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Post by huddlehut on Jul 26, 2017 18:12:10 GMT -6
The ol' program culture bugaboo strikes again!
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Post by huddlehut on Jul 24, 2017 11:46:05 GMT -6
Their value to the programs is dependent upon their speed and size.
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Post by huddlehut on Jul 21, 2017 18:37:22 GMT -6
I think it works. There some debate on both sides of it. About 5-10 minutes helps the legs. I've even gotten in with the kids. Please tell us that syrup wasn't involved.
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Post by huddlehut on Jul 21, 2017 18:34:38 GMT -6
That's one advantage of living in Texas. It never rains in the summer. Never have to re-schedule anything.
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Post by huddlehut on Jul 19, 2017 12:21:01 GMT -6
What character/ leadership development tools or programs do you use for your players? Does anyone do focused classes for athletes on character/ leadership? Just have a desperate need to do more for the athletes. They need to know what it means to be a "real man". Would anybody ask the same question of, say, barbers? They have kids sat down in front of them for a certain amount of time that could be used to help turn them into real men or women. So do dentists. How about DJs -- they get the kids up & moving in groups like coaches of team sports. How about driving instructors? Do you think barbers, dentists, DJs, and driving instructors have discussion forums in which any of them say they have a desperate need to do more for their charges? I could imagine them exchanging stories about particular kids in bad straits, but not about any general desire to get into character building with those they serve. I just don't think there's anything special about football coaches that makes them a preferred means of doing this, nor of football players as having particular needs in that regard as a class. If someone were to point to differences in character between people who've played football & people who haven't, I would think that much more likely to be a selection effect rather than a result of the experience -- that those of either elevated or low character are more likely to choose to play the game than is the avg. person. I suspect that any program that's claimed to improve people's character with just some slogans for a few mins. a day in groups is just a feel-good illusion. People do engage in self-improvement programs that work like that, and I put more trust in those because it's the person who's doing it's own idea. They're good for helping overcome fears, depression, & anger; other elements of character bldg. I doubt they'd help with. And self-esteem can be overdone! Religion is known to help...but only until the person stops believing, and then the whole basis goes away. Role modeling I think really does help, but that's because the model isn't trying to do it. As soon as it becomes a conscious thing, it loses force. So the best advice I can give is, be good yourself...& don't think about it. Excellent post, Bob Goodman!
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Post by huddlehut on Jul 18, 2017 18:01:46 GMT -6
If you cannot trust someone completely, don't delegate an important job to them. If you trust them, let them go to work.
Or... Do everything by yourself and work yourself to death.
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Post by huddlehut on Jul 17, 2017 22:09:08 GMT -6
Kevlar inserts would not be my go-to for concussion prevention, that's just not the material's forte. I really want to believe in those Guardian caps, I just need to see the data to back it up. My riddel rep told me that both the use of inserts and caps are not recommended.and void the helmets certification while in use ... Sent from my ADR6410LVW using proboards Yep. This is a fact! Steer clear!
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Post by huddlehut on Jul 17, 2017 20:53:14 GMT -6
I don't think that anyone disagrees that kids can/should learn positive character traits from a coaching staff. The question is why must a coach go into a curriculum to teach this? Why isn't he "teaching" it daily in all that he says and does? As I have argued prior: I believe that the "Twitter warriors" that are now so prevalent in the coaching profession have distorted the job description of the coach. Coaches should teach accountability, respect, sacrifice, courage, etc daily...without having to dig into a curriculam. However, doing so is not as cool and it can't as easily be posted onto Twitter. Have you ever looked at a character program? The one we use that I posted uses a word of the week and maybe 5 minutes a day of our time to talk about that word. It's not some intensive immersive time consuming thing. Why not take a few minutes to talk to the players about stuff they probably aren't exposed to, at least in our case with some of the backgrounds our players come from. We model it and live it for the most part, I mean no one is perfect but we have good dudes coaching with us and keep that circle tight to make sure we get those kinds of coaches. We deal with some kids coming from bad situations, parents struggling with addiction, living with older siblings cause mom is dead and dads never been around, kids seeing adults make bad decisions and not having high or any expectations for their kids, violence in the home and streets....a word of the week and less than five minutes a day seems like a good seed to plant in so,er of these kids hoping it grows and they remember it at a critical point in their life. In fact we've had kids come back and tell us about times they remembered and thought about stuff from those programs in the past, seems worth it to me. Yessir. I have seen character curriculum programs. Question: how did coaches back in the 60's, 70's or even 80' and 90's ever make an impact on their players without a curriculum to follow? I'm an old fart and my coaches helped share and mold a lot of kids and never had a curriculum to teach from. They were leaders.
