the team changed once we started to show the success."
Game day finds Tom with his eyes on the field and his ears inside a headset.
"I'm on the field and in communication with Bill Laveroni in the box,"
says Lovat. "We're charting the defenses to see if there's any changes,
and looking for plays that will take advantage of what they're doing, or
not run the plays that aren't working. We study the still shots from the
field, and as the players come off make sure we make any adjustments we
have to make. It's communication to keep the linemen up to speed on what's
happening."
Time in the office sees a lot of time spent analyzing the minutia of game
and player videos, and the technology used to serve it plays a major role
in the coaching staff's ability to prepare for games, the draft, and almost
everything else.
"Oh, it's big," Lovat agrees. "We used to splice our own
film and the film would break. One of the biggest changes in football is
the use of the video equipment and the technology. We probably get too much
information now, you know, paralysis by analysis. With the old film you
had a yellow pad and wrote things down and you went and played. Now you
analyze and analyze, and that's what probably has added to the time factor."
An NFL calendar has a season and an off season, but there's no down
time when moving from one to the next. Tom's favorite part of the calendar?
"The season. Once you get into the 16-game season, that's the best
part of it. You're in a routine and there's more structure to your day.
In the off season you bounce around, and some days there's not too much
of a deadline, other than the draft. But each day during the season there's
a deadline, so your RPM's are going and your adrenaline is up, and you're
preparing for games. And that's what it's all about, the game."
The players, coaches and Seahawks fans have plenty of reasons to be enthused
about the offense heading into the 2003 season, if the games played last
November and December are any indicator.
Lovat continues: "You know, had we made the playoffs we probably would
have scared a few people, I think we were playing that kind of football.
It's the stepping stone for next year, that's why everybody's excited here.
We get a few pieces to fit and I think we'll be more than a contender next
year."
 Memorable moments in a 41-year coaching career span are easily narrowed
to two for Tom.
"Playing
in two Super Bowls, that's the coup de grace right there," says Lovat.
"Winning the one in New Orleans was probably the highlight. Even Mike, who has been through a
couple with San Francisco, I'm sure he would tell you the same. And that's
what you strive for."
The Lovat Scouts motto? "Je Suis Prest," or "I Am Ready." |