itsusinind

I have always been a fan of the 'I' formation.  If the team I was playing on or the team I was coaching had a great fullback, we would line up in what we would call a far or a near formation.  For example, if you wanted to run a wing I right.formation, but you wanted to utilize your fullback in the same way as your tailback, you can change the formation to near wing right.  This tells the tailback to line up 'near' the wing back.  They would actually line up next to the fullback on the wingback's side.  You can now run such plays as sweep rt. And isolation rt. And off tackle rt. Using your tailback now as your fullback and the fullback as the tailback.  The fullback's stance or alignment does not change on a far or near call.  You can run all of these plays out of split backs too.  If I never ran the 'I' I would skip the far and near idea.  The far and near call will work out of a pro, wing, or slot formation.  Do what you feel comfortable with.

In a little more detail…

Flexibility---Most young kids are pretty flexible (exception-my son).  I do not spend near as much time stretching as I would with an older group.  Flexibility allows us to line up straight and do things together-two of the most important things to be able to do in football.  I take pride in the way we look when we stretch.  We emphasize staying together.  We always begin a stretch with the command "ready begin or ready down".  This simulates "set go or set hut".  We begin our flexing session or the beginning of practice by clapping together.  We use one rhythm never changing.  When all players are together, the coach says, "ready ho."  All players repeat the phrase ho and get themselves into a great hitting position.  We hold that position long enough to check everyone out.  When all looks good the coach or leader gives the command, "ready" and all players clap three times and place their hands on their hips.  This begins the session.  There are 30 little league teams that practice at our facility at the same time.  When we clap all teams know that we are starting.
Jumping jacks-ready begin (we do eight-we count on the way down-we achieve that hitting position as we complete the eighth jack.  After we count jack seven, we say ready on the way up for eight and ho on the way down.  All players once again hold that hitting position until the ready command is given.  All players clap three times again and replace their hands on their hips.
Next Leader says right foot over left ready position.  All players move into this position ON THE COMMAND.  Leader says "ready down" and all go down together.  Leader says "up" and all pop up together replacing hands on hips.  We then go left foot over right ready position and all move. Ready down.
Next-feet together ready position-same stretch.
Next-"Ready ho" - all players get into hitting position "ready hit" and they all drop into push-up position.  We try five push-ups finishing in the up position.  On "ready hit" all of the players swing their feet through their right arm and wind up on their butts with their feet straight out in front of them.  "Ready" and we clap three times.  "Feet straight out ready down-Up-Spread em-Down on the right leg Ready down-Up-Left leg ready down-up-Butterflies ready down-up-Ready" and we clap three times.
Next we want to get onto our feet but we do this together.  From our seated position the command "ready hit" is given and all players scramble to a half bear crawl have squatting position.  On "ho".  All get back into their hitting position.  "Ready" clap three times.  We then lunge to the right then to the left and do a cheerleading split using the same commands we used above.  We finish with jumping jacks the same way we did them the first time.  "Ready"  Clap three times.

Move onto the next part of practice.  Since I have them lined up already, I like to review stances then move on to something else.  It is a good idea to refer to their stretching spot as home base and have them remember where they were at.  Sometimes when you do a drill or want to talk to the players, it is easier to tell all of the players to go back to their home base and then create your lines or talk to them from that point.    STANCE POINTERS-Remember I am just offering suggestions.  There are many different theories on stances so by no means believe that I think this is the only way.  I have seen many great coaches teach it this way though.  Have players get in a pre shift position.  Feet slightly more than shoulder width, elbows on knees, knuckles or hands together able to touch in front, head up.  We call this pre shift and it should be a comfortable position for the child.  We use a simple cadence of "down-set-hut".  Our "set hut," remember, will have the same rhythm as ready begin or ready down.  On "down" all players snap down.  If we do not go down together I say "ready ready" which means relax.  We then try again, beginning at pre shift.  When the player hears down he should take his right hand (if right handed) and place it on the ground in front of him.  Weight should be about 60/40.  We tell the players if we grab your arm and pull on it-they should fall down.  We tell our players that if their right eyeball fell out of their head, it should land between their thumb and pointing finger of their right hand.  They can check themselves on that and then they must get their heads up.  Heads do not have to be up like a pea cocks tail but they do have to be up.  We use the phrase "look through your eye brows".  The opposite hand should be by their left hip.  We tell them to have that opposite hand ready to draw their gun out of the holster.  

Board drills (done with five rows of whatever you want to line up) hit two/hit one/laterals/lateral hand shivers down the ends of the boards/shuffle/in and out backwards and forwards/hand circles/bear crawl
(teach proper running techniques as they complete these board drills) All Clap-"Ready Ho"  All break down.  "Ready"  All clap three times.

Form running there are many, many different form running drills.  We simply do high knees/glute kicks/high knee glute kicks/ shuffle / carioca / backwards run.  We could do more but time goes fast.
We really emphasize correct arm work on all of these that we can.  Also we work hard on shuffling.  Players have to be in a good hitting position when they shuffle and they must keep their feet at least six inches apart as they move.  We emphasize "Point the first foot, drag the second. Point drag,  Point drag.  When these are finished- All Clap-"Ready Ho"  All break down.  "Ready"  All clap three times.

These next two drills are great drills to use at all levels.  I really feel that they eliminate a lot of the fears some kids have about hitting.
Ambush-Realize that different people will have different names for the same drills.  The following has always been ambush to me.  We usually do this as a team, so the more eyes you have out there (that know what is going on) is a big help.  We find a line.  Players partner up by size (or buddies usually).  I tend to put people across from who I want them to be against.  Each player faces each other and takes one step back from the line.  We don't actually do the step back part because once they know where they are supposed to line up it is unnecessary.  Players can either begin in pre shift or they can be in the down position.  With high school kids, we began in a stance and I gave the command "set go."  With the younger kids I start with preshift because more teaching has to go on between each hit and this makes it easier on the kids.  There should be a little less than a yard between the players helmets.  I tell the players we will do right ear hole to right ear hole first.  On "set go" - the players collide.  It is actually a race to the line.  To win the little contest, I must contact my partner on his side of the line.  We do this with no driving first.  Players should end up right ear hole to right ear hole with their hips rolled forward.  Contact is made with shoulder pads and arms or hands simultaneously.  We teach them to use their arms as weapons.  In twenty some years of coaching I have never had a kid get injured doing this drill.  I tell them no one gets hurt doing this drill.  We emphasize the collision and the noise.  We tell them that the guy across from them has to hit them hard or there will not be a good collision and that will make them look bad.  So we have kids encouraging each other to hit harder.  We do this several times and then switch to left ear hole to left ear hole.  Kids that would normally shy away really cant in this drill.  They learn real quickly that if they fire off they are not going to get hurt.  If you have kids that like to turn their shoulder as they hit, it can be corrected in this drill.  In this day and age you can not belittle a kid for being a wimp or scared.  If you have two kids who will not collide you can say.  "I wonder what people would think of two football players who missed each other every time they went to hit."  They will figure it out and try harder.  We add drive to this drill after mastering initial contact.  It is easy to get a lot of reps in a short amount of time once everyone knows what they are doing.  

Knee drill-Line up the same way you do as in ambush.  One player drops to one knee and places both hands on the ground in front of him.  The other player assumes his stance.  On set go-the player in a stance tries to tip over the player on his knee.  There are rules.  The man in the stance gets three steps after initial contact.  The player on his knee only gets one-step (enough to make contact and roll the hips forward).  One would think that people would be tipped over all the time, but it is not so.  Once again with this drill just like ambush, a kid can't hide.

Offensive back drills
3 line drills
1st line drill-every player has a ball/3 lines of 3 is nice/three lines are set up five yards apart/players start five yards away from these lines with ball in right arm/they high knee and spin on each line switching the ball to the other hand as they spin.  We also emphasize pulling up the knee even higher during the spin.  They spin right on the first line, left on the second, and right on the third line then run hard five yards and set up the line coming back.
2nd line drill-triple touch-players start with the ball in their right hand-on set go they run and squat down touching the first line with their left hand.  They then switch the ball over to the other hand and touch the next line with their right hand.  Last line left hand
3rd line drill-right hand circle on the first line   left hand circle on the second line   right hand circle on the last line          We do these down and back     We emphasize scoring the ball in that last five yards.  Runners act as if they are breaking through a brick wall.


Gauntlet-players take a knee across from each other.  Usually it is best to have at least three players on a knee on each side.  Two, three or four other guys start with footballs in their hands.  All of the players on a knee must stick one of their arms out towards the person on a knee across from them.  This creates a gauntlet for the players with the ball to run through.  The first time a ball carrier goes through the gauntlet he uses both hands on the points of the football.  Their second pass through the gauntlet, they can only hold the ball with their right hand.  On their third pass they use their left hand only.  When they have completed their three passes they join the gauntlet and other players get up to run the gauntlet.  With young kids, I tell the ones on their knees that they cannot slap the ball but they want their hand to contact the ball as the runner comes through.  As we get better, we make the gauntlet tougher to get through.

Gotta go.   Hope this helps.

Believe me Jag, I do not take anything personal.  I believe in what I do and how things work for me.  There is no doubt who is in control at my practices.  The parents for me is a great thing.  Most of my parents do not know the game of football.  They are learning it just like my second graders.  If they became any type of intrusion to me, I would make them leave.  They know their spot, and they are very appreciative that they have been given a role in the development of their child's football experience.  I have no problem with disciplining children.  I have been a teacher for nineteen years.  I wish that every parent had to come to school and sit next to their child during the learning process.  Teaching football is no different than teaching school.  It is nice that I do not have to worry about my children paying attention in practice.  The parents are far less of a distraction than you think.  Now, when I was coaching at the high school, I agree with you that no parent would come out onto my field without the express written consent of all involved with the program.  If I allowed my son to choose what he wanted to do it would be to play video games.  He will be allowed to make his decision about his personal growth when he is of an appropriate age to do so.  There will always be kids on your football team who do not want to be playing no matter how fun practice is.  They will lie to you and say they are having fun because they know that is the answer an adult wants to hear.  This is true all the way through the high school level.  I have not met any of these individuals though that were not grateful that they stuck out playing all those years when it was over.

This is an issue that the high school football coach should be involved with to an extent.  Every kid in our school system received a birthday card and a Christmas card from the high school football staff.  Making a kid feel important goes a long way to winning them over.  I guess a youth coach could do the same.  That does not provide you with a quick fix.  The only quick fix I can suggest is to be somewhere where the kids hang out such as the baseball facility or school and just ask kids if they are interested in playing.  Tell them who you are and that you are looking for football players.  Although having enough players to line up against yourself in practice is nice, small teams can have their benefits.  Don't dwell on the low numbers in front of the kids that are playing.  It is not their fault their buddies would rather play Nintendo.  Do things right and you will be okay with eighteen.  Only eleven can play at a time, and in most high schools the best players play both ways anyway.---

the league determines the weight limit so that each team will have only four players at or above that weight.  the league holds two drafts-one for kids above the weight and one for the kids below the weight.  any teams that have returning x-men are allowed to only draft enough x-men to give them four.  it actually works quite well.  i listed the benefits and downfalls of this form of weight limit in my previous post.