Coaching Management 14.10

Coaching Management VOL. XIV NO. 10

FOOTBALL

POSTSEASON

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Coaches’ Philosophies

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Pilates for Linemen

SQUEEZE PLAY Scoring with the tight end

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Circle No. 100

Coaching Management Football Edition Postseason 2006

CONTENTS

Vol. XIV, No. 10

2 LOCKER ROOM

35

25 COVER STORY

Bulletin Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Players need college degree for new pro league … State-wide random drug testing comes to New Jersey high schools … Two title games proposed for NCAA Division II … H.S. coach receives okay to recognize player-led prayers …

Using video games as a teaching tool …

Web sites raise concerns.

Squeeze Play

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PROFESSIONAL GROWTH

Going Deep

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STRENGTH & CONDITIONING

Even after more than 280 wins and 50 seasons, Ron Stolski, Head Coach at Brainerd (Minn.) High School, is still learning about football and coaching.

Want to reduce injuries to your linemen while improving agility? California (Pa.) did just that, thanks in part to a core strengthening program built on Pilates.

Publisher Mark Goldberg Editor-in-Chief Eleanor Frankel Associate Editor Dennis Read Assistant Editors R.J. Anderson, Kenny Berkowitz, Nate Dougherty, Abigail Funk, Greg Scholand, Laura Smith Art Director Pamela Crawford Photo Research Tobi Sznajderman Business Manager Pennie Small Special Projects Dave Wohlhueter

25

Highly successful coaches in three different sports take time out to explain their winning coaching philosophies.

Q&A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIP SOLUTIONS . . 46 PRODUCT LAUNCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 UNIFORMS & APPAREL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 TEAM EQUIPMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 TECHNOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 FOOTBALL FACILITIES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 POWER RACKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 STRENGTH TRAINING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 MORE PRODUCTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 ADVERTISERS DIRECTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

18

As part-time blockers and part-time receivers, tight ends need to succeed in both roles. Coaches talk about how they train and use this football hybrid.

Line Up With Pilates

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35

HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPIONS

Green Machine

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44

With three Texas state titles in four years, Carroll High School has made championship wins a holiday tradition.

On the cover: Missouri tight end Martin Rucker catches a touchdown pass. In “Squeeze Play” on page 18, coaches share their thoughts on preparing players for this important position.

Marketing Director Sheryl Shaffer Marketing/Sales Assistant Danielle Catalano Circulation Director Dave Dubin Circulation Manager John Callaghan Production Director Don Andersen Assistant Production Director Jim Harper Production Assistant Jonni Campbell Prepress Manager Miles Worthington IT Manager Julian Cook Administrative Assistant Sharon Barbell

Advertising Sales Associates Diedra Harkenrider, (607) 257-6970, ext. 24 Rob Schoffel, (607) 257-6970, ext. 21 Ad Materials Coordinator Mike Townsend Business and Editorial Offices 31 Dutch Mill Rd., Ithaca, NY 14850 (607) 257-6970, Fax: (607) 257-7328 info@MomentumMedia.com Mailing lists for Coaching Management Football are provided by the Clell Wade Coaches Directory.

The Coaching Management Football edition is published in November and April by MAG, Inc. and is distributed free to college and high school coaches in the United States and Canada. Copyright © 2006 by MAG, Inc. All rights reserved. Text may not be reproduced in any manner, in whole or in part, without the permission of the publisher. Unsolicited materials will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Coaching Management is printed

by Banta Publications Group, Kansas City, MO. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Coaching Management, P.O. Box 4806, Ithaca, N.Y. 14852.

Printed in the U.S.A.

COACHING MANAGEMENT

1

LOCKER ROOM BULLETIN BOARD New Pro League Requires Degree By spring, the professional football job market could be a little bigger for college graduates. Former NCAA President Cedric Dempsey is leading a high-powered charge to launch the All-American Football League (AAFL), which will take only players who have graduated and completed their college eligibility. Franchises will be located in college towns from major conferences such as the ACC, SEC, and Big Ten. The league has already secured facility-usage rights from the University of Florida and the University of Tennessee.

to play in the NFL, it gives them a chance to hone their skills and be looked at,” says Dempsey. “For those who want to continue their education, they’ll be situated in a community where that can be facilitated.

“For those athletes who have not been drafted or who aren’t on an NFL roster, I think the

watching those players after they graduate. “I think there will be the opportunity for the host institution to have 15 to 20 players on the team, and we anticipate most of the other players will come from the host school’s league or other schools in that region,” says Dempsey, adding that NCAA Division II and III players will also be eligible. “We would like the teams

The AAFL hopes to tap into the fanatical followings of today’s major college programs by giving boosters and supporters the opportunity to watch their team’s players continue their playing careers. The universities will also benefit, as each franchise will pay $500,000 per game to rent out the host institution’s stadium. And the school will keep all monies earned from concessions and parking.

“We’re estimating that schools can make between three and five million dollars depending on parking and concessions,” says Dempsey, Board Chairman and Acting Commissioner of the AAFL. “And the institution really has nothing to lose because we’re paying the stadium rental fees up front.”

“There aren’t many jobs that will pay grads $100,000 right out of school. And if they aspire

AAFL will be a more attractive option than the European league and offer more of a traditional football structure than the Arena League,” he continues. “The schools have also expressed considerable support for our graduation requirement because it will add to the incentive for studentathletes to graduate, which will help APR scores.”

Dempsey says the AAFL is banking on the popularity of host-school players, and their supporters’ eagerness to keep

to have regional representation and keep as many players near home as possible.”

Franchises will sell for two to three million dollars, though the league will set the payroll for players and coaches to control spending. “Identifying potential franchise owners and securing finances is our next step,” says Dempsey, who is working closely with potential host schools to locate owners, who will be responsible for making operational decisions, including selecting coaches for

For more information on the AAFL, go to: www.allamericanfootballleague.com.

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COACHING MANAGEMENT

N.J. Begins Steroid Testing New Jersey isn’t the first state to consider it, but it is the first to take the plunge. This fall, the Garden State began random testing for performanceenhancing drugs in high school athletes in all championship sports, following an executive mandate by former Acting Governor Richard Codey.

To carry out the testing plan, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) has contracted Drug Free Sport in Kansas City, Mo., the same company that conducts drug tests for the NCAA and minor league baseball.

About five percent of studentathletes whose teams qualify for postseason play will be randomly selected for testing. Roughly 10,000 athletes qualify for the postseason in the state’s 31 championship sports, so about 500 students will be tested this year.

Codey based his mandate on the report of a task force created in July 2005 to study steroid use in young athletes.

The task force’s 18 members included high school administrators, professors of sports psychology and orthopedic surgery, and coaches. In December, the group recommended a series of steps, including random testing, to address what it perceived as a serious problem.

“We looked at the statistics first,” says Bob Baly, Assistant Director of the NJSIAA and a member of the task force.

“About three percent of high school seniors nationwide admit to having used steroids, and there’s evidence that the real number is closer to five or

COURTESY ALL -AMERICAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Dempsey says the league will feature six to eight teams playing a 10- to 12-week schedule beginning in April. Games will be played using NCAA rules and 44 to 46 players will comprise each franchise’s roster with nearly every player earning a six-figure salary.

Former NCAA President Cedric Dempsey announces the formation of the new All-American Football League, which he is helping to launch. The spring league will pay six-figure salaries to its players, who must have completed their college eligibility and earned a degree.

their teams. “In most cases, we see franchise owners being supporters of the institution— and through the stadium rental fees, they’ll be indirectly helping the institution they love.”

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Circle No. 101

LOCKER ROOM BULLETIN BOARD that offer the maximum allotment of 36. The proposal would create the Freedom Division for teams awarding 18 to 36 full-time equivalencies and the Liberty Division for teams offering fewer than 18. The number of teams advancing to the postseason would remain at 24, with 16 in the Freedom Division and eight in the Liberty Division.

Former Acting Governor Richard Codey signs an executive order to begin random drug testing of New Jersey high school athletes.

Approximately five percent of student-athletes who qualify for postseason play, including football players, are being tested for performance-enhancing substances under the mandate. six percent. We have about 240,000 athletes in New Jersey, so it’s not hard to do the math.”

well as ramped up educational efforts for coaches, athletic trainers, and school nurses.

The task force also noted that many student-athletes say steroids are very easy to come by. “They told us all you have to do is type in the right words on the Internet or know the right people around school,” Baly says.

This spring, Florida almost joined New Jersey in testing high school athletes, after the state legislature allocated $200,000 for a testing program to begin in 2007. But the plan was nixed when Governor Jeb Bush cut that funding from the state budget.

The tests will look for about 80 banned substances in all, ranging from amphetamines to steroids. Any athlete who tests positive will immediately be declared ineligible for 365 days. The governor’s office gave the NJSIAA a $50,000 grant to pay for this year’s testing, but the association has not decided how future tests will be paid for.

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COACHING MANAGEMENT

Come 2009, more than one football team could be hoisting an NCAA Division II national championship trophy. A proposal to create two championship subdivisions has been introduced by the Division II Football Task Force and will be voted on at the 2007 NCAA Convention in January.

If passed, the proposal would allow schools offering fewer football scholarships the chance to compete for a national title without having to face traditional powerhouses

NCAA Division II Vice President Mike Racy says the proposal is a good alternative to the always-contentious idea of reducing scholarships.

“Schools that want to continue offering 36 scholarships could, but if there are schools that can’t be competitive in the sport with the number of scholarships they offer, a second championship opportunity would be available,” he says.

To counteract that approach, the Presidents Council is considering requiring a twothirds vote instead of a simple majority to approve any change to scholarship limits in the future. If the vote-margin change is approved, the issue of addressing parity in Division II football could be put to rest even if the split championship vote fails. “It would certainly reduce the likelihood that we’ll see future scholarshipreduction proposals unless there’s a groundswell of overwhelming support,” Racy says.

The dual-championship proposal could see substantial changes before it faces a vote.

Racy says several teams in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference—which allows a maximum of 24 scholarships—are concerned they would have to reduce scholarships to be allowed to play at the lower level and may move to have the Liberty Division cap raised.

The idea is not to fracture Division II, says Charles Ambrose, President of Pfeiffer University and chair of the Division II Presidents Council. Rather, he equates it to how Division I-A has different bowl games.

“With the range of equivalencies and scholarship limits in place across Division II,” Ambrose says, “the structure proposed by the task force would provide an equitable fit.”

What might be other ramifications of the rule? Racy says the split could attract more schools from Division III and the NAIA to compete in Division II’s lower level. It could also lead to a shake-up of conferences within Division II as schools seek to align themselves with others playing for the same championship. The legislation would require conferences to decide by Sept. 1, 2008, whether to play in the Freedom or Liberty Division.

There is concern among administrators that if the balance issue is left unresolved, the matter of creating an equal playing field could loom over Division II football, and scholarship-reduction proposals will keep popping up.

“If this proposal doesn’t go through, some administrators say they’ll propose another reduction in scholarships,”

Would the Division II national championship hold the same meaning if both a national powerhouse and a small, upstart program can claim it?

Bob Boerigter, Athletic Director at Northwest Missouri State University and a member of the task force, admits that creating two divisions could create a perception of a devalued achievement, but doesn’t

AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS

While the mandatory testing plan has drawn the most attention, it isn’t the only way New Jersey is addressing performance-enhancing substance use by high school athletes. The task force will also implement a steroid education plan for the state’s elementary and middle schoolers, as

Two Divisions for Division II?

The proposal comes in the wake of a 2005 attempt to reduce the maximum number of scholarships allowed from 36 to 24. Though the vote was defeated by a 2-to-1 margin, it spurred discussion about what could be done to bring parity to Division II football and eventually led to the creation of the Division II Football Task Force.

Ambrose says. “Then, football could become this persistent cloud that hangs over the identity of the entire division.

That is not healthy.”

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LOCKER ROOM BULLETIN BOARD around each other 24 hours a day for four days, you can get a little sick of each other. This was a great way to deal with that.”

Rather than relying on a video game, college programs with larger budgets can buy a system designed especially for their team. The Pro Simulator, a $250,000 program designed

by GridIron Technologies, allows players to get a look at the defense or offense they’re going to face without setting foot on the field. Quarterbacks using the system, for instance, must identify blitzers and front calls before the ball can be snapped, then recognize defensive shifts and choose which receiver to throw the ball to.

The NCAA Division II football playoffs could soon have a new look. Voters at the NCAA Convention in January will consider a measure that would establish two Division II title games, one for schools offering up to the maximum of 36 scholarship equivalencies and one for those offering 18 or fewer.

Above, Grand Valley State beat Northwest Missouri State, 21-17, in the 2005 championship game. buy into the theory. “If you look at a high school model where some states award five state championships for basketball, the smallest school that wins is just as proud as the largest school,” he says. “In the end, a national championship is a national championship, and has tremendous value to those who have won it.”

For an article on past proposals to reduce the maximum number of NCAA Division II football scholarship equivalencies from 36 to 24, go to: www.

AthleticSearch.com, and type “Division II votes” in the search window.

Ask some football coaches about video games and you’ll probably hear plenty of grumbling. Common complaints range from the way games encourage flashy “me first” displays to how they keep kids inside the house and on

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COACHING MANAGEMENT

Other coaches, however, have embraced video games and are taking advantage of players’ familiarity with them to help teach the game. Some use a $40 video game available at the mall while others count on a quarter-million dollar custom-designed system. Either way, the idea is the same: Use technology to teach familiar concepts.

Over the past few years, Mark Mortarelli, Assistant Head Coach at Natick (Mass.) High School, has noticed many of his players have an improved understanding of complex defensive schemes. For these players, he says learning the concepts has less to do with what coaches teach on the field and more with how they beat their friends at Madden NFL 2007.

“It’s unbelievable how much these kids know,” Mortarelli says. “When I started coaching 10 years ago, kids didn’t know the difference between

cover 2, cover 3, and prevent defenses. Now they recognize defenses because they use them in video games and we don’t have to spend as much time explaining and teaching those sets.”

But Mortarelli’s use of the game goes beyond Xs and Os. He says nearly every player owns and understands the game, and some of its terminology has even become a motivational staple for the team. “We give out a ‘Hit Stick’ award, which is based on the controller you use to make a big hit in the game,” Mortarelli says. “We give ‘Hit Stick’ Tshirts to players who get one in games, and they’re so proud that they wear it to school the next day.”

During the program’s summer camp, the game becomes a bonding tool between players and coaches. One rainy afternoon, coaches set up a tournament for fun and camp bragging rights.

“There’s no substitute for live reps, but it can really be beneficial for the third quarterback or one who is new to the offense,” Koetter says. “Rudy Carpenter, a redshirt freshman who came off the bench to lead the nation in pass efficiency in 2005, learned to make better and quicker reads using the simulator.”

“We had down time, so we had the kids play each other,” Mortarelli says. “When you’re

One of the best parts about the simulator is how it’s always available, Koetter says. Play-

TREVOR BROWN, JR./NCAA PHOTOS

A New Type of Video Study

the couch instead of running around outside.

The system was created by Arizona State University alumnus Jason Sada with help from former ASU Assistant Coach Mark Helfrich, now an Assistant Coach at the University of Colorado. It looks and plays like a video game, controlled by a hand-held joystick and viewed on a computer screen. But beneath the surface, the simulator is far more detailed than any commercial sports video game. Programmers design each player with painstaking detail, and include every play in the team’s playbook, as well as opponents’ defensive alignments. After more than a dozen meetings, the developers sold ASU Head Coach Dirk Koetter on the benefits of the system, especially for training quarterbacks who don’t take many snaps in practice.

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LOCKER ROOM BULLETIN BOARD ers recovering from injuries can get a feel for real-game experiences without risking further injuries. It also keeps players sharp during the offseason.

“These guys are going to be playing video games anyway, it might as well make them better in their own system,” Koetter says.

