Coaching Youth (Flag) Football (HELP!)

[parallel]

I have been asked to coach the JV team at my son's new private school. I know a good bit about football, but not a lot about coaching. I would love some input on organization, drills, etc. I have not yet met with the school officials, so I don't have a lot of information concerning what the exact situation is. I do know that I will only have 8 players (as of today) and that I only have two weeks until we begin playing games. I also know that the school has children ranging from Pre-K3 to 8th grade. I am guessing that instead of the JV team being a mix of some of the older kids of that group who didn't make the varsity team, I will likely have some of the younger kids. Again, I don't really know yet. The other thing that I know is that this school is NOT a school that puts a premium on sports. The way I understand it, they simply want every kid who would like to play to be able to play. However, I also believe that this isn't one of those leagues where no score is taken and everyone wins (at least I hope not), and I would like to give these kids the opportunity to win.

My initial thoughts is that I would like to simply teach the rules of the game and sportsmanship, then move on to technique, etc. I have looked on the net and there are a few ideas for various fun drills. I even found a few comprehensive coaching programs, however, I was kind of hoping that I might be able to find something that is at the level I will be coaching. Thanks in advance for bailing me out.

 

[ToadHill]

Winning is nice, but the main thing is to have them learn the basics of the game. It's also important to make sure they are in good physical shape to avoid injury.

Teach the basics of blocking and tackling, develop some basic blocking situations that you can run several plays from. When I played JV many years ago our play book only had about 15 plays.

 

[Tig]

I coached Little League 18 years. I agree strongly with your thoughts on rules of the game and sportsmanship. Those are life skills worth much more than a touchdown or a home run.
#1 Read the rule book. Refer back to it after games to review and learn more. Be courteous and respectful when discussing/understanding rules during a game. In baseball the rule book was to be kept out of sight during the game. It is disrespectful to the officials to bring it out for discussion.
Plan everything. I spent as much time planning a practice as I did at the practice. Games took me twice as long to plan. I found that allowed things to move quickly and smoothly when the kids were on the field. Everyone knew what was expected of them and when/where they were playing. I've heard that some football teams plan the sequence of offensive plays in advance.
Keep records, notes, stats to review what has been done, what needs to be done at practice. I also like to review stats to ensure I was being fair and double check my impressions of the game. An assistant to track very basic stuff helps here.
Every practice I tried to teach one skill and one strategy. Reinforce them with drills and games(competitions) We sometimes did 5 push up penalties for individual players if they messed up. No big deal just a marker that they missed their assignment and then games move on quickly. These are kids, they need to have lots of fun.
During a scrimmage briefly discuss any unique situations that arise and the rules or strategies that apply.
I was a bit of a hard nose in practice but never that way in a game. Games are all for the kids enjoyment. Have a quick chat at the end of the game and focus on the highlights. Make a point of thanking the officials.
Never blow out another team! Switch things up to keep the game reasonable and as exciting as possible. The weakest varsity team I ever coached came up against the number one team. They beat us down the first half of the game. Their reliever was a kid who pitched for me at the Little League Nationals. Without a word to anyone he threw batting practice to our team for three innings, giving up his first home run ever, in the process. He brought the game back to 14 to 12, then he struck out the side to end it. I've always discretely done the same for other teams, because they have to have fun too or they won't be back next year. My strong teams gave up a lot of runs for this reason.
Have fun!

 

[Wayne County Hose]

Tig gives some great advice. I have coached kids to regional championships and one even took two third place finishes at the world championships. The one most important piece of advice I can give is to always keep it positive. Instead of telling a kid, "Don't do it that way," tell him, "That was a real good effort but try it this way instead." I have seen a ton of coaches pound on their kids with negativity. Sometimes their kids win but my kids have more fun in a loss than theirs do in a win. Have fun and joke with them.

 

[rox]

Do not give preference for your son and his friends if he is on the team. At our son's christian school one dad coach did this for the whole season. Our son was good friends with the coahes son and he would brag about how his dad always had him in every game for practically the whole game. Talk to your son and make sure he understands that you can't play favorites, and then don't. Years later an employee who worked for me told me that her hsuband volunteers to be the coach so that they make sure thier son gets more game time, they thought they were very clever.

 

[parallel]

Thanks for the advise y'all.

Do not give preference for your son and his friends if he is on the team. At our son's christian school one dad coach did this for the whole season. Our son was good friends with the coahes son and he would brag about how his dad always had him in every game for practically the whole game. Talk to your son and make sure he understands that you can't play favorites, and then don't. Years later an employee who worked for me told me that her hsuband volunteers to be the coach so that they make sure thier son gets more game time, they thought they were very clever.

LOL... my little boy is only three and a half, it'll be a while before he can play football. Of course your advise is good and will be heeded if I am still coaching then. He did tell me that he doesn't want me to be the coach, he said; "you're not the coach... you're MY daddy!"