Parent of HS Athlete looking for advice on offseason training

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Ex-Gopher73

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My son is obsessed with Football, like I was a long time ago, and has dreams of playing on Saturdays like his old man.

My only problem -- I have absolutely no idea how to coach his position (Linebacker), and don't know good/reputable resources from bad ones (and they're all expensive).

Anyone else have this problem? Better yet -- anyone have any good solutions? There's gotta be like an App or something that helps young kids train during the offseason... right?
 

Have you spoken to his HS coach? Might be best to get some input from the guy that will be deciding his fate in the fall.
 


highwayman said:
Have you spoken to his HS coach? Might be best to get some input from the guy that will be deciding his fate in the fall.
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A couple times. There's a couple camps that he's mentioned, and some strength/conditioning resources provided through the school, but nothing like the positioin-specific development that we're looking for.

Trying to find something to help him work on fundamentals of the position less so than overall fitness.
 




I would focus on being a better athlete and doing the camps that the school offers or are connected to. The position itself is going to be better taught through team activities and film. Just an opinion. Finding a former player at your position might be helpful.
 





He should go to his high school 11 days of summer stuff.
He should lift and speed train with his high school.

His best chance to be a college football player is to be a high school starter. And those are the top two things he can do to be a high school starter.

To be d1, the best thing he can do is be a starter on a good high school team. And those are also the top two things he can do to be a starter on a good team.


Beyond that, attending camps of college teams he is interested in is the next best thing.
 

Some guy said:
He should go to his high school 11 days of summer stuff.
He should lift and speed train with his high school.

His best chance to be a college football player is to be a high school starter. And those are the top two things he can do to be a high school starter.

To be d1, the best thing he can do is be a starter on a good high school team. And those are also the top two things he can do to be a starter on a good team.


Beyond that, attending camps of college teams he is interested in is the next best thing.
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Ehhh I don't think so... Respectfully, as someone who was a top recruit out of HS, and played Pro, it takes more than just the BAU programming to get there.

I got lucky and had a very invested coach in HS (who went on to coach in the NFL), and fed me as much offseason work as I wanted.

My son doesn't have that. I'm looking for help finding it.
 

NFL football legend Bill Romanoski came out with a little known instructional series on playing linebacker back when he was still playing. I still have the vhs tapes including his personalized supplement and workout regimen if you want them (I got absolutely jacked btw).

He occasionally and inexplicably goes into long diatribes about some guy named Marcus Williams. Idk what that’s all about but I usually fast forward through them. Other than that, I thought it was a pretty informative series.

Just lmk.
 

PeoplesFront said:
NFL football legend Bill Romanoski came out with a little known instructional series on playing linebacker back when he was still playing. I still have the vhs tapes including his personalized supplement and workout regimen if you want them (I got absolutely jacked btw).

He occasionally and inexplicably goes into long diatribes about some guy named Marcus Williams. Idk what that’s all about but I usually fast forward through them. Other than that, I thought it was a pretty informative series.

Just lmk.
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Yea no wonder you got jacked on Romanowski's plan :giggle:


Go Gophers!!
 



Ex-Gopher73 said:
Ehhh I don't think so... Respectfully, as someone who was a top recruit out of HS, and played Pro, it takes more than just the BAU programming to get there.

I got lucky and had a very invested coach in HS (who went on to coach in the NFL), and fed me as much offseason work as I wanted.

My son doesn't have that. I'm looking for help finding it.
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Your son is off to a good start with a burning desire to succeed. Finding mentors and going to camps as have been mentioned will help.

There are Blake Cashman and Adam Theilen in this world that beat the odds.
 

Interesting for me to read this stuff as my kids come from the soccer and volleyball worlds and the only way you get good is by playing on the best club team you can find, and even then possibly some outside training (even the high school coaches would recommend that). But I get it that football is likely different as there really isn't club football as far as I know.
 

Word said:
Interesting for me to read this stuff as my kids come from the soccer and volleyball worlds and the only way you get good is by playing on the best club team you can find, and even then possibly some outside training (even the high school coaches would recommend that). But I get it that football is likely different as there really isn't club football as far as I know.
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ODP is also great for soccer development.
 

Reach out to Casey Obrien's dad the new Head coach at Holy Family, Dan O'Brien. I bet he knows some people, either from his staff that have connections or recommendations for private coaches in the West Metro. Based on the fact you played he may be willing to help.
 

Ex-Gopher73 said:
A couple times. There's a couple camps that he's mentioned, and some strength/conditioning resources provided through the school, but nothing like the positioin-specific development that we're looking for.

Trying to find something to help him work on fundamentals of the position less so than overall fitness.
Click to expand...
As an ex-Gopher, the Gophers have camps for high school kids...barge your way in and talk to PJ or the LB coach or probably the strength and conditioning coaches are your best resources. They train the Gophers in the off season.
I bet Mike Grant at Eden Prairie would be willing to help answer your questions too.
Dan O'Brien as mentioned is another.
 

Ex-Gopher73 said:
My son is obsessed with Football, like I was a long time ago, and has dreams of playing on Saturdays like his old man.

My only problem -- I have absolutely no idea how to coach his position (Linebacker), and don't know good/reputable resources from bad ones (and they're all expensive).

Anyone else have this problem? Better yet -- anyone have any good solutions? There's gotta be like an App or something that helps young kids train during the offseason... right?
Click to expand...
Excellent resource for coaches and players
 

Ex-Gopher73 said:
Ehhh I don't think so... Respectfully, as someone who was a top recruit out of HS, and played Pro, it takes more than just the BAU programming to get there.

I got lucky and had a very invested coach in HS (who went on to coach in the NFL), and fed me as much offseason work as I wanted.

My son doesn't have that. I'm looking for help finding it.
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I'll give you a benefit of the doubt and wish I could help more (all my knowledge on training is in the soccer world). Hope you find work for the kid and the only thing I'll say as a long-time coach and a parent, is just make sure your kid is up for all this. As long as he's all-in and it's not coming from you then I have no worries like Some Guy does.
 

Word said:
I'll give you a benefit of the doubt and wish I could help more (all my knowledge on training is in the soccer world). Hope you find work for the kid and the only thing I'll say as a long-time coach and a parent, is just make sure your kid is up for all this. As long as he's all-in and it's not coming from you then I have no worries like Some Guy does.
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Maybe.
99% of the time parents who have the attitude that their kid is too good for the training program of the team type attitude that parent is an idiot who nobody likes. And I don’t really care if you played d1 and arena league. Plenty of dumb people who played d1 and in the arena league.
 

Ex-Gopher73 said:
My son is obsessed with Football, like I was a long time ago, and has dreams of playing on Saturdays like his old man.

My only problem -- I have absolutely no idea how to coach his position (Linebacker), and don't know good/reputable resources from bad ones (and they're all expensive).

Anyone else have this problem? Better yet -- anyone have any good solutions? There's gotta be like an App or something that helps young kids train during the offseason... right?
Click to expand...
Look into a place like ETS performance for his offseason conditioning/training. They have one down here in Rochester. Many of the athletes move onto collegiate athletics including division 1 in a multitude of sports including football. One of the head trainers down here is a former gopher football player. They have many locations in the twin cities area and suspect the training is as good as the athletes are getting in Rochester. Also not sure if this is still a thing, since I'm old, do they still have 7 on 7 football passing leagues. Definitely go to some camps in the summer. You will either get coaching by collegiate level coaches or sometimes even professional players.
 

Some guy said:
Maybe.
99% of the time parents who have the attitude that their kid is too good for the training program of the team type attitude that parent is an idiot who nobody likes. And I don’t really care if you played d1 and arena league. Plenty of dumb people who played d1 and in the arena league.
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You seem to know a lot about this guy and his kid. Either that or you are comfortable throwing out unfounded judgments.

Looks to me like the only mistake he has made is coming here for advice and subjecting his family to crude insults.
 

Dakota2 said:
You seem to know a lot about this guy and his kid. Either that or you are comfortable throwing out unfounded judgments.

Looks to me like the only mistake he has made is coming here for advice and subjecting his family to crude insults.
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I’m super comfortable throwing out insults at a guy who openly says his kid is too good for his high school football training
 


Some guy said:
I’m super comfortable throwing out insults at a guy who openly says his kid is too good for his high school football training
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Too good or is he looking for for something extra? Seems OK if he can afford it and his son is up to the increased intensity.

Do you criticize all the basketball families that try to get their kids into good AAU programs? The Mom of our future point guard from Cherry drives six hours back and forth multiple times a week to get him to practice and games.
 

Word said:
Too good or wanted more than what they offer?
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School isn’t good enough for him and his goals.

That’s fine. I’m just letting him know everyone probably hate him and his kid if that’s the way he talks outside of the message board. He should know that.
 

Dakota2 said:
Too good or is he looking for for something extra? Seems OK if he can afford it and his son is up to the increased intensity.

Do you criticize all the basketball families that try to get their kids into good AAU programs? The Mom of our future point guard from Cherry drives six hours back and forth multiple times a week to get him to practice and games.
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Yes 100% I criticize people for spending 10s of thousands of dollars on AAU basketball in hopes of getting a scholarship worth the same or less than they spent

Not all AAU is equally as stupid


I don’t criticize for wanting extra. I do criticize for dismissing his own high school program.
 

Some guy said:
Yes 100% I criticize people for spending 10s of thousands of dollars on AAU basketball in hopes of getting a scholarship worth the same or less than they spent

Not all AAU is equally as stupid


I don’t criticize for wanting extra. I do criticize for dismissing his own high school program.
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So, you believe it is all a monetary calculation.
 

Some guy said:
I’m super comfortable throwing out insults at a guy who openly says his kid is too good for his high school football training
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Don't think that was intent of this post at all. I think it was for additional training information, not an insult to HS staff at all. Poster made a reference he didnt feel he could coach it. Kudos to the kid for wanting more of an edge. Some parents are fortunate enough to provide extra resources. It's no different than parents of highly motivated academic kids seeking out learning opportunities and challenges, just in a specific position for a sport. That and dude was just asking for recommendations. I say chill, it's not a shot at anyone.
 
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