We’ve all had those nights.
The bus ride home is silent. The film looks uglier than you remembered. You start replaying every call, every drive, every missed block.
And then it starts:
“We need new plays.”
“We need to change the offense.”
“We’re just not tough enough.”
That’s the moment when coaches do the most damage.
Bad losses can break momentum fast because they convince us to abandon what we’ve built.
But overreacting never makes you better. It just resets your progress.
Let’s bust a few myths that every coach faces after a rough Friday night, and talk about what actually works instead.
Myth #1: “We Need to Change Everything.”
This one’s almost universal. You lose big, and it feels like your whole system is broken.
But the truth? Wholesale changes midseason never work.
Bad losses don’t mean your foundation is flawed, they expose the cracks you need to patch.
When you overhaul everything, you erase all the learning your players have done to that point.
I’ve done it before. Early in my career, I’d toss half the playbook on Saturday morning and start building something new by Sunday. You know what happened? We got worse. Because now, instead of mastering what we knew, we were re-learning from scratch.
What to do instead:
Fix what’s broken, not what’s built. Refocus on your core concepts and execution. Get better at what you already do well.
Myth #2: “We Need to Practice Harder.”
This one shows up right after every bad loss.
The natural reaction is to push more: longer practices, tougher drills, louder coaching. You want to prove you’re not soft, that you’ll outwork the problem.
But here’s the truth: you don’t need more time, you need more focused time.
You teach them into being better. You can clarify what’s broken.
But simply working harder doesn’t fix anything if the reps aren’t intentional.
When practices get longer, kids get tired. When kids get tired, they play slower. And when they play slower, execution drops.
You don’t need more periods, you need better purpose inside the ones you already have.
Instead of adding new drills or making everything full-contact, identify what’s actually costing you.
Is it alignment?
Is it communication?
Is it understanding?
Pick one or two focus points and hammer those with clarity.
Myth #3: “Our Players Just Aren’t Good Enough.”
Sometimes there’s a little truth here. Maybe you’re young up front. Maybe your QB is limited. Maybe your corners struggled in man.
But here’s the real question: what are you doing to maximize them?
Start with a fundamentals audit.
Talent is the ceiling. Fundamentals are the floor. Most Friday problems are floor problems.
Offense - can they actually execute the call?
Assignment: Are they blocking the correct man based on the front and the rules?
Alignment: Are splits, depth, and landmarks right so angles work?
Stance and first step: Are OL steps precise? Are WR releases clean?
Eyes and leverage: Are backs reading the right key? Are QBs confirming the shell?
Communication: Are you getting the ID, the motion, and the check made on time?
Defense — are you gap sound and lined up right?
Pre-snap: Front and force set correctly? Box fits match the call?
Keys: Are second-level eyes on the right read (guard, backfield, or triangle)?
Gap integrity: Who owns the A, B, C, and force, and do they keep it?
Tackle leverage: Are we inside-out, near foot, near shoulder, or are we over-running plays?
Myth #4: “We Should’ve Beaten Them.”
Sometimes the hardest truth is that the other team was just better.
And at the high school level, that can happen before your kids even step on the field. Bigger rosters. More depth. A future D1 quarterback. Sometimes you’re simply outmatched.
I don’t say that as a cop out, it’s reality. The key is what you do with that truth.
The scoreboard doesn’t always tell you how well your kids played. The standard should always be execution inside your system, not just points on the board.
This perspective matters. Because when you refuse to accept that some matchups are uphill, you start chasing ghosts and installing new schemes or formations just to beat one team instead of improving your own.
The right mindset is humility and evaluation:
Did we execute what we teach? Did we compete to our standard?
If yes, learn from it, correct the details, and move on.
Even good teams lose. The key is not letting one game convince you to become something you’re not.
Myth #5: “It Was All the Kids.”
The mirror test is brutal, but it’s necessary.
Every OC has had a call sheet that looked brilliant on Thursday and foolish by Friday night.
It’s easy to shift blame when things go wrong, missed blocks, drops, wrong reads. But if you stop there, you’ll never grow as a coach.
After every loss, ask the hard questions:
Did I teach and do everything in my power to have these kids ready?
Did I maximize our roster for this matchup?
Did we practice the plays we actually called on Friday, or did I spend too much time on things we never ran?
Be honest:
Did the defense show something I wasn’t prepared for?
Did I adjust quickly enough?
Did I help our QB with play calls that matched the flow of the game?
Our job as coaches isn’t just to call plays, it’s to prepare kids to execute them. If we’re not looking in the mirror, we’re missing the biggest opportunity for improvement.
The best coaches own their part, and if you’re transparent with your players you will earn credibility. When players see you take responsibility, they’ll do the same.
The Truth About Getting Better After a Bad Loss
Every coach goes through these myths at some point. The key is learning to spot them fast before they take root.
Here’s the truth about getting better after a bad loss:
You’re never as good or as bad as you think you are.
That’s the constant in this profession. Every win hides flaws; every loss reveals them.
The best coaches don’t let emotion write the script, they respond with clarity and composure.
Here’s what actually works:
Reteach before you reinvent.
If it’s not working, start over from the ground up.Move pieces before changing plays.
Small personnel shifts can create big results.Simplify your message.
Kids need clear instruction.Celebrate effort.
Even in losses, find the reps and moments that show growth.Fix the right problems.
Don’t chase perfection, build consistency.
When you focus on those five, progress compounds. You don’t lose weeks to panic. You get better every day your team steps back on the field.
Your Turn
Every coach has their own “post-loss ritual.”
Some grab film right away, some sleep on it, some run first thing in the morning to clear their head.
I’m curious, how do you reset after a bad loss?
Hit reply or drop a comment below. I read every one.