Women's Recap & Off-season news

The two main women’s leagues wrapped up their season last weekend. As expected, the Utah Falconz dispatched the Minnesota Vixen 49-6 to win the IWFL league championship. I really do hope Utah and the WFA can work out whatever differences they have to get the Falconz in with the rest of the best teams in the country. If not, go ahead and pencil in the Falconz as 2017 league champs as well. And maybe 2018, 2019 and 2020.

OK, speaking of the WFA, fans were treated to another great National Championship game there. In a repeat of last year’s finale, the DC Divas came from behind to beat the Dallas Elite, 28-26. Dallas went up early 12-0 and at that time it looked like déjà vu of the regular season’s Week 2, where Dallas beat DC by 21. However, it is tough to beat a good team twice in the same year. When I was talking with one of my former players just before the game, I said I had no idea who would win. And it turned out to be a great game. I cannot congratulate the Divas enough – coming back after being down early is always a tremendous accomplishment, and I’m happy for my friends in the organization.

I also feel bad for my friends within the Elite. Back-to-back trips to the championship game in your first two years is a great feat (the Surge did it as well; losing to Boston in ’11, then beating Chicago in ’12) but in final games, it is absolutely gut-wrenching to watch it slip away.

The good news is that the Women’s Game is getting more and more press and exposure each year. A play from the Minnesota/New York playoff game even made the ESPN SportsCenter Top 10 recently. Some American players are heading overseas the lend their expertise and leadership, and some coaches are going to, to help out national teams. The 2017 World Games might be interesting next year!

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Speaking of the off-season, as you may have thought, there is no RS Football Camp this year. With no player or coach base to start from, there wasn’t much reason to ask everyone to travel here. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities this fall/winter!

Coach Scott McCarron of the Seattle Majestics and I both attended one of LeCharles Bentley’s offensive line coaching seminars (unfortunately not at the same time – that would have been fun) this spring, and I owe him a trip since he came down to the RS Camp last year. We’ve talked briefly about maybe doing something up there this off-season, if for no other reason than to drill his OL in the new system and drills we picked up.

Additionally, I’m available for weekend trips anytime after November 19, until pretty much the 1^st of March. Whether you want your OL tuned up, whether you want to install a new offense, meet with your coaches, do a special teams clinic, or anything else you can think of, I’m game. As far as cost, it’s a lot cheaper for me to come to you and coach 30 people, than it is for 6 or 7 of your team to come to me. You could blend the cost into your team fees and barely have it register (about $25 per person for a group of 30, all inclusive, and assuming a plane trip).

Anyone that is interested, I’ll be happy to send my résumé and we can discuss exactly what you’re looking for. Everything is tailored to your team. Anything from just a nudge to get you over that “one last” opponent to getting your team of rookies ready to go, I can help.

What I’m even more excited about is the start of a weekly off-season Big Person camp. It’ll start either late December or right after New Years – I’m flexible on that. The goal is for “any” adult offensive lineman, male or female, to work solely on stance, body movement and biomechanics in a non-contact, learning environment. The cost will be “Free-99”. My main goal, of course, is to get my Nighthawk OL coached up and better than ever in stuff that I just don’t have time to teach during the season. The secondary goal is to get any and all female OL to a great level on the basics. More on that after the Nighthawk season is over.

Finally, the Nighthawks have a big game this weekend against the Riverside County Disciples. You’ll hear all about that next week!

Coaching Them Up!

This past weekend was a great one – I had the chance to put into practice everything I learned two weeks ago from LeCharles Bentley and his staff. A friend of mine asked me to come out to his high school and coach his players up a bit. It’s a new staff, and the program had run onto hard times, only winning a couple of games each year for the past few seasons.

I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect – I was told to “oversee” the OL during Indy, 1-on-1’s and team during the Friday afternoon practice, and then I would have them for four hours Saturday morning all to myself. When I got there, there were two other OL coaches there, and one was pretty much running everything. So I decided that since they were going into a competitive period (1-on-1’s) and then team, that I would hang back a little on Friday and just take notes about where they were at in terms of skill development. I didn’t want them to have to think not only “who” to block, but also “how” to do it in competitive drills.

Remember, this is a new staff, so none of the coaches were holdovers and they’d only had 4 practices with them. Given that, they didn’t look like they’d been coached much in previous seasons. One of the OL coaches is a young guy, and very enthusiastic. I’m convinced he’s going to be very, very good. He just has to develop his teaching patterns. Just as offensive linemen need to develop movement patterns to be efficient, coaches need to get their teaching patterns down so they can be efficient as well. This young guy isn’t quite there yet (but he’s way better than I was at the same stage of development). The older OL coach is more of an “attitude guy” – he’s very good at getting the kids to play with a proper attitude and to go out there and kick butt.

The kids themselves were great. They may not be great football players yet, but they are A+ human beings. As I mentioned, their technique was very raw, to the point of it was always a bit more of “how can I survive this play” rather than “how can I dominate this play”. So on Friday, I just took notes and offered some general suggestions to guys when I had the chance.

Saturday morning was different. They were all there either early or right on time. I’d developed a practice plan to take them through everything, that extended (in outline form) to five pages (!). Being that this is the first time I’d gone through this progression as a coach, and not knowing what pitfalls there may be, I wasn’t sure at all of how it might time out.

As it happened, we got through everything in almost exactly four hours. And let me reiterate – these kids are top-notch. I’d give them a water break, and they’d sprint off the field to an area a little ways away where the water was. By the time I got over there, they were saying, “OK guys, let’s go!” They really wanted to work and get better.

Some of the transformations were remarkable. The right tackle was a kid who sort of hopped into his pass set and opened up almost completely by his second step. We took a “before and after” video of him, and the results were staggering. A (soon to be) senior guard was coaching the other kids up before too long – he’s a smart guy, and was taking in everything and was able to repeat it back to me and the other players. They had two freshmen kids, one of which had never played football before, and they ended up being two of the stars of the camp. I could go on and on about how much fun I had coaching these guys, and how much I’m looking forward to watching their continued development over this season.

LeCharles just announced on Monday that the next Coaches Seminar is going to be July 16-17. I would strongly suggest that any OL coach who wants to make his guys better attend. I’ll be back in 2017 for sure. You can register here. You can thank me later.

