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0-10
Oct 16, 2008 19:31:56 GMT -6
Post by coachjuice on Oct 16, 2008 19:31:56 GMT -6
I am a new head coach, I took over the program this past season with a lot of expectations but with not much talent. The team had only won 10 games in 5 years and only 3 games previously to that in 10 years. We have about 55 players in the program and 44 of them are Freshman and sophomores. Everyone tells me to stay the course because we will be alright. The problem is that our JV is also 0-5 and losing because of the same reasons. Inability to tackle, no speed etc... I got into a bit with my staff that we need to change and they all disagreed. They put it squarely on the kids. We are starting 3 Freshman and 4 Sophomores on Varsity. Has anyone been through this. There is a real possibility that we will go 0-10. We just past the "easy" part of our schedule . I feel that we are doing everything right outside of the lines in building the program. Instituted an in-season/out season strength program, study halls, pasta dinners etc... Any help or suggestions? The program really needs that first win for the future.
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0-10
Oct 16, 2008 19:38:11 GMT -6
Post by airraider on Oct 16, 2008 19:38:11 GMT -6
I am a new head coach, I took over the program this past season with a lot of expectations but with not much talent. The team had only won 10 games in 5 years and only 3 games previously to that in 10 years. We have about 55 players in the program and 44 of them are Freshman and sophomores. Everyone tells me to stay the course because we will be alright. The problem is that our JV is also 0-5 and losing because of the same reasons. Inability to tackle, no speed etc... I got into a bit with my staff that we need to change and they all disagreed. They put it squarely on the kids. We are starting 3 Freshman and 4 Sophomores on Varsity. Has anyone been through this. There is a real possibility that we will go 0-10. We just past the "easy" part of our schedule . I feel that we are doing everything right outside of the lines in building the program. Instituted an in-season/out season strength program, study halls, pasta dinners etc... Any help or suggestions? The program really needs that first win for the future. Been on both ends.. 0-10 and 10-0... Stay the course in the weightroom.. work it hard.. and it will pay off.. I am in my first year as head coach.. and we avoided the 0-10 by winning in week 2.. but have lost 4 since then.. I also will have 3 freshmen starting on offense this week.. 2 or which will start both ways.. with the 3rd getting some PT on defense.. And we are a 4A school. There has been no weight program here.. and the look for the future is grim.. they simply wont do what has to be done to get all of my players in an athletic period. I might have to make it mandatory for them to come in at 7:30am to workout in the off season.. Everywhere else I have been we had EVERYONE in the last period of the day all year long...
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0-10
Oct 16, 2008 20:10:16 GMT -6
Post by outlawjoseywales on Oct 16, 2008 20:10:16 GMT -6
Coach, I've seen the weight room make all the difference in a program. I don't know your situation, maybe y'all work out like rabid dogs, you might already do that.
If that is true and you are just in over your heads BUT you are strong, consider looking into the Doublewing offense.
I've seen it these two things, weight training and the Doublewing turn several programs around. Although I don't currently run it, (I know I know, they are going to reposess my secret decorder ring and boot me out of the club) because of my current personnel, it is a wonderful offense for underdog tough kids.
Good luck, I recently read Davie Crockett's personal philosophy: "figure out what to do...and do it.
OJW
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0-10
Oct 20, 2008 8:30:06 GMT -6
Post by spreadbone on Oct 20, 2008 8:30:06 GMT -6
I've never been in this situation as a coach. I was a member of a 1-8 team in college, but that's it. The worst I've ever been as a coach was 3-5 in a youth league. I don't know how to deal with it personally. The kids are still upbeat, especially the young one's. We are going into the lion's den of our schedule right now at 0-6 and there is a huge chance we will not win a game the rest of the way. I feel bad for our seniors, but then they reap what the sew in my opinion. None have been truly committed in the weight room and right now, our sophomoers, who had a great off-season in the weight room, are beating them out of their starting positions. It is very pitiful to watch, because on the field we are getting beat by sophomore mistakes, but they play 10 times harder and more physical than the seniors. It's as if they want it more.
