Today is Sunday, so we are not meeting. I put on my I-Pod and fired up the lawnmower. My I-Pod is filled with Military Running Cadence...........and George Strait! Since Mike joined the Army, I am fascinated with military running and marching cadence. I have been listening to the same CD's full of running cadence since Mike got out of basic training, and I have run miles and miles keeping a military beat. It really does work. Mike says that running or marching cadence is really a teaching tool for the military. The goal is to get everyone stepping with the same foot at the same time to teach teamwork.. Some of the Drill Sergeants (DS) are very colorful calling out their "Jody" cadence, and you can certainly hear the old grizzled DS's bark the marching beat with their hoarse voices straining against their throats. If you listen carefully, you can hear: "When that left foot hits the ground" (soldiers repeat) "I wanna hear that clapping sound!" Simply amazing. What a testament to the importance of teamwork. Imagine that! Not much different than calling cadence from the line of scrimmage, is it? LOL.. "Lessons in Life."
When we met last Friday, Randy assigned coaches to one (of 4) stations to work right after stretch. Florida rules say that we must have three (3) full practices in just shorts and helmets before we go into pads. I really don't know the reason for this, but it has always been this way, so we do it. This year we will have ropes, grass drills, cones, and bags. We quickly divide the kids into four groups and each group will go to a certain station. Randy will blow his whistle to begin the drill. We put the kids through a very fast paced series of drills designed for our station, for a set amount of time. When Bethel blows his whistle again, ALL the players (in that group) will rotate to another station. Again, very fast paced. The goal is to get as many reps as possible to every player. Personally, I depend on the senior players to help me out with my drills. I like to put them up front as examples to younger players and help demonstrate the drills. I usually run the ropes station, but this year Randy gave me grass drills with Coach Joe. I like this! Grass drills are really old school football, and I was raised by the MASTER of grass drills........my dad.
Back when MY DAD was a young buck, he and another group of guys formed the areas (Louisville, KY) ) first organized youth football league. It was a monumental task to form a league in those days. NO one, and I mean NO one played youth football in the area. They did not even have a place to play. But somehow, they started the Prairie Village Youth Football League. The games were to be played behind Stonestreet Elementary School (where we played baseball) Registration was open to all boys ages 7-12 years old. There was going to be four (4) teams: Packer-Rams-Colts-Giants. We were The Packers. Now, all ages played together, ages 7-12 years old. In today's world, this would never happen.
My Dad was a brutal, but greatly-loved coach. He molded his coaching style after Vince Lombardi who was the Tom Coughlin of his day. Dad taught toughness and he commanded respect from everyone. Even some of our parents feared the wrath of Coach Don. Dad hated for players to be late for practice....drove him crazy. I remember this player showing up about 20 minutes late for practice: Dad yelled: "START RUNNING" ordering the player to start circling the practice field. The players father said: "HEY COACH, its my fault he is late!" Dad said: "THEN YOU START RUNNING!" I don't think we saw that man again at any practice or game, but the player stayed. LOL.
Our teams were VERY physical, and it showed on the football field. We would have our normal 2 hour practice, but we ended every practice with a brutal and physical drill my Dad called: The MEAT GRINDER." There were many different versions of The Meat Grinder. (1 on 1) (2 on 1) (3 on 1) (2 on 2) and so forth. The combinations were endless, but the goals all remained the same. HIT SOMEONE and BE PHYSICAL. Later in the season, it got dark earlier. We (as players) thought: "Cool! Practice will be ending early!" LOL. No way. Dad asked all the parents to circle the field with their cars and trucks, and asked each of them to turn on their headlights. We sometimes ran The Meat Grinder until late evening. No one else was doing anything like this. We were known to be a brutal team: Dad won the League Championship three (3) straight years. Everyone wanted to be a Packer.....still do! I sometimes joke: "There are 2 types of people" Packers, and those who WANT to be Packers!" Man, I really miss my friends back home.
Today, when I go home to Kentucky, former teammates will always ask about Coach Zaleuke. My father was a tough and rough Coach, but every player he had still loves him to death. This is an example of the power we have as coaches. These "Lessons in Life" will stay with our kids forever.
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