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Post by fbch75 on Jul 7, 2014 17:56:50 GMT -6
I was wondering if any of you have taken your staff on a coaches retreat or a coaches getaway of some sort?
What did you do? And would you recommend doing this?
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Post by coachd5085 on Jul 7, 2014 18:25:27 GMT -6
Have you asked your staff?
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Post by larrymoe on Jul 7, 2014 19:35:27 GMT -6
We went overnight to watch a playoff game as we were not in them that year. It was horrendous and I would never, ever, never recommend doing anything like that ever.
Our staff goes places and does stuff together for fun, but a "coaching retreat" to "work" or build comradeship is utterly stupid IMO.
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biggus3
Sophomore Member
Posts: 178 
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Post by biggus3 on Jul 7, 2014 19:51:11 GMT -6
Our head coach took us to some golfing resort. We played a couple rounds, went fishing alot. Overall, it was a good time. I got to know our DC pretty well and got on the same page as him. That was a plus as I was new to the staff.
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Post by coachphillip on Jul 7, 2014 19:57:53 GMT -6
Went to Oregon and UCLA with my staff this year. Loved it. Split up during the day and got back together in the evening and talked about whatever over dinner. Then the old guys would go to bed and the young bucks hit the town. That last part was way more fun in LA than Eugene. There are most guys on staff I hit it off with just fine and some I keep a professional relationship with. I would be upset if someone made me hold hands and play trust games on my time off. Staff clinics do it just fine for me.
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Post by gators1422 on Jul 7, 2014 20:08:17 GMT -6
I guess if you don't really like each other I could see that it wouldn't be a good idea. We as a staff really enjoy each other. We all spent Saturday at the river all day cooking, skiing watching fireworks. Hardly talked football at all.
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Post by Wingtman on Jul 7, 2014 20:20:16 GMT -6
Our "retreat" is the Glasier clinic. We talk ball, visit speakers, prep for the upcoming season etc during the day, then at night hit the town.
My Head Coach and I currently work out together every morning at our local Y. Plus, our wives are really good friends, so we see a lot of each other. The other two guys are good guys, good coaches, just single dudes who'd rather go to bars on Saturday night then sit on a back porch around a smoker, which, when I was their age, I was doing the same thing.
I guess my thing is, what get's done at these retreats? When do they take place? My opinion is, if we are going to dance naked around a fire and discuss the buck trap, can't we do it the early spring, when we should have had it planned out?
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Post by Coach Huey on Jul 7, 2014 20:30:35 GMT -6
one staff I was on did a "retreat" prior to the season. here, most staffs start meetings the week before 2-a-days or thereabouts. Rather than just meet at the office 8-5 or whatever, we would go on a 3-day/2-night retreat a couple hours away to a lake house on a private lake (owned by a booster).
the mornings & evenings were devoted to football meetings. the afternoons & nights were spent on the lake, golfing, playing cards, etc.
so, breakfast, then meetings, then lunch. then lake or golf. then dinner. then meetings, again, then cards, dominoes etc.
1st day we arrived in time for lunch & had a general meeting. then play time until dinner. after dinner finished whole staff meeting then cards & dominoes.
2nd day meetings were split - we had an offensive staff & a defensive staff - as we met on our side of the ball.
3rd day was a whole staff special teams meeting. after lunch, we drove back home.
we purchased all the food/drinks we would need for the trip. we used camp money or booster club would float us some money. we divided up the chores & duties ... i.e. 1st day lunch was offense, breakfast was defense, etc.
one guy had a bass boat & another had a pontoon boat. the booster had 2 jet skis at his place. we had a pretty good time and it was just as productive as it would have been had we stayed in the office.
the longer we were together the less work we really had to do so the trip was really just a final "vacation" before the season started. but, all in all, i would rather not do it again. much prefer seeing my family & sleeping in my own bed.
in can be a good thing to try at least once, though.
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Post by fantom on Jul 7, 2014 20:35:05 GMT -6
Our "retreat" is the Glasier clinic. We talk ball, visit speakers, prep for the upcoming season etc during the day, then at night hit the town. My Head Coach and I currently work out together every morning at our local Y. Plus, our wives are really good friends, so we see a lot of each other. The other two guys are good guys, good coaches, just single dudes who'd rather go to bars on Saturday night then sit on a back porch around a smoker, which, when I was their age, I was doing the same thing. I guess my thing is, what get's done at these retreats? When do they take place? My opinion is, if we are going to dance naked around a fire and discuss the buck trap, can't we do it the early spring, when we should have had it planned out? We do it the same way. Clinics and college visits are our retreats although we can never get the whole staff together at one. I agree that this would be more useful in the spring when we're putting the playbooks together. I like the guys that I work with BUT in a few weeks I'm going to see them many hours a day, 7 days a week. The last thing that I want to do is give up some of the precious free time remaining to spend a weekend bonding. |
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Post by mariner42 on Jul 7, 2014 21:18:03 GMT -6
I like doing stuff with the guys I coach with... in theory. I really don't like the idea of being forced to do stuff with the guys I coach with.
Example:
Two seasons ago, the staff I was on would have 6pm practices Weds nights to allow one of our coaches to make it to the practice and have a change of pace, etc. One week, several of us were hungry afterwards, so we went to a nearby Wingstop (buffalo wings, brew, etc) for some suds and wings. Had a great time. So we did it the next week, and the next week, and then suddenly Wingstop Wednesday was a thing we looked forward to.
It was organic, it was fun, it combined football and socializing and was 100% voluntary but everyone wanted to come if they could.
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Post by keysersoze on Jul 7, 2014 22:43:16 GMT -6
I have been on two different staffs where we went on "coaches retreats."
The first experience I had we always went out of town the last week in July. During that time we would go over all of the staff expectations, philosophy, etc. Then the head coach would take us through the entire offense w/ the O-line coach following up with all the blocking and protections that went with the plays. The varsity position coaches would get up and go over specifics for their positions including drills, techniques and coaching points. The defense would be up next and follow the same basic schedule. We would do the same with special team although very briefly. We would finish with planning the football camp we would have in August just prior to doubles. This was good for me as a young coach as I learned a ton from the varsity coaches. It also was good for coaches to learn about other positions, etc. The drawback was that it's sort of late in the ball game for what we do now.
The other place I coached with a retreat did it in the spring at a college campus. We would do the normal thing with meeting with coaches and watching practices but spent a ton of time meeting as a staff, talking about spring football, etc. We did all the same things (teaching about our offense, positions, etc) during a spring in-service (a few hours in the evenings prior to spring football) and then in the fall we would do the same thing going over what we were going to teach that day.
I prefer taking guys to a college campus or another high school to visit with the other staff, get ideas and then meet about our own program. We can do the in-service stuff at home and spend a lot less money.
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Post by carookie on Jul 7, 2014 22:57:08 GMT -6
I was on a staff once where all the coaches who had been on board for more than a year were close; I would consider several of them to be be some of my closest friends. We never had a retreat because we never needed one, we'd end up hanging out a few times a month anyways; plus we'd hit up a couple clinics each year.
Ive also been on staffs where theyve had retreats and they felt horribly forced. A lot of guys on those staffs were good guys, just all in different spots so not a lot of relatability outside of football. Also the HC was somewhat aloof away from football.
So I guess my experiences have led me to this generalization- if you need to have an organized coaches retreat it probably won't make a difference anyways.
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Post by coachphillip on Jul 7, 2014 23:40:30 GMT -6
I guess if you don't really like each other I could see that it wouldn't be a good idea. We as a staff really enjoy each other. We all spent Saturday at the river all day cooking, skiing watching fireworks. Hardly talked football at all. I think that's the key. Can you be around them and talk about non football stuff? |
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Post by jg78 on Jul 8, 2014 10:18:07 GMT -6
I like going as a staff to a good coaching clinic during the January-March months. However, I personally would not want to go on a staff retreat somewhere during the summer and stay 1-2 nights. I would rather meet at the school (or somewhere nearby) and do the work that needs to be done and pretty much leave it at that. We all know how little free time we have from August-November and I wouldn't want to spend one of my last remaining summer weekends doing non-football activities with the staff that I may not really like. If the HC invited us all over to his house to grill steaks and shoot the breeze on a Thursday night to kinda kickoff the season with a little camaraderie, I'm good with that. But going out and staying a night or two at a lake house somewhere, that's not really something I would want to do.
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Post by Wingtman on Jul 8, 2014 19:54:57 GMT -6
Agree. I'd much rather go to a wing place, drink a beer, eat some chicken and talk ball for a couple hours once or twice a summer for a couple hours then go away for a weekend.
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Post by coachwoodall on Jul 9, 2014 6:19:35 GMT -6
Ours is always early in the spring and at a college campus; lasts about 3 days
- listen/watch some position meetings and practice
- talk a little ball with their coaches
- mostly it is a time to put together the 'plan'
--- team building
--- roster, positions, specific players, etc...
--- spring practice plan
--- summer work
--- fall pre-plan
Of course there is socializing afterwards. The last couple of years the retreat has been during March Madness, so we go find a game to watch. I'd much rather do the lake retreat things and fish and drink beer in the down time, Huey, you got an opening on staff? I'll coach the JV long snappers.
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Post by coachjm on Jul 9, 2014 7:02:55 GMT -6
We have gone a staff retreat the last two winters. We go to a house on a lake that one of our Coaches own in the middle of the winter. We get there Thursday night meet over summer schedule and Kick Game, Friday morning we start meeting on our schemes, we take a break for Lunch and spend a few more hours meeting. Saturday we meet for 3 or 4 more hours then head home early Saturday afternoon. It is a good time for discussion and teaching as we are removed from all other distractions.
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Post by fballcoachg on Jul 9, 2014 8:57:22 GMT -6
I think it would be worth it if you just took over a place and have a bunch of coaches you haven't worked with in the past.
While I wouldn't turn down the free Lake house and private lake I would probably like going to a college or doing it at a clinic. That way each staff member can watch what they want but you can also set aside staff time. Bonding can happen organically and it isn't an obligation out of the ordinary (assuming you go to clinics or visit colleges as part of your program). It could depend on when you take over the program though.
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