you shouldn't be a head football coach.

In the past I've gotten annoyed with Coach Pinkel on whether to go for the two point conversion.  His defense has always been "the chart" that tells you when to go for a 2 point conversion.

While I don't mind a handy chart to tell you the math and points needed for one or the other team to catch up using two point conversions, to cede the actual decision at all times because the chart tells you what to do is... well, idiotic.

Today, Wisconsin went for the 2 point conversion up 41 to 16 on Minnesota with 6:43 to go in the ballgame.  After the game, Minnesota coach Tim Brewster confronted Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema at midfield because of the decision to go for 2.  Afterward, Bielema defended his decision:

"You know what? If we’re playing and somebody is going to go for two against me because they’re up 25, that’s what they should do, that’s what the card says," he said.

Brewster commented that was a poor excuse.

He's right, but not because of sportsmanship (I have other thoughts on that matter), but because a coach should be able to decide for himself whether to go for the conversion or not.  It depends not only on the point differential; but the time remaining, momentum, the situation, and match-ups you can exploit.  A chart alone cannot tell you all that.

Letting a chart tell you what to do is idiotic.

Information and quote take from this rivals.yahoo.com article.