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Post by huddlehut on Jul 17, 2017 13:34:08 GMT -6
Why, out of all the adult contacts the players have, is this the job for a football coach, or any athletic coach? Why, out of all the kids, would only the players need this? Bob, I'm not sure if you're just playing devil's advocate or if you're being serious. In a perfect world, parents would be instilling character & leadership in their children along with multiple other people in the child's life. Unfortunately, this is far from the norm at present. Fewer and fewer kids know how to lead these days...there are various factors at play, but that's another discussion. While it isn't necessarily the coaches "job", I do think football provides an excellent vehicle for teaching character and leadership. Also, I believe teaching these traits will help your team be more successful. I think everybody would agree that it isn't just football players who need this training, anybody can benefit from it....but again, I think sports (especially football) provide a great team setting for teaching these skills that is superior to any classroom setting. I don't think that anyone disagrees that kids can/should learn positive character traits from a coaching staff. The question is why must a coach go into a curriculum to teach this? Why isn't he "teaching" it daily in all that he says and does? As I have argued prior: I believe that the "Twitter warriors" that are now so prevalent in the coaching profession have distorted the job description of the coach. Coaches should teach accountability, respect, sacrifice, courage, etc daily...without having to dig into a curriculam. However, doing so is not as cool and it can't as easily be posted onto Twitter.
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Post by huddlehut on Jul 16, 2017 16:33:09 GMT -6
I think too many people use "character" in an attempt to shape kids into what they want them to be. I know far too many times when the "character" they preach about just ends up being their political and social beliefs. Not actual morals and character, but political. And it ends up causing friction when there are coaches who don't align with said beliefs. A lot of the stuff on teaching it to them comes from you simply being that way. The amount of stuff they will absorb from you, positive or negative, will be huge. Amen!
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Post by huddlehut on Jul 16, 2017 16:12:07 GMT -6
Best idea is to simply coach football and let your character show through your words and actions. Lead by example on a daily basis. All this teaching character and changing the culture stuff is for the birds. Seems like something that staff's do to make people think that they're working! Note that I never said that character and culture, etc are not important!
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Post by huddlehut on Jun 28, 2017 20:19:39 GMT -6
Next year I want to change my helmet color from white to orange. I plan on shipping 30-35 helmets to be reconditioned and change the color. I also want to change the chin strap to black, and send off the facemasks to be changed from white to black (greengridiron is what I ran across). What is the cost I am looking at per helmet? Is Schutt or riddell any better for pricing (both can reconditioned each style, correct?)? It's always fun to change helmet colors but be careful. If you're teams colors aren't orange and black your gonna piss off a lot of people. I changed our helmets to red with white facemasks the year I got my first head coaching gig and the whole town was pissed. I hated that blue and gold that they'd worn every year. Boring. I'm glad I didn't stay at that school but one year!
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Post by huddlehut on Jun 15, 2017 11:30:53 GMT -6
Honestly, I'd tell them that " I want to learn everything I can about your program without wearing out my welcome." Just be upfront with them. It's ok if they know that you're excited.
One thing NOT to do (what one of my assistants has a bad habit of): waste time explaining what YOU do in your program and why you do it. You're there to learn from THEM. Let them talk except when you're asking a question.
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Post by huddlehut on Jun 6, 2017 8:28:52 GMT -6
I understand the baseball deal pretty well. I'm in it right now with my youngest son who is in 8th grade and playing select travel ball. Most teams only carry 10-11 players because no parent wants to pay that kind of money and travel to watch their kid ride the bench. It puts coaches at a big disadvantage at times because one of their best tools (the bench) gets left in the shop. There are a host of other drawbacks to the model but it's the most popular model for kids who are really serious about baseball. I'm not certain I would let my kid do it again knowing what I know now. I love that phrase he used, "work while you wait". He's just telling kids that they have to work harder if they aren't getting what they want at the moment. As many of you have already stated, kids want it now. There are very few who really embrace or appreciate the value in the struggle. The whiteboard in my home gym says, "be so f****** good they can't tell you NO!" That's just my way of reminding my 2 boys, if you don't like being a #2, fix it. Don't blame a coach for your shortfalls. You have two boys and you have written on the whiteboard in your home gym, "Be so f'ing good....?" Now I'm not a prude -and don't mean to be judgmental - but don't you think that might be a bit inappropriate?
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Post by huddlehut on Jun 5, 2017 17:20:54 GMT -6
Actually, there is no law requiring helmet reconditioning (at least in my state). It is a common misconception that reconditioning is required by law. That said, one would be setting himself and his school district up for a lawsuit if he neglected to recondition (IMO).
After ten years, the manufacturer warranty is gone (Riddell). Theoretically, a helmet could be used for ten years without it being reconditioned. Wouldn't recommend that, though.
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Post by huddlehut on Jun 1, 2017 11:17:14 GMT -6
I apologize for my ignorance, but I've seen this on several posts... What is a face-melter?
