When you’ve been coaching as long as I have (can’t believe it’s been 21 years already!), certain aspects of your job become predictable. I know which kids are going to give 100 percent and which ones will need a little extra nudge each week. I know which plays will take a little longer to perfect. I can usually spot the kid who’s always going to get whistled for false starts.
I also know I’m hard to impress when it comes to new products claiming to make my job easier or make me a better coach. So, I was pleasantly surprised when I first met Austin Barone and was introduced to Just Play.
I first became familiar with the product through Twitter, and after viewing an online demo, I instantly knew my school needed this software. Nevertheless, I took advantage of the three-week trial to really test the product before I committed. I can honestly say that in all my years of coaching, I’ve never seen a platform like this.
Teaching to learning styles
Setting up our playbook and creating the diagrams and quizzes took some time, but like I tell my players, you can only be successful if you put in the hard work up front. And as a 43-year-old, the product was simple to use and set up, and we had no trouble figuring it out.
That initial time investment has been so worth it. Our kids love the software, and they love the ability to pull it up on their phones or iPads—it makes it more fun and alluring to them. Plus, they’re learning at a faster rate, which is something I enjoy. The product allows us to give them everything they need to be better students of the game, in a learning style they understand.
It’s also allowed me as a coach to evaluate my own teaching style. After all these years, I’ve developed certain habits regarding how I taught, but I realized it’s important to stay agile enough to adjust to your players. Bo Hanson, a four-time Olympian and coaching consultant, elaborated on this:
“Being aware of our own tendencies helps us to make conscious choices about how to maximize the learning opportunities we have with our athletes … When an athlete is unaware of their learning style it often leads to them being clueless about what, why and how the coach is trying to teach them. This can result in frustration for both the coach and athlete … [But] when an athlete knows how they learn best, they are able to take an active part in creating more opportunities for this to happen. In addition, coaches who know the different learning style preferences are able to include every style in their practice sessions, thereby meeting the needs of the entire athlete group.”
That’s one of the main reasons I love Just Play. It’s an excellent visual tool for those learners, but offers a number of different approaches to the information, so every player, regardless of learning style, can access what they need to improve their game.
The value of preparation
The aspects of the product that make it an effective teaching tool for kids also make it valuable for teaching other coaches. I speak at a lot of camps and clinics around the country, including the Glazier Clinics and the state-sponsored high school coaches associations. I love to demo the system and show our terminology and our quizzes, and illustrate how easy it is to use the diagram tool. As I’m teaching, I can limit how much information I’m giving them at once, which helps prevent them from feeling overwhelmed.
Finally, it all boils down to preparation. There’s a good reason we’re always running sprint ladders or doing squat jumps. We want our kids to be physically prepared on game day. The same lesson applies to their minds: When everything is equal, teams with a higher IQ come out on top. That’s our competitive advantage because more mistakes are made before the snap then after the snap. As I like to say, “When you think, your feet sink.”
The guys at Just Play are passionate about what they do, and their dedication to teaching and preparation means my team has a real edge on our competition. While much of my job is still predictable, I’m so pleased I found something I couldn’t predict—something I now can’t live without.
Ryan McCartney is in his 21st year of coaching and recently finished his second season as the varsity football defensive coordinator at Seymour High School in Seymour, Ind. Originally from Riverview, Mich., “Coach Mac” previously served as the defensive line coach at Arizona Christian University and was responsible for recruiting the West Coast and Southwest regions. Share your thoughts with him @rmacblue or @JustPlaySS.