The Coaches Chair

Youth Football: Keep it Simple!

2012-02-20T19:48:00.002-04:00

Keep it simple coach! Being a coach is a year round job. It becomes a big part of your life and an important part as well that is very satisfying and enjoyable. But, it takes a lot of hard work and commitment on your part. There are many dedicated youth coaches in our communities that shape the development of our children across the country and they play a vital role in their character development. It's important that they do a good job. As a coach it is was always important to me to be prepared, knowledgeable, and organized. The internet has a vast amount of information of coaching philosophies, strategies, systems, practice plans, whatever, for the aspiring coach. However, for the most part I find it can be too technical, too costly, or too philosophical for what I want to do at the youth level.
My philosophy has always been to keep it simple or for the most part and use the" KISS" philosophy: "Kiss" being" Keep it simple stupid! And of course, add in "Do it well".
By keeping it simple in both practice and game systems your players should better grasp their roles, be confident in it, and perform at a higher level. By keeping it simple, it is easier for you to make practice plans, game adjustments and get the response out of your players that you're looking for. To be able to adjust is the key. And its fun! To recognize what your opponent is up to and being able to adjust to it is very fulfilling, and gives you and your player's confidence. A simple system allows this to happen. Finally, become a student of the game and dedicate yourself to that commitment. In the end your players will benefit, win or lose.

Football Multiple Defence

2011-12-19T19:01:00.000-04:00

In order to have an effective and efficient defence it must have the ability to change, bend or flex into a multiple look. That is your defence has to be able to adapt to whats presented to it. As a defensive co-ordinator its important that your defence has the abilty to counter the many different looks that an offence can present on a given series. Todays offence is very flexible and can shift from a run formation to a shotgun spread formation on the fly. Its important that your football defence is able to do that as well. A lot of teams have incorporated a multiple defence with the abilty to shift to different fronts and coverages without substitutions. Gone are the days where yoor football defence stays in the same front for the entire game. Its all about being able to adapt on the fly on a given series to what the offence is presenting otherwise your run stopping front may be great on first down but be very vulnerable when the offence switches to their shot-gun spread formation on the next play.

Cheers!

Football Practice Tips:You play like you Practice !

2011-09-13T18:47:00.001-03:00

Its true, really, don't ever think otherwise. Your team will be as good as they practice.If they practice hard at a high tempo with a good practice plan in place with limited down time. They will be efficient on the field during the game. If they don't practice hard with a lot of down time and a limited practice structure the result on the field will be disheartening and frustrating. Challenge your players to practice hard at a high tempo. Encourage them not to walk but to jog betweeen practice elements. Insist that they always keep their helmets on except for designated water breaks. Stay on top of them relentlessly to work hard and be their best. Challenge them physically and mentally by working them in their assignments when they are fatigued. Follow your practice plan and work them hard! Make the practices harder then the games and you will see the results on the scoreboard.

Cheers!

Youth Football Playbook Tips

2011-08-12T18:46:00.000-03:00

Football is just around the corner and its that time of year that a lot of coaches pour through endless playbooks and systems in order to find that perfect offence or defence. Endless hours on the internet has just made it more confusing. Well if you want a good tip, especially if you are just getting into this game perhaps coaching 8-9 year old players, the tip would be "Less is Better".

Yea thats right!

Less offence could be the key that launches your young team into that city championship or perhaps another tip would be "Keep it simple,do it well". Rather than have that multiple spread offence, keep the same look, run basic plays with simple blocking rules, place your best athletes at key positions and do it well!

Football can be such an easy game to play and coach if you let it!

Cheers!

Adjust your Football Practice plan

2011-07-20T10:06:00.002-03:00

As a football position coach a carefully tuned football practice plan is important to have in place. An effective football practice plan keeps you organized, covers all of the elements of football fundamentals, skills and conditioning as well as motivates our football athletes to become better! A good practice plan keeps our football athletes focused by having good flow and purpose behind each drill, and as a coach it’s important that you stay on top of practice planning.

