Correcting Coaches

If it was a really bad thing he said as in real bad technique, I'd usually wander over and say something like "Coach, have you ever thought of doing it this way?" and then show/demonstrate the technique you want taught. That way, you're not making him out to be an ass to the kids, but you get your point across that, no, we're not doing it that way.

If it was a minor thing, I usually just pulled him aside during a water break and talked to him about what I actually wanted to see.

The only time I really lit into a coach on the field was I had an assistant I put in charge of FG/PAT just to give him something to do and I knew we wouldn't do a lot with it other than PAT. In fact, I kind of just let him do whatever he wanted and I took care of other things while they practiced it. Anyway, the night before our soap game we're running through our stuff and it's time for FG/PAT. This man had 3 different formations in and like 5 fakes. It irritated me and I let him know it. We weren't going to need trickery that year to score points (This was the year we had a 2,000 yd and 1,000 rushers returning to our backfield). He did a lot of that kind of stuff and it drove me nuts.

I fix everything on the field. Always. Theres a lot of educational research out there about how many good reps it takes to unlearn something when you learn it wrong. Its a lot.

That's also why we dont go 100mph in team time. We take our time and fix it. Once we know our jobs and can execute we will go faster and can correct things in the film room.

If a coach messes it up imo you have to fix it. 90% of the time it's your fault as HC if he is teaching it wrong in which case I typically apologize to the coach, and then explain how I want it. This gives the coach an out so he doesnt look bad in front of the kids, solidifies that you're in charge and make the decision, and shows a lot of humility.

If the coach KNOWS how it's supposed to be taught and chooses not to teach it right then hes not going to be coaching past that practice unless he changes his tune.

I would correct it right away when I was DC. I rarely chewed out the coach because 99% of the time he wasn't doing it on purpose. He thought he was telling the player the correct thing.

NEVER IN FRONT OF THE KIDS.

When I was the OC I would correct the kids right then. If they responded with that's what coach told me I would respond run it back but I want to see something real quick and tell them to run it the way I wanted. Then I would let them know we would discuss in our after practice meeting and let them know the next practice.

Depends. Ninety-nine percent of the time I would go to the position coach, tell him, let him tell the players. I can escalate from there.

I understand that some situations come up that aren't foreseen, but if the AC and coordinator or HC is serious and approaches pre season and pre practice meetings the correct way, most of this should not happen. I agree never in front of the kids. Also like what someone said about about approaching it like lets try it this way and then handle after practice.