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Post by coachdoug on Sept 25, 2014 7:04:27 GMT -6
I suppose it depends on the league/National Organization (if any) that your organization belongs to. If it's Pop Warner or AYF, I'm pretty sure you need to have 16 available to play at all times or you forfeit. If it's a local league, then it's up that league's rules.
Regarding your original question, I follow the same basic practice format, regardless of team size (obviously, some of the drills will vary, but the basic schedule is the same):
30 Minutes - Everyday drills (about 7 minutes on each): -- Dynamic Warm-up -- Position-Specific Warm-ups (Settle-n-Noose or Pat-n-Go for backs/recvrs, and Agilities for linemen) -- Pursuit Drill (line up defense, coach as "rabbit" shows fast flow in either direction, or middle flow, or pass, etc. - defense must know gap assignments and pursuit angles and sprint to ball). -- Tackling Circuit
60 Minutes - Individual and/or Group Drills. Depending on day and focus (i.e. offense, defense, spec teams), we would break into linemen and backs; or linemen, receivers, running backs, and QBs; or d-line, LBs, and DBs; etc. This is the bulk of practice - small groups working with a position coach on the skills they need to play more effectively. If we're installing something new, it will get introduced here. There should not be a lot of yelling and screaming during this period - this is a learning and refining time, with a focus on technique. We may combine some of the groups to work on specific things like 7-on-7, or inside run game (interior linemen, TEs, and RBs). The coordinator in charge of that day's practice will let the position coaches know what new installs are to be done, and what skills he wants to see improved, and can dictate a drill or two, but it's largely up to the position coach how he wants to achieve the result.
20 Minutes - Team (offense, defense, or special teams). Run all 11 against air, or with coaches holding bags at critical defensive positions. Full team installs of new plays (goes pretty quickly if everyone did their install correctly during Indy time). Run through of opening script for the coming week.
10 Minutes - Full Scrimmage (Full 11-on-11 or with coaches filling in select positions on defense, or half-line) or Full Competitive Conditioning Game, or Conditioning, or PAT work
If we run over anywhere, the last segment gets dropped, which probably happens at least half of the time.
You may have noticed that my team does almost no conditioning - we try very hard to practice at a high pace - constantly having the kids moving, not waiting in lines, running multiple stations, very little talking, high reps, coaching on the run, etc. etc. If you can do that successfully, the kids will get conditioned just by practicing, and they'll have a lot more fun, as well. Plus, they're learning football skills as they get conditioned, rather than just running back and forth.
Hope that helps.
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Post by coachdoug on Sept 14, 2014 22:58:56 GMT -6
I've seen a lot of discussions on here and elsewhere about how to attack a team with an absolute stud at RB or QB or wherever. I've rarely had this type of player in the past (I've been blessed with a few dominate QB's, but never a kid that was physically dominate - that could just run over the other team), but this year, I have a 216-pound RB that is simply a monster. I've been told he runs a 4.8 40 (I'm not sure I believe that, but he is definitely the fastest player on our team and may be the fastest player in our league). I knew he was good, but I had no idea how good until we started playing games. In our first game, a 39-20 win, he had 290 yards rushing on only 11 carries (that's over 26 yards per carry). He also had an interception, probably about 10-12 tackles and a reception for 24 yards. We won our second game last night 22-20 against what figures to be the best competition we'll face this season - I don't have any stats for the game yet, but I would estimate he gained about 180-200 yards on about 20 carries. I'm not exaggerating when I say it generally takes about 4 or 5 defenders to bring him down. I'm an adult and I would not want to try to tackle this kid in the open field with a full head of steam - I can't imagine how intimidating it must be for a 13 year-old to try to take on this kid. This kid is a 9th grader (but his school is all about academics and doesn't have any sports programs - oh, yeah, did I mention that he's a straight A student and just the nicest kid you'd ever want to meet - he's all "yes, sir", "no, sir"), and the Head Varsity football coach at the school whose field we use has already told me that there is no doubt that if he was at that school this year, he would be starting on varsity. So, think about it - this is a legit varsity starter playing against 8th graders. I feel really bad for our opponents - honestly, it's not fair (and I'm kind of embarrassed as a coach, because it's not like our success is due to my coaching - this kid is just unfairly better than everyone else).
So, anyway, my question, for those of you who have been lucky enough to have a player like this in the past, what have you done to keep him safe? My biggest fear is that this kid, who has an amazing future in front of him, will get injured on my watch. I know the standard plan - use him just enough to win, but also use him as a decoy - fake to him and run play action passes, counters, etc. However, that only gets you so far. It's pretty tough during a game, when everyone on the sideline is in your ear, saying, "Just keep feeding him the ball - we need to win this game" or whatever. Luckily, I have earned enough respect within my organization that most of the people in my ear on the sidelines say their peace one time then leave me alone.
Already I can hear from the other sidelines, "Hit him low - take out his knees!!" or "Take him out" or "Hit him until he doesn't want to come back" or whatever. I don't think any of our opponents want to injure him (at least I hope not), but they're correctly determining that no 8th grader is going to bring this kid down hitting him in the chest - they have to take out his legs to have any chance. I'm terrified that I'll over-use him and have him sustain a serious injury on my watch. I don't think I could live with myself if that happened.
I've been lucky enough to win our first couple of games, but now this kid has a bulls-eye on his chest. EVERYONE in our league knows about him now and they'll all be gunning for him. I always thought I wanted to have a player like this, and don't get me wrong, I LOVE this kid, but it brings with it some stresses that I had never considered. Those of you who have had a player like this, how did you handle it and how did you keep your player safe? Thanks in advance for your help!!
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Post by coachdoug on Sept 14, 2014 20:33:28 GMT -6
Hey coach, welcome to youth football! A handful of comments based on your post:
Thanks for letting us know where you are, but kids are kids everywhere - we pretty much all deal with the same issues.
13 & 14 years old is a tough age. I know because that's the age group I've coached most of the 21 years I've been coaching, including this year. Having said that, kids of all ages crave an adult to give them structure and discipline - even if they appear to want the opposite on the outside, inside they're all looking for someone to give them direction - if you can do that for them, they'll follow you anywhere and do anything for you.
Egos should not be an issue with youth - let them know you're the boss and if they want to play they'll need to follow your program. They all want to play, so the threat of not playing generally is enough to pull them into line. You have to be tough, though, and not let your best athlete call your bluff - don't be afraid to send anyone packing. Once they understand that you mean business, the others should fall into line.
Of course, there is a lot more to it than that - you have to know your stuff and be able to put them in a position to be successful - if you don't know what you're doing, the kids will be able to figure that out almost instantaneously (they're generally pretty smart that way), and they'll lose respect as you try to enforce your rules and you risk having players walk out on you. But, if you know what you're doing, and the team can see that it's improving and they'll miss out on something if they don't fall into line, then they'll do so quickly.
Ultimately, this is a very deep, involved discussion about what it takes to be successful as a coach at any level, and it cannot be addressed in a simple message board post. Feel free to PM me here if you want to discuss this in greater detail.
I wish you the best of luck.
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Post by coachdoug on Aug 22, 2014 9:58:26 GMT -6
Don't over complicate things - just work on whatever your team needs to work on. Give the other team's coaches a little credit - they're going to scout you and figure out what you do anyway, so what difference does it make what you show in the scrimmage? If what they see in the scrimmage is going to make any significant difference when they see you in a game situation several weeks down the road, then they are not very good coaches anyway, so again, what difference does is make? Just do what you do, focus on improving your own team and don't worry too much about what your opponent is doing or seeing you do.
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Post by coachdoug on Aug 16, 2014 0:34:32 GMT -6
Sounds like you have it figured out - did you have a question?
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Post by coachdoug on Jun 18, 2014 2:43:07 GMT -6
Coach, I've been coaching for 21 years, but only a couple years with kids anywhere near that young. It's a challenge. However, I did spend a couple seasons with the younger kids and I was on the Board of our program for 9 years, so I did pick up a few things that might be useful for you.
#1 - The kids' attention span is VERY short at that age, so keep your staff very organized so that you're moving quickly from drill to drill (i.e. spell out in your practice plan which coaches are working on each drill and which coaches are setting up the next drill - having kids that young sitting around waiting for coaches to set up cones or bags or whatever is a recipe for disaster). Also keep each segment of practice (i.e. each drill) down to about 5 minutes or less. Keep 'em moving, and keep changing things up. If you do this, 1.5 or 2 hours will go by before your kids know it. If not, you'll quickly hear kids complaining about being bored and poor behavior will be the natural result.
