|
Post by Coach Vint on Nov 8, 2017 10:57:00 GMT -6
I find it best to promote your program, your kids, and the coaches you work with. When I got hired for this job the head coach knew who I was because of social media, but this never came up in the interview process. I didn't mention it and he didn't bring it up. It was all about kids, hard work, loyalty, and a willingness to be a small part of building something special. Later he mentioned that he knew who I was because of twitter. I am one who has a social media presence, but I try very hard not to self-promote. I have written books, and I do have a couple of resources I sell through social media. I do this without apology as we have some financial needs that my teaching and coaching salary does not meet. I don't post on any of this during the season. I try to focus on promoting our program, our kids, our coaches, and our game. When I apply for a job I don't ever mention my social media, blog, or any of that stuff. I try to live what I put out. I love using twitter to put out inspirational quotes and thoughts that may have a positive affect on someone's day. During bowl games I sometimes will tweet about a concept or something from a game. I enjoy retweeting great stuff I see from other coaches. I don't get too worked up when I see someone out there posting about how many D-1 players they trained, or how they gave an inspirational speech. That's their business. I am focused on our team, our players, and our coaches. I love posting tweets featuring things our players are doing on and off the field. I have some players that get a boost when they see a tweet of a big block or great tackle. Whether you are on social media or not it is vital you put the kids first and be the best coach you can be. fshamrock brings up a great point. Be true to who you are. If you social media persona doesn't match who you are as a coach and a man, you are nothing but a fraud.
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on Oct 31, 2017 8:29:24 GMT -6
I have a close relationship with one of the winningest coaches in Texas High School football who has won multiple state titles. I asked him about detractors. He said you will always have them, and when you are winning they will be in the shadows. When you are losing they are going to look for a platform. He says he took a proactive stance with them, meeting with the parents, booster club, and community and told them negative talk, regardless of how bad things were on the field, would make things worse. He told them it was akin to being a traitor to their kids. He explained to them that being positive and unified strengthened the program and would help us win more games. He said it resonated with most and helped to minimize some of the talk. He said you will still have some negative people, but you must block them out and focus on the program. He also said he reminded the kids to avoid the negativity.
One thing we did at the last school I was at was had the dads and booster club in at 9am to watch film with the coordinators for a half hour on Saturday. They would cook breakfast for the kids, and while the kids lifted, myself and the DC would watch film with them. We would watch about 15 plays on each side of the ball. We never blasted a kid for a mistake and kept things very positive. We would explain why we made a certain call, and what was supposed to happen. The dads enjoyed it, and it gave them a different perspective on the game. Some of the dads would watch practice, and we would mention how a drill we did correlated to what we were doing on the field. They would ask questions about why we called a certain play at times, and I enjoyed explaining to them what we were doing and why. While it took 30 minutes away from our Saturday work, I found it very beneficial. There was never anything negative that came out of it.
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on Oct 30, 2017 10:58:53 GMT -6
Been on both sides of blowouts. First half is free game. Second half you play your backups and run the ball. Our goal in the 2nd half is to get out healthy and get young guys playing time. Early in my career I was on the wrong side of a game where a team threw a reverse pass up 42-0 late in the game with their starters in. I was upset at them, but more upset at us for playing so bad. We still shook hands, but we remembered that the next year when we were much improved. Another team we played was up 49-0 with 2 minutes to go in the first half. We didn't have a first down. They ran their two minute drill and threw a fade for a TD at the end of the half. In the 2nd half they played their backups. We ended up losing 56-21. I had no problem with this at all.
We have been on the right side a few times, and the first half we ran our system and tried to score as much as we could. In the second half we slowed things down and played everyone. The tough part is when you have several blowout wins. You have to get your guys into game shape for the playoffs. The only way to do that is to play them.
People get too upset over blowouts because they let their ego get in the way. When we got blown out back in the day we tried to take it like men and get better from it.
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on Oct 19, 2017 10:14:33 GMT -6
A buddy of mine was running the wing-t and took over at a school that had historically not been good and ran the ball. He went to a TFS clinic and bought in. He has installed it at a few schools and has had a lot of success. He goes to a TFS System clinic each year to get together with other coaches running it and to get new wrinkles. He now has adapted some things to fit his personality. He runs the ball more, but his pass game is pretty true to the system.
Another friend of mine went to the NZone a few years ago. He had been a successful option coach and wanted to do something different. He then took what he learned and built it to his own liking.
The big issue is that whatever you run you have to know the ins and outs. You have to be able to troubleshoot.
I find it beneficial to go visit other coaches who have had success doing things we do, and figure out what we can do better. I love visiting with position coaches to learn more about fundamentals as well. There is nothing wrong with buying a system. But don't buy a system just to buy a system.
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on Oct 17, 2017 11:06:54 GMT -6
What is your process after a series? After every series we bring our guys to the benches arranged in a V. Skill on one bench, line on the other. Starters sitting, backups standing behind their position. We talk about what do you see. What is causing you problems, and how do we correct it. When things aren't going well we are obviously searching for play calling solutions, but with our kids we are talking to them about fixing mistakes. What do we need to tell them to perform at our best level?
Last week we played awful up front in the first quarter. Our kids were going through the motions. We weren't coming off the ball and were getting out-efforted. On the sideline we talked about at technical issues with our footwork and not getting off the ball. We challenged them to raise their level of play. They did. At halftime we reiterated that we were capable of playing better. We drew up their fronts, and showed them how we made mistakes and what we had to do to fix them. When you win 42-0 and feel like you lost, you know you have some things to fix during the week.
Our mentality is that we can score on any play against anybody. We focus on being our best, and constantly striving to find out how good we can be. The worst feeling is when you are overmatched physically to the point that you can't gain a dang yard. I have been there.
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on Oct 9, 2017 11:49:11 GMT -6
I do a stupid breathing exercise before I go to sleep that has worked wonders. I do 6 breaths where I breath in for 8 seconds, hold for 2, and exhale for 6 seconds. It has some calming effect that helps me be more relaxed. Some crack pot was talking about it and I thought it was dumb. Then I tried it. It worked.
I also bought a $5 alarm clock and started charging my phone in the kitchen. Not having my phone helps me sleep better. I get in bed at 9:45 Monday and Tuesday, and wake up at 6:15. Weds. We have 5 Thursday games this year which means sub-varsity on Weds. I try to get in bed by 11 on sub-varsity nights. Our Thursday games are all home games, with the exception of 1 local away game, and I am in bed by midnight. I try to keep my Mondays and Tuesdays sacred as far as when I get to bed.
One thing we did this year was cut back a little bit of our Saturday. Our kids are done at noon. We used to stay and work for 2 hours after the kids left. Now we get out of the office and do more prep from home. It makes everyone a little more fresh for Sunday game planning.
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on Oct 9, 2017 11:38:05 GMT -6
The best thing I have found is to have accountability of some sort in the off-season. We encourage kids to play all sports, but all kids lift. Lifting is good for kids in all sports, and we adjust the workouts for kids in another sport. We lift four days a week. The workouts take less than 40 minutes. We then have an overtime period one or two days a week where they lift an extra 20 minutes. Kids in other sports don't do the overtime lift, and their workout takes about 20 to 25 minutes. They lift 2 or 3 days a week depending on their game schedule. Other coaches benefit from our lifting the kids, because a stronger more athletic kid is going to be better at every sport they play. Our coaches in other sports all lift their kids here, so they handle their workout. At other places this hadn't been the case.
We want everyone to participate in track. At one school I was at we required every single kid, who didn't play baseball, to go to track practice. The kids that would never run in meets and the kids who were throwers did a 30 minute workout. The athletes and skill guys all did a 45 minute workout. 15 minutes was stretching and flexibility. 15 minutes was starts and form running. The final 15 to 25 minutes was training everyone on running a 400. The distance kids did a distance workout. Hurdlers, jumpers, and relays stayed to work their specialty for 15 minutes.
