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Post by coachnichols on Jun 4, 2008 21:16:08 GMT -6
I need all your experience and knowledge on this one guys! I know there's no magic pill for success, but...
Not to give a lot of detail, but the situation is similar to what many of you have probably exerpienced at some point: lots of losing, kids quitting when things go bad, lack of effort, poor family lives, no commitment, many kids come from low income homes, many have summer jobs, trouble with the law, summer school, history of poor coaching, we're a completely new staff so they don't know us yet, etc.
We're having our camp this week and the attendance has been right around 40 kids every day (5A school of about 1000 students). We are missing 10-15 players who should start or vie for starting positions. Next week we start summer weights and I'm sure our attendance won't be much better.
Other than winning a game (which would be huge for this school but we can't do that until August), any thoughts on what we can try to do to get them to come to summer workouts and build some excitment about this coming football season? Any thoughts would help! Thanks in advance!!!
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Post by coachbdud on Jun 4, 2008 22:40:10 GMT -6
fundraise your butts off, car washes etc, so you have the money to reward them with
we are in same situation except we have been the staff for a couple years, but same school background
we are taking the kids on 2 lil mini vacations and the only kids we are taking are those who come to a certain number of summer practices
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Post by superpower on Jun 5, 2008 7:49:29 GMT -6
Focus on the ones who are there. Think about the message we coaches send to the committed kids when all we do is worry about the ones who aren't there. Almost all of us would like to have other kids in for summer workouts, camps, etc., but we don't live in a perfect world. Coach up the kids that are there because they will be the ones you will have to depend on when the going gets tough anyway.
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Post by fbdoc on Jun 5, 2008 8:27:00 GMT -6
Echo superpower - coach the kids who are there. Try and reward them with t-shirts, pizza, or ? for their hard work and attendance. Try to schedule a beatable team in 7 on 7 since you can't play a game right now. Develop additional leaders with the kids who are out right now. If the kids who are NOT there are your best, they will probably still be your best when they finally show up. Coach these guys up so when they have to play this fall, they are going to be assets instead of liabilities. I know exactly where you are coming from - no one likes it - we all want the kids there, but keep on coaching the ones you have.
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Post by dubber on Jun 5, 2008 13:35:32 GMT -6
Multi-millionaire athletes will sacrifice their time and bodies for this:  Should work for your kids too |
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wccoach
Sophomore Member
Posts: 159
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Post by wccoach on Jun 5, 2008 21:45:27 GMT -6
I have been there and I am there right now. You need a very clear understanding with the school administration on what the goals are for the PROGRAM, not this year's team. Are they looking for wins right now or are they looking for a consistently strong program for years to come. If they are looking for immediate wins, then you will need to play the guys that can get you immediate wins, even if they are not showing up during voluntary summer workouts. This type of situation will lead to many up and down seasons because you really have not developed a football program. Every years win/loss situation will be completely decided by the players that you really don't have too much control over. If you are in an area with an abundance of athletes then you might find some level of success, but if the team has been a consistently poor program I doubt that is the case.
If the administration is looking to build a strong PROGRAM then DCOhio is right on target with everything. You may have to sacrifice some wins this year to get the program going the right direction for years to come. Make all of the players work their butts off and you will need to work harder than they do. Reward the ones that make the commitment and cut loose the ones that don't. But what DCOhio is telling you about making sure the kids know that you are working harder than they are is so very key that I cannot emphasis that enough. Be the first one there and the last to leave everyday! You will need to enforce the discipline for both the players and your staff in order to get the attitude changed. Best of luck!
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wccoach
Sophomore Member
Posts: 159
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Post by wccoach on Jun 5, 2008 22:01:54 GMT -6
One thing I forgot. Make your defense the emphasis of the program during the turnaround! Nothing is more discouraging to an emerging program than giving up huge points to your opponents. Make being a defensive starter a very special thing. We put the starting defense in Black practice jerseys that have a large skull and Cross Bones on the front and their position on the back. If someone gets bumped off the defense by another player he has to give up his Black jersey to the new starter and go back to his regular practice jersey. You will find that your guys will develop a great deal of pride in being a Black Jersey Player.
If your program can afford it, let the players that finish the year as a defensive starter keep the jersey. That has been a really big deal for our players the last 2 years. We have 2 players that have been starters on D since their Sophomore year and if they start again this year, they will graduate with 3 black jerseys to keep. We also put up a display board in the school cafeteria with 11 spots that hold 8 x 10 pictures to display the BLACK JERSEY DEFENSE. It is a very big deal to be a defensive starter for our team! (I am the Off. Coord. and I love how we make the defense the backbone of our team!)
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