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Post by Coach Vint on Aug 17, 2016 21:01:55 GMT -6
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Post by Coach Vint on Aug 12, 2016 7:46:55 GMT -6
I had this problem many years ago at a Title 1 school, very low income. I told the parents and faculty the situation. We needed $300 for 6 jerseys. We raised the money in less than an hour.
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Post by Coach Vint on May 24, 2016 10:21:46 GMT -6
I think the unstated point beneath this is that you shouldn't make rules you don't care about. If you don't really CARE about socks being matching colours, then you won't be motivated to enforce the rule. That's a big part of it. If you aren't going to enforce a standard, you don't want to put the standard in place. If you tell your players to be 5 minutes early, then enforce the standard at 5 minutes early all the time. If you selectively enforce your standards, your players will selectively follow the standards. One additional point is that while school culture matters, we will not let that be an excuse for whether we enforce our standards. We will set high standards regardless of school climate. We will build our culture regardless of how bad the school culture might be. I want our program culture to impact the school as a whole. Our culture should be so powerful that it influences the school culture.
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Post by Coach Vint on May 24, 2016 8:03:59 GMT -6
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Post by Coach Vint on May 13, 2016 9:44:36 GMT -6
Guys who are experts in their areas, have great enthusiasm, and are excited to be there. Being well-organized and staying on topic is important as well. You can tell great teachers when you see a guy speak at a clinic.
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Post by Coach Vint on May 12, 2016 8:24:45 GMT -6
Hal Wasson from Southlake Carroll is very good talking about program building Randy Allen from Highland Park Steve Addazio gives a great offensive line presentation Tom Herman from Houston is AWESOME talking about philosophy and 3 level pass concepts Bruce Brown Randy Jackson from Grapevine in Texas talking about RPO's and Culture Chris Ross from Prosper, Texas talking option and using unbalanced sets Joe Willis from Cedar Park, Texas on defensive football Noel Mazzone- Love is passion
I like guys who are passionate and enthusiastic about their topic. All of the above guys have great passion and are very well organized. I agree that when guys revert to the we give to the D1 guy I tend to lose interest. How do you do it when you don't have D1 guys? How do you make it work with the kid who is going to get cut from the D3 program?
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Post by Coach Vint on May 4, 2016 14:07:26 GMT -6
can you explain your process for quitting? Before they can quit the player must meet with the HC and Parent. They can't quit because, "they aren't having fun." The parent must sign off on them quitting, and once they quit one sport they can't play another until the sport they quit is completely finished. Player tells someone he wants to quit. Doesn't show up. 1. Position coach pulls player out of class to ask what is going on. Position coach encourages the player to be at practice Teammate meets with the player to encourage him to continue to play if he is thinking about quitting
2. If player wants to quit, a parent meeting is scheduled with player, parent, HC, and AD if not the head coach. At this meeting the player is highly encouraged to finish the season3. Parent must sign off on understanding what happens when a player "quits." 4. Parent signs a sheet laying out the requirements to return to play We are lucky to be in a place where coaches are unified and the administration supports coaches. With that said, regardless of where I have been we have had a process in writing. Quitting is discouraged. HIghly discouraged. It is only to be used as a last resort. Even with a process in place, there will be a few that quit. And occasionally, we are all in agreement on this.
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Post by Coach Vint on May 3, 2016 13:03:28 GMT -6
Some kids will rise to high expectations (or as I called them because I was an English teacher, "Great Expectations"). Others will quit instead. That's the tough part. My goal as a coach is to have no one quit. Is it realistic? No, but realistic goals do not make championship programs. We invariably will have a few decide it is not for them. But if they know you unconditionally love them, not for what they do, but for who they are, the will have to crawl all over themselves to quit. The other deal is that we don't let them just quit. They have to work to quit. This helps when you have a unified athletic department with everyone on the same page. We have process for quitting. It is more than just "not showing up." Here is the other thing. We know the standards are difficult to meet. We know there will be times when you will fail. However, we will not give up on you. Even if you give up on yourself, we will not give up on you. Over the years we have had several kids make a poor decision and quit. We reached out to them. We encouraged them. We gave them a way back. We call it the path back to prosperity. Here is your path... Here is how we will support you to get there... Here is why this path is better than the one you are on... Some of these kids found a way back to the path. Some didn't. But, none of them will say they aren't better off for their experience in our program. And those that make it back often make us proud.
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Post by Coach Vint on May 3, 2016 10:23:33 GMT -6
Culture is going to be built by design or by chance. You choose which of those will be the way culture is built in your program. Kids will rise to the level of expectations you set for them. Set high expectations, they will achieve them. Set low expectations, they will achieve them. The key is, you must live your culture. If you want them to achieve, you have to achieve. They have to see your drive, passion, and enthusiasm.
What do you want your culture to look like? What do you want your program identity to be? You get to choose. You can't wait until August to build championship culture. If you want to build culture you have to build it today. Now. Meet with your team and lay out your vision. Be short and to the point. Then set your core values. These are the four or five non-negotaibles of how your program will live. Trust, Accountability, Toughness, etc. etc. 5 core values is plenty.
Set simple standards of performance and hold them accountable. Meet one on one with all returning players who will be seniors. 10 Minute meetings to get to know them and let them get to know you. Have a senior team building activity. Get them drawn in and let them know this is bigger than you or them. They have a chance to help build a foundation they can be proud of.
Let your kids know you care about them and will be there for them. Then, earn their trust. Be clear and consistent. Be passionate and enthusiastic, set high standards, and hold them accountable. Be honest with them. "It's because we care that we will tell you the truth."
You choose the culture, and the culture can be changed. I have been a part of a turnaround at a couple of places everyone said it couldn't be done. It all starts with culture and it starts and ends with you.
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Post by Coach Vint on May 3, 2016 10:23:22 GMT -6
Culture is going to be built by design or by chance. You choose which of those will be the way culture is built in your program. Kids will rise to the level of expectations you set for them. Set high expectations, they will achieve them. Set low expectations, they will achieve them. The key is, you must live your culture. If you want them to achieve, you have to achieve. They have to see your drive, passion, and enthusiasm.
What do you want your culture to look like? What do you want your program identity to be? You get to choose. You can't wait until August to build championship culture. If you want to build culture you have to build it today. Now. Meet with your team and lay out your vision. Be short and to the point. Then set your core values. These are the four or five non-negotaibles of how your program will live. Trust, Accountability, Toughness, etc. etc. 5 core values is plenty.
Set simple standards of performance and hold them accountable. Meet one on one with all returning players who will be seniors. 10 Minute meetings to get to know them and let them get to know you. Have a senior team building activity. Get them drawn in and let them know this is bigger than you or them. They have a chance to help build a foundation they can be proud of.
Let your kids know you care about them and will be there for them. Then, earn their trust. Be clear and consistent. Be passionate and enthusiastic, set high standards, and hold them accountable. Be honest with them. "It's because we care that we will tell you the truth."
You choose the culture, and the culture can be changed. I have been a part of a turnaround at a couple of places everyone said it couldn't be done. It all starts with culture and it starts and ends with you.
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Post by Coach Vint on Apr 25, 2016 8:50:35 GMT -6
Here in Iowa these are the guys I look up to. Ed Thomas, Aplington, Parkersburg Many of you may have heard Coach Thomas's story a few years back. He was a coaching legend who pumped out winning team after winning team. Currently sits like 6th in the state in career wins. It's not so much about what he did on the field though that got me to respect him as a person. He helped turn a town around after it had been completely devastated by a tornado. Then a short time after was tragically shot to death by a former player at a morning lifting session. If you haven't had a chance to read the book or listen to the audio book I highly suggest doing so. It will give you a whole new perspective on coaching. www.amazon.com/Sacred-Acre-Ed-Thomas-Story/dp/0310318971Randy Hinkel, Madrid Coach Hinkel is 4th on the all time list but once again it's about what this guy did off the field more so then on. He's a hell of a coach and to get the talent out of the kids he has considering the size, it's remarkable. It was much to my surprise when I saw the job at Madrid was open early last summer. I knew it would have been much bigger news that Randy had retired then it was so I figured something was up but applied for he job anyway. I got called in for an interview and absolutely fell in the love with what Randy had built. What seemed too good to be true, was. Randy retired from teaching so in order to continue coaching he had to be re-hired. Legally they have to interview so many and I just happened to be one of them. It was a good experience for me regardless. Sadly, Randy passed away of a massive heart attack just 6 months after retiring from teaching this year. Gone way too soon but he'll forever go down in Iowa coaching history in my book. Jerry Pezzetti I had the opportunity to coach on Jerry's staff at Ankeny Centennial for a few short years. Coach Pezzetti is 2nd or 3rd all time in career wins and has turned Ankeny into a 4A powerhouse year after year. He now co-head coaches with his son Ryan Pezzetti and it's remarkable that he still gets out there and coached. He's getting up there in age, and sure doesn't say or do a whole lot schematically anymore but that doesn't take away from the success he has built from the ground up. Gary Swenson, West Des Moines Valley Personally I think Coach Swenson is the best in the state right now. It would be between him and West Des Moines Downling's Head Coach. Top 6 all time in wins, ton of state championships in class 4A and he's singly handily turned the Valley program into one of the top 3 in the state. X's and O's genius and genuinely a great guy. I would agree! I was very impressed with how Coach Hinkel was able to build a dynasty at Madrid. They were one of those teams that played way above their talent level every single year. He was a GREAT man! Coach Thomas was salt of the earth as well! The big thing all these guys have in common is what they do off the field! They teach their players to be great men!
