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Post by coachwoodall on Mar 1, 2024 20:28:57 GMT -6
I may be in a different boat than most in that I'm really not big into the x's and o's anymore. Truth is, I haven't been for quite some time. At the end of the day, I don't get fired up about coverages and run fits anymore. What will ALWAYS light me up is the relationships. Getting to coach with folks who make it their life's work to leave the world a better place is awesome to me. Over the years I've learned that my purpose in this game is to build relationships with players and then leverage those relationships to bring out the best in them. To leverage those relationships to get those kids to become versions of themselves that they didn't know existed. That's why I do it now. As for why I got into it ... I didn't know what to do with my life and didn't feel like being a 5'9" offensive tackle after high school. Coach threw me a whistle and said I was going to help coach freshmen ball. Thank god for that man and the rest of the men who coached me. One of the things that I struggled with early was figuring out walking through the locker room. Being a player vs being a coach is WAY different in the interactions.
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Post by coachwoodall on Mar 1, 2024 8:29:19 GMT -6
I came from humble beginnings, but was told from an early age that I was GOING to college and I could be anything I wanted if I tried. I started little man ball in 1st grade and played until I was told I couldn't play anymore. I loved all my coaches and even as a lad appreciated that they gave up their time and volunteered to coach. I thought I might be a lawyer or doctor or something, but would do my turn as a little league coach to give back.
I always had a head for the game - I understood my job, but also understood the guy beside me and guy in front of me's job too. In high school I doodled plays/fronts/blitzes, and even tried to figure out the Miami 43 back in its heyday.
In college I was the guy that organized the fraternity flag football team, and organized/coached the 11 man full tackle, no pad, annual rival fraternity game that a kegger was wagered on.
After several lackluster years of college and much dreading of potential jobs in store, I chose getting my teaching credentials so I could coach because I just couldn't see myself doing anything else.
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Post by coachwoodall on Feb 11, 2024 15:00:21 GMT -6
When I was young...maybe my 1st or 2nd year coaching I had a head coach who would always ask me during practice "are you watching or coaching?" Essentially telling me to give feedback on every rep. I still take that to heart. I get the 'coach every rep' idea..... but that's not teaching/coaching, that's manipulating. Sometimes you learn by compounding mistakes. I don't say something every rep, I rather watch and evaluate each rep. Coaching is a compounding endeavor. I'd rather let them live and learn than treat the players as robots....... that's like programing each line of code.
I approach it as not "don't/do this" but more as why did you not do/do that.
Deal the cards and let the players play their hand.
The best cats I've had were the ones who could tell me 'do not call XX' and explain why it wouldn't work, or vice versa.
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Post by coachwoodall on Feb 9, 2024 22:23:21 GMT -6
This game is funny.....
40 years ago you practiced 3 hours to get the FB mesh down right for running the Veer 30 times a game.
Now a days you practice 3 hours to get the 30 passing game concepts down you'll run once a game.
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Post by coachwoodall on Feb 9, 2024 17:18:25 GMT -6
If those that say 'both everyday'....
have you evaluated you offensive and defensive schemes and made them easier to consume?
I know, I know, I'm a 2 platoon guy that has my guys all day everyday..... but my recent thinking is are we just try to do too much???
Going back to what was part of my earlier days..... It not me outsmarting the guy on the other sideline; it's my kids being smarter than the kids they line up against.
When we were good, it wan't that I was smarter than the coordinator on the other side of the field; it was my kids were better at matching up versus what the other kids did.
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Post by coachwoodall on Feb 7, 2024 13:08:51 GMT -6
Just finished year 31 with the whistle. I've already started pulling back. I do very little for Friday night other than spot from the box. I am in charge of the freshman team, and handle some of the administrative things for the HC.
My youngest is in the 8th grade and hope to make it until he gets out of HS, but the 6th period I have this year makes me dread the day until 235.
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Post by coachwoodall on Feb 6, 2024 16:39:55 GMT -6
Many moons ago, a buddy of mine had his own (not the HC) reward system like this. We had navy blue helmets with a yellow/gold letter logo..... simple, classic.
My buddy was the DC. He created a reward/stripe system for his 'Lawyers' --- those that 'laid down the law'. This could be a big hit, being a tackling machine, being a hard nosed eater of double teams, etc...... It wasn't anything that could be statically counted necessairly, just your simple construct of 'being a football player'.
He started with his own nomination process but it evolved into letting the players themselves nominate others into the club.
Basically if you had a 'really good game' you would get nominated for consideration. If you followed up that good game with another good game then the members would vote on whether to let you in, then you could get elected into the club or they club would place their expectation for getting elected -- number of tackles/sacks/big wow hits/etc.... Your reward was getting a stripe down the middle of your helmet.
From there it evolved. First you were a Lawyer = one 1/4 inch piece of yellow/gold tape down the middle of your helmet. If you progressed/kept 'laying the law' you could get more stripes for being a Judge 2 1/8 stripes on each side of the middle stripe. The next step was Chief Justice, and then Supreme Court Judge and stripes to go with it.
I thought it was a unique motivational tool, because the kids talked about it all the time both defensive and offensive guys. It wan't just for defense, it was just this one coaches way of making the program and the game of football special. We had a QB get his stripe when he passed for 480+ yards in a game (this was a BIG deal back 25 years ago) and another for being a 'nasty' OL.
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Post by coachwoodall on Feb 1, 2024 13:26:36 GMT -6
Offensively and Defensively, who is reponsible for what when it comes to opponent scout film? I am trying to streamline our process in hudl (we use assist too). Do you have DB coach chart passing/completion chart, O-line coach insert pressures into hudl, etc....? everybody does a little WRs coaches do coverages OL coaches do fronts/stunts RB coach does blitzes flip it for defense We do that way 1- for teaching your position group what they will see 2- helps with scouting
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Post by coachwoodall on Jan 28, 2024 8:53:50 GMT -6
From what I have been told by several D2 and D3 coaches who come through our school to visit. Due to the transfer portal/NIL , everything is cycling down. You will start to see less true high school-to-FBS athletes unless they are THAT good. D2 becomes the "MAC/Sunbelt" D1 type kids, and so on. Many lower level colleges are even recruiting as "hey we will offer you a scholarship, we will help you do great here so you can transfer to "FBS University' and get that NIL money". Some of the these coaches are actually 2nd generation college coaches and have told me they hate this mentality but that is the reality of college football now so they are embracing it. I can verify this. Unless you are just a straight up dude that can 'wow' on film or dominate a camp, a kid's best best is to find a lower level school and ball out for a couple of years. FBS schools are no longer looking for kids to develop, they want someone who is product that can help them win. The old 'red shirt' year is a thing of the past. Multiple coaches have come through the office stating this to some degree or another. We are already having these conversations with our kids with potential about what paths they need to take.
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Post by coachwoodall on Jan 26, 2024 14:49:31 GMT -6
Good point. I won't disagree with that at all. But... The unusual thing (perhaps NOT unusual) is almost half of our tiny roster is made up of kids from very broken homes. Kids living with Grandma, living with an uncle, living at a friend's house... They are the ones flourishing the most in our program. Maybe we provide the family they don't have while the others "don't need" that family and would just rather play another sport (or video games), or have jobs so they can buy anything oversized and loud for their pickups... I have been very involved in the youth league of baseball basketball and football over the last 20 years... I have seen this in my area as well... Our youth football is made up of mainly lower income or broken homes... Not 100% but high %... Richer families tend to navigate toward baseball and basketball. I personally believe it coincides with the softening of America lol but I digress... I agree with others you have a whole set of problems. Scheme may be their excuse but I feel its deeper or more than that. I would venture that it is the travel ball component of those sports that lead to the upper income families being the majority of those sport's players. But what is funny, the amount of money that parents pay for travel baseball from 8 YO up to HS, if saved and invested would more than cover any 1/12 - 1/8 scholly their kid MIGHT earn. Heck put that money into tutoring and SAT prep would probably get you more money. But hey, it's their money.
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Post by coachwoodall on Jan 25, 2024 9:46:37 GMT -6
Is the coach that ran the blog "Football is Life" still on here? His stuff was awesome. I learned a lot from reading his blog. If he is, and he still has that material, I'd love to read over all of it again. it's been a hot minute since I saw anything from deuce
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Post by coachwoodall on Jan 19, 2024 16:06:39 GMT -6
I was about to join in, and then I realized a lot of you guys were coaching veterans by the time my HS career ended in 2013. Nope, not meant to be a biggest pecker contest, just what is was like for YOU way back (or near back) when. 2013 was coaching year 20 for me, but there are a bunch things from then that are very different now. Just a cocktail story hour thread for funsies.
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Post by coachwoodall on Jan 19, 2024 16:01:08 GMT -6
Hose? You had a hose? We had a water dipper in a 5 gallon galvanized bucket of warm water. No.... we had a hose pipe .... it's a regional thing
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Post by coachwoodall on Jan 19, 2024 15:57:09 GMT -6
I just feel like this needs to be in here. it's not /showingposting, but is the Andy Griffen clip?
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Post by coachwoodall on Jan 19, 2024 8:51:01 GMT -6
This is the only existing video that I know of from my playing days. you from Clinnon or Peekins?
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Post by coachwoodall on Jan 18, 2024 17:58:27 GMT -6
-I had NUMEROUS concussions while playing, you got your bell rung and you toughed it out. I think it causes me to forget stuff. Nowadays they don't pull that. -I had NUMEROUS concussions while playing, you got your bell rung and you toughed it out. I think it causes me to forget stuff. Nowadays they don't pull that. -I had NUMEROUS concussions while playing, you got your bell rung and you toughed it out. I think it causes me to forget stuff. Nowadays they don't pull that. nice way to put it!!! I'm convinced that my horrible tinnitus today was caused by those 'bell ringers'
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Post by coachwoodall on Jan 18, 2024 16:11:26 GMT -6
In the light of some other threads and it is the off season, I thought it might be fun for everyone to throw out what the game was like for them while they still played the game.
I graduated HS in 1987 and while I was a 3 starter at MLB, being 5'11" 170 lbs and aware enough to realize the NFL wasn't in my future I never tried to walk on anywhere. I started tackle football in 1st grade and played every year until I was told I couldn't play the game anymore.
Here a couple things that was football in that day and age, at least for me: - half time everyone got a 6 1/2 oz Coke from the local bottling plant for 'refreshment', of course everyone had to put the glass bottles back into the rack to redeem the deposit --- Gator-Aid was just becoming a thing, but is wasn't the soft drink it is today, it was water lemon/lime flavor and salt... yeah it tasted like that, so you drank it like taking medicine
- shimmel shirt: your undershirt, your practice jersey was a shimmel or 1/2 jersey/shirt
- laundry.... we had pins to put our wash on (think giant safety pin) and by the end of the season everyone had a giant hole in their undershirt near the collar/tag, on your undershorts by the waistband, and your socks b/c you had to push the point of the pin through the fabric in order to get everything on the wash pin --- and all that cloth was 100% sweat soaking cotton --- and everyone wore a jock strap
- all the coaches chewed tobacco.... and most of the players, some while they played
- 3 weeks of 3-a-days to start the season ... you had to 'get in shape'
- 3 hour practices with lots of team --- 'thud' period ..... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
- blocking: I moonlighted as a TE and I can remember between my Soph and Jr years the Fed changed the rule allowing you to extend your arms to block, I.E. no more 'flipper' blocking --- in youth league I also vividly remember my coach teaching everyone how to block, "Grab the numbers on your shirt, stick out your elbows, and plow them out of the way" (rural area)
- in our equipment room, we still had a size 10 square toed, high top kicking shoe --- Soph year our kicker could not fit into it, so he had a shoe string tied into a loop that he would run to the sideline (starting FB) and grab the string for XPs and loop it around his toe cleat and then behind his heel to bend his toes backwards so he could basically kick the football with the ball/pad of his foot --- also, my best friend was the 1st soccer style kicker our school had our Jr & Sr year
- salt tablets to 'replace your sweat' and getting water was drinking out of a hose pipe during break.... yes hose pipe attacked to spigot yes break, singular .... 1 hose pipe ... waiting in line.... it's 95 degrees and 95 percent humidity and you've been practicing for 90 minutes straight ....
