Looking for Advice

CoachYancey
Junior Member

Posts: 13

Looking for Advice Oct 4, 2004 6:14:15 GMT

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Post by CoachYancey on Oct 4, 2004 6:14:15 GMT

Coaches,
Halfway to through the season and still no points. We are a 10-13yr old Youth team, 35 strong
13 never played before and 6-7 others only played one year. Most of the best athletes haven't played football before, I find that were at a huge disavantage as coaches due to the fact that were mostly former players and we didn't expect the kids to be as hard to reach as they are.....we've been in two games and didn't fight to get over the hump also we've been blown out by the half cuz we couldn't hang on to the snap or we dropped a toss.....game days we look awful, things that we work on in practice never translate in games we run a simple I double tight w/ a wb, also we'll split the tight out wide and run twins. Dive (fb) lead (hb) Power, Toss, wb reverse, sprint out pass.....We just played our
rival and lost 34-0, If anybody has any advice.......we'll work our tails off to tackle better, but it's the mental side of things were having trouble getting over. How do you get your players to give 100% effort? How do you instill confidence in players that struggle to get into there stance? I'm committed to turning the football program around in our area. I'm in this for the long haul. Thanks for your time...

TIGER ONE
Senior Member

Posts: 6,423

Looking for Advice Oct 4, 2004 8:24:20 GMT

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Post by TIGER ONE on Oct 4, 2004 8:24:20 GMT

Coach,

As a youth coach, you have a big job on your hands! Your attitude of staying for the long haul is a real attribute! I monitor the youth forum here on the board very closely and am totally impressed with the amount of time, your sincere dedication given to your teams. With the kids the age your coaching, and obviously their talent level needs improving, my suggestion is just go back to the basic teaching of fundamentals. Start from scratch with the three point stance, HOW to align first and then WHO to block.
Football will never change in that blocking and tackling are the basest of fundamentals that really need to be stressed. No matter the level of the game, that never will change! Positive reinforcement works wonders with todays kids, rather than the old drill sargeant approach of yelling and screaming. We have a saying in coaching that states; a coach who yells all the time on game night, is a coach who is trying to cover up a real lack of knowledge by yelling all the time. Teach the basics, talk with your kids and find out what really motivates them(not just some preonceived notions that you may already hold on this subject) set team goals that ALWAYS includes individual goals. A TEAM effort is a collective effort of 11 INDIVIDUAL efforts. To ignore that is a big mistake. I do not mean to infer, in any manner, that individual goals should ever be place ahead of team goals!!! What I do mean is set an individual goal of beating your man on each and every play for the entire football game! If the 11 on the field beat their man on any given play, and do it more consistently than their opponent, they are going to win a whole lot more than they lose! When the do something right, make them really feel good about it! When they screw up, be a teacher and point out their mistake in conversational tones and then teach them how not to make that same mistake again. Know it or not, you are having a profound impact on these youngsters lives that will impact them for a life time. Let that impact be a positive one.

J.C.Easton

J.C. EASTON HEAD COACH GA TIGERS FOOTBALL PROFESSIONAL MINOR LEAGUE

CoachYancey
Junior Member

Posts: 13

Looking for Advice Oct 4, 2004 11:19:11 GMT

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Post by CoachYancey on Oct 4, 2004 11:19:11 GMT

Coach Easton,
I read your posts on here all of the time, I thank you for taking the time and responding to our cry for help.....what were gonna have this week is clean slate week...we'll wipe the slate clean and start over from the begining......football 101....We tried to keep things a simple as we could....were gonna take the time to show Where, when, How, and first and foremost WHO.....I was venting more than anything this am....My staff and I haven't won a game in two seasons.....Any suggestions play scripts and or play calling?
I played D for years and I bet i'm not helping with my play selection.....Once again...we run dive, lead, counter, power, toss, and sprint out pass......

Thanks again Coach
Chris Yancey

CoachYancey
Junior Member

Posts: 13

Looking for Advice Oct 4, 2004 11:19:15 GMT

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Post by CoachYancey on Oct 4, 2004 11:19:15 GMT

Coach Easton,
I read your posts on here all of the time, I thank you for taking the time and responding to our cry for help.....what were gonna have this week is clean slate week...we'll wipe the slate clean and start over from the begining......football 101....We tried to keep things a simple as we could....were gonna take the time to show Where, when, How, and first and foremost WHO.....I was venting more than anything this am....My staff and I haven't won a game in two seasons.....Any suggestions play scripts and or play calling?
I played D for years and I bet i'm not helping with my play selection.....Once again...we run dive, lead, counter, power, toss, and sprint out pass......

Thanks again Coach
Chris Yancey

CYFL Coach
Senior Member

Posts: 568

Looking for Advice Oct 4, 2004 12:10:53 GMT

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Post by CYFL Coach on Oct 4, 2004 12:10:53 GMT

Coach Yancey,

What are you running on offense and defense? What does your competition run? What are your team's strengths and weaknesses as far as talent level, skills, coaching, etc.? I'm a big believer in the addage that you've got to have a spark before you can start a fire. You have one big advantage in that you can try pretty much anything without much downside. Is there a possible personnel change you could make that might stir things up? I do know that even a tiny bit of success can go a long ways but I also realize it's so much easier said than done when you're on the outside looking in.

Dave Hartman
CYFL Coach

"It's not the will to win that matters - everyone has that. It's the will to prepare to win that matters."

Paul "Bear" Bryant

TIGER ONE
Senior Member

Posts: 6,423

Looking for Advice Oct 4, 2004 12:28:18 GMT

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Post by TIGER ONE on Oct 4, 2004 12:28:18 GMT

Coach Yancey,

What coach Hartman says is very appropo! My suggestion for you in your play selection is as follows; Out of the plays that you told me that you run, pick 3-4 at the most and teach your kids to execute them few plays to perfection! Leave no stone unturned in your teaching of every facet of those few plays! Make the plays that you choose be the ones that you have always had some success with in the past. Once you start picking up some good yardage because your kids know how to align and who to block on the play you will find that they really buy into what you are trying to teach them. Work on the all important timing of the play, the FB and RB exploding into the hole not just trotting to it. Teach your 0 line to explode off the ball and make first contact with the guy over him, not wait to be contacted first! Are they in good physical shape for kids that age, or do they tire easily? If they do, you may want to get some good advice on better conditioning methods. Above all, coach, just keep working with them and stay positive. I know how after two years with no wins, you must really be discouraged. But remember, don't look at the pile, just keep choppin'. I would be very interested in your progress, please keep us here on the board informed as to how it is going for you. WE are all more than willing to help in any way we can. I know you were just venting, it happens to us all.

JC

J.C. EASTON HEAD COACH GA TIGERS FOOTBALL PROFESSIONAL MINOR LEAGUE

CoachYancey
Junior Member

Posts: 13

Looking for Advice Oct 5, 2004 11:57:15 GMT

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Post by CoachYancey on Oct 5, 2004 11:57:15 GMT

Coach Hartman,
Were a simple I backfield double tight w/a wing and also some twins looks....dive, lead, toss, power, counter, and sprint out.....sometimes we'll run a reverse to the WB off power action....
I'd like to thank you coaches for taking the time to help a struggleing coach and team....I know my boys want to be successful...they just don't know how.....I'm supposed to know but somehow, there not getting what i'm selling....
I will cut down on my plays this week, and we'll see how it goes......I was also thinking that we could go unbalenced and see if that helps us get our number to POA....
Thanks again coaches...

Chris Yancey

CoachYancey
Junior Member

Posts: 13

Looking for Advice Oct 5, 2004 11:57:18 GMT

Quote

Post by CoachYancey on Oct 5, 2004 11:57:18 GMT

Coach Hartman,
Were a simple I backfield double tight w/a wing and also some twins looks....dive, lead, toss, power, counter, and sprint out.....sometimes we'll run a reverse to the WB off power action....
I'd like to thank you coaches for taking the time to help a struggleing coach and team....I know my boys want to be successful...they just don't know how.....I'm supposed to know but somehow, there not getting what i'm selling....
I will cut down on my plays this week, and we'll see how it goes......I was also thinking that we could go unbalenced and see if that helps us get our number to POA....
Thanks again coaches...

