With camp well underway and the first game coming up quickly, I am guessing you are all feeling some combination of excitement, nervousness, exhaustion, optimism and worry as the first game closes in. Wherever you may be on the spectrum of emotion, I encourage you to remember that leading a team of young men through a football season is a powerful opportunity that will be with them long after the season ends! I wish you all good luck and much success in the coming weeks!

I had a great opportunity in early August to hold a series of 5 Player Safety clinics around the state of Oregon with former Heppner HS coach Greg Grant (state championship winning coach and third all time in OR with 350 wins) on behalf of the OSAA. A combination of best practices in implementing tackling and contact to practice planning and organization to creating a positive culture within your program. I was appreciative of the engagement of the coaches in attendance and the excellent discussions that were generated. Witnessing the level of respect and camaraderie amongst all of the attendees, from large 6A schools to those that play 6-man football, it left me once again very grateful to be part of community that plays such an uniquely impactful role in the lives of our players.

This Month’s Playbook includes:

*thoughts about the first game of your season

*the importance of situational football

*the impact of special teams

*Breaking the Huddle with Subscriber Spotlight: Troy Walker and more

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I would like to thank those of you who are paid subscribers and encourage those that are not to consider the $5/month subscription. All of the previous 40 editions are archived for subscribers. Thanks to all of you who read each month, it continues to be my goal to be a helpful resource to coaches of all levels of experience!

JM

Quote of the Month

Below is one of my favorite quotes of all-time taken from Pres. Teddy Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena” speech. It is especially timely as your teams head into your first games in the coming weeks.

“…The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood: who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes up short again and again, because their is no effort without error and and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory or defeat.” - Theodore Roosevelt, April 23, 1910

The First Game

The first game of the football season for every team is a much anticipated moment. Months of training, practice, and scouting/analysis has brought you to the opening kickoff. It is very normal for nerves to be running high among players and coaches alike. I would tell my players that it was OK and in fact I was glad they were nervous because that meant it was important to them. Furthermore, I told them, if I wasn’t nervous before the first game, than I shouldn’t be coaching. The important follow up to them was that while they may be feeling these nerves, once the game starts they just play and as an individual and team make the most out of each play in the game!

With all of the excitement about the first game, it is important to provide context to your team. Depending on your state, a high school team has 9 or 10 guaranteed games on their schedule and I would stress that while there is a lot of build up to Week 1, each game carries equal importance on the path to a playoff bid or possible league championship. Whether the game results in an exciting win or tough loss, you don’t want to outsize the impact because your week 2 game will be of equal importance. The old coaching axiom, “you don’t want to let a team beat you twice” can certainly occur if a week one loss sucks the life out of your team and potentially sends the whole season in a downward spiral from which you cannot recover. While leaning into the excitement of the first game, be sure to include in the lead up that while important, this is the first step of the journey that is our season.

Regardless of how many returning players you may have or how long your coaching staff may have been at a school, each team is unique and the 2026 group will only be together for this season so the opener is your first time playing a game with this team. It will be the first time you experience the mechanics of the game; things like getting the plays in on offense, special teams units running on and off the field, making the defensive calls on the field, and even the pregame routine are all examples of things that will be happening for the first time with this group. While you prepare for it, it will be a new experience so be patient and expect a certain degree of clunkiness. I also believe that no matter how well conditioned your team may be, the pace and intensity of the first game is hard to replicate in practice so have a plan and be prepared for players to be exhausted, possibly cramping, etc. Depending on changes or additions to your coaching staff, it may also be the first time your staff works together on the sidelines / box so there may be a learning curve for your coaches as well. Taking time with your staff early in the week to discuss game day roles and logistics can be helpful in things being as smooth as possible.

The first game also is the first time seeing your team in live action for 48 minutes and can be a great evaluation tool. It provides a real snapshot of where your players are at this point. Inevitably you will probably have some players that didn’t play at a level you expected while others may surprise in a positive way. The first game also provides immediate feedback to your coaches on fundamentals and skills that your team needs to improve on. Identifying these things, addressing them with your players, and incorporating them into your practice can be a key to improvement in week 2. Finally, having fresh game film to review with your team can be a great teaching tool in highlighting what you did well, what you didn’t do well and specifically what you need to do to correct it.

Finally, regardless if your first game results in a win or a loss, it is important to be positive and encouraging with your players as you have a whole season in front of you. I believe that a team becomes a reflection of their coach. So if they see bad body language or sense disappoint and frustration in your voice, they will feed off that. One of the challenges and skills of being a good coach is being able to project pride and positivity to your players in a tough situations, regardless of what you may be really feeling inside. Praise good efforts by individuals or units, point out a player that showed great hustle or unselfishness, find a way to celebrate some positives that occurred regardless of what the scoreboard says. Tell your team that you are excited and can’t wait to get back to work with them next week. My old coaching buddy, Matt Sweeney, used to say, “you are never as good as you think and never as bad as you think.” This is probably more applicable after week one than at any point in the season. Once the dust settles after the final whistle, it becomes about the next game.

I wish you all much success as teams head into their opening game in the coming weeks! There is nothing quite like the energy of your players, coaches, parents and communities as new season opens up. Embrace it all and I hope that it is a springboard into a successful and positive season for your team !

Situational Football

With teams in the heart of training camp, the focus of your team is probably on covering the basics, developing sound fundamentals and installing offensive and defensive schemes. I certainly prioritized building the foundation in training camp before getting to the week to week challenge of preparing for a new opponent. One thing that is unique to football is there are so many situations that may only occur once or twice a season but which can often decide a game. In 2004, our Foothill HS team was leading our rival by 1 point late in the 4^th quarter when our RB, Willie Keck, broke a run from the 40 yard line, but just before going into the end zone took a knee at the one yard line. This allowed us to burn more time off the clock and cause our opponent to use their final timeouts. We scored the TD on third down, leaving our opponent with very little time and won the game by 8 points. I wish I could say this was something we directed Willie to do but rather he showed that headiness on his own. When I asked him after the game how he knew to do it, he said he had done it a few times playing Madden Football! As you transition from camp toward your first game, I believe it is important that you begin to gradually work on some of these scenarios that while rare, will undoubtedly come up.

Some examples of situations that may come up which require coaching and review could include:

· At the end of a game, having your punt team take a safety rather than punting from deep in your territory

· Telling your defense that on 4^th and long, it is better for a DB to knock down a long pass rather than intercept it in order to save valuable field position

· Running your field goal unit on to the field with the clock running to kick a game winning field goal

· Getting your defensive alignment and personnel prepared for any Hail Mary situations that may occur at the end of the half or game

I always found the best teams are the most prepared and in order to be fully prepared to do something you need to practice and rehearse it! As a staff, making a list of and gradually working through these scenarios can be the difference in being prepared or not.

Not only are there many situations that can come up in the course of a game that must be practiced, it is also critical to constantly verbalize with your players rules or circumstances that they may not be aware of but nonetheless are critical for them to understand. Some of these may include:

· Explaining to your KOR that once the ball goes 10 yards, it is a live ball and that possession of the ball is our number one priority

· Reminding your offensive players that once the ball carrier is out in front of you in the open field to stop blocking behind the play lest you get a TD called back for a block that didn’t have any effect on the play

· Telling your defense to always play out any WR screen that is incomplete until the whistle is blown in the event that it is determined to be a backwards and thus a live ball

* Even something like coaching them on the importance of maintaining composure during the game, by explaining to them that if they are kicked out of the game, by rule, they are automatically suspended for the next game

These are some examples of the types of things that I would remind our players about daily and often to the point of them being tired of hearing me say them but nonetheless can be game changers on a Friday night. While the ball can take funny bounces and strange scenarios occur in a football game, having something hurt your team simply because you didn’t practice or address it is a painful lesson that I have learned firsthand. Practice time at the high school level is especially valuable and I am not suggesting that your dedicate an entire practice session or period to these things but maybe purposefully mixing in one or two each day during the early part of the season can pay dividends later when they arise on a Friday night.

Getting the Most Out of Your Special Teams

It never seems that there is enough time to get everything covered at a high school football practice. Players are coming out after a long school day, coaches are rushing to get to practice, and you are having to share field space with other sports in your school. This reality causes coaches to prioritize their practice time. One thing that often will get less time is special teams. After all these years, I am convinced that one way to gain an advantage on an opponent is to play sound, fundamental special teams.

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I hope your Summer is going well with the start of camp fast approaching. Exciting time to be a coach in anticipation of the season that lies ahead. This month’s playbook includes:

* a wide ranging conversation with legendary college and professional coach Mike Riley

* thoughts on how to integrate new players into your program

* building a strong defense that will always give your team a fighting chance

*Breaking the Huddle section with Subscriber Spotlight featuring Mark Gribble and more

Subscribe now

I would like to thank those of you who are paid subscribers and encourage those that are not to consider the $5 / month subscription. All of the previous forty editions are archived for subscribers. Thanks to all of you who read each month, it continues to be my goal to be a helpful resource to coaches of all levels of experience!

Finally, making the transition in 2023 from leading a program to taking on a supporting and mentoring role for coaches and players has been an incredibly rewarding experience. I truly enjoy continuing the great relationships that have been formed with so many of you. As a new season begins, I wanted to remind you some of the services I can provide:

• Scouting (both in-person and on HUDL)

• Observe/give feedback on practice

• Support for lower-level coaches on practice organization and efficiency

Please reach out if there may be a way for me to support the work of your program jmannionfootball@gmail.com

JM

Quote of the Month

Former NFL HC Jason Garrett was asked on a radio show about whether he thought Vince Lombardi’s hard nose coaching style would work today:

“Can you coach to the intensity of Coach Lombardi, I don’t know. I do think you can still coach players though, you can coach them hard, you can develop relationships with them. Greatness comes with high standards, high accountability but also an ability to develop a relationship with these guys. This is the nuance of leadership, this is what the best coaches do.”

Conversation with Mike Riley on Culture, Identity, Pulling an Upset, and More……

I was thrilled to have the opportunity to speak to coaching icon Mike Riley last week. During his amazing career, Coach Riley served as Head Coach at Oregon State (14 years) and Nebraska (3 years) , as well as Head Coach in the NFL ( Chargers ) and the CFL ( Winnipeg ). While his knowledge and experience is legendary, Coach Riley is known as one of the truly nice, genuine people in the game. I was fortunate to see his program first hand when my son played at Oregon State from 2010-2014. Thanks so much Coach for sharing your wisdom with our readers.

Question: It was always apparent that your teams and program had strong culture. Were there a couple of things you felt are critical to building a strong culture?

MR: When I became the head coach at Winnipeg (CFL), people started asking me about philosophy and team culture. It really got me thinking about what are the values in a program. It really hit me in my early years at Oregon State that we have got so much more we can do here than just the football end. So there were two things I focused on: I wanted value in the program for young men and I wanted to teach them how to play and how to win. We would have a program that when the football was all done there were gonna be results that would be for a lifetime. Football became the vehicle to get there. It was way more fun to have a program that had substance to it in both areas: be good for players while also pursuing the best ways to teach football that would lead to winning games. It became so much more rewarding and became obvious to me that developing great culture should always be the goal.

Question: I recall hearing you say that each team creates its own identity. Is a team’s identity a player driven thing or is it something a coach can foster?

MR: I would sometimes use that as a tool for my players because if last year’s team had a lot of success, you can sometimes get the sense that everything was going to be the same and that it would be easy to keep that going. The fact of the matter was that, this is a different team with different parts, different schedule, etc. I would tell the players for example, “this is the 2009 team and it will only exist for this season.” We have to mold, shape and work hard to form this team. It was my way to keep the freshness. You could be proud of the history and tradition but the task was to build this new team that was different from last year and will be different from next year. That became our focus… staying in the moment with each team!

Question: Because high school teams can change so much year to year, where would one start with putting together an effective offense?

MR: To begin with, many coaches have knowledge, experience, and maybe success with a certain offensive system and that is a great place to start. Next it becomes important to assess, how does this system work with these players, what do we emphasize and who do we emphasize in order to win games. We always had our system but it always had different parts and variations. Identify your guys that can make a difference in the game and score touchdowns. Within our system, how do we get this guy the ball? It would be disappointing if we came out of a game and a guy like Brandin Cooks only had 4 targets. While it starts with a foundation of knowledge, you have to be able to teach that system with skill development for each position being drilled in order to allow for success. Everybody has plays but in that play is the “how to”. I grew up in the Linfield system under Ad Rutschman and he was the best teacher of sports technique I have ever been around in that he taught guys how to play! Whatever the system, be prepared to teach them how to execute it!

Question: Your team played great as an underdog, pulling off upsets of a ranked opponent nearly every year. What was something that enabled your team’s to do this on a regular basis?

MR: A lot has to do with the character of the team but I think the way to do it is by building confidence. This confidence is built by having a great week of practice as games are won during the week leading up to the game. The implementation of the game plan, the quality of practice and the building of confidence all week allows for an upset on Saturday to become possible. I would put together film clips and talk about our plays versus their defense and instill in them the belief that “they cannot stop us.” The year we jumped out to a 21-0 lead over #1 ranked USC at half, I had told the team the night before, “don’t be surprised if we are ahead at halftime.” You also have to foster confidence under stress as good teams will mount a comeback as USC did that day but your guys need to have the confidence to keep making plays, which we were able to do and win that game!

Question: Your team’s were very well know not only for finding the “diamond-in-the-rough” players but also for thinking outside the box when it came to moving players to different positions. This can be especially important to high school coaches as we have to play with the hand we are dealt. Were there some things you did to help with this process?

MR: It really is about finding the best fit within your team. We had a player named Brandon Hughes that had been under-recruited as a WR out of Illinois. During his redshirt year, it was very clear that he was an excellent athlete; long and fast. That next spring, I brought him in to ask him about playing corner as he had all the attributes to be great there. He was initially reluctant and wanted to keep working at WR but came back a week or two later and said that he would give it a try. Due to his natural ability and hard work, he went on to become All-Pac 10 and play in the NFL. I tell you this because it is so important to look really hard at your players and find a spot that is the best fit. The other important part of the message is that we are not going to move you to have you fail, rather if this isn’t something you could do well, we wouldn’t ask you to move. Explain that the move will help us fill a role in one of our various packages on offense and defense. For example, we would have a bunch of personnel groupings on offense: 2 RB, 2 TE, 3 TE, 4 WRs, etc. Not only did it make us more diverse but it gave more guys ownership of a role on game day. The incorporation of players and finding what they do best, can be fun for the coaches and very rewarding for the player.

Question: Observing your recruiting for many years, you placed a huge value on multi-sport athletes. Why do you find it so valuable for high school players?

MR: I laugh because I have been having conversations with my grandson ( incoming 9^th grader ) about this and have told him, “you are a kid, keep playing all these sports.” There is so much carry over between sports. For example, everything you do playing defense in basketball relates directly to playing DB in football. Another thing an athlete misses not playing team sports is developing that play making ability, anticipation, and sports savvy that people always talk about. That is what playing other sports does for you and it doesn’t even matter the sport. There is also a lot of evidence today that being a multi-sport athlete is really good for physical development for young athletes. Playing multiple sports not only allows you to play more games but work on / train other parts of your body that you wouldn’t otherwise work.

Question: As far as the recruiting goes, what did you find was most helpful from the high school coach throughout the process?

MR: One of the things I found most helpful is actually the simplest, that being access to the coach! I ran into many situations where the coach wasn’t on campus or even able to be reached at all. It made it a lot harder to understand the “inside” of both the program and the player which was so important to me. Being accessible to coaches that are interested in your players is so important because I believe the person who knows that athlete best in their sport is their coach. It is also important to be honest with both the recruiter and your player because in the end, what you want for both is the right fit. You want the kid to be at a good place where they have an opportunity.

Question: Finally Coach, do you have any final observations about things you have seen high school football landscape in recent years?

MR: While I have always believed in hard work, I wonder if today’s schedule may burn kids out. It is not the amount of time you spend with your team rather the quality. The organization of practice can be done in a way that can lead to more efficient use of time. Preparation and organization lends itself to building confidence within the team. Finally, coaches within a school and a staff have to work together and have the foremost thought about what is good for the kids!

Congratulations again Coach on an amazing career in football and thank you so much for your willingness to share your wisdom with our readers!

What Do New Players Think ?

My youngest brother and his family live in Northern California and are a very athletic group with his daughter going on to play collegiate sports and his middle son a varsity multi-sport athlete. His youngest is entering middle school and is also an excellent athlete who has played a variety of sports. While playing football in grades 3 & 4, he did not play as a 5^th grader but was considering playing again this Fall. A couple of weeks ago, a couple of his old teammates invited him to attend an informal preseason workout at a local park. As he was considering playing football again, he hopped on his bike and headed over to the park to join the workout. As he arrived, the workout had just begun so he hustled over and joined one of the warmup lines. At his point, one of the new assistant coaches called him out and sent him to an adjacent field to “run 2 gassers because he was late.” He was understandably embarrassed and impacted by the “welcome back” he received and it definitely didn’t help his decision about whether to come back out this fall. While this experience is unique to my nephew, it got me thinking about the role we have as coaches in introducing new players not only to our team but to the sport of football. A major issue for programs around the country is a dropping number of players compared to years past. While there are a variety of reasons for these lower numbers, I believe it is critical as coaches that we make the first interactions and impressions we have with new players to our program are pivotal in making a player want to stick with it!

I believe the critical first step is to take the time to make an immediate connection with the athlete. Whether they are an incoming 9^th grader in your program, an upperclassmen who decided to play football for the first time or a new arrival at a collegiate program, it is important that the athlete believe that you notice them and take an interest in them as a player and person. Whether that connection is about other sports they have played, an older sibling you may have coached, or even their part time job at the local grocery store, making a genuine connection of some sort will not only help them to feel valued but will also give you insight into their personality and how to best “coach” them. All of our athletes are wired a little differently, and the sooner you can gain important insight, even on day one, the sooner you can make them feel like a valued member of your program.

High school football has become a year round process with techniques, drills, and schemes being introduced over the course of weeks and even years. I always pushed a crisp practice tempo, so when a new player is dropped into this process, it can be understandable to become impatient and not want to have things slow down on account of one person. For this reason, it can be very easy for a new player to feel lost and left behind so it is important that we are purposeful about making sure that does not happen. Whether it be an assistant coach pulling them aside to explain a drill, checking with them after practice to answer questions or simply acknowledging that you understand their challenges are all important steps in helping them feel like they matter. I also think a quick review or explanation of the mechanics / purpose of a drill during practice will not only help the new player but can be a huge benefit to all your players as well and is time well spent.

I once heard a new assistant principal at a school I taught at years ago tell the teachers at our first faculty meeting, “I know you don’t know me but I want you to trust me.” While I understood what she meant, I found it to be a bit of a strange statement. The old saying goes that trust must be earned is certainly true. As new players come into your program, they will be observing not only how you engage them but how you interact with the other players, coaches on your staff and even the school custodian. It is through these observations and interactions that they will decide whether you are someone they can trust. This is so critical because if a player or team truly trusts their coach, amazing things can happen. My good friend and legendary Oregon coach Randy Nyquist talks about one of the keys to having a good team is getting your players to become “comfortable doing hard things”. This requires us to not only ask a lot of our players, but push them hard. Randy states, and I wholeheartedly agree, that this can only happen when they truly trust you as a person and as a coach. This development of trust cannot be forced rather takes time and is especially important to be fostered for new players to your program.

I certainly hope that my nephew considers playing football again if that is something he wants to do in the future. With all of us welcoming new players into our programs in the coming weeks, how we bring them into the fold will have a huge impact about how they feel about us and our programs. I urge you to keep this in the back of your minds as we embark on the new season.

Building a Strong Defense

We have all heard the old adage for years that “defense wins championships”. While it may be a bit of a cliche at this point, I truly believe that in high school football a good, disciplined defense can give your team a fighting chance every Friday night. While putting together an effective offense can be more dependent on some degree of playmakers, regardless of your level of talent, experience, or size of school, I believe it is possible to assemble a competitive high school defense. While I realize that schematically there are many different approaches that can be highly successful, I would like to share what I have found to be a formula for a putting together an excellent high school defense.

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As we head toward the end of June, I hope that your Summer program is going well! I loved this phase of the offseason as it combined the development of your players along with the excitement and optimism of the coming season.

Welcome to those who may be seeing the Coaches Playbook for the first time and thank you to the thousands of readers who follow each month. After retiring from the sidelines in 2023, it continues to be my goal to provide relevant and useful content about the coaching profession through the lens of high school football. The comments, suggestions and interactions that have come out of this have been amazing. Thank you to all who read each month!

This Month’s Playbook includes:

* The Old School vs New School Debate

* Preparing and Executing an Effective Offensive Game Plan

*Video clip and narration of a favorite QB Drill from Eagles coach Sean Mannion

*Checklist of what you should be doing in the end of June

*Breaking the Huddle Section and more

Subscribe now

I would like to thank those of you who are paid subscribers and encourage those that are not to consider the $5 / month subscription. All of the previous editions are archived for subscribers. Thanks to all of you who read each month, it continues to be my goal to be a helpful resource to coaches of all levels of experience!

JM

Quote of the Month

Belated Happy Father’s Day to all of you Dads out there. This past Sunday was my first Father’s Day since my dad, Jim, passed away in August. He was a lifelong high school football and baseball coach. As a father of four children, I have always been grateful to have a career that allowed my children to be right along my side, season after season.

“ My dad, like any coach, has always stressed the fundamentals. He taught me responsibility, accountability, and the importance of hard work.”

- former 49er great Steve Young on comparing his father and his coaches

Old School vs New School

I was recently listening to an interview with a former NFL player in which he was describing his experience in college where his college coach would always have the team practice outside regardless of the conditions. The player explained further that even though the school had built a new indoor practice facility, his coach always chose to go outside because “he was old-school like that.” For many coaches, myself included, it can be considered a badge of honor to be considered old-school. To many this can mean principled, consistent or running a program grounded in tried and true “methods”. Others, however, may take “old-school” to mean antiquated, living in the past or even being afraid to consider doing things differently. Many of these same critics lean into what they consider to be the “new-school” approach which they believe is cutting edge, utilizing the latest software and trends as well as having an approach that is much more in line with today’s athlete. These apparently differing philosophies beg the question, which approach is best?

I would start by recognizing that there are many ways to have a successful football program and that there is not one right way to go about it. I would also suggest that no two coaching situations are exactly the same and that coaching is not a one size fits all scenario. Adjustments or adaptations are not only a consideration but a must. For example, when I coached at Foothill High School in the early 2000’s, we routinely had 150+ players in our program but when I arrived at Silverton High School in 2010 our players numbered under 70. While I was the same coach with the same values I had always considered important, I had to be flexible and be open to ways of making inroads with the students, parents and the community in order to build up the numbers in the program. Going to the county fair to watch players that lived on farms show their animals, sitting in the dunk tank at the town’s annual downtown festival and personally calling prospective players and parents throughout the summer were all things that I had never considered at Foothill but all contributed to making the personal connections necessary to get the Silverton program up to 120 players by my third year. My point is that I had to go about it a different way and had I not, I do not believe we would have been as successful as we ultimately were.

As coaches, it is important to lean into what we know best and for many experienced coaches, these philosophies have been honed over the course of many years. Practice plans, play sheets, and routines have been refined and in many cases proven successful, so it is natural and important to keep doing things that have helped your teams achieve this success. At the same time, I believe it is important to consider and take advantage of things that can make you program better. This willingness to consider new things while retaining your core values is what good coaches do. One example is the advent of Hudl into high school football. As late as 2010, I can remember weekly meetups with our next opponent at a highway rest area or coffee shop to exchange film. Hudl was a game changer that allowed us to be more efficient with our time as well as having coaches and players to have access without a VHS/DVD player. As Hudl continued to advance, it could produce all kinds of reports, analysis, and tendencies for you and I know many excellent coaches that took full advantage of this feature. While I was aware of this option, I still chose to physically draw out each play of our opponents film which took many hours on Saturday and Sunday. While this might seem “old-school” and a waste of time to some, I know that this is what I needed to do to best understand our opponent. Similarly, as of my last season in 2022, I had personally never used any type of social media but I understood that it was something that was important to my current players. While I wouldn’t have any idea how to make this happen, I approached a student of mine that was skilled in utilizing social media about creating an Instagram page that would celebrate our team as well as provide real time information. I communicated with this person that it should be about our team and made sure they understood our program’s values so they would be reflected in the page. This student did an amazing job and it quickly became a hit for our players, parents, and community. In both of these examples, embracing new things to a degree with which you are comfortable can help you become a better coach and be a value add to your program.

While there is no clear answer to old school vs new school, I believe the key is having a growth mindset as a coach that allows you to be open to different ways of running your program. This includes being curious about and sincerely considering things that are outside of your comfort zone. This is important for both experienced coaches and the younger generation in the profession. I am not suggesting change for change sake, but having an open mind to new ways of doing things. Just as I have heard some older coaches reminisce about how the good old days were simpler and better, I have similarly heard younger coaches scoff at many of the things that were done in a previous time and have a reflexive hesitation to embracing ways of the past. The truth, I believe, is somewhere in the middle. Just as there are a lot of ways to incorporate what is “new” about football, there is also a great deal of wisdom from the past that is very much applicable today. The most successful coaches are the ones that are open to all things, both old and new, that will result in making your program the best it can be.

Developing and Executing a Offensive Game Plan

While we are still about 8 weeks from your first game, it is never too early to begin thinking about and beginning to construct your first game plan. The first step in putting together a game plan is building a base offense that is best suited to your team’s personnel. While we all probably have stuff that is our “bread and butter” and that you believe in inside and out, the makeup of your team may change from year to year so evaluating and understanding the strengths of each year’s team is important. Chances are much of what you run will carry over from season to season but there may be situations that dictate something different. For example, in 2011, our Silverton HS team had 3 quick, powerful RBs so it made sense to put them all on the field once which led us to utilizing the T formation. The trap, toss, and counter were all existing staples of our playbook that could be run out of this formation while allowing us to utilize our strengths that particular season. With the first game a couple of months away, zeroing in right now on what may be your most effective scheme can get you ahead.

On a week to week basis, the game plan begins with an understanding of your opponent. Thorough understanding of your opponent’s fronts, blitzes, and coverages along with any tendencies or personnel indicators can only be achieved through time spent watching and meticulously gathering the information through film breakdown. Once you have done this, trust what you see! I have caught myself many times overthinking or telling myself “they can’t run that against us” when in fact what you see on film is what you get on Friday night! Build from your best run and pass plays that will be effective against the defense they are presenting on film. This may include packaging some of your base stuff differently through formation or motion as well as specific wrinkles based on formation or personnel advantages. My goal was always to stay within our base system but also make the other guy coach by showing something different that he wasn’t expecting to force them to adjust to it (or not).

The execution of the game plan on Friday is directly a result of a detailed week of practice leading up to the game. I believe that practice should be tougher than the game, so you want to make sure you practice against their toughest looks and blitzes. During our team skeleton period, for example, we would often add a 12^th man to the defense in order for us to face an extra blitzer or man in coverage. It is also important that you introduce the new wrinkles on Monday so that they may be practiced enough throughout the week that they have a chance to be successful in the game. It is also important to pare down the new stuff as the week goes along. Sometimes ideas on the board on Sunday don’t translate to what your team may be capable of. I was not a believer in the “Friday Night Miracle” of something not looking good all week but hitting in the game. So if a new play or concept was not coming together by Tuesday or certainly Wednesday, I would take it out. I also like to use the last team period on Wednesday to “dry run” what I liked as the opening 10 – 12 plays to see how they looked and felt. This familiarity and knowing what to expect bred confidence in the players. By Thursday, I wanted our play sheet/script to be only what we could confidently run on Friday.

The in game calling of the game starts with clear communication amongst the coaches. Understanding your tolerance for how many voices you want on the phones as well as knowing what you want each coach responsible for, is crucial to having an optimal process. While a typical high school staff may have limited coaches on staff, I would always want to have at least 1 guy (typically me) watching the OL and another coach specifically watching the back 7 coverage. Another thing not to forget is that your best source of information during the game is your players! While too much input can be counterproductive, having some trusted, veteran players to check in with in real time about what they are seeing has proven invaluable to me! In addition, take advantage of good looks by formation and don’t be afraid to come back to a play that works. I don’t mean this in a disrespectful way, but don’t give the other guy too much credit regarding adjustments. I was pretty notorious for running a play over and over until the other team made an adjustment and stopped it. Another skill of calling an effective game is having the patience to hold off a call that you feel really good about until a pivotal moment later in the game. I was always anxious to run it right away but patience pays off in the fourth quarter. Above all else, spend the time necessary to prepare a detailed plan, be purposeful about your week of preparation and then trust your players on Friday night!

Sean Mannion QB Drills - Part II

The video and narration below is by my oldest son, Sean Mannion. Sean played quarterback at Oregon State from 2010 - 2014, in the NFL (Rams, Vikings, Seahawks) from 2015 - 2023 and is currently a coach with the Philadelphia Eagles.

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With Spring Practice well underway and Summer Workouts fast approaching, an increased sense of urgency can often become tangible within your program. I hope this edition finds you and your team rejuvenated and ready to enter the coming months.

As the Monthly Playbook enters year 4, I am proud that it now goes out to over 2,200 coaches across many states. Thanks to all that read each month, and welcome to those that may be reading it for the first time. It remains my goal to provide content that, whether you are a first year coach or a forty year veteran, you will find helpful as we head toward next season!

This month’s Playbook contains:

* a reflection on how impactful a job we have

* handling a quarterback competition

*video clip and narration of a favorite QB Drill from Eagles coach Sean Mannion

*the importance of creating chemistry within your staff

*Breaking the Huddle section including Subscriber Spotlight: John Gaffney

Subscribe now

I would like to thank those of you who are paid subscribers and encourage those that are not to consider the $5 / month subscription. All of the previous editions are archived for subscribers. Thanks to all of you who read each month, it continues to be my goal to be a helpful resource to coaches of all levels of experience!

JM

Quote of the Month

Pat Casey, Head Baseball Coach at Oregon State University and winner of 3 National Championships, on the importance of players being resilient:

“For someone to get off course because of the challenges that are in front of them in any sport: whether you throw an interception, strike out with the bases loaded, or miss a free throw, if you allow that to affect the next step of performance it is fatal. If there is no failure, there is no reward and you will never get to the next step.”

Your Impact Runs Deep

This past weekend I watched my youngest son, Brian, complete his college baseball career when his Linfield University team was eliminated from the Div. III playoffs. Playoffs in any sport are both exciting and abrupt. As he and his teammates left the field, tears were shed and hugs exchanged as the season had ended, and for seniors, it was their last time leaving the dugout as a player. As the scene was unfolding, I could see there was a similar sadness among the parents, family, and friends in attendance. You could feel a sense of loss among the group who had invested so much emotion in the journey of the season. As I made the six hour drive home, the day really made me reflect on how powerful an experience sports can play not only for the athlete but for a much wider circle as well.

As coaches we have an incredible platform to create an experience for our players that will be with them long after the season has ended. Perhaps our most important job is instilling qualities such as resilience, respect, and accountability that will hopefully help them become better husbands, fathers, employees, and citizens in the future. While this is certainly true, what last weekend reminded me is that as we are creating experiences that extend well beyond what we realize. From family members watching each game online to alumni and former players supporting their alma mater to the business owner that supports your program, the emotional investment in what you are doing extends much further than the group of players that you break practice with each day. The grandparents of one of my son’s Linfield teammates attended nearly every one of his games the past four years no matter the weather, opponent or distance to the game. Seeing them post-game share a hug or pat on the back and converse about the game with their grandson made it abundantly clear how important the season was to them. As coaches we have a greater opportunity than we may realize to create an experience that can have a much greater impact than the outcome of a game.

The culture of your program will really set the tone for how people feel about being a “part of it”. A team that is respectful of each other, is not too cool to hustle, and always exhibits poise and good sportsmanship will not go unnoticed. Having an environment in which all the players, regardless of how much they play, feel validated and as important as the next, will draw people in and your support will grow. When I was Head Coach at Silverton HS, I had an elderly man stop me in the grocery store and tell me that he loved coming to our games because our players “played the game the way it was meant to be played.” He didn’t mention wins or league titles rather he took pride in how our players represented our school and by extension our community. Creating this type of identity will enhance the engagement of those connected to the team and make your program something that resonates from your players to their families to the community.

A big part of creating this connection is finding ways to make your program accessible and create opportunities for people to be included. During my time at Mountainside HS, the parents would provide breakfast in the cafeteria for our team after our Saturday morning lift and film session. It was a favorite part of my week seeing the players interact with each other in a more relaxed setting while including parents as part of the weekly tradition. There were also multiple grandparents that prepared meals each season and you could see how happy they were to be a part of their grandson’s team, get to know their teammates, etc. Similarly, at Silverton HS, we would hold an inter squad scrimmage on the Saturday morning at the end of the first week of practice. We would have a BBQ for all the players and their families on the field at the conclusion of the scrimmage. While it required some planning and coordination on the part of the coaches, seeing everyone interacting and enjoying the moment together always helped to set a great tone for the season.

Having open practices in which family or community members can watch from the stands is another way to allow others to see first hand the enthusiasm and urgency with which your players practice and coaches coach. At all the places I have coached, I have had numerous people, from the grandparent of a player to a retired guy that lives down the street come out to watch practice nearly everyday. Not only does this bring them enjoyment but they often become the greatest ambassadors of your program! I know that coaches by nature may be uneasy about people getting a sneak peek at what we are doing leading up to a Friday game, but in my opinion the benefit you get from it greatly outweighs the risk. When my oldest son, Sean, played at Oregon State from 2010 – 2014, Beaver’s Head Coach Mike Riley had open practices. My father, who passed away this past August, would drive up from California each summer with his old folding chair and his printed out roster to watch a couple of practices. Being able to see the practices, give his assessment of the players, and watch his grandson for a couple of days was priceless and meant so much.

Watching Linfield’s season come to an end certainly felt sad as I was so proud of Brian and his team but the memories of his experience and mine will always be what I remember. As coaches we are laser focused on the wins & losses, rankings, playoff positioning, etc as we live in a competitive, results-based world in which the pressure is very real. And while this is very true, I would encourage you to remind yourself just how powerful the experience and memories are being channeled through your team and that will be what will be remembered.

Coaching a Quarterback Competition

As Spring Practice kicks in for schools across the country, some of you may be fortunate enough to have an accomplished and established QB returning for the upcoming season. While it was no guarantee of a successful season, it was a great starting off point and often bred confidence within the team. Many of you though, are heading into the crucial next few months of evaluating and coming up with a winner of your QB “competition”. Not only will this decision set the direction for the season but often it involves players that are not only competitive but great leaders and role models as well. Adding to this is the reality that QB is one of the few positions in sports where you can only really have one guy in terms of practice and game reps. I would like to share how I worked through this process many times over my career.

First off, you need to identify what are the most important traits that you are looking for as they may be a bit different for each coach or program. For me, I believed our QB needed to have three main characteristics, with the first being physical ability. Do they have the arm strength to consistently make the throws required for your offense? I also liked a guy that looked “natural” / effortless playing the position as well as one that had good feet and mobility in and out of the pocket. Second was the mental make-up of the player. Can they become comfortable with your offense and be able to process and make good decisions in real time? A big part of this mental side is their ability to be resilient when the inevitable bad play happens, as it is essential they be able to play with a short memory and not let one unfortunate play dictate the next. Finally, are they a competitor and good leader? This is not one size fits all as I have had QBs that were more vocal and others that were leaders by example but either way they are often going to set the tone for your offense and entire team. They can’t have bad body language or point fingers when things go wrong, rather they need to be a steady, calming presence. While it is natural to get enamored with the physical traits, I believe the other areas to be equally important and tried to evaluate the candidates in all three areas.

When replacing a graduated QB, I often had a situation where there may be an incoming senior and an incoming junior vying for the job. There is a good chance that each of these guys were that grades QB growing up so your players may have allegiance to one guy or the other and even may secretly be “rooting” for one of them to win the job. For this reason, it is very important that the process throughout spring, summer and even fall camp is done transparently and fairly so that it does not cause division once you have made a decision. For example, if you have a standout receiver, make sure that both QBs have equal reps when that player is on the field rather than one guy getting 80% of the reps when that player is on the field and the other only 20% as this kind of thing will not go unnoticed by your team. One season the competition was so close that in our preseason jamboree the week before our first game, we ran 16 plays of offense against three different teams. I had the two rotate every 8 plays and I called the exact same plays for each guy in order to provide a final, true, side by side comparison. However you structure this competition, I would encourage you to be purposeful so that everyone: teammates, parents, coaches can all see that even if you don’t go with the player they wanted, it was clearly a fair process. Finally, I know that as coaches we often have an idea about how we think something is going to play out. Despite this, I believe it is important and would encourage you to have an open mind through the process and coach them all with equal energy.

It believe that it is also important that you not force the decision rather let it play out. At some point there will be a moment when it becomes clear that one of them has won the job. This moment can happen at any point in the process but you and the whole team will often feel when it has become clear. Another thing I have done in particularly competitive situations is to discreetly talk to some of my veteran players about their thoughts. This should obviously be done in private and without others knowing but it can be insightful and possibly validate what you are already thinking. In my first year as a Head Coach in 2007, I had a senior QB who had missed some time due to injury and a sophomore who had played well in his absence before the senior returned. As the season was coming down the home stretch I felt like it was time to make a change to the sophomore but was worried how the seniors on he team might take it. I spoke to our best player who happened to be a good friend of the senior QB and told him I was thinking about making a change. To my surprise he replied, “What took you so long Coach.” It illustrated to me that the your players understand that the best player should play.

While it can be a relief to come to a decision and name a starter, some of my hardest conversations as a coach have been letting a player know that we are going with the other guy. I have had some excellent players who have invested so much into becoming the starting QB that they are understandably devastated when they do not get the job. The first thing is to be compassionate and take the time to have a private conversation that allows you to talk / explain / support the player. Secondly, the player may very well be an excellent athlete so you need to find a way for them to have a different role and contribute to the team. It is your job to build the player up and pave the way for him to remain an instrumental part of the team. I have had guys become starters at other positions and even had backup QBs be voted team captain. If you take the lead in caring for the player and creating a positive outcome in the face of their disappointment it will be not only be important for that player but for team chemistry as well.

QB competitions while never easy are often crucial in determining the success of your team in the Fall. As you may be beginning this process in earnest right now, I encourage you to be purposeful and deliberate in the process so that it leads to good QB play in the fall.

Sean Mannion QB Drill - Part I

The video and narration below is by my oldest son, Sean Mannion. Sean played quarterback at Oregon State from 2010 - 2014, in the NFL ( Rams, Vikings, Seahawks ) from 2015 - 2023 and is currently a coach with the Philadelphia Eagles

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Late Spring is always an exciting time of year with Spring Practice and Summer Workouts clearly on the horizon, the Fall not seeming so far away. I hope this edition finds you well and gearing up for what lies ahead!

As the Monthly Playbook enters year 4, it remains my goal to share perspectives and practical ideas that I developed over 35 years of high school coaching as well as tapping into the expertise of coaches around the country. I am proud that the Playbook goes out to over 2,000 readers across many states. Thanks to all that read each month, I remain committed and passionate about providing content that you will hopefully find helpful as we head toward next season!

This month’s Playbook contains:

* How communication can be a powerful aspect of your program

* Interview with Beaverton HS coach James Testa on his experience and lessons learned as a first time Head Coach in 2025

* The importance and value of Spring Practice

* Breaking the Huddle section and Subscriber Spotlight

Subscribe now

I would like to thank those of you who are paid subscribers and encourage those that are not to consider the $5 / month subscription. All of the previous editions are archived for subscribers. Thanks to all of you who read each month, it continues to be my goal to be a helpful resource to coaches of all levels of experience!

JM

Quote of the Month

TJ Houshmandzadeh, 2-time Pro Bowl WR for the Cincinnati Bengals, was speaking on his Up On Game Podcast (April 18) about coaching today’s athlete:

“Today’s athlete is different. With NIL and the way they came up, you have to find a way to reach the young man on a personal level before you reach them on an athletic level. If the player feels like you don’t care about him and can’t talk to him about his life outside the sport, there will be no trust there and they won’t care what you have to say. You have to be able to talk to them as a human being first and an athlete second. If you can’t do that, it is going to be tough.”

Communication Matters

Most football coaches can attest that regardless of the time of year, the next season is never really far from our mind. Thinking about how to make our teams better, scouting future opponents, improving our strength and conditioning program, or putting together practice plans for Spring Ball, are all energizing aspects of our job. While these things are very important, I would argue that one of the most critical things that may determine our success next season is the manner in which we communicate with our players, coaches, and parents. As a coach, each day is filled with hundreds of short interactions and how we communicate in these brief seconds can set the path forward for an individual player or entire team. I attended a football clinic in the San Francisco Bay Area in the early 2000’s and listened to Mark Speckman speak. Coach Speckman is a highly decorated high school and collegiate coach who at the time was the head coach at Willamette University in Oregon. At the conclusion of each season, he would conduct exit interviews with his graduating seniors and was really looking forward to a particular meeting with one of his favorite players, a three year starter on the OL. As the player sat down and before Mark could say anything, the player said, “I did pretty well for a fat guy.” Mark was a bit stunned and asked the player what he meant and the player told him, “Remember when you made reference to my weight when I was a freshmen.” Mark was a bit stunned because of all the amazing interactions with this player, this is what the kid had remembered. While he can’t even remember the interaction and what he said, he was very certain he never called the player fat. Regardless of what he said or how he said it, that is what the player heard and it stuck with him enough to bring up in the exit interview. Coach Speckman described these as “throw away lines”, things said in passing or in the moment that while innocent enough, may stick with the person. His story always served as a great reminder for me, that all the things I say and the manner in which I say them can very well be the thing that a player remembers about me.

Communication happens in a variety of manners each day from direct instruction on the field, to encouragement in the weight room, to a comment in passing in the hallway. Regardless of how, where, or why you are talking to someone, effective communication begins with honesty and authenticity. Even short interactions can be critical to developing trust with your players if you take the time to look them in the eye and to not only speak, but listen. A huge part of being a good communicator is being a good listener. Your players will know when not only are you talking to the them but listening and engaging them in what they are telling you. While these conversations can be as brief as on the practice field in between reps in warm ups, if done with authenticity, the players will feel valued and that you “hear them”. This is a big ingredient in paving the way for honest and sometimes difficult conversations that may have to occur over the course of any season. Building this trust is not a one time thing, rather something that develops over a period of time through positive communication and attentive listening. I encourage you to find a way each day to engage as many of your players as possible in direct conversation, it will be time well spent.

People in general, but especially high school and college age athletes, tend to have fairly short attention spans when listening to a person speak. For this reason, I believe it is especially important to be clear and concise when addressing your players. Some of the most effective speakers are those that can get in and get out while delivering an essential message. I found that a simple message or coaching point that was repeated over and over can be more effective than a long, drawn out explanation that may leave the players even more unclear of what you are telling them. For example, telling our OLB to “re-route the inside guy”, our QB to “take what they give you”, or our KOR team that “once it goes 10 yards it is a live ball” are phrases that were heard daily on our practice field. Whatever your offensive or defensive philosophy, I encourage you to find a way to package your messaging and instruction to your players in a manner that allows the communication to be short yet effective.

Similarly, I encourage you to be purposeful in being concise when addressing your entire team in meetings and on the field postgame. I tried to be brief in the end zone after a game, especially after a loss, and save the corrections / debrief for our Saturday morning film session. No one feels worse after a loss than the players, so I don’t see the value in keeping them out there for an extended period of time. I recall a time at Silverton HS, our team had defeated an opponent that had a two plus hour bus ride home. I had addressed our team, and players and parents had visited in the end zone. After I finished clearing the sideline of all our equipment, the other team was still on a knee in the end zone. I am sure the coach was passionate about what he was saying but I am not sure that after twenty some minutes, his team was truly focused on what was being said!

The final thing that I would like to address is that communication is not limited to what is said but often what is not said. Effective communication is not just knowing what to say but also when to say it. I believe this is never more important than when a player makes a physical mistakes or has a tough outing that may cause their confidence to wane. If a QB throws a crucial interception, or a pitcher gets removed from a game as a result of a poor outing, and no coach checks in on them to provide some coaching or even simple encouragement, you risk that player losing confidence. As high school or even college coaches, the team we have is the team we have, so effective communication can mean finding the right words for the player that is struggling because chances are you are going to need that player to contribute for your season to be successful.

One of the great things about being a coach, is that it affords us so many interactions each day with people with whom we share a common goal. I encourage you to embrace these situations and be purposeful with how you communicate with the athletes, the relationships that come out of them can be difference makers!

Interview with Beaverton HS Coach James Testa on Lessons and Experiences as a First Year HC

James Testa completed his first season as the Head Varsity Coach at Beaverton HS (Oregon) this past fall. I got to know James beginning in 2018 when he became an assistant on my staff at Mountainside HS so I had seen first hand what a tremendous young coach he was. His first season at Beaverton in 2025 exceeded all expectations with the Beavers finishing 6-5, winning a playoff game, and James being named the Metro League Coach of the Year. I asked James if he would share his experience and lessons learned in his inaugural season.

