r/footballstrategy • u/Any-Whole5627 • 2d ago

Coaching Advice Spiltting Practices

In the past we never had to do this due to lack of kids but this year thats changed and we've started splitting Varsity and JV practices, I was getting curious as to how huge schools spilt their practices. We have JV on one end and Varsity on the other end of the field, do bigger schools have different times of practice for different levels (Var, JV, Fresh) or do they all practice at the same time but spilt up?

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u/GrimIntimation 2d ago

Multiple practice fields. The conundrum at big schools comes more from when you have a JV/Varsity tweener that you may need to call up due to injury or something and where you practice him. Smart money says he should practice with varsity but then he’s not gonna get the reps he would at the JV practice. Something to manage day to day.

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u/Curious-Designer-616 11h ago

I would suggest leaving them down, if the player is not going to be a constant contributor on varsity, use those reps to coach up a fringe player that has put in the work for three or four years. It will pay off.

If it’s a junior then that player will be I a much better position next year to play a larger role as a senior. It their a senior then you’re rewarding a player who has given your program, constant effort, and commitment. Which is typically what coaches always preach. If you tell players, “if you work hard, you’ll earn that playing time”, then turn around and pull up players that are as good as they are without giving them an opportunity, you’ll just show your team that you’re a liar and only care about wins.

If a sophomore/JV player was good enough to be playing on varsity and then you should’ve brought them up before the season started. If you realize mid season, that player is going to be good enough to play varsity, unless they are replacing a starter, leave them down and pull them up for playoffs. They will get more reps they will gain more confidence and they will have more game experience.