As far as building a program in the off-season, charting gains is vital. We reward the biggest increases, not the most weight. There are kids that have great genetics and will always lift in your top 15%, but if they don't work hard they will not increase. We charted attendance and increases. Those were the two things we rewarded. We also found that kids who show up tend to have bigger increases than kids who don't show up.
When they lifted we required great technique. If you didn't get to parallel on parallel squat, the rep doesn't count. We didn't let little things go. Coach them on everything, and hold them accountable to small details. Have different competitions with winners and losers. Find ways to build them into a family, where they depend on each other and they feel responsible for the man next to them.
We used to give them time off. The problem was, when they get in the habit of going home when the bell rings it is hard to get them to start staying when the bell rings. Kids are habitual. We built a habit that we will be here for an hour after school. The parents rarely had an issue with it because their son was being supervised. We did have a few kids with conflicts here and there, and we worked those on a case-by-case basis. Most of our kids hang around until we leave. Many get rides home from coaches each day. This is not a bad thing, as it gives us time to build relationships away from the field and weight room.
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on Oct 8, 2017 15:37:26 GMT -6
Typically when I was a head coach I would immerse myself in film over the weekend. As the week went on I would watch our practice films. Once the game landing stiff is done and we’ve figured out the nuts and bolts it’s more about us than them. Where I coach now we don’t film practice. At first it drove me bonkers not having clips from practice. But we have so many coaches, and I just focus on my unit. So we make a lot of correction right there. I have been through the same thing. When I started out coaching our HC was adamant that everything had to be filmed and we were supposed to go through all the practice film and then have things for kids to correct. Now what would happen is I and all the other coaches would watch the practice film and then we never seemed to have time before or after practice to watch it with the kids so it was just frustrating cause we never fixed anything. Anyway I eventually became and OC and now a HC at a smaller school and we just don't have the time nor the help to film practices, so because of constraints we don't film practice, but instead we correct it immediately. I think too often high school coaches want to run a college program and wait to fix mistakes when you watch the practice tape well the reality is YOU ARE IN HIGH SCHOOL COACHING HIGH SCHOOL KIDS, so you don't have the ability to put each position group into their individual rooms and watch every little bit of film and correct, instead you gotta correct on the field. Now I will say that I was reading an educational article that wasn't particularly football related, but it talked about behavior management and it stated that you have to correct behavior in the moment that it happens and not wait until the end of class and pull the kid aside because they have found that kids will change their behavior or modify it if they are challenged in the moment that they demonstrate that behavior. Anyway I think this has some application into football, if you coach in the moment and correct immediately then the problem is fixed immediately and you don't have to try and remember that thing the kid did on practice tape #2 and sometime during the practice. We found a way to film practices everywhere I have been. 20 years ago cameras were expensive and video programs were very, very expensive. Today it is much less expensive. We had kids who filmed for us. They traveled with the team and got cool gear. We filmed our inside run, team, and 7-on-7 on Monday and Tuesday. We had 15 minute position meetings before practice. We weren't trying to run things like a college, we were simply trying to get better. We corrected things on the field, but the film was an awesome teaching tool. It helped coaches and kids. I was in NYC doing this, where we had 3 coaches who were teachers and the rest of our staff had jobs outside of education. We were able to find 15 minutes to put our guys into position groups to watch film. When I had a couple of position coaches who couldn't be there for meetings, I took the skill guys for 8 minutes and the line and TE's for 8 minutes. We found a way to make it work. And I will unequivocally say it was an investment that helped us win more games. I am at a great school district in Texas now, and we have kids that film. We upload the film to hudl and watch it during position meetings before practice. It helps us the same way. Sometimes I have a hurt kid use my phone to film individual drills during practice. With hudl there is no reason not to have film. When we lost our filmers for an after school deal on day I filmed inside run and 1-on-1's on my phone. It helps to watch it the next day to be able to say, "this is what we talked about yesterday." We have all of our coaches in the building which helps, but like I said, we did this where we didn't have easy logistics. The more you coach it, the better you will get. Repetition breads habit, and when I can correct it on the field, then show it in the meeting room and reinforce it, we get better. If we are going to be successful, we must create opportunities to grow. Film is a great opportunity. You don't need long meetings. 10 to 20 minutes is perfect. I pull 4 to 6 practice clips for our position meeting. If I can coach it on the field and during the meeting, we will be better than if I only coach it on the field.
