View Full Version : GO COUGARS!: A RL Youth Football Dynasty
This is the story of the Twin City Cougars. Team, color, Age bracket, and Super Bowl championship yet to be determined.
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This off season has been rather crazy. First, our league decided to name each team the Cougars for easier branding of the league. While I'm disappointed not to have the Vols again, I support the decision. If I could only get more of my ideas across now...
Up until three weeks ago I was confident I would be the offensive coordinator of one of the 11/12 Cougars. With the new draft rule that we could protect five players, things were looking rather good for me. I was attached with some good coaches and players...those with brothers that would technically give us 8-9 players after the protection phase. Sure, it would be like not drafting until Day 2 in the NFL, but knowing we had 8 kids before it started is kind of an advantage. Our schemes were already in place and we've spent more than one day working with a few of them on what we wanted to do.
Then the coach with the 9/10 talent stocked up was named offensive coordinator at the local high school. This coach, as it turned out, is Reece G's dad. GO VOLS!: A RL Youth Football Dynasty - Front Office Football Central (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=66615) See posts 23 and 31, I believe. Reece's dad coached an undefeated season in the 11/12s last season with Reece's older brother being quite honestly the best 12 year old I've ever seen play football. His brother was quite honestly the Boobie Miles of the TCYFA last season, without the crippling injury. I ended up talking quite a bit with Reece's dad in February and helped a few weeks back at his speed camp. I'm now in the Circle of Trust as far as that's concerned.
With Reece's dad out of the picture, the 9/10s were in need of a good coach at that level. My name immediately surfaced, as did a friend of the coach who was going to return from a one year hiatus in Hillsboro. Essentially whoever takes over for the coach will inherit the riches of the 9/10 league. You're essentially guaranteed the top 5 players in the league...especially in my position.
I am interested in staying at the 11/12 year old level, to be honest. I encouraged the parents to try and coax the other guy into taking the job. After speaking with the guy personally two days ago and talking it over with my most trusted coach with the 11/12s, I feel it's pretty much a given at this point that I will be the coach of the 9/10 Orange Cougars.
Our camp starts July 14th and should be much more organized at all levels than it was last year. I'm kind of taking the leadership role on that front. I'll be attending a non-contact youth camp next week that is being held by former NFL player Mike Jones. I'm hoping to snag some of my prospective players to take up there to get some work in.
My mind is already whirling and swirling with ideas on what I want to do and how to do it at the 9/10s level...as well as who I will be protecting and overall drafting strategy. Essentially, I would have about 10 quality kids to choose from, including three from my team last season. I can narrow that list down to 7 fairly easily, but that's where the problem begins. Two kids are potentially exposed...and I'm almost certain to lose one or both of them.
Perhaps the biggest obstacle I have right now is figuring out which players to protect. Compounding the issue is the coach that didn't take the team. He continues to waver on if he and his son will be in the program. One day he's hot, the next day he's cold. I would love to just cut the cord and let him loose, but the issue is he's connected with the other boys I'm interested in protecting. In other words, if he's not going to be there...I need it to be his idea. I've planted a few seeds to try and bring that out of him but so far I've had no luck.
His son's a decent athlete. We played them last year and beat them handily. However, he's also trying to have me protect another Hillsboro boy as well. I'm having a tough enough time trying to decide who I will protect out of the boys I know well much less one relatively unknown commodity and one that's completely unknown.
If he doesn't help/his son doesn't play, that frees up a slot for me...a somewhat valuable spot.
Three slots are locked down. Reece, the football coach's dad. Elijah, one of the boys I wanted to protect last year but was unable to do so. Tyler, a great ballplayer who was protected last year before I could even say a word. Reece and Elijah are runners and Tyler's a lineman on offense. They project at end (Reece) and backers on defense.
Things get hairy from there. Assuming the coach isn't there, I have two spots for four kids. Two very good linemen and two kids from last season, Nick C and Bryce C. Nick C was very very good defensively for me and played tight end. He'd likely move to fullback/blocking back this season. Bryce's dad was my top assistant last season and has been very open about wanting to coach with me this season before any of this latest news came down the pike. Of those two, I'd prefer Nick over Bryce. Bryce was my leading rusher last season but would likely be 3rd fiddle in this orchestra. He was also somewhat of a liability as a blocker and defender. Nick wasn't great offensively but was defensively. I'll take his defense.
That leaves the two linemen out in the open...which maybe one might slide through the protection phase...maybe. If that coach IS in the picture, things are even worse for me in that regard.
Decisions, decisions...
JonInMiddleGA
07-10-2009, 11:51 AM
Oh the joys of cap management ;)
Barkeep49
07-11-2009, 10:24 AM
Glad to see this back.
With John the assistant coach on board (for now), my top five are selected. I think John may not like my fifth selection, Nick C, but he will ultimately have to deal with it. If he balks at the move, I may tell him it's been great, but it may be time to split off to a different team.
That's something I've thought about off and on for the past week or so. My only concern was trying to secure one or two of the three 'studs' (Reece, Elijah, and Tyler), essentially pulling him away from John. After speaking with their parents, I believe I would have both Elijah and Tyler if that happened.
IF it happened, that would put me in a very nice position. I would have Tyler, Elijah, Nick C, and Bryce. My fifth could then be used on a linemen, most likely Logan. Logan's a big kid with potential that played for the Bulldogs last season. I'd be very comfortable with that.
I can't sleep. I'm excited about today.
Cap Ologist
07-14-2009, 11:08 AM
Good luck!
Elijah injured his thumb today in our final drill of the day. I think it was just dislocated but they're at the hospital now getting x-rays.
JonInMiddleGA
07-14-2009, 10:26 PM
Elijah injured his thumb today in our final drill of the day. I think it was just dislocated but they're at the hospital now getting x-rays.
At least he doesn't have Knoxville-itis (aka an ACL injury).
Have you heard the latest? Moore out with a broken foot, Jones out due to his wrist surgery this spring.
JonInMiddleGA
07-14-2009, 10:38 PM
Have you heard the latest? Moore out with a broken foot, Jones out due to his wrist surgery this spring.
Crap, didn't know about Moore or Jones. On the bright side (or what passes for one at least), it's not as though the receivers had anyone that could get them the ball anyway so it's not like losing a couple of starters on defense.
Elijah dislocated his thumb and fractured it as well. I'll hopefully have more information tonight.
John "the assistant" called me less than an hour ago to confirm that his five players were the ones I wanted to protect. When I didn't confirm it, he went on to suggest that he might need to be listed as the head coach. He continued by reaffirming that Elijah and Tyler's parents called him "today" to confirm HE was coaching the kids, not ME. Right, because I haven't spoken with the same parents, ever, right?
I think we may see me split off with my own team or I may rejoin the ranks of the 11-12s. I have some thinking to do and I'm a little too hot under the collar right now to be making decisions.
JonInMiddleGA
07-15-2009, 06:41 PM
When I didn't confirm it, he went on to suggest that he might need to be listed as the head coach.
I know things with youth sports tend to be pretty screwy but it still just boggles my mind that whatever organization exists that's in charge of a league doesn't have this sort of thing locked down well in advance in order to prevent screwy b.s. like this.
Or the other alternative is that they do and the guy you're dealing with is just batshit crazy.
Yeah, I'm not helping cool your collar any I know but it just leaves me baffled.
I always come away from the various coaching threads here with the same feelings: very happy for the guys who enjoy it and even more convinced that I've done the right thing for myself & everyone around me that I'm resolved to never get anywhere near it ever again. I'd end up in prison with a new friend named Bubba Raheem sure as hell.
Barkeep49
07-15-2009, 06:46 PM
I'm with Jon on this issue.
The way you've described your league being run is so divorced from my experience with youth sports and I'm just glad that I haven't had to put up with the BS that you do.
I think Bryce's dad has me ready to fight the power and coach my own 9 and 10s team. We may lose to their squad, but screw 'em.
Didn't realize the video sucked. Oh well. House's Fight the Power was awesome.
All anger and bitterness aside, yesterday's camp was smooth. The 60 campers were divided evenly into three groups and sent to agility stations and rotated on my whistle every 15 minutes. The other two head coaches had a station each and the third was manned by Brian and a volunteer. John, in his infinite wisdom, just sat back watched and talked with select parents. Don't worry, John. We don't need your help anyway.
After the agility stations, we worked on defensive positions, the three agility stations became defensive line, linebacker, and defensive back stations. Again we rotated through in 15 minute increments and we were out with about 5 minutes to spare.
Today's practice was to be more game like, with games like tug of war, deer hunter, Hawaiian football...but rain chased us off. As I type this out, the skies have since cleared, the sun is out. That was a great call by the staff.
My mind changes about every 5 minutes on what I want to do. I haven't decided yet, and think I need to hold off through the weekend.
I helped with equipment handout on Saturday. During that process, I spoke with Reece's dad. During our talk, he mentioned that it would be "great to use" his terminology for the kids so that they get used to it and spoke briefly about the spread offense concept.
That just about seals the deal for me. Assistant or not, I'm not allowing him to tell me what offense to run, much less what terminology to use.
Barkeep49
07-21-2009, 05:14 PM
I think it sounds like Reece's dad is going to have to learn some of the terminology that you use, such as F*&! You. :)
Gone: My girlfriend.
The lesson to be learned here? I love football. Don't stand in my way.
BYU 14
07-22-2009, 07:02 PM
Holy shit, rough couple of weeks for you. Shithead assistants, Girlfriend leaving (The Coaching trail is littered with stories of wifes/girlfriends that can't deal with what we love to do unfortunately)
The way your league does things really baffles me as well. Through my High School travels I have encountered/worked with youth leagues in three different states and have never experienced anything close to what you discribe with youth programs.
There will never be a perfect system, but Ute conference in Utah comes as about as close as I have seen. It is really pretty simple. All teams are divided by the High School boundaries the kids live in. They wear the High School colors and all go by the High School Mascot.
The leagues are broken down into 3 classifications based on enrollment numbers, sinilar to the 4A, 5A etc system. For areas that get 80-100 kids at each age group they select A, B, C teams and those teams play a schedule against other teams of that level.
There is a rule where an extremely small kid can play down an age level based on weight (Z rule) but apart from that you play with your own age and kids over a certain weight can only play interior line and are designated by an X on the back of their helmets.
Obviously there will still be address fudging here and there and some tomfoolery, but nothing like you are going through buddy. FWIW we have three leagues in Arizona (Pop Warner, NYS and AZCFL)
AZCFL is a "competitive" league and basically you recruit players. It is what it is, but at least they are up front about it.
NYS is a year round league, which I detest for a couple of reasons. They allow kids up to 16 (sophomores in HS) to play and don't prohibit HS players from playing, which the other 2 leagues do. The problem here is we would have to forfeit games if we had a player that was doing both during our official season, and last year actually had to remove one from the team after we found out...luckily with no ramifications. We tell the parents of incoming freshmen MANY times they can't do this, so make a choice. I am sure it will still come up this year.
The 2nd thing I hate is that it is year round. This is fucking stupid IMO. Football is a sport you need recovery time from, especially as a teenager and to play full contact in three different sessions during the year is murder on the body. In addition to that, we have had kids under the age limit that play in the spring, which is allowed because we are out of season. The issue here is they should be working out with us and preparing their bodies for the pounding to come, not breaking it down even more. It is just lose-lose.
Pop Warner has the best intentions, but there are always lots of scandals with address fudging, altering pads so players make weight each week and other nonsense. Pop Warner also has boundaries, but allows 2 608's (Out of area players) for each team. So you also have coaches trying to steal players from other teams to take their 608 spots.
Man I love youth sports sometimes. It may seem hard to believe, but coaching at the high school level you encounter about 1/10th of the headaches that you would deal with in youth sports.
JonInMiddleGA
07-22-2009, 07:41 PM
Interesting stuff when you describe a system such as Utah's. Georgia youth football is a hodgepodge with little to no regulation as far as I've ever been able to tell.
My 9 y/o nephew just complete a week of camp (an erstwhile combine of sorts best I've been able to figure out) in preparation for the assignment to rec league 9/10 fall ball.
I ain't gonna lie, I've kind of got issues with putting 9 y/o's in full pads for several hours a day in Georgia in July but, well, he ain't my kid so I don't get any say on that.
BYU 14
07-22-2009, 09:01 PM
I ain't gonna lie, I've kind of got issues with putting 9 y/o's in full pads for several hours a day in Georgia in July but, well, he ain't my kid so I don't get any say on that.
It is brutal at any age, let alone 9...I find it hard to believe they are in full pads already.
We start conditioning for incoming freshmen next Tuesday. They will be 4 days in shorts and a t-shirt. Starting the Monday after Helmets for three days, then shells for two, before we go into full pads the 2nd week of August. Thankfully we have never had a heat related incident of any consequence at the schools I have coached at and that is a big concern anywhere. It will likely by in the 106 - 112 range our first 2-3 weeks of practice.
We don't even have water breaks per se, but instead have 4-5 girls that constantly shuttle water on and off the field so our kids can drink between reps in drills or between plays. We give them a "shade" break about every 15-20 mins, which 100+ shade is still hot, but it gets them out of direct sun for a couple of minutes. Quite honestly I hate the first 3 weeks of practice, but always keep that smile on my face :)
60 kids signed up for 9-10s at this point, and the number will grow. It appears we'll have a 4th team at this point. 64 is the magic number here.
7-8s...42. To support a third team for them we'd need 48.
JonInMiddleGA
07-23-2009, 05:38 PM
It is brutal at any age, let alone 9...I find it hard to believe they are in full pads already.
Shocked me too, but it was last Mon-Tue in shorts, Wed in helmets, Thu-Fri in full pads (confirmed since they made a significant deal to the kids about getting practice pants before next week so as not to mess up their uniforms for game day and because there was much hoohah about them going to pants with integrated pads instead of the traditional kind after many of the single mothers complained about dealing with the old school kind.
I gathered that the thought was since a number of the players were true rookies, they wanted to see them hit & be hit at full speed before doing team assignments and to allow coaches to hit the ground running with their teams this week.
I had an irate parent yelling at me about lightning in the area during part of our practice. What can I do? I'm not the field's safety rep.
We did take 30 minutes off eventually as a storm blew over...essentially ruining the practice as we had a tough time getting combine scores on wet index cards.
JonInMiddleGA
07-23-2009, 10:00 PM
we had a tough time getting combine scores on wet index cards.
C'mon coach, clipboards with a plastic top sheet & you have a lot less of a problem. Get with it ;)
It wasn't really for me, it was for the other coaches. I already know who I'm taking. :)
I'm going to be a little surprised if we don't end up with 70 kids signed up by next week.
With 72 kids, we're now four teams deep. I will gladly take the fourth team...although to try and keep my hands clean the league president is stepping in to "force" the decision. That saves me from a possible blackballing by the high school's offensive coordinator from coaching at the high school level at some point.
This frees me up to start doing things like Frank Sinatra: My Way.
Protected players: Bryce C. Logan B. Nick C. Brennan P. and Trent L.
Bryce, Nick, and Logan have been talked about previously. Brennan is a top 9 year old that didn't play last year. He comes highly recommended and is the son of the defensive coordinator at the high school.
Trent is an intriguing prospect. He hasn't played football but is clearly a gifted athlete. John the former assistant was hoping to slide him in as his first round selection after the protected players...under the guise that Trent has no other way to practice than with John.
I can and will blow that up as Nick C's parents live in that area and Nick's oldest brother will be an assistant coach for me this season. John will protect Trent and give up one of his other players or I will take Trent. If Trent's dad plays the "I'll take my kid out of the league" card, I will force him to do so and take someone else in the process.
I won't allow what happened last year to happen again. Besides, it's in my team's best interest as well as the league's to not allow someone to skirt the rules like that.
Play fair, John, or go home.
JonInMiddleGA
07-26-2009, 08:16 PM
I'm a tad lost, do you end up with the team you thought you had or with a different team? I think what's throwing me off here is the protected players list you mentioned, are those kids you've coached in the past or kids that have played together in the past but not under you?
(Sorry if I'm asking what should be obvious, the ol' synapses don't fire as quick as they used to over here I'm afraid)
The team I envisioned would have included Nick C and Logan B. I won't have Reece, Elijah, or Tyler. I think Bryce will do just fine, though.
After seeing Trent in pads, I'm fairly certain he is no longer on my protected list. Instead, I will likely take Sean M, the other big lineman I was considering.
We pulled numbers out of a hat for the draft positions today as well. The ORANGE COUGARS have the first pick overall. John, the former assistant, is in 4th and really screwed in the long run for that as well.
I've got a lot of work to do tonight, but I hope to update this later tonight as well.
There was a dream crushed tonight...and I like to think, heck I KNOW I crushed it.
The update will have to wait. I'm tired after entering a ton of data in my excel sheets.
I'll give you the drama that happened tomorrow.
Tomorrow is also our draft. I can't wait to crush a few more dreams.
Yesterday's practice was informative. I didn't necessarily need to see more hitting. I needed times for my excel sheet. Of the 78 kids that were available, we had about 45 there for times. Our first hour was dedicated to hitting. The second hour became our combine time.
Steve and his assistant Rob did 20 and 10 yard dashes. I sent Bryan over to help Roger with two types of ladder drills. I ran the box drill on my own. John was on his own. Screw him.
Afterward, John kind of started poking around to ask what was going on. Sorry, bud. Didn't think you'd be interested in helping since you never helped before.
While we were together after practice, we had to make our "protected" players official. John, being the nice, smug guy that he is, rattles of his kids. John then starts challenging me, Steve, and Roger about obtaining parent permission for our protected players.
Ooh, that really sounds great, John. Let me see...I helped put the rules together and...yep, we didn't make that a requirement. Sorry bud.
"Oh well, their parents said they'd really like their son to play for me." Really? Well, they can suck an egg.
"So that's not a requirement?" Nope, if you'd read your rules, you'd know that. Good luck with your team, pal.
Shocked and clearly not happy, John departs, stage left.
John calls me this morning asking about how I planned on using Brennan. I figured he was looking for an angle so I fed him a line.
I told him, just between you and me, I'm not sold on Bryce being an every down back and kind of want Brennan there to help shoulder the load and that I was kind of counting on that.
Of course, that's not true. I'd like to use Brennan as a runner, but more to complement Bryce than anything.
My fifth protected player turned out to be a big lineman by the name of Kevin L. I like Trent but I just couldn't risk him being one of my top picks. Kevin helps flesh out the single wing line.
That's right baby, it's single wing football. I'm converting. I'm sold that it'll be easier to run than the double wing and just as fun.
FYI, these are the scores of my protected kids, according to the Poli Assessment Test (PAT). The lower the better.
Logan B: 2.94. In the 10 year olds, Logan had the 2nd best score behind Tyler S.
Bryce C: 3.26. Bryce is 5th in the 10 year olds with that.
Kevin L: 4.69. 8th overall.
Nick C: 6.17. 10th overall.
Brennan P did not have enough data to rate a score...however, I'm certain he would have finished in the top 3.
Stacy T is officiating the draft. Stacy was my team mom from last season, Nick T's mom.
With our first pick, we add our third lineman to the team. It was of little surprise. I had already told the other three coaches that would happen. Dylan R has really nice size and power. Dylan, Logan, and Kevin will put fear into other teams as we run 16 Power. Dylan's PAT, 3.94, was better than both Kevin and Nick's. Fortunately I could draft Dylan before he went to anyone else.
I'm a little surprised at what happens next. Due to protected players and such, four players left the board. While all four were good, none were rated better than my next pick, Alan D.
Alan D's PAT of 5.94 was better than Nick's as well. Nick's dad ought to be thankful. I'm a big fan of Nick and I'm virtually a part of the family as it is, so I'm happy to have Nick as well. Alan played center for the Bulldogs last season and adds to my already massive line. He steps in at center for me as well. I have no idea why two of the kids that were taken went ahead of Alan.
I've created my own run on linemen and I love it. Every single lineman that was on John's "MUST HAVE" list for linemen (created before any of us began protecting players) were suddenly gone. John took one of them, Rodger took three of them, and I took four. Sorry, sucker.
I've got four linemen and three backs at this point and I'm very happy.
After taking Alan, I'm forced to sit and watch five more kids leave the board. Trent is one (no surprise), but two others definitely surprise me. Both surprises were minimum play type kids last season. I thought one improved, but definitely not to this level. The other? Whew, I'm glad I don't have to deal with that headache.
What hurts is when Steve takes Noah M the pick before me. I had just whispered to Bryan that it was vitally important to take Noah next...only to see Steve take him. Steve, of course, knows that I coached Noah last year and that I'm tight with the family. The room erupts, as well as it can with eight people in it, in laughter. Steve threatens to hold him ransom for Alan D. Not a chance, I tell him, I'd rather explain that I couldn't make the trade to his dad.
I figure Steve's going to eventually give on him and tell Bryan we'll take a player Steve would likely want in place of Noah.
Since I have the next two selections, I get to work. I take Tyler K and Amari F. They're both projects and trade fodder for Noah.
Tyler is a tall, lanky kid. His PAT score wasn't very good at all, but he's new to football and most likely the drills as well. Compounding the issue, Tyler didn't have practice pants and couldn't hit Thursday. If he's 100 lbs or under, I'm hoping to have him benefit from the offensive line by playing him at right end. If he's not, welcome to left guard.
Amari is fast but also in his first year of football. Amari also forgot his pants and actually left practice since he couldn't hit...despite me telling him we'd be doing sprint work the second half of practice. Most definitely my preferred fodder for Noah, I'm not a fan of Amari leaving after me giving him a reason to stay. Amari didn't have a PAT score.
Steve follows my picks with a solid lineman in my opinion. Our league is littered with first year kids but I really liked this one. I was hoping he might slide another round or two.
Nick T goes to Roger's team with the next pick. I should be commended for my award-winning performance as I break off into a faux-rant about Nick and Noah being taken. In reality, Roger and I had already planned for him to take Nick at that very spot. We both knew John would try to get me to pay a king's ransom for Nick, despite the fact Nick isn't really all that good. Still, Roger and I agreed that John would definitely try it and Roger offered to help me out.
Still, my rant was definitely awesome. Stacy was in on it as well and gave Roger this...look. It helped sell it.
John then takes Ashanti T, thus eliminating one of my headaches from last season. Ashanti's heavier now and will have to play the line. Too bad he absolutely loathes blocking.
A few more kids leave the field, none of which I particularly wanted. Operation Find Kids for Nick T begins. I take Abraham K and Clayton S. \
Abe is most definitely a lineman, putting me up to 6 potentially. Another first year kid, he definitely impressed Roger and I hoped that he would be enough to swing Nick T. Abe actually finished right behind Tyler in the PAT.
I'm hoping Clayton can be an end for the team. Relatively decent numbers...he was 11th overall in the PAT of the kids available. Part of that was me liking his aggressiveness.
7 potential linemen and 4 backs. I love this game.
The 10 year old pickings are getting slim here in the 10th round. John gets desperate and drafts a kid that no one had ever seen. I have to wonder if that wasn't gamesmanship. I really hope it wasn't and that he turns out terrible. Continuing their desperation, they take another lineman that has severe attitude and ability issues. That one, in particular, was one of the lowest kids on my list due to his attitude. However, John was desperate for any size whatsoever.
I finish out the 10s with Jackson H (Jack) and Brandon L. Jack's a smaller kid and I'm not a fan of smaller kids. However, Jack fits our team well as quick kid on the reverse. I had him listed as the 9th best overall, I just didn't like his size.
Brandon helps give our line depth. I hope to trade Abe for Nick. Nick plays end. I might have to trade Tyler for Noah, so I definitely wanted another lineman. Brandon's raw scores were the worst of those recorded, but not by much and I liked his effort. Plus, I liked him better than any of the other four kids that were left in the draft.
Unfortunately, I have to say goodbye to Alex S. He goes to John with one of the last two picks of the draft. Alex was better than that, but I had resolved to not take him based on the effort he gave me last year.
John starts out the 9 year old draft taking the very kid that I had hoped would slide to me. Unfortunately, John caught on to him and he took a great kid. Steve surprises us all by taking perhaps the heaviest kid in the league. If he's not the heaviest, he might be the 2nd heaviest. I'd say he's a lock to be the heaviest at our level. Poor Tommy, unfortunately, is all size. His PAT of 36 was just 4 points shy of the record set by Nolan B last season.
Poor Nolan didn't return to play this season. What a bummer. I really thought that kid could be hidden, I mean play, at left guard.
Shocked at Steve's pick, I then take Andrew H. Andrew's dad is a firefighter and is a big football guy. He asked me to keep an eye out for his son. Andrew did reasonably well in camp...which puts him near the top of this weak crop of kids. He projects as an end for me.
