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Post by coachbrek on Apr 6, 2012 8:09:02 GMT -6
What I see is what I coached or allowed. The original question, what lessons did I learn early on, I have thought about this for a few days, thinking of what lesson hit me early in my coaching days. My second year of coaching I had a great team I was coaching jr high, probably one of the best classes to come through that school ever. We lost a game that year to a team who's varsity coach also coached the Jr. high, I did not realize it at the time but I got totally out coached. I was so pi$$ed at the kids I would not let them talk on the bus on the way home, chewed their butts up one side and down the other, I stewed over the loss for days before I realized I was the reason we lost. I apologized to the kids, once I realized my mistakes. I had been getting away with so many unsound things because of the talent I had, I changed the way I coached from that day on, I cant stand to lose but that was a valuable lesson given to me that day, getting our crap handed to us by a much less talented team.
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Post by FBCoachMike on Apr 6, 2012 9:15:25 GMT -6
1. Hire good coaches, guys who won't ever throw you under the bus. 2. Make practices competitive and fun. 3. Don't pay attention to the opponent at the expense of your focus on your team, your technique, your execution. 4. Love on your kids, build relationships with them and their families. 5. Be a leader and example. Be what you want from other people/kids.
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Post by bluecrazy on Apr 6, 2012 9:30:31 GMT -6
What I see is what I coached or allowed. The original question, what lessons did I learn early on, I have thought about this for a few days, thinking of what lesson hit me early in my coaching days. My second year of coaching I had a great team I was coaching jr high, probably one of the best classes to come through that school ever. We lost a game that year to a team who's varsity coach also coached the Jr. high, I did not realize it at the time but I got totally out coached. I was so pi$$ed at the kids I would not let them talk on the bus on the way home, chewed their butts up one side and down the other, I stewed over the loss for days before I realized I was the reason we lost. I apologized to the kids, once I realized my mistakes. I had been getting away with so many unsound things because of the talent I had, I changed the way I coached from that day on, I cant stand to lose but that was a valuable lesson given to me that day, getting our crap handed to us by a much less talented team. I think it takes a good man to admit that. One thing I've learned in my 20 plus years, is never blame the kids for a loss, and never take credit for a win. Give that credit to the kids. I know after a playoff game last year, one adjustment late in the game could have meant a win, instead of a 4 point loss. Kids played great, played hard, I messed up. Never blame the kids, take the blame, learn, move on.
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Post by fasterthanthefly on Apr 6, 2012 12:14:20 GMT -6
Words are more powerful than you will ever realize!
Want kids that will run throgh walls for you...Our kids will remember the things we say to them. They will remember when we ripped them in front of their teammates, and they will remember when we gave them a word of encouragement and praise. Those words walking out to the practice field or in the weightroom. "Jimmy, I noticed you have really been working hard, keep it up." That stuff sinks in and builds those relationships. It's like a bank account, making those little daily deposits build up for big payoffs and builds those relationships.
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Post by td4tc on Apr 6, 2012 20:59:47 GMT -6
"they don't care how much you know till they know how much you care"
and TACKLE every day
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Post by jgordon1 on Apr 9, 2012 8:08:52 GMT -6
Politics ARE in football...I tried fooling myself for years on this one...won't let it happen again... Duece me too. I thought I could get past it if I could just work hard enough....Big time lesson
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Post by coachbdud on Apr 9, 2012 16:01:12 GMT -6
never "settle" for anything... from yourself, your staff, or your kids
Kids generally rise to the expectation level set for them
Looking back i can remember many occasions of letting things slide by and i regret it, but ive learned from it
I am more demanding than i used to be and i think that has made a major impact in my effectiveness as a position coach and a strength coach
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Post by shocktroop34 on Apr 16, 2012 8:43:03 GMT -6
Based on the comments about politics/administrators/parents...my former principal once told me: "Don't ever put anything in an email that you wouldn't want printed on the front page of the NY times." You never know what people will try to use against you.
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Post by gdoggwr on Apr 16, 2012 10:32:39 GMT -6
"If you don't rip their ass for it on Tuesday, don't rip their ass for it on Friday night."
That along both the coaching or allowed idea (however they are playing in the game is probably how they practiced all week), and a general coaching style comment as well. If you're an even keel guy, don't force fire and brimstone on game night (I was that guy when I was younger).
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Post by tigerpride on Apr 16, 2012 11:16:00 GMT -6
Dont complain about the players that you dont have - you can only coach the ones that you have on your team.
Also - coach the kids that show up. I spent a couple years chasing those kids who wouldn't show up for weights, who said they "might" be playing, or are transfering into your program. One thing is having a conversation with a potential kid, but when your chasing them around and you have 40 already in the locker room waiting for you, dont neglect them.
