John Downs

Ronald Reagan Head Football Coach Springfield College ‘18 & ‘21

[Joshua Caraway @CoachJCaraway]

A final Transfer Portal Update:

10,965 NCAA football players entered the portal.
- 3,972 FBS
- 2,771 FCS
- 4,222 D2/D3

Many have signed and are enrolled at new schools.

But 6,671 NCAA football players are active and hoping to sign.
- 1,619 FBS
- 1,782 FCS
- 3,270 D2/D3

40% of FBS portal guys are still looking.
64% of FCS portal guys are still looking.
77% of D2 and D3 portal guys are still looking.

Find a school. Get coached-up. Earn a degree. Win some ball games. Create relationships. Change your life.

And use #PortalSZN wisely.

[Jim Shapiro @jimshapiro]

Anyone who discourages an athlete from playing multiple sports does not have that athletes best interests in mind.

End of story.

[JJ Watt @JJWatt]

Like many others, been saying it for years.

Anyone who discourages your child from playing multiple sports does not have your child’s best interests in mind.

Period.

[JJ Watt @JJWatt]

Year round single sport specialization benefits the adults who can make money off of it at the expense of the child’s development.

[Coach Jayson @coachjjayson]

Coaching high school hoops in 2026 is a wild ride. I’m honestly surprised on a daily basis.

Players will miss practice because their aunt’s cat is having a Quinceañera, but then look at the bench with pure, unadulterated shock when they aren't starting in the fourth quarter.

[Spencer Emerson @SpenceEmerson6]

There’s a lot of “trainers” out here teaching badddd stuff. Mainly to wide receivers. Teaching split releases and diamond releases to kids who can’t get into a good stance. Yikes! False steps, cha-chas at the LOS on air (vs off coverage), bad timing, etc. It’s really sad

[Herman Smith @CoachSmith91]

@CoachDowns man thank you for having me by. It was awesome being able to come talk about some of your kids. Keep fighting a good flight and good luck this season.
#StetsonFootball
#ChasingGreatness
@BIGshadowMIKE
@ATM_SharksFB

[James Light @JamesALight]

Houston HC Kelvin Sampson - Why Coaches Fail

"I think the coaches that fail at every level, are the coaches that are passive aggressive. Passing aggressive coaches are usually afraid to hold kids accountable, they rationalize."

"If you're going to build a culture, the first thing you have to come to grips with, you're going to have confrontation."

Consistency
Competence
Confidence
Confrontation

[George Adams @Coach_GAdams]

“Coach I ran a 4.41 at the Southern Eastern Elite Mega-Super Camp Combine this weekend”

This graphic hangs on my door year round. Especially useful when people are lying to kids on the weekend.

[Connor Stalions @cpstalions]

7on7 has turned into a terrible thing for the development of the high school football game & players. The whole purpose of 7-on-7 to begin with was to give high schoolers reps in the offseason without having Spring Ball (with pads) like college does. That needs to be closely reevaluated, and if states actually care about the safety and development of their high schoolers, they’d benefit significantly greater from having actual Spring (or “Summer”) Ball than continuing on with 7-on-7s. The entire concept of 7-on-7 ultimately took 1 step forward while taking maybe 5 steps backwards for the game of football and development & safety of players.

Pros of 7-on-7:
- Competition (really just something to do)

Cons of 7-on-7:
- Competition
- Unrealistic Personnel & Looks
- Rewards bad habits at every position that have to be untaught and re-taught in the fall

Competition:
The pros of competition: obviously any time kids can compete it’s generally a good thing. And they get exposure to competition they wouldn’t have otherwise had the opportunity to do, so yes there are a few minor positives.

And no, this is not a primary point, but it needs to be said, so that if anything the only concrete positive of 7-on-7s is countered. If you go to any given 7-on-7, you’ll most likely see one of three things… and unfortunately often all of them:
1. Players trash talking more than they communicate with their own teammates.
2. Players worried about their celebrations more than their own assignment.
3. Coaches trash talking opposing players & coaches.

