What if FIRST changed back to 2 coaches?

[DanDon]

Originally Posted by Rohan_DHS

I don't know if this has been said yet, but, *what if* there was 1 coach from each team, and one nominated coach from those 3 teams who overlooks those 3 coaches?
Sort of like a president of a company, who looks over his/her vice presidents, who look over their employees. A sort of hiearchy...so that there could be more interaction between the 3 bots, and still, one person could have the final say. "There can only be one Captain to a ship"

While a novel idea, due to the time constraints in making decisions during an FRC match, I'm not sure how well this would work when implemented.

[Rohan_DHS]

That's true, but it would help to have one person in case one of the team's robots breaks down, or something.

Instead of the two other teams having to think about what they do next, this person has already developed a plan, while the other 2 coaches are still executing the previous plan while the head coach comes up with a new plan for a few seconds (as someone previously mentioned, the coach just keeps the pressure off the driver; all the driver does is drive).

It'd be more of a passive role, I guess, until it's really needed.

But, I see your point in the idea too, and completely agree with you. However, depending on how good of a strategist (is that a word??) the head coach is, this plan could work really well

[Scion13]

I think that teams would never be able to agree on one team captain. Also communication between the allied teams is notoriously hard. Besides all you would really be doing is adding another layer of communication, thus slowing the process down.
What do you guys think about making a student coach(s) mandatory?

If nothing else comes from this thread its that

-FIRST needs to have a student coach out there....

-If FIRST only has one coach and its a student it could put too much pressure on them...an adult backup would be a wise solution

- If FIRST would have 2 coaches, you could make it an adult and a student, it would prevent confusion on the field if you plan it out right.


I know people have said this in earlier threads, but with 2 coaches, one watches our allience and makes sure everything goes smoothly, and the 2nd watches the opponents to make sure they dont do pull any suprises, and keep time along with the human player

[Joe Ross]

Originally posted by Andy A.
So, if FIRST were to some how bring the human players out of the player station, I would be open to the two coaches again. It's just to crowded as it is, I'd like to see the human players seperated regardless of how many coaches we have.

You mean how it was before 2000?

[Mark Hamilton]

My first time driving was this year, so I don't know what it was like with 2 coaches, but I say we keep it at 1. It can get very confusing and hectic up there, and I think 2 people giving directions will only make it worse in most circumstances. Some people have suggested one coach directly tell the drivers what to do, and another focus on strategy. As far as I'm concerned, let the driver's drive. They have a much better grasp of the actual situation with the robot then the coach does. A driver knows when he's losing a pushing match, or a robot is malfunctioning, and where to go and when to turn, etc. without a coach. A coach is most valuable when he looks at the big picture all the time, and lets the driver handle the robot. The driver is always focused on his (or her) robot. The coach doesnt have that limitation, and can help the driver prioritize, decide on strategy decisions, and warn the driver of approaching threats(i.e. the other team's robot). One person does this quite well. What might be more valuable is allowing a tech to be on feild, but not in the box. He can assist on loding/unloading the robot, making emergency repairs, replacing batteries, etc. During the match he should get to be nearby on the sidelines, with the best possible viewpoint safety will allow. From their he can see things the driver and spectator's can't, and use that knowledge to spot problems with the robot, strategy, or driving to help the team improve for the next match. This person can be a student or adult, and can allow some people that never would get up on stage a chance. Its worth noting that I'm a large supporter of a dedicated driving team, and those teams which allow all their students the chance to drive( and therefore have to deal with lots of inexperienced drivers) would probably find the 2nd coach more useful.

[RicNic_team930]

driver 2 (me) wasn't needed our robot could be controlled by 1 person our human player was need though he was 6' tall easy for him to put balls over the wall. Lauren our adult was good at watching things and telling us what we needed to do different. but i agree that there wasnt any room
additional student coach for the experience
but give us some space

[Jim Giacchi]

Originally posted by Andy A.
Some one mentioned moving the human players out of the station and into their own 'human player station', either in the field or on the side lines, whatever.

Didn't they have the human player in the a different spot during the year where they had the center tower that was the multiplier and there were the three scoring racks coming out of the center tower. I think it was 98.

[mtaman02]

2 coahces 1 coach or none. The drive squad most be able to operate in sync with one another. FIRST gives a max of 2 min. to utilize the stratedgys' your alliance has come up with. Theres no time for messing up. I think the coaches whether 1 or more should be placed in another area on the field. After 2 years of being in a booth with one or more coaches i have noticed that the coaches make you much more nervous then the person next to you piloting the robot. Reason is all you here is yelling and screaming and you can't here your alliance calling to you. Personally. It should be if anything. 1 Human Player. 2 Drivers. and a coach. Its a small booth as it is and it would be a little bit more comfortable to have one coach.

[Suneet]

To keep our drivers focused on the driving, and to avoid making them nervous, in the box coaches have the only word on what the robot is going to do. The coach decides, and tells the driver(s) what to do. If it doesn't work, the coach worries about what to do next. This way, there’s less tension; relative calm in the box. We decided to never use adult coaches in our second year, as it seems students kept their cool better under pressure (confident, experienced students), and executed more logical strategies as a result.

The student coach role rotates between 3 or so people, and all three participate in discussions with the other team. Having two coaches in the box would just be clutter for us... but maybe the other could... track score or something…

As one of the coaches, I've seen that drivers really appreciate having something taken off their already heavy backs during matches.

[Dan Petrovic]

More people brings up less agreement.

Simple as that.

If there were two coaches last year one would say "cap the center goal" and then the other said "No, cap the far corner goal". Who does the driver listen to?

[Commanchetruck]

I would like to see every team have 2 student coaches. Im tired of having adult coaches from other teams coming over during the match and informing me what to do, and then getting mad after when i dont do it. If teams were allowed to have 2 coaches i think a lot of teams would have 1 student and 1 adult.