The Football Coaching Podcast with Joe Daniel

This week on The Football Coaching Podcast it’s all about going fast. Our guest is Coach Bill Legg, the Offensive Coordinator at Marshall University since 2010 under Head Coach Doc Holliday.  I’ve seen Coach Legg speak at Glazier Clinics on two different occasions. He has a great football mind. He’s also incredibly willing to share and help other coaches.  We’ll talk about the role of an Offensive Coordinator in staff meetings. How to utilize the talent and knowledge of every coach in the room.   Then we get into Tempo. How to play fast.   How does using the hurry up, no huddle system change your offensive play calling?   How can you, as a play caller, prepare yourself to call plays so fast?   How do you get the play calls into your players?   In JDFB Insiders, we have a module all about how to go fast, and use the hurry up tempo with our Pistol Power Offense System. You can get all the information here Have questions or feedback? Post a comment here! 

Coach Bill Weiss is has been the Head Football Coach at Chisago Lakes High School in Minnesota for 19 seasons. His teams won their 2013 and 2014 Conference Championships. Coach Weiss joins us to talk about putting together a successful program on both sides of the ball. On April 27, 2016 at 9:00pm ET he’ll be talking Defensive Line Technique on a JDFB Insider Exclusive Web Clinic. Coach Weiss talks about his Triple Option Offense and 4-3 Defense and why consistency has been important. He also shares how to adjust your playbook for your players each year. His passion is on the Defensive Line, though. And that’s where we’ll focus in on philosophy and technique for playing tough up front. Check out this week’s episode of The Football Coaching Podcast – and JDFB Insider subscribers don’t miss that Defensive Line Web Clinic!

This week’s episode is nothing but a rant. Seriously. I was set off by one comment from a coach I don’t even know. The comment was by new Georgia Tech head basketball coach Josh Pastner. I read about it in an article on football scoop (read it here). The whole thing is ridiculous. If you want to be the guy who works 100 hours a week or more, great. Sometimes I am too, but it’s not because I want to be. I’m sure not making anyone else do it, either. So I turned on the microphone and went on a rant for Episode 157 of The Football Coaching Podcast. Let me be clear. I don’t care about Josh Pastner, or Georgia Tech Basketball. He may be a great person. The comments may be out of context. The article really just clicked a little something that I hear all of the time. From coaches, from business men, from teachers. From everyone. You do not need to work yourself to death, neglecting your family and your health. You certainly don’t need to wear it as a badge of honor. Some guys love the “grind.” Working from 4am to midnight. Sleeping just long enough to keep from stumbling through the day. Mumbling something about brains. This podcast is a message to the guys who are not that guy. You don’t have to be. For the guy who wants to be… do you, bro. Just know that there are other ways to succeed. In this episode, I also mentioned The Productivity Project by Chris Bailey. Here’s the link

Are you using empty formations in your offense? If not, you need to listen to this episode. Incorporating empty formations into your offense is easy. You should do it without actually changing what you do or who you are. The advantage is that we’re either getting Cover 0, or a really clean look inside the box. I like either one. For many defensive coordinators, myself included, the first answer to empty formations is to load the box. Bring heat. Make you get the ball out in a hurry. But the truth is, once you burn them… decisions have to be made. Stay in Cover 0 and risk getting roasted again? Or give the offense a 3-2 box or a 4-1 box. Those 5 man boxes are so clean. You’ve got hats on hats. They are respecting your receivers. To an athletic Quarterback, this is a dream. You can really open up your running game now! Get all the details on how to use empty formations in your offense. Listen to this week’s episode of The Football Coaching Podcast!

You know how important leadership is to your football team. If you don’t have it, you really know how important leadership is. When coaches are trying to change the path that a program is on, leadership is the first place we look. No one knows that better than Coach Chris Zablocki. Following a string of 9 straight playoff appearances at Cedar Grove-Belgium High School (WI), Coach Zablocki was ready for a new challenge. He found that challenge at Sheboygan North High School (WI). Chris took over in 2015 after the team struggled through a winless season the year before. Changing a culture and turning a program around are not an easy task. But Coach Zablocki has a plan. One he’s used before. In this episode of The Football Coaching Podcast, you get details about the foundation of Coach Zablocki’s plan to change a football program. And it starts with building leadership. JDFB Insiders will get a much deeper look into Chris Zablocki’s plan for establishing leadership and turning a program around. On April 14, 2016 at 9:00pm Eastern, 6:00pm Pacific, Chris will be presenting an exclusive web clinic for JDFB Insiders. Want to be a part of that event? Click here for all the details on how to become a JDFB Insider right now.

