Down on the Farm: Special Edition... | The Boneyard

Down on the Farm: Special Edition...

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Pretty interesting. The number of vacancies may be an aberration but the higher demands on high school coaches is the new normal. This is a good sign for Connecticut football. It is the professionalization of high school coaching. Which should translate into more and better college prospects.

The question is really how to support the coaches. To make sure the demands don't outpace the rewards. Higher visibility also has a price. But, the genie is out of the bottle, I don't see it returning to the past unless the state does something stupid. (It is Connecticut, so that is always possible.)
 

CL82

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GDL would be a great candidate for these positions. No one would be able to stop the mad scientist.
 
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Excellent article.

I have several friends who are assistant football coaches, and you really have to have a passion, because the pay is horrible when you consider the amount of hours you spend. Many have left coaching after the births of their children. It's not just the practices. Breaking down other team's film, as well as scouting a couple of their games takes a ton of time (charting the plays, noting special teams schemes . . . etc.). And now you add the offseason with it's plethora of camps/clinics. When I played, the offseason was dedicated to lifting weights. Now it's a structured weightlifting program, plyometrics, and cardio programs. All organized, and often overseen, by the coaches. And the parents? Don't get me started. I remember when I was coaching freshman football, one kid's parent was yelling at the coaches to play his son during a game. I will never forget after the game, I found the player in front of the school crying because of how embarrassed he was at his father's conduct.

If you want to compete in today's high school football, you have to go above and beyond. It leads to extreme burnout. That is why you see some coaches take a couple years off before they come back.

What is the answer? Not really sure. No school is going to increase pay, and even if they do, not sure how that prevents burnout.

Thanks for sharing coachcap.
 
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Pretty interesting. The number of vacancies may be an aberration but the higher demands on high school coaches is the new normal. This is a good sign for Connecticut football. It is the professionalization of high school coaching. Which should translate into more and better college prospects.

As an aside, I think one of the keys to improving the quality each high school's program is making sure that coaching at every level is excellent. This starts at the pee wee football level. The high school coaches should hold regular meetings with the lower level coaches. When you look at alot of the successful high school programs now, you will find very well structured lower level football.
 
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As an aside, I think one of the keys to improving the quality each high school's program is making sure that coaching at every level is excellent. This starts at the pee wee football level. The high school coaches should hold regular meetings with the lower level coaches. When you look at alot of the successful high school programs now, you will find very well structured lower level football.

Kids can spend 16 hours a day preparing themselves to become better football players. Really, there is no limit.

And this is why I've already pulled my kids out of so many of these activities. Ice skating, gymnastics, martial arts--it's never enough for these coaches and parents. They want you out there several times a week, at odd hours. They suck the fun out of sport. 6 year olds getting driven 6 hours for ice dancing practices every weekend. We still have soccer going on and skiing, thankfully. The coaches aren't so crazy. And no, I'm not spending next weekend in Cleveland with my 6 year old ace gymnast!
 
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it's not just football coaches. it's every high school sport.
AD's in Fairfield County make 6 figures and they want to keep their jobs.
So, all coaches are a parent letter away from termination.

I have a 10 year old at home that is being pulled in 4 directions to play "12-month sports".
I'm not going to ruin his childhood to commit to any one sport.
I only care that he comes home with a smile on his face ...
and his report card!
 
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Friend of mine who knows someone at Masuk said to me tonight that Murphy was forced out at Masuk because of the parents!

Me - "Really?"
Dude - Parents didnt like his style
Me - "11 wins per year isnt good enough?
Dude - "Didnt win the big one" ... quote/unquote (swear to God!)
Dude - "he worked them too hard"
Me - so they want to win without working hard?
Dude - AD just wants to keep his job
Me - I'll have another Guinness

Note: AD is also the boys basketball coach and you could look up Masuk's record.

So, who would be his supervisor, if he is the AD?
 
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Local high school up here just fired their coach who was 89-41 and took the team to 3 post seasons. Why? Well, the superstar qb was suspended for the big Thanksgiving game for drinking and driving...his second time getting caught and he is only a junior. Also, his brother, now a pitcher for UMass, who was also an all time great qb, was suspended for the same thing a few years back. He missed the thanksgiving game, and the next years opener against a bitter rival, not to mention he was also suspended for the state tournament in baseball.

Why was he fired? The father of the players is a townie, as they are known here, and the stadium is named for the players' grandfather.
 
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Friend of mine who knows someone at Masuk said to me tonight that Murphy was forced out at Masuk because of the parents!

Me - "Really?"
Dude - Parents didnt like his style
Me - "11 wins per year isnt good enough?
Dude - "Didnt win the big one" ... quote/unquote (swear to God!)
Dude - "he worked them too hard"
Me - so they want to win without working hard?
Dude - AD just wants to keep his job
Me - I'll have another Guinness

Note: AD is also the boys basketball coach and you could look up Masuk's record.

So, who would be his supervisor, if he is the AD?


