Coaching Youth Football - The Making of Champions

The Making of Champions was written chronicling my 13 years experience working with and educating youth in the sport of football. It revolves around lessons I learned and experienced both as an assistant and then a head coach.

I state in the book I am not an authority on coaching. I never pretended to be and I never will. I don't profess to know it all, I didn't then and I still don't. What I do profess is: I coached kids to the best of my ability always giving them 110%. I did this knowing that if I could be the very best as a coach it would translate to the players being the very best they could be as a player then ultimately the team being the best they could be as a team.

I was fortunate to be surrounded by some excellent people, and an organization that provided the youth the very best program a child could be associated with. One would be hard pressed to find an organization better than the one I was associated with. You will need the support of the organization that supports you to build your program. The more successful your program is the more successful the program to which the kids graduate to will become. This book is geared to the beginner coach who wants to excel not only for his or hers sake but for the sake of the youth who look to the coach for guidance.

This book offers my insight on my personal philosophies, and lessons I learned by trial and error. It will offer the beginner coach a head start putting into motion the success I enjoyed right from the beginning.

After experiencing a dismal first year as a head coach I researched and formulated a program that would eventually pave the way to repeated Championship seasons. This program incorporated ALL the players into the mix as they all were an intriguite part of the system that made this program work. All of this would not have been possible without the employ of outstanding assistant coaches. Without them I would not have enjoyed the success I had. I always gave credit to them as they were as good a group of guys one could ever wish to have. The key to the continuity of the coaching staff is in the book. You will need QUALITY assistants to build a successful program.

Always looking for an edge, I thought why not bring a collegiate level offense to a youth level program? Anyone can run a basic offense, and defense. I dared to be different. I was told by more than a few no way can 11-12 year old youth learn a sophisticated offense. My reaction was always "why not?" Often I was told they won't be able to grasp the complexities. This made my desire to teach the kids even more driven. As you read the book you will learn how I taught the youth a wishbone offense I tailored from the Oklahoma, and Texas powerhouse teams back in the 60-70's. You will learn how I integrated 4 complete offenses that intertwined with each which confused opponents. I had a unique way of teaching my offense as it caused nightmares for our opponents. I detail how I did this.

I believed you needed to compliment a potent offense with a stifling defense. Again I dared to be different. I researched an 8-2-1 defense that turned out to be the key ingredient to the success my teams enjoyed. Again there were skeptics, I too was one until I fully understood how to teach and execute it. You will learn how I perfected a defense that not only shut down every opponent we faced but stymied every coach that tried to counter it.

You will learn how I dealt with parents and employed their understanding. You will read how I dealt with the politics that you will surely encounter. You'll learn what I found what NOT to do that will give you a head start as you begin your coaching tenure.

You will learn that winning games is not a priority but building a successful program is. You will see that the wins will come once your players buy into your system, learn proper guidance and teaching through you.

You will learn how my scouting tactics helped the players smother their opponents using their own plays against them.

This book will offer you tips on how I developed a successful program. I am offering my insight through my experiences to those who want an edge right from the start. I wanted my teams to be the best they could be and in order to do so I had to the best I could be. Maybe you can adopt some of what made my teams the best as you build your program.