August 14, 2013 · 8:18 PM

Touch The Sign

When I was just starting out as a Rule 10 football coach at Clay Center Community High School back in the year 2000, I was a mild mannered, timid, and completely clueless football coa…SCREEECHHH.

Sorry boys for the stretch of the truth, please let me start again.

Okay, when I was just starting out as a Rule 10 football coach back in the year 2000, I was an excitable, raving lunatic, who was completely clueless as a football coach. There, I said it. Then something happened. I read the Blackie Book and I read Coach Otto Unruh’s book, HOW TO COACH WINNING FOOTBALL.

The Blackie Book is a compilation put together (and updated each year) by Coach Blackie Lane. It contains virtually the entire historic record of high school football in Clay Center. It is an incredible piece of history and if you haven’t seen it, you should make the effort.

HOW TO COACH WINNING FOOTBALL by the long time Clay Center and Bethel College head coach is a valuable slice of wisdom, both in the schematic football knowledge of the day and in the timeless methodology of coaching young boys into young men.

I read these two documents and became transformed by the tradition of football in our town. I realized what a heavy responsibility fell on one who coaches in this program and I vowed not to be a disappointment. I worked and read, and read and worked. I research and studied football coaching, football theory, especially offensive and defensive line play. But most of all, I studied strength and conditioning.

We aren’t big in CC, we aren’t exceedingly fast, and never really have been. But tradition holds these truths; we play hard, we hit hard, and we come after you every play of every game.

Tiger Tradition.

Another thing we started doing back around 2002 (or one of those years) was having each player touch the Otto Unruh Stadium sign at the south end of the stadium prior to pregame introductions. Fans may or may not have ever noticed this, but they still do it.

I don’t coach anymore, mostly because of the excitable, raving lunatic descriptors I used earlier in this post. Out of curiosity, though, I asked a couple current players if they knew why they “Touch the Sign” before home games. They did not know, but they were eager to find out. So, here is the reason you touch that sign, boys.

We “Touch The Sign” before we take the field for home games at Otto Unruh Stadium as a tribute to all those who played Clay Center Football before us.

We pledge with that one touch we will play with honor, courage, intensity, and sportsmanship on our home field and in front of our community.

We promise we will leave the Clay Center mark on our opponent in defeat and in victory. They will know by their battered and tired bodies they played the Clay Center Tigers.

We play for 100+ years of Clay Center football:

  • 836 games, 453-337-46 record, a .542 winning %
  • 63% of all teams had a winning record
  • 10 undefeated seasons

We play for the early Clay Center Dynasties:

1. V.R. Vegades Era 1920-1926; 42-10-2, a .778 winning %

  • 1920 – 7-1 record
  • 1921 – 8-1 undefeated regular season. Lost to Topeka in playoffs.
  • 1922 – 7-1 Did not get scored on all season until last game, a 7-6 loss to Manhattan. Beat Concordia 101-0.
  • 1923 – 6-1, No TD’s given up the entire season. Lost final game to Manhattan 6-3 but only gave up 2 FG’s.
  • 1924 – 6-1, only gave up 3 TD’s all season.

2. C.A. Nelson Era 1930-1941; 69-27-13, a .670 winning % and 3 undefeated seasons.

We play for the Otto Unruh Era:

  • 1945-1966; 126-65-8, a .633 winning %
  • Won 3 Class A State Championships
  • 3 undefeated 9-0 seasons.
  • 1956 and 1957 teams went 18-0 and won 2 state titles.
  • 1963 team went 8-1 and won state championship. Only loss of year was to Manhattan, 7-6, on a missed PAT.

We play for the Larry Wiemers Era:

  • 1977-1994; 114-71, a .616 winning%
  • 1978, 1979, 1980 teams went 26-5, 2 District championships and 3 NCKL titles
  • 1980 team went 10-1, losing only to Andover in the regional final.
  • 1983, 1984, 1985 teams went 25-8, Substate, district and bi-district titles.
  • 1993 team went 10-1, NCKL champs, district, bi-district, regional runner-up

So, gentlemen, there’s the story behind why you Touch the Sign. Good luck and NEVER forget,

There is no #TigerFamily without #TigerTradition.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

2 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

August 11, 2013 · 7:58 AM

Roll With The Changes

“So, if you’re tired of the same old story, oh, turn some pages”

-Roll With The Changes, REO Speedwagon

The moment you accept you are good enough is the moment you begin to lose.