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on Oct 4, 2017 9:34:29 GMT -6
I stepped away for two years after the 2008 season as I got a job with a Wall Street firm. The money was good and I was good at it. However, I missed football tremendously. When we were bought by another wirehouse and the culture changed, I made a move to get back into coaching. I had moved to Texas and didn't have many connections and couldn't find a coaching job. In 2010 I got hired to teach and not coach. After school I went and watched several schools practice. It was a great experience to see how other people did things. In the spring the head coach was fired and the new coach hired me. The time away was good in the fact that I saw what other schools did. Being out of education altogether was eye opening in that I saw how the other half lives. I still put in long hours in investment banking as there is nothing you can be good at without putting in the time. The difference was that I had more flexibility. If you are going to be good at anything you have to work. If you are going to be average you will find a way not to work. I don't think there is anything out there where you work little and make a lot.
This is my 7th year in Texas and 17th overall. I have coached where football matters and where it is an afterthought. It is always what you make it. Until I got married a few years ago I was a single coach. Three years ago my daughter was born. I still work long hours, but I have made some adjustments to balance teaching, coaching, and family. When my wife and daughter go to bed I watch practice and prepare for meetings the next day. I make sure I get home as soon as possible when practice and additional duties are done. When I was single I would stay at the office "hanging out" a lot more than I do now. If I am in the office I am working. If I am at home I am a dad and husband until my wife and daughter go to bed. Then I work for an hour.
The hardest part of coaching is balancing family and football. A hall of fame head coach told me a few years ago that he regrets missing so much of his kids' childhood. He told me with technology today there can be balance without cheating the program and your family. He told me he has huge regrets of how he handled things when he was coaching. I work with a staff where we support each other when it comes to our kids. If a kid has something that parents should attend we work together to try to work it out. One thing we do is allow our kids to be around. We want our players to see us with our families. I will not sacrifice our program, and I will not cheat my family to the extent possible. It is not easy and there is stress. You have to find what works best for you, your family, and your program.
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on Sept 28, 2017 10:11:53 GMT -6
We started with one piece of equipment at a time. One year we bought two squat racks and a bench. We also bought 1,000 more pounds of weights. The next year we bought two more squat racks and dead lift bars.
We had car washes, sold raffle tickets, passed the hat, and sold cheesecakes. One of the best fundraisers we did was selling coffee, donuts, and water before school. The school let us borrow a 2 big coffee makers each morning. We sold coffee for $1 for a 16 ounce cup and $1 a donut. We made $6 each dozen donuts and about $100 in coffee each day. We sold 6 to 8 dozen donuts each day. We bought the water in cases of 36 for $4 and sold them for $1 each. We made $12k in about 5 months. We also sold t-shirts and hoodies. We got the t-shirts for $4 each and sold them for $10. We paid $11 for the hoodies and sold them for $25. We made about $6k a year in t-shirt and hoodie sales.
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on Sept 28, 2017 9:50:09 GMT -6
Do you have clear expectations? We have a 3 strike policy with attendance. If you are going to miss practice you tell the head coach and your position coach before practice. If you miss practice (excused) you don't play the first quarter. Miss two practices and you miss the game. If you have an unexcused absence you don't play. If you have 3 unexcused absences you are off the team. This was about more than football. This was about being a man and being responsible. If you miss work you can get fired, and then you can't put food on the table for your family.
We have a very detailed practice plan. Each coach has competitive drills during individual period. One thing we did to pick up practice a few years ago was to go to 4 minute periods. This helped practice move along. At most places I have been we were very efficient with practice. We don't have any standing around. We don't practice more than 2 hours on Monday and Tuesday, and we go 80 minutes on Weds. This keeps kids involved and we don't have the lull.
We constantly praise great effort. We criticize poor effort. Kids want praise. They want to hear that you are pleased with them. Find good stuff and praise it. It can be hard.
At one of the biggest turnarounds I was a part of we had to kill the cancer before it spread. We had low numbers and didn't let kids who didn't show up in the summer play. Our second year we actually kicked 3 seniors to be off the team. They didn't show up all summer and then showed up the first day of two-a-days. The expectations were clear. If you don't show up to 50% of summer workouts, you don't play. You can guarantee every year after that we rarely had kids miss a lot of summer workouts.
It all starts with expectations and what you allow. Permitting is promoting. They don't know how to work hard, so you have to show them. It starts with your coaches. Your coaches set the tone each day. Your enthusiasm and effort will carry over to the kids. If coaches have their hands in their pockets and don't have enthusiasm, your kids will follow. If your coaches are jacked up and getting after it, the kids will get after it. It isn't easy. It takes great effort from coaches every single day.
Your coaches must be unified and together. If you have coaches talking behind each others backs, you will not be as good as you can be. If a coach talks about another coach behind his back, fire him. It is better to coach a man down than coach with a cancer on your staff. If your coaches aren't unified, your players won't be unified.
Finally, relationships are vital. Your players must know that you care. That starts with spending time with them away from football. You also have to see them for what they can be, not what they are. You have to tell them they can be an all-state player. I am going to coach you to be D-1, you have to work like it. If you want to be coached to be average, go somewhere else.
The suggestion of watching someone else practice is great. We took our captains to a Rutgers practice many years ago when I was coaching out East. We also took our whole team to a Jet practice when Herm Edwards was there. It was eye opening. Coach Edwards talked to the team about effort and discipline, and believing in themselves. It was a huge deal that helped our program.
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on Sept 22, 2017 9:58:43 GMT -6
Send his film to your coaching contacts where you have kids currently and tell them the situation. His height may be a turn off for a few schools as they are caught up on 5-11 or taller. I would also send the film to FCS programs and top D2's as well. He is a powerful back with good vision and hips.
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on Sept 21, 2017 10:17:20 GMT -6
You can not accept it. I took over a poor program this year and I reiterated to the kids that I would much rather go into a game with 15 kids who WANT to play over 30 kids on the sideline (Our numbers are low) and we haven't had any practice issues. Now you have to work on changing the culture, but like several coaches stated above, it starts and stops with the HC. olcoach53 is a great resource! Dude can coach some ball and will get the program going!
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on Sept 20, 2017 13:31:13 GMT -6
They only pull what you let them pull. Sit them out. The best thing we did many years ago was didn't play five starters for various stupidity the first game. The next week we only had to sit three of them. We won 5 of our last 6 games and almost made the playoffs our first year at a school that had never been to the playoffs. With that said we didn't ever accept laziness. We coached with passion and enthusiasm everyday. We were in the early stages of building something very special. fshamrock said something important. Focus on getting better, not necessarily winning and losing. If you do the things right that it takes to win, winning will come. At another place I was at I worked for a head coach that took over a program that was down. All he did was talk about winning, and we struggled. The kids lost confidence and we got worse as the season progressed. Focus on effort and emphasize it everyday. Find small victories in everything you do. Find ways to build confidence, and hold them accountable for screwing around and being lazy. You have to build the mentality first.
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on Sept 20, 2017 13:21:20 GMT -6
Student loan companies offer a hardship deferment. You have to go through some paperwork, but they sometimes will allow you to postpone payments without penalties if you are approved. The other thing is if you teach in a Title I school you can apply to have some loans forgiven. None of my loans have ever qualified, but it is worth a shot.
