|
Post by coachstepp on Sept 20, 2018 10:20:19 GMT -6
Really enjoy the ideas that you share on this site. It's easy to see the hard work you put into your program and why you are successful. Thanks for sharing!
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Feb 5, 2018 11:20:08 GMT -6
If he has time, the Pats would have won their sixth Super Bowl in 17 years. The Philly DL ate that NE OL up all night. Philly made a play when they needed it and the Pats did not.
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Feb 5, 2018 10:48:31 GMT -6
More importantly, what did Tom Brady say to Shaq Mason after the game. Mason gave up the strip-sack to end the game. Mason will be blocking for Brady next season. I wonder what that conversation was like because that is an opportunity to show great leadership.
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Dec 10, 2017 21:27:30 GMT -6
There’s value in having both. Know what they are trying to and how they are actually executing. I was watching some Harding University offense the other day on YouTube where they showed their roles then them executing it or not executing it. Taking ONE play for example: The "Stretch" Outside Zone appears to be just about everybody's play. On PAPER it is always hitting outside the 3 Tech. In the game - it goes BEHIND the 3 tech 75% or more of the time (he "STRETCHES" beyond the RB's landmark)!! I agree with everything you just said, except one. While wide zone is my favorite play, I am finding that most others are not fans of the Gibbs' wide zone. They prefer inside zone and gap scheme runs. Their loss, right? Haha
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Dec 7, 2017 13:26:12 GMT -6
Interesting coincidence As I was reading this thread former NFL WR Nate Burelson was on Dan Patrick talking about his time in Cleveland with Johnny Manziel. He said that Johnny failed because he wouldn't work, more interested in socializing that watching film. He summed it u by saying that talent doesn't help if you don't put the time in. That is the difference in the elite QB's, it appears. I've heard other players tell stories of Tom Brady getting to the facility before everyone else. Rodney Harrison said that he kept trying to get there earlier than Brady, and each time Brady was already there. Harrison finally realized he wasn't going to outwork Brady, so he stopped trying. Ha!
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Dec 7, 2017 13:25:58 GMT -6
Interesting coincidence As I was reading this thread former NFL WR Nate Burelson was on Dan Patrick talking about his time in Cleveland with Johnny Manziel. He said that Johnny failed because he wouldn't work, more interested in socializing that watching film. He summed it u by saying that talent doesn't help if you don't put the time in. That is the difference in the elite QB's, it appears. I've heard other players tell stories of Tom Brady getting to the facility before everyone else. Rodney Harrison said that he kept trying to get there earlier than Brady, and each time Brady was already there. Harrison finally realized he wasn't going to outwork Brady, so he stopped trying. Ha!
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Oct 11, 2017 8:35:46 GMT -6
coachstepp After reading all your posts this thread, the topic is an oxymoron - your HC HAS no Philosophy of Offense. It is good you are being supportive despite your philosophical differences. I just don't see any chance of success in your situation. Unfortunately, I believe you are correct.
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Oct 11, 2017 7:10:03 GMT -6
chi5hi I'll add this: This week we play the best team on our schedule. Vegas would probably make them a 40+ point favorite. They're phenomenal. He texted me on Saturday and said he wanted to run quads the entire game and just throw screens and run the QB. Fortunately, he decided to go with our single wing stuff and try to chew the clock, and I completely agreed!
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Oct 11, 2017 7:07:15 GMT -6
This past offseason I had a conversation with our Head Coach about being more involved in the offensive game planning. After several meetings, he decided to promote me to offensive coordinator, as he said it would take pressure off of him and free him up to focus on the organizational aspect of the program. We worked together on a system that we felt was best for our personnel, and we moved forward with it through the summer. We are now in our seventh week of the season, and we have basically run a different offense every game since our scrimmage eight weeks ago. My philosophy is to stick with the system, work the skills needed to be successful, and fine-tune/build the offense as we go. His philosophy is to run a scheme that appears to be a good counter to the defense we will see that week. He also takes this approach on the defensive side of the ball. We run a different defensive scheme each week, it seems. Has anyone else worked under a head coach with this philosophy before? Personally, I feel it stunts our growth, both as a team and individually. Yesterday, a player came up to me and said, "Coach, what offense are we running this week?" It really made my skin crawl. Thoughts? I'm curious. What offense did your team start the season? What different offenses did you run from week to week? We started as a zone team, running wide zone with keepers off of that, out of multiple formations. We practiced that for six weeks from July through August. We did not play well in our first scrimmage of the year, and he made the switch to an air raid style offense that consisted of mostly man blocking schemes. I should add that the seven days prior to the scrimmage, we had 11 practices and an intrasquad scrimmage - 9 practices at mini-camp, 1 intrasquad scrimmage, and two full practices. The kids were dead! We stuck with the air raid offense for two games. Then we went to a single-wing type offense (which I agreed was much better than the air raid) because he realized we weren't very good in the passing game. We stuck with this for 1/2 of a game and went back to a spread offense, with gap-scheme runs. Since then, we have bounced back-and-forth from air raid, single wing, and spread w/ gap schemes. In my opinion, if we would have stuck with the offense we had practiced all summer, we would be much better on offense right now. Again, we are not very talented, so I understand why he is trying to give us a scheme advantage. That is in direct opposition with my philosophy, which is why I said it is simply a philosophical disagreement. I do not want to come off like I hate the guy or am being insubordinate. He's a good guy. I just disagree with him. Here was the kicker for me - I implemented the original offense - zone blocking scheme with PAP, with power/counter mixed in, along with some quick game concepts. We ran it all summer. We were getting better at it, but laid an egg during our scrimmage. After that game, he admitted to me that he had not taken the time to learn the zone offense, and he was not comfortable running it, so he wanted to go back to something he knew well. My response was that it was easier for one person (him) to learn the zone offense than 80 people (players/coaches) to learn a different system. He agreed, but made the change anyway. It's certainly his right (and job) to make those decisions. Again, I just disagreed.
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Oct 10, 2017 11:08:23 GMT -6
That has actually been my approach, for the most part. We have had weeks where the blocking schemes/passing game has been consistent, but those have not been consecutive weeks. For instance, we spent most of the summer working zone blocking, with wide zone being our base run play. After our opening scrimmage (which took place right after camp), it was not as successful as he thought it should be, so we went to an air raid-type scheme, but instead of using zone blocking, we went to more of BOB scheme with iso run plays. It's been back-and-forth throughout the year, unfortunately. It's difficult for the players to improve because the scheme/technique fluctuates so much. Yeah I think I am with BLB on this one it doesn't sound like you are the OC, are you calling the plays on Friday nights? As an assistant all you can do is support and provide good sound advice when asked, but I have been in circumstances like that and it sucks when you are in it and all you can think about is how much it sucks, but when you get the chance to design the game plan and call the plays you will look back on these times and be glad you went through it. Because we have all been there we start watching film of a team and we see some other school run a cool play against our next opponent and man it looks good and it is awesome, so we draw it up on the board, look at it for a while, tag it in film, and think about putting that play in and maybe just installing more of their stuff into what we do and eventually after a couple of weeks of that we are a completely different offense and not better for it. So it's good to have these experiences and sometimes it's better than if you were at a perennial power just destroying teams and thinking that you can walk on water. I am certainly not the OC, and that is okay. I do not need that title. There have been games where he wants me to call plays, and there have been games that he has went to the other end of the sideline and told me what to call. Other times, he calls the plays. I have learned a lot about myself this season, and I'm looking at the experience as a positive one. He's a fantastic guy. We just simply have a difference in philosophy. As I do every season, I am going to evaluate the situation at season's end and weight my options.
