How to win 9 State championships Episode 7: How to Help Players Take Advantage of Opportunities
9 min readEpisode 7: How to Help Players Take Advantage of Opportunities
Come to bring to Camp you know they kind Of do all that I mean listen it's a Different clientele when I paid you had Some guys that were you know hey you Were helping this guy out you were Helping that guy out like he just kind Of slid in or he was coming from another Program I mean that was how your team Was based now these guys you know and Because I've been in it and now like Even the you know public school private School if they're not getting that offer I just won't go play football well I Think that's another thing D big issue That really you know anybody anybody Who's over a certain age that is a coach That that almost physically hurts does See a kid that could play in college and And that's that's I'm just gonna go to Georgia and be part of the dog pound in The end zone that's not the experience And I think maybe sometimes that's the Experience the parents want to have when They go and visit the kid you know I Mean but right they really want to play Football like you know one of the things We used to say right it was football had To be one or onea and a kid kids you can Almost tell right away when the kids's Not even in a bluff the kids in a no you Know like I'm what you'll hear from kid Is I want to keep my options open and I Said you're 17 you wouldn't know your Options if you fell over them in the
Dark all right and you know I I tell This David's met my dad and my parents My parents have passed in the last bunch Of years you know they What a Wonderful Life they had right other than their son All right but I mean drove nuts but but Same boat my old man told me something Once when I was screwing up in 11th Grade he says he said DJ I'm going to Give you four choices and my mom ran ran To roof man but if Dad got involved that Was like I don't know that territory Right and and you know it's kind of I Can bring you this I bring you in this World I can take you out type thing Right he would never say that because he Could and you knew it yeah he understood That that pH that's a no-o zone right my Mother didn't get that memo though you Know crockpots whatever else was thrown At me all right but but my father said To me you're going to get four choices Right now in 11th grade Army Navy work And read four four-letter words pick One they're all fair choices right but You know they're not getting that talk Now and I'm not saying I'm not ping you Know I grew up in stone or you know the Stone Age I'm just saying I think you Have to have some more serious talks With your child about the reality and we Just had one yesterday during a lunch Meeting where I said to the kids a year From now those you that are
Seniors or G seniors to be you're not Going to be in this room nope so what do You Got and if you're a junior to be oh you Just put another year on it like they They're not getting that talk and I know I know those talks were taking place When you were a kid 100% I have those Talks with my son and Dereck would Attested this not even though he's eight Not about like but more about like doing The right thing um handling yourself the Right way um presenting yourself the Right way yeah because my son is Like DJ you you love him but he's a he's A he's he's unbelievably Smart Way Smarter than me like passionate and he Is a crazy competitor and I'll tell you This Like he he's you know he's eight right So he's he he'll he'll struggle to get a Hold of his emotions and he'll try just Take a kid out like he he's just like Like he's he's a he's a competitor so we We're trying to you know evolve him and Uh so like he goes through ups and downs And you know one of the great things is And we talked about this earlier we put Him in every sport like he like he wants To play every sport like we actually we Put him in travel basketball for the First time this year and we're like does This season ever end we're we're in like Uh season five you know and now he he's
Great basketball player uh absolutely Different athlete from me like long and Le and he's playing quarterback he he Plays point guard I mean I couldn't do Any of those I couldn't do any of those Things but like he is um he's such a Competitor but the thing we talk to him About is hey how are you how are you Handling yourself you always got to work On how you handle yourself um how how do You carry yourself right like how do you Carry yourself as a person okay because Um not that I don't care about what Other people think about me but I want The perception of what I want to Represent of myself to be accurate right So teaching that and then uh Academically because you know at that Age he's a stud he's he's he's you know He's an excellent student but honestly He can finish his work in five minutes You know when his friends are taking an Hour and so he's like I I don't care About school we're like no no no that's Not how it works like you know he's Bored man yeah he's so um those Conversations my dad had those and you Obviously you know my dad well my dad Had those conversations with me I Remember man when I was six years old Like me and my brother are five and six We were too crazy in the house and he Said okay you guys are wrestling and we We hey
