The Football Coaching Podcast with Joe Daniel

Coaches are always struggling to create an identity for your football team. We don’t need to create it though - you should be trying to develop the identity. It’s an important distinction, and the biggest takeaway from this podcast. You need to build around the strongest positive character trait that the majority of your team possesses. To find your football team’s identity, you need to examine the community, parents, tradition, and your current players. You also need to look at yourself and the coaches around you. In this episode of The Football Coaching Podcast, find out just what the Team Identity really means, and how you can develop one that will take your football team to the next level of success. I’ll also share several examples of Team Identity for you to look at, to help you decide what direction your football team’s identity needs to go in. This isn’t about X’s and O’s, but if you want to give your team’s defense a new identity, I’ve got a free gift for you. Visit http://425defense.com/podcast to get instant access to my Foundations of the 4-2-5 Defense video series. Visit and follow my Twitter Profile Page @footballinfo to vote for next week’s poll topic!

It’s the single most searched term on Joe Daniel Football. “Linebacker Reads.” So it’s about time we do the definitive podcast on coaching linebacker reads. Of all styles. Because I coach them all. It’s about finding what works best for your players, in your defense. And every player is different. Heck, every game is different - but we only have an hour (well, 70 minutes). I’ll talk about backfield keys, guard keys, and the 2-man surface read for your Inside Linebackers. What it is, and how you can read it. No matter what defense you coach, we’re going to talk about Linebacker Reads that you can use for your football team this season. Check out http://425defense.com/podcast to get instant access to my Foundations of the 4-2-5 Defense video series. This is my special gift to you and you can get access to these videos right now at no charge. Visit and follow my Twitter Profile Page @footballinfo to vote for next week’s poll topic!

We’re always looking for new technology to give your football team an edge on the opponent. And there’s an increasing number of options. In this episode of The Football Coaching Podcast, I’ll look at a few of those different options. From video analysis, to playbook, team organization and safety - learn new ways to improve your football team. None of these are the magic bullet. You have to become a better football coach to get better results. We’re looking for ways to be more efficient, relay information, and improve safety on the field for your football players. Don’t forget to check out http://425defense.com/podcast to get instant access to my Foundations of the 4-2-5 Defense video series, too! Don’t forget to visit my Twitter Profile Page @footballinfo to vote for next week’s poll topic!

This week's winner on our Twitter poll @footballinfo was Defending Trips Formations. We look at multiple ways to defend 3 by 1 formations no matter what defense you're running. In any game plan, you'll need 3 ways to defend Trips Formations. I'll give you plenty to think about.  As with any other defensive plan, it starts with deciding what the offense is using that formation for. What's their purpose? Then you've got to make some decisions. Man or Zone? Or a combination coverage?  6 man box, or 7 man box? Or 5 man box when they're really trying to sling it all over the place? In this episode I also mention that special gift, my 3 Video Series on Coaching Football's 4-2-5 Defense that you can get access to right now at http://425defense.com/podcast.

The Red Zone is the Scoring Zone. When you get there, you've just got to put points on the board. And a field goal isn't good enough. No, in fact, a field goal represents a failure for the Offense in the Red Zone (still a positive for the team!).  Red Zone Offense needs to be one of your top priorities for the Offense to be successful. In today's episode of The Football Coaching Podcast, I'll tell you how to make it a priority. And a success.  In this episode... The Definition of the Red Zone for your Offense How to make your players understand the importance of Red Zone Offense Putting together your Red Zone Playbook How to identify and take advantage of the Defense in the Red Zone Don't forget to VOTE in our Twitter Poll for next week's FBCP Episode Topic @footballinfo. In this episode, I also mentioned a free gift for listeners of The Football Coaching Podcast on Coaching the 4-2-5 Defense. You can get access now at http://425defense.com/podcast.  

Cornerback technique is often neglected. If you focus in on the fundamentals of the position, you can make some huge improvements with these athletes in a short period of time. I'm breaking down the position by coverage and using the A.S.K.A. model.  A.S.K.A. is Alignment, Stance, Key and Responsibility. It tells the story for every position on your defense. It is the pre-snap checklist every defender should go over in his head before every play. Whether you're Cover 2, Cover 3 or Quarters you'll get some great ideas from this week's Football Coaching Podcast.

Get your coaches in the right place is going to be critical to the success of your football team. This takes a lot of thought to get it right. Every coach on your staff is at a different level. A different person. We’re not all great field generals, or great motivators. We each have strengths and weaknesses. And of course, every coach on your staff has a different level of experience. At different positions. Time to get it right. Listen to Episode 193 of The Football Coaching Podcast to find out how to make sure you’re using your football coaches right! Don’t forget about my 3 video series on The Pistol Power Offense System. Those videos are my gift to you. Register and watch the first video right now at http://pistolpoweroffense.com/podcast.

The Offensive Line takes more attention to details and technique than any other position on the field with the possible exception of Quarterback. Your asking big men to do unnatural things. Players can’t just rely on their athleticism. In today’s episode of The Football Coaching Podcast, I’m going through the key blocks you will use in a Gap Blocking Scheme. That’s plays like Power, Counter, Iso and Trap. This is a detailed look at blocking. Footwork, aiming points, and the upper body. If you want to learn more about Offensive Line play, and every football coach should, I strongly recommend two books: Coaching Offensive Linemen by Dave Christensen and James A. Peterson Complete Offensive Line by Rick Trickett I mentioned that 3 video series on The Pistol Power Offense System. The videos on Power and Counter will show you where I apply these blocks in our System. Those videos are my gift to you and you can access the first video right now at http://pistolpoweroffense.com/podcast.

It’s the longest wait in football. The time from the end of school to kick-off on Friday night. Seems to take forever. Don’t waste that time. You can get a lot out of your pre-game routine! This week’s Twitter Poll winner was Pre-Game Warm Up’s. From the pre-game meal to the opening kick, I’ll go in depth on how you can get your players ready to play. How should you handle your meetings? When do you flip the switch? And on the field, how much contact are you going to have? This is the complete guide to get your players ready to perform from the first drive through the fourth quarter (and Overtime if needed!). I also told you about a 3 video series on The Pistol Power Offense System. Those videos are my gift to you and you can access the first video right now at http://pistolpoweroffense.com/podcast.

There’s a lot of ways to get your Offensive Formations to your players. None of them are the right way, you just need a system. One that’s consistent. Learning football terms like formation calls is like learning a foreign language. So you can’t be too complex (I don’t know how good your kids are doing in Spanish, ours struggle). Formations are usually called using a combination of words and numbers. But nothing is universal. Then there’s the tags. You can get really complicated with tags. Oh, and motions! Shifts! Trades! It’s endless. In this episode of The Football Coaching Podcast, I’m going to go into all of that. A whole bunch of different ways you can align your players. And how to put it all together. One of the formation systems I talked about in this episode is from our Pistol Power Offense System. You can get a Free 3 Video Series on one of the core schemes of that System at https://joedanielfootball.com/ppo. Don’t forget to visit my Twitter Profile Page @footballinfo to vote for next week’s poll topic!