Clovis Football

Hollister Camp

2011-07-06T09:13:00.000-07:00

Players have received information regarding our camp in Hollister this weekend, all forms and other materials must be turned into coach as soon as possible. Dinner, breakfast, and a return meal will be provided for players, please bring a water bottle, snacks if desired, and sleeping provisions with you. The Best Western Hollister/San Benito is happy to accommodate parents and supporters.

Sneak Peak of a Uniform Look for Next Season

2011-06-17T15:10:00.000-07:00

Here is a sneak peak of a new away jersey and a new blue pant for next season. I apologize for the blurry pictures its the best my camera phone will do

Stanford Passing Tournament

2011-06-14T09:03:00.000-07:00

The format this year has changed a bit for this tournament. So it will be interesting to see how it works. We play 5 games in round robin and then either a consolation game or on to the championship bracket. The tournament will run a little longer than before as we will play 6 games instead of five. In our pool is Downey of Modesto(5-5) , El Segunda of southern California (6-5), Modesto (8-3), Pinole Valley (11-1), and St Marys of Stockton (11-2) who we beat last year in a great game in the Stadium. I know playing in the stadium against a high quality opponent as St Marys was a highlight for our guys last year.

Below I attached information below

Pool Play

Field Map

Winners Bracket

Consolation Bracket

With the first game at 10 we will leave at 6 arrive around 9 warmup up at 915 to 930 and then go what seems like all day. We look forward to another day of just getting better.

El Diamonte Passing Tournament

2011-06-14T08:42:00.000-07:00

Wow last Saturday we really had a great day as we improved as a team. At El Diamonte we played Mission Oak, Dinuba, El Diamonte, and Sunnyside. We started out a little flat but improved as we continued through the Mission Oaks contest and played well verse a scrappy Dinuba squad. In the Semifinals we played El Diamonte right down to the end losing very close. We did this playing everyone and with only 18 guys as we were missing quite a few guys. El Diamonte on the other hand played only there starting O and D. We finished up beating Sunnyside in the third place game. Overall we definitely want to compete but our real objective is to just improve so we can be our best come August. This is why we have made it a point to play everyone and work hard at just getting better. Saturday we definitely improved as the day went along and guys definitely are preparing themselves to have the best season possible.

The Drive For Nine

2011-06-08T16:00:00.000-07:00

After attending the Win Forever Clinic with Pete Carroll I walked away determined to create a mission statement a message that fit who I was and what I wanted our student athletes to walk away with. We already had a motto for the season. We formed that in January after speaking with our players during off season goal meetings so many of our guys team goal was a Valley Championship our Motto for the upcoming season become DRIVE FOR 9. Our school currently has 8 section titles and our goal is to capture a ninth. But it is not that simple. What DRIVE FOR 9 represents is the approach a champion takes in what they do each and every day that makes them successful. Its the fervor and tenacity a champion approaches his daily tasks with that makes him a champion. In the end it is the process in which we go through in preparing to compete for the championship that makes us a champion not winning a championship itself. This was evident in the Win Forever Clinic that I attended as we watch this video below.

So with a Motto for the year I went to work on a mission statement something that defined what I wanted to accomplish with our team. As a coach for me it has always been important that we empower our athletes. That was a philosophy I really took with me after reading "When The Game Stood Tall" which chronicles De La Salle Football. Next it was always important to me to teach young mean to focus on the things they controlled and find solutions not excuses. This always led me to believe in taking the positive approach looking to the solution not the problem. Lastly growing up watching Jerry Rice I always gravitated how he constantly strived for perfection and constantly out worked all around him this was something I always tried to impart on my teams. From all of this came the mission statement below.

For us practice is so important because it is our opportunity to learn how to work together and become a team. I always felt if we taught our team how to practice winning would be a by product. To me this was the message I wanted our student athletes to carry with them for life that understanding that if you work hard at whatever you do that success will find you. For us it is important that our players feel empowered at practice and take it upon themselves to push themselves and focus. If we have to push them to do that we will not be very good. It is also important that in practice that we strive for perfection focusing on all the little details that make someone successful. Practice is where you work on your craft and improve. Lastly it was important in practice that we out hustle and work. I want to get alot accomplished at practice and in order to do that it requires us to out work and hustle our opponents. As an adult I constantly find myself trying to be more productive or out hustle the competition. These belief formed the four squares you see above in our mission statement as a description of what practice means to us.
A Quick Video by Pete Carroll on Practice

The circle between the squares was what we expect performance to be. This is a John Wooden idea that we must state what we expect the performance to look like. For him that was the top of his pyramid. For us it is the circle in the middle of the mission statement.

Below it was a series of rules or beliefs and these are other mottos we will emphasize such as Control the Ball. or Be the Solution thus focus on solving the problem.

OWN IT! Was to empower yourself take accountability for you and what you do. Be a self starter make the team yours.

Below is a series of other sayings we plan to use with our mission statement. Many I have discussed throughout this post.

Pete Carroll and Nike Present Win Forever

2011-06-08T01:29:00.000-07:00

I was fortunate enough a few weeks ago to attend the a Coaching Clinic put on by Pete Carroll presented by Nike. Simply Pete Carroll motto or coaching Philosophy is Win Forever. Our words are powerful and the clinic was really about putting your message your belief system as a coach into a mission statement into a motto that your players can draw from. Below are a couple of videos from his clinics and look in the coming week for our vision as Clovis Cougar Football.

Passing Tournaments & Spring Ball

2011-06-08T00:17:00.000-07:00

1st off here is a link to our spring ball gallery.

Spring ball was interesting this year between the weather and balancing our multi sport athletes it was a challenge. In the end of our 9 days we were able to get 5 days together and we definitely made progress towards the 2011 season. The focus of spring ball was to play guys on both sides of the ball and just get better. During the spring there is a lot of new things for everyone and this year was no different. But I appreciated the focus and effort our student athletes put forth to improve as a team. In the end we are able to learn alot as a coaching staff and our excited about our summer phase of our off season.

Over the past two weekends we have also attended passing tournaments. We difinitely attend with a mindset to compete but we approach it as a practice. We have been getting everyone reps and really working on improving as a whole team instead of focusing on having a starting group. It is our philosophy that if the focus is on everyone getting better now we can have our very best team in August through December.

Our first tournament in Selma say us play five games against Selma, Washington Union, Mt Whitney, Cesar Chavez, and Madera. It looked like a first day as we encountered challenges and learned on the run. I was impressed that our guys competed hard all day.

Our last tournament was at Clovis East in believe it or not the June rain. We didnt compete at the level we would like in our first game with Sanger. But I was impressed with how we regrouped and really competed at a HIGH LEVEL the rest of the day with Hanford West, Clovis East, and once again Madera. In the end I feel we are accomplishing what we want from the tournament as we are learning about our players in a competitive environment and our student athletes are improving at executing and defending the passing game.

Support Our Players in the City County All Star Game

2011-06-07T23:33:00.000-07:00

We are fortunate to have Taylor Ferguson, Gil Ornelas, Andrew Smith, Bret Smith, and Donnell Vercher representing our team in this years City Count All Star Game. Be sure to get out and support them. You can get all the necessary information at their website.

Order by May 6th

2011-04-15T14:56:00.000-07:00

Download your order form here.

Our most important fundraiser of the year.

2011-02-24T15:07:00.001-08:00

Players, please speak to your coaches to see how you can help with this event that benefits you directly.

Clovis Basketball Wednesday

2011-02-22T13:57:00.001-08:00

Come out and support Clovis Basketball Wednesday as they take on Central in the first round of the playoffs here on campus. Get out and support Lestee Caesar and Jason Black. If you got the chance to see Jason play football you will be wowed when you see the glove rug blanket what ever you want to call him defend on Wednesday night. In just a short time up on Varsity he has made a huge impact on the defensive end. Be sure to come out you wont be dissapointed

Valley Champions Wrestling

2011-02-22T13:45:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to our wrestlers for a great Valley Championships. It was exciting to see three of our football players in the finals in Adrian Salas and 2 champions in Nick Nevills and Dakoda Gordon. Just as exciting was seeing Jason Ladd wrestle for 3rd and 4th place and Taylor Ferguson take 3rd place. It is always so exciting to see our student athletes excel in more than one sport. Qualifying 14 of 14 is a first for our historic program

Great job and do great at Masters!

Winter Sport Athletes

2011-02-19T01:05:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to all of our Varsity Winter Sport Athletes. We appreciate the time they put into football and their respective winter sport.

Soccer who just finished up in the playoffs.
Jake Poindexter
Rodderick Arms
Nate Sauseda
Anthony Arcellus

Wrestling who is having another incredible season that has become the standard for our program. We wish them luck as they approach the state tournament
Jason Ladd
Taylor Ferguson
Ryan Davies
Nick Nevills
Adrian Salas
Dakoda Gordon

Basketball who has had a terrific season to finish 2nd in the TRAC when no one expected it. Sound familar.
Lestee Caesar
Donnell Vercher
Jason Black

The Multiple Sport Athlete

2011-02-19T01:00:00.000-08:00

I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to take our 7 all league student athletes to their all league pictures this week at Clovis West. As I looked at our guys I realized they all had something in common. They played multiple sports. Here is a list:

Three Sport Athletes
Donnell Vercher Football Basketball Track
Jason Black Football Basketball Track

Two Sport Athletes
Taylor Ferguson Football Wrestling
Eric Jett Football Baseball
Devin Cox Football Baseball
Nate Palomino Football Baseball
Gil Ornelas Football Track

I am a bigger believer in High School it is important to play multiple sports. Enjoy the high school experience and that you become a better athlete by doing multiple sports. For example track makes players faster that compliements football beautifully. Basketball is a game of quickness and the ability to jump. That carries over to the football field at nearly every position. I have already posted an article about the link between wrestling and football is there a better play to hone your ability to tackle. Even baseball teaches our players how to focus and be discipline pitch by pitch and that type of focus helps on the field.

Steps to Get Recruited

2011-02-19T00:42:00.000-08:00

1) Get good grades in college prep courses. Use the NCAA link at the bottom of this post and it will detail what those 16 core classes are. Only those classes count towards your Core GPA for scholarships. At the end of the day it is imperative that you understand your academics are crucial in this process.

2) Take the SAT and or the ACT. Try both tests as some people do better on different tests.

3) Understand where you are on the sliding scale. Again this is the GPA in your core classes matched with your SAT score or ACT score. Just by meeting the minimum on this scale only allows to qualify for a scholarship. It doesnt mean you meet the minimum for a given school just the minimum for a scholarship in the eyes of the NCAA

4) Attend a combine. Get your height/weight measured and get your speed timed in a variety of events. It is important to get this done by an independent organization. Last year I blogged about this. Also here are the links for NUC combine in Dinuba, the NIKE Sparq combines, and the Cal State Game combine.

5) Make a highlight film. Use DSV online or contact Coach Hammond to sit down and make one at school.

6) Meet with Coach and discuss what is a good fit for you.

7) Get your information out to schools that fit your level of play and academic profile.

8) Lastly if schools show interest attend their camps.

Great NCAA link on the process

Great Website about the Realities of Recruiting with valuable information.

Jersey Design Sumbissions for 2011

2011-01-18T18:34:00.000-08:00

Cougars, use the website below to design a jersey and bring it in or email it to Coach Hammond. Remember it has to be royal blue, vegas gold, and white. We're looking for your imput this year before we make our final decision.
Show us what you are thinking the Cougars look good in.

http://www.niketeam.com/v2/new/builders/teamid/index.asp

Parent Meeting Information

2011-01-14T13:09:00.000-08:00

Thank you those who attended last nights parents meeting we greatly appreciate your time for those of you who didnt make it the key points are covered below.

Off Season Workouts: For those of you whose student athlete is in first or second period weights are seeing the benefits. We work very hard at a variety of things to prevent injury and improve our players athleticism. If you son is not in the class and can be please get him moved to that class to start the second semester. If he cant do because of academics we understand but if at all possible it is important for us to have our student athletes together working to improve and building a sense of team.

Calendar: The calendar is post online on this page to the right and in a link on this post. Please look at it. It has every thing football related to the banquet next year.

Important Dates: We will post spirti pack materials in February and we are doing an order April 1st since we want to avoid any delays and issues with getting material Also Summer combine has been a such a terrific program that we will continue this summer. We asks that you get your form and payment in for that by May 13th.

