juice10
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Post by juice10 on Oct 9, 2008 12:17:21 GMT -6
I am a big advocate of "Coaching To Change Lives". Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would need to teach kids what Responisibility, Character, Accountability, etc. Where I am at now, there was not a positive tradition with athletics, football in particular. I started implementing this program full time 3 years ago, and I think it has made a ton of difference.
We spend 5 - 10 minutes a day talking about a particular story, then trying to relate it to everyday life, school, and football. Gets the athletes to think outside the box a little bit, and the coaches are all on board. I can really tell a difference in their attitude, drive, and overall character. Is this a cure-all, absolutely not. But in my short experience, I will continue to teach this.
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Sept 26, 2008 12:28:25 GMT -6
I am currently in "that" program right now, 10 wins in the last 10 years (2-69) in conference in the last 10 years. I took over this program 4 years ago, and many of the issues being described in previous posts I went through.
We are currently 4-0 and our first conference win in 6 years was last week. Not saying that things are tremendous here, but we have finally starting "turning the corner" and those kids that started with our new staff as freshman are now seniors and are doing a tremendous job of leading and doing the things we are preaching.
My advice, which seems to have worked or us (so far), is stick to your beliefs and stick to what you what your program to be known for. Our staff took over with a goal and a future tradition in mind, and as hard as it was the first few years to get our a$$es kicked game in and game out, we had to stick to our philosophies and goals for the future. Their is light at the end of the tunnel if you can work hard on your underclassmen. We stressed alot with the younger classes, not saying we didn't try hard with the Juniors and Seniors, but we new that this turnaround was not going to happen overnight.
Hang in there, and keep doing your job. Coach them up and be as positive as you can be. Make the little things important, and make sure they know they are important.
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Sept 18, 2008 11:15:03 GMT -6
"Take it one day at a time."
"Failing to prepare is preparing for failure!"
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Apr 14, 2008 13:11:59 GMT -6
Do any of you coaches provide helmet stickers for your athletes for things such as big hits, scores, TO's, great effort, big plays, etc?
Are there positives to this?
Negatives to this?
Does it motivate your players?
Does this bring a sense of individualism?
Any other comments?
Thanks,
juice
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Apr 11, 2008 9:34:39 GMT -6
It doesn't mess with football, but I am also the golf coach. Kids haven't been able to hit a real golf ball outside yet living in the northwoods of Wisconsin. Doesn't look like we will get to do that for a while since we got around 9 inches of snow as of this morning. Looking for more to come yet.
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Feb 22, 2007 14:57:46 GMT -6
The one I am using is called "Coaching to Change Lives". I believe the website is www.coachingtochangelives.com/There is another I believe by the BFS program called "Be an 11". Dont' know anything about that one. Hope this helps, I know it made a difference for us this year with the kids attitude.
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Feb 21, 2007 12:14:32 GMT -6
This is a wonderful thread, and finally had a chance to read it. I didn't realize how many coaches are in the very same situation that I am. Right off hand from reading it: bluecrazy, flexspread, sls you guys are in a similar situation to us.
Little background about my program. I went back and took a look at our program over the 30 years or so, records and things like that. I know that you can't always tell how successful a program was entirely on the end of the season record, but this was rather astonishing. In the last 27 years my program has won 37 games, that's just over 1 game a year. If that is astonishing, they had a 2 year stretch where they won 16 games, with a State title (9-3) and the following year 7-3. Take those 2 season out and you are left with 21 wins in 25 years. Puts a little different light on the subject.
I just finished up my second year as HC. First year was notorious in every aspect. Took the job 2 weeks before the season started, which was maybe a mistake, but this job was very intriguing to me in terms of trying to turn nothing into something. Went 0-9 my first year. Last year we finished 2-7. Some improvement.
Just a few things of what we are trying to do because ultimately, we have a lot of issues and we are trying to take on the challenges that need fixing immediately and the things that we can control. I DO have a strong administrative backing, let's get that out of the way.
The biggest challenge we as coaches felt we faced was attitude and character for our players. It was downright UGLY my first year. We brought in a character building curriculum which took about 10 minutes of practice time, but I felt it was well worth it. Some of you may have heard of this, "Coaching To Change Lives". There was some kids that voiced there opinion, but it was made very clear that this was going to stay. With the curriculum we were teaching, I think it help our kids start to identify problems that they had in terms of competition (HEART, there are many more but this was the biggest one for us).
Our next goal was getting stronger, physically and mentally, in the weight-room. My first year they never had a kid work out in the summer. No wonder we were getting blown out 50-0, we were basically a "C" Squad playing varsity games.
So far this year, I thinks kids are buying into our system. We are currently averaging 25 - 30 kids during our off-season workouts. Not bad considering we have about 40 kids come out for football. keep the suggestions going, can use any help that you give me.
Juice10
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Feb 7, 2007 15:14:54 GMT -6
Let's say that your coaching staff is very small (3 varsity and JV coaches total with one of those coaches in the box). Obviously he can't watch everything. My question to you would be, What are the 2 or 3 things he MUST be watching for to make great half-time adjustments?
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Feb 8, 2008 14:00:15 GMT -6
All Wisconsin coaches are in the same predictament, only five days of contact.
beardc,
We are in a very similar situation. At this point, I think our team is going to do a two week camp. One week is either 2 to 3 days of individual groups (small school, small amount of coaches) OL one session and backs another. Then the following week bring the team together for a couple of days.
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Jan 30, 2007 12:19:44 GMT -6
I have a dream that I can not only coach but play. I get all excited and before I can ever get into a game, I wake up!! If I could only get one more game!!!
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Feb 20, 2007 8:24:20 GMT -6
Just wondering who was going to this clinic? My staff will be going to this with me, maybe put a name to a face, talk a little football, and have a few brewski's!!!
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Jan 15, 2007 11:40:20 GMT -6
I hope this is the same thing I am talking about. The flier I received was a listing of all the glazier clinics dates and destinations nationwide.
From my understanding, I just got off the phone with a Varsity Gold rep, Varsity Gold and Glazier clinics are pairing up to try to increase the attendance for there clinics. What he told me was that there is a possible discount to your coaching staff to get the season pass. What the season pass means is that you can attend all glaziers clinics, gain access to glazier online which is filled with drills, and roughly 100 hours of clinic footage.
Hope this helps, and sounds like a good idea if you have a larger coaching staff.
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Oct 16, 2007 8:06:55 GMT -6
We haven't incorporated both O and D entirely; however we try to focus on Offense one day with the special teams added in and do ind "D" towards the end of practice. Following day we switch to "D" day and put ind "O" in at the end of practice.
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Jan 14, 2008 11:33:15 GMT -6
Just a quick question for all those veterans of the game. Has the parents changed in the last 15 - 20 years. Did you have the same problems then as you do now? Off on a little tangent again.
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Jan 14, 2008 10:55:27 GMT -6
I always wanted to be a head coach someday, work my way through the ranks so to speak, spend time as an assistant, then maybe a coordinator, and finally a HC someday. I was in a position where the HC resigned and there was nobody left that wanted the job. I had one year as an asst. coach and took the job as HC.
I think the Most challenging part of the job is keeping up with everything other than X's and O's. This is a 7 day a week job 365 days a year trying to keep kids eligible with grades, and continuing to get them to make right choices, dealing with parents and community. At least where I am at, it seems like I am spending more time dealing with those issues than dealing with football itself.
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Oct 31, 2007 10:07:37 GMT -6
We give out:
Most Improved
"The Rock" - hardest hitter
"Iron Man" Best wt room attendance
"The Hunter Award" - was here when I took over, traveling trophy for most tackles
MVP
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Sept 14, 2007 12:56:43 GMT -6
We are currently under something very similar to irish, don't dress don't start. My situation is probably a little different than most, trying to take a program that has struggled with wins, accountability, responsibility, etc.
When I first took over, many of our kids would skip school just to skip school and then expect to play on Friday nights. Put a kabosh to that quickly with the don't come don't start rule. And that has helped our attendance tremendously.
I think it just comes down to a personal decision. Does the punishment fit the crime and in our case no dress no start, 2 in a week no play.
Lastly, should it matter if it is the best player on your team or a freshman. Shouldn't we have the same expectations for everyone?
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Dec 11, 2007 13:47:37 GMT -6
Get quicker Better offseason participation in Weightroom Continue to learn as a coaching staff
One of our main goals is to help establish CONFIDENCE! Our kids lack it. Hopefully with a great offseason and camps our kids can gain some confidence.
As coach calande said, hash out our X's and O's earlier as a staff. Like to have everything done by the time our clinic season if over, which is late March early April.
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Oct 26, 2006 8:32:23 GMT -6
Coach,
I know where you are coming from. I took over a program that has won 37 games in 27 years. Keep in mind that in a two year period they won 16 games. So take that out and you have 21 wins in 25 years.
Some of you are probably wondering why I would take this over. Well, I often wonder why sometimes too; however, I have always been one to take on a challenge. These past two seasons that I have been the HC, there has been many issues that I thought I would never see and have to deal with. But I deal with it as things come up and keep telling myself that this has been allowed for many years before I got here and it is my job to not tolerate some of the "bad" things that happen here.
What keeps me going is the great advice from some great coaches here and some of the progress that I am making here. Everyone seems to focus on W/L, but I can not do that here right now. I am not saying that this is not important, because I HATE to lose, but there are other things that I try to spend more time praising and preaching. One of the biggest obstacles here is dedication and work ethic. When I first got here as a teacher and a Middle School coach, I would watch varsity games on Friday nights and watch the kids play "dirty" and "cheap" when they were losing which often times was very early in the first quarter. They also "Quit" trying shortly after that. So the coaches and myself put forth a great effort on preaching character, effort, and desire. One of the saying we put our hat on was by John Wooden "86,400". 86,400 represents seconds in a day and that you can't take any of those back so make the most of what you have.
