What's your football coaching philosophy?

The thoughts behind your philosophy are why you coach football. It helps you know what you're attempting to learn and the knowledge you're trying to pass to your players as you coach them. Obviously, you want to enjoy great experiences during each season. You want to ensure your players experience great things.

But negative challenges occur during even the best of seasons. Your football coaching philosophy is what helps you get through these challenges while still standing.

Here are five areas you must have a solid football coaching philosophy on:

- Offense
- Defense
- What to teach
- Scouting
- Organization

1) What is your football coaching philosophy when you have the ball on offense? Are you a "gun-slinger"? Will your team possess an aggressive passing attack where you try to strike fast and hard and pile the points up?

Or will you have a "ground it out" style? Get a 10 point lead, play the field position game and then sit on the ball and play keep away with the opposition's offense.

There are pros and cons to these styles. They can be seen in the differing approaches of the Pittsburgh Steelers and St. Louis Rams. Pittsburgh's Bill Cowher is a big believer in the grab the lead style and then bludgeon the opponent in the second half with the running game. He tries to keep the ball away from the opponent, shorten the game and hold the lead.

This style works well when you have solid defense. It also works better when you finally get a top flight QB like Big Ben Roethlisberger who can bail you out when your "D" doesn't hold the lead for you.

The Rams ex-coach Mike Martz took the opposite approach with his "greatest show on earth" football coaching philosophy. He built an offense that could score at will, passing mostly. Running the ball was almost an after-thought in his offense.

Bottom line? You need to figure out what style fits you and your personnel. Do you have the big back or the quarterback who can sling it all over the field? In the youth leagues, you most likely have the running back. But if you happen to find that top QB, you may want to go with the passing style.

2) What's your football coaching philosophy on defense? Do you try to employ an aggressive style attack where you blitz often and gamble a bit? Or do you play the "bend, but don't break" style where you're a bit more conservative and just try to limit the opposition to small gains, then force a punt?

Again, your own personal feelings and the type of players you have will ultimately help decide things for you.

3) There's a ton of information to teach when it comes to coaching football, along with limited practice time. So you must to come to a football coaching philosophy on what you think are the most important aspects of the game you think need teaching. Prioritize your time on those main points and do your best at coaching them to perfection.

4) Take scouting of the opponent seriously. Once you've scouted, though, what's your football coaching philosophy on exploiting their weaknesses? How will you go about devising a game-plan that will use your strengths to your advantage? You need to use your formations and personnel in ways that give your team the best chance at success.

5) You need to develop your own personal football coaching philosophy on how to organize your program. Everything from your practices to your off-season program. How will you find the best equipment for your team? Where will the money come from?

How will you deal with all your interactions with others? Everyone from your players to their parents to the referees to the rest of your community. How will you organize your assistants in order to delegate in a healthy way?

As you can see, there's quite a bit to think about when it comes to developing your own football coaching philosophy. I can't provide you the answers. All I can do is raise the questions and allow you to think things through until you come to your own successful conclusions.

And these are only the top five areas. Football coaching is an ongoing learning experience. Always be open to all sources that can help you get better.