The “Pop” Pass in Modern Football – A Simple Yet Effective Play
As a young quarterback playing pee wee football, one of the first pass plays I learned was the tight end “pop” pass. It was a quick hitting play- action pass off of a dive play. From what I can remember…
Identifying The Action Key Defender In The Triple Option
The action key defender is defined as the first defensive lineman INSIDE of the dive key defender. In the diagram shown, the dive key is the first defensive lineman on or outside the play side OT (#1). The pitch key…
Small Target, Tight Hands
The number one detail that we have been attempting to emphasize to our defensive line this fall is to play with their hands at all times. This fundamental and technique detail is true for most positions as most all coaches…
How Did We Get Here?
As a lifelong New Englander, I’ve been a diehard Boston Red Sox fan for as long as I have been watching baseball. It pretty much comes with the territory here. As expected, most of my friends are as well. We’ve…
Importance of Relative Body Strength In High School Athletes
This generation of high school athletes is unique in many ways. One of the ways in which they are unique is their lack of strength in terms of relative body strength. This is a generation that for the most part…
Selecting a Game Call Sheet Format
When I first became an offensive coordinator, one of the biggest challenges I faced had nothing to do with which personnel I wanted to use, what plays I would call, or even what the opponent looked like. Rather, it was…
Are We Teaching Speed and Quickness?
It has become somehow universally accepted that if you increase your strength and perform specific running drills, you will increase your speed and quickness. However, I have not seen any results posted after athletes undergo these programs. In other words,…
Incorporating Lessons From One’s Own High School Coach
“Did you feel the earth start shaking under your feet?” Coach Larry French asked me. “No, sir,” I responded. Coach French continued, “Then, I don’t want you to run the ball.” My high school football coach was Larry French….
Defensive Back Drill: Stick Tackle
I got this one from our Defensive Coordinator, Jeff Moore, who is one of the best in the business. He was a 2012 finalist for D3football.com’s Division III Coordinator of the Year, and his defense has led us to a…
Shallow Cross Pass Concept
In our offense, we currently hang our hat on four main drop back concepts and five quick throws. Today, I plan on discussing our “shallow” game. When looking at different passing schemes, we felt that the “Air Raid” shallow cross…