From Karl,
Football Drill - Linebackers:

I have a tarp spread out with 2 players (or coaches) holding either end tight  (depending on the height of the player it should be about an two inches higher than the linebacker in “read” position - legs shoulder width, bent knees)
I have a football player under the tarp in his “read” position and stutter step for 30 seconds.  (I increase to 45 seconds then 1 minute in successive weeks, particularly during training camp and spring).  The player must be in the ‘read” position and not have the helmet touch the tarp or another 10 seconds will be added for each touch.
The purpose of this football agility drill is to have the linebackers accustomed to playing always in that position on the balls of their feet so they can react quickly without getting caught flat footed.

Tip
For me, I put a very big emphasis on footwork no matter the position.  From receivers who need to make their breaks, corners who need to make their cuts, linebackers who need to react, running backs who need to make their cuts, linemen who need to get off the ball quickly and QB she need to have quick feet to ensure they get back in the pocket quickly to have that extra read time.  I put at least one footwork football drill every practice on getting quicker feet (whether using speed ladders or agility bars).

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From George,
My quick football tip seems rather obvious but a lot of teams don’t do it:

On punt and kick teams, always kick the ball to the side. Never kick it down the middle. This effectively makes the field smaller, and I have found you frequently will get a recovery, on kickoff, as most little league teams do not spread out to cover the field on return teams.

Also you avoid the return teams “best back,” as he is typically sitting in the middle of the field waiting for the ball.

From Joel,
The purpose of this football drill is for “Line Get-Offs”. Its called Tag.

Pair football linemen together. One Defense and One Offense. The Offensive player stands at the depth of an offensive guard or tackle.
The defensive player is in his stance (Take Charge or Jet).
At the simulated snap the Offensive player back pedals as fast as he can and the defense player explodes of the snap, shooting hands and grasps the offensive player as quickly as possible.

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From George
For this football drill you need:
2 centers, 2 quarterbacks, 3 lines of receivers ie: “trips formation”. 30 yard field.  We run out of the shotgun a lot and roll out pass so this obviously wouldn’t benefit a running offense.

What you do:
1st guys in line are defensive backs. Football coach coordinates with the 2nd guys in line, (receivers) and the 1st quarterback. Calls patterns typically crossing patterns, in’s out’s,slants, hooks. Kids run the play, trying to score; ball is live and defense is tackling.

Upon completion of football play the receivers become defense, previous defenders go to back of receivers line and second quarterback and receivers run patterns. We have coaches watching and teaching the quarterbacks, receivers and defense backs.

The kids love to pass, this is fast paced so you get lots of reps. These are all high percentage passes and really allows to negate any size differential we find against opposing teams as most 3rd and 4th grade teams are not used to defending multiple receivers rather they are run oriented.

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From David
To keep all football players active: I run two stations with my two QB’s.

I have a receiver, defender, and center.
The QB makes a play with the wide receiver. After the play, they all rotate except for the QB.  The wide receiver moves to Defender, Defender moves to
Center, Center moves to wide receiver.

If you have more than three players (other than the QB) in the group, you
can include a rusher (have the player count to two) or you can have them wait in line at the WR spot.  Kids love it. QB practices throwing to each player. Each player runs routes and defends.

From Steve
My favorite football drill is a race.
You have 2 teams and start with a 10 yard sprint.
Next an in and out ladder drill.
Then tackling the dummy and finish with a sprint for 10 yards.

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From Kevin,
Here is one of the football drills we do in practice for running backs, wide receivers and quarterbacks.
Give the ball to one back and have another behind him holding on to his jersey. Blow the whistle and have the back pull the other football player 5yds to 10yds. Have the football coach hitting at the ball mid way through the football drill.
This will help the running back keep his legs moving after contact and dragging tacklers. Plus it teaches them to run down hill instead of upright.

From Derrick,
The thing that I do is at the end of each football practice and right before games I make my whole team get on their backs in a nut cracker position about 3 yards apart and blow the whistle and let them go at it for about 5 to 10 sec. The kids love it and it gets them ready for the next practice and the next game!