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Post by huddlehut on Jun 1, 2017 11:10:40 GMT -6
We finished our camp each day by simply letting the kids play touch football. We divided the kids into teams and played shirts vs. skins. The kids loved it - even if they were too small to know what they were doing.
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Post by huddlehut on May 4, 2017 22:26:59 GMT -6
The premise of the thread is whether or not you can either with character-type kids. Since I was responding to a bunch of coaches I didn't feel that I need to define a good or bad attitude to you all. Figured that you all pretty well understood the difference. Maybe not.
Do we explain the difference between a good and bad attitude to our kids? Of course.
I'm beginning to think that some of you just enjoy feeding your ego by reading your own posts.
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Post by huddlehut on May 4, 2017 13:24:06 GMT -6
Wonder why so much space on this forum is devoted to character and culture if all we're talking is t-shirt slogans. Apparently, a lot of coaches are wasting a lot of time trying to teach character... Should just look to develop athletic skills, I suppose. Is it necessary to quantify attitude? Don't you just know a good one or a bad one when you see it? Well, give us your definition. My definition of what? A good attitude? You have to DEFINE good attitude to know one? I think not. I can recognize a kid with a good attitude without his actions fitting into a mold. I can also recognize a crappy attitude without looking up the definition.
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Post by huddlehut on May 3, 2017 13:35:59 GMT -6
Average athletes with great attitudes are to be desired more than great athletes with average attitudes. That probably looks great on a t-shirt but what does it really mean? And what's the difference between an average attitude and a great attitude? How do you quantify something like attitude? For me, a kid with a "great" attitude is one who: - Works hard in the weightroom and/or plays multiple sports
- Is liked by teammates and coaches
- Plays at the position he is needed, not necessarily at the position he wants
- Shows up on time and doesn't miss practice
- Doesn't flirt with the margins of the eligibility every week
- Doesn't make you think about him every time you hear police sirens
And if the kid can play a little, that is obviously a huge bonus!
Wonder why so much space on this forum is devoted to character and culture if all we're talking is t-shirt slogans. Apparently, a lot of coaches are wasting a lot of time trying to teach character... Should just look to develop athletic skills, I suppose. Is it necessary to quantify attitude? Don't you just know a good one or a bad one when you see it?
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Post by huddlehut on May 2, 2017 17:15:36 GMT -6
Average athletes with great attitudes are to be desired more than great athletes with average attitudes.
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Post by huddlehut on May 2, 2017 17:15:04 GMT -6
Average athletes with great attitudes are to be desired more than great athletes with average attitudes.
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Post by huddlehut on May 1, 2017 19:27:56 GMT -6
Yes...if you tailor what you do offensively and defensively to make the most of the talent you have available. One things for certain, your stress level during the season will be a lot less with high character guys - even if they have no talent. One of my favorite years was mediocre record-wise...but very enjoyable because we had some great kids!
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Post by huddlehut on May 1, 2017 14:00:44 GMT -6
With those kind of open lockers, are you worried about theft? You can lock the bottom (where the athletes sit). It's a good-sized area, really. Now, if folks are stealing shoulder pads, you've got big problems.
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Post by huddlehut on Apr 30, 2017 14:48:45 GMT -6
Google Wildcat Lockers in Tahoka, Texas. Awesome! He will fix you up.
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Post by huddlehut on Apr 27, 2017 18:00:44 GMT -6
Much ado about nothing? Coaches the team to a 16-0 record, wins a state championship and the players support him. But his job is clearly in jeopardy and no serious allegations have been brought against him.?. Huh. He hasn't been fired. From the article I read it looks like it is all speculation. Now mind you, the speculation/rumor has caused an uproar, but nothing has happened. As far as skirting the issue, I haven't read anywhere that there is any proof that the board was going to rid him of his coaching job because he's white. As a matter of fact, the brief video shows a group of young black athletes supporting their white coach. Isn't it crazy the way sports doesn't really care about the color of your skin, your last name, or how much money you make? Never said that the players or even the community didn't support the coach. The important thing to remember, however, is there are seven people on the board that make the call on who coaches the football team. These folks have given NO REASON for not supporting this coach. None. Leaves a LOT of room for speculation.
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Post by huddlehut on Apr 27, 2017 12:45:49 GMT -6
You're skating around the issue, boys...
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Post by huddlehut on Apr 25, 2017 18:31:29 GMT -6
Again, let's keep moving. Before you know it someone will bring up the "r" word. Move along... Nothing to see. 😋
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Post by huddlehut on Apr 25, 2017 11:43:32 GMT -6
Nothing to see here. Everyone move along...
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Post by huddlehut on Apr 20, 2017 11:12:57 GMT -6
One thought: Don't go around telling everyone that "we are going to change the culture!" Had a coach come on and say this every chance he got without realizing that he was insulting people in his new community every time he did it. In every community - whether they have won our not - the are really good people who are "culturally" with it. Do not alienate them but telling them that they are inferior and you are there to save them.
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