When is the right time to change your defense? And should you change it at all?
There’s a lot of factors that go into this. Today I’m answering a listener question about transitioning from the 4-2-5 Defense to the 3-4 Defense.
We’ll talk about what to consider when you look at your players, but also what to think about with your coaching staff.
This is a big decision, so it’s worth listening to this episode of The Joe Daniel Football Quick Clinic!
Want to learn more about the 4-2-5 Defense or 3-4 Defense? You get access to BOTH Systems when you join JDFB Insider! Visit https://joedanielfootball.com/membership to get all the details.
This week’s question comes from a Youth / Middle School Football Coach who wants to run a Zone blocking scheme.
Interesting question. I’d be a lot of coaches would say no. You may need to tweak some things, but you can absolutely do this.
One mistake I learned on Zone blocking, was trying to look just like an NFL or Division 1 college team. We block Zone a little differently. But not much.
Listen to this JDFB Quick Clinic to hear my thoughts on coaching the Zone blocking schemes with younger players.
And to learn more about our Zone Scheme, check out The Pistol Power Offense System at http://pistolpoweroffense.com.
Even more on the weak side of your 4-2-5 Defense in Quarters Coverage. This is a common topic, and it’s important to note that this is not a natural fit. See https://joedanielfootball.com/80 for all the details on that.
In this episode I’ll talk about how you can handle 2 by 2 formations with 10 Personnel in your Quarters Coverage with the 4-2-5 Defense.
And if you want to learn more about The 4-2-5 Defense System, visit http://425defense.com for all the details on how you can get Instant Access to this complete defensive package.
I’ve been getting a lot of questions about the weak side or Away Side in the TCU terminology, for Split Field Coverage with the 4-2-5 Defense. Today on the Quick Clinic, I’m answering one of them.
Joe asked about playing the Sky check on the away side. In the Sky check we roll the Weak Safety down to play like an outside linebacker. The Corner is responsible for playing the deep half.
Check out my explanation on this episode of The JDFB Quick Clinic!
And if you want to learn more about The 4-2-5 Defense System, visit http://425defense.com for all the details on how you can get Instant Access to this complete defensive package.
Gideon sent in a question that every coach needs the answer to. How do you change a player’s position?
Seems easy, right? And in the old school coaching world, it was. You just tell him to change positions. Like it or not.
Sometimes that works. Sometimes you lose a kid for the rest of the season. Or the rest of his career.
Listen to this episode of The JDFB Quick Clinic to learn how football coaches can sell a player into accepting that new position as a promotion, instead of a demotion.
I want to share a new tool with you. A free tool for football coaches here in the United States.
The U.S. Army has put together a playbook app that’s available on Android, iPhone, Windows and a web based application (that I use on my MacBook). It will create a beautiful 3-D Playbook for your football team.
On this edition of the JDFB Quick Clinic, I’ll tell you more about the app. What it can do, what it can’t do, and why you need to go get this free app!
To get the app, visit http://goarmyedge.com/football and get started. You can also search for it in the App Store on iPhone (and probably elsewhere, but that’s the only one I know how to use anymore).
Coaches everywhere struggle with this major practice problem. I’m going to give you some solutions.
Practice starts, and you look around. There’s about 19 guys here today. What are you going to do?
The obvious answer is to go half line and get your work in that way.
But there’s a second issue. Your scout team when you go half line… awful.
Terrible. So bad it’s not even worth working against them.
You still have to get your guys ready. The competition on Game Day isn’t going to care about your practice problems.
In this episode of The Joe Daniel Football Quick Clinic, I’m answering a listener question on this exact situation. And giving you a few ideas on how to maximize that practice time, and still get your players ready.
Looking for more Practice Planning guidance? Check out Football Coaching Podcast Episode 204 - 4 Step Blueprint to Pre-Season Practice Planning
The next step down the path in the Football Film Timeline is Apex Football. And they’ve all but disappeared from the earth today.
Apex’s big feature was the ability to input your data using voice recognition. It was a very cool, though at times very frustrating, feature for football coaches.
In June 2012, Hudl purchased Apex Football. It was one of the last steps on Hudl’s path to completely dominating the market.
Listen to today’s JDFB Quick Clinic to get your fix of some old school football film study.
JP sent in a question on Facebook asking where to play his stud player in the 4-4 Defense. Mike? Outside Linebacker? Free Safety?
There’s a few things to get out of this podcast. The biggest one is changing out decision making process as coaches.
If you want to send in a question for the JDFB Quick Clinic, just contact me at joe@joedanielfootball.com with “Podcast Question” in the subject.
Want to run your own 4-4 Defense? You can get access to my exclusive 4-2-5 Defense Video Series right now, at no charge. Visit http://425defense.com/podcast to get started. (yes, it’s the same as a 4-4 Defense)
Today’s Quick Clinic is in response to a question sent by Alaric to me on Facebook. He wants to know why more coaches aren’t running the Wing-T Offense.
It’s a great question, because this offense has been so effective over the years.
The answer? Some of it may surprise you. Some of it won’t.
But there’s a lot more coaches running the Wing-T Offense, or parts of it, than you think.
Want more on the Wing-T Offense? Check out Episode 203 of The Football Coaching Podcast, on the Origins of the Wing-T Offense.
You can get instant access to my 3 video series on The Pistol Power Offense System right now. Visit http://pistolpoweroffense.com/podcast to sign up now.
Mental Toughness. It’s a very popular coaching buzzword today.
Suck it up, get back in there! That’s what most coaches are thinking when a kid gets a little limp. Or feels tired.
But is that the right reaction?
Let’s leave the head injuries out of this. I’m talking about those injuries that aren’t potentially life-threatening, but still need to be addressed.
When should you leave a kid in the game? When is it better to take him out and get a fresh player in the game?
Listen to this episode of The Joe Daniel Football Quick Clinic to hear the stream of consciousness discussion.
Not everyone will remember this blast from the past. The one’s that do will certainly have some mixed emotions.
Landro is still in existence, I think - at http://landro.com. Though I couldn’t find much evidence that the football product has been updated since 2014.
But in the mid-2000’s, the Landro blue box was at the height of football coaching technology. At least, for a brief moment.
Take a walk down memory lane as I mis-remember everything about the first ‘Video Analysis’ tool I ever used.
What’s the reason you coach? This is a real look at our motivations behind our crazy hours, insane passion, and ridiculous drive to succeed in this sport.
You do it for the kids. Every coach says that. And for the vast majority of coaches, it’s absolutely true.
But the kids aren’t your only reason. Maybe for a few, a rare breed that is truly driven to just give, and give, and give.
No, this is not a podcast about what great things we do for the kids. We do, but that’s discussed in plenty of other books, blogs and podcasts.
This is a podcast about your ego, coach. And how it’s OK to have an ego. And some ulterior motive to sacrificing a huge portion of your life for the game of football.
The Free Safety is a critical piece of your defense if you’re running a 1-high coverage. Cover 1 or Cover 3, this is the leader of your secondary. And a huge part of your run fits.
What kind of player should you use? Who do we look for in our 4-2-5 Defense System to play the Free Safety?
Listen to this episode to figure out which one of your athletes is the right fit for this position on your defense.
You can get access to my exclusive 4-2-5 Defense Video Series right now, at no charge. Visit http://425defense.com/podcast to get started.
Time to get back into the film room. Now that we’re studying our film using Video Analysis Software like Hudl, instead of trading DVDs, you have a lot of information to look at.
Just don’t waste your time studying the wrong things. Or slow down your football players by giving them too much information.
Today’s Quick Clinic looks at breaking down your opponent’s top formations. What can you learn from them as a defensive play caller? What information should you give your players?
I also told you about my exclusive 4-2-5 Defense Video Series that you can get access to right now, at no charge. Visit http://425defense.com/podcast to get started.
Just a little walk down memory lane, back to the days of DVDs and DVD burners during the 2000’s.
The quality was definitely improved from the VHS exchange tapes. But DVDs came with their very own unique challenges.
Check out the first episode in this series, on the VHS days, right here: http://joedanielfootball.com/qc53/.
The Trap Play is one of the oldest plays in football. It’s a great play to use in any 2-back offense.
In the Inside Trap you’re going to be kicking out a Defensive Tackle most of the time. Check out this video for more on running the Trap Play: https://youtu.be/Anznn8oqm9I
The Trap is a great compliment to your outside running game. It’s a way to control linebackers. And one we use in the Pistol Power Offense System.
You can get my 3 video series on the foundations of the Pistol Power Offense System right now. Just visit http://pistolpoweroffense.com/podcast
Prowling is using pre-snap movement by your Linebackers to cause some confusion for the Offensive Line. It was really popular in the 2000’s with the Georgia Military College 3-5-3 Defense.
There are some basic rules for prowling that your linebackers need to know. And don’t over-use it. Your linebackers will be worn out by the end of the 1st Quarter.
We still teach prowling in the 33 Stack Defensive System, available as part of a JDFB Insiders subscription.
Click here to check out those GMC 3-5-3 Defense videos from Championship Productions.
I’ve been the video guy for most of my career in coaching. I’m into technology and it’s always appealed to me.
But there was a time when I did not get to take the laptop home and go to work. Back in my first few years of coaching, we were still doing everything on VHS Tapes.
You won’t learn anything from this episode of JDFB Quick Clinic. It’s more of a nostalgia thing. If you never lived through the VHS tape exchange, you might not get it.
But VHS was an important part of football coaching, for a long time. So in this episode, I’ll share some of my memories with them.
And their horrible, horrible quality.
Sprint Out Passing is a great way to change the launch point for your Quarterback. It adds another dimension to your offense, and it also really helps out a struggling offensive line.
Any team with an athletic QB can benefit from sprint game. But you’ve got to get the Quarterback outside for it to be successful.
In this episode of JDFB Quick Clinic, we look at how to protect your Sprint Out Quarterback so that he can threaten the edge.
You can get access to my exclusive video series on The Pistol Power Offense System right now at http://pistolpoweroffense.com/podcast. There is no charge, this full 3 video set is my gift to you. Thanks for listening to the Joe Daniel Football Quick Clinic!
Before you decide how deep the running back should be aligned in your offense, you have to understand the purpose of depth. It’s all about timing.
Which means your running back depth will be determined by a number of factors.
What offense do you run? How fast does your blocking take to develop? How quick is your running back?
Lots to think about, and that’s good. There’s infinite opportunity to tweak and adjust your running back’s depth and timing steps to get it just right. And you’ll probably need to do different things for different backs.
In this podcast I mentioned my interview with Coach Stan Zweifel, and you can listen to that episode here.
You can get access to my exclusive video series on The Pistol Power Offense System right now at http://pistolpoweroffense.com/podcast. There is no charge, this full 3 video set is my gift to you. Thanks for listening to the Joe Daniel Football Quick Clinic!
I don’t believe in teaching my players the right way to lose a play. So I don’t teach my guys to screw their shoulder into the ground when they’re getting the snot kicked out of them on a double team.
That doesn’t make my way right or wrong, but it’s important to understand. You defeat a double team by defeating one man, not two. And if you’re starting on our Defensive Line, you better be able to defeat one man more times than not.
Taking on double teams should be a point of pride for any Defensive Lineman. In today’s Quick Clinic, I’ll talk about how to make it happen.
In this episode I mentioned Rex Ryan’s book. It has a fantastic chapter on Defensive Line play that is worth every penny, no matter what you run: Coaching Football’s 46 Defense.
There’s also my Defensive Line Key Read Drill video. You can get access to the full video series here. (Watch the first video on that page, the sign-up will come up at the end)
Don’t miss out on my 4-2-5 Defense video series, which you can get instant access to right now. Sign up for Foundations of The 4-2-5 Defense System at http://425defense.com/podcast.
This the third Quick Clinic on the different styles of old school option attack. In previous Quick Clinics, I’ve talked about the Inside Veer and Outside Veer as well.
The Midline Option might be my favorite football play. Though we’ve run it at times, and with some success, it never became a staple play.
Someday, I still think that it will. I absolutely love this football play. Listen to this episode of The Joe Daniel Football Quick Clinic to find out why!
Don’t miss out on my 4-2-5 Defense video series, which you can get instant access to right now. Sign up for Foundations of The 4-2-5 Defense System at http://425defense.com/podcast.
Over-coaching your athletes might be the biggest problem coaches like us can run into.
You love the game. You’re not lazy. You’re actively engaged at your practice. And you see the details.
But that doesn’t mean constantly pointing them out to your players is the right way to get things done. In fact, it may slow the athlete down in their development.
Don’t miss out on my 4-2-5 Defense video series, which you can get instant access to right now. Sign up for Foundations of The 4-2-5 Defense System at http://425defense.com/podcast
Adding more movement to your defensive line can cause havoc for the offensive blocking schemes. And it doesn’t take as much as you might think.
Executing twist stunts is simple and involves teaching two skills: the Penetrator, and the Looper. Once your players know these two pieces of defensive line technique, they can execute all but the most exotic stunts.
Want to learn to use these stunts in your defense? They’re taught inside our 4-2-5 Defense System. You can get an introduction to the 4-2-5 Defense with my exclusive video series, Foundations of The 4-2-5 Defense System at http://425defense.com/podcast.