Spread & Cold Weather

In the slop-bowl at Heinz Field between the Steelers and Dolphins a few weeks back:

Miami 159 total yards, 49 rushing
Pittsburgh 216 total yards, 84 rushing

Miami was 14-24 passing
Pittsburgh was 18-21 passing

I believe wind is the only true weather problem for spread teams. I am a d coordinator and the thing I love to see the most is a good side wind when we play passing teams.
The cold is an issue only if the QB has small hands; makes it tougher to grip the ball.

I would disagree with the cold not being a factor.

Cold hurts. Try catching a ball when you can't feel your hands.
You can always make the case that it also hurts to tackle, and block, and everything else and yada yada yada....

But, I strongly feel that when it is cold it is easier to hand off and run than make and accurate throw (with a cold arm and hands you can't feel) and then a catch (with hands you can't feel).

Cold, Rain, etc...that stuff doesn't matter to the extent that you can throw the ball accurately imho. Wind on the other hand..is the great passing game killer. A good 25mph wind can make 5 yard passes tough to throw. IMHO, if your dealing with wind...you run the ball, and when you throw..you throw deep.

one has to define cold weather games? if you are talking the cold weather game that the bears and the packers played then yes, I will say the conditions did effect the level of play.

however, most high school playoff games the temps are in the 30s in the upper midwest. if that is cold then you clearly are a southerner.

most teams who fail throwing the ball in conditions failed to practice those conditions.

1. do not let kids be ball boys. this is a very important job and leaving it up to young kids will only hurt you. look for volunteer parents. the big key to keeping a ball dry on a rainy night it not letting it touch the ground to often and using plastic bags not towels to cover the ball.

2. using volunteer parents you can have a few of them drying the ball off on the sideline with a heater. the more the better. they have to be willing to come to practice on thursday evening however. most will find away.

3. using volunteer parents helps the no huddle attack. they understand the concept of hurry on and hurry off. ballboys tend to be slow cause they are kids.

4. particing with a wet ball. this has to be done once per week all sesaon long. got this from a option guy who was tired of players fumbling in wet conditions.

5. flood the field. teach wr how to run in a flooded field so they have experienced running on mud. do it early in the season during two days then ever other week.

6. bring 16 dry balls to each game. place them into 4 rubbermaids. one for each quarter. the rubbermaids keep them dry on the sidelines.

7. wr and qb need to play catch every day. if you want to throw the ball and you do like most teams, practice o and d on opposite days you will fail in the passing game.

8. ball dry. it exsists, so use it. a passing team who fails to use ball dry is planning to lose.

9. have small plastic garabage bags for skill players to put gloves and extra gloves in. during warmup do not let your skill players wear their gloves. start the game with dry gloves. extra gloves in bags staying dry.

10. for cold conditions get hand warmers. most ever kid has a hand warmer to go hunting with. bring it to the game. camo is fine. a package of handwarmers is like 3 bucks for 10 of them. you break the hand warmer open, expose them to air and they generate heat for hour on end. insert them into the handwarmer pouch and your hands stay warm.

11. rainy nights equal big play nights or big cushion nights. big cushion, you throw short passes. make them tackle. big plays when the db falls down.

12. as the season goes on, put balls in a plastice bag, put them in a cooler with ice surrounding them and use them at practice as it gets colder. it is all about concentration and expperience.

In wet weather games..one of the things we do is put towels on the back of both our guards, so if the qb needs to dry..he has two options. We change towels each quarter. Its been helpful, and QB doesn't have to deal with the towel during the center snap..also good for shotgun. (no hanging towel).