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Post by coachzola on Oct 23, 2010 16:22:46 GMT -6
I'm a first year HC who has taken over a recently winning program over that last two years. League Champs in 08-09. We have recently fell to 2-5. My question is, can you coach heart, passion, desire? Being an ex military guy, I was always taught that your troops, or in this case, players, reflect the attitude of their leader, in this case me. I have never seen a group of players quit so easily. I have done some self reflecting and do not understand where I have gone wrong.
Though they have won recently, a lot of the players were "on the team" but never really contributed to the winning seasons. Now its their turn and they seam to just like wearing the letter jacket.
Any suggestions? Is this too vague?
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Post by NC1974 on Oct 23, 2010 16:38:05 GMT -6
I've never been a an HC, but I think the kind of things you are talking about can be taught BUT it takes a couple of years. I think alot of this is built in the weight room in the off season.
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Post by wingt74 on Oct 23, 2010 17:58:15 GMT -6
Don't confuse heart with speed/strength coach...also, don't confuse heart with aggressiveness.
Also, don't forget, it's just kids playing football too.
To answer your question, no, you can't coach heart.
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Post by Coach Huey on Oct 23, 2010 19:16:59 GMT -6
To answer your question, no, you can't coach heart. but you can train it ... "heart" is a myriad of things in combination... hustle tenacity relentless competitiveness effort confidence all the "intangibles" we so often desire. these must be developed in the off-season. weights, sprints, mat drills, expectations, etc. |
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Post by 19delta on Oct 23, 2010 19:41:37 GMT -6
To answer your question, no, you can't coach heart. but you can train it ... "heart" is a myriad of things in combination... hustle tenacity relentless competitiveness effort confidence all the "intangibles" we so often desire. these must be developed in the off-season. weights, sprints, mat drills, expectations, etc. IMO, a player who has "heart" is a kid who has done all of these things that Huey has listed...a kid who is so deeply invested in the success of the program that he CAN'T quit...he has worked too hard and sacrificed too much preparing that he is physically and emotionally unable to accept failure or mediocrity. Like Huey said...those kind of kids are built in the offseason. |
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Post by coachzola on Oct 23, 2010 20:41:51 GMT -6
To answer your question, no, you can't coach heart. but you can train it ... "heart" is a myriad of things in combination... hustle tenacity relentless competitiveness effort confidence all the "intangibles" we so often desire. these must be developed in the off-season. weights, sprints, mat drills, expectations, etc. I guess I have to wait until I have an off-season until I can totally reflect on everything. I didn't see all my kids until August as I was a late hire. This is frustrating, but I understand exactly what you are getting at Coach. With 4 games left, I just have to keep working hard and developing the younger players with the time I have left. |
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Post by cc on Oct 24, 2010 14:03:18 GMT -6
Hustle
Execution (or Effort)
Attitude
Resilience
Toughness
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2010 15:51:03 GMT -6
Hustle Execution (or Effort) Attitude Resilience Toughness Nice!!!! What about desire? I'm not sure how you "coach" that. Duece |
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Post by mariner42 on Oct 24, 2010 16:06:58 GMT -6
Helps to know what you want when you say "heart" or "toughness" or "aggression". Once you know what you want (as in, find the definition you desire), it gets easier to start from there and work backwards.
Example: You want a defense that is full of "heart", by which you mean they never give up, never stop believing. What does that look like in your mind? Well, to me that's a team that's been coached to pursue like demons while staying mentally positive. So how do you get that? Well, you need to play 11 guys who will run to the ball. If someone doesn't pursue well, you need to pull them until they do. Once you've got that, you train them so they can physically run to the ball. Then you move on to their mental outlook. Eventually you've got a defense with great "heart"!
Backward design is a pretty thought-intensive process, but it really does help in both coaching and teaching.
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Post by dacoordinator on Oct 25, 2010 8:18:51 GMT -6
no you can not coach heart.. thats something that comes from within. Just like being a leader. It is something that is taught as you grow up and come through the ranks. Its nothing you can learn over a short period of time.
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Post by Coach Huey on Oct 25, 2010 9:33:39 GMT -6
no you can not coach heart.. thats something that comes from within. Just like being a leader. It is something that is taught as you grow up and come through the ranks. Its nothing you can learn over a short period of time. ... which is what we as high school coaches are charged with as we develop our programs. take our freshmen and try to mold them into young men with heart by the time they are juniors/seniors. if all you are coaching is how to block/tackle then how to you better your program? |
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Post by wingt74 on Oct 25, 2010 11:15:58 GMT -6
no you can not coach heart.. thats something that comes from within. Just like being a leader. It is something that is taught as you grow up and come through the ranks. Its nothing you can learn over a short period of time. ... which is what we as high school coaches are charged with as we develop our programs. take our freshmen and try to mold them into young men with heart by the time they are juniors/seniors. if all you are coaching is how to block/tackle then how to you better your program? Program development...outside of the X's and O's. Getting bigger, stronger, faster. Commitment to your teammates Be a better person; respectful, responsible. Grades, working hard outside of football These are the players I want, and these are the things I feel I can teach. The above can be taught / worked on...with tangible consequences for doing the opposite. Don Beebe chasing down Leon Lett in the Superbowl years ago...to stop a meaningless TD showed heart. Nobody taught him this,...and if he didn't chase that guy down, I doubt he would have been punished. A nose tackle getting beat up all game by a Center...but coming hard till the very end only to make a critical 4th down stop is heart. To me, "showing heart" isn't like getting an A in chem, benching 300, or rushing for 1000 yards. "heart" just shows up, and you never really know who has it until that moment when it matters...and like I believe, you just can't teach it. Players with heart are rare |
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Post by brophy on Oct 25, 2010 11:23:06 GMT -6
Can you coach semantics?
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Post by coachzola on Oct 25, 2010 11:30:34 GMT -6
Helps to know what you want when you say "heart" or "toughness" or "aggression". Once you know what you want (as in, find the definition you desire), it gets easier to start from there and work backwards. Example: You want a defense that is full of "heart", by which you mean they never give up, never stop believing. What does that look like in your mind? Well, to me that's a team that's been coached to pursue like demons while staying mentally positive. So how do you get that? Well, you need to play 11 guys who will run to the ball. If someone doesn't pursue well, you need to pull them until they do. Once you've got that, you train them so they can physically run to the ball. Then you move on to their mental outlook. Eventually you've got a defense with great "heart"! Backward design is a pretty thought-intensive process, but it really does help in both coaching and teaching. I knew what type of offense to implement, defense, drills etc. I recognized the abilities of the players an developed a scheme to put them in to best maximize their ability. However, I nevere really thought "what type" of team, I wanted to see on the field. What characteristics, attributes, I wanted them to portray. I have definitely failed at this. Even as a Rookie HC, its not excuse. As a football coach, I should have known better. Before you even consider implementation of offensive and defensive schemes, you need to know what type of team you want on the field. This is so obvious, and I feel like a moron for overlooking it. With 4 games left, I feel like I need to go in a different direction, but is it worth it if it threatens credibility and trust from players? |
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Post by mariner42 on Oct 25, 2010 13:33:53 GMT -6
Kind of what I was getting at with my post. It's a semantic discussion until you start deciding what the tangible products of things like "heart" or "toughness" are. Before you even consider implementation of offensive and defensive schemes, you need to know what type of team you want on the field. This is so obvious, and I feel like a moron for overlooking it. In all honesty, the reason I even mentioned it was because our new HC really brought it about in our program. We're going to be a physical football team that kicks people's asses and we practice in such a way to make that happen. We happen to run the Wing-T, which coincides nicely with what we're trying to be about, but that's separate from what we're trying to do, which is knock you down, run you over, and then do it again. Pete Carroll mentions a similar topic to this when talking about him forming his 'mission statement' as a coach, which he used to precisely nail down exactly who he was and what he was about and how he was going to make those things be successful. He refers to the months he spent doing that as some of the most important times of his career, which I believe. It's also been really good for me as a young coach to read and see that and realize how much of an advantage I'll have if I can hammer that stuff out now, when I'm young, vs later. Slight digression to the original topic, but I think it was worth mentioning. As far as your credibility, I think you can change directions without issue, as long as you don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. But, it's almost November, so consider how much of a season you have left, y'know? |
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Post by 42falcon on Oct 27, 2010 8:38:20 GMT -6
Heart, toughness, to me it all falls into 1.
Yes you can coach it. Some kids come with it already ingrained in them, this happens I belive firmly through experience not neccesarily born into you. Did you parents let you off the hook with stuff as a kid because it was easier for them? Or did they take the extra 1/2 hour or hour to spend with you making sure you didn't waver or pull up short. You learn these behaviours.
Malcom Gladwell writes in outliers about Asian students being better at Math than North American kids. He asks why? Then digs deeper it is all based on cultural differences. People who are part of a subsistence, labour intensive culture (ie: growing rice) are conditioned for long hours of pateince and persistence. So when a kid from that culture sits down to do math problems he/she is more likely to sit there for longer than a kid from NA. In turn sitting there longer means he/she has the potential to try the problem different ways in the end they are more likely to come up with a solution. Where as NA kids loose patience quickly and pack it in.
Is it heart that is requiered to be a good student, in same cases yes.
I think back to myself as a kid. I was in grade 9 may parents had a truck load of gravel dumped at the house my dad was building a patio he said I need gravel in the patio area by the time I come home from work (it was summer). I thought it would be easy well guess what gravel is heavy and your hands get mashed up reall good from the shovel plus it is 30 degrees outside (thats hot up here). Well he came home I had done sweet nothing but play Madden all day.... I figured he would get mad then yell at me and that would be it, at about midnight I went to bed tired hands throbbing and back aching from hauling gravel.
I was a better football player that season, I played as little as I did the year before but I never once thought about quiting or going 1/2 speed. In fact it made me a better player the following year.
Just food for thought
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Post by groundchuck on Oct 27, 2010 14:59:53 GMT -6
The harder you work the stronger your HEART becomes.
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Post by veerman on Oct 28, 2010 9:06:17 GMT -6
I say you can strengthen it, not necessarily "teach" it. Heart is something that is inside you, and you either allow it to grow or not. Some of my kids have heart and some do not thats the bottom line. We try our best to teach it but in general all we do is strengthen those who have it and those who don't try to get through it.....I have never served in the military, but I love the military and what it stands for. To me that is what Heart really is, and I think we all know that their are tons of people that "think" they have heart, but few find out that they really have it.
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