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Our Boys
Jul 26, 2023 20:53:07 GMT -6
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Post by vicvinegar on Jul 26, 2023 20:53:07 GMT -6
I have begun reading the book "Our Boys" (I'm about halfway finished). It's a great story and I believe I got the suggestion on here. For those who haven't read it, it's a true story about Smith Center High School in Kansas. It's a small, poor dying town who's football team has won multiple state championships.
I've always been told whether it's on here or other forums how tough it is to win in poor rural small towns. I'm not really arguing that it's not harder to win in those types of communities. While reading it, I just keep thinking "How were they able to create a powerhouse in a poor, dying, rural town?". Also, "How were they able to get the entire town to buy in? By simply winning?".
I'm just curious what your thoughts are about how they were able to be so successful, year after year. Also, how would you go about trying to do the same if you took a job in a similar situation?
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Post by kylem56 on Jul 27, 2023 19:09:04 GMT -6
Building relationships with everyone in town. My last Head Coach position was in a small rural town, first thing I did was do a home visit with every returning player I could with their families. Those families were buisness owners in town. I have coached in the suburbs, rural, and city. Give me small town high school football anyday, those people took pride in their school and the school was the place to be for the kids whether it was sports, rec leagues, or classes.
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Our Boys
Jul 28, 2023 4:22:02 GMT -6
CS likes this
Post by echoofthewhistle on Jul 28, 2023 4:22:02 GMT -6
Winning is certainly part of it. Years of success, especially if they haven't been good before. As someone who grew up in one of those towns the key is community involvement such as meeting parents, fundraisers, community service, sponsorships, help for the program, etc. Making those people feel like their part is critical to the success of the team.
Lastly it a small community which means lots of your players will be related to each other, which can help build and keep a positive views about yourself. It hard for Johnny to get much sympathy when his dad, brother, and cousins all played for you.
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Post by senatorblutarsky on Jul 28, 2023 11:40:32 GMT -6
Lastly it a small community which means lots of your players will be related to each other, which can help build and keep a That's a pretty key one right there... There are quite a few programs who were powerhouses (multiple state titles, often consecutively) for a long time. Off the top of my head Howells (now Howells-Dodge), Nebraska (8 man), Cokeville, Wyoming, Limon, Colorado... I've coached against two of them (I was at a big school in CO, but learned a lot from/about Limon... they were no-huddle Single Wing in the 60s... have a ridiculous amount of titles... they're still winning, but no longer SW). I was in Wyoming about 30 years ago when we played Cokeville. We were a class above them... still got beat. Cokeville had the same coach for 40+ years... they were the smallest 11 man program about every year. Still, they had kids out. They did nothing flashy... just very solid fundamental team. Their coach retired at the end of the 2021 season, I believe. Howells has a great coach who has been there a long time. They also had 4 linemen on one team who went on to play in college (as in starters/key guys): a Power 5 DI guy, a FCS DI guy, a D2 guy and an NAIA guy. The NAIA guy was a backup on D because they ran a 3 man front. Because they were 8 man one of those guys was a TE. I don’t know if he caught a pass… it really didn’t matter because no one could stop them. Also they had a LB who was a DI wrestler... I know the most about them, since their coach is a friend of mine- they had big families, a lot of boys and a lot of the same hard to pronounce Eastern European last names that seemed to continually recycle. I read the Smith Center book about 10 years ago... all of those communities have similar cultures- they all value work ethic, competition, playing for the name on the front, etc. Another thing is they do what they do. I don't want to start an "old school" offense argument here- but most of those schools (Limon- Single Wing, now multiple I; Cokeville- T Formation; Howells- I; Smith Center- Wishbone) have been in the same or similar offenses for years and the local people are proud of that. I remember listening to a (now hall of fame) coach at a clinic years ago who interviewed at Limon when he was young. He mentioned that during the interview at Limon, people repeatedly told him "we don't huddle here". He didn't get the job... but came back to Nebraska and built kind of a powerhouse of his own at a larger school. Those situations are dying out… Howells is no longer on their own, Cokeville has enrollment numbers to play 6 man but they still opt up. Limon will probably be ok because of their location (only place to get gas for about 100 miles)… I know Smith Center is struggling (not in football… just numbers of kids).
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