Cripes! Get back to fundamentals...

Recruiting 101

brophyfootball@gmail.com — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 11:06:21 PDT

Team Speed

brophyfootball@gmail.com — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 13:47:34 PDT

Duke Track & Field Coach, Shawn Wilbourn, shares some fundamental training techniques to take the athleticism of your team to the next level.
Weather is great, get your team outside!

Snag & Scat Revisited

brophyfootball@gmail.com — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 15:45:34 PDT

Everyone's favorite quick game is broken down in detail by one of the unsung heroes of quick game efficiency, Gunter Brewer.

"PUNT TEAM, GET READY!!"

brophyfootball@gmail.com — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 18:05:31 PDT

Yeah, what do you think of when you hear that?
Oh crap....we sucked that series on offense, lets play some more defense I guess..

Not quite, if your special teams is up to the task

This is more fleshing out some notes and a previous post on special teams (here and here), but this video breakdown of HOW TO PRACTICE it should help. I've been at places where we did our best to coach up our special teams units and did the lip service of "making them special". By far the best way I've seen it utilized was at a program where we used special teams as warm up pre-practice for everyone. We would work like 5 - 10 minutes of individual, segmented drills (in the video) then finish with 5 minutes of full unit practice. The real benefit comes when you work half-line punt protection and segmented start in kickoff (first 20 yard sprint, 10 yard escapes, 30 yard pursuit / find). With this true specialization comes the need to really coach details because these opportunities can change the course of the game against any opponent in under 2.5 seconds.

Here is video to chew on while we work on other projects.....

Get Some!

brophyfootball@gmail.com — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 14:52:14 PDT

Oh Hells Yeah!!

Dan Gonzalez Passing Game System & Blog

Cal Spring Game

brophyfootball@gmail.com — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 19:20:25 PDT

The Complete Guide to Downloading the "All-22" NFL Film

brophyfootball@gmail.com — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 16:19:08 PDT

First let me start by saying I’m extremely humbled to be a contributor to what I believe to be the best football blog out there. I’ve been reading this site for some time, so to be able to add to the discussion on this site is something I’m very excited about. I want to thank Brophy for allowing me to be a part of this great teaching tool for coaches and football enthusiasts alike.

If you’re anything like me, one of the great moments in your lifetime had to be last year when the NFL announced that it would be selling a subscription service to view the ‘All-22’ film used by coaches. I, like many other people, doubted this would ever happen, but I have never been happier to be wrong.

Now, like every other coach in America, you’re probably wondering just how to get your hands on this film, and even more importantly, how to download it to your computer and burn it to DVD and/or cut it up.

I’m going to approach this from a couple of different angles, because I’m sure there are plenty of you who are reading this who may not be working with a high school or college program. Maybe you just enjoy watching football and doing your own research and study of the game. In that case, this post will be perfect for you, because I’m going to show you a lot of low-cost and/or free resources that you can use to make every cut up you could possibly imagine. Ideally, you should be able to make all this happen for between $100-$150, assuming of course that you already have a computer and a reliable internet connection.

On the other side of the coin, if you happen to be in a program with access to breakdown and editing software like Hudl, LRS, DV Sport or even XOS, then you’ve got a lot of potential issues already taken care of for you, and it will be a much easier task to get the film you want and manipulate it however you want.
One final note, some of the details mentioned here may seem elementary to some of you, but my goal was to make this accessible to coaches who may not be the most comfortable with computers. If I was unclear on anything, or need to expound on something, please let me know in the comments.

Part 1 - What You’ll Need

NFL Game Rewind Season Plus

Yes, unfortunately there’s no (Legal) way around getting access to this subscription, unless you just happen to work at NFL Films. The NFL has come down on it drastically, selling a subscription that will give you access to all replays of TV copies of games for the past four seasons, as well as the past two seasons worth of coaches film. As of the writing of this article, the cost is down to $24.99 from its original price of $69.99. The subscription lasts until July 31 of this year, but twenty five bucks for six months of access to coaches film is a bargain if you ask me.

You can buy a subscription here.

Stream Transport

This completely free stream capture software is a program that use all the time. It takes seconds to download and install and is extremely simple to use. We’ll get into the details later, but make sure you have this installed before you try to download anything. For those of you familiar with programs like Replay Media Catcher, this works just as well, and best of all like I said, it’s completely free.

For those of you who like making YouTube videos (Like I do), this program is capable of capturing video from plenty of sites, such as ESPN3.com.

There are a couple caveats to using this program. The first is that it appears to have fallen out of development. In other words, everyone on the internet is constantly updating their minimum requirements for internet browsers, and the makers of Stream Transport don’t seem to have put out an update in over a year. It uses Internet Explorer as its browser, which is bad enough, but when you factor in that it’s a version of Internet Explorer that was phased out over a year ago, it can be a pain. There will be a day in the near future when this program is no longer compatible with most modern websites, and once that happens, people will just have to purchase the aforementioned Replay Media Catcher.

The other downside to this program, and stream capture software in general, is that it works in real time. In other words, if you’re wanting to download a game that’s 90 minutes long, it’s going to take 90 minutes to capture and save it to your computer. I have yet to find a program that doesn’t work in ‘real time’, but if anyone knows of one, please leave a comment below.

