|
Post by macdiiddy on Mar 6, 2015 20:48:43 GMT -6
I was just wondering what you guys do when everyone is patting you on the back.
Whether you are 10-0, Ranked number one in the state/conference, or coming off a season where you just won state.
Do you want to keep everyone grounded telling them that "the polls/record doesn't mean anything" or Do you want to embrace it and try to use it to fuel the fire; "You are ranked number 1, you need to start practicing like it".
Obviously no one wants to be filled with hubris and not respect their opponent, but I was just curious what everyones approach is.
|
|
|
Post by silkyice on Mar 6, 2015 23:54:17 GMT -6
Ignore it and get to work on the next opponent. Concentrate on fundamentals and execution.
|
|
|
Post by bigm0073 on Mar 7, 2015 5:34:36 GMT -6
Ignore it and get to work on the next opponent. Concentrate on fundamentals and execution. THIS!! Perfectly put... Sounds like a quote from a person who has had some experience in this department.
|
|
|
Post by jlenwood on Mar 7, 2015 8:03:12 GMT -6
The fact is the players don't ignore these type of things, so why should the coaches act like they ignore it. So how about not being "full of hubris" like you said, and instead turn it into a sort of motivational force. Such as "We are number 1 / succesful for a reason. It is because we commit to ________ (fill in the blank) and that is how it is done here" type of thing, and then go about your work.
To me it would be an easy set up for laying out your expectations and letting kids know that this ranking requires extreme commitment and hard work etc.
Just a thought, I only have one a day, and this was it!
|
|
tekart
Junior Member
Posts: 298
|
Post by tekart on Mar 7, 2015 8:25:41 GMT -6
Enjoy the ride because as we all know winning is hard and there is a lot that goes into a successful season.
But don't forget that hard work and focus got you where you are so you have to know when to re-focus the players and other coaches a get back to it.
|
|
|
Post by jgordon1 on Mar 7, 2015 9:26:22 GMT -6
It depends you is saying it. If it were someone like faculty friends relatives. I would embrace it and say thank you. They are just trying to be nice. Beware when it comes from inside the staff room. There gave been times when we gave up 17 points to a top contender and have been disgusted. Other times felt satisfied "only" giving up 21.
|
|
|
Post by gibbs72 on Mar 7, 2015 9:48:21 GMT -6
We qualified for first state championship game appearance in school history this year. People in the community were patting us on the back well before we got there. best thing we tried to do was to outline things that we were doing that the other teams who didn't qualify weren't. We just kept reiterating that the best teams do things the ordinary teams don't want to do. and if we stop doing those things we would return to ordinary.
|
|
|
Post by groundchuck on Mar 7, 2015 10:05:52 GMT -6
We acknowledge the poll. Then tell them the poll doesn't help you win. What helps you win is mad preparation and playing with a chip on your shoulder. Which is what got you here in the first place.
|
|
|
Post by s73 on Mar 7, 2015 11:00:27 GMT -6
I like all of these answers. Probably why there is no "correct" answer.
With that in mind, I have made it a point to try & ENJOY the process more b/c as someone said above. success can be fleeting. We were a pretty strong program for a few years running a while back & then have struggled some recently. I think you have to smell the roses SOME when you are winning. Other wise, where's the fun?
Don't get me wrong, not enough to become a distraction, but nothing wrong w/ a few pats on the back to one another every now and then IMO.
|
|
|
Post by 33coach on Mar 7, 2015 11:10:15 GMT -6
embrace is probably the wrong word for me.
understand success - why are you winning, or why are you doing well.
the moment you do that, you will be a fantastic program
|
|
|
Post by sweep26 on Mar 7, 2015 11:53:42 GMT -6
Enjoy your success, but don't be consumed by it. Unfortunately, the pain of losing is typically greater than the joy of winning.
Keep your nose to the grindstone.
|
|
|
Post by PIGSKIN11 on Mar 7, 2015 12:06:48 GMT -6
I spin the info however I need to in order to make it beneficial...
If the team needs a pickmeup I mention stuff - if they need a reality check you can bring polls up - picked to win or lose, no one respects you etc...
It is all dependent on that team, that week, that year...
added this after my original post: In 09 when I took over my current job, they had won like 7 games in 8 years... we had to team them how to be winners and how to play with confidence - you better believe we talked about their successes as a teaching tool...
Now that we are 6 years in, our message has changed - we are no longer excited about beating crappy teams... we need to beat the good/great teams and keep moving up in the leagues/divisions... What used to excite us has become our norm - need to create a new excitement and change that to our new norm...
|
|
|
Post by wingtol on Mar 7, 2015 18:18:59 GMT -6
At our last school we came into a situation where the program had lost 21 straight games, like bad losses. We got things turned around and had great success over a decade. Ranked in the state several times and always a favorite to win the region. We embraced it and took pride in it, really reminded kids it was a pride in the program not the team. We would talk about it as a great thing. But remind them it was something they worked hard for and guys before them set the tone for the program and they were now carrying the torch that year. Get them to buy into the tradition. Also the biggest thing we stressed to them was that guess what? You are every teams biggest game, they are all gonna get up to play you, everyone wants to be the team to beat you, you got a big target on your back. With that you have to out work the other teams.
So we used it as a big motivator for our teams. Instilled a sense of pride in them knowing they were part of something good, not just as a team but as a program. Then the administration f'ed everything up but that's a story for another time...
|
|
|
Post by coachwoodall on Mar 7, 2015 20:11:10 GMT -6
I'll pony off the all the above. You've got to celebrate your successes, but that will all depend on how you define success. You've also got to to keep the focus of your team on improvement. Yes, stop and smell the roses or this job will suck big green donkey real soon. It might be a good ole boy southern thing, but if somebody pays you a compliment, even one in jest, you say thank you.
For us, when a kid gets recognition we acknowledge it and celebrate it. However we also point out why that kid is being celebrated - he lifted hard in the offseason, he goes hard in drills, does XXXXX/etc.... If we as a team get recognized, we celebrate it and point out why we deserved it. No matter how we are recognized, it NEVER is mentioned as an individual thing that is EXCLUSIVE of team accomplishments.
If Bob Allstar the RB gets his 47th offer, we celebrate that and also point out that the OL have done a great job of doing their job so that Bob can showcase his talents. If we got TV WXYZ's Team of the Week Award versus PoDunk HS because we won 77-0 versus an 0-7 team, we'll clap it up and praise the back up/JV kids that got into the game and scored/got a sack/made a big play/etc.... because that might be their only time to get game time recognition.
The 800 pound gorilla in the team room is the Amen Corner fans that pat down your kids. You have to pay careful attention to the praise that your kids get from them. This praise is poison, and can eat your kids up. This praise is simple elevation that make no mention of the contributions of teammates or the investment of hard work.
So far as Polls/Rankings, it is in the same vein. At this stop we don't really mention it too much in terms of "We are #3 and this week we are playing #1, so let's show them who is the real #1...." It may come up, but that isn't a contrived phrase that is planned from the weekly install. At my previous stop, rankings were a big deal and we had a 'graveyard' (placards on a wall) of all the ranked teams that had been beaten and the kids all rubbed them down on the way to the field on friday night.
The main thing for us is no matter how much we get patted down, when the whistle blows for practice on a Tuesday afternoon, we are going to do a Tuesday afternoon work. Doing something well deserves a handshake and a congratulations, and it also deserves a 'prove it to me again'.
|
|
|
Post by lions23 on Mar 8, 2015 13:33:08 GMT -6
Success is rented. It is not owned. You have to pay your rent with hard work everyday. Something like this is posted in many places in our building.
|
|
|
Post by coach2013 on Mar 8, 2015 16:57:57 GMT -6
forget praise and forget criticism. Only thing that matters is your own evaluations...
|
|
agame
Junior Member
Posts: 378
|
Post by agame on Mar 9, 2015 1:45:52 GMT -6
Need to start winnin first.....
|
|
|
Post by fantom on Mar 9, 2015 11:04:30 GMT -6
"On to Cincinnati".
If it's during the season, there's still a game to play next week. If you're 10-0 going into the playoffs those ten wins don't give you one single point in the next game.
After a great year, "Thanks, it was a great year. The kids did a great job". Then we start the offseason program and start getting ready for the next year. Last season is old news.
|
|
|
Post by macdiiddy on Mar 9, 2015 19:54:53 GMT -6
I'm not even sure what it would mean to embrace winning to be honest. It was not something that was accidental and it was not something that just happened to us. It happened because we worked hard, we did it together and we made it happen. Probably a better way to phrase the topic would have been, "Do you embrace praise coming from inside and outside of your program?" You answered very succinctly, and I get how that was poorly or at the very least weirdly worded.
|
|
|
Post by coachmonkey on Mar 9, 2015 20:05:02 GMT -6
I was just wondering what you guys do when everyone is patting you on the back. Whether you are 10-0, Ranked number one in the state/conference, or coming off a season where you just won state. Do you want to keep everyone grounded telling them that "the polls/record doesn't mean anything" or Do you want to embrace it and try to use it to fuel the fire; "You are ranked number 1, you need to start practicing like it". Obviously no one wants to be filled with hubris and not respect their opponent, but I was just curious what everyones approach is. Unless I shutout all 14 teams I don't think I will ever be patting myself on the back.
|
|
|
Post by CoachMikeJudy on Mar 10, 2015 6:45:22 GMT -6
This program has faced its share of criticism over the past 10 years- from community, parents, staff, and student body. These kids I inherited were "beaten pups" afraid of doing what it takes to be successful. We had our first non-losing season in 8 years this season. We beat a team we hadn't beaten in 40 years.
I think the OP's question is pretty valid- you can't let talk OUTSIDE of the program get in the kids' heads and cause them to become cocky. In my situation it was tough to do without killing the kids' already fragile egos. I felt they needed to feel the excitement of "mattering." When we began getting ranked in top 10, media were coming out to practice everyday interviewing/snapping pictures...excitement grew. As a staff we made sure to use it as a teaching moment- basically reiterating that THIS is what we want- we WANT to be the talk of the town, we WANT to be the "sleeper" pick to shake things up in the state, we WANT to feared week-to-week. So when they see the reporters, when they hear the hype use it as a reminder that we ARE doing it right...as dcohio stated "this isn't by accident," it's a result of hard work and accomplishing our weekly goals. All the hype did for us was give us fuel to work harder. THIS is the key IMO.
Our daily mantra was FOCUS ON US. I don't care who the opponent is, what they do, how they do it etc...we can't control that. This program had been losing because it was an US problem not THEM. Up-the-ante with how we prepare/practice/offseason etc and wins will come.
|
|
|
Post by coachfloyd on Mar 10, 2015 7:26:53 GMT -6
We started out 2-0 this year and went into week 3 the #10 ranked team in 4A in Georgia. Our kids started talking about it. I reminded them that the people who ranked us and the other teams havent see us or anybody else play. We proceeded to go 1-7 the rest of the year. In 2008 we started 0-2 and thought we might not win a game. We ended up finishing 6-5 and was 3rd in the region. Neither success or failure is ever permanent.
|
|
|
Post by bluboy on Mar 10, 2015 7:46:55 GMT -6
We tell our kids to "enjoy the ride"; that's the part of the game that they will remember later in life. It's the relationships, stories, etc that they will remember. Please do no think that we do not want to win; we are very competitive. We also try to get them to understand that a team is never as good as it thinks, nor is it ever as bad as it thinks. We tell them not to believe what they read in the newspapers. If newspaper guys were that knowledgeable about football, they would be coaching it and not writing about it. We talk a great deal about how each senior class wants to be remembered; what will be there legacy.
|
|
|
Post by blb on Mar 10, 2015 7:52:47 GMT -6
Be intense enough to get the job done and relaxed enough to enjoy it.
HS Football is a game, it's supposed to be fun as well as educational.
|
|
|
Post by 19coach78 on Mar 10, 2015 11:55:25 GMT -6
" Do not pay attention to the noise. "
|
|
|
Post by royalfootball on Mar 10, 2015 13:04:44 GMT -6
"There is no continuum of success. History won't help us win the next game." Nick Saban
|
|
|
Post by 33coach on Mar 10, 2015 14:07:40 GMT -6
"There is no continuum of success. History won't help us win the next game." Nick Saban this saying makes no sense...because we all know, its what you do before the season (previous/history) that wins you the championship....january weights, spring/summer development... i bet you, every coach in the country knows whether or not they will be a contender by June 1st. i get what Saban is trying to say, but its just phrased so awkwardly that i had to poke at it.
|
|
|
Post by coachphillip on Mar 10, 2015 14:36:27 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by fantom on Mar 10, 2015 15:17:22 GMT -6
"There is no continuum of success. History won't help us win the next game." Nick Saban this saying makes no sense...because we all know, its what you do before the season (previous/history) that wins you the championship....january weights, spring/summer development... i bet you, every coach in the country knows whether or not they will be a contender by June 1st. i get what Saban is trying to say, but its just phrased so awkwardly that i had to poke at it. Makes perfect sense to me. No matter what you did last season next year is a new season. I'm sure that he considers the offseason as part of next season. We do.
|
|
|
Post by coachgreen05 on Mar 16, 2015 13:44:59 GMT -6
I let the kids enjoy, they understand all the work we put in is the reason. We try to outwork every team in the area, which is why I think we win the most in the area. TRADITION.. Now they expect to win, and understand what it takes to win! We bring in plenty alumni to speak, so they realize those guys hard work made it "cool" for them to attend this school.
|
|