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In the WFA game of note this week, Chicago beat up on Boston 50-something to 18. I was expecting a much closer game, maybe even with Boston winning, I understand that Boston’s outstanding QB, Allison Cahill, went out with a season-ending injury. At the time, I think the game was close, and my guess is that then not only were the Renegades missing a whole bunch of offense, but also probably were a bit emotionally deflated, which is understandable.

With that result, if there is any difference in the Final Four other than DC, Chicago, Central Cal and Dallas, I’ll be shocked. I’m still fairly certain that Dallas will be the finalist from the West, and less certain that DC will be from the East.

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On the men’s side, my Nighthawks have landed in a new league, the Southern California Football League (SCFL). This league is a quantum leap up in competition: The California Raiders were undefeated last year, the So Cal Coyotes have won a couple of national championships*, the Inglewood Blackhawks have won some, and the San Diego Thunder had a run on the national scene at late as the late 2000’s. Throw in a virtual All Star team in the Las Vegas Trojans, and there are very few gimmes on our schedule.

All in all, I couldn’t be happier – these are the types of games you sign up for as a coach, the types that for whatever reason we didn’t get often in the women’s game, at least until the playoffs.

*For my female game readers, national championships are a bit different in the men’s game. First of all, there are over 600 men’s teams across the country, so having one national champion is pretty much not going to happen. Second, there are several “national championship” tournaments put on in December/January. Fortunately for us, our league is recognized as one of the most competitive in the country, so our league winner will get an automatic bid to a national tournament.

Blown Away

OK, I am blown away, and I want to tell you about it, but first there was one game last week in the WFA that merits a short discussion, and that was the Pittsburgh/Boston game. I’d picked Pittsburgh to finally break through into the upper sphere of the National Conference by beating Boston. To me, he Renegades seemed a little lackluster lately, and given their daunting upcoming schedule, perhaps ripe to be taken down. Well, I underestimated Boston before and was proven wrong, so why not this time? Boston came out on top, 51-32.

With that win, we’re better able to slot where Pittsburgh stands, and that was of interest because they were IWFL champs last year, and were looking really good so far. For now, there is no grand re-ordering in the WFA universe. It’ll be Dallas and Central Cal in the West (although I’ll give Portland a 20% chance at an upset of Central Cal), and then DC and either Chicago or Boston in the East, dependent on how this week’s Chicago/Boston game turns out. I really have no idea how that will turn out, and it should be a great game.

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OK, back to the main topic…..this past weekend I was in Phoenix at LeCharles Bentley’s OLine Performance World (www.lbolineperformance.com). I’ve talked about him and his training plenty of times before, and had become a fan. Back in January he announced that he was going to hold a free coaches’ clinic in May, and that it was limited to the first 50 to register. So I made sure that I was one of those. Later, I heard that they accepted 80+. Now, I don’t know what goes through people’s minds, but I’m wondering if since it was free, there wasn’t as much value attached to it by some folks. That was their mistake. There were only about 35 coaches there, and it was the perfect size group. I think I was able to at least speak briefly with everyone there at some point, and the instructing coach to student (us other coaches) ratio was great.

LeCharles is a dynamic speaker and coach. He can get people fired up at the drop of the hat. His progression in leading students from skepticism to discipleship is masterful. Those who disagree or question aren’t ridiculed, but shown the “why”, the “how to” and the “how to do”. I can now say that I’ve watched his teachings on film, seen it in person, and felt it/done it myself. There is no quicker way to become convinced that something is right than when you do it yourself and have success.

CJ Davis is one of LB’s fulltime coaches. After playing at Pitt, he had a short NFL career with Carolina and Denver. He is a phenomenal teacher and communicator, and was dispensing knowledge, demonstrating and coaching us throughout almost every break. I had him as a demo partner in one drill, and the way he took me through it made me wonder about my own ability as a coach!

Matt Lee is LB’s strength and conditioning coach. His knowledge of training, kinesiology, power development and functional movement is absolute first class.  His presentations (with CJ demonstrating – we felt a lot of what was taught, but I’m glad we weren’t called on to front squat and snatch!) made me into more of a believer in Olympic movements for offensive line development than ever before. All I’d heard before regarding oly lifts is they “develop power”…..OK, great. Not inspiring. But Matt broke it down for us and explained why what he was talking about was so important, and exactly how it would make our players better. I can guarantee you that if I’m ever at a place that has a S&C program again, I’ll be incorporating his teachings.

Also, there were three current NFL players who came down on their own time to help out. Chance Womack (Tennessee), Larry Warford (Detroit) and Patrick Omameh (free agent, played for Chicago last year) are all very capable teachers and super nice guys (I just wouldn’t want to line up against any of them). I have a suspicion of “former/current players” being coaches because so often it seems they rely on their superior athletic talents to get by and don’t develop their communicative skills and don’t have an appreciation for what the average guy has (or, more likely doesn’t have) to work with. But these guys were great at offering suggestions, looking at what we were doing wrong and having the ability to fix it. I was working through some stance issues and Patrick came over and talked me right through it, told me exactly what changes would make me better. I can’t say enough about how helpful they all were.

Finally, there were two CFL guys there. I didn’t catch their full names (Matt and “Big Dog” was all I got), and they served as demonstrators as well. After Patrick helped me on my stance and ensuing pass set, I just remember Matt saying “Wow” – that pretty much made my day.

So, by now you’re thinking, “OK, great – they’re nice guys and great teachers. What did you learn?” Fair enough. I learned movement patterns. I learned how to move with purpose and intent. I learned how to move from the ground up, and I learned how to fight pressure with pressure at any point during a play. I learned that if you start bad, you’ll finish bad. I was taught OL play from an entirely different perspective.

There will be more clinics given by LB. The talk right now is to have one in July. I probably won’t be able to make that one, as our season games will be starting then, but if he sets a certain weekend (second one of May, for example) as a constant, then I’ll make my reservations years in advance. If you can’t tell, I have zero reservation in recommending that anyone remotely involved in OL play should pay attention to what LB has to offer. Make the trip when it is offered. I promise you you’ll thank me after.

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What’s got me just as excited is that I’ll get a chance to teach what I’ve learned to a brand new group of young OL next week when I’m in Las Vegas to conduct a high school OL mini-camp. Before this weekend, I had an idea of what the practice plan would look like. No more. In a sense, it is perfect, because the staff has just taken over at the school and wanted to concentrate on just the basics. And I’ve gotta admit that at one point I found myself wanting to push that envelope further. But now I have a much better understanding of the pace and importance of movement, and the learning of those patterns. So I’ve got two practices with the Nighthawks this week….we’re going to be spending our first 10 minute Indy periods from here on out focusing on stance and movement….and then I get to teach the high school kids.

Who’s got it better than me?  :-)

Into Pads & WFA Review

Things are starting to heat up in the Nighthawks camp – we went into pads last week. After seven weeks of one-a-week practices without pads, we started our 2x a week sessions which will last at least until the season starts in July, then we’ll reevaluate. As might be expected, the guys were itching to really get after it, and they did!

From an offensive standpoint, I’ve seen that I need to make some adjustments in which formations I run the counter out of – the defenders are just too fast, and I don’t want to automatically put my QB in a keep/run situation there. So in order to keep everything else consistent, I’ve just got to tweak the formation list a little to keep them honest.

Another nice surprise is how quickly the guys have picked up on the five man pass protection. I thought there might be more communication issues than there has been so far. I imagine that as the defense dials up more sophisticated schemes, we’ll have to keep adjusting upwards, and that’s OK.

It is also clear that our run game will have the ability to be a game-changer, and that was without one of our better backs even taking a rep. All in all, I guess you can tell I am pretty happy after the first week.

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This week I’m very excited to be heading over to Phoenix on Friday night to attend LeCharles Bentley’s OL Performance coaches’ clinic. LeCharles, as he puts it, “stays in his lane” when it comes to teaching OL technique. He keeps scheme out of it, and concentrates on the biomechanics, which don’t change – the body works how it works. Over time, I’ve seen him make some incredibly detailed adjustments which can make a big difference. I’m looking forward to going over, bonding with some fellow OL coaches (I know at least a couple of top San Diego high school guys will be there) and bringing back some knowledge that’ll make my guys better.

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I may have mentioned that I’m working with Dual Threat Athletics here in town. I had a young (11-year-old) OL out last week, who’d played for one year previously. I have a battery of initial drills that I put everyone through just to see where they’re at, and then I build the rest of the session off of those. This young man, once he got into what was his stance, I knew that whoever he played for before, there probably wasn’t an OL coach on the staff. And that’s OK….there may be a guy designated as such, but the chances of an experienced OL coach being at the youth level is relatively slim. Anyway, we worked for about an hour and I gotta say that at the end of the session, he looked like an honest-to-goodness Offensive Lineman. His Dad came up to me afterwards and said, “(My son) learned more today than he did all last season.” It is for experiences like that, that I coach.

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OK, a look around games of note for the WFA the past couple of weeks:

For better or worse, I called a couple of games billed as “big ones” correctly two weeks ago – Dallas beating Kansas City by 40 (I said “it wouldn’t be close”) and then the Central Cal War Angels beating the previously unscored upon Sin City Trojans 58-6 (I said, “War Angels by a comfortable (28+) margin”).

I have to give credit also to the Pittsburgh Passion – they really look like they’re stepping up into the upper stratus. Their game this week against Boston will tell if that is true or not. I’m going to go out on a limb and call this one for Pittsburgh, by 10 or less. That game seems to be the only one of true nationwide interest.

I think for now, the debate as to which team is #1 is settled – I think it is clearly Dallas, until/unless someone knocks them off. After beating DC on the road in Week 2, then having DC go up to Chicago and beating the Force in a nail-biter, the Elite seem to be truly that.

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Until I get into the Nighthawks’ season (or something else interesting pops up) I may not post for another two weeks. I’ll be out in Las Vegas in two weeks to conduct an OL mini-camp for a high school there, and will catch the Trojans vs. Pacific Warriors game. I’m definitely looking forward to both! Catch you later! 

WFA - IWFL Opening Weeks

Thanks for all those who asked about missing last week’s post – there wasn’t one. In past years since I’ve written this blog (almost 2 years now), I’ve always had games with the Surge around this time, so had plenty to write about. This year is a little different, since we’re just gearing up for the start of practice with the Nighthawks. Since I didn’t have a lightning bolt of inspiration last week, I didn’t want to put a bunch of words together just to do it, you know? Anyway…..

Two weeks ago, in Week 1 of the WFA, the games all went the way I expected them to, except for one: The Indy Crash pulled off what I would consider a pretty major upset when they beat the Cleveland Fusion, in Cleveland. The Fusion were my dark horse pick to break into the elite of the WFA National Conference, so we’ll have to see exactly how that plays out from here on out. Great job Indy!

This week, there were a couple of games of note: The Kansas City Titans versus the St. Louis Slam, and in the Big Rematch, the Dallas Elite, who travelled to the DC Divas in a very rare cross-conference regular season game. Also out West, you had the Central Cal War Angels taking on the Pacific Warriors.

The shocker, at least to me, was the 40-19 Dallas victory over DC. I’m not so surprised by an Elite victory, but by 3 TD’s, in D.C.? That was the shocker…..I never thought a team as proud as the Divas would get rolled like that on their home field, especially in their first big test after their national championship win over the same Elite. Gotta hand it to Dallas – that was a heckuva win.

The Titans, as I expected beat the Slam. My opinion only, which means zilch is that I wish the KC/St. Louis split never happened. When they banded together in 2014, they were pretty damn good.

Also as I expected, the War Angels took out the Warriors. The War Angels, interestingly enough, seemed to pick up more former Surge players than anyone else. Well, they may be tied with the North County Stars of the IWFL, whose high number was to be expected.

Interesting to me was the Seattle Majestics final score of 13-0 over the Tacoma Trauma. If I remember correctly, Seattle has dominated that series in the past. Seattle has yet to be scored on, and with them missing one of their leaders on defense, Holly Custis, much credit has to go to coach Scott McCarron.

The Boston Renegades beat Cleveland 28-7. I was looking for the Fusion to take that next step this season, but opening up 0-2 isn’t helping them much.

Over in the IWFL, the game that got my attention was the Carson Bobcats going up to Sacramento and beating the Sirens 30-6. Apparently the Bobcats didn’t pick up as many of the Pacific Warriors as I originally thought/assumed, so to take a pretty much new team and go up to Sacramento and win is a tall order, and impressive. When we went up there in 2013 it wasn’t pretty at all! That sets up what hopefully should be a good game this coming Saturday of the Bobcats versus the NC Stars. I’m looking forward to seeing that especially because two of my former Surge OL are playing for the Stars.

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With the Nighthawks, our OTA’s (basically non-padded, once-a-week practices) are going well. I’d say we’ve got about 80% of the offense installed and are just getting reps on it. We had 7 OL at practice last week, and I can’t remember the last time that happened with the guys. Everyone is looking to push each other to get better, and even injured guys are coming out and taking mental reps so they don’t get too far behind. That’s the sign of a team that is willing to put in the work.

The backs and receivers are out there getting their reads down, and just trying to play as fast as possible. All of those reps are going to come into play once we get the pads on early next month.

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Finally, because I figured that I don’t have enough to do, I’ve started working with Dual Threat Athletics as an Offensive Lineman specialist/trainer. They’ve got a pretty good skill position program set up already but are looking to expand into all positions. It’s time that some of the big kids get some love too, you know? The one-on-one training sessions I’ve been doing with the local high school OL have been going really well – he’s going to be pretty good, so now it’s time to get more OL out there. So far, I’ve gotten pretty good at coaching 9^th & 10^th grade WR how to stalk block!

Humbled

This will probably be a quick post….really not a whole lot going on right now. My choice of title comes from a couple of followers I picked up over time on my Twitter feed (@kmring). There is at least one NCAA D-I OL coach among my followers (Brent Myers from Weber State, who has helped me a lot over the years, whether he knows it or not, and is an extremely nice guy), and now LeCharles Bentley, who runs OL Performance World who I’ve talked about a lot on here just followed me. So *now* I’m nervous! And humbled, and honored……I mean, I’m just a guy plugging away trying to get better and help those around me. I’m no expert and don’t have all the answers. Over time (25 years), I’ve learned plenty of what not to do, and have been around some pretty good coaches who have been free with their time – LeCharles figures to be the next at his coaches’ clinic in May, which I’m extremely excited about.

I know that sometimes I talk about things that others don’t agree with, and that most of the time, when I talk about the women’s game or the semi-pro game, it just doesn’t jive with “best practices” at the high school, collegiate or pro levels, mostly due to practice limitations. Technique is technique (although LeCharles has pointed out some differences in the women’s game which are very valid, and I didn’t realize), and scheme is scheme. But what we can get done in one or two practices a week is the wild card. Now that I’ve garnered another high-powered follower, just that alone will help keep me on my toes. Hopefully I don’t step on my….tongue….too often!

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One thing that did happen last week was the NFL changing the chop block rule. Now, maybe I’m just dense but I always thought that all chop blocks were illegal. I know now that that wasn’t the case and that some were OK. It is just that I never taught any of the legal techniques, being as how I thought they were illegal. Heck, I hardly ever even cut anyway. In the women’s game, it has to be done on first movement, and in the men’s game, well, they just generally don’t do it for a variety of reasons. So I never put that much effort into teaching or drilling it.

However, it is good to know that some techniques are still good to go. There was a SB Nation article that outlined things pretty well. You can see it here. So don’t despair OL of the world – most of what you do is still OK!

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Speaking of the women’s game, some of the teams will open up their seasons this weekend. In the WFA, in the West, I think it’ll come down to Seattle and Central Cal in the Pacific, and Dallas and Kansas City in the Midwest. I think in this case it’ll be a repeat of 2013, with Dallas beating Central Cal. I just don’t see any “surprise” teams improving enough to beat those four.

In the East, no doubt it’ll be Chicago, Cleveland, Boston and DC in some form or fashion. I’m not discounting Chicago at all, but as I’ve done in the past with Boston, I figure that until the champ is knocked off, they’re still the champ, so DC it is until proven otherwise. I’d love to see Cleveland have a “next step” type of season, and who knows, maybe Pittsburgh can ride their IWFL championship and vault into the Top 4 in the East. I like what they do, but they’re going to have to prove that they can beat Boston, DC, et al before I can say they’re one of the elite.

In the IWFL, for me it is Utah. Period. There’s really no one else in the conversation, and it’s sort of sad that anyone can say that at this point of the season.

I’d like to wish all of the former Surge players well this year. As far as I can tell, there are some on the NC Stars, the Carson Bobcats and the Central Cal War Angels. Best of skill to you all, and have fun!

Early Highlights

We had our second tryout for 2016 this past weekend, and I gotta say, this may have been the most fun that I’ve had at a tryout ever. First of all, we had a great turnout – around 55 guys, which didn’t include some guys that came out on the first one. So I’m thinking we’ve got 65-70 players that have shown up to at least one of the tryouts. Next, they worked their butts off! There was no standing around, the coaches were flying around encouraging the players, and to their credit, the players responded extremely well.

After a team stretch (complete with music – as a rather old-school coach, I was indifferent to it, but it did provide a much more collegiate type atmosphere), we went into agility/conditioning stations where there was constant movement, then to a 300-yards shuttle run. After that, we broke into individual groups. The 6 OL who were there went though some of the basic every day types of things we’ll do during the season. At this point I’m just trying to get a baseline of where everyone is at. I haven’t coached any of the six more than for an all-star game back in 2012, and that was only one guy, so most of the time was just observing and correcting where necessary. All of the guys took it well, and rarely did we have to talk about things more than once. I loved their attitude and approach – this is definitely going to be a very good offensive line.

Finally, we moved into a group 7-on-7 period. I’d made up some play cards with just four basic concepts (4 verticals, hitches, shallow cross and smash) out of two formations, doubles and trips – strictly Passing Game 101 stuff. We had enough guys on offense to run four full units, so everyone on the field was moving. We just ran plays down the field, starting at our 10, one unit after another. I’d say that we easily got 50 plays in the 20-minute period.

It was just the up-tempo type of atmosphere that we want to have throughout the season. We’re looking at running 100 plays per practice, and I see now that it will be entirely possible.

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Because it is March and because this is the men’s game, it is now time for league and team madness to start. Teams are popping up left and right. I have no idea what the fascination is with running a team. I guess if you’ve had bad ownership in the past (been there, done that) there is certainly a desire to move, but to actually do it yourself? No thanks…..big props to the Collins family that runs the Nighthawks. I say the “Collins family” because they truly are all involved in some form or fashion, from the eldest to the youngest, who can be seen hauling whatever they can in equipment off the field – sometimes it is bigger than they are! Tony and his family are really making this season a joy to be a part of so far.

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Over on the women’s side, it is with some sadness that I see the Las Vegas Showgirlz have folded. Although they never beat us, I would call them rivals just because of the intensity of some of the games. Owner/HC Dion Lee always got them ready to play and he had some very visionary ideas on how to promote the game.

I also saw coverage of the World Women’s Games 3 (or is it the Women’s World Games?) down in New Orleans at the Saints training facility. That was quite an event, and seemed to draw a lot more attention than the first two did. In all honesty, I think this was the first one that gave back as much as the players paid in. Having the Saints (and presumably the NFL in some fashion) step up and get involved is huge. I hope that it continues to go onward and upward.

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Not a whole lot else going on right now, so I’ll wrap it up. As always, if there is some scheme, play, technique or topic you’d like to see, just let me know! Thanks for reading.

Lessons Learned

As I mentioned last week, I was up at the Los Angeles (really Orange County) Glazier clinic on Saturday. As always, the best part for me was seeing guys that I used to coach with and against when I was in the high school ranks back in the 90’s. 

I was especially happy to see one of my former Fountain Valley players, Todd Gruca, still coaching. He took over for me (not right after I left, of course, but eventually) as the varsity OL coach for the Barons. Now he’s still coaching the freshman team and doing a great job with them. He was a kid that was just a real solid high school OL…..his size wasn’t going to get him to the next level, but his heart carried him further than he probably would have gone. I remember getting ready to play an extremely talented Anaheim Esparanza team that had a couple of D-I type DL on it. Todd’s guy was going to be 6-6, 275 Sean Jarne, who’d committed to Colorado. Todd was 5-10 and maybe 230 if he’d eaten a good lunch that day. I spent the weekend before in game prep trying to figure out who we were going to get those guys blocked with our guys. In the end, we decided to put them out there and let them do their thing. We lost, but it wasn’t because we didn’t have a running game or because Jarne and his guys got any sacks – they got zero on the night. Todd battled his butt off pretty much one-on-one and got the job done. I’ve always been very proud of him.

As far as what I got out of the clinic, there were about 6 or so pages of notes. Some of it was noting validation of what I was already doing, and some were tweaks to what I wanted to do. For example, I’ve got to put in a new pass protection this year because we’re doing a ton of empty set stuff. So a while ago I had an article from the OL coach at Nevada that detailed a five-man protection. Dave Christensen, last years’ OL coach at Texas A&M was also speaking on pass protection, and his out-of-the gate talk was on five-man protection. His concepts mirrored what the Nevada coach said about 95%. So now I feel a whole lot better about putting in that particular protection, you know? I guess it would’ve been one thing had this “rogue coach” from the Mountain West been the only guy doing it, but now to get validation of sorts from an SEC coach doing pretty much the same thing sealed the deal.

It was a great day!

***

I also wanted to touch on a subject that we harp on players about, but not often as coaches ourselves: loyalty. I was reminded of this subject recently in a local coaches’ forum. A rather high-profile program here recently made an out-of-state hire as their HC. A couple of assistants posted their initial reactions after meeting with the HC, and to me, it didn’t seem like they were all that enthused. (NOTE: I did speak with one of those coaches privately, and he assured me that I simply misunderstood him. It was a good conversation, but if I hadn’t taken the time to inquire, my original impression would have stood.)

When you hear of coaches getting hired, whether as assistants or bosses, you often hear of the importance of loyalty within the staff. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t disagreements within the staff, or that assistants have to be “yes men” behind closed doors, but it does mean that you need to present a unified, enthusiastic front to the public. If the new coach is replacing a very popular and successful coach (as in my example above), it becomes even more critical to the overall success of the program that no one is longing for the “good old days” under Coach X.

Loyalty is important in business as well. Business guru Harvey Mackay wrote about several football coaches here (column) titled, “Getting fired can be a good thing” where he details in particular, the loyalty of Gary Kubiak.

Now, I happened to learn this lesson many years ago, after my first year coaching, in 1991. It’s not a story I tell often, because in looking back, my behavior was poor and frankly, inexcusable. So you get it once…..

The head coach I worked for in 1991 wasn’t very good. We went 2-8 in a talent-rich area. I wasn’t a very good position coach either, so on the field I did my part in our failure as well. The HC was also noted as somewhat of a strength and conditioning guru, but in all honesty when I started running the weight room, I got his guys stronger in a hurry. Suffice to say, he just wasn’t a good coach.

After the season, rumors were rampant that he was going to get fired (and he did). The guy who hired me was the OC, and we were old buddies, which is the only reason I got the job. He was one of the front-runners to take over the job and had a faction of parents in his corner. There were other groups of parents who wanted to go in an entirely different direction. It was a mess.

Anyway, my big mistake was in talking to a reporter. I got called out of the blue by a guy from the local paper. I was excited that he would want my opinion, and I was naïve in how the whole press thing worked. It was my first time in that situation and I blew it. The reporter asked me for my opinion of the HC, and I gave it. Unfortunately for me, it was published, word for word. It was a tight-knit community, and my quotes quickly made the rounds – quick even by 1991 standards!

Of course, I got a call from the HC. He ripped me up one side and down the other, and there was really nothing I could say – the best I could come up with was “I was misquoted”, but that was weak. My friend the OC and his buddies congratulated me for saying what I did….after all, it was the truth. But the DC, an older guy, took me aside and told me why exactly I screwed up. He explained why loyalty was so important, and with his explanation, I felt like crap. I knew that he (the DC) was right. I apologized to him on the spot.

By that time, the HC was ripping me in public as well, in various forums in Orange County. So I never apologized to him directly. In the end, he was out of the game even as an assistant within two years. Again, he just wasn’t very good. I’ve managed to stick around awhile and that lesson never left me. Even typing it now brings back some of the raw emotion I felt during that time.

The bottom line is this: argue, fight, scratch & claw with each other behind staff doors. But in the end, whatever your position is on the team, you likely have someone you report to, who gives you your marching orders. You either follow those orders, or you resign. Don’t drag the whole program down with you if you don’t agree. The players you coach, and maybe your future in the game, depend on you showing a united front as a program to the public and just as importantly, your opponents. Loyalty is important, maybe the most important trait head coaches look for when hiring.

Lessons learned……

Fun Stuff

Sort of a slow news week this week. I hear there’s a kind of big game this week though….who do you have? Although I think that if anyone has the ability to slow down the Panthers offense it is Denver, it’s not like Carolina’s defense is trash. They’re pretty dang good! So I think that Carolina will be able to outscore the Broncos.

People have been bagging on Cam Newton for being too cocky. I dunno – I just don’t see it. I see a big kid having fun playing a game, and playing it well. We should all have so much fun at our jobs. I wonder though…..how many kids will be in the stands to receive a game ball? Not sure I spend a couple grand to take a small child to a Super Bowl…..

***
I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I started individually training a local high school OL, my first time undertaking solo training like that. I found quickly that I had to enlist my son to come out a be a shield holder. Not sure he’s too happy about that. He’s a strong kid, and good-sized, but at just under 200 pounds he’s giving up about 90 pounds to the kid I’m training.

Anyway, the kid and I are having a blast. He was OK as a sophomore last season, showed good mobility with good size and a bit of a mean streak which is something you often have to coach a kid into. You know, kids that are bigger than their friends are always told before they go out to play, “Now play nice and don’t hurt anyone.” So a lot of times I’ve found that kids like that have to be encouraged to be a bit of a nasty SOB on the field. This kid seems to have that, albeit often times last year it was against physically overmatched opponents. His high school is going into a tougher league next year, so we’ve been gearing up for that.

Watching him on film last year, he was typical of a young offensive lineman – it was only his second year of football – in that his footwork wasn’t consistent and he didn’t have a great punch. He’d go up and shove people, or bump them, and because he was so much bigger, a lot of times they’d just fall down. But he got stalemated at the LOS often, because he’d “reach” instead of “punch”. So we’ve been working a ton on his punch, and this past week I think the light finally started going on. That is as rewarding a feeling for a coach as there is.

We’ll just continue to refine his techniques and consistency. I keep telling him that being a successful OL just means doing the “same boring (stuff) hundreds, if not thousands of times.”

***

I was also recently contacted by a high school coach in Las Vegas, who just got hired and needs to do some rebuilding after a 2-8 or 3-7 season. Road trips to Vegas are always fun, so I’m looking forward to setting that up – getting what he wants to run, what he wants to emphasize, etc. so I can come up with a mini-camp plan for his guys.

Then, I was just called on Monday by an old friend who I coached with at Fountain Valley in the 90’s. He just got the Offensive Coordinator job at one of the top programs in Orange County and wants to meet up so he can pick my brain (I told him it would only take as long to drink a glass of water, but for some reason he still wants to meet). In this case, knowing that the program is already at a very high level (the previous Head Coach retired after 37 seasons – they’ll probably either name a building on campus for him or erect a statue) and knowing how tough the competition is and how well they’re coached gets my adrenaline going a bit! I definitely want to do everything I can for him to make sure he gets going on the right foot. Heck, his OL coach may be way better than me – neither of us have any idea yet – but if nothing else I can help him get conversant on a nuts and bolts level with current trends in OL play.

***
Finally, my men’s team, the Nighthawks, had our orientation last Saturday. We had 41 guys show up, with another 10-15 contacting coaches to offer their apologies for not making it. For an initial meet ‘n greet, that’s pretty good, considering the same type of meeting last year at my former team netted 10 players. The competition for spots on this team will be intense, and will go a long way to getting San Diego semi-pro ball back where it was back in the mid-to-late 2000’s when the San Diego Thunder was winning everything in sight.

OK, all – enjoy the last game of the football season!

Fewer Barriers

Last week came the announcement from the Buffalo Bills that they were going to hire Kathryn Smith as the first full-time Assistant Coach in the NFL. As a Special Teams Quality Control Coach, she won’t be spending that much time in an “on the field” capacity, rather she’ll contribute her personnel evaluation skills, her film breakdown skills and other analytical skills. I applaud this hire, as she’s put in her time and worked her way up the ladder. Although her apparent lack of playing experience (none that I heard of anyway) will likely limit her to behind-the-scenes opportunities, I don’t have a problem with that either – I talked recently about the “talent pyramid” and how players can fall outside of it for any number of reasons. Well, the same thing applies to coaches. In any case, I wish her well and that her position is a lasting one that truly opens the doors for others.

Speaking of others, I’m once again going to say that someone in the NFL or college ranks needs to give Lori Locust a look. As a former player and one who has successfully coached men for more than a few seasons, she can flat out coach and her upside isn’t limited by a lack of playing experience. She’s “been and done”. You need a Defensive Quality Control person, with a specialty in the DL and can also help out on ST? She’s your answer. Contact me for her info (legit inquiries only).

***

On a slightly different note in the women’s game, I recently saw a Twitter video from a team with the caption, “You play like you practice”. This is a true statement, I think…..the problem was, what they took pride in (“We play low!”) was also potentially very dangerous. The video showed players in three-point stances coming out of it under a makeshift chute, made of bags. My issue with the video is that each and every player they showed was ducking their head downwards to get “low” under the chute. If they truly play like they practice, then on their second step their heads are going to be at a very dangerous angle when making contact. I mentioned to the team via Tweet that they might want to be careful about that, but as of yet hadn’t received a response.

Playing low is very desirable, but that doesn’t come from your head ducking, it comes from bending at the knees and sinking your hips. It’s tough to do, too, which is why it needs to be repped into the hundreds and thousands of times. Your eyes should always stay up, looking at your target. That is true in both tackling and blocking.

I also saw recently a high school team working with a new product, called the ShadowMan tackling dummy. I think this is a legit product – I loved it. You may have seen the Dartmouth demonstration last year with their robotic tackling dummy (or now a retail product from Rogers Athletics). This is similar to that, but a lot less expensive (I hope). This is a tackling dummy tied with some sort of leash to an actual player. The player runs forward, getting conditioning work in for sure, and then the tackler comes in and tackles the dummy. They’re now able to practice full speed tackling against a moving opponent, without being in pads. I think that is fantastic. The only issue I had with the video is that again, the players came in with their heads down.

I know that USAFootball is all in on getting the head out of tackling and I agree. What amazes me is that this is a “thing” all of a sudden. One of my mentors, Bill Williams, has been teaching this style of tackling since at least 1992 (I say that because that is the first year he exposed me to it – I really have no idea how long he’s been teaching it). He’s done camps and clinics all across the country. I think his problem is that he only marketed his tackling methods as “effective tackling” rather than “safe tackling” as everyone is doing now.

I’ve seen other people mirror what Bill teaches, but none of them are as good. You can find out more about Bill at www.billwilliamsfcpga.net.

***

There were a couple of interesting games this past weekend in the NFL, if you didn’t hear.  :-) The AFC title game was darn good, with twists and turns coming down to the last second. 

I must say that I’m definitely a fan of the NFL XP distance – it’s really put an element of doubt into the outcome and force coaches to be much more strategic in their thinking. I certainly wasn’t a fan of New England’s OL play….I wonder how much they miss retired OL coach Dante Scarnecchia about now**? I vividly remember two examples: One was of their LT, Vollmer and his first steps not gaining near enough depth against a speed rusher, and him having to turn out of square way too soon. On the other side, the NE RT was having a ton of trouble with Von Miller (who wouldn’t?), but their solution was to bring in a backup as an extra OL. OK, great – I figured they were going to double Miller. Oh no, instead they had the backup, who was fresh off the bench and cold (figuratively and literally) block Miller one-on-one. Hey, New England….if your “starting” RT couldn’t do it, what made you think a backup could? Not a fan at all…..and it showed up in the final score. If the Patriots could have kept Brady upright and mobile just a little more there may have been a real different outcome. Just sayin’……

On the NFC side, well, if you turn the ball over 7 times, you’re not going to win, period. I think Carolina was going to win anyways (although I was rooting for Arizona), but when you make mistakes against a team as good as Carolina is that 30 point margin is going to show in a hurry. On the bright side, maybe now I can find a good deal on a Kangol hat…..

**On Monday it was reported that New England OL coach Dave DeGuglielmo has been fired. I never like to see anyone lose their job, but football is very much a results-orientated business. At all levels, of course, but obviously with all the money at stake in the NFL, that talent pyramid is very narrow indeed.

National Championship & Other Thoughts

Monday night was a great college football game. For whatever reason, I enjoy college ball so much more than the NFL version. Normally I root for teams that I either feel an allegiance to (SDSU, Texas A&M) or to coaches who have helped me out over the years (changes as jobs change). I don’t particularly like either Nick Saban or Lane Kiffin, but I certainly respect Coach Saban’s process, not to mention his results. So last night, I went purely SEC rooting.

Last week I picked Alabama in a close one, mostly due to their Big Game experience and Coach Saban. I was glad to see that special teams played a huge part in the outcome, with one of the best-executed onside kicks I’ve seen, and a nice kickoff return for a score. 

Special teams matter! I thought that overall, Clemson outplayed Alabama…I mean, the things that Deshaun Watson did to that formidable Tide front seven….and the even worse abuse of ‘Bama’s offensive line (their poor RT must be having nightmares still). But in the end, the Tide can smile because fortunately for them, football is a whole team game.

***
Looking at the NFL playoffs, again you saw an instance of where special teams matter (Minnesota/Seattle). I have no idea how much the laces affected the kick, I don’t know how much the wind did, and I don’t know if the kicker simply shanked it. In any case, I’m not sure there’s another example in all of sports where you go from almost certain joy to deepest despair in such a short amount of time as you do when a kicker misses a chip shot field goal. I mean, on a Hail Mary type of pass you have hope that it’ll work, but I’m not sure you really “expect” it to, you know? On a 25-yard field goal, you pretty much expect it to go.

And don’t let anyone tell you that character doesn’t matter in football either. We probably all saw the Bengals absolute implosion Saturday night. Right now, I’m thinking that players who show a history of undisciplined behavior aren’t the ones you want to lean on when the pressure builds – they don’t know how to handle it. I see that all the time at my level of coaching. Guys that have a ton of talent but can’t control themselves on or off the field, and wonder why they never got a shot at a higher level of play.

I try and tell young guys that the “talent pyramid” gets narrower and narrower the higher you go, and there’s not room for everyone. Guys fall outside the pyramid for all sorts of different reasons. Your job as a player is to make sure that the only reason you fall outside is lack of talent. You can improve your technique, you can have a perfect attitude, you can be the best student of the game (or have the best grades in school) ever….but at some point, you’re probably not fast enough, not big enough or just not athletic enough – all genetic things out of your control. If you let yourself fall outside the pyramid for things you can control, then it’s on you, and you alone. Deal with it, learn from it and move on.

***
Finally, my men’s team, the San Diego Nighthawks, picked up a new coach that might just change everything for us this year. Our new Passing Game Coordinator is former Texas A&M, former Viking and former Panther WR/QB Jason Carter. Coach Carter was most recently the head coach at La Jolla High.

His hiring points to a couple of things: First, it ensures that our WR’s and QB’s will get as much detailed coaching as our OL traditionally has. That just wasn’t something that I was able to provide the skinny guys. Right there, we’ve gotten better! 

Second, and most importantly to me, is that I’ll now have a living, breathing example of how exactly to install and implement a true no huddle, up tempo approach. I’ve never been on a staff where anyone else has actually done that. I’ve read books, I’ve gone to lectures, I’ve asked other coaches how to do it, but I think until you actually experience it for yourself, you’re not quite sure of how it’ll all go down. So even if we have Coach temporarily (I hope it’ll be at least a couple of seasons), I plan on learning as much from him as possible.

And that’s part of the key to success…..divest yourself of your ego, coaches, and don’t be afraid to hire people who may be better than you at some phase of the game. I gave up some control I didn’t have to as the OC in order to get better, and make our team better. Whether you do that for a season, or for a weekend mini-camp, the end result is that you and your team will be better for it.

New Year, New Action

I hope everyone had a great holiday season (realizing that some of you may still be in the middle of celebrating yours). After gorging on the buffet that is College Bowl Season (is there really any better time of year?) I’m ready to start getting down to the nitty-gritty of preparing for another season.

I left off in my last post referencing only a “men’s team” that I’m going to because at the time it wasn’t announced by the team itself yet. Now I can say that I’m with the San Diego Nighthawks. Our league is yet to be determined, but I’m confident that it will be a competitive one.