I'd heard similar stories related to Marce Petroccio at Staples. He hasn't left there but I'd heard he was getting fed up with unrealistic expectations. The guy just about wins 10 games a year like clockwork but if you don't beat Greenwich and win the state title it's not good enough. Not sure if its true but it would not surprise me.
 
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As an aside, I think one of the keys to improving the quality each high school's program is making sure that coaching at every level is excellent. This starts at the pee wee football level. The high school coaches should hold regular meetings with the lower level coaches. When you look at alot of the successful high school programs now, you will find very well structured lower level football.

I'd agree that this would be the ideal. And in some of the more successful towns it seems to happen. As a pop Warner coach for years though I can say it can be easier said than done. We wanted more interaction between levels but ran into a lot of egos and people with their own agendas. Another thing to keep in mind as well is that the pee wee/ pop Warner coaches are doing it completely as volunteers. We have a lot of our time that wasn't required and did a lot of stuff we didn't need to, usually at our own cost - but not everyone does that and you can't really get mad at them for it. Sometimes they're volunteering because nobody else will.
 
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So, I'm reading about US Soccer's attempt to compete at the highest international levels, and the answer is grabbing younger and younger kids for the youth academies. In other countries, kids like Messi leave hom when they're 13 and go on to play with youth clubs. Hockey is similar in that you have teens going to live and play away from home in the US and Canadian juniors. We already know that young tennis and gym and ice skaters train all their young lives.

But what happens to the young kids that don't make it? So many complain about the universities only graduating half their players while many fall by the wayside and don't play pro ball. The alternative, it seems, gives them even fewer outlets if they don't make it.
 
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I'd heard similar stories related to Marce Petroccio at Staples. He hasn't left there but I'd heard he was getting fed up with unrealistic expectations. The guy just about wins 10 games a year like clockwork but if you don't beat Greenwich and win the state title it's not good enough. Not sure if its true but it would not surprise me.

When I was playing (graduated in 95), Staples was terrible if I remember correctly. Petroccio consistently creates a winner there. It is high school football. Public schools don't get to choose who the players are (except some, it seems). There are going to be down years for every program. It's not like these coaches are overpaid.
 
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I'd agree that this would be the ideal. And in some of the more successful towns it seems to happen. As a pop Warner coach for years though I can say it can be easier said than done. We wanted more interaction between levels but ran into a lot of egos and people with their own agendas. Another thing to keep in mind as well is that the pee wee/ pop Warner coaches are doing it completely as volunteers. We have a lot of our time that wasn't required and did a lot of stuff we didn't need to, usually at our own cost - but not everyone does that and you can't really get mad at them for it. Sometimes they're volunteering because nobody else will.

It doesn't have to be much. Just using some basic plays from the high school team is a start. Get the kids used to running the same type of O.
 

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I spent a decade as an official. The refs are in the same boat - it's a ton of time and abuse for what amounts to about minimum wage. You've never really lived until you've done a youth game where you've planned your escape route to lower your chances of getting jumped in the parking lot. Or had the fun of watching the coaches of teams from the same town brawl at midfield post game over running up the score.

$80 for about 6-7 hours of your time gets old fast, especially when you've spent $20 driving to Stafford or Ellington.

All so idiots who have no idea what they are talking about can yell at you. The coaches spend even more time and deal with even more nonsense. At least once you've left a game as a ref it's generally over (of course your VHS tape from 50 yards away clearly shows a hold someone missed - thanks for sending that in), it never ends for the coaches.

To be a high school head coach and have a family you pretty much have to drop every other aspect of your life for a good chunk of the year, for what amounts to chump change.
 
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and now Murphy goes to conference foe New Milford? One of the league doormats. Boy, someone in Monroe mustve pissed him off!
 
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A high school head football coach has pretty much decided that being the coach will define much of his life.

It will have highs and lows that many will never experience.

But there will be moments that last an eternity and relationships that last a lifetime.

It isn't for everyone. But for those who find he rewards outweigh the burdens, it will enrichen life in a way few other advocations can.
 

whaler11

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A high school head football coach has pretty much decided that being the coach will define much of his life.

It will have highs and lows that many will never experience.

But there will be moments that last an eternity and relationships that last a lifetime.

It isn't for everyone. But for those who find he rewards outweigh the burdens, it will enrichen life in a way few other advocations can.

In an upset, the award for the most over the top post goes to Palatine - breaking Waylon's consecutive award streak at however many years there has been a Boneyard.
 

ConnHuskBask

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In an upset, the award for the most over the top post goes to Palatine - breaking Waylon's consecutive award streak at however many years there has been a Boneyard.

And Connecticut High School Football on top of that. LOL.
 
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A high school head football coach has pretty much decided that being the coach will define much of his life.

It will have highs and lows that many will never experience.

But there will be moments that last an eternity and relationships that last a lifetime.

It isn't for everyone. But for those who find he rewards outweigh the burdens, it will enrichen life in a way few other advocations can.

Jack Cochran
 
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