Human Computer Post of the Week

Stuff That I'm Gonna Try To Think About This Week:

FAITH:    "Measure wealth not by the things you have, but by the things you have for which you would not take money."
               A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
                                                                                                  Luke 12:15

LEADERSHIP: The Law of Solid Ground - Trust Is The Foundation of Leadership
No leader can break trust with his people and expect to keep influencing others. Character makes trust possible. And trust makes leadership possible.

• Character Communicates Consistency - Leaders can be counted on to perform day after day.

         "You can't get too much done in life if you only work on the days that you feel good."
                                                                             NBA Hall of Famer Jerry West

• Character Communicates Potential - Weak character is limiting.

         "No man can climb out beyond the limitations of his own character."
                                                                        John Morley

• Character Communicates Respect - Respect is essential for lasting leadership.

   "The only thing that walks back from the tomb with the mourners and refuses to be buried is the character of a man. This is true. What a man is survives him. It can never be buried."
                                                                           JR Miller



PHILOSOPHY: A few nuggets that I found from Bruce Lee (yes, the martial arts guy) concerning adversity

• "Adversity leads us to think properly of our state, and so is beneficial to us."

• "It is not a shame to be knocked down by other people. The important thing is to reflect on why you are being knocked down, and see if can you change it."

• "To be able to do the things we want sometimes requires the performance of a few we don't"

• "Patience is not passive; on the contrary, it is concentrated strength."

• With adversity, you are shocked to higher levels, much like a rainstorm that is so violent, but yet afterwards all plants grow."

FAMILY: "There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues, the dominating virtues of human society, are created strengthened and maintained."
                                                                             Winston Churchill

FOOTBALL / COACHING:
"He will never be a tough competitor; he doesn't know how to be comfortable being uncomfortable."
                                                                                           Lou Piniella
I found this quote to be very interesting & shared it with my players. Can you be comfortable being uncomfortable? Can you handle criticism? Can you handle being put into pressure situations in practice? Can you adjust to different environments and adverse situations? We try to sell our kids on how good it is to be coachable and that, if we are animated and tough on them in practice, it will allow them to see actual games as being easier.

Treat Goal-Line Defense as a Special Team

A good friend of mine, Coach Hoover, asked me to expound a little on an axiom I included in my last posting. (By the way, Coach H has a terrific post breaking down Manny Diaz on his website...check it out at www.coachhoover.blogspot.com/ ) I am going to share some info on our Goal-Line philosophy, as well as my thought process considering it a Special Team.

      We consider Goal-Line defense a special team for a few different reasons. First, no one is off-limits to this unit personnel-wise. If I need the starting TB at a corner and I need the starting QB coming off of the edge, then I get them. Most of our normal defensive package is based on speed, quickness, & multiplicity, but we are different in Goal-Line.  By making our Goal-Line unit a completely separate group, I can add the size that we would sometimes like to get in there in short yardage and I can add other athletes whose skill sets fit what we want to accomplish. Second, we can create a separate mindset specifically for that unit. We really push being great on the Goal-Line as being a key to our program. We attach a great deal of pride to getting on this unit, and players on both sides of the ball want to play on this unit. And lastly, if we are in Goal-Line, it usually means that things have not gone so great defensively. By running a separate unit onto the field (even if 7 or 8 of the players are on 1st Defense anyway), it creates a little bit of a "fresh start" mentality and gives us a confidence boost.
    We want to be extremely simple in Goal-Line for two reasons. One, we are subbing in players who may not be on defense fulltime and who may not be expecting to enter the game at that moment. If we have a turnover inside our own 10 and I need to call Goal Line D unexpectedly, our scheme is simple enough that the players know what to do even if they are surprised. The other reason we are simple is to build confidence. If we are simple, then the players always know exactly where to line up. If they know exactly where they should be, then they play faster and more confidently.
        Our scheme is a mix of several things the coaching staff has encountered, but a large base of the scheme comes from Bellevue High School in Washington. They are the team that broke De La Salle's winning streak. These are the positions and what we look for to fill them:

• Two NOSEGUARDS - Quickness is a top priority. Wrestlers, RBs, Strong Safeties.......

• Two ENDs - Preferably our two best DL.....size & strength needs to be a little more of a factor here

• Two EDGEs - The two best athletes on the team. Option QB, point guard on BB team, Change of direction ability is huge. Speed is important, size is not

• Two LBs - the best two LBs, at least one must be able to cover man to man

• Three DBs - must be able to lock up Man for at least 2 seconds

                 We call our Goal-Line package GORILLA (as in 800lb Gorilla). Since we went to this package three seasons ago, we have made 15 successful stands in 28 opportunities. These are our alignments in GORILLA:

• Both NGs align in a 2i technique. They are penetrating A gap at the snap. If the ball is inside the 3 yd line or closer, there is a danger of a QB sneak.So inside the 3, the NGs align in shades on the Center (almost touching each other) and drive the Center backward at the snap. (Diagram 1 & 2)

• Both DEs use the fornation to tell them how to align. If there is a TE to the DE's side, we line up in a 4i alignment and use a Ricochet technique (Ricochet = attack out into the down block then bounce back inside and find work. If there is no down block, then Penetrate!) If there is no TE, then the DE moves to a tilted 5 technique outside the OT. At the snap, the tilted 5 tech attcks off of the hip of the OT. If the OT blocks down, the 5 tech should come right off his butt, almost flat down the line. (Diagram 3)

• The EDGE players align on the line if scrimmage 2 yds outside the OT or the TE. Their aiming point is the hip oif the deepest / nearest back. At the snap, they are coming full speed, setting a hard edge. They will keep outside arm & leg free, and they have a Pitch/Peel Rule. Pitch/Peel says that nothing can cross their face. If the RB flares, the EDGE peels and covers him. If the RB releases underneath the EDGE, the LB has him. (Diagram 4)

• Both LBs align in 40 techniques, head-up on the OT. Vs pass, they have Man to Man on the RB to their side. Against 1 RB formations, one LB must displace & cover a WR. Vs Run, they have no gap and are free to the football. (Diagram 5)

• The three remaining DBs are in press man coverage with an inside alignment. If the receiver is attached to the formation (TE), then the DB aligns with an inside shade on the line of scrimmage (C gap). Our reason for this is as follows: If it is a run play & the DB is off, then the TE will block the LB and the DB will have a one on one tackle. If the DB is on the line, the TE is forced to block him & the unblocked one on one player becomes our LB, who is usually stronger & a better tackler. (Diagram 6)

• Diagrams 7-10 show how our GORILLA package lines up against various sets. One thing that you may notice is an apparent bubble in B gap when our DE takes a tilted 5 alignment. The key to this is the DE must come flat down the line. If the OT releases on the LB, which he often will, the DE comes screaming untouched into the backfield, staying flat so that nothing hits underneath him. The EDGE must also come hard and set the force without creating a seam betweel the DE & himself. Because of this, when the DE & EDGE line up vs no TE, it will look like they are too close. Their feet should be right next to each other.

Our kids learn all the rules in camp and the set never changes during the season. Because of this our young men play this package with great speed & confidence.

Human Computer Post of the Week

If you're not sure what I'm talking about when I say the "human computer", then just view the earlier posts where I wrote about Homer Rice's theory. Theses are things that I'm going to try to keep on my mind this week.

LEADERSHIP: The Law of Addition - Leaders Add Value By Serving Others.
The bottom line in leadership isn't how far we advance ourselves, but in how far we advance others.

• We add value to others when we..... truly value others.
• We add value to others when we....make ourselves more valuable to others.
• We add value to others when we ....know & relate to what others value.
• We add value to others when we .....do things that God values

FAITH: When God measures a man, He puts the tape around the heart instead of the head.

 "For the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart."
                   1 Samuel 16:7


PHILOSOPHY: The Good Life is the Life of Inner Serenity (Epictetus)

• The surest sign of the higher life is serenity.
• Coping calmly with inconvenience is the price I pay for my inner serenity.

FAMILY: "The family that you come from isn't as important as the family that you are going to have."
                                                                      Ring Lardner



FOOTBALL: A few random points picked up by hanging around & reading about people who know what they are doing.

• When breaking down opponent's special teams coverage units, 70-80% of the tackles will be made by 1 or 2 players. Block those guys.
• When playing a team with fast WRs, align the scout team WRs 3 yds downfield of the line of scrimmage before the snap.
• Kids can't like football if they don't know what to do
• It takes 14 repetitions for something to be remembered
• It takes 11 positive comments to balance out 1 negative.
• Use Def Line Twists against a draw team on 3rd & long
• Treat Goal-Line Defense as a special team

Family Thoughts #3 for the Human Computer

"Every father should remember that one day his son will follow his example instead of his advice."

Not sure who this quote is credited to, but definitely food for thought.

Always Searching for New Tackling Drills....

           As a defensive coordinator for the last 12 years, one of the things that I have consistently revisited each off-season is a way to improve tackling. I remember that an issue of American Football Coach a few years ago had an article about the lost art of tackling. I don't know if I would call it an art but it does seem as though tackling as a whole has gotten poorer on all levels. I don't necessarily believe that this is because defensive coaches have started to blow off fundamentals as much as it has to do with the changes in offensive football and strength & conditioning.
       Offensive football, whether it be Mike Leach Air Raid or Urban Meyer Spread Option or even Paul Johnson Double Wing, has become a game where the best coaches seek to create more one on one match-ups out in space. This requires the defensive players to make more one on one open-field tackles than before. In addition, athletes are becoming stronger & faster at the lower levels of football than they have ever been before. The problem in drilling tackling is that so many of the traditional tackling drills are not necessarily directed at making a player a better open-field tackler. The old Door Drill and the Eye-Opener certainly still have their place, but do they really help a player get ready to tackle Percy Harvin on the bubble screen?
         Now I am a firm believer that Relentless Pursuit is the best tackling method. If 5 lousy tacklers in a bad mood all get to the ball carrier at once, he is probably still going down. That being said, I am always on the lookout for tackling drills that that can improve our ability to tackle in space. I also search for drills that can be done year round, with or without pads and a football. There are two that we have done extensively this summer, one we have had for a while and one that we just started; we are very pleased with both.
      We call the first drill  the Tackle Box Drill. I got it from Tyrone Nix, DC at Ole Miss and previously South Carolina. There are 2 lines, each at opposite corners of a 5 x 5 yd box. One line is made up of the tacklers and one line is made up of the bagmen, or the players holding half-round dummies. At my command, the tackler sprints full speed 5 yds laterally across the box, sticks his foot into the ground outside the box (Diagram #1),  then redirects back into the box and gets square. (Diagram #2) When the tackler sticks his foot in the ground outside the box, the bag man begins to shuffle laterally across the box. (also Diagram #2). When the bag man reaches the middlie of the box, he comes straight downhill hard & fast, holding the half-round pad tight to his chest. At the same time, the tackler has squared himself up and executes an "eyes up, chest up" form tackle on the bagman (Diagram #3). Neither player goes to the ground, but I am looking for a chest to chest collision of some significance. After the hit, the players switch lines. After everyone has tackled the lines move across the box and execute the same drill going the other way. Reasons I like this drill:

• It incorporates full speed movement with a sharp change of direction
• All players, regardless of athleticism, can get into position to execute a perfect form chest to chest hit
• The drill can be done inside or outside, in pads or shorts, all year round
• This drill does not ask the bagman to be a docile target; for the drill to be effective, he must come hard also, just not wrapping up.
The second drill, which we have just started to use this summer, is called the Circle Flag Drill. I got this from a FL high school coach in the new COY manual. We take two PE flag football flags (just the flags, not the belt) and have a runner quickly tuck them into his pants. We create a circle with ropes or paint or hoops and we align the tackler on one side of the circle and the flagman on the other side. At the whistle, the tackler must try to take both flags from the runner. The runner cannot use his hands and he cannot leave the circle, but otherwise he may run & jump & spin as much as he wants. Reasons that I like this drill:                                                                                 
• It forces the tackler to come to balance and not overextend
• It forces the tackler to keep leverage under the runner so he can grab the flags
• It can be done full speed, inside or outside, in pads or shorts, all year round     

We are always looking for ways to become better tacklers. The traditional drills still are very effective & have their place. But we need to think outside the box also. Because if WRs & RBs are working on getting faster, quicker, and more agile year round, and Offensive Coordinators are practicing schemes to get them in one on one matchups year round, but we only start practicing tackling in August, then we are going to have a problem.                   

