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Post by airraider on Nov 4, 2008 11:36:59 GMT -6
First and foremost.. The game is simple.. if you cannot block and tackle better than the other team.. YOU LOSE!!
Being a HC actually has very little to do with X's and O's..
You give me the best X's and O's guy and put him in a situation where he is not capable of dealing with the nuances of the situation around him.. and he will not be successful..
You have to have assistants you can trust.. not only trust to be on your side.. but trust to do what is asked of them.. and to be capable of doing what is asked of them.. They don't have to be the best coaches in the world.. but they have to be willing to do what is expected of them.. If not.. you will fail..
There are 3 components of a GOOD football player..
1. Football IQ.. he doesn't have to be the smartest person in the world.. but he needs to KNOW his assignment and be able to think within the confines of what you expect him to do. YOU as a staff have to make sure he KNOWS what and how to do his job.
2. Will and Determination.. You have to have players who want to win day in and day out.. if they do not want to win.. if its not important to them.. then its just a hobby for them.. you don't need those kind of players.. they will be the first to lay down when the going gets tough.. Always choose a football player over an athlete.
3. Physical ability.. Strength and Speed can be developed.. but there is a process.. Potential will always remain potential if not developed.. You have to work to get faster and stronger.. it doesn't just happen.. and if you are playing teams who are working while you are not.. then you will LOSE.
Never underestimate the importance of the little things.. Always ASSUME your players have NO idea about what you are saying.. break it down.. accentuate the positives and fix the negatives..
Yelling doesn't make it better.. learning has to be facilitated.. yelling at a player only puts distance between him and yourself.. you will need to bring him back in to facilitate that learning.. Keep him close by TALKING to him.. and teach him..
Only keep people around who care as much or as little as you do.. If you are there every Saturday, then your assistants need to be willing to do the same.. If you don't want to work on weekends and after hours.. then don't hire guys who do want to be up there.. you are only holding them back from being successful..
You don't have to like the people you work for.. but you do need to respect them.. this is a two way street.. and as a HC you do not have to try to earn being liked by your assistants.. but you do need to do things that they will respect.
Never gripe about a problem that you yourself do not have a solution to. Griping for the benefit of griping is what fans do.. not coaches..
Kids are impressionable.. They will do as you do.. and say as you say.. that can be a good thing or a bad thing.. you choose..
and finally..
when you are up to your eyeballs in crap.. keep your mouth closed!!
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sbv
Sophomore Member
Posts: 171
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Post by sbv on Nov 4, 2008 12:16:45 GMT -6
Airraider, you crack me up. A week ago you were talking about if a job was impossible and what you should do to leave the situation and now we have deep thoughts, by airraider. Where do I buy a pair of those rose shaded glasses?
Good insights though and good luck in the off season. Try to find good character, loyal coaches who care about the kids. The season is a lot more enjoyable when you are working with guys who love the game and job as much as you do.
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Post by airraider on Nov 4, 2008 12:37:30 GMT -6
Airraider, you crack me up. A week ago you were talking about if a job was impossible and what you should do to leave the situation and now we have deep thoughts, by airraider. Where do I buy a pair of those rose shaded glasses? Good insights though and good luck in the off season. Try to find good character, loyal coaches who care about the kids. The season is a lot more enjoyable when you are working with guys who love the game and job as much as you do. Haha.. I guess I have just accepted that it is what it is.. Also.. with our school being 1 of 11 academically unacceptable schools in our school district.. they are having to make major changes to keep the state from taking over.. Out of those 11.. 4 are high schools.. They will theme each school and all students from those schools will have to choose 1 out of the 4 to attend.. Our school happens to be the Military Academy.. So it will be JROTC themed.. so all of the kids at our school will have to wear the military uniform EVERYDAY.. This will probably cut our 850 student enrollment down to about 200.. Also with JROTC counting for the needed PE credits.. myself and our girls basketball coach will be out of a job as teachers at this school.. So.. instead of looking at it along the lines of this school.. I wanted to look at it introspectively and think about it in light of no matter what situation you are in.. these are the things you need to be successful.. at least from my small corner of the room.. |
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Post by airraider on Nov 4, 2008 12:49:05 GMT -6
Why did I come to these conclusions??
Well coming into the season I spent hour after hour after hour worrying about what defense.. and how to make this "high flying" offense work..
How much time did I put into making sure my players.. and more importantly my coaches understood the basics of the game?
Afterall, my staff was constructed of only 3 on staff coaches and 5 non-faculty guys..
How much did we put in doing fundamental drills as apposed to running plays?
How many plays could we run perfectly as apposed to how many plays we could just muddle through?
We answered the why question much more than the how.. in terms of defense and offense.. MY FAULT completely..
Just how well did I evaluate the assistants that would be out there with our kids before giving them the green light? How sure was I that they knew what and how to teach these young men?
What excuses for not being able to lift during the summer are acceptable? How much is too much? Did I allow that "potentially" stud player to hold me hostage by allowing him to get all the reps when he actually did show up for practice when that little slow kid "knew" what he was doing?
Did me fuming to the wrong people about my principal end up hurting me in the long run?
These are just some things I am looking at while sitting here at 1-8 on the season.. a season that in the beginning held high expectations..
This is me being humble.. and saying to myself and everyone out there.. I learned a lot about myself and about this game this year.. and I will be a much better football coach next year.. because of how I royaly screwed up this year..
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Post by brophy on Nov 4, 2008 12:55:46 GMT -6
well, congrats.....sounds like you got your money's worth of coaching wisdom - you'll only be better because of it. Better you than tog (lol)
Good luck in the next stop.
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Post by fatkicker on Nov 4, 2008 12:56:50 GMT -6
hey raid....
if you would get rid of that forward pass crap and install the wing t, you'd be better off.......hahahhaha
kidding...
good luck this offseason.......
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sbv
Sophomore Member
Posts: 171
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Post by sbv on Nov 4, 2008 13:08:25 GMT -6
On the plus side, if you get to stay at the school you should have a group of kids who are yes sir, no sir. I've often thought that it would be kind of nice to work at a school like this. Good luck coach. I can tell you from my experience, that in 3 years if you look back at the coach you used to be you'll wonder, what the he!! was I thinking?! Good luck.
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Post by btincup on Nov 4, 2008 16:06:06 GMT -6
HEART ! That's all it takes. Unfortunately, you can't teach it.
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Post by coachorr on Nov 5, 2008 2:36:44 GMT -6
Heart, leadership and execution.
On another note, AirRaider, I am sorry to hear you had a bad season; nevertheless, now you know that fundamentals is where it is at. I believe this is the same conclusion that Weiss came to at Notre Dame. Being able to trust assistants is one ruffle they never tell you about and as you know in the end it is you who is the one holding the bag.
Will you stay on? Will they let you? Hope so and good luck. Great insight, thanks.
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Post by davecisar on Nov 5, 2008 6:56:13 GMT -6
Im no HS coach but, my guess is most first year young HS coaches arent going to be able to step into a situation where the school has a winning tradition or facilities or even players. You have to take a less than perfect situation and try to max out the potential that is there. I dont think you can take every situation and make it into a State Title Winner, but you can max out the hand that is dealt you.
Look at the College Ranks and Turner Gill. He took a job no one wanted, Buffalo University, They have never had a winning season, they rarely won more than 1-2 games and they are in BUFFALO, no kid wants to play in Buffalo. The only players he gets are from the surrounding areas ( not HS Football talent rich country), how many kids from Niagra Falls does he have on that team? Thast all I heard last night player X from Niagra Falls etc.
His facilites are a joke and he is paid as a HC, $190K the worst in the US DI< BUT he is maxing it out, they were competitive last year and won 4-5 games, this year they will win 6-7 and he will be long gone. A BCS school like Syracuse with better facilities, tradition, money, players is going to scoop him up and he will have left Buffalo with something to build on. Heck his punter is a 26 year old Australian , who threw a nice fake punt pass completion last night.
Something to think about.
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Post by chadp56 on Nov 5, 2008 7:41:53 GMT -6
Sometimes a down season is a good ego check. Some people never leave the safety of a program that has always won, so they think they are somekind of coaching genius because of their record. Some of them will even rip on you through PM's if you express an opinion in opposition to theirs, and they will use their record compared to yours as proof of how right they are. When they do venture out without a safety net, if they ever do, they usually find out how hard the rest of us have to work just to be competitive!
