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Post by 19delta on May 12, 2017 17:27:52 GMT -6
Ha ha - I still remember, 30 years ago as a student, being in AP History. Teacher out, no sub showed up. We were in the middle of watching some movie about the Revolutionary War. So we put the movie on, turned off the lights and watched it. About 10 minutes in, we hear this running in the hall, and the Asst. Princ. comes whipping around the corner into the room, was all "what's going on in here" - obviously someone had figured out class/no sub. We were just sitting there, pointed at the TV, and said doing our work. He was floored. Asked a few questions, and figured out we were actually behaving responsibly. So he turned off the TV, turned the lights on, sat down, put his feet up, and said "okay, let's chat about our troubles with the colonies" (he was from GB). Was a great class, he walked us through what their version of events was/is. One of those little HS moments/memories that sticks with you. And this is why we fought the Revolutionary War. Bunch of independent Americans just doing their thing, trying to get ahead, don't need no hand holding, but here comes some powdered wig royal gonna tell you how things are. #ungratefulcolonials
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Post by 19delta on May 10, 2017 18:00:59 GMT -6
Today in class we covered the Bataan Death March. Starvation, beheadings, forced marches, watching comrades die, pictures of gaunt survivors, sacrifice, yanking teeth out of the head for the fillings, etc. Pretty sobering material. Get done with 3 mins left and this kid who had worn his sunglasses the entire hour (which is okay here) goes "Hey Larrymoe!". I turn to him and he proceeds to tell me how "horrible" (direct quote) his life is because his bus driver wants the bus to not talk during the ride to school because every day they all just end up getting in fights. He then says that they don't listen to him and start whistling until he tells them to stop that and then they start humming. I said if it's that bad, why not not ride the bus? He then says he would but he doesn't have any money and he doesn't want to go out of his way to have to come get a horrible education from horrible teachers in a terrible school. I should have paid no mind, but I couldn't take it. I said- You've got to be god damned kidding right? We just spent 40 minutes talking about the atrocities that your fellow Americans went through so you could be sitting here today and you're going to tell me your life is horrible because your bus driver wants you to shut up? Millions of kids across the world would kill to be in your seat right now. And you're going to sit there with those stupid ass sunglasses on your face the entire hour and tell me how you're oppressed and I should feel sorry for you? You can't be serious. He honestly looked at me shocked and said yes. I had to walk out of the room. That kid will go to college and do great things in the lucrative field of grievance studies.
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Post by 19delta on May 8, 2017 20:04:02 GMT -6
The kids who play a lot care a LOT about wins and losses. The kids who don't play don't care. As I said, I coached youth football (5th/6th grade) for 7 years. In my experience, what you posted is simply not the case. I would be shocked if a single player from our team this past fall would be able to tell me what our record was.
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Post by 19delta on May 7, 2017 10:58:56 GMT -6
In Illinois, most 1a and 2a programs (the two smallest classes in the state) usually field two teams, a varsity program and a frosh-soph program. There usually aren't enough players to field more than that.
As school size increases, there will be more teams. There might be both a freshman and a sophomore team and a junior varsity team and a varsity team.
I attended a big high school in the Chicago suburbs. We fielded 6 full squads. There was a Freshman "A", Freshman "B", Sophomore "A", Sophomore "B", a varsity program and a junior varsity program that was made up of juniors and seniors who didn't start in the varsity game. We probably had 150 boys (9-12) playing football. IIRC, the sophomore "A" team played Friday night before the varsity. Freshman played Saturday morning. The Sophomore "B" team and the JV usually played Monday.
If you have the numbers and can get those kids games, you should field as many teams as you can.
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Post by 19delta on May 6, 2017 7:29:34 GMT -6
This is our process and it works well. Anyone that wants to be a captain needs to a apply. Very similar to applying for a job. They have to write a cover letter stating why they want to be a captain and what it means to be a captain/leader. From there the coaches and players vote and rank the applicants 1 through however many applied. We had 9 apply this year so when we voted and ranked them 1 through 9. We combined the coaches voted and the players. Lower the score the better. We picked the too 4 because there was a drop off from 4 to 5. I like this. The kids have to put in some effort and it makes them think about why they want to be a recognised leader. Do you ever get applications from kids and you are like, "WTF is this idiot thinking?" Or does the effort involved in the application process weed those kids out? What about parents? Do they ever complain if their little precious snowflake applies but doesn't get chosen?
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Post by 19delta on May 5, 2017 18:15:14 GMT -6
I used to be one of those guys who thought that picking captains was a huge deal and I stressed out over it as a result.
Now that I am a little older, I don't feel that way anymore. On any team, there are going to be guys who are natural leaders. The other players are going to follow those guys regardless of whether or not they have the title.
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Post by 19delta on May 4, 2017 14:36:17 GMT -6
Well, give us your definition. My definition of what? A good attitude? You have to DEFINE good attitude to know one? I think not. I can recognize a kid with a good attitude without his actions fitting into a mold. I can also recognize a crappy attitude without looking up the definition. That is way too subjective. If you can't define what it means to have a "crappy attitude", how are the kids supposed to know? And, by not defining it, that allows you to keep changing whatever subjective definition you have for it when it suits your purposes to do so. That's not fair to the kids. Again...this is NOT about "attitude". What it is really about is the coach's expectations for players. And there are coaches, many of them, who have insanely high expectations that are almost impossible for kids to meet. And when the kids can't meet those ridiculous expectations, the kid is labeled as having a "crappy attitude".
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Post by 19delta on May 3, 2017 18:02:50 GMT -6
That probably looks great on a t-shirt but what does it really mean? And what's the difference between an average attitude and a great attitude? How do you quantify something like attitude? For me, a kid with a "great" attitude is one who: - Works hard in the weightroom and/or plays multiple sports
- Is liked by teammates and coaches
- Plays at the position he is needed, not necessarily at the position he wants
- Shows up on time and doesn't miss practice
- Doesn't flirt with the margins of the eligibility every week
- Doesn't make you think about him every time you hear police sirens
And if the kid can play a little, that is obviously a huge bonus!
Wonder why so much space on this forum is devoted to character and culture if all we're talking is t-shirt slogans. Apparently, a lot of coaches are wasting a lot of time trying to teach character... Should just look to develop athletic skills, I suppose. Is it necessary to quantify attitude? Don't you just know a good one or a bad one when you see it?I have already described what I feel is "great attitude". A kid who shows up on time, is reliable, works hard, and doesn't cause headaches has a great attitude as far as I am concerned. The problem is, for a lot of coaches, that is simply not enough. Unless a kid completely buys in 100% and drinks the coach's Kool-Aid, that kid runs the risk of getting labeled as having a "bad attitude". Kid can't make all the football summer activities because he is also playing baseball or basketball? That kid has a bad attitude. Kid can't make it to a weekend passing tournament because his parents had the audacity to schedule a vacation? That kid has a bad attitude. Kid is tired and sluggish on Wednesday after a 3.5-hour, Week 7 practice on a Tuesday night? That kid has a bad attitude. So, this discussion isn't really about "attitude". Instead, it is about an expectation communicated by many coaches that sends the message that if football isn't as important to the kid as it is to the coach, then that kid obviously has a "bad attitude".
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Post by 19delta on May 3, 2017 7:41:21 GMT -6
I am at a point in my career where I am not coaching pure asssholes and bad teammates. If you can't work to improve yourself and contribute to the team's goals then you aren't playing. I understand teenagers make mistakes and I can live with that, but kids (coaches for that matter as well) that consistently fuel failure with poor attitudes would have no place in a program that I was in charge of. I may not be able to win with the choir, but I refuse to lose with people that bring misery to the program. If I were to get fired because of this, well it's kind of like that scene in Shawshank Redemption when Morgan Freeman's character is up for parole and he ends the discussion with something like "quite frankly sonny, I don't give a shittt." It's easy to spot a cancer. Those guys are obvious. If a kid is a cancer and isn't any good, that makes the coach's decision about whether or not to play him simple. On the other hand, if the kid can play, some coaches are going to be willing to put up with a lot. But I don't think that is what is being discussed here. I'm still waiting for a definition of "average attitude". I don't know what that means. If a kid meets the description I posted up the thread, that is a "great attitude", as far as I am concerned. And, like many others have stated, a kid can have a "great attitude" yet be a terrible football player. After all, Rudy had a great attitude and was a terrific teammate. He was also a really lousy football player!
