The Bus ride home......After losing?

i would be ashamed
hell yes intervene
ask them if that is all it means to them

if they have any kind of smart ass answer back at all

tell them

then you haven't worked hard enough

I kindof agree with coach roberts. I heard a good friend put it this way.... if we line up correctly, in our correct stance, know and make our reads correctly and give 100% effort but still get beat, then there is not much you can say but that the other team was just better.

Good points, but how often does this happen? Coach, when you lose games is it more often because the other team was better, or because your team made mistakes? (Penalties, Fumbles, Poor tackling, lack of execution, etc.)

I'm of the same mind.
After the game, I know I'D be pissed...but if the kids don't care, shutting up just because I'M in the room isn't going to change anything, but I know when it matters (next practice) we can MAKE them care (conditioning....lol).

I dunno - each his own.

We scouted a team in our league last Saturday night. The JV lost 35-0, the varsity lost 31-13. Their bus ride home was about 2.5 hrs. on the yellow school bus.

Talked with one of the moms who said that the coaches made the ride home silent - no talking, no cell phones, no iPods. Just quiet.

I can see that, but I also know that on the JV, the coaches told the juniors Tuesday that they would not play on Saturday, only the soph's would play. Lot of Jr. parents heard this and didn't go to the game. The son of the mom is a Jr. and was told he was not going to play. No reason given, just Jr's not going to play. He is a NT. He got in the game in Q4 as an OL, a position he has never practiced and has no idea what to do other than hit. He said he didn't know if he did well or not because the coaches were yelling at everyone the whole game.

The varsity has some good runners, as long as it's to the right, but the QB's can't throw. Their defense held for the 1st half and then folded. The opponent ran no huddle very well, they put a lot of pressure on the D and they cracked. As a team, they were not prepared for their opponent. I'm not sure if that team was as good as everyone says, or that the team I scouted was just not coached well for that week. We got our heads handed to us the night before and after reviewing the film, most of what we saw was lack preparation by us, the coaches. That loss is on us, not the players.

While I can see a silent ride if the players didn't play well, I really have a hard time taking it out on the players when they got beat by bigger/better/faster, or coaches didn't seem to do their part. It's a hard call right after a game, but I think the coaches know. We knew when we were walking off the field that it was us that had screwed up, not the players.

I was just thinking that sometimes losing is inevitible...but fun should be part of the deal when a kid plays football. win or lose, there has to be fun, otherwise, why play?

one more thing...as a coach, i talk to my coaches on the ride home...typically i watch the game film on the bus...we talk. i think the players can talk about the game too...sure it bothers me when they are telling jokes and laughing etc...but then again, we always stress "move on and focus on the next play" when a play goes bad...seems like that should carry over to the game itself really. move on. get ready for the next one.

You made some very valid points Coach. I agree that they should not be forced to act as if football is the most important thing in the world. But, as much time and energy that they invest into football wouldnt you think that they would understand that losing is a small failure. To some degree isnt it our role as coach to get young boys how to learn handle to deal with failure?

If they get on the bus and act as if nothing happened I have a problem with it because I fear that they might get accustomed to losing!

IMO Reflecting on what you could have dont better, how you could have helped the team produce a positive outcome and what can you do (starting now) in order to provoke change is what its all about. (If they do this then there is very little time to pout) Arent all players apart of the TEAM? If so, I would assume that players that did not play, or played a minor supporting role would be just as important as the starting QB. If they feel this way then they would take the loss just as the rest of the players would.


Just my thoughts. Shred them if you may.

In my opinion if you lose the bus ride home the players should feel bad enough about losing that the tone is quiet. They should not be joking around yelling etc. I don't view this as a punishment type thing for losing just that when I lost as a player I was not happy and did not feel like clowning around.

Like tog said it should hurt when you lose.

I have found that the ones laughing, talking loudly, etc. are usually the younger players that didn't play, the players that played are the usually sleeping like wingtol stated. I usually get up and really light into the younger players. If the starters played their hearts out they have left it on the field and will sleep. Just my opinion.

Good point Phantom and very accurate about the age thing! Most of the youth kids I coached couldn't have told you the score 5 minutes after the game was over, but only remember the "big" plays they made (for bragging purposes at school the next day) lol! As the guys get older and more mature, they begin to understand the principle of time and effort spent trying to achieve something vs expected gain. When you're not successful its disappointing and it hurts and most older players (who have worked hard in practice all week, then played a hard game) feel the same as the coaches after a loss! I guess the arguments would start as to when this period of "mourning" should end and we all start looking forward to the next challenge, trying to focus on the positives, healing the "pain" in your gut and getting ready for the next week. If its a really long bus ride home, it could start here? los

A loss needs to hurt...even a loss where you were fundamentally sound and just got beat by a bigger, stronger, faster team.

But a loss, any loss, needs to hurt enough to make them shut up for at least the bus ride home.

Next practice, discuss the game. THEN move forward.

This was my problem earlier this year, we'd lose and it wasn't that big of a deal to to many players. That has been corrected. If it's not a big deal to someone, MAKE it a big deal.

Airman,
Not only would you get a couple of calls. If someone gt hut because you had practice after agame. You would not only get sued but fired as well.
Just run their ass on Saturday morning and ask them if they like losing and think it's funny after running about 20 110's.
if anyone questions you then, you justt ell them that they needed to learn a lesson.

you mean after they have been able to go out and be the big football players which they think they are?

I know a Basketball coach, whoes team lost a game because they could not shoot free throws down the stretch. I mean they were up and the other team fouled. needless to say, after a hour long bus ride, they shot freethrows for a 1hr and a 1/2. it solved their problem that night. kids took their free throw shooting very seriously after that.