Question: How did you prepare yourself to be a head coach and what do you think was the most valuable part of that preparation?

JT: When I graduated from my playing days at Linfield University, I went to coach at Beaverton HS (with Bob Boyer) for three years. I had interest in coaching but I truly wasn’t thinking that far ahead. It really wasn’t until I moved to CA and taught / coached down there for three years that I saw different operations and started to think that it was something I would want to take on someday. Quite honestly, it really wasn’t until you and I had our post season meeting in 2018 after my first year coaching with you and you asked “Where do see yourself in coaching down the line?”. It was really the first that I felt, I really want to become a head coach at some point. In terms of the preparation piece, I tried to coach out of my comfort zone by coaching different positions and different sides of the ball. It is important to stretch yourself and gain knowledge of all aspects because if you are going to be a head coach, it is important to have some knowledge of everything so you can help with diagnosing problems. It is crucial to have great assistants you trust but you also need to be able to play a role in all areas. Hopping over to call offense during that shortened Covid season was something I had never done but was huge for my development and understanding. This past season I called the defense but every offensive series I flipped the phones over side so I could be part of that process as well.

Question: You got the job in March of last year, what did you prioritize as you hit the ground running?

JT: Within the first window of getting the job, I wanted to solidify the staff as soon as possible which meant meeting with the existing members of the staff to see if they fit my vision of the culture as well as see if I could sense good chemistry between us. After that, it was all about meeting and getting to know the players. I met with them as an entire team, in smaller groups and individually. I started with seniors and worked my way through all grade levels. Establishing rapport and building relationships was crucial. Going to track meets and baseball games, checking in with kids, trying to be as visible and accessible as possible was important. Finally, I tried to get the weight room and football activities going as quickly as possible which was a little challenging not being on campus yet but proved very important nonetheless.

Question: After being an assistant coach for 12 years, what were some of the biggest adjustments/changes you felt when you became a head coach ?

JT: My email inbox….all of the sudden I have 35 texts and 14 voicemails about all kinds of things related to the job. It becomes so much more than football and quickly becomes not a job, but truly a lifestyle. I felt that way as an assistant but when I became a head coach it took on a whole new meaning. You become the point of contact for everything…… for example, the activities director is asking me for input on themes for assemblies at school. It is a whole other level of work because in a sense you are running a non-profit with over one hundred employees!

Question: While you tried to prepare as much as you could for the job, was there something unexpected that you experienced?

JT: This is more of a reflection than one specific thing but the idea of being ok with going a mile deep on a few things instead of feeling like I have to tackle all the details all at once. It was a progression but understanding that it is ok to have a more narrow focus. I came to the realization that I had to work “inside out” and truly put the culture of the team first. Sure, there is a huge to do list: fund raising, planning camps, meeting with youth football coaches, etc. but being ok with keeping the focus on our team and not getting spread too thin was crucial. A big part of that is finding people you can trust in order to allow you to delegate.

Question: Upon reflection, what were some of the most valuable take-aways / lessons you learned as you look back on your first season ?

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I am very excited and proud to publish this 36th edition of the Monthly Coaches Playbook, marking 3 years since we began in the spring of 2023. Thank you to so many who have helped support the publication: subscribers, contributors, and the “dream team” that has worked with me since the very beginning. It has been and continues to be my goal to provide relevant and useful content about the coaching profession through the lens of high school football. The comments, suggestions and interactions that have come out of this have been amazing. Thank you to all who read each month!

This month’s Playbook includes:

• Thoughts on the importance of player development

• An amazing interview with 3-time National Champion and 24-year Head Baseball Coach of the Oregon State Beavers, Pat Casey

• Coaching in the role of an underdog

• Breaking the Huddle section includes a Subscriber Spotlight on Kelly King, Milpitas HS (CA)

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I would like to thank those of you who are paid subscribers and encourage those that are not to consider the $5/month subscription. All of the previous 36 editions are archived for paid subscribers. Thanks to all of you who read each month, it continues to be my goal to be a helpful resource to coaches of all levels of experience!

JM

Quote of the Month

Carlos Boozer, two-time NBA All-Star, on the Dan Patrick Show when asked about Coach Mike Krzyzewski:

“Coach K treated everyday like he had something to prove. Seeing him, a legend, do that was inspiring. One of his brilliant abilities is to get the most out of his players. He was able to bring us together, strip us of our individual ego, and build us up to have one collective ego where we need the guy next to us.”

Developing Your Team

I was honored to speak at the 2026 Nike Football Clinic in Portland last weekend alongside Hall of Fame Coach Greg Grant of Heppner HS (OR). We had been asked by the state organization to speak about player safety through the lens of sound practice organization, proper drill progression and instruction. Preparing for the presentation drew me to something that I had always believed, namely that player safety is about having your players as prepared as possible for each stage of the season and that this preparation is really about player development. The ability of a staff and program to truly develop their players is essential to sustained success.

One of the most rewarding aspects of coaching high school football is that a new group of ninth graders arrives each July in all shapes and sizes, varying levels of football experience, and differing stages of physical and emotional maturity. It is of particular importance to provide safe, gradual development of the younger, less experienced players and meet them where they are at. With the right guidance and focused attention from your staff, a player’s year-to-year development can be the difference for a successful season. Over the course of my career, there were some programs that were notorious for having excellent freshmen teams but average varsity teams. The most successful programs consisted of players up and down the roster that kept improving. Every championship team I was fortunate to coach had players that hardly saw the field as freshmen be major contributors as seniors. So much happens over the course of four years so truly investing the effort to develop all your players can and will pay huge dividends.

Player development begins with trust as every player in your program must feel valued. This process begins immediately with your staff quickly developing an authentic relationship with each player. A varsity coach that takes ten minutes to stop in and watch a freshmen practice and interact with the younger players can set the tone and really validate to the players that they are important. Things like remembering their name, being inquisitive about what they do outside of football, giving them some type of feedback or encouragement will all serve to build connection and buy-in with the player. Once this trust has been established, they will be accepting of coaching and constructive criticism as they know you care about them as a person and only want to make them better.

The next step is getting them to believe that development and improvement is possible. I believe that high school football is unique in that a player can truly work or will himself into a contributing role. Beyond that, football gives players who may not be All-League caliber the opportunity to still carve out meaningful and valuable roles on the team. Whether it be holding on PATs, providing a pass rush on passing downs, or becoming a great blocker at WR, seeing these roles in action can be highly motivating for players. That motivation - the desire to improve - helps create an environment where development can truly take off.

This time of year, much of the development will be taking place through the strength and conditioning program. Whether you do this before or after school or in a designated class, this is such a critical component in enabling your players to make strides. I would encourage you to be mindful of where each player is regarding strength, technique, and experience. Having your returning MLB who can bench press 300 lbs. and your gawky but athletic ninth grader doing the exact same workout may not be the most sound route for proper development. This isn’t to say that much of their workout won’t remain the same, but tailoring workouts to individual needs is the most effective. While it takes more time and great organization, being incremental and having proper progression with your younger players will allow for greater growth. While many coaches including myself are creatures of habit, it is also important to assess the needs of your team as they may be different each year. For example, in 2018, we had a number of players get banged up due to a lack of shoulder strength so correcting that became a focus of our daily work. Another year we saw problems with tight hip flexors so we worked daily to remedy that. While your base workout design may remain the same, be purposeful about areas where growth is needed.

Player development does not only apply to physical growth. As we approach spring practice, many teams will be installing offensive and defensive schemes. Just like weight training, conditioning, and tackling, offensive and defensive installation should also be approached in a gradual, incremental manner. Regardless of how veteran a team may be, it is critical that you have a process of installation that starts at the foundation as there will be some players that are new and/or aren’t going to be able to immediately pick up where you left off last season. Starting from the beginning not only deepens returning players’ understanding, but also ensures no one gets left behind. We all want our teams to play fast, but that can’t happen unless they truly understand what you are asking them to do. Don’t make the mistake that I have made of assuming they know things from the past only to find out later they didn’t. Restarting from step 1 will allow them to grow in understanding and truly grasp your scheme. John Wooden, considered by many the greatest collegiate basketball coach of all time, famously began the first practice of each season with showing the players how he wanted them to tie their shoes! Proper installation of schemes can be a real underrated piece to player development that leads to cleaner execution in the fall.

One final area that requires preparation and development is building mental toughness and resilience in your players. Playing a 48 minute, physical football game is physically and mentally demanding and many players come to your program not ready to take this on. Getting to the point of being able to do this come August and September should be built throughout the offseason. We would include daily finishers in the weight room: from a fast paced body weight circuit to doing 2 gassers in the gym to how many burpees they could do in 30 seconds, all of which had physical benefits but were really about getting them to become comfortable pushing through hard stuff. I heard the De La Salle strength coach speak years ago and he said that their players were all required to stand tall during conditioning periods and not bend over or drop to a knee. While subtle, this is an example of the mental toughness side of player development.

Continued development of your players is really the essence of good teaching and coaching. I encourage you to reflect on this process within your team and program and look for ways to make it even better. You will find it a huge difference maker!

Interview with Three-Time National Champion Baseball Coach Pat Casey

Pat Casey was the Head Baseball Coach at Oregon State University for 24 years during which he won over 900 games including National Championships in 2006, 2007, and 2018. Among his many accolades, he was recognized as the National Coach of theYear 5 times. He is respected as one of the best coaches in the country in any sport and his teams reflected his competitive, hard nosed approach to the game. Thank you so much Coach for your willingness to share your wisdom with our readers!

Question: While every season and every team can be a bit different, were there a few bedrock philosophies that you used to build the culture of your program?

PC: We felt we had to do things at a higher level than our opponent that may have had more talent. Our belief system, our identity, our culture had to be something that was unique. It had to be something different, it had to be authentic, it had to be something that we believed in. I really believe that you cannot succeed beyond your belief system. People wake up every day with a decision; what can I accomplish today, what can I conquer today, what can I achieve today. Other people wake up, look at those same challenges and think about the obstacles that can keep them from getting there; that is just a waste of time. We were always thinking that we were unrealistic to people that had normal standards, we felt like our standards had to be at a level that took us above our opponent to allow us to match the talent level. Those things remained with us and made us who we are.

Question: I was always fascinated at how incredibly competitive and fundamentally sound your teams were. Is there something particular you did to create that environment?

PC: We had to be something different when we first started to match the gap in the talent level and it was those things that you are talking about. We will fundamentally be at the very “top of the food chain” as you can get and we would do that through discipline. Baseball, like most sports, is repetition and we were going to do it over and over again until we did it the way that met our expectations. Once we had an identity, it was always the players along with the coaches that created the standards of what we wanted to become. Instead of us coming in and posting “these are our standards at Oregon State”, the players were vested in that. I believe they absorbed, embraced and loved the discipline piece. We were willing to do things, whether it was lift early in the morning or get up at 5:30 to run outside in the rain. Those things become ingrained in you. We were fortunate enough that the leadership got so strong within the players that they passed it on to the next players coming in. If you are going to wear the uniform at Oregon State, this is how we play. I give a ton of credit to those guys in the early years who didn’t get a chance to play in the Regionals and World Series because they were the pioneers of what we do and who we have become. It is hard to do.

Question: Coaches of all sports have experienced coaching a team that suffers a tough loss or series of losses. Are there things you have done in those situations to turn the tide back around?

PC: If we believe we are as good as we are, the bump in the road today is not going to affect us tomorrow. Our charge was always to get to the next game. Would we talk about the things that we didn’t do the way we should have done them? Sure. But to sit around and dwell on what happened on Friday night has no effect on our performance on Saturday. The power of the mental piece of anything we do in life is monumental. My feeling is that practices are for coaches and games are for players. If you do what you believe you are supposed to do and do it at a level that you are satisfied with in practice, then you have to let them go play. Monday morning you are going to see the results and make the adjustments to conquer the things you didn’t do well. The mind will take you anywhere you allow it good or bad. For someone to get off course because of the challenges that are in front of them in any sport: whether you throw an interception, strike out with the bases loaded, or miss a free throw, if you allow that to affect the next step of performance it is fatal. If there is no failure, there is no reward and you will never get to the next step. Your opponents probably have the same amount of talent as you, so it becomes about your will against their will. We approached it that way, it took the pressure off and became “just do what we do.”

Question: I was always amazed at how well your teams did with their backs against the wall. Your teams were always so cool and steadfast in those elimination games, it was an amazing characteristic of your program.

PC: I was blessed with amazing guys first of all. I also believe that the players pass on something about themselves to the next group. What are future players going to think about the kind of player you were? What are you leaving for the players that come after you? That became a big part of what our character was, what we stood for and how we were going to compete. We may get beat but we are not going to break. We never felt like “this is pressure” rather this is what we prepare for. The preparation piece was monumental for us both mentally and physically. We can control how competitive we are. We might not control how hard we can throw or how far we can hit it, but we certainly can control how we compete. There was no leeway on that one!

Question: After coaching as long as you did and seeing all that you saw, is there a thing or two that you know now that you wish you had know then?

PC: I was a head coach for 31 years, when I first started coaching I didn’t have enough “game time” to be patient enough with the players. I didn’t realize that if you didn’t take the time to get to know the player then you really don’t know how to help them. I wish I would have been a better communicator when I first started. While I am not afraid to say that we play the game to win, that doesn’t mean we didn’t do it the right way and that there are a lot of other things in life that are important. It took me a while to begin not only to enjoy the game but how important the journey was. It was really all about the players and their future successes. I got much better at incorporating the message that while what we are doing is about baseball, it is really about life.

Congratulations Coach on an amazing career and thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with all of us!

Thriving as the Underdog

With March Madness beginning this week, there are sure to be some memorable upsets and Cinderella stories as heavily favored teams get taken down by teams that presumably have no chance. While upsets can happen for a multitude of reasons (injury, penalties, weather, strange bounces, etc.), I do believe there are some characteristics of being the scrappy underdog that “no one wants to play” come playoff time!

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I hope that 2026 has gotten off to a great start for you! I always found it an exciting time of year as you begin work with your team and the process of bringing a new group of players together!

This month’s Playbook contains:

* the importance of having your players embrace doing things that are hard

* highlights from the Second Annual Mannion Coaches Roundtable held in January

* takeaways from championship teams that can help your team

* Breaking the Huddle section and more

I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to write about our sport and profession over the last 35 months which has led me to interact with so many great coaches along the way. I am proud that the Playbook goes out to nearly 2,000 readers across many states. I truly enjoy providing practical ideas for high school coaches on program philosophy as well as insight on football systems and strategy! Thanks to all that read each month, I am excited to continue to provide useful content as we head into the spring!

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I would like to thank those of you who are paid subscribers and encourage those that are not to consider the $5/month subscription. All of the previous editions are archived for subscribers. Thanks to all of you who read each month, it continues to be my goal to be a helpful resource to coaches of all levels of experience!

JM

If it were Easy, Everyone would be Good

As we enter February, with off season strength and conditioning programs well underway and spring practice a month closer, I believe it is a great time to reset expectations and create the mindset with your players that we will need to push ourselves past what is comfortable. The players need to buy in to the importance of pushing themselves and each other through soreness and fatigue on a daily basis, which is not an easy thing to do. To this point, I would often tell my players that “If it was easy, everyone would have a good team.”

This time of year much of the time with your team will be taking place in the weight room. This is such a critical time of year in that it not only can allow your players to make great strides in strength and fitness but it provides a great opportunity to establish the culture and identity of your “new” team. This time of year, I would often tell our players that all of our opponents were doing some form of strength and conditioning so it was our job to collectively “beat them” each day. I would put up a large poster with our fall schedule on the wall so they would see it daily as a reminder of what lay ahead and hopefully motivate them to push through. I would also ask the players to imagine there was a camera recording our team in the weight room each day. If an opposing coach were to look at that video, what would it say about our team? I sure as heck hope it would show a scrappy bunch of guys that are hustling, focused and encouraging one another. Beating a team is not a Friday night in the fall thing that just happens that night, rather a consequence of beating them in all the months leading up to that moment. While Chip Kelly and the University of Oregon famously branded this idea with their “Win the Day” slogan, it really is a mindset that good teams understand and embrace.

It is essential that your team understands that they are going to have to become comfortable doing hard things. Football by nature is a very challenging sport in which you are literally knocked to the ground and have to bounce up and do it again. It requires young athletes to develop what CBS football commentator Ross Tucker describes as “competitive stamina, mental stamina and physical stamina.” Our family moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to the small town of Silverton, OR in June of 2010 when I became the Head Coach at Silverton HS. Upon arrival, our team began a six-week, four day a week weight program that was quite a bit more than had been done in previous seasons. That summer our turnout was pretty low, maybe 15-20 players per day. At one point I had a parent call me and ask, “Are the workouts mandatory?” to which I responded, “They are mandatory if we want to be good.” Within two years, we were getting 50-60 guys per day at our summer workouts which directly led to league titles.

So how do we get our players to push themselves and get good at doing hard things? I believe that without question the biggest determinant will be the relationship that you have with them. Taking the time to develop real, authentic relationships with all of your players will create the buy in needed and allow you to push them through when things get tough. If the players trust and respect you because they know that you truly care about them as a person, they will be much more willing to go the extra mile for you. There is no quick, magical way to create these types of relationships rather it happens over the course of weeks and months as you consistently show up for them. What was the difference between my first summer at Silverton and the subsequent Summers? I truly believe that it was over that first year and into the next, I was able to build relationships with the players and they knew that if they were at a workout, I would be right there with them validating their effort.

This time of year brings great optimism and promise to teams throughout the country and I certainly hope that is the case with your group. Along with this optimism, I would encourage you to consistently include the message that getting there will mean we, as a group, will have to do things that are hard!

Quote of the Month

Last week, Dan Patrick was interviewing Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr on his radio show asked Steve, “ I am curious, you played for Greg Popovich, Phil Jackson, and Lute Olsen, is there anything you took from these three Hall of Fame coaches?”

Steve Kerr: “I have taken a lot from all of three and I also played for Lenny Wilkens in Cleveland for three years, another brilliant Hall of Fame coach. What I would say ties them all together is their authenticity to who they are, what they believe in and what they stood for. You have to have conviction as a head coach and your players need to feel this conviction, this authenticity and this compassion for what they are are going through day to day. All of these things, I felt from each of these Hall of Fame coaches.”

Recap of the 2026 Mannion Coaches Roundtable

Jan. 24, 2026

On January 24th, I held the second annual Mannion Coaches Roundtable and Clinic in Silverton. I would like to thank those coaches who attended for their engagement as it was a great day of talking football. I have received really positive feedback from those in attendance and look forward to continuing to improve and grow the event next year. I would especially like to thank the speakers who all did an excellent job sharing their knowledge and answering questions from the group. Below are some highlights from our speakers!

Randy Nyquist – Stayton HS “Developing a Physical Identity”

Randy spoke about his belief that developing a physical team starts with getting your players to buy into the concept of doing “hard stuff”. This buy in begins with the culture you establish and the players know that you truly care about them, when you are consistent, and you are coaching them as a person not just a player. It is then that you can coach them to take pride in being more physical than their opponent each week and collectively “handle the hard stuff well”. A physical approach for 4 quarters will serve you well late in the game as hits are cumulative!

Nick Halberg - Lake Oswego HS “Offensive Game Planning”

Nick said that while he, like most coaches, has “base” schemes season to season and week to week, flexibility is often required in order to get your best players on the field. It is important to have balance within formations in order not tip your hand. For Nick, it all starts with simplifying the scheme for your OL. Their rules and schemes should stay consistent and it should be the skill players that make the adjustments each week. The new formations, motions you might employ to dress up what you are doing should not change what the OL is doing. He also discussed the importance of being purposeful about having your QB see both “good” looks and “bad” looks in practice. Finally, Nick said that while the process of drawing up scout cards for the scout defense can be a lot of work, it really helps him to find the weaknesses and problems for the plan week to week.

Matt Craig - Silverton HS “Pressure Packages”

Matt stressed the importance of tackling, pad level and finishing with your feet as things that should be worked on daily from the first practice until the end of the season and that your daily individual technique periods should fit directly to your scheme. Teaching your players to have elite eyes is critical because “you can’t go somewhere until you know where you are going”. Having your players blitz from both width (on the outside) and depth (on the inside) poses problems for high school offensive lineman. Finding and exploiting a personnel match up or vulnerability by offensive formation is what dictates his pressures week to week.

Chris Casey - former HC at George Fox University - “Philosophies from 43 Years”

Chris provided a terrific compilation of so many invaluable core beliefs that he developed over his decorated career. Among them is teaching your players to see each practice/weight session/film review, etc. as “opportunity over obligation” and that it takes no talent to work hard. Having everyone in your program buying into the importance of whatever your role is, perform it at a high level. Through study and years of experience Chris has determined that each game can be boiled down to three areas: 1) blocking/tackling, 2) turnovers/penalties, and 3) kicking/punting so whichever team wins those three areas will win the game. Finally, he discussed the importance of repetition, making practice harder than the game, conditioning and having your players maintain confidence because each week “we are playing against ourselves, adversity, and our opponent”.

Eric Mahlum - former HC at Liberty HS “Building an OL”

Eric talked about the importance, especially at the high school level, of coaching your lineman where they are at, giving them the reasons “why” on each play, and having them develop ownership over their group. He stressed the importance of knowing the position of the guy next to you so as to develop interchangeable parts. Having learned the hard way in a game years ago, Eric has all his OL work at center so that “everyone can snap.” When grading his OL, the most critical component was “did they give effort from snap to whistle”. Finally, he believed in the importance of having your OL condition just as hard as the skill guys!

Dan Lever - Silverton HS “Take Aways from a State Title”

Dan explained that while he has been fortunate to coach many really good teams, this team really exemplified the idea that disciplined people with disciplined thoughts will lead to disciplined action. Convincing your players to embrace hard things will help them develop the physical and mental toughness required to get to the finish line. Empowering your “glue guys” to take pride in and become great role players is essential, as is year round weight lifting. Finally, don’t forget to “enjoy” your team and find the right balance between understanding the stakes of a big game while having fun and keeping it light!

Takeaways from Watching Teams Win Championships

Super Bowl Sunday is always a bit bittersweet for me as it will be the last football game played for many months. That being said, I truly enjoyed watching both the college and professional playoffs this past six weeks. As a coach, I feel there is so much we can learn from observing these players and teams. Below are some of my takeaways from these teams that I feel can be useful to coaches at any level.

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I always found the return to school after the Holidays as a time of renewed energy, enthusiasm, and optimism as you begin the process of building your team with an eye toward next season. One of beauties of this time is that it allows all coaches young and old the time to really reflect on their teams and find ways to get better without the pressure of upcoming practices and games. I encourage all of you to take advantage and find ways to continue to grow as a coach.

Attending football clinics was always a great way to grow in that they provide a forum to gain valuable ideas and insight, interacting with fellow coaches and inevitably get the gears turning about how to improve the program and become a better coach. For that reason, I will be hosting the Second Annual Mannion Coaches Roundtable and Clinic on Jan. 24th in Silverton, OR. Last year’s clinic was very well received and I would encourage you to attend. Details & Speakers are below. You can click on the link, use the QR code on the flyer or simply email me (jmannionfootball@gmail.com) to register. Hope to see you there!

This Month’s Playbook includes:

* My thoughts on the ways and importance of always growing as a coach

* The importance of being great at the things you can control

*Changing jobs in the coaching profession

*Subscriber Spotlight: Ryan McCants - Roosevelt HS Portland

As our distribution list continues to grow, I would like to thank the many of you that are paid subscribers and encourage those that are not to consider the $5/month subscription. There is a subscription bar located further down in the edition. Thanks to all that read each month, I am excited to continue to provide useful content as we head into 2026!

-JM

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Grow as a Coach

Now that we have turned the page into another year and the football season of 2025 gets smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror, I believe we are now beginning a phase of the year that offers us a great opportunity to grow and improve at what we do. Without the pressure of practice plans to be written, film to be broken down or scouting reports to be put together, the coming months offer a real opportunity to not only reflect but to get better at when we do. While there is no exact formula on how to do this, I believe that the best coaches are always growing and searching for ways to improve what they do and that is one of the reasons for their success.

The first part of this process is having a sincere willingness and desire to get better. Coaches as a group tend to be creatures of habit, I can attest (as could my assistant coaches) that I certainly was! I am not suggesting change for change sake, rather be open to learning about and considering new and different ways of doing things that could help you be an even better team. I was speaking to Shane Hedrick, coach of the undefeated Oregon 4A State Champion, about the upcoming coaches clinic that I will be hosting and he commented, “I will be there in the front row taking notes.” Shane has been coaching for nearly forty, highly successful years, yet he is still striving to get better! He is probably not looking to install a whole new system rather maybe find a drill, a way to augment what he does or even hear a phrase or way of explaining something that he had never thought of. I have attended countless football clinics over the years and I always liked to get to the Saturday morning 8am session early not only to get a good spot in order to hear the speaker, but to also survey the room to see if any of my opposing coaches for the next season we there, because if they were, that told me they were serious about getting better! Being curious about and learning new things is a big step toward growing.

While you may still be in the process of reflecting on and “self scouting” the past season, I always tried by this point to have at least an initial assessment of the previous season, specifically zeroing in on what we did well and what did not do well. While it is a lot easier to lean into the things you did well, it may be uncomfortable to look at what needs improvement. This is critical to the improvement of your team however. When considering how to improve, I would try to determine if the problem was primarily scheme or skills (or possibly both). This helped to give me focus and a place to start. While considering new schemes can be done in a variety of ways from listening to speakers at a clinic to buying a book, I have found talking to other coaches was often the thing that was the most helpful. Fortunately, I have found many of the best coaches very willing and open to sharing and exchanging ideas. Hearing why a coach runs a particular scheme and maybe the plusses and challenges of implementing were often best served in informal conversations with other coaches. If I felt the issue was a skill based/teaching issue, I would try to attend Spring practice at nearby colleges to find drills that translated directly to the game. Especially in areas in need of improvement.

I realize that though the “off-season” is a time when many of your coaches may be focused on family time, coaching another sport, or simply taking a much needed break, these coming months are a great time to collaborate and consider solutions and ways to get better. I am not suggesting you need to have regular coaches meetings but possibly attend a clinic or spring practice together to allow for these conversations to happen. I also always wanted my coaches to know that everything was up for discussion and to encourage them to investigate and research new things. It was not that we were going to overhaul our program necessarily but I wanted them to feel motivated to learn and search for new and better ways of doing things.

The final reason for the importance of having this growth mindset is the signal and impact it will have on your team. If your players see that you are constantly trying to get better it will send the message that we all should be doing the same. While I know my former players often felt like they could predict my every move, I was purposeful about incorporating new things every year to prevent the program from getting stale and the players from getting the “same old same old” feeling about what we did. Whether it be incorporating new aspects to our warm-up routine (such as band work) to bringing new elements to the off season workout routine to having a new punt block or offensive formation for Spring Ball, I wanted the message to be that we were not satisfied, rather getting better and moving forward. As coaches, we set the tone for our team, so the players could see tangible and intangible examples of how we were always looking for ways to get better, so they would follow.

Be Great at What You Can Control

Being great at the things you can control has been a constant theme in many of the articles I have written and the interviews I have conducted over the past nearly three years of writing the Playbook. As we begin a new year and off season activities are beginning to get into gear, I want to revisit this concept. Being great at the thing you control is easy to say, but in the unpredictable world of high school football not always easy to do. As hard as we try to account for all contingencies, each day/game brings unexpected situations. Whether it be injuries to key players, your school district cutting coaching stipends, the bus not showing up on time for an away game, or simply the strange way the ball may bounce in a crucial time in the game, there are many things that come up that we as coaches simply do not have control over. While it is only natural in these situations to want to dwell on the negative circumstances, bad luck or bad hand we have been dealt, I think it is critical that you and your team focus on the aspect of each game and situation that you do control and to embrace a positive, can-do attitude regarding each situation.

This starts with your offseason program. When Mountainside High School opened in 2017, it did so with only 9^th and 10^th graders playing a Freshmen and JV schedule. In 2018, we played a full Varsity schedule without any seniors. Our coaches understood that this would make it hard for us to match other teams size and physical strength. Rather than dread the situation, we discussed the reality with our team and focused on the commitment level that was going to be required in our Spring and Summer strength training/conditioning to allow us to be as prepared as possible for the physical challenges we would face. We had excellent turnout and effort all Summer and while we began the season 0-6, we won our last 3 games to finish 3-6. While it was challenging at times to not make excuses or have self pity about our lack of size, physical maturity, and zero varsity experience heading into the season, we kept our focus each day and game on what we could control: effort, hustle, preparation and supporting one another. That 3-6 season propelled our program to winning records and playoff wins in every season since.

Another reality of high school football is that at times there are going to be situations where your players are simply at a physical and athletic disadvantage against an opponent. If you are playing a team that has a WR that is one of the fastest players in the state, you do not control the fact that you have no one on your team that can possibly match his speed. You do though control how well your DB’s understand the coverage and plan against him, and how well they communicate and execute this plan each play. If he beats one of your DB’s on a given play, it won’t be because of lack of effort, proper technique, alignment or a blown assignment.

This past December, Ken Potter retired from Jesuit HS Portland as the winningest coach in Oregon history. Ken and Jesuit traditionally had one of the top offensive lines in the state: big, strong, aggressive, and extremely well coached. This typically resulted into some physical mismatches in the trenches. While you cannot control the fact that there may be physical mismatches, we focused our plauyers on what we could control. How prepared were our DL/LBs were at their techniques and giving maximum effort each play. DT’s attacking a double team, LB taking on a lead back, or DE’s taking the proper angle and leverage to defeat a pulling guard are all things that must be focused on in the days and months leading up to the game. If your focus remains on what you can control rather than how big and good your opponent may be, you and your players will be as prepared as possible to have success.

My oldest son is a coach for the Green Bay Packers, and as I am writing this morning, I am still disappointed over the gut-wrenching playoff loss the Packers received last night abruptly ending their season. The truth is football can be cruel at times as the difference between victory and defeat can be ever so slight. As I have watched high school, college and now NFL playoffs over the past 8 weeks, I have seen many hotly contested games that in many cases were decided by things that were within the control of a team. False starts, procedural penalties, having to take a timeout to get the right personnel on the field in the third quarter that you really needed in the last minute are examples of things that often had a strong influence in the final outcome. As we enter into a new offseason, refocusing on the things you and your players control can create a great mindset for your team and make a difference in wins and losses in the fall!

I truly believe that keeping focused on what you do actually control in difficult situations will give you and your players the confidence, and a mindset to attack each situation that will lead to the most positive outcomes and success for your team. We are all human beings and it is hard to not get discouraged and sometimes beaten down by the hand we get dealt. I sure know that I did at times. When you feel yourself heading down this road, I encourage you to reset and take inventory of what you can do about situation and focus your effort and energy there!

Changing Jobs

With the new year and football offseason kicking into gear, it also brings with it a season of change within the coaching profession.

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It is hard to believe that another Fall has come and gone! While it undoubtedly was filled with emotion, exhaustion, and possibly what ifs, I feel it is important for you to take a second and realize the importance and value of the career you have chosen to pursue. I hope the holidays provide a truly restful time to get a “break” from football and allow yourself to rejuvenate and reflect on a job well done. Enjoy the upcoming holiday season and be proud of what you are doing!

This Season-Ending Playbook includes:

* A reminder that what you do matters

* Thoughts from coaches whose teams had championship seasons

* Game Ball recognizing the success of our subscribers teams this Fall

I would also like to announce the 2nd Annual Mannion Coaches Roundtable and Clinic on Saturday, January 24th in Silverton, OR at Gallon House Farms (7263 Gallon House Rd). Last year’s inaugural clinic was very well received by those in attendance and it is again my hope that this will be an interactive clinic with give and take from a variety of excellent coaches. While I will have a finalized schedule soon, speakers include: Randy Nyquist (Stayton HS), Eric Mahlum (former Head Coach Liberty HS) Matt Craig (Silverton HS), and Chris Casey (former Head Coach at George Fox University) with more speakers still being confirmed. The clinic will begin at 8:30 am and end around 4 pm…. the cost is $50 with lunch and a post clinic social included in the price….. payment can be made the morning of the clinic or via Venmo @johnmannion. With so many outstanding coaches in Oregon, I hope to provide a forum to share ideas, interact with each other, and hopefully leave with some new things to consider as the new year begins! Use the link below to register or email me at jmannionfootball@gmail.com with any questions…. hope to see you on Jan. 24th!

Link to Sign Up For Roundtable and Clinic

As our distribution list and network continues to grow, I would like to thank the many of you that are paid subscribers and encourage those that are not to consider the $5/month subscription. There is a subscription bar located further down in the edition. I am truly enjoying trying to provide practical ideas for high school coaches on program philosophy as well as insight on football systems and strategy! Thanks to all that read each month, I am excited to continue to provide useful content as we head into 2026!

-JM

What You Do Matters

The end of a football season always seemed to be very abrupt to me. For many months coaches and players pour so much effort, emotion, and focus into each week with the goal of being victorious on Friday night. In early September, the games begin and each week takes on a familiar ebb and flow and before you can blink your eyes, it is late November or early December and your season has ended. For a lucky few, this four month sprint ends with a win in your final game to earn a state championship. Regardless of how or when the season ended, I always felt a mix of sadness and exhaustion having poured it all into what Teddy Roosevelt describes in his Man in the Arena speech as those who know “the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause…”.

Over the past few weeks I have attended a number of playoff games, witnessing tremendous efforts and amazing performances. One of the things that really caught my attention as I attended these games was the reaction of both players and coaches as these games concluded and witnessing the raw emotion of the moment. Seeing an 18-year-old football player drop to a knee in silent reflection with tears of victory or defeat streaming down his cheek really drove home to me how impactful our role is as football coaches. There are very few endeavors in one’s young life that can match the beauty and intensity of pursuing a common goal with 30-40 teammates, living the weekly thrill of victory and agony of defeat together, and developing the resilience and unselfishness needed to play football. Regardless of wins and losses, I feel our job as coaches is to make this experience as positive and validating as possible for each and every player on our team. The experience matters greatly to our players and will forever be an important part of their lives.

This was a bit of a bittersweet Fall for me personally, as my dad, Jim Mannion, passed away in late August at the age of 83. He had been a high school football coach for most of his adult life. Much of what I know about coaching I learned from him. At his memorial in late September, I was reminded of the importance of this job by witnessing the presence of so many of his former players. When my brothers and I were cleaning out his house a year ago as he moved to assisted living, I came across an article that he had clipped out and saved from Coach Magazine many years ago. As best I can tell, it was an edition from the late 1980’s but it was right at the top of the immense amount of coaching material he had saved over the years. I shared this article in a Playbook edition a year ago, but I would like to reprint it again for you below. The message resonated with my dad many years ago and I believe it is important for you all to hear today, now that another football season is now behind us. The author of the article is Mike Berg who at the time the article was published was in his 18th year as Head Coach at Grand Forks Central HS in North Dakota and a two-time winner of North Dakota Coach of the Year. I have printed the article in its entirety.

The Best Two Times of My Life

My high school coach was the man I always wanted to be

We nervously waited outside of the door to his office and watched as they came out one by one. Some grinning from ear to ear. Others in tears that they didn’t want us to see.

We waited fearfully for the invitation to enter that office and, possibly, be devastated by a word.

Would we make the varsity football team? The thought of being cut was unthinkable. High school, even life, would no longer have meaning.

He looked up from his desk as I came into his office, and gave me a big smile. “Well,” he said “we’re gonna keep you, big boy.”

That’s all a 140-pounder with a butch haircut needed to hear. After a sophomore season on the junior “B” team and a junior season on the “B” team, I was now a varsity football player for the Pasadena High School Bulldogs.

I would be there with the others on the sidelines, in the red and white uniform that so many others had worn. I knew I would never actually get into a game. But it didn’t matter. I was on the team…and until a Friday night last fall, nothing had ever matched that moment when I learned that I had made the Pasadena High School varsity team.

I have now been a high school football coach for 25 years. For a quarter of a century I have lived a dream, and I am as excited about my career today as I was as a rookie coach in a small Montana town in 1972.

Over the years, we have had some good teams, some average teams, and a few not-so-good teams. Honors have come our way, personal recognition and awards have been humbly received and much appreciated. But no award, no recognition could compare to that Friday night last fall…

With three minutes left in the season’s opening game, we have a 28-8 lead and are trying to run out the clock. Our offensive coordinator had come down from the press box with a note:

It reads: “Very impressive, Mike. Do you have time to say hello after the game? South end of the stands. Tom Hamilton.”

Time suddenly stands still. Tears fill my eyes. I never look into the stands during a game, but tonight I have to. I turn my head a little and look. No luck. Too many people to pick him out in the crowd.

But I know. My coach is here. Tom Hamilton, the man who had been everything I had ever wanted to be, who had been my hero. He is in the stands watching my team play.

Unbeknownst to me, he has traveled all the way from Southern CA to North Dakota to watch a team coached by someone who, as a player, had never been good enough to get in the game.

What has brought him here tonight? It’s simple: He is my coach and I am one of his players.

Whatever comes my way in the seasons ahead, I know that nothing will come close to those two very special occasions in my lifetime-once on that day in his office so many years ago and again on that Friday night last autumn.

Thank you, Coach Hamilton, for the two best times of my life.

Written by Mike Berg, published in Coach Magazine

While things have changed in the world of high school football since this article was written, I believe that at its core, what we do as coaches remains the same. The investment of time we take in forming true relationships with our players will always be there long after the season ends. As another season now fades into memory, thank you for all the work this season, it matters and is truly worth it.

Reflections from Title Winning Coaches in 2025

I reached out to a handful of coaches to get their thoughts after a championship winning season. Their responses are wide-ranging and highlight that while the road to winning a championship may all be different, some things are quite similar . See their responses to the following question:

Are there a couple of things that helped make the outcome of your season as successful as it was?

STEVE COURY - Lake Oswego HS: Lake Oswego, OR - Oregon 6A State Champions…. Steve has been the head coach at Lake Oswego since 1992. This year’s team went 12-1 and became the 3rd State Champion of his tenure at LO.

SC: “I think the thing that was evident to me especially as the season went along was how close knit the players were. We had an Offensive Line group that after every practice would go together and march from the 50 yard line to the Goal Line and back stopping every 5 yards to call out a play and insure they were all on the same page. Their great leadership as a group spread to the other players on the team. What I also saw was that our team really celebrated each other in a very real way. After a touchdown, all the other 10 guys would sprint down to the end zone and celebrate the guy that scored. It became very apparent that this group was in it for the right reasons. It wasn’t about “I didn’t score so I will just head to the sidelines”…..we lost the ego, it was not all about me but all about we. The Offensive Line and what that group did to become so close and unselfish spread to the rest of the team. The team had a great feeling among themselves, it was truly a team and that is what carried us through!

SHANE HEDRICK - Cascade HS: Turner, OR - Oregon 4A State Champion with a perfect 13-0 season. Shane finished his season at Cascade and his season as a head coach in Oregon.

SH: “One thing that really happened was total buy-in by our players and coaches. I really noticed it in how we were preparing…… we had great, dialed in practices, especially in the playoffs. Since our grass field was torn up, we had to bus 45 minutes to Scio to use their turf field for practice. On the way there, you could hear a pin drop as the players were reviewing the practice plan and scripts for team periods. When we got off the bus, we would hit the field and have an amazing practice….. this went on for four weeks! I know it is easier when you win, but I really saw the buy-in and how it bleeds off to the parents and supporters. Another thing I would add is that the players really understood their roles and embraced them. For example, when I would call for the punt team, I would intentionally hold a guy to see if his backup was on it, and without me saying anything, they shot out there! Those types of little things paid off for us. It was on the kids and they nailed it!

DAN LEVER - Silverton HS: Silverton, OR - Oregon 5A State Champion with a 12-1 record. Dan has been the Head Coach at Silverton since 2022 after moving over from Tualatin HS.

DL: “First of all, so many things have to go well. With this group of kids, there wasn’t a single guy that talked to me about getting the ball more, etc. There were no cliques within the group, they all really enjoyed each other and played for each other. If you coach long enough and do things the right way you will eventually have a group like this. Keep doing it the right way and the reward will pay off! I thought our defensive staff worked their butts off; having great assistants and support at the administrative level plays a huge role as well. It was just a group that had fun….. we were running plays in practice and it felt like we could have stayed out there for hours and it would have been a blast. I felt like the last time I was in this position of a state title game (Tualatin 2021) I made the team really tight by talking up the fact it was our last Monday, last practice, final team meal, etc. and it kind of made them tight. This time we kept them loose, having fun all the way to the end and we played that way!

MIKE McKEOWN - Vista del Lago HS: Folsom, CA - This past season, Mike, in addition to being on the varsity staff at Vista he was also the Head Coach of the JV team that went 9-1 and won a league title. Mike has been coaching high school football in the Sacramento area for 17 years.

MM: “The first thing that comes to mind is that we set clear expectations. We knew it was a talented group that went 10-0 as Freshmen but 7 of the players were going to the varsity so we had to set the mindset of next person up….just because we were missing some guys we were not lowering our expectations. The players had a bit of a chip on their shoulders which really helped us stay focused week to week, keep up with our film study, etc in order to meet the expectations. We had a loss week 2 and while it was frustrating, looking back, it probably was the best thing that could have happened to us. Immediately, everyone from the players to the coaches re-focused and I felt that accountability to each other went way up. The character and hunger of the kids was amazing and we had great leaders by example. At the end of the season, I had a parent video each player and ask, “Why do you love football?”…. the responses were amazing. One story that summarized our season was the response of one of our best players when asked his favorite moment of the season, he responded “Our win against Granite Bay”. This was the one game all season in which he did not catch a pass and really shows the mindset and unselfish attitude of this team!”

Congratulations to Steve, Shane, Dan and Mike on great seasons and thank you for sharing your insights with out readers !

Game Ball

With the 2025 season wrapping up, I wanted to highlight and acknowledge the success that so many of our subscribers have had this fall. It is an honor to have so many great coaches and programs as readers of the monthly Playbook and it was great to see so many of you have such successful seasons. Below are some of the accomplishments of our subscribers!

Oregon 6A

Champion – Lake Oswego HS with HC Steve Coury

Semifinalist - Nelson HS with HC Aaron Hazel

Quarterfinalist - Jesuit HS with HC Ken Potter

Playoff Berth – Roosevelt HS with HC Ryan McCants, Sherwood HS with HC Mark Gribble, Tualatin HS with HC Dom Ferraro, Glencoe HS with HC Ian Reynoso, Newberg HS with HC Jeremy Johnson

Oregon 6A – Columbia Cup

Champion – South Medford HS with HC Bill Singler

Semifinalist - Beaverton HS with HC James Testa

Playoff Berth - Lincoln HS with HC Cody Schnaufer

Oregon 5A

Champion – Silverton HS with HC Dan Lever and assistants Mike Fessler, Eric Anderson, Matt Craig, Don Von Weller and Pat Scott

Runner-up – Summit HS with HC Corban Hyatt

Semifinalists – Mountain View HS with HC Brian Crum

Quarterfinalists - Dallas HS with HC Andy Jackson, Wilsonville HS with HC Adam Guenther

Playoff Berth - Lebanon HS with HC Troy Walker, Hood River HS with HC Caleb Sperry

Oregon 4A

Champion - Cascade HS with HC Shane Hedrick

Semifinalists - Scappoose HS with HCs Sean McNabb & Joe Nowlin

Quarterfinalist - Estacada HS with HC Andy Mott, LaGrande HS with HC Dalton Sheets

Playoff Berth - Stayton HS with HC Randy Nyquist

Oregon 2A

Runner-up - Heppner HS with HC Rob Wilson

Semifinalist - St.Paul with HC Tony Smith

Oregon 1A ( 8 man )

Semifinalist - Dufur HS with HC Jack Henderson

Congratulations to the teams and coaches above and to all you who had a successful 2025 seasons!

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There is nothing quite like football in November…… the days are getting shorter, weather is changing, and talented, evenly matched teams will be playing hotly contested playoff games with only one of them extending their season! Good luck to all of you playing playoff games this weekend…. despite all the nerves heading into the game, I hope that your players, coaches, and communities truly enjoy these memorable times. For those of you reflecting on the end of season, I thank you for all the effort and energy you gave your teams this Fall….. what you do is incredibly impactful and will stay with your players for a lifetime.

This Month’s Playbook includes:

• Winning close games

• Thoughts on keys to winning the close ones from decorated coaches Chris Casey, Greg Grant, and Matt Sweeney

• What to focus on after the final whistle has been blown

• Breaking the Huddle section with the Subscriber Spotlight and more

I would also like to announce that I will be hosting the 2nd Annual Mannion Coaches Roundtable and Clinic on Saturday, January 24th 2026. Last year’s inaugural event was a great day of talking football and very well received by those in attendance. My goal is to make it even better this year with another great lineup of speakers and most importantly great interaction among all in attendance. I am hoping it will kickstart 2026 with helpful discussion and ideas for your program. I would especially encourage the younger coaches on your staff to attend and be part of it. More details to follow in the December and January Playbooks but mark your calendar now!

