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Post by cqmiller on Oct 31, 2011 19:32:50 GMT -6
4 Regions (conferences) per Division:
Region 1 #1 vs. Region 2 #4 Region 3 #2 vs. Region 4 #3
Region 2 #1 vs. Region 3 #4 Region 4 #2 vs. Region 1 #3
Region 3 #1 vs. Region 4 #4 Region 1 #2 vs. Region 2 #3
Region 4 #1 vs. Region 1 #4 Region 2 #2 vs. Region 3 #3
Conference records are the only consideration. This year has had a few interesting seedings. One team started season 5-0 and lost 4 of 5 conference games so they ended 5-5 and are out. Another team was shutout the first 5 weeks but won 3 of their conference games so they made the playoffs with a 3-7 record.
I like it much better than the CA "BCS" system where teams are arbitrarily ranked and not everyone is given a fair shot. Regions (conferences) must have all schools of the same size (All D1's or All D2's). In CA there is a league with everything from D1 all the way to D5 in the same league. Making an accurate comparison of teams is impossible in that case.
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Post by cqmiller on Oct 29, 2011 14:19:51 GMT -6
Decide what your MAXIMUM you put into the computer will be and any run longer than that MAX value will only count as that number. That would make the data much more useful in terms of median, STD Dev, and chi-squared values.
It would be up to you whether you are looking for a true-mean or if you are looking for consistency. If all you are looking for is consistency, then anything that is >5 yd loss just count as -5 and anything longer than 5 count as +5. That would give you a range of 11 values to use with 0 being the middle. You would then hope that you have a skewed set of data with a large number at the 3, 4, and 5 values with very few in the 0, -1, -2, -3, -4, and hopefully none in the -5.
Then you would have a better set of data to check consistency. If you are looking for explosiveness, then you would increase that +5 max value to a larger number. Again setup your parameters to give you the best opportunity to solve what you are looking for.
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Post by cqmiller on Oct 27, 2011 15:35:47 GMT -6
I'm with CB...
Any of those "explosive plays" (For us runs longer than 15 and passes longer than 20) need to be dropped. If you are looking for a true down-by-down estimate you cannot include any of the plays that break for that long. It makes all of your averages and stats completely skewed.
Think about the good college/NFL teams that run zone. You will see a RB with 35 carries for 70 yards (2 yd avg.) at the beginning of the 4th quarter, and if you watch the game you are thinking that the running game stinks. Then you flip the channel and 5 minutes later you see 40 carries for 175 yards and 2 TD's. All because of 1 really big gain late in the 4th quarter. Completely makes the stats lie.
I equate it to what happened to Oregon vs. LSU this season. They have HAMMERED most of the teams they have played because those quick RB's will break a 90 yd run untouched or a 75 yd run untouched. Against LSU, they never got those HUGE plays and they looked inept on the ground as a result. Anyone who just looks at the numbers after the game will not have any idea as to what actually happened. A 4 TD win could have been from just 4 breakaway runs.
Look at the Broncos last week... 58 minutes of TERRIBLE offense and 2 minutes of okay offense gives them a win.
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Post by cqmiller on Oct 27, 2011 12:01:48 GMT -6
I hate visors, we fight it every year. Why do people think a clear visor looks cool? IT's CLEAR!!! Other stuff that protects you under the jersey I don't care about. We don't have kids that wear neck rolls or anything like that here. Rib protectors and flack jackets I support. anything that prevents an injury I am for. Gloves, i prefer players wear gloves as long as they are team colored. A few years ago we had a kid wear gloves like the seahawks wear (lime green) (our school colors are purple and black) Plus he played DB, and got burnt a lot. Not really a good idea (throw at the kid in the green gloves) It is always that kid that has the flashy crap on... Always feel like telling them, "Why make everyone notice how terrible you are?"
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Post by cqmiller on Oct 27, 2011 6:05:48 GMT -6
If you make it part of your standard gear than I don't see anything wrong with it... I know most D1 programs make their OL wear knee braces whether they need them or not. If you feel that they help you in some way, then make it a requirement for players at that position and then everyone is in uniform.
I hate the kids that want to stand out and be the only one with the red towel or the only one with a visor... If the ENTIRE TEAM wants visors then we will get them. Haven't had to deal with that one yet either.
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Post by cqmiller on Oct 26, 2011 20:34:54 GMT -6
Nothing that the trainer doesn't tell me they NEED to prevent/help an injury besides gloves. Didn't want to fight the gloves issue, but the tape, towels, etc... is well worth it. Only 1 issue this year and it was dealt with firmly and no other issues since.
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Post by cqmiller on Oct 22, 2011 21:59:05 GMT -6
I hate it... use it as a timeout. Had a parent of one of my players screaming from the stands that my kids need to take a knee when the other team's player had a cramp and I had them come over to the sideline.
I never see college teams doing anything like that unless it is a REALLY bad injury.
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Post by cqmiller on Oct 16, 2011 11:42:46 GMT -6
Its your program Miller! how would you be able to do halftime adjustments if its done at half? I know Pat... This place was almost as bad as GW when I got here. Taking a lot of work to try and get this thing moving the right direction. Week 10 on Wednesday night. Opportunity to get the 1st 4-win season since 2008 and we got our first league win since 2004 last Friday. Program has been so bad in the past that the final games of the season don't mean anything so they have developed this "homecoming, senior night, and senior gifts are more important than the games" attitude. We are getting it changed though. If you get accepted at the U you always got a spot here to coach. I need a couple more coaches who understand scheme. Got some good motivators, good teachers, but only 2 of us who know scheme. Gotta teach the coaches and the players. Hit me up and let me know how you do this week.
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Post by cqmiller on Oct 14, 2011 16:53:33 GMT -6
I'm dealing with a few boosters who are killing me about when this thing should be. Every school I've ever been at has done before the last game, but apparently some people want it done during the game.
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Post by cqmiller on Aug 31, 2011 14:00:10 GMT -6
How do you get a printed report at half? Isn't using a computer against competition rules?
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Post by cqmiller on Jul 31, 2011 8:31:59 GMT -6
We play on August 19th... cannot start practices until tomorrow (Aug 1st). Cannot have contact until August 8th. We go 10 weeks plus a 4 game state playoff. 14 week season plus the 2 weeks of 2-a-days.
16 weeks and we are done.
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Post by cqmiller on Jun 20, 2011 12:24:40 GMT -6
There is a league in Central California that has D1-D5 schools all in the same league... joke for determining playoffs and seeding.
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Post by cqmiller on Jun 8, 2011 8:48:19 GMT -6
We take them outside and stand about 25 yards apart from each other and just throw bounce passes off the ground to one another for about 20 minutes.
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Post by cqmiller on Jun 7, 2011 8:40:25 GMT -6
A good coach can only maximize what he is surrounded by. Some programs heve low ceilings due to what some of the other guys have mentioned:
Athletes (year-to-year) Admininstrative Support Parental Support Economics of school/area 1,000,000 other things
That doesn't mean that the coach has built in excuses, but everyone knows that if Vanderbilt or Duke goes 8-4 in football it is an amazing season for them. They have low ceilings due to many factors compared to their competition. I have been around coaches who have gone through perfect seasons, won titles, and had all the glory in a program, but would tell everyone that they were coaching 1000 times more and 1000 times better when they were with another program and was going 4-6 each year.
I know of plenty of coaches that are great coaches and have a decent chance to make playoffs every year, but not really a chance to go all the way. There is a great WingT coach around here that is stuck behind another team that had 14 kids sign this year. The WingT guy hasn't won a league or state title in quite a while because he is in with the other team that is completely loaded. Finished in the top 25 in the country last year. Good coaches come with all kinds of records, unfortunately bad coaches come with all kinds of records too
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Post by cqmiller on May 19, 2011 19:56:11 GMT -6
I love Ripon as well... They are very good Jerseys. We ended up going with Under Armour this year as we received a contract with them and the new uniforms just came in. I am very impressed with them so far. Anxious to see how they hold up, but they look and feel on-par with the Ripon ones.
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Post by cqmiller on May 17, 2011 15:35:19 GMT -6
LOL... that is what I have to be! I am given 6 bags of peanuts, I mean stipends, for the entire year and I need them to at least keep few coordinators and position coaches. I run the weights all year long. If I had more control over $$$ in/out then I would try to create one.
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Post by cqmiller on May 16, 2011 11:54:20 GMT -6
I would assume it has to do with the worry of "recruiting" players to the other school. Rather than have to police it, they just say NONE OF THIS ___. It would help me though because the HC/DC and OC from last year are still teaching here but are coaching at other schools now that I have the job here. I could really use those teaching jobs to bring in 2 of my guys, but without that rule, I have to try and work around them.
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Post by cqmiller on May 14, 2011 16:04:40 GMT -6
I hope the 6 week turnaround is what we get... We open camp on Aug 1st and play our 1st game on Aug 19th! Supposed to break ground as soon as school ends June 7th-ish. Gonna have to sort out practices and 7on7 this summer and hope to have the new field ready to go by the time we open camp.
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Post by cqmiller on May 10, 2011 18:03:18 GMT -6
Our school runs right out to the football field by a concrete tunnel directly out onto the field. We have a smoke machine that was left over from who knows when... We are going to come out to the smoke with "sandstorm" playing in the stadium.
I will get some film on it and post when we do it for the 1st time on August 12th, 2011
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Post by cqmiller on May 10, 2011 17:56:07 GMT -6
We had 65 players in the weightroom at 5:30 AM this morning but only 6 of them have all of their paperwork turned in that is due tomorrow. Wow - you have a weight room that will hold 65 kids, and there was that many there at 5:30 AM on May 10?! I'll bet you get necessary paper work before season starts. We have 95 who have been to 5:30 AM at least 3 of the 20 times we have held it over the last month, with 119 kids who have "signed up" to play football, I'm sure that 20-30 of those kids I will never see, but I have been very pleasantly surprised so far. I got hired in February at a school that has been down for more than 10 years and have a group of 37 seniors that are DYING to be good at football and an incoming freshman class of about 25 who are going to be studs. My incoming sophs and juniors I only have about 15-20 total that I can rely on. Getting more kids out in those 2 grades is going to be critical moving forward. It has been a great situation so far. We have started off strong with everyone being excited about the new head coach, new league realignments, new offense, new defense... basically we are just trying to turn this thing inside-out and rebuild it. I went out and worked my butt off to get us an Under Armour sponsorship before my 1st major parent/player meeting, so I threw that out there and the kids have been coming in droves ever since. Everyone was ready for a change and I walked into a great situation. When these 37 seniors leave and I have to play all of thos incoming freshman on varsity when they are sophs will be the year I need to earn my money. The culture you surround yourself with is the one that the players will pick up on, and I have hired a staff of guys who do not accept excuses and are all about doing things the right way. They can't get away with anything less anymore and the kids actually love it. They complain from time to time, but they always seem to respond.
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Post by cqmiller on May 10, 2011 12:13:03 GMT -6
Example from today...
We had 65 players in the weightroom at 5:30 AM this morning but only 6 of them have all of their paperwork turned in that is due tomorrow. We had 6 of those folded up Gatorade towels that were just sitting in the office, so I announced the names of the 6 players who are "doing things right and not waiting until the last minute" and handed them each one of those towels. Nothing huge, but it sends a message to every kid in that weightroom... Doing the right thing could one day get me something that the guy next to me won't get.
If you send that message to them and show them that you notice and appreciate the kids that do thing the way they are supposed to be done, eventually it seeps into their skulls (takes longer for some than others).
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Post by cqmiller on May 9, 2011 10:03:35 GMT -6
I've seen severe consequences mentioned a few times. What are some example so punishments you use for say being tardy, detentions during school, unexcused absences, general disrespect in school, failing grades? They spend a lot of their weekend picking splinters out of their butt because they ride the pine all game. I don't run them or scream at them; I let them know that if they want to be a player they'd better act like one. Spectators don't play. This has always been the quickest way for us to fix poor behavior. Those few kids that don't respond just quit, which is fine with me. Couldn't agree more... make sure the kids know that if you wanna see the field, you will fall in line. If you let the inmates run the prison, all hell will break loose.
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Post by cqmiller on May 9, 2011 9:52:10 GMT -6
Each time a midterm or term report card goes out, we list a new Depth Chart. Any player with an F is removed from the depth chard and does not get placed back on until the next grading period. They get it figured out when they are no longer mentioned as the starter during any meetings, drills, group work, etc...
You have to break some eggs in order to make an omlette.
As far as tardies in school, detentions, disrespect... making the entire team run because of a couple of knuckleheads usually fixes that because the players either fix it or run the kid off the team. Unexcused absences are completely unacceptable as they will probably miss practice too, so he won't play for me if he misses practice.
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Post by cqmiller on May 9, 2011 9:20:03 GMT -6
There is no entitlement in our program. My coaches are expected to fundraise $1000 each in order to get their coaching gear. I take care of them with about $750 worth of gear and the rest goes to pay the extra coaches I have on top of the 5 that the district pays. Each player must also meet the minimum requirements in order to get everything. We have minimum requirements for their fundraisers and those requirements correspond to specific things the players can earn. Our major fundraiser is coming up on May 21st. Each player is required to raise $300 to earn their "spirit pack" which gets them:
1) 1st $40 - Green Practice Jersey (serves as home jersey for JV/Soph teams 2) 2nd $40 - White Practice Jersey (serves as away jersey for JV/Soph teams 3) Next $80 - Sweatshirt & Sweatpants which all teams are required to wear on/off bus for away games 4) $10 - Game Socks 5) $30 - Mesh Shorts (must have to participate in summer 7on7 6) $20 - Dry-Fit Tshirt (must have to participate in summer 7on7 7) Remaining $80 goes to pay for helmet & shoulderpad reconditioning & replacement costs (I will explain this further in the next example I give about attendance)
The 2nd fundraiser that the players do is the $20 discount cards that we do in August. This fundraiser earns them their game-cleats. Each player must sell their minumum amount of cards or they do not get their game-cleats unless they pay the difference. The overhead from the cards goes to pay for team dinners and the banquet at the end of the season. Players who do not meet the requirements are not allowed to participate in the dinners/banquet unless they pay the difference themselves.
