I think the dead period is enough. I think it should be up to the coach to make a decision on whether the team needs a break or continue.

I have never had a problem with heat and we average 70-80 offensive plays a plays a game. We have reached 90 some. My point is if I knew it was unhealthy for my players I would not do it.

 

I have question on how are we going to get kids acclimated to the heat? Some coaches know how to do it and some don't. I think the majority of coaches already side on caution.

 

My question about Joe Prince's topic #3 about going to camps and scrimmaging other teams never got answered.

 

He also, brings up a great point in his life that said football got him out of trouble. Same with me (as a teen) and A lot of kids need football in June/July to help keep them out of trouble. Again, we have the dead period where we can't have any contact with them. I think it's good, but over a month and a half of no football practice is ridiculous. You know who will get them? Basketball......

 

I don't want to hear about insurance. If that's the case then where is basketball getting their insurance? I think coaches are afraid of the grind. IF you are it's just like teaching in school if your tired of kids then it's time to get out! I have children at home and I spend time with all of them and single time with all of them. You will see them at our practices some times filling water bottles. Don't tell me I can't manage my time and spend time with 4 children under the age of 9. It can be done. We go everywhere. So spending time with family is not a problem.

Why it works? because we manage our time. I give players off from Friday-Sunday every June. If someone wants to practice their kids on Friday, by all means do it. During the season I don't see them until Monday. They want to see their game grade, log onto hudl.com and there it is. This allows me to spend time with my family and players with their family.

 

I understand not everyone does this and it would not work in probably 90% of the schools, idk, but don't tell me when and how I have to practice. I have kept the Heat Index logs and NOT go to camps that have full contact before the contact dates because I knew that catastrophic injury insurance didn't kick in til July 15th. Some choose not too and that was their choice. As the leader of their program that's what they get paid to do.

 

With the Heat Index we were doing that before those kids died. It was something some coaches did and some didn't. Again, some coaches take the side of caution and some don't.

 

I think SOME coaches are killing this sport and they have no idea they are doing it.

Sorry, but I take issue with a lot of things Coach Prince mentioned. Just because some of us have it harder than others doesn't mean we need to legislate things across the state. I'm blessed to be somewhere that we have to keep our kids away, but I've also been places where our kids needed to be at football because it was WAY better than being at home. Issues are different at each school and in each community. Let us figure it out ourselves and don't tell us when we can work with our kids.

 

The bold type below are my thoughts (I hope it shows up correctly). Please don't take it as a shot at Coach Prince, just my thoughts on some of the comments that were made.

 

 

4th The older I become the more I see that because WE didn’t always use good common sense, the more WE lost. Examples are as follows:

 

A. 7 on7 in June. We would go to UofL and play all day. We started at 9 or 10 and finish at 7 pm. It wasn’t very smart. Our kids were worn down with blisters and aches. We were not in shape to do that and I put our kids at risk for injury. I saw Henderson lose an all-state LB due to a torn ACL another year. I like a little 7 on7, but after 2 games, I am done. I like teaching concepts but do we really have to play to win a trophy? Playing 4-7 games in one day, is it really worth it?

 

Why were your kids out of shape? Why weren't they working out and conditioning in March, April, and May? I played high school ball in the mid 90's and we were doing this. This seems like poor planing.

 

B. We have heat index charts now because we lost some KIDS due to death. WE needed the heat index. Not everyone has the capacity to make judgement calls like heat. It takes the call off of us and that is good. Just like lightening, I have seen where people keep playing or practicing when they see it “FAR AWAY”. I know someone that was knocked off his feet in practice by lightening. Ask him what he thinks about “far away” lightening. He runs for cover.

 

Who argues about the heat index? That's why most programs, at least the ones I've had the privilege of being associated with, workout in the mornings to beat the heat.

 

C. We give our players 1 month off in the summer. I just believe that kids need to have some time to be kids. When I grew up in Mayfield we did not see the coaches for summer workouts. It was understood we had to report in shape.

 

Unfortunately, all of our kids aren't "Mayfield" kids. They need us to help keep them on track. Give your kids a month off if you want, but don't make me do the same. Our kids get two weeks off and, like Rambo said, they get Friday off as well. We don't see them from 12 on Thursday until Monday morning. That's plenty of time in my opinion.

 

D. This past year was a lot of fun for me personally. I enjoyed every minute except losing in the final game. But the one thing that I look back on and came to realize is that in was long! We started conditioning July 15 and ended Dec. 7. That is 1 week from being 5 months. We play too long. I personally thing if we want to do what is right, we need to cut out the bye week AND have only 2 teams from each district make the playoffs. Start a week later, July 22 and end on Thanksgiving weekend. We lose in long seasons. I believe we could get more kids to play if we shortened our season. Would you want to encourage your players to play another sport if they might not report until you have already played some games? I know that basketball is also a long sport, but I will leave that up to them to do what is right by their players.

 

So much wrong here. When our kids were crying as they walked off the field for the last time this season it wasn't because the season was too long. They would have given almost anything for 2 or 3 extra weeks! And how does cutting the bye week help? Give your kids a break during the season and have a few light practices and give them an extra day off that week. You can't talk about player safety when your putting your kids through 2 scrimmages (which are unnecessary in my opinion) and then 11 straight games. If you want to mandate something mandate a bye week!

 

I've never heard any kid quit because a season is too long. If they don't want to commit to the offseason work you probably don't want to try and count on them in September and October. Football isn't for everyone. Shorting the season won't get numbers up. Quit tackling people in practice everyday and learn how to make practices fun. Incorporate music. Mix up the schedule. There are tons of ways to help the season not seem so long for the kids.

 

Why do we continually want to cut teams out of the playoffs? I know that's a whole other can of worms, but I can't help but think of 3 seed Cooper making it to the finals a few years ago. Why should we take that opportunity away from them. Some teams have tough districts, some don't. You want to punish Manual, Male, or St. X because they are in the same district? Why eliminate a good team from the playoffs. It hurts no one.

 

5th I see some things that concern me about our sport’s health. I have never seen this many openings in head coaching positions. We need to address the sudden changes. It is getting scarce getting quality assistant coaches, much less head coaches. We need to start getting more prospective coaches into education. To do this, there needs to be pay increases, less time working on football in down time (ask how many coaches have been divorced due to football time), more assistants in programs, better facilities, etc. I have witnessed schools with 3 coaches on staff and none where in the building. Some schools facilities are terrible. I haven’t even mentioned fundraising. It is a necessary evil.

 

I agree with a lot of this, but these are local issues. Pay increases will have to be given to other sports as well because of Title IX. It's not happening unless your boosters want to kick it in. We don't do it for the money anyway, so that seems like a non-issue to me. Your marriage should be more important than football. Take a year off or quit all together. If you've gotten a divorce because of football you either didn't marry the right person or you didn't manage your time and put your family first. Why do the rest of us need to be punished because some guys can't figure out how to balance out their personal lives? So much other stuff are local issues. Until local districts are willing to make commitments to fixing them nothing can be done.

 

6th Coaches need to coach! I haven’t had to do any field work since I have been at OHS, but I used too. I have mowed, fertilized, aerated, painted, and any anything else that needed to be done. This is not a coaches job. We are trained to do that and frankly don’t have the time to concentrate on our players and program to worry about those things. I wonder how many times Urban Meyer painted the fields this past year?

 

I agree. It makes it easier when you don't have to do those things but that's not always an option for some people. It's also not the worst thing in the world for some young coaches to cut their teeth doing some of those things. Find parent volunteers. Be nice to your custodians and maintenance people. There are solutions if you're willing to work hard enough to find them.

Go to down south. KY just needs to do what they do. One thing is they could careless if a bball ever bounced down there so they don't cater to hoops. Go to Mississippi and do what they do with the heat. I guess in the delta down there in July and August the devil gets hot. Just do what they do in the south where everyone knows that is where football is at its best!!

I think I agree with everything he says.

 

If I had a vote I'd vote for the entire month of June as dead.

 

Some coaches really need to look at some of the research being done on over-use and chronic sports injuries. Kids playing the same sport year round are hurting themselves. If coaches in ALL SPORTS don't start taking this seriously then guidelines are going to be mandated (like concussion guidelines and heat index rules) by people who don't know and don't care what impact they will actually have on sports.

They don't care what goes on down south.

 

Concerning football we have to do what basketball ain't. We offer one game a week, conditioning in school, and a free summer. May get more kids to participate. Kids ain't lazy; they are more selfish with their time, which isn't a bad thing.

Football is the only sports that doesn't play year round! Baseball and hoops is year round, football has 1 month of 7 on 7 and 10 spring practices days.

Football is the only sports that doesn't play year round! Baseball and hoops is year round, football has 1 month of 7 on 7 and 10 spring practices days.

 

First of all, thank you coach Prince for all you've done at OHS. You've been a positive influence and a rock of stability for several kids who've needed it.

 

I think coach prince makes several great points. Rambo did as well. I think some coaches haven't used common sense over the years and it's been detrimental to the health of some players. I agree with Rambo that 7on7s should be brought back in June but I also agree with coach prince that it could be overdone if coaches aren't careful. Like anything, there is realm of common sense that needs to be observed and as well all know, some people have no common sense.

 

I also agree with coach prince that more people interested in coaching should be encouraged to pursue education. Speaking of, I should probably finish my degree at wku in middle school social studies lol. I also agree with sports fans who said schools need to do a better job of getting coaches in the schools they coach at.

 

Also, never underestimate the value of parents. Try to keep them doing as much as possible like sending kids to camps and getting their kids proper nutrition. If parents aren't an option then find someone close to a kid or get volunteers to help with extra things. There are many folks who will be more then happy to help (with no pay) for the betterment of the program. Guys with full tome jobs who just want to pitch in.

 

Great points, and I think everyone wants to see Kentucky high school football improve.

Just a quick quest for devils58: Did Owensboro take a full month off rather than the normal two week Dead Period, as Coach Prince suggests we all do in the future?

Just a quick quest for devils58: Did Owensboro take a full month off rather than the normal two week Dead Period, as Coach Prince suggests we all do in the future?

 

I believe owensboro takes off a full month off during the summer. Coach prince has done this for quite a while now and the kids seems to like it.

The biggest problem with getting young guys to coach today is well one of many but the first thing.

1. Pay- In Ky the pay is bad when compared to states to the south. I know of several guys that are from KY that coach in Georgia and you cant pay them enough to come back home. Like Coach Prince said PAY needs to increase. THE MONEY IS IN THE FOOTBALL STATES!! So if you are a young single guy where are you going to coach? Are you going to stay in KY where the pay is bad and your sport plays 2nd fiddle to basketball? I know of two young coaches that played football with my sons and one is in GA and the other in ALA coaching.

2. The things going on in public schools today with teachers and coaches getting sued or made to look like the bad guys when it is really the parents and the kid. From talking to friends of mine that are teachers the government has made it so hard to discipline problem kids it is unreal the stories. I really believe that that runs off not only coaches but kids that think about teaching. I heard a story the other day about a kid calling a teacher B$%^& in class and was in school the next day.

No one should coach for the money. It's a nice perk, but not the be all end all. Some coaches stay in KY because that's where their families are. And an extra few thousand in GA is nice, but the cost of living is higher as well. A lot of those things don't always get factored in. Plus, KY retirement is pays better than GA and AL retirement. A lot of benefits to coaching here if you are willing to look at the big picture and take everything into account. Plus, do you know how much you need to save in and I are a to make $60,000 a year every year in retirement? It's a lot. So while teaching doesn't always pay off while you're working it definitely pays off in the end.

No one should coach for the money. It's a nice perk, but not the be all end all. Some coaches stay in KY because that's where their families are. And an extra few thousand in GA is nice, but the cost of living is higher as well. A lot of those things don't always get factored in. Plus, KY retirement is pays better than GA and AL retirement. A lot of benefits to coaching here if you are willing to look at the big picture and take everything into account. Plus, do you know how much you need to save in and I are a to make $60,000 a year every year in retirement? It's a lot. So while teaching doesn't always pay off while you're working it definitely pays off in the end.

