Football Lineman Drills – Footwork & Boards

I got the inspiration for these football coaching tips from Alex. They include some fresh ideas for football lineman drills. Try them out and let me know what you think!

I am a high school Offensive and Defensive line coach as well as coaching my son’s pee wee team. One problem I fight with is keeping the big guys feet moving when drive blocking or getting off the ball on the D-line. I have implemented 2 things in my football coaching:

First, I teach footwork first because it is most important. For O lineman I teach them the punch and fit briefly but focus on low body position, bent knees and pounding the ground with their feet. For D-linemen I focus on quick get off and hard driving feet. Rips, swims and all that other fun stuff can wait for them to master their feet.

The second thing I have added to my coaching tool box is a football drill that I picked up from the line coaches at USC. Every day when they break down into O and D line groups to do a drill called Boards. Football Lineman Drills

They used boards about 8″ wide and 8′ long. I use a couple of step over bags. 2 linemen line up nose to nose stradling the board and on go first off and try to drive the other man back off the board. The board forces the player to keep a wide base and the man with the quick choppy foot action and low body position always wins. This drill gives instant feedback to the kids who lock their knees out and lean on their opponent.

I have worked competition into it where we keep score for O vs D. The kids love it and they master the most important aspect of line play.

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