Am I a Great Assistant? I hope so!

Kingsford Flivvers

I recently read an article called, "How to Be a Great Assistant Coach."

With the exception of 1 year with the L'Anse Purple Hornets, and one year as an 8th grade basketball coach, I have always been an assistant.

I like to think I'm a good one...

Here are my answers to the questions asked in, "How to Be a Great Assistant Coach."

1) Why did I get into coaching? Great question. I really have no idea.  I guess I just LOVED football so much that I didn't want to be away from it.  When I was in college, I didn't coach at all.  I guess I didn't see the opportunity. I could have found one, but made the choice not to.  When I got to the student teaching part of my education, I asked in my initial interview with my principal and was immediately hired as the assistant coach to the Gwinn Modletowner 7/8 grade team. I have only missed two seasons since that first season of 2005.  In 2006 I was in Iraq and in 2013 I was in Afghanistan.


2) What do I love about coaching? The kids! That is by far the number one. I really enjoy watching them come together as a group of individuals and form a team. I enjoy watching them as they, "get it" and start to understand the game. I enjoy seeing how excited they get over simple things. Stopping at McDonald's is a simple thing... 
I also love the work.  Figuring out what the other team is doing/trying to do. What we can do to counter. What we can do to counter their counter to our counter. I love it!

3) What do I dislike about coaching? That I'm a dork. I spend a ton of time on film, scouting reports, scout cards, etc. Does it matter? Maybe. Have we won a game we would have lost if not for that work? Maybe. I guess for me, I want to be as prepared as possible. If we lose a game by one score, I don't want to think, "Man...If only I would have spent more time figuring out how to...."  I think that would be a huge disservice to the players. So part of what I love in finding out the little things, makes me a dork and I fee like NO ONE else understands besides other coaches.  Even some of them  look at me like I'm a dork.

4) What are my present and future goals? My present goal is to be the best coach I can possibly be for the Freshman Flivvers. We have two more games on the season. I'm positive we can get at least one more win.  Can we get two?  I sure hope so.
My future goal is to be the Varsity head coach of the Kingsford Flivvers. Is that possible?  Maybe.  I know I have a lot to learn before I'm ready to take on that position, but I am in a position right now to learn as much as I can from some really great coaches. In the mean-time, I hope to provide value to the program by helping with what I can, when I can, and learning all I can.


5) Why am I in coaching now? Back to question 1. I love football. I really really do!  I love watching it, coaching it, playing it. It is a wonderful game. I really can't see myself not coaching football.

GO FLIVVERS!!

Football / Life Lessons

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Coaching football has taught ME some very valuable lessons. These lessons held true at Gwinn, L'Anse, and here at Kingsford.

I have learned to never (ever) assume that players know what I'm talking about:

"We need to shift into cover three when they show us twins to the boundary."

Blank stares. Gotta put that on the white board, show it on the field, then show them on film VanDusen!

I have learned to over simplify things. A thinking teenager is a slow teenager. I want my players to play fast which means I have to make the thinking easy and/or non-existent.

More importantly, I hope to teach young men valuable lessons.  Not only about the game of football, but also about life.  Here are three lessons that have been prevalent this past season.  They are in no particular order, and this list is FAR from inclusive.

1) Master things that take no talent.  This isn't my quote, but I absolutely love it. In football, this means watching film, reading scouting reports, going hard every play, etc.  Every football coach I know has a story of a player who had the heart of a lion. He gave absolutely everything he had to the game, yet never got very far due to a lack of talent. That player is usually a coaches favorite, despite the lack of output.  This player, although they may not be a great football player, will succeed in life because they are attempting to master the things that take no skill. They will find their skill, whether it's being a plummer, lawyer, or teacher.  They will find out their skill and their mastery of talent-less skills will serve them well. of In life it can mean being to work on time, driving without distraction, and paying bills on time.

2) You play exactly how you practice. One of my favorite stories (I don't know if it's true or not...) comes out of Iraq in 2003.  A group of American Soldiers got into a small gunfight. Prior to getting back in their trucks and moving to the engagement area, a young Soldier stooped over and began picking up his brass. His sergeant yelled at him to get back in the truck and he did, but a VALUABLE lesson was learned.  In training, that Soldier would take the extra minute or two to pick up his brass, because when the training event was over, they would have to go pick it up anyway to turn it in.  He was fighting exactly how he trained.
In football, however you practice, that is how you play. Do you carry out your fakes? Do you block till the whistle? Do you force your players into a tight huddle?  Whatever you do on the practice field, expect it on game night.

3) You can't control what happens to you, you can only control your reaction to it. (Again, not mine, but I love it!) Last night, our quarterback rolls to his left on the second play of the game. He spies an open receiver, squares his hips, cocks the ball and begins his throwing motion. The ball slips out of his hand and the defender who was chasing him down from the back side had a gift land right in his hands. He returned it for a touchdown and we go down 6-0.  We couldn't control the rain making the ball slick. We couldn't control the defender ripping through a great block and pursuing from the backside.  We couldn't control the fact that he was able to take it back for six points.  All we could control was our reaction to it. 
So what did we do?  We got a great kick return. Ran three plays for 45 yards and a touchdown.  Then we scored the two point conversion. Now we are winning 6-8. I like that reaction.
In life all kinds of crazy things can happen. You can set the conditions to be in your favor, but at the end of the day, you can't control what happens to you. Flat tire. Car accident. Hail storm damaging your roof. What are you going to do about it?

I love football.
It is an amazing game and I have build some incredible relationships with coaches and players that I couldn't have anywhere else.

Aaron Rodgers was quoted in ESPN magazine as saying, "I hope I don't just do this."
He said that after winning the Super Bowl. (Read the Article Here)

I can reflect on the past 10 years of coaching and know that I do more than just football. Some days my day seems DOMINATED by football, and it is.  But I also know that those young men who snap their helmets on every week are learning lessons that will help them do more than, "this."