View Full Version : GO VOLS!: A RL Youth Football Dynasty
I'm going to use this dynasty to share my growing pains with you. I'm the offensive coordinator (though I feel like I'm in charge) of the Bears, a 9 and 10 year old youth football team in my local town.
I've coached some flag football teams for my sailors in Great Lakes in the past, but this will be my first time back on the field with a real football team in 6 long years, so I'm very excited.
The coaching staff includes Steve, the head coach, and Dave, the assistant. Dave's an Arkansas Razorback fan, but also fairly intelligent. I'm not sure how that works. Steve's looking to push some sort of blitzing 5-6 man defensive line out on the field. I'd prefer something more of a Gap-8, make them root me out of the gap type defense. We'll see how it goes, I suppose.
Offensively, I'm looking to use the double wing offense, something I learned in California. If time permits (and I don't suspect it will), we'll try and install some of the spinner series of the single wing as a bit of a change of pace.
We will be one of three 9/10 year old teams for our town. We'll be 'drafting' kids at the end of next week to fill out the rosters. I'm not really excited about drafting kids. I feel like someone is trying to make it all NFLish or something. I'd rather just have names shuffled, drawn out of a hat, pin the tail on the donkey, whatever.
Last week's free "camp" was nearly a disaster. Other than knowing the day and times of the camp, there wasn't much to it. One coach on another team took charge and led the kids through a variety of stretches. Afterwards, the kids were broken down into three groups...with each team's coaches getting to work with the kids.
Initially, we were told, "work on stances, whatever". So, that's what we did...until I saw other coaches were doing the same thing. What a waste of time. I hate having my time wasted, much less a whole bunch of kids on top of that.
I suggested we start doing some two hand touch games/drills (since we don't don pads until next week) instead. We did a variety of things over those three days; 1 on 1, 2 on 2, 3 on 3, Sharks and Minnows. Capture the flag (with a football) was probably the best.
I liked it because it allowed us to see quickness, who's aggressive, who would run hard, and who was timid even in two hand touch.
It's a no contact "camp", so honestly, I would have preferred to work on specific skills. But with the other coaches switching in and out of different things, I felt it was probably better to let the kids have fun while I was able to learn a few things about them.
This past week's practices were essentially a combine. I found out about that on Thursday, when I was running the kids solo for our group. When I asked how that worked, I got kind of a run around answer, and told we could do whatever we'd like to test the kids.
I came prepared.
I bought a stack of 3x5 index cards, a new stopwatch, and 2 more sets of cones to add to my collection. I left space to write in names later (honestly, I didn't know a large majority of the kids by name, anyhow), and then went down the line adding in the seven drills I was hoping to have them run through:
20
10
A4
S4
5/10/5
AL
SL
20 and 10 are yard dashes. A4 and S4 are 4 cone drills. A for agility (shuffle, backpedal), S for strength (bear crawl, crab). 5/10/5 is the 'pro agility', which is a 5 yard sprint to one cone, 10 to the other end, and 5 back to the middle. AL and SL are ladders, agility and strength.
Years ago when I was rehabbing my ankle I bought a long construction type tape measure. It served me well marking out long dashes and such, and it definitely helped in making sure we had the right distances for the combine.
The first day went well, generally speaking, but not as well as I'd hoped. We accomplished about 1/3 of the total drills, but we didn't have time to correct improper bear crawls and things of that nature. We also didn't split up the drills as coaches, we were all involved in the same drill.
I knew it was broken, so after a while, I came up with a better plan for Thursday. We would split up the group of kids as they came to us in groups of three. Each coach had a station, the 4-cone, the pro agility/ladder, and the dashes. I also eliminated the Sx drills, since we didn't have time to correct improper bear crawls.
It worked out great. We got times for every kid in every area this time around.
I took the data we collected and entered it into an excel sheet packed with formulas and such. I actually found it on the internet and made changes to it to fit my needs.
Unfortunately, some of the kids that were there Tuesday didn't show on Thursday, so it's not completely filled out. However, I do have a ton of data now on the kids that should help us avoid having as many minimum play type players on the team.
For each kid, I took their best time in each drill and used it to compare against the others. I took their 5/10/5 and subtracted their 20 yard dash. I added their agility scores together, as well as their dashes together. Ideally, I would have liked to have had those strength scores...and while I'm at it a broad jump and a pushup count, but there was no way I could get that done.
Anyhow, so I've taken the 5 drill results and come up with 3 numbers. I then added those up. Generally speaking, the lower the number, the better the athlete.
Additionally, we could add or remove points based on how we thought of the kid (knucklehead or good athlete), if he'd played youth football in the past, and on his aggressiveness.
Currently, the range is from 10.5 to 45 for the 62 kids.
Next week we are in pads and we'll be able to see how the kids run, block, and tackle. I have modifiers in place for that as well.
As for right now, each kid has his own page in my file, sorted from left to right based on the total player score.
st.cronin
07-25-2008, 01:59 PM
GIDDY UP
I should have mentioned that neither of the other teams appeared to be doing any sort of tracking of the kids during this week's combine. I saw one team running 40 yard dashes (!) and another running pass routes. Good luck with that, fellas. Personally, I don't think there's much need to see a 10 year old run an 8 second 40, and I could care less if the kids can throw and catch in the double wing.
Each of the three teams will be allowed to keep their sons out of the draft. Since teams could theoretically develop an 8 man staff with the best 8 kids on the same team, the coaching staffs are limited as of right now to just two coaches with kids in the league.
Team A has two coaches and kids, team B is the same way.
Neither Dave nor I have kids, so we're a kid short. I found out yesterday we'll be able to 'reserve' a kid of our choice from the draft to compensate us. Additionally, we'll be drafting first.
That's great, but the best kid that I've seen will be on the protected list. I'm not really all that concerned about the others that are protected at this point.
There was some concern that coaches might try and sandbag some kids by not having them show up for these 2 weeks of the combine and suddenly that kid is drafted really early. However, to be eligible for the draft, a kid has to attend half of days of the combine. Otherwise, the kid will be placed on a team at the board's discretion.
Overall, I'm pretty happy we'll essentially get our choice of the top 2 kids. The draft will be a snake draft, so we won't draft again until 7th and 8th overall, but I like our chances of getting good kids throughout the draft.
With more than 60 kids signed up for 3 teams, there is concern that a 4 team might have to be started. I'm against that. I'd much rather have 20-23 kids on my team than 15-16. Plus, it just drains the talent pool that much more. That's two more kids that will likely get protected, and two more selections out of the draft we'd have to wait.
Pass on that.
st.cronin
07-26-2008, 08:46 AM
I am very excited about this dynasty.
Today's 6PM practice was cancelled because of the heat.
We're fairly hard core where I come from.
Cap Ologist
07-29-2008, 09:23 PM
Have you made any kids cry yet?
Honestly? One.
He ran the pro agility (5/10/5) not only wrong, but horribly wrong. This was after 6 or 7 boys ahead of him had did it right. His time was horrible as he stumbled around trying to get from place to place. When he finished I called him over to me (I wasn't in charge of the drill or writing the times). I asked him what happened and blam! Water works. I wasn't even mean.
I still got it.
Thank goodness he's the son of a team b coach.
I'm pretty excited about today's practice, which is just an hour away and yet to be cancelled.
It's our first day in pads.
I'm curious as to how this will work. The kids still aren't on individual teams. I hope we end up teaching the kids a proper tackle all at once, rather than having three or four groups of coaches teaching something different to every group.
I'm told we're doing it this way so that we can see the kids in pads as well...because people change when the helmets go on. Big flippin deal.
I'd much rather have another day or two with my kids on my team rather than the group cluster buck that has been the previous five practice/camps days.
I'm not very hopeful about what we'll see today.
Thread title to be changed, most likely tomorrow.
I've been named the head coach of the 4th squad. I'll be fighting for orange...and unfortunately, black. We'll be an evilish Vols squad, hopefully. We'll see.
A thread to be started in GD shortly to discuss my drafting options for tonight.
Check that. I'll just post it here.
<table style="width: 480pt; border-collapse: collapse;" x:str="" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="640"><colgroup><col style="width: 48pt;" width="64"><col style="width: 48pt;" span="9" width="64"></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 12.75pt;" height="17"><td class="xl25" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); width: 48pt; height: 12.75pt; background-color: transparent;" height="17" width="64">Round</td><td class="xl25" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); width: 192pt; background-color: transparent;" colspan="4" width="256">10 year old draft</td><td class="xl25" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); width: 48pt; background-color: transparent;" width="64"></td><td class="xl25" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); width: 192pt; background-color: transparent;" colspan="4" width="256">9 year old draft</td></tr><tr style="height: 12.75pt;" height="17"><td class="xl25" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); height: 12.75pt; background-color: transparent;" x:num="" height="17">1</td><td class="xl27" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: red;">Steelers</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bears</td><td class="xl27" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: red;">Bulldogs</td><td class="xl26" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Poli</td><td class="xl26" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;"></td><td class="xl26" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Poli</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bulldogs</td><td class="xl27" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: red;">Bears</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Steelers</td></tr><tr style="height: 12.75pt;" height="17"><td class="xl25" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); height: 12.75pt; background-color: transparent;" x:num="" height="17">2</td><td class="xl26" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Poli</td><td class="xl27" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: red;">Bulldogs</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bears</td><td class="xl27" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: red;">Steelers</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;"></td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Steelers</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bears</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bulldogs</td><td class="xl26" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Poli</td></tr><tr style="height: 12.75pt;" height="17"><td class="xl25" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); height: 12.75pt; background-color: transparent;" x:num="" height="17">3</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Steelers</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bears</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bulldogs</td><td class="xl26" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Poli</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;"></td><td class="xl26" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Poli</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bulldogs</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bears</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Steelers</td></tr><tr style="height: 12.75pt;" height="17"><td class="xl25" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); height: 12.75pt; background-color: transparent;" x:num="" height="17">4</td><td class="xl26" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Poli</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bulldogs</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bears</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Steelers</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;"></td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Steelers</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bears</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bulldogs</td><td class="xl26" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Poli</td></tr><tr style="height: 12.75pt;" height="17"><td class="xl25" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); height: 12.75pt; background-color: transparent;" x:num="" height="17">5</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Steelers</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bears</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bulldogs</td><td class="xl26" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Poli</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;"></td><td class="xl26" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Poli</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bulldogs</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bears</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Steelers</td></tr><tr style="height: 12.75pt;" height="17"><td class="xl25" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); height: 12.75pt; background-color: transparent;" x:num="" height="17">6</td><td class="xl26" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Poli</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bulldogs</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bears</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Steelers</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;"></td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Steelers</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bears</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bulldogs</td><td class="xl26" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Poli</td></tr><tr style="height: 12.75pt;" height="17"><td class="xl25" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); height: 12.75pt; background-color: transparent;" x:num="" height="17">7</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Steelers</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bears</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bulldogs</td><td class="xl26" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Poli</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;"></td><td class="xl26" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Poli</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bulldogs</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bears</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Steelers</td></tr><tr style="height: 12.75pt;" height="17"><td class="xl25" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); height: 12.75pt; background-color: transparent;" x:num="" height="17">8</td><td class="xl26" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Poli</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bulldogs</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bears</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Steelers</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;"></td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Steelers</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bears</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bulldogs</td><td class="xl26" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Poli</td></tr><tr style="height: 12.75pt;" height="17"><td class="xl25" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); height: 12.75pt; background-color: transparent;" x:num="" height="17">9</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Steelers</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;"></td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;"></td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;"></td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;"></td><td class="xl26" style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Poli</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bulldogs</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Bears</td><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); background-color: transparent;">Steelers</td></tr></tbody></table>
It's a snake draft, picks in red are forfeited due to protecting a coach's son. This allows me two of the top remaining 10 year olds and the top 9 year old.
I can choose to protect two kids before the draft, as if they were my "coach's sons". If I were to do it, it might be with the 9 year olds. Sure, I have the top pick, so choosing the top kid there does nothing for me. However, choosing the 2nd best kid allows me the top 2 nine year olds. That would compliment my top two ten year olds well.
I don't see any reason to waste that on my ten year old selections, honestly.
st.cronin
08-01-2008, 10:38 AM
Building your team with youth, I see. Always a good idea.
Cap Ologist
08-01-2008, 10:59 AM
So, what happens next year when your 11 year-old qb still wants to play? ;)
Dr. Sak
08-01-2008, 11:42 AM
I'd look for two young linemen. You can put them on one side of your OLine and run that way the entire year.
Coffee Warlord
08-01-2008, 11:45 AM
You need to change your offense to the Run and Shoot.
5 receiver shotgun sets, baby.
st.cronin
08-01-2008, 11:55 AM
I wish he would post the pdf file he sent me, with his notes on all the players.
Dr. Sak
08-01-2008, 12:02 PM
You need to change your offense to the Run and Shoot.
5 receiver shotgun sets, baby.
When I was 10 years old our team ran the run and shoot and I was the QB. I wouldn't recommend it.
I wish he would post the pdf file he sent me, with his notes on all the players.
Excel file, and I would if I didn't have their actual names listed in the worksheets.
The draft didn't go quite as planned. Instead of relinquishing their 1sts and 2nds, they lost their 3rds and 4ths.
A few tricks up the sleeves that I noticed:
The Bulldogs and Tigers (previously the Steelers) protected two kids each, but also later drafted a coach's son that just so happened to be in the draft room. The Bulldogs still technically only had two coaches in the room, but the Tigers violated the rule by having three coaches in the room.
I felt a bit ripped off by both moves. I don't officially have an assistant, yet the Tigers and Bulldogs are three deep already? I shouldn't draft their 3rd assistant's son? Why can't a coach move over and help me out? Because it's a bit of the good ol' boy gentleman's agreement, that's why. Crap.
Still, I feel like I raked in this draft. RAKED. RAKED.
I set up with my laptop out, excel sheets, draft list in hand, form to write out who was taken and when, the works. I'm ready for business.
First, though, I got hosed. One of the top 9 year olds got protected by the Bulldogs, that's fine. Steve and the Trojans (formerly the Bears) took the next best nine year old. Now I can protect two. At this point, I was still thinking that this would be costing me my top two picks, so I figured they're better served on the nine year olds.
With the cost being a 3rd round and 4th round pick, I'd have probably been better served taking the 10 year olds.
Anyhow, I took nine year olds based on misinformation. Still worked out great for me, I think. I took Nick C. first. Nick's a hitter, a little redhead with a mean streak from what I could tell. I think he'd be a good back, I think he'll be a heck of a defensive end, honestly.
Nick's ability scores honestly showed average ability. He scored a rather average on the Poli Ability Test (PAT) of 23.26. However, he was quite the talk of the coaches during the combine week and yesterday in pads. He was well thought of, so I took some points off for that. I also took off points based on his experience and aggressive attitude. Next thing you know, he's near the head of the class.
I love the pick, and then I find out there's a rule in the association that states if you take a brother of someone in the league, you are required to take the other in the 3rd round of that age group.
SWEET! So, not only did I get the big hitter out of the 9 year olds, I just landed the kid's older brother David, who is of the same mold, AND IN THE THIRD ROUND. SWEET!!!
I love this game.
My next selection stirred up controversy. Imagine that, me and controversy.
Well, I wasn't happy to see my next selection already taken by the Bulldogs, so I scanned the list and found Reece G. I took him.
What I know about Reece G. Likes to hit. Dad coached last year. Didn't do drills. Hmm, I wonder why. Could it be a good old boy play? The "If he doesn't show up there's no way they'll draft him"? Oh yeah.
Only thing is, I saw him and knew who he was early on. When the stopwatches came out, he disappeared. I made note of it. Shoot, worst case scenario I pick up a coach.
No, the worst case scenario is the Tigers throw a hissy fit that I took Reece. "Why did you take him?" Well, he looked great for the limited amount I saw of him. "Oh, he can't play for anyone but me, he's got a bad attitude, he sulls up." Perfect, he'll learn that he can't have it his way every day now, or you'll trade for him. I like that deal.
It got seriously ugly tonight in the ol' Elks Lodge. The boy's father was called, he was upset, threatening who knows what. CRY ME A RIVER going through my mind. More on that later.
From there, we moved on to the 10 year old draft.
As this started, I was mildly surprised by what I saw.
The Tigers took the best lineman. Good, smart pick, I just didn't think they'd be capable of thinking that far ahead.
The Trojans took a good athlete, but second on my (and for that matter our) list. I later learned they were trying to throw me a bone here and there since they were essentially relying on my data sheets.
The Bulldogs took one of the okie-doke specials, a kid we saw for the first time yesterday. We were told weeks earlier that a kid had to attend half of the practices, but apparently that went out the window right away.
I'm up next, and with the snake, I get to make the next two.
My first pick is Nathaniel M. Good smart kid, who unfortunately is a Sooners fan. I'll work on that. Coaching director had him last year, said he's the smartest kid I'll ever meet. Quarterback, very serious for his age. PAT score of 20.76, put him in the top 5 of the age group. I had him overall as the 3rd best overall. I like him. He'll be my double wing quarterback, possibly a corner on defense.
My next pick is really my favorite. Shoot, I might say that all night long. Connor M. Medium sized kid gave me a 21.97 PAT. Came up 5th overall. Worked hard and hit well yesterday. Dad came up after his son's session and thanked me for volunteering to help since I don't have a son. Revealed Connor had played some football but wrestled last year. Honestly, I feel I could put this could on the offensive line and he'd do well. I think he'll work out well as a fullback since we use that guy as a key blocker on the off tackle toss and he'd likely be a strong runner on the wedge play.
Both kids were the best players available according to my final ranking.
As the draft snaked around to finish the 2nd and start the 3rd, I watch 4 kids I'd really like go off the board, including some big ones and maybe the fastest kid out there. Two selections were removed because of the coach protection of sons.
Myself, I'm "forced" to take David C., the brother of Nick C. David posted a good 21.84 PAT, and scored even better overall. I had him 6th overall and GOT A STEAL for him at the 12th pick overall...just for picking his brother first.
I could see David as a back or tight end, and teaming with his brother at the other defensive end spot.
My next pick I go big, because the big kids are disappearing. I take Ryan W, who likes to be called Rhino. I had four kids ranked higher, but he was the biggest of those remaining. Ryan was a 25.6 PAT and 17th overall, but the best available lineman. I like Ryan at tackle on offense and defense.
As we snake through rounds 4 and 5, those four kids disappear quickly. The only other selection (as the Tigers dropped a pick for a coach's son) was probably my next choice.
I take the next two on my list.
Jacob F. was the my 5th rounder. PAT of 24.32 would make you think he's a big boy, but he's only average. However, I noticed yesterday he liked to make contact. I thought, if I can make him a guard or tackle I might be alright.
I was told later that night that he has a history of shying from contact and that he has difficult parents. I think I can work around that, honestly. I'm not going to ask him to take anyone on head on. If he can play guard on both sides of the ball I'm happy.
My next choice was one we are all curious about. He's never played football before. David C. was very aggressive during our tag games, but didn't really stand out with a 23.26 PAT. Still, he was the best available by my ranking, and if he can play tight end and or tackle I'll be happy.
When my selections came up for the 7th and 8th rounds, I grinned. There were only 5 kids available at this point, so I'd take my two and I wouldn't be stuck with any of the three 'worst' so to speak.
Among those is a kid you'd swear was about seven years old. He is that small. I double checked when I saw he was listed as a ten year old. I knew I didn't want to be saddled with him.
I took Hunter J. in the seventh round. Hunter has played in the past, but his PAT was 25.9. That's fine, he's just a slow lineman, that's all. I liked how hard he tried to compete in the PAT and noted that. He's a bit small in stature, so I'm hoping he fits in at guard.
My final selection was a dark horse, Carlos A. Showed up yesterday for the first time. Didn't play last year but played the year before. All I could go on was his hitting, and he did alright there. I felt real good about that choice this deep into the draft.
The nine year old draft started and I got top choice of the remaining kids. Six kids are gone already. Two of them are my protected choices and as it turned out Nathaniel M. has a younger brother in the 9 year olds so I'm forced to take him in the 3rd.
"Thems the breaks", I cackle in laughter.
The other three are coach sons protected by the other teams.
I take the best available kid, hands down. Bryce C. was highway robbery. His PAT was 18.53, which was THE BEST of any of the 9 or 10 year olds. He'll be a back in our system, and hopefully a corner or linebacker.
With my 2nd pick I take Ashanti T. More of a need pick, he's one of the bigger nine year olds. I'm hoping to make a tackle out of him. He scored 24.06 in the PAT. There were plenty of smaller, more athletic kids out there, but at this point I felt I had plenty of back type kids. I kind of need to flesh out the line. Given that there aren't many 9 year olds that project well to the offensive line, I felt this was a better pick than most of the smaller, quicker kids. Honestly, at this point, there are a number of kids that are about the same size and same skill sets. I don't really need any of them.
My third pick goes to Noah M, the younger brother of my future quarterback. I have not seen a single thing on Noah, so I have no idea what I'm getting. One coach told me he's a good athlete, so he probably fits into that same size and skill set mold. I'm alright with that at this point. Noah hasn't been out for a practice, so it'll be like Christmas when I finally see him.
My 4th and 5th rounders are spent on my protected players, which works out great for me. I get to avoid more of those same size/skill kids.
In the 6th, I take a kid I can't believe has fallen to me, Nick T. A same size/skill kid, he posted a rather poor 24.69 PAT. However, he took to contact well and has quite a bit of experience, so I actually had him ranked 11th overall, nearly on top of those same skill/size kids. I couldn't believe he was still there, so I took him. I have no idea where he'll play, but I'll find something for him to do.
The 7th was a kid I had hoped I wouldn't have to take, but the pickings were slim. Just 14 kids left before I took Nick T. Two I'm avoiding like the plague for their attitudes, Four others I'm avoiding because they're the super small kids. In reality, I chose Nick T. and Alex S. out of the 8 kids I was looking at since they were the best available players.
Alex S. failed to impress me. PAT of 25.52, I expected more out of him, honestly. He'll be a backup lineman in our setup. I'll have to find a way to get him plays. I may sub him in and out with my worst starter. Something.
That said, he's still probably a better option than those left.
Somehow, by the grace of the Lord, one of the teams picks up one of the small kids and another takes one of the bad attitude boys. As I look over the list of availables, which is just now at 6 kids, I grin. One of the coaches picked up on it. He actually called out my two picks.
3 super small kids, he could tell I wouldn't take them.
1 bad attitude. He knew I picked up on that.
That leaves me...with Tyler W. and Nolan B.
I don't know much about Tyler W. The fact he's not super small and I don't know about his attitude is all I needed to know.
Nolan scored the worst on the PAT. A 40. A 40! He's overweight for his size and probably a liability on the field. Still, better than the other options.
That concluded my draft. I felt I did great, honestly. I've got a good idea of where most of my starters are both offensively and defensively. In fact, I've got a decent idea on nearly everyone.
After the draft, the Tigers approached me about Reece, because "it's in everyone's best interest if he gets traded to us. He won't listen to any coach but me, and it would just be easier this way."
Sure it would, easy for you to land another top kid. After much moaning and groaning, and when I wouldn't relent, I was given the 2nd overall selection in the 10 year olds, a lineman I hadn't seen but who miraculously was drafted by the Tigers, 8th overall no less. He just so happened to have played for their coaching staff the year before as well. Imagine that.
Layne R. will help flesh out the line apparently.
BYU 14
08-02-2008, 01:13 AM
Wow, just got caught up on the draft. Unbelievable this shit is already going on with 9 and 10 year old kids, though it really shouldn't surprise me. I have known a few Reese's. His Father will pull me aside in 5 years at the incoming Freshmen orientation and tell me where he should play, how much he should play and how to best change our schemes to accommodate him....Can't wait!! :D
Sounds like you did fairly well considering the obstacles, plus the Double Wing could be your ace in the hole. If the other Coaches haven't seen it much they will probably bring 8-9 kids up in the box......which will be just what you want.
Since they have already been in pads are you able to go full pads from day 1 as a team?
It's a little unclear at this point if they'll let me do that. Even if they have me take a week without pads, I can use it to help install the offense and defense.
I agree, I think the DW is an ace in the hole. A Tigers coach asked me during the Reece fiasco what offense I was going to use. I actually gave him an answer to gauge his reaction. His reaction was, what? As in, what's that?
I told him, "Oh, it's double tight, double wing, just as it sounds. Fullback's in the backfield."
"Oh, so the fullback's your main ball carrier."
I shook my head, "Yeah, I suppose so." Well, actually no. :)
Anyhow, I like the simplicity of the offense, I think the simple blocking decisions will help eliminate confusion. Gap, On, Down. It doesn't get much simpler.
Formation wise we'll go the conventional double wing, we'll go double slot as well to give more of a passing look at times, and we'll try to mix in some over formations, where the TEs are on the same side of the field. One tight, one split wide.
st.cronin
08-02-2008, 09:32 AM
Poli will crush this league.
Cap Ologist
08-02-2008, 10:43 AM
Go Vols (http://img377.imageshack.us/my.php?image=volunteerxp1.jpg)
st.cronin
08-02-2008, 10:53 AM
Go Vols (http://img377.imageshack.us/my.php?image=volunteerxp1.jpg)
AWESOME
That's pretty good. I was just sent out the official roster, I will be calling parents over the next couple of hours.
I've already been told Nick's mom is on the association's board and is a great team mom. Good. I'm going to need all the help I can get.
Mike1409
08-02-2008, 11:42 AM
Wow, just got caught up on the draft. Unbelievable this shit is already going on with 9 and 10 year old kids, though it really shouldn't surprise me. I have known a few Reese's. His Father will pull me aside in 5 years at the incoming Freshmen orientation and tell me where he should play, how much he should play and how to best change our schemes to accommodate him....Can't wait!! :D
Sounds like you did fairly well considering the obstacles, plus the Double Wing could be your ace in the hole. If the other Coaches haven't seen it much they will probably bring 8-9 kids up in the box......which will be just what you want.
Since they have already been in pads are you able to go full pads from day 1 as a team?
Yes that is the biggest problem in youth sports, parents and manipulating the rules in their favor.
In the 8-9 age groups misdirections are money. The defense usually fast flow to the ball and oops someone pops out the backside. I also found cross blocking to be more effective then wedge blocking. 5-3 defenses are the rage, your have your tackle down block the nose and your guard kicks the tackle and the lead backs hit the LB... 4yds min everytime!
Barkeep49
08-02-2008, 11:47 AM
I had a virtual cornucopia of emotions reading through this thread.
First anger: You didn't tell me that you were doing a dynasty.
Second hate: Adults ruin youth sports. What crap they pulled with the draft. Where is the Commissioner to enforce the rules?
Then there was happiness. You're treating this seriously and that's been a huge leg up I've had during my own coaching. When I was too busy during basketball to really do the statistical analysis that is necessary my teams suffered. Congrats on that.
Finally anticipation. I really hope this goes well for you. Do you just play the teams in your city or do you compete against other teams as well?
Sorry, BK. :)
We play the three other town teams and then some of the other area teams as well. I think our playoff system is like a bowl, you're done after your 'bonus' game, win or lose.
As far as the commish, I was wondering how that worked myself. He sat there in plain view as it was happening and I really wasn't getting any support in the matter. It's disappointing, but I still think I made the absolute best of the situation.
Barkeep49
08-02-2008, 12:10 PM
Sorry, BK. :)
We play the three other town teams and then some of the other area teams as well. I think our playoff system is like a bowl, you're done after your 'bonus' game, win or lose.
As far as the commish, I was wondering how that worked myself. He sat there in plain view as it was happening and I really wasn't getting any support in the matter. It's disappointing, but I still think I made the absolute best of the situation.
I agree. I wasn't criticizing you in anyway I was frustrated with the assholes who put you in that situation.
I agree. I wasn't criticizing you in anyway I was frustrated with the assholes who put you in that situation.
Didn't even cross my mind.
Speaking with the parents, I think I got most of them excited about the team. Bryce's dad is interested in helping out, and may have a nephew sign up to play as well. He'd like for him to play on our team as he'd be taking both to practices. Works for me. We're currently at 17 players, tied with the Trojans for the least. The relative part may lead him to my squad.
Nathaniel and Noah are both studs, apparently. I knew as much about Nathaniel, but Noah is a little budding star from what their parents tell me. Nathaniel's currently at a sports camp where he's getting football practice, drills, and instruction a couple of hours each day. Noah just finished 2nd in a state swim meet and will be joining his brother at the camp in two days.
Unfortunately, both boys will be out until mid-August at the camp. So, my numbers are down to 15 right off the bat. Take into account that I'd really like Nathaniel and/or Noah to be the quarterback, and I'm likely to make someone really unhappy if they've practiced at quarterback for a week or two.
On top of that, their dad's a surgeon who wishes he could moonlight as a high school coach. I spoke with him for nearly a half hour about the boys, the team, and football in general. I think I really lucked out with these boys.
David's story is that he hasn't played organized football before. His family has some Tennessee ties (great for me) and they had just moved into the area this past year. That explains why noone knew him and was afraid to take him. I'm crossing my fingers for a diamond here. I really liked his aggressiveness out of the pads.
Jacob's dad was an interesting guy. He definitely had ideas of where his son should play. Ideally, he'd like for him to play corner and quarterback, though I think I talked him into possibly being a tight end.
My main problem right now is what to do at quarterback, though. Do I give Jacob reps while Nathaniel and Noah are out, risking the wrath of Jacob's parents? Offhand, I'm not certain I know of another quarterback option for us.
A few parents expressed they were happy to have me as the coach, that they saw I was excited about the game and liked how I took notes on every kid, not just the 'great' ones.
I failed to reach just three sets of parents, so overall a pretty good day. I spent at least three hours on the phone today with parents.
Go Vols (http://img377.imageshack.us/my.php?image=volunteerxp1.jpg)My wife's officially not funny. I showed her the picture, went to make dinner, and she changed this to my desktop wallpaper.
I just noticed it. Pretty funny, though.
st.cronin
08-02-2008, 09:45 PM
Your wife gets the st.cronin prize for funniest Polston.
JonInMiddleGA
08-02-2008, 10:05 PM
You're a better man than I, those draft shenanigans would have definitely led to police involvement if I had been the victim of them. Ah the joys of youth sports at the admin level.
On the QB controversy issue, if I'm reading this right I don't know that you have much choice but to give Jacob reps while the other candidates are out.
But I'd also make sure that at least one other kid got some reps early too, at least give the appearance (however unlikely) that he isn't just being handed the starting QB job outright. Also, how certain are you about one or the other of the missing guys being the starting QB for week one? And speaking of which, when is Week One anyway?
My thinking here is that, because of their absence, the kid who is there now might end up at least starting the opener while you've also gotten a look at him at the position you figure he'll eventually play most over the full season during the reps you give to the current second (really fourth) option. Versatility is never a bad thing, even more true with a short roster. And maybe even more true at this age group where players can end up missing games for everything from injury to family outings.
Should be an interesting ride, thanks for taking us along with you.
I'm still unclear on a number of things: equipment/pads, practice location, schedule. I'd assume it's somewhere along the lines of the first weekend of September, though at this point I'd prefer the 2nd weekend.
I feel very good about either Nathaniel or Noah being the quarterback. Nate came highly, highly recommended and was a quarterback. Both parents raved about how intelligent the boys are as well. He's also receiving more instruction right now than any other player in the league, so if anyone could step in and play the position right away, it could be him.
If I moved Nate to a wing, I could see splitting time with Jacob at the quarteback position. I'm just not sold on Jacob's athletic ability. He came away just under average on the PAT. I'm not sold on his intelligence, either. The main reason I took him, other than he was one of the best available at the time, was because I liked how he made contact on Thursday.
I could give Jacob a few of the token plays where the quarterback hands off rather quickly. I could also get him in for our toss play, where we have the QB toss the ball back and then lead block.
That might keep Noah maybe a little more out of harm's way.
Barkeep49
08-03-2008, 01:40 PM
What position is Jacob playing if it's not QB? What were his parents like? I've got a few ideas.
1. You announce that you are going to consider several options at QB. You give Jacob the majority of the reps, but give a real amount of reps to 1 or 2 other players. When Nathaniel/Noah come back they get in that rotation, and then can earn the position.
2. You give the reps to Jacob and are just honest with him. You explain that you think he might have the tools to be QB on the team, but so might Nathaniel/Noah. So when they get back you're going to evaluate who is the best fit.
3. You tell Jacob that a great situation has happened. He's going to be your backup QB, but because of the brothers being at camp is going to get a great opportunity to learn the position, so if he needs to play he'll know exactly what to do, before learning his other position of X.
JiMG has a good point about the fact that you don't know how much practice time you're going to get with the brothers. What is one of them gets injured? Also consider this: in your offense the QB isn't nearly as important as several other positions. Why tie your best player there, when RB/FB is more important? Give Jacob the recognition of that, while others really get to shine.
BYU 14
08-03-2008, 02:08 PM
Come on Rodney, you know that QB in the Double Wing is just a glorified Guard since he will be a lead blocker on the toss play, throw a lineman back there ;)
Seriously I would go with Jon's idea and at least rep 2 kids, even knowing that when the Brothers get back from camp things will change. This would also give you the opportunity to work Jacob at TE when the other kid gets reps so you can have the "I think this is where your son will help the team most" card ready when you need to move him there.
We always allow the incoming Freshmen to start practice where they "want" to play, then move them to where they need to play within a couple of days if they are not fitted for their choice of positions. Last year our starting center started at FB. His switch was made easy when I explained that he could either be the 5th string FB or compete for a starting job on the line.
We start practice tomorrow and I am excited, in fact you have me contemplating doing a dynasty on our Freshmen team this year.....It would be kind of cool to review it as the year went on. I will have to really consider this.
Oh, think about using unbalanced too......great set for this age group IMO as I would imagine most teams would have trouble adjusting properly....Hell it still works pretty well in High School :)
Coffee Warlord
08-04-2008, 09:05 AM
Stop with this Double Wing horseshit already!
FIVE RECEIVER SETS!
JonInMiddleGA
08-04-2008, 11:18 AM
Stop with this Double Wing horseshit already!
FIVE RECEIVER SETS!
Serious question: is there a non-all star team of 9/10 year olds anywhere that have five players who can catch a ball consistently?
Coffee Warlord
08-04-2008, 01:28 PM
Serious question: is there a non-all star team of 9/10 year olds anywhere that have five players who can catch a ball consistently?
I highly, highly doubt it.
But it'd be great fun watching someone try and pull it off.
Thanks for the suggestions. I definitely have some decisions to make. Fortunately, the first day or two of practice won't require rock-solid positions, so I should be alright.
I met with a few parents yesterday at the "team mom's" home (Nick T.'s mom). She's been a real big help as far as experience wise. She's suggested that I hit the practice field early to nab the 'primo' spot, where there's some shade in the afternoon. She's also helped me with where I'm getting my team equipment and things like that.
I'm really, really, happy I picked Nick T. now.
I had hoped to e-mail out our playbook to the parents and have them print it out if need be, but that idea didn't go over well. I understand that not everyone has e-mail, a computer, and/or printing capability, but I had hoped to work around that.
I made calls today hoping to catch a break on a price of about 50 dollars for the total job, and didn't have much luck. 35 dollars was about the cheapest I was quoted. My best friend from high school and her husband now run a print shop in my home town. I tried to reach her, but I didn't have any luck. Down to my last option, I called my brother, Tubby.
"Tubby, who's your 'I've got 20 or so playbooks to print out at about 25 pages per book' guy?' My brother has a 'guy' for everything, as he likes to brag. I figured I'd go "all in" and call him on it.
"Well, I don't know. This for your pee wee football team I guess? Give me 10 minutes."
15 minutes later he calls, tells me to get it on a thumb drive, and he'd have it done in a couple of days for free.
Color me impressed. I may never doubt Tubby again.
One final thing to add today: Bryce has a cousin, Ray, who will likely be playing football for us.
Ray, described by Bryce's dad, is a very big boy and very athletic as well. Ray will be registering tomorrow if we have practice...or on Thursday. Given that we're tied for the fewest players and that Bryce's dad would be bringing both in for practice and games, we're essentially a lock for the boy. Bryce's dad has even said he won't register him at this point unless he's on our team.
Works for me. If he's as good as advertised (and there's no reason to think otherwise, Bryce's dad has a good football head on his shoulders), he'll work in well on the offensive line and as our middle linebacker/safety.
I did get a call last night from the league "commish". He's not exactly the commish or the president, per say, but he's no doubt the guy who makes things happen. His title is league coordinator or something along the lines, and he was the one presiding over the draft.
First, he apologized about the draft. He said team lists had been distributed before he realized the issue with the Bulldogs, in particular. To refresh, the Bulldogs "protected" a player that was of no relation to either of the two 'official' coaches of the team. They then later drafted the second coach's son.
I told him it wasn't a problem, it was a motivational tool.
He also gave me information about Tyler W. Tyler's mom asked me on Saturday and again yesterday if it was possible to trade her son to the Bulldogs or to have a player on the Bulldogs traded to our team. The two boys are neighbors and could then carpool together everywhere.
He told me no, which I'm quite happy about. I'm sure the Bulldogs would love Tyler, since he's about 100 pounds, and would be happy to trade me one of the tiny guys on their roster for him. However, since all parents were notified about which team their son would play for, I was told it would be considered by the board, but the answer would certainly be no.
I could see it now, the Tigers all of a sudden have an entire all star squad based on logistical issues like carpooling, neighbors, live down the street, live down the street from the coach's brother, and kids they go to church with.
I'm happy they told me no, though I hated having to tell the mom.
Barkeep49
08-05-2008, 07:47 PM
I think nearly every post in this thread from me is going to be a variation on how the people you're dealing with are everything that's wrong with youth sports. I'm glad this league coordinator guy is finally doing something useful by stopping this latest trade business.
Senator
08-05-2008, 08:40 PM
This is great. I love what you have done. The double wing is run by 3/4 of the teams here, so it is not much of an odd thing as there.
I was going to add my 9-10 year old dynasty (TEXAS STYLE) and compare and contrast but I surely do not want to intrude on this already great read.
Barkeep49
08-05-2008, 08:46 PM
This is great. I love what you have done. The double wing is run by 3/4 of the teams here, so it is not much of an odd thing as there.
I was going to add my 9-10 year old dynasty (TEXAS STYLE) and compare and contrast but I surely do not want to intrude on this already great read.
The more youth sport dynasties the better. I feel like I'm a better coach everytime I read one, even if it's in a different sport or at a completely different level.
The playbook's complete, some 18 or so pages about who is where, how we call plays, and diagrams. 2 pages of our relatively simple defense. Off to the press.
I spoke with probably the most knowledgable dad, Nathaniel and Noah's dad, about what type of offenses we'll see. He told me our offense would certainly be unique. Nearly everyone uses an I or Pro set with two tight ends in this league. His son has played for four years and his dad knows football, so I trust and love this information.
I can only hope we play the Tigers in Week 1.
By the way, if you'd like to see the playbook, PM me an e-mail address and I'll shoot it out to you.
I would have really liked to add more. However, I prescribe to the theory of keeping things simple and expanding from there.
I got permission tonight to run a 2 hour practice Saturday morning to make up for the missed practice yesterday. Woot.
Senator
08-07-2008, 06:43 AM
I am jealous you are already at it, but we have had a string of 100 degree plus days that would not have made it much fun.
Fundamentals, Fundamentals, Fundamentals!!!!
Yesterday's practice was interesting for me to say the least, my first as a head coach in tackle football.
As the boys filtered in, I easily recognized nearly every boy by face and called them by name. I didn't know Layne or Tyler, but they were relatively easy to pick out among the other boys. I said a few words to each boy as well before we started.
I introduced myself briefly and then set them up in a ready position, followed by correcting some really bad 3 point stances. That's going to be a lot of work. We completed this routine with 5 pushups. My goal is to have them doing 5 pushups every 10 minutes.
From there we went into our stretching exercises. I don't prescribe to the old-school method of stretching. Instead, we did 20 yard moving exercises like butt-kickers, high knee, and bounding. By the end of this, they were tired, and I got them a water break.
I'm not a water break guy, honestly. I'd rather take the time and use it elsewhere and they can drink water whenever they want to. Couldn't exactly make that work on this first day. However, they cut their own breaks short, so it worked out well.
From there we worked through slow motion tackling (ready position, hit the player, wrap him up, lift and drive through), and on to some blocking.
Believe it or not, Nolan came up crying during this first drill saying his back hurt from the pushups. Nolan's just 9, but he's bigger than most of my 10s. Unfortunately, he's got a mentality of a 7-year old. Despite playing the past couple of seasons, he claimed he didn't know how to put on his pads. I helped him, and then this "injury" came up. So he avoided the "contact" after the first time we slow motioned the tackling.
Next we played something the kid's called "King of the Ring." No surprise here, Layne beat everyone. 2nd place went to Ryan W. 3rd to Hunter J. 4th, for the record went to David C, who likes to be called JD. I was pleasantly surprised about Hunter and JD. Nolan reappeared near the end asking to go into the ring against a "smaller" boy, not someone his own size. I threw Nick T out, he's my smallest guy. He took Nick. I sent out Jacob. He tried, but couldn't quite hold his own. The next boy, David C, who hadn't played before, forced Nolan out of his comfort zone and Nolan was essentially defeated as he BACKED OUT OF THE RING WITH THE CONTACT.
Water break, a little more of the ring, and then we went into 1/2 speed tackling. I paired Nolan with Jacob, so that he'd be more comfortable. Geez! Surprisingly, Nolan didn't get hurt. A lot of kids hit the ground as they went into the "lift and drive" phase.
Last water break before rain closed practice early. I went through a little bit of the offensive setup, and we started walking through the first play. During the walkthrough I was told to shut it down.
Oh well, we've got Saturday.
I'm really happy with the team overall. I've seriously got to figure out how I can hide Nolan on the field for 6 plays per half. He is our one legit liability on the field. He's not going to listen to instruction, I know it. I'm thinking I could use him at a guard position as long as I don't ask him to pull. If I tell him just hit the guy over you or over the center I might make it work.
Finally, we didn't get Bryce's cousin on the team, and he is indeed one BIG kid. Interestingly enough, the Bulldogs didn't mind, but the Tigers complained a little. Ray is going to be GOOD. The kids were jacked about him joining us, which tells me a lot right there.
Bryce's dad is now my official assistant.
Senator
08-08-2008, 10:55 AM
I see alot of Coach Dave Cisar in your cal setup and drills. Good start, Poli!
Are you allowed to count kickoffs, KR, punts, ect... as a play? If so, you might only have to consider 2-3 plays a half for Nolan. Another little trick would be to put him on the far side away from the play you are running. Ex - sweep right - load him up at left tackle or something. Even though this is a tell, I have never had anyone ever pick up on it.
I see alot of Coach Dave Cisar in your cal setup and drills. Good start, Poli!
Are you allowed to count kickoffs, KR, punts, ect... as a play? If so, you might only have to consider 2-3 plays a half for Nolan. Another little trick would be to put him on the far side away from the play you are running. Ex - sweep right - load him up at left tackle or something. Even though this is a tell, I have never had anyone ever pick up on it.
I've only recently heard of Coach Cisar, but I do hear he does similar things. I modified the tackling drills from Coach Wade, but the "King of the Ring" is the same as Coach Wade's "Sumo".
I don't know if special teams count. I sure HOPE so. I plan to kick it onside or at the very least short and to one side of the field or the other. If I could hide Nolan as the last man on the other side of the kickoff unit, for example, that would be great. Left tackle on the sweep is a good call as well.
If I can rotate him once through the guard and tackle spots on defense, I could potentially have him in enough to satisfy the requirement.
Honestly, I'm disappointed to think about these scenarios. I really think I can and will use the other 17 in a fashion where play counts are out the window.
One important edit from my last post: Ray IS on the team.
As for the team, I projected Layne to be the center, but Ryan "Rhino" seemed a little upset about it after practice. I'll have to sell him playing guard for us. I honestly think he'd enjoy it for the trapping and pulling.
Right now, the team offense projects as:
QB Nathan
FB Connor
WB Bryce
WB Nick C.
TE JD
TE Jacob
LT Ashanti
LG Hunter
C Layne
RG Ryan
RT Ray
Jacob is smaller than I remember the last time I saw him, he probably isn't a good fit on the line. I think he could be a decent tight end, but I'm concerned about speed as a back. He's still an option as a quarterback.
Nick T is probably our next TE. He's not very big, but can probably perform that shoeshine decently enough.
Noah is in the mix in the backs, somewhere. I really need to see both Nathan and his brother to make a decision on who goes where.
David C. has a mean streak in him. He'd be a good alternate at FB and maybe on the line, though he's a little undersized.
Alex, Tyler, and Nolan are my alternates for the line. Of the three, I really think Tyler could contribute. Alex may be destined for spot duty offensively and sub man on defense. Similar to rotating Nolan, I think rotating Alex on defense routinely might give the other guys a bit of rest. It might be something where I let Alex take two plays at a time from another guy.
Playbooks were handed out yesterday to most of the boys as well.
Mike1409
08-08-2008, 04:47 PM
I see alot of Coach Dave Cisar in your cal setup and drills. Good start, Poli!
Are you allowed to count kickoffs, KR, punts, ect... as a play? If so, you might only have to consider 2-3 plays a half for Nolan. Another little trick would be to put him on the far side away from the play you are running. Ex - sweep right - load him up at left tackle or something. Even though this is a tell, I have never had anyone ever pick up on it.
I have done the same in the past. Line him up wide as a receiver and run away from him!
I agree with the kickoff idea. I kicked off towards our bench every time, so it would change each quarter. Put a speedy guy at the end kick from the 40 on the ground to the opposing 40 and out run the other team to the ball. That 2nd row edge is where teams sometimes try to hide their players as well. One game we never took a defensive snap in the first half.
I'd love to line him up as a tight end or receiver and go the opposite way, but I have a strong feeling he's over our ball carrier weight limit of 100 pounds. That means he can't be an eligible receiver on offense.
I did speak to my former head coach about Nolan. He thinks Nolan's looking for attention, which I think we'd all agree is true. He suggested I have him come in before practice if possible to help me set up, and if any setup is needed during practice to have him help. He could also stay after and help pick up the field.
He also told me to give him something he would feel comfortable with and have some success with. That might help give him the confidence he'd need to continue playing this game.
Senator
08-08-2008, 05:32 PM
You might find that this is a non-issue, as you have kids get hurt, the wind knocked out of them, not playing very well and need an in-game pep talk, or you are up by alot or down by alot, whatever the case. On game day this will be much less of an issue than you think, as you will see he is probably over the minimum by half a dozen plays every game. That is my experience, anyway.
The real problem is his interruptions during critical practice time, and the rolling frustration that will build from it. I had one player last season that had severe ADD. He was the last kid picked in the draft out of 200 plus kids. His parents would forget to give him his medicine and it would make my life hell. I remember at one point, minutes before a playoff game he ran onto the field with sticks protruding out of his air holes in the top of his helmet. We had to tell him every time where to go, where to stand, and when to come off.
I will say that one game that was close, he may have helped us win. They do not stop the clock for penalties, and he had 4 off sides in a row, because he could not understand not to move until the ball was snapped, despite designating a coach to work with him 3 hours a week all season on just that.
Despite all this, he ended up playing 16-20 plays a game and we managed to still win.
This morning's practice was a little frustrating.
My team mom had to fit most of the boys for their uniforms, which for some reason had to come out of my practice time. We lost nearly a half hour to that. I was forced to cut down our play installation as well as team offense in order to adjust. It was incredibly frustrating to stand and wait while a majority of the boys were taking care of that.
I had two excused absences and two no-shows. I'll give the no-shows a call today and see what happened.
On top of the problems today, we'll have problems at the Tuesday practice as well. The local school is having their open house and some of the boys will be missing because of it. I would love to move Tuesday's practice to Saturday, but I really don't want to take up two Saturdays in a row from the boys and their parents.
I'll have to call Nolan's dad today about coaching his son while we're on the field. I'm technically not allowed to have anyone not an official coach out there with us. I really enjoyed Nolan's grandfather, he was excited about the game. I could use him as a coach for sure.
I had a number of headaches today on the field as well. Layne was a no-show, so fitting Ryan in at center worked out well. I used Alex to fill in the other guard slot. However, Ryan showed disinterest in doing just about anything today.
Ashanti voiced displeasure of playing the offensive line. I'm not sure where he thinks he'd fit in offensively other than that spot, to be honest. Shoot, I'm not sure he'll make the weight limit as a ball carrier.
Ray layed a big hit during our "Eye Opener" drill on David C., David wasn't thrilled about it, sat on the ground out of the drills for about 5 minutes. When Ray came to my group for angle tackling, no one wanted to try and tackle him. I asked Ray to work on his defense and he got upset. He eventually got over it, but I could sense an attitude with him the rest of the practice. He, along with Ryan, didn't display much of an effort early in practice, either.
We finished practices by going through our toss play. I worked with the line, Coach Bryan took the backs. About 10 minutes later we got together to see if we could make it work. For the most part, it didn't.
Jacob's not going to work out at quarterback. He turned the wrong way to hand the ball off first. I re-explained why the play is called toss. He turned tossed the ball and ran behind the back and then followed him into the hole. I explained again what we're looking for, and he did the same thing over again.
It's going to take some work, but once the light bulbs come on I think we're really going to be good.
Right now, with the way my practices keep getting interrupted, I'm thinking we may try to just run our 5 core plays: The Toss, Sweep, Counter, Wedge, and Pass. Shoot, two practices in and I'm having a tough time getting just the Toss in. With just 12 practices left before our opener, we've got to get it down.
Barkeep49
08-09-2008, 12:39 PM
Teaching plays is perhaps the area where my teaching is the worst while coaching, so I certainly understand the difficulties you're having.
But, at least in my experience, FUBAR practices are what you need to expect. Not because of your lack of preparation or command of the kids, just cause things always seem to pop up that interfere with the smooth running of practices. And I can say, despite that being my expectation, I am still frequently flustered/upset when these things popup. I hope your remaining 12 pregame practices go well.
primelord
08-10-2008, 03:05 AM
I agree with the kickoff idea. I kicked off towards our bench every time, so it would change each quarter. Put a speedy guy at the end kick from the 40 on the ground to the opposing 40 and out run the other team to the ball. That 2nd row edge is where teams sometimes try to hide their players as well. One game we never took a defensive snap in the first half.
I don't have any experience coaching kids, but this seems absolutely ridiculous. It seems to be completely against the spirit of kids sports. I just can't fathom wanting to do something like that to another group of kids.
I don't have any experience coaching kids, but this seems absolutely ridiculous. It seems to be completely against the spirit of kids sports. I just can't fathom wanting to do something like that to another group of kids.
The idea of kicking short and towards your best players is nothing new, to be honest. The Coronado Islanders Pop Warner squad I was an assistant on did it nearly every time.
I cringed the first time I heard that we were going to do that as well.
However, when I saw us practice a normal kickoff and actually use it in a game I understood why. Kicking the ball to the other team's two or three best players will likely result in the ball being in the same spot as a short kick or onside kick, at least that's been my experience in youth football. Some coaches will set up some elaborate returns hoping that you kick the ball deep.
Worst case scenario is that they'll return it for a touchdown. I have never saw the short kick or onside kick result in a touchdown, outside of a video or Cowboys game.
To me, the short kick is the lesser of two evils.
Potosi High School did some short kicking against two schools in particular last year. Both teams had players who had returned multiple kicks for touchdowns. In both situations we looked for a player with a number in the 50s through 70s in that second row and attempted to kick the ball at or near him.
As far as putting a boy in a position where he can do the least damage, I've seen that in youth baseball as well. I've seen coaches rotate two or three kids through right field and second base, depending on their inning requirement; the idea being that they're least likely to see the ball on that side of the field.
Shoot, I think we've all seen it in a rec softball league or three. We'll put the guy we're not too sure about or don't know at catcher, second, or right.
After speaking with my assistant last night, we're going to focus on our core 5 and their mirror plays, giving us 9 plays overall. Our wedge doesn't get mirrored. A wedge is a wedge for the most part.
If we can get the core 5 down cold, we may try to invest a little more time into other plays, but time is a premium at this point.
Besides knowing we can't have Jacob as our every down QB, we've also decided to try and use Carlos in the backfield. He may still end up at tight end, but we'll see how it goes.
Ashanti may end up as a tight end, if he is or can get under the weight limit. While that helps solve a few problems as far as playing time for Alex and Tyler, it would create an issue or two as far as Nick T and Jacob would be concerned.
fantastic flying froggies
08-10-2008, 09:23 AM
Rodney you bastard, your latest dynasty 's drawn me back to FOFC! :D
Can't stay away from the orange though, can you? ;)
Rodney you bastard, your latest dynasty 's drawn me back to FOFC! :D
Can't stay away from the orange though, can you? ;)You're welcome. :)
Barkeep49
08-10-2008, 02:16 PM
I don't have any experience coaching kids, but this seems absolutely ridiculous. It seems to be completely against the spirit of kids sports. I just can't fathom wanting to do something like that to another group of kids.
What exactly are you referring to here?
BYU 14
08-10-2008, 04:48 PM
Hey Rodney, one suggestion that might help with play installation is to bring a whiteboard to practice and chalk talk a couple of plays a day. I know you made playbooks, but honestly at that age I doubt most of the kids will spend much time studying them. We don't even give the kids playbooks until they are on varsity.
With the JV and Frosh we meet 1/2 hour before practice early on and draw the plays we are putting in that day on the board and go over eceryones rules, linemen in one room, skill kids in another. We then rep them on the field extensively during groupd and team periods. After this we then review everything we have put in prior until we have our base Offense in. I will then tweak/add from there as the Season goes on depending on gameplan needs, execution and the aptitude our kids show for picking things up.
BYU 14
08-10-2008, 04:52 PM
Quote:
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset">Originally Posted by primelord http://operationsports.com/fofc/images/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?p=1805751#post1805751)
I don't have any experience coaching kids, but this seems absolutely ridiculous. It seems to be completely against the spirit of kids sports. I just can't fathom wanting to do something like that to another group of kids.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
What exactly are you referring to here?
I don't quite get it either. A lot of teams do this at freshmen level if they can't kick deep and it has the added bonus of regaining posession here and there. I would never try it while up but a certain amount or late in a game we are winning, but use it if we don't have a strong kicker.
In the end, if it is a competitive league/High School game, it is up to the other Coach to adjust his special teams accordingly.
Barkeep49
08-10-2008, 04:57 PM
Well I agree with primelord that one should not win at all costs. I'm wondering what he's seeing as ridiculous, as I've thought of at least 3 possibilities, and I think I disagree with him about 2 of them.
JonInMiddleGA
08-10-2008, 05:58 PM
After speaking with my assistant last night, we're going to focus on our core 5 and their mirror plays, giving us 9 plays overall.
Good call IMO. If by the end of the season they (including the majority of offensive reserves) have the core 5 down cold I'll be impressed. Nothing against you or them, I just know my experiences with this age group do not leave me optimistic about teaching 12 of them anything ;)
Mike1409
08-10-2008, 11:40 PM
I don't have any experience coaching kids, but this seems absolutely ridiculous. It seems to be completely against the spirit of kids sports. I just can't fathom wanting to do something like that to another group of kids.
The point of the short kick is more to control the return as it is to get the ball back.
In youth FB a deep kick right to their best player in open space is begging for them to return it for a TD.
Yesterday's practice had good and bad things happen.
Nolan forgot his cup, so he couldn't practice and went home. I'll let you decide which category that fit in.
Ray, the big boy, had a stye in his left eye. He practiced off and on.
A number of boys were missing early on, and three (Carlos, Ashanti, and Ryan) were no-shows. Ryan showed up with 10 minutes to go in street clothes, though.
I got my first look at Noah. That boy is probably our smallest now. He's at the very least tied with Nick T. He's going to have to be a wing or quarterback. I couldn't possibly have him anywhere else on the field.
I didn't necessarily mean to end there. :)
Nathaniel had his first practice as well. I could certainly use him at either position, though it might make more sense to have him at quarterback a majority of the time. He was definitely in charge of the offense when we got in a huddle.
The offensive line continues to be a headache for me. Just getting them to line up together properly is still difficult at this point, much less remembering their blocking rules.
The backfield is on point, though. They seem ready to go.
Senator
08-13-2008, 05:28 PM
If the line is poor, even if the backfield is on point, won't matter much, but you already know this.
primelord
08-15-2008, 10:11 AM
Well I agree with primelord that one should not win at all costs. I'm wondering what he's seeing as ridiculous, as I've thought of at least 3 possibilities, and I think I disagree with him about 2 of them.
I was specifically talking about the statement:
"Put a speedy guy at the end kick from the 40 on the ground to the opposing 40 and out run the other team to the ball. That 2nd row edge is where teams sometimes try to hide their players as well. One game we never took a defensive snap in the first half."
I read that not as trying to control the retunr, but rather as we can get the ball back every time if we do this. If the short kick is not purely a way to try and get the ball back every time then I see no problem with it. If you jyst happen to have better athletes and can get the ball back at will with this play, then I think it sends the wrong message to do it.
Barkeep49
08-15-2008, 03:55 PM
I was specifically talking about the statement:
"Put a speedy guy at the end kick from the 40 on the ground to the opposing 40 and out run the other team to the ball. That 2nd row edge is where teams sometimes try to hide their players as well. One game we never took a defensive snap in the first half."
I read that not as trying to control the retunr, but rather as we can get the ball back every time if we do this. If the short kick is not purely a way to try and get the ball back every time then I see no problem with it. If you jyst happen to have better athletes and can get the ball back at will with this play, then I think it sends the wrong message to do it.
Ok that's what I thought you were saying. To me, getting the ball back every time isn't a problem, as long as the score is close. If the score is decidedly in your favor then I think it's wrong. It's the equivalent, in basketball, of not pressing when up by 10 or 15.
Mike1409
08-15-2008, 04:30 PM
I was specifically talking about the statement:
"Put a speedy guy at the end kick from the 40 on the ground to the opposing 40 and out run the other team to the ball. That 2nd row edge is where teams sometimes try to hide their players as well. One game we never took a defensive snap in the first half."
I read that not as trying to control the retunr, but rather as we can get the ball back every time if we do this. If the short kick is not purely a way to try and get the ball back every time then I see no problem with it. If you jyst happen to have better athletes and can get the ball back at will with this play, then I think it sends the wrong message to do it.
Not what I was saying, but I understand how it could be mistaken. We surely don't have better athletes than other teams in the league.
The game in question, we received and drove the field. we got the kickoff back, with 8 minute qtrs we were already into the 2nd before scoring again. We then got the kick again before running out the half.
Wednesday's practice was a real shot in the arm. We seemingly came together and really got the toss play down well. I think we all left the practice field with confidence.
Thursday's practice was cut short by lightning in the area, which was unfortunate. The 2nd half of the practice was set to be used for defense. The line had a little trouble picking up the concept of the sweep play, but I think we'll have it down next practice.
Yesterday's practice went well for the most part. We had a few problems focusing at first, but I was able to rope them in and get it going. One of the problems was neither of my 'assistants' were there at the beginning. Bryce's dad was at a job site. Nathaniel and Noah's dad was still in surgery 30 minutes before practice. Once he showed up, it allowed us to break into two groups and get some things accomplished.
We went through the warmups and tackling, though tackling looking fairly poor. I believe that was because I had 16 of the boys going through one station, though. Afterward, I broke down our defense, covering the basic principles of each position. That's when the good doctor showed up.
I let him take our corners and backers and work on bump and run while I took our defensive linemen and worked on 4 point stances, defeating double teams and traps. I have to admit, I'm really happy with how they did that. In fact, I think NOLAN may be able to clog a gap. I'm really happy about that.
I noticed we were behind schedule, so I scrapped team defense. We probably need another day of that before I bring them in together anyhow.
We went to 'skill offense' as I call it after that. Skill players with the other coach, line with me. Amazingly, these boys were NAILING what they needed to do for the most part. I explained that counter and toss are the same thing for us, and they were getting it. Still a hiccup here and there, but very positive. I'm even happier knowing I may be able to get by without Nolan on offense. I can let him clog gaps on defense for a living.
Team offense was the last part before we headed out for the night. We ran the toss both ways, the sweep both ways, and the wedge. If all goes well, we can probably have the counter and the pass installed tomorrow.
I'm still having player personnel issues. Bryce, without his dad, was really showing off. He tends to show off from time to time, but he was really having at it last night.
Carlos was complaining that he had a cyst on his side. It appeared to be an off and on cyst. If it involved him running without getting hit, he was healthy enough. If it involved him being touched, that was a different matter.
Ashanti may continue to be a thorn in my side. He's hinting that he doesn't want to play defensive line, but I will not budge on that. He's simply not fast enough to play a corner, end, or backer position for me. He'll have to give up that dream. Shoot, the only reason I 'gave' in on the tight end position is because it's just a glorified tackle in our offense. If he catches five balls on the year I'll be surprised.
Barkeep49
08-20-2008, 07:02 PM
Sounds like you're making good use of your time, especially when you have your assistants there.
Yesterday's practice was called for rain, which didn't give me a good vibe about today. Sure enough, an hour in and we're cancelled.
The good news: We are looking better on defense. I think the assistants are now picking up what I'm putting down there. I think we'll be ready for a scrimmage next week.
Tackling was much better. Solid hitting during this practice. We may have a boy or two who still need work, but that's not bad at all.