Booster Club: Please get involved with our booster club it helps provide your student athletes and our program with the extra things such as team meals and nutritionists to help our program be the very best it can be. Any kind of help you can lend to the booster club is important. Whether it is volunteering to help with something at the Crab Feed or selling programs during a game is appreciated. We need your help to make our program its best. To get involved please contact mailto:cloviscougarfootball@gmail.com

Crab Feed: Our crab feed is the biggest fundraiser of the year for our program get your tickets before it sells out. It will be held during the evening of April 2nd be there and support Cougar Football

Letter of Intent: We have collected letters of intent to get numbers for equipment orders and to prepare for the upcoming season. If you have not turned one and you plan on or might play turn one in now.

Attached are links to the information handed out at last nights parent meeting, they are also available in the CHS Athletics office.

If you have trouble viewing these documents, lease try one of these interim solutions:

Reload the page.
Download the document by right-clicking on it in the main document list and selecting "Export."
View at html

Letter of Intent

Summer Combine Forms
Page 1
Page 2

Calendar Link

Going Deep: Ravens' Ray Lewis and Kelly Gregg use wrestling background to succeed in the NFL

2010-12-07T14:53:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share a great article on the Penn Live Blog about how wrestling and football are mutually beneficial sports.

Hydration & Nutrition tips

2010-08-18T19:07:00.000-07:00

CHS Football players must read the following Hydration Guidelines & Nutritional Guidelines for Clovis High Football Athletes. These plans were specifically written for our athletes.

Attention Seniors: Poster Picture

2010-07-16T08:41:00.000-07:00

Location Change

Seniors, please meet at

American Kickboxing Academy

3069 W Bullard Fresno

Southwest corner of Bullard and Marks

559-431-4290

at 1:40pm on Friday July 23 in your new gold shorts with your hair, etc. in dress code. Coaches will provide your home jersey for the pictures.

Salinas Football Camp

2010-07-04T10:14:00.000-07:00

UPDATE as of July 10th 3:00pm

Congrats to the cougars for their excellent performance today, your hard work, effort, and dedication to your team really showed today.

Last week, varsity players received a letter explaining a contact camp we will attend in Salinas on July 10th. Food and drink will be provided through the day, please bring a re-usable bottle to store water & Gatorade in. If a player thinks they will need additional snacks, we advise them to bring them. Please make sure that your student athelete has a good dinner Friday and a healthy breakfast (we suggest lean protiens & complex carbs for these meals). We will be traveling by bus and leaving early in the morning and returning in the evening. The booster club will be furnishing a meal at the end of the day. More information can be found here and here. We will depart at aproximately 5:15 am and return at aproximately 7:30 pm using Clovis High as our departure and return location. Please have your student atheletes confirm all times with their position coaches.

4th of July 2010

2010-06-21T19:17:00.000-07:00

Thank you for supporting us at the fireworks booth this year! If you have any comments or would like more information on the fireworks fundraiser, please contact us at ClovisCougarFootball@gmail.com.

Buy your fireworks from

CLOVIS HIGH FOOTBALL

and support your team!

Open June 30th through July 4th

4:00pm to 10:00pm June 30th to July 1st

10:00am to 10:00pm July 2nd-4th

the northwest corner of

Shaw and Clovis Avenue

Next to Carl’s Jr.

Snow cones, raffle, prizes and a chance

to meet the student-athletes of the

2010 Clovis High School Football Team

All proceeds go to Clovis High Football

If you would like to voulenteer in the fireworks booth, please contach CHS Football Boosters at cloviscougarfootball@gmail.com

Stanford Passing Tourney Information

2010-06-18T09:42:00.000-07:00

Stanford Passing Tournament

Student Athletes have been notified if they are participating this Saturday in our Stanford Passing Tournament. Please remember to bring a re-usable water bottle during participation. Food and beverages will be provided for this tournament.

Below are links for some additional information.

Rules

Field Map

Team Assignments

Go Cougars!

Passing Tournament Schedule 2010 Final Schedule

2010-06-01T09:11:00.001-07:00

Players, please bring a re-usable water bottle with you if you are attending this and any future passing tournaments; we will have fluids available to you.

Lindsay High School 2010 Passing Tournament Schedule:

Pool A Pool B Pool C Pool D

Clovis Redwood Kingsburg Mt. Whitney

Monache Wash. Union Arvin Mira Monte

Woodlake Lindsay Delano Granite Hills

Mt.Whitney B Coalinga Orosi Orange Cove

Golden West Porterville Farmersville Highland

Strathmore

45 Games before single elimination begins. Championship Brackets starts at 3:00

Top two teams from each pool will advance to the championship bracket

Team Trophy for first thru third, First will also receive 30 individual medals and 30 Championship T-Shirts

Next two teams will be placed in the consolation bracket winning team will receive a consolation team trophy.

5^th place teams will play their 5^th game A vs. B and C vs. D

The Last place team from Pool C will be eliminated after pool play.

Time	Field #1	Field #2	Field #3	Field #4	Field #5	Field #6
8:00	Redwood vs. Lindsay	Monache vs. Woodlake	Whitney B. vs. Golden W.	Granite Hills vs. Orange Cove	Orosi vs. Farmersville	Delano vs. Strathmore
8:50	Kingsburg vs. Arvin	Mt. Whintey vs. Highland	Clovis vs. Woodlake	Wash U. vs. Coalinga	Mira Monte vs. Granite Hills	Porterville vs. Redwood
9:40	Arvin vs. Farmersville	Mira Monte vs. Orange Cove	Coalinga vs. Lindsay	Strathmore vs. Kingsburg	Monache vs Whitney B.	Delano vs. Orosi
10:30	Clovis vs. Golden West	Wash.Union vs. Porterville	Farmersville vs Strathmore	Highland vs. Orange Cove	Granite Hills vs. Whitney	Woodlake vs. Whitney B.
11:20	Washington U. vs. Lindsay	Mira Monte vs. Highland	Kingsburg vs. Orosi	Arvin vs. Delano	Redwood vs. Coalinga	Monache vs. Golden West
12:10	Clovis vs. Monache	Coalinga vs. Porterville	Strathmore vs. Arvin	Kingsburg vs. Delano	Mt. Whitney vs. Mira Monte
1:00	Farmersville vs. Delano	Orosi vs. Strathmore	Mt. Whitney vs. Orange C.	Whitney B. vs. Clovis	Granite Hills vs. Highland
1:50	Redwood vs. Wash. Union	Porterville vs. Lindsay	Kingsburg vs. Farmersville	Woodlake vs. Golden West	Arvin vs. Orosi

Varsity Pictures & Physical Night for all Athletes

2010-05-26T12:01:00.001-07:00

Our Varsity pictures will coincide with physical night, Tuesday June 1st immediately following practice at 6:30. Please bring a completed physical form. Varsity players need to attend to get these pictures taken.

Fridays...

2010-05-26T11:58:00.000-07:00

We will be celebrating the end of JV Spring ball with an ice cream social, we look forward to seeing all our JV families there this Friday May 28th at 4:30.

Next Friday, June 4th, we will celebrate the end of Varsity Spring practices with an ice cream social at 4:30. See you there.

Membership Drive 2010

2010-05-10T10:24:00.000-07:00

May is our annual CHS Football Booster Membership drive. We are encouraging everyone to join the Booster Club for the 2010 season to do so. If you have not joined since the conclusion of last season, you are not currently a memeber and we encourage you to renew your membership. By becoming a member, you are supporting your student athlete, as well as the team as a whole because all membership money goes directly towards the program helping to pay for camps, meals, etc. Please fill out our 2010 CHS Football Membership form and mail it back to us. We welcome parents, grandparents, friends and all Cougar fans!

If you cannot participate in our membership drive, remember we always appreciate the donation of time. We will be having our anual Firework stand in July, and we will need help staffing it. Please contact the booster club at cloviscougarfootball@gmail.com with any questions, we're happy to assist you.

Spirit Packs

2010-04-28T10:29:00.000-07:00

Order your spirit packs early to take advantage of low pricing. Click on the link and have your student athelete return the form to Coach Hammond or Athletics. Cost is $60.00+.

Speed Training

2010-04-28T09:20:00.000-07:00

We are offering speed training for all football players Wednesday and Friday nights from 6-7 at Clovis High with a highly successful speed coach who has trained numerous division I football players. We encourage anyone wanting to improve their abilities and speed for the upcoming season to attend. Contact Coach Hammond for more details. Mobility Sports Performance

Crab Feed 2010

2010-03-30T14:43:00.000-07:00

The crab feed was a great success, for more pictures of the event, please click on our SmugMug link to the right of this page. Thank you to everyone for their participation in this event and supporting our student athletes.

20's and 40's Why

2010-03-25T13:21:00.000-07:00

Today we tested our 20's and 40's. I am a bigger believer in team speed and the fact that you can get faster as long as you are working on running form, plyometrics, weight room, core, and agility. Though there is a focus on the forty we really try and look at the twenty. It is not often that we run forty yards and we feel the twenty gives us a good picture if we are improving our start and twenty is a much more reasonable distance to run as a football player. Also we are really working on our starts. Overall we tested adequate but it is much better than last year. Last year we two players under 5.0 and that was it. This year we have a decent number of players under 5.0 I feel team speed is important and my best teams would always have around 20 to 25 guys under the 5.0 barrier. This is something we need to continue to work on as speed is essential in the game of football.

Last	First	March Twenty	March Forty
Ornelas	Gil	2.51	4.78
Conner	Yoon	2.57	4.65
Parks	Tyson	2.64	4.77
Meleski	Joshua	2.66	4.82
Burton	Isaac	2.67	4.85
Coersey	Joseph	2.69	4.94
Massey	Boo	2.7	4.73
Davies	Ryan	2.7	5.1
Arms	Roderick	2.75	4.85
Solozano	Paul	2.75	5.44
Grijalva	Bobby	2.76	5.03
Ferguson	Taylor	2.78	5.11
Magerian	Jordan	2.78	4.84
Nevills	Zak	2.86	5.17
Eldredge	Daniel	2.87	5.08
Barajas	Sonny	2.87	5.4
Smith	Andrew	2.89	5.21
Thompson	Joshua	2.89	4.95
Huerta	Louie	2.89	5.21
Newman	Nathan	2.95	5.25
Vargas	Joe	3	5.14
Kaiser	Joey	3	5.34
Rhodes	Dustin	3	5.44
Miyake	Matt	3.03	5.47
Salomonson	Nick	3.09	5.57
Smith	Bret	3.1	5.42
Brand	Wylie	3.26	5.89
Savage	Josh	3.31	5.76
McClellan	Scott	3.37	5.72
Snowden Bullock	Yanni	3.39	6.03
Solano	Miguel	3.56	6.12

Last	First	March Forty	December Forty
Conner	Yoon	4.65
Massey	Boo	4.73	4.97
Parks	Tyson	4.77
Ornelas	Gil	4.78	4.89
Meleski	Joshua	4.82	4.99
Magerian	Jordan	4.84	5.09
Burton	Isaac	4.85	5.09
Arms	Roderick	4.85	4.99
Coersey	Joseph	4.94	5.12
Thompson	Joshua	4.95	5.02
Grijalva	Bobby	5.03	5.39
Eldredge	Daniel	5.08
Davies	Ryan	5.1	5.29
Ferguson	Taylor	5.11	4.99
Vargas	Joe	5.14	5.49
Nevills	Zak	5.17
Smith	Andrew	5.21	5.29
Huerta	Louie	5.21	5.49
Newman	Nathan	5.25	5.89
Kaiser	Joey	5.34	5.39
Barajas	Sonny	5.4
Smith	Bret	5.42	5.89
Solozano	Paul	5.44	5.59
Rhodes	Dustin	5.44
Miyake	Matt	5.47	5.59
Salomonson	Nick	5.57	5.75
McClellan	Scott	5.72	5.89
Savage	Josh	5.76	6.19
Brand	Wylie	5.89	5.99
Snowden Bullock	Yanni	6.03
Solano	Miguel	6.12

Broad and Vertical Jump Testing More Information

2010-03-23T13:53:00.000-07:00

We tested yesterday morning on the broad and vertical jumps. The exciting part is that we saw significant improvements in these events. Most impressive was Tyson Parks broad jump of 122 which would put him in the range of the guys at the NFL combine: I am also pleased with our vertical jumps as we had no one over a 25 last year going into the season and now we are just in March and we have now have 7 guys to go over that. On the broad jump we consider anything over 100 good and we now have 10 guys over 100 including Zak Romanowski who jumped 101 who wasnt on the original list. In all we our excited about the progress we are making in both of this jumps because in many ways they are the best way to measure raw instant explosion that comes into play for football.

We would also recognize Freshman Yoon Conner for his impressive 30 inch vertical and 110 broad jump. On in terms of our lineman Nate Newman, Joe Coursey, and Matt Miyake did very well in both the vertical and broad for their position groups.

Broad Jump

		January Test	March Test
Last	First	Broad	Broad
Parks	Tyson	116	122
Conner	Yoon	110	110
Magerian	Jordan	91	103
Meleski	Joshua	94	102
Massey	Boo	90	101
Ornelas	Gil	91	101
Arms	Roderick	90	101
Coersey	Joseph	82	101
Eldredge	Daniel	90	98
Burton	Isaac	88	97
Smart	Jerry	84	97
Vargas	Joe	83	97
Ferguson	Taylor	92	97
Lehr	Carson		96
Sauceda	Nathan	72	95
Salas	Adrian		94.5
Grijalva	Bobby	84	94
Davies	Ryan	81	94
Miyake	Matt	84	93
Thompson	Joshua	90	92
Kaiser	Joey	68	91
Newman	Nathan	74	89
Solozano	Paul	71	88
Smith	Bret	75	85
Barajas	Sonny		81
Snowden Bullock	Yanni		80
Brand	Wylie	74	79
McClellan	Scott	64	77
Savage	Josh	68	77
Solano	Miguel		75

Vertical Jump

Last	First	Vert	Vert
		January Test	March Test
Parks	Tyson	31	31
Conner	Yoon	30	30.5
Vercher	Donell	25	30
Massey	Boo	20	26.5
Meleski	Joshua	22	26
Grijalva	Bobby	22	26
Ornelas	Gil	21	25
Miyake	Matt	21	24
Arms	Roderick	20	24
Coersey	Joseph	20	24
Magerian	Jordan	20	23
Thompson	Joshua	20	23
Burton	Isaac	20	22.5
Smart	Jerry	20	22
Vargas	Joe	17	22
Davies	Ryan	21	22
Eldredge	Daniel	21	22
Newman	Nathan	17	22
Ferguson	Taylor	17	21.5
Salas	Adrian		21
Lehr	Carson		20
Smith	Bret	17	20
Kaiser	Joey	17	20
Sauceda	Nathan	18	20
McClellan	Scott	15	19
Solozano	Paul	15	18
Brand	Wylie	17	17
Savage	Josh	14	17
Solano	Miguel		17
Snowden Bullock	Yanni		15
Barajas	Sonny		15

QB Development Program

2010-02-26T08:43:00.000-08:00

This off season we will launch our inaugural QB Development Program for 4 through 12 graders in the Clovis High Area. This program is based off the same program we used in the Monterey Bay Area with QB guru Peter Goodsen which has two alums David Fales and Brian Reader playing at the Division Level. A 3rd Jamie Jensen our QB at Gilroy finished 2nd in the state of California in Passing, broke multiple Northern California records and Top Five Nationally. He garnered multiple post season awards and will start at San Francisco City next year. In fact two of our QB's squared off in 2008 in one the most exciting games of the season.

Our program focuses on the fundamentals of throwing a football and the process between, the brain, feet, eyes and throwing motion to be a high level QB. Through the program we will develop a compact accurate throwing motion that will cultivate success on the football field. We will then follow this by installing and preparing to run plays within our offensive system to set our QB's up for success as we enter the season. In all program will cost $100 for instruction and you can either bring your own football or purchase one through our program. This is a great value as it costs five dollars a session even less than 5 dollars an hour.

Our program for current 4th through 6th graders
Begin April 10th and run every Saturday from 9 to 10:30 Through May 22nd. Then we will restart the week of June 21st in the summer meeting two days a week for six weeks to be determined in April after the summer school schedule is released. We will most likely meeting Monday and Wednesday evening from 5 to 6:15. Pending board approval.

Our program for current 7th and 8th graders
Begin April 10th and run every Saturday from 11 to 1230 through May 22nd. Our 8th graders will also extend there days and begin throwing receivers during this time period. Then we will restart the week of June 21st in the summer meeting two days a week for six weeks to be determined in April after the summer school schedule is released. We will most likely meeting Monday and Wednesday evening from 5 to 6:15. Pending board approval.

Our program for current high school student athletes has already begun. We have QB school every Wednesday at lunch and throwing has been set up for Saturdays for them. Any interested QB at the high school level not enrolled needs to contact me immediately to start.

Below are some videos links of Jamie Jensen in game and training.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-jbygWVt3Q

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6543026433408661557#

Basketball and Wrestling

2010-02-25T09:23:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to our Basketball program on completing a successful season. We appreciate the improvement that our basketball team members made throughout the season. We are sure Donnell Vercher, Lestee Caesar, Beau Hine, and Andrew Smith will all be better prepared for the upcoming football season thanks to the commitment they made to basketball this season. We would also like to congratulate our numerous lower level basketball players and their improvement over the season.

This weekend both Taylor Ferguson and Zack Nevills will wrestle for the chance to go to state. We wish them the best of luck. We would also like to recognize Ryan Davies and his continued commitment to help those guys prepare for this weekend. Also we would like to share with you this story about assistant coach Adam Tirapelle
http://www.dailyillini.com/sports/athletes-of-the-decade/2010/02/24/illini-of-the-decade-9-adam-tirapelle

National Underclassman Combine

2010-02-25T08:42:00.000-08:00

We have spoke about combines in a previous post. Here is a great combine for an underclassman.

The National Underclassman Combine is making its way to the Central Valley this year. It is a great combine for our student athletes that are current freshman or sophomores that want to play beyond high school. It is also a good experience. The website is linked above and I encourage you to sign up and experience a combine if you are interested in playing beyond high school.

Off Season Clinics and Why

2010-02-23T12:35:00.000-08:00

This previous weekend as a staff we traveled to Costa Mesa for a football clinic. Clinic are a valuable tool for football coaches just as any professional conference is for any professional in a given field. This weekend the biggest thing was getting little pieces of information to help us become better coaches and improve the product on the field. As a staff we took 7 coaches to the clinic. We say over 20 speakers and I know for myself I took almost 40 pages of notes. As a staff some of the highlights were:

West Texas A&M Coach Billy Best and his OL drills/schemes for the run game and pass game with big splits

Houston Coach Tony Levine and his WR fundamentals

BYU Coach Patrick Higgins and his WR fundamentals and talk on the Y cross

49er Coach Mike Johnson and his adjustment for 4 verticals verse cover 2 and general QB play

Tulsa Coach Bill Blankenship and his multiple talks on the no huddle, play action, zone run, and trick plays

San Diego State Brady Hoke and his talk on Defensive Line play

Cal Poly's Brian Cook and his talk on big plays

UCLA's Tim Hundley speaking about cover 4, tackling and turnovers

Utah's Blake Miller and his OL drills for protection

UCLA Mike Linn on off season training programs

Louisvilles Mike Sanford and his discussion on zone run

Gordon Elliott a high school coach out of Washington and his thorough coverage of the 3-3 stack defense

Arizona's Greg Brown on DB play

Chargers Greg Williams and his takes on defense

As a staff I think we all took things that we can come back with and apply and we got some very valuable drill film to show our athletes what it is suppose to look like. We also would like to thank our booster group for there support to help make this experience possible. With opportunities like this we improve as a staff and thus improve our program for our student athletes here at Clovis High.

QB School

2010-02-23T10:26:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday we had a first session of QB School. We talked about QB fundamentals and the process of throwing a football. I am very excited because these become the building blocks for success at that position. Unfortunately last year with everything that comes with being new and getting a late start we didnt do many of these basic building blocks. Instead we rushed through them in missed some details so we could try to maximize our success.

This year with QB School and QB Workouts starting so early we get a chance to really pay attention to the little fundamentals of throwing a football. With time working on these little fundamentals we can increase our accuracy, reduce the time it takes to throw a football, improve our touch, and increase the power in our throw. At a position that is so difficult to play it is so important to cover all the little details in the process.

Every Wednesday we will conduct a QB School at lunch and learn about the position while adding to our new binder information about the position.

Congratulations

2010-02-16T21:41:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to our soccer program for qualifying for the playoffs. Also congratulations on a great season as their season came to a close today at Stockdale in their first round playoff game. We appreciate the grow our soccer players made this season through their competition.

Also congratulations to our wrestlers. Zack Nevills and Taylor Ferguson both advanced to Valley this weekend following 2nd and 1st place finishes in the TRAC. We look forward to watching their growth over the next three weeks.

2009 Highlight

2010-02-16T20:40:00.000-08:00

Below is the link to the video for the max preps top plays of the year. Click on the link below and go to around 310 on the video and you will see the QB Sneak that lead off the homecoming game against Madera.

Link to Video

Reminder at NCAA Clearinghouse Information This Monday

2010-02-16T20:31:00.000-08:00

Monday February 22nd at Clovis High we will have our Beyond High School Night. During this time Fresno State Compliance officers will cover the academic and testing requirements to accept a NCAA Division 1, 2, 3 and NAIA scholarship or just the opportunity to play sports at the next level. The explorations runs from 545 to 9pm and please contact Gary Prentice at 327-1102 or garyprentice@cusd.com for more information and exact times.

Incoming Freshman Football Parents Information Meeting

2010-02-11T21:24:00.000-08:00

On March 2nd at 6 pm at Clark Coach Crews and myself will hold a informational meeting for future student athletes and parents. At this meeting we will provide information on the upcoming spring ball camp for 8th graders in May and our summer program. We look forward to seeing all of you there.

Interesting Read About QB's

2010-02-05T09:05:00.000-08:00

With the information coming out this next week about our off season QB program I thought it would be appropriate to post this article. I got to know Butch when I coached at Santa Clara as we where is the same league but different divisions. He is a great coach and we have alot of similarity. He is the only other head football coach I know who teaches AP mathematics and we have similar dispositions. He also gave me some of the best football coaching advice when he said "Be positive after a loss and knock them down a peg when they win." By no means would I say we are friends but I respect him as much as any coach I have met. I was fortunate to play his Los Gatos teams once in the playoffs in a game for the ages .

To the article I think the three important points made in the article are this. First QB can be developed. Los Gatos has done a good job of showing that. 2nd in order to develop a great QB you need to work mechanics as coaches QB's do with Roger Theder and 3rd you need to work reads and football knowledge as Coach Cattolico does with his QB's. Developing QB's is a two prong process with mechanics in the early spring February, March, April followed by reads and live action such as 7 on 7 in May, June, July. Finally you add August and pads and learn how to do with a rush and you have a good QB.

As we lay out our QB Development program this coming week I think you will see this process on display.

What We Are Trying To Improve in Off Season Training

2010-02-04T22:31:00.000-08:00

The importance of off season programs is to build a better student athlete. In our sport we are trying to improve our players as athletes so they can perform at the highest level on the football field. Below are the attributes we are trying to improve to improve our athletes. Again our focus to create players that move on the football field and finish with a explosive movement, not necessarily the strongest.

Functional Strength, Power, and Explosiveness

Functional Movement in Every Direction and the ability to Start Stop Start

First Step Quickness

10, 20 and 40 yard Speed

Core Strength

Balance

Flexibility

Mental Toughness

Program Pillars

2010-02-04T22:09:00.000-08:00

Program Pillars are our players right now who are making great strides in their off season commitment and our make big improvements of themselves. By improving themselves they are improving the team. In my experience players who have dedicated themselves to be the very best they could be in the off season have gotten the most out our sport. Also when we have a great commitment to one another during the off season you see a team that fights for victories during the season.

I wanted to start by recognizing our winter sports stars who have done a tremendous job of still finding time to improve themselves this off season. Nathan Sauseda, Roderick Arms, Josh Thompson have rarely missed a day despite playing soccer. Meanwhile Taylor Ferguson, Andrew Smith, and Donnell Vercher have been very consistent while participating in Varsity Wrestling and Basketball.

Meanwhile a very solid group players lead by Boo Massey, Josh Meleski, Joseph Coeresy, Bobby Grijavla, Joey Kaiser, Josh Savage, and Paul Solzano have not missed a day. Also an extremely consistent group of guys of Issac Burton, Nate Newman, Nick Salomonson, Jordan Magerian, Matt Miyake, Joe Vargas, Brandon Akulian, Josh Stoeckle, Josh Cox, Scott McClellan, Gil Ornelas, Louie Huerta and Brett Smith. Also Daniel Eldridge who got a late start has been very consistent since his start and is improving quickly. We are also excited that our two new member Yoon Conner and Tyson Parks have been very dedicated since their arrival and look forward to them making the next list of Program Pillars.

Improving Our Verticals

2010-02-04T10:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we tested our vertical jumps to check for growth even though we have only been lifting and training for 5 weeks since the Christmas break. Now is not an ideal time to test considering we have only worked lightly on our plyometrics and our focus right now has been on core and building strength. Even our weight program has yet to hit the real strength building phase as we have focused on high repetitions to build muscle and flexibility. In the coming weeks our focus will shift to a strength building phase which will increase strength and thus vertical jump. Also in the coming months we will improve enough on our plyometrics to incorporate more advanced exercises that will have a bigger impact on vertical jump. Still we felt it was important to show our guys that they are making measurable gains thanks to the time they are committing this off season.

As I have stated many times before I truly believe that the vertical jump is the best measure of someones explosiveness. This a great football attribute because its a functional measurement. My best programs have always had a bunch of guys who could jump and run. Last year as a program we did not have a single person vert over 25 inch. My best teams have always had around 10 guys vert 30+. Testing yesterday led to 3 guys breaking the 30 inch barrier. Two of those 3 to break the 30 inch barrier are new to our program. But are able to preform at a high level because they have been part of dedicated weight room and training programs that they participated in before joining our program. It is a testament to what I have been stressing about the importance of a strong off season program. Tyson Parks led the way easily going past the 30 inch vertical mark followed closely Donnell Vercher and Yoon Conner who each reached the 30 inch mark. Donnell has been training as much as he can while playing basketball and using the combination of both Donnell was able to raise his vertical 5 inches to 30.

Donnell wasnt the largest gain though. That belongs to the Boo Massey who has easily been the hardest working guy in our off season training. Boo increased his vertical from a measly 20 inches to 26. A gain of 6 inches is phenomenal in the short time period. With his continued hard work Boo will surpass the 30 inch mark which I consider to be a great indicator of having the ability to have success on the field. Boo was not the only player to make a big jump. Josh Meleski increased from a 22 to a 26 inch vertical and Bobby Grijalva increased to a 26 inch vertical also followed closely by a 25 out of Devin Cox. Out of our lineman Matt Miyake and Joe Coersey came in at 24 inch vertical jumps.

In the coming months I look forward to our student athletes to continue improving these vertical leaps and improving as athletes to be the best football player they can be.

Also below I proved the link of vertical jump for the NFL combine for last season by position. Not that we are there or should be there but to give you an idea of the power and explosion that is measured by the vertical jump.

http://www.nfl.com/combine/top-performers#tp-tab-set-1:tp-grid-container-vertical-jump

Spring Sports

2010-02-01T00:31:00.000-08:00

With spring sports starting officially this week good luck to all of our guys participating in volleyball, track, baseball and swimming/diving.

Combines and Why

2010-01-27T22:45:00.000-08:00

Spring is combine season and is a important process for Juniors that desire to go play beyond high school. Combines test forty time, shuttle run time, bench reps at 185 pounds, and vertical jump. Some combines test the pro agility drill and broad jump but those are not universal tests. Combines attach measureables that colleges have deemed important to student athletes. In my experience there is validation to many of the measureables. Being fast doesnt make you a great football player but speed helps you be productive on the field.

Since these attributes are typical of good players these attributes will increase through our off season program during zero period. For example we have players who have added 4, 5, 6 inches to there vertical in the short time we have been working. I guarantee that guys have improved their forty and will be able to bench more due to our program at this point. Currently we our building the blocks for the shuttle run by working on our change of direction and we will learn and test this in the next month. We will continue to train and improve throughout the spring.

Here is a link for testing protocol, a link to the NFL networks combine explanation and a couple of combine videos.

If you are interested in registering for a combine there is information below. I would suggest signing up for one of the Nike Combines in the Bay Area or LA area. Also have your son contact me so we can go more into depth about what to expect and what they can focus their time on the most to make it the best combine experience as possible.

http://www.nikefootballcombineregistration.com/
http://www.nationalcompetitioncamps.com/
http://www.nats.us/combine_schedule/schedule_report.php?pagesize=-1

Hop and Stop Stop and Hop

2010-01-22T01:46:00.000-08:00

Jeremy Boone Speed Coach for the Carolina Panthers does a great job of explaining the properties of change of direction. I was became aware of Coach Boone by the Carolina Panthers community rep and the Dorman High School football coach when we traveled to New Orleans for a passing tournament two years ago. Below is a link to a project that coach Boone is doing on athletes to reduce ACL injuries and increase the ability to change direction. In our sport of football speed is important but change of direction is vital.

http://www.athletebydesign.com/Research/HopStop/tabid/217/Default.aspx

I think the important focus here is on the deceleration. Being able to decelerate allows athletes to cut faster and protect themselves from unnecessary injury. The idea behind this is if we teach the body how to decelerate faster we can move faster. The stop hop is something we have incorporated into our daily routine.
Here on three more articles on the change of direction. Take a close look at the pictures in both they show the process of changing direction.

Link 1

Link 2

Link 3

Lastly here are some videos of some of the exercises

Pride Points

2010-01-22T00:07:00.000-08:00

As we run our off season program I think it is important to have an incentive other than an intrinsic one. Obviously a student athlete who participates in our off season program is going to make gains as an athlete in speed, strength, quickness, and explosiveness. Also in my experience the guys who have been But I also think it is important to give a reward to our players who are putting in the time and energy to the program. So we have pride points that are earned for DOING THE RIGHT THING. Such things as attending workouts, playing other sports, getting good grades, and in a rare instance something so positive in terms of effort or service I deem it necessary to reward. Each of these things are given a pride point value. For the these values our players are rewarded with the first offering of gear, pick of a jersey number, food, a Championship Commitment T Shirt, an opportunity to be a captain, etc. Pride points are to us what Winners Circle is to wrestling.

Monday I will post attendance and pride points in the locker room for our upcoming varsity players. Monday we will begin to keep pride points for freshman with a bonus for those freshman who have already been participating after school.

Also this weekend look for our first edition of our Program Pillars. These are student athletes making a great commitment to our program, "DO THE RIGHT THING" and will be guys to look to this upcoming season.

Our Athletes In Winter Sports

2010-01-21T23:09:00.000-08:00

We wanted to recognize our student athletes that are currently participating in Winter Sports. I feel the multi sport athlete is a very important to high school athletics. This is a student athletes last opportunity to participate in multiple sports. Also the value of competing in tense situations carries over from sport to sport.

Basketball
Donnell Vercher
Andrew Smith
Lestee Caesar
Beau Hine
Alston Moore
Jason Black
Conner Myers
CJ Broussard

Soccer
Josh Thompson
Anthony Arcellus
Justin Jue
Roderick Arms
Nathan Sauseda

Wrestling
Taylor Ferguson
Zack Nevills
Ryan Davies
Jesus Castaneda
Dakoda Gordon
Sam Zegarelli
Adrian Salas

If I missed someone I apologize we tried our best to get all the names and I know I missed some freshman. Please let me know if I missed someone and I will correct it.

2010 Football Season Theme

2010-01-20T01:11:00.000-08:00

Do The Right Thing

I have been struggling to find the right message for this off season and the 2010 season. I had been thinking of Pete Carrols "Win Forever" slogan and message. But I didnt think it quite fit our situation. Yet today I found my message and stole the theme not from Spike Lee and his movie of the same name but Paul Rhodes the head coach of Iowa State. Probably the most overachieving team in the NCAA this season. His speech starts at 2:17 into the video.

What is his message? Do the right thing every where all the time. Do in the classroom, do in the game, do in practice, and it will pay off for you. Not only during your season but in your life. At the end of the day the thing we want most of all as coaches is for our student athletes to be successful in life. This is a great example of this.

The other piece I really grabbed on to was his comment about it being their culture. All great programs I have been part of as a player or a coach had a culture of hard work. That is what Clovis high had for many years and has lost. We are working extremely hard to create a culture of hard work and success right now. It is definitely improving but no where near where it needs to be.

So as we move forward into the 2010 off season and season look for this phrase and message. Look for us to build a culture about doing the right thing. Hopefully it will be a lesson that our guys carry with them throughout the season and into their lives.

Congratulations To Our Wrestlers

2010-01-19T08:02:00.000-08:00

This weekend we had 3 of our wrestlers who play football won tournaments. Taylor Ferguson, Zack Nevills, and Ryan Davies all won wrestling tournaments this past weekend. Dakoda Gordon and Adrian Salas also finished 3rd in the tournament. Great job and congratulations on your accomplishment.

Crab Feed Is Coming

2010-01-19T00:03:00.000-08:00

Our annual crab feed is set for March 27th at the Rex Phebus Memorial Building. This year festivities will start at 5 pm and dinner at 6pm. This year for the first time there will be dancing following the auctions. Your support is needed to continue to offer our student athletes the best football program we can provide. All the money raised from the crab feed goes back into the program. These is our main fundraiser for the year and is vital to our programs success.

We are out now lining up great auction items. Tickets are fifty dollars and contact the Booster Club at their website www.cloviscougarfootball.com or Clovis High Athletic Office for Tickets or just send me comment at the bottom of this blog. Also if you would like to volunteer to help or have a donation for the live auction please contact the booster club via email at cloviscougarfootball@gmail.com

Thank you your support and I look forward to seeing you at the event and thank you for your support.

Another Story on the new Golden Valley Coach

2010-01-15T15:30:00.000-08:00

Another article on the new Golden Valley coach Jake Messina. Golden Valley is our 1st opponent in 2010.

Note the link is the word article above just click article for the story.

Letter of Intent

2010-01-15T14:24:00.000-08:00

Here is a link the our letter of intent

The letter of intent is important for multiple reasons.

1st it gives us an opportunity to know who is and who isnt coming out. It also allows us to find all of those not participating in another sport and working if they are planning to play next season.

2nd the letter of intent allows student commitment and declare they will play football. This is a powerful thing. It is important to learn in life when you commit to something you must follow through. The letter helps our student athletes learn this.

3rd the letter allows me to gather contact information to keep everyone in the loop on the happenings of Cougar football.

4th the letter allows us know how much gear and equipment to order.

Scholarship Football Student Athletes From CUSD

2010-01-15T10:10:00.000-08:00

Below I have compiled a list of as many CUSD scholarship football players out of high school as I can since Zack Follett. In the breakdown I included the typical combine tests and their results for each of these. If there was no information for someone such as Brent Bettancourt then I did not list their information The bench is reps at 185 and I think the rest of the tests are well known.

Name	Position	Height	Weight	Forty	Shuttle	Bench	Vert	GPA	College	High Sch
Zack Follett	LB	6'2"	228	4.59	4.44	22	31		Cal	Clovis
Chris Lewis	DL	6'2"	237	4.62	4.66	27	34		Fresno St	West
Tracy Slocum	RB	5'10"	195	4.5	4.19	21	34	2.8	Cal	East
Taylor Smith	OL/DL	6'3"	224	4.84	4.62	23	31	3	Fresno St	Buchanan
Beau Sweeny	QB	6'1"	195	4.65	4.51	12	28		Cal	West
Lars Bramer	OL	6'5"	255	5.01	4.82	22	24	3.65	Fresno State	Buchanan
Travis Brown	LB	6'1"	220	4.61	4.41	22	na	na	Fresno State	West
Nathan Fellnar	DB	6'0"	200	4.57	4.21	na	na	3.8	Washington	West
Jeff Tuel	QB	6'2"	188	4.63	4.31	13	31	3.42	Wash St	West

Mark Lampford RB/DB 6'1" 181 4.57 4.19 20 34 na Nevada Buchanan

In addition to the information posted Tracy Slocum was reported as squatting 485 pounds.

I also then made a list from schools Clovis played the last couple of seasons.

Name	Position	Height	Weight	Forty	Shuttle	Bench	Vertical	College
Michael Clay	LB	5'11"	205	4.65	4.42	17	30	Oregon	Bellarmine
Austin Carta Samuels	QB	6'1"	207	4.63	4.13	12	30	Wyoming	Bellarmine
Kevin Danser	OL	6'6"	295	5.1	4.82	24	24	Stanford	Bellarmine
Usua Amanan	RB/DB	5'9"	174	4.46	4.21	12	37	Stanford	Bellarmine
Nick Tenaeoff	RB/LB	6'2"	205	4.61	4.42	24	34	San Diego St	Atascadero
Nicco Motta	DL	6'3"	265	5.01	na	na	na	Sanger	Fresno St

Then I took Palmas scholarship guys over the last couple years since I felt they were a program that has gotten guys out because of their academics and the teams success. They have been more of a lower level recruit but have gone because of their academics.

Name	Position	Height	Weight	Forty	Shuttle	Bench	Vertical	GPA	College
Chad Davis	LB	6'0"	193	4.6	4.43	18	30	4	UC Davis
Eric Sobotka	DE	6'2"	215	4.99	4.5	19	32	3.8	UC Davis
Luke Lippincott	RB/Safety	6'2"	210	4.61	4.28	17	34	3.4	Nevada
David Fales	QB	6'2"	190	4.95	4.82	12	28	3.2	Nevada

Lastly I took my former players that have been playing for my programs at Gilroy and Santa Clara doing our off season program over the last 6 year.I didnt take necessarily are best testers but guys who garnered interest from division one football programs. So for example our best athlete ever at Gilroy was a z receiver Danny Contreras but he was 5'5" so he garnered no interest despite a 4.4 forty, 4.1 shuttle, and a 37 inch vertical. Also when we first implemented the USC training program at Gilroy Justin Sweeney and Bobby Best both ranked in the top twenty nationally for the Sparq rating. I believe it was Sparq's 2nd or 3rd year out.

Name	Position	Height	Weight	Forty	Shuttle	Bench	Vert	GPA	College	Squat	School
Justin Sweeny	RB	5'8"	160	4.56	4.37	20	35	2.5		450	Gilroy
Bobby Best	DE	6'4"	245	4.95	4.34	29	31	3.7	Cal Poly	700	Gilroy
Dante Fullard	WR	5'8"	185	4.59	4.31	18	33	2	JC Starter	460	Gilroy
Justice Patterson	RB	5'10"	190	4.58	4.43	14	30	3	JC All State	380	Santa Clara
Travis Reyes	RB	5'9"	165	4.72	4.65	14	34	3.2	JC Starting	440	Gilroy
Peter Guenther	RB	5'10"	165	4.41	4.52	11	32	3.4	Track Schol	390	Gilroy
Natanal Otten	OL/DL	6'3"	275	5.02	4.67	24	29	3.6	Albilene	560	Santa Clara
Russel Lacey	LB	6'2"	205	4.78	4.56	18	32	2.5	JC Starter	480	Santa Clara
Jamie Jensen	QB	6'3"	215	5.01	4.52	11	29	2.5	JC Starting	na	Gilroy

As you look at the data I think the things that stick out is how important grades are and I think how important vertical is. Without grades you wont get to the next level especially with all of the academic performance ratings on college programs they only take student athletes they know can cut it academically. Sure forty and shuttle are important they are indications of how well you move but I think vertical jump is the best measure of athleticism. This is why a program that incorporates core, plyometrics, flexibility, proprioception, and weights is so important. As you look through these lists you see great verticals. Last season into this season we have had no players on our team test over a 25 inch vertical here in Clovis. That is why our off season program is so important. We need to increase our athleticism in order to improve our production on the field. That is our challenge but I am confident that our student athletes that are working hard right now are going to improve through our off season program and there will be a marked difference in their ability on the field..

Golden Valleys New Head Football Coach

2010-01-15T01:09:00.000-08:00

Our first game next year is with Golden Valley out of Merced and they now have hired a new head coach Jake Messina. Coach Messina comes from Merced High and Palo Alto High programs both of which where very successful.

Here is the link to the story.

Learn About The NCAA Clearinghouse

2010-01-14T14:06:00.000-08:00

Three Major Programs and Their Thoughts on the Off Season

2010-01-14T13:30:00.000-08:00

I have spent alot of time at USC really learning about their program. I have been fortunate to know a friend of Coach Carroll who could get us often a behind the scenes look. I have listened to Coach Carlisle multiple times. I probably have watched him work or speak for over 100 hours. I am completly sold on what they are trying to accomplish with their program. When I have implemented the things he does in my programs I have seen our players do phenominal things on the field. There is so many great phrases in this. "The inner feeling to not let one day go by without getting better". "You are constantly in game prep you are preparing for that moment even in January" this could not be more true. It is as he says later the want to do during the off season because everyone wants to win on Fridays in fall but not everyone wants to prepare for those Fridays. If you train in the off season so you can practice at a high level then you play at a high level that allows you success. The progress we make in our off season program now is what will determine whether we win or lose this upcoming season. I also really agree with Carlisle assessment that your training should be about moving and being able to move better. Football is a game of movement and this is the number focus of what we do. The last thing that sticks with me is "Win Forever" comment by Carroll. It is a beautiful slogan. He states that they train their players to learn how to work hard at everything so as they continue in to life they will be successful at what ever they choose to do thus Winning Forever.

Urban Meyers sums it up simply as out working your opponents. Every successful program I have been associated with I believe this to be true. Coach Marotti does truely sum up why we do it and why I need our guys to do it together. When you "work together, cry together, bleed together. Its just so fullfilling." The two phrases I take from this I know I am going to use is the "competitive excellence" and "the 4 to 6 second competitor with great effort and focus" I feel both grasp what we want our guys to do in the off season and in season. Lastly Coach Meyers speaks of speed and it is true. Speed wins and that is also why our off season program is so important to help our players move better.

I love that Mack Brown talks about passion and that the best players are the ones going first and leaving
last. Mack Brown hits it on the nose you have to keep working and compete with one another. I also think you hear Mad Dog say what I preach and the same message Carlisle from USC carries it is about transferring what you do in the weightroom to the field. In my experiences when we were successful we refused to lose the close games. It was what Mad Dog description the culmination of all the work our players had put into the off season coming out when it counted most. The more you invest the harder it is to lose. The last thing I think we can take from this clip is Mack Browns message of consistency. If our program can get our student players to show up everyday and put forth a good effort you can create greatness.

I think in these videos you see three programs and their philosophy on the importance of an off season program. From the program I participated in high school to the college to the programs I have coached in off season has been very good in the off season. Our off season program is important to our success. It gives an opportunity to build team unity, work ethic, and most importantly a better football player. Just look at the most successful program on campus wrestling. They have the Winners Circle. Dont doubt for a second it is an important part of their success. Look at their depth it is because of Winners Circle. If they ever stop using it I going to steal the name. In the near future I hope to have catchy name for our off season program just like Winners Circle.

Our Off Season Program and Its Link to USC

2010-01-14T01:10:00.000-08:00

Yes he did say 6 am I have been there many a times for that workout. In fact over the last 15 years of my life I have been to too many 6 am workouts to count. There is something about working before your competition is even up that helps build a belief in your improvement over your competition.

I have been very fortunate to spend a lot of time at USC and study their off season program. At my last two programs I have implemented many of these ideas into our off season program and witnessed tremendously better athletes at its conclusion. The program we are currently participating in is designed to make our student athletes better athletes not necessarily stronger. Strength doesnt matter but functional strength through the movements of football does. Chris Carlisle is the head strength and conditioning coach at USC and he does a tremendous job of making the athletes better at USC. Our program is designed to help our athletes move quicker and faster and deliver a blow when they arrive.In order to do this we have to incorporate many different principals.

The base of our program comes from the core and flexibility. We begin each and every day with a series of stretches to increase our hip flexibility. This is followed by a core workout. In my opinion core is the most overlooked area. Core is the muscles that run from under the pecks to the hips. We work our core in many different ways from planks to rotational exercises. The development of the core is the very important as it allows you to use your strength in a functional manner. In may opinion our best athletes always have the best core. Though this is thought to be true Ohio State is doing an in depth study on high school football players to prove it

We then move to proprioception. Yes all the weird board and balance exercises that many think are a waste of time. Besides the benefits of increased balance studies show that proprioception has a large effect in preventing ankle and knee injuries. So we feel that is an important exercise due to its ability to reduce injury.

At this point we typically move on to speed, plyometrics, or agility. We work on start and sprint mechanics as well as sprints themselves. In terms of plyometrics we do alot of multi directional movements. We also focus on the deceleration portion of a jump when an athlete stops. This is so important as it allows athletes to stop and start at a fast pace. We work on linear plyometrics for speed as well as vertical plyometrics for a vertical jump. I feel this the best current measure of athleticism and I will speak about that in a later post. In terms of agilities we work of foot speed, moving and stopping in multiple directions. I really feel that this work is what really helps our athletes on the field. The ability of players to move in many direction as fast as possible is what determines so much success in football. Team speed is paramount for success. So any good off season program will have a focus on this.

Lastly we move on to our weight portion of our program. During this portion we focus on working to protect the shoulders and lifts that require the knees, ankles, and hips to bend. Any movement from a squat to a high pull to a RDL requires great coordination as the whole body is incorporated in the lift. When we jump, run, tackle, etc it is movement we create through these three joints. In terms of our main lifts we also use a progressive chart to push our guys each and every day. Lastly as we move to a 5 day work week we will incorporate a stretching session at the end to increase flexibility.

Overall I think the off season program I have conducted has had tremendous results on the field for my program. As a program our guys have been able to move on the football field. Our charge now is increasing our participation in our program as our competition within CUSD has established off season programs with a high percentage of participation.

Here is some clips of Coach Carisle talking about his program

Films of USC Training our guys will see alot of the same exercises we do.

2010 Calendar Is Online

2010-01-13T09:40:00.000-08:00

The 2010 Calendar is linked to the right of this blog under links or you can find it here

Calendar Link

The calendar will not change very much through out the year but if their are any changes it will be updated online. So feel free to constantly check it online to see what is going on.

Lastly there is a calendar at the bottom of the page that you can always check.

2010 Schedule

2010-01-13T09:34:00.000-08:00

CLOVIS FOOTBALL 2010

Day Date Opponent Time Place
Friday 8/20 Blue/Gold Scrimmage 5:30/6:30 Lamonica Stadium
Friday 8/27 Redwood Scrimmage 5:30/6:30 Redwood
Friday 9/3 Golden Valley 5:00/7:30 Lamonica Stadium
Friday 9/10 Atascadero 5:00/7:30 Atascadero
Friday 9/17 Centennial-Elementary Night 5:00/7:30 Lamonica Stadium
Friday 9/24 Stockdale 5:00/7:30 Stockdale
Friday 10/1 Sanger – Homecoming 5:00/7:30 Lamonica Stadium
Friday 10/8 Bye Bye Bye
Friday 10/15 Clovis East – Clark Night 4:30/7:30 Lamonica Stadium
Friday 10/22 Central 5:00/7:30 Central Stadium
Friday 10/29 Buchanan 4:30/7:30 Veterans Stadium
Friday 11/5 Clovis North- Parent Night 4:30/7:30 Lamonica Stadium
Friday 11/12 Clovis West 4:30/7:30 Lamonica Stadium Clovis High Away Though
Friday 11/19 Playoff TBA TBA
Friday 11/26 Playoff TBA TBA
Friday 12/3 Playoff TBA TBA
Friday 12/10 Valley Finals TBA TBA
TBA TBA CIF State Championships TBA Home Depot Center, Carson

Clovis High School
Principal: Pam Winter
Athletic Director: Ed Schmalzel
Mascot: Cougar
Colors: Royal blue and gold
Revised: January 15, 2009

Home games: BOLD

Here is a Link To The Schedule

This Weeks Calendar

2009-08-23T13:19:00.001-07:00

Please Check the Calendar at the bottom of the page for this weeks schedule and emphasis

Team Rules Link

2009-08-21T16:34:00.001-07:00

https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0Af8NtGofGJjiZGQ2NWc5NXZfMjFmanp3cmozcA&hl=en

Double Days

2009-08-07T18:00:00.000-07:00

Double Days are upon us. I have been taking a different approach to double days over the last couple of years using a double, single, double format that I feel has maximized our players ability to recover and allowing us to maximize our productivity. Double days our the building block for your season. As a program you accomplish the basis of all your learning other these two weeks. With a new coaches these days are even more vital to our success. In the spirit of not losing any practice we have planned the timing around the heat here in our area. By trying to practice early and late we negate some of effects that the heat can have on our players. Below is a schedule for our double days.

