I've always been fascinated by the process of how coaches become experts, teaching kids an element of a sport that they may have had minimal experience actually playing themselves. For instance, one of the coaches who has a huge rep as a QB "guru" played offensive line in college (Norm Chow); another didn't play in college at all (Charlie Weis). Tennessee's Jim Chaney, who helped groom Drew Brees and has a very specific technical checklist he considers when evaluating QBs, was a college nose guard. Iowa's Kirk Ferentz, regarded as one of the game's top O-line coaches, played linebacker at UConn. Obviously their wisdom wasn't developed overnight or even in weeks or months -- but sometimes, for coaches, it has to be.

Take the example of Jason Eck, who this spring has had to take a crash course in a system that was radically different than any he'd ever been around. Such a transition actually isn't all that rare in the coaching world, but I wanted to examine how a veteran coach gets up to speed.