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Post by irishdog on Oct 20, 2023 14:37:03 GMT -6
I was watching this video with another coach on staff who is the best mentor I have had in my career so far. He's been doing this for 40 years, while I am 7 years in. He was an assistant on the staff of the winning team. They ran the wishbone. He could name every play they ran in the game before they ran it as we watched the video. It was a thing of beauty. Like I said, I came up as a QB in the Air Raid/Franklin system, and that's what I love, but I love watching a good wishbone or Wing-T team. Point of the story...as we are watching, another young-ish coach on the staff a year or two older than me walks by. He goes "yeah, this is why I didn't really like football back then. It's way better when it's all spread out" My old buddy goes "I liked it better when I got to coach in State Championships at the Astrodome". You can't say you love this game if you don't have a respect for the old-school, smashmouth stuff, just my opinion! RUN THE ROCK and GET PHYSICAL!! Loved watching that clip!!
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Post by irishdog on Oct 19, 2023 19:58:50 GMT -6
2 more years and I probably won't watch another HS football game the rest of my life honestly. After tonight, I may have watched my last HS football game. I have not watched as much HS football since retiring. When I have I'm a bit more selective in what teams I watch. I'll find local teams that still believe in running the ball, utilizing the play-action passing game, and play tough defense. Don't give up! I've found that there are more around than I originally thought.
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Post by irishdog on Oct 19, 2023 19:53:29 GMT -6
But, the worst of these teams don't even try to get the ball to them. They just let the QB run traditional RB plays. I think the most galling part of to me is, as long as it's out of shotgun, the stupid fans don't make a peep. Now, line up in single back, under center and run the same play and they throw a fit about your dinosaur offense. Get used to it because it ain't going to change. blb, it IS changing. Many coaches are going back to developing effective run games FIRST, and striking some balance in their offense by using "cosmetics" to make their offenses appear to be "modern" looking. Some of the best HS, college, and pro teams have figured out how to strike that balance and have had their teams make deep playoff runs, and winning championships because of it.
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Post by irishdog on Oct 19, 2023 19:15:24 GMT -6
Whatever happened to teaching good old shoulder tackling? Maybe giving away my age here. I was taught to always use my shoulders whether tackling or blocking (obviously the passing game changed blocking with the shoulders). NEVER was taught to lower my head when tackling but always taught to sink my hips (which lowered my shoulders), keep my eyes up, and tackle from under the shoulder pads to the waist. My coach would go nuts if we tackled above the shoulders, and pulled us off the field if we did. Always ran THROUGH the tackle, not TO the tackle. It's how I taught tackling when I was coaching. Whatever they call it today tackling at ALL levels of football is atrocious.
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Post by irishdog on Oct 16, 2023 17:22:53 GMT -6
Is it any different than putting your best athlete at tailback in the I and running iso and power 1000 times? I understand the disdain and even agree, to a certain extent. But I have never seen a team that "puts their best athlete at QB and let him run around" have any kind of success. I grew up in the Air Raid and am a spread guy at heart, but I still get a tear in my eye when I see a team in real life run the Wing-T or the Double Wing I grew up with option based offenses. Probably more power/double option than true triple read. We played for and won league, and section championships with that offense. Now that I'm retired I go out of my way to watch local HS teams who run non-conformist offenses. Tired of watching just about everyone else run the same old same old. I can watch that on Saturdays.
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Post by irishdog on Oct 16, 2023 12:13:00 GMT -6
Again, I coached a number of different offensive systems at the HS level. All had their advantages and disadvantages. The only one I thoroughly enjoyed coaching was the Double Wing. I ran it from DTDW. I ran it from a Wing T look. I ran it from Tim Murphy's SGDW. And I ran it out of Coach Wyatt's Open Wing concept. Sometimes I employed the I-Wing. On occasion I even came out in a two WR look both UC and Gun. But in every case we used Double Wing blocking principles up front. Best part was defenses had to guess what look we would come out of the huddle with, so we were always a step ahead of them. Even better was the opponents had a tough time trying to prepare for us in practices since they couldn't simulate what we did as well as we did. And unlike what many might think we could throw the ball whenever we wanted, and not when we needed. The result was either a big play, or a long TD. We could chew clock, and we could run a hurry-up. It was a lot of fun!
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Post by irishdog on Oct 12, 2023 13:08:28 GMT -6
Wouldn't an AD fill that role at the HS level? If football is the engine that drives the entire athletic program oversight of the football program should be one of his/her major responsibilities in assisting the HC with the development of his entire football program from youth through high school. Unfortunately this is not the case at many schools. From my own experiences many schools hire an AD to just "manage" an athletic program, rather than actually DEVELOP one. Most ADS anymore seem to spend most their time trying to find refs and doing evaluations of teachers. At least around here. I've seen more ADs that never coached than I have not in the past 10 years. True dat. Reinforces what I pointed out. Most AD's are simply managing the operation. Since our society is in the renaming mode why not call them AM's? Also your point of not seeing many who coached ANY sport, let alone a TEAM sport, adds to the folly.
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Post by irishdog on Oct 9, 2023 12:11:48 GMT -6
Wouldn't an AD fill that role at the HS level? If football is the engine that drives the entire athletic program oversight of the football program should be one of his/her major responsibilities in assisting the HC with the development of his entire football program from youth through high school. Unfortunately this is not the case at many schools. From my own experiences many schools hire an AD to just "manage" an athletic program, rather than actually DEVELOP one.
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Post by irishdog on Sept 19, 2023 16:28:11 GMT -6
100%. The irony is, I think CSU had the better team. Better athletes, better scheme, etc, etc. If they would have just focused on the game and cut out the nonsense, they win by two scores at least. If CSU had the better team, Colorado better get ready to get murdered in conference because CSU got absolutely embarrassed by Washington St. No doubt Colorado will have its work cut out for itself. Oregon this week, USC the next, UCLA, Oregon State, Arizona, and Washington State on the horizon. Luckily they won't face Washington.
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Post by irishdog on Sept 19, 2023 13:21:41 GMT -6
According to the rules in football it wasn't considered "targeting", but also in the rules of football it was a personal foul. The team was penalized, and so was the perp. Yes, it definitely was a cheap shot. But I am an old school coach, and I would ask why the perp wasn't immediately removed from the game by Norvell, and not allowed to continue playing? THAT'S where I question Norvell, and ANY OTHER HC who SAYS they don't teach it or condone it. By yanking that kid out, or any other player who did dirty, more of us would probably believe his words.
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Post by irishdog on Sept 18, 2023 10:05:50 GMT -6
Years ago as a young newbie coach, at the end of a play on our sideline a flag landed right in front of me so I threw the flag (about 20 yds) to the official who threw it. He wasn't very happy with me, I apologized, my HC told him I was just a dumbass rookie, and luckily we didn't get another one thrown.
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Post by irishdog on Sept 12, 2023 16:07:33 GMT -6
O Line coach, "You gotta stop that 1 tech from penetrating the A Gap!" Substitute O Lineman, "Coach, the dude's moving!"
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Post by irishdog on Sept 6, 2023 7:53:24 GMT -6
If you're teaching fundamentals does where you line up change them? I just think you can give your kids a better chance to succeed if you get creative with formations. In my opinion if you are a flexbone guy and you have poor players on the LOS you are better off in running plays that hit quicker like under center flexbone then other slower hitting versions of option football.... If you are spread pass first guy and your poor up front you likely will need to run more quick/screen game to ensure your QB is protected so just like the flexbone coach would need to adapt so would the spread pass first guy.... I know my kids are generally better when we do the same concepts year to year adapting, anytime we make wholesale changes we can surprise someone for a week or have some success but it doesn't seem to lead to a great season... With that I said it has just been what is best for me through the years it doesn't mean it would be best for you, I would never contend my way is the only way and it may not be the best way, however, after years of searching for the best way I have deducted it is the best way for me to help my kids have the best experience they can..... Well said coach! Wherever you have gone your teams are always well coached, and have found success because of your leadership.
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Post by irishdog on Sept 5, 2023 13:53:01 GMT -6
My last coaching stop was at a private school in Texas as an assistant. Our HC was a former D1 OC who had previous HS HC experience. He was fired at the end of my last year. The school was looking to make a splash hire and hired a former NFL All-Pro kicker. In his first year the new guy went 8-3 and made the playoffs. The school community was ecstatic. Greatest coach ever! So far this season the team is Ofer.
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Post by irishdog on Aug 30, 2023 17:02:13 GMT -6
"It seems to me that guys that like the ground and pound dbl tite sets are kind of married to them. Is that not a distinct disadvantage when you have smaller olines and less powerful runners?" Not if you utilize double teams and tight splits. IMO if you use traditional offenses (wider splits) with small linemen and non powerful runners, you may be in trouble anyway. True dat. In the DW our tight line splits were always an advantage. Whenever we had smaller linemen our scheme adjustment would be to run from an "I" formation with my "I" back lined up just behind my B back instead of the normal deep "I" you see most of the time. I rotated my WB's from WB to "I" back. This not only kept our best players in the game (to maintain the threat of the counter and reach), but it also enabled my small linemen to get the hole open, (but because of their size/strength disadvantage the hole typically didn't stay open long) so it gave our backs the opportunity to hit the hole quickly and get through to the second level. If we lined up in our normal DTDW the chances of us getting to the hole with those linemen greatly diminished. Again, playing to our strengths and not exposing our weaknesses.
