As for my opinion on the questions of the thread.

 

Do away with Spring Football and most if not all issues, concerns or problems will go away in a hurry.

 

My guess is though, even without Spring Football, the commitment and sacrifice is still too much for some kids, parents and programs...Just sayin

As for my opinion on the questions of the thread.

 

Do away with Spring Football and most if not all issues, concerns or problems will go away in a hurry.

 

My guess is though, even without Spring Football, the commitment and sacrifice is still too much for some kids, parents and programs...Just sayin

It still doesnt eliviate the problem. Even if you do away with spring practice you still have conditioning and weight room work that starts a week after the season is over, and unless you p,ay another sport you are "encouraged" to attend every workout which lasts until football practices start back up.

Based on the questions that were posed by Guru, I hope these coaches know that they are not doing any more than other high school coaches are all over the country.

 

You could always not offer Spring Football or Summer 7 on 7 at your high school, just curb your resentment of the coaches that are out there working with their boys and taking advantage of these opportunities (especially after you team gets beat by the teams that are putting in the extra effort to get better).

Based on the questions that were posed by Guru, I hope these coaches know that they are not doing any more than other high school coaches are all over the country.

 

You could always not offer Spring Football or Summer 7 on 7 at your high school, just curb your resentment of the coaches that are out there working with their boys and taking advantage of these opportunities (especially after you team gets beat by the teams that are putting in the extra effort to get better).

No one is disputing that.

 

I think, at least from my perspective, is how much things have changed since I was in high school. The dedication involved today to play a sport, even football, is now a 12 month a year commitment.

 

You are 100% correct in what you said, I think what was being questioned was, is it truly needed to be a 12 month commitment or can it be drawn back a bit to at least give the boys and coaches a little time to recover from both the physical and mental fatigue.

First, I don't think Coaches spend too much time with Athletes. 10 hours a week of practice during the season isn't a ton of time. Yeah, it's a little more during the summer. But we used to do 2-a-days, and had 3 or 4 days of 3-a-days. The part that bothers me, is the season starts way too early here. Most of the east coast, doesn't start until August 1st. I don't see a huge issue with asking kids to put a few days a week in the offseason in the weight room. Worst case scenario they develop a fitness habit that sticks with them the rest of their lives. Working out for 4 or 6 hours is a bad thing?? Start the season later, shorten the playoffs, and you're still done by December, and kids and families get a couple of extra weeks to vacation in July.

I think it's like anything else in life. You get out of it what you put into it.

No one is disputing that.

 

I think, at least from my perspective, is how much things have changed since I was in high school. The dedication involved today to play a sport, even football, is now a 12 month a year commitment.

 

You are 100% correct in what you said, I think what was being questioned was, is it truly needed to be a 12 month commitment or can it be drawn back a bit to at least give the boys and coaches a little time to recover from both the physical and mental fatigue.

 

Is anyone forcing these coaches to have the extensive off season programs that they are offering? If you don't want to do it, then don't. To complain or to try to insinuate that others should not offer these programs is silly, IMO. I played, I coach, I love the time I spend with my athletes. Athletes and coaches still have the choice to participate, no?

 

Bottom line, for me, is that I knew what I was signing up for when I chose to play football in high school, I knew what I was signing up for when I played in college, I knew what I signed up for when I got into coaching in Kentuky and I knew what I signed up for when I got into coaching in Texas. If you don't care for the demands, there are other pastimes to take up- find one that fits your schedule and availability.

I would extend the Dead Period to 3 weeks or 4 weeks. Good for the coaches, good for families, good for kids, good for coaches getting tired of kids, good for kids getting tired of coaches

I agree with rjs, how is working out in the weight room and working on physical conditioning a bad thing? There is a post on here by dr. Andrews, the problem he sees is kids doing the same thing for 12 months straight, ie baseball and basketball. Although you are working together as a football team in the winter, your really not doing football stuff.

Nothing wrong with taking a break, but having Dead period lead into the first day of football practice is counter intuitive...To tell kids who play football that they can not come to school to lift weights or run on the track for 2 weeks leading up to the first day of conditioning/practice makes NO SENSE. It means for those couple of weeks these kids (who are about to be exposed to some tough conditioning in some very hot weather) are going to start to get out of shape. Some may go on vacation, some may stay inside (AC) and play video games. Those who want to stay fit may have to pay $$ for a gym membership. Some may do nothing at all...Not a great way to prepare for football. A break after school is out in June is fine...call it Vacation period and have it for 2 weeks the day after school is out. You may want to make the date different for football vs basketball, baseball, because those sports don't start practice in July. For KY football players, June is logical time for every player, coach, family, etc... to take a break. A break is great...but you do a young athlete a disservice by telling them they can not come to school, weight room, track, etc...for 2 weeks leading up to the first day of conditioning/practice, when they are going to be expected to be in good shape the first day after the dead period is over.

Nothing is stopping the kids from working out on their own during dead period.

4. Do KY high school players spend more time with their football coaches than college players? If the answer is yes, then why?

 

At the Division I level...no, and it is not even close. And that's speaking from experience in a very bad D-IA program vs. experience in a top flight high school program. In college, you have practice, position meetings, team meetings, study halls, training table (meals), special teams meetings, weights, and team activities (dinners, fundraisers, charities, ect.) all together with your team. Those hours rules they talk about are nice and all, but at the top level, football consumes your life.

I would agree, however some (parents & players) don't mind especially if they (the player) want to get better. I say if you and your athlete are willing to go down this path more power to ya. You can look at has having "mini" vacations every weekend play summer ball and going out of town.

 

Not true for football.

 

Correct, I was thinking more from the last couple of summers when it came to softball. I'm sure my comment would apply to most sports other than football.

It easy to say things like that when we are used to programs like Highlands, Beechwood, Cov Cath, etc... But could you imagine being the coach of Newport, Dayton, Bellevue and teh like. My guess is that if they insisted on the amount of time taht the top programs put in, they wouldn't have a team. Has to be a difficult balance between discipline and effort and maintaining some sort of a team. A coach must be part phychologist to figure out just how far he can push them or how much he can require out of them time-wise.

 

I believe it goes along with what KYVince was saying above. Just because you have developed a machine and you have coaches and a significant number of players willing to sacrifice everything else doesn't make it the right thing for the majority.

First of all, I was just asking questions. Second, I agree with you that it takes more than just an Xs and Os guy to be successful at certain programs. Third, do you think we should do the equivalent of dumbing down the curriculum because a majority don't want to study as hard as the top students in the class?

I can speak for Highlands on this one and I can tell you yes they work extremely hard in both the season and off season but Dale "gets it" and more coaches should take notes across the state.

 

He does not do double sessions, he does not do 7 on 7 showcases and other events, he does not encourage kids to get additional training outside of what he is implementing during his time with the kids, he does not discourage kids from playing other sports.

 

I believe Dale is a minority here but he knows what he is doing and the parents and kids trust him.

He will someday be a very wealthy man if he wants to write a few books about how to coach HS football :thumb: