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Post by dwood16 on May 12, 2006 1:20:25 GMT -6
I'd like to hear some of your opinions on playing time on the lower levels.
Should every player play in every game?
If you had 50 players on a frosh or JV team, would you focus on getting them all in or winning the game-because it's not easy (although not impossible) to do both?
Would you put in a 2nd offense to run a play or two, in order to play 11 at once or would you rotate one at a time?
If the majority of the team just wants to win and compete for a championship, how do they react when a player who clearly shouldn't be playing comes in the game?
What about the kids who don't know their plays well, do they still get a shot?
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Post by coachcalande on May 12, 2006 3:19:41 GMT -6
I'd like to hear some of your opinions on playing time on the lower levels. Should every player play in every game? If you had 50 players on a frosh or JV team, would you focus on getting them all in or winning the game-because it's not easy (although not impossible) to do both? Would you put in a 2nd offense to run a play or two, in order to play 11 at once or would you rotate one at a time? If the majority of the team just wants to win and compete for a championship, how do they react when a player who clearly shouldn't be playing comes in the game? What about the kids who don't know their plays well, do they still get a shot? Coach here is what I am doing... 1) I make it clear to the parents and the players that the game is learned during practice, not during the game. all players must EARN PLAYING TIME. 2) I make it clear that the players are evaluated by the entire coaching staff every day, in all areas of what they do. This includes commitment to the program, their academics, discipline, energy and effort, team and personal performances. 3) i have an established "level system" or depth chart for playign time and it goes like this: Blue- these are two way starters who demonstrate mastery of alignment, assignment and fundamentals as taught by the coaching staff. White- these are one way starters who demonstrate mastery of alignment, assignment and fundamentals as taught by the coaching staff. then we go to the "stop light" system... green- these players are first in line for substitutions, mop up duty etc. they demonstrate a complete understanding of their roles and can perform safe fundamentals. playing time is not guaranteed but coaches will make every effort to reward the most consistent of these athletes. yellow- there are areas of concern, be it fundamentals, alignment, awareness, conditioning, injuries, preparation etc. playing time is not guaranteed. In order to move up these players must make progress in practice in the areas outlined by the coaching staff. red- not going to play for whatever reason, academics, conditioning, injuries, missing practice, discipline issues, lack of preparation mentally or physically, poor techniques etc. I look at it this way, every boy has the same opportunity, some will waste it, some wont. I tell my boys that there is no reason every one of them cant be "green and ready". some just dont want it as bad as others. |
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Post by bucksweepdotcom on May 12, 2006 4:50:19 GMT -6
When I was a JV coach. I wanted to Win the game, but I also tried to play as many players as possible to prepare them for varsity. If I coached JV again I would again have a starting Offense and Starting Defense. That gets 22 kids on the field. The other kids were subs and played mop up and special teams. I tried to give sophs the benifet of the doubt over frosh bc they would get their chance the following year. In tight games we played to win with little subs. I am confident in saying I did my best to play everyone a fair amount of time based on their ability and game situation. Having said that not every player is ready to play in a game.
Bottom line when it comes to the lower levels you are not going make everyone happy so you have to do what you think is right for the program, kids, and team. Looking back I probaly could have done a better job of subbing kids in i.e. DT or wide out for a play when the play was going the other way, etc. and then subbed then out agian the next play just to get some of those type of kids some PT.
Maybe I would assign an assistant coach that job and give him a set of guidelines when those kids could be subbed in and out some it would have a huge impact on the game.
Bryan
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Post by coachjd on May 12, 2006 4:56:55 GMT -6
With our younger kids we are on the same lines as everyone so far. Winning is important, but so is developing players. We have had some kids who have turned out to be above avg. high school players, who were not very good in 9th grade. We have a first team and 2nd team and each team consist of about 14 kids. We will sub in by position. ie. we may say the first team is in with the 2nd team receivers running the plays in. First defense is in with the 2nd team lbers. This way we keep 7-9 of our better kids on the field and situationaly sub in our 2nd team kids.
