EQualizer Football Faxuals

WHATEVER

2012-01-22T23:18:00.001-08:00

Whatever It Takes
by CoachFree

I AM SUCCESSFUL!
I am successful because I set clearly defined Goals and develop a detailed
Plan to accomplish those Goals. I focus on my Goals through daily reaffirmation. I discipline myself through Positive Self Talk. I master those FUNdaMENTALS necessary to succeed. I give timely, unqualified Effort in executing the Plan. I sacrifice Whatever Is Necessary to accomplish my Goals. I condition myself mentally and physically to Keep On Keeping On. I take Pride in what I do and who I am.
I AM SUCCESSFUL!

No matter how long it takes;
No matter how hard it is;
No matter how much it costs;
No matter what you personally have to sacrifice;
Do whatever is necessary . . .
To achieve your goals!

Too often people in our society, especially teenagers, today do not understand the concept of time management. The number of hours that are awarded to the homeless person down the street do not differ from Bill Gates who is just a little further down the street in Redmond, WA at Microsoft. It is how we manage each of the hours that are given to us each day that determine how far up the ladder of success we will climb.

Too often as Anthony Robbins says, " . . . we get so 'caught up' in making a living (or whatever happens to be the current fad) that we forget to design a life." Too many people get "caught up" in the current most happen'en thing that they forget to put their own success first. Remember: If you do not Crusade for your own success, who will? The many, many success stories from all walks of life and circumstances dramatically illustrate what is attainable.

We have to put our own success first, however, if it is ever going to be achieved. It is useless to dream the impossible dream if we do not translate that dream into first realistic, attainable, achievable goals and a plan "to make it happen." We need to have long term goals to maintain our focus and overcome short term adversities. Additionally, we need to break those long term goals down into seasonal, monthly, weekly and daily goals so that there is something we can do everyday to take another step in the achievement process. Knowing that there is something that we can do right now, today, to make our BIG DREAM come true should provide the motivation to help jump start the process and the day.

2012-01-22T13:20:00.001-08:00

2012-01-15T20:45:00.000-08:00

2012-01-08T19:21:00.001-08:00

2012-01-08T19:20:00.000-08:00

2012-01-08T19:19:00.000-08:00

On Doing Everything Wrong

2012-01-05T09:39:00.000-08:00

“You can do everything wrong and still succeed, If you have The Right Mental Attitude.”
by CoachFree

What’s up with that? How can that be? Everything wrong and still succeed?
Not possible you say? Consider this. Bill Gutman’s book, Parcells, chronicles the coach’s remarks concerning the AFC Championship Game against Jacksonville in 1997, “We played so hard, the mental errors we made did not show up. Even when we would do things wrong, we’d tackle the guy for a loss three of four times.”
There you have it, enough said, straight from the Big Tuna’s mouth. You see, when everyone has the same goal, and a burning, whitehot desire to accomplish that goal, you may not dot all the Is and cross all your Ts properly, but the end result is still the achievement of the ultimate desired behavior.
Of course, the opposite is also true . . . “You can do everything right and still not succeed if you have the wrong mental attitude.” Years ago I coached a free safety who did everything right. He lined up properly, was always in position, always took the proper pursuit angle, knew who his man was, called the right coverage. He always ‘stayed deep, kept his feet, and kept everyone in front of him,’ too far in front of him. Thing was he rarely ever made a tackle. He was always ‘right there’ standing between the pile and the goal line ready to take that ball carrier down IF he would happen to break the tackle of a teammate. He just never would initiate the tackle; everything right and still not succeed.
Being a History teacher I am reminded of Union General George B McClellan, the one Lincoln referred to as having a “case of the slows.” Civil War historian, Bruce Catton, describes it this way: “McClellan had nearly all of the gifts: youth, energy, charm, intelligence, sound professional training. But the fates who gave him these gifts left out the one that a general must have before all others---the hard, instinctive fondness for fighting.” His adversary, Robert E. Lee, had it. Lee was one of the most pugnacious soldiers in American History. Lee is the one who said, “It is well that we know how terrible war really is, else we would grow too fond of it.” McClellan, an engineer, who had every advantage a general could have at the time, did everything right and by the book. And he was never able to win the decisive victory that Union needed to bring about an early end to the war. Instead he was a ‘Master of Retreat.’ What Lincoln needed was a general who would attack, much like Grant did at the end of the war. U. S. Grant. Unconditional Surrender Grant. Now there’s a piece of work. Talk about doing things wrong, did he ever. But he still succeeded. Why? Well, you get the picture by now, right?
“We played so hard . . .” that’s what it is all about. That’s desire.
And that will take you to victory more often than proper pursuit angles, blanket coverages, safety blitzes. The desire of people to rid the country of slavery brought a victory for the Union Army that ground its way to victory in Virginia.
Of course, what would happen if you, your team, would combine that intense, whitehot, burning desire, that right mental attitude with sound FUNdaMENTAL play? Better tackling, proper coverages, correct angles of pursuit, positioning, etc.?

Can you say CHAMPIONSHIP!
Remember, The Sky’s the Limit!

IMAGINATION

2012-01-02T13:09:00.000-08:00

What is possible when you pull out ALL the stops?

LIONS Are In The Playoffs!

2011-12-26T10:17:00.000-08:00

It Couldn't Be Done

by Edgar Albert Guest

Somebody said that it couldn’t be done,

But, he with a chuckle replied...

That "maybe it couldn’t," but he would be one

Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.

So he buckled right in with the trace of a gri

On his face. If he worried he hid it.

He started to sing as he tackled the thing

That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you’ll never do that;

At least no one has done it";

But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,

And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.

With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,

Without any doubting or quiddit,

He started to sing as he tackled the thing

That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,

There are thousands to prophesy failure;

There are thousands to point out to you one by one,

The dangers that wait to assail you.

But just buckle it in with a bit of a grin,

Just take off your coat and go to it;

Just start to sing as you tackle the thing

That "couldn’t be done," and you’ll do it.

2011-12-24T11:29:00.000-08:00

UNBELIEVABLE!

2011-12-18T13:42:00.000-08:00

What unbelievable 'Real Life' accomplishments have you witnessed?

2011-12-10T14:47:00.000-08:00

Time Off?

2011-12-10T13:15:00.000-08:00

The idea that we need “time off”
Comes from working for another,
To fulfill another man's dream.
If your life is directed
Toward fulfilling your dream,
Why would you want to take
“Time off” from that?

Are you engaged in a job or a career? A job is something that you do to make some money so that you can maintain a certain standard of living.

High School students bag at the food market, flip burgers at the fast food establishments, bus tables in restaurants to make a few bucks to buy some stuff. Making a career out of, “Will that be paper, or plastic?” however, is not what anyone would visualize themselves doing ten or fifteen years down the road.

A career is what you do, not only for money, but there are a great deal of other “intangibles” that are involved such as: rewarding, satisfying, fulfilling, actualizing. James A. Michner paints a good picture saying, “The Master in the Art of Living simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him, he’s always doing both.” When you are in the active pursuit of making your dreams come true, why would you ever want to take time off from that?

People have been criticized as workaholics. Are they really workaholics or do they just love what they do? When you love what you do, are absolutely enthralled, so totally engrossed in the task at hand that you transcend time, how can that be considered work?

Is this totally transcended state of being a rare occurrence in our society? Not if we look at our children who become infatuated with the latest computer or arcade game. They can sit and play that game for hours and hours and never tire of it. Parents have a hard time understanding how their kids can spend so much time with the same game. It’s not too big a stretch to say that the same type of misunderstanding may exist when those people engaged in “work” view those who are on a career mission.

Many of us have to rekindle those feelings of youth when we were enthusiastic, dedicated, committed, and absolutely determined to succeed.

Determine what you want to be, do and have; summon up the courage to follow that dream and attack it with the freshness of youth. by CoachFree

2011-12-04T22:00:00.000-08:00

2011-12-03T18:33:00.000-08:00

Believe that everything you deserve will
Eventually come your way.
You won’t have to grab for it.
You won’t have to force it.
It will simply catch up to you,
... Drawn along in the jet stream,
The forward motion of your hard work.
Pat Riley

There is no substitute for hard work. Hard work makes dreams come true. Everyone dreams of striking it rich in the lottery, winning the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes, or scoring big in Vegas. But there are precious few of us who actually know someone who has had such luck much less win ourselves. The fact of the matter is that this country has been built with a tremendous amount of everyday, old fashioned work.

Everything you deserve will eventually come your way; drawn along in the jet stream of your hard work. Or, everything you deserve will eventually come your way due to your lack of work. I inform my students every year that, “If you do the work, I’ll take care of the grade, and if you don’t do the work, I’ll still take care of the grade.”

The fact of the matter is that the more you work, the better prepared you are, the more you have practiced and honed your skills, the better you will be able to perform and you will get more of the results you are seeking. If you are mentally prepared, better conditioned, stronger, more skillful than your opponent, what will be the results most of the time?

How do you know if what you have done is enough? When you get the results you are looking for; when you have reached and surpassed your stated goals, then you will know what it takes. You will have done enough, and as Vince Lombardi stated, “Each Sunday, after the battle, one group savors victory; another lives in the bitterness of defeat. The practice and the hard work of the season seem a small price for having won. For the loser there must be one hundred percent determination and dedication to win next time.” Until that moment of achievement, you have to operate on the faith and belief that what you are doing is moving you closer to what you desire. If you are not getting the results you are seeking, you must redouble your efforts and work harder at those skills which will take you over the top.

by CoachFree

HOW TO STOP A GOOD BACK

2011-12-01T14:14:00.000-08:00

How to stop a good back: Don't let his get started - Get him before he gets to Jukeville! - "The 80 Yard Run" And how do you do that? "Our guys really don't have the threat of getting hurt in an actual game because they're just better, and better prepared, and they pLAy at a different speed - a different tempo." Coach Daddo, 'The 80 Yard Run' .......If your team is Bigger, Faster, Stronger & better prepared than the other team, you will get to that back before he gets to Jukeville most of the time. Remember, USC with O.J. Simpson lost to Ohio State's team defense in the Rose Bowl despite his running ability. Why? You guessed it - he never got to Jukeville. You may remember that Jack Tatum led that defense.

And that IS a Tackle. Tackling at all levels seems to be a lost art, but not here. OJ got away with one 8O yard scoring run but bottled up the remainder of the game. Who knows who the defensive backfield coach was for that game?

2011-11-30T21:40:00.001-08:00

COACHING POINT

2011-11-29T17:36:00.001-08:00

CoachFree read this coaching point on the plane today: To increase the team's attention when viewing this week's scout film, have each player 'grade' the player he will line up against for this week's game and check numbers against your evaluation. First I heard of this and I've been at it since the 50s.

2011-11-27T19:33:00.000-08:00

2011-11-21T17:57:00.000-08:00

Dr. K. Anders Ericsson is a psychologist and Professor of Psychology at Florida State University responsible for the study (2007) leading to the development of the 10 year/10,000 Rule for developing expert performances and written about by Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers (2008), and Geoff Colvin, Talent Is Overrated (2008).

The implication for educators is that if we want our students & athletes to perform their absolute, level best as an 18 year old Senior, they need to be actively engaged in deliberate practice on or before age 8.

For 35 years, Bigger Faster Stronger has been in the business helping coaches and athletes raise the bar on athletic performances pioneering the BFS Readiness Program in the early 80s for use in Junior High and Middle Schools.

With these points in mind, in 2007 BFS Clinician Jeff Sellers established the State Championship Club of Fort Branch Indiana with the stated goal of playing for the 2015 AAA Football State Championship in Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis IN.

The first State Champion Club group with 4th graders. There now are 3-4, 5-6, 7-8th groups that working together. They have just finished football season and the 8th graders have chalked up a 37-0 record over the 4 year time period. Success at all levels and sports (football, basketball, baseball) is off the charts.

We are in the initial stages of gathering information and developing a program that can be “Cloned” and implemented in your setting.

I am checking interest. What are your thoughts? We know that following the BFS Core Program enhances athletic performance. Everything we do at BFS is designed to help athletes run faster, jump higher and be more explosive. From our personal experience with family members (and other clinician children), the program works at all levels, all ages. On a scale form one to ten, how interested would you be in starting a State Championship Club program at your district?

2011-11-20T18:48:00.000-08:00

Is Your Mission enough to maintain motivation?

2011-11-18T13:44:00.000-08:00

I love this story - pretty good results from someone who "cannot play QB in the Pros" & esp considering that you cannot run the option in the NFL.

2011-11-13T15:22:00.000-08:00

Cover 5

2011-11-07T17:44:00.000-08:00

COVER 5 ZONE IS A GOOD PASS COVERAGE DEFENSE AND ALSO A GOOD CALL AGAINST A TEAM EXPECTED TO RUN WIDE AGAINST THE DEFENSE. BY MOVING THE WLB'ER OUT INTO THE FLAT, WE BASICALLY ARE IN A DOUBLE SS SITUATION WITH A THREE DEEP ZONE BEHIND THEM.

THE SS AND WLB'ER ARE IN POSITION TO TAKE AWAY THE SHORT SEAM PASS ROUTE AND ALSO ABLE TO SUPPORT QUICKLY FOR CONTAIN SHOULD THEIR BASIC KEYS INDICATE A WIDE RUN TO THEIR SIDE IS COMING.

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This is a great all around defense both against the run and the pass. I for the life of me why more coaches do not run a defense like this. One of the things that I have seen more of these days against the pass happy folks is a loss of contain or hard force to keep the outside run contained. This defense would take care of that.

All gaps are covered, there are people responsible to contain the run on both sides of the formation, and there are three deep defenders. All the majro zones have a defender for good all around pass defense.

Coach Lavelle Edwards from BYU told me at a clinic, in fact it was the last clinic of his career, that if you do not want to get beat deep, have a 3 deep secondary.

Of course, when they are in a passing situation, say 3rd and 12, we would call a passing defense like Nickel or 5 under man. And if we expect them to be running, we would be in more of a run defense like 4-3, cover 2.

2011-11-07T17:34:00.000-08:00

Observe both the LSU and AL LOS stances. Both Excellent examples of what good stances should be - great examples of the power angles we talk about for stances in the playbook: http://goo.gl/ipKNZ

Stance

2011-11-06T20:18:00.000-08:00

All Football palys begin with a stance. In recent years, we have seen more and more stances like the one on the right along the high school LOS. Last SAT at teh 'Game of the Century" we saw the LSU exhibit the stance on the left. Isn't any wonder why they are rated #1.

Situation: We are driving to score. Need 2 yards for a first down and keep the drive alive. We are going to run behind the LSU tackle. Do you think he will open the hole or be defeated by the guy on the right?

2011-11-06T14:48:00.000-08:00

Do you have a laser focus on what you are supposed to be focused on -

Are you seeing what you're supposed to be seeing?

2011-11-06T14:43:00.000-08:00

Secondary: READ YOUR KEYS

Reading you keys will put you into position to make the play faster than any other single activity you can do. Many offenses will go out of their way to “fake you out” with great backfield maneuvers. If you stay disciplined and “read your keys,” you will beat them with your brains and abilities.

The basic key for DB’s is the end-tackle-near back to your side of the formation. The end is your primary and first responsibility. If he releases for pass you must get to your pass responsibility ASAP and play the receiver in your area if we are in zone coverage. If the end blocks on the line of scrimmage, you are to execute your run support responsibility ASAP. If you do, you will be in position to make the tackle or turn the play in to the coming pursuit.

It cannot be stressed enough that reading your keys will put you into position to make the play better than anything you can do. Proper reading of your keys will lead you to success.

The following four situations are the ones you will see 95% of the time. Practice at reading your keys will enable you to react at ever faster times and put you into better position to make the play. Read and react to the following situations as fast as you can.

2011-10-30T22:14:00.000-07:00

2011-10-27T09:42:00.000-07:00

CoachFree Says: Over 50 years of football proves this correct for teams in your division. There is no substitue for squats & cleans. Furthermore, most teams squat, but how many squat properly? To Parallel? BFS has helped raise teams to higher levels of competition since 1976 - longer than anyone. Schedule up your BFS Certification weekend: Call CoachFree: 503.312.2138.

ACTION!

2011-10-23T21:49:00.001-07:00

The 'STEEL Curtain' found plenty of action! Will you?

Coach Schrader in IA States:

2011-10-10T22:16:00.000-07:00

Michigan's Former Strength and Conditioning Coach, Mike Gittleson gave every freshman who entered the program a card with these five points:

1. You're going to die.

2. Life is hard.

3. You're not in control.

4. You're not that important.

5. It's not about you.

3-8-3 = 14 Defenders

2011-10-09T22:31:00.000-07:00

As always, not many people want to talk...here's the deal. Playing on the Left Coast we run up against the pass happy boys frequently right up to spread, no backs, call everything from the LOS. That's about as spread as you can get.

The question is, what do you do to defense all that?

One of the basic principles of defensive pursuit is to string it out or force the ball carrier into the sideline where he either has to run out of bounds or cut upfield into tackling pursuit for no gain. Aren’t LB’ers taught to stay behind the ball carrier in pursuit, forcing the ball carrier into the sidelines and if he cuts up, it’s into him who makes the tackle? The sideline then, becomes an additional defender, right?

So we incorporated the sidelines and the end line into the defense, especially pass defense, thus gaining 3 more defenders. Experience teaches us that the hardest pass for a QB at any level to complete is the out, especially the deep out. But if you do not cover the receiver, things get a lot easier for the offense.

Game planning for one of these pass happy offenses, we came to the conclusion (all things being equal) that if the pros and college defenses can play 5 Under Man/Zone Deep, why can’t our team?

Experience also teaches us that if you want to stop the out, under it.

So here is the concept that puts 10 defenders into your pass defense: you can play 5 or 6 under man and 2-3 deep zone. Look at the Nickel stunt defense at http://goo.gl/vjXp4.

All the under defenders are coached to play and stay “inside and under” the receivers playing them man-to-man most of the time. The deep defenders are coached to play “outside and over” the receivers.

That means that their QB has to throw the ball over the under defender and under the over defender for a completion. Very difficult for a high school QB to do, especially an average QB.

So, when it comes to throwing the out, the sideline becomes a defender, just like the endline becomes a defender in the red zone. The ball has to be completed in bounds, correct? So for the out, the QB has to throw the ball over the under receiver and under the sideline.

Those are ever smaller windows for a QB to fit the ball into. We call this defense as Nickel Cover 7 = man under/zone deep.

For the simple Nickel call the idea works off the Box & 1 concept from basket ball. On Nickel, we insert another secondary defender to play their best receiver man-to-man all over the field. Everyone else plays regular zone. If we have a blitz on, we can either play man or zone behind it, thus zone blitz.

I am partial to the Storm blitz where 8 defenders attack the QB all at once. We are playing man behind while blitzing the QB. We still feel that the best pass defense is a great rush. It is hard to complete ANY pass when you are flat on your back.

Experience has taught us that blitzes up the middle are handled far better than a blitz by outside #4. Blocking schemes just do not account for outside #4 blitzers.

Now this defense is designed for high school programs that face the spread, pass happy offenses. I do not recommend that Grade 9 teams and below to run this because the competition has not that great a passing attack. They are going to run the ball and this is not the best run defense. Of course, that is the basic premise of the EQualizer Handles Everything Defense: Be ready for the double TE full house attack one week and the no back spread the next week with the minimum number of changes for the defensive players.

And that’s how we get 14 defenders on the field in passing situations. What do your think?

EQualizer Counter Play

2011-10-05T13:27:00.000-07:00

The next play in the offense is the counter play. It comes off the idea that we want the plays to start out the same for the first 4 steps, get the defense to react to the base movement, but then comes something unexpected, like the counter.

We run the counter 3 different ways: two with the tailback and one with the SE. First the base counter from the offset I formation. You can read the original copy in the playbook at http://goo.gl/2G4em. What we found out over the years is that the counter run with the TB out of the power formation worked better if we ran it wide, but running the counter to what we call the 7 hole worked better from the I formation.

Then there is the counter to the SE. We would run the counter with the SE on an end around action IF we had a SE that had some speed. You really need speed to run the play or else you get thrown for a loss.

It’s like the jet stuff popular today. The guy running the jet had better have the speed to run it or else the “jet” turns into a tank and really does not get downfield. By the way, one of the things we do, successfully, against the jet boys is to play our force man deeper and wider than normal. The jet has a running start while your force man starts from a stationary stance and is at a disadvantage. To compensate, therefore, we have him play like 3 steps deeper and 3 steps wider than normal. That makes a big difference.

