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Post by jg78 on Oct 26, 2013 18:09:04 GMT -6
I think time spent on a task (whether it's football or anything else) is way overrated. Some people/staffs can get done in 3 hours what it takes another 4-5 hours to do because they get to work and are organized and efficient with their time.
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Post by jg78 on Oct 26, 2013 0:44:07 GMT -6
We're 8-0 looking to go 9-0 tonight. We meet as a staff 9am to noon on Saturday. I don't watch any film after that all weekend. That may change a little next week when we get to the playoffs. Thats amazing. Everyone asks me if I saw this college game or that pro game...and I say "it was on but I was watching our game on hudl"....or the next team we play. Maybe I need to step away from it and just enjoy life from noon on sat til mon I like to sit down on my couch on Saturday and break down film from my computer while watching college games on TV. I'm a single guy with no kids, so there are no other distractions around or significant responsibilities that I have to tend to during the weekends. So it doesn't really matter if it takes me a little longer to finish by doing it that way. I have plenty of time for it and we're not going to deviate too much from what we do anyway in terms of scheme.
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Post by jg78 on Oct 21, 2013 10:57:58 GMT -6
What about the flip side. Taking out your O but leaving in your starting D to secure the shut out? We've done that before. This is one thing that really sucks about coaching defense. We played a team a couple of weeks ago that did not get a first down on the first team defense. However, we substituted in the 4th quarter and they ended up scoring a late TD. Irritated me a little bit, but I didn't show it. I don't hesitate to substitute when we're up, but I sure do hate to see a team score when we do. Offensively, most coaches (in blow out wins) are going to get their 40-50 points and leave it at that. They don't take points off the board if the offensive subs get stuffed.
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Post by jg78 on Oct 20, 2013 7:34:40 GMT -6
I don't see anything at all wrong with trying to score by any means possible with a 21-0 lead late in the first half. Unless it's just an absolute slaughter, the first half is fair game, in my opinion. We played a game last year where we were up 42-0 at the end of the first quarter against a first-year team. That's a game where we started subbing very early and only ended up scoring 49 pts. for the game when it could have been well over 100.
My basic approach is that I try not score in the 50s unless it just happens to be a high scoring game. A little class, common sense and empathy (most of us have been on the other side of blowouts before) can usually prevent you from running up the score unnecessarily.
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Post by jg78 on Oct 11, 2013 10:57:31 GMT -6
A lot of it depends on how hard it is to prepare for the other team's offense in a given week. If it's a good offense that does a lot of things effectively and will require a lot of reps and prep work to be ready for, practice will be longer. If it's a bad offense that does little more than line up in the I formation with two TE's and get stuffed, practice will be shorter. Offensively, we pretty much just do what we do and that's all there is to it.
Generally, I think practice should last between 1.5-2.5 hrs. not counting film and weight room. If it takes you longer than 2.5 hrs. to practice you're probably either trying to do too much or you're not very efficient with your time.
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Post by jg78 on Oct 6, 2013 18:28:41 GMT -6
We allow kids to wear Pink accessories as long as they donate $20 to Breast Cancer. Also, we take the 50/50 or Split the Pot, whatever you call it, and donate it to the cause. We collect the money and send it in following the game. I like that. How do you organize it? I like the $20 thing for the players. If they're willing to donate some money to wear pink, it's more important to them than just an excuse to wear something out of the ordinary and stand out. It's also a practical help to the cause. Good idea.
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Post by jg78 on Oct 5, 2013 15:27:46 GMT -6
Here's what I like to do.
1) We jog (single file down the home sideline) to the goal post at the far end of the practice field. We break out from there and stretch on that side of the field.
2) I have a ball on the 20 at the other side of the field. Once they're done stretching, they jog to me and we huddle up on offense. We drive the field once (against air) moving 5 yards on running plays and 10 yards on passing plays. If there's anything we're doing specific for opponent that week, we will definitely run it during this time.
3) Once we score, we go straight to XP/FG on the end of the field where we just scored. After that, we turn around and put the ball on the 20 and go to punt team, punt return team. And then put the ball on the 40 and go to kickoff team. And then put the ball on the other 40 and do kickoff return. We then keep the ball on the 40 and go to defense.
