Coaches Ego!

dubber, you know what, you are right. The last line of my thread was out of line. I guess I was just trying to get a point accross with some sarcasm and it was misplaced. I am not by any means trying to stir something up.

This is the best FB site around. I also think it's monitored the right way. They lock up issues that could get out of hand, ie. cause legal issues.

Other than that it's a free exchange of ideas and that's the beauty of it. I've been torched and have torched others. Sometime I mean to . Not to belittle them but to just say:

C'MON MAN! What are you thinking?

This site is a great place to check your own thinking in a fairly quick fashion. You'll also start to figure out who has the agendas or are ego driven maniacs. There's always going to be a small percentage of people who you hope NEVER agree with you. As long as they don't you're probably doing the right thing. When they do, it's time to change your mind.

Come to think of it, I sorta miss Liberalhater. He and I banged heads a lot - I still disagree with 99% of his philosophies but he did make me think.

There have been one or two youth coaches that have had problems on this board and it's because their experience and perspective has no bearing on HS football. I worked my way up from the youth levels and there is a big difference between being involved in a youth league and coaching HS football. There's no point in a youth coach posting on how to deal with a HS administration, because he's never done so.

When I first started posting on this site, I was coaching MS football and my focus was on soaking up as much information as possible, just as many youth and coaches do on this board. If I posted in response to an article, I made sure that I was writing within the frame of my knowledge. And, there were times where I stepped outside of that frame of knowledge and I learned from it.

Now, there are problems within the defensive section sometimes, because some of the questions posted on the board don't ask about the basic fundamentals of defense. And that is what upsets folks; coaches want to know about the best blitzes and defenses to defend _____ offense, but get upset when the responses revolve around teaching the basics of shedding, tackling, zone drops, etc..etc..

Now, those replies are going to be of the best value to the coach posting the question. I can lay out our entire zone blitz package to you and I have no problem doing so. But, I am also going to begin with emphasizing that the fundamentals are what makes our defense successful. I can draw up the "Rush End's long stick on an open side Bark zone dog", but that's not what is important. What's important is that player's footwork, how he strikes, how he sheds, and how he tackles.

And, again, this is all information that I am more than happy to share with anyone; PM me, email me, WHATEVER. BUT, don't get p-ssed off because you're getting an answer that is worth way more to you than a diagram. That's not a coach being an ego-maniac, that's a coach giving you more worthwhile information.

H-ll, I got flamed by Brophy a few times in the defensive section, but I learned WAYY more about defense because he was honest. I didn't get my panties in a bunch; I learned something from the guy.

Hey, I can tell you all about the Xs and Os of all kinds of offenses and defenses; I have tons of playbooks and videos. But, I don't know the first thing about installing those schemes, there's a lot I don't the basics of the offenses and defenses. As such, I try to learn everything I can about them; I am still a student of the game. I've been coaching or a decade, but I still want to soak stuff up.

You know, there are some great youth level coaches on here that I learn a lot from this site as well; they know their stuff and they're great coaches.

And, I know that there are alot of young HS coaches on here that are great guys; they provide a lot of good information, we all pick up good stuff from them.

HOWEVER, having chatted with some of the guys that have been on here a long time, we're starting to wonder if there's more than a few non-coaches on here. Now, I have conflicted view with that, but I won't get into it. Fair warning; if you don't coach, you post a question and you don't like the answers you get and feeling like you're being lectured; tough sh-t.

Now; this post may be deleted, and I don't really care; it's something that needs to be said. If you're major experience with football is playing video games, but you feel like you're dealing with a bunch of egomaniacs; go somewhere else.

"I used to be the president of our youth football association...(uh-oh, just lost any respect I may have had from some guys by admitting my association w/youth ball)....and one of the things that always just cracked me up was going to the league meetings and listening to some of the coaches from other associations. It was like sitting in a room with a bunch of Saban, Tressel, Myers wannabes. Iwould set there and think, come on guys...get a grip, these are 7-10 year olds."

I am not flaming the OP ...I do however want to point out this first paragraph where you basically criticize coaches from other orgs who are PERHAPS more dedicated, intense, prepared, committed and wanting to win then the guys in your own org. Attitude reflects leadership and if you are the president and your attitude is one of "cmon get a grip, these are 7-10 year olds" then you might get coaches that are ill prepared come game day.