We were able to win 2 games this year and that is a huge step for us and the program. We now have to focus on next year getting our kids bigger, faster, and stronger. Stay as positive as you can and keep "chugging" away because you WILL make a difference with these kids in the long run. Make them better people and ultimately better football players.
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Dec 13, 2006 9:05:25 GMT -6
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Dec 18, 2007 13:31:07 GMT -6
It was a great call by either Runyan or Westbrook; however, Westbrook cost me 6 points in fantasy. He did cost me six, but it was a brilliant move since that victory gives the PACK a little bit of an opportunity for home field!
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Feb 6, 2008 8:23:08 GMT -6
My grandfather had total knee replacement in his 60's (extremely active, he is 83 now and still works between 30-35 hrs a week). and he recovered enough to work in about 6 months or so.
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Dec 13, 2006 11:54:31 GMT -6
What has been your tradition there at your school? I know that I have the same problem you do, seems like I have a better team walking the halls sometimes.
What we are doing and has seemed to help is to try to form relationships with every kid and show them that they mean something to your program. Make your practices and workouts as exciting, interesting, and fun as you possibly can.
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Apr 26, 2006 9:20:19 GMT -6
why else do parents pregnant dog? Playing time about their child should be discussed...philosophy should not. If a coach won't talk about playing time with a parent (their child only) then they are just scared of the parents...strike 1 I don't think that coaches are scared of parents, I think it has more to do with parents believing that their kids are the best at everything, and sometimes that is not true. Parents "go behind" their sons back to get them more playing time; however they never see how they practice, how much time they have spent in the off-season, and maybe most importantly, that the athlete might be perfectly OK with his role on the team. I have had very few PT talks with parents that have ended reasonably well. The only way that I will talk playing time with a parent now is with their child present along with myself and the position coach. It is done after practice, never before!
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Mar 16, 2007 10:48:25 GMT -6
Money is a huge deal with my program, we have very little. I learned a lesson to ask the question, "how much money does this program have in its athletic account" before I accept it. I took over this program money behind. Don't ask me how. So I have spent a ton of time trying to get ahead, so paying my coaches extra or voluteer coaches has been very difficult.
The things I try to do is supplement them in other ways. I try to take the little money we have and pay for clinics, I try to treat them to a meal when we get together, and like brophy said "BEER". I try to do some of the little things since we don't have a lot of money.
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Nov 13, 2007 13:39:23 GMT -6
AMEN!
I don't believe that you can solely say that a good homelife = good career, but in most cases it can't hurt either. Good rounded families may offer more opportunities for their child to move on after high school, financial and family support. Where as a child with less fortunate circumstances, may not get to go to a camp or help with the financial burden of college.
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Oct 1, 2007 13:09:54 GMT -6
I feel your pain and anxiety. Very similar situation where I am at, and we as coaches started focusing more on the more controllable factors in a game, mental breakdowns, penalties,etc. For some reason our kids success for the night is dictated on the first drive on offense. If we are unable to have any success, we are in for a long night. We try to preach and sell to our kids one play at a time and one first down at a time. We put this in 3 weeks ago and have seen some pretty good results from this. We have been in every game the last 3 weeks and given ourselves the chance to win with lesser talent.
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Mar 5, 2007 11:36:49 GMT -6
Coachjoe,
We have 8 teams in our conference, so over half will run the spread.
As far as getting worried, I think that there are so many formations and types of spread offenses (Zone, Power, Option) that really no offense is alike. You have to treat each week differently because one spread team may do something completely different than another.
I think that by us running the spread, it should help out our defense a little because they defend it in practice.
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Mar 1, 2007 11:01:49 GMT -6
1. I took over a program with very little tradition and NO IDENTITY. I took over 2 weeks before the season started and I tried to implement a spread along with wishbone. Before I got here they ran everything but nothing real well. So I brought in the spread along with some wishbone concepts they were familiar with and did both for the 2005 season. Towards the end of the year we ran 90% spread.
2. Wishbone
3. This offense was much more successful than any offense in the previous 20 or so years. Problem is, we have to learn how to be effective on all sides of the ball.
4. We are going through a transition with zone blocking. We are trying to go to all zone, and this is new the football team so this gave us some troubles last year.
5. We were the first team in our conference to go to spread, but now it looks like for 2007 there will be 5 teams going to some type of spread. As far as bad, I really don't have any, I really love this offense.
6. I am very happy for our kids. They have an identity now, and to be honest, they can relate a little bit to what they see on saturdays and sundays now.
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juice10
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Post by juice10 on Oct 25, 2006 14:12:43 GMT -6
A lot of good ones, haven't seen this one yet
DEDICATION
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