Top 5 Coaching Mistakes

Forcing kids to make a choice between sports

1. Not understanding that most coaches have forgotten more football than they know.

2. Over-coaching.

3. Failing to see the big picture.

4. Demanding and earning respect from the players.

5. Disrespecting the profession and the game.

My 5 biggest mistakes usually are:
1. overestimate a players ablity
2. sometimes don't see the big picture
3. They're only kids for christ sake
4. Thinking I have to do everything
5. Blamimg myself too much when we lose and sometimes think I'm great when we win only to be humbled once again

Can I add to number two? Doing drills that are named after an animal: Monkey rolls, Bull in the Ring, Elephant balls...what you don't ever just whip em out to see who's are bigger?

This fall will only be my 8th season, but my mistakes were:

1. I agree that you don't have to coach through fear, but I was too buddy-buddy.

2. I see most have listed overcoaching, but I actually undercoached. I gave my players too much credit in terms of assuming they new some of the whys to technique and their place in our overall schemes.

3. Fell victim to thinking "bigger is automatically better" in accepting a new job and it backfired on me. The football situation was great; the teaching situation not so great and I'm still trying to fully recover from it.

These are great to hear guys. Keep 'em coming!

1) I think failing to build relationships is a huge mistake
2) I think assistants failing to be loyal to support/defend the HC is a common mistake by young guys
3) I think failing to focus on blocking, tackling and ball security is a huge mistake
4) I think allowing cancers to undermine the program because they have "talent" or "potential" is probably the most common mistake any and all coaches will make at one time or another.
5) I think a head coach, particularly a new one, hesitating to make tough decisions that might ruffle some feathers is a common mistake. You have to do things your own way.

In game:
1. Not feeding your stud (could be 1-5)
2. Putting back-ups on punt and kick off
3. Stop calling plays that have worked earlier in the game
4. Yelling at the refs (never helps & it looks like you're panicking)
5. Not punting on 4th down because your frustrated.

Program wise:
1. Not recognizing your only as good as your staff
2. Being friends with your players
3. Bending rules
4. Saying something and not doing it
5. Making football your life

1. Thinking your success at your level is more important than the success of the varsity.
2. Yelling and screaming all of the time at kids
3. Not being positive with the kids
4. Looking to move up the coaching ladder instead of trying to be the best at where you are (still guilty!)
5. Not trusting those you coach with
6. Not being fully committed to coaching (not me, but some that I have coached with)

Using time on the field, not organizing the drill and equipment in a conducive manner, coaches demonstrating too much and coaches talking too much are major major pet peeves of mine.

I hate it when coach X takes center stage to run a drill and begins to give a history lesson on the game of football:
"The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill used the forward pass in an 1895 game against the University of Georgia. However, the play was still illegal at the time......"

And 10 minutes later not one rep has happened. Drives me crazy.

These are all mistakes I made. As a counselor in training, it is probably more helpful to identify our own mistakes than to point out others ;D

1. Doing too much and not perfecting any of it in a season and in a game (still struggle sometimes with putting too much stuff in and trying to be fancy).

2. Saying something that hurt a player even though it was meant as a joke (I've done this a few times where I lost a kid's confidence).

3. Trying to be too much of a hard arse which interfears with developing strong relationships (did this early in my career).

4. Ripping a coach at another school, and usually having it get back to the guy. Should have followed the "If you can't say nothing nice" motto.

5. Maybe my greatest disappointment is twice in 13 years I was part of a new staff where we put up a goose egg in the win column. On both occasions we had some close games, including an overtime game. I will always regret not being able to do enough to help those guys taste victory. Those were brutal seasons and I still feel bad for those seniors when I think of it. Even if they didn't do all they could do (i.e. 3 of 4 captains go golfing instead of come to practice or in the other case 1 captain who chose not to play in 2 games because he didn't want to change his shoe laces!).

1. Not using time efficiently
2. Thinking high school kids can't handle complicated scheme
3. poor installation and teaching progressions.
4. Talking too much at practice and Field Demos (Slow Practices)
5. Not demanding maximum preparedness and effort from assistant coaches.
5. B Not spending enough attention to special teams.

Coaches
Great thread.
1) Not spending enough time with assistants
2) changing players positions instead of coaching up the ones you already had at those positions (everyone makes mistakes with personel but don't compound the mistake)
3) Not having the tech's on paper for every position & how they should be taught
4) wasting practice time
5) berating players instead of realiing you didn't do your job

Heres some more I thought of:

- When watching film, you are just watching it for entertainment and not for actual tendancies, clues, gameplan adjustments etc.

- when a player makes a mistake, CORRECT THEM , dont bitch at them without telling them how to fix it

- zoning out during special teams time

- taking care of yourself during the season. I have nothing against drinking but i find it kinda annoying when Coach X comes in Saturday morning for film break down and they are too hungover to be productive.

- this is something ive notices with first year coaches especially, being a "yes" man to the head coach. Yeah of course you have to support the Head Coaches vision, but if you have an idea, say it. If you think something can be done to be more productive say it. But reminder, when you have an idea or suggestion, be prepared to b asked questions but if you believe in what you know, you should have answers and be alright.