You might not think you can learn much from a soccer guy. We're football coaches. Once you listen to my interview with Coach John O'Sullivan today, you'll realize you were wrong. There's a lot to learn.  Of course, John O'Sullivan is much more than a soccer coach. John's website at Changing The Game Project website will tell you that quickly. He is a best selling author and speaker on how coaches and parents can make our sport - any sport - a great experience for the people that matter. Who matters? The players, of course.  We lose sight of that. Adults ruin everything.  I met John about a year ago. He has studied the single topic that matters the most. How to get your players to perform their best.  Schemes don't matter. X's and O's don't matter. Not when your kids are not giving their all. Not when they don't love to play the game.  That's what John is all about.  In the interview we talk about some really important topics including... How to keep your players from jumping to other sports instead of football How to give your kids more confidence in their ability How to coach when you have lots of kids on different ability levels How to build your program so that parents aren't the problem  You'll never eliminate all of the problems, of course. Humans do not allow for problem-free environments.  But you can take some serious steps to eliminate the issues. In this episode, we also talk about the upcoming conference on changing your team's culture, July 8-10, 2016 in Boulder, CO. Click here for more information Jump into Episode 154 of The Football Coaching Podcast and listen to my interview with Coach John O'Sullivan, right now!

Coaches like to talk about empowering your players. But when is the right time? What should they have power over? In this episode of The Football Coaching Podcast, we're looking at how much pull your kids should have in the decisions we make. Can they decide when practice starts? When it ends? Should you let your players pick team captains? Do players get to decide where they're going to play? How much input should your players have in play calling decisions? Do the players have any input in playing time? Can your kids help you decide what to do in the weight room? How much should you listen to your players regarding injuries? And do your players get to have a say in the design of your playbook? I'll go over each of these topics and how you should handle player's input on each. 

RPO's are the hot topic at clinics all over the country this year. But almost everyone is talking using run-pass options from a Spread formation.  So we're bringing in Coach Justin Dottavio for a little JDFB Insider exclusive Web Clinic to talk RPO's in his Pistol Wing-T Offense. Something a little different.  Coach Dottavio is the Head Football Coach, among other titles, at Cornerstone Charter Academy in Belle Isle, Florida.  At a small school, you need to find the offense that fits your players. Justin and his staff came to the Pistol Wing-T Offense. Then they added in to RPOs.  We also talk about the defense, the special teams, and Wrestlemania. Important topics.  Want to be a part of Coach Dottavio's Insider Web Clinic on March 15, 2016 at 8:00pm Eastern, 5:00pm Pacific? Click here to become a JDFB Insider now  

Putting together your Offensive Playbook for the upcoming season? Here's a checklist. What do you need to have to make sure your playbook is complete for your football team? It's not as easy as it seems.  Well you'll need to know how you plan to call your formations. Can you get into all the looks you want to show? And you need to be able to do it easily. Then there's your motions and shifts. Who can you move, where can you move them.  Now the important stuff. Your base run play. Nothing is more critical.  You'll want a counter play off of that. And a way to get the football in the air with the Play Action Pass off that base run.  How about some screens and draws when the Defensive Line is breathing down your neck? Better add those in.  Get the ball out to the perimeter with your quick game passing. Then be able to go down the field if you're falling behind (or if that's just what you do). What if the game is on the line and time is running out? Do you have a 2 Minute Offense plan?  Don't forget that the field is severely shrunken inside the 5 yard line. What's your special plan on the Goal Line?  Finally, your playbook needs a Plan B. And Plan C. Got it?  It's all detailed in this week's episode of The Football Coaching Podcast!

I listen to a lot of different podcasts and audiobooks. Usually not about football.  But I get a lot of the ideas for The Football Coaching Podcast episodes from those other places. And this episode is a great example.  Dan Sullivan and Joe Polish host a podcast for entrepreneurs called the 10x Talk Podcast. It's one I've been listening to a lot, lately.  And in that podcast, I heard a great way to categorize our kids.  This is all about deciding how to manage your kids. How to work with your kids. Who you need to put more of your energy into, and who you don't.  It has nothing to do with talent. It has to do with people.  If your kids aren't bringing the energy, the motivation, and the enthusiasm to the game like you need them to, then Episode 150 is for you!