Letter from AFM

Before St. Thomas Aquinas’ trip to Ohio to play in the annual Kirk Herbstreit event last season, Head Coach George Smith wanted to be prepared. So he flew to Columbus and walked through his team’s itinerary – from the moment they would land right through game time – and checked out everything from bus arrangements to the pregame menu. His preparation paid off as Aquinas routed Upper Arlington, 52-7. Smith is planning another scouting mission prior to the Raiders’ trip to Dallas in September to take on Skyline.

Very few details are ever overlooked by Coach Smith. That tends to be the case with most coaches who have averaged over ten wins per year in 30+ years of coaching. But Smith has other principles that have guided him in his legendary career at Aquinas. He shares these principles in this month’s cover story, which is our first in a series of profiles of coaching giants, with a particular emphasis on what you can learn from their success.

Successful coaches sharing information with the coaching community is the cornerstone of our mission at AFM. Every month, the majority of our content is supplied by coaches, who freely provide tips and strategies so that others may improve. We thank them for their contributions and, as always, invite every coach to submit articles for future publication.

One area that you have asked us to explore in greater depth is off-the-field issues that affect your lives as coaches. To address these topics, we’re turning to Bryon Hamilton, the successful head coach of Foothill High School in Palo Cedro, California. In his new regular feature “Coach to Coach”, Coach Hamilton will relate some of his personal coaching experiences and lessons that he has learned in what we think is a very entertaining way. The first installment begins on page 12.

Last year, we featured a story about a high school team that kicks onside every time. In this issue, we profile another team that goes for it on 4th down every time. That’s right – they never punt. And it’s not because they can’t find a punter. While you might consider this strategy to be foolhardy, don’t tell Pulaski Academy in Little Rock. They’ve used it to win two state titles in seven years. It simply proves that there’s more than one way to succeed in this game.

We hope you take something from this and every issue of AFM that helps you to become more successful either on the field or off.

John Gallup
Editor & Publisher
jgallup@AFMmedia.com