What is changing in player mentality?

I am 50 and I know I grew up in a much different era than today's kids. We played outside games all the time - there weren't computers, no nintendo, we only had three tv channels.

One day I'd cross a cow field to get to football game. The next day I'd cut across the college campus to play another game. We'd sneak onto the college gamefield to play our rival junior high team. We'd play against the college kids - I used to run pass patterns for the college kids who were trying out for their team.

When I played I knew every position - I don't know if everyone else did but I did.

We would make up games - one was caled roof ball - you threw the ball up on the roof and the other guy had to catch it and throw it back up before it landed. Try to get a kid to make up a game by themselves now-a-days.

maybe the fact that we played and organized things by ourselves instead of having mom and pop there every second is a significant change...

We used to fist fight for fun! I mean really scrap. If we were outside just hanging out it wouldn't take 30 minutes before somebody started getting mouthy and then it was on. Thank god those days are over and kids just shoot each other now! (Sarcasm) I was an idiot then and haven't changed too much in my old age.

In my first year of coaching, 1978, I coached JVs. In my first game we had the first of many 3-and-outs of the year. I turned and hollered "Punt Team." at the top of my lungs (and I do not have a soft voice). A kid standing no more than a foot from me turned to me and asked, "Is this Kickoff Team?".

Kids haven't gotten dumber. Stuff like special teams mats and wristbands are gaining popularity because they're good ideas. Kids have always made mental errors. These may reduce them.

These kids play Xbox and PS3 and they think that is football. They miss the whole "dedicate yourself to the game" part. It is all me,me,me. Alot of them don't have a football IQ. They don't study the game. I have some famous games on tape because I was studying the game and just happen to get these. I grew up in Detroit, but I have "The Drive" and "The Fumble" games on tape. I think I also have Phil Simms 22-25 completion Super Bowl. I also have the Doug Williams game on tape as well. I was in High School at the time and used these games as game film. Even when playing these video games these kids don't understand coverages on games,they just throw the ball up. It is really a shame that the kids today would rather cheat the game than to learn to play it the right way.

The high school game, which most of you guys coach in, has gotten a lot more complex and demanding to me.....thats all......we ran 10-12 plays out of 1, maybe 2 formations on offense.....nothing complicated on special teams.......played our of a base defense, nearly the entire game....every game......no stunting, blitzing, line slants, etc...seemed like a fairly common practice back along in the 60's- early 70's......and a lot of our guys back then, "still "forgot what to do, lol......the auto-mechanic example is a pretty good indication, and since thats been my "real job", for 30 years, feel qualified to answer......heck yes.....definitely helps to know "how" something works....."why" you're doing it.....and "what" the repercussions of doing it wrong might be.........back when I started working on cars = they were simple/basic = I could keep most of the important info in my head.......Now = very complicated....."no way" you can remember everything......you need constant access to factory info, for every type car you try to repair.......A "wrist coach" would be nice, lol!

I ask a kid to give me his bench max last week and he walked away from me. I was ready to kill him and I screamed what is your max. He said, hold on, I'm about to come unglued, when he pull out his calculate from his book bag and simply stated his new max.

in the end, we're all going to do what we're all going to do.

If you think the game of football has to be a proving ground, where the coaches are trying to parent these kids and teach them lessons and make better men and all that jazz. Cool.

I don't view coaching as such. My view is based on coaching being the guy that has to win games. We'll win games if the kids can execute their assignment. They don't have to memorize it - they just have to be able to perform it.

Not every kid that plays, loves the game as much as the coaches, so I honestly don't expect them to be spending every waking moment memorizing everyone's assignment. It is not ideal, but it is reality.

Y'know, we used to do mile runs and gruelling summer sessions and endless stairs, we used to do 30 minutes every practice on warmups and stretching......but none of it really made us any better as football players. It made us better conditioned and all. But it was an inefficient use of time. So why keep doing it? To prove a point?

The more we blame these kids for being so screwed up, the further we get from actually equipping them with something. Look at the school system in general - it is an enabling void of cannot-doers. That as long as you can memorize the answers on the test, we'll do fine -- yet the students are not equipped to think for themselves in an academic environment.

Kids probably aren't much different.

Coaches are different, in terms of the level of expectations. I mean, the game has been elevated. When I played, we were consistently one of the best HS programs in our state, but we were just naturally good compared to our opponents. There was no passing league, no endless camps, no powerpoints, no Landro systems, etc. We didn't have 45 kids in the weightroom all winter. We weren't cliniced on speed improvement methods, and we weren't given diets to maximize our performance. But, all of the other schools were the same (in terms of resources and expectations), so all of those variables didn't mean as much. We were bigger and we had a good RB, so we were going to win. That's about all there was to it. Not to say that we weren't well coached, but compared to what TODAY'S standards of "well coached" are...well...it wasn't anything even close. And that was just the early 90's. It's not like I played back in the 50's.

Now, there is so much stuff at our fingertips that we have to (as coaches) elevate expectations and provide innovations to stay ahead of the curve. I think some kids who "just want to play" get overwhelmed by this. They don't have to worry about all that crap for Lacrosse or Hoops, so what the h3ll is up with football?

They're not used to the level of committment that a sport like football now demands. It's a unique sport. There is a ton of physical and mental preparation that goes into it. There's only one game a week. Only a small % of teams make the playoffs, etc. etc.

It's hard to remain focused and motivated with all of that stuff going on, and I think ultimately, it leads to the kids losing focus or getting overloaded to the point where they have to prioritize what they can deal with and what they cannot.

I agree with Brophy. It's probably not as different as we think.

There are clearly technological changes and some societal changes that impact the way HS player functions, but human nature does not change.

