Frustrated....

"I don't have much say as i'm only a position coach from the (Youth level) so my opinion really doesn't hold much weight."

Coach, you have to solve that problem before any advice from anyone will truly do you or your players any good.

Coach, Concentrate on what you can change and what you can improve on and make the experience fun so the kids will sign up for football again next year. Don't coach with that staff next season if you can not support what they're doing. You must support them this season even if they do not know what they're doing. That does not mean you must agree but you must support the other members of the coaching staff in front of the parents and team. The worst thing you could do is to talk trash with the parents or your players! Ask for a coaches meeting and respectfully share your ideas without bad mouthing the things the coaches are currently doing. Don't forget the Head Coach has the final word and he is much more likely to support your suggestions if you meet with him in private and address your concerns then come up with a plan of action with him. Make sure you don't challenge what the other coaches are doing during a practice. Talk about those things in private. It is never too late to set rules and share them with your team but the entire staff needs to support all of the team rules. Ask how the Head Coach wants to handle discipline issues. What are the rules? All rules should be written down and shared with the entire staff then with the team and the parents. How are you going to share the rules with each other? How are you going to share the rules with the team and the parents? What is the punishment for violating a team rule? Who determines if a rule was violated and what the punishment should be? I allow all of my coaches to discipline players during practice but insist that I be kept informed and that the punishment match what was written and shared with the entire staff, team and parents. Be stern but try not to over do it either! Make discipline timely, make it fair and make it quick so your player can get back to practice. I do not like to send kids on laps because it takes way too long for them to get back to practice so I use up downs or push ups. What does your Head Coach prefer? I will usually talk to the kids parents if up downs or push ups do not work. I bench kids that do not respect the rules and continue to violate them. Kids hate sitting on the bench or playing less. It may hurt your team at first if the kid is a good player and you need him to win the game but all the kids need to learn respect for the rules. If you hold your players accountable, they will grow from the experience which will help make them better in the long run.

The following are good rules of thumb for new coaches:

1. Always, place the health, safety, and well being of the participants above everything else! Don’t use the movie “The Junction Boys” as a coaching aide. Value each and every participant. They signed up to play football and have fun.

2. Teach fundamental blocking and tackling first. Every participant needs to know how to execute a text book block and tackle irregardless of the position they will be playing. Learn some fun drills to do. Practice, Practice, Practice.

3. It is not the X’s and O’s, it’s who’s at the X’s and O’s (Part 1). In other words, make sure you have the best fit of talent at each position on your team. Have a ball handler at QB, and kids that can contain on the outside of your defense. Keep things simple and make sure you
don’t ask more of each position than there is ability to give there. Don’t let favoritism enter into the picture. Work with your assistant coaches and reach a consensus on who should play where for the betterment of the team.

4. It is not the X’s and O’s, it’s who’s at the X’s and O’s (Part 2). In other words, there is no substitution for speed, athletic ability and talent. If you have it on your team you are blessed and should have a better opportunity to compete. If you do not have it on your team, please don’t ask more of these young kids than they have the God given ability to give. Keep their self esteem in tack. Structure your offense and defense to account for your players abilities. You play the game to win, you do the best you possibly can within their and your abilities. FACT - You can not always overcome a lack of talent. Don’t beat yourself or
your team up over it. Enjoy the game!

5. It is not the X’s and O’s, it’s who’s at the X’s and O’s (Part 3). In other words, if there is a lack of speed, size, or athletic ability on your team, you can minimize the weaknesses by executing sound fundamentals. Have the best fit of abilities in the right positions on your
team and soundly execute blocking and tackling. Consider misdirection plays on offense to help offset a lack of speed.

6. Key team fundamentals:

• Execute the Center QB exchange. It is amazing how many teams begin the season and do not have this down. This is extremely important. The quicker the QB can get
away from the center the faster the play will move. Practice, Practice, Practice.

