The reason we aren't a perennial power is...

That's what I was thinking too. Buy in. I know it may not be specific enough, but I think that all encompassing term is what's at the core of successful teams. Teams that "buy in" are teams that do what it takes to help the program succeed, no matter the cost. Our team won't get over the hump of being an average to above average school until our kids realize that selflessness and self worthlessness are not the same thing. Too many I guys. Not enough buy in.

To me, the biggest reason we are doing well right now and this school didn't do well before has to do with the coach having a plan and getting others on board and literally having tunnel vision with that plan. Ignore all of the "ideas" that come into play and stick to the plan, refuse to sway, stay the course and show the kids that you mean business, its going to happen with or without them. When the tail stops wagging the dog, things change for the better.

Staff and scheme consistency are what I have seen are the keys to truly successful programs. I was on staff on a program that won 7 state titles in 8 years. Of the 13 coaches 9-12, 11 stayed during that entire run. The team ran the Navy/ GT offense that was started in 1996 and run until the HC left last year. They were a 4-2-5 defense started in 1996 and run until the HC left last year. That amount of continuity allows the staff to grow and allows to staff to build their teachings on the players from year to year. Teams in our league that struggle to find any consistency traction seem to change coaches and/ or schemes all the time.

....we don't have enough truly CORE guys who will sacrifice to get better. We used to be one when we did.

I think one of the most overlooked things of great teams is the way they practice. I've coached on some very good teams and some very bad teams, and the biggest thing that stands out is the good teams tend to REALLY push each other to get better every day. The bad teams are usually made up of kids who are ok with being considered a "starter" or just being on the team where as the good teams are the ones who have numerous kids who never want to be off the field and they will push and drive the others to be better.

One can say "just bench the kids who aren't working", but when you only have 18 kids on a team it makes it difficult to do.

In good programs, players work hard and practice and in the offseason so that they can get better than the guys on the other teams.They want to win, not just be a starter on a bad team.

Coaching staffs in bad programs are often loaded with amateurs who look at coaching as a hobby. They don't expect to win and don't know how. The guy who missed a playoff game for a Florida trip? He probably scheduled that trip months ago because he saw that the season would be over. The playoffs never occurred to him.

In the past this program had to use sophs on its varsity. Now we only use a soph if we so choose. We aren't in love with the idea no matter how athletic, we know they do stupid things.

In the end, in all honesty, we aren't a top tier team because we don't have top tier talent.

We have been a 2nd tier team the past 7 years. We're probably in the top third in the state within our division but not the top 10 percent. We go to the playoffs, win a couple of games, but just can't get over the hump to a state championship.

Why? because we have to be perfect on everything. we lack top end speed & playmaking ability to turn an average to poor play call into the big, explosive TD. We lack the speed & ability to recover should our LB step the wrong way on the 1st step - allowing a top flight TB go 60.

We feel like we do a good job with our kids, our scheme. they play hard, they work hard in the offseason. we win a game or 2 a year we probably shouldn't, but...

with no college caliber kids - we got lots of good, hard-nosed high school football players - we simply have a hard time matching up with the elite teams later in the year.

cry me a river, i know ...

Right on coach Huey. I used to hate the expression "you wanna be a great coach, get great players" because there is so much more to it than that BUT to get to the ELITE level its so true that you have to have the horses. Even Willi the Shoe can't make a racehorse out of a plow horse.
I am closing in on 1K posts and feel like a groupie and then I see you are over 10K. Unreal. Nice work.

I'm sorry if I missed it in the thread, but where is the HC in this situation?

Man, so he didn't tell anyone he was going either? Wow. Kudos to your HC on cleaning house.

Not to delve into the soap opera of the OP, but rather to dissect the theory of the OP; this is my experience and projection.

If you are a great team, what is your foremost priority to establish that if you didn't accomplish your program would be average. be specific, don't just say "stop lifting,"

-Keep the main thing, the main thing. Everything we did was was to not be allow mediocrity in anything that took place within the program. Whether it was the weight room, classroom, conduct in school, practice effort/routine, game planning, uniform compliance, equipment issues, community interaction, social interaction, spiritual involvement..... you name it; we tried to stay on top of it and reinforce what was expected.
-Always have the right coach in charge of key segments of the program. This team was a draw for the best coaches looking to come on board and these individuals were vetted to make sure they fit the bill for what was need in improve the program.
-Program integration. We had a pretty seamless program from the Junior high up through the varsity. The highest level coaches made contact with the youngest players and developed a relationship with those kids early. The kids at the lower levels felt like they had someone looking to them for a long term relationship.
-Defined philosophy. Our offense and defense had a identity and every level worked on developing that identity.
-Community support. We interacted with the community on many levels to insure that they felt that they were an extension of the program

If you are pretty good, what is stopping you from getting over the hump?

-We lacked a collective mentality of the future. It was a hard scrabble community and most of the kids were trying to hang on day to day. We didn't alway do the best job of getting our kids to understand that their world would go beyond being an 18 year old that was finished with school. These kids could't see that they were no different than any other kid if they put the effort into being great at everything they did.
-Weight room. It was something you did, not something you worked at being great at.
-Community expectations. We were expected to be great on the field, but were accepted as being just another high school stud that graduated and feel back into the pack of low expectations.
-Lack of 'things'. We didn't have all the facilities/equipment to do what we need to do. We were constantly having to make do with what we had. Not a huge hurdle, but it helped perpetuate socioeconomic reality of the program.
-Lack of 'upper level commitment'. We were always a coach short. We always lost coaches to better programs. We were always having to commit to obligations that didn't build the program We were always the 'under dogs' in every aspect of what we were trying accomplish.

If you are lousy, what is the number one thing keeping you lousy?

-Football was not important. It was something we did in the fall/before basketball/because we had to field a team, etc.... See next.
-Kids had other interests. Whether it was hunting, waiting for the next sport, getting drunk, hanging out, etc.... We had to fight the lack of desire to play the game
-Many of the same from the second category.


As much as I hate it as a defensive minded coach, having a 'fun/up temp/stat friendly offense can be the draw to make you move up a notch on this list. We have a region opponent that doesn't have a wealth of athletes, but they spend a wealth of time in having an offense that is exciting. They onside kick to gain extra possessions, they keep their best players on offense, they have a full bag of 'trick' plays, they keep their offense out on punting downs, they make you defend all sorts of formations/schemes/situations..... They gain the most with what they have and get the best athletes in the building out year after year. It hasn't gotten them to the elite level, but it sure has gotten them well above of where they most likely would fall in the pecking order.

Most kids just want to play. You have to figure out how to keep them wanting to play. Hard work/dedication/focus/commitment is not something that naturally falls into playing a game. We have to find a way to trick kids into these components of building a program by convincing them they are still playing a game by doing such. In order for the kids vesting into the program we have to lure them in; build relationships by giving the carrot that is attractive.

Every program is different. You have to know the culture of the school/community in which you work. Can every program win championship? No. Can every program have it's own success? Yes.