Coaching Management 16.10

Coaching Management VOL. XVI NO. 10

FOOTBALL ■ ■

POSTSEASON

Coaching Your Son Strength Experts Speak

HIGH DRAMA Making risky plays work

EDITION

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$7.00

2008

Circle No. 100

Coaching Management Football Edition Postseason 2008

CONTENTS

Vol. XVI, No. 10

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2 LOCKER ROOM

COVER STORY

Bulletin Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

High Drama

New A-11 offense spreads the field … ACC adopts NFL-type policy on reporting injuries … Head shaving leads to hazing accusation … Movement on an early signing date …

How heavy is too heavy? … Division III questions remain.

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From last-second heaves to well-timed gadgets, sometimes you just have to take a chance. Here’s how to tilt the odds in your favor.

LEADERSHIP

Coach Dad

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Coaching your son can be a rewarding experience, as long as both of you are prepared for the unique challenges your relationship may face.

Q&A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Why would a coach leave a highly successful team to take over a struggling program? Rock Island (Ill.) High School’s Vic Boblett has the answer.

STRENGTH TRAINING

Strong Talk

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Four veteran strength and conditioning coaches share their thoughts on bodybuilding exercises, stretching, and getting the most out of athletes.

HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPIONS TEAM EQUIPMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 FOOTBALL FACILITIES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 POWER RACKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 STRENGTH TRAINING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 MORE PRODUCTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Stepping In

OVERTIME

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Despite losing almost every starter from a state championship team, this Michigan high school didn’t miss a beat and won a second-straight title.

Publisher Mark Goldberg Editor-in-Chief Eleanor Frankel Associate Editors Dennis Read, Greg Scholand Assistant Editors R.J. Anderson, Kenny Berkowitz, Abigail Funk, Kyle Garratt, Mike Phelps

Marketing Director Sheryl Shaffer Marketing/Sales Assistant Danielle Catalano Business Manager Pennie Small Art Director Pamela Crawford Photo Research Susan McGinn Administrative Assistant Sharon Barbell Special Projects Dave Wohlhueter

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.

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LOCKER ROOM BULLETIN BOARD

Tired of seeing their Piedmont (Calif.) High School team struggle against opponents from schools nearly twice its size, Head Coach Kurt Bryan and Director of Football Operations Steve Humphries went back to the drawing board after the 2006 season. They combed coaching manuals looking for ways to level the playing field,

yards behind the line of scrimmage, and two groups of three receivers flank each side of the linemen. Through shifting and motion, the five ineligible linemen are not determined until moments before the snap, leaving the defense uncertain about who it needs to cover.

it to the California Interscholastic Federation, who said the same thing. They reviewed it from every angle that you could possibly imagine. ‘Was it a travesty to the game?

No. Was it an unfair act? No. Was it deceptive? No.’ It’s just another strategy.”

As long as the backs are seven yards behind the line of scrimmage and no one is in position to receive a hand-to-hand snap from the center, the set

With the associations’ stamp of approval, the Highlanders got off to a rough start by dropping their first two games of the 2007 season while scor-

The A-11 offense, developed at Piedmont (Calif.) High School (shown in white), uses a scrimmage-kick formation numbering exception to make all 11 players potentially eligible to catch a forward pass. Although it’s been cleared for use in 40 states, some people feel the offense exploits a loophole that should be closed. but were underwhelmed by the available choices. So, the pair designed a new offense that is making waves in California and attracting attention from coaches near and far.

Their creation—named the A-11 offense—makes all 11 offensive players potential receiving threats by giving them all eligible receiver numbers (1-49 and 80-99) and placing them in a scrimmage-kick formation. In the base A-11 formation, the center lines up with a tight end on each side, two backs line up behind the linemen with one at least seven

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up legally qualifies as a scrimmage-kick formation. This means the normal numbering rules requiring at least five players wear a number between 50 and 79, and are thus ineligible receivers, don’t apply.

“After researching the rule book, we came up with the A11 as a way to make everyone a potential vertical threat,” says Bryan. “Since we had never seen this before, we went through a long process to make sure it was legal. We submitted it to the NFHS, and they looked at it and said it looked fine. We then brought

ing a total of nine points. After film study, player feedback, and some tweaking, however, the offense clicked and Piedmont reeled off seven straight wins before losing in the playoffs. Considering Bryan’s initial goal for the season was to finish .500, the A-11 experiment exceeded expectations.

“We told the players this was going to be trial by fire,” says Bryan. “We were literally making adjustments every day after practice.”

Piedmont used the A-11 about 60 percent of the time

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last year and ran its two-back, West-coast offense the rest of the time. With nine starters returning on offense for 2008, Humphries and Bryan expected to use the A-11 as much as 85 to 90 percent of the time.

Humphries and Bryan say feedback from referees and opposing coaches has been very positive. High school and college coaches inundated the Piedmont staff with questions about the offense to the point where they decided to produce instructional DVDs, create an installation manual, hold coaching seminars, and design a Web site to handle requests for information about the A-11.

But praise has not been universal. Football purists have sounded off on online message boards and in coaching forums, claiming the offense goes against the spirit of the scrimmage-kick formation rule.

Opponents of the offense are calling for repeal of the scrimmage-kick numbering exemption, which would likely mean the A-11 couldn’t function.

Four states have issued interpretations that prevent use of the A-11, and the offense is expected to be discussed during the NFHS Rules Committee meeting in February.

Bryan and Humphries argue that regardless of any efforts to make the offense illegal, this type of approach is inevitable as athletes get faster. “The game is not going to become slower and more methodical over the next 10 to 25 years— it’s going to become faster and more innovative,” says Bryan.

“People who love football— players, fans, and coaches—are starving for something new. Is this offense going to turn the world upside down? No, but it’s fresh and innovative.”

More information about the A-11 offense can be found at: www. a11offense.com.

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LOCKER ROOM BULLETIN BOARD College teams can’t use the A-11 as a full-time offense because NCAA rules state that to qualify as a scrimmagekick formation, it must be obvious a kick will occur. Still, Bryan and Humphries believe college teams have six to eight opportunities per game to use the A-11. San Jose State University used A-11 plays several times last year, and the Piedmont coaches have fielded queries from 40 college teams, including some that began the season ranked in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision top 25.

The local press ran with the story, and Goodrich (Mich.)

High School Head Coach Tom Alward and Athletic Director Al Martus had their hands full.

“Unfortunately, the mother didn’t go through the proper steps for filing such a complaint, which is to come to me first,” Martus says. “Needless to say, I was surprised, the coach was surprised, and so were the board members.”

ACC Regulates Injury Information From playing rules to eligibility guidelines, college football coaches work under an array of directives from multiple sources, including their schools, conferences, and the NCAA. But until now, there was nothing telling them how and when to release injury information. Due to an effort by coaches themselves, the Atlantic Coast Conference has implemented a system similar to the NFL’s for providing injury information to the media.

The ACC adopted the new approach in order to keep

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coaches from having to answer media questions about medical issues and allow teams more time to evaluate the status of players. In the past, ACC coaches typically released a full injury report each Monday.

business of answering questions about injuries,” says O’Brien. “Getting an accurate injury report out on Monday after a Saturday game is almost impossible because you can’t really tell at that point if someone can make it or not.”

“This idea originally came up during our coaches convention, so we put it on the agenda for our ACC spring coaches meeting,” says North Carolina State University Head Coach Tom O’Brien. “The consensus from the meeting was that this is a good idea for us.”

There is no penalty in the ACC for not reporting injuries or for providing inaccurate reports, but O’Brien isn’t worried about the lack of enforcement measures. “I think it’s pretty apparent if reports are not accurate, but I don’t believe anybody would do that,” he says. “I trust my fellow coaches to give us their best faith estimate.”

O’Brien says athletic trainers and team physicians are able to provide a more accurate report on Thursday as opposed to Monday. This reporting process will also keep coaches from commenting on injuries of a personal nature and having to worry about violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which protects the privacy of personal health information.

“We’re not medically trained.

This policy gets us out of the

A Close Shave With Hazing When a Michigan mother picked her son up from a high school team football camp in June and found that the freshman’s head had been shaved, she was not pleased. In fact, she was angry enough to go straight to a Board of Education meeting and utter a word no coach wants associated with his team: hazing.

From there, Alward and Martus met with the parent and son to talk about Martus’s findings. “I explained why it was not a hazing incident and was open to her questions,” he says. “But she was already on the same page as the coach and I and was sorry the whole situation had been blown out of proportion in the first place.”

However, haircuts at future Goodrich summer football camps have been banned.

Alward told Martus that rather than deal with the fallout from a similar scenario, he decided to keep student-athletes out of situations that might include peer pressure.

While the incident at Goodrich High was resolved peacefully, it exemplifies the difficulty of knowing exactly what constitutes hazing. Mary Madden, Associate Professor at the University of Maine’s College of Education and Human Development, who recently co-authored a study on hazing with fellow Associate Professor Elizabeth Allan, says the line is thinly drawn. “Without more specific details, I cannot

PEYTON WILLIAMS

The guidelines state that medical personnel for each team, rather than coaches, will report each Monday which players are scheduled for surgery or out for the season.

Each Thursday, within 90 minutes of the end of practice, teams release a list classifying each player as definite, probable, questionable, doubtful, or out. No other injury information is released during the week. “It’s certainly out of a coach’s realm of expertise to discuss orthopedic procedures, and this policy takes some of the pressure off trying to speculate whether a kid will or won’t play,” says University of North Carolina Head Coach Butch Davis.

Tom O’Brien, Head Coach at North Carolina State University, likes the new Atlantic Coast Conference guidelines that call for teams to release limited injury information every Monday and follow up with a full injury report every Thursday.

Alward and Martus also had a difficult question to answer: Can shaving heads as a team activity be considered hazing?

Looking further into the incident, Martus concluded it was not. “There were 10 freshmen at the camp, and only three of them got their hair cut,” he says. “It was strictly a volunteer situation, and he volunteered.”

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LOCKER ROOM BULLETIN BOARD say whether the situation in Michigan was hazing or not,” she says. “However, shaving heads can be a hazing activity.

“It’s all in the context,” she continues. “Who is encouraging whom to have their head shaved? Did the people who had their heads shaved feel like they had to in order to be accepted into the group? If the adults in the situation are confused about whether an incident was hazing, then the kids are surely confused, too.”

Allan and Madden define hazing as “any activity expected of someone joining or participating in a group that humiliates, degrades, abuses, or endangers them regardless of a person’s willingness to participate.” In the over 300 in-person interviews the two researchers conducted, many students used the words “low-

Although a head shaving incident at Goodrich (Mich.) High School was deemed to not be hazing, the line is sometimes hard to draw. A recent survey found that half of college athletes had experienced hazing activities, but only nine percent said that they had been hazed.

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Misunderstandings over a true definition of hazing was a major finding of the study, “Hazing In View: College Students At Risk,” released in March. It involved over 11,400 college students at 53 institutions across the country, who were also asked about their high school experiences.

“There is a huge gap between how many students have actually experienced hazing behavior and how many realize or admit to it,” Madden says. “By our definition of hazing, half of the college population has experienced some kind of hazing, but when asked, 91 percent say they’ve never been hazed. They justify or exclude the behavior they’ve participated in by minimizing the seriousness of it or saying they didn’t do anything they hadn’t agreed to do.”

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LOCKER ROOM BULLETIN BOARD level hazing” to describe an incident, but Madden says there really is no such thing— hazing is hazing.

“What’s low-level for one person might not be for somebody else,” she says. “We would ask athletes if there is hazing on their team, and they would say, ‘Oh no, we don’t have hazing, it’s not allowed.’

But when we asked if there were initiation activities, they would say, ‘Oh yeah, we have rookie initiation.’ In many athletes’ minds, initiation was not hazing, so that justified the activity for them.”

For more information about Allan and Madden’s study, including a downloadable copy of their initial findings, visit: www.hazingstudy.org.

Another important trend the research revealed was that almost half the college student-athletes in the study said they had experienced at least one hazing behavior in high school. “College coaches are trying to deal with something that has already been normalized for athletes through their high school playing experience,” Madden says. “While it may be more difficult for high school coaches because students don’t live on campus, it is very important that they make an effort to prevent hazing behaviors in the first place.”

Prevention is key, and the takehome message from Allan and Madden is that more discussion needs to happen. “Have conversations with your athletes about what is involved in power dynamics and groupthink,” Madden says. “We want stu-

dents to develop a moral compass and make ethical decisions. If we can teach them to analyze a situation and make a good decision, we’re teaching these kids an important life skill they will carry with them.”

AFCA Proposes Early Signing Date After two years of discussion and debate over the idea of an early signing date for football, the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) has submitted a proposal to NCAA Division I coaches that would establish an early signing period during the third week of December. If approved by the coaches, the measure would go to conference commissioners. The earliest the new signing period could go into effect is December 2009.

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“We polled all our stakeholders on the early signing date, which includes Division I head and assistant coaches, and high school coaches,” says Grant Teaff, AFCA Executive Director. “The third week of December is the most likely date, because there is already a dead period in the college season at that time. We have to be careful because the high school coaches prefer not to have a signing date during the season and some states have playoffs that don’t end until the third week of December.”

This is not the first formal proposal for an early signing period. In June, Southeastern Conference coaches voted 9-3 for a single early signing day in late November a year after voting 3-9 against the same proposal. Conference presidents and athletic directors quickly denied the proposal

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ers who might normally go to a mid-major school that has shown them more attention.

“Any new rule is going to have upsides and downsides for certain programs,” says Teaff. “What we have to figure out is which option is most advantageous to the most people, and that’s what we’re trying to do now.”

A Growing Weight Problem

Top high school players may soon have an additional opportunity to sign a National Letter of Intent. A proposal submitted by the AFCA would create an early signing period during the third week of December.

Here, K.J. Williams, from Norman (Okla.) North High School, commits to Texas A&M. because under the rule only players who had not taken official visits would have been eligible for the signing day.

AP/WIDEWORLD PHOTOS

“We wanted to allow a guy who has grown up always wanting to go to a certain school to sign early,” says Mississippi State Head Coach Sylvester Croom. “Then, he could take one official visit which would come after the official early signing date. If the early signing day is in December, players can take all five official visits, probably during the season, and then we still wouldn’t know if he would sign with us or not.”

Proponents of an early signing date are hoping to cut down on the amount of recruiting done during the season and eliminate situations in which coaches continue to recruit players who have made early verbal commitments. Rivals.com reported

that almost 200 recruits from the 2008 class de-committed at some point during the recruiting process. “With so much recruiting done during the season, you have to entertain recruits after a game and they become the focus of what you’re doing instead of the game,” says Croom.

Croom feels that little will change by implementing an early signing period in December because it wouldn’t alleviate heavy recruiting during the season. Some have suggested an early signing in August, but Teaff says this idea has not been supported by the majority of those polled by the AFCA. Despite disagreement over the timing, though, Teaff says most coaches do favor some form of an early signing period.

“The idea wouldn’t be this far along if the coaches weren’t

for it,” says Teaff. “For several years, we never had a consensus for an early signing date. I think that’s changed because of the large number of early commitments we’ve been seeing.”

However, not all college coaches are completely on board. Some are concerned that any early signing period would cut down on the amount of time they have to get to know players. Others oppose one because they feel it could create more recruiting advantages for larger schools.

They fear schools in talentrich areas such as Texas and Florida could sign top prospects during an early period before schools in other areas have a chance to travel and make a full recruiting pitch.

Some coaches also argue that powerhouse programs could lock up top recruits in December, leaving them more time in January to recruit other play-

To read a recent Coaching Management article on the debate over an early signing date for football, go to our Web site at: www.CoachingManagementOnline.com, click on “Football,” and then click on “Decision Day Debate.”

You don’t have to be a coach to see that football players, especially linemen, are a lot bigger than they used to be.

Two decades ago, the average NFL lineman weighed 281 pounds—today, he weighs more than 315 pounds. And new research shows this trend hasn’t been limited to the professional ranks. High school and youth players are bulking up more than ever, and the results aren’t all positive.

A study published in January’s Journal of the American Medical Association looked at more than 3,600 linemen across all classifications of Iowa high schools and found that 45 percent were overweight and nine percent suffered from what would be considered severe obesity in adults. Iowa State University PhD student Kelly Laurson and Dr. Joe Eisenmann, an Assistant Professor of Exercise Physiology at Michigan State University, used the players’ height and weight to calculate each athlete’s body mass index (BMI).

“The number of overweight athletes was not unexpected, but the really important finding from this study is that such a high percentage of the linemen fall into the extreme categories of obesity,” explains Eisenmann. “For adolescents, there are no classifications for ‘superobesity,’ so we used the adult cut points based on BMI and found that a surprisingly large number would be

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LOCKER ROOM BULLETIN BOARD considered superobese if they were adults.

rate lean mass or muscle mass from fat mass, so some players whose BMI classifies them as overweight may in fact be in good health,” Eisenmann says.

“But when kids start getting into the superobese category, they must have quite a bit of fat mass even if they also have quite a bit of muscle.”

“That level of obesity can carry some very detrimental health consequences,” Eisenmann continues, “including Type 2 diabetes, early heart disease, elevated blood pressure, and certain cancers. It also puts the individual at risk for many orthopedic problems, particularly if they maintain that weight as an adult.”

Although coaches typically love the idea of their players getting bigger, a study of high school linemen in Iowa found about 45 percent were overweight based on their body mass index, and nine percent were severely obese, which could put them at greater risk for health problems as they age.

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Since the study was published, Laurson and Eisenmann have been criticized by some football coaches who note that BMI is not the best indicator of a lineman’s health because it fails to account for the athlete’s muscle mass, which is typically much greater than that of their non-football playing peers. “To some extent that’s a valid argument, because BMI does not sepa-

The problems extend beyond high school players. Another study, published in the October 2007 issue of the Journal of Pediatrics, looked at 650 Michigan youth football players ages nine to 14 and found that 45 percent were overweight. Of those, 42 percent qualified as obese based on criteria established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the International Obesity Task Force.

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LOCKER ROOM BULLETIN BOARD those with overweight and obese linemen who perceive bulking up as their ticket to the next level, it should spur conversations about better eating habits and overall health awareness.

“For many of these athletes, football is their only outlet for physical activity, so it’s

a positive thing that they’re playing,” says Eisenmann. “But the medical community has clearly documented the health risks of obesity, so it is in young players’ best interests to have a physical evaluation that takes their weight into account and, if necessary, make changes to improve their health.”

For more information on obesity, including articles, research, recommendations, and guidelines specifically for adolescents and young adults, visit: www.cdc.gov/obesity.

What’s Next in Division III? With more than 400 member schools, including almost 250 that play football, Division III is by far the largest of the three NCAA divisions. So it’s no surprise that some people questioned whether Division III was growing too large, raising the possibility of a split into two divisions or sub-divisions.

A working group was even developing models for a possible split, until a survey last spring revealed that only 15 percent of Division III members supported such a move. And with that, the possibility of dividing Division III ended. Still, the issues that led to talk of a split remain, and another question has come to the forefront: Where does Division III go from here?

While the Division III membership generally agrees on remaining together, it also disagrees on exactly how to implement the division’s basic principles. “We know there is widespread buy in of the Division III philosophy,” says Division III Vice President Dan Dutcher. “But when you drill down, it doesn’t take very long to recognize there are differing interpretations of what that philosophy means in practice.”

With so many member institutions, a true consensus is unlikely. Debate continues over hot-button issues such as redshirting, financial aid, playoff opportunities, and other items.

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“We want to get kids to come to school here, have a great experience, compete, get an education, and go out into the world to be successful,’ says John Troxell, Head Coach at Franklin & Marshall College. “When I look at some of the other schools that are trying to create a competitive advantage by adding redshirting, I don’t think they’re holding true to the Division III philosophy.”

During the spring, the NCAA held three town hall-style meetings to determine which issues are most pressing. Athletic administrators and coaches shared their feelings about the state of Division III and the challenges it faces in the future.

Dutcher says a series of white papers based on the meetings will be reviewed by the Presidents Council and circulated among the entire Division III membership.

“Hopefully, these white papers will serve as a basis for further discussion,” he says. “But we’re not on any set legisla-

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Circle No. 110

LOCKER ROOM BULLETIN BOARD tive time table. At this point, I would say it’s more likely that any proposals will come from the membership sooner than they will from the governance structure itself.”

Although several proposals will be considered during the 2009 NCAA Convention— including a requirement that coaches be certified in first aid, CPR, and the use of an automated external defibrillator—one of special interest to football coaches will not be up for debate. A measure proposed by the Empire 8 Conference that would have allowed football teams to hold walk-throughs during the fiveday acclimatization period at the beginning of preseason camp did not receive enough support to be brought before the convention.

Still, some people wonder whether the differences can be resolved. “At this point, we just need to continue to discuss what our differences are and try to come to a compromise,” says Dick Kaiser, Athletic Director at Defiance College and Chair of the Division III Football Committee. “The split issue isn’t completely dead by any stretch of the imagination, it’s just dead for the time being.”

In the meantime, Division III presses on. While differences

AP/WIDEWORLD PHOTOS

NCAA Division III will continue to crown only one school as champion each year. Talk of a split into two divisions ended when only 15 percent of members said they supported such a move.

Here, Wisconsin-Whitewater celebrates its 2007 title.

exist, so does belief that the division is structurally sound, and solutions can be found.

“You can’t please all the people all the time. That’s part of living in society,” says Mike Maynard, Head Coach at the University of Redlands. “The survey results were a vote of confidence for all of us. Most of us want to be where we are and stay unified. We’re not all one big happy family, but the issues aren’t so large that they have to cause a split.”

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Circle No. 113

Vic Boblett Rock Island (Ill.) High School

Rock Island (Ill.) High School Head Coach Vic Boblett has an impressive resume, to say the least. Going into the 2008 season, his 18th at Rock Island and 22nd as a high school head coach, Boblett possessed a career record of 138-49, with 17 postseason appearances and two trips to the state championships.

Boblett took over the Rock Island program in 1991 after four successful seasons at his alma mater, Geneseo (Ill.) High School. Rock Island struggled that year, posting a 1-8

CM: What was your reaction to being named to the Illinois Football Coaches Hall of Fame?

Boblett: I felt a lot of emotions at once. I was excited. I was happy. I was humbled.

Most of the guys in the Hall of Fame are people I greatly admired and wanted to emulate as a player and a young coach.

For that group to recognize me as one of them was very humbling.

Was the Hall of Fame honor something you thought might be attainable?

I’m somewhat a believer in destiny, and if you’re meant to be at a particular school or in a particular situation, doors will open. It’s the same with the Hall of Fame. I’ve been fortunate enough to be surrounded by good assistants and have great players and a great community behind me. Individual awards are terrific, but they’re really a reflection of what has happened with the group.

How did you get started in coaching?

I played for Bob Reade at Geneseo High School, and I think the reason I went into coaching was because of the great impact he had on me. In my four years there, we never lost a game. Then I coached with him at Augustana College, and we never lost a game there either.

I’ve been really fortunate that the people around me have taught me wonderful things. Maybe the smartest thing I ever did was surround myself with good people.

Are there specific things you took from Coach Reade that you still use today?

Almost everything we do, I learned from him. But the most important thing

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mark, but finished 5-4 in 1992 and hasn’t looked back.

Under the 55-year-old Boblett’s guidance, the school has qualified for the playoffs in 13 of the past 15 seasons, including eight straight from 1996 to 2003.

But his resume doesn’t stop at the high school level.

Boblett also served as defensive backs coach at Augustana College (Ill.) for four years, helping the Vikings to four consecutive NCAA Division III championships from 1983 to 1986. In this interview, Boblett, a 2007 inductee in the Illinois Football Coaches Hall of Fame, discusses his career path, changes in the game of football, and why his proudest coaching moments include a pair of losses.

I learned from Bob is that coaching is a people game. There are all sorts of offensive schemes and defensive fronts, but what differentiates the good coaches is their people skills. It’s really about how you teach and motivate kids. If you can do that, they will have a chance to be good no matter what scheme you decide to employ.

In your final year at Geneseo, the team finished 12-2 and advanced to the state title game. Why did you decide to leave?

A bunch of sage old coaches—Bob being one of them—told me the real fun in coaching was taking a down situation and turning it around. Everywhere I had been up to that point, I jumped on the train and went for the ride. We were doing good things at Geneseo, but they were going to do good things whether I was there or not.

Back in the 1950s and early ’60s, Rock Island had a tremendous football tradition, but the program had fallen on hard times.

So I listened to those coaches, and in that first year at Rock Island we won one game.

Was it difficult, after winning so many games at your previous stops, to win only once in the first season at Rock Island?

I never worked as hard as I did that season. After the season, I went back to those sage old coaches who told me the real fun in coaching was taking a down program and turning it around. I asked them, “Now tell me, exactly when does the fun part start?” But it did. In the second year we went 5-4, with two overtime losses, and we knew we were on the right track.

PAT TRAYLOR/THE DISPATCH & THE ROCK ISLAND ARGUS

Q&A

Rock Island runs a hybrid Wing-T offense that Vic Boblett learned as an assistant coach at nearby Augustana College.

We knew the system we were using had won 52 high school games in a row. We’d seen it win four national championships in college. So my staff and I knew what we were teaching was sound, and we stuck with it. A huge mistake a lot of coaches make is that when things are not going right, they stop doing what they believe in and start grasping at straws.

You’ve reached the state finals twice as a head coach, with Geneseo in 1990 and Rock Island in 1997, and lost both times. What do you think when you look back at those seasons?

Some of my proudest moments in coaching have come in losses, and those state championship games were two of them.

The players absolutely left everything on the field, never quit believing—even in dire situations—and came oh-so-close.

Those moments make you really proud of your kids.

Things that are the most difficult to do make you feel best about yourself, and I don’t think enough adults relay that message to kids. In fact, often times they tell kids that if everything’s not going

perfectly, just quit. Go do something else. And that’s the wrong message to send kids.

How have you had to adapt in the way you deal with parents?

I wouldn’t say that we’ve changed our approach, but I don’t think parents

Have you seen changes in the players since you started coaching?

I think kids still crave discipline and the feeling of being part of something special. I don’t think that has changed at all.

But I think some things have changed.

For example, we don’t have as many kids who catch well. We work a lot harder at

“Offenses have expanded over the years, almost to a detriment. We keep adding stuff, but we can only do so many things well. Sometimes we need to subtract things. If we’ve made any errors, it’s been trying to do too much instead of focusing on doing fewer things well.” demand their kids do the hard things.

They tend to push them into things that are easy and look fun. If you always run away from hard things, you’re going to have a tough time getting through life, because most things in life are hard. Too many parents don’t understand that.

the fundamentals of catching, because kids don’t play catch nearly as much as they once did.

How has the game of football changed since you started coaching?

Everything just keeps getting better.

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CALU

Circle No. 115 CoachingManagementOnline.com

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Q&A Strength training has elevated the game tremendously. High school football is like college football when I was going to school. College football is like pro football was when I was coming up, and pro football is a whole new stratosphere. But the bottom line in winning football games is still who blocks and who tackles. That has never changed.

How has your philosophy evolved with those changes?

We probably run three times as many offensive plays now as we did when we

first started. Offenses have expanded over the years, almost to a detriment. We keep adding stuff, but we can only do so many things well. Sometimes we need to subtract things. If we’ve made any errors, it’s been trying to do too much instead of focusing on doing fewer things well.

Still, we haven’t left our roots. We’re kind of a hybrid Wing-T offense. We run the inside belly stuff and a counter series. We implemented some of the veer schemes, and now we’re using some shotgun. It’s evolved over time,

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but the base is the same things we did at Augustana.

In 2006, one of your players, Travis Hearn, was paralyzed after suffering a serious spinal cord injury while trying to make a tackle. How did that affect you as a coach?

It was difficult at the time, and it still is today. For our kids, it was the first time they really had to contemplate their own mortality.

But I was really proud of the way everybody handled it. There was fundraiser after fundraiser. We built Travis a house and raised tons of money that would help take care of his needs. We got Mike Ditka to help us do a fundraiser. Every high school within a 50-mile radius was doing fundraisers.

It was a terrible tragedy, but it brought the Quad Cities together like little else ever has. It was inspiring to see how people rallied around Travis. And he was able to graduate from high school last spring, which was a very proud moment for him and his family.

The issue of private and public schools competing against each other has been widely debated in Illinois. How do you feel about it?

Our nemeses since I’ve been at Rock Island have been Mount Carmel and Joliet Catholic, both private schools. We beat Mount Carmel in 1997 when we went to the state championship, but they’ve knocked us out three times, and Joliet Catholic has knocked us out a couple times.

I don’t want this to sound like sour grapes, because it isn’t—but we face a different setup than those schools. We’ve done pretty well here with just the kids we have within our district. Still, I know that if I was able to pull in players from outlying communities, we’d get really good, really quick. But I can’t do that. At some of the other schools, that’s possible.

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I’m not saying they recruit, because they really don’t have to. If you’re in the Joliet area and your son is a football player, you’re going to want him at that school.

I’ve always thought there are really only two solutions. One—and some states have already done this—is open enrollment. Any kid can go to any school. If that were the case, we’d be under the same guidelines as all the other schools.

The other solution is to have separate playoffs for schools that have boundaries and schools that don’t, but that idea never seems to take wings.

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COVER STORY

HIGH

From last-second heaves to well-timed gadgets, sometimes you just have to take a chance. Here’s how to tilt the odds in your favor.

BY KYLE GARRATT

S THE STORY GOES, with 24 seconds left in the 1975 NFC semifinal, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach closed his eyes, threw the ball as far as he could, and said a Hail Mary prayer. Cowboys receiver Drew Pearson came down with the ball and ran into the end zone for the winning score. Staubach told reporters of his last-second prayer, and one of football’s most famous desperation plays has been called a Hail Mary ever since.

Before Staubach, the play was simply known as a last-second heave, but by any name, it’s something no coach wants to call.

Hail Mary passes, lateral returns, onside kicks, and high-risk plays of every variety make coaches decidedly more nervous than giving the ball to a sure-handed back. Yet every coach encounters games where the clock is running down and the end zone is distant. Or maybe the defense seems to be reading your mind and you need to shift the momentum with a welltimed gadget play.

Regardless of their intent, there is a reason that desperation and high-risk plays have earned their names. They are not likely to work. However, there are times you have no choice but to use them, and when the game calls for a high-risk play, your plan needs to be more extensive than Staubach’s.

Despite the intensity surrounding desperation plays, they are not much different from the rest of the game. Succeeding with Kyle Garratt is an Assistant Editor at Coaching Management. He can be reached at: kg@MomentumMedia.com.

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COVER STORY

riskier plays—or denying your opposition’s desperation attempt—comes down to many of the same principles that make other plays successful: Practice, confidence, fundamentals, and strategy.

High-risk plays just require a little more imagination and faith.

Talking About Practice Coaches have long preached two practice philosophies: the importance of practicing the way you play and practicing to make perfect. Feel free to apply the same thinking to desperation and trick plays. For all the ways that high-risk plays differ from “normal” plays, they are the same in the sense that you can’t expect success without preparation.

“You need to have practiced a desperation play enough times so that you have the kinks worked out,” says Virginia Tech Head Coach Frank Beamer. “There are a lot of plays you can draw up on the board, but chances are they won’t work without practice.”

Few coaches recommend dedicating a large chunk of practice time to plays that are seldom used, but fewer would suggest ignoring them completely.

Desperation and trick plays occupy some amount of practice time for all coaches and many practice them daily. Beamer practices onside kicks three times a week and runs a full practice encompassing unusual plays and situations on the last Saturday of the preseason.

“We have a meeting, go over all the plays with the athletes, and then we go out and physically perform these plays against the scout team,” says Beamer.

“The goal is to make sure no situation

comes up in a game that we haven’t physically practiced for.”

Terry Smith, Head Coach at Gateway High School in Monroeville, Pa., works on trick plays and onside kicks every practice. Thursday practices consist of a preview of that week’s opponent, and then all special teams and trick plays until the players get them right.

That may seem like a lot of time to devote to plays you’d rather not use.

But all that practice paid dividends in Gateway’s 2007 Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League championship game against Pittsburgh Central Catholic High School when it faced a 15-point deficit with 1:02 left to play.

After scoring a touchdown, Smith’s team converted an onside kick followed by a hook-and-ladder play to score a touchdown with less than 10 seconds left in regulation, sending the game to overtime, where Gateway eventually lost.

“We have practiced that play twice a week for the past three or four years, but had never run it in a game,” says Smith. “We practiced it just for that moment when we needed something out of desperation that’s still organized.

Thanks to all the practice, we were fortunate enough to be able to execute it flawlessly.”

One of the most remarkable desperation plays in football history had no dress rehearsal, although some improvisational skills had been developed beforehand. When Trinity University (Texas) pulled off a 15-lateral play on the last play of the game to beat Millsaps College in 2007, it was the first time the play had been run.

“It wasn’t diagrammed or planned beyond the first pass,” says Trinity Head Coach Steve Mohr. “We simply told the kids in the huddle that our only chance was to keep the play alive by lateraling the football and trying to stay behind the ball carrier.

“While we didn’t practice that specific play, we do use a pick-up game that simulates it a little bit,” he continues.

“The receivers can’t take more than two steps before lateraling, and they just improvise to keep the play alive. But I never would have thought to practice 15 laterals.”

“ANYBODY CAN HANDLE THE PRESSURE IF THEY’RE CONFIDENT THEY KNOW WHAT TO DO. THE KEY IS COVERING HOW PLAYERS SHOULD REACT BOTH MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY DURING A PRACTICE SO NOTHING COMES UP IN A GAME THEY DON’T KNOW HOW TO RESPOND TO.” 22

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Head Games While practicing high-risk desperation plays will help your players know where to go and what to do, coaches say the biggest benefit is psychological, not physical. “We practice a kick return that involves several laterals, and even though we’ve never used it in a game, we probably repped it for 20 to 25 minutes three different times during two-a-days,” says Andy Hill, Head Coach at Park View High School in Sterling, Va. “We make sure the kids know that even in times of desperation, ‘It’s not on your shoulders whether we win or lose, just give it your best shot and have fun doing it.’”

Even in times of desperation, football is still football, and it is essential that your high-risk plays not feel like a matter of luck. “When the time comes, you need something in your arsenal that you have faith in,” says Mike Gibson, Assistant Head Coach for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League, and a former special teams coach, offensive line coach, and offensive coordinator for several NCAA teams. “Your players have to believe the play you call will be successful, because ultimately it comes down to them executing it.”

Hill practices four or five different trick plays each week and runs at least half of those plays each game. Last year, the go-to play that won the team’s first playoff game in five years was a halfback pass. “It’s fun for the kids to practice these plays,” says Hill. “And when we do need one in a crucial moment, they’re not thinking, ‘Oh my god, I don’t want to screw this up.’”

Part of the challenge in developing a mindset of success for desperation plays is creating in practice the kind of pressure that players will face in these game situations. Rather than practicing trick plays and Hail Mary passes, Mohr puts his offense in end-of-game situations with a certain amount of time to score a touchdown or field goal from a given distance.

“The kids get after it pretty good, and it simulates game conditions as well as we possibly can,” says Mohr. “I can remember countless times over the years this type of practice experience has helped us in the closing moments to win the game.”

Hill tells his players these last-second plays are actually opportunities waiting to be grabbed. “I don’t try to create pressure in practice because I don’t

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COVER STORY

When half of your kickoff team lines up like sprinters at the starting blocks, everyone knows what’s coming. There’s probably little time left to play and you need to get this onside kick to stay in the game.

But what about the onside kick that no one sees coming?

Tactical onside kicks are becoming more and more common as coaches weigh the pros and cons. Andy Hill, Head Coach at Park View High School in Sterling, Va., says he uses onside or squib kicks about half the time. He has used this strategy partially because he has had a great kicker in Clayton Parker, who converted seven onside kicks in his career, and partially because he simply believes it’s a better approach.

TACTICAL APPROACH

“In some schemes a team’s kick returner can be their best athlete,” says Hill. “If you kick the ball to them at the 5- or 10-yard line, they have the whole field to work with. Even if they have only decent blocking in front of them, they can turn that into a big play right away. We’ve always been leery of kicking it deep.”

Hill says he frequently uses a surprise onside kick when his team has just scored to go up by seven early in a game. Even as opponents pick up on this trend, Park View still converts onside kicks at a relatively high rate, and Hill isn’t likely to stop.

“We’ve been successful because of Clayton’s accuracy, and also because we have selfless kids who will go down the field and lay their body on the line so our quick kids can come in and scoop up the football,” says Hill. “If we get it, great, but even if we don’t get it, the other team is probably only starting on the 40- or 45-yard line.”

It’s a calculated gamble, just like many other high-risk plays, and you certainly don’t want to tip your hand if you can avoid it. In last year’s Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League championship game, Terry Smith, Head Coach of Gateway High School in Monroeville, Pa., was confident enough in his disguised onside kick to call it early in his team’s biggest game of the year.

“Our kicker’s approach is the same as if he’s kicking it deep until the last two steps, and at that point he will turn his body and kick onside,” says Smith. “We always have our three fastest guys on the side we’re trying to kick to whether it’s deep or onside, so you can’t really spot our tendency in that aspect. We also avoid any special huddle so the opposing coaches can’t see that we’re planning something.”

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Circle No. 119

want them thinking about that,” says Hill. “Most of my players grew up watching our high school team win, and they expect to win, too. Because they expect to win, at the end of the game my kids have the mentality that this is a great opportunity for them to add to our school’s tradition.”

Beamer, meanwhile, believes the key to relieving pressure is proper preparation. “Pressure is not the issue as much as confidence,” he says. “Anybody can handle the pressure if they’re confident they know what to do. The key is covering how players should react both mentally and physically during a practice so nothing comes up in a game they don’t know how to respond to.”

The University of Akron has won on the last play of a game in each of the first four seasons Head Coach J.D. Brookhart has been at the helm for the Zips. He thinks that the story he tells of a one-time failed gold miner named R.U. Darby has something to do with his team’s resolve in tight games.

After finding gold on his Colorado land in the 1920s, Darby bought mining equipment, and mined for about a year, but found little more. He decided to sell the equipment and land to a man who struck a gold vein the next week by drilling only three feet past where Darby had stopped. Hearing the news, Darby vowed never to stop three feet short and went on to become the top insurance salesman in the U.S. “I think our success in desperation situations is because of the way we push things,” says Brookhart. “We’ve adopted the motto of ‘three more feet,’ and thought that one way to separate ourselves is to do a little bit more than other teams. So when we run sprints, we run 41 yards or 101 yards while other teams run 40 and 100. It’s the ability to think we’re doing more than others whether we really are or not.”

Desperate Defense Defending high-risk plays shouldn’t keep coaches up at night, as any study of their success rate would prove. But countless replays of Doug Flutie’s Hail Mary and the phrase, “The band is on the field,” remind coaches of the torture involved with being on the wrong side of such plays. Disciplined defense is the key to stopping these last-second heroics, but nothing can completely

Circle No. 119

COVER STORY

alleviate the anxiety of defending an onside kick in the final minute.

“You get sick to your stomach,” says Brookhart. “You know that you’ve got it covered, that you’ve worked on it, and that the odds are not in their favor, but

you still get that pit in your stomach.”

Coaches have gone hoarse yelling at their players not to get beat deep and to bat the ball down on Hail Mary attempts. And there is more to defending desperation plays than having your hands team on the field for onside kicks. Most coaches agree that sound defense is the key to stopping even the most clever gadget play.

“Desperation plays are not going to beat you if your players stay cognizant of what’s going on and stick with the fundamentals,” says Hill. “We teach our players to put the team ahead of their own personal pride and glory. That means knocking the ball down rather than trying to pick it off or form tackling rather than trying to get the big hit on a guy. Undisciplined teams lose games because they get caught by plays like that.”

“WE TEACH OUR PLAYERS TO PUT THE TEAM AHEAD OF THEIR OWN PERSONAL PRIDE AND GLORY. THAT MEANS KNOCKING THE BALL DOWN RATHER THAN TRYING TO PICK IT OFF OR FORM TACKLING RATHER THAN TRYING TO GET THE BIG HIT ON A GUY. UNDISCIPLINED TEAMS LOSE GAMES BECAUSE THEY GET CAUGHT BY PLAYS LIKE THAT.”

Traditional wisdom for defending a desperation play is to set your players deep and never let anyone get past them.

While no coach argues against the need to keep at least one defender deeper than the opponent, some coaches recommend applying pressure on rugby-style laterals, Hail Mary passes, and other lastditch efforts.

“The thing about a desperation play is that it takes some time to get started,” says Gibson. “I think a lot of people play into the hands of the opponent by playing it safe and not applying any pressure.”

In all the madness that was Trinity’s 15-lateral touchdown, Mohr says it may have been his defense that learned the most lasting lesson. “Our defense learned a great deal: One, never quit on a play,” he says. “And, two, try to get some people behind the ball rather than everyone staying in front of it. We gained a bit of an edge because the Millsaps players largely kept the ball in front of them instead of going behind the ball and tracking potential ball carriers on the laterals.”

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Circle No. 122

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COVER STORY

Scouting (And Stealing) While everyone in the stadium knows when certain desperation plays are coming, other high-risk plays live and die by the element of surprise. If you are looking to keep a team from fooling you or you are looking for an opportunity to fool your opponent, the opportunities lie in deft scouting.

Knowing a team or a coaching staff’s history can be the difference between squashing a trick play or getting caught off guard.

“When I was a special teams coach, I watched every kicking play that every one of our opponents used during the whole season,” says Gibson. “Not only against us, but against other teams, to see what their trick plays were and to see how trick plays worked against them.

“Once you’ve been around for a while, you build a notebook not only on the opposing teams, but also on their coaches,” he continues. “And if you don’t have that kind of information available, you can trace the background of the person you’re coaching against.

If you have access to people he has coached against, you can pick up the phone and say, ‘Did they run any tricks on you?’”

As you examine your opponent, keep a careful eye out for any tendencies you might be able to exploit. “From scouting one of our opponents, we knew that when they kicked into the wind, they would try a lob kick,” says Brookhart.

“So we created a play where our return guy caught it short, and then we protected him. Our deep returner lazily walked up the other side of the field, then we threw it back to him, and he ran up the field.

“It was a momentum-changing play for us,” he continues. “They did exactly what we thought, and we gained about 70 yards, putting us in position to score.”

A key to gaining an advantage with desperation plays is having a solid knowledge of both your own personnel and your opponents’. Recognizing an unusual personnel package can tip off an upcoming gadget play, and knowing which players to key on can help defend against last-second heroics.

“I think most scouting to prevent desperation plays comes in figuring out which kids are going to make those kind of plays,” says Hill. “If I have to pick up 15 yards to keep the chains moving, I’m probably not going to throw to an untested receiver that I’m rotating in.”

The benefits of scouting go beyond simply being ready for what an opponent might do. No matter how creative your staff is, there is always another team that has a play you want.

Borrowing plays from other teams is a practice nearly as old as the handoff, and it allows you to judge if a play can be successful for your team.

“All good coaching is stealing,” says Gibson. “A good coach sees something he likes, studies it, and then tweaks it to fit his own situation and personnel.

Whenever you see something you think you can use, you have to decide if there’s some way you can try to fit it into your repertoire.”

Smith and Hill use a wide array of high-risk plays and are constantly on the lookout for new ideas. Some gadget plays come from internal brainstorming, but many more come from watching other teams.

“Any time I see something I like, I write it down,” says Hill. “Sometimes when we’re looking for a certain play, we’ll find something that I saw three or four years ago

“WHEN OUR KIDS BROKE THE HUDDLE FOR THE 15-LATERAL PLAY, THEY REALLY BELIEVED THEY WERE GOING TO SCORE. AND THAT BELIEF IS SOMETHING PEOPLE OVERLOOK. THEY SAY IT WAS JUST A LUCKY PLAY, AND THERE CERTAINLY WAS SOME LUCK INVOLVED, BUT OUR PLAYERS KNEW THE GAME WASN’T OVER AND THEY ALL BELIEVED IN THEMSELVES.” 28

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in a college game or a pro game that can help us.

“One of the plays we created was a bounce pass,” he continues. “We run a bubble screen and the quarterback throws it backwards into the ground.

As soon as the ball hits the ground, the defense usually lets up. Then our receiver picks it up and throws it back across the field. But the first time we ran the bounce pass we had a bad formation and called it at a bad time, and it resulted in a fumble.

We figured out how to tweak it, changed our formation, and it worked beautifully the next week.”

Beamer has a relatively smaller bag of plays that tends to stay the same from year to year. “There’s a set group of those plays that we use,” he says. “You don’t want to over-coach those. With desperation plays, we have ours, and we keep practicing them until we need them.”

As a coach, you can spend hours planning for every contingency, but in the end, the game will be won or lost by the 11 individuals on the field. All the Xs and Os will become background noise and something deeper will have to take over. If you want your next highrisk, traditionally low-success play to look like a minor miracle, your players can’t think they’re one play from losing the game.

“When our kids broke the huddle for the 15-lateral play, they really believed they were going to score,” Mohr says. “And that belief is something people overlook.

They say it was just a lucky play, and there certainly was some luck involved, but our players knew the game wasn’t over and they all believed in themselves.

“You could go an inch one way or the other, and that play is a non-memory, but every once in a while the unlikely occurs,” he continues. “You need to instill that ‘never give up’ attitude in your players, because the miracle plays happen, and they happen to people who believe.” ■

To view clips of four trick plays from Park View High School, go to our Web site at www.CoachesNetwork.com, click on “Football,” and select “High-Risk Plays” from the list of videos.

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Performance Points

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Are Your Athletes Really Training the Core?

With Dennis Kline, MS, CSCS, CP, Director of the Strength Center, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse

What are some common mistakes and misconceptions related to core training?

Many people seem to focus on isolation movements to make sure the core is stable, but that’s not the ideal approach. For instance, the plank was not really designed to be a training tool—it’s supposed to be a test to screen for lower-back injuries. The plank isn’t an effective way to recruit the core muscles because it doesn’t provide progressive overload. It’s just like how you don’t run to make your legs stronger, you do squats.

Another mistake is when athletes focus too much on sit-ups and think they’re developing the core. In Stuart McGill’s important book, Low Back Disorders, he mentions that most people shouldn’t do sit-ups at all. The sit-up motion puts quite a bit of stress on the lower back, and in most cases that should be avoided.

But some athletes will do thousands of sit-ups and think they’re strengthening their core, when in fact all they’re doing is building muscle endurance.

What is the right way to build core strength?

I believe it’s best for athletes to focus on strength training with larger, multi-joint movements. If you really want to recruit and stabilize the core, it’s the Olympic lifts, squats, standing overhead presses, and other standing (rather than seated) exercises that will make the biggest difference. If those are being performed regularly in a well-designed strength regimen, you don’t need to fill out a program with lots of extra “core-specific” strength work.

How do you get your own athletes at UW-La Crosse to develop a strong, stable core?

Because our focus is on multi-joint strength movements, for the most part we prescribe very few abdominal exercises. In addition to the Olympic lifts, jump squats, step-ups, and single-leg squats, we’ll use some plyometrics and other related activities that involve back extension.

Are there any exercises you’re careful to never prescribe?

As I already mentioned, we stay away from situps. We have also gotten rid of Supermans—Stuart

McGill’s book proclaims pretty clearly that the Superman is a highrisk exercise that puts a great deal of compression pressure on the disks and lower back.

How do core training methods vary depending on the athlete’s sport?

It’s important to look at the specific demands that a sport places on the body. A distance runner and a shot putter might compete in the same meets, but they have much different needs when it comes to core strength. The shot putter’s activity is intense and lasts only for a couple of seconds, so we’ll use exercises with a higher load that require maintaining proper body posture for a short period of time, such as heavy squats. For this athlete, we won’t look at muscle endurance or fatigue at all.

Meanwhile, the distance runner needs muscle endurance in order for the core to remain stable throughout a long race. So we might have that athlete perform supersets of fatiguing squats or single-leg activities, followed immediately by a depth drop to assess landing mechanics. When they land, we’ll look for stability or a lack of stability in the body as the feet hit the ground.

How do you measure progress in core strength?

Put simply, I think the best gauge is the win column.

You’re looking for transfer to the athlete’s sport, not a specific benchmark achieved during a strength test.

An observant strength coach should be able to see during a game or practice whether individual athletes have a weak core that needs addressing, because it will limit their ability to perform some key sportspecific movement skills.

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Circle No. 126

Circle No. 127

LEADERSHIP Hutchinson (Kan.) High School Head Coach Randy Dreiling and his son, Grant, celebrate after winning the 2007 Class 6A state title.

COACH DAD

BY DR. LARRY LAUER

I

T IS THE START OF PRESEASON AND THERE ARE 101 TASKS TO BE COMPLETED. One of those early sea-

son hurdles, the parents meeting, is usually a no-brainer. You have always felt comfortable walking into a room full of your studentathletes’ parents and discussing your rules and philosophy.

But this year, the thought of the meeting is accompanied by some anxi-

Coaching your son can be a rewarding experience, as long as both of you are prepared for the unique challenges your relationship may face. ety. One of the members of the current squad is your son, and it’s a situation you’ve never faced before. A friend tells you there is talk that you have already decided your child will be the starting quarterback. Another rumor is that your son and his friends are receiving preferential treatment in practice.

Coaching is a tough job. Unlike most professions, you work with young people under public scrutiny. Furthermore,

people tend to measure success and failure only by what is on the scoreboard, not the teaching you do in practice. In many communities, your moves are criticized more than the mayor’s!

Now you are going to add to the pressure by coaching your own child?

Sharing a team experience with a son can be a wonderful, positive opportunity, but it can also be a disaster. Before you embark on the endeavor, there are

Larry Lauer, PhD, is Director of Coaching Education and Development at the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports at Michigan State University, where one of his research interests is parents’ involvement with their children’s athletic teams. He can be reached at: lauerl@msu.edu.

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some areas to think through and decisions to be made.

Pros & Cons Veteran high school and collegiate coach Jerry Reeder is a proponent of coaching one’s own child. He has coached his two sons, and encourages other coaches to do the same.

“It is an opportunity to share in their successes and failures, and it strengthens your bond with your child,” Reeder says.

“You can laugh and cry with them and that is what makes a relationship stronger. It is a fantastic opportunity most parents don’t get to have.”

There are other benefits, too. A child can learn to understand and respect the father’s profession. And the parent can have new insight into his child’s interactions with teammates, authority figures, and opponents. Furthermore, parentcoaches can observe, in the trenches, their child’s reactions to losing, winning, and many other situations that reveal their character. It can also help parents form a less biased view of their child’s abilities.

On the flip side, coaching your son can put you, your child, and the team in a precarious position. The most obvious concern is the almost automatic reaction from others that your child will receive favoritism—a starting position and playing time without having to compete for them.

Reeder feels this is the greatest threat.

“You have to do your best to negate any perceived favoritism,” he says. “If you don’t, it can divide a program.”

Rumors and second-guessing come quickly when the coach’s child is in the starting lineup. It is often fueled by parents who are frustrated their own child is not receiving playing time. Players on the bench may also begin to question why the coach’s son is playing, and most importantly, question the coach’s fairness.

Several years ago in Indiana, a basketball coach’s son was sitting on the bench after having just broken a county scoring record, when a player on the court passed the ball to the seated teammate.

The gesture was meant to show the team’s

frustration with the coach, whom many felt was making his son the sole focus of the team’s offense. The student section erupted in laughter and it turned out that parents were also involved in initiating the prank. Although those involved were disciplined by the school and the athlete went on to play NCAA Division I ball, I’m sure the embarrassment of the player and coach have stayed with them and soured the team experience.

The second concern comes from a reaction to perceived favoritism: being too hard on your child. Parent-coaches can be tougher on their kid because they expect more, putting more pressure on the child. The frustration of the child is, “Why do you expect more of me than anyone else?”

Coach Reeder sometimes found himself being hard on his sons. His boys would be the first to sit if the game was out of hand. He cautions that this can be detrimental to family life, creating tension between parent and child, and even between spouses.

This leads to the third concern, which

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is the inability of the adolescent to separate the parent’s coaching role from the parenting role. At practice, you may give your child negative feedback, thinking what’s on the field stays on the field. In reality, it does not.

“You are not going home with the other athletes on the team and living with them 24/7,” Reeder warns. “The situation can put pressure on the child and strain the parent-child relationship.”

Is It Right For You? So how do you know if the positives will outweigh the negatives for you and your child? To start, take some time to think about why you want to coach a team with your child on it.

If the reason is to make sure your son reaches his potential and goes on to the next level, you may be heading down the wrong road. If it’s because you want to mend a difficult relationship you have with your child, that’s another misguided reason. However, if you have been coaching the team for a while, your relationship with your child is on solid ground, and you like the idea of sharing the team experience with him, you are off to a good start.

The next step is to think about how the situation will affect your son. Talk Untitled-2 openly to your child about the realities of coaching them, and the payoffs and pitfalls. And then, listen. Some children handle being coached by a parent better than others. It is your job to find out if your child is willing and able.

Sometimes, a parent is eagerly anticipating coaching their child on a varsity team, not realizing that the child is actually dreading it. Teenage years are often ones of learning to be independent of your parents, and having a parent involved in your extracurricular activity can cause resentment. On top of that, the child may worry that he will be treated differently by friends on the team if Dad is the coach.

In addition, discuss the situation with your spouse. Talk honestly about whether your child will be able to deal with the prospect of you being tough on them in practice and not dwelling on it at home.

Consider these questions: ■ Knowing my child, how will he respond to me as a coach?

■ Will my child be able to separate my parent and coach roles?

■ How well will I be able to separate

my roles as coach and parent?

■ Will this create strain within our family?

Finally, assess how the parent-coach role will work for you. Think about what type of coach you are and whether that will create strain between you and your child. For example, are you overbearing as a coach? If you are, you likely will be too hard on your child.

Also, consider how the other members of the team, and their parents, would respond to you coaching your

own child. For example, is your child a borderline starter? If he is a star player, questions of favoritism are usually moot.

However, if he is battling for a starting position or playing time, then you may face criticisms of being unfair. Will these be surmountable?

Keep in mind that a longtime coach with a history at a school will be given more leeway and respect that he is coaching the team, not just his child.

If you choose to coach a team just as your son joins it, parents will assume you

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Defend, dominate, and attack!

LEADERSHIP

place your child’s interests first and you will have to prove otherwise.

“…It will be required reading for all defensive coordinators.”

Untitled-38 1

Laying The Groundwork For those brave of heart and willing to coach their child in interscholastic Pat Fitzgerald sport, you still should not jump into it Head Football Coach, headlong. Instead, you need to prepare Northwestern University a game plan so that the situation does Multiple formation and motion not negatively affect your relationship with your child, the team, or your child’s offenses of the modern football era performance. present many defensive challenges.

Reeder feels that laying out ground Football’s Eagle & Stack Defenses rules is particularly important. First, you will prepare teams and individual have to know how you are going to deal players to not only defend but also with any team-related disciplinary issues and dominate whatever NEW! attack involving your child. In Reeder’s case, he offensive tactics an opponent might had his assistants handle it to help keep employ. the parent and coach roles separate.

248 pages • 978-0-7360-7253-3 • $19.95 The second ground rule Reeder communicated to his sons was that they must To order call toll-free 1-800-747-4457 U.S. or visit www.HumanKinetics.com treat him like any other coach and not Also available in bookstores everywhere! expect preferential treatment. At this time, a coach may even want to talk about why he might be a little harder on the HUMAN KINETICS child and how that shouldn’t be taken The Premier Publisher for Sports & Fitness personally, but as an attempt to make the team realize there is no favoritism.

Circle No. 133 Another area to navigate is how to best separate the parent and coach roles.

9/25/08 10:35:25For AM Reeder, it worked well for his sons to call him “Coach” while around the team.

“When we stepped on the practice field, I was Coach Reeder, not Dad,” he says.

“That’s how they would address and treat me.”

It’s also important for the coach to be ready to shift into the specific roles.

When coaching, take a coaching mindset and treat your child like any other member of the team, always being realistic about his playing abilities. Reeder mentioned that he makes it a point to not single out any player, and he did the same with his boys. He attempted to praise the team effort to avoid perceptions of favoritism.

And when you are a parent, be a parent. Provide unconditional love and support away from the gym or field.

Try not to bring things home that happened in practices and games. Refrain from turning dinner table conversation into coaching critiques. And talk about things other than sport with your child.

Another tactic to laying solid groundwork is to have your spouse less involved in the sport experience. That way they can take the pressure off and emphaCircle No. 134

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LEADERSHIP

size other aspects of the family such as school, friends, hobbies, and so forth.

