Football Plays and Drills Extras

Triple option football has all three elements of the different styles of running attacks - quickness, finesse and power. The main idea behind this offensive set is to leave the defensive tackle and end unblocked in order to double-team the linebackers with extra offensive lineman. This brings an element of power to this basically finesse type of running attack.

Read complete article...

June 2, 2006 18:24 - Quality Youth Football Coaching Tips

If you're a youth coach needing additional youth football coaching tips and ideas on how to help better coach your team, keep reading! We've laid out the coaching tips in no particular order. We feel any of these youth football coaching tips could be the one you need at this very moment. Take this information, study it and then use it with your team.

Read complete article...

June 3, 2006 16:27 - Roll Your Quarterback Out and Win More Games

Use the following quarterback article to teach your QB the roll-outs that result in success for your football team... Football teams ranging from the high school level down to the youth football level will never be successful passing the ball. Do you believe this? Many coaches and football bystanders do. I do not. Let's take a closer look at the types of roll-outs you can use with your youth football team.

Read complete article...

June 4, 2006 19:48 - Wow, TO Gets Through FIrst Practice Without Incident

Terrell Owens actually went through his first practice with the Dallas Cowboys without having a temper tantrum or needing to do sit-ups in his driveway. Actually, although I've been critical of TO in the past, I don't think he'll have any problems too soon since it's early in his contract.

Here's what ESPN.com quoted Owens as saying before practice:
"I'm here with a great coach, a great team, a great owner," Owens said. "I'm looking forward to the opportunity that I can make to help this team win. That's why they brought me in here."

He went out and had a great practice. He caught every football thrown to him except for one. We all know he's a great football player. If the Cowboys can keep him happy, they've definitely gotten one of the best free agents this spring. I really can't stand TO, but I have to admit the guy is a great player.

Of course, Bill Parcells is staying true to his word about not commenting on Owens until training camp. The Tuna knows how to deal with any kind of player. I just hope he's ready for the next TO debacle if and when it happens next.

Read more...

June 5, 2006 20:43 - A Few Quick Thoughts Regarding Game Planning

As soon as your latest game is over, you want to begin game planning for the next one. The day after each game, begin asking yourself questions about the next opponent and how you can attack them.

Does your next opponent have any tendencies that you can exploit? What does their defense usually do on third and short? How about third and long? What type of goal line defense do they use?

How often do they vary their pass coverages? Do they play more man to man or zone coverages?

How often do they blitz? Do they have any exotic blitzes your team hasn't seen before? You'll want to get your quarterback and receivers on the same page so they can recognize when the blitz is coming and adjust. Put in plays that will be effective against the blitz so your quarterback can audible to them.

You need to get all these questions answered so you can put together a strategy that will be effective. Get this all done the day after each game so you can have your team practicing effectively all week for the next game.

June 7, 2006 19:54 - McCook Bison Football Team Hosts Football Camp

The McCook Bison Football Team has been hosting the Championship Football Camp all this week. This is a camp for boys and girls who live in Nebraska or Kansas and who are in grades 2-8.

The camp is being run by head coach Jeff Gross and some of the McCook Bison championship staff. Many of the current and past Bison players have been lending a hand, also.

"The current and past players take pride in their program and they would like to pass this on to the next generation of football players," Gross said. "McCook Bison football operates on one main philosophy -- 'we are one' -- and this is an opportunity to be a part of our football family."

The young players are being taught by some successful football players and coaches. The Bisons finished 12-1 in 2005 and were Class-B runner-ups. They won the championship in 2002 and 2003 and placed second in 2004.

The players at the camp are being taught beginning fundamentals of playing football, such as receiving, passing, cutting, running, kicking, punting, tackling and blocking.

For additional details about the camp, click link below...

Read more...

June 8, 2006 16:12 - Improve Football Flexibility and Prevent Injuries

Warming up prior to practice and games is vital for keeping football players from getting injured. If you don't get stretched out properly, you leave yourself more open to muscle or ligament injuries.

One of the first things you want to do before stretching is to get your body warmed up. Stretching cold muscles can be dangerous. Think of it like stretching a rubber band too far. If your muscles are cold and tight, you may pull or tear something. Also, after a few games, many players will be a little dinged up and need to get the blood going so they can deal better with the pain of having a few bumps and bruises. Remember, playing with a little pain is a requirement for any football player at any level.

So start out with some cardio to get the blood flowing. Nothing too strenuous, start by lightly jogging in place while swinging your arms a bit. Then do some jumping jacks to further the warm-up process.

Once you get the blood pumping and your heart rate increased, your muscles are receiving more blood and are ready to be stretched. Now, go into your regular stretching routine.

June 13, 2006 21:23 - Ben Roethlisberger Lucky

Ben Roethlisberger gave us a good scare yesterday with his motorcycle accident. When the news first broke, it sounded like he could have had some serious damage to his body. While a broken jaw, nose and missing teeth are very serious injuries, Roethlisberger is lucky he wasn't paralyzed or left with brain damage.

When you consider his head hit the windshield of the car he hit and then he hit the ground head-first, he's extremely lucky that his wounds weren't worse.

Everyone's prayers go out to him and his family. However, one can't help wonder why in the world he refused to wear a helmet while riding his motorcycle in the first place. He should know that no matter how careful he is, someone else can cause the accident. It's just like the football field. He can be as careful as possible, but things happen that you don't expect to happen.

Here's hoping he recovers fully and doesn't experience any problems physically or mentally on the football field from this. I just hope he reconsiders very strongly his views on riding motorcycles. If he ever does get back up on one, he better put that helmet on.

Of course, the wisest future choice would be to stick to a car for his rides. At least until his playing days are over. He's fortunate his playing days weren't put to an end in yesterday's accident.

Get well, Ben.

June 15, 2006 17:43 - Wrong Choices Very Different For Henry & Roethlisberger

It's good to see that Ben Roethlisberger is OK and, apparently, has learned a life lesson the hard way. Here's what he had to say today:

"In the past few days, I have gained a new perspective on life. By the grace of God, I am fortunate to be alive, surrounded by loved ones and lifted by the prayers and support of so many... I recognize that I have a responsibility to safeguard my health in the offseason so I can continue to lead our team effectively... I am committed to a complete and timely recovery."

Here's to hoping he can get back on the field soon.

On another note, how many times should a troubled athlete be given a second chance? Or, in Chris Henry's case, of the Cincinnati Bengals, how about four chances?

This guy has been arrested four times since December. That's four times in six months! This young man obviously needs help with life. Get him off the football field and get him the help he needs.

He's a high draft choice and he'll get all the chances in the world. It's too bad. He needs help with getting his life in shape and the whole thing sends the wrong message to young kids - As long as you're a good athlete, we'll let you do whatever you please.

Let's hope the NFL or some judge does more than slaps him on the wrist. He won't like it, but years from now, you'll see an interview with him where he's saying he's glad someone finally stopped him and got him the help he needed.

June 17, 2006 16:24 - Two-Minute Offense Thoughts

How many times have you seen a team completely blow their chances at scoring in the last two minutes of either half because they weren't properly prepared to run the two-minute offense?

As a coach, you need to take this aspect of your preparation very seriously. This could mean the difference of winning or losing a tight game. Take the time necessary to prepare your quarterback and the rest of the offense for these situations.

Prepare a series of plays that your offense will go to in the last two minutes. This way, your quarterback can call two or three plays that can be run quickly until you have a chance to stop the clock. If your offense has practiced this series until it becomes automatic, you can develop a deadly two-minute offense.

Time and number of timeouts will affect your calls, but, generally, out patterns to your wideouts or swing passes to your backs are good here because they then have a good chance to get out of bounds. Hooks or curls to wideouts, or delayed patterns to your backs can be useful if you have enough timeouts.

Usually, the defense will play prevent and allow all these underneath patterns that give you decent yardage each play. If the defense starts to shut off the out patterns and you have enough timeouts, you can then do some serious damage with a pass down the middle or a quick trap or draw play.

Get your team good at understanding how to make maximum use of your time in the last two minutes and watch them go in for a late score.

June 18, 2006 14:53 - Basics of Contact

Teaching the correct position for hitting is one of the first things youth football coaches should do. Contact is a vital part of the game and kids need to learn the proper skills from the beginning.
Here are some ideas you'll want to get across to your players:

• Keep the head up with the back arched a bit
• Use the legs to supply the power needed to drive the body through the player being tackled
• Hit up and through the player. This means the head must be higher than the shoulders, the shoulders higher than the hips, the hips higher than the knees, and the knees higher than the ankles. This is the rule no matter where the contact is made on the opponent

By hitting up and through the ball carrier, the tackler puts more of the opponent's weight on himself, which makes the opponent weigh less than the tackler. The tackler now has more weight on his feet than the ball carrier.

Another key aspect to hitting is to be off-balance in a forward direction in order to gain the necessary force to knock the opponent back.

June 20, 2006 00:11 - Scout For A Possible Punt Block

When scouting other teams, be sure to take a good look at the opponent's punting game. Is the center slow in getting the snap back to the punter? Is the center delivering inaccurate snaps to the punter on a regular basis? Does the punter take more than two steps before punting or just take a long time to get the kick off?

If you find that these questions are answered yes, you may have the makings of a game breaking special teams play when you play these guys. Get the team prepared to block a punt.

Since the football is kicked about three yards in front of where the punter began the play, aim for a spot about four or five yards in front of that starting point. Since this is about eight or nine yards behind the center, figure that you have just under two seconds to get to the optimum blocking point.

You can employ a rush from either side or right up the middle. Try to stack up the area you're attacking so there are more rushers than blockers. If you can confuse the blockers into blocking the wrong man, you can get a free rusher attacking the punt.

A good tip is to teach one defender to charge right at the center. Many centers will get rattled into a bad snap or not be able to recover for proper blocking technique and allow his man to come in clean on his punter.

June 20, 2006 21:57 - Your Snap Count

The first thing your snap count is trying to accomplish is to get all the offensive players off the line at the same time without any penalties driving you backwards.

There was a study by Dr. Fred Miller that showed that a three-count snap count was more effective than a one or two count snap. The three-count allows the offensive line to fire out faster.

So, if you currently are using a "hike" or "go" count, or a "hut two" count, you may want to change to a "re-dee-go" and see if Dr. Miller's results work as effectively for your team as they did in the study.

After you have the snap count fundamentally down, then you can go about trying to trick the defense into an offsides penalty. It's probably best, especially with young players, to stay consistent with your count. But, once in awhile, you can go on a later count to try and get the defenders to go offsides. If they have gotten used to your snap count, this will likely get them.

Or, you can go on an earlier count and try to attack them before they are ready for you.

June 22, 2006 16:33 - Jets QB Situation A Disturbing One

In my opinion, Brian Schottenheimer, the Jets new offensive coordinator this year, has a bit of a problem at the quarterback position. Sure, he has four prospects to choose from, but how excited should he and head coach Eric Mangini really be about these guys?

They've got Chad Pennington, Patrick Ramsey, Kellen Clemens and Brooks Bollinger on the roster. The only one who's proven himself as a solid NFL quarterback is Pennington, but he's been hurt for most of the last two seasons. And his shoulder injury isn't an easy one to come back from. He tried last year and just ended up re-injuring it. There's no guarantee he'll be back as the same type of player he used to be.

Ramsey came in a trade from the Washington Redskins this spring. A former No. 1 pick, he's never shown he's going to ever develop into a solid starting QB. Then you have Clemens and Bollinger. Bollinger played maybe OK in relief of Pennington last year and Clemen's a rookie.

When asked if he had an ideal date for when he wants to make a decision, Schottenheimer hedged. "Would you love to put a date on it? Probably," he said. "But however long it takes to determine who the guy's going to be is what we're going to do. We're not going to rush this decision."

My feeling is that if Pennington truly recovers and is healthy, the New York Jets will be fine. If he can't come back, I've got a bad feeling regarding the Jets chances at competing at a high level this year on offense.

June 23, 2006 16:36 - I See Positive Things For The New Orleans Saints This Year

The New Orleans Saints should show an improvement this fall. The Saints have a new head coach who spent time learning under Bill Parcells in Sean Payton. They added defensive tackle Hollis Thomas from the Philadelphia Eagles, wide receiver Bethel Johnson from the New England Patriots, and center Jeff Faine from the Cleveland Browns.

Those three players and Payton should help with making a positive impact on the team’s results for the upcoming season. But the two players who have New Orleans the most excited are Drew Brees and Reggie Bush.

Bush is going to be a lot of fun to watch. He can score from anywhere on the field. He can line up at running back and run the ball or catch passes out of the backfield. Or, the Saints can line him up at wide receiver. Bush can also be a major threat on special teams when he returns punts. I have a feeling there will be quite a few defenders looking silly this fall trying to catch him.

The fact that Deuce McAllister is back to health again just adds to the possibilities. Opposing teams will have to defend the bruising style of McAllister and then try to stop Bush’s speed.

The wild card right now is Brees. As long as he can come out of training camp completely healed and ready to play at his previous level of play, the Saints should be improved on offense this season. The fans have reason to be excited in New Orleans.

June 24, 2006 00:43 - Ricky Williams Held To 14 Yard In Second Outing

Last week, Ricky Williams rolled to a 97 yard performance in his Toronto Argonauts beating of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. In his Canadian Football League debut, he played well and his Argonauts won 27-17.

However, Williams' second football game in the CFL didn't go quite as well. While the Toronto Argonauts were losing 16-9 to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Ricky Williams only managed to rush for 14 yards. As if to add insult to injury, his passing stats read: one reception for one measly yard.

