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AFM Magazine


Sizing Up Your Team – Post-Season Evaluation Can Be a Positive Exercise for Coaching Staffs and Players

by: Steve Dorsey
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The 2010 high school football season has ended, but that does not mean that head coaches downshift into neutral and coast for the next few months. In reality, the 2011 season already has begun.

    What is accomplished in the off-season is often key to how successful next season will be. In many ways, the off-season is as busy, if not busier, than the actual fall season for head coaches.

    Equipment needs to be reconditioned and inspected for safety. The off-season weight and conditioning program needs to be implemented. There’s scheduling meetings and meetings with parents and booster clubs.

    Perhaps the most important order of business for a head coach at the end of the season is the evaluation of his staff and players. Every head coach does it. Some have an established evaluation process they’ve used for years. Others might tweak it from year to year.

    AFM asked four highly respected and successful high school coaches to share their views about their evaluation process. They were asked to address their methods and how they approach the end-of-the-season evaluation process, both with their staff and players. We’ve divided their feedback into five sections.

Bill Redell, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame who played six seasons in the CFL and coached at the college level before becoming the head coach 10 years ago at Oaks Christian High (CA), one of the state’s best programs.
   
Tony Severino, the head coach at Missouri powerhouse Rockhurst High in Kansas City who this season notched his 300th career coaching victory and who was named USA Today’s National Coach of the Year in 2000.
   
Rick Casko, who played collegiately at Drake University and coached several years in his home state of Florida before becoming the head football coach and athletic director at Cass High in Cartersville, GA.
   
Bruce Reynolds, who retired 10 years ago after a 27-year career at William Penn High in Newcastle, DE where he compiled 218 wins and won seven state titles in 11 championship game appearances.

What method do you use to evaluate your coaching staff
and players?

   Bill Redell said he constantly is evaluating his staff, but likes to meet with players at the end of the season, especially those who might be having any academic issues. “I make my observations during the season and talk to them at that time,” he said. “My No. 1 priority is character, and do they fit in with our staff and know their role. I allow my coaches to coach within their own personality.”
 

   Rick Casko said he believes it’s good to allow his assistant coaches some time away from football after the end of the season, so he does not sit down with them for an evaluation interview until after the first of the year. Casko asks his assistants to give their evaluation of the past season and what they think could be done to improve. “There is always room to improve, and after backing away, you might see things more clearly,” he said. He also asks them if they have any concerns about the program and encourages them to express themselves openly. He asks questions, such as: Are they happy with the their personal contributions to the program, and if not, why not? What could you do better to help the program? Casko said he then will discuss any concerns or praise he might have with each coach individually, and close the interview with what his expectations are for the upcoming year and off-season.

    Tony Severino takes a different approach. His coaches fill out an evaluation form or questionnaire, sign it and return it to the school’s athletic director. “Other than meeting with players and practice time, that is our evaluation system,” he said.

    Bruce Reynolds said he would evaluate everyone involved with the football program, including doctors, trainers and equipment managers. He said he believes it’s best to keep evaluations positive, especially with players, whom he would conduct one-on-one sessions with and try to keep it brief. He would ask them what they believe they need to do to be a better player, what their off-season plan was to become bigger, faster and stronger, and how they planned to be a better student academically. “I never gave them the opportunity to bring negative comments into the equation,” Reynolds said. “Everything was to be constructive and positive. Asking critical and negative questions on an evaluation form, for me is counter-productive.”

What are the keys to making an evaluation successful and which specific methods work or do not work for you?

    The key word here is, honesty.
    “I believe being honest as to what is best for the program is the only way to evaluate,” Casko said. “As the head coach, you must set the standards and expectations. After they have been established, then you live by them and hold your staff and players accountable to do the same. I speak of football as being a war. Although there are not really casualties, there are tremendous amounts of accountability and responsibility necessary to conquer your opponent while protecting your teammates. Proper planning and preparation is absolutely necessary to align your staff and players.”

    Redell said that by encouraging an assistant coach of his to be honest in the evaluation not long ago led to a major change in the play-calling system. The coach told Redell that he thought the wording needed to be condensed, and Redell agreed to do that and it helped. “You have to be totally honest, and as a head coach, you have to be open enough to accept some ideas or criticism from them, too,” Redell said.

    Another key is consistency, says Severino, adding that it’s important that the players know they are being held accountable.

    However, Reynolds believes that voicing criticisms that might not be correctable can cause frustration, especially with players. “I found that a one-on-one meeting that focused directly on the one player was more beneficial,” Reynolds said. “I used the brief evaluation form as a basis for our talks. I always asked the players to be specific in their goal setting and about their role on the team.”

Is it necessary in player evaluations to look at tape of a specific player and point out positives and negatives?

    Again, being honest is important, as long as it’s constructive. Severino said each of his players is graded by analyzing game film. “Each position coach is responsible to have their grades up every Monday after a game,” Severino said. “Every play is evaluated with positive or correctional comments.”

    Casko also likes using film in his evaluation of players. As he put it, “40 times don’t lie, weights don’t lie and film never lies.” He said there are times when viewing film is necessary to correct technique or build confidence in a player.

    “There also are times where video will assist to clarify to an athlete what you are explaining to him,” Casko said. “Sometimes they have to see it with their own eyes, keeping in mind when watching tape you are looking to improve from mistakes.” He points out that watching film can show a player that his technique is better than a particular player, but not as good as another. Casko believes it helps to motivate a player to continue striving for excellence.

    Redell said, however, that as a high school coach he doesn’t have as much time to watch film as when he played professionally and was coaching in college, but acknowledged that it is helpful and the more you can watch, the better when it comes to evaluations.

    Reynolds cautions about being too negative in watching film with a player during an evaluation session. “I never used film to show negative plays by a player in the after-season evaluation,” Reynolds said. “For me, that was like rubbing it in. The player has already been shown during the season,via film, the positive and negative aspects of his play. I wanted the player to dream big in his goal setting and then follow that up with the reality of what he would have to do to try and achieve those goals.”

What is critical in an evaluation and what should a coach avoid in an evaluation?

    Redell said the most critical thing in his evaluation process of his coaching staff actually takes place before they are hired. “You have to hire people with character,” said Redell, who has had 15 former assistants move on to become head coaches at the high school level. “When I hire someone, I already know their character.” He added that chemistry is important, too. In other words, do they fit in with your coaching philosophy and with the rest of the staff. “It’s more of a gut feeling with the chemistry,” he said.

    Severino said that the most critical part of an evalution is that it is used as a teaching tool for players. It should point out “what went right or wrong and why.”

    Reynolds said he never gave players the opportunity to bring negative comments into the evaluation equation. “Most players do not answer honestly on negative based questions about the program, the coaches, etc. Most fear, whether justified or not, that the criticism will not be received well by the coaches.”

    Casko believes it is critical to point out areas where there is a concern, but also be sure to point out those things that are being done well and praise them, both for coaches and players. “Do not make it personal, but make it for the team or program,” Casko said. “We make guidelines to stay within, and in order to keep order we must be cognizant to the guidelines at all times. There are do’s and don’ts that are absolutes. I like to have a few rules and allow my staff to grow and lead naturally with these as their foundation: faith, family, school, football. Our staff and players know what right and wrong are. It is amazing what can happen when no one cares who gets the credit. I will make my decisions on what is best for our program, and I will evaluate the same way.”

    Reynolds said that he always asked his players to be specific in setting goals for themselves. He also would let them know in an evaluation meeting what he felt their position status was, but there is one thing he always avoided. “In some cases, I would tell (a player) that I felt their best chance to gain playing time would be at a different position, if I wanted them to make a move to another position,” Reynolds said. “But I never made a player change positions for the benefit of the team. My feeling was that if you moved a player against his will, he would never embrace the move and give it his all. I would lay it on the line and let the player decide.”

    Reynolds said he never experienced a problem with that approach in his evaluations, nor did he have a player refuse the offer to change positions. “When given the path to a better opportunity to play and a chance to help the team, dedicated team players always make the decision to do what is best for all involved,” he said.

How do you deal with seniors?

    Seniors are the key members of your team, Severino says. “I meet with each (rising) senior in the spring and give them an honest evaluation on their role, expectations and where they stand on the depth chart at that time,” he said. “I also let them know that their leadership is important.”

    Reynolds said he also stressed the importance of leadership from his seniors on the team, both on and off the field, from the weight room to the classroom and in the community. He said he even insisted that they not butt in line in the cafeteria.

    Redell said he meets with his seniors periodically during the year to access their future goals, such as college plans. If they convey a desire to continue playing football in college, he discusses with them where they might be able to play at the next level and then has them select five large Division I schools, five medium ones and five small programs. “You have to try to be honest with them without ruining their dream,” said Redell, who has coached Joe Montana’s son the past two years. “I encourage them to think Division I, but where you run into a problem sometimes with parents is that sometimes they don’t get it (that their son is not D-I material). You want them to go where they can play.”

    Casko said he educates his players about what a great tool playing football can be for helping them further their education because he believes it requires so much of what life demands. “Our seniors have been through this program and understand the expectations and opportunities the sport of football can bring them, so I tell my seniors I will do anything I can to help them,” Casko said. He said he sits down with his seniors each year and has them set their goals for their last year in high school, write them down and make them “clear and definable.” He also discusses with them any areas where they need to improve and challenges them to be leaders.”

    The recurring theme on evaluations is both honesty and staying positive. All of our coaches agree that those two factors are critical in each player and staff evaluation. The bottom line is that honest communication among staff and players alike and a willingness to work toward improving the program are essential to success.







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