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Post by coachrobpsl on Aug 18, 2014 15:06:21 GMT -6
Yup, off tackle. Some schemes that generally pull will not against these defenses. We don't see it much honestly which surprises me considering how strong the gap 8 is against the sweep(bread and butter of most youth teams).
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Post by coachrobpsl on Aug 18, 2014 11:31:14 GMT -6
One of the best youth coaches I know never played. Why playing has anything to do with coaching escapes me. Why your profession has anything to do with it is also beyond me. You can make the same arguments for hs coaches as well. A guy played hs and becomes a teacher and know he is qualified to coach hs? What does that have to do with anything. I have seen some horrible high school coaches but nobody wants to admit that. There are some really bad youth coaches out there but there are also some great ones. Many youth coaches don't consider themselves a hobbyist and would find your remarks insulting. Many youth coaches go to clinics regularly, read books, watch video clinics, are online researching all year round, attend local high school practices, etc. As a parent if you are not doing your due diligence to find out about the guy coaching your kid that's your problem. You might just find out that the guy coaching youth is just as qualified(or not nearly as far off as you imply) as some of the guys coaching hs. You might also find some of those youth coaches to have hs experience. I have talked to a handful of college coaches and they are always very gracious about helping and they respect all coaches regardless of level. It bothers me how a large amount of high school coaches are the exact opposite. Instead of attacking youth coaches why not be a coach and point those bad youth coaches in the right direction. A huge part of coaching, imho, is helping others become better coaches. I am just speaking from my experience, it's not a generalization. If you noticed I stated this is why I didn't let my sons play. I am a high school coach and my job is just that, a job, I.e., what I do for a living. I attend clinics, refer to football coaching sites and talk to my colleagues on how to do my job better. I have met way, way, too many youth coaches who don't bother to do anything I stated but rely on what they were taught in high school. A whole lot of "hit somebody", "catch the ball", and "you gotta want it, WHO WANTS IT". If you're offended by the expression of my experience, look at 90% of the posts on this site. I understand what you are saying and I'm certainly not offended by your post. I think as a generalization all youth coaches get grouped together by high school coaches. While the quality of youth coaches still needs to improve across the board greatly I do believe that in the last few years it has improved dramatically. With coaching websites, youtube instructional videos, clinics, video clinics like efootball flix etc that many youth coaches have access to I believe as a group we are getting better. Unfortunately, when a show like Friday Night Tykes gets a bunch of attention it gives youth football coaches a black eye that knows us back a decade or 2. Then you have the idiots that think that is they way that it should be done when they see that crap. I encourage you to check out your local youth coaches. You might be surprised. Maybe not but you never know. Then again, if the kids coming into your program from youth ball do not have solid fundies you probably already have a good idea what is being taught.
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Post by coachrobpsl on Aug 6, 2014 6:31:35 GMT -6
And this is why I never let my sons play youth football. Tired of some accountant , lawyer, sales manager thinking he can coach because they played in high school. Worse yet, some dad who never played but is in charge at work and thinks that qualifies him for coaching. Then has the nerve to think that what I do for a living is some sort of hobby. One of the best youth coaches I know never played. Why playing has anything to do with coaching escapes me. Why your profession has anything to do with it is also beyond me. You can make the same arguments for hs coaches as well. A guy played hs and becomes a teacher and know he is qualified to coach hs? What does that have to do with anything. I have seen some horrible high school coaches but nobody wants to admit that. There are some really bad youth coaches out there but there are also some great ones. Many youth coaches don't consider themselves a hobbyist and would find your remarks insulting. Many youth coaches go to clinics regularly, read books, watch video clinics, are online researching all year round, attend local high school practices, etc. As a parent if you are not doing your due diligence to find out about the guy coaching your kid that's your problem. You might just find out that the guy coaching youth is just as qualified(or not nearly as far off as you imply) as some of the guys coaching hs. You might also find some of those youth coaches to have hs experience. I have talked to a handful of college coaches and they are always very gracious about helping and they respect all coaches regardless of level. It bothers me how a large amount of high school coaches are the exact opposite. Instead of attacking youth coaches why not be a coach and point those bad youth coaches in the right direction. A huge part of coaching, imho, is helping others become better coaches.
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Post by coachrobpsl on Oct 9, 2013 11:16:55 GMT -6
I would cut out the non practice stuff and figure out what is happening in practice that is making your kids lose interest. 6 hours a week practice is not too much. We have made several runs to Pop Warner nationals which means that your season last from Aug. 1st until December and not seen burnout. If you keep the kids engaged they have no real issues.
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Post by coachrobpsl on Oct 2, 2013 19:26:48 GMT -6
with all due respect to the OP, that conversation should never have to take place. He agreed to do things your way when he took the job. That is immediate termination and with cause. For married guys, try doing that to your wife with your family, and if you have kids, your kids. I 100% agree. No second chances. Guys like the ones mentioned may shape up for a while but they are who they are. After practice, away from players and parents, debating stuff can be healthy(to a point) as long as everybody leaves on the same page. If they don't, then fake it. Fool me once.....
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Post by coachrobpsl on Oct 2, 2013 19:16:04 GMT -6
Well unfortunately the kids parent made him drop last week. It really hurt to know he wouldn't be part of the team, but I hate saying this, it's nice not having to deal with his father. But worry not, things got even better today Turns out the father of one of our other kids is an assistant coach at the local high school. He asked to talk to all the coach's tonight, we had hoped that this would be a positive thing, boy, were we wrong! Apparently we, and youth coach's like us, are the reason that kids go to high school and don't know the difference between the Tampa 2 and the cover 0 defense. That because of us, kids can't run the triple option and the QB read option successfully. The fact that we run an O-I-L blocking scheme was totally ridiculous to him and we should teach kids zone blocking schemes. Gonna be a long season! I have been coaching youth for a while(pretty successfully) and what I have learned about many high school coaches is that when it concerns youth football, they have no friggin clue. Not that they don't know football but they have no idea that as a youth coach you spend half your time teaching the absolute basic fundamentals and in most cases only have about 6 hours a week to practice. Quality hs coaches will not care what scheme you run but will care if you send them kids who can block and tackle. Quality high school coaches want you to teach them the fundies of the game. The more advanced stuff is THEIR job, Their scheme is their jobs. Triple option?! Tell him to get bent and go coach his team and leave your team to you. If he is a coach he should know better than to interfere with what you are doing. Teach what you know how to teach. Unless they have coached youth they have no idea the challenges you face as there is no way you understand they challenges they face. As far as your playbook, teach what you can install and what they can absorb and run well. Our playbook is not simple but our staff is very experienced and been running our offense for about 8 years together. But if our kids can only run 8 plays well that is all we would install. We rule block as well as do many high schools and colleges. Parents are always a pita. Set them straight day one and many problems are headed off before they start. Have rules for the kids and parents with consequences and enforce them. We don't discuss positions, playing time or scheme with parents. Period. The conversation WILL NOT HAPPEN. That approach works but I know that some guys will discuss it but they have limits as well. What we will discuss, at length and happily, is how little Johnny Superstar future hall of famer can get better and earn more time.
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Post by coachrobpsl on Sept 3, 2013 5:32:14 GMT -6
It has been my experience that good youth coaches do have a better understanding of the youth game than higher level coaches do. Not that a youth coach would know more about football, I wouldn't argue that for a second. It is just that the youth game is different. Not from an x's and o'x standpoint but from a player execution and knowledge standpoint. Heir are some weird idiosyncrasies to the youth game. Like trap not usually working until they are about 12, butterflies challenging you for their attention, mmp rules, restricted practice times, parents being at practice trying to coach their kids in the middle of practice, psycho control freak board members,weird rules, the don't ever kick deep/always go for it on 4th arguement(which many youth coaches live by with great success), the lack of the need for a safety at the younger levels. Every level of the game is different. I have a good friend who has a resume in coaching that I will never approach but I promise you he has little understanding of the youth game. THat is based on many conversations with him on the subject. His knowledge of the game is triple of what mine is. He also would not be offended if I were to tell him that he does not understand the youth game. In fact he told me such. The difference is that this guy felt the need to put that comment out there. Let your boy play and attend a practice. You will know immediately whether this guy can coach. Chances are he cannot though based on the fact that he is already defending himself.
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Post by coachrobpsl on Sept 1, 2013 20:04:02 GMT -6
We won our first game 33-0. Very happy. We have some issues but nothing that we can't fix.
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Post by coachrobpsl on Aug 29, 2013 10:21:56 GMT -6
A month in and we look pretty good. Our first game is Saturday against a very talented opponent. All of our new kids have fallen in line with how we run things. Our defense is has a chance to be scary good.
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Post by coachrobpsl on Jul 30, 2013 10:58:03 GMT -6
I think most coaches would have some level off resentment towards a position that goes over practice schedules, training, and what drills they run. That being said I often have seen some of our other teams practice and realize that some of those guys need help in those areas and they don't know it. Maybe the resentment is towards the position you hold and not your age.
You have about 6 or 7 years coaching experience and at least some of it is at a higher level than the coaches you are dealing with. Most daddy coaches have absolutely no idea what they are doing. Many will want to hide that fact. The way they will do that is to criticize everybody that isn't them. Those coaches need to be weeded out. From reading your post in the past I can tell you are light years ahead of those type of coaches. The guys that know what they are doing will see that very quickly and you will earn their respect. Don't worry about the others. They either fall in line or they gotta go. Who ever is your boss has to be very firm in his support for you. Some of the best youth coaches I have come across have been around your age or a little older. The fact that you are doing this without kids in the program(I am making an assumption there, sorry if I am wrong) speaks volumes to me. Most of the best youth coaching staffs have no kids on the team. As such, you have no ulterior motives.
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Post by coachrobpsl on Jul 30, 2013 10:37:37 GMT -6
Just as reminder, it gets better.
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Post by coachrobpsl on Jul 30, 2013 10:34:31 GMT -6
If he earns it give him the job. I think you send a bad message to him if he earns it but doesn't get it. Have the acs all vote on the qb. That can help with your doubts and the parents claiming "'daddy ball". On the other hand, if the other kid is serviceable your son may be more valuable at another offensive position. The need for athletic ability of qbs on most youth teams is overrated. Most youth offenses simply need a kid with good footwork and an arm that can keep the defense honest using a quick passing game. Honestly, what % do you plan to throw the ball? Even with our best qb(back in 2009) with 2 future D1 wr(both have nice D1 offers currently) and a D2 te we only passed about 20% of the time. That was at the Pop Warner JM level(middle school basically).
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Post by coachrobpsl on Jul 30, 2013 10:21:04 GMT -6
I have seen most of our new kids in speed training over the last month or 2. Many played on our other pee wee team last season so I have seen these kids play before. We picked up a very good rb that moved into town. His dad took a job at a local high school on the football staff. I think we have the best overall team speed that we have ever coached. No absolute burners but a bunch of fast kids. Very good depth(potentially). The problem is many of the new kids on the team have a poor work ethic and are not accustomed to our attention to detail. Once they buy in we should be down right nasty. The player agents for some of the new kids may end up being a handful from what I hear. We will nip that in the bud at the parents meeting.
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Post by coachrobpsl on Jun 10, 2013 15:48:57 GMT -6
If they are a feeder program with help from a quality hs staff then that makes a huge difference.
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Post by coachrobpsl on Jun 7, 2013 23:56:05 GMT -6
Do those teams do well? What were the coverages they faced? We play in a very competitive league and very rarely see 15 passes a game and passing every down is unheard of. I am not saying it can't be done because I know it can but to see it often would surprise me. We see spread but it is always a run first attack which imo is more dangerous in spread.
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Post by coachrobpsl on Jun 6, 2013 17:10:55 GMT -6
15 passes in a youth game?
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Post by coachrobpsl on Jun 6, 2013 17:07:27 GMT -6
Think about this. 7-8 year olds. 2nd and 3rd graders. Most of them are going to be more excited about the new SpongeBob episode on TV than football practice. Make it fun for the kids, don't take it so seriously. Its a game, we all lose sight of that. of course, you want to win though. I would run Cisar until the kids are 10/11. Think of this, how many 7 year olds can take a snap from center, reverse pivot and hand to the tail perfectly 100 % of the time, NOT many. With the SW you gain a blocker, eliminate the bad snap, and you have 4 players that can get the ball on any play. Do not throw it more than three times a game. Throwing below the age of 10 is a bad idea. I like to say age 7-8 3 passes. 8-9 6 passes 10-11 12 passes 12-13 15 passes. Defensively 2 stunts is all you need. and on offense run base SW RT/LT Plays Power Sweep Wedge Trap WB Reverse FAKE WB REVERSE Sweep pass Buck Sweep Buck Lateral Buck Sweep Pass Power Pass That should be PLENTY. Oh and a nifty adjustment would be a OPPOSITE tag which can be applied to WB. It would look like this -y-g-c-g-t-t-te w-----BB------- ----Q-H------- They may over commit to the left and ignore the unbalanced line. Try to run WB reverse to strong side later in the year.. into the unbalanced line. You'll be pleased!
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Post by coachrobpsl on Feb 1, 2013 16:29:14 GMT -6
I didn't think dd was a read. If it is a read isn't it just really midline/veer. I may be wrong on this.You can do away with fb dive if you just call fb dive from dd. I would suggest that if you know how to install wedge give it a shot. I watched a team in the Pop Warner national finals dominate with wedge and our teams have won a game or 2 running a bunch of wedge.
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Post by coachrobpsl on Jan 29, 2013 18:42:31 GMT -6
I think the run game is fine but double dive might be a very expensive install. I think you can absolutely run it and I think it would be effective, especially the keep once it is set up. But will it be set up running it 5 times a game? Do you plan on moving up with team and running midline or veer in the future? Bubble screen is not as easy as you may think at that age group. Pick six if you're not careful. Slant is probably the easiest pass to complete at that age level. Verts is fine if you have the better athletes and in youth the corners are often not great athletes. But youth qbs tend to throw up ducks. I would expect to see almost 100% m2m. We have been very successful with te seams in youth off of pap(which imo most of your passing game should be pap). Very easy to get young backers to bite on pap.
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Post by coachrobpsl on Dec 1, 2012 22:35:11 GMT -6
Spartan 76, sounds like we live in the same neighborhood. FPC was very good and they got CRUSHED. Jax Bolles I think has won the most state titles in Florida with 10 I believe. Their are so many good teams down here that nobody is overpowering to the point of winning every year. The 2 Glades schools(Day and Central) and St Thomas Aquinas come to mind also as being dominant.
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Post by coachrobpsl on Nov 20, 2012 17:43:35 GMT -6
FSU has a coach with a son on the team. Works for them it appears and that kid is a backup qb. It is a rare occurrence that a parent can coach a kid and not be biased. So rare I can understand a HC reluctance to do so. I would at least grant an interview with a conditional hire if the guy seemed legit because you never know the guy may be a Tony Dungy.
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Post by coachrobpsl on Nov 16, 2012 16:58:23 GMT -6
I'm a youth coach and we try to get coaches that don't have players on the team. When we do allow it those guys have an understanding of the traps involved and are given a short leash. A few of these guys are still with us now that their kids have moved on. I was one of those guys once. The coach in the op is an easy decision. Get rid of him. He seems to be ruining football for his son on top of the other baggage. Not to criticize your header(he probably is a great coach with much better creds than myself) but I would have issues with a header afraid to ruffle a few feathers.
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Post by coachrobpsl on Oct 1, 2012 8:51:23 GMT -6
Make sure coaches are are staying very positive after a score. I have watched coaches get down on teams after being scored upon and the kids shut down. You may have a kid or 2 that is spreading this attitude which can be very infectious. Talk them up after scores and let them know the offense will score so it's no big deal. Find the bad seeds and get them shut up and refocused. As far as the holding, I bet you are teaching them how to beat a hold but reinforce it. Stunting is something they should be prepared for, especially if you have scouted. What is your blocking scheme? Playing dirty is part of football. Shouldn't be but it is a reality.
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Post by coachrobpsl on Sept 22, 2012 6:21:05 GMT -6
What is wrong with Pop Warner? Don't blame the association for poor coaching. It is difficult to find quality youth coaching in any organization. Remember guys, youth coaches are volunteers. Our conference has some great coaches. Hell, some of them run better programs than the idiots we have at some of the local high schools(I am really not exaggerating). If you end up having sons don't just dismiss Pop Warner because of a preconceived notion or a past experience. Check them out first and then make a decision based on the observations of that specific team. Not all of us are daddy ball coaches or are clueless. Pop Warner's rules for parent conduct are strictly enforced so these problems tend to not exist, at least in all the associations we have played(which is actually a larger sampling than most teams).
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Post by coachrobpsl on Sept 19, 2012 11:05:15 GMT -6
Not par for the course in Pop Warner. But as you know PW is a national organization that is on the whole very well ran. I have seen local leagues with similar problems that you are experiencing. Lack of leadership is always the root of the problem. Our local league(non travel, non weight restricted) is not so bad. Adults tend to ruin youth sports.
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Post by coachrobpsl on Sept 17, 2012 13:04:06 GMT -6
Awesome! Incredibly appreciated.
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Post by coachrobpsl on Aug 30, 2012 10:34:38 GMT -6
I think Pop Warner in a matter of a few years will do away with midget and go with the unlimited class. Now if we can add some more weight for the little guys and get rid of the older lighter thing I will be happy. We had to turn a few kids away this year at midget because we have no unlimited team.
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Post by coachrobpsl on Aug 23, 2012 10:58:56 GMT -6
You are better of without them. Sucks for the kids. You can only keep doing what you are doing. Don't change unless you have too. I have heard complaints about this from a defensive stand point but from an offensive perspective it is comical. Defenseless? What do they expect to be done to the blockers?
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Post by coachrobpsl on Aug 14, 2012 19:51:04 GMT -6
....because it is not soccer.
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Post by coachrobpsl on Aug 13, 2012 10:39:07 GMT -6
We have done just the opposite before. We have ran pass plays to kids why are slow and can't catch with a poor passer at warm ups. We did this because we noticed the other team was watching us like a hawk as they were weighing in(Pop Warner). Our rep at the weigh ins said the opposing players were laughing at us and bragging how badly they were going to beat us. Our goal was to instill a sense of over confidence in the other team. They did not take us seriously and we won 39-6. We would of won anyway but it was over quick and I do believe this tactic helped.
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