Coach and Coordinator Podcast

On today’s Coach and Coordinator Podcast, Host Keith Grabowski is joined by Illinois State Head Coach Brock Spack. Coach Spack took over in 2009 for the Redbirds and has amassed a record of 83-50 since then including 2 Missouri Valley Football Conference titles. Prior to taking over as Head Coach, Spack was the defensive coordinator at Purdue from 1997-2008. Spack joins the podcast today to talk about his switch from an even front to an odd front. Show Notes: 1:16 Qualities that drive Spacks program 2:55 When he decided he wanted to Coach 7:11 The Coach who had the most impact on Spack 11:13 Fundamentals that his defenses believe in 20:26 What caused him to switch his defense from and even front to an odd front 27:30 Advantage of going from odd to even based on the down 31:35 How coach feels in the 3-4 going against run heavy teams 34:42 Winning Edge Illinois Clinic Link: IHSFCA.coachesclinic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Coach and Coordinator Podcast welcomes Tim Racki, Head Coach at Nazareth Academy in Illinois, onto the show today. Racki is a 7 time State Champion in Illinois and is known for his ability to turn programs around and take them from failure to success. Racki joins host, Keith Grabowski, to talk about how he raises the bar at programs and the key factors in doing so. Show Notes 1:45 Coach’s ability to turn things around at different programs 3:11 Empowering his assistants 4:13 Trusting your assistant coaches 6:17 Giving up play calling duties 8:44 Making the bigger picture decisions during the game 10:31 Game management 12:26 Knowing who you’re coaching and building relationships 16:43 Kids having different experiences growing up now as opposed to what you had as a coach and how that affects your style 19:40 Getting players and coaches to buy in and be vulnerable 22:42 Having your assistants adopt your philosophy 23:42 Topic coach will cover in his talk at the Illinois High School Football Association Clinic 29:17 Winning Edge 30:40 Connect with Coach Illinois Clinic Link: IHSFCA.coachesclinic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s episode of The Coach and Coordinator Podcast, host Keith Grabowski is joined by Head Football Coach at Eastern Illinois, Adam Cushing. Cushing will be going into his second year as head coach of the Panthers when their season resumes this spring. Prior to Eastern Illinois, Cushing coached at Northwestern since 2004, where he held roles of Tight Ends Coach, Superbacks coach and since 2009, offensive line coach. During his time at Northwestern, the team appeared in 10 bowl games including a win over Utah in the Holiday Bowl in his last game. Coach joins the podcast today to talk about simplifying culture. Show Notes: 1:17 When Cushing decided he wanted to be a coach 4:05 Key takeaways from the Coaches he learned from 7:52 The foundation of Cushings culture 10:14 Special things Coach’s teams do in the community, even during Covid 13:13 Value of a football program in the big picture of the world 14:55 Empowering his assistant coaches 18:31 Simplifying his message to his players 23:21 Doing accountability the right way 26:42 How Coach took time to make his message concise 29:22 How to adjust if players aren’t getting the message 31:36 Overview of what Cushing will be talking about at the IHFCA 33:46 Winning Edge 35:45 Connect with Coach Illinois Clinic Link: IHSFCA.coachesclinic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on Coach and Coordinator, Lou Tepper joins Host Keith Grabowski to talk about his 3-3 scheme and the best characteristics for Linebackers. Tepper has coached numerous linebackers to the Butkus award, which is awarded to the best linebacker in the country. While he’s most well known for his time at Illinois, he also spent time at LSU, Edinboro, IUP, Buffalo and various other schools. Coach is widely regarded as one of the best Linebacker Coaches in the country. Show Notes 2:35 Tepper’s great staff and background at Illinois 4:11 When Tepper made the decision to become a coach 7:06 Coach’s philosophy and the influence they have on kids 11:02 How he landed on the 3-4 defense 16:12 Adjustments to 12 and 21 personnel 19:38 3-3 vs 12 personnel 30:12 Playing vs teams that try and unstack the stack 32:51 Studying of offensive line splits 37:37 Finding people to gather important information for you 39:22 Key attributes Tepper looks for in a Linebacker 53:14 Intangibles Tepper looks for in his LB’s 56:29 Winning Edge Illinois Clinic Link: IHSFCA.coachesclinic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s episode of Coach and Coordinator, host Keith Grabowski is joined by former NFL Offensive Coordinator Ron Turner. Turner has served as OC of the Chicago Bears two different times as well as being a QB Coach for the Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 2001, as head coach at Illinois, he was named Big Ten Coach of the Year. Turner joined the show today to share what he learned on his journey. Show Notes :57 What the games meant to Coach 2:12 Watching his sons coaching journey 3:22 Advice he gave his sons on how to deal with the unique challenges this season 4:38 Be Yourself 6:17 What Coach picked up from his mentors 10:15 Narrowing your offseason approach to help fit your beliefs, system and program 13:00 Advice to young coaches on how to be a better teacher of the game 14:34 Importance of run/pass balance in your offense and what creates it 20:05 Balancing what you do vs gameplan 21:30 Intentionally setting up tendencies based off self scout 22:29 Biggest factors in determining whether or not your QB is ready 25:41 What current coaches are struggling with while Coach is watching games 28:09 Winning Edge Illinois Clinic Link: IHSFCA.coachesclinic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's podcast, Sam Parker, offensive line coach at Ferris State shares a unique way in which he coaches his players to get mental reps. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Leadership Journey - Week 2, Changing the Culture Brian Kight and Keith Grabowski team up for this special Leadership Journey edition of the Coach and Coordinator podcast. This podcast will occur weekly throughout the season, focusing on issues that teams face during the season. Kight discusses changing culture in today’s podcast. 01:20 Alonzo Highsmith’s observation on Hard Knocks 01:58 Patience and discipline in changing a culture 03:00 Culture matters to winning and the quality of the experience 04:10 Culture is not the objective; it must have a function and relevance 05:53 What are you changing the culture for? 06:10 Contribute to the environment you are in 08:29 Urgency plus patience with discipline 09:23 Not urgent enough in pressing people now 10:20 Don’t rush when you see the pay off 11:50 Be urgent in the day and patient over two years 12:58 What does urgency done correctly look like? 13:55 Three things: maniacal commitment, intolerant of anything but the standard, do it with a ton of love 17:00 A unique combination 21:54 Being maniacal and intolerant is not an excuse to mistreat people 25:30 Urgency - don’t let empathy stop you from being urgent 26:27 Discipline is required 28:00 The intent of discipline 29:20 Doing things out of compliance, obedience, or discipline 29:48 Weakness of compliance and limitations of obedience 31:38 What can we learn from the opportunities of game day? 32:20 Culture is measured in years 33:00 Look for language change and behavior change 34:00 Look for micro ways to adjust in-season 34:24 Incremental changes begin to build up 35:46 Make significant major changes in the off season 38:35 The outcomes are going to come the we are good enough to earn them Leadership Journey Playlists: https://soundcloud.com/user-804678956/sets/the-leadership-journey-with https://soundcloud.com/user-804678956/sets/the-leadership-journey-season https://soundcloud.com/user-804678956/sets/the-leadership-journey-with-1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Game Plan with Coach Charlie Coiner and guest John Shoop Guest host Charlie Coiner joins Keith Grabowski this season for “The Game Plan” series. Coiner is a retired coach and the founder of First Down Playbook. Coiner has worked as an assistant coach in the NFL with the Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills and ash the college level with a number of teams, most notably, Vanderbilt, LSU, Louisville, North Carolina, and Tennessee. John Shoop has coached at every level. Currently the QB coach at AC Reynolds High School, Shoop spent the majority of his career in the NFL as a quarterbacks for the Panthers, and added offensive coordinator duties with the Bears, Buccaneers, and Raiders. He then went on to be the offensive coordinator at the University of North Carolina and then Purdue. 00:44 John Shoop bio 02:09 Change in the focal point of offense 02:47 Continue developing QB mechanics in season 04:20 The value of the QB coach 04:50 Constant feedback is necessary 05:17 Calibration and timing 06:14 Coaching “that guy” and protecting him in practice 07:09 Working with the second quarterback 08:31 Grading players on their proficiency of the playbook 09:37 Continuing to prepare for contingency plans 10:58 John Shoop joins the show 11:39 Challenge of honing the decision while improving mechanics 12:09 The best coaches think of an entire practice as an individual period 12:50 Always coach techniques 13:50 Working waist up and waist down 14:49 Two things upper: arm speed and a tight circle (Tom Brady, Dan Marino and Aaron Rodgers) 17:28 Lower body: wide base and throw with a small step 18:30 Harder to correct the upper body 19:51 Training the lower body 21:14 “The eye of the hurricane” 21:46 Coaching up fundamentals outside of individual 22:17 The value of 7 on 7 in QB development 24:33 Working with the youth league and 7 on 7 coaches 25:27 Offense today and how they stimulate enthusiasm 29:38 Number one goal in the NFL for a quarterback – start 16 games 30:35 Be intentional about durability 31:05 Dick Jauron – cumulative effects of hits 32:32 A play that can work at all three levels – “Razor” 36:59 The upper body – Peyton Manning 38:36 7 on 7 in practice tips to get a more game like feel 42:00 Getting more out of the drill for number two QB Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guest on the Coach and Coordinator podcast is Joe Ashfield, who enters his first season as offensive line coach at Rice University. Prior to Rice, Ashfield spent five seasons as an offensive assistant at Stanford, where he prepared opponent scouting reports and statistical analysis. Other coaching stops include New Mexico Military Institute, Loras College and Delta State. He also coached the North Harbour Pride in New Zealand and the New Zealand National Team. After playing college football at Saint John’s University, where he graduated in 2000, Ashfield played professionally as a quarterback in the German Football League On today’s show, Ashfield and host Keith Grabowski talk about his experience playing and coaching overseas and developing as an offensive line coach. Show Notes 2:15 Going from football player to coach 7:18 Practice style of his college head coach, John Gagliardi 10:52 Playing football abroad 12:33 Putting players in the best situations to succeed 14:34 Coaching football overseas 17:14 Developing schemes later in coaching career 18:24 Transition from playing quarterback to coaching offensive line 21:49 Building the offensive line at Rice 25:43 Giving control to the players 29:02 Players modifying the scheme to their advantage 32:32 Implementing successful and safe technique 35:09 Using strongest part of the body in blocking 38:21 Best drill to unlock the player’s hips into the block 40:47 Ashfield’s go-to play to call 42:19 Why he uses the wing on the gap scheme 43:45 The Winning Edge Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s episode is a Quickcast with Matt Rhule special thanks to Texas High School Coaches Association Convention and CoachTube. This is from prior to the 2019. The entire talk which includes a section on leadership and branding as well as Coach Rhule’s clinic on Winning in the Red zone are available on CoachTube. A link is in the shownotes. Shownotes can be found in your app in the episode description or on our new home for the podcast, coachandcoordinator.com -What is your job as the head coach -The first question to ask -Why are you here? -Coach Rhule’s why -Mission statement - why and how Follow me on twitter @coachkgrabowski and check out our Instagram for football coaches footballcoaching_com Link to Matt Rhule - Building the Brand (and Winning in the Red Zone): https://coachtube.com/course/football/matt-rhule-building-the-brand/1066764?ambassador=325306f59bb543b6883ff4baa Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices