The 5th Down: Playing Time

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Tim Dodson, Head Coach,
Siuslaw High School, Florence, OR

“First I think it is important to describe our school because size of school and coaching staff have a great deal on how playing time is handled. We are a 450 student high school and we have around 30 players on our varsity roster and 35 players in our frosh/soph program. We have three coaches with our frosh/soph team and three coaches with our varsity team. Our frosh/soph coaches are busy on our game night and we aren't able to use them for personnel grouping. So we have a volunteer coach who organizes our substitution patterns for games. Before each game we sit down and use a matrix for each offensive and defensive position in the half. We place our starters on offense and defense first. Then we begin the process of placing our substitutes for each possession in different positions as to not weaken our groupings, but allow these other players the opportunity to play during important times of the game. We stay with the substitution pattern unless something occurs. Then we can also re-sub with our best group between whistles with a ‘gold’ call.

“Two years ago we were playing 25 of our 33 players on defense each half. This situation doesn't always happen, but it gives us the opportunity to try different players. It gives our second team players significant playing time during a game and gives them more confidence. When a number one player goes down, we don't lose too much ground. Having a single coach control substitution patterns allows our other coaches to be concerned with their part of the game and not have to be concerned about whether or not a player has gotten in the game. It has worked well for us, and is something we can hang our hats on as far as playing time is concerned.”

Joe Wright, Head Coach,
Tekonsha High School (MI)

“Playing time is a tough subject. But to me, playing time is a no brain-er and I don't waver from it. I always tell my kids that playing time is earned in practice. How do you practice? Do you show up for practice? Do you pay attention? Reason why is I also believe that the game is won Monday-Thursday and just played on Friday night. Last year I had a hard time with some parents that just did not understand this issue. It has led to a parents’ manual that I have written and will have the parents sign to understand this and other subjects in our program. If kids miss practice, playing time is reduced, or in some cases, eliminated, depending on how much practice was missed and for what reason. I did dismiss a player last year due to the fact that he kept missing practice.”

Pete Lembo (pictured),
Head Coach, Elon University

“Life is a constant competition and we try to teach that principle to our players on a daily basis. We promote internal competition in our program by word and action. Every spring and fall we communicate to our players that all positions are ‘open.’ If you are a starter, you must earn the right to maintain that role. We spend time as a staff creating situations where younger players are given opportunities to compete and handle pressure.

“As we enter our third year here at Elon, we are finally starting to develop some depth and have been able to redshirt some players who were not physically, mentally or emotionally ready to play. However, we continue to stress that the best players will play – regardless of their tenure in the program. This philosophy guides us from the start of the recruiting process all the way through a player’s senior year.”

Bart Miller, Offensive Coordinator,
Trinity High School, Camp Hill, PA

“My experience has always been that playing time seems to take care of itself. Playing time is earned in practice and the off-season. Those kids who in combination with seniority, work hard during the summer sessions and have the best attendance are at the top of the depth chart when camp opens. The positions are theirs to lose. It gives some ‘program players’ a goal and keeps them interested in participating. When I was at Cumberland Valley, we were fortunate. We had good numbers and were able to get kids playing time throughout the course of the game.

“Many smaller schools, like Trinity High School where I am now, need to employ running backs or other athletes in different slots. So we always have some kids that can tell their parents or grandparents, any time you see trips or no backs, I'm in the game. Of course, communication is the key. I have always communicated to my kids regularly what it is that keeps them from seeing the field, or limiting their playing time. As a position coach, you need to communicate weekly the areas in which the players need to improve. It also gives you a measure of insulation to the parent who wants to ask you the playing time question. I always answer, ‘Have you spoken to your son yet? He should be able to tell you what he needs to do.’ As football coaches we are fortunate in determining playing time because often it sorts itself out on the practice field. The kids know that in order to play they are going to have to be better both physically and mentally than all challengers. Thanks, I know this isn't ground breaking, but it's what I do.”

Gary Ness, Head Coach,
Albuquerque High School (NM)

“Entitlement – without realizing it, I created a situation where parents felt that kids who practiced regularly were entitled to start. Before you ask, what’s wrong with that, read the following situation.

“I had come from out of state to take over the head position of an inner city high school. Many of the kids were indigent, neglected, from single parent homes or lived from week to week with different buddies. I was sufficiently warned of the problem of practice attendance, particularly of those few athletes who knew they were more talented than the others. Using loss of playing time, including game-by-game suspensions, the delinquents finally showed up regularly.

