How is the weight room going??

You know I always think that there should be more kids in the weight room! I am happy with what the kids have been doing so far, the ones that are in there. Out of the returning V/JV players all are in the weight room except for 10. Of those 10, 6 are question marks if they will even come out. They were Jr.'s that warmed the JV bench. The other 4 did not have room to take weight training because they are taking classes at the local college every other day! (Darn Smart kids) LOL!

We just had max week last week, on average the kids gained about 9% in their 3 core total which is cleans, squats, and bench. We also test in the 20, VJ, PA, 40, Broad Jump, Mile.

What is your weight room philosophy based on? Mine resembles Coach Carlisle's from USC and a little from Coach Remedios!

I would venture a guess that based on attendance we have about 30% of our kids involved in weights consistently. The rest are playing basketball and a few who just wear the jersey are getting pretty good at video games.

Today I circulated official sign up sheets and on the bottom it pushed for wt room attendance. I handed them out during lunch and in the halls and library. I am handing them to every kid in the building and in the ms.

I am also gearing up to use the accurate mailing info to start off season newsletters which will talk about our point system, academic progress and success, the new staff and review the season and more.

I think too often with kids its "out of sight, out of mind" and I will be in attendance at basketball games and practices from here on out. I am going to double my roster size in a single year or die trying.

Ours is going well. Most of our guys play basketball (all but 7... very small school). Everyone lifted hard today. We have a base phase workout that is pretty tough- I let the BB players reduce the reps/sets if they wish during the season. No one took that option... and today is game day. I'm happy with the effort. (except our QB and FB can't seem to add correctly to get the right amount of weight on )

Everyone lifted... but then we have class time for it, so that certainly helps.

Do your other coaches work with you? For example:
If b-ball practices late the f-ball players lift with us.... If they practice early the coach takes them in 2- 3 days a week after practice (Our RB has gone from 165 - 173 and he is the PG on b-ball. HIs arms are getting bigger too).

Wrestling - They start at 3:15 so they lift with us for 45 minutes (usually just core lifts - cleans/jerks/squats/bench). Our coach will reduce their %.

Track - After practice. Couple of throwers out there. Many of my skill players run spring track in March.

Our kids are responding well. Not one kid missing that should be there. We give them a blue card and they fill it out everyday (Date and weight). I check it everyday.

I am adopting some similar policies that Uraban Meyers uses for kids not lifting or "hiding on the halls"... I have a about 3 doing that. Rest are on board.

I like his overall philosophy and approach to the team..... You as a player have to "earn" and develop a trust. Players that are seniors and have gone through it for four years "earn" more trust then a new kid or recruit..... According to Urban it is a constant process.

Here is what I adopted for this year:

The week before Thanksgiving I met WITH EVERY player in my program for 15 minutes one on one. We reviewed the season, upcoming season, goals, off-season goals, weight room, class... When the player left that meeting he new exactly what my expectation of him was and what I wanted out of him. I also explained starting 12/1/2008 we start our 3 day lifting program.

Now I had a sign up sheet outside of my door and the players would sign up for slots over a 5 day period from (2:20 PM - 5:30PM). From my current JV/Varsity roster I had 59 players returning. From that 59 only 4 players did not attend the meeting. All four of those players from what I was told quit (I did get confirmation from their parents through email that week).

Now I would allow new players come to the weight room but they had to provide the following:

1. Grade sheet with ALL of their classes (If they had a D they had better be able to explain and justify).

2. Two recommendations from two different teachers, former coaches or administrators. If they provided me with that, then they could lift with us. If not, they could not enter the weight room.

Well as you could imagine the first week I had about 10 kids (New kids) come to me about playing. As soon as brought up those terms they left never to return (No surprise).

In my eyes these NEW people have to "Earn" my trust and earn their spot in "OUR CIRCLE"... This is special and it is NOT for everyone. Once in the circle the new players through continued hard work and commitment will gradually earn my trust and the trust of his teammates over the winter, spring and summer months...

Well we currently have 2 players who have not come to a workout since December 10th.... That is fine and that is their decision. But what our Team Council has decided (Leaders on the team I pick and counsel with) is that we will discard any players card who goes more then a month without working out.

As you can guess these players have avoided me, not come to me and have NO explanation (If there were family issues or medical issues I would be more then willing to help). If and when these players return they have basically been "voted" off the island and will start over.

They will bring grade sheets to me (NO F's or D') and must have two other recommendations. From there they will have to work their way up the ladder. One of the kids was the starting CB and right now he is 4th or 5th on the depth chart.... They will have to EARN The trust of the team and coaches. My players have really bought into this philosophy and really believe in us as coaches.

Going back to Urban - Same premise... Everything is earned and it also can be taken away. This is a privilege. If players do not want to follow what we do they can move on (They all know that we are a team and one player is NOT above the team... Nobody).

What I love so far is that my rising seniors and returning starters are my hardest workers. They lead by example. I have two players on our roster next year that are three year starters (The only 2) and they have logged in 22 workouts since December 1st. They have not missed one yet.

Please understand my players that play b-ball, track and wrestle still get their workouts in (maybe twice a week) but they still get an opportunity to get their core lifts.

I know this approach may not work for everyone but as I said in the past I want kids who "LOVE" football and I do not want "FAT" and baggage. If they LOVE football then the little requirements we as will not be a problem.

Are we getting stronger? Yes
Are our numbers where they should be? No

Is it better than years past? Yes (from what they tell me.)

I am giving out sweatshirts to our top 11 wt room kids after 3 months. One kid said to me "I heard we missed out on sweatshirts?" and I said "nah, it was the lifting you missed out on"

Bigm what size of school are you. Its sounds great. The problem I have when your rebuilding a program is you usually don't have a lot of kids that truly love football. It's sad but I have to build that love.
For me it's bad for the first time in three years, half of my town is getting layoff Feb. 2. I lost almost all my coaching staff. Not good but I don't let it get me down its out of my hands.

Our school is around 1700 students northern va right by quantico marine base and about 40 miles south of DC. Good kids who many come from military background (Many of my parents work in the Pentagon and or are officers in the Marines). Great, great kids.... hard workers.

I am entering my second year at this program (Before me 4 coaches in 4 years.... 2-8 back to back seasons). When I came in last year we got rid of the fat (7 seniors who started the year before quit or did not come out because they did not want to workout or compete). Last year we started 16 sophomores and freshmen. Only two seniors started. 31 people return who lettered. Now we did go 1- 9last season. We physically just could not match up with these teams... We took out lumps (Though my current sophomore class went 9-1 last year as freshmen). We took some on the chin but we NEVER waivered.

Kids stuck together and are focused and working their asses off to get better. Great group and are all about the "team" concept. They beleive in us and our concepts.

At my prior school similar things (Started 15 sophomores my first two years) weeeded out the the fat... Improved disicipline and the teams gpa (The school was a MESS!) Has two rough seasons (2-8 back to back) and from there went to the playoffs two straight years and won the schools first playoff game in 10 years.

This is my M.O. I like to build things from the ground up... I like to rebuild and take bad programs and see them grow. I am currently 35 and I see myself being at this current school for many, many years (The school is 3.5 miles from my house and so far is a good fit). things that work for me:

1. I am very direct with players and parents.
2. My expectations are CLEARLY outlined from day one (On the field, off the field classroom....).
3. Players respect me because they know I treat them fairly and I do not promote prima donna types. I will and have in the past sat, benched and thrown off some very talented players for the good of the team.... Once that message is sent it spreads like wildfire.
4. I go above and beyond for my players (tonight I had a two hour power point NCAA Clearinghouse presentation at my school). Well attended and the parents and players appreciate what I do.

Just some things I do that work for my programs. These kids are buying into what we do and I see this program really taking off very, very soon.

it is starting over again. the identity of our team is forged in the weight room. the seniors who led last season are gone, we are in the feeling out process as the juniors that will lead step to the forefront. Each group has it own identity. we had a great lift yesterday power cleans and dead lifts.

We have about 15 tough kids that are lifting 2 days a week. Only two of us coaches that are running things, so we kept numbers small on purpose - only returning players are in it. We will open it up after the Winter season ends.

Most of the kids who aren't in wrestling, football, track or basketball are in that 15. We've had to talk a couple of basketball players out of quitting so they could come to weightlifting - they wouldn't be allowed come to after quitting another sport anyway! A few of those guys come after their other practices, for a shorter workout.

We've kicked up the intensity and they have responded, they seem to prefer it. Good signs for the future! Not a talented bunch by any means, but a solid core of workers.

I rarely talk about football in the weight room. I rarely talk about lifting in the weight room with upper classmen. I'm there to motivate the less motivated under classmen to show up, I'm there to teach the underclassmen how to lift, and I'm there just to be there for the kids. I handle a lot of grade issues, personal problems, and build relationships.

One problem area for me personally is in testing the kids in squats. How do you guys deterimine what a legit max squat is? do you just "judge" the depth of the squat?I tell my kids that the top of the thigh must be parallel to the floor but at times I second guess myself because this is so awkward for the really lanky kids.

Well, it sucks. Our HC left for a JC position, informed the administration on Dec 16, kids on Dec 17. The AD has not yet posted the position in the local papers. The posting has to run for 30 calendar days before the position can be filled. They can interview, but can't make a decision. The former HC has a personal fitness business so a lot of the players are working out with him, it's what they were doing, and it was ok. But it doesn't show up on the attendance sheets on the wall. So us chickens are trying to keep the room open and going, but the kids aren't coming in and we can't really hammer them as we might not/probably won't be there and they know it. One of the coaches called me today and said that he's talked with the AD and principal and it's not likely to be settled until April.