tlala2
Freshmen Member
Posts: 21
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Post by tlala2 on Jan 18, 2011 18:24:19 GMT -6
Obviously the answers will differ based on program, but when scheduling non-district opponents, do you always try to schedule teams that you know you have a chance of beating? Sometimes, is it okay to schedule an opponent that will whipe the floor with you but will earn you a lot of money? Do you sometimes schedule cupcakes to make your team look better for the purposes of confidence, public-appeal, etc.?
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tackle
Sophomore Member
Posts: 129
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Post by tackle on Jan 19, 2011 12:14:46 GMT -6
When I first started coaching, I worked for a guy who constantly tried to schedule the best pre season competition he could. We were unable to compete and the games beat us down. Kids were discouraged by the time we hit league. I believe competition makes your team better, more exciting games, more excitement around the program. That being said, sometimes you need to take on a challenge to raise the bar.
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Post by Coach Huey on Jan 19, 2011 12:32:06 GMT -6
we try to get a "mix" of the 2. say you have 4 non-conference slots, try to schedule 2 teams that you should be better than, and 2 teams that should be better than you. try to avoid those where you "have no chance".
also, helps to schedule teams that may be closely related (in schemes or personnel) to some teams you will play in conference.
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Post by gpoulin76 on Jan 19, 2011 12:39:15 GMT -6
Wins are always better than losses. Nobody is going to remember who you played and beat 2 years from now. But what they will remember is your record.
At some point, though, you need to schedule better teams to take your program to the next level. Its a process.
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Post by calicoachh on Jan 19, 2011 13:38:52 GMT -6
We always try for a mix. We woudl prefer to play one team that year in year out we feel confident that we can beat, we would play one team that we feel is very similar to us and one team that is maybe a bit better than us. This prepares us for our league games while giving us an indicator of what type fo team we are going to be. We don't want to beat our kids down prior to league, but we also don't want to have the first adversity we face come in a big league game.
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Post by realdawg on Jan 19, 2011 17:32:11 GMT -6
If I were taking over a program that has been struggling, I would try to schedule "winable" games. By winning you create excitement, confidence, and increase interest in your program. As the program improved I would try to schedule more challenging games. If I were in charge of an "established" program, I would try to schedule at least a couple of very challenging games. These type of games help to simulate a playoff atmosphere and help make you better in the long run in my opinion.
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Post by blb on Jan 19, 2011 17:45:19 GMT -6
You can't play all lions and tigers, you need to play some nits and gnats too.
In our state you have to win six games (out of nine) to make playoffs. If you're in a tough league to begin with and you load up your non-conference schedule, you may have trouble qualifying.
And that gives the hometown faithful fuel for the fire.
I agree with Huey's earlier post about balancing the schedule as much as you can.
People say "To be the best you have to play the best." But if you lose to the best and don't get to post-season, you may not be long for this world.
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Post by davishfc on Jan 19, 2011 18:43:07 GMT -6
If I were taking over a program that has been struggling, I would try to schedule "winable" games. By winning you create excitement, confidence, and increase interest in your program. As the program improved I would try to schedule more challenging games. This is where we we're at in the building process of our program from a scheduling perspective. We were in a very tough conference my first year. We were not a great program at that point and we were up against much larger schools, twice as large for two of the teams. The next two years we were independent and scheduled teams we could compete with. Last season we joined a league with teams of comparable size but still very tough. We have gone 4-5 the last two years which is quite the accomplishment for our program. There is some excitement, confidence, and interest in our program but I still want to see what it will be like if we can make the playoffs this year at 6-3. We're going to work trying to make it happen. We'll see if we can have some consistent success and eventually schedule more challenging non-league opponents.
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Post by cnunley on Jan 19, 2011 18:53:32 GMT -6
In an ideal situation I would be to schedule a mixture of good/bad opponents.
Right now, we are in a major building process. When we got here our out of conference schedule was very touch and our conference even worse.
We have since made some changes that will go into effect for this up coming season. Our out of schedule is as easy as we could make it.
We are trying to win games and build some confidence within the program.
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Post by davishfc on Jan 19, 2011 19:01:04 GMT -6
People say "To be the best you have to play the best." But if you lose to the best and don't get to post-season, you may not be long for this world. Coach I agree. The object is to create an environment (including a schedule) that will allow you to compete and have the time necessary to build your program. Scheduling opponents clearly better than you (biting off more than you can chew) is certainly a quick, sure fire way to ensure your timeline will be shorter. Losing does not encourage support the way that winning does regardless of how well liked the header may be. Now I'm not saying "winning is everything" by any means. But building a program takes time. If you're not able to compete and win some ball games because of schedule, you're certainly not helping the cause in that aspect.
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