We WON as a Team!!!

(Stepping back to pass & yeah, there's no pressure)

Great teams find a way to win even when it's not pretty.  Great teams come back & show that they may bend but will not break.  Well, my flag football team did just that today. I am very proud of how well we performed several different facets of the game.  Our offensive line blocked much better.  Our smallest player caught a crucial 1st down pass.  My son who always wants to run, even if he's not the fastest back on the field squeaked out 5 yards for another critical first down. However, I know we  weren't perfect.  Nope! We were far from it. But we got the win on the last play of the game... which was - A Hail Mary! 

For the first time this season I felt alone on the sideline.  My assistant coaches were not happy with my play selection & they let me know by keeping their distance.  I wasn't upset about it. I mean, in the end, we won and hindsight is always 20/20 so it all worked out for the best.  

The one thing that we all agree on is that the league knows we can pass the ball and they know we can do it well.  I posted the picture of what happens when 2 linemen have no one to block because the defense has all dropped back into coverage.  Fortunately, he didn't pass the ball he scrambled and got yards on the ground. 

So, now I get to draw up some new plays and some new plans for the next couple of weeks.  I met with two of my coaches yesterday at a birthday party, and yes, we talked football as most men tend to do.  We discussed ideas and how they understand that I have to take off the hat of "nice coach" and start focusing on "Winning coach".  

The playoffs are coming up soon and I want my team to be at their best.  We've added a second day of practice from now till the end of the season. We
are "going back to the old drawing board" and getting back to some basics. 

I have the support of my coaches 100%! They made that clear. They just want to see us get a much more comfortable lead before I start calling trick plays and pass plays that could result in dropped passes that stop the clock.  I get that.  I have received enough praise from most of the parents to know that no one feels like their child isn't receiving enough playing time. So... now it's time to buckle up that imaginary chin strap and plan, plan, plan! 


-Coach

Game 1 is in the books

The Defensive attack led by my T-Rex

Well here I am a good 24 hours removed from our first football game of the season and can now sit down and put into words what I got out of our first full game.  Let me start by saying that I am so proud of my team for going out there and pushing themselves to the limit and even though Mother Nature ALMOST took away another week of preparation away from us, she decided that we would be happier campers for the rest of the weekend if we got out and got that first game out of the way.

When a coach thinks of all the things that they have to plan for in a game they don't usually plan for a bad call even though there is always going to be a bad call per game in someone's eyes.  My team did very well and I was very impressed with a lot of things that the kids did right.  We did something that from what I gather a lot of teams don't do.  We passed the ball.  I was actually told later that it's just not something that they, (the kids) can do at this level - I DO NOT AGREE... I had a game plan and for the most part we stuck to it.  We were fighting the wind and the fact that over 70% of my team have never played football on a team together.  I think that their nerves might have gotten to them at first, then there is the mere speed of the game.  When we practice they can kinda take it easy - even though I make them run a lot, they was still some heavy breathing going on out there.  

We weren't clicking as well as I had hoped for but in fact my team did do a lot of things right.  We had an interception, we forced a couple of false starts and we did not allow a single touchdown.  Even when the other team was on the goal line, we stopped them.  

Now, the moment several people have been waiting for - Did we win?  No, we did not.  How can that be if we didn't let them score?  Well... because unfortunately, there was a bad call, well... really there was just a whistle that was called before a play actually ended and our TD was called back.  Was I mad?  No. Not really.  Disappointed?  Yeah. I know how hard it can be to score a touchdown so yeah I felt for the kid who ran his heart out to get that score, but I know the referee did not mean to blow the whistle and the rule is you play till the whistle...  We didn't lose because of that.  It didn't help, but that wasn't what got us.

So, now we have 2 weeks to plan, practice & prepare.  I know that we will be better prepared for our next game.   I know the little things that we need to work on.  I know that I need to be off the field for defense & allow the other coaches to get out there & motivate the team.  I'll run the offense, they can run the defense & coach from the sidelines.

As a parent, I was extremely proud of how well my son played.  He was the defensive star of the game and I am not saying that because he's mine.  He loves to play defense & does it very well.  I think he pulled 6 or 7 flags.  He disrupted plays in the back field.  He was in the QB's face a lot.  That's what I love to see him do.  I even let him do something that he had been wanting to do since he started playing and that was let him run on offense.  He took the first snap and got us our first 4 yards of offense. (Yes, I was very proud)

We have practice this week and no game this Holiday weekend, so we have plenty of time to really work as a team and start building towards our next game.  I am not ready to guarantee a win yet.  Not because I doubt my team and their abilities.  I just don't want to get ahead of myself.

So, there it is.  First game is in the books.  Now it's time start writing chapter 2.

- Coach Carlos