Temple University Athletics
Former Temple Grad Taking Football Lessons to France
8.4.14 | Football
Temple Football has been feeling a little bit of a Parsian vibe around training camp this week. Temple alum Marc Ciriez ('99) has been exploring the different sides of the team to help him with coaching the Kiowas American Football Club, where he has been the head coach for the past four years.
Since Saturday, Ciriez has followed the offensive line, defensive line and linebackers as they go through practices. While here, Ciriez hopes to gain an understanding of "practice and training of the organization" and see how head coach Matt Rhule leads the team. While not everything Ciriez learns in his week-long visit will be able to be applied to his team, he hopes that he'll be able to teach his coaches about the different positions with key points.
"I have a list for each position of four to five points to apply for a specific positon," said Ciriez.
While American football is not that prominent in France, there is a big difference between a game played in Paris and a game played at Lincoln Financial Field.
"The rules are the same, the fields are the same, except sometimes you have to play on rugby fields," Ciriez said.
Even though the basics of the game might be the same, there are some aspects that are significantly different.
"The general scale is different," Ciriez said, "There is less money, less players, and less time to practice."
Some teams in the United States might have three hour practices every day, even two-a-days. For the Kiowas, Ciriez said that practice is "two or three times a week for two hours."
Other differences between American football and the French clubs is that the teams are considered semi-pro and host championships, since the French school systems do not have organized football. But, the one of the major difference in French football is the experience levels between players.
"The average experience level is widespread," Ciriez said, "You have people who have no experience playing and people who have played six or seven years. About 25 percent of the players that come to the program have no football experience."
Ciriez does not fall into that category himself, as he has played football for 20 years and has spent the last four coaching the Kiowas. While studying at Temple Law in the late 90s, Ciriez was an equipment manager for the football team. In 1999, he graduated with a L.L.M. degree and headed back to Paris to practice law. During that time, Ciriez played in the football club and was asked to coach the Kiowas, trying to balance the two worlds at once. Ciriez ended his playing career two years ago in order to focus more on coaching.
Ciriez believes the world of coaching and playing are "different," as players are much more focused on their specific tasks and coaches should have a broader view of what is going on. However, for Ciriez, "coaching is very rewarding."
The Kiowas are based in Garches, France, which is roughly nine miles outside of Paris. The team was founded in 1989 and is a member of the French Federation of American Football (FAFF), which was brought to existence in 1983. As of 2013, the FFAF has 204 clubs and 21,540 licenses, which are purchased by players in order to play in the league.
Since Saturday, Ciriez has followed the offensive line, defensive line and linebackers as they go through practices. While here, Ciriez hopes to gain an understanding of "practice and training of the organization" and see how head coach Matt Rhule leads the team. While not everything Ciriez learns in his week-long visit will be able to be applied to his team, he hopes that he'll be able to teach his coaches about the different positions with key points.
"I have a list for each position of four to five points to apply for a specific positon," said Ciriez.
While American football is not that prominent in France, there is a big difference between a game played in Paris and a game played at Lincoln Financial Field.
"The rules are the same, the fields are the same, except sometimes you have to play on rugby fields," Ciriez said.
Even though the basics of the game might be the same, there are some aspects that are significantly different.
"The general scale is different," Ciriez said, "There is less money, less players, and less time to practice."
Some teams in the United States might have three hour practices every day, even two-a-days. For the Kiowas, Ciriez said that practice is "two or three times a week for two hours."
Other differences between American football and the French clubs is that the teams are considered semi-pro and host championships, since the French school systems do not have organized football. But, the one of the major difference in French football is the experience levels between players.
"The average experience level is widespread," Ciriez said, "You have people who have no experience playing and people who have played six or seven years. About 25 percent of the players that come to the program have no football experience."
Ciriez does not fall into that category himself, as he has played football for 20 years and has spent the last four coaching the Kiowas. While studying at Temple Law in the late 90s, Ciriez was an equipment manager for the football team. In 1999, he graduated with a L.L.M. degree and headed back to Paris to practice law. During that time, Ciriez played in the football club and was asked to coach the Kiowas, trying to balance the two worlds at once. Ciriez ended his playing career two years ago in order to focus more on coaching.
Ciriez believes the world of coaching and playing are "different," as players are much more focused on their specific tasks and coaches should have a broader view of what is going on. However, for Ciriez, "coaching is very rewarding."
The Kiowas are based in Garches, France, which is roughly nine miles outside of Paris. The team was founded in 1989 and is a member of the French Federation of American Football (FAFF), which was brought to existence in 1983. As of 2013, the FFAF has 204 clubs and 21,540 licenses, which are purchased by players in order to play in the league.
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