S-M-R-T D'oh, I mean S-M-A-R-T

So above is my favourite ever moment from The Simpsons. Every time I see it, it reminds me of being back in 16 Prospect Street in uni with Steve & Phil. It was a running in joke that doesn't seem relevant to a blog that's been mainly focusing on football and coaching lately?

Well it is relevant. It's relevant to something I find very important to football, coaching and life in general. When I started in Exeter, I did this for our first game and it worked wonders. We came out fast and achieved 80% of what we wanted to. An almost perfect start to the season. I've since introduced it to Wyverns for the defense and it has helped focus us in the games I have played in so far this season. I've experimented with when and how to do it, using both technology and an old fashioned approach. Guessed what it is yet? Yep that's right, I'm talking about goal setting. Specifically SMART goal setting and how it can provide you with something to aim for. It doesn't guarantee success but it can put you in positions to be successful.

So what does it stand for?

S - Specific - Being specific when setting goals is key. It means you are detailed in what you want to achieve.
M - Measurable - Being able to quantify your success. Follows on from the detailed specifics, this is the measurement to prove you have been successful or not.
A - Achievable - So now you can measure it, you've got to be able to achieve it. Your goal needs to be achievable to get people motivated to work towards it.
R - Realistic - Pairs nicely with achievable but ensures you don't overreach and become vulnerable. You don't want players playing purely to achieve a statistical goal.
T - Timely - It has to have a time constraint, so you know how long you need to work to achieve your goal.

This model I learnt in work but is widely available on the internet. I've not researched who coined the term and I've seen several variations on the A and R letters. By the time it got to me, it has probably been regurgitated so much that it's far from the original model. Who knows?

Finding the best way to set goals has been a challenge. I face different constraints with each team I'm apart of. With Exeter I get an hour classroom time a week and dedicate half of that in game weeks to set goals. This approach with a full room of people can be quite hectic with lots of voices, but can also be the most efficient. I attempted a live stream on Facebook with Wyverns to try to beat our geographical difficulties and lack of midweek training. We set our goals and learnt plenty, but there was a significant delay between the live stream and the comments, so I spent a lot of the time talking to myself or missing responses to my questions. It's a very surreal experience to be talking to a screen and awaiting for feedback to come in comment form. With a delay.

Either way, it provides a great source of focus for us and allows us to aim for tangible targets that can lead to us being successful in our endeavours. I will now share with you the first iteration of goals for our away season opener against newly relegated Bath Killer Bees:

"Goals give you focus. Goals allow you to measure progress. Goals keep you locked in and free from distractions. Goals help you overcome obstacles. Goals give you motivation. 

I’m a massive believer in goal setting both professionally, personally and in my sporting life. They help you achieve what you didn’t think was possible. They aren’t the be all and end all, but they are important on a path to success. This is why I wanted us to set goals as a defense, not just for this week, but for every game. We will use these as a benchmark to measure our success and dominate teams. This is the first of many posts from me that will display our goals. Let’s own these as a unit and ensure we do our part (and more) to earn that W on Sunday. 

1. Shutout
2. No blown contains.
3. No pass completed over 20 yards.
4. 2 turnovers.
5. Defense scores points. 

Let’s bring it on Sunday and send a message to the division about this defense. Remember, do your job first, then be great. 

Coach 

#BleedGreen "

So we hit 4 out of 5 of these. I thought they were so ambitious we were straying past realistic, however they still felt achievable. We shut bath out, scored the only TD of the game with a pick 6, got 4 turnovers, 8 sacks and didn't blow a contain. The pass completed over 20 yards was on the last drive with nothing but rookies on the field so we were so close to nailing all 5 week one. Once you achieve a goal, you set yourself loftier targets in the next game but you also have to be realistic to your opponent to not over reach. You are constantly working towards improvement. Constantly trying to better yourselves as players and coaches. I thrive from goal setting and just wanted to share a step in my process with you that you may find useful. 

On a sidenote about my blog, for those of you that are new fans, this is where I spill my thoughts about a variety of things to. You'll mostly find football and coaching but will see other views I have on subjects like movies, film and life in general. Some of the older posts shows how regularly I did this in uni, two hiatus' later and I'm trying to start it back up again. It's unbelievably cathartic to be able to write and know that even one person can take some value from it. All feedback, likes & shares are welcome but I'm fairly sure there's a specific niche of people that will like this blog. 

