What a Weekend!

Before I start to reflect on another awesome football weekend, let me pass along a coaching tip…..A while ago, I decided to think of every offensive line drill I knew. I named each of them, and just basically put them down on paper. I think this was an outgrowth of reading Bill Walsh’s “must have” book, “Finding the Winning Edge” (on Amazon here…..it’s selling in hardback for $250??? Maybe I need to sell mine!) and how Coach broke down every position in the book into skills that each position needed. Basically, I thought that I got into a rut of doing the same drills over and over. Doing “everydays” is one thing, especially for the OL, but I (and my players I think) definitely felt like I got into a rut.

So I took that catalog of drills, and put them into a spreadsheet. I broke them down into run and pass pro sections down the left side. Then across the top I put down all of our practice dates. Once I received the upcoming practice plan, I would plan out the Indy time by placing a X in the appropriate cell. Most of my drills are designed to last for 5 minutes, but sometimes I’ll do three drills at the same time in 2 minute circuits. So for 10 minutes I’ll do a three-drill station and then one 4 minute drill.

What happens is that each time I look at the sheet, I get an instant reminder of what we haven’t worked on in awhile and what we’ve spent a lot of time on. Even if you need to spend more time on something you’ve already spent a lot of time on, then maybe you can just use a different drill that emphasizes the same thing. To your players, it is doing something different!

I’ve said this before (I think) but one of the things coaches need to guard against is drills that go on forEVER….Nothing kills the energy in an individual period like doing the same thing for 20 minutes. I’ve seen it time and time again. And what happens when the coach realizes it, is that they ask for “5 more minutes” because they didn’t get to something else they needed to cover, or even worse, they didn’t install the play they were supposed to. Now the entire group has to wait, or go into the group period unprepared. So don’t be “that coach”…….

OK, back to the weekend!

Saturday morning, we all met at a Park ‘n Ride for a 6:00 AM departure by bus. We had, by my best estimate, 98% attendance. No one was late. This included several of our out of area players….I know one coach left his house at 2:45 AM, and several players were up by 3:00 or 3:30. It’s going to be tough to beat a team with that level of commitment.

We arrived in El Centro right about 2 hours later, just after 8:00, went straight to the field (El Centro Central High School – awesome hosts!) and finished suiting up for the helmets-only practice. This was our “install” practice, so we did a ton of individual position work, and a lot of group install, such as a lot of our screen game stuff – things that required timing, etc. That first practice went until about 10:15. We gave them a break with hydration and fruit served, until 11:00, when we started our fully padded practice.

The second practice featured a lot of hitting, and by this time, it was pretty hot. I don’t think it ever reached the low 90’s that were forecast, but it was definitely in the high 80’s all day. Oh, and in between sessions, we also had conditioning. After a couple of scrimmage sessions, we were pretty beat. That practice ended about 1:15 or 1:30. We fed them lunch at the field, and started chalk talks in classrooms at 2:00. At 3:00, we were back out on the field for the third practice in shells only.

That third practice was the one where mental toughness became the primary focus. There was some hitting, and some conditioning work. By this time, everyone (coaches included) were tired, both mentally and physically. But you have to find a way to push through, and we did. That practice ended just after 5:00, and we bussed back to our hotel for a quick shower.

At 6:15, we were back on the bus to head out for dinner. I mentioned last week that our QB, Melissa Gallegos and her family really band together to take great care of us. We went to their church (I apologize that I don’t remember the name of it, or I’d give them a plug too – such nice people!) to tables set up in the meeting hall/basketball court. Everything is served buffet style, including salad, vegetables, pasta, chicken and beef….the meat is fantastic. Water, tea and lemonade for beverages, and for dessert some of the best peach cobbler I’ve ever had.

We announced our captains for the year, took team photos and then headed back to the hotel around 7:45. Some of us coaches met by the pool for an informal meeting which included one adult beverage (any more would have been foolhardy!) and then we were done and lights out well before 10:00.

Sunday morning we were all up in time for breakfast and then on the bus back to the field at 7:45 for the 8:00 start. This practice was in shells as well, and although initially we all felt rested by a good night’s sleep, soon the fatigue from Saturday took over and it became a battle. There were some great OL vs DL battles going on, some scrimmaging, some 7-on-7 work and the always-drilled special teams and game situations. The practice ended at 10:30 with an offense vs defense relay race, which the defense won (barely).

Back to the hotel for a shower and lunch, then back on the bus to come home. That’s how we do it! How was YOUR weekend?