Sykesville RaidersCoaching Clinic

Overview & Defense

Why are some coaches successful?

• Biggest Myth– Have best athletes– Sometimes true but is usually not the case– Raiders were full of teams who had the best

players but didn’t win or their players did not fully develop

• Are you giving your players 100% effort?• Are you really giving your players 100% effort?

Coaching beyond the players• Surround yourself with good Asst. Coaches

– Let them do their job– Train them in what you want done– Coaching disagreements are normal

• No substitute for Film– Major area of coaching deficiency– Scrimmages, Games of your team– Opponent– No short-cut in doing “frame by frame”

• Become expert as the basics…– Blocks, Tackling, Stance & Start, Exchanges

• Be Organized• Talk with other successful coaches

General Thoughts• Youth Football is not High School, College or NFL– Each age group is different and must be approached

differently– Each Level is different and must be approached

accordingly– Coaching opponents will be different

• Put kids in a position where they can succeed– Keep your best 4-6 kids on field ALL THE TIME

• Attempt to give everyone a starting position• Always coach – don’t let anything slip– Little things lead to big things

Offensive Thoughts• A formation is not an Offense• Offense takes time to develop, don’t rush it

– Start slow, target 2nd half of season for optimization• You must adjust & evolve DURING THE SEASON

– What worked week 1 might not work in week 8– Won’t work in Week 8 against better coaching

• Pass sparingly• Focus on Offensive Line

– Doubleteam blocks at point of attack– Down block to give your player an advantage

• Double Wing– E or D Level @ advantage with people playing back– Federal or Liberty– Gives you advantage with smaller players– Easy to install: You can win with 6-8 plays

DEFENSE• Make the tackle

– Work on it in every practice: Form, Dummies or Live• 6 Man Line at most levels• Gap Control

– Use alignment techniques to give defensive line the advantage without letting them know which hole you are going in

• Bring corners in tighter– Don’t give their passing game too much respect until they earned it– Better off having more run support for the 90% of plays which will

be running plays– Lockdown their TE’s if they do pass

• Limits their passing without sacrificing run defense

• Do not pursue into backfield – Lateral Pursuit• Reduce/minimize running lanes available for ball-carrier• Must be prepared to mirror offensive player movement