Getting Tougher.... Playing Hard

Former Harrodsburg HS Legendary Coach, Alvis Johnson, presenting the Titan Captain Awards named in his honor. Coach Johnson is the Patriarch of football in our community. He constantly does things behind the scenes, everyday, helping people that no one sees. Truly a great man and inspiration.

We had a joint MS & HS staff meeting this week that was very productive. Most staffs I talk to want to make their kids tougher and play harder. Here are some thoughts on that subject. If you have other ideas, please email me at david.buchanan@mercer.kyschools.us.

Organizational Purpose: To pursue excellence each day and in every detail to build a championship caliber program and mentally tough young men of the highest character, discipline and determination.

General Responsibilities:

-  Be loyal to the school, program, head coach, administration, players, and other coaches in our program (5-12).

-  Complaints, concerns and criticisms should be handled behind closed doors with the VARSITY or MS HEAD COACH.

-  Assist head coach in off-season as available and as needed.

How to make our kids tougher:

1-      Model toughness for our kids.

2-      Design your drills so that they have a fast tempo and players get as many reps as possible. Make drills demanding. Football is a tough game to play. If it is played properly, it should develop toughness.

3-      Demand, expect, & hold them accountable for running to the ball every snap in Team Defense & Perimeter Defense.

4-      Expect them to be able to line up properly, play fast, & execute our offense. Time the periods & hold them accountable for not running the plays in the set time.

5-      Demand good body language when they are tired.

6-      One on one isolation in the middle of Team Periods, Inside Drill, etc. Use sparingly to maximize effectiveness.

7-      WIN Drill & 3^rd Down Drill

8-      Coach them to be better football players. The better they become as football players, the more confidence they will have, the more success they will have on the field, and the tougher they will be.

How to make our kids play hard:

1-      Make sure the kids know you care about them. In general, kids play hard for a coach that cares about them.

DWS……#1 love hard & #2 coaches hard. #2 is not effective without the first.

2-      The kids will know you care about them by spending TIME with them OUTSIDE of football and talking about things important to them OTHER than football. (same as your kids @ home)

A.     Pick a different player to walk back from practice each day. Have a conversation.

B.     Talk to them at school, and as much as possible, stuff outside of football.

C.     Be creative. Many coaches miss this piece then wonder….”Why I am I not effective?” or worse, blame the kids.

3-      Sometimes you still need to coach effort. Use the same ideas for making guys tougher.

Football coaches historically take for granted their drill work, think it is the best it can be, etc. Constantly evaluate & tweak your drill work. Make it as demanding and precise as you can.  PREPARE for practice.  Think through what you will do. Don’t wing it or take it for granted.

Stay the course. We are on the right track. Invest little to no time and energy into those that are against us, that don’t believe in what we are doing.  That is a waste of our time.

Focus on helping our kids and program get better, ONE day at a time. Work to become a better coach, ONE day at a time. The rest is noise. Ignore it.