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Post by coachorm on Jul 4, 2016 7:37:33 GMT -6
I can think of three right away...
First one was as a player in college, NAIA regular season game. Playing the team that won our conference that year at their place. Final score was like 52-48. NO defense invovled really. Both offenses had over 750yards a piece. We ended up losing the game and as an OL I have never been so tired in my life.
Second was also as a player, NAIA Playoffs. We had to go to St Francis, Ind.. Up 28-0 at the end of the 1st qtr. Defensive Coordinator decides to run his base defense instead of what he put in and ran the 1st qtr. We end up losing 56-35.... Not only did we lose but in November its hell frozen over cold up there.
Third was as a coach. Playing a team that had way more talent than us, private school, which is a big deal in TN. They scored 15 points in the first qtr and we didnt do anything. Second qtr we moved the ball better but still couldnt punch it in. Finally in the second half. We drove the field converting multiple long third downs and at least one fourth down. Scored and hit the XP. Next drive their D1 tailback fumbles then ball on third down. We get it and score the very first play. Up 16-15 after the xp.. Last minute of the game when its all over and they dont have any timeouts to stop the clock our QB comes over to me and says coach whats the call? I said kneel on it. He said coach what do you mean. The kid was so excited I had to explain to him that they could stop the clock anymore and the game was basically over as long as he held onto the snap.
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Post by coachorm on Jun 30, 2016 10:08:36 GMT -6
I have two....
This first was when I was a DC. We played a team that was pretty good but we felt prior to the game we could hang with them and beat them. I told the HC before the game if he could score a couple times I thought we could play good enough defensively to beat them. Defensively we played a hell of a game. Only gave up two scores. First one was on a FB trap and My Mike was on a blitz to the opposite side (dumb play call right?). The second was late in the fourth when our offense had given the ball over quickly again.
Second and probably the hardest was about 3 years ago against a rival. We went into the game 7-1 ranked in the state. The team we played, who is about 12 miles away, was 0-7 at the time. I was the OC in this game. On film this team was not impressive at all. They ran a spread offense and a base 44 defense. We start the game and they come out in double tight running Split back veer. We ran a 5 man front at the time. They destroyed us with outside veer. We couldnt stop it and as a coaching staff we panicked. Tried to make adjustments at halftime but nothing worked. Offensively we scored at will on this team. Just about everything we did worked. The game was high scoring, cant even remember final score. But the it came down to them driving down the field with under a minute in their spread formation. On fourth down our DE who walked on at a D1 program decides not to rush and to play pass coverage. He had a free rush to the QB for a game ending sack. Instead the kid scrambles and finds a wr in the back of the endzone for a TD with 4 seconds left. Since that game we have always been prepared for sbv everygame. Also that team, who still has the same coach, has yet to run sbv in a game again.
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Post by coachorm on Apr 5, 2016 8:41:47 GMT -6
Last two seasons we have been doing offense only days and defense only days. Works out really well for us. I think its easier on the kids to be able to focus on one side of the ball and just learn what they need for that side for a day... the only other thing we do different is sometimes at the very end of the day we will work some review stuff on the other side of the ball. For instance at the end of a defensive practice we might line the offense up and work on red zone conversions. Nothing new just repping our base stuff in a game type situation for 10-15 minutes.
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Post by coachorm on Mar 14, 2016 12:44:22 GMT -6
Our state is due to overhaul the classifications and districts in 2016. Right now, we have a handful of private schools who play in a Privates Only division, which is divided into 2 classes, but may Privates play with the Public Schools after an enrollment multiplier. That was recently changed and the new rule will apparently force just about all of them into the Private Division. For the public schools, we have the 32 biggest schools all playing each other in 4 districts, all of whom have guaranteed playoff spots (travel time for some of them is 2-3 hours for road games and 5-6 for 1st round playoff games--it cost some schools $10K+ to go to the first round and get beat because they needed to get hotels). The rest of the schools are divided evenly into 5 classes based on enrollment, with 8 districts per class and the top 4 in each district getting playoff spots. Non-conference games don't count. This was an improvement over our last system, which had 3 public classifications that got split into 6 for the playoffs, which . You had schools of nearly 3000 playing schools with barely 1000 kids in the regular season. The top 2 seeds were guaranteed spots, but then the the state used a very complex BCS-style computer ranking system to determine who else made it and what the seeding looked like. This was done to cut down on travel time, but everyone hated it. The state messed up the computer rankings two years in a row, which really messed with the schools involved. So now, the latest attempts to improve things has some ideas that seem weird to me. Some proposals they're looking at are: 1. Separating out Rural and City/Suburban schools (basing playoff seeding/classification on population density). 2. Separating schools based on booster club revenue. 3. Separating schools based on median community income. 4. Separating schools based on the size and pay of the coaching staffs. 5. Eliminating districts altogether and replacing them with huge "regions" that teams can draw from, which means a return to points systems. 6. Having different playoff/tournament systems for schools based on their records in the regular season. 7. Letting schools work together to create their own conferences/districts on their own--these teams may or may not be reclassified in the playoffs. 8. Using a computer to set districts based on shortest distance (popular with a lot of sports like volleyball, track, etc.). 9. Creating districts based on geographical boundaries by counties and cities. 10. Basing districts off "competitiveness," which apparently means some would move up or down based on record. Does any other state do these things already? If so, what's the experience been? Our last one was a huge cluster for football, but in the other sports (which play in a 3 class system, anyway) it wasn't as big a deal. Coach, just seeing that list of possible ways to split can I assume you took the endless survey that was sent out to all coaches?
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Post by coachorm on Mar 8, 2016 22:27:24 GMT -6
We do a position chart at he start of spring. Just so the kids know what indi group to go with. We don't want them to assume who is and isn't starting. Yeah Lil Johnny rushed for 2k last season and everyone knows he is the starter but we still want them to just look at it as a what position do I play. I lot of this is because each year we get several kids that have never played or didnt play te previous year come out and we just want them to have a little bit of a clue. It doesnt always help but sometimes makes for good humor. Like last year when we had a freshman wr going with the OL during Indi. We had it posted and everything but when we broke into groups he just decided his 125lb frame was better suited for OL.
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Post by coachorm on Jan 29, 2016 10:33:41 GMT -6
We meet as Coaches on Sunday from 2pm-3pm. Players then come in at 3pm and we watch previous game film and film of the next opponent with them until about 5pm. Thats it. We spend about an hour and a half on our game film and watch most of it. We spend about thirty minutes on the next opponent to show them primary alignments and favorite plays. Other than that we remind them to watch hudl on their own and watch any position coach cutups and notes we have for them on there.
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Post by coachorm on Jan 17, 2016 21:39:28 GMT -6
We didnt have this exact situation but last season we had a sr that had broken his collarbone his junior year and a junior that tore his acl his sophmore year. The seniors dad was completely against any of the overhead lifts and olympic lifts in general. We talked to him and gave him evidence of the safety and benefits of what we did in the weightroom. No dice he went to multiple doctors until he found one that would write a note saying his kid had to do a modified workout that the doctor and dad came up with. The junior just wanted to do half squats, and all upperbody stuff. SO we basically would just set those two off to do their own workout but still required to do the parts of our workout that they could.
Fast forward to this offseason.... The Jr is now a SR and we just had a breakthru with him. We added another station to our lifting each day that is basically a large muscle target workout. He gets to pick the exercises in that station with coach guidance and in exchange he completely does all of the rest of our workout..... So we gave in a little and appear to be getting a lot more in return because this kid is also one we are counting on to be a leader and he is starting to really step it up....
SO my point I guess is dont completely write the kid off cause he wants to do a different workout, see if there is a reasonable compromise that can benefit both sides, but that doesn't make it appear the kid is running the show.
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Post by coachorm on Jan 1, 2016 23:06:47 GMT -6
I would say #1 Is a player just getting his butt whipped. #2 A player has a brainfart that play. #3 The play I called is exactly what their DC wanted and expected me to call and his defense was setup perfectly to defend that play (guess you call that failure as a coach to go against playcall tendency at the right time).
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Post by coachorm on Dec 22, 2015 9:25:18 GMT -6
Few years ago we had a team full of a bunch of good ole boys. Kids that you could hang out with and goof off but when it came to football and playing they just couldn't do it. Offseason of that year we had a team camp at the school where they all brought tents and camped by the field. The first practice of camp we get an idea of the innocence of these kids when our starting center a senior doesn't get the joke of who rosey palmer is. Later that night our starting te at the time is proud to show us his flip flop that literally has a picture of dog crap on it. After dinner during a break a deer gets on the field, which is enclosed with a fence and only has three exits (all gates). The deer runs rampant for about 20 minutes, slamming into the fence multiple times. Comes within about a foot of trucking over crappy flip flop kid. Eventually it somehow got out. About 3am we got visited by a parent cause his kid decided to quit at that time and called his dad who wanted to talk to the HC. There were many other adventures throughout the year. The offense was so bad that year that the following year we returned the leading scorer who moved to center. we went 0-10... didn't even compete in any games. Also this was the middle year in a run of 20+ consecutive losses.
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Post by coachorm on Nov 24, 2015 22:27:50 GMT -6
I'm with Silk.... cancel thursday practice and do a walk through friday since you play on saturday....
Just another thought for the old HC..... if you do carry out this plan to go for four hours on thanksgiving day... does this game then become a game where win and you are a possible genius or lose and you are the stupidest coach to ever take his team that deep in the playoffs... just a thought.
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Post by coachorm on Nov 19, 2015 19:59:21 GMT -6
Love the ideas about creating effort. I saw where somebody posted about how they create competition during team time periods with the scout team. How do you guys keep the scout team guys giving max effort on a daily basis in 7 on 7, inside, team, etc.? One thing we have done during 7 on 7 is we made it down and distance and if the offense got a first down then the defense does push-ups including the defensive coach. If the defense stops the offense then the offense does push-ups including the coach. Made it fun and competitive. Especially when you get a scout team coach out there coaching his ass off cause he doesnt want to do push-ups. Of course that may only work well for us cause I am the OC and the HC is also the DC so during offense 7 on 7 he will run the defense and during Defense 7 on 7 I will run the offense.
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Post by coachorm on Nov 14, 2015 23:43:18 GMT -6
I agree with mariner... some kids just have it. This year we had our best offensive line ever. Main reason was we had guys on it that just had that finish you off factor.
One way we found to get other guys to play with great effort more was to make every drill and situation have meaning and real consequences.
Some examples: Offense Practice: During pass catching drills of any kind dropped passes equal pushups. During Team Period we have to achieve 7-10 first downs in a 15-20 minute period. We make this harder by calling the runner down if the Scout guys just get minimal contact. After that period if the Scout kept us from getting the first downs they get to take off a couple of sprints during conditioning and the Offense gets a couple of extra sprints. If the offense makes the first downs then that is what they are suppose to do and we don't do anything special for that.
Defense Practice: We run man coverage only so every four catches by the scout team sends the defense running to the goal post or fence and back. During the entire defense practice we expect 8 turnovers to be caused. They can happen in any drill. If we don't achieve those 8 then we do extra. And to keep kids from cheating with this the coaches get to decide if the turnover is legit.
Basically just try to make everything competitive with good and bad consequences.
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Post by coachorm on Nov 11, 2015 12:41:00 GMT -6
Yeah its getting bad out there... You can't even call someone a name anymore without it being considered bullying. I don't agree with or condone what this official did. At the same time we are just raising a generation of pansy kids that have had everything handed to them and never had to think for themselves or handle a problem on their own. These kids can't even cope with someone telling them they messed up. My fear is this great sport is gonna be gone and pulled out from under our noses before we know it because of the way most kids are raised now.
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Post by coachorm on Aug 21, 2015 8:14:47 GMT -6
My call sheet is one piece of cardstock paper. On one side is base personnel. Each formation has the plays we can and want to run out of it. Also each formation has a colored background so I can just look mainly at the color and know which formation I am calling out of. Front side is base offensive formations. Backside is what we call our EVIL personnel. Basically its our doubletight Maryland I and Power I we are gonna run it down your throat set. Pretty simple and never changes unless I get a wild hair and decide to add something one week.
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Post by coachorm on Aug 20, 2015 13:30:07 GMT -6
Have a similar situation this year. We have a DLineman that played a lot last year as a junior because we had 19kids dressed for most games due to injuries. This year we have 50 kids on the team and he is no where near the top of the depth chart. My suggestion is be up front like others have said if he ask you. Tell him he isnt rotating or playing because he just inst the best player or first sub at that position. More than likely he knows and just wants to hear that from you.
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Post by coachorm on Aug 7, 2015 10:26:14 GMT -6
We have one of those guys that is just gonna be part of the program forever. Not a coach but has been a coach before. He always has his opinion on things and likes to voice it a lot. So we had a scrimmage the other day and he gave us his take on it. He created a new phrase for me that I told the HC I was gonna start using during defense practice. Said our DBs need to "Swat Balls". Maybe it was just the context and knowing this guy but I still havent quit laughing from hearing that one.
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Post by coachorm on Aug 6, 2015 13:24:32 GMT -6
We as coaches discuss what we want to accomplish goal wise during each practice period. Then when we start the period we tell that group what we are trying to do. Another goal thing we started doing this season is on defense day the team has to create a set number of turnovers that practice. On offense we have a set number of first downs to achieve during team period. This is very helpful in getting them to go harder and take every rep more serious. With the fumbles and first downs we tell them we will add extra conditioning for every turnover or first down not achieved that day.
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Post by coachorm on Aug 6, 2015 7:46:02 GMT -6
Keep it as Simple as you can. Use dummies to simulate offensive linemen and emphasize correct alignment and base responsibilities. Use Indy time to work on reads. You dont have to use team to teach a linebacker or DL to read a downblock or pass set.
The other suggestion I would offer is recruit your butt off in the hallways. Last year we had the same problem... 17 kids dressing because of injury and lack of participation. We hit the halls hard. Had current players sending letters to players encouraging them to come out for the team. This season we currently have 50 out. You may not have numbers like that in your school but when you only have 16 kids every body you can get is helpful in some way.
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Post by coachorm on Aug 4, 2015 21:02:06 GMT -6
Our state mandates the last week of June and the First week of July off for all high school sports. So this is my time that I take off and do whatever I want. I am thankful for this time as it lets me spend more time with the family and have two weeks of not focusing on football. Still think about it and draw up plays and stuff, but its not my main focal point.
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Post by coachorm on Jul 30, 2015 12:33:59 GMT -6
If the OC has his chit together offense should not need more time than defense. If your offense needs more time then you are probably struggling on offense. Defense has to plan for a lot more stuff than offense. All we have to do is execute our plays vs 2-3 fronts. Defense has to defend multiple formations and plays.
As far as scout team on offense days we blow the play dead as soon as the runner is tagged by a defender. We also require a certian number of first downs during team period. Makes it tough on the first team an helps the scout team cause they realize all they have to do is get to the guy. We still encourage good form by scout guys but we also dont expect them to always make the tackle so we help them with quick whistles.
Defensively our DC does a good job of matching his calls to an offensive play that puts the defense in the worst possible situation they can be in.
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Post by coachorm on Jul 30, 2015 12:28:27 GMT -6
Sunday - Film and Light Weights
Monday - Weights, Install for O and D, then Special Teams, JV game if scheduled
Tuesday - Defense; tackling, pursuit, indy, inside or option period(varies), 7 on 7, team
Wednesday - Offense; Boards/Team Sled, Indy, Inside Drill, 7 on 7, Team
Thursday - PreGame Review Day
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Post by coachorm on Jul 25, 2015 12:22:53 GMT -6
On offense, if you don't line up in the shotgun with at least 3 wide you're a drooling idiot who has no concept of how the modern game is played. Even if you DO, but you chose to huddle, you're probably still a moron who can't spell his own last name. Nobody cares what scheme you run on defense. Which is sad because defensive prep is FAR more difficult than offense. I can actually confirm this..... We have been an I-Formation team for a while, dabbled in other things but always return to I. Anyway this season I kept my base pro I set, but took my twins I set and put the QB in gun and offset the I away from the TE to the Twins. This spring according to the fans I was a genius because we finally switched to spread. Also switched to NO Huddle. So basically we are an I -Formation No Huddle Offense. To our fans we are cutting edge all because the QB is aligned 4yards from the centers butt. I tell my kids we are a Sherman Tank that looks like a Lamborghini.
And as far as defense you are right no one questions the defense as long as you are stopping the other team enough to win.
Fans, are the base of some of the funniest conversations ever had in the Coach's Office.
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Post by coachorm on Jul 24, 2015 21:47:52 GMT -6
My take:
Defense: This was my first coordinator job. Preparing for the next opponent takes a lot of time. You have to watch film for tons of tendencies, you have to make scout cards for run period, pass period, team period... if they run option you have to do a special option period to make sure your guys have those responsibilities down. And God forbid one jackass on your schedule runs the UBSW. After a week of practice you get out there and your defense is playing lights out but no matter how good of field position you give that OC he just cant find a way to score. Game ends and unless the offense got shutout its the defenses fault. Been there and done that. Almost walked away from coaching because it was so frustrating to watch us lose cause we couldn't score.
Offense: current assignment: Preparing is a lot easier. Look for fronts, blitzes, and coverages. Figure out what situations they like to blitz in and where from. Practice week, rep your plays vs their defense. Gameday, this is probably the hardest part of the whole gig. Staying one play ahead of the defense to give your team an advantage. Good thing is if you can find a weak link in the defense you can exploit it hopefully.
Myself even though I am an OC, I feel DC is the harder job. If the defense has one player breakdown on their assignment it could be a score for the offense. If the offense has a player breakdown on their assignment it could still be a score for the offense.
I am glad I had the opportunity to do both. Has really helped me see the big picture better. Also doing both gives you a respect for the other side of the ball.
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Post by coachorm on Jul 24, 2015 14:32:22 GMT -6
Was at our middle school for a scrimmage once watching the kids an spotting the ball for the teams. I coach the DBs at the local high school. Anyway the other team scores on our team on a pass to the slot out of flexbone. I asked the Middle school HC what coverage they are in and he said man. So I told him the OLB didn't pick up the #2 wr and that was who scored. The MS DB coach comes over and says no the Corner should have picked up that guy... Mind you the corner is also simultaneously manned up on the #1 wr. I just shook my head an walked away on that one.
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Post by coachorm on Jul 20, 2015 22:21:18 GMT -6
Guys this is great stuff. dcohio as always you bring out some great stuff. Accountability and placing them in adverse situations is the key. I can't think of anything more really than what has been said but I will give some examples of things we do.
Today for instance was a defense day so the DC told our guys they had to create 10 turnovers during practice today or the team would do "extras" for every turnover we didn't create. We only hit 6 today so we had four extras.
At a team camp a week ago we had some issues with freshmen behavior on the bus so when we arrived we unloaded the bus and went straight to the practice field that just happened to have a sand volleyball pit. We did sprints and bearcrawls until they were tired and then we made them run 10 perfect ones on the offensive snap count. I don't know how many we actually ran but once they finally hit five we gave them some water and then came back to finish. Most guys said it wasn't the running that was hard, but the frustration of teammates repeatedly letting them down but knowing they had to pick that guy up and encourage him to get it down right.
Tomorrow is offense, more then likely I am going to tell my starting group during team we have to get 10 first downs in a row without turnovers in about 15-20 minutes. This will be fairly hard cause the DC is in charge of blowing the play dead since we can't go full contact and he usually makes us go all the way to 3rd or 4th down ever series unless we have a big pass. Really frustrates the offense but its good for them because it makes it more realistic vs the scout team guys and it makes those scout guys go harder when the DC says 4th and 3.
Like some others have said though putting them in adverse situations in practice allows you to correct when they react wrong and praise when they react right.
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Post by coachorm on Jun 11, 2015 14:51:44 GMT -6
Before this year we always tried to schedule our non-region games with the weakest opponents we could. So did just about everyone else in our state. Why? Because for the last few years our state playoffs have been based off of two things. 1st you got in if you finished 1st or 2nd in your district. After that everything was based off of number of total wins, then common opponents, and all sorts of other tiebreakers. So scheduling really tough opponents was foolish unless you knew that you had a really good team that was gonna make a deep run in the playoffs and wanted some tough games to prepare you.
This year that has changed. Now playoffs is simply top 4 teams in your district. So our non-district games this year will be teams that are on our level. This should give us decent games and if we happen to lose... Oh well... it doenst matter come playoff time.
So IMO, the big thing is where is your team and how does your scheduling effect your teams chance of making post-season?
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Post by coachorm on May 27, 2015 7:35:32 GMT -6
For us HC speaks. If you have something to say as an assistant you say it at the end and make sure it is:
1. Brief - the kids are tired and ready to go home, its not time to coach them up or hammer them for things they did wrong in practice. You just had two hours to do that. 2. Doesn't contradict the HC in any way. - make sure what you are saying supports what the HC just said. Don't go off on a different tangent or say anything that is opposite of what the HC said. Ex: if the HC just told them how well the defense played man coverage that day, don't rip into the left corner for getting beat one time. Sorry, but nothing irks me more than an AC over stepping his boundaries and trying to say things that just don't need to be said. Usually its younger guys fresh out of school or in their first 5 years of coaching. When they are still full of piss an vinegar and think they are gonna be the next Nick Saben, Jim Harbaugh, or Urban Meyer in 3 years.
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Post by coachorm on May 16, 2015 21:31:15 GMT -6
We have the same rule where if you don't come out in spring and stick with the team you don't play in the fall. We also look at each situation individually. For instance a kid that has to miss spring practices or scrimmage because he is playing baseball or another sport for the school in the spring and it is his still going on... that kid is excused. The kid playing AAU basketball... he is not. AAU basketball is not a school sport. The only people that play in the fall but aren't there in the spring are incoming freshmen because they aren't in the same building already. Personally I would tell the AD you are willing to work with kids missing cause of sports played for a school team, but not for kids that are missing to do non-school teams. If he forces you to allow AAU kids to miss and still play then I would say its time to start looking for a new job and head out when you find one. AD can be helpful but he has to have your back as long as you are being reasonable. If he doesn't or the administration at the school doesn't the kids and parents will figure it out quick and your coaching life will suck.
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Post by coachorm on May 15, 2015 11:46:17 GMT -6
I've heard the word PSI 12,538 times today. Given that there is so much talk about cheating, are there any instances where you have suspected cheating, whether it was your team or an opponent? I know that adderall use is absolutely rampant on my current team I coach. I caught a kid taking a fistful during warm ups one day and I know he didn't have prescription. Fortunately, he barely got in the rotation, but we hammered him nonetheless. We tried to set the tone, but I can tell when a kid who can barely get excited over a bus load of Hawaiian tropic girls suddenly is shooting lasers out of his eyes. In college, our db coach played for the eagles. He showed us about every trick of the trade. Everyone used silicone spray that was somehow both dry and slick. Quite a few guys were gassed up, even at the crappy school I went to. I am convinced that our current rival has a radio jammer. Our headsets are crystal clear everywhere else we go, but in their stadium, we would be better off with tin cans and strings. I am sure we have probably had kids try to cheat. I mean by nature we teach our linemen how to hold and get away with it. Isn't that considered cheating? I mean you can call it giving your kid an advantage but your still cheating because the rules say you cant hold. To the OP, be careful with that situation. You just stated you have seen kids on your team taking perscription drugs without a perscription. In our school if I saw that and didnt report it and then a kid had a reaction to it or something like that I would lose my job because I knew and didnt say anything. You may want to bring this up to the kid, his parents, your HC, AD or somebody. Teaching your kids how to hold an not get caught, or other things similar to that... yeah its cheating but its understood cheating. Knowing they are taking perscription drugs without a perscripition..... stupid if you dont stop it an say something to someone.
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Post by coachorm on May 8, 2015 7:18:59 GMT -6
One I did this week actually. We are working on going No Huddle this year. So for spring ball I set aside a period where we had two offensive huddles. I would yell a formation out and they had 6 seconds to line up in it. They had to line up in 3-5 formations with 6 seconds to get to each. If the entire group did it then they huddled back up and group 2 went. If they failed to make it in 6 seconds or someone went to the wrong spot that group ran down the field and back while kids not in either huddle planked. Worked pretty well. Warned them monday it was coming because they didnt know formations well enough. Wednesday we only had one mess up. Thursday we didnt line up wrong once. Have a scrimmage today so we will see how it goes now in a real game situation.
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