“The second year, there were no stars who thought they needed special treatment but players seemed to find various excuses to be late to practices. Once again, game time suspensions were necessary to curb the tardiness.

“The third year, we had a young and inexperienced but more talented team. The fact that the talent sprung from the sophomores meant they received a lion’s share of both starting and staying on the field. The seniors, who had learned to practice regularly and on time the past three years, felt they were entitled to start and to play more than those who followed. Parents of those seniors rebelled and sought the principal’s intervention.

“An impromptu ‘airing out the differences’ meeting called by the principal was a disaster. Parents I had never seen before showed up to demand playing time for their sons. Their sons, however, apologized for their parents’ demands in private.

“I continued to play the younger kids first. We won but a single game that season, but it was best for the future of the program in the long run. Still, every week each senior was carefully compared to others at his position, and any who practiced better started ahead of the younger players.”

Jon Hemenway, Offensive and Defensive Line and Special Teams Coach,
Clifton High School (NJ)

“Playing time is a very touchy issue in high school. I have seen coaches lose their jobs over it. In my personal experiences, grading film and keeping record of your players’ progress is a great way to set playing time. All players have a chance to win a spot at the start of camp. However, you can win that spot and lose that spot just as fast with bad play. Our grade sheets that we use every week show our players how well or bad they are doing. They grade each play with a plus and minus and then a percentage is given to them. This percentage is used to show how they played that game and a 70% or above is a good grade. They can see their progress and then see what they need to work on; or, they know that they can lose their spot with another bad week of play. This grading system can also be used as a way to show parents why or why not their son is either not playing or why they are no longer playing. I have used this system for many years and it has helped me as well as my colleges. And lastly, it is a great way to cover your butt.”

Kurt Mattix, Defensive Coordinator,
St. Joseph’s University (IN)

“I like this question. I believe that this can truly be an issue on a team if not handled correctly and/or addressed with the players.

“I believe that this situation starts with recruiting and needs to be addressed at that time. There have been many times I have experienced losing recruits. This was based on the fact that other schools indicated the prospect would have immediate playing time if they chose their school.

“I have taken a philosophy that I learned from Brady Hoke (head coach at Ball State). I will give the players two guarantees: 1. That they will be coached extremely hard each and every day; 2. They will get a chance to compete in everything that they do. I believe that if you are honest and let them know that they will get a chance to compete for a job, that is what they are looking for.

“I also will handle the ‘red-shirt’ question early in camp so that there is no question on where they stand on the depth chart.

“As far as the season goes, we have one rule for playing time. If you want to travel, you have to be on at least three special teams. Now that doesn't seem that difficult, but what that does is indirectly put emphasis on special teams. This has helped our defense and our special teams with both depth as well as competition.”

Don Patterson, Assistant Coach
Independent High School, Wichita (KS)

“I have coached in the state of Kansas for 29 years. The concept of playing time has been an issue during this time period. We are a spread passing attack offense. We utilize a number of receivers in our offense to keep them fresh. We will throw the ball anywhere from 40 to 50 times a game. We will use a full complement of receivers. With the advent of multiple defenses, we utilize situational substitution. This helps with getting more players involved. We keep depth charts on the sideline to be able to keep an orderly substitution pattern in case of injuries or having to give a player a breather. We also need those depth charts when we sub in the second offense and then fill in with players into that situation at the end of the game. It has helped us to stay organized and use more players in the positions that they play. We try to get a lot of players involved in our special teams also. We try to rest our starters in those situations. In our Sunday meetings we mark down how many quarters that each player plays in each game. It helps with lettering, plus with how much they are playing.”

Ron Capurso, Head Coach,
Willow Glen High School, San Jose, CA

“We have always promoted to our players that we coach the absolute best sport when it comes to potential playing time. Baseball has 9 starters, basketball has 5. We in football have 88: 11 on offense, 11 on defense and 11 each on the 6 special teams. If they show an adequate amount of ability and a good work ethic, we have many opportunities for them to play.

“When it comes to just offense and defense, we say there is only 11 at a time. BUT we love the idea of selling PERSONNEL GROUPS to them. There have been numerous games where we have had 20 to 22 players playing on each side of the ball in the course of a game because of personnel groups so the idea of only having 11 starters on each unit is not true at all.

“I think the main thing we do is SELL this philosophy to our players early and often. We make a big deal to them that we have their best interest at heart as far as all of our players seeing the field as long as they work hard and are coachable.”

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