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The Football Practice Study

The Most Comprehensive Study of High School Football Practice Ever Conducted

By Mike Kuchar, Senior Research Manager, X&O Labs mikek@xandolabs.com

Copyright 2011 X&O Labs

No part of this report may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without prior written permission of X&O Labs.

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About X&O Labs

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The Football Practice Study

Introduction
At X&O Labs, we decided to conduct the largest practice study of all time, surveying over 2,000 high school coaches on how to best develop the perfect practice. Like many other details of coaching, the following information is the result of trial and error through years of experience. Some of the results may surprise you particularly the fact that almost half of the coaches surveyed (47.8 percent) said the longest session they conduct in practice is never over ten minutes. This is a sharp contrast to those 25 minute team sessions we became accustomed to when playing the game. If nothing more, were hoping the information either reinforces what your staff is doing or, more importantly, gives you some ideas that you can integrate into your daily practice regiment. Keeping with our traditional case study format, this study looks at the following categories: Most productive offensive circuits Most productive defensive circuits Innovative alternatives to conditioning Developing competition among players Please note at the end of this report we provide detailed graphs from each of the questions from The Football Practice Study survey.

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Case 1: Most Productive Offensive Circuits

Case 1: Most Productive Offensive Circuits

Weve found that many coaches have bought into the whole, part, whole teaching methodology through the use of circuit training. The reasons why are simple. It provides for two of the most important aspects of developing a productive practice: efficient time management, and maximum repetitions. Time is too valuable for some players to stand around while other players are getting quality repetitions. So, in order to combat this problem, coaches have gone to a circuit system, from offense to defense to special teams. Over 40 percent of coaches employ at least one circuit daily, either on offense, defense or special teams. Some of the more common offensive circuits weve seen are focused on ball security and blocking. While organizing blocking circuits may not seem so innovative for positions like the offensive line, training the entire team to conduct these blocks can prove to be vital to your offensive success. Jerome Voeltz, a coach in Webster, Wisconsin breaks his offense up into three stations once a week to work on the following blocks: kick out block, drive block, stalk block and trap block. All of the players participate in each of the blocks. Matt Hagebusch, the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Vinita High School (OK) has found a way to incorporate all of the blocks his offensive line will execute in a three to five minute period. He separates his offensive line into groups or pods. One pod will be centers working with guards, another pod would be guards and tackles and the last pod will be tackles and tight ends. Hell have another group serve as a scout team, putting them in the two or three main looks he expects to see that week. Hagebusch will work all of his run game based on those looks, so that his kids are working the specific footwork they would need to execute those blocks. Lets say were playing a 50 team, they may give us a nine and five technique on our tight end and tackle. Wed work that combination with every run game we have, he says. Or we may have a four-down team that will use a 3-technique to the strong side. Well have the guard and tackle work that double team consistently, while the other center/guard pod is working the down block and pull scheme we would use for the back-side of power. Well spend five minutes on one look, another five on the next look and the last five on the final look. Were only going to get a maximum of three fronts, at our level anyway. Its the 15 most valuable minutes we have during practice. Ball security stations were another common circuit that most offensive coaches were using during the course of the week. Weve had numerous coaches weigh in with the specifics of

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Case 1: Most Productive Offensive Circuits

their ball security drills. Four of the most popular drills are detailed below: Seat Rolls: Coaches like to use this drill to prevent players from using their ball side hand to break their fall when going down, thus exposing the ball. The purpose of the drill is to get the players used to falling while keeping the ball in contact with the body. Three players each with a football in hand will line up side by side with two yards between them. The player in the middle will start the drill in a standing position by rolling on his butt to his right. The player he is seat rolling towards, then jumps or seat rolls over him working in the direction of the final player. Once the original player (who started the drill) gets up, he then prepares to roll back the other way and so forth (diagram 1). The drill is done a couple times. It teaches them to protect the ball when they fall. Important Coaching Point: The players cannot use the ball side hand to break their fall. Gauntlet Drill: This drill can be done with the gauntlet machine or with shields. Although, weve found that the majority of coaches would rather perform this drill with live players than a machine. Its tough to simulate the reach and grab of opponents with a machine. The drill starts with each ball carrier facing a tunnel of players who will try to do anything to get the ball from them. They will try to pry the ball or knock the ball carrier over while the ball carrier runs a ten yard period. The ball carrier cannot run away or deliberately go to the ground to stop the drill. Conversely, players cannot try to knock the ball carrier over, only try to get the ball. There will usually be a punishment in the form of push-ups, up downs, etc. if the ball carrier coughs up the ball (diagram 2).

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Case 1: Most Productive Offensive Circuits Rip to Protect: We found this drill to be pretty interesting. The drill is set up in a 10 yard box with the ball carrier in front of two defenders. Here, the ball carrier will start to run 10 yards, with one defender holding onto his jersey to slow him down. While the ball carrier is taught to accelerate his movement, thus dragging the defender, the second defenders job is to rip the ball out in any means necessary. The ball carrier must cross the ten yards with full possession of the ball to win the drill (diagram 3). Its a physical drill that not only teaches ball security, but also teaches the back to keep his momentum forward at all times. Another method of ball security work, aside from setting up stations, is to get the entire offensive skill players involved. Its a method that Ed Kaman, the offensive coordinator at Comstock Park High School (MI) does with his kids at the start of each practice, right after stretching. Kaman will line his players up in 6-8 lines, with the first player in each line facing the rest of the group with five yards of spacing in between them. Because Kaman has only twenty skill players on his squad, he will equip each with a football. Once kids are lined up correctly, he will work the following progressions (diagram 4): Progression 1 Hit and Spin: The first player will run five yards, make contact with the next player in line, spin off (keeping the ball secure) and continue to the next player five yards from there. He will have his kids spin left and then right and finish through an imaginary end zone to visualize scoring. Each player will move up in line. Progression 2 Heisman: Here the player will execute a stiff arm (rotating left arm then right arm) emphasizing leverage and getting the stiff arm side leg higher, thus the Heisman tag, than the opponents. Each player will move up in line. Progression 3 All Tied Up: Here, Kaman will fit up the ball carrier with the first player in line to simulate a wrap tackle. The ball carrier will try to spin out of the tackle, while keeping the ball high and tight, working to the next player in line. Each player will move up in line.

Progression 4 Splitting Defenders: The last progression is to have the ball carrier split two defenders. The ball carrier now approaches two defenders who are about a foot apart. Although, the defenders will let the ball carrier split them, they will try to poke and prod to get the ball out.

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Case 1: Most Productive Offensive Circuits

Finally, who says a circuit can only be physically taxing on a player? Frank Caputo, the former head coach and now offensive coordinator at Salem High School (GA) mentally taxes his players by walking them through all of their assignments in his Talk, Walk, Fit Drill. Truth is, 43.5 percent of coaches incorporate at least one form of a walk-through period during practice. Caputo, a Wing T coach in nature, conducts what he calls a 15 minute mental toughness circuit where his players will walk through his plays in a step by step fashion. We line up our guys in whatever formations we will run that week, and run all our plays against the fronts we expect our opponents to play for the week, says Caputo. Ill call the cadence and walk them though each step: one, two, three so they get the proper fit. We let kids see the holes develop and we tell them how the defense will play each scheme. You have to know where to fit and feel comfortable. We talk about where the gap is, which player is down, which shoulder were blocking the backer with, etc. Its done on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesdays during game week. Its monotonous as hell for the kids, but its effective.

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Case 2: Most Productive Defensive Circuits

Case 2: Most Productive Defensive Circuits

The responses we received to defensive circuits focused primarily on tackling and takeaways. While we believe many of you are doing some of the same things with these topics, we at least wanted to chronicle one of our readers responses. Walter Pape in Colorado provided a detailed account of his tackle circuits. There are four total stations with three groups at three minutes per station with a one minute transition. Station 1 Bite the Ball: Goal Proper tackling technique and head up tackling. Description: A defender and his partner start face up. Defender starts in an athletic position, partner has a ball in arm. Once his partner moves forward, the defender executes a tackle buzz feet, club up, bite-the-ball!" by biting the ball. According to Pape, it makes the players keep their heads up, their backs flat and follows with their hips. Station 2 Cutback Tackle: Goal To work on angle and cutback tackling. Description: A defender and his partner (ball carrier) start 10 yards from each other on the sideline. On the whistle, both start jogging towards the opposite sideline. The defender is 3-5 yards behind his partner. The ball carrier will fluctuate between a jog and sprint and turn up to the defender 3-5 times. The defender will remain focused on being in position three yards behind his partner with his eyes on the closest hip. Once the partner turns up, the defender turns up. Once the defender is 2-3 steps from partner break down buzz feet, club up, and bite-the-ball!" Station 3 Strip and Score: Goal Get Takeaways. Description: Engage offense player with a defender tackling him. Have the ball exposed while a second defender comes in to strip ball by grabbing the nose of the ball and violently ripping it out. Once the ball comes loose, the second defender scoops ball and scores. Station 4 Shed Block: Goal Shed blocks. Description: Have one blocker, one runner and one defender. The blocker engages defender in position specific area (i.e. LB will be engaged by OL or DB engage by WR). The goal is to get off the block by extending or ripping through the block and get to the runner with the ball. Once the defender is 2-3 steps away "buzz feet, club up, bite-the-ball!" Our surveys were also flooded with dozens of responses on coaches that run Oklahoma drills where they pit two on two offensive and defensive lineman against each other with a ball carrier. Its full contact and intense competition. But weve found one coach who integrates those Oki principles into a teaching period. Keith Herring, the head coach at Brentwood High School (MO) works a Bears Drill daily that he got from former Chicago Bears head coach Dave Wannstedt. Its a half-line drill that incorporates block destruction, proper fits, pursuit and tackling. The width of the drill is 20 yards, and players will get 15-20 reps at it by switching sides. Herring will match up a defensive lineman with an offensive lineman who

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Case 2: Most Productive Defensive Circuits

will try to reach block him (diagram 5). Behind the defensive lineman there will be two linebackers, a stack linebacker and a cutback linebacker (Herring plays a 3-3-5 scheme), who will be unblocked. There will also be a wide receiver vs. a corner and a slot receiver (or tight end) matched up against a contain player as well as a free-safety deep. The fullback will try and block the front side linebacker while our tight end or slot reaches our contain player, said Herring. We give the back three or four yards and he can cut it back, but the back-side linebacker must be there to play his role. The free safety runs the alley as an inside out fitter. They get two reps and its a thud drill, we dont take anyone to the ground. We just try to strip the ball and knock the ball carrier back. Its all done before our team period in practice, it gets us juiced up for that period.

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Case 3: Innovative Forms of Conditioning

Case 3: Innovative Forms of Conditioning

Varying ways of conditioning players has always been a subject of interest among coaches, and this time was no different. It seems that coaches are always stuck between the medium of wanting to get their players in the best shape physically but not wearing them out as the season moves along into the vital latter months. While we expected somewhat of a shift in the time in practice where coaches condition their players, the fact is over 76 percent have their players condition at the end of practice. The types of conditioning varied among coaches. There are some coaches like Pat Patterson, in Idaho, who runs a perfect play period to condition his kids. We set cones for the various defensive fronts that we will see that week and place them at 15 yard intervals down the field, said Patterson. We have two huddles and we call a play and they have to run it and block it correctly vs. the various fronts all the way down the field. They jog back to the other end and we start over with another play. It incorporates conditioning and defense recognition. Tom MacPherson, the head coach at Ridgeview High School (FL) does something similar. He runs what he calls a tempo change of pace drill on air. MacPherson runs through his two offensive tempos, base and fast as he calls it, up and down the field. He does it late in practice when players are tired because it forces them to focus. Ridgeview is a no-huddle team with the cadence built into the tempo. MacPherson signals each play, and each resulting tempo, from the sideline. The play is signaled to the wide receivers and quarterbacks who then tell the offensive line the play. Players will listen to alert words like rocket or jet to remind them they are in fast tempo and will snap the ball on first sound. If they dont hear those buzz words, the ball gets snapped on one. We will put the ball on the ten yard line and work to the opposite end zone, says MacPherson. We will run 6-8 plays then turn around from the other 10 yard line out. Its on air, we work on communication and conditioning. A coach moves and spots the ball. We will run the play called without going off-sides. If were off-sides well add a play. We concentrate on communication and assignments and it really works them. Mike Judy, a coach in Delaware provided us with his conditioning bracket where he grouped his players based on pre-season speed tests. It provided for instant competition that forced players to maintain their status or be dropped to another level. The last place finishers in each group would move down in ranking while the first place finishers would move up in ranking each day, said Judy. Essentially, what it did was create competition between guys that are similar in speed and basically it came down to who was tougher and in better shape. Guys took a lot of pride in moving up a group.

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Case 4: Developing Competition in Practice

Case 4: Developing Competition in Practice

It seems every coach is striving to develop some form of competition in practice, just to get players thinking on their toes and breaking the routine of monotonous workouts. Weve all heard Pete Carroll talk about having his players compete in all his drills when he was the head coach at USC. In fact, many of Carrolls principles that he used has trickled down to the high school level. Andy Guyon, the defensive coordinator at Xavier High School (CT) tells his defense that if they create four takeaways in a 24-play team period they get out of conditioning, a similar concept to what Carroll called Takeaway Tuesdays at USC. Glen Kruger, the head coach at Norton High School (OH) keeps count of his individual players' number of takeaways on defense. We will either keep a tally for the day or week, and the player with the most takeaways will win a prize which is usually an extra helmet sticker, bottle of Gatorade, etc, says Kruger. The players care more about the bragging rights. For example, every incomplete pass is treated as a fumble, so whoever gets to the ball first is credited with a fumble recovery. For Kim Nelson at Roosevelt High School (SD) Wednesday is "Competition Day. During his 7-on-7 session, he makes each play a situation such as a 3rd and 8 and hell run 10 plays. We keep score, one point if offense makes a first down, one point if defense gets a stop, says Nelson. Even for our inside run period, we go from the three yard line and score one point for a TD and one point for a defensive stop for ten plays. It doesnt stop there. We may run a two-minute drill with ones vs. ones. A touchdown counts as two points with a field goal counting as one point. Dave Fennewald, the head coach at Mulvane High School (KS) runs his Vortex Drill to develop competition (diagram 6). He starts out with an offensive and defensive lineman in front of each other, then five yards behind he matches a linebacker on a tight end, then another seven yards from there he pits a defensive back on a wide receiver. The drill is set-up on a 45 degree angle. On the snap of ball, the defensive lineman must defeat the o-lineman, the linebacker must defeat the tight ends block and the defensive back must whip the corners block, says Fennewald. Your defense is getting off blocks, it stresses physicality. Often times, we wont do this until the week of a huge game.

Finally, who said practice cant be fun? Aside from team competitions, some coaches, like Derek Stephen in West Virginia, integrate individual competitions in their practice such as his circle drill where he has two players line up across from each other in a big circle. On go, they fire into each other and try to push the other person out of the circle, said Stephen. They arent allowed to hip throw them or use the other persons momentum to get them out.

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Case 4: Developing Competition in Practice We also want to give Jeff Santee, the head coach at Boulder High School (CO) credit for not only developing a terrific individual completion drill but finding an innovative use for those big red balls we have in our weight rooms. In Santees red ball drill, which he does on the first day of practice, he will have ten guys line up with their backs to the ball, which will be ten yards away from them. Santee will give each player a number. When Santee calls their number they turn and race to the ball without kicking, punching or grabbing each others facemasks. Once they get to the ball they have to try and push the ball five yards in the other direction against the momentum of the other player. Players are forced to play with leverage and quick feet. Its fun and competitive and establishes toughness at the same time, says Santee.

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The Football Practice Study

Statistical Analysis:
An Insiders Look at the Survey Results from The Football Practice Study Survey

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The National High School Football Practice Study

Thank You
The researchers, analysts and staff at X&O Labs would like to thank you for reading The Football Practice Study. If you have any questions or comments for X&O Labs, please email Research@XandOLabs.com. And remember, if you have not signed up to receive our research reports every Tuesday morning at 7 a.m. in your email inbox, please visit www.XandOLabs.com. You can sign up your email address on our site its 100% FREE!

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