Coach, Your Presentation Matters

All football coaches have a certain amount of arrogance. I know. Coaching was my profession for thirty some years. I still see it today, but in a different way. I see coaches every day who think that they are so good that their presentation does not matter.

Most of these coaches have good players or at least better players than their opponent. Some of them are actually pretty young without a great pedigree. Others are older and have out coached people for so long that they cannot imagine doing it a different way.

Here’s the point. In some ways the players never change. They are players who need to be taught how to play a 7 technique, just like the player did thirty years ago. Just because it bores you now doesn’t mean that your freshman should learn it any faster than your previous players.

The flip side of that is that the players are very different than they were a while back. They learn differently now. You are an old dude to them. Sure, many of you are on Twitter and Facebook every day. You have changed with the times and that’s a good thing. Keep this in mind though. So have your kids. If your players fall asleep in your meetings that is a reflection on your presentation as much as them. It is your job to prevent this.

Use Your Warm-Ups To Teach

Young coaches? I have no idea what you are thinking? You are the same guys that were falling asleep in position meetings ten years ago. Now you expect your players to pay attention to your black and white drawing presentations that are not done with a lot of attention and detail.

Hudl Will Not Save You With Your Install Presentation

I know that many of you will be wanting to lean on your Hudl crutch. You know it, I know it, and most importantly, your players know it…They watch the video to see WHO they are playing, not how they are supposed to play. The porch I am sitting on now is higher than most of your high school camera angles.

We all like to watch video but it’s not teaching unless it’s high enough to discern scheme. Your camera angle and Hudl do not provide that. A detailed drawing does exactly that. So as we begin to wind down another football season and you begin to self scout, take a look at this part of your curriculum.

Regardless of if you are returning to the program you are building or looking for new opportunities, your presentation will matter. A big part of that will be how professional your diagrams and teaching methods are.