The program is available for download here.

Freemake Video Converter

As you probably guessed by the name, Freemake Video Converter is another free software program that I use almost daily. This program is great for burning DVDs, and converting videos from one format to another.

Freemake has a list of all of their downloadable programs, including their video converter, here.RealPlayer

NFL.com encodes all the coaches film in Flash Video format, which is identified by the “.flv” file type. For those of you who download a lot of videos off the internet, this is not news, but there are still plenty of computers without the ability to play these type of videos. Depending on what version of Windows Media Player you’re using, you may not be able to open these files.

I recommend RealPlayer as your go-to video player. It downloads in seconds, it’s easy to install, and best of all it’s free.

(Read through the options carefully during the installation, or you may end up with some free programs you don’t want or need.)

The latest version can be downloaded here.

VideoPad Video Editor

I’ve been using this program for a couple years now, mostly for my own personal projects, and I haven’t found one I like better in the same price range. If you have a video editor that works for you and that you’re comfortable with, then great. What’s important is ease of use and the ability to cut up and convert quickly to whatever video format your system uses.

Also, if your team happens to use Hudl or some other tool you feel comfortable using to cut up and edit film, that will work just as well.

You can download the program here.

External Hard Drive

Depending on how much you’re looking to download and what kind of storage you have on your computer, you may want to look into buying an external hard drive of some kind. Prices vary, but usually a decent 1 Terabyte (1024 GB) hard drive will run you about $100. If you’re serious about putting together a good film library, then it's a very good investment.

Part 2 - The Process

Assuming you’ve already purchased the NFL Game Rewind package with access to the ‘All-22’ film, it’s time to get started.

If you’ve never used Stream Transport before, it may seem confusing at first, but we’ll be covering everything you need to know about the program in this post, so no need to worry.

STREAM TRANSPORT

To begin, open up the ‘Stream Transport’ program, and type in NFL.com into the address bar. It’s important to note that Stream Transport uses Microsoft Internet Explorer as its default browser, the only major fault I can find in the program. (Hopefully the developers switch to something like Firefox or Chrome if they ever decide to put out an upgrade)

Log in to NFL.com with your account, and find the Game Rewind tab, and click ‘Launch’.

Once you’ve hit the ‘Launch’ button, a screen like the one below should pop up, with the previous week’s games listed. You also have the option to scroll through the past four seasons with the year and week boxes above the ‘Watch’ button. Keep in mind however, that coaches film is only available for the 2012 and 2011 seasons.

Since I’m writing this in the middle of February, the last game played was the Super Bowl, so let’s click on the ‘Watch’ button.

As soon as the game loads up, an edited version of the TV broadcast will start playing, and you’ll begin to notice some stuff start popping up in the bottom box. You should pay attention to the columns labeled ‘Duration’, ‘Video Width’ and ‘Video Height’. As you can see, the duration for all these files that have popped up is zero.

What the NFL has done is sliced up the TV copies of the games into tiny, one second-long clips that would drive Russell Crowe in ‘A Beautiful Mind’ crazy if he tried to sit there and piece them all back together. Luckily, the NFL has decided not to do the same thing with its coaching film, otherwise I’d be sitting on the floor of my office in the fetal position after piecing together a Peyton Manning offensive drive from this past season.

In order to get to the good stuff, move your cursor over the video itself, and there should be three different buttons that pop up, including one that says ‘Coaches Film’. Click on it.

At this point, you should see a scoreboard come on screen, followed by a wide angle shot of a kickoff. NFL.com stores all their coaches film in a ‘Full Game’ format, that means no ‘ODK’ for you college guys. If you want that you’ll have to cut it up yourself. Congratulations, you’ve made it to the promised land, this is what you’ve all been waiting for.

You should also notice in the bottom box that another file has popped up, this time with an actual duration and video height and width. This is the file you want to download. Most downloads average a little over an hour long, but the good news is that they are stored in the compact .flv (Flash Video) format, meaning that 1 hour = approximately 1 GB of storage.

If you’re like me, and want to download as much as possible, you’ll have to get an external hard drive (see my earlier comments on external hard drives).

Once you’ve highlighted the file, check the box labeled ‘Change Folder’, then click ‘Download’

You’ll then have the option to pick where you want to save the videos. I’ve chosen to save them in the “My Videos” folder.

You’ll have your pick of where exactly you want to save it. You can even create a new folder if you want by clicking the “Make New Folder” button.

Once you hit the ‘OK’ button, you should see a download box pop up that looks like the one below. It’ll give you a progress report, and you can download up to four videos simultaneously. Once again, you’ll have to download everything in real time, so just minimize the program for about an hour and do something else while it finishes.

Once the download has finished, you can hit the ‘Play’ button to watch the video.

A FEW ASSORTED FINAL THOUGHTS

For best results when burning a DVD, you’ll want to use Freemake Video Converter to convert the .flv files to .mp4 format, since it is the format that most easily converts over to DVD.

Some of you may have the ability to burn directly from whatever film editing program you use, and as long as you can successfully import it into your program, you shouldn’t have much trouble burning it to a DVD.

One thing I must caution you to absolutely NOT do is to post this video on YouTube or any other video site for public consumption. The NFL is one of the most trigger-happy organizations around, and they are constantly patrolling the internet for copyrighted material that has been posted without their permission.

I hope this post has been helpful to you. Please pass it along to your friends in the coaching profession who are interested in getting access to the film. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below, or feel free to shoot me an email.

Alex Kirby
Video Coordinator
Indiana State University
AKirby7@sycamores.indstate.edu
@AlexJKirby

We Talkin' Practice!

brophyfootball@gmail.com — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 05:08:55 PST

A young, passionate Brian Billick breaks down the overlooked FUNDAMENTALS of building a game plan and how it manifests itself in preparation through the week.

Coach Vint: Pistol Architect

brophyfootball@gmail.com — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 17:50:09 PST

With the NFL now adopting several of the key innovations of the last decade, the advantages of using the pistol are now more widely acknowledged. Fortunately, the leading offensive mind on this subject has embraced the various forms of media and is sharing his invaluable insights to advance the game.

Here are clips of Vint installing the offense at Iowa Wesleyan, now visit and subscribe to his online resources!

http://coachvint.blogspot.com/

http://www.footballcoachingpodcast.com/vint/

https://twitter.com/coachvint

BLOGS

brophyfootball@gmail.com — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 07:15:34 PST

Must reads and subscribe!

http://coachjbird.blogspot.com/

http://coachvint.blogspot.com/

http://highspeedspreadfootball.blogspot.com/

http://www.football-defense.com/join/335defense/

More Resources: Pelini

brophyfootball@gmail.com — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 18:14:53 PST

Video breakdown for installation of Pelini's system
Fall install plan (Days 1 -7)

Entire folder of this coaching study is available here >
https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B3p5wkumv513N2QwZDhkYjUtMzhiZi00ZWIyLTk3YjEtYjkzZTA5YWE4NzVm/edit?usp=sharing

Monte Kiffin: 3 Deep Coverage

brophyfootball@gmail.com — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 06:01:06 PST

Wide Receiver Drills: Jason Phillips

brophyfootball@gmail.com — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 14:47:03 PST

This is one of my favorite fundamental drill videos as coach Jason Phillips packs a ton of useful tenets for receiver play in this short video. At my last stop, we attempted to hammer home the basics presented here (stutter release, stick breaks, leveraging defensive backs to open up the break, and body lean) and it made a world of difference in getting these guys to understand what it takes to be a threat at the receiver position (you just can't "run routes")

**happy mardi gras!

1-High Nickel (4-4) Intro

brophyfootball@gmail.com — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 19:33:17 PST

Here is video from when we began using the 42 as an every down defense. In those days, you were essentially talking about a "4-4" defense (its all the same). We borrowed heavily from Augustana College and St. Ambrose University when developing our version of it, which was premised on being an 8-man defense. This is certainly a different flavor than the 2-high TCU brand, but its all relative.

The playbook we developed can be found here: "42 NICKEL" . You'll find the entire playbook with drills, install calendar, playcalls, signals, wristband templates...the whole works (try unhiding some of the sheets in the workbook). Bear in mind, we distilled everything down to tie the entire defense to the coverage ("3" meant Cover 3 with an over front / "6" was loaded zone from a stacked front) which designated the force players. We worked tags and front games off those absolutes. The whole concept became a thrust to vertically pressure the gaps of the offense without blitzing. After visiting spring ball at Western Illinois when Vince Okruch was the defensive coordinator, we stole his attacking run-through linebacker philosophy that he used with his situational 3-3 package and applied it to our 8-man front.

We quickly found out that we were only limited by our imagination simply because it was about putting as much speed on the field as we could. We began using the Weak Safety more and more in deep coverage....then began toying with the Strong Safety....then jumped into odd fronts and found we could do a lot of kooky things with coverage. Where we ended up with this version, essentially brought us to running a split-field approach (after visiting Illinois State at the time) and fire zones. It should be noted that we taught a lot of spot-dropping back then. In the last few years I've been coaching at schools with odd front (3-3/3-4) and pattern matching out of Cover 3 and 2 Read. Though we technically did a lot, it was the opposite of complicated (looking back, there was a ton of stuff we could've done)...it was as basic as just reinforcing block destruction and pursuit (with solid tackling). That really was it. The "package" stuff was pretty damn simple.

During this period, we were two-platoon and installed Punt Team and Punt Return as extensions of the defense (these two units were considered the defense's offensive plays). After years of not getting any significant dividend from a walled return, we simply opted to rush with our front and man up with the secondary and directionally zone wall with the linebackers. We didn't mess with long-snappers as we didn't feel there were any that could actually impact our returners. It actually helped our return game tremendously.

Our punt team (how we taught it) used a simple coding system where we would ("10") spread punt, ("20") tight punt, or ("30") fake punt. Our fake punt consisted of speed option from the personal protector and later shovel counter with an upback (last play in the video below). This allowed us to not treat Special Teams as a third rail but just an aggressive scoring opportunity for the defense.

Below is video how we used it at that time

We had ran the 42 for a few seasons and felt we could get more out of it. #22 in the video was an outstanding player who started at Weak Safety since his Sophomore year. His senior year (this video), we felt what he provided as a Weak Rush End could not be rivaled by anyone on the team. So, we essentially took our BEST defender (and smallest!!) and put him on defensive line because they could run/pass away from him at safety, but on the line they were forced to deal with him on every down. His success lead to underclassmen (particularly linebackers) getting playing reps by transitioning them to linemen positions. I would say that your two outside safeties are what make this philosophy work and an explosive edge rusher is what allows the front to get vertical and make negative yardage plays.

More detailed explanation of all this is available here:

Pressure defense

Game planning against the Wing-T

Defending Flexbone (training flow)

Tenets for defensive fundamentals

Linebacker packet

Using Automatic Front Checks

I ended up moving to Louisiana and installing it at another program (starts with overview handout, examples from Illinois State, then spring ball video)

After reading this over, it should be clear that we stole every idea we had from all the coaches and programs we exposed ourselves to (Augustana College, Western Illinois, Iowa State University, St. Ambrose University, Southern Illinois, University of Iowa, etc). Don't just accept a "scheme out of a box" but learn, adapt, and mold it to what you have found most effective.

Ernie Zampese: Air Coryell

brophyfootball@gmail.com — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 11:04:48 PST

Circa 1992, the backbone of "Air Coryell", Ernie Zampese, breaks down how he packages strong side, three-receiver concepts. These universal staples are what most of the modern passing game is premised on. Get an inside look at how the Sid Gilman offense is built and why

As lagniappe, here is Zampese's route tree from Dallas

In the coming weeks, to honor "clinic season", we'll be sharing various clinic videos (many 'vintage' era) to help your staff for next season.

Future of Football

brophyfootball@gmail.com — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 14:43:19 PST

I attended an interesting debate regarding the (legal) future of football at Tulane the other night. I find the changing landscape of the sport an interesting study that attempts to balance perception, neuroscience, liability, performance improvement and [game] fundamentals. This discussion attempted to focus on using "what we know now" about the physical impact of football participation with the financial recourse of the NFL (and more importantly the 32 franchises that assume legal risk) and how this will shape the game in the coming decade.

DISCLAIMER: For what it's worth, I really don't have any preconceived notions on the issue. I find the NFL's legal finagling (and analyst reviews of hits) unrealistic, though I do understand the position they are coming from. What interests me most is understanding the physical toll of the game, particularly in areas we have been ignorant up till now. I think we all would like to ensure the safety and well-being of players. I don't see this impacting how the game is taught; an emphasis on proper fundamentals (separation/extension in line play - striking with the chest in tackling) has to be grounded in everyone involved. This does not make the game less violent or aggressive. However, this issue is certainly bigger than collisions and contact. Examination of these trends cannot be addressed with singular solutions, thus requiring us all to get the full picture and keep an inquisitive open mind. It's also important to delineate our emotional response to providing safety to the game; blowing out a knee is worlds different than bruising your brain.

The event was moderated by Tulane Law professor, Gabe Feldman, with panelists Andrew Brandt (ESPN), Mike Pesca (NPR) and George Atallah (NFL) and delved into a very academic discussion of where the game's current momentum is leading it. Steve Gleason and Scott Fujita also joined in the dialogue.

Yes, it is NFL-centric though the trickle-down impact and dilemmas are brought up late in the discussion. Also, the "bounty" issue is belabored a little too long at the opening remarks. That being said, this was an extremely worthwhile and mature discussion without the typical rhetoric.

Short rundown of discussion points:

Bounty Issue
Safety of the playing game vs ethics of watching the game
Role of the player union in ensuring a safe work place
Safety vs the momentum of revenue
No one solution to CTE issue; exploring how to reduce it
NFLPA's role in championing safety and influencing the NCAA
Role of a football player's in society
Safety rules are lopsided against defensive players
Dilemma of PED testing in the NFL

For audio only - listen/download here > "Future of Football @ Tulane Hillel"

For video - please visit Robert Morris' work at the Uptown Messenger

"Regarding the evolution of the NFL, I believe the greatest asset the NFL has is the talent. The game will not, in my opinion, change because of viewers or governance. The evolution of the game will come from the talent pool. The safety measures, despite comments like Pollard's have primarily come from the talent pool (the players).

I do not feel the viewers will ever stop watching because they are put off by violence. More likely, the talent pool will diminish because a six year old kid says he wants to be like Junior Seau when he grows up. Now that kid and his parents do not want to grow up like Junior. As a result, the talent pool has diminished, and thus, the game slowly becomes less relevant. Obama, with his hypothetical comment, in his own way, diminished the hypothetical talent pool, which again, is the greatest asset the NFL has."
-Steve Gleason

UPDATE: Another timely piece that is worth reviewing

Tampa 2 Install

brophyfootball@gmail.com — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 06:58:44 PST

TAMPA 2 (MIKE AS MIDDLE RUN THROUGH)

Used mostly for 3rd down pass as 2 deep five underzone coverage, CBs are rolled up on WR, safeties are half field coverage. MLB is middle run thru

Change OLB drops to cover short underneath hole.

Strengths

Very good vs quick passing attack
Neutralizes dangerous receiving threats
Solid vs perimeter runs

Weaknesses

Downhill running game
Vertical holes along the sideline and down the middle of the field.

Corner not necessarily defending the flat – is defending the sideline and breaking back with the reroute.

Vs slot: linebackers adjust – SLB walks out, MLB becomes bubble weak / WLB stacked.

SLB – strong curl

WLB – weak hook

CB – pro align squat 1x5 outside normal split WR / slot: align 2LOS squared stance

SS – align to the closed call PRO: 2x12 off the core SLOT: C9

FS – PRO 2x2 off the core SLOT align 2x12 inside #2

Corners

Move to square stance 5 yards deep, with I/S foot to O/S foot of WRResponsible to get a jam and reroute on #1

Vs pass, work laterally in the direction of the receiver’s release. Do not crossover
Vs outside release – keep square and shuffle laterally (don’t crossover) outside and force WR flat. Force him as wide as possible. Post outside arm and zone turn inside. Be sure to carry him with vision on the QB to shrink the void between you and the safety.
Outside release and vertical = Post-flip-crossover run to 12 yard area….long stride, short shuffle
Vs inside release – shuffle laterally inside for 3 steps. If WR continues inside, do not chase, he has rerouted himself (to backer/safety). After 3 steps, hinge (with vision inside) at 45 degree angle working to get width and depth. Corner must run with wheel routes. Be alert for “opposite color” as you squeeze and hinge. (know how many threats you have, do you have a fast threat outside #1? Have to protect the sideline). Vs bunch, no reroute…hinge at the snap because of fast threat by #2 or #3.
Vs china – hing to sideline to get width and depth to get under the corner route by #2. When #1 sits at 5, the natural response should be to sink to the corner route ( can always brake on the hinge)

Safety Rules

Align 2x12 off the EOL . Work to depth of 14 by the time the ball is snapped - Key QB to #1

If #1 shows run by blocking the corner, come up and support the alley
If #1 shows pass, work to aiming point and play the deep half with vision on QB. Aiming point is half way between the college numbers and hash.
Outside Release by #1 – SA works to his aiming point. IF QB is looking to your side, SA may have to widen, if QB is looking away, squeeze to the innermost half of your zone.
Outside release by #1 – SA squares up and works straight back with vision on QB,. If QB is looking away squeeze to the innermost half of your zone.
If #1 eliminates himself by running a shallow crossing route. SA can squeeze to outside should of #2.

Sam & Will Rules

1. Dropback progression for hook, curl, & seam players

a. Read thru 3 step

b. Take peek at #1

c. Backpedal weave with urgency in drop

d. Setup on QB

e. Cheat to #3 if QB is looking away. Never cheat further than the ball

2. OLBs must always be in position to play #2

MLB Rules

1. Dropback progression for middle run through

2. Read thru 3 step

3. No 3 step, open to field or passing strength

4. When MLB opens, he must skate and look for double vertical threats

5. If #1 and #2 are vertical continue on middle run thru with vision on QB

6. If no double vertical threat, get eyes back on QB

7. If QB is looking your side, square up

8. If QB is looking top opposite side, flip back and look for double vertical

2013 AFCA Clinic - Sonny Dykes (CAL)

brophyfootball@gmail.com — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 06:57:42 PST

Sonny Dykes

Head Coach – Cal

2013 AFCA Clinic, Dykes’ shares his learned wisdom.

WHAT IT’S ABOUT

Started out at Navarro Community College. Lined the field, did the laundry, etc. Worked with Hal Mumme and Mike Leach at Texas Tech

#1 thing you can do as a teacher/coach is learn to prioritize. What are you good at? This may change from week to week and year to year, so learn to adjust based on personnel.

“Details matter, but the big picture matters more.”

Sometimes we as coaches can’t see the forest for the trees. You as a head coach have to be in a state of constant evaluation.

Surround yourself with good people. People you trust and are committed to the program’s success. “I hired guys to coach, and then I became the team coach. I hung around the locker room and picked the guys brains to get a feel for the team.”

“If you can recruit good football players who totally bought in, it’s gonna be better than a great player who’s only kinda bought in.”

The #1 thing I evaluate coaches on is how they communicate with their players.

Good character is more important than good knowledge when hiring a staff.

Morale is critical. What kind of working environment does the HC create? How do the assistants interact with each other? Everybody who has anything to do with the program must be bought in. This includes managers, trainers, video guys, academic people, EVERYONE. The players must be hearing the same message from everyone in the program, and everyone who comes in contact with them in any way.

“Don’t let it become all business.” Enjoy the experience, don’t always make it a grind. We as coaches enjoy being around young people. You’re trying to help kids and they’re allowing you to do what you’ve always wanted to do.

Have fun whenever you can. Lighten the mood once in a while.

Execution is more important than scheme.

If you can execute a small number of plays on offense and a few base defenses , you’ll be a pretty good football team. It doesn't matter what you know, it matters what your players know.

Be as simple as possible, the simpler you are, the faster your players will play.

Empower your players whenever possible. Force responsibility on them, it forces them to grow up.

