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Post by s73 on May 18, 2015 6:41:41 GMT -6
I see this type of post several times a year it seems, so let me ask a question...what if the guy that comes out in the fall is just simply better than your "committed" player who has been there for the spring stuff? I see twitter feeds all the time from coaches going on about how "This Big 10 or SEC coach only recruits multi sport athletes!!", and then we see guys turn around and demand our players only can be "committed" to football. Just seems a little wrong to me. How about this, be happy with what you get in the spring, and when the fall comes around play your best. I realize that all things being equal, the guy who has been there all year round will be your starter, but I just see this as another barrier to kids playing football. I'm not telling kids just to play football or be just committed to football. All the spring sports are done here. I have told the guys to play other sports...in fact, they get points for playing other sports. What I don't want to create is the kid who bust his tale in spring, who has a true love for the sport feel like he is doing the extra work and then a good athlete sits out in spring because he wants to go to the beach more during spring who says he "needs a break" from sports comes back in first day of August and competes for the starting job...I feel like it's more than getting my best team out there...I feel like it's a life lesson we are able to teach as far as putting in the work. Coach, I am going to give you some advice that has been good to me. I recognize that it may not be good for all but it has helped me to keep my sanity. First, even good kids will not do EVERYTHING we want them to do. Secondly, the mantra of teaching "life lessons" is very broad and can work for you as well as AGAINST you. If this kid is as good as you say he is, he may very well be able to sit out Spring ball and still be the best at his position. Is that fair? No. Quite frankly, I would say that it $ucks. But......a major life lesson that I think many kids need to learn in any generation is that "life is not always fair". Had a kid 4 years ago that was lazy as all get out, I TRIED to replace him w/ another very good kid at his spot, but when the rubber met the road, he was just naturally better. I played him, he was the best DB in the history of our school to that point & still is. We won the division that year and he was integral to that. He gambled he was good enough to coast & still excel, and he was. That was a life lesson for some of our other guys that some people are unfairly gifted and things come easier to some then others. HIS life lesson was that he also took that same approach to his studies and he was NOT good enough to coast & still post stellar marks. Now he works a dead end job for little pay while many of the kids he beat out have gone on to bigger and better things. My point is that IMO (I know I sound preachy here, not my intent, but it has taken me a long time to learn this) FB is a small part of a bigger picture and playing a kid who is good is not going to wreck or even shape the lives of him and his teammates just b/c he did not do everything you wanted him to. Besides, by your own admission, it's not as if he's going home and eating chips & playing video games all day. He just isn't "working" where you'd like him to. I have learned to accept that I don't have as much control as I would like and as a result, I sleep much better at night b/c I am not worrying about the proverbial "line in the sand" that I've drawn b/c I rarely draw one in cases that are not black and white. Don't get me wrong, there are lines to be drawn, I'm just more careful about where I draw them, and this has been better for ME, my family and I believe our program. As always, JMO.
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Post by s73 on May 17, 2015 9:21:34 GMT -6
In wi you can't make off season stuff a requirement. you can say that if you are in the weightroom or doing 7on7's you will have a better chance at starting over another kid. but you can't have any wordage that makes a kid think if he doesnt come in for lifting or spring ball that it will effect his playing time. have had a couple of seasoned coaches fired because of emails that had requirement on there for offseason stuff. the coaches said it wasn't really required but that if they didn't put that in the email the kids wouldn't come. if it's not against your state's rules to make things a requirement then i would make it a requirement for kids that aren't doing anything in the spring. our rule is if you are not in a sport you should be in the weightroom. we give out t-shirts for kids that are dedicated to either weightroom or playing a sport (which promotes competition) year round. This is us EXACTLY to a tee! Over the years I have come to a belief that kids do not see things like we see them. IMO, they think that if they are lifting & working hard at practice that they are doing a great job. When I was in high school, that's all I was asked to do and I considered my work ethic to be one of my better attributes. IMO, we (me included) are asking A LOT from kids and I think it is healthy from time to time to step back & re-evaluate. Again, JMO.
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Post by s73 on May 16, 2015 8:17:32 GMT -6
I can only speak for myself when I say that I have had kids quit & it was "on them" and I have also had kids quit and it was "on me".
When it's on them, it's usually b/c they weren't real in vested in the first place. When t's on me? Occasionally I am willing to admit that I have gotten on a kid for not doing well enough and was too hard on him & forget, again on occasion that this is just a game. And my over bearing self made it not very fun anymore.