#2 - Misdirection works particularly well at the younger ages. Counters, reverses, and gadget plays are all especially effective at this level so use them liberally - far more often than you might with older kids.
#3 - The younger the kids are, the more important fundamentals, learning the game, and general fun are, and the less important winning is. Having said that, keep in mind that winning and doing one's job successfully (i.e. executing properly) is fun. Make practices fun, competitive (i.e. have a winner and a loser in every drill), high paced, and high paced, and you'll probably have a happy group of players.
#4 - Teach your kids the passing game. You may never be able to use it in a game at this level, but the kids will absolutely love it and it will want to make them practice more, plus it will help prepare them for later years when they will be able to pass the pass.
I'm sure there are other things, but that's what I came up with off the top of my head. Good luck to you, coach.
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Post by coachdoug on Mar 2, 2014 15:30:20 GMT -6
I disagree with the guys that commented that HS coaches should stay out of youth football. When I first read that I thought maybe I missed something, so I went back and re-read the entire thread. No one said any such thing. The only comment that was even close enough to be misinterpreted that way was mine, so I'm assuming that your comment was directed at me. Please allow me to clarify what I said. I've never said (or even thought) that HS coaches should stay out of youth football. I welcome involvement from HS coaches - the more we all work together, the better it is for the kids, which hopefully is one of the central goals of everyone involved. This off-season, I've already personally met with 3 of the local varsity head coaches of the schools where most of my kids will go, and had some brief face time with a fourth this weekend at the Glazier clinic. I attend spring and summer practices of at least 3 or 4 local high schools as well as off-season skills development camps run by coaches all over San Diego County. I also attend at least 5-10 local HS games every season. What I said was very specific and limited solely to SCHEME - HS coaches have no business dictating scheme to their local youth program unless they are in a pretty rare situation of having the youth program almost exclusively feed one HS and that HS is highly involved with providing support to the youth program. Even then, given the realities of staff turnover and changes in philosophy, it's probably not that good of any idea as it's pretty unlikely that the HS will still be running the same scheme by the time the youth players get to the varsity level. However, help and input from HS coaches wrt to everything else is welcome and greatly appreciated. Even help and input wrt to scheme can be welcome and appreciated, so long as it is offered only when asked for and is not handed down as an edict forced upon the youth program against their will. I hope that clears things up.
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Post by coachdoug on Jan 30, 2014 10:55:14 GMT -6
I don't really want to get into this too much here (as it has been discussed ad nauseum in other threads), but unless the youth program is part of the school system or is really tied tightly to the high school (like 90+% of the kids will be going to that HS AND the HS provides a lot of support the youth program), then the HS has absolutely no business telling the youth program what to run from a scheme standpoint. The chances that the HS will still be running those schemes by the time the youth players make it to varsity is minuscule. Just focus on fundamentals and good technique. I think Mahonz's post above is full of excellent advice. I would also suggest making sure you keep it fun. Most youth coaches don't know much about how to coach the passing game, so some on-field demonstrations on throwing mechanics (using younger players, not your polished varsity starter), and how to teach catching would probably be a lot of fun for everyone involved and would likely help the youth coaches in an area where they likely don't have knowledge.
Let me expand on what I mean by teaching catching. Pretty much everyone knows to teach keeping the hands together and to make a diamond shape with the thumbs & forefingers for anything coming in chest high or higher, and the put the thumbs together for anything lower. And, of course, watch the ball all the way into the hands. You can skip (or at least cover very quickly) all that. Focus on the drills you do to develop the skills of catching a ball. Demonstrate players catching 100 tennis balls (or racquetballs, or whatever you use), the arms-around-the-goalpost drill, the turn-and-catch-the-ball-already-in-the-air drill, one-handed catching drills, Settle-n-Noose, Pat-n-Go, catching through disruption, etc, etc. Most youth coaches tell the kids to run 10 yards, cut in and they throw them ball - whichever kids catch the most become receivers, but when they drop a few, the coaches decide that youth players can't catch so they abandon the pass game. Catching, like pretty much everything else, is a skill that can be taught and drilled - give your youth coaches the tools to do so.
Anyway, that same process applies to blocking, tackling, coverage, zone running, etc. I just chose to focus on catching as I know that few youth coaches know how to teach it and I think it would be fun for everyone involved, but if it is more appropriate for your group to focus on something else, pick whatever is best for your situation - just break it down the most basic skills and demonstrate how to teach and drill those skills.
Good luck.
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Post by coachdoug on Jan 17, 2014 11:29:37 GMT -6
I agree with pirate, although I would be interested to hear the other side of the story. My guess is that the people actually making these decisions would probably describe the situation very differently - for instance, what exactly do they not like about the way you "taught the techniques?" However, assuming the situation is more or less as you've presented it, your best option is to take your services elsewhere. There are plenty of youth programs in need of better coaching - go find one that will appreciate what you bring to the table.
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Post by coachdoug on Jan 8, 2014 1:00:31 GMT -6
The best sports to play in the off-season for football players (in the order of preference, IMHO):
1. Martial Arts 2. Wrestling 3a. Basketball 3b. Lacrosse 3c. Rugby 3d. Track
There seems to be something of a correlation with baseball (i.e. a lot of good football players are good at baseball and vice-versa), but I don't see anything about playing baseball that makes a player better at football. JHMO.
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Post by coachdoug on Nov 7, 2013 7:57:31 GMT -6
We are the same as 33coach - full 4-man crews of HS refs. I think we pay them each about $50-$55 per game. Even with HS refs, you're going to get the bottom of the barrel - most of the better officials won't bother with sub-HS games, so it becomes a training ground for newer and weaker officials. Putting HS kids out there that realistically know almost nothing about the rules is lunacy.
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Post by coachdoug on Oct 24, 2013 8:19:59 GMT -6
Welcome to the board. What kind of problems have you had and what have you done to address them?
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Post by coachdoug on Oct 7, 2013 21:01:40 GMT -6
This is a little late in the game. My oldest son was a WR/DE. Punted and kicked XPs. Didn't hear any chatter about my kid's position. My youngest son is in his first year of tackle and happened to have my temperament and a good arm and a pretty good athlete. He plays 1B/BB and S/C on defense. We play a kid a year older than him at 1B just because he is older and a good athlete, I had to be a little harder on him and play him a little less than I should have. He still plays plenty and enjoys the sport. If in a few years when we are at JPW and we turn to a more pro style offense he will start off as our backup QB and then when he puts his dues in will be the starter. We have one other dad coach who plays PT. For the most part our parents have been great save for one parent. I backed up the coaches kid when I was 13. My father did not want to get involved in politics and coaching and stayed out of it. The coaches kid promptly fumbled the ball 25 percent of the time..and the other 2 dad coaches had their kids playing FB and RB. The team went 1-7 and in the one win the starter got hurt and I played the second half and won the game(no Al Bundy). Point being I still feel slighted over that 30 years later. Its not a problem and the kids will be fine with it if the kid is somewhat talented and is serviceable. If the coaches kids play QB/RB/WR and the QB is tough, can throw the ball 25-30 yards and is accurate and doesn't fumble, the RB is a hard runner, doesn't fumble, and is somewhat quick and runs north and south, and the receiver can catch and block and run routes it isn't a problem. Its a completely different story when the QB fumbles the snap all the time, cant throw more than 10 yards and is scared of contact. Ive seen that a fair amount on other teams, and talking to the parents after they hate the coaches and the KID himself knows he isn't any good and is only playing because of his father. That will never come up if the kid himself is a descent player. And usually those teams are pretty good. I will say there is definitely a direct correlation to teams with the coaches kids that play QB, often times if the kid is good, the team is good. If the kid who plays QB stinks than the team stinks. It has way more to do with coaching and playing kids in the right positions with as little nepotism as possible and playing everyone. I have seen teams that have more talent than us especially in youth football struggle because their coaches insist on winning at all costs and playing their kid ALL THE TIME and are only coaching their child not the team. Usually those kids don't play at all in HS and the kids learn nothing warming benches. Our parents know our kids play more than most other kids on other teams and its