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Post by irishdog on Aug 29, 2023 12:37:13 GMT -6
I ran a multitude of offenses in my 50 year career based upon the type of talent I inherited in each different school (mostly small schools), and the types of offenses our opponents ran. Had success with each, but came to the conclusion during the last 20 years of that career that the Double Wing gave my teams the best chance to level the playing field against superior opponents, and provided us with the upper hand against similar opponents EVERY year. Sure, I had different types of kids show up each year, and forced me to adapt the "system" to take advantage of personnel. Sometimes we were double tight. Sometimes we had one TE and a good WR. Sometimes we had one really good downhill ballcarrier. Sometimes I had a quality QB. Sometimes I had really small linemen. Etc, etc. But the basics of the offense was always driven by the DW. Just always found a way to plug guys in, find what highlighted our strengths, and not expose our weaknesses, and let it rip.
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Post by irishdog on Aug 17, 2023 11:20:50 GMT -6
Mostly coached at small schools (700 and under). Due to state rules we could only hold two-a-day practices on alternating days. We went full gear in the AM's (defense), uppers in the PM (offense). The single practices alternated (one day defense only - full gear), the next single day (offense - uppers). On the defense days we held tackling circuits for each position. We ran a 4-2 so we had a circuit for the interior guys, a circuit for the ends, a circuit for the ILB's, a circuit for the OS's, and a circuit for the DB's. Each drill in each circuit designed for what each position player would be faced with in a game situation. It was all about teaching technique and utilizing dummies, bags, wheels, popsicles, etc. Always emphasizing Eyes up, Chin up, Wrap and Run. During the AM two-a-day practices we would tackle live for 5 minutes during individual fundamentals sessions. When the season started we would only wear full gear on Mondays and tackle to the ground during individual group fundamentals session for 5 minutes, again, ALWAYS emphasizing Eup/Cup/W&R. Very rarely had practice injuries, and always had a decent tackling team. Also had more kids come out each year.
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Post by irishdog on Aug 10, 2023 8:27:38 GMT -6
Coach, you're 37. Your heart is in the right place, but your body is telling you otherwise. You're still young enough and strong enough to manage a major surgery and recover from it. Coaching is a DAILY grind, and demanding physical work. I'm not sure what type of SPED you are in but does it require the same type of physical work as your coaching duties? Maybe the HC can have you mentor a younger guy you trust to work with your group under your tutelage allowing you to give your full energy to your SPED kids during the school day? Otherwise, you may have to put a hold on coaching this year and next year to recover properly. Like I said, you're only 37 with a lifetime of coaching in front of you if you take care of yourself.
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Post by irishdog on Aug 2, 2023 8:10:22 GMT -6
Initially I thought this thread would not only create interest, but also a lot of dialogue. Turns out the dialogue has gone where I personally have felt all along the topic would end up. A complete mess. If you wanted dialogue-discussion about the proposed NIL-Transfer Portal legislation you should have so titled the thread. Labeling it "Tommy Tuberville" opened the door for digression. Oh well...thought by labeling it that way it would get a lot of coaches' attention...but I digress.
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Post by irishdog on Jul 31, 2023 12:36:29 GMT -6
Initially I thought this thread would not only create interest, but also a lot of dialogue. Turns out the dialogue has gone where I personally have felt all along the topic would end up. A complete mess.
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Post by irishdog on Jul 27, 2023 10:10:43 GMT -6
It is. So what do we do now with the toothpaste that's out of the tube? Just can't leave it sitting in the sink! Or on the counter top! Or on the toothbrush! Has to be a way to deal with it. Deal with what exactly though coach. From a 30,000 foot view, all that has happened is that now individuals who happened to be athletes and chose to attend UCLA and participate in intercollegiate athletics can choose to leave and transfer to Iowa (just like any other student) and participate in athletics without sitting out a year. I may be mistaken, but I think the vast majority of people confuse transfer rules and the "transfer portal" I think the transfer portal is a GREAT thing. Eliminates the need for all the backchannel stuff that happened before. Maybe some of you on the board were actually a part of that...sniffing around for one of your ex players who wasn't happy at his first school. The "portal" is just a fairly transparent database that lets everyone see who has opened up their recruitment. Now, the new transfer rules as to eligibility...a bit less sure about. I have wondered if change in eligibility clocks would help mitigate the amount of turnover. Hey, you can transfer...but you have to sit out. However, sitting out won't cost you a year. But I am sure there are unforeseen issues with that. NIL-- College athletics did this to themselves. Coaches and administrators turned school athletic programs into professional athletic organizations (with very low wage essentially free labor). I have said for a long time that the current landscape and issues would not exist if Nick Saban made $160,000, Ohio State didn't have an athletic directory of well over 400 people (I stopped counting at that point) with 47 under Football, and LSU didn't have combination lockers/beds/imax theater. Regarding the NIL-- someone like Natalie Portman was getting paid for her Name, Image, and Likeness in advertisements while she was at Harvard. In 2019, there were a LOT of #9 Burreaux Jerseys, T-Shirts etc. in the LSU bookstore, or licsensed by the NCAA/LSU. Why shouldn't Joe Burrow get a taste? College athletics did this to themselves. I get it. The landscape is different. It isn't one that we are familiar with, and therefore not comfortable with. It has changed on us... but everything changes. Yes. The landscape HAS changed, and it IS different. Glad I'm not part of it anymore. FORE!!
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Post by irishdog on Jul 26, 2023 12:03:35 GMT -6
My thought is the toothpaste is already out of the tube. It is. So what do we do now with the toothpaste that's out of the tube? Just can't leave it sitting in the sink! Or on the counter top! Or on the toothbrush! Has to be a way to deal with it. Again, my only fear is that if it becomes a FEDERAL issue than there will be a lot of folks in the government, and in the states, who want to get their hands in the pie...including unions.
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Post by irishdog on Jul 26, 2023 9:00:56 GMT -6
Requiring agents to register with a "regulating body"... Just what the world needs. Another "regulating body"! Persons running this regulating body will have authority to make more rules and when they begin doing that...The Sky's the Limit! Agents. Which agents? Dads? Moms? Never mind... those two terms are redundant.
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Post by irishdog on Jul 26, 2023 8:18:52 GMT -6
Senators Tommy Tuberville and Joe Manchin have introduced a bipartisan bill in Congress aimed at addressing NIL and the Transfer Portal. Some provisions (among others) outlined in the bill are:
Requiring agents and collectives to register with a regulating body.
Establishing a public-facing website to publish anonymized NIL data.
Requiring all NIL contracts to be disclosed with 30 days.
Require athletes to complete three years of residency at a given institution before being eligible to transfer without penalty.
I have never supported NIL or the transfer portal for the very reasons that have created the mess we are in today. But if both are going to become the standard for college sports BOTH will need much stricter guidelines and regulations.
Your thoughts?
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Post by irishdog on Jul 24, 2023 8:37:41 GMT -6
Thanks for sharing that. Tell you what. If this is what the future looks like for the game we have known and loved, and if I were still coaching today, I would be looking high and low for a 6 man football coaching gig where every kid on the field is eligible to catch a pass and score. Do you mean that? I certainly respect that kind of foresight, and it shows your true love for COACHING the kids. I think most would be saying they would rather not coach than have to coach something that "isn't there style". Kudos for taking the 180 approach and saying - let me go meet the kids where they are. I meant every word.
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Post by irishdog on Jul 24, 2023 7:44:05 GMT -6
Anyone have a preseason checklist you use to make sure you are ready to roll. I accepted a head coaching job and when we start on July 31 I want to make sure I am not forgetting anything. I have one made already but if anyone cares to share, I’d love to see it so I can double check mine. Staff filled. Team meeting (sign-up sheet, staff intros, code of conduct/expectations, calendar). Parent meeting (Intros, signed code of conduct/expectations, support roles, parent/coach communication plan, goals, booster club, team gear, athletic department forms, financial obligations if any, calendar). Staff meeting (goals, expectations/coaches handbook, detailed on/off field assignments, detailed practice schedules, parent/coach communication plan, equipment issue, game day assignments, locker room supervision, film study, August camp team meetings/strength training, in-season strength training, calendar). Pre-season team meeting (Attendance, handbook, Camp and after-school practice schedules, game schedules, meeting times, athletic department forms, equipment issue, spirit packs issued, expectations review). Practice fields prep (if necessary). Field equipment cleaned, repaired, located on the field, and ready.
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Post by irishdog on Jul 24, 2023 7:09:04 GMT -6
Not familiar with the way Steph Curry plays basketball because I don't watch pro basketball. Haven't watched since the 80s. What is it that he has fundamentally changed about the way the game is played/enjoyed? Long range shooting. To put in some perspective for you, Larry Birds best season with regards to 3 pt shots saw him attempt an average of 3.1 attempts a game, connecting on 41.4%. Larry's career 3pt attempt average was less than 2 a game, with 37.6% accuracy. In contrast, Curry's most prolific season with regards to 3 point shooing saw him attempt 12.7 a game, making 42.1% League wide, the NBA has witnessed 3pt shooting explode and become the arguably the predominant weapon in the game since Curry's arrival in 2009. Prior to Curry, the league averaged 18 3pt attempts a game. Since Curry (and more importantly, the players who have grown up modeling their play after his) that average has jumped to over 34 attempts per game for each of the last 4 years (including a record high 35 a game in 2022) at well over a 35% accuracy rate compared to below 30% when Bird was in his prime. At the NBA level, this his influence has changed the style of play with players who have "limitless range" have the green light to let if fly anywhere on the court. The influence can be seen at all levels. For example it was on display during the NCAA Women's Basketball season, and the Div 1 tournament in particular, where player of the year Caitlyn Clark attempted over 9 3 point shots a game for the season, and shot 8-19 for 30 points in the NCAA championship game. In the context of this discussion, basically kids want to run up and down the court and shoot. If they aren't going to do that, some just won't play. Regardless of what we as coaches may think about that decision, is does impact things, and I was wondering if the football coaches here thought the same may happen regarding running backs. Thanks for sharing that. Tell you what. If this is what the future looks like for the game we have known and loved, and if I were still coaching today, I would be looking high and low for a 6 man football coaching gig where every kid on the field is eligible to catch a pass and score.
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Post by irishdog on Jul 23, 2023 19:09:43 GMT -6
Call me old school. I don't give a rat's @$$ what the pros do. Professional football is a business. Big-time college football is a business. And unfortunately...some high schools are now in that very same business. I was a HIGH SCHOOL football coach. It was my responsibility to build a program that enabled my athletes to be competitive with other HIGH SCHOOL football programs. A program that promoted teamwork, sportsmanship, respect, responsibility, accountability, and build character. NOT to develop D1 or professional athletes. A program the athletes, students, parents, school, and school community could be proud of. My responsibility as the coach was to provide an environment where the athletes had the best chance at achieving success. Long story short...I believed we had to be able to run the football on offense. You need a good O Line and RB's to pull it off. That said, I always placed a premium on the RB position, and frankly, I believe a number of boys ended up in my program because of it. I don't disagree with any of your sentiments. But right now, I can easily see kids NOT wanting to play the RB position. I have witnessed this recently with basketball... Steph Curry has fundamentally changed the way basically is played/enjoyed, and I have seen kids decide not to play basketball because they would not play that way. It doesn't make the coach wrong for playing in the style that he is most accustomed to. But kids not playing would still impact the HS game. Not familiar with the way Steph Curry plays basketball because I don't watch pro basketball. Haven't watched since the 80s. What is it that he has fundamentally changed about the way the game is played/enjoyed?
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Post by irishdog on Jul 23, 2023 16:44:55 GMT -6
Call me old school. I don't give a rat's @$$ what the pros do. Professional football is a business. Big-time college football is a business. And unfortunately...some high schools are now in that very same business.
I was a HIGH SCHOOL football coach. It was my responsibility to build a program that enabled my athletes to be competitive with other HIGH SCHOOL football programs. A program that promoted teamwork, sportsmanship, respect, responsibility, accountability, and build character. NOT to develop D1 or professional athletes. A program the athletes, students, parents, school, and school community could be proud of. My responsibility as the coach was to provide an environment where the athletes had the best chance at achieving success. Long story short...I believed we had to be able to run the football on offense. You need a good O Line and RB's to pull it off. That said, I always placed a premium on the RB position, and frankly, I believe a number of boys ended up in my program because of it.
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Post by irishdog on Jul 23, 2023 8:33:21 GMT -6
The advantages of working at a small school. We fortunately had a local orthodontist willing to donate good mouthguards (school color) for all my athletes so this wasn't something I worried about. Since I placed an emphasis on safety (which the parents appreciated), I convinced the school board to purchase Speed Flex helmets. (They paid half the cost, as long as the booster club paid the other half). Total of 40 helmets.
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