I received a tweet this week that made me think of those “Last Weeks” and a standing rule we always had on our teams.

“Hey fellas, the saddest day of the year for me is tomorrow.  Check in your equipment right after school.  Please have clothes washed!”

I know the feeling.  We always had a standing “rule” during that final week:  There was to be no mention that it was the final week!  No “this is the last full pad practice”… no “this is the last Friday walk through”… no “this is the last pregame meal”…. You get the idea.

We always told our athletes that we did not have to be reminded that it WAS the last few times this team as we know it, this years iteration of our football squad, will get together… and it did ALWAYS sadden me.  Even the years that we fell below expectations, it was still OUR team… this years TEAM, with this group’s dynamics (which were always interesting and unique), and this years Seniors.  It will never be replicated.   We did not, I did not, want think about it every day that it was our final practices together.

As coaches are prone to do, and I am guilty of as well, it is easy to begin letting your mind start thinking ahead to off-season and next years team.  I did not need any help or encouragement to begin that line of thinking; it would not be very fair to the current squad for me to do so.  We always felt our current group deserved our best work, our attention to every detail for THIS year, THIS game.

As many of us are having, or have already had our “saddest day of the year”, I wish good luck to my colleagues that are still playing, or are heading into your final weeks.  I encourage you to enjoy your remaining days and enjoy your time with THIS team.

Thanks again to PrepsKC for running this column both online and in their weekly print magazine. If you get a chance to go and visit their site and “Like” this post, I would appreciate it!

You Can Do More… your brain is lying to you.. Don’t Believe It!

Jeff Floyd – youcandomore1@yahoo.com

Around the Web:

For anyone who’s ever wondered how a defensive coach assembles a game plan, youcandomore.net has a whole series on the thought process behind it. This particular link is to the call sheet, how a coach picks what works against the opponent’s best plays in certain situations each week, and has them handy so he can call his defense in a matter of seconds.

You can see the post and their blog at this link – The Insider, and follow their twitter feeds at @mikejoneswapo and @markmaske .  They have a ton of good NFL information, especially concerning the Redskins.

Hail to the Redskins! 

Jeff Floyd – youcandomore1@yahoo.com

Stats

By far and away, the most popular topic (by number of views) has been the series on Defensive Game Planning.  That is in part due to a number of online football outlets posting links to the series – most notably:

• Coach and Coordinator – Coach Keith Grabowski ‘s blog
• PrepsKC.com – home of Greater Kansas City Football Coaches Association
• Kansasprepsfootball.com – Kansas Prep Football site
• American Football Monthly – The Magazine for Football Coaches
• Coachhuey.com – The X’s and O’s of Football

Thanks to all of these coaches and sites for sharing this information with their readers.  These are all great sites, ones that I would recommend bookmarking.

The stats ….

So far there have been nearly 5,000 views on the defensive game planning posts, with the most popular two being Defensive Game Planning – The Call Sheet, and Defensive Game Planning – The Play Grid.  There has been almost 2,000 downloads of the various game planning tools that I shared in these posts, with the most downloaded being the Play Grid with over 200 downloads, followed closely by the blank Call Sheet with about 180 downloads.

Other popular topics have been the recruiting series, Recruiting – Gauging Their Level of Interest, and also the series regarding the Strength and Conditioning program, A Weekly (not weakly!) Workout

Thanks to all who have read and shared.  If you have any questions, please feel free to email or comment.  I will respond.  If you have enjoyed these posts, please share with a colleague.

I hit a minor snag with my iBook on Defensive Game planning…. A couple of the images were too small to read so the iTunes store rejected it until I correct those issues.  Hopefully I will have that (free) for all that would like to download it by the end of this month.  Until that time you can get find all of the posts at these links:

• Defensive Game Planning – All Posts, Forms, and Videos
• Flipboard Magazine – Defensive Game Planning

Remember… You Can Do More…. your brain is lying to you… Don’t Believe It!

Jeff Floyd – youcandomore1@yahoo.com

Mike Foster was the defensive coordinator and had instituted the slogan “Dirty Red” (red and black were our school colors).  “Dirty Red” was an attitude that we instilled in our defense… a rallying cry… a clarion call.  It wasn’t about playing dirty (illegal, unethical) but rather giving everything you had on the field of play.

• It meant being completely spent, exhausted, muddy, sweaty, bruised, and sore.
• It meant doing everything you could to make a play… sacrificing your body, running, crawling, jumping over people, or laying out… whatever it took.
• It meant everyone ”bought in” completely… you trusted that the guy on each side of you, in front, and behind you literally had your back… resulting in great team effort and great team defense.

We carried on the tradition and the slogan during my tenure as defensive coordinator at UCM.

The phrase was more than words… our players believed.  In one seven year span, from 1987 to 1993, the University of Central Missouri had the MIAA Defensive Player of the Year five times!

• 1987 – Jeff Wright
• 1988 – Mark Peoples
• 1990 – Mike Glass
• 1992 – Bart Woods
• 1992 – Bart Woods

I am sure that all of these honored players would agree that one reason they were selected for this individual award, was because each of these years we played great “team” defense.  We had more than one player or position that teams had to account for – which freed up these great players to make great plays.  We were typically at the top of the league in most defensive categories, and many years ended up being nationally ranked as well… as high as 2^nd in the nation in scoring defense in 1992.

Players still use the phrase “Dirty Red” as part of their post football vernacular.  I think it is a reminder of that bond… that attitude… that brotherhood.   They use it as a sign off on Facebook, a greeting, or even name their home brewed beer (Coach Hulet), “Dirty Red”.

When Coach Hulet left UCM as my DB coach to become the defensive coordinator at William Jewell College (colors red and black), he instituted the phrase and attitude there as well, and continued it the next year when I became the Jewell head coach.  In fact, I was fortunate to be able to carry on the “Dirty Red” slogan and attitude at a string of schools that had red as one of their colors: UCM, William Jewell, Wester, Derrick Thomas Academy, and Truman High School.  At each stop along the way, I enjoyed telling stories about the original “Dirty Red” defenses and players at the University of Central Missouri.  And at each stop along the way, the players at the new school came to know, admire and emulate the players of old.   The only bad news… the school I am at now (Bridger) has green and gold as their colors.

“Dirty Red”

Jeff Floyd – youcandomore1@yahoo.com

In this article Coach Grabowski pulls together resources from Urban Myer, (Urban Meyer – On Edge Coaching ), Coach Jason Hahnstadt, (The Flipped Coach – John Hahnstadt), some of my examples (Making a Screen Recording and Defensive Game Planning – Flipped Coaching) as well as many of his own ideas and implementations.  Additionally, Coach Grabowski includes examples of using technology for review and assessment with your players.

The article also has information and links to a great “flipped learning” resource from John Bergman – Turning Learning on its Head.

Coach Grabowski’s  article is the single best piece I have seen written on this topic.  It has video, practical examples, links to resources, and a narrative that excited me as to the possible uses for integrating this into my (and my colleagues) coaching bag of tricks.

The article itself is an excellent example of integrating technology into teaching and coaching. It is a must read…. really must SEE because of the many video examples and hyperlinks in the piece… article for 21^st century teachers and coaches.

Again, the article for the American Football Monthly online supplemental– Making an Impact With Flipped Coaching.

I cannot emphasize this enough…. if you are a coach wanting to learn cutting edge teaching and coaching methods, read Coach Grabowski’s blog – Coach and Coordinator, and follow him on Twitter @CoachKGrabowski.

Jeff Floyd – youcandomore1@yahoo.com

• Motivation – 75 Posts– All Motivation Posts
• Philosophy – 66 Posts – All Philosophy Posts
• Workout Program – 64 Posts– All Workout Program Posts
• Resources – 53 Posts– All Resources Posts
• Recruiting – 29 Posts– All Recruiting Posts
• Godin – 23 Posts– All Godin Posts
• Game Planning – 11 Posts– All Game Planning Posts
• Football Drills – 10 Posts– All Football Drills Posts
• Conditioning Drills –6 Posts- All Conditioning Drills Posts

Some posts were included in more than one category, so the total posts by categories are more than the 200 actual, individual posts.  You can click on each link to get to all the posts for that specific category.

Thanks to you, the readers, for motivating me with questions, comments, likes, and shares.  One thing that still impresses me daily is the impact, trust and loyalty that most of you have with your colleagues.  Every time one of you “shares” or “likes” or “tweets” or “re-tweets” one of my posts, views on this site skyrocket.  I know time is at a premium for us all, so when you take time to read, and then feel that it worthy enough to pass on to your colleagues… that means a great deal to me.

With that in mind I thank you, and ask a favor….

If you have enjoyed, benefitted, been amused, been moved, been intrigued, scratched your head, found something thought provoking…. then please pass on the link to this site (youcandomore.net) to a colleague(s) that might as well.

On another note, I have submitted my iBook on the Defensive Game Planning process to the iTunes store and am just waiting approval.  When it is live and available (for free),  I will let you all know!

Jeff Floyd – youcandomore1@yahoo.com

• You are getting married (or celebrating an anniversary)
• You are ramping up meeting time with your staff  and/or attending your state Coaching Association football clinic in preparation for the upcoming season.

It is amazing how many of my coaching colleagues have anniversaries this time of the year… the end of July to the first week of August.  It seems we all try to squeeze in one more joyful event before our other love… the grind of the season… begins.  My wife and I got married on a Friday, and we started 2-a-day football practices on the following Monday.  We celebrate our 30^th anniversary this summer.

If you are knee deep in meeting/ clinic time right now, here are a couple of things to chew on.  Right now is the time to expand your comfort zone (see Expanding Our Comfort Zone or Get Uncomfortable) and become comfortable with new technology and/ or new teaching and coaching methods.  Once the season gets going time really is at a premium.  We will have little time to get comfortable with new coaching methods or tools.  If we are not comfortable at that point, we inevitably revert back to coaching and teaching methods that we are more comfortable with.

Here are a couple of relatively easy projects to tackle to get started.  These ideas are from my post Flipping the Practice Field.  You can see how to make a screencast is in my post, Making a Screen Recording.

Drill Screencast

What if you had the most important (or better yet, all!) of your drills for each position group online, described with text, diagramed in an automated PowerPoint presentation, with a telestrated video of YOU explaining the key organizational and coaching points of the drill, and your players demonstrating.  Before you use a drill in a practice, you gave as “homework” to your position group the task of studying this online content for the drill.  How many more reps would you get in that drill during practice, and how much better understanding of the drill would your players have during the course of the year?

Playbook Install

Consider your install days during your pre-season or spring practice sessions.  How much more production could you get out of your meeting and practice time if you had your install lectures already recorded on a screencast.  Prior to your installation of a particular front/ stunt/ or coverage (or of an offensive play) you require as “homework” viewing the screencast of your install lecture of that piece.  How much more efficient could you be in your meeting time (answering specific questions about the install) or how much quicker would you move to actually practicing the piece instead of spending time installing on the field.

Now is the time to do this… to get comfortable with the technology… to get comfortable with a new coaching technique.  It is just like everything else in athletics/ teaching/ life.  The most difficult time is the first time… just getting started (see post Starting) is at times the most difficult thing.  The more you do it, the more comfortable (and easier) it will become

If you are the head coach, challenge yourself and your position coaches to just complete one drill screencast… just one install screencast before your season begins.  If you are a coordinator, challenge the staff on your side of the ball to expand their comfort zone by doing this.  If you are a position coach, take it upon yourself to learn … be a leader (see post Leading Up)!

Jeff Floyd – youcandomore1@yahoo.com

I always like to sit in the window seat, and when we are taking off or landing, I try to pick out landmarks in the city we are visiting.  More specifically, I like to pick out sporting venues… even more specifically… I note ALL of football fields and stadiums in the area.  I think you can tell much about the priorities of the city/ geographical area by conducting this quick aerial survey.  OK, what I am really trying to say is that you can tell how important football is to the area!

The rankings from 30,000 feet:

Dallas is King

When flying into Dallas you can always spot 8-10 high school District stadiums with turf fields, as well as countless other high school and middle school turf practice fields and complexes (see post Friday Night Lights).  This includes the new $60 million, 18,000-fan capacity, Allen District Stadium, in Allen, Texas.  Depending on the route into the airports (either Love Field or DFW) you can sometimes see FC Dallas Stadium (where many Frisco ISD games are played) which is the home of the FC Dallas soccer team, and the site of the 2011 and 2012 FCS National Championship football game.  Arial views of the Cotton Bowl, the old and new Cowboy stadiums can also be seen on various approach legs.

Houston a close second

Nearly as many high school turf fields can be spotted approaching Houston, but the area around the airport we typically fly into is a little more industrial, and not so suburban, so it lands a close second to Dallas.  Occasionally the flight path will give you a view of downtown and Reliant Stadium.

Austin rounds out the top three

Many impressive high school turf stadiums as well as the University of Texas (a really cool sight) stadium can be spotted on the glide path into Austin.

San Diego is the West Coast challenger

Many, but smaller, natural grass stadium complexes and MANY golf courses show that the emphasis in this California city is not the same as its Texas counterparts.  You can spot lots of sailboats in the harbor, though.

Kansas City the Show Me State representative

More and more nice, turf, high school district stadiums are popping up on the glide path into KCI airport – most notably Park Hill and Platte County.  Depending on the route in, you can occasionally get a good view of Washburn University’s (a DII school in the MIAA) new football complex.  In my (totally unbiased) opinion, KC is poised to push San Diego out the #4 slot.

San Jose/ San Francisco a foggy #6

Very few nice high school complexes, but occasionally you can see the San Jose State Spartan Stadium, the 49ers or Oakland stadiums.  The landings are often in fog so visibility is limited.  Although they are nice complexes,  I have never seen the Stanford or Berkeley Stadiums from the air.

Miami/ Fort Lauderdale

You can view many nice high school stadiums… but not turf, and not as large as the Texas counterparts.  Many, MANY golf courses, and baseball fields dot the approach into either of these airports.  This shows you where this geographical area’s true priorities lie.

This takes us to my most recent destination… just this week.

Key West, Florida.

On the landing approach… water… not a single football stadium… just sayin’.  Guess where my priorities will lie this week?

Although, they do have a local high school football team… the area is more known for baseball than football.

Jeff Floyd – youcandomore1@yahoo.com

The shortcut that’s sure to work, every time:

Take the long way.

Do the hard work, consistently and with generosity and transparency.

And then you won’t waste time doing it over.

OR… as I always ask my athletes… “Why would we ever want you to do something that was easy?”   OR… here are 10 other ways to look at it…

• Do The Hard Parts… its worth it!
• Get Stuck… then get traction!
• Face the Smelting Fire… and come out steeled!
• Do The “S**T” stuff … and have fun!
• Attack The Grit and the Grind… and enjoy!
• Fail… and learn!
• Do The Little Things… they are big!
• Get Uncomfortable… and grow!
• Take the Long Road… and make short work of it!
• Get Started… and end up amazing!

Take the certain shortcut… the guaranteed shortcut… Take the long way.

We Can Do More!

Jeff Floyd – youcandomore1@yahoo.com

He was grousing about his work, how tired and frustrated he was.  I was attempting (and not very well) to “counsel” him about work, job, effort, etc.  He doesn’t need to be counseled on any of that… he gets it.  He was involved in athletics… he understands hard work.

I was missing the whole point, because I wasn’t really listening very well.  He wasn’t complaining, he just wanted me to know how difficult the job can be, and how hard he works at it.  And I was trying to “teach” and “coach” and “parent” without really listening.

He set me straight.

This chat (below) was preceded by him telling me that the “s**t” part of the job is that it takes so long to get to where you want to end up.  I told him that it was his choice to consider it “s**t” , he could also consider it fun, learning and growing his cadre.

Here is the rest of the chat - his texts are white… mine blue…

He nailed it!

Yes, fun and worthwhile things can be “s**t”, too.  Often that is what makes it fun and worthwhile.

Two-a-days… heat… humidity… sweating… long hours… football 24/7… intense… no rest… sore muscles… dead tired… perpetual thirst… meetings… get up and do it all over again.  By all definitions… “s**t”

Two-a-days… everyone working together… bonding… sweating… learning… sacrificing… teammates… laughing…. caring…football 24/7…  intense… inching toward that goal…   By all definitions… FUN

Yes it can be both.

You Can Do More… your brain is lying to you… don’t believe it!

Jeff Floyd – youcandomore1@yahoo.com