why they aren't a pain in the butt. My kid actually ranks 10 out of 19 boys in terms of playing time this year when he is actually the 5th or 6th most talented kid. So its possible, but you have to make a constant effort to not show nepotism Pirate: I don't want to call you out, but there are several things in your post that I find very disturbing, so I want to hold up a mirror for anyone that feels as you do so they can take a critical look at their own motivations. First of all, you've planned out years in advance when your son will move from backup to starter. How could you possibly know that? Have you made similar future plans for the playing time of other players on your team? If not, you shouldn't do it with your own son, either. If you do, well, you shouldn't do it with any player. Players should be evaluated on a weekly (if not daily) basis and the players that earn it should play more and the one that don't earn it should play less. Period. (BTW, "earning it" means a lot more than simple athletic or football ability; it includes attendance, work ethic, respectfulness, keeping up with schoolwork, sportsmanship, integrity, perseverance, etc) This is simply something that you cannot plan months, let alone years in advance. Separately, you make several references to playing your own son less than you should or being harder on him than other players. I've got news for you, being harder on your own kid, or treating him differently in any way, IS showing favoritism. If you can't treat him exactly the same way you treat the other kids, then you probably shouldn't coach him at all. If you can't be unbiased in evaluating him (and a lot of parents can't, so there is no shame in that), then make sure another coach makes the decisions about his position group (and make sure that you go out of your way to assure that coach that his decisions will NOT be second-guessed, and then DON'T second-guess them). If that means that your son is the QB for every snap, then so be it, and if it means that your son only gets minimum plays at DT, then that's what you do. Ask yourself, if this was just some kid you don't know, and not your son, what decision would you make (or allow another staff member to make that decision if you know you can't be unbiased), and then that is what you do. Like I said, I don't know you at all, and you may handle the whole coaching your own kid thing exceptionally well, but I've heard similar things to what you said enough times from guys that didn't get it, that it just threw up a bunch of red flags for me. Even if all this doesn't apply to you, I'm quite sure it will apply to some who read it.
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Post by coachdoug on Oct 4, 2013 6:22:23 GMT -6
I have them to broad, but I don't have another way to say right now... even is both guard are covered by down linemen and the center has a backer over him. Odd is just the opposite. Both Guard have backers over them and center is covered by a down linemen if you pay attention who is in the game, odd and even will tell you who is covered and uncovered as well. Over is the center and Strong guard covered by down linemen, the weak guard covered by a linebacker Under is the center and WEAK guard covered by a down linemen and the strong guard covered by a linebacker. bear. Both guard and center are covered by down linem, the tackles are now covered by backers. If you pay attention to base personnel, those things will tell you who is covered and who is uncovered. I have two definitions of covered. One is covered by a down linemen, the other is covered by a backer. Uncovered they either see the endzone, goal post or green green grass or a safety in front of them...but no backer or down linemen over them. That's what I figured you meant, but I thought it would be a good idea to spell it out for the board. Thanks for the clear explanation.
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Post by coachdoug on Oct 3, 2013 12:13:37 GMT -6
An even defense is not an even defense??? Can you explain what you meant? sorry, wrong word. DO NOT make the mistake of calling an over, under or bear an odd or even defense. THEY ARE NOT. Okay, that makes more sense - I probably could have figured out that's what you meant if I gave it another minute or two. How do you define even and odd defenses and what makes Over, Under, and Bear defenses not conform to those definitions?
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Post by coachdoug on Oct 3, 2013 12:08:02 GMT -6
DO NOT make the mistake of calling an over, even or bear an odd or even defense. THEY ARE NOT. An even defense is not an even defense??? Can you explain what you meant?
