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Post by coachkobe on Jul 28, 2014 13:07:55 GMT -6
Hi everyone,
I'm new. First post.
I was asked to coach my neighborhood football team ( 14-15 year olds) and I obliged. We had approx 6 practices and we had a pre-season tournament this weekend. We played 5 games and lost each game by more than 50 points.
At each practice we ran our plays perfectly on offense and in the game we couldn't get more than 2-3 yards. The biggest reason for this was the mismatches all over the field. The opponents OLB's were 6-2 200 lbs vs our 5-8 120 lb TE/SB.... If we ran the play off tackle we added 2 blockers to help and the defenders just pushed them over. There is nothing we can do to change this.
So i'm asking what can we do to practice and implement in the games to off-set this size issue. I know in the higher levels (college, pros) they use their speed and gimmick plays but I would have to say speed would be even. It's our blocking. We also don't have a QB that can throw the ball quite well. And yes our WR's can't catch very well for their age.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated as already the team morale is low. And I hate the feeling that these kids are not going to enjoy their football experience.
Coach Kobe
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Post by Chris Clement on Jul 28, 2014 21:24:14 GMT -6
Sometimes you're just screwed. Are they smart?
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Post by newt21 on Jul 28, 2014 21:41:23 GMT -6
Hi everyone, I'm new. First post. I was asked to coach my neighborhood football team ( 14-15 year olds) and I obliged. We had approx 6 practices and we had a pre-season tournament this weekend. We played 5 games and lost each game by more than 50 points. At each practice we ran our plays perfectly on offense and in the game we couldn't get more than 2-3 yards. The biggest reason for this was the mismatches all over the field. The opponents OLB's were 6-2 200 lbs vs our 5-8 120 lb TE/SB.... If we ran the play off tackle we added 2 blockers to help and the defenders just pushed them over. There is nothing we can do to change this. So i'm asking what can we do to practice and implement in the games to off-set this size issue. I know in the higher levels (college, pros) they use their speed and gimmick plays but I would have to say speed would be even. It's our blocking. We also don't have a QB that can throw the ball quite well. And yes our WR's can't catch very well for their age. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as already the team morale is low. And I hate the feeling that these kids are not going to enjoy their football experience. Coach Kobe Run some blocking schemes that allow you to double team playside and run some option plays. If you can't block 'em, read 'em!
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Post by pirate1590 on Jul 28, 2014 22:03:26 GMT -6
Let me guess- you are running the I?
The I you might as well blow up and scrap unless you have a good to above average TB/FB-and at least one competent WR/QB. You have virtually zero misdirection and this is when your fighting Tebows get blown over by the mastadons. You said you have some speed right? Look into the Fly/Jet Sweep packages of Wing T as your base with the buck/belly series to counter. These kids aren't very athletic so you gotta keep it simple like you are coaching 11 year olds. Maybe look up the DC Single Wing-I always joke if Dave Cisar cant help you then you are the one out of a million LOL.
I think you guys might be trying to reinvent the wheel and keep up with your peers in terms of you see other teams checking at the line, running 5 step drops with formation tags and shifts and pretty complicated stuff. Trying to do that with your guys may be why you are getting blown out. Talent does matter some-but can be remedied with a good scheme. I saw in the playoffs in our league last year a unbeaten team at the 12-13 level with probably half a dozen future HS varsity players-the most talented team I have seen in YEARS at that age-beating teams 46-0, 64-0,53-0.38-6 etc get their heads kicked in by a team with maybe 1 future HS varsity player that was outweighed by about 20 pounds per man and 3-4 inches shorter-they ran a very crisp perfected repertoire of Wing T-belly and dive series, a couple other packages and a spread package. They ran only about 10 plays or so but they executed beautifully. They ran sally 4 times for over 100 yards and for 2 TDs!
Bottom line-you can make your kids at least competent if you run a fitting scheme. KISS and good luck.
