Coach and Coordinator Podcast

Trinity (Louisville, Ky.) offensive coordinator Andrew Coverdale sits down with Keith in this episode of USA Football’s Coach and Coordinator podcast. Coverdale dishes on how he defines toughness, why offensive coordinators need to understand the philosophy—and not just the schemes—behind opposing defenses and why “culture vs. scheme” is a false dichotomy. Coverdale also shares the key offensive concepts that paved the way for Trinity’s 15-0, state title-winning season in 2016. SHOW NOTES •Most important advice Coverdale has ever received •What made him want to be a football coach •First coaching job •Keys to development •The philosophy of Coverdale’s offense •How to build 'collective consciousness' in a program •Defining toughness •How to be a teacher •Keys to maximizing the walkthrough •How to keep more players engaged in walkthroughs •The key concept Coverdale leaned on during his team’s 15-0 season in 2016 •Beginning the process of game planning, and why understanding the philosophy of a defense is critical •Translating a game plan to practice script •Mastering play-calling in the red zone through preparation •Mistakes made as a young coach—and lessons learned •Best coaching advice received •Why culture vs. scheme is a false dichotomy •Book recommendation •Lessons learned from coaching clinics •Learning this offseason from Chris Peterson •The NFL defensive trend that will make its way down to high school soon •Favorite piece of coaching technology •How to balance football with faith and family •Concerns for future of our game •Toughest defense to face •Why Coverdale would love to learn from former De La Salle coach Bob Ladouceur •What gives him the winning edge Other episodes from Coach Coverdale: Practice Tips: https://bit.ly/3qO3GaL How to Play Fast: https://bit.ly/3qya6KG Coach Coverdale Boundary Passing Concepts: https://bit.ly/3etVQNo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake Barro, head coach of Arizona state champion Casa Grande High School joins the podcast to talk about how they develop the individual and then the program. Coach Barro is the 2021 Arizona Cardinals High School Coach of the Year. Coach talks about how he evolved to this process of development as well as their wide zone play which gets their offense going. Shownotes: -Family experience -Showing them who you are -It's a process -Understanding who each individual is -Being vulnerable -Who are you? -meetings -Who are we - our standards -Evolution to focus on individual first -Why and why me? -Have to get to know individual -Building a champions in Covid era -Building around the wide zone play -It is about execution and repetition -Building drills off what will happen RB vision -Creating consistency with a play -The need for a starting point play -Diagnose the defense with the starting point play -The game is played within context -Situational football and practice -Reinvent yourself each year - constantly evolve but keep core beliefs -Winning edge - player development - the individual and then the team -Player development transitioned into program development Twitter: @CoachBarro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this podcast, host Keith Grabowski shares and discusses the late George Allen's book, How to Train a Quarterback. Grabowski points out that the book was really designed to train a play caller, which in 1960, when the book was published, was the quarterback. A very detailed coach, Allen laid out a plan taking into account every aspect of the game which a play caller needs to be aware of and utilize when calling plays. Grabowski also shares Allen's drills for mentally preparing the play caller which applies today and can be used to enhance the mental process and understanding of both the play caller and his quarterbacks. Related: https://soundcloud.com/user-804678956/best-of-quarterback-development?in=user-804678956/sets/best-of-coach-and-coordinator&si=7f50182fec5c4c1eb15a1b7ab447ab09&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Casey Jacobsen, the co-defensive coordinator at Morningside College (Sioux City, Iowa), joins Coach and Coordinator podcast. He’s been at Morningside for over 18 years, starting as an offensive line assistant, then transitioning to special teams coordinator before becoming the co-defensive coordinator. Jacobsen sits down with Keith to discuss the “Wolf Pack Pyramid,” maintaining tempo with the scout team and the importance of attention detail. :22 Why he became a football coach 1:02 Transitioning from an offensive line coach to a defensive coordinator 2:17 3 biggest influences on his coaching philosophy 4:14 How consistency has contributed to success 5:07 The “Wolf Pack Pyramid” and how it encompasses the team culture 7:02 Morningside’s defensive philosophy 8:25 Paying attention to the details 12:37 How to get fast tempo out of the scout team 16:34 Getting too “fired up” at players 17:29 Book recommendation 19:12 Learning unbalanced formations from the NFL 21:19 Doing the small jobs right 21:46 Balancing family and football Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of the Coach and Coordinator Podcast, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's defensive coordinator Jeff Dittman talks about what he's learned and changed after a 600 day layoff from football and implemented in 2021 to help RPI to a championship and berth in the NCAA playoffs. Resources: https://soundcloud.com/user-804678956/deep-dive-on-defense-jeff-pittman-defensive-coordinator-at-rpi-ny https://soundcloud.com/user-804678956/mvp-process-ralph-isernia-hc-rpi State Association MegaTicket: http://coachandcoordinator.com/2021/12/its-clinic-season/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode, Scott Abell the head coach at Davidson College discusses what he's learned from the past season. The Davidson Wildcats won back-to-back Liberty League Championships as well as leading the FCS in Rushing Offense and 3rd Down Conversions in 2021. Coach discusses: -Dealing with a quarterback change -Process for determining