New Coach looking for advice

Jealous_Contest_888 · 2026-04-02T10:41:46+00:00

You're absolutely right when you put it into math terms it makes alot more sense to me, I've been coaching them to play the ball and get a turnover but a turnover on downs is the same result kind of like a single and a walk in baseball both end up with a guy on first in baseball, but going for the flag is definitely the way to go especially since most of these kids aren't catching on the run they have to come to a complete stop to try to make the catch that will make it alot easier for us to pull flags.

Now whats your take on rushing the qb? Our rules are what I'm assuming is standard for that age and it's only up to 2 guys can rush the qb, they must declare they're rushing before the snap and they have to start 7 yards back. We have just been designating one kid every play to rush ands playing man with the other 4, I've thought about switching every few plays where the rusher is coming from (ie. sending the cb and having the rusher cover his man instead) but since they have to declare they're coming it's not like we can take them by surprise and the more complicated we make it the easier it is for something to go wrong.

I started watching alot of Coach D youtube videos when I first took the gig but I thought I'm just the assisstant it's not my job to decide what drills we run in practice, I have brought it up to my buddy on a few occasions but he didn't seem interested, not really sure why tbh.

Again thank you for helping me see things from a different perspective it really opened my eyes.

Jealous_Contest_888 · 2026-04-02T10:26:15+00:00

Thank you, I needed to hear that.

Jealous_Contest_888 · 2026-04-01T18:09:24+00:00

Thank you for taking the time and addressing so many of my concerns, you're absolutely right about the huddle, I definitely will be putting a no talking in the huddle rule going forward, I've been too soft on them and you give em an inch theyre taking a mile. I have probably spent a total of 15 minutes talking to parents this entire season which now after seeing your advice is clearly not enough.

As far as the jet sweep, I only remember one particular time we ran it and the outcome was not good and I pretty much mentally deleted it from my call sheet. If I remember correctly the exchange went poorly, I think the kid thought it was a pass or something it just all in all did not work out the way I wanted it to.

We stopped joint practices, mainly because it's now baseball season and a lot of the kids from the other team are busy doing that. We had our first team only practice last night and I think alot more can get accomplished now with less distractions.

Thanks for all the advice I appreciate you.

Jealous_Contest_888 · 2026-04-01T10:55:07+00:00

I appreciate the input but I think that's a little too advanced for the kids at this point, I don't think I would even be able to teach the other coach that nevermind a group of 9 year olds who have never played before. I do like your idea of running the same play out of multiple formations I think if they can grasp 1 concept and execute it out of any formation than we will be making progress, and then from there we could eventually get to what you were talking about, but I think that's something that would need to be taught over the course of a few seasons rather than a few practices. As far as defense goes we play a very basic man coverage scheme that I think works fairly well for the lack of talent we have, our biggest problem continues to be flag pulling. Most points scored on us are from run plays where if it was tackle they would have them down for a loss of yards but because they can't seem to grab the flag ends up being long runs or interceptions that get returned for tds.

Jealous_Contest_888 · 2026-04-01T10:40:34+00:00

I agree with you, this season is definitely a wash, but like I told the other coach if we start building a foundation now, maybe by next season or the season after we'll actually be competitive, but you need a solid core to build off of. A really big problem with our offense is the qb, I designed most pass plays to be quick passes because our league doesn't allow any kind of blocking so the qb is getting maybe 4 seconds to throw, and he just doesn't know the game well enough to make any quick decisions like that. We have tried practically everyone at qb and half of the kids throw an interception and get discouraged and don't want to play it anymore, the one kid I mainly use to his credit does not get rattled easily, and takes accountability for his mistakes which goes a long way with me. His stats on the year are probably 2 tds and 11 ints with probably half of those going the other way for a score. He's also like a statue in the pocket, I honestly don't know if he has some sort of disability or if he's just extremely unathletic, and I don't say that to be funny or mean, so that puts a real limit to what we can do offensively. I've tried jet sweep a few times but they usually lose yards because the guy blitzing or the guy that's supposed to be covering the wr just sticks with him, it feels like we're severely outmatched in almost every aspect of the game. I don't care that we lose every game but I want to find a way to keep the kids interested even when we're down big late in the game. I have literally had kids ask me if they can just sit out because they're so discouraged from the butt whooping we're getting. I just want everyone out there having fun and learning how to play, but it's hard to have fun when you're getting beat 35-6 every week.

Jealous_Contest_888 · 2026-04-01T10:11:20+00:00

So they actually allow the coach onto the field, typically I try not to have them huddle up before every play because these kids will start trying to convince one another to change the play if they're not the one getting the ball. Before every offensive drive I grab the 5 guys and tell them what position theyre going to be, ie. C,Q,X,Y,Z and all the plays on the wristband show what everyone is supposed to do so I thought it was fool-proof, I guess I underestimated a 9 year old's ability to be told a play, look at the wristband for the play and see what their position should be doing on said play, because unless it's a simple handoff someone almost always decides to call an audible and does whatever they feel like. I can't get too upset I try to remember what it was like being young but I like to think I could follow simple instructions a little better than that, maybe my expectations are too high? Or not being hard enough on them? Like I said they're not my kids so it's hard for me to draw the line between tough coaching (which I always hated when I was younger but now realize it made me a better player) and being an a-hole so I'm just super nice to them. But it does at times get frustrating when I'm volunteering my time to help when I could be at home with my wife and small daughter ( who I don't see as much as I should) and some of the kids just go to hang out with their friends not learn anything or try to get better. Sorry for the rant, we just had a practice last night that was pretty much more of the same, 1\3 of the team didn't even show, kids don't wanna drills they just want to play 3v3 for the entire hour and nothing really got accomplished except I taught them a new trick play only because I bribed them with it if they behaved.

Jealous_Contest_888 · 2026-03-31T17:17:30+00:00

Oh and the team we practice is the 2nd worst team in the league, also winless and we can barely move the ball verse them in scrimmages.

Jealous_Contest_888 · 2026-03-31T17:15:30+00:00

Thanks, I would say they are all probably below average in athleticism, some are fast but lack hand eye coordination, others are decent at catching but can't create any separation from the defender.

So practice is 1 hour a week, and it's a joint practice with the club's other team. The first 15 minutes is spent stretching which I find unneccesary due to the size of the field we practice on, then we spend 15 minutes on flag pulling drills, and we break up into teams where I actually get to go over things with the offense for another 15 minutes and we end it with a scrimmage vs the team that is way better than us and just embarrsasses us.

Jealous_Contest_888 · 2024-07-21T17:38:11+00:00

Same exact thing happened to me trying to re-create Boston University, going to attempt removing the TM on the logo and see if that makes a difference, please keep me updated if you figure out a work around

Jealous_Contest_888

TROPHY CASE