First Year Coaching Mistakes

Couldn't get good assistants. Best AC was a 19 yr old kid. (Now a great coach). So, I thought to do it all myself. Insert meathead joke here! Would have been much better off not micromanaging everything and doing what I should. Live and learn.

confusing yelling and swearing for coaching

I've made too many to list or try to mention here but the first time I read this it was like getting a much needed slap upside the head.


COMMON COACHING ERRORS AND HOW TO AVIOD THEM

By: Bud Wilkinson (Winner of 47 straight games & several National Championships at Oklahoma in the 1950’s)

GENERAL COMMENTS: The best coach is the one who makes the fewest mistakes; the one who does the best teaching job; the one who is the best organizer. Writing the X’s & O’s is not the most important thing. There are 22 variables in a football game. Coach must be a salesman to the extent that when his team loses, they don’t blame him or the offensive and/or defensive system, but rather themselves.

ERRORS IN TEACHING METHODS:
FIRST = FAILURE TO USE TIME EFFICIENTLY. Failure to recognize the time factor available to get the job done. Planning makes for valuable use of time. Too long on any one thing produces boredom. When boredom comes in, learning goes out. Football players have a short attention span. Hold to time schedule.
SECOND = FAILURE TO EXPLAIN THE PURPOSE OF THE DRILL. Tell the boy WHY he is doing what he is trying to accomplish and he will do a better job. Explain WHY, then show HOW.
THIRD = IMPROPER TEACHING PROGRESSION. You can’t teach a boy how to block until he has learned stance. If he hasn’t learned stance, he doesn’t know how to step out of the stance into the block.
FOURTH = TOO MUCH VERBAL INSTRUCTION ON THE FIELD. How much can boy learn from your verbal instruction with his helmet on, he’s breathing hard, he aches, he’s stunned, etc. Do WHO and WHY in chalk talk. Teach assignments before hitting the field. Correct on the field. Teach – no! (HOW is taught on the field – not WHO & WHY).
FIFTH = TOO MUCH DEMONSTRATION BY COACH. How much you know is not important. How much player knows is.
SIXTH = BEING ON THE FIELD TOO LONG. Better to have a team eager to play rather than physically tired. How long to practice is a judgment factor. Cut down as season goes along – not going to change mechanical ability late in season. Only one rule never violated at Oklahoma. If one coach on staff feels practice too long, we must cut it down. More boys play poorly because they practiced too long than boys playing poorly because they didn’t practice long enough.

ERRORS IN TACTICS AND STRATEGY:
FIRST = TACTICS AND VICTORY. You get very few victories on tactics. Victories come if you can out block, out tackle, out fundamental your opponent. Red Sanders quote: “Intimidate them physically”! Outmaneuver – no. Defeat – yes.
SECOND = CLEAR CUT PHILOSOPHY A MUST. Decide on an offense and defense that will suit your personnel then stick to it. Depth of morale can be determined by a kid’s reaction to a loss. If morale deep, they’ll blame themselves. If morale shallow, they’ll blame you.
THIRD = TOO MANY PLAYS AND DEFENSES. Subtract the number of different plays used in the game from the total number of plays you practiced. If this number is too large you better get rid of some plays. It is difficult enough to know when to run off- tackle, but if you have four ways to run off-tackle, you will never get the right play. Beauty of Split-T was it’s very limited number of plays
ERRORS IN JUDGMENT:
FIRST = BE REALISTIC ABOUT PLAYER’S ABILITY. Don’t just put an X or an O on the board. Put up the boy’s name. Immediately his limitations affect the offense or defense you put up. Whale of a lot of difference between Dick Butkus and Humpty Dumpty.
SECOND = WHEN CHIPS ARE DOWN, BEST PLAYERS ARE IN THE GAME. It is a mistake to be able to play blue chippers only one way. Say best kid you have can only go on offense. Say opponent has ball for 45 minutes. These are 45 minutes he cannot help you.

ERRORS IN OFF FIELD RELATIONSHIP:
FIRST = RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER FACULTY MEMBERS. The environment that exists has a lot to do with winning or losing. If they are with you, your job is easier. If they are against you, you’re in trouble. Work on a program of how to win friends and influence faculty members.
SECOND = ORGANIZE A MOTHER’S CLUB. Get mother on your side by pointing out to her what he can get out of football besides winning games.
THIRD = PRESS, TV, AND RADIO. Straight up fact of life that the great majority of people get their impression of you from what they read in the paper, see on TV, or hear on radio. Their jobs depend on info. Get it to them to make their jobs easier. Get these people on your side. Let them know what you’re doing. They will interpret what you’re doing in the way you want it interpreted if they are with you.