4) We spend a few plays going over anything we are doing specific to the opponent and keeping their base plays fresh in our minds. After that, we go over a couple of situational things like our base adjustment to a crazy formation, last play of the half/game defense, etc. The things you may see 1-2 times a year (if that) we practice for one play a week on Thursday to keep it fresh in their minds just in case.
5) Then we put the ball on the 10 and work in going over SY/GL. Then we do XP/FG block and we're done.
Takes an hour at the most. We keep things short because we do what we do and try to be very good at it. We don't vary much from one week to the next.
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Post by jg78 on Oct 5, 2013 11:09:49 GMT -6
I can't stand disorganization and wasted time. We have a lot of both in our program and it frustrates me. It has always seemed to me that there are a few guys that take this mentality toward meetings and are visibly upset when they feel that time is being wasted with idle conversation. One of the two situations is usually true, the guy doesn't really fit in with the rest of the staff and would rather be home than up there shooting the breeze, or the guy's wife has a firm grip on him and is constantly riding him about when is he gonna be home so he can mow the grass or take the curlers out of her hair or whatever. Part of what makes our job great is the camaraderie that develops between coaches, what's better than ragging on a dude about how we the coach from the team across town slept with wife back in high school?...the answer..nothing I get along well with all of our coaches and enjoy camaraderie to a reasonable extent. But once everything is done, I am typically ready to go within 30 minutes or so. Like most people, I do prefer going home when I am finished with a long day at work. Plus, I can prop up on my couch at home and watch film on my computer while Monday Night Football (or something) is on and get some work done and enjoy some semblance of a normal life while also being productive. I can also cook dinner at a decent hour. I have been coaching long enough to know what needs to be done for us to be prepared and I do it thoroughly. I don't cut any corners. However, I do like to run in the inside lane and get things done as efficiently as possible. Sitting around listening to one war story after another regarding things that happened at another school ten years ago isn't how I like to spend a lot of my time.
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Post by jg78 on Oct 3, 2013 10:34:36 GMT -6
This is a weird question and one that I never thought about. Our kids do it all the time and it doesnt matter to me at all. The only time I really notice it is when a lineman has the confidence to pop his shirt off and walk around It's probably an unusual question, yeah, and I doubt I would have asked it had my previous school and my current school not been so different on it. At my current school, like I said, it's like we're at the beach during 7th period. And on Tuesdays after practice, when we have a team meal that the parents put on, a few usually come in with their shirts off. At my previous school, my headmaster (I work at a private school) and parents would have freaked over that. Here? Apparently no one thinks anything of it. So I was just curious as to what the norm is. Personally, I think they should wear shirts outside of the locker room at all times - especially during school hours. As I said, that's not how it works here but I'm not the boss.
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Post by jg78 on Oct 3, 2013 0:47:49 GMT -6
I'm curious as to what you folks allow as far as your players wearing (or not wearing) shirts. At my old school, where I was the HC, it was school policy that boys were not allowed to go without shirts outside the locker room. So obviously I didn't permit it. At my current school, where I am the DC, we look like we're at the beach during 7th period. Several players always walking around outside the field house w/o shirts.
With two vastly different approaches at my current and previous schools, I am curious as to how it works elsewhere.
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Post by jg78 on Sept 24, 2013 10:56:06 GMT -6
I can't stand disorganization and wasted time. We have a lot of both in our program and it frustrates me.
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Post by jg78 on Sept 23, 2013 10:58:48 GMT -6
I think weekend meetings are productive, and I think it's important for them to be efficient - just like everything should be. Ideally, I believe every staff member should watch the Friday film and the upcoming opponent's film(s) on their own and be ready to come to the meeting prepared to discuss what things need improvement and what needs to be done in terms of the game plan. I don't think there's any reason for the staff to sit down and watch the film together every week. Save that for when you're watching film with the players. That is when you can point out things they need to know and do better.
And for goodness sake, when you're done with everything and you're prepared for the week, GO HOME! I despise sitting around talking about irrelevant things.
