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Post by bigm0073 on May 28, 2009 20:47:07 GMT -6
I am very lucky. I am currently at a school where most of my core players are all very, very good academic students.
I have 4 RBs with over a 3.5
QB - 3.3
TWO LB are 3.7, 4.1
OL - 4.1, 4.0, 3.7, 3.2,
Both TE's 4.1 and 3.3
Kicker and punter 4.0
My best sophomores on varsity are all over 3.6 GPA
My second year at the school and the off-season is great. I have a theory though...
These kids with high IQ and high GPA are motivated to succeed. They understand the importance of hard work and they get why they need to work hard. All of the players above work out very hard for us. No discipline problems.....
When we work with them at 7 on 7 or at camps they pick up things very, very quick. Yes sir no sir...Now some of them are pretty good players (Ivy league schools, patriot league., navy, army..) but some of them make up for their lack of athleticism by being smart.
My prior school I had players who did not do well academically and this usually translated to football too.....
These kids are FUN to coach and they work hard and get what we want them to do. I think sometimes we at the high school level put too much stock in size, speed and being an athlete and miss what might be most important - Intelligence, hard work and accountability(All of these kids have it).
Give me high IQ kids with intelligence and I think you can be succuesful....
Any thoughts?
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Post by touchdownmaker on May 29, 2009 5:09:25 GMT -6
I love smart kids. I usually have a few kids on my roster who can chalk all of my plays accurately - they are like coachess on the field. they make very few mistakes and though they may now wow anyone physically they generally block and tackle efficiently and know more than one position. I am actually contemplating putting my smartest player at qb, not because he can throw but because he wont screw things up. we are a dw team and we need a kid to simply make the toss, block or fake after a handoff, throw a few simple flood passes and waggles. if he can avoid the stupid stuff the dw takes care of the scoring.
Really, the kid might not start anywhere else in the state but hes so motivated that hes our top point earner.
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Post by schultbear74 on May 29, 2009 6:34:46 GMT -6
I'm glad to see this post.
I have a player who is one of those Hi Q guys who seems to need to write an essay before he reacts some of the time. He is going to be a junior and seems to choke up when not under stress, but does fine when under stress.
Example: State finals game, our all-state Hon Mention center goes down and he jumps in and does fine. In a regular game when, he has mop up time, he is stiff.
Solution? We need him this year to step up.
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Post by touchdownmaker on May 29, 2009 7:26:30 GMT -6
A couple of years ago I coached an oline that had a very smart left side. neither player was superman but wow, they would make the right line calls and x block, fold, gut or combo perfectly. they opened some big holes by making great decisions and creating angles for themselves. while they didnt bury anyone wiht their blocks they always had good position.
DUMB PLAYERS MAKE DUMB MISTAKES- parcells
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Post by bigm0073 on May 29, 2009 8:14:00 GMT -6
I also go back to being trustworthy, accountable WAY more motivated. All of my players with a 3.2 or Higher are EXTREMELY motivated (My 4.0 + students are off the charts!!). This means they go to the weight room, lift properly, follow directions and are able to focus.. They do this without having to use fear or coercion. They are self motivated. They get the big picture and see what it takes.
Shocker kids I have with under 2.3 GPA's tend to have issues (They are always missing, some excuse, something at home...). Those kids just can not seem to make it to lifting 4 days a week (Maybe twice or even three but hardly ever four). Now 90 - 95% of the guys are fine but it is just that little group (All have under 2.3 GPAs). They also make mental mistakes. I just think their is a connection.
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Post by schultbear74 on May 29, 2009 8:34:53 GMT -6
So far we are tending to talk about Offensive linemen. I wish I had a few more with intelligence. I have trouble keeping most of my linemen at 1.0 let alone 2.3.
Offensive linemen, QBs and kickers usually tend to have most of the smarts.
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Post by phantom on May 29, 2009 8:39:05 GMT -6
I agree that intelligence is very important. Our best teams have been our smartest BUT
I wouldn't equate intelligence with GPA. I've seen very smart guys, smart football players who weren't great students. They were just better motivated to use their intelligence in football. A 3.5 GPA wasn't that important to them. I've seen outstanding students who had a low football IQ and weren't that motivated for football.
Stupid, though, really stupid, is bad. Those guys will get you beaten if you have too many on the same team.
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Post by bigm0073 on May 29, 2009 9:02:41 GMT -6
Good Points -
I am seeing a link to their GPAs though -
Players with under 2.3 ALL of them have has issues with discipline, commitment, weight room attendance, practice habits, mistakes.......
