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Post by mariner42 on Nov 11, 2021 10:21:31 GMT -6
Lastly, personal fitness. I know there are a couple things I need to straight cut out to be more efficient. Meal prepping seams like one of the greatest investments...tips on making a batch though and having it not taste like crap by the end of the week? Try to eat for fuel and not taste. Baked chicken is a good go-to that won't taste bad at week's end. Low fat burgers, too. Mix in some steak sauce. Makes everything taste better. It's usually a bit lower in sugar than BBQ. So this is where a sous vide is pretty rad, you can perfectly cook meat and it'll still be pretty good by the end of the week. Ex: I will cook up 3-4 chicken breasts in the sous vide, finish them on the grill, slice them up, and I've got some good protein for lunch. Sauces are definitely crucial, low sugar BBQ from the right brands is pretty good. I forget the name of the one I like the best, but there's a cartoon pig on the front. But yeah, sometimes you've gotta separate the hedonism of eating from the actual point: to nourish your body. Ideally your food both tastes great and is healthy, but I'll prioritize healthy every time. Luckily I rarely produce something that's just totally unappealing.
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Post by mariner42 on Nov 11, 2021 8:53:07 GMT -6
I'll weigh in on a few of these:
Classroom Management - When making seating charts, I color code students as red, yellow, or green by behavior so that I have a visual of how spread out my behavioral issues are.
Being a great assistant - This one's easy: generate value wherever you can and don't get miffed when the HC doesn't jump on those ideas/actions.
Being a great head coach - You better have a good plan for inventory.
Motivating players/students - Kids love free T-shirts. Work that into your plan somehow.
Strength and conditioning - I've ditched cleans/snatches and I think you should, too. Buy some Hex Bars for HB Deadlift. The most important thing is having a consistent program over the course of a kid's 4 year development. 5 lbs a month on squats over 48 months is 240lbs of improvement and most kids will do that much by just walking into the weight room and warming up.
Appeasing the wife - I mean, that's your job but I can always make a go at it... J/k, buy her flowers whenever you can, prioritize date night once a week, keep a calendar so you don't miss upcoming important stuff like anniversaries. Pull her hair sometimes.
Being a good father - TBD. This is where me running my mouth about other people's kids is going to come back on me, HARD.
Offense/defense/special teams - Zig where everyone else zags, don't be the same as the rest of your league/conference/whatever. Mix your cadence and your tempo. Stem your front.
Personal Fitness - Unless you're really dialed in to your sleep, diet, and overall wellness, the stress of the season is going to make it tough to do much but maintain whatever fitness level you're at prior to the start. Doesn't mean you try to maintain, you should be working hard, but just know that you're not likely to be going anywhere until your life gets a bit more normal. Also, if you're not meal prepping, you're wasting money and likely costing yourself in the general health/wellness dept. Protein + Veggie + Simple Carb, just mix up the variables.
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Post by mariner42 on Aug 15, 2021 8:11:05 GMT -6
I honestly don't know if there's a set guideline in Iowa. We actually had a JV game canceled a few years ago because we played an IL team and it wasn't supposed to get below the threshold until 8 or 8:30 that night. Illinois is just as gross as CA and NY anymore. How is California catching strays here?
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Post by mariner42 on Jul 31, 2021 13:20:43 GMT -6
Question for those with experience. Our school is once again scheduling team photos from 3:30 - 4:10 on a Tuesday during game week. School lets out at 2:50 and off campus sports get precedent on earlier time slot. We meet and practice from 3:30 - 6:00 PM. Does this or something similar happen to you? Coached Track & Football for something like 25 combined seasons, I've never had team photos at any time that wasn't practice time. Try to reschedule it during the bye week if you can?
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Post by mariner42 on Jul 21, 2021 18:37:36 GMT -6
Trap bars, safety squat bars, drone for filming, some kind of sideline replay system that ISN'T Hudl Sideline, tablets to go w/ said sideline replay system, headsets if you use them.
Basically weight room and tech. Weight room lasts a long time, tech because it matters.
