Strength calls are always a big topic of conversation. How do you make the strength call for your defense? Why do you make the strength call? And how much should it affect your alignment?
The answer depends on your defensive front, but the most important question for determining if you want to flip to the strength call is WHY you’re doing.
Today’s question asks IF you should flip. The answer is always yes - if you have a good reason. Let’s take a better look at WHY you should flip the defensive front to your strength call.
This was a response to a listener question sent by email. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.
If you coach for a while, you’ll notice this guy. Especially now that you know to look out for him.
It’s the stud finder. The guy who just looks for the best talent in the room and latches on to them. They don’t want to bring up the lesser talented guys. Just right the coattails of the biggest stud in the room.
This JDFB Quick Clinic looks at coaches who are afraid to deal with anything but the best.
This was a response to a listener question sent by email. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.
The football playbook is something we’ve all been obsessed with for years. We draw them up, download them off the internet, and study every one we can get our hands on.
Unfortunately… most of your players are NOT like that. They don’t stuff football playbooks between the pages of Shakespeare and sneak a chance to study the blocking scheme.
Printed playbooks have value, but they don’t have much value today. Listen to this episode of the JDFB Quick Clinic to find out why you should not be handing out printed playbooks anymore.
This was a response to a listener question sent on Twitter. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.
One of the biggest problems you’ll run into with slanting defensive linemen, is getting washed when you slant the direction they want to take you. Down blocks and zone blocks can be a special problem for 3-4 defense slanting linemen.
We adjusted the technique. I’ve talked about this in two previous podcasts of late:
Today’s Quick Clinic question asks how you teach your players to handle two difficult situations - the down block, and the double team. I’ll break it down for you on this show.
This was a response to a listener question sent on Twitter. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.
The Strong Safety in your 4-2-5 Defense may need to wear a lot of hats, depending on the coverage package you choose.
He might be just a Linebacker, or he may truly need the ability to play as a hybrid defender running in man coverage with slot receivers. How do you plan for and prepare a player like that?
This was a response to a listener question sent on Twitter. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.
There’s no substitute for a supportive administration. You’re going to love going to work every day when you have one. And it’s going to be a struggle to be successful (and sane) when you don’t.
Today’s question comes from a coach who’s concerned about the support he’s getting from the people above him. How do you handle the situation to give your players the best chance for success?
This was a response to a listener question sent on Twitter. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.
Defending outside run plays all comes down to the umbrella. You’ve got to figure out where the breakdown is.
With the Jet Sweep and other runs with fast action to the edge, the fault usually comes in your Force Player not forcing a change of direction. That goes for Rocket Toss, Truck Toss, quick pitches and everything else out there.
Today’s question comes from Germany with a coach who needs help defending the Jet Sweep with his 3-4 Defense. Check it out to find out how your defense can adjust to do a better job on the perimeter runs.
This was a response to a listener question sent by email. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.
Sometimes just reload… but this season, you are definitely in a rebuild.
Good news and bad news, coach.
Good news: this is an investment in your future. Do it right, and you will see incredible dividends down the road.
Bad news: It’s gonna be frustrating. Really frustrating.
Listen to this episode to learn how to approach your season when it’s time to rebuild and go with a youth movement for your Varsity football team!
This was a response to a listener question sent by email. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.
A great question this week on the Quick Clinic. We’re looking at coaching Defensive Ends in a 2-point stance.
Should the Defensive End that’s standing up have his inside foot back, like traditional shaded Defensive Linemen in a 3-point stance? Or should he keep the inside foot up.
There’s a few things to consider. It really comes down to what you’re asking him to do.
Listen to this week’s episode to find out what’s the best way to coach your Defensive End’s 2-point stance.
This was a response to a listener question sent by email. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.
The 4-2-5 Defense is a great front for Youth Football, and today’s question comes from a 12u coach looking to make some adjustments to his current 4-4 Defense.
And of course, I had to go on a short tangent about the 4-4 Defense vs 4-2-5 Defense alignment.
But after that’s over, we talk about the Over Front vs Heads Front. Do you need to play in the more traditional 5-1-3-6 alignment (or 5-2i-3-6)?
Take a look at how you can utilize head-up alignments in your 4-2-5 Defense. And why slanting Defensive Ends might get you in trouble.
This was a response to a listener question sent by email. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.
Back on the Quick Clinic Episode 120 we talked about those young coaches hungry to get their first head football coach job. Any job. And how the wrong job might set you back. For years.
That inspired one of those young coaches, looking at a potential job offer, to ask the question… is this a good head football coach job? Or is it going to set him back 10 years?
Obviously, I can’t get the definitive answer. Only time will tell. But I can point out the red flags I see. And that’s what we’re doing on this episode of the JDFB Quick Clinic.
This was a response to a listener question sent on Twitter. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.
Today’s question for the JDFB Quick Clinic is really interesting. Despite never having been in the situation, I have some pretty strong feelings. I’ve worked with a lot of coaches in this situation.
Started coaching football to help out your son’s Youth Football team? How long should you continue on? When should you let ‘more experienced’ coaches take over? That’s the discussion for this episode!
This was a response to a listener question sent on Twitter. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.
Learning to watch game film is a little bit like training a muscle. You’re going to have to watch a lot of film, for a long time, before you’ll start seeing everything.
You’ve probably heard not to watch football game film like a fan. Don’t just watch the ball. But if you go too far the other direction, you end up wasting a lot of time and not finding any useful information.
This was a response to a listener question sent on Twitter. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.
I really don’t like the phrase “bend but don’t break” defense. But there’s a time and a place for it!
If your defense really isn’t expected to be very good, but your offense can win you some games… this might be a good idea. And the best coverage for it, is Cover 3.
That’s a very, VERY generalized answer to this week’s answer. For the full answer, listen to this episode of The JDFB Quick Clinic!
This was a response to a listener question sent by email. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.
Really a great question we’re answering on this week’s Quick Clinic. It’s from a young coach who’s questioning the best way to reach the kids who don’t like to be coached hard.
There’s always the players who take the harsh criticism. They get motivated and turn out a great performance. But there’s another group of kids who will completely shut down. Let’s take a look at how you know which is which.
This was a response to a listener question sent on Twitter. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.
This week’s question comes from Germany on how to develop the strength and fitness of your young players, without access to a weight room. Or time to run a lifting program.
There’s a ton you can do for your players when they don’t have access to a weight room. Football workouts do not require a multi-million dollar facility like the big colleges have. Learn how to get a complete workout without having a single bumper plate… or even a weight bar.
This was a response to a listener question sent by email. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.
Great question this week on blitzing the formation. Hybrid tight ends and h-backs have made it difficult to make your decisions based on personnel packages.
We’ll look at automatic blitzes and how to prepare your blitz scheme based on the opponent’s plans. Should you blitz a formation? Can you still do it with the hurry up style so many teams use?
This was a response to a listener question sent on Twitter. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.
You’ve got a plan for handling 4 Verts in your Cover 3 coverage. At least, if you’re committed to running Cover 3 you’ll have one. But what’s the plan for handling other concepts and tags that get 4 deep routes against your 3 deep coverage?
Verts Switch is one way to make that happen. The basic concept is that the #2 receiver rubs off underneath the #1 receiver on both sides. They exchange who runs the hash and the numbers.
So how do you handle that in your Cover 3 coverage? That’s the focus on this week’s JDFB Quick Clinic!
This was a response to a listener question sent on Twitter. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.
Can your base defense the Wishbone Option? Maybe you’ve got a team who runs this offense on your schedule. Or someone who might show up in just about any offense.
Even if neither of those are true… your base defense better to be able to defend every style of option there is. And luckily, it can. As long as you’re running a sound defense.
In this episode we’ll break down how to defend the Wishbone Option with your 4-2-5 Defense. We look at the umbrella principle and how it applies here. To learn more check out http://425defense.com/podcast.
This was a response to a listener question sent on Twitter. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.
You’ve got your base defense all planned out. And it’s perfect for defending those formations you see all the time. Spread formations. Wing-T Offense. Those downhill Pro-I teams.
Then the week comes where you’ve got to adjust to defend 22 personnel. A heavy running attack. Does your defensive front have the principles in place to easily adjust without confusing your players? This week’s JDFB Quick Clinic gives you the details you need to be ready.
This was a response to a listener question sent on Twitter. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.
There’s been a significant increase in interest in the odd front defenses of late. And one of the keys to running an odd front is your defensive line slants.
We’re looking at how to coach up an aggressive slant technique that your defensive linemen can use to spill the football in your umbrella defense. This question was sent by a 3-4 Defense coach, but the same defensive line slant technique applies across the board in any defense where you’re using slants.
This was a response to a listener question sent by email. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.
The Quick Clinic isn’t the place for a whole lot of football coaching news. But this was newsworthy! Thanks to Scott for sending in a great topic that was out of my normal scope. I enjoyed looking at it.
The new Pop Warner 2-Point Stance rule doesn’t allow linemen to get into a 3-point stance, and it’s met with a lot of backlash. I’ll talk about why I think this is a bad rule - and also, one that really won’t affect the future of the sport (at least, in a vacuum).
This was a response to a listener question sent by email. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.
When you’re putting your playbook together, it’s important to consider how you’re going to structure your passing concepts. How many? What types?
Every team is going to be different. And every season will be different. It’s much more important to consider how many passing concepts do you need in your SYSTEM.
Today’s JDFB Quick Clinic answers a question on putting together your playbook and how many passing concepts you’ll need to have an effective passing threat.
This was a response to a listener question sent on Twitter. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.
Scheme vs. Position. Where is your focus when you want to be a football coach?
Become an expert on one position? Become the master of one scheme? Neither of those is going to prepare you for your first coaching job. In fact, it’s pretty hard to prepare for your first coaching job until you’ve actually been hired.
We’ll look at the best way a new football coach can prepare for that first job to set yourself on the road to success.
This was a response to a listener question sent on Twitter. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.
Every coach needs to have a philosophy. But it needs to be one worth having. And it may seem like more and more coaches don’t have one at all - they’re just flying by the seat of their pants.
My coaching philosophy was the focus of a recent episode of The Football Coaching Podcast, and how you can create one for yourself. But today’s listener question asks: do high school football coaches even have a philosophy anymore? Or does it just start at the college level?
This was a response to a listener question sent by email. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.