Ordered my ring

I am totally spoiled at this program, two straight state championships for me with the program. Coach V even said that to me the other day. It was funny cause I even said that to my mom. One thing I was annoyed with was that my digital camera broke or else I would have posted pics of the championship game for all to see.

But we are ordering a ring which will have three trophies in the middle of it with a blue background. Coach Wong is paying for the rings this time since it was such a monumental win. Wow what a great year. Now it is on to the offseason.

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Three-Peat State Champions

So we did it, we won the state championship last Friday against Cottonwood 34-28.  We had spectacular play from our All-American player Xavier Su'a-filo.  He played for us on both sides of the ball, as left tackle and defensive tackle.  He blocked a punt and helped hold the middle to prevent Cottonwood's run game during the second half.  All of the coaches and players celebrated this monumental occasion and couldn't believe that we were able to accomplish this goal.  

We are on a current 36 game win streak and we will see what happens with the coming season.  Right now we are also currently ranked #24 in the country according to USA Today and and 21st according to Rivals.com.  I can't believe that I get another ring for the second year in the row.  This time around we are going to go all out on the ring to commemorate this momentous occasion.  Once again Timpview Football is best in the state of Utah.

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Semifinals

We won tonight our Quarterfinal game 42-13 against Skyview. It was basically a rout and now we go play the same team we did last year in the Semifinals. I lost my voice from yelling so loud.

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Sophomore Season Over

On my July 17th post I mentioned that the boys needed to be more physical. We worked hard and had to really coach up these boys. Leaving camp we didn't know what was gonna happen as we got manhandled in camp. We all walked away as coaches going whoa what are we gonna do? Well after this season this team went 7-1 on the season, region champs and undefeated in region play. Coach Wong said to me the Wednesday before the last game, I can't believe what you have done with those boys, that is all coaching to get them where you are. Varsity of course finished undefeated and now is the first week of playoffs.

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Season so far

Well Varsity has set a new state record for most consecutive wins. Currently we are at a 31 game win streak. Sophomores are currently are 6-1 on the season and the last game won allows us to win region play undefeated. This would be huge coming up as this team has grown a lot this season.

We could win state again and we will see what happens in the coming months.

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Tomorrow Break the State Record

If Varsity wins tomorrow we set a new state record for most consecutive wins. We shall see with an update here in the next day.

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Won the first game

So the Sophomore team won the first game of the season. We came out and made some mistakes typical of a first game, but we made adjustments at halftime and took the game over at the half. We physically dominated them and took over the game. These guys made me proud as we won this game 32-22 and the last td was in garbage time. Everyone really got to play and I am just happy to have this win. This was a payback victory and from here on out lets see what we can do with these kids.

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Why Do You Want to Coach?

This is a very important question for all those aspiring coaches out there. Why do you want to coach? Whatever sport you wish to coach this question should be asked by you of yourself. Do you want the glory of being a coach? Are you wanting to go up the ranks make this a full time job? Or are you wanting to make the difference in someone's life? This last question should be the real reason you get into coaching. If you don't do it for the kids then you won't have a good experience. With the hours that you will put into coaching, if you don't do it for the kids then you shouldn't be a coach.

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First Sophomore Game Tomorrow

Well tomorrow is the first Sophomore game of the season. Not gonna lie I am nervous about this game but that happens every year for me. This year we have platooned more on the sophomore team and so I have been coaching the Defensive Line for the Sophomores. We have worked on being a physical team. Usually the team that is most physical is the team that wins games and so we need to do this. Well we will see how we do, all that work during the summer is coming to fruition as we begin our season. I'll let you know what happens

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Been Awhile Since I Posted

Wow it has been awhile since I posted anything on my coaching blog oops. We had football camp from July 7th to July 10th. It was an interesting camp that gave us coaches some insight into the coming season with the Sophomore team. We need these guys to be more physical so we have some things to work on to get this team ready for the coming season. Expectation are high as they always are and we need to make sure these boys know we expect greatness. I think the players are starting to get better and with a month till the season I think things can be pretty good. I will post more as we get ready for the season.

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Air Raid Part II

This is a favorite play of mine. My youth team ran this play and it worked to perfection. This was one of our best plays as we ran it. This is taken from the current Air Raid passing system as well. This play is easy to read and understand and can be deadly.

On this play the first read is actually the flat defender covering the H position. It's a read by the QB and H defined by where the flat defender goes. Second read is the Y then Z then F. X is designed to clear the area by going deep but if you have a blitz coming the QB can hit that route to. Sometimes the CB might even leave the X to cover the flat which you can exploit.

Again ease of simplicity of the reads, and getting rid of the ball quickly is a reason for my liking the Air Raid. This is an offense that can score quickly and bring you back into games. I was able to run this one pass play out of four formations another bonus of the Air Raid.

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Air Raid

Being a graduate of BYU I have had a chance to study more the Air Raid passing system. In my opinion this is one of the easiest ways to pass and not confuse your players too much. Another reason I like the Air Raid is that you can run many of the same plays out of different formations. There are some plays where the routes will always be open. Let me give you an example of such a play.

Below is 50 check shallow that BYU uses. The first read on this play is actually the middle backer. The main route is not the post but actually the dig done by the H-back. As Coach Anae puts it, the dig is always open. What you will start to see is that safeties will come up hard on the dig which opens the post deep. The X route would be a check route to see if the safeties are coming up. The Z and F routes are the last routes of the progression but if you notice that the defense is having trouble defending those two routes on the backside you can let your QB know to look for those routes.


This is what I love about the Air Raid passing system. Quick short routes, that will allow you to be able to get rid of the ball quickly. The defense has pressure put on it to defend and the reads are easy. If you are looking for a fun offense that is easy to learn. This would be a good offense to start out teaching in my opinion.

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Spread Offense too Soft????

I have heard at times comments that the spread offense is not really a line em up and pound it type of offense. What do I mean by pound it? Usually when you hear pounding the ball means to line up in a tight formation and run the ball right at the defense. So why do some coaches and people think that you can't pound the ball in the spread?

Well in the spread the main running play is the zone block. In the zone block you block an area and not necessarily a man. So even if you just get in the opposing players way you can still block him, without having to blow him downfield. It's because of this type of play that some feel that you can't pound the ball in the spread offense and if you run the spread you are a soft team.

In my opinion this is a false idea. I think you can run the ball in a hard pounding way in the Spread offense. You can run the ball with a back leading on QB dart. You can have two backs in the backfield and have one lead the other up the hole. Counter is an effective run play in the spread offense at the HS level and below.

In the state championship game we ran for over 300 yards, and we run the spread. If you watch game film when we pulled the tackle downfield he hit the corner so much that eventually the corner gave up taking him on. You can pound the ball when running the spread, just not in the normal thought of idea.

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Championship Ring

So I finally have put some pics of my championship ring on the computer, I thought it would be nice to share for others that haven't seen the ring that are my friends who check this blog too. Here you go folks.

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Spread offense

Many probably wonder why the spread if gaining in popularity in football. Well one reason is because of the success teams are having running the offense. In football there is a lot of copying of offensive and defensive schemes as teams become successful running it. That is why in college and the levels below you are seeing an increase of teams running this offense.

Another reason it is becoming popular is that you don't have to have a super huge line to block. Remember how I said that the spread is a pick your poison type offense? Not having a super huge line can still give you a chance to be successful on offense because you can pass or run the ball with athletes out in space. If you are looking for an offense to run take a look at the spread as it could help even the playing field for your team.

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Rules of football

I have some foreign friends who don't know much about Football so I decided to write an article explaining a little bit more about football for them to understand. Football.com has a listing of the rules for football but also so does Wikipedia. Both of these have very basic explanations about the game and the rules. There are even links to the history of the game which help you understand.

When the game first started out there were no formations and it was just a wave of human beings running together over people. This led to deaths and almost to the ban of the game. However Walter Camp helped develop the rules that were important. Understanding the rules of the game will help you learn and understand what you are seeing.

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Football's JailBreak Screen

I love this screen. Others call it tunnel screen but basically it is a devastating play if run right. I call it a jailbreak screen cause basically everyone on offense breaks out to block downfield. For youth teams this could be a big gainer because a lot of teams blitz. When we ran it in the youth team we averaged at least 15 yards a time. We ran it 6 times in the championship game and the only time it was stopped was because we dropped the ball.

If you are looking for a big gainer and a fun play for lineman and kids, look at running this play. It is also a major play in regards to using the Air Raid system as well. Here is how we blocked the jailbreak screen::

1. The second receiver goes to the corner covering the outside receiver and block.  
2. Back goes and blocks the slot receiver's defender. 
3. The tackle on the play side needs to stay with the defensive end by inviting him upfield and taking him that way.  The other linemen set pass for 1.5 seconds and then release down field finding looking for linebackers and providing basically a wall for the receiver to run behind.  

For those of you who don't know what this screen even looks like, here is an image of how we blocked it. As well as an article explaining about it.

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Which Youth Offense to use?

In my last post I talked about why some youth coaches would run the spread when they have trouble passing. I ran a more spread offense because of the players I knew I would have. This enabled me to be able to run the offense I knew. So what offense would I run if I didn't have the players I did?

Well I think it depends on the age group. I have seen some coaches at age 9-10 try to run the spread but have had trouble, that is because I don't think kids that age can run a bunch of complex pass routes. For me I might have run the double wing or single wing at that age group unless I had some amazing players. Any age group below 9-10 I would run one of those two offense, kids aren't as developed to run all this fancy stuff.

For 11-12 year olds I might run the spread, provided we had the good athletes, depends on the players in that age group. For 13-14 year olds I would run the spread, they are older and can run more complex patterns together. Sometimes the offense doesn't have to be flashy, it just needs to be efficient. Don't worry what parents say but go with your gut instinct. As a coach only you know your strengths are, utilize them. Remember this is supposed to be a fun game for the youth, do your best to do that.

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No Back Offense/Empty Offense

So we are looking to add the no back offense set into our offense. Up until now we haven't run empty, so we are going to have some fun with it. I will go and give some suggestions to the OC to see what I can do to contribute. I really think QB trap will be a devastating play especially with the QB that we will have this year. I would also suggest doing jet sweep and then running counter off that action. Run that or TAQ and just pull the tackle around. Run running plays out of empty offense that we don't need to teach new blocking to out line will be great. K.I.S.S. method is my plan with this.

I do like running empty to run the ball because it forces a defense to decide how to defend us. If they put 6 in the box I will just throw the ball, if they put 5 in the box then I will run the ball with my QB. That is the beauty of the spread offense, pick your poison you have to stop both. That is why I wonder sometimes about youth coaches saying they want to run the spread. They have to be able to throw the ball but also run the ball. You don't have to throw all the time but you have to be a threat passing to make that defense spread out.

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Wow been awhile

Unfortunately it has been awhile since I posted. Not too much new to report just that workouts are going well. We are seeing improvement in all of our players. The line is developing well and we might have a real realistic chance at winning the state championship a third time. It is funny to see college coaches descending on our school. They can't talk to the players at all about recruitment but they are looking for the kids they would like to recruit.

Tomorrow the team is having their fund raising luau. It will be a lot of fun and heck it's free food which will be excellent. Kind of hard being that it is over the Memorial Day weekend but it should be still well attended. Right now I have a bad cold so this is all I will write about for now.

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Workouts

Yesterday we had a good day of work. In one on ones the d-lineman put a lot of pressure on our o-lineman. One of our best lineman had a tough day as we used speed to rush him. After the workouts his father was talking to me saying "My son got his ass kicked today."

He is worried that he is getting too caught up in all his recruitment. It is hard to remember that when it comes down to it, these players are just teenage boys having to deal with all that. This player is a good young man, just needs to refocus a little and I am confident that he will. He knows what he needs to do and won't let those outside distractions affect his play.

Overall we are seeing improvement in many players. This won't be that easy of a season coming up, but we do have a lot of returning talent. Since we platoon players too, the development of these players is increasing.

Many sophomore players watched the championship game from the stands, they came up to after that game and said "We want that too coach." They know what is expected of them, this is a winning program and this causes them to raise their play as well.

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Wendover Clinic

This past weekend Utah high school coaches had a clinic in Wendover NV. We went to Wendover but mostly went to have our meeting as coaches about the upcoming season. There we determined basically where players would be situated and what we looked like for the upcoming season.

Earlier in the day we attended the golf tournament and the four coaches who had never golfed before were put together. Let's put it this way. Someone needed to have a camera following us around because it would have been a comedy. We did better than expected and had a lot of fun as coaches. I guess I should take up golf because it is a way to get to know other coaches and forge relationships.

While there I did attend one session of the clinic. I went to Robert Anae's session about the passing game. I am finding that I like the Air Raid system more and more because the reads are very easy for a QB when starting out. It gives them confidence and can force the defense to do what you want. The weekend was fun especially with the free meals I received. One of our coaches went home with 330 bucks won in blackjack.

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What We Do

Here at Timpview we run the spread offense, and we do a good job at it. We actually tend to run the ball more than pass but we can still be dual threat which helps a lot. We have fast lineman that allow us to pull them to lead block and our receivers are good at beating their defenders. Our running backs do a good job at having vision and the cut back lanes. My favorite play we run is the QB counter, it is a money play that very rarely is stuffed.

Defensively that is the trade secret that we guard closely. Coach Wong doesn't share it with anyone so out of respect to him I won't share too much of what we do. Let's just say I am at the program that fits with my coaching philosophy perfectly.

Another thing that makes us so good is that we platoon players. Our players just have to worry about one position during the week can focus on that and go against each other in practice. When you work against good players you have to get better as well. This has helped our players grow tremendously.

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Workouts today

Workouts were good except it started to snow as we ended doing one on one's. The Varsity D-line coach couldn't make it so I ran their practice and coached them at the end. I really feel like I am growing into this role more and starting to be more assertive. The time for learning is over. We had a guest visitor, Coach Crowton from LSU was out to look at some of our boys. He really likes a couple of our lineman and then noticed one of our safeties. It should be interesting this year to see what we can do.

Tomorrow we head to the clinic, we are supposed to golf before getting to the clinic. I have never golfed in my life so this will be a funny experience. I might as well learn great way to do networking. As I write this now it is sunny so go figure, looks like we might be able to golf tomorrow after all.

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Humility

Remembering last season an event occurred which could have changed my path into coaching high school ball. Remember that I was given the job to be the line coach for the sophomore team, since the previous coach had left to go to Hawaii to be with a program there.

Unfortunately this previous coach couldn't find a job on the big island and so returned to the program as a sophomore line coach. Now I could have thrown a fit about being hired as the line coach and that it wasn't fair. I didn't and humbly just decided to continue learning from an experienced coach. My advice to any coaches is that sometimes you have to be humble to actually learn and grow as a coach.

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Drills

We have been doing some workouts outside recently and watching the lineman I realize that we have some talented players returning. One of the best things about this team being so competitive for your position is that it makes you a better player. Right now I am seeing that as we have very good players going against each other, but also players getting better through drills. This Friday we head to Wendover for the annual coaches clinic and discuss the upcoming season. Since I am now caught up with everything in summary form I will now be able to give you more detailed info as we go along.

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Off-Season

Since the end of last season I have decided to not go back and coach youth ball, it was too much to handle and I do need a break. I still will return to Timpview and hope to see another ring come home. We return some key players that are garnering national attention from recruiting services. Currently we are in a 23 game win streak, the state record is 28. If we continue winning we could have a third straight title and a state record in wins on record. As we start doing drills, I will comment on how those are going, but the players know that to play on this team they need to compete for a spot. The question is are we rebuilding, or just picking up from where we left last year?

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High School Season

As we went through the rest of the season. Every team in the program continued on winning. At the end of the season we had our final game which if we won, would mean an undefeated season, the first in school history for the sophomore level. From the beginning of the game the opposing team was outclassed as we seemed to score at will. We ran the ball as we attempted to run out the clock. One of the best plays of the season was when we had one of our lineman run in for a touchdown. We finished the sophomore season undefeated as the Varsity prepared for for a run at the playoffs. We were the number one 4A team in the state of Utah and seed so we hoped to dominate on the run to the state title.

It didn't seem to matter who we played as we dominated teams on the field. Heading into the state championship game we actually faced the only other undefeated team in the state, Pineview. This was a good team that actually was number in total offense for the state. This would be a real test for our team but our players were confident that we could do what we needed.

We started the game and our players came out on fire, we struck immediately and had a quick td on the board, their first possession we intercepted the ball which was returned to inside the 5 yard line. From there we ran the ball in and was immediately up 14-0 in less than 5 minutes. From that point on it became a rout as we won the game 50-7. As we shook hands with the players you could see the pain in Pineview's eyes as their seniors and other players were crying from the loss. They were a good team that unfortunately ran into a very dominant team. Many saying that this was the best team out of Utah in years.

This was the first time in Timpview history that we won back to back state titles and went undefeated. As we went into the off season we now prepared for going for a third straight title. Many in the local papers have commented that a dynasty is brewing with this school

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Youth Season Continued

We continued through our season on the youth team and lost only two games to the same team. They seemed to have our number and I knew we would have to play them in the championship game. I didn't change anything in our game plan as I prepared I knew what we had to do and I planned out my gameplan and didn't worry what they would do.

We headed into the championship game and started out slowly as neither team could get going offensively. Finally before the end of the first half we hit a routine 5 yard out that our receiver broke for a 65 yard TD. Being first on the board took a lot of pressure off and our players relaxed. We came out in the second half and proceeded to put up three more touchdowns en route to a shutout victory for the league championship. To finish the scoring we ran the hook and ladder play which worked to perfection with everyone enjoying themselves on our sideline.

What I had learned from the high school staff rang true that day. Only worry about what you are going to do, not what they do. If you worry about what they will do, you will never be able to beat them.

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High School Season starts

The first game of the season the Varsity team won 14-0. Many mistakes were made which were attributed to the jitters of the first game of the season. We were on the way to starting the goal for the Varsity team though, be the first team in school history to go undefeated and win back to back state championships.

For the Sophomores we started preparing for our first game of the season against Spanish Fork High school. I was nervous headed into the game as I didn't know how our team would do. Those fears took shape when we gave up a touchdown right off the bat on a long pass play. However our team responded wonderfully and we proceeded to run and pass en route to a blowout win. We prepared well and the players responded to what we wanted them to do. Our backs ran hard and defensively we settled in and began to stiffen as we played. Privately I felt that this coming season would be a good one.

The Varsity game the next night was the turning point in my opinion of the entire season. Unfortunately for the rest of the teams in the state who might have hoped that this didn't happen.

The game started out alright, Spanish Fork came out with a good plan of attacking with short passes underneath our coverage and we had to adjust. Fortunately we held them to a Field Goal Attempt which they missed. The game was going in our favor up until the end of the third quarter beginning of the fourth quarter. We started putting our backups in as we led 30-0. They scored and on the ensuing kickoff we fumbled the ball. They scored again and suddenly it was 30-14. On the ensuing possession we fumbled the ball again on the first play of the drive which they converted into points. Suddenly it was a 30-22 game as they converted the two point conversion. Our next drive stalled and they started to drive. You could feel the momentum with them and they drove down for a fourth td. They attempted a two point conversion again but our linebacker was able to make the tackle to stop it so we held a 30-28 point lead. On the next possession we were able to drive and hold onto the ball to finish the game with a win.

After the game you would have thought they had won and we had lost. Our players were sullen and quiet even yelling at each other at some points from the frustration. Their fans and players were yelling and smiling and laughing.

Coach Wong pointed out it was a win and that the goal was still intact and keep their heads up. From that point on no team ever came that close to beating this team again. The players ensured that they never relaxed on another team. Another reason that as Spanish Fork came back our players started to press harder to make plays and made mistakes. This was a lesson for them to not do that again and just do what they are taught to do and everything will take care of itself.

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Youth Team

Remember how I had asked for the chance to run the offense for the youth team? Well I decided to coach both teams that fall and so prepared for the upcoming season. I went into the season with a young man already in my head as our QB as he was a playmaker and wouldn't fall apart if a mistake occurred. This years team would be 13-14 year olds with a lot of returning core players to help us out. We were excited for the season and started practicing with the team. It was a small league and we were picked to finish third. We headed into a pre-season scrimmage with a total of four plays really installed just out of multiple formations and run to perfection. In the scrimmage we took chances we normally wouldn't have (Consistently going for it on 4th down) and lost by one touchdown but we came away confident that our offense would work.

We headed into the season and prepared to play a team that we were told hadn't lost in three years. The game was a hard fought battle with us this time playing field position. We punted the ball and pinned them in their own ten. They punted and we began our drive from the 35 yard line after a great return. I proceeded to call a run play which worked so well I called it again. We ran the same play four times which led to a touchdown to seal the game. We won the game and prepared for our next game. I felt that something big was on the way for the coming season.

As for the QB position I actually chose a new player that joined the team as our QB he had those factors that you can't teach a QB, not as fast as the other guy and not as strong an arm but he was accurate and a leader of the team so I chose him as my starter.

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Meeting the Staff

I quickly found out why Timpview was so good at football. The coaching staff is second to none in the state of Utah. Just to give you an idea there are currently four former or current head coaches on the staff. Coach Wong played for BYU and in the NFL. He had been a part of the 1984 National Championship team and had almost gotten the job coaching offensive lineman at BYU in 2006. The offensive coordinator Chad Van Orden was the former head coach at Timpview who stepped down to give Coach Wong a chance. He had almost gotten the job at BYU as the QB coach and could have become a GA at the University of Utah. Then we have Coach Frank Henderson who co-authored the West Coast Offense book with Mel Olson. Then Coach Bobby Kauo has been a head coach as well. Needless to say I was excited to say the least for what I was about to learn.

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First Season Done

After that first season was over I prepared for the upcoming season. I asked the head coach if I could run the offense this time around and he said sure. I at first thought about running the Flexbone triple option offense but wasn't sure how complicated that would be for youth.

I decided to attend a Nike Coaches Clinic in Portland, OR where I am from and picked up one of Tony DeMeo's books. I liked what he did there so I thought I could do both Flexbone and DeMeo's since the formations are similar. I also love the zone read play so I had a lot to think about. Then I decided to attend the BYU coaches clinic. I spent two hours listening to Coach Doman the QB coach at BYU explain their offense he explained that when they throw they do it so that whatever the defender does is wrong and I fell in love with that plan. I later contacted him and sat down for an hour as he explained what he did with QB's and some of their plays they run. So I decided to do a combo of both BYU and DeMeo's offense.

While at the BYU clinic I ran into Coach Wong again. I told him I never really thanked him for letting the kids in the game and he said no problem anytime you need it let me know. Then he asked where I was coaching this next season. He obviously recognized me from before and I said nowhere right now. He said we might have an opening on the Sophomores get back to me later this month. I remembered from before and knew that I had to be persistent. I contacted him by email but also sent an email to a new coach at another area high school. I wasn't going to put my eggs in one basket. I waited and waited for about two weeks. Then finally I got an email back from Coach Wong that there was an opening on the Sophomore team and to call him about it. I called him later that day and we talked about the opening. He asked me the areas I was strong in coaching position wise and where I was weak. I listed the positions in order and he said "Well I am only looking for a line coach I don't know if you were looking at doing that." I told him oh no I would love to learn how to coach the line it was just my weak point cause I didn't really play line. (Just so everyone knows, I knew that Timpview consistently sends lineman to D1 schools that's why I jumped at the chance, plus they had just won the state title again.) He told me to come by tomorrow for the workouts and we would get everything ironed out.

I went to the school as my work let me go for this meeting, they were supportive of this goal and I appreciate them for that. We met in his office and he explained the schedule and everything to me. After out meeting we went downstairs for the workout for the players. Unfortunately it was raining so I wasn't able to learn much that first day. After running back to work, ok I didn't run but I was so happy I couldnt' stop smiling. I called my father telling him I was gonna coach at Timpview and he said really? He said he was proud of me and that coaching there was the equivalent of starting at Jesuit High school in Portland. Throughout the rest of the next month I would show up for two days a week as I learned the drills that we ran to coach the line.

Now imagine if I had sent that nasty email when I was just angry?

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First Coaching Stint Part Two

Immediately the season started off rocky. On the first day of workouts for the teams we had a total of two players arrive for our team. After two weeks we finally were able to get a team together with the players basically getting their friends to come out. Not only that all the coaches but the head coach and I quit before the first real practice. Nevertheless we plugged on as we prepared for the first game of the season.

Prior to the first practices the coach bought a system online that utilized the Single Wing offense. Not a problem since the Single Wing is an effective offense. We just didn't know how to coach it that well. Many of our players were first year players as well so in the first game we played like first year players do whereas the opposing team had players that had played before. We got blown out and the offense was anemic. We kept plugging away though at the offense as we prepared for the second game. This time we lost 12-0, but the offense just couldn't get going. Looking back we were hamstrung by the players we had on the line and the fact that we didn't know the offense that well. We scrapped the offense and went back to the drawing board. This time we drew up plays in an offense we knew better. The lesson I learned was coach what you know. I learned hard the importance of sticking to your offensive and defensive philosophy.

We struggled through the season but the team got better and better. However one night we did have a meeting with parents because they were unhappy with us. We smoothed things over but I found out later that many parents weren't happy with me especially. For a team building exercise I contacted Coach Wong and took the team to see Timpview play on Friday Night. He let us in free and the kids were excited and amazed at the speed of the game as they got older. Finally to make the playoffs in this small league we had to beat the last team we would play. If we beat them then we had to play a play-in game the same day. The first practice of that week I told the boys that if they could make the playoffs I would let them shave my head. They got excited and said are you serious? I told them yes and we got down to work.

The day of the game arrived and I knew we were better than this team and should have won the first time we played. I hate saying refs play a part in determining the outcome of the game but they did. (example of this was our X was called ineligible receiver down field on a pass negating a gain to the 8 yard line of the opposing team. We had the momentum on your side and would have sealed the game I believe.)

However we started the game and soon showed we were better than them. We blew them out in both games and the kids said yes we get to shave your head. Here is a picture from that night. We were the last seeded team in and unfortunately had to play the dominating team. They blew us out but at least the kids got to make the playoffs. After turning in the equipment I was excited for the next season.

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My First Coaching Stint Part One

After the 2005 season had ended I became busy and engrossed to the point that the months passed and all of a sudden I didn't have anything lined up for the 2006 season. I emailed another local coach at Provo High School and he responded that he had no positions available. Then I thought why not look at youth teams. Work with older youth and get some experience then contact the high schools.

The first youth league I contacted never got back to me after I sent an email. I got discouraged there too. Crap I can't get onto a youth team staff even? Then one day while walking by the grocery store I saw an ad for a different youth league. I went to their website and left a message. I received a phone call back from the league director asking me what my goals as a coach were and what age I would like to coach and what town I wanted to be in. I told him the oldest in the league and the town I was in. I received a call back from the head coach of the local youth team and we got together for a meeting. He said I would love to have you help out and so away started my coaching experience. At the first meeting of the coaches I volunteered for the defensive coordinator position and received it. So even though it was for a youth team I was going to be the one calling the defensive plays. I was excited for the upcoming season to start.

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Attempting to get my first job

At the end of one class period I asked Coach Olson if there were any high schools nearby that needed help and if he could give me an idea of who. He said high schools always need help and suggested Timpview High school as they had just won the state title and a former player of his was the new head coach.

Excited I went home and emailed Coach Louis Wong the head coach of the Timpview Thunderbirds. Explained who I was and who told me to contact him. He replied that there could be a possibility of me helping coach the Defensive Backs and Receivers on the Freshman team. I went in to talk to Coach Wong. I thought I had the job to coach and went home excited as could be. In Utah it is a little different with Freshman and the conference they would play in was still getting set up. I contacted Coach Wong about two weeks later to get any update since I hadn't heard and he said he would still get back to me.

So I left it at that and didn't contact Coach Wong again. The months passed and I heard nothing back. The month of August came and I realized I wouldn't be coaching this season. I was hurt and angry that Coach Wong had never gotten back to me. I thought about sending a nasty email to him but decided not to. I remember what my father told me to do when thinking of doing something somewhat drastic think about it for the night and wait till the next day. I realized it would accomplish nothing and burn bridges. Not a good thing to do if you want to coach. So I spent the 2005 season not coaching any football not a great start to a coaching career.

I did learn something though about coaching. I let too long pass before speaking to Coach Wong again. I needed to be more proactive and make sure he knew I still wanted to coach. Plus my schedule wouldn't have worked at that time for coaching with school and work. So I learned my first lessons even though I failed in my first attempt.

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Before Coaching

What got me really interested in coaching football was the fact that I loved the game. I had played in high school but not in college. At that time I had a scholarship for the Air Force ROTC and decided to go that way instead of play. The game however never left me. Some things occurred which prevented me to go into the Air Force as an officer so I was being forced to look towards doing other things.

Many times when I would play football with others I found myself explaining to them what to do. Others starting suggesting that I should go into coaching and that I would make a good coach. I blew off those ideas for a few years but then decided to give it a real look.

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Getting started

So really my story begins about 3 years ago. That was when I first took the real true steps to trying to be a football coach. I was attending BYU and signed up for the Coaching Football class. It was taught by Mel Olson who also co-wrote Football's West Coast Offense. Of course we had to buy his book for the class, but I didn't mind since it is a good read. I recommend anyone to get a copy and you will gain a basic understanding.

The class was a real eye-opener though, never thought of how much went into having to be a coach. One of the things that really stood out most was developing my personal coaching philosophy. Developing a philosophy of what kind of coach I was going to be. What style of offense would I run? What type of defensive coach am I?

I have been asked by some who want to be coaches what they should do to get started. I tell them develop that philosophy first. It will help determine your style and will help you and a coaching staff know if you will mesh.

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