Introduction 4 Philosophy 5 Coach/Player Expectations 6 On the Field 7 1st

Coach/Player Expectations 6

On the Field 7

1^st Year Plan 9

“Excellence in Everything” 10

Having Vision and Building a Brand 11

Winning with People / Getting Players to Buy In 13

Intrinsic Motivational Programs 14

Increasing Numbers 16

First Team Meeting 17

Team Letter Sample 18

Parent Information Meeting 19

Player Information Sheet and Questionnaire 22

First 30 Day’s Checklist 24

Incoming 9^th Grade Letter 25

Limiting Liability 27

Team Rules 29

Discipline 30

Coach / Player / Parent Code of Conduct 31

Academic Plan 35

Recruiting 38

Community 39

Fundraising 41

Facilities 43

Expectations of Head Coach 45

Responsibilities of Head Coach 46

Coaching Staff Positions and Duties 47

Additional Responsibilities and Support 50

Staff Time Commitments, Policy, and Dress Code 53

General Coaching Expectations 55

Assistant Coach Responsibilities and Program Goals 59

Coaching Principles 63

Coaches as Leaders 65

Buccaneer Practice Philosophy 68

Drill Creation and Implementation 69

Practice Plan 71

Game Day 73

Travel Checklist 74

Halftime Organization 75

Offense Philosophy and Install 78

Defense Philosophy and Install 86

Special Teams Philosophy and Install 97

Weightlifting and Offseason 102

Weight Room Training Method and Philosophy 103

Offseason Program Structure and Schedule 106

Sample Weight / Power Training Week Schedule 107

Speed Mechanics and Development Program 112

Speed, Agility, and Plyometric Plan 121

Agility and Power Plan 122

References 123

Letters of Reference 124

Introduction

My name is Jason Compton and I am currently the Special Team's Coordinator, Strength and Conditioning Coordinator, Defensive Line Coach, and a Head Boys/Girls Weightlifting coach at Tavares High School in Tavares, FL. Prior to coming to Tavares I was an Offensive Line and defensive line coach at Matanzas High School where I was a part of a staff that changed the culture of a perennial 3-7 football team into a team that went 8-2 this season. Prior to arriving at Matanzas I have served as the Varsity Defensive Line coach at Clay High School in Green Cove Springs, FL where we finished our season as a Class 5A State Finalist, Region 1 Champion, and District 4 Champion. I have had the opportunity to work with several great programs, a multitude of great players, coaches, and wonderful supporting staff. 

Football is a vessel for great personal growth. It can inspire young men to reach beyond their expectations, it shows them the work ethic required to accomplish their goals, it teaches them how to work with others to carry out a mission much greater than themselves, and it instills the values of building great character that can last a lifetime. 
      
There are not many professions out there that can have the range of lifetime positive impact that being a coach can provide. There aren’t many jobs that can provide all of these services that stretch virtually all cultures, socioeconomic statuses, races, and religions; while also building bonds that last a lifetime.  As a coach I firmly believe in the motto “together everyone achieves more” and know what it takes to build successful football players and exceptional young men.

Coaching Philosophy

“As a coach I believe that it is my firm responsibility to provide an environment which promotes personal growth in all aspects of a student athlete’s life by instilling a foundation of self-discipline, positive attitude, and a winning spirit”

The "All In" Philosophy means that I expect my players to be "All In" on everything. If something is worth doing it is worth doing to standard of excellence. That doesn't just mean on the football field or in the weight room, the "All IN" philosophy carried over to all aspects of life. Giving it everything that you've got in the classroom, being the best you can be as a student, as a teammate, as a son or daughter, and as a friend; and not being satisfied with being average in anything you attempt. 

What I mean by “Football is Life” is that football is a great metaphor and tool for building necessary life skills such as discipline, character, work ethic, team-work, and family; which will become the foundation for the student athlete to lead to a life with great integrity and purpose.

As a coach it is my job to ensure that my athletes are not just fundamentally sound football players, but they learn how to navigate the ups and downs of life. If all that I have taught a player is how to play football I have failed him as a coach. 


WE ARE A FAMILY!

Everyone holds a piece to the puzzle. Everybody’s contributions are important. Take pride in being a part of our football family.

“They don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care”
A COACH’S JOB IS…

“To take an athlete and/or a team to a level that they cannot get to by themselves.”

