The Football Coaching Podcast with Joe Daniel

There are many different ways to coach Linebacker Keys. They all have their merits. None of them are perfect.  This is probably the most asked question I get at Joe Daniel Football. What should our Linebacker reads be?  It's pretty simple. What do you like the best? What gets your kids going the fast?  You need to decide how much room for error you want to leave. How important is it for the keys to be right on paper?  What your kids can process will be a determining factor. What can they learn? What can they execute? What gets them going fast?  In this episode, I'll go through several different options for coaching your Linebacker reads. Decide what works best for you and your players! When you need more detail, check out JDFB Insider. We have the Coaching Linebackers for Peak Performance video, along with detailed reads in all of our defensive courses. It's all included when you sign up for JDFB Insiders membership. 

Your players have a million things happening in their lives. And it's increasing all the time.  Family. Friends. Other sports. Academics.  Even when your players want to do the right thing... it's difficult. (most of them want to do the right thing, by the way)  I recorded this episode completely off-the-cuff. No real preparation, a couple notes on a piece of paper.  But it is very real. This is important stuff. Not the X's and O's. The stuff that matters.  I do a lot of surveys of coaches that use Joe Daniel Football and listen to The Football Coaching Podcast. The issues we address in this episode are at the top of your list of problems.  Players who want to play other sports. Single sport athletes are a big problem in the world today. Not because it's wrong to play one sport. But because it's wrong to play one sport if the kid wants to play other sports.  What about parents? That's the big issue. It's probably the one that keeps me from being a head coach. Parents are tough to deal with sometimes. They have unreasonable expectations.  Social life. Kids are getting into a lot more than we ever did. OK, maybe not. But it seems like it. Youth makes stupid decisions. We have to deal with that, and help as best we can. Expectations are sky high. Every kid, and every parent, thinks they're getting a scholarship. Any talented kid has heard from his uncle who used to play for a semi-pro team that he's definitely going to make it in The League. We have to deal with that, too.  Listen to Episode 168 of The Football Coaching Podcast for ideas on how to deal with all of this. And for lots more on building relationships that matter with your players, check out the Max Motivation for Peak Performance course that is an exclusive series for JDFB Insider members.  Timestamp: [04:03] What is a distracted player? [04:40] Distracted by other sports [08:50] Distracted by their own parents [12:32] Distracted by the social life [15:40] Distracted by expectations from the people around him [18:30] Get more ideas for helping your players  

Every football coaching staff needs certain guys. And I put together a list. It’s the 5 types of football coaches every staff needs to have. Are you one of them? The truth is you probably fall somewhere on a spectrum for each of these qualities. You have some of them. Some of them, you don’t. Then you have the 5 types of football coaches no one wants. These guys are the worst. The guys who kill your team unity. Ruin your enjoyment of the sport. The types of coaches that need to either change... or get gone. I put these lists together based on coaches that I have been around. The best and the worst. There’s probably some more out there. Good and bad. I just haven’t worked with them. This week’s Football Coaching Podcast was inspired by an email from Kody. If you have a suggestion for a topic you want to hear discussed on The Football Coaching Podcast, please email it to me! Please take a minute to leave us a review in iTunes for The Football Coaching Podcast. It really helps the podcast continue to grow! Want to see what JDFB Insider is all about? You can get instant access right now - click here .

As a Coordinator or a Head Coach, you’re looking at the picture. How does it all work together? In this week’s episode of The Football Coaching Podcast, we’re talking about looking at your football team from 30,000 feet. How can you get it all to mesh? Use these 6 little details to get started... Let go of the ‘little things’ if they don’t affect your big picture. Know what the non-negotiables are. Communicate your Vision to the coaches and the team Put the pieces together without worrying about the individual parts. Timing is everything. Your football team is a machine. Constantly adapt. You have to make corrections, without over-correcting. It’s time to step back and take a look at the big picture! The Defensive Installation Manual is an in-depth guide on figuring out the big picture for your defense. Click here to download it now.

We get caught up in the X's and O's sometimes. Probably too much. There's a lot that goes into a football season. Far beyond your playbook.  Do you have everything ready? Are you prepared to deal with the off the field stuff?  Make sure you've got all your gear ready.  Have a plan for the worst case scenario. Put systems in place that will save time all season long.  Maybe even get a new whistle (I recommend the Fox 40 Classic). This week's episode of The Football Coaching Podcast isn't really sexy. No cool plays. This time of year, all that should be in place. If it's not, you better get moving. We're getting everything in place to have a great season. Limit the headaches so that you can do what you love doing... Coach Football!  

