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Post by nltdiego on Dec 2, 2014 23:32:06 GMT -6
Coaches,
I'm reading the book High Hopes which is about the Northwestern Football program in the 90's. This book reminds me like the school I'm currently at.
-Rated top 10 schools ion the state for academics
- The speech and debate team is the club team to be on
- Families move into area for education not sports
- No real feeder program into the school high
- Kids quit junior year to take 4-5 Ap classes
- Football is more like a club than priority
We usually average 35-45 kids per year. However, we may have a decline (25) this year in numbers. We are called the harvard of our area. BKB survives because they have a few stud athletes and can go few games above .500. We dont get many multiple athletes which is another problem within itself. We are changing leagues next year and we be going versus more competitive teams then we currently are at the moment. We have one league win in three years but did make the playoffs last year.
Curious if there are any success stories in areas like this? Can you win in a highly academic area?
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Post by realdawg on Dec 3, 2014 6:45:37 GMT -6
I dont know much about the academic part area, which may be more what you are looking for. But low numbers and inferior athletes seems to be part of your problem. My first thought in how to start to overcome that whether you are at a high academic school or not is to slow the game down. Have a run first mentality, wing T, option, double wing type stuff and limit the number of snaps in the game and keep your defense off the field.
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Post by coachphillip on Dec 3, 2014 9:42:51 GMT -6
You have to find things about your sport that appeal to the socioeconomic class in your area. There are smart kids who love to play football.
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Post by M4 on Dec 3, 2014 13:10:42 GMT -6
Stanford and Northwestern compete... they have a specific model they use. I'd probably look to use that model.
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Post by spos21ram on Dec 3, 2014 13:14:21 GMT -6
What level are we talking? High school?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using proboards
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Post by wingtol on Dec 3, 2014 13:29:50 GMT -6
Stanford and Northwestern compete... they have a specific model they use. I'd probably look to use that model. It's called they can search the country for the smartest and best football players. Trying to apply that to a HS level is not even a close analogy. Was at a small very academic private school and even with the benefits of being a private school it was hard every year to maintain success. You really have to put in the time in the offseason to develop the kids, it's hard no matter where you are to win if you don't have the athletes and you are playing bigger schools in enrollment and roster size. |
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Post by freezeoption on Dec 3, 2014 18:49:07 GMT -6
1. you have to make it fun, make it so kids want to be there for the fun, kids will not go out just because it is football or they feel a loyalty to the school
2. work the ones you got in weights and drills in the off season, and make it fun
3. get them young, you can build the loyalty factor with young athletes as they grow through your system
4. you might have share a athlete with another program, it sucks but that might have to be a trade off
i have not been at a overly academic school, but i have had to deal with programs that were hurting or close to dying, most of them were in wrestling, i thought of ways outside the box to get kids out and keep them out, i know it is not easy, to get kids out at one school i promised to stop after every road match and eat at a fast food place, we lived in a very rural area and the kids didn't get to eat out much, i once shared a wrestler with the basketball team, he practiced with us when our practice didn't conflict with bball, he helped us win a couple of matches, i went to the jr highs and got those kids to come with saying how much fun we had, and then made sure we had fun at the end of practice with competitions that got them a chance to win something, not much may candy bars or something, you can do that kind of stuff, i will have to do some of that this year in football,
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tackle
Sophomore Member
Posts: 129
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Post by tackle on Dec 3, 2014 23:50:48 GMT -6
I have been down this road. Coach and taught at a magnet school that raised the academic bar and screened out the semi smart athletes.
1. Make football fun. This demographic of kid is being crushed by school. You will get kids involved by making it a fun outlet.
2. Give them something other than football. Most of my kids were headed to college. We created leadership and community opportunities that looked great on a college application. It built team chemistry and was an easy sell to reluctant parents.
3. I created study hall times were my AP kids could work together. We started practice later on Tuesday and Wednesday so kids could get extra help from teachers. This was a plus for parents also. They could never argue I was thinking only about football.
4. I had to find competitive pre season games. Once in my 7 years were we above 500. We were always fighting to not be last place. It was important that we had some success. Going hard core and getting crushed all season would have pushed kids away and we would have been fighting to stay a program.
5. Coach up your kids. I never treated them any different than football players and expected their best everyday. Some grades had athletes and some grades had nerds in pads. As coaches we had to work with what we got. We pushed them everyday to get better. This pushed some kids out, but it was for the best. Not everyone is able to play football.
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Post by coach2013 on Dec 4, 2014 4:20:54 GMT -6
You must keep things simple, not because your kids aren't smart, but because they are busy. You will have kids missing practice to get tutoring for classes, student government, band, drama and so on. No matter what, just expect them to miss some practices. They will be over extended.
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Post by M4 on Dec 4, 2014 8:46:18 GMT -6
Stanford and Northwestern compete... they have a specific model they use. I'd probably look to use that model. It's called they can search the country for the smartest and best football players. Trying to apply that to a HS level is not even a close analogy. Ya that's all they do... Offensively, they focus on playing well in one area (stanford run based WCO / NW on an option based spread) and not trying to be multiple. They ALWAYS feature their best player. They also don't use it as a crutch, they talk about winning BECAUSE of their academic situation, not dispite it. It's a niche, embrace it, use it as a confidence builder. But you're right Wingtol... there's absolutely NOTHING that can be taken from those 2 situations and used by the OP in his current setting... none at all... |
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