One of the great things about our HC is this is his specialty. He is very good at blending the team together and making it feel like family.
Almost everything we do is by position group - which we call units.
Once a month, except for the dead period - each position group must do something together that is not football related.
For example - the linebackers went paintballing, to a movie, cookout, Bdubs, putt putt, hospital visit, etc.
Each group does something different or the same, we don't really communicate what we are doing with the other units.
This is our 2nd year at this school so last year it was kind of clunky and was almost always led and intiated by the position coaches. This year...sometimes the kids don't even communicate with the coaches and they get together on their own. (which is the goal actually).
We also do a retreat. We do this during the first week of 2 a days. We stay here at the school, kids bring in air matresses, etc. We are here for 3 days, 2 nights. They don't leave. We do all kinds of things with them but I think the biggest thing we do is called "if you really knew me" where basically guys talk about themselves, their life, their family, etc. This is done in units but there will be a few who speak infront of the entire team...coaches included.
It's pretty simple - if you read the book "5 Dysfunctions of a Team" all we are really building here is trust. Everything...and I do mean everything that is said or takes place during the retreat is a 4 walls situation, where it is not spoken about outside of our team circle (unless it's something we have to report to the authorities and the kids are made aware of that before we begin). It's all open air and judgement free communication between everyone involved. HC talks about how everyone is usually at least 2 people. The one you show the world and the one who you really are when you close your eyes at night. It's all about breaking down some barriers, anxiety and vocabulary patterns people tend to use to deflect questions, statements or criticisms. Now when I say this is open air communication, I mean exactly that. The kids will talk about everything - questions about sex, their parents fighting, their mother's choice of men and how many there are, drug abuse by parents...I mean a lot of them empty the closet...if it's on their mind and they feel comfortable with you, they will say it and a lot of times we just listen. I mean, what advice can anyone really give sometimes.
Every single one of us knows there is someone who is your best friend who literally knows everything about you. While I don't think we ever reach the "everything" level. I do know we come out of that retreat with an entirely different appreciation for the individual struggles of each other. This year there was big news because a player came to our school from our former school. It was a big controversy...once that kid told his story at the retreat...our team was 100% behind him. The OHSAA sent down sanctions, once the story broke where the reporters spoke to the kid and his mother...then entire community was behind him and we fought the OHSAA in court. The community didn't know what we all already knew.
The HC also preaches Warrior culture:
1. Love for my teammate
2. Unyielding loyalty
3. Willingness to sacrifice
4. Leaders differ in actions only
5. Disregard for pain and suffering
6. Competitive greatness
7. Supreme confidence
8. Love for adversity
9. Contempt for personal glory
10. Absence of the concept of surrender
He talks to the kids about it, drawing examples from history (he's a history buff), he finds youtube videos that supports these traits, etc.
Our HC really works hard with the mentality of the kids and as coaches we do too.
This is a people business. You had best learn how to develop people as well as football players.
For example - last saturday we are playing in a huge rivalry game...the only HS game which you can still bet on in Vegas...it was an up and down game and 2 plays standout in my mind and illustrate our team.
1. opening kickoff of the 2nd half we muff and they recover on our 25 yd line. We are down 12-7. My kids didn't say a word to the player who muffed the kickoff. They ran on the field and got the stop.
2. with about 4 minutes left we are clinging to a 21-19 lead, we have a 4th and 1 on our 29 yd line. Our punter (who is our fastest guy) has a green light to run the rugby punt if he has the edge. So...he does and they tackle him on the 29 yd line - DUDE...this is not good. I hear one of my sophomore linebackers say "you good 7, we got this sh!t" as he ran on the field.
Instead of our kids getting upset, yelling at him, etc. They all rallied around it and just played.
