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Post by s73 on Apr 23, 2017 16:44:55 GMT -6
Friend of mine had a kid try to quit on him & he told the kid the deadline to quit was last week and the kid stuck out the rest of the season.
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Post by s73 on Apr 21, 2017 16:22:50 GMT -6
Again, I think you are mixing two things though. I don't know that anyone here is supporting the idea that it is optimal for a HC to disregard suggestions. The discussion here originally started as a "what does a HC do once he makes a decision, and the asst don't let it go" If a HC is presented a better idea, and chooses not to implement it, that's on him. His loss. But for a program to function, what the HC says must go. It isn't being presented as that, in the least bit. There isn't a bit of confusion with what is being said or 2 independent things being said. What business wouldn't maximize the entirety of the labor force that it has? Additionally, there isn't a business in the world where there is a hiring for a position and as stated a few times are educated, credentialed professionals asked to "prove themselves" or be a "good soldier" in what could as randomly be the best or worst situations out there? Look, I went through the early years of my career believing all of these axioms as truth like the rest of you, but why handcuff yourselves? And really I asked and compared it to business because it is applicable since this is our livelihood (or a portion of it). It's not even a real problem that I am in the minority. As to a later poster and movement up the ladder, who's to say when that time is right for you and your family? Or what preparation amount or type is the right type? If you get opportunities no matter how rapid to move up, is it a faux pas to take it? These things really come to light when there are struggles faced probably with the base stuff correct? This doesn't seem to be the characteristics of situations where things are going particularly well. Again, I'm not really confused as to what is being posed here and I don't confuse any questions of the status quo to be discontent, misguided, or wrong. I have to agree w/ coachD on this one. Not sure what you are saying exactly. Not all coaches are created equal & IMO there is no substitute for experience. Here's my experience & where I'm coming from. We had a season where we were struggling some on offense. We were running the same system we ran the previous season and averaged 30/ game. Talent was similar to previous season but teams we were playing were maybe defending us a bit better than the previous season. On Saturday I sit the staff down and look at film and start recognizing our fundamentals are not as good as they were the year before. I immediately recognized that we needed to improve sustaining blocks as well as some missed assignments. Young guy (2nd year coach) chimes in with "some ideas" he's been going over. These ideas included a HB pass (I coach the line and he did not know how he wanted it blocked) in which he did not know what coverage we would be facing next week or match ups. The next suggesting he had was a reverse & reverse pass (again w/o viewing film of next opponent, not even knowing if they would be over playing pursuit, and again not knowing how to block it b/c he didn't know what front we would be facing). The next suggestion was implementing a 5 step game & extending our passing tree. I said, why don't we work on getting better at our base stuff first before we add a bunch of stuff. He became pouty and withdrawn. Later he approached me in private & said he didn't feel he was getting the "voice" he wanted. I told him I didn't feel he was ready for all that. I asked him several basic questions related to our current offense and he had a lot of trouble answering most of them. I told him when he had mastery of what we currently do then we can start looking at some of his "ideas'. I have other guys w/ more experience & knowledge who have made several suggestions related to our defense and coverages in particular that are helpful & involve CONTINUITY to what we are doing. I have approved many of these suggestions. I think this is a reasonable and rational approach to my staff & disagree it is archaic in anyway. If the first guy wants more say, learn the game better & make suggestions that have CONTINUITY to what we are doing & don't involve me having to develop extra schemes to make them work b/c he doesn't know how to make them work he just thinks the plays look real SLICK ON PAPER. JMO.
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Post by s73 on Apr 21, 2017 5:49:41 GMT -6
According to the article I read the forfeit by Dunbar due to the ineligible player (they had to forfeit previous game as well) changed the point structure of the play off system & cost the other team a spot based on points.
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Post by s73 on Apr 20, 2017 20:34:51 GMT -6
What was the incentive for allegedly throwing the game? Instead of just one school in the district making the playoffs, 2 would and possibly there would be a home game making the district some $$$$. I found a 2nd article that says what you said above. It also mentions Mark baker who is the DPS AD (for the district) who told Dunbar at half to throw the game so both could make the play offs. Then the first school would not have to report the ineligible player.
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Post by s73 on Apr 19, 2017 19:15:17 GMT -6
Curious about your age. I am guessing < 30 I have to disagree with your first statement. How else would a program, or most any organization that needs to constantly make decisions operate? I think you are confusing two issues : 1) The head coach is in charge and what he says goes 2) The HC is infallible and clearly the most intelligent and "best" coach on the staff and therefore should make all decisions without regard to anyone else's opinions or experiences. The 2nd point above is simply bad coaching, not an archaic or outdated opinion. It has never been good coaching. The first point is just the reality of any hierarchy based organization. Someone HAS to be the final decision maker. Over 30 by a few years. It's been the tone of everything prior to this that I've read on this thread the HC is a hybrid of the 2. Of course he makes final decisions & of course he handles administrative duties, but the leadership component doesn't have to be inherently standoffish. It almost seems as if the easier path, guys that just nod yes in agreement would be preferable to the usually more effective approach, a smart group of guys who challenge one another to be better. The hardest and almost impossible thing to do in the world is positionally eliminate contributions while asking for blind loyalty, and that's not reserved for coaching, that's in anything. Again if it meant greater success or increased productivity and "what the HC says, goes", as the HC I would just change what I said... in all things football scheme and personnel wise You are not presenting my position correctly. I said above, I want a guy to SHOW me he can coach first. If he handles position duties well early on and shows some maturity with kids, etc then we move to the next phase. Unfortunately....many young guys want to jump to the X's and O's immediately & few realize it's not just what you can draw up on paper but what the kids can handle. Furthermore, how many inexperienced guys have the wisdom to understand adjustments and how to handle them? Too many cooks spoil the stew and IMO too many young guys want to appear at the top of the ladder instead of climb it. Not all, but I've had quite a few & I find it irritating. These are my experiences & as a result have influenced my opinions.
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Post by s73 on Apr 17, 2017 19:45:30 GMT -6
I've known a lot of guys who claim they don't want "yes men", but instantly go on the defensive anytime someone challenges them with a different idea. I think issues arise when A) HCs rely on their authority to be trump card (I'm right because I am the HC) and B) when assistants don't accept that being the HC is the trump card. Starting with point A, if you are a HC and you are claiming to be open to advice or challenge, then you better be able to defend your opinion empirically with logic. If you have to just talk over the AC or hold authority over him as the key to winning the debate then why even ask for advice. Conversely, for point B- if you can't accept that the HC will justify some decisions based solely on his position then don't coach for him. This is why I prefer to work for HCs who say from the start, "I appreciate your knowledge, but we are gonna do it this way." Maybe because thats how I always do it too. Thats my problem...I can deal with the fact that HC has final word...what I dont like is when he tries to engage in debate and starts to lose...then goes..."Bottom line...we essentially gonna do it this way because this my ship and my name is behind them wins and losses" If you want to do it your way and you don't care that it's his name on the line then get your own job. It's easy to phuk it up when you don't have to talk to reporters afterwards, answer parent phone calls and explain to the AD why your team looked like such a friggin' cluster last Friday night.
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Post by s73 on Apr 17, 2017 17:22:43 GMT -6
First off, I WANT YES MEN IF......they are young inexperienced guys who have a lot of learning to do. Have had a few guys in my tenure that have little experience but still want an equal voice. I know this can be controversial to say, especially around younger coaches, but when I was coming up I had to pay my dues and some of that involved keeping my ears open and mouth shut. ESPECIALLY if that guy hasn't opened our playbook or viewed hudl film or been in the weight room since the day the season ended. NOW...if a guy with some experience and previous success and preps the right way has an opinion? By all means. With that said, it crosses a line when you disagree & think it's over with and find out he's still b!tching about it after the fact to other staff members. JMO. See, I disagree with this thinking. I understand what you are saying as far as earning the right to speak and have a say, but I disagree with it for two reasons. First, if you were hired by the HC then that HC believes you have something to contribute. You'd be surprised what you can learn from somebody who "doesn't know anything" about the game. Case and point would be that in the past I have given my brother access to Hudl to watch our games and give me his thoughts. He never played past JV and would be the textbook definition of a casual fan, but he sees things that go past me and our other coaches sometimes. 90% of his comments were babble that didn't do us any good, but every game he watched there would be at least one thing he caught that we didn't. Kinda like the old saying, we see the forest, he sees the trees. So, I don't like the idea of stifling conversation because you "need to put in your dues." I'll take 9 s*** comments if the next one produces a diamond. Second, by wanting rookies to earn their stripes you are creating a culture that fears criticism or failure. I can't tell you how many times I spouted off an opinion as a young coach only to be told (in some way or other) "You don't know what the F*** you're talking about and here's why." To me, each of these occasions was a GREAT learning experience that I wouldn't have had if I had kept my mouth shut. Yes, the young know-it-all gets annoying at times, but if that guy knows his role and learns through it I think it can really be valuable. This was the basic reason for my creating this thread and I have loved the opinions I've heard. I'm having trouble with an assistant who goes along with what we're doing, but he's not on board. He'll coach the drills, correct the mistakes, etc, but he keeps offering the same suggestions, which I've shot down numerous times, and won't take the time to learn what we're doing. He knows what he knows and that's good enough for him. We're short on coaches, but the other ones we have are good, young assistants who are eager to learn and I'm ready to be done with him. I just wasn't sure if I was justified. I guess I don't see why coaching FB is any different than any other endeavor. The 1st year out of college kid doesn't get to sit in the board room and tell the CEO what his thoughts are. I could give a million more analogies like this. Now...I understand that a HS FB staff is a much smaller dynamic than a large corporation. But...if I hire a newbie, I don't want to hear much from him until I know he is interested in learning from US FIRST. I also want to see him in action on the field, how he handles kids, what his organization is like, etc. This comes BEFORE he gets to "do the X's & O's". Show me your serious about your own development & the development of the program, show me you can teach fundamentals on the field, then we can start talking about your ideas. Sorry, but the "everybody gets a voice" instead of "everybody earns a voice" right or wrong just feels too similar to "everybody gets a trophy to me". If a guy is serious he will EARN his voice. JMO.
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Post by s73 on Apr 17, 2017 6:02:09 GMT -6
I hear quotes all the time from people, not just former coaches, and I have no idea who they were. But...if the quote is good, I think it gives me something to think about.
If the kids are that interested in who the person is, they can always look it up. This is the "information age after all".
With that said, if it gets the point across then it served its' purpose.
JMO.
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Post by s73 on Apr 17, 2017 5:45:53 GMT -6
What if the HC tells you as the DC (insert other position here) "you can do what you want...because I trust you". And then changes the stuff you do? I get it...he's the HC...can make the changes. It's just a poor way of going about it in my opinion. Don't tell me I can do what I want...and then say I can't. I think that depends on how well what you were doing was working AND....did it fit into the teaching progression of other levels? As a HC EARLY in my career I said things like that b/c.....I thought it would win my guys over to do the stuff WE were doing. Then I found out that guys were kind of doing their own thing. So....I had to reel them in. Which didn't go over very well. What I learned is that it's just like a classroom. IMO, you have to set ground rules w/ your staff and tell them exactly what you expect. Then , once they EARN your trust you can loosen up a little. TO ME, being HC is kind of a catch 22. If you don't give guys lots of freedom then you "micro manage". On the other hand, if you do & they don't get it done, you are still the guy being held accountable. Hence, I would rather be viewed as a micro manager who has confidence in our approach, then the "go along to get along guy" who isn't sure what we are doing will work. I think coordinators and position guys don't ALWAYS see the big picture of continuity between levels. That's just as important as anything else your program does. JMO.
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Post by s73 on Apr 16, 2017 12:48:46 GMT -6
We are shrinking. Having to move away from two platoon. So what does your practice look like if you don't or can't two platoon? Assuming all or most of the kids need to know both sides of the ball? Any help would be great! For us, We practice defense on Mondays and ST's. We practice Offense on Tuesdays and ST's The same goes for Wed & Thurs. Made the Thursday practices much more like regular practices except we scale back the physical aspects (bags, uppers only, handhelds, quick whistles, etc.). each practice lasts about 2h15 m and we feel like we get quite a bit down w/o any long drawn out practices. We give our kids Saturdays off.
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Post by s73 on Apr 15, 2017 14:08:58 GMT -6
I'm not a Yes Man and never was for the 4 HCs I worked under (including my 1st year as a student teacher). Likewise, I hate Yes Men on my staff as well and I get pissed/paranoid when my staff agree with me too much. Bottom line, I like different ideas, opinions, and disagreement and I foster it. That said, have any of you had the experience of it crossing the line from having a healthy difference of opinion to being a problem that needed to be taken care of? What happened, how did it cross the line and how was it handled? First off, I WANT YES MEN IF......they are young inexperienced guys who have a lot of learning to do. Have had a few guys in my tenure that have little experience but still want an equal voice. I know this can be controversial to say, especially around younger coaches, but when I was coming up I had to pay my dues and some of that involved keeping my ears open and mouth shut. ESPECIALLY if that guy hasn't opened our playbook or viewed hudl film or been in the weight room since the day the season ended. NOW...if a guy with some experience and previous success and preps the right way has an opinion? By all means. With that said, it crosses a line when you disagree & think it's over with and find out he's still b!tching about it after the fact to other staff members. JMO.
