Football 101. Michael Ashley
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 competition level. It pays if the dad has had some coaching experience although it does not need to be in football. Train them prior to the season. This will give you a leg up on getting the right players and getting coaches in place early. Most good organizations will allow a coach to stay with someone who is training them.
Your offense and defense (Your plan) should be clearly stated and taught to the coaches as early as possible. If you do not have your plan in writing or do not have a playbook with plays and drills, use these. Arm each coach with a book and have a book club. Take one chapter at a time and study it. Trust me, by the time you get to the season, you will be miles ahead of other teams.
Recruit dads from the hill. Most of them have played football but they do not know what to do or they feel like they are intruding. Arm them with this book and tell them to specialize in certain drills and player responsibilities. The more you can get someone else to do the more chance you have of managing the process.
If you only have 3 coaches, then each of you takes a position group on offense and one on defense;
Offense:
Backs- Should be your offensive coordinator
Linemen- Should be most experienced coach
Head coach swings between two groups.
Each coach should have drills they are proficient at so they can run them correctly in practice. Do not have too many drills. Run a few drills perfectly.
Defense:
D line- Run the box drill until you bleed. This is the core of D line work
Linebackers and ends- We have drills that help contain sweeps and shut down running lanes
D backs-Many levels may not need too much work on pass protection so fold the players into the linebacker/end containment drills. See: “Defending the Sweep”
Get your more trusted coach to learn the rules and call the plays. Head coaches should not be calling plays. It turns them into coaches not managers. As your OC is calling the plays, you have a long checklist you will learn about in chapters about Game Preperation and Game Management.
Building The Team
It is amazing what can be accomplished when nobody cares about who gets the credit. Robert Yates
Great teams don’t just happen! Great teams are built, and the building process starts when the clock strikes 0:00 of the previous season.
A “Team” is a combination of the organization, coaches, players and parents. No one is more important than the other. All must exhibit the “Team First” mentality in the execution of the plan in order to have