Setting Team Goals

In my post, Failing to Plan? Plan on Failing, I write about planning out and accomplishing personal coaching goals. Do that first. Always. Secondary to your personal goals, as they will drive everything else, is setting team goals. 

Here are three tips to help you as you look to establish your team goals from year to year.

Be inclusive. Be specific. Be an evaluator.

Be inclusive. You are not heading into each season on your own, so don't set goals like you are. Generate goals with your coaches. Especially your coordinators. If you are a coordinator, then go ahead and make your goals to share with the staff. These are the guys that will drive you and your team to reach your goals. Share the goals, the vision, of the program. When everyone can see it, they can buy in.

Make sure to include your players. They are the ones that are actually going to make them a reality. Either through the use of team captains, or team units, do it together. Write them down, and let everyone see them. Let them drive your team. If offers up player buy-in and responsibility. The same goes for the coaches.

Be specific. You want to win 10 games? Great, but too vague. How will you measure success beyond a W or an L on your schedule? Set specific, achievable goals. Don't over think this, just give it a number. In a spread, passing offense set your goal for your QB to reach 2,000 yards. It's an achievable goal that gives your QB something to focus on each time he drops back. O-line? Earn an 85 percent blocking grade. D-Line? 20 sacks. DBs? 10 picks. Come up with a goal, a specific number to let the kids work toward it. If they are behind, then it gives them something to work toward. If they surpass it, then you can set another one. At the end of each season, evaluate the success or failure of each goal. Tweak your numbers to your staff and to your personnel, but be working to reach a milestone.

One of the best, specific goals I have is on offense. 10 yards of offense gained should equal 1 point on the scoreboard. At the end of the game, I can quickly evaluate the efficiency of our offense. 200 yards of total offense should show as 20 points. Any less than that and we weren't efficient or we were turning the ball over.  You can easily factor in turnovers and defensive scoring. 

Be an evaluator. Evaluate often. See what it working and what is not. If the team or a position isn't meeting the expectation, then adjust and make changes. Whatever it is, keep evaluating. If the goal is to complete 60 percent of passes between ten and twenty yards and you aren't close, it may require a change at a position(s) or a change in play calls.  It could be personnel, or game plan, but now you have a baseline standard to measurably compare your results to. Things will fluctuate from year to year as no two teams are the same, but this puts you in the ballpark each year, especially after first-year results.

Play 'Em All: Allowing Kids to Play Multiple Sports

As a coach, let kids decide which sports they are going to play.
Don't make them pick.

Some coaches have rules against it. If it isn't directly stated, it is usually implied. Schedules are made so that there isn't room for anything else. You make kids choose. 

If you are like most coaches, your team isn't brimming with D1 talent that you can easily recognize in the seventh or eighth grade. A kid doesn't come into your office, or classroom, and say, "Coach, I want to dedicate myself only to (insert sport here) because I know I am that talented or dedicated that it will be my future." While some of you may have had this happen, most of us can't relate. 

The reality is that there are millions of kids who play ball who don't make it past high school.

Why make kids give up a sport sooner than they have to?

Don't!

High school and junior high especially are training grounds. It isn't until then that they can really give it an honest shot to choose one sport anyone. Just think, a kid playing youth ball that is voluntarily coached by a dad, you know, the one whose son is actually a guard, but somehow is the best QB on the team. How many times have you either seen or heard something like this happening. It's not until kids get an honest coaching shot, that they should even consider one sport over another. 

Let kids play 'em all. 

Kids should play everything. Not only does athletics build many of the character traits they will need for the rest of their lifetime, but it makes kids better athletes. A certain skill in one sport, can hone another skill in a different sport. Baseball requires that kids learn to see the ball and focus on it. Doesn't that help your wide receivers? Aren't good pitchers usually good QBs? A post player on the basketball team works one-on-one, using their hands all the time. Don't your defensive ends do this too? 

Have you ever heard a coach say, “I can't wait for my guys to come into summer camp out of shape? Lying on the couch all summer will surely give us an edge?" Of course not. Football coaches should want kids coming into camp that have been playing ball all summer, who are conditioned, and have been competing. Basketball coaches should want the same thing when the winter rolls around, right?

The only issue that could arise is other-sport practices while your sport is in season. Work this out with the coaches of the other sport. Create a cooperative system that benefits you both. It will benefit you both.

This shouldn't even apply to junior high. Let kids go to basketball practice on days when you don't have football. Let kids be kids and play them all. We have the opportunity to have summer workouts and conditioning early in the summer. The problem is that's the heart of baseball season in our area. I will hold off the beginning of my practices because I know that so many kids are playing baseball. Those that can make it, will. Those that have practices or games, they are excused as they are still in season.

Be telling a kid to pick a sport, they may be deciding between two things, or more, they already love. Let them decide when it is time to choose. In the mean time, tell them to, "Play 'Em All!"

Thank You!

Writing can be a difficult task. Finding reward and fulfillment in it takes effort and persistence.

You are making this blog and this experience worth it all. It blows me away when I check on the readership of this endeavor to I see that people are reading my tiny piece of the ever-expanding web.

I know that you could be spending your time doing something else, yet you take the time to read.

If you like what you read, please subscribe to recieve posts via email by signing up in the field on the right-hand side of the page. Also, you can see when new posts go up by following me on Twitter at @bmofat.

Thanks for being a part of Coach Em All.

Sincerely,

Coach Moffitt

Cool as Ice: Keeping Your Cool in Stressful Situations

Letting the ref know what colorful adjectives describe him. Taking out frustration on a headset. Slamming your hat into the ground. Grabbing a kid by the facemask.

Either you’ve done some of these things yourself, or you know someone who has.

Let’s face it, football is an emotionally-charged, ticking time-bomb.

It’s easy to let all of that emotion out. It can feel good, right? But does it make things better? Blowing off this steam may make you feel better, but your coaches, fans, and most importantly, your kids, may feel otherwise.

At some point in your career, you are going to be completely dumbfounded by something that a kid, or official does. It’s a guarantee. How you handle yourself in that situation has the power to define who you are as a coach. Blowing up, while it may prove a point, can have far greater negative implications that positive results.

Consider the following:

There is a game going on. A heated competition. Is that really the place to blow a gasket. While you are displaying your mastery of English semantics for the official, your QB is waiting for a call. Your team is falling behind. You lose the advantage of being steps ahead of your opponent. Unless there is a stoppage of play, you can’t afford to waste time with officials. Does this even work? Try talking to your wife that way. Ouch.

Does blowing up prove anything? It can. Don’t get me wrong, I think that in certain situations that over displaying emotion can serve a purpose. But it has to be used a tool, a specific, situational tool. You can’t scream, rant and throw things all the time, especially not during a contest. When it’s all you do, then it’s all people expect. Think of it like the boy who cried wolf. If you are constantly harping every call, or jerking kids around by the facemask (which I detest), there is no distinction of conduct. People write you off as angry and you don’t have a valid argument that you are not. Practice is the place to get it out. Tossing your playcall sheet when the offense isn’t executing shows your kids to get it together. Toss it during a game and your administration may be discussing conduct with you.

It’s hard on you. No coach wants to die from coaching, do they? Blood pressure spikes are for real. Some guys have to teach a class the next day, or play with their kids, and they need a voice to do it. It’s not worth it.

Here’s a scenario: Craig is your starting left tackle. He’s a kid with monster ability. You asked Craig to carry the football bag to the practice field. Instead, he gets someone else to do it. During practice, Craig sluffs through plays that are not called to his side. It’s time for team offense. You have two choices, A) scream at the guy, letting him know he isn’t doing his job and he better pick it up, or,  B) put someone else in. Both options are going teach Craig a lesson. Option A takes a great deal of effort on your part and then you hope he picks it up. Option B requires less of you, and shows him a consequence. Both teach. B is more effective because it teaches without you having to be a berating bad guy.

What effect does this have on your kids? This may not be something you have thought of, but kids, even the ones you aren’t blowing up on are, paying attention. If a kid is yelled at all of the time when he is at home, football may be all too familiar and uncomfortable. Aren’t we supposed to be role models? Don’t belittle kids. They don’t know as much as you. They aren’t as strong as you. They are not you. Find a way to relate before it’s too late. This is especially true in youth and junior high sports. An article by veteran coach and speaker Bruce Brown cites that “72 percent of athletes in America drop out of organized athletics by the age of 13.” 72 percent? That’s 7 out of 10 kids that play junior high ball that don’t make it to high school. Make them want to play football, not hate it. One of the greatest indicators of anger that we can perceive as humans is yelling. Don’t be angry. Be productive.

The bottom line is that if you want to get ahead, either on the field, or in relationships with your kids, coach smarter, not harder.

Failing to Plan? Plan on Failing.

What do you want to accomplish as a coach?

 Seriously. 

What are your goals? If you can’t answer these questions, then it’s time to start thinking about them. 

 Defense? That’s easy. Offense? No problem. Special teams? I’m ready. Those are the easy questions that it takes a coach no time to answer. You know what you want to run on each side of the ball and how you want to run it. Yet, biggest question that you must ask yourself is... 

 What do you want to accomplish as a coach? 

 The year-in, year-out, big picture stuff is easy for our minds to define. Offense and defense are the very first things that coaches think of, and rarely change. However, it is all the small, everyday decisions that can make or break the success of your team, and your coaching career. 

 If you haven’t already done so, write out your coaching philosophy. In it include what you want to accomplish, the type of coach that you want to be, how you will interact with kids, and what impact you want to have in the game of football. Your philosophy becomes a governing body, setting the standard and expectation that your coaching career will live up to. 

You have to set goals. 

 Start out the beginning of each season developing goals that you want to accomplish. The easiest goal for all coaches is to win. From there, set single-season goals not only for your team, but for your staff and for you personally. Now that you have the ball rolling, be thinking about your future; set goals for your career. Whether it’s to become a high school head coach or coordinator, a college assistant or a middle school lifer - make a plan for your future. Your kids know the goal on offense is to get to the end zone. What is your end zone? 

 How about the small stuff? 

 There is no such thing as small stuff in football. Many times, it’s how you, your staff, and your team do the small stuff that garner the biggest wins. Don’t overlook anything. Some things you can plan for. Some things you can’t. For the things you can plan for, then do. For the other things, let your philosophy drive how you will handle the situation. 

 Tardiness? Discipline? Meals? Transportation? Practice schedule? Off-season work? Coach development? Locker room set-up? Team building? 

 Some of these questions you may have an answer to because you've been around for a while. If you are a rookie testing the shark-infested water that is coaching, then these questions give you some things to think about. 

 Keep the big picture in view, but it’s the small things that can make or break your future . 

Seek out other coaches and see what has worked for them and what was a train-wreck. What were their goals starting out? What were some of their biggest problems, their greatest failures and successes? What were the little things focused on that gave them success? Coaches never stop coaching, so they will want to share this with you. 

 Start making a plan now. If you fail to do so, well, then be prepared to be stuck on the sidelines watching someone else have the success you didn't plan for.

The Screen-Option Pass

The spread offense, especially the no huddle, has taken the football world captive. A football enthusiast is less likely to find power running offenses than the pass-happy spread.

However, the spread attack does have it's place in a power-based offense, especially the screen-option pass.

In calling it the screen-option pass, I am combining the bubble screen, with the option for the QB to give it to the RB or pass based on the number of defenders in the box.

In a typical power running offense, such as the double wing, defenses can and will load up the box to stuff the power run game. By adding the screen-option from a spread look, the offense forces the defense to adjust, while still enabling the same style of run game. It's a simple adjustment splitting tight ends and wings out. The QB can remain under center, while the fullback would need to be adjusted deeper, or run counter action, which I prefer, to allow for power/pulling guards taking on the middle backer.

If six defenders are in the box, run it. More than that, pass it. That's the option aspect. It's a pre-snap read by QB giving him the choice.

When throwing the pass, the action for the QB is to reverse out, fake handoff and throw the ball to the wing. The pass is made to the same side as the fullback is running to, putting pressure on outside backers. Backside split outs block, as well as back-side tackle. Play-side tight end cracks to outside backer, springing the wing for one on one.

This simple play doesn't alienate run-first offenses, it just creates an easy wrinkle for the defense to account for. In youth and junior football, a quick, play-action pass can be a quick-hit touchdown.