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Post by 33coach on Jul 30, 2014 10:39:35 GMT -6
Hi everyone, I'm new. First post. I was asked to coach my neighborhood football team ( 14-15 year olds) and I obliged. We had approx 6 practices and we had a pre-season tournament this weekend. We played 5 games and lost each game by more than 50 points. At each practice we ran our plays perfectly on offense and in the game we couldn't get more than 2-3 yards. The biggest reason for this was the mismatches all over the field. The opponents OLB's were 6-2 200 lbs vs our 5-8 120 lb TE/SB.... If we ran the play off tackle we added 2 blockers to help and the defenders just pushed them over. There is nothing we can do to change this. So i'm asking what can we do to practice and implement in the games to off-set this size issue. I know in the higher levels (college, pros) they use their speed and gimmick plays but I would have to say speed would be even. It's our blocking. We also don't have a QB that can throw the ball quite well. And yes our WR's can't catch very well for their age. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as already the team morale is low. And I hate the feeling that these kids are not going to enjoy their football experience. Coach Kobe welcome coach! first of all, ***getting my parent speak ready*** its about the experience not winning and losing, ive had 10-0 and 0-10 seasons, and every kid had a great time no matter what. but, for those of us who like to win (me!)... how are you coaching blocking? what scheme are you running? what are you doing in practice? can you give us a practice plan? without knowing what you are doing, we cant really help. thanks!
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rambler
Sophomore Member
Posts: 114
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Post by rambler on Jul 30, 2014 19:46:27 GMT -6
Get good at one thing. Focus on it - rep it - beat it into the ground. 6 practices to go into a five game scrimmage sounds like you may need more work. Without seeing your team or know their strengths it is hard to say what that one thing is. There are plenty of resources on this site and some great coaches to ask questions but I think you need to take those extra steps to figure out what the one thing is that you are going to do.
I think like 33coach said you need to find the silver lining. What are you going to focus on if you can't win? Toughness, finishing plays, playing four quarters, supporting each other, staying positive, fighting. Pick something and start talking about it so even if you lose you can focus on the things you did right.
Build confidence in little things - making a block, scoring a touchdown, no jumping offsides. Award players with stickers - kids love stickers. On some teams we'd focus on winning the turnover battle so we are just trying to have one more turnover than we gave up. If we did it every kid got a sticker. 10 yard return on every kick - everybody gets a sticker. Score a TD everybody on offense gets a sticker. Run for 10 yards - get a sticker. Just find little things and start building.
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Post by groundchuck on Jul 30, 2014 20:52:06 GMT -6
Strive to be brilliant at the basics. How's that for a cliche answer.
Focus on the process and what it takes to get better,
I know its easy to say, hard to do sometimes.
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Post by 19delta on Jul 30, 2014 23:14:42 GMT -6
Let me guess- you are running the I? The I you might as well blow up and scrap unless you have a good to above average TB/FB-and at least one competent WR/QB. You have virtually zero misdirection and this is when your fighting Tebows get blown over by the mastadons. You said you have some speed right? Look into the Fly/Jet Sweep packages of Wing T as your base with the buck/belly series to counter. These kids aren't very athletic so you gotta keep it simple like you are coaching 11 year olds. Maybe look up the DC Single Wing-I always joke if Dave Cisar cant help you then you are the one out of a million LOL. I think you guys might be trying to reinvent the wheel and keep up with your peers in terms of you see other teams checking at the line, running 5 step drops with formation tags and shifts and pretty complicated stuff. Trying to do that with your guys may be why you are getting blown out. Talent does matter some-but can be remedied with a good scheme. I saw in the playoffs in our league last year a unbeaten team at the 12-13 level with probably half a dozen future HS varsity players-the most talented team I have seen in YEARS at that age-beating teams 46-0, 64-0,53-0.38-6 etc get their heads kicked in by a team with maybe 1 future HS varsity player that was outweighed by about 20 pounds per man and 3-4 inches shorter-they ran a very crisp perfected repertoire of Wing T-belly and dive series, a couple other packages and a spread package. They ran only about 10 plays or so but they executed beautifully. They ran sally 4 times for over 100 yards and for 2 TDs! Bottom line-you can make your kids at least competent if you run a fitting scheme. KISS and good luck. Some really good points here...definitely agree with the comment about Dave Cisar. His youth materials are outstanding and, like pirate said, if DC can't help you, you can't be helped.
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Post by 19delta on Jul 30, 2014 23:32:10 GMT -6
Hi everyone, I'm new. First post. I was asked to coach my neighborhood football team ( 14-15 year olds) and I obliged. We had approx 6 practices and we had a pre-season tournament this weekend. We played 5 games and lost each game by more than 50 points. At each practice we ran our plays perfectly on offense and in the game we couldn't get more than 2-3 yards. The biggest reason for this was the mismatches all over the field. The opponents OLB's were 6-2 200 lbs vs our 5-8 120 lb TE/SB.... If we ran the play off tackle we added 2 blockers to help and the defenders just pushed them over. There is nothing we can do to change this. So i'm asking what can we do to practice and implement in the games to off-set this size issue. I know in the higher levels (college, pros) they use their speed and gimmick plays but I would have to say speed would be even. It's our blocking. We also don't have a QB that can throw the ball quite well. And yes our WR's can't catch very well for their age. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as already the team morale is low. And I hate the feeling that these kids are not going to enjoy their football experience. Coach Kobe Run some blocking schemes that allow you to double team playside and run some option plays. If you can't block 'em, read 'em! Yep...Double Wing or UBSW would be a good choice on offense because it gives you great angles and double teams at the POA and brings multiple backside pullers to account for LBs. Terrific offenses when you are overmatched. Defensively, you might want to fight the temptation of loading up the line of scrimmage with 6-man defensive lines (not sure what you are playing). In your case when you are giving up a lot of points, I'm assuming that many of those TDs are coming off big plays. Thing is, when you load up the box with 8 or 9 defenders, once the offensive player gets past that, there is no one left to stop him. What you might want to do is play a defense that gets kids up off the ground and on their feet. You are probably still going to give up scores but at least that way, the offense will have to earn those TDs by putting a drive together instead of scoring really quick on a couple plays. Another thing you might look at is speeding the game up. When you are bad, you DON'T want the clock to stop. Do everything you can to keep the clock running. Have your players hand the ball to the official after every play instead of flipping it to them. Take the maximum time in the huddle before you snap the ball. Don't throw the ball at all (incompletions=clock stoppage and INTs=extra possessions for the other team). Bleed the clock and try and deny the other team extra possessions that will turn into scoring drives. Yes...a loss is still a loss but when you are in the building stage, a 21-0 loss is not as painful as a 50-0 loss and in fact can be something of a "morale" victory. At the point you are at now, don't even bother talking about winning. Your goals should be attainable..."Hey guys...let's get 3 first downs a half!"..."hey guys...let's not give up any big scoring plays!" "Hey guys...let's not get running clocked!" Try to find some things your kids can have success with and then build on those. Good luck, coach...I had a youth season like the one you are describing a couple years ago and I almost hung up my whistle as a result. Hang in there and learn what you can from it.
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Post by scotdaking on Nov 20, 2014 16:49:34 GMT -6
Coach: Keep working. Keep studying. Keep watching film. Keep learning. Keep passing on your knowledge to the kids and find assistant coaches that know more than you do. Winning can be measured by factors not present on the scoreboard. Are you keeping the game fun for the kids? Are you teaching? Are they becoming a cohesive unit? Are they getting bigger, faster, stronger? Frankly, the scoreboard means nothing at this level. We are to teach fundamentals so the kids can begin to master position-specific skills. Nobody gives a hoot about what a kid did in youth football. They care about what he did in high school. That's why they keep stats. Our task is to prepare the kids as best we can so they can perform at their very best when that college scout is in the stands taking notes on Friday night.
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Post by coachd5085 on Nov 30, 2014 10:17:25 GMT -6
We are to teach fundamentals so the kids can begin to master position-specific skills. Nobody gives a hoot about what a kid did in youth football. They care about what he did in high school. That's why they keep stats. Our task is to prepare the kids as best we can so they can perform at their very best when that college scout is in the stands taking notes on Friday night. I have to disagree 100% with the above statements...seeing they are coming from the guy who is making up his own rules on the rules thread though and then calling out other coaches for not reading the rule book---not terribly surprising. Youth coaches are NOT tasked with prepping kids to perform for college scouts. What a ludicrous statement, particularly since out of maybe 200 kids a youth coaches in a 10 year span only maybe 3 or 4 will have scouts in the stands taking notes. Heck out of those 200, I believe the studies/surveys show that 100 if not more won't even play HS football.
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