The technology is catching on, as 15 colleges are currently using the system. Helfrich brought it with him to Colorado, and the University of Maryland uses it to teach pass routes to both quarterbacks and receivers.

Prayer Case Still in Court A year ago, Marcus Borden was in the middle of a court battle over what a coach is allowed to do during studentled team prayers. The East Brunswick (N.J.) High School Head Coach challenged a directive from his school’s administration that he could no longer recognize or participate in team prayers. In July, a U.S. District Court judge cleared Borden to recognize playerinitiated team prayer, but his court appearances are not over.

The school board has since filed an appeal, which likely will not be heard for a year.

The case started in fall 2005 after the East Brunswick

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AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS

Arizona State University quarterback Rudy Carpenter was the 2005 NCAA Division I-A passing efficiency leader as a redshirt freshman after using a computer simulator to help him learn to make better and quicker reads of opposing defenses.

Koetter predicts the technology will one day be part of every team’s training arsenal, leading to more advances in future simulators. “It wasn’t long ago that all teams were using 16mm film. Then we went to VHS, and now every-

one is using digital editing,” he says. “I think this will go in the same direction.”

school district fielded complaints and the threat of a lawsuit from parents for allowing Borden to lead prayers at team dinners and in the locker room before games. In October, the district superintendent told Borden he could no longer lead or participate in prayer with his team. Borden consequently resigned his position. But he reconsidered after receiving legal advice and was back at the helm 10 days later. He filed suit in November asking the district

acknowledge player-led prayer by standing and bowing his head or taking a knee with his team, but he wasn’t permitted to lead a prayer. In arguing the case, Borden’s attorney, former dean of the Seton Hall University Law School, Ron Riccio, made it clear that the coach was not asking to be able to lead prayers for his athletes. Instead, if a prayer was initiated by a student, Borden wanted the right to acknowledge it. By allowing the coach to acknowledge a

Although the decision is not binding in any other jurisdiction, it may help clarify the issue. “This case provides some clarification on a national level as to what coaches can do when their players want to pray,” Riccio says. “That’s what this case was all about. This wasn’t a coach ordering his players to pray. This was about the players wanting to pray, and the coach finding out what he could do with them.”

Borden told Coaching Management it hasn’t been easy dealing with the sometimes negative media attention, but declined to comment further because of the pending appeal. “He’s trying to insulate his players the best he can,” Riccio says. “He’s doing his job as a coach and keeping them focused on being successful student-athletes.”

Riccio doesn’t expect a ruling from the appellate court for at least nine to 12 months. In the meantime, the district court’s original decision stands, and Borden was able to bow his head or kneel with the team to acknowledge his players’ prayers this season.

Making Friends With Facebook Marcus Borden, right, leaves the courthouse with his attorney, Ron Riccio, after finding out that he would be allowed to recognize student-led team prayers this season. Borden had filed suit claiming that his school district had improperly barred him from acknowledging such prayers by bowing or taking a knee.

HOME NEWS TRIBUNE/JOE MCLAUGHLIN

to rescind its policy barring coaches from participating in voluntary team prayer.

Eight months later, in July 2006, a federal district court ruled that Borden could

prayer, the court ruled that actions such as bowing his head or kneeling with members of his team do not constitute endorsement of religion, and thus do not run afoul of the U.S. Constitution.

For an in-depth look at issues surrounding team prayer, visit our Web site at: www.AthleticSearch.com and type “Praying in Public” into the search window to read an article from our sister publication, Athletic Management.

Like many other coaches, Gregg Brandon, Head Coach at Bowling Green State University, had no idea what Facebook was a year ago. Then an anonymous source mailed him copies of pictures from Facebook that showed scantily clad players from his team cavorting with a female in a hot tub.

“My instant reaction was ‘My team is not going to do Facebook,’” he says.

But after thinking about it, Brandon changed course. “It’s out there and I can’t change that,” he says. “So rather than fight against it, I decided to be proactive and learn more about it and how I could use it.”

Brandon created his own Facebook profile page and started a Facebook group called the “10,000 students at Bowling Green football games” club.

“I want to use it to generate student support for the program,” he says. “So I’m going to pump up my team there and show off my program in a positive light.”

In response, more than 18,000 people have requested to become his Facebook “friend.”

“I have student assistants check the site, and it takes them about half an hour each day,” he says. “If I had more time, I’d love to find even more ways to use it. I think it could be a great way to learn about the culture at your school.”

While Facebook may not be familiar to every coach, your players probably know it well.

The site was created to allow college students to network with each other, and it now has more than six million members, with more joining every day.

The site has also broadened its reach with a section for high school students.

Members maintain profiles where they can post personal information, photos, and contact information. Students say it’s a fun and easy way to make new friends and keep in touch with old ones. It is currently one of the most visited Web sites in the country, as is a similar site called MySpace.

In response, most schools have focused on educating athletes about the risks of posting personal information. After showing coaches Facebook pages for randomly selected athletes, administrators at Florida State University told coaches to keep an eye on their players’ pages. “All we really want is for our athletes to protect their privacy and make smart decisions,” says Pam Overton, Associate Director of Athletics at Florida State. “We tell them, ‘If you don’t want to see it on the six o’clock news, don’t put it on Facebook.’”

COACHING MANAGEMENT

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LOCKER ROOM BULLETIN BOARD Brandon takes a similar approach with his players. “We talk to them about what should and shouldn’t be posted there,” he says. “I disciplined the players in the hot tub pictures because they were out of line, and I think that got the message out to the rest of the team that if you aren’t smart about it, it could burn you.

from Kentucky boosters, which violates NCAA recruiting rules.

In another case, a former college athletic administrator pushing for tougher NCAA standards on hazing created a site that includes photos of hazing activities that were originally posted on public picture-sharing sites. Similar shots have been posted on badjocks.com, including pictures of Northwestern University women’s soccer team hazing freshmen players, which led to the suspension of the team and resignation of its coach.

“Sometimes I think they don’t realize that it’s truly the World Wide Web,” Brandon adds.

“They know I’m going to be checking their sites, but they don’t always understand that future employers could be checking them, too.”

In fact, new trouble spots can come from almost any direction. In one case, a Kentucky basketball recruit was besieged by messages on MySpace asking him to join the Wildcats.

Some of the messages came

Like many coaches, Bowling Green Head Coach Gregg Brandon has disciplined players who appeared in compromising pictures posted on the Internet. Brandon also created his own page on Facebook to encourage students to come to Falcons’ home games.

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Circle No. 106

Circle No. 107

Q&A

Ron Stolski Brainerd (Minn.) High School

In 1952, a group of 10-year-old boys who wanted to play football in a Minneapolis park league needed a coach’s name to put on the sign-up sheet. One of the boys suggested his older brother, a 13year-old whose three additional years of experience and wisdom seemed sage-like to them.

Nearly every fall since his name was first scrawled on that sign-up sheet, Ron Stolski has coached young football players in Minnesota. Since 1974, he has coached at Brainerd High School, and his 280 total wins were the most among active 5A coaches in the state as the 2006 season started. He also served as Brainerd’s Athletic

CM: What lessons have you learned during your career?

Stolski: When I was an athletic director, a coach once told me, “A coach’s job is to create and maintain an environment that people want to be a part of.” If you maintain that kind of environment with the kids, that attitude follows them home to their parents and circulates throughout the community. Then everyone wants to be part of what you’re teaching and doing.

Along the way you learn that coaching isn’t defined by winning and losing—it’s about doing things the way you ought to be doing them. That starts with how you spell out your philosophy, a message that needs to be consistent with what the school preaches. We do a number of things that help us develop what we call the “Warrior Way”—a philosophy grounded in respect for the game, the opponents, the officials, and one another.

Our ultimate goal is that when the kids close their locker for the last time, they say to themselves, “This was a great experience.”

How do you make that experience memorable?

I have this romantic notion that kids ought to leave their football experience in the same way they began it. And most kids begin playing football in someone’s backyard, just choosing up sides and throwing a ball around.

So after our season ends, we gather our kids and send the seniors down to our

14

COACHING MANAGEMENT

Director for 25 years before stepping down to focus on his coaching duties.

Earlier this year, he received the American Football Coaches Association’s Power of Influence Award and gave a speech at the AFCA convention in Dallas. He is the Executive Director of the Minnesota High School Football Coaches Association and a past President of the Minnesota Athletic Directors Association.

A strong believer that coaching requires an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and a relentless desire to study the game, Stolski attends as many clinics as he can and even started his own in 1975, the Brainerd Coaching Clinic. In this interview, Stolski talks about disciplining players, getting the most out of clinics, and the dangers of sport specialization.

football field in full gear, and they have one last tackle football game together under the lights. The underclassmen stay behind and talk about the seniors and our tradition, and what the seniors have contributed to the season.

Then we all go down to the field where the seniors are finishing up their game. We have one last stretch together, and the lights are turned off. The only thing lit is the scoreboard with the year, and under the goalposts is one lone tackling dummy.

Mahoney. He got me into the AFCA, which at the time had a very small high school wing. He taught me that you can never gather enough knowledge.

We talk to our kids about what our program is really about, being givers in society and not takers, the role models we know, and life’s lessons we shared together—because for one period of time we were one team with one heartbeat.

Then the seniors line up, and the underclassmen form a circle around them. I call seniors out randomly and they’ll run through the tunnel and make their last hit as a Warrior. It’s a very emotional time. After they finish there’s hugs, handshakes, and tears, and the seniors don’t want to leave.

Who shaped your coaching philosophy?

I had several mentors when I began coaching. One was a coach who at the time held the state record for wins, Tom

Seniors at Brainerd (Minn.)

High School finish their careers with a special game of their own followed by a ceremonial “final hit” in front of all their teammates.

Circle No. 108

One of the best pieces of advice came from my father, a tough man of Polish heritage. One year, he asked how my team was going to be and I said, “Well, next year we’re going to be...” and he slammed his hand down and said, “Ron, no one cares about tomorrow. Coach them today.”

My father and mother were great mentors because they taught me if you want to be a champion, you’ve got to be able to get up and fight one more round.

What was going to the convention like?

You see this overwhelming respect and admiration we have for one another in the coaching profession, no matter what level a person coaches at. As we arrived in Dallas and got in the hotel, everywhere you looked there were people greeting each other with a simple term, “coach.”

A coach is a mentor, a friend, a colleague—someone you compete against.

It’s a connection you don’t often see in other professions.

What advice would you give coaches to get the most out of clinics?

Clinics have changed a lot since I started going. When we were younger coaches,

we were more than willing to listen to Bud Wilkinson or Duffy Daugherty philosophize about football. Now everything is more specialized, and instead of listening to a head coach you hear from the defensive line coach from LSU or the secondary coach from Fordham.

I went to nine clinics last year, and my daughter said, “Don’t you know it all by now?” Yet every place I go, I learn something new. I think young coaches should approach clinics by sitting in front and trying to soak up all the knowledge they can.

You’ve been very critical of athletes who focus on one sport year-round and especially parents who push their children into this type of training. Why do you believe this is bad for athletes?

Specialization in one sport may be helpful if someone is a potential Olympian, but that only applies to one athlete in thousands. That kind of thinking is very skewed and also very expensive. Parents start to think of it as an investment and expect to see a return.

I believe in multiple-interest athletes,

LAST CHANCE!

and kids who sing in the choir, write for the school newspaper, and have a life. In 2004, one million kids played high school football, 58,000 went on to play in college, and only two percent of those will go on to play pro ball. We tell our players’ families their children have a better chance of becoming a brain surgeon than a professional athlete. Too many parents get the idea their son or daughter will be a scholarship athlete, but it’s not usually going to happen that way so we have to keep those unrealistic expectations from skewing our programs.

How has parental involvement changed during your four decades of coaching?

When we opened our classroom doors to parents 25 years ago and asked them to be involved in their children’s school, we also opened ourselves up to other kinds of involvement. I tell our coaches that we’re public servants, and if they don’t want to be treated as one, they should get out of this game.

How has technology changed the way you work?

I really think it’s more problematic than

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Q&A anyone wants to admit. On the one hand, technology helps us prepare, but on the other hand, it creates more stress. Take breaking down film, for example. It is very time consuming, and I’m not sure if it’s making any of us better coaches or the game any different. The game still needs to be played on the field by kids who are physical enough and skilled enough to play.

Thorough preparation is important and technology helps with that preparation, but in terms of adding more and more time demands to a coach’s day, I’m not sure that’s a plus. Coaches who work until they’re exhausted are neither healthy nor good for the sport.

This fall, some of your players were disciplined for a hazing incident where another player was tied to a goalpost.

How do you discipline your players when their behavior gets out of hand?

We first make sure everyone is aware of our position on issues that result in discipline, whether it’s hazing, not showing up to practice, or misbehaving in school.

Expectations need to be explained thoroughly and penalties must be applied

consistently. When incidents do occur, we address them directly and immediately.

How often do you evaluate your approach to things like practice plans, defensive and offensive philosophy, and weight training?

We start every season with this premise: We’re brand new and the kids are brand

years back, as we saw the game changing and evolving, we decided we needed to evolve. We remained an option team, but began initiating the offense from a shotgun formation. I can remember one opposing coach saying, “They won’t stay in it. That was just for one game.” Well, we’re still in it, and we have rival coaches who have also adopted it.

“The evaluation of everything we do is constant, and that’s fed by the knowledge we gain at clinics and through experience ... Ultimately, I believe change is inevitable, and you need to manage change or it manages you.”

new. We take nothing for granted and start from scratch. Because our staff has been together a long time, we think we have a proven system of doing things, but that doesn’t mean we’re afraid to try new ideas.

For example, we’ve had great success as a wishbone team since the mid-’80s. A few

The evaluation of everything we do is constant, and that’s fed by the knowledge we gain at clinics and through experience.

There are some things we do that are proven, and we don’t change just for the sake of change. But ultimately, I believe change is inevitable, and you need to manage change or it manages you.

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COVER STORY

As part-time blockers and part-time receivers, tight ends need to succeed in both roles. Here, coaches explain how they train this football hybrid and use it to pressure opposing defenses.

A

TRINITY PRESBYTERIAN HIGH SCHOOL IN MOBILE, ALA., the tight end is not just the bookend of the offensive line’s strong side. There, tight ends play a key role in the offense and were the catalyst for a recent state championship.

While winning the Alabama Class 4A title in 2003, Trinity’s offense was led by 6’5”, 240-pound junior Tommy Trott, who racked up 1,153 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns from the tight end position. Trott, then a high school All-American and now a redshirt freshman at Auburn University, has the rare combination of size, speed, smarts, and hands that coaches dream about.

Having a player with Trott’s superior skills package at the position is an obvious boon for a coach. But even for those coaches whose tight ends are not as physically gifted, the nature of the position—a player who is generally bigger than defensive backs and faster than linebackers—usually leads to mismatches any offensive coordinator can take advantage of.

T

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COACHING MANAGEMENT

BY R.J. ANDERSON

The key to utilizing this weapon falls on coaches, who must look within their playbook to generate opportunities that exploit a tight end’s physical advantages.

With a plan in place, the next challenge is teaching your tight ends how to effectively operate within the offense, which means coaching their blocking, catching, and route-running skills. Because tight ends are part receiver and part lineman, finding time during practice to teach the nuances of each skill can be a challenge for any coaching staff—especially those that don’t have an assistant dedicated to tutoring the team’s tight ends throughout practice.

Taking Advantage Before any teaching can begin, coaches need to evaluate the talents of their tight ends and decide how they fit into the offensive scheme. At the University of Maryland, getting the ball to the tight end has long been an offensive priority. The most recent reason was Vernon Davis, who led the Terrapins in receiving in 2004 and 2005 and was a 2006 firstround draft pick of the San Francisco 49ers. Taken sixth overall, Davis was the

highest selected tight end in NFL draft history.

Ray Rychleski, Tight Ends Coach and Special Teams Coordinator at Maryland, says the Terrapins first identify opportunities for the tight ends to use their talents within the confines of the playbook.

“As you begin to understand the talent you have at tight end, you devise plays to take advantage of it,” he says. “For instance, with Vernon Davis, we used a lot more pass plays than we have with other tight ends. And most of those pass plays were down the field so we could utilize his speed.”

Maryland has regularly counted on contributions from its tight ends.

Rychleski estimates that the Terrapins use at least one tight end for 95 percent of their offensive plays and go to two tight ends for more than half of their plays. They even line up with three tight ends in some short-yardage sets.

“We have two different types of tight ends,” he says. “We have a ‘posse’ tight R.J. Anderson is an Assistant Editor at Coaching Management. He can be reached at: rja@MomentumMedia.com.

The University of Missouri placed two tight ends, including Martin Rucker (right), on the watch list for the 2006 John Mackey Award, given to the nation’s most outstanding tight end.

COVER STORY

end—a pass-catching tight end who is more of an H-back. Then we have a ‘kings’ tight end, who is a bigger, traditional run-blocking tight end. Knowing that, we try to use two different body types to fill those positions. They each have their own role, but they also have to be somewhat versatile. The posse tight ends still have to be able to block, and the kings tight ends have to be able to catch a pass from time to time.

“Although some guys fill one spot better than the other, we teach them all how to play both,” adds Rychleski. “We do a lot of different things with our tight ends, and the more they learn, the better chance they have to get on the field.”

Fortunately, drawing up plays for and getting the ball to a tight end is probably easier than for any other offensive position. “It’s easier because you’re usually getting the best coverage mismatch,” Tuley says. “A lot of times, the other team throws a linebacker or a not-so-strong cover safety on him. We even put Tommy in motion to move him to the side of the field where we could better create mismatches and get him the ball.”

A big guy with plenty of speed, Trott was a matchup nightmare for most defensive backs and linebackers. “We tried to get him in man coverage as often as possible and that gave us a lot of options,” says Tuley. “The route

At Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), the Engineers boast one of the best tight ends in NCAA Division III. At 6’4”, 245 pounds, senior Jon Branche is a two-time All-American who figures heavily in the team’s running and passing schemes. “We’re basically a zone run team, but when we get to the goal line we run a power game, so our tight ends need to be able to get dirty,” says Pat DelMonaco, Offensive Coordinator at RPI. “When we get big near the goal line, our tight ends may have to block defensive tackles or defensive ends on their own. And they have to be able to move the pile forward.”

Despite RPI’s propensity to run the ball near the goal line, Branche has over 30 career touchdown receptions—a school record. “He is a player we try to match up against a linebacker as often as we can,” says DelMonaco. “We get him the ball mostly off of play-action passes where he can find a seam and get vertical.”

Jim Tuley, Assistant Coach at Trinity, says it’s extremely important to utilize a good tight end’s skills—even if it means calling their number a certain number of times each game. “You have to design your offense so they get the ball,” says Tuley. “We actually charted our games to make sure Tommy touched the ball a minimum number of times.”

he caught the most was the fade stop, because he was great at getting his body between the defender and the ball. And with his speed, he was very successful running the skinny post right down the middle. Before every game, we would decide how many times and where we wanted to throw him the ball.”

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Fitting In Fundamentals Because tight ends are a hybrid requiring two largely unrelated skill sets and practices can last only so long, finding enough time to train basic skills can be problematic. After all, tight ends don’t operate in a vacuum. They have to be able to work with the rest of the offensive line to form a choreographed blocking unit while at the same time learning passing routes and developing timing with the quarterback.

Plus, few staffs are able to dedicate an assistant coach to just the tight ends, so coaches have to divide their attention as well. While it can be a difficult position to learn and teach, a comprehensive evaluation of the position’s needs, combined with an efficient practice plan, can be just the recipe for getting the most out of your tight ends.

The equation for developing a tight end practice plan is simple: If your team passes the ball more often than it

runs, tight ends are better served spending more time practicing catching and route-running skills. And if you have more of a running team, the tight end should probably spend more time working on his blocking skills and jelling with the offensive line. But unless you never run or never pass, it’s vital that tight ends spend time practicing both roles.

At RPI, DelMonaco trains his multitalented tight end by having him spend more time in receiving drills than in blocking drills. RPI’s tight ends spend 15 minutes of each practice working on blocking with the offensive line and 25 minutes doing receiving drills, which means DelMonaco has to maximize the time his tight ends have with the line.

“In our three-day schedule of tight ends working with the offensive line, the first day we’ll focus on the fundamentals of the drive-block technique for that 15-minute period,” DelMonaco says. “The next day, by the time the tight ends come to us, the offensive line has already completed their drive blocking and punch drills, and we’ll work on all of the run-block combinations that involve the tight ends. Then on the third day, we work against the defensive line on all of our running and pass protection plays.”

Operating out of a spread formation, the University of Missouri’s tight ends are flexed and do not usually release from a three-point stance. That means they must learn how to make many of their blocks a little further downfield than the rest of the linemen. “We do a drill where I stand between two coaches who are holding tackling bags,” says Bruce Walker, Missouri Tight Ends Coach and Special Teams Coordinator.

“The players run at me full speed, and I quickly tell them which direction to go, then they break down and engage the coach holding the bag. That forces them to move, keep their feet apart, get their hips down, then engage in a block on their feet.”

Though the team spends most of its time in a spread formation, Missouri does run about 10 plays a game that require the tight ends to operate out of a three-point stance. “We don’t use those tight formations very often. Still, we spend a lot of time teaching our tight ends how to come off the line in a three-point stance because when we run those plays in games, it’s usually during very important short-yardage

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COVER STORY

W

ith two different skill sets to master, a tight end’s learning process is never complete. At the University of Maryland, it begins in the film and position meeting rooms and culminates on the practice field.

“In football, you learn by doing three things: First, by drawing it up on the board; second, by going through it slowly during a walk-through; and third, by going through it at full speed,” says Ray Rychleski, Tight Ends Coach and Special Teams Coordinator at Maryland, who has sent three tight ends to the NFL in the last five years. “We incorporate all three into our practices.”

Maryland’s on-field tight end training starts with individual sled and cage drills to work on blocking techniques and staying low. After that, they move to one-on-one run-blocking, passblocking, and route-running drills.

Tight ends spend 15 minutes of each practice locked up against the team’s outside linebackers to simulate game situation matchups. “Working four tight ends during that 15 minutes allows for a good number of reps,” says Rychleski. “And by bringing in the outside linebackers, we get good players matched up against other good players.”

TERRAPIN STATIONS

The individual drills start with a run-block segment that lasts five minutes where tight ends work on one-on-one drive blocks, reach blocks, and cutoff blocks. For the five-minute one-on-one pass protection drills, tight ends are charged with not allowing the linebacker to reach a tackling dummy placed in the passing pocket.

“The basic thing we tell them is not to get overextended—‘Keep your head back and time your punch before the linebacker is on you,’” says Rychleski.

For route-running, Rychleski brings in the quarterbacks, who are flanked by two tight ends pitted against linebackers. “The tight ends run a route from one side, then switch sides and run another because they play on both ends of the line during a game,” he says. “In our passing scheme, the tight ends run a lot of outs, digs, posts, and post corner routes. Once we’ve taught them how to do the routes, they work on shaking the defender and getting open.”

After 15 minutes of one-on-one drills, Rychleski and the tight ends progress to two-on-two drills that last for about 10 minutes and vary from day to day. In one typical drill, the tight ends line up with the running backs against the linebackers and safeties. “They’re getting a lot of reps and catching balls in a short amount of time because without any wideouts, the ball either goes to the tight end or the running back,” says Rychleski, who lines up two tight ends in the drill.

A typical two-on-two run-blocking drill pits the tackles and tight ends against the defensive ends and outside or inside linebackers while the quarterbacks and running backs initiate the plays and work on their ball handling. It’s a live drill, but the ball carrier is not tackled.

The next step in the progression is called “skelly,” where the quarterbacks, wideouts, tight ends, and backs run all of the team’s pass routes against the defensive backs and linebackers. Finally, an 11-on-11 matchup featuring the full complement of offensive and defensive players usually ends practice.

“As you can see, we have to bop around and work with a lot of different people at different times,” says Rychleski. “I’m with tight ends all day, and probably spend up to 35 minutes a practice working with them individually before we go to group and team work.”

Circle No. 112

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COVER STORY

situations,” says Walker. “You have to make sure that they’re ready to handle those critical situations, and they need to be ready for the different looks the defense is going to give them.”

Even when doing receiving drills, DelMonaco says it’s important for tight ends playing in traditional offensive sets to practice coming out of a three-point stance. In fact, that’s one of the first skills they concentrate on at the beginning of the season. When practicing releases, RPI tight ends work against the coaching staff, spending two and a half minutes releasing from an up position and two and a half minutes going from a three-point stance. “They’ve got to be able to threaten a defense by stretching the field from a three-point stance,” says DelMonaco.

comfortable on the basketball court,” says DelMonaco. “Understanding and attacking a zone coverage in football is just like playing against a basketball zone defense: If you can find a hole in the zone and post up in basketball, you can do a lot of damage as a tight end.”

Walker agrees. “There’s some carryover to being able to catch a ball with somebody hanging all over you and understanding how to get your body between the defender and the ball,” he says. “Both of my guys were good high

school basketball players and those skills are evident when they take the field.”

Rychleski says Maryland has also had success turning big receivers into tight ends. “It requires a little time commitment to teach them to block,” he says.

“But that type of guy already comes with pass-catching skills, and I can teach him how to block. Those types of players make the position more productive and become weapons because they make big plays by creating mismatches—which is what today’s game is all about.” ■

Complete Package What are the characteristics of a good tight end and where can you find those players? Besides a big body, quick feet, and good hands, successful tight ends usually have something else in common: brains.

“Tight ends have to be pretty smart because they need to know the running and passing game inside and out,” says Walker. “Especially in the passing game, the tight end has to have a good knowledge of coverage schemes and be able to read them on the run. We use a lot of different routes, so it’s really important that they can remember everything and make adjustments on the fly.”

Walker coaches two players, Martin Rucker and Chase Coffman, who are on the 2006 watch list for the John Mackey Award, given to Division I-A’s top tight end. When he’s recruiting, Walker always takes long, hard looks at high school tight ends, even if he does not anticipate that player playing the position in college. “There’s a reason they played tight end in high school—not only do they have the physical tools, but they can also think on their feet,” he says. “I’ve found that high school tight ends often go on to become good college defensive linemen, offensive guards, and linebackers.”

RPI’s Branche was a star tight end in high school, but DelMonaco says, more often than not, his tight ends come from other positions—usually wide receiver. “We start by looking for somebody who has played basketball because a lot of the things we look for on the football field can be found in players Circle No. 113

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COACHING MANAGEMENT

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PROFESSIONAL GROWTH

Al Fracassa, Head Coach at Brother Rice (Mich.) High School, says that his coaching philosophy continues to evolve after 46 seasons, but caring about his players remains at its core.

GOING DEEP SK MOST FOOTBALL COACHES FOR THEIR COACHING PHILOSOPHIES,

Highly successful coaches in three different sports take time out to explain their winning coaching philosophies.

LEON HALIP

BY LAURA SMITH

and you expect to hear about spread formations, controlling the line of scrimmage, and commitment to success. What you don’t expect to hear much about is love or Salada tea bags.

But Al Fracassa isn’t like most football coaches. A member of the Michigan High School Coaches Hall of Fame, he’s won more games than any other football coach in his state and was named the NFL High School Coach of the Year in 1997.

Head coach for more than three decades at Brother Rice High School in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., Fracassa sums

up his coaching philosophy this way: “Above all, make sure you care about your kids, because there is a whole lot of love involved in being a good coach. If you don’t truly care about your players, you will not ultimately be successful. But if you do, your kids will remember it for the rest of their lives.”

Fracassa says his philosophy began with what he learned from his high school coaches and became solidified when he played at Michigan State for head coaches Biggie Munn and Duffy Daugherty. “The coaches made every

Laura Smith is an Assistant Editor at Coaching Management. She can be reached at: ls@MomentumMedia.com.

COACHING MANAGEMENT

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player feel they were a part of the team,” he says. “They were disciplined coaches, but they also cared about each player as a person. I believed at the time—and I still believe—that was the reason we won the national championship in 1952. I’m going back a long way, but that was definitely the beginning of my philosophy.”

What’s your coaching philosophy?

Whether you think about it daily, analyze it once a season, or rarely reflect on it at all, it’s the framework on which your performance is built. Coaches who take the time to clarify and refine their philosophies are rewarded with a roadmap for better decision-making and a deeper, more meaningful experience

for themselves and their athletes.

Here, we ask veteran coaches in different sports to talk about their coaching philosophies. They discuss what their philosophies are, describe how they evolved, and recall the experiences that formed their beliefs in the first place.

An Evolving Process Fracassa says the biggest developments in his coaching philosophy have reflected changes he’s seen in the athletes he coaches. “Years ago, I was tougher in the things I said to athletes,” he says. “But as the culture has changed and the expectations of athletes and their parents have changed, I’ve eased up a lot. I still let

MA KING A S TATEM ENT Along with figuring out your coaching philosophy, consider writing a personal philosophy statement.

Developing a concise, written description of your philosophy will allow you to think about what is important to you and communicate that to others.

When there’s a decision to be made, your philosophy statement will serve as a personal guide to steer you in the right direction. Here is a way to break the task down into a six-step process.

Write a list. The first step is to create a list of everything important to you in life—everything. If family is important to you, list it. If having time to exercise is a priority, list it. How about your professionalism? Winning? Salary? Try to include everything that may impact your daily behavior.

Prioritize your list. Next, prioritize each item on the list: 1 = very important, 2 = somewhat important, and 3 = moderately important. Here’s an example: Family: 1 Influencing students: 1 Success of athletes: 2 Friends: 3

Winning games: 1 Championship titles: 2 Lifelong learning: 1

There is no right or wrong in this process. The items listed and the numbers next to them should reflect your true feelings.

Create the statement. Look at all the #1 items and write a paragraph or more that links them together. If some of the #1 items do not seem to fit what you want to say, it’s okay to leave them out. And you may decide to “upgrade” a few #2 items because they help to define what you are truly about.

Elaborate and add text to bring out what really inspires you on a daily basis.

The following is an example of the opening of a philosophy statement: “I love to learn, and learning inspires me to teach others. Through coaching, I hope to positively influence today’s youth, so they might be good citizens tomorrow.

them know when I don’t like their effort, but I’m more conscious of saying it in a way that’s not going to hurt their feelings.

It’s important to evaluate and adjust your philosophy as times change.”

Although he has six state titles to his credit, winning has dropped in importance as his philosophy has evolved, Fracassa adds. “When I was a young coach, I went into every season thinking we had to win all of our games,” he says.

“But over time I started asking, ‘Is this really what coaching is all about?’ It’s good to teach to win, but what’s most important is that kids are a part of something. The lessons they learn come from being out there every day, not from win-

By Dr. Dennis Docheff

Patience, kindness, and love direct my interactions with athletes. Although I like to win, it is imperative that I do so in a fair and just manner. I believe in doing what’s right.”

Publish it. When people think of publishing, they typically think of books or magazines. But coaches have many avenues to publish their philosophy statement. The simplest way is to place it in a frame and hang it on the office wall or post it in the locker room where athletes can read it. Other ideas include placing it on a Web site, printing it on 3x5 cards you hand out to athletes, and including it in a preseason packet for athletes and parents.

Put it into practice. The most important part of the process is putting the philosophy into action. Try setting one or two monthly goals that are directly related to your philosophy and check your work at the end of each month. Another idea is to create a term “report card,” either on your own or with a mentor to gauge progress toward your larger goals. Or keep a journal, where you write about your daily activities, then reflect on how well your behavior matches your philosophy.

