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Post by fkaboneyard on Aug 17, 2017 8:27:31 GMT -6
Kids should be hydrating like crazy, all day long. All of our guys carry around a gallon jug of water at school and pull on it throughout the day. Then we water them well during practice.
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Post by fkaboneyard on Aug 15, 2017 13:08:43 GMT -6
The kid had practice to "showcase his skills". Coaches oftentimes have kids that are good athletes but definitely need work as people. We play them because it's best for the team and, ultimately, best for us as coaches (winning = more $). I've got a kid right now that I'd bet money will end be in Pelican Bay within 4 years but I play him because he's good for the team and he earned it.
All that said, the fundraiser thing is going to bite the coach.
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Post by fkaboneyard on Aug 10, 2017 10:14:36 GMT -6
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Post by fkaboneyard on Aug 8, 2017 8:25:47 GMT -6
The Schutt Vengeance VTD II comes in a 2xl.
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Post by fkaboneyard on Aug 5, 2017 0:07:58 GMT -6
www.carbontekshoulderpads.com/I was at a local coaching meet & greet and some coaches were talking about these. The guy that seemed to be the most knowledgeable about them is a blowhard about everything else he speaks about so I can't say I particularly trust his opinion. They're spendy - about 500 bucks. My son, a senior, is looking to play college ball so I'm wondering if it's worth it. I coached baseball for a lot of years and there was always the dad that bought his kid a $400 bat thinking it would make him the next Barry Bonds. I don't want to be that dad but if it better protects my kid (who already has a shoulder issue) I'd consider it. Any thoughts/experiences on these things is appreciated.
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Post by fkaboneyard on Aug 3, 2017 23:19:18 GMT -6
You've been coaching long enough to know that some guys you can scream at and some guys have to be nurtured, sounds like you were doing the right thing here. I had a kid that I quickly learned needed to be nurtured and would turtle up when I said anything that wasn't high praise. One day after practice I took him aside and told him, "I think you're going to be a helluva football player. I know you don't take criticism very well but you need to understand I'm not doing it to pick on you, I'm doing it because I want you to be the best you can be. I don't want you to think I'm a prick but I'm willing to sacrifice that if it will make you the best tackle in the division. Football is a lot like life - you're going to have mean or bad coaches, teachers, bosses, friends. You show what your made of when things don't go your way. Anybody can do a job when the boss washes his balls and never criticizes him but that's not life. So if I get on your case you need to know it's because I'm the coach and it's my job to make you better, not to make you feel warm & fuzzy. If you think I'm too hard on you, come to me after practice and we'll talk about it." I saw a noticeable change for the better in that kid. Your mileage may vary.
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Post by fkaboneyard on Aug 1, 2017 11:45:54 GMT -6
we did a high school buddy with the a jr high player, might have a couple to a player depending on numbers, it was a simple thing, we use to do a soap scrimmage and the buddies would match up and talk about each other on the mike in front of the crowd on the track, maybe a min. for the pair, we always encouraged them to call their buddy once a week and ask how things are going, that is about it, Some years back I coached at a private combined middle/high school. We did something similar - we assigned a varsity player to each middle schooler of the same position. The varsity guys didn't do much - just chatted up the little guys when they saw them around campus during the day, came and watched their games (which were held after Saturday morning film). The middle school players were also allowed to be on the sidelines of the varsity game (they were supervised by the MS coaching staff and were bounced if they got in the way/acted up). I know some will say it's a safety issue but the MS coaches did a good job keeping them back and off to the side. The result was that our middle school program grew in a huge way - the middle school kids felt super special because they had juniors & seniors high-fiving them in the halls, talking to them, etc. Within a couple years it really helped our high school program because many of those middle school players went on to play high school ball - and they hit the ground running because the middle school ran the same system we ran.
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Post by fkaboneyard on Jul 28, 2017 11:20:19 GMT -6
We'll come paint your field as a demo for our new robot: www.turftank.com. Drop me a line bryan.mckinney@turftank.com Really interesting product. I coach at a public high school and the field is a mess - there are large parts of the field that have bare spots and the field is uneven. Would this still work?
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Post by fkaboneyard on Jul 26, 2017 21:07:29 GMT -6
I was mainly referring to his characterization of the study as "stupid ass". My point was that if we as a profession respond to new research like that, we will lose support from people IMO. So in my example above, if I asked the head of league how they are responding to the current research and he replied "it's stupid", I would walk away from that league. It is a stupid ass study, or at least the article is for all the reasons that people posted before I posted. If you can't see the difference between affirming good research and calling out bad research I don't know how to help you. That's an excellent strawman argument, though.
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Post by fkaboneyard on Jul 26, 2017 15:07:40 GMT -6
This stupid ass study and the people that take it as gospel should be thrown off a tall building. My wife has an aunt that is worth a couple hundred million. A few years ago she funded an education trust for my two sons and one daughter that will pay for them to attend private university, all expenses paid. Last night she emailed this article (or one similar) to my wife and said she "couldn't, in good conscience, allow them to receive those funds if they play football because it would be a waste since they will suffer irreparable brain damage."
My daughter said she's glad she doesn't play football, my younger son is relieved because deep down he'd rather be playing baseball and my oldest son (who is a senior this year) was unfazed, saying, "I guess I'll just have to get a football scholarship." I really hate stupid people.
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Post by fkaboneyard on Jul 18, 2017 14:55:56 GMT -6
I agree with your message just not your execution. You should have spoken with the kid in private and given him a chance to resolve it on his own. Also you are probably not in a position, as the head jv coach I'm assuming, to be getting rid of players without the consent of the HC. I think he should have spoken with you about this some place other than the practice field in front of the team but I also feel that other than your message you were in the wrong here. You may be right. My reasoning was that the kid said the things to the water girl in front of most of the team - probably trying to act like a big man. Speaking to him in private would have left the other kids thinking it maybe wasn't that big of a deal. Instead, I wanted to send a message to let them know that it wouldn't be tolerated. BTW, a week later when the HC heard the entire story (not just what the kid's dad told him) he came back to me and told me I was right. It was a private Christian school, if the administration had learned of it the kid would have been gone, no question. I'm no longer coaching for that guy because he says one thing and does another.
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Post by fkaboneyard on Jul 18, 2017 8:41:51 GMT -6
Stating the obvious, I'd start looking for coaches right away. I realize this could be inviting a HUGE headache, but are there any dads of players that can run drills?
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Post by fkaboneyard on Jul 17, 2017 9:32:09 GMT -6
Best I have been apart of is a golf ball drop. You must have the right paperwork filled out. We charged $50 a golf ball,and dropped them on our practice field during halftime of one of our games. Winner gets $10,000. We presented the check during the game. We cleared $50,000 even after the payout. You found 1,200 people willing to spend 50 bucks to hit a golf ball?!?
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Post by fkaboneyard on Jul 17, 2017 9:26:06 GMT -6
I think you can have all the "character programs" in the world in place but if the coaching staff doesn't have integrity the kids are just going to roll their eyes at it and it will go nowhere. I was in a program last year where the HC was always talking about honest, follow-through, being a man of purpose, etc. but he didn't model those things.
As an example, one of my JV players said some incredibly sexually offensive things to one of our water girls during a practice. When she came to me I stopped practice, asked the girl to leave and then called out the kid in front of the team. We had a long discussion about how to treat a lady, what's acceptable, what is not, etc. I then told them basically, "I don't care who you are, I don't care how good you are, I don't care who your parents are - if any of you behave like that in the future, you're gone, I'm not going to have you on a team I coach." After practice I tried to relay what happened to the HC but he was in too much of a hurry to leave so I didn't get the chance to.
The kid told his parents I picked on him, parents called the HC, and the next day the HC & I had an argument about it on the 50 yard line before practice. HC aggressively came up to me out of the blue, "I got a call from Helman's dad, said you threatened to kick him off the team, you can't do that." I said, "Coach, this isn't the place, we can go into your office if you wanna talk about this." HC exploded and told me, "I decide who is on this team and who isn't" etc. It was loud enough that kids heard the gist of the conversation. I have never been so tempted to quit in all my life but with all those kids watching I didn't want them to see me quit just because things weren't going my way.
All that to say, if you're preaching one thing but living another, you're wasting your time.
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Post by fkaboneyard on Jul 14, 2017 9:17:22 GMT -6
Peer pressure is your greatest recruiting tool. The first week of school our HC attends all PE classes. He looks for kids that are new to the school, tells them it's not too late to start playing and tries to hook them.
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Post by fkaboneyard on Jul 12, 2017 14:54:21 GMT -6
I was part of a program where we put on a tri-tip dinner at the school. Players were required to donate ingredients (tri-tips, beans, paper goods, potatoes, drinks) and then sell at least ten tickets at $20 each. It started small but eventually got pretty big, to the point that we had a band offer to play live music, there were some game booths, etc. It was a fun event and it became very easy for kids to sell the tickets because people actually wanted to go. It was a ton of work but the boosters did a good job. At the beginning it raised about $10 grand, when I was last involved it raised about $25-30 grand.
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Post by fkaboneyard on Jul 11, 2017 12:41:27 GMT -6
I was on the board of a little league where the fence was in bad shape - very rusty. We ended up pressure washing then priming & painting with a sprayer. The amount of hours/effort was significant but it was all volunteer labor so we went that route. The finished product looked like new but it was a LOT of work and probably not worth it if somebody can write a check for new fencing materials.
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Post by fkaboneyard on Jul 10, 2017 9:30:00 GMT -6
Along the same line, check out Merrells. Very comfortable, lightweight, breathable, and waterproof. Expensive but worth it. They are built for outdoorsy types so getting through a football season would be a piece of cake. These would be my #1 choice if price wasn't a big deal. +1 on Merrells. They make the best hunting boot you can buy. I've chased elk in them all day, every day for 12 days and my feet didn't hurt a bit. I'm 6'4" and extra fluffy, I'm hard on shoes. The only thing that I have found that keeps my legs & back from hurting is rotating shoes. If I give a pair of shoes a couple days off they feel like walking on clouds and they will last a couple years. If I wear them for a week or two straight they are worthless.
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Post by fkaboneyard on Jul 5, 2017 10:08:54 GMT -6
Last week our defensive line coach told a kid, "Son, your father should have done the football world a favor and just shot you into the curtains." He was a good coach, I'll miss him.
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Post by fkaboneyard on Jul 5, 2017 9:15:56 GMT -6
You can yell at kids but you have to know your audience and they have to know you. If you yell at some kids they will rally, others will turtle up and suck their thumb.
As to kids working hard these days - I was at a private school where the kids worked extremely hard (harder than I did when I was a high school player) but had no killer instinct. I'm now at a public school where they don't work as hard but they have murder on their minds most of the time.
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Post by fkaboneyard on Jun 22, 2017 15:06:56 GMT -6
eating during a game... not weird to me eating a lemon... just in general... serial killer only a psycho would do that that kid has bodies buried in his backyard I love lemons and haven't killed anybody. Yet.
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Post by fkaboneyard on Jun 15, 2017 10:14:43 GMT -6
How long will you be visiting? If it's one practice you're obviously not going to learn their entire offense. I'd contemplate my own biggest obstacle and get their advice on how to fix it. My $.02.
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Post by fkaboneyard on Jun 14, 2017 13:16:59 GMT -6
Last year I was the JV head coach at a private school with a small program (about 50 combined for JV & Varsity). It was a struggle to hold practice. We'd sometimes go against varsity but it's a difficult situation - the varsity kids don't really get better and over half the JV kids were literally in fear for their life. Because of personal differences with the HC I left and am now coaching at a nearby public school though my son is still in the program. The number of kids that showed up for JV football at summer ball on Monday was 6. I'm told that they are probably going to scrap the JV program and put all comers on varsity. IMO, that is a mistake. Unless you're playing against similarly small schools it is very bad for your program. Freshmen don't play (unless they're a phenom in which case they would have been on varsity anyway), little guys are at risk for injury before they've had time to develop, and the end result is that your future varsity players either choose a different sport or go to a school where they can play. That's just my $.02.
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Post by fkaboneyard on Jun 14, 2017 10:43:18 GMT -6
I completely feel the same way. I will definitely take dudes who are willing to listen regardless of experience. The most experienced rower in the world is no good to the boat if his oar is going a different direction. Had a irritating encounter last weekend. Got invited to a former players graduation. Saw another former player 5 years removed there. His younger brother is a current player of mine. Two way starter on our play off team as a junior. Our senior class was 0-9 as sophs & we made the play offs with them last season. Was very proud of our program. Long story short....this kid coached 2 years of middle school & proceeded to tell me how he wasnt biased at all....but....he felt he had several ideas on how we could better "utilize" his brother. I cut him off immediately & told him flat out that he was irritating me. He apologized & said "I dont want to be that guy coach". I said too late. He was on a conference championship team for us & 2 years of coaching MS already has his head this big? I will definitely take a team player who wants to learn over that garbage. Would never hire him. And that hurts to say about one of my former players but it is what it is I guess. No thoughts of the bigger picture only what is best for his brother who is an above average hs football player. Btw, we are a flexbone team & all his suggestions revolved around implementing his slightly above average receiver brother in the passing game. Meanwhile my QB is a great runner & mediocre passer at best. Give me the team player coach & lets get back to the play offs! That kid is young and if a smart coach got ahold of him now he could maybe get him to understand the facts of life and how the coaching game really works. It would take somebody smart and that has credibility with him, maybe a former coach of his... hint, hint.
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Post by fkaboneyard on May 23, 2017 11:49:03 GMT -6
My previous school had them. When we handed a pair of 3XL game pants to a 6'4", 295lb lineman it was hilarious. Kid held them up and said, "Coach, these wouldn't fit our fattest cheerleader." A pair of size medium pants look like they would fit a Barbie doll. The amount of stretch is pretty incredible. The kids loved them and they said they didn't feel restricted in any way.
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Post by fkaboneyard on May 23, 2017 11:45:14 GMT -6
In our program -
Senior starters from the year before, then Junior starters from the year before, then Sophomore starters, etc.
After the starters it goes by how much work they have put in during the offseason.
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Post by fkaboneyard on May 23, 2017 11:42:56 GMT -6
I worry about the kids who play football. I don't waste one second worrying about the kids that don't. Football isn't for everyone. Don't get me wrong, I want every kid to play football; I just don't concern myself with the one's that don't. No offense, but I've heard soccer coaches whine about kids who play football that would help the soccer team. In my opinion, complaining about basketball kids not playing football or prioritizing basketball is the same thing. To me, the difference is this - when it's soccer season play soccer and when it's football season, play football. I'm at a huge public school where we don't really worry about numbers (though I admit there are some kids that I wish would come to our program). I came from a small private school where the HC of each sport was primarily concerned with his program, not with the development of the student athlete. The football coach said, "Don't play baseball or basketball, you have to spend your offseason lifting if you want to be any good." The basketball and baseball coaches said, "Don't play football, you'll get hurt and ruin your chance for a scholarship." The coaches are protecting their own little fiefdoms and nobody wants to admit that kids can benefit from being multi-sport athletes. Unless a kid is an athletic phenom, the kid gets punished by the HC if he goes out for a different sport.
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Post by fkaboneyard on May 18, 2017 10:45:09 GMT -6
As to kids asking questions, I've noticed that "kids these days" just don't watch as much football and have a much more limited understanding of the fundamentals than they did many years ago. Typically, our kids don't ask questions because they don't want to look like a dunce in front of the other players. When I explain a drill or concept and ask if there are questions I usually just get a bunch of kids shaking their head "no". It's to the point now that I pick out a couple kids and ask, "Okay, why are we doing this?" or "Why do we do it this way?" It has helped tremendously.
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Post by fkaboneyard on May 16, 2017 12:05:30 GMT -6
I just left a program where we were extremely thin on players - literally, one injury could have decimated our season - so we only had full team contact one day a week. Kids were in full regalia Monday through Wednesday and the lineman hit full speed in drills but in team practice we always used shields. IMO the lack of contact negatively effected the linebackers and running backs. Your mileage may vary. How do you practice defense using shields? Badly. The lineman and linebackers ran around lugging shields, when they were in position to make a tackle they'd just bump the ball carrier with the shield. It seemed to help with alignment and assignment but little else. In fact, it seemed to make our tackling worse because in the games guys would just stick their arms out instead of running through a ball carrier.
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Post by fkaboneyard on May 16, 2017 10:16:58 GMT -6
I just left a program where we were extremely thin on players - literally, one injury could have decimated our season - so we only had full team contact one day a week. Kids were in full regalia Monday through Wednesday and the lineman hit full speed in drills but in team practice we always used shields. IMO the lack of contact negatively effected the linebackers and running backs. Your mileage may vary.
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