- summer weight room was when the HC would unlock the door before he got on the tractor to cut the fields, most kids didn't lift but were 'country boy' strong b/c they worked all summer doing manual labor --- and the weight room was a small shed that had a 'universal weight' system built inside
That's probably enough for now.
*** I'm sure many here have read the Bear Bryant books about football 'back in the day', another great one is Art Donovan's book Fatso, check it out.
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Post by coachwoodall on Jan 16, 2024 22:59:02 GMT -6
Thanks brother, it's been a hell of a week... I've enjoyed your posts and career arcs. You've been a blessing to the board. You need to write an article on these things.
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Post by coachwoodall on Jan 16, 2024 10:23:17 GMT -6
also we keep a file of pass routes, trick plays, etc.... for teams/HCs so don't have to draw as much or review a lot of older film
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Post by coachwoodall on Jan 15, 2024 13:50:10 GMT -6
How do you all use Scout Teams? We seem to do the typical route of using younger guys (Sophomores, JV) to be the scout players whether it is in a 7 on 7 or 11 on 11 format. But I wondering what do teams do that they may have found work best over the years?- What have you found that is maximizing your the quality of reps you get to help prep the Varsity players? - What is unique and creative? - How do you prep them? - How do you choose who are your scout players?- What situations do you use scout teams? - And anything else that you see as a scout team benefit or amplifier for your program when it comes to Scout Teams Thank you! If you 2 platoon, you go good on good. Now you might feel like you have to manage reps, and limit how many the starters go or how many periods you go good on good; but this is the only way to truly get quality reps. Of course as the season progresses, you can cut back but little Johnny JV WR son of the booster club president isn't getting you ready for the playoffs. The situation we use strictly JV/younger guys is when want to limit starter reps, or we are seeing a contrarian offense that is hard to mimic using our terminology. Also the group periods like Inside, 7-7, Skelly, etc.. are times to limit starter reps, not team. The other best thing we do is double huddle for defense in some periods. Defense makes a call based on D&D/field/scouted situation and the JV runs the scripted play versus that call , then the Variety offense runs any of OUR plays versus the same call. Again this is team period.
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Post by coachwoodall on Jan 15, 2024 13:30:42 GMT -6
I have been VERY lucky ( ?) to have taken over at places that were lousy before I got there. The only advice that I think might help is to sell whatever you do to the players. If you have the players usually you have the rest. But change things as slowly as you can and use what made the previous coach successful, specifically to that unique community. I've never done it as a HC, but been around a couple as an AC. 1st was when I was just starting out, school that was a loser, HC brought in (pretty late) known as a guy who can turn things around, etc... One of his big selling points to the (rising) senior class was that 'when' the school won a state championship, they would get a ring along with everyone else. Interesting point to use, but the circumstances for ever happening were not in the cards, HC never unpacked and was gone before Christmas. He didn't do his research (OOS HC) and part of the move for him was to be near his daughter..... then again as he said about a week before he hit the road said, "There are some schools that are career killers" The other was at an established school that had won big before, but the HC before we came in -- was the guy that replaced THE GUY. Bunch of circumstances that would take too long to delve into.... mainly lax rules enforcement, and things like if it looked like rain the previous HC cancelled practice. It took a couple years of basically preaching, "A Monday is going to be a Monday, not matter what; and a Tuesday is going to be a Tuesday no matter what, ....... " every single day, we were able to get back to the mountain. But then we hit a typical dry spell like many schools..... I've heard on here and around my circles that when you take over you have to figure the senior class quickly. Those are the dudes that are either looking for a change on their last go 'round and are ready to run with it, or they are the boat anchor you have to cut loose as quick as possible.
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Post by coachwoodall on Jan 14, 2024 12:33:52 GMT -6
Defensively there have a been a hand full of times that we 'drew it up in the dirt' on a Friday night. But it was usually something that was a part of the our overall structure. For example when I was a DC and playing our rival, tight ball game in an end game scenario where we are up by less than 6. They call a time out for a crucial 3rd down. We are in our 'dime' package or prevent package and the ball is near midfield. Coverage isn't a problem dropping 8, but getting enough pressure to prevent the QB from having an easy Hail Mary attempt isn't a given. HC is in my ear about not letting the QB have that easy throw, so I tell the MLB to wait a second after the snap and after the OL declares who/how they are blocking the front 3 to blitz grass and pressure the QB in his face. I told the NG to pick a side and just go that way and we had a call for the DEs to get wide and rush so he couldn't escape. 2 sacks later the game is over. Nothing mind blowing or totally outside of what we would do, just a "hey, go make a play". I'm sure someone will come on with a time where making the Fake 23 blast with a backside George reverse saved the day though. Was this from from a 3-3 or 3-4 look? 34ish
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Post by coachwoodall on Jan 13, 2024 16:41:20 GMT -6
I don't do much, if any, making stuff up on the fly, unless we're playing against a "non-traditional" style of offense. If we're struggling early in the season against things we're going to see all year I'll just keep stubbornly calling our base stuff and challenging the kids to execute it or at the very least keep getting game film of our issues. Right or wrong, we have to get good at our base to have a good season, if we have to lose an early season game then we'll have to live with that. As the season moves along I'm willing to call something that we did earlier in the season even if we haven't done that thing for a couple of weeks. If we don't execute it well I'm probably going back to the original game plan pretty quickly. Early on in my career I had a HC tell us that he wanted us to play our base defense as much as we could, because the worse you are the more you have to blitz.
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Post by coachwoodall on Jan 13, 2024 16:39:02 GMT -6
Defensively there have a been a hand full of times that we 'drew it up in the dirt' on a Friday night. But it was usually something that was a part of the our overall structure.
For example when I was a DC and playing our rival, tight ball game in an end game scenario where we are up by less than 6. They call a time out for a crucial 3rd down. We are in our 'dime' package or prevent package and the ball is near midfield. Coverage isn't a problem dropping 8, but getting enough pressure to prevent the QB from having an easy Hail Mary attempt isn't a given.
HC is in my ear about not letting the QB have that easy throw, so I tell the MLB to wait a second after the snap and after the OL declares who/how they are blocking the front 3 to blitz grass and pressure the QB in his face. I told the NG to pick a side and just go that way and we had a call for the DEs to get wide and rush so he couldn't escape.
2 sacks later the game is over. Nothing mind blowing or totally outside of what we would do, just a "hey, go make a play".
I'm sure someone will come on with a time where making the Fake 23 blast with a backside George reverse saved the day though.
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Post by coachwoodall on Jan 12, 2024 14:09:50 GMT -6
The importance of the eyes as part of performance is something that I really embraced because of Coach Saban. As a coach or player to maximize potential you have to have great eye discipline. I’ve been doing this twenty years and one of the biggest catalysts for improving players across the board had been placing a high emphasis on eye discipline. Also Coach’s ability to embrace change has been hugely impactful on an old stubborn asss like me. YES! I won't say I got it from Saban, but before I crawl a kid the first thing I ask is "What did (read key) do?"
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Post by coachwoodall on Jan 12, 2024 0:14:16 GMT -6
It's intersting on the 2 high/splt coverage thing as to where Patterson or Saban did it 'first'
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Post by coachwoodall on Jan 12, 2024 0:09:10 GMT -6
This doesn't bother me at all because I think kids' lives are too regimented. I think that, rather than playing organized team sports, they should be playing outside, figuring out things for themselves. I agree, there isn't enough recess in schools today, much less nap time. On the other hand I grew in the South and we played 'tackle' football beginning in the 1st grade.... and we were probably better coached than most HS programs today.
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Post by coachwoodall on Jan 6, 2024 12:40:07 GMT -6
God is Great, beer is good, and people are crazy.
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Post by coachwoodall on Jan 2, 2024 8:17:58 GMT -6
I could not get it to load when I clicked it... anyone else get it? You should be able to duels it
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Post by coachwoodall on Jan 1, 2024 21:53:44 GMT -6
Yeah, I know. Our S&S coach made a nutrition manual for all these thing but he was realistic enough to make each one of these type 'meals' as a gold, silver, bronze level of eating. Basically if you're a rich kid/pro level athlete the gold are things like what she listed. But he included the bronze level which was basically what anyone could afford and was realistic for most anyone. Can you share it? Would love to see it... Kids need to see something to strive for - love the levels... link
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