What is Highlands' secret?

[dd734]

Well after 120 posts no one is going to come off the truth about an answer to the post title. What is Highlands secret? Many years ago an alien space ship crashed in Ft.Thomas. There were little magic Bluebirds that escaped from the crashed space craft. As long as they didn't hatch any eggs there would be no bad things happen in The Fort. So they left their Football God to feed the Magic baby Bluebird eggs to Highlands players as a way to keep them from hatching. Thus, Highlands secret!

[cvgwheats]

The only two secrets are tradition and hard work. From burr haircuts to riding bikes to practice busting your butt in death valley to coaches houses watching film and becoming a family a rich winning family of football legend

[Sweeperboy]

The only two secrets are tradition and hard work. From burr haircuts to riding bikes to practice busting your butt in death valley to coaches houses watching film and becoming a family a rich winning family of football legend

 

Burr haircuts and riding bikes? Geez, next you are going to tell me that they used to have curfews and bed checks. What did they run up there in Ft Thomas a military base or something............................................

[birdseye]

Navy Seals

[Qryche11]

Navy Seals

 

Miniature Navy Seals maybe. Lol

[ft bronc]

I will go for a motivational coach over and ranting and raving on any day.

 

It never ceases to amaze me every time I see a youth or high school coach yelling & screaming at their kids, as though demeaning them will miraculously improve their performance. My son played on a baseball team a few years ago where the head coach spent the last 10 minutes before each game berating the kids on how bad they did taking infield, how lazy they were, etc, etc, etc, and then could never figure out why they underperformed in the games.

 

Every year, Dale sets an example for all coaches to see of what the best methods are for handling modern kids, but still there are those youth coaches out there who seem bent on proving they know better.

 

Dale is a very special coach and his impact on the Highlands program can simply not be overstated.

[Sweeperboy]

It never ceases to amaze me every time I see a youth or high school coach yelling & screaming at their kids, as though demeaning them will miraculously improve their performance. My son played on a baseball team a few years ago where the head coach spent the last 10 minutes before each game berating the kids on how bad they did taking infield, how lazy they were, etc, etc, etc, and then could never figure out why they underperformed in the games.

 

Agree and disagree. You know and I know each and every kid has to be handled differently, some can be pushed to the limits and handle it perfectly fine and then there are kids that must be handled with kid gloves. The coach that can seperate these kind of kids, understand them and what makes them go is the guy that gets the most out of his team as a whole and that guy we agree on is Dale. :thumb:

Dale handles things publicly with consistency, and his consistency it is how you described it above and as parents and as a society it is how it must be done to be successful. JMO

I must ask you this question, have you ever seen Dale go off on the kids as a whole?

Edited December 8, 2011 by Birdsfan

[ft bronc]

Agree and disagree. You know and I know each and every kid has to be handled differently, some can be pushed to the limits and handle it perfectly fine and then there are kids that must be handled with kid gloves. The coach that can seperate these kind of kids, understand them and what makes them go is the guy that gets the most out of his team as a whole and that guy we agree on is Dale. :thumb:

Dale handles things publicly with consistency, and his consistency it is how you described it above and as parents and as a society it is how it must be done to be successful. JMO

I must ask you this question, have you ever seen Dale go off on the kids as a whole?

 

Personally, I've never witnessed him go off on the kids as a whole, and am aware of that happening only a couple times over the past few years where some non-football issues needed to be addressed. I did see him jump all over one kid a couple years ago, who in all honestly, really needed it.

[2 Humped Camel]

I thought that it was that every team was a little bit faster than the one before it and that they always played mad.

[katbird]

I thought that it was that every team was a little bit faster than the one before it and that they always played mad.

 

 

That's a given..:ylsuper:

[Sweeperboy]

Personally, I've never witnessed him go off on the kids as a whole, and am aware of that happening only a couple times over the past few years where some non-football issues needed to be addressed. I did see him jump all over one kid a couple years ago, who in all honestly, really needed it.

 

And this is the discipline factor that Dale certainly has under control at Highlands that lends to the recipe of success.

And when you saw Dale jump that one kid, he sent a loud and clear message to that kid and to anyone that listened as well including parents as to how he felt about that particular situation. Few kids dont need to be individually disciplined and never will be disciplined by a coach in his lifetime, but it doesnt hurt from now and then for even these type of kids to second hand hear it just so when HS is over and life begins they are not in for a reality shock treatment.

 

And here is another secret, and a message Dale sends to the players: He prepares these kids for their days beyond Highlands.

Edited December 8, 2011 by Birdsfan

[OldCamelNewBird]

The rule has always been more is better. The more kids you have the better you are going to be. The one exception to that is Highlands. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but HHS only has about 450 boys? Now how is it that a school with only 450 boys continues to turn out teams that can at least compete (and sometimes beat) teams with 3 and 4X times the number of kids. Pound for Pound HHS has to be the best team in KY year in year out. So what's their secret? Is it the youth league program, ie. feeder system? Have they just been lucky in the talent that grows up in the area? I mean how many D1 QB's have come from HHS? What about other positions?

 

Does Ft. Thomas youth program just do a better job of teaching football at a young age? What is it about their program that as lead to such success? Is it something other then the feeder system?

 

I don't want this to turn into mud slinging so please don't bother posting if it's only to make accuasations.

 

I played at Highlands from 2000 to 2004, so I've had a much more recent perspective as opposed to the pre-Dale era.

