Texas is the mecca for High School football and is known all over the country for its love of football.
There are currently 192 players in the NFL from the state of Texas, with 18 of them being QBs.
The movie Friday Night Lights, and the reality show Friday Night Tykes, gave America a glimpse into how serious Texans are about their football.
The driving force behind the player’s success are their coaches. The high school football season is fast approaching. Coaches and players are preparing for the upcoming season. They’ve pushed the players through rigorous off-season programs and workouts that started immediately after their previous season ended.
It starts in the weight room. Teams that are stronger tend to dominate the line of scrimmage and are more physical in the trenches. That’s where the game is ultimately won. Spring football practice and drills are where the fundamentals of the game are taught and stressed. It culminates in a Spring football game.
After the Spring football game, coaches meet and discuss the depth chart for the upcoming season. They also discuss player personnel and player progress. Spring training also gives coaches an opportunity to evaluate whether to switch a player to a different position that fits his skill set or not. The coaches organize the summer weight room and workout schedule, as well as the 7-on-7 practice and game schedule. The assistant coaches rotate to cover these duties throughout the summer.
Coaches must attend coaching schools and coaching clinics during the offseason. These clinics feature top college and NFL coaches, sharing strategies, philosophies, drills, and techniques to teach and improve their players and team’s performance.
Then finally, it’s time for a short vacation.
After vacation, the season-long grind starts. It’s the beginning of 12-hour days, 6 days a week and sometimes 7. It starts with a coaches’ meeting to discuss the upcoming season; practice schedule; coaches’ duties before and after practice; and game day assignments before, during, and after the game. The coaches hold a team meeting to discuss the season with the players, and the expectations from the coaches to make this season a successful one.
School days start as early as 6 a.m.
Most coaches teach a full class schedule and have an athletic period. The only exception in most schools is the head coach. Then it’s on to practice for 2 to 3 hours, preparing for your upcoming opponent for the week. A coaches’ meeting takes place after practice to discuss practice and the game plan. Then it’s game week, as the excitement builds amongst the players and the coaches. Then it’s game day, where all your hard work and preparation will be put under the Friday Night Lights.
This process repeats itself all season long.
As you can see, coaching is a very demanding job. Oftentimes, it takes you away from your family time. Coaching is more than teaching the game of football. It’s teaching players to apply the discipline and hard work it takes to play this game and apply those same principles to their everyday lives.
Football is just a game. It will be over, just like that.
Life is a journey that will take them wherever they choose to go. Coaches prepare kids for the journey and teach them to stay in the fight. They never let them quit. Parents, thank a coach when you see one.
I Just Tell It Like It Is!!!
Burl “The Coach” Jones
Forward Times PreSeason – Top 20 Area High School Football Teams