Finally, consider communicating openly about the situation with your team. Reeder felt it was critical to talk to his players about the situation in the first meeting. Let your athletes know your expectations in terms of having respect for you and each other.

When meeting with parents, be clear about how you will determine playing time and starting positions. Also, clarify that assistants have a role in making these decisions and will help to keep it fair. Finally, reinforce the fact that the athletic director will be monitoring the situation to make sure it is handled well.

Reeder says that meeting this head on was important to staving off potential problems on his teams.

In-Season Assessment Having ground rules in place will set you on the right course for this endeavor, but you will also need to assess the situation throughout the season. While coaching, it is important that you become very observant of your behaviors and of your child’s reactions. Is your child feeling pressure? Do problems at practices or games carry over to home? Are your conversations dominated by sport? Is the team becoming divided or isolating your child? Is your child not talking to you, or always arguing with you?

It’s a great idea to ask a trusted assistant to observe you while coaching to see if you are playing favorites, or are being too tough on your child. Sometimes when you are in the middle of coaching it is hard to be self-aware.

If any problems arise, it is time to adapt and have a heart-to-heart with your child. Revisit the discussions you had before you made the decision to coach your child so you can both think through your actions. Talk about how you both might do a better job of separating the coach and parent roles. If needed, meet with the team and talk about fairness issues and how you are attempting to treat everyone equally.

If rumors surface that you are playing favorites, it is important to address them head on, even though it may be uncomfortable. Talk to trusted parents about the concerns and if they are related to any particular coaching decisions.

Then, determine how best to squash the

rumors. Do you meet privately with those frustrated by the situation? Do you set a team meeting to discuss your process for playing time decisions? The answer will depend on your specific team.

A proactive way to minimize rumors is to have an e-mail newsletter sent to all team members’ parents discussing your philosophy, training methods, and how the season is progressing. If you create this informational newsletter, however, do so with caution. Be sure you are not divulging too much information or con-

fidential discussions. Moreover, it should be matter-of-fact in its tone and not a letter defending every move you make.

Coaching your child can be a wonderful experience, but it can also create problems, some of which are not completely within your control. Your child will experience your involvement differently than any other player you have coached. But, if you think through the decision, lay the groundwork, and monitor the situation, it can be some of the best times of both of your lives. ■

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Circle No. 136

STRENGTH & CONDITIONING

STRONG TALK Four veteran strength and conditioning coaches share their thoughts on bodybuilding exercises, stretching, and getting the most out of athletes.

TIM CASEY PHOTO

BY R.J. ANDERSON If you want to be the best, you should learn from the best. So we’ve

as you work to make your players the best they can be.

asked four leading strength and conditioning professionals to talk about the art and science of improving athletic performance.

Some of their answers may surprise you, and as you’ll see, these experts don’t always agree. Many of the questions surrounding strength training don’t have one simple answer—what works well for one coach will do little for another. This just makes it more important to understand the different approaches available

CM: What are the most important factors in developing a successful strength and conditioning program?

Michael Boyle: Number one is attention to detail and number two is technique—which goes hand-in-hand with attention to detail. The ability to get athletes to do things well is what separates good programs from bad programs. We all have access to the same information. The coaches who do a

better job are those who make sure it’s done right.

Allan Johnson: The program needs to be multifaceted and comprehensive, encompassing strength, flexibility, agility, speed, balance, nutrition, prehab, and explosion. It also needs to be simplified for the athletes. Sometimes we overcomplicate simple tasks and the athletes have no idea what we’re talking R.J. Anderson is an Assistant Editor at Coaching Management. He can be reached at: rja@MomentumMedia.com.

CoachingManagementOnline.com

41

STRENGTH & CONDITIONING

Michael Boyle is a strength and

Allan Johnson

conditioning coach and consultant based in Boston and co-founder of Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning. He has been training athletes, from amateurs to Olympians and professionals, for 25 years and is the author of Functional Training for Sports.

is Director of Sports Performance at Velocity Sports Performance in Charleston, S.C. He has headed strength and conditioning programs for Ohio State University, West Virginia University, and the Baltimore Orioles.

Chris Carlisle is in his eighth season as Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at the University of Southern California and works with the Trojans football team.

Mickey Marotti

is Director of Strength and Conditioning at the University of Florida and works with the Gators football team.

THE PAN EL

Circle No. 137

about. The athletes need us to break it down so they understand what we want them to do.

Chris Carlisle: A good program is one that meets the goals you’re training for.

It has to be right for you. You can’t take somebody else’s ideas and try to apply them to your program unless you completely understand how those ideas were developed.

What are the keys to getting the most out of each athlete?

Boyle: The number one factor is convincing athletes to compete only with themselves. I don’t do any results boards or clubs in my weightroom because that stuff only rewards the guys with the most fast-twitch muscle fiber. If you say, “You need to get on the ‘300 Board’ for bench pressing 300 pounds,” athletes end up doing whatever it takes to get their name on the board instead of obtaining technical mastery of the exercise.

Strength levels are largely pre-determined by how much fast-twitch muscle fiber an athlete has, and you need to

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Circle No. 138

STRENGTH & CONDITIONING

work with that. So I say, “Here’s what you did last time. Here’s what we think you’re capable of doing. Here’s what we’re going to do to get you there.”

Johnson: Developing a relationship with the athlete and discovering his hot button is the key. The more you know about the athlete’s background and what makes him tick, the better you’ll understand how to motivate him. This means really listening to your athletes. A big mistake we sometimes make as coaches is talking too much and not listening enough. You’d be amazed how much you can learn by not saying anything and just listening.

Mickey Marotti: There have to be results and changes they can plainly see in the weightroom and on the playing field. So we communicate how much they’re improving on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis. Athletes also need to know how much you care about them and how hard you’re working to help them get better. If you’re a passionate, intense person who embraces weight training, athletes feed off it.

What is your philosophy on stretching?

Johnson: I’m more into an active dynamic warmup with minimal flexibility work. Recent research has shown that if you incorporate static stretching into your pre-workout or pre-game routine, there’s a 19-percent reduction in power output as far as vertical and horizontal speed. I’m a big proponent of PNF or assistive stretching post activity.

Marotti: We’re more focused on using a dynamic warmup pre-practice and preworkout. Then we do some traditional PNF stretching, partner stretching, and band work post-practice and postworkout.

Carlisle: We do a dynamic warmup followed by a static stretching routine. I don’t think all of the information is in, even though it’s sort of a fad to say static stretching is bad. When I see our physical thera-

Once we get great technique, we work on speed of movement. Only then do we start worrying about the amount of weight. Once technique breaks down, we lower the weight.

Problems arise when we are too focused on how much guys are lifting.

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pists—who are on the cutting edge of all this stuff—stretching athletes through a range of motion, I’ve got to believe stretching is still a good idea.

Boyle: In the last couple years we’ve actually gone back to more traditional

stretching. I think a lack of flexibility is the root of many overuse problems we see. After five minutes of foam rolling, we spend five minutes on static stretch-

STRENGTH & CONDITIONING

ing before doing a dynamic warmup. I think nearly everyone can benefit from a good dose of static stretching.

What is your philosophy on periodization?

Johnson: I think periodization is good as a basic guide for taking an athlete through a systematic program. But what looks good on paper doesn’t always work in day-to-day practice because it’s based on a number derived prior to cycle assessment, not on the individual athlete.

Boyle: I think periodization is incredibly overrated. Conventional periodization was designed for athletes in individual sports, not team sport athletes, so it really isn’t applicable in the collegiate setting.

For most college team sports, there is no isolated peak period or time we can set aside for hypertrophy. In NCAA Division I football, the peak has to last from midAugust until January.

Carlisle: I think it worked well in the Eastern Bloc when they had year-round conditioning and supervision with set periods of competition and training. But it doesn’t work in our model because there’s not enough time to go through hypertrophy and all the other stages with the NCAA limits on training time. I don’t know of any Russian periodizations that allowed for eight weeks of discretionary time between January and the beginning of summer workouts.

guard, Sedrick Ellis, whose toes turned out to three o’clock and nine o’clock. If we tried to correct that pattern and get his toes back to normal, we would have thrown off the way his body moves. I know people talk a lot about gait analysis, but when this kid gets into fight or flight, how long do you think the new gait training is going to stick? As soon as the ball is snapped, he’s probably not going to concentrate on keeping his toes straight, and will revert back to how he’s run for 20 years. However, if an athlete has mechani-

Do you believe in correcting agility mechanics, or letting athletes find their own form?

Marotti: We do a little bit of both.

Teaching the mechanics of agility and running is important. However, every athlete is different and they have to learn a lot of it on their own.

Johnson: In the initial stages of working with young athletes, I would definitely attempt to correct poor agility mechanics. But when an athlete gets older, I might let them find their own mechanics as they mature. A lot of it also has to do with how successful the athlete is—we’ve all seen extremely quick, fast athletes with terrible form and technique. I had a kid at West Virginia who ran the 40-yard dash in under 4.3 seconds with the worst running technique you’ve ever seen. We tried to improve his technique and it was a hindrance for him—he couldn’t run as fast.

Carlisle: We had an All-American nose

cal issues that are causing an injury, you need to correct them.

How do you avoid lower back problems with athletes who are lifting a lot?

Boyle: I believe you avoid back injuries primarily by doing a good job in teaching lifting technique. But I also believe you can’t put square pegs into round holes. You have to accept the fact that not everybody was meant to squat. As strength coaches, we’ve been very dogmatic in

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STRENGTH & CONDITIONING

using the philosophy that everybody has to squat and do the core lifts, when in actuality some of those exercises probably put 20 percent of the population at risk and should be avoided by those people.

Marotti: First, we make sure they’re doing the exercises properly. We also make sure our athletes’ cores are strong and stable. Another component is a smart, common sense progression. Sometimes, coaches follow a periodized routine that calls for too much weight at a certain time for a particular athlete. Everyone

progresses at different rates and you can’t hold each athlete to the same standard.

Carlisle: Before we load a kid with any weight, we work on technique. Some kids come out of high school with very good technique, while others are train wrecks.

Once we get great technique, we work on speed of movement. Only then do we start worrying about the amount of weight.

Once technique breaks down, we lower the weight. Problems arise when we are too focused on how much guys are lifting and technique becomes secondary.

Do you dissuade athletes from doing “bodybuilding” exercises that aren’t considered integral to performance enhancement for their sport?

Boyle: For the most part, I tell my athletes to avoid those exercises. But occasionally I let them do some isolated arm work as filler, if they want to.

Johnson: Those exercises can be good as a mental pick-me-up and during recovery phases, especially in the off-season. However, we need to educate the athletes that we’re training for explosiveness and speed, and bodybuilding does not really contribute to that development.

Carlisle: We use an apple pie approach. Let’s say we do a regular workout with plyometrics, med ball, core, squats, and bench, and I’m getting all my work in. We’ll put the apple pie at the end of the workout by incorporating some bodybuilding stuff that gets them all yoked up with big arms. Does that make them better football players?

Maybe a little, but the big thing is when they look in the mirror they feel good about themselves. Even the coaches see the results from those exercises and tell them how good they look. That’s brain candy. And it’s just from working five minutes on their arms. If you don’t give them something they want, you can’t be sure they’re going to come back and work hard tomorrow. And tomorrow is the most important day.

What trends in strength training do you see gaining steam?

Boyle: Machines that can accurately measure power will be big. I think more people are going to see the value of training at high speeds and effectively training for power.

Johnson: We are seeing a lot of strength and conditioning tools that were relevant 15 to 20 years ago making comebacks—somebody puts a little twist on it and it’s relevant again. For instance, the old leather medicine ball was something used by boxers and wrestlers 25 years ago. Recently a couple of companies put rubber on it and now it bounces—it’s the same tool, but with additional benefits. I think we’ll see more of that. ■ A version of this article appeared in our sister magazine, Training & Conditioning.

For more T&C articles on strength training, go to: www.Training-Conditioning.com.

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HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPIONS

STEPPING IN Despite losing almost every starter from a state championship team, this Michigan high school didn't miss a beat and won a second-straight title.

BY ABIGAIL FUNK

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HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPIONS Having lost 20 starters from its 2006 state championship team, no one expected the 2007 East Grand Rapids (Mich.) High School football squad to make it back to the state championship game, let alone win it. No one, that is, except the players.

“Going into the season, my biggest concern was definitely our lack of experience,” says Head Coach Peter Stuursma. “Our only true returning starter was one of our defensive backs.

We also had a left tackle who came back to start at guard, and our quarterback was a defensive end the year before. Other than those three players, we were all brand new.

“After two-a-day practices were over, we were still very unsure as a coaching staff where we’d end up, but one thing was clear: We had tremendous chemistry,” Stuursma continues. “Our senior

That loss was a key turning point for us.

Our next game was against our big rival, so we got a reality check just in time.”

After winning the regular season finale, the Pioneers gathered momentum and coasted through the playoffs.

Before anyone knew it, the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 3 state championship game was again looming. Stuursma, an EGR grad, regularly keeps in touch with former players, many of whom e-mail him with words of wisdom and encouragement to pass on to his current players. Because the title game was Thanksgiving weekend, many former Pioneers were in town visiting family and dropped by practices.

“They were stopping by every day,” Stuursma says. “I would introduce them to the team, they would remind the guys to enjoy the experience, and then they‘d hang out for a while. It was

School: East Grand Rapids (Mich.) High School Head Coach: Peter Stuursma 2007 Season: 13-1, Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 3 Champions Notes: In the state championship game, East Grand Rapids

SAMUELSON PHOTOGRAPHY

beat Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Preparatory 46-39 in five

leadership was apparent right away.

The seniors set high expectations for themselves when nobody else did. They also took care of things like telling a kid who showed up late that it isn’t okay to do that—things that a coach would typically have to deal with.”

The Pioneers rolled through the regular season, tallying win after win, until hitting a speed bump in their secondto-last game. Playing nearby Caledonia High School, EGR led 20-7 with under four minutes to play. Helped by an EGR facemask penalty, and a recovered onside kick, Caledonia scored the winning touchdown with 11 seconds on the clock, handing the Pioneers their only loss of the season.

“It was one of those things that just unfolded, and we could only watch it happen,” Stuursma says. “It felt like there was nothing we could do to stop it.

But EGR refused to give up, and after a diving fourth-down touchdown, pulled off a two-point conversion of its own to force the game into its fifth overtime.

Buoyed by its dramatic eight-point comeback, the Pioneers scored on a two-yard run in the fifth overtime and then kept St. Mary’s out of the end zone to clinch the win. “The greatest part to me was the absolute poise and tremendous confidence the players showed during the overtimes,” Stuursma says. “While 20-some-thousand people in the stands were up in arms and going crazy, there was not one look of fear in my players’ eyes.

They just said, ‘Okay, let’s do this.’

“I watched a re-broadcast of the game a week later with my wife and said, ‘How did you watch this? This is brutal!’” he continues. “I was nervous watching it, but when you’re down there on the field you really don’t think

overtimes … It was the longest game in Michigan playoff history … Senior kicker Michael Wilson established a new state record for extra points kicked in a career with 178 … Stuursma’s coaching record at EGR was 88-12 after the 2007 season, and he has won four state championships in eight years.

Assistant Coaches: Jim Voss, Defensive Coordinator; Bill Kowal, Quarterbacks and Running Backs; Matt Putnam, Defensive Backs; Robb Hurt, Defensive Line; David Evens, Offensive Line; Andy Tevlin, Linebackers

special for us to have those guys stop by, and it was also special for them to remember what they had here. It’s such a simple act, but it has a huge impact on the younger players.”

The Pioneers loaded onto two buses the morning of the game and headed to Ford Field, flanked by cars painted blue and gold and decked out in stickers and streamers to support the team.

After gawking in awe at the field, home of the Detroit Lions, EGR and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Preparatory got down to business, playing a game that would end about four hours later after a state record five overtime periods.

Neither team led by more than a touchdown at any point. In the fourth overtime, EGR looked to be near the end of its dream season. St. Mary’s faked an extra point kick and converted for two, making the score 39-31.

about it that way. It’s all business, and our kids were not afraid to reach out for that pot of gold.”

Stuursma says it was a shame somebody had to lose that day, and he knows it could just as easily have been his team.

With zero turnovers committed and five penalties assessed to each team, it was as clean as a game could be.

“It was fun to watch our kids throughout the season with the media attention we got and the support we had from our hometown community members,” he says. “The impact and historical significance of this will set in a few years from now, and it will be something they’ll remember for a lifetime.” ■ Abigail Funk is an Assistant Editor at Coaching Management. She can be reached at: afunk@MomentumMedia.com.

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Team Equipment Adams USA 800-251-6857 www.adamsusa.com The A4 Elite II helmet shell with the A3 fit system produces one of the lightest, most comfortable helmets available anywhere.

It’s made for high school, college, and pro teams. There’s no replacing or adjusting an air liner, and the helmet features a “once fit, always fit” design. Check out Adams USA’s new helmets at your local sporting goods dealer.

Circle No. 500 Athletic facilities, equipment, apparel, towels, and playing surfaces are excellent host environments for odor-causing bacteria, fungi, mold, and mildew. Bac-Shield™ from Adams USA “fills the gap” and makes your hygiene program more effective by inhibiting the reproduction of harmful microbes between cleanings and disinfections.

The active ingredient in Bac-Shield, chitosan, has a long history of safe, effective applications. Use it for laundry, locker rooms, surfaces, mats, and practically anywhere else bacteria is present. Convenient pint, gallon, and five-gallon sizes are available.

Circle No. 501 Antibody, Inc. 877-546-2639 www.antibodywear.com BodyGuard compression shorts prevent and accommodate lower-body injuries to the groin, hamstrings, quadriceps, hip flexors, and hip pointers. Because of their inner surface and custom design, they attach to the wearer and transfer their stored elastic energy to the muscles, creating torque and assisting with muscle flexion and extension. The shorts also provide constant compression, strain distribution, impact absorption, heat circulation, and absorption of fatigue-inducing muscle vibrations caused by repetitive use.

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Antibody offers the custom-made Double Shoulder Sleeve. It is designed to have a shorter arm on the existing (less severe) injury that covers only the shoulder itself, and a normal longer arm on the new (more severe) injury. It includes an abduction strap for the longer arm, and the compression ratio is increased on the shorter arm to compartmentalize the entire shoulder joint.

Circle No. 503

flexibility and range of motion in the groin, glutes, hamstrings, and lower back while bending, stepping, squatting, and lunging.

It is an excellent tool for off-season conditioning and in-season flexibility training, and is ideal for obstacle courses and agility stations. The Mobility Arch can be used indoors or outdoors. It is made entirely of aluminum, so it’s guaranteed not to rust.

Circle No. 506

Gear 2000, Ltd. 785-625-6060 www.gear2000.com

Wizard Sports Equipment, Inc. 888-964-5425 www.wizardsports.com

Z-Cool® shoulder pads have features that are beneficial to the athlete, including a moisture transfer system that moves sweat away from the body to accelerate evaporation and cooling. Z-Cool pads are 35 percent lighter than conventional pads to increase comfort and mobility. The pads dry in just two hours after use, which reduces odor, and the arch fabric is made from antimicrobial material. Z-Cool pads are used by pro players, top-50 NCAA Division I college programs, and high school state championship teams.

Circle No. 504

Since 1984, Wizard Sports has been manufacturing and designing quality football kicking products, including the “Easy Hold” football holder, kicking shoes, tees, kicking nets, snapping targets, and much more. Make sure you check out Wizard’s newly designed football kicking and punting shoe: the 2008 Kangaroo Skin +3. It gives your kicker or punter that extra level of confidence. Wizard Sports also stocks the popular Square Toe Kicking Shoe.

Circle No. 507

X2 Air® moisture-management shoulder pads by Gear 2000 are 20 percent lighter than conventional pads to add comfort and greater mobility for athletes.

The X2 Air’s Air Release foam controls impact energy by releasing air at the seams. The pads quickly rebound to be ready for the next impact. Additional features include molded-in vent holes for increased cooling and antimicrobial arch fabric that reduces odor and dries in four hours.

Circle No. 505 Gilman Gear 800-243-0398 www.gilmangear.com The Mobility Arch helps develop dynamic mobility by improving athletes’

Cutters Gloves 800-821-0231 www.cuttersgloves.com GreatCatch teaches players how to properly catch a football by putting all the focus on their fingertips. The palms and heels of the hands cause bobbles and drops—with Cutters’ GreatCatch, the fingertips do all the work for proper catching technique. As a result, players develop soft, reliable hands and fingertip control, resulting in fewer bobbles and drops.

Circle No. 508 The 197 Triple Playmaker Wrist Coach is made with C-FLEX™, Cutters Gloves’ exclusive “fits like a glove” technology, for optimal comfort and fit. It includes three windows for easy reference,

Team Equipment allowing you to store up to 300 plays at once. It’s available in 11 team colors.

Visit the Downloads section of the Cutters Gloves Web site for free blank play card templates.

Circle No. 509 Xenith 866-888-2322 www.xenith.com The new Xenith X1 football helmet features Xenith Adaptive Head Protection™.

The X1 adapts to impact by responding in a smarter and more optimized manner, thereby combating the effects of every hit.

Xenith Adaptive Head Protection encompasses three components: Aware-Flow Shock Absorbers™ provide a more optimized response at a variety of energy levels; the Shock Bonnet™ creates a suspen-

sion system that adapts to impact direction; Fit Seeker™ adapts to head size and shape to provide a superior fit. The X1 has shown outstanding performance when tested on the field. It is smarter, tougher, and built to last.

Circle No. 510 Pro Look Sports 800-776-5665 www.prolooksports.com Since 1996, Pro Look has developed award-winning uniforms for title-chasing athletes. The company is proud of its innovation and attention to detail. Its garments work with athletes when they need it most. Pro Look fabrics and construction methods stand up to abuse, season after season. The patented “Soft” tackle twill technology creates tackle twill that is soft to the

touch and stretches with the jersey, all the while maintaining traditional tackle twill strength and longevity. Combine stretch tackle twill with stretch-fit jersey fabrics, and make your players virtually unstoppable.

Circle No. 511 Pro Look’s football uniforms offer the newest in stretch-fit materials, including stretch mesh that makes your players virtually unstoppable. As one of the first companies to offer soft tackle twill, Pro Look now brings you a stretch tackle twill that conforms to the jersey.

Pro Look’s “One Price Promise” includes fully customizable uniforms in the newest designs—you get unlimited embroidery, unlimited tackle twill, and unlimited design options.

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Calling Cards Here is what these companies are most known for:

A leading manufacturer and installer of synthetic grass surfaces. www.aturf.com

Winning taste...

Championship results. www.cytosport.com

Manufacturer and installer of topquality synthetic turf and IAAF track surfaces worldwide since 1969. www.polytan-usa.com

.

One of the most trusted names in sports medicine for more than 40 years. www.proorthopedic.com

A leader in innovative, quality sports training equipment. www.sportsattack.com

Keep your profits by reducing the number of callbacks. www.nordot.com

Team benches with attitude. www.triadtec.com

GearBoss offers specialized storage and transport solutions for athletics. www.gearboss.com

Daktronics is a world-leading designer and manufacturer of scoreboards and displays. www.daktronics.com CoachingManagementOnline.com

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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 polypropylene fabric allows rain to drain through while protecting modern track surfaces from crossing traffic. A steel chain inserted in the edging keeps the protector in place without stakes. Choose white or gold vinyl edging for durability and safety. The Cross-Over Zone is 7.5 or 15 feet wide and 30, 40, or 50 feet long. Custom sizes and multi-color printing are also available. This product is easy to install and remove, and it ships quickly. Hundreds are already in use.

Circle No. 520 Cleats cannot penetrate the Bench Zone® sideline turf protector by Aer-Flo, but rain, sports drinks, and body fluids drain through—they’re not absorbed like they are with geotextile mats, which can triple in weight and develop odors. Vipol Matrix material lets air and sunlight penetrate and does not compact grass.

Simply hose it off to clean it. The Bench Zone is digitally imprintable in multiple colors, and is available in several sizes: 15’ deep x 50’, 75’, 100’, 125’, or 150’ long.

Custom colors and sizes are available.

This product is used by major college and NFL teams and it ships quickly.

Circle No. 521 Earth & Turf Products, LLC 888-693-2638 www.earthandturf.com The Linear Aerator changes the way aeration is done. Maximum modification of turf on athletic fields and golf courses is assured.

After the

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area has been topdressed, the Linear Aerator conditions a 58-inch swath by cutting grooves three inches deep, half an inch wide, and 3.5 inches apart.

Aggressive spiral-mounted teeth cut the grooves. Blended materials are brushed back into the grooves by steel fingers on a horizontally reciprocating filler bar.

Circle No. 522 Humane Mfg. Co., LLC 800-369-6263 www.humanemfg.com Rubber mats and flooring provide excellent protection for your equipment as well as the floor beneath it. Humane Loktuff mats are totally non-absorbent and provide a vibration/noise barrier as well as dust reduction.

With a tensile strength of up to 1,000 psi and a durometer rating of 63, Humane mats are stronger and softer than many traditional mats—so let the company be the “foundation of your success.”

Circle No. 523 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 to meet any budget. All of 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 are available. For more information, call today or visit the company online.

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Mondo 800-361-3747 www.mondousa.com MondoTurf systems are engineered for performance and safety. Mondo’s completely innovative artificial turf system reproduces all the characteristics of a wellmaintained natural grass playing field.

A new generation of fibers provides durability, performance, and playing characteristics similar to natural grass. Mondo’s patented infill, Ecofill Star, offers maximum safety and superior dynamic performance without the problems caused by natural turf fields. MondoTurf withstands many times the level of wear and tear endured by traditional surfaces.

Outstanding durability reduces maintenance costs.

Circle No. 525 Sport Impact from Mondo is an ideal choice for strength and conditioning areas. The performance layer is a solid three-millimeter homogenous wear layer that can withstand heavy abuse from weights and cardio equipment. The surface is non-porous and antibacterial throughout, and it does not require coatings or finishes for ease of maintenance and the elimination of odors and hygiene issues.

Sport Impact is available in 12 colors and in thicknesses of six millimeters and 10 millimeters.

Circle No. 526 OakWood Sports, Inc. 517-321-6852 www.oakwoodsports.com OakWood Sports is the builder of premier custom wood lockers, with experience in design, construction, delivery, and installation. For new builds or renovations, the company takes care of your locker needs from start to fin-

Football Facilities ish and beyond. With more than 200 locker rooms completed since 1998, OakWood’s experience and knowledge ensure that your locker system will be visually stunning and highly durable.

OakWood understands the construction requirements of athletic lockers, and prides itself on applying that expertise to the specific needs of each customer. Go online to view the company’s photo gallery.

Circle No. 527 In almost a decade, OakWood Sports has helped more than 200 schools and sports organizations design and install wood lockers for their athletic facilities.

Every locker is constructed from special cuts of highquality veneer and solid wood to ensure a vibrant grain pattern and beautiful color. The lockers are assembled by hand as an individual unit prior to installation.

OakWood’s specially formulated finish resists moisture, citric acid, and up to a 25-percent solution of sulfuric acid.

Finally, all hardware (including hooks, hinges, and clothes rods) is either solid brass or stainless steel.

Circle No. 528 PlayersGoal 866-OK1-GOAL www.playersgoal.com PlayersGoal is leading the way in football equipment. With its line of goal posts, combination soccer and football goals, ball safety netting systems, and much more, PlayersGoal has something for every program.

PlayersGoal sports equipment is manu-

factured in upstate New York and is featured in stadiums and at fields across the country. When it’s time to put topquality sports equipment on your fields, turn to PlayersGoal.

Circle No. 529 ProGrass, LLC 866-270-6003 www.prograssturf.com ProGrass is a proven leader in artificial turf systems, offering design, installation, project management, and product

the Eagle Model Series 1000 plastic bench seat module. This seat is designed to be bolted to existing or new bench seating to provide a more comfortable individual seat for your spectators and create enhanced VIP seating that can be sold to raise revenue for your complex.

Circle No. 532 Polytan-USA 877-POLYTAN www.polytan-usa.com

development. High school and college football teams across the country play on ProGrass turf. The company has installed fields from above the Arctic Circle to the Rio Grande. ProGrass’s philosophy is simple: the company expects 100-percent customer satisfaction. ProGrass doesn’t want to be the biggest turf company on the market, just the best.

Circle No. 530 ProGrass prides itself on solving turf problems. Scott Farmer, Senior Associate Director of Athletics at the

University of Louisiana-Lafayette, was evaluating synthetic turf systems for Cajun Field. The field, which sits two feet below sea level, is located in an area with frequent rainfall. ProGrass installed a 46-ounce two-inch blend with silicon dioxide infill. The new field will drain beautifully and the silicon dioxide is cooler than rubber infill.

Circle No. 531 Seating Services, Inc. 800-552-9470 www.seatingservices.com Seating Services is proud to announce the newest product in its seating line,

LigaTurf was designed to mimic the properties of natural grass, yet provide a highly durable synthetic sur face.

LigaTur f was specifically developed for stadiums and high-per formance sports venues. It features newly developed “spring-back” monofilament fibers that have an outstanding ability to bounce back due to their resilienceenhanced design and soft elastic yarn composition. The structural design of the LigaTur f system is optimized to ensure excellent playing characteristics over the life of the sur face.

Circle No. 533 Polytan LigaGrass is made with the same high-quality monofilament fiber as LigaTurf, but in this system the fiber is uniquely textured using an exclusive manufacturing process. Due to the nature of the textured fibers, LigaGrass provides a more closed playing surface, which prevents the infill material from coming to the surface—even during player contact, such as tackling or kicking.

Therefore, one of its main benefits is reduced maintenance needs.

Circle No. 534

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Active Ankle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Adams USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Aer-Flo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Antibody (The BodyGuard) . . . . . . . . . 12 Athletic Republic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 California University of Pennsylvania . 17 Cardinal Publishers Group . . . . . . . 26 Cho-Pat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Cutters Gloves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BC Earth & Turf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Fitnessrubber.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Gear 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Gilman Gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Hammer Strength Clinics . . . . . . . . 31 HighSchoolSports.net . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Human Kinetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Humane Manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Jump Stretch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Legend Fitness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 M.A.S.A. Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 MAXX Football . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

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Active Ankle (All-Sport Chameleon) . . . 62 Active Ankle (Volt ankle brace) . . . . . . 62 Adams USA (A4 Elite II helmet shell) . . . 52 Adams USA (Bac-Shield) . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Aer-Flo (Bench Zone) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Aer-Flo (Cross-Over Zone) . . . . . . . . . . 54 Antibody (compression shorts) . . . . . . . 52 Antibody (Double Shoulder Sleeve) . . . . 52 Athletic Republic (accelerated training) . . 62 Athletic Republic (franchises) . . . . . . . . 62 California University of Pennsylvania . 62 Cardinal Publishers Group . . . . . . . 61 Cho-Pat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Cutters Gloves (GreatCatch) . . . . . . . . 53 Cutters Gloves (Wrist Coach) . . . . . . . 53 Earth & Turf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Fitnessrubber.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Gear 2000 (product launch) . . . . . . . . . 57 Gear 2000 (X2 Air) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Gear 2000 (Z-Cool shoulder pads) . . . . . 52 Gilman Gear (King Crab Sled) . . . . . . . 60 Gilman Gear (Mobility Arch) . . . . . . . . 52 HighSchoolSports.net . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Human Kinetics (product launch) . . . . . 57 Human Kinetics (Stronger Arms) . . . . . 61 Humane Manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . 54 Jump Stretch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Legend Fitness (glute/ham developer) . . 62 Legend Fitness (Pro Series Power Cage) 59 Life Fitness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Life Fitness/Hammer Strength . . . . 59 M.A.S.A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 MAXX Football . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

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Mondo USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Nebula/NK Sports Group . . . . . . . . 37 OakWood Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 ONS Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 PlayersGoal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Polytan-USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Power Lift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Power Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Powernetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IBC Pro Look Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32-33 ProGrass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 ProMera Health (Con-Cret) . . . . . . . . 25 ProMera Health (StayActiv) . . . . . . . . 19 Rogers Athletic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Samson Weight Equipment . . . . . . . 46 Save-A-Tooth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Seating Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Sports Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 United States Sports Academy . . . . 10 Wizard Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Xenith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IFC

PRODUCTS DIRECTORY

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Mondo (MondoTurf systems) . . . . . . . . .

Mondo (Sport Impact) . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Nebula/NK Sports Group . . . . . . . .

OakWood Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

OakWood Sports (custom wood lockers) .

ONS Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

PlayersGoal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Polytan-USA (LigaGrass) . . . . . . . . . . .

Polytan-USA (LigaTurf) . . . . . . . . . . . .

Power Lift (Combo Power Rack) . . . . . .

Power Lift (Full Body Squat) . . . . . . . . .

Power Systems (Monster Sled) . . . . . .

Power Systems (Power Chute) . . . . . . .

Powernetics (Dominator) . . . . . . . . . . .

Powernetics (High Stepper) . . . . . . . . .

ProGrass (artificial turf systems) . . . . . .

ProGrass (solving turf problems) . . . . . .

Pro Look Sports (uniforms) . . . . . . . . .

Pro Look Sports (football uniforms) . . .

ProMera Health (Con-Cret) . . . . . . . .

ProMera Health (StayActiv) . . . . . . . .

Rogers Athletic (Brute Rack System). . .

Rogers Athletic (Monster Arms). . . . . .

Samson (Belt Squat) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Samson (product launch) . . . . . . . . . . .

Samson (Triple Power Station) . . . . . . . .

Save-A-Tooth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Schedule Star . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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

Sports Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Wizard Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Xenith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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NEW Product Launch The Snap Attack Football Machine Unique features: • At ground level, it provides a realistic snap without the center for drills using the shotgun or a no-back offense, as well as for practice of short punts and extra points • At passing height, it delivers precise deep passes and countless reps for interception, offensive, and defensive drills

Samson Adjustable Plyo Box Unique features: • Adjustments made easy by a ball bearing system • Heavy-duty construction backed by a lifetime warranty • All-rubber landing surface

Benefits for the user: • The extremely portable Snap Attack is two machines in one and allows coaches to maximize training time on the most difficult-to-practice phases of the game

Benefits for the user: • Multiple height adjustments for increasing or decreasing landing height—adjustments are remarkably easy with the ball bearing adjustment system.

• Large landing surface accommodates athletes of all sizes • Unique space-efficient design allows for placement virtually anywhere in your weightroom

Sports Attack www.sportsattack.com 800-717-4251

Samson Weight Training Equipment www.samsonequipment.com 800-4-SAMSON

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Football’s Eagle & Stack Defenses Unique features: • Details defensive tactics and techniques • Provides coaching points that can make these two defenses highly effective • Author Ron Vanderlinden has been coach and architect of several of the most formidable college defensive teams in the past 20 years

Circle No. 536

Z-Cool QB/DB/WR Pro Select Shoulder Pad Unique features: • Exclusively designed for quarterbacks, defensive backs, and wide receivers • Lightweight protection adds comfort and mobility • Weighs only 49 ounces and is available in sizes XS to 3XL

Benefits for the user: • Prepares teams and individual players to not only defend, but also attack and dominate whatever offensive tactics an opponent might employ

Benefits for the user: • Exclusive antibacterial 3-D air flow system • Moisture transfer system accelerates evaporation (dries in two hours) and cooling while eliminating odors • Free product CD available

Human Kinetics www.humankinetics.com 800-747-4457

Gear 2000 www.gear2000.com 785-625-6060

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Company Q&A

A Leader in Innovative and Quality Sports Training Equipment

Kurt Brenner grew up in the sports training equipment industry spending summers working in the family pitching machine business. With over 20 years of field sales experience, he now leads all sales teams in all sports at Sports Attack.

Founded in 1995, Sports Attack is focused on being the leader in innovative, quality sports training equipment that enables athletes at all levels to reach their full potential and allows coaches to develop championship teams. The company doesn’t just design its products—specialists explore, scrutinize, analyze, and engineer each one.

The unique, exclusive remote automatic feed system is an accessory option that allows the coach to remotely feed the ball into the machine, completely controlling the tempo of practice. The solid throwing wheels (as opposed to air-filled tires) have large, soft ball-contact surfaces that eliminate ball wear and provide complete ball control.

After fabrication and prior to shipment, ever y aspect of ever y unit of equipment is tested thoroughly. This process represents what Sports Attack is all about: Distinctive and exclusive design, along with detailed and quality manufacturing, resulting in innovative, effective training equipment.

What are some ways a coach might use the machine in offensive drills?

Why did Sports Attack develop a new football machine, the Snap Attack?

We received hundreds of requests from coaches asking for a machine that would snap a ball back to the quar terback in shotgun formation drills.

When the quar terback just holds the ball with no live snap, it develops the bad habit of watching the play develop instead of having to concentrate on first catching the ball. This increases the risk of a fumbled snap during game situations. After designing the per fect shor t-snapping machine, it was just a matter of adding power and versatility to get a machine that would do it all, and that machine is the new Snap Attack.

How is the Snap Attack different from existing machines?

Sports Attack P.O. Box 1529 Verdi, NV 89439 800-717-4251 Fax: 775-345-2883 info@sportsattack.com www.sportsattack.com

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The Snap Attack is two machines in one. From the elevated position, it will throw any pass in the game with a perfect spiral, delivered with professional-level accuracy and velocity. When lowered to a realistic release point very close to the ground, it will deliver snaps to the quarterback, snaps for extra points and field goals, and short and deep snaps to the punter.

The Snap Attack delivers centering snaps for shotgun drills and all individual positions, plus place-kicking practice. On its elevated passing stand, the machine pivots instantly in any direction to throw any pass on demand.

Hundreds of reps of such drills as sidelines (out), curls (hook), slants, and deep passes (the Snap Attack’s specialty) are possible. Any pass pattern can be provided by the Snap Attack.

How might a coach use the Snap Attack in defensive drills?

It’s great for interception drills, tip drills, and team defensive drills, especially prevent drills and final-play drills (such as Hail Marys). The Snap Attack is ideal for any defensive drill focusing on preventing completed passes.

How does the accessory remote control work?

Between plays, the ball is placed in the ball cradle by any player or coach.

To release the ball to the quarterback, you need only push a button on the small handheld remote control. There are also two different time delays that allow a kicker working by himself to have the ball snapped to him at kicking distance for realistic repetitions.

How durable is the Snap Attack?

Quality is Sport’s Attack’s signature.

Very few moving parts, a steel frame, and exclusive aluminum wheel guards make the Snap Attack one of the most durable, safest machines available.

Customers can count on many seasons of trouble-free use.

Power Racks Legend Fitness 866-7-LEGEND www.legendfitness.com The Pro Series Power Cage is one of the strongest cages on the market, with a huge list of standard and optional accessories. It offers the most interior space of any cage, and a nine-foot-high model is available.

Special Features: Seven-gauge racking, chromed weight pegs, dip attachments, plyo band pegs and holders, bar storage, multi-grip chin-up bar, oversized hooks, pull-up ropes, landmine attachment, and 3” x 2” adjustable bar catches.

Warranty: 12 years on the frame.

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Nebula/NK Sports Group 800-763-2852 www.nebula-fitness.com

Rogers Athletic Co. 800-457-5337 www.rogersathletic.com

The Double 1/2 Rack unit can be built into many configurations. The rack is available with one or two platforms and one or two benches.

The Brute Rack System™ is one of the most innovative multi-purpose power racks on the market. With the Brute Rack System, your athletes will experience a closedchain free weight training experience.

Special Features: Available options include swivel adjustable chin bars and telescoping lock-in benches.

Warranty: Yes. Circle No. 541 Power Lift 800-872-1543 www.power-lift.com

Warranty: Lifetime.

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The Combo Power Rack is a unique lifting rack providing two lifters with identical exercises. The inside of the

Life Fitness/Hammer Strength 800-634-8637 www.lifefitness.com If space efficiency, workout effectiveness, advanced training variety, and the ultimate in durability are your top priorities, the Hammer Strength® Heavy Duty MultiRack is an excellent choice.

rack is large enough to accommodate two spotters when two “Lever Action” benches are used in the rack.

Special Features: Two pairs of safety spot bars, two pairs of “Rhino Hook” bar catches, weight storage, bumper plate storage, dual-grip chin-up bars, vertical bar storage, and a cross brace are standard.

Warranty: Lifetime.

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Special Features: Replaceable wear strips protect the bar from metal-tometal contact, preserving the frame’s finish.

Special Features: The Brute Rack System, combined with the revolutionary Monster Arms™ attachments, allow an unrestricted range of motion to help athletes develop specific muscle groups utilized in athletics.

Warranty: Yes. Circle No. 540

Samson Equipment 800-4-SAMSON www.samsonequipment.com The Triple Power Station features an adjustable bench, a unique triple rack design, and an oak platform with a custom logo. It accommodates three lifters simultaneously performing upper-body, lower-body, and Olympic movements.

Samson Equipment custom-builds to customers’ individual needs.

Special Features: Solid .188 wall steel frame throughout the entire rack, hickory platform with custom logo and basketball finish, chin-up bar, adjustable bench from 0 to 90 degrees, and plate storage.

Warranty: Lifetime on steel framework.

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Power Racks Specifications Company

Rack

Height x Width x Depth

Tubing Size

Warranty

Chin-Up Bar

Plate Storage

Adjustable Bench

Customizing Options

Legend Fitness

Pro Series Power Cage

96" x 64" x 80"

3" x 3", 11 ga.

✔

✔

✔

✔

Logos & Team Colors

Life Fitness/ Hammer Strength

Heavy Duty Multi-Rack

97" x 66" x 77"

3” x 3", 7 ga.

✔

✔

✔

✔

Yes

Nebula/NK Sports Group

Double 1/2 Rack

96" x 96" x 216" (with 2 platforms)

3" x 3", 11 ga.

✔

✔

✔

✔

Power Lift

Combo Power Rack

96" or 108" x 96" x 72"

4" x 3", 7 ga.

✔

✔

✔

✔

Rogers Athletics Co. Brute Rack System™

114" x 98" x 84"

3/16" thick, 11 ga.

✔

✔

✔

✔

Samson Equipment

105" x 44" x 96"

3" x 3", 7 ga.

✔

✔

✔

✔

Triple Power Station

Logos & Team Colors

Logos & Team Colors

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Strength Training Gilman Gear 800-243-0398 www.gilmangear.com

landscape perspectives. Call or go online to learn more.

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The King Crab Sled develops power at the height of a player coming out of a stance. The special elevated handlebar allows a player to drive the sled in a posture that simulates game conditions. An athlete can generate force more efficiently when operating from a power position. Develop strength and power in the three most important joints: the knees, ankles, and hips. Use it to increase work capacity and pillar strength. It’s also excellent for general physical preparation.

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ONS Performance 800-817-9808 www.onsperformance.com

Jump Stretch, Inc. 800-344-3539 www.jumpstretch.com The Strong Fireout Station provides 50 to 500 pounds of resistance and is ideal for helping linemen learn to play lower, longer. This station, which is excellent for improving players’ first two steps off the line, consists of two rows of four Strong Bands that connect across the shoulders using Jump Stretch’s adhesive strap. Undo the strap and you’ve got two Strong Shuffle Stations to perform regular quick-feet running drills.

For details, call Jump Stretch today.

Circle No. 546 Life Fitness 800-634-8637 www.lifefitness.com As part of its new Elevation™ series, Life Fitness has introduced the 95C Upright Lifecycle Exercise Bike and 95R Recumbent Lifecycle Exercise Bike featuring three unique new console options: the Engage™, Inspire™, and Achieve™. The Engage and Inspire are equipped with iPod integration, USB connectivity, a Virtual Trainer, and vibrant workout

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Critical Reload is a great-tasting recovery shake designed to infuse the muscle with growth-promoting proteins and carbohydrates so you can recover faster and kick start your next workout into high gear. Critical Reload is suitable for collegiate athletics and is permissible under NCAA bylaw 16.5.2.2 for nutritional supplements. In addition, Critical Reload is tested and certified for banned and illegal substances in accordance with WADA, IOC, and USADA regulations.

Contact ONS today for discount team pricing and to learn more about the company’s entire line of nutritional products.

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shoulder harness for comfort and strong nylon leads. Two 12-inch weight posts hold the 45-pound weight plates, which are also available from Power Systems.

Circle No. 550 Get resistance and overspeed training in the same run with the Power Chute from Power Systems. This product trains for improved stride length and frequency—two key elements of speed. Athletes love that “shot out of a cannon” feeling immediately after releasing the chute. The adjustable waist belt allows athletes to train in any direction, and built-in mesh panels keep the leads from tangling and help stabilize the chute. It’s available in four sizes with varying resistance, and now available in black, red, and blue.

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Power Lift 800-872-1543 www.power-lift.com

Powernetics 800-829-2928 www.powernetics.com

The Full Body Squat is a piece of lower-body strength training equipment. Its design allows for a broader range of motion through the hip. Adjustable shoulder pads let users of all heights properly align themselves.

Dual- and single-leg movements can be per formed on this unit. Standard features include weight storage, fourweight loading horns, band attachments, a single-leg isolator, and an oversized, angled footplate.

Circle No. 549

Powernetics offers a line of strength training machines that develop power by providing a consistent ratio of speed, resistance, and intensity.

The Dominator builds strength in one unbroken line from the feet to the hands. The machine’s ground-based torquing motion works both sides of the body, while also providing an explosive chest punch. The unit will more than double strength in the 90-degree torso rotation.

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Power Systems 800-321-6975 www.power-systems.com Ideal for training runs or coach-assisted runs, the Monster Sled holds up to 540 pounds and features a 37-inch handle to accommodate wide and narrow grips as well as alternate grip positions. Constructed of durable welded steel, the sled comes with a padded

The High Stepper from Powernetics develops explosive power in the hip flexors and legs in a running motion, substantially increasing athletes’ speed, quickness, and durability. Coaches are having fewer groin injuries with their athletes after training on the High Stepper. It can improve 40-yard

Strength Training dash times, decrease groin injuries, and train the legs to explode higher and more powerfully.

Circle No. 553 ProMera Health, LLC 888-878-9058 www.promerahealth.com www.con-cret.com StayActiv® all-natural pain relief and anti-inflammatory actively repairs strained muscles, joints, and tissue.

Composed of unique amino acids, StayActiv targets the two main sources of pain: inflammation and lactic acid. Pain impacts active lifestyles and most people use ibuprofen, naproxen, aspirin, and analgesic creams that mask pain and are toxic to the kidneys, liver, and stomach. Studies prove StayActiv is an effective alternative without side effects.

Circle No. 554 Con-Cret from ProMera Health is a pure and concentrated creatine supplement that has no other ingredients—no sugars, additives, or stimulants.

Con-Cret’s unique MicroDosing formula saturates the muscles, creating dramatic endurance and recovery that leads to strength building. One capsule or 1/4 tsp. per 100 pounds of body weight eliminates any need to preload or cycle off. There are no side effects from taking Con-Cret, and it’s designed for people who are serious about performance.

Circle No. 555 Rogers Athletic Co. 800-457-5337 www.rogersathletic.com Rogers Athletic’s Monster Arms feature an unrestricted range of motion to help athletes develop specific muscle groups. Monster Arms develop power and skill using free weights, with the added safety of pre-determined start and stop points and a positive-lock height adjustment. With

Monster incline, decline, and horizontal arms in one Brute Rack station, you save significant floor space. Call Rogers Athletic for more information.

Circle No. 556 Samson Equipment 800-472-6766 www.samsonequipment.com The new Belt Squat is yet another way Samson Equipment is leading the way in custom, heavy-duty weight training equipment. The brand new design limits the amount of floor space needed for this unique piece while still making it easy for athletes of all different sizes to use. It features adjustable handles, a unique load release that brings the athlete’s hands closer together while performing the exercise, an adjustable yoke that allows each athlete’s hips to stay in their natural range of motion, and an adjustable chain with three different size belts. Go online to learn more.

Circle No. 557 MAXX Football 800-294-4654 www.maxxfootball.com This off-season, while your opponents are lifting, you will be putting the intensity of football into your workouts.

MAXX provides a lifelike dummy and a durable weight machine with state-ofthe-art computer technology. The LED board gives your 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. 558 Fitnessrubber.com 888-894-0204 www.fitnessrubber.com Fitnessrubber.com is a leading Web fitness resource that offers “Manufacturer Direct Pricing” for all your strength training needs. Check out the company’s unique and updated Web site, featuring Kraiburg brand

Solid Rubber Olympic Bumper Plates from Kraiburg Relastec. Kraiburg Olympic Bumper Plates come in pounds and kilos, and in standard black and colors. All Kraiburg Bumper Plates are a standard 17.7 inches in diameter and can be custom-made with specific logos. These plates are made with the highest quality rubber compound and will provide years of excellent use. Log on now to receive a $25 discount on your initial Web site order over $100.

Circle No. 559 Cardinal Publishers Group 800-296-0481 www.cardinalpub.com The Ultimate Guide to Weight Training for Sports series is among the most comprehensive, up-to-date sport-specific training series in the world. Each book contains descriptions and photographs of nearly 100 weight training, flexibility, and abdominal exercises.

Each book also contains year-round sportspecific weight training programs and comes with links to free record-keeping charts. The clean design and wellillustrated instructions make each book a valuable tool for those looking to get themselves into top athletic condition.

Circle No. 560 Human Kinetics 800-747-4457 www.humankinetics.com Stronger Arms & Upper Body was written by two of the most respected figures in bodybuilding: Joe Wuebben and Jim Stoppani. This book covers the development of the shoulders, arms, upper back, and chest. It also includes hard-core instruction on building strength, size, and definition. The anatomical views of targeted muscles, explanations of equipment needs, and 33 programs and ready-touse workout plans simplify the process of adopting a strength training regimen and sticking with it.

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Strength Training

More Products

Legend Fitness 866-7-LEGEND www.legendfitness.com

Active Ankle Systems, Inc. 800-800-2896 www.activeankle.com

Legend Fitness offers a premier glute/ ham developer. With eight linear adjustments on four linear bearings, it makes one-handed footplate adjustments a snap. It’s fully equipped with thoughtful features, like a 32-inch-wide pad and footplate that will accommodate users of any size, a mount/dismount step, and plyo band anchor points. This unit is available with either a solid pad or a split pad, and a supplementary knee pad is available as a no-cost option.

Circle No. 562

The new Volt ankle brace is engineered to include the latest carbon fiber technology. The polypropylene shell is reinforced with carbon fiber—the same high-performance material used in racing cars and bicycles. It also features a molded bearingdesign performance hinge for smoother range of motion, strengthening ribs for a thinner profile, and fabric-backed EVA foam pads for durability and comfort.

Call today for more information.

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Athletic Republic 888-226-3278 www.athleticrepublic.com Are you football fast? Athletic Republic has been the answer to more than 500,000 athletes of all ages looking to improve their speed, power, and agility.

Its acceleration training program improves a player’s speed for creating separation, develops the explosive power required to deliver a blow or gain a firststep advantage, and gets players into condition to perform as well in the fourth quarter as in the first quarter.

Circle No. 563

Ankle protection isn’t black and white anymore. With the All-Sport Chameleon from Active Ankle, athletes can choose from eight bright interchangeable strap covers that come with each brace.

The solid U-shaped frame ensures maximum strength, and the molded, fabric-lined EVA padding provides lightweight comfort. Get great style and the same great protection that has made Active Ankle an industry leader. For more information, visit www.getchameleon.com.

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Athletic Republic has more than 160 performance sports training centers in North America and has franchise opportunities available in most major mar-

California University of Pennsylvania 866-595-6348 www.cup.edu/go

kets. Combine your passion for helping athletes develop their competitive capabilities with your sports background and business experience. Contact Athletic Republic to learn how you can start your own sports franchise.

Circle No. 564

California University of Pennsylvania has helped build the character and careers of its students for more than 150 years. Cal U’s dedication to providing high-quality, in-demand programs to its students con-

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tinues through the University’s Global Online 100-percent online programs of study. Through an asynchronous format, Global Online allows students the opportunity to complete coursework anytime, anywhere. All that’s required is a computer with Internet access. Go online for more information.

Circle No. 567 Cho-Pat 800-221-1601 www.cho-pat.com Knees really take a beating. Cho-Pat’s patented Dual Action Knee Strap continues to be a leading tool for athletic trainers to help relieve knee pain and discomfort. It applies pressure on the patella tendon below the knee to reduce subluxation and improve tracking and elevation.

It also adds pressure on the patella tendon above the knee to further strengthen and provide extra support and stability for the joint. It’s easy to apply, comfortable to wear, allows full mobility, and is available in various sizes to provide specific and effective results.

Circle No. 568 Save-A-Tooth 888-788-6684 www.save-a-tooth.com Without proper care, a knocked-out tooth begins to die in 15 minutes.

The Save-A-Tooth® emergency tooth preserving system utilizes Hank’s Balanced Salt Solution (HBSS) to not

only preserve, but also reconstitute many of the degenerated cells. The patented basket and net container are designed to protect tooth root cells.

This is the only system that keeps tooth cells alive for up to 24 hours.

Circle No. 569

More Products HighSchoolSports.net 800-258-8550 www.highschoolsports.net The Coaches Clipboard on HighSchoolSports.net has free tools for coaches to showcase their teams all in one location. Coaches can save

time by using these tools to stay ahead of the game. Add, postpone, or cancel events and practices, enter scores and stats, access your team roster, and get cumulative player and team stats—all on HighSchoolSports.net. Start saving time today. Go to HighSchoolSports.net and click on Coaches.

Circle No. 570 Schedule Star 800-258-8550 www.schedulestar.com Give your fans the convenience of purchasing tickets online at HighSchoolSports.net. Online Ticketing is secure and free to set up with Schedule Star, and it requires no

special hardware or software. Monitor ticket sales in Schedule Star using detailed online attendee and sales reports. This convenient tool saves you time and cuts down on calls the day of the big game. It’s the easy way to sell tickets to your sporting events. Visit Schedule Star online to start selling tickets today.

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Testimonial

A Field Builder from Upgrading That Old Locker Room?

Coast to Coast OakWood Spor ts is the premier wood locker builder. Whether it’s your own design or you need some assistance, OakWood Spor ts lockers are custom built to each team’s specifications.

New construction, renovations, deliver y, and installation—the OakWood Spor ts team gets it done for yours.

“A-Turf’s greatest strength is its customer service. They are big and getting bigger, but are small enough to always want to work with you. They really managed the project well. That’s what they promised us and that’s what they did.”

Robert Scott President St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute “Working with A-Turf, I got the impression that our field was very important to them. We were not just another number, and it wasn’t about ‘get in, get it done, and get out.’ They wanted to give us a quality field and took the necessary time to do so.”

Mike Vienna Director of Athletics and Recreation Salisbury University “We spoke to a number of schools who had dealt directly with A-Turf, and they spoke very highly of the company and its process from beginning to end. Four to five years later, their fields were still holding up well.”

Bill Maher Athletic Director Canisius College

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Check out the source for fundraising tips, support, and suppliers:

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Testimonial

A-Turf P.O. Box 157 Williamsville, NY 14231 888-777-6910 Fax: 717-293-1680 info@aturf.com www.aturf.com

Here are just some of the schools that have chosen OakWood Spor ts: Michigan State University University of Colorado University of Kentucky University of Miami University of Louisville Florida State University Arizona State University Marshall University University of Illinois University of Mississippi Boston College Kent State University Hillsdale College University of Notre Dame Kansas State University Abilene Christian University University of Idaho Stephan F. Austin University University of Michigan Johns Hopkins University

OakWood Sports, Inc. 1025 Clark Rd. Lansing, MI 48917 517-487-1406 Fax: 517-321-0975 oakwoodsports@aol.com www.oakwoodsports.com CoachingManagementOnline.com

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OVERTIME

CONTINUED ON… CoachesNetwork.com There’s no offseason in coaching, so Coaching Management keeps the information flowing all year long on our Web site: www.CoachesNetwork.com. Here’s what you will find when you visit.

Coaching Videos: Video Review: See footage from some of the high-risk plays talked about in our cover story, “High Drama.”

Back to Basics: How to make sure quarterbacks master the all-important exchange with the center.

More Articles: Weekly and archived articles designed to help you in your job.

Coaching Life

Injury Prevention Student-Athlete Welfare Strength & Conditioning

Setting clear roles is one of the keys to dealing with parents.

Why “No pain, no gain” can be carried too far.

Make sure athletes know the truth about performance-enhancing drugs.

V isit daily for link s to stories of s pecial int erest to coa ch es from ne w spapers a cross th e coun try.

Keeping players strong during the season.

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