This & That

First things first – don’t forget about the San Diego Women’s Football Camp in November. You can see the Facebook event here. Last weeks’ blog has 200 views in just a couple of days, making it the most viewed post I’ve ever had.

I’d like to remind the coaches out there that this camp isn’t only for players. We know that most of the big coaching clinics are in February and March, and so are tough to get to when you’ve already started your season practices. Plus, you have to sift through the topics and discussions to get down to what you can do on a 1-2 time per week practice schedule. Also, if you’ve already started practice, and then picked up a new concept, how do you integrate it into whatever you’re already doing without it looking like you’re changing things as the wind blows?

So a few things about our camp: There will be 11 instructing coaches there, plus however many others show up. All of the instructors are from winning programs at the level you coach at – your direct competitors. They’re there to share their knowledge to get you and your players better. Although there is no one way to do things, what these coaches will share are things that actually work at our level. So treat it like going to a coaching clinic, except you not only get classroom talks and film sessions, but also live on-the-field applications of what is being taught. All for $20. Can’t beat it!

Players, the overriding consideration is getting you better. We’re not out there to condition you or discipline you (although if you dog a drill, wasting someone else’s rep, that’ll get you “noticed”). We’re like the doting grandparents that get to have fun and then send you back to your parents after a weekend. If you’re a beginner, we’ll pair you either with someone of your level (if it is a competitive drill) or a more experienced player if it is a teaching drill. For veterans, I’m sure that when the competitive drills come up, you’ll want to see where you stand against All American and Team USA players – they’ll be there for you!

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One thing that has always driven me crazy about football announcers is that they’ll rave over a defensive player making a “great play” when it was really due to an offensive player’s incompetence. Such was the case of Michael Sam sacking Johnny Football the other night. The Browns RT on the play was absolutely brutal – head forward, no punch, stopped feet. LeCharles Bentley, noted owner of OL Performance World referred to the RT in a Tweet as being “allergic to effort”. That sums it up pretty well.

I went to a Browns practice while I was on vacation and saw their #2 OL struggle a lot – even in Indy drills. Not much depth there.

You see the same thing in defensive highlight films all the time – some dude coming through unblocked and making a play. Well, hell – he should make the tackle if he’s unblocked! What I want to see in a highlight film is a guy getting blocked, then playing off that block and making the stop. That’s when I admire defensive players.

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The number of penalties being called in the NFL this year could be scary – and changing the game for the worse, in my opinion. Yeah, I’m an offensive guy, but that doesn’t mean that I want a penalty if the DB even breathes on my receiver (unless that DB plays for Boston, and then yeah, I do).

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What a poised young lady Mo’Ne Davis is! She was by far the highlight for me in the recent Little League World Series. Apparently she wants to play basketball at UConn for Geno Auriemma.  It’s still early, but I certainly wish her luck. With what she has shown at a young age, I have no doubt she’s got the mental make-up to thrive under a demanding coach like Auriemma (whom I am a fan of).

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Go see “When the Game Stands Tall”…it’s a good football/team movie. It focuses on just a short time period for Concord De La Salle (2003-2004), so if you want the whole story, read the book – it is excellent!

I remember coaching for Fountain Valley High in the 90’s and thinking, “Well sure they win – they’re not playing anyone up there. Wait until they play Poly or Mater Dei.” Then they did – and kicked both of their butts. That’s when we all sat up and paid attention. Having coached against Long Beach Poly, I can tell you it was no fun….zero fun.

That’s it for now – don’t forget to go and let us know that you’re coming to the camp on the FB page (here, again). It also wouldn’t hurt to pay – that helps us out with knowing for sure how many shirts we need, whether we need to grab extra coaches, etc. Thanks!

Major Camp Updates!

OK, here’s a snapshot of what we have planned for the camp as of today:

Friday, November 14, 2014
Players/coaches arrive in San Diego. A rental car will probably be a necessity. The recommended hotel is Best Western Santee (http://bestwesterncalifornia.com/hotels/best-western-santee-lodge). It is only 1.5 miles from the high school, and has very reasonable rates.

When people arrive they can call (619-846-9678) or e-mail me (kmring@gmail.com) if any assistance is needed. I could possibly coordinate a few rides out to the hotel, but it is a little bit of a trip, so I’d only be able to make one or two trips personally.

We’ll have informal talks/greeting/beverage drinking at either the hotel or one of the restaurants across the street.

Saturday, November 15, 2014
Registration/check-in starts at 8:00 am at Santana High School (9915 Magnolia Ave, Santee, CA 92071 is the official address, but enter from the 2^nd Street entrance to the north of the school).

Camp cost is only $20 for players or visiting coaches. Sessions may be filmed.  Our emphasis is on sharing knowledge in a football setting. The cost includes a camp t-shirt. Oh, our team masseuse will also be on hand to work out the kinks! He is saying that he’ll donate his services, but we would really encourage you to tip him out, even if it is only $5. He does a great job.

The camp is a padded one. The bare minimum should be helmets and shoulder pads. We’re not looking to kill anyone, but we also don’t need unnecessary injuries.

We will have a series of on-the-field practices and classroom talks in order to help everyone fully grasp the techniques and concepts taught. The on-field sessions will be fast-paced, since almost all of the talking will be done indoors. Each session will last 35 minutes. These sessions last from 9:10 until 12:05 Saturday morning. Be prepared to move between sessions with a sense of urgency to get the maximum amount of information from the camp!

For lunch we are working on having it catered to the school for a nominal cost per plate (looking at $7). If it comes through, believe me you’ll be happy – the food is excellent!

After lunch (1:30) we’ll head back out between the field and classrooms until 5:05. We’ll close Saturday with classroom talks until about 6:00.

Saturday night, there are several restaurants and fast food types of places very close to both the high school and the hotel. We’re working on getting some either free or heavily discounted vouchers for one of the restaurants.

Sunday, November 16, 2014
Sunday will be much like Saturday, starting at 9:00 on the field! We’ll go from 9:00 until Noon, then again until about 3:00.

The ultimate goal will be to have some competitive one-on-one OL/DL sessions and then some 7-on-7 sessions, filmed by our team film guy (who is awesome).

Camp will end at 3:00, so we encourage you to get the latest flights out possible. Southwest currently has 3 flights leaving at 4:25 PM or later to Chicago. Other airlines may have more options.

As some of you may have experienced before, trying to play a game with two days’ preparation is tough, as there are really too many moving pieces. That’s why All Star games are usually so ugly! So that’s why we’re not going that route. We want to you to come out and compete with some of the best players in the country, using techniques and tips given to you by some of the finest teachers in the women’s game.

Here is a list of coaches we have so far:

Will Harris, Surge Head Coach/Linebackers

Mark Ring, Surge Offensive Line Coach

Carrie Suggett, Surge Offensive Coordinator

Mike Suggett, Surge Defensive Coordinator

Mike Vargas, Surge Wide Receivers Coach

 (Other Surge staff may be announced soon)

Visiting coaches include:

Billy Hughes, Jr., Offensive Line Coach, Dallas Diamonds

Lori Locust, Defensive Line Coach, Central Penn Piranhas (men’s team)

Rick Rasmussen, Head Coach, Utah Falconz

Angel Rivera III, DB coach, Dallas Diamonds

Matt Russell, former Head Coach of the Dallas Diamonds

Ed Williams, Line Coach, Kansas City Titans

With 11 coaches on hand, you can be sure that there will be a great player/coach ratio. All of these programs have been consistent winners:

San Diego Surge: 2011, 2012, 2014 American Conference Champions, 2012 WFA National Champion

Dallas Diamonds: 2011, 2012 Semi-finalist, 2013 American Conference Champion

Kansas City Titans: 2014 Semi-finalist

Utah Falconz: Undefeated as an independent in their first year of existence, including a victory over the Seattle Majestics (WFA playoff team).

Central Penn Piranhas:  Annually one of the top-ranked men’s semi-pro teams in the country.

So get your flights, reserve your rooms. We'll have details on how to register and pay for the camp itself soon.

Camp Update & Time of Reflection

As we head into the start of the offseason, the luxury of doing work without a weekly deadline (with the exception of this blog!) is nice. I’ve begun looking at everything I did last year and seeing where we were weak and where we may have been strong but could do better. There is no sense of complacency in any area. I’m especially looking at my own communication skills to improve in that area. In that regard, I would highly recommend Proactive Coaching (www.proactivecoaching.info or you can find them on Facebook). I think you’ll find their material interesting and thought-provoking.

I’m excited to announce (95% sure of his attendance) another great guest coach for our camp in November – Head Coach Rick Rasmussen from the Utah Falconz. Rick brings a diversity of knowledge and experience. He has some great ideas on leadership, along with the wealth of knowledge he brings in the area of option offense. If you’ve seen any film at all on the Falconz, you’ll know he had their offense running on all cylinders, which was very impressive for a first-year team.

Coach Rasmussen will join the other previously announced coaches from around the country: Matt Russell, Angel Rivera III and Billy Hughes, Jr. from Dallas; Ed Williams from Kansas City and Lori Locust from Pennsylvania.

We’re hoping to have a host hotel announced soon – that is our next priority. Also, I’ll be creating a Facebook page as another avenue for information. If anyone feels like letting their creative side come out, we’re looking for a simple logo. Just contact me at kmring@gmail.com.

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Now the reflection…..I received a very sad piece of news from the men’s side of the game today. A player that I coached against the last couple of years sustained a severe neck injury during a game a couple of weeks ago. He was paralyzed, but seemed to be fighting through it. I heard Monday that he passed away from cardiac arrest Sunday night.

He was a defensive lineman and apparently tackled the RB on a simple dive play. I have not seen the play on film, all I know is it seemed routine and that the RB is carrying around an awful lot of guilt.

This type of tragedy should serve as a reminder for all coaches, but especially women’s coaches whose players probably don’t have the neck strength of their male counterparts, to emphasize head up tackling and blocking. See your target! The head should NEVER be the initial point of contact in any block or tackle.

I think a lot of times, proper tackling form is taught in preseason, perhaps in shorts only and then forgotten about – there are more pressing items, with games coming each week and all the adjustments that need to be made and all…..but we all have a responsibility to keep our players as safe as possible. Things may still happen – football is a dangerous game – but we have to ensure that we are doing everything in our power to teach, emphasize and remind our players of proper, safe technique. If you as a coach have any questions about how to do that, I would highly encourage you to contact USA Football at http://usafootball.com/headsup for more information.

Also, I heard about the passing of Veronica “Ro” Gazzillo of the Chicago Force. I never met her, but we used to banter back and forth on Dion Lee’s message board. She seemed like a wonderful person, and the news saddened me greatly. I lost a very dear friend the same way a few years ago, so know exactly what those close to her are feeling. So please….if any of you are ever feeling alone or with no way out, please, please reach out. Let’s all do whatever we can to lessen the chances of any more tragedies, on or off the field.

Be good, be safe….see you next week.

(PS - next week's blog will be out on Thursday, as Coach Suggett and I are meeting on the camp Wednesday night)

Championship Post Mortem

OK, so by now if you follow women’s football at all, you know the outcome of the National Championship game on Saturday. We lost to the Boston Militia, 69-34. There’s not much we can say, but I’ll try….

Boston is everything we thought they would be. We sort of had an idea that we might have to score in the 50’s in order to win. Three fumbles, two in the first couple of series, pretty much ensured that we weren’t going to do that. If you just look at our offensive numbers in a vacuum, you might say we played pretty well: 420 yards of offense, 4.75 yards per carry, 22 first downs, almost 300 yards passing. But again, those 3 fumbles killed us. We also gave up a sack, only the third of the year, but at an inconvenient moment.

The thing that really impressed me about Boston was their offensive line. I think it is the best in the game. I think we’re second, but they are really, really good. Plus, individually, they are very strong and each of them seem to have that nasty mentality that great offensive linemen have.

Defensively, obviously if you give up 69 points it is pretty ugly. What we’ll need to look at is if individual players always tackled like they did Saturday and got away with it because of inferior competition or if all of a sudden we forgot how to tackle and we all just decided to have a lousy game at once. I tend to think it was the former. For the most part, we had people in place to make plays, and didn’t. Hats off to Boston’s running backs, especially Whitney Zelee, who was as good as advertised.

We also didn’t help ourselves with a particularly bad penalty….we had Boston 4^th and 10, at about our 40. They punted, but we were offsides. Now it’s 4^th and 5, they go for it, and score a TD on that play. It was that kind of night.

So…. now what? We’ve already met as a staff to candidly discuss what we need to do to get better. Obviously, Boston has become to us now what Dallas was to us back in 2004-07, the hump we have to get over. We focused on Dallas and were able to beat them every time we played them since 2006. It remains to be seen what kind of success we’ll have against Boston in the future, but we have a very clear picture of where we want to go and how to get there. You’ll see a different Surge team in 2015.

Quite honestly, the advantage we have over other teams who want to get where we’re at is that we’ve been there so often. A 43-4 record since 2011 (with 2 of those losses against Boston) and three appearances in the national championship game mean that we’ve got a formula. It may not be the formula, as I’m not sure there is only one way to get it done, but we’ve certainly got a successful one.

So we’ve got a little down time….the rest of August. I should have some camp updates next Wednesday when I get back on schedule. Overall, the last week being on vacation was great. Just a three-hour period on Saturday was less than fun. But hey, it was still championship football, so, really, how bad could it have been?

Championship Week

This is it….what we’ve worked for since February. We’re headed to Chicago tomorrow to play against the Boston Militia on Saturday. Even after 24 years of coaching, in over 275 games, the realization that win or lose, this is it, always strikes me as odd. I guess it is because these types of games come around rather infrequently. Either you’re not even good enough to make the playoffs, or you make it to the championship game. Any other scenario and that last game comes as sort of a shock. You could see it on the faces of the teams we beat during this playoff run, the realization that it is over for them. It’s a tough feeling, especially when the result isn’t obvious until the very end.

The preparation coming into the game is tough as well. The evaluation process is much more complicated. Unless you are absolutely certain that your athletes are markedly better across the board, then you have to find an edge. If you don’t you find yourself in danger of being outcoached. I believe that we fell into that trap in 2011 when we played Boston. However, I also like to think that we learned from that and it carried us through the 2012 win, and that we’ve maintained that lack of assumption.

Unfortunately, I also believe that arrogance (for lack of a better word) may have affected at least one of our playoff opponents – there’s no other way to look at how they aligned against us and didn’t adjust to what we were doing. I can only pray that others who watch the championship game won’t say the same of us this year. I can assure you that we’re giving this game our very best as a coaching staff.

Of course, things may happen during the game that make everyone watching (including us) think, “WTF?” So be it. It comes with the territory of scrutiny in a big game.

So many things come into play when trying to decide how to approach a game like this. You have no common opponents and Boston is one of the few staffs where I don’t know a single coach on it. So trying to evaluate their athletes versus yours is tricky, as is trying to get an idea of what the coaching staff’s personality is. We know they’ve played some quality teams, Chicago and DC in particular. DC has excellent personnel but a completely different offensive style and personality from us. Chicago is more similar, but the minor points between our respective players are more difficult to pinpoint. So will what we want to do in certain situations work? What changes, if any, do we need to make to increase our chances? What do we have to look out for? Is there anything we just have to scrap completely?

I think those items are what makes football the greatest game imaginable for a coach. So many variables – not only the physical, but also the mental – of both players and coaches. Neither team has been in a particularly close game at the end. Although we’ve had close scores at the end of the first half (even trailing against Seattle), we’ve come out and dominated the second half. Although we know the final scores of Boston’s games, and know that they were in at least one track meet against DC, we don’t know their mindsets in all of those games, whether they’ve ever felt any pressure. We hope we’ll find out how they react to it on Saturday.

