Keys to a successful

Football Program

COACH KENNY SIMPSON

 Clear Vision
- Clear vision must be the first step in having a successful program.
- This must be established early and emphasized often.
- Ways to share vision
• 1) Have athletes learn and state goal(s) often
• 2) Post vision around athletic areas / on clothing items
• 3) Have smaller goals that lead up to vision
• Goals should be easy to identify and progressively become more difficult
• 4) Always hire assistants / keep or cut players if they fit with the vision of the
program

COACH KENNY SIMPSON

 Clear Vision
⬜ Vision statement:
◼ To become a team of young men striving to honor our school through our
effort/attitude through the game of football.
⬜ Smaller goals
◼ 1) Attitude in school: Reflected by grades/behavior
◼ 2) Attitude at practice: Reflected by grades from coach
◼ 3) Attitude in community: Team activities designed to learn to serve in area
◼ 4) Pride in program: Keeping locker room/field clean

COACH KENNY SIMPSON

 Positive Attitude
⬜ More good will be accomplished with a positive, firm attitude than
by yelling and threatening.
⬜ This must be established starting with Head Coach and passing
through all assistants involved with program.
◼ This must be shown that care for athletes is not dictated by wins and losses
⬜ Athletes will also learn they must be positive with each other,
especially when it would be easier to blame

COACH KENNY SIMPSON

 Positive Attitude
- Athletes today are different than they were in the past. Many do not
get the care at home they need, so football becomes the only area of
identity and love these young men have.
- As a side benefit, teaching the athletes to be positive with each other
is a great tool during a tense game in which momentum has swung to
the other team.
- Being positive does not mean allowing things to slide. We will hold
everyone accountable and discipline will never be sacrificed.

COACH KENNY SIMPSON

 Consistency
⬜ To succeed at any level a program must have consistency. I treat all
athletes the same in discipline each athlete to the best of my ability.
⬜ Consistency also will apply to intensity in practice (both by coaches
and players) and what we expect from the athletes as students.
⬜ A parent meeting at the beginning of the summer and at the
beginning of the season when rules are clearly laid out assists in
making sure everyone understands what is expected.

COACH KENNY SIMPSON

 Community Involvement
⬜ While helping athletes mature is the number one goal of the
program, a close second is making the school proud of our football
team.
⬜ Involving as many people as possible in a teams success is a great
momentum builder for any team.
⬜ This also fosters pride among players and gets younger students
excited about playing in the future.

COACH KENNY SIMPSON

 ⬜
Community Involvement
Things I have done in past to involve community and build team up:
◼ Webcasting for team games
◼ Team media guide (also a fundraiser)
◼ Team schedules on posters
◼ Night of Champions (Night of Max lifting)
◼ Elementary night / Breast cancer awareness night / Military night
◼ Father-son retreat
◼ Pre-game meals
◼ Taking team to play games at Retirement Center
◼ Paint and Chain Crews for the games
◼ Mom’s for football class
◼ Taking team to ropes course
◼ Having team camp at a local YMCA
◼ End of year football banquet honoring athletes/community members

COACH KENNY SIMPSON

 Raising Expectations
⬜ This is the toughest of the steps to achieve
⬜ Not accepting poor or average effort
◼ This means working with assistant coaches to be sure they give great effort also
◼ This may mean letting a player go that does not comply with what is expected
◼ Many times the best teacher of this is the bench
⬜ Not allowing “average” play -- Insisting on the best
◼ We will strive to play to the best of our ability, nothing less
◼ This does not mean we will only view a win on the scoreboard as acceptable,
instead often times we will not be satisfied with only a “win” if we did not play to
the best of our ability

COACH KENNY SIMPSON

 Game Management
⬜ Turning a team into winners is done by several key points
◼ 1) Confidence in themselves and team
▫ Good offseason program
▫ Team building activities
◼ 2) Becoming a physical team
▫ This is a mentality about playing hard and out hitting your opponent
▫ Some things are uncontrollable, but hitting hard and playing hard is something
any team can do
▫ This must be cultivated throughout the year, not just during the games

COACH KENNY SIMPSON

 Game
3) Not beating ourselves
Management
Many games in high school football are lost by teams that are not fundamentally sound
My team’s focus on areas we can win in every game
Turnover battle
Special Teams
Effort from each player
4) Finding an offense/defense that fits the players
Most teams have a system that does not always go with what their players strengths
are.
Over the long haul a program needs to develop its offseason to cater to what system it will
have

COACH KENNY SIMPSON