Afm 1402

VA Techs Off-season S & C Program 5 Live Tackling Drills (Safer)
VOLUME 20
FEB 2014
Stop the Run
AND the Pass
with COVER 4

Build Your Own
PLAY CALLING SHEET
with this Template

AMP UP YOUR OPTION
PLUS: 42 DIAGRAMS
AND CHARTS FOR 2014

JIMBO
FISHER
Putting the Seminoles
BACK ON TOP
2013 Coach
of the Year
# www.AmericanFootballMonthly.com
INSIDE
VOL. 20 NO. 2 FEBRUARY, 2014
4. Letter from AFM: Crowning Achievement
10. Strength Report: Writing the Winter Of-Season
Strength and Conditioning Program, Part I
By Mike Gentry, Associate Athletic Director for Athletic
Performance, Virginia Tech University

12. Speed Report: The Virtues of Of-Season
Conditioning Is It Good for Football Speed?
By Dale Baskett, Football Speed specialist

14. Safety First: Modify With Care
By AFM Editorial Staf

16. Drills Report: Pursuing Perfect Ball Security
By Steve Heck, Wide Receivers Coach and Zach Snyder,
Running Backs Coach, Kutztown University

20. Coach to Coach:
An Efcient and Efective Play Calling System
By Bryon Hamilton, Associate Head Coach
and Ofensive Coordinator, Shasta College

22. Rawlings Football College
and High School Coaches of the Year
By David Purdum

33. Cheat Sheets Making the Most Out
of Your Play Calling System
By Matt Kalb, Former Ofensive Coordinator, Aurora University

C
o
v
e
r

P
h
o
t
o
:

F
l
o
r
i
d
a

S
t
a
t
e

S
p
o
r
t
s

I
n
f
o
r
m
a
t
i
o
n
v
e
r
P
h
o
t
o
:
F
l
o
r
i
d
a
S
t
a
t
e
S
p
o
r
t
s
I
n
f
o
ff
r
m
a
t
i
o
n
There are no ofce hours for
champions.
- Paul Dietzel
46.
42.
36. Why Cover 4? How this alignment can be efective
against both the run and the pass.
By Richard Shepas, Head Coach, Waynesburg College

42. Option Football Few Plays, Many Ways, Part I
By Paul Markowski, Assistant Coach, Army Sprint Football,
and Shane Ziats, Assistant Coach, Mansfeld University

46. Out in the Open Live tackling drills can improve
your teams open feld tackling.
By Drew Christ, Former Defensive Coordinator, University at Albany

49. Web Exclusives: Articles only available
at AmericanFootballMonthly.com

50. Managing Your Program: Measuring Practice
Success and Developing Good Habits
By Keith Grabowski, Ofensive Coordinator,
Baldwin Wallace University
Heres a sample of the articles
you can look forward
to in March:
Not a Subscriber? Dont miss a single issue.
Subscribe today and get 10 issues for the low introductory price of $29.99 (Reg.$39) Ofer valid for new subscribers in the USA.
Online Priority Code: AFPR1402 www.AmericanFootballMonthly.com
Samson Equipments Strength and Conditioning 2013 Coaches of the Year
for the NFL, College, and High School
The No-Huddle Power Pistol A Systematic Approach to Installation
A Diferent Read on the Zone Option
Attacking the Ball For Defensive Backs
Option Football Few Plays, Many Ways, Part II
Heres a samplllle off ttthhhhe artticles
WHATS
NEXT?
www.AmericanFootballMonthly.com
Editor & Publisher: John Gallup
jgallup@AFMmedia.com

Managing Editor: Rex Lardner
rlardner@AFMmedia.com
Design & Production: Scott Corsetti
scottcorsetti@gmail.com
Contributing Writers:
Dale Baskett, Steve Dorsey, Bryon Hamilton,
Dallas Jackson and David Purdum
Director of Audience Development:
Charlotte Vann
cvann@AFMmedia.com

Video & Internet Coordinator: Mark Taylor
mtaylor@AFMmedia.com

Directory Coordinator: Carolyn Clark
Editorial and Sales
Phone: 800-537-4271 Fax: 561-627-3447

Administration
Phone: 561-627-3393 Fax: 561-627-3447

President: John A. Clark

Volume 20 February 2014 No. 2
American Football Monthly Copyright 2014
AMERICAN FOOTBALL MONTHLY
(ISSN: 1526-6990 is published eleven times per year
(Monthly except a combined issue in Aug/Sept & Oct/
Nov & a special winter issue in January) by AFM Media
LLC. Periodical postal rate paid at North Palm Beach, FL,
and additional ofces. Business and subscription ofce:
AFM Media LLC, 600 Sandtree Drive, Suite 212,
Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33403. Unsolicited material
must be accompanied by a self-addressed envelope.
Views Expressed herein by authors of articles
contributed to AMERICAN FOOTBALL MONTHLY
magazine are not necessarily those of the publishers.
The publisher accepts no responsibility for their
accuracy or completeness. Reproduction of material
in whole or part is prohibited without the express
permission. Copy Right 2000, AMERICAN FOOTBALL
MONTHLY magazine. POSTMASTER: Send address
changes to American Football Monthly, PO Box 14007,
North Palm Beach, FL 33408. Subscription rate:
$39 per year (US); $5.99 Single Copy
Customer Service
customerservice@AFMmedia.com
1-800-537-4271 Option 4
Follow AFM:
Twitter: AFMmagazine@footballmonthly
Facebook: Facebook.com/AmericanFootballMonthly
LETTER
FROM AFM
F
or the amazing job that he did taking an Auburn team that was winless in the SEC in 2012 and
guiding them to the SEC championship and a runner-up fnish in the BCS championship game,
Gus Malzahn was a deserving winner of the many Coach of the Year awards he received. With the
nations best running attack, they disproved the notion that you must have a high-powered passing
game to succeed in the modern era of college football. And the two game-winning plays against
Georgia and Alabama will be part of college football highlight reels for years to come.
We think, however, that theres another FBS coach that is even more worthy of the honor this season.
Thats Florida States Jimbo Fisher, who were proud to announce is the 2013 Rawlings Football Coach
of the Year. In leading the Seminoles to the BCS championship in a dramatic, come-from-behind victory
over Auburn, Fisher returned FSU to the pinnacle of college football a spot they hadnt occupied since
their last national championship under Bobby Bowden in 1999.
Not only did Fisher end the SECs seven-year run of national championships, he engineered a 14-0
season that will go down in the annals of college football as one of the most dominant of all time. FSU
led the nation in scoring defense and was a close second in scoring ofense statistical domination that
weve never seen in the modern era. Its all the more impressive considering that Seminole starters were
usually lifted and rested by the third quarter in their weekly blowouts.
The title game was another matter. Auburn built a 21-3 frst half lead, forcing Fisher into a situation
he hadnt faced all season. He responded with a daring fake punt call that kept a scoring drive alive at a
critical time, a package of halftime adjustments that slowed down Auburns running attack and a fnal
game-winning drive that sealed the victory.
Perhaps most importantly, he helped freshman Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston keep calm
despite a rocky beginning. As an old quarterback coach, Fishers development and handling of Winston
all season was exemplary, especially considering the cloud of potential legal issues that lingered over
the young quarterback into December.
Every coach knows that theres far more to coaching than play calling and in-game decisions. What
happens of the feld between seasons lays the foundation for everything that follows. In this regard, no
coach outcoached Jimbo Fisher between January and August, 2013.
After a successful 12-2 campaign in 2012, FSU had more than their share of personnel losses. The
Noles lost 11 starters to the NFL, more than any other FBS team, which meant that 2013 was essentially
a rebuilding year. Fisher faced even a greater challenge replacing the six members of his coaching
staf, including both coordinators, who left for other opportunities. Considering that FSU was entering
the 2013 of season basically starting from scratch made Fishers championship season even more
remarkable.
You can read more about Fisher, Rawlings Football national high school Coach of the Year Jason
Negro of St. John Bosco in California and the ten other coaches we recognize this year with Rawlings
Football Coach of the Year honors. We congratulate each and thank them for providing tips you can use
in your quest to become a future Rawlings Football Coach of the Year recipient.
John Gallup
Editor & Publisher
A i F tb llM thl

CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT
Top NFL and college
players honed their
football skills and grew
as individuals through
the NFL High School
Player Development
program presented
by the National
Guard.
SHINING
STARS
W
hen high school football players at-
tend the free camps conducted by
the NFLs High School Player Develop-
ment program presented by the National Guard,
they improve their football skills and also learn
valuable life lessons in character development
sessions. All participating athletes gain from their
HSPD experience.
But for truly gifted athletes, those that will ad-
vance to play in college and perhaps even the NFL,
the HSPD camps and the National 7-on-7 Tourna-
ment are also opportunities to meet other elite
players, get instruction and participate in drills de-
signed for collegiate athletes, and compete with
Americas best high school skill-position players
all under the prestigious umbrella of the NFL.
Before they were NFL stars, Cam Newton and
Ray Rice were high school standouts who took
advantage of HSPD camps in their areas New-
ton in Atlanta and Rice in New Rochelle, New
York. Newton went on to quarterback the team
representing the Atlanta Falcons in the HSPD Na-
tional 7-on-7 Tournament. Both have given back
to the HSPD program by attending events and
6 www.nhspd.com
Special Advertising Feature
Cam Newton at a HSPD Regional 7-on-7 Competition
Ray Rice at a New York HSPD Camp
AA
ll
PPPPPPPPP
eeeeeeeeeee
PP
rrrrrrrrrr
eeeeeeee
iiii
rrrrrrrrrr
aaaaaaaaaa
WWW
oo
WW
oo
dd
a
rrr
dddddddddddddd
I
mmmmmmmmmmmm
aa
gggggggggggggg
eeeeeeeeee
ss
GET INVOLVED Getting involved in the NFL HSPD program lets you give back to the game, gives your players a chance to compete in the
National 7-on-7 Tournament, and provides young athletes with a great opportunity to become better football players and better individuals.
Visit www.NFLHSPD.com and enter the promo code AFM214.
sons about school frst, responsibility, and how
to conduct oneself in public that I have brought
with me to college and apply each day. Har-
ris perfectly summed up his HSPD experience.
There was defnitely a positive impact on me as
a person and as a player.
As a site manager for HSPD camps in Ohio and
a coach of the Cleveland Browns 7-on-7 team,
Chris Medaglia has seen more than his share of
future collegians come through the HSPD pro-
gram. Notable among them is standout Michi-
gan State quarterback Connor Cook, who was
MVP in the Spartans victory in this years Rose
Bowl. In total, eleven current Division I players
have played on the Browns 7-on-7 team in the
last few years. The HSPD National 7-on-7 Tour-
nament exposed these players to the fnest tal-
ent in the country, said Medaglia. The high level
of healthy competition has a positive and pow-
erful impact on every athlete that participates.
There is not a classier, more impactful, and more
enjoyable tournament in the country.
Medaglia also praised the character develop-
ment aspects of the HSPD program. The tourna-
ment exposed all these players to various ways to
develop their character,he said. They were given
the opportunity to meet some of our countrys
fnest leaders from the National Guard. Plus, the
NFL has a very powerful presentation on social
media that every high school student should be
exposed to.
Every high school coach who has elite ath-
letes on his team should encourage those play-
ers to participate in an HSPD camp and the 7-on-
7 competition, according to Michigan States
Darien Harris. Coaches should have players that
want to pursue football in college attend HSPD
because it will give them a frst look at what they
will experience talent-wise at the next level in an
environment that is solely based upon getting
them ready for that next level, he said. Most
likely, they will practice with players that they
will either play with or against at the next level,
and ones that have the same goals as they do.
The coaching will help high school players both
on and of the feld and will be very infuential
and helpful in their future endeavors.
said. HSPD was defnitely about work, but it was
also about a love of the game. Because it was not
mandatory, those who wanted to be there were
there, which made the experience that much
better. HSPD really made me much more moti-
vated to pursue playing at the next level.
7 www.nhspd.com
Special Advertising Feature
delivering inspirational talks to the next genera-
tion of HSPD athletes. Newton spoke at the Caro-
lina Panthers regional 7-on-7 tournament and
Rice participated in a New York-area camp. More
than a dozen other players currently on NFL ros-
ters are alumni of the HSPD program.
Players who participated in the HSPD program
are now having a major impact in college football
as well. Arie Kouandjio, the starting left guard for
the Alabama Crimson Tide, participated in HSPD
camps in 2008 and 2009 when he was a student
at Marylands DeMatha Catholic High School. His
HSPD experience led to some close friendships.
One of the guys I met was Ego Ferguson, and
we became very good friends, he said. Ego went
on to play at LSU, and we are still best friends to-
day. What really made things special was that we
have gone against each other the last two years
because Ego is the starting DT for LSU. If it were
not for the HSPD camp, we probably would never
have met. The best part was meeting diferent
players from high schools that we would play
against and the guys I would read about. It made
my high school career more fun.
Darien Harris, who is a starting linebacker at
Michigan State and was a teammate of Kouan-
djios at DeMatha when he participated in an
HSPD camp, also beneftted from the interaction
with other players. I enjoyed, especially at that
young age in my football life, the opportunity
to learn and compete with Marylands best high
school talent, many of whom are now at the Divi-
sion I college level or have been or will be draft-
ed into the NFL, Harris said. It was defnitely a
great experience to speak with older players as
they were going to where I ultimately hoped to
end up the highest level of college football.
Both players gained solid football instruction
at their HSPD camps. According to Kouandjio, It
is a great way to expose exceptionally talented
players to the fundamental skills that they need
to develop in order to become better players, he
said. We were not running plays or preparing for
a game. The coaches made it fun to work on a pass
block or a run block, and these techniques actu-
ally carried over to high school and college.
Harris related how his HSPD experience
helped him prepare for the next steps in his
playing career. This was not a college recruiting
camp and therefore there was no pressure with
a lot of recruiters watching. Instead, this was ex-
actly what it is titled, player development, where
I was able to learn what was necessary in order
to compete well at college recruiting camps, he
H
a
r
r
i
s
:

M
i
c
h
i
g
a
n

S
t
a
t
e

A
t
h
l
e
t
i
c

C
o
m
m
u
n
i
c
a
t
i
o
n
s
Not to be overlooked is the of-the-feld ben-
eft of the HSPD character development ses-
sions. The camp had a positive impact on me
because of the life skills session, said Kouand-
jio. We spoke about time management, study
skills, the NCAA clearinghouse and other topics.
After each day of practice, the coaches shared
valuable information that helped guide me
both on and of the feld. There were a lot of les-
HSPD Alumnus Arie
Kouandjio of Alabama
HSPD Alumnus Darien
Harris of Michigan State
8 www.AmericanFootballMonthly.com
I
enjoy my profession of strength and condi-
tioning coaching because it allows me the
opportunity to choose and to create the
tools that can then be used by our athletes to im-
prove their athletic performance. After 30 years
of writing strength and conditioning programs
at the Division I level, my approach has evolved
into a systematic methodology of program de-
sign that fts my overall strength and condition-
ing training philosophy.
Virginia Tech Football Strength and
Conditioning Training Philosophy
Periodization
I believe in a phased periodization approach
to physical training as developed originally by
Eastern European and Soviet Union scientists
and coaches and introduced here to American
coaches by researchers such as Mike Stone, Bill
Kraemer and Vladimir Zatsiorsky.
The training model should provide a roadmap
that allows the athlete to progress from point A
to point B. The use of periodization principles
will help a coach to determine appropriate vol-
ume, intensity and frequency of training.
er parameters of athleticism the most is strength.
This is particularly true for younger and untrained
athletes. There is a high correlation between an
athletes relative strength and short sprint speed.
The development of absolute strength is essential
and should be emphasized during the winter of-
season phase of football training.
When training explosive power athletes, its my
belief that some of their training should be done
with velocity. This application of force can be
trained with the use of Olympic lifting variations,
plyometric exercises and other exercise modali-
ties. We typically program at least one explosive,
high velocity exercise each training session.
Wt|I|t|
It| W|tI|t
t|||ttt
It|t|It tt
ftt|I|tt|t|
|tt|ttM
www.hammerstrength.com
800-634-8637
STRENGTH
R
E
P
O
R
T
Presented by
Exercise Selection and Teaching Methods
When training football players, the use of
multi-joint, ground based movements should be
the core or focus of their resistance training. Exer-
cises such as Olympic lifting variations, squatting
variations, and pressing variations ofer more op-
portunities for sport specifc movements and also
increase overall coordination and balance.
The exercise instruction should be progres-
sive in nature, from simple to complex. As an
example, the hang clean is taught from a hang
position jump shrug frst, followed by a hang po-
sition high pull, progressing to a hang clean.
The one element of athleticism that afects oth-
By Mike Gentry
Associate Athletic Director
for Athletic Performance,
Virginia Tech University
Chart 1: Annual Strength and Conditioning Plan Example
|ttI |
V
i
r
g
i
n
a
l

T
e
c
h

U
n
i
v
e
r
s
i
t
y
IMPROVE
TEAM PERFORMANCE
Learn how to build your program from
some of the top coaches in the country.
@HammerStrength | #HammerStrength
2013 Life Fitness, a division of Brunswick Corporation. All rights reserved. Hammer Strength is
a registered trademark of Brunswick Corporation. USV-035-13 (10.13)
HammerStrengthClinics.com
REGISTER NOW
Training Intensities and Exercise Variety
Bar speed is of paramount importance when
using the Olympic lifts for the development of
explosive power. When programming clean,
snatch and jerk variations, we use fewer reps per
set, performed at lower intensities. This allows
greater bar speed and more transferable results.
In general, it is better to slightly undertrain a
football player in the weight room than to over-
train him. My goal is for our players to achieve
every programmed rep of our foundational core
exercises, not easily but successfully.
Our philosophy includes changing most assis-
tance exercises every two to three weeks during
both the of-season and in-season. There should
be frequent use of diferent variations of pulls, the
squat and presses particularly during in-season
training. Using a variety of the fundamental core
exercises and consistently changing your assis-
tance exercises is vitally important for avoiding
accommodation, boredom and overuse injuries.
Successive Steps When Writing
the Of-Season Program
There are seven steps to writing the winter
of-season program, each of which are described
in the paragraphs to follow.
Step 1: Determine your overall training philoso-
phy.
Step 2: Develop your annual plan.
Step 3: Develop your exercise and drill menus.
Step 4: Use the Predicted Maximum Chart to
program core lifts.
Step 5: Write your periodization schedule.
Step 6: Write your weekly and daily training
program.
Step 7: Test and evaluate.
Step 1: Determine Your Overall Training
Philosophy
Your training philosophy should be based
on your investigation of the science of training
through formal and informal education. This
includes talking with and reading the ideas of
strength and conditioning professionals, as well
as your personal experiences of what has worked
and not worked well in your past experience
training players.
Step 2: Develop Your Annual Plan
Before I start to develop the of-season pro-
gram or winter program for football I develop a
loosely structured annual plan. In general, the
plan should include the physical goals that are
most important during each phase of training.
Each of these phases will have diferent training
priorities based on their proximity to the com-
petitive season. While concurrent training goals
are necessary, prioritization of training goals
must be honored. (See Chart 1)
Step 3: Develop Your Exercise and Drill Menus
Prior to writing your program, it is helpful to
develop menus of training exercises and drills
organized in related categories. This list should
be updated each year. These exercise menus al-
low you to keep variety in your program. The ex-
ercises must be appropriate and practical. (See
Chart 2)
Step 4: Use the Predicted Maximum Chart to
Program Core Lifts
Use of the Predicted Maximum Chart will allow
you to properly program your athletes core lifts
throughout the cycle. This knowledge will allow
you to systematically move the athletes toward
appropriate near max per repetitions (training
peaks) as they progress through the training cycle.
As an example: 75% for 10 reps, 85% for 5 reps,
92% for 3 reps. You should gradually move the
athletes toward a theoretical max per repetitions
as they progresse through the cycle. (See Chart 3)
Chart 3: Predicted Maximum Chart
Example: Calculate Maximum of 5 reps
with 280 pounds
Step 1: Convert to Decimal
85.7% /100 = .857
Step 2: Calculate Predicted Maximum
280/.857= 325
Chart 2: Sample Exercise Menu
V
i
r
g
i
n
a
l

T
e
c
h

U
n
i
v
e
r
s
i
t
y
Chart 4: Winter Of-Season Periodization Schedule Example
Chart 5: Organization of Daily Training Schedule Example
Step 5: Write Your Periodization Schedule
After choosing your primary or core lifts, write
your periodization schedule for the training cy-
cle. The schedule provides the target intensity for
the last set of preselected core exercises through
each week of the cycle. These intensities are se-
lected based on the goal of the program, the ath-
letes general profle and length of the cycle. (See
Chart 4)
Step 6: Write Your Weekly and Daily Training
Program
The next step in the writing process is to de-
termine your weekly training frequency (as an
example, three or four days of resistance training
per week.) I believe a variety of training frequen-
cies can be efective. Ive chosen the four-day-per-
week model for our winter Of-Season approach.
Remember, at this time of the year, our most
important adaptation is to become stronger and
gain muscle. This chart represents the framework
I used to develop this particular of-season pro-
gram. I recommend developing your weekly and
daily training programs with support from your
periodization schedule, predicted max chart and
exercise menus. (See Chart 5)
Using the framework shown above, along with
the periodization schedule and your particular ex-
ercise menus, you are ready to craft the program
that you feel will be the best ft for your particu-
lar team, facility and overall situation. Please refer
to the charts for the 2014 Winter Of-Season
Strength Power Schedule and 2014 Winter
Of-Season SAQ Schedule that are posted on
AmericanFootballMonthly.com. This will include
the total six week of-season training plan, includ-
ing the SAQ and conditioning elements of the plan.

Step 7: Test and Evaluate
I encourage you to include some form of test-
ing and evaluation in your program. Testing al-
lows you to evaluate your athletes progress and
your programs efectiveness. When structured
and administered correctly, this testing phase
will provide motivation to the athlete and re-
inforce correct exercise technique. Be sure that
your testing protocol measures your training ob-
jectives.

In the next issue of AFM, I will be addressing
coaching methods and philosophy. Your skills in
these areas are arguably more important than
your programming expertise in developing
winning athletes. Stay strong.
V
i
r
g
i
n
a
l

T
e
c
h

U
n
i
v
e
r
s
i
t
y
Want even More
Xs and Os?
Gridiron
Strategies
Just got bigger
and at the same price!
and at the same price!
Weve expanded Gridiron Strategies
from 24 to 32 pages!
Not a subscriber?
Subscribe Online and get 6 issues of
Gridiron Strategies and 1- year of online
access for only $29.95 (reg $44.95)
PLUS: Subscribe and get
Best-of-the-Best
Practice Drills FREE.
($11.95 Value)
Special Online
Priority Code: GSA214
www.GridironStrategies.com
v cnioinosxnxsciss.cou
e cnioino sxnxsciss
o much of the game is based on speed and

agility that everyone is trying to match
player against player. But the proper tech-
nique of playing the angles and keeping
the ball on the appropriate shoulder is critical.
The importance of correct pursuit angles will
lead to better tackling skills and mechanics. This
is very important when we talk to our players
prior to introducing these pursuit drills. We will
introduce and do all of these drills in fall camp
and again in the spring.
As a season continues, our group periods tend
to decrease, which is why we make it a priority to
use at least two drills per week beginning on the
day after a game and then another on the frst
full practice of the week. I will explain fve difer-
ent pursuit drills and how we incorporate them
on a consistent basis.
and fve additional cones or bags.
In diagram 2, our Four Lane Pursuit Drill, four
lines of defensive players will be lined up on the
30-yard line, two on the numbers and two on the
hash marks. We usually have the skill players on
the numbers and the DL /MLB on the hashmarks.
BC will at the 5-yard line.
On the command, the defenders will sprint
down toward the BC. When the coach gives the
BC the signal to go, he can make as many moves
as possible to get free. The defenders will not
tackle but will thud up to the runner as the other
defenders converge to the BC, looking to strip
the ball and not allowing a cut back. This drill
teaches proper leverage on the ball carrier. We
do ask the BC to sometimes reverse his feld and
run up the sidelines. Only equipment needed for
this drill are three footballs.
We try and teach these drills right away so the
players know where to go when we move to the
drill. The diagrams show the type of equipment
that is used. Equipment can be varied between us-
ing cones for bags or vice versa. I have found that
using proper equipment and having the drills set
up gives the athletes a better perception of what
the drill should look like. The drills dont just play a
role as a conditioning period and we combine a lot
of our fundamentals from our tackling and take-
away circuits into the pursuit drills. It is imperative
to have all of the coaches involved and make these
group periods high-energy periods. Keeping the
players focused and in tune to what the drill is
about is extremely important. We want to be as ef-
fcient as possible with the time we have.
In diagram 1, our Group Run Pursuit Drill, we
get the players into their positions using bags or
cones. We use three diferent groups instead of
having all 11 lined up. The purpose of this drill
is to get the players into their positions and, on
their movement, they sprint and fnd the land-
marks which are explained to them prior to the
start. We emphasize the importance of getting
to the correct cone because our base defense
must be fundamentally sound at all times.
We like that each group can be fying around
without the distraction of the other groups. This
eliminates them wondering if they are in the
right position because of the other players over-
lapping the same landmark. As soon as a group
is running toward the cones, the next group is
already in their positions waiting to go. It is im-
portant to have two coaches out in the feld en-
couraging them to sprint and get to the correct
landmark. Equipment needed includes 12 cones
tttf| |ftf|I t|||
Diagram 1: Group Run Pursuit
Diagram 2: Four Lane Pursuit Drill
Teaching the proper
pursuit angles should
lead to improved
tackling.
By Rob Eggerling
Associate Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator
Saint Anselm College
e c
omuch
agility
player
nique
the ball on
The importa
lead to bett
is very imp
prior to int
introduce
and again
As a sea
to decreas
use at lea
day aft ff er
full pract
ent purs
on a con
e
e cnioino sxnxsciss
O
ur basic philosophy in our running game is to give the defense two or three diferent formations and vary our blocking schemes with a mixture of gap, zone, and man with multiple personnel groups. This has enabled us to become a very balanced ofensive team which has given us great success in the run and passing game. This past season, the Split- Flow and ISO scheme resulted in a 6-yard average per carry. What was initially a complement to our power game became a main staple in our ofensive gameplan, resulting in the Split-Flow and ISO accounting for approximately 30% of our running game. We run the Split-Flow and ISO against any even or odd front defense that has six defenders in the box. If theres a larger number in the box, we generally throw the ball. We are primarily in a 20-personnel grouping when running Split-Flow or ISO which is consistent with our two-back power game. First, our blocking rules for the ofensive line in the Split-Flow are the same as our inside zone rules. So, for the ofensive line, there is nothing to re-teach. The B-back, who is our FB, is blocking in man technique. The RB runs the same path as he does with inside zone.
PST and B-back are responsible for the playside stack (DE and SB); the PSG and center are responsible for the inside stack (Nose and MB); and the BSG and BST are responsible for the backside stack (DE and WB). The play will either hit the frontside B gap or backside A gap as a cutback (Diagram 3).
Coaching Point - The RB will read the centers block with a good opportunity for a cutback. Note: against a 3-4 defense (7 man box), in which we are out numbered, we will throw the ball.
The ISO is a great change up that makes this scheme both potent and versatile. Efective downhill blocking is needed from the B-back. Now with all the pieces set, we are able to use this scheme in a variety of ways short yardage, in the red zone and at the goal line. The Split- Flow and ISO coupled with our two-back running game allows us to dictate our will on the defense by keeping them guessing.
ISO Rules
1. We run our ISO against an even front defense and it doesnt matter if the defense shows a 2i/3
You can
confuse any defense
by implementing
this scheme.
Blocking Rules
Uncovered OL - step to your playside gap looking to help while pushing up the line of scrimmage with good vertical steps. Key is the near knee of the frst DL to your playside gap.
Covered OL - step to your playside gap, fipper the DL with good vertical steps.
B-back - blocks the end man on the line of scrimmage, attacking his inside armpit. The B-back is aligned between the guard and tackle, a half yard away from their heels. We can motion him and even set him outside of the tackle as a wing.
RB - follows the same rules as inside zone. His initial path is the frontside A gap. He adjusts slightly against an odd front with his read now being the centers buttock. However, his path is the same. He aligns fve yards from the LOS with his inside foot directly behind the outside foot of the guard.

Split-Flow Rules
1. When we face a team that gives us a traditional even front with six in the box with the 3 tech to our B-back, this play will hit 90% of the time to the playside A gap. We have two combination blocks with the inside DL up to the Mike and Will linebackers (Diagram 1).
Coaching Point be sure there is a good vertical push, not allowing any penetration and win the two on one contest at the line of scrimmage.
2. If we get a team that plays 2i to our B-back, the play will hit to the playside B gap. The playside tackle will take the appropriate steps to the Mike and the B-back will attack the inside shoulder of the DE (Diagram 2).
Coaching Point - if the DE squeezes of the PST butt, the B-back will have to log the DE, pinning him on the line of scrimmage in order to allow the running back to bounce outside.
3. When we face an odd front team that gives a stack (33) look, the numbers match up well. The
Yo YY u can
|||I||tW
tt
|t IWttfI
tft ft|M|
By L. D. Green Sr. Ofensive Line Coach Trinity University (TX)
Diagram 1.
Diagram 2.
Diagram 3.
Diagram 4.
tech. With our ISO, we will motion our B-back from time to time giving the illusion of either two-back power or Split-Flow. The PST and guard man-block while the other three ofensive linemen are blocking with their inside zone rules. The B-back ISO blocks the playside LB, the RB makes initial Split-Flow steps and then reads the B-backs block (Diagram 4).
Coaching Point When the B-back is put in motion, he must be patient for the guards block. He quickly reads his hip so he can take the proper crease while keeping his eyes on the assigned LB. We have also prepared our B-back to stop his motion with a STOP call in the event the DL stems from a 3 tech to a 2i. In that case, he becomes a true downhill ISO block directly to the playside LB.
Split-Flow and ISO continued on page 11
e
back is put in m
guards block. H
n take the prope
the assigned LB
ck to stop his mo
ent the DL stem
e becomes a true
playside LB.
ge 11
y even or odd front defe ff nse that has six defe ff nders in the box. If theres a larger number in the box, we generally throw the ball. We are primarily in a 20-perso l
The ISO is a great change up th t h
y heir heels. We can motion him and even set himoutside of the tackle as a wing.
RB - fo ff llo h
2. If we get a team that plays 2i to our B-back, the play will hit to the playside B gap T
v cnioinosxnxsciss.cou
e cnioino sxnxsciss
I
n this ofense, the receivers make adjustments to their routes based
on coverage. These coverages are divided into four base categories
single safety zone, two safety zone, man and blitz. We will concentrate
on choice routes and the receivers conversions vs. single safety zone
coverage.
The choice route is designed for the single receiver in a 3 X 1 formation
(Diagram 1). Proper alignment is very important to stretch the defense
both vertically and horizontally (Diagram 2).The receivers will be num-
bered playside 1 and backside 1, 2, and 3.
###
# ###l
Diagram 1: CHOICE vs. Single Safety Zone Coverage
Diagram 2: Proper Alignment
##I#l## ##8# l#I ###l#I ###lI l# l#I
WR route decisions are based
on alignment and the type of
coverage the free safety shows
against this offense.
By Wayne Anderson, Jr.
Former Head Coach of the Bialystok Lowlanders
T
o every football coach, the word condi-
tioning means getting ft to play or pro-
ducing stamina for performance situa-
tions. Conditioning is, in reality, a performance
trait, most useful during the season. It can cut
into your periodization schedule in the of-sea-
son, when in reality, its not relative to develop-
ment for that time frame.
You should center your of-season training
on speed and power, not on conditioning. Your
skills, speed, fexibility, and athletic movement
speed and control will then be signifcantly ad-
vanced by the start of season. The title Strength
and Conditioning Coach in the collegiate world
is now being modifed to Athletic Performance
Director. The word conditioning is a small part
of the total equation necessary during the of-
season for training. Some coaches use a condi-
tioning regimen year-round with the players,
thinking this is building them into some type
of super athlete that can outwork work their
foe. The fact is that youre just wearing them out
physically with the over-training.
A body is protoplasm and not steel. Its in
need of rest and work in a balanced capacity.
The work needs to be specifc and quality-based.
More is not better. Conditioning should begin
closer to the season if you are to do conditioning
at all. The reality is that to be ready for compe-
tition doesnt take six months of conditioning.
Only fve to seven weeks is necessary to estab-
lish a solid training efect. Several of my clients
do not do conditioning during the winter and
have won consecutive state championships.

Do You Have an Abundance of Time?
Most Coaches Dont

You have a chance to build speed to a maxi-
mum level for each athlete if you choose the
proper ingredients and blend them with a
properly designed plan that targets progressive
growth. The last thing you want is to waste time
on conditioning in the of-season. Im preached
that over and over in the eight years Ive been
doing the Speed Report. What can be accom-
plished in the time frame we have is extremely
important. Speed development is no exception
to that rule.
We clearly wouldnt do heavy sprint work fve
straight months in advance of the season. So
what value would be gained by allowing your
athletes to spend their energy on condition-
ing when its not relative to the time frame as a
physical concern? Energy should be placed else-
where to be a productive catalyst for stimulating
more important items that will make the players
better athletes, not over-trained athletes.

The Reasons Coaches
Condition Of-Season

Most coaches work hard and try to learn
things that will be productive for the team and
provide good concepts that improve their ath-
letes performance. Sometimes its unfortunate
that we have to borrow concepts that others
have used for various reasons. Often, theyre not
always accurate or sound.
At some point, a head coach settles into a cer-
tain belief system. Hopefully, the one that makes
the most sense is the one hes associated with as
he came up as an assistant. A coach that condi-
tions for an extended period in the of-season
will usually over-train his athletes. There are
usually two reasons for this. One, they think the
athletes are becoming more physical by running
them with volume workouts month to month.
The other reason is that they feel it makes the
players tougher mentally. Conditioning in the
of-season is, in reality, a poor trade-of for skills
and specifcs needed for maximizing football
growth. Without fail, you will delineate the speed
potential youre trying to improve if you choose
to condition year-round.
Pete Carroll has had great success at both the
collegiate and professional level. He came to the
l#I l#l#I #I
#III### ####lll##l##
l: ll #rr lrr Irrllrll ;rr f
By Dale Baskett
Football Speed Specialist
SPEED R
E
P
O
R
T
Presented by Samson 800-472-6766
www.samsonequipment.com
d h d h b h h b h
m
realization while at USC that more is less. He ex-
claimed this at one of his last clinics for football
coaches while at USC that, Less is More and
quality, not quantity translates to a better ath-
lete. Hes trained quite a few in the last decade
and they consistently play fast for four quarters.
Conditioning and Speed - Both or One?
Here are several provisions important to
speed training for the of-season. You wont fnd
conditioning on this list. Your development con-
cerns should be:

Correct technical skills and applying training
drills.
Developing power on the feld and in the
weight room.
Quick speed and speed combined.
High velocity movement transitions.
High energy and precise focus and execution
of quality performance, consistently.
Precise movement control at varying speeds
with varying speed percentages applied weekly.
Balancing quality and quantity day-to-day
with your package.
Varying speed training procedures must
refect less and not more.
Speed development that has quality values
and is technically oriented and not volume
jaded. This ensures maximal growth for time
spent.
High frequency and recovery need to be bal-
anced at each training session. Short recoveries
will not tap the neural system correctly; that is,
same workout with less results.
Remember that cross ft training is the wrong
energy system for football.
Train the way the games played - high (short)
intensity and recovery. Its an anaerobic event
and the key to specifcity.
Coach Baskett began his career as a foot-
ball speed coach in 1979. During the last 35
years hes consulted and trained hundreds of
coaches and thousands of athletes nation-
wide. In the last year he has worked directly
with high schools in California, Texas, Min-
nesota, Kansas, and Pennsylvania. Over the last few years
he has also consulted with Texas Tech, Ohio State, USC,
University of Washington, and the University of Mount
Union. You can reach him directly for more information or
if you have specifc questions on your training program.
Coach Baskett is at dbspeedt@hotmail.com and 858-
568-3751.
W
ith the increased concern over concus-
sions in recent years, theres also been
an increase in new products related to
concussion prevention and detection. Some of
these products, such as supplemental padding
devices or impact sensors, are designed to be
added to or integrated into helmets.
While the intention providing an extra level
of protection to players is worthy, theres a seri-
ous risk associated with any helmet modifcation
that should be addressed before any modifca-
tions are made. Thats the possibility of a helmet
losing its certifcation.
Helmets are certifed by individual helmet
manufacturers based on strict guidelines and
requirements provided by the National Operat-
ing Committee on Standards for Athletic Equip-
ment, or NOCSAE, which is an independent and
nonproft standard-setting body with the sole
mission to enhance athletic safety through sci-
entifc research and the creation of performance
standards for protective equipment. The certif-
cation process, which involves laboratory test-
ing conducted by manufacturers using NOCSAE
guidelines, ensures that every helmet sold meets
certain standards.
When you tinker with your car or your televi-
sion and make alterations that you think will in-
crease performance, you run the risk of voiding
the manufacturers warranty. Its a similar situation
with helmets any alterations or modifcations,
with the exception of color or graphics, made to
the original confguration of a helmet requires the
modifed helmet to have its own certifcation.
This doesnt mean that any product added
to a helmet will automatically cause the helmet
to lose its certifcation. What it does mean, ac-
cording to NOCSAE, is that the original helmet
manufacturer could void its certifcation or, if it
wishes, conduct its own testing to determine
if the added product afects the performance
of the helmet. Either way, its up to the helmet
manufacturer to certify any helmets that have
been altered or modifed after they were sold in
their original condition. If a helmets certifcation
is voided or withdrawn, it cannot be used.
Michael Oliver, who is Executive Director of
NOCSAE, helped clarify this issue, which has been
a source of some confusion in the football com-
munity. The third party add-on issue for football
helmets is one that has been misunderstood, and
in some cases misrepresented, he told AFM. First,
it must be understood that the certifcation that
a football helmet meets the NOCSAE standard
is made by the manufacturer. NOCSAE does not
By AFM Editorial Staf
SAFETY FIRST
Any post-purchase modications to helmets can put
them at risk of losing their certication.
its own certifcation testing. Under those cir-
cumstances, the manufacturer would have the
authority, under the NOCSAE standards, to void
its certifcation. A manufacturer is not required
to void the certifcation. It may do its own test-
ing and determine that the add-on does not ad-
versely afect the performance.
NOCSAEs stance regarding products that
are added to helmets is not intended to keep
innovative new safety-related products of the
market. Rather, it is intended to ensure the integ-
rity of the certifcation process, which is of vital
importance to manufacturers, football organi-
zations and players. The importance of a valid
certifcation that a football helmet meets the
NOCSAE standard is that the governing bodies
for football at all ages require that helmets must
meet NOCSAE standards, and if that certifcation
is void or withdrawn, the helmet may not be
used, according to NOCSAEs Oliver.
For the 76% of AFM readers who are involved
in the purchase decision for helmets and hel-
met-related products for their athletes, this is a
critically important issue. Any coach, parent or
player who purchases and uses a product that is
added to a helmet without making sure that the
helmet retains its certifcation is running the risk
of making a helmet less safe. That doesnt mean
that the products arent safe. It means that, for
the protection of everyone involved, its impera-
tive that the altered helmets certifcation is doc-
umented. And the only one that can provide that
confrmation is the manufacturer of the original
helmet. Not NOCSAE, not a concerned parent,
not a sales representative. As Michael Oliver told
AFM, If coaches have a question as to whether
an add-on product afects the certifcation, they
should contact the helmet manufacturer.
So dont put yourself, your program or your
players at risk. Make sure the certifcation is in
place for every helmet used by any of your play-
ers in any circumstance.
enzszH!zo ev
www. xzHi !i. ccm
MODIFY WITH CARE
certify or approve equipment. We do impose
strict requirements on manufacturers who make
those certifcations. So if an after-market add-on
product could potentially afect the validity of the
certifcation, it is the manufacturer, not NOCSAE,
which would make that decision.
The addition of external or internal padding,
spacers, ventilation, or devices that attach to the
inside or outside of the shell would be changes
that, if made by the original manufacturer, would
require it to rename the model and do the nec-
essary testing to support the certifcation of
that new model, he continued. The addition of
those items by an aftermarket product creates
a model confguration that is not supported by
If coaches have a question as
to whether an add-on product
afects the certifcation, they
should contact the helmet
manufacturer.
- Michael Oliver
Executive Director, NOCSAE
DRILLS R
E
P
O
R
T
By Steve Heck, Wide Receivers Coach and
Zach Snyder, Running Backs Coach, Kutztown University
W
hile blocking and tackling are commonly seen as the two key
building blocks of any football program, the most important
fundamental of ofensive football is ball security. Without posses-
sion of the ball, the ofensive unit is not on the feld. While that may seem like
a simplistic and obvious statement, the importance of securing the football
is at times an overlooked fundamental in todays game. Ball security in its
basic form is preventing and eliminating fumbles by ball carriers.
For the 2013 season, Kutztown Universitys running backs did not fum-
ble. The running backs carried the ball 245 times and pulled in 20 passes
without a fumble. The wide receiver unit also did not fumble during the
2013 season. The wide receivers accounted for 257 receptions and two car-
ries without a fumble. That is 524 total touches by the running backs and
wide receivers without a fumble.
Ball security is a fundamental that must be practiced on the feld, dis-
cussed in meetings and reinforced in flm study. Like any other fundamen-
tal it can and must be coached, taught, developed and improved. In recent
years, defensive coaches have done a superior job of coaching ball disrup-
tion. It is time to develop some answers to the turnover circuit that has
become popular among defensive coaches at all levels.
We have identifed four key themes that exist as building blocks for
coaching ball security. The frst and most obvious theme is carrying the
ball high and tight. This is not a revolutionary concept, but it still must be
constantly reinforced as a fundamental skill. It is not natural for players to
How Kutztown University WRs and RBs
Eliminated Fumbles in 2013
PERSUING
PERFECT
BALL
SECURITY
Diagram 1: Agility Strip Drill
run with the ball high and tight. Also, it is important to discuss that high
and tight means having one pressure point with the ball glued to the chest
and the forearm going north/south like an axis rather than east/west.
The Agility Strip Drill is an important part of teaching high and tight ball
carriage. This drill involves players on each side of the agility bags stripping
at the footballs. The ball carrier has a ball in each arm as he executes a high
knee action over the bags, up and back through the drill (Diagram 1).
The second theme is practicing sound ball
security in awkward, yet game-condition situ-
ations. Jump cuts, tight spin moves, weaving
through defenders, and hurdling people are all
maneuvers that ball carriers use in a game. Yet
these same moves can be ball security night-
mares if they are not drilled properly. It is critical
to drill all these situations and mandate that the
ball carrier keep the ball high and tight through-
out each of these maneuvers.
Diagram 2: Circle Weave Diagram 3: Sideline Gauntlet
drills are designed to keep the ball connected to the body during various
open feld maneuvers. For the Circle Weave Drill space 8-10 players in a
big circle. Two ball carriers practice game speed maneuvers by weaving
between the players, using jump cuts, spin moves and stutter step moves.
The other players are stationary and attempt to strip the ball (Diagram 2).
The ball often gets disconnected from the
body during jump cuts, spins and hurdle moves.
Both the Circle Weave and Sideline Gauntlet
The Sideline Gauntlet Drill forces the receiver to catch a short pass, avoid
a stand up bag that is thrown low at his knees and then get upfeld down
the sideline through the gauntlet without going out of bounds. The key
coaching point is to keep the ball high and tight through each part of the
gauntlet and to play with low pad level (Diagram 3).
A third theme that is repeated in our ball security instruction is the use
of the of arm as a weapon. A ball carriers weapon is defned as the arm in
which he is not carrying the football. Although there are certain game situ-
ations that require two arms and hands on the ball, we believe that this lim-
its the ball carriers ability to break tackles and balance himself. As long as
players employ the high and tight technique, one hand/arm on the ball will
secure the ball. The L Drill with Stif Arm and Strip focuses on using the of
arm as a weapon while making game speed movements.
Players start by stepping over the frst bag, jump cutting laterally to the
left and stepping over the next bag vertically. This is repeated until all of
the bags are cleared. Other players stand to the right and attack the ball
while the coach uses a hand shield to force the ball carrier to stif arm the
bag (Diagram 6).
Diagram 4: L Drill with Stif Arm and Strip
Go to www.americanfootballmonthly.com
where you can access 150 BACK ISSUES with over
2,000 articles to help you and your team be prepared.
www.AmericanFootballMonthly.com American Football Monthly 26
W
hen your offense has stalled and you have to punt the ball
away, the last thing you want to give up is a punt-return
touchdown. We spoke with three experts about how to pre-
vent such a disaster - Rick Sang, director of American Football
Specialists/ Ray Guy Kicking Academy in Bowling Green, KY;
Granville Eastman, defensive coordinator and special teams coach at
Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN; and Alan Dykens,
assistant head coach, defensive coordinator, and special teams coach at
Graceland University in Lamoni, IA.
Sang, who coached the kickers at Arizona State
and Eastern Kentucky and was a kicker himself at the
latter school, listed 10 keys for producing the 'punt of
no return. As you can imagine, given his back-
ground, Sang focuses largely on what the kicker him-
self must do.
First on Sang`s list is ~Precision Placement. As
he puts it: 'Every time the ball is punted, whether in
practice or a game, the ball needs to be directed
toward a specific target. For example, if you`re punt-
ing from the 50-yard-line, you`ll want it to hit at
about the 10, so the returner has a difficult decision of
whether to let the ball bounce, make a fair catch or try
for a return.
In addition, he pointed out, 'You can punt it out of
bounds. That means zero return. Sometimes the
choice of direction for a punt turns into a chess match with the return
team. 'If the return team is overloaded to one side, and you`re intend-
ing to go to that side, then you can call it off and punt down the mid-
dle instead, Sang said. Another possibility: 'If you`re back around
your own 35, with a strong wind at your back, you can drive a deep
punt out of bounds, he said. In that situation, you can also hang a punt
up down the middle of the field.
'But you have to be careful on distance not to separate from your cov-
erage unit. You don`t want to out-kick your coverage. If you have
more distance on the punt, that means less hang time. You`re separat-
ing your coverage from the returner, plus the returner is catching the
ball sooner.
Like Sang, Dykens puts a lot of emphasis on punting to a precise
location. 'We work extremely hard on ball placement with our
punter, Dykens said. 'We`ll use the coffin corner, send it to the right,
or send it to the left - drive kick it or kick it higher. That enables us to
have more success on our coverage unit.
Eastman agrees. In his eyes, 'It`s all about that return
guy sitting back there. Any way he can make two guys
miss, you`re in a whole lot of trouble. So the whole
point is trying to eliminate him from the return as
much as possible. You try to kick away from him, and
if you do kick it to him, you have to find a way of
making him go where he doesn`t want to.
Sang`s second dictum: ~Maximize hang time.
That`s no great secret of course, but a punter has to
make adjustments in a game. For example, 'If you
have a strong wind in your face, drive the punt to let
the wind hang it up. Optimum hang time is four sec-
onds or more for a high school punter and 4.5 seconds
or more for a college punter, Sang said.
Third: ~Optimize distance. As Sang pointed out earlier, a long
kick doesn`t do you any good if it`s not high enough to allow your
tacklers time to get to the return man before he heads up field. 'Truly
great punters sacrifice distance for hang time, Sang said. By increas-
ing hang time and decreasing distance just a few yards, punters will
maximize the chances of preventing a big return. 'You want a high net
yardage and a high percentage of punts not returned, he said.
By Dan Weil
PUNT OF
NORETURN
10WAYS TO
GUARANTEE YOUR
OPPONENT WONT
SCORE ON A PUNT
RETURN
'Once the ball is snapped, the
transition from protection
to coverage must be
quick, rhythmic
and flawless.
- Rick Sang
44 www.AmericanFootballMonthly.com American Football Monthly
I
t is a pleasure and honor to be asked to
represent Carthage College by contribut-
ing to American Football Monthly. Our
staff at Carthage looks forward to this maga-
zine and all the fine coaches who submit
ideas and philosophy on a monthly basis.
At Carthage we have had a very unique
and increasingly productive punt formation
that has not only been a solid punt formation
but an offensive weapon. This year our
'spread punt produced the following results:
A. A first-team All-CCIW punter (Donovan
Moore) who averaged 40 yards a punt and
had 22 of his 56 punts downed inside the 20.
Of the 22, nine were inside the five-yard line.
B. He also was successful on nine of thirteen
punt fakes, running for 120 yards and com-
pleting one of three passes.
C. Moore finished 14th in the country in
punting but more importantly our punt team
net was 7th nationally at 35.6 yards a punt.
The base formation looks like this (See
Diagram 1):
Alignments
The linemen`s splits are two and a half
feet in an up position with hands on the
knees, back bowed and head up with his eyes
looking outside.
The number one receiver aligns on the
ball and splits the difference between the
numbers and the sideline with the ball in the
middle of the field and with the ball on the
far hash, he aligns two feet inside the num-
bers. If the ball is on the near hash, he is two
yards from the sidelines.
The number two receiver aligns off the
ball, splitting the difference between the
number one and number three receiver.
The number three receiver aligns six
yards outside the tackle, off the ball.
The X is on top of the numbers and on the
ball.
The punter is seven yards behind the line
of scrimmage and behind the call-side
(always the three-receiver side) guard.
The fullback aligns in a tight wing posi-
tion opposite the call side.
Assignments
After the punter sets the unit, the fullback
goes in shuffle-motion to the call-side and he
will block the widest rusher.
The line will all slide-shuffle two steps to
the call-side and they will be responsible for
blocking their outside gap. They are responsi-
ble for anything fromtheir nose to the nose of
the next linemen to the call side. The backside
tackle will turn and hinge after his two slide-
shuffles if there is no one to block. If the ball
is punted they all go directly to the ball.
The number one receiver will run a curl at
three yards past the first down marker. If the
ball is punted, he has contain and must keep
everything in front and inside of him.
The number two receiver runs a streak
and if the ball is punted runs directly to the ball.
The number three receiver runs an out at
the first down marker. If the ball is punted,
he must work back to the hash and be inside
contain, keeping everything between the
hash and the sideline and in front of him.
The X runs a deep post and if the ball is
punted must contain the football. The assign-
ments look like this (See Diagram 2.):
The punter takes a minimum of two steps
to the call-side and has the option of punting
the ball, throwing a pass or running with the
ball himself. The line cannot release until
they hear the ball punted as it could be a
fake. The receivers run their routes and if
they see the ball is punted they have to hurry
to their coverage lanes. Obviously, the
routes can be changed by game-plan or how
a team chooses to defend the call side.
By Tim Rucks
Head Football Coach, Carthage College
Diagram 1. Base Formation
SECRET WEAPON SECRET WEAPON
Diagram 2. Assignments
TURNING YOUR
PUNT GAME INTO AN
OFFENSIVE WEAPON
TURNING YOUR
PUNT GAME INTO AN
OFFENSIVE WEAPON
S
ome of the most exciting and scary
moments of a high school football
game usually surround one player on
your team, the young man who han-
dles your extra points, eld goals, kickoffs and/
or punts. These plays usually have the coachs
heart somewhere in his throat, but if you stop
to think about it, how much practice time have
you devoted to this young man on his kicking
mechanics and game preparation?
As a special teams and kicking coach, I un-
derstand that most high school football pro-
grams dont have the luxury of having a coach
whose sole responsibility or job is to work with
the kickers. If you do have this luxury, then
great! If not, then understand it is important to
give these players a specic program and prac-
tice schedule that will help them achieve their
goals for the season.
It is important to establish a routine that the
kickers can follow from the rst day of train-
ing camp, through the season, and right into
the championship game. Remember, the ability
of your kicker to excel throughout the season
depends on a well-structured and thoughtful
practice plan. The main things to consider as a
special teams/kicking coach are the following:
1. Plan the kicker/punter practice time.
2. Evaluate your kicker/punter ability level.
3. Coordinate his specialized training periods.
One of the major things to consider in this
process is maintaining your kickers leg strength
throughout the season. Therefore, your thought
process should be punting and kicking for qual-
ity instead of quantity. This will help your ath-
letes achieve their goals.
Dont make the mistake of asking your
kicker to kick a great number of balls the day
before the game. This will wear out his leg
and lead to fatigue on game day. Dont look to
make changes to his mechanics or techniques;
this is not the time to do so. Any technique or
mechanic changes should be addressed in the
off-season. During the season you should be fo-
cused on building their condence, focus and
execution. Your job is to take what you have and
make it game-ready. By this, I mean whatever
their ability level is, they need to be consistent.
Remember, you need to be able to depend on
them during the game.
The time before practice (pre-practice) should
be used as time for stretching and warming up.
It must become the kickers responsibility to get
dressed early, be stretched and ready to go. The
teams stretch time is an excellent time to be uti-
lized as a specialty period to work with your kick-
ers and punters. This is usually a twenty-minute
period and if used correctly, could set the tone
of practice for the kickers. This is a good time to
look at or work on specic kicking tasks for the
week. The special teams coach should be with
themas well as the snapper and holder. They will
have limited time with the coach so the punts/
kicks must be of quality as they learn to focus.
As the special teams coach, it is your respon-
sibility for the training and development of the
kickers. Usually there is no practice plan for the
kickers either because you are not sure what to
do or you do not have the time.
Chart 1 is a simple daily practice plan that
you can use. Remember, just like a quarterback
and his practice as a passer, you dont want the
kicker kicking for two hours. Rest is part of the
plan (See Chart 1).
Chart 2 is a proposed weekly practice plan,
including basic drills and the number of balls
to be kicked. You should start the week with
heavy workouts, kicking a higher number of
balls and decrease the number of kicks as the
week progresses. This is commonly known as
the Pyramid Workout. You should work the leg
hard early in the week and give enough time for
recovery at the end of the week. (Note: look to
give your kickers a day off later in the season
where they do no kicking at all. This will help
to bring life back into their legs).
When determining the game situations to
practice, you need to evaluate your overall team
performance. Is your team kicking a greater
number of eld goals fromthe hash because you
are an outside running team, or, has your offense
been stalling in the red zone? Should your punter
be working on his cofn corner or pooch kicks
to help your defense? Knowing your kickers and
|t||||8|
IK| K||K I|K|
I||I|

| |8I|
Chart 1: DAILY PRACTICE PLAN
Pre-Practice Stretch and warm up
20 minutes
Team Stretch Specic training needs
and review of practice plan 20 minutes
Practice - Do prescribed workout 45 minutes
Rest Be part of the teamand rest your leg
Various
Stretch Warm up for the special teams
practice 15 minutes
Special Teams Participate in special teams
practice 15 minutes
(End) Team Conditioning
By Greg Lauri
Special Teams Coordinator
Sachem North High School (NY)
February, 2010
April, 2012
March, 2006
August, 2006
Your oense was unstoppable in 2013.
Your defense gave up the fewest points in the league.
But your special teams cost you the championship.
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO IMPROVE?
Diagram 5: Texas Chaser
Diagram 6: Wrestle Weapon with Shields
Defensive coaches have generated new ways
to disrupt the football. Popular ball disruption
techniques are the overhand chop move, the
under hand punch and the pop the top of the
pineapple. These moves generally occur when a
defender is rapidly closing in on a ball carrier from
behind, or at an angle. The defender is attacking
the football rather than trying to secure the tackle.
To combat this technique we use the Texas
Chaser Drill. This drill puts the ball carrier in the
open feld, against a rapidly advancing defender, who is attacking
the football by using the above mentioned techniques. On the frst
whistle, the defenders advance toward the ball carriers, nearly break-
ing the ten-yard cushion. On the second whistle, the ball carriers begin
running. Eventually the head start that the defenders were given al-
lows them to attack the ball carrier being run down from behind and
having to withstand a violent chop/punch ball disruption technique.
Reinforce the high and tight carriage technique and keep the ball on
a north/south axis so that the defender has very little exposed ball to
attack (Diagram 5).
Another coaching tactic pioneered by defensive coaches is the idea
of stripping the ball while another defender attempts to tackle the ball
carrier. The Wrestle Weapon with Shields Drill helps us train the ball car-
rier to deal with both defenders impacting him at the same time. A ball
carrier and a defender are paired up advancing down the sideline. The
defender is on the sideline arm of the ofensive player, wrestling away
at the ball. Three other defenders with hand shields are placed at fve
yard intervals down the feld. The defenders with hand shields attempt
to knock the ball carrier out of bounds as the other defender wrestles
at the ball. This drill focuses on handling two defenders attacking the
ball carrier and forces the ofensive player to dip and rip through contact
while securing the ball (Diagram 6).
Despite the fact that our running backs and wide receivers go
through separate individual periods, both groups share the same fun-
damental base. They carry the ball high and tight. They keep the ball
high and tight when they are maneuvering, cutting, spinning, and hur-
dling. They use their of arm as a weapon to break tackles and regain
their balance. They are prepared for open feld ball disruptions from
defenders closing in from various angles. And they are proud of the
fact that they dont fumble.
About the Authors: Steve Heck - An 18-year coaching veteran, Steve Heck
just completed his sixth year as Kutztown Universitys wide receivers coach. He
previously coached at Albright College and is a 1996 graduate of Lebanon Val-
ley College.
Zach Snyder Snyder completed his frst year last fall as running backs coach
at Kutztown University. He was a two-year starter at wide receiver for Kutz-
town and a member of the 2011 conference championship team.
Websters Dictionary defnes the word tempo
as the rate of motion or activity. In todays foot-
ball terminology, the word tempo refers to how
quickly a team can get a play called, a formation
set and an ofensive play, efciently executed.
Teams take great pride in declaring how fast they
can run a series of plays and how many ofensive
snaps they can achieve in four quarters. The trick
is doing it efectively and efciently.
While coaching high school football in the
early 2000s, I decided I needed a change in phi-
losophy if we were going to have a chance to be
a perennial champion. Part of this philosophy
change was in the installation of a tempo of-
fense. I explained how my initial plunge into the
world of the no-huddle, fast-paced ofense was
full of challenges that I did not anticipate.
Trying to efciently run a new ofense without
huddling and at a fast pace presented some early
difculties for our players and staf. We found
out early on that there is more to becoming a no
huddle tempo ofense than simply not huddling
COACH

TO COACH
By Bryon Hamilton
Associate Head Coach and Ofensive Coordinator
Shasta College
AN EFFICIENT
AND EFFECTIVE
PLAY CALLING
SYSTEM
and moving fast. Logistical issues like play calling,
personnel packaging, conditioning (high school
teams often utilize two-way players adding a
diferent dynamic than most college teams) pre-
sented problems that had to be addressed. Over
a span of several seasons, I spent countless hours
developing a system that helped solve these
problems for our team. I found a way to call plays,
execute them at a high level and expand the play-
book while maintaining the ability to work at a
desired tempo in an efcient manner.
Years later, however, most of these issues have
been solved. After several seasons of trial and er-
ror and the testing of several play calling strate-
gies, I developed a play calling system that has
changed the way I coach football.
After the 2012 season, I made the switch
from coacing high school football to college. I
accepted the ofensive coordinator position at
Shasta College in Redding, California. In 2012,
Shasta averaged around 26 points a game and
won one conference game. In 2013, we averaged
43 points a game and won a share of the con-
ference title. One of the primary reasons for our
success can be attributed to the play calling and
ofensive installation system that I took with me
to Shasta. It was awesome to see how well our
system translated to the college game. Players
and coaches loved it. It saved time, eliminated
mistakes and made ofensive installation simple.
We had an extensive ofensive play bank while at
the same time eliminating the basic playbook.
The result was in what we did do - more plays,
more points and more wins.
This system is now available to everyone
through American Football Monthly. AFM has
made the system available to download or to
own in disc format. The system is called the EZ
Call Play Calling System and you can fnd it at the
AFM website. Its the best coaching aide that I
have ever used.
Last year, I described our play calling system
this way : We do not have a traditional playbook.
Our typical game day call sheet has over 200 plays
on it and we rarely make assignment errors. On
the surface, that may sound impossible but our
play system is built on a simple, position-specifc
spreadsheet that is displayed on a wrist coach
(play bands) worn by all skill-position players as
well as ofensive linemen. In my 21 years of coach-
L
ast year at this time, I wrote an article on the use of tempo as a weapon. I stated then
that tempo was being used by many successful teams and that extremely fast-paced
ofenses were going to be a standard of football for years to come. Today, the use of the
fast-paced, no- huddle ofense is becoming more the norm than the exception.
ing, the change from traditional play calling and
play installation to what we are doing today is the
best thing I have ever done.
The basic methodology is this: In our system
we have replaced formation names, personnel
packages, play assignments and snap counts
with colors and numbers. What used to be 10
personnel trips right, zoom 50 delta Y op-
tion on two is simply Yellow 5 today. We have
replaced the need to call personnel, formation,
play call and snap count by simply calling out
or displaying a color and number. This simple
change has allowed us to execute plays at vari-
ous tempos based on our game plan.
If we want to go fast, we can, and if we want
to slow the game down, we can do that as well.
In the above example Yellow is the column that
represents our trips formation, and 5 refers to
the box (cell) in that column that will display a
players specifc play assignment. If the play calls
for the Y to run an option route, the Y wrist coach
will say Option Route in the 5th box on the yel-
low column. As far as the snap count goes, we
always dedicate certain colors as specifc snap
counts. Yellow might be dedicated as a on two
snap count. This eliminates the need for the QB
to call out a snap count and it allows us to prac-
tice with the same snap counts all year long. It
also helps to eliminate mistakes and allows us to
get of the ball very quickly.
The wrist coach also eliminates the need to
have their specifc assignment identifed on
their wrist coach band simply by identifying the
called color and number. This applies to all run
and pass plays. The plays and assignments can
be tailored to every ofense and to every assign-
ment. Once the plays cards are completed, the
work is done and results are awesome.
At Shasta College, after only one season of
using this system, the players and the coaches
all agree that we would never want to go back
to the old way of calling plays and learning a
traditional playbook. There are so many other
advantages of the system when it comes to
practice scripts, game scripts, and changing
personnel packages that it would require many
pages in order for me to accurately describe all
of them. If you are considering a way to sim-
plify your system, speed up your ofense, elimi-
nate mistakes and erase delay of game penal-
ties, you defnitely should check out the EZ Call
Play Calling System. My purpose in sharing my
Coach to Coach articles with you over the past
few years is simply to help you be more suc-
cessful and enjoy this great game. I really be-
lieve that the information that I have shared
in this article and the information about this
unique coaching tool will go a long way in do-
ing both.
For more information on the EZ Call Play
Calling System see the ad on page 32
huddle. The players simply look to the sideline
to get the color and the number. Once they have
that information they know the formation, their
assignment and the snap count. The system is
very easy, fast and efcient. Expanding a play-
book without having every player memorize
every single play is another advantage of using
this type of system. Regardless of how many pass
plays we put in, our receivers only have to know
the passing tree and where to line up and that in-
formation can be applied to countless pass plays.
We may have ten plays that have the Y receiver
running a sail route, but as long as he knows what
a sail route is and where to line up (based on the
color, which is a formation), he can run the play.
His wrist coach will simply say sail route in the
colored play cell that I call. This eliminates the
need to have him learn the entire play call.
This system also allows players to play numer-
ous positions if needed simply by changing wrist
coach bands. Another advantage is that our
receivers never know if they are only a decoy or
if they are a primary target. Due to the fact that
they only have a route on their bands, they do not
know if they are a primary or a secondary choice.
This promotes 100% efort on each route. In this
example our ofensive line would have their pro-
tection identifed in their designated play cell.
Where the Y receiver was told to run a sail route,
the OL wrist coach would display their protec-
tion for that particular play. Each player would
2013 COACHES
OF THE YEAR
2013 Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc., a subsidiary of Jarden Corporation (NYSE:JAH)
1-800-RAWLINGS RAWLINGSFOOTBALL.COM facebook.com/rawlingsfootball twitter.com/rawlingssports
22
By David Purdum
I
t was a summer evening in the mid-1980s.
Volunteer workouts were revving up for
the Salem University football team. Salem
Quarterbacks Coach Terry Bowden pointed at his
quarterbacks cleats and laughed.
His football shoes were covered in cow ma-
nure and hay, Bowden recalled with a chuckle.
Thirty years later, that quarterback with the
stinky shoes is a national champion and Rawlings
Football Coach of the Year, Florida States Jimbo
Fisher.
Although he was the best at everything he
did, said Bowden of Fisher, who would become
his longtime assistant at Samford and Auburn,
and he was the best on every team he played
for in every sport, Jimbo was always going to
try to outwork you. Hed show up at those work-
outs with those shoes, and wed laugh. But we
all knew he was coming straight from having
FLORIDA
STATE
worked in the felds for his dad. He could out-
work anybody.
Fisher did just that this year, out-preparing
the competition and leading Florida State to an
undefeated season and a BCS National Cham-
pionship. The Seminoles fnished the season
ranked No. 1 in eight diferent statistical catego-
ries tracked by the NCAA. They were in the top
fve in eight additional categories.
Ofensively, FSU averaged 51.6 points per
game and 7.5 yards per play, tops in the nation.
They were deadly in the red zone, scoring on 71
of 73 trips inside the opponents 20, including a
remarkable 58 touchdowns. Defensively, they al-
lowed only 12.1 points per game, fewest in the
nation, and picked of 26 passes, most in the na-
tion. On special teams, the Seminoles didnt have
a kick or punt blocked and led the nation in kick-
of returns.
Fisher and his staf produced one of the most
complete teams of the BCS era, but it didnt start
out that way. Pieces needed to be shufed, a spe-
cialty of the Florida State staf. Our ability to rec-
ognize the players abilities and getting them in
the right position to do the things theyre capable
of doing is one of this stafs strengths, said Fisher.
Leading up to and throughout the season,
Fisher and his staf moved players from one po-
sition to another. They moved Christian Jones
JIMBO
FISHER
College Coach of the Year
P
h
o
t
o
s
:

F
l
o
r
i
d
a

S
t
a
t
e

S
p
o
r
t
s

I
n
f
o
r
m
a
t
i
o
n
from linebacker to defensive end to allow Ter-
rence Smith to get on the feld at linebacker.
Linebacker Telvin Smith said of that personnel
move, Christian is so strong coming of the
edge. That move helped the defense so much.
The coaches know what they are doing.
Corner Jalen Ramsey made a smooth transi-
tion to safety after Tyler Hunter was lost to injury
in early October, helping the Seminoles lead the
nation in passing yards allowed. Touted safety
Karlos Williams moved to ofense to add depth
Jameis Winston and redshirt sophomore Jacob
Coker. Fisher divided practice reps equally, rotat-
ing each quarterback through with starters and
backups. He kept the quarterback competition
going into fall camp and it was extremely close.
Ultimately, he chose Winston.
Winston completed 66.9 percent of his at-
tempts for 4,057 yards with 40 touchdowns with
only 10 interceptions. He became the youngest
Heisman Trophy winner ever. In the BCS National
Championship Game, he made plays with his legs
would go on to be Nick Sabans ofensive coor-
dinator at LSU, before landing at FSU as Bobby
Bowdens eventual successor.
What Terry Bowden saw in the 2013 Semi-
noles was a mix of it all. He saw a coach un-
leashing his fnely-tuned instincts on defenses.
I thought this year, with that quarterback that
they had, a lot of his instincts came out, Bowden
said. Great instincts for mixing the pass and the
run and being wide-open and also being un-
predictable. The ofensive style he was brought
rawlingsfootball.com
at running back and averaged eight yards per
carry. Every chess move Fisher and his staf made
worked, mostly, he says, because of the trust be-
tween his coaches and players.
I dont ever force those guys to do that
(change positions), said Fisher. We believe we
have a true family atmosphere and a great trust
between coaches and players. They know were
doing something that is in their best interest and
in the teams best interest. If it didnt work, wed
put them right back where they were. They were
willing to try things to help their team, but also
we thought that we were doing things to make
them better players individually. I think the trust
factor between both sides was the critical factor
in doing that. And weve had success doing that
in the past.
The personnel adjustments paid big divi-
dends, as did the preseason quarterback compe-
tition that Fisher ran.
With E.J. Manuel headed to the NFL, Fisher
began the ofseason with a decision to make at
quarterback. It was between redshirt freshman
and arm, leading a comeback victory over Auburn.
It was critical, Fisher said of his quarterback
competition. I wanted to see consistency. At
that time, our No. 2 Jacob Coker was playing
exceptionally well, playing right there neck-
and-neck with Jameis. You dont make those
decisions in a short amount of time. You let guys
develop. A guy may play poorly in the begin-
ning, but he can play well at the end. Consis-
tency at that position is very critical and the way
they go about their business. We had two very
talented guys. In the meantime, we developed
two great quarterbacks.
With the pieces in place, Fisher said he re-
minded himself of something that he said is easy
for coaches to forget. You have to trust your
coaches to coach and trust your players to play,
Fisher said. You have to prepare them to a cer-
tain point, but then you have to let them play.
Terry Bowden and Fisher worked together for
more than decade. After playing quarterback
for Bowden at Salem, Fisher was Bowdens quar-
terbacks coach at Samford and Auburn. Fisher
up in was a wide-open, trick play variety, and
throw the ball around. I think when he worked
with Nick, I think he got some of Sabans philoso-
phies. That is, play good run defense and control
the ball. I think you saw a good mix of that from
Jimbo this season.
Overall, when Fisher looks back at keys to a
championship season, he points to his teams
preparation.
We always say, the test is not hard to take if
you have the answers, said Fisher. And the test
is the game. If you study through the week, if
you pay attention, then you can play free; you
dont have to think, you can react and play very
quickly. Our senior leadership and staf deserve a
lot of credit for our flm study, our concentration
and our great attention to detail. We did not let
anything slip.
The power of preparation is the most critical
thing you have, Fisher added. You have to win
the day. You have to be on top of everything you
do. If youre willing to prepare, then you can have
success.
The power of
preparation is
the most critical
thing you have.
You have to win
the day.
FCS
Craig Bohl
North Dakota State
C
raig Bohl built an FCS juggernaut by tai-
loring his ofensive and defensive scheme
to the type of athletes North Dakota State
attracts. Were able to attract some guys with
really good sized, big, strong athletes, who are
very disciplined, said Bohl. What that told us is
that we need to be able to control the ball on the
ground. On defense, we need to have great de-
fensive linemen and linebackers.
Bohl led North Dakota State to a 15-0 record
and a third straight FCS National Champion-
ship this season. The Bison executed Bohls phi-
losophy perfectly, fnishing seventh in rushing
ofense and second in time-of-possession. We
go counter to a lot of the up-tempo teams, said
Bohl. We snapped the ball with one second left
on the play clock a lot of times. Its all based on
the kind of guys that youre going to consistently
be able to attract in your locker room.
We run an A-gap power, which very few peo-
ple run, said Bohl. Well, that plays been around
for the last 20 years. But were constantly tuning
that and what we can do of that. The same thing
goes defensively were a Tampa-2 defense. Ev-
ery player knows their specifc responsibilities.
Bohls Tampa-2 defense surrendered just 11.3
points per game, fewest in the FCS. The Bison al-
lowed just seven rushing touchdowns all season.
They did it by staying within their system, but
always refning it.
Bohl accepted the Wyoming head coaching
in December and said his top priority during his
transition to the FBS is connecting with players
who were recruited by a diferent coaching staf.
Not only myself, but the rest of our assistants,
said Bohl, need to connect and start to ease
some of the concerns and questions the play-
ers might have. I think thats the most important
thing we need to do.
Division II
Adam Dorrel
Northwest Missouri State
N
orthwest Missouri State capped of its
fourth national championship as a fam-
ily, just like it said on the back of the
Bearcats jerseys.
A week before the Division II championship
game, coach Adam Dorrel contacted his pro-
grams Adidas representative, hoping to get new
socks and matching Techft to wear under their
jerseys against Lenoir-Rhyne. Adidas ofered
entire new uniforms with the word Family in
red on the back of each jersey. It was a tribute
to former head coach Scott Bostwick, who died
from an apparent heart attack just months after
taking over the program from the legendary Mel
Tjeerdsma. It was also a tribute to the sense of
family that this years Bearcats possessed.
It was pretty powerful Friday night (before
the championship game), when we broke those
out to the kids, said Dorrel. They got pretty
emotional. Were a very family-oriented team. We
always were, but this year was a little more. And
family was always very important to Scott.
On the feld, Northwest Missouri State was dom-
inant ofensively, averaging 45.3 points per game.
Defensively, the Bearcats were stingy, allowing just
17.3 points per game. And they also made big plays
on special teams, blocking seven punts.
I think, with all the diferent punt formations
these days, sometimes people just line up and
do punt return, said Dorrel. Thats not us. If we
have to spend half an hour twice-a-week fgur-
ing out a way to block a punt, then thats what
were going to do.
Dorrel says one of the biggest keys to this
years success came in the of-season.
The last two postseasons, we had not played
very well in inclement weather, he said. We
made a concerted decision that we were going
to go outside in January, February and March. Its
cold here. I think that made the world of difer-
ence. I think it gave us confdence that we could
play football in the cold weather. I think it tough-
ened us physically and mentally.
FF
rr
eeee
ddd
eeeeeeee
nn
bb
uu
rr
gg
Division III
Pete Fredenburg
Mary Hardin-Baylor
M
ary Hardin-Baylor averaged 5.3 yards
per rush this season with an option at-
tack that meshed the I-formation and
spread to force teams to defend the entire feld
and keep up with the Crusaders varying tempo.
Obviously, we had good running backs, said
Dorrels overall ofense revolves around his Fly Sweep.
Its the Bearcats bread-and-butter play that theyve been
running since 1999.
Northwest Missouri States FLY SWEEP
College Coaches of the Year
D
o
r
r
e
l
:

D
a
r
r
e
n

W
h
i
t
l
e
y
,

N
o
r
t
h
w
e
s
t

M
i
s
s
o
u
r
i

S
t
a
t
e

U
n
i
v
e
r
s
i
t
y
Head Coach Pete Fredenberg, who led the Cru-
saders to a fourth straight undefeated regular
season and ninth American Southwest Confer-
ence title. But the big thing was just executing
our ofense and taking what the defense gives
us. If theyre out covering our receivers, then we
try to run the ball. It was very successful for us.
The banner season capped of a remarkable
four-year run for a senior class that went 50-4
and never lost in the regular season. The Crusad-
ers reached the national semifnals, before fall-
ing to eventual champion Wisconsin-Whitewater
by one point, 16-15.
I think we continued to play a real physical
brand of ofense and utilize the I-formation and
the spread ofense, Fredenberg explained. I think
that our coaches did a great job doing that.
Fredenberg emphasized that his coaching
stafs ability to evolve throughout the season was
key to their success. I think you have to remem-
ber that its a long season, said Fredenberg. Your
ofense and defense are constantly moving. And
you have to be patient with that movement, be-
cause its a process as you go through the season.
of plays in the national championship game.
The Vikings also got a motivational lift when
Woodley and his staf began playing music dur-
ing practice. The music actually began last season,
after the staf heard that former Oregon Head
Coach Chip Kelly was doing it. Woodley played
everything from Motown to hip-hop to country.
What I found is that it puts a little pep in the
step of our kids, said Woodley. One day the
speaker didnt work and it afected our practice.
You got to have some fun in this game. We take
it serious and just because youre playing music
doesnt mean youre taking the day of. We start-
ed doing this two years ago, and I think its one of
the best things weve ever done.
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
oooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooooo
dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd
lllllllllllllllll
eeeeeeeeeee
yyyyyyyyyyyyy
SSSSSSSSSS
tttttttttttttttt
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
pppppppppppppppppp
hhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
nnnnnnnnnnnnnn
sssssssssssssssssssssssss
NAIA
Mike Woodley
Grand View (IA)
G
rand View coach Mike Woodley used a
balanced ofense and a prolifc pass rush
to win the programs frst national cham-
pionship.
The Vikings capped the only undefeated sea-
son in the NAIA in 2013 with a 35-23 win over
Cumberland in the championship game. Their
spread ofense, featuring a dual-threat QB in the
zone read, scored 31 rushing touchdowns and
35 passing touchdowns. Woodleys 3-4 defense
led the nation in sacks, despite rarely blitzing. Ev-
erything came together for Woodley in his 39th
season as a head coach and sixth at Grand View,
but it took a little shufing of the pieces and an
addition to the practice routine.
Woodleys defense had an All-American star
at outside linebacker, whose backup was also
among the teams best athletes. We needed to
get him on the feld, said Woodley of the backup.
We moved him to our Stud position, which is
like our outside linebacker/strong safety to get
him into the lineup. When we made that change,
it really strengthened our defense. It put another
great athlete out on the feld. He made a bunch
en route to an undefeated record and their sec-
ond NJCAA National Championship in the past
three seasons under Stephens. EMCC led the na-
tion in total ofense, averaging more than 600
yards per game. They averaged over 62 points
per game and only gave up an average of 9.8
points on defense. We run 15 to 17 diferent
plays, but we run them out a myriad of forma-
tions and motions, said Stephens. We try to run
fast, set the tempo. If were simple and fast, it
makes us hard to beat.
The Lions were second in the nation in scor-
ing defense with fve shutouts. Defensively, we
wanted to play smooth and didnt try to confuse
anyone, said Stephens. We just wanted to play
solid and didnt want to put ourselves in bad
situations trying to blitz.
JUCO
Buddy Stephens
East Mississippi
Community College
B
uddy Stephens and his staf
noticed something before
the 2013 season they were
loaded with big-time talent. The Li-
ons featured their sixth straight All-
American quarterback and running
back who averaged more than 9
yards per carry. His entire defensive
front four were FBS-bound, includ-
ing two who signed with Alabama.
We looked at it before the season,
as a staf, and said we can only screw
this up, said Stephens with a chuckle.
We went out and signed great ath-
letes; now, just put them in the right
place and let them make plays.
Thats exactly what the Lions did
One of the staples of Ofensive Coordinator Marcus Woods ground attack is the
32/33 Stretch play. Included here are the player responsibilities against an even
and odd front.
East Mississippi Community College 32/33 STRETCH
T
here was no escaping the expectations.
They were too big, too encompassing
and began way too early in the year.
By January, the 2013 St. John Bosco Braves
had been anointed the greatest high school
football team in America. They were everyones
No. 1. The pressure was on. The slightest mis-
step would be a failure to meet expectations. So
you can imagine the atmosphere in the locker
room, when the Braves found themselves trail-
ing by double digits to a quality Chandler (AZ)
team at halftime. To make things more difcult,
the Braves were heading into the second half
without star quarterback Josh Rosen, who had
sufered a shoulder injury in the second quarter.
Coaches and players were looking around,
wondering what was happening. It was only
week 3.
Our season was going down the tubes, Head
Coach Jason Negro recalled. In the past, Negro
might have panicked. He could have made some
signifcant adjustments or lost his cool. Instead,
he fell back on something his players taught him;
something that he believes has made him a bet-
ter football coach this year patience. I calmly
addressed the team and said, Listen, weve
scored 11 points many of times, Negro recalled.
We can go do this.
JASON
NEGRO
ST. JOHN BOSCO (CA)
The Braves galvanized themselves behind
backup senior quarterback Andrew Katnik and
outscored Chandler 35-3 in the second half.
The comeback kick-started a state champion-
ship march that was punctuated by a playof run
that tested every facet of Negros coaching phi-
losophy. But, frst, the Braves had to persevere
through a 2 -game stretch without their start-
ing quarterback.
Rosen would miss the next two games. Kat-
nick, a senior, was ready. He led Bosco to victories
over Loyola and Crenshaw, sending the Braves
into league play at 5-0. First of all, you have to
give all the credit to the young man, said Negro.
Its tough, because he was a senior sitting behind
a junior. But what he did in those weeks in terms
of mental preparation was of the charts.
We constantly tell our kids that theyre one
play away, Negro continued. And, for Andrew,
he was a little rusty at the beginning, but once he
settled in and started going back to what he pre-
By David Purdum
High School Coach of the Year
pared with on flm and in meetings and with the
limited reps that he got, he was able to lead our
ofense. We dont change a lot of things in our
ofense. We run what we run. As long as youre
practicing and getting the reps, anyone should
be able to step in and perform at a high level.
On ofense, the Braves are an up-tempo shot-
gun, single-back team, mainly using 11 and 20
personnel and featuring the zone read. We try
to get athletes the ball in space as quickly as pos-
sible, Negro explained. Were going to try to
primarily run the ball frst and use the running
game to set up the pass. We have a quick-strike
make us beat them over the top, and thats when
Fields would come in and be able to stretch
teams vertically. Then, some teams would play
two high safeties and try to take away our pass-
ing game, and Sean McGrew, our running back,
would take over. Depending on what the de-
fense gave us week to week, our balance allowed
us to highlight certain players to be successful.
Like Negros ofense, the Braves defense also
played a versatile brand of defense. They didnt
have any other choice.
In the last three games of their playof run, the
Braves faced a Mater Dei squad that slowed the
game down and ran 45 ofensive plays. The next
week, Centennial ran 118 ofensive plays. In the
state championship game, Bosco had to deal with
De La Salles vaunted split-back veer. The Braves
also faced a fexbone attack, multiple spread of-
fenses and even a double-wing scheme.
We played probably six or seven diferent of-
fensive schemes this season, said Negro. Thats
the reason we have to be as multiple as we are.
In three successive weeks in the playofs we had
to play three diferent styles of defense in order
to be successful. And I think we did a pretty good
job of that. My staf and players deserve a lot of
credit for being able to handle that.
To take advantage of their athleticism and
stay versatile, the Braves gravitated toward a 4-2-
5 look, similar to what TCU and Boise State have
run in recent years, but also used odd fronts and
an array of coverages. Basing out of the 4-2-5
gave us the opportunity to put more athletes on
the feld, be as fast as we possibly could be, said
Negro. The greatest accolade to our defensive
scheme that we run is that were very multiple,
very versatile and could do a bunch of diferent
things out of a bunch of diferent fronts. Were a
very smart defense, and you have to be able to go
from an odd front to an even. The coverages we
run are very sophisticated. Well run quarter cover-
age, quarter-quarter-half, a lot of cover 2. Well run
some man, some two-deep, fve-under. Well do
a lot of diferent things, because of the variety of
the ofenses we played throughout the year. The
Bosco defense recorded 38.5 sacks and forced 22
turnovers, including 15 interceptions.
Overall, Negro believes versatility and patience
were the keys to the Braves 16-0 season. They
won shootouts, including 75-35 over Crenshaw
and 70-49 over Centennial. They also grinded out
passing game with a lot of bubble screens and
things out into the fat. We try to use the pass-
ing game as a running game. Where we really
excelled this year is on the ofensive line. We
spent a lot of time in the weight room in the of-
season to be big and physical. We hung our hat
on that this season.
Rosen returned for league play and had the of-
fense primed for the playofs. He threw for 3,200
yards with 46 touchdowns. Leading rusher Sean
McGrew, a sophomore, fnished with 2,076 yards.
The Braves averaged 238.1 yards on the ground
and 231.8 yards passing per game. Eight diferent
receivers caught touchdown passes, with receiv-
ers Jaleel Wadood and Shay Fields each catching
nearly 80 passes for more than 1,200 yards. This
was a talented and balanced ofense that Negro
and his staf got the most out of.
We have a lot of athletes, said Negro. As
a coaching staf, you really have to put your
kids in position where they can be successful.
In some games, the defense would give us our
short passing game. So were going to take and
go with it, so Wadood might have a big game.
Some teams played up in the box and tried to
defensive battles again Loyola (24-10) and in the
championship game against De La Salle (20-14).
I think the greatest thing that I learned, hon-
estly, came from our kids. I learned the idea of
patience and staying even keel through the posi-
tives and negatives, said Negro. We came out
in January 2013 and were anointed the greatest
team in America by our local papers. The LA Times
ranked us No.1 in preseason. And I think our kids
did a tremendous job of being patient and han-
dling the expectations the way that they did.
Negro and his staf did their best to ignore the
expectations, but it was difcult. In every inter-
view, every college coach who visited, they were
reminded of how good this team was supposed
to be. Handling those expectations, Negro said,
was one of his teams biggest accomplishments.
We never panicked, even when we had adver-
sity or injuries. I learned a whole lot of patience
from these guys. And I think that was the great-
est thing that we did. And through all of these
incredible expectations, we were able to stay
grounded and really be patient and see this
thing through.
We have a lot
of athletes. As a
coaching staf, you
really have to put
your kids in position
where they can be
successful.
East
Tony Karcich
St. Josephs Regional High School (NJ)
I
n the biggest game of the season, Head Coach Tony
Karcich had his team prepared. St. Josephs hosted
Paramus Catholic in a week 6 battle between the
two top-ranked teams in the state. A huge crowd gath-
ered at St. Joes.
Karcich had studied Paramus ability to identify and
take advantage of blitzes. He found a way to counter
and produced a big play on the frst series. Paramus did
a great job at attacking the blitz, said Karcich. Their re-
ceivers were very good at breaking of their routes and
getting into the area where the blitz was coming from.
Every time an opponent blitzed, they read it perfectly.
So, on the frst series, we stopped them on two
running plays, Karcich continued. On third down, we
intentionally showed both inside linebackers blitzing,
knowing that they would go to the hot read. We had
both defensive ends dropping. We worked hard on their
drop to make sure they got inside and under the frst re-
ceiver to their side. Sure enough, the quarterback never
hesitated. He saw the two inside linebackers coming and
immediately went to the check down to the hot receiver.
They had trips to one side and a single receiver on the
back side. They went to the trips side, and the inside guy
did a quick slant, right to where the inside linebacker had
blitzed. Our defensive end made a perfect drop, and it
hit him square in the face. He caught the ball and goes
about 30 yards for a touchdown.
The big play led to a victory that bolstered a 20th
state championship season for Karcich, who is retiring
after a legendary career. His advice for other retiring
coaches is to take their time and think out the entire pro-
cess before making a decision. Karcich said he contem-
plated his decision for three years and actually hired his
successor fve years ago with retirement in mind.
My advice, frst of all, would be to not make the
decision during the season or directly after it, said Kar-
cich. A lot of guys would then retire too soon, if that
was the case. For me, I would rather be a little late retir-
ing than too soon.
High School Coaches of the Year
Southeast
Tim Harris Booker T. Washington (Miami)
T
he Booker T. Washington Tornadoes became a better track team before they became
a better football team. The result was a second consecutive state championship and
Head Coach Tim Harris third at the school.
We used more of a track-based training concept and spent a lot of our time in the of-
season on the track, said Harris, who ran track in college. We trained our players to be track
runners and then we brought in football after that. The frst few days our players thought they
were on the track team instead of the football team.
It worked. The Tornadoes were undersized, but faster than most of their opponents. It ft their
4-2-5 defensive scheme perfectly and helped their disciplined zone-read ofense average 385
yards per game and score 76 touchdowns.
In addition to the track work, Harris points to something he learned from former Miami
coach Randy Shannon as one of the biggest keys to his teams undefeated season which earned
them national championship honors from multiple publications. I learned a lot about organiza-
tion from Coach Shannon, said Harris. I learned how to run a practice, how to set up our meet-
ings. We kept our practice tempo high and our coaches started to realize that we were going to
teach more on video and then get more reps on the feld. That helped us upgrade how we do
things at Booker T.
Midwest
Al Fracassa Brother Rice High School (MI)
T
he fnal season of Al Fracassas illustrious 57-year coaching career was arguably
his fnest. Brother Rice won its third consecutive state championship, sending the
81-year-old Fracassa into a retirement with nine state championships coming in fve
diferent decades.
This was one of my best teams, without question, said Fracassa, who strived to be extreme-
ly multiple on ofense, yet also extremely simple. Brother Rice used every formation in the
book, utilizing one, two and even three-bact sets, but running the same blocking schemes
and plays out of each formation. It allowed players to be conscious of their technique, instead
of thinking about their assignment.
One of our philosophies is to keep it simple, said Fracassa. When we do get into the
spread formation, for example, we have a basic running play and will try to incorporate the
same blocking scheme that we have in, for example, a two-back backfeld. Everything is pret-
ty basic, pretty simple. We run the same plays, just out of a lot of formations.
Defensively, Brother Rice was based out of a 4-3, but often adjusted to a 3-4 against pass-
ing teams. Fracassa retired with 430 wins, the most in Michigan high school football history.
F
r
a
c
a
s
s
a
:

T
h
e

O
a
k
l
a
n
d

P
r
e
s
s
Products lnclude:
Sinle Tier
Double Tier
Triple Tier
ox Style
Extra Wide
vented
Cpen Access
Modular
Desiner
Solid Cak
Cell Phone Lockers
Plastic
Storae
enches
Southwest
Allan Trimble Jenks High School (OK)
A
llan Trimble jointed the Jenks High School coaching staf
in 1991 as secondary coordinator. He then became the of-
fensive line coach and ofensive coordinator before being
named head coach in 1996. This past fall Jenks won their second
consecutive 6A Oklahoma State Championship by defeating arch-
rival Union High School, 38-22. It was Jenks 26th consecutive win.
Jenks tailored its ofense around its undersized sophomore
quarterback and won their 11th state championship in 18 seasons
under Trimble. Rather than say, this is our ofense, and you need
to go do it, I felt our coaches did a really good job of adapting our
system to him, Trimble said. We ran some of the same concepts
but through formations and personnel groupings, we helped him
out a little bit with the amount of processing he had to do after the
ball was snapped.
Ultimately, all of us who have been in the business a long time
know what really matters is whether or not the kids can actually
jog out there and execute it and perform, he added. I think a lot
of times, if we can just help them out a little bit in matching their
abilities to what we do, it can be a big thing for them.
The Trojans utilized a diverse running attack, primarily out of
the shotgun, and mixed in inside zone and power plays out of one-
and two-back sets. The passing game was equally diverse with a
variety of route concepts, including scat and mesh. Defensively,
Jenks packaged a 3-4 and liked to zone blitz, especially on running
downs. The scheme produced 48 sacks and 17 interceptions.
Jenks beat Union earlier in the year as well as the title game and
became the frst undefeated team in Oklahomas largest classif-
cation since 2002. The championship game was the record ninth
meeting between Jenks and Union in the title game.
West
Norris Vaughan
Mountain Pointe High School
F
acing a schedule full of spread ofenses,
Mountain Pointe Head Coach Norris
Vaughan made a decision to put more
athletes on the feld on defense. He ended up
starting one tackle, six linebackers and four de-
fensive backs. The scheme worked.
The Prides frst-team defense allowed only
seven touchdowns all season, leading Mountain
Pointe to an undefeated season and its frst state
championship. We just wanted to get more ath-
letes on the feld against all the spread ofenses,
said Norris Vaughan. We have some defensive line-types, but we only played
one. We played against a few power ofenses, and we brought in a jumbo pack-
age, but for the most part, thats what we did to go against the spread teams.
With his best athletes on the feld, Vaughan said he learned to trust his team.
I think thats something coaches struggle with at times. Its something Ive strug-
gled with, Vaughan said. Once youve taught them your packages and what to
do in certain situations, then I think you have to just let them go and trust them.
The players rewarded their coachs trust with a slew of wins over nationally-
ranked opponents. The Pride opened the season with a win over perennial Ne-
vada power Bishop Gorman and capped it with its second win over defending-
champion Hamilton High School.
V
a
u
g
h
a
n
:

D
a
v
i
d

J
o
l
k
o
v
s
k
i
,

A
h
w
a
t
u
k
e
e

F
o
o
t
h
i
l
l
s

N
e
w
s
Eliminate Assignment Errors
Teach Complex Schemes with Ease
Eliminate Long and Confusing Play Calls
Use in Huddle and No Huddle Schemes
Increase Ofensive Game Snaps by 30%
Increase Practice Reps by 50%
Increase Your Scoring Average
Install Your Game Plan in Minutes
Eliminate Delay and Procedure Penalties
The EZ Call System is
phenomenal. It should be
the future of play-calling
any ofense.
- Florida Head Football Coach
EZ Call
With the EZ Call system you will get
more snaps per game, more practice
reps, no more missed assignments,
increase your scoring average, eliminate
delay of game and procedure penalties,
teach complex schemes with ease, plus
many more benefts!
The Easiest, Most Efcient Play Calling System in Football Today
Play Calling System
TO ORDER VISIT: AmericanFootballMonthly.com/EZ Call
or Customer Service at: 1-800-537-4271 Option 4
HARD COPY - $125.00
Includes Software on DVD
DVD Video Tutorial User Manual
DIGITAL COPY - $99.00
Includes Software Download
Online Video Tutorial User Manual Download
A customized game call sheet can be a coaches
best friend in tense game situations.
By Matt Kalb Former Ofensive Coordinator Aurora University
hen I frst became an ofensive coor-

dinator, one of the biggest challenges
I faced had nothing to do with which
personnel I wanted to use, what plays
I would call, or even what the opponent looked
like. Rather, it was the format I was going to use
for my game call sheet. My grooming for this
position was not from coaches that liked to orga-
nize their calls. One coach called the plays based
on feel. Another had been coaching for so long
that all he needed was a sheet of paper with the
list of plays on it. Neither of these formats helped
a frst-time play-caller like myself.
The frst thing I did was call everyone I knew
and began collecting as many diferent forms as I
could get my hands on. Rarely did I ever fnd two
forms exactly alike, and in most cases, they werent
even close. I started with nothing but now had an
over-abundance of information to sort through.
Once I fgured out what information I would
need during games, I had to simply decide on
the style I liked best. The sheet I use today is not
much diferent from the one I started with, ex-
cept for one major item my current game call
sheet has less on it.
To begin, I break my call sheet up by sides.
I use a legal sheet of paper and print on both
sides. The front side is my base side. It has our
run plays listed by personnel/formation and pass
plays by concept. Also, on the front side are my

openers, defensive personnel, time out chart,

and game notes. I color code everything to help
separate categories. Here are some points for the
front side of the sheet:

I will have the formation and play for the left
hash in the frst column and the fip formation
and play from the right in the second column.

In the game notes section, I would include
any checks that we have for the week; particular
match-ups we may want to take advantage of,
tempo notes or perhaps protection notes (e.g.,
a reminder to slide a certain way or add a RB in
certain situations).
The Defensive Personnel portion is for the jersey
numbers of the opponents two-deep. That way,
if the game notes say to attack #3, I can remem-
ber that #3 is the back-up left cornerback.

The Normal Pass Game section is divided by
pass type. There are three sections in red which
are all diferent kinds of drop back (5-step)
passes (Horizontal Stretch, Verticals, and Shal-
lows). Then there is the Hitch-Naked section and
some weeks there will be a Quick Pass or Sprint
Out section. All of these will have the formations
(with possible motion) and protection number
listed in the two columns the same way they are
listed in the opening script.

In our play calling, we will call the formation,
a play number and a play tag. Under the Hitch-
Naked heading, the next line would say Shark
for example, which is a hitch-naked route. Under-
neath Shark would be the left hash formation
and number and right hash formation and num-
ber for Shark. If we can run the play from more
than one formation, that would be listed as well
before getting to the next hitch-naked concept.
All of our passing routes are listed this way.

On the back side of the game call sheet are all
of the situations we can face in the game. In the
frst column, I put all of my non-base down and
distance calls. The second column has my fourth
down calls, coming out calls, and sudden change
shots, as well as a match-up column that I use
to get a certain player the ball if I he hasnt had
enough touches.
The third column is my score column pre-
red zone shots, red zone calls, goal line calls,
and fnal plays. At the very bottom of the sec-
ond and third column I place a kneel chart and
a maximum clock chart. The fourth column has
my two-minute calls and a two-point conversion
chart. All of the columns are divided in half so I
can list each play from the left and right hashes.
Here are some additional points on the second
sheet:

By Coming Out, I am referring to the feld zone
from -1 to -10. We have a defnite plan of attack
whenever we get backed up.

The match-up title has been adjusted a little
over the years. It started out being what I now list
in game notes. Now I use this list as a reminder of
ways to get a certain player the ball. For example,
we had an All-American tight end this past year,
and if I realized that he hasnt touched the ball
by the end of the frst quarter, I will call one of
the plays listed where he would be the primary
read. The receiver positions (Y/X/W/Z) have two
rows each. The frst row is for possession routes
(5 yards or so) and the second row is for deeper
routes or home run shots.

The Kneel Clock formula took some time to fg-
ure out. I began with the assumption that a QB
kneeling the ball will take two seconds. So on
fourth down with the game clock stopped at :02,
I believe we can snap it, step back and then kneel
on it to get :00. The opponent uses his last time
out after second down, then the kneel for third
down will take :02, plus :39 seconds of play clock
time, plus another :02 kneel would equal :43 in
the third down/0 timeout box.

All frst down boxes (0/1/2/3 timeouts) have
three times listed. The higher clock time would be
if the ofense gained a frst down and got a full
40-second play clock. The middle number would
be for an out of bounds play or a measurement
that would result in a :25 second clock. The lowest
time is for a dead ball where the clock would start
on the snap. How I use it is simple - if the clock is
under the time listed in the situation box, we can
kneel it out. If not, then we have to run a play.

The Maximum Clock formula is the same as the
Kneel Clock formula except that now I assume we
can burn :04 seconds per play by running the
ball wide without going out of bounds.

While its an ever-evolving process and I
learn something new each week this system
really works for me.
T
here are many methods coaches can use to cre-
ate their own game call sheets, but Coach Kalb
developed a system that, with some experi-
ence and a little work, could be used by just about
any coach. Here, he describes the process:

After a failed attempt using Microsoft Word, I settled
on Microsoft Excel and have been more than satisfed
with it. Im able to cut and paste tables wherever I choose
as long as the rows and columns are the same. I have a
master table (run and pass) on another Excel worksheet,
so when I begin to put the sheet together on Thursday
evening, I simply clear the previous data, one column at
a time and one table at a time, and copy over the new
data. This way I can adjust the number of cells for each
group to ft what I need in a particular column.
Once done, Im able to send it to the print center for
printing and lamination. The standard order is fve color
copies on legal paper, printed back-to-back fip-style so
I can spin it on its horizontal access, laminated. When I
called plays from the booth I wouldnt laminate it so I
could write on it and would use card stock to get the du-
rability I preferred.

If youd like to obtain a copy of Coach Kalbs game call
sheet and customize it for your own use, it is available for
download at www.AmericanFootballMonthly.com.
A Cover 4 alignment
allows the secondary
to adjust to various
formations and personnel
groupings and helps
stop the run while also
defending the pass.
By Richard Shepas
Head Coach Waynesburg College

W
e have found that Cover 4, with certain adjustments, is the most
efective defense in todays world of high-powered ofenses.
The coverage adjustments that I have made allow the second-
ary to be more aggressive against the run. Personnel will always dictate
the use of any adjustments based on how much your athletes can typically
handle. However, vs. sets like twins, trips and Ace TX trips, you can get an
extra defender in the box to make an ofense more one-dimensional.
Moreover, playing inside technique vs. an outside receiver make reads
harder for the QB, which is ultimately why I like this coverage. There are
subtle adjustments that can also be made to deal with inside slot receiv-
ers, which can disrupt timing routes. Cover 4 fts well with our aggressive
defensive style. It is not meant to be a universal adjustment but has proven
successful for us.

Why Cover 4?

Align/Adjust Basic 4-across alignment allows the secondary to adjust
to the formation, personnel groupings and any motion.

Support vs. the Run Depending on the formation and backfeld set,
Cover 4 will allow 8-9 defenders in the box vs. the run.

Flexibility vs. Play-Action Passes Enables the defense to handle full
and split-fow fat pass variations with four deep defenders.

36
Diagram 1: Base Alignment / Pro
WHY
Coverage Disguise With the safeties alignment at funnel depth, it
makes it easy to match routes in coverage, use robber concepts to both the
strong and weak side as well as both odd and even coverages.

Handle 4 Verticals Cover 4 allows the defense to handle one-back sets
by matching 4 DBs on 4 vertical threats.

The diagrams listed include Cover 4 alignment in a base defense (Diagram
1), Base Alignment/Twins (Diagram 2), Run Support/Flow (Diagrams 3
and 4), Run Support/Webb (Diagram 5), Run Support/Split (Diagram 6),
and Pass Assignments (Diagram 7).

COVER 4?
Diagram 2: Base Alignment / Twins
Diagram 3: Run Support / Flow
Diagram 4: Run Support / Flow
Diagram 5: Run Support / Webb
Diagram 6: Run Support / Split
Diagram 7: Pass Assignments
Our complete drill progression for cornerbacks includes:

Footwork/backpedaling.
Pedal turn.
Read pedal with man turn.
Weave Drill (This drill positions a DB in an inside leverage or outside
leverage position as they backpedal against a WR).
W. Drill (In a fve-yard area, the DB backpedals on a 45-degree angle and
then plants and drives forward. The DB then simulates a break on the ball.
The drill can then be moved down the feld at 10 yards or more).
Four Square Incorporates the W. Drill progression with breaks and
angle sticks at 45 to zero, 45 to 90 and 45 to 45 degrees.
Boundary corner funnel.
Crack Replace Drill You work with your corner and safety on this drill.
The corner releases the WR inside to the safety and communicates a crack
call to help the safety anticipate the blind side block. The corner then fts
of the WR and assumes the support of the safety as he works to the top
for secondary run responsibilities. Teams who play a lot of Cover 4 must
anticipate crack blocks because of supporting the run.

There are also fundamental rules for corners:

Maintain inside leverage.
Progression of seeing #2 to #1 (check vertical).
No curl/no dig/high on post route.
Break on anything in your corner quick out, deep out, corner route,
late on hitch, and man turn on vertical.

We also have a safety drill progression:

Work fat to pedal.
Work fat break alley/support.
Work fat check hole/zone middle.
Streamer Drill - This drill is for safeties. Two WRs line up 10 yards apart.
The safety lines up in the middle of the two, 10 yards of the ball. The
receivers run at speed while the safety backpedals and maintains a high
position on each receiver. The coach then gives a direction for the ball and
the safety breaks at a 45-degree angle on the receiver.
W Drill
Four square Incorporates the W Drill progression with breaks and
angle sticks at 45 to zero, 45 to 90 and 45 to 45 degrees high.
Vertical 8 to 10-yard vertical route and lock receiver after 8 yards.

Diagram 9: 5-on-3 Play Pass
Diagram 8: 5-on-3 Run Fit
There are a number of fundamental rules for safeties:

Hat read for support.
Key near or deepest back for fow.
Play fat before you commit.
Play #2 out vs. pass:
A. Strong #2 out, look to #1
B. Strong #2 vertical, carry the seam 8 to 10 yards and then lock in past
10 yards.
C. Weakside play #2 out (tackle box rule).
#2 stays double, #1 weak.
#2 out play release - #2 fat rob curl/slant by #1 or
#2 vertical carry seam 8 to 10 yards and lock at 10 yards.

We use, in practice, a complete Shell Drill progression:

5-on-3 serves as a Fit Drill in three parts run fts vs. fow, play-action,
and match patterns. This helps develop leverage for the defense while the
ofense is timing up their run game.
Split skelly (no help , , ).
Split line match-up skelly this allows the defense to work for leverage
in under coverage and for robber looks while the QB is working his read
progression.
Combination quarter coverage vs. double sets.
Crack Drill replace.
Option period.

The following diagrams illustrate specifc player responsibilities:
A 5-on-3 Run Fit (Diagram 8), 5-on-3 Pass Play (Diagram 9), a 5-on-3 Skell
Pass (Diagram 10), Split Skell (Diagrams 11 and 12), and Split Shell Twins
(Diagrams 13 and 14).

Quarters vs. the Run Game Adding the Safeties June, 2013
Blitzing Backs: Keys to Efective Defensive Back Blitz Packages January, 2013
Adjusting Your Defensive Backs April, 2011
WANT MORE?
Articles on this subject are on
AmericanFootballMonthly.com
Coach Shepas answers your questions on Facebook - just go
to http://www.facebook.com/AmericanFootballMonthly/
Diagram 10: 5-on-3 Shell Pass
Diagram 11: Split Skell
Diagram 12: Split Skell
Diagram 13: Split Skell Twins
Diagram 14: Split Skell Twins
Key points for maximizing the Cover 4 include:

Wide corner rules (KISS).
8 to 10-yard vertical rule.
Take away windows with basketball concepts; that is, understanding
space and defending it. Terms like post up pivot routes, pick plays and
match-up zones are important.
Crack replace practice.
Need to rep play-action pass vs. play-action throw backs.
Routed recognition.

About the Author: Rick Shepas recently completed his ninth season as head coach at
Waynesburg University. He has also coached on the high school level for 20 years, most
recently as the head coach at Massillon Washington High School (OH) for seven sea-
sons. Shepas was a four-year letterman as a receiver at Youngstown State and received
his Bachelors Degree in 1987. He received his Masters from Ashland University in 1991.
#Ik': I#l irr #Ikrirr:.rrz
N
E
W

Watch Instantly at www.AFMvideos.com
krzlrr:i;. Irll #rrr:: lrrrzir; lrrrrlr;;
lrrrz lrrz rrrr
## rirr:!
Watch any video, any time, online or on a mobile.
New releases, ofense, defense, special teams and
more! Sign up for a 1-year membership today
for the low price of $109 and AFM subscribers
can unlock the entire AFM Video Library!
No Limits No Exclusions No Hidden Charges
By mastering a few plays with four different formations,
the defense will always be on their heels.
By Paul Markowski, Assistant Coach, Army Sprint Football, and
Shane Ziats, Assistant Coach, Mansfeld University
0
ption football has been around for many decades. The vast majority
of todays collegiate and high school programs use some form of op-
tion in their ofensive scheme.
Why run the option? Football is a numbers game where the ofense
tries to outnumber the defense at the point of attack. While there are more
than a few ways to accomplish this goal, we believe that the option is by
far the easiest and most efective way to ensure that your ofense outnum-
bers the defense on every play.

42
KISS PRINCIPLE

The acronym KISS means Keep It Simple Stupid. We are true believers
in the KISS principle. This is especially important at the high school level as
these programs are severely handicapped in how much time they have to
practice and install their ofensive and defensive schemes. Keeping the of-
fensive playbook as simple as possible is a must.

0F1l00 F00180ll
F6B Fl095, 009 B095
F
0
8
1

I
at the snap of the ball. Motion may tip of the defense as to the plays des-
tination. However, on a more positive note, having motion may fool the
defense into thinking the play is going one way when in fact, it ends up
going the opposite direction (e.g., the counter option).

Power-I - The power-I formation is an ofshoot of the wishbone formation.
Power-I is your basic I-formation with an extra blocking back added for a
stronger running game.

RUN PLAYS

The six run plays that we chose for this ofense were selected for very
specifc reasons. Triple option football is not just a concept; rather, it is a
system of run and pass plays that, depending on what the defense is
showing, allows us to call the right play in order to counter what the de-
MASTER A FEW PLAYS
In order for any ofense to be efective, we believe that players must
master a few plays and run those plays with both confdence and efciency.
Those few plays must be repped to the extent that your players know the
plays inside and out. Performing a large number of plays relatively well will
not help your ofense when crunch-time hits late in the fourth quarter and
you need to move the football consistently for that fnal score. Players who
truly know a play will perform that play with both confdence and aggres-
siveness. If there is any doubt in their minds about their particular assign-
ment on a play, they will not perform to the best of their ability.

FEW PLAYS, MANY WAYS
This ofense is an attempt to take option football to a brand new level.
Our playbook is very simple: six run plays and six pass plays. Thats it. We be-
lieve that any high school program can master these
twelve plays even with limited practice and installa-
tion time. The goal of our playbook is simple: to mas-
ter these twelve plays and run them many diferent
ways. By doing this, we believe it will cause confusion
for the defense. For example, when your opponent
sees you line up in the wishbone and run triple option
on one play and then line up in Power-I and run the
same play, to the defense, these two plays may look
very diferent. In reality, however, your ofensive play-
ers are simply running the same play from a diferent
look. Its truly that simple.

THE FORMATIONS
The four formations we use in this option ofense
are the Wishbone, Pistol-Flex, Flexbone and the Power-
I. We chose these four sets because we feel that they
are what most run-oriented high school programs will
be using. All four formations are basic, easy to learn,
and very powerful ofensive sets.

Wishbone - The wishbone formation has been
around since the 1960s and has enjoyed much suc-
cess over the years at all levels. While this three-back
set allows for a very strong run-oriented scheme, the two wide receivers
who are spread very wide will force the defense to spread themselves out a
little as well. One huge advantage of having the three-back set aligned so
tight is that there will be no need to use any type of pre-snap motions in
order to get a player into position. Motion can tip of any defense as to the
possible point of attack of the play call.

Pistol-Flex - The pistol-fex is a hybrid of the pistol and fexbone ofensive
sets. One of the main advantages of the pistol-fex formation is the align-
ment of the QB, who is four yards directly behind the center. By having
him aligned in this way, the QB will have a better read of the dive key de-
fender since the QB will be physically further away from the read key. The
QB will not have a longer read, but he will have a better angle from which
to make a more profcient read.

Flexbone - Flexbone is similar to the pistol-fex. The only diference is the
alignment of the QB. In fexbone, he is under center while in the pistol-fex,
the QB is at pistol depth.

Unlike the wishbone, the fexbone places the two halfbacks (A-Backs) in
the slot area on either side of the formation. Having these players wide may
necessitate the QB having to get one of them into orbit motion for a couple
of the option plays in order for the player to get into his proper alignment
fense is trying to accomplish. Because this ofense is very run-oriented,
these six run plays must take up no less than 75% of your practice time. The
remaining 25% will be devoted to the passing concepts.

1) Triple Option

This is our base, bread and butter play. It is actually three plays in one.
Every play in the option system feeds of of the success of this one play.
Triple option must be repped repeatedly each practice so that it can be
mastered.

Execution: Prior to the snap of the ball, the QB must identify both the
dive (#1) and pitch (#2) defenders. These two players will not be blocked.
Instead, the QB will read these defenders intentions during the execution
of the play and react according to what they do. The dive key is defned as
the frst player on or outside the playside ofensive tackle. The pitch key is
defned as the next defensive player outside of the dive key.
Once these players have been identifed, the QB calls for the ball. After
the snap, the QB goes into a mesh (soft squeeze) with the diving running
back. The QB puts the ball into the gut of the running back while he reads
the dive key. We give the QB a one-way thought process as to how he
reads the dive key. By doing this, it will make it much easier for the QB to
make a decisive decision. We tell him to think, I will give the football every
time to that diving running back unless the Dive key comes down both
hard and fat onto the running back.
So, the QB will be thinking pre-snap that he will give that ball to the dive
back unless the dive key virtually attacks the running back immediately. If
the dive key does not take the running back, then the ball carrier should
take the handof and attack his aiming point the crack of the playside of-
fensive guards butt. In addition, it is very important that the dive back read
his AK (Action Key). The AK defender is defned as the frst defensive line-
man inside of the dive key defender. Depending on how this AK is blocked,
it will determine the path of the dive back. However, if that dive key does
take the running back, the QB simply disengages the mesh with the run-
ning back and proceeds to attack the pitch key.
Once again, we give the QB a one-way thought process. We tell him to
think, I will keep the ball every time and score a touchdown unless the pitch
key turns his outside shoulder toward me. If the pitch key does take the QB,
he simply steps, looks at his target (pitch back) and pitches the ball to him.
the defense starts to cheat a little by sending their backside linebacker
towards the perceived point of attack, it is time to call the counter option.
Not only will this play gouge the defense for some big yardage, it will also
force the defense to play more honest.

Execution: It is extremely important that this play looks like the base
triple option. Once the defense commits to stopping this perceived triple
option play, our goal has been accomplished and we now reverse direction
and attack the back side. Prior to the snap, the QB must identify the pitch
key defender. The pitch key is defned as the next defensive player outside
of the end man on the line of scrimmage (EMOLOS).
After the snap, the play appears to be a true triple option play. However,
after selling this fake for one step, the backfeld will then reverse feld and
attack the opposite side. The QB performs a very quick mesh with his dive
back and then immediately turns and attacks his pitch key. Depending on
how this defender executes his assignment, the QB will either run the ball
upfeld or pitch to his trailing pitch back.

4) Speed (Double) Option
This play allows our ofense to get to the perimeter
quickly. Speed option and double option are the very
same play with one important exception the identity of
the Pitch Key defender. In speed option, the QB reads the
EMOLOS while in double option, the QB will read the next
defensive player outside of the EMOLOS. Whether speed
or double Option is called will depend on what your scout-
ing reports indicate. Some coaches prefer to block certain
defenders and read others. If a certain defender is particu-
larly tough to block, than the coaching staf might decide
to read that player and block someone else. For example,
defensive ends are usually some of the best athletes on
any team. That said, an ofensive coordinator may decide
to read this best player and block the outside linebacker
or, if that outside linebacker is the best defender, than he
might end up being the read defender while that defen-
sive end is blocked. It is all a matter of preference.

Execution: Once again, this play must appear to be our base triple option
play at the snap of the ball. The QB must identify the pitch key defender.
After the snap, the QB will immediately attack his pitch key and depending
on how he plays him, will either keep the ball and get upfeld or pitch it to
his trailing pitch back. The pitch back must maintain a 4 x 1 pitch relation-
ship with the QB at all times; that is, he must be 4 yards in front of and 1
yard deep in relation to his QB.

5) Toss
Our toss play is used when we notice that our opponents are blitzing
more than usual. Toss allows us to get to the edge very quickly in order to
beat the blitz coming up between the tackles. Toss is a great complemen-
tary play to call when you are on or very close to your opponents goal line.

Execution: This play will appear to be our base triple option play at the
snap. The QB reverse pivots and tosses the ball to his pitch back. This play is
very similar to the outside zone play. All linemen step very wide and block
the frst man. This play is meant to get to the outside. The ball carrier is
taught to get to the outside and look for any seam that appears. Once that
seam appears, he is to stick his toe into the ground and get upfeld.

6) Power
This base power play is common with many ofensive schemes in todays
game. Power is meant to hit the defense between the ofensive tackles.

2) Midline Option

Midline is a double option with the QB/dive back. Many option teams
who do not like to/or cannot block a very tough 3-tech defensive tackle in
a triple option play call will check to midline so that the 3-tech can now be
read by the QB.

Execution: Like with the triple option play, the QB must fnd his read keys
prior to the snap of the ball. For midline option, there is only a dive key
defender to identify. The dive key is defned as the frst defensive lineman
on or outside the playside ofensive guard. After the snap, the QB and dive
back go into their mesh and depending on how the dive key plays his
assignment, the QB will either give the ball to the dive back or pull it and
replace the read. What we mean by this is simple - if there is a disengage
between the QB and the running back, then the QB attacks the original
spot of the dive key defender. The aiming point of the dive back is the
crack of the centers butt.

3) Counter Option

The counter option play is a very important cog in the option system
wheel. Sometimes during the course of a game, the defense may start to
key on certain tendencies that the ofense might be displaying with the
option run game (e.g., keying on motion, hash marks, down and distance,
etc.). As a result, the defense may start fowing very fast to the perceived
point of attack in order to pounce on the play as soon as possible. This
counter option is a great complementary play to the triple option. When
Diagram 1 Pistol Flex Power vs. Cover 2
Diagram 2 Power I Toss vs. Cover 1
Diagram 3 Wishbone Speed Option vs. Cover 2
Diagram 4 Wishbone Double Option vs. Cover 1
Diagram 5 - Flexbone Counter Option vs. Cover 2
Diagram 6 Flexbone Counter Option vs. Cover 1
Fine-Tuning Adapting the Spread Ofense to Your Personnel August, 2013
Running the Triple Option in the Pistol May, 2013
The Double slot, Triple Option Ofense June, 2012
WANT MORE?
Coach Markowski answers your questions on Facebook - just go
to http://www.facebook.com/AmericanFootballMonthly/
Execution: The ball carrier must be taught to keep his track between the
tackles. He is to bounce this play to the outside only when there is no day-
light to run to on the inside.

Six diferent diagrams will illustrate some of these formations and assign-
ments:

About the Authors: Paul Markowski is the running backs coach at the United
States Military Academy for Sprint football. He previously coached at both Mans-
feld University and Simon Fraser. Markowski recently completed a series of DVDs
on the Pistol-Flex Triple Option ofense that is available at AFMvideos.com

Shane Ziats is the ofensive line coach and run game coordinator for Mans-
feld University. He coached at the high school level for six years and played as
an ofensive lineman for California University (PA).

This excerpt was taken with permission from the authors of Option
Football: Few Plays, Many Ways. For more information about this manual,
contact Coach Markowski at Paul Markowski2009@gmail.com.
Live, quick-whistle tackling drills are a safe and
effective way to improve open-eld tackling.
By Andrew Christ Former Defensive Coordinator University at Albany
A
s todays game stretches laterally to en-
compass the entire width of the feld, the
ability to open-feld tackle is at a premi-
um. One of the most difcult skills to acquire as a
defensive player is the art of open-feld tackling.
Even elite athletes need to improve and sharpen
their skill sets.
How do you enhance those abilities and rep-
licate them at game speed? The answer is simple
live tackling, ofensive skill vs. defensive skill.
At the University at Albany, Head Coach Bob Ford
has a motto that is time-tested and repeated to
his assistant coaches: Make Cs into Bs, and Bs into
As. We recruit the best players we can and they
must ft into our program, not vice versa. We are
46
going to then coach them to become better play-
ers. Here is how we do it in regards to tackling.

Coaching points for our drills:
1. Do it in a 5-minute period be organized and
get reps. Teach in meetings.
2. Keep it safe and blow quick whistles if the tack-
ler is sliding down toward the knees or ankles.
Also, the ofense has to juke the defender. No
running over him.
3. The ft is more important than the fnish - at
least in this drill. Blow the whistle about a second
OUT IN THE OPEN
after the ft and hit. Err on the side of not having
them fnish. The drill is about the frst two-thirds
of the tackle, not the last third.
4. Put them in realistic situations with speed
and space. This isnt batting practice. We do prac-
tice confned tackling, but not in this drill.
5. Make it competitive. If you believe in the drills
importance, your players will follow suit. Change
dimensions to make it ft your players ability lev-
els. If there are not enough missed tackles, widen
the tackling zone by a yard or two.
Emphasis for the tackler is to tackle with his
chest. Dont have him lead with his shoulder
pads. This sets him of balance and puts him in
an unathletic position.
DRILL #1: TWO-TACKLER DRILL:
This is our base drill that we start with every
summer and spring. We work across the feld so
we can use the sidelines, top of the numbers, and
hashes as guidelines. We have three groups: WR
vs. DB, RB vs. Safeties, TE/H-Backs vs. LBs. We of-
ten mix up the groups for a little more variety,
but those are our base groups.
The ball carrier has seven yards width and
approximately 10 yards separation to make the
defender miss. After he makes him miss or gets
tackled, the ball carrier will pop-up and go at the
next defender. It is important to note that the frst
defender can never turn and get back into the drill
and the second cannot approach until the ball
carrier is back up and running (Diagram 1).
Diagram 1: 2-Tackler Drill
Diagram 2: Toss Drill
Diagram 3: Bubble Drill
DRILL #2: PERIMETER DRILLS:
This is our next phase of tackling. We have two
groups: WRs vs. all DBs, and RBs and TEs vs. LBs.
We run the Toss Drill (Diagram 2) with the LB
vs. RB group and give them an initiation point
fve yards outside the ball and 10 extra yards un-
til another cone. The ball carrier does his best to
make the tackler miss while the tackler practices
an inside-out bend to the inside hip of the ball
carrier.
With the DB vs. WR group, we run a Bubble
Drill (Diagram 3) and give them a cone inside
the top of the numbers to the sideline (10 yards).
The tackler must backpedal around a cone posi-
tioned two-three yards behind him to time up the
tackling drill. The receiver does his best to make
the tackler miss while the tackler practices an
inside-out bend and potentially a sideline tackle.
If done well, the tacklers should execute
inside-out pursuit tackles. The ofensive players
are getting work on catching the ball and the re-
alistic tackle angles of a defender.
Tackling Drills Without Full Contact April, 2013
Tackling; Still the Key to Successful Defensive Play May, 2012
AdvancedTackling Circuit Drills March, 2012
WANT MORE?
Coach Christ answers your questions on
Facebook - just go to to http://www.facebook.
com/AmericanFootballMonthly/
DRILL #3: RECEIVING DRILLS:
This is our last phase of tackling. We have two
groups: WRs vs. all DBs, and RBs and TEs vs. LBs.
We run a check-down side and a swing pass
side (Diagram 4) with the LB vs. RB group. The
check down side requires the defender to drop
around a cone that is 10 yards away. Once he
gets around the cone, he can drive on the re-
Diagram 4: Receiving Drill
Diagram 5: DB vs. WR Drill
numbers to the sideline (eight yards). The defend-
er drops around a cone that is two-three yards be-
hind him. Once he gets around the cone, he can
drive on the receiver. The receiver is just executing
the top of his route so hes not wasting energy
and time running up the feld 10 yards.
As for the in-cutting drill, we start the WRs on
the sidelines and they catch the ball on the num-
bers. We have cones on the top of the numbers
and approximately on the hash eight yards to
make a move after the catch. Once again, the de-
fender peddles around a cone that is two-three
yards behind him. Once he gets around the cone,
he can drive on the receiver.
We have placed three drills together that
gives the ofense and defense equal chances of
success while doing our best to simulate game
speed. We keep the time short and use a quick
whistle to minimize the chance of injury. Most
importantly, defenders tackle from all diferent
angles on ball carriers coming from realistic and
varying directions.

About the Author: Drew Christ recently completed
his eighth season on the staf at the University at
Albany and his frst as defensive coordinator. He
previously served as the defensive coordinator at
the University of Rochester. Christ has also coached
at the University of Pennsylvania and Swarthmore
College. He played at the University of Chicago and
was a three-time All-University Athletic Association
defensive back.s
ceiver. That should be enough time for the re-
ceiver to catch the ball and face up to the tackler
so he can make a move. The swing pass is run
almost identically to the bubble pass in Drill #2.
Basically, the numbers to the sideline and the LB
must drop around a cone to time it correctly.
With the DB vs. WR group (Diagram 5) we
run an out-cutting drill and an in-cutting drill. For
the out-cutting drill, we give them a cone on the
WEBEXCLUSIVES
www.AmericanFootballMonthly.com 10 issues plus online access all for just $29.99
American Football Monthly provides more Xs and Os, drills
and coaching strategies than any other football publication
Articles and features only available at
Online priority code: AFSC1402 Valid for new subscribers in US only
NOT A SUBSCRIBER?
Subscribe online and get 10 issues for only $29.99 (reg. $39)
wwww.Am www
S
ubscribers can now access ip-page versions of each issue anywhere, anytime. You can view every
page and click on live links to get more information from advertisers or check out other AFM articles
that are geared to your particular interests. To check out AFMs digital edition, log in at www.American-
FootballMonthly.com and click on Digital Editions under the MAGAZINE tab. We hope you enjoy this new
service!
AFM GOES DIGITAL
ust $2299 99999
lls
tion
999 999999999999
This issue includes AFMs annual college and high school Coaches of the Year. Our
FBS winner is Jimbo Fisher of Florida State. Over the years, there have been a num-
ber of articles on Fishers predecessor, the legendary Bobby Bowden. One discussed
many legendary coaches including Bowden, in the article entitled The Problem
with Legendary Coaches? Replacing Them that appeared in the July, 2002 issue. It
doesnt seem like its been a problem at FSU.
FROM
THE VAULT
A WIDE RECEIVERS PHILOSOPHY
By Denie Marie Retired College Coach
I
n order to obtain the results you want, you must have consistent and proper execution at all
times. This starts with each and every drill you do during practice. When you execute it properly,
it becomes second nature during a game. Do things right all the time and be the best on the feld.
Your efort must by 100% mental as well as physical.
To read this article, go to www.AmericanFootballMonthly.com
July, 2002
AFMs 1,500+ online features from back issues is
the largest coaching library in the world.
Its available FREE to all subscribers.
M. B. S.
By Malik Hall Defensive Coordinator Wagner College
A
t Wagner College, we encourage our athletes to think of football as a total body experience.
We teach three components to our athletes the mind, the body and the soul, M.B.S.
The mind is just as important to condition as the body. So often we say, be mentally
strong, but fail at times to condition the mind as we condition our muscles. Our football program
practices techniques to condition the mind.
To read this article, go to www.AmericanFootballMonthly.com
The of-season is the time to analyze your
special team statistics. This form details each
special teams category from feld goals
made to average net punting yards and
includes how to analyze each of 22 catego-
ries. A must for every special teams coach.
Exclusively at
FREE FORM
SPECIAL TEAM STATISTICS
www.AmericanFootballMonthly.com 27 www.AmericanFootballMonthly.com
To be effective with a blitz
package, it is critical to focus
on turnovers, open eld
tackling and pursuit.
By Jim Hilvert
Head Coach
Thomas More College
ince I have been the head coach at Thomas More, we have prided ourselves on playing great defense. Our defensive philosophy is to be simple, sound, and aggressive. Every week our goal is to stop the run and make the ofense one-dimensional. We focus on fundamentals. We want to make sure the players know their assignments and have the proper alignment on every snap. We also focus on turnovers, open feld tackling and pursuit three goals that are intertwined. They have been a huge key to our success as a defense. We play an aggressive style of defense because it fts our players, who are fast and athletic. We play a swarming style of defense which is one of the reasons why we believe in the zone blitz. A couple of keys for the zone blitz to be successful are that everyone must communicate, coverages must be disguised, you must collision routes (protect the seams), and the QB should not have much time (no more than 2.7 seconds) to throw the football.
Our 4-3 stack defense includes the following players: Rover the strongside linebacker. Stud the strongside defensive end. Tackle 3 technique. Mike the middle linebacker. Bob the weakside linebacker. Whip the strong safety. Free Safety who aligns to the passing strength shown by the ofense.
Diagram 1 shows our base alignment while diagram 2 illustrates our 3 deep/3 under coverage which we label Buzz 3.
Diagram 1: 4-3 Stack Defense - Base Alignment
Diagram 2: 3 Deep/3 Under Coverage
We zone blitz because we believe the positives clearly outweigh the negatives: Positives You can disguise your blitz and coverage. You can blitz without playing man-to-man coverage. You can be multiple which is fun for the players. Negatives When the defensive ends drop, this could cause problems. Your defense becomes soft underneath. Your defense is vulnerable in the seams and the fats. In terms of communication, the safeties, defensive ends and linebackers must always be talking to each other. The defense must be physical, hitting the wide receivers and attempting to re-route any vertical route. The defense should not cover any route under fve yards, giving up the fats but defending the deep ball.
ltt| ||Il| tt ft|tt||
|t It| \ ItfI |||t|
Our blitz coverage or Buzz 3 consists of six players in coverage. Three are deep and responsible for their third of the feld and three underneath players play a match-up zone. There are also two SCIF (seam, curl, and fat) players defending the seam, curl and fat routes. There is an inside alignment on any #2 displaced WR and he is responsible for a collision on any vertical route by the #2 receiver. The two SCIF defenders also wall of any inside breaking routes by the #1 receiver if he does a curl or dig route. The two defenders also break on the fat route when the ball is thrown. The #3 match player opens up to the #3 wide receiver and reacts to his route. If the #3 receiver goes out, he pushes and overtakes the new #3 receiver. The outside deep third defenders have specifc responsibilities. The corners align 1 x 6 inside the #1 receiver. They shufe slowly out and must play three-step. The corners also play deep in their zone. The middle defender in his third works as a post/seam defender. He will open up and run to the middle third on the snap but play 15 yards deep after the snap of the ball.
46
226 www.gridironstrategies.com Football Forms For The Winning Coach
SPECIAL TEAMS BOOTH FORM
Game:__________________________________ Game Date: _____________________________________
OUR PUNTS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 THEIR PUNTS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Punter Punter
Yards Yards
Hang Time Hang Time
Average Average
Receiver Receiver
Yds Returned Yds Returned
Get-Away Time Get-Away Time
Punt Inside 20 Punt Inside 20
OUR KICKOFFS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 THEIR KICKOFFS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Kicker Kicker
Yards Yards
Hang Time Hang Time
Average Average
Receiver Receiver
Yds Returned Yds Returned
OUR FG THEIR FG
Kicker Kicker
Yards Yards
Get-Away Time Get-Away Time
OUR SCORING 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 THEIR SCORING 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
TD TD
PAT (1) PAT (1)
PAT (2) PAT (2)
Field Goal Field Goal
Safety Safety
OUR ONSIDE K. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 OPP ONSIDE K. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Key: B = Blocked F = Fake A = Attempted R = Recovered
FC = Fair Catch OB = Out of Bounds TD =Touchdown
Presented by www.cytosport.com
MEASURING
PRACTICE SUCCESS
AND DEVELOPING
GOOD HABITS
W
ith spring football around the corner,
coaches are looking to develop or test
out some new ideas obtained during
the clinic season, identify how personnel will ft
into the system and fgure out what adjustments
will be necessary for the upcoming season.
These are legitimate concerns, and spring prac-
tice will allow a coaching staf to address them.
Spring is also a time to establish the habits that
will make the team successful in the fall. Getting
the most out of practice by improving the perfor-
mance of the players on the frst team and on the
scout team is critical. Efort and execution are the
two key components for improvement. In many
situations, especially in spring ball, when the up-
coming sophomores are learning to adjust to var-
sity football, the frst team is able to have its way
with the scout team. Getting a good look from
the scout team is always a challenge. Many times
coaches become frustrated with the scout team,
but in truth, they may be giving all they can give.
Putting the focus on the frst team players and
their efort and execution will pay bigger divi-
dends than being frustrated with the scout team.
As long as they can get the proper alignment and
assignment that is drawn on the scout card, then
the frst team players can understand the schemes
and concepts that are being executed regardless
of the performance of the demonstration players.
This doesnt mean the scout players performance
is de-emphasized; rather, the focus is shifted of
of them. Expectation is maximum efort, but the
reality is most scout players are there right now
for a reason. They are developing, and its just not
their time. But they are such a value to the team
that their motivation must be kept high by being
positive. In some ways, this takes the pressure of
of them, and indirectly, measurables are created
for them as well.
Here are some thoughts on standards and
evaluation for spring practice:
1. Every play scores. Even when a defender
touches or fts up the ofensive player, hecon-
tinues and scores. If possible, the back-up runs
on the feld and plays the next snap so tempo
www
MANAGING YOUR
PROGRAM
is not interrupted. The habit being developed
is fnishing. This doesnt have to be a live tackle
drill. Defenders are told to wrap up and resist.
The ball carrier or receiver keeps working until he
crosses the goal line. This also creates a condition-
ing efect. Be reasonable in where the ball is spot-
ted. The 30-yard line is probably appropriate.
2. No defender touches the running back for
the frst fve yards. (If a scout player can touch the
runner, a frst team player can tackle the runner).
The emphasis is on both ft and fnish for the of-
fensive line. If they do not get the proper ft, and
if they arent working their feet, they will not be
able to accomplish this objective.
3. On pass plays, no defender is within four
yards of the quarterback, ever! This really forces
the ofensive line to move their feet and get in
proper position. Just keeping the defender from
sacking the quarterback is not enough, especially
vs. a scout team. Game day will be much more
difcult. It also motivates the scout team player
to go hard, because while he may not be getting
sacks, his work is being seen because he is putting
as much stress as he can on the ofensive player.
4. On pass plays every player runs toward the
ball after it is released for at least fve yards. This
is just good football - ofensive players are fnd-
ing work and are in position to make a big block
or recover a fumble or to just get to the spot for
the next play.For tempo teams, the emphasis on
this is at a premium.
5. Route timing, spacing and separation are im-
portant aspects of the passing game. Chart the
number of properly executed routes. Being col-
lisioned of routes, not separating or not stack-
ing defenders on deep balls are all situations that
must be avoided. Separate categories for each
can be created, or the pass concept as a whole
can be evaluated by giving that practice rep a
minus if it wasnt perfect. Either way, be sure to
note which errors are happening so those tech-
niques are worked on in individual periods.
By Keith Grabowski
Ofensive Coordinator, Baldwin Wallace University
B
O
6. Most teams are concerned with tempo. Even
for a huddling ofense, getting in and out of the
huddle quickly is necessary. A coach can count
out loud on every snap to make everyone aware
of the tempo. Chart the times and expect them
to be within certain parameters based on the
tempo being used.
Make the measurables visible and put a daily

emphasis on what the results mean for the per-
formance and progress of the ofense. Post the
results of each practice in the locker room, giv-
ing the number of opportunities for each stan-
dard and the number of times it was achieved,
resulting in a percentage grade and a comment
on what that means overall. For example, Good
practice and tempo, room for improvement,
orNot a championship efort on the run game
because of poor footwork, or That was a B-day
on pass protection. We can do better.
Put the chart in a place where everyone will see
it. Be sure to make comments for the scout team,
and consider naming a scout team player of the
day. He should be that scout who caused the stan-
dards to not be reached the most. For example, a
defensive end may have been able to get within
the range of the quarterback before the ball was
released three times, and may have wrapped up
the running back in the frst fve yards four times.
Recognize his efort and other scouts will follow
suit. The result will be that the scout team be-
comes motivated to do more, and overall practice
becomes tougher for the frst team.
Set some initial standards. Maybe some are
always a 100% expectation like the ball carrier
scoring. Maybe others are more difcult so they
are given an 80% standard. However, continually
raise the standard as players improve and timing
and technique develop.
This is a method we implemented at BW this
past fall. Overall, this has helped improve our
practice efort and execution. Our ofensive play-
ers have clear standards of what we expect to see
on flm. This is a method that can be developed
for all defense and special teams as well.
GIVE ME STRENGTH
TO WORK HARDER
TO RUN FASTER
TO WIN
*Our products are tested for athletic banned substances in compliance with the NSF International Certied for Sport

program, which includes semi-annual facility audits, verifying that no NSF 306-Certication Guideline Annex A List
banned substances exist in our facility.
2013 CytoSport, Inc. MUSCLEMILK.COM
FOR TEAM SALES INFORMATION:
PERFORMANCE@CYTOSPORT.COM
707-747-3372 * CYIO5POkI.COM
W
O
R
K
O
U
T

R
E
C
O
V
E
R
Y

F
U
E
L

Afm 1402

Enviado por

Dados do documento

Descrição original:

Título original

Direitos autorais

Formatos disponíveis

Compartilhar este documento

Compartilhar ou incorporar documento

Opções de compartilhamento

Você considera este documento útil?

Este conteúdo é inapropriado?

Direitos autorais:

Formatos disponíveis

Afm 1402

Enviado por

Direitos autorais:

Formatos disponíveis

VA Techs Off-season S & C Program 5 Live Tackling Drills (Safer)

o much of the game is based on speed and

hen I frst became an ofensive coor-

openers, defensive personnel, time out chart,

Make the measurables visible and put a daily

Você também pode gostar