Chris Yancey

Jacobmorris
Member

Posts: 40

Looking for Advice Oct 5, 2004 18:26:36 GMT

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Post by Jacobmorris on Oct 5, 2004 18:26:36 GMT

Everyone has given some good advice and I want to bring up something else. When a team has not won very many games or have been on a losing streak there is a way of thinking that starts going on. I guess the best way to describe it is the "here we go again" way fo thinking. Even if the players are close it will often take just one or two mistakes to get them give in. Now how you get out of that is a good question because this issue infects the coachs, players, parents and future players. Football is extremely emotional game and some peopel mistake yelling and rahrah as emotion. In some cases it is and others it is just making noise.

So with that said here is just some advice from me (I have no clue how good it is but it works for me).

Figure out a way to win. I know you are trying but if you can see your future opponents scout them. Scout them not only for plays, and player's numbers but how different players react. If you watch the stuff that happens betwene plays you can get a good idea of what the players are like (do they hang their head, get worse the more the coach talks to them, etc.)

Believe in your way to win. When teams keep changing stuff up the players have a hard time getting comfortable and they feel like they are reaching. I coach the same age group and I just tell them this is what we are going to do...this is how we are going to win.

You are your team's leader. They can not see you crack and you can not let them quit.

Like others have said pick a handful of plays and run them better than anyone else. Now if I was suggesting myself I would go: Blast, Counter and then a playaction off of one of the two. Those are the three plays I run most of the time. I run the counter like the counter trey and with you using a wingback it would work well for you. A second group of plays would be your dive, wing reverse (maybe like a jet sweep) and then another playaction pass off of that. Playcalling at this level is more about findng the the weak link and pounding it.

I do not know if any of this helps and I wish you luck

Coach4Life
Senior Member

Posts: 280

Looking for Advice Oct 5, 2004 19:38:25 GMT

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Post by Coach4Life on Oct 5, 2004 19:38:25 GMT

Following up on the previous comment, we lost our second game that we should have won. Our performance was so poor we had 3 good plays out of only 15 offensive plays. Our line was decimated, all kinds of excuses but flat out we were doing a poor job and I was very frustrated. We have a two play minimum rule. In the 3rd quarter as I looked at the list of guys that haven't been in the game and the tie situation, my frustration got the better of me and as I handed the list back to an assistant coach I actually said out loud "We're beat". Immediately I regretted it, told myself to calm down and get my act together. 35 seconds left, they have no timeouts, and on 3rd down I throw from our 8 (they'll never be expecting it), a really bad call when it was incomplete. 4th down, gotta punt from the end zone, blocked, ball game.

As the kids came off they looked beat and I realized that my frustrated attitude and consequental slip contributed to it. I tried to pump them up and it almost worked, as the other coach was almost dumber than me, he kicked deep and we almost ran it back, but it wasn't to be. I think one reason we lost that game was because I lost my cool, and whether or not the kids heard me say "We're beat", that played a hand in our downfall. I won't make that mistake again. As coach said, you are indeed your team's leader and they cannot see you crack.

"The quality of a man's life is in direct proportion to his pursuit of excellence." - Vince Lombardi

Jacobmorris
Member

Posts: 40

Looking for Advice Oct 5, 2004 22:25:31 GMT

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Post by Jacobmorris on Oct 5, 2004 22:25:31 GMT

Well if you have a min play rule then have you thought of using a WR in a few plays just to get those kids their plays? I am sure you have John T Reed's book has been suggested before, and while I do not subscribe to his way of thinking in some respects, his books are good as a blueprint to work from. His warpspeed single wing offense I think would be good to work with. He also brings up the idea of running an offense that no one else runs. So if everyone is running I and Wing T then you run something different.

The Punt story reminded me of somethign I saw that I am putting in. I went to a High School game and the team was backed up on their own 2 or 3 with it being 3rd and long. So on 3rd down they tossed the ball to the tail back and he took one step and punted the ball. The other team was not set up for a return and did not have a rush on.

coachbots
Junior Member

Posts: 13

Looking for Advice Oct 5, 2004 23:44:19 GMT

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Post by coachbots on Oct 5, 2004 23:44:19 GMT

Coach Yancey, I feel your pain. My team has only scored 1 offensive TD all season. Alot of the things metioned above are right on. I have a coaching staff that loses their cool alot quicker than I do as well. So I also have to keep them under control. Something that I have done week to week is keep the moral up in practice. I make sure everyone stays motivated all week. This seems to atleast get them fired up on game day. This week I have narrowed my playbook down to 3 plays to each side and just one hot pass. I am tring to install a new blocking scheme as well. Which tonight they seemed to have fun with. I'm going with a dive, sweep, and power to each side. We have set a goal to adverage at least 4 yards on every play this week. Our O Line has the goal of beating their man every play. I hope this helps in some way. Keep your composer, win or lose the kids will always look up to. Attitude will always reflect leadership. I read in a book years ago about coaching youth sports and it talked about how the kids won't always remember how many games they won or even what the scores were. What they do remember is each and EVERY COACH that coached them along the way. How do you want to be remembered?

Alex Botsford

TIGER ONE Senior Member Posts: 6,423	Looking for Advice Oct 6, 2004 4:45:17 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top Post by TIGER ONE on Oct 6, 2004 4:45:17 GMT Coach Botts, VERY WELL STATED! Your thinking is absolutely correct and to be heartily commended! Coach Easton
	J.C. EASTON<BR>HEAD COACH<BR>GA TIGERS FOOTBALL<BR>PROFESSIONAL MINOR LEAGUE

TIGER ONE
Senior Member

Posts: 6,423

Looking for Advice Oct 6, 2004 5:07:23 GMT

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Post by TIGER ONE on Oct 6, 2004 5:07:23 GMT

Jacob Morris,

You have hit on a very solid thought, that of runnning something noone else runs! That is how I started my spread years ago! It seemed that everybody, up to and including college level, was in love with the wing-T. If you went to a HS game in Florida, every week it was the same thing. I was coaching in Jacksonville, and the local legend was the guru of it all. He went to it, so it was the thing to do. It never made any sense to me to run something that every team in the conference was practicing against all week long. We were running the bone and we continued to win with it, beating the Guru's High School every time we played them for a number of consecutive years. Now, he was a great coach, and still is, and I'm not intending to sound caustic in any way. But, it amazed me that the thought process was they could out execute everyone else. My thought has always been, you may be good but unless you put some new wrinkles in that others haven't seen, you are going to be stopped pretty soon. Be innovative as a coach, use your own skills, don't always try to emulate someone else. Be your own man, as long as your system is SOUND. Don't get radical unless you have something that is really going to work.

Coach Easton

J.C. EASTON HEAD COACH GA TIGERS FOOTBALL PROFESSIONAL MINOR LEAGUE

CoachYancey
Junior Member

Posts: 13

Looking for Advice Oct 6, 2004 7:39:58 GMT

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Post by CoachYancey on Oct 6, 2004 7:39:58 GMT

I can't say thanks enough,
We'd be in even more trouble without the knowledge from this forum. I have cut the playlist down
and I'm sneaking in a unbalenced look....with one extra blocker I believe we can get positive yards on early downs. I'll also add a playaction pass off power or lead action....if we can catch the D napping....
should I send the fb into the flat on pa power? or should I just have the TE arrow and look quick for the ball? I'm sure we won't have all day to throw.....
As a coaching staff were as positive as we can be.....our goal is to have these kids comeback and play next year....4 games left....were gonna fight like hell to play our best football from here on out...
these are nice kids, hopefully the expeirence of the first four games will open there eyes and show them
that effort is key to sucess....
We can plan all we want.....They have to play with intensity.
I'll keep you posted Coaches good luck to you all.

