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Post by mattharris75 on Oct 29, 2009 10:19:31 GMT -6
I would, in fact, coach for free.
I've been at the school for 5 years. It's a private school with a shoestring budget. The first 2 years I received a stipend, but it wasn't enough to really matter. I enjoyed the game, enjoyed positively impacting kids, being a part of my brother-in-laws high school career, being a part of my alma mater, and all the other 'benefits' that I associated with coaching. I even told the head coach that he didn't have to pay me.
The last 3 years I've been totally volunteer, no stipend. Doesn't bother me at all. I don't do it for the money. It's a ministry for me, not to mention all the intrinsic benefits that I've received.
I totally understand that many people do need the money to get by, but based on your scenario I can say that I've been through it and continued to coach.
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Post by mattharris75 on Aug 31, 2009 8:16:44 GMT -6
Push as hard as you can and coach your tail off this season. But start looking for jobs ASAP, then if at all possible, leave after the semester break.
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Post by mattharris75 on Aug 4, 2009 8:44:28 GMT -6
We don't strictly 2 platoon, but our coaches philosophy is that getting playing time for as many kids as possible is good for the overall health of the program. Promotes participation, builds depth, and improves the positive attitudes of the student athletes and consequently the perception of the football program around the school.
We identify the QB's and the 'defensive athletes' first, with the idea that we can pretty much fill in the remainder of the offense with the guys who are left. If you can coach up a slow kid to run precise routes and catch the ball, you will be fine on offense.
Being a 2A school, we still have a few guys that start both ways, and all of the defensive starters also learn an offensive position, and in some cases will get quite a few snaps on offense. (Our HC has a track record of averaging 12-15 kids catching balls every game on offense) But every effort is made to play as many kids who can contribute as possible.
Our HC truly believes that if you really coach up one of the 'leftover' offensive kids, work with them, give them plenty of reps, then by mid season you end up with a kid that plays the position better than a guy who more may be more physically gifted than him. Not playing on defense allows those types of kids to focus and ultimately contribute. The result of that is rewarding for both players and coaches in my opinion.
I think this is a pretty balanced philosophy that is good for a program in the long term.
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Post by mattharris75 on Jun 9, 2009 12:13:34 GMT -6
Yep, since the beginning of the program.
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Post by mattharris75 on Jun 9, 2009 10:24:29 GMT -6
It's a phenomenal place to live, just do yourself a favor and become a Troy or a UAB fan if you decide to move here. That would greatly simplify ones life. Um, you know the rules here...doesn't matter who you're a fan/alum of...you MUST declare a side in the Auburn / Alabama rivalry. It's a state law. ;D I don't think there's any such thing as a UAB fan...Troy fans aren't very vocal, but they're very loyal! True, true... The head coach who I coach for has a great philosophy on it. He actually played at Auburn during the early 80's and is an Auburn fan, but he's a Tuscaloosa native, and coached there for the last 15 years. His rule is that he pulls for whichever team he has the most former players playing for. Currently he's got 1 kid on the Alabama football team and 2 on the Bama baseball team (one of whom, Chris Smelley, may take back up Football next year). None at AU right now, unfortunately... I guess we got a bit off topic, but I think the Tony Franklin thing is pretty played out by now anyway.
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Post by mattharris75 on Jun 9, 2009 9:41:36 GMT -6
Matt and OJW tell it like it is! It's June 9th, and the major topic of sports talk radio today will be college football. Maybe I ought to move there, then, so I wouldn't have to hear The NBA 24-7 on ESPN. It's a phenomenal place to live, just do yourself a favor and become a Troy or a UAB fan if you decide to move here. That would greatly simplify ones life.
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Post by mattharris75 on Jun 8, 2009 9:39:30 GMT -6
OutlawJoseyWales, 1 little point of correction. The Auburn/Opelika metro area is about 130,000 people. So, not quite as small as all that. Regardless, your point remains correct in that Alabama is totally football crazy, and that of that 130K, probably 2/3 of them (men, women, and children) would have been able to pick Tony out of a crowd.
I was a GA at Auburn in the Health & Human Performance Department some years ago, got my second degree from there, am an Alabama native, and have coached 3 years for a Tony Franklin System school. I would agree with the majority of opinions expressed in this thread so far with regards to the culture here, and the importance of football, statewide. All that said, I believe Spreadattack has hit the nail on the head.
It was a crappy place to work for a variety of reasons. He didn't fit the culture to begin with. He and Tubs both made a mistake in the hire. There's enough blame to go around. Move on and enjoy the new coaching situation.
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Post by mattharris75 on Apr 23, 2009 9:30:28 GMT -6
gre3nday, I wasn't trying to say that you were implying everyone should call off a call-sheet. I was just illustrating what I believe to be the benefit of film study and even charting tendencies, even when not calling off a D&D play sheet.
Also, I'm not saying that that your intuition is = to a play sheet. Simply that it is 'informed' by the film study/play charting. I think that's undeniable. Intuition is, in large part, made up from previous experience. Studying a team's film provides that first hand experience that gives context and understanding of what they are trying to do. This becomes a part of your intuition. Our brains make connections, it's how they operate. This is much like the IQ vs. ID discussion from several weeks ago, just with different terminology.
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Post by mattharris75 on Apr 23, 2009 9:02:26 GMT -6
For those that have said that they do all the analysis mid week then come game day it all goes out of the window and they call on feel. Why bother doing the analysis in the first place if you aren't going to use it? Seems like wasted time to me. I think that what most of them are saying is that they don't live and die by charts and graphs. I believe it's important to do film study and chart tendencies, regardless of whether you call strictly off a play sheet. The reason is that it 'informs' your intuition. It gives you a context and understanding of the other team that works at a subconscious level. And ultimately, whether or not you have any charts or graphs on the sidelines on Friday night, your brain uses that data. And that's a big part of what your 'gut' or 'intuition' is.
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Post by mattharris75 on Apr 21, 2009 13:02:59 GMT -6
[quote author=cnunley board=general thread=23314 post=281018 And one I cant believe no one has mentioned. This is what we come out to every friday night cranked as loud as it will go. KORN: BLIND (progressive music.....louder....louder.....LOUDER.....ARE YOU READY...LOUD LOUD LOUD) Makes me want to run through a wall just thinking about it[/quote] This is a great one! One of my linebackers listened to this in the weight room every time he was going for a heavy set on bench, squat, or dead lift. He would sit there and wait until it got to the "Are you ready" part, then he'd lift...Must work pretty well, he gained 20 pounds of muscle last year.
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Post by mattharris75 on Apr 3, 2009 10:57:58 GMT -6
I think the player component is absolutely vital to success. However, this discussion/model (not to be a prude) is really focused on COACHES and esentially the humility involved in introspection (self improvement to serve the players) Sorry, wasn't attempting to hijack your thread. With regards to self improvement, I know that's why I'm on this site. To soak up the experiences, both good and bad, of others so that I can make myself a better coach. My ID capabilities are certainly weaker than I'd like them to be, and I can't provide to my players something I don't have.
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Post by mattharris75 on Apr 3, 2009 10:45:16 GMT -6
Brophy, I see the application of this with regards to coaching. However, I think it's just as important with players, as shown in a couple of examples from previous posts.
In the case of our program, we've only been around for 4 years. 1 year of non-league play and 3 years of league play. With the exception of the first year of our existence we've been lousy on defense. Offense, to a degree, can be learned and played by rote. This is not the case with defense.
Our first year, we were athletically dominant compared to every other team we played. Defensively, we won by brute force. It was obvious in the way the kids played that, while they were good athletes, they hadn't grown up playing football and consequently they didn't understand why they were being instructed to do certain things. Because of that lack of understanding, those keys to future success just didn't stick very well.
A major failing with our coaching staff was not adequately addressing this issue. Instead the head coach/D coordinator attempted to overcome the lack of 'ID' by increasing the complexity of schemes. Still, without the ability to rapidly process what was going on around them and react appropriately, this was mostly worthless.
My terminology for this was to state that defensive football is a 'Learned Instinct'. I think this fits in line with exactly what you're saying with the chess analogy, and is equally important for both coaches and players. It needs to be cultivated in players, by their coaches, by way of film study, explanations of how all 11 guys are just different pieces of the same puzzle, etc.
This is still a problem for us, to a lesser degree every year, but if someone has any unique ways for teaching 'ID' to players, I'd love to hear them.
Good stuff. Thanks Brophy!
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Post by mattharris75 on Apr 1, 2009 10:02:55 GMT -6
Really? Wow. Spikes was just messing around it looked like. I'm certain he was, makes no sense risking your sure-fire 1st rounder on unnecessary special teams. But LBs returning kicks isn't crazy, UVA had one of their LBs take a few kickoffs a few years back. Ahmad Brooks, iirc. Heck, our best kick returner the past two seasons was a 260 pound defensive tackle. 'Athletes is athletes'.
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Post by mattharris75 on Mar 27, 2009 13:21:19 GMT -6
I would really appreciate knowing the enrollment of these schools so we can talk apples to apples. According to the AHSAA, our enrollment number is 168.8. This includes the 1.35 multiplier that private schools in Alabama get.
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Post by mattharris75 on Mar 27, 2009 12:17:39 GMT -6
Don't have all the numbers in front of me, but I can recall some highlights.
This is 2A Alabama HS ball.
Strongest Senior: Bench - 355 Squat - 385 (Kid is 6'1", 260 lbs, and was recruited by Troy to play center and longsnap, ended up signing a D2 baseball scholly)
Senior QB: Bench - 245 Squat - 335 (set a state record for completions in a game with 38, passed for 281 yards a game average, and is 3rd all time in state history in pass attempts and completions.)
Strongest Junior: Bench - 285 Squat - 405 Notable Junior: We have a kid who won the state powerlifting championship both his freshman and sophomore years for his weight class. He's 5'2", and 132 lbs. He benches 225, squats 345, and cleans 225. He's a real freak for his size.
Strongest Sophomores: We had a pair of sophomore running backs who squatted in the 350-365 range. The highest bench I can think of for this group is 215.
I can't think of any notable freshmen off the top of my head. We only had a couple that played this year.
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