Five Things I've learned in Implementing a New Off-Season Football Program

I understand how important an off-season is to a football program.  I've been the son of a head football coach my entire life.  I've worked under him and another head coach who simply "get it" when it comes to developing football players and converting success in the off-season to WINS in the season.

With that being said, I am working out the bugs at my current school as I implement my new off-season football program.  I won't give you the demographics and socio-economic status in this post, but will say that it is different from the other two football programs I've been a part of, and there are significant challenges in building a championship program in this area.  (We are making progress though!)  I will link my latest update on my published participation policies as well as give you a list of things I've learned in the process this year.  I hope if helps!

I will go into details on the program at a later date.  Please email me with weight lifting questions or leave a comment below!  I sincerely believe that our weight program is second to none and we do not have much more than plates, racks, and bars.

Five Things I've learned in Implementing a New Off-Season Football Program

1. Be careful about using a "Point System"

In another post, I address my background on using a point system and the transition from year to year (You can read about that here).  Long story short, if you are going to use a point system, be aware of the time commitment and follow the KISS theory (Keep It Simple Stupid).  The accountability is great, but do you have time to do the clerical aspect of it, or is another coach going to?  I've gone to a more simple attendance or participation count, in which I include practice and weight lifting from other sports.

2. Be aware of the language used to advertise

I believe you need to post your rules and policies so that your whole team knows the expectations and so that potential players and parents see what you're doing and how they can get involved.  For some, it might scare them away, but, for the majority, an educated audience can now make an informed decision.

I asked my AD to proof my posting, and after a couple drafts, felt confident as an outside entity that I explained myself in a manner that was inviting and informative.  He had no problem supporting this as the basketball coach for his multi-sport athletes.  The language was clean, encouraging and non-threatening.

3. Be a salesman in a way that others will buy in

I hate sells!  I've done everything from retail to door-to-door and I don't like pushing products on people because I hate when it happens to me.  However, the one thing great thing I've learned from sales is that no one will value your product if you don't sell it!

You have something of value.  You know that the players and parents will benefit from it and in turn help you achieve your goals as their coach.  Don't treat it like a disease- treat it like the grandma's famous cookies!  Everyone should want it!  Everyone should know the benefits!  Everyone should see the vision you have and you should remind them everyday,  Encourage the first ones who buy in to sale to the others.

4. Inform the stake holders

I'm dealing with this on several levels.  The school and sports' stake holders need to know what you're doing!  This group of people includes: School administrators, Athletic Director, assistant coaches, parents, players, coaches of other sports, and VIP community members.  These people will have questions and if they are 'surprised' to see how high you've set the bar, they may grab their children and run away!  Let them know and invite feedback.  

Per the example in #2 above, my AD's feedback and support really gave me a boost of confidence in what I was implementing.  I was able to pitch my program to him and he gave me great advice.  I left that meeting feeling really good!

5. Don't procrastinate the kickoff

Somewhat contrary to everything I've laid out for you in this post, I advise you to jump in when it's time to start and work out the kinks later!  I worked on my new program for weeks, here and there, to put out the perfect off-season program.  However, I didn't feel good about it when the date arrived that I was planning to begin.  So I kept working on it.  Two weeks later, it still wasn't perfect, but it was satisfactory.

I then advertised and asked for feedback only to find out how many holes were still left to plug.  I revised it.  Then I revised it again.  Both times I told the players what the changes were and do you know what they said to me? 

"Okay Coach."

It would not have mattered when I started the new program, but I wasted two weeks to try and publish a perfect reward system that would end up getting banged around anyway.  I should have pushed it at my deadline and taken my lumps then, instead of wasting so much time of saying "Wait until you see our new off-season reward program!!"  Really embarrassing now that I look back at it...  Just jump in with both feet and roll with the punches!

Best of luck in your off-season!  Please leave comments of your experiences below.  If you have any questions on this or anything else related to coaching or football, please send them my way and I'll be happy to respond and/or post!

Concussions- Should you let your son play football?

The hottest topic in football right now is not the deflated balls in New England (although we all think that's clever). The new champs and "the call" are easy to talk about, but what really stirs the pot is one word: concussions.

An article was written by Dr. Ed Riley, a physician and medical researcher at Stanford and brother to current Nebraska head football coach Mike Riley. (Link to article http://portlandtribune.com/lor/49-opinion/242681-109622-high-school-footballs-benefits-outweigh-the-risk). He played football growing up and when supporting his son's decision to play, was met with criticism because of the risk of head trauma and related injuries. The article explains his point very bluntly and considering his knowledge, background, and medical expertise, I think it's safe to say his points are valid and insightful.

The argument in today's society over football is whether or not a parent should risk his or her child's safety concerning the short and long term affects of concussions. Dr. Riley, not relying on his experience alone, did his research to make his decision. In his strongest point he writes:

"The key here is that high school football is not the NFL. The Mayo Clinic found that the risk of high school football players developing degenerative neurological diseases later in life is no greater than if they had been in the band, glee club or choir."

What!?! Glee Club??  So you're saying the risk is comparatively the same?

My advice to parents: DO YOUR RESEARCH and PREPARE YOUR CHILD PHYSICALLY!  Let me tell you why.

In 2013, my first year as a head football coach, I had a lot to do to get my program and players up to par to compete at the 5A level (largest classification in Utah). Taking over a struggling program (approximately 50 players finished the 2012 season), we doubled in participants in large part because a new coach, staff, and agenda was in town. Many of those new players had never played before. Many had never weight trained properly. Many of the full-contact drills that carried over from the old regime, while not unsafe as a singular event, were executed in excess. For these reasons (and I'm sure more), we had a slew of injuries, not the least of which were head injuries and concussions. I must note that the injuries in 2012 were similar to the number of injuries in 2013. Regardless, I was disgusted with the numbers!

Flash forward to 2014, many changes occurred. I worked with my strength coach and our sports training staff to fix the problem. This including changing the drills and amount of time spent on specific drills that were high-risk for head injuries, changed how we taught and drilled tackling, and changing our off-season weight training, specifically strengthening the neck. More on these topics at a later date. In the end, as we met for our year-end banquet, I was please to report that our injuries had decreased by over 70% and our head and neck injuries, including concussions, decreased by 66%. All in all, it amounted to less than 1/2 head injury per game at all three levels (Varsity, JV, and Sophomore) for the season, including practice.  That is huge considering how may players were in the program, how many practices, and how many collisions we saw over the course of a season!

In conclusion, I learned some great lessons.  I needed to change the way we trained and practiced so that physically we were ready for 5A football. It wasn't perfect, but I feel confident that I did everything I could to prepare these young men to participate in the great, and violent, game of football. I agree with Dr. Riley when he wrote, "I believe the benefits of playing high school football are worth the risks... To all you parents who are keeping your sons from playing football, I say, “Let them play.”