I hope to meet any of you that happen to be in Chicago this weekend – please come up and say hi. I’ll be taking a short vacation after the game, so there will not be a blog next Wednesday. Depending on how much there is to think about after Saturday, it may come out on Thursday or Friday, but no promises. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you soon!

The Road to the Championship

We are privileged to be going back to the National Championship game for the third time in four years, something no other WFA team has done. Our opponent will be the Boston Militia, a team that beat us for the 2011 title, 34-19. They are extremely athletic and very well coached. We’re looking forward to the challenge and expect another great game.

It hasn’t quite sunk in yet that we’re going to the championship again. I know it will at some point, but right now it just feels as though we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing. The Seattle game jolted me a bit, and quite honestly felt a bit like an escape (as much as a two-TD win can), but this week it seemed like we were just back to being us.

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We put together probably one of our best games of the season this past Saturday against the Kansas City Titans. I expected to win, but not quite in this fashion: 59-14, if you hadn’t heard already. They were the #3 scoring offense in the country, averaging around 48 points per game; and the #2 scoring defense in the country, giving up only around 5 points per game.

Our defense was outstanding, and I really have to give a shout out to my offensive line. Left tackle Katrina Walter, left guard Kim Henry, center Jen White, right guard Eboni Chambers, right tackle Jessica Cable and super subs Christina Carrillo and Tye Williamson really did a great job. They didn’t give up a sack (only two all year) and we ran for over 300 yards – not bad for a team widely perceived as a finesse offense. I can’t tell you how proud I am of them.

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I was able to give a clinic to some youth OL coaches this past week. What a blast that was! I never know when speaking to youth coaches how much will be relevant, but I did point out that coaching women and coaching youth had one very distinct similarity: you get raw rookies who have never put on pads before each year. With the youth leagues, your challenge is to get every player in a minimum amount of plays. With us, we don’t have to play anyone more than they deserve or what the needs of the team dictate, but we also have to get them ready to perform on a possible national stage against some very experienced athletes.

So when I saw the coaches nodding their heads, taking a ton of notes and even laughing at my jokes, it truly was a rush like no other. Teaching is a blast – and really, that’s what we all are, teachers in “3D”. Not only concepts or facts, but also actions, body control, mental & physical toughness. And you have to remember the mental parts while someone else may be beating on you. It’s not an easy thing we do.

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I hope to see a lot of you in Chicago over the championship weekend. I’m sure the Force will do a great job as a host – I know how they feel, haven fallen short last year then having to host the game a short time later. While it is a business trip first and foremost, I believe that you always have enough time to stop and say hi to someone you may only get to see on Facebook or this weekend. So don’t be afraid to say hi!

Quick Thoughts and Updates

This has been a really busy week, with our preparations for the big game against Kansas City. They have a ton of weapons on offense – fortunately for us they look an awful lot like us, so it’s not like we have to prepare against completely foreign plays. But usually preparing against great athletes is tougher than preparing against different plays. Of course, we have some people of our own, and that’s what will make this game such a great one!

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Many of you have been asking for camp updates. Please be assured that everything is still a go for November 15-16, with informal events that Friday night as well. Please understand that right now our focus is solely on advancing to and winning the National Championship. Once our season ends, then our focus will go 100% to finishing up the camp details. We were able to do a lot of the groundwork already, and at the latest, when the season ends August 2 we’ll still be three and a half months out.

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I get a chance tomorrow to help out a friend of mine by teaching, and that’s always a good thing. He’s the president of a youth league and coached my son, Travis, when he played. He’s also been a big supporter of the Surge. So when he was appointed as president, I wanted to do what I could to help out. So he’s got five or so OL coaches coming out tomorrow and I’ll go over some thoughts with them and hopefully give them some value. It’s always a little nerve-wracking to present yourself as a kind of an expert – at least it is for me – but I never like to pass up an opportunity to become a better communicator and teacher, so we’ll give it a go.