The majority of the time,IMO, it's a little of both when kids quit. So no, I don't believe it validates a program. I also believe (not looking to fight at all, just being honest) that you polling the question shows some insight to the fact that you probably already know that it isn't a good thing. Again, JMO.
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Post by s73 on May 1, 2015 13:25:04 GMT -6
We always have one home game a year where we have the kids choose a faculty member and that faculty member gets to wear an away jersey for the school day.
Simple and teachers really like it. Plus, they can attend the game that night or not. Does not really matter b/c the intention is to show the teacher some appreciation. Not the other way around. It's for the faculty, not the players.
Many of the teachers do attend the game however.
I think this bridges the faculty and the FB program.
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Post by s73 on Apr 27, 2015 17:01:58 GMT -6
I've been in the HC position for almost 5 weeks now, still getting things going, things are starting to change. Its funny how you can talk with a kid, or several, and see those that are buying in and those that don't believe a word I am saying. Anyway, I talk with my one on-campus coach today, a VP, who proceeds to tell me that he was made aware of an image on social media showing 4 of our players, very, very baked, holding a baggie of pot up by their faces. He handled it from the school side, they got yelled at by the VP for being football players, they are in school drug counseling now, talked with parents, all that. He was asking me what my thoughts were for team discipline. Said that I'd thought about a lot of things, I was really up on things last season and had all the answers. Now, when I turn around, there's nobody there, just me so I've got to come up an answer. If this was in-season it would be all the school discipline plus a 1-game suspension plus lots of extra stuff to do after practice. Twice and gone. But we're not in-season and there's no guarantee they will be there this fall anyway. I've got no leverage right now, what am I going to do, ban them from the weight room? What do you guys do when this type of thing happens in the off-season, and in-season? Is there a difference from a program perspective? I know this might incur some "ire" from others but honestly I would do nothing. Why? B/c your district hasn't taken the time or care to have a set response to these types of things. I think it's at the least, COWARDLY on your districts part and at most INCOMPETENT. If the district doesn't take the time to prepare for these obvious situations that will show themselves every year, then I certainly would not put myself out there as a punching bag for the community without any district guideline as a support system. Again, I imagine some may not agree but why stick my neck out if the district won't? IMO those are the districts that won't have a plan for those situations, then you make a decision to uphold some penalty, the parents go nuts, the district caves, and next thing you know the principal over turns you. Now you're the "D-Bag" too? Forget that. Again, JMO.
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Post by s73 on Apr 25, 2015 8:19:26 GMT -6
Same goes for kids and work ethic. I have mellowed a great deal on some of that stuff. I used to go off on kids for not showing all the time to weights. Now, I once in a while make a comment here or there but for the most part I just encourage the kids who show. Why? Because the truth is I would not have done all the stuff on a continual regular basis the I ask my kids to. We never had year round lifting or summer camp. I was a 2 sport athlete and took the 3 rd season off to be a kid and enjoyed my summer (we lifted 3x a week that was all). I am reasonable about what I ask our kids to do comparatively to schools around us, but way more than I was asked to do. So let's see, I'm mellowing, more gray hair, sounds like the enlarged prostate and Low T is just around the corner.
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Post by s73 on Apr 16, 2015 12:30:12 GMT -6
I might be in the minority here, but for many of the reasons stated previously I refuse to go to any clinics that feature big name speakers. For one, all the fanfare. Secondly, I know this concept might be a bit beaten to death, but I feel like when a big time coach is discussing concepts, I cannot help but visit in my mind the fact that he has a fleet of corvettes practicing those concepts while I have a couple of AMC Gremlins (dating myself, but what a car). Third and most importantly I subscribe completely to what dcohio said previously. Coaches are coaches. I value the guy that wins in my circumstances more than I do a big resume. Both are equally good IMO, but one applies to ME more than the other. I don't think I would be one of those groupie idiots around a "big timer" but I generally keep myself out of those situations. I appreciate s73 for trying to keep this thread on track. I agree with you on the corvette's part. I see so many guys try to take stuff directly from clinics to implementation and it not work. It's important to remember that whatever you get at a clinic or really from any other coach, must be adapted to both your kids and your system. I mean, heck, I went and spoke to Narduzzi last year, I heard all about their cover 4 and the way they played their front but even they changed some things to fit it better to the personnel they had this year. I mean, chit, if I had the 4 kids they had in their secondary 2 years ago I'm pretty sure my clinic talk would go something like "OK...well we play these 4 guys in the secondary and I do my best to just let them play and me not screw it up because they are really freakin good." I mean even the Great Urban's offense changed between Tebow and Leak and from Braxton to the other 2. Even those guys adjust what they do to who they have doing it. Sorry to flood the thread with 3 posts in a row, I have a 1.5 hour lunch period everyday and I just got back. I appreciate the shout out for me "getting things back on track" but......that was before I read all the "dippin' posts". As a FORMER DIPPER of many a tobacco product I must tell a story as sadly that is all I have left of my BELOVED former habit (not sayin' I don't cheat every once in awhile ). So many years ago I used to dip all the time. Practice, games, whatever. I know it's not the most professional, but then again, neither am I. Anyhow, met up with some former players about 3 years ago and we were telling old stories. To be honest, I thought I hid my chew from them pretty well but as the stories unfolded they let me know that they were on to me. Anyway, they go on to tell me that at halftime of every game they would assign a look out to the locker room door & the look out's sole purpose was to see if I was puttin' in a chew as I was walking towards the locker room for the halftime speech. They said that if I was puttin' one in everyone knew I was pi$$ed and they were gonna get their a$$es chewed (no pun intended). If the lookout said "no dip" they knew I thought we were playing well. I reflected on that & they were spot on. Sometimes these guys know us better than we know ourselves.
