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Post by paydirt18 on Nov 29, 2023 11:51:27 GMT -6
So my son will be a senior QB. Since it is cold and crappy here in Wisco he was looking for some time to throw. So he signs up for a 7 on 7 "try out" for a "tourny" team. It was 3 hours of indoor work for $100, since gym time is around $100 and hour I said sure. He gets some reps and it was reasonably priced. So we go, as a parent had to come. He works out (this was not a tryout by any stretch if the imagination!). Has fun throws a ton of balls. After the "coach" (22 year old kid fresh out of college) proceeds to meet with some kids one on one and then others as a group with parents. Now the fun starts. This 22 year old QB/Offensive Guru(trust me talked like he was Bill Walsh), proceeds to tell these parents that "I coached 6 D1 scholarship players last year and have already gotten commitments from several D1 coaches who will be at our games". "7 on 7 is the future and if your son is going to get recruited he needs to play 7 on 7 so coaches see him". Blah, Blah, Blah...and "it will only cost you $2700.00 for your kid to join our team, this is an investment in his future". " I will make him a D1 ________________ Player". I cant make this stuff up! Of course I am rolling my eyes. So here is the kicker, he doesn't tell anyone if the kid made the "travel team". Nope he sends out a text the next day, and guess what....every kid has made a travel team! So $2700.00 for 4 tournaments, guaranteed. However this doesn't cover the food for the kids, only tourny fees, travel and hotel. 5th tourny if they make "National Championship" will be extra! No set "practice schedule" either. So did the math and if every kid pays this guy would take in $80K! So I did some digging, found the links for the tournys and the avg fee is $500 a team, he was going to field 2 teams, for $4K in fees. They would drive so lets say another $2K in gas. Hotels for each, say 10 total rooms. Maybe another $4-5K....so lets say maybe $15k in fees (uniforms included). That's $65k! for a couple months worth of "coaching"! Sad part was, I am sure most of these parents bought this crap and signed up! I can't make this crap up! So a 22 year old former 3 string TE, hooks up with a Cross fit gym owner, starts a 7 on 7 team and makes $60-65K in a summer! NO my kid isnt playing, (he made the A team travel team...coach didnt even know my kid's name)....lesson here, we need to talk to our parents about this crap.... THIS! I too live in WI and also did some digging around. Ridiculous pricing and ridiculous promises. As a coach and parent I discourage others from going this route.
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Post by paydirt18 on Oct 17, 2023 13:58:52 GMT -6
Thanks coaches. I added the hook/ladder and a reverse with an option to throw if there......
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Post by paydirt18 on Oct 16, 2023 11:59:20 GMT -6
Coaches our program has made the playoffs and we are going in to play to a top 5 team in our state-not the draw you would want, but hey.... While we are truly "happy to be here" the opponent has an agenda that includes a state championship.
That said, we are going to run our stuff like we always do, but I am looking for a little extra help....
Give me your best trick play.
Thanks!
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Post by paydirt18 on Oct 10, 2023 10:43:54 GMT -6
Have any of you coached your on kid on the varsity level? I am looking for advice from folks that have been through it. I am his position coach. My oldest son just graduated this past year. My youngest son is currently in his junior seasons. Both boys would be considered "middle of the pack" in terms of talent level, older one is now long snapping in college. I have had my sons on the sidelines from essentially they could walk and would not have it anyway. With the older one leaving it has been hard. I miss him. To me, having the opportunity to share these times with my sons - win or lose - has been the best part of coaching.
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Post by paydirt18 on Sept 8, 2023 10:43:25 GMT -6
In Wisconsin, we start practice first week of August and play a nine game reg season schedule. If you were to make it to the Finals, you end up with 14 total games and they schedule the championships to be done the night before deer season begins - yes you read that right.
I think 14 total is perfect, however I would love to push for a later start and for the season to go later in the fall.
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Post by paydirt18 on Apr 11, 2023 10:14:28 GMT -6
Coaches,
We are in the market to purchase a new EZ camera and we have 3-5K to play with. That said, what companies do you recommend/not recommend? Thanks!
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Post by paydirt18 on Feb 16, 2022 11:23:23 GMT -6
Online instruction sucks....been there, done that, it doesnt work...... Even with all the technology we now have, instruction needs to be face to face. IMO it's all the same for those that can/will. Our data says that students grades were consistent during quarantine. Meaning slaps are slaps and scholars are scholars. We could fix all this if the legal working age was 13... the increase of significant mental health issues has risen IMO because students had to be "online" so long. Additionally, it created so many negative behaviors, promoted laziness, and for incoming freshmen-took away that initial HS experience. As far as grades being consistent how do you go about judging the actual learning process beyond a simple grade? If anything kids developed some resilience and learned how to copy/paste/cheat while "online". Essentially, based on what part of the country students live in, they lost more than a year of in-person schooling and that will impact them for a long time.
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Post by paydirt18 on Jan 27, 2022 11:25:16 GMT -6
Coaches, I recently sat down with my current principal to discuss the interview process for a Head Coach, and I'm trying to create a solid plan for academics. What I mean by this is what is your plan for students that are close to failing/just below passing(whether key player or scrub), what is your corrective plan for those that are failing miserably? I have some ideas, but I don't think it's a solid/good plan. Any help or advice is greatly appreciated. I don't know if any of the following are things that were already said, but here are some of the things that I continue to do to ensure at the very least that my athletes are eligible. * I do teach in my building so this does help 1. Communicate with your parents. I call, email, text all of my parents. In some cases, parents are unaware that little Johnny is failing. It helps. Also, call when they do well. Goes a very long way. 2. Take your kids that are habitually failing and enroll them in your home room (if you have something like that) and explain to them why. My HR has about 15 more than other teachers, but they're my guys, and in most cases my HR runs very well. 3. Offer second semester study table and let parents know about it. Any kid that is failing 1 or more classes, must come to study table - I only run study table 2x a week and that is just enough to keep kids focused and know that you are serious about it. The incentive is when you are passing all classes, you have the option to not attend. You will find that most will want to stay anyway. 4. Create an on-going point system. We take all of our kids and assign them to Militaty named companies (Alpha, Bravo, etc) and put a senior to be in charge of each group. Then kids are awarded various point level amounts for attending study table, working out, playing a winter or spring sport, etc. You can create that how you like. But then what I do is I divided up the calendar into 4 quarters between the day you start it and the first day of practice. At the end of each quarter I award the winning company with a 'Quarter Champion" t-shirt. They love it. Also this is helpful to keep kids in their companies throughout the season - assign a position coach to each company as well. In season, you can easily have them go to their companies for any type of team competition, fundraising, punishments, etc. 5. turn into Rain Man regarding their individual academics. I pretty much check on individual grades for my kids every 3-4 days. Over time, you start memorizing schedules, grades, etc just by simply looking at them so much. Then in the hallway, when you pull them over for 1:1 informal convos or whatever and you talk with them and mention specifics about their grades you can see them become initially shocked that you "know so much about them" (they actually really like the attention - they just won't tell you) and then they develop that trust with you. IDK, those are some things that I still do and it works for me.
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Post by paydirt18 on Dec 6, 2021 11:14:34 GMT -6
In the middle of my 22nd year as a teacher and 21st as a coach (14 as an HC)I have begun to think about this. My youngest son is a freshman for me and realistically I could be done when he graduates. My wife is in the medical profession and has great benefits. I don't think I want to fully "retire" - as somebody else said, get the pension and get into something else.
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Post by paydirt18 on Nov 17, 2021 10:03:41 GMT -6
I think another relevant question to consider in this topic, how many coaches do you actually have in the building?
I have myself and 1 other. Unfortunately, the rest of my guys either teach at other schools or have "real" daytime jobs.
I think there is something to be said about that and the more guys you get in the building, the better.
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Post by paydirt18 on Nov 16, 2021 11:26:20 GMT -6
Last coaching staff I was with was the best. A bunch of guys who had known each other for years and all of us got along great. HC knew the game and loved the kids and community. It was truly a pleasure working with these cats. Unfortunately the talent just wasn't there and we struggled for most of his tenure. The thing is, the players loved the coaching staff and played hard until the final whistle every game. It matters who the staff is. I think that is a big key. Staffs that can stick together and grow/mature as a group. The problem is today - somebody mentioned it above- is the number of coach/teachers being driven out of the profession for a variety of reasons. Then you are left with either brand new coaches or guys that will just half - a## it. Also the struggle as a HC is real to build an maintain a staff. I am currently going into year four at this school and am thrilled that I don't have to hire anybody this spring. Consistency is so key for the kids. At my previous stop, in that conference it was common to see new HCs at conference schools essentially every year. You can't expect success like that. Final thought here: at least in Wisconsin, our most successful schools are the ones that have had cohesive staffs for multiple years.
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Post by paydirt18 on Oct 26, 2021 13:58:19 GMT -6
Tog, you bring up a great discussion question. I just finished my 23rd year overall and know that at some point I will want to be done here within the next 10 years or so. Like you, I have a lot of stuff. I have often thought about what would I do with it? Who is worthy (as you said) of taking it? A big fear is will they value it as much as I did.
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Post by paydirt18 on Feb 18, 2020 11:51:37 GMT -6
Our team meal is the night before the game. Usually my wife and the player parents all work it out and get it organized. For that meal it usually is a pasta, bread, water, and bananas. No dessert unless they won the previous week - but then I have to know what it is prior to serving - I am funny like that. Anyway - it is at that time that we talk to our kids. We give individual and team awards out from previous week, give opportunity for seniors to speak (if they want to) and then get them on their way.
On Fridays we will have a "snack table" set up in the locker room that the moms prepare - as most kids will go home after school before being required to be back at a certain time.
For this school, this was my first year here. The kids reacted well to it and the parents loved it.
It is just another way to promote team unity, etc.
If you are not doing something like this now, I would strongly encourage you to think about how you can - put your own spin on it - I think over the years it has created some great moments.
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Post by paydirt18 on Oct 15, 2019 10:53:27 GMT -6
4 hours on Sundays are ridiculous. There’s no way you need that much work in a week. If you're scripting everything on O and D for all your practices and drawing cards for every look on both sides of the ball that's 4 hours of work right there easily. If you're going out and winging it then more power to you but I can't operate like that and don't enjoy / haven't enjoyed being on staffs that attempt too. Use hudl for practice scripts - even allows you to tag film clips to it. 4 hours is insane.
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Post by paydirt18 on Oct 15, 2019 10:52:35 GMT -6
If a coach is screwing with other school sanctioned events, the coach has earned what is coming to him. We are out at noonish on sat, here for 4 hrs on sundays. Kids are here sat morning for about 90 min. We do not mess with sunday mornings, college football at all. Holidays if we need to but is over in time to do thanksgiving at noon for example. We do not interfere with hc. We hold am practice to get work in though. 4 hours on Sundays are ridiculous. There’s no way you need that much work in a week. Couldn't agree more. I'm now in the middle of year 23 and I have learned over the years that bringing the kids in on Saturdays and then the coaches either on Saturday or Sunday is overkill. Hudl has changed much of that for the positive. Never understood what you expect to get out of kid when they play a game on Friday night, probably grab a pizza with family and/or friends, then make them turn around and be in at 8am on a Saturday morning. I also think that coaches who are 'burning the midnight oil" or are so incredibly "stressed" because of the "season" may need to reevaluate why and what they're doing. Especially if they have a wife and kids....
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Post by paydirt18 on Sept 16, 2019 11:07:32 GMT -6
If you have to get drunk after your game, why not Uber or Lyft? That's what I would do. Seems like a no-brainer.
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Post by paydirt18 on Sept 12, 2019 11:01:37 GMT -6
Assuming we are all coaches on here, I think most would agree that Ws do not come easy. Ever. Maybe it looks easy to the casual fan sitting on the couch or in the stands....but it is not. So, given how the Army/Mich game went down, if I'm Michigan, let them celebrate. Enjoy the moment for 24 hours and then fix your mistakes. 5 years from now the only thing those kids will remember is that it was a W.
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Post by paydirt18 on Feb 28, 2019 11:58:07 GMT -6
I will never tell a kid to cut his hair. BUT, they have to be able to keep it out of their eyes, or braid it, or put it in a pony or something. Also, helmet has to fit. Other than that, let the kid be himself.
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Post by paydirt18 on Jul 9, 2017 17:16:27 GMT -6
Coaches,
I am looking for one of those sleeve like deals that has a lanyard of some sort attached which then you can attach to your belt loop or pant.
Any idea what they are called and where I can find them?
Thanks for your help
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Post by paydirt18 on May 17, 2017 8:04:35 GMT -6
Thank you! This will help me
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Post by paydirt18 on May 16, 2017 7:56:20 GMT -6
This year I am hosting our pre-season scrimmage. We have a beautiful facility. What I am racking my brain on is how to schedule the teams.
Here is what I have:
1 Full field (turf) - so I can have 4 teams going at one time... I have 7 teams (including ours) committed to participating
We have adequate space to have two teams warm up while 4 are on the field.
I want to give each team 4 scrimmages of 12 plays each.
I would like to start around 11AM and be done by 3PM
So.....I know I need to stagger arrival times, but somebody that is good with scheduling please help......
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Post by paydirt18 on Apr 7, 2017 11:47:59 GMT -6
Put it this way, I had practice on my wedding day - so don't think I can help you. Fortunately for me I have a wife who is absolutely 100% on board. There is something to be said for a coach's wife - they are far and few between....and if you find one......don't screw it up.
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Post by paydirt18 on Mar 2, 2017 11:19:19 GMT -6
I think as coaches we really are missing the boat on the "low numbers" situation that is gaining traction at so many schools. This BS about kids not wanting to do things that are hard is crap in my opinion, the real issue is how is that you as a coach have not presented your program in such a light as to make the non-playing kid think "Man, I got to be a part of that". Absolutely spot on. I took over a program here that was in the middle of the state's active longest losing streak - in fact I added 9 games to it. The first day of my first practice I had 8 kids! Despite going 0-9 that year we finished with 34 kids. Then going into year two we had 51 kids - allowed me to create a "varsity-reserve" schedule- which led me to adding 8 more kids the following year. Now going into year 4 we for sure of know that over 50 underclassmen our coming out and we are factoring in an additional incoming frosh total of 20-25. How does this happen? My whole selling point was simple: basically I said that there was no guarantees about winning games, but I can guarantee you will be a better person for joining. I said (and still say) that football is a Utopian society meaning that if you are willing to work hard, good things will happen to you. Our kids come from some very traumatic environments so I think they were really attracted to this selling point because of what happens in their daily lives. Once you come out to that practice field life is perfect for a few hours....it's fair. Don't work hard, you get your a## kicked. Work hard, you get another down, etc. The really bought into that. Now at the end of the day, this is not a championship material type of program....yet. But kids have bought in and it's been great.
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Post by paydirt18 on Feb 1, 2017 12:49:31 GMT -6
At one school we broke the scoring record three years in a row. One of those years we also broke record for passing yards and TD passes.
After I left one of my assistants was talking to a neighbor when subject of my departure came up.
"Oh, him," she said, "He's that coach that just keeps running the same play over and over."
People are crazy, etc.
I took flack 2 years ago for running inside zone 90% of the time. I had a beast RB who could score from anywhere on the field on any touch. We won by an average of 30 points all year. Fans are stupid and make me rage. I feel your pain. I currently have a kid who is a master with our jet option stuff, he literally averages 280 yards per game rushing the ball. I get that stuff too.....why do you run the same play???etc. I have to bit my tongue with these fans - if it aint broke, don't fix it right?
