BLACK

Passing along a great link provided by Trevor McIntyre, detailing elements of Saban's program manual and how it influences players at Alabama.
Blueprint of a Champion Article

Though Saban isn't the only coach to use such intense indoctrination methods to build a positive-peer culture, this is an insightful look at how to lay a detailed foundation of expectations, behaviors, motivation, and mental processing to build a consistent product. Some of the insights regarding player expectations outlined in the article can be heard here and also through the 2010 ESPN "All-Access" special.

Some choice excerpts from the article;





“Discipline, commitment and effort and toughness - that's the four fingers,” (Scott) Cochran said. “The thumb is pride. “So when you put the four fingers up, that's what it's all about. It means fourth quarter, but there's a lot more.”

The manual is obviously not just the sole creation of Saban, but a collaboration from his entire staff, selling a united message. Even at the high school level, there are many valuable tenets to essential program building to be garnered from this lesson ( framing competition, staging strength & conditioning, positive mental imagery, leading with purpose, etc).

Additional Links:
Dr. Kevin Elko
Albert Bandura
Self-regulation of Motivation and Action through Goal Systems

No scheme or strategy will impact your program and team (next fall) than this "play" below, the clean.

Building core strength and explosive transfer of power (through ground-based movements) is the single-most important process in program building.

At a previous program, we brought in Palmer Chiropractic instructor and former Olympic Team coach, Dave Juehring, to properly train our athletes (and clinic our staff). It was probably one of the best things we ever did and allowed us to see dramatic athletic improvements in our players.

AWESOME

Easily the most efficient, cost-effective, and user-friendly video system any school could ask for. With packages running from $800 - $1600 (based on storage needs), your program can open up the world of film study and game access available to anyone investing in your team.

You can eliminate the spindles of DVDs needed in a season for trades, cuts, film study, and weekly distribution (scout & last game) because everything is housed online on HUDL servers.




As new customers, we have been toying around with the product for a few months and although most on staff are not techno-philes, everyone can use the system because it is no more difficult than a remote control.

Once the game film is uploaded, it will parse into play segments for the staff to detail (as little or as much as you like) later. You can upload game film, scout film, practice film, anything you want.

With the game film online and telestrated/commented as you like, you can distribute it to other coaches, to players, to parents, or even college recruiters.

The only thing required is to have MS Silverlight (Gates' version of Flash) installed on the PC to view the applet.

We plan on (and have been for spring) using this during the athletic periods (football class) to dial up situations pertinent to the game plan or teaching plan. This eliminates the need to cutup the game film and burn to discs for special presentation the night before. Just toggle the plays you want to review and its there in an instant.

There have been tons of video editing, databasing, scouting, and storage solutions offered in the last 8 years in the coaching industry, but nothing captures the full spectrum of needs like HUDL. Be sure to check out the current offer before the season starts!

http://www.hudl.com/blog/comments/test-drive-hudl-i-promise-its-free

I would have to say, one of the coolest aspects of HUDL, isn't the program itself, but the customer service. If you have a problem or question, just call their support line and you will actually talk to a real person (that knows the product). If they can't walk you through it, they'll remote desktop into your PC and fix any issues you might be experiencing.

Nick Saban speaking at the Mississippi Association of Coaches Clinic yesterday.


A great lecture sharing his philosophy on program building, dealing with athletes today, then follows up with him going over how he adjusts/morphs Cover 3 to handle everything an offense can dish out. 72 minutes of Saban.....................
Coaching is teaching
Teaching is the ability to inspire learning

Influence
Thoughts, habits, priorities - these are the triggers of everyone's actions

Develop Leaders
Leadership is understanding how what you do affects others

Rip/Liz (Rita/Lucy) linebacker adjustment in Cover 3
(though not articulated clear in MSU 97 or LSU 01 playbooks, I go over this 'safety-down' adjustment in cover 3 to handle verticals here)

I, like you, am anxiously awaiting hemlock's dissertation on Run & Shoot (and you may not find a more qualified authority), and to kill time, I will share the recent developments of our spring program. Trust me, once Hemlock gets going, I'll do my best to STFU.

This post may be interesting to those without 6th period football and/or spring football (or program development, in general).

We have been using 6th period (final period of the day) for the last 5 months for lifting. The past month or so (since the weather has been gorgeous) we have been taking the kids out to run through skelly sessions twice a week. This certainly helps and gives a jump start on what spring football will actually be in the coming weeks.

We have one bonafide offensive player (our Y) returning from last season, who was our leading yardage gainer. We have our starting quarterback, and one developing split receiver, and a bevy of young sophomore skill and lineman talent. This largely would not be the case, had interim HC (now official HC) not pressed for a full-time freshman squad. Had he not been so adamant about the freshmen, we wouldn’t have much to be optimistic about this year. I preface that, because as we move forward making plans for spring ball, we are faced with a dilemma of what to do with this talent on offense. How does it define what we do? Do we change from what we attempted last year after losing a once-in-a-lifetime “do-everything” stud (Jacoby Moseley) and a DI skill position player (Jarrett Fobbs)? Losing two game-changing talents may significantly affect the direction we move towards, especially when both were the sole contributors to our run game.

TREME
Completely unrelated, but be sure to check out David Simon's new series, Treme, on HBO - a certifiable winner.

http://backoftown.wordpress.com/2010/04/12/thatll-work/

BRAZIL

Even more unrelated, but something I found interesting, especially considering some of the recent Kabuki politics in America (not that I have one iota of thought regarding the matter, nor a desire to pursue one) - this is an interesting story and perspective.

http://www.fdasbo.org.br/

Entirely unrelated to this event, but I have been exploring expating to South America in another decade or two, so if there are football opportunities let me know....

Football hasn't been a 'season' sport for over a decade at most high schools.

Outside of a weight program that cycles your athletes through progressive stages of development (peaking at the start of the season), the supplemental component to this training is "mat drills". This combines all the best from how the wrestlers used to train (no longer have to advocate players wrestling) without worrying about them stunting growth with outrageous body weight manipulation.

These are also great team-building exercises, because players will often be challenged more severely than they would in football practice. It also requires a greater investment in what the team is working for. Nothing invested, nothing lost. When the game is on the line in October, there is no way a player can just turn their back after enduring through such a demanding "off-season".

Having done this at other programs, just a few notes;
Schedule it before school - don't think you can accommodate schedules. After school, on the weekend, mid-day...kids will still find a reason to miss. Get in early, put in the hustle, and enjoy the rest of the day. Nothing will build your players more both emotionally and mentally than challenging them with this type of explosive training to start the day.

Mind Over Matter (don't mind the ones that don't matter) - your numbers may suffer at first, it happens. Don't worry about the kids that aren't there / showing up. Focus and support the kids that ARE there and seize the opportunity to cultivate deeper relationships with those players.


A collection of COD, plyos, agilities, and speed work

MAT @ Yahoo! Video



MAT @ Yahoo! Video



MAT @ Yahoo! Video

There may be some gray areas here, so I'll attempt to define the differences we're talking about;

Us vs "them" - the perspective of assuming we are the better team and we have to go out there and mop the floor with our opponent. They are not in our league, they are subhuman, and inferior in every way (even if we aren't physically superior). 'Demonize' the competition, because they are losers in every area, you don't want to associate with these vermin. If we lose, it is because they cheated.

Rivalry - the perspective of playing to be the survivor. Only one team wins and we have to not only ensure that we don't lose, but we have to ensure that the other team doesn't win. Make them hurt and demoralize them so they quit and not even think about competiting with us again. We can talk with our opponents, but when its all said and done, we will have the bragging rights in the district (the trump in smack talking), and we want to make sure they suck. If we lose, it is because our opponent dominated us and we aren't worthy of being champions.

Be the Best - the perspective of welcoming all challengers irregardless of talent, classification, or significance. We just want to play.....and we'll worry about how we go about winning once we play. You'd better be ready to go the full length of the game, because we won't be stopping until the game clock ends (no matter what the score is). If we lose, it is because we just weren't up to the challenge of the day.

Personal Performance - who lines up across from us really doesn't matter. We just have to go out there and play the best on each play....if we add it up, we should win the game and go hang out with our opponent after the game. If we lose, it is may be that our competition was too much for us or we didn't execute well enough.

The maturity of a competitor should naturally progress to the final stage here. As coaches, we should be doing everything in our power to advance the perspectives of our players (mainly in the off-season) to appreciate competition, embrace friction, and learn to harness their abilities to seize opportunity.

Among the fundamentals that I will soapbox for, platooning, is another that I firmly believe in at the high school level.

This post will simply be a regurgitation of musings I've shared with others on this subject, most noteably here;
Mecca of Platooning

Help me understand when a program should NOT platoon.

I am not suggesting there are no legitimate reason to avoid platoon, because we all will use what "works" for us. I guess I'm stuck wondering;

1. Does platooning somehow "hurt" a players chances of being 'discovered' by college recruiters ( DI offensive guard playing DT)
2. The biggest excuse is obviously numbers.

To me, this is relative to people saying they can't buy a house because they don't have the money, so they rent. That kind of reason (IMO) is exactly why you SHOULD buy a house, so that you DO have the money (equity). I've seen big programs platoon, and little programs platoon. If you only have a senior & junior class of 30 and 20 of them are girls, well then maybe I guess I would understand..........help me understand, folks.

It takes considerable faith in your staff's coaching abilities, IMO, to go platoon where you have to "coach up that 2nd tier player" to become a legit starter, even when the instincts are telling you to put Johnny B.Goode who plays on the other side of the ball in. The security blanket of just letting the studs take over and let the marginal players "sink or swim" rather than forcing yourself (and the rest of the team) to rely on how well they've been prepared for a starting spot.

IF YOU COULD PLATOON, WOULD YOU?

The obstacles, limitations, etc are usually temporary and can be fixed with the application of resources.(more students, more coaches, more facilities, etc)

One could argue, that your "Charles Jefferson" at 60% isn't better than my 100% Johnny Slapdick

If you let your "Charles Jefferson" completely dominate at one position or do you try to distribute his talent among a bunch of positions?

