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Post by tiger46 on May 10, 2017 7:55:24 GMT -6
changingthegameproject.com/why-kids-quit-sports/Virtually every single issue addressed in this article can be fixed by a coach. Unfortunately, I have been surrounded by youth coaches who do everything they can to FURTHER these issues. I am not trying to be disrespectful of the OP but this thread, in and of itself, shows what is wrong with youth sports. It'd be nice to see a Youth Football thread entitled "How Do I Maximize All Of The Kids' Playing Time?". Something else from that guy. Occasionally, you want to check your source. Specifically, 4:50 > 5:20. Just a bit hypocritical, IMO. Most youth coaches (especially football coaches) don't expend their time and effort on coaching " elite youth <insert sport here>" or, elite anything else. First; not one of my kids could play soccer worth a sh1t. So, basically, this guy wouldn't even give them the time of day- except for the amount of time it would take him to tell them they aren't good enough to play for him. Secondly, if my worst player is only marginally worse than my best player, it's pretty easy for me to be really impartial about playing time, etc... I don't know of any sport activity- or, even the activity of general sports participation- that can withstand a 70% attrition rate and still survive as an activity. I won't even bother ripping up everything else that guy states or says. I can't believe that there are people that even get suckered in by that kind of BS. ROFL!
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Post by tiger46 on May 9, 2017 15:10:45 GMT -6
As I said, I coached youth football (5th/6th grade) for 7 years. In my experience, what you posted is simply not the case. I would be shocked if a single player from our team this past fall would be able to tell me what our record was. I have coached youth or middle school football for six out of my eighteen year career. Youth leagues and middle school coaches that were more focused on winning and not on developing players had far more kids quit football when compared to those that struck a balance. It isn't difficult to be a competitive team and still play all of your kids. To me, it isn't about those programs being "feeders" for the high school; it's about continuing to build enthusiasm for our sport. We're already losing kids left and right because of the concussion issue. Plus, why would you sit a 9-10 year old that's been busting their hump for you five days a week because you're chasing a "youth league title"? Why did you put "youth league title" in quotes in your second post but, not in your first?
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Post by tiger46 on May 9, 2017 6:36:58 GMT -6
The kids who play a lot care a LOT about wins and losses. The kids who don't play don't care. As I said, I coached youth football (5th/6th grade) for 7 years. In my experience, what you posted is simply not the case. I would be shocked if a single player from our team this past fall would be able to tell me what our record was. Some of it may depend on age & environment. None of our 8u players have cared about the score. However, some care whether they win or lose. Others care more about picking their noses and chasing butterflies. As the players get older, a larger percentage of them care about W/L's and scores. i.e... on our 12u team, many of our players definitely care about W/L's. Some of them even want to know the score immediately after running off of the field. Our players go to school with a lot of the other players from the different teams in our league and, players from teams from other leagues, also. The trash talking, team record comparisons, league comparisons, etc... goes on in the hallways, at the parks, etc... Personally, I've even heard it going on between two players (neither player in our league) after church let out. It's not always hostile. Often, it's just talk and comparisons, etc... But, it does go on. And, it is important to some kids. I posted on the dumcoach site that we've already had a player involved in an incident with other players from another team & league this year and our season doesn't even begin until July! I would say that in my organization, we coaches care about the W/L's. But, it is definitely not at the top of our priority list. Neither can the W/L's be ignored or, we won't have an organization for long. Football is a competition, after all. We like to win. We want our players to like winning. But, it's up to us to figure out how to get our teams to win and get all of our players meaningful playing time. We do not try to get all of the players equal playing time. Better players play more during tight games. If we play a subpar team or, it's a game that we have in control, the back-ups play more.
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Post by tiger46 on Apr 18, 2017 10:41:43 GMT -6
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Post by tiger46 on Mar 8, 2017 14:48:11 GMT -6
Our starting Mikes are often our starting FBs- not this past season, however. All players go through aggression drills. The Mikes and FB types will make themselves known. Both positions have to be of decent size and very aggressive. Our Mikes are trained to attack and stuff any RB or lead blocker that tries to go through any gap between their TEs. Our FBs are DCWT trained FB's. The collisions between those two types of players are very violent and something that should be limited and tightly controlled. We do train head up, straight ahead tackling. Coach the tackling progression in reverse; much the same as many youth coaches advocate.
Rough outline of our Progressive Splatter Tackle Drill:
Tackle dummies behind the Feet of the player holding the football.
1. Fit the tackler onto the BC 2. Form 3. Explode into the tackle 4. Back the tackler off one step; then two steps; then three steps.
Move the BC one step away from the tackle dummy; then two steps away; then three steps away. The tackler has to start driving his feet to knock the BC onto the dummies. Never add on any progression until the players are proficient at the previous progression.
We use other tackle drills to enforce it. Some are more advanced. Others are quite simple. In fact, allplayers start their season on their knees, without pads, hitting tackle dummies regardless of their age or how long they've been with our organization.
All players must demonstrate the proper way to make a tackle at any time that any coach asks them. We ask at random times, even during games on the sidelines in some cases. If they fail they don't get to go into the game on defense. I've even instructed some of them to practice tackles on any of their older siblings and/or dads at home.
As to tackling form(s), we mainly use two head-on tackling forms. We use a lot of Bobby Hosea's methods. We don't 'buzz' our feet on approach as he teaches. We use a widened duck step for greater speed & stability for youth players(JMO). We don't dive into a tackle. No foot dragging after contact, either. Our players feet are always firmly planted into the ground and driving into their targets. And, we also use rugby style tackles and leg tackles.
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Post by tiger46 on Mar 6, 2017 10:41:47 GMT -6
You don't have to tell the kids the players to slow down to 'thud' tackle. We don't. You just have to be vigilant and very quick with the whistle- especially when you see a player that is about to take a highlight film hit. It's always a full contact drill to our players. We coaches are the ones that are responsible for tempo and intensity.
You also have to pick your plays and personnel. Ex: Whenever we don't want full contact we don't run our FB up the middle while our Mike is in the drill because that would create a full contact drill situation. Actually, we very rarely run our FB's up the middle in any practice unless they're at FB indy. And, then, there's no tackling. Defenders have tackle dummies and hand-shields.
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Post by tiger46 on Mar 4, 2017 10:22:31 GMT -6
I try not to use 2h touch. Or, I try to use it as little as possible. 2h touch is for school recess. The players tend to get into the habit of extending their arms to make the touch. That's great for recess touch football- not so great for youth tackle football. It's useful at the start of a season before players have their gear. But, I'm really more concerned with aggression, alignment and assignment at that early stage. When the gear is on, they have to be at the correct angle and position to make a tackle. It's sort of the same problems we run into whenever we're trying to teach a flag player that is trying to make the transition over to tackle. Their pursuit angles tend to be off target because they're used to stretching and reaching out and pulling a RB's flag. This results in terrible body position and angle in tackle football.
That does not mean every tackle drill has to be live and go to the ground. We use a lot of wrapping up and 'thud' tackling in pursuit drills. Before the pads go on we want the pursuer to watch the BC's near hip and take a proper angle from there. Even if the BC cuts back the pursuer has gained some form of success for us because we run a 'spill & kill' defense. In a game situation, the BC usually has just cut back into the teeth of our defense. Also, as the defenders get better at pursuit, keeping their eyes on the BC's hips makes them less susceptible to cut-backs being successful against them.
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Post by tiger46 on Feb 8, 2017 20:41:39 GMT -6
Haha! Dear God, no! I'm a youth coach in Texas. I'm definitely not qualified to take over a HS program. If you do decide to take that job, I for one, would like for you to keep us (me) posted. One way or the other, I'd pull the trigger on the decision sooner than later. It sounds like there is a whole lot to be done between now and the upcoming season.
I wish you luck with it all, either way you go.
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Post by tiger46 on Feb 8, 2017 19:52:13 GMT -6
redcoach,
What area of what state are you in? You don't have to be too specific if you don't want. I am curious, however.
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Post by tiger46 on Feb 8, 2017 11:15:24 GMT -6
jrk5150, I essentially posed the same question you asked about HS aged football. No one seems to have an answer or, want to answer.
"Only taking in consideration the variety, frequency and severity of injuries incurred by HS players as opposed to those of youth players, would a better question be 'At what age should a kid STOP playing tackle football? Maybe around 14 > 15 before the speed and power start to be too dangerous?"
Again, I repeat that I am a fan of HS football. I enjoy watching the games whenever I get a chance. I also like watching the lower level games.
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Post by tiger46 on Feb 8, 2017 7:35:51 GMT -6
funkfriss
1. Yes
2. No. I coach underprivileged kids. Poor kids. In fact, I left the glamour league after one year to coach the kind of kids that I coach now. Been there 10yrs. Still going. This season our organization is joining a larger, better funded, better ran league. The fees will be about double. We're taking our players with us. We've worked a lot on getting donors, grants, equipment, etc... Why should the rich kids have all the fun?
3. Only played HS football until 9th grade. Played basketball until 11th grade. Both programs ran by coaches that had been there a long time. Both successful. i.e... play-off runs were expected out of those teams every year. And, they delivered. Small town in West Texas. Friday Night Lights fever doesn't have to be explained to me.
4. kindergarten teacher, 6th grade English teacher/7th grade football coach, martial arts instructor, drill sergeants, college math teacher, parents, etc...
5. Not sure where you got that from. I have no idea if I'm a good youth coach. What metrics would you use? Player retention, Players that go on to play at higher levels. Win/Loss record. Player football knowledge. X's & O's knowledge, etc... To whom would I compare my numbers? The only coach that I can say with a certainty that I know was an unmitigated failure is me. It was after my first season. I knew there had to be a better way than the terrible season I'd just put my players through in that glamour league. I scoured the internet and found this site and others. I can say that I have greatly improved. But, all of that 'Who's better than who' crap isn't a concern of mine.
Along those same lines; how would anyone even compare a HS coach to a Youth coach? Way different job criteria and everything else. No, I wouldn't be afraid to have my team play some other youth team because some HS coach was coaching on their sideline. No, I don't think I'd be successful on a HS coaching staff. I don't even know what all is involved. I've been on this site since 2006, or so. I could talk some bs as if I knew what I was doing. Don't think my cover would last too long, though. LOL!
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Post by tiger46 on Feb 7, 2017 20:18:01 GMT -6
Davs, same here. Most of our 12u players go on to starting positions at various jr hs. We do want them to win. But, it's not a notch on my belt. I tell my players that not only are my playing days long gone but, the grass I played on is long dead, too. My glory days are over. It's not about the coaches. We want them to win because we want them to experience that feeling. I coach poor kids. Some of them really don't know what it feels like to just win... at anything. But, we also teach them how to handle losses. 2yrs ago, we lost the championship under 2mins of the game when our FS failed to hit their QB running down the sideline like he was taught. He pulled up. QB juked to the inside and made it to the endzone. It was a desperate 4th down & 15 play. Even if he had just pushed the other kid out of bounds, the game would have been over. They had no timeouts left. Man, to have a 12yr old crying on my shoulder blaming himself, thinking that he cost his team a championship was rough. They had worked 3yrs for that championship. But, the truth is, our players made some mental errors. Coach's (ME) fault.
Considering how small of rosters we have, it surprises me how many of our players go on to be starters at MS & HS. I am proud of the players that have success at higher levels. But, I'm just as proud of some of our players that don't play HS football. Some of them have achieved success in other areas. But, they still remember the life lessons that we instilled in them. But, I feel like I've failed when others seem to fall apart. I know of at least three of our former players- all of them were good players and two of them were good kids back then- that are just wandering around in the streets doing absolutely nothing with their young lives. HS drop-outs. One is homeless. Drugs, alcohol and seriously messed up home lives.
We try to teach them as much as we think they can handle. We increase it as they move up through our program. i.e.. I coach the O-lines and I'm also the DC. 8u learn SAB & wedge. 10u learn GOD, Block Down/Kick Out(DW team). 12u learn a basic zone or GOL. Some of the O-line drills are the same. They do them together. Same with the defense. All three levels learn a youth version of the 4-3 defense. We just add more wrinkles as they get older. Some of the 8u's get really serious game faces when they're doing drills with the 12u's. Man, they're priceless to see.
And, before someone asks the ridiculous; no, the 8u's don't do contact drills against the older age groups. LOL!
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Post by tiger46 on Feb 7, 2017 19:13:49 GMT -6
I agree that the quotes are making the posts too long. But, it seems that I'm trying to answer, at least, two coaches at once.
coachsmyly: "What I was wondering is that would it be safer and better for football altogether to just play flag football until they get to middle school." I honestly don't know. My knee jerk reaction and answer is, 'Yes' as to the safety concerns simply because it's always safer to keep them locked up in the house and playing Madden, or something instead of engaged in an outdoor activity of any kind. Coach Mahonz pointed out that it depends on the level of competitiveness that's on the field. He's much more knowledgeable about flag football than I could ever be. As for it being better for football, my guess would be 'No'. It may not be any worse. But, I definitely don't think playing flag until middle school would be better for the entire sport of football.
Your point that a receiver running a slant getting tattooed across the middle is valid, but what if neither player is wearing proper fitting equipment? If either, neither, all or any of those players are wearing ill fitting equipment they should be removed from the field and their coaches and organization president removed from the league until further notice. There's no excuse for that. It doesn't take that long to learn how to properly size & fit players' equipment. Btw, it's not just about the big hits. We actually much prefer gang tackling. We coach that it takes eleven players to make a tackle. Pursuit! Pursuit! Pursuit! It wears on the psyche of any player. But, it seems to be particularly nasty to players trying to transition from flag./b]
As regards to safety, I'll pose a question. Only taking in consideration the variety, frequency and severity of injuries incurred by HS players as opposed to those of youth players, would a better question be 'At what age should a kid STOP playing tackle football? Maybe around 14 > 15 before the speed and power start to be too dangerous? Before any HS coaches get all up in arms; I'm a a very big fan of HS football. I actually enjoy it more than pros or college. I don't want to see HS aged sports gone; just MAYBE moved to club sports.
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Post by tiger46 on Feb 7, 2017 10:47:38 GMT -6
Do you teach? And what state do you live in? I haven't seen anyone saying that the youth program is a feeder for the HS at all in this thread. Your opinion is based on your experience as a youth coach I'm assuming. The reality here is that most youth coaches I have seen either have no clue or want to use peewee as a d!ck measuring contest. Now there are HS coaches that are the exact same so I honestly believe its a wash on the coaching front. My biggest argument is that the equipment is expensive in the first place and most kids aren't equipped properly. Flag football is cheap and can teach kids a lot of football skills. Throwing, catching, running, tracking a ball carrier are all great fundamentals of the game that can be learned by playing flag football. Having parents pay for everything will make football a rich kids sport. By your logic, we should also get rid of all music programs, cheerleading, clubs and make our schools, even more, test driven robot factories. Those programs are important to the kids developing as individuals and to some the only way to motivate them to perform in the classroom. By having them pay for everything you are leaving out a huge part of the population and in some areas killing the sport completely. I live in Texas. Coaches at public schools are also teachers- at least, at the HS level. If there are exceptions to the rules I'm sure a Texas coach/teacher can step in and clarify. I am not a teacher. I actually work in the computer field and volunteer coach youth tackle football. I didn't accuse anyone of saying youth football programs should be feeder programs to HS programs. My definition of a feeder program is when some youth program runs the same system and uses the same terminology as whatever HS program uses. Success varies. My point was that youth football is not a training ground to develop better HS players. No youth coach should ever be focused on that as a priority. However, in my experience, good youth tackle players from good programs go on to be the better MS and HS players on their teams. Flag football players can't touch them. That's a generality. But, we can only speak in generalities concerning the worth of youth tackle football, or even other youth sports. If your experience is that too many youth coaches are a bunch of clueless idiots, then I can only say after 11yrs of coaching youth tackle football that I whole-heartedly agree. Too many are just passing through while their kid is playing at that level. But, whether they're good, or bad, should not weigh into how it relates to HS football. Who cares? I don't know any of the local HS teams records from the previous seasons. And, none of the coaches from any of those teams know ours, either. They couldn't care less and, neither could we. That's not necessarily a bad thing. They don't have an opinion of our football program. And, I don't have one about any of theirs- except for one school. I don't know how they manage to be bottom feeders year after year with a revolving door of coaching staffs considering some of the talented football players that they have. My guess is that it has more to do with the administration than anything else. Just a guess, though. Football is already a rich kids sport. Not too many poor schools from poor districts winning any district championships unless they're competing against equally poor schools. Definitely won't see a lot of them consistently making it through the play-offs. And, as far as winning a state championship...? HAHA! Good luck with that. Yes, there are always exceptions to the rules. "Throwing, catching, running, tracking a ball carrier are all great fundamentals of the game that can be learned by playing flag football." A flag football player is definitely not the same as a tackle football player- at least, not what I've observed at the youth level. I can teach players to do all of those things you mentioned. They can learn to do those things quite well in a flag football environment. Put that player in pads and have him run a route. Watch what happens when our CB goes into B&R coverage and chucks him straight in the chest and denies him going downfield. Want to see something worse? Have said player run a slant. After the SS plants a shoulder pad right into his ribcage at full speed, you'll discover that the star flag football WR suddenly developed alligator arms and can't catch crap. Also, they tend to suck at catching a football in a crowd. Why? It's because it's not something they're used to doing. They have to decide, in practice, that they want to make the transition over to being a novice tackle football player or go back to being a flag football star. Some will make the transition. They're usually the competitors. Most haven't. BTW, if you want to pull your hair out of your head or, just bang your head up against a wall for awhile, watch a flag football LB track a player and then reach out and try to grab a jersey as a means of making a tackle because he's used to reaching out and pulling flags. The angle of approach is different. I've seen several threads on how to get involved in the youth program. Most HS coaches answer with some sort of drills, etc... Those are crap answers and in no way the best way to help develop a better overall football culture. Better answers are to grab a bunch of those clueless youth coaches so many HS coaches are griping about; and, show them how to run a practice, coaching points to drills, time management in games and practices. There's a lot more to it. But, enough is enough.
