The traits bad programs share (so you can avoid them)

1. Losing attitude: "We just don't have the athletes..." Players pick up on that and lose confidence in themselves. Apathy takes over. Everyone, coaches and players alike, stops putting forth their best effort. Losses follow and just reinforce this mindset. The idea of "winning with less" consistently feeds into that. I don't like it. The thing is that most schools raw talent pool will look more or less identical to the other teams in their district or region. It's how they develop their talent that determines who's bigger, faster, and stronger on Fridays, not genetics.

2. Star Player Syndrome: "I know Johnny All America is a total PITA, but we need him if we're going to win!" These teams finally get a big time athlete and are so afraid of losing him that they kiss his @$$ no matter what crap he gives them. Everyone else sees it. No one respects the coaches. Discipline falls apart. Instead of a football team, you have the Johnny All America show. Respect has to be earned, not given. When you tell your players that, remember it works both ways.

3. Poor Offseason Routine: It all starts in the weightroom. Inconsistency or lack of intensity in the weightroom yields the same on the field. The bad programs either have very low weightroom participation or the players spend more time loafing than they do lifting. It really has little to do with"facilities" and everything to do with a lack of creativity and attitude.

4. Inconsistent Coaching: This is a true program killer. It could be re-drawing the weight routine every few months based on some new idea, inconsistent discipline, or frequently going to different systems on the field to take advantage of your talent. It's not about having the perfect system, it's about having a system that works. You've got to stick to your guns. Of course you'll have to constantly tweak things to get better, but if you're frequently making wholesale changes to your system, you never had a system to begin with.

5. Lack of Organization: A football coach at a struggling program has to be a salesman. Everyone in the community is telling these kids they can't win. Often there are some great athletes who should be coming up through the feeder system (if there even is a feeder system) but get sent by their parents to better programs nearby. There is no fundraising apparatus in place, no community involvement, no marketing, etc.
Winning makes these things easy, but all this stuff is easier to put together and control than a winning season.

6. Focusing on Wins and Numbers: Ever notice it's always the losers who talk about how their goal is to win X number of games next year, or focus on how "one of the few bright spots" of the season was some statistic or individual record? You can't guarantee anything specific on the field, so instead focus on doing things the right way to prepare for it. When teams do that, the winning takes care of itself.