Running Back Drill
The running back gets into his stance (3 point or 2 point).  Two other players stand about 7 yards away with hitting bags or just in full gear.

The running back comes out of his stance, runs past a quarterback who hands him the ball. Then he needs to run in between the two players who are about 2 yards apart.

The players need to bring their shoulders inwards so that it is hard for the RB to run through. He of course needs to get low and pump his feet once there is contact. He needs to get through with the ball.

Then the coach points out the imaginary end zone is about 12 yards behind the two players. This means that the RB needs not only get through them but stay on his feet so that he can continue to run to the end zone.

Next, you have the imaginary end zone 3 yards behind the 2 blockers. Now, the RB just needs to get through, even if he just falls into the end zone. It requires different skills than the previous setup.

Once they go through both versions, you once again have the end zone 12 yards away.
The coach stands behind the RB when he is in his stance. When the RB is running towards the blockers the coach signals the blockers to move away from each other, leaving a free pass for the runner.

At this point, the RB should still stay on his feet and not fall, as the end zone is still far away.

Each RB goes 4-8 times without knowing when you signal to the blockers to open the gap. A good RB will stay on his feet even if the blockers suddenly move apart. At the same time, if they stay put he should hit them hard and low, pumping his feet, and getting though.
Good luck and enjoy.

Progression Tackling Drill
Here is a drill I started doing and has huge impact on how we approach ball carriers.

Step One: Setting up the drill
Take 4 Tackling Bags and make one strait long line, having them touching on the end.

Step Two: Building of muscle & mind memory in the athlete.
Start everyone at the end start of the bags and begin in footfire, traveling down the bags, keeping but down, head up and bag between legs. Takes 20 seconds to travel the distance of 4 bags. Use fingers and have them call out numbers to ensure they are not watching their feet.

Step Three: Incorporate Form Tackling
Make 2 lines of athletes, one at each end facing each other. Line A the tackler and Line B the ball carrier. Have first athlete in line A start footfire down the line, when they get the the start of the last bag, have the ball carrier run down the line keeping the bag between his feet. Have Athlete A wrap and thrust up, carrying the ball carrier back to the place he started.

Step 4: Pick up the pace
Now have them execute the same drill but running the first bag, on second bag, start the decent into the tackling position, while foot firing. When athlete A gets to the second bag, have athlete B start running at him. Have athlete A form fit, thrust and drive athlete b back to starting position.

Step 5: Be creative
I even incorporated angle tackles with this technique and it works beautifully. They learn quick, and really build the muscle and memory needed to be a proficient tackler.

Defensive End Drill
DE will line up against an offensive end or tackle and try to get past him (rip, swim, bull rush etc.)

This is a way to start slow with one player to defeat and move it up to two players and then three.  It has a combination of drills such as coming off the line, taking on a blocker and finally the tackle.

Next you have the end or tackle and add a ball carrier to tackle (open field drill) behind them.

Finally you may add a blocking back in front of the ball carrier and behind the lineman.

Drill for Receivers and Tight Ends
Have the players line up in two lines.
The one receiving will be facing the two lines about 5-7 yards away.
The receiver will go toward the lines and just prior to reaching the front of the lines the receiver will catch the ball and tuck it away.
The front two players in the lines will pop the receiver on each of his shoulders at the same time and as the reciever runs through the lines the others in line will try to rip the ball out.

Angle Pursuit Drill

Start with a running back in the back field ready to run a toss to the outside.
Have a 5-2 defense in place.
Set a cone about 5 yds outside the DE.
Send the running back off running. Once he gets to the cone, I send the back side of the defense off into the pursuit angle they need to run.
The back side including the DBs have to get to him and tackle before he gets to the other cone that I placed down the field.

This works pretty well for the right pursuit angles for my players.

Then I have the same set up for the other side of the D. and just run every other side until I am satisfied of the angles they will take.

Flag Football Drill
For this drill I set up a box 8′x8′ with cones.  Half the team is on south side and half the team is the north side.  The object is to get to the north side of the box.

First: I have one from the north (defense) and one from the south (offense) run at each with the north runner trying to grab the flags from the south runner.  Play ends if they step outside the box or lose your flags.

Second: after they get comfortable I give the south runner a ball to carry.

Third: I add a center and a quarterback so the runner gets used to receiving a hand off.

Fourth: I add another north defensive player.  The two runners enter the box from the north cones/corners.

Fifth: I add a third defensive runner who comes in from the side of the play slightly after the hand off.  This player is added to prevent the runner stalling when confronted by the north runners/defense.

Results were impressive!

Quarterback & Running Back Drill
I start with two assistants holding blocking pads at right side of offense – one just outside tight end spot and the other about 5 yards outside Tight end spot and 3 yards on offensive side of line.

At the snap, one assistant (predetermined) drops his pad and takes a knee leaving the other assistant as the active tackler.

The lead blocker then attacks the active tackler and the runner either cuts up field or continues around end depending on which tackler (assistant with pad) remains active.  I then run same Drill flip-flopped to the left.

Then I add a live tackler at opposite tight end spot to chase play forcing backs to “get off ball and run” so as to not get tackled from back.

This drill has made a tremendous improvement in my backfield getting off the ball, picking off would-be tacklers, and reading blocks.

THUNDER BALL
This is how we do it:
We use half the field and split that field in half again and that is where you need to pass in order to get a first down.

One team punts the ball to the other team and the game begins.

As soon as the receiving team is touched that is where they begin their first offense series of 4 downs.

Once they pass the mid-field marker they get another set of 4 downs until they score or fail.

At that point they turn it over to the other team and they try to go the other direction for a score.

It’s kind of like a 7 on 7 drill with no huddle.

The key is at the end of every play you, as the coach, get them reloaded as quickly as possible then all you do is cheer them on from the sidelines. The plays and the quarterbacks are determined by the respective teams and anyone can be the QB. It’s that simple.

We use this to identify leaders as well as uncover some hidden talents of our boys; we also see how good they can perform under pressure and make quick decisions.

We do this at the end of practice for some conditioning and a way to break-up the seriousness and focus that we ask our players to commit to during our regular practice.
The boys really seem to enjoy it. This is especially fun for the younger little league teams.

Updated Old Plank Drill
I lined my players up in opposing lines.
Each player straddling two tackling dummies laid end to end on the ground.

We start by working through the line having the players begin in proper offensive position fully engaged at the center of the two back line.
The players are instructed to block the other player off the dummy line using short choppy steps and body mechanics.

The presence of the dummies forces them to stay on target and keep their feet spread.

AFter the players complete the cycle once, I have them step back and engage off the cadence demonstrating the importance of quickness of the snap.

Once everyone was clear on the technique involved we did a quick competition to see what players were the “best” blockers.

These players are more than likely your starting linemen and blocking backs.  By earning their position in the midst of their teammates, they take more pride in being a “star” lineman.

Advanced Tackling Drill
Form groups of three; one a tackler, one a blocker, and a ball carrier.

Position the three as follows:
The tackler is on his back, head pointed toward the impact line, the ball carrier has a football and the blocker is in position just ahead of the ball carrier.
Two cones are placed to form an imaginary line 3 yards from the tackler on the ground and 5 yards from the “offensive” blocker and carrier. The tackler and the blocker/carrier are separated by 8 yards.

With the three in position, the coach blows his whistle. The objective of the tackler is to tackle the ball carrier before he crosses the line between the cones while the blocker and carrier rush to the line attempting to cross it.

Subjective variations that the coach can implement are using a scoring system to create a competition between the offensive group and the defensive group, such as 5 points for each successful tackle and one point for an offensive success. If a tackler not only makes the tackle before the line but causes a fumble in the process he can get double or triple “defense points”.

The coach can also scale back the intensity of the blocker/ball-carrier to 3/4 or 1/2 speed depending on the skill level of the tackler.

This drill places a premium on sound tackling fundamentals but also instills toughness as the tackler must get off his back, get across the line between the cones, take out the blocker and tackle the carrier before he can cross the line, with a premium on causing a fumble. It also gives the blocker/carrier practice in their respective roles, and the ball carrier additional work on protecting the ball.

Big Man Duel
EQUIPMENT-You need one stand alone weighted tackling dummy, 1 football, and 4 players.

ALIGNMENT-Two offensive linemen stand 7 yards in front of the dummy with roughly 5 yards between each lineman, essentially making a triangle.  We then put 1 defensive lineman directly in front of the offensive lineman.

EXECUTION-The coach calls for an outside rush or an inside rush so that both D linemen are using the same pass-rush technique.

The offensive Line simply pass sets and works them to their “outside” regardless of whether we call an inside or outside rush for the defense.  I want the O line feeling as though they are taking their guy to the outside each time regardless of whether it is to their left or right.

On the snap, the defenders are in pure pass rush mode and the first player to make a TACKLE, not make contact with an arm, on the dummy, wins.  The 2nd player owes 5 pushups or up downs, depending on the coaches pre-drill preference.  The Offensive line then subs out to the back of the line, the defenders become the OL.

I do not always use a conditioning penalty of pushups or up downs.

To change the drill you can place a football on top of the dummy so that the first player makes the Tackle, and the 2nd recovers the fumble without any sort of penalty for being 2nd.

RESULTS-This drill has improved our DL handspeed, made our pass rush more effective, and helped with players finding the ball on fumbles.  Our OL gets to rep the pass drops and pass blocking while both sides benefit from the 1 on 1 competition, and the players have fun motivating each other and cheering on their peers.

To end the Drill we always take the 2 rushers who performed the best during the days drill and have one final rep against our best 2 OL of the day, and the players make their bets on who will win, the winning side gets to determine if the losing side does 5 updowns or pushups.

One final note, the updowns or pushups are tallied and done in full at the completion of the drill, rather than having 1 player do 5 at a time throughout the drill itself.