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5 Vital Ideas About Your Personal FootballCoaching Philosophy

The thoughts behind your philosophy are why you coach football. It helps you know

what you're attempting to learn and the knowledge you're trying to pass to yourplayers as you coach them. Obviously, you want to enjoy great experiences duringeach season. You want to ensure your players experience great things.

But negative challenges occur during even the best of seasons. Your football

coaching philosophy is what helps you get through these challenges while still

standing.

Here are five areas you must have a solid football coaching philosophy on:

Offense

Defense

What to teach

Scouting Organization

1) What is your football coaching philosophy when you have the ball on offense? Areyou a "gun-slinger"? Will your team possess an aggressive passing attack where you

try to strike fast and hard and pile the points up?

Or will you have a "ground it out" style? Get a 10 point lead, play the field positiongame and then sit on the ball and play keep away with the opposition's offense.

There are pros and cons to these styles. They can be seen in the differing

approaches of the Pittsburgh Steelers and St. Louis Rams. Pittsburgh's Bill Cowher is

a big believer in the grab the lead style and then bludgeon the opponent in thesecond half with the running game. He tries to keep the ball away from theopponent, shorten the game and hold the lead.

This style works well when you have solid defense. It also works better when you

finally get a top flight QB like Big Ben Roethlisberger who can bail you out when your"D" doesn't hold the lead for you.

The Rams ex-coach Mike Martz took the opposite approach with his "greatest show

on earth" football coaching philosophy. He built an offense that could score at will,

passing mostly. Running the ball was almost an after-thought in his offense.

Bottom line? You need to figure out what style fits you and your personnel. Do you

have the big back or the quarterback who can sling it all over the field? In the youthleagues, you most likely have the running back. But if you happen to find that top

QB, you may want to go with the passing style.

2) What's your football coaching philosophy on defense? Do you try to employ anaggressive style attack where you blitz often and gamble a bit? Or do you play the

"bend, but don't break" style where you're a bit more conservative and just try tolimit the opposition to small gains, then force a punt?
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Again, your own personal feelings and the type of players you have will ultimatelyhelp decide things for you.

3) There's a ton of information to teach when it comes to coaching football, along

with limited practice time. So you must to come to a football coaching philosophy onwhat you think are the most important aspects of the game you think need teaching.

Prioritize your time on those main points and do your best at coaching them toperfection.

4) Take scouting of the opponent seriously. Once you've scouted, though, what's

your football coaching philosophy on exploiting their weaknesses? How will you goabout devising a game-plan that will use your strengths to your advantage? You

need to use your formations and personnel in ways that give your team the bestchance at success.

5) You need to develop your own personal football coaching philosophy on how to

organize your program. Everything from your practices to your off-season program.How will you find the best equipment for your team? Where will the money come

from?

How will you deal with all your interactions with others? Everyone from your playersto their parents to the referees to the rest of your community. How will you organize

your assistants in order to delegate in a healthy way?

As you can see, there's quite a bit to think about when it comes to developingyour own football coaching philosophy. I can't provide you the answers. All I can do

is raise the questions and allow you to think things through until you come to yourown successful conclusions.

And these are only the top five areas. Football coaching is an ongoing learning

experience. Always be open to all sources that can help you get better.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Developing Your Coaching Philosophy

By Rett Larson

A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to hear Pete Carroll (head coach of USCs

football team) give a talk on his coaching philosophy. Ive heard bits of this speechbefore, because Nike uses it in some of their great marketing pieces, but hearing it first

hand with Coach Carrolls signature straight-shooting, self-effacing style was very

inspiring. One of the first things that Coach Carroll did was to ask the audience(comprised mainly of high school football coaches) how many of them HAD a coaching

philosophy. Almost everyone raised their hands. He then asked, how many of you could

tell me what your philosophy is in 50 words or less. Hands dropped rapidly only a

dozen or so remained. He then said, Ok, because Im going to pick one of you to comeup here and tell us all what your philosophy is. Instantly that dozen became around 3,

and none of those 3 hands were raised very high. Coach Carroll did not in fact ask any of

them to come up and tell their personal coaching philosophy, but he did use it to highlight
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his main point, which is that if you dont have a distinct philosophy, then you havent

decided whats important to you. And if you dont know whats important then you wont

be able to tell your coaches or athletes whats important. If they dont know what yourphilosophy is, then they cant be held accountable when they screw it up.

Coach Carrolls philosophy in two words is Win Forever. Keep doing things better thanyouve ever done them before in order to replicate winning records and a winning culture

for years and years. He points to the fact that another great coach from that otherCalifornia school John Wooden coached for 16 years before he won a championship. He

proceeded to win 11 in a row after that. You wont find your coaching philosophy

overnight, but when you do you need to be consistent in it. Within the basic WinForever philosophy are other tenets that make up his philosophical pyramid. They are:

1. Always be competing: USC infuses competition into every practice because it

increases the intensity and makes drills more realistic. Every day there are

winners and losers.

2. Practice is everything: Coach Carroll holds open practices and challenges anyoneto tell him he doesnt hold the best practices in football.

3. Take care of the football: create more turnovers than you give up4. Respect everyone: Treat everyone in the program with respect, as well as your

opponents, the officials and the fans.

5. Finish the task: complete every play, drill and practice. Coaches talk about effortfirst when it comes to player talent, and finishing shows effort.

Admittedly, I was not one of the 3 coaches who kept my arm raised when it came time to

present my 50-word coaching philosophy to the group, but since then Ive started to

organize my thoughts. Its tougher than I expected but the process has already been

rewarding. Ive read the coaching philosophies of a handful of coaches that I respect, sosifting through those and prioritizing them against my tenets has been a great exercise

that I completely recommend everyone trying. Ill keep you posted on what I come up

with

By Victor Hall

As a young coach I struggled to find my coaching style. I was naturally reserved,bordering on shy, but I wanted to be a sports performance coach. After modeling some of

the great coaches around me and a little trial and error, I eventually settled into an

approach that I was comfortable with. And as a result I was able to effectively reach most

of the athletes that I interacted with. Mission accomplished right? Well, not quite. Not toolong after I was feeling good about my coaching, I started working with Rett. Almost

immediately my competitive nature and ego took over. I couldnt stand NOT being the

favorite coach of EVERY athlete we were both coaching. Admittedly, being an athletesfavorite coach has a lot to do with individual personalities and shared interests, but a

favorite coach is also the coach that seems to explain things and motivate them in a way

that just makes sense. So, while I was going to be hard pressed to win over the U-12 girlssoccer team that thought Rett was dreamy, I still had to find a way to make meaningful


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connections with athletes that I had been missing the mark with. You see, even though I

finally found my own coaching groove, I had yet to accommodate my style to those I was

working with. I was a hammer and every athlete looked like a nail.

If the end goal is to effectively coach ALL athletes you work with, then the first step is to

identify what coaching style you are most comfortable with. Coaching athletes that havedifferent preferences and characteristics doesnt mean you have to change your style,

only ADJUST. So recognizing your natural style is important. In the bookSuccessfulCoaching, Martens describes three distinct coaching styles; Command, Submissive, andCooperative.

Command: authoritative, coach makes decisions while athletes listen and respond tocommands.

Submissive: passive, minimal decision-making and instruction, only steps in whenabsolutely necessary.

Cooperative: coach shares decision-making with athletes, establishes structure thenguides the process.

Martens also provides overviews for 8 other coaching styles with a self-reflection toolthat can help you to recognize specific characteristics that make up your coaching style.

Download it here.

So, what is your natural coaching style? If you are anything like me, then it is probably a

mixture of the styles that Martens describes.

The more critical part of this equation is being able to identify what type of athlete you

are working with, so that you can adjust your coaching style accordingly. One way to

deliver optimal coaching is by making adjustments that span and overlap individual

sensory learning preferences. For the most part, athletes are predominately Visual,Kinesthetic, or Auditory learners.

Visual - learn by watching: Most people are visual learners. These athletes ask, Canyou show me again. Take advantage of demos, diagrams, and video playback with

visual learners. Keep in mind that your demos better be on point for these athletes; theywill do EXACTLY what they see regardless of the verbal description that accompanies

the demo.
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Kinesthetic - learn by doing: Athletes are typically more kinesthetically inclined thanthe general population. These athletes will start practicing the movement while you are

still describing or demonstrating it. Minimize verbal instruction and utilize more actualmovement practice along with manual/tactile/rhythmic cues and positioning. You can

also guide their intrinsic feedback mechanisms by asking questions like, How did thatfeel?

Auditory - learn by listening: These athletes repeat what you say and/or ask, Can yousay that again. Auditory learners can be catered to by using speech patterns, musical

elements, rhymes, and voice tones to emphasize important teaching points. Similar to the

importance of demos for visual learners, auditory learners demand clear, concise,

consistent, and specific descriptions and instruction. Also encourage dialog with theseathletes. Allowing them to talk through the learning process will help.

We can also learn a lot from the Situational Leadership Model created by Blanchard &Hersey in the 1960s. Developed as a way of helping business leaders get the most out ofthose they managed, its premise is to utilize specific leadership strategies based on

situational variables. Basically, Blanchard & Hersey looked at corresponding the way one

manages with an interaction of the employees Commitment and Competence. For

example, a person with low Commitment and low Competence needs a differentmanagement style than someone that exhibits high Commitment and high Competence. I

really like this model because it also integrates a developmental scheme to progress poor
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performers towards high levels of both variables. Brian Grasso, founder of the

International Youth Conditioning Association, has tailored this modelspecific to sports performance coaching. Grasso looks at it like this:

Low Motivation Low Skill: Use a Direct coaching style; avoid singling thisathlete out by directing coaching points to them in a subtle and personal manner.

Low Motivation High Skill: Use an Inspire coaching style; spend most of yourenergy motivating and challenging this athlete. They have natural ability already, but

need someone to captivate their interest and inspire effort.

High Motivation Low Skill: Use a Guide coaching style; this athlete has theinherent desire to improve, match their eagerness with coaching that is focused on

teaching them the technical aspects of athletic movement.

High Motivation High Skill: Use a Delegate coaching style; make sure theseathletes understand the goals and structure of training then include them in the trainingprocess, gather their feedback on programming, put them in situations where they can

teach other athletes. As a coach, your goal should be to develop all athletes to this

category.

Here is short video of John Spence, a leadership consultant, explaining the dynamics

behind the situational leadership model. He is presenting from a business management

perspective, but there are strong parallels with sports performance coaching.

I truly believe that a great coach is one that can effortlessly adapt their coaching style to

best match the athlete they are working with, even in team settings. In case you are

wondering, the coaching battle between Rett and I was cut short before I couldcompletely dominate the training floor we shared (I transferred to another facility). But if

you ask me, I was well on my way to stealing his favorite coach status by some of his

most devoted minion.

Too Much of a Good Thing

By Victor Hall

Im a big believer in augmented feedback, as evident in my previous posts on Specific,

Individual, and Prioritized feedback. If a coach isnt communicating information to

instruct, educate, correct, and praise the actions of their athletes, then they arent reallycoaching. However, just like Kobe and his Jordanesque jump shot, we as coaches need to

learn when to hold back and let those around us (our athletes) learn to help themselves.

Kobe has the talent to pour in 81 points in a single game, and is probably tempted to takethe game into his own hands more often than he actually does. After 10+ years in the
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NBA though, he has learned that although his individual offense is critical to the Lakers

win column, overemphasizing his own scoring is ultimately a detriment to the teams

long term success. Likewise, in an effort to affect positive change, we are always eager toimpart our observations, knowledge, and experience onto our athletes. I think we can

agree that our feedback and instruction is crucial to the improvement of their athletic

performance, but is there such a thing as too much?

The simple answer is yes. Excessive feedback and front-loaded instruction are a large

parts of over-coaching. Front-loaded instruction is when a coach takes 3 minutes to

explain a 15 second drill. Coaches guilty of front-loading (I have been there before) are

probably just trying to thoroughly describe the drill along with its rationale, possiblefaults and corrections, and sport application. All of which are great to educate athletes

about, just not at all once. Not only are small chunks of information easier for athletes to

digest, but when presented with continuous instruction, listeners are likely only

remember the first and last things said anyway (Primacy and Recency Effect). So beconcise, get them moving and coach on the fly.

When looking at excessive feedback, I am mostly focusing on the frequency of which a

coach delivers feedback. In many cases, athletes would be better served if the coach saidLESS. Additionally, what is excessive for one athlete might not be for another. Three

main variables to consider when determining the appropriate frequency of feedback are;

1. Complexity of the task Generally, low complexity requires less frequentfeedback and high complexity requires more frequent feedback.

2. Age/Skill of the athlete Generally, young/low skilled athletes requiremore frequent feedback and as athletes become older and/or more skilled, they

require less frequent feedback.

3. Content preference of the athlete If an athlete doesnt want a particulartype of feedback and feels like it is detrimental to their performance, then avoid itor find another way to deliver the same information. For example, an athlete tells

you that they dont like it when you point out a technical error because they are

unable to get the picture of the error out of their mind, even when you couple itwith praise or something else they did well. In this case, continuing to give

feedback on technical errors would be considered excessive for this particular

type of content.


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Regardless of the situation, excessive feedback has a few damaging consequences. The

worst of which is when athletes develop strong dependencies on their coach in order to

identify the actions of their own performance. In essence, the coachs feedback (extrinsicfeedback mechanism) becomes a crutch for the athlete and is relied on to provide nearly

100% of the information needed to facilitate improved performance. As a result, when

the coachs feedback is removed, performance suffers because the athlete has failed todevelop mechanisms that utilize intrinsic information to detect and correct movement

errors. In actuality, no learning or retention has occurred.

From a sport sociology perspective, consider that an athlete receiving high frequencies of

correction AND encouragement often perceive themselves as having low competence.Additionally, athletes that receive more feedback than others in a group setting are

perceived by those in the group as having lower competence than the rest of the athletes.

These situations are damaging to sports performance, as well as the emotional well beingof athletes.

So how do you know if youre over-coaching? If you can answer yes to either of thesequestions, then you are over-coaching:

1. Do the majority of your athletes instantly look for your feedback after each rep of

5 rep set for Olympic lifts?

2. Do you find that the athletes with the worst technique in a group try to avoid you

watching them?

One really good way to avoid over-coaching is to adopt a Guided Discovery approach tocoaching. Guided Discovery is characterized by allowing and encouraging athletes toexplore movement in order to provide a permanent and independent environment for

learning. This will develop athletes that are more in tune with their own bodies, able to

use intrinsic information to produce movement solutions, and are less dependent on theircoachs feedback. As a coach, the guided part means that we initially educate and

establish a technical model that athletes can visualize and work towards. Then we

gradually fade out the frequency of instruction and feedback while using questions moreoften. The simplest means of reducing feedback frequency is to provide summaries at the

end of sets instead of each repetition. Also, try using bandwidth feedback, where you

dont provide any input unless the performance falls out of predetermined criteria. As you

begin to use questions, focus them on areas that foster intrinsic feedback and reflection(What can you do to improve that?, How did that feel?, etc.).

Ultimately, athletes will learn more from their experiences than they will from their

coach but we need to be there to make sure they have the right experiences.


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FrankenCoach

By Victor Hall

Not too long ago in his blog, Vern Gambetta urged coaches to be generalists. One of his

points was that by being a generalist, a coach is able to avoid overcomplicating what

should be fairly simple training concepts. Moreover, he asserted that a generalist is ableto keep a clear view of the big picture, whereas a specialist can often be limited by a

narrow outlook. I tend to agree with Vern about the value of being a generalist. Its

probably not a coincidence that the coaches I respect the most, all share the uniquecharacteristic of being able to answer just about any training question you can throw at

them. They seem to know something (many times having an in-depth knowledge) about

everything. In this way, they too are generalists.

However, I recently had a conversation with a major Division 1 Head Strength and

Conditioning coach in which he mentioned that he is looking to add a Corrective Exercise

Specialist to his coaching staff. For him, there is value in a coach having a specific area

of expertise that fills a need within his particular program. So while I do agree that weshould endeavor to keep a strong focus on the big picture and span our training

knowledge across various training disciplines, I also dont think we can ignore the stateof our industry. The reality is that nowadays it is becoming increasingly difficult for a

coach to be set apart from other coaches WITHOUT an area of expertise. In fact, if you

aren't currently developing an area of expertise, then you might get lost in the shuffle.The Ryan Lee model of Internet experts, specialized products, and online membership

sites are coming hot and heavy recently.

So which is better? Generalist or Specialist?

How about both? Is it possible to be selective with the areas that span our generalknowledge? Not only do I say yes, but I see this as critical piece of professionaldevelopment in an industry that is demanding more and more. If the title Strength and

Conditioning Coach was sufficient 20 years ago, it certainly isnt anymore. I foresee

progressive sports performance coaches expanding that outdated title by taking oncharacteristics and training practices from other relevant disciplines.

If I was Dr. FrankenCoach and was building a coach for this evolving industry, these are

the parts I would use:

The Gut of a Strength Coach Above all else, I want my coach to be astrength coachalways instinctively operating on the fundamental objective of gettingathletes stronger and more explosive.

The Brain of a Physical Therapist The more I read and listen to folks likeGray Cook and Dr. Stuart McGill, the more I like the thought patterns of Physical

Therapists. I envy their understanding of the kinetic chain and injury pathways. That said,I like strength coaches who think like physical therapists, but NOT necessarily physical
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therapists that think like strength coaches. The latter tend to be too conservative and

clinical for my taste.

The Eyes of a Biomechanist My coach should have a high attention to detailwhen it comes to observing movementjoint angles, alignment, timing, coordination,

and compensations are all things my coach should be able to accurately analyze andcorrect when needed.

The Heart of a Sport Psychologist In order to maximize an athletesultimate potential and motivation, my coach must be in tune with the variables that

athletes encounter beyond the physical environment. This involves uncovering and

highlighting key emotions and aspects of training/competing that athletes hold most

valuable. The work that Jeremy Boone is doing in this area with Sports Axiology,http://www.innertactics.com/, could prove quite useful for sports performance coaches.

What would your coaching monster look like?

Philosophy is defined as a set of ideas or beliefs relating torelating to relateprep

concernant

relating to relateprep bezglich +gen, mit Bezug auf+acc a particular field or

activity. Its general intent is to cover or define the underlying bases of the subject.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

In transposing the notion of a philosophy from the academic pages to the coaching fields,it is important for coaches to understand what underlies the athletic endeavor in his

charge. In short, a coaching philosophy is, simply, the underlying basis of everything thata coach does.

In my role as a high school athletic directorAthletic director (commonly, "athletics

director") is a position at many American colleges and universities, as well as in largerhigh schools and middle schools, which oversees the work of the coaches and related

staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic

..... Click the link for more information., I have occasion to interview prospective

coaches. When I ask the question about coaching philosophy, the answer usually given isthat it is the offensive and defensive systems that the coach plans to employ.

While technical strategies are an important part of a coaching philosophy, the more

important element is how the athletes are going to be treated. What are the buildingblocks of the coach's decision-making decision-making,

n the process of coming to a conclusion or making a judgment.

decision-making, evidence-based,

n a type of informal decision-making that combines clinical expertise, patient concerns,
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and evidence gathered from process? When pressed to give some kind of overall

coaching philosophy, coaches rarely have a well thought-outthought-out adj

durchdacht answer.

This is a mistake. A coaching philosophy is important on every level of coaching. It

clarifies the coach's mind on essential aspects of his coaching. It also helps clarify thedetails for the athletes and their parents and lets them know what is expected from

everyone involved.

By having this information available from the beginning of a season it will help alleviate

Alleviate

To make something easier to be endured.

Mentioned in: Kinesiology, Applied

..... Click the link for more information. possible future problems and help keep the coach

on a clearly defined path.

A clear philosophy will give a coach and his coaching staff a foundation upon which to

base decisions. Coachesdon't don't

1. Contraction ofdo not.

2.NonstandardContraction ofdoes not.

n.

A statement of what should not be done: a list of the dos and don'ts.

..... Click the link for more information. always give much consideration to what they are

trying to accomplish. If such consideration is not given, a results-oriented climate is

likely to ensue ensueintr.v.ensued, ensuing, ensues

1. To follow as a consequence or result. See Synonyms at follow.

2. To take place subsequently. . If, typically, a coach is only concerned with wins and

losses, he will wind up with unhappy members of the team and dissatisfaction with the

program.

In the development of a coaching philosophy, the coach will be required to answer a

series of questions on paper. The commitment to writing will help the coach explain and

organize his ideas about coaching.

1. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ACCOMPLISH?

It is understandable that coaches at almost every level want to win contests. There is

nothing wrong with wanting to win. The problem we run into is that wanting to win is not

a clearly developed idea of accomplishment. Coaches have to think about the overall goal

of student progress. Do you want the athletes to be better students? Better citizens? Better
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leaders? What are the benefits of sport participation and how are you going to accomplish

them?

Don't forget that sports participation has a large educational component to deal with. We

want our athletes to enjoy the experience, learn how to be cooperative members of a

team, and be better people for having been involved in our programs.

2. WHAT ARE YOUR PRIORITIES?

A reflection of your own priorities as a coach is absolutely necessary. The coach should

decide what the most important aspects of team participation are.

For this topic, the needs of the athlete should be of the utmost consideration. What is thereason for playing sports? The most common answer is to have fun. If the athlete is not

enjoying the experience, he/she will not give a full effort to the cause. If the athletes are

included in the processes of the team, they will learn more and give more effort to the

cause.

When deciding about priorities, an athlete-centered approach is the key. Considerincluding the athletes in the making of team decisions. Athletes will work harder when

they feel a deeper connection to the team. Creating opportunities for players to get

involved is critical in developing an athlete-centered philosophy.

3. WHAT ARE THE RESPONSIBILITIES?

Another important aspect of a coaching philosophy is defining roles. This is whereclarification will assist inplayer-coach A player-coach, in sports, is a member of a sports

team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Such an individual

may be called a player-manager in sports where the title "manager" is used instead. andparent-coach relations.

It is important to think about what each constituent CONSTITUENT. He who givesauthority to another to act for him. 1 Bouv. Inst. n. 893.

2. The constituent is bound with whatever his attorney does by virtue of his authority.

is responsible for Clearly lay out the responsibilities of the coaching staff, players, and

parents. Each party is important to the success of the team.

Team chemistry can be undermined by any of the three groups involved. This is also a

good time to clarify boundaries and appropriate ways to discuss issues with the coach.

4. WHAT ARE YOUR TEACHING METHODS?

An often-overlooked part of coaching is the nuts and bolts nuts and bolts

pl.n.Slang

The basic working components or practical aspects: "[proposing] of teaching movement

skills. People learn best by doing things. As coaches, we want to communicate what we
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know. Unfortunately, when we start talking, players will only retain a fraction of what

they hear.

In teaching movement skills, we are better off having high levels of involvement in the

development of the skill. Simply put, we learn best by actually performing the skill. The

coach must consider the methodology of the coaching process. Careful considerationshould be given to the way the skills are broken down and implemented in practice. Make

sure that all skill work has direct relation to what may occur in game situations.

5. HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS?

The team that wins the championship will be perceived as the most successful team.

Interestingly enough, the teams that don't win feel very successful because the coach hasbeen able to nurture NURTURE. The act of taking care of children and educating them:

the right to the nurture of children generally belongs to the father till the child shall arrive

at the age of fourteen years, and not longer. Till then, he is guardian by nurture. Co. Litt.

38 b...... Click the link for more information. the idea that success comes in other forms.

This is where the coach can have a big impact on the chemistry of a team. If success can

be defined in other ways, like making progress, giving effort, how much did we learn, or

how much better were we at the end of the season than at the beginning, the coach will be

teaching important life lessons to his/her athletes.

By defining achievement in other ways, students will learn that effort is the most

important factor in athleticsathleticsortrack and field also track-and-field games

Variety of sport competitions held on a running track and on the adjacent field. It is theoldest form of organized sports, having been a part of the ancient Olympic Games from

c. . While it will not always lead to victories, it will, in many cases, lead to increased

opportunity for successes.

6. HOW WILL PRACTICES AND GAMES BE ORGANIZED?

Unprepared coaches have difficulty with teams. Itdoesn't doesn't

Contraction ofdoes not. take players long to figure out that a coach is unprepared.

Coaches fully expect their players to be ready for practice. They expect players to havethe proper equipment, be on time, and be ready to concentrate on the practice.

Players have every right to expect the same from the coach. Coaches have to develop asystem that they will use on a day-to-day day-to-day

adj.

1. Occurring on a routine or daily basis: the day-to-day movements of the stock market.
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2. basis. When a routine is established, players become more comfortable and more able

to focus on the situation at hand.

The same thing goes for game day. What is expected of all participants leading up to the

game? What do coaches believe about playing time? Do you go into the game with a plan

about playing time? (If you believe that every player should play in every game, youshould have a plan to accomplish it.)

7. TEAM RULES AND CONSEQUENCES

Team rules are important so that a structure is provided. This is another area where team

input is helpful. Young athletes will "buy" into rules that they help establish.

Developing hard-and-fast hard-and-fast

Adjective

(of rules) fixed and not able to be changed

Adj.1.hard-and-fast - (of rules) stringently enforced; "hard-and-fast rules"strict rules is difficult to do. When you make up rules, be sure that you are willing to

enforce them and make sure to apply the consequences of rule breaking consistently to all

players.

Does the consequence have the same meaning to a star player as it would to a bench

player?

In other wordsAdv.1.in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke"

put differently , if youpenalizepenalizetr.v.penalized, penalizing, penalizes

1. To subject to a penalty, especially for infringement of a law or official regulation. See

Synonyms at punish.

2. rules infractions with a loss of playing, how would this rule affect a player who rarely

plays in a game?

8. HOW WILL YOU COMMUNICATE YOUR PHILOSOPHY?

Once the philosophy is written, the coaching philosophy will be apparent. If the ideas are

clear for the coach, they will also be clear for the parents and players.

The next key is to make your philosophy public. Have a parent/player meeting and

distribute copies of the philosophy. This will open the lines of communication"Lines of

Communication" is an episode from the fourth season of the science-fiction television

seriesBabylon 5. SynopsisFranklin and Marcus attempt to persuade the Mars resistance to assist Sheridan in

opposing President Clark. and allow for parents and players to make decisions about the
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expectations in the program.

Remember, if you don't have a philosophy, you will probably get a "win-at-all costs"situation. This is difficult because if you don't win games, the team will feel that they

have failed.

Sports are an integral part of the educational process because of all the life lessons that

can only be learned in competition. Let's let's

Contraction oflet us. make sure that our coaching philosophy is sound so that these

lessons will be learned.

By David Parsh, Athletic Director, Kennedy High School SacramentoSacramento, city,

United States

Sacramento (skrmn`t), city (1990 pop. 369,365), state capital and seat of Sacramento

co., central Calif.

..... Click the link for more information., CA

Defensive Coaching Philosophy

I. Introduction

A. Defense - the most important single phase of the

game of football.

1. If the defense is strong enough:

a. The opponent will not score.

b. The opponent will not score enough to beat you or demoralize you.

2. The major objective of all defensive football is to keep the opponent

scoreless.

a. Never must a defensive unit be sold on the idea that a sound defensive team must keep

an opponent from gaining yardage or

making an occasional first down.

b. They must be sold on the idea that the opponent can't cross your goalline.
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3. The second objective of the defensive unit is to gain possession of the

ball.

a. The defense can be "offensive minded" and gain possession of the ball in 4 ways:

(1) Recover a fumble.

(2) Intercept a pass.

(3) Block a kick.

(4) Force the opponent to turn over the ball on downs.

4. The third objective of the defense is to score.

a. Pass interceptions returned for a TD.

b. Recovering and advancing a fumble for a TD.

c. Blocking a kick and recovering it for a TD.

d. Scoring a safety

e. Returning a punt for a TD.

5. The whole key is that if the defensive unit can become offensive minded

to the degree that they can honestly expect to score while on defensive, they

will execute every phase of defensive play better.

6. Each member of the defensive team must recognize, in the propersequence, the objectives of the defense.

a. Prevent a score

b. Gain possession of the ball.

c. Score while on defense.


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II. What the Defense Must AccomplishA. The basic theory of defense.

1. Contain the offensive unit and prevent the killing play and the easy TD.

a. Accomplish these goals by always keeping the ball inside and in front of the defensive

unit.

2. When the ball approaches the 10 yd. line, the necessity for defending in

depth no longer exists.

a. At this point, the defensive unit changes from delaying theory to an attacking unit

B. Individual defensive fundamentals.

1. The 3 fundamentals that each player must have in order to play defense

are:

a. The ability to move.

b. The ability to protect oneself.

c. The ability to tackle.

2. The most important fundamental is the ability to move .

a. The speed with which he moves and the accuracy of his movement will determine to adegree his ability to play defense.

b. Individual defensive fundamentals.

3. Essentially, the ability to protect oneself means the ability to retain

freedom of movement by keeping the legs free.


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a. Block protection is the ability to fight off an offensive player and retain freedom of

movement.

4. The ability to tackle effectively is the culmination of sound defense; ifthe tackle is missed, all theoretical defense (the ability to move ward off

blockers) has been in vain.

C. The seven cardinal principles of defense.

1. Position - all defenders must be in the proper alignment to carry out

assignments correctly.

2. Defensive blow - the correct method of warding off the initial block of an

offensive lineman must be taught correctly and executed before the

defensive unit will hold up.

3. Recognize pass and react - never get beat deep.

4. Reading keys - defenders must immediately read and react to the

established keys to tell if the play will be a run or a pass.

5. Protect your territory - each player has a certain territory that is hisresponsibility to protect; to be successful he must:

a. Know and understand fully what his territory is.

b. What techniques he must utilize to protect it.

c. The inclination to help his teammates protect their areas must be curtailed until he has

done his primary job first.

6. Pursuit - once his initial territory has been secured, the defenderbecomes a pursuer.

a. He must know the proper and line of pursuit and then carry it out full speed.

7. Gang tackling - the final principle is to be sure that each time the ball

carrier declares his path, that all able and available defensive personnel

are prepared to share the meat.


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a. Pile up - not on.

b. Prevent the break away run.

c. Demoralize the ball carriers.

d. Create turnovers.

D. The most important factor in the development of the

defense is the coach.

1. He must understand the seven principles of defense.

2. He must be able to teach the seven principles of defense to his players.

3. The players will execute properly.

4. The players will believe in the defense.

III. Selling the Defense

A. The primary job of a successful defensive coach is to

sell the defense.

1. This selling must include your staff as well as the team itself.

2. Selling is extremely important if you are going to be a sound defensive

team.

B. The 3 groups that have to be sold - (yourself, your

staff, and your squad).


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1. Yourself.

a. Before you can sell the defense, you must believe in it yourself.

b. In order to believe in it, you must understand all phases of it completely.

c. A large part of the selling job will stem from your ability to get across to your staff and

to your squad just how to carry out the various techniques required of the defense.

d. As the head coach or defensive coordinator, you are the expert and the one to whom

they will turn when they need an answer.

e. Too many young coaches make the mistake of using someone-else's defense because it

has worked for them, without

really understanding the mechanics of the system.

f. Unless you really know your defense, understand all about it and believe in it yourself,

you will never sell it.

g. Remember the words of Ben Franklin: "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."

2. Your staff - the first group that you must sell is your staff because in

many cases, they will be the ones who actually are going to teach the

defensive techniques to the squad.

a. Each assistant coach must become an expert at least in the phase of defense for whichhe is responsible.

b. Each assistant must the overall defense in general - its strengths and its weaknesses.

c. The staff must "believe" in the defensive scheme.

d. They will have to coach with the contagious enthusiasm as the head coach.

3. The Squad - these are the people who will actually put all of your ideas

and theories about defenses into action.

a. The players must know the general theory of the defense.

b. The players must know the absolute about their position.


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c. The players must know their areas of responsibility.

IV. Categorizing Your Defense

A. The 5 segments of a defense that the coach must

know and believe in.

1. Position - as a coach you must know the exact position in which a player

must be aligned to get his job done first.

a. The biggest disadvantage that you can give a football player is to start him in thewrong alignment.

2. Stunts - If you are going to use stunts, you must ask yourself:

a. What are the stunts that will work best from our alignment?

b. How will we "cover" for our stunts?

3. Weaknesses - you, your staff, and your players must know the

weaknesses of your defense.

4. Fundamentals - what are the extra techniques you must teach your

defenders when in a different alignment or stunting?

5. Capabilities of personnel - your defense will only be as strong as your

personnel playing it.

a. Determine what your personnel is capable of playing.

b. Compare your findings with the defense you will be asking them to play.

c Adapt your defense to your personnel adjustments.


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V. General Defensive Planning -"A Year Round Job"

A. Personnel.

1. Make a list of all returning personnel.

2. Make a list of all potential players from lower division rosters.

3. Attain an evaluation from lower division coaches.

B. Basic defense to be used next season.

1. In considering your defensive planning you must ask yourself:

a. Which defense(s) do I really know and am capable of teaching?

b. Which defense(s) am I an expert in the terms of:

1 Execution.

2 Stunts

3. Adjustments.

4. Knowledge of strengths and weaknesses.

2. Teaching your staff.

a. Prepare the lesson plan.

1. Outline what is to be taught and then break it down into as many meetings as you feel

are necessary to get the lessons across.

2. The number of meetings will be determined by:


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(a) The football experience of the staff from a playing and coaching stand point.

(b) The number of years the staff has been together.

(c) Whether or not the defense is entirely new or is merely a review of one you have been

using in the past, with some adjustments.

b. Once the outline has been formulated, it is time for staff meetings.

1. Staff meetings - are a teaching situation.

a. Must have a testing period of some type to be sure the lessons have been understood.

2. Establish guidelines.

a. Imperative that the defensive coordinator absolutely understand every phase of team

defense.

b. Be sure each session is informative.

c. Be sure that each session will prepare your staff to get the job done.

VI. Other Keys to DefenseA. Get excited and show enthusiasm.

1. When big plays occur, jump up and down; slap each other on the back.

2. On turnovers, hold up the ball in the air.

3. Other gimmicks, help the ball carrier up after he has been tackled.

4. Use cross-bones and skulls on the helmet for recognition.


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