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Post by s73 on Apr 14, 2017 21:10:21 GMT -6
I just finished reading a book by Bill Walsh called"The score takes care of itself".
FOR ME, I feel like when I focus on the PROCESS and all the details that go into that process, winning WILL take care of itself. But...more importantly MAYBE, is that when I focus on the PROCESS and doing everything we do with an excellent standard of performance and focus less on the outcome, it has a way of removing anxiety from the job IME.
Now does this mean I don't care about winning...he!! no! Just the opposite, or else I wouldn't spend so much time on doing all the things I believe will help us to win. It just means that mentally, I train myself to focus on something that I have more control of and as a result, is less stressful. Hence...the score takes care of itself.
Back to the book... this was the approach BW started with, but once they began winning so much, expectations became so high that he couldn't control the anxiety & pressure of having to win, which is why he retired probably 4-5 years earlier than he probably should have.
In other words, thinking about the process is a way to think about winning w/o the stress of worrying about a games outcome.
JMO.
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Post by s73 on Apr 10, 2017 21:09:35 GMT -6
The HS guy who presents at a clinic and mentions several times he has "regular guys" and they really have to "make it work" w/ what they have. Then he puts on the tape and......DUDES are huge and fast and has more guys on scholarship in one season then I've had in my whole career combined.
Just admit you have studs. Lots of guys don't win w/ studs. No shame in having talent.
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Post by s73 on Apr 1, 2017 19:58:04 GMT -6
I've read several times on here about the benefits of 2 platooning. My question is how have guys at small schools done this. Has anyone been succesfull. We average around around 35 guys. After drawing up the starting D, there's not much left to build an O with. IMO, U gotta be able to put guys on the field. We are in the same boat as you & DO NOT have the talent to platoon. I think Unless you are UNUSUALLY talented at schools our size it just ain't gonna happen. JMO.
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Post by s73 on Mar 27, 2017 8:35:12 GMT -6
I don't track my time. I think that we as FB coaches consider it a "badge of honor" to say we spend more time on FB than anybody else, etc.
PERSONALLY I don't believe this necessarily correlates in the win/loss column. I have had weeks where I spent countless hours working only to realize I over thought some stuff and it cost us in execution. I have had other weeks where I did not spend a ton of time and we executed very well. My point is, if you have a system in place you believe in and have answers that you have thoughtfully planned out then working SMARTER (efficiently) I believe is more productive than just putting hours for hours sake.
With that said, in the off season, besides the weight room time, FB is always on the periphery of my mind. I couldn't tell you how many hours that consumes. I just know it helps me to be more efficient when the season starts.
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Post by s73 on Mar 25, 2017 10:28:49 GMT -6
The more I think about it, the more I realize this is our fault (and by our I mean coaches). We are the ones who come up with these pseudo motivational catchphrases, repeat them endlessly, hang them on the weight walls, etc. Kids have just put their own trendy twist on them with the hashtag emoticon idiocy. from what i observe it isnt so much "us coaches" that have started and spread this trend, it is those who are around football players but not actually their HS coaches gurus, camps guys, private trainers, all star teams, training companies etc. Agreed. Nothing I have ever said has appeared on a shirt, head band, shooting sleeve (yes, I've had FB players attempt to wear shooting sleeves) wrist band, eye black, etc.
