Program Manual

Program Manual

Jason Compton

Table of Contents

Introduction4

Philosophy5

Coach/Player Expectations6

On the Field7

1st Year Plan9

“Excellence in Everything”10

Having Vision and Building a Brand11

Winning with People / Getting Players to Buy In13

Intrinsic Motivational Programs14

Increasing Numbers16

First Team Meeting17

Team Letter Sample18

Parent Information Meeting19

Player Information Sheet and Questionnaire22

First 30 Day’s Checklist24

Incoming 9th Grade Letter25

Administration26

Limiting Liability27

Team Rules29

Discipline30

Coach / Player / Parent Code of Conduct31

Academic Plan35

Recruiting38

Community39

Fundraising41

Facilities43

Football Program Structure and Philosophy45

Expectations of Head Coach45

Responsibilities of Head Coach46

Coaching Staff Positions and Duties47

Additional Responsibilities and Support50

Staff Time Commitments, Policy, and Dress Code53

General Coaching Expectations55

Assistant Coach Responsibilities and Program Goals59

Coaching Principles63

Coaches as Leaders65

Buccaneer Practice Philosophy68

Drill Creation and Implementation69

Practice Plan71

Game Day73

Travel Checklist74

Halftime Organization75

Offense Philosophy and Install78

Defense Philosophy and Install86

Special Teams Philosophy and Install97

Weightlifting and Offseason102

Weight Room Training Method and Philosophy103

Offseason Program Structure and Schedule106

Sample Weight / Power Training Week Schedule107

Speed Mechanics and Development Program112

Speed, Agility, and Plyometric Plan121

Agility and Power Plan122

References123

Letters of Reference124

Introduction

My name is Jason Compton and I am currently the Special Team's Coordinator, Strength and Conditioning Coordinator, Defensive Line Coach, and a Head Boys/Girls Weightlifting coach at Tavares High School in Tavares, FL. Prior to coming to Tavares I was an Offensive Line and defensive line coach at Matanzas High School where I was a part of a staff that changed the culture of a perennial 3-7 football team into a team that went 8-2 this season. Prior to arriving at Matanzas I have served as the Varsity Defensive Line coach at Clay High School in Green Cove Springs, FL where we finished our season as a Class 5A State Finalist, Region 1 Champion, and District 4 Champion. I have had the opportunity to work with several great programs, a multitude of great players, coaches, and wonderful supporting staff.
Football is a vessel for great personal growth. It can inspire young men to reach beyond their expectations, it shows them the work ethic required to accomplish their goals, it teaches them how to work with others to carry out a mission much greater than themselves, and it instills the values of building great character that can last a lifetime.
There are not many professions out there that can have the range of lifetime positive impact that being a coach can provide. There aren’t many jobs that can provide all of these services that stretch virtually all cultures, socioeconomic statuses, races, and religions; while also building bonds that last a lifetime. As a coach I firmly believe in the motto “together everyone achieves more” and know what it takes to build successful football players and exceptional young men.

Coaching Philosophy

MISSION STATEMENT
“As a coach I believe that it is my firm responsibility to provide an environment which promotes personal growth in all aspects of a student athlete’s life by instilling a foundation of self-discipline, positive attitude, and a winning spirit”
ALL IN
The "All In" Philosophy means that I expect my players to be "All In" on everything. If something is worth doing it is worth doing to standard of excellence. That doesn't just mean on the football field or in the weight room, the "All IN" philosophy carried over to all aspects of life. Giving it everything that you've got in the classroom, being the best you can be as a student, as a teammate, as a son or daughter, and as a friend; and not being satisfied with being average in anything you attempt.
FOOTBALL IS LIFE!
What I mean by “Football is Life” is that football is a great metaphor and tool for building necessary life skills such as discipline, character, work ethic, team-work, and family; which will become the foundation for the student athlete to lead to a life with great integrity and purpose.
As a coach it is my job to ensure that my athletes are not just fundamentally sound football players, but they learn how to navigate the ups and downs of life. If all that I have taught a player is how to play football I have failed him as a coach.

WE ARE A FAMILY!

Everyone holds a piece to the puzzle. Everybody’s contributions are important. Take pride in being a part of our football family.
“They don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care”

A COACH’S JOB IS…
“To take an athlete and/or a team to a level that they cannot get to by themselves.”
As a coach I believe that a team is foremost built on a foundation of strong fundamentals. If we aren’t physically, technically, fundamentally, and tactically sound we have little to no chance of success.
I believe that along with being fundamentally sound, a coach’s job is to ensure that his players are mentally, emotionally, and spiritually coached as well.
As a coach I strive to instill confidence, focus, and a sense of pride in every athlete. I strive to provide an environment that is process and goal oriented.
Confidence is an individual’s belief that he or she has the necessary skills to produce a desired outcome.
Everything a coach does either builds or harms confidence.
The confident athlete who isn’t afraid to make a play will always beat the athlete who is scared to make a mistake.

WHAT I EXPECT FROM MY PLAYERS
“The two things every player can control are his attitude and his effort.

Great Attitude and Effort– I expect every player to be coachable and give 100 percent of their focus and effort in anything we do.
Pride– I expect our players to take great pride in being a part of the program, everyone’s contributions are essential to the success of the team.
Accountability– Be on time with a focus on our purpose. No excuses, make a commitment and follow through. Do your part and be determined to become the very best you can be.
Respect– Respect your coaches, your teachers, your team-mates, and your family. They are all here for you, have belief in you, and want to see you succeed.
Toughness– Physically and mentally. Physically, accept that there will be pain and take pride in working through it. Mentally, accept that you will make mistakes, you will be held accountable, and it will make you better!
Have Fun!– Bring great enthusiasm with you every day. Enthusiasm is contagious. As a player you may only have one more play to enjoy this game.

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM ME

Dedication– I will tiresly devote as much time as possible to my players, my fellow coaches, and to the program. As a coach I am committed to excellence and I understand that excellence can only be achieved through time, effort, and attention to detail.
Loyalty– I pride myself in being a loyal person. I will do all that I can for my players, fellow coaches, and for the program. I am committed to our cause, I am passionate about what I do, and love my football family! I will always sell and defend our program.
Enthusiasm- I absolutely love what I do. There is nothing I enjoy more than to be on the gridiron with my players, fellow coaches, and my team teaching this great game. You can always expect great energy and enthusiasm from me.
Honesty–I will always be honest with coaches and players.
Committed to Learning: - I am open to change and I am a diligent student of the game. I am always open to learning something new, a different way to do things, and new methods of teaching skills.
Committed to Excellence– Everything I do, I do in attempt of reaching a standard of excellence. I am driven to be the best coach I can be and am committed to prepare my athletes for success on and off the field.

Program Expectations

-I will devote all the time and energy possible to make sure that we are excellent in all aspects of a football program. I will borrow ideas from the best minds in football and motivate resources to help us become a premier program on the field, off the field, academically, socially, and in overall program quality. I will relentlessly fundraise to help our program get the things it needs to be considered premier.

-My student athletes will be raised to be positive, disciplined and respectful young men. They will be taught character daily and they will be recognized and loved as a part of our family. I will protect our program from issues that hurt our program’s culture. We will emphasize academics and get our players to graduate.

-We will teach attitude daily, I’m a firm believer in THOUGHTS lead to WORDS which lead to ACTIONS which lead to HABITS which determine LEGACY. Our athletes, coaches, and staff will learn to control these aspects to help our program achieve to a standard of greatness.

-We will be phenomenal in the weight room and the practice field. We will fly around and get a lot done. Nobody will out work one of my teams. We will physically get better than our opponents. We will film everything and make corrections at meetings; we will never sacrifice our tempo.

ON THE FIELD
We will be a fundamentally sound football team. Football isn’t all about X’s and O’s it is about execution. I strive for all of my players to master a skill set before moving on to more complex techniques. We will be excellent in the little things!
Each player will understand his job and his role in the scheme. If we all do our job and execute, we will be very successful!
I believe every player needs a chance to experience success. Correct mistakes and give positive feedback. Confidence is key!
I believe in maximizing repetitions. The classroom is for meetings, the practice field is to develop skill sets by performing the skill correctly as many times as possible. However the quality of reps will not be sacrificed for quantity.
CHALK IT – TALK IT – WALK IT – RUN IT: Explain in meetings, execute on field.
Great teams close games. In order to be close games we must be the best conditioned. Take pride in being tough and the best conditioned team.
Offensively we want to physically and mentally dominate our opponent. We will out-hit, out-hustle, and out execute the defense on every play.
Games are won up-front, we will know our assignments, communicate, and play with an intense desire to be perfect at our skill-set and our job.
Defensively we will know our alignments, our assignments, and play with a defensive mentality. Penetrate-Pursue-Punish! We will take great pride in being physical, violent, and relentless. Defense is all about an all out effort to get to the football and being fundamentally sound enough to bring him down when we get there.
Turnovers win and lose games. Defensively we will strive to gang tackle, punish ball carriers, and create turnovers.
Special Teams are the X factor. When a team scores a touchdown on Special Teams that team wins 80% of the time. We will pay great attention to special teams and strive to win that phase of the game every day.
Play together! Be a team, have fun, include everybody. There is no room for factions and separation of one’s self or others. The team that loves each other, believes in themselves, is the team that will constantly rise to the occasion.

1st Year Plan

Upon being hired, on of the first things that I will do is hold a team meeting to introduce myself to players, staff, administration, and anyone else who wishes to attend. In this first meeting I will set out my vision for the football program and let my expectations be known from day one.

"We Will Aspire to Reach a Standard of Excellence in EVERYTHING"

If something is worth being done, it is worth doing well. Our students will be held to a standard of excellence in everything, we cannot let mediocrity thrive in any aspect of our program. Ordinary people don't play football. Ordinary people don't give up four hours a day to go sweat in the hot sun and bust their tail. If we are going to sacrifice all that time, effort, and energy lets sacrifice it at full speed, foot on the throttle, and with a determined spirit to win every rep, every practice, every day.

If we are going to do something we are going to attack it with an all out effort and determined resolve to be the best at it. This standard is applied to everything that we do. In the classroom, we want to be the best student we can be; and we will push to compete with ourselves and others to achieve the highest team GPA possible. Getting a B is great! It's awesome! But we aspire and work even harder to earn that A. We will celebrate the kid who gets straight A's. We will also celebrate the kid who brings all failing grades up to C's. Our mission academically is "Every player who plays for this program will graduate".

We will attack the weight room every day, with excitement, enthusiasm, and energy. We will hold ourselves to a higher standard and be a leader in the community, we will not claw and act out for attention, because we are stronger than the ordinary temptations. We will be people of high character. We will be dependable, reliable, and people who grow up and dominate their jobs. We will never be satisfied with being ordinary in anything; and because of that we will have the will to believe more and push harder for the things that we want and the things that are right. We will pay attention to every detail, we will dominate the little things, and do them right 100% of the time. We will all dress the same and be together as a team. We will talk together, we will eat together, and we will win together.

Our Standard of Excellence will not be sacrificed for anything. As a coach it is our job to set the vision and expectations of our program and to hold our students accountable to those expectations. Our expectation is

"EXCELLENCE IN EVERYTHING"

Building a Winning Culture

"Players Don't Care How Much You Know, Until They Know How Much You Care"

Things are different in our day and age. There is a lot to compete with. Have you played video games lately? They are EXCELLENT! It's no wonder that so many kids want to go home right after school where they can soak up air conditioning, eat whatever they want, and be whatever / whomever they want on a video game console. Playing football is hard; in order to compete we have to give our students something that they aren't getting through a game console or a cell phone.

WE MUST BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH OUR ATHLETES

Some athletes have extraordinary home lives, great parents, who teach them right from wrong and give them plenty of attention and praise. However, there is a growing trend of students who have single parents who are stretched too thin; multiple family homes, parents who work all the time, some whose parents aren't involved, or live with an aunt/uncle/grandmother or someone else. I've had so many students who have had one or both parents pass on, that I cannot list it. There is a lot of pain out there.

In the past three years I have had an entire starting offensive line unit with no father figure at home. I've had a students father commit suicide in the middle of the season. Multiple students who have lost their homes, folks who have been unable to pay bills, a student whose parents were both arrested the night before a game, and a student athlete who's home burned down.

That student athlete still showed up to work; because we had built a culture in which he knew where his family was and he wanted to be with his football family and friends that badly.

As Head Coach it is my responsibility to establish that culture. The culture is established by greeting your players everyday, by letting them know that they are not just important but they are critical to the success of the team weather they are a 1st team all American or the 3rd string kicker. It is created by building their self esteem, letting them know what they do well and letting them know that you care enough to see them grow in all areas of life. It is established by showing them how it will help them for the future and by being a positive voice in their life when they think they can't accomplish something or when they do something wrong.

It comes from doing the little things. Knowing when their birthdays are, celebrating them, and acknowledging their existence. It comes from getting to know who is in their family, who is at home; who their parents are, who their siblings. What they like to do when they go home. By inviting them out in the community and doing things together as a football family.

Being a Head Football Coach goes well beyond playing football, we must raise these kids to be responsible adults. You can only do that by developing significant relationships. Once you establish a relationship with every player in the program kids will be bought into your culture; and it will run itself like a well oiled machine.

Having a Vision and Building a Brand

In order to change the culture of a school that may need a culture change it is important to build your own brand. At Matanzas High School, a perennial 3-7 school since it's inception, we worked extremely hard to successfully change a losing culture and it started with building a brand.