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Here's how central Ohio high school football coaches determine lineups, playing time
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- Here's how central Ohio high school football coaches determine lineups, playing time
For the 2024 high school football season , The Dispatch is introducing a new feature called Coaches Confidential. To start, we emailed central Ohio coaches five questions and asked for in-depth answers. The coaches are granted anonymity so they can feel free to respond candidly.
This offers a chance to inform readers about high school football in a different way.
Footballs sit on the sideline at Grove City High School.
For this inaugural story, the two-part question was: What qualities do you look for in athletes when you decide on your roster and depth charts? What helps or hurts these players in terms of playing time?
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Here are their answers:
Coaches want hard workers who buy in
"We are not in a position, unfortunately, to be able to go out and find or recruit specific kids to match what qualities we want. Instead, we have to adjust and adapt to them. Therefore, the type of qualities we look for in our young men are characteristics of hardworking, being coachable and those who buy into our program. From there, we look at who our best athletes are and match them to where their talents fit best."
Commitment is key
"We are looking for guys that are 100% committed to our football program. For example, never missing an offseason conditioning workout. If they play another sport that is awesome because they are working and competing all year-round. Lazy players that make excuses will never play for us! EVER!"
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Athletes must be consistent
"I think the biggest thing for kids is consistency. I look for a guy who comes to practice every day with a consistent, relentless effort and being in a great mood every single day! I look for guys who are great at the things I can't coach such as attitude, effort and being a great teammate!"
'Skill is great, but heart wins games'
"Athletic ability is always going to play a huge role in this decision. You want to try to fill these spots with athletes who are best suited for the position and give you the best chance to win. However, if a player is close enough in caliber with someone else on the team, I will always play the athlete who gives the most effort, is coachable, leads their teammates and is accountable. When athletes begin to not display these qualities it greatly affects their playing time for me. Skill is great, but heart wins games."
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'Play the hardest for the longest' and be dependable
"It's a long season, so determining playing time at any point of the year is often a result of strengths and weaknesses not only of the child that you coach, but also the opponent. Football is a game that can be played by children with a diverse range of talents (big and small alike, fast and slow, etc.), so the emphasis is on developing base skills. It sounds cliche, but the boys that can play the hardest for the longest can't get taken off the field.
"What hurts kids in terms of playing time is lack of dependability. There certainly are physical limitations that are at play – you can't play a child in a situation where he is going to hurt himself – but if young men are not dependable on the field to do what is right, play hard and execute responsibility, they can't play. They hurt the overall cause."
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Versatility helps players earn time
"We look for the player that can bring the most value to the team. Value is not always the same. It can be any combination of things like physicality, speed, intelligence, size, effort, desire and more. I always tell our team that the greatest ability is availability. The more positions a player can learn, the more they are able to add value."
'Be someone we can count on'
"Most importantly, we want our players to be hardworking, consistent, tough and reliable. They have to be someone we can count on. Those skills and traits can be developed and they certainly will benefit our young men far beyond the football field. When it comes specifically to starting roles and depth chart, the player has to know what to do (how to line up, who to block, what gap am I responsible for, etc.), have the ability to actually do it (size, speed, skills) and then the willingness to do it consistently and reliably."
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'Value' not limited to athletic ability
"In the end, the players that give us the most value on the field will be ones playing on Friday night. 'Value' is the key word. That does not necessarily mean they are the fastest or strongest, but they are the player that the coaches and team can trust to get the job done.
"Aside from taking care of their bodies and being ready to play, our players that are in the game need to know what they're doing on the field. You could be the most talented guy around, but if you are running the wrong routes, blocking the wrong people, covering the wrong area, then you aren't doing our team a whole lot of good. After that, it's simply which players can get that job done at the highest level."
Coach looks for 'effort and attitude'
"General qualities that we look for in our athletes are their effort and attitude in whatever they are doing. Two things entirely in each of our own controls, and for us, that goes well beyond the field. What do their attitude and effort look like in the classroom, in the halls and in their interactions with teachers and other students? Without question, athletic ability helps decide depth charts, but if two athletes are similar in athletic ability, what decides the order of the depth chart is going to be their effort and attitude."
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Numerous things help determine roles
"When determining our roster, a lot of things go into making our decisions as to which guys end up making the starting lineup. Athletic skill obviously plays a major role, but how does that skill fit into the scheme, philosophy and mesh with the other players on the field? For example, you may have a big, downhill, bruising running back that would fit an I-formation team perfectly but all the rest of the skill players on the team fit better in a spread offense. This type of back may now have to consider playing fullback or tight end. Offseason participation is also a factor. Team chemistry is often built in the offseason, and that chemistry helps win games. Finally, how well do they know the offense/defense? If you don't know the plays, it does you no good being out there on a Friday night. You would hurt the team more than help them."
'Trust is a major factor'
"I think when it comes down to deciding who is going to play and who is not, it comes down to who you trust gives your team the best chance to win. Trust is a major factor. Has that player been present throughout the offseason and summer workouts? Does he know the scheme and techniques? Do we trust he will do what we ask him to do on each given down? It's all about that trust."
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Talented players can 'control their own playing time'
"The first thing I look for is talent. We all want to say the politically correct answer of hard work, but the reality of life is that the most talented get the first opportunity. After talent it becomes about work ethic and dependability. This is what the player can control. A player who works harder and is trustworthy can beat out a more talented player, but if the most talented player who also works the hardest and is trustworthy, they control their own playing time."
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Coach prefers multilayered approach to evaluating players
"When we begin, we start with a combination of returning starters, seniority and attendance in the offseason to determine who that first group is – someone has to go in first. Early on in the summer, we evaluate based on their ability to learn their alignments, assignments, etc., as well how they look athletically. As a mid-sized school (70-80 players 9-12), we often think about how to get our best 11 on the field based on the information we had from last season and find depth from there.
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"There is always a lot of 'if' for younger players (or that basketball player you finally got to play football) who might crack the varsity lineup. You never really know until they get the pads on. 7-on-7 competitions can give you some information, but it is limited in my opinion. I am a little over 7-on-7s as they can create some bad habits. But it is when you put on the pads in August you really find that the players you thought looked good either do or don't still look good. There will always be someone who surprises you in that period.
"We look for the mental side first – do know where to be, what your key is and what your job is? Second, can you execute in drills and carry that over to group and team periods? Third, it comes down to the intangibles like intelligence, competitiveness, mental toughness – can you do it for four quarters? Can you make adjustments? Can you do it without committing penalties? The answer to those questions can change."
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'Character' matters
"You are mentally and physically prepared and ready to play. Your mind and body are ready to perform at your best level. This means you must get to workouts in the offseason and you must study your playbooks. When you know what you are doing you play loose and fast. You cannot fake it until you make it; in football you will get hurt and/or get your teammate hurt.
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"You are a man of character Monday-Sunday. "BMOC" – not big man on campus but BEING A MAN OF CHRIST. High school is hard, no doubt, but you can make it easier by being part of a team. Learning what it means to do the right thing when nobody's watching. Go out of your way to help someone in need, serve others before serving self and enjoy the work. Friday night lights is the reward for doing the work you were meant to do. If we are not men of character Monday-Thursday, we don't get rewarded on Friday.
"You have God-given physical and mental abilities that allow you to be the best at your position. Just remember: 'Hard work beats God-given talent when God-given talent forgets to work hard.' – Tim Tebow
"You are a team player who loves the game. When your effort and attitude are everything we are looking for in a player we will find a place for you to play."
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus high school football coaches discuss rosters, playing time
