296. "K-12 Program Development" with Tyler Aurandt

WEBVTT
1
00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:03.240
Parker Resource podcast was brought to you by our platinum sponsor,
2
00:00:03.480 --> 00:00:07.080
SID Services Ads and Coaches. Does the idea of a
3
00:00:07.080 --> 00:00:11.320
sports information department at your school sound appealing? Sid Services
4
00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:14.400
was founded with one goal in mind help athletic directors
5
00:00:14.439 --> 00:00:18.000
and coaches with their sports information duties and responsibilities. Developed
6
00:00:18.039 --> 00:00:20.760
a full service agency, they can help you with all
7
00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:24.679
things sports information. SID Services will not graduate or lead
8
00:00:24.760 --> 00:00:27.600
for another school. Instead, they will provide an ongoing and
9
00:00:27.719 --> 00:00:31.679
knowledgeable resource for the entire athletic department. Their game plan
10
00:00:31.719 --> 00:00:35.000
will be based off your needs, your wants, and your wishes.
11
00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:38.600
Your direction will lead their services. For more information and
12
00:00:38.679 --> 00:00:43.399
schedule an initial consultation, contact them today. Sid Services email
13
00:00:43.759 --> 00:00:48.880
is info at sidh services dot com. That's info at
14
00:00:48.960 --> 00:00:55.159
sid services dot com and their website is sid services
15
00:00:55.479 --> 00:01:00.520
dot com. All right, I'm very please this time to
16
00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:03.600
be joined by coach Tyler Arndt at North o'cony. Coach,
17
00:01:03.640 --> 00:01:04.439
thanks for joining.
18
00:01:04.280 --> 00:01:08.400
Me, absolutely, thanks so much for having me Chris Man.
19
00:01:08.680 --> 00:01:11.560
You guys are been killing it at North o'cony. Okay,
20
00:01:12.200 --> 00:01:16.079
ten wins are more six the last seven years, the
21
00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:19.239
last four years, twelve or more wins and I am
22
00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:20.959
going to ask you a little bit about that. But
23
00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:24.239
just for the people listening, the majority of our talks
24
00:01:24.280 --> 00:01:26.760
can actually be about how you get there with guys
25
00:01:26.760 --> 00:01:29.359
that aren't playing on Friday night. So and I think
26
00:01:29.400 --> 00:01:30.760
you guys are really good at that. I think something
27
00:01:30.799 --> 00:01:32.200
you'll take a lot of pride in and I really
28
00:01:32.239 --> 00:01:34.640
want to highlight it. So, but before we get there,
29
00:01:34.760 --> 00:01:38.319
anybody's not real familiar with you or your journey here,
30
00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:41.319
you know, talk a little bit about how you guys
31
00:01:41.400 --> 00:01:44.000
go from you know, North O Cony's always a nice place,
32
00:01:44.200 --> 00:01:46.519
is in a really good area, but in the last
33
00:01:46.560 --> 00:01:49.840
four or five years you really become a state championship contender,
34
00:01:49.879 --> 00:01:52.519
and then last year we're able to win the state championship.
35
00:01:52.599 --> 00:01:54.799
What do you think beyond the youth program? Because we
36
00:01:54.840 --> 00:01:56.680
talked about youth program a lot, what are some other
37
00:01:56.760 --> 00:01:59.519
factors that helped get you guys to where you are?
38
00:01:59.560 --> 00:02:00.879
We're most people wish they were.
39
00:02:02.040 --> 00:02:04.879
Yeah, I think two things that stick out.
40
00:02:05.359 --> 00:02:09.759
We got a great administration that has been extremely supportive.
41
00:02:10.319 --> 00:02:13.439
In terms of hiring, in terms of getting.
42
00:02:13.159 --> 00:02:19.120
The things needed and getting things in place from a structure,
43
00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:22.520
just from a structure and a program, you know, standpoint
44
00:02:23.280 --> 00:02:27.520
of getting things aligned, you know, from from our principal
45
00:02:27.599 --> 00:02:28.280
all the way.
46
00:02:28.120 --> 00:02:31.599
Down, and I think that's been a big key. And
47
00:02:31.639 --> 00:02:35.000
then the second part is we have had.
48
00:02:36.280 --> 00:02:38.639
I think we've lost like two or three coaches in
49
00:02:39.240 --> 00:02:44.280
a total of nine years. So continuity on our staff
50
00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:48.280
has been a big part of our success. We haven't
51
00:02:48.280 --> 00:02:51.319
had a lot of turnover. I think we're in a
52
00:02:51.360 --> 00:02:55.560
place that people might to live. It's a great school
53
00:02:55.599 --> 00:02:59.240
system to have your kids in. So we've been fortunate
54
00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:02.319
to you know that the guys that we started with
55
00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:06.000
ten years ago, we've been able to keep around.
56
00:03:06.120 --> 00:03:06.960
For the most part.
57
00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:09.759
So those two things, I think they probably stand out
58
00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:12.800
the most in terms of, you know, what has helped
59
00:03:12.919 --> 00:03:18.520
create success and you know, continued that consistency through the years.
60
00:03:18.919 --> 00:03:21.199
Well, you know, everybody when you do something like this
61
00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:23.360
because I haven't now have been coached for several years,
62
00:03:23.879 --> 00:03:26.400
and you talk a lot coaching a lot, but you
63
00:03:26.439 --> 00:03:29.400
don't really don't have a lot of real life examples anymore.
64
00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:31.599
You know, people always want to talk to you about
65
00:03:31.639 --> 00:03:34.800
what formula you know gets there. And obviously everybody knows
66
00:03:34.840 --> 00:03:39.680
you got good players, but there's always programs who you know,
67
00:03:39.719 --> 00:03:41.919
they just either they just kind of birthed out of
68
00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:44.919
something like Jackson County. Last year, you know was really
69
00:03:44.919 --> 00:03:46.400
good and there was a place that hadn't been and
70
00:03:46.439 --> 00:03:49.080
it'll probably stay being really good, just in a good area.
71
00:03:49.599 --> 00:03:51.680
You know, they got good players. You guys do too.
72
00:03:52.199 --> 00:03:54.400
But there's five or six components that I do here
73
00:03:54.479 --> 00:03:56.280
over and over again, That's what I mean. And one
74
00:03:56.280 --> 00:03:57.840
of them is the weight room. One of them is
75
00:03:58.159 --> 00:04:01.319
you know, coaches, you know, steady coach, because I do
76
00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:04.319
think if you lose coaches too quickly in that process
77
00:04:04.360 --> 00:04:06.479
when your program's just starting on the way up, it
78
00:04:06.520 --> 00:04:08.800
does make it harder. So having a continent in coaches.
79
00:04:08.840 --> 00:04:10.759
But the thing that I wanted to talk to you about,
80
00:04:11.080 --> 00:04:13.080
and I know you're willing to talk to me about,
81
00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:16.639
is the feeder programs. We can start with JV at
82
00:04:16.680 --> 00:04:19.279
ninth grade, but all the way down to the littlest
83
00:04:19.319 --> 00:04:22.120
of little you guys do a great job of that.
