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Post by wolfden12 on Mar 17, 2011 8:25:33 GMT -6
We are have coached at a school where freshman are seperate from varsity. However, we have 2 to 3 freshman who we think can contribute for us on Friday nights. Has anyone ever experienced this or been at a place where either every year or couple years depending on the talent these young athletes are moved up. What role do you have them play? What criteria do you use in addressing the players, team, staff, and parents?
Any help is greatly appreciated.
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Post by flexoption91 on Mar 17, 2011 8:37:55 GMT -6
Best 11 play...
If this does not fire up a senior to get more competitive than they should not be on the field anyways.
We make sure everyone knows going in that the players that put us in the best situation to be successful are going to play.
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Post by leighty on Mar 17, 2011 8:45:03 GMT -6
Nobody's going to lose their job if the freshman team is below average. People will lose their job is the varsity team is below average. If the kid can start or contribute significantly, he should probably be on the varsity team. I don't know that it's necessary to address anyone.
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Post by coachwilliams2 on Mar 17, 2011 8:46:32 GMT -6
We had one play this year for the first time EVER. We worked him in the mix slowly, made sure he had success on the JV on Thursdays. We did not put pressure on him to start or be a big factor etc. We just worked him in the game and let him go. He is an RB and he did well for us late in the year.
My only caution is make sure he will have SUCCESS and not get killed and be gun shy for you for the next 3 years. If he is not a starter, make sure he plays JV too and has success so that he keeps his confidence.
If you are a year away from being good, I would say leave him down on the lower levels and develop him and his teammates to WIN from a young age.
If he will not be counted on to be an all star and you have good people around him, then go for it.
Just my 2 cents....
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Post by coachwoodall on Mar 17, 2011 9:12:28 GMT -6
This might not be of help, in our state we have an 8 quarter rule which means underclassmen can play/dress in their sub-varsity game and still be availiable for the whole varsity game. We regularly have freshman get some decent PT in blowouts. We made sure though that the freshmen STAYED together to experience success on the freshman team.
However, this year we had a freshman that we just had to play on Friday night b/c of injuries. He started game 1, had some ups and downs, was demoted to JV (could still dress/play Friday), ended up being a solid contributor. In a perfect world we would have never moved him up, haven't had to in YEARS, but when you lose starer for 12 weeks on the first day of practice and another for the season in the last preseason jamboree we didn't have a choice.
It will be seen how it affects his future, which is bright. I think it might help him over all, but it is too soon to see. This is a kid that has more baggage to worry about than whether he is a 4 year starter or not. Hopefully, it help him grow as a young man.
All in all, it really is up to how you feel about the program, the kid, and what your overall philosophy is. For us, there is no reason that we should need to depend on a freshman. Our program is at a level where we have enough kids, develop them well, and honestly they aren't ready for competition we play. However there are no absolutes on the game field.
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Post by groundchuck on Mar 17, 2011 9:12:39 GMT -6
We started one this year, though he lost his job when the starter came back from an injury. You play the best 11 on the varsity. I would not bring one up as a sub if that meant he could not play with his grade level. This kid still played and lettered but he also played 9th grade and JV ball to get more reps.
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Post by cbroughton on Mar 17, 2011 9:24:58 GMT -6
If they can contribute on Friday nights then bring them up, if they are going to only hold their helmet then do not. Bringing them up will help your current team, but more importantly it will help the freshman for years to come. If they are good enough to play as a freshman they will be your stars as juniors and seniors so experience will be huge.
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Post by mattharris75 on Mar 17, 2011 9:50:10 GMT -6
We started 3 freshmen on offense this year, including our quarterback, and went 10-2. If they can play, they can play. I see no reason why seniority should play a roll, unless all else is equal (and it rarely is).
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Post by olcoach53 on Mar 17, 2011 9:54:50 GMT -6
I have always been under the belief that if they are the best player then they should play regardless of grade. We had a team in our conference this season get beat 63-28 during the regular season. The two teams met again in the playoffs and that team started three freshman on defense and ended up winning this time.
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Post by cnunley on Mar 17, 2011 11:01:58 GMT -6
Play your best 11.
Our starting center for us this past season was a Freshman. He definitely looked young at times, but others he looked like that's where he belonged.
Had 2 other freshman dress and play parts of every Varsity game and about 5-6 more get quality playing time throughout the season.
They were full time JV players to get reps and time together. I think this will pay off for us in the long run.
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Post by superpower on Mar 17, 2011 11:18:52 GMT -6
I agree with those who say to play the freshmen if they are ready. We started a freshman QB and a freshman left tackle last season. We also played another freshman considerable minutes at FB and LB.
One thing that we were fortunate with is that our seniors did a good job of accepting the freshmen. The seniors realized that we were better with those guys on the field than without them.
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Post by lochness on Mar 17, 2011 12:56:13 GMT -6
I agree with the "best 11" thought.
We've had multiple years where we've stared a Freshman taliback. We had one year where we started a Frehsman NG. Truth be told, those were years we were NOT very good! However, they were the best athletes we had at those positions, so they played.
We've had other years where we haven't had a single starter below Junior class standing.
It all depends on them make-up of your team.
No matter how talented we are, we always seem to have 1 or 2 really good Freshmen making starts on Special Teams for us. I think that's a good place to have them get the varsity experience if they are good enough to earn a spot there.
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celtic
Freshmen Member
Posts: 86
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Post by celtic on Mar 17, 2011 14:56:08 GMT -6
if he's the best at his position he plays on friday night. period.
i agree that you have to make sure it's a positive experience for him. if he's only a spot starter or special teams guy or a reserve on your varsity team, make sure he's getting lots of reps at the lower levels. worst thing you could do is throw a kid into the fire when he's not ready and then it scars him for the next 3 years.
but don't be afraid if he's the best one you've got. if nothing else, he's gonna get better and you're solid at that spot for the next 3 years.
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Post by coachbuck on Mar 18, 2011 4:21:55 GMT -6
I agree with the "best 11" thought. We've had multiple years where we've stared a Freshman taliback. We had one year where we started a Frehsman NG. Truth be told, those were years we were NOT very good! However, they were the best athletes we had at those positions, so they played. We've had other years where we haven't had a single starter below Junior class standing. It all depends on them make-up of your team. No matter how talented we are, we always seem to have 1 or 2 really good Freshmen making starts on Special Teams for us. I think that's a good place to have them get the varsity experience if they are good enough to earn a spot there. Lockness that was my thought. If your having to start a freshman your probably not very good. Im a coach and a parent of a H.S. footballer I would not want my son playing Var ball as a freshman. I would be concerned about the difference in speed and strength. JMO |
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Post by blb on Mar 18, 2011 6:20:21 GMT -6
Our basic philosophy is, if a younger player is even with an older one, the younger plays.
Older one has had more experience, more coaching. Should be bigger and stronger.
If we bring an underclassman up, he must start on Offense or Defense, not be a back-up, or we are retarding his development.
Besides the physical, takes a special kid emotionally-psychologically to handle the social aspects of playing out of his class and taking spot of one of older kids' buddies.
Having said that, I have never had a Freshman and only a handful of Sophomores up on Varsity.
Whenever possible I prefer to have Freshmen and Sophomores stay together, hopefully have some success-gain some confidence and develop before they get to Varsity.
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Post by wingtol on Mar 18, 2011 6:29:23 GMT -6
If you plan on having a frosh. come up to varsity you better plan on starting him or you are wasting his time. If you have rules and such which prevent him from playing at the lower levels once he is on the varsity I would be 100% sure you absolutely need that kid playing at the varsity level.
A wise coach once told me expect a loss for each soph you play on varsity, expect two losses for every frosh you have out there.
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Post by mattharris75 on Mar 18, 2011 8:00:53 GMT -6
A wise coach once told me expect a loss for each soph you play on varsity, expect two losses for every frosh you have out there. With all due respect, I've heard this before, and I think it's a load of hogwash, even if you simply take it as a maxim and not entirely literally. We started 4 sophomores and 1 freshman on defense and 1 sophomore and 3 freshmen on offense. We went 10-2, finished second in our region and went to the second round of the playoffs... |
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Post by coachjd on Mar 18, 2011 8:01:18 GMT -6
We started a freshman 2 years ago and he did ok. At times he was in way over his head. Physically he was fine, but mentally it really wore him down and had a tough time finishing games. We had to let the junior mix in with him just to give him a chance to gather his thoughts.
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Post by groundchuck on Mar 18, 2011 9:10:10 GMT -6
I once was told by a coach with a few wins (like 180 wins) that for every sophomore you start in our conference you'll lose a game. I would think the same holds true with freshmen. But you have to play whoever gives you the best chance to win and the soph and freshman we played were heads and shoulders better than the upperclassmen at their position.
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Post by coache67 on Mar 18, 2011 12:04:05 GMT -6
In the past five years we have started six freshman at various times. If they're ready to play why hold them back? Two of them were this year b/c of injuries - but three of the other four are getting their college paid for right now.
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Post by bluboy on Mar 18, 2011 16:22:37 GMT -6
This year we started a freshman (on defense) for the first time in the school's 40+ year history. He was better than anyone on our team at that position. He made some mistakes early, (none of which cost us a game)but got better as the year went on. Can't wait to see how he does next year.
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Post by Coach Huey on Mar 18, 2011 20:16:33 GMT -6
how about this .....
if you are having to ask some coach you don't know whether or not you should play one of your freshman, he probably doesn't need to play up as it doesn't sound like he has "wowed" you enough to either make the move in best interest of the team or "wowed" everyone enough to justify to parents why he's playing up.
now, if numbers is the issue, and you think he can add depth. you have to address how your practices are structured. project whether he will be better as a sophomore having practiced with the varsity and played minimum amount than he would be having practiced with the freshmen and played all the time with them on game nights.
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Post by struceri on Mar 21, 2011 12:33:53 GMT -6
our philosophy is that if you are going to move up a soph or fresh. then they better be a starter otherwise we are wasting our time. We have 1 freshman start on varsity in the 9 years I have been here. He started at corner for us and played some at WR. He took his lumps but we were really thin and he was our best option. He developed into a very nice player for us. When the sophomore season ends we usually invite 5-6 of them to practice and dress on game days for the rest of the season. They get some playing time in games but the practice time is more valuable for them
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Post by coachsky on Mar 21, 2011 15:44:03 GMT -6
We have had 2 Freshman play in our ten year school history.
One started in game 2 of his freshman year was All League as a Sophmore, all area as aJr., then all sate and is now playing college ball.
The other players is an outfielder with the Toronto Blue Jays. He could have played college FB anywhere he wanted to.
These two guys were physical freeks at age 14-15. That's the only reason they played. We play in the largest highest division in our state and while we have had some very talented freshman, most cannot handle the physical nature of varsity football.
We only bring up a freshman if they will start. There is a rule in our state that once a kid plays in a varsity game they can't go back down and play Freshamn ball. We bring up about 4 to 8 Freshman to practice with us at the end of their season and during playoffs. We have used a couple on special teams.
Locally I see freshman play in our small school divisions, not much in 3A and 4A.
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Post by coachdjenkins on Mar 21, 2011 19:30:23 GMT -6
Play the best players. We have had a lot of success starting Freshman. All of them were absolute studs, and so far all of the guys that started as Freshman ending up signing big time scholarships - (LSU, Tennessee). I also do not subscribe to the auto losses for Sophs. Won state titles in 2003 with Fresh DT, 2008 with Fresh RB and Soph WR.
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Post by pvogel on Mar 22, 2011 11:45:38 GMT -6
I agree with bringing them up if they will receive substantial playing time.
And physical maturity is important, but you better make sure that they are mentally mature as well. those kids usually had it easy being the best athlete on the field on the lower levels. they need to be headstrong enough to battle against people that will be more developed and probably more athletic than them, which is something they probably have never faced. They also may not have been criticized or corrected for mistakes. They need to be able to handle the mental and emotional aspects of varsity sports in order to play varsity.
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ci
Freshmen Member
Posts: 48
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Post by ci on Mar 26, 2011 17:02:15 GMT -6
Only had 2 freshman play(both started)in 32 years...both at different schools... also the best player I ever coached started as a freshman, but not for me.
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Post by buck42 on Mar 28, 2011 7:45:37 GMT -6
We started 3 freshman this year on offense alone. With two of them we brought along slowly, they were offensive lineman and we continued to watch them on the JVs and realized after 4 games that we needed to make a youth movement and go ahead and pull them up.
The third freshman started at WR from the first game. I took the program over in June and we really had only 1 WR that was varsity caliber. We mixed and matched in the preseason but we just didnt feel that anyone was better than the freshman. We were able to get a few skill kids out from the school and it allowed us to play the freshman on both JV and V. In hindsight I would have tried a little harder to find another WR so that the freshman could have played a few early games on JV. His confidence was shaky for a while. However, so far this spring he looks really good!!!
We were soooo young last year it was nuts...6 returning letterman (one was a kicker) we only had 13 seniors (only 5 that had seen the field before in a varsity game) and only 4 juniors in the program!!! It was a long year...but hopefully 2011 and 2012 will be the benefit of the tail whippings we took!
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coach16
Sophomore Member
Posts: 126
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Post by coach16 on Apr 24, 2011 16:48:56 GMT -6
We brought up a freshman and shook things up!
He played as a return man and and wb.
He could have scored two or three touchdowns a game.
The head coach was an old school guy who thought freshman = mistakes
I regret not giving him the ball enough!
Some kids have a natural football savvy about them
If they are the best then let em play!
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Post by jrk5150 on Apr 24, 2011 17:27:34 GMT -6
I think the earlier post about confidence is huge. Even if he's the best on your team, if he's going to get burned consistently and not have individual success, be careful.
Not in football, but I saw a freshman pretty much get ruined playing varsity basketball as a freshman. All it did was teach him how to defer, he never regained the confidence he should have had.
Different sport, but you have to watch that confidence factor.
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