Coaching youth football

[CC_332]

Just found out that there's a good chance I could potentially be the head coach of a middle school football team this upcoming season.

1) I have 7 years exp. actually playing football (4th-10th grade)
2) I do have coaching experience, but not as a football coach
3) I have very little memory of schemes/plays/gameplans that were ran when I was playing
4) I have very little idea of where to go from here

What should I do first? What offensive and defensive scheme would be best for middle schoolers? I'm kind of lost as of now.

I plan on going to the high school this school feeds into to pick their brain and see what kind of congruency I can bring to the middle school program.

 

[Poetax]

Having four boys I had the 8-12 yrs olds for several years and watched my share of middle and high school games. At the younger level misdirection plays were always successful, but the middle schools in Lexington who had the most success were the ones who were ground oriented. They would go four downs from the 50 yd line in. Punting was always a nightmare.

 

[BBBLazing]

sounds like a bad hire.

 

[WildCard]

"Sounds like a bad hire"...now that was funny!

I coached kids in baseball and football for many years and I always tell guys the #1 rule of coaching kids is to cut the game down to the size and skill level of players.

f you are in a true feeder situation, sure go to the local HS coach and find out what he does but only try to implement things the middle school kids are capable of doing. If the HS is running a passing game you will not get a lot done trying to emulate that style of play. Remember there is a HUGE difference in the talent and understanding level between these age groups AND you will likely be dealing with a number of first time players.

And on that point, FUNdamentals, FUNdamentals, FUNdamentals. As a HS coach, I would be delighted to see young kids that could get into a stance, block and tackle. If they can line up correctly execute fundamentals I could teach them "my system" on the FR and JV teams.

Since head injury is such a key point of emphasis let me offer a great little coaching tip that was passed to me by one of Howard Schnellenberger's assistants...Bite The Ball. It is a good coaching catch phrase for proper tackling technique. When you make a tackle always try to bite the ball. That will keep your head up, neck bowed and head placement to the side of the torso (yeah, I know if the RB is in a 2 handed carry that's not exactly true).

FWIW, I always ran a lot of Wing T stuff on offense and always kept my QB under center (again this approach introduces and reinforces a lot of fundamentals) rather than some kind of spread game that will be reduced to a QB keep situation more often than not. Our bread and butter was a variety of power off tackle plays but, as another poster noted, misdirection (e.g., cross buck action) was usually quite effective when we ran it. Usually ran just straight up "wedge blocking" on quick hitters and "double the tackle kick out the end" on the power off tackle stuff. Very limited passing game, usually from sprint out action. You can add other stuff based on what your QB is capable of doing.

On defense we usually played a "tight "tackle 6 (i.e., a 6-2-3 alignment with the DTs playing outside shoulder of the OTs. Sometimes we would change the front to a 5-3 Stack as a change of pace. A 3 deep zone is likely good enough to stop/contain any pre-HS passing game. We would move up into a 6-3-2 look on short yardage and be 6-5 or Gap 8 down on the goal line. All very fundamental stuff.

Good Luck.

Peace

 

[robo222]

Originally posted by CC_332:
Just found out that there's a good chance I could potentially be the head coach of a middle school football team this upcoming season.

1) I have 7 years exp. actually playing football (4th-10th grade)
2) I do have coaching experience, but not as a football coach
3) I have very little memory of schemes/plays/gameplans that were ran when I was playing
4) I have very little idea of where to go from here

What should I do first? What offensive and defensive scheme would be best for middle schoolers? I'm kind of lost as of now.

I plan on going to the high school this school feeds into to pick their brain and see what kind of congruency I can bring to the middle school program.

Well I can tell you what not to do... Circa the '60's' when I played youth football one of the coaches would refer to us 7th&8th graders as "you little sons-a-bitches"... You don't wanna do that... Some of the parents took umbrage with that

 

[ukalumni00]

Originally posted by CC_332:
Just found out that there's a good chance I could potentially be the head coach of a middle school football team this upcoming season.

1) I have 7 years exp. actually playing football (4th-10th grade)
2) I do have coaching experience, but not as a football coach
3) I have very little memory of schemes/plays/gameplans that were ran when I was playing
4) I have very little idea of where to go from here

What should I do first? What offensive and defensive scheme would be best for middle schoolers? I'm kind of lost as of now.

I plan on going to the high school this school feeds into to pick their brain and see what kind of congruency I can bring to the middle school program.

If you are serious about doing it, I would encourage you to work closely with the High School Head Coach. Shadow him and ask for help. Attend upcoming coaching clinics, etc. Most successful High School programs are because they have strong feeder Middle School programs. It would be wise for the HS HC to work with you on what type of defense and offense he wants you to run to prepare the kids for his HS system. Chuck Smith at Boyle County built that program with this method and many other successful HS programs have done the same thing. Also, see if you can find someone older who has experience doing it who is not set on being the head coach and ask them to help. Guys like my father-in-law who are retired, have nothing else to do, good with kids, and just want to help.

This post was edited on 4/20 9:55 AM by ukalumni00

 

[Grumpyolddawg]

Originally posted by CC_332:
Just found out that there's a good chance I could potentially be the head coach of a middle school football team this upcoming season.

1) I have 7 years exp. actually playing football (4th-10th grade)
2) I do have coaching experience, but not as a football coach
3) I have very little memory of schemes/plays/gameplans that were ran when I was playing
4) I have very little idea of where to go from here

What should I do first? What offensive and defensive scheme would be best for middle schoolers? I'm kind of lost as of now.

I plan on going to the high school this school feeds into to pick their brain and see what kind of congruency I can bring to the middle school program.

This is something I can actually give some good advice on, I coached HS football, wrestling, track 30+ years and was an AD for quite a few years. Here is what you should do regardless of your experience, get in contact with the HS head coach and tell him you are about to be the head coach of his feeder program and set up a meeting with him. He should be very happy you are wanting to meet with him. Ask him what scheme he runs on both offense and defense, you won't be able to do everything he does but it will be building a foundation for him. Ask everything, drills, plays, formations, go to their summer workouts, watch what they do. Find out the basics of their blocking patterns, how they want steps taught, hand placement. Defensively learn what responsibilities each position has. He more than likely isn't going to care about your won-loss record, winning would be good, but more concerned with you getting them ready to enter his program the following spring, keep kids out, an 8 grade star might have peaked out while an 8th scrub hasn't hit puberty or had a growth spurt. 4 years down the road that scrub might be a 5*. Bottom line, follow the HS schemes, play as many kids as you can, make it fun, keep them interested in playing. Doesn't do the HS program much good if you go 10-0 and 15 out of 20 kids don't play in HS.

 

[adolph rollingover]

Congratulations. Coaching is one of the most rewarding endeavors you can undertake. Throw away anything you see on Saturday or Sunday because the game is played much different at the Youth Level. You will see mostly 8 man fronts with a cover 3 behind it. (4-4 stack, 5-3 monster, 6-2)

On offense, the old is the new. Single wing, Double wing, wing T are the type of series based offenses I would run. Each has a spread package which can be installed after the base is learned and perfected.

What will separate good coaches form bad is organization. The place for youth coaching discussion is http://www.dumcoach.com/index.php#c1

If you want presentations and youth based clinics go to http://www.coaches-clinic.com/\

There are different schools of thought and I see both, but I prefer the youth player not to have run what he believes is the same system the high school coach runs. The wing t, single wing and double wing make the player learn to block at the most basic and fundamental way. A player who can block in such a fashion will play in High School.

Good luck.

 

[TeoJ]

You seem to be a pretty sharp guy,you came to the right place.A lot of people on this board are smarter than the Uk coaches and seem to now it all,just ask and you should get all the help you need.

 

[BigBoyBlueMMA]

Such as many have mentioned.....if you want your system to be yours - then your high school you are feeding is not doing it right!!! You should be doing EXACTLY what your high school is doing so that these kids have a leg up when they do hit the HS Program. Using same plays (although with a smaller portion of HS playbook) and terminology is VERY IMPORTANT....I coached middle school for several years and went through HS springs before so I could make sure we are teaching on the same schematics with the same fundamental instructions. BUT DO IT WITH YOUR ABILITY TO INTERACT AND NOT "ACT LIKE HEAD HS COACH"

Best of luck and ENJOY!!

 

[Nuke99m]

I coached middle school offensive line for years. Get with your high school coach and ask what they run. If you run the same offense as the high school then the kids are prepared by the time the go up. We ran a double wing. There are a set of blocking rules that are easy to learn with that offense. As you learn the blocking schemes you can then throw in the line calls for blitzes and doubleteaming off to the linebacker. One thing I learned from the head coach was, do not throw the ball in middle school. Three things happen when you throw the ball. Either you complete it, you get it intercepted, or it is incomplete. 99% of the time you aren't going to have a kid that has any touch on the ball.

 

[ram1955]

Coached many years ago.

1. Keep it simple. Teach them to block and tackle.
2. Spend time teaching the players about their individual positions. Don't assume they know ANYTHING. Even if it means scheduling kids in for small group instruction vs practicing on some days. Talk to them about specific plays and what they do...who they cover, etc...
3. Play as many kids as you can possibly play EVERY game. A kid that may be 5', 100 lbs as a middle schooler, may end up being 6'2", 225 as a senior. If he has not learned the game by the time he grows, it may be too late.
4. Remember, the purpose of m s football is to prepare the kids, as many kids as possible to contribute when they are on the hs team.
5. Walk up and down the hall. Talk to kids. Ask them to try out the sport. Encourage them. Talk them up. Set your goal at having 100 kids for the first day of practice. Don't tell them "If you want to play Football, you need to hit the weights, attend work-outs, etc...." Once they become part of the team and develop a love for the game, the weight lifting and work-outs will take care of themselves.

 

[jarheadky]

Other than what has already been mentioned I would encourage all my players to participate in track and field during the spring, you will be amazed at the speed and explosiveness they will gain from just one track season and they will show up to their first practice in a lot better shape.

 

[fabcat]

I recommend you get with the High School coach and start implementing his offense and defense. Usually the High School coach would be very open to that since it's his feeder system. You can scale down what they do, however you can run their base stuff. Simplify it and rep it a lot. You will be surprised what these kids can pick up. Focus on fundamentals of blocking and tackling a lot of coaches at that level get caught up in schemes and trying to do to much for this age group. You are in for a great time.

 

[CC_332]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm going to set up a meeting with the high school coach and see what I can get out of it. I was a lineman for my entire football career so I need to study up on skill position drills, techniques, etc. If anyone has any tips on any of that I'd greatly appreciate it.

This is what I get when I interview for a teaching job and tell them I'd be willing to coach anything. Guess they're scraping the bottom of the barrel.

 

[fabcat]

CC.... I see you are in Bowling Green. Which middle school is it? I know a lot of the football coaches in the area.

 

[Catbare]

Fundamentals fundamentals fundamentals........ Conditioning, team attitude,and a football mentality can and will prepare them for the next level as much as learning the high schools system. I coached for over 30 years in this age group,and the practice time allowed will in itself scale back a playbook. Many of your coordinated linemen will be in skilled positions in HS. I never could run what the varsity ran,but we taught toughness,fundamentals, discipline and team first mentality. Everybody gets their grades,keeps their noses clean to keep the team together. They learn to stay on each other to do well off the field to keep the squad together. Become their brothers keeper ( OK we beat Cal to it!)
The Delaware wing T is a tough offense to defend at that level. You can run it effectively using 6 plays . it utilizes your line coach abilities to teach how to pull your o line to create nice holes for your backs to run through. Tubby Raymond wrote a book on the Wing T and you can get it on Amazon.
You can use imagination more on defense as long as the proper principles are taught. Remember, even front,your front have gap responsibilities. Odd front you need 3 down guys that can close two gaps or occupy 2 blockers. You can really shut down teams in this age group,so more than ever does your defense need to be solid.
Special teams can make you go or doom you quickly. If your open field tacking is suspect, and they can't break down and make stops, you may consider punting out of bounds and squib kickoffs,etc.

 

[Real Deal 2]

Get with the Feeder program or High School coach. Find out if they run a even front defense or odd. Find out if they are I formation, veer, wing t, Air Raid, power.
-Make sure these kids play low, low man wins. OL must come off ball low except for Pass blocking. Do drills that they must come out of stance low and step with play side foot and are taught well. No short cuts, Every position is played from feet and head. Teach them basic fold blocks, zone blocking, man to man, reach blocks. No getting tired and coming off ball high or not using your footwork. OL need to be taught not to give plays away, just reinforce not giving keys away and plays.
OL must be taught to play with head in front.
-OB's and RB's need to be taught mesh points on hand offs, no variations, Get your QB's footwork like clockwork every day in drills, 3 step drop, 5 step drop, Their drills need to be perfect, just repetition and footwork needs to be exact every day so it becomes second nature.
-3 step drop the OL must go low, I hate to see College and pro OL just half heartedly blocking them and not making these DL put their hands down.

-Make sure in Middle school the kids play with their eyes especially secondary,
-TE blocks down and most time a run,
-DL need to play low as well.
-repetition.

Don't do full scrimmages that much, 65-75 % of practice should be individual instruction and position.
- Do your 7 on 7, put your TE's with OL and skill guys since he does both.
- Teach your LB'ers to read the RB and OG's to see where the play is going.
-Make sure OLB'ers or DE's play with that free hand and don't let guys reach block them,
-Get off blocks, don't run around blocks but get off blocks.

Go to library or maybe even contact some high school coaches or even college guys and they might send you some things.

Back in the day Bear Bryant had a great book on FB, Lou Holtz had a great one, many more. Most of these were on x and o's. I am positive there are other floating around that are newer.

Best thing is to teach them is fundamentals, do it right. Do the individual instruction and it will make better players.
Good luck

 

[CC_332]

CC.... I see you are in Bowling Green. Which middle school is it? I know a lot of the football coaches in the area.

I'm actually making the move to Nashville - it's a middle school in that area.

 

[gsayers]

First of all I tell them that if any player on the team ever mistreats another player on the team, they're gone, period! Zero tolerance for that $%&^.

Secondly, I tell them the goal is to learn the game and that they probably won't remember winning a 6th grade championship, but they'll damn sure remember winning a state championship.

Lastly, surround yourself with men who won't live vicariously through six graders.

You get these 3 down and the rest will be a lot easier.

 

[Levibooty]

Tell them their dreams await them at The University of Kentucky.

 

[77PrincetonTiger]

Like it has been said before
Fundamentals, Discipline, and work with the Head of the program.The season record doesn't always matter

 

[adolph rollingover]

All the clowns I had on ignore are now visible again.