Coach and Coordinator Podcast

From the Archives On today’s podcast, host Keith Grabowski welcomes Nick Sheridan, tight ends coach at Indiana University, to the latest episode of our “Training Camp” series. Coach Sheridan also coached the Hoosier quarterbacks in 2017 and 2018. In 2017, Sheridan was named one of the nations Top 30 coaches under 30 years of age by 247Sports.com. Prior to Indiana, Sheridan worked as an offensive grad assistant at the University of Tennessee from 2014-16. Sheridan joins the podcast today to talk about how he advances the play of the tight end position throughout training camp. Show Notes: 1:47 Coach’s journey 3:35 How Coach’s exposure to different coaches growing up and playing shaped him 5:40 Learning in two different systems 8:57 Different aspects of coaching tight ends 11:32 Installation 16:28 Positional walk throughs 19:02 Pillars of his TE group 22:27 Highlighting the positives during camp 25:12 Individual period time distribution 30:40 Using as many different players as possible 34:05 Evaluation process 39:53 Winning edge Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the Archives: This week in the Game Plan series, Keith Grabowski and co-host Charlie Coiner talk with coach Ron Case about press-man coverage. Coach Case emphasizes using man coverage to get off the field on 3rd down and how it can help stop the Run Pass Option (RPO). Coach Case breaks down how he learned and taught the technique and what made it successful. He closes out telling the hosts what got him into coaching football. Show Notes: 01:30 Ron Case bio 03:20 Coach Case’s start with press man 05:00 Robert Davis at Vanderbilt 06:15 Learning from players 07:00 Teaching press man at LSU 09:30 Moving it to North Carolina 10:20 Difference in technique 12:10 Being on the same page 12:30 Defending in different eras 14:00 Matchups and playing off 15:40 Keeping the technique refined 16:25 Difficulty coaching up different coverage 17:20 Recruit the skill and coach it up 19:30 How good are you up front? 21:05 Press man on 3rd down to get off the field 21:40 Coach Case’s technique breakdown 23:05 Stab technique cover 1 or 0 24:25 Disrupt the timing 25:30 Working the hips 26:40 Off the ball coach patience 28:30 Finding the ball 31:22 Coaching technique in 1-on-1 33:40 Man defending RPO 35:05 Western Alamance High School 36:30 How Coach Case got into football 38:30 Playing in the Marine Corp 39:40 Coaching in the Marine Corp 41:35 Carson Newman College 45:30 Giving the defensive line credit 47:40 Football changing Coach Case’s life 48:30 How Case learned it 49:00 Keith’s similar learning experience 50:10 Coach Case’s military mixing with football Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the Archives: Today’s guest on the Coordinator podcast is John Loose, safeties coach at Army. Loose has been coaching for 31 years and is in his 13th season at Army. Last season, Loose helped guide the Army secondary to finish 14th in the nation against the pass. Coach Loose, with the help of his wife, started the Lauren’s First and Goal Foundation, which provides financial support for brain tumor research and cancer services. Lauren’s First and Goal has raised more than $2 million toward its mission and holds a one-day football camp with over 1,500 participants and over 300 college coaches from around the country. Show Notes 1:34 Loose’s coaching background 2:45 Lessons Loose has learned throughout his career 8:02 Building relationships with players 10:51 Defending the option 13:41 Adjustments made in practice to stop the pass 15:10 What coach is looking for in a player 18:28 Defending the RPO 22:06 Loose’s favorite RPO from the offensive perspective 25:03 Lauren’s First and Goal Foundation 33:28 Making a difference through Lauren’s First and Goal Foundation John Loose - Tackling and Defensive Fundamentals course on CoachTube https://bit.ly/3jCjO9i Lauren’s First and Goal Foundation: www.laurensfirstandgoal.org/ Lauren’s First and Goal Foundation Twitter: @LFGFootballCamp Lauren’s First and Goal Highlights: www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4UuQ6hBR…&feature=youtu.be Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the sport’s most widely respected running backs coaches, Tim Horton, sits down with Keith in this week’s episode of the Coach and Coordinator podcast. Horton, who currently serves as running backs coach at Auburn, has coached a host of future NFL players, including Darren McFadden, Felix Jones, Peyton Hillis and Knile Davis. He gives Keith the inside scoop on what he focuses on when instructing running backs, why so many talented running backs are deficient in pass protection and why coaches need to take their time in evaluating players. SHOW NOTES 1:09 Coaching in his blood 2:16 Lessons learned as a young coach 3:46 Building relationships with players 5:51 Keys to coaching the running back position 7:46 How Horton makes the most of his individual sessions with running backs 11:16 Coaching points for winning the block in pass protection 13:28 Approach to coaching running backs in the classroom setting and the value of active learning 15:06 Making the grind fun for players 16:50 Favorite run play 18:05 Teaching points for RBs in Power play 21:32 Why good outfielders make good punt returners 23:47 Key traits Horton looks for on recruiting trail 26:05 Why coaches should not pass judgment too quickly on players 27:15 Best coaching advice received 27:51 Book recommendation 29:59 Learning RPO 31:01 Favorite piece of coaching technology 33:06 Concerns for future of the game 34:39 Advice to a young coach 36:10 Two-minute drill 37:55 The winning edge Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is a Quickcast? You already know the Coach and Coordinator Podcast for interviews that touch the many areas of the skillset and mindset that makes a successful coach. In our quickcast we focus on a coach’s most powerful insight on a single topic. We pull out the most useful, interesting and helpful ideas into an episode you can consume in 15 minutes or less. It’s our uptempo version of the podcast. With a library of over 1,000 episodes, we have plenty of these nuggets to share with you to help improve your own mindset and skill set as a coach. Enjoy! Jason Mangone Head Coach of D3 Suny Brockport. He was named the 2017 AFCA D-III Coach of the Year after guiding the Golden Eagles to a 13-1 record, the best in school history, and a berth in the national semifinals. The Golden Eagles are consistently at the top of D3 offensive rankings. Today Mangone shares his insight on Simplicity. Simplicity - Having less is more powerful over time and allows you to coach better and your players to execute more effectively. Coach Mangone shares how selecting an offensive menu is much like managing what’s in your closet. An enemy of simplicity is overage…having calls in the game plan that you never actually use. Coach Mangone explains the importance of maximizing your repetitions in practice by simplifying your game plan. The result is player confidence. Mangone shares his approach to adding wrinkles and how to keep it the same for the guys upfront. He discusses his rule on when final additions can be made into the game plan so that they can have everything ready for game day. We all get intrigued by the success of others offense, The reality of putting new plays into the offense and actually getting the play the confidence that you need as the play caller can be at odds. Coach Mangone explains the danger in doing this and how it affects practice. How new plays affect the practice plan and a way to add wrinkles into what you already do rather than re-creating the wheel. Simplicity allows you to better find the answers and adjustments you need to be able to stay ahead of the defense. Mangone points out that it’s the difference of being a guy who calls plays and coordinator. Thanks to Coach Mangone for sharing his thoughts on why keeping it simple can help your offense have success and for you to be most effective as an offensive coordinator. Check out our show notes for links to resources that will help you develop as a coach and coordinator at coachandcoordinator.com and follow me on twitter @CoachKGrabowski Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the Archives: Let them Score? Coaching analytics and in-game strategy. Rob Ash - Championship Analytics, Inc. In this strange 2020 season, the things we talk about but usually don’t happen are happening. Case in point - Penn State vs. Indiana. It’s the end of the game and up 1 all Penn State has to do is get a first down and run out the clock. It’s actually not to their advantage to score. The only thing Indiana can do to have a chance is to let them score. The intricacies involved in coaching this up on either side of it come down to preparation. Former college head coach Rob Ash and I discussed this on the Coach and Coordinator Podcast. Simply stated, it’s something that needs to be practiced and there should be a mechanism in both the defense to let the