Another example is the fact that we take attendance at every single offseason weightroom session and conditioning session. Knowing that I cannot make it "mandatory" for making the team, there are ways you can reward players for coming and punish those who don't. We set the requirement at 75%. The offseason training program is M-F 5:30-7:00 AM. There is absolutely no conflict with doctors, dentists, study sessions, baseball, basketball, track, etc... at that time in the morning. By setting the number at 75% that allows the players to not have to lift on game-days or track meets during other sport seasons, which keeps me in good-graces with the other coaches on campus. During the Summer, the workouts move to 7:00-9:00 AM. Only 1 a day. If you give kids multiple options, that allows them to procrastinate and miss the one they definitely could make it to, then something comes up and they don't attend at all. Plus it is a nightmare getting enough coaches to go to all of the sessions. Again, making it accountable for the coaches and the players. Players are rewarded/punished in the following ways for the offseason workouts:
1) About 1 month prior to our 1st 7on7 passing tournament we give out numbers for the upcoming season. Nobody is guaranteed their number from last year. All players that are above the 75% mark will choose their numbers in order of grade (12, 11, 10, 9). Once all of those players have chosen their numbers the players who have not met the 75% requirement pick in the same order. They only get the left over numbers. You would be amazed how motivating the number on their jersey motivates them. Any arguments over numbers automatically go to the player who has the highest % of attendance. This works as both a reward for those with discipline enough to come to workouts and punish those who don't.
2) When we issue gear in the fall for 2-a-days, the same thing happens. If an incoming senior is at 70% attendance and a sophomore is at 90% attendance, then the sophomore will get his 1st choice of helmet, shoulderpads, and all other gear while the senior will get to choose from the leftovers after the 4 groups go ahead of him (Seniors >75, Juniors >75, Sophs >75, Frosh >75). Again, both rewarding the ones with the discipline to get to workouts and punishing the ones who don't. .....The kids who raise the $300 get first choice on gear because they have that $80 left over after their spirit pack that pays for the newer helmets and shoulderpads, so they get their 1st choice at it. The players who don't contribute that money get what is left over.
These are just a few of the things we do. I could give more examples, but this thread could be pretty long if I tried to cover everything that we try to do.
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Post by cqmiller on May 9, 2011 7:53:41 GMT -6
Setting expectations high and not accepting excuses and not meeting those expectations. If you allow something to slide, the kids don't learn to discipline themselves because there is not always a consequence for not doing it.
Pavlov's dog... reward the behaviors you want, punish the ones you don't. Humans are the same way. They do things they get rewarded for, and won't do the things they get punished for. If you remove one or the other, there is no consistency and you loose the training.
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Post by cqmiller on May 7, 2011 14:29:46 GMT -6
We are getting field-turf put in this summer and almost everyone in our league already has it so we are going with the molded ones. I have always been a big fan of the detachables, but most people I have talked to have said that molded are much better for the artificial surface than the detachables. We will see how they go this year.
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Post by cqmiller on May 5, 2011 20:46:00 GMT -6
Hey coach... I'm in the SLC area. I'd love to sit down and talk football with you. Just let me know and I can steer you to the few and far between places to get some suds.
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Post by cqmiller on May 4, 2011 10:54:52 GMT -6
At the end of each year, I sit down with each position coach, coordinator, and myself and we go over a list of things that we saw or didn't see in each player. I have a 1on1 meeting with each player and discuss the areas for improvement for next year, what our expectations of them are, etc... Outgoing seniors are the ones that we ask about their experiences in the program, what they liked/disliked, any problems with coaches or anything else that will help us run a better program.
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Post by cqmiller on May 3, 2011 19:14:10 GMT -6
Head coach makes 7500. Each assistant coach makes 5000. WOW... Your assistants make double what I make as the HC. They better be there for that amount of money.
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Post by cqmiller on May 2, 2011 13:24:09 GMT -6
Hope nobody cares about the W/L record that I have had at some of my stops... I have a few coaches that I have either played for or coached under that have had great records but I have learned a ton about what not to do from them. On the other hand, I have learned a ton of what I do from a few HC's that struggled in the W/L record in the past.
At the end of the day, a coach can only "win" the game as a coach if the talent is equal on both sides. I know plenty of games we should have been beat by about 6 TD's because of the talent difference, but we were within 7 in the 4th quarter before giving up a late 1 or 2.
I have left the field feeling more proud of my kids after losses than I have after wins. We almost beat a team that was 3 divisions above us 1 time. Defense ran out of gas with about 7 minutes left and we gave up 2 late TD's and a pick-6 so we lost by 17. Never been more proud of a team than after that game. All 20 kids we dressed were completely spent and could barely stand. I'll always remember that game.
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