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Post by s73 on Mar 25, 2017 8:45:02 GMT -6
The more I think about it, the more I realize this is our fault (and by our I mean coaches). We are the ones who come up with these pseudo motivational catchphrases, repeat them endlessly, hang them on the weight walls, etc. Kids have just put their own trendy twist on them with the hashtag emoticon idiocy. I think you give us TOO MUCH credit. I'm not convinced kids listen to us as much as you think they do. Kids have been more into perception than reality for years. I can't tell you how many kids I have walking the halls pretending to be billy bad a$$es then make the MISTAKE of coming out for the FB team to prove it only to get lit up. True story....had a fat, sloppy lazy kid come out for our team after not doing anything for 3 years. Liked to act like a tough guy all the time. When he signed up for FB I asked him why he wanted to suddenly play FB. His response, no embellishment.."I have a lot of pent up anger and I want to unleash my demons on somebody". I turned away to avoid laughing in his face. So....again completely true....first day in the chutes he got driven about 10 yards and pancaked so badly that he farted so loud the entire team heard it. He literally got the $hit knocked out of him. Of course he quit about 2 days later but still walked the halls his senior year trying to look like a bad a$$. I refuse credit for the # buffoonery.
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Post by s73 on Mar 24, 2017 22:02:44 GMT -6
IDK how many of you have experienced this but every year I always have 2-3 of my laziest, non working don't know where the weight room is type of kids who always wear some kind of athletic apparel w/ an inspirational/$hit talking quote on their shirt like "I train for your pain" or "Football is Life" or some other crap they wear but I haven't seen them break a sweat in year.
A couple of months ago I saw one of my laziest wear a shirt that said "Can't stop Won't stop" at his lunch table. I pulled a d!ck move in front of his buddies and said "Can't stop won't stop? When did you start dude?"
It wasn't appreciated but I enjoyed it.
Had another kid come tell me that one of his teammates who never puts in an ounce of work sent him a screen shot of someone that got lit up in the Super Bowl and the lazy kid posted on the screen shot #weight room. Then sent it to a bunch of team mates.
To their credit one of my guys responded "You mean the place you never go?" Was met w/ a bunch of profanities. We all had a good chuckle. I guess my sarcastic nature is rubbing off. Their not all snow flakes. Still some toughness out their.
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Post by s73 on Mar 23, 2017 11:39:48 GMT -6
Take this for what it's worth but, anytime we have a positional need I go through my whole roster and try to find the strongest positon group (maybe 3 starting caliber corners for example) and then see which one I can move to a needed spot so we can still put talent on the field at the original postion but we're also not leaving talent on the bench.
This has been pretty helpful. in 2014 we moved our 2nd best DE to LB. Kid was slow but intelligent and we had a 3rd quality DE so that worked out for us.
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Post by s73 on Mar 21, 2017 17:30:37 GMT -6
Here's another thought.......ever give your kids a day off? Like on a Tuesday? I would never do this for 2 reasons (not saying it's wrong, just not for me). 1 - I think it's hard to go a day, then take a layoff & then go a day again & expect kids to be sharp due to the lack of cohesion of practicing every other day. JMO. 2 - What if a kid is sick? He practices Monday gets Tuesday off is sick Wednesday now he's at walkthroughs? I think that would be a pretty tense deal for me. Always crossing my fingers on that one. Just makes practices almost "unmissable" if that's even word. Again, JMO.
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Post by s73 on Mar 21, 2017 17:20:19 GMT -6
I think my favorite mantra of all time when it comes to coaching football is "Work smarter, not harder".
I have tried to embody this philosophy in my coaching for as long as I have been a coach.
I try to mainstream techniques as much as possible, mass teach whenever we can, and cut as much fat as possible from our playbook/ practices. I think this has been very good to us and has helped us to make the most of what we have.
JMO.
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Post by s73 on Mar 20, 2017 18:12:25 GMT -6
do people not know what monkey bars are, man I'm old im 28, i know what monkey bars are Hated them as a little fat kid cuz i couldnt go across Now i will beat the $hit out of some monkey bars #D1Bound #GrindDontStop I am trying to start a trend of leaving pointless unnecessary hashtags at the end of posts I was a fat kid that could cross the bars. #blisteredhands #proud endomorph
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Post by s73 on Mar 9, 2017 7:41:55 GMT -6
Here are Illinois' Top 10 track teams in 1A last year followed by their football records in 2015. 1 New Berlin 7-3 2 Peru (St. Bede) 4-5 3 Rock Island (Alleman) 6-4 4 Gibson City (G.C.-Melvin-Sibley) 11-1 5 Bismarck (B.-Henning) 9-2 6 Arthur (A.-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond) 1-8 6 Vandalia 4-5 8 Rockford (R. Christian) 0-9 9 Rushville (R.-Industry) 7-3 10 Dwight [Coop] 5-4 Coach, I agree that a bad track coach is no good for FB. However, a bad coach is no good for anybody. With that said, saying you see no correlation is kind of perplexing to me. 6 of the 10 teams you listed have a winning record in FB and that's only one classification. PS - Full disclosure, I am not a track coach.
