Pete Carroll

Pete Carroll's coaching career was jump started in 1973 when his former football Coach Chester Caddas offered him a position as a Graduate assisstant at University of the Pacific. This Allowed Pete to earn a Secondary Credintial and recieve a Masters Degree in Physical Education. From 1978 through 1983 Pete had various coaching positions at 4 different universities from the east coast to the west. From 1984 through 1999 Carroll moved on to the NFL, where he held several positions. After having disappointing seasons as head coach for the NY Jets and later for the NE Patriots it looked as though his career as a head coach might be over. He was released from the Patriots in '99. In 2000 when a head coaching position opened at USC, Carroll really wasn't what they were looking for but after trying a few venues he was the man to get the spot. Since then he has had a winning percentage of 85.4%, has made multiple trips to the National title game, and consistently won the Pac 10 conference title.

What I hope we can all take from Pete's story is that in coaching if we want to make it to where he is (making $2,782,000 a year) we must be willing to sacrifice and tough it out for what might be many years. If you read more about him you will see how many different places he coached and what the different pay scales were. To make it in this business you have got to be ready to dive in and give it all you have. For coaching opportunitites try these links:

• Simply Hired

• Football and Coaching

• C.O.A.C.H.

• College Grad.com

Internships

I know I've said it before, but when it comes to bettering your chances of being successful in coaching, experience is absolutely invaluable. On CollegeView.com I read up a little on the importance of internships, they say "You no longer have to simply be more qualified than the person next to you, you have to be more qualified than countless others all around the world. Going to a college or university is a critical step, but you can greatly enhance your classroom learning by gaining real world experience through college student internships." They continue to explain how these are a great way to establish social networking, or in other words get your name out there. Thats why I've compiled a list of links that will lead you to a slew of sports related internships. As I searched I found that there are openingings all over the country and I realized these are opportunities that we can't afford to pass up.

• Sports Internship Book- 2009
• 
  
• Job Monkey
• 
  
• NCAA Scholarships and Internships
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• University of Dreams
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• Sports Careers
• 
  
• Sports Career Finder

Forever Strong

I love a great sports movie, my wife laughs because I still shed a tear every time I watch Rudy. "Forever Strong" is not the greatest movie I have ever seen but I absolutely loved it because of the priciples found within.

If you look at my blog about "Coaching Pilosophies" you'll see I talk a lot about the difference between strategy and philosophy. "Forever Strong" is a prime example of these differences. Larry Gelwix is the head coach of the Highlands High Rugby team and throught out the film you see how he takes a personal interest in each one of his players. His goal is to not only build a winning team but to build character in each one of his players. In contrast one of Gelwix's opponents Richard Penning is all about x's and o's, strategy, and numbers.

I would recommend this film to all those who are coaching or looking to coach. We have a great opportunity to influence our players and shape their lives. Though my words may not be very convincing Gelwix's record is. In his 33 years of coaching at Highland he has won 379 games and lost only 9.

To watch the trailer click here:

• Forever Strong (trailer)

One Small Step For... Fan

One small step for fan, one huge step for fan-kind. Alright so nothing is official yet but steps are being made toward the investigation of fairness in the Bowl Championship Series. For years the BCS has baffled and frustrated fans and teams in the college football world. We never could figure out the reasoning behind it, well congressman Neil Abercrombie, a Democrat from Hawaii, is strongly voicing his opinion "Abercrombie said... college football is big business with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake. 'It’s money. That’s what this is all about,' he said." Abercrombie isn't alone, he is backed by Lynn Westmoreland (Republican-Georgia) and Mike Simpson (Republican-Idaho) in introducing a resolution to the unpopular BCS.

So what does this mean for coaches? It will offer more opportunities to reach the championship for coaches of teams like Boise State or Hawaii who have had perfect records in recent years but because of BCS stipulations were not afforded such an opportunity. For those of us climbing the coaching latter and who have not quite made it to the big name Division I schools like USC, OU, LSU, etc. we can reach the big games quicker with an abolition of BCS. This would jump start our careers and offer growth and financial improvement for the smaller schools where we may be working.

We have a responsibility to support this movement. Lets stay informed and engaged.

Here are some links to read up on more about the investigation:

• NBC Sports
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• ESPN College Football
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• Fox Sports

Offseason Preparation

Generally what we do as a football program can be broken up into 3 time periods:

-Offseason

-In-season

-Transition

Interestingly these are listed in order of how much time is dedicated to each. About 7 months of our year is dedicated to offseason practice and conditioning, 4 months to in-season, and 1-2 months to relax your mind and body in a transition period.