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Post by tiger46 on Feb 7, 2017 2:15:27 GMT -6
I always hate when this subject comes around on a HS football board. I find it sad that coach jrk5150 is the only coach that hit on any salient point, whatsoever. I'll even try to make it more clear. The point of youth football is NOT to make kids into better HS football players. Over half of youth football players will never play HS football. And, if there are a bunch of HS football coaches sitting around thinking they missed out on some real gem of some players because said players got 'burnt out' through youth football, they're living through some opium pipe dreams. Sure, it can happen. But, reality is 'burn out' because of youth football is just an excuse some kids give because they don't want to play. Go to a youth game. After the game, you'll see many of those kids running, ripping and playing their hearts out at tag, paper cup football, or whatever it is that they want to do. The football game was just another part of their day. As a youth coach, when I'm checking my players grades, it's not because I give a flying f#ck about how many TD's they may score then, or at anytime in the future. When I'm teaching them how to persevere through adversity it's not because I care how well they tackle. Responsibility is not a derivative of being able to throw and catch some g'damn ball. I tell all of my players that I'd rather see them make an 'A' in math than ever score a TD.
As the years have gone by, I've leaned more and more towards all sports being removed from puplic HS's. Wtf should our tax dollars pay for all those school buses, equipment, etc... that is hardly ever used? And, why should I care if some math teacher happens to be good at teaching my kid how to cut block? Teach them how to solve a freaking quadratic equation! That's what we should pay the teacher to do. Give that teacher a stipend for that! I'm all for it. TBH, why should that much money, time and effort be paid by tax dollars to find out which is the best damned 3A HS football team in Texas is? Who gives a _?! In reality, those kids would be better prepared if those public schools had funded military basic training since we've had an on-going 'War on Terror' since 2001.
Who gives a crap if the English teacher helped lead some kids to a state championship in anything besides a spelling bee or some other academic competition? And, by the same token, why should an excellent math teacher be ran out of town on a rail because his football team went 3-7 again? Did anyone care about how well he taught algebra before making that kind of a decision about his future at the school? Of course, with standardized testing being all the rage, I guess it doesn't matter as much anymore.
I'm all for teen-agers participating in all kinds of sports. I'm just starting to lean more towards it being private schools (if the parents want to pay) and private club organized activities. Let the parents buy the damned equipment. Pay to charter buses. Pay to have their kids learn proper weight training in gyms. If necessary, pay some coaches to teach their uncoordinated, nonathletic 'Next John Elway' to throw a football without causing himself a groin injury on their own dime. I'm good with that. I'd even pay to go spectate.
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Post by tiger46 on Jan 25, 2017 1:26:13 GMT -6
I do as newt21 does about getting different positions filling in the scout rolls. I like to start with the O-linemen filling in as receivers when I first start teaching the DB's. O-linemen love running down field for passes. Again, good conditioning for them. You may also discover some OL's that can actually catch footballs. We did. More importantly, it gives the DB's more time to react and execute their assignments since the OL's are typically slower. Then we'd graduate the DB's up to defending against faster players like LB/RB-types. Also, not only make sure the practices are fast-paced; make sure they're competitive. We make any, and every, drill that we can some type of competitive drill.
Anyone can get on a football field and get the crap kicked out of them and then be told they are tough because they 'hung in there and didn't quit'. Well, that is true. But, you want them to learn to fight and to win those fights from the opening kick-off. Teams with low numbers are less able to afford to wait until midway through the 3rd quarter to decide to start playing football. They have to play sharp immediately! The players will perform how you expect them to perform on the field. Expect them to, maybe, win one game in a season and that's what they'll, maybe, do. Expect them to have a winning season, go undefeated or, even win a championship. That's what they'll do.
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Post by tiger46 on Jan 24, 2017 16:42:48 GMT -6
Are these MS agedplayers? Or, are you a coach for an actual MS? And, is your MS part of a feeder program? Are you going up against teams with significantly higher numbers than your team? Have the kids played football before? What was their previous season(s) experience like? There's a lot of information that you will want to have before setting out with low numbers. I used to freak out about low numbers. Now, I just shrug. We've done well enough with low numbers. However, 12u is our highest age group. I'd recommend following jrk5150's advice and stay away from Reed's SW. Use Dave Cisar's sw and coaching material if that's the way that you want to go. There are some threads on this site about dealing with low numbers. I've posted in a few. I'm far from a guru. But, I'll answer whatever I can. Practice Organization: Never run laps...ever! Stances, cadences, etc... can be taught during warm-ups. Short dynamic warm-up period. Focus on speed & power exercises. ex: Lunges, drum majors, leapers, etc... Burpies. Bear crawls are good. But, Don't go over 5yrds at a time. MPP's Defense (Aggression, Pursuit, Tackling, Alignment & Assignments, Pass Defense) Offense (Scheme isn't quite as important unless it's a feeder program. O-line, Blocking, Alignment & Assignment, RB's, QB's, WR's) Special Teams- How hard/easy do you want it to be? But, spend a some time on it. In fact, get rid of any after practice conditioning drills and use that time as Special Teams segment. Running down the field will get them in shape. Use half-line drills. However, do so in a progressive manner. Start with 1vs.1. Start coaching actual position techniques, etc... as you build up. Threads such as this should be helpful. coachhuey.com/thread/70250/indys
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Post by tiger46 on Jan 11, 2017 11:28:37 GMT -6
50k a year, straight out of high school? If I didn't have enough skill to be in the NFL but, enough to make a decent living playing sports, I'd certainly take that job. Not to mention that there's probably quite a lot of D1 2nd & 3rd stringers with crappy degree plans that realize that they're not destined to go to the NFL. Why not leave school and try something different that may hone your skills through another venue while getting paid?
I really hope it works out for them. I would love for there to be an organization that may, eventually, help break some of the power of the NCAA. I'd imagine that D3 & D2 schools would start to feel the pinch before the D1 powers would, however.
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Post by tiger46 on Jan 6, 2017 17:09:51 GMT -6
I'm no expert. So, I can't say you're in my wheelhouse. But, I can say that I hoe the same tough row. Low numbers, mpp's, etc... Mpp's have a larger impact on a team with low numbers. You (generic) have to find their most useful way that they can effect a game and use it to the team's best advantage. Any coach can tell you how to use mpp's. But, sometimes, only people that coach in a similar condition can best tell you how to use mpp's in concert. LOL!
I'll start out by saying don't count on those new coaches for next season unless you're making efforts to keep in contact with them. If you're doing that already, make it constructive. Introduce them to your way of running things, define their responsibilities, your/their expectations, drills, whatever is next...
Other than that, winning with few -or, even just one- coach, low player numbers and MPPs is certainly possible. But, it takes planning and know how. I'm only mentioning this just in case things don't turn out as you expect next season.
Oh, yeah. I'd keep the KB defense. But, that's your choice. You know what's best for your team.
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Post by tiger46 on Jan 5, 2017 8:57:02 GMT -6
Just found this thread and I am very curious to how this all worked out for you. I was alone for about the first 3 weeks. A couple of dads ended up helping out, although they were a little sporadic. In the end, everything went fairly well. We had to deal with very low numbers. We ended up playing one game with just 10 players due to an injury suffered in the first two minutes of the game. Ironically, it was the only game we won all season. However, the kids played hard and fearless every snap of every game and we could have easily won 2 more, but that's the way it goes. The good news is that I already have two other coaches lined up to help me next season. Specifically, what things did you and your team encounter that you would say prevented your team from getting more wins?
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Post by tiger46 on Dec 30, 2016 15:38:34 GMT -6
Camps, t-shirts, schemes, etc... Really don't mean that much. A HS football program that wants an increase in youth participation would really be doing itself a favor by focusing more on gathering and instructing the coaches that would be teaching the players at those levels.
Common youth football program issues are things like practice organization, dealing with parents, setting player expectations, dealing with mpp's, fund-raising, etc... And, as a HS staff, if you don't know how to deal with some youth issues, find a site, youth coaches, or whatever and ask questions. This is a good place to start.
When recruiting, one issue that I've seen crop up is that too many youth coaches are salivating over the athletic, fast types. A nice angle that I've used is to focus on the large, brawny/fat kids. They're the ones that will play on your O-line; which is the most important group. Also, they're the ones that have the parents that are most likely sick of watching their kids get passed over, sit the bench in basketball, have little success at soccer, etc... Their parents want to watch their kids excel at a sport, also.
You'll get some athletic kids almost by default. Athletic kids tend to be bold enough to try almost any sport. ex: Skateboarders kick a$$ at youth football, generally speaking. So, don't be afraid to go off the beaten path a bit when recruiting.
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Post by tiger46 on Dec 21, 2016 17:09:02 GMT -6
I've seen some dumb phucking arguments. And, this thread has to rank as a top contender for a blue ribbon in the 'Dumbest Phucking Argument Ever' category on this board. ROFLMAO! Why? I could go into a lot of 'what ifs'. But, none of that matters. Who wouldn't want to be doing what they're doing?! Just google their college majors (McCaffery & Fournette). And, then google worse college degrees in terms of return on investment. I think both of their degrees show up. If not, still wouldn't matter. What job could either get,using their degrees, that pays the type of money that the NFL could afford? What other type of job, period...Hollywood actor, tech company mogul? The NCAA is owed absolutely nothing, either. There is absolutely, positively no sane argument to say to someone to make that person want to not make top dollar for his skills in his chosen field of work that he loves! And, yes, it's his life's work if he's made it all the way to an elite D1 athlete. You would be an unmitigated failure as any kind of positive influence in their lives. That's almost the antithesis of what a positive role model should be doing. Has no one else ever heard of the saying, 'HAPPIER THAN A PIG IN SH*T!!'
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Post by tiger46 on Dec 21, 2016 4:16:32 GMT -6
I've seen some dumb phucking arguments. And, this thread has to rank as a top contender for a blue ribbon in the 'Dumbest Phucking Argument Ever' category on this board. ROFLMAO!
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Post by tiger46 on Nov 4, 2016 19:02:02 GMT -6
Hit Someone Get a Pass Rush Wrap Up This thread has me thinking about renaming my offense to... BLOCK SOMEONE. Only because that is maybe my favorite thing I hear Bleacher coaches yell. You're WAAAAYYYY too late. W youth coaches have perfected and ran that offense for decades now. Besides, it's much too complicated for a HS coaching staff to install. You need to: 1. Be totally unprepared with materials, practice plans, freaking coach's whistle, etc... to coach anything more complicated than a game of hopscotch. 2. Know absolutely nothing about football. Please, Remember! The BLOCK SOMEBODY! Offense is a complex blend of ESPN armchair NFL analysis, alcohol infused memories of HS 'Glory Days' (think Al Bundy and/or Uncle Rico) and whatever plays your 12yr old kid used to kick your a$$ in Madden Football. If you have about 30 > 35 plays that you've only dreamed up in your head and have never had the team practice more than three of them, you should be well on your way. 3. Start the HC's uncoordinated, talentless son at QB and the OC's asthmatic, genetically inferior half-son/half-dish rag spawn at tailback. If you can't decide to play those two kids because you can't use practice cones in an actual game or just go with 9 players for the good of the team, you know you have picked the right kids for the job. ******************************************** As for the name of the defense, there's only two real choices 1. The Honey Badger- Game announcers will love it! 'With 10 seconds to go in a tied game, the undefeated Hometown 'Power-house Bad-Asses break the huddle and line up in the Face-melter Formation!... The Honey Badger defense don't give a sh!t...' 2. The 'Classified' Defense. Make sure you have a lot of black lines redacting anything that may even remotely explains how the defense is actually ran. If the guy interviewing you asks the name of your defense, you answer, "That's Classified. I could tell you. But, then I'd have to kill you."
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Post by tiger46 on Sept 16, 2016 10:24:09 GMT -6
I'm a youth coach. When I meet my players for the first time every season, the less they "know" about football; the better. i.e... I got 5 late-comers sign up just yesterday. All of them lineman sized. Not a one of them have ever played before, or even played Madden. I was so happy about that I almost danced out of my shoes.
Oth, my HC's co-worker is an ardent football fan; youth, HS, college & pro. This is a story that she told him. I have no way of verifying any of it. Her 30+ year old husband is not a fan. The very first football game on any level that he had ever watched in his entire life was in 2005 when U.T. won the national championship. It was his senior year at U.T. He's hardly ever seen a game since then. One of the only other games that he has seen was this season's opener of U.T. vs. Notre Dame. He's a native Texan, also. As a fellow native Texan, I consider that amazing if it's true.
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Post by tiger46 on Sept 14, 2016 9:33:39 GMT -6
I saw that video, also. The funny thing is that there are other large kids on that red team. In fact, the kid running the ball isn't even the biggest kid on that team. Look in the background you'll see a kid larger than the ball carrier,.
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Post by tiger46 on Sept 8, 2016 13:01:15 GMT -6
It's really all about youth football league politicking and BS. The stubbornness and resistance to change can be unreal. And, it almost always centers around the ball carriers. For clarification. Our league has three levels of tackle football. 8u, 10u and 12u. There are no weight restrictions whatsoever at the 12u level. The 8u & 10u levels have weight limits on ball carriers and another weight limit for all players in general. Our weight limits are higher than Pop Warner.
For those aforementioned levels, the league used to have an additional weight limit on O-linemen size which was less than the D-linemen weight limit. I argued that it was a stupid rule. All linemen should have the same weight limit. I got over-ruled. The first play of our season opener, our DT slants left and low through the OG's hips, sacks the QB. Breaks the QB's arm in the process.
Next season, instead of making all linemen weight limits the same, the league decides to reverse the linemen limits. Now, the O-line players could be heavier than the D-linemen. Again, I argued. Again, I was voted down. Guess which team got into trouble with the league because our O-linemen were destroying their counter-parts? I even had the commissioner threaten to stop a game and call it a forfeit on our part if I didn't remove my larger O-linemen from the game. I argued with the commissioner that it was their techniques and not just their size that was doing all the damage. It's a small league. Until our organization changed how we coached linemen, the league was used to fat D-linemen standing up and waddling straight forward and 'block somebody' O-line coaches.
I asked the commissioner how he thought the parents of those players were going to feel about their kids being removed from the game? I mean, it wasn't like any of us were great coaches. The parents paid their money to have their kids taught to play football. Their kids were properly taught to the best of our ability as their coaches. And, now the kids were being punished for doing as they were coached?
He told me that he didn't care and I needed to go tell the parents why their kids were being pulled from the game. I laughed in his face and told him that I wasn't about to go over there and tell their parents a damned thing. It was his stupid rule. He could go over there and explain it himself!
He was actually dumb enough to go over there and do just that. Man, did he ever walk into a chit storm! ROFL! The next season, the rules were changed so that all linemen had the same weight limits.
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Post by tiger46 on Sept 5, 2016 11:58:49 GMT -6
I'm in full agreement with you. I can also see how it would not be logistically possible for you to have the same solution to the problem. Not only did we have coaches in our league that broke the weight rules, we had some break the age-limit rules, the player identity rules and just about any other rule that you can think of to break. Referees that had their sons playing on the opposing teams. You can guess how the calls went in those games. Thus, all the rule changes. Like I mentioned, the league I coach in really does suck. Over the last few seasons, I've practically begged our HC to get out of it any way that he can.
I have no sympathy for any coach that can't respect the Honor System. It goes against the spirit of youth sports and all levels of competition. Those types of adults shouldn't be allowed to work with the kids. I wish they'd go live out their 'Coach of the Century' fantasies in some adult semi-pro league.
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Post by tiger46 on Sept 5, 2016 10:00:53 GMT -6
I know you're not looking for opinions. But, I think what you did was smart and needed to be done. However, I think the way your league handles weigh-ins is stupid.
Our league requires all players from both teams to weigh-in before the game. Weigh-ins are done at halftime of the preceeding game. It is all done with the same league official and the same scale provided by the league- not the home team. At weigh-in the players are fully suited with their helmets held in their right hand when they step on the scale. That is their playing weight. If a player is late to a game he is not allowed on the field until he is weighed in at half-time. It is not required that an opposing coach witness an opposing team weigh-in but, it is highly recommended. It would have, at least, saved you from having a direct confrontation with an angry parent.
I'm not on a high-horse. All in all, our league sucks. But, weigh-ins are one of the very few things that is done correctly. You may want to put it in as a recommendation for next season's procedures.
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Post by tiger46 on Aug 26, 2016 23:42:16 GMT -6
Pickle juice.
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