ERRORS IN DEVELOPING MORALE (MORALE IS TO THE PHYSICAL AS 4 IS TO 1).
FIRST = FOOTBALL BEGINS WITH MORALE! Once you get morale, it is easy to maintain. How to get it is a problem.
SECOND = HOW TO LOSE MORALE. Do what you said you’re going to do. Don’t say we’re going to practice 1 ½ hours and go 2 ½ hours. Training rules – if you’re not going to enforce them, don’t have them.
THIRD = MORALE STEMS FROM DISCIPLINE.
FOURTH = TREAT PLAYERS AS A PERSON. If he feels you are interested in him only as a football player, he won’t go all out for you. If you are interested in his academics, his personal problems, etc. and he knows this, he’ll go all out for you. Convince him that football is good for his future.
FIFTH = One year, Knute Rockne had 2 QB’s. Under great athlete, team failed; under mediocre QB, team succeeded. Why? Captain’s reply – “the great athlete is trying to show how good HE is. The TEAM is trying to make the average guy look good”.

COACH IN YOUR OWN WAY:
FIRST = DON’T COPY! Note clinicians and their personalities. ALL different ways of being successful. Plan carefully in the off season. Can’t take golf lessons between the 8th green and 9th tee.

CONCLUDING REMARKS: The man who is best organized and does the best teaching job, is the best coach.

Last year was my second year coaching and I was given the newly formed freshman team. I was the only coach for the team and was responsible for offense and defense. Here are my biggest mistakes from the season.

Offense- on offense I attempted to use double wing, some wingT and some spread. What ended up happening is we ran a lot of plays but only a few successfully. HalfwAy through the year I went to a double wing base with a end over shotgun wild cat look for a change of pace from the double wing. We were much more successful after these changes. Just needed to Keep It Simple Stupid.

Defense- I was not expecting to have to run the defense but we were unable to find another freshman coach. Because I was unprepared I was not able to teach the kids the proper techniques and alignments. After the first few games this as well improved.

Overall you need to keep things simple and work within what you know. you should not install something because it looks good when a major college program runs it, instead it should be something that fits your scheme and personal. Preparation is also necessary. "knowing is half the battle"

Thinking I could solely rely on the information/coaching I received in HS. Lesson learned quick.

Thinking I can out coach everyone on Friday night. You need to out coach every one from March - August.

Remembering that your role is to help the head coach implement his plan. He already knows what he wants to do, and he's hiring you to help him do it. Too often young guys come in with their own ideas on how things should be done, and they get angry, and sometimes disloyal, because their opinions are either rejected or ignored. Prove yourself through loyalty and hard work over time, and you will become a trusted assistant who's opinion is valued and sought after because he will know that your heart is in the right place, that your main concern is for the kids and not just your career or your own ego, and that your suggestions will come within the framework of his program.

Good Luck!

GUILTY ;D

Thought that I knew it all. Came to find out, I did not know anything. "Any Expert was once a beginner." Not that I am an expert, but I know so much more now then I did 17 years ago, and I am still learning.

It's better to be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt!

I was fortunate to be on a really good staff my first couple years. I always was very conscious of that. I got lucky and didn't insert my foot in my mouth to much. I think that is what made my first couple years coaching pretty good.

I'm not going to lie to you guys we didn't win a lot of games and it cost all of us our job. But, it was a good staff. I can look back on that now and realize that. It's really not the scheme or even fundamentals. After being at a few different places and finding a home somewhere I like and we are winning I can say, it truly is all about the Jimmy's and Joe's. Don't get me wrong, as a coach you need to understand and learn the game. Be a good teacher, but sometimes it's just not going to work. Sometimes there's more to the losing than the coaches. Don't beat yourself up if you find yourself in that kind of situation. If they've lost for 30 years, then all you can do is the best job you can do.

A couple of posters have already said this but to reiterate, not being organized is a sure-fire way to make for a long season.

By having your preseason and camp charted out in February, for instance, the rest of your staff can begin expanding their tool kits for every precious, finite minute it takes to install, rep, practice, execute all that needs to be accomplished to be successful.

Being organized also saves a lot of time when you're in the heart of your season when time is really crunched.

jpdaley25 100% agree

This is what gives me hope for myself and makes me feel better for being pretty lousy early on in my career. It's not where you start, it's where you finish.

I'll agree with that. When I look back at my first year I'm embarrassed at what a jack-off I was.