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Post by Coach Vint on Apr 19, 2016 12:06:17 GMT -6
Well worth the price. There is a lot of great information and they are always putting out new stuff.
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Post by Coach Vint on Mar 25, 2016 10:18:12 GMT -6
Here is the way I look at it. I am not very smart. I wanted a point of reference. When I first started coaching I thought the sport kind of taught character itself. But while we won a lot of games we were missing something. We started with Coaching to Change Lives by Dennis Parker and DW Rutledge. It gave us a great point of reference. It helped improve our program. That's where I have evolved. The game itself doesn't teach character, but it gives coaches a great opportunity to. There are a lot of guys a lot smarter than me, and that's why I bought character resources. Now I use the Real Man Program. I love it. It has a lot to it. Do I use other stuff? Yes. But it gave me a great foundation, and that's what I needed. It is far from a scam. The guy who wrote it passed away a few years ago. I feel strongly enough I speak on it at clinics. I don't make a dime if you buy it. But I believe it helps our kids, and that is why I advocate it's use.
When I was first hired as an OC I didn't know where to start. I didn't buy an out of the box offense, but I did seek knowledge. I paid some coaches to come in and clinic me and our offensive staff. I then fit that to our system. I visited schools that did things I wanted to do, and then I fit it to our system. I felt it was value. That's just my opinion for what it's worth. If I am lacking in an area, I am going to pay for information. There are some good character programs out there, and they are worth the investment. My thought is, if football taught character then every football player would be making great life decisions. We all know this isn't the case. Football is the greatest game for teaching great lessons, but it takes coaches to teach those lessons. They don't get taught on their own. How you teach those lessons is up to you. Me, I am not very smart so I went out and found some resources. There are many who are far smarter than I that already have the answers. They may not need the resources.
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Post by Coach Vint on Mar 22, 2016 13:36:42 GMT -6
I just snorted some coffee out through my nose. I actually thought you were serious for two paragraphs.
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Post by Coach Vint on Mar 22, 2016 13:31:14 GMT -6
I am copywriting the endorsement as we speak. I will put in bold print. Perhaps I will tweet it out. John, with there is absolutely nothing wrong with a good laugh. Especially with all that has been going on the last couple of weeks.
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Post by Coach Vint on Mar 22, 2016 11:00:51 GMT -6
Mental Toughness can and must be taught. It must be taught with intent, and can be taught a variety of ways. Most programs I have researched do at least part of it in a classroom setting. I have heard it called many different things. At one school I was at we called it Tiger Pride. At another school we called it Warrior Training. At another place we called it Champions For Life or C4L.
Every successful and failing organization has a culture. Successful organizations build culture with intent. Failing organizations tend to have Culture by Chance. Your character and leadership training should be aligned with your Culture, Vision, and Values. There are many outstanding resources available. There is a reason why Houston went 13-1 and beat Florida State. And guys, it isn't their athletes. Tom Herman has a heck of a vision, and he gets what it takes to build a championship culture. Guys like Hal Wasson at Southlake Carroll, Randy Allen at Highland Park High School, and Todd Dodge at Westlake build culture and character with intent. Randy Jackson had a great year at Grapevine High School playing schools they had no business beating if you went solely on athletic ability. He has a great plan for building culture and character. (Those schools are all in Texas).
This is as important as the time you spend building your offensive and defensive schemes. Culture Trumps Strategy. If it didn't, Nick Saban wouldn't spend time on it. If it didn't, Hugh Freeze wouldn't spend so much time on it.
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Post by Coach Vint on Mar 21, 2016 20:07:57 GMT -6
Many programs do things like this. This comes from Coach Stiegelmeier at South Dakota State. This list is much longer, but this is an excerpt. XandO Labs did an awesome piece on this very topic last week. It is well worth the membership fee to be a part of their site. 1. Your greatest accomplishment? 2. The lowest moment of your life? 3. The one trait that is most important to you in your future wife? 4. Most inspiring person you ever met and why? 5. A time or an event in your life when you realized that you as person had to change and why? 6. The biggest lesson that you have learned while being here at SDSU? 7. When you die, what are two qualities/ values do you want people to say about you? 8. What is your biggest regret in life and why? 9. What was your childhood dream? 10. You have 24 hours left before the end of your life, what would you do with your time left on earth? 11. If you were a millionaire, but you had to spend it, who and what would you spend it on? 12. How would you define success? 13. Most embarrassing moment? 14. Major and what you intend to do with it. If you are undecided, what do you want to do when you graduate? 15. Favorite Movie? 16. Favorite Superhero? 17. Who has been the most influential person in your life and why? 18. Three people you could have dinner with alive or deceased and why? 19. Hobbies/What do you like to do in your free time? 20. Favorite meal and why? 21. Tell us something about you the nobody/most people don’t know? 22. Celebrity crush? 23. Craziest thing that ever happened to you? 24. You’re on death row – what’s your last meal? 25. Who’s your best friend and why?
You don't have to do this all at once. Do this in parts. There are many ways to get to know your players. There are many ways to teach character and leadership. There are many ways to build trust and family within your program. These questions have nothing to do with football.
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Post by Coach Vint on Mar 20, 2016 18:57:44 GMT -6
Do you do all players or just leaders??? Everyone. Every single person in the program. I have always done a separate leadership training program for unity council members.
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Post by Coach Vint on Mar 20, 2016 13:42:10 GMT -6
What kind of issues were you dealing with that made it a struggle? We don't have very high participation levels in any sport. The athletes are generally 3 sport kids. That means that we struggle to find time outside of football season to meet with athletes as a group because of the various schedules that are kept by winter sports. Additionally the junior class as a unit is very unmotivated to anything more than the bare min. and even more so if it isn't all about them individually. You can do it before school for 10 minutes or possibly during lunch. Sit down with your coaches and kids and figure out a creative time to get something done. It will be worth it.
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Post by Coach Vint on Mar 18, 2016 20:46:36 GMT -6
The best way to care is to actually care. Not just by saying you care, but truly caring about your players on and off the field. I give my players my cell number. If they have a problem or question they can text me. They can call me. I don't think there is any issue with this. I tell my players this is a family, and we don't need to share our numbers outside the family. If someone calls or texts that I don't know I typically don't respond. They use twitter and Facebook. I am on both. Facebook is more to keep up with friends and former players. Twitter I use to talk ball, network, and share positive information. I may shout a kid out on Twitter. I don't think Facebook and Twitter help you care, they are more for communication. I am going to give you a deep thought here and jump on my soapbox. Coaching is about LOVE. It is about unconditional love. You love your players for who they are, not what they do. You love them as much when they are at their worst as you do when they are at their best. When you stick by them when they are at their worst they will begin to trust you. This does not mean not holding them accountable. Quite the contrary, you will be able to hold them accountable and they won't resent you. Love is spelled T-I-M-E. You must be willing to give them time. You must spend time getting to know them. You must spend time listening to them. You must be willing to help them when they have a problem they don't know how to solve. The first key is getting to know them. Break them into groups of 8 to 10. Spend the first 8 minutes each day asking them about their families, their hopes, their dreams, and their fears. do this every single day in the winter and spring. During this time they will learn about you, you will learn about them, and they will learn about each other. You can use this time to teach character and teach them real life lessons. Here is a link to a blog post I wrote on coaching with a purpose: coachvint.blogspot.com/2015/03/coaching-with-purpose.htmlHere is one on Building Culture, Character, and Leadership: coachvint.blogspot.com/2016/03/developing-culture-character-and.htmlYou can't build trust and unconditional love by chance. You can't teach character by chance. You can't build culture by chance. You have to do these with intent.
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Post by Coach Vint on Mar 16, 2016 20:10:47 GMT -6
by Texas, do you mean the UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS? I probably read that wrong. If you call their high school relations guy they will hook you up. They are very open to having visitors.
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Post by Coach Vint on Mar 16, 2016 17:23:36 GMT -6
We have 12 (8 Varsity, 4 9th Grade) at the high school, all teachers in the building and 4 middle school coaches, all teachers in that building. Our enrollment is 690, and this year we will have 160 in our program 9-12 and about 70 8th graders and 80 7th graders. Our varsity staff coaches our junior varsity as well. It works well for us.
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Post by Coach Vint on Mar 16, 2016 17:20:24 GMT -6
Everyone has spring ball at different times, but coaches will open their doors if you call ahead. Try Coach Sanders at Vandegrift High School. You can get his number or email off the school website. You can also reach out to Todd Dodge at Westlake. He is a great guy and a very good football coach. They may not be in spring ball yet, but you can visit them and watch their off-season workouts and see how they run their weight room. You might be able to time it right to hit a couple of schools.
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Post by Coach Vint on Mar 13, 2016 21:45:59 GMT -6
This is a major issue at our school..we have talent..but the lack the character traits to be a successful team. My question is should this be addressed/initiated by the HC or can a coordinator like myself try to install these traits via character building activities/excercises? Everyone one staff must be bought in and involved if you want to maximize the success of anything you do. If half your coaches believe in this and half don't, then you will not have the same level of success. I don't look at any of this as taking time from practice or workouts. This is an investment that will make your program better. Period. Character, Culture, and Leadership must be taught with intent. You are teaching it whether you intend to or not. You are either building your culture by design, or you are building culture by chance. Character and leadership programs can be implemented in 8 to 10 minutes a day. It then must be reinforced all day, every day. I wrote a blog post that can be found here: coachvint.blogspot.com/2016/03/developing-culture-character-and.html Culture starts with character and leadership. Teams with great culture often beat teams that are more talented. If you have poor culture you will lose to teams with less talent. Your players will make poor decisions and you will not be mentally tough.
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Post by Coach Vint on Mar 7, 2016 9:57:08 GMT -6
Over the last several months I have had the opportunity to visit with many, many coaches, and I more convinced than ever that culture is the key to building an elite program. I have always been a big believer in culture, and that we must build it with intent, but I now believe it more than ever. What are you doing to build culture in your program? What are you doing to build character and leadership? Do you have a vision and a mission? Are you a slave to your talent? I decided to share my thoughts on this with a new log post. Check it out here: coachvint.blogspot.com/2016/03/developing-culture-character-and.html
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Post by Coach Vint on Feb 23, 2016 9:18:04 GMT -6
Dr. Jim Peterson who owns Coaches Choice wrote the book for Bill Walsh. They are typically sold at the Coaches Choice booths at Glazier Clinics for $40. I think it's out of print Dr. Peterson owns the rights and always has them available at clinics. I bought a copy two years ago at the Texas High School Coaches Convention. I bought a buddy of mine a copy at the Glazier Clinic in Dallas last year. I will be at the Glazier Clinic in Greenwich, CT in March, and I will see if he has more available there.
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Post by Coach Vint on Feb 22, 2016 11:09:16 GMT -6
Dr. Jim Peterson who owns Coaches Choice wrote the book for Bill Walsh. They are typically sold at the Coaches Choice booths at Glazier Clinics for $40.
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Post by Coach Vint on Jan 14, 2016 9:17:38 GMT -6
At the AFCA they have an area designated for coaches to put up resumes and schools to list jobs. It is more of a job board (several big boards). At the Texas High School Coaches Convention it is in an actual room where schools post jobs, coaches post resumes, and interviews are often conducted. I had a buddy find a job at the AFCA Convention a few years ago because of the job board. He saw a job posted, contacted the coach, interviewed at the convention, and got hired.
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Post by Coach Vint on Jan 13, 2016 9:30:03 GMT -6
A lot of guys get jobs at the convention, but I don't know if slinging resumes is the best way. They have a job room, and that is the place to start.
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Post by Coach Vint on Jan 5, 2016 9:33:34 GMT -6
I really like the materials for The R.E.A.L. Man Program. I will actually be speaking about it at the Nike Clinics in Louisville and Mississippi. I use it in class as well. We had a 3D Coaching Seminar with our staff yesterday and it was very good. We will take elements from both with our kids.
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