Faith #2

It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular; it is why he does it.

" Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men."
                                                     Colossians 3:23

Coaching Knowledge Project #2 Chuck Noll

Over the last few summers, I have started taking notes on some of the coaching biographies and books that I have read. One problem that I have had over the years is that I read so much and look at so much different info that I don't ever retain the knowledge for future use. I will read about a drill or a philosophy and I will think "Hey, that fits pretty good with my guys. I wanna use that this year." Then I will lay the book or the info to the side and forget all about it.
             Earlier this year, I began to compile & organize these notes & axioms into a single document. Ideally I would like to eventually have a notebook that I could add to each offseason and look at again each pre-season as I reevaluate my program. I thought that as part of this blog and my compilation efforts, I would share some of the things that I've found.
           These are quotes about coaches, quotes from coaches about their influences, and outside observations on coaches and their programs. Some of these are Hall of Fame coaches, some have losing records, and some are career assistants; all have good things to offer.

        Today I am sharing some notes taken while studying some things about Chuck Noll. Chuck Noll was the Head Coach for the Pittsburg Steelers from 1969 until 1991, a time period in which he coached & won 4 Super Bowls. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993.

CHUCK NOLL

·         The style of play is to win the battle of the hitting.

·         He wanted to build an organization that reflected excellence from the front office to the locker room.

·         Efficiency is the prime objective from a teaching standpoint. A teacher or coach cannot wander because he works with attention spans that are short for what he must accomplish.

·         Becoming a winner is a day to day thing: teaching, learning, growing. A team must grow together and does not grow immediately.

·         You need an overall process of development and it is necessary to have the guts to stick with it. We show people how to get things done.

·         There are many impediments to winning and most of them lie in the area of attitude. Nothing impedes problem-solving more than a lousy attitude. And a bad attitude can spread thru a locker room in a hurry.

·         We’re aiming for a championship – right now! We’re not aiming for respectability or any other such words. The only true respectability in this game is winning a championship.

·         Noll has always told his players they were going to be the best.

·         You must live the words, not just say them.

·         The attitude has to be, “If we are not winning, it is my fault.” That’s the way it should be. We have to have everyone doing that. With that attitude, everything falls into place.

·         His passion was born of the satisfaction he received with regard to instructing & preparing players in the proper fashion. His goal was to work with players who possessed a willing attitude and then convey the appropriate methods and techniques that would allow them to maximize their talents and upgrade the team. As a tactician, he advocated flexible systems and strategies. This enabled him to structure his game plans to accentuate the capabilities of various players at different times, ultimately giving his teams the best chance for success.

·         As you gain experience you must mature as an individual, and along with that comes the ability to solve problems.

·         It is his view that a coach is a problem-solver in his role as supervisor, organizer, and teacher.

·         If you’re losing, you try to find out what really is causing it.

·         Most times you want to sit down calmly, find out what the problem is and take a course that will solve it. Then you convince everyone that is the right course.

·         All I ever tell my players is that they might have to suffer the consequences for what they say. That is their responsibility and they must act as mature men in facing it.

·         There comes a time in a person’s life when he must say “This is tough for me to do” but he must still do it. You face up to it and you say “I’m going to do it” and you do. That’s a great maturing thing. This is building positive attitudes.

·         It really gets down to “Can you handle your job?” That is the problem for each man out on that field. As coaches and teachers we must teach them the techniques that will allow them to cope with those problems.

·         A coaches only goal must be to help his players be the best they can. If you don’t do it, they will know. If you do, then you can be a very big part of what is happening.

·         Some place in your life you are going to have to function in a pressure situation and if you can learn to do it in a game where the results are not life and death, you can come to a situation where it is life and death and be better able to cope.

·         Defense is the ultimate team function because it must be played as a team. It takes a special kind of man to be a defensive player, one who must get great personal satisfaction from doing his job well.

Leadership Law #4 The Law of Navigation

Anyone can steer a ship, but it takes a leader to chart the course.

John Maxwell's fourth law of leadership states that before good leaders take their people on a journey, they go through a process in order to give the trip the best chance of being a success. The best leaders are "navigators".

Navigators draw on past experience.

• Every past success & failure you've experienced can be a valuable source of information and wisdom - if you allow it to be.
• For leaders to become good "navigators", they need to take time to reflect & learn from their experiences.

Navigators examine the conditions before making committments.

• Drawing on experience maens looking inward. Examining conditions means looking outward.

Navigators listen to what others have to say.

• Navigating leaders get ideas from many sources.

Navigators always make sure their conclusions represent both faith and fact.

• If you can't confidently make the trip in your mind, you're not going to be able to take it in real life.
• You must retain faith that you will prevail in the end and you must also confront the most brutal facts of your current reality.

      

Linebacker Keys in the 3-3 Stack Defense Part 3

Wing-T or Dbl WingbacksThe formation that we see the most of is probably some form of Dbl Wing. We use the following keys out of our Stacked alignment.

OLBs both key the opposite HB or WB:
• If the key comes to (motion or after snap) – Outside Point
• If the key stays away – Hit Inside Point looking for the FB Trap/Dive

The MLB keys both WBs (using peripheral vision):
• Keying the direction of initial flow (motion or after snap) – Base Point Flowside

Linebacker Keys in the 3-3 Stack Defense Part 2

• Vs angle flow
----angle flow to = Outside Point
----angle flow away = Over the Top!

Linebacker Keys in the 3-3 Stack Defense Part 1

I am reposting this with diagrams. I am still trying to get the hang of illustrating this stuff.

LINEBACKER KEYS IN THE ODD STACK DEFENSE
             William Mitchell - Defensive Coordinator - Brunswick HS - Brunswick, GA

              Our staff is currently entering our second season at Brunswick High School in South Georgia. Previously, we were at Chester High School in Chester, SC. We have run the Odd Stack defense for the last 4 years with a great deal of success. (2 Region Championships, 1 State Runner-Up, 7 Shut-Outs in 2007) As we have used this defense as a base, we have had to continually look at what we are doing and see if it matches up with the offenses we face. Each year, we have tweaked different parts of our defense, but one of the best things we have done is to develop a system LB keys that we feel is simple and yet holds up against a variety of different opponents.
          Like most 30 front teams, we do a great deal of blitzing. But we kept facing the question, what do the LBs look at when they are not blitzing? We decided that keying the backfield would be the most effective system for our players. The LBs set their keys according to the backfield set and their own alignment.

LANDMARKSA key feature of our system is that we set landmarks of responsibility as opposed to specific gaps. We believe that our constant defensive line movement and the blocking combinations that we see combine to cause our gaps to “move”. For instance with a down block by the guard, B gap is not exactly where it was pre-snap. So instead of gaps, we label Landmarks:
• From the inside foot of one guard to the inside foot of the other guard is Inside Point (both A gaps)
• From the inside foot of the guard to the crotch of the tackle is Base Point (B gap)
• From the crotch of the tackle to the outside foot of the TE is Outside Point (C gap)

When a key tells the LB to attack a certain Landmark, the LB presses that area looking for an “open window”. When he gets the “open window”, he attacks through it, much like a RB running a zone play. So if his key says Inside Point, the LB may press frontside or backside A gap…it depends on the blocking and where the opening is. If his key says Base Point, the LB may press anywhere from in the crotch of the guard to the inside shoulder of the OT, depending on the “open window”.

Coaching Knowledge Project #1 Bum Phillips

               Over the last few summers, I have started taking notes on some of the coaching biographies and books that I have read. One problem that I have had over the years is that I read so much and look at so much different info that I don't ever retain the knowledge for future use. I will read about a drill or a philosophy and I will think "Hey, that fits pretty good with my guys. I wanna use that this year." Then I will lay the book or the info to the side and forget all about it.
             Earlier this year, I began to compile & organize these notes & axioms into a single document. Ideally I would like to eventually have a notebook that I could add to each offseason and look at again each pre-season as I reevaluate my program. I thought that as part of this blog and my compilation efforts, I would share some of the things that I've found.
           These are quotes about coaches, quotes from coaches about their influences, and outside observations on coaches and their programs. Some of these are Hall of Fame coaches, some have losing records, and some are career assistants; all have good things to offer.

             Today, I am looking at Coach O.A. "Bum" Phillips from Texas. A Marine during World War Two, Phillips coached Texas high school football in the 1950s & 60s, college football in the late 1960s, and pro football in the 1970s & 80s.