84
00:04:22.120 --> 00:04:23.399
I always took a lot of pride in that when
85
00:04:23.399 --> 00:04:24.720
I was the head coach, and one of the reasons
86
00:04:24.720 --> 00:04:26.560
I like working at Pickens as they coach there is
87
00:04:26.920 --> 00:04:31.839
I could control pretty much kindergarten twelfth grade, and I
88
00:04:31.839 --> 00:04:34.000
thought that was really helpful for us, and I thought
89
00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:37.480
it was a really important component to us maximizing our potential.
90
00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:40.920
Now there seven wins might have been us maximizing our potential,
91
00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:43.399
but I felt like that's how we got there was,
92
00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:45.199
you know, having those kids run the same stuff all
93
00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:47.120
the week through take a lot of pride each other. Anyway,
94
00:04:47.439 --> 00:04:49.279
So talk to me a little bit about what you
95
00:04:49.319 --> 00:04:52.000
guys do from the littlest of littles all the way
96
00:04:52.040 --> 00:04:54.199
through JV, you know, anything you want to share, and
97
00:04:54.240 --> 00:04:56.000
then we can get in this more specific stuff.
98
00:04:56.759 --> 00:04:57.000
Yeah.
99
00:04:57.160 --> 00:05:00.519
No, I absolutely think that a lot of our success
100
00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:03.600
in the last five years started when these kids were
101
00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:07.319
in grade school and they're run around in elementary school,
102
00:05:07.959 --> 00:05:11.680
and that's where you know, we've done a really good
103
00:05:11.800 --> 00:05:15.920
job of building relationships and bridging that gap between what's
104
00:05:15.959 --> 00:05:19.240
happening in our youngest group, which is seven year olds,
105
00:05:19.720 --> 00:05:21.920
all the way through our oldest group.
106
00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:23.959
Which would be our tenth, eleventh, and twelfth graders.
107
00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:28.680
And we've developed and created a lot of different things
108
00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:31.800
over the years, but I think one of the biggest
109
00:05:31.800 --> 00:05:36.279
things is just being accessible to whether it be for
110
00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:40.439
the kids or the coaches at those age groups. So,
111
00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:44.000
you know, one thing that we try to do every
112
00:05:44.040 --> 00:05:47.160
summers have a coaches clinic for those guys.
113
00:05:48.279 --> 00:05:51.240
And it's more just like Q and A.
114
00:05:52.360 --> 00:05:55.399
But it is a lot of it is, you know,
115
00:05:55.959 --> 00:05:59.240
what we believe in, whether it be you know, the
116
00:05:59.279 --> 00:06:02.079
culture of our program and the kids that we're trying
117
00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:05.600
to build, or the way we practice, and we feel
118
00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:08.879
like if we can get them started early in those
119
00:06:08.920 --> 00:06:12.800
two areas, when they get to us, it's it's we're
120
00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:15.120
not going to have to focus our attention on that
121
00:06:15.279 --> 00:06:19.160
part of the program as much when they become ninth
122
00:06:19.160 --> 00:06:21.439
and tenth graders and now we can come we can
123
00:06:21.439 --> 00:06:25.040
get more involved in like football fundamentals and the development
124
00:06:25.600 --> 00:06:29.279
you know, from a skill standpoint, because they already have
125
00:06:29.879 --> 00:06:33.800
a good foundation of what our program is, who we
126
00:06:33.879 --> 00:06:36.000
expect them to be, you know, when they're out on
127
00:06:36.040 --> 00:06:40.040
the field, or what we're expecting that to look like. Uh.
128
00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:42.920
And then also you know, the tempo and the structure
129
00:06:42.920 --> 00:06:45.680
of practice, and so.
130
00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:46.839
That's been beneficial.
131
00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:50.319
But I'll say one of the biggest things that we've
132
00:06:50.680 --> 00:06:54.399
that we've started is is our Titans Love Titans program.
133
00:06:55.120 --> 00:06:58.319
We call it TLT for short. It is a mentoring
134
00:06:58.399 --> 00:07:04.240
program where you know, our youth kids have the opportunity
135
00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:07.439
to you know, register and be a part of it.
136
00:07:07.560 --> 00:07:10.879
So they pay fifty dollars, and that fifty dollars like
137
00:07:11.079 --> 00:07:13.839
we're not making money off of them. We're going to
138
00:07:13.879 --> 00:07:16.040
give them a T shirt with their mentors name on
139
00:07:16.079 --> 00:07:18.399
the back that they can wear to the games. On Friday,
140
00:07:18.839 --> 00:07:22.360
we're going to have socials with our guys or their
141
00:07:22.439 --> 00:07:26.040
mentors and then after practice where there's ice cream involved,
142
00:07:26.120 --> 00:07:29.120
or we bring in a food truck or we get pizza.
143
00:07:29.600 --> 00:07:30.680
It's just an opportunity.
144
00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:36.120
We are trying to create opportunities for our kids, our
145
00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:41.879
varsity players to connect with the younger kids. And because
146
00:07:42.360 --> 00:07:44.120
the younger kids want to be like them. So the
147
00:07:44.120 --> 00:07:46.399
more that I can get them around our kids who
148
00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:49.720
we're pouring into every day, the more likely we're going
149
00:07:49.759 --> 00:07:52.839
to be able to get them to believe in what
150
00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:55.920
their coaches are preaching every day in practice because they're
151
00:07:55.959 --> 00:07:58.439
going to see it firsthand in our kids.
152
00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:03.480
Before you go, let me interrupt real quick. So what
153
00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:05.720
I love this, By the way, people need to rewind
154
00:08:05.759 --> 00:08:09.240
listen again Titans Love Titans or whatever team you got,
155
00:08:09.720 --> 00:08:12.199
because you can do a variation of that. I think
156
00:08:12.240 --> 00:08:15.240
everybody could do a variation of that meaning whether they
157
00:08:15.279 --> 00:08:17.759
can do the shirts or pay or not or pay more,
158
00:08:17.879 --> 00:08:19.920
I don't know, but you know what I found in
159
00:08:19.959 --> 00:08:21.319
those And I want to ask you this real quick.
160
00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:23.439
From we go to the next thing, did you find
161
00:08:23.480 --> 00:08:25.959
that your kids benefited? I mean, your high school kids
162
00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:29.360
may be benefited almost as because they don't realize that
163
00:08:29.399 --> 00:08:31.360
people look up to them and this kind of forces
164
00:08:31.399 --> 00:08:32.799
them to see that. Did you see that?
165
00:08:33.320 --> 00:08:35.200
Oh, one hundred percent? They love it.
166
00:08:35.720 --> 00:08:38.360
And I tell the parents of the youth kids, I
167
00:08:38.440 --> 00:08:41.559
bet our kids, our varsity players are having more fun
168
00:08:41.639 --> 00:08:43.399
than the seven and eight year old that are running
169
00:08:43.399 --> 00:08:48.279
around because the social is after practice, so our kids
170
00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:51.360
are hungry, so they get to eat immediately after practice.
171
00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:54.639
They're getting some kind of snack or dinner, and then
172
00:08:54.679 --> 00:08:56.600
it turns into a free for all on the field
173
00:08:56.639 --> 00:09:00.840
for about thirty to forty five minutes playing pick up
174
00:09:00.840 --> 00:09:05.279
football or two hand touch or you know, there's playing catch.
175
00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:08.559
But it is one of the coolest things to see
176
00:09:08.919 --> 00:09:12.320
when you've got a twelfth grader, a senior that is
177
00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:14.200
running around on the field with a seven year old
178
00:09:15.559 --> 00:09:20.759
and that relationship is so pure and that's what makes
179
00:09:20.759 --> 00:09:23.720
it fun. And then our kids learn that there are
180
00:09:23.879 --> 00:09:27.120
a lot of little eyes on them and it, you know,
181
00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:30.279
it holds them more accountable because they understand that this
182
00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:33.799
kid is watching and he wants to be just like me.
183
00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:38.120
But it has been a lot of fun to watch.
184
00:09:39.159 --> 00:09:41.639
And then you get very intentional with the age groups
185
00:09:41.679 --> 00:09:45.279
as well. So we don't let none of our freshmen
186
00:09:45.279 --> 00:09:47.639
are in that program. It's all tenth to eleventh and
187
00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:50.399
twelfth graders. But our tenth graders are going to be
188
00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:51.799
paired with a seventh grader.
189
00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:55.240
So when that seventh grader becomes a ninth grader, that
190
00:09:55.279 --> 00:09:58.559
tenth grader is a senior, and they already have a
191
00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:01.879
relationship with somebody that is older in that program, in
192
00:10:01.919 --> 00:10:05.799
our program, so there's already a bond in a relationship
193
00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:09.840
that is formed just because we paired them up two
194
00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:11.879
years prior than entering high school.
195
00:10:12.200 --> 00:10:15.720
That's really good. That's really good. Yeah, I can't take it.
196
00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:17.919
I never did anything that was real. That's really good,
197
00:10:18.279 --> 00:10:20.240
you know, keeping them because that is you know, you
198
00:10:20.279 --> 00:10:22.600
lose the most kids from eight to ninth grade, and
199
00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:24.919
then sometimes ninth to tenth that's when you lose the
200
00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:27.440
most kids. I did track that, and I did make
201
00:10:27.480 --> 00:10:30.080
always a big deal about retaining the fourth graders, the
202
00:10:30.120 --> 00:10:32.240
fifth grade and so on and so forth. But we
203
00:10:32.279 --> 00:10:33.960
always lost the most kids from eight to night grader
204
00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:36.799
or ninth to tenth. Some of it's natural, but I
205
00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:39.200
think things like that can be what you can control
206
00:10:39.559 --> 00:10:41.679
to at least help that a little. Make sure they
207
00:10:41.720 --> 00:10:43.799
come up there knowing some of the older kids. Man,
208
00:10:43.799 --> 00:10:45.919
that's really good. What how did you pick the eleventh
209
00:10:45.960 --> 00:10:48.200
and twelfth graders? Were they more random? It was always
210
00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:49.000
seventh to tenth.
211
00:10:49.480 --> 00:10:53.759
So the eleventh and twelfth graders we always put with
212
00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:58.799
younger guys. And because usually you're eleventh and twelfth graders
213
00:10:58.840 --> 00:11:02.600
are on the field the most, and so those younger kids,
214
00:11:02.679 --> 00:11:06.120
they're really trying to emulate those older kids that are
215
00:11:06.120 --> 00:11:09.559
out there on Friday night and when you do, you know,
216
00:11:09.840 --> 00:11:13.360
your TLT night at the game and they're standing in
217
00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:15.279
the hallway when our guys are coming out of the
218
00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:19.759
locker room and they're kind of meeting up like that
219
00:11:19.759 --> 00:11:23.879
that you know, the video that we have that we
220
00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:27.759
put together after that game is so incredible to watch
221
00:11:27.879 --> 00:11:31.960
because those kids think that they are a part of
222
00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:35.120
that game for that one night, because they're walking out
223
00:11:35.159 --> 00:11:38.480
with our best player and they're all intermingled when they
224
00:11:38.480 --> 00:11:43.120
come out of that tunnel together, and it's just the
225
00:11:43.159 --> 00:11:46.360
idea of if I can get juice and create energy
226
00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:49.039
in that young group, I'm hoping that will carry over
227
00:11:49.080 --> 00:11:51.080
a year after year after year to once we get
228
00:11:51.080 --> 00:11:53.960
to the seventh grade, sixth and seventh grade. You know,
229
00:11:54.440 --> 00:11:59.120
we've got them so entrenched in our program because of
230
00:11:59.519 --> 00:12:01.799
they have to watch the older kids for three or
231
00:12:01.799 --> 00:12:03.000
four years prior to that.
232
00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:06.759
Yeah, I really like that. And like I said, I
233
00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:09.000
just before we get off of that. I just my
234
00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:12.519
experience with mentoring, especially young kids. You can talk in
235
00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:15.360
the field house about how these you know, these eleventh
236
00:12:15.399 --> 00:12:17.240
and you've had the guys going to UGA. You've had
237
00:12:17.240 --> 00:12:20.240
like really big players that everybody looked up to, and
238
00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:22.360
you tell them, look, guys, these little people look up
239
00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:24.600
to you. Don't act like fools. Whatever you got to
240
00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:27.759
tell them. And I never felt like it was impactful
241
00:12:27.879 --> 00:12:30.679
until they saw the little kids. How they like that
242
00:12:30.799 --> 00:12:33.039
they got treated like Tom Brady. So we take them
243
00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:35.519
elementary school and let them read the elementar school kids
244
00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:38.120
or open the car doors or whatever. That was better
245
00:12:38.200 --> 00:12:41.559
for us than it was for those little guys. Like
246
00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:43.879
obviously we're doing it for the kids, but I'm pretty
247
00:12:43.919 --> 00:12:46.559
sure it helped my team block and tackle better because
248
00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:48.440
I got to focus them a little better. And I
249
00:12:48.440 --> 00:12:51.639
just think that's a missing opportunity if you're not doing
250
00:12:51.679 --> 00:12:56.360
something like that. Just some variation of putting these older
251
00:12:56.440 --> 00:12:57.960
kids with these younger kids.
252
00:12:57.799 --> 00:13:03.559
Right, Yes, And so a couple other things that go
253
00:13:03.639 --> 00:13:04.200
along with that.
254
00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:07.879
We do pep rallies at the elementary school three games
255
00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:11.759
every year, so three different fridays there because our elementary
256
00:13:11.799 --> 00:13:17.519
starts thirty minutes before our high school starts, so we're
257
00:13:17.559 --> 00:13:20.240
there opening car doors and then do a pep rally
258
00:13:20.279 --> 00:13:23.559
with the whole elementary schools in the gym, and it
259
00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:28.600
is incredible, but it's another contact. So those our kids
260
00:13:28.600 --> 00:13:31.240
are going to the school where their mentees are at,
261
00:13:32.200 --> 00:13:35.720
and it's just another opportunity to create another contact and
262
00:13:35.799 --> 00:13:38.600
another opportunity to get them face to face or around
263
00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:41.720
each other, just to build that relationship even more.
264
00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:44.320
So that's another way that we do it.
265
00:13:44.399 --> 00:13:46.759
And then when they go read in the elementary schools
266
00:13:46.799 --> 00:13:49.799
on our bye weeks, they're going to the elementary school
267
00:13:49.840 --> 00:13:52.919
where their mentees are at, and we're trying to get
268
00:13:52.960 --> 00:13:55.799
them in the classroom with them. It doesn't always work
269
00:13:55.879 --> 00:14:00.559
that easy, but we have been close to it to
270
00:14:00.600 --> 00:14:03.039
where that they're at least going to be able to
271
00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:07.360
see their mentee in that hour long, you know period
272
00:14:07.399 --> 00:14:11.000
that they're over there to read on those days. But
273
00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:13.399
it's it's all about how many contacts can you make
274
00:14:13.639 --> 00:14:17.519
to help build a relationship between you know, one on
275
00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:21.159
one mentor to mentee or some of these mentors may
276
00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:22.080
have three kids.
277
00:14:23.240 --> 00:14:25.080
But you have to be very, very.
278
00:14:25.240 --> 00:14:27.519
Organized when you set it all up so that the
279
00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:30.960
kids have the opportunity to see one another as much
280
00:14:31.000 --> 00:14:31.720
as possible.
281
00:14:32.279 --> 00:14:34.840
Yeah, I can see organization being a problem here, like
282
00:14:34.879 --> 00:14:37.360
it always is, and so that's the elephant in the
283
00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:40.240
room if anybody's writing this stuff down and loving the idea.
284
00:14:40.320 --> 00:14:42.759
But it's not going to be easy. But nothing worth
285
00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:44.799
doing really is, so you are going to have to
286
00:14:44.799 --> 00:14:47.440
get organized with it. But I love the elementary pep rally.
287
00:14:47.480 --> 00:14:49.120
Now I didn't do it. We did some reading and stuff,
288
00:14:49.159 --> 00:14:51.480
but I bet an elementary pep rally is better than
289
00:14:51.480 --> 00:14:53.440
the high school. High school pep palace kind of suck,
290
00:14:53.519 --> 00:14:55.799
to be honest. So I never loved the high school
291
00:14:55.799 --> 00:15:00.960
pep rally, So maybe elementary years, Yeah, they may actually
292
00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:04.039
be into it, you know, the high school man maybe
293
00:15:04.200 --> 00:15:06.559
North Olk, maybe even fourteen to Oh, you get a
294
00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:09.360
good pep rally. But when you're just okay, you don't
295
00:15:09.399 --> 00:15:11.559
get a great pep rally. I'm just telling you.
296
00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:14.799
Kids are a lot interested in other things then, Yeah,
297
00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:17.399
going into a gym and yelling and screaming at the
298
00:15:17.399 --> 00:15:20.480
top of their long those elementary school kids they eat
299
00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:20.799
it up.
300
00:15:21.000 --> 00:15:23.440
Yeah, they're into it, so that's cool. What else?
301
00:15:24.600 --> 00:15:27.759
So I think part of this is kind of understanding
302
00:15:27.799 --> 00:15:28.360
our journey.
303
00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:32.360
Like when I got here, we had seventy seventy eight
304
00:15:32.440 --> 00:15:35.279
kids in our youth program. We're over two hundred and
305
00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:39.799
twenty now and every age group, almost every age group
306
00:15:39.840 --> 00:15:44.639
has two teams, which when we started we were missing
307
00:15:44.919 --> 00:15:48.120
age groups, like they didn't have a team. So what
308
00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:50.159
they were doing is they were having to combine with
309
00:15:50.279 --> 00:15:56.120
ocone County's youth team to make one team. And we
310
00:15:56.960 --> 00:16:01.399
click quickly were able to grow that number and get
311
00:16:01.440 --> 00:16:04.559
that to where, you know, we had enough kids to
312
00:16:04.679 --> 00:16:07.679
create North o'kkoney Feeder League teams at every level.
313
00:16:08.600 --> 00:16:10.519
But that just took us getting.
314
00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:15.000
In elementary schools and being visible and getting them excited
315
00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:19.480
about playing and giving them the attention that they deserve.
316
00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:23.440
I really feel like it's my job. If we got
317
00:16:23.480 --> 00:16:25.360
a kid that's going to put a T on that helmet,
318
00:16:25.759 --> 00:16:29.039
then they deserve as much attention as anybody in our
319
00:16:29.080 --> 00:16:32.039
program because at some point they're going to be playing
320
00:16:32.200 --> 00:16:35.440
in our program, and you want to have that relationship
321
00:16:35.480 --> 00:16:38.679
and you want them to understand that they're important to
322
00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:41.240
what you do, even if they are seven or eight
323
00:16:41.320 --> 00:16:41.799
years old.
324
00:16:42.840 --> 00:16:43.679
We've put more.
325
00:16:44.200 --> 00:16:46.559
This year was the most teams we had make it
326
00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:49.480
to a Super Bowl. We had three teams making now
327
00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:51.720
they all didn't win. We had one team that won it,
328
00:16:52.679 --> 00:16:55.120
but every team made the playoffs.
329
00:16:55.759 --> 00:16:57.000
But it all goes back.
330
00:16:56.759 --> 00:17:01.759
To visibility and getting those coaches to buy into this
331
00:17:01.799 --> 00:17:05.200
is how we want you to practice, and not necessarily
332
00:17:05.240 --> 00:17:07.920
so much the scheme because it all is dictated on
333
00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:12.720
around what type of players they have, But this is
334
00:17:12.920 --> 00:17:15.319
this is the type of kid that we're trying to create,
335
00:17:16.559 --> 00:17:18.359
and this is what we wanted to look like when
336
00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:19.440
they're out on the field.
337
00:17:20.079 --> 00:17:22.400
Yeah, and you know, coaches, your tenth here for people
338
00:17:22.440 --> 00:17:24.440
that maybe aren't is familiar with you, it's your tenth
339
00:17:24.519 --> 00:17:27.359
year at North o'kkony. So you're talking about kids that
340
00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:29.319
were in the first grade going to second when you
341
00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:31.680
took that job. You know that are seniors now and
342
00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:34.000
kids in the high school you know, weren't even in
343
00:17:34.039 --> 00:17:37.720
school they were, you know. So that doesn't mean that
344
00:17:37.799 --> 00:17:41.400
things don't change. Kids quit, kids move in, kids move out.
345
00:17:41.720 --> 00:17:44.839
I'm not saying it's the exact same thing, but the emphasis.
346
00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:47.920
It's always been interested to me how many coaches don't
347
00:17:47.960 --> 00:17:52.680
see the value in the younger kids, especially fourth, fifth,
348
00:17:52.759 --> 00:17:56.720
sixth grade, maybe that range. Really quickly, those sixth graders
349
00:17:56.720 --> 00:18:01.440
are tenth graders really quickly. Yeah, really quickly. That sixth
350
00:18:01.480 --> 00:18:03.960
grader that you paid no attention to is a tenth
351
00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:05.680
grader that you at least need to be a backup
352
00:18:05.799 --> 00:18:09.480
or something. And they're always thinking maybe a seniors, and
353
00:18:09.480 --> 00:18:12.039
they're thinking about second graders and they're thinking, man, I'm
354
00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:14.000
not gonna be here ten years. I don't know about that,
355
00:18:14.680 --> 00:18:17.200
but it does get to ten years pretty quick and
356
00:18:17.319 --> 00:18:21.119
real quick. Those middle school kids and those older elementary
357
00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:24.799
kids will be on your team. It'll happen really fast.
358
00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:28.240
What do you do with like middle grade specific or
359
00:18:28.759 --> 00:18:30.880
maybe even ninth graders, Like what do you do to
360
00:18:30.920 --> 00:18:33.880
motivate that middle group where they're not they're not kids anymore.
361
00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:37.640
They're not just motivated by you know, pep rallys and jerseys.
362
00:18:37.960 --> 00:18:40.799
How do you get those guys to maintain through those
363
00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:42.240
awkward kind of years.
364
00:18:42.599 --> 00:18:46.519
Yeah, that's probably the toughest part was seventh through tenth grade.
365
00:18:46.839 --> 00:18:49.400
It's what you said earlier, that's that's where you really
366
00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:52.000
have to have your eye on them because there's so
367
00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:54.559
many other things that they can be involved.
368
00:18:54.160 --> 00:18:55.720
In and football is not easy.
369
00:18:56.240 --> 00:18:58.839
I mean, it's probably one of the toughest things that
370
00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:00.119
they're going to be asked to do.
371
00:19:00.839 --> 00:19:04.440
And so, you know, how do you engage that group.
372
00:19:04.920 --> 00:19:08.160
Well, it's almost it's not year round, but we are
373
00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:12.880
trying to be around them year round in some capacity. So,
374
00:19:13.559 --> 00:19:15.319
you know, we got groups that are coming to high
375
00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:18.559
school two days a week after school to do some
376
00:19:18.759 --> 00:19:22.920
type of training with our strength coach. I'm in there,
377
00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:25.160
and then we'll have a couple of our city coaches
378
00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:28.759
that come one day a week, you know, And so
379
00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:33.119
how much can we get around them to make them
380
00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:37.880
understand how important and valued they are for what they're doing.
381
00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:40.839
And it's the relationship piece.
382
00:19:41.720 --> 00:19:44.440
We have found that that has probably helped retention more
383
00:19:44.440 --> 00:19:48.960
than anything is when the kids know and understand that
384
00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:52.279
you're there for them, they're more likely to come back
385
00:19:52.359 --> 00:19:53.680
year after year after year.
386
00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:56.119
I think when we first.
387
00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:57.839
Got here, we did not have the numbers to have
388
00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:01.680
a ninth grade only program. We had a jv and
389
00:20:01.720 --> 00:20:05.400
a varsity, So you're asking ninth graders to come in
390
00:20:05.480 --> 00:20:08.000
and of course they're playing behind tenth graders, so they're
391
00:20:08.039 --> 00:20:10.720
not getting a lot of reps. So those early years
392
00:20:10.759 --> 00:20:14.680
were tough with retention. They just didn't see the value.
393
00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:17.920
I'm not coming out here every day that you know,
394
00:20:18.039 --> 00:20:21.160
sit on the sidelines and play behind this kid, because
395
00:20:21.160 --> 00:20:23.000
then when they start thinking is well, if I'm playing
396
00:20:23.039 --> 00:20:25.440
behind them as a ninth grader, then I'm probably not
397
00:20:25.480 --> 00:20:27.720
going to play next year because I mean playing behind
398
00:20:27.759 --> 00:20:29.400
them as a tenth grader, and then i mean playing
399
00:20:29.440 --> 00:20:31.440
behind them as a junior. So why am I going
400
00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:33.799
to put forth all this time and energy into it,
401
00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:36.720
you know, just to be a backup for three years
402
00:20:36.759 --> 00:20:39.920
and then finally have a chance, Like there is no
403
00:20:40.039 --> 00:20:44.440
more like slow developing process where you take it and
404
00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:46.559
they don't play for three years and then they play
405
00:20:46.599 --> 00:20:47.319
their senior year.
406
00:20:47.319 --> 00:20:49.880
You don't see that very often because they don't make
407
00:20:49.960 --> 00:20:52.599
it that long. So adding our.
408
00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:54.799
Ninth grade program and I think that was like after
409
00:20:54.920 --> 00:21:00.119
year four where now they play their own schedule, and
410
00:21:00.200 --> 00:21:04.960
that has been huge in retention for us, where we're
411
00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:08.119
bringing in forty to forty five kids in that group
412
00:21:08.200 --> 00:21:12.039
every year. Now, we're not going to maintain and keep
413
00:21:12.079 --> 00:21:14.880
that many, but if we can hold it between thirty
414
00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:17.359
and thirty five, I feel like we've done a pretty
415
00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:21.920
good job. So our last three senior classes, well I
416
00:21:21.920 --> 00:21:25.680
should say the last two have been thirty one and
417
00:21:25.720 --> 00:21:28.119
this one will be thirty three, and then we're going
418
00:21:28.200 --> 00:21:30.119
to take a dip because we lost a lot of
419
00:21:30.200 --> 00:21:32.960
kids to other sports, but then we're going to be
420
00:21:33.319 --> 00:21:36.279
we should be thirty plus for several years to come.
421
00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:36.839
I'm hoping.
422
00:21:37.880 --> 00:21:42.319
Yeah. You know, having that ninth grade team's critical if
423
00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:44.200
you can do it, and I know the lower the level,
424
00:21:44.240 --> 00:21:46.680
the harder it is to do. But they had a
425
00:21:46.759 --> 00:21:49.000
ninth grade team at Pickings for seven years and it
426
00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:51.000
was the exact seven years I was the coach, Like
427
00:21:51.400 --> 00:21:53.079
I felt like it was really critical. I don't mean
428
00:21:53.079 --> 00:21:55.119
that critical, Dean Bail, So I'm just saying I thought
429
00:21:55.160 --> 00:21:58.359
it was really important that we just made it happen.
430
00:21:58.400 --> 00:22:00.519
I think the first year we made like twenty three
431
00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:02.960
kids or something. You know, he's made it work. And
432
00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:04.680
then the next year kids came out and kids came out.
433
00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:07.160
It's very important to give kids opportunity to play. But
434
00:22:07.319 --> 00:22:09.799
everything about in my opinion, coach, for what it's worth,
435
00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:13.759
everything about that seventh eight nineteenth grade range is like
436
00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:17.599
everything about relationships, communication, and being organized. It's just maybe
437
00:22:17.640 --> 00:22:20.559
a little more about relationships, like you said, than some
438
00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:24.160
of the other things. And being organized and seeing the future.
439
00:22:24.200 --> 00:22:27.319
This is what I advice i'd give anybody. And it's
440
00:22:27.480 --> 00:22:29.759
very important in those years that you're seeing the future.
441
00:22:29.799 --> 00:22:33.160
And what I mean by that is you see when
442
00:22:33.160 --> 00:22:35.839
a kid's getting frustrated. You notice when a kid's not
443
00:22:35.920 --> 00:22:38.759
getting to play as much, but you see something in them,
444
00:22:39.200 --> 00:22:43.359
go tell them, like, go tell them, hey man, right now.
445
00:22:43.799 --> 00:22:45.559
And I can think of so many good kids, and
446
00:22:45.599 --> 00:22:49.119
I know y'all have some that were like basketball type receiver,
447
00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:53.279
like guys that there is not that fun in seventh
448
00:22:53.319 --> 00:22:55.240
grade when you can't throw the ball and you can't
449
00:22:55.279 --> 00:22:59.240
pass pro So you have to go tell them, hey man,
450
00:22:59.319 --> 00:23:01.839
it's not that in seventh grade when you can't throther
451
00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:03.839
we know that, like I already know that, But man,
452
00:23:03.880 --> 00:23:05.720
you're gonna be out here, like in a couple of years,
453
00:23:06.039 --> 00:23:08.000
winning us the Reading Championship, catching the ball in the
454
00:23:08.039 --> 00:23:10.319
end zone, like I can see it, like I see
455
00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:12.640
the future, like I know you're gonna do it. An
456
00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:15.359
hang on to that, not every single time, but it
457
00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:17.519
Kett'll hang on to that if you can identify it
458
00:23:18.039 --> 00:23:21.240
before they get too disgruntled, if that makes sense, and
459
00:23:21.279 --> 00:23:23.279
you can kind of see that, show them how much
460
00:23:23.400 --> 00:23:25.680
value you see in them. So I couldn't agree more
461
00:23:25.720 --> 00:23:27.839
with everything you said, but especially like getting in the
462
00:23:27.880 --> 00:23:31.160
weight room, getting to know those kids so you can
463
00:23:31.200 --> 00:23:33.480
walk by them at practice one day and say, hey, man,
464
00:23:33.799 --> 00:23:35.720
I know you're not believing this, but hang in there.
465
00:23:35.960 --> 00:23:38.759
This is gonna You're gonna be good. And that's just
466
00:23:38.759 --> 00:23:41.160
a skill some people are better at than others. But
467
00:23:41.240 --> 00:23:44.000
I do think you can work on that by just
468
00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:47.680
opening your eyes and not being so singularly focused on
469
00:23:47.720 --> 00:23:50.839
the varsity team or on the game we have tomorrow
470
00:23:51.200 --> 00:23:53.920
or whatever it is right right now.
471
00:23:53.960 --> 00:23:56.680
And then I think another thing is just knowing a
472
00:23:56.759 --> 00:24:01.519
kid's name, you know, regardless of the age group, you know,
473
00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:04.119
is if you can go out there and you can
474
00:24:04.160 --> 00:24:08.240
memorize names and then you walk by them, whether it
475
00:24:08.319 --> 00:24:11.319
be in publics or you know, just out and about
476
00:24:11.359 --> 00:24:15.279
and you can say hey and say their name. Like
477
00:24:15.400 --> 00:24:19.079
that carries so much weight. But it's so simple, and
478
00:24:19.400 --> 00:24:22.599
I think that gets overlooked. It's just because it just
479
00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:26.720
creates more value. And man, this guy really cares because
480
00:24:26.720 --> 00:24:28.640
he knows who I am. And I'm not going to
481
00:24:28.720 --> 00:24:31.079
be up there for another two or three years, but
482
00:24:31.160 --> 00:24:34.880
he already knows who I am. That carry I think
483
00:24:34.920 --> 00:24:36.079
that carries a lot of weight.
484
00:24:36.200 --> 00:24:37.920
But they need to see the vision.
485
00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:41.680
They one hundred percent need to see a vision from
486
00:24:41.680 --> 00:24:45.480
an individual standpoint and from a group standpoint. And we
487
00:24:45.799 --> 00:24:48.839
we try to hammer that all the time. It is,
488
00:24:49.440 --> 00:24:52.000
you know, you're you're going to have success in numbers.
489
00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:53.799
So if you can find a way to keep the
490
00:24:53.839 --> 00:24:57.880
groups together, then you're going to have a better opportunity
491
00:24:57.920 --> 00:25:01.680
to be successful when you get older. And I try
492
00:25:01.720 --> 00:25:03.920
to pour that into the parents, like to just to
493
00:25:03.960 --> 00:25:08.039
go to their banquets or their awards ceremonies and and
494
00:25:08.039 --> 00:25:11.160
and just talk for three or four minutes about how
495
00:25:11.160 --> 00:25:15.960
important this that group is to the overall vision of
496
00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:21.119
our program and you know, just reiterating like they're going
497
00:25:21.160 --> 00:25:23.359
to be good because there's a lot of them, and
498
00:25:23.880 --> 00:25:26.200
whether there's more players, you're going to have a better
499
00:25:26.240 --> 00:25:27.640
opportunity to be successful.
500
00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:29.599
And so just.
501
00:25:29.960 --> 00:25:32.640
Continue to hammer that home like there's gonna be hard days,
502
00:25:33.200 --> 00:25:35.279
Like your kid's gonna come home and he's gonna hate it.
503
00:25:35.920 --> 00:25:39.400
And whether that's a seven year old or a senior,
504
00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:42.599
but it's just that constant messaging like hey.
505
00:25:42.519 --> 00:25:43.519
You're going to get through this.
506
00:25:43.759 --> 00:25:46.519
And I think that's another thing that's overlooked a lot
507
00:25:46.640 --> 00:25:50.680
is give into you know, like I don't want to
508
00:25:50.720 --> 00:25:54.000
do something hard, and just trying to get their parents
509
00:25:54.039 --> 00:25:56.319
to understand like, hey, you can push a little bit,
510
00:25:57.119 --> 00:26:01.200
you you can you can demand hey like look this
511
00:26:01.400 --> 00:26:05.160
is tough, but you're going to get through it and
512
00:26:05.240 --> 00:26:07.640
demand that positive response to adversity.
513
00:26:08.160 --> 00:26:10.680
It's never going to be easier, it's only going to
514
00:26:10.759 --> 00:26:12.680
get harder. I'm telling you coach to do that. That
515
00:26:13.160 --> 00:26:15.200
the way that nature of college football, which we ain't
516
00:26:15.200 --> 00:26:18.799
here talk about today, but you know, all that trickles
517
00:26:18.839 --> 00:26:22.440
down eventually to us. Right, So the attitude of if
518
00:26:22.519 --> 00:26:24.559
you're not getting to play immediately or if you're not
519
00:26:26.039 --> 00:26:28.720
seeing immediate success, there has to be another place or
520
00:26:28.759 --> 00:26:32.400
another way, or you quit or whatever. That's gotten a
521
00:26:32.400 --> 00:26:35.359
little bit worse every year, probably for the last forty years,
522
00:26:35.839 --> 00:26:38.359
but it's definitely at the height and it's not going
523
00:26:38.440 --> 00:26:40.880
to get any better. So my argument to people is
524
00:26:40.960 --> 00:26:44.440
instead of whining about that, like, go be the one people,
525
00:26:44.559 --> 00:26:46.240
Go be the one place that's good at that. Go
526
00:26:46.319 --> 00:26:49.480
be the one place that's identifying the issues and seeing
527
00:26:49.480 --> 00:26:53.240
the future and keeping their kids. And because if you can,
528
00:26:53.519 --> 00:26:55.640
and I'm not saying that's easy, but I'm saying, if
529
00:26:55.799 --> 00:26:59.519
you can, you have a better advantage than the guy
530
00:26:59.559 --> 00:27:01.880
that was good that twenty years ago because there were
531
00:27:01.960 --> 00:27:03.960
just more teams that there's more people that didn't have
532
00:27:03.960 --> 00:27:05.960
to work that hard at it to be good. So
533
00:27:06.079 --> 00:27:08.960
if you can be good at keeping your players, you
534
00:27:09.039 --> 00:27:14.119
can be an elite program quicker I guess than maybe
535
00:27:14.119 --> 00:27:16.440
some of the other ones. And I you know, I
536
00:27:16.440 --> 00:27:18.400
don't even know how you do that. I'm just saying,
537
00:27:18.400 --> 00:27:22.400
if you can just identify, you know, things and traits.
538
00:27:22.440 --> 00:27:24.039
And I'm talking I'm not talking about a five star
539
00:27:24.079 --> 00:27:26.000
guy you had went to Georgia coach. I'm talking about
540
00:27:26.119 --> 00:27:28.440
a linebacker that's not going to play till he's a junior,
541
00:27:28.880 --> 00:27:30.720
and even then he's having to earn it and he
542
00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:34.119
just quits in ninth grade. Right, You know, the person
543
00:27:34.160 --> 00:27:36.799
that can keep those kids out is going to be
544
00:27:36.839 --> 00:27:38.960
a more successful coach than they could have been even
545
00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:41.359
ten years ago, because way more people could have kept
546
00:27:41.400 --> 00:27:43.279
that kid out ten years ago. Now you've got to
547
00:27:43.279 --> 00:27:45.960
be elite at talking that kid into staying. Right, Is
548
00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:46.720
that what you're seeing?
549
00:27:46.960 --> 00:27:47.079
Oh?
550
00:27:47.240 --> 00:27:51.319
Yeah, you see that every day. And I think every
551
00:27:51.400 --> 00:27:54.240
place is different. Everybody's going to have different issues.
552
00:27:54.279 --> 00:27:57.319
And it's identifying the issues that you have in your
553
00:27:57.319 --> 00:28:01.920
community or at your school or in your programs and
554
00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:06.519
trying to figure out ways to fight against those And
555
00:28:07.400 --> 00:28:10.160
you know, because usually that issue is going to start somewhere,
556
00:28:10.640 --> 00:28:14.039
and it usually starts pretty early, and they see it
557
00:28:14.039 --> 00:28:16.880
from an early age and and it just continues.
558
00:28:16.440 --> 00:28:17.559
To grow and grow and grow.
559
00:28:17.720 --> 00:28:20.200
So that's part of the youth development, is trying to
560
00:28:20.240 --> 00:28:23.480
get out in front of those issues and get them
561
00:28:23.519 --> 00:28:26.960
to think differently than what everybody wants them to think.
562
00:28:27.400 --> 00:28:29.279
Because there's so much influence.
563
00:28:29.920 --> 00:28:31.720
And we got one hundred and twenty kids in our
564
00:28:31.720 --> 00:28:34.279
program and then two hundred and twenty kids in our
565
00:28:34.319 --> 00:28:39.480
feeder system, and so you're talking about a whole other
566
00:28:39.559 --> 00:28:44.559
group of people that you know it's too hard for
567
00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:47.039
them the place, so they're trying to put this negative
568
00:28:47.200 --> 00:28:50.480
thought process into their heads of hey, man, come over
569
00:28:50.519 --> 00:28:54.240
and do this, it's way easier. And so you're trying
570
00:28:54.279 --> 00:28:58.400
to fight these things so early, and that's where you've
571
00:28:58.400 --> 00:29:02.200
got to get really created with how you practice so
572
00:29:02.319 --> 00:29:04.920
the kids stay engaged and they think it's fun.
573
00:29:05.519 --> 00:29:06.240
It's almost like.
574
00:29:06.240 --> 00:29:10.720
Tricking them where you're getting work done, but you're you're
575
00:29:10.720 --> 00:29:13.720
figuring out a way to do it where it's competitive
576
00:29:13.960 --> 00:29:15.960
because that's what they like to do. They all like
577
00:29:16.039 --> 00:29:20.920
to compete and letting them have fun with it, and
578
00:29:21.559 --> 00:29:24.559
you know, you just you try and grow that part
579
00:29:24.599 --> 00:29:28.079
of the program as much as possible when they're younger,
580
00:29:28.640 --> 00:29:31.440
so that they they understand, hey, this is fun. And
581
00:29:32.039 --> 00:29:36.200
I am rewarded and I am a better person because
582
00:29:36.240 --> 00:29:39.240
I went through what everybody else didn't want to go through.
583
00:29:41.400 --> 00:29:42.920
I don't talk about both sides of the mouth here,
584
00:29:42.960 --> 00:29:45.599
but I get you out on this one that all
585
00:29:45.640 --> 00:29:48.839
that is really important. And I really enjoyed everything you brought.
586
00:29:48.880 --> 00:29:50.799
I hope people took some notes and got something out
587
00:29:50.799 --> 00:29:53.319
of Still the number one thing to be good at
588
00:29:53.400 --> 00:29:56.039
his winning. You got to win at the varsity level.
589
00:29:56.319 --> 00:29:59.480
But but it's like this, man, if you're trying to
590
00:29:59.480 --> 00:30:02.680
make money for yourself, you should be trying to make
591
00:30:02.759 --> 00:30:06.039
money to pay your mortgage and car payment whatever. But
592
00:30:06.119 --> 00:30:08.160
you gotta have some investments, right, You got to put
593
00:30:08.160 --> 00:30:10.519
some money away for retirement, or you gotta, Like I
594
00:30:10.519 --> 00:30:15.319
think coaches are notoriously not great at like really putting
595
00:30:15.319 --> 00:30:18.839
their energy on today and tomorrow, if that makes sense,
596
00:30:18.960 --> 00:30:20.599
like that, a lot of them are really good at
597
00:30:20.640 --> 00:30:22.480
putting their energy today or maybe some of them are
598
00:30:22.480 --> 00:30:24.480
better at putting their ergy in tomorrow or the you know,
599
00:30:24.519 --> 00:30:27.480
the youth, but not but it's taken away from trying
600
00:30:27.480 --> 00:30:30.000
to win the game on Friday night. It can't take away,
601
00:30:30.799 --> 00:30:32.799
but it has to be there. You have to keep
602
00:30:32.839 --> 00:30:36.599
one eye on those young guys, noticing those kids that
603
00:30:36.640 --> 00:30:38.759
are not getting to play on the ninth grade team
604
00:30:38.880 --> 00:30:41.400
or whatever it is, and that can't take away from
605
00:30:41.440 --> 00:30:44.079
Friday night. Well, coach, you hadn't lost a regular season
606
00:30:44.119 --> 00:30:48.119
game in like five years, So that's pretty good man,
607
00:30:48.240 --> 00:30:50.599
You know that, right, that's not normal, you know that right.
608
00:30:52.240 --> 00:30:55.519
Unfortunate, that is not normal players, but it's got it
609
00:30:55.559 --> 00:30:59.160
starts somewhere, like I mean, And that's I think that's
610
00:30:59.160 --> 00:31:01.440
a credit to what I said at the beginning. We've
611
00:31:01.440 --> 00:31:04.920
had a great administration that's been extremely patient, and I
612
00:31:04.920 --> 00:31:07.319
don't think there's a lot of administrations that want to
613
00:31:07.359 --> 00:31:10.640
be super patient and they don't see the vision and
614
00:31:11.000 --> 00:31:13.759
they just live in the moment too often. And then
615
00:31:13.880 --> 00:31:18.359
and then you see changes being made before you know,
616
00:31:18.400 --> 00:31:21.559
the positives really start to come or the success really starts,
617
00:31:21.920 --> 00:31:26.680
you know, to develop. And I'm just appreciative of you
618
00:31:26.720 --> 00:31:29.359
know who I started with and you know who I'm
619
00:31:29.400 --> 00:31:32.960
with now, and just the patients of hey, we're going
620
00:31:33.039 --> 00:31:34.960
to give you some time to get this thing going.
