Week 2 Prep.

I may not have a lot to offer with X's and O's anymore, but I can make Coach Jankowski's life a little easier with my mechanical ability and knowledge of what makes a coaches job less difficult.  If there is an issue, I will generally find a way to solve the problem.  I am thankful to have a wife (Marty) who is pretty crafty, and she can generally make my visions come to life.  I can't understand why she helps me the way she does, for I am selfish, arrogant, and difficult during the season.  I do not have much time (during the season) for her either...and she understands this and rarely complains.  I have a great coach's wife.  

On Field Communication Signs

Marty has made me (and the team) all these professional looking signs you see all over the field during our games.  These signs have become crucial to communicate with our players because it is very noisy on our sideline, and verbal communication is very difficult.   These signs are made from plastic waffle board  and custom lettered to my specifications.  They would be very difficult to replace. I needed a way to carry the signs and protect them from damage.  Once again, I turned to Marty.  After showing her exactly what I needed, Marty made me this cool waterproof carrying case which was just what we needed. Notice the cool VB Logo?  Pretty cool huh?  

'Cool Hand Joe'

These days, one of the best parts of coaching (for me) is the personal relationships I have with some of the kids.  I try to nickname some of my kids for this very reason.  I have nicked kids with names which they still answer to during their adult life.  For me, it is a term of love.  The bag above is named for such a player.  Joey Rahal is just a good kid.  He is our third team QB,  so I recruited him to help with the signs on the sideline. I truly identify with Joe in more ways than one.....and he is always willing to help me with anything I need.  Joey is sooo cool when he gets on the field, so I call him 'Cool Hand Joe'...named after a old movie called 'Cool Hand Luke'  Joey will be handling this bag (and the contents) on the sideline, so I named the bag in his honor.  I can always depend on Joe when I need him.   Be sure to look for Cool Hand Joe on the sideline. 

Tonight I am working on these special team cards.  I have hand written the 2-deep depth chart and taped them to the back of each appropriate sign.   This way if we need to make a quick change, the information is right here in front of us and easy to perform.  Its old-school, clean and efficient.  We are organized on our sideline.....and that makes me feel better.  Afterall, you cannot hear a thing when the band is playing.  

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Week 2: Wellington High School at Home:  

We had a decent week of practice, but we had a few distractions.  This time of year always brings storms and lightning.  A few times this week we were delayed or run off the fields all together by these annoyances.  However, I thought Lenny (and our coaches) did a superb job of keeping the kids focused, and we tried to keep practices as normal as possible.  I thought today's practice was very good with no delays.  

Wellington High School is a very good ball club.  They seem to be very athletic, and the game should be more than competitive.  The team with the fewest mistakes will win this game.  We have been working very hard to clean up our mental mistakes and on-field errors.  We seem to be very healthy and ready to play.  Today I had a good chance to sit back and watch our defense work on the field.  I would really hate to prepare for Coach Leslie's unit, for they really fly to the ball.  Randy Bethel, Pete DeLuke, Brian Rahal, and Teddy Floyd make up  make up the rest of the defensive coaching staff...and I consider them to be the best in the business.  

Thanks for reading.....more after the game tomorrow night.  

GZ