• Contain the corners on defense. Make sure you have athletes at the outside positions on your defense, (Defensive Ends, Outside Linebackers, or Corner Backs) that have the ability to stuff an outside play or turn in back into the middle of the defense. Never, Never, Never, give
up the outside.

• Practice minimizing turnovers. Practice holding on to the ball. Practice clean center snaps and handoffs to backs. Practice putting the ball away on offense and stripping the ball on defense.

7. It is not what you know, it is what they know. No matter how much studying you do and no matter how good of plan you enter the season with, it will not work unless you can relate it to the participants on your team. You must be a teacher. If my team doesn’t know their
assignments it is my fault. I have failed to prepare them properly. You must find ways to relate what you want them to do in a manner that they can understand. Some participants have very different learning curves than others. You should account for this in your preparation. Please don’t take it out on the kids. Have patience and continue to teach and
work with them until they get up to speed and they have demonstrated that they can execute what you are asking. If you don’t see it executed on the practice field you are not there yet and don’t expect to see it executed in a game.

Share these with your team:
Hold the Rope!

Imagine that you are hanging from the edge of a cliff with a drop of twenty thousand feet. The only thing between you and an fall to your death is a rope, with the person of your choice on the other end. Who do you know that has the guts to pull you to safety? Who will hold the rope? Who do you know that is going to let that rope burn their hand and not let go? How many people that you know are going to withstand the burning pain and watch the blood drip from their hands for you?

If you can name two people, that's not good enough, because those two people might not be around. The next time your team is together, look around and ask yourself, "Who could I trust to hold the rope? Who is going to let their hands bleed for me?" When you can look at every member on your team and say to yourself that they all would hold the rope, you are destined to win a lot of ball games. You see, the team that holds the rope when the going gets tough are winners. When you are down by four points with thirty seconds to go, don't give up. Yell at your teammates to "hold the rope -- let it burn but don't let go!"

Every year there are winners and losers in all sports. Every year the winners hold the rope. You don't have to have the best team on the field to win the game. If you play with poise and do what your coaches ask of you, and most of all -- hold the rope -- you will be successful. No matter what sport you play, in order to win, you have to have a commitment to your team. If you are supposed to run three times per week, do it. If you have to lift weights three times per week, don't miss. Once you start letting up at practice or start missing your workouts, you've killed the team because you didn't hold the rope! Don't let your team down! You've got to hold the rope!
Hold the Rope!

Imagine that you are hanging from the edge of a cliff with a drop of twenty thousand feet. The only thing between you and an fall to your death is a rope, with the person of your choice on the other end. Who do you know that has the guts to pull you to safety? Who will hold the rope? Who do you know that is going to let that rope burn their hand and not let go? How many people that you know are going to withstand the burning pain and watch the blood drip from their hands for you?

If you can name two people, that's not good enough, because those two people might not be around. The next time your team is together, look around and ask yourself, "Who could I trust to hold the rope? Who is going to let their hands bleed for me?" When you can look at every member on your team and say to yourself that they all would hold the rope, you are destined to win a lot of ball games. You see, the team that holds the rope when the going gets tough are winners. When you are down by four points with thirty seconds to go, don't give up. Yell at your teammates to "hold the rope -- let it burn but don't let go!"

Every year there are winners and losers in all sports. Every year the winners hold the rope. You don't have to have the best team on the field to win the game. If you play with poise and do what your coaches ask of you, and most of all -- hold the rope -- you will be successful. No matter what sport you play, in order to win, you have to have a commitment to your team. If you are supposed to run three times per week, do it. If you have to lift weights three times per week, don't miss. Once you start letting up at practice or start missing your workouts, you've killed the team because you didn't hold the rope! Don't let your team down! You've got to hold the rope!

Good luck coach!

coachdoug,

Although I'm not sure that he was the originator of the phrase, Dennis Franchione (while HC at Alabama) is widely credited with "hold the rope".

Dave Hartman
CYFL Coach