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Program question?

Talking to numerous kids from different schools that have quit football and having witnessed it myself I think some of the issue has to do with playing time. FR year you really have 22 starters right? When 8 of the kids are going both ways you're kind of screwing yourself by playing 14 kids. What are the other 25-30 kids thinking? Here's what they're thinking, "Why the heck am I working my butt off all summer so that I get zero to very little playing time." I'm a big believer in earning playing time but as the varsity HC you need to teach your lower level coaches to massage it a little bit and work as high of a percentage of players onto the field as possible. I've seen solid players quit and say I wasn't playing enough to justify the time.
I have heard, though never verified, of a very successful varsity head coach that told his freshmen coaches that he expected his freshman coaches to run 6 plays the majority of the game. Even if it meant calling the same play 5 times in a row, those 6 plays had to be run to perfection. He also wanted different combinations on the offensive line and different QB handing off to different RBs/throwing to different WRs
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Clown Cup Week 1

9 - Geneva - would be shocked
8 - GBN - been a while for Bartlett...dark days for U46
7 - WWS - I think GBS stud just isn't enough
6 - LWC - SCE has been struggling for quite a while
5 - LP - Conant, see above
4 - Provi - WN to have a down year?
3 - SCN - Palatine so slow out of the gates in years past, unfortunately
2 - GBW - Batavia is replacing a lot, but I think this will be a great game
1 - LA - I never count ESL out

Edited to take list of games out

TV for Cascia? SR 27, Sandburg 17 (Final)

I have an open question out there to the powers that be. I saw some testing of equipment in the afternoon. My gut says yes, there will be a presentation of the game on YouTube, there won’t be a production.

Please clip and save for every south side Catholic secondary education provider:

South Side 8th grade parents will Google 3 things non stop from September to December:
catholic high school name tuition cost and financial aid and scholarship programs

catholic high school name open house dates

catholic high school name football roster. Now on this one, I don’t care where you keep your official roster because only a few will find it. MaxPreps and their voodoo SEO wins this search every time. I don’t care if you like it or not. Tend the MaxPreps page as if it’s your own program’s platform because by default in the Search Engine Optimization world, it is.

4) I’ve said this before, until the Arch Diocese changes the test date from the first week of December, Football and it’s platform, for better or worse, outweighs any other public facing avenue a South Side school has. And I understand it’s really only a south side phenomenon. This non-equilibrium of departments doesn’t necessarily exist in the DePaul/Loyola, St. Pats/NND, or Naz/Montini/WSF battles for prospective students’ attention but in the South Side environment, it does. You can bury your head in the sand and delude yourself like a certain Headmaster of the recent past and his existing acolytes…

Or face reality and understand another south side phenomenon for 14 weeks in Autumn is winning or surviving the post-Mass conversations. Your HS gets to be 3 things during these word-of-mouth ‘free’ neighborhood commercials: a growing, vibrant HS, neutral: neither slammed or praised, or be the Joke. Avoid being the Joke on Sundays at all costs.

I mention all this because St. Rita is going on year 2 of switching from NFHS network to YouTube and it’s not getting to the class of MC/BR/LA productions despite the few at my alma mater understanding its importance. It has to be a top down focal point from the Administration to the marketing department to the athletic department. Not to mention, these productions not only possibly connect you to your prospective students, keep ammo out of your enemies chambers post-Mass, but also these productions can engage some in your national/global alumni base more than a mailing ever could.

So let the Administration, Admissions and Marketing focus on another mailer that gets tossed out, an upgraded brochure, or some ignored expressway signage because they will not accept the unfair importance of a department’s platform. A platform that is still relevant only because a dozen families and coaches have worked their tails off keeping it a relevant, mainly top 10/20 program in the state the past 60 years. Because in some minds, having to listen to a Football program’s needs would be an admission of defeat instead of an exciting, relatively low-cost opportunity to optimize an institution’s evangelization of its mission.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk on the South Sides Catholic High Schools’ perpetual arms race.

TL/dr: I believe the game will be on YouTube. I will post the link when I get it. It won’t be as good as it could/should be.
Long-winded Rant.
/Fin
Ha! "Gold, Jerry, Gold!"

Fans: here is a link for the streaming. RS is correct!

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Atilla v Caravan - 42-38 Hun, Final

Hun QB, Jack Moran, is one of the most accomplished high school (prep school, rather) passers I've seen in years. Moran reads defenses well, has advanced mechanics and excellent feet, has a beautiful release, and impeccable accuracy.

Very impressive player. I was pleased to see him in person last night.
I’ll second that. He was very impressive. Unfazed on the occasions when MC did get some pressure, and he was dropping dimes all night.
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Atilla v Caravan - 42-38 Hun, Final

Game on!

Attilla kicks and recovers. Ball at the 35.

Hun QB, Jack Moran, is one of the most accomplished high school (prep school, rather) passers I've seen in years. Moran reads defenses well, has advanced mechanics and excellent feet, has a beautiful release, and impeccable accuracy.

Very impressive player. I was pleased to see him in person last night.

Program question?

Talking to numerous kids from different schools that have quit football and having witnessed it myself I think some of the issue has to do with playing time. FR year you really have 22 starters right? When 8 of the kids are going both ways you're kind of screwing yourself by playing 14 kids. What are the other 25-30 kids thinking? Here's what they're thinking, "Why the heck am I working my butt off all summer so that I get zero to very little playing time." I'm a big believer in earning playing time but as the varsity HC you need to teach your lower level coaches to massage it a little bit and work as high of a percentage of players onto the field as possible. I've seen solid players quit and say I wasn't playing enough to justify the time.

I think you're right on point here. As the head Freshman coach, I always believed that my job was to prepare the players for moving up to the next level of the program. Hard to do that if they never get a chance to play. I always promised my players that I would find playing time for them if they practiced every day. I think in most years I delivered on that promise.

My viewpoint was based on two things that happened early in my career. In 1978, LP made the playoffs and was scheduled to meet Joliet Central. While out celebrating making the playoffs, our starting guards were injured in an auto accident. We won with two backups playing which convinced me to always make sure that every player had practice reps and was ready to play.

The second occurrence was my nephew "playing" football at Joliet Catholic. As a freshman he made every practice (his dad wouldn't accept anything less) and played in one game for a total of 13 seconds. Needless to say, much to my disappointment, that ended his football career. He was much bigger and stronger as an upper classman, but he was never interested again. I vowed to never let that happen to an LP freshman.

It was always difficult to get my younger assistants on board early in their careers since winning was so important to them. I was willing to lose some Frosh games if the Varsity would ultimately benefit.

Clown Cup Week 1

Getting a bit ahead of things here.. Posting week one games for Clown Cup, the year-long season prediction contest , which @jpwiggs has won two years straight. Will he succeed in his question for a 3-peat?

Rules are simple. I post some games (all the DuKane games) plus one or two more games and then rank them.

For week 1, there will be 9 games -- rank then 9 to 1. You win the nine point game, you get nine points. You lose a game, you get none, etc.

Batavia @ Glenbard West
Lake Park @ Conant
St. Charles (North) at Palatine (H.S.)
New Lenox (Lincoln-Way Central) at St. Charles (East)
New Lenox (Providence Catholic) at Wheaton (North)
Elgin (Larkin) at Geneva
Glen Ellyn (Glenbard South) at Wheaton (Warrenville South)
Carol Stream (Glenbard North) at Bartlett
Wilmette (Loyola Academy) vs. East St. Louis (Sr.)
I'm new here. No longer lurking so I'll give it a try:
9 Geneva
8 Glenbard North
7 Wheaton Warrenville
6 Palatine
5 Wheaton North
4 Lake Park
3 Lincoln Way Central
2 Batavia
1 Loyola

MMXXIV Edition - CCL-ESCC Predictions Week I

Folks, we are so back!

CCL/ESCC (Blue)
Brother Rice 56 Phillips 6 (+52)
: Only a few years ago this game would have been a dominant topic of conversation
Hun of NJ Winners MC Losers: Should the Caravan press the panic button? (I kid. JK LOL)
St. Ignatius 31 SLU 21: Iggy's in the Blue feels a bit premature right now. Especially with the pedigrees in the Green, but the strides this program has made is nothing short of impressive.
Loyola 38 (-14) East St. Louis 23: I just feel that Loyola has been dying for this opportunity to send a message to everyone south of I-80 that they are the best program going

CCL/ESCC (Green)
St. Rita 35 Sandburg 7 (+36):
The Ponies do their thing and won't break a sweat
Immaculate Conception 35 St. Mary's 6
Nazareth Academy 49 Kankakee 13 (+34):
The Runner of the Road will not start this season at 0-4
St. Francis 42 Kenwood 6 (+45): This may be 42-0 at half

CCL/ESCC (Orange)
Marist 31 (-7) Morgan Park 20: EXCELLENT game here and while I believe Marist covers, it will be a close game into the 4th quarter.
Joliet Catholic Academy 42 Iowa City 21: The Machine gets off to 1-0
Providence 34 Wheaton North 19 (+19): Provi doesn't get threatened, but Wheaton North gets the cover
Saint Pat's 17 Notre Dame 13 (+12): May not be GOTW but it's definitely the most hotly contested GOTW. There's no way the Shamrock covers. They may win, but they aren't ready to be covering

CCL/ESCC (Purple)
Saint Viator 37 @ Riverside Milwaukee 16:
Lions got a tough schedule, but there's a clear path to 5. They always seem to have enough dudes to be annoying to most teams they play against
DePaul 20 (+1) Deerfield 19: This is a HUGE game for the Rams as they have 3 guaranteed losses on their schedule and the other 6 being coin tosses. They took a huge step forward last year. Now they have expectations.
Benet 27 Hillcrest 12 (+28): Benet seems like a school that should be so much more consistent at football.


CCL/ESCC (Red)
Marmion 27 Oak Forest 23 (+9):
A big change for the Cadets with Dan Thorpe no longer at the helm
De La Salle 32 (-22) Argo 8: De La Salle is in a very tenuous time in their program's history
Leo 26 (+5) Genoa Kingston 23: This is me just having a soft spot for Leo
Marian of the Heights 48 (-28) @ Rich 18: Love seeing a deep South Suburban non con battle like this. The Men of the Heights haven't been terrible the last few years. They just get brutal cross over matchups. They have a path to 5 this year, but like always, they have no wiggle room.


CCL/ESCC (White)
St. Laurence 70 (-62) Noble 0:
Larry's buying a W knowing that 4 will have to be earned this year.
Montini Catholic 56 Hyde Park 6 (+56): Montini buying a W knowing that 4 will have to be earned this year
Carmel of Mundelein 63 (+56) Grayslake Central 0: Carmel has an IDEAL schedule to get to 8 wins.
Fenwick 38 @ OPRF 14 (+36): OPRF only covers because it's a rivalry. Fenwick is primed to have a very solid year.


Be in a stadium somewhere tonight and support one of the great American pastimes that brings communities together!

Program question?

IMO
If you are waiting until HS you’re late. Building your culture through the community and youth programs. It starts early. The best programs and coaches know the kids and parents at the youth level. They get the youth players involved with the HS. Go to games etc. The parents are key. You have to get the parents involved and the community and culture will follow.
Couldn't agree more. The youth program PAFA is big here in Palatine and alot of these kids are amazingly good by the time they hit freshman year.

Both the HC's at Palatine and Fremd do coaching sessions with the youth coaches and talk to the kids.

When the annual Fremd vs Palatine game rolls around, all the PAFA kids attend. They sit in the endzones based on the high school they'll go to, and they all come out for the coin toss and stand behind the captains for the high school they'll attend. If I were a kid today playing I think I'd think that was pretty darn cool and make me enthused about high school football.
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