Losing Attitude

Been there, doing that. I wish there was a simple answer, just keep doing what you are doing and have faith in it.

don't underestimate the possible "losing attitude" the parents may have. to turn it around, it takes everyone. PR your program to death with the parents. show them how hard you are working for their kids and the benefits the kids are already getting. convince them in some way that believing in what your are doing and in where you want to go involves entire community.

now, how specifically you go about doing that is up to you........ lol

Which came 1st the chicken or the egg? Which came first the change in attitude or wins? I'm not an expert but I do have some experience here...and it is not that simple.

Example of the "vicious cycle"
Parents...parents become board members...board members hire administration...admin sets the tone in the school

Parents...with poor attitudes about coaches and athletics...parents with no clue...they pass that on to the kids who in turn pass it on again and again.

I am not saying it cannot be fixed. I think early success is key. We did not have early success for a variety of reasons. So the community kept up the "woe is me, losing attitude.

You have to win the PR battle too. But winning is the elixer that quiets critics and wins people over.

Ok, heres my point about winning games- when i was hired at one school they were coming off a year in which they scored 3 or maybe 4 tds the entire season and lost every game. the team captain said to me "welcome to your first losing team". we came out and played to a tie in our first game, we had it won but the losing attitudes were still there as an interception was returned for a score and some of the kids didnt try to stop the kid from scoring choosing to sulk instead. we scored alot more tds but we still lost alot of games my first year,(we couldnt tackle or contain to save our lives) but in the process of instilling a new work ethic, new standards and higher expectations (no one rises to low expectations) and of course new systems we won 3 games and nearly a 4th. (we won the final game of the season against a league favorite and that was big!) the second season with the cancers weeded out and new leaders emerging and a whole year of lifting etc we went undefeated. the next year we dominated everyone..our worst game we had 320 yards rushing! think about that... that had a trickle up effect and the varsity eventually won too. I can remember telling my kids that they werent allowed to say "last year" at all...I can remember they werent allowed to criticize each other in any way, only offer positive comments.

at another school, a school where the team had never won more than 2 games in a season and typically lost every game...we had just 17 boys on the team after the first week of my "operation mental adjustment" program. (which includes the binky speech)... basically the old habits had to be broken in a hurry...habits like sitting out of drills because its too hot or they are too tired or "sore" or whatever. habits like missing practice and not having make up conditioning to pay back the team for the time off. Habits like looking like individuals rather than a team, habits like sitting on bags and sheilds or practicing in sneakers instead of cleats, habits like coming to practice on the first day of school rather than during camp in the summer...habits like walking during conditioning drills, and of course terrible fundamentals...all that had to change. If it meant cutting some loose thats what it takes.better to lose players than lose control. even though we had just 17 kids we won our first game 46-0 so that made a difference as we went on to go 4-4 for the season. No doubt that we would have been about 6-2 if we hadnt lost a key player in game 2...he returned to us and we won the final game of the season 44-20 against a superior oponnent and the kids went nuts. one of them said "we arent losers any more!" it helped that the offense scored 4 times as many points as they had in the prior season while the defense gave up half as many. The kids know when they have a chance...they try harder if they believe. I think winning is contageous.

The next year we went a disappointing 5-2, disappointing because we had a lead in every game and were still learning how to finish...its part of the process.... and finally same school was undefeated this year. the things that seemed to make the difference was the players feeling like they actually had a chance. learning to win, expecting to win an finally winning is a growth process. You start with raising the expectations and never lowering the bar.

