Youth Flag Football

[Coach Rob 26]

Currently playing in 8-9 y/o div, I-9, 5 v 5, no blocking allowed.

-Don't scout during reg season, might scout for the tourney.

-Don't script plays, prefer to see how the other team reacts to previous play, then call accordingly - usually works well. Also, in our league we have no run zones, which makes it hard to script.

-Best plays are same formation with a varation on theme, end around first time, fake end around with QB bootleg (our league allows QB to run at anytime), etc.

-Defense is 2-1-2 with 1 being rusher. Always rush. Sometimes will pull 2 corners off los close to 7 yards out, send the 2 outside safeties as rushers and keep middle out with corners.

-No real trick plays

-Practices 1 hr, once per week.

CRob

[tazman 0]

This was in the league letter I just received yesterday in regards to picks and such...

3) There is no blocking, no tackling, and no contact. Once a ball carrier passes the line of scrimmage, it is best to coach your other offensive players to stop where they are. They can not run downfield along side of the ball carrier as to screen defenders from a clear attempt at a flag. Picks and screens are not allowed.

[Orange 26]

This was in the league letter I just received yesterday in regards to picks and such...

3) There is no blocking, no tackling, and no contact. Once a ball carrier passes the line of scrimmage, it is best to coach your other offensive players to stop where they are. They can not run downfield along side of the ball carrier as to screen defenders from a clear attempt at a flag. Picks and screens are not allowed.

That's how we play here too. Now whether they call it or not is a matter of which ref you get.

[tazman 0]

My son moved up to the next age group, the 9-11, and I decided to sit back this spring league and not coach just to see how they did things in the older league and what a mistake that was. It is so hard to sit there and not say anything or want to add your 2 cents while the practices are going on. It's driving me frickin crazy I tell ya. *L* I thought this would be a pretty much all passing age group as the older ones are but they do still run quite a bit. Kinda surprising to me.

[Vegas Coach 0]

This was in the league letter I just received yesterday in regards to picks and such...

3) There is no blocking, no tackling, and no contact. Once a ball carrier passes the line of scrimmage, it is best to coach your other offensive players to stop where they are. They can not run downfield along side of the ball carrier as to screen defenders from a clear attempt at a flag. Picks and screens are not allowed.

That's how we play here too. Now whether they call it or not is a matter of which ref you get.

Exactly like that here too!!!

[HornFan 0]

This was in the league letter I just received yesterday in regards to picks and such...

3) There is no blocking, no tackling, and no contact. Once a ball carrier passes the line of scrimmage, it is best to coach your other offensive players to stop where they are. They can not run downfield along side of the ball carrier as to screen defenders from a clear attempt at a flag. Picks and screens are not allowed.

That's how we play here too. Now whether they call it or not is a matter of which ref you get.

Exactly like that here too!!!

Same here, and I know the refs that will call it vs the those that don't. I try to teach the kids not to run along, but really try to enforce it with the refs that call it. It's just so hard to get these 1st and 2nd graders to stop running! ;-)

How do you tell if your league is I-9?

[rushbuster70 16]

You would definitely know if you were in the I-9 League lol...Our refs dont really say anything.However My kids usually dont keep running so i dont have that problem

[Johnp2 21]

That's too bad about not allowing anyone to do anything but "stand" there once the ball is snapped. There are a myriad of reasons in my opinion, with the largest being it would seem hard to get the kids excited about running plays unless they were the runner. I've challenged my team to be the "best blocking team" in the league, and I can see I am starting to win them over on this. My guards get excited when the can pull, and I've found the kids really love second-level blocking.

Now understand that blocking (at this age in flag football) does not necessarily mean running and pushing a player (we know how the kids can get carried away), so I've been teaching them to be in position and just "get in the way". However, on all our running plays, our entire line fires off the line of scrimmage and looks for someone to block. I might have the left side of the line "block left", meaning that they all run left and get in the way of whomever they see, while I might have other players run a quick route to get their man away from the LOS, and then start blocking.

We have our second game tomorrow. I'm once again pessimistic about it. I'd hoped to introduce some more complex plays this week, but some of the key players I rely on for the plays only made it to one practice, and I refuse to call a play in the game until we have executed to very soundly in practice. ;-(

[tazman 0]

golly, been kinda quiet around here lately.

[Coach Rob 26]

golly, been kinda quiet around here lately.

Well, we ended the season 5-2, so we're in the #2 spot going into the tourney a few wks from now. Got beat by the #1 team last Sunday by a few TDs, however, they only ran 2-3 guys the entire game. We stuck to our guns of making sure everyone received ball touches which probably hindered our ability to compete with these guys. They were definitely a good team, but seeing the 7 other kids on their team not receive any ball touches underscored for us that we were doing the right thing.

