Football 101. Michael Ashley
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time- bail out of bounds, or take your whipping like a man. Too late, the defense has made his decision for him. The next second and a half will not be pretty.
The whistle blows, and the 7 seconds of violence and chaos are over, the battle is done for now, but in 30 seconds it will all happen again.
Defense
“My advice to defensive players: Take the shortest route to the ball and arrive in a bad humor.”
-Bowden Wyatt/Tennessee
The job of the defense is simple: Stop the offense. There are many different ways to skin that cat but we will choose one that has worked for us.
It doesn’t matter is you are in a 5-3, 4-4, 3-5. It doesn’t matter if you run a “Jam and contain”, “Trap and kill”, or “Attack and destroy”, the most important thing about defense is tackling. You must be in the right place at the right time and tackle well. The rest is all opinion.
In the ”Defense” chapter of this book we will lay out the defense we run. We are not saying it’s better than the others, but it has won in over 90% of the games we have played over the past 17 years.
Football Games
Football games are events; they are destinations, mini vacations, they are Christmas and 4th of July wrapped into one. They are a community event and the topic of conversation for the entire week. During the game, fans, players and coaches experience the bucket list of emotions: excitement, fear, anger, determination, frustration, pleasure, thrills and in the end, ultimate satisfaction for one and devastating defeat for the other.
How important is a football game?
In 2002 the Washington area was terrorized by a sniper randomly shooting people at gas stations, schools, and parking lots. Every sport in the area was shut down and schools were paralyzed. Not football. Practice continued in people’s back yards under the watchful eyes of the parents. Our commissioner, Mark Meana, called the local Army base commander for help. The US Army allowed the parents and coaches to paint 16 fields on their parade ground and around the base. Under the watchful eye of armed soldiers and Army K9 units, the league played 240 games over the weekend. That’s how important football games are.
If a sniper can’t stop us, a little snow removal is no problem
Show Time
To demonstrate the application of the a long term plan, rules and startegies, we will follow the 2010 Vienna Steelers as they attempt to defend their National Championship utilizing the rules, drills, plays and strategies in this book. The pictures, videos and stories will bring the season to life.
How Did You Get Here?
This was the night of the big championship win. Some nights are better than others.
The question my son asked in the car was simple enough, but the answer was a monster and would keep me awake for months.
Here are the four things that have helped give us long-term success:
1 Passion. If you are doing something you love, you can work unlimited hours.
2 A solid organization that has support systems and a record of success.
3 Successful coaches/mentors who taught us. You don’t have to invent the wheel, just learn how to make it work.
4 We developed our own plan that lays out the “What” and the “How” based on the our experience and information.
NOTE: Do not confuse long term success with short term success. Short term success is LUCK. Luck is being born on third and GOD throws a curve ball in the dirt allowing you to walk home on the pass ball. Luck is seductive, luck is temporary, luck makes people take shortcuts and risks. You can’t make a living on luck. You need luck- luck is nice to have- but you cannot depend on it.
The Path to Long-Term Success
There is satisfaction in knowing you were prepared, you fought the fight against a worthy opponent, you gave it your all and achieved your goal.
Long-term success means knowing you can do it again!
Passion
Finding your passion is job one. If you are trying to figure out what your passion is, here is the test:
What are you thinking when you go to sleep?
What are you thinking about at 4 in the morning?
What do you live to do?
What can you do for hours and still want more?
What makes you run through walls?
What is your favorite topic of conversation?
That’s your passion. Find it, follow it.
The Organization
It is always best to start at the begining. No team, at any level, in any sport, can achieve long-term success unless it has a solid foundation from an organization with clear rules and support systems that allow its teams to evolve and flourish.
I was LUCKY enough to have been born into one of this country’s premier youth football organizations: Vienna Youth Inc. At its inception, V.Y.I. consisted of a football coach, a corporate CEO, a financial guy, a sporting goods guy, 10 “football moms” and a ton of Vienna parents who wanted football in our town. It has evolved into an organization today with a National reputation.
They established By-laws, a corporate structure base, and support systems that work to run the organization effectively to this day:
Ways and Means/Fundraising
Ongoing training for coaches and team moms
Top-of-the-line equipment and training on how to use it
Solid communications of who is doing what
A Coaches Selection Committee of one individual
A Coaches Conduct Committee of one individual
Experienced coaches mentoring younger coaches
Inflow of former players becoming coaches
Solid non-Dad coaches who lend long term stability to the organization
End of season awards banquets for current players
Hall