When we look at it this way we realize just how crucial our offseason activities are. Here are some key points to remember as we get ready to move into our football season: (click on each to learn more)

• Make sure your strength training is converted to explosive power.



• Always incorporate flexibility training



• Create a plan that insures peak condition upon entering the regular season.

Offseason work is the foundation that we build successful teams on. Follow these steps to make sure your team is well prepared to win from day 1.

Experience

Recently I read an article in USA football.com about the importance of getting in-field experience when interested in coaching football. Coach Tom Bass, the technical writer and advisor for USA Football, is a 30-year NFL coach, he wrote:

"Being a part of the football program in whatever way at the college you attend will be a real plus for your football education. If for some reason that does not happen, see if you can volunteer for a youth team or high school team and start your football experience at the same time you are in college.

Try to attend every clinic you can, go and visit any practice that is available and introduce yourself and visit with every coach that you can meet. Then take the time to keep in touch with each coach. Coaches move from job to job, openings occur and someone you have established contact with may be in a position to offer you a football coaching position."

When interveiwing for coaching positions what will jump off the page of your resume wont be what kind of GPA you had during college or even the degrees you have recieved (lets be honest most coaches' schooling is similar), it will be the experience that you have in coaching football.
Here are some links that will lead you to opportunities to volunteer and get involved in football programs near you:

• Football Camps



• Coaching Clinics



• Youth Football Directory



• Junior College Directory

Featured Coach Friday: "Big Game Bob" Stoops

Its not hard to see why Bob Stoops has become one of the highest paid and most well known coaches in college football. Everywhere Stoops has coached winning percentages have increased. It is hard to ignored someone when they make teams win every time they come around. He is so well known that one night when family of mine in Oklahoma knelt to say a nightly prayer their 4 year old daughter gave thanks for Bob Stoops. He began his coaching career at Kansas State in 1989 as a DB coach and then a co-defensive coordinator. In 1996 he went to Florida as a defensive coordinator. With both teams he helped them reach national contention and even was part of the National Championship with the Gators in 96. In 1999 Bob Stoops was hired as a head coach for the Oklahoma University Sooners. Since then the Sooners have only lost 2 home games and have won 1 National Championship, 4 bowl games, and 6 Big12 Championships.

So what is the secret to his success? We see part of it here in an article about the job interview that Joe Castiglione (Athletic Director, OU) had with Stoops:

Castiglione sought out all sorts of details, including game week preparation, recruiting philosophy, the importance of academics, the hiring of staff, what kind of offensive scheme Stoops might favor.

Then Stoops surprised Castiglione.

"One thing I never heard, ‘Give me five or six years.' Never once did he say that or infer it,” Castiglione said. "He said, ‘I don't think I would be fair to the players that we inherit or that we recruit that first year, if I didn't give them the best chance to be successful. (News OK)

Based on what Stoops says here and what we have seen in his career we can conclude that one of the keys to his success is that he doesn't waste time. For him the term "rebuilding process" does not exist, he takes care of business now. It took Stoops just ten years to excel from DB coach to head coach of a big name Division I school and it only took him one year to lead that struggling team to the 2000 National Championship and finish the season undefeated, outscoring 13 opponents by a combined 481-194.

Special Teams

It seems that all too often in football we spend 3 or 4 days a week practicing offense and defense and then the day before our game we spend 1 hour on covering kick off, kick off return, punt, punt return, PAT, PAT block, and feild goals. The reason why we don't spend enough time on special teams is that we do not understand their importance.

Let me break it down real simple:
When you control special teams you control field position.
When you control field position you win the game.

One of the difficulties we face when coaching special teams is a lack of player interest unless they get to touch the ball. There are different ways to adress this, of which 2 are:

1. It must be important to you as a coach before it will ever become important for the player. Show a special interest in your special teams perhaps by allocating more time to them. (For example University of Hawaii starts and finishes every practice with a special teams drill)
   
2. Provide an incentive. Come up with a rewards system or special recognitions for those who don't get the spotlight of touching the ball.