PRACTICE

Practice is the most important part of how successful your program is gonna be. They never practice more than 2 hours, and that’s at the beginning of the season. The time spent on the practice field starts to decrease once the season progresses. By the end of the season, practice is often around an hour and ten minutes (and those are the long days). The normal practice time is about forty minutes near the end of the season. INJURIES HAPPEN WHEN KIDS GET TIRED.

Be as physical in practiceas possible. They do not bring people to the ground. This is part of the reason why they do not practice very long, it allows them to use the time they do spend on the field practicing physicality.

You must design drills that emphasize important skills. This depends on what you are doing on offense/ defense, etc. Don’t waste time drilling a skill that your players will never use in the scheme that you run. (If you’re strictly a zone team, don’t practice a power pull with your OL)

NEVER let bad effort slide. Address it and get him off the field. Shorter practices allow you to emphasize going 100% on all reps. Twenty reps going 100% are better than 80 reps going 25%.

“Rep it until you get it right, or throw it out.”

The players have to have confidence in the play during a game. How will they believe in the play if you never executed it in practice? A lot of times they have thrown out things in the middle of the week, even concepts that they may have ran plenty of times already earlier in the year, for whatever reason it isn’t working that week. They may end up coming back to it later on in the season, but will shelve it for that week.

“It took us until week six of year two to learn how to run and throw the slant properly, but once we figured it out, it was automatic from then on out.”

“You have to practice situations more than you think.”

PUT IT TOGETHER

Stats - You can measure data. The #1 thing is turnovers. They won 15 of their last 17 games, and won the turnover battle in all 15 wins. In the two losses, the lost the turnover battle once, and tied in the other game.

3rd down – Have to stop them and have to convert them. Once they get to about 3rd and 8 at the 50, they usually tend to treat it as two down territory. This allows them to call higher percentage plays that they couldn’t have called if they were automatically punting on 4th down. It makes your offense much more dangerous and unpredictable on 3rd down.

Red Zone – The difference between winning and losing games is the difference between TDs and FGs in the Red Zone.

Turnovers - Defense goes through a turnover circuit every day, starts practice that way. Offense does the same thing, they use offensive players to strip the ball, etc, to avoid getting too physical in these drills and getting your players beat up. Emphasized ball security with the QB, didn’t throw an INT until week 11. “Be smart on 3rd down. Punting is a good thing.”

At least half of practice emphasizes 3rd down, Red Zone, Goal line situations.

“Listen to your instincts, you’ve got a great sense of where your team is, trust what you see, and then address your issues.”

“The smartest guy in the room is the guy who’s always listening.”

Had some 2nd year leadership issues at La Tech. Started a ‘Leadership Council.’ (Read the book, Water the Bamboo. Talks about how bamboo doesn't grow hardly at all during the first two years after being planted, but you still have to put the work in, keep watering, keep taking care of the soil. Just like Saban says – “Respect the process”) The team started out 1-4, had some issues, but he kept reminding them to water the bamboo. It gave the players something to talk about and believe in. They ended up winning a conference championship.

Had some issues down the stretch this past season. 9-1 and two weeks away from going to a BCS Bowl, went 0-2 the next two games. “I could see there were issues, and I could’ve done something about them, but It’s pretty hard to change what you’re doing when you’re 9-1.” They had internal issues between the offense and the defense, top-ranked offense and 120th ranked defense. There was a lot of resentment between both sides of the ball. They needed to learn how to handle success.

There are several ways to create deception on offense. One is to run the option, another way is to use shifting and motions to disguise your intentions, or you can line up and go fast. Lining up quickly allows you to hide certain things, like receiver splits, because the defense doesn’t have time to recognize it and make checks because you’re snapping the ball so fast.

Yards per play is a great statistic for self scouting, allows you to quantify efficiency.

La Tech offense doesn't use as wide of splits as Mike Leach, they like to run the power play, and slightly tighter splits allows for the double teams you need to run the power. They don’t have a base rule, but on average they use 1 ½ yard splits.

Notes courtesy of:

Alex Kirby

AKirby7@sycamores.indstate.edu

Video Coordinator
Indiana State Football

2013 AFCA Clinic - Graduate Assistants Career Forum

brophyfootball@gmail.com — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 06:57:08 PST

If you can appreciate the grind of football, I highly recommend following "GA Life" on Twitter (https://twitter.com/ThatGAlife).

Grad Assistants Career Forum

Carlos Alvarado - Texas Tech

Chris Thomsen - Texas Tech

David Brown II - Missouri S&T
Todd Barry - ULM

Maurice Linguist - Buffalo

“One of the roles of a leader is to create an environment that people want to be a part of.”

Q: How do you develop a relationship with a coaching mentor?

- Summer camps are huge, they allow people to see you in action. Everyday is a job interview. Head coaches take notes on who is in the bar all night and who is there to work.
- 2-3 legitimate relationships are better than 20 artificial relationships. Genuinely trying to get to know people instead of empty and shallow conversations.
- Ask yourself, what am I doing when I’ve got time off in the summer? Am I sitting around for a couple of weeks just hanging out, or am I trying to get better by visiting with coaches, asking questions, working camps, etc?

Q: What’s another way coaches can align themselves with coaches who can help them?

- Reach out to the people around you, not just to get a job.
- Working summer camps is a great way to learn how to coach and find your coaching voice without your head coach there to be critical of you. You can tell whether or not a guy is coming to work a camp to get better and help kids or just for the money.