We block all counter plays with a ‘gut’ call, both guard and tackle pulling. The SG blocks the end out and the tackle pulls up through the whole to led block for the ball carrier. EXCEPT when we run the counter out of the power formation. Normally the counter out of the power formation we go on first sound – no motion. The WB blocks down on the end and screens him to the inside. The SG pulls around the end to block the force and the IOT pulls behind the guard and blocks the first defender to show in support. The reasoning on running the plays this way is that the timing is just better between the ball carriers and the runners.

Be11!

RF

Game Shots

2011-09-29T10:06:00.000-07:00

All other things being equal, why would a well coached front 7 want to play against either of these teams?

Game Shots Photos demonstrate FUNdaMENTAL coaching points that EQualizer the playing field: www.goo.gl/RdlvO.

DIVE OPTION PASS

2011-09-28T10:46:00.000-07:00

The Dive Option Pass has been THE MOST SUCCESSFUL PASS PLAY I have called over a 4 decade coaching career. It works. When I was in school back in the 50s, we ran this play from the old Iowa Wing T series and it worked. We have ‘modified’ it every decade to “fit” the system we were running at the time, right up to the end with the unbalanced EQualizer Offense.

Again, you can read about the plays online at www.addy.com/coachfree. Again the first four steps are the same as on the base play(s). On Dive Option 48 Pass, the QB on that 4th step pushes off and drives for a point 7-9 yards deep behind where the SE aligned. AT that point, he is to turn upfield and attack the LOS. His read progression is: short, middle, long.

Here are some critical coaching points on the play:

(1) there has to be a good fake on the play. The better the fake, the more wide open everyone will be.

(2) On his 4th step, the TB must locate the defender who is the threat to contain the QB and AGRESSIVELY block him. He must attack him and drive that person back. Ideally we would want him to block the defender’s outside number with his inside forearm and get the hips around to seal him inside. Younger, inexperienced players have to tendency and to slow down or stop and wait for the defender to come to him. That means that his feet are screwed into the ground and the defender is moving and will plow through the block and get to the QB. There needs to be a separation between the block being made and the path of the QB.

(3) The SE needs to come down the LOS and STRIKE the end defender on the LOS. After hitting that guy he needs to run an arrow route (45 degree to the sideline). When he gets to a point that is 15 yards deep, he is to square out his pattern to the sideline. When the SE executes in this manner, he comes open 90% of the time or more.

(4) The WB who is in motion, either short or extended motion, at the snap of the ball breaks upfield, and runs a deep corner route. He is to get to a depth of 25 plus yards. The receivers are to stack up: FB at 5 yards, SE at 15 yards and WB at 25 yards and getting deeper on every step. Often the play action freezes the defense and the WB has a chance to beat everyone deep for a huge gain or an easy score. The fake brings up the force man for pitch, and when the FB releases and crosses his face out there in the flat, that force man most of the time plays pass and picks up the FB in coverage. Due to those two factors, the SE has a chance to ‘sneak’ behind the under coverage and open under the over coverage and come open over 90% of the time. If he does not come open, that means usually that the deep coverage is up on him and the WB is open. You do not have to tell the QB to look deep; they will do that on their own. You need to teach them to look short middle long first. The deal is that if you teach them to look long first, they will never look short and see a wide open receiver.

This pass play has produced more first downs, and more touchdowns, than any other pass play run over that 40+ year time period: play action flood pass to the wide side of the field. It is the play to call when you are in a 3rd and long situation. Even if you do not run the EQualizer, there is a play in your scheme that you can modify according to these principles and your offense will be more productive.

View game cutups at: http://goo.gl/Dbj6s.

Be 11!

RF

DIVE OPTION

2011-09-27T13:26:00.000-07:00

The play that logically follows the dive is the option. In our terminology, when we say "option" we will fake to the FB and option the end man on the LOS. When we say "veer" we will run a true triple option where there is a "read man" and an "option man."

First, “Why run the Option?” Simple answer: To Equalize the LOS for your players. The further question is how is this achieved? The option offense allows us another advantage. There are people on the defense we do not have to block. Remember, they have to defend the LOS with 9 defenders spread out across the field. They have two deep defenders who take those read steps or align deep enough “not get beat deep.” So when you run option (1) or triple option (2), there are defenders who are not blocked. They are read by our QB and defeated with the mind. We force the defense to make a decision, which we render wrong with our reaction (reading) of that decision. That means that we can double team and wall off the inside, screen the outside defenders, and not block but read defenders at the point of attack. This is the reason that our offense is to place their DE on an island at the end of the LOS. Our Ts are free to Double Team their tackle and seal the LOS to the inside. The WR in motion and the SE then run off and block the secondary. The QB reads the isolated defender and plays off his reaction.

How is the LOS Equalized? With the option offense, or the THREAT of the option, we have 6 offensive players going against 3 of their defenders. When we have 6 of us going against 3 of them, we feel we have a better chance for success.

How does this work? Watch the video: http://goo.gl/ugisG

Lots of coaches nationwide talk about how difficult the option is to coach and teach. It really isn't - when you sell it this way. Probably the most successful play in Pop Warner football is the QB takes the ball and runs around the end, right? The Option play here is just that: get the ball and run around the end; here we just throw in a fake to the FB along the way to get the defense to suck in on him, so your QB can run and gain more yards. And Oh, if he is threatened by a defender on that sweep, just pitch the ball to the TB right before you get tackled and let him run on the outside.

DIVE OPTION: (fake the dive and run the option) When we use the same alignment and motion as we do on the dive play (to make everything look the same) the play develops as follows:

1. The WB's motion will take him into the bastard split. When the ball is snapped, he will continue to a point behind the SE and then he will arc up field. He is responsible for blocking the force man who is usually responsible for the pitch back. This defender usually has some pass coverage responsibility as well as the pitch back, and for the first 2 seconds after the ball is snapped must honor the release of the WB and will drop for pass coverage. The WB will drive to the outside shoulder of the SS, take him as deep as he can in pass coverage and then stalk block him keeping him to the inside.

2. The SE releases down field and has the same responsibilities as he does on the dive play. If a "loaded" call is heard in the huddle, SE would block the first man to his inside on or off the ball. In this case it would be the DE.

3. Everyone else on the LOS (except for the TE who has the same assignment as on the dive) blocks the first man to his inside on or off the ball and executes a cut off block on that man.

4. The FB executes a good fake into the line. A good fake involves making a pocket for the QB to set the ball into, and after the ball is removed by the QB, the FB will close his arms together and roll his inside shoulder while hitting the line. This movement will get the LB’ers on the defense to step up to the LOS making it easier to wall them off. Many times the FB will be tackled at the LOS (a good fake is worth 3 blocks). If he is not taken down, the FB will continue through the LOS, veer to the outside and look for a LB’er to block.

5. The QB's steps are the same for the dive and option. First step is a 45 degree step back to the FB. The second and third step continue this action. The third 45 degree step is a "plant" step. This step is a critical step for the option and the veer to be run properly and requires a great deal of practice for the QB. Most QB's, especially young, inexperienced ones, have the tendency to rush this play. We want to give the defense time to react to the dive fake. The third step by the QB is a plant step, therefore, actually stopping his movement away from the LOS much like a plant step on a three step drop for pass. His fourth step is a "ride" step toward the LOS with the FB. During the fourth step, the QB places the ball in the "pouch" created by the FB thereby giving him a ball fake. This ball fake is crucial. The ball must be placed into the pouch of the FB. Using a "soft ball" technique, the QB removes the ball from the pouch. A soft ball means that the QB, keeping both hands on the football, uses very flexible elbows to draw the ball out of the pouch. The flexible elbows allow the QB to move with the FB as the moves to the LOS. This is the point where the effectiveness of the option has a tendency to break down with young QBs. Most inexperienced people will want to rush through the fake to the FB actually not stopping to fake and running through the FB forcing the FB wider that he should go. Running through the FB fake will also put the QB too deep and too wide for an effective option to take place. When the QB pulls the ball from the FB's pouch, it would be naturally pointed directly at the DE. The QB should step directly at the inside shoulder of the DE. The next number of steps (short choppy controlled steps) should be along the same path to the inside shoulder of the DE. Correct execution of these steps will get the QB to "run downhill" as they say in the option game.

On or around the eighth step the QB will reach the "option point." the option point is one yard deeper and one yard outside where the DE lines up. At this point the QB must have either pitched the ball to the TB or have made the decision to carry the ball up field (north and south). If the QB is carrying the ball wider than the option point, the defense has time to pursue and jump on the QB's back. As he moves to the option point, the QB keeps both hands on the football and "seats" it, extending his elbows and swings them side to side.

By running to the inside shoulder of the DE in this fashion, the DE is forced to make a decision. He must either take the QB or move to pitch. If the DE steps to tackle the QB, he immediately "squats" and pitches the ball to the TB who continues to run the ball on the outside.

The role of the QB on this play is to carry the ball on the inside running lane until such time that the defense makes a play on him. When this happens he is to pitch the ball to the TB. The TB's role on this play is to carry the ball on the outside. The inexperienced QB has the tendency to try to run too wide and to try and cut around defenders in the secondary. When this happens, the whole play slows down and pursuit tackles the play from behind. The man usually responsible for the QB on the option is the DE or the FS in the defense that is drawn.

If we put the WB into extended motion and widen the SS and get a soft corner, many defenses assign the DE to pitch figuring they can cover the QB with the FS. This is a common adjustment made by many of the colleges against the option. How many times have you seen an option called on the goal line and the QB scores easily because no one is assigned to the QB on the goal line LOS? The Washington Huskies used to do it all the time. So does Notre Dame. Defensive people believe they can cover the QB with a FS. It just does not happen, especially in high school.

When a defense plays three deep in the secondary, has the philosophy of not getting beat deep, and coaches "read steps" (take three steps back as you read for run or pass), not even the above average FS is going to make all the right decisions, react and stop the play on the LOS. In fact, we are counting on our FB after carrying out a great fake to knock off the FS by locating himself in the pursuit lane.

A word about pitch relationship: when a defensive player (hopefully the DE or FS in the force area) commits to tackling the QB, he is to pitch the ball to the TB. We do not get real technical with this pitch. We want the QB to "squat," i.e., slow down and sit down, look at the TB, pitch him the ball, and fall backward when the defender hits him. This technique results in far fewer injuries to the QB. Some QB's ego will not let them use this technique in a game, but it only takes one or two good licks by the defense to change his mind.

The pitch itself is just a flick to the TB. There are those who will spend hours talking about how the QB should pitch the ball, end over end, thumb down, and all that. Our QB is going to be one of our more skilled athletes. Since he is an athlete, we expect him to get the ball to the TB at the proper time. We do not want him thinking, "Now should I have my thumb down here or . . ." we need to have the QB make a correct read on the option man and pitch the ball. That's enough to think about.

Over the years we have had a difficult time maintaining proper pitch relationship between the QB and TB. Having the pitch back begin from a seven yard depth means he not only get the width he needs, but he also can start moving up field like he naturally wants to do. The major concern with the TB is rushing the play. Due to the dive fake and the read, the TB must "take his time" moving down the line with the QB. He may be at only 50% speed. That is ok. We want the TB to accelerate with a burst of speed when he receives the pitch. A good pitch relationship is around 4 yards outside the QB and two yards behind. Many people are going to tell you 4 x 4, but that is a very difficult relationship for high school programs to maintain.

We do not make a big deal out of it. The TB needs to be deep enough and wide enough so that no defender can play both the QB and make the tackle on the TB. 6. The TB cross over steps to the play side and immediately works to get into a good pitch relationship with the QB (as explained above). Always be under control. Speed is not important at the beginning of this route. We want you to accelerate after receiving the pitch not before.

Comments here from experience:

First: One of the things we started doing more of was to put the WB into extended motion beyond the SE. This automatically would give us a 'soft corner' most of the time. After all, when you motion wide, someone has to cover him, right? Even a QB with poor skills could "shot-put" him the ball out there if no one covered him. What we would do is to stand on the sidelines and look at the DE. When he would step down to take the FB, we would then call Dive option 48. The QB would pull the ball on the fake (and I would tell the QB to ride the ball in there till the DE would step down when this play is called), he then 'bubbles' around the collision made by the FB & DE, and then options the force man out there somewhere int he flat. It is the job of the QB to run at the inside shoulder of the Force man - forcing him to make a decision. If he takes the QB, he pitches it to the TB running wide. If the force man goes to pitch, the QB continues to run. Simple. The deal is this: We want everything on the first 4 steps of this play to look exactly the same as it would be on the dive play and for other "companion plays that we have, like Dive Option 48 Pass (which by the way is the most successful football pass play I have run over a 4 decade career - we will talk about that play later), the counter play, the bootleg etc.

We also want the steps to be the same as for our Veer play which is our triple option. And also the same steps for our counter play and out Dive option 48 pass which is the most successful pass play we ran over a 4 decade experience.

Some years you have a QB that makes good decisions and can run the veer. Other years, not so good. Those years we do not run the veer, but the defense does not know that everything is predetermined. To them it all looks the same. The QB just gets the ball and runs around the end like he always has done . . . and maybe pitch the ball right before he gets tackles to gain more yards. The key point is the steps of the QB, especially the ride step into the line, and the bubble step away from the line on step 5.

I would tell the QB to put the ball in the FB's belly long enought to get the DE to step down. Then bubble around. But I repeat myself, you get the point. Remember to read the details from the playbook: http://www.addy.com/coachfree/Option.

Have Fun.

RF

Horizontal Stretch:

2011-09-26T09:30:00.000-07:00

The major reason we run the formation we do is that it forces the defense to account for more than they are accustomed to handling on the LOS. In a normal pro offensive set the defense must account for 8 slots on the LOS that can easily be attacked.

Against our base formation the defense is forced to account for 2 more slots on the LOS which usually forces some major changes in their alignment.

If you are defending one of those 4 or 5 wide offenses without a TE, there are even fewer slots on the LOS that have to be defended. Of course, that means that all zones in the secondary have to be defended. People like to talk about the vertical stretching of the defense in order to gain an advantage.

The EQualizer base formation stretches the defense horizontally. For example, if you place a defender in each of the areas along the EQualizer LOS, there can be only 2 defenders left to cover the deep secondary which the SE, TE and WB can easily get to, especially on play action pass.

In addition, as you have seen with the Dive Play videos, once the ball carrier breaks the LOS he is ‘off to races’ with everyone on the defense trying to run the ball carrier down before he can score.

Another thing that happens with the formation is that there are only so many ‘looks’ that the defense can give you at the POA. The looks are generally ‘man-on,’ ‘gap,’ or some combination of each. If they gang up on any particular hole along the LOS, they will weaken themselves in another which is not good for them.

Remember, using the option (or the threat of the option) forces the defense to account for the dive back, the QB and the pitch back on each and every play. That means that three defenders on each side of the formation are tied into those responsibilities. Combine that with two deep defenders; eight people are locked down on the defense. There are only three other guys on the defense that they can play ‘chess’ with.

As it say in the playbook (http://goo.gl/liQlG):

There is an old coaching cliché that states, "Whoever has the chalk last, wins." An offensive coach who has the chalk after the defensive coach has aligned his forces can design a play to defeat it. Conversely, a defensive coach who has the chalk after the offense has designed their attack can position his forces to stop the assault. And the debate rages on and on. Of course, the offense has the ability to audible, but the defense can adjust to the audible.

This back and forth is what makes coaching great. It is a giant chess game between the OC and the DC. The EQualizer advantage is that the defense is locked in to responsibities that they normally are not responsible for and because of the unbalanced set, they are having to adjust and align in a position that they normally are not playing from.

Consider the DE who normally is playing in a 7,8,or 9 techniques on the LOS. That makes him normally the third man out from the center. The EQualizer formation may place him one, two or three guys wider (in distance) from the center. The normal defensive adjustment is to slide the defense over half a man. That puts him out into the 5 yard gap between the OOT and the SE. That puts him up to 7 feet farther out from the ball than he normally plays.

This places him on an island all by himself making an option read easier for the QB to make, especially when you consider that more often than not, he is responsible for the QB and will come across the LOS and work upfield. This action, in effect, “opens the door” for the FB on the dive play.

Now look at the week side or the formation. Just as the strong side DE is placed out on an island, the short side DE plays much closer than normal and things come at him faster than he is used to seeing. He has to make decisions faster as he is also playing out of position.

In essence, the same hold true for everyone on the defense. Look again at the dive 34 play. You see that the LB’ers are executing a blitz into the center of the formation while we will run just to the outside of the blitz. Defenses generally do not adjust their blitz package and continue to blitz the interior. A blitz here is easier to block than any other. Just wash it down to the inside and then run on the outside edge of the formation.

In fact, we have found that very often, we do not get a man freed up to block a LB’er, but the offense will double or combo block a D-Lineman and drive him back into the feet of the LB’ers disrupting their pursuit angle to the ball carrier. I call this creating a covey of defenders that run into and trip over each other near the center of the formation while the FB from the offset I Formation gets to run on the edge toward that running lane we talked about previously.

Be 11!

RF

2011-09-25T22:38:00.000-07:00

What can you become absolutely excellent at?

THE WINNING EDGE
by CoachFree

I get lots of email daily from the corners of cyberspace and much of it makes me think, "How can I adapt this to BFS/Be An 11 Principles?" Recently I received a piece of mail aimed at salespeople by Brian Tracy entitled 'The Winning Edge' which led to this adaptation.

Thousands of hours and millions of dollars have been spent studying the most successful people in our society. They have been interviewed exhaustively as have their teammates, coaches, trainers and fans. Today we know more about what it takes for you to become one of the best than we have ever known before. And the one most important thing we have learned is that succeeding, winning, is more psychological than anything else.

THE KEY TO HIGH PERFORMANCE

One of the most important concepts every discovered in the field of human performance is called the "winning edge concept." This concept or principle, states that, "small differences in ability can translate into enormous differences in results." What it means is that if you become just a little bit better in certain critical areas of performance, it can translate into enormous increases in results. In fact, you may on the verge of a major breakthrough in your overall performance at this very moment just by learning and practicing something new and different to what you have done before. The something could be a grip adjustment in golf; a slightly different angle while in the starting blocks in track; just one new or slightly different aspect of your game that propels you in first place rather than out of the money.

SMALL DIFFERENCES MEAN BIG REWARDS

Does this mean that the horse that wins by a nose is ten times faster than the horse that comes in second, by a nose? Of course not! Is the horse that wins by a nose twice as fast, or fifty percent faster, or ten percent faster? The answer is "NO" to all of these. The horse that wins is only a nose faster, but that translates into ten times the prize money. In economics class when discussing the characteristics of money we talk of . . . . money being used as a method of accounting. When we look at golf and money used as accounting measure, in the light of "small differences meaning BIG rewards," consider the following.
The shot leader on the PGA Tour in the year 2000 was Tiger Woods shooting a 68.81 average number of strokes per round of golf. Phil Michelson finished number two shooting 69.06 average strokes per round of golf. The difference, therefore, between first and second on the tour was .25 shots per round of golf. That is a difference of three tenths of one percent (.3%) or a difference of one shot in every 333. Since the typical golf course on the tour rates a par 72 for eighteen holes of golf, that means a one shot difference in just about five rounds of golf. WOW! That's not much of a difference, especially when you consider all the sand traps, water hazards, trees, and all the other sinister things lurking for you on the golf courses of America.
So what did this three tenths of one percent difference translate into in terms of PGA Tour earnings? Tiger Woods finished first in tour money at $9.188,321; Phil Michelson came in second at $4,746,457. So . . . that quarter of a shot difference; that difference of three tenths of one percent; one shot per five rounds of golf resulted in a $4,441,864 difference. Small differences DO result in enormous differences in results. Carrying the argument out further, a difference of just one shot brings us to Scott Hoch's average of 69.8 and $1,368,888. Shooting just one shot better per round of golf in the year 2000 translated into a reward of $7,819,433. That truly is a BIG REWARD.
What about a high school football game? An average high school football game consists of perhaps 60 offensive and defensive plays: 120 plays a game. This past season our football team was a top 10 offensive team in the state. We were also a top ten defensive team in the state. Our 6-3 record, however, was not good enough to be a qualifier for the playoffs. In talking with some of the lads, we determined that if we could change the outcome of just two plays, our record would move to 8-1, and we would definitely be in the playoff/state championship picture.
How much of a difference is this? Well, over a nine game schedule our team participates in around 1080 plays. Just two plays amounts to eighteen tenths of one percent. That's .0018 (.18%) of a difference, certainly not very much.

TO BE 100% VICTORIOUS

So there are teams that make the playoffs and more teams that do not. Are the teams that get to the playoffs 100% better than those that do not? Absolutely not! (Their fans might think so and thank goodness for loyal, rabid fans.) Using that line of reasoning would mean that there's only one good team at the end of the season, the team that wins the State Championship. Teams that qualify for the playoffs and those teams that do win State Championships are not vastly better than their opponents. They simply have the "Winning Edge." They are eighteen tenths of one percent better on a particular day, but that translates into a 100% victory.

ACTIVATE A PERSONAL GROWTH PLAN

To help develop your own Winning Edge here are some winning edge action exercises to assist in developing your own competitive advantage. First, identify the important things you do from the beginning of your performance training to the final event of your season. Think about what you can do to improve in each area. Second, select one specific area where you feel you are weak and make a plan to become 'Absolutely Excellent' in this area. This decision alone could change your career.
Billy Allen comes to my mind when I think of 'Absolutely Excellent.' Billy was a wrestler on a team I helped coach years ago. Billy wrestled somewhere in the 130 range or thereabouts. He was very strong, bench pressing close to 275 pounds. He possessed tremendous upper body strength. Back then a wrestler could not avoid being in the down position in the second or third period. Billy would wrestle even with the opponent or perhaps be behind on points; he would just be marking his time till he got the up position. He would then just hammer his opponent with a three quarter stack move and the match would abruptly end. He was, "Absolutely Excellent" with that move. He was so incredibly strong no one could counter that move. The three quarter stack was his 'Winning Edge.'

What is it that you can do to develop yours (your Absolutely Excellent Winning Edge)?

2011-09-23T09:40:00.000-07:00

BASE Play: Dive 34

2011-09-21T12:23:00.000-07:00

Note: The number of people in the box at the start of the play-how many do you count?

See how the running lane opens up for the FB to hit the seam and 'Run to Daylight'

It's important for you as a coach to know what happens 1.5 seconds (that's how long a high schooler can hold his block) after the ball is snapped.

EQualizer Football Faxuals: EQualizer Coaching Clinic #1

2011-09-20T21:20:00.000-07:00

Click on the link to view the complete post - Video of Base Play: Dive 34 at the end.

EQualizer Football Faxuals: EQualizer Coaching Clinic #1: The EQualizer Offense: The EQualizer Offense was born out of necessity. I coached at a number of schools that were, for whatever reason and...

EQualizer Points 3&4: Split/Opton

2011-09-18T21:22:00.000-07:00

3. Bastard Split: When you go to a clinic to talk defense, the general rule of thumb on splits is that if the end splits up to 5 yards, the DE is to go out with the offensive end. If he splits more than 5 yards, jump inside and play defense from there. So my question for the defense is ‘what will you do if we split 5 yards?’ It forces the DC to show his hand on DE play. If they put the DE inside, he is out flanked and easily blocked to the inside; if they play him out over the end, that makes his gap 5 yards wide – a pretty big hole by alignment, don’t you think?

Which leads us to the point that the defense must adjust and that adjustment places all level 1 & 2 defenders out of their normal position, especially the DE. He is aligned as much as 5-7 yards wider than he normally plays. He is easily placed on an island on the edge of the defense which leads us to point 4: the Option.

4. Triple Option Football: Option offense forces the defense to play more disciplined. It limits their aggressiveness. You have to eliminate much of your blitz package or run the risk of having the dive back, the QB or the pitch back break a big gain into the hole you just created by blitzing.

So, when we break the huddle and come to the line of scrimmage, the defenders have to answer the following questions. Keep in mind these are 15-18 year old kids and they have to answer these questions and adjust in the few seconds before the ball is snapped.

a. Are they unbalanced, if so which way, how am I to line up? We tended to be unbalanced about 75% of the time. That means there was enough variance that they had to make a decision.

b. What are my option responsibilities?

c. The secondary has to think not only about option responsibilities but also pass responsibilities.

d. When we put a man in motion, the defense will have to adjust. This means that the above questions about option and pass defense have to be answered on the fly. How does that motion affect my alignment and responsibilities.

NOTE: One of the things that the spread offense coaches do not do enough of, in my opinion, is to take advantage of motion. Some coaches use motion “because it looked good on TV” and do not have a clue as to the real advantage of motion. One thing I learned for certain is that you can eliminate “press” coverage on your best receiver if you put him in motion, especially wide motion. Defenders will cushion off the man in motion. They will widen and deepen due to their fears of ‘not being beat deep.’ This give your guy lots more room to operate in.

What we did then was to think about what plays are we going to run. Over the years I ran a bunch of schemes: Wing T, Twin Veer, I Formation, and more. What I did was to think about what was the most difficult to defend. I saw it again last night on TV when a spread offense, college team got close to the goal line, they got into a jumbo set and ran outside belly option. Worked for them. Works for us.

Bill Walsh in his book said when you need to make a first down, or score from inside the 5 yard line, give the ball to your best back and have him run behind your best lineman. We just do not wait for that situation; that is what we do from the get-go.

RE: Best Back: I have been a Bigger Faster Stronger (http://www.biggerfasterstronger.com/) coach for over 30 years. What I have discovered is that we can generate fullbacks, guards and tackles, as well as TE’s in the weightroom. If we got a real tailback (which we would get about once every 7 years), we considered it a bonus. However, since we did not coach in schools with large talent pools, we had to “generate” players out of the weightroom.

There were times when we would have a good QB, probably good enough to run the spread, but no one to catch the ball. Or we would have people who could catch, but no one to throw it accurately. But we always had someone who wanted to take the ball, explode the hole, and run to daylight.

So, our offense is based on giving the ball to our best back and letting him run behind our best blockers. In the beginning we ran this out of an unbalanced I formation. The backfield would run the steps for the belly option out of the wing T – FB needed to lead, crossover, bend into the hole for the mesh. This was always a difficult thing to get down in practice. I can even remember staying out late in practice in high school waiting for Mark and Wade to get their steps down.

What I discovered by accident one day, was that it was much easier to offset the FB, aligning him 5 yards deep behind the IOT in a 2 point stance. All he had to do from there was to run straight ahead and read the block of the IOT. Made things much easier. The only thing he had to do was to step first with his inside foot – so that the mesh with the QB has an open hip. The two point stance is important because it means the FB does not get as fast a start as he does from a 3 point stance. This makes for a better mesh, also makes for better timing at the POA. It puts him in the hole when the block is being made. Timing is so very important for the offense. One of the things we stress on defense is that “Everyone gets blocked; what matters is how long you stay blocked.”

Did you ever think about how long a high schooler can sustain a block, on the average? I have found out over the years that an offensive lineman can sustain a drive block for about 1.5 seconds after which it breaks down. So it is very important to have the back in the hole when the block is being made.

So the defense not only must defend 10 areas on the LOS (horizontal stretch), they must also defend option. This accounts for 6 defenders, 3 on each side of the LOS to cancel the diveback, the quarterback, and the pitchback.

Due to these factors, the aggressiveness of the defense is limited. Their blitz package is drastically limited. We have Equalized the LOS and placed out players into a position where they can be more successful.

Put Them in Motion

2011-09-16T13:30:00.000-07:00

EQualizer Principle #2:

2. Men in Motion: Men in motion change responsibilities for defenders. It changes assignments. Motion changes the strength of the formation and the defense must adjust or they can be out flanked. We have seen as many a 7 defenders change their defensive position (and therefore assigned responsibilities) when we put someone in motion: “How does that motion affect my pass responsibility? My run support responsibility? My option responsibility? Etc. These questions have to be answered by a 16 year old kid, on the fly in few split seconds.

A couple things we found out early with the use of motion: 1. Motion eliminates press coverage and produces a ‘soft’ corner. Take a WR and motion him across the formation, especially to the wide side of the field, the defender responsible for him will cushion wider and deep in order to ‘not get beat deep.’ 1a. This also would mean that you have a softer corner to run sweep toward as well. Running sweep behind wide motion gains yards. 2. Playing you best receiver at WR means you can put him in motion and that means he can shake coverage and get open much easier than having him start from a ‘set’ position.

We put all eligible receriers in motion http://goo.gl/mHIb9. Once we even put the QB in motion which was flagged by stripes. I said "WHAT?" He said he had never seen it before but . . . . striples strike again.

Base Unbalanced Formation:

2011-09-15T16:10:00.000-07:00

The bastard split of 5 yards along with the unbalanced line produces a unique problem for the defense. This alignment produces a horizontal stretch that they normally do not see. A traditional pro set produces 8 areas on the LOS to defend. The base EQ set produces 9 areas on the LOS to account (see picture below). Therefore, with the current, gap control defenses, that means that 9 defenders have a gap or contain responsibility…..that leaves just 2 defenders deep against the pass. So, with a play action pass keeping defenders close to the LOS and those 2 pass defenders not wanting to get beat deep, holes or large windows to throw to open up at the 9 yard depth. Even a QB of limited capability can be schooled to execute a 9 yard pass play.

Right click on pic & choose to view larger picture.

In addition, what we have discovered with this formation is that DCs do not like to fully adjust the defense to the strength of the formation. Instead of moving over a full man (the middle of the offensive set is the SG) they go over only half a man meaning they align people in the gaps. What that does is open the door to allowing our line to down block (the easiest block in football to execute) to the inside and wall off the defenders.

Of course, if they do adjust fully, that means that the two receiver side is to the short side of the formation giving us a short corner to run to while out flanking the defense, especially with FB motion creating trips weak.

The EQualizer Offense Basic Principles, #1:

2011-09-15T10:09:00.000-07:00

The EQualizer Offense Basic Principles, #1:

The EQualizer Offense was born out of necessity. I coached at a number of schools that were, for whatever reason and they were many, outmanned. So in a search for a scheme that would put our outmatched players and teams on the field in a position that would help them be successful or as successful as they could be, I sat down and thought, “What would a defensive coordinator not like to see?” And I came up with the following:

1. An unbalanced line: At the time, and even today, virtually no one ran an unbalanced line [Although today you see more of it sneaking into various schemes as a change up formation]. An unbalanced line means that the defense must adjust. It also means that the defenders will have to play ‘out of position.’ They will be playing in a spot that is not their regular position. Their keys, reaction and pursuit will not be the same, especially for the front 7. (Question: What was the last major college program to feature the unbalanced line as a regular set?)

Another reason for unbalanced was due to a lack of creditable linemen. We had perhaps three that could play. If we ran a ‘regular’ scheme, we would take one of our best blockers and put him on the left side of the line and run at him maybe a third of the time. What a waste. By taking our three best linemen and playing them in a “tandem” they would always be playing together. We flip flop them to one side or the other. That also meant that the Center, Weak Guard and TE also work as a team of their own.

As a DC, how would you adjust to an unbalanced line?

BLOG UpDate KickOff

2011-09-14T15:28:00.000-07:00

OK: Here we go with our first post, requiring a respose to make this an interactive BLOG.

When I was faced with coaching a team going up to the state's big school division things were really tough, especially on the LOS. Skilled players basically cancel each other out - my best on your best, etc. The biggest difference is on the LOS where week to week we took a pounding. So I sat down and asked myself, "As a DC, what were the things I did not want to see on the other side of the LOS?" The answer to this question laid the foundation for the EQualizer.

So I ask you, "What are the 5 offensive things you do not want to see their offense run which would make your job most difficult?"

Post or email me your answers and we will kick off the discussion.
CF

2011-09-11T21:43:00.001-07:00

How can you turn up the heat this week?

One Hundred Goals? YES! One Hundred Goals!

2011-09-06T12:39:00.001-07:00

Was this speaker stark raving mad? One hundred goals? He thought I could come up with 100 goals for my life?

One Hundred Goals? YES! One Hundred Goals!
The speaker, Mark Victor Hansen, compiled the hugely successful Chicken Soup for the Soul series of books with Co-Author Jack Canfield. He challenged the assemble throng at the Women's Business Conference to brainstorm 100 life goals.
Further, he encouraged us to work with a partner with whom we would swap lists. Together we would encourage each other to develop our list. We would hold each other accountable. We would help each other eventually reach these 100 life goals.
Seeing that he was where he was, and I was where I was, I decided to take his advice! How many best sellers does Mark Victor Hansen have anyway?
Exactly my point! He was a best selling writer, highly paid motivational speaker, darn good dresser too! And me? I was an employee of local government who read a lot of inspiring books. The kids in my Sunday School class
were motivated by my speaking. That was certainly worth something. My
wardrobe? Usually bought on sale, or at the end of the season on clearance.
If Mark Victor Hansen got where he was by writing 100 goals? Then I figured it would not hurt to try! My co-worker and I buddied up to walk together through the process.
The next day I sat at my keyboard. At first I thought I would have difficulty in thinking up goals. Soon, though, I was on a roll. My goals were as diverse as "Have lunch with a friend one time weekly" to "Host a radio talk show" to "travel to Europe".
I approached my co-worker to share my list with her. I also wanted to do my part as her buddy. I knew I needed to encourage her to write her own 100 goals. She read through my list, saying "Great! Oh, and you wrote 'Learn French twice!' ". With that, she went back to the tasks on her desk.
"Ummmmm.....how is your list coming, buddy?" I tried to sound as positive as I could on this one. Never sound accusatory towards your buddy, I thought.
She looked out her window and replied, "My 100 goals are to get up tomorrow and the next 100 days!" She laughed at her humor. Me? I didn't understand.
Then again, her dream in 5 years is to still be working in local government. Perfectly respectable. Nothing at all wrong with that goal.
It is just not something that I could be particularly passionate about.
Not something that I would be especially inspired by.
So where does that leave you, today?
Can you think of your 100 goals? Where would you like to be in 5 years? If you had a magic wand and your life could look like anything, what would I see when looking at you? What would it feel like to live that ideal life? What would others think of your life? Would you inspire people? Annoy people? Learn from people?
In other words, what do you really want to do with your life?
Start slow if you think you can not possibly think of 100 goals. Take out a piece of paper or open a new document on your word processor. Go for ten goals at first. No set order of preference, just let your mind go.
Let the ideas and thoughts flow.
You may find you need to write more than ten goals as your ideas start moving less like a trickle and more like a deluge. If you run into a roadblock? Stop working. Walk away. Save the goals you have written. .Promise yourself that you will come back later.
And then do exactly that! Come back later. Challenge yourself to finish your list of 100 goals.
Finally, find someone with whom to share your goals. A buddy to encourage you as you grow. Do you have anyone who would encourage this kind of challenge? If not, ask around or look for a group on line that discusses goal setting.
When I first wrote this article, I was still working as a government employee. I have gratefully been an entrepreneur, coach and writer full time since November, 1999. As for me, I am on my way to reaching more and more of my 100 goals. I spend my hours caring for my precious babies (one goal was to have another baby, who is now 4! This May I was blessed with another baby, my first son). Just this past week I bought four new website domains to add to my main website, www.5passions.com. It is all about Living a Passion Filled Life. My second book is about to hit the market.
"I have not yet made reservations for a European Trip, nor have I
hosted aTalk Radio program, but listen to your local station. You just never
can be sure." Were the words I wrote back in 1998. In fact, that needs to be updated. In January I begin hosting my own radio show, so now I will have to say, listen for when my show hits syndication!

100 Goals? YES! 100 goals!

2011-09-06T12:32:00.000-07:00

What's first up in your imagination?

2011-08-28T22:46:00.000-07:00

Having suffered several defeats in New York and forced to retreat through New Jersey to Pennsylvania. Morale in the army was low; to end the year on a positive note, George Washington—Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army—devised a plan to cross the Delaware River on Christmas night surprising the British troops and capturing most of those hired Hessians in a stunning victory. Washington’s victory inspired rebels in the colonies. With the success of the revolution in doubt a week earlier, the army had seemed on the verge of collapse. The dramatic victory inspired soldiers to serve longer and attracted new recruits. Simply stated, Washington refused to lose. Of course, The Battle of Trenton was followed by the disheartening winter at Valley Forge. Undeterred, Washington emerged from that disappointing winter and eventually achieved victory at Yorkton stunning the world.
Do you 'Refuse to Lose?'

ON FUNdaMENTALS

2011-08-21T20:14:00.000-07:00

FUNdaMENTALS are the key to winning.
And the number one, most basic FUNdaMENTAL is HARD WORK.

Remember the BFS/Be 11 Steps to Success: You can beat 40% of the competition through plain old fashioned hard work. And that hard work needs to be focused on the FUNdaMENTALS. The team or individual athlete that better executes the FUNdaMENTALS during competition positions themselves with the best chance to be successful.

Continued mastery of the FUNdaMENTALS
Enables your performance to become an
Upward HyperSpiral of Achievement.
by CoachFreeb

To be successful you must be FUNdaMENTALly sound. You must be able to execute the routine play flawlessly, effortlessly, automatically. Only through the mastery of the FUNdaMENTALS will you be able to move to ever higher levels of performance.
Every discipline has its own basic FUNdaMENTALS whether it be sports, educational, business related, or any other routines that are currently demanding our attention. In baseball you must be able to field the ball and make an accurate throw to first base before the runner gets there, or you will never have the opportunity to be at the plate and take a swing. There are proper techniques to fielding and throwing when, if followed, produce desired performance. There are proper techniques for blocking and tackling, shooting and rebounding, running and jumping, driving a car. Everyone can remember the trials and tribulations of learning how to drive that stick shift car or truck. Remember looking at the pedals and thinking, “Three pedals and only two feet?”
The same can be said for touch typing. I can remember thinking that my dad got taken by a salesman because there was no “B” on his keyboard at the office. Remember those days in typing class trying to get that pinky-finger to reach all the way to “Q?” Now, of course, after practicing the FUNdaMENTALS for many years all these behaviors are done easily, gracefully, unconsciously. What we used to have to think about consciously (hitting that Q; letting the clutch out slowly while giving it just the right amount of gas without rolling back into the Cadillac behind us on the hill), we now perform smoothly with little or no conscious thought. Our performance becomes “automatic.”
Let us not forget that math has FUNdaMENTALS (once you get the basics of addition and subtraction down; you move on to fun things like algebra and trig), as does English, science, music, yes, every discipline does. How about family life? Are there basic FUNdaMENTALS of marriage, motherhood, fatherhood? Behavior is rule governed. Rule governed behavior involves discipline and FUNdaMENTAL correctness. The path to greater success that Upward HyperSpiral of Achievement begins with disciplining yourself to master the FUNdaMENTALS.
FUNDAMENTALS

THERE IS NO MAGIC TO SUCCESS OTHER THAN THE MAGIC THAT IS INVOLVED IN MAKING A GREATER INDIVIDUAL COMMITMENT TO DO YOUR BEST. THERE IS PLENTY OF HARD WORK. THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR TO SUCCESS IN FOOTBALL IS EXECUTION. WE MUST HAVE THE ABILITY TO EXECUTE OUR OFFENSE QUICKLY AND DECISIVELY. TO BE ABLE TO EXECUTE, WE HAVE TO KNOW WHAT WE ARE DOING. WE LEARN ON THE PRACTICE FIELD.

MANY PEOPLE HAVE SAID THAT “SUCCESS LIES AT THE INTERSECTION OF OPPORTUNITY AND PREPARATION.” THE SCHEDULE OF THE SEASON OFFERS US THE OPPORTUNITY. THE PRACTICE FIELD ACTIVITIES ARE THE TIME PERIOD FOR PREPARATION. GAME TIME IS FOR EXECUTION - AND SUCCESS. IF YOU WANT TO DO SOMETHING CORRECTLY, YOU MUST DO IT EVERY DAY. YOU MUST PRACTICE AND PERFECT. IF YOU DO NOT USE YOUR SKILLS, THEY WILL BECOME RUSTY AND EVENTUALLY VANISH. IF YOU DO NOT BELIEVE THAT, JUST ASK YOUR DAD TO HELP YOU WITH YOUR MATH ASSIGNMENT. IF HE IS LIKE ME, HE PROBABLY DOES NOT REMEMBER MUCH. IT IS THE SAME PROCESS WITH ATHLETIC SKILLS, USE THEM OR LOSE THEM!

THE MOST IMPORTANT ACTIVITY ON THE PRACTICE FIELD IS THE TEACHING AND MASTERY OF THE FUNDAMENTALS. COMPETITION ON ANY LEVEL, IN ANY SPORT BEGINS WITH THE TEACHING OF THE FUNDAMENTALS. ONLY AFTER YOU HAVE BEGUN TO MASTER THE FUNDAMENTALS OF THE SPORT, WILL YOU BEGIN TO PERFORM WITH THE GRACE THAT ACCOMPANIES SUCCESS. PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES PERFORM EFFORTLESSLY. AT LEAST IT SEEMS EFFORTLESS, FLUID, WITHOUT EFFORT, WITH GRACE. THE REASON: THEY HAVE PRACTICED THE FUNDAMENTALS OF THEIR SPORT THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF TIMES OVER THE YEARS. YOU MUST MASTER THE FUNDAMENTALS FIRST. AND YOU MUST PRACTICE THEM DAILY. IGNACE PADERSKY, THE GREAT PIANIST STATED:

IF I DO NOT PRACTICE JUST ONE DAY,
I KNOW IT.
IF I DO NOT PRACTICE FOR TWO DAYS,
THE ORCHESTRA KNOWS IT.
IF I DO NOT PRACTICE FOR THREE DAYS,
THE WHOLE WORLD KNOWS IT.

JUST AS WE MUST NOT TIRE IN RUNNING OUR BASE PLAY, WE CANNOT TIRE IN OUR PRACTICE OF THE FUNDAMENTALS.

VERY OFTEN IT IS THE LITTLE THINGS THAT COUNT. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WINNING AND ITS ALTERNATIVE IS NOT VERY MUCH. IT’S A GAME OF INCHES. PAYING CLOSE AND STRICT ATTENTION TO THE FINEST DETAILS IS VERY, IF NOT, OF CRUCIAL IMPORTANCE. IF IT’S WORTH DOING, IT’S WORTH DOING CORRECTLY. IF YOU DO NOT TAKE THE TIME TO TRY AND DO IT RIGHT, WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO FIND THE TIME TO DO IT OVER AGAIN? DON SHULA, THE WININGEST COACH IN PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL, SAID:

UNCORRECTED ERRORS WILL MULTIPLY.

SOMEONE ONCE ASKED ME IF

THERE WASN'T A BENEFIT IN OVERLOOKING ONE SMALL FLAW.

"WHAT IS A SMALL FLAW?," I ASKED.

IF YOU ARE GOING TO GO THROUGH ALL THAT YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH, MAKE ALL THE SACRIFICES YOU WILL HAVE TO MAKE, HURT ALL THE HURTS YOU HAVE TO HURT TO BE A VARSITY ATHLETE, YOU MIGHT AS WELL MAKE THE EFFORT TO DO IT THE RIGHT WAY. MAKING THE EFFORT TO DO IT THE CORRECT WAY WILL MOVE YOU AND THE TEAM CLOSER TO CORRECT EXECUTION OF YOUR ASSIGNMENT AND THE OVERALL SUCCESS OF THE PLAY - AND THE SEASON.

ONLY THROUGH THE MASTERY (AND CONTINUED PRACTICE) OF THE FUNDAMENTALS WILL YOU BE ABLE TO MOVE TO A HIGHER LEVEL OF COMPETITION. SOME PEOPLE SPEND THEIR WHOLE HIGH SCHOOL CAREER NEVER REALIZING THIS SIMPLE FACT. YOUR COACHES’ PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY IS TO TEACH YOU THE FUNDAMENTALS OF YOUR POSITION. THEY WILL PRACTICE WITH YOU COUNTLESS HOURS OVER THE YEARS HELPING YOU MASTER THE FUNDAMENTALS OF YOUR POSITION.

THE BASIC FUNDAMENTAL IN ALL ATHLETICS CONCERNS YOUR STRENGTH, SPEED AND QUICKNESS. DUE TO THE TIME CONSTRAINTS OF THE COMPETITIVE SEASON, THERE IS NOT A GREAT DEAL THAT YOU CAN DO TO GREATLY INCREASE YOUR ABILITIES IN THESE AREAS.

PROGRESS CAN BE MADE, BUT THE GREATEST INCREASES TAKE PLACE DURING THE OFF SEASON WITH CONTINUAL WORK IN THE WEIGHT ROOM, THE GYM AND ON THE TRACK. ALL ATHLETIC MOVEMENT STEMS FROM A FOUNDATION OF STRENGTH, AND THAT FOUNDATION IS LOCATED IN YOUR HIPS AND THIGHS. THE STRONGER, FASTER, QUICKER ATHLETE PERFORMS AT A HIGHER LEVEL.

BEING AN ATHLETE IS NOT A SOMETIMES THING. IT IS NOT JUST AN “IN SEASON” ACTIVITY. BEING AN ATHLETE IS AN ALL THE TIME THING - ALL DAY, ALL WEEK, ALL MONTH, ALL YEAR. REGULAR PARTICIPATION IN OUR YEAR-ROUND CONDITIONING PROGRAM WILL INCREASE YOUR STRENGTH, SPEED AND QUICKNESS ENABLING YOU TO ACHIEVE YOUR ATHLETIC POTENTIAL FASTER THAN YOU NORMALLY WOULD. DOING ALL YOU CAN IN THIS AREA WILL GUARANTEE BETTER PERFORMANCES EACH SEASON YOU COMPETE.

THROUGH FUNDAMENTAL MASTERY COMES CONSISTENCY IN EXECUTION. PERFECT EXECUTION IS REALLY NOT POSSIBLE, BUT MAKING THE EFFORT FOR PERFECT EXECUTION IS!
IF EVERY PLAY WERE PERFECTLY EXECUTED, THERE WOULD BE A TOUCHDOWN SCORED EVERY DOWN. OBVIOUSLY THIS IS NOT THE CASE. THE GLORY OF THE GAME, HOWEVER, IS THAT YOU NEVER KNOW JUST EXACTLY WHEN THE SCORE WILL COME. IT COULD BE ON ANY DOWN, ANYWHERE ON THE FIELD. THIS IS WHY IT IS IMPORTANT THAT MAKING THE EFFORT FOR PERFECT EXECUTION, DOING THE BEST JOB WE ARE CAPABLE OF DOING ON EACH PLAY, IS SO VERY IMPORTANT. FAMED UCLA BASKETBALL COACH , JOHN WOODEN, SAID SUCCESS IS THE PEACE OF MIND WHICH IS A DIRECT RESULT OF SELF-SATISFACTION IN KNOWING YOU DID YOUR BEST TO BECOME THE BEST THAT YOU ARE CAPABLE OF BECOMING. IF YOU CAN LEAVE THE FIELD, THE GAME FIELD AND MORE IMPORTANTLY THE PRACTICE FIELD, EACH DAY, AND IN YOUR OWN HEART KNOW THAT YOU DID YOUR BEST THAT DAY, THEN YOU ARE SUCCEEDING. YOU ARE NOT REALLY A SUCCESS, BECAUSE IT NEVER IS REALLY OVER. IF YOU GO AS FAR AS YOU CAN SEE, WHEN YOU GET THERE, YOU WILL STILL BE ABLE TO SEE FARTHER. AFTER HIGH SCHOOL, THERE IS COLLEGE, AFTER COLLEGE COMES THE PROS. YOU ARE INVOLVED IN A PROCESS OF BECOMING. WHAT YOU BECOME IS DIRECTLY DEPENDENT UPON YOUR ATTITUDE. IN THE END, IT’S NOT WHAT YOU GET THAT IS IMPORTANT, BUT WHAT YOU BECOME ALONG THE WAY.
(From the Estacada Ranger Football Playbook by CoachFreeb)

2011-08-21T19:32:00.000-07:00

What are your positive affirmations?

2011-08-17T09:45:00.000-07:00

GOAL SETTING SECOND STEP: Set realistic performance outcomes based on

- your current competitive history

- your current skill level

- your present motivation for improvement.

Given that . . What is the best performance you can realistically attain this year if you commit to it? Focus Energy and Effort on the events within your potential control. Process goals vs pie in the sky goals (the cow is not going to jump over the moon and you are not going to run a 3.9/40 yard dash next year either [It is our belief, however, that the day will come, in your lifetime, that a 3.9 40 will be run]). You should be able to VISUALIZE what you have to do in order to win. The doing should be your goal (not winning). Winning will take care of itself. We have a saying at our school: “At Estacada High School, The Home of the Rangers, Winning isn’t everything; It’s just part of what we do.”

Make a written statement that states exactly what it is you intend to do or accomplish. Be sure it is worded in the present tense. Be sure that it is in the first person. Be specific. “I feel great shooting better than 75% from the foul line. “

Use descriptors that arouse your emotions and get you fired up. “My 310 pound Bench Press empowers me to be the most devastating blocker on next year’s Championship Football Team. I blast open holes!” Or “My 250 pound Power Clean makes me an explosive defensive force. I blow up plays!”

Create a picture in your mind of the perfect end result. In this little movie, be sure that you have action, feelings (emotions), vividness and inv olve the senses. How does it feel, touch, taste, smell? The more senses that become involved the more vivid it is for the imagination. Psychologists have discovered that the mind cannot distinguish between that which is real from that which is vividly imagined. Ever have a nightmare? Wake up in a cold sweat, out of breath, screaming? That’s vivid use of the imagination. You can use this power to position yourself to make your dreams come true.

Create a workable plan to achieve your goals, then start immediately.

Persist - Persevere - Practice.

Perfect Prior Practice Promotes Proper Performance.

GOALS may project you into the future, but they must be acted on in the present:

1. Start with the 30 DAY CHALLENGE - almost anyone can do almost anything for 30 days.

2. Devise a system of reward and punishment. When you set goals, you are making a commitment; you have to have a system that will force you to stick to it.

3. Give your Efforts time to compound. Exercise patience.

4. Use the BFS/Be11 Powers Axioms For Success and Ultimate Success Formulas to speed your progress and direct your efforts.

2011-08-14T21:43:00.000-07:00

The Value of Being An 11 Team

2011-08-07T21:57:00.000-07:00

The Value of Being An 11 Team
by CoachFreeb

John C. Maxwell in his book, The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork, writes:

As much as any team likes to measure itself by its best people, the truth is that the strength of the team is impacted by its weakest link. No matter how much people try to rationalize it, compensate for it, or hide it, a weak link will eventually come to light That’s the law of the Chain (#5).

Weak team members always take more of the team’s time than strong ones.
One reason is that the more competent people have to give their time to compensate for those who don’t carry their share of the load. The greater difference in competence between the more accomplished performers and the less accomplished ones, the greater the detriment to the team. For example, if you rate people on a scale from 1 to 10 (with 10 being the best), a 5 among 10s really hurts the team where an 8 among 10s often does not.

Let me show you how this works. When you first put together a group of people, their talents come together in a way that is analogous to addition.
So visually a 5 among 10s looks like this:

10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 5 = 45

The difference between this team and great ones with five 10s is like the difference between 50 and 45. That’s a difference of 10 percent. But once a team comes together and starts to develop chemistry, synergy, and momentum, it’s analogous to multiplication. That’s when a weak link really starts to hurt the team. It’s the difference between this:

10 X 10 X 10 X 10 X 10 = 100,000

and this:

10 X 10 X 10 X 10 X 5 = 50,000
That’s a difference of 50 percent! The power and momentum of the team may be able to compensate for a weak link for a while, but not forever. A weakling eventually robs the team of momentum – and potential.

Now, what would happen if each of those team members committed to Being An 11? Is that possible? Can ALL team members choose to Be An 11? The answer is, CERTAINLY! Being An 11 is an attitude, an expectation, a commitment.
When all team members develop an 11 approach the effect on the team would look like this:

11 X 11 X 11 X 11 X 11 X = 161,051

That’s a difference of more than 61%! The whole IS greater than the sum of its parts. The power and momentum of the team is accelerated beyond what was previously thought to be possible. Members of the team no longer have to compensate, in fact, they feed off each other and their efforts multiply.

The dream, the goal, the vision is achieved in an unbelievably sort period of time. It is the development of this BFS, Be An 11 Attitude that is responsible for those remarkable turnaround seasons that are chronicled in this BFS Journal year after year.

As BFS Clinician Jeff Scuran points out the answers are simple but not necessarily easy, “If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.” Not everyone is willing to put self aside, to make those sacrifices that are necessary, to adopt that BFS Attitude of:

No matter how long it takes;
No matter how hard it is;
No matter how much it costs;
No matter what I personally have to personally sacrifice; I’ll do whatever it takes to achieve our goals.
It’s going to be because of me.
The Best is yet to be!

When you can get a bunch of people together willing to make that kind of commitment, as a group, then you have the makings of a Championship caliber team.

2011-08-07T21:55:00.000-07:00

What do you need to keep on trying?

ON GOALS CONTINUED

2011-07-31T14:52:00.000-07:00

ON GOALS CONTINUED

3. Goals must be specific - They must be measurable. A goal “to get stronger” is not as good as “my goal is to Power Clean 235 pounds or more by next football season.” “We want to have a winning season” is not as good as “Winning the Conference Championship puts us in the best position to challenge for the State Title.”

Having a goal to be “All Conference” or “All State” might be OK for some, but we have no control over how other people are going to vote for these honors. What we do have control over are our skills and abilities. A defensive back who hones his skills, learns his secondary assignments perfectly, develops himself physically and mentally, happens to lead the state in interceptions returning numerous picks for Touchdowns becomes a compelling force that voters just have to vote for. What would the specific numbers be for a running back? How many tackles for a linebacker? How many ‘pancake blocks’ for an offensive lineman? How many kills, blocks, sets for a Volleyball player? How many pins for a Wrestler?

4. Goals must be written down to be most effective. They should be stated in the first person, in the present tense, as though they have already been accomplished.
Not only does it help to have goals written, it also helps to complete a scrapbook of the way it will be once the goal is accomplished. Find colored pictures from magazines that relate to your goal. Paste them into your personal goal scrapbook. Paint yourself into the scenes you have created.
Picture the perfect end result.
These written goals and ‘perfect pictures’ need to be posted where you can see them daily (bedroom mirror, school locker, notebook cover, etc.).
Touch them and audibly say them each day. Visualizing how it is having achieved your goal cements the vision deep into your brain and activates the Goal Achieving Mechanism.

5. Use your BFS/Be11 Max, Resolutions, and Strength Standards Cards to chart your progress. Turn your Strength Standards Card into a Bar Graph by filling up the column under each core lift as it is attained.

6. You must be mentally prepared to discipline yourself to take the necessary action to reach your goals. List the obstacles between you and your goals. formulate an action play for overcoming these obstacles. Identify the people who will help. Set a time table, a schedule for defeating these obstacles.

7. You must be absolutely convinced that you can reach your goals. “You Gotta Believe!” What the mind of man can conceive and believe, he can achieve.
Believe that you are on a collision course with success, the only variable is time.

CHARACTERISTICS OF GOALS

2011-07-27T11:42:00.000-07:00

CHARACTERISTICS OF GOALS

1. Goals must be BIG - “It is better to aim high and miss, than to aim low and hit.”

Two student/athletes are in the process of setting their academic goals for the semester. Bob decides that this year he is really going to buckle down and work to establish some academic respectability and formulates a goal of a 3.5 or better GPA. Tony, on the other hand, decides to keep on doing what he’s always done (just enough to get by) and only wants just to pass all his classes.

At the end of the semester we look at their grades and find that Bob has worked hard in all his classes. His GPA for the semester is a 3.33, not the 3.5 or better that he had established as his goal but certainly much better than the 2.45 accumulated over the past 3 semesters in school. Bob aimed high but missed. However he is infinitely better off than Tony who aimed low and hit a GPA of 1.5. Yes, Tony is eligible to play (according to the rules established by the State Activities Association), but his dream of playing college ball for State U is dashed because State cannot recruit any player with such low academic achievement.

2. Goals must be long-range. One should have:

- Very long-range goals - perhaps lifetime

- High School Career Goals

- Goals for next year

- Goals for next season (3-4 months ahead)

- Goals for next month (4 weeks)

- Goals for the week.

Each week ask yourself: What is the most important thing for me to accomplish this week to move me closer to the realization of my goals?”

Goals must be broken down into daily activities that will move you step by step closer to the ultimate achievement-the realization of your dream. To borrow from Economics, one must use a system called ‘Sub Goal Analysis’ in this Goal Achievement Process.

We believe that all athletic moves stem from a foundation of strength. To be more “Athletic,” therefore, one needs to be stronger. Consider a Freshman football player, involved in weight training during the season and after the winter holidays sits down with his BFS/Be11 Max Card, looks at the BFS/Be11 Strength Standards and decides that his High School Career Goal is to Bench Press 310 before the first game of his Senior football season. He knows that he is just getting started in weight training but has seen some good progress to this point having started in the weight room just this year.

Benching 90 pounds was difficult. But getting help and encouragement from his coaches and teammates, he has increased his Bench Press to 110 pounds, and he feels his strength building. Is this a realistic attainable goal for him? We know that most people over estimate what they can do in one year, but greatly underestimate what they can accomplish in three years.

Using the process of Sub Goal Analysis we can break this goal down into what it is going to take this player to achieve his goal. To meet the goal he must bench press 200 more pounds in two years nine months; that’s 33 months. When you take 200 pounds and divide by 33 months, you get 6.06 pounds a month or 1.39 pounds per week. Is that attainable? Certainly!

Having established the Big Goal of a 310 pound Bench Press, he can go to work filling in other boxes on his Max Card. His yearly goal would be 12 months X 6.06 pounds = a 72.92 pounds increase for the year added to his present 110 pounds gives us a next year’s goal of 183 pounds. Doable? Certainly!

His seasonal (next three months) goal would be 6.06 pounds X 3 months =
18.18 pounds. Since putting 18.18 pounds on the bar is not that easy, let’s round the number up 20 pounds added to his present 110 gives us 130 pounds. Of course, his end of January goal would be 116 or more; end of February would be 122.5 or more; and his end of March would be 130 or more.

This athlete now has a clear picture of what it will take to ‘make his dream of Bench Pressing 310 his Senior year’ a reality. Every time he goes to the weightroom for a workout, he has a goal, a plan and a purpose. He knows exactly how he is doing. He is in competition only with his own best self.

The BFS/Be11 Happy New Week Resolutions Card will help the athlete with his weekly/daily decisions. On the front of the form in the Column: My BIG Dream next to Physical he would put 310 Bench Press (along with similarly worked out goals for the other CORE lifts). Then when he sits down to answer the question, “What is the most important thing for me to do this week to make my BIG Dream a reality?” he has it laid out in front of him on his Max Card. On the reverse side of the Weekly Resolutions Form he can map out his week’s activities for his five most important goals and chart his activities.

2011-07-24T21:19:00.000-07:00

GOAL SETTING is the single most important force in human motivation.
Without GOALS we leave great accomplishment to chance.
by CoachFree

People who want to become Elevens must be goal oriented. It is extremely important to set goals and to constantly monitor progress. A goal is a dream with a deadline, a dream in the process of being made real.

Today’s GOALS are tomorrow’s realities. Goals
- Inspire us to take action (produce Efforts)
- Direct Effort.
- Provide concrete meaning and direction for your effort and actions
- Provide standards to determine whether you are attaining your goals
- Encourage you to extend your limits
- Goals are measuring sticks
- Attainment of Goals provide step by step ways to get where we want
to go.
- Setting a Goal turns a “want to” into a “to do”

There is within each of us an automatic goal fulfillment mechanism. When we commit to a goal, we are “Programming” the automatic goal-fulfillment mechanism to arrange our life experiences to “make it happen.” When sufficiently programmed, the goal-fulfillment mechanism goes to work structuring our lives in such a way as to ‘make real’ what we envision.

GOALS need to be firmly entrenched, otherwise people begin to operate as independent entrepreneurs in a system that really needs cooperative work.

GOAL SETTING: FIRST STEP: Decide where you want to end up. Dreams allow for the unfolding of new realities. Goals are dreams with deadlines. Imagine what is potentially possible if all your limits are stretched. How good could you be? IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITY OF UNLIMITED POSSIBILITY.

2011-07-17T14:52:00.000-07:00

What 'bad moment' have you bounced back from?

2011-07-10T18:46:00.001-07:00

2011-07-09T20:42:00.000-07:00

CHAMPIONS are made one day at a time with Hallmark ATTITUDES:
When you care enough to give your very best.
by CoachFreeb

The single most important trait we bring to any given situation is our attitude. The self-fulfilling prophecy simply states you will find what you are looking for and become what you expect to become. You can literally program yourself to have a better day. Unfortunately the converse is also true.

There are so many negative inputs from society that we become programed to be negative unless we really work hard to have the right mental attitude. Many have observed that few people will stop on the commute home to view a beautiful sunset, while just about everyone will slow down, stop and gawk at a grisly accident.

The single most important thing to remember is that, “You can do everything wrong and still succeed if you have the right mental attitude, however, you can also do everything right and still not succeed if you have the wrong mental attitude.” The right mental attitude is so very important. Not only for you, but for everyone else around you. When you are coaching and working with a team that has the right, positive, upbeat, can-do attitude everything flows so much better. Unfortunately in many of our working relationships we have developed a Hill Street Blues (US vs THEM) attitude. The squad meeting at the beginning of the once popular police show would end with the instructions, “Let’s go out and do it to them before they can do it to us.”

This attitude exists everywhere in our society. US vs THEM is a confrontational non cooperative situation. There is infinitely a whole lot more that can get done in our society through teamwork and cooperation than confrontation.

The Hill Street Blues mentality certainly does not fit well with the motto, “To Protect and to Serve.” Confrontational attitudes are not conducive to making IT happen (whatever your IT is).

Remember that life is a game of choices. If you are in the pursuit of a worthy ideal that exists for the benefit of others, the pursuit of your own personally selected goals and trying to make your dream come true, why would you ever have a “Bad Attitude?” Why would you ever do anything less than to give your very best?

SUCCESS IS EASY, BUT SO IS NEGLECT

2011-07-05T18:38:00.000-07:00

What must you do to experience the Thrill of Victory and not the Agony of Defeat?

SUCCESS IS EASY, BUT SO IS NEGLECT
by Jim Rohn

People often ask me how I became successful in that six-year period of time while many of the people I knew did not. The answer is simple: The things I found to be easy to do, they found to be easy not to do. I found it easy to set the goals that could change my life. They found it easy not to.

I found it easy to read the books that could affect my thinking and my ideas. They found that easy not to. I found it easy to attend the classes and the seminars, and to get around other successful people. They said it probably really wouldn't matter. If I had to sum it up, I would say what I found to be easy to do, they found to be easy not to do. Six years later, I'm a millionaire and they are all still blaming the economy, the government, and company policies, yet they neglected to do the basic, easy things.

In fact, the primary reason most people are not doing as well as they could and should, can be summed up in a single word: neglect.

It is not the lack of money - banks are full of money. It is not the lack of opportunity - America, and much of the Free World, continues to offer the most unprecedented and abundant opportunities in the last six thousand years of recorded history. It is not the lack of books - libraries are full of books - and they are free! It is not the schools - the classrooms are full of good teachers. We have plenty of ministers, leaders, counselors and advisors.

Everything we would ever need to become rich and powerful and sophisticated is within our reach. The major reason that so few take advantage of all that we have is, simply, neglect.

Neglect is like an infection. Left unchecked it will spread throughout our entire system of disciplines and eventually lead to a complete breakdown of a potentially joy-filled and prosperous human life.

Not doing the things we know we should do causes us to feel guilty and guilt leads to an erosion of self-confidence. As our self-confidence diminishes, so does the level of our activity. And as our activity diminishes, our results inevitably decline. And as our results suffer, our attitude begins to weaken. And as our attitude begins the slow shift from positive to negative, our self-confidence diminishes even more...and on and on it goes.

So my suggestion is that when given the choice of "easy to" and "easy not to," you do not neglect to do the simple, basic, "easy," but potentially life-changing activities and disciplines.

SUCCESS IS EASY, BUT SO IS NEGLECT

EASY TO SAY, HARD TO ACCOMPLISH

FreeNote:

Not doing the things we know we should do causes us to feel guilty and guilt leads to an erosion of self-confidence. As our self-confidence diminishes, so does the level of our activity. And as our activity diminishes, our results inevitably decline. And as our results suffer, our attitude begins to weaken. And as our attitude begins the slow shift from positive to negative, our self-confidence diminishes even more...and on and on it goes.

Doing the things we know we should do creates confidence and is a boost to our self-image. As it rises, so does our level of activity. As our activity increases, so do our accomplishments. The more we get done bolsters our attitude. As our attitude gains strength, so does our confidence and self-image. We then embark on another round of success, accomplishment and achievement which strengthens our resolve and character. We felt compelled to do it again. We are on an upward hyperspiral of success.

ON ATTITUDE

2011-06-26T13:16:00.000-07:00

ATTITUDE

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company . . . a church . . . a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we embrace for that day. We cannot change our past . . . we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. . . I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90 % how I react to it. And so it is with you . . . we are in charge of our attitudes.

Charles Swindoll

The Top 10 Tips to Change Your Attitude Today by Jim Allen

1. Think like you want to be!

It's tough to be happy, joyful, successful, etc. if you don't think that you are a happy, joyful, and successful person. Think it first, then do it!

2. Smile!

There's no arguing with this one -- research has shown that smiling has both psychological and physiological effects. So, put a smile on your face and you'll be on your way to a change in attitude!

3. Immerse yourself!

Read books, articles, magazines that help you understand and adopt the new attitude. Watch films or listen to music that inspires you and encourages you to change.

4. Change your actions!

It's hard to change your attitude if you keep doing the same old stuff the same old way. Do things differently to start thinking differently.

5. Change your environment!

Make your environment reflect the attitude you wish to have. Create the physical space that makes you eager to change.

6. Follow the leader!

Find someone who already has the attitude you wish to have. Follow their lead, learn from their example.

7. Help others (and help yourself)!

One of the fastest ways to change your attitude is to take the focus off yourself and to help others in need.

8. Get a little help from your friends!

Let everyone know what you're doing and enlist their support to help you change and give you ideas. The more you feel like you're part of a group effort, the more likely you are to be successful.

9. Get a pro!

If the change you desire to make is a big one or is extremely radical, consider getting the help of a mentor, counselor, or coach. These professionals can reduce the time and frustration involved as well as provide you with many new ideas to help you grow.

10. Be patient!

Recognize that most changes occur slowly, over an extended period of time. If you don't get immediate results, don't be surprised and DON'T QUIT!

Keep working, it'll come.

iN aLL THAT YOU DO . . . bE aN 11!

2011-06-19T22:44:00.000-07:00

2011-06-12T17:01:00.000-07:00

2011-06-11T22:34:00.000-07:00

"Optimism is an intellectual choice."

Diana Schneider

Did you ever see a pessimistic infant? Of course not. People choose pessimism over optimism because they derive some peculiar satisfaction from spreading gloom.

You have free will, so exercise it. Choose to be hopeful and confident.

...Go through life expecting good things. And do all you can to fulfill your optimistic outlook.

Play with a Winning Assumption

It's easy to stay motivated when things are going good. But motivation is often a matter of dealing with discouragement. Lots of things can be discouraging (dis-courage). You might be passed over for a promotion. You might be let go. You might be ignored. Might make critical mistakes, costly missteps, and bad calls.

You might get broken. You might end up in debt. Might get rejected. Might get cheated. Might fail to deliver. You might miss the opportunity, or blow the chance of a lifetime. Your competition might leap ahead, leaving you feeling small, insecure and behind.

And devastating discouragement isn't just tied to things going wrong.

Having not yet mastered your chosen skill can depress. So can knowing you have a long way to go, or seeing yourself near the bottom of an org. chart, or looking at a low bank account balance.

Often times after my keynote presentations, someone asks, "Do you ever get down, or depressed?"... "Nope, and I never go to the bathroom either," is my internal reply. Of course I get discouraged and down. I'm taking risks, and a lot of them are crashing. I'm knocking on doors, and a lot of them are not opening.

I've got dreams, and a lot of them aren't happening. And, I want to be the best, and most of the time, I just ain't there yet. (Anyone seriously questioning what I get discouraged over just needs to look over my "Ooops" list.

Every single goof on that list discouraged me for a while, or two).

But there is a philosophy that re-encourages: Play with a winning assumption.

What is a winning assumption? Figure it out for yourself from this

scenario: Your favorite football team plays a big game, and you couldn't watch so you had it taped. On the way home to watch the taped game, your eyes accidentally glance at a newspaper headline that declares your team won.

At home, you sit to watch the game anyway. Your best friend sits down to watch with you - he roots for the same team - but he doesn't know the final outcome. At the end of the first quarter, your team is down by 7 points. Ne ither you, nor your friend, is really concerned.

By the end of the 2nd quarter, your team is behind by 14. Your friend is agitated and nervous. You're calm and confident. The 3rd quarter rushes by and as the game heads into the 4th quarter, your team is behind by a devastating 21 points. Your friend is feeling depressed and angry.

He gives up, gets up and leaves, declaring, "It's over. It's hopeless." How are you feeling? You're feeling excited, confident and anxious to see how your team pulls it off. You want your friend to stay and experience the victory.

What is a winning assumption? ... The deep-seated assumption that no matter how bad it currently looks, you win in the end if you keep playing your best. Once rooted in your very essence, it is an assumption so powerful that it will not only encourage you to keep playing, but also reassure you during hard times.

I don't know where I got this faith in a winning assumption. Maybe in part it came from the phrase my friend and mentor, Leland, would often repeat during discouraging times, "The last one standing wins." Or maybe because so far experience has taught me that all setbacks are followed by triumphs.

(Unless you give up, of course.) But these explanations only go so far to explain my belief in always picking myself back up.

Logically, I know I have not seen the end of my life on video, and have no real assurance that I come out on top.

So, sometimes I am perplexed by why I am almost always re- encouraged during my most vulnerable moments by the mantra, "Don't worry about it. Just keep playing. You win in the end. This discouraging moment just makes for a more thrilling comeback story." (Most of the time the mantra works so well I can smile at the circumstances that are torturing me - laughing on the inside over my future triumph.)

But maybe I am wrong. Maybe we have seen the end of the game, before it's even been played out. After all, when you've visualized your dreams coming true time after time, you just naturally "see" yourself winning once again.

Until next time, be great, Patrick CombsSee More

Concentration

2011-06-05T16:58:00.000-07:00

Power Axiom #3: Maintain your Focus.
What might you do this week to sharpen your Focus?

Remember: Keep your eyes single to the glory of the Championship Dream.

ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING!! by Paul J. Meyer

There is power in positive expectancy!

More than any other characteristic, quality, or trait of human personality, an attitude of positive expectancy is the companion of success in every achievement, every worthwhile venture, every upward step in human progress.
William James, the founder of American psychology, said: "The one thing that will guarantee the successful conclusion of a doubtful undertaking is faith in the beginning that you can do it."

Gaining the Slight Edge!

The slight edge is enough to enable one person to exceed the achievements of others to an almost unbelievable degree. Yet the difference in skill, ability, and intelligence between winners and losers is almost always very small and insignificant. When two people are approximately equal in all other qualities, an attitude of positive expectancy makes the winning difference in their performance.

* The difference between a .250 and .350 batting average is only one hit every ten times at bat! Yet that difference brings huge rewards!

* A one-stroke advantage in a golf tournament can bring about enormous dividends!

Believe in yourself!

* When you believe in yourself, others will believe in you.

* They will put their trust in your ideas

* They will cooperate with you.

* And they will receive the same benefits of this positive expectancy from their own experience.

Believing in yourself and in your work enables you to multiply your efforts and magnify your results.

Develop an Attitude of Positive Expectancy!

An attitude of positive expectancy provides the slight edge not only in athletics but also in every area of your life.

Positive expectancy:

Transforms you into a self-starter. Pushes you to develop your potential. Inspires you to use your imagination and creativity. Impels you to take purposeful action. Produces determination. Forces you to improve and to change. Enables you to gain the slight edge!
With positive expectancy, you can surpass your prior levels of success and often achieve a great deal more than others who lack that essential quality. There is magic in positive expectancy!!!
To gain the slight edge and to become even more like your Creator intended you to be, begin now to adopt these beliefs and make them operative in your life:

1. A no-limitations belief in yourself. - You are unique. Your dreams come from the essence of who you really are.

2. A no-limitations belief in the potential of other people. Helping other people recognize their potential and use it meaningfully provides a rich, fulfilling sense of accomplishment. Always encourage others and be willing to give them an opportunity to prove what they can be and what they can do.
Helping others find their slight edge sharpens your own.

3. A no-limitations belief in potentials and possibilities. The greatest dreams are yet to be dreamed. The most constructive concepts are yet to be formulated. The most successful plans are yet to be drawn!

Positive Expectancy Works!

1. It gives you the power of concentration. By focusing all of your thoughts, plans, and actions on the object of your belief, you 1) define your priorities, 2) block out your obstacles, 3) maintain your enthusiasm, and 4) take responsibility for actions necessary to reach your goal.

2. It activates the law of attraction: like attracts like, 1) You attract positive influences and positive situations, and 2) you are drawn to positive results.

3. It works through visualization: You can only be what you visualize yourself being. You can do only what you visualize yourself doing. You can have only what you visualize yourself having.

Develop an attitude of positive expectancy. Mental images act as stimuli to both the conscious and subconscious mind.
When you meet any kind of obstacle or roadblock, try again immediately.
Setbacks are supposed to be temporary they become permanent failure only if you stop trying.
Refuse to let what anyone says, thinks, or does discourage you! Put into action the power of positive expectancy and proceed and persevere!
The slight edge, bolstered by the power of positive expectancy, empowers you to build a storehouse of accomplished goals.
Take time to record your accomplishments in writing. A written record serves as a source of satisfaction, providing a warm glow of achievement that can sustain you through tough times and serve as a wellspring of encouragement to yourself and to others.

It's All About Attitude

2011-05-29T16:13:00.001-07:00

“You can do everything wrong and still succeed, If you have The Right Mental Attitude.”

What’s up with that? How can that be? Everything wrong and still succeed?
Not possible you say? Consider this. Bill Gutman’s book, Parcells, chronicles the coach’s remarks concerning the AFC Championship Game against Jacksonville in 1997, “We played so hard, the mental errors we made did not show up. Even when we would do things wrong, we’d tackle the guy for a loss three of four times.”
There you have it, enough said, straight from the Big Tuna’s mouth. You see, when everyone has the same goal, and a burning whitehot desire to accomplish that goal, you may not dot all the Is and cross all your Ts properly, but the end result is still the achievement of the ultimate desired behavior.
Of course, the opposite is also true . . . “You can do everything right and still not succeed if you have the wrong mental attitude.” Years ago I coached a free safety who did everything right. He lined up properly, was always in position, always took the proper pursuit angle, knew who his man was, called the right coverage. He always ‘stayed deep, kept his feet, and kept everyone in front of him,’ too far in front of him. Thing was he rarely ever made a tackle. He was always ‘right there’ standing between the pile and the goal line ready to take that ball carrier down if he would happen to break the tackle of a teammate. He just never would initiate the tackle; everything right and still not succeed.
Being a History teacher I am reminded of Union General George B McClellan, the one Lincoln referred to as having a “case of the slows.” Civil War historian, Bruce Catton, describes it this way: “McClellan had nearly all of the gifts: youth, energy, charm, intelligence, sound professional training. But the fates who gave him these gifts left out the one that a general must have before all others---the hard, instinctive fondness for fighting.” His adversary, Robert E. Lee, had it. Lee was one of the most pugnacious soldiers in American History. Lee is the one who said, “ It is well that we know how terrible war really is, else we would grow too fond of it.” McClellan, an engineer, who had every advantage a general could have at the time, did everything right and by the book. And he was never able to win the decisive victory that Union needed to bring about an early end to the war. Instead he was a ‘Master of Retreat.’ What Lincoln needed was a general who would attack, much like Grant did at the end of the war. U. S. Grant. Unconditional Surrender Grant. Now there’s a piece of work. Talk about doing things wrong, did he ever. But he still succeeded. Why? Well, you get the picture by now, right?
“We played so hard . . .” that’s what it is all about. That’s desire.
And that will take you to victory more often than proper pursuit angles, blanket coverages, safety blitzes. The desire of people to rid the country of slavery brought a victory for the Union Army that ground its way to victory in Virginia.
Of course, what would happen if you, your team, would combine that intense, whitehot, burning desire, that right mental attitude with sound FUNdaMENTAL play? Better tackling, proper coverages, correct angles of pursuit, positioning, etc.?

Can you say CHAMPIONSHIP!
Remember, The Sky’s the Limit!

ON ATTITUDE

2011-05-14T12:10:00.001-07:00

Change the Attitude in Order to Change the Performance
By CoachFree

John Maxwell opens his book The Winning Attitude with the following
story:

It was a beautiful day in San Diego, and my friend Paul wanted to take me for a ride in his airplane. Being new to Southern California, I decided to see our home territory from a different perspective. We sat in the cockpit as Paul completed his instrument checks. Everything was A-okay, so Paul revved the engines and we headed down the runway. As the plane lifted off, I noticed the nose was higher than the rest of the airplane. I also noticed that while the countryside was truly magnificent, Paul continually watched the instrument panel.
Since I am not a pilot, I decided to turn the pleasure ride into a learning experience. “All those gadgets,” I began, “what do they tell you?
I notice you keep looking at that one instrument more than the others. What is it?”
“That’s the attitude indicator,” he replied.
“How can a plane have an attitude?”
“In flying, the attitude of the airplane is what we call the position of the aircraft in relation to the horizon.”
By now my curiosity had been aroused, so I asked him to explain more. “When the airplane is climbing,” he said, “it has a nose-high attitude because the nose of the airplane is pointed above the horizon.” So, I jumped in, “when the aircraft is diving, you would call that a nose-down attitude.”
“That’s right,” My instructor continued. “Pilots are concerned about attitude of the airplane because that indicates its performance.”
“Now I understand why the attitude indicator is in such a prominent place on the panel,” I replied.
Paul sensing I was an eager student continued, “Since the performance of the airplane depends on its attitude, it is necessary to change the attitude in order to change the performance.”
He demonstrated this by bringing the aircraft into a nose-high attitude. Sure enough, the plane began to climb and speed decreased. He changed the attitude, and that changed the performance.

This story relates to point number four of our BFS Magic Formula for Winning: 1.) Decide exactly what you want; 2.) Plan, in detail, how you are going to get it; 3.) engage in massive action; 4.) Evaluate the feedback; 5.) Change your approach till you get what you want. Maxwell’s story focuses on the fact that if you change your attitude, you change the performance.

Everyone is involved in a performance everyday. All of us are totally successful all day, every day. Each of us has successfully lived each day all day, every day, every minute, every hour, successfully lived. We have always produced a set of behaviors that have gotten us through the each day, week, month, year till this moment in time.

Now all behavior has consequences. If the consequences of your behaviors are not what you want, planned or desired, why is that? You need to evaluate the feedback, i.e., to study the consequences of your behavior. If you are not getting desired results, then simply change your approach until you get what you want. And it all begins with attitude. When you change the attitude, you change the performance.
Let’s say that you have studied and prepared for a test. You take it and do not score near what you wanted. Let’s say it is the SAT or ACT test. Your score is low. What are you going to do?

To raise your score you would need to change your approach, take SAT prep classes, buy some SAT prep materials, hone your skills to better prepare yourself, take and retake the sample tests. Then, better prepared, you take the test again to post a better score.

Most people are unaware of the fact that the military academies each have a preparatory school that exists to elevate the scores of potential candidates so that they would be better prepared for the academia of the academies. Part of the program is to keep retaking the SAT test during the year to attain the required score for appointment to the regular academy. Change your approach till you get what you want.

Very often it all begins with attitude. When exercising the BFS Magic Formula for Winning perhaps the first feedback check should be on our attitude. If your change your attitude, you change your performance.

Motivationalist Zig Ziglar says the most debilitating illness is “Stink’in think’in” that leads to a hardening of the attitudes requiring a “checkup from the neck-up.” Keep in mind that if you keep on doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always got. Change your attitude and you’ll change your performance. You can do everything wrong and still succeed if you have the right mental attitude.

Very often people are not going where they truly want to go, not doing what they truly want to do, are not being what they want to be or have what they want to have. They get caught up in the current most happen’in thing.

They get caught up in the job trap:
“Coach, can’t go out for the team this year.”
“Why’s that?”
“Got a job.”
“Why did you get a job?”
“To pay for my car.”
“Why do you have a car?”
“So I can get to my job.”

Vicious cycle, snared, entrapped in behaviors they never intended. They have lost sight of their intended result. They take their eyes off the goal and suddenly see the obstacles. They forgot that the major reason for failure in life is giving up what you want most for what you want at the moment.

Is what you are doing taking you closer to or farther away from what you truly desire? Evaluate the results you are getting. If you do not have what you truly desire, change your approach to get what you want and that initial change usually deals with attitude.
Did I mention there is a shortcut to the formula? Simply copy the successful behaviors of those who have already achieved what you wish to achieve.

Do what they do. People do what people see. This is where BFS can really help. BFS has helped hundreds of programs achieve state championship performance levels. Thousands upon thousands of athletes have elevated their performance with the BFS Total Strength and Conditioning Program and the Be An 11 Seminars. The program is in place; the planning has been done. Get yourself to take action then follow through and perform at levels previously thought to be impossible. Astound those around you.

Like in the story of David and Goliath. With Goliath standing over nine feet tall, David’s friends, relatives and countrymen thought Goliath was too big to hit. He might become angrier and take it out on everyone. David’s attitude? Goliath was too big to miss! By the way, ever wonder why David picked up five stones? Goliath had four oversized brothers who might have come to Goliath’s aid. Now that’s going into the fray with the right mental attitude, one stone for each Philistine.

To get more of what you want use Power Axiom #4: Focus on the desired outcome and then change your approach, beginning with your attitude till you get what you want. Do not allow yourself to be anything less than you are truly capable of being.

In all that you do --- Be An 11!

Crusaders!

2011-05-11T17:48:00.000-07:00

If you do not Crusade For your own success

Who will?

by CoachFreeb

Your own personal success should come first. It should be your top priority. Too often we get caught up in doing other things for other people that we forget to put ourselves first. And it must be a Crusade. The definition of a Crusade states: any vigorous concerted movement for a cause undertaken with zeal and enthusiasm. What better cause than your own personal success? Become a zealot while working on and for yourself.

Frosty Westerling, Pacific Lutheran University football coach, authored a great book, Make The Big Time Where You Are. Every one of us is involved in something, many things. Wherever you are; whatever you are doing; make the big time where you are. I am involved in education. Every year I witness students living their life in absentia. They have their priorities turned around. They forego the activities and programs that society has constructed for them to participate in while they are teenagers. Instead, they look for a job, so they can buy a car, so they can get to their job. What a crime it is for them to get caught on that tread mill at such a young age.

High School students should be involved in high school activities. How would a high school student make the big time? There are lots of ways to make the big time as a high school student: 4.0 GPA, 1500 SAT score, All American Athlete, National Merit Finalist, outstanding musician, writer, thespian. Take a look around you. What would it take to make the big time where you are, right now. Determine what specific characteristic, traits and behaviors would be exhibited by a “Big Timer” in your situation and go for it.

Crusade for it. Become a zealot for you own success.

A zealot is a fanatically committed person. It takes that kind of attitude to run a crusade. It’s your life. It’s your future. Who else is there that would be more committed to see you succeed than you (besides your mother who has always been your best crusader)? Making the big time where you are today will give you bigger more rewarding opportunities tomorrow.

It becomes an upward, hyperspiral of possibilities that become ava ilable to you because of what you do on a daily basis, where you are, and you should do that with zeal, enthusiasm, commitment.

Become your best Crusader!

2011-05-08T19:20:00.000-07:00

What are you saying to your kids?

2011-04-17T09:47:00.000-07:00

2011-04-10T13:34:00.000-07:00

Who is your inspiration to try that much harder?

2011-04-03T13:44:00.000-07:00

There may come a time in your career that your "Philosophy" will be asked for, most often during the interview process. The following has worked for me. Of course, like a good coach, I got it from another coach, years ago, and I do not remember who - just like you will not remember where you got it. I hope it helps:

Philosophy

The purpose of secondary education is to prepare students to assume a role in the community at large which will promote the general good of the community while allowing the student to pursue the realization of individual career goals. I believe that true success in life is achieved in the pursuit of a worthy ideal that exists for the benefit of others and not at their expense.

The high school football program offers a unique opportunity for the instruction and implementation of this philosophy. Team members, each in pursuit of his individual player goals, are molded into a team that pursues a higher team goal that can only be accomplished through cooperative efforts. No one individual player or coach wins a football game. Success is accomplished through the combined efforts of the coaching staff, the players, the student body, and the community. Just as the altruistic goals of society cannot be realized by individuals, neither can team goals be achieved by individual players.

The football program exists first of all for the players themselves. The program allows athletes to express themselves in a unique way not inherent in the traditional classroom. If it were not for them, there would be no program. The successful coach understands that he is directly dependent upon the players, assistant coaches, school and community. Coaching is the process of guiding players and staff through an instructional program that will develop individual and team talents to an extent that will allow them to compete successfully on the playing field.

This instruction must begin with the fundamentals of the game. It is only through a master of the basic fundamental aspects of the game that players develop the skills necessary to perform at ever higher levels of achievement. A brief summary of said fundamentals would include: strength training, conditioning, stance, start, blocking tackling, offensive assignments, and defensive keys.

While the football program does exist for the players, it does allow us, as educators, an opportunity to provide much needed instruction in the affective domain of educational philosophy. The role of athletics in the educational setting is to broaden and reinforce the overall instructional goals of the school district. It allows us to bridge the gap between the academic atmosphere of the classroom and true-to-life situations of the real world. The future economic, social, and political lives facing high school students today are run by committee. The football team is a committee in the pursuit of a goal that can only be achieved through the dedication, efforts, and commitment of its members.

A successful sports program at the professional or collegiate level translates into a positive image for the city or university that the program represents. Be it right or wrong, this is more often than not true at the secondary level as well. A gathering of the community’s citizens to view the weekly football game is the largest audience the school regularly has to showcase parts of its overall educational program. The football team, the band, the cheerleaders, student body, parents, patrons and fans gather to participate in the educational process. Successful programs require participation, involvement, and support from diverse segments of the general community. The successful coach is one who has the ability to coordinate the efforts of various professional and community organizations in a positive way. It becomes a mutually reinforcing and rewarding situation.

2011-03-27T13:33:00.000-07:00

What has to happen for your team to "own the final minutes?"

ON DREAMS

2011-03-26T11:24:00.000-07:00

Dreams

“If you can dream it; you can do it. remember, this whole thing was started by a mouse.” Walt Disney

Imagine that you are about to be inducted into a Sports Hall of Fame.

This could be the Hall of Fame at your school, in your state, for a national association, or the World Hall of fame. Write down what you would like to hear people say about you and what you accomplished. Think of the players and people you would want to be delivering your induction speech. What part of your personality would they comment on? What would they say about you as a competitor? What stories would they use to illustrate the strengths of your game? Would they talk about your tenacity, your accuracy, your work ethic? How would they describe your composure, your attitude, your guts? Think of as many details as possible that would capture you as an athlete.

Without being specifically asked, you have described your dreams. This is what you want to accomplish in your sporting career. Go pursue this with a vengeance.

Just as Ben Hogan was responsible for making (and remaking) himself into one of the greatest golfers of all time, you too are responsible for whatever greatness you hope to accomplish in your sports. His dream was to be one of the best ever in the sport he loved. Your dream can be whatever you would like it to be. It can literally be anything you desire. If does not have to be approved by others. It is all yours and no matter how worthwhile others perceive it to be does not mater. In fact, if some people question your dream, it is probably very worthwhile. And if everyone thinks it is a realistic or attainable dream, it may not be grand enough. Think big, dream big. Remember, you only get one shot at living your dreams.

A true dream, once you have envisioned it and imagined it, does not go away. You don’t have to remind yourself every day what your dream is. A true dream sticks in your mind like a song that you can’t quit singing. It is there, over and over, reminding you constantly of where you want to go.

Although a dream is always present, always there for you to ponder the possibilities, this does not mean your dream is “set.” Dreams are never set. They may have a dominant theme for many years, but they are always undergoing evaluation and adjustment as necessary. Again, if your dream doesn’t grow some as you make progress toward achieving it, you may need to reevaluate it.

A dream is like fuel, it provides energy - energy for you to withstand the rough times and pitfalls which are inevitable in any long-term pursuit. A dream will keep your motor running when you feel like you have no choice but to pull over and stop. However, also like fuel, a dream can do nothing by itself. You must make the dream, the fuel, come to life. You must drive the car powered by the fuel for it (dream) to become a reality.

Hopefully by now, you realize I am talking about chasing your dreams. Your grandest visions of all the things you love to have happen to yourself. The dreams you dreamed about when you were a kid. Making the shot to win the NBA Championship or the putt to win the Masters. I am not talking about goals that you Hope to check off a list. They are very clear in your mind, but they are so awesome they do not have limits or boundaries which would allow them to be checked off.

It is nearly impossible not to have dreams. As a human, one of the greatest gifts you have is your ability to imagine. You may feel like you don’t have any dreams, but you do. You just may be afraid to let yourself chase them. Don’t be afraid. What is the worst that can happen? You don’t achieve your dream? Wouldn’t it be better to have tried and “failed” than to never have tried at all?

You don’t have to quit your job or change your entire life to pursue your dreams. It is not always possible to make gigantic steps along this journey; I know that. It is possible, however, to plan for the future of your dreams. It may be just small steps that you can take which use only minutes or hours a day. Believe me there is no hard and fast rule about how much time or effort is required to achieve your dreams. Just follow your gut. You will know. If you are finding ways to squeeze out any minutes you possible can to chase your dreams, you are doing all you can. If you are making excuses that you don’t have time to chase your dreams, you don’t have a dream. Instead, you have a wish. But if you do have a dream, an awesome, all-you-can-think-about dream, go get it. If you don’t chase it, you’ll never know if you could have caught it.

Imagine . . . you are the editor for the yearbook and you have been assigned a page that chronicles you and your team’s accomplishments for the year. What would your page say about your season and you? email a copy of you Yearbook 'Dream' Page

2011-03-21T20:17:00.000-07:00

Your Dream, Is It Big Enough?

2011-03-20T16:03:00.000-07:00

ACHIEVING YOUR DREAMS
By Jim Rohn

While most people spend most of their lives struggling to earn a living, a much smaller number seem to have everything going their way. Instead of just earning a living, the smaller group is busily working at building and enjoying a fortune. Everything just seems to work out for them. And here sits the much larger group, wondering how life can be so unfair, so complicated and unjust. What's the major difference between the little group with so much and the larger group with so little?
Despite all of the factors that affect our lives - like the kind of parents we have, the schools we attended, the part of the country we grew up in - none has as much potential power for affecting our futures as our ability to dream.
Dreams are a projection of the kind of life you want to lead. Dreams can drive you. Dreams can make you skip over obstacles. When you allow your dreams to pull you, they unleash a creative force that can overpower any obstacle in your path. To unleash this power, though, your dreams must be well defined. A fuzzy future has little pulling power. Well-defined dreams are not fuzzy. Wishes are fuzzy. To really achieve your dreams, to really have your future plans pull you forward, your dreams must be vivid.
If you've ever hiked a fourteen thousand-foot peak in the Rocky Mountains, one thought has surely come to mind, "How did the settlers of this country do it?" How did they get from the East Coast to the West Coast? Carrying one day's supply of food and water is hard enough. Can you imagine hauling all of your worldly goods with you...mile after mile, day after day, month after month? These people had big dreams. They had ambition. They didn't focus on the hardship of getting up the mountain.
In their minds, they were already on the other side - their bodies just hadn't gotten them there yet! Despite all of their pains and struggles, all of the births and deaths along the way, those who made it to the other side had a single vision: to reach the land of continuous sunshine and extraordinary wealth. To start over where anything and everything was possible. Their dreams were stronger than the obstacles in their way.
You've got to be a dreamer. You've got to envision the future. You've got to see California while you're climbing fourteen thousand-foot peaks. You've got to see the finish line while you're running the race. You've got to hear the cheers when you're in the middle of a monster project. And you've got to be willing to put yourself through the paces of doing the uncomfortable until it becomes comfortable. Because that's how you realize your dreams.

A DREAM THAT WILL CATCH YOUR HEART

2011-03-19T19:16:00.001-07:00

A DREAM THAT WILL CATCH YOUR HEART

by Steve Goodier

That all-too-quotable Yogi Berra once said, "If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else." There is something to be said for knowing where you're going. But even if you know where you want to end up, do you REALLY WANT to go there? Is the dream you are following IMPORTANT to you?

Motivator Tony Robbins says, "People are not lazy. They simply have impotent goals -- that is, goals that do not inspire them." They don't accomplish what they set out to do because they lose interest. Their dream, their goal, is really not that important to them.

I think of Dennis Oehler. He ran the 100-meter dash in 11.73 seconds. Record-holder Carl Lewis ran it in 9.92 seconds, a full 1.8 seconds faster. So what's the big deal? Carl Lewis has two legs. Dennis Oehler has one. One leg...and a huge dream.

The truth is -- we are always highly motivated when something means a great deal to us. Any person who falls into deep water and does not know how to swim will become highly motivated in an instant! Why? Because now there is something this individual wants more than anything else in the world. He or she wants to survive, and nothing had better get in the way! A person gasping for air will become one of the most excited and enthusiastic persons imaginable!

So it is with us all. If we want something badly enough, we will find enough energy, excitement and drive to relentlessly pursue it.

Writer Tim Redmond says this about following worthwhile dreams: "There are many things that will catch my eye, but there are only a few that catch my heart...it is those I consider to pursue." Is your dream big enough -- important enough -- to capture your heart? If so, you will pursue it with abandon and will surprise even yourself at how successful you can be!

Achieveing Dreams

2011-03-17T16:51:00.000-07:00

SEVEN STEPS TO ACHIEVING YOUR DREAM
by Chris Widener

"Vision is the spectacular that inspires us to carry out the mundane."
Chris Widener

Can achievement be broken down into steps? Well, it isn't always that clean and easy, but I do know that those who achieve great things usually go through much of the same process, with many of the items listed below as part of that process. So if you have been struggling with achievement, look through the following and internalize the thoughts presented. Then begin to apply them. You will be on the road to achieving your dream!

1. Dream it - Everything begins in the heart and mind. Every great achievement began in the mind of one person. They dared to dream, to believe that it was possible. Take some time to allow yourself to ask "What if?" Think big. Don't let negative thinking discourage you. You want to be a "dreamer." Dream of the possibilities for yourself, your family, and for others. If you had a dream that you let grow cold, re-ignite the dream! Fan the flames. Life is too short to let it go. (Also, check out my article "Dare to Dream Again," which has been read by close to a million people in the last 4 months alone. You can see it at the website - http://www.madeforsuccess.com).

2. Believe it - Yes, your dream needs to be big. It needs to be something that is seemingly beyond your capabilities. But it also must be believable. You must be able to say that if certain things take place, if others help, if you work hard enough, though it is a big dream, it can still be done. Good example: A person with no college education can dream that he will build a 50 million-dollar a year company. That is big, but believable. Bad example: That a 90 year-old woman with arthritis will someday run a marathon in under 3 hours. It is big alright, but also impossible. She should instead focus on building a 50 million-dollar a year business! And she better get a move on!

3. See it - The great achievers have a habit. They "see" things. They picture themselves walking around their CEO office in their new 25 million-dollar corporate headquarters, even while they are sitting on a folding chair in their garage "headquarters." Great free-throw shooters in the NBA picture the ball going through the basket. PGA golfers picture the ball going straight down the fairway. World-class speakers picture themselves speaking with energy and emotion. All of this grooms the mind to control the body to carry out the dream.

4. Tell it - One reason many dreams never go anywhere is because the dreamer keeps it all to himself. It is a quiet dream that only lives inside of his mind. The ones who want to achieve their dreams must tell that dream to many people. One reason: As we continually say it, we begin to believe it more and more. If we are talking about it, then it must be possible. Another reason: It holds us accountable. When we have told others, it spurs us on to actually do it so we don't look foolish.

5. Plan it - Every dream must take the form of a plan. The old saying that you "get what you plan for" is so true. Your dream won't just happen. You need to sit down, on a regular basis, and plan out your strategy for achieving the dream. Think through all of the details. Break the whole plan down into small, workable parts. Then set a time frame for accomplishing each task on your "dream plan."

6. Work it - Boy, wouldn't life be grand if we could quit before this one! Unfortunately the successful are usually the hardest workers. While the rest of the world is sitting on their couch watching re-runs of Gilligan's Island, achievers are working on their goal - achieving their dream. I have an equation that I work with: Your short-term tasks, multiplied by time, equal your long-term accomplishments. If you work on it each day, eventually you will achieve your dream. "War and Peace" was written, in longhand, page by page.

7. Enjoy it - When you have reached your goal and you are living your dream, be sure to enjoy it. In fact, enjoy the trip too. Give yourself some rewards along the way. Give yourself a huge reward when you get there. Help others enjoy it. Be gracious and generous. Use your dream to better others. Then go back to number 1. And dream a little bigger this time!

2011-02-27T14:24:00.000-08:00

CHAMPIONS are made one day at a time with Hallmark ATTITUDES:
When you care enough to give your very best.
by CoachFreeb

The single most important trait we bring to any given situation is our attitude. The self-fulfilling prophecy simply states you will find what you are looking for and become what you expect to become. You can literally program yourself to have a better day. Unfortunately the converse is also true.

There are so many negative inputs from society that we become programed to be negative unless we really work hard to have the right mental attitude. Many have observed that few people will stop on the commute home to view a beautiful sunset, while just about everyone will slow down, stop and gawk at a grisly accident.

The single most important thing to remember is that, “You can do everything wrong and still succeed if you have the right mental attitude, however, you can also do everything right and still not succeed if you have the wrong mental attitude.” The right mental attitude is so very important. Not only for you, but for everyone else around you.

When you are coaching and working with a team that has the right, positive, upbeat, can-do attitude everything flows so much better. Unfortunately in many of our working relationships we have developed a Hill Street Blues (US vs THEM) attitude. The squad meeting at the beginning of the popular police show would end with the instructions, “Let’s go out and do it to them before they can do it to us.”

This attitude exists everywhere in our society. US vs THEM is a confrontational not cooperative situation. There is infinitely a whole lot more that can get done in our society through teamwork and cooperation than confrontation.

The Hill Street Blues mentality certainly does not fit well with the motto, “To Protect and to Serve.” Confrontational attitudes are not conducive to making IT happen (whatever your IT is).

Remember that life is a game of choices. If you are in the pursuit of a worthy ideal that exists for the benefit of others, the pursuit of you own personally selected goals and trying to make your dream come true, why would you ever have a “Bad Attitude?” Why would you ever do anything less than to give your very best?

2011-02-20T17:38:00.001-08:00

Paying the Price
by Denis Waitley

I've studied and counseled many world class athletes, but no one has inspired me more in recent years than champion cyclist Lance Armstrong. Watching him overcome setback after setback during his unparalleled conquest of The Tour de France, I have come to view him as the model for commitment and self-d...iscipline as an athlete. As Lance has told us in his own words, "It's not about the bike."

Can you remember when you got your first two-wheeler? It's an experience many people can recall instantly. I'll never forget when I got a bicycle for Christmas. My whole family stood on the lawn watching me try to take my first ride. On that day, I discovered why commitment is definitely like riding a bicycle.

First, you must believe that a machine that can't even stand by itself will transport you safely. Of course, you've seen it work for others, but now you've got to convince yourself that this form of success can actually happen to you.

Second, you must let go of all forms of support and balance yourself with the sheer force of momentum by your own strength.

Third, you have to lean into curves. This becomes easy enough after a while, but at the beginning – just as with snow skiing – the natural tendency is to incline yourself away from what appears to be a potentially dangerous situation. You've got to realize that the best way to avoid falling doesn't involve simply staying as far as possible from the ground.

Fourth, you can coast for a while, but you won't get far if you don't keep pedaling. The lesson there, if you've had the privilege of watching Lance Armstrong in action, is self-evident.

Last, you've got to get up and try again after you've fallen off the bicycle. Kids will fall any number of times, but they'll almost never say, "I quit. I'm not willing to risk falling again. Forget bicycling. I'd rather just walk or take the bus until I can afford a car." Kids rarely attach any significance to even dozens of falls or failures. Again, we have to watch film clips of Lance Armstrong getting up from falls and tragedies time and again to understand that it's just the price kids and champions will gladly pay for that marvelous experience of flying down the road or up a mountain under their own power.

This commitment and discipline to "paying the price" is a key quality in the mind of a champion. You could even say that if success has an entry fee, the cost is total commitment through daily discipline.

No train, no gain! Practice does indeed make for permanent performance.See More

2011-02-13T09:18:00.000-08:00

The Value of Being An 11 Team
by CoachFree

John C. Maxwell in his new book, The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork,
writes:

As much as any team likes to measure itself by its best people, the truth is that the strength of the team is impacted by its weakest link. No matter how much people try to rationalize it, compensate for it, or hide it, a weak link will eventually come to light That’s the law of the Chain (#5).
Weak team members always take more of the team’s time than strong ones.
One reason is that the more competent people have to give their time to compensate for those who don’t carry their share of the load. The greater difference in competence between the more accomplished performers and the less accomplished ones, the greater the detriment to the team. For example, if you rate people on a scale from 1 to 10 (with 10 being the best), a 5 among 10s really hurts the team where an 8 among 10s often does not.
Let me show you how this works. When you first put together a group of people, their talents come together in a way that is analogous to addition.
So visually a 5 among 10s looks like this:

10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 5 = 45

The difference between this team and great ones with five 10s is like the difference between 50 and 45. That’s a difference of 10 percent. But once a team comes together and starts to develop chemistry, synergy, and momentum, it’s analogous to multiplication. That’s when a weak link really starts to hurt the team. It’s the difference between this:

10 X 10 X 10 X 10 X 10 = 100,000

and this:

10 X 10 X 10 X 10 X 5 = 50,000
That’s a difference of 50 percent! The power and momentum of the team may be able to compensate for a weak link for a while, but not forever. A weakling eventually robs the team of momentum – and potential.
Now, what would happen if each of those team members committed to Being An 11? Is that possible? Can ALL team members choose to Be An 11? The answer is, CERTAINLY! Being An 11 is an attitude, an expectation, a commitment.
When all team members develop an 11 approach the effect on the team would look like this:

11 X 11 X 11 X 11 X 11 X = 161,051

That’s a difference of more than 61%! The whole IS greater than the sum of its parts. The power and momentum of the team is accelerated beyond what was previously thought to be possible. Members of the team no longer have to compensate, in fact, they feed off each other and their efforts multiply.
The dream, the goal, the vision is achieved in an unbelievably sort period of time. It is the development of this BFS, Be An 11 Attitude that is responsible for those remarkable turnaround seasons that are chronicled in this BFS Journal year after year.
As BFS Clinician Jeff Scuran points out the answers are simple but not necessarily easy, “If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.” Not everyone is willing to put self aside, to make those sacrifices that are necessary, to adopt that BFS Attitude of:

No matter how long it takes;
No matter how hard it is;
No matter how much it costs;
No matter what I personally have to personally sacrifice; I’ll do whatever it takes to achieve our goals.
It’s going to be because of me.
The Best is yet to be!

When you can get a bunch of people together willing to make that kind of commitment, as a group, then you have the makings of a Championship caliber team.

Goals-Work-No Excuses

2011-02-06T18:08:00.000-08:00

No Room for Excuses by Ron White

"The rich get richer and the poor get poorer." You have heard it a million times. However, my guess is that you have never heard it from the mouth of the "rich." Instead, this echo has most likely bounced to your ear, with its origins being an excuse. That's right: an excuse. Excuses are what many use to pacify their guilt of not accomplishing what they are capable of.

I am not suggesting that wealth is success. My inference is that success is the progressive realization of predetermined worthwhile goals. It may be something as simple as raising a family.

What do these names have in common?

Richard Nixon

Gerald Ford

Jimmy Carter

Ronald Reagan

Bill Clinton

They were all president of the United States, right? They were all the most powerful man in the world at one point. However, I am looking for something else.

Richard Nixon was born in the home his father built. He won an award from Harvard his senior year of high school. However, his family was unable to afford his leaving home for college. He instead attended Whittier College.

Gerald Ford was born as Leslie Lynch King Jr. In 1913, his mother left her abusive husband and took her son to live with her parents. She met Gerald R. Ford, whom she married and gave her child his name, Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. He was the only president to be adopted. Ford worked in his stepfather's paint and varnish store growing up. He coached boxing during college to afford his tuition.

Jimmy Carter was the first member of his family ever to go to college and his father was a peanut farmer.

Ronald Reagan was the son of an alcoholic traveling shoe salesman. He worked his way into show business by broadcasting baseball games. At the age of 40, he was divorced and his career was at a dead end.

Bill Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe IV. His father (a traveling salesmen) died in an automobile accident three months before he was born. His mother married Roger Clinton, and Bill took that name. Clinton grew up in a turbulent family. His stepfather was a gambler and alcoholic who regularly abused his wife and sometimes Clinton's half brother Roger.

None of these men were born into wealth and prosperity, yet they each achieved the rank of the most powerful person in the world by working hard and not making excuses. These five presidents were born into normal families who struggled. Yet, they refused to use that as an excuse.

Life is too short to make excuses. Set your goals and pursue them. If you have been dealt a "worse" hand than another, it may indeed be a gift that teaches you the value of hard work. Your story will be richer and your success sweeter when you achieve your dreams. Maybe, one day, I will cast a vote for you as president of the United States!

2011-01-23T22:08:00.000-08:00

Teamwork

In one of the greatest Super Bowl shockers of all time, in 2002, the New England Patriots topped the St. Louis Rams 20-17. As defending champions, the Rams entered the game as the heavy favorite to win. Dubbed "The Greatest Show on Turf," their electrifying offense had been unstoppable in the regular season and throughout the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Patriots had limped into the Super Bowl with two narrow playoff wins. Oddsmakers in Las Vegas listed New England as 14-point underdogs heading into the game. In fact, in the Super Bowl's 41-year history, only two other contests were predicted to be as lopsided as the Rams-Patriots match up.

One memorable moment of the Patriots' upset win occurred before kickoff when the teams took the field. As the pre-game excitement built into a fever pitch, the starters of the St. Louis Rams were introduced individually. One by one the Rams' players strutted onto the field for a moment of personal glory-each player's face prominently displayed on the stadium's jumbo screens. Minutes later, in an unprecedented statement of togetherness, the Patriots broke with years of NFL tradition by choosing to enter the field as a team. The PA announcer simply introduced them as "The New England Patriots," and the entire team, both starters and backups, raced onto the field as one.

As the architect of the Patriots 2002 Super Bowl team, head coach Bill Belichick had ingrained the value of teamwork into his squad. The Patriots may not have had an equal level of talent as the all-star performers on the Rams, but their effectiveness as a team carried them to the title. In a recent column for Inc.com, Chris Musselwhite comments on the qualities of winning teams, each of which was on display in the 2002 New England Patriots.

An effective team understands the big picture.

As Musselwhite writes, "In an effective team, each team member understands the context of the team's work to the greatest degree possible. That includes understanding the relevance of his or her job and how it impacts the effectiveness of others and the overall team effort." As demonstrated by their Super Bowl entrance, the Patriots dignified each player for his contributions to the team's overall performance. Substitutes and role players were equally given credit for the team's victories. The kicker was given just as much respect as the quarterback. Perhaps it's fitting that the kicker (Adam Vinatieri) would make a last second field goal to earn the Patriots their Super Bowl victory over the Rams.

An effective team has common goals.

The Patriots were bonded by a shared pursuit of football's ultimate prize-the Lombardi Trophy, given to the NFL champions. Players did not get caught up trying to accumulate personal statistics or achieve individual honors. They were of one mind in their goal of being the top team in the league.

An effective team works collaboratively, as a unit.

As Musselwhite observes, "In an effective team you'll notice a penchant for collaboration and a keen awareness of interdependency." His words are truly spoken for a football team. For the quarterback to complete a pass, the wide receiver has to run the correct route, and the linemen have to block the defenders. Each play is a microcosm of teamwork, and the Patriots understood the importance of carrying out their assignments in a spirit of unity.

2011-01-17T14:56:00.000-08:00

The Carpenter

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer, a building contractor, of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by.

His employer was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but it was easy to see that his heart was no longer in his work. He had lost his enthusiasm and had resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.

When the carpenter finished his work and his boss came to inspect the new house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter. “This is your house,” he said, “my gift to you.”

What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well.
So it is with us. We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best. At important points we do not give the job our best effort. Then with a shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house we have built for ourselves. If we had realized, we would have done it differently.

Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Build wisely. It is the only life you will ever build. Even if you live it for only one day more, that day deserves to be lived graciously and with dignity.

The plaque on the wall says, “Life is a do-it-yourself project.” Who could say it more clearly? Your life today is the result of your attitudes and choices in the past. Your life tomorrow will be the result

2011-01-09T13:39:00.000-08:00

SEATTLE — In a scene straight out of college, Pete Carroll stood in the middle of a pile on the midfield logo, jumping up and down with his players celebrating in unison.

The labels stuck on the seven-win Seattle Seahawks – jokes, lightweights, laughingstocks – no longer fit Saturday.

That's when Carroll's rowdy crew sent the defending Super Bowl champions packing, pulling one of the most unlikely upsets in playoff history, a 41-36 win over the New Orleans Saints.

Who Dat moving on in the NFC playoffs? It's the Seahawks.

"It didn't matter what I said to them, or what was said outside, and all of the story lines and all that, they just did not buy it," Carroll said. "Where that came from? If I knew that, we'd have something special here. It came out of an attitude and it came out of a faith in one another."

Matt Hasselbeck threw four touchdown passes and Marshawn Lynch scored on an electrifying 67-yard run with 3:22 left to clinch the first playoff victory by a losing team.

The Seahawks (8-9) held a 34-20 early in the fourth quarter before Drew Brees looked ready to lead the Saints (11-6) on one of their patented comebacks. But Lynch broke a half-dozen tackles for his TD and a few anxious minutes later, the party was on at Qwest Field, the NFL's loudest stadium.

Seattle, the first division winner with a losing record, will play next weekend, either at top-seeded Atlanta or No. 2 Chicago.

It's a trip no one outside Seattle's locker room expected to happen.

"I assume people are going to say it was more about what the Saints didn't do and not what we did, or that the Saints lost the game, not us winning it," Seattle wide receiver Mike Williams said. "Whatever is said, it doesn't matter. What matters is the direction our team is in and the focus the guys have in the locker room."

"It wasn't just one thing, it felt like everyone did a little something to help us get the win," Hasselbeck said. "It was just an awesome feeling."

But for all Hasselbeck did, the lasting image of this stunner will be Lynch's run that clinched the victory.

Lynch took a second-down carry with less than four minutes to go and then the highlights began. Eight different Saints' got their hands on Lynch as he shed six tackles. Lynch added a massive stiff arm that sent cornerback Tracy Porter to the turf and dived backward into the end zone on the longest scoring run of his career.

"That was the most unbelievable, unrealistic play I've ever seen in the history of football," Seattle linebacker Aaron Curry said. "It was just unreal. It seems just like a routine football play, then he takes it to another level."

Hasselbeck, Lynch and a strong performance by Seattle's offense extended the Saints franchise misery to 0-4 in road playoff games.

The Saints were considered the second-best team in the conference behind the NFC South-winning Falcons. Even though they lost to Tampa Bay in the season finale a week ago and were without running backs Pierre Thomas and Chris Ivory, safety Malcolm Jenkins and linebacker Danny Clark, the Saints were favored by 10 points to advance.

Now they go home.

"The underdog role, I think we cherished it and kind of took it to heart," Seattle's Marcus Trufant said. "Nobody gave us a chance and we just kind of shrugged our shoulder. We knew we were going to come out and play our ball."

by Tim Booth

Show Your Colors

2011-01-09T13:37:00.000-08:00

This Seahawks Fan has taken "Show Your Colors" to a whole new level.

2011-01-02T16:48:00.000-08:00

What will be your 2011 Lifetime Memories?

How to Guarantee a GREAT Day Every Day!
by Chris Widener

A few years ago, I had a standing interview every Monday morning on a radio station in the southeast that I enjoyed very much. You can imagine though that it became routine. So to make it a little more fun, the host got to where he didn't even tell me the topic before we would go live on the air - that put some excitement into it!

One week he asked me the following question cold, at the beginning of the show: How can a person guarantee that they will have a great day, every day? Now some may find that a hard question but for me it was actually a very easy question to answer (a little harder to actually live, but not that hard). You see, I believe in principles that govern our lives so that we can control our destinies and create for ourselves the kind of lives that we desire. People who live based on principles achieve what they desire while people who live reacting to circumstances do not.

So, what were the principles that I gave to guarantee that a person could have a GREAT day every day? Here they are:

Focus on Today Only.

Yes, we need to have long-range goals. But our focus must be on today. My old equation is that your short-term tasks multiplied by time equal your long-term accomplishments. With that in mind, it is imperative that we focus in on our short-term, to control it and make it what will eventually, when multiplied by time, equal our long-term goals. Don't think about tomorrow.

Today is enough trouble in and of itself. You can work on tomorrow when it gets here. Instead, make today the best day you have ever had. Realize that when you lay down to sleep tonight you will have just given up the only shot you will ever have at today. Today is now gone and it is only a memory. You only get one shot at your today so focus intently on making it all that it possibly can be. Focus, focus, focus! When you focus on making today great, you are on the road to guaranteeing that you will make your day GREAT, every day!

Embrace Your Power to Choose.

Dwight D. Eisenhower said that "The history of free men is never written by chance but by choice, their choice." When your today becomes your yesterday, you will look back and realize that that day was a result of your choices and your choices only. "But wait Chris, what if my boss controlled my day? That isn't my choice!" But it is your choice to work for someone else! You choice to let someone else tell you what to do. You chose the feelings of helplessness that overwhelm you when you feel bad that you do not control your own destiny. The moment we realize that we have a gift from God that the animals do not have, mainly the gift of free will and choice, and when we realize the inherent power within that gift, and ultimately when we finally begin to exercise that gift, then and only then, will we begin to create for ourselves a GREAT day each and every day! Take ownership of the direction in your life. Make your choices then carry them out!

Your Attitude is Up to You.

Yes, bad things may happen in your day. The pitcher for Team Circumstances may have a tremendous curveball waiting for you and you cannot control that. You cannot control what others may do or say. But you do control your attitude. Your attitude about whatever happens to you is up to you.

When something happens to you, you have the choice: Will you let it get you down and depressed, keeping you from forging ahead and making the day the best one ever? Or will you say to yourself that no matter what happens you are on the path to success and no obstacle will keep you from it? Will you say, "Sometime you win and sometimes you lose - I guess this time I lost"? Will you say, "Sometime you win and sometimes you learn - I can really learn something from this!"?

It is all in what attitude we choose. Your attitude is up to you and when you choose to have a great attitude, you are choosing to guarantee to have a GREAT day, every day!

Live Out and Act on Your Priorities.

So far we have dealt with internal perspectives, and that is indeed the place to start. But the practical place is in our priorities. If we want to make our days great, then we have to live out those things that will by definition make our days great. And those things are what are important to us. They are our priorities. So each morning you start out by saying, "What things are important to me today? What are the things I need to accomplish in order for me to lay down tonight and know that I lived a GREAT day?" Then you put those in order of most important to least important.

Don't so what is fun. Don't do what is easy. Do what is IMPORTANT! Live out your priorities! When you do, you will guarantee that you will make your day GREAT, every day!

Tomorrow, when you wake up, go through the four following points and see if you don't make tomorrow a GREAT day:

Focus on today only.

Understand that I get to choose how today will go.

Remain in a positive attitude no matter what happens.

Live out and act on my priorities.

Do this and you will guarantee a GREAT day, every day!

2010-12-19T17:35:00.000-08:00

It Couldn't be Done!

by Edgar Allen Guest

Somebody said that

It couldn't be done,

But he with a chuckle replied,

It may be that it couldn't,

But he would be one

Who wouldn't

Say so till he tried.

So he buckled right in

With a trace of a grin

On his face

If he worried

He hid it.

He started to sing

As he tackled the thing

That couldn't be done

And HE DID IT!

Somebody scoffed,

Nah . . you'll never do that.

Hurmp. . . at least no one

Has ever done it.

But he took off his coat

And the first thing we knew

He'd begun it.

With a lift of his chin

And a bit of a grin

Without any doubting

Or quit it.

He started to sing

As he tackled the thing

That couldn't be done

And HE DID IT!

There are thousands to

Tell you

It cannot be done.

There are thousands to

Prophecy failure.

There are thousands

To point out

One by one

The dangers that wait

To assail you.

But just buckle right in

With a bit of a grin.

Just take off your coat

And go to it.

Just start to sing

As you tackle the thing

That can't be done

And YOU'LL DO IT

2010-12-12T14:40:00.000-08:00

Are you prepared to rise to the occasion?

HOW TO TURN NOTHING INTO SOMETHING
Have you ever wondered how to turn nothing into something?
by Jim Rohn
First, in order to turn nothing into something, you've got to start with some ideas and imagination. Now, it might be hard to call ideas and imagination nothing; but how tangible are those ideas? That is a bit of a mystery. I don't believe that ideas that can be turned into a hotel, ideas that can be turned into an enterprise, ideas that can be turned into a new vaccine or ideas that can be turned into some miracle product, should be called nothing. But tangibly, you have nothing. Interesting! Think of it, ideas that become so powerful in your mind and in your consciousness that they seem real to you even before they become tangible. Imagination that is so strong, you can actually see it.
When I built my first home for my family in Idaho all those years ago, before I started construction, I would take my friends and associates out to the vacant property and give them a tour of the house. Is that possible? Is it possible to take someone on a tour through an imaginary house? And the answer is, "Yes, of course." "Here is the 3 car garage," I used to say, and my friends would look and say, "Yes, this garage will hold 3 cars." I could really make it "live." I would take them on a tour throughout the house..."Here is the fireplace, and look, this side is brick and the other side is stone." I could make it so real..."Follow me through the rest of the house. Take a look through the picture window here in the kitchen, isn't the view great?" One day, I made the house so real that one of my friends bumped his elbow on the fireplace. I mean, it was that real.
So, the first step of turning nothing into something is to imagine the possibilities. Imagine ALL of the possibilities. One of the reasons for seminars, sermons, lyrics from songs and testimonials of others is to give us an idea of the possibilities; to help us imagine and to see the potential.
Now here is the second step for turning nothing into something, you must BELIEVE that what you imagine IS possible for you. Testimonials like, "If I can do it, you can do it." often become a support to our belief. And we start believing. First we imagine it's possible. Second, we start to believe that what's possible is possible for us.
We might also believe because of our own testimonial. Here is what your testimonial might say, "If I did it once, I can do it again. If it happened for me before, it could very well happen again." So we believe not only the testimonials of others who say, "If I can do it, you can do it. If I can change, you can change. If I can start with nothing, you can start with nothing. If I can turn it all around, you can turn it all around." Then we also have the support of our own testimonial, if we've accomplished something before. "If we did it once, we can do it again.
If we did it last year, we can do it this year." So those two things together are very powerful. Now, we do not have actual substance yet, although it is very close.
Again, step one is to imagine the possibilities. Step two is to imagine that what is possible is possible for you. Here is what we call step two - faith to believe. In fact, one writer said this, "Faith is substance." An interesting word, "substance", the powerful ability to believe in the possibilities that are possible for you. If you have faith to believe...that faith is substance, substance meaning "a piece of the real." Now it's not "the real", it's not this podium, but it is so powerful that it is very close to being real and so the writer said, "The faith is a piece of, the substance of". He then goes on to call it evidence, substance and evidence. It is difficult to call substance and evidence "nothing". It is nothing in the sense that it cannot be seen except with the inner eye. You can't get a hold of it because it isn't YET tangible. But it is possible to turn nothing, especially ideas and imaginations, into something if you believe that it is now possible for you. That substance and evidence becomes so powerful that it can now be turned into reality.
So the first step is to imagine what is possible, the second is to have the faith to believe that what is possible is possible for you. And now the third step is to that you go to work to make it real. You go to work to make it a hotel. You go to work to make it an enterprise. You go to work and make it good health. You go to work and make it an association. You go to work and make it a good marriage. You go to work and make it a movement; you make it tangible. You make it viable. You breathe life into it and then you construct it. That is such a unique and powerful ability for all of us human beings. Put this to work and start the miracle process today!
BFS/Be An 11!
by CoachFreeb
I am often asked how BFS/Be 11 schools able to turn things around in a very short period of time? After some recent discussions in our Be An 11 Class, conversations with coaches and some recent clinic experiences, I can offer up the following explanation.
I recently read a piece by Jim Rohn entitled "How to Turn Nothing Into Something" which got me to thinking about how I have used BFS/Be 11 principles to reestablish winning traditions at several schools that I have had the privilege to coach or taken schools with winning records to ever higher levels of performance previously thought to be unattainable. Of course, there are hundreds of coaches across the nation that are doing the same as well.
It is especially gratifying to turn a program completely around. There is no greater thrill for a coach than to see the change that takes place on the faces and in the hearts of kids when they go from O-For to Champions, to literally turn what others may think is a "Nothing" program into "Something," a Championship program.
The process begins with an idea, a vision, one that is so real, so compelling that it stirs you to action. I now live at the end of the Oregon Trail and have often wondered what kept those pioneers going day after day, 10 to 15 miles a day, hardship after hardship, tossing out their belongings along the way to lighten the load. The next time you speed along the interstate at 70 mph between Missouri and Oregon, remember it took more than five days to travel what you do in less than an hour. What kept them going? It was the vision of a better tomorrow. They had dreamed of making a better life at the end of the trail. They were now on that trail in the active process of bringing that dream to life. As Rohn states, "Dreams are a projection of the kind of life you want to lead. They can make you skip over obstacles; they unleash a creative force that can overpower anything in your path."
So it is with BFS. Invariably at BFS Clinics and Seminars athletes achieve at levels they had not previously not thought possible, much less envision. At a recent clinic there was a group of athletes whose goal for the year was to dead lift 350 pounds. On the night of the clinic two of the athletes pulled 405 pounds and two more went on to pull 525 pounds. They astounded themselves . . . and their teammates . . . . and their coaches, as well as everyone else in attendance. They all began, right there, to think of themselves differently and what they might possibly be able to do as a team, as a school, if they committed themselves to Being An 11 and making that effort to help each other achieve at the highest levels, to encourage each other to make a State Championship Effort each day. Creating this vision of what might be possible is putting Power Axiom #1 into action: Establish Noble Goals (Visions).
BFS reignites the fires of the imagination and people envision all the possibilities. Coaches, athletes, communities catch on fire with what is possible. When athletes see their teammates smash their records, they begin to adopt an attitude, a belief, that "If they can do it, I can to." Everyone then goes to work to perform at levels previously thought to be out of reach.
They also begin to create a picture of what their future athletic seasons will be with their newly created size, strength, speed and explosiveness. Like those Oregon Trail pioneers who had a dream, these kids dare to dream again, BIG Dreams. Those pioneers created a compelling vision that pulled them along. In their minds they were already on the other side of the mountains, living a better life in the Williamette River valley. Their bodies just hadn't gotten there yet. Stories in the Be An 11 Guidebook like Kevin Wilson, Jeffrie Banks and Andrew illustrate that point. When Kevin Wilson was in the hospital and wrote "Today I Win," he created a vision of what was possible, of what was going to be. His body just had to catch up to the vision. He overcame the greatest obstacles to don the uniform again when everyone said it would be impossible. He created a compelling vision of the future to pull him along into reality.
BFS helps people believe in themselves and their teammates. Once everyone on the team starts to realize the benefits. Once those eight or more records a week begin to fall, teams begin to imagine all the possibilities. As their individual and team strength develops, so does their vision of the future. They allow themselves to Dream the Biggest Dream again. They develop a picture of the perfect end result that pulls them along. The harder they work together (Power Axiom #2: Work Ethic) the clearer and compelling the vision becomes. Just like those Oregon Trail pioneers, BFS/Be 11 athletes are already in the Champions' Circle. Their bodies just haven't gotten there yet.
Rohn concludes, "So the first step is to allow yourself the freedom to imagine all the possibilities, the second is to have the faith that what is possible is possible for you, the third step is to go to work to make it real. You go to work to make it a movement, you make it tangible. You make it viable, You breathe life into it and then you construct it." Think about it. You are performing CPR on your own dream making process. That same process that you used when you were five years old and able to envision worlds to conquer on a daily basis.
When you put this process to work, you will achieve success previously thought to be impossible. Outside people will search for reasons why. They will call you lucky. They will say it's a "miracle season." They are people who do not have the strength of will to create a vision and work hard to breathe life into it and make it real.
The process works. It has been done hundreds of times in hundreds of schools across the nation. There are schools right now in the process of realizing their next Dream Season. We will write about them in the BFS Journal. It all begins with an attitude, an expectation, a dream coupled with a commitment to work to make it happen.
What are you waiting for?

2010-12-06T17:24:00.000-08:00

2010-11-28T21:27:00.000-08:00

The Slight Edge Principle

The Slight Edge is a book written by Jeff Olson who explains the secret to a successful life. And of course, that secret is The Slight Edge principle.

The Slight Edge Principle is a detailed system that will help you see how consistent effort can make a difference in your life.

The Slight Edge Principle has a variety of definitions. For example: Simple actions, repeated daily over a long period of time, lead to massive results. If you consistently do a little more than others, you will consistently have more than others.

Another definition is: Small changes over time make a big difference.

In other words, doing little things or putting in a little more effort can make a big difference and lead to massive results in your life.

On the surface, those little things may not seem relevant at the time but over time they can have an enormous impact on your wealth. The small efforts you put in now will result in great reward down the line.

Slight Edge Finish:

There are three ways for you to get this knowledge:

1) Studied Knowledge

2) Activity Knowledge

3) Modeled Knowledge

STUDIED KNOWLEDGE. Books, tapes, seminars, training; read, listen, and attend everything you can; then, read, listen, and attend some more...study. READ 20 PAGES OF AN INSPIRING, INFORMATION - RICH BOOK EVERY DAY. Pick books that make a contribution to your goals. You're either building someone else's dream or building your own. When you read romance, mystery, or detective novels, whose dream are you building-yours, or the author's and publisher's? When you read Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich-a book that took 20 years to write, that interviews the richest and most successful men and women in the world and reveals their 13 success secrets-whose dream are you building? Read 20 pages per day of an empowering book. Is that easy to do? Sure. And that simple discipline compounded over time, like a penny doubled daily for a month, will send you to the top! Is it easy not to do? SURE. And if you don't do it, will you destroy your life and work today? No way. But that simple error in judgment, compounded over time, will pull you down and take you out of your life!

Listen to a self-improvement cassette tape for 15 minutes every day. You can listen to music on the radio in your car, building Michael Jackson's dream or Barbara Streisand's. Why not choose instead to build your own dreams? Listen to Jim Rohn's tapes. He's a master-and he'll help you build YOUR dreams. Is listening to a tape for 15 minutes a day easy to do? Of course. Is it easy not to do?...And if you don't do it, will that ruin your life right now?...

Do a self-improvement seminar or training every few months.

Better yet, do one every month. Take a course. Take two. If you don't have the time to do that, because you're playing softball every Tuesday and Thursday night, you just don't get it! If your bowling average is over 180-you're losing your Edge, right now! Skip the bowling league. Take a class instead. Is that easy to do?... Is it easy not to do?...And if you don't do it, what will happen today?... But that simple error in judgment, compounded over time WILL kill you! You'll end up a willing participant in the "conspiracy of mediocrity" that 's destroying 95 percent of the people in this country!

ACTIVITY KNOWLEDGE. Life is not a spectator sport-fish or cut bait. Lead, follow, or get out of the way. And life is not a result, either. Life is not the goal-it's the PROCESS. The road to success is always under construction. Marx was wrong: Life is both the ends and the means. Emerson said, "Do the thing and you'll have the power." You can't just go get the power and then do the thing. The only way to have the power is to do it, just do it. People constantly ask me for the key to success. "What's the one thing I can do to guarantee my success?" My answer is always the same: Be here- actively immersed in the process-one year from now. That's the right answer-don't you agree? It's The Slight Edge answer. Commit to the process. The process is THE SLIGHT EDGE. Is it easy to do?... Is it easy not to do?

MODELED KNOWLEDGE. Did you know that your income will tend to be the average of your ten best friends' incomes? (If having more income is a goal of yours, either get new friends or raise the income of the friends you have now!) If you want to raise the quality of your life, hang out with people who have been there and done that. If you want to be a great public speaker, hang out with great speakers. If you want to be a success in business, hang around successful business people. If you want to be a terrific parent, spend lots of time with men and women who have mastered parenting. Do you know why birds of a feather flock together? Because they're all going in the same direction. They share a common vision. If you're after a goal-any goal-go find the people who have achieved that goal, or who are well along the path to attaining that goal, and be with them, hang out with them, camp on their doorstep. It's called the Law of Association. It's a Law because it always works. The first commandment of The Slight Edge:

Thou shalt educate thyself.

Is it easy to do? Is it easy not to do? And if you don't do it, will you fail today? But that simple error in judgment, compounded over time, will ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY, GUARANTEE YOUR FAILURE! LEARNING TO LEARN is committing to the process. The Slight Edge is the process.

"The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn." -Carl Rogers Freedom

To make The Slight Edge work for you, you must learn how to learn.

Alvin Toffler, author of Future Shock, wrote:

"Learning is an approach, both to knowledge and to life, that emphasizes human initiative. It encompasses the acquisition and practice of new methodologies, new skills, new attitudes, and new values necessary to live in a world of change. Learning is a process of preparing to deal with new situations."

Clearly, we live in a world of change. Constant change. Rapid change. Today, we accomplish in five years what our grandparents and parents took 50 years to do. And everything's getting faster! Learning to learn is a mandatory for success today-and especially for tomorrow. Learning to learn is committing to the process. The Slight Edge is the process. Learning to learn is a choice. You make that choice moment to moment-not just once and then you're done with it for the rest of your life. Each new moment will present you with a new choice. Choose to read 20 pages a day-and you'll have to make that choice every day. Choose to model and associate with winners-and you'll have to make that choice every day as well. You have to choose to make The Slight Edge work for you-moment to moment.

IS IT EASY TO DO?

IS IT EASY NOT TO DO?

FreeNote: I tell the kids: The answers are simple, not necessarily easy, but simple. You have to have th discipline to do what has to be done. The best quote I heard this week? Your Belief has to be greater than your Fear.

2010-11-21T15:30:00.000-08:00

Heir to a Dream

Maravich Biography by Amy Kinzie

Pete "Press" Maravich instilled in his son, "Pistol" Pete Maravich, a love for the game of basketball that carried throughout his life. Press, a naval aviator and former professional basketball player turned coach, began showing Pete the fundamentals of the game when Pete was seven years old. Together, father and son devised creative and fun ways to help Pete master the fundamental skills needed to excel in basketball. Named everything from around the world and the space clap to the scrambled egg and the flap jack, these drills improved Pete's quickness and hand-eye coordination while strengthening his self-confidence. Pete was obsessive about improving his skills, spending hours upon hours practicing shooting, ball handling, dribbling, and passing in an old gym. Press went to great lengths to keep the drills interesting for his son - even going so far as to drive his car at varying speeds while Pete leaned out the passenger window, trying to control the ball he was dribbling!

Pete's high-school basketball career did not begin well. Being a short 5"2" tall, ninety pound eighth-grader shooting warm-ups with varsity boys who were five years older and ten to fourteen inches taller left him wide open for jeering and laughing comments from the crowd. Maravich tried to ignore the humiliation, determined to prove his skills on the court. However, his debut game did not go well. Once he passed the ball for the starting play, he rarely got to posses the ball again. It was a terribly frustrating and disappointing first game for Pete, who had never before experienced being cold shouldered by his own team. The next game seemed to be more of the same until the final few seconds. As the clock ran out, there stood Pete, alone and unguarded. Amazingly, the ball was passed to him. As the buzzer sounded, "Pistol" Pete shot from the hip . . . the ball was up and through the hoop for the winning score!

"Pistol" Pete's reputation quickly began to spread and he suddenly found himself under double coverage. This kind of coverage forced him to use behind the back and no look passes, which the crowd loved. Encouraged by the applause, Pete continued to play the style of basketball he had learned with his father. His characteristic showmanship style of playing soon began to draw large crowds of spectators who loved to watch his sleight of hand artistry with the ball.

When his father accepted a coaching position at North Carolina State, Pete began playing for the Needham-Broughton High School Caps. Although he had grown to be nearly six feet tall, he was still a slight 130 pounds. Opposing teams tried to capitalize on Pete's slight stature with elbows to his ribs and he was often deliberately knocked to the floor. As a result, Pete developed a form of retaliation - he often drew the foul by stumbling backwards or falling. He had found a way to deal with the physical obstacles, but learning how to handle a loss was an even more difficult obstacle to overcome, and Pete began turning more and more to alcohol to beat back the dark memories of defeat.

After graduating from LSU in 1970, Pistol Pete made league history when he was drafted into the National Basketball League (NBA) by the Atlanta Hawks with a $1.9 million dollar contract. Although Pete continued to succeed at the professional level, his team performances were far from stellar and he was never quite able to reach his most coveted goal - receiving a championship ring.

A leg injury forced "Pistol" Pete to retire on September 20, 1980. Overweight and despondent without basketball, the next two years were the darkest period of his life. Pete said he continued to search "for life", trying yoga and Hinduism, even something he called UF-ology. Then, in 1982, he finally found peace in Christianity.

He became a lay preacher and traveled to churches and basketball camps to relate his story to young children. His message was simple, the man he had become in his late 30s was far more important than the alcoholic basketball player he had been. As part of the speech he delivered in 1982, Pete said, "There is nothing wrong with dedication and goals, but if you focus on yourself, all the lights fade away and you become a fleeting moment in life. I lived my life one way for 35 years, for me. And then the focus came in on what I really was."

On January 5, 1988, while playing a pickup game of basketball at the Church of the Nazarene in Pasadena, California, "Pistol" Pete Maravich collapsed and died of a heart attach at the age of 40.

2010-11-19T10:32:00.000-08:00

2010-11-07T06:29:00.000-08:00

The number of schools still participating in their state playoffs goes down dramatically every week. In the end as the Highlander movies say, "There can be only one." For the rest . . . well for all the players who will be back on next years team, the Dream shall never die. The Dream is still with them and you who coach and support them. When the season ends, it is like a death in the family, but "The Family" lives on. It is up to the next generation to pick up the torch and press forward. We are BFS would tell you to take time off to celebrate the season and grieve the the death in the family, perhaps till after Thansgiving. Then it's time to get back into preparation for the birth of a new season. There's no time to lose because as Coach Tom Osborne of Nebraska said, "75% of winning takes place before the season starts." In Two weeks it is time for the team to come together, establish next season's goal, and develop a plan of action to make it happen. That is what our BFS Be An 11 Seminar is all about. Dial me up (503.312.2138) to schedule your Seminar today, or call our clinic coordinator, Kelly, 800.628.9737. Get started on that 75% winning percentage today.

2010-10-31T15:37:00.000-07:00

Spartans stun Cats for biggest comeback in I-A history

EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) -- Nearly an hour after the game, Drew Stanton was trying to digest what he'd just been a part of -- the greatest comeback in NCAA Division I-A history.

Trailing 38-3 in the third quarter, Michigan State rallied Saturday for a 41-38 victory over Northwestern as the Spartans ended a four-game losing streak in dramatic fashion and momentarily took the heat off coach John L. Smith.

"It hasn't really sunk in yet," Stanton said.

After a frustrating losing stretch that began when they blew a big lead late against Notre Dame, the Spartans finally got a chance to experience the other side. It felt pretty good.

"Hopefully this can be a turning point in our season. I definitely think it can be and people can build from this," said Stanton, who shook off a late hit in the third quarter, one that sent him sprawling into concrete around the bench and knocked him out of the game for a series.

Michigan State (4-4, 1-3) got back in game when Ashton Henderson returned a blocked punt for a TD early in the fourth, and the Spartans won it when Brett Swenson kicked a 28-yard field goal with 13 seconds left following a key interception by Travis Key.

Smith, who's been under heavy criticism, took no questions in a postgame news conference. He pointed to his staff and especially his players.

"The ones who really deserve the credit are those guys," Smith said. "They played the game, they believed in each other. They continued to fight, they pulled together and deserved everything they got today."

Until this riveting game, the biggest comeback in Division I-A was 31 points -- when Maryland beat Miami 42-40 on Nov. 10, 1984, and when Ohio State defeated Minnesota 41-37 on Oct. 28, 1989.

Northwestern (2-6, 0-4) led 24-3 at the half, and the crushing defeat sent the Wildcats to their fifth straight loss.

"As difficult a loss as I've ever been a part of," said first-year Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald, who took the blame for his team losing momentum and eventually the game. "It hurts very bad."

Michigan State trailed 38-3 with 9:54 left in the third quarter after Northwestern's C.J. Bacher threw his third TD pass, a 5-yarder to Shaun Herbert.

Stanton, battling assorted injuries, tossed a TD pass of 18 yards to Jehuu Caulcrick with 7:03 left in the third. A.J. Jimmerson's 4-yard run, after a 19-yard pass from Stanton to Kerry Reed, made it 38-17.

After a 64-yard run by Tyrell Sutton, Northwestern was ready to go ahead 45-17 but Kaleb Thornhill turned away yet another Wildcats scoring drive by intercepting Bacher in the end zone.

Moments later, Stanton later was knocked to the sideline on a late hit by Northwestern's Corey Wootton and replaced by Brian Hoyer for a series.

Michigan State then made it 38-24 early in the final period when Devin Thomas blocked a Northwestern punt and Henderson returned it 33 yards for a TD.

"I think the blocked punt is when people really started believe we had a shot to come back," Stanton said.

Stanton re-entered the game on the next series and immediately drove the Spartans 60 yards, completing three passes for 34 yards and carrying 12 yards for the TD with 7:54 left, making it 38-31.

The Spartans then stopped a third-and-1 by the Wildcats, who had to punt, and Stanton completed six straight passes in a six-play, 58-yard drive, capping it with a 9-yard TD pass to T.J. Williams that tied the game with 3:43 left.

Key then intercepted Bacher at the 30 with 2:59 left and State moved in position for Swenson's field goal.

Bacher completed five of six passes on Northwestern's first possession, a 71-yard drive capped by Bacher's 5-yard TD pass to Ross Lane that made it 7-3.

On their next series, with the aid of two pass interference calls against the Spartans, the Wildcats moved in again, going 74 yards with Bacher hitting Jeff Yarbrough on a 14-yarder to the 2 and then carrying the final couple of yards for the TD early in the second quarter.

Joel Howells kicked a 30-yard field goal to make it 17-3 on the next possession. Eric Peterman took a Bacher swing pass, broke two tackles and raced 47 yards to the Spartans 9 before the drive bogged down.

An 18-yard halfback option pass for a TD from Brandon Roberson to Herbert made it 24-3 late in the half. Bacher's 22-yard pass to Lane gave the Wildcats a 31-3 lead early in the second half.

Stanton completed 27-of-37 for 294 yards. Bacher, who made his first college start, moving ahead of announced starter Andrew Brewer, was 15-of-29 for 245 yards. Sutton finished with 172 yards on 21 carries.

Northwestern linebacker and leading tackler Nick Roach broke his right leg early in the second half and is likely finished for the season. He was carted off the field after being hurt while covering a punt with 12:20 left in the third quarter.

2010-10-24T14:07:00.001-07:00

The Tigers hadn't beaten the Sooners since 1998. Of course in that time there are some big losses, namely the 2007 and 2008 Big 12 Championship games. In 2007 the winner would have been in the national championship game. So Pinkel has played big games before but Mizzou had slowly been gaining the reputation as a team that can't win th...e big game.

They proved the doubters wrong on Saturday beating Oklahoma 36-27 in Columbia, MO.

Pinkel understands how important it is to beat Oklahoma. He opened his press conference this week saying to reporters that he knows he hasn't beaten Oklahoma and if you want to be considered one of the best you have to beat Oklahoma.

In his career he was 0-6 against the Sooners before Saturday night. That's a pretty big mountain to climb. Oklahoma had beaten Missouri 19 of their last 20 meetings. The Sooners were 7-0 against Missouri in the Bob Stoops era. That helps describe how huge this was for Missouri.

I didn't even mention that this game was nationally televised. So the world was there to see Pinkel finally beat Oklahoma and it put Mizzou on the 2010 college football map. The significance of this win can't be understated.

Now Mizzou goes from a bubble team in the top 15 to legitimate contenders. The test doesn't stop there though. They'll travel to Lincoln next week to take on Nebraska.

We first met Coach Pinkel when he was QB coach for U of Washington in 1988. He then went to Toledo (my Master's Degree program) and then on to MO. He has a great work ethic and of course, he perseveres.

As QB coach, he wanted his QBs to lift along with the linemen, to "lead them in the weightroom just like on the field." We loved that work ethic!