mlbryant

Box Drill Six Cones and 2 -3 footballs Place two cones in a line about 12-15 yards apart. In between these cones and 3-5 yards to either the left or the right of the line between the first two cones, make a 3 x 3 yard box. Split the players in the drill into two lines behind the two first cones. One line is the ball carrier and one line is the tackler. On the whistle, the first player in the ball carrier line and the first player in the tackler line race to get inside the box. The ball carrier can make any football move inside the box and the tackler must bring the running back down beofre the running back can exit the box from the opposite side he./she entered. X is cone - used for spacing X - - - - -----X----X - - -----X----X - - - - X Rotate sides of the box each day you run the drill to work tackling from differnt sides

Unless your league has a specific rule stating you can't unbalance the offensive line, it is legal in football. Yes, you can split out an end in an unbalanced line and he is an eligible receiver. Actually, the last man and only the last man on either side of the offensive line is the eligible receiver. If you need two or more receivers on one side of the line, the remaining receivers must be in the backfield. Upto 4 players can be in the backfield. Hope this helps

We have had a similar problem; backs not completing down field blocks. Our blast plays were blocked fine by our backs inside the tackles; however, our plays outside the tackles needed serious work. The plays I wanted to focus on were blocking for our sweeps and crash sweeps. The main defensive positions in these plays are the near side corner and defensive end, linebacker, and safety. I brought over the starting kids in those positions. Without an offensive line, we ran each of our sweeps and discussed what went wrong/right with how each back executed his block. By eliminating the offensive line and minimizing the defense to just the players involved in the downfield scheme, we were better able to isolate and fix our shortcomings. Here are some of my findings: The backs knew who to hit, just didn't execute well most times If the blocking back went after his block with a "full head of steam", he typically missed terribly The closer the ball carrier was to the lead blocker on a sweep, the better the block (actually this is true for blast plays on linebackers as well) Downfield blocking is the most difficult in football. It is imperative that the ball carrier helps the down field blocker; particularly with the corner. If the ball carrier is close to the lead blocker responsible for blocking the corner, the block is much more effective. This took a little work to demonstrate, but once we implemented this our blocking improved dramatically. The rationale: the defensive player needs to get near the ball carrier to tackle him and will try and avoid the blocker by movement. The closer the distance between the blocker and the ball carrier the smaller amount of area the defender can use to "dance" around the block without taking himself out of the play. Also, If the ball carrier makes a cut that forces or tempts the corner to commit himself closer to the blocker, the block is much more effective. if the blocking back is shown the importance of just getting a body on the defensive player rather than trying to drive block, the block is much more effective. Hope this helps

As far as I know, once the punt cleared the LOS, and your team touched the ball, it became a live ball and whomever recovers, gets 1st and ten. That's the way I understand it as well. Think of the muffed punt as a turnover

Be careful with the "team" type consequences. If the team runs a lap because of the problem child and the team is already in a moral low, you may find that the team will start to lash out against him causing even more problems. I use team consequences for ordinary penalties like a hold or an offsides, but not for a discipline or respect lapse; it may breed hostility.

For future occurences, hopefully you and other coaches will be fortunate not to have any, you may want to approach the board about its policies and procedures. They should probably have something in their by-laws regarding this topic. Ours covers the problem you are having but also fighting, game ejections, and spectator issues.

First of all, I believe this can be a severe moral problem for the team and thus needs correction. This is also a difficult area because we are the coaches, not the parents of every player. Avoid physical punishments; no hitting, etc., but do punish negative actions. My first course of action would be to set up a dialog between you, the parents of the child with the child present, and any team officials (for instance, our team is part of a collection of teams with different age groups and thus we have a board with members). My next course of action would be to have a team meeting with parents and players to inform them of your thoughts/rules for discipline and proper behavior. I would explain the consequences associated with bad behavior and the rewards associated with proper behavior. After setting the expectations and consequences/rewards, it is vital that these be followed through with, justly. Do not single out just the problem player, but any player who is acting in a like manner. I think suitable disciplinary actions are runs (we call them "trips to the pole" because the player is running from one end of the field to the goal post at the other end), up-downs, leg-lifts, or the "dead cockroach" (player lays on back with legs and arms straight up in the air). The "dead cockroach" actually works pretty well because it is offers a fairly decent dose of humility. Fortunately in our league, our by-laws address this issue very well. After the matter has been discussed with the board and parents, the player is probationary. If the matter persists, first, playing time penalties are assessed, but if the matter behavior will not improve, the player is disqualified from the team (this is never on a whim or a 2nd or 3rd offense, but rather in more extreme cases). Hope this helps

