Player/Team Onfield Discipline. How to handle it?

[UCABEAR]

Interesting snipet from our local newspaper about how the team and the coaches are going to handle discipline problems on the team when it comes to onfield penalties. How does your coach/team handle penalties and what active steps are they taking to keep that number down or reduce it from what it is? Averaging around 75+ yards per game in penalities and losing the games they lost by an average of 3 points last year, the Bears had to do something to get that number down!

PENALTIES

The number of penalties the Bears had last season differed very little from the year before. The difference was last year the Bears didn’t have the consistent offensive firepower and overall big-play ability to overcome first and 20 or third and 15.

Developing a model from consultation with several coaches who had faced similar issues, Conque and his staff have set out in the spring to address the discipline and accountability issues that were at the root of many penalties last season.

With input from the newly formed player leadership council, the UCA staff has formed what it considers an acceptable number of penalties per game (5). Any penalties above that number will result in “gassers” by the entire team, not just those penalized. Personal-foul penalties carry double weight. In other words, two personal-foul penalties equal four on the total acceptable number.

The UCA staff is charting every penalty assessed this spring in scrimmage or live work. Once the established number is exceeded, there is running to do by everyone.

“This is a team game and we want to get across that individual penalties hurt the whole team,” Conque said. “We are doing everything we can to become a more disciplined team.”

http://thecabin.net/news/2010-04-09/mcc ... g-football

[kdinva]

Works for me. Hopefully it'll work for UCA.

[BlackFalkin]

Suspend the crap players,
Slap on hand for All-Conf guys,
'Dont do that again.' for All-Americans.

[CatMom]

Horsecollars, clips, crack backs, clothelines, out of bounds hits - yeah, ok, discipline but other penalties of mental errors and holding, I feels is a bit much. Especially when we are talking SLC reffing crews. They are abysmal at best and if they are on their high horse on a particular day there will be numerous "phantom" fouls called. They're at their worst with pass interference (or a lack thereof)

[tampajag]

That's a good approach, but your team would be running all day if SWAC refs did your games.

[UCABEAR]

That's a good approach, but your team would be running all day if SWAC refs did your games.

Now that's funny!

I'm not a coach and it looks like the players and coaches put that program together so they must have all agreed to it. I think every game is scrutinized under review after its played anyway so those phantom calls might be removed if that's the case. But then again, this is a VERY young team so I can imagine laundry all over the field this year.

[CSUBUCDAD]

Since when do players get input on what punishment they get for screwing up? No coach worth his weight in gold would allow that to happen. IMHO just another example of the PC world gone freakin nuts. Every coach I ever played for was "my way or the highway" and that worked fine for them.

[UCABEAR]

Since when do players get input on what punishment they get for screwing up? No coach worth his weight in gold would allow that to happen. IMHO just another example of the PC world gone freakin nuts. Every coach I ever played for was "my way or the highway" and that worked fine for them.

I don't think it was a coach intitiated program. Rather it was player intitiated IMO. I think the sophs on the team realized how close to that conference championship they were last year and how those stupid penalties cost them in the margin of victory category. I've witnessed coach Conque's iron fist on the field and in practice. He isn't taking crap from any player. But it appears that he is also teaching them responsibility and leadership by letting them teach themselves about responsibility and teamwork on the field. Players don't get input when they screw up, they get punished.

[SDHornet]

Suspend the crap players,
Slap on hand for All-Conf guys,
'Dont do that again.' for All-Americans.

That's pretty much how it works.