Elite High School Football Programs

[OR nole]

What do you think are the elements of an elite high school football program? What did or do the great programs of the past and present possess to be considered elite? I'm thinking along the lines of Valdosta, Moeller (OH), Hoover (AL), Massilon (OH), Lakeland (FL), Byrnes (SC), or Southlake Carrol (TX). Closer to home, Maryville, Alcoa, Riverdale, Oak Ridge, and others through the years.

 

Tradition, players, coaches, facilities, media, community support, money, are all important. Give us some detail about these and anything else you can think of. And I know big money private schools may do things a little different.

[Everyrepcounts]

I think those are all good things you listed. And I think an administration committed to success on the field makes them all possible for the long haul. Good post.

Edited September 10, 2010 by Everyrepcounts

[riverrat]

Rank

#1 PLAYERS(not to be confused with participants)

-can't win with out them

-Elite programs send backup players to college and lots of starters division I

-Great coaches won't stay long if they are not there

#2 Money

-to equip and take care of players

-PAY coaches especially the assistant coaches(elite programs pay there assistant coaches more than the average head coach makes thus they retain quality coaches)

-upgrade facilities

#3 Coaches

-programs RELOAD much more often than they rebuild if they have a great staff and players

#4 Community

-a school administration and a community that puts football first

-alot of communities don't demand there kids play and play well

-alot of communities don't sell the stadium out every friday night

Edited September 10, 2010 by riverrat106

[rebeldadtimes2]

Rank

#1 PLAYERS(not to be confused with participants)

-can't win with out them

-Elite programs send backup players to college and lots of starters division I

-Great coaches won't stay long if they are not there

#2 Money

-to equip and take care of players

-PAY coaches especially the assistant coaches(elite programs pay there assistant coaches more than the average head coach makes thus they retain quality coaches)

-upgrade facilities

#3 Coaches

-programs RELOAD much more often than they rebuild if they have a great staff and players

#4 Community

-a school administration and a community that puts football first

-alot of communities don't demand there kids play and play well

-alot of communities don't sell the stadium out every friday night

[rebeldadtimes2]

I agree with all your points but I think they also need great feeder programs from grasshoppers on up. That is one of the things that seperates Maryville from all the rest. Those kids are taught from the begining to strive for excellence and that it takes hard work to achieve it.

Edited September 10, 2010 by rebeldadtimes2

[lowkee]

All points are valid, but you can have all the above and still not win. YOU NEED TALENT

[OR nole]

Just on of the elements is money. For this discussion I'll exclude what the school system provides. Which leads us to Booster Clubs, Touchdown Clubs, Alumni Associations and such. The Valdosta Touchdown Club is usually in the high hundreds and sometimes over 1,000 members. Yearly memberships: $20 head of house/$10 spouse and $5 for kids under 18 and $25 for parking passes. Other schools sell memberships similar to college level boosters. The more money one spends the more they get in return.

 

The bottom line is supports clubs at elite programs provide a lot of money and personnel for team needs. The support clubs are usually responsible for gaining corporate sponsorship and advertising as well. Much of this money finds its way to facilities, special gear, equipment, and priviledges (reward trips). All this certainly helps get kids out of the hallways and on the field. Top notch facilities are a must. The list of provisions supplied by support clubs is long. Its very difficult to have a top team and put on a great Friday night show without great active support groups.

[jrpfhs21]

Recruiting.

[Kevin38]

Recruiting.

 

Glad you were the 1 that said.....LMAO

Edited September 11, 2010 by Kevin38

[ChurchHillFootballFan]

1.) An administration committed to football success. This breeds everything else by hiring the right coaches, giving him the budget and staff to work with, allowing him to do it his way and not let outsiders meddle with football decisions, etc.

 

2.) Coaching. Not just the Head Coach, but his assistants as well. A Head Coach has to be as much a salesman and adminstrator for the program as a football coach, but without a bunch of quality assistants who are all on the same page, he's going to struggle. No matter what fancy schemes you run, a team is still only as good as its OL Coach and Defensive Coordinator. The coaches have to be committed to becoming better just as the players have to commit to the weightroom and off-season training.

 

3.) Players. This isn't necessarily "talent" in the sense that fans usually think of it, but you have to have kids who are committed to getting better and willing to go with the program. A kid who runs 4.6 but plays his role perfectly is much more valuable than a kid who runs 4.3 and freelances all the time or insists on things being all about him. Teams also need leaders they can count on to keep the other kids in line and set an example for what's expected--if you see a bad/underachieving team, the most glaring example is always a lack of leaders. They have to take it upon themselves to get better, year-round. Also, most of the nation's true elite programs are private schools who get to recruit everybody they've got from a rich talent pool. They just cherrypick the ones who obviously have what it takes to be ESPN Top 150 recruits and polish them up.

 

4.) Off Season Training. It gets overlooked, but just asking kids to show up and do some curls whenever they feel like it from Jan.-Aug. won't make them bigger, stronger, or faster. You've got to make football a year-round sport and use effective methods to build the kids into better athletes as well as hone their football skills.

 

5.) Money. Its role can be overrated, but more money means more (and better) coaches, better training tools, a nicer package for potential players, more opportunities for off-season team building, coaches' education, and player enrichment, etc.

 

6.) Media Exposure. This gets lost in the shuffle, but players like to play where they get more attention and will play harder for some hype. If you're the #2 team in town, you're already going to fight an uphill battle.

 

7.) High Standards. This goes along with everything else. If your team expects to lose and everyone else expects it, too, then it's going to be hard for coaches to sell them on a tough weight program over the summer and other such sacrifices. Every time I watch a game with fans of a losing team, the second their team falls behind they give up hope because they've seen this movie before. I can't help but think their players do the same in most cases. Losing gets inside your head and grows like a cancer. Being accustomed to losing and the lame efforts that cause it is simply accepting that the cancer is untreatable, even when it might be.

 

8.) Parental Support. There are parents who will undermine everything the coaches try to do by telling their kids to do it some other (wrong) way. Then there are the parents who just don't care and won't help out with fundraising, working the concession stand, or even telling their boys they're proud of the efforts they've put in. Some especially lazy/selfish parents won't even let their kids go to practice or feed them properly to be good athletes. The elite programs don't have many of these. The bad ones are full of them.

 

"Tradition" is only good in terms of helping to keep these other things in place. There are a lot of "traditional powers" that haven't won crap in decades, yet think they're awesome because their name holds some prestige or they blow out weak opponents every year.

Edited September 11, 2010 by ChurchHillFootballFan