Youth Football- HS and Younger (1 Viewer)

[Chadstroma]

Practice starts next week for my boys (Monday for older, 7th grade and Tuesday for younger, 4th grade). 35-39ish for the varsity team and 17 for the munchkins (though there was apparently some possibility of adding a couple of 4th graders but that hasn't come to fruition as far as I know yet).

No idea what is going to happen position wise for my older son. Varsity is full of coaches that I don't have any relationships with... in fact, really all of them I don't know which is a first for my son in any of his sports since his first year in swim. Team size is about the same as it was last season (the 6th grade class is pretty good size and the 8th is small but then we had the transfers). My son has been doing skill position trainings on Wed with the HC. From my observations, my son stacked up well. There didn't seem to be any of the newer players that were earth shattering. We have a stud player that did not make weight last year but will this year- I would be shocked if he was not at RB. I could see my son either backing him up or playing WR or maybe both and then likely LB on the defensive side. My son could potentially play anything from DE, LB, CB or S on defense but I think LB is his best spot. That being said, he ability to get moved around might end up having him fill holes that they need more than what his best position is.

I am on staff for my little guy. Not sure yet where I will be helping. The HC and one of the guys seem to be taking the OC and skill position group- where I would be most comfortable with the skill position. I helped out with LB/Secondary last season and I suppose could do that again. I told the HC that I would help out wherever but probably felt the least knowledgeable at OL but would hit up some youtube and whatever else to be prepared for wherever we needed help at. So, there are three of us and need an OL and DL coaching.... no idea what the third guy is about as I have not met him at all and the other guy is basically same boat as me.

The DC shared info one what he was working on yesterday which is a 5-3 defense. For 4th we have one kid that is a giant, two boys average size but a bit stocky and not athletic so definitely on the line, two boys that are taller but lanky- one that will be on the line for sure and the other who is lankyier maybe not. One kid that has no business being anywhere near the line, super small kid but tough (big hockey player that I think will be a good safety). One kid that I think would be a good LB and then my son who probably has the flexibility to play either the line or LB. We have one kid from another parish that is new so we don't know what we have in him there. Other than the giant kid we have, we probably will be an undersized line and then the kids will be playing both ways. Our 3rd graders are within the 'average' sizes but athletic.

My younger son is dead set on being QB. I think he may very well end up there. He can run a bit and has a decent arm. I think there is maybe one kid that could potentially be a good QB and then there is the unknown kid. He could end up on the line as well just because we need 5 there but I think I would like to see him at MLB.

Can't wait for the season. Hard to believe summer is almost over.

 

[acarey50]

Padded practice starts today now that they have had the mandatory helmet only hours completed. Going to be interesting to see how it goes, but as of now, it looks like my son is in line to be the starting TE, starting MLB, possibly the long snapper on PATs, and in on kick returns. Going to have to work on that conditioning I guess.

Of course all that can change as practices progress or if any new kids come out late.

My sons dead week is going on now, Tuesday starts practice followed by scrimmages on the 15th and first game on the 22nd.

What year is your son in high school? Best of luck this year and hoping he is injury free.

He's a freshman. Didn't get to play tackle last year because he tore his ACL and meniscus in 7th grade and we weren't going to rush him back just for Pop Warner. Played 7 on 7 in the spring and has been doing basketball since last October, but today will be his first full football type contact since his injury. He is very excited for it.

We have a similar schedule as you - scrimmage on the 15th, but our first game is on the 21st (a Thursday)

 

[Fantasy_Freak]

Padded practice starts today now that they have had the mandatory helmet only hours completed. Going to be interesting to see how it goes, but as of now, it looks like my son is in line to be the starting TE, starting MLB, possibly the long snapper on PATs, and in on kick returns. Going to have to work on that conditioning I guess.

Of course all that can change as practices progress or if any new kids come out late.

My sons dead week is going on now, Tuesday starts practice followed by scrimmages on the 15th and first game on the 22nd.

What year is your son in high school? Best of luck this year and hoping he is injury free.

He's a freshman. Didn't get to play tackle last year because he tore his ACL and meniscus in 7th grade and we weren't going to rush him back just for Pop Warner. Played 7 on 7 in the spring and has been doing basketball since last October, but today will be his first full football type contact since his injury. He is very excited for it.

We have a similar schedule as you - scrimmage on the 15th, but our first game is on the 21st (a Thursday)

Nice. Good luck with the upcoming season. If your son has any interest in college football I can provide some input as to what my son did to get colleges interested in him. he is entering his junior year, he has one offer from a D2 school, and at least 2 FBS D1 schools want him to visit this season and we are visiting an FCS school this fall. I assume this will ramp up as we get further into the season.

 

[acarey50]

Padded practice starts today now that they have had the mandatory helmet only hours completed. Going to be interesting to see how it goes, but as of now, it looks like my son is in line to be the starting TE, starting MLB, possibly the long snapper on PATs, and in on kick returns. Going to have to work on that conditioning I guess.

Of course all that can change as practices progress or if any new kids come out late.

My sons dead week is going on now, Tuesday starts practice followed by scrimmages on the 15th and first game on the 22nd.

What year is your son in high school? Best of luck this year and hoping he is injury free.

He's a freshman. Didn't get to play tackle last year because he tore his ACL and meniscus in 7th grade and we weren't going to rush him back just for Pop Warner. Played 7 on 7 in the spring and has been doing basketball since last October, but today will be his first full football type contact since his injury. He is very excited for it.

We have a similar schedule as you - scrimmage on the 15th, but our first game is on the 21st (a Thursday)

Nice. Good luck with the upcoming season. If your son has any interest in college football I can provide some input as to what my son did to get colleges interested in him. he is entering his junior year, he has one offer from a D2 school, and at least 2 FBS D1 schools want him to visit this season and we are visiting an FCS school this fall. I assume this will ramp up as we get further into the season.

Let's definitely touch base on the college stuff, as right now it is something my son would be interested in.

Two of my nephews play(ed) college football - one ended up playing 4 years in the Ivy league and had a few other offers, one is a freshman this year at an ACC school and he had a lot of D1 offers. I kind of followed along with their journey. The one advantage they had is that they played at a high school that got quite a bit of college attention with several D1 recruits each year and regularly had coaches at their practices and games, the school my son goes to is not nearly as high level at football, so he won't be getting the same level of "rub" by having college coaches around as frequently, so it will be a lot of using twitter, getting to the right camps, etc. Will definitely be leveraging my brother in laws experience and all the contacts he built up working on the recruitment for his kids.

Both of my older kids had some college looks for sports (older son had some D2 for basketball, then some D2 and Juco for football, middle son had some soccer interest) but both ultimately decided that they preferred to go to the school they wanted for academics/fit vs. one they might be able to play at.

Are you California based? Your schedule lines up with CIF rules, but I know a few states have very similar timelines.

 

[Chadstroma]

Padded practice starts today now that they have had the mandatory helmet only hours completed. Going to be interesting to see how it goes, but as of now, it looks like my son is in line to be the starting TE, starting MLB, possibly the long snapper on PATs, and in on kick returns. Going to have to work on that conditioning I guess.

Of course all that can change as practices progress or if any new kids come out late.

My sons dead week is going on now, Tuesday starts practice followed by scrimmages on the 15th and first game on the 22nd.

What year is your son in high school? Best of luck this year and hoping he is injury free.

He's a freshman. Didn't get to play tackle last year because he tore his ACL and meniscus in 7th grade and we weren't going to rush him back just for Pop Warner. Played 7 on 7 in the spring and has been doing basketball since last October, but today will be his first full football type contact since his injury. He is very excited for it.

We have a similar schedule as you - scrimmage on the 15th, but our first game is on the 21st (a Thursday)

Nice. Good luck with the upcoming season. If your son has any interest in college football I can provide some input as to what my son did to get colleges interested in him. he is entering his junior year, he has one offer from a D2 school, and at least 2 FBS D1 schools want him to visit this season and we are visiting an FCS school this fall. I assume this will ramp up as we get further into the season.

Let's definitely touch base on the college stuff, as right now it is something my son would be interested in.

Two of my nephews play(ed) college football - one ended up playing 4 years in the Ivy league and had a few other offers, one is a freshman this year at an ACC school and he had a lot of D1 offers. I kind of followed along with their journey. The one advantage they had is that they played at a high school that got quite a bit of college attention with several D1 recruits each year and regularly had coaches at their practices and games, the school my son goes to is not nearly as high level at football, so he won't be getting the same level of "rub" by having college coaches around as frequently, so it will be a lot of using twitter, getting to the right camps, etc. Will definitely be leveraging my brother in laws experience and all the contacts he built up working on the recruitment for his kids.

Both of my older kids had some college looks for sports (older son had some D2 for basketball, then some D2 and Juco for football, middle son had some soccer interest) but both ultimately decided that they preferred to go to the school they wanted for academics/fit vs. one they might be able to play at.

Are you California based? Your schedule lines up with CIF rules, but I know a few states have very similar timelines.

That has been something I have been looking at a lot for my son. The top three programs in Illinois are Loyola, Mt Carmel and East St. Louis. East St Louis is no where near us so not even an thought. Loyola is on the north burbs and we are in the southwest burbs. Mt Carmel is a trek but doable. They do have a bus pickup that would make it work but it is an all boy school and my son told me he didn't want to go to an all boy school so that takes that out as an option.

The local public HS isn't horrible but also not a top program. It is considered a good academic school. They did recently have one of their boys commit to West Virginia (he had a lot of other D1 offers to more prestigious football programs but decided on WV because of more NIL and more playing time per my nephew who plays there now). It isn't a bad option but is it the best? I don't think so.

There is a school that is a top ten program for the state that actually a lot of the kids from my sons school goes to and many of his friends are expecting to go to. I have got my son over to some of their football camp/clinic stuff and had a conversation with the HC which he knew of my son before of the conversation and said he was impressed. I think my son would like to go there, likely mostly due to many of his friends going there, and I am leaning towards it for being a higher profile program which I believe would help with recruiting for my son in football for college. This being his 7th grade year, we have some time to nail this down.

 

[Fantasy_Freak]

Padded practice starts today now that they have had the mandatory helmet only hours completed. Going to be interesting to see how it goes, but as of now, it looks like my son is in line to be the starting TE, starting MLB, possibly the long snapper on PATs, and in on kick returns. Going to have to work on that conditioning I guess.

Of course all that can change as practices progress or if any new kids come out late.

My sons dead week is going on now, Tuesday starts practice followed by scrimmages on the 15th and first game on the 22nd.

What year is your son in high school? Best of luck this year and hoping he is injury free.

He's a freshman. Didn't get to play tackle last year because he tore his ACL and meniscus in 7th grade and we weren't going to rush him back just for Pop Warner. Played 7 on 7 in the spring and has been doing basketball since last October, but today will be his first full football type contact since his injury. He is very excited for it.

We have a similar schedule as you - scrimmage on the 15th, but our first game is on the 21st (a Thursday)

Nice. Good luck with the upcoming season. If your son has any interest in college football I can provide some input as to what my son did to get colleges interested in him. he is entering his junior year, he has one offer from a D2 school, and at least 2 FBS D1 schools want him to visit this season and we are visiting an FCS school this fall. I assume this will ramp up as we get further into the season.

Let's definitely touch base on the college stuff, as right now it is something my son would be interested in.

Two of my nephews play(ed) college football - one ended up playing 4 years in the Ivy league and had a few other offers, one is a freshman this year at an ACC school and he had a lot of D1 offers. I kind of followed along with their journey. The one advantage they had is that they played at a high school that got quite a bit of college attention with several D1 recruits each year and regularly had coaches at their practices and games, the school my son goes to is not nearly as high level at football, so he won't be getting the same level of "rub" by having college coaches around as frequently, so it will be a lot of using twitter, getting to the right camps, etc. Will definitely be leveraging my brother in laws experience and all the contacts he built up working on the recruitment for his kids.

Both of my older kids had some college looks for sports (older son had some D2 for basketball, then some D2 and Juco for football, middle son had some soccer interest) but both ultimately decided that they preferred to go to the school they wanted for academics/fit vs. one they might be able to play at.

Are you California based? Your schedule lines up with CIF rules, but I know a few states have very similar timelines.

Nice, then you have far more experience then I. My son plays high school football in Wisconsin.

 

[MAC_32]

Anxious for the upcoming season, partly because I'm no longer coaching and relinquishing control...to a coaching staff I don't trust.

Our son is going into 7th and let's see this is a group that's way more concerned with winning than developing. In a game they were coaching with 5th and 6th graders they forgot to play one kid a snap for an entire game. And this was a decently talented kid. They just forgot. The lesser skilled frequently just got a handful most weeks.

Our then 5th grader was the best wr on that team and got the majority of Y and Z snaps due to it, but these guys being more concerned with winning than developing didn't throw the ball. While I write that with hyperbole there was one game they didn't attempt a single pass. It took some time to develop confidence in our qb when he was a 6th grader led by a coaching staff I was a part of, but once he did we started popping big plays each week. Both our son and the kid the previous coaches forgot to play pulled in multiple 40+ yd td's each.

Now he's back with the same coach from 2 seasons ago and those 2 are still the best wr's on the team. Now I don't want to read too much into just a week of practice, but every play they've practiced has been in 12 personnel with those 2 at Y and Z and they've yet to install a single passing play. I'm friends with both the qb and other wr's parents and am thinking about a conversation with them if this continues for another week. I think it's important the 'can we practice some passing plays' message comes from the kids rather than us, but it'll be more impactful if it's all 3. Hope this is much ado about nothing, but...I don't trust these guys.

 

[nirad3]

Padded practice starts today now that they have had the mandatory helmet only hours completed. Going to be interesting to see how it goes, but as of now, it looks like my son is in line to be the starting TE, starting MLB, possibly the long snapper on PATs, and in on kick returns. Going to have to work on that conditioning I guess.

Of course all that can change as practices progress or if any new kids come out late.

Pads go on tonight for us. Looks like my boy will likely be playing TE and one of the LB spots, maybe DE depending on how well he shows up in tackling drills with pads on.

 

[Chadstroma]

Anxious for the upcoming season, partly because I'm no longer coaching and relinquishing control...to a coaching staff I don't trust.

Our son is going into 7th and let's see this is a group that's way more concerned with winning than developing. In a game they were coaching with 5th and 6th graders they forgot to play one kid a snap for an entire game. And this was a decently talented kid. They just forgot. The lesser skilled frequently just got a handful most weeks.

Our then 5th grader was the best wr on that team and got the majority of Y and Z snaps due to it, but these guys being more concerned with winning than developing didn't throw the ball. While I write that with hyperbole there was one game they didn't attempt a single pass. It took some time to develop confidence in our qb when he was a 6th grader led by a coaching staff I was a part of, but once he did we started popping big plays each week. Both our son and the kid the previous coaches forgot to play pulled in multiple 40+ yd td's each.

Now he's back with the same coach from 2 seasons ago and those 2 are still the best wr's on the team. Now I don't want to read too much into just a week of practice, but every play they've practiced has been in 12 personnel with those 2 at Y and Z and they've yet to install a single passing play. I'm friends with both the qb and other wr's parents and am thinking about a conversation with them if this continues for another week. I think it's important the 'can we practice some passing plays' message comes from the kids rather than us, but it'll be more impactful if it's all 3. Hope this is much ado about nothing, but...I don't trust these guys.

I can understand. Different philosophies for sure and it can be frustrating when yours does not match up with the coaching.

From what I have seen, sometimes not getting the playing time is a good thing for some of these kids.

In our program, you have two grades in each level. 3/4 for "Widgets" (I call them munchkins), 5/6 for Jr Varsity and 7/8 for Varsity. Typically the upper class players gets the bulk of the playing time. For most boys, that one year difference is huge. Generally the under class practices and prepares and gets a little playing time. Last year, our team was one of the better teams (losing one game in season and going to the championship game and losing a close one) and largely because my sons class (6th grade last year) is a very strong class full of athletes. One of the reasons we were good is that our two best players (one stud who was clearly the best player in the league and then my son who was clearly the second best on our team) overmatch most of these kids with size, speed, and strength. As an example, my son played on special teams. The first kick off he blocked a kid and launched him. The second kick off, the kid literally turn and ran from my son. When I turn, I mean, he went directly opposite direction when he saw my son coming towards him... not trying to get around him. For the most part, the under class players only played in our blowouts and basically when the other team put in their under class as well conceding the game. One mother of one of the under class players of a player who is a small kid for 5th grade was very vocal about her son playing. All I could think about is "Do you really want a kid like my son or our other player hitting your son?" But she kept on about it to the point she literally was crying. Not just like a little tear because frustrated or something but balling crying (we happened to be right next to them and my wife now calls her the crazy lady on the team). When he did get in during garbage time, he made a play here and there and that only got her going more.

On the other end, when my son was a 5th grader, he actually was slated to be a starting WR. The first game they played, the offense was absolutely demolished. They tried to throw several times and it just was a poo show. The line wasn't giving any time and the QB, who has a good arm, could not handle the pressure and would just launch it for grabs. They went from a base 21 to a 22 and my son got taken off receiver. He was second team on defense at Mike but he was clearly better than the starting Mike. He got very little playing time that year until the last game when although he didn't start, he played the majority of the game and made several plays including a sack (the first of his career). For me, it was frustrating because I could not understand the why behind it. Yes, they favor the upper class but there are exceptions to that and he was one of those exceptions as the original plan was him starting at WR. On top of it, we went winless that season. Miserable.

For me personally, with football, I am ok with kids not getting a ton of playing time. There are a ton of reasons for it and I think the development really comes in practice for football. Sometimes it is protecting the kids at these ages where they could end up getting hurt playing at the wrong times. Sometimes because you want to get the upper class more playing time. Sometimes to win. What I try to do with my son is first never show any frustration on my part (even during that year, I never said anything for him to hear about his playing time or unhappiness with the coaching decisions). I try to engage with my kid on an enjoyment level and as a passenger on his sports journey and then help focus him. Find ways for him to get something positive out of whatever it is going on. If it is frustrated about playing time then helping him see he doesn't control playing time but what does he control? His effort and training and getting better... eventually, it will overcome whatever his current situation is if he focuses on it. I want him to get all the good out of out every situation possible.

 

[MAC_32]

For me personally, with football, I am ok with kids not getting a ton of playing time. There are a ton of reasons for it and I think the development really comes in practice for football. Sometimes it is protecting the kids at these ages where they could end up getting hurt playing at the wrong times.

I could not disagree more with this approach in 5 / 6, and we confirmed this last year. The 6th graders we inherited had almost no game reps and it showed early on. All those drills during the week don't translate if they don't get game reps- kids gotta play to learn the game. If anything not playing them is more dangerous for them in the future. I was happily surprised we made it through our first two games (blowout losses) with no serious injuries, but we were able to take that game tape and start developing our kids, and not just the 6th graders. i.e. 2 of our 5th graders have some talent, but remembering assignments on plays? Forget about it. I cringed a few times when they were out there in those first 2 games because they were too busy thinking about what they were supposed to be doing rather than playing. We saw enough to simplify their assignments, for both the betterment of the team and their own development.

One was our backup center and when he was in there we trimmed the playbook so he only had to remember two assignments. On defense he was our primary MIKE and that's where we spent the majority of our practice time. The other was in the running back rotation, but like our backup center, we only had 2 plays with him, each from the same formation (can flip) - if it's a run, go here, if it's a pass, block this guy. On defense he was one of our primary OLB's and like our MIKE that's where we spent the majority of practice time. The development of these two kids in just 6 weeks was remarkable. Those same 2 teams that blew us out to open the season? We upset one in the second to last game and fell a TD short in the regular season finale. Most importantly, all but one 5th grader is returning for 6th grade. The same can't be said for those 6th graders going to 7th. We were able to work enough with 2 of those that barely played as 5th graders, but the rest bailed. While they got better last season, they don't want to experience another 3 months of playing scout team. We're only left to imagine what could've been had these kids worked out the kinks as 5th graders and showed up as 6th graders prepared.

 

[Chadstroma]

For me personally, with football, I am ok with kids not getting a ton of playing time. There are a ton of reasons for it and I think the development really comes in practice for football. Sometimes it is protecting the kids at these ages where they could end up getting hurt playing at the wrong times.

I could not disagree more with this approach in 5 / 6, and we confirmed this last year. The 6th graders we inherited had almost no game reps and it showed early on. All those drills during the week don't translate if they don't get game reps- kids gotta play to learn the game. If anything not playing them is more dangerous for them in the future. I was happily surprised we made it through our first two games (blowout losses) with no serious injuries, but we were able to take that game tape and start developing our kids, and not just the 6th graders. i.e. 2 of our 5th graders have some talent, but remembering assignments on plays? Forget about it. I cringed a few times when they were out there in those first 2 games because they were too busy thinking about what they were supposed to be doing rather than playing. We saw enough to simplify their assignments, for both the betterment of the team and their own development.

One was our backup center and when he was in there we trimmed the playbook so he only had to remember two assignments. On defense he was our primary MIKE and that's where we spent the majority of our practice time. The other was in the running back rotation, but like our backup center, we only had 2 plays with him, each from the same formation (can flip) - if it's a run, go here, if it's a pass, block this guy. On defense he was one of our primary OLB's and like our MIKE that's where we spent the majority of practice time. The development of these two kids in just 6 weeks was remarkable. Those same 2 teams that blew us out to open the season? We upset one in the second to last game and fell a TD short in the regular season finale. Most importantly, all but one 5th grader is returning for 6th grade. The same can't be said for those 6th graders going to 7th. We were able to work enough with 2 of those that barely played as 5th graders, but the rest bailed. While they got better last season, they don't want to experience another 3 months of playing scout team. We're only left to imagine what could've been had these kids worked out the kinks as 5th graders and showed up as 6th graders prepared.

I am not sold on either approaches. What I have seen in my kids program is it working. My son, for example, would often move players in the right position on defense during practice during the year he didn't play much. This last year, he ended up at DT/DE during the season because he missed making weight by a couple of ounces and then in playoffs was moved to mostly Mike but also played DE and OLB as well as a couple of plays at CB and was basically the QB of the defense as he would adjust other players or move them right.... then taking up starting RB and even some WR (back up QB as well) and this was all after barely playing the year before. Others that did not play much as well the previous year did great as well.

I am not very experienced in football coaching so I am more open to whatever arguments. From what I have observed with my sons, I can not say I have seen a ton of evidence for your position but I also can't say I have seen definitive evidence against it. My focus is on getting my sons to get the most out of whatever situation they are in. If I do that then that is a life lesson that will serve them well beyond any football career but will also help them develop personally while playing.

 

[MAC_32]

I am not very experienced in football coaching

Telling a 10 yr old that they need to keep their feet chopping, squared, and maintain their gap discipline is several country miles different than that same 10 yr old whiffing on a tackle in a game because they got lazy with their technique. Mistakes are opportunities to learn, if a player is not given an opportunity to make a mistake, they can't learn. Football is not a game that can be learned from the sideline, youth football is that opportunity to learn, and they must play.

 

[Chadstroma]

I am not very experienced in football coaching

Telling a 10 yr old that they need to keep their feet chopping, squared, and maintain their gap discipline is several country miles different than that same 10 yr old whiffing on a tackle in a game because they got lazy with their technique. Mistakes are opportunities to learn, if a player is not given an opportunity to make a mistake, they can't learn. Football is not a game that can be learned from the sideline, youth football is that opportunity to learn, and they must play.

I am not trying to fight you but have a conversation. Maybe you didn't mean to but quoting just that and responding like that smacks of being condescending and I have a habit of not listening to people who talk to me like that.

 

[MAC_32]

I am not very experienced in football coaching

Telling a 10 yr old that they need to keep their feet chopping, squared, and maintain their gap discipline is several country miles different than that same 10 yr old whiffing on a tackle in a game because they got lazy with their technique. Mistakes are opportunities to learn, if a player is not given an opportunity to make a mistake, they can't learn. Football is not a game that can be learned from the sideline, youth football is that opportunity to learn, and they must play.

I am not trying to fight you but have a conversation. Maybe you didn't mean to but quoting just that and responding like that smacks of being condescending and I have a habit of not listening to people who talk to me like that.

You're reading too much into it

 

[Chadstroma]

I am not very experienced in football coaching

Telling a 10 yr old that they need to keep their feet chopping, squared, and maintain their gap discipline is several country miles different than that same 10 yr old whiffing on a tackle in a game because they got lazy with their technique. Mistakes are opportunities to learn, if a player is not given an opportunity to make a mistake, they can't learn. Football is not a game that can be learned from the sideline, youth football is that opportunity to learn, and they must play.

I am not trying to fight you but have a conversation. Maybe you didn't mean to but quoting just that and responding like that smacks of being condescending and I have a habit of not listening to people who talk to me like that.

You're reading too much into it

That is good to hear

 

[glvsav37]

My 15 year old (10th grader), a life-long ice hockey player decided to try football this year. I'm so happy for him. I played FB growing up, but eventually wasn't big enough to stick with it and found ice hockey late in HS. Besides the Super Bowl, we rarely watched FB in the house and as he got older, were normally on the road on weekends with his travel hockey.

Last year, my oldest started at a local college and is on their dance team. So we would go to all the FB games we could to watch her team do their dances and cheers at halftime and such. So I got the chance to really point out the game to my son and explain the details and positions. I think this is where he picked up the interest.

I love the difference between the coaching and mentality of the game, where FB is more of a "drill sergeant" and play by play mentally, and hockey being the more methodical, in-play motivation and coaching.

He's fast but skinny, so he's playing Def Back right now. As he gets use to the pads and catching balls under pressure, he might get some receiving time. We'll see. Im looking forward to when the start hitting b/c hockey hits and FB hits are 2 different things. lol

 

[Chadstroma]

My 15 year old (10th grader), a life-long ice hockey player decided to try football this year. I'm so happy for him. I played FB growing up, but eventually wasn't big enough to stick with it and found ice hockey late in HS. Besides the Super Bowl, we rarely watched FB in the house and as he got older, were normally on the road on weekends with his travel hockey.

Last year, my oldest started at a local college and is on their dance team. So we would go to all the FB games we could to watch her team do their dances and cheers at halftime and such. So I got the chance to really point out the game to my son and explain the details and positions. I think this is where he picked up the interest.

I love the difference between the coaching and mentality of the game, where FB is more of a "drill sergeant" and play by play mentally, and hockey being the more methodical, in-play motivation and coaching.

He's fast but skinny, so he's playing Def Back right now. As he gets use to the pads and catching balls under pressure, he might get some receiving time. We'll see. Im looking forward to when the start hitting b/c hockey hits and FB hits are 2 different things. lol

Exciting for you and him.

I was talking to one of the Dads from the new kids from varsity. His kid is in 8th and trying football for the first time. He has been a hockey player for a while. Half Mexican and half Filipino... got to be rare in hockey (only reason I know is he saw my younger son and asked if he was Mexican and replied that he was half Filipino and he shared his was was Filipina and he was Mexican).

We have one of our 4th graders doing his first year and he is a pretty committed hockey player. Really small kid but tough... caught a soccer ball on the face last season and brushed it off. He is one for the kids I recruited... part of the reason his Dad got on board was that the previous year we had a kid who was also a bit on the smaller side but was a dang fighter. The Dad of the kid I was recruiting informed me that he is a really good hockey player... like one of the best in the area good... and figured if he could do it with hockey and everything his kid could.

Good luck to him on his first year! Looking forward to hearing how it goes.

 

[Fantasy_Freak]

My 15 year old (10th grader), a life-long ice hockey player decided to try football this year. I'm so happy for him. I played FB growing up, but eventually wasn't big enough to stick with it and found ice hockey late in HS. Besides the Super Bowl, we rarely watched FB in the house and as he got older, were normally on the road on weekends with his travel hockey.

Last year, my oldest started at a local college and is on their dance team. So we would go to all the FB games we could to watch her team do their dances and cheers at halftime and such. So I got the chance to really point out the game to my son and explain the details and positions. I think this is where he picked up the interest.

I love the difference between the coaching and mentality of the game, where FB is more of a "drill sergeant" and play by play mentally, and hockey being the more methodical, in-play motivation and coaching.

He's fast but skinny, so he's playing Def Back right now. As he gets use to the pads and catching balls under pressure, he might get some receiving time. We'll see. Im looking forward to when the start hitting b/c hockey hits and FB hits are 2 different things. lol

My son moved from hockey to football in 7th grade. I will say his years of playing hockey helped his footwork immensely as well as helped his physicality of the game. He is a lineman, I am convinced the years of skating and pushing to move his feet transition into football. My son has been extremely lucky with the coaches he had, they were willing to work with him to help him grow and improve.

Best of luck with football this year. Hope his transition goes well.

 

[Chadstroma]

First practice with the munchkins yesterday. My son (I did not prompt him to do this) went right up to the HC and told him that he wanted to play QB. We got going and were missing two... one came a little later and then the other one we missed I know the kid.

That the one unknown 4th grader is a big add. He is above average size kid but not lineman size. Athletic and some speed though not a burner. Him and my son were throwing to each other to warm up and he has a good arm too. He has played in one of the nearby club teams and I asked what he played and he said RB and LB. Looks like a huge plus for us to get. We run a 22 offense and my guess is the big decision will be whether he should play powerback (FB) or RB but I could see him at QB. They looked fairly close as they were throwing back and forth but that was just warm up throwing about 10 yards apart.

Our big kid was a little less enthusiastic specially deep into practice. They did a good amount of running and the drills. I asked him how he was doing and he was not happy. I was llke "come on, I run you just as much in basketball!" and he said "yes but that is in AC". On the positive, he ran the whole time on the long run after warm ups so I heaped a bunch of praise on him for it and told him I was proud of his effort. I have a good relationship with him and hoping I can leverage that to get the most out of him- if we do, it will go a long way to help us win some games.

- - -

For varsity: One of the boys that has been working at QB at some QB group clinics and working at QB during the skill workouts through the summer and has a good arm.... but my son said he didn't want to play QB. I have a good relationship with him as I coached him in basketball for several years so after practice I called him over and chatted with him about it. Essentially he doesn't want to be play QB because you get yelled at and always something wrong, etc. Pretty much mirrored what my buddies son down in Texas quit his senior year as QB after being recruited for D1 after his junior. My older son doesn't want to play QB and a bunch of other kids which is opposite of growing up for me where everyone wanted to play QB. It make me think about how coaching needs to be adjusted but also if this is a generational thing where these kids are less hardened and can't take the hard love approach that you get a lot of in football (and maybe not as much love sometimes).

My son continues to work in LB and RB groups. They are running a 3-4 on defense. My son feels good about getting a MLB spot. He thinks they will put our stud player at OLB which makes sense to have him rush more. He also feels good so far for RB. My son thinks that they may put the stud at fullback as they run the fullback a good amount (and would make sense because he is the strongest kid on the team so some blocking from him would be good too) at this point,

 

[Jayrod]

First year without my son playing football. I'm going to miss it.

Senior year was incredible though. They finished 2nd in state (Missouri 6A, largest class). He played sparingly since he was the 4th WR and they ran the ball like 85% of the time. Of course, with the #1 LT in the 2026 class (now Miami commit) and an average OL weight over 300, that made sense. He did catch 2 TD's though, which was great.

ETA: Also, our RB had 49 TD's on the season. It was just stupid. They faced only 2 teams all season that could force them to punt without some penalty or botched play. That was the state quarterfinals which we won with a last minute TD and then the championship game which had a couple of D1 D-linemen.

 

[Chadstroma]

I have been assigned the Offensive Line to coach... which is fine except it is the position group I know the least of. The good news is that I have another coach working with my on it... the bad news is he is the same with not a ton of experience or knowledge. It just happens that none of us know the Oline much so this makes the most sense to do.

Starter in on some YouTube last night but I was too tired so only made it through one short IMG video and started another but realized I wasn't able to really get it as I was drifting. My buddy already started as he figured that ehat would happen.

Any advice, direction, thoughts, help etc. Is welcomed.

 

[nirad3]

My son will be wrapping up his first week of practice with pads on here tonight. First night with pads on he was really hesitant to hit other kids. He had no problem putting a good pop into the tackling "donuts" but for some reason was super timid against a live target. He's gotten better over the past few nights, though.

It looks like he'll be playing TE and DE. He just hasn't shown the footwork or speed to be a linebacker, which we were both hoping for on the defensive side. But having him at tight end, as I told him, is actually a good thing. The position has come a long way and you get to do a lot of different things (blocking, running routes, obviously) which is good for your longer-term prospects as you move into high school. He's definitely one of the taller kids (there's maybe 3-4 kids out of the 30+ on the team that have a few inches on him) but he definitely needs to add some pounds/strength if he's going to be a difference maker on defense.

Best part about the whole thing, though, is it's toughening him up, teaching him some discipline and teamwork. Great to see, hope his athleticism gains some ground.

 

[Chadstroma]

My son will be wrapping up his first week of practice with pads on here tonight. First night with pads on he was really hesitant to hit other kids. He had no problem putting a good pop into the tackling "donuts" but for some reason was super timid against a live target. He's gotten better over the past few nights, though.

It looks like he'll be playing TE and DE. He just hasn't shown the footwork or speed to be a linebacker, which we were both hoping for on the defensive side. But having him at tight end, as I told him, is actually a good thing. The position has come a long way and you get to do a lot of different things (blocking, running routes, obviously) which is good for your longer-term prospects as you move into high school. He's definitely one of the taller kids (there's maybe 3-4 kids out of the 30+ on the team that have a few inches on him) but he definitely needs to add some pounds/strength if he's going to be a difference maker on defense.

Best part about the whole thing, though, is it's toughening him up, teaching him some discipline and teamwork. Great to see, hope his athleticism gains some ground.

We got to remember, they/he is being asked to do the exact opposite of what he has been told to do all his life including doing flag football. Be nice, keep your hands to yourself, don't hit, don't be aggressive.... even in football he was taught not to hit. There is a lot of programming to go against there. He will get there.

 

[Chadstroma]

First week in the books for both varsity and munchkins, both have tomorrow off.

For the munchkins, it looks like my son is slotted to be starting QB. I have tried to not get involved in that decision or push him as I don't want the decision made because I am pushing it. We really focused a lot today in trying to figure out center and QB... but not so much on the throwing as just getting the snap done. The HC roster had my son at starting QB (listed as QB and others QB2, QB3, etc) then when we started to walk through the offense, he stayed at QB the entire time while we alternated other kids in and out. I don't want to say "Hey, is my son QB?" or anything because again, I want to kind of remove myself from that decision. I focused on trying to figure out our offensive line.

I think we have an idea of who will be our center which is one of our taller boys but lanky. We did a lot of snaps moving the kids in and out and he seemed to be the best. I was already thinking of him at line or maybe TE (we are 22... I think the whole time) so now that answers that and fills an important position at this level just getting clean snaps is a not a given. One big plus is that the varsity Oline coach said he would come over and help us on tuesdays and thursdays. He really knows his stuff so it will be a great help as I am trying to learn on the fly.

Our DC wants to do a 5-3 defense which makes sense and placing our one giant kid at NT and just having him create chaos up front in the middle and let everyone else clean up on the backend. I remember there being some issue with lining up over center but couldn't remember details and the two returning remembered like me that there was something but could not remember. I tracked down our DC last year and asked him and it sounds like it was in the rules the year prior but must have changed as it is not in the rules from last year or this year with the only thing being you can not line up in gaps. The big guy really did not enjoy football last year at all... I had him on my basketball team and got a good relationship with him as well as he and my son attended Notre Dame camp together- so much different attitude and he is responding to me much more. If I get him to just fulfill 75% of his potential, it will go a long ways to us winning games this year. Let me put it this way.... when I was holding the bag having the kids do some shed/tackle drills, I could feel it from him when he hit the bag. There is no doubt in my mind he will be the biggest kid in the league. The rest of our line will be undersized.

- - -

For varsity, it looks like it is shaping up that my son will be the starting tailback. The stud player at FB... which makes sense because there really isn't anyone that could play FB as well and he can open up some nice holes for my son but they absolutely will feed him from FB too. It is where he wants to play so that is good for him. He has put in a lot of work this summer being in 5 weeks worth of football camps. One of the boys told their Dad, who I was talking to, that he isn't so much good as a coach but he knows football and is a technician. So, having my son as an under class kid starting at RB and possibly MLB says a lot.

 

[glvsav37]

My 15 year old (10th grader), a life-long ice hockey player decided to try football this year. I'm so happy for him. I played FB growing up, but eventually wasn't big enough to stick with it and found ice hockey late in HS. Besides the Super Bowl, we rarely watched FB in the house and as he got older, were normally on the road on weekends with his travel hockey.

Last year, my oldest started at a local college and is on their dance team. So we would go to all the FB games we could to watch her team do their dances and cheers at halftime and such. So I got the chance to really point out the game to my son and explain the details and positions. I think this is where he picked up the interest.

I love the difference between the coaching and mentality of the game, where FB is more of a "drill sergeant" and play by play mentally, and hockey being the more methodical, in-play motivation and coaching.

He's fast but skinny, so he's playing Def Back right now. As he gets use to the pads and catching balls under pressure, he might get some receiving time. We'll see. Im looking forward to when the start hitting b/c hockey hits and FB hits are 2 different things. lol

My son moved from hockey to football in 7th grade. I will say his years of playing hockey helped his footwork immensely as well as helped his physicality of the game. He is a lineman, I am convinced the years of skating and pushing to move his feet transition into football. My son has been extremely lucky with the coaches he had, they were willing to work with him to help him grow and improve.

Best of luck with football this year. Hope his transition goes well.

thanks, He's actually playing both...hockey is his #1 and football is something he is exploring. We've talked to both coaches and aligned schedules as best we can. We sat down with the FB coach and had a conversation that he may be missing practices here and there and maybe even a game. Or there may be times we are pulling into an ice rink on 2 wheels and he's running into the hockey locker room in his FB gear.

I know most coaches don't like that, and he most likely wont be a starter on the FB team for that reason, and everyone is ok with that. But it also helps that the coach was one of my Wife's 1st grade student's when he was a kid, and is now old enough to be the JV football coach in the same district. lol. He also teaches gym now at the same elementary school, so she has a little bit of history with him vs an average parent.

Travel Hockey is his #1, he's been with this org since 2020, is an assistant capt on the team and their top line defense. As much as I love him exploring other things, if the seasons cross over, he needed to prioritize. He gave up playing on the HS hockey team this year for football (and other reasons), 3 teams would have been too much. Thankfully, FB ends in Nov and hockey goes to March, so it will only be a few months of coordination.

 

[Fantasy_Freak]

My 15 year old (10th grader), a life-long ice hockey player decided to try football this year. I'm so happy for him. I played FB growing up, but eventually wasn't big enough to stick with it and found ice hockey late in HS. Besides the Super Bowl, we rarely watched FB in the house and as he got older, were normally on the road on weekends with his travel hockey.

Last year, my oldest started at a local college and is on their dance team. So we would go to all the FB games we could to watch her team do their dances and cheers at halftime and such. So I got the chance to really point out the game to my son and explain the details and positions. I think this is where he picked up the interest.

I love the difference between the coaching and mentality of the game, where FB is more of a "drill sergeant" and play by play mentally, and hockey being the more methodical, in-play motivation and coaching.

He's fast but skinny, so he's playing Def Back right now. As he gets use to the pads and catching balls under pressure, he might get some receiving time. We'll see. Im looking forward to when the start hitting b/c hockey hits and FB hits are 2 different things. lol

My son moved from hockey to football in 7th grade. I will say his years of playing hockey helped his footwork immensely as well as helped his physicality of the game. He is a lineman, I am convinced the years of skating and pushing to move his feet transition into football. My son has been extremely lucky with the coaches he had, they were willing to work with him to help him grow and improve.

Best of luck with football this year. Hope his transition goes well.

thanks, He's actually playing both...hockey is his #1 and football is something he is exploring. We've talked to both coaches and aligned schedules as best we can. We sat down with the FB coach and had a conversation that he may be missing practices here and there and maybe even a game. Or there may be times we are pulling into an ice rink on 2 wheels and he's running into the hockey locker room in his FB gear.