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Oct 10, 2017 10:30:55 GMT -6
Is there a way to maximize the carryover/consistency within his "do something new each week" philosophy, i.e., can you keep the same or similar blocking schemes but present them in different ways? If he's changing the passing game around can you get a few "core' concepts you can run from different looks/approaches, or at least group them into stretches or reads (flood read, curl/flat read, etc) so your QB can have a consistent picture even if the plays are changing? At minimum, can you find ways to keep the *techniques* consistent? The best "multiple" offenses I know look very different week to week but they are very consistent with the techniques they teach and use. Without more specifics it's hard to be much more help, but that may be a way to approach it and to even find some common ground with your HC. That has actually been my approach, for the most part. We have had weeks where the blocking schemes/passing game has been consistent, but those have not been consecutive weeks. For instance, we spent most of the summer working zone blocking, with wide zone being our base run play. After our opening scrimmage (which took place right after camp), it was not as successful as he thought it should be, so we went to an air raid-type scheme, but instead of using zone blocking, we went to more of BOB scheme with iso run plays. It's been back-and-forth throughout the year, unfortunately. It's difficult for the players to improve because the scheme/technique fluctuates so much.
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Sept 27, 2017 8:51:46 GMT -6
The Manning Camp looks like a cool experience with the Mannings and all the various QBs (and supposedly since it's not tied to a school it's about fundamentals over recruiting), so if he has the money I don't see why not, so long as they don't expect it to transform him into Peyton Manning and you and the Dad understand it may or may not translate into anything usable on the field. In other words, it's a little better for his football career than a trip to Disney World but don't get your hopes up. I have a QB who has been to NFA Camps and he goes to Manning's camp every year. If he wants to be a better QB, go to NFA. If he wants a cool experience, some nice gear, and to meet some guys he watches on TV, go to the Manning camp.
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Sept 26, 2017 9:54:59 GMT -6
I think most coaches here will agree with you philosophically; but as already been pointed out, he's the HC so the best you can do is suggest. I actually played in a program like this in HS. We were successful, but we also out talented a lot of teams; and as a side benefit I got to experience all kinds of different offenses and defenses which may have helped my overall understanding develop for my coaching career. I coached for a guy who wouldn't change completely week to week, but would install a lot of new stuff week to week (eventually reverting back to the old stuff by the 2nd quarter of each game). It does stunt growth, and is less conducive to winning football. My advice is schedule a lot of indy time and work on fundamentals that are ubiquitous across the board as wella s athletic development. It's so natural for him and another coach who came with him to go into each Sunday meeting with new plans in mind. I've never been involved with a program like that, but I figured there are others out there. My HS coaches never changed week-to-week, but they always had new gadget plays and wrinkles that we would install. I would say that success rate of those was close to 0%. Ha! We weren't very talented, though. That has been my suggestion - let's continue to develop our football players through individual teaching, and the scheme will be less important. We have a great relationship, and I didn't come on here to bash him. I was curious if others do it his way. Obviously, that is how he was taught, as well.
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Sept 26, 2017 8:02:22 GMT -6
Hindsight is 20-20, but do you homework before accepting another position. Head Coaches are not always right, but they are always the Head Coach! You will find out when you become a Head Coach, that assistants must work to please the Head Coach, not the other way around. On a staff of 8, you cannot have 8 chiefs & no Indians. Do the best you can in your current situation, so you can leave there with a GOOD RECOMMENDATION from the Head Coach. ******************************************************************************************* Our Staff Guide is important to forming a staff. It is below: I never hire Assistants that do not fit into this (without exception): 1. Be loyal. 2. Enthusiastic and responsible in your work. 3. Positive in your thoughts, words, and actions – remarks. 4. Ever be punctual. 5. Respect the opinions of others – be your own ctitic. 6. Don’t be “I told you so” kind of guy. 7. Avoid doing anything to discredit the team, school, or your family. 8. Personal appearance is important, both on and off the field. 9. Laughter is a great medicine. Keep your sense of humor. 10. Curb profanity. 11. Abstain from smoking on the practice field, in meeting room, and on the sidelines at games. 12. When a decision is made not to your way of thinking or liking, you must accept it and work like hell to carry it out. 13. If you are interested in another job, come see me and I’ll do my very best to help you. Any coach who is constantly calling and inquiring about numerous job opportunities will definitely be given his notice to make a change. 14. Teach what you have been instructed to teach – nothing else. 15. Discuss any changes with me, don’t make them and inform me later. 16. Keep from prejudging or having a bias opinion of a squad member. Coach them all – the cream will rise. 17. Always maintain a coach-player relationship. 18. Be fair but firm. 19. Remember, you must earn the respect of the players; you can’t demand it. 20. Coach up, not down – constantly encourage and inspire a young man to do his very best. Help him grow. 21. Withold from screaming, yelling or belittling a player. 22. Never physically manhandle a player or verbally threaten him. 23. Make the best out of what you have. 24. Must control meeting time. I think this is a great list, Coach. Thanks for sharing.
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Sept 26, 2017 8:01:20 GMT -6
Has this been effective? I'd rather be able to run 5 plays in the dark than 50 plays that look like garbage. Master what you do. Unfortunately, it has not been effective for us. We knew our offense was going to struggle heading into the season. We only returned two offensive starters. I think you can look at it two ways - 1.) We have little talent, so let's try to be creative and change up the offense quite a bit, or 2.) Let's stick to a system and continue to tweak and build it throughout the year. Personally, I would choose #2, but I'm sure there are coaches who would like #1.
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Sept 26, 2017 7:30:14 GMT -6
Seriously: This is the very best advice I can give you in THAT situation: If you work for a man, in heaven's name work for him. If he pays you wages which supply you bread and butter, work for him; speak well of him; stand by him, and stand by the institution he represents. If put to a pinch, an ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness. If you must vilify, condemn, and eternally disparage, resign your position, and when you are outside, damn to your heart's content, but as long as you are part of the institution do not condemn it. If you do that, you are loosening the tendrils that are holding you to the institution, and at the first high wind that comes along, you will be uprooted and blown away, and will probably never know the reason why. Best wishes in your 'situation"! I have not spoken ill of him. He's a great man, father, husband, teacher, etc. We just have differing philosophies, and he knows that, and we have spoken about it. The last thing I wanted to do is to get pissed off and quit working. I go to work every day, coach my guys, and do what is asked. I'm wanting to know if this philosophy is prevalent or not. This may be the norm in a lot of places. What approach have you always taken aceback76?
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Sept 26, 2017 7:16:11 GMT -6
My thoughts are it is impossible to win that way and that you really aren't the OC if HC is changing the offense every week. Oh, I'm not the OC at all. Ha! I do what he asks me to do, I give feedback, and I try to keep the energy level high. As far as running/planning the offense, I have taken a major step back. I am the only staff member who is still with the program since our last coach retired two years ago. Everyone else scattered after last season because of philosophical differences. I stayed because I thought things were going to get better. Unfortunately, they have not. It's a tough situation.
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Sept 26, 2017 6:56:52 GMT -6
This past offseason I had a conversation with our Head Coach about being more involved in the offensive game planning. After several meetings, he decided to promote me to offensive coordinator, as he said it would take pressure off of him and free him up to focus on the organizational aspect of the program.
We worked together on a system that we felt was best for our personnel, and we moved forward with it through the summer. We are now in our seventh week of the season, and we have basically run a different offense every game since our scrimmage eight weeks ago. My philosophy is to stick with the system, work the skills needed to be successful, and fine-tune/build the offense as we go. His philosophy is to run a scheme that appears to be a good counter to the defense we will see that week. He also takes this approach on the defensive side of the ball. We run a different defensive scheme each week, it seems.
Has anyone else worked under a head coach with this philosophy before? Personally, I feel it stunts our growth, both as a team and individually. Yesterday, a player came up to me and said, "Coach, what offense are we running this week?" It really made my skin crawl.
Thoughts?
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Feb 6, 2017 11:17:57 GMT -6
This may pass in New York, but no chance it even gets heard in the South.
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Feb 4, 2017 23:27:58 GMT -6
UPDATE Spoke today Went Well I brought 12 copies with me sold out 3 other guys were interested so they purchased and typed their emails up into my iPad. i just emailed it to them once i got up to my room overall productive day Great to hear, man! If you can email the files, I'm sure there will be people on here who will gladly PayPal you $10 for them. I'd be interested in that.
