Program question?

[paulie23]

hypothetically speaking you have 1100 students in your school yet only 39 varsity kids…
and the trend has become can’t keep kids in the program for all 4 years.
how do would you feel? what are ways to fix said problems?
OH and btw it’s not like you literally have college like facilities etc etc..

 

[ClownBaby]

Facilities are totally overrated building a culture that kids want to be a part of is what matters.

 

[SiuCubFan8]

Just throwing this out there, no facts just observations. There seem to be way more activities (sports, clubs, etc.) these days than in the past. Kids that might not get much playing time might look elsewhere for activities.

 

[rocketnation]

The questions I would ask:
--Has the program ever been successful?
--Is the school known for a sport other than football?
--How many athletes are in the building but not playing football?
--What kind of junior feeder program exists?
--How long has the current coach and his staff been at the school?
--Has the current coach and his staff expressed a long-term plan or are they just getting by from year to year?
--What is the level of enthusiasm in the community for the program?

 

[crusader_of_90]

What kind of NIL dollars are you bringing to the table? Monetized TV rights?

 

[crazylegs777]

Argo which is doing better has had 1,700-1,900 plus since the 70’s. They have been lucky to have 40 on Varsity & that’s bringing up Sophs & Sophs had to bring up Frosh. They would give you a hell of a game but man the talent was in the halls but just didn’t come out or stay out. My buddy coached Soph football there & was/is well liked. One particular year they had a hell of a Soph team & The QB & RB who also sparkled on Defense & Special Teams had their parents sitting down from me. When I bragged on the kids their parents thanked me & told me who they were. When I said I can’t wait til the next season. Argo is going to be good/great & no longer a door mat both informed me their kids weren’t going to play because to put it nicely they didn’t care for the Head Coach on the next level. Another who also had a pretty good son play both ways plus ST said mine isn’t either

 

[RameyJacoby]

hypothetically speaking you have 1100 students in your school yet only 39 varsity kids…
and the trend has become can’t keep kids in the program for all 4 years.
how do would you feel? what are ways to fix said problems?
OH and btw it’s not like you literally have college like facilities etc etc..

39 varsity kids is a lot, Now if you got 19 on freshman and 25 on JV level that's damn good numbers. You have to look at the Coaching staff are they getting better each year? As Coaches you have to develop the lower level programs and make them just as important as Varsity.

 

[prince_of_pilfer]

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.

 

[ClownBaby]

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.

This right here the top two goals of the freshman and sophomore staffs should be player retention and mastery of fundamentals. This puts your varsity in the best position to win when those kids are JRs and SRs.

 

[paulie23]

Facilities are totally overrated building a culture that kids want to be a part of is what matters.

17 straight playoffs? culture enough?

 

[paulie23]

talking about Marion btw
as someone who went there the problem is keeping 90% of the 60 freshman kids who come out for football every year! my senior class had 60 freshman kids then 9 seniors
marion covid year undefeated would have made HEAVY noise in 5a playoffs , following year lost quarterfinals to kankakee ( you should watch that game it was awesome)
so these kids now have literally seen our best years of marion football EVER

What kind of NIL dollars are you bringing to the table? Monetized TV rights?

you know white people down here in marion got that money lol

 

[paulie23]

and you can also tell when your programs struggling when they terribly lying on heights and weights
(witch i have no problem with love the mind games on maxpreps)

 

[crusader_of_90]

talking about Marion btw
as someone who went there the problem is keeping 90% of the 60 freshman kids who come out for football every year! my senior class had 60 freshman kids then 9 seniors
marion covid year undefeated would have made HEAVY noise in 5a playoffs , following year lost quarterfinals to kankakee ( you should watch that game it was awesome)
so these kids now have literally seen our best years of marion football EVER

you know white people down here in marion got that money lol

That prison money, huh?

 

[johnndoe]

We see no reference in this thread to after-school/weekend employment as an alternative to FB participation, but consider the following sign-of-the-times. I spoke to an owner of 3 mid-sized restaurants in the metro Milwaukee area and his personnel challenges. In total for the 3 sites, only 1 or 2 HS kids total were employed for the summer. He has had to meet his needs with adults, some of which bring major background baggage to the job. I guess, though, more adults work longer and more jobs to make ends meet, which could put HS kids at the back of the line.

 

[uncleblazer]

Facilities are totally overrated building a culture that kids want to be a part of is what matters.

i'd say both facilities and culture matter. to this day, i have absolutely delightful dreams about my time at providence lol.

wheaton north we're comin for you lol!

 

[corey90]

hypothetically speaking you have 1100 students in your school yet only 39 varsity kids…
and the trend has become can’t keep kids in the program for all 4 years.
how do would you feel? what are ways to fix said problems?
OH and btw it’s not like you literally have college like facilities etc etc..

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.

 

[GhostOfTheGhhost]

As a CPL guy, I think it always comes down to the head coach and the staff/culture he can build. You need someone who is going to run the show and hold people accountable. Running a successful program is based on consistency. Unfortunately, in the CPL, and many other districts that don't have tremendous athletic funding, consistency involves a tremendous amount of personal time and commitment - to coaching and all of the other administrative responsibilities associated with running a program. There are fewer and fewer coaches that are willing to put in the time it takes to be truly successful. Loads of schools don't prioritize hiring coaches as teachers for a multitude of reasons, so there are less committed adults around to put in the time. Long gone are the days when kids see all of their coaches in the building during the day constantly reinforcing a culture and holding kids accountable. Plus, new generations of teachers simply don't want to spend their non teaching hours at school. There ae few schools in the CPL that have been consistent winners after a long time successful coach leaves, in any sport. Unfortunately, football involves the most athletes, so the problems are magnified.

 

[RockSoup]

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.

So recruit? Got it.😂

 

[kpjasion]

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.

 

[LPCoachDB]

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.

 

[paulie23]

middle school program is one of the deepest in so il…
every year 50-60 freshman but it seems the problem is keeping them in the program sophomore-senior years
this is why marion has always been just good for the last 20 years and every semifinal year you guessed it varsity numbers were in the 70s

 

[stripes13]

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

 

[SouthofI80FootballFan]

From what I have seen with family and friends kids playing football and being a HS football fan....

1. Crete connection with feeder programs and elementary schools in your district. Team reading days, welcome the kids to school, team building activities, etc.

2. Have camps for all levels in the summer, spring, and/or winter. Teach the fundamentals but allow the kids to play games and have fun.

3. Create a children friendly game day atmosphere or have special days to get families to bring their kids to the games and watch the on-the-field product. Trunk or Treat, PeeWee Night, etc. Get the kids and parents interested in your program. Many schools let kids form a tunnel on the field as well.

4. All kids should get a decent amount of playing time in Freshman. No kid should sit the bench the entire game. I've seen many kids who were not good as freshman turn into All-State by Junior/Senior year. You don't want to run anybody off because of playing time.

5. Let kids join late, especially at the Fr/So level.

6. Build confidence in the weight room. Coaches know weights are important for speed, strength, injury prevention, etc. but kids don't see it this way. They just see their numbers. No matter what the gain, celebrate it.

7. Coach kids how kids should be coached. You can't coach every kid the same way, you have to learn their personality. Some kids can take a good yelling others can't. Have your coaches learn the personalities of their group, allow them to coach the kids the way the kids need to be coached.

8. Know when to lighten up, not everything has to be 100% focused all the time. Make practice somewhat fun for the kids so that they don't dread going day after day. If you being big game and played well, give them a Saturday off.

9. Win the game of life. Winning is important but realize most of these kids won't be playing at the next level so it is important to teach the larger life lessons and work skills why playing football. Also, this should got without saying, show the kids, AT ALL LEVELS you care about them more as a student/person than a football player.

10. Create a team culture, remind ALL players that they play an important role, no matter what that role is, especially the scout team players. They may not perform on Friday night but you have to give those kids a sense of ownership of the victory. They work just as hard as the guys in the field in practice.

 

[corey90]

So recruit? Got it.😂

Rocksoup
You’re not recruiting if the kids are already in your district. The recruiting comes when a private school comes from 30 miles out an recruits/swoops the studs up. It’s okay I get it. The difference is the public coaches are trying to keep the kids in there district. There really is a difference. At the same time I realize the privates have to try. My problem has always been why don’t the privates go after the average kids if it’s only trying to get gets to come to their school. 😂