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Post by s73 on Apr 16, 2015 9:18:56 GMT -6
I might be in the minority here, but for many of the reasons stated previously I refuse to go to any clinics that feature big name speakers.
For one, all the fanfare.
Secondly, I know this concept might be a bit beaten to death, but I feel like when a big time coach is discussing concepts, I cannot help but visit in my mind the fact that he has a fleet of corvettes practicing those concepts while I have a couple of AMC Gremlins (dating myself, but what a car).
Third and most importantly I subscribe completely to what dcohio said previously. Coaches are coaches. I value the guy that wins in my circumstances more than I do a big resume. Both are equally good IMO, but one applies to ME more than the other.
I don't think I would be one of those groupie idiots around a "big timer" but I generally keep myself out of those situations.
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Post by s73 on Apr 14, 2015 11:35:40 GMT -6
Guilty as charged. We do the JJ's w/ the mascot name. In my defense though, the whole thing takes about 8 seconds. Including the 3 claps in UNISON at the end 8 seconds?? Oregon's whole practice takes 7 seconds. Jeez Well played my friend. That's what I get for running the antiquated flexbone offense.
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Post by s73 on Apr 13, 2015 12:06:06 GMT -6
Because some coaches are stuck in the past. How many jumping jacks have you seen on Friday night? While spelling their mascot or school name... I f*cking hate jumping jacks. Guilty as charged. We do the JJ's w/ the mascot name. In my defense though, the whole thing takes about 8 seconds. Including the 3 claps in UNISON at the end
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Post by s73 on Apr 13, 2015 9:40:27 GMT -6
Agree with the above plus drill work that has noticeable correlation to Friday nights. Why would anyone do anything that doesn't have a noticeable correlation to friday nights? That's a great question but I have seen it a great deal. While I think everybody does SOME things that correlate to Friday nights, I have worked with and seen some guys who do stuff just to do stuff. Had an assistant years ago who LOVED doing all kinds of conditioning drills but our kids could not get off a block. Another example from same assistant is "bull in the ring" while several OL from our freshman team were still "hazy" about their blocking rules. Maybe I was clumsy w/ my communication, but what I intended to say is prioritize what you NEED for Fridays and cut out the "fluff". I think too much "fluff" in a practice is usually a sign of a position coach "wingin' it" rather then preparing his kids properly for Friday night. Again, JMO. PS - That's why I have learned to develop a list of EDD's and then coaches can check w/ me about making a change here or their if they feel something needs extra attention. This has helped our practices improve tremendously.
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Post by s73 on Apr 12, 2015 7:28:28 GMT -6
This JUST in...my wife wakes up to a text message from one of her students. The girl tells my wife she is pregnant. Who's her boyfriend?...you guessed it, one of my players. WTF. As fantom stated earlier, I'm not sure there is a clear cut way to handle these situations. I'm not sure that I actually expected one, but some of the responses gave me a few good laughs. I think at the end of the day, I just need to let the player(s) know that I'm not going to get in their business, but I will be watching their behavior. If I feel it is becoming an issue, I'm going to bring them and their parent(s) in to discuss my concerns. Other than that, I'm not sure there is much else that can be done. Ultimately, kids are going to do what they want. My dad who coached for nearly 35 years once told me that sometimes there are things you just don't want to know about your players. In other words, some things just work themselves out. I appreciate the dialog. Since I've been at my current school, we've had 3 players get their girlfriends pregnant at some point in their senior years. And yet...it continues. To me, nothing more true than what BLB said. Fortunately, most of my guys can handle a relationship and training. PS - First kid who got his girl pregnant had twins.
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Post by s73 on Apr 10, 2015 11:48:10 GMT -6
Agree with the above plus drill work that has noticeable correlation to Friday nights.
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Post by s73 on Apr 10, 2015 10:03:05 GMT -6
I am in a position as a head coach where I have enough assistant coaches to coach Indy periods. Sounds stupid, but what do you do as a HC to keep involved in the practice while Indy periods are going on? I coached QB's for years so I can help there, and want to learn OL a lot better so feel like I'm going to spend a lot of time over there as well. Do you generally rotate group to group and make sure things are running smoothly? I feel strongly the team takes on the personality and enthusiasm of the HC and I don't want to seem distant during stretches of practice, nor do I just want to be a time keeper of segments. I will be heavily involved during 7v7, Inside/Outisde Run Periods, Team, etc. Any thoughts on this are appreciated. Thanks I'm a big believer that this is a great time to coach your coaches. Maybe throw out a buzz word here or there. Or silently evaluate and mention some constructive things to them after practice. Can also be a great time to become the "rah - rah" guy to some of the kids who don't normally get to see you in that light. Maybe a little extra enthusiasm towards a kid for performing a drill exceptionally well. That's kind of how I see that time. JMO.
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Post by s73 on Apr 7, 2015 11:55:08 GMT -6
I have stated this before about some of us on the board (including myself) and I think the people on this board who advocate taking the kids jacket away is a vindication of my earlier statements regarding this, but I will make it again. WE TAKE OURSELVES WAY TOO SERIOUSLY! He's not getting awarded a Medal of Valor, Purple Heart or Nobel Peace Prize. He's getting a jacket, with a letter on it that his mom PURCHASED, if I read the article correctly. Let me tell you what's not fair, it's not fair that he will probably never live a fully independent lifestyle. It's also not fair that he is probably incapable of pursuing some of his occupational dreams like the vast majority of his classmates. It's not fair that he will probably not marry or have the joy of fatherhood. Give him the jacket and I think the scales of justice still tilt HEAVILY NOT IN HIS FAVOR. Sorry for the soap box but Geez Louise man, give the kid a break. So, to borrow my sentiments from another thread, where do you draw the line. I mean, it's very obvious that you don't draw it here, but ultimately if you let one thing slip because of your emotions on the subject, why not let them all slip? I won't get into the special needs situation here necessarily as it's obvious that a lot of you feel pretty strongly about it, but why have rules if you're not going to enforce it because of emotions? At the risk of sounding facetious (not my intent) I think you draw the line at common sense. I have a few thoughts on what that would entail and hopefully I don't become too preachy. First, if a parent were to come to me in this situation and say, "How come this kid gets a letter and not mine" I would say that I was recognizing this particular child for achieving the highest level of athletic accomplishment that we have to offer this young man and I don't feel he should be penalized for our inability to offer him something more. If the parent still had a problem with it, I would tell them to "bark up the ladder" to our admin. After the many times I have read people on this board hammer admin for being over paid and under worked I would happily put the ball in my admin's court and let them EARN THEIR MONEY! If they want to over rule me and pick on the Down's kid, go ahead. You tell him he can't have his letter. You be the one to end up on National television. Earn your bloated salary my friend. If they want to turn around and give out an extra letter to avoid controversy, then again, that personally does not bother ME. I am confident my program will survive. My current school has a quarters played rule for varsity letters. I told my AD that I did not agree w/ this rule (I recognize not all will agree w/ me here, but I am content w/ my policy) b/c we have all been associated with or have listened to a coach say at a banquet, clinic or some place that non starters are still an integral part of the team. As a result, I told my AD that I wanted to award a varsity letter to all seniors who played 4 years for our program and finished in good standing as I believe that it's even harder to come to practice very single day knowing you will likely not play on Friday nights. If a kid can still do this and conduct himself with class, I don't believe my program will suffer for him receiving a letter. My AD agreed and I have done this ever since. In fact, 2 seasons ago I had a kid who was smaller than "Rudy" with all the heart show up every single day and give me EVERY SINGLE FIBER at EVERY PRACTICE. I could not look myself in the mirror if I had told him he did not earn a $10 piece of cloth. Especially since this young man has gone on to enlist in the marines and serve our country. He earned the letter. Furthermore, he was a BETTER representation of our program off the field than many of my starters were. Straight up clean kid and all around good dude. I do not agree with the every kid gets a trophy mentality, but......I would rather recognize too many than too few. I don't believe that a couple of extra varsity letters will ruin anyone's program. If that's the only reason some kid sticks it out for 4 years day in and day out, then he probably needs to have it more than I need to keep it. Sorry for the long winded response but this is my true feelings on the matter.