what fits best with a new QB -Starting with a different base play and building off of it -Establishing answers - you need answers before you have to use them -Reps and practice needs to get the offense ready -Mapping out the install -How explosive plays are created -3rd down conversions - philosophy and execution -1 hour and 50 minute practice breakdown -Challenges to building a team in a COVID era -Turn obstacles into opportunity Related: https://soundcloud.com/user-804678956/college-leaders-scott-abell-head-coach-davidson-fcs-1-offense-in-2018 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chuck Kyle has ben the head coach at his alma mater St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, Ohio since 1983, owning an overall record of 290-67-1 (.812) and a mark of 61-12 (.836) in Ohio state playoffs. He has led the St. Ignatius Wildcats to a state-record 11 Division I State Titles: 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2008, 2011. Kyle's Wildcats have also won National Championships in 1989, 1993, 1995. Kyle was named the head coach of the United States' first junior national football team in 2009, Team USA. The team competed in the International Federation of American Football Junior World Championship, June 27-July 5, 2009, in Canton, Ohio. The event was a first and is slated to be held once every four years. Kyle lead the 2009 Team USA to an undefeated season. Kyle was himself once a running back at St. Ignatius in the late 1960s. He also played football at John Carroll University, where he injured his shoulder. In 1973 he began teaching at St. Ignatius. He continues there today, not only as the varsity football coach but also an English teacher and track coach. Kyle was named High School Coach of the Year by USA Today in 1989 and 1993, while his St. Ignatius squads of those years were named mythical national champions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s episode of Coach & Coordinator podcast features legendary high school football coach Chuck Kyle. He’s coached at his alma mater, Cleveland St. Ignatius High School, for 39 years, compiling 369 wins, along with 11 state championships and three national titles. He also works with the Cleveland Browns as their youth football advisor. 2022 will be Coach Kyle's 40th and final season as he announced his retirement plans on December 13, 2021. An English teach at the high school, Coach Kyle uses the analogy that "every season is a book" in this episode as he joins Keith to talk about how to properly evaluate the season. We wish Coach Kyle the best of luck and well wishes as he prepares for his final season. Show notes -How a football season is like a book -Why you should remember to focus on what went well when analyzing the season -Remember the human element in the game -The importance of analyzing what you did as a staff that helped a kid get better -How to convince a player why playing a certain position is better for them -Why the group mentality isn’t always helpful -Why “keeping them honest” isn’t enough -Why execution suffers when the playbook expands Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the past 10 years, we’ve heard and seen the word “culture” being thrown about arbitrarily. In conversations with coaches, in reports we’ve published, in clinic talks we’ve attended, in the posters and t-shirts we see in programs and in sports “culture” books we’ve read… Athletes and coaches praise it when things go well and cite it as the primary catalyst for things going wrong. It is the most hackneyed phrase in sports, yet no one doubts that it is the most powerful factor when it comes to building a football program. There were things we already knew about building culture. We knew it was the bloodline of any program and it had to be all-inclusive in order to be effective. We also knew that it had to continually be re-evaluated and re-aligned based on changing dynamics like environment and personnel. Coaches can never allow a culture to grow stagnant.  Most importantly, we knew that the healthiest form of culture is one that is completely player-driven, where players are empowered with ownership in creating and defending a program’s core values. The generated ownership and accountability that comes as result is invaluable to a program’s success, often producing achievements significantly above talent level. But how do you get to player-driven culture? How do you make the transition from being coach-led to being player-led? And how will it take? Today's guest Mike Kuchar of X&O Labs shares what he found in doing an extensive study of over 40 programs and how they build culture, and then building his findings into a system that is built around 7 behaviors: 1. Messaging 2. Collaboration 3. Connectivity 4. Self Advocacy 5. Emotional Awareness 6. Responsibility 7. Resiliency Get Mike's study (over 3 hours)here: https://bit.ly/3EOKWh4 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In part 2 of this podcast, host Keith Grabowski shares thoughts on how the game is becoming a thinking man's game and uses an interview from Bill Walsh to point out important philosophies and tactics that helped Coach Walsh bring his teams to the top. Evaluating Players in Training Camp: https://soundcloud.com/user-804678956/evaluating-players-in-training-camp-9-college-coaches-share-their-insight Ideas for Actionable Film Grading: https://soundcloud.com/user-804678956/ideas-for-actionable-film-grading The Edge Week 2 -Evaluating players, units, team and scheme throughout the season https://soundcloud.com/user-804678956/the-edge-week-2-evaluating-players-units-team-and-scheme-throughout-the-season Deliberate Practice Series: https://soundcloud.com/user-804678956/sets/deliberate-practice-season-2 https://soundcloud.com/user-804678956/sets/deliberate-practice Enter the Sweepstakes: glazierclinics.com/win Link to the Article in Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/1993/01/to-build-a-winning-team-an-interview-with-head-coach-bill-walsh Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices