When do you draw the line?

We went over that one last week; after he just walked away from me. Hopefully, losing his starting spot helped reinforce that one.

That's kind of my thought at this point as well...We get all of the soph and jv kids reps in games. Everyone gets a minimum of one series, but I just don't think I want to give the kid a series on the defensive side of the ball... Like I said, I have kids that want to work hard and want to learn...I'm tired of taking reps away from them and giving them to a player that is just being a pain in the butt.

Plus, I think that if I kick him over to offense completely, it'll send a nice message to the rest of the kids.

This is really one of the few kids that hasn't responded to me and my style of coaching. I really think that he wants to be a 'star' WR anyway.

We are at this point with more than a few kids.

Problem we are having is that the kids can count...they know that, with only 28 juniors and seniors, there just aren't a lot of options in regards to backups.

I really blew it this last week...swallowed my pride and we let some really marginal kids (character wise) play. Talking about kids who have been doing some really negative things...getting in fights, skipping class, giving teachers a hard time, etc, etc. We made an "exception" for one kid who is a 2-way starter and plays on all special teams. We didn't let him start on offense or special teams but allowed him to start on defense.

Big game...win would have got us to 3-2 with a decent chance to make the playoffs. However, the kid I talked about above really let us down. He racked up a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and fumbled a punt late in the game when we were still in it. That turnover pretty much sealed it up.

After the game, my starting left guard comes up to me. We sat him for the first two series because he missed practice on Tuesday (he was absent from school). He wanted to let me know that he didn't think that it was right that he didn't get to start but other guys who violated team rules did get to start.

I thought long and hard about it and realized that the kid was right...I had got my priorities screwed up and in the desire to "get the best athletes on the field", I let a golden opportunity slip away.

Not only did we NOT get the win Friday night, but now I have to live with the fact that I compromised my integrity and values. We talked to the kids Saturday morning in films about that and I promised them that it would never happen again.

We also brought up some sophomores to facilitate some competition for the guys who are getting too complacent. Live and learn, I guess.

the lack of effort, no heart, cancer types are the kids you keep trying to rationalize keeping around due to talent....those are the very kids that stab you in the back, throw you and your staff under the bus and try to get you fired.

put in the kids that DESERVE to play.

More germane to the point, how do you "coach the junior high" out of kid when they get to Varsity?

What I mean is, when a kid is hands-down physically gifted over his peers, what use does he have for technique or "assignment".....when he can go out there and "play ball" and get it done a majority of times? How do you get a kid, when he has reached his physical (dominance) apex and now must revert to a completely different mindset, to swallow the humble pie and play TEAM football?

We encounter this a lot, coupled with the fostering of "specialist" mentality - where EVERY kid playing football was a star running back or receiver..............and now, really just needs to be a lineman.
"Coach, I should be playing running back..." says the 5'8" 250lbs junior.....


I wouldn't make this PERSONAL, but just a matter of metrics - the kid that provides the least liability plays. This doesn't have to be about "teaching a kid a lesson" (of obedience), just the fact that if a kid freelances, he jeopardizes the effort of the other 10 - 50 kids on the team. DO YOUR JOB, is what is important. If you can't DO YOUR JOB, we'll get someone who can. Try to reach the kid anyway you can, but don't make it a us-vs-them situation. If you have 11 guys doing THEIR JOB, you really have no need for 1 superman doing everything for everyone.

I have a situation right now where we have at FS, a senior who has never played football before, but IS doing his assignment.....but he'll get pulled at various times in the game (read "panic button") in place of our DI all-everything-stud, who is a good kid, but is 'beyond coaching'. So, while he may make a not-terrible play, he sure won't be filling the alley or jumping the appropriate route (assignment).

The athletes that believe they are above the team always sting you in the end.


Now, YOUR SITUATION......I bet dollar to donuts that this kid will be AWOL in the off-season weight room. That being the case, you will have a guy NOT buying in, retarding physically, and who's mentality is still stuck on himself (= NO positive return for Varsity).

thats it, you havent made the connection. make sure he says "yes coach" when you are talking to him, if you cant get that from him , you cant expect to get the techniques you want either.

I don't generally have that happen with kids, because I beat them do death with cue words. And rep, after rep, after rep... If a kid makes a mistake during a drill or doesn't give me effort, he gets the coaching points right there and he does the drill again. It does take away reps from other kids, but they also get the coaching points and the kid gets better. Usually, it's just a small detail or a lack of effort. If the lack of effort continues the second time he does the drill, then he goes to the back of the line. I can coach technique, I can motivate the best I can, but if you still want to be lazy, then you don't get the reps.

I do the same thing in skelly and in team/inside run. They'll get equal reps until they start getting lazy, then they lose reps.

And, just like brophy said; we expect effort and _____ technique out of you. Show me effort and we'll fix the technique problem. Slack off, I'll still coach you, but you'll lose reps. But, I always ask they understand the technique I am showing them; they know they can be honest with me and not get jumped. Many times, this is the case, we fix it and the kid plays better.

But, if a kid lines up right 100% of the time, shows that he knows the technique by doing it right, but then blows it off the next play, then it's not a fudamental issue; it's an effort issue.

For example, I have 2 small, kind of low CBs that give 100% every down and knows their technique. In C2, if the WR is pushing for an outside release, they'll jam him and fight the entire way; they never give up. If the WR gets an outside release, the kids are still smacking him; usually jacking him into the boundary. It's what they've been taught, it's what has been drilled; they give everything they can, every down and refuse to lose the battle.. My slacker will do the same thing half of the time; we'll have to figure out why that is. One more chance.. One more chance.

Plus, I think that the kid has a sense of entitlement because he is an exceptional athlete. He doesn't like sharing reps with the kids that are 'beneath him' and that could be a big part of it. But, I think that has been a problem with the DBs as a whole; something for my next thread..