BUM PHILLIPS

·         Gillman believed in hiring an assistant from college football whenever possible to take advantage of the college coach’s skills in teaching & conducting drills that mold important fundamentals. (Sid Gillman hired Phillips into pro football)

·         Drills and techniques are methods of doing things. You drill for execution and a team doesn’t really execute unless it is drill-oriented.

·         He was knowledgeable in certain aspects of the game and I knew he would acquire those he did not have.

·         My approach now is to let the kids play and enjoy it and let the coaches do the work.

·         We can learn a lot of lessons from football that we can’t learn in school or anywhere else. Now if you play it right, that’s all you’re going to get out of it. Everyone will forget you when you leave the game and all you will have left are the things it taught you – to sacrifice, to work hard. There are a whole lot of people who don’t know how to work. But they play football and they like it well enough to get some good work habits because they work at getting better. When they get out in the world, they find they’re not lazy anymore. They’ve developed some good work habits such as getting after a job when it must be done. Without them knowing it, football has trained them to do some good things, like not giving up when things are going bad.

·         That’s where teaching comes in and teaching is nothing more than selling. But a coach must study the problem first, analyze it real well and be sure he knows how to correct it. Once that’s done, then he’s got to sell the guy on the idea that his way will make him a better player.

·         The first thing is to get them to listen to you. The easiest way is to let them do it. If they can’t get it done and are having some trouble with some phases of technique, they want you to tell them how to correct it. They want to do good so now they’re listening to you.

·         If the head coach gets in the drills, then the players would listen to him and if that is the case, then he certainly didn’t need the other coach. It would be like telling the players, “That man doesn’t know what he is talking about. I’m in here to tell you.” Whatever you do, the players must have confidence in the guy who is telling them something.

·         The Bear always took all of the blame. Anything that would happen, he would say, “My fault”

·         He would always start by complimenting the coaches or the team on what they did. The team would think “He’s got to be right because he’s saying good things about me”. But he’s got your attention. Then he’d name a couple of things – never too many – that we’d have to work on the next day. By starting out with good things, he really had their attention and got them conscious of correcting things.

·         One of Hayden Fry’s strong points was that he had a great belief in his players.

·         I feel that if I haven’t taught a guy something about helping people, it doesn’t matter how much football I’ve taught him.

·         I teach them to get along with their fellow man – the other players.

·         Coaching is making a better man out of a guy you have on your team.

·         Developing good attitudes in people, the ability to take the losses and the ability to come back as well with the proper emotional approach…those are the things that are most important.

·         I try not to get a ‘no’. If I get talking about something like that I want to make sure I get a ‘yes’ before I force an answer. I think that’s part of my obligation – not my job, my obligation – to help guide a man. I can sure tell them what not to do.

·         He places a high priority on dealing with the real essence of a man.

·         Developing the ‘Edge’ was something that can be built from personal physical conditioning or working longer than the opposition. Phillip’s method is to get a player feeling he must play better because he wants to.

·         He must be doing something for someone other than himself.

·         He’s got to think that you believe in him if you expect him to believe in you.

·         Gillman & a player got into a confrontation. “Wait, wait, hold it,” Gillman said suddenly, “Just a second. Don’t you say anything more and I won’t say anything more. I’m going over to another group and you go work with a group on the other side of the field. Tomorrow we will talk about it.” Gillman had diffused a serious situation.

·         You must be a big enough man to overlook things.

·         Don’t ever force a guy to tell you ‘no’! If it’s real important to you and you can see you might get a ‘no’ , don’t force the issue.

·         Bum Phillip’s rule: Treat them right.

·         He makes players feel that if a rule is broken the team suffers.

·         You know that if you do something against the rules you have put yourself ahead of the team and no one likes to be thought of as selfish.

·         I’d rather have preparation than motivation. The only way they won’t be motivated to play the game is if you have taken it out of them on the field.

·         Football players play harder if they like their teammates. They try harder not to disappoint each other.

·         We win because of our method of teaching.

·         Players should work only on those things that will help them to win.

·         Show me an emotional coach on the sidelines and I’ll show you a team that will mirror everything he does.

