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Post by funkfriss on Apr 27, 2015 8:05:49 GMT -6
Jesus you crachety old phukers need to loosen up. You are looking at the baseball situation differently than he was. To him it was a challenge to try to hit a moving bird with a baseball which is interesting and difficult. Don't you want your kids to challenge themselves? Apparently not. So you're wanting complacency. Awesome. Listen boys - ain't no one trying to win a choir competition on Friday night and you sure as heck don't want to walk out there with a bunch of choir boys and try to win a football game. At the first clinic I ever attended, we were all at a bar drawing chit up on napkins, talking defense, etc. Some old guy says "boys, put that chit away. Give me 11 whiskey drinkers and pu$$y lickers and we will play great defense." That's kind of funny, but at the same time it's kind of true. Over the years I've noticed the kind of guys I want playing defense for me are not the kinds of guys I would want my daughter to bring home...but if she had to walk through downtown after midnight, they are exactly the types of guys I'd want with her. They are great dudes, they work hard, they play hard, good kids, polite, etc. - but you just know they are going to do some stupid chit sometimes. (and for those of you who are married, I'm betting your wife thinks YOU do some stupid chit now. (My mom bawled my dad out the other day for doing something stupid...he's 68) Football guys are just different. I mean you are asking someone to run full speed into someone else running at full speed and collision him in an effort to make him fall down so that he doesn't move a piece of leather past a particular imaginary line. Yea...like that's a natural act. How logical is that? You don't want too many guys out there who think things through too far before hand. Preach Reverend!
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Post by funkfriss on Apr 23, 2015 7:02:45 GMT -6
Let's have a little fun here. You're given a $10,000 donation to spend on whatever you want for your football program. Assuming you have good equipment and sleds/pads what would you use that money for?
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Post by funkfriss on Apr 15, 2015 9:09:06 GMT -6
Kyle thanks for sharing. Looks great! Exactly what I'm looking to do.
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Post by funkfriss on Apr 13, 2015 13:11:15 GMT -6
There it is! To put it in better perspective. If you break down the number you get 1 incident for every 796 practices/games. Now, each season lasts approximately 60 days (practices and games if you figure 2 week pre-season and 10 week season). That means that if each kid played for 13 years, they would be expected to only get 1 concussion. Those are pretty slim chances. You are 5x more likely to have a heart attack by age 40 than have a concussion playing football in high school (combining statistics from thischart and the American Heart Association).
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Post by funkfriss on Apr 13, 2015 12:35:59 GMT -6
As others have said, depends on the drill. Something like a specific block for an OL, yes probably 2 reps. Something like a block recognition drill for DL or blitz pickup for OL, I'd try to get in as many reps as I can in a 5 minute period. For both types of drills, I like working in pods of 3 or 4 where 2 guys are going (3 if working dt or combo looks) while the next pod is on deck and the third pod is in the hole (just completing their rep in theory).
A specific technique drill I will slow down and break down technique if it needs fixing. In a more comprehensive drill (block recognition/blitz pickup) I'll keep the coaching to verbal cues to keep the reps going. If technique was terrible, we'll go back to a technique session the next day.
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Post by funkfriss on Apr 13, 2015 8:48:06 GMT -6
Coaches, Im just brainstorming before I meet with my coaches this week. I would love to know from all of you on what makes a great practice. Basically if you were to just watch as a spectator what makes a great practice? I'm probably the opposite of all these "fast" guys. A good practice is organized, methodical, not rushed. Perfecting technique and all the coaches are on the same page, not hurrying through it just because "we gotta be fast". I like things broken into 15 minute increments...slow and steady, dont want to miss anything. Remember if a kid drills it wrong, it's because you allowed him to. I'll cop out and say that I'm in the middle. I like fast paced periods simulating game speed (actually faster than game speed) with minimal coaching, slow/intense indy periods with a lot of teaching (demonstration, bird-dog, heavy correction and immediate repetition) and some intense 1-on-1's, and a medium-high paced group/team time with lots of reps, but the ability to have quick verbal coaching between reps. Has anybody gone back and done a short indy period (5-10 min) following team to go through corrections from the team session? The thinking is to have immediate feedback and correction rather than waiting until tomorrow where it may be forgotten.