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Post by coachveer on May 12, 2006 5:14:47 GMT -6
At the Freshman level we want every kid to play. If a kid comes to practice everyday and does what is asked of him then he should see the field. We believe this is one of the most important factors to building numbers at the lower levels. We would rather see our Freshman go 5-4/4-5 and play everyone then 7-2/8-1 and just play the best players. If there are 30 freshman to start the season we want 30 kids at the end of the season. This ensures that not only do those 30 kids play as sophomores but maybe some kids that do not realize how much fun playing football came be come out as well. Hey, word of mouth during lunch and in gym class is the best advertisement our football program has.
Like everyone else JV playing time is not guaranteed. It must be earned through performance during practice.
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smd
Sophomore Member
Posts: 211 
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Post by smd on May 12, 2006 5:17:34 GMT -6
if they come to practice and do what you ask, then they deserve to play. now that maybe the lonesome end standing 4 yards from the sideline, or the OT that you are going to run away from every time he is in the game. at the lower levels you try to win each game (builds the winning attitude and expectations) , but keep their interest in playing the game (keeps kids in program and builds depth) . they don't have to play alot, but a couple of plays here or there won't hurt. and you never know if a kid will grow into being a decent player.
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Post by coachjblair on May 12, 2006 9:47:41 GMT -6
I think if you are a JV coach or fresman coach you need to play all your players. This is a time for kids that work hard to have fun. My guess is the schools that complain about low numbers don't play all thier players when they are younger. Which then causes these players to quit, and you are stuck with an undermaned team.
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Post by coachcalande on May 12, 2006 11:02:20 GMT -6
Its not that clear really. We have 125 boys comign out for the jr high teams...many know a) we will be good and b) some wont play much....being part of a winner is important to them...how do i know this? we went 3-6-1 my first year when i had EVERYONE PLAY at the expense of winning...many/most from that team were so miserable they quit.
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Post by dwood16 on May 12, 2006 14:33:25 GMT -6
Interesting input everyone. Coach Calande I like your idea of different tiers of players.
Personally, I like to play everyone in every game, but I believe playing time should be earned in practice and not just given away. In my experience, my teams that have been winning have a lot more kids coming back (regardless of their playing time) than my losing teams (when more players play). Another aspect of having a winning frosh team is that you attract more new players for the next season.
It's a fine line, I like getting eveyone in. But I have lost games in which a big play was the result of someone in the game who probably shouldn't have been-that's a tough situation for everyone... you kind of get the "why was I in there, coach?" look.
I will play everyone in our non-league games, but in our league contests, winning is more important. We try to instill the philosophy that every player has a role. If your role is to be the best scout team nose guard possible in order to make our center a better player, then you are an equal part of the team as everyone else, regardless of how much playing time you got in.
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Post by airman on May 12, 2006 15:42:40 GMT -6
fr/jv every kid plays.
varsity, every kid plays, those who do not start, play on special teams.
if you do not think a kid is capable of being a special teams player then it is your duty to either demote him to jv or cut him.
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Post by coachcalande on May 13, 2006 4:05:50 GMT -6
something youi can try to set up at the frosh level is "the 5th quarter" to get a few more kids in . I try to play em all too....but man, we have 8 minute quarters and ran the dw...6 plays and the quarters over. hard to play em all. one year i platooned two complete offensive backfields! each set of backs would shuttle the plays in and out.
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Post by phantom on May 13, 2006 6:52:39 GMT -6
fr/jv every kid plays. varsity, every kid plays, those who do not start, play on special teams. if you do not think a kid is capable of being a special teams player then it is your duty to either demote him to jv or cut him. I disagree. In our district Juniors and Seniors are not eligible for JV. That would mean that we'd have to cut them and we're not going to do that. We do not platoon. Thebest players play. If they want playing time the need to earn it. |
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Post by coachcalande on May 13, 2006 16:05:20 GMT -6
MY 8TH GRADERS ASK ME ALL THE TIME "DO YOU CUT?" THATS ONE OF THE MOST EMBARASSING THINGS A KID CAN GO THRU I THINK. I dunno, but we wont cut anyone...not even sure we are going to have enough gear for all the kids...but I wont cut. I only cut kids that cut themselves by skipping practice. At the 8th grade level they get 3 unexcused and they are gone. And I make sure to tell them all that they have to compete for playing time and compete for mop up time.
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Post by toprowguy on May 13, 2006 17:17:15 GMT -6
We play everyone in Frosh, Soph and JV games. Our starters will play the most but as long as you made all the practices dueing the week you will play. This keeps our numbers high and limits the number of players that quiet during the year. We have won a state champion with this system.
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Post by runtheball86 on May 13, 2006 17:36:04 GMT -6
In 26 years of coaching I have never cut a player...I believe that would be devastating to a young man - much more devastating than a lack of playing time. In VERY FEW cases have we ever had a player who might be cut from some other program become a distration because of complaints over playimg time - the kids usually know their own talents and those who remain for four years do so just to be part of something. We have qualified for the state playoffs and gone winless and done everything in between - I do not think any record was ever predicated on the fact that we kept young men who were not good enough to play. On the jayvee level everyone plays though not equally.
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Post by williamcrehan on May 13, 2006 17:57:35 GMT -6
I have a great situation in my league. We have Saturday JV games. If you don't play on Saturday we have what we call "Monday Freshmen Scrimmages." Any Fr/So that doesn't start on Saturday they start on Monday. Usually 2 or 3 refs, no scoreboard, but the kids all keep score. It has been great for us. No extra coach needed so cost is only buses and refs.
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Post by bulldogoption on May 13, 2006 21:56:59 GMT -6
FR/JV every kid should play.
22 starters
what I have done in the past while I coached younger levels, which worked good, was rotating kids by series. i would have a couple of kids that played the same position. they might switch every other series. Or you could play a better kid 2 series for every one. I varied the rotations by position so I really had a different mix of kids on each series. By rotating kids by series I feel you have to count on them. They are put in situations where they have to perform, vs. bringing in a fat kid at right tackle and running left for two plays, then bringing him back out. By having him in for the whole series eventually you will run to his side and he will be put in a situation to get better.
The lower levels are for developing players. Fr/JV Conf champs aren't as impt as Vars Conf championships.
This is a hard philosophy to buy into as a coach. You have to see it work to really become a believer.
Example: JV game. Down 8-0 with less than 2 minutes remaining. Our defense stops them and we get the ball back. I was rotating two QB's in the game. A stud and an avg player. It was the avg players rotation to go in. What do you do? Play the stud or stay with the rotation and see what the avg kid can do. I stuck with the avg kid. He threw a strike on a slant pass for a 60 yard TD. We came back and won in OT. Did a lot for that young man's confidence.
A great topic.
The years I had a lot of talent we still won a lot of games, when the talent was thin, the record suffered.
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tackle
Sophomore Member
Posts: 129
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Post by tackle on May 13, 2006 23:29:21 GMT -6
Its tough to play everyone when you have freshmen on the jv level, we have no freshmen team. Most have not played football at all and cannot matchup against soph. We emphasize that practice will determine playing time. We are trying to develope an attitude of teaching and competition daily. We play most if not all kids in every game. Game time is based on practice performance. If we are not competitive in a game coaches will decide which series will be freshmen time. We try to develope the core group of freshmen for the next year by allowing them to bond in the huddle.
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Post by coachcb on May 14, 2006 13:22:01 GMT -6
The most successful programs in our conference are the ones that find ways to get everyone playing time at the lower levels. Their numbers are huge year in and year out and they are extremely sound fundamentally because the kids have a ton of experience. Their freshman and JV squads are .500 teams, but the varsity plays for the state title every other year. Here's a few ways they do it-
1. Split into two teams, either equally matched teams or A squads and B squads. You'll have to get the administration on your side for scheduling two sets of games, but its worth it.
2. If you can't get two sets of schedules; split between two squads and have them alternate offense and defense by quarter. Blue squad in on O in the 1st and White squad is on D then switch.
3. Have the kids rotate series.
4. You can go 2 platoon with them and have them play one way, but I would rather have them get experience on both sides of the ball.
The bottom line is simple- you never know how a kid, even a junior, is going to be when he's a senior. I'm not saying play all the kids no matter what, but if a kid has earned the playing time by being at practicing and working at it- get him in there. The kids need to learn that working hard is going to pay off with playing time. I want all the kids to develop as much as they can. There was a class that went through a couple years ago that was loaded with talent, but the coaching staff only played 15 kids while they were freshman and sophmores. They lost one game in two years. Come their junior and senior years, the studs in the class were riddled with injury- the depth underneath them was terrible. The seasons went from potential state title years to struggling to stay above .500. The practice time the 2nd and 3rd kids had gotten wasn't enough-they needed game time to develop their skills.
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