Kids with 3.0 or higher (Especially the 4.0 kids) are very, very motivated and take the same approach to football and off-season commitment.
We will NOT put players in a position to help us this year if their GPA is under a 2.3. We will make sure those players DO NOT kill us in critical situations...
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Post by Coach Bennett on May 29, 2009 9:39:38 GMT -6
I like taking the kid that is athletic and smart and making him the "utility" player in addition to his primary position.
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Post by caneman on May 29, 2009 10:06:12 GMT -6
Love smart players, they learn faster and remember what you taught them...
Obviously we want smart players who are also athletically gifted.... but, if you had the choice what would you choose:
A type players: intelligent, most have average hs football ability, some are above average athletically, and a truly athletically gifted player is rare.
B type players: average or below average intelligence, most have above average hs ability, with some average, and a truly gifted athlete or two is there every year.
Those A players are fun to coach, but "get the B type player in open space" and have some fun!
For me, I now have been with a school with A players, and B players, I think I would pick A.
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Post by fbdoc on May 29, 2009 10:22:53 GMT -6
GPA or IQ or Football Smarts or Street Smarts .... Smarter is typically better .... AS LONG AS THEY CAN BLOCK AND TACKLE! I've had some really brilliant historians, mathmaticians, and violin players who couldn't play "dead" let alone play football. I've also been at private schools for the past 14 years so the majority of the kids I see are GPA "smarter". I can say that 2 of the best I've ever coached were in the same class (2005) and were definitely smarter -
QB: 3 year starter, school records galore, led us to playoffs (first time ever!) and scored a 1590 on the SAT (that's 10 points off a perfect score!). Played D-III ball, just graduated and already accepted to law school.
OL: 3 year starter, outstanding lineman in county all star game (vs some D-I signees). 4th in his class. passed up several football offers to join the Army. He's now a RANGER.
Smart is very good! But you have to be able to play!
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Post by bigm0073 on May 29, 2009 10:34:08 GMT -6
well that goes without saying... I am not saying a bunch of nerds or geeks... Go kids with academics. .
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Post by wingtol on May 29, 2009 13:39:52 GMT -6
Coaching at a private school that has in many opinions the best academics in our city/county we have a fair number of pretty damn smart kids on the team year in year out. The best team in school history went 13-1 and the starters on that team were probably the smartest team I have ever coached. They were good athletes and smart, which made for a great team to coach. I used to joke and say our right side of the line (te,rt,rg) could have been the smartest in the country. When they missed an assignment I use to tell them they were so smart they could run Iran's nuclear program but they couldn't remember their rules on power. The team was so smart that year they got that joke in films and cracked up. It was a great team to coach.
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Post by justryn2 on May 29, 2009 14:21:06 GMT -6
I agree Phantom. GPA doesn't always mean smart. Actually, let me put it this way; kids that have a high GPA are certainly smart but, a GPA in the low 2's does not necessarily mean "dumb." I've seen several players that, for whatever reason, seemed to struggle in the classroom. But on the football field they knew what to do from multiple positions on every play and just seemed to understand the game.
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Post by bigm0073 on May 29, 2009 18:38:03 GMT -6
My point is low GPA = other problems..
1. Discipline problems likely
2. Attendance at school likely a problem
3. Attendance at workouts likely problem
They lack the motivation.... If a kid can not get a 2.5 or higher in high school, unless he is special ed, it shows a majoy character flaw..
I will take a player with a 4.1 over a 2.1. That 2.1 has demonstrated that he is not always up for the task and at some point if you lean on him he will let you down.
So again low GPA in my opinion = lazy, comofortbable and not motivated to achieve.
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Post by givepullorpitch on May 29, 2009 22:40:40 GMT -6
My dad the old coach used to say.
"You win with A students"
"You tie with B students" (this was many years ago before overtime)
"You get beat with C students"
After 30 years of coaching I realize he was dead on.
He's been gone 8 years now and gets smarter every day I live.
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Post by tango on May 30, 2009 8:34:56 GMT -6
Good grades normally = good parents. If they do not have good parents and make good grades, they must be very motivated.
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Post by mariner42 on May 30, 2009 15:29:48 GMT -6
My dad the old coach used to say. "You win with A students" "You tie with B students" (this was many years ago before overtime) "You get beat with C students" Well, sh!t. |
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