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on Sept 18, 2017 12:34:43 GMT -6
Offensive line is like no other position. The only time you get noticed is when you screw up. With the offensive line it is all about the unit. They can't let the man next to them down. If you can get them to play for the unit and not for themselves, they will give more effort. We also hold them all accountable to each other for effort. We point out great effort and poor effort. I love coaching offensive line for this very reason. It is a challenge to get them to come together, but once you do it is a thing of beauty. The kids come up with our unit name each year, and we identify with that. It cost me $300 out of pocket to get 20 t-shirts made. This was a small thing that the kids like. They now have come up with a hashtag they identify with.
Let me say that a hashtag and a t-shirt won't make you play hard. But building and molding a unit will. We spend time together outside of practice eating and hanging out. This helps to build that unit.
When you are correcting them they already feel like crap for making a mistake. We talk about how to fix it. I tell my guys everyday, "I own your mistakes, you own your effort." When you make a mistake that is bad coaching and I will get you coached up. When you give poor effort, that is on you, and you and we will find a way to make you go hard." I also defend our guys to the death. If another player calls them out for not blocking or missing an assignment, I rip the tail of the guy that said it, and end with an invitation to join us if he thinks its so dang easy. They need to know you have their back.
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on Sept 13, 2017 11:16:04 GMT -6
With just about everyone on Hudl there is no reason not to trade film. We have district rules that tell you when to trade and how many films to trade. We get two games 10 days out, and their most recent game Saturday morning by 9am. We trade wide and tight. At one school I was at we traded every game. Back when I started we had to drive to exchange films, and we typically traded the last two games. If someone didn't trade we found a way to get their film. If someone calls us for film it all goes through the head coach. If we know them we might provide some film, but never of our district opponents with someone outside the district. As far as preparation, I watch everything I can get my hands on. We will break down the most recent three games, but we watch every game we can. If you play a team that ran a trick play in week 2, and you have that film but don't watch it in week 7 or 8, you will not be as prepared as you can. We played a team in the playoffs one year that ran a front in game one that they didn't run the rest of the season. Had I not watched that film we would not have been we well prepared for the front. Obviously we watch schematics, but as jgordon1 and dubber said, we want to know who their cats are. Who are their best players at each level, and who can we take advantage of. I also like to watch as many games as possible to find out who has played. We always identify the injured guys on the sideline. Might be overkill, but I have never heard a coach say, "we were too well prepared."
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on Sept 12, 2017 10:55:40 GMT -6
I will add that I have brought fire and fury to film sessions. A few times it helped get a point across. A few times I simply got out my frustration, but it didn't make us better. I have had kids that, at times, needed to be called out more directly and sternly.
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on Sept 11, 2017 13:59:57 GMT -6
The question is, will yelling at your kids and bringing fury improve their mental toughness and help you win the next game? If it will, then do it. Gauge where your team is at and what they need to raise their level of play. Some groups need a stern kick in the pants, while others won't respond to that.
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on Aug 30, 2017 9:31:17 GMT -6
We do everything we can to keep them in the program, as often football is an opportunity for them to be around positive role models. Sometimes we have to cut them loose, but we only do so if it going to be best for them in the long run. Sometimes we cut a kid loose and he realizes he needs to change, and comes back a better teammate. We have a kid now who was a huge troublemaker in class last year. He didn't play football and wanted to play this fall. We told him he had to pass all his classes and reduce his discipline referrals. He did what we asked and is now playing this fall. He is not very good, but he shows up everyday and tries. He makes a lot of mistakes and sometimes gets absolutely whipped. But his teachers say he is gleaming about being on the team and has some pride in himself.
Over the last 20 years I have been a part of several good and bad experiences with giving kids an opportunity. We have had more than a few that didn't make it through, but every one of them can say their coaches cared about them and helped them to grow. About 15 years ago we had a kid that was an awesome running back. He came from a rough home life and missed a lot of practice. He eventually had to be cut loose, but we told him just because he wasn't playing that we weren't here for him. About 5 years ago he got in touch with me that he was married, successful, had 3 kids, and was coaching. He is now a defensive coordinator at a school. While we clashed a lot he took a lot of life lessons to heart. At the time I didn't think he was getting anything we were trying to build. I was wrong. While he didn't make through our program, he gained a lot for being a part of it. He prides himself on being a good father and husband, and uses his experience to mentor his players.
