Help For A New Coach

[broadcastboy 0]

I have taken on coaching an 11-13, 7v7 team and, while I have coached plenty of middle school and high school basketball, this is a little new to me. So, I'd appreciate some thoughts and ideas on organizing first few practices. I have never seen a practice that makes much sense to me. In hoops, all of my drills were designed to incorporate some part of the offense or defense.

The league does not appear to have too many restrictions; they just want to make sure all play and have a good time. I also know that most kids like the playing the best they can and I am inclined to put kids in spots where they can experience success; then stretch them a bit. I am open to thoughts on basic offensive schemes (looks to me that most posts advocate a playbook that is limited) and the best way to handle play calling (sub each play, wristband, index cards, etc); also the places on the defense to put the best athletes on the field. After watching for a few years, I can't get my arms around that one. Sideline contain seems crucial, but having a guy play centerfield seems to matter, too. Then, again I have watched one great athlete (seems like most teams have one) can really disrupt the opposing offense from the line of scrimmage.

I know it's a lot, but I want to have some time to get some thoughts together before our first practice (Sept. 1) and want to give the kids my very best.

Thanks for any help you grizzled vets can offer.

[Orange 26]

I have taken on coaching an 11-13, 7v7 team and, while I have coached plenty of middle school and high school basketball, this is a little new to me. So, I'd appreciate some thoughts and ideas on organizing first few practices. I have never seen a practice that makes much sense to me. In hoops, all of my drills were designed to incorporate some part of the offense or defense.

The league does not appear to have too many restrictions; they just want to make sure all play and have a good time. I also know that most kids like the playing the best they can and I am inclined to put kids in spots where they can experience success; then stretch them a bit. I am open to thoughts on basic offensive schemes (looks to me that most posts advocate a playbook that is limited) and the best way to handle play calling (sub each play, wristband, index cards, etc); also the places on the defense to put the best athletes on the field. After watching for a few years, I can't get my arms around that one. Sideline contain seems crucial, but having a guy play centerfield seems to matter, too. Then, again I have watched one great athlete (seems like most teams have one) can really disrupt the opposing offense from the line of scrimmage.

I know it's a lot, but I want to have some time to get some thoughts together before our first practice (Sept. 1) and want to give the kids my very best.

Thanks for any help you grizzled vets can offer.

Good questions. If you have lots of time you can wade through the really long thread I started. There are pages and pages of information there, which although not well organized, offers great ideas and insight. I believe most of your questions would be answered there. Also, 7 v 7 is non-standard so explain all the other rules you're dealing with like rusher or no rusher, qb can run, blockers, etc.

As for where to play your best players on defense, I'd say without a doubt safety. With 7 defenders you can stick two linebackers in the middle. That's pretty important too but not as much as safety. Get a good solid rusher who is fast but smart and lastly I'd say are your corners. I'm assuming you'd run a zone with 2 safeties, 2 corners, 2 linebackers and 1 rusher.

And yes, most of your practice drills will resemble something in your offense/ defense or both. Again, look to the threads for specifics or ask a specific question.

[Johnp2 21]

Welcome to this forum! I can only offer what I found to work best, but am sure (and hope) you will get plethora of different opinions here. As you, I have coached many years in other sports, and if I were to give advice to a first time FLAG FOOTBALL coach, it would be as follows:

1. Don't concern yourself with what positions the kids play. In other words, design your playbook so that each player has equal opportunity to succeed.

2. By placing the kids in a single position on which they can focus, they will begin a sense of ownership. I coach k-2nd grade, and ALL the players knew who "my Center was", and who "my Right Guard" was, etc. Every kid took pride in the position that he OWNED.

3. As the season progresses, you will start to see who your top players are. By accident, my top player was our RB. My second best player was our Left Guard, and third was our Center. It's a roll of the dice, but again, if your playbook is geared toward all players, those who are "studs" will stand out wherever you put them.

4. Have primary QB and a backup QB. By doing this (and keeping the players in their other primary positions), you are able to run a fairly complex playbook. In flag football, because there are so many opportunities for each player to get the ball, deception is a big key. Misdirections, shuffle-passes to lineman, etc. Consequently, having a primary QB, he can learn all the subtleties needed to run a complex offense. The backup can learn 4-6 plays for when he is substituing.

5. I hear a lot of "keep it simple", but I respectfully disagree--to a point. In other words, what is more effective? A player who can learn three different plays at five different positions, or a player who can learn 15 plays at a single position. This of course, assuming the ball is spread around so each player as ample opportunity.

Regarding defense, put your fastest player up front. The first objective IMO, is to shut down the run and force teams to pass.

Regarding practices, what I found is different from other sports I've coached is (obviously) you have *plays* to execute as oppossed with "winging it" such as soccer and baseball, and basketball to a smaller degree. Thus there is less time for drills, and more time needed to practice plays. Unless you go with a limited playbook, which a) doesn't make it much fun for the kids IMO, and will make your offense easy to read.

I hope this helps some. Please let us know how you do this year!

[Orange 26]

Regarding defense, put your fastest player up front. The first objective IMO, is to shut down the run and force teams to pass.

I'm going to disagree here. For the younger levels definitely stop the run first and make them pass which they don't do well. For 11-13, which is 5-7th grade, the kids will be winging the ball around pretty good. Stopping the run is important but trust me, the run game becomes less important as the kids get older. They will go long with no problems and have kids who can throw and catch all over the field. I began watching the 10 & under and 12 & under leagues last spring and believe me it's a whole different game.

[broadcastboy 0]

Thanks coaches for taking the time to reply...I am making my way through some of the many threads that are on the site already, but the comments are real helpful. BTW: The 7v7 game is pretty much wide open. No blocking, everyone is eligible, and rushers can come at the snap. Runners cannot spin or jump to avoid flag pulls. Certainly not an exhaustive explanation of all the rules, but a basic one for perspective.

[Johnp2 21]

Regarding defense, put your fastest player up front. The first objective IMO, is to shut down the run and force teams to pass.

I'm going to disagree here. For the younger levels definitely stop the run first and make them pass which they don't do well. For 11-13, which is 5-7th grade, the kids will be winging the ball around pretty good. Stopping the run is important but trust me, the run game becomes less important as the kids get older. They will go long with no problems and have kids who can throw and catch all over the field. I began watching the 10 & under and 12 & under leagues last spring and believe me it's a whole different game.

Yea, I can see that. Right now, (k-2nd) most teams' bread an butter is the run in our league. For those that can throw (and we have some of those), they still try the run first, and if that gets shut down, then the go to the air. I guess for me, it's shut down what you know the team will do best first, then take your chances on Plan B. I can imagine that the older kids probably roll out a different game. By the time my son is 12, I think he will be in tackle football, so will start worrying about that in four years. ;-)

Broadcast boy, your situation is the opposite of mine. We play 11 on 11, blocking is not only allowed, but we focus on it (I award for "Pancake" blocks), our rush is after five seconds, etc.

If you know the game of football you will get it figured out very quickly. You'll learn as you go and pick up things as your practices/season progress, and from there just allow your creative juices to kick in and don't be afraid to step out of the box---the team and parents will appreciate it.

Again, we would all love to hear about YOUR experiences so we can add to our knowledge base.