Youth Football Is Here...

The high school season is just a few weeks away but already youth football (13 years and under) is gearing up all around the country. In many states the youth leagues begin late July or early August. There are junior high leagues, middle school leagues, Pop Warner, JFL, and Pee Wee. Whatever your community calls it, it’s that time of year.

First of all, let me say a big thank you to those of you who volunteer your time to help coach these youngsters. We appreciate your efforts and the time you will be putting in this season. Good luck to all who coach our kids. Many of you are veterans but I’m sure there are more than a few of you who are new to this world of coaching football and might be looking for a little guidance. If you’re like most of us, you learn as much as you can from those who have gone on before you. I coached (and taught) for thirty years and in my thirtieth year I was still learning as much or more as when I first started. Be a sponge and soak up as much knowledge as you can. Books, DVD’s, clinics, periodicals, and talking to other coaches are all ways to learn. And don’t forget about a website like www.chiefpigskin.com that has tons of free resources from championship high school and college programs. There are many key concepts to working with youngsters but the following are a few I learned over the years.

· Be an encourager. Pre and early teen boys are at a very fragile stage with their self esteem. Be positive and enthusiastic.

· Be organized. I always had my practice plan in my pocket. I used it to stay on schedule and remind myself what I wanted to teach. Every coach on the field should have his plan on him.

· Keep your offense and defense simple. Don’t get too complicated. Know what you want to do, believe in it, teach it, coach it, and execute it. Every offense and defense is effective if executed correctly.

· Teach, teach, teach! Coach, coach, coach! Kids are there to learn so teach them the skills and strategies necessary for them to be successful. The best teaching and coaching comes in breakdown time. A big part of practice should be devoted to position time. Keep team O and D to a minimum.

· Pre teen kids roll out of bed in shape. Don’t get carried away with “gettin ‘em in shape”. The big, heavy kids will improve their conditioning over time by working hard in drills. We incorporated our conditioning into our football drills. They are there to learn how to play football, not run cross country. (I like cross country, but it’s a different sport.)

· Be patient. If my players didn’t do a drill correctly, I figured I didn’t do a good job of teaching. Reteach and try again. If it still doesn’t go well, move on.

· End practice on a positive note. Congratulate them on a job well done. Make them feel special for the effort they just gave.

· Have fun!

Good luck this season and remember that what you are doing is very important. We thank you for working with young players. If you have any questions at all or any comments, I can be reached through the chiefpigskin.com website. I love talking football.

Sample practice plan

The following plan is just one example.

4:00-4:10 Warm up and flexibilities

4:10-4:20 Agility stations 4 or 5 stations (Teaches athletic skills AND conditions)

4:20-4:25 Water

4:30-4:55 Individual O or D

Backs, receivers, line all go to own areas to work on skills and assignments

Incorporate running with your drills. Learn AND condition at the same time.

4:55-5:00 Water

5:00-5:15 Front drill (Running plays only – receivers work on passing game in other area)

Keep this drill moving-coach on the run. If it’s up tempo, players will learn offense and get legs in shape.

5:15-5:20 Water

5:20-5:40 Team Offense

Again up tempo-minimize standing around and giving speeches. This can be a time of execution AND conditioning. Give water breaks as need.

5:40-5:55 Perfect plays

Run 10 perfect offensive plays against air, no defense. First 5 yards simulates play then sprint last 35 yards straight ahead. This is execution and a GREAT conditioner. Essentially doing ten 40 yard dashes but with a football purpose.

5:55-6:00 Bring them in, take a knee, final instructions and break.

A defensive practice would follow the same type of schedule.

These days...summer means football

The barbells are banging and the weights are being thrown around the weightroom. The air is full of footballs as 7 on 7 games are being played at local high schools. Football coaches are running drills for speed, agility, and technique. It's a high energy atmosphere as football camps are rolling throughout Illinois and across the country. We're only in the middle of summer but already football is in full swing. High school association rules allow for much more contact with the athletes than several years ago and the importance of weight training can't be disputed. There is no question that players are bigger, faster, stronger, in better shape, better coached and more prepared than at any time I can remember.

I'm dating myself, but I can recall when I started high school football in 1965, there was basically nothing going on in the summer at our school in Illinois. We weren't very good, and maybe that's part of the reason why. But I suspect that we were not the only ones that had no summer football program. Oh, starting my sophomore year in '66 a new coach was hired and he had seniors lead workouts 2 weeks before the first official practice. It was low key and not well attended or taken seriously by the players. The coach was no where to be seen, I assume because it was against the rules, so there was no coaching. Basically, the season started on the first day of practice around the third week in August. It truly was "hell week" because we were so out of shape. The coaches had 3 weeks to get us physically and mentally ready for the first game in the middle of September. Offenses and defenses weren't as sophisticated and most teams ran the football at least ninety per cent of the time. Passes were thrown now and then to make our opponents think we actually had a passing game. What a difference from today!

Programs now resemble effecient college programs. Whether you agree with the more intense approach or not, that's the way it is now. To be competitive in todays world of high school football, coaches must do what they can to keep getting better. Let's not forget one key ingredient; through it all - HAVE FUN!

Fall of '63

Sandlot ball was all I ever played when it came to football up until I was about 12 years old. This was back in the early 60's and I don't recall any kind of youth leagues whether it be JFL, Pop Warner, Pee Wee or anything similar. We just got together in someones' backyard and divided up teams and played. It was usually 4 0n 4 or 5 on 5 and we had touchdown lines at the end of the yard. Sometimes we would wear our store bought uniforms but usually we just played in our jeans and sweatshirts. (Boys did not wear shorts back in those days) I guess it was the summer of '63 that word got out that there was going to be a flag football league in the fall. We were pumped! Yeah, we would have preferred real football with tackling, after all, tackling was the most fun part. But we would take anything.

My Dad went to an organizational meeting and when he came back, he and my Uncle Jerry were the coaches of one of the teams. I don't know how they chose teams but I ended up on the Gold team, which of course was coached by my Dad and uncle. There were four teams in all. Our jerseys were long sleeved and gold with blue shoulders. The other teams were blue, green, and red with white shoulders. No pads, but we did wear helmets and wore our blue jeans for pants. Most guys just wore their own department store helmets. Back in those days, helmets were not what they are now. Anyway, we had a league and we were excited. This was my first taste of organized football.

We were allowed to wear our own helmets and mine was white with a red stripe down the middle. I had drawn horseshoes on the side with a black marker to make it look like a Colts helmet. They were my favorite team at the time because my favorite players were Johnny Unitas, Raymond Berry, and Lenny Moore. Oh, and these were the BALTIMORE Colts.

My best memory is the night they let us play the Blue team at the halftime of the local high school game. It was a crisp October night and there was a nice crowd. As we warmed up near the end of the 2nd quarter the excitement mounted. At the half we got on the field and quickly lined up on defense. We didn't have much time. After about 3 plays they broke a long run and the crowd cheered as we ran down the field. Now it was our turn. We broke a long run also after a couple of plays and the crowd roared! Man, was that fun. Cool autumn air, under the football lights, long touchdown runs and twelve years old. It was my first time on a football field under the lights. What could be better?

As I look back, they should have made it 7 on 7 passing leagues, but it was just like real football (11 on 11) except played with flags. Instead of 10 yards for a first down it was 20. I suppose the thinking was flags would be hard to pull. We lined up in the full house T formation with two tight ends and ran the football 90% of the time. So did everyone else. Needless to say, the games were very low scoring with not much offense. I mean, you couldn't run over defenders and break tackles, so the games were defensive battles. Big plays consisted of a long pass play hooking up now and then or someone making a reverse work. It was really very crude but you know what? We had fun and really enjoyed it. There weren't many pileups but we got to fall down enough that we were happy. Our team only won one or two games out of six played but it was football, and that's all that mattered. My Dad and uncle had fun too and it turned out a positive experience. Dad had been a professional athlete but he was very good about being low keyed and was never critical of my performance. The following year we moved to another part of town and there was no flag football or any other kind of youth league. Now it was just wait for high school ball and get back to the sandlots.

These days the youth leagues are numerous, intense, and very well organized. I don't know how much sandlot ball or flag football kids play these days but I do know that we had our own brand of football that taught us toughness, tackling, and moxey. It was great and I'll never forget it.

Thanks to Chiefpigskin.com for having me on as a blogger. I love talkin football.