Coach Fun

Three things I can think of, but only one is a drill: 1. If your plays are like mine, you have a go-to receiver. I have played with 3-4 boys since they were five, now they're eight. When they were younger, it was go-to receiver no matter what. That's how the plays are designed. So we will get ints because of poor play design. The QB will force it bc the hot receiver is supposed to be open. Doesn't always work like I drew it up on PPT. I'm trying to unlearn these plays now and talk about 2nd and 3rd receivers. 2. Teach the QB to get the snap from center with their head up. Don't look under the center's butt for the ball. This will start the motion of the play with QB's eyes up. He can read the defense and adjust. 3. The drill. Pretty simple. I have two receivers and one corner. Start the play from under center as normal. I only let the WRs go to half of the field and 15 yards deep at the most. Usually a cross pattern. They have five seconds to get open and QB must pick the right guy. Helps QB, WR and corners too. Pretty effective drill usually. Coach Fun

I've seen tons of good sports and fans, but the worst sportsmanship I've seen was done by a coach. It was the playoffs and he really wanted to beat our team. One play I was complaining that his RB only had one flag. The coach feigned disbelief. Turned out the coach had the player's flag hidden in his playbook! Coach Fun

Hi Youth, You've asked the right questions. One thing though, defer to the head coach. If he knows what he's doing, he'll help direct you. As far as your questions, I'd focus on three things: 1. You need to know the rules. Kids want to run along with the kid who has the football (not allowed). Kids will all want to rush, like the pros (you can't unless you're 7 yards back in my league). How many downs, etc etc. I'd read the league rules before the first practice. The head coach may not know them all either, and you can contribute right away. 2. Teach them three or four offensive plays. One pass play. There are some great play books posted on this site. Keep it super simple. Two end arounds and a center-drag for the pass play. 3. Flag pulls. The kids can never get enough practice on this. Coach Rob posted some good flag pull drills. Try to make it fun, but don't underestimate how hard this is. Keep positive. Don't get frustrated. Coach Fun

We play ten regular season games. That's two a week for five weeks. Then a two-game jamboree. Twelve games all together. Coach Fun

Update -- We just finished the regular season. I kept the same QB/center combination (mostly) for each game in entirety. This has greatly increased my own enjoyment -- and sanity. We literally pop in and out of the huddle now. This change has really made all of the difference for me. I was also able to play seven different QBs in ten games -- and we finished 10-0. I may try different "packages" at some point next season. Coach Fun

Interesting article which focuses on biometrics for youth training linked off the y-coach home page. Doesn't say when to start, but the website link for the program says 6-18. http://www.y-coach.com/speedtrain.html Coach Fun

That's my problem. 90% of my plays are to the HB, QB or center. Not sure how old your players are, but half of mine are six. They don't naturally fitting into any offensive position. Plus the parents want to see them playing and trying everything. Totally agree on defense however. I have set corners, and LBs. The only position I swap out is safety/rushers. Thanks again for the ideas. Coach Fun

Okay I am making a 'major' change. I will use one center/QB combo for the entire game. We'll see how that goes. i can already see some problems with the reduced flexibility, but at least I will be able to keep everyone's name straight by the end of the game. Thanks for the replies. Kind regards, Coach Fun

I think an advantage of this type of setup is that it might limit the one breakaway player who can score at will. This is the fastest kid, who usually asks older than the others. I've coached this age for a few seasons and there's usually one on every team. Most plays at this level on run/pass teams are runs (90%+). That said, I would also execute most (or all) play behind the LOS. The flood type plays described earlier work well too. I wouldn't pass more than 2-3 yards all season. Can the defense rush? Seven yard rule? If so run fast breaking, simple plays. Misdirection plays work well at this age. Coach Fun

Hi coaches, I love this forum, and would not be able to coach without it. One issue I have that I haven't seen addressed is offensive position coverage and rotation in-game. As a backdrop, my team consists of nine 6-7YOs 5x5. Five returning players and four newbies. Anyway I have been rotating all positions for each play. I do not have set positions for the players, because I like to see them play all positions. Unfortunately this makes the 30 second huddle very tight. Sometimes kids forget what to do our their route, sometimes they want to argue in the huddle (not allowed). Not a problem on defense, but offense can be really challenging. My question is: * should I keep it as is * should I set positions for one game at a time (ie Jimmy is QB when he is in - all game). I think I might try this just for the center/QB positions. * should I start to set players into positions Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Kind regards, Coach Fun

Orange, which plays are 3 & 4? Do you read this L to R or up and down? thanks, Fun

Interesting post. I'm a little surprised on the no snack thing. At my kids' age 6-7, they really look forward to the snacks. They run faster to the snacks then they do to the end zone half of the time. I'm really torn on the post-season gathering. The money issue got put into perspective for me when one of the dads called to ask if cleats were mandatory. They're not, but obviously helpful. He said money was too tight for cleats. Ouch. I asked my wife about having a get-together at our house. This was killed because she thought it was unfair that we know half of he parents socially, and really don't know the others very well. She didn't want them to feel awkward. I was thinking about doing something simple on the field after our last game, but it's dark and cold. Still struggling with this one. Fun

We run two basic defenses. Safety rush or LB rush. Both zones. On LB rush all line up on 7 YL. I am wondering if I start to talk about responsibilities beyond flag pulling and swarming. I try to avoid letting a RB get outside my corners. Other then that, I don't do much else to do. Do you coach responsibilities? If so what do you coach for each position? C LB S? Any suggestions would be very welcome. Best, Fun 6-7 YO My team has 7 boys 5 v 5 7 yard rush no QB run no blocking

Update to my own story: I did fully delegate the D to the Asst. I contacted him last Thursday, explained my 'philosophy.' All was well. On Sunday, our first two games day, he texted me and said he wouldn't make it to the games -- he had to work. OK, now what? Turns out made it to the game with his son. He later told me that his wife made him feel guilty so he snuck out of work. I could have managed O and D, but I had to chuckle. Fun

Thanks for the generous replies. And thanks for the back-bone injection. I will go with ahead and delegate the D. I like the idea of involving the parents (my "assistant" is another parent, BTW. I did ask for a volunteer for the snack list, and a nice mom took over -- that was great. Coach Fun