Encouragers

I want to be like these guys.

When I say these guys, I am talking about Rick Litton & Mike Murphy.   You can make a long list of accomplishments for both of these men.  You can find hundreds of people that will give you a story on how Mike or Rick helped them in a time of need.

The plaque in honor of Murph we hung in the Mason County Football Locker Room

In particular, these guys had a special gift of encouragement. I could be at the  end of my rope as a coach. It might be a Saturday morning after a loss or maybe a day in the middle of a long & tough offseason following a disappointing fall.  Since I know God is the source of all good things, I don't think it was a coincidence that during those tough times, my path would cross with Rick or Mike. I could be very discouraged, but after 5 minutes with these guys, I felt totally different/better about the job I was doing as a coach. Those guys could make you feel like you were the best in the business.   It wasn't a rah rah type of talk. Their words were genuine. They believed in me, and helped me to hang in there.

JCB with Rick just a few days before we moved to Harrodsburg in the summer of 2015

Mike died in February of 2011. Rick passed away this past Christmas Day. These guys have left a legacy in how they touched others. I hope that I can be an encourager for others like they were for me and so many people. I hope I can make other people feel better like these two made me feel better. As the new year begins, I want to challenge all of us to be those encouragers and the type of people that look to help others.  Mike & Rick were guys that left a large, positive, & powerful impact on the people that crossed their paths. I hope that can be each of us in 2017.

Christmas Gifts for an Old Football Coach

I am tough to buy for. I don't fish, hunt or golf. And, one positive from that is that I don't spend a dime on any of that stuff. Football is my job, hobby & obsession. Stephanie always does a great job finding me something. 

One gift was a throwback jersey from Packer great Bart Starr!  Before I was a Tarkenton & Viking fan, I was a fan of Lombardi's Packers and their Quarterback. When I opened my jersey, I was very surprised and it was emotional for me.  I can't think of the old Packers without thinking of my Dad. It always makes me think of him and when I was a little guy. 

Not the Lombardi You thought You Knew- Maysville Ledger Independent

Stephanie & I, Christmas, 2016
Wearing my new Bart Starr jersey!

The other "football" gift was Daarik Gray's photo of Alvis Johnson Field. We just completed our first season playing at our new home, which was the home of Harrodsburg HS football and their great coach for so many years, Coach Alvis Johnson. No one has a better place to play than the Titans. 

I am excited to have this in our house, along with our "Flatwoods" sign, the picture of our old Mercer field, and the picture of the entrance to "Blanton Collier Stadium", the home of the Paris Greyhounds. We've got a bunch of stuff from our old stadium at Mason County as well.

Stephanie has a year to figure out another present. As long as she keeps me and doesn't get too frustrated being married for 25 years to an old football coach, I will be happy. God bless the saintly women who remain married to old football coaches like me. They have a special place in heaven!  

Exit Interviews

I try to have exit interviews with every player at the end of the season. I ask all of them four questions:
1- What did you like about playing football here?
2- What did you not like about playing football here?
3- If you become the head coach here today, what will you change?
4- What do you see as your role on the team for 2017 and what are you going to do to make it happen? (grades 9-11) or What are your plans for next fall? (seniors)

Their answers give me some good feedback going forward to make our program better. They may hesitate a little on #2, but question #3 usually gives me some good insight.

I like hearing what our guys think and this is a good way to give them input and a voice in how we do things.

If you have a better plan for exit interviews or a better approach all together, please email me at david.buchanan@mercer.kyschools.us.

Merry Christmas!

A great gift & shooting the elephant in the room

This past Thursday at our football banquet, Gabby Banks & Morgan Reed gave me one of the nicest gifts I've ever received at the end of the season. It was an engraved, framed picture from their appearance on the Scholastic Ball Report.  It is already hanging up in my office at home and I am very proud of it.

I saw recently where an older coach was fired for "failing to adapt."  The elephant in the room for all of us old coaches is our resistance to change. Gabby & Morgan shot that elephant between the eyes for me and Titan football. I can be the old coach. They handled the social media, represented our program in a variety of ways, and made Mercer football modern & current.

To all the old coaches & to the people that are helping them to "adapt", Merry Christmas!

Finding something positive..... at Notre Dame

In the fall of 2011, our Mason County Royals finished the season at 2-8, on October 21st. Forget about Thanksgiving Day practice... we didn't even make it to Halloween.

It was depressing. John Combs had just completed his freshman season of HS football. We had been spoiled by winning, and so this was tough to take. 

We decided that we needed to make it a positive. What was something that normally we did not do, that now we could do, because we had plenty of time on our hands?  I kept telling myself (hoping).... 'In the future, we will be busy in November. Now is the time to do something we normally would not be able to do."

As long as I can remember, I have been a Notre Dame fan. My sons have become Notre Dame fans as well. We decided we wanted to see the Fighting Irish play. Dustin Grutza had played for Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly at UC. Dustin helped us to not only get tickets but to get to take the recruit tour on game day.  We got up there Friday afternoon so we could attend the Friday Pep Rally on campus.

JCB & Trosper, November 2011

We got to see the Irish defeat Boston College and it was one of the best things we have ever done. It was so good, we decided we would go back. As it turns out, we have attended the last Notre Dame game of the season, six seasons in a row. And, fortunately, our Novembers have been much busier. In three of the last five seasons, our teams have reached the state quarterfinals ( 2012 & 2013 at Mason and 2016 at Mercer).  

Notre Dame vs. Boston College, 2011

Trosper is still recovering from a football injury and travel is very difficult for him, so John Combs and I made the trip this past Saturday.  By the time we arrived, my brain was spinning. Our season had come to an end the night before. It had been a great November to that point with an outstanding group of kids & coaches.  I am very proud of the way our guys finished the season in the playoffs.  The emotions of the previous 24 hours combined with making that drive on 3 1/2 hours of sleep makes me look back on that particular game, and even the entire season, and think, "did all of that really just happen?"

Being on that campus and in that stadium is like being on holy ground for a football guy. It is overwhelming to think about the great teams, players, and coaches that have worn the navy & gold for so many decades.  The wind chill was 27 degrees and the snow was blowing pretty good in the stadium lights. It was very cold, and it was great. We stayed for every play.  We watched a great game, but unfortunately the day did not finish with an Irish victory.

November 2016

We are already making plans to return for the 2017 Navy game. I am hoping that one day I will return from our Notre Dame trip and prepare for a semifinal game.  That would be the ideal November!

Whenever a coaching friend has a season end sooner than they expect, I share this experience with them. We took a miserable November, and turned it into a huge positive.

I think if Stephanie ever wants to get me out of coaching, she will have to put an end to these November trips to Notre Dame. The tradition I see before my eyes takes me back to being a little boy and watching the Irish on TV with my Dad. It reminds me of when my love for the game of football developed at a very young age. It reinforces for me so many things about the game of football that I love.  It helps me to appreciate the kids I have coached over these past 25 years and all the coaches & players that have crossed by path since I was first on a sideline at four years old.  It makes me very thankful I get to coach football and helps me get more excited about getting home and getting back to work.

Happy Thanksgiving, Count Your Blessings, Go Irish.

Titans, Colonels, & Rebels- in search of something to help us win

One of the things I have enjoyed with the move back home is the proximity to the Boyle County Rebels & Centre College Colonels. The Rebel head coach, Chuck Smith, runs a great program and we have been friends for over 30 years. Andy Frye is the Centre College head coach and also does an outstanding job. I was a scout team QB at Centre many years ago and now my son, John Combs, does video for the Colonels. I have enjoyed over the past two years getting to visit both programs and watch practice.

These guys know how to coach football. Their staffs do a good job. They are very organized and efficient with their time.  Their players are attentive, well-coached, and give a very good effort in practice.

I was able to visit Centre's practice on Tuesday. I wanted to find/learn ONE thing that I thought would benefit our program and help us win on Friday night. I found it. I don't know if it will be enough with everything else that must be done to beat an outstanding Rockcastle County football team. But, it was worth the effort and time to visit practice and watch the Colonels.

Tomorrow night, the Rebels play another very well-coached program, Louisville Central, in the 2nd round of the playoffs. The Colonels will play Berry on Saturday for the conference championship and a NCAA Playoff berth.

It is very convenient that in 15 minutes I can visit those programs.   Sometimes I wish I didn't love football like I do, but it is like an addiction. I could be addicted to worse things.... so I guess I am ok.... but don't ask Stephanie if I am ok.  :)

Good luck to the Titans, Rebels & Colonels this weekend!

Lessons from Labor Day Football Practice

Mercer @ Anderson, 2021

Friday night before our game with Anderson County(2016) got started, Todd Thompson, a former HS teammate,  came by to say hello. It was great to see him and I appreciated him making the effort. It got me to thinking about Labor Days from the past and why football is a great game. 

Mercer @ Anderson, 1982

Labor Day in 1981, Coach French rolls in just in time for practice, pulling his boat behind his truck. Our starting QB is Todd and he has hurt his ankle and unable to practice. As the backup, I get snaps with the first team offense. That night, we practiced full gear in a driving rain storm. My football pants are saturated with rain and the thigh pad slides down my leg. I took a helmet to the top of my thigh that turned in to a pretty good deep thigh bruise and made it very difficult for me to run the next few days of practice.... and I was pretty slow to begin with.

It was all I could do to get through those practices that week. They were very painful, but our starter was out and I had to do the best I could.  I fought through those practices and by Thursday I started to feel better. But, Todd's ankle was also better. So, after fighting it out and practicing all week, I was back on the bench and Todd was the starter. It was absolutely the right thing for Coach French to handle it that way. But, that was  a great life lesson for me.   Some times even when you endure and fight through tough times, you may not get the personal return you want. But, it was a great illustration for me that the team comes first. If that is what I needed to do for the team, I need to do it to the best of my ability, regardless of whether or not I get what I want.   That lesson is taught frequently on the football field and is one of the many benefits my sons and the kids I coach gain from playing football.  It was a lesson that I needed and I still draw on that experience today when my attitude is not what it should be.

Russell @ Mason, 1997

The other Labor Day that came to mind was from 1997 at Mason County. The previous Friday night we had lost to Rowan County, 12-7. Neither team was very good. I was so frustrated because our kids had played so hard but it seemed like we made every dumb mistake you could make to lose a football game.  To make things even better on Saturday morning, our brand new silver pants had the blue stripe fade and we now have turquoise pants!  I was sick to my stomach about everything. 

Mason @ East Carter, 1997

That Sunday night, I never went to sleep. I was too frustrated and angry. The next morning at practice, we introduced "WIN Drill."  From that point forward during the season, we would break the huddle on "WIN" to remind us to do all the little things right necessary for us a win. The drill works like this..... the entire team starts on one sideline and runs a half gasser. Skill has 20 seconds, big guys have 25. All toes are on or behind the line. After the half gasser, I call out a goalline offensive play. The offense takes the field, runs the play perfectly, and returns to the sideline. If there is a mistake, we run 5 grass drills and immediately run another half gasser. If someone does not completely run past the line after completing the play, it does not count. We run 5 grass drills, another 1/2 gasser and do that play again. We have 3-4 goalline plays that must be run perfectly before we end practice. After a successful play, we have 30 seconds to rest before running the next half gasser. If we mess up, there is no 30 second rest. 

Since that Labor Day in 1997, we have ended every Monday practice with "Win Drill". Some days we get it done quickly. Some days we do not. But, it helps our kids focus and do their best. It makes them fight through something they don't want to do. 

It has become a tradition, every Labor Day practice, I tell the story of the 1997 Mason County Royals. I always tell my current set of players, you can thank those guys for this drill.  I think the drill has made us a tougher, more disciplined, and more focused football team over the past 20 years.... and helped our conditioning.  And, the 1997 Royals were the first football team in school history to beat Russell, Newport, & Erlanger Lloyd.... 3 opponents I was told we would NEVER defeat. To say I am proud of the 97 Royals would be an under statement.

That week in 1981 was tough.  That Labor Day weekend in 1997 was a long one. But, the same things that make football tough are the same things that make football great.  I want my sons to play football. They don't get many of those tough lessons and illustrations in any other area of their life.  Most other things they do are much easier and they are often told how good they are. 

I am getting old, but I am thankful I got to be at football practice for one more Labor Day this morning. Hopefully I have a few more in my future.

Mason @ Lawrence, 1997

Labor Day weekend, Mercer vs. Anderson... always remember this song from the 1980 trip to Lawrenceburg. 

I'm Alright - Kenny Loggins (Caddyshack)