I’m all for some fun, but when the culture of 7-on-7 has completely shifted to players (and coaches) focusing more on what the opponent is saying than their own assignment, there’s no point of even competing and we’re just wasting everybody’s time & money.

Unrealistic Personnel & Looks:
It is completely in the offense’s best interest in a 7-on-7 to go Empty 4x1 on every single play. How many snaps of that do you see in a real football season? If any, can probably count them on one hand for most teams.

Defensively: In a real football game, unless you’re in Prevent Defense with 5 seconds left defending a Hail Mary, on obvious passing downs (e.g. 3rd & 13) at most the defense would be in Dime Personnel (6 DBs on the field [4-1-6]). You’d have a Linebacker on the field considering there’s always some threat of a run.

In a 7-on-7, however, all 5 Eligibles are Receivers, considering every play is a pass and there’s no pass rush. Even when the offense has a RB aligned in the backfield in a 7-on-7, he’s really a WR. He’s never in Pass Pro. So if you want to realistically compete defensively at a 7-on-7, there’s no reason not to have all 7 of your defenders be Corner-type defenders. If you have an actual Mike LB out there (who vs the pass in a real game is usually either playing the Hook or defending a Tight End or Back) he’s going to get stuck covering an actual elite WR which would almost never happen in a real game. So the response, from a competitive standpoint, is to put 7 DBs in the 7-on-7. So most teams have a Corner at Mike LB. And if you do have that actual Mike LB at Mike LB, then that takes us to the last point — Rewarding terrible habits for every position — which is such a long list, it has earned its own separate tweet.

[John Downs @CoachDowns]

Thank you @CoachPop_Cooney & @CanesFootball for stopping by to talk ball, and about potential student athletes. @ATM_SharksFB @atmsenior @Coach_Alexander #ItsAllAboutTheU #GoCanes

[John Downs @CoachDowns]

🚨 College coaches 🚨
Junior captain Brandon Childs had a huge year ! Great player even better young man.

[Brandon. Childs @frmbrandon2]

Junior year highlights
Class of 2026
6 Games
813 Yards
12 TDs
3 INTs

@CoachDowns
@MapItOutJ
@ATM_SharksFB

https://t.co/HdLXaKrZDS

[Greg Berge @GregBerge]

Doug Collins Gold 🥇

“Too many kids today are afraid of failure.”

- Failure is growth.
- Failure is a mindset.
- Failure is part of the process.

[Conor Hughes @ConorHughes67]

The Squat Max AVERAGE for the 11 @ArmyWP_Football players in this video is 516 POUNDS.

[SLAM @SLAMonline]

Derrick White and Jrue Holiday won BIG this past summer. First the NBA chip and then the Olympic gold.

Through both trials, White and Holiday were often under-praised and overlooked.

Not anymore. SLAM 252 is out now. https://t.co/BVmbWhD8xG

[Jamy Bechler @CoachBechler]

𝗕𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 ... NOBODY reminds anyone of the standards

𝗔𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 ... COACHES remind team of the standards

𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 ... CAPTAINS remind team of the standards

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 ... EVERYONE reminds each other of the standards

[Barstool Sports @barstoolsports]

An Oakland A’s grounds crew worker went out of his way to make sure every fan left with some dirt from the coliseum

[Jim Shapiro @jimshapiro]

The game of football is officially broken.

NIL, transfer portal, 6th year seniors, high school kids being offered money to play college ball or transferring 2-3 times between freshmen - senior year in high school, youth select travel teams, personal trainers making more money than Bill Gates from training 9 year olds how to run routes. We are just chasing after the wind. Good luck catching it.

Football was once built on the foundation of commitment, grit, finish what you start no matter the cost.

We should apologize now to future employers, wives, and children for the young men that are learning to quit or leave when things are difficult or times get tough.

[Ricklan Holmes♠️ @RicklanHolmes]

Truth

[TRACY MALONE, M.Ed @CoachTM9]

8 Defensive Stressors
•Multiple Tempo
•Empty sets
•Triple Option
•RPO
•Multiple TE
•FIB
•Unbalanced
•Shift/Motion

Great nuggets from Cincy OC Brad Glen on the Coach/Coordinator pod