What is your leadership model..... develop or discard? Thank you Curtis Wren

August, 1982 photo by Larry Vaught

The summers of my junior and senior year in high school, I was fortunate to have a job working for Clyde Jackson in his cornfields. Morris Allen Stewart is Clyde's son in law. Morris Allen and my Dad had coached together at Boyle County. Coach Stewart helped me get that job.

When I got back to Mercer County, I told Coach Stewart I wanted Trosper to work in the cornfields like we did. He told me that no one does that anymore!

In the summers of 1981 and 1982, I was a corn roguer for Mr. Jackson. We would walk through cornfields and chop out the bad corn. Toward the end of July, the corn could get pretty high. It was a hot dirty job.

Another job we would do was to detassel corn. Physically, that was a much easier job. We would ride a machine (highboy) above the corn and remove the tassels from the top of the corn.  The faster you could detassel, the faster the machine could move. And, missing a tassel was not good. It meant the entire machine moving backwards.

My problem with both jobs was that I was an uncoordinated, clumsy, unathletic subdivision kid. You might as well have told me to fly a jet airplane. When it came to tobacco, all I could do was load and unload wagons. I would have definitely lost an arm or leg cutting tobacco. The over/under on me to fall out of the top of a barn housing tobacco would have been about 30 minutes.

My foreman working for Mr. Jackson was Curtis Wren. Curtis didn't say a whole lot, but he did a good job of letting us know what needed to be done. Especially at the beginning, I missed a bunch of corn that needed to be chopped out when we would rogue corn.  And, if the entire highboy was backing up for a missed tassel, it was probably my fault.

I know Curtis got really frustrated with me, but he gave me a chance to get better. I found out later from others that even though I started off pretty bad, he knew I was trying and wanted to give me a chance.  He never told me that. I found that out years later.

Looking back on it, I think it is a miracle that I kept that job the first year and then got hired back for a second summer.

Over the years, when I may get frustrated with an assistant coach or player, I think about Curtis.  I start the same way Curtis started with me.... does the guy have good intentions?  Does he want to be here?  Is he doing the best he can?  Can he be successful down the road?

As leaders, we can discard people or develop them. If at all possible, my choice has been and will be to develop them...if they WANT to be there and are there for the right reasons. From a very practical standpoint, no organization has perfect people. In our football program, if we eliminate everyone with significant flaws, the head football coach will be the first guy out the door.  We will always be starting over with new people because everyone we hire will have their flaws or issues. But, most of those same individuals will bring a skill set and passion to the organization to make it grow stronger. For me, if a guy loves kids and loves football, we can work on the rest of it.

I am really glad Curtis hung in there with me. I also am thankful for the head coaches, principals, and superintendents that have hung in there with me and been patient over the years. I wish Trosper could get the same experience and benefits I got from those cornfields. Now, I do NOT want to go back to work in those cornfields again! But, I am thankful for those hot summers and that I had a boss that believed I could do it. I had no idea that I was learning about leadership in those cornfields, but I have applied that lesson often over the years. Thank you Curtis Wren.

Chris Mason: Send me an Open Response... and are you ok?

Mondays after a loss are tough. Probably the hardest one of all was November 25, 2002. The previous Friday we had lost to Russell in the state quarterfinals, 11-8.Earlier in the season, Russell had defeated us for the district championship 12-7. Our 2002 Royals only lost those two games and had defeated 3A Finalist Rockcastle County in the Bob Allen Pigskin Bowl. We had been ranked #1 for the first time in school history. The 2002 Royals were very good and we were devastated that our season was over.

That morning in class I received an email from my good friend Chris Mason. Chris was a football coach and history teacher at Boyle County HS.  Chris's email said he needed some good open response questions and could I send him one. I wasn't sure what to think, but I found one and send it. A few minutes later, another email. Chris says, "that was a good one, can you send me another one?"  I dig up one more and send it to him.

About 5  minutes later, my classroom phone rings.... it is CHRIS MASON. He says, "Are you OK?" I say, "No, I am not. We got beat 11-8 Friday night. What do you think??"  He says, "Well, I just wanted to check on you and make sure you were all right."

As it turned out, the open response emails were just his way of checking on me. He knew I would not handle that loss well.

Tonight, Chris Mason and his 7 state title rings get inducted into the Boyle County Rebel Hall of Fame. He had a GREAT career coaching at Boyle and now does a super job as the Principal of Bullitt East HS. All of that is great, and I am certainly very proud of him. But, most of all, I am thankful for a great friend that has been keeping an eye on me for a long time.

Congratulations Chris!

Growth & Improvement... 2019

Post workout, 1/23/19. Mercer County Titans with Xenith rep, Ron Tanner, former National Champion at Ohio State

I hate fear. Fortunately, "fear" is not usually a big issue for me. But, as I get older, I do fear letting the game of football pass me up. I fear that my, or our, schemes, approaches, and fundamentals will become irrelevant or obsolete.

We are not even to the end of January. But three things I've done this month to address that issue have given me some peace of mind.

1- scout a very good offense for a long time friend who also happens to be an outstanding football coach.

2- meet with an outstanding college defensive coordinator (another outstanding person, coached against him when he played in HS, and his grandfather was a coaching legend in this state) and ask him to show me what he hates defending, what gives him the most problems.

3-writing an article for X & O Labs, including video clips and diagrams.

In all three scenarios, I was forced to think through why we do what we do and how well we execute. All three people involved were very bright, asked good questions, and presented good ideas that will make me better.

So, without going into all the details, what were my conclusions.... has the game passed me or us by?

I don't think so. In fact, some of our older ideas may provide a competitive advantage going forward. Our older schemes and the way we do things are becoming "different." I think that is a good thing.

But, the reality check that I most definitely needed and in some ways made me feel like a young coach again..... there is so much I DON'T know. There are other ways to get the job done.  People think differently and approach problem solving in different ways. For example, saying "one safety high" to me, and everything that goes with it, can mean something very different to another coach. As long as I realize that I must continue to learn and adapt, hopefully I can do a good job for our kids and program.

Some times fear can lead to positive results. This has been one of those times.

Perfection Workouts... a different approach, building our program

We had our first Perfection Workout for 2019 and the way we have adjusted our approach should be productive and make us a better team.

Instead of trying to work on "everything" and working from the base, we worked backwards. Last week as a staff we met and basically asked these two questions:

1- what are problems we need to fix?
2- what will we need to be good at in 2019 to win championships?

To answer question #2, we obviously had to spend quite a bit of time watching video of our 2019 opponents. We try to get the bulk of that done before we go home for Christmas. It's a bunch of work, but it really helps us in planning what needs to be emphasized going forward.  Our base offense and defense stay the same, but depending on our personnel and our opponents, we use certain plays and schemes more than others.

The answers to the two questions above determined our work today on both sides of the ball. We will do the exact same workout for Perfection Workout #2 next Wednesday. My hope is that at some point, one of our assistants will approach me and say, "We have that down and we are bored. We are ready to move on to something else."

We are returning much of our team from last season and are entering year 5 of our program.  That experience showed today. Normally day 1 goes well for us in Perfection workouts, spring, summer workouts, etc. But, as practice becomes more complex in the following days, we begin to struggle. Today we started more complex, but our kids seemed to handle it better.

Also, our guys are understanding better our expectations in regards to effort, attitude and leadership. We are a work in progress. We are going in the right direction and getting a little better each day.  And, the adjustment we made to our workouts was definitely a positive that will help us become the best team we can be!

Saving Time... Practical advice from an old coach

Most of us spend bowl season picking up ideas from the ballgames we watch. Here's an idea that is not real exciting, but it does make life a little easier and save time.

Yesterday I marked our practice field. First, I scalped the lines so the paint would stay. Then, painted the lines. It only took 4 aerosol cans because we only mark the 10's for practice and it takes less than 30 minutes. Because grass is not growing, the lines last alot longer. Inseason, we have to mark it at least once a week. 

We will do our spring practice some time in March. Keeping it marked, I won't need to stretch lines to get it ready for the spring.... which is very time consuming. After the spring, I will let it go so we will have straighter lines in July when it gets restrung. 

I've been around HS football my entire life. If there is a young coach out there that needs help on how to complete mundane, time-consuming tasks as quickly and efficiently as possible, email me at coachdavidbuchanan@gmail.com.

Happy New Year!

Going into 2019... NO bad days, and MOST will be fun!

As hard as I try to stay positive, some days it is a battle. To help in that fight, I decided in December of 2017 that I would chart every day in the 2018 prep season ( I hate the expression "offseason". We have to improve on a day to day basis throughout the year.)  If it was a good day, I would list the date with a "+". A bad day would get a "-".  A great day would get "++".  Those results are listed at the bottom of this blog and there were no bad days!

I know Coach Cox and Coach Harris got tired of it, but I really enjoyed showing them periodically how we were doing.

So what was a good day?  It was a day when we improved, gave a good or great effort, held our guys accountable, and on a personal level I could look in the mirror and know that I had given my best effort to serve others and ultimately my Savior, Jesus Christ. (Colossians 3:23)

Can you have a good day and make mistakes?? Absolutely! I made a ton of mistakes this year, even on great days. There is a real simple way to eliminate 100 % of your mistakes... do nothing.

The purpose of this exercise was to give me some documentation that we were making progress. Sometimes due to circumstances, you absolutely "feel" like you are not making improvement and what is the point of all of your efforts. Those feelings are false. I wanted something concrete to see that would help me realize that in actuality we were getting better and we were productive.

When the season started, we were still having "good days." But, we started 0-3. That is not fun. And, then the "feeling" begins to creep in .... this is not fun... there is never an enjoyable day.... every day is a struggle, etc. And, many days there was truth to that feeling.

So, I began to chart everyday with either a P (Purpose) or F (Fun & Purpose).  Maybe a day was not fun. But, if I had served others and my Savior that day to the best of my ability, I had fulfilled my purpose. I am coaching football in my hometown which I love. My 2018 seniors were the first in school history to have the same head coach for four years.  It has been and continues to be a struggle to get us where we want to be. But, "purpose" is through the roof!  For the kids I coach, the old Hogs, Dogs & Titans in my hometown, my own son who will be a sophomore, making this program the best it can be is absolutely worth doing and giving it everything I have. And, we are making significant progress.

Even if a day was not "fun" , I took satisfaction in giving all that I had to the task at hand on a one day  at a time basis. Seeing those "P's" reinforced that I was serving God and making a dent in what had to be done.

Interestingly though, I realized that most days do have some fun! It might only be for a short while, and only one moment but there was something that I enjoyed. As I charted my days, I realized more and more days were being marked fun. In the beginning, most days had a P.

I am fired up for 2019. We just finished our best December, ever, in terms of guys working on their own. We have had them doing extra in the weightroom, on the turf in the complex, on the field, etc. Our guys are working to take our level of commitment and program to another level.

I will not be charting good days and bad days in 2019. They are all going to be good days. That CHOICE is up to us.

On Fun versus Purpose.... I will either continue to chart that, or decide that there WILL be something fun each day, and look for that moment, no matter how short it may be.

If all of this seems excessive, insane, etc. that is ok with me. The top priority (Matthew 6:33) of this is a desire to serve my Lord and Savior everyday who sacrificed His life for me. I don't want to let HIM down. Part of this also is that I HATE losing.... more now than ever before. I can handle it better on the outside but on the inside it is tougher than ever. And, I want to do all in my power to help our kids win, help our community win,  & bring honor to the great players and coaches from the past at old Harrodsburg & Mercer County HS.

I would also stress, I am not the Lone Ranger! God has a GREAT plan for all of us! What can be better than to invest our all into serving Him for 2019 to be all that He has called us to be, to glorify Him?!

2019... make it all good or great days (your CHOICE), serve God and others, and have FUN a long the way!



2018 Prep Season Chart:

W 1/3: ++
Th 1/4: +
T 1/9: +
W 1/10: ++
TH 1/11: +
TH 1/18: +
F 1/19: +
M 1/22: +
T 1/23: +
W 1/24: +
TH 1/25: +
F 1/26: ++
M 1/29: +
T 1/30: +
W 1/31: +
TH 2/1: ++
M 2/5: +
T 2/6: +
W 2/7: +
TH 2/8: ++
M 2/12: +
T 2/13: ++
W 2/14: +
TH 2/15: +
T 2/20: ++
TH 2/22: ++
M 2/26: +
T 2/27: +
W 2/28: +
TH 3/1: +
M 3/5: +
T 3/13: +
W 3/14: ++
TH 3/15: +
F 3/16: ++
M 3/19: +
T 3/20: +
W 3/21: +
TH 3/22: ++
F 3/23: +
W 4/4: ++ Xenith
TH 4/5: ++ OL breakout
M 4/9: +
T 4/10: ++
TH 4/12: +
M 4/16: +
T 4/17: ++ (Xenith)
TH 4/19: +
M 4/23: +
T 4/24: ++ (intervention)
W 4/25: +
TH 4/26: ++
F 4/27: +
M 4/30: +
T 5/1: +
TH 5/3: ++
M 5/7: ++
T 5/8: +
W 5/9: ++
TH 5/10: +
F 5/11: +
M 5/14: ++
T 5/15: +
TH 5/17: +
F 5/18: +
M 5/21: ++ max out
M 6/4: +
TH 6/7: +
M 6/11: +
TH 6/14: +
M 6/18: ++
TH 6/21: ++
SA 6/23: +
SU 6/24: +

Exit Interviews- 2018

After each season, we have exit interviews with our guys so we can gather feedback and continue to improve our program. It is good to vary the approach a little each year.

We have wonderful young men at Mercer County but we are also trying to elevate our thinking.  During the season, we gave our guys the "Mercer Football Championship Plan" to fill out. Here it is:

After they filled these out during the season, I made an additional copy of each player's plan. This year's exit interview is to review this plan. We talk about their vision for November of their senior year... is there anything that needs to be changed?  Is there anything that needs to be made more specific?

We look at the two lists at the bottom of the page. Which item is a strength right now?  Which one is a weakness?

We sign and date my copy and the player's copy. The player is to put his copy some where that it will help him see it and focus each day on becoming a champion and HELPING his TEAM become champions.

Our meetings have been productive and this plan is another piece in building our culture. One day at a time, we are working to build a championship program.  I believe our guys are growing and they are beginning to elevate their thinking.  I am excited to start year five as a Titan!