Its always interesting to hear stories about how coaches changed attitudes and how they impacted on a loser program. Its equally interesting to hear when coaches have attempted thru blood sweat and tears to make magic happen and couldnt. One guy I know tells me all the time "I put a ton of hours into this" and yet when I see him hes NOT out on the wt room floor with the kids, hes watching tv or reading magazines or bsing on the phone or whatever...the kids are lifting on their own and typically theres not a whole lot of new faces in the wt room...I asked the guy "how many are signed up? how many got physicals in?" and he said "12 at this level and 8 at this level" (20 freaking kids from jr high to varsity??? and hes sitting down in the gym?) and I asked him "are you passing out physical forms and flyers and all that in the high school and middle school?" he says "no, i dont chase the kids...if they want to play they know where to find me"....I COULDNT DISAGREE MORE!!! To me, if he showed the kids that he was interested in having them, they would take more interest in playing. Kids have so many distractions and so many options now...they arent going to think about football UNLESS YOU PLANT THE SEED EVERY SINGLE STINKING DAY! Thats my take on it anyhow...again, i can only speak from my own experience. At Boone where i am at now, the middle school team struggled last year. Some complained that their games "didnt matter"...I of course have them believing that their games are the most important thing ever lol. they had a much smaller team than we will have and they will work harder than they have ever worked and work much smarter if I have anything to say about it. This isnt a shot at their coaches but my intention to merely make them into champions....I want them thinking "we are great now, if we stay together and work hard we can be state champions in high school". By the way they are talking as if they are gonna crush everyone. we will see.

Parents are obviously a help or a hindrance, however YOU set the tone for what type of kids you are going to have, and that is going to determine how long it takes to turn it around.

Expect and demand that they come to practice, work hard, help each other, strive to do better in the classroom, be good citizens, and the like. No one player is good enough to break one of these rules. If you allow it to happen then you've just lost the team.

Be hard, be fair, be motivating. Football isn't like basketball or baseball where there's more of a "let's play" attitude. Guys don't usually go out and say "Let's go play blocking" (or tackling, pursuit, up-downs, or whatever. Football is tougher so you need to develop toughness while not running the good ones off. It's hard to do, but that's what coaches do. Good luck to you - Many of us have been there before. The payoff is when you do break through and turn that LOSING mentality into a WINNING one.

I agree with this, I probably spend more time recruiting than almost anything else. Recruit, Recruit, Recruit

Allow me to recommend dennis parker's "Coaching to Change Lives" program.

I think one of the biggest factors in developing a winning attitude is accountability. My kids are told constantly that they will be held accountable for their actions and that they have to learn to accept that fact. Whether its positive action or a negative one- there will be reprocussions.

I make them understand that as a coach, I will motivate them, teach them and put them in the best possible position to win- but they are the ones that have to get out there and do it. They have to go out and work hard in practice and in the game- I can't do it for them. I am the first to tell them that if they have an issue they want resolved they had better come talk to me in person- their folks are not going to be a liason or a mediator.

I always set aside 10 minutes for conditioning at the end of each practice. If the kids are working hard as a TEAM and having a productive practice then I will extend special teams practice into those 10 minutes and we won't condition . Bear in mind that my practice schedule and drills are up tempo- the kids are always moving, drilling and learning. If even one kid chooses to screw off during practice- then we condition . The teams generally only screw with me once on this one- 10 minutes of conditioning with me is a very long time. I like doing this because the kids realize that they can be held reponsible for their actions in a postive manner or in a very negative one (like pushing a seven man sled in circles for ten minutes)

The first time I ever gave this speech was right after I kicked a kid off of the team. He was laying down on the ground before practice and I asked him to get up and help me move some stuff. He replied "No, I'm injured". I didn't even give him an ultimatum, I told him to get his butt up and off of the field- that he wasn't playing football for me. Before practice started I told them exactly what happened and what being responsible for your actions meant in my book.

The biggest problem I have run into with losing attitudes is the simple fact that parents are not teaching these kids to be accountable for their actions or to work for something. When something goes wrong, its always someone elses fault, whether it be a coach, teacher etc.... And "hard work" is such an un-Pc term with the parents these days.

believe it or not i learned that lesson about the "stars" on losing teams by coaching volleyball...cut em loose if they are a bad apple.

What do ya'll think about size of the school being a factor? In a smaller school a bad attitude might infect a higher percentage of kids, and you do not have that many to choose from to begin with. In a bigger school the percent of bad apples might be the same but you still have a bunch more to choose from. In a small school those bad apples and haters interact with the good kids everyday even if they don't play football.