Nah, Club is for losers you didn't know that?He was actively being recruited by at least 6 schools. We did 4 visits and he saw how hard they they worked in the off season and he was like I'll skip it Dad. "I want to go to school get a degree and have a blast doing it lax is just going to cut into it and it wont be the fun".
I would forget TE. If he doesn't have good speed, he will be relegated to blocking a whole lot. Heck, he may be even with some speed on the HS level. He sounds like he's a lot like me at that age, a bit on the lanky side with no speed to back it up.
What my coaches recognized was that I was a very smart player with excellent technique and average athleticism, classic overachiever in a lot of ways. They used me as a 52 DE as that didn't require me to cover many people, just set the edge and rush the passer. I was also a pulling C, rare for back then as most teams tended to play with a NG over the C. The coaches realized that I could get out on a LB or to the edge faster than classic fireplug Centers, so they moved those kids to OG.![]()
I did well enough to receive some local partial scholarships. Not bad for a slowish, doofy bastard. Just something to consider when it comes time for him to play.
What Jets said. My 15 year old is 5'11, 185...plays MLB and DE. Besides the obvious like size and speed it comes down to the old cliche...heart. I've seen 6'4 280 lb kids play (and block) with the intensity of a soggy marshmellow and 5'5" fireplugs who would go through brick walls.
No worries your son will pick it up quicker than you think, talk to him after 3 more weeks of practice and it'll be like night and day.
On a side note good for your son for having the initiative/balls to try something new and challenging. Many teens are too self conscious to do likewise.
Last edited by PatriotReign; 08-16-2012 at 04:34 PM.
I only played one season (I too, like Greens boy, was a ball player, a Baseball player,), but I LOVED playing TE.
Now, since I only played cause the Baseball coach was ALSO the Football Coach and he demanded I do so, clearly football playing wasn;t my thing. I played all my youth, but had a VERY nasty hand injury when I was ~11 years old. Played DE, was rushing round the end, RB came my way, I dove, he stepped right down on my hand/thumb, wrapping that badboy all the back round my hand. Double-dislocation of the thumb (both joints) and broke the bones in that thumb in a few places. On my pitching hand no less.
So I gave it up for baseball.
But back on topic, I played the one year, and played WR/TE. I was 6'5", 290 and ran a 4'68 40'. But I was a complete wuss when it came to contact tbqh. I was a harder hitter on the baseball field than the football field, lol, given I'd ran down a few catchers in my time.
But playing scrub prac-squad TE/WR/FB was great. Gave my D a big huge target to beat the hell out of over, and over, and over again. Serving my team.
So what if I never saw the field on Friday nights.
I rested secure in the knowledge that I'd helped us win.
That, and that I threw a betetr fastball then the starters could, lol.
TLDR: Play TE. Catch footballs. Fun ensues.
He just awoke from his post-practice coma and told me he's pretty much the only one getting reps at TE for the JV's, so he doesnt get rotated out. Hence...teh exhaustion. I told him that was a good thing as he would stand out for his effort even if they decide TE aint his bag.
Had four balls come his way, caught them all...had a few coaches talk to him and acknowledged he is a beginner. Said he did fine blocking...
I'm actually cutting and pasting the comments from here and printing them out for him to peruse, so he can see the words of wisdom from "not his dad".
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Cool story, Bro.
Seriously, that is pretty cool. And running that in the 40 with your size, well that's just impressive. You had nothing to fear about contact, save for being afraid that you might hurt someone. Them there are beastly measurables.
Good for him. Just make sure you don't cut and paste anything about how we see you around here. Could do irreparable harm.
There are primarily two approaches to blocking on the edge. One is two get your arms out around shoulder width of your opponent and steer him where you want. However, doing that on the edge, especially at the point of attack (and with long arms, to boot) will draw a penalty a fair amount of the time, especially at the HS level. The better (IMHO) method is to work on making yourself compact yet agile (the aforementioned foot speed), thereby allowing yourself to explode into the chest of your opponent and, short of pancaking, at least gaining a control point INSIDE of the shoulders, which will draw a holding call far less.
There's plenty I could help out with regarding blocking, pass catching not so much. I tried TE 2 years at Namath camp; Winston Hill and Phil Villapiano said I should stick to Center.![]()
I've coached HS football upstate in Section II, class A for a while now. So far so good as far as the advice everyone has offered. It's hard to give specific advice since I don't know what systems they run or details about the school.
I'm assuming he received playbooks? Study, study, study.....Asking questions is good and shows the coaches his interest and effort, but at some point at least one coach on staff will probably get angry and ask why he doesn't know his assignments all the time.
What size school does he go to? He's a big kid, so at a smaller school he may have to be pushed to be on the OL due to lack of numbers. At a bigger school he would most likely be a TE, WR or DE, possibly a safety, again depending on the system.
For tryouts: just work as hard as he can, ingore the soreness, rest, hydrate and remember to deliver the blow, not take it. Talk to older kids who know the system if he's confused about an assignment too.
Whatever position he plays, tell him to DO HIS JOB!!!!!! Good teams are good because each player takes care of his own responsibility, especially on defense. The minute you try to do your own thing and blow a coverage or a RB comes through your gap, say goodbye to playing time.
Thanks!
He's got pretty much everything you posted planted in his brain, so hopefully he uses it.
He was up at 6 today (on his own) for a 730 practice and he seems to really be into it. I figure if he was farging up, it would not be a pleasant experience with the coaches, but he's had no complaints so far.
Just wish he had let me known sooner that he intended to do this so I could have pushed him more on weight training this summer; He would hit the gym daily, but do mostly Basketball and light weights/running.
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