Cowboys! A RL Youth Football Dynasty. Texas version.
 

Poli - Rodney and I have been writing back and forth about our football coaching, and I mentioned we both should write a dynasty. He informed me I was a D-bag and he had already been doing one.

When I found out he was head coaching, and had the same age group as myself, it suddenly made sense to have a comparison dynasty, not in any way as a competitive piece, but to see how we each handled the challenges.

This is my 4th year as a head coach; I am in Texas; the league is very affluent and well financed; they take football serious in Texas and this is no exception; I am coaching 9 and 10 year olds; and finally, I am defending my Super Bowl win from last season where we were the 4th seed out of 12, and won the final 27-6. I ran the 5-2 Monster on defense, and a mixed single wing and bash offense.

The age division I coach has 20 teams. I will go into detail on the other teams later, but we get to keep our Cowboys name. We are going old school on the uniforms. Single blue stripe on the helmet, with the solid blue star. Blue pants, white socks with three navy stripes, and the jerseys are blue on the shoulders, white in the middle, with navy numbers, and names on the back.

I am returning 3 players that I am protecting. 2 from last season that will be 10 year old's and one 9 year that is my assistant coach from last season, whose son is finally old enough to play for us.

All three players are big.

Jack - all pro last season - 10 years old - played pulling guard and defensive end. He is 5'6 - 120 pounds

Jacob - all pro last season - 10 years old - played tackle next to Jack and nose guard. He is 5'5 - 125 pounds

Andrew - played select bantam last season - 9 years old - will play power tackle probably, and DT. 5'5 - 120 pounds

That is the right side of my unbalanced single wing line. Pretty substantial by any standards, but between the skills they have and the size they carry, we should have one of the best lines in the league.

This means I will draft in the 4th round. We will have about 17 players a team. Coaches who were returning could keep as many as 6 players, and new coaches could keep their son and an assistant. So, because we have 20 teams, I do not know where I fall or what to expect.

The combine is August 26, 27, 28. It is being handled by a professional agency. We will get a printout with the picture, name, weight, experience, and all the combine scores of each kid (around 350 kids) on the 29th.

On the 30th, we go to the city police station, where they have a giant room with a podium, and giant projection screen. Each coach will have a table for his staff, a laptop, and a microphone. As each players is selected, his photo and info will be relayed on the screen, and the commish will verify at the podium.

Guys, I didn't create this, I am just reporting the facts. Because it sounds self important to me as well.

I will call the parents on the night of the 30th, and we will begin practice on September 2.

Ok so far yours sounds serious, but not all that is wrong with youth sports. A promising start indeed.

Wow again......Texas Football is on a whole other plain, even at this level.

As we get closer to draft day, I work on finishing up the important administration stuff.

I spent 300 dollars at Academy last night, buying cones, tape, chin straps, mouth pieces, ect.. stuff that gets needed during the year. I have a tackle box full of it. It has saved me in years past.

I spent about 500 last Monday on helmets, pads, ect. We always have 2-3 kids from low income families play, and the equipment is not safe enough, so I make sure they feel and look good while they play for me. It makes everyone feel good, including me, so I know I will spend around 1500 a season on just being the coach.

Finished up the team website. Cleaned it up from last season, added the new dates for the calendar. Finished up the parents packet, which is a three ring binder with my expectations, parent, player, and coaching contract, playbooks for offense and defense, and maps to the different locations we play.

We have the three day combine a week from Tuesday, with 500 kids trying out, and then the big draft on Saturday, I will make the calls to the parents that night, and we will get it going the day after Labor Day.

I can certainly learn from that. I've bought mouthpieces, but I'm looking to build up a small supply or arm shields, etc. I've found our league's supply of equipment lacking thus far.

I give you credit. I spend, between baseball and basketball, between 300-500 a year on "stuff", but most of it is stuff that more benefits me, as it tends to be books or videos or the like. I give you all the credit in the world for spending that kind of money to provide your kids with a quality experience. This gave me a good feeling just reading about it.

I appreciate that, but I am luckily at a place in my life where I can afford to do this, without much of a problem. I have very few hobbies that require funding, so this is something I budget for and expect. I was the kid who didn't have anything; and it feels good to get to a place where I can make it easier for some kid like I was.

Very well said, I feel exactly the same way.

Dola:

How did you score the most popular team nickname in that area, or are there ten Cowboy teams?

No, every team has a unique name. We are the only Cowboys. Apparently, this area has one of the highest carpetbagger ratios in America. I bet I only meet 3 out of 10 who were born or raised around here. Most are out of state people who came here because the economy is so good. When I took over the team 2 years ago, there were 12 teams in the division, and not one was named the Cowboys. We are actually hated because of our name, and now, of course because we are the defending champs. (Even though I only bring 2 starters back).

tonight from 7-10pm we had yet another all-coaches meeting. They showed us the draft software that will be used. It is about as professional as you can get. We received our coaches package. 3 Junior Nike Footballs, 4 blocking dummies, 2 hand blocking dummies, coaching bag, 22 cones, whistles, lanyard, basically most of the stuff I already own. But it is nice to have backup and I do get to keep it all after the season.

17 kids on a team.

The 20 teams are all in one conference. A random schedule draw.

Cowboys
Broncos
Hawkeyes
Indians
Killer Frogs
Scorpions
Hurricanes
Saints
Desperados
Hornets
Colts
Yellow Jackets
Steelers
Mojo
Raiders
Aggies
Tigers
Longhorns
Chargers
Spartans

Wow, that's nice! I still haven't received my "full" coaching bag. It's not as nearly complete as yours is, and I'm almost positive I'll have to turn it back in afterward.

OK, I'll obviously be rooting for the Cowboys (FOFC homerism!), but my 2nd favorite team will just have to be the Killer Frogs!!! :)

We played the Killer Frogs the very first game last season and limped out with a 21-6 win. He is bringing back 14 players. They should be pretty tough.

Tonight is the first 300 kids in the combine/tryout. I get to finally see the man child Onassis - a 200 pound 10 year old.

First Name Age Weight Height
Onassis 10 200 70
Eli 10 165 62
Dorian 10 164 63
Demitrius 10 160 62
Blake 9 149 62
Isaac 10 149 61
Ryan 10 147 61
Tristan 9 144 57
Addison 10 143 59
Michael 10 142 62

Onassis sounds like "my" Ray. Ray missed our weigh in, so I still don't know where he's at weight-wise. Do you know if he's very athletic? Ray's pretty scary being as athletic as he is.

The boys you have listed are BIG, though! My heaviest 9 is 126, and he's not in any kind of shape. Besides Ray, I'd only have two boys that would make that list based on weight.

I won't see Onassis try out until Thursday, so I am not sure what he brings, athletic wise.

Last night from 6-9pm we had the combine for kids with last names A-G. About 100 kids ran through the system. I saw about 10 that really stood out, but there is enough that if the right mix lands on a team, it will be all she wrote. We had the 40 time, vertical jump, then a weave through cones, catch the ball, and then throw it to a reciever 10 yards away. Next came the ladder run and explode through the bag to show tackling technique. So, basically, two drills with a raw number, and two that are subjective scores from the coaches.

I saw one kid named Alexander. He was quiet; a little shy, but a nice sized kid, about 110 pounds. I just noticed how he was taking it all in, sort of all business, and focused. I went over and talked to his mom, and she said he has an older brother that plays in high school (good), and he has played soccer the past 4 years (good) but has begged to play football every year (good) and his uncles won state in Ohio last year as HS coaches (good).

He really flew under the radar, but I rated him pretty high in the drills. I am hoping I can get him, as he looks like one of the kids that might slip by if you didn't find out more about him.

One kid named Detamore (164 pounds) will probably go overall #1. This kid was solid and brought the heat on the tackling dummy. The coach who has the overall #1 is a really D-bag who I saw in the uniform store asking how shoulder pads worked. But he walks around like he is Lombardi or something, so we all think that the best thing would be he gets Detamore and his coaching will offset the value the player would bring.

