NDL Forum

For those of you that do not know, I recently accepted a job as a computer technician for my local school district.
Well, my 2nd day on the job, I mention to our assistant principal that I am going to offer to help our head varsity coach to get my feet wet with coaching.

Long story short, I have never coached before and will be our 7th grade head football coach.

Now, keep in mind, our 7th and 8th grade teams last year, never won a game. So there is no pressure.
However, After I take the courses and such that I need to take, I was wondering if any of you guys have any suggestions?

I was thinking of joining usafootball.com.
They seem to have a ton of instructional videos and different things to help me out.
They also offer the fundamentals of coaching course free with their $50 membership, which is a required course to become a coach.

Any information is greatly appreciated.

The_Niddler wrote:I was wondering if any of you guys have any suggestions?.

ruuuuuun!

ajalves wrote:

The_Niddler wrote:I was wondering if any of you guys have any suggestions?.

ruuuuuun!

Some good advice right here.

Especially since you are soooooooooooo busy already.

I also thought you work at a bank so the story was weird that a bank had a football team.

Cnasty wrote:

ajalves wrote:

The_Niddler wrote:I was wondering if any of you guys have any suggestions?.

ruuuuuun!

Some good advice right here.

Especially since you are soooooooooooo busy already.

I also thought you work at a bank so the story was weird that a bank had a football team.

I lasted 2 days at the bank.
Second day took me 2 hours to get there and 2 hours to get home.
F - that!
I want to see my son grow up.

And I am not as busy anymore.
Now that I am in a job close to home (5 miles to work)
and we are moved into our house now, life is pretty much back to normal. It was just getting to this point.

And it is August, September and October for the season. Practice and games. So not bad and something I have wanted to do for many years.

The_Niddler wrote:I lasted 2 days at the bank.
Second day took me 2 hours to get there and 2 hours to get home.

I guess your trial run was a failed hypothesis.

Cnasty wrote:

The_Niddler wrote:I lasted 2 days at the bank.
Second day took me 2 hours to get there and 2 hours to get home.

I guess your trial run was a failed hypothesis.

smart ass!

doc told me that and my sister lives 8 miles north of Pittsburgh and told me the same thing.
1 day could be no traffic, the next could be 2 hours for no reason.
That is what you get though when it is all bridges and tunnels to get in and out of the city.

Cnasty wrote:

The_Niddler wrote:I lasted 2 days at the bank.
Second day took me 2 hours to get there and 2 hours to get home.

I guess your trial run was a failed hypothesis.

our comedy doesn't usually mesh, but this was el oh el

Man, I read the OP and had 2 zingers lined up, then everything was already covered.

I feel as though my delivery would have been better though.

Cnasty wrote:

The_Niddler wrote:I lasted 2 days at the bank.
Second day took me 2 hours to get there and 2 hours to get home.

I guess your trial run was a failed hypothesis.

Sample size was way too small.

The_Niddler wrote:For those of you that do not know, I recently accepted a job as a computer technician for my local school district.
Well, my 2nd day on the job, I mention to our assistant principal that I am going to offer to help our head varsity coach to get my feet wet with coaching.

Long story short, I have never coached before and will be our 7th grade head football coach.

Now, keep in mind, our 7th and 8th grade teams last year, never won a game. So there is no pressure.
However, After I take the courses and such that I need to take, I was wondering if any of you guys have any suggestions?

I was thinking of joining usafootball.com.
They seem to have a ton of instructional videos and different things to help me out.
They also offer the fundamentals of coaching course free with their $50 membership, which is a required course to become a coach.

Any information is greatly appreciated.

I have been coaching 7th football since I started teaching/coaching 10 years ago. Started at C team and now have been head 7th for about 6 years. FYI . . . be patient. I can't tell you how many times I have seen a kid come out on the football field with just a girdle on (should be in full pads). He thought the girdle WAS his pants . . . I get about 2 or 3 of those per season. So, main thing is . . . BE PATIENT.

How big is the school? How many kids are usually on the 7th grade team? How many coaches will you have working for/with you?

Have a parent meeting first week of practice. Make sure you are crystal clear about expectations, rules, and everything else. Have them sign a paper acknowledging that they've read and accepted the rules. Kids will rarely be your problem. Parents always will be problems. Be sure to include in your rules that you will not discuss playing time, tactics, or strategy, will not talk to parents immediately after games, and that if they want to discuss any of the aforementioned things they should contact the AD and setup an appointment to do so with both you and him/her.

Good luck

Cnasty wrote:

The_Niddler wrote:I lasted 2 days at the bank.
Second day took me 2 hours to get there and 2 hours to get home.

I guess your trial run was a failed hypothesis.

well freaking played

Shel coulda done better.

Cnasty wrote:Shel coulda done better.

I gather

Cnasty wrote:Shel coulda done better.

Is there an echo in here?

The_Niddler wrote:I lasted 2 days at the bank.
Second day took me 2 hours to get there and 2 hours to get home.

It's alright, that's still longer than Corey has lasted at OOTP a few times. Kudos.

Niddler like Ran said just be super patient. Peay brought up a great point about the parents. I don't know if they need to sign something but you can address that immediately in the parents meeting. (You def need to have a parent meeting) Finally, keep things super basic. Often times I see youth coaches running super complex stuff meanwhile they are behind to a team that is running basic plays but their lineman understand how to block, execute, etc. Keep it super basic IMO. AND TEACH PROPER TACKLING!

Also usafootball.com is a good tool and i recommend checking out some coaching clinics, I learn something new every time I go to one.

What offense you going to run?

packsyd2284 wrote:Niddler like Ran said just be super patient. Peay brought up a great point about the parents. I don't know if they need to sign something but you can address that immediately in the parents meeting. (You def need to have a parent meeting) Finally, keep things super basic. Often times I see youth coaches running super complex stuff meanwhile they are behind to a team that is running basic plays but their lineman understand how to block, execute, etc. Keep it super basic IMO. AND TEACH PROPER TACKLING!

Also usafootball.com is a good tool and i recommend checking out some coaching clinics, I learn something new every time I go to one.

Already planned on joining usafootball.com as they offer the one class I have to take and it is cheaper than other sites just offering the class and you get their membership with it.

And two things were my plan all along, have a parent meeting and keep it simple and teach fundamentals.
We are talking 12-13 year olds, so you don't really know who will develop into what type of player yet for sure.

principal must have heard you were the commisioner for the National Dynasty League and offered immediately

teach fundamentals like u and others said but for heavens sake also keep it fun

don't know what kinda coach you want to be but i do know ive seen waaaaaaay too many guys coach too "hard" at the jv / middle school level.

how big is the school? how big is the 7th grade class? nowadays there are soooo many other distractions compared to what we had growing up, half of your best players may not even come out...especially if they were winless last year. recruit em, as u meet students/parents, let them see your enthusiasm. it'll spread..maybe get all your potential to come out

last note...winless last year....if they "suck"..specifically on offense...SPREAD THEM OUT. Drives me crazy seeing youth teams with 6 inch splits. go wide as u can with your personel...make the defense spread out enough to provide you some holes to run through. teach crisp/quick/sure movement.

ok, one more note...YOU have fun. If you arent (especially when the losses start), the kids arent. be quick to discipline, be quick to praise.

best of luck to ya, i know you'll do well with it