• 2 equal lines that are 5 yards apart and for what I call a tunnel.
• 1 line is ball carriers, the other line are tacklers.
• 1 player from each line lays on their back with their helmets facing inside the tunnel.
• On the coach’s whistle each player has to get up and run on the outside of the tunnel.
• The ball carrier is trying to get across the end line and the tackler is trying to stop him.

This football drill works on several things: agility to get up off your back quickly, runners to lower shoulders, stay square and run over the tackler. The tacklers learn to breakdown with good, form tackling 1 on 1 skills.

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To teach them the formations, hole numbers, and position numbers I line up cones as a representation of each football player in the formation. Then I explain the formation, the positions and their numbers as well as the hole numbers. Next, realign the cones for each formation in the offense and repeat.

Each day for the first week or so, we will take 5-10 minutes of football practice and review each formation, the position numbers, hole numbers, and what each position does for a number of plays.

I place special emphasis on who is on the line of scrimmage and who is not. Because it can be interactive and visual, it is a very effective teaching method.

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1 – Line up players kneeling down knee to knee. (It works best if the players are around the same build and height.)

2 – Have the defensive player sit on his heels while the offensive player is upright on his knees with his arms straight out to a tee.

3 – Have the defensive player explode off his heels with both arms wrapping around the other player (under the arm pits) while grabbing the back of the jerseys.

4 – Once this has been done a few times have them stand up and repeat with feet to feet.

Containment Drill
We also do a great containment football drill where I line up a running back behind a blocking fullback in the “I” formation.

Place cones where the center, guard, tackle, and offensive end are (based on which side I want to run the drill on). Then line up the defensive ends who rotate thru the football drill.

On the whistle, the defensive end fires across and jams the lead blocker, ensuring the runner is forced inside and then attempts to slide off the block and make the tackle.

This has really helped our ends learn how to contain the sweep and disrupt the play.

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I show the team where these positions are on my clipboard, then each player draws a golf ball out of a bag in a huddle, and on “break” quickly looks at the ball and goes to their respective positions.   We drill this every football practice.

I use two bags, one for offense and one for defensive positions. The kids have to think fast and get to learn multiple football positions.

Works for other sports, such as basketball, positions as well.

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When the football coach yells “ready”, the front guy in each line starts chopping his feet.
The coach will yell “Right” and the guys drop their right hand to the ground and run in a circle around it, then stand up and keep chopping their feet.
The coach will then yell “Left” and the guys drop their left hand to the ground and run in a circle.  After they stand up, feet still chopping, the coach yells “go” and the guys sprint 5 yards.

This is a good football warm-up drill for footwork, hip flexibility, and movement.  Look for the players to run controlled in a circle, and keep a base (2 point stance i.e. hips bent, head up) while chopping.  The little spin helps with coordination.

You can run this drill fairly quick with each guy doing it 2 times.  You might need to start with 4 reps with young players or those new to football.  It sounds simple to do, but you would be surprised at how uncoordinated some players will be.

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To teach the kids, educate them on the rules of the game. Teach them how to play the game, the right way to do the football drill and so on. If you have to, do it with them. I always convey to my kids that there is more emphasis on doing it right then doing it fast. Once the kids do it right, speed will come in time.

I am also reminded of that old saying 10% perspiration and 90% inspiration and it is the 90% that I try to work on. Before every practice I try to inspire them. I have the team take a knee and discuss the victories and defeats from the last game/football practice. Let them know what needs to be worked on during practice and what does not. And I cannot stress enough that you get buy in from the whole team including the other coaches. Once you have buy in, the whole team will inspire themselves and the rest is a lot easier.

Any football coach can take a team and make them do the push ups, sit ups, run “man makers” and so on, but to get the team to respect you, and follow you, because you understand what the team is capable of, what their abilities are, and work to make their contribution to the team an asset, that takes leadership.

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All of our kids are required to attend our next town over rivalry game. I make my players pay extra attention to what the kids in their positions do on certain plays, such as guards pulling, etc.

When we have an awesome football play that nets us 10-15 yards (or better yet a TD), or if we intercept a pass or sack, things of that nature, I point it out to them and make them report to me what the offense or defense did that made that play work.

Then we focus on that one play in football practice until we get it down to a science. This has proved to be a very successful technique since we run that on play 5-10 times the next game until we make it work.  I also make them pay attention to the other teams offense, but more importantly defense, because like our team, most youth teams in our league build off of the varsity playbooks.

I always tell my kids that the best training they can receive next to practice is observation and paying attention.

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With so much to teach it seems the punting game and catching of punts and kick-offs sometimes doesn’t get the time spent on it that it should at football practice.  For the players that get to the field early let them have a chance to practice punting and kicking off.  Others have a chance to receive the punts and kickoffs.

To increase the difficulty of this football drill have them catch a punt of kickoff in the air. Then they get a chance to catch a second punt of kickoff while still holding the first football.  It helps with concentration and adds a wrinkle of fun.  I got the idea from an HBO special on the Dallas Cowboys where a player caught five in a row while continuing to hold on to each football.

The main goal of this drill is to work on catching the first punt….even before trying the second.  It makes them better at getting to the ball in the air on punts and kickoffs.

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Drill: Develop Soft Hands
Equipment required: Balloons (I go to a local dollar store and pick up a pack of 50 small balloons). Fill them with water and take them to practice in an old milk crate.

As kids at some event or another they most likely participated in an egg toss–and those that were successful learned how to cradle the egg into their hands when catching.  Well I teach the same thing, but I use water balloons (field won’t smell like rotten eggs and it’s a lot easier to pick up broken water balloons than egg shells).

I show the kids the soft hands technique, where they want to make contact with the balloon as high as possible, but they then “use soft hands”  to slow the descent of the balloon so that they can catch it without breaking. I show them what happens if I throw the ball into the air and catch it without proper cradling – them I show them the proper way – and “surprise” the balloon does not break.

The kid love this football drill – I pair-up the kids and starting 3 yards apart I have them toss the balloon to their partner – after every catch – those remaining move another yard apart.

This turns into a great competition and you quickly learn which kids have “natural soft” hands and you then turn kids with cement hands into softer hands kids.

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Drill Setup:
Have 5 players line up on the 20 yard line. The rest of the team lines up on the goal line. Have your assistant football coaches, or field markers, setup at the 50 yard line.
On the coach’s whistle the players on the goal line sprint down field trying to reach the 50 yard line markers without getting tackled. The 5 players at the 20 yard line must tackle as many players as they can. Anyone that gets tackled, now becomes a tackler. The players who make it, start at the 50 yard line, and sprint back down to the goal line, once again trying to avoid being tackled. Continue to all players have been tackled.

All our players love playing this game. I have noticed when they dog it on sprints and other football conditioning drills; when we run Tackle Tag they become much more enthused and willing to work harder to ensure they don’t get tackled.

Draw back to this, ensuring no players get hurt. I have been doing this football drill for the past 2 years, and have had only 1 player get the wind knocked out of him.

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