I am very proud that the Playbook now goes out to over 1500 coaches around the country. I would like to thank all of you who are paid subscribers and encourage those that are not to consider the $5/month subscription. All the previous 30 editions are archived for paid subscribers. There is a subscription bar located further down in the edition. Thanks to all of you who read each month, I am excited to continue to make it a helpful resource to coaches of all levels of experience!

Please reach out at jmannionfootball@gmail.com if there may be a way for me to support your program. No question or ask is too big or too small. The interactions I have had with so many of you the past two and half years of publishing the Playbook have been amazing and I look forward to more in the future!

JM

Winning a Close Game

With high school football playoffs beginning in states all around the country and college football playoffs on the horizon, there promises to be weekly matchups pitting evenly matched teams and inevitably many close games. I believe that all football games are unique and unfold differently. Weather, injuries, untimely turnovers, physical and mental mistakes by the players, and in game coaching decisions may all change the course of a game and its outcome. While many of these determining factors may seem like a matter of luck or good fortune, I believe there is “formula” that leads teams to consistently win close games.

At the top of the list is execution; the team that plays cleaner, more disciplined football will usually prevail in a tight game. By execution, I mean playing efficiently and soundly in all three phases of the game and not having “self-inflicted” mistakes that can prove pivotal. Having to waste a timeout to prevent a delay of game, getting a procedural penalty, a QB and WR not being on the same page on a route in a critical third down situation, or a punt returner not catching a punt in the air and having it hit the ground and roll an additional 20 yards are all examples of plays that can decide a close game. While none of these mistakes are “physical” in nature, to me they speak to a team’s execution. Execution often comes down to being great at the things that you control and having everyone on your sideline on the same page from the time you hit the field until the final horn. This can even be something as seemingly trivial as having a system to keep the footballs dry and shuttle a dry ball to the umpire for each play. On a rainy night, this may contribute to better ball security that may be the deciding factor in running out the clock with a fourth quarter drive. The team tha makes fewer mistakes is often the difference in a close game. In 2014, our Silverton HS team won twelve consecutive games before losing in the state championship, our local high school beat reporter gave our team what I took as a great compliment when he said, “Yes you have talented players, but watching you all year, you guys just don’t screw stuff up.”

To me a big part of good execution and “not screwing stuff up” comes down to your players communicating and even over-communicating on the field. Whether it be OL communicating and pointing out pass protection at the LOS, LBs and DBs signaling and communicating coverage once the opponent is in formation, or even a defensive end alerting the defense of an unbalanced formation, this communication is a sign of a well executing team. Not only does it help ensure that the players are always on the same page, it tells me that the players are confident in their understanding of what we are asking them to do. In my experience, a player not communicating with his teammates is a signal that he is uncertain of his responsibility. I would often tell our players that I wanted them communicating each play because it doesn’t matter if our opponent knows what we are doing as long as we all know what we are doing!

Another message that I would stress to our players is that we need to out hustle and play with greater energy than our opponents for the entire 48 minutes as that may be the thing that decides the final result. People sometimes talk about a team being “lucky” in explaining the outcome of a close game but I believe a certain amount of “luck” can be created by your team playing with great hustle and effort from the first play to the last. You never know when the big play will happen in a game; it could be the opening kickoff until final play so players having greater effort than your opponent may be the difference in that game changing play happening!

When two good, evenly matched teams play, both will undoubtedly have good plays throughout the course of the game. I would often remind our players of this reality in stressing the importance of playing with a short memory. We will not panic if our opponent has a good play instead we will focus on the next play. I did not want our players getting too high or too low, once a play was over, it was all about the next play. Developing resiliency starts with the coaches always staying calm and positive with their players. This will help your players have confidence and they will prevail. The picture above is our 2011 team stopping top-ranked Corvallis at the goal line with under a minute to go in a one score game. Corvallis hit a long pass to get to the 4 yard line and we stopped them on four consecutive plays to win the game. This game was early in the middle of my second year at Silverton and was a huge victory for us, but almost as important was that it gave the players the confidence and belief that we could and would win the close ones and it propelled our program to a 33-4 record over the next three seasons.

Perhaps the most important message to your players about winning close games is that it is not something that magically happens on a Friday night rather it is the culmination of days, weeks, and months of consistent and purposeful preparation. If you want to beat a team on Friday, you need to beat them on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday by having more focused and spirited practices each day. Having your players understand that it is this process that will make the difference can be the ingredient that makes you a team that more often than not always seems to win the close ones!

Highly Successful Retired Coaches Share their Beliefs on what Makes the Difference in Winning Close Games

I reached out to a few recently retired, highly respected coaches that I have had the privilege of knowing and working with over the years and asked them for their thoughts on the following questions:

What are a couple of things that you have found to be critical in winning close games?

Chris Casey - Chris is a longtime fixture in both high school and college football in the Northwest. Chris spent twenty years as an assistant at both Linfield and Whitworth Universities before becoming the Head Coach at Aloha HS and leading them to a State Championship in 2010. Chris was named Head Coach at George Fox University in 2013 when the school brought back their football program and remained there until his retirement after the 2024 season.

CC: First of all, close games usually come down to having to execute to close out and win the game. For some people and teams, they consider this pressure and will often break. I believe it is a privilege to play or coach in games like that. The first thing to me is confidence, do your players remain confident regardless of the situation? Pat (Chris’s brother and 3 time national champion baseball coach at Oregon State) and I talked about this after the 2018 National Championship. He said the hallmark of that team was that they didn’t get too high or too low with anything. In all circumstances they were even keeled. I want my team to play with great enthusiasm, but when players are bouncing off the walls when things go right and get really down when things go wrong, you have a roller coaster that can impact the outcome. Teams that carry themselves with a quiet confidence, a calm that they keep in all situations, are often able to close out a close game. If the leaders of the team carry themselves with this quiet confidence, it will carry over to the rest of the team. You don’t have to do something extra special, closing out a game is not different than say the 10th play of the game: you have to execute your assignment, have great technique and fundamentals, give great effort, have and show toughness, etc. The last thing I would say is trust. Teams that win close games have great trust in themselves, their teammates, the process, the game plan for this specific game and their coaches. If you have great trust, that will lend itself to a team that will often win the close ones.

Greg Grant - Greg became the Head Coach at Alsea HS in 1985 before moving to Heppner HS in 1990. Greg remained the Head Coach at Heppner until his retirement following the 2024 season. Greg accumulated 340 wins and 3 state titles over that time and is one of the winningest coaches in Oregon history.

GG: As the smallest of things can make the biggest difference, there is usually a key to when an opponent will do something, so being prepared for it is huge. We always impressed on our scout team how important it was that they looked as much our opponent in their initial movements so we could have great keys and reactions. Our culture of having our older players praise the scout team throughout the year resulted in getting us getting a great look each week which often became the difference. I specifically remember a game we were winning 14-8 in the fourth quarter…… our JV kid had given our DE a great look all week so when they ran a screen late in the game our DE was there, caused a fumble and we won the game. The integrity of the effort of the scout kids led us to being the better prepared team. I also have seen many times when a disciplined team can beat a more talented team. Paying attention to collective responsibility, doing your job with integrity and not trying to simply make a play individually will put you in position to win. Having a team mindset that we are all in it together and a belief that we will win because of that can be a powerful thing. Being disciplined will also ensure that you do not lose the game due to pre-snap penalties, ball security issues and losing emotional control causing you to do something to hurt your team.

Matt Sweeney - Matt was the Head Coach at Foothill HS (Pleasanton, CA) from 1986 - 2017, a span of 31 years that included 15 titles and over 260 wins. I was fortunate to be on his staff for 14 years in which we were on the sidelines together for countless close and intense games.

MS: What comes to mind for me is if your guys truly believe they are the best at what they can control. Part of that is playing with a short memory and not getting too high or too low…… keep making plays and see what happens in the end. We always tried to make practice harder than the game so when we were in the fourth quarter and had to put a drive together, they fully believed they could do it and more often than not they did. Winning a close game is not luck, it is preparation and perseverance. Create confidence in your players because the more confidence a player has, the more the game will slow down, they will anticipate and see the field better. I also think it is important to not get impatient as a coach, do not panic in a close game….. coach the way you always coach! If you do this your players will believe in you, believe in themselves, and you will have incredible buy in from them.

Thank you Chris, Greg, and Matt for sharing your wisdom…… I know there will be a whole bunch of close games in the coming weeks! Good luck!

After the Final Whistle

All seasons, no matter how great, all come to an end with only a select few winning their final game. Whether you win your final game in a state or section championship game or suffer a heartbreaking defeat, what you do in the aftermath is important for your players and program.

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As I write this, I just saw Vanderbilt Head Coach, Clark Lea, interviewed on the field as his team upset a higher ranked LSU team. The first words out of his mouth when asked about the upset were, “It is a reminder that it is a team game.” This quote speaks to what I think is great about the sport of football.

I hope this edition of the monthly Coaches Playbook finds you well and excited about the weeks ahead. I always felt a season was a bit like writing a book, and you all have big chapters yet to be written. I wish you good luck in the coming weeks! This month’s Playbook includes:

* How to get the most out of the home stretch

* The beauty of an unselfish team

* Managing the dynamics of a coaching staff

* Breaking the Huddle feature with video of another favorite play

I would like to thank all of you who are paid subscribers and encourage those that are not to consider the $5/month subscription. All the previous 29 editions are archived for paid subscribers. There is a subscription bar located further down in the edition. Thanks to all of you who read each month, I am excited to continue to try to make it a helpful resource to coaches of all levels of experience!

Please reach out at jmannionfootball@gmail.com if there may be a way for me to support your program. No question or ask is too big or too small. The interactions I have had with so many of you the past two and half years of publishing the Playbook have been amazing and I look forward to more in the future!

JM

Getting the Most Out of the Home Stretch

As we enter the last stretch of the regular season, football teams around the country find themselves in a variety of places. Some teams are performing at a high level with the league championship deciding games ahead, others looking for a late season run to qualify for the playoffs while others are looking for some positive outcomes to brighten up a disappointing season. Regardless of where yours stands right now, the next weeks may not only determine your path into the playoffs but will probably be what your players remember most about the season.

There is nothing quite like meaningful, hard fought late season games in the Fall with playoffs and championships on the line. While these are fun and exciting, it can also see some coaches, players and teams play “tight”. For this reason, it is important as a coach to help your team play with confidence and a belief that they will be successful. A huge part of being confident is feeling prepared. As coaches, we should leave no stone unturned in preparing for the next opponent and design practices that have great attention to deal without dragging on for hours. Practices this time of year should be crisp but also thorough so that your team can come into Friday not only feeling physically fresh and ready but fully prepared as well. It is only natural for your players to be nervous and anxious before a big game, but once it starts, they just play. My longtime coaching partner Matt Sweeney used to tell our players, “it is play football not work football”. Go out there with the confidence you are prepared to give it your all and see what happens.

It is also important to remind your players that the outcome will be decided by us being great at the things we can control. Scoreboard watching or focusing on other games being played that evening will only serve as a distraction and take your focus off what your team needs to do. Big games are often decided by which team plays cleaner football and has fewer self inflicted mistakes; false starts, coverage busts due to lack of communication, personal fouls, etc. I truly believe that the more focused your team can be on what you need to do and less about all the other stuff, the better you will play!

It is also critical that your team is as healthy as possible for the stretch run. While a certain amount of this is out of your control, practices this time of year should be crisp and less physical, and more of the mental prep work about your upcoming opponent. If it is a Tuesday in late October and it is pouring rain afterschool and forecasted to rain all evening, having a more “walk through” style practice in the gym may not be the worst thing as it will prevent your guys from being cold and wet for 2 hours on the field. It was always my goal to practice harder and better than our opponent, so going into the gym when necessary felt foreign at times, but having a more focused 90 minutes inside that lead to fewer guys getting sick with the flu was in fact worth it.

I believe that this part of the season is equally if not more important to teams that are struggling through a difficult season. While it may feel like you “are not playing for anything”, these next weeks are crucial not only for player development but for building culture as well. This will be the last opportunity to coach your players on the field for many months so you want to make sure you get the most out of it. I would suggest you have a 10 minute team period each day putting together an offense and defense of only underclassmen. I would film this period as it will give you a lot to evaluate once the season is over and you begin looking to next year. I would also encourage you to look at which fundamentals of offense and defense have been most problematic this fall and devote individual time each day to addressing those areas. Whether it is open field tackling, zone coverage integrity, or ball security, be purposeful about identifying and improving these areas with the valuable practice time that remains.

It is also crucial that you remain positive and encouraging with your players regardless of how successful your season has been as this last stretch will be what they remember most. This is especially true for your seniors for which this will probably be their last weeks playing football so you should do everything in your power to help them leave with a positive feeling about all the work they have put in. These remaining weeks will also set the tone for the offseason, so having the players leave with a positive and hopeful vibe even during a difficult season will really set the tone for the offseason so make that a priority in the coming weeks!

The coming weeks will surely be filled with exciting, memorable football! I wish you all much success as we head into this stretch and embrace all that comes with it. The job you are all doing is so important and making a difference!

“It is Amazing What You Can Accomplish When Nobody Cares Who Gets the Credit”

Former All- Pro and Super Bowl champion OL Mark Schlereth said this on the radio this past week in response to a question as to why some teams regardless of the situation (injuries, opponent, relative talent level, etc.) always seem to play to the best of their ability and so often prevail. I have heard this quote used over the years but hearing it again last week reminded me of just how true it is. We live in a time when highlight films, individual statistics, online promotion, and Instagram posts are so often about individuals that it makes the quote counterintuitive to much of what we see. I remember an email from a parent a few years ago in which the parent praised my coaching and our team but said that her son, “wasn’t getting enough touches.” Despite this type of sentiment, football remains the ultimate team sport and I believe requires a degree of unselfishness not seen in other sports but even in our society as a whole. While this makes getting your team to buy into this concept challenging, it will ultimately be the key to your success, so how do you do it?

I believe valuing unselfishness starts with the coaches and the culture that you set from day one of a season. Building a culture where every player on your team feels valued and is coached with the same passion and attention as everyone else is a huge first step. I have witnessed many teams where there was clearly a tiered system in which certain players received all the attention of the coaches while others remained virtually invisible. Having a culture where everyone is valued and respected by coaches and teammates alike is step one in being able to realize this quote. In 2012, I took about 20 of our skill position players to a passing tournament in Bend, OR on a hot Saturday in June. During our lunch break, our 20 guys had found shade under a small tree and were all crammed in to a 10 ft by 10 ft patch of shade eating their lunch with the starting QB right next to the third string guy, the star RB beside the fourth string WR, etc. I turned to one of my coaches and said “that is a great sign about where we are as a team.” This type of cohesion and genuine sense of team allows for unselfishness to occur. Conversely, that Fall we played a team that was undefeated after five weeks of the season and as they took the field for pregame warmups, their two best players, both college bound guys, were about 20 yards behind their other 35 teammates coming on to the field. I immediately felt this was a good sign for us. While their star quarterback had a great statistical game, our team won the game.

This is not to say that having players with great individual talent is not important nor should their accomplishments not be celebrated, but it should be done in the context of the team as a whole. For example, in a film session highlight the OL that hustled 20 yards downfield to make the key block to spring the 75 yard TD run. Having all the players share the responsibility for setting up and putting away equipment and bags before and after practice. I even extended this to awarding helmet stickers based on team goals rather than individual achievement as each and every guy contributed to our success. Seeing a high school player being interviewed after a game sharing the spotlight and giving praise to his teammates is another sign of a team that gets it. I often told our team that team success will bring individual success as the best teams are the ones that consistently get the most players recognized for All-League, All-State, etc. Even so, this message requires consistent reinforcement as it can be very easy for players to focus first and foremost on their own personal achievements.

I want my players to have individual goals and be deserving of recognition for their achievements but it is equally important to shape a team to understand that it is the success of the team that is most important. When Mountainside High School opened in 2017, we began with only 9^th and 10^th graders and fielded Freshmen and JV teams. Our JV quarterback, Bobby Pribula, became our starting varsity QB the following year when we fielded a varsity team without seniors. Unfortunately, he suffered an injury in the early part of the season that cost him much of the season. Despite the injury, Bobby spent the off season training his heart out to be the quarterback for his senior season. Throughout the spring and summer, we had a competition in which a couple of younger quarterbacks came on strong and were also staking a claim to start. While I knew how much being the starting QB meant to Bobby, I approached him about considering a move to of all places, offensive tackle. Bobby, who was 6’2” and 220 lbs., was clearly disappointed but to his credit, embraced the move and became a starting offensive tackle for a team that reached the third round of the Oregon state playoffs. I have said publicly many times and will say again that the unselfishness shown by this young man was astounding. I believe that some of the best teams I have coached have also been the most unselfish. It is not a coincidence that this team with Bobby Pribula at tackle became the first 16 seed to upset a 1 seed in over thirty years in Oregon high school football.

While it may at times seem like an uphill battle, one of the beauties of football is that it allows us to promote this concept of unselfishness and team that often cannot be replicated elsewhere. I encourage you to find ways to promote and build this into the culture of your program and the young men you coach!

Favorite Plays Series

Short yardage favorite against teams that are stacking the box. Video and commentary on the link below

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With the season now in full swing, I hope this edition finds you well. You may have already experienced exciting wins, tough losses, unfortunate injuries and pleasant surprises. This is what causes such excitement and stress with each season bringing its own unique chapters and experiences. I wish you much success this fall as you continue this very important role as a high school football coach. Quick shoutout to two of our subscribers James Testa, Beaverton HS (OR) and Rob Wilson, Heppner HS (OR) in getting their first wins as head coach and getting their programs off to a great start.

Please reach out at jmannionfootball@gmail.com if there may be a way for me to support your program. No question or ask is too big or too small. The interactions I have had with so many of you the past two and half years of publishing the Playbook have been amazing and I look forward to more in the future! This month’s newsletter includes:

* Coaching your team after a loss

* A reminder about the importance of fundamentals

* My approach to in-game coaching

I would like to thank all of you who are paid subscribers and encourage those that are not to consider the $5/month subscription. All the previous 28 editions are archived for paid subscribers. There is a subscription bar located further down in the edition. Thanks to all of you who read each month, I am excited to continue to try to make it a helpful resource to coaches of all levels of experience!

JM

Coaching Your Team After a Loss

High school football is unique because coaches and players dedicate immense time and effort to it over a long period, yet, unlike other sports, it guarantees only 9 or 10 games. After week one, half of all the teams in the country had suffered a loss, and as the season moves toward October, fewer and fewer teams will remain undefeated. Losses can sting and quickly deflate or demoralize a team if not handled properly. As coaches, it's essential that we help our teams navigate disappointment and build resilience in our players—a task that can often be both challenging and complex. Winning feels great and is what we strive for each week but I have felt that some of my most important moments with my teams have occurred after a loss. While difficult for sure, getting your team to bounce back, have great energy and continually improve week to week regardless of the outcome on a Friday night is what a good high school program looks like.

I have always believed that the coaching staff sets the tone for the team and the team will follow. No matter how disappointing a loss may be or how bad you feel inside, it is critical that you maintain good body language, look your players in the eye, shake their hand and be positive. Your team will reflect you in how they handle a loss so you and your staff need to set the tone and find some positive, encouraging words to pick them up. If they detect anger, disappointment or lack of support from their coaches, it can do serious damage to the level of trust on a team. I am not suggesting that you should not be honest with your players about shortcomings and areas in which you need to get better, but how you deliver these “messages” to your team is vital.

I feel like this process begins right after the game when you address your team on the field. I never believed in long post game “talks” but after a loss I really tried to keep it short as no one probably feels worse than the players. In my opinion, the time for correction, rehash, and analysis is best done not right after the final horn but when you team is together next. For many years, our team would lift at 8:30 am Saturday morning followed by a team film session of the previous night’s game. This allowed us all a chance to process what happened, give specific feedback, and chart a path forward. It also gave me as a coach a chance to refocus our players and not have them stewing on the loss all weekend. Part of my message would often include things like, “I didn’t have you guys ready for that”, “I made some bad calls that put you in some tough spots”, and I would often end with “regardless of the outcome tonight, there is no team I would rather be coaching than this one”. Putting some of the “blame” on yourself and having your team’s back will be much more productive than calling individual players out or lashing out at the whole group on the field after the game.

The next step is to objectively assess the film and see what tangible corrections/ coaching points might lead to a more favorable outcome. Not all losses are the same. Some might be the result of a huge talent gap between you and your opponent, some might be the result of unpredictable circumstances such as weather or injury, while others may be self-inflicted. Regardless of the circumstance, you and your staff need to come out of it with specific, actionable things to correct and these need to be built in to your practice plan for the week. I believe this starts with a focus on the things that we can control. Effort level, lining up correctly to the opponent’s formations, and not having pre-snap penalties are all examples of things that our team controls. From there, I would examine what is causing you the most problems and try to come up with specific “fixes” to those problems. For example, if your pass protection is hurting your ability to throw, be specific about why this is happening. What about the offensive lineman’s technique is causing them to get beat? Do you have too many protection schemes that lead to confusion up front? Might you need to leave a RB, TE or both in to protect to create the time to get a throw off? After a particularly tough loss, you may find you have a dozen or more areas of concern that need to be shored up and it may be impossible to properly address them all in one practice or week. This is where your staff needs to spend the time to watch the film, and analyze and discuss what is going wrong so that you can prioritize the most pressing needs and put together a plan for improvement.

One final thing that I believe is critical following a loss is to not panic as a coaching staff. Players can sense panic so if you are making abrupt, dramatic, sweeping changes to approach or schemes it can unsettle a team. This is not to say that you shouldn’t evaluate your personnel and what you are doing and look for ways to improve. I was a very superstitious coach and very much a creature of habit, so I was often reluctant to want to change much after a win, but losing a game made it easier to consider changes. Offensively, this meant finding the simplest way to get our best playmakers the ball and on defense, getting our toughest guys on the field. These changes, such as moving your “backup LB” to defensive tackle if necessary, can be presented to the players as ways to improve what we already do!

I hope losses are few and far between for your team this fall but when they do occur, how you handle them as coaches and players will set the tone for what lies ahead.

Don’t Forget the Fundamentals

As the season moves from fall practice, into the exciting first weeks of games and now looking toward league play, I want to warn you against a trap that I have fallen into at times over the years. Namely, spending less and less practice time on fundamentals and more and more time on schemes. As you begin to have more “data” on your upcoming opponents or you may be facing coaches in your league you have coached against for years, it is only natural to try to find ways to break your tendencies and implement new wrinkles in an effort to “outscheme” the opponent. While these schemes may indeed help you get a leg up, their execution will require your players to have the skills required to carry out the plan and these skills need to be drilled repeatedly for them to happen in the game!

Whether it is during a daily tackling circuit, designated individual time, a pre-practice routine, or stealing time during a Special Teams period, having a purposeful plan to continue to hone the critical basics is vital. I have always believed in the critical nature of the offensive line and thus have coached that position since I became a head coach in 2007. Once games begin, it seems like each week offered a different challenge: teams that slanted their DL every play, even front, odd front, 3-3 stack, exotic blitz packages, etc. While it was tempting to spend most of our time addressing the schemes that would be coming at us, we began every individual period with stance/start, right shoulder/left shoulder, trap blocks, double teams, etc. because these were the skills that would need to be executed every play regardless of what our opponent was doing. I would pull the OL to the sidelines during punt and kickoff periods to get some extra time on pass blocking fundamentals. Sometimes I had to remind myself that while I might constantly tell an OT “don’t get beat inside” or a CB to “not give up outside leverage”, I needed to drill them on how to not let those happen and that these crucial skills needed to be honed throughout the season.

Part of having a team that is well schooled in the fundamentals is not only the investment of time in practice but also being precise in the skills that need to be worked on. It is important that as coaches we analyze the areas with each position where we need the most work and really zero in on improvement in that area. In the year 2000 at Foothill HS, we had a very good team but were starting two sophomore corners. While they were playing pretty well, we had some issues with them getting beat over the top. For the remainder of the season, before each practice I would have our WRs run fade routes at them pre practice, with each guy defending 4 or 5 plays before practice even began. They became much more comfortable at getting out of their stance and playing the ball in the air as this repetition paid off. In 2018 at Mountainside, we had an offensive line that had no seniors and we were having trouble pass blocking a pass rusher lined up in the gap. We spent time on this daily and again began to see gradual improvement. Even though we are now getting into the meat of the season, I would encourage you to continue to assess the fundamentals that most urgently need to be improved and keep at them because that will directly lead to wins and losses.

Each week whether be high school, college, or the NFL there are countless examples of fundamental football directly leading to success or failure of a play. The video clips and narration below are just a couple of examples from the past couple of weeks.

(Click on link below)

Steelers vs Jets

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Open Field Tackle

Briefly highlighting how these fundamentals show up in game film not only provides a visual to your players of what good fundamentals look like but also how the skills you are working on in practice directly translate to the games!

In-Game Coaching

I have often told my players that “I like practice more than the games” as I really enjoy the process of player and team development as well as the culture of the program that is built through the day by day work a team puts in together.

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Football season has started !! I hope that the the early stages of camp are going well and depending on which state you may be in, first games may be as early as this coming week. While I know this may bring equal parts of excitement and nerves, I encourage you, your staff and players to embrace it all for it is a big reason why we love what we do !

This edition of the playbook focuses on the importance of the first weeks of the season and how it can be pivotal toward steering the direction of your team. It includes:

* importance on setting a good tone for the season

* quick thoughts on things that helped me

* importance of the “little things”

* video and commentary on one of my favorite red zone pass plays

Making the transition in 2023 from leading a program to taking on a supportive, mentoring role for coaches and players has been an incredibly rewarding experience. I truly enjoy continuing the great relationships that have been formed with so many of you. As a new season begins, I want you to know some of the services I can provide:

• Scouting (both in-person and on HUDL)

• Observe/give feedback on practice

• Support for lower-level coaches on practice organization and efficiency

Please reach out if there may be a way for me to support the work of your program jmannionfootball@gmail.com

I would like to thank all of you who are paid subscribers and encourage those that are not to consider the $5/month subscription. All the previous 27 editions are archived for paid subscribers. There is a subscription bar located further down in the edition. Thanks to all of you who read each month, I am excited to continue to try to make it a helpful resource to coaches of all levels of experience!

JM

Setting the Tone on a New Season

The first week of August was always one of great renewal as a new football season officially gets started. You are all probably feeling a mixture of excitement, nerves, optimism, and uncertainty as you approach the first day of practice, first intra squad scrimmage, first road game, etc. I was reminded just this week of the constant flexibility and adjusting required of a high school coach when a heat wave hit the Portland area resulting in schools having to cancel practices and shuffle times just as your much anticipated first day of practice begins. Despite whatever challenges are undoubtedly already coming your way, I truly believe that these first days of your season are so crucial to setting the tone and building the foundation for what lies ahead.

The “tone” that each team is looking to establish may be a little bit different and has been described as many things: culture, vibe, identity, spirit, etc. One of the exciting aspects about the start of a season is that the tone of your season is set with each drill, install, pre-game meal, bus ride, etc. While you may have many veteran players and coaches may have been through this process together, this is the one and only season you will have with this team. Each season and team takes on its own personality so emphasizing the how and why of every thing you do, coaching with great energy and enthusiasm, building positive relationships with each player on your team, should all be things that are prioritized and may ultimately prove to be more important than how fast you can install your offensive and defensive schemes. There is nothing better than breaking practice each day with a team that regardless of what happened on the field are all on the same page and pulling in the same direction. Over the course of a season and even seasons, this is one of the key ingredients of successful programs.

One of the realities of high school football is that each team, school and situation can be totally different, one school may be trying to win their sixth consecutive league title while ten miles away another school is fighting to get enough gear to keep their program afloat. Coaches in both situations face challenges, expectations, and situations that while very different may seem impossible to overcome. As high school coaches however, whatever hand we are dealt, it is up to us to set a tone right away that will carry our team through and result in each and every player being better off for having been a part of it. My first job as a teacher and varsity football coach was at Milpitas High School ( San Francisco Bay Area ) in 1991. Kelly King was in his second year as head coach at the time and is still the head coach at Milpitas today. Often under challenging circumstances, such as being the only on campus coach at a school of almost 3,000 students for nearly all of his tenure, Kelly is a highly decorated coach with numerous league titles, a state title, as well as a multitude of his players with decorated NFL careers. Through it all, Kelly has been incredibly unassuming but steadfast in setting a tone with his team and program based upon expectations, accountability and pride in the program that was evident even in the occasional “down” season.

As I was preparing to publish the Playbook this week, I heard an interview on the radio that I felt was really fitting as the stress of the season begins to hit in full force. Dan Patrick was interviewing former NFL player and current CBS broadcaster Ross Tucker, and they were talking about the reality of NFL training camp and how it will become the end of the road for many players and Tucker said something that I feel is very appropriate and poignant to remember as we embark on a new season.

“ In life we can all choose to have gratitude for the things that we have and the positive things that have happened. Or we can focus on things that we don’t have. As a broadcaster, my focus could be on the games that I wish I had been assigned to cover or as a player, I could focus on a belief that I didn’t get a fair chance that would have allowed me to play longer. How does this help you at all? Instead, I am thrilled that I get to cover this game tonight and do games for CBS in the Fall. Be thankful and happy for the things you have and have gratitude for those things. Man, you will be so much happier than if you are thinking about what could have been or focusing on the negative.”

The job we have as coaches is incredibly unique and allows us to make a positive impact on our players that will stay with them for a lifetime. I am thankful for the opportunity to be in that position for 35 years and wish you all success and may it be a great 2025 season!

Quick Thoughts on the Start of the Season

With so much happening as the season kicks off, I wanted to share a few quick hitters of things I always felt were important to have on my radar as things got going !

* Coach with great body language and attention to your players: Players are always aware of and observing their coaches and will quickly begin to reflect / follow their lead. Even the simplest actions or inactions can send messages. For example, if your team is scrimmaging and you rotate in the second group, you need to be as focused and coach as hard as you did with the starters. If a second team player looks over and sees his coach on the sidelines drinking water and yukking it up with the starters, that will send a message. Likewise, as you are installing / practicing special teams, as a coach you need to be actively engaged or getting some extra work in with your position group. If this part of practice becomes “break time” for coaches, your players may interpret this to mean that this phase of the game is not really that critical which could could come back to hurt you at a crucial moment. Finally, how you react to physical or mental mistakes that will undoubtedly occur will send a powerful message to your team. If you are shaking your head, throwing your hands up, or muttering to yourself, you will quickly begin to see you team respond to mistakes and adversity the same way. Staying positive, making corrections and encouraging your team will rub off on your players in a positive way.

* Look to find roles for your players: Evaluation of players in terms of what they can do / what position they can play should be an ongoing process. Consider what each players greatest attribute is and be willing to find ways to utilize that to your advantage. For example, maybe you have a WR who is not one of your top 3 or 4 receiving options but who is a very willing and capable blocker, get him out on the field to take advantage of that. Ultimately it will not only benefit the team but will give that player a contributing role to embrace as well. There is no free agent or trade market in high school football so keep developing and evaluating the hand you are dealt, you may be amazed at the how you are able to utilize guys and they will love it.

* Correct mistakes / teach them the game: I know that I was often guilty of being in a hurry at the start of camp and wanting to go-go-go. I would put a priority on having an efficient practice with great tempo and it would cause me to blow through the stop sign of things that needed to be retaught or explained in more detail. If a player is unsure of what they are supposed to do on a given play or situation, not only will they play slower but this mistake will be repeated if it goes unaddressed. Sometimes I was also guilty of assuming that the players understood our schemes, the rules, etc. more that they really did. For example, when you are installing Kickoff Return, repeatedly remind your players that once the ball goes ten yards it is a live ball because there is a chance that some of the guys on that group may not know that. On Punt team for example, if the defense immediately retreats, take off into your coverage lane right now. Again, some of the players may think they have to wait until the ball is kicked. Take the time to teach and explain the nuances of the game….this is our job as coaches.

Little Things are Big

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With summer workouts in full swing, mid-July can feel a bit like the calm before the storm but I vividly remember the mix of excitement, worry, and optimism that I am guessing many of you are feeling. With the official start of practice taking place in the coming weeks, it is my hope that you all experience a great start to the 2025 season. This month’s Playbook includes:

• Thoughts on getting your season off to a good start in the coming weeks

• Perspectives on what to prioritize heading into camp from coaches in highly successful programs

• Ways to help your QB avoid the “panic reflex”

• July checklist of details to consider prior to the season’s start

• Breaking the Huddle section and more

Making the transition in 2023 from leading a program to taking on a supportive, mentoring role for coaches and players has been an incredibly rewarding experience. I truly enjoy continuing the great relationships that have been formed with so many of you. As a new season begins, I want you to know some of the services I can provide:

• Scouting (both in-person and on HUDL)

• Observe/give feedback on practice

• Support for lower-level coaches on practice organization and efficiency

Please reach out if there may be a way for me to support the work your program jmannionfootball@gmail.com

I would like to thank all of you who are paid subscribers and encourage those that are not to consider the $5/month subscription. All the previous 27 editions are archived for paid subscribers. There is a subscription bar located further down in the edition. Thanks to all of you who read each month, I am excited to continue to try to make it a helpful resource to coaches of all levels of experience!

JM

Getting Off to a Good Start

With the start of Fall Camp fast approaching for football teams across the country, it is a time of optimism, nervousness and excitement for players and coaches everywhere. Over the years, I have had some camps get off to a great start, which brought our team into the first weeks of the season with confidence. But there have also been camps that felt “clunky” at times, which led to early-season disappointment. Our 2015 Silverton team was coming off a three year run of a 33-4 record and league titles. With a lot of attrition and inexperienced guys coming into new roles, a learning curve was to be expected. Nonetheless, our start to camp was clearly not as smooth and clean as it had been and not surprisingly we lost our opener 14-13 to a team we had defeated handily the year before. The feeling I had throughout camp had unfortunately come to fruition.

With all the offseason work by players and coaches to build up to this point, what are some keys to getting your season off to a good start?

Step one for me was to always have a well thought-out reintroduction of drills and fundamentals, as well as a purposeful installation of our schemes in all 3 phases of the game. Regardless of where we left off with Spring Ball, I would use the first few practices to review and build back up from the foundation and not get caught “assuming” that our players had retained the coaching points and nuances of what we had covered prior. Not only is it sound practice but this reteaching provides a great opportunity for both new and returning players and coaches to have a complete picture of what you do and why you do it! I often told our team that we will never do anything in practice that will not directly help us be successful on a Friday night. A brief explanation of the importance of each aspect of what you do can enhances understanding and buy-in from the players as well as improve the flow of your early season practices.

It is also important to build your players’ confidence by seeing that they can successfully execute what you are teaching. Football practice is uniquely hard and physically demanding so I always believed it was important for your team to leave the field after each practice with a sense that they can do this. This will obviously be different for each team and level, but the last thing you want is for the players to feel discouraged and that they can’t do anything right. As coaches we often have to “design” this success. For example, when you first introduce your pass protections to your offensive line, have them block it without blitzers for the first couple of days so the group can have success against a 3 or 4-man rush and begin to build this confidence before things get more challenging. I am a firm believer that practice should be harder than the game so I am not saying your practices should be artificially easy, but this level of difficulty should be gradual in order to for your team to experience what successful execution feels like.

Ensuring the team was both healthy and prepared for our Week 1 game was always a top priority in my planning. You need to find the sweet spot of not crushing them day 1 but also pushing hard enough for them to be conditioned and game-ready. Part of this process should be an emphasis on proper hydration, as well as post-practice soft tissue care.

I have not always been successful at this myself, as my first game as a head coach in 2007 saw our right guard famously dropped to a knee pre-snap in the second quarter and threw up on the 40-yard line. In my last season in 2022 we must have set a record for calf cramps in the first few games of the season! Nonetheless, the importance of having a healthy, conditioned team coming into September cannot be understated and this takes planning.

A second part of being prepared to get off to a good start is to have an eye on the first couple of teams you play as you begin Fall Camp. I am not suggesting that you spend your first weeks preparing for a specific opponent by name, rather I would mix in their formations when we were installing our defense, running their core pass concepts during defensive skeleton, and block their expected fronts in inside run period as a way to give us a head start into our preparation.

The final piece that I feel is crucial to starting strong is creating and building chemistry among the players and coaches in your program. As every team comes together in a different way, some years this may be harder than others. Regardless, I believe it is crucial to invest time in having your team build this chemistry. Whether it is through a team retreat, ice cream sandwiches after practice or a cannon ball contest in the school pool, find ways for your players to interact and have fun outside the structure of the daily practice plan in order to help them to come together as a group.

When I started coaching at Foothill HS in 1995, any time we would practice PAT/FG, all the players that were not part of the unit or scout defense would run down behind the goalposts and form the “heads team” with the goal of heading the attempted field goal to one another before it hit the ground. It was a simple thing done during the normal course of practice but the players loved it and had fun trying to set a new “record” each day. While it can be easy to overlook the importance of building team chemistry during the sometimes frantic pace leading up to your first game, I encourage you to keep an eye on it as time invested in this area will be crucial as your team navigates the inevitable challenges of a high school season!

Perspectives on Fall Camp from Veteran Coaches

With Fall Camp beginning in the coming weeks, I spoke with 4 highly respected head coaches in Ken Potter, Ryan McCants, Randy Nyquist and Shane Hedrick about what they prioritize as they begin new season with the start of camp.

Ken Potter (Jesuit HS, Portland, OR)

KP: During our conditioning week prior to padded practice, we will spend about 30 minutes each day on installing sets & schemes with the remaining 2 hours focused strictly on fundamentals. We really push tackling drills, handling the football, steps for each position, etc. because once you get further along into preparing for games, your time on fundamentals becomes less and less. I firmly believe that the better we are at fundamentals, the better team we will be. So let’s get really good at taking the correct steps and doing the little things the right way before we get into the plays, installs and all of that. The early part of camp is also a great time to talk through and explain why we do what we do. Give them the reason why we are teaching the reach step so hard, etc. because when a player knows why they are doing a drill, they will work so much harder at it.

I have also always tried hard to be very honest with our team about whether we are practicing well or not. I will tell them that if we are not practicing well, it is not their fault but rather the fault of myself and our coaches for not letting them know and holding them to our expectations. If we allow them to not go hard in drills or communicate properly each play, then that is on us as coaches. I also meet with the seniors once in the Spring, right as school lets out, and again right before Fall Camp to talk about our expectations and the importance of senior leadership because the team will follow their lead. I have our seniors handle all the bags, footballs, etc before and after practice so they will have immediate ownership of the team. Their leadership can set the tone for the whole season.

Ryan McCants (Roosevelt HS, Portland, OR)

RM: Group cohesion and synergy is crucial and a huge priority for me. Getting the guys to know each other, beyond just being teammates, is really critical. We also take time to create process-oriented goals, thinking about what you want as an individual and as a team, and how do we get there. A big part of this is finding ways to hold ourselves accountable.

Another big piece is “How Do We Practice?”…..X’s & O’s isn’t everything, rather how do we break a drill, how do we get from station to station, etc. Establishing the proper tempo and routine will help our players get into a groove so that we can maximize our time on the field. The “how to practice” is a huge priority for us when we get started so that they clearly understand the how and why we do the things we do within our program.

Randy Nyquist (Stayton HS, Stayton, OR)

RN: One of the things that has been foundational for me over the years is hosting, and having our players coach, a youth camp just before we begin our season. This allows me to talk to them about the importance of being positive, enthusiastic and coaching with great energy so that all the campers leave with a positive experience. Having them have the expectation of hustling, quickly setting up drills, and coaching every play provides a great model for the players to understand what I want our practices to look like.

Each year is a new team so we need to transition our leadership. Just because a player is a year older does not mean they automatically know how to be a leader. We have to teach/coach them on how to be a good leader. Bringing your seniors together- whether at a retreat, a BBQ, or another setting- for open conversation and listening can build the unity that will be essential to your team’s success. Taking time to do this can create trust among your players. When there is trust between the players and coaches it allows for greater communication, cooperation and accountability. I used to not buy-in that you need your players to spend time off the field…..I just wanted to get the shoulder pads and helmets on and teach them to run the power! However, I have learned over the years that if you want to be great on the field, you should build in some things off the field. Once you build the trust and relationship with your players, it allows you to be tough and demanding because they know you care about them.

Shane Hedrick (Cascade HS, Turner, OR)

SH: It starts with emphasizing the importance of coachability. Every player can get better and those who are coachable always have the most increase in performance. Communicating our core values of attitude, compassion, work ethic, and serving others begins immediately as well.

The start of camp is also the time to be very clear about your culture and standards. The daily goal of all our players and coaches is to be the best version of themselves. I believe that “iron sharpens iron” is truer today than ever before. As coaches we need to set the example of hard work, commitment, compassion and determination.

Thanks to Ken, Ryan, Randy and Shane for your wisdom. I hope you all have a successful start !

Help Your QB Avoid the “Panic Reflex”

I was recently listening to longtime college head coach Rick Neuheisel do an interview in which he described a current NFL QB as being very talented but having a problematic “panic reflex”. While I had never heard that exact term before, we have all seen QBs at all levels of football get skittish and panic often leading to an untimely, head scratching, and sometimes game killing mistake. I would like to throw out some things that I feel might cause this to happen and some ways to prevent it with your QB.

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Welcome to the June edition of the Coaches Playbook! I hope your summer workouts are going well…..these next 5 weeks are such a valuable time to get physically ready, refine your schemes and fundamentals, and build chemistry for the season that is fast approaching! The optimism and energy around the team always made it a great time to be a football coach!

This month’s Playbook includes:

* Keys to having a great practice

* Interview with longtime Div. I Offensive Coordinator (OSU, Nebraska, Colorado, Temple) and current Oregon State coach Danny Langsdorf discussing offensive football and play-calling

*Lead up to the Season Part II: Preparing your Coaches

*Video Link: All Time Favorite Plays - Part I - “Siebe Screen”

*Subscriber Spotlight & more

I am proud that our distribution list continues to grow to coaches all around the country. Welcome to those who may be reading for the first time……it is my goal to make the Coaches Playbook a monthly resource for coaches with articles, interviews, and videos on all aspects of building a successful team. I would like to thank all of you who are paid subscribers and encourage those that are not to consider the $5/month subscription. All the previous 26 editions are archived for paid subscribers. There is a subscription bar located further down in the edition. Thanks to all of you who read each month, I am excited to continue to try to make it a helpful resource to coaches of all levels of experience!

JM

Running a Great Practice

During my many years as a high school coach, I would often tell my players that I liked practice much more than the games, and I truly meant it. I enjoyed the process-oriented nature, engagement of the entire team, and shared experience for the players that can only come through a football practice. There was nothing like leaving the field knowing that it had been a “good practice”. It isn’t something quantifiable or proven by analytics, but rather something a coach can feel when it has been successful. While not every practice will be great or even good, I would like to discuss with you what I believe are the ingredients that make a practice great.

A great practice begins well before you hit the field. The practice plan must be very intentional and your coaches must be prepared and focused. During his time as Head Coach at Stanford in the mid-1990’s, I heard Bill Walsh speak at a football clinic about practice planning. He said that each offseason while he was both in college and the NFL, he would ask each of his position coaches to make a list of all the skills a player needed to play their respective position. He would do the same exercise and then sit down with the coach to review and refine their lists. He would then instruct them that “everything you do in practice must be directly off your list.”

His point was that each individual, group, and team period should translate to and help you win games. This type of focused practice requires planning, evaluation, and attention to detail. Heading in to summer and fall camp is a great time for each position coach to have a checklist of skills their players will need as well as the drills to develop each skill. It is important to continually refer to this list in order to make sure all areas of the position are getting adequate attention. Looking back, I realize that I would often default to the drills our players were really good at because it made practice run more smoothly. I would encourage you to allocate time to all areas of each position in order to ensure that you cover the skills that are not as clean but will be equally as important on Friday night in the fall!

Another trait of a good practice is the energy level of your team. The difference between a team that has a bounce in their step versus one that is dragging is palpable to a coach. The reality of a season is that there may be times whether in the middle of camp, an especially hot day, or the first day of school where the players energy level may wane so it is important to help them create their own energy. I believe that this starts with the coaches as the players will follow your lead. When coaches arrive early to the field, connect with players individually, and show a sense of urgency themselves, it can significantly boost the team’s energy level. Another helpful strategy is to have a “tone setter” drill for the beginning of practice to get them moving and get the energy up. This can be a team agility circuit or short team/competitive period to get them going. I would often start practice with “offense vs air period” in which our entire team would gather in the back of the end zone and be stacked into 3 offensive groups. The first offense would run a play from the goal line going out, with all 11 players executing the play and then sprinting to the 20-yard line. I would then call out another play for them to run, followed by a sprint to the 40. As soon as the first group left the 20, the second would follow with the same play and then the third would follow suit, so you would end up with the entire team moving up and down the field not only getting valuable reps but getting a sweat going as well. The “extra” guys not in the first 3 offenses would be on the sidelines and would sprint 20 yards each play to stay with the group. We would march up the field and back taking about 5 minutes of time, finishing in the end zone and immediately break to our next drill. It became a valuable, full speed drill that didn’t allow players to “ease” in to practice.

Another way to boost the energy of practice is to keep the periods “short”. As a coach, you can feel when an individual or team period begins to drag and often with it the quality of the reps. This isn’t to say you should shorten practice as there is so much to prepare for each week, but you can arrange your practice periods into shorter periods making it easier for the players to retain energy and focus.

When I first was coaching at Foothill High School with Matt Sweeney in the mid-1990’s, we would practice special teams, followed by offense and then finish with defense. However, we often found that our 20 minute team defensive period at the end of practice would drag and deteriorate, so we began breaking it into smaller team segments with a team defensive period at the beginning and another at the end, sometimes even adding a third period in the middle. We were still allocating the same amount of time but we found each of those periods were much more crisp and productive as opposed to one longer period. I encourage you to consider your practice routine and see if there may be ways to plan it that allow the vital energy level of the players and coaches to not drop.

Finally, I feel that a huge ingredient of a great practice is efficiency. With so much development needed each day to be successful, it is crucial that you squeeze every available minute out of your practice. This requires that your coaching staff is on point throughout the practice. For example, during our daily punt team practice, our OL coach would have his group not involved in the punt team off to the side stealing an extra 5 minutes of individual work. Likewise during PAT/FG time, our QB & WR’s were getting extra work on routes or special plays for the week.

Your goal should be to never have groups of players milling around on the sideline, they should be doing something. Create a culture where coaches and players are embracing and taking advantage of every moment. I believe one commonly missed opportunity for quality instruction is during scout offense and defense periods. Younger, less experienced players can grow so much with these reps during this part of practice if they are receiving constant feedback and coaching. It is also a great time for younger coaches to take ownership of a group and give real purpose and pride to the scout teams. If your defensive coaches stand together behind the play and take their foot off the gas during a team offense period, it gives the guys on the scout defense the message that this isn’t that important. It is key that coaches are involved and engaged with all players on the team.

Entering my third season of retirement after 35 years, I have to say that the thing I miss most is going out to practice each day with my coaches and players. While the games are certainly exciting and intense, I have always believed that practice is where the real magic happens!

Interview With Long-time FBS Offensive Coordinator Danny Langsdorf

Danny Langsdorf has been coaching offense in Division I Football for 29 years and is currently on the offensive staff at Oregon State. Between 2005 and 2017, Coach Langsdorf was Offensive Coordinator for Oregon State and later Nebraska and has also had coaching stops at Oregon, Colorado, and Temple. Not only a highly respected play caller, he is a great guy! Thanks Coach for sharing your wisdom with our readers!

Question: First off Coach, are there a couple of core beliefs that you have arrived at that you believe are keys to having a successful offense?

DL: I think there are a couple of things. The first is that you have to have the ability to both run and pass, you need to have balance. If they are taking something away, you need to have something to go to. Secondly, is being able to protect the QB. You need to have a solid plan and it doesn’t need to be a lot of stuff. If you have a team that is really pressuring the QB and you don’t have a decent answer or way to protect him or get the ball out of his hand quickly, it can make for a long day. I know there are systems that rely heavily on running the ball or throwing the ball, but the best I have felt about our plans is when we have had good balance between the two as well as good pass protection. I would say those two are the most critical.

Question: At the high school level, talent and experience level can really differ from year to year. Is there any advice you would give to a coach as they try to piece together an offense each season?

DL: While you may need to be flexible within your system, I wouldn’t try to drastically change from year to year. Skipping around from Wishbone to complete Spread to Wing T to Air Raid is too drastic in my opinion. Make sure you choose to do something that your players are capable of doing. I think it starts with the QB. If he can throw the ball, then the question is do you have good targets, a good RB or TE? Try to feature the strengths of those guys rather than the system. Identify your best players and find sound, creative ways to get them the ball. I would suggest not drastically overhauling your system as much as finding ways to get your best players the ball in their hands. You have to be smart about crafting a system that provides flexibility. If you don’t have a big time RB, then trying to run 40 times might be really difficult. If you have a smaller OL, you may need more pulling and movement than the downhill power. You should really focus on the players that you have.

Question: If there was a high school offense that may be lacking playmakers and was really struggling to get anything going, are there things that may help getting things turned around?

DL: The first thing is to get back as quickly as you can to something you know they have had some success with. Building confidence through a quick completion or a run play that has been successful can allow you to tell your players, “this is something that has been good for us.” Another thing that has helped me is changing the pace of the game such as using tempo or going into a simplified 2 minute attack. It is also important to have common sense. If you have been cranking deep balls and quickly going three and out, you should go to a quick pass, quick hitting run play or screen pass in hopes of giving your group some confidence. Be careful not to do too many new things, try to build confidence by getting back to basics.

Question: What advice would you give on in-game play-calling?

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Welcome to the May Edition of the Coaches Playbook! I hope spring is going well for you and your team as the urgency continues to pick up with spring and summer practice coming fast! I always felt it was a time full of optimism and excitement as the on-field development of your team can really begin. Here’s to a productive May for you all!

This month’s playbook includes:

• How to help your players develop a love for the game

• Interview with Northern CA coaching legend, Foothill’s Matt Sweeney

• Lead Up to the Season Part I: Build Up Your Numbers

• Coaches Message Board and more

With our distribution list continuing to expand to coaches all around the country, welcome to those of you who may be reading for the first time! It continues to be my goal that the Coaches Playbook be a resource for coaches with articles, interviews, and videos on all aspects of building a successful team. I would like to thank all of you who are paid subscribers and encourage those that are not to consider the $5/month subscription. All the previous 25 editions are archived for paid subscribers as well as access to the Coaches Message Board and more. There is a subscription bar located further down in the edition. Thanks to all of you who read each month, I am excited to continue to try to make it a helpful resource to coaches of all levels of experience!

JM

Help Your Players Develop a Love for the Game

This past April, the annual NFL draft was held in Green Bay. The draft has continued to grow over the years into a huge spectator event with weeks of mock drafts, analysis, prognostications along with critiques of hundreds of hopeful professional players. This year, I noticed that many of the talent evaluators and talking heads described quite a few prospects as talented but they “don’t appear to love football.” The comment was often followed up with, “being super talented doesn’t mean you love to play”. While this is certainly a subjective opinion, it caused me to think about players and teams I have coached, and I found myself naming players from over the years that it was very obvious loved playing the game of football. Having this love for the game is a hard thing to quantify but as a coach, you definitely know it when you see it and if enough of your players have this passion, it can make for a special season!

One of the reasons a person may love to do something is not only that it brings them enjoyment but that they see the value in the undertaking. A few years ago, I had a returning player talk to me in June to let me know he was going to stop playing. His leaving the team caught me a bit off guard and when I asked him why, he replied, “it wasn’t fun anymore”. As I reflected on what he said, it reinforced what I already understood. Putting on the pads on a 90 degree day in August, grinding through an individual period on the five man sled, or getting knocked to the ground over and over are not necessarily “fun”. It is understanding and embracing the journey and the process that is the part that makes it special. When the players can see and understand that the hard work is part of a larger mission, they often will begin to “love” the process.

One of my favorite speeches to share with my teams was always Teddy Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena”. My favorite part of the speech says “the credit belongs the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood: who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort with error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause …”. I believe a big part of loving football is loving and embracing the “cause” and embracing the hard work required to have success as a team.

Another reason, I believe, why so many players learn to love the game is because of football’s unique team aspect. While I have played and coached many sports, football is unique in that it requires a true team component that is hard to replicate elsewhere. If you are in the batter’s box in a baseball game or on the foul line in the fourth quarter of a basketball game, despite the team element of those sports, those situations are riding on one person’s shoulders. In a football game though, every play involves all eleven guys; even a game winning field goal by a kicker can’t happen without the snap, hold, and good protection. In order to truly love football, I believe is to buy in to the accountability and reliance on each other that is really hard to find anywhere else. Creating the culture in which the players collectively embrace the challenge of a season helps them to see purpose in what they are doing. I have often told my players, “If football were easy, then everyone would have a good team.” When your players, collectively, love the challenge and work of a season, they will begin to love football. In 2013, our Silverton team lost in the State Semi-finals and I will never forget what one of players said to me in an emotional locker room after the game, “I am really sad that this group won’t get to prepare for a game together again.” His immediate reaction wasn’t about wins and losses but rather the process!

Since I began coaching in 1988, I believe helping our players truly “love” the game has gotten more challenging. The explosion of social media, paid recruiting “coaches”, and high school players transferring regularly have in many ways placed the focus on individual achievement and at times made the game seem pretty transactional. Despite this reality, we as coaches can still frame their experience in a way that they will love. It starts with your players having a positive experience. This doesn’t mean you can’t have standards or coach them hard, but you must create a culture where all the players feel valued and as important as the next guy. This also doesn’t mean that you have to win a league title or even make the playoffs to be “successful”. The dynamics for many high school programs can be quite different which means that success for many teams may not be defined by their win-loss record. Mountainside HS opened in 2017 with only 9^th and 10^th graders, in 2018 we played a varsity schedule without seniors and finished the year 3-6 but I can unequivocally say that those players “loved” that season and despite our record, for me, it was one of my most enjoyable seasons ever. A final, integral piece in this process is the accountability that football requires players to have toward their teammates and coaches. If fostered by the coaching staff, this authentic bond created between the players (of all ability levels) can be something that they come to love being a part of.

If a person can truly love doing something in life, whether it be a career, traveling or even a hobby, it allows that pursuit to become so much more impactful. For many of us, coaching is a passion that while very challenging we also take so much away from. Helping your players develop the same love that you may have will make their experience that much more meaningful. The seniors on our 2013 Silverton football team were the group of incoming freshmen when I arrived at the school in 2010. We lost in the State Semifinal in late November falling short of our goal of a state title. One thing I will always remember about that group was the gear turn in on the following Monday. While this is a process that can traditionally go very quickly, with this group it took over 2 hours as the players slowly cleaned our their lockers and turned in their equipment knowing it would be their last thing to do as a team. As they left one at a time, the feeling of how much they loved our team and their experience will always stick with me!

Interview with Northern California Coaching Legend Matt Sweeney

I had the privilege of teaching and coaching at Foothill HS (Pleasanton, CA) for 14 years from 1996 - 2010. I was so fortunate to work with many outstanding coaches and teachers during that time, from AD Tom Hansen to baseball coach Angelo Scavone to basketball coach Randy Isaacs and others who became great friends and mentors. I also was fortunate to work side-by-side with Matt Sweeney during these fourteen years which was so vital in my development as a coach. Matt was the Head Coach at Foothill from 1986 - 2017, a span of 31 years that included 15 titles and over 260 wins. Aside from being a very close friend, Matt is universally recognized as one of the top coaches in the San Francisco Bay Area during that era. Below is a discussion I had with Matt on a range of topics including his experience building and sustaining an champioship level program.

Question: When you became Head Coach at Foothill in 1986, what were some of the first critical steps in turning the program into a championship level program?

MS: My first year as head coach we went 2-8, losing 6 of those games by less than a touchdown. I didn’t coach the OL that season nor did I understand the importance of watching film and being prepared. I didn’t understand being the best at all the things you can control. It wasn’t for a lack of trying, it was really due to inexperience. From that point on, I was going to do everything in my power to not let that happen again. After that season I believed that the OL was the most important position group on a team and that I would coach it so that if that group was not successful it would be on me. My dad was a huge influence on me and he gave me two pieces of advice. One, go to clinics and talk to as many other coaches as possible and try to come away with one thing you can incorporate into your program. After that, I became a huge sponge and I can’t tell you how many great ideas I got from other coaches. The other thing he told me is that you have to recruit your own high school. Go to all the sports and see all the kids playing and see which ones were competitive and who you could possibly get out for football. In addition, I really got into watching and studying film which helped my understanding of our team and our opponents greatly. I was also very fortunate because the season we went 2-8 we had 17 juniors that started and that were a great, tough group of guys. From that point on we were really good and the culture changed. The last big thing is be consistent….if it is real and authentic, your team will believe in you and themselves.

Question: After turning the program into a perennial championship team, what were some of the challenges of sustaining that success?

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Welcome to the April edition of the Coaches Playbook! I hope your Spring is going well as we enter this critical period of preparation for the season ahead. A special welcome to those who may be new to the Playbook which last month went out to well over a thousand coaches ! As it enters its third year of publication, it remains my goal to make this a resource to coaches with discussion on all aspects of putting together a successful team. I would like it to be an interactive as possible so please reach out to me if there are specific topics or issues you would like me to discuss. Thanks also to all the coaches around the country who have so willingly contributed their knowledge and wisdom !

This month’s playbook includes:

• Creating a culture on your team where your players embrace hustle

• Video and explanation of one of my favorite drills that was a staple of our practices this time of year

• Keeping your players engaged and ready

• Off Season priority: Coordinating summer schedules

• Coaches Message Board and more

As we begin Year 3 of the Playbook, I would like to thank all of you who are paid subscribers and encourage those that are not to consider the $5/month subscription. All the previous 24 editions are archived for paid subscribers as well as access to the Coaches Message Board and more. There is a subscription bar located further down in the edition. Thanks to all of you who read each month, I am excited to continue to try to make it a helpful resource to coaches of all levels of experience!

JM

Don’t Be Too Cool to Hustle

Over my thirty plus years of coaching, I came to realize that each team is unique and develops its own personality and identity. Some teams may be super talented, others young and inexperienced, while some full of vocal leaders by example. Regardless of the particular makeup or identity of your team year to year, one constant that I felt was essential to our success was that our players were not too cool to hustle. A team that always gives great collective effort whatever the situation is a tough team to play. You sometimes hear teams described as a “tough out” or “a team you don’t want to see in the playoffs” and I believe this is as much because of their team approach as it is their talent level. Developing this embrace of hustle and effort at a time when there is so much focus on highlighting individual achievement is, in my mind, a critical piece to getting the most out of your team.

I have often referred to my belief that a team is a reflection of their coach, so I believe that creating a culture of hustle begins with the coaches. If you as a coach are jogging in between drills, moving bags and cones around, getting into the offensive or defensive huddle each play to communicate with your players in practice, etc. this will provide a daily example to your team that you need to be a hustler. My son played football at Oregon State University and during his time there, Head Coach Mike Riley allowed practice to be open to the public which allowed me to regularly attend Spring Practice and Training Camp. The LB coach during that time was Trent Bray. Coach Bray always stood out to me because of his hustle on the practice field whether it be racing to the next drill or demonstrating a pass drop. Not surprisingly, his position group quickly adapted the same demeanor and were often among the scrappiest players on the team. Watching him coach 15 years ago, it is not at all surprising to me that he is now the Head Coach for the Beavers. While not all coaches are spring chickens (myself included) and able to run around the field, we can all find a way to demonstrate a “hustle” mindset each day because it starts with us !

Having your players “buy in” to the importance of hustle requires consistent messaging and upholding of your standard. It is also important to show players why hustle can give your team an advantage as well what it looks like. Highlighting plays during a film session that were possible only due to great hustle or even showing a play where lack of hustle ( hopefully by an opponent! ) cost a team, can be a place to start. From there, find ways to incorporate “hustle” into your daily routine: have each position groups responsible for some part of post practice clean up so that that no one is above having to do their part to make the team go. This attitude can be made much easier if your most talented players are your biggest hustlers. I remember watching former OSU Beaver and longtime NFL WR Brandin Cooks practice during his college days and he set the standard for hustle that his teammates could not help but notice. If this All American and future first round draft pick was out early to practice, staying after for extra work, and giving max effort each rep, how could the other players not follow that lead ? As a high school coach, I would communicate with my best players and let them know that the others would follow their lead and in no area was this more important than in hustle. In some ways, you have to be more demanding of our best players, finding ways to highlight their hustle as well as calling out a lack thereof. Regardless of talent level, there cannot be different standards for hustle and effort within your team as this can quickly lead to a group that believes they are above hustling.

In theory, having a team of hustlers sounds great but the question is how do you get this type of buy in ? I think it starts with the culture of your program. If every player is valued equally and they all must do their part, no one player is “above” giving great effort or doing the dirty work for the greater good. Next, you must be consistent not only in your message but in your actions as well. This may mean restarting a drill in practice if there is a lack of hustle or taking a player out of a game if they are loafing. I firmly believe that if you tolerate it you encourage it, so a lack of hustle must be addressed in real time less the players may believe it is acceptable. Equally, if not more important is praising your team when they are giving great effort and affirming this daily. I always felt a special pride as a coach when our team saw our effort and hustle as a badge of honor and embraced it. In the third game of my first year at Silverton HS in 2010, we were playing a rival opponent on the road in a rain filled game. As halftime was approaching in a tight game, I told our players to sprint off the field to beat the other team to the tunnel. What unfolded was a mad dash across the field by our 35 players and coaches that was not done to disrespect our opponent but rather drive home the point to our team that we always run on and off the field. From that game forward, it became a tradition and real reminder that whether it was a non-conference game in August or the state championship game in late November, when we hit the field, our players run!

Teaching your players to embrace the mindset and willingness to hustle is a characteristic that will serve your players well long after they have played their last game for you!

Great Drill for Spring / Summer

Spring and Summer workouts can be incredibly valuable in teaching the fundamentals of all phases of the game, even given the fact you are most often working out in t-shirts and shorts. One of the drills I loved to use during these workouts was one we called “open field tackling” drill. One of the things that I feel makes a drill so valuable is the frequency with which they occur in games. The open field tackling situation is one that comes up so often each game on both defense and special teams that we do this drill virtually every day throughout the season. The drill divides the players into 4 lines with 3 defenders and 1 ball carrier and can be done as a whole team, group ( DL/LB, LB/DB ) or positions depending on the size of your team. The drill focuses on 3 defenders working together to contain & ”tackle” a ball carrier, mirroring an open field situation. The 3 defenders are between the hashes approx. 8 yards apart and on the whistle they sprint toward the ball carrier in an open field situation. The job of the ball carrier is not to run straight at the oncoming defenders, rather he move laterally to try to break, contain and get up a sideline. The drill requires the players to work together to maintain leverage, keep pursuit angles, rally to the ball as a group, and finally be in proper fitted position to make the tackle. While the video below has the players going at learning speed, the drill can be very competitive by keeping track of which group gives up the least yardage or which ball carrier can break contain and score.

(Click on link below)

Open Field Tackling Drill

I think it really helps player buy-in when you can show the drill coming up in the game. The open field tackling drill is a drill that can be consistently highlighted when reviewing game film with the team each week. I chose our Lake Oswego game from the 2022 season and found examples of the drill translating directly to the game. While I chose this game to highlight, I truly could use any game on our schedule and find this situation coming up over and over.

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Welcome to the March 2025 edition of the Mannion Coaching Playbook! For those of you that may be receiving this for the first time or that I don’t know personally, my name is John Mannion and in January 2023 I retired as Head Coach at Mountainside High School after 35 years of high school coaching. As I was reflecting on my career that spanned four highly successful but distinctly different coaching experiences at Milpitas HS ( CA ), Foothill HS (CA), Silverton HS (OR) and Mountainside HS (OR), I came up with idea of a monthly newsletter to share ideas about program building, leadership, schematics and current issues in the sport. While I share these ideas and thoughts through the lens of my experience as a high school football coach, I believe they are applicable and may resonate with coaches of any sport as well as leaders of any organization. The first edition went out two years ago to 50 coaches and since, our distribution list has organically grown to over 900, many of whom are paid subscribers. Because much of what I know was learned from others, I often include interviews with high respected coaches who have been most willing to share their knowledge and wisdom. It is my goal for the playbook to continue to evolve and be a helpful monthly tool for you all!

This month’s playbook includes:

· The value of unsung heroes to the success of your team

· Green Bay Packers QB coach Sean Mannion shares thoughts on the position as well as a video of one of his favorite drills

· The importance of understanding that a team becomes a reflection of their coach

· Off Season priority: Putting together a coaching staff

. Subscriber Spotlight, Coaches Message Board and more

With this being the 2 year anniversary of the Playbook, I would like to thank all of you who are paid subscribers and encourage those that are not to consider the $5/month subscription. All the previous 24 editions are archived for paid subscribers as well as access to the Coaches Message Board and more. There is a subscription bar located further down in the edition. Thanks to all of you who read each month, I am excited to continue to try to make it a helpful resource to coaches of all levels of experience!

JM

Unsung Heroes Can Be All the Difference

One of the things that makes any team or organization really “go” is often not the people that are on the front of the game program or speaking to reporters after the game but instead players that may never make all conference or even become starters. On some of the best teams I have ever coached, these players were the true “engines” of the team. One of the great things about football is that it may be the greatest of team sports as it requires a level of individual sacrifice and unselfishness that other sports may not have. This allows for players to thrive in a variety of roles on the team and become as respected and valued as anyone in the locker room.

Football, like most sports, has its “glamour” positions, typically the offensive skill position players of QB, RB, and WR, that traditionally win the awards, receive adulation and at the professional level ( and now college ) level get paid the most. They are undoubtedly extremely talented difference makers that can determine the success of the team or season. I would argue though that without the contributions of those around them their impact can be greatly diminished. You only need to look as far as the Super Bowl played last month to see evidence of this reality. While both the Eagles and Chiefs were littered with talented skill position players, it was the offensive and defensive lines of the Eagles that made the difference. Milton Williams and Josh Sweat were rotational defensive lineman for the Eagles and entered the game in relative anonymity but they became a huge part of why the Eagles so dominated the game, each registering 2.5 sacks. Even though they did not earn Fantasy points throughout the season, they dominated the Super Bowl!

At the high school level, the contributions of your unsung heroes can be even more pronounced. Longtime Foothill HS coach and good friend, Matt Sweeney, would tell our team nearly every week that each game comes down to our OL vs. their DL and our DL vs. their OL. It was literally at the top of each scouting report. Another good friend, longtime Granada HS coach Tim Silva, often talked about the fact you rarely, if ever lose a high school football game that you win up front. The fact that these two decorated, highly successful high school coaches are steadfast in their belief in the fact it is the “non-skill” players who determine the outcome, illustrates one of the great aspects of high school football. I firmly believe that even players of limited size and athleticism can “make” themselves into valuable cogs on a good team. I have been so fortunate to coach so many smart, tenacious, aggressive undersized lineman that were such keys to our teams. Whether it be 160 pound DE, Sean Hurley, who made key play after key play on a 12-1, 2006 Foothill team or 180 pound Jeremy Chernabaeff on the 2014 Silverton State Finalist team who was our swing OL who could and did play every spot along the OL in a great playoff run.

