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Post by snakeyes on Aug 27, 2019 11:54:26 GMT -6
I've been coaching football for 20 years. I've got a reputation for being a good coach that can get the most out of the kids that come out for football. About 8 years ago, I took over a football program that was in the tank...it took me a little longer than I expected, but we ended up turning the program around and have had three winning seasons in a row, as well as winning a conference championship.
HOWEVER, fewer and fewer kids are coming out for football. As a matter of a fact, the more we win, the fewer kids come out for the sport. This season is the smallest team I've EVER coached. We have 40 TOTAL kids in the program (freshman-senior). I honestly believe, with the coaching staff I have in place, that if we have numbers we can win. That leads me to my question...I need advice on how to get more kids out for football. What has worked for you guys?
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Post by wolverine55 on Aug 27, 2019 12:16:43 GMT -6
One thing that has helped us is not limiting weight-lifting PE to athletes only. Not many non-athletes want to take our Personal Strength PE class, but there have been a few. The class is ran by our head coach and he's done a good job of getting those guys who have gotten bigger and stronger through his class out for football. This depends on your size of school, however, as not many small schools can devote a fulltime PE teacher to strength training.
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klaby
Junior Member
Posts: 389
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Post by klaby on Aug 28, 2019 8:47:33 GMT -6
Get control of your youth program. Bad youth coaches drive more kids away. I did a little check this year, looked at the HS roster and game stats of a group that had some bad daddy-ball coaches. 1. total number of kids went from 31 at 7th grade to 7 as seniors. 2. of the 5 daddy-ball coaches kids that never left the field. 2 are still rostered and 1 has seen the field in a limited role. 31 to 7...thats telling.
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Post by tothehouse on Aug 28, 2019 9:26:44 GMT -6
Win. Get transfers.
Seems to be the way it's going.
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Post by coachd5085 on Aug 28, 2019 9:49:23 GMT -6
Get control of your youth program. Bad youth coaches drive more kids away. I did a little check this year, looked at the HS roster and game stats of a group that had some bad daddy-ball coaches. 1. total number of kids went from 31 at 7th grade to 7 as seniors. 2. of the 5 daddy-ball coaches kids that never left the field. 2 are still rostered and 1 has seen the field in a limited role. 31 to 7...thats telling. Not all HS have control over anything other than when the kids hit their building.
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Post by option1 on Aug 28, 2019 10:28:12 GMT -6
We are 1 of the top 10 largest school districts in the U.S. and 9 teams in our county cannot field JV teams.
The issues are too many to list but a growing trend is 1 sport athletes. Last year our basketball, our 3 win BB team that is, cut nearly as many kids as we had on our varsity roster and many of them were good athletes. Instead they go and pay to play for some awful AAU team, drink the fool-aid and dream big.
We don't have many baseball kids at our school that would help us but still, baseball is year round. They don't work hard and get to play against other teams. Basketball is the same way. That's hard to compete with. Transfer rules don't help. Students can go where they like as long as they can provide their own transportation. Schools end up with less than a good product, become a laughing stock and in the end lose kids that otherwise would play but just do not want to be "laughed at".
We use as many resources as we can to brand our program in a positive way. We have cool gear, are a presence in the community, send kids to college, provide tutors, etc. I don't have answers beyond that. I do believe you have to be willing to give knowing you may get nothing in return.
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Post by snakeyes on Aug 30, 2019 8:17:15 GMT -6
Thank you for the suggestions...and if nothing else, let me know that even the big schools are struggling (we currently have 460 kids in our HS). Like I said in my original post, I'm seen as one of the top coaches in my area (not trying to brag)...but I'm not sure I can continue coaching football like this. My A.D. tells me I'm the hardest working coach he's ever meant, I treat ALL the kids in my school with respect, and try to form relationships with all of them...hoping that I can not only make a difference in their lives, but also maybe they will play football for me as well. BUT instead they either play nothing or opt to play golf or cross-country because they are "EASY" sports (or continue to be one sport athletes).
I always thought I would coach football until I retired from teaching, but I'm getting to the end of my rope. I spend sooooo much of my personal time trying to develop our athletes, prepare winning game plans, etc...to not even have enough legitimate athletes on the team to compete in my conference. Tonight is my first game of the season, and for the first time in my career I'm starting two freshmen, and one sophomore on the offensive line...not because they are studs, but because they are the best I have.
Again, thank you for your guys' input.
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Post by jlenwood on Aug 31, 2019 7:48:34 GMT -6
I've been coaching football for 20 years. I've got a reputation for being a good coach that can get the most out of the kids that come out for football. About 8 years ago, I took over a football program that was in the tank...it took me a little longer than I expected, but we ended up turning the program around and have had three winning seasons in a row, as well as winning a conference championship. HOWEVER, fewer and fewer kids are coming out for football. As a matter of a fact, the more we win, the fewer kids come out for the sport. This season is the smallest team I've EVER coached. We have 40 TOTAL kids in the program (freshman-senior). I honestly believe, with the coaching staff I have in place, that if we have numbers we can win. That leads me to my question...I need advice on how to get more kids out for football. What has worked for you guys? A very simple question that I never see addressed in these threads, why are you asking strangers on a board this question and not the kids in your district/school? Not singling you out, because I don't think I have ever seen someone talk about asking kids in their school, it is always a general question to us. So what I would advise, as soon as the season is over start getting with the kids WHO PLAY FOOTBALL, one on one or in small groups maybe and begin asking the questions. Maybe then move on to the parents of kids who played and: *Ask why did they play. *Ask them why they think or what they have heard why their friends and classmates are not playing. THEN: *Start asking the kids who don't play why. *Ask the kids who don't play what it would take to get them out. *Start charting your answers you get and look for commonality of answers. Also, maybe you enlist other coaches or faculty to help in this as maybe the problem is you. Be prepared to find out mabe kids don't like you or maybe they love you, but be prepared. Start compiling answers and then put together a plan or program to address the WHY and get after that. Otherwise we all just set around and wring our hands over the falling numbers with no real plan to hold off the death of this game.
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Post by RunPeopleOver on Sept 2, 2019 19:22:04 GMT -6
What worked for our program this year was recruiting the middle school. I coach at the high school and teach pe at the middle school. Each day I go to every single male student I can find and pester them about playing football. Even the ones who have never played before and those who most coaches wouldn't give the time of day (small, behavior problem, etc). During my lunch and planning periods I am in the cafeteria going table to table or in library getting to know the them and talking about football.
Before doing this our JV team has had 15-17 players the past two years with 1-2 8th graders. This year we have 36 total, 4 returning players from last year, 8 8th graders.
My advice would be to have coaches spend time recruiting your school and don't be afraid to brown nose a little bit to get kids out there!
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Post by carookie on Sept 2, 2019 19:30:48 GMT -6
-Convince them you don't have to be 6'3" 230 lbs to play football. This is a huge problem at a few of schools I have been at, many decent athlete type kids don't play because they are sold on the idea that football is only for burly hulks.
-Convince mom, dad, and athlete that if you play football you won't live the rest of your life with CTE and be concussed every other day.
-Stop going 14, 16, 20 hours a week throughout the summer. Stop with regular 3+ hour practices that start at 7AM in July and run throughout the summer. Honestly this is my biggest beef with so many coaches, its part keeping up with the Joneses, part buying into their own nonsense. Whats worse is when they tell me its to prepare kids for college only to hem and haw when I ask them how many hours the NCAA allows football players to put in during the summer.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2019 19:43:45 GMT -6
I am more convinced that kids have to be allowed to participate in practice, they have to get meaningful reps, see they are quantifiably getting better as player. Have a real role on friday nights, game day. Asking kids to stand around and be fodder for first team o and d is silly. Same with summer workouts. I dont believe for a second that coaching will get any easier.
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Post by snakeyes on Sept 10, 2019 7:21:40 GMT -6
Thanks guys...a lot of good ideas here...and it will give me something to think about when this season ends. It looks like, if I decide to stay in coaching, I have a lot of work to do this off season in just analyzing how I run my program...and not so much Xs and Os.
I've always taken pride in treating all my players with respect, but maybe I'm not building the kind of relationships I thought I was. If you guys had anything specific you talked to kids/parents about, I'd love to hear it.
For example:
1. What do you tell kids/parents when they tell you they won't play because they are afraid of getting hurt? 2. Do you do anything that you feel really draws the kids out? (don't tell me winning because we are doing that)
My summer schedule is like this: We lift 3 times a week for an hour (8-9 a.m.)and practice immediately following lifting for an hour (9-10 am). Then at the end of the summer I have a one week camp that starts at 8:00 a.m. and finishes at 2:30 (3-a-day camp). I don't feel it's over the top...what do you guys think?
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Post by blb on Sept 11, 2019 12:40:14 GMT -6
snakeyes I can tell you from personal experience that winning does not guarantee you will get more kids out. Paradoxically, at one of my HC stops after the only losing season we had, the next year we had by far the most kids come out than that school had ever had - and that was the year district instituted "Pay to Play." Most kids play football for two reasons - first, it's fun (so you have to make sure it's fun and not just routine drudgery), and second for the camaraderie - they have to want to be around good teammates and coaches who they respect, like, and believe have their best interests at heart including coaching them every day regardless of their role on the team.
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Post by planck on Sept 11, 2019 13:09:52 GMT -6
I'm of the opinion that kids come out for fun and comradery first and foremost. That means nice uniforms, not having crap equipment, not getting screamed at and whatnot, etc.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2019 5:22:12 GMT -6
Kids come out to play. The problem we have is about half the team is irrelevant. They serve the same purpose as tackling dummies, garbage cans, and bags. And they do not coached at any point except for wed for about 15 minutes of getting beating up by team. A team so they can play jv game. Anybody want to guess where numbers are at?
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Post by blb on Sept 12, 2019 5:36:38 GMT -6
Kids are no longer willing to work so hard (year-round) just to sit on the bench.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2019 5:38:24 GMT -6
Kids are no longer willing to work so hard (year-round) just to sit on the bench. nor should they.
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Post by vicvinegar on Sept 12, 2019 8:09:02 GMT -6
What worked for our program this year was recruiting the middle school. I coach at the high school and teach pe at the middle school. Each day I go to every single male student I can find and pester them about playing football. Even the ones who have never played before and those who most coaches wouldn't give the time of day (small, behavior problem, etc). During my lunch and planning periods I am in the cafeteria going table to table or in library getting to know the them and talking about football. Before doing this our JV team has had 15-17 players the past two years with 1-2 8th graders. This year we have 36 total, 4 returning players from last year, 8 8th graders. My advice would be to have coaches spend time recruiting your school and don't be afraid to brown nose a little bit to get kids out there! The best program I have ever been at focused on the middle schools. In the off-season M,W,F the H.S. players lifted. Tuesday & Thursday, the Varsity staff ran workouts for the middle school players. Obviously, not all of the lifts were the same. While we did try to make them stronger, we focused more on technique. It was a great opportunity for the Varsity staff to bond with the younger kids, and actually get them to buy in. It felt like those classes stayed to together once they came to the high school level. I am more convinced that kids have to be allowed to participate in practice, they have to get meaningful reps, see they are quantifiably getting better as player. Have a real role on friday nights, game day. Asking kids to stand around and be fodder for first team o and d is silly. Same with summer workouts. I dont believe for a second that coaching will get any easier. At the same program this was something else that was focused on. During individuals your 3's, 4's, and 5's should be getting just as many reps as your 1's and 2's. The position coach should also coach them every rep, just as they would your 1's and 2's. Coach would say it nearly every practice. "Everyone has a role on this team. No matter how small that role may be, every single one is important to the success of our program". He just didn't say it either, he tried to make sure everyone had a role. Maybe it was scout, maybe it was OL for the extra point, but everyone had some type of role. When players stand around a lot, they start to wonder what in the heck are they wasting their time for.
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Post by coachcb on Sept 12, 2019 8:32:54 GMT -6
1. Make sure you have decent coaches at the middle school and youth levels. This can be tricky as it's hard to get quality guys out there but it's a must. IME, poor coaching at the youth level kills high school numbers as the game stops being fun.
2. Have a presence at those lower level games whenever possible. The administration asked me to run clock during middle school and youth games this year. I politely asked them to find someone else as I want to be down there on the sidelines, cheering those younger guys on.
3. Set up separate times for your middle school kids to hit the weights in the summer. We only have them going twice per week but it's brought up numbers at those lower levels. The kids learn to love the weight room and they build a report with the staff. We also run a middle school open field once per week where we just go through some basics and have fun.
4. Accept the fact that parents are parents. IME, you can talk until you're blue in the face about concussions and injuries in football but it's a waste of breath. We had a parent pull their kid out of football a few weeks ago after he picked up his first concussion. Concussions of any kind are to be taken seriously but this one was mild; a doctor and a trainer told mom as such. When she came and talked to me about it, she was adamant that he was done with football and I thanked her and wished the kid the best.
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Post by carookie on Sept 12, 2019 13:39:56 GMT -6
Thanks guys...a lot of good ideas here...and it will give me something to think about when this season ends. It looks like, if I decide to stay in coaching, I have a lot of work to do this off season in just analyzing how I run my program...and not so much Xs and Os. I've always taken pride in treating all my players with respect, but maybe I'm not building the kind of relationships I thought I was. If you guys had anything specific you talked to kids/parents about, I'd love to hear it. For example: 1. What do you tell kids/parents when they tell you they won't play because they are afraid of getting hurt? 2. Do you do anything that you feel really draws the kids out? (don't tell me winning because we are doing that) My summer schedule is like this: We lift 3 times a week for an hour (8-9 a.m.)and practice immediately following lifting for an hour (9-10 am). Then at the end of the summer I have a one week camp that starts at 8:00 a.m. and finishes at 2:30 (3-a-day camp). I don't feel it's over the top...what do you guys think? I think your summer sounds reasonable. To answer the first question, I tell them this isn't the old days like when I played. We teach tackling different, we treat injuries different. All the scary things you hear about were the result of football how it was over a decade ago. About half of them accept that, the other half are still 'no'.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2019 14:04:31 GMT -6
My situation is we basically have 40-45 kids out for football in entire program. Most of our kids are either at academic risk, high on someting, sexually experimenting, and or completely out of their minds. But all of them can play football competitively. We are not loaded, we dont have any real high level talent. Ll of our kids could contribute on friday night. Every one of them. We play ablitz is the answer to anything, 335 defense. A role that is meaningful is not scout team. Who do we think we are fooling. If you cannot find a way to put kids in roles to contribute on friday nights...does anybody really think kids are going to be being practice fodder. We can find a role for everybody can be taken to far, but that is a conversation for those kids and patents.
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