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Motivating Athletes for Football | Quick Clinic 236

Do Your Players Want to Win?

It’s a big source of frustration for football coaches. Motivating athletes who seemingly don’t want to win. Or they don’t seem willing to work hard enough to achieve that goal, even if they do want it.

Football coaches need to take a step back and stop blaming athletes, parents, administration or society for this big time issue though. You are a football coach. You signed up for this job to coach. To find ways to win when it isn’t easy. Continue reading “Motivating Athletes for Football | Quick Clinic 236”

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Counter Trey Run Play | FBCP S08E04

Run Behind Your Best Linemen

I live in Virginia now, and around here the Counter Trey has a certain aura about it. It’s the play most closely associated with the Joe Gibbs era Washington teams that had a dominant rushing attack in the 1980s.

This episode of The Football Coaching Podcast continues our deep dive series by looking at the origins of the Counter Trey run play, then breaking down how to run the play and how your defense can stop it. Continue reading “Counter Trey Run Play | FBCP S08E04”

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Screen Pass Defense | Quick Clinic 234

Change Your Thinking on Defending Screen Plays

Defending screen passes is tough. Good offensive coordinators are setting you up all game long to hit a big screen play. It’s a great way for them to get an athlete in space who’s hard to bring down, too.

The secret to defending screen passes starts with removing that word. Stop thinking about a screen pass as a pass. Continue reading “Screen Pass Defense | Quick Clinic 234”

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Double A Gap Blitz: Deep Dive | FBCP S08E02

Where did the Double A Gap Blitz start?

This week’s episode of The Football Coaching Podcast continues the deep dive look into individual play calls in football. We’re looking at some of the most popular calls in football today, and throughout the history of the game.

Each podcast looks at the origins of the call first, discovering where it came from. While blitzing the A gaps has probably been around since the first team ran a 40 front, the actual scheme is credited in Blood, Sweat and Chalk to Jim Johnson beginning in the late 1990’s. Continue reading “Double A Gap Blitz: Deep Dive | FBCP S08E02”

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Zone Read Option Play | FBCP S08E01

Deep Dive on the Zone Read Option Play

Season 8 of The Football Coaching Podcast is focusing on deep dives on individual play calls, so what better play to start with than the Zone Read? In fact, we’ve come full circle – Zone Read Option was the topic on the very first episode of the podcast back in 2012!

The deep dive series will take a look at play calls from every angle. We look at the origins of the play, the details of execution, how to attack or defend the play, and how to evaluate and evolve the play within your playbook. Continue reading “Zone Read Option Play | FBCP S08E01”

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How Much Man Coverage? | Quick Clinic 232

Man Coverage Takes Work!

No matter how good your athletes are, playing a great man coverage package takes a lot of work. Just like any other coverage you’re going to have to put in a lot of time getting the technique just right.

And if you have great athletes running man coverage with poor technique, you might really be taking away from their ability. In this episode, we take a look at how much man coverage to run when you have a great set of Defensive Backs. Continue reading “How Much Man Coverage? | Quick Clinic 232”

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5 Steps to Evaluate Football Plays | FBCP S08E00

A Process for Fixing Your Football Plays

The season kicks off and that call you’ve been working on for 6 months just is not working. Run plays, passing concepts, blitzes, stunts or coverages. Whatever it is… it’s not working.

This is the 5 step process to evaluate that football play call before you just kick it to the curb. You’re always smarter in February than you are in September and October (or whenever your season happens this year!), so let’s figure out what the problem is! Continue reading “5 Steps to Evaluate Football Plays | FBCP S08E00”

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3 Huge Linebacker Stance Mistakes | Quick Clinic 231

Linebacker Stance Errors That Slow Your Defense Down

Coaching the linebacker stance for your defense seems like such a simple thing. Feet apart, squat down, eyes up, back flat… you know the basic coaching cues.

But I see a lot of coaches making just a handful of mistakes that really cost your defense. You may not even know it. Continue reading “3 Huge Linebacker Stance Mistakes | Quick Clinic 231”

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Expanding Your Playbook with Option Football | FBCP S07E23

If You Can’t Block ’em, Read ’em

There’s an old saying among option football coaches. OK, really it’s among all football coaches… mostly old football coaches.

If you can’t block ’em, read ’em.

Pretty simple. When you don’t have anybody that can take that guy 1 on 1, you always have another option. Continue reading “Expanding Your Playbook with Option Football | FBCP S07E23”

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Half-Slide Pass Protection Adjustment | Quick Clinic 230

Does It Matter Where the Back Goes?

I’ve done a lot of experimenting with different schemes, but half-slide pass protection has been the primary protection scheme in the Pistol Power Offense for several years. It just makes sense with what we do.

That’s the critical key. It makes sense with what we do.

The protection scheme is intricately tied into the entire passing scheme. The check release by the back is critical to the Quarterback’s trigger reads. Continue reading “Half-Slide Pass Protection Adjustment | Quick Clinic 230”