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Post by khalfie on Nov 5, 2008 8:38:46 GMT -6
First and foremost.. The game is simple.. if you cannot block and tackle better than the other team.. YOU LOSE!! Being a HC actually has very little to do with X's and O's.. You give me the best X's and O's guy and put him in a situation where he is not capable of dealing with the nuances of the situation around him.. and he will not be successful.. You have to have assistants you can trust.. not only trust to be on your side.. but trust to do what is asked of them.. and to be capable of doing what is asked of them.. They don't have to be the best coaches in the world.. but they have to be willing to do what is expected of them.. If not.. you will fail.. There are 3 components of a GOOD football player.. 1. Football IQ.. he doesn't have to be the smartest person in the world.. but he needs to KNOW his assignment and be able to think within the confines of what you expect him to do. YOU as a staff have to make sure he KNOWS what and how to do his job. 2. Will and Determination.. You have to have players who want to win day in and day out.. if they do not want to win.. if its not important to them.. then its just a hobby for them.. you don't need those kind of players.. they will be the first to lay down when the going gets tough.. Always choose a football player over an athlete. 3. Physical ability.. Strength and Speed can be developed.. but there is a process.. Potential will always remain potential if not developed.. You have to work to get faster and stronger.. it doesn't just happen.. and if you are playing teams who are working while you are not.. then you will LOSE. Never underestimate the importance of the little things.. Always ASSUME your players have NO idea about what you are saying.. break it down.. accentuate the positives and fix the negatives.. Yelling doesn't make it better.. learning has to be facilitated.. yelling at a player only puts distance between him and yourself.. you will need to bring him back in to facilitate that learning.. Keep him close by TALKING to him.. and teach him.. Only keep people around who care as much or as little as you do.. If you are there every Saturday, then your assistants need to be willing to do the same.. If you don't want to work on weekends and after hours.. then don't hire guys who do want to be up there.. you are only holding them back from being successful.. You don't have to like the people you work for.. but you do need to respect them.. this is a two way street.. and as a HC you do not have to try to earn being liked by your assistants.. but you do need to do things that they will respect. Never gripe about a problem that you yourself do not have a solution to. Griping for the benefit of griping is what fans do.. not coaches.. Kids are impressionable.. They will do as you do.. and say as you say.. that can be a good thing or a bad thing.. you choose.. and finally.. when you are up to your eyeballs in crap.. keep your mouth closed!! Excellent post... But I too think you may be a little bipolar...  |
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Post by touchdownmaker on Nov 5, 2008 8:44:54 GMT -6
airraider- you have a perfect opportunity at your closing banquet to give rewards to the kids who were the right kind of players and students for your program. Do not reward the egomaniac selfish players, simply leave them out and make a big deal out of the things that will ultimately define your program.
regarding your assistants. you will do well to lay out expectations more clearly and spend this off season coaching them so they can coach your players. it will take much work but its got to be done if you want to have a better year next season.
regarding the administration, its much like when a kid cant choose his parents. make the most of the situation and as you said, keep your mouth shut. loose lips sink ships.
regarding your thoughts on switching systems. I dont suggest that even though I am of the ground pound generation. I think you worked very hard to sell your kids on a certain style of play and you spend time now staying the course and learning your system a little bit deeper. you should be know how to practice and prepare for each opponent knowing how they plan to attack and defend what you do.
stay the course.
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Post by davecisar on Dec 7, 2008 8:31:24 GMT -6
Coach
Im sure it has its good points, all places do. I had no idea about bass fishing on Erie, when one thinks of bass fishing I think of Florida, Texas, Missouri etc
But in all seriousness, most highly recruited kids dont want to go where is snows 94 inches a year though and Buffalo has lost population etc.
I dont think most people view NY as a hotbed for college football talent or even HS football etc.
Coach Gill heavily recruited the local area and found a few diamonds in the rough no one else wanted from other areas of the country. Im a BU fan and hope the school continues to do well in football. Not bad for a program that was thinking of disbanding just a few short years ago.
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Post by theprez98 on Dec 7, 2008 9:06:05 GMT -6
Beating a previously undefeated Ball State in the MAC Championship game should only make Turner Gill's stock go through the roof!
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Post by footballjunkie on Dec 9, 2008 22:25:04 GMT -6
Thank You!!! I know the frustration you feel and if every coach would follow those comments it would make us all better! BRAVO!!
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