Bad news: No work on the offense today. Saturday will have to be packed and ready to go.
Half our team was 10 minutes late! I don't know how to get the parents to have their boys on time. I certainly can't dock half the boys their playing time, someone has to be out there. I'm miffed at what to do there.
Tyler W. has quit the team. Apparently we have a bully on our team. I've got one or two guesses. One might be Bryce, the assistant's son, and the other David C., the boy who hasn't played football before. They are only guesses, the mom didn't tell me who was actually picking on her boy. I was just told he was groaning about going, how this boy was picking on him, and apparently there's been a history of this with the bully that the parents are fully aware of. I'm sad to see him go, I expected him to contribute quite a bit at left tackle.
Tyler was undersized, but big enough to get in some of the boys way. That's really all I could ask for.
It gives me a problem or two. Do I move Ashanti T. back to tackle, go with Alex S., or possibly move David C. to tackle. David's short on football experience but hasn't been afraid to hit. He might work out well at tackle.
I'm actually hoping Ashanti comes in over the ballcarrier weight limit so I won't have to deal with it.
Official weigh ins are Saturday morning, we'll be going over as a team after practice...and since no league official will be out there with us, we can practice in the rain all I want that morning.
Barkeep49
08-22-2008, 10:38 AM
It always stinks to walk into an existing dynamic. At my previous school they basically didn't change which kids were in what classes starting in 1st grade. This meant by the time they got to me in 4th grade I was walking into a social minefield. It's too bad that Tyler ended up quitting.
Thanks BK for the earlier comment about the use of the assistants. Basically, I don't want to waste their time, the boys time, or my time. I really don't want boys standing around too much.
We'll practice this morning from 8-10. Bryce and his dad are out of town, so I'll get an opportunity to see someone else at wing as well. The official weigh in for the team is immediately after practice at the local elementary school. Bryce will have to make a weigh in next week for another town.
The rain the past couple of days will really make the field wet and the ground soaked. We're probably in for a soggy practice, but we have to get it in. Forecast is for more rain, but as I type this it's not around.
With Tyler gone, I'll have to take a look at David at tackle. I'm nervous about moving him at this stage, but something has to be done. I'll cross my fingers that Ashanti will be over the 100lb weight limit, but at last guess I think he'll be just under.
Offensively speaking, I'm having little problem splitting the boys between line and backs. We don't have receivers to speak of, so there's really not an issue there. I usually put the ends with me on the line, but I'd really like to get them to work with the backs at times as well. I have to find a good mix for them.
Defensively, I'm struggling a bit to get them all flowing properly. Essentially, I have five positions on the field. The tackles, which honestly have the easiest job, the ends, which probably have the second easiest as far as assignment, linebackers, corners, and the monster/safety.
I think I need to break their portion of defensive work into a run defense period and pass defense period, and maybe use a split team at that. With so many moving parts over there, I really want to see it and be a part of that to make sure we're doing things right.
I'm thinking of asking Hunter's dad to help with the line, at least during practice. So far, I believe he's the only dad to make every practice, even among my assistants. He'd free me up to help with the offensive backs as well as the perimeter defenders.
One last thing. I witnessed the Bulldog coaches and their sons practicing 3-4 plays at 5pm yesterday, an hour before official practice begins.
1. That's illegal. I'm sure the league's "Mr. Important" would be pissed to hear that.
2. They did it in front of me. They clearly knew I was there, kept on doing it. So, what's a Poli to do? Hey they took advantage of the time, so did I. I wrote down everything they did.
Basically they're lining up in a straight T. They may motion out a back, but he's likely to get the ball one way or another...pass or he returns to the backfield on a 'reverse'. Their fullback counter might be the toughest thing for my team to handle as it appears to go off tackle. With my ends boxing to the deepest man, he could slide under and the linebacker over there could possibly see flow away and try running for it. We'll have to drill that counter at the backers for sure.
Otherwise, every one of their plays should result in a loss for them. I think our ends will be smart enough to stop those reverses and bootlegs all day.
BYU 14
08-23-2008, 09:21 AM
1. That's illegal. I'm sure the league's "Mr. Important" would be pissed to hear that.
2. They did it in front of me. They clearly knew I was there, kept on doing it. So, what's a Poli to do? Hey they took advantage of the time, so did I. I wrote down everything they did.
You know what they are going to say here....We were just out with our boys playing around. It's too bad they didn't have somebody that was not one of their kids with them. I think that may backfire on them in another way. Can you imagine bringing your child for the "real" practice and seeing their coaches working with their Kids only? Can't be good for team chemistry.
VERY LIGHT turnout for practice today, which was disappointing. We had just 8 to start practice, 5 others trickled in late. Ray was the worst at almost 30 minutes. Layne, David C., Bryce, and Nolan were all absent. Bryce was the only one with an excuse beforehand. Ashanti showed up late and left really early as well. He complained about 'ants in his shoes' and went to his mom. His mom came out maybe 30 minutes later and explained he has a lot of allergies, including...grass. It about blew my mind. He left for the day after that.
So, that left us with 12 at the practice. We had four potential starters missing on offense, two on defense. Flipping fantastic.
With Bryce and his dad out on a boat and the good doctor making rounds at the hospital, I was also coaching these boys solo.
I filled in where I could. Alex filled at left tackle, Nick T took right guard, the world's lightest guard I'd imagine. Jacob filled at left tight end, which I'm sure didn't thrill his dad. Carlos took Bryce's spot at the wing.
Defensively, Alex took Layne's tackle spot. Ashanti filled for Bryce until he went down with the 'allergy'. I used Nick T after that.
I had to try and coach on the fly as well. I almost ignored the defensive line at first since I had worked with them constantly already. I think their job is the easiest to learn. I worked with the backers, ends, and corners for the most part. As I saw things go wrong, I pulled that group together, talked it out, and kept moving.
Offensively, we didn't go individual. Instead we worked as a team and ran through our toss, sweep, and wedge. I would have liked to run counter, but I was running out of time and the boys were losing motivation in the heat.
We finished practice with a "Punt Off" competition. Surprisingly, Hunter was the winner, though Carlos didn't do too bad of a job himself. Jacob, whose dad will certainly complain that Jacob's not the kicker, performed rather poorly. That's despite his 'finishing second' in the local punt, pass, kick. Honestly, I'm wondering what the turnout was for that.
Since there's no rush on punts or kicks, I'm thinking when the need comes for a punt, that we'll punt to our sideline. A parent or coach will head downfield some 30 yards or so and wave. That'll be who I want the ball to go to. We'll spread the field like a kickoff and use our best kids (Ray, Connor, JD, Nathan, and Bryce) on that side of the field and try to cover the ball/returner should there be a possibility of a return. The backside four players won't be slouches either. They'll take an angle to the ball instead of just sprinting straight downfield.
I imagine we may do something similar for kickoffs.
I spoke with Hunter's dad after practice and he's onboard to help us with coaching. That's a big relief.
I got the weigh in results for most of the boys later in the afternoon. Layne AND Nolan made the weigh in, so that really irritates me that they missed practice. Bryce, David, Carlos, and Ray didn't make the weigh in, which requires an original birth certificate. They'll have to miss a day of practice to go to another town to make that next week. If they miss that one, they're ineligible to play this season.
David is my biggest concern. I worry that his dad is an alcoholic. I spoke with him yesterday about practice this morning and David didn't show. When I called this afternoon to check in with him, his dad told me "they didn't have transportation". Now, I've mentioned in the past if a ride was needed I had no problem. I told his dad again I had no problem doing that, and his answer was a very quick, "Thank you very much, Coach." The irritating part was it was like he was mocking me. He repeated that line two more times quickly.
I worry David is our bully. I certainly can't approach his dad with it, either. I may pull David aside and talk about being part of a team and having teammates. I certainly don't want him to feel the wrath of his behavior from a potentially abusive dad. I'm nervous enough about this situation that I honestly wonder how safe David is at home.
Back to the weigh in. Here are the weights off the boys I have right now.
Nick C 79
Nick T 70
Ashanti 98
Alex 95
Nolan 126 (my weight as a 17 year old senior football player)
Noah 71
Nathaniel 74
Connor 80
JD 72
Ryan 151
Jacob 74
Hunter 91
Layne 143
Barkeep49
08-23-2008, 10:23 PM
I notice Ashanti just barely made as you expected. I'd hoped that kid had done a box of Krispy Kremes for breakfast. Also all the absences? You've got to roll with them, cause there is no avoiding them. And when you figure out how to roll with them let me know.
Senator
08-23-2008, 10:50 PM
It is very hard when you have few players on the team, because you almost have to play them quite a bit. If you can; I would suggest talking or emailing the parents and telling them that they will min play if they miss practices. It may not be practical but it sure solved my problem when I had this. I told them I installed pieces of the offense each practice and if they did not know what to do it would not be fair to anyone to play them. Suddenly, no more missed practices.
Ashanti making weight really hurt in a way. To find out he was just 3 pounds off. Bryce's dad had alerted Ashanti and his mom to the weight restriction. That probably ruined Ashanti's time on the line.
I'll have to get a hold of the parents that had boys miss the weigh in and let them know the next weigh in is the last.
What it does tell me is that Wednesday's practice is going to be very similar to yesterday's. We'll be running around with 12-13 boys again.
terpkristin
08-24-2008, 08:27 PM
:popcorn:
Man, most of this is gibberish to me.
But what I understand I'm enjoying. :)
/tk
P.S. A youth league that does a draft like that sickens me.
I kinda got my calendar mixed up. The next weigh in is September 3rd, not tomorrow. That's good, it will allow me to work with David at tackle some more.
Today's practice will hopefully be highlighted by some 8 on 8 scrimmage within the team. I'll be using a center, guard, tackle, and tight end on the line. The full 'backfield' will be involved as well.
The defense will field three tackles, two in the A gaps, the other on the playside B gap. That allows for the center to have someone to block. Our backer will be over the tight end, corners over wings, and a monster.
I'll switch a few players from side to side as we go, but for the most part I want to stick to a left/right side of the offense working together.
This should allow me to see a few things at the same time. On the Toss, our end should box to as deep as the fullback. Does he? Does the fullback go out to meet him and block him out? Are we double teaming the backer like we should? Is the backer fighting through the double team? Who is making the tackles?
We shouldn't be able to run the sweep normally. The end should kill us on it. Is he?
We'll run a counter to check how the defense reacts, and finally throw our first pass as well.
15 at practice today, Ray and Layne didn't make it. Layne's birthday was yesterday, a lame reason to miss, but I understand. Ray, not sure why he was missing.
It did hamper my idea of 8 on 8, so I went 8 on 7, with the extra guy on offense. Ryan, the center, played center for both squads. David worked at tackle initially, and then moved to fullback. Ashanti started at tight end and was actually willing to move down to tackle to help out. Nolan played defense for both squads.
Ashanti and Bryce each started their squads at defensive end. They were both very timid initially. They didn't charge up the field and box. I got in each of their face and told them if they weren't going to do it, that I'd run the sweep on them all day. I turned around, ran the sweep, and they were there after that.
Nathaniel worked at linebacker initially, which meant he had to take on a double team. He was a little softer than I initially thought he'd be. He fought through it, but let it be know it was 'hard'. Connor did a much better job fighting it off his turn around.
Corners weren't much help at all. At least they followed the motion man across. They weren't physical enough at all. Defensive line looked like they were working hard.
Offensively, we scored 3 touchdowns. Two by Bryce, one by Carlos. Carlos seems to be working very hard offensively to replace JD. Noah led the first team and had an early fumbled snap, but after that was reliable. Nathaniel and Ryan constantly fumbled snaps, so they'll work on that during our tackling drills today.
David struggled making the right blocks at tackle, but soon picked up on it when Coach Travis pointed it out. I was missing it as I was watching the DE/FB action for the most part.
Overall, not too bad. Offense did well at times, defense did well at times.
We're ready for the Trojans and the scrimmage Thursday.
Practice was light again tonight. 13 total.
Missing:
Layne
Carlos
Connor
Noah
I knew where Layne and Noah were, no idea about the others. I'll be making calls tomorrow.
It was relatively light today hitting wise, as we're getting ready for tomorrow's scrimmage. I lined up the perimeter defense against some of the Wing T that I know. Coach Steve's presence helped make that happen.
We had a major attitude problem occur. Nolan shoved Hunter from behind to the ground. Immediately everyone got in the pushup position and my former Navy disciplinarian voice came out. I'm sure I got their attention as well as the parents attention. Quite honestly, I think I got the attention of other teams out on the field as well. I wasn't going to put up with that.
Speaking of, I think Nolan's days may be numbered. He clearly doesn't want to contribute. I think his parents went through a divorce recently, which may cause him to not want to do anything...period. He was upset when he came to practice, crying and all. I pulled him aside and gave him a pep talk, but I can only do so much on that front.
His mom later came over and talked to me as well. She understood I can't keep pulling him off to the side and try to get him motivated. He clearly isn't interested in playing football and she doesn't want him to...but the dad does. Difficult situation overall.
We need to get the whole squad together, at the very least the starting lineup. It's a little frustrating.
BYU 14
08-28-2008, 12:00 AM
Geez it must be frustrating always having 2-4 kids miss with that small a squad. I am willing to place a small wager they all show up for the scrimmage though... ;)
Yeah, that'll be tough. I'm sure that if I had advertised "scrimmage" on Tuesday they all would have been there as well.
It's going to be even harder if we lose Nolan, who at the very least is another body in the scrum.
Barkeep49
08-28-2008, 07:58 AM
It's my understanding from the program here that it's quite common to lose kids who discover football is more physical and tougher than they thought. Is that the way it is there?
I think you're correct.
Nolan played last year for the first time as one of the biggest 8 year olds in the 6 through 8 year old league. While he's still a hefty 9 year old for our standards, he's now facing older, bigger boys, and I know he doesn't like it.
Mike1409
08-28-2008, 04:04 PM
When does your regular season start and how many scheduled games do you have?
We started here in late July and our 1st game was last week.
Senator
08-28-2008, 04:43 PM
Wow, way too hot here for August ball. Our first practice is Sept 2, and out first game in the 20th. Finish up December 13, play 9 reg season games, and up to 3 playoff games and one pro bowl.
Do you have your schedule yet, poli?
I'll post my thoughts and comments about tonight's scrimmage tomorrow. For now, all I have to say is:
1. I LOVE THIS GAME.
2. I WAS MEANT FOR THIS.
JonInMiddleGA
08-30-2008, 09:37 AM
Loving this thread.
When does your regular season start and how many scheduled games do you have?
We started here in late July and our 1st game was last week.
Our regular season starts September 6th. This week will be the last of our 3 day practices. After this, we're only allowed two a week.
Our regular season consists of eight games, unless I'm mistaken. From there, I believe every team is seeded in the playoffs.
Do you have your schedule yet, poli?
We don't have a schedule yet. I suspect I'll know who and where we play Wednesday.
Loving this thread.
Thanks!
Senator
08-30-2008, 10:22 AM
Looking forward to scrimmage thoughts.
Looking forward to scrimmage thoughts.Coming up shortly.
Our scrimmage wasn't on a regulation field, instead we used the practice field and snapped the ball in about the same location every time. In games, one coach is allowed on the field, so I was in the huddle with them the entire scrimmage.
Our snap count being 'ready, set, go, go", we started the scrimmage with an offside. Surprisingly, we didn't get another offsides penalty.
We were facing a 5-3 defense with crashing ends, corners up on the line but wide.
Our best play was the wedge. We 'scored' once with it, and didn't lose yardage at all running it. Crashing ends made the tackle once or twice, which tells me we should run the sweep.
There were a few problems there. 1. The wing wasn't making a great block on the crashing end. 2. The guards weren't aggressive in their pulling. 3. The quarterback/center exchange was seemingly a little slow, which caused us some problems in the backfield.
We still 'scored' on a sweep, but there's obviously some things to work on.
The Toss experienced similar problems. The crashing end gave our fullback some problems, but even still, I'd expect the pulling guard and tackle from the weakside to help out. Instead, like the sweep, we didn't seem very motivated or aggressive in our pulls or blocks. We 'scored' on one, but overall, a bit of a mess. Additionally, we fumbled one of the tosses, which is unacceptable.
Our other two core plays, the counter and pass, were ran once each. Obviously, there's a reason why. Our backs are having a problem with running the counter with a full squad. In 'skill offense' practice, they'll run it correctly, but with a full squad they lose their mind and go sprinting, sometimes inside the quarterback, sometimes out. The problem there is timing. Carlos fumble the ball when Nathan turned around with it and Carlos was on top of him. I didn't call that play again.
Similarly, Carlos killed the 24 Pass as well. I told him before the play to make sure he faked 24 and went after the defensive end and that we needed to make sure he was blocked. A few seconds later, Noah was on the ground at my feet, compliments of Carlos's defensive end. Carlos was 5 yards downfield and coming back to the huddle. When asked what he was supposed to do, the "I don't know" answer resulted in pushups for the entire unit. Based on that failure, we didn't run the pass again either.
Honestly, I wanted more practice with the toss, sweep, and wedge, anyhow.
There were definitely things to work on that we'll take care of on Tuesday.
1. Quarterback footwork. I need a good solid spin out of that toss and toss fake.
2. Center snap. We botched a few snaps, which is unacceptable. During our tackling drills, the centers and quarterbacks will now be working on the snaps and the toss/spin with Coach Steve (Hunter's dad) and me if I'm available. Tackling will be given to Coach Bryan and Travis when possible.
3. Motivated, aggressive pulling. Part of that problem is equipment related. We still don't have dummies or blocking pads. I was told after the scrimmage we'd receive two pads and a dummy. With that, I believe we can get the boys ready to pull and hit their man if Coach Steve and I are holding the pads ready for the blow.
4. Backfield action. Our backs missed numerous holes and were at times too excited about getting where they need to be. I'd rather they play a little more under control.
5. Too much chatter in the huddle, boys were wanting to tell me what to run, asking me what to do after I already told them, and just general chit chat as well. We've got to lock that down.
Finally, offensively, Jacob isn't going to help us as a wingback. Both carries for him resulted in Jacob jogging to the hole, where he was subsequently plastered. I'm not sure where his dad believes he's the world's greatest athlete. I'd like to use him as a 'blocking' wing if I can, but I'm not sure that's at all possible, either.
Defense to follow.
Defensively, we were very, very solid. Ray splattered the running back off tackle on the first defensive play after a yard gain that resulted in the boy running off the field crying. The boy, Seth, was the Trojans first pick among the 10 year old boys.
Things didn't get much better for them as they tried to test our defensive line. I can understand why they thought it would work. With just Ray behind the defensive line and five yards back at that, it would appear fairly easy to beat us up the middle. They never gained more than a yard up the middle, though.
Off tackle presented a few problems. We allowed a big run once there and a few decent gains. Nathaniel struggled at linebacker. Ashanti might be the better option there. That might allow Nathaniel to be a corner instead. I'm disappointed about that move, but it might be the better option. We'll keep those options open for now.
We got beat for scores twice on the sweep. THE FLIPPING SWEEP. The first was because COACH BRYAN told his son to crash down on the end, which is exactly NOT what I want them to do. However, allowing the touchdown was exactly what we needed. Coach realized he screwed us up on that, and the ends never crashed again. The second score was based on the back bouncing around our end and making a few boys miss. I can take that one a little easier than going untouched for the score.
Corner wise, Carlos did a great job on a reverse. He followed his man in motion, ran with him across the field, and stopped the play for a loss. The loss is what surprised me. Carlos, who caused me a number of headaches offensively, really turned on the jets with that. Nick T. did a solid job, though he totally ignored his assignment once and got caught up in the moment of the quarterback scrambling for his life. Nick ended up with the sack, though if the quarterback had seen the man open, we would have needed Ray to make the stop. Noah did a decent job, but still didn't hit well. Jacob is quickly becoming the bane of my existence. After not looking good offensively, he looked just as bad defensively.
Our ends had 3 sacks as well. Bryce came up with one, Nick C had the other two. Very good job out of them. Ashanti wasn't as good as they were; he may move to linebacker.
With linebackers, Connor clearly did the best. Nathaniel struggled with attacking the end, and wanted to complain about small things to me afterward. David worked in with the unit, but wasn't anything spectacular.
Ray did well as the monster, but I would have liked him to be out there on those sweeps. I think he reacted just a hair too slow.
Defensive line was outstanding. JD, Hunter, and Layne combined for two sacks as well as clogging the middle. Nolan and Alex did a pretty decent job. Nolan actually outperformed Alex on the defensive side. He did exactly what I asked of him. Alex wants to squat rather than line up in a 4 point stance.
Overall, I'd say we won the 'scrimmage' handily. Outside of their two 'scores' and the big gain, they got nothing accomplished. Their quarterback was 0-2 with six sacks.
Offensively, despite our 'problems' we still 'scored' three times as well as had very good gains on about half our plays.
I just need to tune them up to get the other half rolling.
After the scrimmage I realized why they were so 'good' off tackle, though good is a bit of a stretch.
They were lined up illegally in a sense. With the tight end over on the split end's side, our linebacker would try to line up over their 150 lb tackle. That's an illegal formation, as the tackle would be eligible.
I knew something was off. We were having problems covering everyone.
Essentially the offense looked like this:
http://espn.go.com/media/ncf/2002/1121/photo/bd_7.gif
Nothing we all haven't seen in a game of NCAA football, but with their illegal tackle at tight end, we had problems lining up correctly. Nathaniel and Connor looked at the ends as an eligible receivers, when that wasn't the case.
Based on this formation, we'd line up a corner wide, a linebacker on the slot, a linebacker over the left end, and shift the defensive line over as well.
The first time they ran this, they got the big gain and I was instantly confused as to what happened. The slot motioned without anyone covering him, Nathaniel was over the ineligible tight end. Connor was blocked out by their 150 tackle, the fullback took out our B gap tackle, the slot picked off the corner, and the tailback ran for 15 yards before Ray caught up to him.
I instantly wondered why the slot motioned over without anyone covering, but didn't have a solution based on one play.
Bryce, the defensive end, was smart enough to see it the second time. Instead of boxing, he sprinted over with the motion and made the stop. Not the plan, but at least he knew something had to happen.
That's when it hit me that they were in the over set.
When we started ignoring the end, we did a better, but not great, job of stopping the play.
It didn't dawn on me until later that they were using an ineligible player as a tight end.
Barkeep49
08-30-2008, 12:54 PM
This is indeed an encouraging start. The game situation is a great way to get your team to figure out that practice matters, always an issue at this age.
Celeval
08-30-2008, 01:50 PM
That's an illegal formation, as the tackle would be eligible.
...
It didn't dawn on me until later that they were using an ineligible player as a tight end.
So... is that something you mention to the opposing coach, or let him find out at his first game as he gets flagged /every play/?
BYU 14
08-30-2008, 02:31 PM
What am I missing on that formation? Is it bacause they had a kid over the weight limit playing outside of the tackle box?
So... is that something you mention to the opposing coach, or let him find out at his first game as he gets flagged /every play/?
Since it was the guy I was working with before, I let him know today.
What am I missing on that formation? Is it bacause they had a kid over the weight limit playing outside of the tackle box?
Their tight end was essentially the 2nd tackle in that diagram (which I ripped from ESPN.com). Their tackle didn't move over, the tight end did. The tight end was probably a 70 pounder, their tackle was about 150. Our 80 pound backer had a tough time against the 150 lb tackle.
I think we have a gameplan on how to use Jacob and not have him hurt us. Similar to the Nolan Plan (which is now out since he can help us on defense), the Jacob Plan consists of three plays.
Backside TE on the sweep, where he runs out for a non-existent pass.
Wing on the wedge series where he won't touch the ball and on the counter, where he'll 'take' the fake.
I think we accomplished quite a bit yesterday. Coach Travis worked with his boys, Nathan and Noah, on their proper footwork over the weekend, and I witnessed them going through those motions before practice. That was a good sign.
Ashanti was the only one missing from practice, outside of Coach Bryan. Fortunately, his son Bryce was there.
We started through warmups, where I emphasized getting in our stances at 'ready' instead of 'set'. They bought into it quickly when I explained we'll go on 'two' until we run that wedge and we'll smash them in the mouth on 'set' instead. They loved that idea.
From warmups, we went into tackling. Tackling was sort of a race to a set of cones, designed to have the ballcarrier go in between to 'get a first down.' Pushups were 'awarded' to the person that lost, three to the tackler and two to the runner. It wasn't very sharp, but we didn't have many whiffs, either.
We went to, and stayed in, skill defense from there. Coach Travis and Steve stayed with the defensive line, whereas I think I would have liked Travis to come over and help with me. I ended up with the rest of the gang on my own. I worked ends and backers together, explaining that I may ask an end to sub in at linebacker. I gave them a few reps with the rest of the team acting as backs and linebackers to see how they read the play.
From there I moved to the corners and monster, where we still have problems. I seemingly can't get through to these four boys (Noah, Carlos, Jacob, and Nick T) the importance of protecting us from that inside release or about how to bump and run with the receivers. I sure hope that teams don't actually use real wide receivers on us, or we'll likely be hurting. If I wasn't seriously considering using Nathan at corner before, I certainly am now. Carlos and Nick did better after I showed them again what I wanted, but Jacob and Noah were clueless even after the individual attention.
I can already tell I have to get back over and work the defensive line again. I saw too many boys getting pushed back when I glanced over there. We're getting sloppy without me being there. Steve and Travis must not be emphasizing the bear crawl enough.
At this point, it was 7, so I knew I was over my allotted time. They went for water and we set up for skill offense.
I can't vouch for how they looked in the backfield as Travis took them. Steve and I worked the offensive line. We did, in fact, get two blocking pads, which helped tremendously in getting the kids fired up and aggressive in their pulls. They were splattering Nolan and Alex (or David) depending on who was in at left tackle. All the boys enjoyed it, including the boys that were splattered.
We ran through our plays, splattering the two boys as the pullers made their way around. I worked on our wedge blocking and I think it's even sharper than before.
We got the team together at 7:30 and ran through plays. Nathan struggled with his footwork and we weren't getting the toss out correctly. He lost his composure and Noah went in. After a few plays, Nathan came back. We continued running our sweep and toss...finishing with one pass and a counter. Nathan, unfortunately, turned the wrong way on the counter initially. He got it right afterward and we stopped offense.
We went to special teams after that, where we focused on our kickoff and kick return. We won't be attempting a field goal or extra point, ideally, so I won't worry about practicing that. They can't rush punts, so our punt team will be a glorified kickoff, and it'll be nearly impossible to set up a return. Additionally, I'm told 'we don't punt much in this league'. So, working a punt return might be a waste of time as well.
Our kickoff, punt, and kick return will always be setup to go to our sideline. On kickoffs and punts, we'll line up with five of our best athletes on our sideline. We'll kick it their direction, and attempt to cover/recover it there. The other 5 five boys will offer contain from the far side of the field, running five yards up, and then angling in to the play. On kick returns, we'll have 6 of our best boys up front, followed by four of our best non-linemen types, and Bryce as the deep guy.
Jacob lined up as our kicker, a spot I thought he might be harmless at. Kick it 10-15 yards downfield, toward our sideline. What's he do? Kicks it as hard as he can, a line drive bouncer that goes 25 yards downfield. I warned him if he doesn't shape up he'll be off the kicking team like that. I have six boys on the sideline that'll kick it right. He kicks the 2nd one a little better, but still deeper than I'd like. That's when I see Hunter loafing as he runs to the ball. I jumped his case and when he returned to his spot, he did a little flip as he arrived. I really dug into him after that. He wants to jog as one of our top 5 and then do flips after the play is over? I told him he'll find a spot on the bench very quickly if he keeps that up. I didn't have that problem after that. By the way, our 'top 5' currently consists of Ray, Hunter, Bryce, Connor, and JD.
Kick returns didn't really cause a problem they attacked the ball and covered it up quite nicely. I was pleasantly surprised.
My plan for punts is to use Hunter as the punter and use it like a kickoff. Nothing really different there. We'll literally try to punt the ball as deep as possible AND out of bounds, though.
Our punt return plan is to use our regular defense, subbing Ray in at defensive line and Bryce as the returner. The ten guys on the line find someone to get in front of, pummel the boy, and let him go. The last thing I want is someone like Noah, Jacob, or Nolan, running back to set up some sort of return for a punt that could literally go anywhere and any distance. That ball is just as likely to hit one of them in the head as it is to get to our returner. I'd rather be safe than sorry in that regard.
After that, we got the team together, and I made a judgement call. I called practice for the heavy rain that's going to hit us today from what's leftover of Gustav. We'll have four boys at the weigh-in anyhow, so we'd likely be down to 11-13 boys anyhow. Rather than try to work around not having a starting wing, his backup, and either of my starting tackles, I decided we'll just call it. Instead, I encouraged the boys to take some time and make 100% sure we know our five plays. I explained we're starting our fifth week of football this week and not being able to get our core five plays down is unacceptable. If we had bothered to just make sure we knew a play a week we'd be masters by now.
Thursday the rain's not expected to let up at all. I let them know we're likely going to have practice cancelled by the league that day so instead we won't plan on practicing that day, either. Instead, we'll be meeting at my house and watching a highlight tape of a junior high team running the double wing, a high school game with a team using the offense, and possibly some youtube videos if I can figure out how to display my laptop on my bigscreen TV. That'll take a little converting of my living room in order to get all the boys in there, but fortunately, my living room should be big enough when I move the furniture to the walls.
I just couldn't stomach losing another practice without doing something. I couldn't do something with them if we get soaked for 10-15 minutes before the admin comes over to cancel our practice, either. So, the plan is to stay dry, chalk out our plays, watch our plays on the screen, and maybe get a little more confidence in ourselves that way.
I was told last night we'd have schedule e-mailed out late in the night. As of this morning, I still haven't seen them.
Saturday's looming, so is a sore throat. I'm getting a little sick. That won't stop me from being amped up for this game, though!
Go Vols!
Ray and the three others weighed in today.
Ray hit the scales at 198.
One other note: Schedules still haven't been released.
BYU 14
09-03-2008, 11:35 PM
Ray and the three others weighed in today.
Ray hit the scales at 198.
One other note: Schedules still haven't been released.
Holy crap, Ray could play guard for me :)
Senator
09-04-2008, 01:51 AM
whoa! We only had 1 - 200 pounder out of 315 kids and he was moved up to senior league. That is huge for a 10 year old.
JonInMiddleGA
09-04-2008, 05:39 PM
Ray hit the scales at 198.
Maybe I'm confused but ... isn't he playing LB for you? If so, wouldn't his size make him more of a DL? Not a lineman mind you, but at least one whole side of the line?
Also, I notice where you had him listed among your top five on KO's. If he could develop a really scary warface (complete with scream) I'd say you'll recover some kicks just from the receiving team running in the other direction when they see him coming.
Maybe I'm confused but ... isn't he playing LB for you? If so, wouldn't his size make him more of a DL? Not a lineman mind you, but at least one whole side of the line?
Also, I notice where you had him listed among your top five on KO's. If he could develop a really scary warface (complete with scream) I'd say you'll recover some kicks just from the receiving team running in the other direction when they see him coming.
He's too quick to just have him on the line. He'll make tackles from sideline to sideline. Putting him on one side of the defensive line is just inviting the team to try and run away from him.
Senator
09-04-2008, 10:41 PM
We can't play anyone over 115 off the line of scrimmage, which means no linebacker. I envy you.
If I had to, I'd probably try and play him in the B gap, or as a strong side linebacker on the tight end.
I'm hoping we can get a big enough lead in our games that I can start moving Ray around just for fun.
I did find out our first game is against the Bulldogs, the team that practiced a few of their plays in front of me. The team that 'protected' a boy named Elijah illegally. I'm so ready to play them it hurts.
Yesterday's practice was cancelled due to field conditions. Good thing I had the backup plan in mind. I had already set up the house to accommodate the boys. I'd moved the furniture against the walls or just further back, figured out how to hook my computer to the big screen via my HDMI cable, as well as a junior high team running the double wing on DVD ready.
We spent about 75 minutes on offense, talking through our plays and watching the junior high team just pummel kids. We then chalked them out on the whiteboard. I challenged them to see if they knew their assignments, I'd sometimes draw the play incorrectly.
We moved on to defense, where I showed them the PowerPoint I sent some of the parents a week or two earlier. We briefly talked about what we needed to do to be successful, and then I showed them a Youtube video of 9 and 10 year olds running our defense.
They absolutely loved it. During the video, I kept praising their defensive ends and linebackers. Those guys need to understand that in order for us to be successful we have to do our job.
I finished the night off by showing them my 'scouting report' of the Bulldogs. I diagrammed out the six plays I saw, again reminding the linebackers and ends that if they do their job we'll have an easy day out there. Four plays, in particular, the defensive end should be hitting their ball carrier without being blocked.
I'm excited and ready to go.
JonInMiddleGA
09-05-2008, 10:09 AM
Putting him on one side of the defensive line is just inviting the team to try and run away from him.
At his size (and apparently speed, which tends to equal velocity) they may try to "run away from him" regardless of where you put him. And I mean run away. :D
Roy Reigels anyone?
I've seen videos of kids turning around to try and find somewhere else to run. I definitely stressed backside pursuit last night.
Less than 4 hours out of my debut. I'm not nervous, but I am ready to get this kicked off.
I'm concerned about scouting, since I don't know who I'm playing next week. It turns out there are 19 teams total in our 'league', after today I could be playing any of the other 17.
Games today are being held in five locations. I'm somewhat 'lucky'. My game is the first of the three in my location, so I can watch the next two games and get a feel for those four teams.
Ideally, my friend Jeremy, who happened to be the best man at my wedding 10 years ago, would be scouting the location with two games, but he hasn't returned a call in the past week. I think I'm going to miss out on those. The other locations have just one game each.
I have an agreement with Scott and the Trojans to exchange tapes as needed, I'm hoping to enter into one with Terry and the Bulldogs after today's game.
There's an outside chance I could drive up to one of the other three sites, their game starts at 2:30 according to the schedule, but without knowing if they're even on my schedule...I'm not sure it's worth it.
GO VOLS!
Btw, can you upload some videos later? i want to see Ray in action :)
Senator
09-06-2008, 06:58 AM
go for it
GO VOLS!
Btw, can you upload some videos later? i want to see Ray in action :)
I'll see what I can do. I don't have a dedicated video guy, but I'm going to get some from the parents. Might be a day or two.
We lost today, 12-6. I'll add more later today/tomorrow, whenever I can get some gametape.
Needless to say, we nearly had this one. In fact, I can think of three plays in particular that if we do our job we win, 24-12.
JonInMiddleGA
09-06-2008, 03:57 PM
Sounds like a tough one but some foundation to build upon nonetheless.
Strap 'em back on & go get 'em next week.
Barkeep49
09-06-2008, 04:24 PM
In close games there is always one, two, or 12 plays that could make a difference. Hopefully you'll have some player buy-in to improving those areas before the next week.
Dutch
09-06-2008, 04:28 PM
Sorry to hear that. But you know what they say, you win some and lose some.
Senator
09-06-2008, 05:28 PM
In close games there is always one, two, or 12 plays that could make a difference. Hopefully you'll have some player buy-in to improving those areas before the next week.
Yeah, that was one of Lombardi's all time favorite things to say. 2-3 plays over the course of a game are what creates the win or a loss.
I am positive you will make the adjustments, and get them next week.
SFL Cat
09-06-2008, 05:58 PM
Crud....sorry you didn't win...you'll get 'em next week.
Thanks, guys. It's a little frustrating. I wish I could be watching game film right now.
We arrived on the field and began warming up at 9:30, with the 10 am start...which actually was pushed back to 10:30.
Connor and Nathaniel were the captains and were the 'home' team for today's game. We won the toss, Connor deferred, and we were kicked the ball. Sweet.
Our kick return unit is a 6-4-1 look, with the 4 backs being 10 yards behind the other 6. Hands, hands, hands. After instructing the boys routinely to fall on any ball that's not kicked to our returner, David takes the opening kickoff 2 yards as an upback and is tackled.
24 Toss is the name of the game, and Bryce apparently forgets that the 4 means to head over the right tackle. He bounces outside, we lose a yard. 45 Toss is the next call and we gain a few yards with it. We sweep outside and gain more, netting a 4th and 2. We go for it, since it's near midfield. I hear a lot of commotion, which surprises me considering what I've heard about the league. We wedge and get it plus some. First down.
Our next play is a counter to the left, and it's horrible. JD fumbles the ball, but Hunter, who failed to make the block, recovers. We come back with the sweep the other way, and Carlos takes it to the 5 yard line.
We're in business. Connor runs the Wedge on SET instead, and we score from 5 yards out, his first touchdown ever. We botch the snap on the wedge for 1 point, and we go to kickoff.
We nearly recover the kick, which incidentally was too deep. It went about 20 yards downfield, another special team wonder.
They score 2 plays later, running to our sideline and outside.
We take the next squib kick and recover it near our 45. After 3 plays of, well, 2 yards or so, we punt. Hunter, the punter, fails to punt the way I'd like, which is out of bounds to our sideline. Instead, he punts the ball about 15 yards down the middle.
The boy out there doesn't fair catch and is hit as the ball arrives. The ball pops out, and we recover.
We take over on their 45 and wedge to the 37 or so. That's when we run a sweep that was quite interesting. Bryce had a helmet issue he didn't bring up until he got to the line of scrimmage. Carlos runs in for him, I whisper the play to him...all while our 25 second clock is running. Carlos takes the ball and scores, only to have the play called back for a block in the back by our tight end, Nick C.
We still gained enough for a first, but we wouldn't move the ball past that. On 4th and 7, we get 5.
45 seconds left, they run two more plays or so, and pop outside down our sideline again for a touchdown.
12-6 at the half.
We take the 2nd half kick at our 45 again, only we don't move the ball again. 4th and long, I have Hunter punt to our sideline again. He does a better job of it, though it's shorter. Ray clobbers both the returner and Layne. They're both down for a bit, before getting back up.
They get a big run for a score, but it's called back for three penalties: a coaching penalty for telling a player what to do during the play, a hold down the field as well as a block in the back down the field. The coaching penalty, while only 5 yards, benefits us the most and we take it.
They follow that 1st and 15 play with a sweep that's actually stopped. He runs back the other way into Nick C. Nick dumps him for a 15 yard loss. They get a decent play on 3rd, but it's still 4th and 12. For whatever reason, they go for it and fail. We take over again, about on our 40.
As our offenses are eating up a lot of clock, at this point, we're in the 4th quarter. Bryce pops out on a sweep and gets to the 12 yard line before being tackled. Bryce goes off to the sideline, in comes Jacob.
Mind you, Jacob has yet to carry the ball, and I'm determined to get him a carry a game to pacify his father. That, and to clearly show he has no business running with the ball, either.
First down, we wedge and gain about 5. 2nd and 5 on the 7. We counter, and we completely screw it up. Nathaniel is tackled waiting for the wing to take the ball, and in the process is hurt. Enter Noah, the backup.
It's 3rd down, and I know I need to get Jacob the ball here. Time's running out, there's only about 3 minutes left. I give Jacob the best pep talk he's ever had, he tells me he's ready. Jacob takes the ball on the sweep, stops, thinks about what he's going to eat after the game, wonders if he has his homework done, contemplates the meaning of life, and is plowed by a linebacker for a loss. Additionally, surprisingly, he's also hurt.
He would pout the rest of the game, head down, seemingly asking for another shot.
4th down, Carlos and Bryce in, we'll sweep left and score. We can do it. Bryce blocks the end perfectly, if Hunter blocks the corner we're in business. Wait, where's Hunter? He ran the wrong way. The corner stops us for no gain.
They run the clock, breaking another big run outside on us in the process. We call timeouts inside a minute...when I learn that I actually have 3 timeouts per half, not the two I thought I had. I learn that lesson, unfortunately, after about 20 seconds have passed.
We take over around our 40, with 10 seconds on the clock. Carlos sweeps outside to the right and gets 20. Superior clock management shows only 2 seconds off the clock and Carlos stepped out of bounds. Sweep it one more time, Carlos may break it. He tries his hardest, but is stopped at the 20.
Game over.
Lessons learned:
Plenty.
1. Bryce needs to know what to do if he's not carrying the ball. He asked me what to do every play he wasn't getting the ball.
2. Hunter may be my biggest headache on the offensive line. I still have to work with the line to get them to understand when to double team a player as well.
3. Carlos = Probably my best back. JD may find himself 3rd when we play the next game.
4. Jacob = fail. Poor kid. Next week he's carrying the ball in the first half. That, at least, is my fault.
5. Work on special teams more. We have just 2 practices a week from here on out. We have to get sharp on those.
6. Focus our defense on outside contain. The ends were getting pushed out of the play. They have to hold their ground. Linebackers failed to fill. We'll line them outside shade from now on. Corners may actually line up outside defensive ends in order to shift our focus to the outside contain.
7. Corners have to be more physical. As you can imagine, Jacob may have been our worst corner as well. Noah may have been a close 2nd. Nick T wasn't very physical, either. Carlos clearly had the best day.
