Customer Reviews

Coaching Youth Football

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I found this book to be way off the mark. The author(s) have obviously never played or coached youth football. A 4-3 defense, which the authors recommend, is one of the worst defeneses in youth football because youth teams almost never pass the ball. You can run off tackle all day on the 4-3.

For the same reason, there is no point in running offenses designed primarily for passing at this level, such as the pro set described in the book. Passing in youth football is used primarily as a change of pace to the run and to keep the field open for inside running.

It's obvious that the authors are not youth coaches but rather people who watch too much football on TV. They took the pro football philosophy and tried to apply it to youth football. Youth football is an entirely different game. Pro football is a highly skilled game utilizing elite athletes that have literally one-in-a-million talent and years of experience. Youth football is a bunch of average kids who may or may not have played football before, and you have to take this into account when developing your game strategy. Offenses that emphasize running will be much more successful than pro-type passing offenses, as will defenses that are primarily designed to stop the run.

Worst of all, the authors emphasize that the kids should have 'fun', and not to worry about winning. I have a real problem with that. In my experience, winning is the most fun you can have, and makes all of the hours of hard work worth it to the kids. Telling your kids that losing or winning doesn't matter belittles the effort that they have put into all the practices and all the games. If you win, the reward is self-evident. If you lose, well, accept defeat gracefully, but don't teach the kids to be comfortable with losing. That's a terrible thing to do to a kid. Turn a defeat into a learning experience so that next time you will be better prepared to win. You can't win'em all, but teaching a kid that winning doesn't matter does nothing but teach him not to try too hard in the first place. This book is terrible.

This book does a good job of getting you to figure out what your priorities are, and WHERE THEY SHOULD BE! At the youth level coaching is a position of many responsibilities. You aren't there to win every game (although you owe it to your players to try) but you ARE there to see to it that they have fun. That's what football is about. This book does a great job of stressing that. The problems come when it tries to get into the actual game. The book shows offensive and defensive formations that are worthless in youth football (the split back "pro" formation on offense, and the 4-3 defense). Youth football teams run on almost every play, passing formations and passing defenses are of no use at all. The book also spends way too much time on flag football rules and formations. Youth football is different from youth FLAG football, and books should be written for one or the other but not both of them. If you're looking for a book to help show you WHY to coach, this is it... but for HOW to coach, you'll have to look elsewhere.

Any coach who wants to get into the right mindset should read this at the start of every season, again at the halfway point, and again at the end of the year. It makes you plan your season so the kids get the most out of the game. If you want to get your kids excited about football and run a class program, this is a good book to read.

Although it is technically legal to do so, I have a real problem with a publisher that would change the name of their book to the same name as another better written book simply to increase their own sales. This book used to be named Rookie Coaches Football Guide.

Coaching youth sports is an incredible responibility to a well intentioned coach. Any good youth coach understands that the youth players well-being comes before winning at any cost. At the same time, not giving the youth player instruction on how to properly play the game should be criminal. The key is finding the balance between adequate instruction and inspiring the player to learn and enjoy the game.

If you want the book that will give you all the tools you need to coach a youth football team, buy the original book with this name, Coaching Youth Football by John T. Reed. A far superior book designed for the youth coach, that is also available through Amazon.

I mistakenly purchased this book when trying to obtain the Reed book by the same title. It is simply awful. It tries to take the tenets of higher level football (Div 1A and Pro) and apply them to youth football, which is an entirely different game. Get Reed's book. It is a step-by-step primer that even a first time coach without playing experience could follow and achieve success with. This book should be order only as a gift for OPPOSING coaches.