I’m beyond excited to get this thing going….I’ve been interviewing potential offensive assistant coaches, streamlining the playbook, reviewing film from last year and continuing to research ways to improve. One item that I picked up is a game planning system by Coach Keith Grabowski of The Coaches’ Edge (www.thecoachesedge.com). It is a spreadsheet system that allows you to plan out your practices, ensuring that you go into games with plays that you’ve actually practiced (quite a concept!). You put in your game plan, and it spits out practice scripts, wrist bands and call sheets. So far, I like it a lot. (Hey, if you buy it, or anything else on Coaches Edge, please refer them with my e-mail: kmring@gmail.com. I hear we get $10 coupons or something.)

In reviewing the film from last year, I think that some of the players weren’t aware they were being filmed, let alone that anyone was going to look at it! A lot of walking around, or stopping after an initial hit. That’s not going to cut it this year and I think we’ll have enough competition for spots that it will become painfully obvious to those who don’t put forth maximum effort how quickly they can be on the sidelines, resting, next to me.

***
One of my other new ventures is taking on an individual high school offensive lineman for skill and technique development. It’s my first time in this non-team setting, so I’m very interested how it’ll play out. I met with him and his Dad this past weekend and I basically told them that they would be my guinea pigs – maybe that wasn’t the best angle to take, but I don’t know what else to tell them. I think they were expecting to get “sold” by me and I don’t even have a sales pitch. I just told them, “If you want to get better, I’ll help you get better.”

We’re going for half hour to 45 minute sessions. I think that’ll be plenty long enough – when you’re taking every rep, I think you’ll be pretty tired afterwards, even if my goal isn’t to kill you in a conditioning type of deal.

***
On Sunday, the Surge is having their tryouts…..it’s gonna be really strange hearing about what went on, who showed up, etc. and not be a part of it. I will miss them.

***
I can’t remember the last time I couldn’t think of an obvious frontrunner in the NFL. All three of who I think are the favorites (Carolina, New England and Arizona) looked extremely bad recently when faced with motivated opponents. I’ll tell you who I’m rooting for though: Arizona, followed by Seattle. Why you ask? Because of their coaches of course – that’s how I base all my non-Chargers rooting!

I recently saw the excellent “A Football Life” episode on Bruce Arians. Count me as a fan for sure. If you don’t know much about Coach Arians, I highly recommend it. You may become a fan as well. My Seahawks fandom isn’t because of Pete Carroll – he’s a good coach, and I do like him – but for my long time mentor, Pat Ruel. Pat is a great guy and I hope he can win another Lombardi Trophy.

***
Who do you have in the college championship? I wasn’t sold on Clemson, but holy moly they looked good! However, I’m going to go with Alabama in a close one, just because of their previous big game experience, and I think that if you give Nick Saban enough time to prepare for you, you’re in trouble.

That’s all for now – have a great week!

The Big Time

One of the very best words of wisdom I’ve ever received in my coaching career came from the late, great Bob Cope. Coach Cope was a long time DC in the SEC and Big 12, along with being a HC at Portland State. At a coaches’ clinic in, oh, I don’t know….the late 90’s sometime, myself and three other high school coaches sat down to talk to Coach. At the time, I only thought about how these words applied to coaches, but have also come to understand that they apply to players as well. Here they are:

“The Big Time is wherever you’re at right now.”

Let that sink in for a minute……Coach went on to elaborate that no matter if you were on your way up, on your way down or perfectly content where you’re at, the Big Time is there too. He said that too many coaches “save” their efforts for when they are back in the Big Time, noting that sometimes they feel lower levels of play are beneath them, and more importantly, beneath their best efforts.

I don’t know if I ever felt that way before I heard that phrase, but I can guarantee you that I’ve never felt that way since. I’ve tried to approach every team I’ve coaches with the same enthusiasm, energy and attention to detail. I once coached my 9-year old son’s winter ball baseball team – purely a developmental thing. I brought sort of a football staff mindset to it though, in that the coaches I had, I assigned to specific areas of the game, infield, outfield, pitching, hitting, etc., and then asked them to concentrate on those areas during the game. Also, I handed out practice plans before each practice so that we were all on the same page. One of the parents said, “Isn’t this a little much for a 9 year old team?” (Please note that my “football approach” only extended to organization, not to intensity or competitive fire.) My response sort of stunned her, “Do they deserve any less than my best only because they’re 9?” She said, “I’ve never thought about it that way. Thank you!”

Since hearing those words of wisdom from Coach, I’ve coached in maybe the most competitive high school division in California (Southern Section, Division I), won two national championships with women, won a league championship with grown men and given youth clinics to as young as 8 year olds. In each case, my focus was the same: do the job to the absolute best of my abilities, no matter the level of play.

As a coach, I think you owe your best to your players, and more importantly, to yourself. You never know who is going to be impressed by your work. As Coach Bill Muir said, “You add to your résumé every day you go to work.” In addition, I don’t think you’d ever want to look back at a season or career and think, “Man, I could’ve done a better job if only I did my best.”

For players it is much the same way. I’ve heard players say over and over again, “Oh, it’s only semi-pro” when it comes to showing up for practice or studying their playbook. But then the team loses a close game and they say, “Man, we’re too talented to lose like that.” Well, no – you’re not. You may be physically gifted, but that doesn’t mean you’re a talented team. Football is much too complex and team-dependent for that. This isn’t basketball where one player can take over a game, or baseball where the pitcher can be dominant all by himself. In football you’re only as good as your least-talented player. And if your physically gifted players are making mistakes because they haven’t put in the effort to learn their assignments, then you as a team are going to suck. Period.

If you want to be part of a Big Time team, then you have to be all-in for that. If you’re on your way down the ladder of playing levels, then show the guys who are on the way up how it is done. If you’re on the way up, then take in all you can to make yourself better. If you’re content where you’re at, then you still know damn well that winning is a lot more fun than losing, so do your part to make some great memories in the time you have left.

The Big Time is a great place, no matter where you find it.

***

The 2^nd Annual RS Football Camp has had a great response in the last week. I’m looking forward to seeing the new faces who’ve said they’re coming out. We’ve got more people from the Central Cal area, from LA, Arizona and from Vegas than we had last year, and I’m excited about that.

Please remember to note on the Facebook Event page your name, team, position and t-shirt size. That’ll put you into our “confirmed” status, but also remember that only those who pre-pay are guaranteed t-shirts. You can do so via PayPal to kmring@cox.net.

Thanks!