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Post by coachdoug on Oct 1, 2013 23:40:29 GMT -6
Sure, you could have handled it better, but now that it's done, I'm not quite sure how the parents are giving you a hard time unless you're allowing them to. If the kid quit the team, then neither you nor your program have any official relationship with this kid and his family anymore - you have no obligation to talk with, or even listen to his parents. If they contact you, just politely state, "Junior is no longer a member of our team - that was his decision. I have nothing more to say to you. If you wish to discuss it further, you should take it up with your son - again, it was his decision." Then walk away (or hang up or whatever). You can leave the door open for Junior to come back if you want, but state what the conditions are for his return. A good start would be a written apology to you and the coaching staff; a verbal apology to the team, and a promise to be respectful and cause no more drama for the rest of the season (from both the player and the parents). I think he's afraid of the possible fall out. If the parents are that upset they can go over the coach's head and that's more wasted time he has to deal with explaining himself. In today's day and age you can't say anything anymore, it's rediculous. Last week a girl in my class who has all types of problems kept telling me she couldn't concentrate and that she has axiety blah blah so she didn't have to do any work. In a serious reply I said, if it's that much of a problem for you to concentrate and sit still you should make an appointment with your doctor. She stormed out and told one of her counselors what I said and I had to explain myself. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using proboards I totally understand that, and like I said, the initial situation certainly could have and should have been handled differently. But, at this point, this kid is no longer a player and the parents are no longer part of the program, so there really is no reason to deal with them, other than to mitigate whatever damage they can do talking to your remaining players and their families. Your situation with a student is completely different because she is still a student. If she had dropped out school and you saw her the next day and made the same comment (i.e. after she's no longer a student at your school), do you really think you'd have the same situation? A little diplomacy is probably called for, but I think it's important to understand that the OP is now operating from a position of strength - he has all the leverage. If he is willing to take the kid back, he holds all the cards to specify the conditions under which the kid can return. If he is not willing to take the kid back - well, the kid's decision to leave was his own, so the coach has absolutely no obligation to take him back. Yes, you may have to explain yourself to the Board or whatever, but it should be a pretty short conversation. It's not like the kid quit because of the coach's comments. The kid quit first - the coach didn't make any comment until after the kid quit. So, the explanation to the board goes something like this, "Well, I never addressed this player or his family with anything other than respect while he was a member of this program. However, he made the decision to quit from this program, and only after he was no longer a member of this program did I point out to him that being labelled a quitter might have ramifications that won't serve him well in high school or anywhere else in his later life. I would think that teaching this type of life lesson would be exactly what we're trying to do here. If I had this type of conversation online with a prospective player in a different part of the country, I doubt anyone would have any issue with it - to the contrary I would expect to be praised for teaching appropriate life lessons that will serve the student well in later life. I fail to see how this situation is any different. Perhaps the Board should take a few moments to decide what our mission is. If you all decide that encouraging this type of excuse making and pointing the finger at others when things don't go your way is characteristic of the type of player you want develop, please let me know and I will take my services elsewhere. However, if you share my goal of teaching life lessons like accountability, integrity, discipline, sportsmanship, perseverance, and a desire to be the best you can be, then you'll support my decision with regard to this player and his family. If he'll apologize to the team and coaching staff and promise to cause no more drama, we'll take him back; otherwise, he is off the team permanently."
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Post by coachdoug on Oct 1, 2013 7:06:48 GMT -6
Sure, you could have handled it better, but now that it's done, I'm not quite sure how the parents are giving you a hard time unless you're allowing them to. If the kid quit the team, then neither you nor your program have any official relationship with this kid and his family anymore - you have no obligation to talk with, or even listen to his parents. If they contact you, just politely state, "Junior is no longer a member of our team - that was his decision. I have nothing more to say to you. If you wish to discuss it further, you should take it up with your son - again, it was his decision." Then walk away (or hang up or whatever).
You can leave the door open for Junior to come back if you want, but state what the conditions are for his return. A good start would be a written apology to you and the coaching staff; a verbal apology to the team, and a promise to be respectful and cause no more drama for the rest of the season (from both the player and the parents).
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Post by coachdoug on Sept 23, 2013 8:59:07 GMT -6
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Post by coachdoug on Sept 11, 2013 13:59:03 GMT -6
Technically if it was a dead ball foul then it should be Automatic 1st. If it was in the act of the play then the REF is correct! that is the distinction that you should have asked for from REF. REFs are in no way always right, but they are the rules enforcers and if you approach them with a question instead of a fiery tongue you get more from them! (Not saying you were belligerent to them at all just a general statement) I don't think so, parpumper. I don't have a rule book with me at the moment, but I'm pretty sure that the only penalties that carry an automatic first down are the roughing penalties (passer, holder, kicker). I'm not aware of any distinction between a live ball or dead ball personal foul as far as enforcement goes, except on a scoring play (and even then, auto first down does not come into play). If you have a rule reference, please cite it.
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Post by coachdoug on Aug 5, 2013 14:24:49 GMT -6
That is great!! Give it some time though it takes a while for those types of kids to come into their own! and at least with 0 liabilities you can actually play everyone and develop them. How does your tailback look? The tailback looks okay so far, but again, we're just in shorts and helmets right now, so I won't really know anything until we get into pads .... and he's on vacation this whole week, so I won't be able to really see what he can do until next week. Auuugghhh. Again, the biggest issue right now is overall numbers & depth - I only have 16 on the roster - I really need another 5-7 players ASAP. I ask the kids to recruit up their friends every night. I've had a couple inquiries, but nothing solid so far. It's going to be a challenge bringing in kids that are a couple weeks behind everyone else, but I don't think I have many options here.
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Post by coachdoug on Aug 1, 2013 23:51:57 GMT -6
Well, after our first practice, I'm encouraged, but still have the same basic fears - a lack of depth and no obvious superstars. We'll have at least 6-8 above-average athletes, but it drops off drastically after that. On the bright side, I didn't see any kids tonight that looked like total liabilities. This group appeared to have a reasonable high sports IQ, listened well, took direction, were largely coachable and just seemed like a really good group of kids. I don't think we'll be any threat to win a national championship, and I think even our local league championship is a bit of a pipe dream, but I'm hopeful, that we can play with and defeat most of the teams in our league. I think 7-3 or 8-2 is probably very realistic for this group. We'll see ...
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Post by coachdoug on Jul 31, 2013 0:01:21 GMT -6
you gave them 25 extra pounds to carry around ... basically they are trying to do drills with a sack of sugar strapped to there back 25 extra pounds??? Good lord, what kind of equipment are you putting your kids in?? Our equipment, fully loaded, is about 5 or 6 pounds. I can't imagine what you could possibly put on a kid that would be legal equipment that would weigh anywhere near that much, lol. Seriously, I get that you were exaggerating, but that was a bit over the top. Anyway, your point is well taken - even a few extra pounds, and the restrictions to movement they cause can make your players look far worse than they really are for a few days until they get used to it.
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Post by coachdoug on Jul 30, 2013 23:53:14 GMT -6
Pirate - if you're that worried about what everyone else thinks, you probably shouldn't be HC. Yes, you should do what's best for the team, but if you look at it objectively (collecting input from all your ACs) and determine that your son at QB is what's best for the team, then that is what you should do. Not doing so when it's the best thing for the team just to avoid the criticism of the uninformed parents is just as bad as naming your kid as a starter at a position he doesn't deserve just because you're the coach.
Honestly, I bristle when I hear Daddy coaches talking about how they don't play favorites because "I'm harder on my son than any other player." Well, I got news for all those coaches - being harder on your own son is playing favorites. If you can't treat your own son the same as the other players (not better, no worse), then you probably shouldn't coach him. It's tough, but I've coached with a number of guys who did it very well, so it's definitely doable. Good luck to you and your son.
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Post by coachdoug on Jul 26, 2013 23:48:37 GMT -6
Have you ever thought about moving 1 of your recievers to tail? You run more of a simplified version of the air raid. You can work with 2 good recievers by moving them around and teach the newbies to play a bit. Why not put one of the weaker recievers at tail and have him do his thing? He would probably be no better or worse than your current RB. Plus with a weaker QB, its imperative that you can run the ball well..that sounds like a pretty good team my only advice would be that..what do you think? Yeah, that's pretty much what I'm doing. The kid I'm looking at for RB is probably one of the 2 best overall athletes on the team, but he doesn't seem to catch very well. I won't really know until we get 'em in pads, but I'm hopeful he'll be a decent RB. I'm pretty sure I'll have at least 2 guys that can play receiver. I think we'll be fine at QB - not nearly as good as last year, but still well above average. The line is a bit of a concern. I'm pretty confident we'll have at least 2, maybe 3 kids that can play, but if I have to go with 2 other weaker players up front, it could really limit what we can do. I think we'll be okay with the starters (maybe two or three positions will be substantially weaker than I would like to see), but I'm very concerned about depth and having a team with nearly 1/2 MPPs. Again, I won't really know about any of that until we get into pads. Hopefully it will be better than it looks right now. Thanks for your thoughts.
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Post by coachdoug on Jul 25, 2013 10:26:49 GMT -6
That kid that played QB for me last year was special. The kids I have this year should be okay, but it will be a big drop off from last year - you just don't get a kid like that every year.
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Post by coachdoug on Jul 25, 2013 1:41:15 GMT -6
Well, it's not looking very good right now. 5 of 21 with experience is probably about average for a 9-10 yr-old team, but I have the 8th graders (12-14), so I would hope that at least half our guys have solid experience. Right now I have 15 or 16 players - 2 from last year's unlimited team (same age group), 3 from last year's Jr. Midget team, and 3 with experience in other organizations. So, that's 8 with any experience at all. We'll need to pick up another 6-8 players, none of which are likely to have any experience, so that will probably end up being 14-16 first year players. Yikes!!
On the bright side of things, I have 2 kids that can play QB (don't know how well yet, but at least I know they can handle the basics). I've got at least 2-3 kids that can play receiver (I'd like to have 6+), and I have some decent size up front - probably 2 kids in the 190-200 range, and another 3-4 in the 170-190 range. I also have one kid that can play RB okay running around in shorts, but I still have to see what he can do in pads. Defensively, I suspect we'll have a serviceable kid for every position, but I'm very worried about depth - if we have any injuries or attrition, we're going to be in trouble.
It should be a good challenge and a lot of fun.
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Post by coachdoug on Jul 21, 2013 11:01:54 GMT -6
This is a tough one. I think it has less to do with age and more to do with people not wanting to accept that their way of doing things is outdated and needs to change. A few years ago (I was 44 at the time) I moved to Tucson (thankfully I was just there one season) and was named HC of the local Jr. Midget team. Almost immediately everything I was doing was being questioned. Despite almost 20 years of coaching experience and a pretty good track record, if I did anything that was different from what they were used to, I was criticized no matter what documentation I produced to support my actions. No one there had ever seen a dynamic warmup before and they actually disciplined me for not doing static stretching for 20 minutes as our warmup. I produced dozens of reports and quotes from college and NFL strength and conditioning guys showing that I was doing it correctly, but because there was one guy in the organization that had a cup of coffee in the NFL 20 years ago, and he said I was doing it wrong, they jumped all over me.
Ultimately, I think you have to demonstrate success within your current organization to get the Daddy Ballers to pay attention. Even then, expect to hear comments like, "Yeah, well, anyone could have won a championship with all the talent he had on that team." Daddy Ballers in particular, but even non-daddy coaches, tend to be an arrogant bunch that think they have all the answers and often take offense at anyone telling them that there is a better way to do things. How good is your relationship with your program's president? It will make a big difference if the president (or Athletic Director, or whoever the coaches report to and respect) delivers a message along the lines of, "Look guys, this new program is not just a PR stunt - this is coming down from the highest levels and, honestly, most good HS, college and NFL programs have been teaching it this way for over the past 10 years. It's time we caught up and started teaching things the same way. I get that this will be a bit of a change for some of you, and it will be uncomfortable for some of you, but you better get on board or you won't be coaching here anymore. 33coach is in charge of this program and what he says goes. I know he's young, but honestly guys, any of you could have volunteered for this position, but you didn't and he did - he's earned the position and your respect, so get on board with the program. He will be giving me regular updates on your compliance with this program and if you're not cooperating, you will be replaced. It's that simple."
Dealing with youth coaches can be a challenge. Good luck.
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Post by coachdoug on Jul 19, 2013 16:27:26 GMT -6
You may want to be careful with this if you are a Pop Warner organization. I'm pretty sure having kids from different age/weight groups practice together is strictly forbidden under PW rules, regardless of whether the shared practices are contact or not.
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Post by coachdoug on Jul 19, 2013 8:21:55 GMT -6
Kids of any age can throw the ball effectively if you know how to coach it - I think that has been proven time and again. However, most coaches don't really understand how to coach it, and it becomes a cluster. If you're a Cisar UBSW guy, then I think your plan for limited passing using play-action and calling the play when you see your defensive indicators telling you it will be open is a good plan.
Probably the single biggest thing with teaching young kids the passing game is making sure the QB gets the ball off on time. Most coaches will tell the QB something like, "Look for Johnny, but if he's not open, throw to the open guy," or "Your progression is Z to R to X to Y, and don't forget if they're blitzing, you will have Y hot on a shortened route." Either way, your QB is going to be confused and will hesitate and that will get him sacked or cause him to make mistakes. If you give your QB simple reads (e.g. watch the OLB - if he gets depth with the dig, throw the shallow, if he sits on the shallow, throw over him to the dig), and drill his footwork and pound into his head that certain decisions must be made by certain steps in his footwork, then you have a pretty good chance of getting the ball off without getting sacked and with the QB making the right decision to avoid INTs.
Last year (granted at the 8th grade level with an exceptional QB) we threw for about 2000 yds in 10 games, 29 TDs and 4 picks. Here is a cutup of some of what our offense looked like:
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