Characteristics of winning football programs.

As a high school football official, I see many different scholastic sports organizations from a unique angle, one that simultaneously provides an outside and inside view of both the successful and unsuccessful programs.

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Well-run programs consistently produce winning teams year after year, while others perpetually field malfunctioning teams with a "losing tradition." We have answers that may explain part of the separation between winning and losing programs, such as lower student populations or poor facilities and conditions, but the more common denominator has to be the lack of an organized programmed approach to the entire football program.

The handling of the little things spells the difference. What are the common indicators of successful secondary athletic programs?

1 Timeliness: Winning teams arrive early for their away games. Home games start on time without exception, with the clock-keepers putting a 20-minute countdown before the game to allow for the officials' meeting and the coin toss.

* Backup clocks or stopwatches stand by if needed. Field markers get distributed long before the game.

* The chain crew arrives and speaks to the officials 20 minutes early.

* The chain equipment functions properly--it includes a yard line clip--and the crew knows how to mark the yard line properly.

* The chain crew refrains from cheering or berating officials and players.

* Properly inflated game balls sit at the bench ready for use.

2 Vocabulary or Terminology: Winning programs have the same vocabulary all through the grade levels. An X block is an X block at all levels as opposed to the junior high calling it a cross-block and the senior high calling it an X block.

A simple and limited vocabulary allows every player to learn. Losing programs giving their plays unnecessarily long names like Carolina or Kentucky when they could be called 1 and 2 or red and blue. In the case of 1 and 2, they can be called by hand signals when the crowd is loud, as can other simply named plays.

Many young players struggle to learn formations and assignments tied to complex vocabulary. By learning simpler words, they can focus on technique instead of memorization. Why call it, "Will Stunt Crash Left" when it can be called "Will Left?" unless you have complex other stunts for Will? Why not call it "Green" instead of "Oregon?"

A coach named Kevin McCadden from Enterprise (OR) H.S., could call an entire junior high game with six arm signals: a punch for dive, an arm slanted down for off-tackle, an arm out for sweep, and two pass plays indicated by numbers.

Additionally, by providing a controlled vocabulary, you can have your teachers, and players speak intelligently, and thus instructionally. By changing the vocabulary, you can alienate your former players, who might have provided great insight by speaking intelligently about techniques and strategies to their children and neighbors.

Language changes marginalize them and the resources they can provide.

3 Physical Education Class Incorporation: The elementary school system feeds the athletes to the secondary school system. Teaching youngsters to run patterns and learn their names ("in, slant, out, up, hook, and fade") and throw and catch properly lead to better prepared students. It does not have to be drilled, just introduced.

Elementary-age students will drill themselves as they appropriate language and technique from the older students during the summer as they practice/simulate the older players. Introducing 4-man or 6-man drills, games, and exercises that incorporate verbiage used at the varsity level will allow the students to do this on their own over the summer at a flag or touch level.

4 Proper Gear Worn Correctly: Nothing indicates a losing tradition more than allowing young people to show up and play with a chin strap that does not buckle or allow them to play.

Professional teams also demonstrate their commitment to losing by allowing players to wear equipment improperly on every play. Did anyone on the Patriots consistently refuse to buckle his chinstrap last year? No.

Now review the losing playoff teams and the answer is yes.

The underlying message of such leadership is, "I am more important than the team and my looking cool over-rides my need to be safely protected on the field.

The message delivered by a secondary player who constantly lines up with his chin strap unbuckled states is: "I am too cool to wear my equipment properly like everyone else, and, furthermore, my coach allows it."

Jewelry fits into this category. A coach should state at the first day of practice that no one on this team will wear jewelry while playing. Seeing a football player with a chain or watch states loud and clear: "Our coach does not understand the rules and, furthermore, he allows us to break the ones he does understand."

Collusive is the word for the coach who allows a player to bypass the safety rules by helping him tape over a new earring or fails to announce that new piercings will be prohibited during the season.

The coach modeling rule avoidance provides the ultimate epitome of a losing program.

5 School Personnel and Officials Accommodations: When the officiating crew arrives at a game site, they produce a strong initial impression.

* Did the custodian that met them have the key to the officials' dressing room?

* Is the dressing room reasonably neat? Does the shower have a shower curtain? Is the custodian available to lock and unlock the room or are other arrangements made?

* Some schools courteously provide a drink of water at half-time. Does the school respect the privacy of the officials' locker room or is the Athletic director in there at half time complaining about a call instead of talking to the coach himself on changes that will have to be made to avoid future poor calls?

6 Non-Argumentative Coaches: The biggest single problem in interscholastic sports comes from coaches yelling at officials. Rules interpretations may be discussed, but laying blame for losses on the officials indicates a complete lack of maturity to the players.

It is also less than intelligent. Most coaches abhor television commentators who laud working over officials in order to get a call later on. The truth is that after being "worked" on for over an hour, the last thing an official wants to do, consciously or not, is to reward the complaining coach with a call that will benefit his team.

Genuinely strong programs allow no complaining to officials by players or coaches and have coaches that interact in an adult manner without screaming. A football game should never be a stage for exhibitional coaches. What this does is perpetuate the school's reputation for years to come.

7 No Extraneous Stuff: Everything that does not directly contribute toward winning should be eliminated. Coaches who allow players to wear equipment improperly, chant unsportsmanlike things, wear mismatching shoes, non-uniform socks, and so on demonstrate a lack of commitment to the program. You cannot allow individuals to single themselves out.

Schools that organize "spirit-packs" show consistency. "Spirit packs" contain game socks, an under-the-pads half jersey, jock and cup, shorts, mouth guard, and gym bag. The booster club provides packs to those unable to purchase one.

8 Language to the Players: Calling the players "athletes" rather than "kids" can be accepted as a sign of maturity and respect.

Playing games with vulgarity exhibits just the opposite--immaturity and disrespect. Everyone knows what the coach really means when he says, "Get that "freaking ball in there." The coach is out of control.

What's wrong with "Get the ball in there?"

Throw clipboards on missed assignments, moaning or yelling a player's name, are ineffective means of expression. Encouragement such as, "Bill, we need that block, get it next time," or "Execute, Tom, execute," work better.

Berating players in public does no good. Balls get dropped, kicks get missed, and passes get intercepted. That is life. How coaches react to these miscues provides the lessons of life that the players have learned in life and the game.

9 Game Management: Does the coach know the captains before the game? Are the game balls ready? Can the coach get the plays in on time? So "Red 7" and "Black 3" can be the same play to keep opponents guessing.

10 Sportsmanship: Winning programs include good sportsmanship at all levels. Teams shake hands and don't make cheap shots. Injured players are applauded. The P.A. announcer reads a sportsmanship statement before the game.

Winning programs don't allow players to harass or haze each other. Such behavior has legal implications and discourages students from turning out for a sport.

Every marginal team may be one back-side tight end away from a winning season, but the student with the talent for doing the job never turned out for the team.

Losing programs have players who "throw people in the showers," or punch them, or hold them down and spit on their faces. All that stuff keeps the athletes from turning out.

Athletes who may have turned the program around. No player wants to get abused, no matter what the rewards.

11 The Town: Overall, the town must want to instill sportsmanship and good mannerisms in their teams. This must be expressed to the coaches and players through the school board and school administration. No school principle should put up with a football coach who loses it in an emotional fit every week. This absolutely cannot be tolerated. It embarrasses everyone--the coach, the players, and the town. The stigma of such a coach never goes away. Bad sportsmanship can endure as long as a good tradition.

12 In conclusion, little things add up to big things.

Programs that cover all the small details provide a landscape upon which success can happen. "Having one's act together" should dominate everything that happens in high school football. Losing traditions can change, but the coaching staff, with the support of administration and townspeople, must make a concerted effort to model new behaviors day in and day out until they begin sticking.

By Dan Kissane

H.S. Football Official

SUNY College at Oneonta, NY