Being the head coach of Coco's team was challenging to put it politely. To tell the truth, it was a nightmare. I have mentioned before that as a class, Caz's grade is the gold standard for athleticism. So I try to keep that in perspective. But Coco's class? Well......not quite as fortunate. Just not the same caliber.
Mite level coaching is always a challenge. As much as one think they have loads of football knowledge and experience, it is quite a different endeavor to communicate that knowledge to 7, 8, or 9 year olds. I feel for teachers. I only have them for 90 mins of practice a couple times a week. Duxbury separate their grade schools. K-2 are one school and 3-5 are at another. Now to say that the K-2 school is over nurturing, is a vast understatement. "Hands are for helping" Great for school. Lousy for football. It's hard enough to get kids past their instincts. Running full speed and creating a big collision with another moving objects, is not a natural reaction. Add the very passive undertones of our daily education to the mix and I had my work cut out for me.
I had quite an array of talent. I had one kid that was on his back, wailing most of practice. He wailed, "he's trying to kill me" during his first contact drill. I had kids that didn't really want to be their. Picking daisies in T-Ball is not the same as picking daisies in football. It can get you or someone else hurt. I had some kids who were really into it. But they became my shadow. I had some very hyper personalities. I had some kids who were athletically gifted but directionally challenged (had trouble with left and right). But overall, they were a good bunch of kids. The kids I can deal with.
The parents on the other hand? Well, it's like any youth sport. You have some really good, supportive parents. Even some of my good parents were high maintenance. Constantly needed something. I am a planner, but I think a few have OCD. Every email I sent generated a dozen questions. Then I have parents that really needed their hands held throughout the season. I did try to create open lines of communications. I wanted to head off any grumbling or "why isn't Johnny the QB?" talk before it happened. I would rather parents come to me that b*tch behind my back. I had some very open and honest dialogue and I think folks respected that. But I still had one mom that wanted to be my offensive coordinator. I did hear she'd complain that I couldn't get the kids to block for her "gifted and special" son. Meanwhile, special son ran left when the play was called right.
Some problems were my own doing. I was trying to be a nice guy. I had one kid that was too old for my team, and two kids that were over the weight limit. But they all wanted to stay with the team. So I had kids that practiced but didn't play. In extra games (non-playoff impacting games commonly referred to as JV games), I would have to get special permission from the other coach for these kids to play. I had to generate these extra games to accommodate my large roster. After being told that as a coach, I would control my roster and limit it to anything 25 or over, I was informally told by the Board President not to say no to anyone. Even though 6 or so parents, could not be bothered to sign up by the deadline. So I signed on for 8 games and ended up with 12. We were 0-7-1 in official games, so there was no postseason impact there. Trying to balance all those games, in addition to Caz's games, was a logistical cluster.
I will spare you all of the in depth details. But I really did not enjoy coaching this team this year. I know it's awful to say. But it's true. I relay don't know that I want to do it all again next year. I will not pull a Brett Favre. So I will not voice any hint of a decision at this time. I do need some time to pass to gain some perspective.
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