 

1. Dale is a great motivator during training. He stresses being the first one into the lift, doing decline reps when your arms are shot, setting the bar higher than you might even set it for yourself, etc. If I was slacking, he would always notice, and tell me that I should have been in the higher-up running group than I was. Most of all, HE RAN WITH US. To see your leader out there, old enough to be your father, busting his chops with you, you realize that the team is in this thing together.

 

2. All Highlands players want to carry on the winning tradition. All I ever thought about while playing in the JFBL was being the best team ever to come through the system. I wanted to impress previous Highlands players, I wanted our team to be remembered, and everybody else on the team did too.

 

3. The competitive nature of Highlands players is incredibly high. We expect to win at everything, whether that be beating out the guy next to you in a sprint, benching more than everybody else at your position, or even being the first one to get to the water troth. We pushed each other to get better. If one of us fell down, the other picked them up.

 

4. Probably the biggest "secret" to success was being able to weed out the "bad eggs". If guys were out doing things that they weren't supposed to, players really looked down upon them. Guys who were getting in trouble or doing these bad things were isolated and eventually left the team. We had a job to get done and there was never any room for slackers or guys who would pull you down.

 

When I was playing football at Highlands, I would sometimes get the question, "What do you do?" and I would respond, "I'm a Highlands football player". All of my teammates really bought in to the work ethic of the Highlands program. There was no such thing as going half way. We really identified with being Highlands football players and being proud of it. That is how I describe the success of the Highland program while I was there.

Edited December 8, 2011 by Birdsfan

[Henry521]

I played at Highlands from 2000 to 2004, so I've had a much more recent perspective as opposed to the pre-Dale era.

 

1. Dale is a great motivator during training. He stresses being the first one into the lift, doing decline reps when your arms are shot, setting the bar higher than you might even set it for yourself, etc. If I was slacking, he would always notice, and tell me that I should have been in the higher-up running group than I was. Most of all, HE RAN WITH US. To see your leader out there, old enough to be your father, busting his chops with you, you realize that the team is in this thing together.

 

2. All Highlands players want to carry on the winning tradition. All I ever thought about while playing in the JFBL was being the best team ever to come through the system. I wanted to impress previous Highlands players, I wanted our team to be remembered, and everybody else on the team did too.

 

3. The competitive nature of Highlands players is incredibly high. We expect to win at everything, whether that be beating out the guy next to you in a sprint, benching more than everybody else at your position, or even being the first one to get to the water troth. We pushed each other to get better. If one of us fell down, the other picked them up.

 

4. Probably the biggest "secret" to success was being able to weed out the "bad eggs". If guys were out doing things that they weren't supposed to, players really looked down upon them. Guys who were getting in trouble or doing these bad things were isolated and eventually left the team. We had a job to get done and there was never any room for slackers or guys who would pull you down.

 

When I was playing football at Highlands, I would sometimes get the question, "What do you do?" and I would respond, "I'm a Highlands football player". All of my teammates really bought in to the work ethic of the Highlands program. We really identified with being Highlands football players and being proud of it. That is how I describe the success of the Highland program while I was there.

 

Very nice!:thumb:

Edited December 8, 2011 by Birdsfan

[Frank329]

I played at Highlands from 2000 to 2004, so I've had a much more recent perspective as opposed to the pre-Dale era.

 

1. Dale is a great motivator during training. He stresses being the first one into the lift, doing decline reps when your arms are shot, setting the bar higher than you might even set it for yourself, etc. If I was slacking, he would always notice, and tell me that I should have been in the higher-up running group than I was. Most of all, HE RAN WITH US. To see your leader out there, old enough to be your father, busting his chops with you, you realize that the team is in this thing together.

 

2. All Highlands players want to carry on the winning tradition. All I ever thought about while playing in the JFBL was being the best team ever to come through the system. I wanted to impress previous Highlands players, I wanted our team to be remembered, and everybody else on the team did too.

 

3. The competitive nature of Highlands players is incredibly high. We expect to win at everything, whether that be beating out the guy next to you in a sprint, benching more than everybody else at your position, or even being the first one to get to the water troth. We pushed each other to get better. If one of us fell down, the other picked them up.

 

4. Probably the biggest "secret" to success was being able to weed out the "bad eggs". If guys were out doing things that they weren't supposed to, players really looked down upon them. Guys who were getting in trouble or doing these bad things were isolated and eventually left the team. We had a job to get done and there was never any room for slackers or guys who would pull you down.

 

When I was playing football at Highlands, I would sometimes get the question, "What do you do?" and I would respond, "I'm a Highlands football player". All of my teammates really bought in to the work ethic of the Highlands program. We really identified with being Highlands football players and being proud of it. That is how I describe the success of the Highland program while I was there.

 

Excellent post!!!

Edited December 8, 2011 by Birdsfan

[jpa2825]

It also comes down to the little things. For example, throughout the elementary schools in Ft. Thomas this past week, students did coloring and other projects that included well wishes for the team members. That's a pretty good start and would go a long way toward "building the tradition."

 

However, even that goes to the next level. The football Moms picked these drawings up at each of the schools, segregated them to make sure any drawings that were specifically featuring or addressed to a football player (family member, neighbor, son of a teacher, etc.) were properly identified and then incorporated into that player's door decorations.

 

The sendoff, the signage through town, the well packed coolers, the snacks, the hoodies and even the "Take 5" candy bars taped to each player's door remind them that they are not playing just for themselves and their teammates -- they are playing for a community.