Review it. As people grow and mature, things that were once important in their lives may change and thus their philosophy may change, too. Even if the philosophy statement remains the same from year to year, reviewing the document will refresh your perspective.

Certainly, trying to live out a public philosophy puts pressure on a coach. It takes courage to tell people, “This is what I’m about. Please hold me accountable.” However, writing and reviewing your philosophy will help you coach in a manner that truly represents who you are. And the longer you use it, the more likely you will be to reach your goals.

A version of this sidebar has been published in Athletic Management, Coaching Management’s sister publication.

Dennis Docheff, EdD, is a Professor in the Department of Health and Human Performance at Central Missouri State University and a former football, basketball, and track and field coach.

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ning a state championship, and that’s become my philosophy.”

Throughout his career, having concise phrases to sum up his philosophy has helped Fracassa define what he’s about as a coach. “My high school coach used to say, ‘Do it better than it’s ever been done before,’” he says. “That simple phrase has stuck with me my entire life, and now I use it with my players. I borrowed the phrase, ‘Never give up,’ from Vince Lombardi.

And how about, ‘Contentment with past accomplishments stifles future achievements’? I got that from a Salada tea bag, but it fits into my philosophy.

“If you’re trying to figure out your philosophy, make it simple,” he adds.

“Figure out what you’re about as a coach and put it into simple terms that you can put up on the wall and repeat to yourself.

It helps guide your coaching, and when players come back 10 years later, those are the concepts they still remember.”

evaluate my own performance and be willing to say I’m sorry when I make a mistake. Those are two big elements of my coaching philosophy, and they were formed from that experience.”

Named 2005 Coach of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association, Kibler says another anchor of his philosophy is a focus on the process. “We don’t talk a lot about winning,” he says. “We even keep goal setting to a minimum, because if that’s overemphasized, it can lead to a focus on the outcome. Winning is important—don’t get me wrong—but I believe in working hard and allowing the results to take care of themselves.”

That approach proved itself in 2005, when the team won its third state title under Kibler. By his own evaluation, the team was not his most physically talented, but their desire and mental toughness filled the gaps.

“The mental aspect of my coaching has grown over the years to the point that I give it just as much thought as I do the Xs and Os,” he says. “I’ve learned that confidence, desire, and a willing-

get ranked!

Building Confidence In his 33 years as a baseball coach, one game sticks in Eric Kibler’s mind as

the moment his coaching philosophy was born. The moment isn’t one of glory or triumph—in fact, it’s an experience he’d probably rather forget. Instead he uses it to help him recall what makes him a coach and shape his approach to mentoring his Horizon Hills (Ariz.) High School team.

“I was a very young coach, and I humiliated a kid in front of his teammates,” Kibler says. “He made a mistake, and I shouted at him out on the field. That might not sound like a big deal, but I knew as soon as the words were out of my mouth that it was wrong. I felt terrible.

After the game, I apologized to him and to the entire team. I told them that wasn’t the way a coach should ever act, it wasn’t right, and it wouldn’t happen again. And it hasn’t—I have never done that since.”

That experience helped Kibler define two things about his coaching philosophy. “First, I believe in using the game to build kids up,” he says. “I don’t allow any coach in my program to take away a kid’s dignity, because my biggest goal is for players to leave my program feeling confident. The second is that I will always

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ness to take risks can take a team places no one thought they could go.�

Providing plenty of positive feedback is another way Kibler adds to his players’ confidence. “I make sure to praise the kids whose contributions might go unnoticed,� he says. “If someone on the bench steals a sign, I point out in front

the past, so I’ll get it done today.’ That extends to life off the field, too.�

Kibler presents team rules with the same team-focused approach. “My rule is, ‘If you do anything that takes away from the reputation of this team, it’s a violation of some sort,’� he says. “Having them first think of how their choices will affect the

philosophy. For example, with steroids being such a big topic in the professional ranks, I’ve done a lot of thinking about my philosophy on talking to my players about that. I’ve decided to focus on the message, ‘Integrity is everything.’ “I’m constantly learning and evaluating myself,� he adds. “The final part of my

“Kids need to know that their coach will enforce his rules. Many of them have people in their lives who have a lot of rules but don’t enforce any of them.

My philosophy is to have few rules and enforce them all.� of the team that those are the things that turn the tide in a game. After every game, whether we won big or stunk the place up, I leave them on a positive note.�

Responsibility to team also permeates Kibler’s philosophy. “One of our mottoes is, ‘We’re here to pick each other up, not to show each other up,’� he says. “I stress to my guys that not everybody is going to play a good game every game. It’s their job to say to a teammate who just struck out, ‘It’s okay. You’ve done it for us in

team is a simple way of doing things. “Kids need to know that their coach will enforce his rules,� he adds. “Many of them have people in their lives who have a lot of rules but don’t enforce any of them. My philosophy is to have few rules and enforce them all.�

For Kibler, evaluating his coaching philosophy is an ongoing effort. “I assess it after every season, but really, I’m always tweaking it,� he says. “I take issues that arise as an opportunity to refine my

philosophy is that the day I can’t say I’m doing that—and walking through the gates ready to put in 100 percent—I’ll turn in my keys. That is what I expect of my players, so that is what I expect of myself.�

Three Little Words University of Idaho Head Women’s Basketball Coach Mike Divilbiss has a philosophy that’s distilled into three words: hard, smart, together. Divilbiss freely admits the words are borrowed

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from basketball icon Dean Smith, but he has put his own stamp on the phrase that has come to stand for a very specific way of doing things.

On the basketball court, playing hard translates to putting in maximum effort every day. Playing smart reminds his players to take care of the little things: boxing out for rebounds, making the sure pass, reading defenses properly. And playing together means an athlete understands teamwork—she knows when to pass the ball and when to take it to the basket.

However, “hard, smart, together” extends beyond the court. “It applies to every facet of their lives, and mine too, because I also ask it of myself,” Divilbiss says. “I expect them to play ‘hard, smart, and together’ in the classroom and socially as well. I expect them to extend maximum effort in their schoolwork and to ‘play together’ by helping each other make good decisions in social situations.

“I don’t believe you can be one person in one part of your life and a different person in another part of your life,” he continues. “So my players can’t tell

me they’re going to be a mess academically and then become disciplined and accountable on the court. My philosophy is that we have to build quality people who are ready to make good decisions and give maximum effort on and off the basketball court. ‘Hard, smart, together’ has become shorthand for that.”

Divilbiss also looks at pivotal experiences in his coaching career as opportunities to define his philosophy. One came in his former job as Head Coach at Lewis-Clark State College, when his team was 26-0 and ranked number one in the NAIA, then lost in the conference tournament finals on a half-court shot at the buzzer. “I didn’t get down on the kids, but I didn’t lead,” he says. “I lost my perspective, and I was making it all about the scoreboard. Ever since then, I’ve wished I could have that moment in the locker room back. But evaluating that experience helped me return to who I am and what I believe in.”

Divilbiss’s soul searching resulted in a personal philosophy statement that’s published on Idaho’s athletics Web site.

In place of the usual collection of stats and accolades, the coach’s bio describes how he molds a basketball team into a family and teaches players to handle successes and failures in life. “In the end, I came back to the fact that winning wasn’t the most important thing to me and that success was about much more than the scoreboard,” he says.

Along with pivotal moments, Divilbiss uses his daily experiences and interactions to refine his coaching philosophy.

“I continually ask myself, ‘What does this team need from me?’ I also ask my captains that question and listen carefully to their answers. If I’m adjusting my approach to give them more of what they need, I know I am working from a sound philosophy.

“There’s really no time when I’m not evaluating my philosophy,” he adds.

“It’s synonymous with who I am as a person, and that’s something I think about every day.” ■ A version of this article has appeared in other issues of Coaching Management.

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LINE UP WITH PILATES COURTESY OF CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY OF PA. SPORTS INFO

BY CHRISTINE ROMANI-RUBY, SCOTT BRUCE, AND SARAH SANDER

A

Want to reduce injuries to your linemen while also improving their agility?

California (Pa.) did just that thanks in part to a core strengthening program built on Pilates.

CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, the 2004 football season ended on a sour note. The Vulcans lost four of their last five games to finish 4-7 while sustaining a rash of injuries.

While rehabbing injured players we noticed some of them were deficient in T

core strength, which may have been a contributing factor in their injuries. In response, we suggested the introduction of a core strengthening Pilates program to see if it could reduce injury rates and increase performance.

Pilates is not brand new to football.

Several NFL players, including Ruben Brown of the Chicago Bears, Al Wallace

of the Carolina Panthers, and many of the Oakland Raiders have adopted Pilates as part of their conditioning programs.

We decided to see how it could help an NCAA Division II squad that was coming off a disappointing and injury-plagued year. The results were fewer injuries, increased agility, and the teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first conference title in more than 40 years.

Christine Romani-Ruby is the Academic Clinical Coordinator of Education and an Assistant Professor at California University of Pennsylvania (CUP). She is also co-owner of PHI Pilates. Scott Bruce is former Head Athletic Trainer at CUP and current Assistant Athletic Trainer and Lecturer in the Graduate Athletic Training Program at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. Sarah Sander recently earned her masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree from CUP and now works for Susquehanna (Pa.) Health Systems Sports Medicine.

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STRENGTH & CONDITIONING

Help Up Front We brought the idea of adding a Pilates program to Mike Evans, the team’s strength and conditioning coach and offensive line coach. He agreed that the team needed to increase its core strength and was interested in the program. Because we only had the resources to offer the workouts to 25-30 players, we decided to train just the linemen, who seemed to be the group most in need of the benefits offered by Pilates.

Our first positive results showed up before the season even started as less injuries were seen during preseason camp. In 2004, there were 79 injuries with 156 days lost. Of the 79 injuries, 28 were muscle strains and five were to the lower back. During our 2005 preseason camp, there were 66 injuries accounting for 86 lost practice days, which included 15 muscle strains and only two back injuries. Although this computes to only

from an average of 19.8 to 19.7 seconds.

The results apparently transferred to the field as well. The team went 8-2 for the season, and 5-1 in the Western Division of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, earning a share of the league title. It was Cal’s first football championship since 1984, and its best winning percentage since 1960. Plus, the squad showed endurance it lacked the previous year, winning its final five contests.

gram, we felt it could benefit our players in unique ways. To start, we looked at injury trends in the sport. Among injuries that football players may suffer, hamstring and groin injuries are two of the most debilitating and problematic.

The mildest strain can take players out for weeks or even months. In addition, these injuries are recurrent in nature and tend to linger for long periods.

Pilates has the unique ability to create muscle balance about the pelMixing Pilates & Football vic-hip-lumbar complex. Traditional conPilates is a method of exercise devel- ditioning and rehabilitation programs oped by Joseph and Clara Pilates in the often emphasize one component of musearly 1900s as a study of movement. It cle balance at a time, such as hamstring includes over 500 controlled, multi-fac- flexibility or adductor strength. Pilates eted movements that involve both the exercises are whole-body and functional mind and body. An original student of in nature. They not only create flexibility, Joe and Clara Pilates, Ron Fletcher states but increase strength and endurance in that his mentors stressed the importance the opposing muscles at the same time. of being more aware of and communi- This allows the athlete to use their new cating with the body. Pilates has been a range of motion immediately. This functional movement also encourages an active stretch very similar to the PNF stretching frequently used in Although Pilates exercises will not directly conditioning. affect speed, they do place an emphasis on Another area of concern in footbody control and posture, two important ball athletes is the large number of lumbar and thoracic spine injuelements of agility. The proper posture and ries. It is important for offensive control attained through Pilates maximizes and defensive linemen, especially, the athlete’s efficiency of movement by to have strong oblique muscles optimizing length tension relationships of to withstand the force of impact.

Traditional abdominal crunches opposing muscle groups. can set a player up for injury by creating an imbalance of the abdomia 17 percent drop in injuries, there was a popular conditioning and rehabilitation nal musculature. During a traditional 46.5 percent decrease in the number of method of dancers for a century, and its crunch, the internal oblique and rectus muscle strains and a 45 percent decrease mystique is becoming attractive to com- abdominus muscles become short and in the number of days lost. petitive athletes with a desire to improve strong, while the external oblique elonTo test the program’s effects on performance and prevent injury. gates and the transverse abdominus conagility, we compared the offensive and Because Pilates is based more on an traction is inhibited by an overpowering defensive linemen who participated in Eastern philosophy than a Western way rectus abdominus. the Pilates training against the position of thinking, it requires a little bit of a difEngaging the external oblique with players who did not. The tests used were ferent approach than traditional strength Pilates encourages a more balanced parthe Shark Skill Test (SST) and the Lower and conditioning programs. You can’t ticipation of the abdominal muscles for Extremity Functional Test (LEFT). really label each Pilates exercise as being spinal stabilization. This starts with the The players were first tested prior for either flexibility or strengthening. most basic component of Pilates—breathto the start of their Pilates training and Each movement is about synchronizing ing. To breathe Pilates style, athletes again five weeks later. The SST times the entire body. are directed to inhale by “expanding for the Pilates-trained linemen dropped In addition, repetitions and load are their ribcage laterally,” and on exhalafrom an average of 6.8 to 5.9 seconds, not a measure of success. Exercises flow tion, “draw their navel to their spine while the non-Pilates-trained position and build on one another with a focus on and slide the ribs into the front pockets players’ times dropped from an average body alignment and control. Success is of the pants.” The Pilates method mimof 5.5 to 4.9 seconds. The LEFT results personal and the individual is compared ics a diaphragmatic breath, encouraging showed a drop in time for the Pilates only to their previous performance of expansion of the rib cage on inhalation trained linemen from an average of 23.4 the exercise. and contraction of the deep abdominal to 21.1 seconds. The time for the nonAlthough Pilates is very different than muscles on exhalation. Since exhalation Pilates trained position players dropped a traditional football strengthening pro- is the only way to voluntarily contract the 36

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STRENGTH & CONDITIONING

transverses abdominus, this is an efficient way to train the muscle to engage during certain activities.

Along with injury prevention, we felt Pilates could help increase agility in our athletes. Although Pilates exercises will not directly affect speed, they do place an emphasis on body control and posture, two important elements of agility.

The proper posture and control attained through Pilates maximizes the athlete’s efficiency of movement by optimizing length tension relationships of opposing muscle groups. Emphasis on body control through core strength increases the stability of the spine, which also leads to more efficient and agile movements.

The Program We began the program during our off-season winter conditioning in January. Athletes came in two or three mornings a week for one-hour workouts. The Pilates program was utilized as an adjunct to the regular weightroom and cardiovascular conditioning programs. During the summer, athletes

were given a program to do on their own that included a significant amount of Pilates.

The first step was teaching the athletes how to do Pilates exercises correctly. Form is of utmost importance in Pilates, so early on we taught at a very slow pace. All of the exercises have levels, and we started at the lowest level and went to higher levels as the players showed progress. We also emphasized that the quality of the exercises is more important than the quantity of reps.

A few athletes in the first weeks had such poor core strength that they struggled mightily with some of the remedial exercises, but with time and coaching they were able to do them easily. Feedback from a talented instructor is crucial to gaining the benefits of the Pilates method, so two of us were continually giving the players pointers.

We also spent time teaching the Pilates breathing method. We started every class with a lesson on breathing and incorporated it into each exercise using visual cues and proprioceptive

techniques to help the players improve.

One such technique is to instruct them to expand their ribs to the “east and west” (laterally) when inhaling through the nose and then exhale through the mouth. We also told them to make a “Ha” sound when exhaling—like a song note, and imagine their ribs sliding into the front pockets of their pants.

The actual program consisted of the following exercises. Athletes were given verbal feedback throughout the workout.

Standing Footwork: This exercise is used as a warmup. It strengthens the muscles of the legs and pelvis, increases hip flexibility, strengthens the core, and improves balance.

The athlete begins in the Pilates posture “V” stance (see Figure One on page 38). While maintaining the Pilates “V”, the athlete is instructed to rise up onto his toes as high as possible while still keeping his heels together. The athlete then lowers his back to the ground while maintaining a neutral spine during the entire movement. Maintaining proper

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Pilates posture, the athlete is instructed to perform a plié, bending at the hips and knees (see Figure Two at right). A pole or wall can assist athletes who need balance assistance, especially beginners.

The exercise is repeated eight times.

Breathing Instructions: Inhale when beginning the movement and exhale while performing the movement.

Progression: Combine these two movements and have the athlete do them in reverse order.

Hundred: This exercise is also used as a warmup. It strengthens abdominal muscles and increases spinal flexibility.

The athlete is instructed to lie on his back with arms at his sides and find a neutral pelvis position. The athlete then curls his head and shoulders off the floor to the point just before the neutral pelvis is lost. At the same time, he lifts his legs off the ground, tightening his abdominals. The arms are then moved up and down slowly, initiating movement from the shoulder joints (see Figure Three on page 40). Athletes complete 10 sets of 10 seconds, totaling 100 seconds.

Breathing Instructions: The athlete inhales for a count of five and exhales for a count of five.

Progression: Lift the legs into a tabletop position (hips and knees bent to 90 degrees) prior to initiating the exercise.

It can also be progressed by increasing the repetitions or combining it with other abdominal exercises.

Articulating Bridge: Another warmup exercise, the articulating bridge focuses on core strengthening and lumbar flexibility. It will increase spinal flexibility and strengthen abdominals, lower back muscles, gluteals, and hamstrings.

The athlete begins lying on the mat with feet flat on the floor and knees bent.

Heels should be in line with the ischial tuberosities and arms relaxed at the sides of the body. The athlete is instructed to draw his navel to his spine and begin “peeling” the vertebrae from the floor one at a time, beginning with the tailbone. The movement will end when it reaches the shoulder blades (see Figure Four on page 40). The athlete then returns to the starting position by returning one vertebra at a time to the floor.

The exercise is repeated eight times.

Breathing Instructions: The athlete inhales while preparing for the movement and exhales as he lifts his torso into the bridge position. He inhales 38

COACHING MANAGEMENT

Figure One: Standing Footwork

Figure Two: Standing Footwork with Plié

again at the top of the position and exhales while lowering.

Progression: The athlete can extend one leg prior to starting to bridge, then continue the exercise as described above, maintaining a pelvis level with the leg extended throughout the movement.

Plank: This exercise focuses on core strengthening, stability, and lower-body flexibility. It increases stability and strength of the core, as well as flexibility in the hips.

The athlete starts by kneeling on the mat on all fours. Hands are aligned directly beneath the shoulders, and knees directly beneath the hips. While keeping the shoulders wide and flat, the athlete lifts into a push-up position by placing one leg at a time on the floor behind him. While maintaining body alignment, the athlete extends one leg at a time.

Repeat eight times for each leg.

Reverse Plank: This exercise focuses on core and lower-body strengthening and upper-body flexibility and strengthening. It strengthens the abdominals, as well as the back and hip extensors.

The athlete begins by sitting on the mat with his arms behind him. Weight should be on the hands with fingers pointing at the heels. The athlete then lifts his torso and pelvis into a plank position. The athlete raises one leg at a time without losing proper body alignment. Athletes repeat five extensions with each leg three times.

Breathing Instructions: The athlete inhales to prepare for the movement, exhales as he lifts his torso upward,

inhales again at the top position, and exhales while lowering.

Rolling Like a Ball: This exercise focuses on core strengthening, stability, and spinal flexibility. It strengthens the abdominal muscles and improves balance.

The athlete sits near the front of his mat with knees bent and feet flat on the mat. The athlete then grasps his legs behind each knee and brings his chin toward his chest. Shoulders should be down and elbows positioned up and away from the body. Keeping the same body position throughout the movement, the athlete rolls backwards to the shoulder blades. He then rolls back up and balances on the tailbone without letting his feet touch the floor. Repeat eight times.

Breathing Instructions: The athlete inhales while rolling back and exhales when returning.

Progression: Grasp the ankles and pull into a tighter ball.

Side Plank: This exercise focuses on core and upper-body strengthening and stability. It strengthens the core, arm, and upper back muscles, increases strength specifically in the quadratus lumborum, gluteus medius, and rotator cuff, and increases shoulder stability.

The athlete sits on the side of his hip with the legs extended slightly in front.

The athlete crosses the top leg over the bottom, resting on the ball of his foot.

His hand is placed on the floor, aligned comfortably with the shoulder. The athlete then lifts his hips off the floor

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STRENGTH & CONDITIONING

Figure Three: Hundred and sweeps his top arm upward in one movement. The athlete then allows the body to rest on the lower hand and foot.

Ribs should be directly above the pelvis and shoulders and hips square with the body. The athlete holds this position for a set, and then lowers to the floor while maintaining body alignment. This exercise is performed five times.

Breathing Instructions: The athlete

Figure Four: Articulating Bridge inhales as he prepares for the movement and exhales as he lifts into the plank position. He holds the position while inhaling and exhaling for three sets.

Progression: Place one foot on top of the other, requiring more balance. It can also be combined with other movements when an athlete progresses to this point.

Overall, we felt the Pilates program

provided an additional platform to assist football players in preventing injuries and increasing agility. These exercises are time efficient and require no additional equipment. Pilates exercises are a very simple way for teams to gain the edge they desire. â&#x2013; A version of this article has appeared in our sister publication, Training & Conditioning.

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COACHING MANAGEMENT

Circle No. 129

S P E C I A L A D V E R T I S I N G F E AT U R E

Performance Points

brought to you by

Focus on Movement Training With Chris Carlisle, MA, CSCC, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, University of Southern California

Why is movement training a priority in your program?

If you look at football, or soccer, or tennis, or most other sports, the entire game is based around movement. Power and pure strength are obviously important, but we look at them in perspective. Too many strength programs spend their time building a bunch of 500-pound benchers and 700-pound squatters. But building that much strength takes a lot of time, and it would usually be better spent developing skills that transfer directly to the athlete’s sport.

How do you develop an effective movement-based training regimen?

You take a realistic look at the sport you’re preparing for, then you emulate its movements. For instance, in football, everyone wants to focus on speed, and our team at USC is very fast, but there are different types of speed. Linear speed isn’t the key—it’s not about improving your players’ 40yard dash, because the vast majority of football movement involves change-of-direction. How often in a typical football game does someone run straight ahead for 40 yards?

One of our favorite movement drills for the football team uses breakaway cords. Two athletes are attached by a cord that’s secured with Velcro, and one tries to break the connection with a series of sprints, cuts, and quick changeof-direction movements while the other tries to stay close enough to remain connected. That’s the best kind of movement work, because it incorporates reaction instead of relying on rote movements. Reaction is fundamental to agility, and it’s a critical part of effective movement training.

things up to provide varying stimuli and keep the athletes challenged. We’ll work with cones and speed ladders one day, then work bags and ropes during the next session.

Why is it important to have that kind of variety?

Too many programs get into a rut where they do the same drills day after day. The athletes get bored and eventually lose focus, and when that happens, their work intensity falls off the edge. We cycle through different drills every three weeks, so we’re always keeping the workouts fresh and challenging the athletes in different ways.

Variety is also important in the weightroom. In a typical week, we’ll do the hang snatch on Monday, and do the complimentary lift to that on Thursday, the power jerk.

On Tuesday we do the power clean, and on Thursday the hang clean. We do box step-ups on Monday, and one-legged squats on Thursday. This way, you get the same benefits, but you’re getting them with different motions. It also “confuses the system,” so the athlete is building real functional strength, not just improving at one particular lift or exercise.

What other movement drills do you use?

We work a lot with bags, cones, and ladders. In our “speed and burst” drill, the athlete starts on a line, the coach gives him a hand signal to go right or left, and he breaks to a cone. When he reaches it, he gets another signal telling him either to stop and accelerate back, as if somebody’s cutting back on him, or to accelerate straight ahead to the next cone. We also do three- and four-cone drills, such as shuffles, short sprints, and backpedals.

When training acceleration, we start straight-ahead explosiveness drills from either a three-point stance or a scramble start with the athlete’s chin on a line. In a two-point stance, we have them do quarter-turns or half-turns into a pursuit.

Other drills use a speed ladder—one foot in, two feet in, Ickey shuffle, lateral scissors, hop drill, and two in-two out.

With bags, we do things like step-overs and lateral shuffles.

We probably have 30 different agility drills, and we mix

How does fatigue factor into your movement-training work?

Some people say that if athletes train when they’re fatigued, their bodies will be used to working when they’re tired in the fourth quarter. But if you watch fatigued athletes work out, you see they get very sloppy. We don’t want sloppy, inefficient movements in the fourth quarter of games, so we don’t do agility and movement training after weightroom work—we do it first, when the athletes are fresh.

It’s common sense: If you’re trying to teach sound movement and speed of movement, athletes need to be doing all the movements properly. That way, in the fourth quarter, proper technique is still there, and body control and core strength don’t degrade as much. Good, sound movement is something that energizes the body and makes an athlete more effective. That’s what will give us an edge at the end of the game.

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Circle No. 130

HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPIONS

GREEN MACHINE With three Texas state titles in four years, Carroll High School has made championship wins a holiday tradition.

BY ABIGAIL FUNK

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COACHING MANAGEMENT

HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPIONS

AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS

Since the state football playoffs in Texas extend well into December, they often contribute to the holiday cheer of the winning communities. And few places in Texas have had more to cheer about than Southlake, the home of Carroll High School. The Dragons have won three University Interscholastic League Class 5A Division II state titles in four years, winning 63 of 64 games in the process.

The Christmas theme was unmistakable on December 17, 2005, as more than 30,000 fans descended on Irving’s Texas Stadium, site of the state title game. Carroll’s side of the stadium was a sea of green, and Katy High School’s was a solid block of red.

Carroll was in a receiving mood early. Senior quarterback Greg McElroy completed eight passes for 133 yards including two touchdowns to help the Dragons to a 17-0 lead. But Katy got on the board with a field goal in the closing minute of the first half to make the score 17-3 and carried the momentum into the locker room.

The Tigers came out roaring as the second half started, tallying the first 10 points to cut Carroll’s lead to four.

“They definitely had our attention,” says Carroll Head Coach Todd Dodge.

“Katy had made a comeback in its fourth-round playoff game after being down by 28 points, so we knew what that team was capable of.”

The Dragons scored the next 17 points, including two McElroy touchdown passes, to make it 34-13. Katy scored a late touchdown to make the final score 34-20, giving Carroll backto-back state championships and its sixth title in school history. The Dragons also set a 5A record with 32 straight wins over its two undefeated seasons.

“It was a tremendous atmosphere,” Dodge says. “Two of the most storied programs in Texas meeting the weekend before Christmas—and just two years after they beat us in the championship game.”

Dodge is referring to the 2003 season when Katy won the state title and handed the Dragons their only loss in 64 games stretching from 2002 to 2005. But Dodge denies using revenge as a motivator leading up to the title game.

“The media did that for me,” he says. “I felt that our team and Katy’s team were completely different squads from two years before. It would have been a distraction for me to be ranting and raving about revenge in the locker room. I’m not naïve enough to think the kids weren’t hearing about it, but I didn’t need to throw gas on the fire.”

Dodge’s teams handle media pressure like pros. Several games are televised each year—including the 2005 championship game—and players are scrutinized by commentators and fans everywhere. “I never worried about pressure with this team,” Dodge says.

“Our kids came out very focused and didn’t pay attention to the cameras and hoopla. I think it’s really important to be honest with your team as to what you expect in public situations, and I expect our players to be professional and not get distracted.”

Carroll’s offense receives a lot of media attention—the last four 5A state offensive players of the year have been Carroll quarterbacks. McElroy picked up the MVP award for his performance in the championship game and finished the season with 56 touchdown passes, a 5A record. Senior receiver McKay Jacobson had six catches for 110 yards in the title game, including the last two touchdowns.

But Carroll’s defense may have been the deciding factor that day, stifling Katy’s offense at the line of scrimmage, forcing missed field goal attempts, and intercepting four Katy passes.

“Football offenses in general probably get way too much credit,” Dodge says, “and sometimes defenses are forced to take a backseat. But in our fieldhouse everyone knew how good our defense was. Even if they don’t get publicity in the media, they sure are bragged on around here.”

Certainly nobody was left out of Carroll’s celebration following the game. The noon kickoff left the rest of the day open for festivities, and after the 15-mile bus ride back to Carroll’s campus, the team met thousands of family members, friends, and community supporters already waiting.

“I got a chance to announce the players who had made all-district and all-state teams,” Dodge recalls. “A lot of the kids had put those individual honors on the backburner, and it was

School: Carroll High School, Southlake, Texas Head Coach: Todd Dodge 2005 Season: 16-0, University Interscholastic League Class 5A Division II Texas state champions State Championships: 2005, 2004, 2002, 1993, 1992, 1988 Notes: Carroll moved up to Class 5A in 2002 and went 63-1 over the next four seasons ... Head Coach Todd Dodge started his coaching career at Carroll 03, but is 82-8 since ... Dodge is coaching his son Riley at the starting quarterback position in 2006 ... Carroll finished the 2005 season second in USA Today’s Super 25 national rankings.

Title Game Memory: “It was the most complete game we played all year, and that’s saying a lot,” says Dodge. “When coaches talk about offense, defense, and special teams all coming together, you definitely hope it happens in your state championship game.”

nice to be able to recognize them.

We broke several team and individual records, so there was a lot to celebrate.”

Looking back, Dodge says there was an unmistakable feeling of success on the field beginning with the first twoa-day practice before the season. “We were defending state champions and had six returning starters on offense and six returning starters on defense,” he says. “At our first meeting, all we asked of the team was to try to reach its potential. Well, there were high expectations for the season, and the potential was to win a state championship. And that’s what we did.” ■ Abigail Funk is an Assistant Editor at Coaching Management. She can be reached at: afunk@MomentumMedia.com.

COACHING MANAGEMENT

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HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIP SOLUTIONS

Katy High School, TX 5A State Champions, 1997, 2000, 2003 Need: Head Football Coach Gary Joseph needed a way to organize his special teams on the sideline to avoid costly penalties and lost time-outs.

Solution: Coach Joseph uses the new Huddle Zone™ Special Teams Mat, which offers an exact location for players to huddle before entering the game. The cleatproof, water-draining matrix fabric has chain inserted in the edge hem, so it will never blow away. The Huddle Zone mat is easy to store and carry to away games.

It measures 9’ x 15’ with three-inch gold screened striping.

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Pflugerville Connally High School, TX Class 4A Division I Semifinalist, 2005 Need: Connally coaches needed an efficient way to view roster depth. Head Coach Matt Monzingo also wanted a way to display team and individual football records.

Solution: Coach Monzingo credits Austin Plastics’ depth boards and record boards with meeting both needs. Coaches can quickly change and update names and records using the Austin Plastics computer program and their existing printers.

The record boards are great goal-setters for current athletes and an excellent way for alumni to see their high school accomplishments immortalized.

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Mukwonago High School, WI Division I State Champions, 2004 Need: Mukwonago players and coaches were looking for an offensive lineman glove that would outperform all other gloves on the way to a championship season.

Solution: Cutters’ Reinforcer glove greatly reduced the number of late-season injuries among Mukwonago’s offensive linemen. Strong line play helped the team bring home a title.

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Xenia High School, OH Back-to-Back Conference Champions Need: Xenia was looking for a way to give linemen more agility and stamina.

