Winning Attitude

It's that winning attitude that makes the difference.
Sometimes, players get stuck in the "we can't win games" mentality. It's hard to achieve success when you don't know what it feels like.
As coaches, this is the most difficult to achieve in a program.
I mean, your staff and your players can absolutely work their arses off, but come gametime, there is failure.
It's hard to fix something that doesn't involve scheme, personnel, work ethic, behavior, etc.
How do you build and foster a winning attitude?

I know I don't have the widest frame of reference here, but unfortunately the only times I've ever witnessed programs get turned around it involved a coaching change that brought a new attitude AND fixed a lot of the organization, structure, and management that was missing before.

There are a lot of things that successful programs take for granted that many "losers" don't have, and you can't always fix them all at once. Just off the top of my head, stuff like:

1. A decent fundraising structure (solicit donations, raffle things off, etc.)
2. Parental Support (ties in with fundraising)
3. Winning Tradition (proves to players it's been done before and can be done again)
4. Community Support (goes hand in hand with tradition/fundraising--if you build it, they will come).
5. Senior Leadership/Ownership of the team
6. Build around new, enthusiastic kids in MS and 9th grade--work closely w/feeders in youth and MS
7. Revamped offseason weight/speed/agility programs to make athletes better in offseason
8. Taking advantage of spring ball, 7 on 7, summer camps, 2 a days, etc. to hone skills and see who wants to get better.
9. Team building activities to get players bonded after class.
10. Adding an athletic period.
11. Getting players to believe they can win if they just do the right things.
12. Getting the coaching staff all on the same page--you might be amazed.
13. A coherent offensive/defensive schemes that fit the talent/coaches' strengths better
14. Finding creative ways to work around/build that which you don't have.
15. Get kids involved in other sports (basketball, track, wrestling, etc.) so they actually get in better shape in the offseason.
16. Points systems to reward hard work/good behavior.
17. Better organization of practice time--make it more efficient and fun.
18. Overall raising of standards: conduct, weightroom participation, expectations in weightroom and on field, etc.
19. Let it be known that the mistakes that have cost games in the past will not be tolerated or repeated.
20. Demonstrate through actions that no player, parent, or booster is bigger than the team. The coaches coach. Players play. Parents parent. Boosters support the team. That's it. Even if it means losing an All State stud or a fat donation check, everyone has to know his role and not overstep his bounds.
21. Give everybody involved a role to play where they feel valued, including the scrubs, underclassmen, newbs, etc. It's politics, but people care more and work harder for you when they feel their contributions are valued and important.
22. Soften the schedule as much as possible so the kids get to experience a taste of winning. Especially helpful to get some wins late in a season to build momentum into the offseason.
23. How much are you focusing on technique and mental preparation in Indies? A lot of good programs spend most of their practice time on indies and fundamentals, with classroom sessions devoted to the mental aspects. A lot of bad programs don't.

I don't mean to get on a high horse here, because Lord knows you and the kids've been banging your heads against a brick wall for years and you obviously are trying everything to right the ship. Even then there are a ton of things beyond your control. All you can worry about is the stuff you can fix.

I'm just trying to throw things out you might not have thought of to give you some ideas. If you're going to build something, you need an overall plan of how all the pieces fit together, maybe even how to build the pieces themselves. Maybe you could sit down as a staff and take a long look at yourselves and the program itself to see what you can work on together. Decide on the concrete stuff you can change and the attitude you want to project to the kids. Get together on it and execute it just like you want your team to execute. Enthusiasm and Optimism is contagious, but only if you prove you believe it yourself. Make the game fun and competitive and the kids will buy in!

Now, an old trick that my own HS coaches used to good effect (we were perennial doormats who were told we couldn't beat anyone, even by our previous HC!) was to paint and revamp the weightroom, field house, and locker room as much as you can. A few cans of paint are cheap, but with an increased focus on quality and becoming better, the spiffed up environment helps reinforce a powerful message that a new day is here and higher standards are a part of it.

The things the new HC did to build the program taught me a lot, both good and bad. Painting the locker room, starting a TD Club when we had no fundraising before, revamping our terribly ineffective workouts, recruiting the halls, and adding spring ball and a spring game really helped my school go from doormat to respectability. We always had talent in the school, but we never got much out of it because the previous HCs didn't have the organizational side down pat.

However, as much good as this guy did, he also made the mistake of selling out his program to selfish players and parents in the name of placating "better athletes." They became known for taking talented kids who'd been kicked off at other schools and this bit them a few times. Overall discipline and work ethic took a nosedive when the other kids saw what these "favorites" got away with, which kept those teams from becoming all they could've been.

Anyway, I'll stop rambling now, but I hope these ramblings are some use to you. You've got a lot more experience than me, and you obviously know your situation a lot better than I do, but I'm just trying to help you brainstorm here. Good luck, coach.


Most of us work very hard for what we got but most of us don't work hard enough for what we want.

Improving mental focus

First things first - if you are in the habit of pulling a kid out if he commits a penalty, stop doing that. Penalties happen, they are part of the game. The kid obviously didn't mean to jump off sides, or facemask. Obviously there are times if a kid is hot tempered that you need to pull him out to calm him down, but to catagorically pull him out because he committed a penalty - No.

(that was common practice here when I first got here. One of our coaches pulled a kid because of PI...that PI saved a TD and the kid who committed it busted his @$$ to get there as he was not the one who blew coverage in the first place.)

2nd thing - you have to preach to them to "play the next play". Forget what happened the previous play, good or bad it has no influence on what you need to do as a player on the next play.

3rd thing - as a coach I think you need to create adversity in practice or weight room. Put them to the fire and see who cracks. Fortunately for me, that's just the kind of coach I am, its my natural personality (one of the few benefits). A kid has to have a certain level of mental toughness to even play for me and our defensive staff as we do not have any "hug em up" type of guys on our side of the ball.

4th thing - and I don't know if this is your case or not, but at this place, we have to work so hard at getting the kids to learn the game. It's like they've played forever but don't understand anything about it. Like a 1 tech doesn't understand why he can't just go run to the ball however he can get there instead of maintaining gap leverage...what happens, the guard allows him to go behind and it opens a cut back lane...they just don't get that part.

I think a lot of it comes from confidence - that's real confidence not the "rah-rah" BS before games and an understanding that mistakes happen and their ability to forget it, move on and play the next play.

Whatever your doing, be it warmups, conditioning, 7v7, whatever it is demand that they do the little things right. I'm talking about not going through the motions while warming up but actually trying to get better on every rep of the warmup (e.g., when doing high knees, actually get your knees up waist level or higher), proper stances before the ball is snapped in 7v7, proper footwork in run game drills, appropriate stance, not jumping offsides, and running all the way through the line if they are running sprints, literally demanding they do every dad-gum little thing right.

It's failure in the little things that will allow a team to beat themselves. If the other guys are just better than yours, it is what it is, but do not allow the other team to beat you because your guys don't do the little things right.

Demand excellence in the little things, every day. I like to tell them if we can't get everybody doing such a simple thing as getting in a proper stance right (as an example) how can we run a play consistently? If we can't do something as simple as high knees while warming up right what's going to happen when the ball is snapped? It always happens once a year that I have to say "Okay fellas, there is no sense in practicing the wrong stuff, since we are not mentally here we might as well spend our time getting into better condition" and then run the heck out of 'em. Give 'em a break once in awhile to tell them something like "I will not allow you as an individual and you as a team to come up short of your full potential for this season because you want to just go through the motions today. You have got the be mentally tough and focused and it starts right here and right now!", and off we go for another round.

If the offense turns it over in practice, the whole offense does pushups, not as punishment, but to reinforce the discipline that all 11 players must do their job. Hold each individual accountable to the unit's success. 1 fails, we all failed when it comes to execution. Now if one guy just keeps screwing it up I'd get somebody else in there, it doesn't make sense to discipline the whole group for one individual being a numbnut, but the key idea is to demand excellence in every little thing they do.

Execution errors will happen; guys will get beat by a physically superior opponent. But if they will do the little things right the other stuff will be minimized. If a guy gets beat 5 times in a row he's got to have a short memory and get his guy on the next play. That's mental toughness too, to hang in there even if you're getting pounded and keep fighting on every play. Focus is all about being present in the moment and is a skill that can be developed. The best way to develop that skill is to demand that they do the little things right that will enable them to do the big things it takes to be a winner on the field and in life.

Ball security

Accountability must be stressed. If they fumble alot they can't play. Everyone will put it on the turf once in a while, but make the defense earn it. If you fumble you better have been knocked out by the defender.

When I coached RB's we did ball security everyday, and I tried to rip the ball from them in every drill. Try to incorporate ball security into every drill you can.

Some specific ball security drills I did were:

Position:

Eagle Claw, Elbow tucked, High and tight, nose of the football pointing upward, not out(similar to the top position of a chinup)...I shouldn't be able to see the any part of the ball if I stand behind the back. Elbow out/untucked=more fumbles.

Drills:

Ball Security w/ transition

- YOU MUST TEACH THEM HOW TO SWITCH HANDS CORRECTLY AND DRILL IT! We do it running in place, sprinting, jogging, through ropes, bags etc...Always have an arm (shelf) between the ball and the turf. "Never show the ball to the turf"
ex: If the ball's in the right arm and we transition to the left arm it goes like this- Slide the ball across the chest with the right arm cradling w/eagle claw hand (palm up/thumb facing out/forearm under the ball) KEEP IT TIGHT. Cover the ball with the left arm/forearm, eagle claw hand. At this point the ball should be covered by both forearms and both hands clawing the points. Now you slide the ball against your left side (cover your ribs) as you rotate the palm toward your face. Ball should now be high and tight and in the lt arm. Elbow tucked.

Awkward Ball drill

- secure ball position- running in place- coach gives command to seat roll left/right/or perform an updown; ball should NEVER come away from body nor get shown to the turf. Makes the kids consicentious of ball security even when you are in an awkward position like getting up off the ground.

Hand down drill

- start at the 15 w/ secure ball position; run 5yds and "1 arm bear crawl" into the endzone as fast as possible. As their off hand goes down for balance, their feet continue to work and coach them up on securing the ball in this awkward position- nose of the ball should never point to the turf and keep elbow tucked.

Hope these help- it's hard to describe them verbally without showing you the techniques in person. Bottom line is drill good technique, never let one get by without good secure ball position, and make'm pay if they screw up. Good luck brother.

Stalk Blocking Drills

1. Competition Drill
Start with a WR line and a DB line (I just use my guys as DB) about 10 yds from the WR. Set two cones at the halfway point about 4 yds to the left and right of the WR. (This forms a diamond shape). On go, WR runs out of stance toward defender. I then point to one of the cones for the defender to run to. Defender's job is to hit the cone with his foot (don't let him dive for it, unrealistic). WR needs to get into position and block the defender. They get about 2 seconds of contact then we have a winner. Loser does push ups or something. Focus on the receiver moving into position then making contact with hands and using their hips for balance and force. Good drill to get those guys used to contact too.

2. Punch and drive drill (finish drill)
Have the defender shuffle and force the WR to stay in front of the defender and work punch and release technique. Then, have the DB widen and the WR needs to "finish" the block by driving the defender to one side. Really focus on teaching the WR if the DB starts to get around him, don't give up on the block but drive him out of the play (without holding)