Summary: Today’s Coach and Coordinator podcast features a variety of high school football coaches across the nation. They all join today’s show to share their thoughts on including freshman players in practices with the varsity team. Several years prior, this would not be a topic of debate as players were always separated into their varsity, junior varsity and freshman teams. But some coaches today have started to go against the norm and include all those players together. Today’s show features a total of seven guests in to talk with host Keith Grabowski about freshman integration. Brad Burchfield - Head Coach, Bishop Hartley High School (OH) - Twitter: @brad_burchfield Aaron Chantler - Head Coach, Auburn High School (WA) - Twitter: @coach_achantler Tim Rogers - Head Coach, Forest Hills Central (Michigan) - Twitter: @Cochtimrogers Eric Kasperowicz - Head Coach, Pine-Richland High School (PA) - Twitter: @CoachKasper Todd Fox, Head Coach, Norwalk High School (OH) - Twitter: @foxtodd77 Mike Kuchar - Defensive Coordinator, Rahway High School (NJ) - Twitter: @MikekKuchar Blaine Powell - Head Coach, Sullivan High School (IN) - Twitter: @coachpowell91 On today’s podcast, host Keith Grabowski talks with all seven guests about their approach to including freshman with their varsity players and how that has impacted their players and their program. Show Notes 3:53 Brad Burchfield talks about the advantage of incorporating freshman 6:05 BB: Keys to bringing in freshman to a championship team 7:20 BB: How playing time is a factor to all players 12:49 Aaron Chantler shares why it is important to involve freshman with the varsity 18:05 AC: Coordinating between different team’s schedules 23:48 AC: Benefits of having coaches align culture with whole team 27:10 Tim Rogers discusses developing staff to assist players from freshman year on 30:07 TR: Being able to develop players early in the process 33:16 TR: How freshman integration builds the overall team culture 37:03 Eric Kasperowicz gives a different look at setting practice 41:00 Todd Fox shares the importance of involve freshman regardless of program size 44:20 TF: Players having primary and secondary positions on the team 48:39 TF: Balancing freshman playing with and competing against upperclassmen 51:15 TF: Avoiding hazing and unfair treatment of freshman within the team 53:45 Mike Kuchar discusses practicing freshman with varsity players 55:06 MK: Building a program’s culture and keeping freshman on the team 1:01:32 MK: Avoiding matching up freshman with upperclassmen in practice 1:03:11 MK: The 21-Hour Program 1:08:08 Blaine Powell looks at incorporating incoming freshman in the off-season 1:11:53 BP: Addressing the safety of freshman in drills 1:13:46 BP: Key to keeping a player in the program for all four years 1:16:11 BP: Building a culture of respect to all players on the team