After the game, Williams said, "The way the game was going, a running back doesn't get touches unless the offense gets some kind of rhythm and they didn't allow us to get any kind of rhythm. When I do get touches, I've got to do a better job making more out of them."

Although Ricky Williams is still a good football player, he must perform better when he enters his third CFL game than he did last night. I'm sure that is what will happen. Ricky Williams should play better and end up having a great season over-all. It should be interesting to check out his next game to see if he does return to his normal form.

June 26, 2006 17:37 - For The Washington Redskins, Jason Campbell Is Having Trouble Waiting To Be #1

The Washington Redskins’ Jason Campbell was drafted in 2005 in the first round of the NFL Draft. Immediately, people were anointing him the Redskins’ QB "savior" . As of today, though, his rise to the starting quarterback position has yet to happen.

Patrick Ramsey started the first game last season. When he struggled early, coach Joe Gibbs went with Mark Brunell in the second half. At the time, most insiders felt that Brunell should retire. Instead, he played well the whole year and surprised everyone by leading Washington to a Wild-Card playoff spot.

Campbell’s chances at starting this year don't look good. Coach Gibbs has promised him a lot of snaps during training camp and the pre-season, but once the season starts, it's expected that Brunell will still be the starter.

Of course, Campbell is frustrated being in the position of clipboard holder: "To tell you the truth," Campbell said, "it's hard to remember sometimes the last game I played in that actually counted for something. Every player, especially a quarterback, wants that competitive edge. Right now, my competitive edge comes from competing with myself to get myself as ready as I can be for when the day comes that I'm the guy again... Every snap you get in practice, well, you'd like to think it brings you one step closer [to playing]..."

It’s good to see that he has a good attitude about the whole situation. After all, there are a lot of Ryan Leaf-type examples of QB's who got thrown to the wolves early and couldn't handle it. Conversely, there are many successful cases like Steve McNair or Carson Palmer who waited a season or two before getting their shots at starting in the NFL.

He may not like it today, but I get a feeling that in ten years or so, Jason Campbell will be happy that he was able to learn some before getting the starting QB position for the Washington Redskins.

June 27, 2006 10:54 - Will J.P. Losman Turn Into A Quality NFL QB For The Buffalo Bills?

I'm interested to see how J.P. Losman performs in 2006 for the Buffalo Bills at the quarterback position. In the 2005 training camp he was named the starter from the get-go by former head coach Mike Mularkey. Many veterans on the Bills' roster weren't happy with the decision. They wanted a QB battle to determine the starter.

Losman says there was a battle: "There was a lot of competition going on last year in training camp whether people said it or not," said Losman. "It just seemed that everyone was rolling with it and was fine with it until we got in game situations and a change was made and that's just the way it goes sometimes."

While he may be trying to save face a bit, it's true that he struggled when the season started. He started the first four games of the 2005 season, but was replaced twice in those games. Ultimately, he was replaced by Kelly Holcomb and struggled in a way that is typical of most young NFL quarterbacks.

So far, Losman is enjoying the coaching he's getting from new coach Dick Jauron's staff. "I've always been coached hard in high school and college with two very, very tough coaches to play for and it taught me a lot," he said. "Last year I really didn't get coached as hard as I normally did. It was kind of cool at first, but I don't know. They're coaching me hard right now and it seems like it's working so let's keep it up."

Throughout the off-season, reports indicate that Losman is throwing with accuracy and confidence. He may have a chance to develop into the player the Buffalo Bills thought they were getting initially if he continues developing in training camp and the pre-season. Regular season game situations are completely different than off-season workout programs, but it seems Losman has a chance to really earn the starting Buffalo Bills' starting QB job for '06.

June 28, 2006 11:57 - Ed Reed Gets 6 Year Extension From Ravens

Any team eyeing Ed Reed from afar hoping for a chance to grab him from the Baltimore Ravens next year in free agency will now have to look elsewhere.

Reed will sign the six year extension soon. The new deal will take him through the 2012 season and is worth $40 million. Reed was drafted by the Ravens in the first round of the 2002 NFL Draft and the 2006 season was set to be his last according to his original four year contract.

"It's one less thing for him to worry about," general manager Ozzie Newsome said. "He knows he is going to be here for the long-term now, and is part of the plans in the big picture, and he can devote his energies now to football matters and to being the playmaker he has always been for us."

As part of the new deal, Ed Reed will receive a $15 million signing bonus and become one of the highest paid safeties in the league.

Reed is a player who has earned his keep as he's averaged 89 tackles, seven interceptions and 16.3 passes defensed over his first three seasons in the NFL. In 2004, he led the entire league with nine interceptions and is generally regarded around the NFL as one of, if not the best safeties playing today.