It's the Law of Diminishing Returns at work in a 48 minute ball game on humid nights in the early Fall.(for those that do platoon, you almost ALWAYS have the 2-4 players that HAVE to play both sides, but the majority of players do platoon).

I’ve been at relatively mid-sized schools where we’d platoon. We would train kids both ways up until their Sophomore year. In their Sophomore / Varsity years, they will predominately play one way. There, of course, are exceptions where 3 or 4 kids will play both ways. Very few play an ENTIRE game both ways.

• Every off season, we look at kids and list the ENTIRE roster pool from incoming 9th - 12th graders.
• We list their primary and secondary positions.
• We rank the top 12 kids for offense and defense, regardless of grade or if they were listed for the other side of the ball.
  

I am in love with the platoon system, as it allows us to teach MORE quality football and it makes adjustments considerably easier, allowing the coaches more control of what happens on the field (execution). You have to have more confidence in the ability of the coaches to TEACH football than you do in kids to just slap stuff together on Friday nights to platoon, IMO.

If you’re waiting for “numbers” until you platoon, it's a chicken-before-the-egg argument. You'll NEVER have the numbers to be a comfortable platoon system UNTIL you start platooning. We try to have TWO teams whenever numerically feasible at the freshmen and MS levels.

When you are afraid of your second tier players having to start (discouraging you from platooning) then, you could say that those "turds" you cringe to start are basically that way because they haven't been coached up (this all is related to how we each value / perceive "coaching").If you just platoon at the Varsity level, I think you will find that the turds are more pronounced. If you platoon program-wide, it should be a different story.It's easy to say that is the case when you think short-term.BUT, if that 3rd string player is ACTUALLY getting reps at the 8th & 9th grade level (instead of runt garbage time), he develops;

1. a sense of purpose
2. identifies himself as a football player (motivation to hit the weights)
3. gets intense quality instruction (instead of 'lectures' he hears at the back of the line)
4. has immediate incentive to keep coming out for football (increase numbers)

Again, with short-term / long-term 'solutions' a lot of this becomes chicken-or-the-egg mentality. It boils down to We are going to slap-what-we-can-together to win NOW on every level or We are going to BUILD a program geared to win at the Varsity level.

A successful team that we adopted our platooning from (Vic Boblet at Rock Island, who got it from Bob Reade at Geneseo) did this at the lower levels; 8th - 10th

• Every kid is taught an offensive & defensive position
• One is their "primary" position and one is their "secondary" position.

It was well-known that the Freshman squad (usually had TWO units) was where they put all the best coaches (since it was all about teaching).

• Johnny's primary position is OT
• Johnny's secondary position is ILB

For sub varsity games, they play kids at their primary position for the 1st qtr or half

In the 2nd qtr / half they play their secondary position.

So, Johnny is playing OT the 1st qtr/half then he's getting his reps at ILB the other (not at the same time), while the primary ILB is playing while Johnny is playing OT, etc.

Teaching, playing time / experience, coaching up, technique are what are stressed - winning is a by-product of this.

Again, it all is based on your philosophy as the Head of the Program is......you may boast the 10-time defending City champion Freshman team, but if you never make the playoffs at the Varsity, who really cares? It all depends if you put more importance on the CHICKEN or the EGG.

Years ago I worked at an inner-city program that splits the talent amongst 3 other public schools a private school, and an out-of-district school that "recruits" - we did the Varsity platoon system with 3 coaches on each side of the ball (only one of them was a teacher in the school, the rest were paid assistants from other areas).

I guess what I'm getting at is whenever you have a less-than-perfect situation you can sit back and let temporary excuses limit you, or you can look to actively change your environment.

There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?---Bobby Kennedy

If every kid plays and every kid learns fundamentals to make him successful, mission accomplished in my book.You play to win the game - but winning should be a by-product of great TEAM effort and teaching the game.

Maybe I should add that the biggest caveat that we were taught was that EVERY off-season you had to evaluate the talent (again, more work than some folks would care to do).......

• EVERY coach had to rank each player (in the program) from 1 - 100 on the player's value (i.e. Charles Johnson is #1, Johnny Slapdick is the 100th best athlete in the program)
• EVERY coach had to pick each players best offensive & defensive position.
• Then the offensive & defensive staffs had to essentially "Draft" their roster each year (some are no-brainers), with the TOP QB going to offense and most of the pivotal studs going to defense (fill the critical components to the defense first).
• Then you find out who you have to coach-up in the off-season (who you HAVE to make a starter by September). It gives the coaches a little more incentive to push certain kids in the weight room (as well as game plan, knowing their 'liabilities').

FYI - at one of the programs I was at years ago, we went from Ironman to platooning, the Sophomore & Varsity staffs worked together quite a bit. Especially during the first 4 weeks of football, so you essentially double-up the Varsity staff.Sophomores get reps with the Varsity during Indy & some Group. By the time you get to TEAM, you don't need tons of coaches present, mainly the coordinators.

