Good books about turning programs around

When the Game Stands Tall: The Story of De La Salle Football. Good book. Honestly makes things sound pretty easy, but does talk about what Bob LaDaceur did to really implement a new mindset into the program.

Haven't read it, but may have to.

Coach Kel

couldnt agree more on thqt book. I actually re-read it every summer and usually finish up right before camp starts. Puts me into the right frame of mind adn gives me instant perspective.

Read: "The Tough Work of Turning Around a Team" by Bill Parcells.

ALSO:

Making Your Team Hard to Beat
Al Groh — University of Virginia

Do everything in your program to WIN
Every little detail including things outside of football (school, support of other teams, community, etc)

WIN = ACCOMPLISHMENT

1. HAVE A GREAT OFF SEASON PROGRAM

Start very shortly after the season and push spring camp back as late as possible to get the longest possible off-season. This allows you to forge a better team, and greater time to research, develop and prepare to WIN and get better.
Put the team together again after each season. Go back where you started and do it again BETTER.

Building 2 things in the off-season:

1. BODY POWER:
Build athletes through strength, agility and speed.
2. TEAM POWER:
Work together, find out about each other and build relationships
Do not let each other fail
Demand more of yourself and your team mates. EXPECT and DEMAND the BEST of each other.

Make it competitive — but not repetitive.

Develop and mentality of consistency in all areas (eg. Effort and Enthusiasm).

2. KEEP THE BALL MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

A. Play Good Defense

Keep their points down NOT just 'stop the run'. JUST KEEP THE POINTS DOWN. Do what it takes:
i. Defense
ii. Field Position
iii. Special Teams


B. Penalties

Ball movement towards your goaline = points for them
NO TOLERANCE FOR PENALTIES  PERIOD !
"No one on the team is worth penalties because penalties cause us to lose"
Live up to what you say !
Clinic penalties BEFORE you install systems (Meeting #1)

C. Make Sure You Get to Punt

NOT conservative playcalling
Take care of the ball
Moves the ball away from our goaline
Causes special teams (esp Punt) to be a priority

D. Field Position

Every 100 yds of advantage/disadvantage results in 7 pts

E. Tackling & Breaking Tackles

Angles & Anticipation
Make the other guys miss  little inches lead up to big yardage
Get your team to the game  no need to tackle to the ground in practice
Do many live tackling drills/periods
 Situational
 1 on 1 situations
 Competitive  keep score!
Clinic on tackling right after penalties (2nd Meeting!)
Eliminate & Create Big plays

3. MENTAL ERRORS

Unforced errors  tennis analogy
Understand what your players can handle
Force THEM to beat you
Get a hat on everyone


4. FIRST THINGS FIRST

Period of fundamental technique (5 min) done right away after warm up and stretch, EVERY DAY.
High tempo, lots of reps
i. Blocking / Block Protection
ii. Tackling / Breaking Tackles
iii. Ball Security / Creating Turnovers
iv. Coming off the ball

5. FIND A WAY TO WIN

How do we have to play to win? (week to week; off season)
i. Team
ii. Individuals
Emphasize verbally constantly
Teach them HOW — but they still need to do it

6. DEVELOP A TEAM FIRST MENTALITY

Starts in the offseason
Ask yourself 3 questions:
i. Did the team win?
ii. What/How did I contribute to winning?
iii. Who do we play next?
Good teams understand it is not all about them
Promote this attitude — anything else makes it hard to coach


7. THINK PLAYERS FIRST ... THEN PLAYS

Get the ball to your playmakers
Keep it away from the opposition's best players