621
00:31:36.119 --> 00:31:39.559
And we've reaped the benefits of their patients and their
622
00:31:40.200 --> 00:31:43.519
support over the last nine or ten years.
623
00:31:43.839 --> 00:31:47.119
Yeah. And so you know, Coach Finley, who's not rock
624
00:31:47.160 --> 00:31:48.920
Mark with the bounds, one of my favorite guys talked
625
00:31:48.920 --> 00:31:51.880
to any of you, because you get this job your
626
00:31:51.960 --> 00:31:55.200
first year, you're one to nine and you've barely lost
627
00:31:55.400 --> 00:31:58.599
very many games since. But people are giving up on
628
00:31:58.720 --> 00:32:03.000
folks at that time. So that one in nine, Tyler,
629
00:32:03.880 --> 00:32:07.799
that's going into the second season, like, what is he telling?
630
00:32:07.880 --> 00:32:10.359
What are you telling that guy now? I meaning there's
631
00:32:10.400 --> 00:32:12.960
some guys out there that struggled last year, right, they
632
00:32:13.000 --> 00:32:16.559
struggled and they're hoping this year is the year that
633
00:32:16.640 --> 00:32:18.720
they turn it around and they're going to have this
634
00:32:18.839 --> 00:32:21.799
nine or ten year run like you've had. What are
635
00:32:21.799 --> 00:32:24.000
you telling that guy now.
636
00:32:23.880 --> 00:32:27.240
That you've been The first thing, you got to be patient,
637
00:32:27.519 --> 00:32:31.799
But you've got to believe in what you're doing because
638
00:32:31.799 --> 00:32:34.359
a lot of times it doesn't take a bunch of
639
00:32:34.480 --> 00:32:38.240
huge changes to get to where you want to be.
640
00:32:38.920 --> 00:32:40.960
You just have to trust in what you're doing and
641
00:32:41.000 --> 00:32:43.599
what you believe in and that those things are going
642
00:32:43.680 --> 00:32:44.839
to start to fall into place.
643
00:32:44.920 --> 00:32:48.720
Say, it requires a lot of hard work, and you're
644
00:32:48.759 --> 00:32:49.200
going to do.
645
00:32:49.160 --> 00:32:51.400
A lot of things behind the scenes that people aren't
646
00:32:51.400 --> 00:32:54.720
going to see and they're not going to recognize, right
647
00:32:54.799 --> 00:32:57.079
because all they're seeing is the product on the field.
648
00:32:57.720 --> 00:33:02.359
But if you have a strong belief system that what
649
00:33:02.440 --> 00:33:05.559
you are doing or the process that you have in
650
00:33:05.640 --> 00:33:09.119
place is going to be the right one, and you
651
00:33:09.240 --> 00:33:12.000
work really hard with it, you're going to see success
652
00:33:12.039 --> 00:33:12.720
at some point.
653
00:33:13.359 --> 00:33:14.839
But I'm not gonna lie.
654
00:33:15.160 --> 00:33:17.960
You're going to have to have some dudes come through
655
00:33:18.880 --> 00:33:21.279
and you know that are going to give you a
656
00:33:21.359 --> 00:33:24.640
chance to win. And that second year we had a
657
00:33:24.759 --> 00:33:28.480
very strong senior class, which gave us an opportunity to
658
00:33:28.559 --> 00:33:29.839
flip that thing around.
659
00:33:31.000 --> 00:33:31.920
I don't know how many of.
660
00:33:31.920 --> 00:33:33.519
Those kids, I can't remember how many of those kids
661
00:33:33.599 --> 00:33:36.720
went on to play college football, but they were very
662
00:33:36.720 --> 00:33:40.759
close knit and it mattered to them and they.
663
00:33:40.640 --> 00:33:41.720
Wanted to be different.
664
00:33:42.920 --> 00:33:46.359
And I think that's a credit to our coaches of
665
00:33:46.400 --> 00:33:49.839
instilling the right values in them and not giving up.
666
00:33:49.960 --> 00:33:52.400
You just keep pouring into them with the things that
667
00:33:52.480 --> 00:33:56.279
you believe in, and you start to see rewards.
668
00:33:56.319 --> 00:33:59.799
And then you've got to learn momentum and if you can.
669
00:33:59.759 --> 00:34:04.039
Build off that those small wins, you're going to create
670
00:34:04.039 --> 00:34:05.519
a lot bigger wins down the road.
671
00:34:06.200 --> 00:34:08.800
Man. That was really good coach and so true. And yeah,
672
00:34:08.800 --> 00:34:10.400
you got to have players. Now we ain't gonna have
673
00:34:10.559 --> 00:34:13.119
on that, but let me tell you something, people got players.
674
00:34:13.119 --> 00:34:15.679
The key is on capitalizing on the player. Like you said,
675
00:34:15.840 --> 00:34:17.840
building momentum when you do have a good run of
676
00:34:17.920 --> 00:34:20.519
kids and in ben able to capitalize on that moving forward.
677
00:34:20.519 --> 00:34:22.800
And I don't know that anybody's done a better job
678
00:34:22.840 --> 00:34:25.280
than you guys have the whole staff, I mean all
679
00:34:25.360 --> 00:34:28.719
of you. You guys done an awesome job and always
680
00:34:28.800 --> 00:34:31.000
fun to talk to you. Well.
681
00:34:31.079 --> 00:34:34.039
I appreciate it, and it's always great to talk to
682
00:34:34.079 --> 00:34:34.840
you again.
683
00:34:35.119 --> 00:34:36.719
Always appreciate what you do.
684
00:34:37.320 --> 00:34:41.599
Listen to these podcasts, I mean almost weekly, trying to
685
00:34:41.599 --> 00:34:44.719
pick up some type of nugget that can help change
686
00:34:44.719 --> 00:34:45.800
something in our program.
687
00:34:45.920 --> 00:34:48.079
So I appreciate your time and your energy that you
688
00:34:48.119 --> 00:34:48.920
put in and these.
689
00:34:48.840 --> 00:34:51.440
Yeah, thanks coach, and I guarantee you some people picked
690
00:34:51.480 --> 00:34:53.880
up something today. You're gona see some elementary pep rallies
691
00:34:54.320 --> 00:34:58.599
and some mentor programs starting through out in the state here.
692
00:35:00.280 --> 00:35:02.800
I appreciate it. I'm doing whatever I can. If anybody
693
00:35:02.800 --> 00:35:04.760
ever needs the talk out, I'll be having a talk
694
00:35:04.800 --> 00:35:05.119
with them.
695
00:35:05.679 --> 00:35:07.159
Thanks coach. I appreciate you. Ma'am.
696
00:35:07.519 --> 00:35:08.440
Thanks so much for rich.
697
00:35:08.599 --> 00:35:08.880
Thank he