Coach and Coordinator Podcast

From the Archives - Michael Lombardi, Former NFL Coach/GM, Author of Gridiron Genious On this episode of Coach and Coordinator, former NFL GM and coach, Michael Lombardi shares his stories of coaching with iconic coaches Bill Walsh and Bill Belichik, and Raiders owner Al Davis. Lombardi gives insights into the coaching profession which he learned from the best to ever coach the game. All of these are detailed in his book Gridiron Genius - A Master Class in Winning Championships and Building Dynasties in the NFL. 00:19 - Intro/Book 01:57 - Bill Walsh 04:46 - Al Davis 06:27 - What makes a great coach? 08:19 - Culture 11:51 - Divergent in thought 13:43 - Evaluation 16:51 - The Middle 8 23:00 - Managing the downs 25:44 - Over-complicating 26:43 - Coaching Staffs 28:43 - Program Guys 30:27 - Player Development 33:55 - Working with Saban and Belichick 35:46 - Special Teams 38:35 - The Winning Edge Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if you were armed to make better decisions on game day? How valuable is information that allows you to make decisions as a coach that increase the probability of your team winning. That's the idea behind the Edj Series in collaboration with Edj Varsity. VP, Anthony Jones will join us weekly to highlight some of the best decisions and worst decisions from the previous week with an analytics perspective. In addition, we discuss how analytics are used at every level and educate the you, the coach, on how you can get started integrating analytics into your program. Today we discuss decisions from week two of the NFL season with the best decisions coming from Kansas City Chiefs and the LA Rams, and the worst, analytically speaking, from the Seattle Seahawks. We also cover some top decisions from the high school level and how they impacted the game. https://edjvarsity.com/blog/week-2-best-worst-decisions-2020/ Twitter: @CoachKGrabowski @aj_anthonyjones @EdjVarsity Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the Archives: Today’s guest on the Coach and Coordinator podcast is Van Malone, former defensive coordinator at Southern Methodist University. Malone played three years in the NFL for the Detroit Lions, then transitioned into coaching. Malone was named the 2017 AFCA FBS Assistant Coach of the Year. On today’s episode, Malone talks with host Keith Grabowski about important lessons he has learned throughout this career. Show Notes 1:24 Transitioning from playing in the NFL to coaching 4:13 Key lessons that have helped Malone develop as a coach 7:51 The defense installed at SMU 10:28 Taking away the RPO 14:48 Advice to coaches who are looking for their next opportunity 19:39 Coach Malone’s next step in his career Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guest on the Coach and Coordinator podcast is Mike Denbrock, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Cincinnati. Denbrock enters his second season at UC, along with head coach Luke Fickell. Denbock's other college assistant stops include Notre Dame, Indiana State, Washington, Stanford, Buffalo, Illinois State and his alma mater, Grand Valley State. On today’s podcast, Denbrock and host Keith Grabowski discuss Denbrock’s experience on both sides of the ball, the best ways to get maximum effort from players and how the RPO fits into his offense. Show Notes 1:34 Learning points early in coaching career 4:25 Balance in setting goals and focusing on current position 6:28 Having a variety of coaching skills 10:00 Offensive and defensive staffs working together 13:04 Bringing together all three phases 15:11 Aligning culture within a program 17:15 What he expects out of his Cincinnati players 20:23 Keys to effective recruiting 22:51 Ways to teach players the game 25:43 Helping players understand the “why” in schemes 27:12 Being efficient in practice 29:55 Key points to Cincinnati’s offense 33:44 Balancing RPO and the play-action pass 35:42 Developing players to run Level 3 RPO 37:15 The Winning Edge Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the Archives: Hall of Famer Mike Singletary Today's podcast is an in season series from 20`8 on which Charlie Coiner, former NFL coach, joined my as a guest host. This week in the Game Plan series, Keith Grabowski and Charlie Coiner have a legendary figure as a guest in former Chicago Bears linebacker and NFL coach Mike Singletary. The Hall of Fame linebacker discusses the middle linebacker position and how playing middle linebacker has evolved against today's modern offenses. Singletary gives a real vivid explanation on what he coaches up at the position. He also gives insight on what makes him successful and what can make the young players successful going forward. 