Utah Football

Archive for August, 2009

Dave J. Burns asked:




One of the most exciting plays in football comes in the form of a blitzing linebacker or defensive back creeping up to the line and then attacking the quarterback at the snap of the ball. It’s almost expected, especially when a team is put in a position whereby they need a big play or long yardage in order to convert to a first down. A good football defensive system implements a solid blitzing scheme for either pass or run situations.

There’s nothing that can pump fans up more in football than a quarterback sack, a forced turn-over, or a running back getting stuffed at the line of scrimmage on a called blitz.

But what are the pitfalls of blitzing and opponent?

Predictability comes to mind! For instance, if you continuously blitz eventually you’re going to pay the price of being too predictable. In other words a good football offensive co-ordinator or quarterback will eventually call a play that will take advantage of your blitzing personnel and take advantage of that player vacating his normal area of responsibility. Dump the football in this area and probably get a decent gain out of it.

Now your strategy at this point will begin to change and you’ll hesitate to blitz for fear of giving up another big gain. The advantage certainly swings in favour of the offence as they have more time and space to manage the football. Not good for you though!

Blitzing is a big part of any youth football system. The point is: don’t be too predictable, use different looks and players when you blitz, as well as different pass coverage’s whether it be man or zone. Also, don’t always blitz when the offence is in a long yardage situation, mix up the downs as well. Blitzing on first down has commonly been referred to as the run blitz. Disguise your blitzes by showing blitz, but then at the snap of the ball, having your players all drop back into coverage. This can confuse any quarterback and now they will hesitate at changing the play at the line of scrimmage now giving your football defence more and time and space.

Dave J. Burns asked:




One of the most difficult assignments in football is to contain the offense. That is, prevent the offense from getting outside to the side line, gaining the corner, and sprinting down the side-line. For the most part, a good athletic running back that gains the side-line will probably score the majority of the time as once they are in the open field will use their speed and athleticism to do damage.

The contain responsibility would be the assignment of either the outside linebacker or defensive end depending on your philosophy. My experience at the youth football level is that you will be more successful assigning an outside linebacker with the contain responsibility as opposed to the defensive end. A true defensive end would read the play and have both an inside and outside run responsibility, be able to scrape off his block and contain the outside run. However, these type of players are hard to find at the youth level and once double teamed are ineffective and give up the corner on the outside run play.

I have had more success by using a outside linebacker with primary contain responsibility and set up the defense so that the defensive ends work in tandem with the outside linebacker to maintain contain. Basically the outside linebacker would align on the line of scrimmage about two yards outside of the offensive tackle and on the snap of the ball would get up field to at least ball depth and turn in any outside runs or roll-outs, once they are disciplined on getting up field the next step would get them to collapse the pocket at ball depth and force the ball carrier to the inside.
I like to align the defensive ends on the outside shoulder of the Offensive tackles and on the snap of the ball they would engage the tackle and control the C gaps while at the same time reading the play in case of an inside run. The outside shoulder alignment gives them the edge on the outside run and by engaging the offensive tackle they can help with the inside run as well.

The offense now has to choose who to double team either the outside linebacker or the defensive end and with the end and outside linebacker working in tandem you should still have solid defense versus the outside run.

Cheers

Jeff Hemhauser asked:




In youth sports, a well planned and productive practice is essential for your team’s success. A structured practice can often times be a challenge as children have a natural desire to have fun. The key is to make sure your youth football practice is upbeat yet productive. Here is an in-depth, inside look at how to run a successful youth football practice.

5-8 Minutes:

Stretch. 4 player lines across -4 yards between each player lane – each row is 5 yards behind the row in front. Everyone stays in line evenly, every person counts and hits their pads after each stretch 10 count. Have your kids look & sound like a TEAM.

20 Minutes:

Warm-ups/ Conditioning. Players stay in the lines from stretching but move inside until they are one yard away from each other. Your conditioning coach should be in front; seeing 4 helmets across (Each kid is directly behind each other in all 4 lines). Proceed with High Knees, Kick outs, Shuffle, Backpedals, and then end warm ups with two ¾ speed sprints. Following warm ups we get right into conditioning stations. Condition stations, one for each of the four lines. Then you’ll rotate so each group can work every condition station.

Stations: Station 1: Crabs (crawl on hands & feet stay off the knees!) Station 2: Karaoke ( right over left, good hip movement). Station 3: Change of direction (sprint, into shuffle, into back pedal, and then shuffle again). Station 4: Tires: The classic! Put your kids through the tires station. Fast feet, get those knees up!

Water Break

10-15 Minutes:

Individual Offense. Each position goes with their position coach, working on skills, drills, and blocking responsibilities for the position each kid plays.

20-30 Minutes:

Team Offense. Complete offensive team practices against a scout defense (both first & second teams rotate reps). The scout defense will be running our opponents’ defense (so the kids get a feel for what the opponents’ defense likes to do). The objective of the team offensive session is to improve our offense as a complete unit. Team offense is time for our kids to practice our blocking rules while creating fluidity with our offensive plays. We will also work on our goal line plays as well as extra point attempts (Field Goal). We will end our team offensive session with our punt team. PS, Your offense should be installed the first week of practice, this in-season team offense session is strictly for timing and execution.

Water Break

10-15 Minutes:

Individual Defense. Each position goes with their position coach, working on skills, drills, and responsibilities.

20-25 Minutes:

Team defense. We will start team defense with tackling drills, defense is all about tackling well. Then right into complete defensive team practicing against a scout offense. The scout offense will be running our opponents’ offense (so kids get a feel of what the opponent’s offense likes to do, also to practice reading our keys for this week’s offensive attacks). The objective of the team defense session is to improve our defense as a complete unit. Team defense is time for our team to practice the execution of our stunts, blitzes, shifts, coverages and base gap & key assignments. The scout offense will run the plays (of our scouted opponent ) to help the kids get a feel for what our opponents’ offense likes to do. We will also practice our goal line/ extra point block packages with great intensity and attitude. Getting a goal line stop or blocking an extra point can give the team some positive momentum. It can also make the difference in winning or losing the game (PS extra point is worth 2pts in youth football) so you do not want to let your opponent make the kick. We will end our team defensive session with our punt return team, then right into our pump up circle chant!

Water Break

10-15 Minutes:

Team Special Teams. Complete special teams will practice against scout special teams. The objective of team special teams is to practice the importance of kickoff coverage (staying in lanes and containment) and kick return blocking. We will also practice kicking power and direction. We will end team special teams with our onside kick / hands (Onside recovery) teams.

10-15 Minutes:

Sprints. We will run sprints with great pride and purpose, knowing the importance of being able to play a full game at full speed and winning the fourth quarter. The team that is in the best shape will usually end the game with a victory. The importance of conditioning must not be overlooked with kids! Being in shape will only help kids be able to focus game time and will help prevent injury. Again Very Important! Conditioning. Conditioning. Conditioning!

Practice time in each phase depends on your youth football coaching style, preference, and time your football organization allows you.

Having a practice schedule and sticking by it is very important. You need to run organized practices. Run a youth football practice with an up-tempo rhythm, don’t let your kids get bored and don’t let them stand around. Always make sure your team is jogging on the field and that they switch phases of practice with great passion and energy. You as a coach need to run practice with great passion, decisiveness, and a type of command when you speak. Remember they are kids, they can get bored or daydream very easily. It’s your job to keep your youth football practice fun and upbeat.