Q: How do you get selected to work summer camps?

- Just reach out to different coaches (Be mindful of NCAA rules depending on what level you’re at). Try to observe the differences between camps, and the differences in coaching styles that you see. Expose yourself to a lot of different styles and viewpoints and find what works for you.
- Start your own offensive, defensive, and special teams playbook and head coaches manual right now.
- February is the best time to contact coaches about summer camps, when preparations are just starting to be made for the summer.

Q: What is the most effective path to becoming a GA?

- It’s much easier to get a GA job at the school where you’re at. A good backup plan is to get your masters degree in teaching certification. Just in case you don’t get a college job you can go the HS route. Grad school can also help you improve your writing skills, because people do pay attention to the way you write.
- It doesn’t hurt to send your info to everyone. The best thing to do is to find that ONE guy who will champion you to other coaches. A head coach doesn’t have time to talk to all 15 of your references, but he does have time to talk to 1 guy.
- If you’re doing a great job where you’re at, the coaches will be inviting.
- “Surround yourself with people who love football and winning is important to.”
- “Communicate with everyone about your intentions.”
- “Get into a position where you’re able to work for almost no money.”

Q: What are some more characteristics of being a good GA?

- Work ethic and positivity are crucial. Negativity breeds negativity. Find a positive mentor you can call who can straighten you out and appreciate what you have.
- Have social intelligence. Observe how the staff interacts with one another and how they interact with the players. Handle your business, stay out of the way, and listen. Be able to absorb all the information you can.

Q: What should be a GA’s attitude toward working hours?

- “Non-existent”
- “You are what the kids do on the field. Put your name on it.”
- Your identity is how others view you. BE PROACTIVE. Humility with dignity. Be around people who care about you. No job is above another job.

Q: What are some characteristics you look for in a GA to possibly move to a position coach?

- How do you interact with the players? You’re not gonna hire a guy who can’t go in and control a room. How interested are you in the academic part of school? Do you really care about the player?
- Do I know that this guy will get the job done when I’m not looking over his shoulder? Can he bring something to the table?

Q: How do you know you are ready to be a full-time position coach moving up from a GA?

- Small school GAs get to coach, allows you to build confidence and develop your coaching style.
- Until you control your own room, there are things you won’t recognize while you’re a GA. If you’re fair to the players, they’ll allow you to make some mistakes. At the end of the day, you just have to jump in the deep end and start swimming.

Q: What is some good advice for preparing for an interview?

- “Know what you know, and if you don’t know it, let the coach know.”
- It’s easiest to talk about the stuff you do everyday. Have a teaching progression. Take the interview, don’t wait for them to ask you questions. Over-prepare.
- Be able to answer that you “don’t know, but this is how the special teams coach handled it.” Todd Barry will often put on drill tape of his own players and asks how the candidate would coach it.

- Have a coaching manual, drill tape, etc.
- Have a plan. Know what to teach and how to teach it. Schemes can be learned by anybody. Get away from schemes and teach fundamentals. Teaching progression is important, know what your plan is. Have confidence in what you’re doing. If you don’t know it, don’t open that can of worms. Who are the people I’m communicating with? What is the setup of the interview?
- Have a plan for the academic side. How will you motivate your guys to achieve academically?
- There is an art to drawing things on the board. Be prepared to draw up all kinds of schemes on the board. How are your circles?

Q: If a job is open, how do you position yourself to interview and get it?

- Send your resume to HR, and find the one guy who will go to the mat for you.

Q: How do you select guys for bringing into an interview?

- I don’t care what you know, you gotta be able to teach it.
- Be strategic in the jobs you go after. Realize that working in an ‘Air Raid’ offense probably makes you more marketable and upwardly mobile than working in a flexbone triple option attack. Obviously if you’re at a successful school, that jumps out as well.

Q: What kind of preparation do you do for interviews?

- Make sure you’re giving them your own information, don’t just repeat everything you’ve heard. Do you really know what you’re giving them? Can you teach it?

Q: What are the toughest questions in an interview?

- Why do you coach?
- Why do you want this job?
- Who has been influential in your life?
- What do you bring to the culture and the atmosphere? (Culture and atmosphere is the most important thing when hiring a staff)

Q: What should a young coach consider when selecting a job?

- “Do you want to manage your happiness or your career? Where do you see yourself? What are you looking for? Who are you?” - Todd Barry
- What are the priorities? Masters degree vs normal job.
- Lots of schools require a Masters Degree in order to become a head coach. If you have a chance to get your education paid for, you have to take it.

Q: What about balancing loyalty to the HC and your own ambition?

- Do what you said you were going to do when you were hired. Do a good job where you’re at. Are you a man of integrity? Be constantly grabbing information. Let people notice the good job you’re doing, and they will come to respect you and seek you out, rather than the other way around.
- “If you commit to something, how can there be the word ‘de-commit’? Have some integrity and do what you said you were going to do. If I ever hear of a guy taking a job somewhere and then taking another job somewhere else, I put his name in my ‘Do-Not-Hire’ file, and if he ever sends me a resume, I’ll know what kind of man he is.” - Todd Barry

Q: When is it OK to look for another job?

