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Post by husky44 on Jan 27, 2010 18:00:01 GMT -6
i Cannot believe you are not compensated. who supervises the weight room if you would not be there? we have a guy who runs the weight room year round. he gets 1500 per semester to open the weight room 4 days a week and manages situations which might arise. he is a great guy who loves weights. he workouts with the kids, spots and does stuff like that. we are lucky to have a guy who does not want to coach but likes the S&C part. I would post the legal question to the ad and explain the situation. I know in the states I have coached(il and wi) your coaching stipend covers the season but like you said someone has to do it so schools get free time from coaches. Unfortunately our weightroom is supervised in the winter and spring by guys who sit at the desk and don't work with the kids. We have a very poor AD who doesn't have a clue what is going on.
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Post by husky44 on Jan 27, 2010 17:05:01 GMT -6
I have developed all the weight programs for the guys sports and have not receive a dime for it. There is a stipend for someone to supervise the weightroom but in the winter the tennis coach gets it because he has been doing it for years even though he doesn't have a clue what he is doing in the weightroom. I finally convinced our district to create a summer school class for weight training and conditioning and I was compensated for that this last summer.
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Post by husky44 on Jan 27, 2010 16:33:26 GMT -6
The situation I am in is getting a little old. I am the strength and conditioning coach/DC at our school and I am in the weightroom all winter and spring. The HC is in about half the week but does not coach the athletes while there, he usually gabs with others. I am not compensated for being there and working with the athletes or for putting together the weight program ( I have had extensive prior experience in this area having been a S & C in college). I know that if I don't do it nobody will and I want to help kids and win. The first year here (3 years ago), we won one game and this last year we had a winning record. Our kids are getting better but I am doing more work than the HC.
We have the money, he is always asking me what I want to buy and it appears that I have no limit. Is it fair to ask to be compensated? I want a good recommendation for the future because I am looking for a HC job and don't want to jeopardize this. It is taxing working for a guy that puts in less effort than you.
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Post by husky44 on Jan 22, 2010 16:47:13 GMT -6
I am in the process of reading "The Blind Side" and like it very much. Very well written and entertaining. Boy, would I love to be able to coach a kid like that someday.
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Post by husky44 on Jan 5, 2010 19:13:31 GMT -6
Kyle, I like that idea about breaking up the position groups for scouting report meetings. The OL really don't need to be sitting in a meeting listing to the routes that the opposing team will be running. Would you just have two 15m meetings for offensive and defensive players? Another thing I have been wondering is how beneficial scouting report meetings really are to kids. I know we as coaches think that they are, but do you think kids would get just as much out of on the field stuff, in their position groups? As far as the different practice plan: Yea I would probably change it from what I have there. I would keep the pre-practice session for sure, because I think that is a good time to work on the "little things" (OL - steps, start, etc). I would probably take away from the team take off period, and add that time to individual. I would also probably cut off 5m from special teams and add it that to the individual. Coach- Yes I would keep it at 15 minutes per side of the ball max. You may want to think about doing one side of the ball before practice and one afterwards or maybe offense one day, defense the next. I have never thought about bringing them in before school but it would be nice if it was possible. The only thing I worry about having meetings/film after practice for longer than 20 minutes is them just not paying attentin. Most of them are thinking about what mom's cooking for dinner while you go on about what coverages the oppoenent is going to use. I think scouting report meetings can be very helpful if you keep things to the point and your coaches know what to say beforehand. This is what my O-Line meeting outline was - Top 3 fronts (tell them what they will majorily see) - Blitz Percentage by first, second, and third down (the actual percentages by down and distance are in the report) - What we have to do to run the ball sucessfully D-Line Meeting Example - Top 3 Formations by % - Top 3 Runs by % - Any notes that might be of importance like they will go on 2 often or find the tackle wearing # because they like to run to his side I'm no expert but I would think the point of a scouting report meeting is to hammer out some main points that they need to know. Not every kid is going to study their scouting report but at least they get some of it. Make sure everything you are going to discuss is written and diagramed on the board beforehand so you don't waste time writing things. What we did on scouting reports was put them in a binder with blank templates and paper. During the meetings we encouraged them to take notes and/or draw things on the templates. We collected their binders every week so we knew who was taking notes and who wasn't. It usually showed on the field who actually paid attention in meetings and film and if it was hurting their play then we talked to them about it. I also believe that even if they do study their scouting report, in the heat of the moment Johnny 17-year-old isn't going to remember every single bit you put in the report but they at least remember the points you hammered out all week. Something we started doing last year too was watching film of the next oppoenent/watching film of the night before by position group. This moved things along alot quicker. So for example before we hit the field: Monday: Film Session- 15 minutes- Oppoenent Defense O-Line & RB QB's *had them by themselves so they could realy focus on what they needed to know, smaller group, more time to answer questions etc.