Philosophy Thoughts #2

A little more Stoicism from Epictetus....
"Events happen as they do. People behave as they are. When something happens, good or bad, the only thing in your power is your attitude towards it; you can either accept it or resent it."
I think sometimes people misunderstand what a Stoic is. Some people believe that a stoic is someone with no emotions, cold & calculating. That is not true. In fact, many of the roots of Stoic beliefs bear striking resemblance to Christian concepts.
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
                          The Serenity Prayer
The Stoic philosphy is to concern yourself with the things that you can control and don't waste emotion, time, or energy on the things that you can't. I find this to be very valuable as a high school football coach.

Family Thought #2

"Remember, you will always be your child's favorite toy."
                                         Vicki Lansky
Whenever I come home from a long day or I am not feeling well and I wish my son would just sit & watch tv or play with his toys and leave me alone, I stop and think about this quote. Pretty simple & pretty powerful.

What is the Human Computer?

Previously I posted some principles of personal development taught by Coach Homer Rice. A few years ago, at the AFCA Convention, I was given a complimentary copy of the book Leadership Fitness written by Coach Rice as a textbook for the course he taught at Ga Tech. One of the key concepts that Coach Rice focused on in his book is the idea of the "Human Computer".
       " The brain has two minds: the conscious and the subconscious. The conscious mind accepts our thoughts and passes the information on to the subconscious, which records, sorts, and produces our thoughts. I call this the Human Computer because of its similar functions to the manufactured computers we use every day. This process is the key determinant of the actions we will take.......There is a simple secret that makes this computer analogy valuable. By controlling what comes into your conscious mind, you can influence your own actions....The Human Computer accepts as input whatever the conscious mind allows it to receive. Our subconscious does not know the difference between what is real and what is imagined; it only processes the input passed to it.........Give it clean, wholesome, and positive information, and you will act as a person motivated by those traits. Convey this to your team, and they, in turn, will become believers and winners."

I tend to agree with Dr. Rice's belief that we can control our attitude & viewpoints to make ourselves more successful. This is hardly a revolutionary idea;

• The vision that you glorify, the ideal that you enthrone in your heart...this you will build your life by. This you will become (James Allen)
• Man is what he thinks all day long (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
• The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes. (William James)
• As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world, as in being able to remake ouselves. (Gandhi)

What I really like about Dr. Rice's "Human Computer" is that it gives us a tangible concept to focus our energies upon. One of my reasons for starting this blog is to provide myself with a focus point each day and to be sure that I am putting the right stuff in my own Human Computer.
Coach W

Linebacker Keys in the 3-3 Stack Defense

For the last 6 or 7 seasons, we have based our defense out of a 3 man front with 3 LBs stacked. When we first went to this defense, I had to work out a simple system of keys for the LBs to use when they were not blitzing. The following is an article I wrote and posted on the Coach Huey football forum website (a terrific website, should be in everyone's favorites).

LINEBACKER KEYS IN THE ODD STACK DEFENSE


William Mitchell - Defensive Coordinator - Brunswick HS - Brunswick, GA


Our staff is currently entering our second season at Brunswick High School in South Georgia. Previously, we were at Chester High School in Chester, SC. We have run the Odd Stack defense for the last 4 years with a great deal of success. (2 Region Championships, 1 State Runner-Up, 7 Shut-Outs in 2007) As we have used this defense as a base, we have had to continually look at what we are doing and see if it matches up with the offenses we face. Each year, we have tweaked different parts of our defense, but one of the best things we have done is to develop a system LB keys that we feel is simple and yet holds up against a variety of different opponents.


Like most 30 front teams, we do a great deal of blitzing. But we kept facing the question, what do the LBs look at when they are not blitzing? We decided that keying the backfield would be the most effective system for our players. The LBs set their keys according to the backfield set and their own alignment.


LANDMARKS
A key feature of our system is that we set landmarks of responsibility as opposed to specific gaps. We believe that our constant defensive line movement and the blocking combinations that we see combine to cause our gaps to “move”. For instance with a down block by the guard, B gap is not exactly where it was pre-snap. So instead of gaps, we label Landmarks:
• From the inside foot of one guard to the inside foot of the other guard is Inside Point (both A gaps)
• From the inside foot of the guard to the crotch of the tackle is Base Point (b gap)
• From the crotch of the tackle to the outside foot of the TE is Outside Point (C gap)


When a key tells the LB to attack a certain Landmark, the LB presses that area looking for an “open window”. When he gets the “open window”, he attacks through it, much like a RB running a zone play. So if his key says Inside Point, the LB may press frontside or backside A gap…it depends on the blocking and where the opening is. If his key says Base Point, the LB may press anywhere from in the crotch of the guard to the inside shoulder of the OT, depending on the “open window”.








I Backs
Against the I formation, the MLB keys the FB and the OLBs and the SPURs key the TB. We use the following keys out of our Stacked alignment.


• Vs hard flow (both backs attacking A or B gap right now)
----MLB mirrors FB and hits Inside Point
----OLB hard flow to = Base Point
----OLB hard flow away = Inside Point
----SPURs see hard flow in the box =Stack on C gap for cutback / reverse


• Vs fast flow (both backs attacking outside right now)
----MLB fast flow = Base Point
----OLB fast flow to = Outside Point
----OLB any flow outside the box = Get Over the Top!
----SPUR fast flow to = Cut It Off!
----SPUR fast flow away = Stack on C gap for cutback / reverse


• Vs angle flow (Fullback kick out , Tailback hit C gap)
----MLB angle flow = Base Point
----OLB angle flow to = Outside Point
----OLB any flow outside the box = Get Over the Top!
----SPUR angle flow to = Blow It Up!
----SPUR angle flow away = Stack on C gap for cutback / reverse


Some of our fronts call for us to go from a 3 LB stacked look to a 2 LB 50 front look. We use the following keys out of our 30 alignment (over guards):


• Vs hard flow
----hard flow to = Inside Point
----hard flow away = Inside Point


• Vs fast flow
----fast flow to = Outside Point
----fast flow away = Base Point Away


• Vs angle flow
----angle flow to = Outside Point
----angle flow away = Base Point








Wing-T or Dbl Wingbacks
The formation that we see the most of is probably some form of Dbl Wing. We use the following keys out of our Stacked alignment.


OLBs both key the opposite HB or WB:
• If the key comes to (motion or after snap) – Outside Point
• If the key stays away – Hit Inside Point looking for the FB Trap/Dive


The MLB keys both WBs (using peripheral vision):
• Keying the direction of initial flow (motion or after snap) –
Base Point Flowside




Shotgun One-Back
Against a shotgun, one back run game, we use the following keys:


OLBs key the opposite back (HB or QB)
• Flow to (Zone Run) – Outside Point
• Flow Away (Option) – Inside Point


The MLB keys and follows the most dangerous runner:
• Base Point Flowside




These are our basic keys which we install over the spring and summer. We will tweak our keys against certain opponents based on what they are emphasizing. But we feel like these keys give us a good starting point.






Read more: http://www.coachhuey.com/index.cgi?board=defarticles&action=display&thread=27378#ixzz1RD6EMYES

Coach Rice's Steps to Be Successful

Homer Rice was a football coach and an athletic director on the major college level from 1967 to 1997. While he was the AD at Georgia Tech, Coach Rice taught classes on Leadership and personal development. Theses were his Steps for Success:

STEPS TO BE SUCCESSFUL

1)       YOU BECOME WHAT YOU VALUE.

2)       YOU BECOME WHAT YOU SAY.

3)       BUILD ON YOUR STRENGTHS

4)       ATTEMPT THE DIFFICULT

5)       WORK CONSCIENTIOUSLY & PRODUCTIVELY

6)       LAUGH OFTEN

7)       BE SELF-DISCIPLINED

8)       BE A SELF-STARTER

9)       PRAY

10)   GIVE

11)   BE A PERSON OF INTEGRITY

12)   RESPECT YOURSELF

13)   LOVE

14)   THINK EDUCATION

15)   LISTEN POSITIVELY

16)   EXPECT THE BEST

17)   SPEAK UP

18)   LIVE POSITIVELY

19)   CARE

20)   DREAM

21)   STAY HEALTHY

22)   PRACTICE LOVE & SERVICE

23)   HELP OTHERS FIND THEIR WAY

24)   HIGH EXPECTATIONS OF OTHERS

25)   LEAD BY EXAMPLE