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Post by jackedup on Nov 15, 2009 19:05:34 GMT -6
Coaches,
Some coaches and I have been talking about the culture of athletics at our school. The Administration doesn't do anything to hurt athletics but they don't really do anything to help it either. The view we have concluded on is that they are fine with whatever we're doing as long as it doesn't involve work for them...even if it is work they should be doing already.
This has greatly affected the culture of athletics overall and football specifically. Has anyone experienced this type of issue before?
So, my question is how do you change the culture of athletics if you're going up against a resistant administration?
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Post by touchdownmaker on Nov 15, 2009 19:11:06 GMT -6
SPECIFICALLY- what is it that you cant do because the admin wont do their part?
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Post by hsrose on Nov 15, 2009 23:51:00 GMT -6
TD - In my case it's not that they won't let me do something, the school just seems to tolerate the football program. It's like the administration seems to place no value (support) on the program, but yet talks like it's very important.
I was hired after a 30 minute interview. There were 5 candidates for the job. We all got a 30 minute, timed closely, window. 1 was doing it for the experience. 1 was from out of the area and already had an offer. 1 was on campus but they couldn't guarantee his position the next year. 1 had been there for some time but was not very organized, and then there was me. They had 10 questions and we went as far as we could. After that the panel made the decision. 30 minutes to make the decision on the HC. They made the recommendation to the principal, who concurred, and that was that.
Told in my hire meeting that they didn't care if the team was 0-10 the next 3 years as long as the players were "good examples of the school and community" and we didn't verbally assault the players like "all those youth coaches always do", knowing that my staff and I coached there for 4 years before coming to the school. No pressure to win, almost like winning is a bad thing.
AD tells me how much the athletic department depends on the gate receipts from the football games (implied: win so we get butts in the seats so we can buy new hats for the water polo team) but then does nothing to get anyone there. The football program is self-funded and the gate receipts go to the athletic department, not the football program.
No Half-time activities. No band, drumline, guy with a guitar, nothing at the games other than homecoming and sr. night. Turns out the band has to attend 2 games to get their grade for the semester. They have to march once so that is at the sr. night. One of the local schools gets attendance at the games by making it part of the grade - go to the game and get 15 points or something. All the kids sit in the stands and study for SAT or do the homework.
No athletic PE period will be considered as the registration problems would be immense and just not workable.
Ask that I have the Freshmen get weekly academic progress reports signed by the VP before they can play in the game each Thursday. Problem is that there are several teachers that won't sign a progress report unless it is on a Friday. They know the situation and the VP works around/with it, but it tears the Freshmen up pleading with the teachers to sign.
Not play a Star Spangled Banner at two of our home games this season. Not even a recording. Ref's looked around, then finally signaled to start the game. No color guard at any game the past 2 years.
Rule that 45% of the players are academically ineligible 1 week before our first game. The players fault, no problem with that, but then offer no suggestions on how to get players out. Would not let me combine the freshmen and sophomores into a frosh/soph team when I tell them the numbers are low even after players come out. It would be "too embarrassing". No JV team for our first game. I was still accepting players the 2nd week of school. We played the last game of the season with 16 on Freshmen and 14 on JV (6 were Freshmen). Varsity had 26, of which 17 were seniors. Opposing coaches, and fans, just shake their heads. We're a school of 2,100. The badminton team typically has over 80 players and sometimes 100+. The numbers should be a lot better but there's no excitement or expectations on playing football.
Offer no suggestions on transportation to games other than "its up to you". We had busses to 2 games this season at $2,100 total and that's through the district (monopoly). Funds came from the team fundraising, not from the school.
No feedback on anything during the season. No shaking hands/talking after the games. Not even sure the administration attended the games.
Not a single pep rally for football all year. There were "rallys" but they are non-specific and are for all groups and organizations. Football coaches were never asked to attend any rally this year. Football players, seniors, did do one skit but it was as the football team participating in the rally, not as a rally for the football team.
Pemit the ASB to schedule dances on game nights - twice. We play at a stadium that is about 3 miles from the school to students could to one or the other.
No active things against the program, just thought there might be some more active support FOR the program. I'm a first year HC so this might be the norm, but I sure thought I'd have just a bit more help here and there.
We got our butts kicked this year, 2-8, but we were in all but 2 games and 7 of our 10 opponents are in the playoffs.
