End of the year Letter from the Coach

I took an extra day to sit back and really contemplate about this last season before I started this End of the year email.  I wanted to have enough time away from the big game to be able to clear my head of any distracting thoughts that might cloud my judgment while sending you all the last email of this 2011 Flag Football season.  


I want to start by quickly telling you all a brief summary of why I chose to coach flag football.  For many of you parents who remember watching "Married with Children", you may remember Al Bundy always telling stories of his high school glory days and how he could have been someone, etc....  That wasn't me.  I didn't play football in high school.  I played Volleyball and was on student council.  That was it.  I was however and still am very close to many of the Varsity football team and our coaches.  I would help out in practices and was always allowed to travel with the team if I wanted to.  That was fun for me. 


As I grew up, I learned to love the game. I watch it religiously and study it from many angles.  I love to talk about players, plays etc. So for me there has always been a love for this game.  However, this love wouldn't really hit home for me until last year when my both my boys started playing flag football.  I was not able to coach them because my work schedule didn't permit me to so I was forced to watch from the sidelines.  Like some of you know; that can be frustrating at times.  I would watch Andy's practices and talk to Dale about how the coach was just not teaching them enough and how he was under utilizing some of the players etc.  Probably like some of you have done this season.  


So I decided to stand up and as soon as I could I volunteered to coach NFL Flag football and asked my sons, "Which one of you wants daddy to coach them?"  I was shocked that it was Shawn who replied first.  Andy's remark was, "Well daddy, you really don't know a lot about football."  I was shocked at his response, but I explained to him that it was okay if he didn't want his dad to coach him, even if it was killing me inside. So, I took the opportunity to coach & after that short season, Andy looked at me and asked me if I would coach him during the next regular season.  The rest as they say is history.  You got me as your coach and well, we had a great season.


Now here we are at the end of the season where we started 0-2 and things didn't seem to click as well in games as they did on the practice field. That was until our team got that first win and realized that they could do it.  I know you heard me say this all at the party but I have to repeat this.  I am blessed to have the team, parents and coaches that I got this season.  Without any of y'all, none of this would be possible.  
Each child played a particular role in the season, whether it was on the field or by teaching one of us a lesson. Each parent stepped up and did something special for this team.  You guys made banners, held chains, shared tents, took care of a crying child, cheered until your throats were sore and other intangible actions that may have gone unnoticed to some, but not to all.


For those of you who follow my blog, you know that this is just part of the journey.  There will be other seasons.  There will be other players.  There will be new coaches, etc.  For me, it's all about the kids learning and me just being there to be a part of it.  Parents:  Thank you for putting up with me and supporting my coaching decisions.  Thank you for allowing your children to take direction from someone other than you.  I know how hard that can be.


I want to thank you all for a very special season and I hope that your children continue to play football.  Whether it be NFL-Flag, or another season with the SVFL even if it's with another coach, each kid will always be special to me.  


To my coaches, Dale, Jeff Long and Jeff Brown; again I thank you for every moment that we shared together out there working on making our team better.  We didn't always see eye to eye, but we made it work and we made it fun.


I know that the kids are too young for this closing thought, but I think that as parents you will be able to grasp this and hopefully, one day you will share this with them.


Man in the Arena


"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better.  The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
Once again, from the bottom of my grateful heart... THANK YOU!


Coach

Super Senior Aftershock Flag Football Team 2011

My amazing Aftershock Team 

Coach Jeff, Coach Carlos, Coach Dale, Coach Jeff L.

Trevor, Cooper, Andy, Cade, Brady, Jeff

Brandon, Macy, Julian, Nathan, Alex

24 hours and counting till the Super Bowl

Go Aftershock!

I am sitting here at my desk on a Saturday afternoon.  It feels weird to not be on the football field today.  It feels strange that this time tomorrow the season will be over and the off-season will begin.  It's odd that I am sitting here looking at my playbook and knowing that it's too late to add something new to the mix and yet, I'm still drawing little x's and o's on the notepad.


24 hours from now I will either be the winning coach of the Super Senior Flag Football Super Bowl or the coach whose team lost.  It's an odd feeling indeed.  I am sitting here thinking about how it’s flag football and yet, I am still running every possible scenario through my head that may or may not take place tomorrow. 


I'm also sitting here thinking back to just how far my team has come since day one.  My team has 12 players and only 4 have ever played football in an organized way before.  Now we are getting ready for the Super Bowl.  As a parent, I'm excited for my son and his friends.  As a coach, I am just trying to maintain a sense of cool.


We are playing a team that beat us 3 times this season. We are playing the only coach that really gets under my skin on a football level.  We are playing a team that seems to be so well put together and organized and all I can think about is how bad I want my team to beat them and win that Super Bowl. 


There are a lot of emotions in this one for me.  Last year my son played under another coach and got to the Super Bowl against this team and lost the game on the last play.  This season I get to be the coach that tries to dethrone them.  I'm also coming to terms with the fact that a few weeks after this game, my assistant coach is moving to Georgia to follow a career opportunity that he has been blessed with.  This will be his son’s last game here with his team.  I want the win for him too.  My other 2 coordinators have been amazing and their sons are an extremely important part of why we are where we are and I want the win for them too.


I'm sitting here at my desk with less than 24 hours to go before my team plays in their last game of the season and I am just thinking about how truly blessed I am to have the opportunity to coach my son and these children.  I know that tomorrow may be the last game for some of these kids that are together now.


I'm sitting here remembering when a couple of coaches told me after two games, "You guys sure do pass a lot. That doesn't really work at this level."  I remember asking them, "Says who?"  We won our playoff game on an amazing pass and a great catch on a 4th down because we didn't listen to that nonsense.  We did it our way. 


I'm sitting here with different quotes and sound clips going through my head.  I can remember Michael Jordan saying, "I can handle defeat.  Everyone gets defeated sometimes.  I can't handle trying."  I think of Jedi Master Yoda's famous words, "Do or do not. There is no try."


I'm sitting here looking at the clock thinking about tomorrow.  I can honestly say that tomorrow I just want my team to give me 100% of themselves.  I want them to push themselves harder than they have all season long. I want them to work as a team and if.... IF we get defeated, which I am not planning on.... that they can hold their heads up high & know that they didn't just "TRY"... They did.  They did something that no one thought would be possible after losing their first game 2-0 and going into week 3 with a 0-2 record and several practices rained out.  They made it to the Super Bowl and that makes them winners to me.


I will blog again regardless of the outcome of the Super Bowl because this is a journey about me as a coach and my sons as players and all the lives that come through our lives in this game of football.  I wrote about being a proud parent in my profile and I mean it.  As a dad, having both your sons playing in Super Bowls even if you're only coaching one of them is a big deal.  Luckily, they are both on the AFTERSHOCK... so... 1! 2! 3! Goooooo Aftershock!




-Coach

10 Days & Counting!!

The countdown has officially started & we are down to 10 days. 4 practices left. That's it! It's our time to shine! I am so proud of how far this team has come this season. Each player has played a special role.  We have to remember that football is a game that is sometimes decided by 1 play.  Last week proved that.  We can do this.

We just need to dominate our opponent.  We have to remember that as a team we win! It's our time... From the Start to the Finish... 


Every one on this team has a role & if we focus on that for the next 10 days we will be victorious! This is Aftershock football!

Post Game Speech!

Super Bowl Bound!!! (PART 2)

Part 2 - The Preparation

Practice before the playoffs

So what does a good team do when they lose the last game of the season? Pout? Cry? I don't know because I don't have a good team.  I have a GREAT team! Each coach took personal responsibility for a part of our strategy and decided that they would come up with ways to overcome what had just happened.  The only bad thing was that we had 2 weeks before our next game.  Any parent who has ever had to endure a "Winter/Summer/Spring break" knows how hard it can be for a kid to get back in the swing of things after any kind of break.  Why would flag football be any different?


I need to pause here and explain why I make sure to point out that I coach Flag football.  There are several reasons and one of them is NOT to relive my glory days like Al Bundy did on "Married with Children".  #1 - My sons play & I wanted to spend time with them. #2 - I love football and love coaching kids.  There are other reasons, but for right now, those will do.  I am a volunteer out there. My kids don't get paid.  There aren't scouts looking for the next great flag puller. (Well, other than the other coaches who might be looking for a player to join them the following season I haven't seen any) 


Anyhow... After a week off of practice, my team got together for a full practice and let me just make a point to say that it was obvious that there had been a "Break" in our regular cycle.  You can tell when kids are just not 100% into something & our first practice after that loss & a week off was evidence of that. Fortunately for me, I was only there for part of the practice because I had to referee another game.  By the time I got there, I noticed that there was some confusion among everybody!  So, I made a very clear point to everyone. YOU WILL COME PREPARED TOMORROW!!!  I really did say that. Guess what happened?  It worked! 


The kids came ready to learn & practice & we ran practice at full speed and with so much intensity that it almost didn't seem like flag football.  The coaches felt good.  The kids did great. The parents seemed to be really into it!  Afterwards, we rewarded the kids with some ice cream and FUN was had by all.  I gave them a pep talk to send them on their way & the final piece of the puzzle was soon to be put into place.  *Cue drum roll..... I would NOT be calling the plays out on the field with the kids.  One of the Assistant Coaches would.  This was at the request of my #2 man... The Assistant Assistant coach...  He thought it would be better for me to be on the sideline and just give my input from there & to watch the game.  Guess what? I loved the idea!  I would be lying if I would say that I was 100% in love with it... but for the most part I did really love it.  So, I did what any smart coach would do. I empowered the team & the "Coach" to work together & threw in one more trick play just to "stir the pot".  I am like the "Mad Hatter" of Flag Football... AND I LOVE IT! 


48 hours till the playoff game! 

Super Bowl Bound!!! (PART 1)

So, I guess I should actually make this a 3 part Blog entry.  I haven't posted anything since BEFORE the last game of the regular season and so much has happened since then that I feel like I'd be cheating by just talking about the fact that my team is in the Super Bowl.

Part 1 - The Ugly Last Game


First let's talk about that last game of the regular season.  It was AWFUL!!! There. I said it! As an avid sports fan who has watched enough college and professional football games to fill several lifetimes, it's odd to talk about Flag Football in the same way, but football is football.  Let me start with an obvious fact of the game that some people tend to forget for some strange reason.  In the words of Coach H. Edwards, "You play to WIN the game!"  Simple.  Even at this level, winning is important.  I am quite aware that having fun is an extremely important part of the game.  That's why I always remind my team that it's a lot more fun to walk off the field after a victory than after a loss.  


Another interesting thing about playing football is that a team actually has to show up to play.  I don't just mean in the literal sense.  A win by forfeit is not nearly as good as a win that comes on the last play of a drive or something like that.  I mean, being there in the game. Your head in the game.  Your heart in the game.  That's what happened to my team on the last regular season game.  They weren't there. Not even a little bit.  We got out run, out scored, out coached... pretty much... we got BEAT Bad!  It was really our ugliest game.  Luckily for us... we play in a small division where we were going to get to the playoffs no matter the outcome.  The only thing that mattered was which team we would face in the playoffs.  By the time the game was over.  The 3 other coaches and I had already agreed that we would not let another game like the one that had just ended happen again.  It was an ugly way to end the season. Want proof? Check out the picture below. 

(One of THREE turnovers) * first game with that many turnovers