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I did want to give you some sort of “nuggets of knowledge” this week, so I’m borrowing this from the website www.footballscoop.com. If you haven’t been there before, you owe it to yourself to check it out every once in awhile at least. They have great articles and videos, plus have absolutely the latest info on who is coaching where, from the NFL to D-I college, to the collegiate lower levels, all the way down to high school.

So from there, please find 17 Bullet Points of Lane Kiffin’s Coaching Philosophy. Now, I’m not much of a Kiffin fan. However, I’m also smart enough to see that he’s pretty right on with these points, and if it makes you better, you shouldn’t really care who the info came from. Here you go:

The 17 bullet points of Lane Kiffin's coaching philosophy

It doesn't have quite the impact of Martin Luther's 95 theses, but former USC head coach and current Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin laid out 17 bullet points of his coaching philosophy on Wednesday night at the Angelo Football Clinic.

Other than his father, the two coaches that most influenced Kiffin are his former and current boss - Pete Carroll and Nick Saban. They are very different in almost every way, Kiffin said, but they both have an answer for everything. He recalled a time at Saban's house following USC's disappointing 2012 season when he asked Saban 32 questions about how Saban runs his program. Over the next three hours, Saban thoroughly answered every question in typical Saban fashion.

Without further ado..

1. Be a team guy.

2. Be a good listener.

3. Take corrective criticism.

4. Discussion is good. Arguing is a waste of time. Discussion helps the team improve. Arguing exists only to prove who is right. 

5. Be totally organized in the meeting room. "If the players show up and I don't have the film ready, that tells them that I don't respect them and don't respect their time.

6. Don't waste time on the field.

7. Be on the details. Stress the little things.

8. Be accountable to your fellow position coaches.

9. If your head coach gets on a player and you hadn't explained it to him, take up for your player. He'll respect you for it. Kiffin was big on this, and all player-related issues. For example, if a wide receiver does not make the proper sight adjustment and the head coach and coordinator jump on him for it, his wide receiver coach may be tempted to join them in hopes of looking good in front of the head coach. Terrible idea. "You just lost him for the day," Kiffin said. Instead, "say, 'that's my fault, coach, we'll haven't been over that yet but we will after practice'," said Kiffin. 

10. Stay positive. It can be a long season, so stay upbeat. 

11. Don't get in their face. Be demanding, but in the right way. Kiffin said he used to mother(blank) players after mistakes, but doesn't anymore. "He didn't want to drop that pass, he wasn't trying to drop that pass, so why would I (blank) him for it?"

12. Be respectful to the down-the-line players. Carroll taught him this one by always playing catch with a reserve players during breaks in practice. When he and Steve Sarkisian asked why, Carroll told them small acts like that can swing the whole locker room in the coaching staff's favor. The starters buy in by default since they're the ones that suck up all the playing time, but winning the down the line players over pushes the whole team forward.

13. Do not put players on the board to draw up plays. The ones that aren't good at it, Kiffin said, know they aren't good at it and, when they inevitably draw up 10 players instead of 11, get humiliated by the rest of the room.

14. Be honest with the players. Don't BS them. "Don't build a player up into something he's not."

15. Never tell a player he's going to play and then not play him. What happens here is two-fold, Kiffin said. If you tell a safety he'll play in the third series, then fall behind 14-0 and fail to play him, A) that player knows you don't really trust him and B) he's probably told his parents he's going to play, and now you've got an issue on your hands with him. 

16. Take it one year at a time. Sign on and don't look back. Whether you're at a place you like or a place you don't, make the best out of it and learn something from it.

17. Have a passion for coaching. Don't punch a clock. Carroll taught him this one. He created an atmosphere of "want to" versus "have to"; players and coaches were excited to show up for work at six in the morning. You're going to be there anyway, so why not make it fun?

Source: http://www.footballscoop.com/news/13662-the-17-tenants-of-lane-kiffin-s-coaching-philosophy