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Post by s73 on Apr 7, 2015 9:43:48 GMT -6
I have stated this before about some of us on the board (including myself) and I think the people on this board who advocate taking the kids jacket away is a vindication of my earlier statements regarding this, but I will make it again. WE TAKE OURSELVES WAY TOO SERIOUSLY!
He's not getting awarded a Medal of Valor, Purple Heart or Nobel Peace Prize. He's getting a jacket, with a letter on it that his mom PURCHASED, if I read the article correctly.
Let me tell you what's not fair, it's not fair that he will probably never live a fully independent lifestyle. It's also not fair that he is probably incapable of pursuing some of his occupational dreams like the vast majority of his classmates. It's not fair that he will probably not marry or have the joy of fatherhood.
Give him the jacket and I think the scales of justice still tilt HEAVILY NOT IN HIS FAVOR. Sorry for the soap box but Geez Louise man, give the kid a break.
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Post by s73 on Apr 4, 2015 11:54:58 GMT -6
We only bring kids up that are going to start.
On another note, I think the tricky part is bringing them up knowing they are better than a senior at the same spot but still giving that senior a "fair shot" at his particular position.
That's why we bring them up immediately and make it known that we expect this kid to contribute. If we are wrong we will send him back down and tell him we think it's in his best interest to stay down and develop. That can be hard to b/c I've had a few of them feel like they failed. Of course, this is not the case but my point is that I feel you have to be honest with all parties involved ASAP and see where it goes.
JMO of course.
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Post by s73 on Apr 3, 2015 11:52:14 GMT -6
First, I think our talent has to do with school enrollment v. our opponents. We are about 850 and our average opponent is about 1350. So in our case, I feel like we have SOME talent but it seems like for every one of our "studs" they have two.
I guess in that sense we have talent but not usually comparatively to who we play.
Furthermore, b/c it tends to be a 2to1 ratio our studs v. them we usually have to play our studs both ways b/c the 2nd in line isn't even close to what "they" have on the field.
I think this in a sense can put you in a never ending vicious cycle b/c our already low numbers comparatively tend to gradually become lower b/c many kids realize they may not play much when 6-7 kids start both ways. It keeps us competitive at times but scares me in the long run.
With that being said, I think we do a solid job of developing what we have and are fairly respected in our area. But 10 years from now if the cycle continues, I could see me thinking "why don't we get those types of guys". Not because we don't, but b/c we don't always get enough of them.
What I mean to say is that I think time can "skew" your view on your talent if you don't periodically step back & keep things in perspective. Threads like this help me to do just that.
JMO.
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Post by s73 on Mar 21, 2015 6:34:28 GMT -6
I wasn't going to post in this thread, again. I was hoping it would die. I get sort of sick of having to defnd youth sports. But, I just had to have this concussion discussion with a mom last night. She's a friend. She doesn't mind what sport her kids play. She just wants them to participate in something. However, her husband doesn't want their boys to play football due to concussions. So, his choice is to have them play hockey- like he did when he was a kid. He also has put them into some sort of youth MMA classes?! You don't know how long I laughed. Personally, I've never heard of such a thing as youth MMA classes. What would happen if youth coaches started recommending to parents that they not let their kids play HS football? Now, why would a youth coach do that? Let's put aside the whole concussion debate for a second. Personally, in a lot of HS football games that I go to watch, there are boys on the sidelines of both teams standing around on crutches, arms in slings, in street clothes due to some injury, etc... Don't see a lot of torn ACL's in youth football- not a lot of 'turf toe', sprained ankles or broken collar bones, either. My job does not rely on my season's W-L record. Little Johnny will participate and play in youth football. MMP rules require it. Can't say that about HS football. All that kid's hard work in practice; only to be denied the glory of the Friday Night Lights is a damned shame. Blah, blah, blah, etc, etc... I can come with a laundry list of reasons not to recommend HS football to any of my players' parents and to anyone else that will listen. Now, I wouldn't need any actual facts behind any of my data. All I'd have to do is inform parents of the dangers of HS football due to kid's larger sizes, heavier weights and increased athleticism. Also, I can point out all of the a-hole HS coaches and terrible programs in any given area. Again... no facts needed. All anecdotal evidence, at best. But, it will rub off on some parents. And, youth coaches only need to keep repeating it to parents and players, alike. Here's an interesting thread. But, one question... coachhuey.com/thread/68251/teaching-football-kids-xs-osIf HS football coaches aren't teaching football to kids, then wtf is the point of their jobs- or, even, their existence? Tiger, You just posted previously that Spartan had "the attitude" that causes separation amongst HS & youth level coaches. I commented that my experience w/ youth coaches was not great & that Spartans attitude was not a main cause for that separation. Now in your next post you comment on "a-hole" HS coaches...AGAIN. And mention all the "terrible HS programs" in your local area AGAIN. I was giving you the benefit of the doubt previously but you sound like a lot of the guys I described above. You seem to have some weird axe to grind IMO. Do you resent the fact you're not coaching HS ball? I mean, what's with hammering your FB brothers? I don't get it. Seems like if we really care about the KIDS, then we should all be in this together right? Confused by your approach here.
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Post by s73 on Mar 18, 2015 12:36:38 GMT -6
Just curious as to how many guys on here have actually coached youth football or pop warner? My experience helping out a youth football team (and I am not in texas or in a football crazy area) was very close to Friday Night Tykes minus all the glitz and glamor. In fact we did the exact same drills that I see them doing - especially the two lines creating a tunnel to hit from a 10 yard head start. Why would anyone want the least educated and least experienced coaches coaching our most vulnerable football players is beyond me. Why do we have contact rules and time limits for adults and we don't for youth football? I am a DC in HS and we hit WAY less than what I saw in pop warner. I never once saw tackling of bags, form tackling progressions, or thud. If you don't think that Friday Night Tykes is representative, ask your self this: If the cameras weren't around what would be going on? My guess is much worse. This attitude right there is what creates a separation between youth football coaches and HS football coaches. I think sooner, or later, the separation is going to contribute to killing the sport that we all like so much. You assume that since your were a crappy youth coach and part of an even crappier staff, that it is indicative of the majority of youth football organizations. That is not necessarily true. Youth coaches are the ones that foster the love of the game in kids. I also think the 'burnout' excuse is just that; an excuse. Or, for those coaches that believe the kid when he says he's burnt out on football because of his youth playing days; have you ever just considered that maybe that kid thinks you're an a$$hole and he just doesn't want to play for you? Or, maybe your program sucks and he doesn't want to be a part of it. He may be using the burn out excuse as a polite, acceptable way of saying no. Now, I'm certainly not calling anyone here an a-hole or, saying that their football program sucks. It's just that there's no telling what is really going through a teen-aged boy's mind sometimes. As anyone can tell you, football just isn't for all kids. That's true at youth level, also. My league limits practices to three days a week. Two hour practices. We can only hit in full pads two days out of the three days that we are allowed to practice. A rule that I don't necessarily agree with; but, I have to deal with it. We teach tackling progression, use tackle dummies, form tackle, etc... We've even been known to occasionally give the starting players a drink of water. Heck, if that ain't exemplary coaching in a top notch program, I don't know what is. As far as experience goes, I've been a youth coach for 9yrs. My HC has been a coach for 15yrs. I can always learn more. I can always increase my knowledge. I feel it is my responsibility to do so. That's why I frequent football sites and buy materials, etc... I freely admit that I have never watched an episode of FNT. Just from what I hear from other coaches, it would be too cringe-worthy for me to watch. I was a terrible coach my first season and even I would have never done some of the stupid things that I've been told that goes on in that show. It's my time and money. I like that I spend both working with kids. But, I am not a professional coach. Great job. But, I don't want it. I like that I am a volunteer. I can walk away anytime that I so please and not worry about my mortgage or car payment. I don't know how you guys manage to put up with the bureaucracy, administrators, the politics of HS football and not want to punch somebody's teeth out. Tiger46, I am not going to say that there is not a-hole HS coaches out their b/c their certainly is. However, to say that one comment or thought process is the reasoning behind the split between youth & high school is not my experience at all. MY EXPERIENCE w/ youth coaches at my last school when I took over a program that had won 7 games in 8 seasons is that they wanted to throw me under the bus my 1st 2 seasons b/c we were not winning right away. Then, when we started winning they were anointing themselves the reason b/c the youth program was "so good". I had a meeting w/ them to teach my system, gave them all playbooks and contact information for anytime they would like to sit down again, etc. Also set up free admission to games, etc. EVERYTIME I went to a youth game no teams were running our systems. I am not bitter about it, but I believe my experience is probably not totally unique when it comes to youth coaches. They seemed to always be the guys 2nd guessing in the stands when we were down and patting themselves on the back when we were winning. Personally, I felt we could have all worked much better as a team but a relationship takes 2 parties. At my current school, things are better. The youth organization is much more professional and supportive However, they are still VERY tentative about adopting our systems despite extending my self on several occasions. My point is that while you may be a great youth organization, I think my experience MAY BE more the norm than the exception. At least it is to me b/c that's all I've experienced. I think what I stated above MAY be more the reason for a HS/ youth split than what you stated. JMO.
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Post by s73 on Mar 17, 2015 18:28:56 GMT -6
I personally believe with no evidence at all whatsoever, I acknowledge this, just a gut feeling, like Huey says, just pissing in the wind, that concussions has been an EASY WAY OUT for what I like to call the "fence riders" of our sport.
Any kid who could take it or leave it, maybe took it in the past b/c his buddies wanted him to play or dad did. Now those guys have the excuse.
I also believe, with no evidence at all whatsoever, that some NFL players who are a little burnt & have some $$ in the bank now have a great excuse to walk away w/o being called nuts like Ricky Williams was years ago. Again, it's an easy out.
I don't think that will change anytime soon b/c it's an out some of these guys always wanted & now they have it.
Again, JMO.
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Post by s73 on Mar 12, 2015 21:30:42 GMT -6
When I was an assistant, I worked for a guy who was big into dressing professionally.
We coached v. a team for many years where they would wear mesh shorts and t-shirts & even a couple of his younger assistants would cut the sleeves off of the shirts b/c they had the guns to show it off. I can remember one year when we were decent and we all sat around ripping them for how stupid they looked during a film session. And they did look ridiculous.
Well, they beat our a$$es by about 30 points. After the game nobody was talking about their attire b/c the truth of the matter was their TEAM looked much more professionally coached than ours during the game (along w/ several years to follow).
After that, when I got my own head job I told my guys wear what you want as long as we have our school represented.
Maybe I'm right. maybe I'm wrong, but it's an athletic contest and while I'm not playing in it, I feel like athletic clothing (hoodie, shorts, whatever) is appropriate. Especially if you're a guy like me who tends to be active on the sideline. I pace alot.
Again, JMO.
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Post by s73 on Mar 9, 2015 21:41:37 GMT -6
My question is this: If the shoe was on the other foot then does the former coordinator hire the new guy? If you think the answer is no then I think that is probably the correct answer for this scenario as well. JMO.
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Post by s73 on Mar 9, 2015 10:25:20 GMT -6
I'm a big dude; we sweat a lot, so I wear shorts until it no longer poses a threat of massive lower body perspiration. Team dry fit polo and a hat on FORWARDS!!!!! Hate the backward hat thing. One of the most successful programs around here has a coaching staff dress code that I could get on board with real quick. They wear what they want apparently. HC wears a one of those Gilligan’s Isle hats, a lot of work boots and some flip flops, board shorts and shirts that are at least a size to big. They all look extremely comfortable as they are kicking everyone’s a$$. i love these kind of guys. Too me it's all about being comfortable. Personally I grew up w/o much $ so clothing wasn't much of an issue bc I couldn't do a ton about it anyway. Rarely had many dress up functions to go to. The old saying goes you can take the kid out of the trailer park, but you can't take the trailer park out of the kid (LOL). Seriously, by popular consensus here I would be considered a slob, but my feeling is if we win more than we lose not too many people are gonna take much notice. Never had any higher ups say anything. I just find something comfortable that represents our school and that's the last I think about it b/c I'm comfortable and my mind is solely on the game. JMO. PS - May give it more thought after reading some of your posts.....then again.
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Post by s73 on Mar 7, 2015 11:00:27 GMT -6
I like all of these answers. Probably why there is no "correct" answer.
With that in mind, I have made it a point to try & ENJOY the process more b/c as someone said above. success can be fleeting. We were a pretty strong program for a few years running a while back & then have struggled some recently. I think you have to smell the roses SOME when you are winning. Other wise, where's the fun?
Don't get me wrong, not enough to become a distraction, but nothing wrong w/ a few pats on the back to one another every now and then IMO.
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Post by s73 on Feb 25, 2015 17:55:10 GMT -6
I concur w/ the above answers.
One thing I BELIEVE after being involved in that process many times and being a HC for about 14 years now is that many of the people on that panel have no idea what's really involved in being a HFC.
I've always tried to use that to my advantage. For example, you might have someone ask you about off season training. I've always approached a question like that honestly but also knowing that not everyone in the room wants to hear the same thing. I might say something like "The off season is where teams get better. As a result, we will implement a program that will be challenging and developmental in nature. It will also be organized so as to be as time efficient as possible b/c after all these kids are students first and we want to help them as both athletes and students and we want them to still have time to be kids".
Now the coach in the room might want to hear "challenging and developmental" while the AD might want to hear "time efficient" in case he needs to schedule the weight room for in season athletics and the academic types might want to hear "student first" or a parent or something might want to hear that you still see them as kids.
If they ask about X's & O's IN MY EXPERIENCE answer truthfully and confident. Don't sell them a fake bill of goods. That never works. Besides, 99% of the time nobody in the room understands X's & O's in those things anyway.
The reality is IMO, if you are ready & it's a good fit, then you will do well. If not, then chalk it up to experience for the next time.
JMO.
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Post by s73 on Feb 21, 2015 10:52:14 GMT -6
A big problem with too many younger coaches (and players) is that they believe in the 2 words: PERSONAL ENTITLEMENT. They believe that they deserve to be respected due to their being who they are. They shouldn't have to prove or work for anything. I blame parents for giving them all they wanted when growing up, telling them how great they did even if its a lie, giving everyone a trophy, and not making them earn anything. IMO, you can see one of these guys comin' by the way they talk about other coaches and other programs. Briefly worked w/ a guy like this. Had never coached a down of football on the varsity level & yet was always talking smack about Hall of Famers in the area b/c they ran the wing t or 2 back offenses. Even when his FRESHMAN team would get SMACKED by one of these programs he seemed to think they weren't any good b/c their concepts were too old. Didn't matter that the HFC of the other program had won 200+ games and he had never coached a varsity FB game & they had just whipped his a$$. Mind boggling. Last I heard he was not coaching FB anymore. Seemed nobody was real willing to keep him around. Wonder why. I mean you've never coached in a varsity game & you're trashing HOFers? Really?
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Post by s73 on Feb 21, 2015 8:44:03 GMT -6
Another thing that doesn't necessary go with the thread (I'm not trying to hijack) - being members on CoachHuey, we are all probably part of the group that does these things. You can kind of take that for granted here - assuming most guys are on here being proactive and trying to get better, we all try to add value. The question is, as a HC, and assistants as well, how do we get our colleagues we coach with to have the same mentality? In MY EXPERIENCE, I find that guys like this USUALLY aspire to be HC's themselves. Or at least varsity coordinators. Let's face it, you can encourage this mentality but you cannot develop it unless they want to have it. IMO, I think their are guys who love football and then guys who love COACHING. Some guys coach b/c they love being around football. When it's over, they are disappointed, and can't wait for the next season. Then their are guys (again, IMO) who love coaching. I'm one of those guys. I don't need to be around a team or a field or in season to be excited about football. To me, this is primarily what the board is made up of. Not many guys like us around. Some of us tend to think the others are lazy & some of them tend to think we are OCD nut jobs. Probably a little truth in both. Again, JMO.
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Post by s73 on Feb 5, 2015 7:56:46 GMT -6
Maybe my experience is different but I've never come away from a Glazier without getting anything. The kind of speakers who are being complained about-speakers with multiple topics or one-hour speakers- I avoid unless there's nothing else going on. After 35 years I don't want or expect to get a complete defensive system. If I can get some drills or a technique or a stunt though it's worth it. I agree w/ this Fantom. I guess my point is that for the cost I feel like I can find something more worthwhile for less cost. Glazier FOR ME was more of a catalyst for finding my coaching identity. Now I have narrowed my scope a great deal concentrating on less topics but looking for deeper material if that makes sense.
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Post by s73 on Feb 4, 2015 22:05:54 GMT -6
I actually don't know what my question is here, but what is with the guys in Glazier coming in presenting on 4 different topics. Some have been let go from multiple jobs. I just think you should sell your system and believe in it. Not my 3-5 3-3- 4-2-5 and G defense or presenting on pistol then flex bone. I mean really aren't you just spouting out other peoples information. Shouldn't you have credibility? Just my personal preference. I'm on point with you here. My Glazier experiences in the last several years has been it's football 101. All surface and no substance. Ive been coaching football for 20 years now and by NO MEANS know it all. Not saying that. What I am saying is that after several years of running the flex bone I kind of get tired of paying 400 bucks to listen to a guy give an introductory discussion on inside veer. For us, the last 3 years we have found much cheaper clinics that target the flex and for the 2nd year in a row now, we as a staff are going away for one night just on our own and white boarding our own offense and defense v. various opponents. We rented a small conference room where we can watch game film together, discuss personnel for next season and drink beer. This has become much more effective for us IMO and much less expensive.
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