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Post by dc207 on Apr 16, 2012 11:17:08 GMT -6
I don't completely agree with that. I think formation tendencies help the kids a lot. If we find a strong tendency that could help them we need to tell them. Examples: "2nd down, they love screens and draws". "They like to run play-action and take a deep shot after a turnover". I agree that the kids don't need every tendency but some can help the players read their keys better. It's our job to understand the difference. I used to completely agree with you. But something I learned from an assistant on the Bears staff has stuck with me recently and it proved effective last year. If you teach a kid to read a key... be it on defense, offense, etc... they'll execute that action that goes with that key. If they're told "hey, they throw screens on 3rd down" and then the pass rush lays off expecting that rather than looking at the OL's key's for screens, they're going to put the secondary in a bad situation b/c they won't rush as hard. When Warren Sapp went to the Raiders, he told their DL coach this... "If I follow their tendencies, I'll be right maybe 40% of the time, if I follow my keys I'll be right 100% of the time". I think the other thing that goes into this is the idea that data is so weak for most opponents. If you have even 4 games worth of data, and you look at 3rd and Short data, you have what... maybe 10-15 scenarios? Maybe for 1st and 10 you'll be better off, but what about all the variables that affect that play call? Field Position, Score, injuries, matchups, defensive coverage/adjustment, offensive formation, heck play off implications based on points scored if your league does that... there are just so many variables that affect the limited data we have that I just don't buy it as much as I used too. A lot of times, if you change one or two scenarios on let's say 2nd and Long from run to a pass their tendencies will change significantly (5-10%). I'd rather spend that time teaching kids how to react or understand their keys. That way they don't think, they just play. I think yo make some good points here chihi. Valid and constructive. I would counter with a couple things, or situations, when you want to relyon tendencies as a coach: We had 8 films on a team that we were playing in the second round of the playoffs a few years back. Whether they knew this or not, I don't know: don't think it mattered to them. They were going to do what they did until you stopped it. We did. We totally went full out with stopping what their tendencies said they were going to do. All of our first half calls were based on what the tendency was (I didn't need a sheet, I had it memorized). They came in averaging like 47 points per game and were 11-0 Conference Champs. They beat us, but it was 14-7 and we were on their three in the final minute. I think there are times to rely on tendencies AS A COACH. But you are right, the player needs to read his key. We do, however, run certain stunts based on a tendency and in some of them, the kids not reading anything: he's going there NOW!
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Post by newhope on Apr 16, 2012 12:14:08 GMT -6
I wish I had learned this early, but it took me a while:
Hire good, loyal people and let them coach. Delegate. You can't do a good job if you're trying to do it all.
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Post by fantom on Apr 16, 2012 12:26:00 GMT -6
I don't completely agree with that. I think formation tendencies help the kids a lot. If we find a strong tendency that could help them we need to tell them. Examples: "2nd down, they love screens and draws". "They like to run play-action and take a deep shot after a turnover". I agree that the kids don't need every tendency but some can help the players read their keys better. It's our job to understand the difference. I used to completely agree with you. But something I learned from an assistant on the Bears staff has stuck with me recently and it proved effective last year. If you teach a kid to read a key... be it on defense, offense, etc... they'll execute that action that goes with that key. If they're told "hey, they throw screens on 3rd down" and then the pass rush lays off expecting that rather than looking at the OL's key's for screens, they're going to put the secondary in a bad situation b/c they won't rush as hard. When Warren Sapp went to the Raiders, he told their DL coach this... "If I follow their tendencies, I'll be right maybe 40% of the time, if I follow my keys I'll be right 100% of the time". I think the other thing that goes into this is the idea that data is so weak for most opponents. If you have even 4 games worth of data, and you look at 3rd and Short data, you have what... maybe 10-15 scenarios? Maybe for 1st and 10 you'll be better off, but what about all the variables that affect that play call? Field Position, Score, injuries, matchups, defensive coverage/adjustment, offensive formation, heck play off implications based on points scored if your league does that... there are just so many variables that affect the limited data we have that I just don't buy it as much as I used too. A lot of times, if you change one or two scenarios on let's say 2nd and Long from run to a pass their tendencies will change significantly (5-10%). I'd rather spend that time teaching kids how to react or understand their keys. That way they don't think, they just play. Well, as I said I'm not completely disagreeing with you. I do agree that too many guys make too high of a priority of breaking down the tape looking for tendencies. I think that a lot of guys get so wrapped up in the process that they miss the forest for the trees. I believe that you're right, tendencies are for me, to help me call defense on Friday night. I agree that you can bog kids down if you give them too much info, most of which is useless. I also agree that you don't have to go looking for REAL tendencies. They'll hit you in the face. I think you're right about HS tendencies. Bad weather, bad opponent? You're probably working just so you can say that you worked. We don't even do tendencies for the best team that we play. They're coached by a living legend in the state, a guy with over 400 wins. We learned the hard way that they do a great job of self-scouting. If they have a weakness or a tendency, they'll know it before you know it. Thought we had them once. Their QB NEVER pitched when they ran option-until they played us. After the game one of the assistants said, "Didn't think we'd pitch, did you?". He was kinda gloating but what the heck? He deserved it. So, why waste time breaking down tendencies if they're just going to turn them back on us? BUT. They do have some useful tendencies. There are certain formations that they only use to run certain plays. There's a definite down/distance tendency. I agree that the kids will be better off just learning their adjustments and keys. Sometimes those tendencies can help them read their keys.
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