Solution: Gear 2000 Z-Cool shoulder pads met and exceeded the program’s expectations. The combination of moisture-management technology and a 35-percent lighter construction offered athletes advantages in agility and staying power.

The improved performance of the team’s linemen proved the value of the new equipment.

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Oakfield High School, WI Regional Champions, 1997; Runner-Up, 2003

Heritage Hills High School, IN 3A State Champions, 2000; Runner-Up, 2004

Need: Oakfield’s recently expanded weightroom had 2,000 square feet that needed flooring.

Need: Heritage Hills needed a punting and kicking cage that would help the football team reach a new level of success.

Solution: Head Football Coach Doug Mock chose Humane Loktuff flooring to cover the weightroom floor. “We used to have farm mats under the equipment,” says Mock. “Loktuff flooring is a very high-quality product that’s very easy to install. It took six guys just a couple of hours to install the whole floor. It’s also very easy to clean—you can vacuum or mop. We are very satisfied with the product.”

Solution: Athletic Director Jay Burch turned to M.A.S.A. and got a great price on the company’s Punting & Kicking Cage.

“M.A.S.A. has very impressive customer service with cutting-edge products,” Burch says. “Not only have they helped us in our football program, but we also count on M.A.S.A. to help us with all our other sports equipment needs.”

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Circle No. 133 COACHING MANAGEMENT

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HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIP SOLUTIONS

Susquehannock High School, PA Division Champions, 2005

Douglas S. Freeman High School, VA 8 district titles in program history

West Monroe High School, LA 5A State Champions, 2005

Need: Athletic Director Chuck Abbott and Athletic Trainer Glenn Johnson recognized the need for state-of-the-art multi-functional athletic training equipment to support an expanding and widely successful athletic program.

Solution: Oakworks’ Portable Taping Tables and Boss treatment tables were a perfect fit in the training room at Susquehannock and on the sidelines at every home and away event. “The portability and versatility of Oakworks’ products make it easier to tape and treat athletes, especially during the golden period,” says Johnson. “They help me keep athletes doing what they love, playing the game.”

Need: Douglas S. Freeman was constructing a new strength center. Strength Coach Jim Roney wanted a rack and platform system that would allow multiple studentathletes to work out at one time.

Need: Head Coach Don Shows was looking for equipment that would develop his players’ explosiveness, quickness, endurance, and vertical jump.

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Power Lift 800-872-1543 FAX: 515-386-3220 WWW.POWER-LIFT.COM Circle No. 507

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Solution: Coach Shows chose the Bear, the Attacker, the Dominator, and the HighStepper from Powernetics. “Powernetics is the core of our training program,” says Shows. “It has made a major contribution to our success.”

Solution: Coach Roney chose the Power Lift 6-Post Rack with a “Lever Action” bench and Olympic lifting platforms.

“Power Lift worked with us on designing racks that would work for our facility,” Roney says. “Everyone, male and female, uses the Power Lift racks—from our senior football players to our freshman tennis players.”

Powernetics 800-829-2928 FAX: 936-594-6625 WWW.POWERNETICS.COM Circle No. 508

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HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIP SOLUTIONS

Rockford High School, MI Division Champions, 2005

Lake Travis High School, TX Bi-District Champions, 2005

Need: Head Football Coach Ralph Munger needed a safe and efficient way to train championship-caliber blockers and tacklers.

Solution: Munger’s players train with a seven-man Mod Sled, a 20’ Trap Chute with boards, a one-man Pop Up Tackle Sled, Scout Pop-Up Dummies, an Open Field Tackle machine, and lots of Agiles and Standup Dummies, all from Rogers Athletic. “Rogers Athletic products reinforce proper technique in areas like footwork and placement of the head and shoulders,” Munger says. “The quality is outstanding, and the design is wellresearched and very user-friendly. Also, Rogers’ service is phenomenal—if you have any problem whatsoever, the company takes care of it immediately.”

Need: Head Coach Jeff Dicus and Athletic Director Jack Moss were planning the largest weight training facility of its kind in Texas. Coach Dicus needed to work directly with the strength equipment manufacturer on every detail.

Solution: Samson Equipment worked directly with Coach Dicus from day one.

They provided scaled floor layouts with corresponding price quotes, sample kits of Samson’s materials, sample embroidered logos for the upholstery, and photo brochures of Samson’s product lines. When the planning was complete, members of Samson Equipment’s sales team flew out to personally help install the equipment.

Lake Travis High School now has the premier weight training facility in Texas.

Need: Head Football Coach Kent Teeter needed a better-fitting girdle for his athletes—one that would eliminate the need to insert pads and prevent athletes from losing pads.

Solution: “We bought from Stromgren because they offered the best products for the money,” says Teeter. “This was our first year using the Permalite football girdle, and our players loved it. It’s not as bulky or loose as our old girdles, plus the pads are sewn in so they never get lost. We credit the 1551HTP from Stromgren with reducing injuries, too. Since we have used it, our injuries have all but been eliminated.”

Rogers Athletic Co. 800-248-0270 FAX: 888-549-9659 WWW.ROGERSATHLETIC.COM Circle No. 509

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COACHING MANAGEMENT Untitled-3 1

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HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIP SOLUTIONS

Lakeville South High School, MN State Quarterfinalist, 2005 Need: Lakeville Head Coach Larry Thompson needed a sideline communication system that would allow him to communicate efficiently with his staff.

Reliability was a top priority—he wanted to concentrate on the field, not worry about the gear.

Solution: Coach Thompson chose the Telex Legacy™ because of the company’s proven pedigree in coaching communications. Telex, provider of headsets for NFL teams for more than 20 years, was the logical choice.

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Grand Blanc High School, MI Big-9 League and District Champions, 2004 Need: Grand Blanc needed an organized, centralized storage solution for its athletic equipment, to help eliminate wasted time and duplicated effort.

Solution: “Our new school addition includes 24 GearBoss™ carts from Wenger, and they are working out great,” says Joe Delaney, Head Football Coach and Equipment Manager. “We are so much more organized. Everything is stored better and we’ve vastly improved space utilization.” GearBoss improves inventory management and security, cutting storage space needs at least in half when compared to traditional shelving.

Wenger Corporation 800-4-WENGER FAX: 507-455-4258 WWW.WENGERCORP.COM Circle No. 513

Aliso Niguel High School, CA Sea View League Co-Champions, 2005; All-County Kicker Need: Head Coach Brad Bohn needed a kicking net for his place-kickers to use during practice and on the sidelines.

Solution: “The kicking net from Wizard Sports Equipment is top-of-the-line,” says Coach Bohn. “It’s easy to set up and transport, and the carrying case is convenient for taking it along on road trips. The advantage of Wizard products is that you always get quality athletic equipment at good prices, and the service is great.”

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WerkSan IWF-Certified Weightlifting Sets

MAXX Unique features: • A durable, lifelike rubber man with shoulder pads and a jersey featuring state-of-the-art computer technology • Records speed and power upon contact • Reinforces proper football technique Benefits for the user: • Puts the intensity of football into your weightroom • Players can enhance speed and power • With repetition, technique and skills will improve

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Circle No. 518 COACHING MANAGEMENT

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Uniforms & Apparel Russell Athletic 678-742-8722 WWW.RUSSELLATHLETICTEAMSPORTS.COM Russell Athletic has introduced NXT Compression, a revolutionary line of apparel that includes ventilator technology to accelerate the release of excess heat from the body. The ultralightweight Dri-Power fabrication moves moisture away from the body more quickly, and sheer mesh panels add breathability in areas of high temperature and moisture, such as the upper spine and the underarms. NXT Compression fits like a second layer of skin and is cut to grip the athlete’s body for maximum comfort.

Circle No. 519 XC stands for Xtreme Compression, and that’s exactly what you get with the XC Jersey from Russell Athletic. The proprietary fabric releases heat 17 percent faster than stretch mesh according to an independent research study. The fabric is loaded with Dri-Power high-denier yarn that manages moisture incredibly well and provides superior compression, making the jersey difficult to grab and helping protect abdominal muscles from fatigue. The high-performance compression also increases blood flow. As an added feature, an antimicrobial treatment kills germs and helps control odor.

Circle No. 520 Stromgren Supports 800-527-1988 WWW.STROMGREN.COM Stromgren Supports’ new Permalite™ Upper-Body Protection Shirt (model 1291) is a performance shirt that combines compression and moisture

52

COACHING MANAGEMENT

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A directional blade at the base of each round cleat enhances lateral movement with progressive traction while maintaining rotational capability.

Circle No. 522 ColdGear Metal is the latest evolution in ColdGear performance from Under Armour. A unique combination of fibers creates a push/pull system within the garment. Hydrophobic fibers next to the skin push moisture to the outer layer of the garment, while hydrophilic fibers in the outer layer pull moisture toward the air,

15 different colors and is available for less than half the price of some other products. WSI’s team program includes custom orders. Picture this: your team colors with your team logo, plus a free coach’s shirt. You can get all this at a team rate of just $16 per item. You can’t go wrong with WSI. Circle No. 524 The Stealth Attack shirt from WSI Sports combines moisture management and protection into one garment for the performance athlete. The ultralight, tough carbon cell-foam pads protect the kidneys, spine, and sternum, while stinger padding on the shoulders makes shoulder pads more comfortable. The pads are removable, so the garment caters to each athlete’s individual needs.

Circle No. 525

Case Study

Crown Point Gets Stronger with Life Fitness At Crown Point High School in Indiana, a school of 2,400 students, the athletic department was looking to upgrade its 4,000-square-foot fitness facility with new equipment. The school chose Life Fitness and was outfitted with treadmills, cross-trainers, Lifecycle exercise bikes, Hammer Strength plate-loaded equipment, and Hammer Strength MTS machines.

For students and athletes of all ability levels, this equipment has opened new doors to training excellence.

“The equipment in our high school gets used continuously throughout the day, so we really depend on its quality and durability,” says Tom May, Athletic Director at Crown Point. “Life Fitness and Hammer Strength equipment provided the assurance that we were selecting the best.

“For many of our students, this is their first time using fitness equipment,” May continues. “We’ve found Life Fitness’ products to be very user-friendly, even for our beginner classes.”

Crown Point is hardly alone in being impressed with Life Fitness’s quality. All these programs have chosen to outfit their strength facilities with the company’s products:

Life Fitness 5100 N. RIVER ROAD, STE. 300 SCHILLER PARK, IL 60103 800-634-8637 FAX: 847-288-3796 COMMERCIALSALES@LIFEFITNESS.COM WWW.LIFEFITNESS.COM

Brownwood High School – Brownwood, TX Centerville High School – Richmond, IN Ennis High School – Ennis, TX Ft. Lauderdale Dillard High School – Ft. Lauderdale, FL Genoa High School – Genoa, OH Goodpasture High School – Madison, TN Greenwood High School – Greenwood, SC Irving High School – Irving, TX Marion Central Catholic High School – Woodstock, IL Moeller High School – Cincinnati, OH Mt. Carmel High School – Chicago, IL Naperville Central High School – Naperville, IL Seminole High School – Seminole, FL Tarpon Springs High School – Tarpon Springs, FL Woodland High School – Houston, TX Arizona State University Bowling Green State University Catalba College George Washington University Georgia State University Lipscomb University Michigan State University Ohio State University Penn State University University of Florida University of Maryland University of Michigan University of Nebraska University of Notre Dame University of Southern California University of Toledo University of Kentucky University of Washington Vanderbilt University Washington State University

COACHING MANAGEMENT

53

Team Equipment Adams USA 800-251-6857 WWW.ADAMSUSA.COM Adams USA makes quality high-impact plastic chin strap buckles. The buckles are made of stainless steel and encased in highimpact plastic for superior durability and safety.

They’re a smart choice for protecting players’ uniforms from snags caused by sharp buckle edges. The buckles are available in 11 colors to match your team’s uniforms. Patent No. 6,481,066.

Circle No. 526 The Boss shoulder pad from Adams USA is a revolutionary innovation in football protection. Designed by Jeff Boss, former LSU equipment manager, the pad comes in two styles. The Boss and the Boss Gridiron both have a streamlined, lowprofile design, locking shoulder epaulets, a flat pad, and no cantilever strap to allow improved range of motion.

These pads are position-specific and come in a range of sizes. Players have their choice of air management or nonair management pad systems, and removable or sewn-in channel wedges.

Circle No. 527 Cutters Gloves 800-821-0231 WWW.CUTTERSGLOVES.COM The 197 Triple Playmaker Wrist Coach is made with C-PRENE™, Cutters Gloves’ exclusive “fits like a glove” technology, for optimal comfort and fit. It includes three windows for easy reference, allowing you to store over 60 plays at once, and is available in black, white, gray, and 11 team colors.

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COACHING MANAGEMENT

Visit the “downloads” section of Cutters’ Web site for free blank playcard templates. The site also offers additional product information and a dealer locator.

Circle No. 528 Cutters Gloves’ newest protective glove, 017GP The Gauntlet, incorporates the performance of a padded glove with added wrist protection.

The Gauntlet features a streamlined design with backof-the-hand padding as well as the exclusive C-TACK™ material in the palm patch and fingertips. Multi-layered inserts increase wrist stability and minimize wrist hyperextension. This glove provides ultimate protection and a strong grip, letting your athletes play like warriors.

Circle No. 529 Gear 2000, Ltd. 800-527-1988 WWW.GEAR2000.COM Z-Cool shoulder pads from Gear 2000 are 35 percent lighter, cool the body better, and provide greater impact absorption—all of which helps to enhance athletic performance.

Less perspiration build-up occurs with Z-Cool pads because of their moisture-management technology, while non-rusting stainless steel hardware ensures excellent durability. Z-Cool pads are worn by NFL all-pros and athletes at top college programs.

Circle No. 530 Z-Cool football girdles from Gear 2000 have permanently sewn-in hip and tail pads strategically placed to protect the iliac crest (top of the pelvis). They do not shift out of place, and they’re made from a porous material that allows moisture to pass through. The girdles feature a

Lycra® fabric that wicks sweat away from the body for efficient cooling. The fabric provides compression to reduce large muscle group vibration, which scientific studies have shown to reduce fatigue and increase performance.

Circle No. 531 Oakworks 800-916-4603 WWW.OAKWORKSPT.COM Oakworks’ PowerLine treatment table can handle a bariatric-rated 500-pound dynamic load and extend to either 78 inches or 84 inches with optional table extenders.

It is constructed of lacquered, 100-percent solid hardwood, with vinyl upholstery covering two inches of resilient foam. Optional accessories include a high-capacity shelf, a patented QuickLock face rest, and a paper towel roll holder.

Circle No. 532 The lightweight Portable Taping Table weighs just 35 pounds and features an adjustable height from 32 to 42 inches.

It is waterproof, and the tabletop is constructed of a marine-grade polymer that’s USDA and FDA approved. The Game Package includes everything you need for the game: the table, field feet (which keep your table from sinking on muddy terrain), the carrying case (to keep your table looking its best), and a shoulder strap for easy portability.

Circle No. 533 Prokicker.com 270-843-8393 WWW.PROKICKER.COM The Square Toe Kicking Shoe from Prokicker.com is the company’s “original style” kicking shoe. It’s made of leather and features

Team Equipment detachable cleats. Half and full sizes are available in your choice of black or white.

Circle No. 534 Stromgren Supports 800-527-1988 WWW.STROMGREN.COM For 20 years, the 190SP Knee Protector from Stromgren Supports has been helping college and professional football teams reduce injuries to the MCL ligament.

It absorbs and dissipates blows to the lateral side of the knee complex, helping to reduce lateral pressure on the MCL. The slotted pivot points allow a full range of motion for lateral movements, and the Lycra® straps secure the brace so there is no downward migration. The knee protector weighs seven ounces and fits either the left or right leg. Call Stromgren for more information, or visit the company online.

Circle No. 535 Wizard Sports Equipment 888-964-5425 WWW.WIZARDSPORTS.COM Since 1984, Wizard Kicking has been manufacturing and designing quality football kicking products, including football holders, tees, kicking nets, snapping targets, and much more.

Make sure to check out Wizard’s newly designed football kicking and punting shoe: the 5+ No Lace Kicking Shoe. It gives your kicker or punter that extra level of confidence. Wizard Kicking also stocks the popular Spotbilt Square-Toe Kicking Shoe.

Circle No. 536

Check out

www.AthleticBid.com to contact these companies.

Technology Digital Scout, Inc. 800-249-1189 WWW.DIGITALSCOUT.COM Digital Scout, a leading provider of statistics and scouting software, now offers software for eight sports: baseball, basketball, football, hockey,

The nation’s top manufacturer of wireless football coaching headsets and a leading choice of professional and college coaches is now accessible to high schools and small colleges. For more information, call Telex toll-free or visit the company’s Web site.

Circle No. 539 GridIron Technologies 480-951-9900 WWW.GRIDIRONTECH.COM

soccer, softball, track and field, and volleyball. You can track action live at the game and print reports immediately afterward. Visit Digital Scout’s Web site to view reports and to get a free trial download in any sport.

Circle No. 537 Football Scoutware 6.0 and Football Statware 6.0 from Digital Scout deliver expanded features to two of the nation’s leading scouting and statistics software programs.

Scoutware provides offensive and defensive analysis with 24 standard reports.

Statware offers real-time analysis at the game, along with detailed box scores, reports, and drive charts immediately afterward. Get your free trial downloads at Digital Scout’s Web site today.

Circle No. 538 Telex Communications, Inc. 877-863-4169 WWW.TELEXLEGACY.COM Telex continues to demonstrate its dedication to the high school and college game with revolutionary products like the new Telex Legacy™ wireless system. This complete wireless solution for two to seven coaches per sideline features three audio channels, 64-bit audio encryption, professional-grade headsets, the innovative Clearscan™ function, and a three-year warranty.

The GamePlanner software package offers your players a state-of-the- art, interactive way to learn your team’s plays and prepare for upcoming opponents.

Input your entire playbook and information about the opposing defense or offense and GamePlanner creates trueto-life game scenarios that challenge players’ quick-thinking skills. Interactive training is more effective than traditional film study, because players are more engaged in the learning process so they retain more information. Call a CoachComm solutions expert for information at 800-749-2761.

Circle No. 540 Jason Sada, President of GridIron Technologies, understands how technology can help football players elevate their mental game.

He created the Pro Simulator to do just that. “To players, it feels and interacts very much like a video game,” Sada told the Raleigh, N.C., News & Observer.

“Where it’s significantly different is, for all intents and purposes, it isn’t a game. We’re able to monitor what you do and give feedback.” Top college programs, including the University of Colorado, Oklahoma State, Arizona State, and Maryland have used the Pro Simulator to give their players a winning edge. Now GridIron Technologies is available to high schools, with the GamePlanner Prep product line.

Circle No. 541

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Great Ideas For Athletes...

Knee Strap

COMPANY

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Adams USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Aer-Flo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 BallQube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Cho-Pat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Cutters Gloves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BC Digital Scout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IFC Earth & Turf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 eFundraising.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Emch Brothers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Gatorade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Gear 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 GridIron Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Hammer Strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Humane Manufacturing. . . . . . . . . . 28 InTek Strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Jump Stretch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 M.A.S.A. Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 MAXX by Shoot-A-Way . . . . . . . . . . 41 Nautilus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 NSCA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Oakworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

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562 . .

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565 . .

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533 . .

532 . .

Adams USA (chin strap buckles) . . . . . .

Adams USA (The Boss) . . . . . . . . . . . .

Aer-Flo (Bench Zone) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Aer-Flo (championship solution) . . . . . .

Aer-Flo (Cross-Over Zone) . . . . . . . . . .

Austin Plastics & Supply . . . . . . . . .

Balanced Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

BallQube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Cho-Pat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Cutters Gloves (017GP The Gauntlet). . . . .

Cutters Gloves (championship solution) . . .

Cutters (Wrist Coach) . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Digital Scout (eight sports) . . . . . . . . .

Digital Scout (Scoutware/Statware 6.0) .

Dynamic Fitness Equipment . . . . . .

Earth & Turf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . eFundraising.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Gatorade (Endurance Formula) . . . . . .

Gatorade (Nutrition Shake) . . . . . . . . .

Gear 2000 (championship solution) . . . .

Gear 2000 (Z-Cool football girdles) . . . .

Gear 2000 (Z-Cool shoulder pads) . . . .

GridIron Technologies (GamePlanner) . . .

GridIron Technologies (Pro Simulator) . . .

Humane Manufacturing (full-color mats) .

Humane Mfg. (championship solution) . . . .

Jump Stretch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Life Fitness (Dual Adjustable Pulley) . . .

Life Fitness (Power Rack) . . . . . . . . . . .

M.A.S.A. (championship solution) . . . . .

M.A.S.A. (sideline turf protectors) . . . . .

MAXX by Shoot-A-Way . . . . . . . . . . . .

MAXX by Shoot-A-Way (product launch) .

Nautilus (TreadClimber TC916) . . . . . . .

Nautilus (XPload line) . . . . . . . . . . . . .

NSCA (Football Strength & Conditioning) NSCA (Training/Rehab for Shoulder) . . . .

Oakworks (championship solution) . . . .

Oakworks (Portable Taping Table) . . . . .

Oakworks (PowerLine Treatment Table) .

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ONS (Optimal Nutrition Systems) . . . . . . 49 Power Lift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Powernetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IBC Professional Turf Products (Field Jacket) . 33 Professional Turf Products (Turf Armor) . . 46 ProGrass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Prokicker.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Rogers Athletic Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Russell Athletic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-13 Samson Weight Equipment . . . . . . . 23 Seating Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Spectrum Scoreboards . . . . . . . . . . 47 Stromgren . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Telex Legacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 The Tug. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Triad Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Under Armour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Wenger (GearBoss) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Wizard Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 WSI Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Xvest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

PRODUCTS DIRECTORY

Cho-Pat’s Original Knee Strap is designed to alleviate certain knee discomforts due to overuse syndromes, arthritis, and other forms of degeneration. Nearly two million sold!

Sizes: XS - XXL • Colors: Black and Tan

Dual Action Knee Strap Patented device offers an extra level of pain relief and protection from knee degeneration and overuse syndromes.

Stabilizes and strengthens the joint while allowing full mobility.

Sizes: Sm - XL

Achilles Tendon Strap This patented device will reduce stress upon the Achilles Tendon and provide effective relief from pain and discomfort associated with Achilles Tendonitis. Sizes: Sm - Med - Lrg

www.cho-pat.com 1-800-221-1601 Circle No. 139

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Power Lift (9’ Combo Power Rack). . . . .

Power Lift (Belt Squat) . . . . . . . . . . . .

Power Lift (championship solution) . . . .

Power Systems (Landmine) . . . . . . . . .

Power Systems (Power Station) . . . . . .

Powernetics (Bulldog/Attacker) . . . . . .

Powernetics (championship solution) . .

Powernetics (Power Trainer) . . . . . . . .

Professional Turf Products . . . . . . .

ProGrass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Prokicker.com (goal posts) . . . . . . . . .

Prokicker.com (kicking shoe) . . . . . . . .

Rogers Athletic (Brute Full Rack) . . . . .

Rogers Athletic (championship solution) Rogers Athletic (Lev Sled) . . . . . . . . .

Russell Athletic (NXT Compression) . . .

Russell Athletic (XC Jersey) . . . . . . . .

Samson (championship solution) . . . . . .

Samson (Double Sided Power Rack) . . . .

Samson (Power Thrust) . . . . . . . . . . . .

Seating Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Spectrum Scoreboards . . . . . . . . . .

Stromgren (190SP Knee Protector) . . . .

Stromgren (championship solution) . . . .

Stromgren (Permalite Shirt) . . . . . . . . .

Telex (championship solution) . . . . . . . .

Telex (Legacy) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Tug. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Triad Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Under Armour (ColdGear Metal) . . . . .

Under Armour (performance footwear) .

Wenger (championship solution) . . . . . .

Wenger (GearBoss) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

WerkSan Sports USA . . . . . . . . . . . .

Wizard Sports (championship solution) .

Wizard Sports (kicking shoe) . . . . . . . .

WSI Sports (Microtec shirts) . . . . . . . .

WSI Sports (Stealth Attack shirt). . . . . .

Xvest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Football Facilities Aer-Flo, Inc. 800-823-7356 WWW.AERFLO.COM The Cross-Over Zone track protector resists and cushions against steeltipped cleats. Its breathable, indus-

trial-strength fabric allows rain to drain through while protecting modern track surfaces from crossing traffic. A steel chain inserted in the edge keeps the Cross-Over Zone in place without stakes.

The edge and the chain are wrapped in white or gold vinyl for durability and safety. Standard sizes are 7.5’ or 15’ x 30’, 40’, or 50’, and custom sizes are available. The Cross-Over Zone can also be customized to cover sideline bench areas that overlap onto the track.

Circle No. 542

percent of their color on a smooth top surface and are half an inch thick.

The four standard colors are brick, mocha, forest, and royal. The company has also designed a solid black mat with a smooth top surface to be used in conjunction with the colored mats.

This product can interlock—just like Humane Manufacturing’s existing products (Loktuff)—and can be used in the straight-edge form.

Circle No. 544 M.A.S.A., Inc. 800-264-4519 WWW.MASA.COM WWW.SPORTSADVANTAGE.COM M.A.S.A. carries a large selection of economical sideline turf protectors that come in two grades of durability

Earth & Turf Co. 888-693-2638 WWW.EARTHANDTURF.COM The one-pass design of the Earth & Turf Linear Aerator completely changes the way aeration is performed. Soil and thatch restriction are permanently modified, and maximum modification of the turf is assured.

Use it after the field has been topdressed with calcined clay, compost, or sand, and the Linear Aerator will condition a 58-inch swath by cutting grooves in the turf three inches deep, half an inch wide, and three and a half inches apart. Linear aeration improves water infiltration and retention, turf and root growth, nutrient absorption, and organic decomposition.

Circle No. 543 Humane Manufacturing Co. 800-369-6263 WWW.HUMANEMFG.COM Humane Manufacturing now offers full-color mats. These mats have 95

to meet any budget. All the company’s protectors are constructed using a durable, breathable polypropylene that will stand up to cleat traffic and protect your turf. All tarps are light gray in color and feature brass grommets every three feet along the edges. They’re now available with optional lettering and logos to make your field stand out.

Custom sizes and shapes available. For more information, call today or visit the company online.

Circle No. 545 ProGrass, LLC 866-270-6003 WWW.PROGRASSTURF.COM ProGrass is a proven leader in artificial turf design, installation, project management, and product development. High school and college football teams across the countr y play on ProGrass AR, an innovative all-rubber infill system consisting of polyethylene fibers tufted into a woven primar y

backing with a secondar y backing of polyurethane.

This combination results in a safe, comfortable sur face that meets all ASTM shock-absorption standards. Visit the company’s Web site today to learn more.

Circle No. 546 Prokicker.com 270-843-8393 WWW.PROKICKER.COM Prokicker.com offers safe, top-quality football goal posts in the latest style at an affordable price. All the company’s goal posts meet NFHS and NCAA standards.

Give your field a professional look and an added measure of safety with the finest in permanent goal posts.

Circle No. 547 Seating Services 800-552-9470 WWW.SEATINGSERVICES.COM Seating Ser vices, manufacturer of quality stadium chairs, offers the Cardinal Model Series 3500 gravity tip-up chair for use in settings with narrow row spacing—as narrow as 27 inches. Because they have no springs or pins, these chairs are less expensive to manufacture, install, and maintain. They are designed for installation on concrete or steel/aluminum grandstands. Seat widths can range from 18 to 22 inches. Many available colors and options make these chairs an excellent way to seat more fans in a limited space.

Circle No. 548

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57

Football Facilities Spectrum Corp.

800-392-5050 WWW.SPECTRUMSCOREBOARDS.COM

Triad Technologies, Inc. 877-224-3512 WWW.TRIADTEC.COM

Wenger Corporation 800-733-0393 WWW.WENGERCORP.COM

Spectrum’s Practice Segment Timers were originally designed in collaboration with coaching legend Emory Ballard.

These timers are used by more coaches than any other timer in the industry. They’re easy to operate and offer 1-99 segment/99 minute up/down timing that is readable from up to 900 feet away. Each drill segment can be set for a different duration to customize your training sessions. Models are available with one- or two-sided displays.

Circle No. 549

The Pit® is a new product that offers defensive and offensive line coaches a competitive edge. Portable seating is arranged on the sideline in a configura-

The new GearBoss™ storage system from Wenger is designed for the unique demands of athletic equipment storage.

It maximizes space and functionality while improving inventory management

tion that allows coaches to communicate game strategies and instruction with little interference from in-game distractions. Since athletes form a semicircle around the coaches, they stay focused and absorb information more quickly and effectively. Organize your sideline with the Pit and watch your team improve on both sides of the ball.

Circle No. 550

and security. GearBoss is a modular, high-density system of rolling carts that are flexible and easy to configure for a wide variety of equipment, including helmets, shoulder pads, balls, jerseys, and more. The carts can be customized with your team colors on the grill and closure panels. Call Wenger for more information.

Circle No. 551

The Most Innovative On-Line Buyer’s Guide for Athletic Organizations

O View the complete product lines of

companies listed.

O View catalog pages or spec sheets

from many of the top companies.

O Read a profile or description of

select companies.

O Send an e-mail directly to a supplier

or make a request to be contacted by a company representative.

O Request catalog and sales literature

from companies.

AthleticBid.com is a free service to help buyers at schools and athletic organizations contact many companies in the most efficient fashion to request product specs and pricing information.

It used to take hours to contact dozens of companies to research products and plan purchases.

But by using AthleticBid.com, it now only takes minutes.

See for yourself why more than 13,000 unique users each month rely on

Athleticbid.com 58

COACHING MANAGEMENT

Power Racks Life Fitness 800-634-8637 WWW.LIFEFITNESS.COM The Hammer Strength 8’ Olympic Heavy-Duty Power Rack is ideal for athletic fitness facilities. The adjustment rack, which supports the bar catches and bar supports, is numbered for quick and easy position identification.

Special Features: Non-slip spotter’s stand, multiple pull-up and chin-up grip positions, a Dock ‘N Lock bench-locking system which lets the adjustable bench lock into place quickly to ensure proper alignment relative to the rack.

Circle No. 552 Power Lift 800-872-1543 WWW.POWER-LIFT.COM The 9’ Combo Power Rack combines two lifting stations into one space-saving rack. Dip attachments, Olympic lifting platforms, and other training accessories are available.

Special Features: Two dual-grip chin-up bars, two pairs of safety spot bars, two pairs of Rhino Hook bar catches, weight storage, adjustable bumper plate storage, bar storage.

Circle No. 553 Power Systems 800-321-6975 WWW.POWER-SYSTEMS.COM The Self-Contained Power Station is an eight-foot half rack with adjustable bar catches and safety catches. Your program’s logo can be put on the 8’ x 8’ hardwood and virgin rubber power clean platform for a customized look.

Special Features: Dual chin bars, selfcontained weight storage. An adjustable Power Combo Bench is also available.

Circle No. 554 Rogers Athletic Co. 800-248-0270 WWW.ROGERSATHLETIC.COM The Brute Full Rack from Rogers Athletic provides the benefits of both power racks and exercise-specific machines in one system. The patent-pending Monster Arms™ feature

omni-directional movement to develop specific muscle groups.

Special Features: All accessories lock into place on the uprights, including the Monster Arms, chin-up bar, “lock-andload” hooks, and technique trays.

