AFQ X's and O's

Free football coaching strategies, play diagrams, X’s and O’s for coaches at all levels

Year: 2013



Building Players Beyond the Game

“The Trojan Creed” In my last blog I talked about building relationships beyond the players. This month I want to share our program’s thoughts about building players beyond the game. We try to teach our football players to live by…


Special Teams

Special Teams Pyramid of Excellence

2012 SPECIAL TEAMS PYRAMID OF EXCELLENCE stolen from John Wooden, etc.. and used to frame our teaching progression on Special Teams.

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Training Camp

AFM BLOG #2            Most everything in football coaching is about borrowing great ideas and making them your own.  There are very few original ideas.  Many good ideas on whatever topic end up being something that…

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Special Teams

Team Building With Special Teams

When the calendar flips to August, coaches usually start tossing and turning at night.  Sometimes we lie awake as different schemes and drills occupy our minds, trying to dream up practices that will maximize our time on the field.  Only…

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Starting the Season

As we start the season, I had a few thoughts as we get ready.  All coaches at every level are hungry for the new season to begin.  We have put in the off-season time, formulated new game plans, gone over…

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Arnsparger a Master at Deflecting Attention and Praise

How would you feel if the person at the very top of your profession watched you do the job that he was the number-one expert of in the world? That happened to me one day. Bill Arnsparger was the defensive…

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The 2×2 Shallow Concept

The 2×2 Shallow concept (or drive route) complements the 3 x 1 route I discussed on the last posting.  In fact, from an installation perspective, the only difference between the two is that the split end (X) and our flanker…

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Building Relationships Beyond the Players

By James Housdan, Head Football Coach Parkers Chapel High School (AR)   With the start of high school football practice about to begin, coaching staffs are putting the final preparations in place. For almost a year coaches and players have…

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Priorities for Practice

As we all kick into full swing with our fall camps, and two-a-day practices, it’s important to keep our priorities in line.  With the grind that comes with the start of a season, it’s easy to get stuck in the…

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Online Supplemental: Making an Impact with Flipped Coaching

In the August/September of American Football Monthly, I describe a method known as “flipped coaching.” This coaching method is something borrowed from classroom teachers. “Flipped learning” is a teaching method developed by Jon Bergmann and Aaron Sams. These two chemistry…

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