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Post by fcboiler87 on Feb 24, 2016 10:00:16 GMT -6
We do much like brophy. We do ours over 3 nights, 1.5 hours each. The first two nights are skill based. Kids do the warm up led by our high school guys.
They will then go through 8 8 minute stations. 4 offense - throwing, handoff drill, catching, and blocking vs bags as well as 4 defense - tackling bags, pursuit, ball drills and d-line hands on, rip drills. The last 15 minutes is a game much like brophy described.
We invite K-8. $20 per kid, $15 for second, etc if there are multiple siblings. Those are pre-register prices. $25 day of, $20 for second, etc. Kids get a t-shirt at the end. We have the high school guys lead the break down when we're all done.
The last night is a competition night. Punt, pass, kick. Then we play some more air ball like they did the first couple nights. We reserved the last 15 minutes for awards. I had our shop department create us some wood plaques. Each grade group had a winner for each competition. K-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 for punt, pass and kick. Kids love getting awards so it works well.
It's quite a bit of work on the front end but it's fantastic PR and made us over 2k at a mid sized school. This will be our second year so I am hopeful it will be better now that it is established.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Feb 23, 2016 15:32:23 GMT -6
I just have all of our youth campers sign a waiver form (okay their parents sign it). It just says we are not liable for any injury sustained in the course of the camp.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Feb 22, 2016 12:19:54 GMT -6
I will echo what funkfriss said in that if you are going to take over a struggling program, it's best to be from the outside. That way you are not attached to the whys of the struggle. If you are taking over a good program, it's best case to do so from the inside as an assistant and work to keep things going while adding your own spin on it. I took over at a place that was pretty successful and I was coming from the outside. We have been about where they were before I got here but talk about pulling teeth and attempting to get buy in. I had none from the first senior class and it's not much better from the next one. I realize that you are going to deal with that more than likely when you come from the outside no matter what. With expectations, people around you chatter, be it justified or not and the kids pick up on this stuff - he's not from here, he doesn't do it OUR way, etc. There are days I think it's getting better and days where it doesn't seem like it. But when expectations are high and you fail to meet it, you could be without a job. I'll get back to you on that one
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Post by fcboiler87 on Feb 22, 2016 8:05:58 GMT -6
Yes Indiana is pretty crazy on their transfer stuff now, especially with open enrollment state wide. It seems as though if it is a high profile transfer, the state is likely to come down hard on it. If it's just your average Joe, it doesn't seem to matter. I had 3 of them last year and let's just say I'd prefer to not take them anymore. They are transferring for a reason and it typically isn't a positive one. None of them made it through the season for us.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Feb 18, 2016 9:52:47 GMT -6
It was my first year as HC so I didn't have the long term relationship with those guys really. It's different with the underclassmen because I've been around them longer and know them well. I am doing leadership work with them and promoting being good men, etc through that so it's a process of that.
Just found out one of the kids is supposedly walking on at an FCS school. It blows my mind really because he was good for us but that doesn't mean a whole lot. Now I'm on the block for him not being promoted enough D1. I just don't see it at all he will get whipped in a practice with those guys. I'm not trying to take away from the kid just being realistic. I hope he does well. But I only found out through the grapevine, he won't even hardly talk to me.
Field level is great, but I've had no luck there yet getting anyone recruited. That's also being spread here that online sources are no way of getting your kids recruited because it's all a scam. I realize most of them are but this being through the coaches is completely different. I have made plenty of email contact with lots of schools but as is typically the case, I haven't received much feedback there.
Thanks for the feedback and keep up any other thoughts you may have.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Feb 17, 2016 9:53:36 GMT -6
I hate to hear that for you. But it's probably for the best. Supposedly our best guy is threatening to do the same. I don't actually think he will, he'd get lost at a big school in the shuffle. After dealing with all the buy-in issues and attitude/behavior problems and he decided to go, see ya. Obviously you want to keep a talented guy around, but at what cost if he doesn't want to be there? Don't get me wrong, I've had numerous conversations with him but sometimes they just don't want to do what you ask. Or, as you said, sometimes they are being misled to believe a bigger school equals more exposure. Sorry bud, you're 5'7 no high school in the world is going to make a difference on your height.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Feb 17, 2016 8:45:45 GMT -6
I searched and read some related topics, but I was curious as to how you help your outgoing seniors, if you do anything at all.
Truth be told, we didn't have many seniors that contributed last year, maybe 6-7. One of them has signed to play college football, and deservedly so. He's a good player who can be successful at the next level.
I have received flak for not doing enough to help them, and yes that's always part of the job, but I just want to know if it is justified. I don't really see any of them anymore. All of them dropped my class because they have no motivation to work out any more and it's for the best. Most of them don't like me anyway for one reason or another it seems and I know that's part of the deal since I was their 3rd HC in 3 years.
Do you take them on college visits? That has been suggested to me, but seems a bit much. Do you push them to play? Honestly, I don't think anyone of these guys really is a college level player besides the guy who signed. Not that they couldn't go D3 and be on the team, but I don't know that it's really the best thing for them.
I've emailed colleges, etc but never received any interest or feedback, pretty well confirming what I thought for most cases.
I get it that you deal with a lot of BS from people and things. That's fine, it's part of the job. Unfortunately, this is really internal, i.e. the school, so I pose this question just to see if there is something else or better I could be doing. Thanks.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Feb 11, 2016 14:08:48 GMT -6
I haven't been a part of 2 a days since 2008. It happened when I moved to Kentucky and at that time the schools were moving their schedules to a more balanced type of thing. We started school when you were allowed to begin the traditional 2 a day. But I also came into a staff who were air raid guys and did things short and simple and said they wouldn't do them anyway because there was no need for that much time. I thought it was great. Two a days may have been this traditional thing but it was sure a drag of a day as a player and even as a coach. When I came back to Indiana, schools had moved to the balanced calendar by then and again there was no room in there to be able to legally hold 2 a days. Now, as HC, we take the first 4 days we are allowed to practice and go for 2 hours and 45 minutes but even then that extra time is largely slotted for special teams install. We typically have a 2 hour practice and it'll be even shorter by the end of the season. Taking a page out of the air raid book, we practice no huddle fast and efficient. There really isn't a need for 2 a days or super long practices with the way we do things. Not to mention the summer stuff where you get plenty of time then too. By the time we hit practice all of our base O and D stuff is in. I just don't see the need for 2 a days now.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Feb 2, 2016 13:38:59 GMT -6
because you cant roll the sleeves up past the shoulders with tight sleeves duh coach! My bad I'm not 16 years old anymore so I didn't even think of that. lol Thanks for the responses everyone. Looks like I'll give A4 a shot. $10 per jersey if they don't make it outside of this year well then it was a good try.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Jan 29, 2016 10:14:09 GMT -6
I searched for a thread on this but all of them were 5 years or older. We need to purchase new practice jerseys. We had Champro and they were fine but our kids really would like the loose sleeve. Why, I don't know since they love the tight sleeve for the game jersey but whatever. I don't wear them so whatever makes them feel better. A lot of the brands come with the tight sleeves. One I've found that doesn't is the A4. I know A4 is a cheap brand, and these jerseys are $10-14 a piece, which is a good deal. Anyone have any experience with them. Does anyone have any recommendations for a specific brand? Thanks.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Jan 28, 2016 8:03:03 GMT -6
Haven't seen it on here yet but I know of a fair amount of teams around here that watch film on Saturday morning and then Monday after school of the upcoming opponent.
We do not do that, as I do not believe in bringing kids in on the weekend to give them some time off and keep them fresher. I am the only teacher that coaches here so our practice time doesn't start until 4 to make sure all lay coaches can get there. It allows us time to watch film after school. We watch previous week's film on Monday for 20 (10 O, 10 D) and the upcoming opponent on Tuesday, again 10 O, 10 D. Like someone mentioned above I subscribe to the no more than 20 minutes at a time philosophy. I think it worked well for us.
I do film cut ups and playlists that I send out via hudl. Some kids watch them and some kids don't. Of course we'd like all our athletes to watch but it's just one battle I've chosen not to fight and hope those kids get it out of the time we have together.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Jan 24, 2016 9:03:30 GMT -6
Did efootballflix get rid of the coach's choice content and replace it??? Hey Coach!! I work closely with the eFootballFlix property and wanted to give just a little information on the site and new content. There was a chance to get some new content from American Football Monthly and we wanted to provide our users with the most up to date, fresh information. We want to make sure that we constantly do the best for our coaches and felt that adding this new content would give our coaches a chance for some newer, up to date information in the world of football. I am happy to hear any and all feedback on the new content, and if there is a specific topic that you are searching for that previously was there on eFootballFlix with the Coaches Choice content and doesn't seem to be addressed with the new American Football Monthly content, let us know. We want to make sure that all of our coaches have access to the most relevant and up to date content, and if a topic isn't there we will do whatever we need to make that happen. Thanks Coaches!! Just a few things I have noticed... The entire "Wing-T" section is not traditional wing-t. It's all spread wing-t, fling-t and spin stuff. No true Delaware type stuff. There is nothing in the Single Wing section. You click on it and it's all Double Wing stuff. There are no videos under the 46 defense section.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Jan 18, 2016 9:53:05 GMT -6
Reading this thread makes me feel a little better about our situation here.
To the OP, just be glad that you aren't facing that from one of the most influential people in your building.
I had no idea when I came in here what I was getting into. I made a poor assumption that strength programs at schools were all similar. Well, they are from all places I've taught and any other school in our league I've been around or talked to. But not here. No way, we are _____ community. We do things our way. Nevermind that your history is terrible.
I was hired to implement a strength program within the school. So I did. The emphasis was on strength. It was adapted from Coach Vanderbush that is an incredible resource on here. I've studied for years for my CSCS and it is all derived from their research. I was given the impression we had little to no organization and it was the whole reason I was hired, which to a good extent was true.
But apparently the previous SC guy was basically a crossfit guy. I get 6 months into our first year and then come to find out he's tried to blast me to everyone in the community. People are dropping my class left and right because he tells them all that they will get hurt. I had no idea. It really hurt my reputation. I blame myself for not getting more of an idea of what was going on before, but at the same time you can't control crazy people. I worked to show them and sell them on why we were doing what we were doing, but it largely fell on deaf ears.
I've worked to incorporate a lot of the things they do as part of some circuit work. It's a fine addition to the strength aspect of things. Mainly things with kettlebells, ropes and med balls. And it helps with the buy in.
My suggestion would be to work to incorporate some aspects of it to sell the kids on. As Coach Floyd and others have said, that's what we have to do is be good salesman. Adding some circuit work that is similar to crossfit on top of your strength regimen isn't a bad thing and if nothing else is good conditioning.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Jan 14, 2016 13:45:41 GMT -6
We are a small school that has just the numbers to do it. This was my first year as HC and I felt it would be a great way to develop our young guys since we don't have freshmen teams in our conference. Our JV is mostly freshmen and sophomores. It went well and was good reps and development for them. The other big reason was to keep the young guys away from some toxic upper classmen. We got rid of a lot but it was still good to keep those young guys doing their own thing. For my second year things should be much better as a result both from a knowing how to act as well as developmental standpoint.
In practice, everyone had INDY periods together, then we split for all group periods. Even during scout period, we had enough to use our guys who were either mainly defensive guys or just backups to fill in scout team and we did not disturb the JV practice.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Jan 14, 2016 7:59:40 GMT -6
Yes they do. I contacted them about it. The only down side is you can only put up to 8 items in that type of store. The good news is they can order it online, have it shipped to their house and you never have to deal with anything. I've done a fair amount of research on prices and the graphic edge has been very competitive on all things and typically the best price depending on what you're looking for. I don't think I will end up using them for our team gear though because our local sales rep is setting us up with something similar and is getting us comparable prices. I think it's important to take care of your locals if you can and they aren't ripping you off. However, I do believe I will order practice jerseys from them because no one around here has beaten the graphic edge price.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Jan 13, 2016 13:15:10 GMT -6
At AFCA this week, it turns out that Coaches Choice is coming out with streaming for their entire library starting sometime in the Spring. That would be excellent. Maybe we can get it instead of efootballflix with our Glazier Pass instead!
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Post by fcboiler87 on Jan 11, 2016 10:25:01 GMT -6
Just went on eflix. Don't like the new format. The Coaches Choice videos seemed to provide much better instruction. Agreed. If you go to look at wing-t videos, none of it is true wing-t, just spread wing-t and a bunch of other variations. It's disappointing. A lot of the coaches choice videos were older, but still great material.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Dec 22, 2015 8:09:34 GMT -6
Definitely not a good idea. We do as others have mentioned. I keep track of attendance as well and keep what I call the "Ironman" club. If they get 100% attendance in a month then I post members of that club on twitter/facebook. Those kids will also get t-shirts.
I'll be honest though, our attendance isn't real good. This is my first full off-season here and it's a complete culture change. There are people all around us saying they don't need to do much, parents don't get it, we're ____ HIGH SCHOOL. We've had some success in recent years so the entitlement is through the roof. I can tell it's changing slowly but surely because our good attendance comes from 8th-10th graders (next year's 9th-11th). And that's all it is, it just takes time. Set your expectation and don't go back.
Sad thing is we've got some talented to be seniors and could be good but if they don't get in the weight room it won't be that way. After last season, if those guys don't show up, they won't play anyway, we learned our lessons the hard way last year.
We will also reward kids with getting equipment first this year. We are also doing a team points competition on top of the individual points and that team will get a reward as well (they will decide). Plus if they don't show up all off season they won't play. It's not that we necessarily have the cats to make this work but they expectation has to be set that you need to work in the offseason to earn your spot.
Also, we do not require other sport athletes to lift with us. Most of the kids are in class and get a lift in there but we can only lift 2 days per week there so we have to supplement after school. If they're in another sport, they get points for doing so.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Dec 14, 2015 12:25:21 GMT -6
We practice for only about 1 hour and 15 minutes on Monday. That's JV night so we only have around 15-20 kids depending on injuries. We go for 2 hours and 15 minutes on Tuesday/Wednesday. Tuesday is 1 hour 10 minutes offense, 50 minutes defense and 15 special teams and then Wednesday it's opposite. Thursday is 1 and a half hours. It's a game simulation where we go through special teams and situations and drive the offenses (scout and ours) up and down the field.
By the end of the season our Tuesday/Wednesday practices were only about 2 hours.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Dec 9, 2015 7:12:16 GMT -6
I thanked the parents at the banquet for being there and supporting their kids, even if it isn't necessarily true. I also thanked them for their support of the program, again be it true or not. The real "thanks" I give is to our sponsors. They are the ones "supporting" us with the $$$. So I do write them a thank you letter just letting them know how much we appreciate what they do and explain how it helps support our program. Otherwise, larrymoe is largely spot on. What is this "sponsors" you speak of? I know you co-op so you probably don't have many business that want to support multiple schools but we are a community school and there are lots of businesses willing to put a good amount of money into our program. We print their logo on a poster we give out so it's advertising for them. Works out well.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Dec 8, 2015 15:27:37 GMT -6
I thanked the parents at the banquet for being there and supporting their kids, even if it isn't necessarily true. I also thanked them for their support of the program, again be it true or not.
The real "thanks" I give is to our sponsors. They are the ones "supporting" us with the $$$. So I do write them a thank you letter just letting them know how much we appreciate what they do and explain how it helps support our program.
Otherwise, larrymoe is largely spot on.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Nov 5, 2015 17:52:22 GMT -6
I've been at my current place now for 2 years. I have never seen so many shoulder injuries in my life. I've encountered 10 kids with "severe" shoulder injuries. 4 have had complete reconstructive surgeries. Not one of them has occurred since I have changed the strength training program, but there are still several of the kids left. Very strange. We got a new trainer this year and she was blown away by it too. She had never seen anything like it.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Nov 5, 2015 8:47:35 GMT -6
Lost last Friday 28-8. Fumbled the ball THREE TIMES on the 1 yard line, lost two of them. Trailed 14-2 at half with one fumble on the 1 in the 1st half and another TD called back (on back to back plays) for penalties. Tough loss, but we played as hard as we could, just couldn't overcome our mistakes. One that stings, but won't rot in your gut for the next year as we had about as good an effort as we could give. A few people have contacted or asked about our leadership group stuff. I've thought about writing an article on here about it. Is that something that would interest people? If so, advice on how to go about doing it? I'd definitely be interested to read it. We will be doing something similar so to see how someone else is going about it would be great. Thanks.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Nov 3, 2015 8:20:14 GMT -6
That's funny I did the same thing. Didn't upload the film until last night. Heard from a bunch of them. Coach when is the film going to be up? Coach are you mad?? lol... no guys I just wanted you all to take a weekend and relax. So did I.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Nov 2, 2015 11:46:50 GMT -6
At first I thought you were on my staff!
It was just one of those years... but it was my first year as HC so it was a transitional year. We had a decent year but had all the things you described. I enjoyed being an HC but it was the worst group I've ever been around. Our young kids we had practicing separate so they were shielded from the BS as much as possible.
It's going to be a get in or get out off season (my first full one). There is no other way to go about it.
I did nothing related to football this past weekend after we lost. I spent some time with my family and just watched football on TV. It was nice and relaxing. Now it's back to work today preparing for the banquet, equipment turn in, etc.
As many have advised me on here, just keep working, get rid of what doesn't need to be there and stick to your guns.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Oct 23, 2015 8:00:57 GMT -6
I had a parent post this article to our Facebook page and it they insinuated we should be taking note. I was almost offended and then I thought back to the fact that it was a parent who probably doesn't pay any attention to what we are really doing.
It is a great article and is certainly what we are about. We hold kids to high standards. We've had to suspend and get rid of numerous kids in the name of these things. We are constantly preaching and are often able to show the impact of your off the field decisions. Football is about life in so many ways. Many of our guys are buying in and understand that with all they've seen.
Perhaps the parents should take note!
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Post by fcboiler87 on Sept 30, 2015 9:14:11 GMT -6
This is my first year as HC and we are two platooning our team by JV/Varsity. I hadn't really heard or seen it being done, but after last year watching 25 JV kids stand on the sideline for the majority of practice and not get better, I decided I wanted more for them. We are fortunate enough to have enough staff to manage this. What happens is everyone does Indy time together, but then we split from there. 7 on 7, Inside Run and team are completely separate. We have just enough kids to have a full scout team for Varsity and JV. We have 3 coaches with the JV and 6 with the varsity. I do like how it has worked out for us, as everyone is getting a ton of reps. Our JV isn't the most talented team and are 3-3 on the year, but could easily be 6-0 as they've lost games only by a few in each.
Does it make the difference? I don't know. I'd like to think that them getting much more attention has helped them to be better. I think it does. If we just rolled those guys out on Monday night like many do, I don't know that the results would be good. Maybe it would be the same. I don't know. But I do know even that little freshmen who isn't very good gets some reps somewhere and maybe he will turn out to be better because he got time and felt it was worth his while to continue to play.
We will see over the course of a few years here. But so far I do like it. If you have the capability to do it, I think it's worth your while.
I will say there are times where a JV kid is on varsity special teams or if we need a scout player due to injury it might create a cluster over there for the JV coaches but their job is just to keep rolling with whoever they have and work on getting them better.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Sept 23, 2015 10:54:24 GMT -6
I've given up trying to figure it out. Of course I always push for great practices, focus, etc. But it seems like how we practice is barely related to how we play in the game. We do have a bunch of "Gamers" who think they'll just turn it on Friday night and be good to go. Sometimes I think we're like that as a team. We haven't had many real poor practices but we've had bad weeks and been fine and then we've had real good days and seemingly meant nothing. I'll never stop pushing to have excellent days and great focus, but some days they just don't have it. We usually come out and start well. The only thing I've noticed is we play better when we win the toss so we can elect to receive. That's where our juice comes from for sure.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Sept 23, 2015 10:47:24 GMT -6
We had a kid on our freshmen team at another school I was at that was a real good kid but just didn't have a place starting on the field. We had 30+ freshmen so it was easy to get lost. We had a really good team and the kid spot played some defensively. He wasn't bad, just not as good as those in front of him. We had a stud at RB, but a kid who had been that way his whole life and he was one of those kids you just had this bad feeling might not make it at the varsity level. Sure enough, the next year, this RB was falling out of favor because he didn't work hard, hadn't improved, etc. This freshman who barely played busted his tail all off season and ended up being a varsity RB as a sophomore.
I tell this story to my young kids to motivate them for the off season. It's an unlikely chance, but it happens.
Heck at the place I'm at now we had a kid that didn't play as a freshman on the JV team last year because he wasn't very good and this year he's our best JV player because he busted it all off season long. So it can happen.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Sept 22, 2015 6:58:34 GMT -6
Been there, done that. Last week in fact. I am the third head coach in 3 years, so understandably the seniors are struggling with me. It's gotten better since we've won some games, but that animosity still exists. More and more young guys are playing and many are seeing the writing on the wall. We have one suspended this week and may not make it back from that. As many have advised me on here you have to have your expectations set and ensure that the poor attitude of the seniors does not trickle down so that you set yourself up down the road.
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