govols

Funny story that happened to us.  Our league instituted the "Mercy Rule", which is when a team is down by 18 points.  It basically boils down to getting the ball 5 yards shy of midfield instead of starting from your own 5 yd line.  Last wk we played a tough team and got down by 18 pts towards the end of the game.  They declared the mercy rule which prompted one of my younger players to ask "what was the mercy rule?".  Don't know why, but one of the kids in the huddle said, "we have to score a touchdown now".  So the younger player replies, "we HAVE to?  what happens if we don't?".  Couldn't resist, so I said, "we don't want to find out" and asked if he wanted the ball.  Of course he said yes, so we run a straight hand off to this kid and you'd have thought he was running for his life.  He zigged and zagged all the way to the endzone for a TD.  Couldn't believe it.  I gave him a high five and told him thanks for not letting us find out what WOULD have happened.

Another quick sidenote, since I hold my plays up and the kids huddle behind me, the other team can see the backside of my plays.  I made another play to put in back, this one has a picture of a pepperoni pizza on one side and a hot fudge sundae on the other.  While I'm calling the play, the opposing players are looking at one of those pics.  Who knows... maybe it makes their minds wander?  

CRob

As a first year coach of a 5v5, 7 & 8 yr old team, I had (and still have) several questions.  My first post was concerning handling QBs during the game.  After a lot of great suggestions obtained from this site; I decided, since we participate in a "instructional" league, we would stick with (2) QBs the first half the game and (2) different QBs the second half of the games with ALL of the players getting an opportunity to play the position over the course of the season regaurdless of their talent level.

With that being said, during our game this past weekend my least skilled player was getting his turn at QB. My assistant coach (who was practicing as offensive coordinator; he is usually on defense) called for a passing play which apparently sent everyone deep (or at least it appeared that way because all of the players were about 7 yds down field.)  Our QB cocks the ball over his head and let's it fly........... about 4 yds.  My son comes flying out of nowhere to make a shoe string catch and then scampers 30 yds for the TD.  The smiles on those kids faces were priceless.

As the kids were jumping up and down, celebrating on the field, I immediately turned to one of the parents sitting on the sideline, pointed to the kids and said, "That's why I volunteer to coach."  It's a moment like that makes coaching worth while.  Even if it isn't according to plan!

I was just curious what your practice schedules look like?  With only (1) 1.5 hr practice per week and a "rookie" core, there is not a lot of time to cover everything we need to work on.  I like to spend the last 40 minutes scrimaging and 10-15 minutes on flag pulling.

Do you all incorporate dry running offensive and defensive plays or do you just practice plays during scrimages?

(3) game day issues I have found to be most frustrating that needs work:

1) Players (again 7 and 8 year olds) forgetting their assignments from the huddle to the LOS.
2) Players not running after "HUT", "HIKE" or "GO" only after they get the ball.
3) Players chasing the ball rather than staying in their zone and the ball carrier zig zagging 45 yds for a TD.

I think dry running your offense is crucial.  Until I feel like my offense is humming, I won't even scrimmage.  We're a little older (9) and more experienced but here is our practice from yesterday (we practice once a week for 1.5 hours also):

15 strength/ agility > decided to do this all season to make everyone faster
15 flag pulling/ exchange > qb hands off on an end around, pitch or shuffle pass to player who then runs between cones against defender.  Kills two birds with one stone.
20 routes and pass catching >  yesterday we worked on over the shoulder catching and incorporated a defender; this varies each week
15 dry run offense > will spend more or less time depending on how they are doing
25 scrimmage > that's about as long as I like to scrimmage.  will also use end of practice for games like ultimate football

Thanks man.

I'm having trouble getting my kids set and reminding them of their assignments to have them listen in. LOL!!!

I am right there with you. LOL!

I noticed one thing on this forum is that without going into the profile (which no one fills out) you don't know where someone is from. Just curious as to which part of the country you are in.

I am in Dallas, and right now (as it is year round but especially mid-October) it is all football all the time! It is just a way of life here. (And yes, I love the Cowboys with all my being.) Where are you located?

Hey JohnP2,

Despite my username "GOVOLS"  I am in the burbs of Detroit, Michigan.  I know about football being a way of life.  I grew up in a small town in Eastern TN.  It wasn't uncommon to get 14,000 for a big game at our high school.  Then of course you have the VOLS in Knoxville.

I'm coaching in I-9 this fall and they have a great article that is required reading. I think every coach, old and new should read it:

https://www.i9sports...5E127A2A419.pdf

*bump* After our game today, thought this article needed a bump up to the top. I'll never understand how a coach or parents think that 1 or 2 calls by a ref in a 8-9 y/o league will make one iota of difference. Had opposing parents yelling about calls today, coach disagreeing on calls, etc.. Fun stuff.

True, funny how people get about the game. I was coaching yesterday against a guy who clearly was a novice, he said so before the game. They won the coin toss and he announced they wanted to play defense. I quickly jumped in and said, "no coach, you want to defer." The ref looked at me and winked, we got it all worked out. That's how this game should be played.

Man I love this site!

Both of these articles are great and really places coaching in a different light.

As mentioned in previous posts, I am a first year FF coach, coaching a 2nd/3rd grade 5v5 team that is comprised of (2) 3rd graders that have 1 year experience and (7) 2nd graders that are "rookies"so you can imagine, things don't always go as you envision them; especially since we have played (3) experienced 3rd grade teams (we are now 0-3 if I were keeping track ). The scores have been 3 TDs to 1 TD each game (if I were keeping track ). A few missed flags is really the only difference.

With that being said, I have driven home from those games with this pyschological battle in my head: "OK I know we "lost" but, even though I made certain that all of the kids touched the ball at least 2 - 3 times; Have I done my job as a coach today? Did the kids have fun? Did the kids learn something new today?

A couple of things I constantly have to remind myself are: Be patient, and don't get frustrated. This is first time most of these kids have played any organized sports and they will get it.

Perhaps the following could be another thread, but I was just curious if any of you first years find that coaching Football consumes you (I am sure weathered vetrans such as Orange, JohnP, Rushbuster, Coach Rob and Vegas Coach have already overcome this "illness")? I have coached baseball and basketball for the past 4 years and haven't experienced this. It seems that FF is always on my mind. Then again, it's probably just me.

Thanks again and keep the info coming.

Coach Bo