* WR's *same reason as above* --We debated all year on where we should put the backs during film time. I felt that the fronts and pass pro were of more importance than coverages for a runningback. -- Then we would flip the next day with the groups being D-Line, Linebackers, and Secondary. Keep in mind also, each kid took home a DVD of cutups of the team we were playing so they had the opportunity for more film watching. To reinforce what they had heard/seen in meetings, film, practice etc. we gave them a film quiz that was due on Thursday before practice. I also gave my O-Line a tip sheet with some reminders and our base plays against their top 2 fronts. It was time consuming but I did not want to leave any stone unturned. I was watching a Jim McNally Q&A session from a COOL Clinic where someone asks him if they do pre practice stretching. His philosophy was: their pre-practice play walkthroughs and footwork time is their "warmups". We got rid of the traditional pre practice warm ups and stretches a couple years ago. Instead we do it by position group and add in some dynamic stretching 10 minute flex:- right, left lead step 5 yards each - right, left lateral 5 yards each - right,left flat pull 5 yards each - DART (Dip & Rip) right, left 5 yards each ^^^ under the chutes ^^^ - 10 yards walking lunges - 10 yards "hurdles"(best way to describe it- stepping over and under imaginary hurdles) - 1 minute to stretch on your own and get some water down right from there we go into indy session. We do this everyday from day 1. Our kids know what line to jump in, and the tempo we are going at. We have bottles of water at the end of the lines so once they do their rep and run back to the end of the line they can get their water in. During special teams, we will work on something and also during special teams is more individual time for our QB's. Another thing I wanted to add in on the younger level teams. I know this sounds micro-managing but we tried to help out our 8th grade team's coaches with their practice schedules. Along with a modified, scaled-down playbook of ours made specifically for them, We gave them examples of our practice schedules modified. I know it sounds time consuming and somewhat micro-managing but we wanted to pay attention to every little detail we could for the success of our program both current and future. -holy {censored} that was a long reply, sorry about that fellas Coach, I love the idea of doing your flex period prior to individual time and using position specific work as a lead into individual. You have included some dynamic stretching movements but most reinforce good football specific drills. Does each position coach design their own or did your staff develop this together?
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Post by husky44 on Dec 19, 2009 15:31:53 GMT -6
Bellarmine's DW puts them in a position to win and be competitive every week. Last few years they've really done some impressive things w/ that attack. I thought Bellarmine would be woefully outmatched against a program like Oceanside, but they really did a pretty good job representing CCS and Nor-Cal, even in the loss. Does Bellarmine run the DW Wing-T or do the run the DW with wedge blocking turning inside runs into a scrum?
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Post by husky44 on Nov 17, 2009 16:40:32 GMT -6
Do any of you not use a dynamic warm-up or stretching period prior to practice? If not, is there a liability issue if a kid gets injured? I would like to use my time as efficiently as possible and would like to use more football specific drills. I saw somewhere that a team did a tackling progression as a warm-up and would like some ideas.
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Post by husky44 on Nov 14, 2009 21:14:37 GMT -6
Has anyone heard this gentleman speak? The Texas High School Coaches Association is having him speak in February. It is a one day seminar and I was wondering if anyone has heard his lectures. If so any insight? Excellent person to listen to. If every coach in America coached like him we would be a better society. He focuses on how we coach and the impact we have on the kids. Talks a lot about loving the kids we work with and treating them like we treat our own sons. Provides a work book and provides tools for us to affirm greatness in the kids we work with.
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Post by husky44 on Nov 7, 2009 13:48:27 GMT -6
Coaches, I think I read somewhere on this site before about a book that covers different scenarios you may see in a football game and how to handle these situations, what is the name of that book?
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Post by husky44 on Oct 28, 2009 21:08:35 GMT -6
I think the best way to maintain a solid home life is finding quality assistant coaches who are passionate about the game and what we are trying to teach kids to take some of the load off. I am a pretty organized individual so it will be important to find a quality staff. What are some questions or things to look for when interviewing assistants? Also, how do you handle assistants from the previous regime?
