'Earn the stripe every day.' How high school athletes can earn playing time.

Welcome back to Coaches Confidential, a Cincinnati Enquirer series that allows high school football coaches to answer weekly questions anonymously.

This exercise aims to educate parents, athletes and fans, uplift and encourage athletes to be the best they can be, mentor young coaches, idea-share and, in some cases, just have fun.

These answers represent the opinions of coaches who chose to participate. Other coaches who want to join the process can email Chase Souder at csouder@gannett.com.

This week’s question is: How can an athlete earn playing time on your team?

Work every day for a spot

"Players 'earn the stripe' every day, every play. Practice included and classroom."

"Be better ‒ not just at practice, but in everything. Playing time is earned through commitment, consistency, and effort both on and off the field. It’s about putting in the extra work when no one’s watching."

"Show up early, do extra work outside of practice, be a good teammate, have a positive attitude, and always looking to help the team."

"By doing what so many today unfortunately don't want to do... work.  That is the easiest and fastest way to earn playing time."

"By working their tail off, knowing their assignments, and being a great leader."

Show consistency, build trust

"Earn it daily through work ethic, reliability, and team-first attitude. We evaluate not just skill but also ‒ Consistency: showing up and giving full effort every day. Coachability: making adjustments quickly. Trust: proving we can count on you to execute your job under pressure."

"Athletes earn playing on our team by showing that their teammates can count on them to do their job.  That means showing up consistently, working hard and elevating teammates on and off the field."

"(It) is all about accountability and trust, which is earned over time.  Once we know the player is bought in and prepared, it's up to him to play his role and make plays.  Playing time is earned every single day."

Show out at practice

"Showing up and showing out. I need to know a player will be there day after day and in the right spot on Fridays."

"Practice is where our players earn reps in games."

"Be where they are supposed to be, when they are supposed to be there, doing what they are supposed to be doing to the best of their ability. "

Put the team first

"Effort, great attitude, and believes in the concept of TEAM over self."  

Be the best at your position

"Be in the best 22 and be a great teammate."

"I currently have 25 players on my team, freshmen to senior. If you can play, you'll play. If a freshman is better than a senior at a certain position, great. That just makes that senior work 10 times harder to keep his spot. I put our depth charts in dry-erase marker for a reason. It can easily be erased, I tell our players that from day one."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How high school football athletes can earn playing time