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Post by bluedevil4 on Nov 16, 2009 0:20:33 GMT -6
This attitude towards from the admin to the football program is obvious everywhere. My school has it just as bad. I think the majority of schools has it bad. ihrose's story will probably be the school I'm at that I graduated from in a couple years. It's not just football though. At the school's basketball games, people are kicked out for booing or making noise during a free throw. The administrators say it's promoting sportsmanship.
In my opinion, sportsmanship is showing respect for the other team, being proper and professional about what we do. That doesn't mean you have to take fun away from the fans because a cheer may be degrading.
We were beating our arch rivals badly one year. They were smack talking to us, we were smack talking to them. At one point, the fans started the "start the bus" chant. Every student who participated was kicked out of the gym, which was pretty much the whole student section.
I can't wait for the wakeup call the admin is going to receive. For the past ten or so years, we have been voted consecutevely as the best athletic program in the county. Our admin is new, with an AD who's not even authorized to be one and a new superintendent who never answers calls or even makes visual appearences with anyone. Our athletic program is quickly being thrown down the drain. The admin won't like it when they wake up one day to find out all their coaches have quit because of their lack of support.
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Post by airitout616 on Nov 16, 2009 0:29:05 GMT -6
I would suggest having a formal meeting with the AD and Administration. Present your concerns then make some suggestions to those issues and how they will benefit the school as a whole. If they do not agree with your suggestions on how to make your program more successful then you have to make a decision if your willing to coach at a school with those values or not.
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Post by outlawjoseywales on Nov 16, 2009 0:29:24 GMT -6
Wow ihsrose, that is just plain sorry if you ask me. Here in the south, the leaders of your school might get jail time for treating football that way. Or at least get run out of town. Is this a reaction to something? I don't want to say that sounds very "California" because I know there are some of the best football in the country played there. OJW
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Post by touchdownmaker on Nov 16, 2009 4:17:56 GMT -6
Start small, baby steps. Pick something that is important to you, work that in, even if you have to do it all yourself.
You might gain support if you dont overwhelm them with a bunch of demands. build it slowly.
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Post by touchdownmaker on Nov 16, 2009 6:33:38 GMT -6
OH AND FOCUS ONLY ON WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL
FED UP?
F= FUNDAMENTALS E= EXECUTION D= DISCIPLINE
U= US NOT ME P= PREPARE AND PERFORM
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Post by thakatalyst on Nov 16, 2009 14:17:47 GMT -6
TDM...I like that!
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Post by jackedup on Nov 16, 2009 17:54:07 GMT -6
Would any of you side step the admin to do something you thought would improve the school's athletic culture? To build a culture of winning?
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Post by phantom on Nov 16, 2009 19:57:08 GMT -6
Would any of you side step the admin to do something you thought would improve the school's athletic culture? To build a culture of winning? Easier to get forgiveness than permission.
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Post by mitch on Nov 16, 2009 20:44:09 GMT -6
You have to pay for your busses to games???
WTF??!?!?!?!
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Post by hsrose on Nov 16, 2009 20:54:20 GMT -6
My goal is to build a program that will play De La Salle/your local dominant team for the section championship each season. We will never get there, but if that is my goal, and I setup a program to achieve that goal, then the program will improve. Along the way there will be pep rally's, half-time events, etc. I will probably evolve into more of a general manager than a hands-on head coach, but I've got a good staff and we are listening to the same tune.
Our motto this season was "We got who we got, we are what we are, let's go"
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Post by touchdownmaker on Nov 17, 2009 9:43:02 GMT -6
I know we have successfully changed the culture on our team.
Heres a very small window into what our weight room looked like a year ago...
(crickets)
and yesterday:
soph tackle " you have to add weight when you can do 8 reps with perfect form, dont forget to put collars on the bar"
soph rb " kick your butt out, look up, keep your chest up"
freshman te " do three sets, use a spotter on bench and squats"
8th graders " how come we only lift 4 days a week?"
soph rb "lets go run 40s right after this- oh and friday, we are going to clean up this weight room"
I have the younger kids doing what I ask and they are INTO IT. They are really something. Unfortunately I only have 4 juniors at the moment and only one of them regularly lifts with us, the others lift across the street or are playing basketball over there.
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Post by outlawjoseywales on Nov 18, 2009 0:45:29 GMT -6
TD, it's been a long haul but maybe you've turned things around. Good luck, OJW
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