The Football Coaching Podcast with Joe Daniel

We get caught up in the X's and O's sometimes. Probably too much. There's a lot that goes into a football season. Far beyond your playbook. Do you have everything ready? Are you prepared to deal with the off the field stuff? Make sure you've got all your gear ready. Have a plan for the worst case scenario. Put systems in place that will save time all season long. Maybe even get a new whistle (I recommend the Fox 40 Classic). This week's episode of The Football Coaching Podcast isn't really sexy. No cool plays. This time of year, all that should be in place. If it's not, you better get moving. We're getting everything in place to have a great season. Limit the headaches so that you can do what you love doing... Coach Football!

It's the Jimmy's and Joe's. Not the X's and O's. You know that. You still spend a boat load of time on your scheme. After all, your kids are the one's you've got. You gotta do something to fill your obsessive football junkie time. Where you put those players is just as important as how good they are. That's what this episode of The Football Coaching Podcast is all about. There are 5 key factors to consider when you start putting your players into positions... Evaluate the talents and abilities of each player. Focus on where they are at right now. What they have done in the past is only a small piece. Look at your scheme. What do you need at each position? Study your opponents. The one's you really need to beat to achieve your goals. Where do they attack your defense? Where can you crete mismatches on offense? Once you've placed those guys based on the first 3... where do you have extra depth? Where do you need more depth? Fix it. What does the player want? A lot of coaches ignore this. You should not. Keep your schemes simple. Because you won't get it perfect every year (or ever). Injuries play a big role, too. You may need to move some guys around. It's all about having the best 11 football players on the field! If you need to perfect your defensive scheme, download my free eBook, The Defensive Installation Manual. It's a 7 step process for choosing the right defense for your team.

You love football. You study it constantly. Always learning. We have an abundance of knowledge at our fingertips. When is it too much? To become a better football coach (fast!) you need to focus on what matters. We're talking Pareto Principle here. 80/20 rule. 20% of your stuff gives you 80% of the results. 20% of the plays in your playbook might get 80% of your yards. 80% of your points. 20% of the technique you're teaching on how to block or tackle is producing 80% of the success. Crazy stuff, right? Most of us are well aware of the 80/20 rule. But we don't always apply it to coaching. Your playbook gets bigger as the season goes on. As your career goes on. The drill library expands. More drills. Better drills. Bigger drills. Is all that stuff producing results? Sure. But some of it... about 20%... is producing most of your results. So here it is, Episode 163 of The Football Coaching Podcast. The secret. The holy grail. How to become a better football coach, right now... in one simple step. OK, I'm not an expert on this. It took me 4 steps. Listen to the podcast to hear me outline those 4 steps!

The finishing touches are on your playbook. Now you have to teach it to your players. Having a plan for your Offensive or Defensive Install Schedule this football season is critical. The best plays don't matter if they aren't executed. Execution relies on how well the coaches teach. If your Install Schedule is well thought out, the offense or defense gets taught in a logical pattern. It makes sense to the players. That gives them confidence that you know what you're doing. They play faster. They win more games. Start by deciding on your foundation. What matters to your football playbook more than anything else? Then build the offense or defense. Build it the way you would want a game to work. Some coaches want one play installed and run perfectly before they move on to the next play. Others want to get the entire offense or defense in first. Then perfect it. There is no right way. Just have a plan that makes sense! Other resources on Install Schedules: Episode 98 - Offensive Installation Guide Episode 120 - How To Create Your Install Schedule Also check out my Defensive Installation Manual for a step by step process to putting your Defensive Playbook together.

Kirk Ferentz is the Head Football Coach for the University of Iowa. You probably know that. In 2015 he led the Hawkeyes to an undefeated regular season and a Rose Bowl appearance. He received the Big 10 Coach of the Year Award for the 4th time. Coach Ferentz was also the recipient of the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year and Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Awards for 2015. He's going into his 18th season at the University of Iowa. We talk about what it takes to build a successful football team. The importance of balance, keeping it simple, and building a culture. Sound familiar? Football is basically the same at any level. Coach Simple. Play Fast. Win. That's always the focus. Want a balanced, simple approach to coaching your Offense? Get my free video series on the Pistol Power Offense System.

Chris Brooks has a decade of experience coaching the Wing-T Offense for Youth Football. He is the creator of WingT-Football.com. Chris has a Wing-T Football coaching pedigree that started with coaching the Youth program in Sherwood, Oregon. He learned the offense from the local High School coaches, who have over 20 years of experience with it. We'll talk about how to create a mutually beneficial relationship between Youth and High School coaches in your area. We look at the Wing-T Offense, and the terminology involved. We also talk about specialization of athletes. When is it a good thing, when is it a bad thing? On Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at 9:00pm Eastern, 6:00pm Pacific, Coach Brooks will be hosting a JDFB Insider exclusive Web Clinic on the Wing-T Buck Series. Insiders can log in and sign up. Not a JDFB Insider yet? You should be. Click here to learn more.

This week on The Football Coaching Podcast it's all about going fast. Our guest is Coach Bill Legg, the Offensive Coordinator at Marshall University since 2010 under Head Coach Doc Holliday. I've seen Coach Legg speak at Glazier Clinics on two different occasions. He has a great football mind. He's also incredibly willing to share and help other coaches. We'll talk about the role of an Offensive Coordinator in staff meetings. How to utilize the talent and knowledge of every coach in the room. Then we get into Tempo. How to play fast. How does using the hurry up, no huddle system change your offensive play calling? How can you, as a play caller, prepare yourself to call plays so fast? How do you get the play calls into your players? In JDFB Insiders, we have a module all about how to go fast, and use the hurry up tempo with our Pistol Power Offense System. You can get all the information here Have questions or feedback? Post a comment here!

Coach Bill Weiss is has been the Head Football Coach at Chisago Lakes High School in Minnesota for 19 seasons. His teams won their 2013 and 2014 Conference Championships. Coach Weiss joins us to talk about putting together a successful program on both sides of the ball. On April 27, 2016 at 9:00pm ET he'll be talking Defensive Line Technique on a JDFB Insider Exclusive Web Clinic. Coach Weiss talks about his Triple Option Offense and 4-3 Defense and why consistency has been important. He also shares how to adjust your playbook for your players each year. His passion is on the Defensive Line, though. And that's where we'll focus in on philosophy and technique for playing tough up front. Check out this week's episode of The Football Coaching Podcast – and JDFB Insider subscribers don't miss that Defensive Line Web Clinic!

This week’s episode is nothing but a rant. Seriously. I was set off by one comment from a coach I don’t even know. The comment was by new Georgia Tech head basketball coach Josh Pastner. I read about it in an article on football scoop (read it here). The whole thing is ridiculous. If you want to be the guy who works 100 hours a week or more, great. Sometimes I am too, but it’s not because I want to be. I’m sure not making anyone else do it, either. So I turned on the microphone and went on a rant for Episode 157 of The Football Coaching Podcast. Let me be clear. I don’t care about Josh Pastner, or Georgia Tech Basketball. He may be a great person. The comments may be out of context. The article really just clicked a little something that I hear all of the time. From coaches, from business men, from teachers. From everyone. You do not need to work yourself to death, neglecting your family and your health. You certainly don’t need to wear it as a badge of honor. Some guys love the “grind.” Working from 4am to midnight. Sleeping just long enough to keep from stumbling through the day. Mumbling something about brains. This podcast is a message to the guys who are not that guy. You don’t have to be. For the guy who wants to be… do you, bro. Just know that there are other ways to succeed. In this episode, I also mentioned The Productivity Project by Chris Bailey. Here’s the link

Are you using empty formations in your offense? If not, you need to listen to this episode. Incorporating empty formations into your offense is easy. You should do it without actually changing what you do or who you are. The advantage is that we’re either getting Cover 0, or a really clean look inside the box. I like either one. For many defensive coordinators, myself included, the first answer to empty formations is to load the box. Bring heat. Make you get the ball out in a hurry. But the truth is, once you burn them… decisions have to be made. Stay in Cover 0 and risk getting roasted again? Or give the offense a 3-2 box or a 4-1 box. Those 5 man boxes are so clean. You’ve got hats on hats. They are respecting your receivers. To an athletic Quarterback, this is a dream. You can really open up your running game now! Get all the details on how to use empty formations in your offense. Listen to this week’s episode of The Football Coaching Podcast!