The Reason Why I Love to Coach

Here is a clip from the Boys of Fall documentary that ESPN did.  It is segments talking about the role of coaches in the lives of the boys we coach and teach.  I have said it before, you need to think about why you coach.  Why do you want to be out there?  Is for yourself or is it for the boys??

Continue Reading...

Coaching at Sunset High

Well since moving back to Portland Oregon I have found another school I will be coaching at.  Tomorrow morning I will start helping the Sunset Apollos, my old high school.  I have often wondered what it would be like to come back to my old high school and help with the program and now I will get the chance.

I will be working with the O line again as well as the Tight End, running scout team, and handling the Hudl system for the school.  I am excited for this opportunity.  Sunset isn't the same type of place like Timpview, but it will be a great chance to learn how to rebuild a school from a very good coach.  I enjoyed meeting Coach Riley, I think we will mesh well in terms of coaching philosphy.  I also look forward to working with my new staff.  As a side note one of the coaches is my old head coach and it will be good to see him again.

I will continue to bring up posts talking about different football topics and events.   Football season is here, let's get to work!!!!

Continue Reading...

Importance of Coaching Staff Unity

I wanted to talk today a little bit about the importance of staff unity.  For the past few months I have been speaking with a friend who is coaching at the college level.  As a GA my friend has a great chance to learn and has been giving their all for the program.

Well this past season has been very tough on my friend as a new assistant came in.  This new assistant had been a college head coach and knew a lot of technique.  My friend was initially excited but over the last few months the situation has deteriorated and become increasingly frustrating.  I won't go into too much detail about what was happening between my friend and this assistant but let's just say it has become an untenable situation.

My friend went to a coaching clinic and was able to network and meet other coaches.  Now my friend has been interviewing with another college and the head coach of the other school wanted to use the offer to get a job at the current college.  My friend told me this and I said do you really think that this could work for you to stay with this assistant?  I also asked could you really recruit a kid to your school while you have a staff that can't get along?  It will come out at some point.

And that is the point I was trying to make, maybe the head coach wants to keep you, but this situation is not ideal.  We expect the players to be a team and that is how the coaches should be.  We have all seen programs where the coaching staff will argue.  I have seen staffs argue on the sideline and get into fights.  We have played teams at Timpview that have been that way.  No good can come from this situation and could hurt the program for a few years.

I have encouraged my friend to continue for the job and they are a finalist for the position now.  If you are a new coach coming into a program or just starting out pay attention to this fact.   You can't have cancers within a coaching staff.  If you feel like you can't get along with the staff then moving on could be the best for both parties involved.

What do some of you other coaches think?

Continue Reading...

Smart Football Breaks Down the BCS National Championship Game

Check out Chris Brown's article on Yahoo about the BCS National Title game and the spread.  It's a good read and will provide a lot of good insight to others who will be watching the game.  This should be a good chess match.

Continue Reading...

Don't Go Chasing Ghosts

I was reading a section in Alan Trimble's football book about game planning and he brought a very importat point that young coaches should learn.  He calls it chasing ghosts when it comes to game preparation.  What is meant by this is going into practice and preparing for plays that you think are going to happen and wasting too much time doing so. 

That isn't to say that you won't encounter adjustments by other teams, but do you really believe that a double wing team is going to put in a shotgun spread play for the week playing you?  Maybe, but chances are pretty good that they won't.  If you start to worry too much about these ghosts you will cut into the game plan you are preparing and can take away from precious practice preparing for their main plays.

I unfortunately have seen this a lot from other coaches as they have tried to install a play or formation that another team has success doing.  In doing so they are chasing those ghosts and hurting their team with chances in preparing to win the game.  For you newer coaches, don't spend too much time preparing for what if's.

Continue Reading...

Report on Timpview vs Timpanogas and Lehi

My apologies on not reporting sooner but here goes about the last two varsity games.  First off the Timpanogos game where we seemed to come out in a slumber.  Even though we scored first we kept making too many mistakes and actually headed into the half down 24-14.

Coach Wong was very upset and made the bold decision to not let any of the coaches go in at half and talk with the team, that they needed to figure things out.  So for the whole half until 3 minutes left not a coach went into the locker room, we just stood outside and headed out onto the field.  The players came out and the team responded holding Timpanogos scoreless for the second half and won 41-24.

The Lehi game was a different story.  Maybe the Timpanogos game was what we needed, that if you play flat you can lose as we came out on fire scoring quickly.  We blocked two punts and by the end of the first half it was 49-0.  Our backups got game time and though Lehi scored twice to make it 49-15 it was still a successful game and we escaped without any major injuries.

We have at least clinched a share of the region crown and probably the 1 seed in the playoffs but we can be outright region champs if we beat Provo tonight.  It's a big game since it is rivalry week.

Continue Reading...

Passing of a Fellow Coach

I had meant to post this story sooner but this week a fellow coach passed away while on vacation with his family.  I had the opportunity to coach against this gentleman, and in fact had contacted him at the same time I had contacted Timpview.  Of course we know where I ended up but I felt I could learn things from this coach as well.

Teko Johnson was a coach that was known to rebuild programs.  Coming back to Utah from back east he had rebuilt programs there.  In fact his first year at Mountain View he took a program that had won 1 game and took them to the quarterfinals of the playoffs.  In his 3 years at Mountain View he took the program to the playoffs and restored some pride to the school.

He was always a class act with our coaches and never complained about our program and how dominant we have been.  He had just taken over Cottonwood high school a team we beat a couple years back and was excited for the season.

Despite all his success as a coach the most telling about what kind of man he was were the comments made by that played and worked for him:

“He was everything to the team,” said Bronson Taylor, who played for Mountain View in 2006.

He turned the program not by yelling, but by teaching.

He had a strict policy that forbade swearing, and former players insist he almost never yelled.

Players were comfortable sending him text messages seeking advice.

“He had a quiet confidence about him,” said Jon Snyder, who was promoted to head coach at Mountain View when Johnson left.

My sympathies to the Johnson family and wish them the best as they get over this tragedy.

Again if you are looking to get in coaching I will say it again.  What kind of coach do you want to be?  How do you want your players to remember you?  Remember you are helping shape the lives of the youth and more than anything else you will help make a lasting impression that could last for generations.

Continue Reading...

The Passing of John Wooden

Well by now it is big news that John Wooden has passed on.  He is probably the greatest coach to ever be on the sideline of any sport.  10 National championships at one school I doubt will ever happen again.  To be honest I think every coach or want to be coach should take lessons from this man to learn how to be a better coach.

Here are some of the ESPN specials on John Wooden.





A great man, and to be honest it is another example of why do you want to coach?  Is it for the glory or is it to help make a difference in young mens lives?  I'll be honest if I can be remembered by those young men I coach later on in their lives then my life will be complete.  Those players that talk about John Wooden in the video is how I would like to be remembered.

Continue Reading...

Speed on Defense

One thing that I really like about our defense is that we go more for speed on defense.  To play on our defense you have to be a runner never stopping till the play is over.  Other coaches that have seen our game film are impressed with our defense all being by the ball as the play ends.  We drill that with our defense like crazy, they all have to run to the ball.

Some look at our defensive line especially this last season and you might have thought how are these guys stopping the run game?  We weren't super big up front but we used proper technique and were faster than opposing lines allowing us to get off the ball quicker and control the line.

Many times we would play teams that had big huge guys on the line but weren't quick to the ball.  You would see on our offense where our team would run away from these players that if they were quicker would have been able to stop a big play from happening.

Were I to take over a defense the first rule is find those that are able to be fast on defense and run to the ball. If you want to play on the defensive side of the ball for me, then you need to be persistent in running to the ball at all times.

Continue Reading...

Building a High School Program

As many who frequent this blog know, I have been really really lucky to be a part of the Timpview High School program.  In my opinion, it is probably one of the best run programs I have ever seen and that has been the reason for our success (Coach Wong has seen this blog so I gotta do a little butt kissing, I kid I kid).

One of the things though that has stood out to me is how this program is built.  If I were to take over a program I would institute many of things that we do at Timpview immediately.  Yesterday is a great example of how we foster camaraderie amongst the players and coaches.  Yesterday we had the annual bowling contest.  Coach Wong takes the players to a local bowling alley, pays for two games and shoes per person and the players compete.  The top 4 players end up playing the top 4 coaches in a final game.  I had one of the top 4 coaches scores but I stunk it up in the final game.  I mean really stunk it up, I was a liability to the other coaches.  However the others had enough game to once again beat the players (to date, the players have yet to beat the coaches).

After the games were over, Coach Wong then took all the coaches to a local Brazilian all you can eat BBQ restaurant.  We sat around the table talking and laughing it up which in turns makes us closer as a coaching staff.  This closeness is very important come season time and playoffs as the coaches and players trust one another.  So as I said, this is something that I would institute were I to take over a program or suggest to a new program I would be participating in.  Building your program is more than just X's and O's.

Continue Reading...

Is Coaching Overrated? I say no

In the latest Tuesday Morning Quarterback, Gregg Easterbrook writes in his column about coaching. He first mentions that play calling is overrated and then he says the following.

One factor here is the Illusion of Coaching. We want to believe that coaches are super-ultra-masterminds in control of events, and coaches do not mind encouraging that belief. But coaching is a secondary force in sports; the athletes themselves are always more important. TMQ's immutable Law of 10 Percent holds that good coaching can improve a team by 10 percent, bad coaching can subtract from performance by 10 percent -- but the rest will always be on the players themselves, their athletic ability and level of devotion, plus luck. If the players are no good or out of sync, it won't matter what plays are called; if the players are talented and dedicated, they will succeed no matter what the sideline signals in. Unless they have bad luck, which no one can control.

Based on my experiences in coaching I am going to disagree with this author. I have seen many coaching staffs not utilize their talent to the best of their ability. I have seen play calling that is costing their team the ability to be successful. Now this is more so at the high school level, it could be different for the NFL but coaching is not overrated. Coaching is like teaching, you have to teach them and correct the right technique. We play teams where are technique is better and we win. We have played teams that have a lot of athletes and beat them cause we have coached our kids better.

I would look at our team as a good example of what has happened this year. Injuries have occurred and yet cause of what we do as a staff we have adapted and now are hitting on all strides. Is coaching overrated? I say no, a lot has to be taken into account the work done during the week preparing our kids. But that is my opinion, what are your thoughts?

Continue Reading...

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.

Continue Reading...

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.

Continue Reading...

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.

Continue Reading...

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.

Continue Reading...