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Dec 23, 2016 11:37:33 GMT -6
In summary, we demonstrate a single season of high school football can produce DKI measurable changes in the absence of clinically diagnosed concussion." Any way you could explain what this means? I didn't pay close attention in science class.
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Dec 23, 2016 0:16:38 GMT -6
Abstract from this Mayo Clinic study. Article was released over a week ago: "In this community-based study, varsity high school football players from 1956 to 1970 did not have an increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases compared with athletes engaged in other varsity sports. This was from an era when there was a generally nihilistic view of concussion dangers, less protective equipment, and no prohibition of spearing (head-first tackling). However, the size and strength of players from previous eras may not be comparable with that of current high school athletes."www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(16)30536-5/pdf
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Dec 21, 2016 7:48:30 GMT -6
I've tried numerous times and I've asked him about it on Twitter. Nothing.
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Nov 11, 2016 21:43:44 GMT -6
I can resonate. Last year, we were up 21-7 with just over two minutes left in the game. We get an interception that all but ends the game, but they call a phantom PI and the team scores on the next play, making it 21-14.
We get the ball back with 1:57 left. We get stopped on first and second down, but then break the third down run to the 3-yard line - just 9 feet from winning the game and advancing to the second round of the playoffs. Very next play we fumble, their DL picks up the ball, laterals back to their best athlete and he returns it 98 yards for the tying score.
We lose in OT, and that team finishes state runner-up. Still bummed!
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Sept 25, 2016 16:51:30 GMT -6
Happened to us last year. We had two pick-sixes and two fumbles returned for TDs. We lost 48-6, or something close. It was a disaster. I was embarrassed walking down from the box at the end of the game.
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Sept 22, 2016 9:00:04 GMT -6
That seems ideal, coach, but that is just not the way we have things set up. Offensively, we have a QB coach, RB coach, two OL coaches, and two WR coaches. Our HC does not coach a position. Defensively, we have a DL coach, DE coach, LB coach, and two DB coaches. Our QB coach only coaches QB's. Are you the HC? If so --change how you are set up. If not (and based on your writing, it looks that way) then this falls under the "not my circus, not my problem." Just chalk this up to one of those situations where you are learning WHAT NOT TO DO as a coach. Something else to consider is Saturday Practice (if you don't already do so or if JV / Frosh games are not on a Sat) I am not the HC but I have started this conversation with him. As I see it, this is not something we need to fix this year, but something we need to correct as a program. We are a Class 6 school, the largest classification in the state.
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Sept 21, 2016 8:56:23 GMT -6
That seems ideal, coach, but that is just not the way we have things set up. Offensively, we have a QB coach, RB coach, two OL coaches, and two WR coaches. Our HC does not coach a position. Defensively, we have a DL coach, DE coach, LB coach, and two DB coaches. Our QB coach only coaches QB's. Isn't that the point of your post? Aren't you acknowledging that what you are currently doing is not working? An understaffed program and the header won't coach a position? Really? WTF?? We've gone to platooning coaches and I love it. It is more efficient and less stressful on your coaches. We've only been doing it for 2 years, so we're not seeing the full benefits of it yet, but we can tell that the next couple years our guys are going to be WAY more prepared for Varsity than they have been in the past. With platooning, you give each coach only one position and he coaches all kids that play that position 9-12. That coach can now be a master at that position and theoretically coach the same kids for 4 years using the same drills, lingo, etc. Depending on your O and D schemes you should be able to get this done with 7 coaches. We're 21/11 on Offense and 4-2-5 on defense. We have 6 coaches most days, sometimes 7. We split our coaches as follows OffenseQB/RB - Mostly takes both working meshes, reads, etc. RB/WR/TE - Mostly WR/TE, takes the RB sometimes when QBs are just working footwork and throwing mechanics OL/TE - Mostly OL, takes the TE sometimes when working run blocking DefenseDL - Only works DL LB/Guns - Mostly ILBs, but will take Guns too when working run fits/reads DB/Guns - Mostly DBs, but will take Guns when working pass technique (we're heavy Man) So, during practices we'll have 9-10 working Offense while 11-12 work Defense for Indy and Group periods. Then we'll switch. Afterwards, the Varsity and F/S will separate and do their own team periods. We have 2 coaches coach the F/S (RB/WR and DB coaches) and 4 with the Varsity. With 3 groups and 7 coaches you could split this 2/2/3 or whatever makes more sense to you. One coach for both O and D sounds impossible though. I think it would be well worth the investment to take a coach away from Varsity to help coach up the younger kids. Now that we're about half way into the season we're focused mostly on Team stuff so we don't do much of the combined Indy anymore, however, you can tell during the F/S games that our kids are better coached fundamentally than our opponents and that's a cool thing to see. Plus, all coaches are on the sideline for at least the first half of the F/S curtain raisers so they are there coaching their F/S position kids during the games too. I think those are great ideas. Last year we were platooned, as well, but we platooned our players. This year, our new HC said he wanted everyone to coach both sides of the ball. Our young guys were much more fundamentally sound last year than they are this year.
