My obsession began when I was 9 years old, the day my stepfather signed me up for youth tackle football. In all honesty at the time football was not my favorite sport, in truth I didn't even really like sports all that much at that age much less take them seriously. In my hometown (small town in Mid-West Virginia) young boys are expected to play sports, mostly baseball and football. We were placed on our youth teams based on what high school we were expected to go to, in our case it was Turner Ashby High School, otherwise known as TA.
TA, at least when I was still in the area, was known as one of the two or three football powerhouse schools. In 2005 TA won the AA State Championship (my 8th grade year, first year on JV) and almost every year in the running for a district championship and state playoff berth (made playoffs in both Junior and Senior season). The high school coaches were, fortunately, very much involved in the youth football programs in our area. Our youth team was one of the two to three feeder programs for TA so it was common to see one or more of the coaches at the youth games. They had a system where all levels leading up to varsity football ran the same offense (Wing-T) and defense (3-4) as the high school. This meant that by the time we got to varsity, and JV for that matter we already had a working knowledge of how things worked.
As a kid I was a decent athlete, nothing special. I was slightly overweight and a decent size so I mostly played O-Line and D-Line, but sometimes if I was not over the weight limit I would play Fullback (which in the Wing-T offense is fun I'll admit). If I am being honest with myself I would say that I was a mid-tier player at best. I believe that this is mainly because I did not take it seriously. Because of this I never really was much of a starter, nor see significant playing time. That changed when I reached Varsity.
Our Varsity head coach was INTENSE. He did not take crap from anyone, nor did he accept laziness by his players. If you played for him, you did your best every minute of every day, and he never, ever relented. Of all the coaching influences I have had, I believe that he taught me the importance of working hard every day and to love the grind. Saying that, it wasn't my head coach who influenced me to become a coach, it was the offensive coordinator, Coach Coleman. Because of these two men, I worked my tail off in the off-season both in the weight room and in the film room to be the best player I could be, and by my Junior year I was receiving significant playing time.
During this time I developed a special place in my heart for College Football that has lasted and grown to this day. It became my dream to play at the college level and eventually coach at the college level. I got enough exposure that I began going to summer camps and going on recruiting trips. Things seemed to be going according to plan, until the first day of full pads practice my senior year. I received a torn ACL during our Oklahoma Drill. My doctor slapped a brace on my leg and said I was good to go. Less than two games into the season I re-injured my knee, which ended my season.
Because of my limited playing time, and the fact that I was not an elite player, my college options were limited to just a few D-3 schools in my area. I decided to play for my hometown college, Bridgewater College.
I sat out my first season due to the need to recover and grow from my injury. I began practicing my Sophomore season and was placed as a JV fullback. Unfortunately, my injury continued to bother me, so I made the decision to give up playing football. After that I was separated from the game for 5 years (finished my degree and pursued a masters degree, then a teaching license). I eventually moved to Northern Virginia with my wife and her family.
I was offered my first coaching opportunity after I responded to an advertisement in the local paper. A small school that had just hired a new coach and he was looking to put together a new staff. I interviewed and he decided to give me a shot as an offensive and defensive line coach. This worked out for a while until I was hired as a Biology Teacher at another high school in the area. I decided to continue coaching for one school and teaching at another. This was not an ideal job as I was only available during games and weekends.
The next year I decided to try and coach at the high school I teach at a large school in Northern Virginia I will post another story telling you about my first season as the head coach of the freshman team. I have been there for three years now. I have decided to take a year away from coaching to be closer to family (My first son was just born).
I do plan on coaching again in the future, maybe go back to the high school level or I have even toyed with the idea of coaching youth. In the meantime I hope to use this blog as a way to discuss my opinions on offense, share my experiences and to learn as much as possible from other coaches. Please feel free to share your opinions or your experiences, I love talking ball with everyone.
Stay Obsessed
Darrin Sheffer
7/3/2017
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TA_Logo.gif
TA, at least when I was still in the area, was known as one of the two or three football powerhouse schools. In 2005 TA won the AA State Championship (my 8th grade year, first year on JV) and almost every year in the running for a district championship and state playoff berth (made playoffs in both Junior and Senior season). The high school coaches were, fortunately, very much involved in the youth football programs in our area. Our youth team was one of the two to three feeder programs for TA so it was common to see one or more of the coaches at the youth games. They had a system where all levels leading up to varsity football ran the same offense (Wing-T) and defense (3-4) as the high school. This meant that by the time we got to varsity, and JV for that matter we already had a working knowledge of how things worked.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wing-T_Power.png
http://soldiers.dodlive.mil/tag/west-point/
(Not my actual coach, or actual team)
During this time I developed a special place in my heart for College Football that has lasted and grown to this day. It became my dream to play at the college level and eventually coach at the college level. I got enough exposure that I began going to summer camps and going on recruiting trips. Things seemed to be going according to plan, until the first day of full pads practice my senior year. I received a torn ACL during our Oklahoma Drill. My doctor slapped a brace on my leg and said I was good to go. Less than two games into the season I re-injured my knee, which ended my season.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Knee_Brace_Mississauga.jpg
I sat out my first season due to the need to recover and grow from my injury. I began practicing my Sophomore season and was placed as a JV fullback. Unfortunately, my injury continued to bother me, so I made the decision to give up playing football. After that I was separated from the game for 5 years (finished my degree and pursued a masters degree, then a teaching license). I eventually moved to Northern Virginia with my wife and her family.
I was offered my first coaching opportunity after I responded to an advertisement in the local paper. A small school that had just hired a new coach and he was looking to put together a new staff. I interviewed and he decided to give me a shot as an offensive and defensive line coach. This worked out for a while until I was hired as a Biology Teacher at another high school in the area. I decided to continue coaching for one school and teaching at another. This was not an ideal job as I was only available during games and weekends.
The next year I decided to try and coach at the high school I teach at a large school in Northern Virginia I will post another story telling you about my first season as the head coach of the freshman team. I have been there for three years now. I have decided to take a year away from coaching to be closer to family (My first son was just born).
I do plan on coaching again in the future, maybe go back to the high school level or I have even toyed with the idea of coaching youth. In the meantime I hope to use this blog as a way to discuss my opinions on offense, share my experiences and to learn as much as possible from other coaches. Please feel free to share your opinions or your experiences, I love talking ball with everyone.
Stay Obsessed
Darrin Sheffer
7/3/2017
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