I recently had a conversation with an offensive coordinator of a top H.S. football program in Southern California who had just come off a big season opener win. This week, they will play a much tougher, bigger and more physical team. Unfortunately, their team had a terrible week of practice.
The players were feeling good about the big win, over confident, and ended up wasting practice time during the week running because they were not dialed in, focused and taking this weeks game seriously. How do you think they did? Win? Lose? Did the Friday Night Football Fairy show up? Read until the end of the post.
Too many teams, coaches and players believe in the Friday Night Football Fairy. Who is that you ask? Well, she is the benevolent, kind, and fickle football fairy who everyone expects to show up Friday night to bless and sprinkle magic turf pellets on the team who practiced like crap and still expects to win regardless of how they practiced.
Like the old saying goes..practice like you play and play you practice. If you practice like crap, half assed, and not focused there is NO WAY you are going to be successful on Friday night. I hate to break it to you...there is NO Friday Night Football Fairy to save your team. In fact, there is probably a Mr. Murphy who shows up on the sidelines and dispenses lessons in his law.
There is a reason top teams practice hard, disciplined, at tempo, and execute to their standard every day and every week. Undisciplined, unfocused, half assed teams NEVER win championships. Yes, sometimes you have a bad week. We all have. But you never practice OR play down. The goal is always to the standard...assuming you have one.
Further, like the movie said, on any given Sunday or in this case, Friday, ANY team can win. I once heard it said and I have taken this to heart and preach it...winning in football simply comes down to blocking, tackling, who makes the least mistakes/penalties and execution of your game plan. Yes, that may be an over simplification, but it is a fact. All of this starts with practice. Practice like you play and play like you practice.
For those who may not understand that fully, there is a reason special operation units have the hardest training in the world. They MUST train harder that what real combat and operations are like so when they are in the thick of it and the worst possible scenario, they are able to execute the mission because the training was harder than the actual military operation. Football is no different although the stakes are not as high...obviously.
There is a reason Coach Belichick made the Patriots practice in the freezing cold outside in Dec/Jan, in the rain, soak the footballs in water, in the snow, in the wind, etc. The Patriots would be playing games in those situations and wanted to use it as an advantage while other warm or cold weather teams were in 75 degree sunny weather or in a warm dome. Discipline, focus, execution and playing to your standard is what makes teams and programs great.
Practice like you play, play like you practice! There is no Friday Night Football Fairy. So how did the team do? Did they win? Yes, 58-55 win. Defense struggled but Offense did a lot to help the team win! Obviously. Maybe there is a Friday Night Football Fairy. Nah...
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