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Post by mahonz on Aug 3, 2014 12:39:09 GMT -6
Yes, I know. My point was a person that was once young and dumb and full of vinegar shouldn't have to keep explaining why he was young dumb and full of vinegar so long after the fact. Its the age of the computer I guess. Nothing ever goes away. Thankfully Im too old to have my young dumb and full of vinegar record following me around. I was a dumba$$ there for a while. I cringe at this line of thinking. 1. No, not everyone was a dumbass as a kid. 2. I've found that the ones that were dumbasses as kids are way more likely to be dumbasses as adults- I have no issue with them being around my players/kids. 3. If someone has something on their record in the way of a background check, that isn't just being young and dumb. That's a serious problem. It's not that hard to go through life without getting arrested or questioned by police. The fact that someone has something that would show up on a record just further shows they shouldn't be around kids. I have to disagree. Most of the things I saw on these BG checks seemed rather petty and issues from days gone by. A sometimes life gets in the way kinda things. When stuff happens shouldn't mean you are tagged for life. If stuff keeps happening...I completely agree with you here. If I remember correctly you have younger children yourself. Just wait a while and see if your thought process changes. Society can be awfully tough on kids these days. Didn't used to be that way and why I feel all this CYA stuff going on is counterproductive at times. We are protecting ourselves from the smallest minority possible IMO yet a rather significant majority is getting dinged. Then again...I was happy as can be when my State legalized marijuana. Im not a pot head either but feel that now we can focus our efforts as a society on more important things rather than adding more stuff to a kid's record. I feel the same about BG checks. I am a business owner. Have hired 100's of people over the years. Never ran a BG or Credit check on anyone. Never regretted that decision either because I know no one is perfect.... and that has nothing to do with getting arrested. Just my take. We think differently. I cringe at your I throw stones line of thinking. No biggie.
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Post by mahonz on Aug 3, 2014 12:08:13 GMT -6
yes. My boys are in a Pop Warner program. I am witnessing so much disorganization and waste of time. 6,7,8 year old kids running sprint after sprint. (13 years Varsity Coach taking time away to be just "dad") Im not aware of any national practice plan other than x number of hours before they put on the pads. BTW...these guys are USA Football Certified by PW Law. USA Football does have some info on practice organization so that should tell you right there that your kids Staff isn't paying much attention if they are unorganized. Im a looooong time youth coach. Its upsetting that so many youth coaches don't put forth much effort until they are standing on the field. By then....its really too late. Just bite your tongue and be a dad.
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Post by mahonz on Aug 3, 2014 11:19:17 GMT -6
You are smarter than most.
Should've made it clear I'm not a youth coach.
Yes, I know. My point was a person that was once young and dumb and full of vinegar shouldn't have to keep explaining why he was young dumb and full of vinegar so long after the fact. Its the age of the computer I guess. Nothing ever goes away. Thankfully Im too old to have my young dumb and full of vinegar record following me around. I was a dumba$$ there for a while.
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Post by mahonz on Aug 2, 2014 14:06:19 GMT -6
We all have one skeleton in that closet.
Maybe youth coaches in your area do.
I can assure you, I don't.
You are smarter than most.
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Post by mahonz on Aug 2, 2014 11:51:53 GMT -6
Im a youth coach that has had to submit to a BG check for the last 10 years or so.
What I dont get is all this does is protect the kids from those that has been caught doing really dumb stuff and are dumb enough to submit to a BG check.
What about the people doing really dumb stuff that haven't been caught yet?
Makes no real sense too me. I was told a BG check is required to get the necessary insurance for the kids. Nothing more. I sat on a Committee that reviewed failed BG checks. There weren't many that failed. The occasional 10 year old assault charge from a bar fight back in College...excessive DUI's...a domestic violence call with no charges filed.
No pedophiles. No rapists. No armed robbers.
I felt we were simply protecting ourselves...from ourselves. We all have one skeleton in that closet.
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Post by mahonz on Jul 12, 2014 21:36:45 GMT -6
Sending this one out to the more experienced coaches on here. There has been a lot of chatter about how much we do now, and how things are changing. My HS playing days were the mid 90s, my coaching days the mid 00s to now; other than having hudl to watch films at home now I don't see much difference (in general) between what we ask kids to do. So I am wondering what were kids asked to do in the 70s and 80s in regards to offseason wts, running, practice, and passing tournaments? Was there a sudden jump somewhere, a gradual growth, or was it fairly similar to what you do now anyways? In the offseason my first year of HS football in '67 the workout consisted of giving each of us a pamphlet from the President's Council on Youth Fitness and telling us when practice started in August. The pamphlet consisted of exercises, along with pictures illustrating them, and advice to drink a lot of ice tea (it was sponsored by Lipton). After my soph year we jointured into a bigger school and had a real offseason program. In the winter and spring we did some lifting and agility drills with some running. In the summer we'd lift three times a week, pretty much on our own in the weight room, and maybe did some position drills. A couple of nights a week we ran plays for about an hour. It was pretty rudimentary stuff but it was miles ahead of most other programs in our area. 7-on-7's? Haha. Good one. Im 5 years behind you. In the off season I partied and chased skirts because we had nothing mandatory as far as football from Feb 1 to Aug 1. I remember doing a bunch of conditioning in January for some odd reason then once baseball, track and wresting started we completely shut down outside of optional weight training. We were a successful program. My HFBC also coached T&F. I was a shot put'r...and a poor one. Pretty good receiver though. We passed...a lot. It was rather contrairian back then. We would have probably enjoyed 7 on 7's.
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Post by mahonz on Jul 9, 2014 9:29:21 GMT -6
The same as the coaches at your local Pop Warner league or AAU basketball team: $0.00. In private youth sports leagues, the money all goes to the association who facilitates the contests and the marketing is directed at getting the athletes and their parents to sign up to compete. It's not like the Professional and College systems where a corporate entity has a vested interest in seeing its team win games and perform in a way that fans would like to see in order to turn a profit. Totally different target markets and business models. I think the NCAA and NFL would have a vested interest in developing top tier talent. I'm from from Minnesota and many top kids leave their high schools to play junior hockey in the the USHL and similar Canadian leagues. Those coaches are pulling around 70 k on average. A friend of mine is a strength coach for some Podunk junior team in California, and he is making around 60 k. That's for a niche sport like hockey. I think that if their was an elite league of hs age talent, people would go to the games and the coaches would make 6 figures easy. I think your right in that your avg coach in a pop warner type league would be volunteering. Hockey has the same kinda deal here. I know a Gal who makes her living coaching 19U elite level Girls Sokker. How much money she makes... I dont know but she gets paid enough that married with off season Clinics that is her stand alone job. The president has been set for some Sports. Football isn't one of them...yet.
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Post by mahonz on Jul 8, 2014 11:43:40 GMT -6
mahonz, I think it ties in. The American fiscal strategy for the past 34 years has been about cutting taxes while increasing spending. People expect a social safety net, a strong military, public education, working roads, police, fire departments, etc. but nobody wants to actually pay for it. If government actually had to balance its budget, people would flip out over the costs or hard choices that would have to be made. Eventually, something has to give and we're seeing the effects now. Furthermore, since NCLB and Race to the Top, schools have become burdened with expensive testing requirements, which lead them to buy into expensive programs schools to help them teach to the tests, which demand expensive software to help them better target students so they have a better idea of how those kids'll do on the tests, etc. Since NCLB hit the books, American education has become a racket for moneyed interests, including huge conglomerates like Pearson (who owns Common Core) and "charities" like the Gates Foundation, who actually MAKES money for Bill Gates off its "philanthropic" work by lobbying schools to buy expensive software and technology he's invested in. In many places, football is still a money maker for the schools. Schools take a portion, if not all, of that money to pay for other sports and make up budget shortfalls in other areas. Rather than privatizing all HS sports, it would make more sense for local school boards to simply eliminate the programs that can't sustain themselves economically. If the community objects, then let them raise the funds to keep it going. MS Sports have been cut in a lot of places because of this already. The last district I worked in had privatized their bus system to save money. Rather than maintaining a garage, fuel, insurance, and benefits for drivers, they simply paid independent contractors who owned their own buses to pick up the kids and drop them off. The result was that when that private contractor didn't feel like showing up for work that day or had something else going on, the kids had no way to or home from school. Sometimes this would go on for a week or more, often kids would get to school and the driver wouldn't show up to take them home in the evening, which left everyone scrambling to find alternate ways to get them home. Privatization doesn't always fix things in and of itself. I am not a Teacher so Threads like this are very interesting too me. The dam is about to burst for HS Athletics around here. MS Sports went by the wayside back in the late 80's early 90's because of budget issues. All of the Youth Programs are now 14U for all Sports. Some extend to 16U for girls softball / basketball / volleyball. Some extend to 19U for ice hockey / lacrosse / sokker. I have a friend who is the HC for the Football Program at the poorest HS in the Metroplex. Their Athletics Program consists of boys football, basketball and baseball only. The issue they have is keeping the kids in school. Many leave to work once they turn 16. They can barley field a team every season and have no Freshman Program. He is a Teacher at this school and coaches for free. Last I checked there was no Fee for the kids to play.
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Post by mahonz on Jul 8, 2014 10:07:13 GMT -6
Do any of you feel this ties in with the dying profession Thread?
As a taxpayer with grown kids...when it comes to the economics for the thing... I would want to see my contribution go towards keeping the Teaching Profession alive....not a Football Program or the Chinese Club.
It seems too me Athletics should privatize. The kids still represent their school and all that but the business side of things is now outsourced. It would really stink for the kids that couldn't afford the Fee's...but voters like me are now less willing to approve more taxation. That pyramid is inverting fast in my area and forcing a lot of change for everyone involved.
My elementary school aged grandkids now pay to ride the bus to and from school.
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Post by mahonz on Jul 2, 2014 15:27:20 GMT -6
I believe Huey's has a done a very nice job keeping the Trolls at bay especially when you consider how many Members there are now and its free. I am a Moderator on dumcoach and its tough sometimes. Some people just do not communicate well using the written word although that does take some practice.
Thanks for keeping this place real. Seen one too many Forums go down the tubes over the last 10-12 years...or become closed societies which is worse IMO.
I cant even begin to tell all of you how much I learn here as a daily visitor. Its appreciated.
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Post by mahonz on Jun 18, 2014 10:17:26 GMT -6
Some random thoughts....
First…your youth program just took a major step forward. This will help keep the sokker fangs out of this age group and should increase numbers for the next level up in the future. There will never be a valid argument against that.
Safety being the top 4 priorities is simply a PC move. The game is so slow and they all play too high and with all of that equipment on those little tiny bodies they are nearly bubble wrapped. The worst injury will be a bee sting. Don’t overly stress safety. Just have them do what they do when it comes to being a responsible Youth Coach.
The Parents that are willing to put their kids into tackle football at this age are hard-core football families anyway for the most part. So you can amp it up a bit more than you might think.
Winning is fun but it isn’t the be all end all with this level. Most of the kids wont know who won or who lost until you tell them afterwards.
The Coaches might need a hard lesson in patience. EVERYTHING you say is taken literally and the kids obviously know absolutely nothing about the game. So every single aspect of the game is new. You cant “describe” anything….you must show them every thing….literally.
You can run the same 3 or 4 plays on Offense for the entire season and be just fine. You can run one base Defense for the entire season and be just fine. Less is WAY more so the Coaches have the time to OVER teach alignments and assignments. This is actually more important than teaching fundamentals. If you spend all of your time teaching them how to tackle really well and they are never in the right place at the right time…their tackling skills don’t mean much. Same thing with blocking. If they don’t know who to block it wont mean much if they know how to block really well. It takes a loooooong time to teach alignments and assignments. So be wary of that.
I HIGHLY recommend teaching the 2-point stance for OLM. It will save the Staff a ridiculous amount of time….again…they all play too high so don’t fight it.
The Safety positions on Defense is a waste of a player. 100% cover 0. The best tackler is not the traditional MIKE…it’s the perimeter positions now. This level is Sweep City….whether designed or not.
Post game Snackage is important.
Be prepared for endless equipment issues. Tape all shoulder pad straps, don’t let them unbuckle chin straps until you say so….double knot all cleats, take their gloves away from them, insist on integrated pants, have a dozen extra mouth guards at the ready….and be prepared for improper fitting gear the first week. Its tough to get things right the first time with the really little guys.
Send them to the bathroom right before kickoff. This is critical.
As far as having fun…they are playing tackle football for the first time ! They are having a blast naturally. Some will freak out over the contact but that subsides pretty quickly when they realize they are not going to the Hospital after taking a hit.
Good luck !
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Post by mahonz on Jun 4, 2014 11:25:58 GMT -6
I guarantee you he won't be doing it again... Certainly don't disagree with you, I was just trying to explain his thought process. Why do you blame youth football for this...even guarantee it? In 30 Seasons I have never not once had a Parent do that and that's a lot of Parents. Just trying to understand your thought process here.
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Post by mahonz on Jun 2, 2014 10:06:21 GMT -6
My statement about the A-11 being a brilliant, tactical move wasn't in the context of do you like it or not, it simply was following the logic of Coach Seay's manual regarding deception when facing superior forces. Chapter 11 of his self-referenced playbook/manual states, "...Sun Tzu argues that warfare -- and, I suggest, the wargame of American football -- can only be mastered by those with a perfect understanding of deception.) What is the purpose of deceiving your opponent in football? I believe it is to force him to be slow and reactive." Furthermore, in describing the Wild Bunch as Ambiguity (A) deception, whereby it "attempts to fool a defender by increasing the number of options he has to worry about. It increases his uncertainty about the offense's eventual course of action by offering more than one alternative, causing the defender to 'spread resources thinly to cover all important contingencies.'" Again, I'm not so much concerned about opinions of the A-11 as a loophole. However, within the "rules of engagement" at the time it was first introduced, it seems to me that this was the ultimate wargame maneuver. Coach Seay...please share your thoughts. Im not Coach Seay but I did run the A-11 one season. One of my good friends who is the HC of one of the HS Programs in my town purchased the System and ran it. Worked great for them ( 5 Officials ). At the same time I ran it with a very talented 8th grade team. Worked terrible for me ( 3 Officials ). The reason? It was so deceptive the Officials couldn't call a decent game. If I could have convinced them to stop counting to 7 and start counting to 4 that would have helped. If I used the same 5 receivers all the time that would have helped. If I used a huddle that would have helped. If we didn't shift on and off the LOS that would have helped. Basically if I toned down the deception it would have worked better...oddly enough. It was the ultimate in deception without question but to the point it backfired on us. I am not the least bit surprised they closed the loophole. Im sure Officials everywhere struggled with the formations and eligibility at times....as did the Defenders. Im not sure we faced a common philosophy from the DC's that entire season. They were all over the place. The A-11 destroys the basic rules for every Defense. That in itself says something. It was genius in its design....had Bryant just done his thing locally and didn't go National...I say the A-11 might still legal today but I wouldn't run it....too deceptive. My take.
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Post by mahonz on May 29, 2014 16:31:26 GMT -6
He's hired. I hate doing that stuff. I love my wife as we've gotten to the point where she checks as I'm headed to the bathroom to see if I have a pad of paper in hand knowing it will be at least 10-15 minutes or she'll yell at me to not take any paper in as that only takes about 5 minutes. Of course I've finally joined the modern age with a smartphone and "Tapatalk" that I can now check "Huey" instead of doodling x's and o's. Knowing that...Im not sure I can read any more of your posts.
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Post by mahonz on May 28, 2014 14:46:04 GMT -6
I agree with Pirate on all points but will add that I like hiring dads that know nothing about football except maybe as a fan but coach other sports.
Now they can learn football without the hidden agendas but already know how to coach.
The downside is you have to train them so more meeting time right before or during Pre Season. Still...they coach other sports so they already understand the all in or nothing approach. They are instantly good soldiers.
The best AC I have ever had was actually a Girls Soccer Coach...and yes I teased him relentlessly.
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Post by mahonz on May 26, 2014 20:25:04 GMT -6
That is awesome. If nothing else...you will waste somebody's time reading it. But aren't you for sure wasting or at least using your time? Im semi retired. I have time to spare.
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Post by mahonz on May 26, 2014 12:56:38 GMT -6
Ted Interesting read. Im going to start leaving a fake playbook on my bench after our games. Regarding Fortitude, I was wondering if anyone was going to correct @coacharnold about his thoughts on Normandy. mahonz --- Already did it. WE used to leave fake scout cards and practice scripts around the practice field when I coached college ball. Mostly as a lark, but you never know. That is awesome. If nothing else...you will waste somebody's time reading it.
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Post by mahonz on May 26, 2014 12:33:23 GMT -6
1) I never claimed you were saying that "football is war." I know you're too smart for that. I sort of went off onto my own tangent there. But I'd hesitate to call football a "war game," nor would I ever use that term in regards to chess. Both are games of strategy yes, whose development has been shaped by military ideas, but "strategy" =/= "war." 2) For example, if you want to go back to the D-Day analogy I mentioned earlier, you could apply that to football by rejecting the classic "do not attack walled cities" analogy and throw everything you've got at an opponent's strong point in an effort to crush them and overwhelm them. Hey, it worked to win one of the most famous battles in history, didn't it? 1) I write that I believe North American football to be a war game. You respond with a post expressing distaste with "football is war" analogies. What would the average reader think you were saying about this thread? 2) Whew. I don't often apply the phrase "epic fail", but when I do, it is to educators who exhibit fundamental misreadings of history: OPERATION FORTITUDETed Interesting read. Im going to start leaving a fake playbook on my bench after our games.
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Post by mahonz on May 19, 2014 13:36:33 GMT -6
Question. Im a youth coach so I dont have to preform in order to feed my family so I have run many different systems over the years as a means to simply learn more about these different styles of football. Basically I have no identity but still win some games and have a good time. That said...how do any of you find your identity if you don't experiment with some of these different styles of football? Years of bouncing from Staff to Staff? A Mentor? What you learned as a Player? A Clinic?..... When I began coaching the team was a 4 front team. 44 or old school split 6 as some know it. I also coached some youth football, which btw is where I learned to teach football, because as I'm sure you can attest to, those youth players have no idea at all, they are complete blank slate. (their parents are experts, but the kids don't know anything). after youth I coached Jr. High...7th, 8th, 9th, then 8th again. Then got to the HS level. I've came by the way we do things by experience, changing offenses, etc. But the identity comes directly from me and my personality. I'm aggressive and confrontational by nature, so defensively we are aggressive, confrontational, physical, etc. I've always been a risk taker, which has not always worked out in my favor, but coaching wise I'm constantly looking at an offense looking at how we can exploit a weakness in it and kill it, trying to play us to our advantages and away from our weaknesses while attacking their weaknesses and trying to get them away from their strengths and to weight out the risk/reward benefit ratio. It's like a fist fight...if I'm bigger and stronger and you're longer and quicker, then I have to get into you, get my hands on you and get you on the ground. That's advantage me. If I'm longer and quicker and you're stronger and bigger, then I need to keep my distance and keep you from getting into me cause if you get in and get a hold of me then I'm in trouble, my length and speed is not much of a factor in a phone booth. And if you're bigger, stronger, longer and quicker and I still don't shut my mouth then my dumb@$$ needs the beating it's going to get anyway. lol. That's kind of how I see football in general and I think that's the constant year to year adjustment we all make. The type of offense or defense you run is kind of irrelevant, that's a what you know and can teach best situation. Coach Thanks for the feedback. I follow your posts Religiously. We think alike when it comes to a philosophy. Not the Systems necessarily...the attitude. I figured out a long time ago....X's and O's are secondary.
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Post by mahonz on May 18, 2014 21:42:38 GMT -6
Not really. Some things I believe in and some things I dont. I will explain. I don’t really understand the value of Concepts because my QB has 2 reads….throw it to the Receiver I tell you too or run. I finally got to see Coach Slacks Presentation at Glazier just last February yet I have been coaching Smurf QB’s how to throw a football since 1989. I never read a book by Black or Coverdale or Mumme. Heck Im not even sure all of those guys have even written a book. Im assuming they have. The Run and Shoot makes no sense too me. Im that guy that will run the Wing T as designed one season, the DW the next and the Flexbone the next but all of them with a pass first mentality. The Flexbone I eventually ran backwards because it worked better. The counter was my bread and butter and option was my “counter” and the pass was the kill shot. I will use the passing game as my bread and butter and counter with the run and visa versa. But that wont be happening from one season to the next due to the talent level…that will happen from one week to the next. If anyone is ever curious what would happen if you were to pass the football every down for the entire game… I can answer that question for you. Some years I go trap heavy but I don’t pull OLM to run trap. We WHAM it. I have not pulled an OLM in many many years because I no longer see any value in doing that. That is what running the DW taught me. Why bother teaching something that has to be close to perfect in order to work? On the flip side its what I really liked about the Wing T. With its smoke and mirrors backfield actions you really dont have to be anywhere close to perfect in order to do really well. Bellevue taught me that when they played DLS. Yes they were perfect but they made that DLS D look…well…stupid. They didn’t have to block anybody either…and didn’t at times…intentionally. I love the SW but learned to hate an offense where the QB isn’t under center. I love the I formation but only when I have a FB….not the TB. I hate the Split Back but enjoy cross fires. I think the Air Raid is based out of the Split Back. I ran Empty as my base twice for an entire season just to see if we could. We couldn’t. The Pistol Formation is dumb. Freaks out my QB’s. I like Speed Sweeps but only when the kids are really young. I have “invented” more than one youth Offense…successfully. One was called Monster, the other Frankenstein because they were pieces from many different systems sewn together. I have only changed Offense’s once during the season because things were going nowhere really fast. And yes…I will raise my hand and say that I ran the A-11 one season with 8th graders. It was a very bad idea but not because of that Snake Oil Salesman Bryant…the Officials just didn’t get it. Very frustrating. So as you can see…I am very confused but that’s OK. Having fun doing it but I am sure I would have been fired 10 times over at the HS level by now. That is why I asked how you all get to your identity in the first place. Coach one of your questions earlier was how "do you establish an identity?" While I understand what you're saying about coaching youth being different than coaching in high school with regard to needing to stick to a system year in and year out, I would argue that establishing an identity has a lot to do with becoming proficient and eventually expert in something that you've done through experience year after year as a coach. If you're changing offenses almost literally every year, how do you get good at any one thing? Yes, you certainly learn by trying different things, but establishing expertise in an offensive system requires years of learning their weaknesses and strengths and going to the processes of tweaking them. If you don't stick with any one system for a while you really can't establish an identity because you will not gain enough experience within that system understand how to become a master of it. i'm not trying to argue that that's the right or wrong way of doing things, just trying to answer your question about how coaches establish an identity. Excellent points. Am I really good at coaching one particular system? Not really. I have tried to stick with certain things and find an identity but it just doesn't fit my personality. I blame this Forum. Half of everything I read here I don't understand....the other half I will give it a go just to see. So far the results have been pretty darn good so thank you for that. I don't post a lot but I read everything.
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Post by mahonz on May 17, 2014 15:40:20 GMT -6
So you like to pass. Air Raid, run and shoot and so on. I would imagine that "boring easily" would have more to do with formations than your base plays? I mean what is you hang your hat on as part of your PASS FIRST philosophy? Are you hanging your hat on screens and three step? Are you hanging your hat on slants, crossing routes and 4 verticals? I would suggest that you think of yourself as a boxer, what is your signature punch? What is you will do ever year, very well regardless of the particular hand you are delt? For us, we run off tackle and trap, doesn't matter what kind of kids we have, if you don't stop off tackle and trap plays, we will score a lot of points. Not really. Some things I believe in and some things I dont. I will explain. I don’t really understand the value of Concepts because my QB has 2 reads….throw it to the Receiver I tell you too or run. I finally got to see Coach Slacks Presentation at Glazier just last February yet I have been coaching Smurf QB’s how to throw a football since 1989. I never read a book by Black or Coverdale or Mumme. Heck Im not even sure all of those guys have even written a book. Im assuming they have. The Run and Shoot makes no sense too me. Im that guy that will run the Wing T as designed one season, the DW the next and the Flexbone the next but all of them with a pass first mentality. The Flexbone I eventually ran backwards because it worked better. The counter was my bread and butter and option was my “counter” and the pass was the kill shot. I will use the passing game as my bread and butter and counter with the run and visa versa. But that wont be happening from one season to the next due to the talent level…that will happen from one week to the next. If anyone is ever curious what would happen if you were to pass the football every down for the entire game… I can answer that question for you. Some years I go trap heavy but I don’t pull OLM to run trap. We WHAM it. I have not pulled an OLM in many many years because I no longer see any value in doing that. That is what running the DW taught me. Why bother teaching something that has to be close to perfect in order to work? On the flip side its what I really liked about the Wing T. With its smoke and mirrors backfield actions you really dont have to be anywhere close to perfect in order to do really well. Bellevue taught me that when they played DLS. Yes they were perfect but they made that DLS D look…well…stupid. They didn’t have to block anybody either…and didn’t at times…intentionally. I love the SW but learned to hate an offense where the QB isn’t under center. I love the I formation but only when I have a FB….not the TB. I hate the Split Back but enjoy cross fires. I think the Air Raid is based out of the Split Back. I ran Empty as my base twice for an entire season just to see if we could. We couldn’t. The Pistol Formation is dumb. Freaks out my QB’s. I like Speed Sweeps but only when the kids are really young. I have “invented” more than one youth Offense…successfully. One was called Monster, the other Frankenstein because they were pieces from many different systems sewn together. I have only changed Offense’s once during the season because things were going nowhere really fast. And yes…I will raise my hand and say that I ran the A-11 one season with 8th graders. It was a very bad idea but not because of that Snake Oil Salesman Bryant…the Officials just didn’t get it. Very frustrating. So as you can see…I am very confused but that’s OK. Having fun doing it but I am sure I would have been fired 10 times over at the HS level by now. That is why I asked how you all get to your identity in the first place.
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Post by mahonz on May 17, 2014 12:26:46 GMT -6
Question. Im a youth coach so I dont have to preform in order to feed my family so I have run many different systems over the years as a means to simply learn more about these different styles of football. Basically I have no identity but still win some games and have a good time. That said...how do any of you find your identity if you don't experiment with some of these different styles of football? Years of bouncing from Staff to Staff? A Mentor? What you learned as a Player? A Clinic?..... I learned by doing it at the lower levels and going to clinics. I also visited with successful colleges and high school programs. Like most, we read books, study video, get a mentor and so on. Delaware wing-t is about a philosophy, once you have your philosophy, you have a direction to forming your identity. For you sir, my question is- what is your philosophy for offense? and for defense? If you don't have one, that is why you are still grasping, searching and trying on new pants. My problem is I bore easily. My base philosophy on Offense is that I like to pass the football. Its what I learned back in HS as a player in the early 70's...oddly enough....and coverage skills at my level are pretty awful so I take advantage of this. I used to be big into spread formations but have now drifted away from that because everyone and their Mother runs these formations now. Still I will run some Empty as a Package with kids as young as 3rd grade....successfully. Defensively I like pure Man out of the odd fronts. Currently I live in the 46 World and play a ton of bump and run Cover 0. Because of this skill set I have 3 former players playing CB at the College level right now. Very proud of them. I cant live without a NG and Im not into blitzing heavily because I insist on training up LB'rs to become...LB'rs. I have also run a bunch of 353. Tough to teach with all of the moving pieces parts but a fun D to call on game day. The 46 tends to run itself. The biggie for me is when I dig really deep into this Forum I always find something interesting...so I dumb it down and give it a try for grins. Thanks for the response. I was just curious how a paid professional finds his identity. Me? I can get away with not having one.
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Post by mahonz on May 17, 2014 11:32:59 GMT -6
Question.
Im a youth coach so I dont have to preform in order to feed my family so I have run many different systems over the years as a means to simply learn more about these different styles of football. Basically I have no identity but still win some games and have a good time.
That said...how do any of you find your identity if you don't experiment with some of these different styles of football? Years of bouncing from Staff to Staff? A Mentor? What you learned as a Player? A Clinic?.....
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Post by mahonz on May 16, 2014 12:24:39 GMT -6
Ted Hope all is well my friend. I miss the good old days when you had more time for your true passion....football. Sheesh its been nearly 15 years since you introduced me the Unity of Apparent Intent. Thank you for that! I have bookmarked your Blog. Looking forward to it even though Im a simpleton and have to keep looking up dem biggin wurds you like to use.
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Post by mahonz on May 6, 2014 13:34:36 GMT -6
This post is great !! How about the Youth Coach Guy You mean the JFL Lombardicus? The guy who thinks that he's instilling life long lessons into 3rd and 4th graders through the power of football? He consistently spouts out statistics from a kid's 5th grade season when trying to explain why the HS coach "doesn't know what he's doing". "Hell, that kid had 1,000 yards for me in Middleweights. We went undefeated that year and beat this team we're playing by 50. That HS coach just doesn't know how to use the talent I've been sending him. If I were there..." The guy who deeply researches the best lifting methods for those same 5th graders despite 90% of them still being 2 years away from puberty. The guy who routinely quotes Saban to a bunch of kids who don't even know Alabama is a state yet? I've had some experiences with that guy. LOL Guilty as charged ! Dont forget the polar opposite of JFL Lombardicus... Doofus Magooicus He is the guy that is handed a whistle and a clipboard a week before pre season then makes ZERO effort to do an Internet Search or even check out a book at the Library that references anything Football. He scratches his chin a lot in wunderment as the Peanut Gallery behind him ties his noose. I have plenty of experience with these guys.