I wish I could take video of just the coaches. There is one staff that all dressed the same; down to the shoes. That was a little funny. There is another group that we call Top Gun, because they are right out of casting for the Top Gun movie. Remember Slider, the right hand guy for Iceman. Well, there are three of them walking around with bowed out chest and skin tight under armour shirts, stop watched slung casually, yet cooly behind their necks. One said, "nobody beats us man, nobody". I, of course, had to say at least once, "That's right Iceman, (snap teeth), I am dangerous." I don't think they appreciated it.

One of the best coaches from last season was Jeremy. This guy knows his business. He walked up to me at one point and said, "Seeing lots of self love from the coaches."

I suspect the draft Saturday will be an ugly affair. There are 311 kids to draft, and 80% have a little caveat where the player "supposedly" requested coach so and so. In theory, you would respect these gentlemen's agreements, but it will become clear very soon that this will not be practical if we are going to field 20 teams.

I didn't see a superstar sprinter like I had on the team last season. Maybe tonight.

Your descriptions of the coaches made me laugh.

Ok, last night was the next 125 to try out. I had a "special" kid run a 4.8 forty last year, and the very best so far out of 250 kids has been a 5.85. Only 3 have broke the 6 second barrier. One of those is designated to be mine because of the assistant coach rule. There are 20 teams, and only 15kids weigh over 125. I will have 4 of them.

Not sure what all this means, but when I see that this is not a speed class, the next differential is size, and I feel good about power football this season. Last season we had 10 TD's over 80 yards. This year, cloud of dust, 4 yards all day will make me happy.

Tonight is the last night of tryouts - another 100 or so. Then we will draw for draft order, and get ready for the big draft on Saturday.

That's a sizable advantage. I like it. I'm surprised so few weighed in over 125. I'd say we have 10-15 boys here amongst 4 teams.

We are surprised as well about the size and speed. We still have 100 or so tonight, maybe it will shake up a little bit.

Ok, three days, 12 hours, 320 kids - FINISHED!

All 20 teams drew for drafting position. Wouldn't you know it, I picked the #1 pick. But..... I saved 2 players from last season, and since this is a serpentine draft, I get the LAST pick in round 3 and the 1st pick in round 4. Basically I have back to back picks all the way through.

I have to use my first 2 picks on my 2 assistants kids. One is Andrew, a 130 pound kid and the other is Tyler, a little 65 pounder with quickness and a mean streak. Both are 9 years old.

So, it will be the 5th round, last pick before I have a shot at any kid I don't know. I need skill guys, but if Luken is still there, I am grabbing him. He is 130 and moves like a cat. I think he might be there. That would make my line:

130
130
125
135

Little Tyler would have a field day behind that line. Lots to think about and decipher tomorrow.

Tomorrow night I am going to see my brothers high school team play, and then Saturday, it is draft time. I am itching to get going.

draft day
 

Attached is a partial working sheet for the draft today. Obvious info left off this public attachment, but it shows my weighted scale I chose to evaluate talent.

We have about 60 kids, 3 per team, that did not go through the combine that will be placed in the blind draft. Big Onassis (5'11 200 pounds 10yrs old has been put in the senior division with the 11 and 12 year olds).

I would so have a blast working on a draft like this. I wouldn't be much of a football coach but I'd be a hell of a Moneyball-for-football guy.

It's a good read Sen, thanks for posting, now go find some blue chippers.

Here was my criteria I used.

Skill

40-.40

Vert-.05

Ladder-.25

Weave-.30



Line

Ladder-.70

Weave-.30

Are the kids really so unevenly distributed between line and skill? I mean are you trying to compose a whole line out of that 22 or do you shift some skill kids into line slots?

I was using the 115 rule for non-running players. I already have a line of four 130 pounders, so I really did not have to focus much on those kids anyway in the draft. Most teams will have 70,80, or 90 pounders who are listed as skill to play the line.

Long draft, but it went really well. Attached is the excel sheet earlier with my picks. I had 2 freeze players, Jack 125 pounds, who would have been the top pick and Jacob 130, who would have been the 2nd lineman picked.

I had the 18th, 19th, 41st, and 42 pick and I managed, based on my data, to get off the board 3 top ten picks.

My first pick I chose the best lineman, Andrew. His 40 time is not accurate, but he demolished the offense and defensive drills. That gives me three huge linemen of top caliber.

My second pick was Tyler. This kid is just tough as nails, and quick as can be. He should be perfect as my halfback. He plays select baseball at the state level, and I can't believe I grabbed him. Because there were so few lineman, coaches focused on an early run there, and I was able to grab this kid.

My third pick produced groans because he was wanted by everyone. Brenton is 102 pounds. I will have to run him through some paces, because at 102 pounds, I might be able to use him as a pound runner, as his speed was one of the best for a 100 pounder.

My next pick was Austin, 82 pounds. Looks like my TE, but we will see. Happy to get him.

Next was one of three total steals of the draft. Derek is 94 pounds and I recall really being impressed in the combine. His scores were good, and I remember a real focused mindset. Alot of kids were grab assing during the wait between their turns, and Derek looked like he was there on a mission. I will wait and see, but he caught my eye and I was thrilled he was on the board. Either my system is far and away better than the other coaches, or I don't know what I am doing, but I am finding all kinds of value.

Next pick was Garett. I put a double check next to his name so I would not forget him during the combine. 69 pounds, but another with a sense of purpose and a maturity that was evident to me. I see him as my wingback.

Next pick is Reegan. He played for me last season, and I didn't freeze him. So happy to get him. He played blocking back for me on the single wing, and was rock on solid every time. Plus, he will take a vicious hit and not even blink. Lucky to get him. Plus, he gained 10 pounds from last season.

Tyler with my next pick. My only controversy of the draft. When I picked him, howls of protest from the Longhorn coaches. "The dad will only let him play for me or he will quit!" they shouted. I looked over at the commish and said, I confirm my pick. What they didn't know is that I knew he plays select baseball with Tyler and Ryan and is a complete stud. Once the dad found out the other two boys were on my team, it was no issue. Apparently he is quite an athlete.

Next is Ryan. 90 pounds, stands tall, and played quarterback for two years. He was sick during the combine, and had poor numbers, but he is another perennial all-star in baseball and the two years he played football. So far, not one dud in the draft from my draft goggles.

Next is 65 pound Payton. Don't remember him, but he merited a check mark from me during the combine and was the next best available off my board.

Next is 69 pound Clayton, who had almost the exact score as Payton and who also garnered a check mark from me. Not sure where these guys go yet, will have to see.

Next is 55 pound Tre, my littlest player. His dad seemed like a nice guy and we needed a 4th coach. He did well in the offensive drill, poor on the defensive. Just not sure where he fits, but we will make it work.

Big shock with my next pick, 86 pound Richard. Everyone left him alone because he has a request to play with the commish. But, I casually asked him if that kid meant anything to him, and he said he didn't know who he was. His numbers were ok, I had checked him in the combine, and at this stage to get an 86 pound guy was a big deal. May be my center for my single wing. Everyone groaned again, because no one had asked the question until then.

My last pick is Wil. 68 pounds. One of only two I did not check and was better than anything left on the board. We'll make him love football.

So, like I said earlier, I am seeing this with draft goggles, but historically, one of my best assets has always been to see talent. This will be tested this year. My combine check marks were a little note to me to remember this kid, he has "something" even if the score was not the best on draft value. I watched the way they carried themselves, how they interacted with other kids, how they answered me, and if it was confident yet respectful. I considered all these intangibles coupled with raw athletic data, and I believe I was the most prepared in the room. Once again, the proof is in the results.

My only regret was waiting too long to draft Evan. He was my left guard from last season, 125 pounds. His dad helped us all season, did all the grunt work, and I will really miss them. The value of big kids was too obvious and I couldn't get him. I dread making that phone call.

I will call the parents tomorrow, and will call a coaches meeting for Monday, and we begin full pads on Tuesday. Finally.

Interesting. I felt like I got a lot of good value in our draft as well. Kind of surprising that you could get some 'complete studs' so late in the draft. After the first 3-4 rounds in our 10 year olds, we went very average. 'Elite' 9 year olds probably were gone in the first 2.

You've probably got more bigger kids than I have, but I don't have anyone under 70.

Man, who knows, I will have to line them up and go from there.

I noticed about 1/2 of the coaches were completely overwhelmed by the sheer numbers and had little idea how to evaluate talent.

Steve and the Trojans essentially had a printout of my notes.

The Bulldogs seemed to have some stuff on paper and somewhat organized.

The Tigers, the team I want to beat more than anything, had a sheet of my paper with kids written down on it. They scratched out names as they went along. I have no idea how they got by.

Unbelievable.

We had one coach (in the 4th round) actually pick 9 kids in a row who had already been picked during the draft. What the hell was he doing?

I forgot my favorite pick of the Tigers. They picked Ashanti in the 7th round of the 10 year olds. Problem is, he's nine.

Tonight is the first practice - FINALLY!

Tough to think about work - it is like I have a hot date or something tonight.

2-Sep-08

6:00pm Parent and Player Orientation
6:20pm Cals - Positions, Jumping Jacks,butt kicks, cherry pickers, high knees
6:30pm Angle Form Tackling
6:40pm Three point stance, ready position
6:45pm Break
6:48pm ladder drill - head across dummy
6:53pm Dummy Relay Drill and Evaluation
7:10pm Sumo Game and Evaluation
7:35pm break
7:38pm Splatter Drill
7:45pm Conditioning
7:55pm Daily Review
8:00pm Done

The boys enjoyed Sumo. I wish I had the right amount of pads/dummies, actually I wish I had any, to do things like Splatter and a dummy relay.

We'll get there next year, even if I'm buying all of it myself.

Last night we had all the confusion of kids, parents, and coaches who don't know each other, but have to begin that first step.

Half my team has never worn pads, much less hit someone at full speed, so we did many drills to show them that the pads really do absorb most of the perceived pain.

As we went through the drills, I took mental notes on each player.

Jack was out this week for a school trip. We know he is our Lawrence Taylor, so it was not important for him to be there. The kids are going to freak out like in Little Giants when that big kid Spike walks up during practice.

Jacob came in a solid 132. He really makes me proud. Last season his mom said she could not get him to interact with people and his school work was poor. After a season with us, his self esteem rose, and he became an A student. All he needed was someone to believe in him, and for him to find something he loved to do and was good at. He was raw at first, but he developed and I put him on the All-Star team because I wanted him to carry over that confidence to this season. He spent all summer at a running camp, played baseball and hit the game winning homer in the All-Star Game. Yesterday I asked him which game he liked more, and he said, "Always football, coach!" Love that kid. Then, during the drills he was crushing the bag and won sumo. He and Jack should have a field day.

Andrew is 132 but is still finding his feet. He will do fine taking those 2 steps off the line.

Tyler is insane. He is 65 pounds and hits like a mack truck and is quick. I sense him scoring alot for us.

Brenton is going to baffle me. He is 102 pounds and can play the backfield. He is aggressive and has a good attitude. I need a center, but I almost dare myself to play him in the backfield.

Austin is 82 pounds, and really had a scary time at first. He didn't want to hit at all. We did the splatter drill where you land on pads, and seemed to feel better about it.

Derek I am going to love. He has a big smile on his face and loves contact. I see him at LB. My proudest draft pick.

Garett has speed, but seems to have an attitude. Not sure what we got there. While we were working him out on a drill, his dad walked all the way down and started trying to coach him up. We asked the parents to let us evaluate the first week. Then after practice he started whipping me about his 40 time. With glee I looked it up. It was 52 out of 300. Not Usain Bolt like his dad thought. Maybe our free safety and wingback.

Reegan was solid. Not alot of talent or speed, but heart of a giant and smart enough to remember multiple positions.

Tyler T really has fun and might end up being one of my better players. All boy and now I know why the Longhorn coach wanted him. He should play alot.

Ryan is 90 pounds and his family thinks he is the next Dan Marino. Too bad he is about as fast as Marino was his final season. He seems like he doesn't want to be there very much. In my brain, he might be a DE or TE. Not quarterback.

Little 65 pound Payton is small, small, small. But he fought hard and won against bigger kids in the sumo drill. In our defense we need a little, quick kid at noseguard, and he might fit the bill.

Not sure where Clayton will end up. He did not stand out much. We'll see how he does the skill drills.

Little Tre. I feel sorry for him because this kid is so tiny and it looks like maybe his dad made him play to toughen him up or something.

Richard is tall and big. Maybe center or left tackle, depending on how it shakes out. Development player.

Wil is very much like Tre. We will have to find spots to put them in the game. My dream is we go up 20 by halftime and I can play them to my heart's content.

I have two good assistants who know the game, and we should develop pretty good before our first game on the 20th. We are small in many places, but so is the rest of the league through parity.

There are some people, including one of my assistants that are going to second guess me alot and question my choice of offense. I am sure I will hear "froggie offense" again. Once again, the wins will silence them, but once again I will have to prove myself.

What's the froggie offense taunt referring to?

It is the single wing. No QB, it is a direct snap to one of three players sitting almost squat like 2 yards behind the line. With spinner and motion plays, this hesitates the defense as to who has the ball, and misdirection works wonders. It is one of the oldest offenses in the world but is not cool like a spread or something. Give me wins.

4-Sep-08

6:00pm Cals - Stance, cadence, butt kicks, cherry pickers, high knees, Jumping Jacks
6:10pm Angle Form Tackling
6:20pm Tackling Progression
6:25pm Gauntlet Drill and Evaluation
6:35pm break
6:38pm Bear Crawler Drill
6:45pm Splatter Drill
6:55pm Base Tackle Drill
7:15pm break
7:20pm Specialized Drills - Defensive Line, Linebackers, Defensive Backs
7:45pm Conditioning
7:55pm Daily Review
8:00pm Done

People dog us all the time too cause we still run wing-t. Well there is a reason these offenses have been around so long. They work and will continue to have a niche in HS and youth football long after the latest flavor of the week offense (See the A-11 for this years flavor) have lost their luster. :)

I am a big single wing fan too coach (Behind the wing-t of course) looking forward to your season coach.

Our second practice and some lights went on with some of the players.

Garett just realized he liked to hit alot. He is fast and we projected him at corner, but he is linebacker material if there ever was. He has the mentality for it, and he was popping out there. His dad is a tool, but that is a different story.

Austin, who was very timid, found out during the splatter drill that is was pretty fun to hit. In the speed drills, was in the front, and on recognition drills, he showed a quick study. He will be one of our corners or safeties.

Brenton, just blew up the gaunlet drill. He has power and a natural lean. He has to get the ball. He is now 106 pounds, so that is pretty impressive considering many teams average line weight is 92.

We have about 5-6 players that will really need some help developing, but that is what we are here to do. My assistants could coach a team as head coach, but they want to be with me, so we really form a good trio.

Next week we start three practices a week, and putting players where we think they will fit. That is when the parents start squawking, the second they see little Joey not lining up in the starting 11. I expect some conversations explaining we rotate liberally. We have to; to get 14+ plays a half for every player.

I love the wing-t; it is a beautiful thing when done correctly. If at some point I coach an older group, the wing-t will be the offense.

I can't say I blame you. Of all the HS games & schemes I've seen, it's the one I've seen shut down the least often by a wide margin. When it's run well, I've run across very few teams that can stop it consistently.

Nothing wrong with a "froggie offense"... :D

I am going to try and add media content with this thread as well. Much like I did with my brothers college games, I will add video highlights. It will be much better, as I paid a professional this season to do these.

Just another thing I need to keep in mind for next year.

Wow, tough 3rd practice. As I look at the schedule, I see we have 4 practices before our official kickoff classic scrimmage, and 6 before our first game. We have so much to do.

It was pouring rain last night, but no lightning. I handled all the calls from the mom contingent saying, "are you kidding?", to which I responded, "This is football weather, we are practicing!"

The kids seemed to like it, but when we got started, they were anywhere but practice mentally. Our form tackle drill was just atrocious. I spend a huge amount of time molly coddling our guys. Maybe too much. Eventually, after we showed them technique for about the 10th time, and it became obvious that they just didn't feel like doing, not that they couldn't, I ran them. Suddenly, they changed attitude.

Now, I should note, about 8 of my guys are solid, give effort at all times. The other 8 just became zombies on me.

Hurricane #1 made us wet this week, and Hurricane #2 hits the coast on Saturday, so we can probably expect another week of it. Beats the heat that is usually here in Texas this time of year.

We had a solid practice last night. We did half field instruction on defense. We only have 16 players, so we played a scout offense against the starting right side, and then a scouting offense on the left side. This worked really well. We ran basic dives, sweeps, a few passes, just to get the guys used to what they will see. Liked the agression. Our monster, Jack, played liked a damn senior in high school. This kid is amazing. Full throttle, hits like a ton of bricks, and is lean and mean. He keeps making kids (big kids) cry. I don't see how any team slows him down playing the position he will be playing.

On offense, we have installed our "core plays" - power, sweep, reverse, trap. I have two backfield units that looked pretty good. Our issue is a first year player at center who keeps hiking the ball too high. This happened last season as well, and it can be fixed by reps. He is a little timid, I am afraid a big noseguard might light him up, but we are out of options for that position. It has to be Richard, and we have to make it work.

My assistant is trying to get me to agree to a scrimmage with a select bantam team. The last two seasons, I have had complete backfires with scrimmages. It always turns out to be an ego-fest for the coach, and less instructional. They want to run around and yell, and make it feel like a real game, and I never seem to feel like I have any value out of it. We'll see. I need to install a bunch more plays and if we scrimmage this Thursday, that gives me only 4 more practices before game #1.

Last night was the first practice this week without rain. It was in the high
90's because of Ike pushing it north. Many teams have plans to practice this Saturday, but they are going to get wet from Ike. We planned it correctly, I think.

It was another solid practice. At this stage of process, this is the best overall team I have coached. We have a major development issue with Richard at center, but we are coaching him up, and he is actively working at home to get better. He wants our faith in him, and I am going to be consistent. If he falters we are hanging in with him. The direct snap is not easy at any age, but for someone who has never done it before, it will take a little time.

I will say it again. This should be the year of Jack. From that monster position on defense, we threw three guys at him to slow him down, and he just flattened them every play. I don't see anything stopping him except injury. (Knock on wood!)

Our O-line learned the wedge last night. Really, really well done. I can put my smallest running back behind that wedge and feel good about 4 yards.

I told my brother on the phone last night that I was really watching myself against having starry eyes, but I think we should be competitive in the top level of 18 teams. We will see, but just a feeling, that can be easily destroyed.

On Tuesday, we are going to really test them physically. The first half of practice will be hitting, hitting, hitting. Then, Thursday we go through some walk through's of our calls, and Saturday is the kickoff classic. I have scheduled to scrimmage the Hawkeyes on Saturday after the official scrimmage for 2 hours on our practice field. It should be a good measuring stick.

Last night we learned 2 pass plays - hot patterns from our TE positions, and 22, 32 wedge.

We now have:

16 power
18 sweep
31 trap
43 reverse
Pass left
Pass right
22 wedge
32 wedge

I want to install about 6 more "easy to learn" plays before our first real game, giving me 14 total. Unless we run them perfectly, I won't call them.

Where did "Alexander" end up and when was he drafted?