When the new rule changes came into play this year I was like many coaches in this country. How can I practice our "IDENTITY" concepts that we run with limited live team time? In Minnesota we are only allowed 30 minutes of contact each day during fall camp which makes football team period so very important. The challenge I had was coming up with drills that would teach our "IDENTITY" plays and develop skills that would allow my players to be successful on the field. Here are some drills that help my players learn to make defenders miss when they are in one on one situations. Kids don't play sports outside like we used to, so the skill to avoid needs to be taught. To see all of our drills and other video please feel free to visit my youtube page.
Speed Option Drill
We use this drill to teach our speed option and pitch concept. Offensive players start 5 yards behind the center. Cones are set-up from hash to top of the numbers. Quarterback will attack down hill and then pitch the ball to the running back. Running back will attack and try to get the defensive player to miss. Defensive player will carry a bag or will tag the hip of offensive player. Defensive player should attack the running backs inside hip and run a J angle. As players gain confidence in this drill you can add a pitch read for the quarterback. The purpose is to get as many good quality reps for the defensive and offensive players.
Bubble Drill
This drill is great for working on working the bubble throw and catch. This also gives your safety an opportunity to work on filling the alley. For the offensive player we want them to work on winning the one on one match up with the defensive player. Just like speed option drill the defender can tag the hip or use a bag. The offensive player should make one move and then get vertical up the field. When you want to set-up a live tackling competitive drill we use this one in the red-zone.
Speed Out Drill
Just like the bubble drill above the out/dig drill teaches the offensive player to catch the ball first, and then get eyes on to the defender. The offensive player needs to make a move that will allow him to gain more yards after catch. We find that if we can teach our players to cut underneath the defender we have a lot more big pass plays. To save our legs in fall camp we only have the offensive player take one step forward then make his out or dig cut. The defensive player again will work on his technique and make sure he is in good position to make the tackle.
RB Cuts with Chutes
We like to use chutes with our offensive and defensive players. We like that they teach player how to keep their pad level down and make them more dynamic football players. If you are interested in what we use message me and I will send you information on the materials and measurements. In this drill our running backs are simulating inside zone, and the cuts that they will see in a game. Our coach is the linebacker, and the running back must read him. The coach should exaggerate the linebacker path. The running back will need to keep his knees up to go through our high bags. The ball should be carried high and tight, and at the last chute the ball should switch hands, so that they can stiff arm the bag.
Bend, Bounce, Read
This is one of our tempo RPO drill for quarterbacks and running backs. In this drill we are simulating our outside zone cuts for our running back. We use the term bend to cut right away, and bounce to take an angle to the sideline. For our quarterback they are going to get their eyes on the RPO Stick Concept read. The quarterback will give the football to the running back if the read player chases the stick concept, or throw if the linebacker chases after the running back.
Conclusion
These are just a few examples of what drill we use. Our program has had a lot of success making it to 4 section finals and 3 state and a state title in the last 5 years. You can find all of our running and pass play diagrams and video that we run in my Spartan Spread System. I also have made an eBook that shows all of our RPOs that we run in the unbalanced formations that I have shared with you. If you would like the eBook and the 1,000 clip Hudl video library click RPO LIBRARY. If you are just interested in the book and it's 50 diagrams click RPO eBook.