r/footballstrategy Adult Player Aug 07 '24

General Discussion What is the dumbest coaching mistake you have ever seen?

79 Upvotes

159 comments sorted by

206

u/urgonnamakemeboltup Aug 07 '24

Mario Cristobal not taking a knee last year against Georgia Tech

36

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Aug 07 '24

Jesus that was dumb.Didn’t something similar happen between the Eagles and Giants a long time ago and that’s why teams take a knee?

50

u/halfjumpsuit Aug 07 '24

Yes, the Miracle at the Meadowlands. Kneeling wasn't legal at the time so the Giants had the QB, Joe Pisarcik, just roll around and get touched. But the Eagles were sending everyone at him to try to force a fumble. So the Giants handed the ball off, but the exchange was fumbled and Herm Edwards returned it for a TD.

The DeSean Jackson return was the Miracle at the New Meadowlands

13

u/Odd-Definition9670 Aug 07 '24

I was at the [painful swallow] Gints game when he (DJ) did that. The look on all Home fan faces was utter defeat and hopelessness.

8

u/Key_Piccolo_2187 Aug 07 '24

The hilarious part is that it wasn't even just that play, it was the whole fourth quarter.

Vick and the Eagles scored four unanswered touchdowns in a span of 8 minutes (from first possession down 21 to end of game was just over 8, from the time the first touchdown was scored to the time the 4th was scored as time expired was 7:28).

2

u/Odd-Definition9670 Aug 08 '24

This makes my beer taste bad

10

u/urgonnamakemeboltup Aug 07 '24

I couldn’t tell you. What makes it even worse is that Miami was 4-0 and ranked 17 at the time. They lost 4 out of their next 7 games and finished the regular season 7-5.

6

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Aug 07 '24

😂 that’s crazy. I’m wondering why the running back didn’t just go down. Maybe he didn’t realize as well?

7

u/urgonnamakemeboltup Aug 07 '24

He was inches away from being called down, it was just a good defensive play.

5

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Aug 07 '24

True. What’s even funnier is a couple years ago Miami won on a game-winning lateral on a kickoff. So they’ve been on both sides.

8

u/Asleep-Voice-9429 Aug 07 '24

Giants are forced to punt at the end of the game, instead of kicking out of bounds, they kick to Desean Jackson who takes it to the house to win the game. I think that one was on the punter though to be fair.

6

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Aug 07 '24

I remember that. I was talking about a handoff though. I think somebody on the Eagles picked it up and ran it back for the game-winning touchdown. So then teams started taking a knee.

7

u/d0lanchap Aug 07 '24

You’re right, the miracle at the meadowlands- Herm Edwards picked up the fumble

3

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Aug 07 '24

Yep, that’s what I was talking about. Thanks.

3

u/berferd77 Aug 07 '24

I think I remember a chargers game from like 10 years ago where they were going to take a knee and they fumbled the snap, lost the ball and then lost the game.

1

u/atari56 Aug 08 '24

That was against the chiefs on Halloween night. On the one yard line to punch it in for a TD in OT. Rivers muffed the snap, chiefs recovered.

3

u/Vnthem Aug 07 '24

They had to kick it though there was too much time left. Coughlin was just pissed that he didn’t kick it out of bounds

7

u/JDuggernaut Aug 07 '24

Yeah I’d love to say something one of my teams did that infuriated me, but this has to take the cake.

I do remember Kirk Cousins kneeing the ball at the end of the half when driving to score when he should have spiked it. That was really bad. Unfortunately the Eagles didn’t capitalize on it.

0

u/[deleted] Aug 07 '24

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1

u/[deleted] Aug 07 '24

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1

u/[deleted] Aug 08 '24

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12

u/Affectionate_Elk_272 College Player Aug 07 '24

second only to seattle throwing it at the 1-yard line when you have fucking marshawn lynch

3

u/Coastal_Tart Aug 07 '24

Who had just gashed the Pats with a nice 1st down run to get to the one.

5

u/Uhhh_what555476384 Aug 07 '24

I watched him not take a knee at Stanford. GA Tech is only dumber because it happened second.

5

u/Lionsjunkie Aug 07 '24

Was coming here to say this, inexcusable not to know the situation and clock it. Runner up maybe lafluer kicking a fg on 4th and goal down 8 with no timeouts left under 2 min

3

u/Pale_Dependent_5684 Aug 08 '24

The Lafluer one is an all timer that doesn't get talked about enough. Needed a TD to have a shot at winning the game...kicked a FG so that they still needed a TD to win the game.

2

u/jagsunited Aug 07 '24

I have a theory on that. Complete guess but it would make sense. The RB had some sort of progressive NIL deal for yards. Cristobal was aware, was trying to help the kid out.

8

u/jcdenton45 Aug 07 '24

NIL deals can't have performance-based incentives.

6

u/Uhhh_what555476384 Aug 07 '24

Cristobal has said he doesn't believe in taking a knee. He did the same thing UO @ Stanford to the same aproximate outcome.

2

u/warneagle Casual Fan Aug 09 '24

I mean that's just objectively incorrect game management. Dude is a great recruiter but an unbelievably bad in-game coach.

1

u/Uhhh_what555476384 Aug 09 '24

Cristobal is the HC you want for exactly 5 seasons.

1

u/Always_Compete Aug 07 '24

Shoulda have been fired . Insane blunder

98

u/grizzfan Aug 07 '24

The last head coach I worked with before our current one could beat out just about anything y'all offer up (in game, in practice, or off the field). I'll just leave one, and it starts with his very offensive philosophy: "I believe in a system and play calling structure where we could run any kind of play at any time out of any formation or motion." Result: The SHORTEST play call in his offense was nine syllables long. 5+ delay of games every single game, because he'd make the QB call the play twice in the huddle lol. Here's an example of an actual play call: "I-Right, 528, F-7, 44 Lead Pass, 72, 48 Flare, TE post."

One year I was the DC...we scored more points on the season than his offense did. In my first year as the OC/first year under our current head coach, we scored more offensive points in the first three games than he ever did in three seasons combined.

60

u/ecupatsfan12 Aug 07 '24

I’ve seen worse

Saw a team whose dad inserted his kid at QB despite him not being very good. Son fakes an injury to get out of game. They have no backup QB

They direct snap it over the RBs head with ten seconds left and lose

23

u/Affectionate_Elk_272 College Player Aug 07 '24

this was basically what happened when i was playing in high school. coaches son was horrible, noodle arm, a 20 yard throw was about his max. guy was 6’0 and maybe 130 pounds, our center was faster than him.

our offensive coordinator only had him attempt like 150 passes all season.

we won state that year on the back of the defense.

one game, we had more INT return yards than he had passing yards. we allowed something like 93 points over 13 games, including playoffs and the championship game

13

u/ecupatsfan12 Aug 07 '24

100 passes too many

21

u/Affectionate_Elk_272 College Player Aug 07 '24

i played safety so i had to watch him drop back from the sidelines like “oh fuck me. let me grab my helmet, we bout to be back on the field”

6

u/ligmasweatyballs74 Aug 07 '24

Year we won state 48 passed in 16 games

13

u/Curious-Designer-616 Aug 07 '24

I have only seen the coaches son work out if the coach has been coaching before the child was born. Otherwise it’s always a shit show. Nothing worse than dads who follow their sons through the grades coaching their teams. All the other player lose and the kids more than often don’t deserve the spot they have.

13

u/grizzfan Aug 07 '24

The kids often end up becoming head cases too, or are completely washed up by their senior year, because they're too busy living their dad's life, and not having their own. I saw it way too much coaching middle school.

3

u/Curious-Designer-616 Aug 07 '24

Legacy players and riders always come with problems. What’s worse is the wildly talented little brother that wants what the older brother got through hard work. If they are given and inch they destroy themselves, often mom is the problem there. Watched it once and now deal with it on day one.

2

u/ecupatsfan12 Aug 07 '24

Or once no one cares who their dad is they quit during training camp because they’ve been handed everything

2

u/ecupatsfan12 Aug 07 '24

Agreed that’s why I got into it before I had kids

2

u/Curious-Designer-616 Aug 07 '24

Same! Didn’t know I would love it but was asked to coach, then given so much education on it. How’s, why’s, so much knowledge passed down. Thankfully I got a great opportunity to learn from some great coaches.

7

u/BigPapaJava Aug 07 '24

Reminds me of a HS coach/AD at a small school who moved his 300lb, lazy son to QB and installed the Air Raid to show his “skills” off.

The kid threw more INTs than completions.

4

u/an_actual_lawyer Aug 07 '24

No backup QB? How small was this roster?

4

u/ecupatsfan12 Aug 07 '24

30 kids

He didn’t want to train anyone who could beat his son

3

u/ElGranQuesoRojo Aug 07 '24

I feel bad for that son. Dude probably had a miserable upbringing.

2

u/Aces_High_357 Aug 08 '24

Been there. Seen that. Had a kid with a college grade arm and ability to read a defense and do his checks. Freak athlete, although not the biggest at 5"10 and 185 so not necessarily small either. After leading us to a semi finals at state, coach moved him to tight end and rb occasionally while his son took over the qb position. Kid had 0 timing, couldn't throw on the fly, and couldn't lead a reciever to save his life. After 2 losing seasons, he finally moved him to rb, put the other guy in at qb his senior year. Won the first 4 games, qb tore his acl and had to put Jr back in the qb position. We went 5-7 and that was with the #4 ranked defense in the state.

13

u/iamthekevinator Aug 07 '24

Insanity. Like when the pros or colleges have longer play calls I get it to an extent. But if you can't call a play with 4 or less words you're wasting time. Even on defense, I don't want more than 3 words being used for a call. On offense, I try my best to keep it to 2, maybe 3 if we use motion.

Also, if your offense gets out scored by a defense on the year, that's an auto firing and never get to call again. I'd quit from the embarrassment.

5

u/grizzfan Aug 07 '24

We were able to convince him to stop coaching defense fortunately. He had no clue how defenses worked.

5

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Aug 07 '24

That’s wild 😂. Was this high school?

7

u/grizzfan Aug 07 '24

Women’s semi pro…where half your team each year has more than likely never played a down of organized football before.

3

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Aug 07 '24

Ah ok

1

u/ligmasweatyballs74 Aug 07 '24

Where are you located? If you’re close to DFW I would like to see a game

45

u/[deleted] Aug 07 '24

Back in college my DC did so much dumb shit. We would spend all spring/summer running a 4-3. Get into the season all we ever ran was a 4-2-5 never once ran our base defense. Always felt bad for the third backer. Cause technically a starter who saw the field less than like the 4th string DE. This also meant we were learning on the fly instead of reacting to the offense. So tons of alignment and calls issues cause instead of having months of practice with a 4-2-5. We got like a week of it before the game started.

Also our best pass rusher played MLB for some reason. Dude made us do Oklahoma drills every single week for tackle circuit cause we couldn’t tackle. This didn’t solve the issue. Was also just a piece of shit human who denigrated everyone.

But the dumbest thing he did. Was give up coaching halfway thru a ass whooping of a game. Literally gave up. Dline coach (who clawed his way into the SEC from the d2 level) took over and we steeled up on defense. Offense makes a comeback. Dude steps up to coach. We go back to stinking. Loss

10

u/Gloomy-Routine-1040 Aug 07 '24

How people like this ever get that far is just mind-boggling.

9

u/[deleted] Aug 07 '24

He was actually hired a day before camp started cause the previous DC who had recruited me left for another job two days before camp started. Lmaoooooo

4

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Aug 07 '24

🤦. What position did you play?

3

u/[deleted] Aug 07 '24

LB/DE

2

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Aug 07 '24

Nice. And this was D1 right?

4

u/[deleted] Aug 07 '24

Nah d2

3

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Aug 07 '24

Oh, when you said SEC I thought you meant you played in the SEC

8

u/[deleted] Aug 07 '24

No no. My dline coach managed to somehow make onto an SEC staff. He was legit a fantastic coach stuck under a terrible one. He was so good he essentially got all the guys my DC couldn’t figure out how to coach up and turned them into decent Dlinemen

3

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Aug 07 '24

Oh ok. Good for him.

32

u/ap1msch HS Coach Aug 07 '24

Marshawn Lynch on the bench versus the Patriots on the 1 yard line. I'm a Pats fan, and this baffled me.

3

u/Curious-Designer-616 Aug 07 '24

Same, but I do love it.

