Coaching Football's "Little Things"

For the 41 years that I’ve been married to my beautiful bride, we have come to the Outer Banks of North Carolina to vacation with our family. We arrived today and just finished unpacking and taking a dip in the pool. We talked about purchasing a house here in Nags Head a few years back; then decided it’s easier to pack up and leave after a week and let someone else clean up and take care of the place when we’re gone!

It’s a time to relax and spend time with our granddaughter. One of the traditions that my son and I established a while back was to purchase the college football preview magazines and pour over them during the week. I will have fun seeing what the “experts” have to say about my favorite college teams.

The other major order of business is to “tinker” with my offense and make some preliminary practice plans. I’m a football junkie and just enjoy reading and working on stuff to get my team prepared.

It’s going to be a great week!!!

This won’t be long cuz I’m still recovering from 2 8-hour days out in 100 degree weather— coaching football in beautiful Tidewater Virginia! Man… it was hot!!!

I know that 7 on 7 has become the “hot ticket” for emphasizing summer football. But, I think you would be much better served to attend a 2 day camp. Even if you just invite one other team/school to participate, it’s worth it. I know some states are allowed a certain number of summer practices… so you get your “camp” time in. But, many states are not allowed to practice. Thus, a 2 or 3 day camp becomes a priority. For Wing T coaches, I would put a team camp as a high priority.

We are installing a new version of the Wing T for our team this year. Having 2 days to introduce new formations and such was invaluable. The coach who ran the camp charged a fee for each player. He used it to buy food and drinks for lunch each day. Mostly, though, he used the proceeds as a fund-raiser for his program. A double benefit to his program. It was a win-win for both of us!

The path to your destiny that God has in mind for each of you is fraught with different challenges. So, you need to expect them. In fact, it’s important to prepare yourself to face them. In the Book of Proverbs it says, ” A sensible man watches for problems ahead and prepares to meet them.” Wouldn’t you rather look ahead and prepare, instead of looking back with regret?! I have tried to follow this philosophy as I’ve gone through life: Prepare for the worst, but expect the best! This allows me to keep a positive attitude toward life but, at the same time, not get “surprised” when things occasionally go wrong.

As you walk the road to your God-given dream, you need to remember the old Italian proverb: “Between saying and doing, many a pair of shoes is worn out.” Well, no problem… you buy another pair of shoes. You just need to be sure that you don’t wear out and give up.