Pops list
Rubber chicken circuit for award winners
Talk to coaches on behalf of last years players
Did I mention you need to convince your wife it’s not too much work?
Assistant coaches:
Not all coaches talk the same. Some lingo sounds like German while others are may sound like French. Everyone must be talking the same language and using the same terminology. The assistant coaches need to all have the same mentality and philosophy as the head coach in order to come together as a team. In the bad times, you will need it.
Most youth teams rely on getting fathers to help out. It is a special thing for a father and son to share the experience of being on the same team, however, our #1 Rule is: Coaches can not coach their own son.There are plenty of other tasks to do and players to coach. Fathers are either too tough or too lenient on their own kid.
The key is getting a core coaching staff to stay together for many years. A returning coach, like a returning client, requires 1/10 the effort.
You need an assistant head coach and assign some of these tasks to him. The closer you get to the season, the more tasks this coach needs to take off your hands.
An offensive coordinator (OC)is a must. Head coaches can be more effective if they establish rules and have a solid coach that can follow the team rules. It takes a great deal of patience and discipline to stick to the plays you have been working on all week. The offensive coordinator should be like a database of “if” statements. Get someone with steady nerves and patience. They don’t need to be a encyclopedia of information, they just need to understand the rules and when to apply them. It will take a year or two for the OC and head coach to get in sync but once you are, the team is 10 times more effective.
Offensive line coach-This is your most important coach and a job I usually do myself for the first few weeks. If we can block, we can run and pass. There are many rules used in blocking so your offensive line coach needs to be in lock step with the blocking rules your team has. In our offensive section we have all of our rules and drills. DO NOT TRUST THIS TO JUST ANYONE. After a few weeks, your line coach should have the drills and rules locked down.
Defensive coordinator (DC)-A Defensive coordinator is not a guy that call blitzes and different defenses all game. He is someone that understands the rules of the defense and enforces them. If there is confusion he reinforces the rules. The DC uses other coaches to watch certain players. Are the ends coming too far up field, are tackles turning shoulders, are D backs taking read steps back, are the linebackers in the alley where they belong. As you will learn farther back in the book, a defense blitzes 10%-100% of the time. Make sure his philosophy of who blitzes and when is in sync with the head coach.
You need an older coach(OF) who has forgotten more football than you will ever learn. We have Pops. He provides a library of rules that have been handed down over the years. He also looks at things outside of football. Handling parents, issues, emotions, but basically serves as a great sounding board for the head coach. Our first course of business is to address the Pops list, which is a list of everything that went wrong in the last game or scrimmage. As the season goes on, the list gets smaller and smaller as the team nears excellence. A coach like Pops also is a wealth of historical information, should you run into offenses or defenses that have not been around for a while. Between the two of us, we have about 70 seasons of experience. This book would look like a bowl of spaghetti without Pop’s guidance.
You need a young coach who communicates well with players, and brings enthusiasm to the team. They usually have limited experience in youth football except for their playing days. They can pick up things quickly from the experienced coaches. Football is about muscle memory, which means drills are run over and over during the season. Take ownership of 2 or 3 of the top drills and make them yours. During the game, focus should be on one player at a time to make sure rules are being carried out. If you watch the game, you are a fan not a coach.
A strength and condition coach is a championship builder. The better shape the team is in, the fewer injuries and more control you have in the second half. Most of the time the young coach is the strength and conditioning coach. In 2010, against great playoff teams, we scored 104 points in the second-half of our games compared to our opponents 6.
If you are a stationary team (same level every year), you need a rising coach who has knowledge of players coming into your level. They are your recruiter and eyes for the talent pool. Some kids may be on the fence about playing, some great players may have taken a year off and just need a nudge back into football or they may know some kids from other areas who are looking for a good team to join. These coaches bring a different knowledge base of their system they have run. It is always good to debrief them on what they did and what their rules are.
Special teams coach: I have won championships and lost championships on extra points and special teams. If you have the luxury of one coach focusing on the kickers, snappers, holders and special teams you are in luck. You need one coach who is an advocate for special teams or I promise they will get overlooked.
Receiver/D back coach: Although we only have 8 routes for our receivers, they must run them with precision. Backside receivers need to be where they are supposed to be in case the QB is shut down on his primary. On the other side of the ball, the near CB is his focus, making sure he is doing his job even when the play is away from him. Players need to know what to do if the play breaks down.
At the youth and high school level, you may be limited on coaches, but all functions need to be covered.
Mike is the calm assistant head coach
Robert is the Cool Uncle and Cliff is the no nonsense Offensive Coordinator
Sean is the Crazy Uncle, Avi is the Big Brother
Tiger locked on to the special teams and as the rising coach, brought the rising stars
The look only a county championship can bring
Working With a Limited Staff
Many youth teams only start out with 3 coaches. Our staff only starts with 3-4 coaches every year. You need to build your staff early.
Challenge:You usually get fathers of your kids to help but you don’t know who your kids are until the draft.
Solution: Grab the best kid/dad combo who will be playing at your
