How to stop sense of entitlement

ask them one simple question....how good do you want to be? if they're ok with being 6-5, then let them know that a 6-5 season is the pinnacle of where they currently are. however if they want to be much more than that, they need to start putting in the work to make that happen. show them some videos off youtube of some college football programs working out, of olympians working out, of anybody who is pushing themselves. then after the videos ask them again...how good do you want to be? this has worked with most of my kids, but with that being said, some kids are just happy to have a jersey and to just be on the team, and that's the way it is with some kids.

Our kids get that way a lot, it's part of the local culture and they also know that we don't really have the numbers to do a lot about it, or so they thought. Now I just substitute liberally. LT takes a play off? He's out. We only have 6 OL, so the spare comes in. RG takes a play off? He's out. I find the hardest-working scrub I can, turns out to be a tiny RB, in you go. QB stares at a fumbled handoff like an idiot? Backup moves in from slot, LB goes to WR. One truly terrible practice got to the point where we had no subs left. The next kid to get the boot was a real snot-nosed turd, so when I canned him he had a good chuckle that I "couldn't," there was nobody left to replace him. The hell I can't. I'd rather play with 11, because with you loafing, I already was. So we finished with 11 guys. That was an extreme case, but the principle holds.

You might argue that I end up wasting practice reps, but wasn't I already?

I am a firm believer that you get what you are either coaching it to happen, or allowing it to happen. Keep in mind it will not change overnight. The fact is, if they are not hustling, or they are going through the motions, need to change it, and change it immediately.

I think fantom said it best. They have to understand other teams are working hard. Example, my sons weightlifting group was power cleaning more than anyone on the team yet it wasn't as much as I know he could do. I told him exactly what fantom said to say. Your not trying to be the best on the team your trying to be the best in the league.

Mark me up for another who agrees with what fantom said here. Ive been in similar situations and have harped on kids that this isnt intramurals, its not whose best at the school, but in the state. FWIW Ive never felt that signs or slogans are the way to go, one a season is fine but for the most part I don't think kids care.

Whatll probably work best is some sort of whooping; maybe you put them through the grind at the next practice till they put forth a better effort. But what would be better is passing league. And though I hate so much of what it has become, getting crushed by the state champs in passing league and linemen comps really helps put entitlement into perspective and will cause ears to perk up.

create competition
was going through same thing

So we started to compete for yards in 7/7
treated it like a 7/7 tourney with points and stuff for tipped balls, picks, TD;'s etc

also, did a 4 downs to score from the 20 comp
losers do up downs and guys not in must pick a side to live or die with...
or
just say f it and put the scrubs in and tell the prima donnas they aint earning the reps...

show them that the next man is TRULY in and that you mean it

sorry fellas, i don't buy this at all. if you are showing up for a workout...its all out. there are two things that matter in high school football...speed and more importantly, effort. the workouts (weight room, or field) are supposed to get you ready for the season. how can you get ready if you aren't giving all your effort? that's a major issue (in my opinion) with at least teams in my area/league/district. you see kids who don't understand what MAXIMUM effort really means. our kids have been learning it since last year (our first as a staff), and honestly, its still a struggle at times. however, we demand that they give it all on every rep. you would be amazed how far we've come since last year. our head coach has a great saying that i've 100% bought into. "You get what you demand". don't let kids slide. harp effort every play. yeah, your techniue was off a bit, but your effort was fantastic! guess what? technique can be taught. effort has to come from the player. YOU cannot teach it. so, why wait till the season starts to start harping on effort. demand it now, demand it always. and surprisingly...the kids will soon see why you do. and if you are wondering, we get about 40-45 kids every night to our workouts. thats out of 60. and my goodness do they love it!

coach williams, you CANNOT coach effort. you can't. i've never seen a coach line up a drill called effort drill. ok guys, first get in a 3 point stance. then, we build up to a certain level of adrenaline and aggression. then, we drop it in first gear and fly like a mad man. ok, what does that look like? how do you do that?

