establishing a new program or taking over for an existing one

Anthony Welch

It is definitely a 365 day job when it comes to running a football program as the Head Coach. In my situation, I have to have great assistant coaches that are accountable because of the many hats that I wear. So I would definitely say that hiring qualified assistant coaches is the most important part of my structure. It may not be for some programs, but it is for mine.



All scheduling of games, practices and summer work out programs and camps are handled by me. My staff is apart of the decision making process, but I am totally in charge of this piece. As a team, we want to stay consistent in the off season, in which our lineman start in January after the season has ended, if they are not participating in other sports. The OL and DL coaches are in charge of all weight lifting programs and my skill coaches are in charge of speed, agility and conditioning programs. We have a number of skilled athletes that play basketball, baseball, soccer and run track. If they are not participating in one or more of those sports that have to attend our off season workout programs, which is during the winter, spring and summer months.



As the leader, my approach to any upcoming or in season games, practices, etc. ,is handled at the end of the season evaluation meetings. By January, the coaching staff will know what their duties will be for the next year. You have to take in account that you may have coaches leaving and possibly some new coaches coming in; therefore, I make it a point to always put 2 to 3 coaches on a particular duty/program. I always try to keep our team captains in touch with our coaches in all off season activities and workouts. We have a team/group chat/hudl email, etc. that we use to send out information about starting and ending dates of workouts, events and other important information that pertains to the football program.



It is a balancing act as far as,how we deal with football players that are athletes that may play 2-4 sports. We are a small school;therefore, we encourage our athletes to participate in more than just 1 sport; therefore, having a 365 day football program is tougher than you can imagine, especially in the summer month of June. All sports teams are trying to do something in the month of June, in order to get better. I battled with this for a couple of years, until I brought all the coaches together and explained to them how this has to work, if we are going to be successful in all sports programs and make all of our coaches happy or at least satified.



In the summer months, we have 2 weight training/speed/agility/conditioning workouts that is supervised and ran by my football coaching staff. We offer 2 workouts a day Monday-Friday. The first workout starts at 6:15a.m. and ends at 8:30a.m., the evening workout starts 6:00p.m. and ends at 8:30p.m. All other sports can practice at anytime after or before those set times; however, if their athletes don't show up to one of those set workouts, they cannot attend their sports specific practice.



My morning and evening staff takes attendance and sends it out through email,google doc. It goes to all coaches that coach the other school sports teams; therefore they are aware of who attended and who did not attend, if they try to just show up to their practice and did not attend one of the workouts,then they are not allowed to practice. All athletes must make 85% of summer workouts in order to play in the upcoming season. If a student athlete attends a camp or multiple camps in their particular sport, that counts towards the 85% summer attendance obligation. This program works because the student athletes are held accountable and everyone is getting bigger, stronger and faster.



Captains of all of our sports teams have leadership roles as far as staying in touch with the teams that they are captains of. They have contacts for all the players, just as the coaches do, so if we have someone that is not showing up, they make the first contact with those players and then we follow-up with the student athlete.



My approach to football in general is that we must be good in all 3 phases of the game offense, defense and special teams. If you are not solid in one those areas, it is the area that will probably get you beat. We choose not to do spring workouts as far as practice is concerned because it gives us an opportunity to play 2 pre-season scrimmage games in the fall, instead of just one. We still workout in the spring and get stuff done, but we can't put on pads or helmets. However, we make up for that spring stuff by attending padded camps and 7 on 7 in the summer. Therefore, we are still getting work done prior to the season. Once the month of July comes, it is strictly mandatory football stuff, regardless if you a kid plays other sports. We are the first sport up; therefore, there is an urgency.



As a head coach, my expectation has always been to get better, and when you get better, you should start winning. "No Excuses, No Explanation"