If you are limited to a 6 man front, I would suggest something I call a 6-3 wide. Lemme try and diagram this in ASCII Offense (Power I Right) then defense (6-3 wide) -------------------------B------------------------- ------------------------FB--B--------------------- ------------------------QB------------------------ ----------LE--LT--LG--C--RG--RT--RE---------- ----DE--DT-------NT------NT-------DT--DE---- -----------------LB-----------LB------------------ CB-------------------MLB----------------------CB NT have A Gap responsibility and play heads up on the guard. DT have C Gap responsibility and play heads up on the ends. They are coached to hit the offensive ends before taking up residence in the C gap. LB have B gap responsibility and can be blitzed (have the heads up NT hit the offensive tackle; most likely at this age, the guards will still try and block the NT (blocking rules) and the LB can blitz the A gap. DE shouldn't be blocked, have containment and D gap repsonsibility. MLB is a monster, place him where you think you'll need help

I have to fully concur with Jack. It is too easy to quit when the going gets tough. Sticking it out could give your son more pride and self confidence that will help him in all of life; not just sports

Let's see... lot's to talk about now. It is pretty obvious you are on the side of the fence with a child that doesn't play as much as you'd like. And while I can sympathize with your plight, I feel a number of your arguments lack validity, at least from a football perspective. For example, as brought out earlier, football is a team contact sport. This isn't baseball or basketball, where the lack of inability simply decreases the chances the tem will win. In football, an inexperienced child can cause injury to his teamates. Take out an experienced lineman and place a child that refuses to block and see what happens. Maybe not the first play or the second, but it will happen that the defensive coach will see that and place his stud linebacker on a blitz through that hole. Now you have a QB who is unprotected, and turned around to hand the ball or looking down field to pass; he's blind-sided. If he's injured and I have seen it happen several times (thus I don't need a study to show me any statistics) who is at fault, the injured child, the child that was inexperienced, or the coach that "makes it fun". Did your coaching degree give you insight to explain your decision to the parents of the hurt child? How fun is it to miss the rest of the season because you were injured? You mention this is done in ice hockey. I have played and coached ice hockey for 12 years. Ice hockey isn't football. If I miss or refuse to check my man on the ice, he gets by me with the puck and maybe scores. If I miss my block or refuse to make my block, I can injure a team mate. How often did the ice hockey coach mix up the lines (i.e. subbing one kid in for another in the middle of a game). You can't do that either with much success in ice hockey; players need to be able to know and depend on the man beside them on their line. My job first and foremost is to ensure my kids are safe. End of story. I walk the field before practice looking for rocks and debris that could injure my kids. I check each kids shoulder pads, helmets and ensure they are wearing the appropriate pads in their pants. I performed the fit of every player's equipment on handout day. On hot days, we break every 15 minutes for fluids and I watch my kids for symptoms of a heat related illness. I will also play weaker kids in positions where they cannot injure themselves or their team mates. Secondly, I never sell football to my parents as just a way to have fun. I explain that football takes hard work and lot's of it. It takes talent and heart to win a football game; the fun comes from knowing that you left nothing on thefield; a sense of pride. This isn't a sport where the talents of the indivdual can shine without the support of his team mates. It is a complete team effort; when one man let's down, the team is weakened for that play. I am open and communcative to my parents. When they have a question about playing time or what their child can do to improve, I tell them as honestly as I can. I work harder with my poorer players than I do my stars. It is always my goal to improve each player on the team. Lastly, what kind of message do I send to the kids? Hard work, dedication, and skill have their rewards. If you don't measure up, work harder; improve yourself become better if that's what you truly want. I am not out to destroy a child's confidence, but I won't inflate it either. What message would you send out? Don't beat yourself to death working; it's irrelevant. You will play just as much as any other child on the team because you are entitled to, not by your actions, but by simply showing up.