8. Quit letting Coach Bryan make 'helpful' moves to our defense. At one point, he tried using Ray at defensive end. Ray had no motivation to try and play it properly, he'd never practiced there. I later found JD lined up at corner. Honestly, I like that move, but that hurts us up the middle.
9. Inside defense = rock. They did a great job.
10. Monsters took poor angles to the ball. Our last line of defense often got swallowed up somehow.
11. Move our 4 backs on the kick return up to 5 yards behind the 6.
12. Make them run the counter 12 times in a row next week.
13. Re-emphasis the hole for the toss play off-tackle.
14. Emphasize no one gets through our wedge blocking. I think the boys got so excited players were breaking through.
15. Timeouts, I have 3 of them. Remember that. (I do know I was told somewhere it was just two. I was sitting there thinking how much it sucked to have just 2 when I heard Bryan saying we had another)
After the game, I got a lot of praise from the opposing coach, as well as the Tiger coaches, who as it turned out, had the game right after us.
I found out later from Coach Haug, my former head coach, (who happened to be in earshot of some of these guys earlier in the day) is that they were expecting to roll over us.
Not so fast my friend.
My brother and his girlfriend made the trip as well. I was glad to have some support out there.
Coach Haug's praise meant the most to me. He even understood the reasoning for giving Jacob the ball, which helped me believe I'm not crazy.
Honestly, despite my 15 lessons learned, we did a pretty good job. If we just learn our assignments, we'll be even better.
I can't wait to watch the film and get working on next week. I'll post stats if I can as I get them tallied.
BYU 14
09-06-2008, 09:22 PM
Tough loss Poli, but it sounds like the kids fought hard and should gain some confidence from the game. Getting the counter firmed up will be huge for you.
I just got off the phone with the Bulldogs coach. Apparently, his parent's video cut out in the 2nd quarter, and was in a poor location.
So, there goes that. Dang it.
Edit: Turns out David Crocker's family may have some tape of it. I'll cross my fingers.
Our schedule's in. Last week's game wasn't a 'home game' for us, but we play four of our first five on the road. We finish with 3 home games.
We might make a few changes defensively, looking to get our best 11 on the field.
Our schedule is kind of weird. We don't play those bastage Tigers, which lends itself to another interesting situation. We were immediately asked for a scrimmage yesterday afternoon at practice. I declined, I'd rather get some work with the boys on at least one day.
Below is the schedule. Date, time, Home or Away, League and team.
9/13 10:30 Away SCAC Tigers 1 (1-0, Won 20-0)
9/20 12:00 Away HYFA Blue Hawks (1-0, Won 22-14)
9/27 9:00 Away TCYFA Trojans (1-0, Won 41-6)
10/4 10:30 Away JCYFA Raiders (0-1, Lost 0-39)
10/11 9:15 Home JCYFA Titans (1-0, Won 39-0)
10/18 10:30 Home HYFA White Hawks (0-1, Score Unknown)
10/25 12:00 Home JCYFA Steelers (unknown)
SCAC and the JCYFA tend to load up the top teams at the expense of the others. Our first opponent, the Tigers, won convincingly while the other two SCAC teams lost. I'm assuming we're getting the talent-laden team.
I'm not scared of the Blue Hawks as of right now, they beat one of the other SCAC teams for their victory.
The Trojans, well, that's the team we faced in the scrimmage. Nothing to be overly concerned about there. They won big, but over what was likely a JCYFA scrub team.
Of course, I'm looking forward to the Raiders game. That could be a nice one for us, but the following game against the Titans is likely the best JCYFA team. I didn't see the White Hawks game, but I'm told they were unimpressive.
Finally, I have no information at the current time for the Steelers.
Changes:
Carlos took over as our right wingback in our offense. Ryan was out with an injured knee, although I don't know how serious it is as of yet. Layne moved to center. Alex moved in at right guard. That could hurt us on the offensive line. I hope Ryan's healthy on Saturday.
Defensively, we moved Ray to linebacker over a tight end. This allows Ray to pummel someone every play (hitting the tight end). I felt Ray got a little exposed on the sweeps to the wide side. He'd get there, but maybe a second too late. I'm planning on using him as a wide side linebacker.
With Ray at linebacker, Nathaniel made the move to corner. He felt it was a demotion, but I convinced him we needed him at corner to help us on the outside. Bryce was moved to monster. One of our fastest kids, he did make a tackle, as a monster, on one of the wide sweeps to 'save' a touchdown. That frees Ashanti up to be a defensive end, where he still struggled at times with his responsibilities.
Defensively, I've become contain crazy. We're moving our corners up, essentially looking like a 10-1. Our corners will now help with that contain responsibility, allowing our ends more freedom to crash. There are situations where we'll call that off, and I think the boys understood that for the most part.
With Ryan out defensively as well, Alex and Nolan switched in and out at the tackle position.
Early results were positive. We'll see on Saturday.
Offensively, we put in a new 'play'. "Crunch" involves our tight ends, fullback, and right wing lining up on the right side. We snap the ball on SET and run behind the crease of a seemingly swinging gate.
The boys picked up on that faster than any play they've ran thus far this season.
The rest of our usual plays actually looked pretty crisp with the first team in there. I wish they had been that sharp Saturday.
Finally, JD was noticeably shaken about his demotion. He run on a toss play ended up way wide. His next attempt resulted in a fumble. I talked to him about why he was moved down after practice. I hope it was enough to keep him motivated.
We practiced through a steady drizzle. The hot, muggy, evening didn't lend itself to a great practice.
On top of that, Ray was out due to a family discipline issue. Ryan was going half-speed because of his knee (and eventually standing off to the side during team offense), and Connor was out due to a hit during tackling. Connor said he felt a some sort of sharp pain in his back and his legs felt weird. At that point, I believe he started to hyper-ventilate. We got him off to the side and calmed down. His mom eventually took him back home. I'm told he's alright now.
So, numerically speaking, we weren't there.
Defensively, we're still struggling, particularly at the corners. Our changes I believe can help us, but the corners still have to make sure they know what their player is doing before trying to help with contain. We completed a few passes on them tonight, which I really don't want to see.
With Ray, Ryan, and Connor out, I was forced to move Nathaniel back to linebacker from corner, to use Nolan at tackle, and have Nick T at the other corner.
Offensively, Layne moved to center. Alex and Nolan became the new right side of our line. It made me weary, but they did decently against the air. Jacob became our 2nd fullback. Ordinarily, I'd use David there, but we're already down two on the offensive line.
That said, not too bad offensively. We're still struggling on pulls and which way. I'm hoping we're getting better at that, though.
I've actually got my fingers crossed at this point that this week's game gets 'rained' out. I wouldn't be upset about it. I'd love another week to prepare and I'd love to get to see our opponent once before playing them.
After speaking with his mom, Connor will likely miss tomorrow's game. That moves Nathaniel back to linebacker, freeing up some playing time for the corners.
Offensively, we're in a bit of a hurt locker. JD and Jacob received crash courses in fullback play from their parents tonight. Ideally, I'd use David there, but he's needed on the offensive line. Should things go great, Alex and/or Nolan can sub for him and David can get some work in at fullback. Still, this is a good opportunity to get all three wings in at the same time, and another chance to get Jacob some 'fake' assignments while getting playing time.
Ryan's dad said Ryan is okay, but we'll try to limit the amount he's on the field defensively. This opens up some playing time for Alex and Nolan as well.
I feel wafer thin tonight as we head into tomorrow morning's game. It would be very nice to pick up a win tomorrow and be able to relax for a bit.
After our game, I'm planning on heading down to my hometown. Our next opponent, the Blue Hawks will be playing at 1:30. I should be able to make that game. I haven't decided if I'll try to mask that I'm out there or not. I'm leaning to 'disguising' myself and not wearing my typical orange.
Shoot, I'd have to drive my wife's car to the game as well, since my Neon has the orange T on the hood. Kind of a dead giveaway.
We won today, 6-0, though we're incredibly lucky to do so.
We lost the toss and eventually elected to receive. The kick bounced over Bryce's head and he eventually fell on it at the 22. Holy cow, what bad field position.
A fumbled snap and two plays later, we're looking at 4th and 9. I make a mental note of the 3 man defensive line and we punt it away, the ball landing on our 40.
The SCAC Tigers get a first down on a big 4th down conversion, but fail to get a first down on the next series. We take over on our own 9 yard line. We run one play, get one yard, and that ends the first quarter.
Here's where we start having a little fun. We start wedging and it works. We gain two first downs before JD tires. Jacob comes in and we sweep for no gain, Toss left with Carlos who gains 3, and fumble the snap for a loss of 2. Hunter punts it away, and they take over at midfield.
A fumble by their squad gives us the ball on our 45, with 3 minutes left. Ideally, I'd wedge some more, but I'm running out of clock. We toss for 3 with Bryce, Counter with Carlos for no gain, and try our first pass, which falls incomplete. We took half the time off the clock and punted to their 40.
They come out passing, completing a few but getting sacked as well. The clock runs out as they end up on our 15.
0-0 at the half, and honestly, we're pretty lucky. I'm very happy we're kicking off to them this time.
Jacob gets off a very nice onside kick and Ray recovers the ball. He literally took it away from a boy who had his hand on it but away from his body. Noah takes the first snap at quarterback and it's fumbled. Out he goes. Nathaniel comes in and pitches the ball too high for Bryce. Bad news, the other team recovers.
We get the ball back on another turnover, essentially at midfield. Bryce breaks off a great run on a counter, and we're stopped on our 25. Carlos runs a toss to the left getting us to the 15 before FUMBLING.
After failing to convert on 4th and 2, we took over on downs at their 25 in the 4th. Soon after, the fourth quarter started.
We wedged twice. Jacob carried on a wedge for 3 yards, JD for 4. We try our second pass on 3rd and 3 and can't convert it. 4th and 3 on their 18, it feels eerily like last week's game. I can't help myself. I call the same play I called in the game last week. 49 Sweep. Hunter makes the block. Carlos scores.
I knew we could do it.
After our extra point run failed, I had a bit of a conference with the refs. Their players lined up in a 2 point stance over our players. The refs said 'it's legal in a goal line defense'. I told him, shoot, I'm always lined up in a goal-line defense. Literally, we were in a 10-1 for most of the day. I asked where we draw the line with it, and they told me they'd look into it.
3 minutes left. We onside, Jacob kicks it nearly straight ahead this time, fortunately, there was no return. Whew. Ball on the 50, 3 minutes to go. 4 straight incompletions, of which 2 or 3 cost me a year off my life, and we take over with 2:40 on the clock.
We wedge once more, sweep right and try our special "Crunch Right". Crunch Right looked horrible, losing 4 or 5 yards in the process. The boys lined up correctly in practice, did it correctly in the pregame, and layed an egg during the game. Our wings were more like flankers. Bryce lined up over the tackle instead of behind the quarterback. I wasn't about to call timeout.
4th down, we try a sweep to the left, it gains a few, but not enough. Still, they've got some 50-60 yards to score.
They don't, a sack and 3 incompletions later, we take over with 28 seconds on the clock.
We lined up in a weird victory formation, took a knee, and watched the final 20 seconds run off the clock.
Woot! Vols win over a team that won 20-0 the week before!
Senator
09-13-2008, 05:52 PM
Forget the ugly, embrace the W!!
Nice work Vols~!
JonInMiddleGA
09-13-2008, 06:05 PM
The "1" looks just fine from here. Ain't no ugly wins (just ugly plays en route to a win).
Grats.
MizzouRah
09-13-2008, 07:14 PM
Nice W coach!!!
BYU 14
09-13-2008, 07:31 PM
Better an ugly win than a pretty loss any day, nice job Rodney.
Barkeep49
09-13-2008, 08:21 PM
To me you had a lot of things go right here in that your defense played a shut-out. Just as one or two plays determined this week, so did it determine last week. That first win can be the toughest. Congrats on achieving it.
Thanks guys. It was really a great experience. I've coached before and won, but never as the head coach of a tackle football team.
There were a few things I won't forget about this.
1. The first win. Incredibly relieving.
2. Getting Jacob positive yards without injury or a fumble.
3. Winning without Connor playing fullback or linebacker for us.
4. Opposing coaches yelling about how we were illegally running our wedge by holding hands as we ran upfield.
The last part nearly had me laughing behind our offense as we kept running the wedge for yards. They did complement me on the wedge after the game and on our ability to put pressure on the outside edge.
After this game, I ate a quick lunch with my wife and in-laws. I then headed off to the Blue Hawks game. I was running late, but so were their games. I ended up about 15 minutes early.
The Blue Hawks do NOTHING too fancy.
5-3 defense. Nothing fancy about that.
Two tight ends, pro set backfield. Flanker left or right. Depending on where the flanker is, that's where the RUN IS EVERY TIME. The crazy part? It's a quick pitch to the outside. EVERY TIME. We'll kill that play.
They ran a pass out of it a few times, but they ROLLED LEFT EVERY TIME, since their quarterback is a lefty. Because of that, they THREW IT TO #31 every time in that formation.
The only other play they ran out of pro set? A quick pitch, halfback pass. Again, we should murder it.
Their other main formation was a double tight end wishbone set. Normally, that would give you problems, but they only ran three plays out of it. Off tackle left, off tackle right, AND ONE PASS. Off tackle worries me. We'll adjust to put more men at the point of attack.
Finally, with less than a minute to go in the first half, they ran a trips set, but threw to the backside tight end on the first play. The second play they ran a pitch to that backside for a touchdown. Again, nothing I should be afraid of.
Overall, I'm VERY excited about this game. The Blue Hawks are now 2-0, but I very much believe we'll make them 2-1 next Saturday.
Barkeep49
09-13-2008, 10:19 PM
I'm surprised the Blue Hawks have had so much success with what seems like a very pass heavy attack for the age.
Some of these other teams are really surprising me with the amount of passes. Today's team probably completed 2 of 12 passes.
The Blue Hawks, on the other hand, were a different story. I had #8 at 6 of 7 for 1 touchdown and interception. They also didn't complete the halfback pass. 5 of the 6 went to #31, the other to their best back, #6.
The team the Blue Hawks played actually went with an empty backfield nearly half their plays on offense. Three receivers and a tight end on one side, tight end to the other. Very surprising, especially since there wasn't a single pass in our first game by either team.
We definitely have to be ready for the pass this week. On the other hand, they absolutely never, ever ran a dive play. We won't have to worry there.
st.cronin
09-14-2008, 02:22 AM
I'll post my thoughts and comments about tonight's scrimmage tomorrow. For now, all I have to say is:
1. I LOVE THIS GAME.
2. I WAS MEANT FOR THIS.
YES
fantastic flying froggies
09-14-2008, 02:45 PM
Woohoo! I can't begin thinking how great you must feel after this first win.
Congrats to your boys on our behalf, I'm sure they were thrilled as well!
It looks like we may scrap the Toss play as our tosses seem to be errant. With just two practices a week, it's been hard to get enough reps to keep it consistent for all of our backs. Along with that, we'll scrap the "counter" since it was married to the toss action.
Instead, we'll try and use a broken bone look with a wing. It'll run similar to the toss, instead we're giving up the toss and giving a handoff instead. We'll lose the lead blocker but gain assurance in ball handling.
The counter will look more like a reverse, but it will keep the name. We'll fake power and have the wing run around the power action and take a handoff the other way.
I'd love to stick with my beloved double wing toss play, but with such limited practice times, I just can't.
We'll keep the double wing sweep and wedge, but I can't afford many more 5-9 yard losses on botched toss plays.
Coffee Warlord
09-17-2008, 11:14 AM
You wouldn't be axing plays if you ran the run and shoot. :)
Awesome to see how good is your team doing.
As a newcomer to HS football, i'm really surprised at the lack of passes thrown not only by your team but the whole league for what you say. I even wonder if the QB position matters at all and now i can understand why QB's redshirt in college as i bet the are really underdeveloped from passing this little in HS.
I guess i have watched too much Friday night lights and expected gameplay like college :)
johnnyshaka
09-17-2008, 12:15 PM
Icy, if I'm not mistaken, these are 9-10 year olds...still 5-6 years away from high school football.
Barkeep49
09-17-2008, 12:17 PM
Awesome to see how good is your team doing.
As a newcomer to HS football, i'm really surprised at the lack of passes thrown not only by your team but the whole league for what you say. I even wonder if the QB position matters at all and now i can understand why QB's redshirt in college as i bet the are really underdeveloped from passing this little in HS.
I guess i have watched too much Friday night lights and expected gameplay like college :)
I can only speak for myself, but there's been a fairly big sea change in local HS sports in the last 10 years. It used to be that you would find nearly everyone with a run heavy attack. There are still programs like that, but you're seeing more and more variety. But as has been pointed out, expected U10s to QB seriously isn't completely realistic.
Icy, if I'm not mistaken, these are 9-10 year olds...still 5-6 years away from high school football.
Ooops sorry, i mixed up threads as i'm also following BYU14's HS coaching dynasty. Of course you don't pass at this age, sorry.
RPI-Fan
09-17-2008, 02:51 PM
I can only speak for myself, but there's been a fairly big sea change in local HS sports in the last 10 years. It used to be that you would find nearly everyone with a run heavy attack. There are still programs like that, but you're seeing more and more variety. But as has been pointed out, expected U10s to QB seriously isn't completely realistic.
Even 10-20 years ago weren't the vast majority of D1 college teams going >70% run?
johnnyshaka
09-17-2008, 04:15 PM
Just like baseball...chicks dig the long ball...they also dig the long bomb.
I believe last week's game was some sort of record for pass attempts against a youth football team of mine, as an assistant or head coach. 15 times is a lot at this age. Shoot, it's kind of a lot for junior high kids.
When I drove out to see our next opponent, I was surprised to see a tight end and three flankers on one side of the field for nearly half of a team's plays. I do recall, though, seeing a Pop Warner team in California going no-huddle and throwing nearly every down, though it wasn't successful.
Practice was a little hectic yesterday. We had some dropped snaps, a few fumbles, kids trying to do things there way. I bet we did 100 pushups by the end of the practice, which isn't a good sign.
We installed the new Power and Counter, and that went in seamlessly. The Power, in particular, looks almost exactly what a good Toss looks like. I'm very very happy with that. We'll have to see on the counter. With our limited amount of players, it's hard to gauge a counter's success.
Connor suited up initially, but took his pads off after warming up. He still feels something in his back. Coach Steve believe he may have a fractured rib, but it's anyone's guess at this point. I should find out today. I've been preparing myself for Life After Connor. I would hate to lose a kid like him, that's for sure. JD and Jacob will have to be ready to go at fullback if that's the case.
Layne also missed due to illness.
Defensively, we were on point. We were calling out the team's formations together, loud and proud. Their tendencies are heavily influenced on their formation. I'm looking to take advantage of that.
I still suspect we'll have a big game defensively this week.
Connor's back and shoulder were 'misaligned', according to their chiropractor. He'll miss practice today. He's hoping to play on Saturday.
Not sure I mentioned scores of the other association teams or not. Anyhow, here's an updated schedule/record of each.
L 9/6 10:15 Home TCYFA Bulldogs (2-0, Won 26-0)
W 9/13 10:30 Away SCAC Tigers 1 (1-1, We beat them 6-0)
9/20 12:00 Away HYFA Blue Hawks (2-0, Won 20-8)
9/27 9:00 Away TCYFA Trojans (2-0, Won 13-6)
10/4 10:30 Away JCYFA Raiders (0-2, Lost 0-34)
10/11 9:15 Home JCYFA Titans (2-0, Won 41-0)
10/18 10:30 Home HYFA White Hawks (1-1, Won 34-0)
10/25 12:00 Home JCYFA Steelers (0-2, 0-40)
I believe looking at other schedules, we have one of the toughest around. It turned out SCAC Tigers 1 was indeed the best squad they had up there. The HYFA Blue Hawks are the best squad for them as well. While I suspect the Trojans will lose to the TCYFA Tigers this week, they'll be 2-1 heading into our game. The Titans are the cream of the JCYFA as well. The White Hawks are the 2nd squad for the HYFA, while the other two JCYFA teams are fodder.
TCYFA teams, including the head-to-head matchup with the Bulldogs, are now 7-1.
The Tigers made mincemeat out of the Steelers, trouncing them 40-0. The big news? Their best player, Sam M., didn't score a touchdown. The Bulldogs beat a team not on our schedule, 26-0. The Trojans squeeked out a win against the SGYFA 2 team, 13-6, the same team that the Tigers thrashed in week 1.
fantastic flying froggies
09-18-2008, 03:32 PM
what's the difference between all these leagues? is it based just on a geographical setting, or is there a difference in level or what?
what's the difference between all these leagues? is it based just on a geographical setting, or is there a difference in level or what?
Towns, for the most part. I actually live in the HYFA 'area', but two of my players are from this area. It's almost like a Confederation of sorts. We're 'independent', but choose to play each other.
Each association decides who can coach, how to draft, how many per team, minimum plays, things like that.
HYFA teams, for example, never play each other during a season.
TCYFA teams, in my case, are the only league to mandate that every player WILL play six plays per half.
UPDATE: Connor has a broken rib at the bottom of his ribcage, a clean break approximately 1 inch from his spine. Surprising to me, his doctor said football is up to them and that he could potentially play if he felt like it. Connor and his parents signed off on it as well.
He'll essentially be a game time decision each week for 4-5 weeks, or essentially the rest of the season. He'll be non-contact during the week as well.
Practice was decent. We covered things well defensively. We worked on some quick passes to the outside a few inside runs, in case they may try to mix in something along those lines.
Offensively, we worked in our "Connor 24 Power", this week's trick play. It's essentially the same play for us, with a 3 foot gap between our right guard and tackle. Our fullback, Connor or whoever, will line up 1 yard behind the line and in that gap. Essentially an overshift, but also an eligible receiver.
We struggled a little keeping our concentration, but overall I thought we did well.
Pictures were supposed to be tomorrow morning at the now flooded football field. They've been moved to a nearby town. We'll have to hustle in order to get our game in time to warm up properly.
I'm not very happy about that, but it is what it is.
Overcast today. I'm about to leave for the team photos.
50% chance of rain at gametime.
GO VOLS!
18-6 WIN! 18 points in the first quarter!!
Cap Ologist
09-20-2008, 02:35 PM
So, you still need to work on halftime adjustments? ;) Good job!
Barkeep49
09-20-2008, 03:44 PM
Another solid victory. Can't wait to read the details.
You'll get uber details this game, I had a parent tape the game!
Senator
09-20-2008, 09:18 PM
Very, very cool.
JonInMiddleGA
09-21-2008, 12:24 AM
Woot
We start out the game losing the toss, and having the Blue Hawks elect to receive. We turn around and kick with the wind.
Jacob kicks a looping 15 yarder that bounces away from the Hawks 3 yards further downfield. Carlos recovers! We have it! Score another recovery on the onside kick team. That's 4 kicks, and 2 recoveries on the season.
We start out differently this game. We run 30 Wedge on them. It gains 3. This call worried me as it was Connor's first action. We turn around and call our "new" 24 Power. Bryce heads upfield as desired, and cuts across the grain, 39 yards later, he's in the endzone!!! We call 24 Pass, it's open, but we short arm it. Turned out Connor went the wrong way, Ray failed to block anyone. The two guys rushed Nathaniel into throwing early, or we complete it.
6-0 VOLS
This time our kickoff is recovered in the air by an ineligible player (over the weight limit), they start on their 47. 2 of 5 now.
Mind you, we have a plan for them. We're doing different things for them depending on their formation...and the fact they'll move #6, their best player, around a little and try to get him the ball when they do that.
First play is a wishbone, which is 90% likely to be offtackle left or right. It goes to our right. We blow it up. Carlos and Nick C make the tackle. The next play is a Trips Right formation, pitch left. Again, something we expected. Nathaniel BLOWS IT UP for a 4 yard loss. By blow it up, I'm talking one of those sick youtube video hits that you see showing youth football players making big tackles. 3rd and 16, they try their patented pass, that we're more than ready for. It goes incomplete despite Connor actually messing up. We gameplanned for that, actually. Carlos came over and actually covered the only guy they throw to in their favorite pass play, so it was alright that Connor missed it. 4th and 16. Punt? No, that would make too much sense. They go for it. They run the trick play pass we knew was coming. Jacob, of all people, intercepts it and returns it 5 yards!
Our ball, on their 40.
Here's where some of the headaches start. We come out running 49 Sweep, and Carlos scores on it, but Ray wasn't set. On film, you can see him lower down as Nathaniel called out the first go. Bad Ray.
1st and 15, and we wedge for another yard. 2nd and 14, Bryce is called for illegal forward motion on 24 Power. He was trying to set up closer and the ball was snapped. 2nd and 19, we call 49 Sweep again, and we lose a yard. Ashanti and Bryce are doing their own thing. That's why it didn't work. Carlos loses a yard. 3rd and 20. We go back to 24 Power. We get a little lucky when they overrun the play, Nick C makes a good block, and Bryce scores his 2nd touchdown of the day and the season from 50 yards out.
We call 45 Power for the XP, only to have the left side fail to block the right people. Carlos is smothered.
12-0 Vols.
I noticed the last time we kicked off that they had changed over to cover the right side. I whispered to Jacob that we needed to fake that and kick left. He says okay. I tell Nick C and Nathaniel to get ready.
Jacob instead kicks it down the middle, where David makes the tackle on their 44. 2 of 6 on kickoffs now.
They come back out in the Wishbone, and try to power Right. Ray comes over from the weakside and knocks the ball out and then falls on it. Our ball again! This time on their 44.
We call 30 Crazy Wedge, which is designed to distract the defense as we wedge it. Instead, we distract the referee as Bryce does his own thing, shuffles, sets, shuffles, moves his hands like he's catching the ball before the snap. 5 yard penalty, that's a recurring theme.
28 Sweep is the next call. Ray decleats a boy and a huge hole is opened up. Bryce scores 49 yards later! 6 minutes into the game, and we have a 3 touchdown lead!
The XP is botched again. We call 45 Pass, but Nick T (in for Ashanti) doesn't go out for a pass. Nick C does, but he's not supposed to. He doesn't block the guy who blindsides Nathaniel. Of course, Nate may have actually thrown it if Nick had ran his pattern.
18-0 Good Guys!
Jacob knows he screwed the last one up, so he's determined not to mess this one up. I see their spread out, I tell him to kick it right. As I back up my mandated 10 yards from the play, Jacob turns and ASKS ME WHERE TO KICK IT AGAIN. When I point to the right, the other coach sends the boys to our left to our right. Thanks, Jacob.
The worse part? He doesn't kick it there again. It's down the middle, to #6, their best player. He returns it the 50, where Nick C. makes the tackle.
Ray makes a BIG HIT on #6 (like Nathaniel, only picture a 200 pounder hitting a 90 lb kid) for a 4 yard loss. They try their fave pass, only to throw it away thanks to our heavy rush. 3rd and 14, they fumble the ball and lose 3 on what looked to be a pitch to our right. As they set up for 4th down and 17, the quarter ends.
18-0 VOLS
4th and 17, they don't punt again. Instead, they come out with a trips set and motion the back to the trips set. They then run their QB behind the 4 receivers, and he scores. Thankfully, an obvious block in the back sends them back to a 4th and 20. Punt? Why no. They run the same play. Sweet. It's not like he's tired or anything. He's not, apparently. He runs for 15 yards before being forced out of bounds, but there was movement on the line. Why they didn't stop the play, I don't know. I won't complain. Instead, it's now 4th and 25. Trips Right. They try their pass out of this set, only the tight end doesn't go. He tries to block instead. The quarterback turns back the other way to find Ashanti there waiting. He spins around while Ashanti holds on, JD finishes him off for a 5 yard loss!
We take over on their 30!
We come out with our trick play of the week, the Connor 24 Power, which is just an odd looking play. It's 24 Power, but with Connor in a double arm interval gap between Layne and Ray. I can see the confusion in the coach's eyes. He starts counting. We snap the ball, gain 8, only to have David called for holding.
That's Penalty #4, if you're scoring. It gets worse. Penalty 5 comes right after on Ashanti not being set. We lose 2 on a sweep, get a busted play on the counter for a lovely loss of 10, and then lose 5 on a sweep the other way. Again, if you're counting, that's a 4th and 42, with the first down marker being on the 20 yard line. We punt, but Hunter for whatever reason lines up 10 yards deep and let's the ball get away from him. It rolls to the right, which is a huge problem since we're kicking to our sideline on the left. His punt goes to the middle, about 10 yards downfield. David stops it for no return.
Ray intercepts the ball when they repeat the play they ran on 4th down. It's a deadball where he intercepts it, our 40.
Penalty #6 on Nick T, a false start. Bryce loses 4 on a sweep, Connor fumbles the ball away on the wedge. They take over on our 30.
Penalty 7 comes immediately, Ashanti offsides. It's now they show some plays I didn't see the previous week. They start diving up the middle, which is a smart thing for them. We had been ignoring it all game, since they hadn't shown they ran a play that way. They gain 9.
They try it again, only to fumble, which is #6's 2nd of the game. Carlos recovers.
Carlos turns around and gets 2 on a sweep. I reluctantly call time out with 30 seconds left after actually gaining yards. I think we are ready to move the ball and decide to gamble, despite being near my own endzone. We call 24 pass. Tons of stuff go wrong, with it ending in an interception. Stupid me.
They take over on our 10 and score 2 plays later. They miss the 2pt kick. 18-6.
They finish out the half with a kickoff, which is deep and between my 2nd and 3rd row. I had moved Carlos into the 3rd row with Bryce for this game, since they always kick it deep. Bryce takes the ball and runs sideways for our sideline, but doesn't get a yard.
That's the half. I felt like we were playing not to lose on offense that 2nd quarter. It repeats itself in the 2nd half.
JD recovers the 2nd half kickoff, which was a bit of a squib to the right.
We're immediately called for penalties 8 and 9, holding and false start Flipping sweet. We gain 3 on a wedge, only to fumble it away on a sweep.
Blue Hawks ball on our 28, and they try something new again. The reverse doesn't fool Layne or Ray. We stuff it for a loss of 2. Carlos stuffs a pitch play for no gain. Hunter and Layne stop a dive for a gain of 2. They come out with the trips/motion play again, but the quarterback never gets the ball. Ashanti, strolling through the backfield as he took the play off, recovers as he gets lucky.
We lose 9 yards on the next 3 plays. Hunter punts its right to #6 this time, then tries to tell me it went off the side of his foot. Come on, son. You were facing him. It couldn't have gone off the side of your foot. We get a net of 2 on the punt.
Hunter makes the tackle on the dive up the middle and then Carlos picks off their favorite pass, this time returning it down to our 43.
We get 2 on the wedge, 6 on a sweep. Just when we may have shaken off our funk, we get penalty 10 and no gain on a Power. Since we're near midfield and Hunter has failed me twice in a row now, we run wedge even though there's no hope of getting it. Connor gains 2.
They take over on our 46 and our 2nd unit finishing out their mandated plays. They drive downfield, pitching left and right. Without Nick C and Bryce, they probably score. Nick C, though, wasn't doing his job properly. We got lucky.
On the goalline, we stuff them. Connor, Carlos, Ray, and Nick C all make goalline tackles to keep them out of the endzone.
Taking over on our 5, I get Jacob the ball. He didn't get his carry in. Rats, I should have in that 2nd quarter! Dang it!
Jacob carries for 3 and doesn't fumble! Woot! We call it again. We fumble the snap. Are you kidding me!?
4 more plays on the goalline, and we make big plays left and right. Ray, Ashanti, and Nathaniel all make tackles, with Nathaniel nailing the back on their 4th down on the pitch.
We kneel on it for the final play.
All that said, outside of the first quarter, totally horrible game offensively for us. 10 penalties, all on offense. I'd let it slide if I couldn't see what the refs saw on the film. Pretty horrible.
Outside of Bryce's 3 TDs, we lost a total of 10 yards offensively. I'm not kidding. With those runs, we had 128 yards rushing. Looks can be deceiving. Bryce ends up with 7 rushes for 124. Carlos 5 for 3 yards. Jacob 1 for 3. Connor 7 for 9.
Nathaniel was officially 0-1 passing, with the INT. He was also saddled with the 10 yard loss on the busted counter.
Defensively, I couldn't ask for more. Five turnovers. 3 first downs total. The TD scored on the short field, and that's my fault.
The coaches will get together 'today' and watch film. It's going to be ugly. I know it was for me.
Tuesday will likely be a "BACK TO BASICS" day, where we revert to 5 on 5 half line. No one is guaranteed a job at this point outside of Alex, who was my only defensive linemen to bear crawl in the game.
I'm going to be on their butts, that's for sure. We'll run a lap for every minute the entire team isn't there on time and suited up. We'll warm up and then run ten 20-yard sprints, one for every penalty.
Afterward, it'll be half line, maybe for the entire practice time. If the offensive lineman let's him through, he runs. If a defender backs out or doesn't bear crawl, he's out and running.
I'm steaming over how we played that second half offensively. It's time to be Mr. Bad Guy Tuesday.
Notes: Bryce was all over the place, drawing 3 penalties for loafing and getting called for illegal procedures in the process.
Hunter will be replaced by Carlos as the punter.
Alex WILL take the place of Ryan on defense. Carlos is likely safe at corner, Ray at linebacker, Nathaniel at end, Bryce at safety. Otherwise, game on. I'll open it up across the board.
Coffee Warlord
09-22-2008, 01:52 PM
Tuesday Update: I made every kid cry. :)
After we allowed the touchdown, Ray verbally whipped our defensive end for allowing the score. One, yelling at the teammate is wrong. Two, Ray was wrong as well. That was the linebacker's job.
I yanked him off the field and gave him what for as he got on the sideline, quiet enough to keep everyone else from hearing it. The big boy nearly broke down there so I let off the pedal.
For the record, only two boys cried, and it was before we even got to the sprints. They cried as they were finishing their laps for Ray and Ashanti being late.
Water breaks and finishing sprints ended consistently, one knee on the white line. For most of the practice, we were live tackling and running half line. I think it opened their eyes to who and where to block.
We finished up with 20 minutes of wedge blocking and our new trick play, "Trojan". Trojan consists of Carlos taking the ball in shotgun and blowing out the right side of the line with everyone else.
Wedge blocking started with just our center and guards...slowly adding the tackles, tightends, and finally the wings.
If anyone during the practice missed their block or did something wrong, they went and took a lap.
Barkeep49
09-24-2008, 06:42 AM
For the record, only two boys cried, and it was before we even got to the sprints. They cried as they were finishing their laps for Ray and Ashanti being late.
If anyone during the practice missed their block or did something wrong, they went and took a lap.
This is always a fine line at this age. Consequences for performance can lead to a fear of failure, which means kids end up thinking too much rather than doing. Consequences for choices makes the players know they're accountable. Running because someone showed up late to practice? Pretty clearly a consequence for choice (even if it was the parent's choice).
Is the second thing in the performance category? For instance, in basketball, I never make a kid run for missing a shot. It's going to happen. However, if a kid takes a 3 pointer, something I tend to let only the very best shooters do, there's going to be a problem there.
The reason I went half line (essentially 5 on 5) was to explain to them in more detail who and where to block. We talked and walked through our blocking plan before we started hitting live.
Much of our problems for the final three quarters on offense was a player blocking someone other than the person he's supposed to. We started a drive in the 2nd quarter on their 30 yard line. 3 plays and 3 penalties later, we were looking at a 4th and 42.
If at any time the boys wanted to know exactly who to block, I was more than willing to explain it. For the most part, they got it. A few times a defensive lineman came through untouched. That's where I needed to let them know we can't accept that. It's a difference of losing 2-4 yards or gaining 5-10. If they just couldn't block Ray, for example, I understand that...but I wanted the effort.
Of course, if someone grabbed a player and took them with a headlock, they most certainly were going to run. Hunter!
Rumor had it the Tigers and Trojans would play each other today. My understanding is the field was finally drained yesterday afternoon. I seriously doubt they'll have it cleaned and ready for play today.
That means we *might* play on Saturday against the Trojans. There's an outside chance they could move the game elsewhere or postpone it to another date.
Personally, I'd love a chance to see them in a game before playing them, but it's probably not likely. My only consolation? I think they believe they're better than they are. Their first game was over a team that lost the next week 40-0. I'm still waiting on the score for last week's game.
The next week, 13-6 win over SGYA's team 2. Team 2, who was blasted by the Tigers in week 1. Team 2, who this past week TIED SCAC's team 4. SCAC's Team 4 had allowed 42 points and scored 0 the previous two weeks.
Here's to a win this Saturday.
MizzouRah
09-24-2008, 10:49 PM
Go Vols!!!
Senator
09-25-2008, 08:08 AM
You are rolling along.... in the groove of week to week prep and games, being competitive.
I am in that dreaded black hole of knowing that you are below the level of talent you are facing, and it will be that way all season. While it does inspire the competitive coaching juices, it also makes the realistic part of you dread what may come.
It sounds like you might have a team that will make some championship noise, good luck.
There was definitely a buzz going around Tuesday at the practice field amongst the coaches that we beat the Blue Hawks.
We could go anywhere from 4-4 to 7-1. We have three tough opponents that will give us a test. If we get past the Trojans with a win, I could see us at 5-3 or better. The Titans and White Hawks are the only teams that concern me at this point.
Yesterday's practice went rather well from my perspective.
I got what information I could on the Trojans, which consisted of talking to one of the coaches that have scrimmaged them often enough. 3 tight ends and an "I" backfield is what I'm told. Nothing too special, not too fast.
That's a dramatic change from when we scrimmaged them some 4-5 weeks ago, where they were a confusing, unprepared, Wing-T team. Actually, this info made me feel even better about the game than before.
Defensively, they're still a 5-3, but they essentially now have their top 3 players (Tyler, Seth, and Casey) at linebackers. Before, they experimented with them at safety and defensive end. I like this as well, as it might be easier to block out there line. If our tight ends and wings make the good block on the backers, we should be in business.
Practice started with some tackling, though they certainly didn't get enough to satisfy me. They were actually asking for some 5 on 5 halfline work. We went to team defense after that, where we repped some scout offense against them. Pitch left, pitch right, off tackle left and right, dives. Play actions. Alex took the spot of Ryan, which I hope will allow Ryan to rest a few plays and re-energize him for the offense.
Unfortunately, Alex quickly forgot about how to line up properly and allowed himself to get blown out when he was hit. Alex's days as a starter are probably over on Saturday. Otherwise, I can only hope we're ready defensively for a team I wasn't able to scout.
Offensively, I think we're sharper than last week. Our counter off the power caused me headaches. I probably won't call that play if it looks that bad during our walkthrough Saturday morning. It was screwed up the first 3 times we ran it to one side. When I flipped it, I had the exact same problem going the other way. Flippin crazy.
Otherwise, not too bad.
Special teams got Hunter upset. He was replaced at punter after his bad game by Carlos. Not a happy camper. I'll give him another shot next week. I also took him and Ray off the kickoff team after observing some loafing by them.
We'll see. The Bulldogs coach watched our game last Saturday and doesn't believe I have much to worry about. I wish I felt the same way. I was up the past couple of hours dreaming about the game.
Barkeep49
09-26-2008, 07:22 AM
Whoo to a good practice! Let's hope you guys pass this challenge.
Senator's team is invading mine.
Alex, my newly knighted starting defensive tackle, has a migraine. He may not make the game. MIGRAINE? AT THE AGE OF 9??
I should hear from Alex's mom in about an hour on if he'll make it, I'm guessing he won't. That sends Ryan back in with the first unit on defense.
Everything's ready to go, with the exception of the old video camera. I inadvertently left the camera on the past couple of days, and now the battery's dead. I'll charge it as long as I can before I have to head out. Hopefully it doesn't take a good hour for it to charge.
I have to pick up David and give him a ride down to the game.
After the game, I'm heading home and then up to SCAC's field. Our next opponent, the Raiders, play there this afternoon.
Senator
09-27-2008, 07:56 AM
Good Luck, coach!
You won't believe this, but it ended in a tie, 0-0. Both teams will come away thinking they could have and should have won it. They were inside our 10 twice. We were inside their 20 three times. Neither side could punch it in.
I was actually warned early in the 2nd quarter about our wedge blocking. The referee was wrong, which made it difficult for me to approach him about. We continued to run it and we weren't flagged.
We did have difficulty blocking their nose tackle and left outside linebacker. When we had both blocked, we had success. When one beat the block, we were hurting. Overall, we looked much better offensively this week than last, we just didn't have those big plays like last week. At one point, we drove 60 yards methodically, we just couldn't get it done.
Ryan is going to have to move somewhere. He's taking advantage of just snapping the ball and that's it. Layne will likely become the center, though Ryan has shown nearly no ability to maintain a block, much less pull on a play.
Ashanti is quite likely a backup on offense now as well. He became a sub on defense last week when he didn't show up for a practice. This week, he was a master of looking like he was doing his job. He really wasn't, and it's disappointing.
