Online Football Clinics

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by Coach Brian Doll (Head Coach Elk Grove High School)

TACKLING DRILL 1
The “Blue Mat Drill”  (Diagram 1) at Elk Grove High School, was a new drill for my athletes. This drill allowed them to feel comfortable in finishing the tackle. We start by placing one player directly in front of the mat, facing towards the tackler.

(DIAGRAM 1)

The tackler will stand 1-2 yards away from the ball carrier.  This is a safe distance when starting this drill. Having the players too far apart will lead to possible injuries. The ball carrier can also hold a hand shield for safety.  Coaches then break down the tackle into simple parts.  The coaching keys we use for the tackler are:
•    Feet shoulder width apart
•    Body in a breakdown position
•    Lowering hips
•    Chest over knees and knees over toes
•    Keep eyes on the target
•    Relax hands.

As the tackler makes contact with his face up and shoulders square, he shoots his hands and keeps his eyes to the sky. We coach our athletes to grab the back of the ball carriers hamstring. The movement they mimic with their hands and arms is similar to a weight training exercise known as the bent over row. Our tacklers are taught to be aggressive with their hands and arms while tackling.  Our goal is to lift the ball carriers legs off the ground, to prevent them from running. The tackler finishes the drill by wrapping up and driving the ball carrier onto the landing mat. This drill in particular has significantly reduced the number of arm tackles that our staff has seen in recent seasons.

Once you have taught the tackle with the landing mat from close range, you will be able to advance on to more drills.

It’s true – genetics do play a part in how fast you can run. But don’t let that discourage you…

Everyone can get faster. And anyone can improve their speed off the mark.

And just a small improvement with training relates to a significant improvement on the field.

With that said, what does it take to increase your sprinting speed?

1. Increase Your Strength
The more powerful your leg muscles are the more force they can apply to each ground contact.

Power is a product of both strength and speed of contraction. If you make improvements in either of these components you WILL become a faster athlete.

Improve both and you double the effects – and this it what speed training for football is essentially all about.

Assuming strength training already contributes a significant amount to your schedule, lets look at the other side of the equation…

2. Improve Your Speed of Contractions
Any increase in strength will only translate into gains in speed IF you can still contract your muscles as quickly – ideally even quicker.

Sprint training over short distances will help you do that. So will some light plyometrics exercises.

The science behind plyometrics or jump training can get a little complex but the actual training is straightforward.

Be careful with plyometric training…

It’s easy to overtrain without knowing it. Too many of these exercises (particularly the intense types) can cause stress injuries.

To continue reading the rest of this article please click on the link below:

http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/speed-training-for-football.html

One of my favorite plays in the spread offense is the Jailbreak Screen.  It is an integral part of the offensive system that we run.  To me, there is never a bad time to call this play.  I believe the Jailbreak Screen is indicative of what the spread offense is all about;  getting the ball into your athletes hands out in space with room to make a play after the catch.  Diagrammed below is one variation of how we run the Jailbreak Screen.

The first coaching point is that the receiver inside of the receiver catching the football is responsible for blocking the defender over the player catching the football.  I coach our receiver catching the football to take a step or two up field and then run down the line.  The play side offensive tackle should pass set and block the defensive end.  The remaining offensive lineman pass set for a count to invite the pass rush up field before releasing.  The quarterback needs to find a lane to throw the football.  If you are playing a team with an aggressive pass rush or a blitz-oriented team, this ball obviously gets out a little quicker.  There have been instances where our quarterback has had more time and we make this throw more in the middle of the field. This throw is usually in the window “behind” the defensive end that is being taken up field by the pass setting offensive tackle.  The quarterback needs to “feel” when the throw needs to be made.  Ideally, this ball is out of the quarterbacks hands quickly.

To continue reading the rest of this article please click on the link below:

http://www.spreadoffense.com/ssp/jailbreak_screen

One great thing for football fans is updated news.  Thanks to two great websites, we can now get recent updates in high school and college football.  Rivals and Maxpreps may offer different information from day to day, but they give us great information about american football that allows us as fans an in depth look at much more than we all thought possible.  Maxpreps.com takes us into the world of high school sports, and truly covers teams from across the nation with many sports being covered.  You can find rankings, scores, and recruiting information at all times. Rivals.com focuses more on the college game, and recruiting scene.  You will also find rankings with teams and individuals on this site.  Both sites share stories about many topics including recent signings, coaching changes, coaching clinics, and upcoming season reports.  I am a fan of both websites and believe they offer football fans a great resource.  I encourage all to check both websites out at the below links.

www.rivals.com

www.maxpreps.com

Coaches who are interested in attending a 2010 football coaching clinic should look at the links provided below.  Football clinics provide coaches of all experience levels an opportunity to learn from experienced coaches.  Coaches typically speak on topics that are of high interest.  Also please take a moment to look through online football clinics website.  There are numerous articles, and videos provided to help coaches with their development.

2010 FOOTBALL CLINICS

Frank Glazier Football Clinics

Nike Coach of the Year Clinic

Max Millers Clinic of Champions by Max Preps

USA Football Coaching Schools

Winning Youth Football Coaching Clinics

Coaching Clinic International

Clell Wade Coaches Directory Master List of Clinics

AFCA 2010 Coach of the year Gary Patterson from TCU(Pictured)

If your image of a football coach is of a tough guy with a permanent scowl on his face, then you haven’t met Pete Carroll. He’s the coach of the University Of Southern California Trojans, one of the top college teams in the nation. He’s also upbeat, optimistic, and seems to have a permanent smile on his face. And no wonder: he has the highest winning percentage of any active coach in Division 1 football.

As Byron Pitts first reported last December, Carroll took a once great college team that had been on a 20-year slump and turned it around, winning two national championships. If you’re a football fan, you may already know all that, but there’s another side of Pete Carroll that you probably don’t know. He’s taken his coaching ability far beyond the football field, to a place you might never expect.

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He’s been called the “Prince of L.A.,” and Pete Carroll’s “castle” is the L.A. Coliseum, the home field to the University of Southern California Trojans. It’s where 93,000 loyal subjects bleed red and gold on Saturdays. It’s a uniquely American ritual played out with more glitz, glamour and pageantry than almost anywhere else in the country.

To read the rest of the article please click here:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/09/10/60minutes/main4663108.shtml

Three USA Football coaching members were honored as Liberty Mutual Responsible Coaches for making a difference in the lives of the youth players they coach.

After 29 years of coaching youth football all across the country, Brooklyn Park, Minn., resident John Solomon still teaches his players the importance of dedication, hard work and responsibility. Now he is one of three USA Football coaching members being honored for these values.

Solomon, Marcelo Weese of Falcon, Colo., and Todd Reeves of Topeka, Kan., all won Responsible Coaching Awards during the summer of 2008. A total of 44 youth sports coaches won the summer awards sponsored by Liberty Mutual’s Responsible Sports program.

“This means an awful lot to me,” said Solomon, head coach of the Twin Cities North Suburban Youth Football League’s Brooklyn Park Titans, a team of eighth-graders.

To read the rest of this article please click here.

http://www.usafootball.com/articles/displayArticle/6535/7265

Not a fable…
HOW THE WILDCAT GOT ITS NAME
By Hugh Wyatt

Standing on a rainy Pacific Northwest  practice field more than 11 years ago,  I never dreamed that I was introducing my high school team to an offensive formation that would one day explode on the national scene as an  NFL “innovation.” It was October, 1997, and I was showing a direct-snap version of my Double-Wing offense to my team, the La Center  Wildcats. For want of a better name,  we called it the “Wildcat.”  How original.

Imagine my surprise when a few years ago I saw the University of Arkansas running a direct-snap series which it called – the “Wildcat” (?)   And then this past season, the Miami Dolphins became the talk of the NFL with a direct snap package of their own, also called, thanks to an Arkansas connection on their staff, the Wildcat.

Soon, NFL coaches being copycats just like the rest of us, other teams in the NFL were running their own versions of the Wildcat, and quickly the term “Wildcat” as a generic description of a direct-snap formation to a player who wasn’t necessarily back there to pass became as common as “single wing” once was.

To continue reading this article please click here,

http://www.coachwyatt.com/wildcat.html

In speaking with a college coach about a full scholarship offer, parents and the student-athlete need to listen carefully to what the coach says about the school, the coaching staff, academic opportunities and how the athlete will fit into the team.

Each week Coach Bass brings his 30 years of NFL coaching experience to USA Football. Email Coach Bass your question.

Rebecca sent the following question:

I am a parent that will be meeting with a college coach to talk to him about a full ride scholarship that they have offered our son.What are some of the questions that we would want to ask?

Hi Rebecca,

Congratulations on taking a proactive interest in your son’s future. There are some questions that I might suggest, but the key will be for you to listen closely to what is said before you start asking questions and to make certain that everyone is clear and completely understands what the coach is offering to your son. Also, listen carefully to what he tells you about the school, the coaching staff, how your son will fit into the team, etc. You may have to interrupt his presentation if there is an area that is not clear to you or if you have any questions about what he is saying and want him to expand on it.

To finish reading this article please click here.

http://www.usafootball.com/articles/displayArticle/7150/8763