How discipline works

The many pay for the sins of one.

Here's the question, what do you want the team to look like under the lights?

Then that is how you have to make them look all the time, it's not a light switch, it can't be a little tardy to practice is OK, it can't be loafing in form running is overlooked. Whatever you want to see has to be reinforced everyday you're with the kids and you have to stay on top of it.

Here's a couple of examples:
1. When we form run we start behind the line. A coach stands at the line and if anyone starts on the line we either start over, OR we do up/downs as a team.

2. We run...not a sprint, definitely not a jog...but a run to and from every drill or station. If anyone...and I do mean ANYONE is not running...we do up/downs as a team. (we had so slow learners this year).

3. Team meal starts at 3:30 - if you're late, you don't start and we do team up/downs in pre-game. Guess what..we only had to do this once, humility is a bich.

You just have to make "this is how we do things" a point of emphasis in every phase of the program. Here's a great example, where I was at before the kids didn't have lockers, they had stahls, a shelf, 3 hooks and a chair.
Their helmet was to sit on the shelf facing to the right, shoulder pads on the first hook, pants on the 2nd, girdle on the 3rd, shoes side by side under their chair. We did several penalties for this from throwing all that kid's stuff on the floor by his chair to up/downs, to running but we did it all (except stuff on the floor) as a team.

Was it a little extreme? Sure, matter of fact I think it was down right being an a-hole BUT what it did was eventually a kid or 2 would check the room before they left to make sure it looked right, eventually they got tired of running or up/downs and tired of doing it for the other kids and finally they opened their mouth and said "this is how it's going to be, YOU need to...." and a leader was born. I was as proud as I could have possibly have been of the 2 kids who spoke up.

I promise you he wasn't the only kid in that locker room tired of up/downs because Jimmy couldn't remember what went on which hook and because he said something, the other players who were tired of it too filled in right behind him.

In the weight room - you'll do what you're suppose to do our we do this thing we call "Plate Paradise". It sucks, the kids hate it, but that's why we do it. If we do it, we make sure we emphasize why we are doing it...most specifically WHO. For the kids who are doing it right, it's not worth it to let you screw around they will police themselves eventually.

We've had players quit, parents complain but they are only complaining or quitting because they want things to be the way they were before.

INSANITY - doing things the same way and expecting different results.