You divide up the team with the best 11 to defense after the QB is selected.The bottom line with selection depends on "where can this kid make the best impact"?

We were a cover 3 team. We HAD to have the best athletes at OLB spots....we had a lot of guys we wanted at corner & FS, but being that we were a C3 team, they would've ended up making a bigger impact at TB and flanker. This forces the staff to really hash things out together and forces your staff to get on the same page.......

WE ARE DOING 'THIS' BECAUSE WE ARE DOING 'THIS'.........

THIS is who we need (because he's going to do ____)

This cuts down on/eliminates the whining about player placement, because EVERYONE gets an opportunity to air their beliefs and argue their point (that's what football is about).

Finally, I'm not going to convince anyone of anything - I'm not a salesman. I'm just giving some feedback based on my experiences. Each of us are different.

For those of you that believe in two-waying your program..........at what point (freshmen, JV, Varsity) do you begin LOOKING at those second tier guys? I mean REALLY looking at them as legitimate contributors? Honestly, what is THEIR experience like during a practice, during a game, during a season? Do they really have to be involved? I'm just asking, and you may not really care about those players, but I'm just wondering when does the coaching staff collectively say, "Hey, Johnny Slapdick could help us at ROLB instead of Bobby Eveready?"

Shoot, if ALL my players were 6'3", 205lbs and ran a 4.5 40, I'd have a pretty easy time "coaching". Its easy teaching the honor roll students....AGAIN, if 2-4 guys happen to play both ways, that doesn't mean you AREN'T platooning......if you have philosophically decided to have a separate OFFENSE & DEFENSE, then you are platooning .

For myself, the positives of platooning, I see far out-weigh the negatives. I see two-way as a quick-fix, short-sighted mentality to program building (win now). Now each of us have our own decisions to make, and I may be wrong in my opinions (it wouldn't be the first).

If I ran a company and made all of my drinking buddies my senior officers and to hell with everyone else. How many hours would you work overtime, how hard would you try to get those projects done, how long would you delude yourself with 'climbing the ladder', how much night-school would you be attending?

Then I, as the COO, am always bitching and moaning that nobody has any intiative and the only guys I can trust are my drinking buddies....when in truth, I CREATED THE PROBLEM TO BEGIN WITH......

how hard and how long is a 14- 17 year old kid going to bust his hump for you when he knows he'll never get a sniff of the field so long as Tyrone Allstater is out for football, because no matter what, he'll never be the athlete Tyrone is?Do we think that kids just magically quit football during the Varsity years and we wonder why we NEVER have any athletes to use? The problem is systemic, it doesn't just happen overnight.

If your 3rd & 4th team players now become 2nd string.....'Okay, the 4th string player would see exactly HOW much practice reps during the season?---Hey, I've coached two-way guys, and I'll be honest, those 3rd & 4th string guys got about 1 out of 40 reps when the season hit.

Now if you know you've only got 5 or 6 linebackers to coach up, you can spend a lot more time with each one, AND cross-training them (at more than one position) becomes that much easier (to have the backups fill in at any one of those spots)....mainly, because I'm FORCED to spend time with the kid. So the kid, who would've gotten maybe 2-5% of the snaps in a both-way system, now gets 15-20% of the snaps in a two platoon system.

Take for example a 4-3 defense....three linebacker spots. Your starters are bonafide, your second tier guys not so much. Well, instead of 2 studs and one guy you coach up......now you have maybe 8 guys (instead of 17 guys who don't have another position) at linebacker. So instead of trying to divide reps amongst so many guys. Now you can get;

1. a lot of reps
2. not many guys hanging around being distracted (zoning out)
3. brief breathers for your starters
4. drill time goes quickly (no kids standing around waiting their turn)
5. you actually are able to have one-on-one time with those deficient players and spend more quality time with instructions

Lets say you platoon THIS YEAR and just looking at this from a Varsity standpoint......Year ONE may be rough....and you WILL get tons of opposition (aww...they would've won won 3 more games if the tailback played DE and FS!!)

But lets say you have 22 starters.........

• 13 seniors
• 8 juniors
• 1 sophomore

Okay, you graduate 13 seniors, boo-hoo.....but now you have 9 kids with Varsity experience (instead of maybe only 3 because those senior studs would've hogged all the PT). Imagine how much more confident you'd be heading into the off-season knowing that you have SOME questions answered about your returning class as well as creating more opportunities for your Freshmen & Sophomore athletes to see the field. If you have a green SS that is a junior, maybe you have a little more confidence in turning him into a MLB his senior year (because you've seen what he can do, because he's gained confidence with the opportunity to see what Varsity ball is all about.....very little question marks).

Coaching is about CONTROL

Coaching a football program doesn't start with the Varsity in August and doesn't end with the Varsity in November. It is year-round and it is PROGRAM-WIDE. Coaching 'control' is being responsible for player retention, parental/community support / player off-season development & weights / team cohesion & building.

If I was a merc and just showed up in camp, sure...gimme the best 11. However, as a commissioned appointee of the SCHOOL, it is my responsibility to do my due-diligence to create the BEST football team the school can offer ALL YEAR LONG. Develop the product.

I have to do SOMETHING to make the team better than if I wasn't there. If I just say "show up" and just pick MY guys....then there is no point in any non-starter to stick around after Labor Day, because the roster HAS BEEN SET!

This isn't soccer and it isn't BASKETBALL where I just let the fastest 5 play and cut everyone else. Coaching is about taking the talent you have and TEACH assignments, game plan against specific opponents, limit my liabilities and accentuate our strengths in the course of a 48 - 60 minute game in 120 - 140 plays.How much faith do you have in your own coaching abilities to DEVELOP players beyond their own potential?

However, if you are considtently only playing 14 to 15 kids a game, and not looking vigorously for opportunities to play more kids, I can't see how that blueprint will ever lead to a championship caliber program. You may have years where the talent of those 14 or 15 could take you deep into the playoffs, and maybe even get a state title, but I can't see the program developing the program strength to be a solid contender on a yearly basis.

This is what I'm talking about regarding "diminishing returns" comment;
If "bobby" can get 260 minutes of instruction each week strictly on his position.......he can really shine and fully understand his assignment and know how to execute.....

• 35 min individual,
• 70 min group,
• 155 min group TOTAL for the week

Now if "bobby" plays two different positions (offense & defense), now he is getting 130 minutes TOTAL every week on his asignment.....

• 17 min individual
• 35 min group
• 78 min group TOTAL for the week

So, by all rights, this ONE player gets twice as much work / instructional time during the week to be prepared. Now work those Products to the context of a game....

a typical HS game averages 60 plays per unit......

• 120 snaps divided amongst 260 minutes of preparation time

or

• 60 snaps with 260 minutes of preparation time (not counting take home work ...ie. DVDs etc)

That equals 4 1/2 minutes preparation per play for platooning squads versus 2 minutes per play for two-way programs.

Show me a coach that says he gives ALL his players equal reps during the season, and I'll show you a coach thats full of it.

In addition, now you actually have a TRUE scout team to go against your no.1s in group time, instead of turd holding bags. Platooning, requires you coach the hell out of your kids. I have coached two-way systems, and it is a complete pain in the butt to try and put in anything other than your base plays because you have to juggle the roster, trying to accomodate enough time to put something in (okay...okay...."bobby" is the tailback.....now, now...if you're playing DE on THIS adjustment....etc). Now if "bobby" gets injured or has to come out of the game.....now you have to figure out how that affects special teams and the other side of the ball...you may have to make a series of adjustments that requires three other players.

Also, you get virtually ZERO production from your 2nd string during the season. With platooning, you can create specific role players as well as challenge your starters for playing time.From the number example, if you had two weeks to prepare for an opponent as opposed to one week.........

DO YOU THINK YOUR PERFORMANCE WOULD BE ANY DIFFERENT? (would you game plan any differently)

If you say no, then by all rights, platooning won't be your bag.

When you platoon, you really have a ton of time to game plan, make adjustments. You will always have two to three complete monsters that can go both ways and handle it all, but they are the exception to the rule. PLUS, it really promotes the numbers in your program ....more players playing = more parents taking involvement = more parents taking involvement = more money.

I think we are creating straw-man arguments by saying that your 2nd tier players are the class nerds. If the player can't run 10 yards, he shouldn't be out for football, let alone starting. The 2nd tier player are kids that are 2nd string players whom we are making an investment to COACH UP......you'd be surprised at how much a kid will do in the off-season when he knows;

1. he has a shot to start
2. he is being counted on (no, seriously) to produce (or get his job taken by an underclassman)

Quote:

The Law of diminishing returns is not applicable to football.

1. It can be argued that in most games, the point of diminishing returns is never met. Teams sit their starters early, games usually aren't close, and even if they are close, these are teenagers, engines running a 100 mph, most can handle it, with proper substitution.

2. If that point is met, it does not mean that the diminished performance of player A is still not heads and shoulders above that of player B.

3. The better kids on a football team usually aren't the best because of their athleticism, though there are always 3 that just run faster, jump higher, and throw better... but the other 11 starters are usually kids that understand the game better... and there is no diminishing return on knowldege. Here's the deal... kids are not equal... there are tangible quantifiable characteristics that separate kids... once you decide who your best players are... play them... to do otherwise does not make sense to me.

If you have 22 comparable kids, more power to you, impressive, and you are either going to be world beaters, or you're in a world of trouble. However, if you are like most teams across America... you have a solid 14 kids... play them. To do otherwise sends a very bad message, the best 11 should get on the field, any other criteria creates a subjectivity that will readily become the demise of the team.""

If you have the ability to platoon then by all means do it, I would think it's a no brainer."""Define ability... because that is a huge "if"

If football was a bunch of kids running successive 40 yard dashes, I'd completely agree with you. However, if you can prepare an athlete properly, you can train him to think / react faster on the field to complete his 1/11th responsibility on the field. Conversely, I can take your 4.4 athlete and turn him into a 4.9 athlete if I throw enough things at him to make him indecisive on the field.

11 athletes going balls out in the humid months of September & October for 48 minutes versus 22 athletes in the same 48 minutes......one of those groups is going to remain 'fresh'.

2nd point (gee, can you tell this is about the one thing I actually have an opinion on?) , platooning will NEVER make sense, if all you look at is one-season. Platooning is a switch you make for the benefit of the entire PROGRAM, not just a one season fix. It NEVER is the 'right time' to platoon based on your numbers / talent.Regarding the ORIGINAL question (sorry)

For you guys that platoon how much do your twos play not counting injuries?

it depends....we sub the DL & WRs plenty to keep them fresh throughout the whole game. Some times situational players come in (pass rushers / blitzers / etc). Some guys come in for reward time ( competent players who put in work during practice who aren't liabilities ). When you have guys go down with injuries, you don't want to have to start from scratch (and coach up in just one week) with a player who is his backup. In a nutshell, TRUE No.2s get about 15 - 17 % of the seasons game time (not counting garbage time).Why? because, again, platooning isn't about ONE season....it's about the program. Giving your underclassmen reps (experience) ....getting your seniors reps (who weren't starters EVER)...getting kids invovled in the game.....THAT is what the program is about, ALL the players (not just the studs)

About the only time we are separate is during Individual time. We go No.1s (offense) vs No.1s (defense) during INSIDE DRILL / SKELLY / 7 ON 7 / 2 MIN DRILL / GOAL LINEthen when it's TEAM time........it's balls out No.1s vs No.1s in DAILY scripted scrimmages.

• Offense gets 15 plays
• Defense gets 15 plays
• then offense gets 15 more plays
• defense gets 15 more plays

** we run OUR defense adjusted / modified to look like our opponent......we run OUR offense adjusted / modified to look like our opponent (you can pepper in your subs in any of those 30 plays) then, you can go into any situational work you want to go into.this is a LOT more better than going against your make shift turd scouts squad .

A tradition that our program has had for quite a while is, "A Taste of Raider Nation", which is usually an end-of-year banquet for parents, players, and coaches are able to get together and enjoy a fine meal.


This year, the potluck-dinner was moved to a Sunday afternoon in the middle of the season. This was a good way to raise needed program funds and bring together families and athletes before the season ends (which is a GREAT idea). Everyone had plenty to eat and were treated to a photo slideshow and highlight reel of the season so far.




Among the many contributors, Raising Cane's of Louisiana provided a generous donation of food and supplies to this function and established a partnership for pre-game meals this season.

just bring me a juice box!

When we are TOLD what to do we often, as prideful men, reject it, no matter what it is because we want to maintain our autonomy and dignity. When we are asked what to do and given the choice to determine our own fate, we tend to buy in (even if its the very thing we would've been TOLD to do).

coach, let me get you a juice box!

Some thoughts I'll offer on managing your assistants to better serve them and the program;

1) Pick your battles / weigh the economics of responsibility;
What CAN they do? You likely have laid the groundwork of the Offense, Defense, and Special Teams. The frame has been built, why not let one of one of the most promising assistants to pick out the furniture? Maybe there is no incentive (monetarily / position), so it is going to come down to who wants to take on more responsibility. You may be stuck in a situation where assistants will do as little as possible because they just want a stipend and a good seat during the games (only you would know that). However, if a MAN is given the authority and responsibility, he will take interest and his pride usually takes over (to ensure the performance doesn't embarrass him)

This isn't just throwing someone the keys and told to lock up when he's done. I believe you'll have to be closely interactive with them ('what are we going to do about this?'/ 'what is our answer to that?' / 'what could go wrong?') This shouldn't be a blank check, but should be a stewardship position - "we need you to lead us in this area, we want to take full use of your knowledge and perspective of the game".

You may not be relinquishing the offense (naturally) but there are roles people can take responsibility for. Case in point, any monkey can run a defense (it takes a unique individual to actually screw up a defense).....now that you have a defense installed, why not just give them the burden of keeping it running? Another example, any assistant can run Special Teams, too.

I believe your main concern is HOW they see the position (their role on staff). What can you live with? If you give a guy the defense, you have to be willing to give up a 3rd down here, a touchdown there - and not freak out. Special Teams, that guy should be responsible for knowing the players and abilities to know what will be the best result in a given situation (reverse here? fake it now?). Just make sure you have the 11 ready to go. The "coordinator" title gives guys hard-ons apparently....feel free to invoke its power.

2) Define Expectations
Again, we can't just throw the keys to someone and say, "Drive!". He must define his costs & expenditures and justify the what and why (keep him within the budget of authority and responsibilities). Set clear expectations of what his job is. This is most important with regards to;
A) Scouting and Game planning -WHAT is this guy preparing for? Regardless of what you run, it is in response to your opponent. Your opponent is different every week. This guy has to be plugged in to scouting and the information to understand your opponent and provide answers for each situation.

B) Practice Planning - HOW is he preparing the rest of the TEAM? What is he declaring before practice that he NEEDS before the competition? ('speak up now, or forever hold your peace'). This responsibility will be a SHOCK to most of the guys you have on staff, but when there is plenty of warning of what is coming - there really is no excuse not to be organized or prepared (the true role of a coordinator).

C) Game Day Communication - WHERE do the pieces fit? How are the calls getting in? How are the other coaches fitting within this role (someone in the box? Someone signaling? Someone working rotations?) Let this guy define those.

So this becomes, "You're running this show - just need you to provide us the answers (for planning) so we can help you help us (this week)". If he can't come up with those criteria without shitting his pants, he isn't qualified to begin with (and may not need to be on staff).

3) Hold accountable for group results
It isn't the offense and defense...it should be the TEAM. If Bob is the DC or ST coordinator, the team of coaches should be meeting to define practices and game plans. Bob is going to have to articulate this to the rest of the staff. "What can WE do to help the defense better, Bob?" It shouldn't be a YOU / ME thing, it should be an US thing, where the staff works together and challenges each other. Criticism should be ENCOURAGED here. Rather than taking the approach of "damit, the defense ain't getting the job done - YOU SUCK!", (because, naturally, the guy will blame everyone but himself) present it to include all hands on deck. "how are we / what can we do to improve our performance?" (so that introspection analyzes how to improve the TEAM).essentially,

• Sunday - "We play City High this week. Bob, what should we watch for this week? What is our game plan? What will work? What won't work? What is the 3rd and 3 play we have to watch out for within our 20 yd line, Bob?"
• Wednesday - "Bob, how do we look this week? What are we opening with? Any concerns?"
• Saturday - "Bob, good work - what went right? What could we improve on? What should we look for next week?"

Your guy(s) will either run from this or embrace it - but the bottom line they won't be able to hide anymore. Give these guys an arena to prove their worth. This is essentially telling these guys, "You can do what you need to make this work, but you have to be able to make it bullet-proof and be able to justify it to the rest of the staff" . This isn't a "do whatever you want" approach, it is "justify what your are doing to the rest of us, and that it is fail-safe, so we ALL can get on board".

Having said ALL THAT --- I don't think it has to be as black & white as a coordinator position. More importantly, there just needs to be more interaction with the staff. Do you guys meet together for game planning? Do you guys hang out together after practice?

Staff Cohesion is very important to make a team work.

Put someone in charge of scouting / tendency tracking. Put someone in charge of game day rotations....something ANYTHING where they are forced to provide a product for the team, that we all are dependent on them.

All that inflammatory badass rhetoric is great and stuff.... we can scream, holler, and make faces and all that BS, but how does that really help improve the product?

The bottom line is how do we improve the product? Increase the expectations and standards for performance. If we want them to play fast, we have to give them the vehicle to be fast (simple)
If we expect them to perform a particular way, then we must condition their stimulus (muscle-memorization) to establish that routine. Build the player confidence with simple fundamental drills every practice, make it clear what the expectations are, and rep the beejesus out of it.

What I'm talking about is establishing a tempo.

That even when you just "go through the motions" it still comes out in an acceptable manner. Kind of like saying, you can come into work and coast all day, but just make sure you;

• come in 10 minutes early
• finish all projects ahead of schedule
• keep projects under budget

Well, if you do all that, it doesn't matter if you're inspired to work or not, because you are at least meeting core requirements and PROJECTING the qualities you want others to have. For example, I may be bored as hell - but if I start screaming at the top of my lungs, people will at least THINK I'm geeked up.

"Information is the absence of doubt" - Bill Gates

You can teach your kids everything in football, but if they don't know how to apply it (when they will see it and how it relates

• WHAT offenses are in your conference?
• WHAT defense are you going to base out of?
• HOW are you going to defend those offenses from your base defense?
• HOW ARE YOU GOING TO BUILD IT?
• And when does each piece fit?

Week 1 of camp
basics, alignment & assignment and pursuit
Week 2 of camp
formation recognition / checks / rules
Week 1 of regular season
game plan adjustments to fit that offense specifically
Week 2 of regular season
game plan adjustments to fit that offense specifically
Week 3 of regular season
game plan adjustments to fit that offense specifically

If you don't face a team you would use Cover 2 / 4 against until week 3, then there is not much need to rush to get it installed before then.

If you are facing a lot of teams that never pass the ball, then forcing a 'victory' 2-man coverage in doesn't make much sense.

Think economically to build a momentum for mastering the basics you can build off of, then install for a purpose (game plan).

In a nutshell, REVERSE ENGINEER YOUR DEFENSE.

Eliminate the fluff - are the kids in efficient positions to do their job? Eliminate the stuff that just doesn't matter. The fancy names, the kooky plays, the crazy blitzes, the laundry list of coverages, the slogans.....cut the BS

Do they know their job? Is it simple enough, without any major adjustments (what really changes for them?) Are we giving them clear TRUE/FALSE singular decisions they can make at the snap within a second? If not, back to the drawing board.

1) Recognize play-side assignment and where they need to be immediately. If they aren't here - things are going to be fall apart

2) Tempo to play defense - there should be a timer going off in their head once the ball is snapped, that they need to be in a certain (hole /fit) within 2 -3 seconds).

Through constant TEAM pursuit drills, defining hustle required to play, and seeing where everyone else is on the defense (to your left & right) to get a comfort level of the support-fits.

I think defining the TEMPO has everything to do with becoming 'faster' on defense. It quickens the decision making and builds an attitude of anticipation. Defense should be played with great intensity, so realize this isnt' something you can hammer away at for hours on end. Get in, Get out, and be done - short bursts of relentless intensity.

The clock should be ticking for defenders just like it ticks for quarterbacks. The longer a play 'lives' the greater the damage a defense will likely be exposed to.

Each second should be counted like a rhythm;
1-one thousand, you should be stepping playside
2-one thousand, you should be squaring up playside
3-one thousand, somebody is getting lit up / you're in the gap

Most coaches waste waaaaay too much time simply because they aren't organized, and there is a lot of standing around, killing the tempo / attitude of defense. Know exactly what is coming now, next, and 30 minutes from now - KEEP THE KIDS MOVING.

Muscle-memory conditioning.....Pygmalion impartation of how to play defense. If we expect it from the players, WE (as coaches) better be hustling in and out of practice - lip-service won't get it done.

3) Block Destruction - The biggest intimidator on defense that causes hesitation and delay is for a player to handle blockers. The better equipped a defender is at getting off blocks and understanding true leverage and body positioning, the more confident he will be at attacking a gap or taking on offensive players. If you can spend 5 minutes a day on block destruction leverage / technique your players will be considerably more aggressive in attacking the LOS to make plays.

What I'm directly talking about to make the defense "faster" isn't so much to do with scheme or technique, but more along the lines of a defensive R4 / C4 ala Darin Slack. Nothing ground-breaking, just streamlining the process of playing for better (quicker) performance. Call it Gestalt modality, or as Carl Von Clausewitz puts it, in On War, the strike of the eye. Taking the premise of the book as it explores Napoleon's strength, what made him such an effective general, was his ability to piece together previous engagements (having not fought) and see the end game of the tactics. Clausewitz calls this "the glance" that once seeing the pattern, the individual can piece together the successive moves. Something like 'intelligent memory applied to new situations' (new combination of previous elements).

This is why I HATE trying to take new players and immerse them into the 10 different nuances of blocks and such - it is sensory overload. Handle the main thing, TO & AWAY and the appropriate response. I would like to get to a point where we develop powerpoint flash cards of the 36" window run fits look like(train them to NOT look at the entire field and get lost), to train defensive players to train their eyes to see, specifically, where they are affected, and where their eyes should train to next.....so it is a;

• full picture of the half-man guard to the half-man tackle
• next slide is the half-man guard becomes a whole-man guard (reach)
• next slide is focusing on the far shoulder of the guard to attack the stretching gap
• next slide is into the backfield, locating the angle of the back en route to the D gap.

Training the MENTAL progression of where you need to be on specific action TO & AWAY, so there is no hesitation. This foundation of knowing location and player-to-field-position relativity, creates a structure of mastering these looks before even going out and playing them. A sort of deja vu, "I've seen this and how it was done before..." trigger, affording the player the creativity to deal with each situation that arises without being totally up the creek.

The bare bones of this thinking is found in the IN-AT-OUT drill for LBs
Instead of showing them THIS

We show the THIS

Which progresses to to


THIS is their offense...
THIS is why they do it....
THIS is what gives them fits....
THIS is how we can screw this up.....

It starts with compartmentalizing the looks you'll see out of base formation.
The alternative sets (what still is applicable and what ISN'T).
Then work the areas of the field, what they'll do and where (on the field).The scripted scout sessions are like;
2nd & 7+
inside the 40's
1st & 10
on their 20 - 35....

All the while keeping a consistent teaching method.

1. Call the defense to run
2. Call out the D & D.
3. Make the defense align properly to the formation

With the formation presented, you can have the players call & response the threats on that D&D and formation.[i.e.; Backed up in their 10, Power-I...."Strong Power!" or "Weak Counter!"]

It is conditioning your kids to say, "okay, X,Y, & Z....so P,D, & Q are irrelevant "(don't have to worry about Dig / Cross inside the 10 yd line......don't have to worry about speed option inside their 15)

This is best emphasized in understanding what, specifically teams run out of Pro, Twins, and Trips looks to the strong/weak side of your defense.

For example, by formation, the WLB should always be expecting Lead Iso versus I formation or I-weak split.....but not at all versus I-strong split or ace formation. Without having to worry about weak Iso, that WLB should progress his thinking to look for the expected primary threat (based on formation)

It is about teaching (pattern) recognition...when you SEE this, in THIS situation, EXPECT this

This is how you do it at the college level. Look at the NFL Scouting report PDFs floating around - that is how they do it. When you take your game log / scouting reports and put them in a pivot table, you can see the trends based the various factors. If you can plot / predict the trend, you have a good feel for that coordinator's fingerprint.Kids already do this extremely well intuitively......it is the basis of video games.

You can use the week of practice to get ready for your opponent OR you can use the week of practice as a "football camp" where you defend every offense and block reaction.....Which one will better prepare you for Friday night?