Corley's Corner

Coach Corley's Updates:

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E-mail coach a question at jcorley@westgenesee.org write "Question for Corley's Corner" in the subject line your answer will be posted here

June 6, 2017

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MARCH 11, 2016

OFF-SEASON UPDATE

TO ALL WILDCAT FOOTBALL FAMILIES-

I hope this finds you well and enjoying an early, and hopefully permanent, arrival of spring. This time last year, I’m pretty sure the temperature still hadn’t risen above freezing and we couldn’t fit both cars in our driveway because of the snow banks on each side. I’m hoping this is a sign of what’s to come and I know you all are as well.

We had a lot of kids going hard all winter- some were competing in winter sports, while others were investing time in the weight room focusing on their strength. Regardless of what they did, I am proud of the effort and commitment they have made these past 3-4 months and I am confident that it will pay off.

As with all programs every year, there are some kids who have been unaccounted for as far as what they have been doing to stay in competitive shape. If your son is not playing a spring sport, and has not been in the weight room, I ask you to please encourage him to start lifting with us after school (Monday, Tuesday and Thursday). It will benefit him and ultimately the team.

OFF-SEASON AND PREPARING FOR NEXT FALL

For me, the off-season is a very busy time. I spent a good part of the winter conducting a self-scout. To put it simple, I watch every game from the season and break them down play by play. Based on that, I identify both what we did well and need to improve on. Using that information, I and the coaching staff will meet and come up with a plan, then compile the playbook for 2016.

The off-season is also clinic season. I attended the NYS clinic with a few members of our staff, then made it down to Allentown, PA for a clinic just last week. I had the privilege of listening to presentations by some of the top head coaches in all of college football and picked up some excellent scheme and philosophy information that we are working as a staff to incorporate into what we do. This spring, I plan to incorporate a brand (or punch-line for lack of a better term) and a mission statement into our program. The brand is short phrase that summarizes our everyday approach to the game of football, while the mission statement will summarize our program goals in one sentence. I have a few ideas that I will present to the coaching staff, then we will make a decision from there. I will present them to all of our players at our spring meeting in May and make it a part of our everyday culture and what we do.

In addition to that, and as always, we will be adjusting our offensive and defensive philosophy to fit the personnel that we have returning. How we conduct our practices will be relevant to our scheme and will in some ways be the same as in previous years, but there will be changes in areas where necessary. This is all a part of the process.

ACADEMIC ELIGIBILITY

Some of you may have gotten an email from me regarding academics and eligibility. I decided to set a high, but attainable goal for next year. My goal is for EVERY football player to become eligible prior to the start of the season. From there, I want every player to maintain their eligibility for the entire fall season. I am slowly but surely meeting with kids who are currently ineligible or borderline in two or more classes. If you received an email, please continue to take a proactive approach and stay positively involved in your son’s education. Some kids just need to be pushed and held accountable, while others may genuinely need support. All kids need someone to be involved and to take an interest in them and our kids here at West Genesee, for the most part, are very blessed to have all three. I believe we can work together and achieve a milestone that has very rarely happened on a high school football team. Thank you for your support with that!

SUMMER DATES

Many of you have reached out to me regarding summer camp and preseason dates, as you are starting to make vacation plans. Our summer dates are as follows:

June 27 (Mon)- Summer Camp Begins (Monday-Thursday, 2:30 PM)

July 4 (Mon)- Day Off

July 20 (Wed)- Day Off

Aug 4 (Thu)- Last Day of Camp

Aug 5 (Fri)- Equipment Issue (Morning Only- We will be done by 11:00 AM)

Aug 6-Aug 14- Week Off

Aug 15 (Mon)- Pre-Season Begins

I understand you may not have the flexibility to schedule vacation around all of the summer camps going on. If there is a conflict, please just contact me so that I can make adjustments to our personnel on those days.

Coach Krause, Coach Kent and I will again meet to and piece together a schedule that eliminates players from being scheduled for more than one practice or game at the same time. We will keep you posted.

HELMET SAFETY AND CONCUSSIONS

Many of you may have seen, or at least heard of, the movie “Concussion”. Without getting into detail, what I will say in response to the message the movie sends is that High School Football is NOT Professional Football. There really is no comparing the two when it comes to the steps that are taken to protect high school athletes and minimizing the risk of head injury.

Last fall was the first year that NYS had specific rules in place regulating how much full-contact was permitted during regular season practices. Teams are allowed to engage in full-contact for a maximum of two practices per week and no longer than 90 minutes per practice. That is a significant change, considering prior to 2015, unlimited full-contact during the regular season was permitted.

At West Genesee, we took it one step further and discontinued full-contact double sessions during the pre-season. Our double sessions consisted of a full contact practice in the morning and a non-full-contact practice in the afternoon. We also discontinued double sessions on consecutive days, holding single sessions between each double that were extended by 45 minutes. For the 2016 season, we will NOT be extending those single sessions. They will remain at two hours and fifteen minutes, simply because I did not feel we gained anything as a result of the extended time. We will utilize the extra time on strength, meeting time and film study.

We will continue to do our best to stay ahead of the curve and be proactive when it comes to minimizing the risk of the head injuries, keeping in mind that football is a contact sport, which requires us as coaches to prepare our players for contact. I still believe that the best way to prepare them is for them to practice it the right way with correct, effective and the safest possible technique. It is a challenge but one that we will continue to meet head-on (no pun intended).

Thank you for reading, enjoy your spring and best of luck with your sons’ spring season if he is competing. I’m looking forward to our spring meeting- May 24- it will here before we know it!

Yours in Football-

Coach Corley

November 3, 2015

Good afternoon. The 2015 season is finally in the books and it is time to look ahead to the off-season. Before I get into off-season information and the banquet, I want to thank everyone for their on-going support through a challenging season. The kids showed outstanding character all season in the face of adversity and difficult times. They fought to the finish and it paid off for them in our cross-over game as they pulled off an impressive win. They would not have been able to do it without support at home. I also want to thank our coaching staff. Our job is not easy, especially when you go through the season that we did. It took a lot of work from the staff to keep the kids motivated, positive and pushing forward. We never threw in the towel, even when the odds were against us. We prepared diligently every week and took the time to formulate game plans that would put us in a position to be successful. I am just a small part of it. It takes a full staff to do what we do, and I am very fortunate to have these guys on board, as are the players. As I mentioned recently, while many teams (some of whom were in the playoff race) fell apart near the end of the season, we did the exact opposite. Although the score board did not always reflect it, anyone who knows football will know that we got stronger as the season went on. It takes a tremendous effort from all- coaches, parents, and most of all, the players- thank you and congratulations to all.

I also want to extend congratulations to our freshmen and JV teams on outstanding seasons of their own. Our JV’s finished 6-2 (coming off of a 6-0 freshmen season last year), while the freshmen finished 5-1. I think it is safe to say that the future of the football program holds great potential, if the kids continue to work hard and get better every day this off-season.

On a sad note, our JV head coach, Pat Burns, will be relocating to Virginia next month, to be closer to his son and grandchildren. Coach Burns brought 40 years of coaching experience, as both a head coach and assistant, at all levels and at many different schools. Having been a head coach, he understood the role and importance of a sound JV program. That knowledge and experience will be very difficult to replace. While we are all sad to see him go, we certainly wish him the very best and hope he makes time for an occasional road trip back to CNY from time to time. I will update everyone once we have made a decision on who will fill that position.

Now, on to the off-season…. What’s next?

Arcaro All-Star Game- Congratulations to Joe Brogan, James Kerr, Ahmad Jackson and Dashon Turner on getting selected to play in the Senior All-Star Game. The game will be played at Liverpool, this Thursday at 7:00. I will be coaching the offense and am being assisted by Coach Eells. Come and cheer on our guys!
I will be holding a team meeting for all returning players, grades 9-11, this Thursday, November 5 in the LGI right after school. I will be discussing off-season expectations (strength training, conditioning, academics, team building, etc). There is a morning announcement, as well as signs in the locker room so everyone should know about it and should be there. The meeting will last no more than 20 minutes so the kids can be wherever they need to be after interaction time.
BANQUET- For years I have been told that banquets should only be held to celebrate championships. I could not disagree more. While a championship should certainly enhance the banquet, I believe banquets are there to recognize players for their efforts and commitment and to bring the family together one last time. Ours will be held on Sunday, December 6, at 6:00 at Gilfilans. Please RSVP to me at jcorley@westgenesee.org, no later than November 23, so I can get the head count to Sue Macko in a timely manner. All members of the JV and Varsity football team and their families are invited and should be there. Players are no cost!
STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING- Lifting will begin Monday, November 30^th. It is crucial that we come into next season bigger, stronger, faster, and better conditioned than last year. This is always the case… whether you win the state championship or go 0-7 the year before. Success is a continuum that requires a life-long commitment, growth and improvement.

Football players who are not participating in winter/spring sports should be there every day. Anyone that is playing a winter sport should still be there a couple days a week, getting some core lifts in, so that they can maintain their current level of strength. All too often we see athletes competing on a team but not participating in in-season strength training. The result is lost weight and decreased strength and lean muscle mass. Lifting just a couple days per week, in-season, will help them maintain their strength throughout the duration of their current season, as well as give them a stronger base for next fall.

Lifting on their own at Pine Grove or Aspen is great and is certainly beneficial, but they don’t get benefits of lifting with their teammates and family building that they get when they lift at school. It makes a huge difference and can be the difference between winning and losing!

RECRUITING- The college recruiting process will kick off later this month. I will be holding individual meetings with all seniors interested in playing college football next year. I will need contact and prospect information, which I will get at the meeting. I will also need a transcript release form signed, as coaches will ask to see transcripts when they visit. Players will need to produce a highlight film in HUDL, which I will edit into a premium film. I will assist anyone interested in playing. Please do not sign up for expensive recruiting services. I can do a lot more for your son, and at no cost. Contact me if you have any questions regarding the recruiting process.

Thank you for reading. I hope Corley’s Corner helped to keep you “in the loop” this fall. I plan to continue to post throughout the off-season and into next fall. If there is anything you would like me to consider doing to make this a more effective communication tool, please do not hesitate to share your thoughts.

When we walked off of the field after our last game, I have never had more parents shake my hand, thank me and even hug me for all of the efforts that our staff put forth through this challenging season. Folks, I cannot express to you how much that meant to me. When parents and coaches have a cooperative relationship and are on the same page, we can truly put our kids in a position to be successful in life. Winning on the scoreboard is a sometimes thing… sometimes it happens more often than others, and we relentlessly pursue as much of it as possible. Winning in life is an “all the time” thing. We won this year.

Thank you and I hope to see all of you at the banquet!

Coach Corley