Today is Saturday, and we do not have a formal meeting today; however, I am still doing the football thing. I need to finish up with the water situation today. The machines are ready to go, but now I am dealing with the hoses that supply each coil machine. One hose that supplies the coil cooler must reach 200ft to the center of the practice field. I am constantly fighting bulges and holes in the water hose. We will sometimes use the coil cow during home games too. The water hose must run down the sideline, across the track, across the sidewalk, and back behind the stands to the nearest hose bib. Naturally, the band (and fans) walk all over the hose and it takes a beating. It sure would be easier if we had a hose bib on the sideline near our bench. I am now in the process of washing (and bleaching) our wrist bands and getting them ready for Tuesday. These 3 page flip bands are really expensive to buy, so I take good care of them. I'm also looking at our flip board (I built this) to make sure it is OK to use. Using this flip board and the wrist bands is how we relay information to our offense. I am not going into too much detail about our system, but it is completely unique and designed for what we want to do offensively. Coach Bethel puts a lot of trust into me; naturally, I do not want to disappoint him, so the "system" must be ready to go. Bethel can be pretty intense if things are not working correctly.
I am an offensive coach. I have coached every position on the offensive side of the ball, but I am known for my work with the "skill kids." Right now, I am listed as a QB coach,but truthfully, we all coach everything on our side of the ball. Coach Bethel serves as his own Offensive Coordinator, so it is ultimately his call on what we are doing offensively. Luckily, he lets us coach our position kids and leaves us alone for the most part.....as long as the job is getting done! I do not get a chance to use much of my own ideas offensively at the varsity level, but I still attend clinics, research and study other offensive systems to make myself a better coach. Every now and then I will see something at a clinic and bring it back to Coach Bethel who may, or may-not use it. LOL. Thats OK. I usually just repackage it and try it again later. We have a well seasoned staff, so he rarely says much to us at this point. Anything that is said is done behind closed doors, and we all appreciate that. We are not puppets, and we don't always agree on every single point; HOWEVER, when we come out of the coaches portable, we are all on the same page. This is the reason our staff is so close. I am going to figure out a way to introduce all of you to the staff on this blog. I just have to make sure it is cool to do so.
When I was a young head coach, I would always run my own offense. I was known for innovation and having strong well-coached offensive teams. My teams would sometimes be like juggernauts, just pounding the other team's defense with a mixed offensive attack. The Recreation Department (RD) used to throttle dominate football teams. If a team went up by more than two TD's, the penalty flags usually started flying. At the time, the RD LOVED tied football games, or a 12-6 score would be ideal. Naturally, I did not always agree with this policy. I usually just poured on the coals and kept scoring. Of course, the scores usually were called back by penalty. I would have a parent keep track of the actual score so I could stew on it for the next week. Like I stated in an earlier posting, I was pretty intense when I was a young buck. We were a pretty rowdy bunch. I fed off the my sideline and they fed off of me. I am now going to tell you about my lowest point as a coach, and how this "Lesson in Life" changed me forever.
The RD used regular high school referees if possible. They were a mixed group of young referees (just learning) and at least one experienced referee to run the game. For the most part, they did a good job considering the special "rules" the RD put into place. I was a young hot headed (and ignorant) coach who loved to argue every call. Here is what happened:
My team was just pounding the other team. We drove the ball 60 yards in five plays and had the ball 1st and goal from the 5 yard line. I sent my QB (Cole) on a play-action boot expecting him to score easily. Our blocking broke down, and he was stuffed with no gain. Unfortunately, he did not get up from the hard tackle. Cole was hurt, and an officials time-out was called. His dad (Jim) was one of my assistant coaches, so he ran onto the field to see about his son. Jim walked past our huddle and shouted: "You guys punch this in for Cole!" Next thing I see is a yellow flag flying through the air. I shouted: "What is that for?" The head referee (lets call him Bob) said: "Coach, you cant coach the kids during an injury timeout!" 1st and Goal from the 20 yard line. I said: "WHAT? That's a bullshit call!" Another Flag. 1st and Goal from the 35 yard line. I went a little crazy. Another flag...and I was ejected from the game! My sideline was going crazy, and so was I. I had to leave the field. I shouted to Bob: "I will find you after the game!" My fans were absolutely going nuts.
Right after the game, I ran up to my assistant coaches and said: "Take the team, I'm going after the referee!" I look across the field and I see the referees running for the endzone toward the parking area. I ran after them shouting: "I want to talk with Bob!" By the time I caught up with them, they were well into the endzone corner. I stopped and challenged Bob to "speak" with me. I had one city official holding one of my arms, and another city official was standing in front of me. Seeing this, Bob turns around and starts coming our way shouting something about young punk coaches. By the time he reaches me, I threw an overhand right hook and caught him in the eye. Down he goes. I then proceeded to finish the job when I was tackled from behind by a city official. It was mayhem. My kids (known to be fighters) were going nuts shouting "kick his ass coach" Fans were wanting to fight. It was a bad, bad situation, and it was my fault. Sheriff's department was already there and regained order.
Bob (the referee) did not press charges. I was allowed to go home. I had to appear in front of the City RD and I was suspended and banned from city property for the rest of the year. I thought my career was over. I embarrassed myself and embarrassed my family. I did not set a good example for the rest of my kids who looked up to me (even though it almost made me a folk hero) and this upset me greatly. I was just devastated by my actions. The RD decided to speak with Coach Livings about this situation. Billy told them: "The only thing he did wrong was not completely whipping his ass!" (I was told this by a city official) This officially started my career at the High School level. I never returned to the RD. More to this story in later blogs.
What was the lesson? It NEVER pays to argue with the referees. A coach will never win that fight. In fact, it hurts the kids and sets a bad example. Today, people always ask why I suck up the the referees before every game. Number one, I have known most of them for years, and I make damn sure I do not give them any reason to get pissed off at me. I found that if you show them some respect, they will respect you in return; then, maybe a close call will go your way. Piss those guys off and your team will have a long night, I guarantee it.
Although this incident happend over 20 years ago, to this very day, I will always say a prayer (before a game) asking the Lord not to let me embarrass myself or my school during the game. I also ask that the Lord not let me make a stupid decision DURING a game to cost the team. I am the type of coach who always second guesses myself, and I lay awake at night worried about what I could have done better. I love this game, and I love my kids. I worry about the "Lessons in Life" that we are supposed to be teaching. Its a big job.
Later.
No comments:
Post a Comment