Be Proud of What You are Doing
Congratulations on coaching another football season! As it becomes more of a memory, please celebrate and be proud of all you have done instilling the values of football into these young men!
This marks the final edition of the 2023 Playbook! When I started with the first edition in April, it was something totally new for me and I have really enjoyed putting this together each month. The time spent interviewing coaches, calls and messages from subscribers, and the process of reflecting and writing about things I learned the past 35 years coaching has been very rewarding!
I am very proud that we have nearly 200 subscribers, I would love to continue to build the distribution to any coaches old or young that would enjoy reading it. I am excited to continue each month as we head into 2024 and am looking at ways to improve and make it even better. While a number of you are paid subscribers, I would encourage those that are free subscribers to consider the $5/ month subscription as we head into 2024. There is a subscription bar at the bottom of this edition!
JM
Why We Do What We Do
By now, high school football teams and coaches have seen their seasons come to an end. Undoubtedly, teams have run the whole spectrum of emotions: elation, disappointment, adversity, and perseverance to name a few. I know that when a season ended, no matter how successful it may have been, there was a level of physical and mental exhaustion that was very real. As you all begin the rejuvenation process, which can take longer for certain seasons, I want to encourage you to remember that what you are doing is incredibly important. Regardless of the wins and losses you should be proud of what you are doing!
Why do we do what we do? This is a question I have thought a lot about over the past 35 years, a question I have heard answered by many coaches but I think it is one that is important to remember and consider as you reflect on the past season. Most of us are competitive people, so you cannot discount that winning and the race for playoff berths and championships is exciting, motivating, and rewarding. However I believe the longer that you coach, the more you realize that these “wins” are a piece of a much larger mission. I believe the degree to which football requires unselfishness, teamwork, and accountability is unique even when compared to other sports. This reality creates a powerful platform to build very real and incredibly impactful relationships with our players and fellow coaches. Life is not always easy and like football, there will be numerous times when you get knocked down and have to find the resiliency to get back up and keep moving forward. Since this happens daily on a football field, how we model and coach our players through these experiences will have tremendous impact on how they handle the challenges life will present them in the future. Whether we realize it or not, our daily interactions are landing on the young people that we coach and staying with them.
I have been very fortunate to coach hundreds of quality young people over the past thirty five years, many of whom I am still in touch with today. It never ceases to amaze me how what I thought was a simple interaction is something they clearly remember. Countless times, a former player has told me, “Hey coach remember when you said this to me at practice? I still remember and think about that today”. Quite often in these situations, I have no memory of this specific interaction that may have occurred 10, 15, or 20 years ago but it serves as a great reminder of how deep these relationships run and how impactful our words and actions can be.
Coaching requires us to be unselfish as well, especially in terms of our time and energy. These factors are very real and need to be measured as coaching is much more of a calling and lifestyle than a job. It requires sacrifice not just by us but also by our loved ones as seasons preoccupy us and require significant amounts of our time. However, the rewards we receive as coaches, while not monetary, can be inspiring and life changing. Witnessing the adversity that many of our players face daily can be truly awe inspiring. Whether it is player dealing with the death of a parent or sibling, having to walk a great distance to summer workouts, facing an abusive home life, dealing with an injury or illness, I have often found that we can get as much inspiration from our players as we may give to them.
When considering why we do what we do, it brings to mind the important and influential role that we play. It has become very easy for people in today’s world to choose to not take on difficult situations or responsibilities. Coaching high school football can be draining and full of second guessers, upset parents, unreasonable administrators, and unfounded narratives about the game to name a few, but I believe it is more important now than ever to have positive role models and principled leaders making a difference in the lives of young people. One of my favorite quotes is Teddy Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena” where he states, “…there is no effort without error and shortcoming. But who does actually strive to do the deeds: who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions: who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst if he fails at least fails while daring greatly……”. I thank all of you for choosing to do what you do and choosing to be “in the arena”. While the true level of your impact will never be known, know that it is happening and our players are becoming better people because of it.
Looking Ahead
For a high school football coach, or the leader of any team or organization, there is a constant process of reflection about what has happened in the past and striving to improve and to make what is hopefully a good product even more successful. With the cycle of the high school football season, this process always began for me around the middle of December. The end of season banquet was in the books and much of the gear stored away for the winter. The first step for me was always to rest and decompress from all that has unfolded the previous five months. It felt good to head home from school right at 3 pm and not have the daily thoughts and worries about football. These few weeks before and leading into the holidays always left me feeling rejuvenated and excited to begin planning and thinking about next year’s team.
I next tried to do an honest reflection of the past season: What went right? What did I not like? Where did we fall short? When I began this process I started with the big picture things: injury prevention, cohesiveness of team and staff, how to retain players and grow numbers. Some of these topics were very evident based on the realities of the past season but others required more introspection and consideration. Over the course of 3-4 weeks, I would think about all areas of the program and consider if there was a way to perform that better. During this time, I always met with my assistants 1-on-1 for an informal debrief and get their takeaways from the past season. It was always important to me to hear their perspectives of how they viewed the season and honest thoughts on what we may do to make it better. You must be willing to take constructive criticism without feeling defensive but to me this is a sign of an effective coach or leader. Much like we coach our players, having these conversations with our assistants can hopefully make us better coaches. This reflection process for me happened over the course of weeks. I would buy myself a spiral notebook each December and jot down ideas and thoughts at random as they came to me throughout late December and January. I would constantly revise and add to my thoughts, critiques, and ideas and it left me with a lot to consider as we headed toward a new season.
Ideas are just that unless you put them into action. All this reflection doesn’t produce much if you do not plan the steps needed to make them reality. I would look for specific improvements that could make us better rather than looking to change for change sake. This can also require you to think outside the box and maybe get out of your comfort zone. For example, the programs I had been a part had run very traditional off season weight programs that I was very comfortable with. In my second season at Silverton in 2011, I was fortunate to add Grant Piros to our staff. Although a younger and less experienced coach, it was quickly evident during the 2011 season that Grant was an outstanding coach and leader. That January, Grant asked if I would consider incorporating some Cross Fit type training into our existing strength program. While I wasn’t totally sure about it, we talked through ways to implement parts of it into our weights class that began February. Needless to say it was a huge success. Not only did our players love it but it also injected a new energy into our weight room that became instrumental in our growth as a championship program. Some ideas and improvements may require more research and work so it is important to have a plan to gain the information and expertise they may require. These steps may include visiting with a college’s staff, attending a certain clinic, etc. so having the framework of what you want to do early can better position you to make these things a reality for the coming season.
I hope that the process of moving from this season to the next is both rejuvenating and productive for you and your staff. It is a very healthy process that I feel is a critical way to continue to make yourself better whether you are finishing your first year of coaching or your fiftieth!
Game Ball – December
With the 2023 season just wrapping up, I wanted to highlight and acknowledge the success that so many of our subscribers have had this fall. It is an honor to have so many great coaches and programs as readers of the monthly Playbook and it was great to see so many of you have such successful seasons. Below are some of the accomplishments of our subscribers!
Oregon 6A
Champion – Central Catholic HS with HC Steve Pyne
Runner-up - Tualatin HS with HC Dom Ferraro and assistant Ryan Cook
Playoff Berth – Jesuit HS with HC Ken Potter
Lake Oswego HS with HC Steve Coury
North Medford HS with HC Nathan Chin
Oregon 6A – Columbia Cup
Champion – Sunset HS with HC Damien Merrick
Playoff Berth - Barlow HS with HC Tracy Jackson
Liberty HS with HC Eric Mahlum
Newberg HS with HC Jeremy Johnson
Lincoln HS with HC Cody Schnaufer
Oregon 5A
Champion – Wilsonville HS with HC Adam Guenther
Runner-up – Mountain View HS with HC Brian Crum
Semifinalists – Silverton HS with HC Dan Lever and assistants Mike Fessler, Eric Anderson, Matt Craig and Don Von Weller
Summit HS with HC Corban Hyatt
Playoff Berth – Canby HS with HC Jimmy Joyce
Dallas HS with HC Andy Jackson
Hood River HS with HC Caleb Sperry
Oregon 4A
Semi-finalist - Scappoose HS with HC Sean McNabb & HC Joe Nowlin
Playoff Berth - Cascade HS with HC Shane Hedrick
LaSalle HS with HC Dustin Janz
Vista Junior Eagles - 8th grade Capital Division Champs (Folsom, CA)
HC - Justin Sanders
First Year Varsity Head Coaches
Lincoln HS - Cody Schnaufer
LaGrande HS - Dalton Sheets
Breaking The Huddle
I truly believe that the role of coaches is more important today than ever. I sincerely thank all of you for your dedication to this great sport and I wish you a restful holiday! I look forward to getting the next edition out in January 2024 !