Monday the 10th

6:30 am - 8 am Walkthrough

5 pm to 7 pm Practice 1

7 pm to 8 pm Senior Pictures

Tuesday the 11th

6 pm to 8:15 Practice 2

Wednesday the 12th

6 am to 8 am Practice 3

6 pm to 8 pm Practice 4

Thursday the 13th

6 pm to 8:15 pm Practice 5

Friday the 14th

6am to 8am Practice 6

6 pm to 8 pm Practice 7

Monday the 17th

6 am to 8 am Practice 8 (Full Pads)

2 pm to TBD Varsity Pictures

6 pm to 8 pm Practice 9 (Full Pads)

Tuesday the 18th

6 am to 8 am Practice 10 (Full Pads)

6 pm to 8 pm Practice 11 (Full Pads)

Wednesday the 19th

6 pm to 8:15 pm Practice 12 (Full Pads)

Thursday the 20th

6 pm to 8:15 pm Practice 12 (Full Pads)

Friday the 21st

Blue Gold Scrimmage to be Announced

Monterey Camp Recap

2009-08-07T17:55:00.000-07:00

At the conclusion of the Monterey Camp we had a much better understanding of were we are as a program. I was very excited by our improvement over the three days on offense but as the same time I was alarmed that progress stalled on offense the third day. The highlight of the third day was that we won the skills relay competition and came home with a trophy for our effort.

The camp gave us a tremendous opportunity to learn about our team in a contact environment. As a staff we got a great feel for how our players dealt with contact. Football is a game of physicality and our team needs to improve in this part of the game.

I was very impressed we the swarming style of defense we played throughout the camp. I felt we improved with each session and that our team did a great job of getting to the ball. The thing that stuck out for me was how quickly we adusted to the different offenses we say and our ability to put pressure on the offense with blitzes and movement.

Offensively we showed some improvement over the first two days but unfortunately stalled out on the third day as we just didn't execute. The first two days we did a good job of catching the ball and completing the short throw. We also say a decent run game on those first two days. Unfortunately we were unable to put much together on the third day and makes this part of our team and emphasis during double days.

To win the skills competition with I believe the best time of the year was impressed. The relay required you to throw a hitch, catch it, and run 5 yards through the cone. Then run through a cut drill followed by having a linebacker tackle a player and carry him five yards and finally have a db backpeddle and turn an run forty yards. This was conducted 5 times and you can be penalized for each time you do the incorrect thing. We were very disciplined and had zero penalties. This was key as we had the fastest time and brought home a trophy for our efforts.

In all the camp was a good learning situation. Below there is a couple of highlight videos and links to pictures.

http://www.eteamz.com/CEFB/albums/index.cfm?id=522024

http://cloviscougarfootball.smugmug.com/gallery/8986663_KYHXF#597363096_xfHD6

DSV

2009-08-07T17:45:00.000-07:00

Thanks to our booster club we now have DSV or Digital Sports Video. DSV is a football video software that allows you place data with video clips and then in return run reports and create video cutups. So to give you two simple examples of what the program does for us is this. We can take an opponents game and label what they did on each play and then create a report that would allow us to understand what tendencies they had based on a multitude of situations from down and distance to formation. Then we can also create video cutups instantly by certain plays or down and distance etc. The video cutups are really the key since student athletes today enjoy learning through video. This program allows us to quickly and efficiently view video of ourselves and our opponents so we can understand how to improve. With every program other than us in Clovis Unified having the program this helps us compete.

Here is a great link to a video of coaches testimonials
http://www.dsvusa.com/testimonials.html

Maybe the most important thing the program does is it allows us to easily make player highlight films and send them to colleges via email eliminating the process of making DVD's and mailing them.

http://www.dsvanywhere.com/recruiting.html

Boise State Film

2009-08-07T05:45:00.000-07:00

I know I will probably take a lot of crap for this but it is a fantastic example of the things that make this game of football so very special. I understand that this is Fresno State territory but Boise has done a phenomenal job of getting everything out of their players possible. The documentary is a great testament to this. From Zabranski's story of failure to success to the 5'10" center to Ian Johnson playing with a collapsed lung you see the power of confidence, hardwork, and teamwork. The way this program overcame failure and achieved with less is something our program should aspire to. The one piece of the film that really stuck out for me was their approach to practice and their ability to give complete and utter focus to the task at hand was amazing.

http://www.snagfilms.com/films/watch/out_of_the_blue/

Some Great Short Football Videos About The Way Football Helps People Beyond the Field

2009-07-27T23:58:00.001-07:00

Some Great Short Football Videos About The Way Football Helps People Beyond the Field

Barrow Alaska and Football

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=tundra

http://proxy.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=tundrapart2

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=3225174&categoryid=3286128

Racism and Football

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=3721054

Sacred Acre

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=3590742

full Sacred Acre

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=3591008

Friday Nights in America

2009-07-27T23:56:00.000-07:00

Friday night football is a special experience all its own. It is the reason so many of love high school football. Below is a link that shows how football is different is a little bit different but essentially the same throughout the country.

http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/friday_nights_in_america/

Stanford Tourney Wrap Up

2009-06-27T09:50:00.001-07:00

Apparently our 1st opponent last Saturday Kings Academy had a player really stand out as Amir Carlisle was offered and accepted a scholarship from Stanford after the tournament.

Elliana Kristalyn Hammond

2009-06-25T19:46:00.000-07:00

My daughter, born 6/25/09, in her Clovis High Gear.

8lbs 2oz, 20 inches

labor...30 mintues!

Monterey Camp Itinerary

2009-06-23T20:16:00.000-07:00

Below is a rough itinerary for the Monterey Full Contact Camp for Varsity.

Thursday/Friday

2:35 -2:50 Camp Warmup

2:50-3:20 Offensive Fundamentals

3:20-3:25 Water

3:25-3:45 Team Self Period

3:45-4:15 Line One on One & Skill Seven on Seven Period

4:15-4:20 Water

4:20-5:10 Team Scrimmage Period

5:10-5:40 Break

5:40-5:55 Camp Warmup

5:55-6:25 Defensive Fundamentals

6:25-6:30 Water

6:30-6:50 Team Self Period

6:50-7:20 Line One on One and Skill Seven on Seven

7:20-7:25 Water

7:25-8:15 Team Scrimmage Period

Saturday

10:05-10:20 Camp Warmup

Team Skills Relay Competition/ Lineman Tug o War Competition

King of the Field Scrimmage Competition

Participating Programs

Alvarez, Alisal, Clovis, Esparto, Golden Valley, North Monterey County, Oxnard, & Palma

Stanford Passing Tournament and Big Man Challenge

2009-06-20T17:37:00.000-07:00

The exciting part about Stanford today was we saw how good we could be. I was also excited how well our line competed in the Big Man Challenge.

In the lineman challenge our line group of six (Devon Barbo, Jeff Caton, Bobby Clement, Josh Cox, Joe Gustafson, and Brett Smith) excelled in the agility events. In particular our guys shined in the tire flip and the shuffle push. We finished the early round of events ranked in the top third of teams competing. We battled in the tug o war winner takes all until we lost to eventual champ Salinas. In all I was excited to have a Big Man team that did so well especially in the agility portions of the competition due to the schemes we will use this year. As we get into the season the progress of this group with be pivotal in our success on both sides of the ball. As a program we feel we took steps in the right direction for our men in the trenches.

Dynamite is how I would describe how we played early in the day. Today we saw how good we could be. I know it is only 7 on 7 but the way we competed in the pool play today was impressive. Part of becoming a great program is learning how to compete at a high level and I felt we did that today. I also know that 7 on 7 doesn't always tell how good of a team you will be during the season but with an offense predicated on throwing the ball so much it does offer a snapshot of future success. Also great teams find ways to win and compete no matter whether it is an offseason 7 on 7, big man challenge, or in season game. In fact the two teams in the finals today St Marys of Stockton and Juniperro Serra are both perennial powers. With that being said we still need a tremendous amount of work. We did not compete consistently in our 2 afternoon games. But our program right now is a work in progress and we need to take both of these games as a learning experience, make adjustments, and improve. All in all I left today feeling we were improving and excited by the level of play we saw.

In game one against Kings Academy we got early scoring consistently on offense and getting stops on d. As the game wore on we stalled a little offensively but continued to play well on defense. It was a good start to the day. Next we played a very competitive game against Colfax. We got off to a quick three scores on our first three possessions. Defensively we played well getting stops. But again we stalled on offense and Colfax worked there way back to a one point lead. Fortunately we marched right down the field to a win on the last play. As a program it was great to see us respond in a tough situation. The following game we played perennial power Novato. We struggled early on offense but the defense picked us up with back to back interceptions and consistent stops. As the game wore on we adjusted on offense and put consistent scores on the board. In the end it was alot of fun finishing pool play 3-0. Following pool play we were seeded 4th in the championship bracket and drew Juniperro Serra. We started flat again after the lunch break with Serra. But as the game wore on I felt we found the level of competition and played well at times with them. In the end Serra was a better team today and moved on. I felt that this was a good learning experience though as we saw maybe a team that competed at a little bit higher level and we raised our level of play as the game went on. For the final game of the day we played Gunn of Palo Alto and just didn't play at the level we had throughout the day. Even though we didn't finish in a manner we should as a program I felt we played well, improved, grew as a team, and got a snap shot into just how good we can be.

Defensively we probably made more plays on balls then we had in all the passing games put together. Defensively it was easy to see the improvement we have made over the last month. On this side of the ball we brought a very competitive group of Yee Yang, Marcus Servantes, Jerry Smart, Jeremy Miller, Chris Logan, Issac Burton, Gil Ornelas, Donnell Vercher, Matt Durbin, Joe Vargas, Nate Palomino, and the two timer Joe Gustafson. Throughout the day we consistently made stops and found ways to deflect balls in tight situations with receivers. Yee Yang stood out for how many balls he got his hands on, Nate Palomino and Matt Durbin stood out with there consistent play. Donnell Vercher and Joe Gustafson both had impressive interceptions as the day wore on. Defensively I walked away see just how good we can be and impressed with the level of play we achieve at different points of the day.

Offensively we are striving to find more consistency yet it was another day of steady progress and some exciting plays. We brought a great group of recievers in BJ Grijalva, Josh Thompson, Beau Hine, Ben Escarsega, Ryan Jones, Devin Cox, Andrew Smith, and Ron Straughter. Everyone caught td's at one time or another and we did put alot of scores on the board. Devin Cox stood at with a highlight reel of unbelievable catches including the winning score against Colfax. Ryan Jones showed off his wheels throughout the day while both Beau Hine and Ben Escarsega had big catches for scores throughout the day. Offensively it is exciting to see the improvement.

Lastly I would like to take the time to thank the booster club for providing our student athletes with water, breakfast, and lunch at the passing tournaments. Today two different coaches made comments about how cool that was. For our players appreciate this. This doesn't happen other places and it shows the commitment and support our program has.

Stanford Update

2009-06-20T13:23:00.001-07:00

After pool play we are 3 an 0 beating kings academy, colfax, and novato. Devin cox caught a 30 yd pass from straughter to beat colfax

Tempo, Tempo, Tempo

2009-06-20T06:55:00.000-07:00

Two years ago in Gilroy we had a big dilemma. The perennial power in our league Palma had shut us out 14-0 in a game that I felt our guys played as well as they possibly could. As a staff we reviewed our season with the goal of creating a plan that would allow us to improve by focusing on the things we did well. In our review process we decided that we had an advantage in our numbers and ability to play guys on one side of the ball. We also felt that we were small up front on the lines but had better than overall team speed. Lastly we decided our team loved to compete but was not the best group of guys when it came to conditioning.