Concussion: The Unavoidable Outcome

Newton’s law states that an object in motion will remain in motion, unless acted upon by an outside force. Enter football - the most competitive, contact-driven sport in our society. The very essence of football is the “hit-or-be-hit” mentality. And it should come as no surprise that injuries come with the territory.

Students all over West Tennessee are engaged in the primetime of football season. High school playoffs are a few short weeks away, while junior high programs will be concluded in no more than two weeks. It is a given that one thing that players, coaches, and parents are sure to encounter this season, if not already, is a concussion.

Headache, confusion, dizziness, nausea, slurred speech, and glassy eyes – all symptoms of the seemingly unavoidable nature of the sport.

Recently, the NFL has agreed to a settlement regarding brain injury/ trauma to the tune of $765 million dollars. The NCAA is seeing a concussion lawsuit growing almost daily on their doorstep. But what about high school, junior high and youth football? What are they doing?

While the answer is not a settlements for plaintiffs, leagues and athletic associations around the country have and are taking concussions more seriously than ever before. Today, coaches can’t afford to think about if a concussion will happen, they must think about when a concussion will happen.

So if the injury is so pervasive among adults and young adults alike, then what can coaches do to assist in preventing a possible life-altering event in a young athlete’s life.

The first step to preventing a concussion is making sure that helmets are properly fitted for each player. Helmets must not be loose, but have a snug fit. Most youth helmets do not allow for any adjustments, so a snug fit is requisite. For helmets that can be adjusted, typically by air, then coaches, players and parents must be aware of this need. Educating players to the feel of the helmet is key as parents and coaches cannot always see a need in the fit, but must be told by the player.

The second step in concussion prevention is teaching the proper technique: Heads up – always. Coaches and players must be aware that tackling with the head down, or the crown of the helmet, is when most concussions occur. Not only are players at a higher risk for concussion, but for neck and spinal injury as well. A simple rule of thumb is to see what you hit. If you can’t see it, then your head is down. Coaches must have a unison voice on this most-basic principle.

The final step is to reduce the amount of full contact drills. For decades the Oklahoma drill and Bull in the Ring have dominated the football landscape. These drills place players in designed head-on, violent contact.  While players who put on pads years ago will reminisce about the glory found in running these drills, the same results that in many times dismissed years ago are under a constant, scrutinous eye.

Some will make the case that young players have to get ready for that game situation, learn how to take on the contact. While it is true that players need to be prepared for game-situations, I have yet to see a contest where a player is surrounded by an entire team from almost every angle and has to prove himself.

Not every full-contact drill should be eliminated from practice. After all, kids do need to prepare and they do have to know how to protect themselves. However, the amount of full contact drills, especially one-on-one, head-to-head drills must be reduced. Drills that simulate real-game scenarios can easily replace those drills that pit kids in situations where helmet-to-helmet contact is likely.  One such drill is a chase-and-tackle. Players face each other, one as a ball carrier and one as defender, and then go through a series of obstacles before ending up in a designated area. If the defender falls or gets held up, the ball carrier scores without contact – something we see in games every week.

What if a concussion still happens?

It will.

No matter how much we prepare and what prevention measures we have in place, concussions are going to occur. You can prepare athletes for contact coming from an opposing player, but what about the ground? The ground is certainly an immovable force and can deal an athlete, no matter how safe and technically sound, a tough blow. So what happens then?

Get them out of the game or practice. As soon as a symptom shows itself, remove the player away from danger. Concussion symptoms are not always simultaneous with a blow, but take some time to develop. Be aware. After all, these kids are in our care.

Second, let the parents know. If mom and dad don’t know, then that athlete is not going to get the care they deserve.

Finally, consult a physician. Many football programs have a healthcare provider on the sidelines, yet many do not. Coaches, get parents in touch with a health care professional if they do not have a regular physician. Do not allow a student to return to practice or games until they have gone through a concussion regimen and are cleared to play by a physician. As much as we want kids out there competing, a concussion takes time to heal.

If a concussion policy is not in place where you are, then touch base with school and program administrators and athletic directors to begin implementation.

After all, we are talking about the brain. Take no chances.

The Center for Disease Control along with USA Football has created Heads Up, an online resource for players, coaches, and parents. For more practical information and training check it out at http://www.cdc.gov/concussion/HeadsUp/youth.html.