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Post by jg78 on Sept 9, 2013 19:28:36 GMT -6
Believe it or not, we take the field at 6:40 for a 7:00 game. We've been doing that for 3 years and it has been tremendous. Too much pre-game equals too much of a drain, physically and mentally. FOR US.... Man, I'm with you on this. I despise long warmup routines, especially early in the season when it is hot. I like to hit the field at 6:30, get off it by 6:45 and have a few minutes to chill out and go over last minute details before teeing it off. Teams that get out and kick forever and run endless pass routes, especially in the heat, baffle me.
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Post by jg78 on Sept 6, 2013 13:00:10 GMT -6
One thing I think is important is transition time. Getting your kids as soon as you can and getting them busy working instead of sitting around. If it's realistic for the kids to be entering the field house by, say, 2:15, then be taking roll in the weight room (or wherever) by 2:20-2:25. Give them a specific time and make sure they're there. And then when you go to the film room to the practice field (or however you do things), make it a quick transition.
There's nothing wrong with making practices as short as they can be by quickly getting to work and being efficient with your time. I have been at programs where we wasted so much time just sitting around doing nothing. Turning a 4 hour practice into a 3-3.5 hour practice because you're organized is a good thing.
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Post by jg78 on Sept 5, 2013 18:57:25 GMT -6
Wouldn't mind hearing everyone's typical practice routine (from the moment you get the kids) from start to finish.
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Post by jg78 on Jul 24, 2013 19:20:00 GMT -6
If you're going to allow it, this is the way to do it. Otherwise, you will have someone (who really just wants to be draw attention to himself rather than the cause) who ends up looking like a bottle of Pepto Bismol. Personally, I don't really like it. But it's one of those situations where you have to pick your battles and fighting it may not be worth it if your school makes a big deal out of things like that. So maybe get something simple (socks maybe) that they can wear and be done with it. I don't necessarily agree that it's all about drawing attention to themselves. Sure, there's a lot of that but every year we hear from some kids who feel very strongly about it because people who they love have suffered from breast cancer. I am not talking about the players in general, just the one or two you sometimes have who tend to take things too far. You need to set limits so those guys don't go crazy with it.
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Post by jg78 on Jul 24, 2013 19:11:21 GMT -6
Coaches, I keep getting hassled by our cheer team coach to have our kids wear pink on cancer awareness week. I was able to avoid the distraction last year because I got the pressure a week before. They want the football program to buy each kid something pink. I really do not want any additional work/distraction but also don't want to irritate the public. How do you all handle this? If you buy them something and make it clear that that's the only pink stuff that they can wear you can keep everybody happy without looking like the circus came to town. If you're going to allow it, this is the way to do it. Otherwise, you will have someone (who really just wants to be draw attention to himself rather than the cause) who ends up looking like a bottle of Pepto Bismol. Personally, I don't really like it. But it's one of those situations where you have to pick your battles and fighting it may not be worth it if your school makes a big deal out of things like that. So maybe get something simple (socks maybe) that they can wear and be done with it.
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Post by jg78 on Jul 23, 2013 14:53:53 GMT -6
The main thing is you better have access to talent (by either going out and getting it - perhaps even through scholarships - or just having it coming through the pipeline because of numbers, demographics, or just a good run of players) if you want to win big. We all know things like coaching and program building are important or we wouldn't be here trying to learn, but you better have a good base of talent to work with for anything else to matter much.
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Post by jg78 on Jul 21, 2013 11:23:47 GMT -6
When the season begins, how do you handle players who miss multiple days of practice during fall camp for another sport or a summer sport? It seems that we may have this problem this fall with 4-6 Possible varsity starters. We're talking up to 5-6 practices during the first two weeks. I would be interested to hear your thoughts. Thanks! I would be very cautious in approaching this decision. I don't know what kind of depth you have at your school, but I have been at small schools my entire career and it's often that a starter is vastly better than his backup. I have had some players that literally could have been gone all of August and showed up on Friday of the first game and still would have been better than their backup. When your starting TB is a savvy, tough kid who runs a 4.6 40 and his backup is a somewhat timid kid who runs a 5.1, are 5-6 practices going to make the latter player better than the former one? Of course not. Let's be realistic here. Your team is going to be better in just about any scenario that involves the 4.6 kid being on the field. And a large part of our job security is winning games. Now, you have to draw lines somewhere for the sake of fairness, discipline, program stability, teaching kids accountability, and maintaining the respect of your players. All of that is important. Don't get me wrong on any of that. However, I try not to suspend or (especially) dismiss players unless it is just absolutely necessary - and sometimes it is. And it may be in your case. But I look for other punishments when I can. And one question I think you need to ask yourself is, what are these kids like otherwise? Are they good, dependable kids who work hard? Or do they slack? I think that should factor into your decision, and you're the only one who knows those things. Yeah, but how much fun are you going to have if you're out there getting your a$$ kicked because those kids are in the stands? That sounds like a lose-lose situation for everyone.
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Post by jg78 on Jul 19, 2013 8:07:24 GMT -6
You've never had, say, a QB with the "it" factor who was a super talented all-around athlete and would have been better than his backup whether he worked at it or not? That's hard to believe. Kids who don't work out with their teammates start at the bottom of the depth chart, period. Those with bad attitudes (such as the earlier example) or discipline problems are not nominated for all-star teams. That wasn't really my point. We all have minimum standards that we require of our athletes. I'm no exception. However, we have all had exceptional starters who could have done far less than what was required and still would have been better than their backups no matter how hard they worked during the summer. Sometimes one player's floor is higher than another player's ceiling. So your team isn't going to be as good if one of those players isn't on the roster. Now I'm not saying you give a talented player a pass to do whatever. I am not saying that at all. In fact, I had a RB last year who did not make his minimum number of workouts until the last possible day. And if he hadn't come on that final day, he would have sat out the first half of the first game - a game in which he rushed for 200+ yards. We wouldn't have been as good in the first half if he had missed that workout and I had sat him, but it would have been necessary for the sake of fairness, program stability, and maintaining the respect of my players. You have to have lines. But the older I have gotten the less likely I am to totally write off a kid for a season without a really good reason, and this is coming from someone who at one time wouldn't let players play in the fall if they didn't come out in the spring. But I think (now) that if you have a situation where a kid is not going to be able to do what is required of him that you evaluate the situation thoroughly and try to come up with a fair way to keep him on the team. In the case of the baseball player, maybe you suspend him for another game, or whatever. Be thorough with it. But I don't think you totally write him off, especially if he is otherwise doing what he is supposed to do. Just my opinion.
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Post by jg78 on Jul 18, 2013 22:05:46 GMT -6
Not necessarily. We have all had players who could not have touched a weight or football all summer and instead spent that time eating chips on the couch with nothing but beer and girls on his mind and still show up for the first day of practice with a hangover and be better than his dedicated backup who would replace him. Actually, not - in our program. You've never had, say, a QB with the "it" factor who was a super talented all-around athlete and would have been better than his backup whether he worked at it or not? That's hard to believe.
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Post by jg78 on Jul 18, 2013 15:11:29 GMT -6
Not necessarily. We have all had players who could not have touched a weight or football all summer and instead spent that time eating chips on the couch with nothing but beer and girls on his mind and still show up for the first day of practice with a hangover and be better than his dedicated backup who would replace him.
As for the question, I would let him on the team but there would be pretty stiff consequences for missing a game.
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Post by jg78 on Jul 14, 2013 9:50:02 GMT -6
Does any one NOT do OTAs, 7 on 7, gym practice, spring practice, etc and just have the team show up day 1 of summer practice ? AND keep their job ? At the end of the day, I think it's mostly about results. If you are meeting expectations and winning with the way you are doing things, you can probably get by with whatever methods you are using. However, if you are not, people will probably say that you are not doing something right or enough - whether that's the true reason for average/poor results or not.
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Post by jg78 on Jul 2, 2013 11:33:24 GMT -6
I did it all as HC, OC, DC and ST for two years with approximately 30 players and 2 other coaches who weren't as hardcore and knowledgeable as I would have liked. Here is my advice...
1. If you're going to delegate a coordinator spot to someone, it needs to be because you think it will make the team better - not to lighten your workload. If you have any doubts about an assistant's ability to run a phase of the team as well as it needs to be done, do it yourself.