01:04 Mike Singletary intro 05:15 What are your eyes looking at as a middle linebacker? 06:10 Guard - center - guard read 08:25 Adapting to pistol and shotgun 11:20 Effect of hiding the ball in play action 12:50 Coaching up against the RPO 13:05 What do they normally do? 15:10 Important to have the philosophy of the offensive coordinator 16:55 Advice to a young linebacker or coach 18:12 Study the film 20:30 Important to develop an identity 21:20 What is my personnel? 22:40 Endzone copy of film 24:15 Coach Singletary’s pop steps 26:00 Coach Singletary's in game technique scenario 29:55 Coach Singletary being a student of the game 30:53 Having players in a system 32:32 Coach Singletary's unique situation 34:02 It’s a thinking man’s game 35:00 Every offensive play or player tells a story 36:05 First Down Playbook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the Archives: Phil Longo, Offensive Coordinator, Wisconsin. This podcast was originally recorded right after Longo made his move to Ole Miss from Sam Houston State. Today's guest is Phil Longo, the offensive coordinator at Ole Miss. Longo talks about the difference between playing enthusiastically versus emotionally, how he evaluates players on instinctiveness, and how he tweaks 7on7 time to make them even more effective for his team. He also discusses how he turns weaknesses into strengths by always optimizing his playbook.Show notes: Start as a football coach Lessons learned as a young coach Building culture within an offense Establishing relationships with players Emphasizing instinct with players Longo's grading system for evaluating instinctiveness How Ole Miss breaks down its spring practice schedule How Longo turns weak links in the playbook into strengths Tweaking plays for red zone and goal line situations Special Teams and trick plays Don't install RPOs just to say you run RPOs Play repetition 22:23 Coach technology Keys to running an effective walkthrough Role of assistant coaches on game day Getting the most from 7on7s The winning edge Coach Grabowski’s 3 key takeaways 1) Playing enthusiastically not emotionally 2) Having 26 plays and sticking with it 3) Get your players to play instinctively Phil Longo Resources:Flood Concepts in the Air RaidCoordinating an OffenseQB Drills in the Air Raid OffenseRelated Episodes:From Lauren's First and Goal - Coordinating an OffenseArticle:Instictiveness - Play Your Best Eleven Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the Archives: Serving Others Through Football with Mike London, Head Coach William & Mary On today’s episode of the Coach and Coordinator podcast, host Keith Grabowski sits down with Mike London, head coach at the College of William & Mary. Coach London has an extensive coaching history dating back to the 1980s. In 2008, London led the Richmond Spiders to their first FCS National Championship in school history. For his work that year, he was named AFCA’s FCS National Coach of the Year. In 2011, as head coach at Virginia, London won ACC Coach of the year. Most recently, London was the head coach at Howard University, where, in 2017, he led the Bison to one of the greatest upsets in recent NCAA history as they upended UNLV. This past off-season, coach accepted the job at William & Mary to be closer to his family. Coach joined the podcast today to talk about how his experiences in life have helped shaped who he is as a football coach as well as talk about the culture being built at W&M. Show Notes: 1:27 Coach’s incredible journey 6:05 How did his journey as a police officer and through life reflect on his decision to coach 11:32 Servant leadership 16:00 How much the history of W&M means to him 18:43 Depth of his staff 22:14 Constant evolution at W&M and their work with USA Football 27:07 Evolving role of sports training technology and science 31:09 How the game has changed and how W&M prioritizes it 33:33 Winning Edge Related Content: User-804678956 – Erik-korem-director-of-sports-science-houston-texans User-804678956 – Richie-gray-skills-acquisition-and-coaching-education-specialist User-804678956 – Vision-decision-action-andy-ryland-senior-manager-of-education-and-training-usa-football User-804678956 – Ncaa-leaders-brennan-marion-howard-university-offensive-coordinator Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the Archives - Scotty Walden, Head Coach, Austin Peay After success at the D3 level, Walden made the move to D1 Southern Miss, being promoted to Co-Offensive Coordinator and after one game in 2020, interim head coach. Austin Peay hired Walden as their head coach. Scotty Walden sits down with host Keith Grabowski in today’s episode of the Coach and Coordinator podcast. Walden was the youngest head coach in the NCAA last year when he led Division III East Texas Baptist University at the age of 26. This offseason, he accepted a job coaching tight ends and receivers at Southern Miss. He discusses the simple drills he likes to teach accountability and responsibility and why young coaches should seek out non-prestigious jobs. Show notes :30 Coaching philosophy 1:39 Start as a football coach 3:36 On being the youngest college head coach in America last season 5:45 Key learning moments early in career 8:33 Building culture 13:35 The 5 core values of Walden's program 16:45 Pat-and-Go and run-throughs, not walk-throughs 22:43 The versatility of Inside Zone 24:15 Maintaining tempo while using motion and changing personnel 27:15 Breaking down Walden's Y Cross 30:55 Approaching situational offense during the week 33:25 Keeping things simple (K.I.S.S.) 35:30 Advice to a young coach 39:15 Coaching technology 42:45 Two-minute drill 44:15 The winning edge Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guest on the Coach and Coordinator podcast is Travis Johansen, the newly appointed defensive coordinator at University of South Dakota. Previously, Johansen served as the defensive coordinator at Grand View since 2013. The Vikings were 61-11 in his six seasons with five conference championships, six NAIA playoff appearances and won 2013 national title following a 14-0 campaign. Grand View finished in the top 15 of the national rankings all six seasons including four top 10 rankings. Johansen was a finalist for Heart of America Assistant Coach of the Year in each of the last two seasons and was a national coordinator of the year finalist in 2015. He was even featured in a Sports Illustrated article, “The Search to Save NFL Defenses,” this past November. Grand View ranked as one of the top NAIA defenses throughout Johansen’s tenure and produced seven defensive All-Americans. Coach Johansen joined the podcast today to talk about his famous positionless defensive concept as well as discuss some of the pillars of his defense. Show Notes: 2:03 Coach’s start 4:23 Key lessons Coach learned on his journey 6:37 Pillars of coach’s defense 9:31 Coach’s definition of toughness 12:29 Changes to the game 13:13 The culture that is developing at South Dakota 16:40 Evolution of defenses 20:56 Schematically putting together the defense every year 24:21 How his new way of thinking of defense affects his recruiting 27:38 How to prepare players during the week to play different techniques 32:11 Teaching the big picture 34:56 Defining coach’s defense and how he makes it his own 37:23 Tips to coaches who would want to run a similar scheme 39:25 Winning edge 41:19 Connect with coach Connect with Coach: Twitter: @CoachTJohansen Website: goyotes.com/index.aspx?path=football Related Content: www.si.com/nfl/2018/11/14/defe…ers-naia-grand-view User-804678956 – Match-quarters-hybrid-defenders-cody-alexander Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the Archives: Today’s Coach and Coordinator podcast guest is Noel Mazzone, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Arizona. This will be Mazzone’s first season at Arizona after two seasons at Texas A&M under new Wildcats head coach Kevin Sumlin. Prior to that, he was the OC at UCLA from 2012-15 and Arizona State from 2010-11. He spent four seasons in the NFL with the New York Jets as a wide receivers coach/consultant, in addition to collegiate stops at Mississippi, NC State, Oregon State, Auburn, Minnesota, TCU and Colorado State. Mazzone has coached in 12 bowl games with seven different teams. He’s tutored several NFL quarterbacks, including Josh Rosen and Brett Hundley at UCLA, Brock Osweiler at Arizona State and Phillip Rivers at NC State. As a player, Mazzone played quarterback at the University of New Mexico and graduated in 1980. On today’s show, Mazzone tells host Keith Grabowski how he puts together a game plan, integrates players and coaches in that plan, and playing with tempo. Show Notes 1:58 How Mazzone created his offensive system 6:46 Formulating the terminology 9:16 Process of teaching terminology to players 10:03 Plays that work better in tempo 14:14 Preparing the number of plays they want to run on game day 18:48 Recognizing what opposing coordinators are doing 22:32 Building explosive plays in the game plan 25:47 Using the “12 percent rule” in game evaluation 30:36 Delegating game plan responsibilities to coaches/players 34:29 Organizing a week of practice to set up for the game 38:45 Attire and equipment for a relaxed practice day 39:53 Teaching situational “special” plays in practice 41:22 Pros and cons of using VR technology in practice 45:43 The Winning Edge Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices