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!