Coaches Must Correct & Move On
FirstDown PlayBook attended a high school football game last night. One team was playing their second game of the season and it was the season opener for the other. It showed. The team playing their second game was much more poised and in rhythm last night. It made us think about this morning and coaches must correct and move on.
Keep in mind that last night’s victorious team lost their opener last weekend. As we watched the game it reminded us of how much emphasis we coaches put on the first game of the year. Both of these teams have now lost their first game of their season. The team that won last night obviously did a great job bouncing back in game two.
It made us flash back to a blog we wrote several years ago titled “Pissed or Not. Correct and Move On.” We will include a portion of that below. At the end of the day that is what you do as a coach. You keep the good and correct the bad as you progress through the season.
Whatever your situation might be keep this in mind as you get ready for your next game. This is a very young football season. Some teams will improve week to week and others will not.
Saturdays and Sundays in the fall for a football coach are complicated. First, let’s be honest about it. You are coming into the office to get ready for your next game either pissed or happy. This is normally dependent on what happened in your game last night. Sometimes it’s not even the score of the game that dictates this.
There are times you think your team played pretty well but lost (not often). There are other times where your team played poorly and won. Regardless of the score and the quality of your players’ performance, there is one thing that is certain for a football coach on Saturday or Sunday. Coaches must correct and move on.
Don’t Let Last Night’s Opponent Beat You Twice
It is essential that you identify and fix what is broken while reinforcing and keeping what your team did well. Here’s why. The hard thing and the great thing about football is that there is another game and another opponent staring you right in the face in six days. If you don’t transition quickly, you and your team will suffer in your next game. This is where the saying “Don’t let an opponent beat you twice.” comes from.
Related: Immediate Coaching Feedback Is Critical To Practice
The adjustments you make are not always emotional either. If you are an offensive coach you may have just played a vanilla four man front in week one.. The second week of the season could have you pitted against a 3-3-6 defense that pressures a lot. A good defensive coordinator knows that just because his defense shut down a spread offense in week one that will not help him one bit against that Wing T on week two.
So, regardless of your emotions this morning, good or bad, you better get over them and begin making corrections. Trust us, your next opponent won’t care about it one bit when you take the field for your next game.
