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Post by coach2013 on Jul 24, 2013 9:05:37 GMT -6
Culture is established behaviors in pursuing your grand vision.
It doesnt happen over night. You might have to overcome years and years of poor habits.
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Post by coach2013 on Jul 24, 2013 9:07:58 GMT -6
think culture and climate
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Post by coach2013 on Jul 24, 2013 9:15:40 GMT -6
With all of this talk about culture I think a great question is how do you evaluate your own culture? I'm the HC, so due to human nature, I am going to see the culture I helped to create maybe better than it is if you just plainly asked me the question. But.... I think I have an interesting perspective as to why I believe our culture is good. We have won in recent years, but I think that's a slippery slope to evaluate culture b/c some win in spite of their culture. I believe our culture is positive due to how we handle negative situations and players. In particular, I have a kid who thinks he is Ray Lewis at LB despite the fact that he is not very good. He's tough, maybe our toughest kid and one on one in a chute he'll beat anybody on the team. He's also lifted hard and is very enthusiastic about FB.....as long as he is practicing w/ the projected starting group. However, he is like a car driving 100 mph w/o a driver. In the chutes he's a man, but put him in team situations, and he can't handle the added stimuli. The kid is very raw, but what's worse is he is oblivious to the fact he has a lot to learn (after multiple mistakes one day, I asked him if he understood his responsibilities and his response was "Hey coach, I've been playing football my whole life" and then got wrong every question I asked him). Well, in short, the kid is HORRIBLE at taking coaching and direction. As a result, I replaced him w/another kid during a team session due to multiple instances of not heeding corrections. He chose to take his helmet off and sit on his butt behind the drill all alone (not taking a knee drives me CRAZY) and usually the expectation is to get involved in the scout side of things but he just sulked instead. I thought about kicking him out entirely, or ripping him for his reaction and forcing him to get on the scout. Some of my assistants were agitated by it and made a comment to me about it etc. But instead, I rolled the dice and decided to ignore it just to see what would happen. What happened was the show went on as if he wasn't even there. Not one player consoled him, not one play or rep slowed b/c of him and the kid that replaced him played his A$$ off resulting in me finding a new LB. It was as if the kid did not exist. Trust me when I say that it was DIFFICULT not to confront the behavior, but i felt like that would only reinforce his deluded importance he thinks he has to the team. Instead, we finished w/ a great practice and he marched off home on his own when it ended. The next practice he was not great but improved. I may have been wrong for not coming down on him, but I didn't want him to receive the attention he was seeking and the kids seemed like they could have cared less. I was proud of the way they conducted themselves and as a result, I believe our culture is positive and better for it. Just my opinion. PS - In my younger days I would have destroyed this kid for his reaction, but IMO this turned a better result. Interesting to see how he handles not starting for us b/c there's no way I can trust him out there. You set high expectations, communicate them, hold everyone accountable. Thats it, its a huge job and it takes a village.
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Post by blb on Jul 24, 2013 9:18:56 GMT -6
"Winning Ingredients"
ADMINISTRATION
COACHES
ENROLLMENT
BOOSTERS
RECRUITMENT
PERSONAL CONTACT
FACULTY SUPPORT
ACADEMIC VERIFICATION
STANDARDIZE EQUIPMENT
FACILITY IMPROVEMENT WEIGHT TRAINING
MULTI-PARTICIPATION
KNOW STAFF
REALISTIC GOALS
OUTSIDE WORK
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
DETAILS
Outline of article by Jim Hillyer, North Salem (Salem VA) HS from 1987
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Post by s73 on Jul 24, 2013 9:19:26 GMT -6
With all of this talk about culture I think a great question is how do you evaluate your own culture? I'm the HC, so due to human nature, I am going to see the culture I helped to create maybe better than it is if you just plainly asked me the question. But.... I think I have an interesting perspective as to why I believe our culture is good. We have won in recent years, but I think that's a slippery slope to evaluate culture b/c some win in spite of their culture. I believe our culture is positive due to how we handle negative situations and players. In particular, I have a kid who thinks he is Ray Lewis at LB despite the fact that he is not very good. He's tough, maybe our toughest kid and one on one in a chute he'll beat anybody on the team. He's also lifted hard and is very enthusiastic about FB.....as long as he is practicing w/ the projected starting group. However, he is like a car driving 100 mph w/o a driver. In the chutes he's a man, but put him in team situations, and he can't handle the added stimuli. The kid is very raw, but what's worse is he is oblivious to the fact he has a lot to learn (after multiple mistakes one day, I asked him if he understood his responsibilities and his response was "Hey coach, I've been playing football my whole life" and then got wrong every question I asked him). Well, in short, the kid is HORRIBLE at taking coaching and direction. As a result, I replaced him w/another kid during a team session due to multiple instances of not heeding corrections. He chose to take his helmet off and sit on his butt behind the drill all alone (not taking a knee drives me CRAZY) and usually the expectation is to get involved in the scout side of things but he just sulked instead. I thought about kicking him out entirely, or ripping him for his reaction and forcing him to get on the scout. Some of my assistants were agitated by it and made a comment to me about it etc. But instead, I rolled the dice and decided to ignore it just to see what would happen. What happened was the show went on as if he wasn't even there. Not one player consoled him, not one play or rep slowed b/c of him and the kid that replaced him played his A$$ off resulting in me finding a new LB. It was as if the kid did not exist. Trust me when I say that it was DIFFICULT not to confront the behavior, but i felt like that would only reinforce his deluded importance he thinks he has to the team. Instead, we finished w/ a great practice and he marched off home on his own when it ended. The next practice he was not great but improved. I may have been wrong for not coming down on him, but I didn't want him to receive the attention he was seeking and the kids seemed like they could have cared less. I was proud of the way they conducted themselves and as a result, I believe our culture is positive and better for it. Just my opinion. PS - In my younger days I would have destroyed this kid for his reaction, but IMO this turned a better result. Interesting to see how he handles not starting for us b/c there's no way I can trust him out there. You set high expectations, communicate them, hold everyone accountable. Thats it, its a huge job and it takes a village. I agree w/ everything you are saying here coach. But my point is that I think you have to continually evaluate that to make sure complacency isn't setting in after you've been somewhere for a while.
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Post by planck on Jul 24, 2013 9:22:00 GMT -6
Ran into a similar situation last year on our JV squad. Their best athlete had a major attitude. We needed him to play OL; he wanted to play RB. He was oblivious to the fact that a kid in his class had been pulled up to the varsity team and was the #2 RB there (so the prima donna had a 0% chance of ever toting the rock on varsity). The kid just pouted and pissed and moaned the entire season. I can tolerate kids who won't do what they're asked to help the team - they just don't play. The problem arises when other kids look to that kid for leadership and see his bad example. That can be a tough nut to crack.
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Post by coach2013 on Jul 24, 2013 9:27:26 GMT -6
You set high expectations, communicate them, hold everyone accountable. Thats it, its a huge job and it takes a village. I agree w/ everything you are saying here coach. But my point is that I think you have to continually evaluate that to make sure complacency isn't setting in after you've been somewhere for a while. I have never run into that- My assistants are always throwing ideas in my direction, then ducking because I am going to throw responsibility right back at them. Complacency has never been an issue- just getting good help and keeping it around is the challenge. What Id evaluate is this, are the kids actually upholding the expectations? are the coaches? Do you have high enough expectations and do I hold everyone accountable?
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Post by s73 on Jul 24, 2013 9:42:52 GMT -6
I agree w/ everything you are saying here coach. But my point is that I think you have to continually evaluate that to make sure complacency isn't setting in after you've been somewhere for a while. I have never run into that- My assistants are always throwing ideas in my direction, then ducking because I am going to throw responsibility right back at them. Complacency has never been an issue- just getting good help and keeping it around is the challenge. What Id evaluate is this, are the kids actually upholding the expectations? are the coaches? Do you have high enough expectations and do I hold everyone accountable? I'm not trying to start a fight here by any means coach so correct me if I'm wrong. Are you saying that b/c of the way you do things you never need to evaluate yourself? I think "high enough" expectations is very gray. Not sure exactly what that means. Also, not sure what you mean by holding everyone accountable. I used to confront every situation verbally and thought I was holding everyone accountable. Now, I hold kids accountable w/ playing time. Again, not trying to fight, just not sure what you are saying.
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Post by coach2013 on Jul 24, 2013 9:45:19 GMT -6
I think its an everyday evaluation. Dont you?
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Post by blb on Jul 24, 2013 9:45:31 GMT -6
"Developing a Winning Football Tradition"
ADMINISTRATION
DEVELOP OR HIRE A QUALITY STAFF
GET TO KNOW YOUR JOB
BOOSTER CLUB
ACADEMICS
STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING
FIELD AND EQUIPMENT
CAMPS AND PASSING LEAGUES
YOUR OWN FOOTBALL CAMP AND COMBINE
TEACH FUNDAMENTALS
OFFENSIVE SYSTEM
DEFENSIVE SSTEM
SPECIAL TEAMS
EMBRACE THE PAST
FEEDER PROGRAM
Outline of article by Jim Bob Bryant, Williamston NC HS from 2003
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Post by s73 on Jul 24, 2013 9:55:36 GMT -6
I think its an everyday evaluation. Dont you? That's what CONTINUAL evaluation to avoid complacency means.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2013 9:58:40 GMT -6
I have asked this question to many people and have received similar answers. I'm still studying the subject. I wanted to know what do you think separates those programs that win champions on a yearly basis from the awful programs? Traits of the truly awful ones: An incompetent HC (not true of all of them, but it's amazing how bad some HCs can be...) Meddling administration who dictate football decisions or take money from the pro Don't hire or keep quality assistant coaches in the program No discipline or expectations for players Poor weightroom participation/ineffective workouts No attempt to grow/support the feeder programs No traditions/no respect for traditions Low numbers No money (which is what often leads to #1 and #3) Incoherent scheme that either overcomplicates things or is missing answers to basic things No community or media involvement No fundraising apparatus (no Touchdown Club, no Booster Club, no football moms, etc.) Low expectations (players and school are used to losing and expect to lose, so not enough people really try to change it) Traits of the truly elite ones are pretty much the exact opposite, as well as: Recruiting (honestly... all of the consistently good programs I know in our area lure athletes away from the competition) "Redshirting" (happens in a lot of elite small school programs I know of--parents hold kid back in the 8th grade so he's stronger in HS) "Open enrollment" (ties in with recruiting--a great program draws in all the good players from the nearby area) A total commitment to excellence (coaches, players, admin, and boosters all want the best for the program and work to improve it)
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Post by fantom on Jul 24, 2013 9:59:23 GMT -6
With all of this talk about culture I think a great question is how do you evaluate your own culture? I'm the HC, so due to human nature, I am going to see the culture I helped to create maybe better than it is, if you just plainly asked me the question. But.... I think I have an interesting perspective as to why I believe our culture is good. We have won in recent years, but I think that's a slippery slope to evaluate culture b/c some win in spite of their culture. I believe our culture is positive due to how we handle negative situations and players. In particular, I have a kid who thinks he is Ray Lewis at LB despite the fact that he is not very good. He's tough, maybe our toughest kid and one on one in a chute he'll beat anybody on the team. He's also lifted hard and is very enthusiastic about FB.....as long as he is practicing w/ the projected starting group. However, he is like a car driving 100 mph w/o a driver. In the chutes he's a man, but put him in team situations, and he can't handle the added stimuli. The kid is very raw, but what's worse is he is oblivious to the fact he has a lot to learn (after multiple mistakes one day, I asked him if he understood his responsibilities and his response was "Hey coach, I've been playing football my whole life" and then got wrong every question I asked him). Well, in short, the kid is HORRIBLE at taking coaching and direction. As a result, I replaced him w/another kid during a team session due to multiple instances of not heeding corrections. He chose to take his helmet off and sit on his butt behind the drill all alone (not taking a knee drives me CRAZY) and usually the expectation is to get involved in the scout side of things but he just sulked instead. I thought about kicking him out entirely, or ripping him for his reaction and forcing him to get on the scout. Some of my assistants were agitated by it and made a comment to me about it etc. But instead, I rolled the dice and decided to ignore it just to see what would happen. What happened was the show went on as if he wasn't even there. Not one player consoled him, not one play or rep slowed b/c of him and the kid that replaced him played his A$$ off resulting in me finding a new LB. It was as if the kid did not exist. Trust me when I say that it was DIFFICULT not to confront the behavior, but i felt like that would only reinforce his deluded importance he thinks he has to the team. Instead, the incident proved to me that our kids understand they must conform to the team not the individual. He was improved the next day, but has a long way to go. In my younger days I would have destroyed this kid, but I put faith in our kids and our culture and the lack of attention he received by his teammates I believe spoke louder than I ever could have. Obviously, if it continues he will be dismissed, but for now I am proud of the way our kids handled the situation w/o me saying a word. Just my opinion, but I feel this evidence of a solid team culture. You handled that well. What's your next step? You have a kid who's a potential player so what do you do with him next? Did you call him in and talk to him about why you took him out and what it will take to play? Are you considering changing his position (not every good, tough football player can play LB)?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2013 10:10:17 GMT -6
So do you believe a schools in low income and high crime areas can become elite with the right coaching staff? We have some schools in this state who make runs at state every few years who come from such areas. They have several alums in the NFL. They tend to be very inconsistent, however. There's a lot of turnover on the coaching staff and admin there tends to be horrible, so one year they'll play for state and the next year they'll be 2-8 or 3-7. Then they get the right HC or an exceptional freshman class and they're back competing for state within 2-3 years. I believe some of the better programs in South Florida, Georgia, Southern California, etc. tend to thrive in these types of areas, but I don't know as much about them.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2013 10:19:15 GMT -6
With all due respect, winning will just encourage the same behavior from parent and the board. You are winning with what every other coach had. No reason to change the support level. Winning doesn't promote discipline,financial support, or anything else. If you start winning, you will find it to be nothing more than stepping stl e, because they wont change. coachbry, We haven't had a winning season in our 5 years as a football program. So, there isn't a problem with winning with someone else's players. We almost have a brand new team this year, 6 returning starters. I think that winning does increase financial support (ticket sales, concession sales, more attention for fundraisers... etc.). Be careful in assuming that just because you win and you're drawing a crowd, you'll get more money. Most admins like the one you describe will keep the football gate and concessions and will spend it on other things while giving you exactly what they've given you before. Then when you don't win and the money drops, they'll get upset with you. That's how it worked at the last school I worked at. It was a big school and the HC had taken them to the state Final Four twice over his 30 year career there. They still had to play in a crumbling old fieldhouse, work out in a tiny weightroom that only held half the team, etc. while the baseball team (who wins 1 or 2 games a year but had an assistant principal coaching it) took $100,000 from the football gate to make invisible improvements. Other sports also got to use football games to do fundraising, while football wasn't allowed to do the same at basketball and baseball games. Where I'm at now, it's similar, but worse. If you want to raise money and get support from the community, you're going to have to organize and do it yourself. Be prepared for other sports and admin to not like it.
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Post by s73 on Jul 24, 2013 10:25:53 GMT -6
With all of this talk about culture I think a great question is how do you evaluate your own culture? I'm the HC, so due to human nature, I am going to see the culture I helped to create maybe better than it is, if you just plainly asked me the question. But.... I think I have an interesting perspective as to why I believe our culture is good. We have won in recent years, but I think that's a slippery slope to evaluate culture b/c some win in spite of their culture. I believe our culture is positive due to how we handle negative situations and players. In particular, I have a kid who thinks he is Ray Lewis at LB despite the fact that he is not very good. He's tough, maybe our toughest kid and one on one in a chute he'll beat anybody on the team. He's also lifted hard and is very enthusiastic about FB.....as long as he is practicing w/ the projected starting group. However, he is like a car driving 100 mph w/o a driver. In the chutes he's a man, but put him in team situations, and he can't handle the added stimuli. The kid is very raw, but what's worse is he is oblivious to the fact he has a lot to learn (after multiple mistakes one day, I asked him if he understood his responsibilities and his response was "Hey coach, I've been playing football my whole life" and then got wrong every question I asked him). Well, in short, the kid is HORRIBLE at taking coaching and direction. As a result, I replaced him w/another kid during a team session due to multiple instances of not heeding corrections. He chose to take his helmet off and sit on his butt behind the drill all alone (not taking a knee drives me CRAZY) and usually the expectation is to get involved in the scout side of things but he just sulked instead. I thought about kicking him out entirely, or ripping him for his reaction and forcing him to get on the scout. Some of my assistants were agitated by it and made a comment to me about it etc. But instead, I rolled the dice and decided to ignore it just to see what would happen. What happened was the show went on as if he wasn't even there. Not one player consoled him, not one play or rep slowed b/c of him and the kid that replaced him played his A$$ off resulting in me finding a new LB. It was as if the kid did not exist. Trust me when I say that it was DIFFICULT not to confront the behavior, but i felt like that would only reinforce his deluded importance he thinks he has to the team. Instead, the incident proved to me that our kids understand they must conform to the team not the individual. He was improved the next day, but has a long way to go. In my younger days I would have destroyed this kid, but I put faith in our kids and our culture and the lack of attention he received by his teammates I believe spoke louder than I ever could have. Obviously, if it continues he will be dismissed, but for now I am proud of the way our kids handled the situation w/o me saying a word. Just my opinion, but I feel this evidence of a solid team culture. You handled that well. What's your next step? You have a kid who's a potential player so what do you do with him next? Did you call him in and talk to him about why you took him out and what it will take to play? Are you considering changing his position (not every good, tough football player can play LB)? Thanks coach, I appreciate the compliment. After practice, we coaches discussed the situation. I had his position coach tell me what he liked about him and what he didn't. I told him to relay that to him the next day. In short, we told him his positives but that due to attitude and lack of coachability we did not trust him and that we don't play kids we don't trust. We told him he has about 6 weeks to prove us wrong. I also told him that if what happened the day before would be his typical reaction to adversity or discipline that I would be taking his gear before season's end. Since the discussion, he has improved but has a LONG way to go. His effort is EXCELLENT, but very misguided. So I guess in a nutshell, it's in his court to conform to the team. He seems like he THOUGHT the team would conform to him, but that's not happening (hence my original post). The kid's tough, but clearly is not used to discipline, which leads me to believe this may not end well. But I'm hoping.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2013 11:08:39 GMT -6
I just hired a guy who brings all kinds of "winning" with him. The stuff he talks about (yet isnt available to put into action) is mind boggling. Great guy, I just need 5 of him to actually do what hes talking about. The thing is, he played at a place that had 18 coaches who stuck around each other for like 20 years. We have 6 guys who barely know each other. Its not the same dynamics just yet. Coach, could you share some of the stuff he's talking about doing? I'd like to know and I'm sure others would, too.
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Post by corymack on Jul 24, 2013 13:33:20 GMT -6
So do you believe a schools in low income and high crime areas can become elite with the right coaching staff? Certainly. Some of the best programs come from areas like this. Just takes the right coach. The East St. Louis Flyers back when Bob Shannon was there immediately come to mind.
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tyhpu10
Sophomore Member
Former OC & DC. Current QB coach. Twitter-@CoachTCrow
Posts: 157
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Post by tyhpu10 on Jul 24, 2013 16:18:39 GMT -6
Complete community and administration support.
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Post by jlenwood on Jul 25, 2013 6:55:22 GMT -6
I have asked this question to many people and have received similar answers. I'm still studying the subject. I wanted to know what do you think separates those programs that win champions on a yearly basis from the awful programs? Traits of the truly awful ones: An incompetent HC (not true of all of them, but it's amazing how bad some HCs can be...) Meddling administration who dictate football decisions or take money from the pro Don't hire or keep quality assistant coaches in the program No discipline or expectations for players Poor weightroom participation/ineffective workouts No attempt to grow/support the feeder programs No traditions/no respect for traditions Low numbers No money (which is what often leads to #1 and #3) Incoherent scheme that either overcomplicates things or is missing answers to basic things No community or media involvement No fundraising apparatus (no Touchdown Club, no Booster Club, no football moms, etc.) Low expectations (players and school are used to losing and expect to lose, so not enough people really try to change it) Traits of the truly elite ones are pretty much the exact opposite, as well as: Recruiting (honestly... all of the consistently good programs I know in our area lure athletes away from the competition) "Redshirting" (happens in a lot of elite small school programs I know of--parents hold kid back in the 8th grade so he's stronger in HS) "Open enrollment" (ties in with recruiting--a great program draws in all the good players from the nearby area) A total commitment to excellence (coaches, players, admin, and boosters all want the best for the program and work to improve it) Case closed. This and coach2013's post on culture of program could be printed as a one page textbook and call it "How to create a football program". Great stuff!
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Post by playfast on Jul 25, 2013 8:15:56 GMT -6
1. Head Coach - Set the standard! Be clear with expectations and realize at the beginning there will be growing pains. Teach, Teach, Teach!!!
2. Assistant Coaches - Loyalty. Follow the lead of the Head Coach. Teach, Teach, Teach!!!
3. Team First - Create the culture within the program first. Again there may be growing paings at first, but set the standard of team first!!!
4. Administration - Will have no option but to follow your lead when you set the standard of being clear, concise and within the board of education policy. Administration wants you to violate district policy?
5. Everything else will follow into place. Community, participation numbers, etc...
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Post by fantom on Jul 25, 2013 8:58:20 GMT -6
1. Head Coach - Set the standard! Be clear with expectations and realize at the beginning there will be growing pains. Teach, Teach, Teach!!! 2. Assistant Coaches - Loyalty. Follow the lead of the Head Coach. Teach, Teach, Teach!!! 3. Team First - Create the culture within the program first. Again there may be growing paings at first, but set the standard of team first!!! 4. Administration - Will have no option but to follow your lead when you set the standard of being clear, concise and within the board of education policy. Administration wants you to violate district policy? 5. Everything else will follow into place. Community, participation numbers, etc... A lot of things that have been mentioned previously- community involvement, attracting players, money, facilities- come after you start having success.
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