Let’s face it we are creatures of habit and it’s easy to fall back on the same practice plan day in and day out. You might be very happy with your drills but be cautious as your football athlete will eventually find your plan boring and mundane if you stick to it day in and day out. What’s important is that you change up and adjust your practice plan accordingly introducing new drills and different angles to cover skills so that your football athlete doesn’t become bored with it and unmotivated.

The challenge is to keep them motivated at all times!

During your off- season planning develop several different practice plans with different drill sets so that you don’t fall into a boring routine. You’ll find that your players will be more motivated to work harder by shifting and adjusting your practice plan.

Cheers!

Youth Football Dynamic Warm-up

2011-07-13T07:41:00.002-03:00

Football is a game that is continuously evolving. New ideas, strategies, and systems continually evolve as our game improves each and every season. Practice time seems to be getting tighter and tighter and coaches are always tweaking their practice plan to make it more efficient.

One of the latest ideas that a lot of programs are doing now is to incorporate their dynamic warm-up as part of their individual position group. That is rather than have the whole team do their dynamic warm-up as one group, send them to their individual groups at the start of practice and let them warm up by doing their positional footwork and agility drills with their position coach.

When you think about it, especially at the younger levels, warm-up time can become fool around or social time pretty fast if you’re not on top of it. Breaking down the large team group and sending them to their positional groups for the dynamic warm –up will be more productive. In the end you accomplish the same thing and save yourself 15 minutes of practice time.

Cheers!

Chest Plate Tackling in Youth Football

2011-06-22T11:10:00.002-03:00

Tackling in football is one of the main components of the game. Proper tackling or form tackling in youth football is a core fundamental that must be practiced each and every practice at the youth football level. A team with good football tackling fundamentals is a team with confidence!
As a youth football coach there is several key elements of form tackling that you must emphasize prior to contact drills. Body position is probably the most important element of tackling in youth football. They have to be taught how to set up their body in order to safely and effectively tackle with confidence. So let's begin.
First of all it's important that they have a good tackling stance. What I mean by tackling stance is that they have a good foot base with feet about shoulder width and slightly staggered. The knees are bent with the butt down with a straight back. The head is tilted back with the neck bulled and the arms cocked back and bent slightly at the elbows. Get them to set up their body position for tackling over and over again until they get it. Once they understand their football tackling body position, its important now that you explain to them the mechanics of tackling, that is, how their body moves and explodes on contact so that they are effective tacklers. Explain to them that with their bodies in tackling position that they are like a coiled spring and all of its energy ready to explode up and through the ball carrier.
At this point it's important as a youth football coach to explain to them their point of contact. That is, what part of their body will contact the ball carrier first when tackling. We teach them at the youth level to make contact with the chest plate of their shoulder pads with the head back and neck bulled. The head is never in the equation as far as contact is concerned and is always, always, tilted back! You cannot emphasize this enough! We also emphasize a "chest on chest" contact during football tackling, again, with the head back. We do not teach shoestring type tackling as we believe that it teaches the youth football player to drop his head and expose the football player to more chance of being concussed or neck injuries. We believe that with good form tackling practiced over the season that if they are fundamentally sound in the mechanics of form tackling that they will be effective tacklers regardless of size.
Now, with these elements in mind the mechanics of tackling would fall in this sequence:
Stance and body position followed by a simultaneous explosion of hip rotation and leg extension driving up and through as the chest makes contact with the chest of the ball carrier, the head is back, and neck is bulled. As contact with the chest plate is made, the arms drive up under the arm pits of the ball carrier, the tackler locks in maintains his base while chopping his feet, driving his legs, with the head back until the ball carrier is taken down.
Coaching in football requires that you communicate effectively with your players. It's important to take the time and explain each element of tackling and body position to your football players so that they understand why they are being instructed to do things a specific way. If they understand the reasons for it the probability of them doing it increases.

Cheers!

Football: Run To Daylight

2011-06-09T11:43:00.002-03:00

One of the blocking strategies that came out of the late 60's and into the early 70's was to implement a man blocking scheme by your offensive line that would take advantage of the aggressiveness of the defensive line at the point of attack just by blocking and taking them where they want to go and let the running back read the block and run to the opening or in football terms " run to daylight". This proved to be an effective strategy versus gap attacking defenses of the time, and was the basis of the Green Bay Packer Sweep back in the day, but was more effectively used by the 1972 Miami Dolphins who took a power back in Larry Csonka to a perfect season and super bowl win.

When you think of it, it's also the basis of the zone blocking scheme of today, whereby the offensive line steps down to the play-side, looks for double teams, and washes down the defense while the running back steps to play-side, moves with the flow, all the while looking for a lane for cutback reading the blocks of the offensive line and looks for "daylight" backside.

When he sees it, he cuts back against the flow of the defense!

The strategy was very effective versus gap attacking defenses which led to a change of philosophy at the time and today as well, whereby the defensive strategy became a more gap management system compared to gap attacking. By managing your gap effectively, not penetrating, holding your ground and waiting for the running back to come to you, it became an effective tactic to stop the run to daylight and still is an effective tactic today!

Cheers!

Football System Terminology

2011-06-06T14:11:00.002-03:00

Within a coaches football system you will find that there are many names and code words for specific plays, stunts and drills associated with their specific football system. A lot of times a coach's offence or defence can develop a whole new language of its own and to the newcomer coach or player that will work within this system the hardest part is just learning the lingo that is associated with each play. Coaches like to put their own personal stamp on their playbooks and one of the things they like to do is name or number their plays, stunts, and blitz's. One coach will refer to his middle linebacker blitz one way, while another coach will refer to it another way.

Basically, they're the same play but just called different names.

When consulting with other co-ordinators it can be confusing trying to figure out their lingo as they ramble on about their " Mad Dog Blitz" and a lot of times they will talk to you like you should understand what they are talking about, only in the end as they see the confusion on your face, that they need to explain their terminology. Once that's done, and you're on the same page, it becomes a lot easier to grasp.

Cheers!

Tight End Formation in Football

2011-05-17T08:37:00.000-03:00

If you're an old school football coach chances are that you're sentimental about the Tight End formation. With a lot of youth football programs now implementing a spread formation as part of their passing attack the Tight End formation is not as popular as it used to be but still can be a very effective football offence especially against the popular 4-3 and 3-4 defenses.

One of the hardest things about the Tight End formation is finding the type of player that would be a good Tight End. Ideally, you would want a tall athletic player with decent speed but also tough and strong enough to play as part of the offensive line and block both linebackers and defensive ends and tackles. The biggest factor is that they have to be able to catch the football and most of the time it means catching the ball in close proximity of defensive backs and linebackers. Overall, these types of players are difficult to find at the youth and high school football levels.

One of the things a Tight End formation will do especially against a solid run stopping 4-3 defense is that it will effectively spread out the box a little bit more and create better blocking angles for your offensive linemen and with wider splits create good running lanes for your athletic tailback. The most potent thing about a Tight End is their stealth ability to hang in there with a block on short yardage and then pop out and catch a short quick pass for a first down. This is a very effective play at all levels of football, the defense becomes so wrapped up in stopping the run on short yardage or goal line situations that a lot of times they forget about the Tight End until he's celebrating in the end zone.

4-3 Defense vs. 3-4 Defense

2011-05-16T12:51:00.005-03:00

Two of the most popular football defenses that are being implemented today in youth and high school football are the 4-3 defense and the 3-4 defense. Both defences have their advantages and disadvantages,but how do they compare, and which one is better for your program?

