What are the first few days of practice like for a new coaching staff?
Does anyone know how new coaching staffs generally approach the first few days that they have access to their whole team? Do they immediately try to implement their own drills, etc.? How long does it take for coaches to get an inkling of who are the top performers? Any other insights people (especially current MgoCoaches) may have?
February 19th, 2015 at 9:51 AM ^
For this coaching staff, it will look like this:
February 19th, 2015 at 10:43 AM ^
Day 1: complete paperwork, physicals, waivers
Day 2: "let's go around the room and mention something that nobody else knows about you" then some light stretching, run a few laps around the goal posts
Day 3: (some variation of this):
February 19th, 2015 at 1:11 PM ^
February 19th, 2015 at 4:29 PM ^
That was music to my ears. I had a coach that was crazy like that when we played like shit. It motivated the f**king hell out of us. He would scream like that when we were good and he was happy too. I loved it. We loved it. The panty wastes that could not handle it(boo hoo), did not play or cried to their mommies.
February 19th, 2015 at 5:02 PM ^
I was playing this for guys in my office and we all shared the same opinion. And none of us were Bobby Knight fans.
February 19th, 2015 at 5:54 PM ^
Sorry, that kinda coaching gets old. I prefer coaches like Belein who remain positive without having an ego or using fear to motivate. I also prefer coaches who didn't come out of that cesspool that is Ohio.
February 19th, 2015 at 6:01 PM ^
Different coaches all have their styles, and obviously Kinght's was effective, but "I've had to sit around for a fucking year with a fucking 8-10 record in this fucking league, and you will not put me in that fucking position again" isn't exactly an ideal attitude, IMO.
Needs moar "we" and "team" and "us" if you ask me.
February 19th, 2015 at 8:17 PM ^
Knight was successful in his time. His approach wouldn't be effective with millenneals. At all. Which is about the time he started his broadcasting career.
February 19th, 2015 at 10:09 PM ^
I wasn't really criticizing his style; I'm a millennial and had success with coaches that loved screaming and calling players out and using every profanity imaginable. If he can win I'm fine with whatever verbal tirades a coach goes on.
I just have a hard time imagining Bo yelling at halftime about a situation the team put him in. The Team The Team The Team and whatnot.
February 20th, 2015 at 11:26 AM ^
I understand your point. And I'm not a Bobby Knight apologist, but you might be overthinking it. By saying "I will NOT go 8-10" he could just as easily mean "I don't want to accept this level of mediocrity, so why should you?" That's a message that all coaches and leaders deliver in some way or form.
February 19th, 2015 at 8:23 PM ^
Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler, Jr. was born in Barberton, OH.
Gary Moeller? Lima, OH.
February 19th, 2015 at 9:54 AM ^
February 19th, 2015 at 10:07 AM ^
...but then the coaches will show them how.
February 19th, 2015 at 10:50 AM ^
February 19th, 2015 at 12:18 PM ^
Instead... only try to realize the truth.
February 19th, 2015 at 10:02 AM ^
"I WANNA PLAY FOOTBALL"
"DON'T....don't you do it....I got nowhere else to play..."
February 19th, 2015 at 1:06 PM ^
February 19th, 2015 at 1:07 PM ^
February 19th, 2015 at 1:08 PM ^
February 19th, 2015 at 9:57 AM ^
By extension, unknown to those in this thread as well, I imagine.
WE SHALL NEVER KNOW.
February 19th, 2015 at 9:58 AM ^
February 19th, 2015 at 10:02 AM ^
The guys on the team are the guys on the team. You have a limited amount of time to work with a bunch of guys that need a lot of improvement. They'll go right into drills. It's spring. They have all spring and fall practice to determine the depth chart, they aren't really concerned about that right now. They are concerned with getting better. And you get better through drills.
February 19th, 2015 at 4:25 PM ^
February 19th, 2015 at 10:08 AM ^
February 19th, 2015 at 10:12 AM ^
There is no limit on access for conditioning or stretching for that matter.
February 19th, 2015 at 12:10 PM ^
High school football as their tryouts
February 19th, 2015 at 9:58 AM ^
of Harbaugh saying to his players, "What's your deal?"
February 19th, 2015 at 9:59 AM ^
In all seriousness I think I remember hearing Sam Webb talk about how they practice with pads and hit from day one.
February 19th, 2015 at 10:08 AM ^
Unless something has changed, they aren't even allowed to wear full pads on the first few days.
February 19th, 2015 at 10:15 AM ^
on contact practices in the spring.
February 19th, 2015 at 10:25 AM ^
Even if you were allowed, you wouldn't want to start like that. Players haven't worn pads in a few months, you want to work back into it. Get used to them before you starting going full contact.
February 19th, 2015 at 10:02 AM ^
February 19th, 2015 at 10:22 AM ^
I expect that you are correct in this regard. Harbaugh is a smart guy, and has probably identified the culture of the team as perhaps the most important area for improvement. While he and Hoke may be friends, the two could not be more different in terms of culture. Harbaugh is going to spend a lot of time during the first few sessions making it known to the players what they should expect going forward, instilling his psycho brand of dedication and intensity and letting the players know that if they aren't all in, they might as well leave (and that those who choose not to leave will be champions).
From what I understand from a friend who played for Illinois during a coaching change, much of spring practice will be about running tons of position specifi drills to get the technique down so that the kids can work on that technique over the summer. And, finally, towards the second half of spring, the staff will start introducing more and more of their "playbook" so that the kids can rep the plays on their own over the summer.
February 19th, 2015 at 10:30 AM ^
does it involve pushing players past their own concept of maximal physical exertion? or are there more aspects that a coach can do?
i'm genuinely curious--several injuries knocked me out of team sports in high school so i don't have a great concept of what goes into "instilling a culture" and all those words that have no real meaning to me in terms of what goes down on a day-to-day basis.
February 19th, 2015 at 10:38 AM ^
There was that article about how Harbaugh keeps track of everything, down to how much a player does a particular drill. He will then post some of those results for players to see. As a player, you don't want to be at the bottom of the list.
Edit: LINK (it's MLive)
February 19th, 2015 at 11:06 AM ^
I read a different article on the same subject that the things that Harbaugh tracks often seem random an miniscule, such as how many minutes a players sits down during lifting sessions, or how many sets they get in during a perscribed period of time. Bascially, while random, many of these things go to how much effort and intensity a player is exerting, If you have no idea what crazy metric he is tracking, the safest course is to go all out all the time, and just deal with it. From a pure training perspective, this leads to better, quicker results.
As to onfield stuff, I read somewhere that he tracks all sorts of things like dropped passes during drills, instances of bad technique by the QBs, etc. Again, if you never know what he is looking for, you really think about every single practice rep to be a perfect as possible. Given that in today's CFB world, there are a limited number of practice reps, making every single one count from a technique standpoint can only be a good thing.
February 19th, 2015 at 10:37 AM ^
As much as I hate to assume, I'm sure it's similar to the military minus the drill sgt craziness. Either you buy into it and conform or you're out. "Out" meaing for a football player means transfer or ride the pine. Unless you're a "locker room lawyer" type, then they'll probably eventually find themselves off the team completely if the coaches can get their way.
February 19th, 2015 at 11:03 AM ^
February 19th, 2015 at 12:13 PM ^
February 19th, 2015 at 10:20 AM ^
Whether we like it or not, this team has a culture of losing right now. They've been getting pushed around by just about everyone they've played. This is Harbaugh's first task, and will likely be his most difficult.
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February 19th, 2015 at 11:19 AM ^
February 19th, 2015 at 10:27 AM ^
In a word: Intense.
February 19th, 2015 at 10:32 AM ^
Every player will be asked what position he would like to play. That will cause some position changes from last year. Attention to detail and effort will be stressed. Position groups will be established and each coach will discuss his philosophy.
February 19th, 2015 at 11:04 AM ^
They will get right into their own drills and begin to explain the offensive/defensive philosophy (on the fly). Expectations will be set immediately, from the very first sprint to the very last rep. Harbs will expect his level of enthusiasm and energy to be matched by every player, coach, and support staff member. I am interested to find out how long it takes before an example is made of anyone not meeting expectations.
February 19th, 2015 at 11:06 AM ^
Found this by simply typing "Jim Harbaugh Football Practice" into Google Search.
Posted to the interwebz yesterday.