 

Oh no here we go again another person saying you shouldn't coach for the money!!! Seriously, WHY CANT COACHES MAKE MONEY!! What do you do for a living? So you shouldn't make money because of your certain job? Give me a break with that crap!!!!! That is the problem people like you think "Coaches should do it for the love of the game". HORSE HOCKEY!!!!! That is the problem in this state people like you saying that crap!!! And there are plenty of places in Ga and ALA that the cost of living is much less than several cities in KY. And another ? you have research the teachers retirement system in those states? Georgia pays their teachers as good as any state around them, FACT. They are killing the others states down there getting their best teachers to come to GA. Call Jeb Irwin at Lassiter in Ga and ask him. He is from London and left being the head coach at SL to back south. He is making about 60,000 bucks more a year being a head coach in GA. Factor that into your retirement!!!

Oh no here we go again another person saying you shouldn't coach for the money!!! Seriously, WHY CANT COACHES MAKE MONEY!! What do you do for a living? So you shouldn't make money because of your certain job? Give me a break with that crap!!!!! That is the problem people like you think "Coaches should do it for the love of the game". HORSE HOCKEY!!!!! That is the problem in this state people like you saying that crap!!! And there are plenty of places in Ga and ALA that the cost of living is much less than several cities in KY. And another ? you have research the teachers retirement system in those states? Georgia pays their teachers as good as any state around them, FACT. They are killing the others states down there getting their best teachers to come to GA. Call Jeb Irwin at Lassiter in Ga and ask him. He is from London and left being the head coach at SL to back south. He is making about 60,000 bucks more a year being a head coach in GA. Factor that into your retirement!!!

 

No one said coaches aren't entitled to make money. But to say a few thousand dollars in extra pay is the be all end all is incorrect. I know Jep and he does get paid handsomely in Georgia. But those jobs don't exist everywhere like everyone seems to think. And I do know a little bit about the retirement systems. Alabama and Georgia retirement starts off much cheaper than Kentucky for the same number of years worked. If you get to be a head coach it can balance out but not everyone falls in to those jobs so easily.

 

If you extrapolate teaching pay over what everyone else works that doesn't teach, we teachers are paid fairly well. No one is complaining about that. If a coach wants to do something to make more money by all means. But teaching and coaching in Kentucky is not as bad as some people are trying to make it out to be. You have to find where you are going to be happy and that should matter most of all.

I would say if you ask coaches if they would like a few thousand dollars more you would be hard pressed to find one that would turn it down. And now factor in the sport of football is king in the state (the south) that you are coaching would weigh heaving on any young or old coach. Coaches like feeling needed and one of the things that make you fill needed in any profession is your pay. And yes most football coaches in KY could go work at Wal Mart for 1/4 of the time they spend coaching and make much more money there than they do coaching. I think Joe is talking a lot about making the pay better here to make it more attractive to young coaches. And there a SEVERAL jobs in GA that pay 6 figures for head coaches and a lot of them come with benefits like a vehicle paid for by the booster club. Heck I would say in GA in several cases you would be hard pressed to find a Coordinator that is not making over 10,000 bucks for a coaching supplement. I am just saying if you are young and starting out why wouldn't you go to the south to coach the sport you love. Jep job isn't even one of the big dogs when it comes to pay down there. When you get out in the in the systems with 1 or 2 high schools that is where the real big money is. I know for a fact there is a county in GA that pays the head coach 10,000 for ever state title that he has won above what the regular supplement is. So yes I am for paying football coaches in KY because they put in more time than any other sport, it is not even close.

I don't disagree, but you need to understand it's boosters that are kicking in that extra money, not the school districts. Any school in Kentucky could do the same thing if they have someone willing to write the check. Any you can't raise pay for football coaches without doing it across the board for girls and boys basketball, and baseball in some districts. In the current economic times that's a losing fight. I understand your argument, but there isn't anything coaches can do about it.