John kind of shocks me with the next three picks. One of the kids I knew rather well from flag football. He was kind of swallowed up there. The other two were tied together as one's parents was the ride for the other. I thought the 2nd kid was horrible so I didn't consider taking the other.
By the time my next pick comes around, I'm kind of desperate. This group is very weak. I take one of Roger's kids from last season hoping to trade him to Roger in the Nick deal. Zach B was a linebacker for him on defense and looked pretty decent. I actually had him rated pretty high.
Tyson P was my other selection. Tyson's a lineman type that may be an end. I only worry about keeping him and Alan in line. I've had to break up their goofing off at a practice already.
Fast forwarding, my next two picks were Jacob G and Grant H. Jacob was a shot in the dark. He's signed up but hasn't done much since then. He played for John two years ago. Grant played flag football this spring and is a family friend of Stacy and Nick T.
My final picks were two of the final three kids. One tiny kid with a mouth, one tiny kid with no interest in football, and one kid that I was told had a jerk of a dad. I took the jerk of a dad kid and the no interest kid.
Michael R is the jerk kid. No idea where to play him as he hasn't been to many practices. John M is lost. If found, please take him to John's team. Please.
After the draft ends, Steve pumps me for Alan. I counter with Tyler or Amari, hoping they'll take Amari. He eventually goes for Amari.
Roger and I work out a deal as well. I take Nick and Hayden L, a kid we didn't know much about for Abe and Zach B.
John tries to jump in as well. He tries to sell me his paired picks for Brennan. Sure, I think, I'm a moron. I tell him I'm set. He then tries telling me they'll help me collectively more than Brennan because Brennan just isn't the go-to guy that I'm envisioning.
Really? Then why are you so hot to trot to get him?
So we're set, for better or worse. The only one I probably have to be concerned about is Brennan. I doubt his parents would pull him from the league just because they didn't get the team they wanted. Then again, who knows. I'll call them around noon tomorrow to break the news they undoubtedly already have.
I worry how useful kids like Jacob, Grant, Michael, and Jon will be. Good thing I can rotate kids on the defensive line. Have fun, boys!
fantastic flying froggies
08-01-2009, 07:50 AM
Hey Coach Poli, about a little roster recap after all the drafting and trading drama?
I kinda got lost with all the names. Just a list of names and projected positions will do, if you please. :)
Sure thing...I was planning on that after I contact the parents later today.
Gentlemen, your 2009 Orange Cougars:
Nick C: Nick played TE and DE last season for me. This season he'll be tried at linebacker and as a blocking back (3 back) in the single wing.
Logan: Logan was a Bulldog last season and played OL and DE for them. His dad will be an assistant so Logan was a protected player. Logan is one of the top linemen in our level. Looks to be my right guard.
Bryce: RB and S last season for me. His dad helped me last season as well and so I have Bryce as a protected player as well. With 20 kids on the roster, Bryce may be an offensive specialist this season with just a dash of defense. My tailback/1 back for sure.
Kevin: Another Bulldog lineman last season. Came highly rated from his coach. Another top lineman in our league. Right tackle/power tackle offensively, DT or DE on defense.
Dylan: A top lineman from the Tigers last season. Another strong recommendation from the coach as well and definitely one of the top linemen in the league. Another tackle on offense and DT/DE on defense. 16 power for life.
Alan: My third Bulldog lineman. Center last year projects as the same this season. Maybe not a "top" lineman, but definitely in the upper level. His former coach was amazed that he dropped to me. DT most likely on defense.
Tyler: Tall, lanky kid. 1st year player. I liked his size and think he'll either be a great left guard for us or tight end if he's eligible. I need to see more of him before projecting a defensive spot. Problem is right now reaching his parents. Both phones appear to be temporarily shut off.
Noah: Another former Vol. Small last season, he's now the same size as his brother Nathaniel. Projects as my wingback (4 back for the single wingers) and backup tail and fullback (1 and 2 back). Corner on defense.
Nick T: My last former Vol. Nick isn't the biggest kid but definitely improved over last season. This kid invited me to the opening show of Transformers with his family. I think the world of him too. TE on offense, DT on defense.
Clayton: 1st year kid that's small but looked aggressive. I'll assign a position after seeing more of him.
Jack(son): Another 1st year boy that's small but quick. 4 back in his future I'm almost certain.
Brandon: Our consummate backup lineman and last pick in the 10s. Another 1st year kid that will look to be my utility lineman role.
Brennan: Great kid that didn't play last year. Way too many people told me I needed this kid. Despite not seeing much of him, I protected the boy. His dad's the defensive coordinator for the local high school and hasn't returned my calls as of yet. However, I do know through other coaches that he is doing his homework on me. I'm confident he'll find that I'm competent. Perhaps we need to send him the pic from last year as proof. This quick kid projects as my 1/2 back and linebacker/safety on defense.
Andrew: Dad's the firefighter that loves football. I thought he was a first year guy but it turns out he played two seasons ago as well. Tough kid that was well thought of. I was told he would be gone the next round if I hadn't taken him in the 1st. Not sure where he projects but he'll fill a role.
Hayden: The good news: Hayden loves the Vols. The bad news? Hayden was a Wolverine last season. The Wolverines offense looked like a fire drill gone bad. I worry about what kind of kid I'm getting here.
Tyson: 1st year kid with decent size. Further evaluation needed.
Jacob: A kid John tried to get from me today. I had no data on him other than he played for John two years ago. Turns out he played in Hillsboro last year and signed up here in hopes of John taking him. Too bad. Dad seems to be onboard with me now, though. 80 pounder that will play tight end and if he's effective there he'll have a home.
Grant: 1st year kid that played flag football in our league this spring. Sportsman's reward talent...further evaluation needed.
Michael: See Grant sans flag football.
Jon: The second worst kid in the 9s. I'm just glad I didn't get the worst.
http://www.eteamz.com/edgewoodcougars/images/2009128174423_Cougar-4.jpg
JonInMiddleGA
08-02-2009, 12:49 AM
Given the team mascot, I'm almost afraid to see a pic of the team mom ;)
As of about 3 hours ago, all the parents and players are onboard now. Time to start dominating.
Our bare bones playbook is set and will be ready for the players and parents tomorrow. Tomorrow's a no pad day as we'll further evaluate the kids.
Our past two practices have been fantastic. Noah has been out at a sport camp, just like last year. He won't be in until Wednesday. He was the only absentee on the first day.
Today we had two more out, both excused due to preplanned family outings. Logan and his dad were sorely missed, though. The other, Hayden, fits into our backup linemen plan. He wasn't such a huge loss.
Practice 1 was a no pad practice designed to see what we were working with. What we found was very nice. Clayton is a ballplayer. He'll challenge for playing time at the 1 and 2 backs. He's now the starting 4 back. Noah will have to come in and work.
Jacob is smaller than his dad advertised but a heck of a worker. He and Nick T may swap out at tight end. Andrew seems serviceable as a lineman/end. Tyler is a serviceable backup lineman at this point, but struggles hitting-wise. He's raw, so hopefully we iron that out.
Outside of that, we essentially had what we expected.
Practice 2 was the first in pads. We worked more on stances and got our first shot at tackling. I'm sure my three holdovers from last season were surprised. We didn't do much hitting the first week last year...but with limited practice time between now and then I had to ramp up the schedule.
We split the kids up for offense installation as well. Bryan took the linemen and I took the backs. To alleviate his problem, 1 coach with almost 10 kids, I took the A gap defensive linemen as well. They don't have an offensive position, per say, but I figure letting them take one rep out of three in the backfield wasn't going to kill me. We repped the heck out of 16 Power...bringing over the starting center halfway through the period. It didn't take long for him to admit he didn't practice the snapping yesterday. Near the end of the period the backs worked on adding 22 Wedge as well.
We then went to tackling circuits before finishing with a team offense on air. I called the cadence to keep it running...and we kept it up tempo while shuttling every kid in on the offense. We ran 16 Power about 20 times in 10 minutes on air without a bad snap and three different boys taking the snap. Not too bad.
The parents and kids are excited. Every time I teach something, the parents come over and lean in to see what I'm doing and how I'm doing it. Jacob's mom asked for me to show them some things for him to work on during the off days. This group of kids are about 100% more motivated than the group of kids I had last season.
After practice, Kevin's dad asked him how he was liking it. Kevin's response?
"I'm loving it."
Me too, Kevin.
2 practices down, 10 to go until game day.
The kids are loving this.
JonInMiddleGA
08-06-2009, 11:05 PM
The kids are loving this.
Probably a pretty good lesson there to the importance of tempo with youth practices (not for you, but rather for those of us in the peanut gallery)
Very little down time in the practices...I try to keep the boys from having time to chatter and get distracted.
Saturday's practice went well. Splatter blocking on a mattress was a lot of fun for the boys. They really enjoyed it. We installed the wedge and sweep while reviewing the power play.
Unfortunately, Dylan would later break two toes while riding a motorcycle with his dad. His status is unknown at this point, but I'm hoping to have him for at least half the season.
Offensively, he doesn't hurt us. Tyler can step in for him. Defensively, I may have to do some shuffling.
BYU 14
08-10-2009, 09:56 AM
Saturday's practice went well. Splatter blocking on a mattress was a lot of fun for the boys.
I still do that every Saturday Practice with the Freshmen, we do tackling stations after stretching and Splatter is one of them, I line up 5 stepover bags behind a player, give him a hand shield, then let them tee off on each other to work technique at full speed. It is always their favorite drill.
No practice tonight as school open houses are robbing us of bodies.
Speaking of, Dylan's mom is playing the over protective card and is pulling him for the season.
JonInMiddleGA
08-11-2009, 07:35 PM
Seems to me that football is safer than some of his other hobbies.
Today's practice was borderline awesome. 18 kids there, one on vacation and Dylan was a noshow. He hasn't officially dropped out yet, but I have little reason to believe he is sticking it out. I alerted Tyler to the fact that he is now considered a starter.
We taught, repped, and ran our two plays for the 3 back: 31 trap and 32 wedge. We also got our 43 reverse in as well. We look very sharp. I'm very happy with the boys at this time.
Jon, you're right though. Football does seem to be the safer sport.
Another great practice for the Orange Cougars. We finally got to work some on defense...recognizing formations, assigning coverages, and got some position specific work in.
I took the A gappers with me and tried to give them some attitude and confidence in the position. To their credit, the boys responded and worked hard to do the job right. Jack's going to be very good at it. I'll probably pair up Jon and Jack for the first wave....Michael and Hayden being the 2nd group. Behind them will be Jacob and Grant.
For Jon, Michael, and Hayden, this might be where they hang their hat. They're some of the least mature players we have.
Weigh-ins on Saturday as a team. We could probably practice afterward, but I'm rewarding the boys at this point. 5 practices down. We have our base defense in as well as our five running plays. I couldn't ask for more.
Notes to self:
Need to train up another versatile lineman now that Tyler is our right tackle. Brandon or Andrew may fit the bill.
Find a third defensive end somewhere. Tyler has really improved his hitting, maybe he can slide out to end when we need to give them a breather.
Yesterday's practice was with 15 boys. 4 others were at open houses with multiple kids in the family. I try to ignore the fact that Nick was at practice despite having open house at school and three other siblings in school at the same time. I mean, shoot, he made it to practice.
Still, we got some work done. We installed our three passes. Two are essentially the Tim Tebow specials and the third is our roll out. We also installed our 16 wedge, which we hope will confuse the defense. Wedge blocking should make them think we're coming up the middle. 16 means our backs are trying to blow out the off tackle.
I missed the weigh in due to my car deciding to give up the ghost...however I received word we're all weighed in now.
Nearly everyone has their wrist coach and we talked about what we're doing with that and how we're doing it as well yesterday at practice. We'll cover it again tonight...if we get a practice in. If not, we may just meet up somewhere and go over X and Os and watch a Cisar video as well.
Tonight's practice is defensive and we're covering our blitzes.
We worked defense today...learning the blitzes for our defense.
Tonight's practiced closed with a 30 minute scrimmage.
We flat out dominated them. Starting on defense, we eventually stopped blitzing and moving players all over the field. They had two plays over 3 yards and none over 5.
Offensively, we "scored" on the first play from scrimmage, power, and nearly scored the second, the wedge. We then turned around and just confused them with 32 wedge, 31 trap, and 43 reverse. They had no idea who had the ball or where. They definitely tackled the wrong player more times than the right one. Our only struggles came when our backup linemen came into the game. We've got to coach them up.
Still, scrimmage wise, I'd give us an A easy on defense and a A for the starters on offense... B- overall.
If we look like this in games, oh my goodness.
First game is Saturday morning against Desoto. I'm chomping at the bit to get going.
Orange Cougars 26, Desoto Colts 14.
Let's get this party started.
JonInMiddleGA
08-29-2009, 08:28 PM
A win is a win but the defense obviously needs to pick it up a little ;)
Going into Saturday's game, I had limited knowledge on Desoto. Likewise, any information they had on me would be limited. They may have seen us in the scrimmage the week before, but I doubt it. Even if they had, we only ran 3 different plays with all sorts of substitutions.
Captains were Logan, Bryce, Jon, and Tyson. Jon gets to talk with the official...and was that ever entertaining. They call heads. The official asks Jon what they called. Jon thinks the official is asking which side we have and says tails. The official explains the situation again. Jon says tails again. The official explains one more time...and I tell Jon to say heads this time.
All that effort and we win the toss. I tell Jon to "defer". Jon then tells me, "I don't know what that means." "Say it anyway."
We kickoff and they return it for a 4 yard loss.
Empty backfield and I'm shouting for our linebacker Nick C to cover his guy. Instead he's standing in the middle of the field. With an empty look, he has man coverage on someone, he just has to locate him. Bad news for us, the quarterback finds him. One play, about 66 yards, touchdown. 2 point kick and we're down 8-0 with about 20 seconds off the clock.
We basically fall on the kickoff and are hit with an illegal procedure penalty just before our first play. One of our linemen on the right left just a shade early. Good thing, we botched the snap.
So, our first official play out of our no-huddle offense is 22 Wedge. Brennan is brought down 31 yards later. Run to the line, we call 32 Wedge. Nick C's brought down 8 yards later. Back to the line, 22 Wedge again. Brennan scores from 25 yards out. The three plays took about 1:40 seconds in real time to run and score, from beginning to end. Sure beats the heck out of huddling and getting back to the line of scrimmage every play and wasting 25-30 seconds per play. Brennan misses the extra point. Jon is our "long snapper" since there is no rush on kicks. Why not have my worst boy out there with that "important" assignment?
Our defense responds for the most part on the second drive. We give up a big run on 4th down, but it's still 5 yards shy of the first down. We take over on our 45. One play with Bryce later, we're in the endzone.
4 plays, 140 yards, 2 touchdowns. We miss the kick again, 12-8 Cougars.
My A gappers, Jack actually, recovers a fumbled snap and we take over on the Desoto 38.
My second team left end and left guard are in the game. Brandon, the left guard, becomes the heaviest player ever in the 9/10 Orange Cougar backfield when he forgets he's the left guard and lines up beside our 3 back. Somehow, we're not flagged for having a 130 pound lineman in the backfield or for having just 6 players on the line of scrimmage. The latter is probably because of the pace of the game.
I kept wondering why our wedge play suddenly wouldn't have worked...I didn't understand why until I saw the video. I chuckled, I'll admit it. I did notice Brandon in between plays and sent him to his right position after the play, but I never put 2 and 2 together while on the field.
We continue to make mistakes and eventually give them the ball back early in the 2nd quarter at their 23 yard line. Two plays later, they are inside their 10 yard line. I feel pretty good about our chances. 91 yards later, I don't. Their runner is pretty nifty and breaks Logan's contain. Our corner, Nick T, wasn't playing back and was actually inside Logan's containment. Brennan wasn't in the right position either or he could have helped. Still, we have about four chances to make the tackle. Tip the hat to the runner, what a series of moves he put on to get into the endzone. Logan "blocks" the extra point...a liner that hits him in the leg. 14-12 Desoto.
With about 3 minutes to go in the 2nd quarter, I'm really wanting to score before the half. We obviously have shown we can score at any time.
Nick C nearly botches the kick return. We're fortunate that the ball is ruled down because he did lose that ball.
We run power for 17, lose 6 on a dropped handoff on the reverse (TD if we get it done), get a false start, and 11 on a wedge, false start on a no play, 14 on a sweep. If you're keeping track, it sets us up for a 4th and 1.
Desoto calls a timeout and sends in the first stringers. What I liked about that, in hindsight, is how we controlled the tempo. They had to call timeout so they could sub in their kids. The entire drive they had kids 15 yards away from the play either running on the field or off.
I counter this move with the secret weapon.
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Jon's special play garners the first down.
We sweep for a few, but lose them on a bad wedge snap. Reverse it for 4 and sweep for the first down, but it's called back on a hold by the 4 back.
4th and 14, not even a Jon Special can save us now. We go no play. It works! 4th and 9. We sweep to the right and we get the first down.
1st and 10 and we call timeout. I tell the boys I'm proud of them and it's time to take the lead again. I ask them if we can run Jon Special without Jon. They tell me we can. We run it, get 6 kids looking the backfield...including one he literally bumped into our runner on his way to the backfield. We're on the 3 and I call another timeout.
I bring in Jack and Michael. If at all possible, I'm looking to get Jack into the endzone. It's his first game ever and he had a fumble recovery earlier. Michael...he wasn't very good early in camp but he really has worked hard. We wedge it in with Jack and he scores! Brennan with the extra point and we're up, 20-14.
With about 30 seconds to go, the Colts run a few plays, but don't cross midfield.
Halftime.
I tell the boys at halftime we need to take the ball at the half and go score and put this game out of reach. If we go up two scores, Desoto will be deflated.
Taking over on our 45, we do just that in four plays. Nick C with the score. We miss the extra point, wide right. 26-14.
Desoto loses 10 yards after taking the ball and hands it to us. Unfortunately, with our subs in, we're fairly sloppy as well. We give them the ball back in the same spot they had it before.
I toy with their defense...calling out fake code words and other dummy type stuff. I feel like Peyton Manning with the boys. On more than one occasion I called "off" a play by calling the exact same play. Each time the defensive coach started moving his kids from the right spot to the wrong spot.
Thank you, coach.
We get down to the 5 yard line before a bad snap costs us. We turn the ball over at the 10. 4 plays later they give us the ball, with 1 second left, on their 1 yard line. Nick C made vicious tackles on 3rd and 4th down.
