The Football Coaching Podcast with Joe Daniel

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!

On this edition of The Football Coaching Podcast, it's a deep dive into Pattern Read Coverage. What is it, and why should your team run it? And also… why shouldn't your team run it? We'll talk about making the decision. I'll talk about the 4 Critical Keys to Coaching Pattern Read Coverage. Then we'll dive into all of the communication your players have to learn to run a successful pattern read defense. In this episode I mentioned quite a few resources, and they're listed below: Coaching Pattern Read Coverage by Tom Olivadotti is an excellent overview of pattern read principles. Quarters Coverage Made Simple by Shap Boyd was crucial for me learning Quarters Coverage. Listen to my interview with Coach Boyd on Quarters Coverage in Episode 26 of The Football Coaching Podcast 4-3 Over Cover 4 Defense from Pat Narduzzi is a great resource if you're interested in Press Quarters. Or defense. Can't recommend this 2 DVD set enough. Don't overcomplicate your coaching. Keep it simple so your kids can execute. That's what The 4-2-5 Defense System is all about. To get access to free videos on The 4-2-5 Defense System, visit http://425defense.com/podcast.

For this week's episode of The Football Coaching Podcast, Defensive Game Planning won the Twitter Poll! You can vote for next week's poll topic on my Twitter feed @footballinfo. This could probably make up a month's worth of show topics. I decided to focus on one aspect - the scouting. Gathering enough information to give your football team an advantage. Without going overboard. And without digging through too much information and actually falling behind. I talk about what information the football coaches need to know. And how much of that do your players actually need? Then we'll talk about the Game Planning Call Sheet. If you want to go deeper on that, check my article on 24 Things You Can't Leave Off Your Defensive Call Sheet. For more ideas on putting your Defensive Playbook together (after all, you can't get the call sheet right if you don't have a foundation), download my free eBook Defensive Installation Manual here.

The most important skill for a Linebacker is learning how to defeat blocks. A Linebacker should expect to defeat a block before he makes the tackle. It's also one of the hardest skills to get your Linebackers to execute. The natural tendency is to run around those big guys trying to push you. I've studied a lot on coaching linebackers. The best resource I've found is Lou Tepper's Complete Linebacking book: http://amzn.to/2mXKjMp If you haven't read it yet, you need to get it. Every football coach should check it out. In this episode, I talk about 3 styles of block destruction. We focus on the core principles including the strong inside foot, leverage and exploding the hips through the blocker. Then you'll shed the block and go make a tackle!

You voted and this is the topic that won! Coaching Without Leadership means coaching when you don't have those leaders on your team. The one's that would make your life so much easier. Here's the real secret. You have leaders. You have leadership. Now you have to be the coach. Develop it. And there's a lot going on here. For this podcast, I referenced my interview with Coach Chris Zablocki and his Pyramid of Priorities. Making good decisions is what you're really after. I also focus on the 5 Levels of Leadership that John Maxwell talks in this video. Maxwell's books are a must for football coaches. Finally, you can get instant access to Chris Zablocki's web clinic on leadership from last year, as well as my Max Motivation for Peak Performance eCourse when you join JDFB Insiders. Click here to get all the details.

Get ready for an in-depth look at Coaching the Outside Linebackers. Or Overhang Safeties. Whatever you want to call them! In this episode of The Football Coaching Podcast, I'm going through the foundations of coaching your force players in the defense. This is mainly from the perspective of a 4-4 or 4-2-5 Defense, or a 3-5-3 or 33 Stack Defense. But you can pick up some ideas no matter what defensive system you're running. Cover 3, Quarters, Cover 1 or Cover 2 all get discussed. I'm going through the ASKA pre-snap progression for your players. Stolen from TCU, as so many things I talk about are. ASKA stand for Alignment, Stance, Key, Assignment. It's a great way to build your pre-snap checklist that your players run through. I'll share the how and why of everything your Outside Linebackers need to do. Include 4 different Outside Linebacker Keys for determining Run or Pass and identifying the play. Outside Linebackers take a lot of work. This is the guy that most Offensive Coordinators will look to put in conflict. Make him wrong no matter what. This episode of The Football Coaching Podcast will help to arm you against the bad guys! Looking for the Umbrella Principle video? Click here to watch the video. Then you can sign up to get the entire 3 video series on Coaching The 4-2-5 Defense System delivered directly to your inbox for free.

I've talked a lot about The Pistol Power Offense System. But I don't know if I've ever talked about what it really is. At least, not on this podcast. The Pistol Power Offense System is just the One Back Offense. Run from Pistol… and under center, and gun. It's just a fancy name. What's the One Back Offense? Pretty simple. We've got a feature back. Then use a hybrid H-Back to move around and set up the defense. That hybrid guy replaces your Fullback in a Pro I Offense. He's just more versatile. Most of the plays are the same. Listen to this episode to hear the details of the running plays in the offensive playbook. Power, Counter, Zone, Stretch and Truck Toss. I get into the basics of each play, along with how and why they're packaged together. It's a good introduction to the One Back Offense for your football team. When you're ready to dive all the way in, join the Pistol Power Offense System!

Size matters. Especially when you don't have it. Coaching with smaller players means you have to make some adjustments. Your undersized team can still have success if you don't hit the panic button. In today's episode of The Football Coaching Podcast, I'll give you 8 keys to Coaching With Smaller Players. This is probably the most common question I get asked. Or some form of it. "My team is undersized. What should I run?" The answer is… changing the playbook won't change a thing. It's how you use your scheme that will make the difference (no matter what it is). So don't panic about all those little guys. Listen to this episode of The Football Coaching Podcast for ideas on how to coach your smaller players. And if you need a System - one that works no matter who you're coaching - check out The 4-2-5 Defense System. You can get Instant Access when you sign up now!

The 4-2-5 Defense is probably my favorite defense. And what I'm best known for. In today's episode of The Football Coaching Podcast, we're going to talk about the basics of this 8 man, even front defense. This is the same as a 4-4 Defense. Or a 6-2 Defense. Numbers don't really matter. Don't get caught up thinking this is some 'Spread Defense'. We'll go in depth on Defensive End alignment and responsibility. His technique is critical to the 4-2-5 Defense. This defense is a balanced front. You can flip your players strong and weak, or not flip them. This is an advantage when you're facing Hurry Up, No Huddle teams. I'll also talk about the variety of coverage you can run with your 4-2-5 Defense. Stay a single high safety Cover 3 or Cover 1, or get fancy. Like TCU's Split Field Coverage. Finally, we'll go in depth on position personnel. Who do you need in order to run a dominating 4-2-5 Defense? I'll give you details. I've worked with over 3,000 coaches on this incredible defensive scheme. To learn all about my 4-2-5 Defense System, visit 425defense.com and get Instant Access today.