When I got to Wichita South High school I took over a program that had only won nine games in eleven years. I was coming from a college coaching background and had not coached at the high school level in over seven years. Even though I had success in my previous high school coaching stops, I leaned on my coaches and administrators to help us get this program moving forward.

My coaches and I hit the ground running and actually won a few games in our first year and had numerous players make the all GWAL (Greater Wichita Athletic League) team. One player became an All-State Wide Receiver and major Division-I recruit.

The first year when you become a new head coach every one for the most part buys in to what you are doing. You sell the team on your philosophy and goals for the program. In the case of Wichita South this was easy; the kids were used to losing and they knew I had coached at many levels with some exceptional young men.

Every one thought the program was turning around--not just the coaches and players but the parents and fans as well. In the coaches’ minds we still had a ways to go. My concern as a head coach was how do I keep the momentum going? If you’re turning around a program, in my opinion, your real concern comes in your second year. I had learned this lesson from my days working for Dennis Franchione, the king of turning programs around.

Year Two

To change the program going into year two there were several things we had to do that we did not have the time to do our first season. The first was to get our weight and speed development program off the ground. My administration was very instrumental in helping us build our weight room. Our athletic director, Michelle Kuhns, helped us fundraise enough money to knock down a wall and expand what was otherwise a very small room. Next, my principal, Cara Leedy, allowed me to hire a football strength coach who worked specifically with our football team. We created a class during the day where only football players could lift.

Another problem you run into in the second season is that the team starts to get more individualistic. Some guys begin to think that ‘the team is winning but I’m not playing or coach does not notice me.’ Those selfish attitudes can start to creep into the team.

I love the game of football and have seen many a program struggle in the second year. I began to wonder what the role of the head coach is in keeping the ship afloat. I was really concerned about my team and the ways we could continue to grow and begin a winning tradition here.

The first thing I did was put together a very rough calendar for the next year. I put down duties and events that needed to take place to help our program become successful. I interviewed all of our coaches and all of the departing seniors. I sat with our coaches and we talked about our personnel that were returning as well. I found out what the players and coaches thought we did well and what they thought needed to be changed.

The next thing we did was begin to study our first four opponents for the next year during the spring and summer. We began this around February after we had spent some time going to clinics and visiting with college coaches. I assigned one assistant coach on each side of the ball to study one of our opponents. That became his team. He was responsible for putting together a notebook on that team and providing a scouting report. It gives a young coach some responsibility and ownership over what we do. I also asked that each coach put together a video of highlights from our previous year with that opponent: things we did well along with things we did poorly. I wanted our staff to see in what areas we could improve on for each individual team.

After we went through our personnel as a staff, we began to start with our organizational information. It is very important that you go through complete organization with your coaches: i.e., equipment needs, scholarship possibilities, video, clinics, coaching duties, parent newsletters, etc. I usually hand out a list of responsibilities for each coach during the season but feel it is as equally as important to do so in the off season as well. Most of the coaches in our league are coaching two sports so the time I have with them is very limited.

Another thing I will ask our staff to do is something I got from a college friend of mine. I will ask each position coach to come up with a drill for their position and teach it in our first meeting. It allows our coaches to begin to get comfortable speaking to big groups and I think helps keep our coaches on their toes. In recent years some of my younger coaches have even begun filming their drills with players. I have started a library of these drills and use them as references at different clinics where I speak.

Plan of Action

After we have developed a plan of action for the coaches we must further develop the players. At Wichita South High School we develop athletes three ways by preaching self-discipline, responsibility and self-motivation. Academically, we want our kids to do the right thing in the classroom just like on the field. With the help of our athletic director, our school has a D and F list that comes out each week. If one of my players is on this list three or more times they can not play that week. Because of this it is very important for our kids to compete just as hard in the classroom as on the field. We do not even allow our kids in the weight room if they are on that D and F list. With new-found pride in our program, our kids do not want to miss out on what we are building. I usually assign one of our coaches to stay on top of those kids that are struggling by keeping an open dialogue with the teachers. We provide guidance and study halls and give them as much help as we can. We can not bail them out all the time and this is a lesson they need to learn in life. We do not treat them any different than any other student at our school. We also try to educate our kids on taking the ACT/SAT tests and participating in the NCAA clearing house. Little things like this many times get overlooked.

During the winter months I will try to meet with our returning players for a few minutes individually and see how their studies and life are going. I will check to see that they are registered for the ACT/SAT tests etc.

I buy Christmas cards and give them to our coaches and then I ask them to write cards to their players. We want our players to feel wanted and feel like family. I will also send out a winter and spring newsletter to parents to let them know about important dates that will be coming up.

Not all of these things will make or break our team for the second year but they are a collection of things that help make our program better and grow. I will continue to fundraise, look over my yearly calendar, and change and update things from time to time. I will also be visiting with college coaches to get better with X’s and O’s and begin making videos of juniors who will start the recruiting process next season. Still, I believe every head coach must ask ‘why’ for every aspect of his program. I believe we can get better all the time and escape the trap of getting complacent in year number two.

Tony Johnson is the head football coach at Wichita South High School (KS). He can be reached at fjohnson1@usd259.net or his web site: tonyjohnsonmotivates.com.