On the 4th down, it was almost funny to watch a referee back our A gappers even further off the ball than usual. I believe the referee was trying to save Desoto some grief in case we got a safety. Nick C almost made it happen anyway.
Our Victory formation was a thing of beauty. Alan was out of the game so I had Logan make the snap. We have never snapped a ball under center so I put Noah back 5 yards to take the snap and down the ball. Tyler was technically a tight end on the play, another first for our over 100 pounders.
Looking to circumvent the rules, that's me alright.
Great game by the kids, after the 2nd touchdown allowed, I wondered if we'd ever stop them. Desoto only had 3 plays that gain positive yards after that long run.
We had 200 yards rushing in the first half. We would have had over 100, with our backups heavily involved, in the second half without the bad reverse losses.
We take this weekend off and play South County 2 at South County.
South County and I have a little history at this point. I went up there in week 2 last season and beat their top team, 6-0, in what had to be the shocker of the week.
In the playoffs I would beat both their 2nd and 3rd teams on our way to our "Super Bowl" victory. I had scouted their 3rd team, the team we played in the Super Bowl so much that the team's parents literally thought I was associated with their team in some fashion.
Surprise, surprise!
I'm sure they're looking for payback.
I taped all three South County teams that afternoon when my coaching duties were over. Someone scheduled me to face all three in the regular season this time. We play SC 2 and follow it up with SC 1.
SC 2 is a revamped SC 3 squad from the Super Bowl last season. They lost a tough one to SC 1, 16-14. SC2 had the lead with 2 minutes left in the game. They've got their tough runner back and generally force you to play solid defense.
I think we should definitely beat this team.
With no game this weekend...I'm free to monkey around with our two practices this week. We'll start working on installing the 'jet' series...which we're calling "Cougar" series and mess around a little more with the spinner as well.
Today we'll put those in for the first hour...then we'll do some of the games that we did during camp...tackle basketball, deer hunter, and the towel game.
Senator
09-04-2009, 02:39 PM
You get to be on the field during the game? Wow. They stop that here after flag. About to post some things on my season, love to follow yours, as usual. Welcome to the single wing. Notice your guys setup further than 2 1/2 yards behind center. Variation?
You get to be on the field during the game? Wow. They stop that here after flag. About to post some things on my season, love to follow yours, as usual. Welcome to the single wing. Notice your guys setup further than 2 1/2 yards behind center. Variation?
Little laziness on our kids part. I tell them 2 yards behind the center's butt. Should it be 2 1/2 yards off the ball?
Senator
09-05-2009, 08:32 AM
Editing this:
Off the centers butt, you are correct.
South County 2 and South County 1 are reversed...I'm not sure why. The same coaches are there...I don't know why South County's 1 coach from last year would be willing to be labeled "2" this season. Meh, whatever.
I had to scramble to scout when I heard the news, but fortunately those teams played each other so I was okay. What a difference watching film makes. I assumed SC 2 was doing the same things they did last year. It certainly appeared that way, but it's clear they have an unbalanced line on film. In fact, they line up illegally from time to time trying to take advantage of the defense. I will most certainly alert the referee to this. They also use a cute little "Razor" call, which is their variant of the no-huddle. Razor 1 was a sweep call, no different than their normal stuff...Razor 2 being the pass. We'll set up to stop either on the first call, and sell out to stop the second call once we hear it. I don't mind gambling in a situation like that.
Defensively, they like to illegally blitz the linebackers. Any defensive player from tackle to tackle and 3 yards back has to be in a 3 point stance. They stole their win in week 1 by blitzing kids repeatedly. I won't stand for that either. They crash their ends as well. We'll hit them with the wedge and then go outside with the sweep. Power may not work so well with that end crashing, but we'll try to soften him up before we go to it.
Missing on Saturday will be our center. Something about being in his mom's wedding. Come on, mom. It's football season. You don't get married during football season. It's a rule.
Taking his place: Noah. I had wanted to try out a few other boys, but two didn't show for practice today. They're both benched this week as a result. That left me with Nick T and Noah. Nick T was overzealous with the football, zipping fastballs back to the 1 back, whether he wanted it or not. Noah became the safe choice and perhaps the lightest center in the history of the game.
No Alan, perhaps no Grant at left end, perhaps no Jacob at right end. We're apparently the walking wounded. I feel like Senator last year. We get what we deserve on Saturday.
I certainly stirred it up a bit today with my complaints about how my opponent plays. I've been exchanging emails with their league rep most of the day.
Practice tonight went well. We went over what they did offensively and then simulated game situations...including our special teams.
I may quit after today. All kidding aside. I should quit if we continue to play like we did today.
60 to who the heck cares. 60. Like 10 points less than we allowed all last season.
FrogMan
09-12-2009, 09:21 PM
ouch, you had many guys out though. Still, ouch... :(
FM
It's time to ping the drunk guy. I'm not kidding.
Senator
09-12-2009, 11:24 PM
Damn it! You kind of saw danger on the horizon, and it happened. My brother, who is coaching now, lost a game a few years back by a large margin. It was like an elephant in the room, it was on everyone's mind, even though the prevailing wisdom should have been that "it's over, let's think about the next game." It was too big of a loss.
So, he took a piece of paper and wrote the score on it. At the next practice, he gathered the guys and they dug a whole in the center of the practice field. Then they ripped it up and buried it. For some reason, this was a huge psychological release, and they bounced back pretty good. Just a story.
Keep fighting the good fight.
I may try that.
Just over 24 hours later and I still feel like a fraud and a failure.
A much better showing today, but we'll continue to work on our tackling. Up by 6 at the half, the Cougars fall 34-24. South County scored a touchdown with just over a minute left in the game to nail down the win. The eight points they garnered put the game out of reach.
A thousand time better effort from my boys.
John and I play each other Saturday. John and I agreed a few weeks back to exchange videos from this week's games. After all, "we were supposed to be working together".
John now wants to back out of that deal.
John apparently has lost his integrity. Perhaps he never had it in the first place.
My team has been dealt another loss. Andrew is moving in with his mom in Arizona immediately following an incident where he was physically abused by his father. Maybe I didn't word that right, but I'm sure I don't care.
I'm sad, so friggin sad. These kids are like family and it hurts to lose one like this.
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