Yes, they are 7-10 year olds so dont sell them short, they are like little sponges and can be taught a whole lot of great football. Do parents and adults put way to much emphasis on the final score of a pee wee game? absolutely, that however does not mean that he coaches of the pee wee team should take coaching at that level as a joke. If u spend some time on various sites youll find quite a few lifetime youth coaches that know their football inside and out and could easily make the move to becoming a well prepared high school coach.

Completely disagree.

In fact...coaching youth ball has A LOT in common with coaching high school ball. Youth coaches have to deal with MANY, if not ALL the same things that stress high school coaches out (overactive and unrealistic parents, low player turnout, inability to recruit top athletes, low selection of good assistant coaches, competition from other sports and activities, etc, etc).

I also had to laugh aloud about your your comment about passing. We had several games this year where we threw the ball less than 5 times. In fact, a good buddy of mine coaches at a 6A school (8A is the largest in my state) and his team made it to the second round of the playoffs even they they only threw the ball 14 times all year!

Back to the thread at hand, I appreciate the candor of many of the coaches on this site. I know that if I post something looking for feedback, I am going to get it...good, bad, and everything inbetween. You aren't going to get a whole lot of "yes men" responding to you on this site.

lol about the yes men comment...

Guys, thanks for the great responses. I do want to clear a couple of things up.

As far as the youth coaching, that was several years ago. And I did take it very seriously. I got tired of seeing guys go out there to coach who's idea of a blocking scheme was "go hit somebody!" And I think it was TD who maybe thought I was criticizing other youth coaches and their organizations who were maybe more organized and dedicated to winning etc, the team I had went 36-4 over 4 years. When they moved on every coach that has had that group of kids has raved about how fundementaly sound they were. When I left the organization, we went from bankrupt to over 10k in the bank. So yea, I took it seriously. My point with the youth league reference was in regards to guys who wanted to play 30 games a year (seriously).

What I coach now is jr high, as well as assisting the DC with the varsity program. We are a small school with 40-45 kids and 4 varsity coaches and 3 jr high coaches. What I will be doing is working with the varsity for a couple of hours every day until our jr high practice starts. Doesn't make me a varsity coach I suppose, but whatever you call it, I'm doing it. I have brought the same desire to get better at coachiing to the varsity level as I have every other level I have coached. That is one of the reasons I love this site. The info you can get here is terrific and I have learned a great deal here.

The response on my inquiry about 4-4 to 4-2 was great. Some really good ideas that I plan on implementing. Was I torched there, no, although somebody respondend that I need to look at getting the kids better at something. My response to that was no s#@$. I was reffering to a response on another thread that I wan't even in on where a guys IQ was questioned.

PS: I do have to laugh if td thinks I am a gamer and not a coach. Maybe it's my age (46), but I tried to play Madden with my sons once. I really don't get what the big deal is. I was bored to death. Maybe it is because I was so bad at it, but really, I don't know how guys can spend so much time on that. So that was my 5 minute experience as a gamer.

This thread reminds me of my good bud outlawjoseywales. He throws his 2 cents in there every once in a while on all types of topics; but he does it in such a way where he never comes across as being a jerk or a know-it-all. He would be a great salesman, because you can tell he could get along with anyone. Josey, just put the check in the mail bud, and I appreciate it! LOL

I wish there were a lot more of "the glass is half full" guys in the world instead of the "others". There are some really cool people in the world, and then there are others who are not so cool. Some would be fun to be around at a party, and some would spoil it. Laugh often and smile often. I'm out.

What's your point? That if you don't throw the ball, you aren't teaching your kids anything?

That's ridiculous if that is what you are trying to say.

TD didn't make the 'gamer' comment, I did, but I wasn't aiming it at you, at all. Just the simple fact that you started this thread obviously states otherwise.

I have never viewed any question posted as a 'dumb' question, for the most part. People are looking for input and you give it to them; but they need to take what they get.

Who determines what "the right things" to teach are? How is that determination made? Your fundamentals may be different from someone else's (e.g. hands blocking vs. shoulder blocking). Would you suggest to a coach such as Roger Barta at Smith Center, KS, who won 5 state championships and 79 games in a row while throwing on average 10-15 times per season that he needs to be more balanced?

I may have misunderstood because I wasn't clear on your perspective. I think you are saying that a youth coach shouldn't focus on just winning but on preparing kids to be successful at the next level as well. That probably changes from level to level.

Yes exactly that is 100% correct, and it is on me for it coming out the way that it did.