Going into the tourney we've decided to continue our philosphy of spreading the ball touches and not allowing only a few "superstars" to run the show. It's frustrating to run into teams that don't get this concept.

It's been a good season for us. We put up 280 pts in 7 games and every kid scored at least once if not twice.

CRob

[tazman 0]

Good job, we have a few of thos teams in our division this year. My son moved up to the 9-11 y.o. group and I decided to sit back this spring season to see how they did things in the older group. Pretty much pass, pass and pass some more unless you have a kid that can really run. They didnt do so well, going 3-4 and he wasnt a very happy camper at all. Hard when you go from being 8-1 and going to the playoffs to a losing season. Now its wait until the fall season begins in early September.

I'm going to send him to the Mike Alstott camp for kids in June so that should be kind of exciting for him. I havent told him yet, going to surprise him here sometime in the not to distant future.

Good luck in your playoffs!

[rushbuster70 16]

My son moved up to the 9-11 y.o. group and I decided to sit back this spring season to see how they did things in the older group. Pretty much pass, pass and pass some more unless you have a kid that can really run. They didnt do so well, going 3-4 and he wasnt a very happy camper at all. Hard when you go from being 8-1 and going to the playoffs to a losing season.

These how are most of the older leagues are...I've always coached 11-14 year olds and all we do is pass...I run the ball but its misdirection.You use short passes as run type plays.

Our summer season will be starting up here in about 2 weeks so i'll keep you guys updated...Rob & Orange did you guys try any of the plays I sent to you?

[Johnp2 21]

Just curious as to what age you guys will get your kids into tackle football? I'm still up in the air about it. My son is 7. He'll definitely play another season of flag football after this. I'll probably get him into tackle football around 9-10 years old. We don't have many flag football leagues around here past the age of 10.

Thanks

[Orange 26]

Our summer season will be starting up here in about 2 weeks so i'll keep you guys updated...Rob & Orange did you guys try any of the plays I sent to you?

We played in the winter league from January through March. I won't get a chance to try the plays until next fall.

[Orange 26]

Just curious as to what age you guys will get your kids into tackle football? I'm still up in the air about it. My son is 7. He'll definitely play another season of flag football after this. I'll probably get him into tackle football around 9-10 years old. We don't have many flag football leagues around here past the age of 10.

Thanks

I've researched this and discussed it several times with my wife. My conclusion is that around the 6th grade would be the ideal time to begin. My wife is feeling like perhaps 8th grade would be better so we have not finally decided ( my son is going into the 4th grade so we have some time yet). If it were up to him, he'd already be playing.

[Vegas Coach 0]

Just curious as to what age you guys will get your kids into tackle football? I'm still up in the air about it. My son is 7. He'll definitely play another season of flag football after this. I'll probably get him into tackle football around 9-10 years old. We don't have many flag football leagues around here past the age of 10.

Thanks

I'm keeping my son out of tackle until the "Middle School" age time. Thats anywhere from age 11-13. I'm thinking around 12 years old (7th grade). My son is 8 now so we have some time there.......

[tazman 0]

Yeah, I am of the same thing on this. My son is currently 9 and I dont want him to start tackle until he gets a few years older. They're pretty much still developing and would hate for him to tear something at this young of an age. Plus this helps him with some of the basics to learning the game of football without the risk of injury.

[Coach Rob 26]

Lost in the finals yesterday to the #1 team 14-8. Tough loss, kids played their hearts out. A big thanks to all the coaches who gave me pointers on how to play a team that basically runs their QB 90% of the time. We shut them down for the most part, but they kept allowing their 2 fastest players to wait for the rush and then take off. Had a couple of TD's called back, 1 almost TD but our kid's shoe fell off while running and he tripped. Overall, it was a fun game.

Had fun handing out the trophies and medals. We always make the kids come up and do their best dance move before getting the trophey. This year we added a twist by allowing them to pick a parent as their partner. Seeing mom or dad and son "busting a move" was priceless. Gave them all squirt guns, told them to only squirt parents and siblings, no coaches. That lasted about 10 seconds before the coaches were soaked. Good times!

Read some of the other threads about running into "winning at all costs" coaches, we had one of those yesterday. They played the same kids on O & D and mainly let the 2-3 fastest kids run. Some of the parents on their sidelines were yelling things they shouldn't have been, in fact, towards the end of the game, a parent made a comment to one of our kids that was out of line and made tears well up in his eyes. Another coach told me he'd run into the same thing when they played this team the previous week.

I'm all about sportsmanship, fun, and equal ball touches, but it sure does get tough when you run into teams like that. It's tempting to throw out a few sarcastic comments or play your fastest players.