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Post by 19delta on May 2, 2017 21:50:05 GMT -6
Average athletes with great attitudes are to be desired more than great athletes with average attitudes. That probably looks great on a t-shirt but what does it really mean? And what's the difference between an average attitude and a great attitude? How do you quantify something like attitude? For me, a kid with a "great" attitude is one who: - Works hard in the weightroom and/or plays multiple sports
- Is liked by teammates and coaches
- Plays at the position he is needed, not necessarily at the position he wants
- Shows up on time and doesn't miss practice
- Doesn't flirt with the margins of the eligibility every week
- Doesn't make you think about him every time you hear police sirens
And if the kid can play a little, that is obviously a huge bonus!
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Post by 19delta on May 2, 2017 14:14:31 GMT -6
High character, low character...it doesn't matter if you don't have some talent. You aren't going to win much in that case.
What is the standard against which the kids are being measured? In other words, what makes some of the kids "high character" and other kids not? Or, what do the other kids need to do to be considered "high character"?
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Post by 19delta on Apr 29, 2017 13:07:34 GMT -6
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Post by 19delta on Apr 23, 2017 20:33:35 GMT -6
CoachD...Wtf? C'mon, man....You are one of the best posters on this site. Clearly this discussion references the AVERAGE kid, not the exceptions. I happen to disagree with the self important manner in which many coaches view football. Although it is a sport with a physical nature, the fact that some don't enjoy the sport, or even the physical nature of the sport, does not mean that it is "too tough" Just my opinion. Ok. I hear you. I understand that you are a literal guy and words have meaning. For me, being "tough enough" means that a kid isn't a pu$$y. I have never had a kid quit for a "higher purpose". Every kid who ever quit on me did so because he wasn't willing to compete. Yes. I understand that kids quit because of legit and commendable reasons. I'm just saying that I have never run up against that.
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Post by 19delta on Apr 23, 2017 20:10:35 GMT -6
REAL REASON - - - IT'S TOO TOUGH! I guess Pat Tilman quitting the NFL to join the Rangers was evidence that he wasn't tough enough? Barry Sanders... what a wimp! Jim Brown... a fraud! Calvin Johnson... big sissy Granted these guys had played a lot more football than the HS you are mocking, and while I will agree that sometimes someone quits football because it is tough, I would be very cautious to group all the reasons given as "real reason--too tough" as you did in an earlier post... Sometimes, people might not enjoy something. That doesn't necessarily make it "too tough" Let me ask you this...why didn't you go into a career as a roofer? Are you not tough enough to carry 60 pound batches of shingles up and down a ladder by yourself every day in 90+degree weather in the summer? Or did something else interest you... Why aren't you coaching football at an inner city school in Detroit with a 20% truancy rate? Is that too tough for you? CoachD...Wtf? C'mon, man....You are one of the best posters on this site. Clearly this discussion references the AVERAGE kid, not the exceptions.
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Post by 19delta on Apr 23, 2017 17:14:27 GMT -6
I had a high school junior one year who wanted to miss a week of practice to attend "an important Pokemon convention in Los Angeles" C'mon Coach...that's the ONLY kind of Pokemon convention! Good grief...
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Post by 19delta on Apr 23, 2017 13:25:39 GMT -6
About a month ago I heard. "I have shin splints and the doctors do not think I should take part in outdoor activities." We had that once. Kid lost 60lbs from May to July to get down to about 280- freshman btw- never showed up to practices in Aug. Asked him why and he said he'd developed shin splints and his doctor didn't want him to be on his feet so much. 2 years later I bet he's pushing 400. Had a kid skip practice one because he had to go to the mall to help his little brother pick out shoes. Had a kid quit once so he could spend more time focusing on riding 4 wheelers. Had a kid quit once so he could go to JFL practice and "help coach them"- he was a freshman. Translation- my girlfriend is on the 8th grade cheerleaders. Had a kid quit once because he "just wasn't feeling it anymore". All 3 of those kids were in this past seasons Sr class. The 4 wheeler kid was the only one who didn't come back. The not feeling it kid came back as a Jr. Lombardi came back as a Sr. Not feeling it is the only one who is a remotely reliable human being. #farmerballproblems I hear you, Coach. Have heard many of those (or versions that are similar). Anyone who coaches small-school, rural football has my respect.
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Post by 19delta on Apr 23, 2017 13:17:58 GMT -6
kids literally bleeding, and fighting for each other and a TEAM is what separates football for other endeavors...no other school sport,IMO, can replicate it.. This is great. Deserves to be on a t-shirt!
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Post by 19delta on Apr 23, 2017 12:55:13 GMT -6
I disagree with the idea that football is for everyone, but I do think it's an interesting statement. Could you elaborate on your thought? Sure, football does not tell students that they aren't good enough to play. Basketball holds tryouts and keep the 15 best, baseball has tryouts and keep 30, on and on the list goes. When you come to football the door is open. There are no tryouts to see if your the 50 best to make the team. I realize there are some schools that only keep 65, but most have a hard time finding enough guys to play. So if you are willing to work, give what you have, and take the pain. Football will not reject you. In theory, I've never seen anybody actually do this, but you could have starters on Offense, Defense, KO, KOR, Punt, PR, field goal/pat, onside kick, hands team, or even FG block if you got real creative. That's 110 possible positions, and there's no certain height, weight, shape, speed, or athletic ability needed for all of these. Now, clearly it would be an incredible feat to have 110 different players in those positions, but even if you halved it you would be playing 55 guys in key roles during the game. and if you want to be 2-deep thats back at 110. Which lead me to football needs as many players as there are willing students to come out. Even if a kid can't play football for something like a medical reason, there is a place for him. We have film guys(girls), managers that do anything from water to setting out dummies and cones for drills. There are ball boys needed for Friday night. There is no sport as inclusive as football, the only reason a player can't make it is because THEY aren't willing. THEIR lack of effort can't and shouldn't be blamed on football. I have a son, when he's a teenager I will not force him to play football. But, because I think football teaches the greatest lessons he'll learn in high school, he WILL be involved in football. Whether that's as a manager, film guy, ball/water boy, or even my film tagger/data enterer, he WILL be at practice and around the sport. got long, sorry about that, hope it came out clear. Great post, coach. You nailed it. When I was in high school, I was a big, unathletic awkward kid. But I worked my butt off in the weight room and my coaches respected me. As a result, I earned a starting position on a playoff team for a school in my state's largest classification. Were it not for football, I wouldn't have had a sport to play.
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Post by 19delta on Apr 16, 2017 17:28:05 GMT -6
I like it. Think it looks sharp. Never been in a HS program with that luxury. My main question is how do you make sure its sanitary? Are they wearing the same stuff each day and throwing it in their locker after the workout? Only program ive been a part of that did this was a college. And each player had 2 sets of the clothes and laundry was done in industrial washers by students daily. Do you guys that do this have a similar set up? Our high school wrestling team has practice gear (t-shirt and shorts) issued to them. At the end of each practice, all the kids put their practice gear in a laundry hamper and it gets washed that evening at school and the next morning, one of the coaches throws it in the dryer. Then the kids get it back the next night.
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Post by 19delta on Apr 16, 2017 13:01:08 GMT -6
Forgot to add --getting bus keys from secretary and she acts they are the holy grail or something --the ERW's (Eat, Ride, Warmup) kids being a distraction --Cell phones --The JV guy that thinks the opposing teams varsity is going to be good because the JV Team got thumped the night before --The "its ok" kid on the team.. --The ERW's Drinking all the gatorade --The ERW's first in line for post game snack --That Parent that wants to be your friend but cussed you the whole night from the stands. --The parent that say's "You have to get ......the ball he was really good when he was on my 8-9 year old team" As you can see the list could go on and on about the things that most of us rage about. I dont know about yall but, I had a couple of laughs typing these. MAN I LOVE THIS GAME!!! ERWs..That's great!
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Post by 19delta on Apr 16, 2017 10:31:41 GMT -6
I have left some schools on good terms, others not. I take everything with me that is mine. I was the hc at one small school, I had chutes built for my line, had a set of old phones that I bought from a buddy cheap that they were getting rid of. I ticked off a school board member when I did not play his kid enough. So when I left I took my stuff with me. The next school I went to the old school called up my principal and asked him where those things went. He asked me and I said I paid for that stuff with my money so I have it. I've taken those chutes with me to other schools, best chutes I ever had. I understand taking stuff like that with you. But deleting computer files? That's something I would never do unless I was leaving on bad terms and wanted to jam it up someone's a$$. For those of you guys who have left on good terms but delete all your stuff before you go, did you tell the other coaches you were doing that? What if those guys liked your stuff and wanted to continued to use it? I think that is really petty. If anything, if I left on good terms but the guys remaining still wanted to use my stuff, I would view that as a heck of a nice compliment.
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Question
Apr 16, 2017 10:20:38 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by 19delta on Apr 16, 2017 10:20:38 GMT -6
Our DC left the staff after 1 season like immediately after we lost in the playoffs. He and the HC had philosophical differences to say it politely...Well around late December HC calls me and asks me where was the defensive playbook. I told him I didnt know, and come to find out the DC deleted the playbook off HUDL. It was his 4-2-5 defense and his terminology...but it appears HC was really upset about him deleting the playbook. My question is..was he wrong? When I talked to him he said No way he was leaving his playbook on there for our HC to steal. What are you guys thoughts? Doesn't matter if it's right or wrong, it's done. What are going to do, sue him? It's still $hitty and petty. But yes, there is nothing more than can be done.
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Post by 19delta on Apr 13, 2017 21:50:13 GMT -6
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Post by 19delta on Apr 2, 2017 7:18:30 GMT -6
Very rare in 1a and 2a ball in Illinois (the two smallest classes) to find teams that platoon. In fact, the best players seldom leave the field. Last year's 1a champ did platoon more than most (they only had 4-5 kids play both ways) but they had an unusually talented junior and senior class. They were loaded with tough and talented kids. Definitely the exception.
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Post by 19delta on Mar 21, 2017 19:08:58 GMT -6
I think this is being blown a little out of proportion, it's not like he put mustard & onions on it. +1 Chicago style....
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Post by 19delta on Mar 21, 2017 19:06:31 GMT -6
this reminds me of one of the all time great stories so back in the day of VHS cameras, the coaching staff was sitting around goofing off in the FH after a two-a-day workout, had one of those giant cameras that takes a VHS tape inside. So the guys are getting a little rowdy and one dude is filming "interviews" of all the assistants where they are saying off-the-wall crap. So the final interview goes to the HC who is asked "coach just why did they make you the boss anyway?" "cuz I got the biggest F___in C_ck in the state" he then proceeds to pull it out and show it to the camera everybody laughs and the tape gets rewound and kept in the camera to be recorded over with practice film next day. Time marches on and the season comes to an end, back in them days kids who wanted to make a highlight tape they had to go to a multi VCR deck and pull out each game tape and record the clips they wanted, so this one kids makes a team highlight tape to show at a house party and pulls a random tape out of the box to record it on....you see where this is going house party with team and parents....highlight video ends.."welcome to the jungle" fades away...few seconds of darkness, then the tape starts playing something else "coach..why did they make you the boss anyway?" nobody survived that one That's hilarious. Was he at least telling the truth?
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Post by 19delta on Mar 21, 2017 19:04:48 GMT -6
Only thing missing from that cook out is some syrup! That's great! Nicely done...
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Post by 19delta on Mar 14, 2017 21:30:40 GMT -6
I thought that was pretty tame. Admittedly, when I first heard the story, I was expecting something much more explosive. I was a little disappointed by what the guy actually wrote. With that being said, it certainly is more pointed than any resignation letter I have ever wrote.
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Post by 19delta on Mar 14, 2017 14:24:39 GMT -6
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Post by 19delta on Mar 13, 2017 18:34:24 GMT -6
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