Alex did a decent job at the DT spot. He didn't really move upfield, but he certainly created a pile when the guard plopped on top of him every play.
Just like week 1 and the second half of week 3, we were a few blocks from having a couple of scores. Those are the breaks. I'm sure the Trojans feel the same way.
The next opponent is going to be fun. They lost to SCAC 1 (we beat SCAC 1, 6-0), 31-0. Turns out, the Raiders haven't scored a point all year. They won't start this week. They're incredibly simple on offense, and have nearly no talent. With just 13 players, I don't understand why they're even a team.
We are going to make some changes. Ryan will move to right tackle, where his slow foot speed will make him less of a liability. Ray will move to right guard, where we can take advantage of his athleticism a little more. Layne will be the new center.
Ryan will make or break us at this point. He's got to be ready.
One issue we'll have with this game is that the Titans will be out there in full force watching us play. They play in the game before us, I see no reason why they wouldn't scout us this weekend.
Our offensive gameplan this week will be really simple. I plan to just call our powers, sweeps, wedges, and passes. Counters are likely out as I probably won't need them against this group. Passes are only in to try and complete a few this season. Honestly, I want to use as few plays as possible because our next opponent, the undefeated Titans, will be watching our game. Special/trick play and formations are out for that very reason. No need in showing the Titans any more than I have to.
Defensively, our linebackers are almost going to completely ignore the tight ends this week. They didn't go out for a single pass last week.
I can't wait for Saturday.
Practice went well. Layne actually didn't really like the idea of moving to center. That's funny since he was really against the move to guard initially. He likes to pull. We may rethink it since I believe Ryan got the wakeup call when he moved to tackle.
Defensively, we're all set. They know what to do against their three formations. Offense is relatively simple this week, so we know what we're doing there as well. Piece of cake.
Senator
10-01-2008, 09:01 AM
Hopefully the kids don't know it's a walkover game. Good Luck. You get an easy one, and I get the top team in the county. Have fun!
Senator
10-01-2008, 09:01 AM
Speaking of the tie game. Do you not have overtime?
We do have overtime, four plays from the 10 to score. We wedged up the middle twice for 7 yards. Wedge bootlegged for a loss of 3. We then ran Power Right and was hit for no gain when their insane Nose tackle slanted INTO the hole, beating Layne and Ryan off the ball.
They came out and ran up the middle for 2, outside for 3, off left tackle for no gain, and the swept left and came up three yards short.
Hopefully the kids don't know it's a walkover game. Good Luck. You get an easy one, and I get the top team in the county. Have fun!
Unfortunately, they do know. The kids are rather social with each other, which kind of blows me away. They chat each other up before and after the games, and I have no idea how they knew about this team. Flipping internets, I guess.
JonInMiddleGA
10-01-2008, 04:14 PM
You & Sen think you've got roster troubles? Check this story out (if you haven't already)
ESPN - ESPN The Magazine (http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?section=magazine&id=3619502&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1)
Senator
10-01-2008, 07:30 PM
yikes
Boy, ol' boy, did I have some headaches tonight.
Lot of kids shoving kids, kids telling on other kids for shoving, stuff like that. More so than I usually get.
However, when practice started, I was three boys short. Nathaniel I understood, he went with his mom to the vice presidential debate. Maybe a once in a lifetime opportunity, I understood. Noah, the younger brother and backup QB, was supposed to be at practice. Where was he? At the debate as well. When did I find out? Oh, about 10 minutes in to practice.
The third boy? Ryan. Ryan didn't like bearcrawling on defense and it essentially cost him his job. Ryan struggled with his blocking at center and it appeared to have cost his job. His answer? Quit. When did I find out, 5 minutes into practice. Flipping sweet.
Thirty minutes in, his dad brought him out with his pads on to 'talk' to me. I stroked his ego, explained I saw he had a wakeup call on Tuesday and was planning on using him at center. I explained that we're not bear crawling this week against the Raiders as well. In the end, I told him it's up to him, that'd I'd love to have him, but it's up to him. I walked away.
Ten minutes later he enters the practice field. No one makes a scene about it, and we just roll with it.
JD practiced at quarterback, which sucked. Not JD's fault, it's just I should have had a flipping quarterback there.
The Raiders are horrible, but maybe not horrible enough to beat our team at it's current state.
I went by the 'field' if you would call it that. It looks like it could have been rather nice at one point, but it's really horrible now.
Older fields, in particular, have that typical crowning affect in the middle of the field. As I looked at it, this field looked to have almost a "Little House on the Prairie" look to it. It looked like a hill to me, at least on the side where the stands are. My side, the visitor side, actually didn't look that bad. We'll see in a few hours.
The plan was to attempt to throw 10 passes, whether we just turned up the field or not was up to the QB. I really wanted the Titans to think we'd throw the ball quite a bit. With that field, we may amend that.
I'm actually heading out there in just about an hour to watch the warm up and game of the Titans. Most of us, if not all, use our warm up time as a pregame walkthrough of our plays. I might as well take advantage.
The assistants will be taking charge of ours this week as I'll be in the stands taking notes the entire Titans game. I'll then run down afterward to the sideline.
Did anyone ask for a 43-0 win? If so, I have your order ready!
Barkeep49
10-04-2008, 03:03 PM
Wow. Your team was just as good as you expected. Congrats. Can't wait for more details!
I took four captains with me today. I'm now in a position to get all the boys out there for two games, so I'll go with four the rest of the season. It's not a huge deal, but I wanted to be sure all the boys had equal opportunities to see and feel what it's like to be the 'captain'. Today's captains were David, Noah, Ryan, and Jacob.
By the way, Nolan's mom called him in sick today.
We won the toss, our first toss win since opening day. Good call, Jacob! We defer and kickoff. Of course, our kickoff isn't a kickoff. It turned out to be a poor onside kick as well. Jacob kicked it 8 yards. Fortunately, a Raider tried to jump on it. It squirted out and Ray recovered yet another kick.
We come out running sweep. Bryce lines up outside the left tight end as a wing. Ideally, he runs straight to the other side of the field, taking the ball from the quarterback in the process. Instead, he lined up 2 yards off the end, ran back another yard or two as he ran to the other side of the field, and lost 3 yards.
We run the sweep the other way. Carlos gets it done for 19. Sweep with Bryce, with similar issues, and we lose 4. Another sweep for Carlos and it's apparent Carlos is winded. He got a yard. Out he goes and in comes JD.
I call 24 Power, only Bryce (! Come on, kid!) lines up completely in the wrong spot. I burn a timeout. 3rd and 13, I decide to go Wedge instead. Connor and company get me 4 yards with it. The wedge, by the way, showed a lot of promise. 4th down, I give JD a chance on a sweep, he gains a yard and we turn it over on their 34.
Three plays later, JD causes a fumble and his brother Nick recovers it.
We come out this set running 24 Power. Bryce gains 3 cutting back against the grain. Connor hits the wedge and breaks it out behind Ray after the pile moved forward about five yards. 31 yards later, Connor's in the endzone for his second touchdown of the year!
Connor runs in the XP on the wedge and just barely gets in. Our first converted XP on the year!
The Raiders recover the onside kick this time and come out with this hokie looking jet sweep that the coach must have seen in a video game and thought, "man! I got to use that!".
Having scouted them, our team was all over it. Ray punishes, flat out punishes the runner for a loss of 7(!) on a jet sweep.
The next play JD causes another fumble. This time, Layne recovers it.
JD's causing these fumbles by shooting the A gap and hitting the QB's legs. He's doing a great job. I have no idea why he couldn't do that against the Trojans.
Carlos takes the ball on a 45 Power. Ray plows a guy on the pull and Carlos scores 47 yards later. We begin our insane run of unsuccessful kicks. Jacob shanks it wide left. As in, holy cow, wide left.
13-0, VOLS.
We kick onside again, this time JD recovers the kick as it bounces off another Raider.
Connor runs the wedge for 8 more. Carlos heads outside on a sweep. Ray, gap on downing on the far side of the field, eventually finds his way to the playside and makes a crushing block on the safety to spring Carlos on a 46 yard score.
Jacob yanks this one wide left as well.
19-0 Vols.
I tell Jacob to start kicking deep, but he's either ignoring me or just has no idea what I mean by kicking it deep. He kicks it onside again, they recover.
JD makes the tackle on the first play and it ends the first quarter.
After the break and a false start, JD makes another tackle, this time for a loss of 4. 3rd and 22, we knew that the QB sneak was coming. Ray stopped it for no gain.
Out comes the punt team. Since I knew that was coming, Carlos and Bryce were 25 yards deep and JD was 10 yards deep in the middle. The punter nailed one that Carlos touched at our 34, but it sailed past him and he finally picked it up at the 29.
David clips a player on the far side, thankfully the referees didn't see it. Fortunately, I did. We'll run a lap for that one. Carlos takes the return all the way back for the score...which I assume is a 66 yard return since he initially touched it on the 34.
Jacob's kick is low and short.
25-0, Vols.
Jacob continues to ignore my pleas to kick it deep. The Raiders recover on their 48.
Nick C makes a big hit off the end for a loss of 5 to start it out. A scrum up the middle gains 2, and I have no idea who made the tackle. A fumbled snap eventually loses them 5 as well. Having learned their lesson the punt, they go for it on 4-18 from their 40. JD makes the tackle wrapping up the QB's legs.
We take over on the 39 and it's time to get every boy a touch on a wedge.
Connor becomes Jose Oquendo. He subs out so that Jacob can come in. Jacob gains 5 before getting hit and hurting his leg. Out he goes, in comes Connor.
Connor, at left tackle. My left tackle, David moves to fullback. David takes a wedge and for some reason decides to run off tackle to the left. He gains three. I can't complain.
David returns to tackle. Connor moves to left guard. Hunter moves to fullback. Hunter pauses as he gets the ball and eventually is stopped for no gain.
We call time out. Hunter heads out, Alex heads in. Alex takes over at left guard. Connor moves to left tight end. Ashanti moves to fullback. Ashanti, on a 4th and 2, gains 8.
We call our final timeout. Ashanti heads out, a little shaken. Nick T comes in. Connor moves to right tight end. Nick C moves to fullback. Nick C gains 3 on the play.
Nick C returns to right tight end. Connor moves to left tight end. Nick T moves to fullback. Nick gains 2 on the wedge.
Last play before the half...we're on the 18. Nick T returns to left tight end. Connor moves to left guard. Alex moves to fullback. Alex gains 3 on the wedge as the half expires.
25-0, Vols.
1st half numbers: 18 carries for 180 yards, three touchdowns.
They come out kicking onside and we're lucky to recover it. It bounces through Ray's legs to Ashanti. Ashanti tries to pick it up and run instead of falling on the ball. Fortunately, Nathaniel recovers it.
We try another sweep with Bryce. They're so entranced with the wedge that nearly the entire team gets sucked in. Bryce scores, untouched from 56 yards out.
Jacob, after having me tell him to kick it from directly behind the ball instead of the sidewinder approach, nearly makes it as it goes under the crossbar.
31-0, hello turbo clock.
Turbo clocks suck at this age. There's just not enough time on the clock for it. It sucks as I have to work hard now to make sure everyone gets their 6 plays in. Shoot, by my count, we maybe had 25 plays in the second half.
Jacob again ignores me. It bounces off a Raider and to Carlos. I take my hat off and shake my head, which is about as animated as you'll find me in any of our games. I'm very disappointed in Jacob at this point. He's really making me look like an ass at this point.
We pull out our 24/45 passes. Nick converts the first for a 14 yard gain, our first completed pass of the year. Nathaniel then runs the 45 and honestly should have just tucked it in and ran. Instead, he threads the needle to Ashanti, only to have it go off Ashanti's hands.
Carlos then runs 45 Power for 4. He gets the wind knocked out of him and JD comes in. After an offsides penalty, we find ourselves in a 3rd and 1. JD runs hard on another 45 Power, this time for 12 yards. Bryce takes it on a 24 Power for 12 yards and the score.
Jacob's kick this time is low and short again.
37-0, Vols.
I hear it from the other coach when Jacob kicks it onside once again. As I walk off the field with Jacob, I point out how mad the other coach is at me for what he's doing. I still don't think it's sunk in. Hunter will kick the next kickoff, that much I know for sure.
I call a time out when I can't find a player, turns out Alex was in the bathroom. Better to be safe than get a 15 yard penalty.
JD makes a tackle for no gain, a fumbled pitch loses 7. The Raiders finally break off a big run, which was a combination of David playing poorly at linebacker and my defensive end Nick taking a play off. Unbelievably, Layne makes the tackle 25 yards down the field coming from the farside. He saves the touchdown.
Layne's work is rewarded. A fumbled snap is easing pickings for JD. He recovers it.
We start the fourth quarter.
Connor carries for 2 on the wedge, his first carry in the half. JD carries on a Power for 31. He broke three tackles before finally being taken down.
With Noah taking over at quarterback, Alex at right guard, and Jacob at fullback, Carlos takes it on a 45 Power the final 34 yards for the score.
Hunter's kick attempt was definitely harder, although no more accurate than the others.
43-0, Vols.
Hunter does at least get the ball deep, though it wasn't necessarily in the air. There may have been a 2 yard return before Layne clobbered the poor kid.
4 plays later by the Raiders and we take over with 30 seconds on the clock. With turbo clock in action, we don't even have to snap the ball.
2nd half numbers: 7 carries, 151 yards, three touchdowns.
On the day:
Bryce 5-67, 2 TD
Carlos 6-151, 3 TD
Connor 4-45, TD
JD 3-44
TEAM 7-24
Total 25-331, 6TD
Passing
Nathaniel 1 of 2, 14 yards
Nick C, 1 reception for the 14 yards.
What a game.
BYU 14
10-05-2008, 10:45 AM
It's poetry when the Double Wing is rolling, nice ball distribution between your backs and a stellar 13.2 yards per carry average :)
The Titans will give us everything we want and more this Saturday. They beat the lowly Seahawks, 50-0. That said, they're really not all that complicated. To be honest, I thought they used more plays in their game than we did, and I think that's a mistake.
They line up offensively with a Power I look, but it's a little different than the look I'm used to. I'm used to a Stacked I look with the middle back offset left or right. They use essentially two fullbacks beside each other.
http://www.guidetocoachingsports.com/images/42Blast.gif
Defensively, they're more of a 4-4 that reads the play. Their outside backers don't come up field hard. The inside guys look like they're just reading the play and going. Their front four is big, so are their inside backers. They'll be tough to beat off the ball, that's for sure.
A few things we're going to do offensively. We may start out with a Polecat play. Even then, it'll have a wrinkle. I can give instruction until the cadence begins. I'll have the boys run up to the line, tell Carlos (who will be quarterback for the play) A (run with it) or B (pass it to Nathaniel behind the line of blockers). He'll say ready, we snap it and go.
We'll also line up with our bag of tricks this week and with a trips look at times to spread the defense out when we wedge. They'll already be spread out. This will be designed to spread them out more.
Monty 24 Power, where our fullback is inbetween the guard and tackle, may work well.
Defensively, the corners will be back as linebackers again in an attempt to provide bodies to one side of the field or the other.
These guys are tough, but have played just one team that has a win all year. Their opponent's records at this time are 2-17.
I think we can take them, but it will take a great effort.
Practice this week was hardly worth mentioning. I think the big win didn't help the boys. We're likely to get beat, and beat badly, on Saturday.
Connor will be limited to defense in order to try and rest his rib/ribcage. JD will take his spot. The smaller boys I use at corners may not be ideal against the defense, either. Ashanti will take Jacob's spot at the 'corner'.
The smaller boys, Jacob, Noah, Nick T, will attempt to play as much special teams as possible. I may try and force them to dive in to the line as defensive tackles as well. Unless we're up or down big, that might be their only shot on the defense.
Defensively, I'm experimenting with having Layne as a second monster, giving us a four linebacker look. I steal him off the line and move Hunter from an A gap to a B gap. JD chooses his A gap and shoots through. It's a little dangerous but offers us a little more pursuit to the flow.
It wasn't as bad as I was expecting. We lost, 19-0. It was 0-0 at the half. As big as Ray is, they had two or even three boys nearly his size if not equal.
It was tough, they played hard, but the 'quit' was in their eyes in that fourth quarter down 13-0.
JonInMiddleGA
10-12-2008, 05:29 PM
It wasn't as bad as I was expecting.
Funny, I said the same thing yesterday after one of the 3:30pm games ;)
Holy cow. I finally took the time to watch the video, and we had two very good chances to score. One our back dance around after getting the ball in the open field instead of running forward. That cost us possibly 15-20 yards...and I'm not kidding.
Late in the 2nd, we ran a sweep that got us to the 21. A horrible, absolute horrible holding penalty (no way the kid was held...the defender spun around as the back went past him...if he's held, he can't SPIN) sends us back to the 40 for a 1st and 20.
Good golly, I shouldn't have watched it!
Our practice on Tuesday was a little horrific. 13 boys there, with the four out all starters...on both sides of the ball. Practicing for the 5-1 White Hawks was almost entirely out of the question.
Ryan will miss this game for a vacation to Florida, and Alex is heading across the state today as well. That leaves me with Connor, who will move from fullback to guard this week. JD will start again at fullback.
The White Hawks are like the Blue Hawks. They do a few things well, and that's it. They line up with a double tight wishbone and do about 3 things. Dive lefs, offtackle left, and counter right...and they start each game with it too. So, we're going to blow that up.
They also line up with an empty set...sending the fullback left or right and splitting those wishbone backs to either side. The side with one player motions back to the backfield...where they do a lot of stuff. Simple stuff that should be easy for us, but stuff.
Pitch to motion back
Fake pitch, counter with other runningback
Pitch to motion, then pitch to other back on a reverse
Fake pitch, QB bootleg
Pitch to motion, back passes to the other back deep
Defensively, the White Hawks aren't that complicated. They don't play good pass defense, so we may try and test them once or twice on the outside edges.
They do something a little tricky. Their coach will point for an outside backer, one in particular on our left side to run up to the tight end and blitz, line up over the center in a 3 point and blitz, or stand there....with blitzing being the big deal.
The outside stuff I'm not overly concerned about, but the inside one has me concerned since I pull the guards quite a bit. It wouldn't be a big deal but they have players in that A gap already. They're overloading that middle and it could get ugly. We'll have something designed to stop that in particular.
Check this out:
I got a call about 30 minutes ago from the Tigers coach. We both see the writing on the wall, numbers are down this year as far as players go. Next year the teams overall in the TCYFA will likely drop down some.
He wanted to gauge interest in me coaching with him next season. It's interesting, but I'm not sure if I'll do it. I might have to.
Not having a boy might put me outside looking in when dads that want to coach their sons start stepping up. I refuse to coach the 7/8s...they're just too small for me. With 9/10s likely to contract, I could feel the pinch. Working with the Tigers instead of against them might not be too bad of an idea.
Barkeep49
10-18-2008, 10:01 AM
Will you be able to step back into being an assistant at this level? This is a real question. For a couple years I think the answer for me would have been no, now, if I were working for the right person, I think the answer would be yes.
24-6 loss to the White Hawks...a game where the boys disappointed me on defense. All 24 points came in the first half as the boys over pursued and let the ball carrier outside them twice for scores. In their 'obvious' passing formation, they threw a 30 yard score as well when Carlos ran in on his own for a blitz.
Carlos is getting banged up and I think I need to lighten his load. With Connor likely to sit this game out, it makes things a little more interesting. I may use Nathaniel as a back this week and let his younger brother start at quarterback.
As far as being an assistant, it might be of some benefit to me. While I think I did a great job of picking these boys based on two days of evaluations, the parent/coaches knew a lot more about these boys than I did. As much as I hate to admit it, they have a slight advantage over me with that.
Allowing Scott of the Tigers to pick the team and handle the shenanigans would probably work out a lot more in my favor.
Not sure if I mentioned this as well, either, but I'm being tabbed as the defensive coordinator for our league's select team as well. The select team will be playing in a tournament or two...which in all honesty, to me, is insane. It's starting to get really flipping cold and you want to mesh a group of kids together to play? We might get maybe 4-5 practices before that first game? Crazy.
http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/50/l_0a0b239f661249d1beb44e7b22d14b42.jpg
Front, left to right: JD, Connor, (token cheerleader that is Carlos's sister), Hunter, Nick C, Noah
Second, left to right: Nathaniel, Nick T, Jacob, Carlos, Bryce, Alex
Third, left to right: Ashanti, Layne, Ray, Ryan, Nolan, David
Last, left to right: Coaches Travis, Steve, Me, and Bryan
Senator
10-22-2008, 04:28 PM
Look at that damn line!!! UP THE GUT!!!
I forget, do I owe you a playbook?
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