It’s the Jimmy’s and Joe’s. Not the X’s and O’s. You know that. You still spend a boat load of time on your scheme. After all, your kids are the one’s you’ve got. You gotta do something to fill your obsessive football junkie time. Where you put those players is just as important as how good they are. That’s what this episode of The Football Coaching Podcast is all about. There are 5 key factors to consider when you start putting your players into positions... Evaluate the talents and abilities of each player. Focus on where they are at right now. What they have done in the past is only a small piece. Look at your scheme. What do you need at each position? Study your opponents. The one’s you really need to beat to achieve your goals. Where do they attack your defense? Where can you crete mismatches on offense? Once you’ve placed those guys based on the first 3... where do you have extra depth? Where do you need more depth? Fix it. What does the player want? A lot of coaches ignore this. You should not. Keep your schemes simple. Because you won’t get it perfect every year (or ever). Injuries play a big role, too. You may need to move some guys around. It’s all about having the best 11 football players on the field! If you need to perfect your defensive scheme, download my free eBook, The Defensive Installation Manual. It’s a 7 step process for choosing the right defense for your team.

You love football. You study it constantly. Always learning. We have an abundance of knowledge at our fingertips. When is it too much? To become a better football coach (fast!) you need to focus on what matters. We’re talking Pareto Principle here. 80/20 rule. 20% of your stuff gives you 80% of the results. 20% of the plays in your playbook might get 80% of your yards. 80% of your points. 20% of the technique you’re teaching on how to block or tackle is producing 80% of the success. Crazy stuff, right? Most of us are well aware of the 80/20 rule. But we don’t always apply it to coaching. Your playbook gets bigger as the season goes on. As your career goes on. The drill library expands. More drills. Better drills. Bigger drills.  Is all that stuff producing results? Sure. But some of it... about 20%... is producing most of your results. So here it is, Episode 163 of The Football Coaching Podcast. The secret. The holy grail. How to become a better football coach, right now... in one simple step. OK, I’m not an expert on this. It took me 4 steps. Listen to the podcast to hear me outline those 4 steps!

The finishing touches are on your playbook. Now you have to teach it to your players.   Having a plan for your Offensive or Defensive Install Schedule this football season is critical. The best plays don’t matter if they aren’t executed.   Execution relies on how well the coaches teach.   If your Install Schedule is well thought out, the offense or defense gets taught in a logical pattern. It makes sense to the players.   That gives them confidence that you know what you’re doing. They play faster. They win more games.   Start by deciding on your foundation. What matters to your football playbook more than anything else?   Then build the offense or defense. Build it the way you would want a game to work.   Some coaches want one play installed and run perfectly before they move on to the next play. Others want to get the entire offense or defense in first. Then perfect it.   There is no right way. Just have a plan that makes sense!     Other resources on Install Schedules: Episode 98 - Offensive Installation Guide Episode 120 - How To Create Your Install Schedule     Also check out my Defensive Installation Manual for a step by step process to putting your Defensive Playbook together.

Kirk Ferentz is the Head Football Coach for the University of Iowa. You probably know that.   In 2015 he led the Hawkeyes to an undefeated regular season and a Rose Bowl appearance. He received the Big 10 Coach of the Year Award for the 4th time.   Coach Ferentz was also the recipient of the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year and Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Awards for 2015.   He’s going into his 18th season at the University of Iowa.   We talk about what it takes to build a successful football team. The importance of balance, keeping it simple, and building a culture.   Sound familiar? Football is basically the same at any level.   Coach Simple. Play Fast. Win. That’s always the focus.  Want a balanced, simple approach to coaching your Offense? Get my free video series on the Pistol Power Offense System. 

Chris Brooks has a decade of experience coaching the Wing-T Offense for Youth Football. He is the creator of WingT-Football.com. Chris has a Wing-T Football coaching pedigree that started with coaching the Youth program in Sherwood, Oregon. He learned the offense from the local High School coaches, who have over 20 years of experience with it. We’ll talk about how to create a mutually beneficial relationship between Youth and High School coaches in your area. We look at the Wing-T Offense, and the terminology involved. We also talk about specialization of athletes. When is it a good thing, when is it a bad thing? On Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at 9:00pm Eastern, 6:00pm Pacific, Coach Brooks will be hosting a JDFB Insider exclusive Web Clinic on the Wing-T Buck Series. Insiders can log in and sign up. Not a JDFB Insider yet? You should be. Click here to learn more.