Getting better is a constant, no matter the endeavor you have chosen. Whether it is as an athlete, coach, writer, scientist, teacher, trashman, welder, librarian, etc., it doesn’t matter. If you want to get better you have to work at it on a consistent basis. We have to learn to break out of our shells of complacency to improve. We have to learn how to turn the pages if we are tired of the story.

cicadashellside

Getting better also means accepting change. Change pushes and pulls improvement. A refusal to change stops improvement dead in its tracks. Why? Because change often comes with failure and this failure needs to fuel the desire to improve. We used to call this concept The Fail Cycle.

In a perfect world, we would fail, back up a couple steps, analyze the situation and then make the changes needed to overcome the failure. But, being human, we don’t always accept the need to change our tact and we too often stay on the path of complacency and acceptance in our stagnate situations.

I had two standard speeches for football and baseball athletes when I felt we were not doing the necessary adjustments to be successful. Things like using the same swing every at-bat in the midst of a 0-20 slump or falling for the same QB pump fake and losing contain rush time and time again.

  1. Running into the solid, brick wall at increasingly faster speeds will not get you through the wall, it just gets you more pissed off and feeling a lot of pain. Change your plan of attack, take two steps over, and walk right through the open doorway.
  2. Don’t hit yourself in the head with a hammer time and time again and wonder why it hurts. Quit hitting yourself in the head with a hammer!

To me, part of the great joy in life is working to get better at the things that you love doing and the things that make you happy. The only way to do this is to change and move forward.

So, get up and get to work. Whatever you choose to do if your life, do it with purpose, pride, and passion.

Turn the pages and enjoy your new story.

2 Comments

Filed under Rants, Reads, Training, Uncategorized, Writes

Tagged as , , ,

July 25, 2013 · 7:00 PM

The Whole Alphabet

I was (am) a developmental coach. It’s what I do, teach the basics, build the fundamentals, and show kids how to compete. To me, the development of athletes is the core job of a sports coach.

In fact, for about any endeavor which requires training or supervision of people, the development of resources (people) is vital to a successful organization. Teachers develop kids; senior scientists take young scientists under their wing and show them what they know. Artists, writers, welders, mechanics all do the same, help develop the young or fledgling talent that comes knocking at the door.

Like I said, I am a developmental coach. The goal is to build a player from the ground up. Start with a fundamental foundation of physical movement skills and lay the bricks onto the foundation one at a time until a complete player begins to form.

Brick by brick we get better.

A coach can never emphasize enough the importance of the learning the playbook in football and baseball. We can work the fundamentals until we are blue in the face, but if the athlete fails to do the mental work necessary to burn the plays and responsibilities in their head, we are not going to be successful.

Below is one of my standard (and favorite) things to say to the young JV football or baseball players in order to get across the importance of studying and learning the plays to the point they become second nature.  

“The playbook is like the alphabet. If you learn all the letters, you can make any word you want. The world becomes wide open to you. If all you learn is A, B, and C, then the only word you can make is ‘CAB’.  You’ve severely limited yourself. And people, you can’t get very far in life when all you have in the arsenal is ‘CAB’.”

Leave a comment

Filed under Rants, Training, Writes

Tagged as , , , ,

July 20, 2013 · 7:37 PM

2006 Summer Conditioning Theme: The Keys to Success

Keys to Success…

  •  Winners do the things losers will not do.
  •  Being successful often means working harder than the next guy.
  •  Having success builds success within the individual and the team.

 photo (2)

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , ,

June 26, 2013 · 6:59 PM

Tenets of #TigerFamily

History. Tradition. The age-old tenets of the Clay Center Community High School Tigers. It is our way of doing business. It is who we are. It is what we do. It is us being defined by our predecessors, following the character and the expectations passed from generation to generation, from decade to decade, and from season to season.

A young man lamented to me last month about how he felt they had no traditions at the high school anymore. He was frustrated. He didn’t seem to fully comprehend what it all means or how awesome it is to be a part of this wonderful tradition. #TigerFamily means more than a hashtag; it means more than just a catchy slogan.

There is a deep, historical standard in Clay County, KS. Not being a native citizen, I tried to learn as much as I could when I was an active part of the Tiger sports coaching family. I’ve heard the stories from former athletes, young and old. I’ve studied the Blackie (Lane) Book and Coach Otto Unruh’s How to Coach Winning Football more times than I dare count. What follows is my feeble attempt to distill all this tradition and all this history into a list of principles and beliefs on the meaning of Tiger Family.

Current and future Tiger Family members, we sit in the middle of a rarefied tradition in Clay Center. The torch is passed. The flame of tradition and history is now in your hands.

What are you going to do with it?

The Tenets 

  • Outwork everyone.
  • Earn everything. Expect nothing to be given.
  • Hit your opponent like a cannon shot, from the opening gun to closing bell.
  • Never back down, never give up.
  • Every man, every play.
  • Get better every day.
  • When the opponent puts their head on the chopping block, cut it off.
  • Hustle everywhere. Hustle is an attitude. Intimidate with hustle.
  • Take care of your own !@#$ business. Do your job.
  • Think explosive, train explosive, play explosive.
  • Be who you are while being part of the whole.
  • Earn respect, command respect.
  • Challenges, direction, discipline, and limits will make you better. Accept them.
  • Be relentless.
  • Luke 11:23 “He who is not with me is against me.”

(There is no order or rank of importance. All are equally important.)

Interlocking CC

1 Comment

Filed under Rants, Writes

Tagged as , , , ,

June 18, 2013 · 8:35 PM

Coach Hays Rant: The Questions?

Recently, I read “Who Could That Be at This Hour?” by Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler). It is the first book in the new All the Wrong Questions series. You may remember the author’s previous book series, the wonderful A Series of Unfortunate Events. The new book chronicles the career beginnings of the 13-year-old Lemony Snicket.

13314914031993458145question-mark-hi

The new series is called All the Wrong Questions for a good reason. The young Snicket, according to his recently appointed chaperone, S. Theodora Markson, is always asking the wrong questions. The book is very entertaining and I recommend it highly, but it also raised a question is my coaching mind:

For a player, teammate, coach, or parent, what are the right questions?

I have been pondering this practical and philosophical question rattling about in my head for the past few weeks. I still don’t have a concrete answer. Maybe it would be beneficial to start with some of the wrong questions and then consider what the right questions may be.

The WRONG Questions

  • You lost? Again?
  • Why did you strike out?
  • Why don’t watch this videotape of your miserable performance with me?
  • Do you believe those umpires/referees/officials so bad?
  • What in the world was that idiot Coach Hays thinking tonight?
  • Can’t you ever do anything right?
  • Why didn’t you win?
  • What in heaven’s name were you doing out there?

The RIGHT Questions

  • Do you enjoy the game?
  • Did you give your best?
  • Do you feel you prepared yourself properly?
  • Are there things you’d do differently?
  • Did you get better?
  • Are you a good teammate?
  • Were you respectful of the game?

Next time you are involved in a sporting event, either as a player, parent, or fan, stick to the RIGHT questions and avoid the WRONG questions. Attempt to promote the sport in a positive manner, win, lose, or draw. I know it is hard, very hard. But I think you will be surprised how much more you can enjoy the sport by sticking to the spirit of the RIGHT questions.

Leave a comment

Filed under Rants, Training, Writes

Tagged as , , , , , ,

June 2, 2013 · 7:00 PM

Coach Hays Rant: Supplements

I am not a big fan of supplements for average high school athletes. I am in a minority. I’ve been jeered, deemed old-fashioned, and dismissed for many of my beliefs in regard to supplements. 95% of all athletes don’t need them. Many of the supplements you see advertised, as well of a huge chunk of the supporting data, are designed and tested for the upper level athlete. These are the top 5% college and pro athletes who work and train at such a high level, their diet cannot completely help them recover.

I wrote an article for Gridiron Strategies football coaching magazine ten years ago about the Performance Triangle philosophy we used in our rural high school football program. Since many of our athletes also participated in other sports throughout the year, my hope was that they would take these principles with them throughout the year.

equilateral-triangle1

The Performance Triangle consisted of the three prong approach of nutrition, hydration, and rest. After years of coaching high school male athletes, I came to realize the majority of these kids have poor nutrition, poor hydration, and don’t get a proper amount of rest. Which brings the million dollar question…if you don’t eat right, if you don’t drink enough water, and if you don’t get enough sleep, why are you (or probably your parents) spending hundreds of dollars on supplements?

Protein supplements, muscle milks, shakes, drinks, powders are a mega-dollar industry. Do you know the human body only absorbs about 15% of the protein ingested? The other 85% is eliminated by the kidneys in the urine. So, for every $100 you spend on protein supplements, one’s body eliminates 85 of those dollars down the toilet. Now, does that sound like a wise investment?

Former Kansas State University Strength and Conditioning Coach Rod Cole, one of the best in the business, used to tell his players to eat two peanut butter sandwiches with a glass of milk every morning and night to cover the athlete’s extra nutritional needs. The first place an athlete, their coaches, and their parents should look is at the athlete’s nutrition, hydration, and rest before even investigating supplements.

The folks who push these supplements on kids without education, prescribed need, and exploring basic nutritional options are, in my opinion, pushers. They sell a bottle, not belief. It is the greatest sin a youth coach or youth mentor can commit.

The pill begins to control the player. The mentality which comes with this perceived need is deadly to the success of an athlete. It is the protein shake, not the hours of hard work that become the reason for gains. Shortcuts make long journeys. In the case of supplements, these journeys wind through the lands of self-doubt and dependency, neither place fitting for the ideals and dreams of young athletes.

Widscreen_Wallpaper_Weightlifting-1280x960

Looking for the edge over your opponent? I suggest looking in a mirror. What you will see there is your greatest asset. You will find in that reflection the number one, most effective tool you have in your arsenal…YOU.

Believe in yourself, not the chemical. You will soon discover the difference when you are asked to perform and the game is on the line. There will be no doubt in your mind, or your teammate’s minds, about whether or not you have what it takes to get the job done. Belief trumps bottles every single time.

Be the best you that you can be. Dedicate yourself to the person in the mirror. Give that person in the mirror the very best of your mind, body, and heart. Do the work. The shortcuts are filled with pitfalls and traps, as murky and dangerous as quicksand.

There is no magic bullet.

Hard work is the magic.

Believe in yourself.

Be the best you that you can be.

DBs

Leave a comment

Filed under Rants, Training

Tagged as , , , , , ,

May 27, 2013 · 7:42 AM

Memorial Day 2013

Memorial Day (or Decoration Day to revert to its original name) is today. In 2013, we have added many, too many, names to the list of those who have died in service to this great nation. Say a prayer, take a moment, or perform some act of honor today for those who have sacrificed to serve.

Memorial Day started with official recognition by the Grand Army of the Republic on May 5, 1868 to honor both the fallen Union and Confederate soldiers from the Civil War. The Civil War, the pivotal, bloody, divisive War Between the States. The War which tested our young nation to the very brink of disaster with neighbor fighting neighbor. The War which ultimately made us a stronger collective people, one bound together despite our flaws and differences.  After its inception, the concept of a Decoration Day spread across the country, although the former Confederate states in the south refused to join with the “northern” celebration and kept their memorial separate until around the time of World War I (Some wounds heal more slow, I guess).

Today, on this Memorial Day, let us, as this nation’s collective people, reflect upon the origins of this holiday and remember. Let us honor our past by exhibiting in our personal, political, and professional lives the ideal that we are a stronger, collective people bound together despite our flaws and differences and striving to honor those we remember on Memorial Day.

For Memorial Day 2013, a re-posting of the story behind the founding of Arlington National Cemetery.

The Beginnings of Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington House

Union Quartermaster General Montgomery  Meigs appropriated land around Arlington House from its owner Gen. Robert E. Lee in June 1864 for use as Arlington National Cemetery.  General Meigs wanted to make Arlington House uninhabitable for the Lee family by placing Union soldier’s graves right to the front porch. In his excellent documentary,  The Civil War, filmmaker Ken Burns adds that General Meigs had previously lost his son, a Union soldier, in battle against Lee led forces and the appropriation of Lee’s land was particularly satisfying to the Quartermaster General.

I have only seen Arlington by photo or film.  It is a place I must visit before I die. My daughter has been there on a school group trip led by my good friends, and excellent teachers, the Lane Brothers.  She loved Arlington and everything about Washington, DC.  Coach Lane once gave me a football scout VCR tape, on which at the very end of the tape was copied the film he took of the changing of the guard at the Tomb on the Unknown Soldier.  I still have that tape safely stored away.  Incredible. Solemn. Beautiful.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , ,

May 22, 2013 · 7:54 PM

Coach Hays Rant: EASY Button?

I think at one time or another, we all wish for the EASY button. Pleasant dreams in which our lives will be made easier by some means of magic. Well, haven’t you ever wished that? Sure you have.

But here’s the bubble-bursting truth…there is no EASY button. If you want to get something done, then it’s time to get to work. There is no EASY button. There, I’ll say it again just for emphasis.
Things worth having are worth working for. Things worth accomplishing are worth working for. Dream big and do the work necessary to achieve your dreams.

If you want to play big, train big.
If you want to learn big, study big.
If you want to play explosive, you need to train explosive.
If you want to play slow and sluggish (even if you are static strong), train slow.

DB+Parallettes

Easy doesn’t require an investment.
Easy doesn’t require a commitment.
Easy accepts minimal effort and laziness.
Easy allows shortcuts and shortcuts make long, miserable journeys with unfulfilling endings.
Easy becomes a lifestyle.

Never lose sight that things worth having are worth working for.
Never allow yourself to be seduced by the shortcut and the EASY.

Dream it and do it.

Hard work is the magic.

Leave a comment

Filed under Rants, Training

Tagged as , , , ,

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.

Leave a comment

Filed under Rants, Training

Tagged as , , , , ,