start a good jerk or a bad player/great kid

PUT YOUR ENERGY INTO THE FIRST KID

over time, because he is more coachable AND WONT QUIT, he will be the better player OR your whiney kid will learn that you dont tolerate that nonsense.

we all struggle with the pressure to win games. Sometimes we knowingly play kids who are bullies or thugs, dealers and theives and watch "good kids" sit on the bench. Its a real shame. without the pressure to win, its a no brainer - do the right thing.

We had the same thing last season. Our jobs are to coach both of them and get it out of them. With that being said, I found out that our OL played a lot better with the lesser player in the game.
The OL as pulling for the backup. This doesn't always happen. I have also played them by series and leave only one in the game ay some point, not always the best one. If you do not do this you are not going into the game. You will always have players that drive you crazy. Everytime we do the series thing it has went well.

If he'll quit on you in practice, he'll quit on you in a game. It will happen, and he will blame someone else and/or create drama that will have a negative effect on the team as a whole. You're not doing him any favors by tolerating his insolence; in fact that just provides it fuel. He needs to learn that he has to be accountable to others and it is not all about him.

If it's all just about winning I guess you could roll the dice and hope he doesn't quit on you. You said he's a nice kid off the field, if that's the case I'd wager he's putting on a show with his actions to draw attention to himself and testing boundaries. I've had a couple of those kind of kids (can you imagine ever walking off the field because you weren't getting enough touches? Saw it, had to deal with it) and I can state with certainty that if you let him violate your standards and boundaries you are reinforcing his bad behavior. You'll be doing him a greater service by sitting him down, telling him explicitly what is expected of him in practice and in the huddle, and holding him to that standard. If he doesn't meet the standard, he doesn't play.

Once he sees you mean business he'll get the message and you will have made an impact on him that lasts long beyond his time with you.

This is the reason that certain Florida Universities are in the news for having 18 and 22 players on their rosters who have been arrested. Most of us are not in win or else situations but at what point do we say "enough" ? Another way to ask the question of play the good jerk or the hardworking slug is ... how important is winning? If winning the game (or more likely, the moment) then play the jerk. If the team is more important, the jerk is going to change his behavior, or he will choose NOT to be on the team.

I think there are times when a HIGH SCHOOL COACH has to make the "right call" and play THE BETTER PERSON over THE BETTER PLAYER.

hard to watch a kid who does EVERYTHING YOU ASK on and off the field sit and watch a game while some lCHUCKLEHEAD gets the playing time. Its tough. I hate to refer to a kid as a LOSER OR JERK OR ANYTHING ELSE but lets face it, sometimes kids who refuse to get the message, refuse to toe the line, do so BECAUSE they know they will play regardless.

Wouldnt it be great if all coaches everywhere played the better PERSON instead of the better player? JUST DO THE RIGHT THING.... make room for THE GOOD GUYS.

Praise the first kid, for his attitude and work ethic. But discipline and start the 2nd kid. If he's stopping at 7 yards, make him block to 15. Work him until he quits or gets better.

It's not as clear as everyone is stating. My perception of finishing a drill and someone else perception are to different things. When I watch college teams or pro teams practice, I hardly ever see anyone finish the way I want them to finish the drill. Now these college coaches seem to think its O.K. I have been coaching for fifteen years and have only had one kid finish ever drill each day the way I want him to finish. That number goes up to a whopping two during the game.

I wonder if a head coach looks at that question different than an assistant coach.

I have been in this situation before, there is no right answer. However here is another option we went with last year...it worked great.

Move a kid from another position. Last year we took a wide receiver who would never see the field, turned him into an offensive guard. Last year, as a sophomore, he wasnt great but he worked hard, he wanted to be on the field. This year it won't suprise me if he earns post season honors. (Yes, at Guard)

Here is the moral to the story...you probably have a solution somewhere on your team. Don't focus on the problem, focus on possible alternative solutions. This option will provide pressure to the JERK at the same time allow the GOOD kid a chance to develop on the JV level.