Cheers

Dan

My Coaching Process

So as you can tell from my recent blogs, in the last year I have taken up a coaching position as Defensive Coordinator of Exeter University Demons American Football Team. Initially I was brought on as a LB positional coach and was voluntold for the position of Special Teams Coordinator. Cue a resignation from the previous DC and within a week I was the new DC, in my first season of coaching ever!


Now fortunately I had had an active role in supporting my coaches at Uni and this experience led me to do some X's and O's work at the Wyverns, whilst also showing others at my position, skills I had picked up over the years. I was super up for the challenge but also quite daunted by it. On reflection in the last few months, I wasn't as prepared as I could have (or should have) been. I learnt and developed over the year, stuck with what worked and scrapped what didn't. I borrowed things from experienced coaches I encountered but also showed them my skill for coaching & eye for detail.

So our season schedule went a bit like this:

• Returners Week - 3 midweek practices
• Rookie Day - 1 midweek Wednesday practice
• Non Game Weeks - Sunday & Wednesday practice weekly
• Training Camp - 2 day residential weekend camp near the end of October
• Game Weeks - Wednesday practice & classroom 

 Returners week for me was a chance to get to know the vets and learn the scheme I had been given a crash course in the week before from a part time coach who used to be DC. This I was able to pick up and practice the no-huddle playcalling before the rookies arrived. I had drills planned for these sessions and some of them were the best practices I had all year weirdly.

Rookie day is a chance for us to run a variety of drills for everyone to try and then pick who we would like on Offense and Defense. I say pick, the OC gets the first shout and I fall in line. This works for me because nobody should ever have to be convinced to play defense. If they want it enough, they'll already be asking to play there.

In non game weeks we have two practices, 5-7pm on a Wednesday and 9-11am on a Sunday. These go from scheme walk through to fundamentals to live scrimmage and can be quite intense. It's a good time to find out who of the rookies can play whilst also seeing which vets have stepped up their game. With the cyclical nature of University Sport, it is crucial that people improve year on year and that you are able to backfill graduated talent. I became less prepared for these practices during a busy time in work, which meant I did a lot of drills "on the fly" and I wasn't always at my best as a coach.

Training Camp - A wonderful weekend of bonding for the team & coaches whilst getting some detailed football work done. Every person lived and breathed football from Friday at 5pm to Sunday at 6pm. We ate meals together, we socialised together and we had fun together. This was one of my favourite aspects of the year and I felt on top of my game that weekend. It was topped off by a solid scrimmage win against a senior team on the Sunday. The other bright point of that weekend was bring Coach Jack Mullins on board. He came to watch with our teammate and his housemate Matt Robert. Jack ended up coaching on the sideline and Matt did the chains! Jack made such a good impression that he was invited aboard by the HC and OC which meant a lot to me. It showed my judgement of character and football coaching ability was respected and added significant value to the team. From that moment on, I was more organised and thoughtful with my entire process, having Jack to bounce things off and question my decisions was integral to our success this past season.

Game weeks were a different animal. Monday and Tuesday spent frantically breaking down film to deliver a scouting report to the team for a Wednesday. Wednesday practice would consist of coaches and backups running a scout team offense. It was at this point I emphasised the importance of being  a good teammate, whether that's holding bags or running offensive scout. Everything we work towards makes the defense and thus the team better. My vision for pregame was to have a calm and consistent approach that amped up the closer we got to kickoff. I wanted the pregame drills to be the same for each position group, each game. When these drills are started, it's time to switch on and go into game mode. I particularly enjoyed scouting opponents but it is labour intensive. I would watch the film four times or so, compiling a tally chart of formations, plays & tendencies. The idea to work out the top 5 or so plays for an offense, take them away and then make them beat us with something brand new. This step up was something I was complimented on by veteran players, the attention to detail and care put into the film study set a tone they'd not really had before. My top achievement for the year was designing a nickel package on the fly for a playoff game against Southampton. They had beaten us twice in the regular season and were confident. I aimed to take away their best WR who had scored 6 TD's across the two games against us. Their head coach was also the OC and had won a national title. He couldn't work out the package and the false looks I was presenting him. They had no answer and the defense turned the ball over 4 times to seal a great victory and become the most successful Demons team since it's existence.

