I am a high school football coach

[SonOfEd]

How does your lineup stack up against the other teams on your schedule? Are the other schools loaded with more size/strength?
I have seen a lot of high school teams that are pretty undersized bring life into their programs by implementing the Pistol offense, and also the A-11 offense.
You'll definately get a lot of attention running the A-11 (if its not banned in your state)

[Andre Kirby]

Quote: Originally Posted by TDenverFan

Just wondering, do you know who are your best players? Like what positions do they play? And what positions are you weak at?

Just from the film study I have done I have maybe 2 really good players. 1 played TE and DE last year and 1 played WR and CB. He had 5 catches total last year. Not because he has bad hands but the coach never threw the ball. My current plan is to move him to QB. He's a decent sized kid (6 ft around 190). There are a few basketball players I am trying to recruit and 1 baseball player. There are a few decent players that mostly play the OL and DL spots and calling them decent is being kind.

[thelasthurtknee]

LSU uses NCAA all the time. QB's and Wr's use it to learn how to read coverages. in the offseason its a everyday thing. They use practice mode. they don't actually play games.

[PhillyPhanatic]

Quote: Originally Posted by TyghtWork

If this is true! 1st thing you do is get HUDl. http://www.hudl.com/ Dont think playing a game will help the kids with learning a playbook. IMO There is a lot of coaching sites with tips on coaching. Try this 1, http://xandolabs.com/ I coach high school football also(halfbacks) in cali. 1 last thing, look up the Go-get-it offense, its fun, fast, easy to run, and new. So i bet not a lot of teams is running it, and would know adjustments to stop it. LOL How is it in Alabama? My son is going to a DII out there this fall.

100% agree with using hudl.com its a great site for learning the playbook. Our coaches constantly put practice stuff on there

[PhillyPhanatic]

He said the #1 thing you have to do when rebuilding a program is to create excitement. You have to do something that will get the student body interested in your program. Make them want to play for you. I am looking at everything. Even making conditioning fun by making it into a competition. Like a 50 yard tire flip race and several more ideas. I want everything to be a competition (Pete Carroll philosophy).

Keeping it fun is key for a rebuilding program because you need as many people as you can to join and if your not a phenomenal team and run the crap outta them, they definatly will quit. So i'd say keep it simple until everybody gets familiar with the each other/playbook

[sikolec]

This is a really cool thread. I wish you the best of luck in this process. I hope you keep us updated with the whole process. I'm very intersted in coaching in the future. I simply don't have time currently, but one day I do hope to be involved in coaching.

I think one of the most important things is to identify your talent and also keep in mind these "other" offenses that help lesser talented teams in being extremely effective. Not to mention, these "other" offenses can be a whole lot of fun to coach, watch, and even play.

Don't forget about defense. Rushing 6 is great, but keep in mind; having it come from different angles is very effective. Even if it is just 3 or 4 variations on your basic rush, it will still keep the opposing team on their heels. Are you hoping for a base 4-3 or 3-4 with blitzing as the 6 rushing or what is your general idea for defense?

How's the opposing talent on the schedule/in conference?

[Wildcats302]

I would not recommend blitzing a lot if you only have a couple of talented players on D that are above decent quality. If you have a below average team, the best way to stay in a game with a more talented team is to make them drive long drives to beat you, not blitz so they can have some really quick scoring chances that take up no clock. I'd say ball control offense to churn the clock on offense for your team, until you build up more talent.

The unfortunate thing about coaching in high school is it's all about where you are location wise. You are either blessed with a great zoning area for good athletics or are in a crappy location. You cannot recruit anywhere like in college, you just have to hope you can recruit the best athletes in your school to compete and do well.

[TDenverFan]

Quote: Originally Posted by Andre Kirby

Just from the film study I have done I have maybe 2 really good players. 1 played TE and DE last year and 1 played WR and CB. He had 5 catches total last year. Not because he has bad hands but the coach never threw the ball. My current plan is to move him to QB. He's a decent sized kid (6 ft around 190). There are a few basketball players I am trying to recruit and 1 baseball player. There are a few decent players that mostly play the OL and DL spots and calling them decent is being kind.

It seems like your talent pool isn't too deep, no offense, so I'd work on getting those players into the game a lot. Maybe use the TE as a WR or HB, since you said your OL is at least somewhat decent. Depending on your opponent you could play the CB as a LB. Good luck!