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Sept 21, 2016 8:04:08 GMT -6
That seems ideal, coach, but that is just not the way we have things set up. Offensively, we have a QB coach, RB coach, two OL coaches, and two WR coaches. Our HC does not coach a position. Defensively, we have a DL coach, DE coach, LB coach, and two DB coaches. Our QB coach only coaches QB's. Does the HC want to build a Program? It would seem that he would notice that players are not being developed at the lower levels and he would make a change. We have enough enough coaches to coach one side but our HC still coaches a position. I can't not even imagine mixing freshmen and varsity together for Indy. During this next offseason you might suggest re-visting how the staff is structured. It seems like an overkill to have 2 OL coaches and 2 WR coaches. IMO, those freshmen need to be separate and have coaches devoted to them full time. It is the only way that their skill level will increase with practice and game reps. Here, our varsity coaches even work with the JH program 3 days a week before varsity practice. Every varsity coach is also a JV coach. Seems like the other coaches on your staff need to buy in, including the HC. Completely agree!
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Sept 20, 2016 18:23:17 GMT -6
That seems ideal, coach, but that is just not the way we have things set up. Offensively, we have a QB coach, RB coach, two OL coaches, and two WR coaches. Our HC does not coach a position. Defensively, we have a DL coach, DE coach, LB coach, and two DB coaches. Our QB coach only coaches QB's. I am in a very similar situation. I am the varsity LB coach, and the JV LB coach (all at once). I am also the JV DC (which doesnt really mean much other than I call the defense on Thursdays). Our JV team under preforms sometimes because they never really get a set time to practice JV team (and the special teams is kind of a joke), but they are ready to rock on the varsity level by the time they are upper classmen. So I repeat what I wrote above, a lot of indy time and a lot of athletic development. That sounds very similar. The issue I see happening is that this year's varsity team will be the best over the next three years, judging by the talent/personnel in grades 9-11. And we are 1-4 so far this year. We're really missing the big picture.
|
|
|
Post by coachstepp on Sept 20, 2016 18:05:49 GMT -6
You have seven coaches correct? Have two coach freshmen and assist with varsity on varsity game nights. That leaves five. Each coach a position on both sides of the ball. Varsity and and JV players go through indy together and are being coached the same. Obviously the JV has to run scout for the varsity and this will have them better prepared skill wised to do so. Next, devote 30 minutes to your JV for team offense and 30 minutes for team defense. Teach only the base plays and fronts / coverages / stunts. Even if you have to do it before school or after a Wednesday practice. If you're not teaching them who will replace a varsity player if an injury occurred? You don't want to start at the bottom so it is better to be prepared. That seems ideal, coach, but that is just not the way we have things set up. Offensively, we have a QB coach, RB coach, two OL coaches, and two WR coaches. Our HC does not coach a position. Defensively, we have a DL coach, DE coach, LB coach, and two DB coaches. Our QB coach only coaches QB's.
|
|