As a coach I believe that a team is foremost built on a foundation of strong fundamentals. If we aren’t physically, technically, fundamentally, and tactically sound we have little to no chance of success.

I believe that along with being fundamentally sound, a coach’s job is to ensure that his players are mentally, emotionally, and spiritually coached as well.

As a coach I strive to instill confidence, focus, and a sense of pride in every athlete. I strive to provide an environment that is process and goal oriented.

Confidence is an individual’s belief that he or she has the necessary skills to produce a desired outcome.

Everything a coach does either builds or harms confidence.

The confident athlete who isn’t afraid to make a play will always beat the athlete who is scared to make a mistake.

“The two things every player can control are his attitude and his effort.

• 
  I will devote all the time and energy possible to make sure that we are excellent in all aspects of a football program. I will borrow ideas from the best minds in football and motivate resources to help us become a premier program on the field, off the field, academically, socially, and in overall program quality. I will relentlessly fundraise to help our program get the things it needs to be considered premier.
  
  
• 
  My student athletes will be raised to be positive, disciplined and respectful young men. They will be taught character daily and they will be recognized and loved as a part of our family. I will protect our program from issues that hurt our program’s culture. We will emphasize academics and get our players to graduate.
  
  
  
• 
  We will teach attitude daily, I’m a firm believer in THOUGHTS lead to WORDS which lead to ACTIONS which lead to HABITS which determine LEGACY. Our athletes, coaches, and staff will learn to control these aspects to help our program achieve to a standard of greatness.
  
  
  
• 
  We will be phenomenal in the weight room and the practice field. We will fly around and get a lot done. Nobody will out work one of my teams. We will physically get better than our opponents. We will film everything and make corrections at meetings; we will never sacrifice our tempo.
  

We will be a fundamentally sound football team. Football isn’t all about X’s and O’s it is about execution. I strive for all of my players to master a skill set before moving on to more complex techniques. We will be excellent in the little things!

Each player will understand his job and his role in the scheme. If we all do our job and execute, we will be very successful!

I believe every player needs a chance to experience success. Correct mistakes and give positive feedback. Confidence is key!

I believe in maximizing repetitions. The classroom is for meetings, the practice field is to develop skill sets by performing the skill correctly as many times as possible. However the quality of reps will not be sacrificed for quantity.

CHALK IT – TALK IT – WALK IT – RUN IT: Explain in meetings, execute on field.

Great teams close games. In order to be close games we must be the best conditioned. Take pride in being tough and the best conditioned team.

Offensively we want to physically and mentally dominate our opponent. We will out-hit, out-hustle, and out execute the defense on every play.

Games are won up-front, we will know our assignments, communicate, and play with an intense desire to be perfect at our skill-set and our job.

Defensively we will know our alignments, our assignments, and play with a defensive mentality. Penetrate-Pursue-Punish! We will take great pride in being physical, violent, and relentless. Defense is all about an all out effort to get to the football and being fundamentally sound enough to bring him down when we get there.

Turnovers win and lose games. Defensively we will strive to gang tackle, punish ball carriers, and create turnovers.

Special Teams are the X factor. When a team scores a touchdown on Special Teams that team wins 80% of the time. We will pay great attention to special teams and strive to win that phase of the game every day.

Play together! Be a team, have fun, include everybody. There is no room for factions and separation of one’s self or others. The team that loves each other, believes in themselves, is the team that will constantly rise to the occasion.

1st Year Plan

Upon being hired, on of the first things that I will do is hold a team meeting to introduce myself to players, staff, administration, and anyone else who wishes to attend. In this first meeting I will set out my vision for the football program and let my expectations be known from day one.

"We Will Aspire to Reach a Standard of Excellence in EVERYTHING"

If something is worth being done, it is worth doing well. Our students will be held to a standard of excellence in everything, we cannot let mediocrity thrive in any aspect of our program. Ordinary people don't play football. Ordinary people don't give up four hours a day to go sweat in the hot sun and bust their tail. If we are going to sacrifice all that time, effort, and energy lets sacrifice it at full speed, foot on the throttle, and with a determined spirit to win every rep, every practice, every day.

If we are going to do something we are going to attack it with an all out effort and determined resolve to be the best at it. This standard is applied to everything that we do. In the classroom, we want to be the best student we can be; and we will push to compete with ourselves and others to achieve the highest team GPA possible. Getting a B is great! It's awesome! But we aspire and work even harder to earn that A. We will celebrate the kid who gets straight A's. We will also celebrate the kid who brings all failing grades up to C's. Our mission academically is "Every player who plays for this program will graduate".

We will attack the weight room every day, with excitement, enthusiasm, and energy. We will hold ourselves to a higher standard and be a leader in the community, we will not claw and act out for attention, because we are stronger than the ordinary temptations. We will be people of high character. We will be dependable, reliable, and people who grow up and dominate their jobs. We will never be satisfied with being ordinary in anything; and because of that we will have the will to believe more and push harder for the things that we want and the things that are right. We will pay attention to every detail, we will dominate the little things, and do them right 100% of the time. We will all dress the same and be together as a team. We will talk together, we will eat together, and we will win together.

Our Standard of Excellence will not be sacrificed for anything. As a coach it is our job to set the vision and expectations of our program and to hold our students accountable to those expectations. Our expectation is

"EXCELLENCE IN EVERYTHING"

"Players Don't Care How Much You Know, Until They Know How Much You Care"

Things are different in our day and age. There is a lot to compete with. Have you played video games lately? They are EXCELLENT! It's no wonder that so many kids want to go home right after school where they can soak up air conditioning, eat whatever they want, and be whatever / whomever they want on a video game console. Playing football is hard; in order to compete we have to give our students something that they aren't getting through a game console or a cell phone.

WE MUST BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH OUR ATHLETES

Some athletes have extraordinary home lives, great parents, who teach them right from wrong and give them plenty of attention and praise. However, there is a growing trend of students who have single parents who are stretched too thin; multiple family homes, parents who work all the time, some whose parents aren't involved, or live with an aunt/uncle/grandmother or someone else. I've had so many students who have had one or both parents pass on, that I cannot list it. There is a lot of pain out there.

In the past three years I have had an entire starting offensive line unit with no father figure at home. I've had a students father commit suicide in the middle of the season. Multiple students who have lost their homes, folks who have been unable to pay bills, a student whose parents were both arrested the night before a game, and a student athlete who's home burned down.

That student athlete still showed up to work; because we had built a culture in which he knew where his family was and he wanted to be with his football family and friends that badly.

As Head Coach it is my responsibility to establish that culture. The culture is established by greeting your players everyday, by letting them know that they are not just important but they are critical to the success of the team weather they are a 1st team all American or the 3rd string kicker. It is created by building their self esteem, letting them know what they do well and letting them know that you care enough to see them grow in all areas of life. It is established by showing them how it will help them for the future and by being a positive voice in their life when they think they can't accomplish something or when they do something wrong.

It comes from doing the little things. Knowing when their birthdays are, celebrating them, and acknowledging their existence. It comes from getting to know who is in their family, who is at home; who their parents are, who their siblings. What they like to do when they go home. By inviting them out in the community and doing things together as a football family.

Being a Head Football Coach goes well beyond playing football, we must raise these kids to be responsible adults. You can only do that by developing significant relationships. Once you establish a relationship with every player in the program kids will be bought into your culture; and it will run itself like a well oiled machine.
Having a Vision and Building a Brand

In order to change the culture of a school that may need a culture change it is important to build your own brand. At Matanzas High School, a perennial 3-7 school since it's inception, we worked extremely hard to successfully change a losing culture and it started with building a brand.

The name Matanzas stunk. Anyone that saw that name knew that it was the name of the school who had a losing record every season. One of the first things our Head Coach Robert Ripley did was change the program identity from Matanzas football, to "Pirate Football!" He would refuse to say the name of the school and constantly tell the kids, you aren't apart of that old culture, that losing culture, MATANZAS football is dead, you are PIRATE FOOTBALL. You can now make your own legacy. Pirate Football has never lost a game.

Despite knowing that we would have a rough first year, he kept the Seniors bought in by telling them; "This is the group that changes the whole deal. This is the group that changes the culture. This is the group that when you come back years from now and we are winning district, regional champions, you can look back and say we started that; we are the reason that this program is successful; because we bought in when everyone said that we couldn't do anything."

That first year we went 3-7. The next year 8-2. The kids bought in, invested themselves, and it was all because of developing relationships and branding.

Along with changing the identity of the football program; Ripley had the vision to be excellent in everything. That meant having the best and being the best. Ripley knew that the kids would buy in more if they had a coach who was willing to make the program look like a first rate program. For 5 years they had some 3rd rate uniforms from a company you never heard. He went out and fundraised and got all new 3 sets of College Level Adidas Jerseys and undershirts. The kids showed up to practice wearing highlighter orange/green anything that wasn't a team color. Ripley fundraised and got the kids all new team apparel. The locker room was plain, he brought in a consultant to put wall wraps; locker tags/stickers/name plates on everyones locker. The stadium was bare; he brought in a consultant to wrap the whole stadium in "PIRATE NATION" and put up flags on the press box. He got the kids hats, sweaters, gloves that he gave out for attendance and fundraising. Senior banners went up around the stadium, photography crews took and distributed pictures, he did everything that he could to make the players feel that their coach cared about them, their program, and it's image.

After an 8-2 season the work was not done. Brand new field equipment (sleds/chutes) and a redesigned weight room. The kids literally go from the outhouse to the penthouse in terms of their football programs image. Do you think they are willing to sacrifice more for him, their coaches, and their program?

At our program we will build a brand and a culture of winning. We will be excellent in everything we do from the way we look, to the way we dress, to the way we practice, to the way we play.

Upon entering a program among the first tasks I will accomplish is to gather as much information about the football program as possible. I will interview and work closely with administrators, athletic director, current staff, players, and parents to find out what the program already does well, where it needs to improve, and where we are just completely inept.

I want to know the history of the program, records, alumni, old weight room numbers, how practice was structured, how meeting were conducted, traditions, was practice filmed, how was scouting done, everything that we can find out about the program good and bad. From there we will develop a positive/negative board to go in conjunction with our dream board. Every problem that we identify through our interviews with our staff we will research and have a measure in place to help alleviate that problem and evaluate the results of our measures at the end of the year.

If numbers in the program are an issue we would first find out why and then develop a plan to increase our numbers and assign a goal to that problem. If team academic performance was poor, we would research a plan that has worked elsewhere and implement that plan; monitoring and tracking results. We will repeat this process every year. We will be excellent in everything!

The Head Football coach cannot do everything himself, he needs a quality support staff around him in order for the program and school to be as successful as possible. As soon as I get on staff I will work relentlessly to bring about the best football and support staff that we can put together. I have had the opportunity to work with staffs from Central Florida, North Florida, and the Atlantic Coast. The staff that I put together will be strong dedicated professionals who first and foremost care about the success of our kids. I cannot have someone who is selfish or who is only a quarter of the way in or a game night coach on my staff. The staff I put together will be excellent communicators, excellent teachers, and will understand how to teach the game. I am always open to retain quality people, recruit coaches from within the school, and will place coaches in the position that best helps the program.

I am also dedicated to assembling a fantastic support staff that can be made up teachers, students, parents, volunteers, and anyone who wants to help make our football program great. I will emphasize how we need everyone; how everyone has different skills that they can offer, and no matter how minimal they feel their contribution is it serves a huge role. These people include filming, sideline video, photography, media, equipment, stats, website, recruiting, boosters, concessions, and anyone who can help make our program great.

Getting Players to Buy In

It doesn’t really matter what your plan of action is, but the most critical aspect of success is getting your athletes to buy in. They must believe it’s going to work in order for them to be willing to sacrifice for it. We will constantly reinforce how and why the things we do have benefits for them. We will show them we care about our programs image and the things they like. We will love them like our own. The following strategies are things that we do that help our players buy into our program. The majority are intrinsic motivational drills but more importantly are things that YOU HAVE TO DO if you want your young people to grow up to be well rounded adults. With so many broken families and broken homes kids want to know that you care about them as people and see them as a person rather than a number on a jersey.

Spotlight is an intrinsic motivational drill that we often do at the end of the practice before wrapping up for the day. We spotlight a different player every day. The player will stand up and we cannot leave until that person is told 5 things that the players love about that player. Some of our players never get 5 things told about them over the course of a year by people. But everyday we will ensure that a kid goes home feeling great about himself, knowing that his team-mates and coaches care and appreciate him. And that player will want to be apart of what we do even more and will sacrifice more for the team.

