From an older coach

I started coaching High School football in 1984 and kids were just as unmotivated and wimpy then as they are now on the whole. Parents were just as meddling, as well. The only difference was, I was young enough to fight them both!

1990 for me. I was wearing Sansabelt shorts back then. Nice.

It's funny, I worked with my old OL coach for a few years and we had a conversation that totally opened my eyes. I really wasn't coachable in a lot of ways; I couldn't stand going through drills at half speed, I didn't listen very well and tended to 'improvise' (i.e. cut block DL when I couldn't handle them in pass pro). I always assumed that coach disliked working with me (I could whip out a mile pretty quick after a few weeks with him) but he almost lost his varsity OL position because he went to bat for me with the HC in staff film sessions.

So, I was really 'one of those kids' in many ways but I really learned a lot about coaching after hearing this story.

Absolutely no doubt about it-kids, parents, families and society is different now than it was when I started.
It's silly to try and expect them to be the same as us. AND, it's nothing different-things change.
I knew they were different as a young coach when I started out then they were when I was a kid in the 60's-the 70's saw to that.
And things are much different now than they were with my 1st team in 1979.

As to the point though.
My last assignment, I didn't expect kids to be ready for the Florida heat. I had to make an effort to "climatize" the kids. It's only smart to do so. I did a number of things that I wouldn't have even considered doing back then-but you have to do them now. Well if you want to coach, that is.

I could lament that they are all inside playing video games when I lived outside on my bike and in the woods building forts as a kid.
And it's true.
But hey, my Dad had to wake up an hoe the field BEFORE he went to school in barefeet. Most all southerners are from that stock. I'm sure my Dad could have lamented about how "soft" we were, no-he was happy me and my brothers had it better than he did. Of course you know we heard all the stories that we love to tell about "walking 5 miles, up hill to school everyday and back in the snow even in August." Gotta' do it.

If you don't take into consideration that kids stay inside now and play video games and don't go outside as much as we did, you might make a mistake that could cost you.
Things to consider.

You can't trust your memory - it naturally is going to pick the stuff you "want" to remember - good and bad - and certainly isn't going to give you a complete picture.

There were never any "good old days" - things were just as f-d up in the 60's, and 70's, and 80's as they are today. The pressures on kids are the same, their reactions are the same. There are some changes around WHAT is putting pressure on kids, but the pressures aren't any different. There are certainly some differences in what they are exposed to, etc., but all in all - it's all the same.

You think kids were tougher? Nah - the hits hurt a lot less then, as kids were smaller, slower, weaker, less athletic, etc. Every generation gets physically a little bigger and a little faster and a little stronger on average. HS teams now are probably the physical equivalent of college teams 30 years ago. But not the mental or maturity equivalent, which makes you think they're even worse, since they LOOK like they should be acting more mature.

I'll go one step further - your memories from LAST YEAR are probably not so reliable, LOL. I remember thinking last year "my 2009 team was so much better, I can't believe my kids are screwing this up", only to go back and watch video and see...the same screw-ups in 2009. I was honestly stunned.

There's a reason that there is a cliche that starts with "the more things change"...

Every 12 months I get a year older.

The kids I coach are still 14-18.

While I am one of those young bucks, I do think that kids are different however no different than I was from the kids 10 years before me and they were 10 years before them. As a US history professor of mine once said, " People remember the romanticized past that never was but always will be," it's something that I have always tried to keep in mind when comparing kids.

I often think about the lack of motivation and wonder what goes through these kids minds on a play???

Then I think back to my days playing in high school... I had NO clue as an Olinemen of what ANYONE else was doing.... I just knew who I was supposed to block... that was it.. didnt know why.. didnt care why.

I was lazy... careless... and unmotivated.

That wasnt anymore of a reflection on my coaches than the way my players play today is on me.

I just didnt take any of it as serious as they did.

Its hard to accept that as a coach, but its reality.

Fantom, knight , blb thats awesome to be coaching that long. I think your correct fantom. We as coaches use that as an excuse a falllback incase we have a bad season. My team this year I was saying the same thing. About my h.s. team and my youth team. Both off to successful starts. Shame on me for being the soft one. One thing I always tell fellow coaches. As the season goes on I always hear x town is full of studs, they are always good. I always chime in, there is no substitute for hard work and there is no magic where they are at, its hard work. Good post, Im guilty of this. I fall into the category during the season, I love to be miserable. Dont enjoy the wins enough and stress to much on the losses.

Which, to your point, means what exactly in terms of "toughness." Is walking 2 miles to school going to make you more likely to stick your nose in the gut of a ball carrier? More likely to finish a block?

I moved a lot when I was young, so I walked, rode a bus, was driven and drove myself at various points. My toughness level naturaly corresponded to how I got to school.

Either your sarcasm detector (or mine) is off....

Sorry. I'm known for my sarcasm, too.

It's a question of perception. Everybody thinks the next generation has it soft.

It also is influenced by where you coach........rural kids.....are a lot different than suburban kids....or inner city kids................how affluent is
your clientele...........give me a group of small town rural Texas country boys anytime..........

Did not mention race (demographics) at all.......you are making an assumption....................but I do know that here, in Texas....it doesn't matter if you are black, white or hispanic....your attitude....your perspective toward sports is different if you are raised in a rural setting......as compared to that of suburban or inner city..............................

What I have said is a rule of thumb.......there are exceptions to everything.....as you have mentioned.........................affluence....(money) gives you opportunity for a wider variety of influences that take away from sports in many cases.......where those oppotunities are not as available to many rural kids................