Coach Boris' Coaching Web site

When is the off season?

Many people think that football is only played in the fall between
September and December. For a fan that is true but for the coach and player it
is twelve months a year. The player has to stay in shape and the coach has to
stay in shape also. The player does this by playing other sports or maintaining
a workout schedule that keeps him active. As for the coach he must think about
the upcoming season. Some coaches go from one sport to another. I did this one
year going from football to basketball to softball and umpiring and then back
to football. Well after that season I was burned out and almost in divorce
court. As I said I feel that being a football coach is a year round job but it
shouldn't take up all of your off season. With proper planning and scheduling
things work out.

Coaching Clinics

One of the first orders of business as a coach should be is to find one
or more coaching clinics that will be held in your area. Two that I have always
attended are Marty Moke's (while he was at Bishop Eustace) and Larry
Mauriello's down at Overbrook High School. One year I attended Princetoin
University's Clinic. You have to find out which clinic will offer the best
informatioon for you. Larry's clinic is given by College coaches and a lot of
High School coaches attend. The one year Virginia Tech's staff was there and
they were great. They showed how to scale down the drills for the youth teams.
One thing that you should do is take the coach up on their offers for film.
Each year I attend these I say I am goiing to send the coach my blank tape for
a copy of the drill but then other things take presedance. A picture is worth a
thousands words on a note pad. At Princeton varsity players were used to
demonstrate the drills. One coach brought a video camera. That guy was
thinking. Another clinic to get into is one that is certified by the Red Cross.
I was part of the early classes and they were very informative.

Now clinics can be x's and o's but I never really gained much from them.
If you are lookng for more information on the type of offense you run than you
should look for a clinician that will talk about that type of offense. If you
want to change up your offense than look for a clinician that has what you
want. One thing is to keep an open mind. Remember a college coach is used to
dealing with older players and more mature players. They are faster and bigger
but one thing they have in common with your players is that they are kids
playing a kids game.

Gettng back to the Red Cross clinics I found them to also have a section
on the Physcology of coaching. This is a vital part for you as a youuth coach.
Kids can try your patience and today they come to practice with a lot more
emotional baggage than we had as kids. One phsycologists session I felt was
very good was given by Dr. DiPold (I think that is how he spells it). He does a
lot of work woith Camden Catholic's Wrestling team. One thing he stressed was
being positive and how to get teh kids to be thinking about the postive aspects
of the game and to have them dwell on that not the negatives.

Recruiting

Although most of you can only get players from a predetermined area you
are still competeing with other sports. When I coached the 7 to 9 year olds I
found I had a very good return rate of players because I let them know that I
was looking forward to seeing them next season. Remember I said I wasn't the
winningest coach but I always had upwards of 30 players on my teams. I would
make sure the players got a postcard from me near the end of school wishing
them the best and if they were playing Little League Baseball that I wished
them luck. I would also send a card to the players that were moving up letting
them know the coach of the next level would be waiting to see them in August.
This doesn't work on all kids but on some it is the thing they need. The one
thing it did do was win over the parent.

Coaching Staff Meetings

These meetings are important to keep your staff on the same page. They
also help you let them know the schedule of the organization. These meetings
also give your staff a forum to discuss things that may not have worked out the
previous season. Try to keep them short maybe an hour to an hour and a half.
Since your season starts in August these might be best held through June and
July. Over that eight week period you could possibly meet a few times. One
thing you might due is combine a meeting with a clinic.

To Sum it Up

Well if you got this far I hope it was informative. Keep in mind that
even though your season is over you must keep honing your skills as a coach.
You also have to keep adding tools to your coaching arsenal and the off season
is the best time. The other thing you should try and do is get other things
cleared up that you had to put aside during the season.