So right now, during a point of reflection, what have I learned? Firstly I was able to take structure and theory from my work and combine it with my passion of football to be an organised and successful coach in year one. I was able to develop myself by learning from others but also develop players along the way. I have learned that my attitude to game prep works and although it can be tough for backups, the scout is vitally important. Next year I will take something I've learnt from Wyverns and do virtual video classrooms to install scout & playbook packages. I will be far more organised for the practice weeks leading up to camp, having a week by week drill breakdown for each position group. This will allow us to cover all fundamentals and skills throughout the season prior to camp and ensure that all sessions are planned and structured, even if positional coaches aren't there. I will also look to develop my assistant coaches more & bring on board a fresh face or two. I will practice this with Scott Savage at Wyverns this summer who is a relative football novice in his first few months of coaching. He's more football smart than he thinks and I look forward to working alongside my Co-DC Alex "Yogi" Martin to get the best out of him. Most of all I have learnt that I love football and that football is family. It'll get you through tough times and it will shape the human being you are and can be in all aspects of life.

Peace out

Coach

Something I Thought I'd Never Do

Ann Mogford. Geraint Harvard. Paul Simmonite. Carwyn Phillips. Jamie Mansel. Phil "Oggy" Holding. Phil Dayus-Johnson. Tim Macy. Alec Hepburn. John "JC" Chambers. Alistair McLean. Jack Mullins.

A varied list that includes a female football (soccer) manager who was the first and only one I remember locally, an England International & Exeter Chief, some South Wales cricket & rugby legends and also some bright American Football minds from the UK.

So what do they all have in common? Well they all contributed to me doing something I thought I'd never do. Something I thought I would never be good at, have the patience for or be able to enjoy. Something I thought would replace my ability to play a sport I loved, rather than enhance it. Each person on that list had an impact, whether they knew it or not, to a big part of my life today.

Ann Mogford was the manager of Hendy Football Club's Under 7's team when I started playing. She only started doing it because her son played and we had nobody, but she soon became a great role model. She dived into getting qualification badges and was passionate about how we trained. You didn't see any other women on the sideline on rainy Sunday mornings in the mid 90's and teams would sometimes laugh at us. She built such a good team, that we didn't notice or care what was said, simply playing attractive fun football (as attractive as 6 x 7 year olds can be chasing a ball around) and we were a pretty successful side. I remember transforming from a fairly poor defender to a goal poaching machine (no offside rule definitely helped me!). She showed me that you can start anywhere on a journey and be successful, as long as you are passionate and love what you are doing, no matter whether people think you should be doing it or not.

I've loved rugby for a long time and despite football (Soccer) being my first love, rugby quickly overtook it. I loved watching Wales & Llanelli play with my dad, loved the contact and the skill required to play certain positions. When I moved to secondary school, I desperately wanted to play and be good at it and fit in with the rugby team. One problem - I was terrible. I could tackle and run, but I couldn't catch a cold and was a complete liability in a sport reliant on ball handling. So I decided to go learn to be a better player and did this by joining the mighty Felinfoel RFC. The majority of my friends played for them and they dominated everybody. I was laughed at for saying I was going to train with them. Some people respected my guts, majority ridiculed it. Paul Simmonite was in charge at the time and he made me earn my spot. H did the forwards, Caz and Simmo did the backs. He said I had to train for 6 weeks and then they would let me sign on if I proved I was good enough. So I trained. I got hammered in tackles. I dropped balls. I got run over. Then I started to improve. I started to fit in. I started to hammer people in tackles. Started to score tries. Started to show my potential. I was allowed to play my first game from the bench. I earned my first start. I'll never forget it. Treorchy RFC at home in the cup. A big side from the valleys who hadn't lost that year. First scrum was on their 5m line. Scrum half dithered and I smashed him. Bullied him into the ground. Our flanker picked it up and scored. We won comfortably and I played my first full game. At the end of the game, Simmo gave a rousing team talk and said that he and every body else should now be scared of me and that I had properly earned my name on the team sheet that day. My time at Foel was incredibly beneficial, I learnt the dark arts & dog from H which helped me one day achieve my dream of playing flanker. I learnt skill and guile from Caz, becoming a better ball handler and passer than I could have ever realised. They showed me that time dedicated to the basics was key, drilling into us how important fundamentals were from a young age.

Jamie Mansel is the only person on this list to impact my life through more than one sport. He was my first PE Teacher in school and took us for football, rugby and cricket. Although football and cricket were his strong suits, he impacted my rugby game through kicking and also managed to play to my strengths in the other two so I could contribute. With cricket I wanted to be an attacking wicket taking off spinner but my skills didn't fit my ambition. Manse showed me the benefits of being a controlling bowler, and building pressure to assist others into changing the game. It was a tough conversation to have and a tough pill for me to swallow, but it made me a better person and a better player, even if I didn't know it at the time.  He showed me how finding a role & doing it well, even when you believe your strengths lie elsewhere, is a valuable skill and a crucial part of any team.

Two Winning Dafen Sides, Oggy On The Left

Phil "Oggy" Holding was a cricketing legend in South Wales. I had the pleasure of being part of one of his teams, but also sharing the field with him & his two sons. He had an unbridled passion for cricket, and in particular Dafen CC and taught me a lot about the game and being a fierce but fair competitor. This was the main thing I took from Og and was a basis for my white line mentality in sport. I will be the nicest guy until I cross that line onto the field and from then on I am a ruthless competitor who will always hold you to the rules. He showed me that you can be both a nice guy & a horrendous opponent who gives no inch.

Getting Props From Phil Before My Last Game in Aber

Phil Dayus-Johnson & Tim Macy were the first people who introduced me to actually playing the game of American Football. A game I have loved since being introduced to it by my dad, but had never had the chance to play until attending Aberystwyth University. We were a side limited by resources, staff members, talent and location, but in the three years I was there, I loved every minute. The detail and commitment to volunteering that these two gave pushed me on to strive for better for myself. Taught me to put the work into the details. Taught me how to be clinical and execute in a brand new sport. Seppo showed me that you can beat someone up, smile & pick them up off the ground, before doing it all over again the next play. He showed us that it was great to push somebody's shit in and then be a good sport and help them out after. Phil showed me that the devil is in the details and opened my eyes to film study and tactics that I had never comprehended before.

Running Out For Crediton 1st XV

In between my two stints playing American Football, I went back to play rugby at Crediton RFC. I've stepped back from this in 18/19 but it's been a tremendous season for the club and I'm super proud of them. We are fortunate enough as a club to be helped out by Alec Hepburn of Exeter Chiefs and England. He has made a lasting impact on the club but also on me. One cold Tuesday night at training, I'd run a drill quite well but a bit lazily. He'd asked me to run it again and I responded poorly, challenging him that I'd got it done properly. He was simple in his reply and just said "yeah you did Dan, but you can always do it better". An effective statement, unexpectedly stated by a prop forward to an inside centre. These words were profound for me and have stuck with me ever since. He showed me that appearances can be deceptive & that there is always more that you can do to keep moving & improving so that you don't fall behind your competitors.

Finally, the last three names on the list are all part of the Somerset Wyverns. We will start with JC, a man who got me to lead an entire position group (and a team) after 3 training sessions and 1 game. The trust he put into me to deliver, having not really known or met me, taught me a lot. Alistair was the second person (Phil being the first) in this article to gently encourage me to explore more into the game of football, beyond just playing it. He (like Phil) told me I would be good at it & that I had the analytical detail for it. Jack is a player and a guy I now see as one of my best friends. He became a foil for me at Exeter once I brought him on board, and is the only person who provides critical feedback to me whilst distracted by his own performance. JC showed me to trust my gut and delegate in people you believe in. Alistair showed me confidence in my own skills that I hadn't seen or been interested in seeing. Jack showed me how to constantly work to be better and how to do it in an uplifting manner for a team and myself.

With Somerset Wyverns After Beating Worcester. Hammer Twins #27 & #8 cuddle Jack #5. JC & Alistair also pictured.

So what do all of these people have in common? I'm sure most of you have guessed it by now, however it took some effort to write the entire piece up to this point without using the word. Something I Thought I'd Never Do? Yep, Coaching. Each person described above has impacted my coaching journey. I'm from the Dayus-Johnson coaching tree, but my branch would have withered and died without the others on here after him. The foundations & fundamentals instilled in me from a young age, to the gentle encouragement & belief in later life that has allowed me to become part of something I loved without ever knowing I loved it. The realisation that I coach every day at work and use the theory I've learnt to make me far better at a passion of mine than I thought capable. The little nuggets and things I have learnt. The ability to change someones mindset with a simple sentence. The devil in the details. I never thought I would enjoy coaching as much as playing. I'm glad you all helped to prove me wrong.


I can't thank you enough.

With Paul Habsburg after UEA Playoff Loss, my graduating Middle Linebacker & D-Captain