Like everything else in your football system your personnel will determine which the best defense for your school. The 4-3 has the extra defensive tackle in the box so ideally you would need 4 quality defensive linemen. This can be hard to do especially at the high school level. Compared to the 3-4 defenses, the 4-3 is more of a power defense that puts a lot of bodies in the box. It is a solid run stopping defense that is designed to allow your middle linebacker to flow to the football basically untouched as offensive linemen have a hard time getting to the second level of linebackers as a result of the extra linemen on the line of scrimmage. A key component of this defense is that the defensive ends on the edge have to be strong athletes as they should have good size to battle with the larger offensive tackles as well as good speed in order to maintain their contain responsibility. Again, finding two of these types of players at the high school level is tough.
In passing situations the 4-3 is vulnerable to the spread offence as one or two of the middle linebackers could be pulled out into coverage leaving one middle linebacker. Against a solid trapping team they could expose this one middle linebacker by getting their guard down on him while trapping the defensive end.
The 3-4 defense has only 3 defensive linemen in the box but has an extra linebacker. This linebacker can be used to go out into coverage or to blitz. The drawback of the 3-4 defense is that you have to have a solid nose tackle that is strong enough to withstand and hold a double team block. This is the key to this whole defense. If the nose tackle cannot handle the double team and play two gap responsibility, then this defense is done! The appealing part of this defense is its ability to be able to attack the offence multiple ways and directions. It is not a read and react defence compared to the 4-3 but an attack defense that is successful because of the pressure it brings along with having good downfield coverage. Most 3-4 schemes are gap attackers so can be hard to run on as well. Another drawback is that with this pressure,its easy to become too predictable and give a good offensive co-coordinator a chance to exploit your blitz.

When choosing which defense to run my advice would be to evaluate your team personnel and determine what type of players you have and then go from there. I find if you have an athletic bunch but lack size and strength, the gap attacking 3-4 defense may be the best fit. As well, if you find your group has good size and strength but lack an abundance of athletic players, perhaps you're more suited to play the 4-3 defense.

Cheers!

Decrease your 40 yard Dash Time: Developing Killer Speed

2011-05-12T10:05:00.000-03:00

Speed is the difference between an average athlete and a great athlete. Decreasing your 40 yard dash time in football and becoming faster makes an average football player good and a good football player great. That's why speed, for any football player, or any athlete for the most part is a good investment. There is a common misconception that people are born with speed. But speed can be developed and enhanced through proper training and conditioning!

Football players are competitive by nature and cannot stand being outrun by a faster athlete. It's frustrating when it happens but that can all change! There's an amazing new book called Developing Killer Speed. This e-book is designed for athletes from the high school level to the professional level and can decrease your forty yard dash time by .2 seconds in 8 weeks.

How did they do it?

By following a simple formula that anyone can easily use to increase their speed and decrease their times. This instant download e-book Developing Killer Speed reveals it all and for only $39.95 gives you a risk free guarantee.

Develope Killer Speed

Football Keys: Open Field Tackling and Special Teams

2011-05-11T14:02:00.003-03:00

When looking for special team players one of the main skills you are looking for from your players is their ability to make open field tackles. One thing that I have learned over the years as a specialty teams coach is that you cannot hide players on these teams that do not have the ability to make open field tackles otherwise you are setting yourself and the player up for failure.

Usually failure on a special team results in giving up a touchdown.

When you consider that the opposing punt/kick-off returner is probably their best and fastest athlete you need to counter on your special team with your very best athletes and tacklers. Not only are they solid tacklers but they are also smart football players that know how to contain and tackle the opposing returners. One of the things that good special team players do when pursuing the returner in the open field is to take away one of his running options. They will do this by breaking down on the returners inside shoulder as they meet in open field and only giving the returner one option and that is to go outside.

A lot of times you'll hear the term in special teams to" use the sideline as your friend". In other words you take away the inside cutback of the returner by shading inside and push the returner hard to the sideline where you either run him out of bounds or force him to turn North /South as he approaches the sideline, right back towards your player where he has the advantage of making the tackle. Simply by being smart and using the sideline boundary to his advantage the player is able to effectively tackle a more agile athlete by taking away the inside cutback and forcing him to the sideline where he has to turn up field and either runs out of room or is tackled.

Cheers!

Linebacker Keys: Footwork Drills

2011-05-09T08:36:00.000-03:00

Effective linebacker play means that you have to be athletic, agile, and quick in order to tackle the opposition's best athletes. One of the main linebacker keys is to practice footwork drills daily as part of your football practice plan.

Linebackers not only have to be athletic aggressive tacklers they have to be able to move quickly to the football. An effective practice plan for linebackers should include agility and movement drills that emphasize quick explosion and movement out of stance as well as drills that emphasize change of direction on the fly. These types of footwork drills should be done daily for 10 -15 minutes. A linebacker that cannot move will be exposed against an athletic running back as well as a solid offensive line.

