BUILDING A WINNING football team is one thing. But maintaining success and creating a rock-solid football tradition year-in and year-out is a very difficult proposition.
Here are some ideas that will help you to choose the correct job, structure a sound football player feeder program and achieve consistent success:
A  Preliminaries: Things To Consider Before Taking The Job
    1.    Be very careful how you choose your coaching job. Many good coaches have been driven out of the profession because they didn’t do their homework before taking a new position.
    2.    Assess the school’s overall athletic ability.
    3.    Are they competing at a high level in other activities?
    4.    What has been the school’s athletic tradition throughout history?
    5.    Make sure that the school’s administration is serious about developing and maintaining a solid football program.
    6.    The school administration must understand and believe that a strong football program is a tremendous asset to the overall school environment.
    7.    Keep in mind that a school’s priorities will always be determined by money. What is the school’s financial situation?
A  Critical Questions To Ask
    8.    Will I have the same resources as the opponents I am expected to defeat?
    9.    Will I have the same number of qualified assistant coaches?
    10.    Do I have control over hiring my assistant coaches?
    11.    Will I have any opportunity for input on the hiring of new teachers who could help us coach?
    12.    Will I be allowed to bring any assistant coaches with me if I take this job?
    13.    How does my new equipment budget compare with other teams?
    14.    What is the policy on financing clinic attendance for assistant coaches?
    15.    What is the equipment reconditioning policy?
    16.    Am I allowed to raise the level of support for this program via community fund raising, etc.?
    17.    Do I have control over scheduling?
A  What Has To Be Done
    18.    Establish principles that are going to guide your program (coaches, players, staff, administration, board and community).
    19.    Focus your attention first on the varsity level—all other levels must have an example to follow.
    20.    Progressively work your way through the various levels in establishing your principles and guidelines. (Varsity, sophomores, freshmen, junior high, youth program.)
    21.    Establish a solid strength and conditioning program. Evaluation, focus and accountability are the keys to a productive weight program.
A  Introduction To
Prospective Coaches
    22.    Welcome and introduction.
    23.    This is a new start, so let’s forget the past and set new goals for the future.
    24.    Stop blaming others for problems.
A  Why I Came To This Program
    25.    I believe kids in this football program are in need of more than just Xs and Os. Our staff will bring many intangibles to this program.
    26.    This program can be a state power, but I need coaches who believe the same.
    27.    I thrive on challenges. What a thrill it is going to be to win our first conference championship.
A  Requirements Of All Assistants
    28.    Loyalty and hard work.
    29.    Coaches who are excited and believe in what we
are doing.
    30.    Coaches who believe in discipline.
    31.    Coaches who are good at the science of football.
    32.    Coaches who are good at the art of football.
A  Intangibles
    33.    Belief in the team concept. Everyone must be willing to sacrifice individuality for the betterment of the program.
    34.    Check your egos at the door. No assistant coach is more important than another. No one player is more important than another.
    35.    We’re all in this together. Players, coaches, managers, faculty, administration and the community must pull in a common direction if we are to be successful.
    36.    Every coach and player must be willing to accept whatever role it takes to make our football program great.
    37.    Talk with players in the hallways and keep track of them in the off-season.
    38.    Must-have characteristics include honesty, perseverance, work ethic, sacrifice, dedication, commitment, respect, caring and loyalty.
    39.    Coaches must care more about kids than they care about coaching.
    40.    There’s a time and a place where ranting and raving is beneficial, but it must be used sparingly to be effective. Do not tolerate coaches who swear or berate your young men.
A  Objectives For The Feeder Program
    41.    The young men in your program must become winners! Any time a young man gives 110 percent of his time, energy and effort toward a team goal, he is a winner.
    42.    Feeder programs should not worry about wins and losses. If your young men accomplish the above definition of winning, the score board will take care of itself.
    43.    Make sure your young men have fun, progress to the next level and are excited about playing football. All youth teams will start 22 players.
    44.    At each level, your young men must make progress in learning the fundamentals of football.
    45.    Every player should progress in learning our system. From the time a young man enters our program, he will be taught one system. All levels of competition will teach the same program.
    46.    Everything points to the varsity years, especially the senior year. There will be no stars and no star teams at the feeder level.
A  Expectations For
The Feeder Program
    47.    When your kids move to the next level of football, make sure they are excited about the game.
    48.    We don’t care what the records of our feeder teams are. We’ve had seniors who finished 9-2 that won only one game as freshmen.
    49.    Make sure player see the connection between academic performance and the privilege to participate.
    50.    Establish that repetition is the key to success.
    51.    Make progress in fundamental development.
    52.    Show players the connection between discipline and success.
    53.    All young players will have equal playing time.
    54.    Challenge coaches to work with the average to below average athletes just as hard as the stars.
    55.    There will be no all-star teams. There is no such thing as an all-star in 5th grade. How good can he be?
    56.    All feeder program coaches must attend at least one training seminar put on by our staff.
    57.    Everyone uses the same playbook.
    58.    Special plays are limited.
    59.    No pulling, double teaming, trapping, blitzing,
stunting, etc.
A  How Youth Programs Are Harmful
    60.    The major source of youth program problems are coaches and parents who’ve lost their perspective on what youth programs are designed to accomplish.
    61.    Avoid potential problems by creating a player, coach and parent code of conduct.
A  Offensive, Defensive Philosophy
    62.    Play with reckless abandon. When the ball is snapped, we do not want players thinking; we want them flying.
    63.    Play great fundamental football! Run hard, block hard, be great fakers, tackle with reckless abandon and be the best pursuit team in the conference.
    64.    We will be a great rush offense and a great rush defense. Special teams will consistently pick up field position.
A  How Championships Are Won
    65.    You don’t win championships with dummies.
    66.    You don’t win championships with jerks.
    67.    You win championships with character.
    68.    The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.
    69.    One excuse is good as another.
    70.    We will be a fundamentally sound football program.
    71.    Ball security will be a priority.
    72.    Our football program will create turnovers.