Because of the value that these players bring to a team, I believe fostering and developing these types of players should be seen as just as important as attending to your top flight guys. I believe this process begins by simply recognizing and calling out their effort in front of the team. Highlight plays during film sessions that would not have happened but for the effort of these unsung guys. If these role players see that they are truly valued by the coaches and team then not only will it validate them but also motivate other players in your program of the same ilk to carve a role of their own. This may not happen if most of your team feels invisible next to your star players. For this reason, something I learned from coaching with Matt at Foothill and that I have embraced since is the way in which we award helmet stickers after games. It is my belief that since the whole team is putting in the same amount of work day in and day out to help us be successful every Friday, that we should all be rewarded the same way. This is not meant to diminish the impact and achievement of your super talented individuals on your team, as they typically will receive plenty of recognition for their excellence. For this reason, everyone on team would receive the same helmet stickers if we achieved out team goals of: 1) won the game, 2) had no turnovers on offense, 3) held the team to less than 150 total yards, and 4) had a special team score or turnover. I know and respect many coaches that have a different system but to me, all of players having the same number of stickers was another way to subtly remind the team that we are all of equal importance.

Aside from the honor of coaching teams with so many outstanding players and coaches for 35 years, one of my greatest joys as a coach has been seeing so many “average” players, through their own determination and work, become pivotal players on highly successful teams. It is so gratifying to witness this happen and I really don’t think it is quite as possible as it is in football. I encourage you to embrace and encourage these unsung guys as they may have a huge impact on the success of your season !

In celebration of this being the 2 year anniversary of the Playbook, I thought I would share the very first article published in April 2023…..I feel even more strongly about it today than I did then!

A Team is a Reflection of Their Coach

I believe that we live in a time where leaders often adopt a “do as I say not as I do” approach. Unfortunately, I believe that this can be both detrimental and confusing to people young and old alike. Much like children will often emulate the behaviors, mannerisms and values of their parents, there is no doubt that this same dynamic happens with high school coaches and their teams. For this reason, I believe it is critical that you are purposeful about how you lead your team and model the type of attitude and behaviors you would like your team to embody.

This concept applies to all sorts of things, both big and small, that occur daily throughout the course of a season. Some of these are more obvious, like how you treat the referees. If you are constantly engaging / complaining to the refs, your team will surely do the same. The same goes for body language. The coach needs to maintain composure and positive body language because if you do not, you certainly cannot expect your players to. Your players will look to you when things get challenging and difficult, so even if you are panicking on the inside, outwardly you need to maintain a positive can-do spirit and body language that will give confidence to your players.

If you arrive at practice early each day and have the field prepared as the players hit the field, it will set the tone that you are ready to go. Having a clear, concise, and organized practice plan will model for the players the importance of being prepared and getting the most out of each day. I believe that your team will meet the standards that you set for them. When I arrived at Silverton HS in 2010, a beautiful new campus had just been built 2 years prior to my arrival. While it was located two blocks from the old high school, the football fields, lockers, and team rooms were still utilized at the old campus. The school day ended at 3 pm, so the students needed to drive or walk the distance after school let out, hit the locker room, and change for practice. The year before I arrived, they began practice at 3:45 but I wanted to start at 3:30 instead. A few of the coaches felt 3:30 would not be logistically possible but I decided to go with it anyway. My coaches and I always hustled to have the field set up and ready to go by 3:25. After a couple of years, I began to find that the players were all at the field by 3:25 so we began to start practice then. By my last year at Silverton, we were starting practice at 3:22 because everyone was there and ready to go. This evolution didn’t happen because of some dictate by me, but rather because they saw that I, and the other coaches, were ready to go earlier so the players did the same.

Perhaps the most important part of this modeling is having a sense of urgency about everything you do. One of the messages I often tell our players is “don’t be too cool to hustle”. If you want your players to hustle, then you certainly have to hustle as a coach. This can be applied to the coach cleaning the visiting locker room after a road game, to coaches physically hustling during the transition periods of practice. Compliment players who hustle to the next drill in order to be first in line, publicly thank the player who is putting away the last of the weight equipment after a workout, make note of how clean the equipment room is after the players put away the blocking bags; all of these things are a big deal and need to be noted. If you carry yourself with a sense of urgency and show them that you yourself are not “too cool to hustle” then your team will as well.

While there are many examples of teams reflecting their coach, two I have always admired are Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, and former Oregon State baseball coach Pat Casey. Coach Tomlin oozes no-nonsense intensity, positivity, and competitiveness. It is not a coincidence that his teams embody his personality, and despite a variety of challenges his teams have faced, the Steelers have never had a losing season in his 18 years as head coach. Coach Casey at Oregon State coached with a scrappy, underdog mentality as well as great attention to detail leading his teams to 3 national championships. Watching Coach Casey lead his teams, you could see how hard nosed and fundamentally sound they were. Though they were often considered underdogs against more “talented” teams, you could sense their intensity as soon as you set foot in the stadium. Their teams played with a level of confidence and “never say die” resolve that Coach Casey lived on the field and in the dugout.

I encourage you to be purposeful and mindful of how you carry yourself with your team and make sure you model the characteristics you want to see in them. It will go a long way to having a group that will emulate your values and behaviors.

#Battle

Green Bay Packers QB Coach Sean Mannion Discussing QB Development

Sean Mannion played quarterback at Oregon St. from 2010 – 2014, and in the NFL from 2015 - 2023 with the Rams ( 4 years ), Vikings ( 3 years ), and Seahawks ( 2 years ). He has played under many excellent coaches including Mike Riley, Sean McVay, Gary Kubiak, and Pete Carroll. He served as an Offensive Assistant with the Green Bay Packers in 2024 and was recently promoted by them to Quarterback Coach. Below is a conversation about playing QB as well as a video link to one of Sean’s favorite daily drills.

Question: What would you tell a young HS quarterback who has the talent and desire to play the position?

SM: I would say enjoy it and understand QB is the hardest position in sports and expect and be ready for it to not always be perfect. But know if you keep working at it, spending time with your teammates, being a great leader for your team, it will be a really great experience. You also need to have resolve because every QB will have hard games or practices.

If you are passionate about playing QB, it takes a lot of hours spent on the field, a lot of hours watching and studying football, learning more about the position and the game itself. It is a long journey to reach your goals and don’t let speed bumps deter you because it is not going to happen overnight.

Question: What about the non-physical side, is there something a coach told you that really resonated?

SM: Gary Kubiak was a great teacher of the rhythm and timing in the reading of plays. If the QB holds the ball too long and is not moving through reads quickly, it leads to late decisions which become interceptions or sacks. If the play calls for a 5 step drop with a hitch, then that is when the ball should be delivered. He would hold you to that standard even if you completed a pass. He was constantly stressing being on time with your throws.

Question: What about from a leadership perspective, have coaches given you good advice in that regard?

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I hope that 2025 has gotten off to a great start for you! I always found it an exciting time of year as you begin work with your team and the process of bringing a new group of players together!

This month’s Playbook contains:

* the importance of your players knowing that you love your team

* highlights from the first ever Mannion Coaches Roundtable held in January

* creating urgency in your offseason weight program

* Breaking the Huddle section with a Subscriber Spotlight as well as the launch of a new Coaches Message Board

I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to write about our sport and profession over the last 22 months which has led me to interact with so many great coaches along the way. I am proud the Playbook goes out to nearly 800 readers across many states. As mentioned above, I would like to add a Coaches Message Board feature each month. The plan is to allow any paid subscriber to post coaching openings, second hand equipment needs, upcoming 7 on 7 games/tournaments you are holding, etc. My goal is to create another avenue for coaches to stay connected. If you are a paid subscriber, feel free to email me at jmannionfootball@gmail.com with anything you would like posted.

I would like to thank those of you who are paid subscribers and encourage those that are not to consider the $5/month subscription. There is a subscription bar located further down in the edition. Thanks to all of you who read each month, I am excited to continue to try to make it a helpful resource to coaches of all levels of experience!

JM

It Is YOUR Team

One of the benefits of being in the business of education and high school coaching for all these years is witnessing the huge amount of time that coaches invest in their players and teams. It is inspiring to see the passion and commitment that coaches put toward having their players and teams succeed. With this being said, when things don’t go well or losses begin to pile up, it may only be natural to feel disappointment, frustration, and possibly even bitterness about what is happening. I was recently reminded of this reality when I heard a postgame interview with UCLA Men’s Basketball coach Mick Cronin after a disappointing loss. I understand that Division I basketball and high school football are two very different things and that Coach Cronin has won nearly 500 games in major college basketball yet I was struck by his words and tone in what he said at the podium after a loss to Michigan:

“We have got guys that think they are way better than they are. They’re nice kids. They’re completely delusional about who they are. I have to run on the court to get them to play hard. It’s crazy. And it’s every day. I have the most energy of anybody at practice every day. I’m upset with everybody in that locker room: my assistant coaches and my players. I’ve almost 500 wins. I’m only 53. It’s a joke, but yet I come in and I have more passion and energy and pride than everybody.”

While I have never been a Division I Head Coach, nor do I know the circumstances of the game in question, as a high school football coach, I must admit I had to cringe when I heard this on the radio and later re-read the quote online. I was told many years ago and absolutely believe that you have to “love your team because it is your team”. The make-up and personality of high school teams will change from year to year but whatever the talent level or “warts” your current team has, you have to love your group and they need to feel this. Regardless of the win-loss record or trajectory of a season, you have to have your team’s “back”.

This is a crucial part of leading by example. You need to demonstrate resilience, positivity, and optimism when things get difficult. There will be times to coach your players hard or get on your team, but this is best done in the locker room or at practice were constructive conversations and coaching can occur. Consider how you want your players to react to a poor performance or disappointment, and then model that as a coach. I would be horrified if my players were pointing fingers, speaking condescendingly, or displaying poor body language toward one another when things went wrong, so I better not do that myself. I have written numerous times that a team is a reflection of their coach, so your players will take their lead from you.

It is also important to remember that each team has different talent level, experience and football savvy so you have to meet your team where they are. If last year’s team had veteran leadership, could pick up things quickly and installs were smooth, this may not necessarily be the case for your current group. Rather than get exasperated or frustrated, remember it is our job to get them to understand what we want them to do so it is up to us to make that work. If that means installing things more slowly or reworking terminology in a way that they can better understand, then so be it. If you are not getting through to a group, try a different tact! I remember my first year coaching in Oregon in 2010, I met a coach early one Saturday morning to exchange film. Even though he had a very good team, he commented that “they don’t get it and they don’t do the things I want them to do.” I first thought it was strange that he would say this about his team to me, but I also thought that isn’t it our job to help players get it? Rather than complain about it, find a way to coach or package what you do in a way that they do get!

While coaching involves many things in the area of strategy and scheme, at its core, it is about relationships. One of the keys to relationships on a football team is trust. On every play, all 11 guys are trusting their teammates to carry out their responsibilities and be accountable. Football is all about creating trusting relationships among players and coaches. You have to foster this daily and in my opinion, it is never more important than when things go wrong. I can’t tell you how many times I have told my team, “I didn’t have us prepared well enough for that” or “I made a bad call there that put you in a tough position” so they knew I was going to take responsibility and was right in there with them during the hard times. This will strengthen the fabric and culture of your team.

I found that one of the exciting yet challenging aspects of high school coaching is that every team takes on its own identity and personality. I have often told my team that, “the guys in the room are the ones that are going to take this season forward, the cavalry is not coming, we can’t make trades or sign free agents so let’s commit to making it the best possible season with this group.” I am not rooting against UCLA or Coach Cronin and in fact the Bruins may have a great tournament run in March. I simply thought his comments were a great reminder that for better or worse the team you are coaching is your team and they should feel that, especially when times get tough!

Recap of Mannion Coaches Roundtable -

Jan. 18, 2025

On January 18th, I held the first ever Mannion Coaches Roundtable and Clinic in Silverton. I would like to thank those coaches who attended for their engagement as it was a great day of talking football. I have received really positive feedback from those in attendance and look forward to improving and growing the event next year. I would especially like to thank the speakers who all did an excellent job sharing their knowledge and answering questions from the group. Below are some highlights from our speakers!

Randy Nyquist – Stayton HS “Preparing for an Opponent”

Randy spoke about the importance of self-scouting and knowing who you are. He described how he first watches his next opponent’s game straight through without stopping. He believes this gives him a feel for all three phases of the opponent before he further analyzes each play. He places huge importance on knowing their personnel; who are their best players & not their best players. This helps him find his most favorable matchups in all phases of the game!

Ryan McCants – Roosevelt HS “Building a Run Game”

Ryan first spoke about building culture at Roosevelt through strengthening trust and repertoire with his players and parents through in-person meetings. He even spoke about going to meet his players parents in their homes to make them comfortable with the culture and expectations he was building at Roosevelt. He also talked about the importance of developing a run game that is based upon your philosophy and principles but also being willing to be flexible. He described how in his first year he had an excellent QB who was his best athlete on the team so a Spread, Zone Read offense worked great. The next year he didn’t have that type of QB but tried to run the Spread anyway and his offense really struggled the first 3 games. However, they did have physical backs and TEs so they were flexible enough to go to a 2 TE / 2 back set and the team gained confidence and thrived the rest of the way.

Mark Gribble – Sherwood HS “Building a Championship Defense”

Mark talked about building an identity of winning with defense that is physical, fast, and hard-nosed. It is critical that coaches are organized, positive and provide constructive feedback each day and during every period of practice. He directs his defensive coaches to provide “calmness in the chaos.” He believes that if you have a defense that plays fast, with physical & mental toughness, and confidence, they can give you a chance in every game and allow you to adapt week to week to your opponents.

Grant Hedrick – Assistant Coach at Cascade HS “Developing High School Quarterbacks”

Grant spoke about the dichotomy of leadership with quarterbacks in that on one hand, “it is all about others” in that you have to serve your teammates and make others better but at the same time “it is all about you” in that you have to perform in the eye of the storm and you have to be able to grow and get better. He finds that with so many different styles, shapes and sizes of QBs that he doesn’t worry too much about the arm strength but rather focuses on the technique of the lower half which he finds so critical. He gave some great tips on fundamentals such as linear vs rotational force and the importance of shortening your linear movement so you can get to your rotational point faster. He also explained that the cause of a bad spiral is often due to having too much hand on the ball. Perhaps his coaching point that resonated the most with me is teaching your QBs that your “eyes move before your feet.”

Shane Hedrick – Cascade HS “Building Culture and Flourishing Where You Are”

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I always found the return to school in the New Year marked a time of renewed energy, enthusiasm, and optimism as you begin the process of building your team with an eye toward next season. The beauty of this time is that you can make improvements and build momentum without the constraints of an upcoming game to be prepare for.

One of the things I look forward to this time of year is attending football clinics that provide a forum to interact with other coaches, gain valuable ideas and insight, and really get the gears turning about how to improve the program. Perhaps the best part of these events is seeing old coaching friends, making new ones and building your network of familiar faces in the business. For that reason, I will be hosting a first ever Mannion Coaches Roundtable and Clinic on Jan. 18th in Silverton. It is a great venue and I am excited about the speakers / format and would encourage you to attend….would love to see you there. You can click on link below, use the QR code on the flyer or simply email me (jmannionfootball@gmail.com) to register. Hope to see you there!

Click here to register

This month’s playbook features:

• Having a plan to get get the most out of January as team activities resume

• My reflection on the business of football

• A conversation with award-winning journalist Mitch Stephens about his views covering high school football in California and nationally for the last forty years

As our distribution list continues to grow, I would like to thank the many of you that are paid subscribers and encourage those that are not to consider the $5/month subscription. There is a subscription bar located further down in the edition. Thanks to all that read each month, I am excited to continue to provide useful content as we head into a new year!

JM

A New Year Begins

I always found the holidays one of the most relaxing times of the year without the demands of high school football. It gave me a chance to truly reflect on the past season, as well as recharge my energy and excitement about the long process of putting together a team for next fall. Coming out of the holidays along with the return to school for our players, really provided a chance to start anew with our team. Whether you won a league championship or struggled with a disappointing win-loss record, January provides a clean slate and opportunity to get your team-building process off and running.

One of the first things I would do is to re-connect on a personal level with not only all the returning players in the program but with students you would like to get out for football next season. This can be done in a more formal setting such as a goal setting meeting with each player or a more informal quick exchange/conversation in the hallway. One of the foundations of a great program is strong, authentic relationships with your players so I felt that time invested making these connections in early January was time well spent. We all talk about “recruiting our school” and player retention but these begin with consistent, real interactions with players. When I first arrived at Silverton in 2010, I had a sophomore in my PE class that was an excellent athlete. He played on the basketball team and competed in track and field. When I asked him about football that fall, he shrugged and said that he just wasn’t interested. Nonetheless, I would always congratulate him after a basketball game and continued to say hello in the hallway. His junior year, he had even a better season in basketball and in the spring won the State Championship in the Pole Vault. As we began spring practice in June, I asked him again if he might give football a try and to my surprise he said he would! He went on to be voted first team All-State and played football in college. I have no doubt that his change of heart was in part because of the positive relationship we had established over the course of three years. I would encourage you to prioritize connecting with all of your players in the coming weeks.

Each season brings with it different chemistry as the makeup of the team will be new. Each team develops its own identity and personality. This process begins as you start team activities in the new year. Departing seniors will be gone and underclassmen will step forward into leadership roles. For some, this may be a very natural thing, but for others you may need to foster and coach them into exerting leadership. This process can begin in a strength class or after-school workouts, look for opportunities to have them be leaders: put them in charge of a group, have them demonstrate lifting techniques to the younger players or put them in charge of ensuring the weight room is clean after a workout. It can also offer opportunities to discuss with them the importance of leading by example and emphasizing that the younger players will follow the example that they set. My best teams were those where my best players were the best leaders so it is never too early to develop the type of leadership you desire!

In the same vein, these beginning workouts and meetings can be a way to set the tone of what your expectations and standards are. Bad habits can be formed quickly and become hard to break so even at these initial workouts I wanted to establish the importance of doing the little things right. These are things like having a sense of urgency as we transition from our warmup to the weight room, how we start the workout on time, and how we always leave the weight room spotless. Even if you are coming off a great season with many returners, re-establishing your culture needs to happen with every group. For me, it was establishing the basics of always hustling and giving great effort that needed to be re-introduced and reinforced immediately! I encourage you to consider what you want to emphasize with your team as you begin anew.

Finally, I am a notorious creature of habit and my players would often joke with me about my predictability. While I do believe that consistency and familiarity can help lead to success, I also wanted to instill something “new” when we began in January. I didn’t want my players to have the “same old, same old” attitude about what we were doing. Whether it be incorporating band work into our warmup routine, introducing new lifts to our usual weight circuit, or having a cross-fit style condition at the end of the workout, I tried to always keep things fresh with something new. Not only did this “force” me to consider things I had not done before but it also kept the players on their toes and wondering what was next!

This time of year was always one of the most exciting times of the year for me. The stress and challenge of playing good teams every week was still aways in the distance so greater time and focus could be spent on building real relationships with your players and fostering the culture and standards of your program. I hope you all have a great start to 2025!

1-on-1 Interview with Mitch Stephens

Mitch Stephens has been covering high sports since 1984 when he began covering football for the Contra Costa Times in San Francisco Bay Area. With experience covering professional sports for the AP, his true passion has been covering prep sports for the past forty years for the San Francisco Chronicle, Max Preps, and in recent years serving as a National Writer for Scorebook Live. Beyond all his experience and awards, Mitch is a terrific person who I had the pleasure to meet in the mid-1990’s and who I consider a friend. Mitch shared his perspectives on covering our sport since the 1980’s.

Question: After covering teams up close for all these years, are there a couple characteristics of high-quality programs that stand out?

MS: I started my career covering De La Salle in 1984. I immediately knew that something was different there. What Coach Ladouceur was selling, our military should buy in to. While they certainly had good athletes everywhere, it was uncanny how they developed this true brotherhood. It is very noticeable when teams create this special bond. Often times it is teams that have been together for years and been through “stuff” that brings them together. It may be painful losses or even off-field adversity that really unites them. Another thing is coaching. Having experienced coaches who have been through it and don’t panic makes a difference. This past fall, Floyd Burnsted (who is in his mid-70’s) at Acalanes HS (CA) got off to an 0-3 start playing a really tough schedule. They preceded to win 6 in a row before losing the regular season finale to their rival in heartbreaking fashion. Many coaches/teams would have been devastated but he was calm and composed after the game and told me, “all of our goals are still ahead of us”. They went on to win 5 games in a row to win the state championship.

Question: From your perspective of nearly forty years, are there things that are changing in a positive direction?

MS: Even though there is so much more exposure today, the kids are still quality. I covered a game this year between Mater Dei and St. John Bosco in Southern CA in which 60 players on the field had Div. I offers. My anticipation was that they would be privileged or arrogant but talking to them after the game, they were just like kids have always been. They were having fun, and they were respectful to me as a journalist. As far as other things, kids are so skilled now that it is sometimes hard to believe they are in high school. The training and focus makes the game seem a bit faster and crisper than maybe it was years ago. Teams are much more quick to strike. As much as I enjoyed 18-play drives, you just don’t see that often anymore!

Question: Are there changes you have seen that maybe are not necessarily for the better?

MS: Rosters have definitely gotten smaller for a variety of reasons. But the biggest thing for sure is the discrepancy between the top and bottom teams has gotten much wider. Many teams have rosters of 19-20 kids trying to compete against teams of 50. The best programs may be better but the ones at the bottom are much worse off. Part of the problem is it is harder to keep coaches.

Question: Why did think it is so much harder to keep coaches?

MS: Part of it is there are so many more hats to wear, so many more regulations and hoops to jump through. The stipends don’t even remotely cover the time spent so in many places coaches simply can’t afford to do it. The passion is still there but it is harder for guys today. When you roll in parents and social media it can really be difficult. Social media is rough, parents see others getting scholarships and think their kid should be getting one too. You also don’t have the administration that sticks by the coach the way you did in the past.

Question: Looking ahead, what do you see as some of the challenges facing high school football in the future?

MS: The very elite programs are getting stronger and leaving the others behind. In CA and nationally, there is a tier of teams that almost needs to just play each other to make it fair but then it becomes something that is not high school football. The transferring has been a conversation piece for years but seems so easy and prevalent now. NIL will trickle down to high school. Reclassification really started during Covid but has also taken off. The biggest issue to me is that more power is being taken from high school coaches through all these outside influences. This is really a detriment to high school sports and is causing good coaches to walk away. I don’t know if we are there yet but it I feel it is pulling in that direction.

The Business of Coaching

As a lifetime teacher (since 1991) and coach (since 1988), high school football and education have always been a way of life for me. I never thought of coaching as a business but rather a vocation of sorts in which the rewards were not necessarily monetary but could be life-changing for both our athletes as well as those that coach them. When my oldest son joined the coaching ranks this past year with the Green Bay Packers, it really caused me to reflect on the business that he is now entering. While coaching at the professional level is obviously quite different than coaching in high school, Sean entering the coaching ranks made me reflect on the challenges and rewards of being a coach.

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