Establishing Discipline in a program

Set clear expectations with articulated consequences for failing to meet them. Be firm, fair and consistent.

This is the best advice. Too many times I see coaches threaten and never back them up. Worst thing you can do. Set clear expectations; punishments for not meeting those expectations. Not being late is the biggest one. However, I believe discipline starts with the coaches. Every coach is on the same page and holds the same expectations.


As far as equipment. Create a spread sheet on excel, mark everything down. Mark down when they ask for a extra knee pad; make them run or pay for that extra equipment. Put their numbers in their pads and practice gear. Organization is key.

Consistency and clear expectations are key.

Make sure every kid and coach knows the expectations, then enforce it consistently no matter who the kid is. That will in and of itself change the face of a program quickly.

One other thing I've seen done is to get the kids in rows for roll, and when kids get in trouble in the classroom, miss a day without letting a coach know they would miss, or do anything else wrong behavioral wise stand them up in front of the entire team and give them a good stern talking too. I was in a program that was rough and had to be COMPLETELY rebuilt in terms of behavior, and when those kids were stood up in front of everybody and got a nice chewing about their behavior hurt the team it put a lot more pressure on them to act right. Everything always came back to how their behavior effected the team, and it was usually intense and unenjoyable for the kids. However, they knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that they would be held accountable, and they wanted to make sure they didn't get stood up in front of the team. It also allowed the kids and leaders of the group to see who was being a bad teammate. The kids knew who they could rely on, who was doing right, and we wound up with the right kids being leaders on the team. The kids who never got stood up and called out for being a bad teammate had a voice, but the knuckleheads had no voice because everyone on the team had seen them repeatedly get held accountable for screwing up. Two off seasons of this and the culture had completely changed.

We had a successful year too unlike last year. HOWEVER, looking at ways for kids to want to play for each other. If you take a play off you are mad because you doth want to let team down and feel guilty.

Guess my question is how do you get kids to feel and play like that?

It has to be done in the Off-season. You can't teach discipline during the season. You can but you will have a difficult time winning games. They have to learn to be a team in the weight room, doing the little things right, i.e. being on time / not skipping reps. It has to carry-over to your summer program also.

Core work is a great way to develop teamwork / discipline. Ex: they have to hold planks for a minute, if anyone moves or goes down you add time. That will develop discipline quick. It makes them hold each other accountable for their actions.

Discipline starts for us in January. The day we walk in the Tues after the break, it's 100% full go on the 4 responses (yes, no, no excuse, I don't understand), on cleaning up after yourself (lysol wipe benches and bars, rack plates and bars, put clips back, take out trash, vacuum floor), on no sitting/leaning/talking during workouts, and on accountability (grade checks, attendance, discipline on campus, tardy to class/school, etc). We go hard year around on that stuff. I feel like if you are respectful, clean, organized, and accountable... what else can you control as a coach? I can't control talent- I get who shows up.

Want to know how to get discipline? Drop them on the depth chart. If you're at 17 kids like we were, I would take little things away like move a kid to a FB on KOR from KR. They can always clean locker room, take out trash, put equipment away, be a quality h2o provider.

I like what you've written about follow through because kids will certainly test you.

Is your "BTW" related to discipline or just a side comment?  Since your team rules are the same as the school rules, does your school prohibit earrings, body piercings and/or long hair?  Do you see how an athlete presents themselves as linked to team discipline?

When we do equipment issue we have checklist form for each player. The player signs the checklist at the end of equipment issue to certify what they received. At turn in they sign the form again documenting what they turned back in to the program. Coaches supervise the hand out and hand in checking the equipment checklist and the player puts his signature down to confirm it all. They receive a receipt showing if they owe money for any missing equipment. This is a refection of our program. We make the details and the program standards feel important. As a result the players make them a priority. Also the idea of signing a contract is a learning opportunity for players to start to understand maturity and the importance of what your signature means.

Absolutely HAVE to back up anything you say! On the flip side when I was at a smaller school on top of being the varsity DC I was also the Jr. High head coach and learned real quick not to paint myself into that corner.

Its always the stud that forgets something. I think I'm gonna have that put on a shirt

Define "Consistently". What rules are these that are being broken? 

Similar to others, but I can remember what I went through playing HS sports... I think the most common things that worked for us were playing for each other and common suffering.
Our coaches stressed that we weren't playing for them. The coaches could go home and it doesn't affect their family. The community could go home after a loss, and be disappointed, but their lives carried on. But after every game and every practice, you should be able to look every teammate in the eye and honestly tell them you were prepared, you gave everything you had, and did the best you possibly could. As a team captain, I made my teammates do this from time to time. And if we knew they were lying, we would have a players only meeting and call them out in front of everyone. We had ONE players only meeting a year, typically early in the year. It wasn't necessary after that because they knew what would happen. Remember, these are kids. Their peers are the world they know, they strive for their respect, they are the people they see every day in the halls, classes, and at social events, not you. So if you can get them to police themselves, you only have to manage the leaders/captains instead of the whole team.
As for common suffering, if one person fails, the TEAM fails. If one person blows their coverage, the whole TEAM gives up a TD. If one guy misses a block, the TEAM turns the ball over. Therefore, if one guy is late, one guy forgets something, one guy does something wrong, the whole TEAM is punished. One guy goes 50% in a full speed drill, then everyone gets to run 110% sprints "to balance the numbers" as I like to say.
I think it depends on the group you have. If you have good leaders and accountable kids, the first works better. If you don't have true leaders, the second works better, and may cause a leader to rise. You have to know your kids' personalities, and use them just like you use their physical abilities.