Effective linebacker footwork drills will enhance your linebacker's ability to get to the ball, avoid blocks by being quick and agile, get to the ball and be able to tackle the ball carrier. Effective linebacker footwork drills done daily will make your athletic linebacker even more agile and quick. It's a good investment of practice time!

YOUTH FOOTBALL CAMP DRILL PLANS

2011-05-06T10:28:00.001-03:00

There's a lot to consider when planning football drills for a youth football camp. As a position coach my drill plans not only have to be effective but have to consider the age of each group that rotates through as well. Consider that with all the various age groups from Mosquito football players to High School, my practice plan for each specific football groups will have adapt in order to reflect the age and maturity level of each group that rotates through my station.

There are drills that I have planned for High School players that I know are not suitable for Mosquito or Atom level players so my practice plan will have to reflect this and adjust to each level that rotates through my station. My main goal for this regardless of what drill I am running and what age group is running through is that they have good form and technique. In other words, they must do each drill with a purpose and not just for the sake of filling in time getting them to do something.

I will emphasize form and technique even in the simplest drills.

So my practice plan will involve all drills starting in their position stance followed by a lot of movement and change of direction drills all the while emphasizing good form, technique and body position. I plan on having an assistant coach run the drills while I observe each player. This will allow me to talk to players individually without stopping the drill and coach up and correct their form if necessary!

Cheers!

FOOTBALL TIPS : DEFENSIVE BLITZ

2011-05-04T07:47:00.000-03:00

A carefully planned defensive blitz attack by an aggressive group of football athletes can throw a wrench into the offence and make the playing field a little more even against teams that are superior in talent and strength. One of the thrills of being a football defensive co-ordinator is the excitement of blitzing your opponent, pressuring the quarterback, and forcing a well oiled offensive machine into turn-over's and mistakes.

But it can certainly be your downfall as well!

Blitzing is like rolling the dice play after play, it's a gamble that you take, it can be a lot of fun when you get on a roll, sack the quarterback and create a turn-over. But, from time to time, like any gamble, you're going to roll "snake eyes" and pay the price It won't take too long for a well coached team to take advantage of your blitz attack, expose its vulnerabilities, and move the football. The better teams know that by being patient when under attack and figuring out where and what players are blitzing that they can expose these players and take advantage of the space they vacate in order to blitz. How many times have you watched NFL teams blitz and sack the quarterback in the first quarter and then get ripped apart in the second quarter?

There are some keys to consider!

Be patient in your blitz. Don't fire the guns play after play and become predictable. Be aggressive, and then back off. Blitz different personnel. Show blitz, get them to audible to another play, then drop into coverage. Keep the offence guessing. As the game moves along, perhaps you'll expose some weakness or flaw in their schemes. Take advantage of it but be patient with it as well. If you find they are having a hard time with it turn up the heat slowly and be cautious of not being placed in a position where you can be exposed and give up a big play.

There will be times that team's will not be able to stop your blitz pressure. But at the same time the better teams will be able to expose this pressure so it's best to be patient with your blitz and be smart with it as well!

Cheers!

Football Defensive Linemen Keys and Tips

2011-04-29T10:55:00.000-03:00

Defensive linemen are often the forgotten group in youth football. For the most they are usually the left over offensive linemen that are too slow to play offensive line and so are thrown out there with the "just hit somebody" philosophy. There are however simple keys and tips that you can give your defensive linemen that will make them effective run stoppers.

The most important key is that they need to know what their role is as a defensive lineman. Depending on your philosophy one of the roles you could implement for then is that above all and everything else they must be effective run stoppers first and foremost and they must take pride in this role and do it well.
The second key is alignment. They must know where to line up either right on the offensive linemen or on his outside or inside shoulder or even just right in the gap. Whatever it is they must know what they are to do, based on their alignment. Do they control an offensive linemen by aligning right over them and therefore have a two gap responsibility on either side of the offensive linemen, or do they control the offensive linemen's outside or inside shoulder and by doing so control that gap? Again, it depends on the defensive system you are running but they need to know what their assignment is on all alignments.
The third key is their eyes. After their alignment they need to know where to look and place their eyes. On a zero technique or straight on alignment, their eyes should be right on the linemen across from them. On the snap they should jam the offensive linemen with a two point punch technique in the arm pit area with thumbs up, lock out the arms to gain separation and then look for the ball. On an outside or inside shade alignment their eyes should be on their shoulder assignment of the offensive linemen and on the snap of the ball they attack the shoulder, with one hand shooting into the mid breast plate and the other hand on the bicep of their shade assignment. Again, they lock out the arms and only them do they lift their eyes up to look for the ball.