I suggested to our league director that he implement a rule based on the "honor system" that every kid has at least 1 ball touch (preferably 2) per game. Have a parent track the touches and hand out an award at the end of the season for the most equal touches on a team. The other thing I'd do is have zero tolerance for any coach or parent who participated in any "trash talking". I'd have the refs stop the game and address the issue firmly.

Dunno, it amazes me how serious youth sports can get at times. Makes me miss the days of playing in an empty field where we drew up crazy plays and made sure Jimmy's little brother got to run the QB sneak. No parents yelling, no coaches, no refs, no offsides, no rules really, just a bunch of kids having fun.

CRob

[Johnp2 21]

Coach Rob, congrats on your season!

Like you, we really make a BIG deal out of our End of Season Trophy Presentation/Awards Ceremony. I have awards for each player (Most Competitive Player, Best Sportmanship, all the way up to MVP), and call each player up and spend a good 10-15 minutes talking about that player and the impact he made to the team. I make certificates indicating their award and frame it for them. I LOVE the idea of having them do their "best dance" before getting their trophy. I might add this this year, if you don't mind. Regarding the water guns, yep---we are having a cook-out at a nearby park, and will have water guns a-plenty. I've learned (as you did), that anyone is fair game. Definitely "good times". ;-)

I had a similar experience where we had an overzealous "soccer mom" make deragatory comments about our team in the stands (mainly because we used our full 30 seconds in the huddle). Thankfully my team's parents took the high-road and just laughed it off, but when I found out about it, I sent an email to the team's coach informing him of it, and he addressed it with her--no doubt making her re-think her actions I would think.

Again, congratulations on "getting it". I hope to come across more coaches like you!

[Orange 26]

Regarding sportsmanship or lack thereof. I was watching an I-9 playoff game last fall. I think the age was 9-10 or maybe 11-12. I hadn't played in I-9 at that point and I wanted to watch some games to see how it looked. I saw something that frankly surprised me that a coach would teach this, and the refs would allow. Two defenders lined up directly over the center. When the center got ready both defenders began yelling as loud as they could right at him. Clearly the intent was to intimidate and throw him off. It's not like they were directing the other defenders either, they were simply shouting nonsense. I'm pretty sure in college or the NFL intentionally disrupting the cadence is illegal. I thought if that was my team I'd have stopped the game and demanded the director come and make a ruling.

[Johnp2 21]

Speaking of cadence, do you coaches ever change yours up? Specifically with younger kids (6-8)? I haven't nor have I've seen it. We are pretty much "Down. Set. Hut" and then go. I earlier considered going on 2 or 3, but other than drawing a defender offsides---and more likely one of my own having a false start, I elected not to. I might consider in our next game going on "Down" after a few plays. We tried a silent count once, but it did not fair so good--kids seem to forget things on their was from the huddle to the LOS. ;-)

We did face one team that started going no huddle on us. While it was effective, in a way I think that is a little bush-league at this age (especially when you are up on a team) because the intent is not to cause mismatches, but instead to simpy get the play off before the defense is even in position--again when half the defenders are 6-years old, it takes them a second or two to "remember" where to be.

At one point directly after a quarter, we were just breaking our defensive huddle (we usually only huddle on defense to begin the quarter due to substitutions). As we turned to break the huddle (which lasted maybe 5-10 seconds) the other team hurried to run their play and scored a TD on us as we just stood there. Yes, that was legal---but it was still bush-league, and unfortunately that kind of stuff goes on a lot due to the "win at all costs" mentality we have. I also think that some of them have had things like that happen to them, and thus they try it on other teams to "get even". Unfortunately it seems to be a ripple effect.

[Orange 26]

I did the silent count thing a few times and found it to be not worth the trouble. It was kind of neat for the center and the qb though. On a quick center drag it gives you an extra step, but not much more than that.

We never went with the no huddle. On the contrary when we played at the younger level (6-8) sometimes we'd get to the los and the other team would simply not be ready. I'd have my qb wait until they were set before we'd go. I'd shout out to the defensive coach "ready?" Once or twice I asked the offensive coach to wait a few seconds for us and they always did. I could see someone trying to rush the snap at the older levels and I would blame the def coach for not getting them ready. At the younger ages its kind of dumb to do the quick snap as they are still learning where to go.

[pointyfootball 0]

All:

I was a lurker for a long time on this forum, and wanted to give feedback on my first season as a FF coach. Special thanks to Orange & Coach Rob, as most of their suggestions rang true.

I coached a NFL Flag 10-12 y/o coed football team. Four of the players were travel soccer players (and thereby not always available), and my three weakest players were my only twelve y/o's. Game format was 5v5, 7 yard rush, QB can not run, no pitches/laterals, 3 downs from the five to get a first and then 3 downs to get a TD.

Using Orange's playbook, I adapted it for older ages, as I think his original was intended for younger ages. We had a very athletic team, although only 2 of them had ever played organized football. We were the only team that practiced 1x per week, some practiced 2-3x/week. The way we ran practices was I started with the basics (Ctr-QB exchange, handoffs, route running, flag pulling, 1-on-1 coverage) and we worked on them at a slow pace and then increased them so that everything was done at full-speed. The time put into snapping of the ball and handoffs was huge b/c we only had 3 fumbled snaps (2 were in playoffs when it was 97degrees) and one fumbled handoff. Just about all of our interceptions that we threw were due to poor route running (boys/girls would get lazy later in the game or forget what they were supposed to do) and there would be 2 receivers in the same area. Most of the time they ran full-speed routes which helped clear out areas for the ball to be thrown back in.

On offense, just about every game we played, we started with an end-around to our best player. Out of 10 games, I would say he scored two times on this opening play, with 5-6 other times having very long runs (at least 1/2 the field), and only in one game did he get less than 10 yards (against a zone defense). Once the other team/coach sees how successful the end around is, fake end arounds, or where the end around performs a pass after receiving the hand-offs, are all hugely successful. In one game in the playoffs we did two end arounds where the receiver took it wide and then stopped and threw it out to the QB who had drifted to the opposite side. Huge yards each time.

Short crossing routes (be it center drags or even slot/receiver drags) are very successful too, unless a team is playing a zone. If they were playing a zone, we would just flood the zone with receivers and one would easily be open. Having your center "steer" the rusher is key as well, as it takes him/her out of the play for runs, and possibly gives more time to QB (a must for some crossing routes).

On defense, we played man-to-man, as we didn't practice as much as other teams, and the few times I tried zone, they really struggled. We always rushed a player, and at first I used that position to "hide" players that weren't that athletic, but in the playoffs I rushed one of the fastest kids we had and that made a huge difference. We essentially played 2 CBs (man-to-man), a front LB (over ball - in case of runs), a rushing LB and a safety. Our safety was our best player, had phenomenal hands and could play the ball in the air better than most high school kids.

Our season consisted of a 7 game season and then the playoffs, in which seeding was randomly drawn. Therefore, besides being used as a teaching tool and for fun, regular season games were meaningless. We used them to make sure all players got almost equal playing time, plenty of touches on the ball and ways to learn about other teams. We finished 4-3, with the last game being a loss against the team we knew we were going to have to play in the first week of the playoffs, so we showed nothing.

Season summary: We won all three playoff games, and thereby, the Super Bowl. In all three games we actually were dominant, although maybe not in the final score. In the SB, we were winning 18-0 with 4 minutes left before I called an ill-advised pass and my QB threw a pick-6. But, what made the difference, I think, was that all of our players were confident, had played multiple positions, and on average, were in much better shape against the other teams. It was extremely hot and because we did so much misdirection and fakes, teams wore down on us (especially teams who were only playing their best 5).

Anyway, wanted to thank you all, and as I said before especially Orange/Coach Rob. It was a fun season, and being a soccer coach, it was very educational. Coaching soccer is much less stressful on gameday. But, I really enjoyed it and am definitely going to do it again next year. I'm sure I'll have a tough time keeping the team together because team will essentially be the same as the best players are only 10 & 11.

Thanks again, and sorry for long post!

Pointyfootball

[pointyfootball 0]

I did the silent count thing a few times and found it to be not worth the trouble. It was kind of neat for the center and the qb though. On a quick center drag it gives you an extra step, but not much more than that.

For 10-12 y/o's I found the silent snap count very helpful. Never changed the snap count cadence, but when another team had a very fast rusher, we went to silent which gave an extra 1/2 second to QB. Otherwise the rusher was jumping the snap before the ball was even in the QB's hands. Only problem with silent count was sometimes the QB would be backpeddling and the WRs would be standing there like they were concrete. have to get them to watch the ball.

[Orange 26]

All:

I was a lurker for a long time on this forum, and wanted to give feedback on my first season as a FF coach. Special thanks to Orange & Coach Rob, as most of their suggestions rang true.

.........

Anyway, wanted to thank you all, and as I said before especially Orange/Coach Rob. It was a fun season, and being a soccer coach, it was very educational. Coaching soccer is much less stressful on gameday. But, I really enjoyed it and am definitely going to do it again next year. I'm sure I'll have a tough time keeping the team together because team will essentially be the same as the best players are only 10 & 11.

Thanks again, and sorry for long post!

Pointyfootball

Another happy customer! Great work and I'm glad you did well and the kids had fun. Where are you located?

I agree that being a football coach is somewhat more stressful than other sports. You are directly responsible for plays, formations, personnel decisions... As the coach you have more direct input on the outcome of the game, moreso than other sports.