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on Aug 19, 2017 19:22:33 GMT -6
We watch anywhere from 4 to 6 plays. We watch inside run on Monday and more team on Tuesday. As the season progresses and we improve we will watch 8 to 10 plays. It depends on how much time we need to spend on each play. During the spring we watch indy film the first couple of days to improve our drill work. Thanks coach. Do you try and find a balance of showing good things and bad (or things that need to be improved) or just whatever you think needs to be watched? I will point out things that are good, but we focus on corrections. If we ever lose confidence I will make a clip of 4 or 5 really good clips. On most clips there is good and bad, so you can easily hit both. I ask my guys would you rather me make you feel good, or would you rather be a better player?
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on Aug 19, 2017 10:02:07 GMT -6
Coach Vint in your 12-15m meeting how many clips will you watch? Are they all of Team/Group periods or will you show film of Indy? We watch anywhere from 4 to 6 plays. We watch inside run on Monday and more team on Tuesday. As the season progresses and we improve we will watch 8 to 10 plays. It depends on how much time we need to spend on each play. During the spring we watch indy film the first couple of days to improve our drill work.
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on Aug 18, 2017 10:38:30 GMT -6
I was once with a program that met for 35 minutes M-Th & 150 minutes on Sat, it was mostly a waste of time (filling time so we can say we meet around here). I gotta ask for those of you who meet so much, what do you talk about that needs to be talked about? I could get it if it were like a class trying to help develop young men, but football wise what are you actually doing? 2.5 hours of film with players is overkill in my opinion. We get 30 minutes on Saturday with our players to watch the game film. We get 20 minutes of meeting time each day. 20 Minutes allows us to watch a selected set of clips from the previous practice and watch 2 to 3 clips of our opponents. Our meetings are interactive with a lot of player participation. Meeting to meet is bad. Meetings with a purpose and a plan are very beneficial. Coach Clement mentioned preparation for the meeting. That is vital. I usually have 4 to 6 linemen in my room during lunch (their choice) to watch film and ask questions during the week. I have never been in a program where we didn't have meeting time with our players. I can't imagine not wanting to watch film with them on a regular basis. 10 to 20 minutes a day is optimal. Yes, it puts us on the field a little bit later. But it helps have our players more prepared, and helps us correct mistakes. If we could be AS prepared without meeting I would be all for it. But that time has not come. With Hudl there is no reason not to have at least some practice film. You can film from the app and get drills on tape. If we didn't have a filmer I would have someone film with my phone from behind the OL. When I first started I sometimes would say, "I don't need to watch the film, I was there." The film doesn't lie, and there is too much to be seen to see it all live. It takes 12 to 15 minutes to watch our practice clips and make a short playlist to cover in our meeting. It makes us better. If it didn't, I wouldn't waste time.
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on Aug 17, 2017 8:07:04 GMT -6
We have position meetings before every practice that lasts around 20-30 minutes and consists of watching film and doing walk thrus. We are similar. We will get our guys at 3:07 each day. We have a brief team meeting for 3 to 5 minutes at 3:25. At 3:30 we have a 10 minute special teams meeting. We then have position meetings for 20 minutes. Each position coach has a projector to show film. We don't add anything new once we finish install. We are who we are. We might make an adjustment to a blocking scheme based on something our opponent does, but we don't add any new concepts. We only meet M-T-W by position. Monday we watch our opponent and go through our scouting report. Tuesday and Weds. we watch our practice film and talk through mistakes. I have been in situations where we didn't have the resources to have every coach with a projector. In that case we adjust accordingly. There are times when we will walk through during install instead of meeting. One cool thing you can use is Go Army Edge. It is a free web based program that allows you to see 3D renditions of plays from multiple angles. I draw our opponents defense, take a screenshot from behind the QB, and project it on a whiteboard. We then draw our blocking versus our opponent. We also draw up their most common stunts/blitzes (3 to 4 at most) and project them on the board. It essentially is a walk through in 3D. We make our line calls and run through our base protections and identity runs. Don't over meet them. When I was at the college level we met for 45 minutes. 45 minutes of board work and film can be a beat down if you don't run a precise meeting. 20 minutes is about perfect for high school.
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on Aug 1, 2017 21:16:20 GMT -6
Bruce was a tremendous coach who was a wealth of knowledge. I saw him speak at clinics several times and always came away with a lot of great information. He was not only a great coach, he was an outstanding person who was always willing to help.
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on Jul 20, 2017 9:16:55 GMT -6
There are a million ways to do this, and they all have merit. Wrist coaches on the QB work well if you are huddling. You don't need more than 12 calls, and that allows you to give him the play and he calls it in the huddle. That has been done at all levels and is effective.
If you want to add an element of surprise, then you can add a call like "cheetah," which you well out. They will automatically line up in your favorite formation and run your identity play. They don't huddle, they just line up and run it. Then you can add "eagle" and have it be your favorite pass play.
I don't have much experience with young kids, but something that worked with our feeder programs was using land animals for runs and birds for passes. We used fish for screens. It was very simple to do. We ran 3 formations, 4 runs, and 4 passes. We had one screen.
One thing I will say... You don't need 100 different calls. You will run 40 to 50 plays a game at that level. Many games you will run less. You want to have 16 to 20 "calls" that you practice over and over and over. When you find something that works, you run it again and again. Figure out the best way that works for your kids.
This is a bit off topic, but I will throw it in. I will say it over and over, there are many youth coaches that would out coach guys at the highest levels of football. Youth coaches are the guys who will either encourage or discourage our youth from loving the game. And loving the game is about more than playing time. It is about encouraging them to be the best they can be.
I coached with a guy who was terrible playing youth football. But his coaches encouraged him every day. He was short and fat as a 4th and 5th grader. By 12th grade he was 6-5 270 and started 49 college games on the offensive line. He told our middle school coaches they must encourage the worst players as much as the best players, because somewhere along the line one of them might just grow into a beast.
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on Jul 18, 2017 9:09:08 GMT -6
We post our depth chart every single week. We also coach them on it as a living document. It can change at a moment's notice. Just because you are first doesn't mean you will stay there. Just because you are third doesn't mean you shouldn't fight to be number 1. We remind the #2's they are one play from being a starter, so prepare accordingly. Don't wait until you are a starter to work like one. And if you are a starter, compete like you are hungry. If you don't like where you are, talk to your position coach and he will tell you what you need to do to improve. If you are good enough to play, you will play.
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on Jun 23, 2017 9:34:53 GMT -6
I try to visit two to three staffs a year. I do a lot of prep work before I go in. I don't go visit a staff without having a plan of what I want to get out of the visit. I don't walk in and just "hope" to catch something.
1. What do you want to get out of the visit? This might be a list of 3 or 4 specific things. 2. What questions do you need to ask to get you there? 3. Which coaches do you hope to speak to? 4. What film to do you want to look at?
If I am looking to learn their system, I ask them to take me through there install. What is the first play they install? Why is this the first play? What are the ins and outs? If I am looking to learn how to be more efficient with something, I will ask their install process. How do you install your stuff? When I visited with Dana Holgerson several years ago I wasn't interested in what they were doing. I wanted to know how they installed everything in 5 days. What did that look like? What were the positives and negatives? What does he want to change?
I then do some research about each coach on staff. I want to know where they came from and who they have worked with. What is their background? What can I use as a point of reference?
The more prepared you are, the more beneficial your visit will be. We have staffs come visit and the more prepared they are, the better their visit will be. Typically they are traveling several hours, and I don't want either of us to waste time. I have them email me a list of things they want to cover ahead of time. This helps us to have a better visit that benefits the coaches coming in.
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on May 26, 2017 19:05:57 GMT -6
The fact that kids and parents bear no responsibility for anything.
|
|
|
Post by Coach Vint on May 24, 2017 9:56:08 GMT -6
|
|