Here are eight things that have been at the forefront of my mind about summer football workouts…do these and you will keep yourself and your team focused on the right things for the upcoming season.
1. ENSURE AN ADVANTAGEOUS SNAP COUNT
How many of you have teams that jump offsides every time you go on two, so when the games begin, you are forced to go on one or pay steep consequences.
Do not let this happen!
Besides the Center/Quarterback exchange, this is the only other thing your offense does on 100% of your plays.
If you are a team that does not have a process for how your snap count works, and/or has the quarterback call it in the huddle, make him go on two during practice 90%+ of the time.
Then, the kids will remember if you call it on one, or an even earlier count, and never forget the count.
This creates a HUGE advantage for you!
But if you continue to practice 90%+ of your plays on one, Monday through Thursday….well, we all know the disadvantage this creates come game time.
Coach Hahnstadt here…I have personally always loved the simple strategy of the play type determing the snap count.
This takes the responsibility out of the QB’s hands and allows for a ton of variety.
We make all runs on 2 and all passes on 1. And for added complexity, all draw plays are on 3. That one really get’s them!
This strategy is a staple of the Pro Style Spread Offense System.
2. ADD “CHECK WITH ME’’ TRAINING TO SUMMER FOOTBALL WORKOUTS
Attempt to add a check-with-me option to your offense.
I promise it is much easier than you think.
If you are a signaling team, create a signal that tells them it’s check-with-me.
If you are a band team, type “check-with-me” into one of your cells.
Your kids will love it, and it gives you so many options.
It not only gives you an idea of what teams are doing in the pre-snap when playing multiple fronts, but it will give you numerous offsides penalties that will move the ball forward without even snapping it.
Not to mention the fact that it forces defensive lines to play more on their heels instead of playing insanely aggressive, because they are now forced to watch the ball.
When talking to your kids about jumping offsides when you initially call a check-with-me, say, “What are you doing on check-with-me”?
When they say, Ï don’t know”, respond with,”Exactly! So don’t move!”
This will be the one and only time you need to say it all season.
3. REMIND YOUR KIDS WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT
My daughter Finley just came home from lacrosse camp with the Warrior Award, which goes to the hardest worker/most improved camper.
I don’t say that to brag, but to remind you that this is what you are hoping all of your kids will be when they are practicing.
Do not spend your time praising your studs for doing things that only God has enabled them to do in summer football workouts.
Verbally reward the things your players are doing that come from effort, and watch all of your players, including your studs, improve more than you ever expected.
Everyone wants to be praised….even the kids who have been praised their entire lives.
But unfortunately, the average player will never be praised if rewards only come from being like Tyreke Hill.
If you choose to go this route, you will begin to see your average players do things you never thought they could do, because they are behaving in a manner that the game rewards.
Football rewards toughness and great effort.
I know from experience that you will win more games with this type of player than you will with a handful of studs giving 80% effort or playing for their own accolades.
4. WORK ON YOUR PASSING GAME
There is no time better than summer football workouts to improve your passing game.
Even if you are a team that will only throw the ball a handful of times each week, you might as well be the best version of yourself during those five plays.
Not to mention the fact that you cannot be physical enough to truly work on running the ball without pads, this is definitely the time to spend a lot of your practice minutes improving the passing portion of your game.
Another reason to work on the passing game in June and July is that you may have fifteen pass plays, but will probably narrow it down to 5-8 plays by the time the season begins.
You might as well figure out in June which 5-8 plays those are, so you can rep them as much as possible before week one.
And who knows…..maybe you’ll begin to see some things about your team that you did not know, and move closer to a balanced offense!!
Then once you begin throwing the ball more, your running game will dramatically improve.
This is due to the fact that defenses will have something else they need to practice and have something else they need to take away.
And in the area of fun, you’ll finally be able to add the screen game you have always wanted!!
5. CREATE A PRELIMINARY DEPTH CHART
Based upon the size of your team, you could be a squad where everyone plays both ways, some of your kids play both ways, or nobody plays both ways.
If you are a team in category two or three, this is for you.
Be sure to have kids play two positions, regardless of whether or not they play both ways.
What I mean by that is that if you have kids that only play offense, teach them two positions.
Due to injuries, work-ethic, and surprises, I have yet to be able to prophesy in June what the starting eleven would be in September.
So….why take a chance?
Put together a preliminary depth chart in summer football workouts as to how you would like your best kids to play as backups, and teach second positions that way.
For example, if your sixth offensive lineman is young and can only play tackle, teach one of your tackles to play center or guard.
That way, your best available players will be in the game at all times, no matter who has to be removed from the game.
This goes for receivers and running backs as well. And if your quarterback goes down….I suggest you have a good Wildcat scheme!!!
6. TEACH THE IMPORTANT POINTS OF SITUATIONAL FOOTBALL
Do not forget to discuss situational football in your summer football workouts.
An easy time to do this is when the kids are taking a water break, walking to and from the field, or are between workouts.
Make sure the offensive players stay together and talk to them about different situations.
For example, explain what the important things are that you want them to know about the two-minute drill, and do that for two or three days.
Then, stop telling them, and have them tell you.
This will not only help them remember, but also make you wrap your mind around how to simplify the process.
The biggest items to ensure are understood are two-minute, four-minute, coming-out, and how ball carriers should handle 3rd/4th & short situations.
After a few weeks of this, it will be the perfect time to begin adding situational periods into your practice plan.
Line up with chains versus the #1 defense, and see what happens.
How you perform in the area of situational football has a big impact on the game.
Do not forget to take time to not only discuss it, but to practice actually doing it.
7. PUSH YOUR CULTURE EVEN HARDER THAN YOU DID IN JANUARY
Whatever your culture is, build time into your practice plan to discuss it.
No matter how much time you previously spent discussing it, it will be forgotten if it is not continuously brought back to the forefront of their minds.
If you feel like you have talked about it too much, that is only a sign to talk about it more.
The kids have to love each other, know the team comes first, and know that if they are not the best version of themselves, everything will crumble for them.
This is true both individually and as a team.
Therefore, every kid, no matter what their motivation, needs to be reminded.
8. TALK TO YOUR QUARTERBACKS
One of the most frustrating things about coaching this sport is that there is going to be a junior or senior quarterback that is not going to play varsity football.
This always leads to the worst parent conversations and the most hurt feelings during each season.
So….fix it now!
Make sure that if you have a few athletic quarterbacks, explain to them that only one of them is going to play, and make them learn multiple positions, especially the seniors.
A junior quarterback that does not become the starter can play JV ball.
But if a senior quarterback does not start, and is not able to play another position, all they have to look forward to is mop-up duty.
Do not be afraid of having a hard conversation.
We need to love the kids enough to remind them that they do not play football because they like playing quarterback, but because they like playing football.
Playing defensive back, wide receiver, tight end or outside linebacker will be just as much or more fun than playing quarterback, and definitely more fun than watching from the sideline.
And, how many of your previous quarterbacks have played quarterback in college, anyway?
I imagine it’s very few.
But if you take this route, your kids will have film of themselves playing another position.
That way, recruiters can see how they move within the process of playing the game, and will be more likely to offer them a spot on their team.
CONCLUSION
I hope that even one of these topics helps you prepare for next season.
No matter how much time you have already spent in preparation for your summer football workouts, there are always items that we need to be reminded to add to our to-do list.
Good luck with the start of your season!!!
