The Football Coaching Podcast with Joe Daniel

Blitzing in football is a lever that many coaches pull for different reasons and with widely varying frequency. Some want to send an additional player every snap, some wait for the planets to align on the perfect situation.  In today’s episode, we will discuss three primary purposes for blitzing in football and what each of these bring to your playbook.

Every coach knows tackling is a key to winning games, but do you know the physics of football tackling?  The two most basic functions of American football, at any level, are blocking and tackling. If you’re coming up short at either job, you’re probably not seeing a lot of success on that side of the ball.  Tackling, much like every other aspect of the game, has evolved over the years. Players have gotten bigger, faster, and stronger. The game has opened up in regards to playing behind a row of blockers, to getting the ball in open space. In today’s episode, we’re going to discuss the fundamentals of tackling, and some drills that you can use to better prepare your athletes to make all types of tackles, whether it be open field or round the edge of the OL trying to hit a sideline.

In 1906 Saint Louis University (eventually named the Billikens) completed the first official forward pass in college football history. Everyone else was playing checkers (Rugby style football to be exact) and SLU’s head coach Eddie Cochems was playing Chess. Today’s episode is all about the offense, and how it has cycled over the years. From the “Rugby” beginnings, the Split-T of the 50s, the Wishbone of the 70s-90s and into the Air Raid era. We will look at how each of these offenses, and a few others, were phased in and phased out, and where they’re still useful today.

From depth charting players in the pre-season to trying to stop your cross-town rival’s power play, understanding your defense is of utmost importance. The better you know your system, what each lever is best at stopping, the more efficient you’ll be at adjusting on the fly. This episode of The Football Coaching Podcast delves further into the idea of having the best 11 on the field, by concentrating on your overall understanding of your defensive system.

When you’re filling out your football depth chart for your defense this season, you should be pencilling in the ‘Best 11’. In Youth and High School Football where we do not recruit, we coach the kids we have. They might not always fit into a perfect mold for each position. This episode of The Football Coaching Podcast kicks off Season 10 with a look at what the Best 11 really means for your defense. Find out how to pick the right guys and put them in the right places on your football depth chart.

For every playbook out there, you will find another way to name offensive football formations. There are no strict guidelines or rulebook to what you call your formations.  Creating your own system of rules for how you name offensive football formations is important, though. It will determine how easy it is for your players to grasp new formations. The system also determines how easy it is for you call new formations.  I love keeping it simple. Football plays take a lot of work. They take time to install and perfect. You do not need a lot of plays. Formations are cheap. You can install new formations quickly in practice. Being able to run just a few plays out of many different formations creates a complex look for the defense, while you keep it simple.  Check out this episode of The Football Coaching Podcast to learn all about naming and grouping your offensive football formations. 

Unlike the rest of the topics in Season 9 of The Football Coaching Podcast, this is not one of the 20 most asked questions. In fact, this question gets asked very infrequently. But it is important. When do I know it is time to walk away from coaching?   You feel like you need a break. The stress of the job is wearing you out. Changes in your life have made the huge time commitment a bigger burden than it was. You don’t get the same joy from the game as you did before. There are a lot of reason coaches ask the question. In this episode, I will talk about how I knew it was time to walk away. And how I knew it was time to come back. 

Two platoon football has been a divisive concept in high school football over the last decade or more. Do you specialize players on one side of the ball, or keep the best players on the field at all times? There’s a lot to the issue. And while there is not as much argument about two platoon football anymore, there is still a lot to consider.  My feelings on two platoon football are not a secret, either. But I see the advantages. And disadvantages. That’s what this episode of The Football Coaching Podcast is all about.

What is the best football defense for my team to run? I hear that question a lot. But there’s no easy answer. In Season 9 of The Football Coaching Podcast we’re answering the most common questions I’ve heard over the last decade. And this question about the best football defense is one of the most popular. Check out this episode for a look into some of the biggest myths and misunderstandings about defensive football. After listening, you’ll be ready to push ahead coaching your defense with confidence.