2005 Youth Football Coaching Clinic Series

Former Chargers quarterback Jim Harbaugh, now USD’s head coach, told a story about his first experience playing Pop Warner football and what it meant to the rest of his career in high school, college and the NFL.

The 300 youth league coaches listened and learned as Harbaugh was the first of the esteemed speakers in a football clinic on Saturday, May 14 at Chargers Park.

Next the youth coaches heard from San Diego State head coach Tom Craft. He explained how he teaches his players to understand the strategy of the game through practice routines.

Former Chargers safety Miles McPherson emphasized the value of youth league coaches as mentors to young athletes.

Chargers defensive Igor Olshanksy talked about his experience in football and then opened up his talk to questions and answers.

Former San Diego Clippers basketball player Jim Brogan, a motivational speaker, also talked about how to communicate with young with athletes and build a coach-player relationship.

And then some of San Diego County’s most successful high school coaches, including retired Helix coach Jim Arnaiz and Torrey Pines coach Ed Burke, conducted chalk talks and directed on-the-field drills.

There are still two more clinics remaining in the Champions Sports Academy Youth Football Credentialing Clinic. The clinic on May 14 was an event sponsored by the Chargers, the San Diego Hall of Champions, the National Football League and the National Football Federation.

“It’s a great responsibility you have to teach the game and make it fun for kids,” Tom Bass, the director of the clinic and the Chargers defensive coordintor, told the youth coaches. “We hope you understand we don’t want to these kids to hate football. You know we’re losing kids to other sports. I’m sure many of you in this audience have had the experience where a coach didn’t make the game fun.”

The final two clinics are June 18 and July 16 at the San Diego Hall of Champions Sports Museum in Balboa Park. Attending one of the football clinics meets the credentialing requirement youth coaches must fulfill to coach youth football in San Diego.

Harbaugh’s story was about his first time in a tackling drill when he faced a player more physically mature than other players while he was in fourth grade in Ann Arbor, Mich.

“Ralph was looking fierce,” Harbaugh said of the kid across the line of scrimmage in the tackling drill. “All I could think of is what the coach told me: ‘Good football position, weight on the balls of my feet, arc in my back and when whistle blows stick my face in there, with a V in the neck, roll my hips and wrap my arms.’ Next thing I know I heard the whistle go and then I heard a thud.”

The coaches laughed as Harbaugh told the story about how to motivate young athletes to face challenges.

“The point is you do something and then you get the courage from that,” Harbaugh continued. “Ralph is going to be there when you’re taking a test or you want to ask a girl for a date. Ralph is always there, and you get the courage after facing him.”

One practice routine Craft talked about was getting his quarterbacks to understand they don’t have to force passes deep on third-and-10 when just inside the opponent’s 50-yard line.

“We create thought processes to develop problem solving,” Craft said. “If they force a post, then we’re facing fourth-and-10. If they get 5 yards on third down, then we’re facing fourth-and-5. The volume of plays we can run that will get a first down on fourth-and-5 is greater than on fourth-and-10. Or we can try a field goal. That’s how we try to teach them to think. These are things to think about when you put your practice schedule together.”

McPherson, a Chargers safety that is now a pastor at the Rock Church in San Diego, talked about the early impressions a coach makes on a young athletes.

“How you talk to them, how you treat them, how come off to them is what they’ll remember about playing for you,” McPherson said. “They will talk like you talk, they will walk like you walk, they will wear their hat like you wear your hat and they will yell at people like you yell at people. What they will take with them isn’t X’s and O’s; it will be life.”

Olshansky emphasized that position coaches can have just as important of a role, if not more important, than the head coach.

“The things I learned from my D-line coach, Steve Greatwood, at Oregon was to be on time and to take care of business,” Olshansky said. “I always found that my grades were better during than the season than out of the season because I was taking care of business.”

COMMENTS FROM YOUTH COACHES ON THE MAY 14 CLINIC

(Comments were taken from anonymous evaluation forms.)

I attended all four sessions last year and the session this year (May 14, 2005). The speakers have been outstanding and the topics have been wide-ranging. As coaches, we can always benefit from increasing our knowledge. This clinic is an excellent way to get it.

-- Jon Taylor, youth coach

"All the speakers were great; they all covered different issues."

-- Youth coach

"Brogan's communication portion and the portion Miles discussed on our own role in the lives of the players and how we impact their future were the best parts."

-- Youth coach

"Jim Brogan did a great job!"

-- Youth coach

"I found Jim Harbaugh's skill communication most interesting."

-- Youth coach

"I liked the on-field skills session, going over technique geared towards defense and offense."

-- Youth coach

"All sessions were fascinating and have inspired me to pursue a professional coaching career."

-- Youth coach

"I learned from Ed Burke's communication and Tom Bass' defensive skills."

-- Youth coach