Charlie Coiner’s Advice For Youth Football Coaches
I have been doing this football thing for more than a minute now and I am not just talking about coaching football. I was fortunate to do that for thirty years and loved it. Life in the NFL and college football offered highs and lows but at the end of the day, I fulfilled a lifelong dream. No one gets to the level of football however; without debt. My path, like most football coaches started as a youth football player mentored by youth football coaches. Without these men who devoted their time to coaching our youth football team, Charlie Coiner never get to coach in NFL. Truth.
This beginning set the stage for getting introduced to high school football coaches who ultimately changed my life. They taught me the importance of hard work, discipline and team work. Ultimately though, if I had had a bad experience as a youth football player, I may never would have wanted to play high school football. That’s one reason why I have always felt an obligation to help Pop Warner and youth football coaches.
Without Youth Football Coaches I Never Coach In The NFL
If you are a youth football coach and are about to take on your first or second season, slow down and read this article. You’re challenge is greater than a Pop Warner coach fifteen years ago. Why? It’s simple. You have a lot more youth football garbage online to distract or confuse you. Garbage that is harmful to you and the young players you will teach.
Every year as we enter June and July, I focus on youth football and how FirstDown PlayBook can help new coaches. This is just an introduction to some simple foundational things you should do. We will dig deeper in the next days and weeks.
Here are some beginning tips I will offer you that will save you and more importantly your players a lot of anguish this fall.
Be Organized
This sounds like over simplified advice doesn’t it? However; here is what I know about you. You are a very busy person. You have a job, a family and likely other obligations other than your youth football team. Because of this you run the risk of showing up to practice unprepared.
This is a recipe for disaster. If you want lose a young football player in about five minutes, just have them standing around waiting on you to start a drill or a period. Have every second of your practice planned out before you ever get out of your car at the practice field. You will be glad that you did.
Why Are You Doing This?
Always remember why you are coaching youth football. If there is any part of your motivation that involves self promotion or accomplishment…stop. Stop and let someone else coach your youth football team. If your motivation is personal, you will do more harm than good to the ten year olds you are about to coach.
If you are coaching because you think you are going to “out coach” someone else and focus exclusively on winning, do yourself a favor. Go get a big boy job. Go compete at a level where you get fired if you lose and you get promoted if you win. Stay away from youth football. The players and parents will see right through you.
Keep It Simple
I can remember my first on field teaching at Appalachian State a long time ago. I was teach a 3 technique hat reads. Base, reach and cutoff. It was so fundamental and yet so critical to the structure of our defense. This is the kind of thing you should be teaching too.
Fundamentals and technique should take president over some squirrely scheme you find online like the Beast offense that focuses on making you feel good as opposed to teaching football. Do yourself a favor. Sit down and list five fundamental things for every position on your football team. Make sure you and your Pop Warner assistant coaches teach those and run plays and defenses that utilize these fundamentals.
FirstDown PlayBook
From our beginning days here at FirstDown PlayBook I have said that we don’t want to coach your football team. We just want to help you coach it better. For some of you that might mean offering you drills and practice schedules. For others it might mean providing you with detailed youth football plays and coaching points.
Still yet another group may be so busy you are looking for a one stop shop, well thought out complete youth football playbook. What ever the case, FirstDown PlayBook has been there for youth football coaches like yourself now for 16 years. So as you embark on what can be a truly rewarding experience as a mentor and teacher, we look forward to helping you.