At then end of the year, I was wanting to use our seniors as an example, but I hate throwing them under the bus like that. Our senior class went 6-2 as freshmen and 8-0 as sophomores, now to be 0-6 on varsity. It is like most of you said though, the reason is the weight room! They have not done the work in the off-season to keep up with their competition. I hate showing our younger guys this, because it looks like I'm down on the seniors, but I'm just being honest. What would you do to use the 0-10 season as a motivator? We've had some guys jump ship, but to be honest the one's hanging around are pretty good kids, and very hard workers.
Also, any tips for staying the course in an 0-10 season? We are getting the crap kicked out of us on both sides of the ball, really. Duece is a great defensive coach, but even he's never seen a team this awful and he's really battling stopping our opponents. I'm not giving him much help either on the offensive side as we are struggling in our first year running the spread option. Anyhow, that is neither here nor there, what kind of things can you do to make one of these type years fun, but a learning experience as well as making it a spring board into the off-season?
Not to get too lengthy, but I'm a first year HC so I'm new, but what do you do at the end of one of these seasons personaly to recharge your batteries? I need a break, but I'm afraid any time off is time lost. How do you get away and how long do you get away from it? Thanks in advance for listening to my rambling!
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0-10
Oct 20, 2008 8:42:11 GMT -6
Post by nsuqb10 on Oct 20, 2008 8:42:11 GMT -6
I have been on the 0-10 side the kids simply dont know how to win and dont know what it takes. Stay positive but stay on there butts in the same breath. I am in my 2nd year and we are in the most brutal 2A district i the state but are 3-4 and if we win our last 3 will be in the playoffs. Hard work and staying the course have paid off. Trust me coach if id doesnt pay off by year three it will never pay off. Just a thought of mine.
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0-10
Oct 20, 2008 8:59:11 GMT -6
Post by phantom on Oct 20, 2008 8:59:11 GMT -6
I am a new head coach, I took over the program this past season with a lot of expectations but with not much talent. The team had only won 10 games in 5 years and only 3 games previously to that in 10 years. We have about 55 players in the program and 44 of them are Freshman and sophomores. Everyone tells me to stay the course because we will be alright. The problem is that our JV is also 0-5 and losing because of the same reasons. Inability to tackle, no speed etc... I got into a bit with my staff that we need to change and they all disagreed. They put it squarely on the kids. We are starting 3 Freshman and 4 Sophomores on Varsity. Has anyone been through this. There is a real possibility that we will go 0-10. We just past the "easy" part of our schedule . I feel that we are doing everything right outside of the lines in building the program. Instituted an in-season/out season strength program, study halls, pasta dinners etc... Any help or suggestions? The program really needs that first win for the future. I've been oh-fer. It's not fun. If you believe that your offensive and defensive schemes are what you want to run in the future then stay with them. We just played an "offense of the week" team. Won big. Change for change's sake is a mistake. Have a philosphy and stay with it.
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Deleted
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0-10
Oct 20, 2008 9:05:23 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2008 9:05:23 GMT -6
I have been on the 0-10 side the kids simply dont know how to win and dont know what it takes. Stay positive but stay on there butts in the same breath. I am in my 2nd year and we are in the most brutal 2A district i the state but are 3-4 and if we win our last 3 will be in the playoffs. Hard work and staying the course have paid off. Trust me coach if id doesnt pay off by year three it will never pay off. Just a thought of mine. This goes back to the "waves of talent" thread on here. So what if you are in a lull in talent, what are you looking for in terms of "pay off"? Right now for bone and I it would be a friggin' win! Hell for bone it'd be a field goal and for me an open field tackle! Can you elaborate a little more on this idea of "year 3"? Duece
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0-10
Oct 20, 2008 20:18:06 GMT -6
Post by Coach Klemme on Oct 20, 2008 20:18:06 GMT -6
I am on a staff that went 0-9 last season. The jr class (then sophs) said they never wanted to experience that again and worked their tails off in the fitness center. We changed our offense to fit our personel better and this season we finished 6-2 with a little help. We are a 3 seed going into our first playoff game tomorrow night. Find the leaders and let them lead.
