1st Year Coach Please HELP!!!!!!!!!!!

coachwilson

11-man fan
Greetings Coach's and fans. My name is Billy Wilson and I have just accepted the head coaching job at Cornerstone Christian Academy in Granbury, TX. I played 5A(Corpus Christi King) & College (Rice University) so I know nothing about 6 man besides the rules I have read and waiting on the book that it highly recommended. Can anyone please tell me what a typical practice and two a days are like. I know this may sound strange but I have been a pastor for the last 8 years and been out of football for 10. Any help would be accepted. Thank you and God bless.
 
coachwilson":17582e0g said:
Greetings Coach's and fans. My name is Billy Wilson and I have just accepted the head coaching job at Cornerstone Christian Academy in Granbury, TX. I played 5A(Corpus Christi King) & College (Rice University) so I know nothing about 6 man besides the rules I have read and waiting on the book that it highly recommended. Can anyone please tell me what a typical practice and two a days are like. I know this may sound strange but I have been a pastor for the last 8 years and been out of football for 10. Any help would be accepted. Thank you and God bless.

Six-man coaches are a great breed ... they will tell you everything you need to know about this game. It may be worth a trip up to Lubbock for the sixman coaches clinic in a couple weeks, but there are lots of folks a short drive from where you are that can help you, too. Look up Bruce Clanton at Joshua Christian and start from there.

A couple things we noticed when we started. You may be used to lots of kids (crowded field practice) and working in 10-20 minute blocks on stuff -- well, in sixman you'll have fewer kids and can get the same number of reps done in half the time.

Also, EVERYBODY should know how to snap the football. EVERYBODY. I can bore you with my story about this, but let's just say you don't want to duplicate the night we realized that our depth chart at center only went two deep.
 
EMANUEL":3omcfeeg said:
Why would you accept a job as the head coach if don't know anything about sixman. Is It a middle school coaching position.

Very encouraging :( Good luck Coachwilson most of the people on this site are more than willing to help out. I went from playing sixman to coaching elevenman. I was overwhelmed at first but was fortunate to have some good teachers.
 
First of all It was a question. No hard feelings though. I played three levels of football and one was arena football. I never thought I would play arena ball or coach sixman. I really enjoyed teaching and coaching sixman football this last year and I'm going to coach it this year as well. I was not trying to discourage coach Wilson! Sorry if there was a misunderstanding.
 
It is Jr. High! I took the job because I feel this is where God is leading my family and I. I would love some plays and two-a-days information. Thank you all for your input. Please keep them coming!

Blessings,

Coach Billy Wilson
 
I was the DC at Glenview Christian this last year and we lost in overtime in state against Fredricksburg Heritage. I ran a 3-2-1 base defense. I ran a 4-2 defense also. One thing you need to remember is Defensive Ends in 11-man are different than six-man. Yes they need to keep containment but my DE's were real fast and would be DB's in 11-man football. I played wr in college and arena ball, so when I coach my J.V. I ran a spread. You can a spread in 11-man and six-man. Six-man is without the bigs!! Against the spread I ran a diamond defense. Its a 1-3-2. You have a rusher/DL, Mike, 2corners, 2safeties. You can run a number of coverages. Cover 3,4,2,1. You can play man free. You can blitz corners or safeties! Good defenses in 6-man hold teams to 24 points.
 
Coach Wilson,
How did your first year of coaching go? I came across the string of replies after you posted your question/plead. How did things turn out? Just curious after reading the replies.
 
