Category Archives: Rants

May 15, 2013 · 7:03 PM

Coach Hays Rant: Summertime!

Summer conditioning time is coming around the mountain, boys and girls. Time for a few Coach Hays rants to get the ball rolling. Of all the things about coaching high school sports I could miss, the sidelines, the dugout, the practices, etc., the one one thing I miss (besides the kids) is summer conditioning. I don’t think too many summer programs across the state did things the way we did back then. Every minute of summer had to be intense, focused, and productive.

Iron

Why?

  • The professional teams draft the cream of the crop and then develop them.
  • College programs recruit the best they can find and then develop them.
  • High school programs (except for the few private schools) take what walks through your door and then drive and push them to develop into the best they can be.

We had to do things different. We didn’t have big kids, we didn’t have fast kids, and we had very few superstar raw talents. We had to work our butts off. We had to maximize what we had, which was tough, hard working kids. Looking back, I wouldn’t trade our kids for anything, though I wish we could have had their 22 year-old bodies when they were 17. Late bloomers.

Rings

I miss it. I miss the groans and moans at 6:30 AM. I miss the energy of 50 kids working hard. I miss pushing them to do things the right way, every time. I loved it and I did it every day from June to mid-August for nine summers for a whopping cumulative salary of $0.00. Best job I ever had.

I will always be extremely proud of what we were able to accomplish with the resources we were allocated and the meager school support. I am proud to have achieved the results we did through the incredible effort, the desire to improve, and the high level of buy-in from the kids.

Plate

Man, alive! It gets me excited just thinking about it. Get busy, Kids of Summer 2013. Take advantage of your opportunities. Get in touch if you have a question or need some help. I’ll be glad to help if you have something you want to work on.

Hard work is the magic.

Here’s a little something to roll around in your head until the next rant on “Easy”:

The Coach Hays High School Sports Roles

The Athlete – Show up everyday with the desire and effort to get better.

The Coach – Show up everyday with the desire and the plan to make athletes better.

The Parent – Be your athlete’s biggest fan and supporter.

The Official/Umpire – Please be patient and take into account that Coach Hays is an idiot.

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March 25, 2013 · 7:22 PM

Character

Character walks and talks
It leads and it follows
It pushes and it pulls

Character makes the man
It shines in dark times
It anchors in rough times

Character draws strength
It collapses weakness
It builds a solid foundation

Bring character
Grow character
Live character

Every day
Every way
Show Your Character

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February 20, 2013 · 9:07 PM

The Coach In Me

Measure of Success.

  • Take a team with enough talent to win 80% of their games, and push them to winning 90%. 
  • Take the team with talent to barely win one game and compete to win 50%. 
  • Take the kids who can barely walk and chew gum at the same time and make them exceptional at one thing. 
  • Take the kid who’s a natural and drive them to be stellar.

Fundamental skills every day.

  • One of the most incredible things I’ve witnessed in sports is Cal Ripken, at the pinnacle of his career, carry a tee out to home plate before team batting practice and hit a bucket of baseballs.
  • Skill work, done right, every time, every day.

Players win games, coaches lose them.

  • Let the players bask in the glory of success for all their hard work.
  • Step out to take the bullets for them in defeat. 

Make your players better,every day.

  • There should be times when they hate you. Push them anyway. 
  • There will be times when they are happy with their results. Point out their flaws and how to fix them. 
  • There should be days when they curse you, call you names, and regret the day you were born. Make them better, anyway.

Always get better.

  • Need to. Want to. Have to.

photo (2)

Self-assess.

  • Be brutally honest with yourself. 
  • Push yourself harder than anyone else does. 
  • Work harder than anyone else does. 

Winning games is not easy.

  • It takes a lot of things to go right in order to succeed. 
  • Hard work is the magic.

Be honest.

  • With parents, kids, and administrators, no matter how hard the truth is.

Enjoy the now.

  • A very, very small percentage of athletes move on to a higher level of play.
  • Enjoy the sport everyday that you are allowed to participate.
  • This time is golden.

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January 11, 2013 · 8:46 PM

Ray Lewis

“If tomorrow wasn’t promised, what would you give today?”

Here is a little video inspiration in honor of the upcoming retirement of Ray Lewis.

When he was at University of Miami and early in his NFL career, I wasn’t a fan of Ray Lewis or many of his Hurricane compadres. I held utmost respect for the way he played the game, though. He changed the game and practically single-handily killed the traditional college football option game with his speed and tenacity, but I wasn’t a fan of how many of the ‘Canes carried themselves in life.

After some early ups and downs off the field, Ray Lewis changed. Besides becoming the most dominant NFL defensive player of his era, Ray became a leader. With this metamorphosis, I became a huge fan of his.

Ray Lewis, to me, has become an example of how we men can grow and change into better human beings. The video of his inspirational locker room speech to the Stanford Cardinal basketball team is the perfect example of Ray’s leadership and core beliefs.

Thank you, Ray Lewis, for an exceptional NFL career. Congratulations on your retirement. Many of us fans look forward to what the future holds for you as a father, retired athlete, and life mentor to young players everywhere.

 “Effort is between you and you.”

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January 5, 2013 · 10:08 AM

OUT

We all sometimes need a healthy dose of “OUT”. To whatever you do, to whatever you are good at, add some “OUT” to it. Supercharge it, push it, take the leap off the high dive.

OUT work
OUT prepare
OUT plan
OUT perform
OUT hustle
OUT play
OUT coach
OUT run
OUT lift
OUT compete
OUT love
OUT study
OUT design
OUT write
OUT lead
OUT love
OUT participate
OUT read
OUT discover
OUT learn
OUT laugh
OUT recover
OUT forgive
OUT carry
OUT follow

WAY-OUT-RIGHT-SIGN-NOTICE-5212OUT-SIGN-NOTICE-PLAQUE-5193

GENERAL004

Now, go OUT and do whatever you do with joy, passion, and intensity.

Never give up.
Get better every day.
Hard work is the magic.
Be OUTstanding!

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December 30, 2012 · 4:04 PM

End of 2012 Recycled Post: One Final Act of Stupidity For 2010

For those who know me, my fits of stupidity will not be anything new to you.  But, I need to relate one final (I hope) Coach Hays stupid moment for 2010. Yesterday, I was running a mile on the treadmill as the weather was kind of nasty outdoors.  I was around the half mile mark when this Achilles’ tendon inflammation problem I have been fighting started flaring up.

It ticks me off, because I hate my “old man” afflictions.  Out of blind, stupid pride, I stop the treadmill and kick my socks and shoes off then hit “Start”.  I AM GOING TO FINISH THIS RUN.  Besides, it’s only a bit less than a half a mile to go.

Well it’s not so bad to run barefoot, a little loud on the treadmill, but nobody else is home, so it won’t bother anyone.  And you know those Kenyans run barefoot all the time, so it can’t be THAT bad.

With about a quarter mile left, there is a strange feeling beginning in the balls of my feet,  but I keep going.  There’s only a few more minutes to go, I can finish this.  I need to finish this.  So I tread on one step at a time.   Finally, I am done and hit stop with a great sense of accomplishment.

Then it starts, the burning pain in the balls of my feet increases exponentially.  I can feel the blisters forming on my feet.  Oh, boy!  I’ve done it this time.

Long story short, I am now a little smarter.  I learn some hard lessons with every painful step as my blisters subside.  I have learned the following.

  • Fat, old guys should not run barefoot.  Anywhere.  Anytime.
  • I need to be smarter about working out. Two days off of my feet was not worth the 1/4 mile I ran barefoot.
  • Finally, I am not a Kenyan marathoner

Have a safe and happy New Year’s Eve!  Tomorrow we will start a new year and have a post on resolutions and the the start of the fitness new year on April 1, 2011.  Last year’s post on the subject is AQUI

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December 7, 2012 · 8:46 AM

The Isaiah Awesomeness

“For to us is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called ‘Wonder Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.’ Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and for evermore.” (Isaiah 9:6-7).

Regardless of religion, faith, or beliefs, these words from Isaiah are magnificent. An amazing couple of sentences; perhaps even a couple of the most beautiful sentences recorded in mankind’s history.

It’s definitely one of the best introductions in written history. Can you imagine the guest speaker at an event taking the podium with an introduction using the words from Isaiah?  “Holy moly, Ralph! I didn’t know the upholder of justice and righteousness from this time forth and for everyone is our Noon Optimist Club speaker this week.”

I want to be better when I read these words, especially when the narrator in my head uses his James Earl Jones voice reciting them. These words inspire me to be a better husband, father, writer, scientist, athlete, and coach. In other words, they just make me want to be a better human being.

Wonder Counselor! Are you kidding me? That is next-level awesomeness.

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November 13, 2012 · 8:40 PM

Plinko

When I was younger, I viewed life as linear function. Sort of like the board game, Life. Move down the path, forward only. Get a job, get married, buy a house, have kids, and then make your pink, globe-shaped head, uber-thin wife sit in the back row of the sleek, blue roadster as the fam cruises the plastic landscape. Linear. Set a goal and go do it. Simple.

With age and experience I have come to find that life is not really like the game of Life at all, it is more like the Plinko game from The Price Is Right. You know the game. The contestant climb the stairs to the top of the vertical Plinko board and drop big round plastic chips down slots. The board has bumper pins spread over the surface to block the straight path to the targeted money slot at the bottom. Gravity pulls the chip down into collisions with the pins and it moves randomly down the course. Sometimes it glances off a pin and only slightly knocked off course. Other times the chip has a full force, head-on collision with the pin and gets knocked straight backward until gravity wins out again to start down another path. Plinko.

Doesn’t that sound more like real life?

Hey, I’m not complaining one bit. At age 48, with my wife, my three kids, two dogs, maybe two cats, great friends, a house in a cool small town, job(s) and never ending chaos, I welcome the Plinko-life. It is a grand adventure climbing up to the platform above the Hays family Plinko board, aiming our chips at the intended goals at the bottom of the course, and then letting go. Yeah, we fret when the chips glance off pins and veer away from their intended course. We feel the pain when a chip hits a pin head-on and gets knocked backward. Sure, it hurts and is a bit disheartening to see the chip plink further and further from the big prize.

That’s where the fun begins. We laugh as the chips dances down the board. We learn to enjoy the journey and try to get the most out of the new directions. These surprise changes of direction become moments of great joy, truer and more real than any plastic scenery can match.
Sure, I’ll miss my cool, blue roadster, but I kind of like my chances getting knocked around on the Plinko board.

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October 4, 2012 · 7:30 PM

The Crap Quotes

Warning: This post is rated PG-13 for language.

Language. Communication. Coaching. Teaching.
When one is coaching teenage boys, these four points listed above can become a challenge. Kids have well-honed BS meters; they know when an adult is being sincere and when they are blowing smoke at them. They want to hear the answers and they want confidence out of their leaders. They want to be taught the Wingbuster Defense with the confidence that there is no way the opponent can move the ball against it, even though, in reality, the coach has no idea if his hair-brained idea will actually work.
On this front, I can honestly say I learned a couple very important things about kids during my time as a coach:

  • First, you have to earn respect.
  • Second, you have to command respect.
  • Third, you have to find a way to understand each other; let the kids be the kids and the coach be the coach.
  • Fourth, kids want challenge, they want the discipline and limits, and most of all, they want direction.

Sometimes, in order to establish these four things, it meant crossing the line on proper and civil use of the English language. I probably spent way too much time over that line back in the day. Probably a mistake, but what the heck, it was me. Anyway, it was all about speaking simply and in a manner that commanded their attention day in and day out. Like I used to say, “I wouldn’t survive a week in France speaking Portuguese all day.”
A few weeks ago, I started thinking about the stupid things I used to say. I realized many of those stupid things contained the word “crap”, or various, increasingly vulgar derivatives of the word. So, here is a small list of some of the stupid (and sometimes stupid-funny) things I’ve said in the past containing “crap”. And, contrary to the opinion of one ex-athlete, who upon learning I was making this list, this is not going to be novel length work.

The Crap Quotes

“Kick the crap out of them”

“I don’t give a crap who your parents are or where you come from. I give a crap about what you do and how you work.”

“Oh, you’re tired? I don’t give a crap!”

“You’re sore? I don’t give a crap!”

“Stop everything! Okay. Stand with your feet out as far as you can. Now, bend your head down between your legs as far as you can. Hold it.  Alright now stand up quickly and pull your heads out of your asses.”

To the freshman every year:
“You know who gives a crap about what you did last year across the street at the middle school? Nobody. Nobody, except maybe your mommy and your daddy. What matters is what you do from NOW through the next three years.”

“Don’t let someone sell you a bucket of crap by telling you it’s chocolate.”

“You know what I liked about that last play you guys just ran? Nothing. Nothing at all; it was pure crap.”

“You feeling okay this morning? You look like you must have gotten your money’s worth at the Crap Buffet last night.”

“Relax, son. You’re so nervous you couldn’t crap a mustard seed right now.”

Looking back one thing is certain, I am such an idiot.

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August 20, 2012 · 8:07 PM

The Rule

The Mrs. Hays recently brought up the subject of her need to develop a set of rules for her new classroom. I suggested, “Mrs. Hays is the Queen of this Classroom; diligently follow every word that flows from her mouth.”

She said that my suggestion was not really a classroom rule, it actually is a universal law. What she needed, she said, was a simple set of rules like the set of “No” rules you find at the swimming pool. No running, no rough-housing, no sitting on shoulders, no diving, etc. and so on. My train of thought and immediate interest in the subject waned with the memories of the hours upon hours of the young me sitting on hot pool decks kept prisoner from my friends and the refreshing, cool water by over-zealous lifeguards and their “No” rules.

With my husbandly duty of suggesting rules to the wife successfully completed, my mind drifted away to behavior rules I’ve run across or used in coaching sports. One of my favorites from my personal stable of behavior rules is this concise, to-the-point, original Coach Hays rule:

“Nothing you do on the field of play can make up for acting like a piece of crap off the field.”

Another one I like, which may or may not be a Coach Dail Smith-ism, is this one on keeping a well-ordered locker room or team bus:

“Your mother is not here, so pick up after your own self.”

But my all-time favorite rule on behavior came from the late Coach Melvin Cales. I lived with Melvin’s son, Monty, in college. As luck would have it, the college happened to reside in the same town as Monty’s grandmother. Melvin and his wife would often drive down and visit his mother on Sundays and then stop by our place on the way out of town. After the visit, Melvin would stop at the door and say to Monty. “Behave yourself.” Then he’d add the one line on behavior which I have repeated hundreds of times over the years to my own self, to athletes and most importantly, to my own children:

“Don’t do anything you wouldn’t want your grandmother to read about in the paper.”

So there you have it Mrs. Hays, a rule for your students and, indeed, a great rule for life. Smart, sage, and simple advice from a smart, sage, and simple man.

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