By Kyle McKenna
Head Football Coach
Brooklyn Technical High School, Brooklyn, NY
Twitter: @CoachMcKenna

Introduction

In 2012, in an effort to create a measurable way to track accountability, Brooklyn Tech Football began the Vesting Program. It was very important to us to increase football intelligence and emotional intelligence during the upcoming offseason because we thought we had lacked both in the previous post-season. We wanted to know, with certainty, who we could count on to be an “all-in” player, especially when things were tough. We knew our team would be one of our most talented in years and wanted to prepare them for both the adversity and the success of the next season. 

The time period we had to implement the program was six months during the off-season, ranging from January through June. We wanted to have one or more milestones along the way, to re-evaluate and measure the success of the program. This would also serve to break up the monotony of the off-season by giving players incentives to put in maximum effort and improve. Our team lifts on Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the afternoon and has twenty days for spring football practice (non-contact) in May. We are also a very rigorous academic school, so time must be allotted for tutoring. 

The original program we created was influenced by similar programs at Temple University under Head Coach Al Golden and Wagner College under Walt Hamline. In 2011, Coach Golden had been sharing his Temple TUFF program in off-season clinics. Coach Golden’s program held the individual accountable and made sure the group working towards climbing the levels of commitment. Coach Hamline’s system divided the program into teams that competed against each other in the off-season and were graded on every drill in their winter workouts. We looked to combine these two approaches into what would become our Vesting Program and subsequent off-season competition. 

In our program, players that were “vested” would receive patches to be displayed on their jerseys. The idea came from my pension as a teacher and the concept that you had to work for ten years in order to be vested in the system. The idea for the patches came from the tv show Sons of Anarchy; to be a member of their crew, you had to be a prospect and earn your cut. Only then were you “patched” in.

Application

We believe that what gets measured, gets managed, so we set out to construct a quantifiable way to measure whether a student-athlete could be trusted to come to work and give maximum effort each day. We decided to use hours as our main unit of measurement and set a minimum requirement for being on the team. We also wanted to have components that measured academic progress and service. Within the program, we also wanted to have leadership training, fundraising, investment in program administration and participation in the Parent’s club. What we came up with focused on the individual by requiring that each player complete 60 hours in the weight room by April 1^st. In addition, each player had to complete four hours of community service, two hours of program service, and 12 hours of film study on Hudl. Also, the players needed to arrive on time to school, maintain academic accountability and disciplinary accountability. On March 31, they would apply for Vesting with proof of all requirements. At that time, our leadership council would review all applications and refer them for vesting, vesting probation, or removal from the team.

Editor’s Note: This is one of our most popular reports. At the time of writing this report, Coach Mertens was head coach at Lakes Community High School (IL), a position he held since 2005. This 3-step plan helped Mertens build Lakes into a highly competitive program going 72-50 and qualify for the post-season each of the last eight years. In the spring of 2017, Coach Mertens was asked to lead the Lake Zurich High School (IL) program after a hazing incident the previous year. Again, he’s using his 3-step plan to build a special kind of program. In his first season at Lake Zurich, the Bears went 13-1 and were ranked #7 in the state. 

Introduction: 

Being the first and only head football coach in the short history of Lakes Community High School has proven to be one of the most unique experiences in my career. It was my first experience working in a public, co-ed school, and although I thought I had all the answers as a first-time head coach, I was quick to learn that I was not as ready as I had originally thought. For the first couple of years, I did all of the things “good” programs do: year-long lifting program, an extensive summer camp, strict discipline, holding players to high standards – all that I had learned from being a product of Chicago Catholic schools. We had some success with this blueprint, but not enough to satisfy my competitive spirit. I knew something was missing, so I started to really evaluate my program, and I concluded that two vital components were missing: tradition and spirituality. My next challenge became ‘How do I incorporate tradition and spirituality into a new public school?’ 

My first action step was to create an identity for the program that would encapsulate the tradition and spirituality I felt were missing, and Tony Dungy’s book, Uncommon, held the answer. Since adopting that simple word, “Uncommon”, we have qualified for the state playoffs 7 straight years, won 5 consecutive conference championships, and haven’t lost a conference game since 2011. More importantly, we have created a program that teaches our players lessons that they carry with them for years to come. Below are three examples of what we do to make our program “Uncommon.” 

1. Don’t Make It About Football 

I knew that if my players were to believe in “Uncommon” we would need to create something that was not ordinary – something that would not be found in other programs. Consequently, I authored a book that teaches our players not about football, but rather how and why being uncommon will help them to be successful in life. 

The book I created is broken up into chapters, such as Attitude and Effort, Confidence, Discipline, Excellent Character, Failure, I in Win, Leadership, No Excuses-No Explanations, Passion, Preparation, Pressure, Together, and Vision. In addition to my own thoughts, each chapter has quotes, anecdotes, interactive questions, and even poetry. Starting in the off-season and continuing through the end of the season, we are teaching our players what it means to be “Uncommon”. 

In the off-season, we typically cover one lesson per month. During summer camp, we will move to bi-weekly lessons, and once the season begins, we meet with our players twice per week. How each lesson is presented varies too greatly to adequately cover, so I will only describe what we typically do in-season; however, what we do works for us. Each year I survey my seniors, and they always talk about the impact of the lessons. It is what they remember most, which is a very telling sign. Their comments never focus on wins/losses, play calling, etc. but always on how we are teaching them to be uncommon. 

By the time the season starts, our players have a solid understanding of what being uncommon means, so I then have them take ownership of the weekly lessons. They are assigned to groups, an assistant coach volunteers to be the moderator, and that group presents a chapter of their choice on game day. Earlier in the week, I will have introduced the weekly theme, but other than that, I purposely do not give any instructions or parameters for their presentations. I want them to sculpt it to their vision, and they usually exceed my expectations. Their presentations have included movie clips, musical lyrics, PowerPoints, and even very personal background stories related to their topic. I LOVE Friday nights, not due to the game, but rather to see what the groups have prepared. 

Following their presentations, we break into small, coach-led groups to further discuss. I give my assistants complete autonomy on how to run their small groups. Some coaches will have players share their answers to the discussion questions in the book, while others just let the conversation go wherever it leads. Either way, both the coaches and players enjoy this time together. It really unites and allows us to truly understand each other. After the small group discussions, we meet as a whole team to view highlights from the previous game. Although the creation of the weekly highlights is an onerous task, it is well worth the time. Each video contains cutups, pictures, heart-pounding music, along with embedded messages highlighting the week’s topic. Players really enjoy watching themselves performing at high levels from previous games, and the entire organization exits the meeting feeling confident and ready for the next opponent.