Through this process we came up with an off season plan to install a spread offense, an aggressive 3-3-5 defense, and take a no huddle approach. Through this process our booster club was generous enough to send our staff to Arizona to watch Sonny Dykes install the spread offense as he transitioned in from Texas Tech. The 2nd part of this was studying Gus Malzahn
and his up tempo no huddle approach.

Malzahn's book and video where the basis of the off season study. At the time Malzahn had one of the best high school teams in the country and was famous for was many called the greates comeback in high school football. His Shiloh Christian team came back from a 38-14 1st quarter deficit and 51-38 halftime deficit to win 70-64 against Junction City. In a game with nearly 1450 yards of total offense.

The ideas behind the no huddle hurry up that we liked was it allowed you to extend the game. By wasting less of the 25 second clock we were able to increase the number of plays we ran in a game. We felt that this could give us an advantage as teams would not be used to the extra plays with in a game. We quickly saw the effect of this our first game as we took 73 offensive snaps. Our previous high had been 60 the year before. We also found that we increased our average total snaps a game from around 105 to around 130. Yes it was only 25 but that was almost a 25% increase so it was like playing an extra quarter. We felt this would be hard for our opponents to adjust to on a weekly basis and we found the effects of the idea carried over to practice much more than games.

This off season we also spent a few days at USC observing there off season program and spring practice. The thing that stood out was the tempo and competiveness of practices. We felt that this idea of hurry up no huddle went perfectly with this. So we structured practices in short sessions that we tried to get as many reps as possible in the time period. We found that under this structure our student athletes really pushed themselves especially when we made it competitive. In the our practices we were able to get 30% more done than we were able to before. Plus our guys were so wore out at the end of the process that we were able to do away with conditioning as our players were now conditioned by the tempo of practice.

This extra reps in practice I think is what allowed us to improve so quickly. It was also a rallying cry as our guys always felt as the game wore on we would have the advantage. Lastly it was just fun for everyone involved. Our fans enjoyed the up tempo nature and as a team our guys loved the idea that we got more plays in a game.

Since this time we beat Palma in 07 and 08 in landmark games for the Gilroy program. Gus Malzahn who had the idea in the first place has gone on to be an offensive coordinator at Arkansas, Tulsa, and now Auburn. As a program at Clovis we will look to bring this up tempo style of play.

This style is very important for our program in practice as it allows us to get more repetitions in a short period of time. When you are a program looking to improve repetition is key. Our team needs the reps to understand our system and to just improve. In all this philosophy will be something you see translate on to the field this year.

Stanford Bracket

2009-06-16T23:10:00.000-07:00

For the Stanford Passing Tournament it appears we will be facing in our bracket Novato who played in a state title game two seasons ago. A historic program in Colfax who looks to bounce back from a 6-4 season. A league champions and 10 win program in Kings Academy and Mt View from the Bay Area who plays in the difficult De Anza League with Palo Alto and Los Gatos.

Passing Tournaments

2009-06-09T10:54:00.002-07:00

Over the past two weekends we have had the opportunity to compete in two different passing tournaments in Clovis East and in Lindsay. Both tournaments gave our program good opportunities to evaluate players, strengths, and weaknesses. It also was a chance for our players to gain experience. At this point and with our youth experience is a very important part of the improvement process. In order for us to improve we must have repetitions as players and as coaches it is very important that we coach our players up on each repetition so we not only know what is right but also what is wrong and how to correct it. It is also good to get our players in a competitive environment and teach our program what my standards are for competition.

As a coach the passing tournaments are a shift for me. We have had so much success the last two years at Gilroy it is a real shift as a coach to focus on learning in the passing tournaments rather than refining. But all in all both tournaments allowed us to learn some valuable lessons as a program, coach our players up, and lastly evaluate. In all I was very happy with the progress through both tournaments. It helps me realize just how much we accomplished over spring ball when I see just how much we can do in the tournaments yet realize at the same time how much work still needs to be done.

The of the areas of concern has been our inconsistency and at points lack of intensity. I know inconsistency will work itself out as we get more repetitions over the summer. But the intensity is something we will have to instill in our players. I felt in both the Sanger and Mt Whitney games we didn't match their fire and emotion. In my opinion this was the difference in both of these games. Sanger was our first game ever together and Mt Whitney came after a 45 minute delay that was suppose to be about 10 minutes. Both of these were adverse situations. But champions are resilient enough and mentally tough enough to overcome situations such as this. As a coach it is my job to teach our program how to prepare for each competition and how to be mentally tough no matter the situation.

Clovis East Tournament

During the Clovis East tournament we learned alot about one another. I felt the first game with Sanger we did not match their intensity and played as if we were feeling each other out. In the 2nd game with Bullard I was very happy with how our players competed. We took it to the last play but unfortunately couldn't quite get the win. I felt with a little more experience on the offensive side of the ball we would have been able to score as they shifted into a cover 3 look from a cover 4 on our last offensive possession. This time around we didn't execute vs the cover 3 well and left our defense out there for the last drive. Since this time we have vastly improved vs cover 3 will continue to improve. Our last contest of the day was vs Tulare Western and we executed constantly throughout this contest to end the day on a high note.

Lindsay Tournament
During our pool play we were able to go 3-1 with the only blemish vs Mt Whitney. This created a 3 way tie with Monache and Mt Whitney. Monache won the tie breaker and went on to the championship. We also had the opportunity to play on a small condensed indoor field for the first time. This was a learning experience as it forced us to push the field vertically. All in all it was a fun learning experience. We also dealt with cover 2 for the first time really. This was a good experience as we learn to attack cover 2 for the first time. I also felt we saw vast improvement on the defensive side of the ball during these five games. We intercepted quite a few balls and just generally made more plays.

Spring Ball and the Ice Cream Social

2009-06-09T10:54:00.001-07:00

Though it was only 10 days and around 20 hours of practice, we were able to accomplish a lot. As a program, we had the opportunity to get to know one another. The program learned about my expectations and the pace I expect for them. I was able to gauge our talent level, different peoples' personalities, and our strengths and weaknesses as a program. Leaving spring ball, I am able to evaluate and deliberate what our next steps are as a program in order to improve.

For our student athletes that were present for Spring Ball, they were able to learn and improve as atheletes; this is our biggest challenge right now as a program. In order for our program to be successful, we need our student athletes at practice learning, working, and improving as individuals, thus allowing us to improve as a program. With our numbers in the 80s, it is going to take every player being on the same page to get the program running successfully.

The challenge for myself currently is my approach as a coach. Operating a program the last two seasons that understood what I expected in terms of pace, precision, and work ethic and now running a program that is just learning these things will be a challenge. As a coach, you have to set the expectations high but you also have to be understanding of the learning process; the challenge for me is to balance these two things. I need to be critical in order for us to understand the expectations, yet I need to extremely positive of all the progress that we make, even when the progress has not met the standard. I have to assess our issues as a program, formulate a plan to solve them, and execute the plan to solve them. Along the way, I will make adjustments as needed and keep a positive approach. This is a building process while the last couple of years I have been able to just manage my program.

On the offensive side of the ball we were able to install what I would estimate to be 85% of the playbook and the players did a great job of learning all the nomenclature of the wrist bands. This will allow us to progress and change things up as we continue through the summer and into the season . We also made vast improvements as a group in catching the ball consistently and the line improved immensely over the course of spring as the defense threw just about everything and anything they will see this summer. As a group I liked how we were able to create some big plays through the air and on the ground. But we will need alot more work and repetition in order for our student athletes to get a firm grasp of the offense and to achieve the consistency that is needed for our program to be successful.

On the defensive side of the ball, I really enjoyed our approach; we were very young on this side of the ball, but I could see us improving with every repetition and play. I enjoyed the way the defense swarmed to the ball and the aggressive approach we took as a unit. I also felt we did a good job getting the right players in the right spots on the defense. It was impressive how fast they learned as a group and that we were able to put in 75% of what we will do this season. Right now, the defense is like the quarterbacks because they are just a step slow; with repetition we will be able to react and not think. We play in a league where the speed of the game is fast and we need to be able to react as fast as possible.

As a whole the program did a good job of adjusting to the pace of practice. I also believe that we did a good job of competing with one another and pushing eachother. Whether it was one on ones, seven on sevens or eleven on elevens our guys competed with unwaivering tenacity. Being able to raise our level of competition in practice will be key to how fast we can improve, all in all, I felt that Spring Ball was a success.

Lastly, the ice cream social was a wonderful way to celebrate our spring success at the conclusion of Spring Ball. I am very impressed by the support of our football community in Clovis. Our players should feel very fortunate for this because the ice cream social is the type of thing that doesn't happen in very many programs. As a coach I am grateful to our booster club for putting this event on. In all I thought it was a wonderful celebration of our progress this spring.

Upcoming Events

2009-06-03T20:09:00.000-07:00

We will be participating in the McDermott Field House Passing Tournament at Lindsay High School this coming Saturday, June 6th.

My wife and I will be welcoming our first baby on this June at Good Samaratain Hospital in San Jose.

We will be participating in the Stanford Passing Tournament on June 20th.

The Cougar Combine will commence on June 22nd from 6-8am at Clovis High.

Clovis East Passing Tournament

2009-05-30T09:51:00.000-07:00

We will be participating in the Clovis East passing tournament today. We are excited about the opportunity to compete against many of the teams we will be playing this season and to showcase our team.

Update

I was impressed with the hard work put forth by all of our student atheletes at the passing tournement; they were able to showcase their ability to play as a team as well as their individual skills and abilities. As a coach, I was able to better analyze the particular talents of our players and have been able to make adjustments to my practice plans to best meet the needs of our team. I was proud of all of the players and enjoyed our first competition, I look forward to the next one.

1st Game in the Valley

2009-05-22T08:54:00.002-07:00

If you haven't heard, we will be playing what we believe to be the 1st game in the valley next season at Lamonica Stadium!

On Thursday, September 3rd, we will kick off our season with a tremendous opponent in Edison High School. Edison has numerous players being recruited on next year's team. Edison has won their last three season openers by large margins and the last time they lost their season opener was in 2005 against a consistantly strong program in Serra of San Mateo.

This season opening challenge will be a motivator for our program to work our hardest as we prepare for the season this spring and summer. As a program, we need to come together and strive to improve each and every opportunity we have to build our program.

To remind us just how soon this game will be upon us. We have posted a countdown on the right panel of this page, check it out.

Two days of improvement & a lot to go

2009-05-22T08:54:00.001-07:00

This being the third program I have taken over, I have learned a lot from my first two experiences. I know that right now, the focus of our program needs to be on progress and improvement. As you take over a program, there are many things to do to get it running. If you try to do everything at once, it becomes overwhelming. Instead, you are forced to determine what is most important and place your time and energy into that. In someways it is like fighting a wildland fire, in that you must work to contain it before your can put it out.

The focus for our program is currently spring mini-camp. I can not stress how important the spring mini-camp is. What we accomplish in spring mini-camp will go a long way to determining our success this up coming season. Our focus right now for spring mini-camp needs to be on the progress we make everyday. We can not afford to not improve on any given day of spring ball. As a program we are throwing a lot of stuff at our student athletes and asking them to rise to the challenge. So far, we are meeting that challenge. I have been pleased with the amount of accomplishemets we have been able to do during team over the first two days of camp.

One of my base philosophies has always been tempo. I believe if you practice fast, you play yourself into great football shape and you can maximize your improvement by maximizing the amount of reps you are able to get. The things that stuck out to me from the first two days is that our players are embracing that fast tempo and giving everything they have on every rep; this allows us to improve over the first two days.

Looking towards next week, we need to find a way to get our numbers up, as we have been between 70 and 80 players on both days this week. We still welcome any student athelete who would like to come out to practice and learn what our program is all about. We also need to continue to improve on both sides of the ball every practice next week. Very soon, we will get the opportunity to compete against other teams in a 7 on 7 format and it is crucial that we push to learn as much as we can before we get that chance to compete.

Also, right now we are just getting to know one another. The players are just beginning to learn my style of coaching and who I am. We need to continue this process, so as a team and a program we understand my expectations and I can best understand our players strengths and weaknesses so we can be a successful team.

Below is a link to pictures from practice yesterday.

http://cloviscougarfootball.smugmug.com/gallery/8290963_ehS3T#P-1-15

Thank you Mr Miyake for taking pictures and posting them.