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0-10
Oct 21, 2008 11:13:23 GMT -6
Post by jpdaley25 on Oct 21, 2008 11:13:23 GMT -6
I read somewhere on here a thread entitled "The best advice" or something like that. There were two things on there that caught my eye. The first was, "you don't really know what coaching is all about until you experience an 0-10." And the second was, "If you are up to your eyeballs in S()it, keep your mouth closed." The second doesn't really apply unless the community is preparing a rope for you, but the first one does. Stay positive no matter what and keep the focus on the future, the future, the future. Tell your seniors that they are leading and setting examples for the teams that will be successful in the future. Your seniors will be the ones who turned it all around. Your seniors are the ones who drew a line in the dirt. Teach them that they can win even if they lose. What can they win? Respect. How can they win it? By not quitting, by fighting with everything they've got to the bitter end. Good, bad, or ugly - those are your boys and it's your job to get them through it and to make it a positive experience for them. It's your job to teach them how to deal with adversity and to get them better. Remember this too, it's your neck in the noose, not the assistants. Take their advice if it seems sound to you, but YOU decide what is best for the team, and if an assistant is not on board with that, then you've got to let them go. I've been through it, and I hope this helps some.
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0-10
Oct 24, 2008 20:11:03 GMT -6
Post by coachdawhip on Oct 24, 2008 20:11:03 GMT -6
I've never been in this situation as a coach. I was a member of a 1-8 team in college, but that's it. The worst I've ever been as a coach was 3-5 in a youth league. I don't know how to deal with it personally. The kids are still upbeat, especially the young one's. We are going into the lion's den of our schedule right now at 0-6 and there is a huge chance we will not win a game the rest of the way. I feel bad for our seniors, but then they reap what the sew in my opinion. None have been truly committed in the weight room and right now, our sophomoers, who had a great off-season in the weight room, are beating them out of their starting positions. It is very pitiful to watch, because on the field we are getting beat by sophomore mistakes, but they play 10 times harder and more physical than the seniors. It's as if they want it more. At then end of the year, I was wanting to use our seniors as an example, but I hate throwing them under the bus like that. Our senior class went 6-2 as freshmen and 8-0 as sophomores, now to be 0-6 on varsity. It is like most of you said though, the reason is the weight room! They have not done the work in the off-season to keep up with their competition. I hate showing our younger guys this, because it looks like I'm down on the seniors, but I'm just being honest. What would you do to use the 0-10 season as a motivator? We've had some guys jump ship, but to be honest the one's hanging around are pretty good kids, and very hard workers. Also, any tips for staying the course in an 0-10 season? We are getting the crap kicked out of us on both sides of the ball, really. Duece is a great defensive coach, but even he's never seen a team this awful and he's really battling stopping our opponents. I'm not giving him much help either on the offensive side as we are struggling in our first year running the spread option. Anyhow, that is neither here nor there, what kind of things can you do to make one of these type years fun, but a learning experience as well as making it a spring board into the off-season? Not to get too lengthy, but I'm a first year HC so I'm new, but what do you do at the end of one of these seasons personaly to recharge your batteries? I need a break, but I'm afraid any time off is time lost. How do you get away and how long do you get away from it? Thanks in advance for listening to my rambling! Coach when your season is over with and you have collected pads. Take a week off and if you are married take the wife out and forget about football for one weekend. Then form a plan and go from there.
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0-10
Oct 24, 2008 23:19:24 GMT -6
Post by raiderpirates on Oct 24, 2008 23:19:24 GMT -6
"The kids are upbeat." That says it all, stick with this, they have confidence in the plan and will see it through from the sounds of it.
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0-10
Oct 25, 2008 15:50:24 GMT -6
Post by coachjuice on Oct 25, 2008 15:50:24 GMT -6
We lost again last night. We played an undefeated team. We played our butts off. I sat down a senior who was playing fullback for us after the 1st quarter (option team) and replaced him with a sophomore, what a difference. The kids on the bus ride back were all talking about getting back to work on Monday. How next year we beat that team etc... I have read all of your replies and I appreciate all your help. We have remained upbeat after every play regardless of how it is tearing us up inside and it really has helped the moral of the kids.
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Deleted
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0-10
Oct 27, 2008 7:46:28 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2008 7:46:28 GMT -6
I can speak for spreadbone as I'm his DC and it is very disheartning to go through what we are going through, but I can tell you this we've seen the writing on the wall. Our seniors are our problem, and it is becoming evident as we have 10 of them and only 2 start on offense and only 1 on defense. We have 10 sophomores and all of them start! I think the season would have been different if we'd have just canned the seniors from the get-go and went with the younger kids, but hey, that's why I'm not the HC!!!
Duece
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0-10
Oct 27, 2008 10:34:57 GMT -6
Post by tmccullo on Oct 27, 2008 10:34:57 GMT -6
I am a new head coach, I took over the program this past season with a lot of expectations but with not much talent. The team had only won 10 games in 5 years and only 3 games previously to that in 10 years. We have about 55 players in the program and 44 of them are Freshman and sophomores. Everyone tells me to stay the course because we will be alright. The problem is that our JV is also 0-5 and losing because of the same reasons. Inability to tackle, no speed etc... I got into a bit with my staff that we need to change and they all disagreed. They put it squarely on the kids. We are starting 3 Freshman and 4 Sophomores on Varsity. Has anyone been through this. There is a real possibility that we will go 0-10. We just past the "easy" part of our schedule . I feel that we are doing everything right outside of the lines in building the program. Instituted an in-season/out season strength program, study halls, pasta dinners etc... Any help or suggestions? The program really needs that first win for the future. Coach, I understand your predicament very well. We went 1-9 last year and are 2-6 this year and fully expect not to win our last two games. Plus we only have 3 coaches. All you can do with a situation like this is try to keep the kids positive and try to hold the team together. Let the kids find success from week to week on their own level. We judge our teams success now on whether or not we are getting better each week. Being a coach at an inner city school district I have had to re-think my reason for coaching. Am I hear only to win or am I here to be a role model for the young men we coach. Winning is great but teaching young kids how to be honest, ethical and dedicated seems to be winning too. Perhaps next year will be a better year for you. All I can say is after football season ends, give your guys a week off and then get them involved in offseason. Maybe next year we will both be dealt a better hand of cards. At least we will come into the next season bigger, stronger and faster.
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0-10
Oct 28, 2008 8:59:11 GMT -6
Post by charlierock5353 on Oct 28, 2008 8:59:11 GMT -6
Stick to your guns. In my first year we lost every game. I learned that you must set the bar high and make the players believe in each other and in your program. Don't let anything slide. If you you make rules, stick to them. have a system that you will stick with for the long jorney. You will not have to reteach a new scheme each year. As coaches we x and o all summer long. Find what you have success in and build on it. Develop all your players....you never know who will blossom in the futuer. Best of luck. CC
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0-10
Oct 28, 2008 12:24:44 GMT -6
Post by btincup on Oct 28, 2008 12:24:44 GMT -6
Be careful with making changes. Sometimes in order to get that win you think that change is necessary when in fact it's repetition and execution that need polishing.
Stick to your guns ! Fundamentals, Fundamentals, Fundamentals.
Get 5 plays(Offense)/Base Defense perfect then go from there.
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0-10
Oct 28, 2008 12:45:12 GMT -6
Post by midlineqb on Oct 28, 2008 12:45:12 GMT -6
Juice, Hang in there. Talk up the team concept. Work the heck out of fundamentals. Be positive. The young guys will come around and the program will turn for the better.
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0-10
Oct 31, 2008 8:15:04 GMT -6
Post by nelinecoach on Oct 31, 2008 8:15:04 GMT -6
We are in the midst of a similar situation. Our senior players have spent more time suspended then on the field. This i my second year on this staff and first year on the Varsity. The "tradition" in the past has been that the seniors don't work as hard as the others and they are "gifted" all the playing time. We are changing that NOW. Unfortunately it has given us an 1-8 record so far with one game left for the season. Our defense is starting a single senior and 4 Juniors, the rest are Sophomores, talented yes, but experienced no. I guess the thing that keeps me going is that we are breeding a sense of team. The sophomores used to look up to the seniors, now they are looking down on them. No longer laughing with them, just at them. It is a good transition. I know that we can take these kids a long way and we plan on working them hard in the weight room during the offseason.
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tigerjenx
Freshmen Member
Splitback Veer Advocate
Posts: 37
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0-10
Oct 31, 2008 11:55:11 GMT -6
Post by tigerjenx on Oct 31, 2008 11:55:11 GMT -6
There were two things on there that caught my eye. The first was, "you don't really know what coaching is all about until you experience an 0-10." Excellent advice. In my second year as an assistant coach 20 years ago, I was with a team that went 0-8 that year. This year in my second year as a head coach, we're presently 1-8 with one game to go tonight. I don't remember much about what was the problem 20 years ago. However, this year has boiled down to a lack of senior leadership. I'm not saying that these seniors are bad kids because they are really great kids. They are never in trouble. They are usually on the honor roll. However, they don't have leadership skills. It has been sort of heartbreaking to watch them struggle to lead the team. It was heartbreaking for the underclassmen to try to follow. About four weeks ago, we found that the kids with leadership skills are actually in the sophomore class. Guess what? The seniors are following them right now. We've had to overhaul our O-line from experienced, big, and strong seniors toward inexperienced, smaller, and faster sophomores. Last week, those sophomore linemen sustained a 10-play, 83-yard drive to help us cut a 2 TD deficit to just 1 TD. We ended up losing by 4 points, but man we played some football. Wednesday after practice, I kept the underclassmen around after practice to see who was going to go out for winter sports and who would be ready to hit the weight room after Veterans Day 4-day holiday. Only 4 kids raised their hands for winter sports. Then one of the juniors asked, "Coach, when do we hit the off-season weights?" One kid who played both basketball and football in junior high last year said, "We won almost all our basketball games last year, but I've enjoyed this football season more than any team I've ever been on." I asked him why he would say that. He said, "You coaches have taught us the game. I know more football now than I ever knew existed. I love hitting and tackling. Never thought I would. I'm not playing basketball this year just to get ready for next football season." After I sent them to the showers, I went in the field house and honestly began to cry. Not tears of sorrow...they were tears of joy and hope. These kids love football. I love football. The 2009 season starts on November 12, 2008, in our weight room. I can't wait.
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0-10
Oct 31, 2008 19:28:16 GMT -6
Post by coachjuice on Oct 31, 2008 19:28:16 GMT -6
I completely understand what you mean with the tears of joy. I have 55 kids and 50 of them are coming back. They hit the weights twice a week during the season and will go 4 times a week in the off-season. We do plyometrics speed training and anyone who does not play basketball or wrestle is going to join the swim team. During the off season or what we tell the kids. The part of the season when there aren't any games played. We are 0-7 at this point with 3 left. I am starting only 1 senior right now and 2 juniors. The rest are 9th and 10th graders. I love the guys on my team. The effort that they give is insurmountable. They have no idea what their record is. They act like they are undefeated. I still love going to practice, and watching them get better. We were down 22-0 at half last Friday night and my boy's came out of the locker room like they were up 22-0. As I am sure you all do We coach our a** off every day. Every aspect of the game, How to put on the uniform everything. The young kids have committed to one another, and they believe in us. Because we believe in them. They can see what happened to this Senior and Junior class, 7 out of 55 with no wins. I hope that it's just a matter of time
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0-10
Nov 14, 2008 19:46:29 GMT -6
Post by coachjuice on Nov 14, 2008 19:46:29 GMT -6
Going in tomorrow against our cross town rival. We are now 0-9 and I am starting all 9th and 10th graders on the Varsity level. We have been preaching that both teams in this game are always 0-0. The rivalry goes back almost 80 years. we had a great week a practice and ended tonight with the "Burning of the Shoe" A great end of the year ceremony. I will keep you posted
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0-10
Nov 15, 2008 13:04:10 GMT -6
Post by coachtut on Nov 15, 2008 13:04:10 GMT -6
There were two things on there that caught my eye. The first was, "you don't really know what coaching is all about until you experience an 0-10." Excellent advice. In my second year as an assistant coach 20 years ago, I was with a team that went 0-8 that year. This year in my second year as a head coach, we're presently 1-8 with one game to go tonight. I don't remember much about what was the problem 20 years ago. However, this year has boiled down to a lack of senior leadership. I'm not saying that these seniors are bad kids because they are really great kids. They are never in trouble. They are usually on the honor roll. However, they don't have leadership skills. It has been sort of heartbreaking to watch them struggle to lead the team. It was heartbreaking for the underclassmen to try to follow. About four weeks ago, we found that the kids with leadership skills are actually in the sophomore class. Guess what? The seniors are following them right now. We've had to overhaul our O-line from experienced, big, and strong seniors toward inexperienced, smaller, and faster sophomores. Last week, those sophomore linemen sustained a 10-play, 83-yard drive to help us cut a 2 TD deficit to just 1 TD. We ended up losing by 4 points, but man we played some football. Wednesday after practice, I kept the underclassmen around after practice to see who was going to go out for winter sports and who would be ready to hit the weight room after Veterans Day 4-day holiday. Only 4 kids raised their hands for winter sports. Then one of the juniors asked, "Coach, when do we hit the off-season weights?" One kid who played both basketball and football in junior high last year said, "We won almost all our basketball games last year, but I've enjoyed this football season more than any team I've ever been on." I asked him why he would say that. He said, "You coaches have taught us the game. I know more football now than I ever knew existed. I love hitting and tackling. Never thought I would. I'm not playing basketball this year just to get ready for next football season." After I sent them to the showers, I went in the field house and honestly began to cry. Not tears of sorrow...they were tears of joy and hope. These kids love football. I love football. The 2009 season starts on November 12, 2008, in our weight room. I can't wait. That's what I'm talking about. I love coaching football, I really do. End of the awards ceremony. When those kids come up to thank you. That is what its all about.
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Deleted
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0-10
Nov 15, 2008 14:05:55 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Nov 15, 2008 14:05:55 GMT -6
i was in a program in high school where we went 0-10 two seasons in a row, my freshman and soph year (both JV and varsity went 0-10). after the first one the coaching staff was fired, a new staff was brought in (this wasnt entirely because of the 0-10 season, there were other things going on).
weight room made a huge difference, we had 6am workouts before school, which i am a big fan of - kids really have to buy in and make a commitment, really have to dedicate themselves. also frees up time after school for other sports during the offseason.
built a great team atmosphere - emphasizing family, team, etc. basically started from scratch, but junior year we were 5-5, knocking on the door to the playoffs, and senior year we went 9-1 (lost the season opener 20-21 on a last-minute TD), with a lot of same kids that were on that JV team that went 0-10 2 years earlier.
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0-10
Nov 15, 2008 23:18:19 GMT -6
Post by coachjuice on Nov 15, 2008 23:18:19 GMT -6
We lost, 34-7. Finished the year 0-10. We rushed for 285 yds threw for 175. We fumbled twice on the opponents goal line, and for the second time this year we scored a td that was called back because of an inadvertent whistle ( We run the Pistol option). We started with 55 we ended with 55. I am so proud of these kids. Today I started 9 Freshmen and sophomores on the varsity level. They have all bought into the program, we lift, we do plyo's we have pasta dinners all together and every kid stayed academically eligible. I apologize if you coaches read this and think I am making excuses, walk a mile in my shoes. Next year, I write about the county championship
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0-10
Nov 15, 2008 23:24:03 GMT -6
Post by Coach Huey on Nov 15, 2008 23:24:03 GMT -6
i feel your pain. i have suffered through an 0-10 season. we weren't going to be very good to begin with -- if things went well we thought we had shot at 4-6, maybe even 5-5. but, injuries hit us hard. had some of those "bad breaks" and lost 3 games in overtime, another in the final minutes. cost us our jobs. but, on the bright side, most of us have gone on to have success at other places.
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0-10
Nov 16, 2008 7:32:25 GMT -6
Post by phantom on Nov 16, 2008 7:32:25 GMT -6
BTDT. I've coached an 0-10 team. It sucks but At the time I said that the only thing worse than coaching an 0-10 team is not coaching and I meant it.
Get better. Learn more football and, more importantly, figure out how to incorporate new stuff into your system.
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0-10
Nov 17, 2008 19:36:58 GMT -6
Post by spreadbone on Nov 17, 2008 19:36:58 GMT -6
Once the dust settles, where do you go from 0-10? I know the only way to go is up, but you can also go to the side and go 0-10 again. I'm 0-12 since taking this job and it really makes you wonder. I guess I should wait for another round of players to go through this next season, but wow, I've never been a part of something like this. How do you recruit the halls after a season like this? I'm embarassed to even step out of my classroom right now. Don't get me wrong, I do it and I still talk to all the kids etc., but I just can't shake it. I'm taking some days off early for Thanksgiving to get away from town and all, but man I cannot seem to shake this thing (even after a weekend where I did not watch the 1st college or pro game, nor did I have anything to do with football). My mind keeps wandering back to all the losses and the close games as well as the blowouts and I guess I'm just trying to justify it all. I know it takes time to build a program, and I feel they are going to give us that time, but what do you do? How do you motivate a team that now doesn't know how to win? These kids seem foriegn to me for some reason, as I thought I was a pretty good motivator when I started. I know this generation wants to know "why" when you tell them something or when they are asked to do a certain drill so I've done that, and instructed the coaching staff to do so as well. We had team dinners, gave out punishment/reward fairly (something not done here in the past), and played dang near everybody we had on the squad, but it seems as though the kids were not motivated. I will give you a typical scenario throughout the week the kids are upbeat, pumped up and practice real well, very few off-the-field distractions (also something they had in the past). Friday night comes and the pre-game speech is over and their pissing fire as they walk on to the field and then we do our dynamic warm-ups and there it all goes right out the window. We do the same warm-up in practice as we do in the games to keep consistency and in practice they are alwasy chattering and talking etc. but in the games there is nothing but silence. They are as flat as a pond on a summer's day. We go into indy defensive warm up and things are steady, but lack intensity. We then move to team o and things are just business as usual, no fire, but young men in and out of the huddle etc., but still no chatter no hollering, no pumped up talk. About mid season we incorporated king of the boards down in our end zone before the game and it seems to get them somewhat fired up, but nothing like they were in the locker room before the game. I don't know, but some of that stuff has got to be internal and cannot be brought out by a coach. If it is, to me it is fake, and not real and doesn't last, but then I overheard a parent telling another parent that the kids would be more motivated if the coaches were more fired up. Maybe so, but when their are only 2 of us on the sideline managing 35 kids, it can be a little hard to be fired up! Anyhow, I'm ranting here, and it is helping as most of you will probably give me the slap in the face I need. But I ask, those of you who have overcome and 0-10 season, how did it happen? Was it only a few wins, or was it a lot? What did you do the same, what did you do different? That last question is the one I'm really concerned with because it is a 2 bladed sword in my opinion. If I change what we do, then it looks as though I did not beleieve in what we were doing to begin with. If I keep it the same, then the kids feel as though what we did during the 0-10 season was ok? To be honest, I thought everything we did was what I beleived in, but none of it seemed to work on this group. Anyhow, just looking for some adivce. Thanks!
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0-10
Nov 17, 2008 19:53:40 GMT -6
Post by coachd5085 on Nov 17, 2008 19:53:40 GMT -6
I know DCohio will disagree with me here..but...LIGHTEN THE SCHEDULE. The kids are not flat...they are scared. They "know" what is about to happen to them. They are about to lose. They know this because this is what has happened the last 12 times they have gone out there (maybe more...)
You need to find some patsies...which is tough, because right now, it sounds like YOU are the patsy. You got to figure out a way to schedule someone worse...
For the time being..you need to set reasonable weight room goals..get the kids used to seeing positive results from hard work. Monitor and report on the weight room and running/lifting. If possible, see if u can schedule a field trip to watch another school (bigger..or maybe a local college) work out/practice. I have noticed that lots of kids think they are working hard...
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0-10
Nov 18, 2008 8:01:51 GMT -6
Post by spreadbone on Nov 18, 2008 8:01:51 GMT -6
Yeah, the good thing is this is a reclassification year here so hopefully we will drop a class and go from being one of the smallest 3A schools to a big 2A school. With reclassification comes a chance to change the schedule some so I'm hoping we can pick up a few teams who are struggling as well. Thanks.
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0-10
Nov 20, 2008 0:37:08 GMT -6
Post by raiderpirates on Nov 20, 2008 0:37:08 GMT -6
Not working, how so? Are people at the point missing the play, getting to the ball? Open and not getting passes, or is it a protection issue? If you've got numbers and it still breaks down, stay with the system and rep the technique down.
If they've got more getting to the point that can be blocked, it's a different story. If you have guys there to make the play they just don't quite get the play made, they'll grow into making the play as you coach them.
If no one is there to make the play, then you might well consider a change in scheme.
Be patient with that, learn from what you used that worked best. What about that item can be made part of every practice, every game, every play?
I'd stay with what you've said they bought into on practice. Reclassification can make you the big team on the block now. It did wonder for our HS team a few seasons ago, they decided to re-align them after a year, our guys made the playoffs again anyways, but lost in round one.
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