offense score, and for the offense to know not to score. It could be a code word for the offense that gets tagged into the call. The defense obviously has to have a call for this as well, and the best coaches know all of it must be practiced. Rule of thumb: Never do something in a game that hasn’t been practiced! Penn State mistakenly scored and it came down to a controversial two-point play in overtime to end it and give the Hoosier the upset. Today's Coach and Coordinator podcast guest is Rob Ash, director of coaching development at Championship Analytics, Inc., which helps coaches strategize through analytics. Ash spent 36 years as a head coach at the FCS and NCAA Division III levels before working as an offensive analyst at Arkansas. His coaching stops included Montana State (2007-15), Drake (1989-2006) and Juniata College (1980-88). In the podcast, Ash and host Keith Grabowski discuss his coaching career and the ever-evolving world of football analytics. Show Notes 1:38 What got Ash into coaching 3:26 Learning to be a head coach at a young age 5:01 Creating a successful program at Drake 8:21 Building culture at the FCS level 10:52 Changes in recruiting and student-athlete development 13:00 Transition from head coach to offensive analyst 15:57 Future of analytics in football 21:20 Using Championship Analytics in an up-tempo offense 23:36 Analytics as part of the pre-game game plan 29:16 Using analytics on the defensive side of the ball 34:50 Practicing in-game situations within analytics coaching 39:25 The ever-changing two-point chart 42:25 Small college and high school use for CAI 43:51 Recommendations of how high school coaches can use basic analytics Free Course The Analytics of Two-Point Conversions (You Might Be Surprised) https://coachtube.com/course/football/the-analytics-of-two-point-conversions-you-might-be-surprised/11992909?ambassador=325306f59bb543b6883ff4baa Unstoppable Two-Point Plays by Kevin Kelley https://coachtube.com/course/football/unstoppable-coach-kelleys-2pt-plays/11357177 Two-Point Play Strategy by Tim Delaney https://coachtube.com/course/football/two-point-plays-tim-delaney/12364939?ambassador=1560d03a565346bda70428fa4 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the Archives: Today’s guest on the Coach and Coordinator podcast is Matt Drinkall, head coach at Kansas Wesleyan University, an NAIA school in Salina, Kansas. Drinkall was selected to be a participant in the 2018 American Football Coaches Association 35 under 35 Coaches Leadership Institute. This program is designed to identify and develop premier, future leaders in the football coaching profession. On today’s episode, Drinkall talks about tempo and the evolution of the run game. Show Notes 2:30 Evolution of the run game 6:33 Shifting and motioning 13:58 Importance of changing personnel 18:25 Keeping the tempo up 19:53 Game planning tempo 20:32 Changes Drinkall has made to his practice routine 28:41 Looking at data from practice 30:12 Motioning from the backfield Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the Archives- Today’s Coach and Coordinator podcast features University of Toledo head coach Jason Candle. Candle enters his third full season as the Rockets’ coach, and he’s been with the program since 2009. He started as a receivers coach in his first years at Toledo, moving to offensive coordinator and associate head coach during the 2014-15 seasons. Last year, Candle led the Rockets to their first Mid-American Conference Championship in 13 years with an 11-3 record. Prior to Toledo, Candle coached at his alma mater Mount Union, an NCAA Division III football power in Alliance, Ohio. Candle worked with the receivers from 2002-06, then was the offensive coordinator from 2007-08. Mount Union won three national championships while Candle was on the staff and accumulated an 83-4 record over the six years Candle was there. Candle was able to play for and coach alongside head coach Larry Kehres, an 11-time national champion-winning coach at Mount Union. Throughout his coaching career, Candle has coached several current NFL players, including wide receivers Pierre Garcon and Cecil Shorts at Mount Union, along with Kansas City running back Kareem Hunt while at Toledo. In the podcast, Candle talks with host Keith Grabowski about his experience at Mount Union with Coach Kehres, as well as Candle’s coaching philosophy and style. Show Notes 1:13 Transition from being a player to a coach at the same school 3:59 Influence from Coach Kehres into Candle’s philosophy 6:31 Impact of former Toledo coach Matt Campbell from playing to coaching 8:27 Creating the culture of the Toledo coaching staff 10:19 Expectations of Candle’s staff at Toledo 12:14 Keys to having success with recruiting 14:51 Tips to promoting football at the high school level 17:42 How Candle built a culture leading to a MAC championship 20:50 What differentiates Candle’s coaching style from others. 23:18 Developing a dynamic offense at Toledo 25:53 Balancing a coach’s scheme and the players 27:10 Focusing on the student-athletes 27:51 The Winning Edge Related Links: https://soundcloud.com/user-804678956/growth-as-a-coach-building-a-program-utilizing-talent-jason-candle-head-coach-u-of-toledo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the Archives- Game Plan week 3: Bobby April – Special Teams Keith and guest host former NFL coach Charlie Coiner had the opportunity to interview Coach Bobby April. April is known in the coaching world as a special teams guru, coaching on all levels from NFL, college and high school. The coaches talk about the importance of special teams and how it impacts the game. April harped on the importance of communication for the coaches and for everyone to be moving in the same direction and how that process should be involved heavily throughout the week, so it can translate to the game. Coach April emphasized how important a head coach’s involvement with special teams can be for a team on all levels. 00:40 Bobby April intro 03:45 Bobby April bio 06:35 Gameday organization 07:30 Giving guys responsibility 09:00 Working the dots system 11:42 Special teams transition 14:50 Everybody moving in the same direction 17:22 Head coach special teams relationship 21:25 Being on the same ship 22:30 Communication 27:50 Playing starters on special teams 28:40 Coach April’s formula 30:30 Discussing with the head coach 31:35 Coming back to communication 34:15 Head Coach and special teams synonymous 35:20 Practicing special teams transition 37:30 Providing resources Related Content: https://soundcloud.com/user-804678956/the-game-plan-bobby-april-special-teams-guru Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From The Archives: The guest on today’s Coach and Coordinator podcast is Middle Tennessee State University offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tony Franklin. Franklin is in his third season with the Blue Raiders and has led their offense to become one of the best in the nation. In 2016, Middle Tennessee was ranked eighth in FBS in total offense and set single-season records for yards per game, points scored, touchdowns and several other statistical categories. Franklin’s coaching career has taken him across the country, including stops at colleges such as California, Louisiana Tech, Auburn, Troy and Kentucky. At every coaching stop, he has created a high-powered offense and mostly specialized with mentoring the team’s quarterbacks. Notable players who played under Franklin were quarterbacks Tim Couch at UK and Jared Goff at Cal, both being No.1 overall picks in the NFL Draft. Along with coaching, Franklin has run a seminar for teaching football coaches named “The Tony Franklin System.” He has toured across the nation delivering seminars and providing written works of his teachings. Several college and high school coaches use the practices taught in Franklin’s seminars in their everyday coaching. In the podcast, Franklin and host Keith Grabowski discuss The Tony Franklin System, how that has affected his coaching style today, and what he brings to coaching Middle Tennessee. Show Notes 1:15 Upcoming season for Middle Tennessee 2:30 Adapting formation and trying to not lose the game 6:12 Balancing offense, defense and special teams at a program 9:10 Creating and changing schemes based on personnel 13:20 The history of the Tony Franklin System 18:15 Importance of designing a solid practice, the Perfect Drill 22:58 Tips in building an effective practice, Manning-Goff Feet 29:25 Instructing coaches to pay attention to detail within practice 32:03 Using Peyton Manning’s fundamentals and footwork 37:05 Teaching quarterbacks the RPO 43:42 Routes on air, getting the most out of receiver drills 45:44 The Winning Edge Related Podcasts: https://soundcloud.com/user-804678956/teaching-the-details-perfect-practice-rpo-and-more-tony-franklin-oc-middle-tennessee https://soundcloud.com/user-804678956/developing-as-an-offensive-coordinator-w-oc-magic-tony-franklin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices