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Post by airraider on Jul 28, 2015 22:28:59 GMT -6
Anyone deal with coaching a team of around 20 kids in 9-12th?
We will probably dress round 28 with 7th and 8th graders.
Out of our 20 varsity kids 16 or so are starter quality.
The guy that just left scheduled a week 1 opponent that will dress a few kids under 100... its a money game and I am very close to the HC and I know he will not run it up on us.
I am thinking of starting all 20 to get the back ups some meaningful reps and to keep everyone more fresh than they would playing both ways all game.
The good thing is most of our district will also have under 30 players.
Its just a rough situation and its scary for the future as we have 8 seniors on the roster.
The crazy part is if we were able to stay healthy all year, we could make a run because of how talented the 16 or so are.
What practice adjustments have those of you with very small rosters made in the past?
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Post by bigmoot on Jul 29, 2015 6:17:29 GMT -6
We are lucky if we get 35. Right now we have 26. We will pick up a few more freshmen when school starts. It hurts against the bigger roster schools in our conference. There are a three teams that usually have around 60-70, but all of the others (7) are a lot like us. Small rural school with rosters around 30-40. Depth is always a problem. Our top 15 kids are as good as anybody else's, but after that there is a significant drop off. If the right (or wrong) kid goes down, the season could crash.
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Post by coopdog02 on Jul 29, 2015 13:00:50 GMT -6
I'm following this thread closely. I just accepted my first HC job (yes, in July) and am looking at a varsity team of under 20. I come from a program of 50+. I knew taking the position it would be a change but I really expected to get numbers up to 25 or so. Similar to you guys, I have a dozen kids that can play with anyone. I'm looking for ways to structure practices to get the most of 18-19 kids. Any thoughts?
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Post by dubber on Jul 29, 2015 13:07:41 GMT -6
How big is the school?
We do a ton of recruiting through out the year, and hit it hard again the first couple weeks of school.
We have about 220 in high school and we will end with a roster in the 40's (maybe a little less because the freshman class is so weak).
Summers we average around 28.
We also have a phenomenal development program, so we have about 20 varsity caliber guys out of 28.
Our philosophy is you get as many kids out as possible. Let them come out, practice, fill out our JV team (see my "Dirty Dozen" thread from last season....rolled with 12 kids and won 3/4 of our games)
Our thinking is when they see how much fun football is, they want to be a part of it.
Have several stories of a freshman no show during summer becoming a varsity captain as a senior.
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Post by coachd5085 on Jul 29, 2015 13:13:22 GMT -6
Having played for just such a program in HS, (and it was extremely unsuccessful) I can say that one important aspect that WE needed was to understand that we had to be better than the guys we played on Friday. I know it sounds stupid, but sadly we were content with just being good enough to start/play. Being the best OL was acceptable. Being the strongest in the weight room was acceptable...even though the best OL was still horrible come Fridays, and being the strongest in the weight room meant a 300lb squat.
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Post by coachcb on Jul 29, 2015 13:36:17 GMT -6
We had rosters that were that size when I coached 8-man. It makes life interesting, to say the least. Here's a few tips.
1. Plan on shortening your practices, significantly, as you'll burn your athletes out in hurry otherwise. With an up-tempo practice, we didn't need more than an hour and fifteen minutes out of the field.
2. Fall back on one-one and small group drills more than inside run or full team stuff. We never got very good looks out of our half-line (which sucks anyway)or full team sessions because the scout team was always filled with underclassmen.
3. Dig deep and come up with some creative drills that help get the kids ready for 11 vs 11 without having to go full team. We came up with some pretty entertaining LB read drills over those years. We came up with all kinds of 2 v 2, 3 v 3 and 4 v4 drills so that we could get our studs lined up against our studs.
4. When you're repping plays on offense, have your staff hold hand shields and play the defensive positions that are at the POA. This will ensure that you're getting a decent look. My assistants and myself spent a lot of time playing DE and LB with those hand shields. It's fun too; the kids figure out how to block correctly in a hurry when you're whooping their butts with a hand shield. The same goes for defense; we gave them a lot of good looks as OL.
5. Each kid needs primary offensive and defensive positions as well as secondary ones, in case of injuries. For example, stud Quick Guard/Rush End got turns at all of the line positions as well as a few at FB and ILB during practice. Not a whole lot of reps, but enough to keep the skills fresh and the assignments in their minds if we needed them there. One injury can end a promising season with a small roster if you're not prepared.
6. You'll be amazed at how technically proficient the kids will become with a small roster because they get so many friggin reps. The most technically sound athletes I have worked with were on the 8-aman squads. The kids that bought into football and the program became exceptionally sound football players. Unfortunately, many of they were in the minority.
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Post by dubber on Jul 29, 2015 13:40:49 GMT -6
We had rosters that were that size when I coached 8-man. It makes life interesting, to say the least. Here's a few tips. 1. Plan on shortening your practices, significantly, as you'll burn your athletes out in hurry otherwise. With an up-tempo practice, we didn't need more than an hour and fifteen minutes out of the field. 2. Fall back on one-one and small group drills more than inside run or full team stuff. We never got very good looks out of our half-line (which sucks anyway)or full team sessions because the scout team was always filled with underclassmen. 3. Dig deep and come up with some creative drills that help get the kids ready for 11 vs 11 without having to go full team. We came up with some pretty entertaining LB read drills over those years. We came up with all kinds of 2 v 2, 3 v 3 and 4 v4 drills so that we could get our studs lined up against our studs. 4. When you're repping plays on offense, have your staff hold hand shields and play the defensive positions that are at the POA. This will ensure that you're getting a decent look. My assistants and myself spent a lot of time playing DE and LB with those hand shields. It's fun too; the kids figure out how to block correctly in a hurry when you're whooping their butts with a hand shield. The same goes for defense; we gave them a lot of good looks as OL. 5. Each kid needs primary offensive and defensive positions as well as secondary ones, in case of injuries. For example, stud Quick Guard/Rush End got turns at all of the line positions as well as a few at FB and ILB during practice. Not a whole lot of reps, but enough to keep the skills fresh and the assignments in their minds if we needed them there. One injury can end a promising season with a small roster if you're not prepared. 6. You'll be amazed at how technically proficient the kids will become with a small roster because they get so many friggin reps. The most technically sound athletes I have worked with were on the 8-aman squads. The kids that bought into football and the program became exceptionally sound football players. Unfortunately, many of they were in the minority. Awesome post!! |
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Post by coachcb on Jul 29, 2015 13:47:40 GMT -6
We had rosters that were that size when I coached 8-man. It makes life interesting, to say the least. Here's a few tips. 1. Plan on shortening your practices, significantly, as you'll burn your athletes out in hurry otherwise. With an up-tempo practice, we didn't need more than an hour and fifteen minutes out of the field. 2. Fall back on one-one and small group drills more than inside run or full team stuff. We never got very good looks out of our half-line (which sucks anyway)or full team sessions because the scout team was always filled with underclassmen. 3. Dig deep and come up with some creative drills that help get the kids ready for 11 vs 11 without having to go full team. We came up with some pretty entertaining LB read drills over those years. We came up with all kinds of 2 v 2, 3 v 3 and 4 v4 drills so that we could get our studs lined up against our studs. 4. When you're repping plays on offense, have your staff hold hand shields and play the defensive positions that are at the POA. This will ensure that you're getting a decent look. My assistants and myself spent a lot of time playing DE and LB with those hand shields. It's fun too; the kids figure out how to block correctly in a hurry when you're whooping their butts with a hand shield. The same goes for defense; we gave them a lot of good looks as OL. 5. Each kid needs primary offensive and defensive positions as well as secondary ones, in case of injuries. For example, stud Quick Guard/Rush End got turns at all of the line positions as well as a few at FB and ILB during practice. Not a whole lot of reps, but enough to keep the skills fresh and the assignments in their minds if we needed them there. One injury can end a promising season with a small roster if you're not prepared. 6. You'll be amazed at how technically proficient the kids will become with a small roster because they get so many friggin reps. The most technically sound athletes I have worked with were on the 8-aman squads. The kids that bought into football and the program became exceptionally sound football players. Unfortunately, many of they were in the minority. Awesome post!! Thanks Dubber. Unfortunately, we didn't get enough wins to back up the posts so airraider might be screwed. |
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Post by coachd5085 on Jul 29, 2015 14:00:09 GMT -6
2. Fall back on one-one and small group drills more than inside run or full team stuff. We never got very good looks out of our half-line (which sucks anyway)or full team sessions because the scout team was always filled with underclassmen. 3. Dig deep and come up with some creative drills that help get the kids ready for 11 vs 11 without having to go full team. We came up with some pretty entertaining LB read drills over those years. We came up with all kinds of 2 v 2, 3 v 3 and 4 v4 drills so that we could get our studs lined up against our studs. I think these two points are huge. I think running plays on air might be more effective than running against scouts in many cases. |
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Post by blb on Jul 29, 2015 14:06:02 GMT -6
2. Fall back on one-one and small group drills more than inside run or full team stuff. We never got very good looks out of our half-line (which sucks anyway)or full team sessions because the scout team was always filled with underclassmen. 3. Dig deep and come up with some creative drills that help get the kids ready for 11 vs 11 without having to go full team. We came up with some pretty entertaining LB read drills over those years. We came up with all kinds of 2 v 2, 3 v 3 and 4 v4 drills so that we could get our studs lined up against our studs. I think these two points are huge. I think running plays on air might be more effective than running against scouts in many cases.
...except it does nothing for OL in terms of assignments.
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Post by coachd5085 on Jul 29, 2015 14:14:41 GMT -6
I think these two points are huge. I think running plays on air might be more effective than running against scouts in many cases.
...except it does nothing for OL in terms of assignments.
You are correct, but I think in some cases it is better for OL in terms of padlevel and footwork. You have to cover assignments in another manner. |
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Post by veerman on Jul 29, 2015 16:32:38 GMT -6
I'm following this thread closely. I just accepted my first HC job (yes, in July) and am looking at a varsity team of under 20. I come from a program of 50+. I knew taking the position it would be a change but I really expected to get numbers up to 25 or so. Similar to you guys, I have a dozen kids that can play with anyone. I'm looking for ways to structure practices to get the most of 18-19 kids. Any thoughts? Be thankful you have over half that can play with anyone...most times and teams that I been on with low 20s have not been that lucky. When you have that low number and only about 2-3 that can play is the problem. OP talking about playing his buddy and not running up score sometimes they can't help it when their 2-3 guys are better than your 1s. Bottom line, be thankful you have that many good players. |
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Post by coachcb on Jul 29, 2015 16:48:19 GMT -6
I think these two points are huge. I think running plays on air might be more effective than running against scouts in many cases.
...except it does nothing for OL in terms of assignments.
We developed numerous small unit drills to get the OL turns against the more athletic players. |
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Post by freezeoption on Jul 29, 2015 18:12:26 GMT -6
I have coached small number teams. Was at a school as a asst where we had 17 on a 11 man team. Made it tough, half line may suck but you will need to run it sometimes to get timing. Coached 8 man with teams of 15, 12 and 10 players. Tough, this year may have 12 players. You are lucky to have that many that can play. My 12 will have about 6 that can play, I will have to hide two. Low numbers suck, but I'd rather have 12 kids that want to play than a bunch that don't. coachcb did a good job on what to do in his post.
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Post by mrjvi on Jul 29, 2015 18:38:27 GMT -6
With DW and low numbers a couple of years, our conditioning was plays run to bags that were timed. Many reps and had to make times. (ball carrier to a certain place 10 yards downfield). Each play had a time to try to beat.
We also had to do some 1/2 line so we could block best on best at least a little. As mentioned above, those kids didn't have as many assignment mistakes.
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