now, i hear what you're saying, and perhaps i should re-phrase what i mean. we are not having heart attacks over this stuff. if a kid isn't giving effort, he's told and the next guy replaces him. said player always has another chance to correct it. i'm telling you, if we had 10 kids at a workout not giving the efffort that we demand, we wouldn't have 40 kids a night, we'd have 20. thats because these kids love the energy of our practice. if that many kids are going half a$$ed, how fun is it? when kids get into that mentality, its incredible. do all of our kids subscribe to that...no. if it was perfect, all of our kids would be present. we do have those who play summer ball, AAU basket ball, and the likes. we tell them that if that's the case, they were at a practice before coming to our workout, just let us know and we will give them the reps they can handle. during track season, our workouts are after their practice so kids can still come in. the runners won't run, just get a lift in. or, just work with their position coach during the 20 minute individual period.

if you're not competing on every play, what's the point? its wasting our time, the team's time, and youre time. if you're that spent from baseball practice that you can't give max effort...go home and rest. come back to the next workout. its as simple as that. our stance is blunt, and to the point. and it took some time, but our kids are starting to see the results, and we have to hold some of them back at times so they don't get over worked. and i'll take that problem all days of the week! when you coach that way, you have to know where the line is, and we have done a great job of it so far. we have earned the respect and trust of our players because they are seeing we know what we're talking about, and that we will take care of them when they need it. heck, this off season, we've had other sport's kids coming to our lifting/endurance sessions because they love what we do and how we do it. even some females. drives the other coaches crazy because they think we're trying to steal athletes. but we won't turn any kid down who just wants to get a workout in. i don't think that would be happening if we weren't doing something right. we just don't let anything slide. we refuse to enable a kid to slack...they get enough of that at home and in the classroom. we are insisting that if they are here...then LET'S GO. that's all it is bud! and again, the energy is electric

the original post was about stopping a sense of entitlement. those who think that because they think they own a spot, they don't have to work. well ok, maybe you think you own a spot, but look at you're back up. he's killing himself. you think you'll own that spot if you play grab a$$ for the next 8 weeks while he's working? all he's doing is getting better, so you better give some effort to stay on top, because if not, someone's gonna take your spot. and us coaches won't have to do it just because to prove a point, that other kid will be legitimetly better.

Right...he would be a best selling author if he could figure that one out. Discuss what "complacency" means. They're high school kids. I can almost guarantee that some of them don't even know what the word "complacency" even means let alone how to go about trying to address it.

you're right, most college kids hate spring ball. and i understand that kids are in summer mode. i don't know...we have had an awesome off season doing what we do. the kids are loving it. its almost like everyone is feeding off of everyone elses energy. i'm not saying anyone is wrong. but we all know kids these days. if they don't want to do something, they more than likely won't. but my goodness, our kids caught the bug, and are getting in this stuff. i work with the oline, and at first they couldn't stand the boring everyday first step drills, punch drills...you know, the stuff that is hit every day and gets kinda boring. i have kids asking to do more of it...staying after workouts, or coming in early. i think that its a direct result from us staying on them, showing them film of what happens when you execute the technique correctly, and incorrectly. they are seeing that they are getting better and are chomping at the bit for more. now i'm no fool, this could simply be because we had a very young team last year and went 1-9, got our tails kicked because we only had 4 seniors who had any chance of contributing, and started a lot of sophmores. their heads were in the tank, and now see how much better they've gotten. maybe that's the case? but i guess we'll see

I've got a bunch of fall seniors that have made it clear that they feel they should and will start just because they are seniors. I also have some soon to be juniors that think because they were good on JV they will automatically start on varsity. Both those groups haven't committed to much of anything. I have 4 sophs who are busting a$$ and I am praying they beat out some of these guys. I'm not sure if they will but they are already stronger. The best will still play but I'm rooting for them. I make sure my staff knows that if 2 guys are close to equal (including field presence) the one who is younger, especially the one who busted his butt, gets the nod. In my experience, nothing motivates a kid more than competition within the team. It has been true in everything I have coached.

I always adhered to the 'play the Jr over the Sr if they're equal,' but I like it even better that you tell it to your players. That way ensures competition and effort vs. complacency.

This!