Bud we we were wrestling and um you want To come and say hi real quick so we were We he he put us in wrestling five six Years old just because he couldn't take It they couldn't take it anymore like You need to get this discipline come Here say hi how come you home from School today 11 o'clock Oh you're sick oh okay no there what's Up stud I guess he's sick you had to Come home today all right go upstairs All right I'm So it's Different May told the teachers got work Done oh yeah you get work done half day You have any work done I get to go hey St John vien half day every Friday so They're done at 1:5 listen and you know What this this is he want he wants to Come home and hang out because we we we Lived a good life right so he wants to Come home and hang out you got that nice Piano in the Background but anyway so that but your Point is really valid is is that they're Not having that conversation that Conversation is such a now want to be Friends not they don't want to have Those I think I think you're seeing the Same thing football-wise with you know Where where where where where kids are Playing on the field and what we can do And and and it's a con it's easier Actually as you get older you know and
And again I I I don't think it's any Secret to any anybody that you know the The number of years I will continue Being a head coach is really numbered Because it's just it it times out you Know 100% And and you're looking at okay You know what's next but are the people Who could be next wanting to do those Dirty work things you know and David Knows where the program was when we got There and it it was so much hope in the Program and you still hope that you There is hope but you know we're dealing With you know longer season and uh less Kids and you know how you can practice And we were probably one of the most Atrocious tackle team is highly unusual For you don't get to do that but we have To do that and and and we can't we can't Live in that world anymore that we can't You know correct and the kids have to be Prepped all year long that it's a Violent game yeah I mean this is that's Part of it and look I know how do you Dole I was just it was so different for Me right like I know that if I was Playing now I don't I I would have a 15 Yard every game right because I was Taught as a safety somebody comes across The middle bro like that's it right how Do you teach how do you teach tackling Now how how do you go about it um did You see us play last year so you didn't You told us you didn't
Poorly that's how I teach it poor we Teach it poorly and we execute it at Even lower Level the well well you know I I tell The kids look you know this is you know When when you're when you're playing Quarterback if you're going to get Sacked can't throw up an A and you'll Spud all right and when when you're Tackling somebody like you know the more Guys you get there the better so how do We handle tackling uh I think there's Some things that we have to address it's Got to be the focal point you know the The old thing of if you want to make Special teams special you do them Initially when you start practice I Think I think it's where your where your Emphasis is you know what you invest is More important than what you emphasize Yes sir what's the investment so I think You can come up all drills you want I Think one of the big things is guys is Is not just the tackling but I see kids not being able to take on a Tack alert oh absolutely not yeah how to Finish a run correct or when you're Bill Like well now I'm a fat skinny guy but Um when I was a kid had to make myself Into half a man so I was only taking Glancing shots right so I wasn't taking That full brunt of whatever force is Coming everybody's different me long Arms I always had good stiff arm you
Know I mean keep people away from me Maybe it was a Fear Factor type thing But they don't hit and spin as well as They used to no they they won't spin Nobody's everybody wants to jump over Somebody oh gosh yeah I'm not a fan so Me neither we've gotten flagged for it Multiple times anyway yeah I I think I Think that you know the the the I think You go back to your Grassroots of Tackling I don't think there's any look You're GNA get hit we have to first of All state said something like you can Have 90 minutes of contact I said who Put this in and my athletic track says Well they're careful of the contact I Said that's like a lot of contact I License to kill nobody used go 90 Minutes tackling like they don't know You got people that are making rules That aren't don't know what's going on We had we had Co coach Wembley on right Remember when we had coach W he was Talking about he was talking about I'm In the assembly here talking a lady's Trying to put together you know one of The whatever is trying to put together Something to like end tackle football He's like and here I am like uh can I Explain to you like you don't even know What you're talking about no no and they Shouldn't shouldn't Go
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