Good Luck. The only right answer is the one you can live with.

I don't even consider it penalizing. If one of our guys stops before the whistle in a drill then that group does the drill again until he finsihes the drill properly. That's all there is to it. If the group is supposed to run then he runs again (no sense wasting practice time for the rest of them) until he actually runs. If he won't finish drills or refuses to run then he goes home. That's all.

As far as using personalities to decide playing time, that seems like it can lead to problems.

The season hasn't started yet - you got two jobs to do before it does. Coach the jerk to not be a jerk and/or coach the good kid to be a better player.

obviously, I'm not in your shoes but we as coaches have to assume some of the blame (and get some of the credit)on how your team/group/player performs. Don't accept the better player being a jerk and coach up the good kid that is not as good of a player. simple, hunh???

and champ93 hit it on thehead -- if neither of those kids are going to perform they way you want find another kid on the team that will - from another backup lineman to a tight end to a fullback to whatever

we are half way though our summer season, teh back up guard is the back up at both spots, the RG is a great player, no porblems with him

we ended up starting the jerky kid, playing the back up the 3rd series, then we went back to the starter who had a great game

if the back up was anywhere close to the starter id play him, but the difference is great

A bad attitude will only screw you when the chips are down and you need something big. That is why we have little challenges so that we know which kids can over come them. Since he cannot overcome the little challenges, he is going to let you down when you need him the most.

Sit his {censored} down and play the other kid. No one is above everyone.

If the kid doesn't finish stuff in practice then it is the coach's fault. Bad coaching to let a kid not finish something and then complain about him after the fact. I have done the exact same thing and it is an area I personally need to work on, that is; holding players accountable all the time. Sometimes it is a real pain in the neck to manage all the players all the time, but it is the one thing that always comes back to haunt so vigilance is key.

coachorr nailed it in my opinion. If the kid doesn't finish drills and has a {censored} attitude, then it is on the coach to correct that behavior. It may be a pain in the ass but a coach teaches players to be good players and good people as well.


With the other kid (good attitude kid) , I would start small and just work the hell out of the fundamentals. Look over your schemes and see what techniques he will use the most (ie. down block, pulling etc) and rep it untill hes at least good at one skill.


By letting a kid with a poor attitude who doesnt work in practice, play in games, you are sending a message to everyone else and kids will pick up on it.


Keep us updated

Gotta go with the guy who can play.

If it's close between the skill levels, definitely go with the good guy. But if there is that much of a gradient between how each of them can play, you need to have the playmaker in the game.

I had this same situation back in 99 and 00 with the same kid. He was was about 275 and the strongest kid on the team. He could explode off the ball like few i've ever had. However, he was lazy. He practiced bad, didn't finish blocks, gave up on plays, etc. In 99, I had him in a backup role. He played a good bit, but knew his place on the bench. We got beat in the semi's that year. He was a much more devistating blocker than 3 of the starters I had out there and two of our losses came down to the inability to run off tackle vs. a good interior player on that side.

The next season, I made him a starter. He was still sorry in a lot of ways and was never the player that he should or could have been. However, about 60 percent of the time, he was whipping some butt. We won state that year and he was one driving force behind it. I often subbed him during ball games to get onto lazy play, but overall he was still a good player.

Looking back on it, I wish that I had started him his junior year. I could have lived with some sorry play, because, when the chips were down and there was a good player to be blocked he was the one who was capable of making the block. The other guys were not.

Sometimes you just have to take it. Not every player you coach is going to be Johnny-good-guy. The NFL and colleges are filled with lazy pricks. That's why you don't see option at the high levels of football any more. None of those exceptional athletes want to go to a college so they can block 60% of the time and only get the ball less than 30%. Don't let any of these big-wigs tell you it's about speed on defense. BS! If the academies can make all that offense with the slugs that they have (sometimes against top-level programs) think of what you could do with elite athletes!