Wolf Pack football coach Jay Norvell is a believer of the 10,000 Hour Rule first proposed by author Malcolm Gladwell, who argued in his 2008 book “Outliers” that 10,000 hours of “deliberate practice” is required to become world class in any field.
Gladwell cites The Beatles, who played all-night shows in Hamburg from 1960-63 before breaking nationally, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who gained access to a high school computer in 1968 and began programming at age 13, as examples of 10,000 hours of practice turning into rousing successes.
When applied to college football, it’s impossible to log 10,000 hours for a variety of reasons, chief among them being an NCAA rule that limits coaches to just 20 hours of practice time with their players.