- End of the season until March 1st. “After that, if you go and interview for another job, you’d better get it, because you won’t have one here.” - Todd Barry

Q: Which is better, an FBS position coaching job, or a D-2 coordinator job?

- It depends on what the right fit is for you, what are you looking for?

Q: How does a young coach become a good recruiter?

- Get into the schools as much as possible. Your true work ethic shows on the road when no one is looking over your shoulder. Teaching and recruiting are the two things you do most in this job. Are you just hitting schools or are you really getting to know the high school guys?

Q: Hardest lesson you’ve learned about recruiting?

- The HC will know what kind of job you’ve done when he gets into the home, whether or not you’ve built a relationship with the kid.

Q: What separates a good recruiter from an average recruiter?

- Developing personal relationships, do you care about that player? Tell them: “At the end of the day, I want you to do what’s good for you.” Convey to that person that you’re generally interested in them. “You’ll be better off 4-5 years from now with us.”
- You have to take the recruit and guide them through the process, this is all new to them. Help the families understand what’s going on, a lot of times they get a lot of info and they don’t know how to separate it. When you’re a GA, recruiting should be at the forefront of your mind.
- Know what your team is looking for. Be realistic about the players you bring to the table. It’s not about getting a lot of numbers, it’s about evaluating talent, character, and football intelligence.
- If you don’t know about a position, defer to that position coach.

Q: How do you motivate players differently from a position coach to a HC to a GA?

- Be yourself, don’t try to be something you’re not. Be a good person, the players will know if you’re phony.

Q: Effective ways to develop players?

- Have your position group write down goals for the week, then have them exchange the goals with another player in the group. That player will be responsible for the others. A great way to create accountability, get them to buy-in to the plan. Do things with the intent to develop them as men.

Q: Effective ways to keep players in line?

- Most guys want discipline. You gotta remember that these are your guys. Find ways to infuse your identity onto your position group.
- “Men work hard for fear, but men work harder for interest.” Once they understand you care, you’ll have them.

- We are builders of men. Move from fear-based motivation, to taking ownership and being proactive.

Q: Philosophy of discipline?

- Ownership culture. If you have too many rules, there’s too many to keep track of. Develop a culture of positive peer pressure.

Q: How do you manage starting a family with starting your career?

- You have kids at home, and you have more at the locker room, the wife has to understand.
- Family planning is important. If you’ve got four kids and a wife at home, your job options are a lot more limited. Be aware of job opportunities and how they affect your families.
- GA at the FBS level or a position coach at D-2 school?
- Don’t think about levels. Just be a full-time coach. Don’t have a level as a goal.
- If your ultimate goal is to be a 1-A coach, you have to be a 1-A guy. The HC is gonna have to sell you to the AD. A lot of it depends on your scheme, if you know something someone else doesn’t.

Q: How important is it to get a GA job with your preferred major?

- More important to get around the right coaches and learn football. Are these some coaches that I can learn from? Is the classwork light enough to where you can do what you need for football?
- Do research on the school you want to work with. What programs, majors, etc?
- If you do get a GA job, take advantage of the free education: “Use the university, don’t let that university use you.”

CLOSING THOUGHTS

- Do the best you can. The strongest network you have is the guys you’re around every day.
- Enjoy the ride, this is a great profession.
- The impact you have is incredible, the longer you’re in this profession the more obvious it will be. Be more worried about who you are, not where you are.
- Perfect your craft. Be around the office, be a sponge, always be ready.

This post was a special contribution provided by:

Alex Kirby

AKirby7@sycamores.indstate.edu

Video Coordinator
Indiana State Football
more notes can be found on Coach Huey's - AFCA 2013 Notes

Chris Ash: Packaging Pressures Against The Spread

brophyfootball@gmail.com — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 18:53:35 PST

A rising defensive mind the past five years, Chris Ash is renowned for developing fundamentally sound players and being a passionate teacher. With the success of the zone read this season in the NFL, maybe the pros can take a clue from one of the better coordinators out there with this clinic. Ash reviews how fire zones and Tampa 2 coverage can stymie these quarterback-dependent offenses.

Jay Rodgers: Packaging Your Spread Offense

brophyfootball@gmail.com — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 16:25:14 PST

Take a look at how to package your offense from Robert McFarland's Iowa State Cyclones of 2008, presented by receiver coach, Jay Rodgers. Be sure to take advantage of similar posts for more information:

Run / Pass compliments

Gun Run Game

Packaging Tempo

Bill Walsh - Priorities and Practice

brophyfootball@gmail.com — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 12:42:14 PST

What's important in offensive football....

Enjoy his opening commentary on Buddy Ryan

Cover 3 Drills

brophyfootball@gmail.com — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 05:57:27 PST

Mike Leach Passing Fundamentals

brophyfootball@gmail.com — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 19:28:57 PST

PAC12 - The New Super Conference

brophyfootball@gmail.com — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 14:51:35 PST

http://www.dailycal.org/2012/12/05/dykes-to-be-next-cal-football-head-coach-multiple-news-sources-report/

Sonny Dykes and Tony Franklin now join the one back godfathers in the PAC12.

Looks like its time for me to move again!