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Post by mdspider on Oct 19, 2017 12:51:58 GMT -6
I would like to preface this by saying I played my first football game in 1976 or so. I played my last game in pads in 2003 ish. I coach in a Minneapolis suburb of somewhat affluent kids. I’m having problems relating to today’s kids. They have everything handed to them and don’t have to work for anything. How do you motivate these kids? They don’t respond to yelling (they cower or get pissed and quit). Society has driven the aggression and “killer instinct” out of them. They constantly want to question authority. They want to win but are not willing to sacrifice, put in work in the weight room. We are constantly butting heads with these sports that either want to monopolize them for 9 months out of the year. It absolutely breaks my heart that they accept losing with no disgust. They are afraid to HIT! I’m not going to give up on these kids because we don’t have enough men teaching men how to be a man in this age. I have a handful of kids that would run through a brick wall for me but you can’t win with 5 guys. I’m am totally open to suggestions. Sorry but I have failed to mention that we have such a low turnout we can’t cut kids. (there goes that bit of motivation)
Coach MDSpider
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Post by MICoach on Oct 19, 2017 13:39:02 GMT -6
I coach in a similar situation, I know for a fact several of our kids' parents are millionaires. I'm the newest member of the coaching staff but our head coach has been around for 6 years and has seen some improvements in "football culture" over his tenure. At this point the kids that were 7th graders when he started are seniors, they don't know anything else. I think the biggest thing our players have picked up is that those "sacrifices" aren't really sacrifices - they're going to see gains and benefits from them. They know older classes who avoided summer work outs and didn't worry about the weight room and struggled to win any games. These guys LOVE the weight room and they're undefeated. Certainly there is more to do with it than just the weight room but they can pick up on the trend for sure.
We have guys who consider football secondary/tertiary to baseball/basketball/wrestling/etc. but one thing I've seen is that at least for the most part our other varsity coaches share in the idea that you should be fully committed to the sport that you're playing when you're in season. We try to rely on those other coaches actually holding up their end of the bargain (looking at this being an issue when we get to playoffs and basketball season...) and we do our best to hold up ours.
As far as relating to the kids, I'm certainly younger than you but I've found I just need to figure out what works best for each kid I interact with. I have an offensive tackle who would never seem like it, but actually responds really well if I get in his face - he'll absolutely demolish the next five plays. Meanwhile we have a center and our other tackle who get really defensive and need more of a "coach-em-up" approach while still holding them accountable. Shoot, we have a JV quarterback who will look like he's gonna cry if we say anything to him - amazing athlete but I can't figure out how to coach the kid without ruining the rest of his day. But within my position group I try to learn them all as well as possible and find a way to hold them accountable for their actions but still have a positive result.
Just my two cents, hope it helps.
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Post by carookie on Oct 19, 2017 20:24:49 GMT -6
The past 2 stops previous to my one now were extremely affluent and upper middle class (as the poster above wrote a handful of millionaires kids).
Honestly, I don't see the disconnect or difference. I've had many kids from wealthy families bust their butts- they were raised right and work hard. As far as not like being yelled at (or at least not responding to it) I get that, if someone yelled at me I'd probably tune them out to. I try to speak to players like men and respect them as such- that seems to be the best I can come up with.
You could probably take everything from the 3rd sentence on in the original post and imagine a coach saying it about his players (or kids in general) back in the 60s or 70s. Regardless, I can assure you there are many of affluent young men now who are still busting their butt in football and in life as a whole and striving to get better.
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Post by brophy on Oct 20, 2017 6:08:00 GMT -6
you can’t win with 5 guys. nope, you can't. How long do you plan to coach at this school? if just one season at a time or are you willing to build something for 4-5 years? No successful coach rolls out of bed in August and starts winning football games because they called " Facemelter Y-678 Buzzsaw Vortex" Your job is to be a CEO of football. Build something with the community, your administration, the school staff, your coaching staff, your feeders, your kids and their families. If you like football, this job sucks (because it isn't football). BUILD A COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENTBUILD YOUR STAFFBUILD A PROGRAM WITH OPEN POSITIONSI have a handful of kids that would run through a brick wall for me then coach those guys and don't bitch about the guys you don't have. Put those kids in charge of the program, put trust in them to set the tone for the team. Even if those kids are Sophomores. Let that shame your upperclassmen. Better to fail trying with guys you trust, than a half-hearted attempt that destroys everyone in the end. are not willing to sacrifice, put in work in the weight room. Have a plan to develop athletes in the off-season; fundamentals, conditioning, speed, power.... OFF SEASON PLANFOCUS ON CORE LIFTSBRING IN PEOPLE TO GET IT RIGHTDevelop a relationship with other sport coaches, they'll see the benefits of the training program |
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