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From Reggie,
Two things that really help my football offensive line is the mirror drill and, believe it or not, bear crawls.
Mirror drills work on my big kids footwork.  It helps them move their feet fast to get in front of pass rushing D-linemen and backer. This makes my QB feel safe in the pocket and bear crawls help my O-line STAY LOW when run blocking.

I hear a lot of people say that football defense win titles, but if you have a solid O-line like I do, you control the clock. I had games last year that the other team only had the ball once or twice in each half because we just run the ball.  The only time I pass is when I have no choice–3rd and long or 4th down. We don’t try and score a lot of points. we control the clock, and beat down a defense.

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From Jim,
SUMO - One of our favorite drills is “Sumo.” Paint a circle (10 foot diameter for 10/11 yr olds, larger for bigger kids) on the ground. Put two kids in the middle, three point stances and call a snap count. Each player tries to drive the other player out of the circle. They can move around laterally, fighting for position. The trick is to stay low and wide, and drive block your opponent out of the circle. It’s fun to make two (even) lines and give each side a point for success. The line with the most points gets a prize.

From Carlos,
When dealing with a large team (25+) of young players and multiple coaches. Divide your team up into squads evenly, give them a squad name and assign a coach to be their squad coach.

Run your football drill rotations, stretches and warm ups in these squads. Have the squads compete for enthusiasm or excellence awards in running drills. This allows each of the kids to get to know each other better in a more intimate sense and to work and develop closer ties to a squad coach. It encourages the stronger and veteran kids to help teach the younger kids. It also allows the coaches to become more familiar with each of the players and their strengths and weaknesses from a continuity of development perspective.

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From Henry,
I place a football on a flat cone behind an offensive lineman (about seven yards). I then place two about a yard apart at the line of scrimmage. I then have an offensive lineman and defensive lineman line up between the cones.

The idea is for the defensive lineman to get to the ball without going outside of the two cones and touch the ball within a certain amount of time (usally 5-8 seconds). We give the offensive lineman a point if he stops the defensive lineman from getting it within a certain amount of time.

From Sam,
It’s a football tackling drill that starts with 2 players on their back about 5 feet apart. One player has the ball and the other will be the tackler. The coach blows the whistle and both players get up as fast as they can and the runner tries to get by the tackler and the tackler goes after the runner.

A great football drill to teach quickness getting off the ground and still making the play. Thanks!!

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From Aaron,
I have always found that the most important thing that a football player can hear is their name.

Take the time to learn each and every one of your football player’s name. A great way to accomplish this is during your team jog or warm-ups have the first player say their name and something that you do not know about them. Have the next player in line say the name of the player in front of them and what they learned about the first player.

Continue through the whole line have each player say the name and the one thing that they learned about each player in front of them. Obviously the last player in line will have to remember the most information making his job the most difficult so make sure that you change the order of players regularly.

From Christopher
We can do football drills and practice all day, but I have found that the short one-on-one talks with young kids about their progress makes the biggest difference. So remember, if you are coaching a younger team it is just as important to know your kids and how they tick as it is to know the game of football itself.

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From Cory,
The “Zipper” Drill

You will need anywhere from 6-10 tackling dummies for this football drill. You will line them up in two staggered rows. The bags on each side should be about 7-10 yards apart. The rows can be 5-8 yards apart.

The players start on one end and on your whistle a player goes at the first bag (on either the right or left side) and executes a perfect tackle. They must get up quickly and then go hit the first bag in the other row. They are done when they have worked their way through all of the bags (in a zigzag fashion).

This is a great conditioning drill and the players love to hit the bags. I have started timing the players as they make their way through the drill so they always have a goal to meet.

One of the best parts of this drill is when the players holding the tackling dummies/bags start encouraging their teammates as they make their way through the course. Make sure that the players keep good tackling form throughout the drill. Sometimes as they get tired they just dive at the bags. Good luck!

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