Coach Yancey

Jacobmorris
Member

Posts: 40

Looking for Advice Oct 6, 2004 11:02:30 GMT

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Post by Jacobmorris on Oct 6, 2004 11:02:30 GMT

Coach I forgot to tell you something I have been doing the last few games is using a little no huddle. What I do is call the first play of the game. When we get the ball for the first time either from a turnover, kickoff or punt my kids know to run to the line, get set and run it. We can get teams trying to adjust, sending in players and all sorts of things. It would be a good thing to do with your unbalanced. Just go unbalanced to your side line (so the other coaches do not see it very well) and run a blast or wedge. You'll get more kids at the POA and more than likely get a nice little gain. After I had a little success doing it early I just made it an automatic that any time we get the ball we go straight to the line and run it. It works great for turnovers and helps buil dup some speed.

As far as throwing the ball it depends on your QB's arm (my guy maxed out at about a 20yd pass). The passes I use are a quickie (sometimes called a pop or lookie) where we fake the FB dive and just pop up and throw to the opposite TE. Safe high percentage pass. The next one is off of an off tackle play action where the QB gets depth like a hand off and then throw to the TE in the flat or a back. I vary who I release on that. In both cases the TE of the back show block first then leak out. Once again safe and if it is not there throw it at the feet of the TE/RB. Another one is playaction of the blast with the backside TE going on a streak/post and the last is the HB pass which I think all teams at some point have run.

CoachYancey Junior Member Posts: 13	Looking for Advice Oct 6, 2004 12:37:11 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top Post by CoachYancey on Oct 6, 2004 12:37:11 GMT That's some great thinking....These are thing we can work on tonight!!!! Our plays will stay the same just the formation will change......Thanks for your help coaches.... I'll let you know how we do with this.....

mahonz
Junior Member

Posts: 8

Looking for Advice Oct 7, 2004 10:06:39 GMT

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Post by mahonz on Oct 7, 2004 10:06:39 GMT

Coach Y

With 35 players you shouldn't be getting blown out regardless of experience.

The power I is not so easy to teach although some would argue. It is all power so you cant afford any mistakes up front.

Do you birddog the offense through every play? If not this is a must.

Is your tailback the absolute best runner on the team?

Are your best lineman the guards? Can they trap and pull?

Can your fullback block any opponent regardless of size and talent?

Are your splits to narrow? Common mistake for the "i".

Do you use motion?

Do you have a sucker series?

Why sprint out? Play action.

Coach Mike

MaxPreps

Concordia University Irvine

Texas HS Football

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Post by CoachYancey on Oct 4, 2004 6:14:15 GMT

Post by TIGER ONE on Oct 4, 2004 8:24:20 GMT

Post by CoachYancey on Oct 4, 2004 11:19:11 GMT

Post by CoachYancey on Oct 4, 2004 11:19:15 GMT

Post by CYFL Coach on Oct 4, 2004 12:10:53 GMT

Post by TIGER ONE on Oct 4, 2004 12:28:18 GMT

Post by CoachYancey on Oct 5, 2004 11:57:15 GMT

Post by CoachYancey on Oct 5, 2004 11:57:18 GMT

Post by Jacobmorris on Oct 5, 2004 18:26:36 GMT

Post by Coach4Life on Oct 5, 2004 19:38:25 GMT

Post by Jacobmorris on Oct 5, 2004 22:25:31 GMT

Post by coachbots on Oct 5, 2004 23:44:19 GMT

Post by TIGER ONE on Oct 6, 2004 4:45:17 GMT

Post by TIGER ONE on Oct 6, 2004 5:07:23 GMT

Post by CoachYancey on Oct 6, 2004 7:39:58 GMT

Post by Jacobmorris on Oct 6, 2004 11:02:30 GMT

Post by CoachYancey on Oct 6, 2004 12:37:11 GMT

Post by mahonz on Oct 7, 2004 10:06:39 GMT

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