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Post by mahonz on May 4, 2014 17:28:48 GMT -6
Because Football is different than Baseball, Soccer, Basketball - it's a contact sport. Kids need to develop physically more before they start bumping into one another, especially these days with the concussion issue on everyone's mind. Let the other sports burn them out early or show them they're not going to get a scholly much less to the big leagues by the time they're 13 so they're looking for something else to try. Football is still the most popular participant and spectator sport in the country. Had a kid whose parents wouldn't let him play Football until 9th Grade. Was All-State, selected to All-Star game, and got a D-II scholarship. He's a HS coach now. I look at it the the way around. For one thing, concussions are less likely the younger they are. But the main thing is that American football loses players so quickly with age, that they may as well start young and get in some seasons while they can, because they're not likely to be playing when they're old. By 9th grade, the number of players has shrunk considerably, and by adulthood hardly anybody's still playing, and even among those who manage to play as adults, there's no "old boys" circuit as exists in rugby. So if you wait until age 13 to start, chances are good you'll never play. Those are good points Bob. I wish more people would realized this. Its easier to get into the game and then stay there before the speed of the game gets to a point where its just too fast for the average Joe....but I see Blb's points as well. Parents are burning kids out early...at least in my area. Baseball being the biggest culprit.
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Post by mahonz on May 4, 2014 17:23:10 GMT -6
Because Football is different than Baseball, Soccer, Basketball - it's a contact sport. Kids need to develop physically more before they start bumping into one another, especially these days with the concussion issue on everyone's mind. Let the other sports burn them out early or show them they're not going to get a scholly much less to the big leagues by the time they're 13 so they're looking for something else to try. Football is still the most popular participant and spectator sport in the country. Had a kid whose parents wouldn't let him play Football until 9th Grade. Was All-State, selected to All-Star game, and got a D-II scholarship. He's a HS coach now. Good points. I think baseball is the biggest burnout invented when it comes to youth sports. Dual seasons...tournaments...off season camps...it never ends. When I ask a kid why baseball?...because they practice once and play 3 games per week... or basically just the opposite of football. I deal with the Rose Colored Glasses Syndrome all the time coaching youth football. Parents will ask me what HS FB Program is the best since we have open enrollment. I tell them which ever one is the best academically because once all the girls grow boobs...he may be done with sports anyway and there is NOTHING you can do about it.
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Post by mahonz on May 4, 2014 16:47:24 GMT -6
Why not until the 5th grade? Just curious.
Because that's when they can start playing organized Football in the community in which I coach, and it's soon enough. Maybe too soon.
I'm aware of the argument about kids starting Foot Hockey (aka Soccer) earlier but I'm not going to let that make me do something I don't believe in.
Ahh...makes sense. Why do you think the 5th grade is too early for organized Football? We can start them as young as 6. I have yet to see anything negative come from that because at that age the majority of the kids are coming from "football families". Now they can spread the Football love to their friends and neighbors. The later they start the more we battle with all of the other Sports that cant seem to stay with in their own traditional Seasons. By the 5th grade it seems many would be lost to other Sports for good.
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Post by mahonz on May 4, 2014 16:24:31 GMT -6
I'm with 2013. First, our Youth Camp starts at 5th Grade, and is in late July (as close to start of practice as we can make it). We don't do anything that resembles "exercise" or conditioning except at end of camp one day we let them take a couple trips over the Agile Bags (One in the Hole, Two in the Hole) by age group. Why not until the 5th grade? Just curious.
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Post by mahonz on May 4, 2014 16:23:08 GMT -6
Ill never understand why coaches work so hard to turn kids toward soccer. soccer= kick ball, chase it around, fun football= gassers, agility drills, discipline? that's not fun. Teach 3 point stance Teach how to throw and catch teach blocking and tackling let them play some touch or flag football teach them how to take a handoff teach them how to snap, long snap, kickoff, punt and catch punts and kicks diagram a play and let walk, jog, run it show them some great highlights of nfl hits and youth hits forget all the ugly stuff that turns them toward soccer Problem is if we all make no effort to introduce the kids to football when they are in pre school...it may be too late. Those dang sokker fangs are out with a vengeance when they are 3 ! Sounds like the OP has addressed the problem. Your list would make for an awesome no pads youth camp for all age groups.
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