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Post by mariner42 on Jun 26, 2021 22:41:35 GMT -6
When you choose to play the percentages, what percentage should you use relative to your opponent? For example, say your opponent likes to run Cover 3 70% of the time they are aligned in 1 high, and Cover 1 30% of the time they are in 1 high. Obviously, you would prefer to run Cover 3 beaters against Cover 3 and Cover 1 beaters against Cover 1. However, because you don't know which snaps will have which coverage, you have to decide which percentage of the 1 high snaps you will use C3 beaters and which percentage you will use C1 beaters (Note: Yes, there are pre-snap indicators as to which coverage it is, just using this to help illustrate what I am talking about) What is the optimal percentage mix? Should you match them, with 70% C3 beaters and C1 beaters, or should you slightly increase the C3 beater percentage? Or, are you best off just calling Cover 3 beaters 100% of the time, because that way, if the defense's percentages hold true, you are right 70% of the time, and wrong 30% of the time, not bad odds... Addressing your specific example: This is where having adjustments into passing concepts helps to make you right. Say you call Snag as a 3 beater, but it's man (oh no!). Well, ideally you'd have coached your Snag route to keep going if he sees man coverage and not settle and get himself covered. As a big picture question: I think this is where you try to find out how you can specifically dictate the match up to get it to your advantage. Going back to your example, using motion or formations to dictate the coverage you want. Also, gotta make your peace with the fact that a 70% tendency is still just a tendency. Sometimes it comes down to having to just beat your man.
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Post by mariner42 on Jun 24, 2021 5:56:48 GMT -6
Nothing yet in CA, but the feeling is that coaches will have to wear masks in the fall.
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Post by mariner42 on Jun 21, 2021 22:51:32 GMT -6
Vertical alignment/continuity. Varsity, JV, Frosh all use the exact same language, same plays, same defense, all of it. I've never been in a program that has it squared away like we do. Our players will hear the exact same coaching all four years. Really? If by exact same coaching you are talking about each position hears the exact cues, exact same phrases etc, then thats pretty unique. I would agree. But I am kind of surprised that the same plays and same terms for x's and o's is rare. When our freshmen are learning the offense, they learn the same phrases and cues that they'll hear from the varsity HC. Day to day drill work and whatnot will vary, but from Day 1, our TEs will know to 'scrape paint off the wall' when pulling into the hole on Counter (as an example). Around here you see a lot of programs that have thematic similarities throughout the levels but have definite departures from the varsity on down. Example: One of our league opponents will have an odd front defense at all levels. Varsity will run 50 front quarters, JV will run 50 front w/ SS rolled up to the field in C.1, freshmen will run a 50 C.3. They all run stuff out of the gun, but that's about the only commonality.
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Post by mariner42 on Jun 18, 2021 7:09:17 GMT -6
Vertical alignment/continuity. Varsity, JV, Frosh all use the exact same language, same plays, same defense, all of it. I've never been in a program that has it squared away like we do. Our players will hear the exact same coaching all four years.
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Post by mariner42 on May 4, 2021 9:01:03 GMT -6
Really? Sundays? I'm like, smack-dab in the middle of Godless, California and even here Sunday would be a non-starter.
Ok, I'd be first through the door every time.
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Post by mariner42 on May 3, 2021 8:32:24 GMT -6
Do I have to bring in the team and staff on a Saturday after the Friday night game? Is it mandatory to be successful to bring everyone in after the game the next day? I'd say that it's better if you DON'T do that. We're quite successful and we've never done anything like that. Let people have a life and either enjoy the win or get over the loss. Keep your team and your staff fresh and enjoying the season, you'll have a better season in just about every sense of the word.
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Post by mariner42 on Apr 19, 2021 12:28:15 GMT -6
Can someone explain California high school divisions? In Alabama, you have 1A-7A which are based on school size. Private schools have a 1.35 penalty and private schools have to deal with competitive balance factors which move you up if you do well. We would be 2A, but play football in 3A due to 1.35 and our tennis teams play 6A due to 1.35 and competitive balance. So I get every state has some tweaks, but most are based on school size. California has 1, 2, 2A, 3, 3A, 4, 5, 6, 7, I, II, III, OAL, IV, V, VI, VII. What?? The real confusing part is that it is different between north and south. When i lived up north there was Div 1-6 and an Open division which was the top 4 of the D1 schools. The lower the Div number the bigger the school (D1 schools were over 1800 or something, and then D6 schools were under 600 give or take). Now that i moved down south there are like 11 Divisions and they do it based on your win loss record from the previous year(s) so for example last year i coached at a school with 4400 kids, but we were D7 because our Win Loss records the years prior had been (5-5,5-5, 4-6, 4-6, etc) last year we went 10-2 so during the next realignment we will probably go up a division or two. It is confusing mostly because it is different across the state. We also have different rules across the state which makes it even weirder. Lived here all my life and I don't pretend to understand it.
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Post by mariner42 on Apr 5, 2021 7:25:15 GMT -6
My first thought was to raise the intensity of practice.
One thing we've done to raise the intensity of effort was to take an Inglorious Basterds approach to defensive team time. Scout defense had a sprint taken off for every turnover/TFL forced. They could also force the ball carrier to do push ups if they took the ball away even after the whistle. Starting defense had the same approach but the number was higher and it was all or nothing, either they hit the goal for the period or they did all their prescribed sprints. Scout offense could add to the defense's sprints by scoring TDs.
My second thought was that our best group ever were slow starters for the first 4 games of their freshman year and then became a wrecking crew for the next 3.5 years. They just needed to figure out the feeling of what it was supposed to be like.
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Post by mariner42 on Mar 29, 2021 9:23:51 GMT -6
Offensively, we throw everything at them in spring and then refine, refine, refine all summer and fall camp. For our freshmen, it's an ugly sight until it's not. For the JVs, we usually rotate through a 4 day schedule that's something like this: Monday - Buck Series, Tuesday - Belly Series, Wednesday - Perimeter Plays & Counters, Thurs - Sprint Out, 3 Step, Shots, Specials. Varsity is a continual recursive install that's mastery based.
Defensively we have such a minimal defense that there isn't even really an install, we just start playing defense and then add some blitzes. Eventually Cover 2 shows up.
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Post by mariner42 on Mar 25, 2021 11:53:38 GMT -6
Granted that every situation is different, but I have no issue with that whatsoever. They're grown men with lives and careers outside of football, so if they feel it's necessary to look at their phone during practice, cool. I've never had a coach who is just idly scrolling through Twitter or swiping on Tinder in practice and I know I'm not much of a dictator. Also, I feel like that attitude shows a lack of respect towards them, like they're barely evolved children or something. Its not about them or the HC...it is about those kids. You cannot preach focus, give the idea, just the idea, that coaches are allowed some special privelage, are allowed to be distracted. In the class room, unless i am talking or they are taking a test, its a losing fight. Why should coaches and athletes be viewed as peers or equals? They're absolutely not. We're going to disagree on this, clearly, but I personally have zero qualms with stating that my coaches can use their phones at practice without it being a detriment.
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Post by mariner42 on Mar 25, 2021 10:18:33 GMT -6
Last stop, HC used to actually print them out every day. New Place, HC texts it every day. Saves trees, and a lot easier. Yeah, no. Now assistants have to look at their phone? Yeah, NO! Granted that every situation is different, but I have no issue with that whatsoever. They're grown men with lives and careers outside of football, so if they feel it's necessary to look at their phone during practice, cool. I've never had a coach who is just idly scrolling through Twitter or swiping on Tinder in practice and I know I'm not much of a dictator. Also, I feel like that attitude shows a lack of respect towards them, like they're barely evolved children or something.
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Post by mariner42 on Mar 22, 2021 10:12:43 GMT -6
There's also a degree of CYA to having a written practice plan.
I've produced a practice plan once or twice to demonstrate that an injury happened during a low-contact drill in accordance with CA rules about contact. It's never been required, but it buys me credibility for the future and trust from the AD.
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Post by mariner42 on Mar 10, 2021 9:22:25 GMT -6
Second larrymoe with regards to sleep. The only other addition I have is to ask how're your eyes? I have pretty good vision, but if I'm spending a lot of time looking at screens, my eyes get tired and that means I get tired. I have some pretty mild prescription reader glasses that do a lot to prevent this.
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Post by mariner42 on Feb 19, 2021 9:26:50 GMT -6
If you've internalized the fundamentals of how you want to practice and you've got the acumen/wherewithal to recall exactly what you want to address for each practice, you don't NEED one.
I'm too absent-minded to not have something written down, but I can see how someone can just play it by ear.
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Post by mariner42 on Dec 27, 2020 13:06:00 GMT -6
I don't really get this. If a C is passing and on track for graduation, why is that unacceptable? What about kids with learning disabilities? What if a kid is doing the best he can but he's also working to support his family? What about the kid who just doesn't have the parent support or home situation to be a high achiever? I can think of kids within the last two years that fit each situation and were C students due to no fault of their own. I hate the trope of the meathead football player and I'd love to have more Stanford bound kids in our program, but what's wrong with the kid who's doing what it takes to play and isn't an academic all-star? Maybe it’s not about academics. Or football. Then what is it about? 'Building better men'? 'How you do something is how you do everything'?
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Post by mariner42 on Dec 27, 2020 11:19:27 GMT -6
I don't really get this.
If a C is passing and on track for graduation, why is that unacceptable? What about kids with learning disabilities? What if a kid is doing the best he can but he's also working to support his family? What about the kid who just doesn't have the parent support or home situation to be a high achiever? I can think of kids within the last two years that fit each situation and were C students due to no fault of their own.
I hate the trope of the meathead football player and I'd love to have more Stanford bound kids in our program, but what's wrong with the kid who's doing what it takes to play and isn't an academic all-star?
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Post by mariner42 on Dec 21, 2020 9:38:44 GMT -6
The institutions at the academies don’t allow the access to resources, but the academies have by far and away the most resources, the American tax payer.. I am not suggesting the institutions compromise, but that to say the have less to work with is silly. So, just how does their access to tax dollars override the total lack of basic talent and athleticism? A better weight room? A more comprehensive nutrition program? Genetic engineering?
Not a lot of folks know that Jason Bourne was a hell of a safety for the Black Knights before Operation Treadstone.
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Post by mariner42 on Sept 30, 2020 11:26:02 GMT -6
Honestly would've been fine if he'd just had both legs wrapped up, regardless of the guy's intent.
The single leg grasp plus the extra roll plus questionable intent lead to the injury.
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Post by mariner42 on Sept 17, 2020 22:22:59 GMT -6
JV Assistant. I keep bringing out good ones and the next year they're varsity assistants. Sounds like your either bringing the right guys in or doing a good job developing coaches. Either way, good problem to have! Little of A, little of B. Pretty confident I'll get to keep this year's newbie (who actually coached me back in the day).
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Post by mariner42 on Sept 17, 2020 13:23:19 GMT -6
JV Assistant.
I keep bringing out good ones and the next year they're varsity assistants.
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Post by mariner42 on Aug 29, 2020 22:40:09 GMT -6
Toledo Sports Network (Mike Jameson): www.youtube.com/user/jmmscviThis year they will have 3-4 live games every Friday night from small town (but some very good) football programs in Northwest Ohio / Toledo area such as Eastwood, Genoa, Lake, Rossford and others. There is also archived games from past years. The newest games should be easy to find on the front of the channel but to find the other ones, you have to click on videos and browse between the various sports and other programming that TSN & Mike Jameson deliver. He does all the editing himself, finds the sponsors so he can pay his staff to do game nights, and works tirelessly to try to cover as many games as he can so please subscribe to his channel Will London OH be on there at all? Would love to see Jim Wendler's team play.
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Post by mariner42 on Jul 23, 2020 16:57:33 GMT -6
California- postponed until Dec/January. I think we will see protracted seasons then As HC of the T&F team, I hate this all. I'm looking at going straight through from Dec to late June with no coaching breaks and likely some overlap, plus my T&F team is going to lose a ton of athletes since soccer, BBall, and wrestling are all the same season now. But I'm glad we're trying to have sports.