Kids still want to be part of a team, they want to get out there and battle, they want to win, they want to team and individual recognition, they want the camaraderie that being on a team can provide.

In terms of what they can learn and how well they can execute it, to me that is a coaches call. I know programs and coaches that do a great job. The are good teachers and using a building block system of teaching that allows player to learn and retain a lot of information. They also have high expectation for kids and believe they can do it. There is a lot of accountability. I have also been around coaches and programs who had lower expectations and wanted to keep things very simple and do less things and try to do them well.

Every coach has to develop there own philosophy in regards to this. I also think you have to vary this a little, it's situational. If you have an experienced group, you can get more material in your game plan. It also depends on your team make up, I have had teams with a "low" collective learning curve, other groups can pick up and retain more.

I actually met the Bear's first wishbone quarterback this weekend. Where he works has display of a cover of a Sports Illustrated where he is wearing a wristband!

I asked him about it, and yes, it had the plays on it.

He told me they only had TEN plays and he didn't really need it, but wore it because he wore it on opening day against USC and they pulled off a big upset.

So, the Bear did use wristbands. And, they only had TEN plays.

I guarantee an offense I was running with high school players 4 years ago (spread) was more complicated than most college offense 25 years ago. I guarantee it. The wristbands helped to a great season.

I am now back in the wing-t, but still use wristbands. We have virtually no assignment mistakes. I also can change plays and add plays easily just by changing the wristbands. Yes, it is a ton of work for me, but easy on the kids.

I am young (only 23) so i do not have as much experience as some of you other coaches. However, I do not think that kids have changed too much over time. When i was a kid i did all of the things that you guys talk about. From making up games to fighting/wrestling with my friends.

The change i believe is in the complexity of the game as many people have already stated. Also, i know when i was playing in hs and college i knew what everyone was doing every play, but i loved football more then most people. The guys that i played with knew what might effect them, but not what everyone is doing. They did not love the game and want to know all the nuiasances. I would think that even in teh past the same would be true.

All I am saying is my experiences echo exactly to lochness' experiences....I KNOW we didn't do 1/10th of the things 'required' to participate today. Football lasted August - November (we always went to playoffs). You were encouraged to either work, or do wrestling,track, or basketball. Weight room was encouraged.....but we didn't have to do it (and only 1/5th of the team ever showed up to workout [on your own]). Fast back, and big line.....quite frankly, I don't even remember what we ran in HS. If anything, it was likely wing-T.

I know the coaches yelled and cussed quite a bit and telling me how much I didn't know.
The main thing I noticed, however, was how much they never bothered to teach me.
When I got to college......we actually went over what we were supposed to do, how to do it, what could go wrong, etc.....when it made sense to me, THEN I got interested in it.

Also, take into account football in the 70's, 80's, and early 90's...isn't what it is today.

[gvid]-41537760214416283[/gvid]
[gvid]-1211157927048847855[/gvid]

anything different in how things are run, tempo, multiplicity?

All I'm saying is I remember hearing my father gripe while I was in HS about how "players today....." and comparing it to his days of playing with Alex Karras and being coached by Jesuit priests who were experts at cheap-shots.....

Every generation is spoiled, pampered, etc.....

The game and its methodology has evolved..........as has everything else.
Is there a need to do things the "hard way" if there really is no benefit?


Also, you have to look at how we are as people, without football in the mix.

For myself, I tend to take the more Orwellian viewpoint of how our society has evolved, and it boils down to one word:

Fear.

We fear being sued, so we don't do or say what we want to or what really represents our viewpoint. We fear being attacked, so we give up liberties for a security that will not happen ("Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." --Benjamin Franklin).

We fear to offend, we fear to fail, we fear to be held accountable...

When you have that much fear ruling your life, of course your morals / ethic decay. What morals / ethic can stand in the face of a society that consistently acts out of fear?

Entertainment is key in this case, because it sensationalizes the trivial while downplaying the elements that cause the fear in the first place. The opiate of the masses, I believe it has been termed.

If you fear what may be on the other side of the wall, you'll never leave the box.

My question is: when did the pioneering American spirit that rebelled against mighty England, crushed all resistance in westward expansion, and put us on the moon get submerged into a culture of denying our responsibility for our own actions? What happened to us?

What happened to us, brophy? Personally, I think it has a lot to do with the way things are, or have been, in grade school. So very often, the kids that puts almost no effort into something, whether its sports, arts or education, gets the exact same rewards as the kids who work their a$$es off. Why? Because to reward excellence would hurt the precious self-esteem of the whose performance was inferior. God forbid we damage little Jimmy's self-esteem. Better we just reward everyone the same. In fact, lets just ban any type of competition where the performance of one student might stand out in comparison to his or her peers. Everyone is good but no one is better; every point of view is "valid" and no one's point of view is any better than anyone else's.

Why would anyone make any effort at all in this type of situation? Unfortunately, at least to some extent, this is exactly the situation in many K-5 schools. So, for the first 5 or 6 years that a child is in school, they are in an environment where not only are there no rewards for excellence, attempting to excel is actually frowned upon. Of course, by the time they reach HS, everything is different and we expect students to suddenly make a 180 degree turn and become driven to perform at the highest possible level. For some, it takes a while to make that adjustment.

There's nothing wrong with learning to use your brain, lol....don't get me wrong.....but in todays enviroment, the "real skills" are in accessing information quickly, "comprehending it", then using it productively and efficiently......at least in my field = a "good memory" or some may call it "experience", only comes thru "repetitions" of seeing the same problems, on the same type vehicles, over and over......translate this over to football......the more complex, or varied... the schemes or assignments are.....the less reps......the less a player can use his memory/experience.....the more he needs access to "useable information" to get the job done right?