Yeah, this is a tough topic. I coach my youngest son's team and I have for 3 years. One thing I can comment on that is a bit unique to the other replies is I notice that I am much harder and demand more from my son than other players. My assistants have sons on the team too and they are equally harder on their own sons than on the other players. One other thought. Sometimes you get parents that believe the coachs' sons get the best treatment. I wonder if they realize that I have to consult a game film to see a majority of my sons playing time.

Boys are generally ultra competitive. If there is a reward/punishment (i.e. a discernible winner and loser), I have found that the participation spikes amazingly upwards. If I am scrimmaging offense against defense (usually first team O against a 12 man defense), I make a game out of it. If the offense fails to get 10 yards in 3 or 4 plays, the defense has the option of making the offense do 10 up-downs, 10 leg lifts, or a run to the far fence and back. If the defense let's up a touchdown (read as a longer than 15 yard play), the offense gets the same choice for the defense. Scrimmages become much more energetic and game-like.

In a competitive league, the coach is in a catch 22. In our league, there is a championship game played in the stadium of a Division I NCAA school; in other words a really big deal for the kids. There are 15 teams competing for 2 spots for this game. So here is the catch: Team Goal [a] - Winning isn't Everything - Tell the kids winning isn't important and all kids play equally. We are here to have fun and learn. Parents of kids with little ability want this and will confront you if you choose team goal . This goal is more than fair to kids that have little or no ability, but is it fair for the kids that have the most ability in the league? Team Goal - We play for Championships - We are going to play the kids we need to play in order to win. All kids will get a minimum number of plays, but the kids that put out the most and show the most ability get to play more. Parents of kids with loads of ability want this and will confront you if you choose team goal [a]. This goal is most fair to the kids that have ability because it gives them the best chance to play in the reward game. I, personally, adopt the team goal for a couple of reasons, but I have been on both sides of the argument. My oldest son is much better at hockey than football and was usually a minimum play player. I wish he would have had better abilities, but the fact of the matter is that he didn't. He did get to play in the championship game twice in 5 years. My youngest son, though a little small and just above average speed has an uncanny ability to avoid tackles and gain yards (maybe one time in ten does he fail to get atleast 4 yards on a carry). So I can feel for both types of parents. I have a team this year that has probably the most individual talent of any team in the league. I cannot tell these boys that their talent, their work, and their heart are meaningless (e.g. everyone plays equal regardless of ability, work, or dedication). Kids are very perceptive. The good kids with strong abilities will become very frustrated and quit trying on a [a] team. Kids with little ability could adopt a similar quitting attitude on a team, but if coached and encouraged properly, they could find reward in their efforts. If the question is one more of team moral, can a team that loses regularly really have high moral just because everyone plays the same? I'll bet the kids with above average ability will snap at the weaker kids (whether or not on the football field) and may even hit extra hard in drills. Just my two cents, I'll get off the soap box now.

We have a similar rule in our league, but the number of minimum plays is dependent on the number of kids on the roster. In evaluting my team, I have a few kids who play two ways, several kids that play primarily one way, a small number of kids that can sub on either side of the ball, and 2 or 3 minimum play players. I need to be able to coach in the game and not focus on getting kids in and out. To help, here is what I have found to be effective. A second complete offense equal skill substituions on the line substitution plan someone not on the coaching staff recording players and plays 1. I have a complete second team offense that can run a simplified version of my playbook (basically 6-8 plays). Sometime in the middle of the 2nd quarter, I will run the second team offense for 1 series. Barring a trunover, this achieves the minimum plays for most of my non-starters and if they are successful in getting the first down, their play time increases. If the game is out of hand in the 4th, the second team offense gets additional series. 2. I have a pair of tackles that are fairly equal in ability on the first team offense. These kids split playing time 3. You have to develop a substitution plan. Mine is when to put the second offense in, what plays/situations can I make a minor substitution on offense or defense, and when do I take time from coaching to examine my responsibilites in meeting the leagues minimum plays (halftime, and between the 3rd and 4th quarter) 4. I have a team mom that has a modified roster (I remove all the two players and players that will see a bulk of playing time). Each play, she puts a tick in the row for each player in on the play. I look over this list at halftime and between the 3rd and 4th quarters. One final suggestion. You really need to explain your subsitution / minimum playing time policy with the parents. Although this won't alleviate all complaints, it will satisfy most. I am not a big fan of changing wholesale on the defense. Look at it this way. If you use a second team offense and the kids can't block or run, you are three and out; however, if your second team defense can't play their position and/or tackle, you will most likely give up a score.

While it may not be helpful in your case, my O-line seems to be a tad more sluggish than I`d like. This sluggishness is allowing the d line to brutalize my backs. Needless to say, my backs aren`t happy, so tonight I am letting the backs ventue down to the linemen`s individual blocking practice to face off against the linemen. My backs are a bit more experienced in some cases and are wanting to beat on the line to show them how to fire off the ball. Tennis ball drill has helped some, but I still want more progress.

Here is a good read that may help you. http://www.johntreed.com/fttsnap.html

Here is the rough draft of mine: General Information Team Rules and Policies Minimum Plays The Barboursville Youth Football League has a minimum play policy all coaches are required to follow. You will be provided with a handout that will discuss the particulars for the policy. The minimum play policy is a two-sided agreement. On the parent side, the player must be present and participate in all of the weekly practices. On the coach side, if a player has been present and participated in all weekly practices, the coach will play that player at least a set number of plays. The number of plays is dependent upon the size of the team roster. For example, for a team with a roster size of 19 – 21, the minimum play amount is 4 plays per player. The Barboursville Youth Football League minimum play policy is only in affect during the pre-season and regular season. It is not in affect during the post-season. Barboursville is one of the few leagues in the Tri-State Football League to have a minimum play policy. Discipline Discipline is rarely a problem on the teams I have been involved with. This is more a reflection on the children I have been fortunate to coach than on any of my abilities. That being said, there are occasions when discipline can become a problem. I wanted to explain my views and procedures. The most common discipline breakdown is one or more players acting out against one or more other players. This includes taunting, bullying, and fighting. Generally, a pair or a few of the players will take a cheap shot at one another or push each other. The coaching staff will send the guilty parties on a “trip to the pole” (the player(s) will be told to run to the opposite goal post and back). This handles 99.9% of these types of problems. If the infraction is a more severe (e.g. fist fighting, obscenities, etc.), the coaching staff will need to speak with one of the parents to find a proper course of action. It is very important to remember that the reason we have extracurricular activities, such as football, is for the enjoyment of the players and parents. We don’t need the discipline of a military unit, just a little respect for each other. Communication I cannot stress enough how important it is for you, the parent, to feel free to come to me to address any concerns or questions you may have. The only requests I will ask of you is (1) try to talk with me either before/after practice or during a break and (2) if there is something serious to discuss, let’s not do it in front of the players of the team. Please feel free to talk to me any way you are more comfortable; in person, on the phone, or through email. I will try to make all announcements at the end of each practice; however, there are times when I have to make more immediate contact. Generally, this will be done as a phone call from one of the coaching staff (coaches or team moms). This isn’t a common occurrence, but does happen when adverse weather is forcing the cancellation of a practice or game. Fundraising You will be asked to participate in two type of fundraising for your child. The first is from the Barboursville Youth Football League. This fundraising helps the league maintain or purchase the player/team equipment and uniforms. All players and cheerleaders for all teams in the Barboursville Youth Football League will participate in this fundraising. The second is “D” team fundraising. This fundraising is only for “D” team football players. These funds are used to pay for the end of the year banquet, player banquet gifts, and miscellaneous team expenses. Practice Schedule Until school starts, the “D” team will practice Monday through Friday at the Barboursville Youth Football Field. Practice will begin at 6:00 PM. It is important to have your son or daughter at the field properly equipped and ready to practice at the start of practice. Practice will last approximately two hours. Once the school year officially begins, the “D” team practice schedule will change. We will practice on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday at 5:30 PM until approximately 7:30 PM. During the first week of the season, we will be practicing in helmet, cleats, and shorts. This is the two week conditioning period. All players must complete a two week conditioning period before they are able to participate in a full contact (full pads) practice. If your child is absent from practice during this time, he/she will not be able to participate in full contact, but rather in helmet, shorts, and cleats until he/she has completed two weeks of conditioning. The “D” team practice is made up of three activities: conditioning, drills, and scrimmage. Conditioning