T Receiver

2009-05-18T23:50:00.001-07:00

The last receiver is our T. This is our tweener guy. As a T you have to be willing to run and catch the ball in the intermediate with the backers.

The T works against the backers

The T makes a play in traffic

Catch the ball in the flats and turn it into something

Turns a short flat pass into a TD

Line up in the backfield to block and run the ball.

A good lead block by the T

A good run by the T

A good sweep by the T

In all as the T you are the most versatile receiver. Catching the deep, short, and intermediate ball all while running the football.

T makes a big play in passing game

X Reciever

2009-05-18T23:49:00.001-07:00

The X is our best pure receiver. As the X you only line up on the left. They have to be the consummate route runner. You will be asked to run routes on the outside, inside, and over the middle. You have to do it all but you will get an opportunity to make big things happen.

The X makes a big play on a screen

The X takes an intermediate pass to the house

Another big play by the X

You also have to be able to beat people in one on one situations. This takes an individual with a strong mental makeup that believes in himself.

The X takes advantage of a one on one matchup

The X wins another one on one matchup

Just like all the other receiver positions you have to pride yourself in laying some licks after the catch for your teammates and stalk blocking on the run plays.

X executes a good stalk block

Spring Mini Camp Countdown

2009-05-18T23:41:00.000-07:00

As a coach I am very excited to get spring football started. It will be my first opportunity to get to work with our players. It is also a wonderful opportunity for our players to learn what football will be like at Clovis High in the immediate future. As a coach I look forward to getting to know our student athletes and creating a culture that focuses on making football an enjoyable experience, that is fast paced, and focuses on us finishing every drill.

In fact here is a countdown timer until we get started

1st Spring Practice

New Calendar

2009-05-18T16:26:00.000-07:00

Viewable at the bottom of this page is a calendar of Cougar Football for the upcoming months. If you would like to subscribe to the calendar and link it to your Google Calendar go to its website:

http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=8f8uki9vm8qcfo65uddt7s75k4%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Los_Angeles

8th Grade Camp

2009-05-15T08:43:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the delay in the blog. I was very busy during my stay in Clovis.

We had a very successful 8th grade camp. I was ecstatic about the group of 8th grade student athletes that will be attending Clovis High next year. What was so impressive about the group was how hard everyone worked and how well they paid attention. With these characteristics this group can maximize their potential. Also we are excited to see each and every one of the 50 student athletes attend the camp and look forward to seeing them at our summer program at Clovis High beginning June 22nd at 8am

I would like to thank Coach Crews, Ledieff, Garcia, Cooper, Keene, and Spangle for working the camp. I would also like to thank Coach Mammen and Coach Brazil and their staffs for taking the time to assist during the camp.

Again as a group lets remember the class of 2013 will be my very first class that I see all the way through high school. This is also the very first group I have had the opportunity to work with. So this group will be a very special group for me at Clovis High School.

The Z Receiver

2009-05-11T06:18:00.000-07:00

The Z position is our best athlete. You play on the left and right constantly moving and running many different patterns. He is the guy that gives people fits on the short ball in space by turning 5 yard throws into 15.

The Z is also a big play threat on the deep ball.

The Z also runs alot of sweeps for us and is always a threat on that play.

Lastly he prides himself like the others to get the blocks made to turn an ordinary play into a big play.

(#6 is the Z on the crack)

Next up will be the X receiver

The Y Receiver

2009-05-10T23:54:00.000-07:00

Our Y is always on the right. He is typically one of our bigger, taller, stronger receivers. Often times the Y is used to create a mismatch with a small corner and work against the linebackers on intermediate patterns.

The Y catches in traffic and attacks north and south.

The Y battles backers and DB's

The Y uses his size as a mismatch on a corner.

It is also very important to be a sure handed receiver as you will get opportunities to make big plays on blitzes.

The Y makes a solid catch to beat blitz.

Another example of the Y finding space and making a good catch vs the blitz.

As a Y you also need to do a great job of going up for the deep ball over the middle

The Y attacks the middle of the field

The Y gets a jump ball in the middle of the field

Last but not least you have to block down field after the catch and on run plays if you want to touch the ball in this offense.

Great effort block down field by the Y #1

A good block by the Y #1 on the outside backer

Once again the Y is a bigger receiver that uses his body to create mismatches, his toughness to work against backers, helps us beat blitz, hustles on the field, and plays with a ton of heart and desire.

Next position the Z.

The Receivers

2009-05-10T23:53:00.000-07:00

We have four different receiver positions in the offense: T, X, Y, and Z. Each brings their own unique set of skills to the positions. In our offense the last two season each position has been productive. So it is a matter of finding the right guys for the position and letting them excel.

The next few posts will be dedicated to the receiver positions.

Baby Shower

2009-05-09T09:52:00.000-07:00

My wife Katie and myself would like to thank everyone who made the baby shower possible. Especially Jim and Ann Pipes for hosting the event at their beautiful home. Also a special thanks to Jamie Stoeckle and Diana Weakley who organized the shower. We had a great time and enjoyed getting to know everyone. An event like this shows how much this community cares about one another; as a young family moving to Clovis we couldn't ask for a better place to start our family. Also, a thanks to Kerri Nevills, Sharon Morgan, Rachel Smith, Kristen Brand, Dee Dee Jett, Carla Palomino, Karen Schmalzel, and Carol Mattox for attending and making us feel so welcomed to the community.

Thank you for your kindness.

Mr. & Mrs. Hammond

2009-05-07T23:49:00.001-07:00

We arrived in Clovis this evening and can't wait to make it zero period.

My wife Katie and I are also looking forward to the BBQ this Saturday.

Offensive Line (Most Important Position)

2009-05-06T09:45:00.000-07:00

Our offensive line is what makes our offense go. These guys have the most important job on the field for the offense. An offensive play is like a symphony playing a concert and a the offensive line is always setting the beat or rhythm the base of the concert/play. The offensive line is made up of the center, 2 guards, and 2 tackles. If you play guard or tackle you will play on either the right or left side as we wont flip lineman. The qualities we look for in offensive lineman is good feet, strength, intelligence, and a whole bunch of heart. Over the last two years we have had 3 unanimous all league lineman, a league lineman of the year, 2 2nd team all section selections, and a single 1st team all section selection.

For us the center is the leader of the ship. He must check the fronts and make the calls. He also must get us a yard anytime we sneak.

(A great push from the center can lead to a big play)

He is also important in protections as he often slides off to help pick up blitzers.

(Protection is the most important part to every pass play)

Lastly he must be willing to get down the field and block on screens for us.

(Look at the block the center puts on the backer at just the right time)

Our guards are probably our most versatile lineman. They must be good at pulling and working to 2nd level backers.

(Watch the right guard 53 block the backer on the left after his pull. This backer when to Davis on a full ride and the guard puts him on his back)

They also need to be good in protection as they pick up alot of blitzes and defensive lineman

(Notice the left guard pick up the blitz and the right guard slide out to the man coming off the edge allowing the QB to step in his throw and make a big play)

Just like the center they must be willing to get down the field and block on screens.

(On this play the right guard blocks two different guys on the screen)

Lastly our tackles are our best pass blockers. They are constantly pass blocking the best rushers from the other team. Using our vertical set, these guys pass block we their feet and body much like a receiver stalk blocks. Yet in the end once contact is made it becomes a street fight with both lineman battling.

(Both tackles do a good job with their feet and battle to give the QB time)

But like all other lineman they must be willing to get to the second level and block the backers on screens and man handle someone on run.

(Notice the text book block by the tackle downfield)

In all the offensive line is the engine of our offense. It is the most important position and a position I celebrate everyday at practice and in games. In the end it is also a fun position to play as it is about hitting others rather than being hit.

Superback

2009-05-05T10:58:00.000-07:00

Our superback is a versatile position in our offense. The superback typically lines up in the backfield and takes the bulk of the carries. The superback must be willing to run between the tackles on draws, iso and zone

yet agile enough that backers struggle to cover you in open space.

The superback will rack up yards when you exam their contribution receiving and rushing.

Our superback two seasons ago had over 20 tds and over 700 yards rushing and receiving. With yards and touches also comes sacrifice. The superback must be willing to block on sweeps, isos, and pass protection to be effective.

(Watch #2 effort. This is why his teammates blocked for him!)

All in all the superback is one of the most complex and exciting positions in our offense.

Position Synopsis

2009-05-05T10:36:00.000-07:00

I will be writing position profiles to give our student athletes a better idea of what different positions will entail this coming season. Over the next few weeks, I will profile each position detailing the characteristics our student atheletes should possess to play the position. I look forward to sharing about the offense and defense we will be installing over the spring.

Football Spring Activities

2009-05-01T08:42:00.000-07:00

We are looking forward to beginning our spring football activities. We are very anxious to get the process started and as a coach I cant wait to work with the kids.

The 8th grade Co Curricular Camp will run at Clark Intermediate May 11th-14th from 2:45 to 5:00.

For the 9th, 10th, and 11th graders at Clovis High, we will be running our spring practices starting May 20th beginning at 4 pm. All football players at Clovis High need to get their Cougar Football Letter of Intent (Link) turned in and pick up a calendar.

We will also be participating in two Varsity passing tournaments on May 30th at Clovis East High School and on June 6th in Lindsay. We will open with Sanger at 8:30 for the Central/Clovis East Tournament.

Cougar Country Barbeque May 9th

2009-05-01T08:35:00.001-07:00

We are looking forward to seeing you at the Cougar Country BBQ on May 9th at 6pm at the Clovis Rodeo Grounds.

Please contact any Clovis High football player for a $25 ticket or contact our athletic office at 559-327-1329.

We look forward to seeing you all there & thank you in advance for your continued support, go Cougars!

Parents Meeting Agenda

2009-04-09T15:19:00.000-07:00

Below is the agenda for our parents meeting on Wednesday April 15th at 630 in the cafeteria at Clovis High School. I look forward to seeing and meeting the people who support our student athletes.

Calendar

Team Rules and Regulations

Student Athlete Letter of Intent

Crab Feed

2009-04-06T13:58:00.000-07:00

For everyone who took the time to come out to the crab feed this last Saturday. THANK YOU!!!

It being my first Clovis Cougar Football Crab Feed I walked away extremely excited and impressed. It speaks so highly about the community when so many people come out and show their support for high school athletics. Our program is very fortunate to have this type of support. For myself this is a big motivator to be sure we run a program with class that our community can be proud of. For our student athletes I will make sure they understand how lucky they are to receive this type of support for our program.

I also wanted to take the time to thank all the people who came out and set the hall up for this wonderful evening. Especially from our booster club the Durbin family, Papaleo Family, Jones Family, Arcelus Family, Caton Family, Palomineo Family, Romanowski Family, Paulson Family, Miyake Family, Dominguez Family, Ramsey Family, Ryska Family, and everyone else that come out and gave their support. A thanks also goes to Jordan Christiansen for his time as MC, CJ Brantley for his work as the auctioneer, and Jim Armstrong and Eric Olsen for their work running the drink booth. Also a special thanks to the Robert Ramsey and Bruce Gabrial for all the time and effort he put into building the saloon.

Thank you to our sponsors Central Distribution, Salsa's Mexican Grill, Clovis High, Luna's, JC Penny, Hugh Awtrey, Nick Tayler, Bill Miller, Rodgers Helicopters, Limos by Multani, Palamino's Restaurant, Et Services, Pepsi, Toledo's Restaurant, Cougar Foundation, Midtown Sports, the Follett Family, Groogs Irish Pup, Clovis Unified, Old Doc's Liquor, Central Valley Scube Center, Sam's Party Rental, Fig Garden Golf Club, Dave Knott, Pro Glass, and Bruce Gabrial Construction.

Lastly a special thanks to all of those who purchased from our live auction and donated to the live auction including Central Distribution, Zack Follett, Luna's, Hugh Awtrey, Nick Taylor, Mark Wall, Cindy Wall, Robert Ramsey, Sherri Ramsey.

I also wanted to thank all of our student athletes I saw throughout the day helping set up for the event: Joe Gustafson, Trey Mitchell, Wyade Kilmer, Jerry Smart, Ronnie Straughter, Matthew Miyake, Zak Romanowski, Bret Smith, Ivan Agacaoili, Issac Burton, Christopher Schmidt, Ryan Jones, Tyler Ramsey, and Nate Palmineo. Your support was needed and greatly appreciated.