I know most coaches don't like that, and he most likely wont be a starter on the FB team for that reason, and everyone is ok with that. But it also helps that the coach was one of my Wife's 1st grade student's when he was a kid, and is now old enough to be the JV football coach in the same district. lol. He also teaches gym now at the same elementary school, so she has a little bit of history with him vs an average parent.

Travel Hockey is his #1, he's been with this org since 2020, is an assistant capt on the team and their top line defense. As much as I love him exploring other things, if the seasons cross over, he needed to prioritize. He gave up playing on the HS hockey team this year for football (and other reasons), 3 teams would have been too much. Thankfully, FB ends in Nov and hockey goes to March, so it will only be a few months of coordination.

I miss hockey so much, I had a blast watching my kid play. Unfortunately, he had to quit, he had no high school option for hockey, our school district didn't offer the sport and the neighboring school district refused to take on our school district, the process was extremely frustrating. At the end of the day my son found a new sport he loves and he seems to have plenty of success. He just received his third college gameday invite. So the animal has changed from driving in the snow to various rinks to now playing Friday nights then running to various colleges to meet coaches and watch games.

 

[Chadstroma]

My son will be wrapping up his first week of practice with pads on here tonight. First night with pads on he was really hesitant to hit other kids. He had no problem putting a good pop into the tackling "donuts" but for some reason was super timid against a live target. He's gotten better over the past few nights, though.

It looks like he'll be playing TE and DE. He just hasn't shown the footwork or speed to be a linebacker, which we were both hoping for on the defensive side. But having him at tight end, as I told him, is actually a good thing. The position has come a long way and you get to do a lot of different things (blocking, running routes, obviously) which is good for your longer-term prospects as you move into high school. He's definitely one of the taller kids (there's maybe 3-4 kids out of the 30+ on the team that have a few inches on him) but he definitely needs to add some pounds/strength if he's going to be a difference maker on defense.

Best part about the whole thing, though, is it's toughening him up, teaching him some discipline and teamwork. Great to see, hope his athleticism gains some ground.

We got to remember, they/he is being asked to do the exact opposite of what he has been told to do all his life including doing flag football. Be nice, keep your hands to yourself, don't hit, don't be aggressive.... even in football he was taught not to hit. There is a lot of programming to go against there. He will get there.

"They" meaning all kids starting football.

 

[glvsav37]

My 15 year old (10th grader), a life-long ice hockey player decided to try football this year. I'm so happy for him. I played FB growing up, but eventually wasn't big enough to stick with it and found ice hockey late in HS. Besides the Super Bowl, we rarely watched FB in the house and as he got older, were normally on the road on weekends with his travel hockey.

Last year, my oldest started at a local college and is on their dance team. So we would go to all the FB games we could to watch her team do their dances and cheers at halftime and such. So I got the chance to really point out the game to my son and explain the details and positions. I think this is where he picked up the interest.

I love the difference between the coaching and mentality of the game, where FB is more of a "drill sergeant" and play by play mentally, and hockey being the more methodical, in-play motivation and coaching.

He's fast but skinny, so he's playing Def Back right now. As he gets use to the pads and catching balls under pressure, he might get some receiving time. We'll see. Im looking forward to when the start hitting b/c hockey hits and FB hits are 2 different things. lol

My son moved from hockey to football in 7th grade. I will say his years of playing hockey helped his footwork immensely as well as helped his physicality of the game. He is a lineman, I am convinced the years of skating and pushing to move his feet transition into football. My son has been extremely lucky with the coaches he had, they were willing to work with him to help him grow and improve.

Best of luck with football this year. Hope his transition goes well.

thanks, He's actually playing both...hockey is his #1 and football is something he is exploring. We've talked to both coaches and aligned schedules as best we can. We sat down with the FB coach and had a conversation that he may be missing practices here and there and maybe even a game. Or there may be times we are pulling into an ice rink on 2 wheels and he's running into the hockey locker room in his FB gear.

I know most coaches don't like that, and he most likely wont be a starter on the FB team for that reason, and everyone is ok with that. But it also helps that the coach was one of my Wife's 1st grade student's when he was a kid, and is now old enough to be the JV football coach in the same district. lol. He also teaches gym now at the same elementary school, so she has a little bit of history with him vs an average parent.

Travel Hockey is his #1, he's been with this org since 2020, is an assistant capt on the team and their top line defense. As much as I love him exploring other things, if the seasons cross over, he needed to prioritize. He gave up playing on the HS hockey team this year for football (and other reasons), 3 teams would have been too much. Thankfully, FB ends in Nov and hockey goes to March, so it will only be a few months of coordination.

I miss hockey so much, I had a blast watching my kid play. Unfortunately, he had to quit, he had no high school option for hockey, our school district didn't offer the sport and the neighboring school district refused to take on our school district, the process was extremely frustrating. At the end of the day my son found a new sport he loves and he seems to have plenty of success. He just received his third college gameday invite. So the animal has changed from driving in the snow to various rinks to now playing Friday nights then running to various colleges to meet coaches and watch games.

Sorry to hear. We have a similar situation with HS hockey. Our HS has issues fielding teams. So this year we are not having a JV team, and that is my son’s level. He could play varsity but we agreed it was not worth it bc 1. The team is just bad (sorry but it is…they didn’t win a game last year) and 2. There is no reason to risk getting hurt as a 10th grader playing against seniors.

Thankfully the travel hockey landscape here is deeper than the high schools can offer. So we decided to focus on travel only and that opened him up be able to try football

For me it is going to be amazing bc all levels of Hockey here aRe technically private. Even HS, it’s not sanctioned bc the school, you just play for the team you go to school in. So with football, they is the first time in 10 years of this kid playing a sport, where someone hands him his gear and says “ok kid, return it after the season is over”. the only thing I had to buy was cleats for this one!!


I’m glad to hear he’s looking to extend into college. I don’t expect D1 but I do appreciate when they have the opportunity to continue to play at a somewhat competitive level while in college.

My daughter was a lifelong dancer and while most seniors have their final bow, she was recruited to a very competitive college dance team (3x National champs woot woot) And it was great to not have to go though the “this is the end” for both of us for a few more years.

 

[Chadstroma]

A kind of cool thing I found out last night.

My nephew was over last night. He went to my sons school but is a senior in HS now. When my son told him that he is currently the starting RB for the team my nephew was shocked saying that the HC (who has been the varsity coach since as long as my nephew was there) never starts 7th graders. I knew it was not typical to start 7th graders but according to my nephew it is the first time he has seen which would make it about the last 6-7 years.

 

[Chadstroma]

My 15 year old (10th grader), a life-long ice hockey player decided to try football this year. I'm so happy for him. I played FB growing up, but eventually wasn't big enough to stick with it and found ice hockey late in HS. Besides the Super Bowl, we rarely watched FB in the house and as he got older, were normally on the road on weekends with his travel hockey.

Last year, my oldest started at a local college and is on their dance team. So we would go to all the FB games we could to watch her team do their dances and cheers at halftime and such. So I got the chance to really point out the game to my son and explain the details and positions. I think this is where he picked up the interest.

I love the difference between the coaching and mentality of the game, where FB is more of a "drill sergeant" and play by play mentally, and hockey being the more methodical, in-play motivation and coaching.

He's fast but skinny, so he's playing Def Back right now. As he gets use to the pads and catching balls under pressure, he might get some receiving time. We'll see. Im looking forward to when the start hitting b/c hockey hits and FB hits are 2 different things. lol

My son moved from hockey to football in 7th grade. I will say his years of playing hockey helped his footwork immensely as well as helped his physicality of the game. He is a lineman, I am convinced the years of skating and pushing to move his feet transition into football. My son has been extremely lucky with the coaches he had, they were willing to work with him to help him grow and improve.

Best of luck with football this year. Hope his transition goes well.

thanks, He's actually playing both...hockey is his #1 and football is something he is exploring. We've talked to both coaches and aligned schedules as best we can. We sat down with the FB coach and had a conversation that he may be missing practices here and there and maybe even a game. Or there may be times we are pulling into an ice rink on 2 wheels and he's running into the hockey locker room in his FB gear.

I know most coaches don't like that, and he most likely wont be a starter on the FB team for that reason, and everyone is ok with that. But it also helps that the coach was one of my Wife's 1st grade student's when he was a kid, and is now old enough to be the JV football coach in the same district. lol. He also teaches gym now at the same elementary school, so she has a little bit of history with him vs an average parent.

Travel Hockey is his #1, he's been with this org since 2020, is an assistant capt on the team and their top line defense. As much as I love him exploring other things, if the seasons cross over, he needed to prioritize. He gave up playing on the HS hockey team this year for football (and other reasons), 3 teams would have been too much. Thankfully, FB ends in Nov and hockey goes to March, so it will only be a few months of coordination.

I miss hockey so much, I had a blast watching my kid play. Unfortunately, he had to quit, he had no high school option for hockey, our school district didn't offer the sport and the neighboring school district refused to take on our school district, the process was extremely frustrating. At the end of the day my son found a new sport he loves and he seems to have plenty of success. He just received his third college gameday invite. So the animal has changed from driving in the snow to various rinks to now playing Friday nights then running to various colleges to meet coaches and watch games.

Sorry to hear. We have a similar situation with HS hockey. Our HS has issues fielding teams. So this year we are not having a JV team, and that is my son’s level. He could play varsity but we agreed it was not worth it bc 1. The team is just bad (sorry but it is…they didn’t win a game last year) and 2. There is no reason to risk getting hurt as a 10th grader playing against seniors.

Thankfully the travel hockey landscape here is deeper than the high schools can offer. So we decided to focus on travel only and that opened him up be able to try football

For me it is going to be amazing bc all levels of Hockey here aRe technically private. Even HS, it’s not sanctioned bc the school, you just play for the team you go to school in. So with football, they is the first time in 10 years of this kid playing a sport, where someone hands him his gear and says “ok kid, return it after the season is over”. the only thing I had to buy was cleats for this one!!


I’m glad to hear he’s looking to extend into college. I don’t expect D1 but I do appreciate when they have the opportunity to continue to play at a somewhat competitive level while in college.