We will begin each practice with a series of conditioning and stretching exercises. The practice will begin with a small run. After the warm-up run, we will stretch the major muscle areas to help protect against injury. After stretching, we will begin the conditioning portion of the practice. Our conditioning will consist of leg lifts, bellies (A.K.A. up-downs), and wind sprints. Wind sprints will consist of three types of sprints – sprints for agility, sprints for improving speed, and sprints for conditioning. The conditioning session will last approximately 20 minutes and concludes with a water break. Drills After conditioning we will begin the drill phase. Typically, we will separate into two different groups – Linemen and Backs/Receivers. Linemen drills will consist of blocking, fighting off blocks, blocking schemes, and tackling. Backs/Receiver drills will consist of executing the offensive plays, receiving drills, hand off drills, and pass coverage drills. We will also work on tackling drills as a single unit. These drills will focus on open field tackling, sideline tackling, and team tackling. The purpose of the drills is to teach football fundamentals specific to player positions. Drills are typically full contact and full speed. The drills portion of the practice will be approximately 40 – 60 minutes long with water breaks approximately every 20 minutes. Scrimmage The scrimmage portion of the practice is designed to simulate a game environment for either the offensive or defensive unit. There are two types of scrimmages we will use in practice intra-squad scrimmage and inter-squad scrimmage. In an intra-squad scrimmage, we will be running our offensive unit against remaining “D” team players. This can be a half line scrimmage (left or right half of the offensive line) or a full line scrimmage. We will have inter-squad scrimmages, when possible, with the “E” team (a younger team) and the “C” team (an older team). When scrimmaging against the “E” team, we will be focusing on our offensive unit. When scrimmaging against the “C” team, we will be focusing on our defensive unit. Equipment & Uniforms League Provided Protective Equipment The Barboursville Youth Football League will loan each player the following equipment: Football Helmet with chinstrap 1 pair of knee pads 1 pair of thigh pads 1 pair of hip pads 1 tail pad 1 pair of shoulder pads 1 mouthpiece This equipment is signed out prior to the beginning of practice and must be returned to the league at the conclusion of the season. Optional and Required Equipment Each player is required to wear the League Provided Protective Equipment for each and every “full pads” practice. A player can substitute his/her own equipment for the League Provided Protective Equipment provided the equipment is equivalent in protective quality. Some players replace the chinstrap of the helmet with a purchased chinstrap. Chinstraps come in several varieties. I do not have any issues with changing the chinstrap; however, I would advise against using a plastic reinforced chinstrap. Although the plastic reinforced chinstrap does provide a bit more protection to the chin than a cloth chinstrap, it does have a fairly significant disadvantage. If the helmet is dislodged during contact, the chinstrap can slip of the players chin and a plastic reinforced chinstrap can pinch the player’s neck quite painfully. This actually occurs more frequently than a child with a cloth chinstrap being injured in the chin. Some players also choose to replace the league provided mouthpiece with a mouthpiece purchased from their dentist or at a local sporting goods store. This is fine too, but I do require that the mouthpiece must have a strap that connects the mouthpiece to the player’s facemask. All mouthpieces must be sized and formed to the player’s mouth. The mouthpiece should come with instructions for doing so. It is important to follow these instructions. Each player should purchase or acquire a pair of cleats. We play in adverse conditions at times and this can make footing difficult, at best. Football or soccer cleats should be used, but any cleats will be acceptable. Some players choose to purchase forearm pads. This is fine too. These will help protect the forearms from contact while blocking and tackling. I don’t have any restrictions for using additional pads. Uniforms The Barboursville Youth Football League will loan each player one pair of game football pants. These pants are only to be worn for games. The league may have some practice pants available, but it will be the player’s responsibility for acquiring one pair of practice football pants. The player will need to purchase, through the Barboursville Youth Football League, a game jersey. These are purchased because the jersey will have the player’s last name placed on it. Jersey sizes and player number will be decided during the first week of practice. The player will need to provide his/her own practice jersey. I request that the player have at least one red practice jersey with his/her jersey number on the front and back. We will be wearing practice uniforms during the preseason scrimmage games. Outside of this, the player can wear any jersey as long as the jersey covers the shoulder pads completely.

The drills I drew out in the http://www.y-coach.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=905 forum are the drills I used with my 6 and 7 year olds last year. Don't believe that it is impossible to pass at this age. Although I didn't install the pass until after the first few games, we were very successful at passing. The keys are: > A kid that can throw 7-10 yards consistently > A kid or two that can catch the ball > Repetition, Repetition, Repetition The reason passing fails at the younger youth levels is that it is not practiced. We would practice the route we used 30 times or more each practice. Sounds like a lot, but it was reall about 6-10 minutes of work. After throwing 150 times during the week, we were throwing and catching the pass on the run and in stride. The last 3-4 games of the season, we averaged 1 touchdown pass and 60-75 yards receiving. As for where to begin, I suggest that you install a very simple offense. Mine was setup so that there was a left series (3 plays) and a right series (3 plays). Each series consisted of a blast, a counter, and a bootleg. Left told the QB to open from the left, the FB to lead block left (5 hole), the left HB to take a step left for the counter. Regardless of whether the Bootleg, the Blast, or the Counter was called, the backs all had the same responsibility (for example, the FB always lead blocks through the 5 hole on the left series and lead blocks through the 4 hole on the right series). Thus, for 6 plays, I really only installed 2. I added a couple sweeps and a full back blast and presto, I had a decent offense to start off with; where all players knew their responsibility for every play. After you have some ideas of who could play where, start working backs in one group and linemen in the other. Linemen need to learn who they are supposed to block for various defenses. First night of pads is contact night. We work several different blocking and tackling drills to teach form and to evaluate skill. Hope this helps. Please ask for more if you need/want it.

I really hate that play. At that age, the defense should be coached well to defend it and it carries high risk if they are. 2 hand offs (one with an inexperienced player) and all east-west running 5-7 yards behind the line of scrimmage. I would look at a wingback end around first that goes against the full back power (this may be your wingback counter) http://www.y-coach.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=443 http://www.y-coach.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=744

Well another Drill we use to work on blocking on the offensive side, fighting off blocks and tackling on the defensive side ^----------^ ------------- -----X------ ------------- -----X------ ^----------^ ---O--O---- ------------- ------------- -----O------ The front X, represents a defensive lineman. He can lineup anywhere between the cones, representing the line of scrimmage. The two side by side O's represent two offensive linemen. The lineup with normal offensive splits. The back X is a linebacker and the back O is the ball carrier. The defense can play heads up, shoot the gap, slant, stunt, and or blitz. The linemen must read the defense and make the right blocks. The ball carrier is told to go left, right, or up the middle.

I think, since you only have a handful of practices before the first game, that you need to cover the hole numbers night one. I don't know how you'll be able to pick a lineup and install and offense and defense in that short of time; especially if you have more than a couple of days without pads. I completely agree that you need the fundamentals. I like to start every practice with blocking and tackling fundamentals. For tackling, the drills I like are, what I call, the box drill and the pursuit drill. In the box drill, I set up cones (denoted by ^, ignore the dashes) O O O O ^ - - (7-10 yards) - -------------^-----^ - - -------------^-----^ - - (7-10 yards) - ^ X X X X The ball carrier line is the O's and the tacklers are the X's. On the whistle, both the ball carrier and the tackler race to the 4 cones making the box. The ball carrier can do anything to avoid the tackle in the box, but has to pass through it. The tackler, using proper form, executes the tackle in the box. For the pursuit drill, OOOO>----------------------------------> - - - - ^ X X X X The ball carrier line is the O's and the tacklers are the X's. On the whistle, the ball carrier runs a straight line to the far cone and the tackler must find a line of pursuit to tackle the ball carrier before he reaches the far cone. For explosion off the line, we are going to try a drill suggested to me, called the tennis ball drill. http://www.infosports.com/football/arch/2518.htm I would install a simple offense and defense that I could build on as I had more practice. Maybe power I or wing T, although at the young ages I coach, it would be the full house. I'd think a blast or two, a sweep, a counter, and maybe a simple pass would be about all that could get installed in such a short time. For defense, 5-3 or 6-2. I know there are a lot of professional coaches who would push for the GAM or Gap-8, but I don't think the time would allow it. Focusing on responsibilities is paramount. Just my 2 cents

Our league starts at 6-7 year olds. Last year, I was the head coach for that level, called "E" team. Before the seaon began, I looked for resources and found some, but a lot was geared for kids older than 8. I built my own system and implemented it. We had a really great season; going 10-0. One of the things I did was to make the offensive and defensive responsibilities as easy as possible. I only installed a couple of plays at a time and we worked over them repeptitously until the kids knew them cold. Only after we could run all the existing plays cold and erorr free, did we install any extra. My advice is to start with a single offensive formation, a very small play book that allows each back one (or maybe two) running plays, and a simplified blocking scheme. As far as numbering backs. The way they are numbered changes from coach to coach, but generally, the QB is back number 1. All the holes are numbered. Right side of the center are even numbers; left side of center are odd numbers. Here is the common numbering for the holes (#-Position-#- etc.) 9--LE--7--LT--5--LG--3--C--2--RG--4--RT--6--RE--8 A play is called by giving the backnumber in the tens place and the hole number in the ones place, so 13 Dive is the QB (back #1) taking the ball through the 3 hole (the gap between the left guard and the center). I have lots of information, if you'd like more help. Please conact me.

http://www.ksnusa.org/ftblinks.htm

I like the idea of an option-oriented attack. If your QB is one of your fastest and smartest kids, this could work out really well for you. The wishbone would be a good formation to run this out of. The wishbone will also allow you to run counters. I think these could compliment your option attack very well. The defense gets hit a couple of time with some direction left; maybe a blast, an option or two, and a sweep. You could then come back with a counter to the right. If your counter play was designed to give the impression of your sweep or your option, this play could be deadly. As for passing.... I think having a passing attack is impotant at all levels of football. When you are deciding on your passing attack, consider the defenses you'll likely face, last year game film will help. Once you have a decent understanding of the defenses you'll likely face, draw up pass plays that (1) exploit the weakness of that defense and (2) maintain good coverage blocking assignments to defend against the pass rush. I coach a younger group than you 7-8 year olds. Most defenses I face at this level are built for one thing; to stop the run. My orverall strategy for my offense is to force the other team out of the defense they are comfortable and knowledged at. I have to use the pass to do this. I face a lot of 6-2s and 5-3s (8 men in the box with a safety in the center of the field). My passes exploit the weakness of the corner. My basic formation is the full house (not that much different than the wishbone). I will split out an end for run and pass plays. The corner almost always lines up with the split end. In a pass, the read needs to be extremely simple for a young QB. In the situtations I face, the corner is the read. The corner will either follow the route of the split end or ignore him (this depends on the amount of coaching the other team has done for pass defense). If the corner stays home, it is a simple 10 yard post to the wide out. If the corner goes with the wide out, no one is guarding against a flare route out of the backfield. This is flare route becomes almoste like a longer distance pitch sweep. To successfully run this one pass play, we practice the play (while divided into backs and linemen) about 20-40 times each day. Sounds like a lot, but we were more successful passing as 6-7 year olds last year than any team 10 and younger in the league; we averaged 50+ yards passing and 1 touchdown a game receiving. My point is, I understand the nature and tendancies of the defenses I will face. I design my offensive attack to discourage the other coach and force him to make changes he may not be prepared for. I suggest giving serious thought to what you are facing, and maximizing the use of your speed to defeat these defenses.

I use visio too fro drawing up the playbook. I use MS PowerPoint or its OpenOffice equivalent, Impress, to create my Offensive Coach Cheat Sheet and Defensiv Coach Cheat Sheet for each week's game.