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Post by mariner42 on Jul 13, 2020 16:47:06 GMT -6
Ty Gower (DC @ Princeton HS in Texas) sent a tweet a couple years ago that I still think about a lot to this day. Basically, he talked about how he doesn't buy the " Keep It Simple Stupid" philosophy of coaching and instead is more of a " Keep It Likeable and Learnable" guy. I've heard the latter term more and more now in describing coaching philosophies. At first thought, I thought "K.I.L.L." was silly, but now I've really opened my mind to it. I see a LOT of coaches using "simplicity" as a way of justifying ignorance or inability to teach something - "we couldn't ever do that, we need to be simple!" I'd say if you're a K.I.S.S. guy on Coach Huey, this isn't you. So don't hate-message me. I think "simple" is relative, too. One guy might find having one blocking scheme with a thousand adjustments to be "simple", while another guy might find "simplicity" in having ten blocking schemes with no adjustments to them.
Opening my mind up to the "K.I.L.L." philosophy has led me into researching the works of Dub Maddox, Andrew Coverdale, Chris Vasseur, Kyle Cogan, and Kevin Kelley. Maybe it's brainwashing, but I'm starting to learn that it's not bad to be in a flexible, albeit expansive scheme if you're willing to learn it and learn how to teach it. These guys are also excellent teachers, which is what sets them apart. Two years ago, I'd have shut myself out from ever tempting to research a system that's not "simple".
But the "K.I.S.S." philosophy also still is alive and well in today's game with coaches I greatly respect. I have an entire binder of notes I've taken from Joe Daniel, Tim Murphy, Ron McKie, and Rick Stewart - all what I would call "K.I.S.S." guys. They still maintain a great amount of detail, but keep a heavy emphasis on simplicity. Joe Daniel especially comes to mind here with his entire LB key read being "if the guard pulls, follow; if he doesn't, fill". None of these guys are ignorant or unable to teach, they just greatly prefer to KISS.
Now, the best coaches obviously can get the best of both worlds. But if you had to describe yourself, are you a "K.I.S.S." coach or a "K.I.L.L." coach?
This is born purely out of curiosity, I'm not going to try to argue with anyone. I think both sides have their positives and negatives.
Not to have a total cop-out, but here goes: K.I.S.S. is a mindset/attitude, K.I.L.L. is (mostly) personality traits/soft skills. Our defense is KISS, our offense is KILL. Our offense is very learnable for most kids because we have great words and phrases that help our kids learn and retain the info well. Our defense is quite simple, we try to do as little as possible so that we can get good at it (technical proficiency). If I had to chose one, it'd be KILL, but I think it's important to have a degree of KISS to everything so that mastery is (theoretically) possible.
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Post by mariner42 on Jun 7, 2020 11:26:33 GMT -6
Don’t over think this. Wendler said it best “don’t beat the sh!t out of your kids Monday through Thursday and expect them to be any good on Friday.” Pretty much sums it up for me. I know you've already done this, but for anyone who hasn't: look deeply into how Wendler is training his HS football players, it'll really make you question things. It's very FTC and they are, by Wendler's (deeply) biased account, the embodiment of caveman football between the whistles.
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Post by mariner42 on Jun 1, 2020 22:33:53 GMT -6
A million years ago back in the dark ages before RPO's and Coach Huey had a playbook share page and several others had libraries free to access to your hearts desire. I came across a beautiful powerpoint playbook design and I have attempted several times(and failed) to duplicate what I found. There may be some others here who remember it, but I may have been the lone wolf in how intricate it was. There was no wasted space on any slide, each page had a hundred clicks(maybe not quite that many) but each click unfolded another layer of the play. You would click and on the left PSG would appear with blocking rules, click again and it would draw out. click again and it would go through every lineman 1 by 1. Then move on to the receivers...it would show the route vs C2, then DB's would fade and pop up C3 adn the routes would fade and new routes or modifications to the routes were made. There was a ton of information on each slide. cqmiller had the most ridiculously sick playbook of all time in like... 2008?
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