Hardest part

You want to know the hardest thing about coaching.......
Its not making the first call to the parents or the first practice where you introduce yourself.... its not the extra work that goes into researching tactics and plays then changing them into something a 5 year old can both comprehend and execute....its not comming up with a defenseive scheme or an offensive playbook....its not even planning the practices or coaching the games....... its making the big decisions...... Now I am a HVAC foreman in the commercial world and everyday i make decisions that can cost people 100s of thousands of dollars but I make those all day everyday...they are no biggie...the hard decisions are things like do i punch in a qb sneak for 1 point or go with that pass play we struggled with all week for 2..... do I start my qb on both sides of the ball of let him sit on "D"....... use the reverse or the sweep....blocking drills today or flag pulling.....sprints or laps...... believe it or not these decisions make a difference in the outcome of the football season and in return effect the memories of the kids involved.

Everytime I step out onto that field be it practice or game I have that thought in the back of my head. These kids are going to be like me oneday and wonder what ever happend to my first coach...hows he doing....does he remember me....did i play up to his expectations....did i earn his approval....LOL was he screaming at me or encouraging me :-) Its because of these possibilities that I try to be careful both of wht I say and what i do......

I dont want the kids to remember me as a win hungry anger first type coach....what i want is to be the coach that instills a love of the game in the kids....so that when the kids think of football the think of how fun it is....how good it makes you feel when you work hard all week in practice and you use that hard work to carry you into a a win on friday night....I want the kids to see how fired up I get when they perform well....I want them to notice how we shake off bad plays and carry on....how we work together to form one unit and accomplish a single task by working together. At the end of the season when i walk away from coaching these kids I want to feel like i made an impact in thier lives.....and hopefully oneday when they have kids....maybe they will remember they smiles on my face and the fun that i appeared to have...the pride I had in them....and that will encourage them to do what i am doing....touching lives and teaching lessons....

There are several times in my coaching career that i have seen the impact i have on these kids. I hve had talks with kids about everything ranging from things on the field to grades in school...and how to handle anger and nerves..... I look forward to those moments where i can impact the kids life and thats honestly what keeps me comming back..... I just want the kids to have fun playing for me and carry that feeling and hopefully a lesson or two with them in thier life.....I know they are going to have plenty of coaches teach them how to hit...catch...throw...run...and win....they will have coach after coach preach winning above all...and get tought tactics that are dirty but accepted and therefore not "cheating".....I want to be the one guys that says "Do it Right, Do it CLEAN, and have fun"