Ah, it’s good to be back at William Chrisman High School in Independence, Missouri. I’m Jed Podolak and I was asked back to coach a game following the resignation of the former head coach. Seems like he was frustrated that the team wasn’t doing better and felt that the team had given up on each other – or really he felt they had given up on him as a coach.
But these are high schoolers. I doubted they had given up at all. What I did notice when I got to the practice just prior to the game was they weren’t having a lot of fun. Now I play football to win, but I really want others to love the game I love. You’ve got to play for the love of the game itself above all else first and foremost.
So, I called the offensive and defensive captains over and asked a few things about how the coach ran the team. Seems he ruled with an iron fist and in a very conventional way. He ignored any requests to open the game up with more balls in the air on offense and blitzing on defense. He was killing their love of the game.
So, win, lose or draw I made a decision right then and there. We developed a couple of new pass plays including a gimmicky flea flicker and added a risky blitz or two and drilled those hard. Then we set up a scrimmage where the QB and defensive captain, our middle linebacker, called all the plays. It was still fairly rough, but the kids were having fun and it did look better and better as the practice came to a close.
The night of the game, I called the team together minutes before the game and told them I knew they were going to win that night and that they were going to win their way. Like in the practice, the captains were going to call the game. Not me. I was going to chat with them all through the game with coaching on how it was going, but when they went into the huddle it was going to be their call. The captains’ eyes lit up at the thought and the team let out a huge whooop!
The game went well. We played more competitively than ever. Turned out we could have lost but made a great last stand as our opponents were making their last drive as seconds ran out. The difference was the new blitz call that the LB made on a hunch. In the end, the game ended in a tie, but the kids shook hands and ran off the field as if they had just won the super bowl. Their confidence and love of the game was back!
Will I stay on? Maybe. I do retire at the end of this season.
But these are high schoolers. I doubted they had given up at all. What I did notice when I got to the practice just prior to the game was they weren’t having a lot of fun. Now I play football to win, but I really want others to love the game I love. You’ve got to play for the love of the game itself above all else first and foremost.
So, I called the offensive and defensive captains over and asked a few things about how the coach ran the team. Seems he ruled with an iron fist and in a very conventional way. He ignored any requests to open the game up with more balls in the air on offense and blitzing on defense. He was killing their love of the game.
So, win, lose or draw I made a decision right then and there. We developed a couple of new pass plays including a gimmicky flea flicker and added a risky blitz or two and drilled those hard. Then we set up a scrimmage where the QB and defensive captain, our middle linebacker, called all the plays. It was still fairly rough, but the kids were having fun and it did look better and better as the practice came to a close.
The night of the game, I called the team together minutes before the game and told them I knew they were going to win that night and that they were going to win their way. Like in the practice, the captains were going to call the game. Not me. I was going to chat with them all through the game with coaching on how it was going, but when they went into the huddle it was going to be their call. The captains’ eyes lit up at the thought and the team let out a huge whooop!
The game went well. We played more competitively than ever. Turned out we could have lost but made a great last stand as our opponents were making their last drive as seconds ran out. The difference was the new blitz call that the LB made on a hunch. In the end, the game ended in a tie, but the kids shook hands and ran off the field as if they had just won the super bowl. Their confidence and love of the game was back!
Will I stay on? Maybe. I do retire at the end of this season.
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479 words