Characteristics of a Good Youth Football Coach?

Didn't mean to offend anyone. I think we only really disagree on one or two issues here. The rest is misunderstanding due to regional differences and some you took out of context.

"How does a good coach instill confidence in his weaker players when he puts them in a position to fail???"

Who said anything about putting them in position to fail? Are you saying the bench is a position to succeed??? I disagree.

"So what is registration/draft day other than a time to pick players on the needs of the team and the ability of returning players?"

Maybe it's different out there but we don't have a draft day. The new players choose thier team and if the roster for that team is full they go to their second favorite choice. The returning players stay on the same team so at the first practice we end up with half unknowns and half returning. The half unknowns usually include a few good athletes and sometimes one or two very good players so we have to look at it as a whole new process and give every kid an equal opportunity to show thier ability. Again, I think we agree here, just different registration processes.

"Shouldn’t winning be taken care of not by good instruction but in the hearts and minds of the kids?"

Why not both. My point is at the youth level intsruction should be a coaches objective since that's an element he has some control over. Again this may differ because your process is largely dependent on the talent you select and having an eye for gamebreakers. You do have some control on another aspect but out here we don't have the luxury so instruction is the only thing we can really contribute. You disagree?

"I haven’t witnessed much bad coaching except against teams I play.. see I spend ¼ of my time playing the other ¾ is preparing so I don’t get to see those bad coaches like you do their not on my practice field."

Again, things are not the same everywhere, I see them everyday, we have three football fields with 8-9 teams practicing at the same time. Another misunderstanding.

"Play one full Quarter what if the kid signed up because mom and dad forced him then you have a kid playing football that doesn’t what to play a full quarter??"

If the the kid isn't there because he wants to be, he shouldn't even be on the team. An obvious and simple solution, ask them. Usually you can spot the kids who dread getting hit. That's when you gotta ask the kid straight up if he wants to play football. If he says no, then obviously it wouldn't apply to them.

"IF you lived by your statement you would hold your son back and make all the 11-12 better not put your kid like you obviously did here on a platform and pound your chest."

Now you're gettin' real extra. Again you misunderstood my point. I only included that info because I wanted the readers of the post to know it wasn't written from a biased point of view. I've never coached my son's team, that's a no-no out here. I also understand the problems coaches run into with the kids who have no business playing football because I deal with it every season. At the same time we should try to make instruction our priority. A team with good fundamentals has a better chance to win. In some cases can even beat a more talented team with poor fundamentals.

Didn't mean to offend anyone nor was it directed at anyone inparticular. I'm glad it opened up some discussion though because there are one or two issues we disagree on.

coachd