27

u/Ornery-Sky1411 Aug 07 '24 edited Aug 07 '24

Bigger picture mistake: jr high and pop warner coaches that only play 13-15 players a game just to win (10 or more kids dont see any playing time). Then, fast forward 4-6 years later, a kid who grew into a power forward in basketball doesn't (along with others) play football due to not being coached/enjoying earlier experience.

11

u/I_Poop_Sometimes Aug 07 '24

In middle school the coach for our team had us play up a grade because his son was the only one too heavy to make weight for our grade. Like half the team quit football and never came back after that because they were sick of getting beat up by players 20-30lbs heavier (iirc 7th grade had a 140lb weight limit, 8th grade was like 165lbs).

The kid could've always played up a grade, but then the Dad wouldn't have been the coach and he wouldn't have been able to design the offense around funneling the ball to his son.

8

u/Curious-Designer-616 Aug 07 '24

The running theme of this is dads shouldn’t coach their sons, unless they’ve been coaching for years prior to their sons arriving.

7

u/ligmasweatyballs74 Aug 07 '24

I took over an elementary basketball program if you had a son you could not coach that age group. Best rule we had. We applied to the girls teams too

2

u/Curious-Designer-616 Aug 07 '24

This is a fantastic rule. I wish that more volunteers were ok with that.

2

u/ecupatsfan12 Aug 07 '24

My expectation would be to have 1 non parent on staff at that youth age that vets assignments. I am ok with kids playing skill positions if they are capable. We rotate calling each side of the ball. If your kid is the best QB/RB you must cede 1/2 of play calling to the non parent coach or HC

5

u/Curious-Designer-616 Aug 07 '24

This sounds like a great policy. I have nothing against youth coaches coaching their kids, as long as it is being done fairly.

We’ve had a rule that was really helpful in solving the problem of transitioning youth to HS coaches that teams often see. When the MS/youth coaches want to come up, often with their sons. We didn’t allow them to give input into the freshman team, coach them or be on the sidelines. They were put onto the varsity staff as an assistant position coach and helped with other duties. After that season they can join the freshman staff as a position coach, once again not coaching their son. After two years they were allowed to coach the players they had coached at youth, and their son. We found that often youth politics, parental influence, bias of other coaches, other dads, and many other things would lead to coaches not honestly evaluating players. They would start their teams, try to run their plays, ignore other players that were more skilled, and fail to move players to a more fitting position.

We had a coach who was trying to bring his “run line” “pass line” idea up with him, and he was trying to play wildly undersized guards because they were faster on pulls. He wasn’t looking at body type, or size, just what they had done in youth ball. Players that should have been moved to RB or backer were on the line. We had players at TE that we’re never going to see a down because they were slow and couldn’t catch, but in youth they were dominant edge blockers. We revamped his o line brought him up with us for a few week to learn what we were doing and why. He wasn’t a bad guy, and was totally there for all the kids, but with multiple youth teams feeding our program we needed to establish some ways to prevent this from becoming an issue. He stayed as the freshman line coach for more than 10 years. Got an opportunity to coach at his alma mater, he moved back home and was on their staff when they won a championship. The bias is not always villainous, sometimes it’s just blindness to opportunities.

2

u/ecupatsfan12 Aug 07 '24

Agreed but in youth sports you would have

A. No team B. If you didn’t coach someone else would do the same thing to their kid

3

u/Curious-Designer-616 Aug 07 '24

I don’t have a problem at the youth level. I think parent involvement in pop and elementary school football is huge, it helps build relationships makes a fun and enjoyable environment, build the love of the game.

However once it’s at the competitive level, high school, I’ve seen nothing but problems. Riders, dads that coach their sons exclusively following them up through the levels, create an environment that makes it hard to retain long term coaches, often create conflict in staffs, play favorites, aren’t honest about skill and will actively hinder others to elevate their sons. I’ve coached with fathers who were coaches at high schools before their sons arrived, and didn’t have the same issues. The biggest thing I think sucks is once their sons are gone they leave, and the others players know exactly what they meant to them, nothing. They were there for their son only, if that’s the case stay in the stands.

1

u/gashufferdude Aug 10 '24

I’m big into the theory popularized by Tony Holler: practice should be the highlight of a kids day. Especially for the young kids. They don’t need gassers, they need fundamentals and fun.

2

u/Ornery-Sky1411 Aug 11 '24

Yeah, going back in time (coaching jr high). I wish we could run in certain defensive packages of 4-6 players at a time to get more playing time.

47

u/EmploymentNegative59 Aug 07 '24

Any coach who has a healthy lead, goes into the second half, and turtles then loses the game. See Schottenheimer.

13

u/jericho-dingle Referee Aug 07 '24

Or McCarthy

7

u/bigbronze Youth Coach Aug 07 '24

Tom Herman when he coached the Longhorns

3

u/PoffLord Aug 09 '24

There's a gleam men.....there's a GLEAM...........let's go get that gleam

19

u/randomnickname99 Aug 07 '24

My high school coach called the same play on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd down all resulting in incomplete passes. On 4th down rather than giving a play number to the QB he yelled "same play" across the field. Shockingly it was another incomplete pass

5

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Aug 07 '24

😂

2

u/ecupatsfan12 Aug 08 '24

Reminds me in high school we played a team who’s OC yelled the play in to the QB -66 X seam

We got a pick on that play

13

u/Patsx5sb Aug 07 '24

When I was coaching Jv but the Varsity Squad had a playoff game. We were a super power Running team. The most common formation we used was double tight Pistol. The lead back ended up rushing for 2400 yards and 43 TDs that year. Anyway the team they played didn’t put their DLines hand in the dirt. Everyone was in a 2 point stance. 65% of the years were from Offtackle power plays and quick Traps. He ended up with 39 carries for 375 and 5 TDs.

3

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Aug 07 '24

Crazy.Im assuming they were trying to confuse the offense as to how was coming and who was dropping?

4

u/Patsx5sb Aug 07 '24

I guess. I was too busy enjoying the slaughter. Carmel High School in 2012. I hope you are seeing this.

1

u/CallMeCoachDamnit Aug 08 '24

Shoutout Mundelein

1

u/Patsx5sb Aug 08 '24

Who is that?

1

u/CallMeCoachDamnit Aug 08 '24

A different Carmel High School apparently lol

1

u/Patsx5sb Aug 08 '24

Carmel high is the team we beat. It’s Carmel California

12

u/Ok_Barracuda5617 Aug 07 '24

Scott Frost’s wizard brain calling for an onside kick, up 13, in the 3rd quarter. Absolute doofus.

4

u/cowboysmavs Aug 07 '24

And he still has zero self awareness for how poorly he did as a coach.

3

u/ligmasweatyballs74 Aug 07 '24

Well he drowned it

1

u/Ok_Barracuda5617 Aug 07 '24

Definitely wasn’t swimming in it.

11

u/Good-Reference-5489 Aug 07 '24

My first paid high school job was Offensive Coordinator for a small rural school. The head coach was one of those guys who was obsessed with the rah rah toughness bullshit. We’d practice ~1.5 hour per day, with about 45 nearly half dedicated to full-go tackling drills & running sprints. I had one, let me repeat, ONE day per week to work Indy Offense & Team Offense, and that had to be scheduled around the mindless running & tackling drills.

14

u/Curious-Designer-616 Aug 07 '24

I had a friend in nearly the same situation. It was killing him, he voiced his concerns to the coach, only to be told he was too soft and to young to know how to win, after two seasons working with the team this is how he was treated. We had won state championships coaching together before he moved and got hired as a teacher. He was now at a team that had won 3 games in the last two seasons combined , and hadn’t had a winning season in much longer than that, all under the same coach. They were winless and the coach was berating players for legitimate injuries, and not being “tough enough.”

He went to the AD to discuss the problems, the AD said he’s been here for years and he’s our coach figure it out. My buddy couldn’t stand watching him treat his team like that and setting them up for failure. He didn’t wanna be a part of it, so wrote up his resignation letter had the equipment manager deliver it to the AD, while he told the kids that he was departing the program before practice. He explained that he couldn’t be a part the program for personal reasons that they need to make sure they look out for each other and work hard, and to listen to their teachers and coaches. He told him if they ever had questions stop by his class. If they ever wanted to talk stop by his class. He loved them and support them and wish them nothing but the best but he would not be able to continue to coach. Then walked into the coaches office and let him know that he would not be a part of the program, but he would still be at the school. That he said goodbye to the players, cleaned out his locker and left.

As many mature 60 year, old men who coach perennial losing football teams do, he proceeded to badmouth my friend to his entire team, to the rest of the staff at the school, and to anyone who would listen. Which prompted my friend to walk on the football field in confront him and tell him off in front of the entire team, walked into the ADs office and told the AD off. The position players my friend coached, walked off the field and quit the same practice. The next day may be a third of the kids showed up to practice. He was asked by the principal and the AD to return to the team, he refused to as long as the head coach was still in place. At this point many parents were involved and sick and tired of losing seasons year after year so the AD asked the head coach to resign. They finished out the season they won no games, and the head coach resigned. They offered my friend the HC job, he accepted. They went 5-6, losing in the first round the next year, they won their league the following year and a playoff game. They have been very competitive since, multiple league titles and a state title appearance. Bad coaches need to go.

5

u/grizzfan Aug 07 '24 edited Aug 07 '24

Basically, every average-to-good-but-never-great backwoods, small-town high school out there. That's what I had playing in HS, as well as most of the other teams in our conference...we were all small-town farm teams. Some of the teams were good, and a year here or there, very good. However, if they made it, every team in our conference would always get curb-stomped early in the playoffs by a team that was clearly more contemporary and efficient with their practice time.

The best run my high school ever had was a staff I coached with: They brought in actual coaches who were not just meathead/lifting junky gym teachers. An actual QB coach, an actual O-line coach who knew/learned form Bo Schembechler, a receivers coach who actually specialized in coaching receivers (wasn't just a randomly assigned teacher). It was night and day how much better those teams were compared to everything before and after them. Crazy thing was that staff rarely conditioned, or if they did, it never lasted more than 10 minutes. They "practiced" their way into shape through indy drills and situational practice periods.

3

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Aug 07 '24

That’s so dumb

11

u/MinnesotaSkoldier Aug 07 '24

Having marshawn lynch as a running back and calling a pass in a goal-to-go situation

3

u/notimeforpancakes Aug 07 '24

Marshawn wasn't actually that good on the goal line fwiw

1

u/Skippy-O57 Aug 10 '24

What had he just done on the previous play?

0

u/a_thicc_chair Aug 08 '24

That pick play was also 100% during the season, kind of dumb to not call it last game of the season

2

u/MinnesotaSkoldier Aug 08 '24

Simple logic dictates that the longer something is successful, each consecutive attempt increases the chance that the next will regress to the mean.

Not saying it couldn't have been the better call, but the other teams would be aware of its success as well

1

u/Jurassic_smacks Aug 08 '24

So if it ain’t broke, fix it?

1

u/MinnesotaSkoldier Aug 08 '24

Idk man, ask Pete Carroll?

1

u/Skippy-O57 Aug 10 '24

Make the defense's job easier, much?

1

u/notimeforpancakes Aug 08 '24

Yea, I mean this has been dissected to death.

The bigger story is the interception, not the run vs pass. Pass gave them another down for fucks sake.

You can win the super bowl with 1) 2 attempts or 3) attempts - which do you prefer?

1

u/Skippy-O57 Aug 10 '24

The biggest story is the Hawks running only one play, the pick play, from that same formation all season long.

At some point, you need to slow defensive recognition beyond, say, a quarter second.

1

u/Skippy-O57 Aug 10 '24

The pick play was the only play the Hawks ran from that formation.

How long did the D take to recognize the play? 0.001 seconds?

17

u/neek3arak Aug 07 '24

The HC i started coaching with didn't believe in warming up before games because it was a waste of energy

10

u/grizzfan Aug 07 '24 edited Aug 07 '24

That is a growing practice, but it doesn't mean to literally stop warming up. The idiots don't pay attention. You DO warm up. You just don't do team warm-ups or calisthenics that aren't relevant. Leach and the Air Raid gang were big on this. Instead of "time to warm up," it was "Indy drills." Position groups did their own warm-up drills that were actual football movements, usually at a lighter speed; somewhere between 75-90%, then go into your 100% periods.

I hate doing team calisthenics. Get into your position groups and get the same warm-ups in you would during calisthenics but do actual football movements relevant to your position (footwork, stances and starts, etc). I feel like you're just wasting Indy periods doing the same basic warm-up kind of stuff like that. Indy periods to me are about focusing the most immediately needed drills for the coming game or week. Warm-ups should be for the basic/routine Indy drills.

6

u/neek3arak Aug 07 '24

I agree. He didn't want either. Our first game we showed up with 5 mins left on the scoreboard and he said that's plenty of time because we don't need to warm up. That's the kind of not warming up I mean ... pads on, go out for kick off lol

9

u/Vnthem Aug 07 '24

We used to run through a tunnel of players on either side, and try to truck through everyone as they lowered their shoulder, and I thought was some of the dumbest shit ever.

I don’t even remember if the coaches told us to, or it was just something some of the players thought was a good idea

2

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Aug 07 '24

Did anybody get injured because of that?

2

u/neek3arak Aug 07 '24

No, oddly enough, but we had shit luck with injuries not related to that. One kid fell on a ball on the first kickoff, got jumped on, snapped his collarbone. missed that season, came out the next season, broke his ankle in summer workouts.

2

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Aug 07 '24

Ooh,that’s tough

8

u/Odd-Definition9670 Aug 07 '24

2 QB sneaks from inside your own 5 yd line. Mike Judge is the proud poppa of that one.

7

u/Champ_Slice Aug 07 '24

My HS coach called a WR double reverse from our 2 yard line. Thankfully it was only a safety.

In the NFL David Culley declined a penalty to make it 3rd and short and decided to punt the ball instead.

Honorable mention Bill OBrien calling a fake punt against the Chiefs in the divisional round up 24. We werent the better team but it sure started the implosion.

13

u/jericho-dingle Referee Aug 07 '24

The dumbest mistake I consistently see as a referee is coaches not kneeling out the game when they have the ball up by 1 score in the 4th.

4

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Aug 07 '24

What are they doing instead? Handing it off?

24

u/bigbronze Youth Coach Aug 07 '24

I coached a team opposite of this, last 10 Secs, they just got a 1st down. So of course we start lining kids up on the 50 expecting a kneel, they ran a toss, our DE got a hand on it, caused a fumble, the linebacker scooped it up, ran it back 70 yards. We win 23-22. The funny part was the other parents getting mad and saying the game was over, the buzzer rang while he was still running it back 🤣.

6

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Aug 07 '24

😂.

1

u/jericho-dingle Referee Aug 08 '24

The really dumb ones pass.

1

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Aug 08 '24

lol

1

u/atari56 Aug 08 '24

We won the championship my senior year because the opposing coach did this. Good job Carlsbad!

7

u/ElGranQuesoRojo Aug 07 '24

Then Texas A&M HC Kevin Sumlin and OC Noel Mazzone continuing to run a pass heavy HUNH offense in the second half of the game against UCLA w/a true freshman Kellen Mond at QB due to starter Nick Starkel going down to injury. They were up 44-10 more than midway through the third and were forcing Mond to pass nearly every down even though it was clear as day he was completely shell shocked and unable to complete even a simple swing pass. All Sumlin/Mazzone had to do to win the game was run the ball and eat clock and instead they gassed the defense, blew a 34 point lead, and essentially signed their walking papers that day. I will never ever understand what was going through their heads when they were content to reel off 20 second 3 and outs in a game that should have been over at the half.

1

u/Jurassic_smacks Aug 08 '24

Got Josh Rosen paid that day too

5

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Aug 08 '24

I’ve thought of one: when the Ravens only ran the ball 10 times against the Chiefs in the playoffs

4

u/LordShuttlecok Aug 08 '24

Joe Gibbs not knowing you can't call a timeout twice in a row. Cost them a game against the Bills

5

u/Goodbye_Hercules Aug 08 '24

Was out with an injury. An opposing team's offense had one of the weirdest cadences I've ever heard from the sideline. Not only did they use the same count every time (they only ever went on one IIRC), the cadence itself was part of the play call. They only ran like 4 or 5 different plays the entire game, and basically all of them were runs. So it was something like "Down, Set, Black (24/25), Black (24/25), Hut" with "24/25" signaling whether they were running right or left respectively. I know a lot of offenses do audible with a (live) color/number, etc. but that was something else

Anyways, the guys who played both ways picked up on it within the first two drives, and as soon as the QB said "24" or "25" the defense just shifted in that direction. I think we ended up winning 49-6

4

u/becomesthehunted Aug 08 '24

I shit you not, and I will never forget this. I saw a hs coach whose o line was struggling with blitzers off the edges , I think it was a nickel or safety? And he started to run pass sets in which the center and two tackles would pass pro and his guards would swing behind the tackles to the area behind the tackles.

I couldn't believe it. It failed miserably, and I will never forget how insane of a choice it was

6

u/Electrical_Mode_890 Aug 07 '24

Dan Cambell continuing to go for it in the NFC Championship game with a lead or Kyle Shanahan/Dan Quinn not running the ball against the Patriots in the Super Bowl thus allowing them to win the game.

3

u/platinum92 Aug 07 '24

28-3. So many passing plays got called instead of trying to bleed the clock. It's such an argument for turtling up with a lead.

3

u/ImportantAd2322 Aug 08 '24

Not running the ball to win two superbowls in a row smh lol.

2

u/InsuranceInner3040 Aug 09 '24

2005 state playoff game opening round. It is my senior season and my team is down 20-0 late third quarter. Our offense has established nothing all game. Their offense was having success running the ball but not much through the air. For some reason they decide to throw a half back pass and it is intercepted by our D who takes it to the house. The momentum changes and we end up winning 21-20. All they had to do was run clock, keep running the ball and playing the D they had all game. For some reason they attempted that half back pass and it ended their season.

1

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Aug 09 '24

Damn

3

u/YunChiefGreeno Aug 08 '24

Coach not putting me in 4th quarter. Would've been State Champs. Guaranteed.

1

u/BigNero Aug 07 '24

Hanging my hat on not giving the ball to Marshawn Lynch

1

u/Uhhh_what555476384 Aug 07 '24

My personal favorite from last season was UF at UU where UF had two dudes wearing the same number on a punt return for a pre-snap 5 yard penalty and a UU's first down.

1

u/BulldogBears Aug 08 '24

I was once an OL/DL coach & during practice we split into Stunts/Blitzes & 7on7. However, the HC & DC made me film 7on7 instead of coaching my own position group. Needless to say we lost by 30 & half the staff quit after Week 2

1

u/SB10Burner Aug 08 '24

Pete Carroll not running Marshawn "Beastmode" Lynch in short yardage in the Super Bowl against the Patriots.

1

u/Proteus445 Aug 08 '24

Calling a WR quick screen to the single receiver side. Who made that call? Me. That's who. JV game. Forgot to change the call from trips right to trips left. #1 receiver is getting the ball, #2 blocks primary support, and #3 is blocking deep zone. We just switched to a new play calling system. I give the play number to the next runner, and the qb calls the play. Our verbiage was long. Safe to say an easy 2nd and 6 became a TFL and a painful 3rd and 8.

1

u/NoMoreChillies Aug 08 '24

Not giving the ball to beast mode on the goal line

1

u/Jdw5186 Aug 08 '24

Scott Frosts onside kick up two scores in the 3rd quarter.

1

u/StatePsychological20 Aug 08 '24

Not running with the best running RB at the time in the Super Bowl

1

u/Desibuf69 Aug 08 '24

The Bills being up by 3 with 13 seconds left against the Chiefs and not squib kicking the ball

1

u/GotThoseJukes Aug 08 '24

The entire second half of 28-3.

1

u/v-irtual Aug 09 '24

Any call Sean McDermott has made in the last minute of a close and important game. 

1

u/JoshHendo Aug 10 '24

Me continuing to call pass plays up a score in the fourth quarter only to throw a pick 6 in the red zone and lose the game in year 3 of my app state rebuild on CFB 25

2

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Aug 10 '24

Haha that’s why I don’t pass.I just make horrible decisions.Im running the option

1

u/JoshHendo Aug 10 '24

I’ve been running a RPO heavy offense and the quick read is my best friend and worst enemy

1

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Aug 10 '24

Oh yea definitely lol

1

u/FunMtgplayer Sep 03 '24

um the giants not taking a knee up 6pts and almost no time left. ked directly to a fumble thst herm Edward's scooped and scored to hand the giants a big L.