2. Doing it all is going to take away from your ability to do any particular phase as well as you could if that is all you were worrying about. I became a much better playcaller when I was just an OC (and coaching half the ST) than when I was also DC and ST coach. The reason being that I had time to step back from the game for a minute between each series and think about adjustments. When you're doing it all, you have less time to think thoroughly and your train of thought is always changing.
My DC when I coached in the above situation (who joined our staff after my first two years of doing it all) didn't turn out to be as good as I thought he would be. We underachieved in that area for most of the year, but we were great on offense and I realized (after doing it all) how much better I was when I was just focusing on one area. And because of that, I let things slide with the defense longer than I should have because we were outscoring teams. But I eventually had to start giving my input later in the year.
If I had to do it all over again, I would have come up with the defensive gameplan myself and let him call the defenses during the game. That's a little easier to do because (in my opinion) defensive playcalling is not as hard as offensive playcalling. The gritty work on defense is during the week. With offense, I think it's mostly the opposite.
So maybe that's an approach you can consider. Handle the defensive prep work and offensive playcalling. Let someone else (if you're comfortable with it) call the defenses during the game so you can focus mostly on offense. If I don't inherit or hire a coordinator with success and experience that I know can handle one side of the ball by himself and I can focus on the other side, that is how I plan to handle it in the future.
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Post by jg78 on Jun 5, 2013 16:59:56 GMT -6
Who would you say are the best pure coaches (that you have seen and are still active today) at the high school, college and professional levels? One or two from each level is what I'm looking for. And when I say pure coaches, I mean hands-on X's and O's gameplanning, teaching of fundamentals, getting the most out of players, etc.
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Post by jg78 on Jun 5, 2013 16:42:53 GMT -6
Putting a couple of long water hoses together and dragging them across the field before practice helps a lot with the dew.
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Post by jg78 on Jun 1, 2013 13:43:39 GMT -6
I get along great with my co-workers, but I don't really hang out with them. It's not a big deal either way. I just like to keep my personal life separate from my professional one.
I don't really have anything to hide, either. But being a fairly young and single guy, people tend to be a little more curious about someone like me than they would be of a 50 year old married man with grandkids. And if a picture is posted on my wall with my arm around (hopefully) a good looking brunette at party somewhere, I don't necessarily want to be bombarded with questions at work about whether she is my girlfriend - or whatever. Or maybe I'm tagged in a picture where I am drinking a Coke from a plastic cup (that might be inferred as alcohol instead) while my buddy right beside me has a 20 oz. beer in his hand and a drunken expression on his face and someone thinks I am few gulps away from the same state. Or that could be me with the beer if I drank. And if it were, I wouldn't classify it as inappropriate. I would classify it as no one else's business (except for those I want to tell) if it isn't illegal or affecting my work.
I just believe in keeping a professional distance at work. That's all.
That's good for you. But I accomplish the same thing through simple text messaging and bulletin board notes. That has worked for me, so that's what I do.
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Post by jg78 on Jun 1, 2013 11:55:58 GMT -6
I'm not saying it's wrong to do it. I just don't find it necessary. A bulletin board and a cell phone works for me. To each his own.
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Post by jg78 on Jun 1, 2013 11:20:53 GMT -6
I have all of my players' cell phone numbers and that's it. If I need to tell one (or all) of them something, I can get in touch with them with a call or text just as easily as any other method. I don't have Twitter and I don't accept Facebook friend requests from current players, parents, students or coworkers. My Facebook is for my personal life, and my work environment (and those in it) are not part of my personal life.
That's just my approach.
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Post by jg78 on May 18, 2013 9:31:10 GMT -6
As we all know, there are a ton of different ways to define things and countless ways to be successful in this game. You just have to use what makes the most sense to you, whether you got it from a Hall of Famer or thought it up yourself while sitting on the couch drinking a beer. I agree, and by most sense to you I believe you mean what you can teach the kids that will make the most sense to them. Yeah. What makes the most sense to you is probably easier for you to convey to others and a large part of any coach's thinking process should include seeing things through the eyes of his players.
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