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Post by s73 on Mar 4, 2017 14:38:00 GMT -6
"...I look at it this way. How would we as faculty feel if our principals decided that our SAT scores aren't reaching our potential and was going to start requesting (not "mandatory" of course) that we start coming in 3 x week earlier than we already do and making ourselves available to students and then pushing us to all stay and extra hour after school as well 4x week to continue teaching students who would be willing to take advantage of the opportunities." I agree 100%. Sometimes coaches, including me, forget that we care more about this game than some of our players do and that our players are high school kids.; not college or pro players. I'll bet very few of any of our players are talking football at this time of year, let alone the X's and O's of the game. They need time to be kids. Yea, they also have to train for the game, but IMHO there is a way to get it done without "consuming thier life" during the off season. BTW, we do not have a weight class at my school, and we are a very competitive program in our area. To piggy back off of this coach I would also add that no matter how much you work you ain't gonna be successful if you can't put kids own the field. So running off kids with crazy expectations may in the short term not hurt but always catches up with a program in the long run IMO. Not to mention the OP posed the question about 25 studs or 50 turds. I always wonder, how I am doing with that kid I don't even know about? That kid that maybe didn't come out as a frosh for whatever reason but has some ability and has thought about it. How are my current players communicating to those types of kids what our FB program is like? I think it's our advantage to try and think about how our players will communicate their experiences of playing football for us to the rest of the student body. If that message is predominantly positive I think numbers will naturally improve or at least stay consistent. If it's predominantly negative, well......
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Post by s73 on Mar 4, 2017 13:56:31 GMT -6
But answer your question how much is enough? Here we require our kids to be here for morning workouts they must make 75% to play spring football. HOWEVER, the receive bonuses for playing a second sport. This week our attendance was 88, 64, 72, 78. This is only 10-12 grades. Last year we averaged 51. and we had a down season lost in the 1st round of the playoffs. So know you can require high expectations and still have a good turnout. Coach, I completely agree with you. I will only speak for myself when I say that my intention in this thread is to communicate that their is a difference between HIGH expectations and UNREASONABLE expectations. IMO, asking kids to do something before AND after school several months before their season even starts, is flirting with the unreasonable IMO. I think you can get a TON done by only meeting 3-4 x per week. I look at it this way. How would we as faculty feel if our principals decided that our SAT scores aren't reaching our potential and was going to start requesting (not "mandatory" of course) that we start coming in 3 x week earlier than we already do and making ourselves available to students and then pushing us to all stay and extra hour after school as well 4x week to continue teaching students who would be willing to take advantage of the opportunities. Pretty sure a lot of the guys on this board (myself included) would start to complain, rebel, hit up the union rep, etc in a short period of time. On the other hand, if the principal asks for some REASONABLE volunteer time I'm sure most buildings would have several people who are happy to do so. I feel that MOST FB coaches can do a better job of putting themselves in a kids shoes from time to time. JMO.
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Post by s73 on Mar 4, 2017 10:35:15 GMT -6
If I stop all morning sessions, what should then do for the students that want to do more? Just say that isn't an option? I mean this with all due respect, I really do. When did kids become incapable of doing for themselves? We run weights 4x /week and get after it pretty hard. We always finish with a team event like tug o' war or what have you. But...I have some really dedicated kids who decide to go and take speed and agility classes at a nearby facility in addition to what we already do. I don't think it's necessary as we work them pretty hard and hit a lot of agility components in the summer AND really encourage TRACK for that component as well. But....it brings me back to my original point. Kids are capable of doing things for themselves as well and I even think it's good for some of them to take that responsibility instead of expecting their coaches to constantly spoon feed them everything. As much as I get sick of parents b!tching about coaches, SOME coaches have partially set up that situation by controlling everything. You control EVERYTHING, then in the mind of SOME you become responsible for everything. JMO.
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Post by s73 on Mar 2, 2017 7:42:27 GMT -6
One measure I always use is if I do't feel like being there then we're probably doing too much.
I realized years ago how much I HATED the 2nd session of 2 days. Always seemed like the kids were sluggish and dragging which inevitably led to coaches barking. etc. and always seemed to end a positive morning session on a negative note. Hence, I decided to elongate our morning sessions and call it a day.
I'm sure I would feel the same way if I were going in to work on FB in the morning and then again in the afternoon. My point is...if I feel that way then you KNOW the kids are feeling that way. Even the ones who are in full attendance are probably doing it out of a sense of duty but my guess is they would feel relieved if you shut it down.
JMO.
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Post by s73 on Mar 2, 2017 7:23:04 GMT -6
I will admit that I didn't read all the comments so excuse me if this has already been said but it the parents not the kids who are choosing for them. This is my first rodeo in a more *cough* white *cough* school and its pretty bad in all sports here. I teach 8th graders and get to know a lot of them and ask them stuff about just playing one sport and most give me answers I know are coming from there parents. Its pretty hard to overcome what's going on at home. So if you are in that situation you may think about talking to the parents instead. AGREED! One of my best FB players last season almost hung it up on us last season about July or so b/c he got hurt in BB over the summer and he was concerned about his "future". I know this idea was implanted by mom b/c mom thinks he's a scholarship BB kid (which he is not). I called him out on it pretty hard. He ended up playing & making all conference and now seems pretty dedicated to us. With that said, one of the better things we did was bring in a recruiting expert speaker and had him tailor his speech to the importance of the multi sport athlete and emphasizing giving yourself options by playing 2 or more sports. It was a student/parent meeting. Was not highly attended but I do think it opened some eyes of some of the parents present.
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Post by s73 on Mar 1, 2017 22:03:38 GMT -6
Sometimes getting numbers out means lowering standards for a bit (I hated typing that, BTW). I would just focus on getting the kids out in the fall without pressing the weight room or off-season workouts. Get them out, get them interested in football again and start rebuilding tradition. Make sure your freshman and JV staff are getting all of the kids that are practicing playing time so that they enjoy the game. Basically, kick start the tradition again. THIS^^^^ I get so tired of hearing guys talk about upholding standards and blah blah. Kids have to learn standards and for some reason our sport is filled w/ coaches who treat FB as if it's the holiest of holies that cannot be "desecrated" with compromise. When a kid takes a subject in school for the first time we don't start him with the toughest content area, we start at square one & work our way up. Why should FB be any different? I took my 1st HC job at a school just like the one the OP is at. 500 kids, average enrollment of our opponents was about 1400 and some as big as 2,000. They hadn't won a game in years. By the 3rd year we fell 1 game shy of a play off berth, the next year we made play offs and fell 7 points short of upsetting the eventual back to back state champs, the following year we fell 1 game short of making the play offs again. We won 15 games over a 3 season span when they had not won 15 games in previous 12 seasons combined. My record was not earth shattering but we gained a TON of respect from our opponents. What did we do? No 2 a-days (never been a believer in them anyway) Minimal conditioning (hard organized fast paced practice is our conditioning) DID NOT use all of our summer contact days (kid friendly schedule that allowed them to play FB and other sports & be kids) Used commonsense approach to absenteeism (people get sick, they don't need to sit b/c they missed a day due to illness) No Saturday practices Developed a short concise playbook and focused on execution so practices could be efficient rather than long and drawn out I realize this approach is not for everyone, but when you don't have lots of numbers I don't believe you need to condition a lot b/c kids get little rest anyway (drill lines are short, they play 1st team and scout team constantly, etc.). and, they need Saturdays off IMO b/c so many of them play so many snaps every week. My 2nd & current HF job is at a slightly larger school but still not an easy job and this philosophy has served me well. I work at a school where we've had 3 play off berths and been in the hunt 5 of the last 7 seasons, meanwhile the rest of all our sports combined has had 1 winning season period (newer, smaller school in the area). I believe a common sense kid friendly approach is the way to go. High school kids need to DEVELOP a work ethic. They need to LEARN commitment. That takes time and baby steps & I believe you are not compromising your values doing this, you are simply meeting them "where they are" and teaching them to slowly reach a little higher. JMO.
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Post by s73 on Feb 25, 2017 9:19:01 GMT -6
He does have bulletproof logic though. I've eaten burgers for a long time from many different cooks. My favorite ones to eat are the ones that if I were cooking it I would want to eat it. This was a good laugh Agreed. The style I would want to develop is if I were stylin' it, that's the style I'd want to be stylin'.
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