By simply giving them their assignment, whatever it may be, it makes it easier for your defensive linemen. By understanding what their role is each and every play it gives them confidence and makes them a more effective football player!

Football Coaching Tips: Roles and Responsibilities

2011-04-28T09:36:00.000-03:00

Starting out as a new youth football coach you'll soon realize that there are many responsibilities and roles that you'll need to fulfill while organizing the infrastructure of your football team. Here are a few tips:

Get yourself organized as try-outs will be soon and you want to have all in order prior to your training camp. Surround yourself with good and knowledgeable people. Select yourself a good team manager that is organized and reliable and most of all will have your back. Select somebody that is a good communicator as a lot of their work will be communicating practice times, game dates, tournaments, schedule changes, co-ordinating parent volunteers, etc. Understand that your manager will be as busy as you are coaching so it's important that they are as motivated as you are. A good manager will complete the package as far as what it takes to run a good and successful program and take on a lot of duties that are necessary to run a program. This will free you up to do what you love to do and that's coach football.
Secondly, surround yourself with a dedicated and knowledgeable coaching staff. Explain to them your philosophy and give them their coaching assignments. Allow them to have input within your philosophy and system. No input and they will lose interest! It's important that they offer you another point of view especially when game adjustments are a factor.
My experience with assistant coaches was to let them do what they do best and that was to coach. Challenge them to be better but never in front of the team. Face all challenges as a team, trouble-shoot together, debate scenarios, and support each other. Ultimately, there will be times that you will be challenged as the Head Coach to make the final decisions. But if your coaching staff has input it can be a lot easier.

Cheers

Football Team Player Evaluations: Key Elements

2011-04-21T08:32:00.000-03:00

Try-outs or Training camp can be a complicated process. Football team player evaluations can be tough at times and stressful for both the parents and players involved. But it is part of the process needed in order to choose and shape your team and your practice plan should reflect this as well as cover key elements during the player evaluation process. Meet with your coaching staff and manager prior to the first practice. Assign one or more the job of running the practice sessions. Plan to either sit up in the stands or on the bleachers with your pen and clip-board.

Pay attention closely to the each player's skill level by evaluating them when they do drills emphasizing fundamentals. Evaluate how hard they work in drills. Pick out the ones that seem to struggle in the different individual skill drills that you have scheduled and make a note of them, as well as the ones that do the drills with ease. Watch them closely during team drills when they have to work in tandem with other players. How do they respond? Does it appear that they could play within a system or do they struggle? As well, note their effort in drills where they are pressured and have to battle, do they battle hard, or do they shy away?

This will measure their character.

Finally, after practice, meet with your staff once again and discuss each player individually. Some will stand out immediately while others will have you wondering what they can do. Talk about their strengths and their weaknesses and what they would bring to the team. In the following practices pick the tempo up and evaluate them once again. You should soon start to see the separation begin and you will start to get a pretty good idea of how the team will shape up. Keep a log of your players during this process. This will help you in the end with your selections. Also, if you are challenged by a player or parent on your selections you can refer to your log on the player in question. Usually, o a challenge once you dig out your log this puts an end to any sceptics.

Cheers

Receiver Route Adjustments versus Zone or Man Defence

2011-04-20T09:11:00.000-03:00

One of the rules that I have adopted and it's easy to remember is: "Run away" from man and "Sit down" versus zone coverage. In other words, when adjusting football passing patterns versus a man coverage system, call crossing patterns or passing routes whereby your wide receiver is running away from the defensive back. Look for the mismatches where your wide receiver is basically a better athlete than the defender and is out running them. A lot of teams when up against a man coverage football system will isolate their best athlete versus a weaker defender and let his athletic ability get him open.
Versus zone coverage, the adjustment to make would be to get your players to "sit down" or stop and set up in the seams between the zones. Basically your wide receiver would run his route and look for the opening between zones, stop, set-up, while the quarterback would scan and find him open in the seams.

The key to all your football systems depend a large amount on your personnel that you have to run them. Based on that, you design or adopt a particular football system that your players have the means to thrive in. In other words you don't run a system that your players don't have the tools to operate.
Once you establish that system and your players thrive within it you will be able to make game adjustments within that football system that will be easy for players to adopt. One of the things that you will probably do at some point is to adjust your passing patterns based on what kind of football pass defence that you are up against whether it be man or zone defence.

Rule of thumb: Run away from man and sit down versus zone!

Cheers!

Keys to Football Play Selection

2011-04-19T11:32:00.000-03:00

Reading the Defence a Key Element

Did you ever notice while watching a professional football game, particularly when one of the teams has an aggressive defence that likes to blitz allot and pressure the quarterback, that eventually the quarterback while under pressure takes a three step drop and fires a bomb deep that goes about ten feet over the wide receiver's head. We cringe and complain as obviously the receiver had the defensive back beat and a well placed passed would have resulted in a touchdown, however, if you read into it more you'll realize that the play was much more than just an overthrown pass, it was a set -up play.
It was never the quarterbacks intention to complete that pass, it was his intention that after getting blitzed and pressured on every play to get the cornerbacks to back off a bit or pay the price of getting burned deep!

The play created the mindset with the defensive backs to loosen up or be beat!

Now the focus will turn to the stacking and blitzing middle linebackers and the inside pressure that probably has resulted in a sack or several hurried throws by the quarterback. Next, you'll notice that there will be a short series of quick passes placed just behind the stacking or blitzing middle linebackers. After a few of these completions you'll notice that the linebackers are backing off now and dropping into their zones.

The set-up continues. Now with linebackers dropping you'll see the play selection include several runs up the middle for reasonable yardage followed by a couple of quick passes to the wide receivers who run a quick slant pattern versus the defensive backs that have been playing loose, followed by another run play up the middle. With the quick slants the corners have tightened up to defend it, with the quick passes behind the linebackers they have loosened up, and with the inside run plays called they are playing safe, dropping cautiously and then coming up for run support!

The defence is now vulnerable!

The offence by selecting the right plays for the situation have forced the defence to back-off and made them vulnerable, they went from an aggressive attacking and sacking defence to one that is now concerned with being more defensive.
Bring in the play-action. Now with the defence on its heels which results in more time and space for the quarterback, chances are you'll see him now run a play-action pass for the kill. The offence will give them a run look, fake the hand-off to the running back as if the play is going up the middle, the defence bites on the run, and the quarterback will drop back and this time throw a strike right on the money to the wide receiver who clearly has beaten the defensive back.

A far cry from that overthrown pass earlier in the game!

Cheers!

Football Offensive Line Tips: Strong Side

2011-04-18T11:05:00.001-03:00

Implement a strong side Offensive Line

Coaching in youth football you are sometimes faced with the challenge of not having enough quality offensive linemen in order to have the five interior offensive line positions filled. Sometimes as football coaches, especially in small football programs, you just don't have enough linemen.

With the season upcoming there are options.

One of the things you can consider is to implement when coaching in football is a strong side offensive line. What this consists of is taking your two best offensive linemen and let them play beside each other such as in a Guard/ Tackle Combo and run the majority of your running plays behind this combination of offensive linemen. As well, if you're short at the Center position one of the things you can do is take one of your linebackers and make them into a Center. Now, you have an athletic Center that can move, and likes to be physical. On your backside or your weak side of the offensive line, take a couple of your slower defensive linemen and place them as the weak side Guard/ Tackle combo.

Whereas the majority of the running plays will be called to your strong side, coach these two weak side players to have tight splits and not allow any backside penetration that potentially will kill your strong side run. As well, teach them one inside run play to their side such as a counter play. This will be a play you can use when the defense has adjusted to your strong side. Another play you can teach them is a backside lead just off the outside hip of the tackle. Compliment your inside five offensive linemen with an athletic slot back that can possibly play tight end as well. Take your other inside linebacker and let him play some fullback so you now have another block at the point of attack. No doubt the defense will cheat on your strong side but keep them guessing and moving by flipping your strong side offensive line from left to right.

Cheers!

Spring Football Agilty Drills

2011-04-15T08:35:00.000-03:00

Power, Agility, And Speed Training For Football

With spring finally warming up it gets the football juices flowing and thoughts of football should be running through your head. Spring is a great time to evaluate your football systems and practice plans as well as equipment. Spring is also a great time to put the notice out to your football players that you will begin to run twice week agility drills in the local gym. The main thing regarding football agility drills is that all players and groups can do them together. You don't have to lump them together in groups.

One of the biggest elements of being an effective football player is that you have to be able to move your feet. For the smaller athletic guys it's quite natural for them to be able to do this, however the common problem in the bigger stronger guys, like your linemen, is that they can't move their feet. Yea, they're big and strong but can't move. Imagine if you spend some time with these guys on footwork agility drills and get them to be able to move their feet and become a little faster and confident because of it. Agility drills don't have to be a complicated process and all you really need to have as far as practice equipment is concerned is some flat rectangular bags, some cones, or a rope ladder.

Drills should consist of elements that require them to pick up their feet such as side stepping over the flat bags to change of direction drills such as back peddle and forward weave to rapid foot movement through a rope ladder.

Cheers!

Youth Football Coach: Choosing a Defence

2011-04-12T09:28:00.000-03:00

As a youth football coach for many seasons you develop a certain way of doing things and adjusting your systems in order to make them simple but effective as well as to adapt to your player personnel and take advantage of their strengths to put them in the best possible position to be effective football players. Through many seasons of trial and error you develop a sense of what will and what won't work in your football program based on your own experiences coaching in youth football.
As all old football coaches know, your systems and philosophies can be both praised and criticized by parents, players, and fans. It's part of the game. Over time, you develop a sense of pride in your football systems and football philosophies and you have a certain way of teaching that to your youth football team. Like all, coaches I have my playbooks and way of doing things that I have developed over many seasons of coaching. Recently, I was asked by the local minor program if I would provide them with a copy of my defensive playbook and terminology so that they could see exactly what I am coaching and possibly implement my systems as part of their own program. I must admit, I am somewhat nervous in providing this to them as I feel that they might not get it, or understand it, or perhaps because of both try to implement a football system not suited to their player personnel and put them in a position where they are going to fail. I think that prior to giving them this information I make this point to them. I will provide them with two different defenses, the 3-4 defense, which I believe is more suited to an athletic group of football players as well as the 6-2 defense which I believe is more suited to a bigger, slower, and stronger type of football group that has a few athletes and is tough and determined. The character of your players can be another factor to consider in determining your youth football defense. As a football coach it's important that you evaluate your football group properly.

Cheers!

Football Tips: Selecting an Offence

2011-04-06T09:40:00.001-03:00

Let's face it, if you're looking for the perfect offence that you can implement for your youth football team, there are points you need to consider. I'm not saying that there aren't any good youth football offence's out there that aren't successful. What I'm saying, and have been saying, is that football player personnel and the coaches' knowledge and ability to teach the offence is the key to any youth football offence. Whether you want to run out of an I-formation, single wing, or double wing offence you need to consider what type of players that you have on your roster and go from there.
As a coach there are a lot of youth football offence systems that you can select from and there is good information available for you to obtain, but in the end, your player personnel will determine what kind of youth football offence you will be able to run successfully.
Things to consider would be your player's athletic ability and the number of athletes you have on your roster, the type of offensive linemen you have, your quarterback's ability, your experience, your size, etc.

These are static factors you cannot change and need to consider in implementing your youth football offence. The main point is don't expect them to flourish in an offence that they don't have the tools to thrive in. Build an offence that takes advantage of their strengths!

Cheers!