Here are some sights to learn more on the special teams coaching techniques:

• Rewards System
  
  



• Special Teams Clinics
  
  



• Drills and Plays
  
  



• University of Hawaii

Fitzgerald-ism

More and more today we see players trying to outdo each other not with level of skill but with end zone dances, trash talk, and show boatin'. Its tainting the image of our American sport. Take Terrell Owens for example, a great receiver and competitor but he can not let a game pass with out making headlines in an obnoxious way. Then there's Chad Johnson who has recently changed his name to Chad "Ocho- Cinco" in honor of his glorious number, who is also a great receiver.
In contrast one of the best players in the league Larry Fitzgerald does his talking with his undeniably reliable play. I can remember when I first watched Fitzgerald play when he was at the University of Pittsburgh. Initially I was impressed with his ability to catch anything that came near him but what struck me the most and has stayed with me through out the years was his conduct in between plays. I noticed that he would run quickly to and from the huddle. Upon finishing a play, no matter how big or small, he would promptly run to the nearest official and hand him the ball. There was never any talking or dancing, just classy, professional, competition.
Let us promote and exemplify this Fitzgerald-ism to our players that we may restore class through the old saying "Do your talking with your actions".

Coaching Philosophy

Recently I have been taking a look at my own coaching philosophy and I found it interesting to compare it with philosophies of other coaches that I could find online. First of all there seems to be some confusion between the deffinition of philosophy and strategy.

Philosophy: The rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct. (Dictionary.com)

Strategy: A plan, method, or series of maneuvers or stratagems for obtaining a specific goal or result. (Dictionary.com)

Too many times while I was researching "philosophies" did I find something that resembled a strategy. I am convinced that to be successful in coaching it will take more than strategy, it will require an understanding of how to influence our players. I found it well put by Mike Singletary in this article on Suite 101.com when he said "If anyone would ask me what coaching really means, it's not really about winning. It's not really about Xs and Os. All of those things go into it, but it's about influence." Another quote from the article is "And the truly great coaches know how to influence not only the plays that are called on the field, but the minds and hearts of the players executing those plays."

Take a look at your coaching "philosophy" (if you have one, if you don't, work on one!) and make sure it doesn't get lost in strategy.

Here are some links that offer good advice on coaching philosophies:

• Suite 101.com
  
• University of Texas of the Permian Basin
  
• Sports Performance Coaching

"If you don’t have a distinct philosophy, then you haven’t decided what’s important to you. And if you don’t know what’s important then you won’t be able to tell your coaches or athletes what’s important. If they don’t know what your philosophy is, then they can’t be held accountable when they screw it up."- Pete Carroll (Sports Performance Coaching)

Touchdown Tuesday

An ode to one of the greatest offensive players of our generation, Reggie Bush.

Assistant Coaches

So we don't jump straight to head coach we have to work our way up right? How much are we going to get paid along the way? Here's a few numbers from Market Power:

• In 2000, N.C. State got a lot of attention for building one of the first $1 million staffs, and remember that's spread over nine men.


• The nine Missouri assistant coaches will earn a collective $1,451,396 this year.


• The average Big 12 coaching staff, not including the head coach, earned $1,394,491 in base salary last year.


• The league average ranked second only to the Southeastern Conference ($1,425,130) among the six major conferences.

Incentive

As if doing what you love and coaching the sport you live for wasn't incentive enough how about the fact that "Head coaches at the NCAA's top-level schools are making an average of $950,000 this year, not counting benefits, incentives, subsidized housing or any of the perks they routinely receive. At least 42 of the 119 Division I-A coaches are earning $1 million or more this year, up from five in 1999." That's a quote from USA Today's article tittled "Million-Dollar Coaches Move into Mainstream."

The article covers the pros and cons of this growing pay scale for head coaches. As far as I can see, there are only pros for those of us who have this as our goal in life. As I have mentioned in past posts the road ahead of each one of us is a road of hard work and sacrifice. But as we see in this article, if we gamble and head down this road with all our might the pay off will be worth it.

Read the article and see what you think:

Here's a related article: The Money Game

Football Drills

As you prepare this summer you will want to fill your practice plans with the most current and effecient drills. Here are some links to football drills on video for each position:


1. Defense:

• Defensive line

• Linebackers

• Defensive backs
  

2. Offense:

• Offensive line

• Running backs

• Quaterbacks

• Receivers

Coaching Clinics

It is important to know that clinics are not free. Most clinics will last 1 to 3 days and will range from $50 to $200 dollars depending on who is putting it on and the caliber of guest speakers on the agenda. You can usually receive group rates when you attend with your coaching staff.

Generally clinics run between the months of January and April. So plan ahead because many offer discounts for registering early. We also need to understand that there are clinics that may cover nearly all aspects of coaching while others are extremely specific and focus on one facet like running backs, line backers, lineman, or offensive strategies. So plan your clinic attendance based on what your weaknesses are and what clinics will address them most specifically.