I guess this is a little different topic.
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Post by husky44 on Oct 28, 2009 18:47:21 GMT -6
Coaches, I have been approached by an adminstrator from a rival school in the area who inquired whether or not I might be interested in a head coaching job that is apparently going to open at that school. I have always wanted to be a head coach and have been preparing for this step for a number of years. I am interested in the job since this school at one time had a tradition and is about a five minute drive from my home. The one area of concern I have so far, without interviewing of course, is being able to balance my family life and the job which is quite consuming. My faith, family and then football are priorities I set many years ago and I never want to get those confused. For those of you who are in a head coaching position and have similar priorities how do you balance this? Can you? My wife is very supportive and sees coaching as a calling and a time to serve like I do.
I'm sure there has been posts like this before but I was unable to find it.
Thanks for any feedback.
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Post by husky44 on Jun 17, 2009 14:06:34 GMT -6
I am not a head coach so this may be a stupid question for those of you who are. I always hear my head coach complaining about our football budget but he insists on reconditioning the shoulder pads and helmets every year at a cost of thousands of dollars. Does your team recondition equipment every year?
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Post by husky44 on Jun 12, 2009 18:23:14 GMT -6
If you are at a school where most of your athletes are three sport participants this is the most important time for building team cohesion and setting expectations. The rest of the year the athletes are competing in other programs and now that it is summer we have more access to them. Teams are built during this time of year. Kids should be excused for summer vacations with the family or a sports camp but if they are in town they had better be working with everyone else!
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Post by husky44 on Jun 3, 2009 17:44:20 GMT -6
I like testing prior to the season. Not only does it allow us to track progress in the athletes training, we also try to make a big deal out of the two day testing period fostering competition and excellence. I see little down side to testing prior to the season and we use it as a kick off to the beginning of two a days.
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Post by husky44 on May 26, 2009 16:29:18 GMT -6
How many of you purposely place a specific routine in your practice schedule and game preparation for "rah rah"? I never bought into the fake enthusiasm as a player but I know that some do. I know that the most important thing for kids to play with enthusiasm is the coaches but don't kids see right through the "rah rah" routine? We play some teams that have quite a show before games but our HC does not like this and there is none of that in our program. What are your thoughts? If your program does use a lot of "rah rah" please share some examples.
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Post by husky44 on May 17, 2009 16:08:01 GMT -6
Coaches, We have are entering year three at a school with very little football tradition. Things have gotten better but need to continue to improve. We have finally convinced the school district to offer a summer school strength and conditioning course that will be staffed by football coaches. We have really encouraged the kids to participate and the head coach has said that participationg in this class is basically mandatory.
Obviously some kids don't want to commit. What types of things would you do to encourage this commitment? One of the suggestions made was to post the kids names of those who are on the football team but are not committed to attending the summer school class and post it in the weightroom? Is this a good idea? It singles out the kids who are not working, is this good for the team?
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Post by husky44 on May 16, 2009 21:24:29 GMT -6
I read the subject line and thought we were talking politics and Obama's first one hundred days. I thought we might revive the entitlement discussion!
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Post by husky44 on May 14, 2009 16:25:11 GMT -6
We wrote a letter about commitment and making football a high priority and included a commitment card with the letter asking the kids to sign the card and return it. If they signed this card the expectation is that they commit to the summer training session etc...
We will see what happens, so far it has been positive.
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Post by husky44 on May 9, 2009 20:49:25 GMT -6
So if this is built into your regular practice schedule what do the rest of the players do during this time? I like the idea but am not sure where to fit this in.
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Post by husky44 on May 9, 2009 20:34:28 GMT -6
Coaches, I am hoping some of you have some suggestions for an upcoming problem. Our HC is dead set on two platooning yet we have only about 26 viable varsity football players. If we have one or two injuries on either side of the ball we are in big trouble because there will be a major drop in production. We have talked about sharing a few players on each side of the ball but he wants to have them switch for an entire practice. Ex. on Monday our FB/LB would be with the defense the entire practice and on Tues. with the offense. This will force the coaching staff to back track to coach the kid up on what he missed the day before and will not make our team as productive. I would prefer to have our practices split in half O/D and everyone learns a second position but he does not like this.
Also, during two a days we have talked about most of our top athletes learning a second position in case of injuries but they may never play the other position during the season unless needed. Do any of you do this?
Any ideas?
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Post by husky44 on May 9, 2009 17:11:08 GMT -6
In WI we are only allowed five contact days with the kids! This means we can only have five days over the summer where we can teach football specific skills. This of course does not include strength and conditioning. Some people in our state then wonder why we have so few kids from our state earning DI scholarships, the WIAA is hamstringing the football programs here! Basketball, baseball, and hockey have unlimited contact time.
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Post by husky44 on May 5, 2009 15:48:42 GMT -6
Other than the Raiders, every team in the NFL knows that the athletic tests at the combine aren't the only evaluation tool to determine who will be successful in the NFL. What these tests do tell is how athletic a kid is.
If we have two similar players who grade well on film and have similar off the field demeanor who would you rather pick if you are an NFL franchise, one who is a little faster, powerful, and stronger or the other? I guess what I am trying to say is that at that level, very little separates athletes because they all were successful college players. Often times the better athleticism will translate at the next level.
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Post by husky44 on Apr 23, 2009 15:56:04 GMT -6
Like mentioned before it is about making a difference. These kids today have it so much more difficult than most when I was growing up. It seems like soceities problems continue to increase, I'm concerned where things will be in ten years. Being one of the "bright spots" in a kids life is very satisfying.
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Post by husky44 on Apr 22, 2009 16:32:46 GMT -6
We as coaches need to prepare for the opponent by breaking down the statistical tendencies but that does not mean that this should dictate how we call a game. At the beginning of a game you may rely more on the tendencies but as the game progresses and you have a feel for what the opponent is doing you will need to get away from this as your opponent adjusts.
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Post by husky44 on Apr 11, 2009 9:31:57 GMT -6
One of the most important things I took from Tressel's book was the idea of having an "attitude of gratitude". How do you develop this idea? Tressel has his players write two things they are thankful for each day before practice begins. This changes your perspective on life and forces you to look at the positive things in your life and not what is wrong with it. We all know that the positive person is going to be the most successful individual and we need to "feed the good wolf" and not the bad one.
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Post by husky44 on Apr 10, 2009 8:32:52 GMT -6
Once season begins we are in full pads on Tues./Wed. We have a tackling circuit at the beginning of the session followed by individual and group inside/outside where we work on coverage and run fits. We follow this with team. In team we go "thud" live but no take down, and finish each session with five live plays with take down. On Monday and Thursday where we are not in pads, we begin with a tackling progression where we work on the fundamentals of tackling. This takes ten minutes. We believe that you need to begin every day with some tackling to emphasize and perfect the art.
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Trends
Mar 26, 2009 9:34:48 GMT -6
Post by husky44 on Mar 26, 2009 9:34:48 GMT -6
What has struck me as a positive step during the clinic season is that more and more people are talking about developing character in our athletes but before we can do this we have to develop this in our coaches. Working on ourselves and how we react to difficulties will be how our our players react. We must model poise and consistency before our athletes do so.
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Post by husky44 on Mar 25, 2009 18:07:51 GMT -6
I have been in programs that had the kids come in on Saturday and ones that did not. Which is better? I liked not bringing the kids in on Sat. It gave them some family time and time to relax. I felt like they were more fresh and ready to learn on Monday. What do others think?
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Post by husky44 on Mar 13, 2009 20:20:09 GMT -6
Loyalty is earned by clear and respectful communication. If you allow the assistant coaches to share their feelings without getting upset and clamly explaining why you are doing it this way that is how respect is earned.
Loyalty is earned through the coach exhibiting a good work ethic and a clear direction for the program.
Loyalty is earned by being genuine and giving others credit when successes are seen.
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Post by husky44 on Feb 26, 2009 20:45:48 GMT -6
OJW, very nice analysis. I constantly have to remind myself that I do whait I do for the kids. Giving them the best chance for success within my role is the best that I can do right now. I hear what you are saying about the job market. That has definitely crossed my mind. I have been leaning towards waiting this out at least one more year.
Jgordon, as far as not being a good DC here is an example. Both the DB and LB coach did not know what our defensive calls or adustments were until they were introduced during tw-a-days. We made weekly adjustments that had never been made in previous weeks or introduced during pre-season because our package was so basic we had nothing to go to. Suggestions were made by both coaches but this fell on deaf ears. The kids are really working hard during the off-season program and I hate for them not to see success because of a lack of structure or flexibility.
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