There's a first time for everything, and if you want to figure out the first time something occurred, you have to define that something before claiming to find its first instance.
My father played high school football from 1929 to '32. He used to tell me that most of the coaches seemed to care only about the smashmouth aspects of the game...three yards and a cloud of dust. Plus, they were obsessed with field position. Keep punting and wait for a break. Nothing radical.
Yep. I have a handful of field strategy charts that appeared in coaches books from the 1900s into the 1940s. They often suggest punting on 1st or 2nd down when inside your 30-yard line. The rules also allowed team that was scored on the choice of kicking or receiving. Teams with strong defenses would choose to kick, hoping the other team would make a mistake.
My father played high school football from 1929 to '32. He used to tell me that most of the coaches seemed to care only about the smashmouth aspects of the game...three yards and a cloud of dust. Plus, they were obsessed with field position. Keep punting and wait for a break. Nothing radical.
Yep. I have a handful of field strategy charts that appeared in coaches books from the 1900s into the 1940s. They often suggest punting on 1st or 2nd down when inside your 30-yard line. The rules also allowed team that was scored on the choice of kicking or receiving. Teams with strong defenses would choose to kick, hoping the other team would make a mistake.