Post Season 1 on 1's

1. How did you feel the season went?
2. Looking back, what is one thing you would have done differently?
3. What did I do well/not well as a coach. What can I improve on to help you improve?
4. What are your goals for the off season (underclassmen)
5. What are the team goals for 2016?
6. One thing I dont know about you that I need to know.
7. What makes you tick? What motivates you?

Things along these lines are what I always start with. Then the conversation usually branches off from here. With graduating seniors it gets fun. You can ask for full disclosure about your coaching style, motivation techniques, practice drills etc. They can be honest because you don't coach them anymore. This is where you can really improve..."Coach, you screamed at me that one day in practice and I lost a ton of confidence and it really affected me the rest of the year" etc. Very eye-opening.

I'm of the belief that it's more valuable with seniors than anyone else. They don't really have anything to gain or lose, so they can just be honest about everything.


And I'm sure some people won't agree, but I think one huge question that a HC needs to ask is one about position coaches and asst. coaches. Our HC found out that while the kids worked for a guy a few years ago, they all hated him and that he really took a lot of enjoyment out of their year.

Too often kids are reluctant to talk about any problem or issue, until it's too late. You don't really have to press them for answers just to have them, but I don't think anything should be out of bounds.

You need to be asking them what you could have done better to them personally as well as the team. What their biggest regrets are. Things they would have done differently. And what they would do in your shoes.

I'm not an HC, but I always do position talks after the season. I always ask them some questions after the season, just for my own benefit and education. My favorite question is a two parter: What was your favorite memory from your career, in game or out, and what was your favorite moment from this most recent season, starting with spring ball and going until the end?

JMHO, you understand...but I would never do anything like that.  Not even close.

So what would you do?

Your players opions dont matter to you?

Use a survey monkey that's anonymous

I ask returning players about the positions they played this year and if they envision themselves helping out more at another position. That way if they want to make a position change they have time to make any body changes to make the switch. (Gain weight, lose weight, get faster/stronger)

Started my 1-on-1's yesterday.

What was your assessment of the season?
What could we have done differently to improve our results?
What can we do to improve participation from other's in the school?
What are some things you would like to see in the offseason?
What did you enjoy most?
Anything else you would like to add?

Then I give them my message. To seniors I give them the "final" speech. To underclassmen I give them my expectation for them and the team for the coming year.

What that question does is reaffirm our principles and the things that I value as the head coach. Do you really think a kid is going to say to me, "Well I think we should have had more pizza parties and did less hitting!".

The answer's I get most are, "We needed to work harder, focus more, have a bigger sense of urgency, had more leadership, etc.". Now after I get that answer, I can give them my expectations for how we are going to get those things, and what role that particular player is expected to play in that particular role.

Each person does things their own way. I can assure you I err on the side of toughness with my kids and my program, but understanding where your kids are and what you can do to get them where they need to be are important, especially for someone who has not been at a program for 25 years and has coached the kids parents.

You make a lot of ignorant assumptions based on very little information. 

We dont do any of these 1 on 1's, but one positive I could see with the underclassmen is that it might draw their attention to what THEY need to do. not changing the focus of the program but the athletes in it.

One more point about building relationships. If they know you care for them they are more likely to do what you tell them. In other words they are more coachable.

(I meant to put that in my previous post but I had finish before my next class started.)

WOW! Chi, I’m sorry you hate the process of getting better and trying to build positive relationship’s and experiences with young people. I can assure you that with over two decades of doing this at a very high level I DONT need your permission to evolve as a coach and mentor to young people. I can tell you however my players LOVE the time we spend together through the years at the various ("Pizza Party’s") that we have!

So if your program could be more successful by doing this you would not entertain it? Just because someone cares about other people feelings doesn't make them a "hippie" and just because you have been coaching since the stone age doesn't mean you have to act like it or that you know better than anyone else. I have met many coaches who have "years" of experience and that doesn't make them good at their job either. Everything evolves in football. If everyone did the same thing it would be pretty boring. Some of those "teenager kids" will be coaches some day. I was once and I could have coached circles around some of the coaches who came and went through my program. It may not be your way but it doesn't make you right and to degrade a fellow coach is ridiculous. Actions like that is what gives the coaching profession a bad name sometimes.