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Post by funkfriss on Apr 13, 2015 8:34:33 GMT -6
I'm looking to start a bi-weekly parent newsletter this year to cover topics including:
1. Summer/Practice schedule 2. Reminders (physicals, fundraisers, etc.) 3. Strength Training (attendance reporting, big gainers, etc.) 4. Articles (strength training, nutrition, injury information, leadership, etc.)
Has anybody else done something like this in the past? What was the response? Anything suggestions on what to include or not include?
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Post by funkfriss on Apr 13, 2015 8:23:05 GMT -6
Agree with others, here are some suggestions
1. Be honest: Tell them there is injury risk in football as is true with other sports.
2. Statistics and Research: Show them statistics showing the incidence rate of concussions and other injuries in football and other sports. I'll have to look and post later, but there is a report out there that lists this and football is the leader in concussions, but is only slightly ahead of soccer and wrestling. To me, if parents allow their kids to play these sports, I never want to hear injury as a reason for not playing football.
3. Prevention and Treatment: Demonstrate how you will help to prevent injuries including equipment, fitting, technique, strength training, stretching/warm-up, etc. Also, talk to them about treatment of injury. Again, there are studies out there that demonstrate that concussions, when treated properly and given time to heal, do not lead to chronic debilitating injury.
4. Other anecdotal information that hits home: An example would be the number of head injuries from riding bikes, skateboarding, etc. Ask parents if they would stop their son from riding a bike and show that there is risk there, just like playing football
5. Benefits: I think this gets overlooked in this discussion. Life is all about risk/reward, and playing sports is no different. There is definitely the risk of injury, but if their son is not allowed to play football he misses out on leadership, teamwork, commitment, discipline, accountability, compromise, friendship, sacrifice, and all of the other great traits that the game of football build.
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Post by funkfriss on Apr 13, 2015 8:04:58 GMT -6
How's this for a player thinking he's entitled....This is baseball, buts it one of our football players. He's a sophmore, who last year as a freshmen on JV struggled more times than not pitching, and his hitting might as well been non existent. So he's a swing player this year and didn't get to pitch in our 1 varsity scrimmage or first game. Weather was brutal here to start the season so evaluations have been tough. The kid sends me an email saying how insulted he was that he didn't get his chance to pitch yet after 1 gamw, and when he was schedule to start a JV game he was insulted again. This kid has proven nothing, is only a sophmore, and he's pissed he's not a main varsity contributor? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using proboards I don't want to assume what's happened or has been said in this and original situation, but what has always worked best for me is honesty. If a player asks me if he's going to start and I know he won't, I say "Nope, you won't start." Then I proceed to tell him why he won't start (slower, less aggressive, bad tackler, etc.) and tell him the ball is in his court. He can either pout about it to Mama or he can work his @ss off to get better at it. I'd say about 50% of the time the kid has not put in any more effort than before and not seen any more playing time than before, but I have also not heard complaining from players or parents. Hard to argue with the truth, although a couple times a kid still won't believe me so I've set up competitions or used film to "prove" he is not as good.
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Post by funkfriss on Mar 27, 2015 8:58:03 GMT -6
Couple of thoughts: As for the OP, I agree with fantom. Everything should be measurable. To me, that even excludes Practice POD. Things like attendance, lift increases, grades, competitions, etc. I do agree, I'm not a big fan of stickers for individual numbers b/c I don't want players focused on that. Rewarding some "emphasized tactics" might be better (going for strips, blocking 2 players on a play, wrong arming a puller, breaking a tackle are just some ideas). Lastly, I'll never forget hearing Bobby Bowden go off on generic game goals (> 100 yds rushing, force 3 TOs, etc.). His point was why have the same goals against both the best and worst teams on your schedule? Is holding Washington St. under 100 yds rushing the same as holding Auburn under 100 yds rushing? Make goals specific to your game plan. If your objective is to disrupt a team's passing game this week, make a goal of at least 8 touches on the QB. If your opponent has a good pass rush make a goal of 0 sacks. To me that keeps kids focused on the game plan and what will make the team successful this week.
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Post by funkfriss on Mar 26, 2015 8:01:58 GMT -6
Agree, kids need game time. Not situational/special teams time. I heard a coach say he only brings Sophs up to play them in games and will never bring a Freshman up no matter how good he is. However, once playoffs hit, he'll have any and all fresh/sophs who are good enough practice, dress, and play in the playoff games. I like this approach as it looks at what is best for your program and not just that one season.
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PE
Mar 25, 2015 8:53:26 GMT -6
Post by funkfriss on Mar 25, 2015 8:53:26 GMT -6
Back to the original topic, I think this has some merit, but not in the Russia Olympic cold-war style shown in the video. I was waiting for them to show the injection room!
I think something of this nature actually would have the most benefit at the Elem/JH level. I remember always going through the President's physical fitness test stuff (push ups, pull ups, sit ups, rope climb, running etc.). I think getting back to this is the lower levels can help prepare kids for high school for sure. Also, kids at that age are far less argumentative/resistant especially if you make it fun/loud/competitive.
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Post by funkfriss on Mar 25, 2015 8:10:26 GMT -6
To me the bottom line is the NFL and college football are too big of businesses for there not to be high school football. Even with all the "safety" stuff, the NFL and NCAA will step in with their own research blah blah before it gets to the point of no HS football. I wouldn't bet on the NFL, specifically Goodell, or anybody from the ncaa, sticking their neck out any time soon. The whole argument about football is an act of insanity. Baseball goes and plays 8 games a day year round. Soccer? they are in shorts in all sorts of weather. 11 months of the year. They do things in hockey that get you suspended for games in football. MMA? There are no concussions in MMA? Every single argument that is used to either stop the game from being played put on a path to make the illegal is soundly contradicted in another sport. Year round is to much? really! soccer, baseball, basketball are year round. Safety. Boxing and its offspring should already be illegal. The argument is bogus.
for what its worth, which is absolutely nothing, Goodell is the reason the game is in the crosshairs its in. I have lost all faith in that man to protect the game of football.
I would disagree. High school football is a feeder for the NCAA which feeds the NFL. Both will do the best they can. Whether that is good enough?? Still think the number 1 potential killer of high school football and all high school sports is $$, but that's another discussion. I think the #1 thing is to get as much information out to the public about the benefits (or low levels of risk) of football. Recent examples include the Steelers team doctor who came out saying that there are more head related reports to hospitals from bicycle/skate boarding than youth football. Pretty sure parents will continue to allow kids to ride bikes. Also, heard an interesting stat on the radio the other day (The Herd) that NFL players were 4x as likely to have a long-term brain illness (i.e. Alzheimer's) although that still amounted to a .17% chance (or about 2 in every 1,000 NFL players) compared to a .04% chance for the average population. However, NFL players are 20x less likely to die of heart disease which is the #1 killer in America and have longer life spans than the average population. To me, these are a few of the examples (I'm sure there are many more) that qualm the fear of brain injuries and need to be addressed to the public to help our sport. This is just another example of media sensationalism (i.e. crack babies, Ebola concerns) that needs to be put to rest with as much information as possible.
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Post by funkfriss on Mar 25, 2015 7:45:19 GMT -6
Agree with @dcohio.
I'll add that you can try to explain that when he gets to D1 everybody is at least as good as he is. Better get ready now or be left in the dust next year.
Some kids you can't reach though. I tell kids all the time, the playgrounds are filled with players more gifted than Michael and Kobe. Great happens when gifted and work come together.
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Post by funkfriss on Mar 24, 2015 9:24:41 GMT -6
We never let money or transportation be an issue. Number 1, go talk to the parent(s). This can be nerve racking and time consuming, but most of the time we get everything smoothed out simply by explaining things to parents. Believe it or not, there are parents out there who won't allow their kids to play because they think it costs money to be on the team (we pay for everything, except cleats and camp costs and we'll pay for those if we have to). So that is the first hurdle we clear. Second, if there is an issue with transportation we try to solve that through our upper-classmen giving rides if they live nearby. That solves 95% of our transportation issues. The other 5% (we usually have one or two a year that live way out) we will give them rides home when needed. We express to parents that they need to help us as much as possible, but we will take them if we need to. When we talk to parents the number one thing we talk about is the benefits of being on a team. We let parents know we care about their son and want him to be involved in something that will develop his character and keep him busy ("idle hands are the devil's workshop"). As for recruiting, create as much buzz and excitement as possible. Show excitement and passion about your sport and the kids. Invest in the upper-classmen to be great leaders and mentors of the younger kids. Oh...and winning generally helps recruiting, or so I've heard
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Post by funkfriss on Mar 18, 2015 12:24:55 GMT -6
Why wouldn't you embrace success? Why wouldn't you feel good about doing well? Isn't that why you play the game?
I think a lot of you are getting into handling praise more than embracing success. Also, success is relative (as mentioned so many times). Winning is not the only measure of success. If you win, but play poorly to me that is not success and should not be embraced. Totally dominating a team you should have and doing it the right way is success and should be embraced. The more/better the success, the more embracing in my opinion. I think rather than shielding kids from success they must be taught how to handle it. Again, they're kids playing the game they love, let them enjoy it.
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Post by funkfriss on Mar 16, 2015 12:53:00 GMT -6
I think coaches have to do their jobs and decide what is best for his team. We have had teams with awful tacklers where we felt we needed live tackling in order to be prepared for games, and we have had teams full of kids who love to be physical and we had to scale back contact in practice or we would have killed each other. Best judgement is the order, but I don't think you can be AFRAID to tackle in practice. I think kids pick up on this feeling. BTW the worst injury I have witnessed in a practice was 2 kids on a punt coverage drill with no pads/helmets/contact whose heads collided while both were looking up at the ball - double concussions and blood everywhere.
As important as tackling is, I think taking a hit is even more important. How many coach the "art" of taking a hit? How are you doing it?
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Post by funkfriss on Mar 16, 2015 11:12:44 GMT -6
If you have numbers and coaches, nothing is better. If you don't have the numbers your depth will suffer. If you have to move up too many sophomores or freshmen to fill spots it can hurt your JV games. Now if you do have numbers there is nothing better. It helps you win games, it helps you in practice. It helps staff meetings. I would say if you are close to having enough numbers it's a good thing. Coach you are spot on... for me I have always coached in a smaller football state. The average 9-12 team has about 50-60 total players. There is only one school in our state that 2 platoons and it is the largest with the wealthiest students. We had a new HC come in to our area and he had always been 2 platoon in his old state which made their average talent much more successful do to all the above mentioned information. So he comes into his new school which hasn't had much success when he took over. He tried to implement 2 platoon and even though they had some good talent they went 0-10. The main issue was in our state most schools just do not have enough players to 2 platoon and he could not get the players needed on the LOS. That coach has gone on to lead that school to one of the top programs in the state by playing players both ways. I really think that coaches have to take in to account how many kids and their talent level compared to other schools. smfreeman, we are in a similar position (small school, 50-60 total 9-12) and are looking into 2 platooning as well (in reality may end up being 1.75 platoon). I have no experience with two platooning as either a player or coach, but what I'm looking to do is the following: First, some players are just 1-way players in my opinion. For example, that receiver who has great measurables and hands but won't tackle my grandma if she was running towards him, or that 5'4" 130 lb scrapper who can reek havoc at Nose, but is too small and slow to play anywhere on offense. Also, MOST QBs aren't great defensive players either. Therefore, you have a handful of players who only go to one position the entire season. The rest you give a #1 and #2 position giving roughly 75% practice time to #1 position time (although I'm thinking more of a 50/50 split for our backup QB). To me, this allows for you to have more practice time for players to learn and work at one position while protecting yourself from injuries. Also, as you know, in a small school you have limited athletes, so sometimes you just don't have any other FB than your best LB. Therefore, you almost have to take your 2-3 stud athletes and play them more as 2-way players. To me, you would end up with 18-20 starters rather than 22. Thoughts from other small school guys?
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Post by funkfriss on Sept 29, 2011 9:27:20 GMT -6
I spend a lot of time breaking down opponent's film and have looked at it from many angles and feel like we do a pretty good job of coming up with a gameplan. However, I wanted to hear from you guys as to what you feel are the most important things to look for when scouting.
Side question: Which is more important and effective, scouting individual players (studs and puds) or schemes/tendancies?
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