Poor High School Programs

[coachbreck 0]

I am going on a little rant here.

We started our youth football program in our town because the program was in shambles. We did not have tackle football until 7th grade and were facing teams that had at least two years of organized tackle football under their belts. We were getting murdered! The last team to start 7th grade football before we started our youth program did'nt even have a first down in a season. Now those same kids will be juniors this year and there are four yes four of them out for football.

Our head varsity coach is a real lazy out of shape piece of crap who would'nt lift a finger to do anything extra ordinary for the program if you gave him a 5 pound snicker bar. No mandatory wieght room, no football camp even though the local college has two of the best camps in the upper midwest one is a team camp, full contact which has time for teams to work on their systems, plus individual position coaching by top area college and highschool coaches. Then later in the summer the college puts on a line of scrimmage camp for O and D linemen which is one of the best camps for linemen I have ever seen.

Now If you were a local highschool coach would 'nt you sieze the opportunity to utilize these two camps to better your football team? Nope not going to either one. friggin unbelievable.

The group of kids that had the first two years of football in our youth program have not lost a game in two years they will be freshmen this year and then onto the wonderfull varsity program where they will be ruined.

Our highschool is the biggest school in class AA in the state and we get our sh!t handed to us by much smallers schools every year I have about had it.

But we have to pussyfoot around this guy because we use the highschool facilities and we would'nt want to ruffle any feathers so I just have to sit back and watch everything we have done got strait to the sh!tter and there is not much we can do about it.

Sorry about the rant

any comments or ideas how we could get rid of a worthless coach who has been here for about thirteen years would be apreciated.

[CoachSteve 0]

hmmmm, now that is an ugly problem. The thing is, I don't know that you will be able to get rid of him as long as the community and the school are content to have a subpar program. Perhaps the parents of the up and coming Freshman will not be thrilled with the Varsity program when their kids get there and they will raise a ruckus. The problem is not just the coach - you said he has been there for 13 years. Well, for 13 years the school is apparantly content to have a losing football program. The coach shoulders his share of the blame but if the the academic leadership (principle, school board, etc) are not supporting him, perhaps his his hands are tied. I suspect, however, if he actually showed some inititive and showed some successes, he would get some support. Clearly, however, the school leadership is not interested in pushing him as he is still around. The community is not pressing the school for a better program either. If there was sufficient pressure from the community on the school board, the pressure would, in turn mount on the coach. He would either have to produce or get off the pot.

So, with that in mind, it sounds like you are doing something very good to generate pressure - creating a winning program that will show up the HS program in time. As I said, maybe the parents will press the school as more and more players move up. I would keep it positive but perhaps you could generate more pressure by trying to create a buzz in the community about your program beyond the parents. If you have some local businesses sponsoring the youth team; perhaps you could start haning posters that thanks the establishment for supporting teh "2004 League Champs" or posting team photos with accomplishments. Invite people out to your games that might just be football fans and see if you can generate any kind of buzz in general about football around the town. Perhaps that will get people saying "That Coach Breck is really doing a great job with the Youth Program; too bad that HS coach wont move for a 5 pound candy bar".

I don't know; its a tough nut to crack. Especially if the school system itself is not interested in a winning program.

On a different extreme, our local HS just had us out for their first mini-camp. They run a great program and see the value of helping us to be better coaches by having us watch them and talk to them. I don't understand why your HS coach would not be interested in winning. There has to be a reason.

[CoachSteve 0]

One other thought that just came to mind is Alumni. Are there any Alumni that give back to the school in someway that are happen to be football fans? If so, they could possible bring some pressure to bear about the state of the program and might even have influencial friends who could help too. If it were college, alumni in this description should be easy to find; I don't know about HS though. That could also be tough but possibly worthy of investigation.

[coachbreck 0]

I am a transplant to this town and it is not a football town, the community is satisfied with a sub par football program. There are a handfull of parents and alumni that have the same thoughts and opinions of this guy as I do but they are just sitting back and doing nothing. Our youth program and coaching staff do get alot of compliments from parents and sponsors and I think you are right they may not stand for mediocrity for much longer. The success that the up and comming classes have had will be addictive and when and if they lose their first game at the varsity level sh!t will hit the fan. I hope.

[CoachSteve 0]

I am a transplant to this town and it is not a football town

EGAD MAN!!! What kind of purgatory have you landed yourself into???

Seriously though - I understand to some extent in that I am not in a true football town either. However, that doesn't mean you couldn't try generating some sort of buzz around the town. There are football fans around there somewhere. Perhaps you could organize some Friday Night Football outings to go to the HS game. The only way I see that coach going anywhere is if the pressure mounts or retirement. Again, perhaps there is an alumn out there who could help. Who knows.

One thing is for sure - keep building winning football teams....that is the best pressure you can create - kids and parents who not just want but expect to win.

Good Luck!

[coachbreck 0]

Thanks for the replys Coach, I think we may have things going in the right direction but we have two major obsticles to over come. One is we need to get through the junior class that only has four kids out for football. The other is this coach, I know he is sitting back and drooling over the freshman class but I want him gone before he gets his hands on them. They will probably win four games max this year, two wins is my prediction. If that is the case I am making a major push to get rid of him.

[CoachSteve 0]

I can't say as I understand why the coach is so interested in getting his hands on the freshman class. You can send him a team of future NFLers but that doesn't mean a hill of beans if he doesn't coach a system and run a program complete with weights and everything else....I feel for you....good luck!!

[coachbreck 0]

I had to leave my own practice a half hour early last night to attend a mandatory parent meeting for the varsity football team. I have a nephew who lives with us and is a sophmore on the varsity.

I left that meeting so mad last night my blood pressure is still about to boil over.

here are some quotes from the head coach from that meeting.

"alot of parents come to me and ask about our curfew, well I don't really have a curfew and I am not going to enforce one"

"I would like to stand here and tell you we are going to win nine games in a row but we all know thats not going to happen we just want to have fun."

"I am alot more layed back than most people would think, we just really want to have fun, we like to have fun in practice we like to make it fun".

fun fun fun funny fun funnerson. I heard him say fun so many times I thought I was going to puke. Football is fun winning games is fun winning a state championship is fun but thats just me I guess.

"I encourage the boys to ride home on the bus, but I am liberal about it so if you ask me your son can ride home with his parents if you want, but I really like the kids to ride home on the bus as a team because if we have a loss and we take them to McDonalds after the game they soon forget about the loss if they eat together as a team."

These are quotes, I am not kidding, he said those things, that is what I have to live with, that is the coach I am sending my killer youth players to. Its a lost cause, we might as well not have football in our town. I have fricking had it.

How can I tell my nephew to keep his nose to the grind stone, to work hard, to be tough, mentaly and physicly. When none of those things are encouraged or worked on in practice. My nephew told me the first day of pads was the easiest practcie he has ever been to.

He are some things he DID NOT SAY! I am excited for football, Thanks for encouraging your sons to work hard in the off season in the weight room. That team camp we went to this summer here at the local college should really pay off for us we saw some kids that are really going to fill some positions, Nearly all our linemen went to the line of scrimmage camp this summer and I even picked up some new drills that are going to make us real tough. We set some high goals for our team and we intend to reach them. We are the biggest school in AA football and it would be embarassing not to win the region every year.

Those are the things HE DID NOT SAY! probably never crossed his mind.

I am so frustrated. My wife teaches for the school and we use the highschool facilities for our youth program. I wish I would have recorded that meeting last night and gave it to the school board.

The worst part is I lost a half hour of practice time with my own team to listen to that garbage. I am appauled, insulted and pissed.

[CoachSteve 0]

I repeat:

 EGAD MAN!!! What kind of purgatory have you landed yourself into???

That makes me mad reading about it. Why in the world does this guy even coach? I'd like to ask him what he really thinks he is teaching these kids? Sports is as much about life lessons as it is about the game; I guess he is happy to teach these kids that you don't actually have to WORK to achieve anything worthwile and that if you try and FAIL some FATA** dork with a 5 pound snickers bar will buy you a cheeseburger. What a bufoon! Sorry if I sound mad now but this is just the type of person that does not need to be involved with sports. If either of my kids runs into this type of ineptness in their life, I'll consider selling the house and move to the next town over. Sorry CoachB for ranting back - this guy makes me want to curse though.

What if you rallied the parents and youth that you send up and started a midget program? Just take it all away from that moron at least through 16yo. It sounds like the kids and parents would be willing to make that leap. It won't help the jr. and sr's but it could put some more pressure on the HC and the board. Then again, perhaps they would like not haveing to pay for a Jr. Varsity program.

BTW - You are not anywhere near North Carolina are you? If you are, perhaps I will drive over and drop of 5 pounds worth of candy to him. It would be the least I could do.

[coachbreck 0]

Thanks again Steve for the reply, and sorry no where near N.C. Actually North Dakota. If for some strange reason he is still the coach when my son hits varsity I think my zip code will change and we will be playing 9-man football for a small town near by.

[CoachSteve 0]

I wonder how much it would cost me to ship five pounds of candy bars wrapped in a pair of underwear? It would be worth the laugh but I wonder if he would get the candya** inference. He doesn't sound too bright to me.

[jag1872 0]

Breck,

Some people just don't get it some times. The concept of sports and what it is for escapes them. Sounds like you have your hands full.

My only wisdom on this matter is to be honest with your nephew and tell him to be an example for his team mates about what foot players should be. Sounds like a teacher that is simply coaching for hte sake of it and really doesn't know anything about football or even sports for that matter......

How is your team doing?

Jack

[coachbreck 0]

One saving grace for the Varsity this season is they got a line coach who is filling in for a teacher that has obligations to the National Gaurd this year.

He is a retired head College football coach whos specialty is O-line. He is schooling up the linemen big time and it could make a huge diffenece in their season they will probably win 5 games and make the playoffs. Because we all know it starts up front.

I am optimistic about my team, But I have a Loooong way to go and a short time to get there. I need to be patient. The Super Power and Counter trap are looking good.

I tried implementing my option last night and woaah nelly is that tough to run with those narrow splits.

First game is a week from today.

[JWA 0]

Wow!

I guess we're lucky that they start tackle football at first grade around here!

The township football program is top notch and the highschool program is one of the best in the nation. It all works in unison.

[coachbreck 0]

Consider yourself very lucky, The youth program is trying our hardest to get football #1 in our community but this bozo stands in the way.

It gets better, the local paper put out the football preseason preview of the local teams. The coach said they hope to build off last years 5-5 season but they had a 4-6 season, either it was a typo or he does'nt remember, or I wonder who the heck he is trying to kid. He listed one of the top returning starters who got kicked off for drinking and is not elgible for 6 weeks. Oh and he picked his team to win the region. which they should because we are the biggest school in the region by far and it is really down in talented teams this year. So that will be an interesting prediction.

They have their first game on friday against a football rich tradition team from the west region. And he has not named his starting QB yet. My nephew is one of the four in the mix and they had a meeting yesterday there are two sophmores and two seniors he told them he is leaning toward a senior but did'nt say which one. So no one knows who the starter is and they all split time in practice. So they will all be equally shitty on Friday. Can you say 3 and OUT? If they don't fumble the snap of course.

[CoachSteve 0]

Its time....MUTINY!!!

[coachbreck 0]

I came home last night my nephew was sitting on the couch all upset and said he did'nt get the starting WR job he wanted. He's just a sophmore and I was not suprised because they had him rotating in as the 4th qb and pretty much just on pass plays because he is 6'4" and has a strong arm. So he got no reps at wr and has great hands by the way.

Anyway it's not about my nephew it's the head coaches system if you want to call it that.

So I asked him "Who's the starting QB then?" he said they did'nt name one yet. (the day before the first game of the season) from what I have seen the top three are pretty equal, Two are leftys the third is right handed and nothing special as an athlete, the two lefty's are tremedous athletes, why not pick one after the first week of practice and get him as many reps as you can?

Do you think maybe they could have worked this out in team camp this summer? Nope. They will probably rotate the QB's through and the one who will do the best will be the one against the scrubs in the fourth quarter when they are behind 42-12.

The worst part is I love high school football and now that my nephew is playing I can't even go watch some good nine-man games in the small farming communities on friday nights now.

[coachjones49224 0]

As you guys know im doing 5th and 6th grade in my home town, which is going ABSOLUTLY AWSOME. My 14 yr old is playing on the 8th grade team a town over from us, so i'm volunteering as an assistant part time. Well since the HC of the varsity team controls the football program there it leaves little room for the 7th and 8th grade coaches to have any creativity of thier own. Which leaves me to my first question.

First, Is it normal for the middle school to run the same plays as the varsity?

Second, Would it be wrong for the 7th and 8th grade coaches to add other plays that they may feel to better suit thier teams strengths?

Third, have you guys ever heard of a 5-4 defense? x x x x x

x x x x

x x

Finally , am i just used to doing things my way?

thanks.

[patscoach 0]

49224,

It's normal for every middle school program with the varsity high school coach as program coordinator to "coordinate" the nuts and bolts of both programs together. That's what our program does, from HS to 3-4 flag. Every coach runs out of the same offensive play book, we just modify it to age level and the fundamentals they need to learn. We also sprinkle in some team specific plays.

I'm not, however totally in favor of it. Some HS coaches see the grade school teams and kids through the wrong glasses. Yes there are some benefits if kids already know the plays when they get there, but if a kid gets to high school with sound fundamentals and a "coachable attitude", any decent HS coach will get the most out of them. I'd much rather teach a frosh a play than have to re educate a kid with poor fundamentals. Give the kids a decent mix of both. Your kids won't feel they're part of a mill. Many of our kids in junior high will go to one of three different HS programs, all with different offenses. They do just fine when they get there.

On the 5-4, it's "9 in the box" instead of 8, and typifies the strategy of stopping the run. Try splitting out on both sides of the ball to spread the linebackers and do some outside passing. They'll have to respect it sooner than later. The double wing outside power plays will allow for turning the corner, but power - power - power really is needed to bust through the mess the 5-4 creates.

[coachbreck 0]

Well, Friday night was'nt as bad as I thought it would be. We only lost 34-0.

We won the toss and elected to receive, too bad the coach had the front line of the kick return team line up on the wrong line and lined up 10 yards too deep so the team we were playing had no choice but to onside kick they recovered and scored three plays later.

nice.

[coachjones49224 0]

Sorry to hear that Coach Breck

Our JV and Varsity teams both won 66-0 & 62-0. respectivly.

[CoachSteve 0]

Coach Breck,

I feel your pain - we opened with a 37-0 loss ourselves. We had about 5 offsides calls on the offense, one delay of game, three fumbes (one in our own endzone which they recovered for a TD) and a pair of INT's. We have the talent to win; I don't know where our brains were or our ability to hold the football. What really gets me is on Friday night, I just went over three major things 1) taking care of the football 2) knowing the snap count and 3) the DE's being on the line and on the shoulder of the last man on the line. You already know about 1 and 2 not working out. If you are curious, my DE's played off the ball and about 2 yards outside the last guy on the line of scrimmage. I am replacing my DE's tonight to smaller guys who will do what I ask. I don't care if they get sucked in by large blockers; at least they will do what I say. Maybe that will kick the other DE's in the behind. I can only hope that Saturday was a kick in the pants for them holding onto the ball and listening to the snap count. It was a very bad day indeed.

Coach jones - I call your 5-4 a 5-3 with the Safety in the box. Yes, it is fairly normal for the JHS to hook up with the SHS. However, I don't know how common it is for the SHS HC to have full control over the JrHS like that.

[coachbreck 0]

Steve, we've all had games like that, a few small things go wrong and then it snow balls. Frustrating, but better days are ahead for you my friend.

My first game is tonight I'll let you know how it goes.

[CoachSteve 0]

we had our first practice last night since saturday's disaster.....the team responded well and we as coach's just decided to not talk about it and move forward. I think that helped. Practice was much crisper but we still put some center/QB exchanges on the ground and had two people move. The exchange problem is because we put a new center in; he is a powerful blocker and just learning center. We shoudl have it worked out shortly. The jumping is being addressed with team pushups. I hope this saturday goes better; I rewatched the dvd last night and there were a lot of good things that we did. We just didn't take care of the ball and did not have our mental game in play. The DE's were....er...fixed last night (i hope). One of the parents was unhappy his son was moved to a new position (DT) because end is his favorite position. I told him he could talk to me about it after practice but not during. He did not stick around to talk with me. I can't wait to hear what he has to say tommorow......

[coachbreck 0]

High school season update.

Finished the season last night with a win I was happy for the seniors. finished the season with a 4-5 record. for the second year in a row.

It was a brutal season 7 kids got kicked off because of alcohol and tobbaco violations. (including my nephew which is a whole different story I do not want to get into here.) They never did name a starting qb and spit time between the lefty sophmore and an average right handed senior. The senior asked to play defense and give the starting qb job to the sophmore but the coaches told him no so the senior quit with three games left in the season.

They won one non confrence game 7-0 against a team that did not win a game this year. We got emabrassed by schools half our size in confrence play 31-6 , 46-0, 33-0, 35-6.

In the leauge they are in it is an extreem embarassment not to go to the playoffs every year. This team had the talent to win a state championship.

They also competed in a scrimmage in the preseason with a bunch of AAA schools. We were no where near ready or in good enough shape to compete against that kind of competion and our best running back and our best d-back both were lost for the season and never played a down. Very sad

It is time for a change and I think enough people are pissed enough to try and push forward and pressure this guy to hang it up. 14 years of mediocrity is enough.

My former youth players did well the 7th grade finished 5-1, 8th grade 5-1, Freshmen 6-2.

Small farming community that had 12 players play for us in youth football finished 6-0 in 7th and 8th grade. And outscored their oppnents 264-32.