After the games we encourage our parents and our fans to come down on to the field to join us in our post game huddle. After the coaches address the team we will have nominees for love, honor, and respect. This is the opportunity for any coach or player to recognize the efforts of others on the team. This could be a player that had a phenomenal game, a player who provided support, or to a whole unit, or to our fans.

We keep records of our players progress in the weight room from put them on a bar graph so players can physically see their progress. When we retest we update the graph. The visual representation lets the players “see” how much they have improved and builds positive reinforcement for hard work.

We routinely recognize the good actions of our team members. Anytime we get a positive e-mail from a teacher or somebody tell us something positive about one of our students we try to bring it up post practice. Character is such a big deal that it is one of our Weekly awards and has almost nothing to do with the game itself. It's about recognizing someone who is doing right in the classroom and community.

On Senior Week we will have our seniors write a letter telling what it has been like playing football for four years; how important the team and the game is to them. How much they are going to miss it, and advice to a future player. Once the player graduates and a new player moves up to take his jersey, he will receive the letter. We want to create a running history and to emphasize to young players how important it is and how grateful they should be to be able to put on the jersey.

Upon completing their Freshman season one thing we like to do is to do a mock signing day with our Freshman athletes. We collect hats, print mock offers, and during the banquet we have each Freshman student come to the table and "commit" to the college team of their choosing. We want everyone to the experience that the majority of athletes will never be able to experience, it also gives Freshman the opportunity to realize that in 3 more years that this goal could be realized.

One thing we will do in the first year is "Daily Gratitude." Before a player is allowed to address the team they must tell the team something they are thankful for. We want it to become second nature for our players to be able to give thanks for the things they have and the people who care about them.

All of our kids names will go on our 3 lift board for Bench, Squat, and Clean. Upon entering our program all of those names will be listed in black. After two weeks of practice we will take nominations from the team for a couple of players who deserve to move up a level (into green) and down a level (into red) or stay where they are. Players who move up are players who show up every single day, are always early, who are always positive, always looking for work, and go above and beyond what is expected of them as a teammate. Kids in black are the kids who always show up and do what is expected. A kid who falls to red is someone who is failing to show up, or needs extra attention, motivation and someone we will focus more on to keep them bought in.

On Mondays after practice students will be provided weekly goal sheets. These goal sheets will have goals listed for

PRACTICE GOAL "I will help the team win this week by..."

ACADEMIC GOAL "In order to be outstanding academically this week I must..."

FAMILY GOAL "I will help my family this week by..."

GRATTITUDE GOAL "I will show appreciation for ______ by doing ________ for this person.

ATHLETIC GOAL "I will improve my athleticism by _______.

GAME GOAL "I will help my team win on Friday by _______.

Our players are partnered up with a team-mate to help hold each other accountable to their goals. Players are responsible for their own goal sheets, are presented the following Monday and checked off by positional coaches.

Victory Monday

After Victories we have some form of extrinsic reward for the kids on Mondays. Sometimes this is pizza, freezer pops, burgers, etc. Obviously this is a budget permitting type deal but it is something that we find important.

We do previous games player of the week awards on Thursday before the next game as a bit of confidence boost and reminder. We do awards for O player, D player, Money Down, Hammer, Nail, Unsung Hero, and Character. These players we award with a McDonald cheeseburger.

In the time between seasons end and the start of spring football we do offseason Olympics. We elected a few captains, 8 or so to draft teams. We have a scoring system in which teams get or lose points for attendance, playing another sport, adding a new player, new pr on lifts, positive email, grades, fundraising, and anything that we see fit. The winners each week are rewarded with an extrinsic reward and recognition. The losers are responsible for clean up for the next week. The overall loser gets field clean up for all of spring practice.

Thursday before Senior Night we do the burning of the shoes, where we will gather some old cleats and have a bit of a bon fire. The shoe represent the seniors who have given four years of service to the program and how their time with the program while coming to an end will be a legacy that is forever with them and with our program. The Seniors get time to give a speech and tell the team how much the playing experience has meant for them, advice for the future, and is culminated with taking a final lap around the gamefield.

1. 
   Individual interviews
   
2. 
   Strength & Conditioning program
   
3. 
   Team meetings
   
4. 
   Athletes in other sports (basketball/track/baseball/golf)
   
5. 
   Football players as recruiters (peer pressure/program promotion)
   
6. 
   Correspondence.
   

1. 
   Local 8^th grade program and correspondence
   
2. 
   Non-school feeder programs (TYFL/YMCA/youth leagues)
   
3. 
   Flag football program
   
4. 
   Future Football Camp
   
5. 
   Halftime recognition
   
6. 
   “Ball Boy for a game”, ‘Recruits of the Week’ Varsity sidelines, etc.
   
7. 
   Attendance at football practices/games
   
8. 
   Attendance at basketball, baseball, track games and practices
   
9. 
   Correspondence: recruit letters, ‘attaboys’, etc
   
10. 
    Team apparel
    
11. 
    Game passes
    
12. 
    Newsletters
    
13. 
    Team website (player/team recognition)
    
14. 
    Coaching/parental contacts; school PE teachers
    

1. 
   Futures Football Camp
   
2. 
   YMCA/Youth league flag football
   
3. 
   basketball, wrestling club, etc
   
4. 
   Attendance at events
   
5. 
   Correspondence
   
6. 
   Game passes
   
7. 
   Coaching/parental contacts
   

At the first team meeting I would have the following agenda:

• 
  Introduce myself, tell the students about my background.
  
• 
  Share my excitement for being named head coach.
  
• 
  Tell the students about the plan and expectations for the program.
  
• 
  “Excellence in Everything” – “All in Culture”
  
• 
  Attitude – Academics – Social – Weight Room – Practice - Football
  
• 
  Inform the students of the workout schedule and the spring schedule.
  
• 
  Hand out the parent/player welcome letter (See Next Page).
  
• 
  Hand out player information cards to be filled out.
  
• 
  Inform the players what is expected of them going forward.
  
• 
  Read of the new Player Code of Conduct policy.
  
• 
  Set up individual meetings with players to get to know them better.
  
• 
  Have each student introduce himself before he leaves.
  

Dear Players and Parents,

My name is Jason Compton, I have just been chosen as the new head football coach at Gulf High School. I am very excited to get to work in building a championship program and being a part of this wonderful community. Allow me to share with you what will become the cornerstones of our program.

1. 
   We’ll do everything, from the way we dress, the way we act, our grades, the way we practice, the way we stretch, the way our locker room looks, the way we coach, everything the right way. We will live the motto “Excellence in Everything.”
   
2. 
   We’ll be disciplined and respectful of the game and the attention to detail that it takes to win.
   
3. 
   We’ll treat our players like men and hold them accountable.
   
4. 
   Everyone involved in the program will be held to high expectations including our parents, we will not stand for any negativity and everything we do will be positive.
   
5. 
   We will be ridiculously fundamentally sound.
   
6. 
   We will be consistent in what we do from the bottom up.
   
7. 
   We will coach our coach’s and we will be one big coaching family.
   
8. 
   We will be overly prepared as coaches and players for games.
   
9. 
   We will represent ourselves, our community and school the right way.
   
10. 
    And most importantly, our off season work will be purposeful, intense, and create tremendous athletes. It will drive the program.
    

After school workouts will begin soon. We will workout for several hours Monday-Friday. Spring football will begin in May. Prior to April 28th I need the following for your son to be eligible to participate in spring football.

• 
  A completed and current physical form. If you had this turned in prior to last football season you should be ok.
  
• 
  A signed parent consent form.
  
• 
  We also ask that parents let us know of any other special medical issues such as allergies, asthma, or sickle cell.
  
• 
  Keep in mind that all students need a 2.0 GPA to be eligible.
  

We will have more information closer to spring football beginning, and will hold a parent meeting and meet and greet in the near future. I look forward to working with the players and I look forward to meeting our parents. I can promise that I will devote every ounce of my heart and soul into the success of this program. I simply cannot wait to get started and I so proud and grateful to serve as your new head football coach.

Dear Parents,

As the new head football coach of Gulf High School, I cannot express enough how thrilled I am to have your child apart of our football family. I want to have an informational meeting for all prospective parents of student- athletes that will be playing football for the Buc’s next fall. At the meeting we will introduce the coaching staff, share our expectations, schedules, and crucial information heading into the season. A sample of frequently asked questions:

How often do they get water?

What are practices like?

What is the summer program like?

What about his grades during football season?

What times are practices?

Who are these coaches anyway?

What is the discipline like?

What is the protocol if my child is injured?

I am worried about concussions?

