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Post by larrymoe on Dec 2, 2016 11:48:46 GMT -6
I had a bunch of situations throughout the season that were extremely frustrating but one of the most was this-
Had a kid who ended up being a 3 time all conference DE (was unanimous as a soph and jr, but missed 2 conference games- one to injury and one to discipline) skip a Wed practice to do "army stuff". Coincidentally, it just happened to be the week we were eliminated from playoff contention. Anyway, I decided I wasn't going to play him on offense and he'd sit a half on defense. We're playing a conference co-champ at their place and our fans are all over me about him not playing. One of them says "Hey (kid's name), why ain't you playin? Is it because you're from the wrong town?" We're a coop and the entire thing was phrased that I'm against this other town (which is a common theme from their kids, admins and parents when they don't get their way). It's always because I don't like their kids. So, this goes on for a few minutes and eventually I couldn't take it and I turned around and said "He's not playing because he wasn't at practice this week". This genius' response to me is- "You're 1-5! You're lucky anyone comes to practice for you!"
I lost it. I turned around and said this- "This job will be open at the end of this year. Feel free to put your application in then. But you won't because you're a loudmouth idiot who likes to hear himself talk. Do all of us a favor and shut the hell up!"
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Post by tothehouse on Dec 2, 2016 12:02:47 GMT -6
And we get paid nickels for this. My kids are in HS now...I'm on my 25 season. I'm done after my freshman gets out. A lot because of the reasons stated here. It seems like...gone are the days where a kid showed up and kicked ass. And if he didn't kick ass...his dad/mom would make him kick some ass. Seems like the mommies and daddies want instant gratification...just like their child. This isn't all cases...but they are the loudest. Back to the OP. Run fits, full speed, and aggression. I think if we can take care of those things we'd be pretty good. And since it's a coaching pain...it comes down to us to fix it. Can't have excuses.
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Post by coachhads on Dec 5, 2016 8:34:28 GMT -6
It was hard to take time out to teach the basics of what they should have learned at Jr High/JV level ball. It's my fault because I assumed too much about their knowledge of the game. They had never even had position specific individual period during practice (under their old HC). They just came to football an scrimmaged the whole time (team). This spring I am going to focus on going back to basic football (hand placement, first step, eyes). I had a 2 year starter at DE this year, All-Conference player. I asked him one day to play DE on the right side instead of the left. So he did, after the first play his question (he as dead serious) was, "Coach, on the left side I have C-Gap, is it still called the same thing on the right or do I do something different?" Now, it's not that we hadn't gone over the gap lettering before, and our entire defensive structure, we do that every year. It floored me, but at the same time I thought it was hilarious because you just never can under estimate what they know! He had been playing since youth football btw. We've all been there! It's amazing to see the thought process. But it's also great to see how these kids are thinking when they are out of their element (Moving from the right instead of left), it's like the world got flipped upside down.
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Post by coachhads on Dec 5, 2016 8:38:34 GMT -6
And we get paid nickels for this. My kids are in HS now...I'm on my 25 season. I'm done after my freshman gets out. A lot because of the reasons stated here. It seems like...gone are the days where a kid showed up and kicked ass. And if he didn't kick ass...his dad/mom would make him kick some ass. Seems like the mommies and daddies want instant gratification...just like their child. This isn't all cases...but they are the loudest. Back to the OP. Run fits, full speed, and aggression. I think if we can take care of those things we'd be pretty good. And since it's a coaching pain...it comes down to us to fix it. Can't have excuses. Great point! What's been your best tactic, in the 25 years of coaching, to get kids to play with aggression?
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Post by tothehouse on Dec 5, 2016 10:53:38 GMT -6
Winning and tradition coachhads. Our program had a ton of success and all the kids coming into the school took pride in "not being THAT team". "That" team...meaning the one the wasn't successful. Basically kids fought like hell to outwork bigger and faster teams because they didn't want to be labeled as a loser. Plain and simple.
For 100 reasons that don't need to be discussed a shift has taken place. Trying to get back to those winning ways has been the hardest thing I've done as a coach. And I feel like we're doing it alone (limited Admin help).
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Post by coachhads on Dec 7, 2016 10:10:42 GMT -6
Thats tough tothehouse. You'd hate to think that the old cliche of "winning cures everything" is true, but it really is. But it all starts with the coach and kids wanting to get better. I've always focused on off-season and pre-season mental work by telling our kids individually that they're the best in the league, and nobody can stop them. Once they make a big play in pre-season or week 1 they start to truly believe it and it spreads.
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