Coach Wilso did not coach @ CCA Granbury this year. Something happened that I really don't know about so the AD decided to hire someone else. Well the problem was this all happened with 4 days untill 2 a days so I was asked if I would take over. I am not a coach in fact I am a full time firefighter so I had to figure out how to make practices, work, family, and school all work out ( THANK GOD I HAVE A GREAT WIFE THAT LET ME DO THIS W/O BUSTING ME CHOPS) I didn't get paid (I told them to keep it) and I don't have a son playing, he plays at Trinty in Euless.
I was blessed to have 19 6th,7th and 8th graders out for football. We started off great we won the first 3 games beating of the year beating Weatherford Christian,Fort Worth Academy and Morgan Mill and lost the 4th in a very close game to CLPS then it all started to fall apart. We played NCA in week 5 but I had 5 of my starters out because of grades and injuries and almost got 45'd I also lost my qb and tailback to broken bones.We then lost to Waco Live Oak and Arlington Fellowship so I told the kids that the play-off were out and that we should just try and have fun. I also decided that I would start calling the plays and let my asst coach take the D. Well we won the next two over St Vincents and Aledo Trinity Christian and the AD tells me that if we can beat Hill School we go to the playoffs and you guessed it we lost. So we played a home school team in a scrimage to finish the year. So over all we finished 5-5 just missed the playoffs and my "B" guys went 1-4 Next year I hope to have 9 kids for a jv maybe pick up a couple of home schoolers for numbers and play as an independent and then start varsity ball in 2010. The school is great and totally commeted to building a great program in all sports. They are building a new school with a weight room that will really help, lights for the field that sort of thing. The high school here in Granbury hasn't been to the playoffs in 32 years and went 0-10 this year so I hope that I can build something that will make them want to come here.
Rob O'Conner
Head Coach
Cornerstone Christian Academy.
 
Guys ... especially new coaches! Keep your eyes open on clinics this spring. I know Richland Springs and at least one or two other UIL schools have clinics, as well as the sixman coaches association clinic in Lubbock later in July.

And there might (emphasis on might) be one in south central Texas this summer. Stay tuned to this channel ...
 
Coach O'Conner,
Sounds like you have things heading in the right direction with the RIGHT guidance. Continue to press toward the mark and good things will come to pass. Ups and downs are part of life and it sound like both you and the team are learning how to deal with things. Keep up the great work and may the team continue to grow both on and off the field. Take care and God Bless!!!
 
My High School Coach had never even SEEN a 6-Man game before coming to us. He lost only 2 games his first year, & went undefeated for the next three seasons!

ALL football amounts to 1) morale & physical toughness, & 2) blocking & tackling!

This should help you:

COMMON COACHING ERRORS AND HOW TO AVOID THEM

By: (the great) Bud Wilkinson

GENERAL COMMENTS: The best coach is the one who makes the fewest mistakes; the one who does the best teaching job; the one who is the best organizer. Writing the X’s & O’s is not the most important thing. There are 22 variables in a football game. Coach must be a salesman to the extent that when his team loses, they don’t blame him or the offensive and/or defensive system, but rather themselves.

ERRORS IN TEACHING METHODS:
FIRST = FAILURE TO USE TIME EFFICIENTLY. Failure to recognize the time factor available to get the job done. Planning makes for valuable use of time. Too long on any one thing produces boredom. When boredom comes in, learning goes out. Football players have a short attention span. Hold to time schedule.
SECOND = FAILURE TO EXPLAIN THE PURPOSE OF THE DRILL. Tell the boy WHY he is doing what he is trying to accomplish and he will do a better job. Explain WHY, then show HOW.
THIRD = IMPROPER TEACHING PROGRESSION. You can’t teach a boy how to block until he has learned stance. If he hasn’t learned stance, he doesn’t know how to step out of the stance into the block.
FOURTH = TOO MUCH VERBAL INSTRUCTION ON THE FIELD. How much can boy learn from your verbal instruction with his helmet on, he’s breathing hard, he aches, he’s stunned, etc. Do WHO and WHY in chalk talk. Teach assignments before hitting the field. Correct on the field. Teach – no! (HOW is taught on the field – not WHO & WHY).
FIFTH = TOO MUCH DEMONSTRATION BY COACH. How much you know is not important. How much player knows is.
SIXTH = BEING ON THE FIELD TOO LONG. Better to have a team eager to play rather than physically tired. How long to practice is a judgment factor. Cut down as season goes along – not going to change mechanical ability late in season. Only one rule never violated at Oklahoma. If one coach on staff feels practice too long, we must cut it down. More boys play poorly because they practiced too long than boys playing poorly because they didn’t practice long enough.

ERRORS IN TACTICS AND STRATEGY:
FIRST = TACTICS AND VICTORY. You get very few victories on tactics. Victories come if you can out block, out tackle, out fundamental your opponent. Red Sanders quote: “Intimidate them physically”! Outmaneuver – no. Defeat – yes.
SECOND = CLEAR CUT PHILOSOPHY A MUST. Decide on an offense and defense that will suit your personnel then stick to it. Depth of morale can be determined by a kid’s reaction to a loss. If morale deep, they’ll blame themselves. If morale shallow, they’ll blame you.
THIRD = TOO MANY PLAYS AND DEFENSES. Subtract the number of different plays used in the game from the total number of plays you practiced. If this number is too large you better get rid of some plays. It is difficult enough to know when to run off- tackle, but if you have four ways to run off-tackle, you will never get the right play. Beauty of Split-T was it’s very limited number of plays

ERRORS IN JUDGMENT:
FIRST = BE REALISTIC ABOUT PLAYER’S ABILITY. Don’t just put an X or an O on the board. Put up the boy’s name. Immediately his limitations affect the offense or defense you put up. Whale of a lot of difference between Dick Butkus and Humpty Dumpty.
SECOND = WHEN CHIPS ARE DOWN, BEST PLAYERS ARE IN THE GAME. It is a mistake to be able to play blue chippers only one way. Say best kid you have can only go on offense. Say opponent has ball for 45 minutes. These are 45 minutes he cannot help you.

ERRORS IN OFF FIELD RELATIONSHIP:
FIRST = RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER FACULTY MEMBERS. The environment that exists has a lot to do with winning or losing. If they are with you, your job is easier. If they are against you, you’re in trouble. Work on a program of how to win friends and influence faculty members.
SECOND = ORGANIZE A MOTHER’S CLUB. Get mother on your side by pointing out to her what he can get out of football besides winning games.
THIRD = PRESS, TV, AND RADIO. Straight up fact of life that the great majority of people get their impression of you from what they read in the paper, see on TV, or hear on radio. Their jobs depend on info. Get it to them to make their jobs easier. Get these people on your side. Let them know what you’re doing. They will interpret what you’re doing in the way you want it interpreted if they are with you.

ERRORS IN DEVELOPING MORALE (MORALE IS TO THE PHYSICAL AS 4 IS TO 1).
FIRST = FOOTBALL BEGINS WITH MORALE! Once you get morale, it is easy to maintain. How to get it is a problem.
SECOND = HOW TO LOSE MORALE. Do what you said you’re going to do. Don’t say we’re going to practice 1 ½ hours and go 2 ½ hours. Training rules – if you’re not going to enforce them, don’t have them.
THIRD = MORALE STEMS FROM DISCIPLINE (ALL Discipline begins by being on time).
FOURTH = TREAT PLAYERS AS A PERSON. If he feels you are interested in him only as a football player, he won’t go all out for you. If you are interested in his academics, his personal problems, etc. and he knows this, he’ll go all out for you. Convince him that football is good for his future.
FIFTH = One year, Notre Dame had 2 competing QB’s. Under great athlete, team failed; under mediocre QB, team succeeded. Why? Captain’s reply – “the great athlete is trying to show how good HE is. The TEAM is trying to make the average guy look good”.

COACH IN YOUR OWN WAY:
FIRST = DON’T COPY! Note clinicians and their personalities. ALL different ways of being successful. Plan carefully in the off season. Can’t take golf lessons between the 8th green and 9th tee.

CONCLUDING REMARKS: The man who is best organized and does the best teaching job, is the best coach.
 
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