Help: New head coach

IMPORTANT: Check your state's High School League (or association) & make sure you are following ALL rules on: eligibility, equipment certification, legal opening day of practice, physicals (& make sure all players are INSURED), ETC. Meet with players (& parents if possible at the same time) to go over "Rules & Regulations". INSIST they be ON TIME, & don't cave in when they "whine" (all REAL men respond to discipline)!

Indoctrination of coaches is CRITICAL. Here is how we do it:

PRACTICE AND TEACHING PHILOSOPHY


1. Goal is to out practice our opponents.
a. Practice harder
b. Practice smarter
c. Practice with game day intensity

2. You Must Get Your Position To Believe That You Are The Best Coach And Teacher In The League. If The Players Don’t Believe, We Won’t Win.

3. We Must Be Great Teachers.
What you see on video is what you have coached.
You are a teacher! Your teaching is evaluated by your player’s performance. Profs can have A, B, C, D, F students. We must have all A’s. Keep things simple. Don’t over coach. Find the best way to teach. Teach fundamentals. Our goal is that each player masters the fundamentals at his position.

4. We Know What Must Be Taught – Staff Growth. Improve Schemes, But Have A Philosophy And Sell It To The Players.

5. Utilize Teaching Aids.
Change up procedure of meetings
Must use them
Video Breakdown (find a way to use it).
Marking Boards – accuracy of diagrams is critical – 75% of learning is visual.
Practice and Scrimmage Video
Training Video



6. Great Enthusiasm (Not Cheerleading) - 3/1 Theory (3 Positive - 1 Negative).
Explain to athlete we criticize performance and not to take it personally. Find things to be positive about.
80% of your communication and motivation should be positive! If this is not true, then change!

7. Must Be Consistent.
All players must be team players and abide by the Team Covenant.
Consistency in everything.
Praise and criticize – all players. Players will notice any inconsistency in your player interaction.
Coach toughness. Coach toughness. Coach toughness. Coach toughness. Coach 100% effort every play. Every Play Every Day! - Play Hard Players must be on time every scheduled meeting or practice. Attention to detail.
Demand players to compete in everything they do. (6-second player)

8. Hard Workers On Field. Coaching.
Coach every play! Coach every play! Coach every play! Coach every play! Don’t stand in one spot. (Hands in pockets, arms folded not permitted in our program.) Get to where the action is.
If coach stands around, so will players. No clinics on field. That’s why we meet and have walk-thru. Coach will run drill to drill just like the players. Players must run on the field - never walk.
Players don’t lay on the ground. Demand enthusiasm, intensity and knowing assignment.

9. Control The Hitting - Tag-off, Play Ball Live-Tag Off, Thud, Live.

10. The best coaches in the country take their players
performance personal. OUR COACHES TAKE THEIR PLAYERS PERFORMANCE PERSONAL!

Typing time is precious little now, but IF you would like to chat by phone Saturday Aug. 11 - phone me at 804-740-4479 (between 10 AM & 10 PM/EDT).

BEST WISHES!

I'll give you some things that I found useful when I became a HC suddenly in June 2 years ago:

1) Expect things to go wrong. PLAN for everything and every situation. Assume nothing. Do not take things for granted. Its the little things that will drive you crazy.

2) Make sure you get support staff in place - equipment managers, water people, film, etc. Make sure they are GOOD people and SHOW them how to do things YOUR way. These people are VITAL!

3) Develop good relationships with the school faculty & administration.

4) Do NOT assume your coaches will be on the same page as you and coach to your philosophy - I leanred this the hard way last year with an assistant and it was a source of friction all year. Avoid this by clear expectations, and clarify the roles.

5) Coach character and attitude - "You win with people" (Woody Hayes). Focus on fundamentals.

I'm cut and pasting my Coaching Philosophy handout that ALL my coaches will recieve this year and expect to follow. PLEASE email me if you have any questions, I also will send you some things, handouts, forms, etc that might be useful!

COACHING PHILOSOPHY

SUCCESS will be defined by the following:
HOW CLOSE HAVE WE COME TO OUR POTENTIAL?

This definition transcends Wins and Losses. Winning on the
scoreboard often depends on things we cannot control. True winners
focus only on those things that they can directly control.

1. TEACH THE GAME:
Teach the game of football.
Teaching involves celebrating small accomplishments
Expect mistakes and work to correct them
What we see on the field is what we’ve taught
Create an environment that enables success
Coach character every day

2. RESPONSIBILITY:
Accept all the blame when we lose – never blame players. Give all credit for a win to the players – take no credit (Bear Bryant)
Make it THEIR team… not YOUR team. Leave the ego behind
Realize you are a role model in EVERYTHING you do at all times
The lessons you teach by example translate into other areas of the players lives

3. POSITIVE:
Always be positive and honest with the players – even when things do not go well. Negativity breeds fear which impairs performance and learning. Being positive breeds confidence and confidence breeds winning

There is NO place for intimidation, fear, or questioning character

When you TEACH you praise small accomplishments. Coaching is no different - do not dwell on mistakes or center players out. This does NOT help performance or enable success. Correct the mistake, move on, and give the player a chance to correct it.

Aim for a 5:1 ratio with every player during the week
Mental is to Physical, as 3 is to 1 (Bo Schembechler)

4. THREE E’s & TNT’s
These things Take No Talent (TNT) and often are more of a predictor of success than talent. Make an attempt at relating these 3 things to life off the field, and find ways to praise them in
practice each day.

Every player, regardless of skill, or physical prowess can become outstanding in these areas :

1) EFFORT

The average football play lasts 6 seconds, therefore develop 6 second competitors.

Compete until they tell us to stop – be on the edge. Tough, aggressive football.

Try to incorporate competitions into some drills each day.

NOSA (No One Stands Around): Make sure all drills have a fast pace and get ALL players the maximum number of repetitions

Coach pursuit, hustle, and finish. Add these to all drills

2) ENTHUSIASM

Where else do you want to be?

Get excited about everything but keep your emotions under control at all times. Avoid the valleys of the Roller-Coaster Effect.

Model enthusiasm in practice. Practice celebrating good things!

Make each player feel equally important. The weakest link in a chain determines the strength

3) EXECUTION

KISS Principle. It isn’t what we know as coaches – it’s what the players can execute.

Over the last 3 years in the NFL the most successful teams have been those that ran the fewest number of plays.

Focus on the fundamentals: Stance, Alignment, Footwork, Hand Placement, Body Position, Technique.

“Football is blocking and tackling. Everything else is mythology" LOMBARDI.