My son Bradley has played ten seasons of tackle football – eight seasons of youth and two seasons of middle school football.  As he heads into high school this fall, I find myself thinking back to all of the coaches that he’s played for, many of whom have meant a great deal in his development and others that were the exact opposite. There have been coaches along the way that worked with him and taught him the proper techniques that allowed him to develop as a center. But, there were a couple of coaches that tried to hold him back (that really just fueled his fire). 

The USA Football’s Football Development Model’s Coach Education and Training pillar gives importance, at any level of football, for coaches to be able to teach young players the proper fundamentals as well as the right way to play the game. Getting enough reps and the right instruction in practice is vital for a young player. But if a coach is not doing a good job of teaching and a player doesn’t develop the right way, it can be problematic – particularly down the road.

Bradley was determined to become a quality center and while his play and ability always drew praise form his coaches, there always seemed to be one area where the coaches implored him to improve – his footwork. While some of the coaches continued to get him to improve in that area, they never really worked with him to try and fix the problem. It’s one thing to tell a player that there’s an issue, but you have to show the player what they are doing wrong and come up with a plan to help improve it.

In April of 2018, Bradley attended the USA Football Middle School Showcase at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. At the end of the day, he was given an evaluation card from the offensive line coach for his group and what do you think one of the comments was?

“Keep working on your footwork and you’ll be great,” wrote the coach on that card.

Bradley’s performance that day earned him an invitation to the Middle School Bowl Game Series. He worked that whole week with some outstanding U.S. National Team Coaches from colleges all over the country. I remember watching him in practice, particularly later in the week, and even I could tell that his footwork had improved. All he needed was someone to show him the right way to do it. That fall, he played 7th-grade middle school football and I never saw him fly around the field at any other point in his career.

Proper coaching is so important, especially at a young age. It’s crucial as a parent to gauge if your child is showing improvement with their coach. If you feel that’s not the case or you feel that your child is not being given a fair opportunity, then you may want to take a look at other options. Always keep in mind that you should look at a program that requires the coaches to be USA Football certified. 

Peter is a sports anchor for the CBS Sports Radio Network and WFAN Radio in New York.  His son Bradley is entering his first year of high school football and is a participant in the U.S. National Team program while his younger son Jared plays flag football.   Peter, his wife Sheryl and the boys are busy cheering on the New York Jets when they’re not at a youth football field.