mick
Probationary Member
Posts: 6
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Post by mick on Nov 28, 2013 10:27:10 GMT -6
I coach at a small school we only had 18 - 20 kids out this season. Historical the school has always had small numbers and we do not have a JV or Freshman team. I would like to see what others do or have done for practice plans at small school. We have done half line, inside run without secondary. 7 on 7, but that was difficult to many big guys, not enough specialty players. I'm looking for team and group ideas, how long do you individual, etc. anything unusual?
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Post by s73 on Nov 28, 2013 10:54:06 GMT -6
Coach,
I have experience in a slightly better but similar situation. Here is what worked for us.
First, I would imagine many of those guys are learning multiple spots due to injury possibilities etc. so I would make an educated guess that you are cross training many of these guys.
So what we did in these circumstances is we had base drills that everybody did regardless of position. Even the QB's b/c you never know if somebody beats one of those guys out & they get moved to another spot.
Blocking - Everybody did a 6 pt. blocking progression & one on one work in the chutes.
Ball security drill - Everybody does it unless their is just no way on Earth they will carry the ball. Then, it's back to line drills.
Pass blocking - mirror drills, 1 on 1, 3 on 3, 5 on 5 Maybe you could rotate one group doing this while another works throwing patterns on air.
7 on 7 half line stuff. I think this can be effective towards getting a good look b/c you can maximize best skill players here and you can monitor more closely plus it becomes ultra competitive since everyone knows which way you are throwing. Tell & sell the QB if you can complete balls under these circumstances the game will be easy. If on the other hand, the QB is getting destroyed in the drill then give him an additional down or two & sell that as "evening the playing field".
Group tackling of course, turnover circuits, pursuit drill.
These are just some of the things we did, not perfect but I think it can be effective. Hope it helps & good luck.
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Post by coachjm on Nov 28, 2013 18:38:34 GMT -6
We typically have 16-20 Varsity players and outside of specials we are entirely apart from our Junior Varsity team who typically has 15- 20 boys as well
A couple things that I would note as important to us. We try and train up 3 kids for each position, 3 DE, 3 DT, 3 CB some of these kids may get trained at two positions some just one it all depends on the depth we have. One goal is EVERY kid who comes out is in one of these 3 man rotations on at least one side of the ball. Our objective is to ensure we rotate them into the game in the first half of every game typically if we do a good job of this early in the year it keeps us rested and by mid season we have more one way kids because the back-ups develop and become better then the other boy going two ways.
Practice Plan
Defense- Here is our basic plan although we do run 5 minute periods with no downtime.
Gap Fill Blitz we will create moving gaps (zone right zone left) and the DL will work blitz and base with moving gaps.
Tackling technique
Position specific tackling
Indy Fundemental technique and fills/coverage
Inside Run (DT/ILB) Best two inside run play defense
Prim Drill (DE/OLB/ILB) sometimes secondary sometimes not always work opponents best two run plays and 1 pass play always to right or left
7 on 7 if we don't have enough kids we go 3 on 4 which is 1/2 line 7 on 7, if we can go 7 on 7 we will even if a few lineman are running routes.
Team typically 1/2 line we will have coaches stand in for alignment at certain spots if that allows us to go full team, if we go 1/2 line we typically rep conflict plays two or three schemes that may cause us issues.
Offense varies a bit more by day but
Typically we go indy
Group: Run inside trap drill and Pass set at same time, Prim run, Pull drill (BS lineman and backfield working on meshes and aiming points behind pullers) Red Zone (ball on 5 tell the d players the play and let them line up where they want to simulate unconventional looks and creating power at the point of attack in short yardage) or Pass vs. Blitz
Team, typically we will do a periods emphasizing different things, pass, run right, run left, inside run, prim run ect. The defensive staff lines up and sets up the defenses to fit the plays that we are running the best they can.
By midseason we only go full pads one day a week and we really try our best to limit full speed hitting. We feel we need one good day of it to help us keep improving but too much we wear down and start to have injuries.
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Post by buckeye7525 on Nov 28, 2013 20:12:32 GMT -6
Offense varies a bit more by day but Typically we go indy Group: Run inside trap drill and Pass set at same time, Prim run, Pull drill (BS lineman and backfield working on meshes and aiming points behind pullers) Red Zone (ball on 5 tell the d players the play and let them line up where they want to simulate unconventional looks and creating power at the point of attack in short yardage) or Pass vs. Blitz Team, typically we will do a periods emphasizing different things, pass, run right, run left, inside run, prim run ect. The defensive staff lines up and sets up the defenses to fit the plays that we are running the best they can. Coach can you go into a little more depth on these drills, as far as who exactly is in the drill and how the drill is set up: Inside Trap Drill Perimeter Run Also, generally how long are your practice days during a game week? And do you just do 1 O Day and 1 D Day (with Scouting Report on Mondays)? |
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Post by coachjm on Nov 30, 2013 15:42:09 GMT -6
Inside Trap Drill:
All frontside lineman (we will do right side for 1/2 the period left side for the other) the center, trapping G, and FB. Generally we will bring down a FB/TE for 1/2 the period then switch them for the back-up FB and another End for the other 1/2 so they get reps at both pass game and trap game. We work against every inside run front we could see so we always have 3 DL and 2 or 3 LB many times we use coaches at LB we generally do this drill with shields and dummies as I'm more concerned about angles and path then I am the contact.
Prim Run Drill:
This is frontside line with a full backfield Defensively we have an OLB/CB/ILB/DE the key to this is we shift in and out of all of our formations from the line and give our edge every look imaginable with hard edges/soft edges/blitzes
Both of these drills we do from the line and maximize our reps.
Monday we do scouting report, kick game 3-4 periods of tackling, blocking, pass catching, followed by fit/blitz period, We teach outside run/inside run so the drill is ready to go for Tuesday and it allows our kids to see their base plays we generally only get a rep or two in these drills after we instruct, followed by defensive scouting report and plays against shields. Practice is 12 5 minute periods with the last one taking as long as we need it to (plays on bags generally 15 minutes)
Tuesday is our defensive emphasis at the beginning of the year it is 20 5 minute periods, 2 periods is kick game, 12 defensive and 6 offensive, 1 hour 40 minutes once you include water and some transition time it ends up being just under 2 hours
Wednesday is our offensive emphasis at beginning of year it is 20 periods 5 minute periods 2 kick, 12 offense, 6 defense.
Thursday we go full pad walk through, all kick game, offense plays on air defensive scout talk start of year this takes about an hour.
As the year goes on and we get more efficient we shorten practice down basically starting in about week 2 we start dropping one period per week until we get down to 14 periods which is essentially the end of the season. Our Thursday walk through ends up being about 40 minutes at the end of the year. We also Go half pads on Monday as the year progresses we go 1/2 pads on Wednesday then eventually no pads on Monday and if the season extends long enough and fortunately it did this year we will go no pads on Wednesday as well in the playoffs. We do this to try an minimize injuries and both the mental and physical grind. We will still go all blocking/tackling drills just with shields.
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Post by gamedaymusings on Dec 1, 2013 15:24:32 GMT -6
Consolidate. As s73 said, take some time to implement drills that apply to all or most players. If you're doing it, cutout stretching and calisthenics. Incorporate these into your indy time. Cut out conditioning, incorporate this into the speed and efficiency of your practices.
Repetition. In our case I would shorten individual time and lengthen unit and team time. Situational reps are good here b/c you can teach the whole team at once.
Game time all the time. Take a step back one day and let practice run without your direct input. Is there any downtime? When? And for which player/position? What part of your practice is not DIRECTLY applicable to the game? Also, what part of your practice schedule does not simulate a game environment? I definitely agree with coachjm about minimizing injuries on a small-roster team. However, we only run things strapped up and with full pads. Walkthroughs? Make them as game-like as possible. Things like mobility and game vision are all skewed when pads/helmet are taken away.
Add-ons. Find ways to add to drills that help players understand them in the context of the game. This is especially important for teams where kids have to play multiple positions or both ways. For example: When we're on FG we start out with our offense on the field. Have them run a play (on air if you don't have enough for a full defense) and then change out to the FG unit at full speed. Give them 30 seconds from the snap of the 3rd down play to kicking the FG (shorten the time as they get better). You can also call out injuries to have backup assignments tested. Once they've got that down, have them run the 3rd down play and call "GO" or "FG" from the sideline (preferably with a signal or however your system does it) so that your players have an in-game feel for the transition.
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Post by Chris Clement on Dec 2, 2013 15:09:21 GMT -6
With a small roster there are a few things that become important.
Scheme and basic drills should be taught so that anyone can play any position if you really needed. Even QB's. You don't have the luxury of them being "special" or sitting out on defence. You may have to do a complicated double switch to fill in for an injury. We had a starting QB that would move to WB in the event of an injury there, and our FB would move to QB, so our RG would move to FB, etc.
Scout team gets every available body to make up for the talent disparity. Let them play with 12, 13, 14 guys. coaches jump in and play something.
Don't overspecialize your OL. Figure out a few different blocks that everyone will learn and reuse them in different ways to create your plays. Avoid "one-off" plays. You'll have to do a lot of shuffling to make sure you have a centre that can snap and that your dumbest kid is in the best position to succeed.
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