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Post by grouchy71 on Oct 19, 2017 11:56:03 GMT -6
Only been in 1 OT game in 7 years, it was in a state semi-final game, Fed. rules, 1st and goal at 10. Won the coin toss, chose D (strongly advocate for this, arguments for O first don't trump the arguments for D). Gave up a TD on 3rd play, they kick PAT. We score on 3rd play, go for 2 and get it. Game over. At this point in the game, both defenses were tired, I didn't feel that we'd ever stop their offense. By being on O first, they had a much tougher decision to go for 2, it makes more sense to kick since if they go for 2 and miss it, we only need to kick. Once we scored, I wanted to end the game there, offense was carrying the day, we would have to now go on O 1st for the next OT period, giving them the advantage in my opinion. Plus, we were the road team and the underdog. Great success!
Grouch
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Post by grouchy71 on Oct 6, 2017 5:36:22 GMT -6
I'm cheating my productive time by being unproductive and reading through this thread, Thoughts? "Productive." Yes. Hahaha.
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Post by grouchy71 on Oct 3, 2017 6:26:38 GMT -6
Well said Dub. I believe in what you say, I just haven't been able to keep my focus there lately.
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Post by grouchy71 on Oct 3, 2017 6:00:12 GMT -6
I have a good friends who made that decision this year, said it was one of the best things he's ever done. After hearing that there is part of me that has been wondering about the potential of doing that in the future. The last few seasons have really been draining on me and am wondering if a year away might be a good thing. That said I have no idea with what I'd do with myself. My free-time is usually spent doing something for football. I've been having this gnaw at me a bit as well. Been coaching for 18 years, the last 7 as HC, in the middle of a pretty good run at the school where I teach, but the last few seasons have been draining, like you said. It's actually gotten worse since we won a state title, and it's almost all internal, just me and my head, not external pressures. Another poster in this thread mentioned that he doesn't quite invest as much (at least emotionally) in football since having children, I'm fascinated by this. Takes some guts to say that, for one thing, I admire the honesty. I have a 4 year old son, and I'm wondering what's going to be best for him? I've gone down the rabbit hole again this year, despite telling myself I wouldn't let it get to me as much. We're having another successful season thus far, but now entering crunch time and I feel like it's killing me inside. This can't be healthy. I don't have balance, I'm losing the forest for the trees, etc. etc., I know it, but I'm worried that I won't give our team it's best chance to win unless I'm all in. Isn't that what we ask of our kids??? I've fantasized about taking a year off, going to whatever game I want on Friday nights, relaxing and watching college ball on Saturdays, sleeping in Sundays... But I also like that my son has a dad who's a football coach and he goes to the games and gets treated like a little prince, it's really a cool deal I think. I've seen other coaches who seem to have loosened the grip on the reins a little bit, maybe gained a little more balance, and it looks like they're healthier and happier. The guys I'm thinking of have also gone from coaching state title contenders to middle of the pack type of teams, and I have a hard time not believing that the cost of achieving balance in your life is that you won't be able to get your team to their ultimate ceiling each year. Tl;dr: Waaaaaah. Grouch
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Post by grouchy71 on Sept 13, 2017 6:04:06 GMT -6
The pledge is said every single day over the PA in the schools here. Has been forever. It is then followed by a moment of silence. The students do have the option of not saying the pledge. I see all the time on Facebook how we no longer do the pledge in schools and it couldn't be further from the truth. I assume he is referring to the fact that the students have the option of not saying it and many choose not to. For the record, I'm all for the establishment clause and coaches NOT leading prayers although I myself am religious. I am also fine with the kids not being required to say the pledge although I myself say the pledge. Our heritage as Americans has always been that we are a bunch of anti-establishment rabble rousers who don't like to be told what to do and bristle if we are made to do anything. From day one to now. Being contrarian and independent minded is being quintessentially American. I am a rule follower myself and I have a tendency to be "patriotic" in the modern sense of the word, but I can recognize that the opposite attitude is more consistent with our history and our heritage. I'm an atheist football coach (not many of us) and I find it bizarre that there are still team prayers at public high schools. Having said that, I do the pledge of allegiance out of respect for sacrifices made by others for me freedom. RCole's post is one of the better stated things I've read on all of this in a long time, from someone who doesn't have the same religious views, it sums up perfectly my thoughts on the matter. Nice to see there's still the ability to share common ground, kudos. Grouch
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Post by grouchy71 on Sept 11, 2017 6:01:40 GMT -6
I appreciate all of the posts here about how you continue to do team prayers because it's always been that way, but IMO it is extremely inappropriate for a coach to be any part of a "team prayer" if he's working at a public high school. If it's a group of players doing something on their own, that's one thing, but to have a whole team event is compelling participation in a specifically religious ceremony. If you want to pray, pray in private, keep it off of my publicly funded football field.
Grouch
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Post by grouchy71 on Aug 24, 2017 9:56:55 GMT -6
I've been welcoming of these types of kids for the 7 years I've been a HC now. Some times it ends up causing me more headaches than I would like, but I've also had some phenomenal experiences myself and for the other kids on the team by enlisting their help in mentoring some of these types of kids. We all talk about the good that football can do for kids, are we putting our money where our mouth is? I'm not sure it's a popular sentiment, but I absolutely have different expectations for different kids on my program, and there are some kids that get a lot more rope, it's just something I believe in. The better, more mature players understand that there are different expectations, and I'll even tell them as much. I haven't had much in the way of blowback from this, though I could see a scenario where a kid who does everything right but is still pushed to improve on small details is wondering why other kids aren't held to the same standards. I don't know, it's an interesting topic, and I'm in no way 100% set in how I'm doing things, but I'd like to continue to be able to coach all types of kids, and I'm not sure it's realistic to have 1 set of rules/standards and hold all kids to it these days.
Grouch
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Post by grouchy71 on Apr 18, 2017 12:31:18 GMT -6
Bump for this, just got an email in my junk folder, anyone used these? OL magnetic mitts.
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Post by grouchy71 on Feb 22, 2017 11:10:44 GMT -6
There are some videos that I've never watched. I can't tell you how nice it was to read this. I'm not alone anymore...
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Post by grouchy71 on Feb 22, 2017 11:02:13 GMT -6
I love listening to Pat Fox. Guy is hilarious. Heard Pat Fox this weekend. Could hear him all the way down the hallway so I thought I'd check him out. He was good. Interesting and passionate. Maybe a little nuts, which I don't have a problem with. Big Pat Fox fan, though I haven't heard him in a couple years now.
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Post by grouchy71 on Jan 27, 2017 12:11:17 GMT -6
Man, after reading the title of this thread, I was hoping it was going to be a post about a bar fight between an OC and DC in a "who has the chalk last" argument on a napkin. Agreed. Thread title>thread content. Sad.
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Post by grouchy71 on Oct 26, 2012 23:54:41 GMT -6
3 words (well, 4, but I am using a contraction) that I have found work wonders in such situation
"You're better than that!" --as in "Hey now...Let's go (hand clap) You need to fill that quicker. You're better than that."[/quote]
Love this.
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Post by grouchy71 on Oct 24, 2012 22:33:23 GMT -6
Yelling is ok. Touching is bad Sent from my DROID Pro using proboards Is it okay to yell at a kid after he's been struck by lightning?
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Post by grouchy71 on Oct 24, 2012 0:04:22 GMT -6
Real good topic, I'm of the opinion that there is no correct answer, it comes down to you and your situation. I've been in this situation a fair amount as an ass't and somewhat as a HC. I've talked with others and gotten some strong opinions both for playing everyone and not playing anyone. Personally, I like to play the "deciders" you mentioned, treat it as any other game when addressing the team. Having said that, I've also found it helpful to evaluate where we are at, what we need to do in order to win in the playoffs, and emphasize the heck out of it: passing game, punt blocks, zone coverages, whatever it is, that automatically becomes the focus of the game plan, and I will even be less than honest with the kids and sell them on the theory that working on whatever aspect is important because of the team we're playing that week, when the reality is that it isn't something we need to beat them, but a team 2 weeks out. If a kid is banged up and could use a week off, I think it makes a lot of sense to rest him, I've tended to just sit a kid for the entire week rather than try to "limit" him. Just rest his ass if he needs it, i.e. coming back from sprained ankle, separated shoulder that could use an extra week, etc. Having said all that, it's hard not to try to win once the ball is kicked off and I think that's a good thing. The kids want to win, and winning and playing well tends to breed more winning and playing well, so although I mentioned a couple of "tweaks" we'll do schematically and with a kid or two, we still take the field with every intention of scoring more points than the other guy. Curious what others think too.
Grouch
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Post by grouchy71 on Oct 22, 2012 19:25:37 GMT -6
When I was HC I had a similar situation. It was a tough year and I had to make a tough decision to fire the DC because he was a good friend also. He stayed on as a position coach only and he was mad until the next season began. Once he saw the improvement in the D and in the positions he coached, he admitted that I made the right move. [/quote]
That must have been a tough move, surprising that it worked out so well, a credit to your friend and to the structure you had in place there. I like some of the thoughts of "if it doesn't improve I'll come down and give you a hand..." kind of giving a heads up and developing some urgency plus laying the groundwork for taking over if need be.
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Post by grouchy71 on Oct 21, 2012 20:41:59 GMT -6
For you HCs out there, I'm running into a problem this season where I'm not happy with the performance of my defense, and my DC, and even more specifically the performance of his specific position, DBs. I've tried to finesse my way into spending more time with them during Indy and Group drills, but I'm coaching LBs so it's difficult. The DC is aware I'm not pleased, he knows the specifics of what needs to be fixed, and he has a track record of success at other stops, but it's just not happening here. We're winning track meets and will be in the playoffs in 3 weeks, but we can't win there unless stuff changes ASAP. I kind of know the "Head Coach 101" rules for working with the guy, finding ways to insinuate myself into situations without ruffling feathers, giving him some directives for what exactly needs to be corrected, etc. but I'm wondering if coaches have ever had luck with either taking over daily control of a position or side of the ball late in the season, or throwing tactfulness out the window. Again, not looking to do this from a place of frustration, more from seeing a need to improve and it's not getting done yet, but there is still time to fix it. Kind of a rambling post, thanks to any who read it, any thoughts would be appreciated. Grouch
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Post by grouchy71 on Oct 15, 2012 19:38:57 GMT -6
Along these same lines this year we were playing one of the best teams on our schedule. We are down 32-14 with about 10 minutes left in the 4th, so they sub on defense, first play I ran trap and it went 78 yds. They go a quick 3 and out because they subbed on offense also. We ran trap again and it houses from 60. Well now the score is 32-27 with about 5 minutes left. I understood what he was doing but now the score is within one TD, and my philosophy is changing back. They put their varsity offense back in but now they were out of rythm and they go 3 and out, punt, we get the ball back with about 2 and change left, I run trap and it hits for about 30 - their varsity kids were fast enough/smart enough to take good angles and catch our RB otherwise they would have been in trouble. We end up getting inside their 25 with under a minute left and we threw a pick 6, which was open over the middle but it went up off the receivers hands and they picked it for the 39-27 final. After the game their coach was out of breath and I told him - don't worry about being sportsmanlike too much coach that can cost you, you guys just do what you do, you schedule JV games for a reason. I love that you pull the coach aside and mention this to him after the game. I fully support the holding the score down, subbing in 2s and 3s and displaying good sportsmanship. I've been fortunate enough to be in this position a fair amount and have always done things this way, however I have also been damn close to blowing a game similar to the manner you describe. It was my fault and my problem, but the reality was that at the time all I could think about was trying to display good sportsmanship, fretting about the score, trying not to annoy anyone, preventing my AD from having to talk to me, etc etc etc. We all know some coaches who will use any excuse to whine and complain after the game if, god forbid, the other team scores a 50th point, and it does feel like up in these parts (New England) it's gone so far in that direction that someone will lose a game due to this one day. Wish we had more coaches like DCOhio out here... Grouch
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Post by grouchy71 on Sept 9, 2012 21:31:32 GMT -6
Coach,
Fantastic topic, I've struggled with this in the past as well, and again a bit this year. I hate to say it, but a lot of it for us seems to be a need to do more "Team" periods during practice. I never liked going team, I always thought you just drill the heck out of the fundy's and everything else took care of itself. Coaches and players get lazy during Team, fundys suffer, etc. I've come to a compromise where the first and last thing we do now every practice is full contact 11v11 best on best. Especially with blocking and tackling, there's something about doing it in a live situation (ie scraping off a block, stumbling, getting spun around then finding the ballcarrier and being able to make a tackle) that can't be replicated fully during drills. Plus, starting with 11v11 is a great way to set the energy level for practice. Kids want to know if they made the 11v11 lineup for that day, etc. The other thing I've run into in the past is the kids taking "instructions" from the coach more as a "suggestion" for how they could play something if they so choose. A lot of this was due to my personality and approach during the week, and sometimes a nutty has to be pulled to help these young men realize that if I #$@!ing tell you to do something, that's how it is to be done, end of story. Just my 2 cents,
Grouch
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Post by grouchy71 on Jul 22, 2012 21:22:22 GMT -6
1. No cussing
-Wtf?
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Post by grouchy71 on May 31, 2012 21:00:33 GMT -6
The biggest advantage of platooning in theory is that each player spends all week practicing at one specific position, or at least one side of the ball. This is the advantage of doing it at the college level. The issue for most of us is that what most high school coaches envision for platooning is what people are discussing here where kids learn positions on both sides of the ball, but only start on one. In my mind, this negates the biggest advantage of platooning: the team practices more or less the same as one that doesn't platoon, the kids don't get extra reps and that much more improvement. The other benefit of platooning is that you get more buy-in from more kids, community, etc., at least in theory, and this is a valid reason, but in my mind it's not the primary reason and therefore makes platooning at most schools unrealistic and not the best option.
Grouch
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Post by grouchy71 on May 1, 2012 23:41:13 GMT -6
Piggybacking off of the 1 platoon sub thread coachhuey.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=52861, do people have any thoughts on how thinking about running a high-tempo no-huddle scheme on offense ties into this? My roots are no-huddle and did some high-tempo stuff at a college that sold me on the value of that. The problem in my eyes could be with burning out the hogs and wideouts if we go at breakneck or close tempo, and need some of these same kids to play on D as well. Are 1-platooning and high-tempo incompatible? Any suggestions or experiences with this? Not sure we'll have the depth, but looking at doing hockey line change-type things with all 4 WRs at times, and then managing OL on defense more than O, we run a 30 stack and can get away with smaller DL at times. Thanks guys, Grouch
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Post by grouchy71 on Apr 3, 2012 23:54:03 GMT -6
By the definition that I have received from others on this board, all HC's are sociopaths by the fact he is above questioning, and you are a bad assistant for even bringing the subject up. Glad to see that you now understand.
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Post by grouchy71 on Mar 19, 2012 22:42:32 GMT -6
Coach,
I feel for you, I'm in a similar situation entering my 2nd year as HC. The way I figure it, I needed to start with making things a positive experience at the high school, which we were able to do by and large last year. Some good word of mouth is being spread, starting to get a couple more kids coming out of the woodwork who want to play next year. We're able to keep the incentive type structure you described without any negative effects because it's positive in nature, it rewards those who do the work, without really "punishing" the others. I like the way you have that structured. The real issue for us, and I'm guessing for you, is to do whatever we can to get young people in the community playing football BEFORE they get to high school. This is a more complicated issue, one I'm working on now, and I have a lot more questions than answers. This is really where the biggest payoff would be for us, it would prevent us from having to scramble each year to recruit new first time players from the current high school population, that can be so time-intensive, and is really only a band-aid solution in my mind. I'd like to hear other's thoughts on this as well.
Grouch
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Post by grouchy71 on Mar 19, 2012 5:35:16 GMT -6
Turnover ratio is a pretty accurate indicator at just about all levels of football. Not sure if it's the chicken or the egg (bad teams tend to be sloppy, etc.), but it's worth looking at. I also like average starting field position, can tell a lot.
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Post by grouchy71 on Jan 25, 2012 2:17:20 GMT -6
My 2 cents would be to go to the better topics than a "big name" speaker if you don't have any inside tips that he's a good speaker. Some of the big timers don't put in the time and mail it in. Unfortunately, Noel Mazzone came across that way to me, as did Jim Tressel. Great to see somebody else mention Pat Fox on here, he is a fantastic speaker, well-prepared, and does a great job. Heard Bill Shackelford, HS coach from Georgia this past weekend and he was awesome as well.
Grouch
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Post by grouchy71 on Dec 22, 2011 19:14:14 GMT -6
My biggest issue this year was that I let one of my assistants push me around. I hated myself every time, but he was such a manipulative, aggressive, and confrontational son of a {censored} that I caved consistently. Speaking to the bigger picture, I have a hard time reconciling all the aspects of my personality into something consistent. I'm goofy, laid back, and more than a little sarcastic, but I find those things to be conflicting with traits that I see from a lot of top coaches (specifically defensive coaches), notably being focused, detail oriented, and intense. I'm also streaky. I work in furious bursts where I get a lot done, and then I get distracted by something else. I read through 4-5 books on something in the span of two weeks, then don't touch it for a month because I'm learning something else. I've the attention span of a caffeinated squirrel. I'm totally absorbed into my current acorn and OH LOOK! SHINY!!! Relate big-time to this post Mariner. I didn't have any problems getting pushed around this season (my 1st as HC), but I'm real aware that it's a danger for me, I'm still learning how to manage coaches and my personality sounds similar to yours, so I know I need to try to guard against this. I know what you mean about the non-traditional personality too, though I'm starting to think more and more that just because I'm not the over-caffeinated, screaming jackass type, doesn't mean that I'm not effective as a coach. There's no one way to skin a cat, and styles are always evolving. I know my head coach wouldn't be able to coach the way he did 20 years ago if he were still in the business these days, and even if he did, it wouldn't work that well. Anyhow, my weaknesses... not demanding more from assistants as far as keeping up the energy at the end of the season. Too many offensive wrinkles in the gameplan for our playoff game. Short-changed special teams as the year went on. I'm sure there's many more, but that's at the top of my head. Great topic, Grouch
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Post by grouchy71 on Nov 15, 2011 0:47:05 GMT -6
At an AFCA or Nike coaching clinic a few years back I sat in on a motivational speaker who addressed dealing with the 21st century athlete. The speaker suggested always correcting players by telling them what they did positively and ending with the negative. But, the negative has to be phrased correctly. Example: "Johnny, you did a wonderful job reading the down block from the tackle and squeezing him, NOW (instead of but) you need to make sure you spill the pulling guard to make us successful on the play." Yelling at kids for things they know they did wrong is pointless. We need to find the reasons behind the mistakes. Sometimes I find myself yelling simply because I am frustrated. Then, I try to calm myself down before approaching anyone to be corrected. My first reaction to skimming this quoted comment was to want to roll my eyes and tell myself how much more "old-school" I was than that. After all, I'm 34, a real old-timer. After actually reading it and getting over the "new-age" douche-chills (inappropriate?, common saying where I'm from), I realized that I actually coached this way for most of this season, my first as HC. I would use a little bit of sarcasm at times, but I've cut way back on this, I've used more of the "we NEED you to hit your gap so that ..." and a lot of making Hudl highlights out of every little hustle play, correct technique, any little freaking thing I could find. Kids absolutely ate it up. Partly because last coaching staff was much more old-fashioned perhaps, but I know that if the 23 year-old version of me was watching the 34 year-old version of me coach, he woulda wondered what planet I was from. Grouch
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Post by grouchy71 on Oct 25, 2011 21:32:27 GMT -6
Exactly to reinforce what we've already shown them. At the end of the week, we'll actually show film of us defending a certain thing in practice, then show film of the opponent running said thing. By the end of it, the kids are really well-drilled in how things will look on Friday night/Saturday. This is just a "reinforcing" thing though, we're talking a few minutes of selected film, not a whole other in-depth film session like Monday.
Grouch
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Post by grouchy71 on Oct 25, 2011 0:10:26 GMT -6
First year head coach here. So far through 7 games, I haven't given a pre-game speech. We return to locker room after our warm ups for a 12 minute "alone" time for the players, no coaches allowed. Then we walk to the field. I did suggest that one of our captains say something to the team prior to our most recent game, so at the end of alone time, he spoke his mind for a couple of minutes. As much as I know it's a part of what coaches are "supposed" to do, I abhor the pre-game speech. It doesn't last more than a play, if even that, it's cliched, stereotyped, and does not affect the outcome of a game. You want to have a good chuckle? Tape all of your pre-game speeches and then watch the ones where you end up losing/not playing well. How dopey does that look/sound in retrospect? I've coached with buffoons who are in the coaching business pretty much to be able to bully kids during the week and then mimic Al Pacino on Friday nights. Games are won/lost Monday-Thursday, not for 3 minutes prior to kickoff on Friday nights. Just my two cents, this is more opinionated than I normally am, but that's my theory. I do think there are better ways to do the pre-game thing than what I do, but I don't think a coach standing up and waxing poetic is it. Anyone else out there do something different?
Grouch
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Post by grouchy71 on Oct 18, 2011 20:48:29 GMT -6
We did this starting a couple of weeks ago when I wasn't pleased with how we were responding to a team that liked to chat a lot during games. I made an announcement that any player who was found to be talking trash to an opponent would be yanked from the game until I was no longer irritated with him. For example, a kid who was a model citizen all year, and had one slip up, I probably wouldn't be irritated more than a couple plays. A couple of the habitual head cases though, might irritate me to the point that they may not get in until the following week. To follow up on this we oriented the scout team to talk as much trash as possible and to let us know if the starters responded. Each time a starter responded, we'd have them run a lap. They figured it out pretty quick, and we've noticed a definite improvement in chippy games. Plus, it's a hell of a lot of fun for the scout team guys...
grouch
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