Age as a barrior to acceptance in the youth football world?

This is a tough one. I think it has less to do with age and more to do with people not wanting to accept that their way of doing things is outdated and needs to change. A few years ago (I was 44 at the time) I moved to Tucson (thankfully I was just there one season) and was named HC of the local Jr. Midget team. Almost immediately everything I was doing was being questioned. Despite almost 20 years of coaching experience and a pretty good track record, if I did anything that was different from what they were used to, I was criticized no matter what documentation I produced to support my actions. No one there had ever seen a dynamic warmup before and they actually disciplined me for not doing static stretching for 20 minutes as our warmup. I produced dozens of reports and quotes from college and NFL strength and conditioning guys showing that I was doing it correctly, but because there was one guy in the organization that had a cup of coffee in the NFL 20 years ago, and he said I was doing it wrong, they jumped all over me.

Ultimately, I think you have to demonstrate success within your current organization to get the Daddy Ballers to pay attention. Even then, expect to hear comments like, "Yeah, well, anyone could have won a championship with all the talent he had on that team." Daddy Ballers in particular, but even non-daddy coaches, tend to be an arrogant bunch that think they have all the answers and often take offense at anyone telling them that there is a better way to do things. How good is your relationship with your program's president? It will make a big difference if the president (or Athletic Director, or whoever the coaches report to and respect) delivers a message along the lines of, "Look guys, this new program is not just a PR stunt - this is coming down from the highest levels and, honestly, most good HS, college and NFL programs have been teaching it this way for over the past 10 years. It's time we caught up and started teaching things the same way. I get that this will be a bit of a change for some of you, and it will be uncomfortable for some of you, but you better get on board or you won't be coaching here anymore. 33coach is in charge of this program and what he says goes. I know he's young, but honestly guys, any of you could have volunteered for this position, but you didn't and he did - he's earned the position and your respect, so get on board with the program. He will be giving me regular updates on your compliance with this program and if you're not cooperating, you will be replaced. It's that simple."

Dealing with youth coaches can be a challenge. Good luck.

if you are looking an atta boy while standing your ground, forget it.
If you want friends just make everybody happy.

I think most coaches would have some level off resentment towards a position that goes over practice schedules, training, and what drills they run. That being said I often have seen some of our other teams practice and realize that some of those guys need help in those areas and they don't know it. Maybe the resentment is towards the position you hold and not your age.

You have about 6 or 7 years coaching experience and at least some of it is at a higher level than the coaches you are dealing with. Most daddy coaches have absolutely no idea what they are doing. Many will want to hide that fact. The way they will do that is to criticize everybody that isn't them. Those coaches need to be weeded out. From reading your post in the past I can tell you are light years ahead of those type of coaches. The guys that know what they are doing will see that very quickly and you will earn their respect. Don't worry about the others. They either fall in line or they gotta go. Who ever is your boss has to be very firm in his support for you. Some of the best youth coaches I have come across have been around your age or a little older. The fact that you are doing this without kids in the program(I am making an assumption there, sorry if I am wrong) speaks volumes to me. Most of the best youth coaching staffs have no kids on the team. As such, you have no ulterior motives.

Dead on! Been coaching for 7 seasons and I'm only 24. When coaches who haven't worked with me see who the DC is, they balk. Just knuckle down and get to work. It's not so much your age so much as it's experience. The same way there are old, grizzled, battle tested soldiers the same is true of coaches. Once they see you on top of your stuff, they'll back off.

Then, in five to ten years, you can stand in a circle with your AC's and your arms crossed wondering who the punk is that mandates what drills you run and approves of your practice plan.