The Docking Synchro Bench adds diversity to exercise programs with two locking positions and 27 inches of travel adjustment.

Circle No. 555 Samson Equipment, Inc. 800-472-6766 WWW.SAMSONEQUIPMENT.COM The Double Sided Power Rack gives you the ability to perform all major exercises on either side of the rack.

Special Features: Cups, safety catches, weight storage.

Circle No. 556

Power Racks Specifications Company

Rack

Height x Width x Depth

Life Fitness

8’ Olympic HeavyDuty Power Rack

Power Lift

Tubing Size

Warranty

Chin-Up Bar

Plate Storage

Adjustable Bench

97.5” x 65.5” 3” x 3”, 9 ga. x 73”

10 yrs.

Frame

✔

✔

✽

9’ Combo Power Rack

108” x 86” x 72”

4” x 3”, 7 ga.

Frame life

✔

✔

Power Systems

Self-Contained Power Station

96” x 96” x 96”

2” x 3”, 11 ga.

Frame life

✔

✔

Rogers Athletics Co.

Brute Full Rack

114” x 71” x 76”

3/16” thick, 11 ga.

10 years

✽

✔

✽

Samson Equipment

Double Sided Power Rack

105” x 50” x 56”

3” x 3”, 7 ga.

Frame life

✔

✔

✽

✽ Denotes accessories sold separately, or as available options. Please contact the company for more information.

COACHING MANAGEMENT

59

Strength Training Balanced Body 800-PILATES WWW.PILATES.COM

late because the plates are color-coded based on their weight.

Circle No. 559

A versatile, portable, five-in-one exercise system with a single compact footprint is now available. Balanced Body’s Allegro Reformer and Tower of Power system includes a reformer, two mat stations, a half trapeze, the integrated tower, and a moving carriage-training system.

Purchase the components separately or as a complete system for a wealth of programming options.

Allegros roll, stack, and can be stored on end. The Tower won’t flex or bend and easily folds down for quick storage.

This package comes with a five-year warranty and sells for $2,295.

Circle No. 557

Jump Stretch, Inc. 800-344-3539 WWW.JUMPSTRETCH.COM

The Tug 405-474-7777 WWW.THETUG.NET The Tug is an exciting new exercise, fitness, and testing apparatus for athletes. Competitors gripping opposite sides of the unit try to pull their opponent backward to a predetermined finish line.

Success is based on each athlete’s size, strength, agility, and overall competitiveness. Athletic programs across the country have enjoyed the benefits of the Tug, and it has been endorsed by coaches and players at all levels.

Circle No. 558 Dynamic Fitness Equipment 734-425-2862 WWW.DYNAMICFITNESSEQUIPMENT.COM Pound Zero™ is the first barbell system with weight increments based on zero. It is designed to accommodate 45-pound and 20-kilogram Olympic bars, and features special “zero 100” and “zero 150” bumpers that “zero” 45-pound bars to an even 100 pounds and 20-kilogram bars to an even 150 pounds. All weight increments can be loaded quickly and easily, and additions are easy to calcu-

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COACHING MANAGEMENT

the same number of calories as running at six miles an hour on a treadmill.

That’s why Nautilus says, “Walking: the new running.”

Circle No. 562

“Don’t Ice that Ankle Sprain!” is the new book by Jump Stretch founder Dick Hartzell and Dr. Michael Shimmel. It details a technique for treating ankle sprains that gets the athlete up and running (literally) within minutes, rather than weeks or months. “RICE” is antiquated—rest and ice actually prolong the healing process.

The book was released this fall. Three FlexBands (one standard and two minis) are necessary to perform the technique.

Circle No. 560

The XPload line brings world-renowned Nautilus performance to plate-loaded training equipment. XPload machines employ intelligent design and features that make them ideal for elite-level strength training. Strength curves are incorporated through four-bar linkage for the most effective workout possible.

Low weight-loading points mean there’s no need to load plates at eye level. Integrated plate storage is standard, and an efficient footprint maximizes your training space.

Circle No. 563

Life Fitness 800-634-8637 WWW.LIFEFITNESS.COM

NSCA 800-815-6826 WWW.NSCA-LIFT.ORG

Life Fitness’s Dual Adjustable Pulley provides more than 220 exercise options and is one of the most versatile strength-training machines available. With its cable motion technology, users can define their own paths of motion for unlimited training opportunities and advanced strength training. Boasting a new, contemporary design, the unit has a 1:4 resistance ratio, 20 vertical adjustment positions, an integrated storage rack, and an accessory kit.

Circle No. 561

The National Strength and Conditioning Association’s Quick Series Guide to Strength and Conditioning for Football teaches the fundamentals of proper strength training and conditioning for football players. Topics include: how to train safely; how to design your own program; flexibility exercises; power exercises; abdominal training; and cardiovascular training.

Four sample training programs are included. Call the NSCA to order this useful guide.

Circle No. 564

Nautilus 877-657-7762 WWW.NAUTILUS.COM The Nautilus TreadClimber TC916 is the next generation of cardio equipment. This machine provides the cardio and calorie-burning benefits of running, but at a walking pace, minimizing the stress and impact on the user’s ankles, knees, and hips. Studies have proven that walking at three miles an hour on the TreadClimber burns

The National Strength and Conditioning Association’s Quick Series Guide to Training and Rehabilitation for the Shoulder is filled with facts that will provide you with a better understanding of the shoulder. Combined with recommendations from a physician, this guide will help you plan rehabilitation programs.

Topics covered include anatomy and biomechanics of the shoulder; movements; common injuries; sample rehab programs; shoulder strengthening exercises; and flexibility exercises. Call today to order this useful guide.

Circle No. 565

Strength Training Power Lift 800-872-1543 WWW.POWER-LIFT.COM The Power Lift® Belt Squat is a great way to train the hamstrings, glutes, quadriceps, and hips while eliminating spinal compression. From a standing position, the user disengages the work arm to start the exercise. The Belt Squat attaches to the work arms on each side, over the user’s hips.

Force is evenly distributed through the user’s heels, emphasizing the muscles in the hips, glutes, and hamstrings. The machine is ideal for rehabbing injuries and for teaching squats, one-legged squats, and lunges. Weight storage and three custom belts are standard.

Circle No. 566 Power Systems 800-321-6975 WWW.POWER-SYSTEMS.COM With the Landmine™, athletes can perform total-body ground-based rotational training to develop an athletic base that easily transfers from the weightroom to the playing field. Users can perform explosive one- and two-arm movements and other rotational exercises simply by inserting any Olympicsize bar into the 12inch pivoting sleeve in the Landmine’s base. The solid steel Landmine features a nonskid rubber bottom and an attached transport handle. A T-bar handle for rows and a combat handle for shoulder, core, and hip work is also available.

Circle No. 567 Powernetics 800-829-2928 WWW.POWERNETICS.COM Powernetics offers the Power Trainer, which for more than 10 years has made the power clean a safe exercise for athletes from junior high to the collegiate level. The Power Trainer enables an athlete to not only do cleans safely, but also to reverse the clean. The

unit can be used to perform seven different exercises: the clean, reverse clean, dead lift, lift jump, high row, bench press, and shoulder press. The Power Trainer has proven over the years to be among the safest and most effective tools used to perform the power clean.

Circle No. 568 Powernetics offers many products for the strength-training needs of your players, including the Bulldog and the Attacker. The Bulldog isolates the hamstrings and glutes without putting stress on the knees and back. It also offers an explosive hack jump exercise that develops power in the hamstrings, glutes, and quads—all from one exercise. The Attacker allows the athlete to fire and roll his hips while moving up and out into a full-hand separation. Because of the intense movement, power is developed from the feet through the hands.

Circle No. 569 Rogers Athletic Co. 800-248-0270 WWW.ROGERSATHLETIC.COM Rogers Athletic’s Lev Sled is like having three sleds in one. During practice, the Lev Sled allows coaches a choice of drill

ball bearings to allow for amazingly smooth movement. A variety of exercises, including extensions and rotations, can easily be performed using this unique piece of equipment. Load Olympic plates onto each side for added resistance, and when you’re finished, simply store them on the weight horns provided on the frame. Check out Samson’s Web site for more information.

Circle No. 571 MAXX by Shoot-A-Way 800-294-4654 WWW.MAXXFOOTBALL.COM This off-season, while your opponents are simply lifting, you can be putting the intensity of football into your workouts.

MAXX is a rubber man with a lifelike feel, a durable weight machine, and a state-of-the-art computer all in one. The LED board gives players instant feedback on their speed off the ball and the power of their punch while they work to increase strength and perfect football technique.

Circle No. 572 Xvest 800-697-5658 WWW.THEXVEST.COM

formations. The seven-man Lev Sled can be converted into a five-man, twoman, or any other desired configuration.

The Lev Sled is also one of the only sleds that players must drive before leveraging to master the skills needed to reverse the momentum of the opponent. Call Rogers Athletic toll-free for more information.

Circle No. 570 Samson Equipment, Inc. 800-472-6766 WWW.SAMSONEQUIPMENT.COM The Samson Power Thrust is a dynamic piece of equipment that allows athletes to develop hip explosion, upper-arm strength, and shoulder strength. Each handle operates independently on linear

Xvest has a new weight configuration, and it’s heavy: 84 pounds of heavy. The new Xvest, known as the Fire Fighter model, was developed especially for fire fighters and their rigorous training. It has the same basic design as the original Xvest, but internally it has a new weight configuration that allows for 84 pounds of weight. Because of its ability to adjust weight like the original Xvest, everyone from body builders to military personnel is buying them.

For more information on all the Xvest models, call the company or visit its Web site.

Circle No. 573

COACHING MANAGEMENT

61

Case Study

Armed for Battle with Russell Athletic’s New Technology As your athletes prepare for battle, are they putting on the best armor available? Russell Athletic now offers uniforms with the company’s new XC technology—the latest in per formance, safety, and style.

XC stands for Xtreme Compression, and that’s exactly what you get with this state-of-the-ar t jersey. The proprietar y fabric releases heat 17 percent faster than stretch mesh according to an independent research study. The fabric is loaded with Dri-Power high-denier yarn that manages moisture incredibly well and provides superior compression, making the jersey difficult to grab and helping protect abdominal muscles from fatigue. The highper formance compression also increases blood flow. As an added feature, an antimicrobial treatment kills germs and helps control odor.

Washington State University’s football team recently upgraded its look with Russell’s XC jerseys and pants, and the players are completely sold on them. “The team was so excited about the new uniforms,” says Milton Neal, Washington State’s Director of Equipment Operations. “We’ve surprised the team before with different uniform pieces, but they were over the edge about these.

“It’s a classy, traditional look, but with modern innovations,” Neal continues. “Washington State wants a look that will stand the test of time. Fads come and go, but incorporating a technology that enhances per formance and offers a competitive advantage to athletes will remain. Russell Athletic has delivered this with the new XC jersey.”

In addition to looking great, when wearing XC your players will have the competitive advantage. They will be cooler, drier, and Xtremely difficult to grab. All these benefits help give them the confidence to play their best. It’s an advantage they can feel, inside and out.

Russell Athletic 3330 CUMBERLAND BLVD., STE. 700 ATLANTA, GA 30339 678-742-8722 WWW.RUSSELLATHLETICTEAMSPORTS.COM

62

COACHING MANAGEMENT

www.FundraisingForSports.com TIPS & ADVICE

SUCCESS STORIES

PRODUCT DIRECTORY

FAQ

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More Products BallQube, Inc. 800-543-1470 WWW.BALLQUBE.COM When you have a collectible sports item, you want to preserve its appearance, keep any autographs intact, and display it for all to see.

BallQube has an entire line of sports display cases just for you. Whether you want to put your item on a shelf or hang it on a wall, you’ll find the right UV-protected sports memorabilia case for the job.

BallQube cases will look great in your home, office, or athletic department display area. Visit the company’s Web site today to learn more.

Circle No. 574 Cho-Pat 800-221-1601 WWW.CHO-PAT.COM Cho-Pat’s patented Dual Action Knee Strap® provides an extra level of relief for painful and weakened knees. It applies pressure to the tendon below the knee to reduce patellar subluxation and improve tracking and elevation. It also puts pressure on the tendon above the knee to provide added support and stability. The Dual Action Knee Strap allows full mobility.

Circle No. 575 eFundraising.com 866-235-9660 WWW.EFUNDRAISING.COM eFundraising’s new gourmet microwave popcorn is as healthy as it is delicious.

This fun fundraiser comes in themed bags and can earn

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COACHING MANAGEMENT

Web News you up to 45-percent profit. It’s a dorm favorite that’s easy to sell at games and around campus. eFundraising offers a wide variety of proven fundraisers, with some offering up to 100-percent profit. Ask about the company’s no money upfront options and its free online program.

Circle No. 576 The Gatorade Co. 800-88-GATOR WWW.GATORADE.COM After years of extensive research, scientists at the Gatorade Sports Science Institute have developed Gatorade Endurance Formula for athletes’ longer, more intense workouts and competitions. Gatorade Endurance Formula is a specialized sports drink with a five-electrolyte blend containing nearly twice the sodium (200mg) and three times the potassium (90mg) of Gatorade Thirst Quencher to more fully replace what athletes lose in sweat when fluid and electrolyte losses become substantial.

Circle No. 577 Gatorade Nutrition Shake is a balanced nutritional supplement that’s ideal for use as a high-energy meal replacement, or a pre-event or betweenmeal snack. Gatorade Nutrition Shake contains vitamin C, calcium, and iron, so it’s great for athletes who want to perform at their best and need to supplement their diet with a convenient, balanced, and nutritious product. Gatorade Nutrition Shake is available in two flavors: chocolate and vanilla.

Circle No. 578

Your source for fundraising tips, support, and suppliers:

www.fundraisingforsports.com

The Tug Offers the Best of Both Worlds The Tug from Competitive Action Sports combines old-school toughness with 21st-century design and ingenuity. For decades, tug-of-war games using towels, broomsticks, and ropes have been a staple of football training, offering an intense test of strength, balance, agility, and old-fashioned guts. Now, the same testing can be performed with a piece of modern equipment that’s safer and more versatile than anything you’ve tried before. In addition to standard tugging drills, the Tug can be filled with water and used as a weight sled or hoisted by athletes to work the shoulder complex and practice lunge movements. Go online to watch the Tug’s demonstration video and see how it can revolutionize your training regimen.

www.thetug.net Kromer Is an Athletic Field Maintenance Leader One click on Kromer’s Web site gets you complete specifications for the company’s entire line of athletic field maintenance products. Read about everything from the industry-leading B200, the only “total solution” on the market offering 32 attachments to handle all your field maintenance and grooming needs, to the EZY Liner, one of the most economical line painters on the market today.

Kromer manufactures top-quality products to simplify your athletic field maintenance. A Kromer-maintained field is a field dreams are made on.

www.kromerco.com Variety of Fundraising Solutions Available Online at eFundraising.com eFundraising’s Web site offers a wide variety of fundraising products, all backed by quality service and providing up to 100-percent profit potential. The products offered include brand-name chocolate bars, gourmet frozen food products, popcorn, scratchcards, cookie dough, and other great fundraisers. The company’s online magazine fundraiser programs are also available, and can easily be run alongside another fundraiser to increase profits. Family and friends across the U.S. can support your group by choosing from over 650 magazine titles at savings of up to 85 percent off newsstand prices. At eFundraising, anyone can find a fundraiser that will meet their specific needs.

www.efundraising.com

Circle No. 140

Hey, Coach– What are your players wearing?

Cutters Outperforms

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RECEIVER GLOVES AND TWO

017

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017LT

017JP

022 FULL FINGER LINEMAN

THE JAMMER™

197M Coaches

117 THE MINI

C-TACK™ ARM SLEEVES

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No other glove performs like this.

IT’S IN YOUR HANDS. cuttersgloves.com 800.821.0231 Circle No. 141