Posts Tagged ‘program’

Being able to lead your team to consecutive ten win seasons is impressive. Especially when it happens after following up a head coach like Jim Harbaugh that revitalized a program around and the #1 overall draft pick in the NFL draft shows just how good of a head coach David Shaw is. For the record, we hear that same sentiment from many coaches  around the country.

Being able to entice some of the best and brightest players in the country with a Stanford degree has undoubtedly played a role in that success. But as Shaw explains, he also thinks part of their key to success has been making players feel a sense of investment of the game plan week to week. 

Shaw explained the reason behind that outlook with Tom Tolbert of KNBR in San Francisco.

"I tell our guys all the time that if they do that just be ready to hear the words ‘no, no way and not going to happen.’ For us to be receptive it keeps these guys looking ahead and I want them to be proactive and I want them to look at film and say ‘hey here’s what I see coach, I would love to run this route.’

"Especially quarterbacks, receivers and running backs and even linebackers sometimes, they see a certain protection and say ‘hey if I blitz this way I can get home.’ I like that as players if you feel completely invested in the way the game plan is put together it kind of makes you want to play that much harder because you each have a hand in it.”

Interesting advice. It will be interesting to see the how everything plays out tonight in the Pac 12 title game when the Cardinal take on UCLA at 8pm ET on FOX.

Miami has hit a recent rough patch in the schedule, losing their past four of five. Beyond just the wins and losses, Al Golden is frustrated with having to discipline players this late in the season, when they should be focused on winning games and getting better on each side of the ball.

"Every team battles it. I just don’t want to be battling it in November. I mean, you’ve either got a headset on or earplugs or you just don’t listen to what anybody else is saying in the building, because for two weeks now that’s all we’ve been talking about.”

The past two weeks answering questions about suspensions and behavior issues have felt more like a television show than a football program at times Golden noted. “It’s been TMZ since I’ve been here. Let’s be honest, right? It’s been tough on the coaches. It’s been tough on me.”

One of the the most frustrating parts for Golden and his staff has been taking time away from instructing the entire team to hash out the mistakes of a few players. With that said, it's important to set the standard of expectations for the future players of the program.

"I say to the team all the time, you’re sitting in a room with 110 guys and 107 of them are doing everything right and it’s two or three guys that [mess] up. Now you’re in there yelling at the whole team. We have to make sure we don’t drain everybody else’s energy because a couple of guys aren’t doing what they need to do."

"You have to break the cycle. You can’t hand that down as acceptable to the next generation of Miami Hurricanes." Golden explained in the Miami Herald.

Noting that players always respond better to their peers, Golden and his staff put together a "unity council" that is comprised of a few players from each class who handle themselves the right way on and off the field.

Defensive coordinator Mark D'Onofrio explained the unity council philosophy.

“Always, players respond better to their peers. Sometimes you hear the same thing over and over again from a coach, but when one of your guys — the guy that you live with, you’re in the dining hall with, you hang out with — tells you the truth and keeps it real, they respond better. Guys have to be proactive in that area, and that’s something we have to improve on."

“Our job here is to develop them as human beings. If we were worried about ourselves, we wouldn’t suspend them. You’re suspending them in hopes that it will help them. You try to save everybody, but eventually they don’t save themselves. The last thing is to give up on somebody. We’re not pro football coaches. We’re college coaches.” D'Onofrio added.

This season has been a trying time for the Hurricanes on and off the field, but the staff understands the big picture. When you're dealing with college aged kids on a day to day basis, some of them will make knuckle-headed decisions. As coaches it is our responsibility to help them learn from it, and make sure that the everyone involved with the team understands the expectations of being a player within your program.

Also, good move by the staff in creating a "unity council". Developing an effective way to communicate with your the leaders among your team is a great way to allow players input into the major decisions involving the program, and it also allows coaches a great pulse on everything involved with the team. 

With his Nittany Lion squad having to deal with scholarship reductions over the next few years, Bill O'Brien and his staff are putting an emphasis on evaluating and targeting the right recruits and developing their non-scholarship players. 

When you think of traditionally strong walk on programs, teams like Wisconsin and Nebraska come to mind. O'Brien has started to make calls to staffs and athletic directors at programs around the country with a rich history of developing walk-ons in an effort to ensure that him and his staff get the most out of their "run-ons" over the next few years.

O'Brien started calling his non-scholarship players "run-ons" earlier in the season in an effort to give them credit for the hard work and hustle that they exhibit year round.

“Nebraska, Wisconsin, Iowa, those places have great traditions of run-on programs, and those guys they just have done an excellent job, whether it was Coach Pelini or Tom Osborne or Frank Solich when he was there. They've really been one of the pioneers for run-on-type programs in the history of college football.”

“I'm going to reach out to a few programs." O'Brien added in the Patriot News. "I'm going to leave that between myself and our staff right now but a few programs here in the off season. Personally I will reach out to some of those coaches or athletic directors and see how exactly they went about doing that. And I already have, I already have done that and will continue to do that.”

In the eyes of the staff at Penn State, developing their walk-ons into contributors will be the key to success in the immediate future.

Earlier in the year, secondary coach John Butler explained that the lower amount of scholarships is going to challenge the staff to evaluate talent like they never have before, and then ensure that they maximize that player's given abilities. They'll be looking for those scrappy overachievers, with a ton of Penn State pride, who have to work ethic to go from walk on to major contributor by sheer effort and will.

"The biggest thing about the sanctions is when we recruit over the next four years we’ve got to make sure that every kid we bring in we can maximize his ability. We as a coaching staff have got to be able to get every single ounce of talent from every single kid. There’s no room for error. In the past, if you missed on a guy, he transferred and you replaced him. We can’t do that."

The staff has done an outstanding job since their arrival of maxmizing the talent that they inherited in Happy Valley, and making the most out of a very challenging and unique situation. The next few off seasons will decide the shape of the program as they continue to move forward.

If the success that they've seen so far this season is any indication, the Penn State community has got the right staff (from top to bottom) for the challenge that lies ahead.

After practice yesterday, Steve Addazio said something that caught our attention and is something that should show plenty of promise for the Temple program moving forward.

The Owls are 3-5 heading into this weekends match up at Cincinnati, and the players and staff haven't had the type of season that they had hoped for. But late in the season head coach Steve Addazio says that his guys are still really enjoying practice, and "can't get enough."

Addazio explains that, even after losing the past three straight games, his guys are still focused and getting after one another in some very spirited practices.

"I've been coaching a long time, and at this time in the season you usually have teams that just don't want to be out there like these kids want to be out there, and that's a very key point."

That's a solid point and a great barometer for any program.

If you can bring in the type of kids that are still enjoying practices late into the season, (especially after getting off to a less than ideal start) you've got to feel really good about the direction of your program...and Addazio definitely does.

First year Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables was asked by reporters earlier today about the similarity between the college communities of Clemson and Oklahoma (where he coached last season), and how each of them have managed to have sustained success despite relatively small population bases and sharing the state with other BCS caliber schools.

After noting continued success relies a lot on stability within the administration, and continuity within the coaching staff, Venables goes on to explain a few other areas he sees as key to building a consistent winner in a campus community similar to his last two coaching stops.

"You have to be able to recruit at a high level. Let's face it, players help make everything easy." Venables said, adding that recruiting coupled with stability within the staff and administration is the foundation that everything else is built upon.

"Consistency within your approach is also important. Obviously, you have to be thorough and detailed in how you run a program."

"Having a foundation of recruiting tough, disciplined players, and they don't have to be real flashy. That's kind of contrary to popular belief anymore in this day and age of 'Let's see what new play this team comes up with this week' or, 'What cool pretty uniform will this team show up in?'"

"That's not how you win. Now, kids like that so you can recruit some kids, but if that's what they're making decision off from, then that's not the kind of guy that I want to coach anyway. I'm in it, so I get it, but I want some guys that have a little more substance to themselves. But that's just me." Venables explains.

"Again, Bill Snyder is the model of consistency as a coach and his approach. He doesn't change. He is faceless day in and day out in his approach to young people and I think there's a comfort in that, in a very systematic approach. When you start deviating, being here and there and everywhere else, I think that when they start to see through you and gets everyone out of their comfort zone."

"There are a lot of variables that go into it, but I think having a foundation of those things are critical."

After weighing in on program building, Venables provides some quality insight on the importance of the four hour radius surrounding the Clemson campus and why that radius weighed heavily into his decision to take a position on Dabo Swinney's staff.

Georgia Tech isn't sitting where Paul Johnson and his staff had hoped to be at this point in the season. Instead of being in the drivers seat for the ACC title, they're battling their way back to .500 and are currently sitting at 3-5 (2-3 in ACC play) heading into this weekends match up with Maryland (4-4, 2-2).

Earlier this week, Johnson got on 790 The Zone and took calls from listeners who didn't dice their words when it came to the program's recent struggles.

Johnson reminded callers and listeners of how close they are to having a record that looks much different.

"We’ve lost two games in overtime. It isn’t making excuses, it’s just facts. We’ve lost two games in overtime. We lost the one at Clemson after being ahead in the fourth quarter. But all in all we played with them to toe to toe until we fumbled the snap on 4th and 1 from the 7 yard line. If we don’t fumble the snap, maybe we go up two scores in the fourth quarter and it’s different."

Johnson was also asked about recruiting and if they're bringing in the caliber of players that can compete in the ACC, and responded by noting that they've entered the fourth quarter five different times with a lead.

"If the talent level is that bad, then we must be doing a hell of a job coaching to stay in there and I don’t think that’s the case. We’ve got to finish the games. Now, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. We need to win games"

Two areas that casual fans always seem to critique the most when a team is struggling is the play of the quarterback, and the playcalling. Georgia Tech is no different. Johnson responded to one caller on the radio show Wednesday by saying that he's not ready to throw the season away and start over with a back up quarterback, and added that calling plays on Saturdays is much different than calling one with a controller in your hand in the living room.

"You try to call the plays that people can run," Johnson explained. "I don’t mean this in a  bad way or whatever, but it’s not like PlayStation, where you just pick a play. You have guys out there who can do certain things. And if guys struggle pulling, you don’t run the pulling plays. If guys aren’t as good at throwing one way, you try to throw the other way. That’s all the things that you know from being with those guys every day in practice and going into the game plan.”

He explained that if he does decide to get the backup quarterback some snaps, it won't be because someone told him to do it.

"It’s going to be because I think he gives our football team the best chance.  Because my job is to try to give us the best chance to win the game. I see those guys every day we practice. I know there’s a lot of people out there that can do my job better than I can. I gotcha. I understand that. But pardon me if I’m not going to listen to everybody who tells me who I should be playing, what I should be doing."

"I’ve managed to survive for 34 years doing what I’m doing without getting fired and we’ve won a lot of games. If I’m going to go down, I’m going to go down doing what I do and knowing what I know."

The last four games on their schedule will test the Yellow Jackets. After traveling to Maryland this weekend, they'll wrap things up at North Carolina (6-3, 3-2), before taking on Duke (6-3, 3-2) at home, and ending the regular season against rival Georgia (7-1, 5-1). We'll see how things shake out, but that's a heck of a stretch when your looking to get things back on track.