My daughter was a lifelong dancer and while most seniors have their final bow, she was recruited to a very competitive college dance team (3x National champs woot woot) And it was great to not have to go though the “this is the end” for both of us for a few more years.

I have been curious about this... for the... not sure the right way to put this but the smaller sports I guess? Like competitive dance.... do the schools offer scholarships? All I know is the sports my kids are in and have a decent chance of a scholarship in and then the larger sports like soccer and hockey that even though I have no real involvement in obviously know that they offer.

 

[glvsav37]

My 15 year old (10th grader), a life-long ice hockey player decided to try football this year. I'm so happy for him. I played FB growing up, but eventually wasn't big enough to stick with it and found ice hockey late in HS. Besides the Super Bowl, we rarely watched FB in the house and as he got older, were normally on the road on weekends with his travel hockey.

Last year, my oldest started at a local college and is on their dance team. So we would go to all the FB games we could to watch her team do their dances and cheers at halftime and such. So I got the chance to really point out the game to my son and explain the details and positions. I think this is where he picked up the interest.

I love the difference between the coaching and mentality of the game, where FB is more of a "drill sergeant" and play by play mentally, and hockey being the more methodical, in-play motivation and coaching.

He's fast but skinny, so he's playing Def Back right now. As he gets use to the pads and catching balls under pressure, he might get some receiving time. We'll see. Im looking forward to when the start hitting b/c hockey hits and FB hits are 2 different things. lol

My son moved from hockey to football in 7th grade. I will say his years of playing hockey helped his footwork immensely as well as helped his physicality of the game. He is a lineman, I am convinced the years of skating and pushing to move his feet transition into football. My son has been extremely lucky with the coaches he had, they were willing to work with him to help him grow and improve.

Best of luck with football this year. Hope his transition goes well.

thanks, He's actually playing both...hockey is his #1 and football is something he is exploring. We've talked to both coaches and aligned schedules as best we can. We sat down with the FB coach and had a conversation that he may be missing practices here and there and maybe even a game. Or there may be times we are pulling into an ice rink on 2 wheels and he's running into the hockey locker room in his FB gear.

I know most coaches don't like that, and he most likely wont be a starter on the FB team for that reason, and everyone is ok with that. But it also helps that the coach was one of my Wife's 1st grade student's when he was a kid, and is now old enough to be the JV football coach in the same district. lol. He also teaches gym now at the same elementary school, so she has a little bit of history with him vs an average parent.

Travel Hockey is his #1, he's been with this org since 2020, is an assistant capt on the team and their top line defense. As much as I love him exploring other things, if the seasons cross over, he needed to prioritize. He gave up playing on the HS hockey team this year for football (and other reasons), 3 teams would have been too much. Thankfully, FB ends in Nov and hockey goes to March, so it will only be a few months of coordination.

I miss hockey so much, I had a blast watching my kid play. Unfortunately, he had to quit, he had no high school option for hockey, our school district didn't offer the sport and the neighboring school district refused to take on our school district, the process was extremely frustrating. At the end of the day my son found a new sport he loves and he seems to have plenty of success. He just received his third college gameday invite. So the animal has changed from driving in the snow to various rinks to now playing Friday nights then running to various colleges to meet coaches and watch games.

Sorry to hear. We have a similar situation with HS hockey. Our HS has issues fielding teams. So this year we are not having a JV team, and that is my son’s level. He could play varsity but we agreed it was not worth it bc 1. The team is just bad (sorry but it is…they didn’t win a game last year) and 2. There is no reason to risk getting hurt as a 10th grader playing against seniors.

Thankfully the travel hockey landscape here is deeper than the high schools can offer. So we decided to focus on travel only and that opened him up be able to try football

For me it is going to be amazing bc all levels of Hockey here aRe technically private. Even HS, it’s not sanctioned bc the school, you just play for the team you go to school in. So with football, they is the first time in 10 years of this kid playing a sport, where someone hands him his gear and says “ok kid, return it after the season is over”. the only thing I had to buy was cleats for this one!!


I’m glad to hear he’s looking to extend into college. I don’t expect D1 but I do appreciate when they have the opportunity to continue to play at a somewhat competitive level while in college.

My daughter was a lifelong dancer and while most seniors have their final bow, she was recruited to a very competitive college dance team (3x National champs woot woot) And it was great to not have to go though the “this is the end” for both of us for a few more years.

I have been curious about this... for the... not sure the right way to put this but the smaller sports I guess? Like competitive dance.... do the schools offer scholarships? All I know is the sports my kids are in and have a decent chance of a scholarship in and then the larger sports like soccer and hockey that even though I have no real involvement in obviously know that they offer.

My daughter is part of the athletic dept, D1, but the dance team does not offer scholarships. There is a tier of teams higher than hers… the bigger schools, they may do scholarships but idk.

Her team is sponsored by under armor which was a huge bonus and sigh of relief when my daughter brought home duffle bags of gear last year and my eyes got big and I asked “how much did this cost us?” And she told me “nothing, we’re sponsored”. Lol. Just like football….finally someone else is picking up part of the tab after years of buying costumes and shoes. Lol.

Hockey is big around here (long island NY) but not heavily scouted. You need to go away to prep school to get a look.

Football, out school is far from a powerhouse. But we did have 1 kid make it to the NHL a few years ago, so I guess anything is possible.

 

[The Z Machine]

I have been assigned the Offensive Line to coach... which is fine except it is the position group I know the least of. The good news is that I have another coach working with my on it... the bad news is he is the same with not a ton of experience or knowledge. It just happens that none of us know the Oline much so this makes the most sense to do.

Starter in on some YouTube last night but I was too tired so only made it through one short IMG video and started another but realized I wasn't able to really get it as I was drifting. My buddy already started as he figured that ehat would happen.

Any advice, direction, thoughts, help etc. Is welcomed.

Keep the feet moving, know the blocking responsibility for each play. If your opponent is bigger than you, just get in his way. If he's faster than you, make him hurt by pancaking him when you can get him. If he's bigger and faster than you... double team.

 

[InDitkaWeTrust]

Is it worth starting a kid off in flag football first? My wife was dead set against tackle (against football in any form tbh), my 9YO really wanted to play tackle and we ended up compromising on a more competitive rec flag football league near our town. Dude is tall, lanky and can catch. I imagine he'll end up as a WR, but who knows? Honestly, I just hope it helps toughen him up for the upcoming travel basketball season!

 

[nirad3]

Is it worth starting a kid off in flag football first? My wife was dead set against tackle (against football in any form tbh), my 9YO really wanted to play tackle and we ended up compromising on a more competitive rec flag football league near our town. Dude is tall, lanky and can catch. I imagine he'll end up as a WR, but who knows? Honestly, I just hope it helps toughen him up for the upcoming travel basketball season!

We did 2.5 years of flag before we let our son tackle tackle. He's 12 (almost 13) now but before flag his only foray into organized sports was a pretty unsuccessful swing at playing basketball. We made the mistake of playing him in a division with kids slightly older than him, instead of having him be one of the older kids in a lower division. Anyways, the 5 seasons of flag was awesome, mainly due to the kids on the team and the coaching staff (who fortunately are now assistants on the tackle team we are on).

I'll let some of the other football parents weigh in here since I'm relatively new to the tackle scene, but I think there were some serious benefits to playing flag first, even though the sports are quite different. Yes, there's running and throwing and catching, but tackle is a completely different animal. Do your research on whoever might be coaching your son. Quality coaching is paramount.

 

[Chadstroma]

Is it worth starting a kid off in flag football first? My wife was dead set against tackle (against football in any form tbh), my 9YO really wanted to play tackle and we ended up compromising on a more competitive rec flag football league near our town. Dude is tall, lanky and can catch. I imagine he'll end up as a WR, but who knows? Honestly, I just hope it helps toughen him up for the upcoming travel basketball season!

If the goal is for him to play tackle at some point then I would push to get him into tackle sooner rather than later. If you can't get him in tackle then flag is helpful but there really is a huge difference. I have seen the learning curve that players who have done flag football have when starting tackle and it is not unlike those starting football for the first time.

Hitting and getting hit is a big part of football where it does not exist in flag. My big push for playing football young is that they are learning how to correctly tackle (to not get hurt) and how to take a hit (and not get hurt) at levels where the hits aren't that hard. At this level (9 year olds) what I have observed over the last 4 years being involved is that injuries are rare. Getting hurt happens like every other play but real injuries are very rare. I can think of two over that period... one rolled ankle (taken out of practice and his Dad who happened to be a Podriatist took him to his clinic and checked him out. He was fine, stayed out of practice the rest of the week and played the next game) and one freak accident where a kid got cut on his arm... I think a helmet caught him in the arm and it cut him pretty good. The rest were bumps and bruises.

My son is 9 with this being his second year. Most of the 18 players on the team are first year players though a couple have played flag football. One of the coaches (father of one of the kids who played flag football before) said when I asked about his sons experience and he said none and I asked he played flag the last couple of years he said "I don't count that".

I did a lot of recruiting this last year and one of the things I really pushed with the moms who were reluctant was explaining that. Now is the time for them to get hit and hit when the hits aren't much of hits at all and not later like my 12 year old where the hits can actually be pretty hard hits. It worked and got several players to play that did not the previous year.

Again, flag is better than nothing and he can learn some skills- mostly skill position will transfer over so WR is good but he will still have a huge learning curve if/when he makes the move to tackle.

 

[acarey50]

Is it worth starting a kid off in flag football first? My wife was dead set against tackle (against football in any form tbh), my 9YO really wanted to play tackle and we ended up compromising on a more competitive rec flag football league near our town. Dude is tall, lanky and can catch. I imagine he'll end up as a WR, but who knows? Honestly, I just hope it helps toughen him up for the upcoming travel basketball season!

Even though my logic is the same as Chads, my opinion on when to do it based on lots of conversations with high school and higher level coaches is very different. That said, the biggest thing when considering tackle is to make sure you have done plenty of research into who the coaches are. As with any youth sports, there is still a very wide range from high school/college coaches that love to give back to the youth football community on down to the typical dad living vicariously through their kid that doesn't really know enough of what they are doing to teach football properly/safely.

But, to me flag is 110% worth it, especially for WR/DB types. A decent flag football coach will at least get him working on proper footwork/route running on the offensive side and defensively help with reading/tracking WRs and making plays on the ball. When played well, the primary difference really is that at the end of the play, after breaking down and getting in position to "tackle", rather than grab on and drive through the WR, you reach out and attack the hips to grab the flags.

For tackle, the vast majority of high school coaches I spoke with would prefer to get a kid that has never played tackle so they can teach them properly, vs. getting a kid that has several years of learning bad habits (especially poor tackling form) from youth coaches that didn't really know quite what they were doing. Almost everyone of them said that those kids would lose the majority of the season as it took a lot longer to get them to unlearn the bad habits and learn proper technique, and the coaches would be uncomfortable playing them for their own safety. Additionally, they also almost all said that if you did play tackle, there was no real need to do so any earlier than 7th or 8th grade. The younger game has almost no translation to decent high school level football, so there was no real need to subject the body to those kinds of hits when they were that young.

That said, if you know you are getting in with good coaches, it can be a net positive. For my son who is a freshman in high school this year, he played flag football from kindergarten through 7th grade, then played tackle as a 7th grader, and the only reason we let him play was because the coaching staff was made up of 5 high school coaches, so I trusted that he was being taught the proper way to do things. Just about everything he learned from flag carried over. The only reason he didn't play as an 8th grader was because of his knee injury.

Regardless of when they start, they'll know fairly quickly after taking their first hit if it's something they want to actually play.

 

[Chadstroma]

Is it worth starting a kid off in flag football first? My wife was dead set against tackle (against football in any form tbh), my 9YO really wanted to play tackle and we ended up compromising on a more competitive rec flag football league near our town. Dude is tall, lanky and can catch. I imagine he'll end up as a WR, but who knows? Honestly, I just hope it helps toughen him up for the upcoming travel basketball season!

Even though my logic is the same as Chads, my opinion on when to do it based on lots of conversations with high school and higher level coaches is very different. That said, the biggest thing when considering tackle is to make sure you have done plenty of research into who the coaches are. As with any youth sports, there is still a very wide range from high school/college coaches that love to give back to the youth football community on down to the typical dad living vicariously through their kid that doesn't really know enough of what they are doing to teach football properly/safely.

But, to me flag is 110% worth it, especially for WR/DB types. A decent flag football coach will at least get him working on proper footwork/route running on the offensive side and defensively help with reading/tracking WRs and making plays on the ball. When played well, the primary difference really is that at the end of the play, after breaking down and getting in position to "tackle", rather than grab on and drive through the WR, you reach out and attack the hips to grab the flags.

For tackle, the vast majority of high school coaches I spoke with would prefer to get a kid that has never played tackle so they can teach them properly, vs. getting a kid that has several years of learning bad habits (especially poor tackling form) from youth coaches that didn't really know quite what they were doing. Almost everyone of them said that those kids would lose the majority of the season as it took a lot longer to get them to unlearn the bad habits and learn proper technique, and the coaches would be uncomfortable playing them for their own safety. Additionally, they also almost all said that if you did play tackle, there was no real need to do so any earlier than 7th or 8th grade. The younger game has almost no translation to decent high school level football, so there was no real need to subject the body to those kinds of hits when they were that young.

That said, if you know you are getting in with good coaches, it can be a net positive. For my son who is a freshman in high school this year, he played flag football from kindergarten through 7th grade, then played tackle as a 7th grader, and the only reason we let him play was because the coaching staff was made up of 5 high school coaches, so I trusted that he was being taught the proper way to do things. Just about everything he learned from flag carried over. The only reason he didn't play as an 8th grader was because of his knee injury.

Regardless of when they start, they'll know fairly quickly after taking their first hit if it's something they want to actually play.

That is fair... my perspective is based in being in a very well respected program full of very highly experienced coaches (and then there is me running around that is easily the least experienced of all on the three coaching staffs) to the point that it is recommended by one of the best HS football programs in the state of Illinois. By one of, usually considerd the second best if not best program in the state. The only reason the stud kid that is on my older sons team is at our school is that they asked the football staff which school that they would recommend with football and track. They told them our school had a great football program as well as a track team... and then he transferred over. As another example, not one of our varsity coaching staff has a kid on varsity and only one has kids in the school. They just do it because they love football and have a stable group of coaches with very little change over the 7 years that I have been around.

I 100% could see what acarey is saying if you ended up in a program that does not have good coaching. I have to remember that my kids are super blessed where they are at and that this has been all my experience in youth football.

 

[InDitkaWeTrust]

Is it worth starting a kid off in flag football first? My wife was dead set against tackle (against football in any form tbh), my 9YO really wanted to play tackle and we ended up compromising on a more competitive rec flag football league near our town. Dude is tall, lanky and can catch. I imagine he'll end up as a WR, but who knows? Honestly, I just hope it helps toughen him up for the upcoming travel basketball season!

Even though my logic is the same as Chads, my opinion on when to do it based on lots of conversations with high school and higher level coaches is very different. That said, the biggest thing when considering tackle is to make sure you have done plenty of research into who the coaches are. As with any youth sports, there is still a very wide range from high school/college coaches that love to give back to the youth football community on down to the typical dad living vicariously through their kid that doesn't really know enough of what they are doing to teach football properly/safely.

But, to me flag is 110% worth it, especially for WR/DB types. A decent flag football coach will at least get him working on proper footwork/route running on the offensive side and defensively help with reading/tracking WRs and making plays on the ball. When played well, the primary difference really is that at the end of the play, after breaking down and getting in position to "tackle", rather than grab on and drive through the WR, you reach out and attack the hips to grab the flags.

For tackle, the vast majority of high school coaches I spoke with would prefer to get a kid that has never played tackle so they can teach them properly, vs. getting a kid that has several years of learning bad habits (especially poor tackling form) from youth coaches that didn't really know quite what they were doing. Almost everyone of them said that those kids would lose the majority of the season as it took a lot longer to get them to unlearn the bad habits and learn proper technique, and the coaches would be uncomfortable playing them for their own safety. Additionally, they also almost all said that if you did play tackle, there was no real need to do so any earlier than 7th or 8th grade. The younger game has almost no translation to decent high school level football, so there was no real need to subject the body to those kinds of hits when they were that young.

That said, if you know you are getting in with good coaches, it can be a net positive. For my son who is a freshman in high school this year, he played flag football from kindergarten through 7th grade, then played tackle as a 7th grader, and the only reason we let him play was because the coaching staff was made up of 5 high school coaches, so I trusted that he was being taught the proper way to do things. Just about everything he learned from flag carried over. The only reason he didn't play as an 8th grader was because of his knee injury.

Regardless of when they start, they'll know fairly quickly after taking their first hit if it's something they want to actually play.

That is fair... my perspective is based in being in a very well respected program full of very highly experienced coaches (and then there is me running around that is easily the least experienced of all on the three coaching staffs) to the point that it is recommended by one of the best HS football programs in the state of Illinois. By one of, usually considerd the second best if not best program in the state. The only reason the stud kid that is on my older sons team is at our school is that they asked the football staff which school that they would recommend with football and track. They told them our school had a great football program as well as a track team... and then he transferred over. As another example, not one of our varsity coaching staff has a kid on varsity and only one has kids in the school. They just do it because they love football and have a stable group of coaches with very little change over the 7 years that I have been around.

I 100% could see what acarey is saying if you ended up in a program that does not have good coaching. I have to remember that my kids are super blessed where they are at and that this has been all my experience in youth football.

Yeah, coaching here is pretty hit/miss outside of the middle/high school level. I'm not sure I trust any of the club teams around the area. This will be our first experience with competitive flag, so it'll be a learning curve regardless. I think it'll be a good distraction from basketball and hopefully he'll learn a bit of toughness and less reaction to contact from the experience.

Thanks for the advice, gents!

 

[MAC_32]

But, to me flag is 110% worth it, especially for WR/DB types. A decent flag football coach will at least get him working on proper footwork/route running on the offensive side and defensively help with reading/tracking WRs and making plays on the ball.

I was going to write something similar until I got to this - our middle son benefited from flag, but it's because he plays those positions and had good enough coaching. Very little if anything translates between the trenches. Learning to hit and take a hit before kids start going through puberty is EV+

 

[nirad3]

But, to me flag is 110% worth it, especially for WR/DB types. A decent flag football coach will at least get him working on proper footwork/route running on the offensive side and defensively help with reading/tracking WRs and making plays on the ball.

I was going to write something similar until I got to this - our middle son benefited from flag, but it's because he plays those positions and had good enough coaching. Very little if anything translates between the trenches. Learning to hit and take a hit before kids start going through puberty is EV+

Yeah. My son, who played 5 seasons of flag, is lining up on the OL (as a TE) and on the DL now that he's in tackle. Completely different ballgame, so it's like he's learning a completely new sport.

 

[Fantasy_Freak]

Preseason practice ongoing, today scrimmage against the #1 team in the state and a top 15 team in the state. My son will be getting some great work tomorrow, then next week the season starts. My son is the starting right tackle this season. He is really excited for the season to get playing, he has had a number of colleges contact him and I've seen him invigorated into working out harder. Somedays he hits the gym twice in a day. He is working to gain muscle weight and increase flexibility.

Five schools invited him for gameday visits with one of the schools (MAC school) called their invite an Elite invite, which means he is one their top prospects. The other schools are from Big Ten, Mountain West, American Athletic Conference, and one of the Top FCS schools. Sunday morning he had another MAC school coach text him about the upcoming, then Sunday afternoon a coach from an Ivy league school called him and they spoke on the phone for 20 minutes. Yesterday before his practice he spent a half hour on the phone with a MAC team and then he received an invite from them. Currently, he has a verbal offer from a D2 school out of Minnesota. I can tell my son is going through a lot, mentally. He is trying to do his "job" on the football field while trying to manage through what he wants to do in his adult life. My wife and I spoke with him and I could sense a weight was lifted from his shoulders. We ultimately told him do whatever you want, you need to pick a career you enjoy seeing as you will likely be doing this for 40 years. We told him if it means you pass on these college opportunities because you want to get into the trades, fine, but we expressed the need to find a career path that you will enjoy.

 

[Fantasy_Freak]

But, to me flag is 110% worth it, especially for WR/DB types. A decent flag football coach will at least get him working on proper footwork/route running on the offensive side and defensively help with reading/tracking WRs and making plays on the ball.

I was going to write something similar until I got to this - our middle son benefited from flag, but it's because he plays those positions and had good enough coaching. Very little if anything translates between the trenches. Learning to hit and take a hit before kids start going through puberty is EV+

Yeah. My son, who played 5 seasons of flag, is lining up on the OL (as a TE) and on the DL now that he's in tackle. Completely different ballgame, so it's like he's learning a completely new sport.

We got lucky for my son, a teammates dad spoke to me and he had his son with a o line specialist coach. My son was learning a lot, which includes proper head and hand placement, footwork, stretching for flexibility. Plus this coach coaches college and pro o lineman. The coach a lot of college football connections phone numbers of a few big ten coaches that he was able to pass along my kid's name. Maybe you can find something similar in your area.

 

[Chadstroma]

The munchkins were off today so I was free this practice to watch my older son. Tons of work at RB and some at FB and the moved to OLB on defense when they brought in other kids for FB and RB. The OLB was new. I asked if he was placed there because the stud kid which I believe will start at OLB was out today and he said "No, coach just wanted to see me there" My guess is that the coaches have him slotted to fill in there if the stud is out as I think that is a heavy blitz position for their defense and really want a playmaker there. My son is kind of 'stud light' as they are very similar in terms of having a blend of size, height, strength and speed that is unusual and the stud is almost a year older than my son plus has a self driven work ethic that is admirable.

He didn't get any long runs when on offense and said something along the lines of him getting smothered today. I do think that having the stud at FB (and then at times they switch) makes a big difference so him not being around is a big negative to my son.

The one thing that I love is that several times, I could see my son explaining the play to someone. He really does seem to have a good grasp of the game in general and an ability to remember plays well. It is something he did in previous years and continues.

- - -

For the munchkins, yesterday the HC was out so the skill position coach and myself ran the practice for the most part and then ran the walk throughs we did on offense. The boys did much better than I was expecting which is good. My son is progressing at QB. He is somewhat natural at leadership and comfortable in the role. Though arm wise there is not a ton of difference between him and #2 QB- you can see the deer in headlights of trying to take the huddle over and repeat out a play. That kid is a 3rd grader so he has time and I think next year they will be in a good spot QB wise as I am sure he will get a comfort level.

Wed the varsity has a 'jamboree' which is kind of like a super scrimmage with pretty much all the teams in the league that get rotated and do some scrimmaging. The munchkins have a scrimmage next Sat and then both team have their first games right after... the 25th for the munchkins and then 27th for varsity.

 

[Chadstroma]

This doesn't fit completely into this thread but it doesn't need it's own thread and since I am here....

I just sent in an application for the Assistant Athletics Director position at a HS. The one that I was leaning towards my son(s) attending. A big reason I am leaning towards them going there is that it has one of better football programs in Illinois and would certainly get more attention than the local public HS. I was thinking it was kind of a long shot being that I have no education or really athletic background but then I looked up the current AD and he was previously a cop before being the AAD and then getting his promotion to AD. So, who knows. No idea what compensation is and if it would work out but I am sure it would help with tuition for my son(s) to go there. Overall though, I think it would be a job I would really enjoy.

 

[acarey50]

High school scrimmage today - they had the freshman teams on one half of the field, JV on the other - with varsity scrimmaging later. Basically each team started at the 40 and would run 10 plays, then they'd switch offense for defense, etc.

My son started at TE and MLB, played both sides for the first two series each way, then got sprinkled in for a couple plays here and there with the second and third units.

Ended up with 4 catches (not bad for only being in on maybe 25 offensive plays, with half of those being run plays), including a nice one handed snag, and another where he finished the play strong getting shoulders down into the tackler to get an extra yard or two. Defensively he was solid, though he is looking forward to the film session tomorrow as he feels like there were a couple plays where he made the wrong read and wants to see what he did. Ended up with 3-4 solo tackles including one real nice one along the sideline, and several more assists where he came in to finish the tackle after the initial defender slowed or get ahold of the ball carrier.

Overall a solid showing. Looking forward to the first real game next Thursday.

 

[Chadstroma]

I got the initial depth chart for our munchkins today. The offense was not surprising as I had a lot of input on it with the exception of really trying to extract myself from the QB discussion. I didn't want my influence on it as I did think my son was best but wanted the other coaches to come to that conclusion themselves without my pushing it. That seemed to be how it lined up pretty early with no real discussion otherwise though I have already discussed that I would like our backup to have a specific play that he throws... not as the QB but a trick play that he gets an opportunity as he has a good arm but everything else about the QB position is just way too much for him right now. My idea was to have a shift that either my son would move back into RB spot and then he moves under center and then run a regular play. My thinking is that the other coaches would be convinced it was a wildcat type be a run. The other coach wants to run him over through a WR sweep (which is a play we have) but then have my son head out to the opposite flat for him to stop and throw back against the flow. We shall see. Again, we are always in 22 personnel on offense.

For the defense, I have not been involved in the discussions at all on this so the initial depth chart was pretty much brand new to me. We are running a 5-3 on defense. I was thinking my son would either be DE or LB and he is slotted at MLB.

The Jamboree will be interesting Wed. Looking forward to that even as I will play hookie from coaching and take my older son to it. Should get a good look see to how we stack up against the other teams with all our additions we have (and a couple of players no longer playing) since my boys were in 5th grade and went winless as the under class.

 

[Chadstroma]

This doesn't fit completely into this thread but it doesn't need it's own thread and since I am here....

I just sent in an application for the Assistant Athletics Director position at a HS. The one that I was leaning towards my son(s) attending. A big reason I am leaning towards them going there is that it has one of better football programs in Illinois and would certainly get more attention than the local public HS. I was thinking it was kind of a long shot being that I have no education or really athletic background but then I looked up the current AD and he was previously a cop before being the AAD and then getting his promotion to AD. So, who knows. No idea what compensation is and if it would work out but I am sure it would help with tuition for my son(s) to go there. Overall though, I think it would be a job I would really enjoy.

I was notified that I was not selected to be interviewed. I am not surprised, my heave resume of financial services doesn't directly translate well. I might put some thought into doing things to position myself for a similar opportunity in the future.

 

[Fantasy_Freak]

This doesn't fit completely into this thread but it doesn't need it's own thread and since I am here....

I just sent in an application for the Assistant Athletics Director position at a HS. The one that I was leaning towards my son(s) attending. A big reason I am leaning towards them going there is that it has one of better football programs in Illinois and would certainly get more attention than the local public HS. I was thinking it was kind of a long shot being that I have no education or really athletic background but then I looked up the current AD and he was previously a cop before being the AAD and then getting his promotion to AD. So, who knows. No idea what compensation is and if it would work out but I am sure it would help with tuition for my son(s) to go there. Overall though, I think it would be a job I would really enjoy.

I was notified that I was not selected to be interviewed. I am not surprised, my heave resume of financial services doesn't directly translate well. I might put some thought into doing things to position myself for a similar opportunity in the future.

Maybe you can speak with the AD and offer to help in a volunteer capacity, which may help get experience for a potential future opportunity. I bet an AD would love to have someone help that has finance experience. Along with the scheduling and overseeing the sports program's AD have a budget to upkeep, having someone with that experience and vision would likely go a long way to help them out.

 

[Chadstroma]

This doesn't fit completely into this thread but it doesn't need it's own thread and since I am here....

I just sent in an application for the Assistant Athletics Director position at a HS. The one that I was leaning towards my son(s) attending. A big reason I am leaning towards them going there is that it has one of better football programs in Illinois and would certainly get more attention than the local public HS. I was thinking it was kind of a long shot being that I have no education or really athletic background but then I looked up the current AD and he was previously a cop before being the AAD and then getting his promotion to AD. So, who knows. No idea what compensation is and if it would work out but I am sure it would help with tuition for my son(s) to go there. Overall though, I think it would be a job I would really enjoy.

I was notified that I was not selected to be interviewed. I am not surprised, my heave resume of financial services doesn't directly translate well. I might put some thought into doing things to position myself for a similar opportunity in the future.

Maybe you can speak with the AD and offer to help in a volunteer capacity, which may help get experience for a potential future opportunity. I bet an AD would love to have someone help that has finance experience. Along with the scheduling and overseeing the sports program's AD have a budget to upkeep, having someone with that experience and vision would likely go a long way to help them out.

I sent a Linkedin connection request and did ask for suggestions. I like your suggestion and I will press that with volunteering in further communication.

I also asked the AD of my kids current school if he could make suggestions and keep a look out for anything in the future that might be of similar interest.

And I reached out to my grad school (Gonzaga) that I was well over half way through a Masters in Org Lead with that has a Masters in Sport and Athletic Admin online program on what it would take for me to complete that instead with my previous credits in the Org Lead program.

 

[Fantasy_Freak]

Well, my son had scrimmage Friday, came out unscathed, had a very good scrimmage. Several pancake blocks and kept his QB clean and blocked fairly well for the runs that were on his side of the field. He said coach was ecstatic with him, he was the only offensive player not to pull himself out because he was tired. They played two schools in scrimmage, but the offense played back to back so he played in 40 continual plays. He was happy with his play, he said most of the opponents tried to bull rush him and he handled it perfectly fine. He said last year at the end of the season when he was getting bull rushed he occasionally ended up on his back. He attributed the improvement on his physical growth and weight gain as well as continual offseason training.

This Friday is the opener, he is looking forward to playing and getting on the field. The conference they are in consist of 7 games, then they schedule 2 non-conference games. In the past they were a low level team (few wins), they would schedule lower talented teams, but now that the team has vastly improved they are getting tougher teams. First three games this season are against ranked teams. I know my son and his o line teammates are excited to play against top tier talent.

The college contacts increased over the weekend. 3 more schools invited him for a gameday visit, 2 ivy league and a MAC school. Probably head to the MAC school since it is a 3-4 hour drive.