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Post by paydirt18 on Feb 1, 2017 12:43:16 GMT -6
clinics * coaches that insist on public speaking with an entire pack of dip in their mouths * coaches that punctuate every sentence with a call for acknowledgement "aight", "mmmmkay", etc I totally agreed with this.
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Post by paydirt18 on Feb 1, 2017 12:39:42 GMT -6
We use EAT in everything we do - classroom, practice, games, life.
Effort Attitude Trust
We expect great effort, great attitude, great trust. You can't expect to be productive in anything you do without them.
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Post by paydirt18 on Nov 28, 2016 12:35:49 GMT -6
This is so niche but the 1986 Sugar Bowl. UT 35 - Miami 7 It actually was the 1985 season and UT did it with a back up QB if you remember as Tony Robinson was hurt in week 2. Great game still have it on VHS.
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Post by paydirt18 on May 24, 2016 12:57:17 GMT -6
Coach, How do you go about punishing kids? I hate making them do up/downs and everything but it's the only thing I know. What's a better way? As was talked about in this topic the expectations need to be clear and the accountability has to be placed. So I decided to take playing time away. Late to class? That's one series. In trouble with classroom teacher/administration? That's a series Late to weight room? Another series. If a kid gets up to 5 then the first game of the season is gone. Basically it puts all of it on the kid. Now I have to preference that by saying I fully explained how I will discipline, take time away etc. So far I have seen a dramatic improvement in punctuality, grades, and attitude. You would be surprised at how quickly that impacts kids.
As for the season same rules will apply - late to practice? Series.
I should also say I do treat each kid in a case by case scenario. If a kid, for example, is late because of a major incident (family, test, etc) obviously the rule would not apply. I think it is important to also note that before punishing - you got to talk to the kid.
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Post by paydirt18 on May 24, 2016 11:13:28 GMT -6
I think the unstated point beneath this is that you shouldn't make rules you don't care about. If you don't really CARE about socks being matching colours, then you won't be motivated to enforce the rule. That's a big part of it. If you aren't going to enforce a standard, you don't want to put the standard in place. If you tell your players to be 5 minutes early, then enforce the standard at 5 minutes early all the time. If you selectively enforce your standards, your players will selectively follow the standards. One additional point is that while school culture matters, we will not let that be an excuse for whether we enforce our standards. We will set high standards regardless of school climate. We will build our culture regardless of how bad the school culture might be. I want our program culture to impact the school as a whole. Our culture should be so powerful that it influences the school culture. I have been coaching now for 20+ years and am entering my 11th as an HC. It literally was not until about a month ago that a light bulb finally went off in my head regarding program expectations and rules. As recent as last season I would issue a think 20 page front and back typed "Parent and Player" handbook knowing in the back of my mind that the kid and probably the parent won't really read it. They will just sign the back page and turn it in. In fact, I think I typed up that dang thing just for my own peace of mind. About a month ago I visited a friend of mine who is the HC at a school close by. He is a big proponent of servant leadership and I wanted to learn about it. His big thing was an acronym E.A.T - meaning Great Effort, Great Attitude, Great Trust. That's it. Those were his program standards. Then he took those standards and constantly used them as teachable moments. It was really great stuff - so much so that I am bringing a version of that back to my school. Along with that he also doesn't punish his kids with up/downs, sprints, or bear crawls. The theory is that kids should not be punished with "hard work". "Hard Work" is and should be considered good- if you work hard, good things happen, etc. I'm getting a little wordy here, but the point is what coach Vint has to add is spot on for me. I am in an urban setting at a school who has historically had a bad culture - but I am not letting the way that culture is affect what we are trying to do with the kids in our program.
Just my two cents and again, coach Vint thank you for sharing....
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Post by paydirt18 on Mar 9, 2016 12:27:44 GMT -6
We've used this as our ongoing slogan for years. Every year, our kids get a new piece of the rope for the upcoming season.
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