Here are some clinic providers and there rates:
(Click on them to see their individual websites)

• Frank Glazier Clinics 2 -3 days $200
  


• USA Football Schools 1 day $50
  


• Nike Coach of the Year Clinics 1 day $60-$95
  


• Coaching Clinic international 3 days $65-$85

Advancements in Coaching

Today my Father-in-law was inducted into the Coaching Hall of Fame at the Highschool where he has coached various sports for the past 25-30 years. Obviously he has had great success in his career and as I've been coming to know him better one of the things I have enjoyed most is sitting and picking his brain on coaching and sports in general. There is one piece of advice that he has offered me that I consider very valuable in advancing in coaching. He said "The coaches that I have seen continue to higher levels are the coaches that attend as many clinics as possible. First" he added " you learn more and grow as a coach by learning from other successful coaches. Second you are networking with them also; a lot of this business is who you know"

I recently read a testimonial from a Professional Coach in a career advising journal that said "Sometimes I went to 15 or 20 clinics a year. The hard work paid off... If you think you might like to coach professionally some day, you must be willing to pay your dues. I would recommend that coaches in high school go to as many clinics and training camps as they possibly can."

Featured Coach Friday

I realize that today is Tuesday but I saw this "Featured Friday" trick on a colleague's blog and wanted to adopt it. So on Fridays from now on I would like to review the techniques and theories of great coaches of our time.

3-4 vs. 4-3

After last week's post I decided to look further into the 3-4 defense and it's different advantages. The most promenant is that of having more agility on the feild. The fact is, the more players you take off of the line of scrimage and drop into the secondary the better off you will be against the pass. When you look at the way today's College and Professional offenses are moving its not a bad idea. On the other hand when coaching at the high school level there is still a high percentage of run plays inside the tackles which could be defended better with a 4-3. In the end either strategy can adapt and cover most situations. It comes down to your defensive coordinator being able to call the right plays at the right times.

Whether a 3-4 or 4-3 defense is better is all relative. Look at your roster and see if you have enough linbackers to pull a 3-4, if lineman are your strong point then focus on a 4-3. It never hurts to have another strategy in the bag so keep them both in mind.

For a simple 3-4 tutorial try this link "http://www.milehighreport.com/2008/5/7/481970/mhr-university-modern-3-4"

D-Ends Continued

I was reflecting on my previous post and the importance of athletic d-ends when my wife (Best Assistant Coach there is!) reminded me of a monumental play in NFL history.

In the closing seconds of the first half of Super Bowl XLIII James Harrison(6'0", 242lbs) doused the Cardinals sure hopes of scoring from the 2 yd line when he intercepted a pass and took it 100 yards for a touchdown resulting in the longest play in Superbowl History. Needless to say it had some impact on the outcome of the game.

Now James Harrison is technically not a Defensive end because the Steelers run a 3-4 defense but when you draw it up on a chalk board in x's and o's Harrison occupies the same spot that a d-end would. In my opinion that's beside the point, the point is that his athletisism allowed the Steelers to drop Harrison into pass coverage while rushing 7 other players which resulted in the most pivotal play in Superbowl history.


Once again my point is to put your athletic players to good use in the D-end position.

If you want to read more about the Steelers defensive scheme I would recommend this link : http://steelerstoday.com/?tag=james-harrison

Hybrids, a smart choice in cars and defensive ends?

I found it interesting on Saturday to see that 5 out of the first 10 picks in the NFL draft were linemen, 10 out of the first 20 were linemen of which 5 were defensive ends. So what can we as coaches learn from the decision making of those that rule the football kingdom? Yeah linemen are still the solid foundation we build our teams on. No big surprise right? but the fact that 5 of those linemen were defensive ends caught my eye.
In the weeks of pre-draft hype I often heard a buzz about "Hybrid" players especially as it related to the position of defensive end. What we are seeing at the college and professional level are athletes that could easily fill a linebacker position but are being plugged in as an end. For example Penn. State's Aaron Maybin, an 11th overall pick to the Bills, stands 6' 4" tall and weighs 246 lbs; a far cry from the Reggie Whites(6' 5", 300lbs) of yesteryears. So what do we gain with the Hybrid end? Speed and agility, Maybin has a 40.5" vertical leap and runs the 40 in 4.59 seconds.
It is time that we incorporate these hybrids into our roster. Too many backup linebackers may be sitting on the sideline when they could serve as an explosive pass rusher or run stopper in the defensive end position.
If you have true defensive ends getting the job done for you, great, if not I suggest watching these clips of Aaron Maybin "The Hybrid":



(he's the one sacking all the QB's)