How can I help my child get recruited?

These are just some of the questions that you may have and we will do our best to tackle them! Come meet the coaches and ask your questions.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

• 
  Jason Compton, Head Football Coach
  

The most important time of the year for us to properly maintain guidance of hydrating our players is during practice in the summer and August. Traditionally, this is the hottest time of the year for us. Water will always be available to players during practice at drill stations. During the regular season, players are given water breaks every 20-30 minutes. We try our hardest not to go for more than 30 minutes without a water break ever.

Each player needs to have a minimum 2.0 GPA in season and year round to be eligible. Our Coaching Staff will stay on top of the grades of our players. Our team will have a program goal of 3.0 for the football program.

We are very structured with our discipline. Every athlete is treated the same; it doesn’t matter if you are scoring touchdowns or not even a starter. You must be consistent when working with teenagers and more importantly, in this sport of football! Our players are expected to exhibit exemplary behavior and be leaders in the classroom, on and off the football field. Players are expected to show up everyday, on time, prepared to dominate their job. If a player cannot attend he must contact a coach the day before he misses, we will teach them responsibility. Unexcused absences, poor behavior, and being late will result in disciplinary actions.

Parents are critical to our success there are lot of support roles that go a long way to help the overall success of our program. Volunteering for concession stand, pre-game meal, chains, media etc go a long way for our overall success. General guidelines include 1. Support your child in his pursuit of being a student-athlete. 2. Support the coaching staff in their day to day operations of the football program. 3. Pick up your child from practice on time. 4. Follow up with proper medical attention (see trainer first) if your child gets injured. 5. Help reinforce positive habits and attitudes at home (we ask that you do not bad mouth playcalling, coaching, other players etc in front of your child. This leads to negativity creeping into a child’s thoughts and hinders our ability to stay together as a team. We are a family!

One of the biggest myths about football is that every boy will be hurt. Because we will have injuries in our football program, we have a certified Athletic Trainer here on campus part time. He is the first one to see our athletes that become injured if he is here. He is usually here during the school year when we practice. He also travels to our games to serve our students. Several coaches are CPR/First Aid certified. Both the Head Coaches and Athletic Trainer work hands on daily to communicate about injuries. They are documented and track for the best possible care we can give our players.

No. If you are here in August for Training Camp, you will make the team. The only time a kid gets “cut” is if he is an inactive participant (is willingly not participating in team functions) or does not meet the expectations of our team rules; at which point the team leadership council will help decide if they want the player to continue to be a part of the program. We are diligent to do everything we can to keep everyone, because everybody is critical to the success of our program.

We encourage family vacations during the summer, but obviously want your child here to get his team better. Your child will not be disciplined for if he misses parts of our Summer Program. Some examples of when we excuse players from our summer program - family vacation, a mission trip, participating in another football camp. We ask that all family vacations be notified to a coach prior to a vacation and to complete vacations before our Training Camp begins. It is important for your child to be here to continue to improve and to bond with team-mates.

Every athlete needs a physical, Parent Consent Survey, and to let us know of any special medical conditions such as asthma, sickle cell, or any allergies. There are forms that the Athletic Office needs on file for every athlete.

Our coaches encourage our players to participate in other sports at our school (club/year round travel teams are discouraged unless special circumstances). Many of our kids do play basketball, baseball, golf, track, etc. Our off season weightlifting program begins the first week of February. If a player is not participating in another sport, they are required to be in the off season program with his teammates.

The best way to get involved is through the Booster Club. We are always looking for parents to help out with gameday operations such as pregame meal, concessions, and ticket takers. We have a variety of other support roles and we value anyone who can bring any area of expertise to our program.

We are very strict about practice attendance once we get to Training Camp and the regular school year. 1 unexcused practice will result in you missing a game. Two unexcused absences will result in missing two games. A third unexcused absence may result in removal from the team. An “excused” absence is during Training Camp is: family emergency or a doctor’s note to miss practice. There may be other instances that need to be cleared with Coach Fore. During the school year, an “excused” absence is: absent from school, family emergency, or a doctor’s note to miss practice

I understand that part of my job as the Head Coach is to assist our players in getting to that next level of play if: 1. They desire to play college football. 2. They have the grades to play college football. 3. Their parents want them to play college football. 4. Our coaching staff believes that they have the ability to play college football.