Pre-season FB team activities

takethepoints

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We used to this kind of thing all the time in Dodd's time. In the practices before games - they did that in his day - other teams would come out and knock for half an hour. Then Tech players would come out, set up some nets, and play volleyball.

There's a famous description of what this led to by an LSU player. I'm paraphrasing: "We had practiced hard all week and we came out and stopped them cold for the first few plays. They would go back to the huddle and talk to each other casually about the next play. They didn't seem to care too much about whether they would win or not. So we decided that if they didn't care so much neither should we. That's when they beat the Hell out of us."
 

jwsavhGT

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#TGW: COMPETITION ABOUNDS IN OFFSEASON PROGRAM
Georgia Tech football turns grunt work into opportunities to bond, compete


http://www.ramblinwreck.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/022618aaa.html

Head coach Paul Johnson and the rest of the Yellow Jackets football coaching and support staff have turned the grunt work into bonding opportunities so it's not like, you know, heavy lifting.

The Yellow Jackets are deep in a semester-long competition that sees the roster spread into seven teams of 13-14 players each, and they get after each other in pursuit of points in the classroom, the weight room, running and more.

The program was rolled out in 2016, and points are available based on traditional offseason metrics -- such as improvements in the weight room and body composition and performance in conditioning sessions -- as well as non-football-related measures, including highest grade-point average, participation in community service and weekly non-football competitions like dodgeball and tug-of-war.

Points are deducted for student-athletes missing or being late to classes, tutoring sessions, meetings with academic advisors, workouts and/or breakfast.
 

jgtengineer

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#TGW: COMPETITION ABOUNDS IN OFFSEASON PROGRAM
Georgia Tech football turns grunt work into opportunities to bond, compete


http://www.ramblinwreck.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/022618aaa.html

Head coach Paul Johnson and the rest of the Yellow Jackets football coaching and support staff have turned the grunt work into bonding opportunities so it's not like, you know, heavy lifting.

The Yellow Jackets are deep in a semester-long competition that sees the roster spread into seven teams of 13-14 players each, and they get after each other in pursuit of points in the classroom, the weight room, running and more.

The program was rolled out in 2016, and points are available based on traditional offseason metrics -- such as improvements in the weight room and body composition and performance in conditioning sessions -- as well as non-football-related measures, including highest grade-point average, participation in community service and weekly non-football competitions like dodgeball and tug-of-war.

Points are deducted for student-athletes missing or being late to classes, tutoring sessions, meetings with academic advisors, workouts and/or breakfast.


Sounds a lot like the academies kind of do with squads your squad keeps you accountable. I like it.
 

jwsavhGT

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Anyone know how they split up the teams - position groups, similar classes, random?

TaQuon and fellow seniors Andrew Marshall and Lamont Simmons were diligent in choosing their team. So were Mitchell and fellow senior-to-be Clinton Lynch drafted theirs.

Yes, drafted.

This process began with Johnson empowering the rising seniors as front-office officials.

"We go into the staff meeting room and we have every single name all up on a board," Mitchell said. "You try to make the best decisions on which of your teammates will provide the best chance to win ... Which guys are going to work the hardest?"

While competition doesn't end, Marshall said the goal is to raise the collective tide.

"In a sense, you don't want to see any other teams lose points because you know the team overall suffers," he explained. "You want your team to have the most points, but the goal is to get the whole team collectively to go the right direction."

In addition to prompting players to work toward spring practice, which will begin after Georgia Tech's spring break near the end of March, this program teaches responsibility and prompts student-athletes to evaluate, adjust and account for themselves.

As much as anything, this program encourages peer-to-peer accountability, and the draft process is critical.

So is waking up teammates for pre-breakfast workouts.

"There are guys who don't get picked (early)," Mitchell said. "It kind of exposes some people. The guys that get chosen last are the ones that nobody wants on on their team. It is a motivator . . .

"You've got to be accountable to yourself, but also the guys next to you. It means a lot more coming from your peers because they're doing the same things you're doing . . . if it's not one of us (captains making early-morning phone calls to wake up teammates), it's the guys that are rooming with them. It's trying to teach accountability."
 
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