Biggest Mistakes for a 1st time HC

don't take it personal when you lose. Outworking people is a great idea, but if his animals at his zoo are better than the animals at your zoo, there isn't much you can do.

ojw, i love all your post, you can't die on every hill, good advice

These are some thoughts I wrote down as my first year as a head coach came to an end..

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 and Sunday, then your assistants need to be willing to do the same.. If you do not want to work on weekends and after hours.. then don't hire guys who do.. because 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!!

Here are my own experiences:

1) Failure to focus on the relationships with UPPER CLASSMEN immediately- the upper classmen are often resentful of changes in leadership/policy/tradition/rules etc and if you are following a previously successful coach that can be difficult due to " thats not what we did last year" thinking. I did a great job getting the UNDER CLASSMEN on board quickly but it took some time to build the relationships with the older kids. I should have had a seniors only meeting to see if we could have worked together on keeping some traditions in place.

2) Forgetting that you were hired to make the DIFFICULT DECISIONS. Sharing difficulties (such as struggling with difficult personalities) with administrators may open the door to be micromanaged and second guessed. Its much better to take the approach "loose lips sink ships" and solve problems quickly, quietly and privately inside the program. You need to avoid appearing incompetent even if you are doing nothing more than communicating/venting.

3) Failure to quickly establish yourself as NO NONSENSE, NO BULL, NO EXCUSES. You might say it but really doing it is another matter. You might have to make a bigger splash than youd hope because if you are new some of the stronger personality kids will test you. You need to be the alpha male and squash it quickly. Sometimes jumping a kids butt at the first sight of insubordination IS BETTER than the soft 'let me show you the light" approach.

4) similar to point #3, THINKING YOU CAN CURE CANCER, bs, just get rid of it. period. Your program is better off with those that fall in line quickly rather than struggling and using energy to deal with the one or two idiots pulling on the wrong end of the rope. This is one of the things a new coach must get right quickly or everything positive he his doing can go unnoticed. Focus on the kids who are doing what you ask and get rid of the others quickly. Do not even consider someones football or athletic ability until you examine their "coachability".

5) TRYING TO DO TOO MUCH ALONE- Teach your assistants, if it means spending an hour after every practice in coaching meetings DO IT. You cant coach alone. TRUST YOURSELF - do things your way and insist others do things your way, consider suggestions but ignore things that go against your own personal philosophies. Be demanding of your assistants. Do not be wishy washy. Steer the ship remembering that a Captain earns his reputation during the storms.

6) FAILURE TO RECOGNIZE THE SCOPE OF THE JOB- Be organized from A-Z and carry your schedule book with you everywhere. Do not open an email until you have time to deal with whatever bs it might include. Do not answer the phone unless you have the time to deal with whoever is on the other end of the line. Handle papers once. Make sure you have at least 6 clip boards hanging up before you even start! Get faculty, housekeeping, maintenance, kitchen staff, administration, boosters, other coaches on your side as soon as possible. Have them go to you right away if your kids are out of line anywhere.

7) LETTING SLACKER PARENTS/PLAYERS undermine you- I had a parent and child work together to make me miserable to start the year. Kid and Mom had numberous contigencies for kid to play, couldnt show up for two weeks due to special school, couldnt practice on such and such a date due to previous engagements, couldnt and couldnt and couldnt. Kid is talented, ends up ineligible and quits. Mom runs around town blaming time demands of program!!! The correct approach might have been " kid has to be at camp, has to practice on those days or he is simply over extended and cant meet OUR requirements" Its not pee wee or ms football where you need to bend and bend for kids. Its freaking varsity football and its time consuming YEAR ROUND.

Notice I do not have one xs and os mistake up there. Not one. We had a good first year that was marred (to me) by an early strain on me due to dealing with a few tough kids. one of them sat in my office the other day regretting the way he acted the first 4-5 weeks of the season. I cant blame him completely because in so many ways I allowed it.

For me, year two is focused on developing my staff, having more "alpha male" in my approach and completely eliminating distractions/cancerous personality types. Leadership is critical. Having a plan is wonderful but it takes someone to steer the ship and prevent mutiny from those that do not want to go. Year two is also about staying with what I believe in. When someone asks about 'what new plays" or 'what new schemes" I just say "we stick with what works and work on what doesnt until it does".

Lots of good points made already. I would also say that when dealing with kids they need you to be the coach, not their buddy. They already have plenty of friends (hopefully you do too)!

Another thing I like to think, when keeping things in perspective is.... there have been many other coaches at this school before me (coaching isn't rocket science), and there will be many coaches at this school after me (the program is bigger than me, not vice versa).

What they said, and:
Accepting help from the wrong people. They always expect a "favor" in return.

I agree with this 100%. These seniors will only have one senior year, do what you can to help them with the transition. If they have been successful as coach said, this is something that they didn't want to happen, especially in the midst of their last chance to play ball. Whatever you can do to minimize change and bring them on board, is the right thing to do. Maybe keep some of the traditions, plays, terminology, etc. After a year or two, your way will be the only way. But if you go in with that attitude to start, you will probably end up with a lot of conflict.

I agree. Sometimes even the best intentioned kids have to miss. If it becomes habit, then something might change, but I'm not benching Mr. Hard Work for missing a single practice if he has a pretty legit excuse.

So I agree with Airraider, and thats how I envision running my program eventually when I become a HC.

This is an interesting swing in the topic. At what point does "find a way to win" mean more than teaching life lessons? I mean I am under tremendous pressure to win games. We did not look very good in our scrimmages or first game because I would not play the kids who missed summer camp and workouts. Sending the message in the first year could be as detrimental to my job as it was beneficial for the program. We had some good athletes sitting the pine or getting only spot duty while some marginal athletes were getting time because they earned it. The losing and lack of performance brings morale way down, maybe more so than playing a kid who missed practices and weights. What do you all think? Where does it really pay off and where does it really hurt? Some community folks just want to win and in any way possible. I wonder how many times coaches who use playing time as leverage end up losing games and ultimately losing their jobs because of it???

"The biggest mistake you can EVER make is to try to please everyone."

AMEN!

I would say roughly 80% or more of the jobs you get for the first time require that you "CHANGE THE CULTURE"....

Now this might not ALAYS be the case but often I am sure it is... There is a reason why the job is vacant and it usually is because "Suff was not getting done tight".... Bottom line.

Some mistakes to try and avoid -
1. HIRE A LOYAL, LOYAL STAFF!!! This is a must because that first year there will be bumps on the road.

2. Stick to your philosophy and mission statement - Wins will come but you have to get the house in order first... Usually the house is very, very messy and it is going to take time to do this. Do not get caught up with how any wins you have (Check your ego at the door.... Remember it is not about YOU, it is about the kids).

3. Do not compromise you core beliefs - Stick to your guns, especially with tough decisions. Players will respect you and the message will resonate through your program for years.....

4. Run what you know - Do not out think yourself.

1. Don't expect to win - in fact, tell yourself that you may have a zero win team and any win is just a bonus.

2. Fire everyone on the staff and may them re-apply for the positions - this takes administrative support, but if you have a detailed outline of expectations it will help you.

3. Somehow.................surround yourself with a loyal staff.

4. Don't worry about websites and sh*t like that - only focus on the lifting and commitment.

Not on the list, but I learned the hard way. Never take a job when the previous head coach is still in the building and buddies with all of the assistant coaches, especially if they are in the same department as with my situation.

don't make X's and O's complicated
you don't have to prove to everyone how smart you are and sometimes you do not have an answer when they are BFS than you
- pick a system and stick to it-you can't scheme your way out of everything
don't read the paper or local online blogs- it is absolutley pointless and a waste of time
and turn off your cell phone when you are home-it will make your wife happier
don't take yourself too seriously- it is a game- it is not more important than your health of family
be careful not to get caught up in the "outworking" the other coach concept- we are not college or pro coaches- we need not sleep in the office
if you have bad players- you killing yourself will not make them better-
be obsessed with getting better fundamentally- schemes will come later

I should've added this before...Never slam anyone for making mistakes.

I tell my kids this every year, I expect them to make mistakes, I want them to make mistakes, and yes they're going to make mistakes, just be ready to tell me what the mistake they made was, and why. Then they have to fix the mistake, we tell tthem they owe the team.

The last thing I want is a kid to be scared I'm going to rip his head off for screwing up , when I myself have made far worse mistakes in my life....Never forget that

This was probably one of the best lessons I ever learned from my dad Coaching wise.