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Post by CoachMikeJudy on Dec 20, 2016 11:02:35 GMT -6
If you do take the job here make sure you don't talk about winning right away "We're gonna turn this around and win right away!" "Gonna shock the world!" It has to be from day one about getting better, improving every day not talking about winning all the time. Also your coaches need to be no the same page and in it together, players can't see you argue or challenge each other on the field etc has to be a unified staff. This. If the program has fallen on hard times, the kids are likely (along with everyone else looking in) qualifying success with the amount of wins. Their focus is all wrong. For those critical months where EVERYONE is 0-0 (January-August) you must go about trying to change that mentality. We call it a growth mindset- how do I/we get better everyday? We ask our kids to admit some things: 1. You change, better or worse, everyday. 2. There are factors I can't control and there are those I can- ALL of my energy must go to the latter. 3. It is useless comparing yourself to someone else (individual or team); it doesn't matter what Johnny benches or runs...what do you bench and run and how much am I willing to improve? 4. You have to be all-in; you must trust the process of growth that the coaches lay before you. 5. Many people outside of the program do not have your best interests in mind- ignore them.
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Post by coachpech on Dec 20, 2016 11:10:16 GMT -6
Wow. Dust off your resume, pech. He responded and said, despite you calling out my dedication to this district and my integrity let's plan to meet this afternoon. (Today) Should be interesting...
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Post by blb on Dec 20, 2016 11:19:56 GMT -6
Wow. Dust off your resume, pech. He responded and said, despite you calling out my dedication to this district and my integrity let's plan to meet this afternoon. (Today) Should be interesting...
Might be short and one-sided.
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Post by coachpech on Dec 20, 2016 11:32:51 GMT -6
He responded and said, despite you calling out my dedication to this district and my integrity let's plan to meet this afternoon. (Today) Should be interesting...
Might be short and one-sided.
And I'm 100% okay with that. Knowing I did what I could and the program is better off because of it.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Dec 20, 2016 11:41:46 GMT -6
Might be short and one-sided.
Exactly. Be prepared to no longer be employed, specifically as a coach but potentially as an educator as well. Hope it turns out okay for you though. Best of luck.
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Post by sweep26 on Dec 20, 2016 12:04:28 GMT -6
Meeting with Superintendent of our school this afternoon. Our school and program have been a complete dumpster fire since 1951. We won 2 games in a season for the first time in 10 years last year, and finished with a winning record this year for the first time in 21 years. Yet thing are still a mess. We have no support from admin, teachers and we get little to no involvement from parents and community. Put yourself in my shoes, if you could ask him one thing, what would it be? Coach, If the situation is really this bad regarding support, and you can't turn that around, I have a feeling that you might be in the wrong place to effectively rebuild their football program. Support from Administration, faculty, families, and community are typically major components in most rebuilding projects. Kids know when people care. If they know that you, and those mentioned above, sincerely care about them and their potential success, they will be much easier for you to recruit. In my opinion support/teamwork is much more important than improved facilities, new uniforms, etc. You win with people!! Other folks may have better facilities, etc., but if you have the best people (and I am not necessarily referring to the best players) you will win in the long run. I would suggest that you do everything in your power to win these people over. Earn their trust by enthusiastically supporting them, just as you hope to have them support you in your endeavor.
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Post by bigmoot on Dec 20, 2016 18:41:25 GMT -6
Coachpech.....WOW!!!!....All the things I've wanted to say by never had the marbles to....good luck...if you come out of the meeting ok, you and your program are headed in the right direction.
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Post by 60zgo on Dec 21, 2016 8:02:19 GMT -6
Meeting with Superintendent of our school this afternoon. Our school and program have been a complete dumpster fire since 1951. We won 2 games in a season for the first time in 10 years last year, and finished with a winning record this year for the first time in 21 years. Yet thing are still a mess. We have no support from admin, teachers and we get little to no involvement from parents and community. Put yourself in my shoes, if you could ask him one thing, what would it be? Without more specifics I would ask myself the following: 1. Why are things a mess? Does the perceived mess keep you from winning? 2. What do you actually NEED that will help you win? I would center the discussion around those questions.
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Post by freezeoption on Dec 24, 2016 22:00:31 GMT -6
at least you didn't get fired,
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Post by scarletandcream on Dec 24, 2016 22:30:15 GMT -6
@ Coach Pech
Sorry to hear about your situation. I coach at a similar school with one huge difference. I have 100% support from the superintendent and AD to turn things around. I hope your superintendent had a come to Jesus moment in that interview and will now support you. I pretty much got approval to do whatever the heck I want, so I'm pumped about my situation. I hope the AD and superintendent there will give you similar authority. Good luck!! And I hope you will keep us updated. I think coaches like us that coach at dumpster fire schools need some type of message board where we can come and b**ch daily as an outlet lol I do plenty of that to my current AD though he agrees with pretty much every thought I have.
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Post by mrjvi on Dec 25, 2016 9:41:57 GMT -6
I just took a job at a small, non winning for a while, school. I'm jumping from a big school that we were fortunate enough to make a perrenial power to a little one. (I want the challenge). Luckily it appears I have great support like scarletandcream. Other team coaches are actually interested in strength training-a VERY new experience for me. I had to be a prick in my school I just left because coaches didn't want me having any influence on their teams. I always tell them that year round strength training is something that helps me (football for obvious reasons) but also helps the school where they will all start feeling like winners and that atmosphere is contagious. I love the idea of threads on this topic like this one. As I said on another thread, I get more out of this site than almost anywhere else, clinics included. (though there aren't too many DW clinics)
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Post by scarletandcream on Dec 25, 2016 21:42:52 GMT -6
I just took a job at a small, non winning for a while, school. I'm jumping from a big school that we were fortunate enough to make a perrenial power to a little one. (I want the challenge). Luckily it appears I have great support like scarletandcream. Other team coaches are actually interested in strength training-a VERY new experience for me. I had to be a prick in my school I just left because coaches didn't want me having any influence on their teams. I always tell them that year round strength training is something that helps me (football for obvious reasons) but also helps the school where they will all start feeling like winners and that atmosphere is contagious. I love the idea of threads on this topic like this one. As I said on another thread, I get more out of this site than almost anywhere else, clinics included. (though there aren't too many DW clinics) Totally agree with a contagious atmosphere. We just finished max testing this past week to wrap up the semester at the losing school I am coaching at. On Thursday afternoon we had two free hours during the day for anyone not done testing to come finish plus anyone who wanted to come retry a max test if they were unhappy with their initial result. I damn near had every kid in the school who wants to be successful and likes to lift show up and this includes all of our female athletes (we have extremely competitive females). I felt like I was in college again. Everyone was around the kid maxing screaming at him or her to get the weight up. It was a great experience and great to see how these kids are coming around to wanting to be competitive and successful. We use teambuildr and I can post leaderboards every 8 weeks for kids to compare where they rank to the rest of their friends. They are all constantly checking the leaderboard to see what they need to hit to pass their buddies. We do projected maxes <5 reps so I heard many comments like "I need to get this three times to pas Johnny" and many similar comments. At the beginning of football season I had one kid clean right at 200 and no one else even close. Now I have 8 kids that clean 190 or more and this is on a team of 30 kids. Also have 9 kids squat over 300 now when I had 3 at the beginning of the year. It's all super exciting and if you give them a competitive atmosphere that is addicting and contagious the kids will respond in a big way. Good luck!!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2016 16:43:14 GMT -6
Wow. Dust off your resume, pech. He responded and said, despite you calling out my dedication to this district and my integrity let's plan to meet this afternoon. (Today) Should be interesting... FYI, you missed omitting the name of your school in there once. Might want to fix that...
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Post by coachpech on Dec 27, 2016 16:46:26 GMT -6
He responded and said, despite you calling out my dedication to this district and my integrity let's plan to meet this afternoon. (Today) Should be interesting... FYI, you missed omitting the name of your school in there once. Might want to fix that... Deleted them all together. I got the suggestions I needed. Thanks for pointing that out!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2016 16:54:06 GMT -6
FYI, you missed omitting the name of your school in there once. Might want to fix that... Deleted them all together. I got the suggestions I needed. Thanks for pointing that out! Probably smart, I think we're all a little froggy after what happened to dcohio.
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Post by coachpech on Dec 27, 2016 16:57:27 GMT -6
Deleted them all together. I got the suggestions I needed. Thanks for pointing that out! Probably smart, I think we're all a little froggy after what happened to dcohio. You're absolutely right, I appreciate it.
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Post by CoachCP on Dec 30, 2016 10:32:19 GMT -6
I've been a part of great and terrible programs, but never as an HC (don't really want to be one at this point).
Here's what I would say though.
You must find assistants. Football isn't a tough game to teach. Hire coaches who are passionate about the KIDS and the sport, find people of outstanding character and at least some young coaches who are "gritty". All 3 characteristics are important, especially character. You should avoid "BRILLIANT JERKS" at all costs, even if they're knowledge is enticing.
If you're coming into a bad program, I'm fairly confident you'll find the staff has some issues. You must fix that now. Even if they aren't football lifers or on a college coaching track, you must find good people.
Also, something else here. Avoid former players who were under the previous regime, especially if you sense any character questions. I've seen that blow up too many times. They typically know parents and people in the community and can spread rumors and lies. For instance, "I told him to call that play and he didn't listen to me." OR "He said this to your son at practice." If you're winning, those things get ignored. If you're losing, those parents and community leaders say "Oh, well we sucked before but at least we didn't have this problem..."
You must sell the day to day. There is so much more than friday nights, especially for a program in poor position. Get gets legitimately excited to be in the weight and class room. Find ways to create competition in the off-season, both short term (individual weight session) and long term (a whole quarter). Do a Madden competition as a fundraiser. Instead of always doing a cardio work out, play an intense game like dodgeball every once in a while.
You must sell the program. You need to win the community. Have the kids come in for a work out, cut it very short and then do a service project in the school or nearby. Make the community want to see your kids succeed beyond the gridiron. You can get your kids to be mentors by having your kids run a dodge ball tournament for the youth kids.
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Post by bleefb on Jan 3, 2017 14:25:42 GMT -6
Cut all the Seniors.
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