T roy State University would like to thank
the AFCAfor allowing us to be a part of
this year’s convention. Our head coach,
Larry Blakeney, would like to extend an
invitation to you to come visit us for our
spring practice and coaches clinic.
We start practice everyday at Troy State
University with a 15 minute pre-practice
special teams period. During this period,
our quarterbacks will warm their arms up
with form throws. They will line up 10 yards
across from each other and loosen up for
about five to seven minutes. During spring
ball and summer camp we will go through
the normal routine.
1. Feet together
2. Feet apart
3. Open shoulders
4. Closed shoulders
5. Step and throw
6. Plant and throw
7. Hitch and throw
8. Long ball (20, 30, 40, and 50 yards)
Do not overthrow the long ball, but you
must work on it to develop arm strength
and accuracy. This is also a great time to
work on the center/quarterback exchange.
During this time, our receivers will work
on stance and starts. We work hard on
developing stride length. We emphasize
getting up the field and closing the cushion
on the defensive back. We work on three
steps in five yards, five steps in 10 yards,
and seven steps in 15 yards. We will also
have our receivers do a set of quick foot
agility drills on the ladder.
After our five-minute form period, the
quarterbacks and receivers will come
together for PAT and GO. I think this is a
great drill that allows the quarterbacks and
receivers to continue to warm-up while
working on throwing and catching the foot-
ball. We will divide our quarterbacks and
receivers in half and start on opposite sides
of the field. We start on the numbers and
throw across the field. We will separate the
lines of receivers by 20 yards.
We work on eight different fundamentals
catches:
1. One hand, right hand (eyes and fin-
gertips) [one time].
2. One hand, left hand (eyes and finger-
tips) [one time].
3. Two hand, right hand lead (stretch
catch, outside shoulder) [one time].
4. Two hand, left hand lead (stretch
catch, outside shoulder) [one time].
5. On the line (frozen rope, hands off the
body) [two times].
• Proceedings • 79th AFCA Convention • 2002 •
6. Over the top (track the ball) [two
times].
7. Frontal attack (hands off the body,
Drills and Fundamentals
for Quarterbacks &
attack the ball) [two times]. Receivers
8. Concentration (towel, dummies/hand
shields, pop-up dummies, etc.) [two times].
We use four pop-up dummies to allow
the receivers to work on their releases dur-
ing PAT and GO. Make sure you change
the angle of the quarterbacks throw by
moving his launch point from five, 10, 15
and 20 yards away from the receivers. On
Mondays we will change up and have the
receivers run the gauntlet going across the
field.
After PAT and GO, the entire team is
called up for form run, stretch and
announcements. Following the stretch, we
have a 15 minute special teams/individual
period. During this time the quarterbacks
and receivers will start working together on
game-specific agility drills. We work five
different cone drills: Stick, Burst, Jab,
Diagonal and Speed Out.
The Stick drill is used to work on east
and west movement. We are trying to have
our receivers make a full-speed cut without
rounding his break. We want the move
made on three steps. This move is used on John Shannon
the square in, crossing and diagonal
routes. Offensive Coordinator
Diagram 1: Stick Drill
Troy State University
Troy, Ala.
The Burst drill is used to work on the
receivers coming back to the quarterback
and coming back to the ball. We want to
make the move in three steps, making
sure we are driving our arms and drop-
ping our center of gravity. This move is
used in the hooks, curls, digs and seam
reads.
Diagram 2: Burst Drill
 The Jab drill is used to work on the
receivers making a one step move getting
in and out of the break going full speed.
This move is used for the slant, post, flag,
etc.
Diagram 3: Jab Drill
The Diagonal drill is used to work on up
field change of direction. We ask the
receivers to make this move as quick as
possible with total body control. This drill
helps us in releases, avoiding defensive
contact, and change ups in route running.
Diagram 4: Diagonal Drill
The Speed Out drill is used to work on
east and west speed movement. We want
to make this move as close to full speed as
possible. We do not want to take choppy
steps. A correct speed move will take three
to five yards to execute. You must learn to
slightly drop your hips and shoulders while
continuing your full stride.
Diagram 5: Speed Out Drill
After the cone drills, the quarterbacks
and receivers split up for 10 minutes of indi-
vidual work. The quarterbacks will work on
different drops while throwing for accuracy
into the nets. We work on the three-step
drop, gun catch and throw, gun three-step
drop, five-step drop, gun five-step drop,
seven-step drop, scramble, sprint out,
• Proceedings • 79th AFCA Convention • 2002 •
nakeds, bootlegs, and all our different play
action passes. We divide our quarterbacks
into two groups and throw each different
drop three times. I don’t think that you can
ever work your quarterbacks too much on
drops and accuracy.
During this 10-minute period, our
receivers will work on several different fun-
damentals and drills. They will rotate from
the blaster, ball protection, stalk blocking,
cut blocking, crack blocking, hot reads,
releases, or use the jugs machine.
Immediately following the 15-minute
special teams/individual period, the entire
offense comes together for five minutes of
team takeoff (TTO). We will work a particu-
lar emphasis each day. Examples: man
blitz, zone blitz, new plays, screens, two
back runs from the gun, one back runs from
the gun, new codes, pass protections, spe-
cial plays, cadence, substitutions and
changing formations, or motions.
Our next 20 minutes will be with the
quarterbacks and receivers working on
RVA, routes versus air. We will throw indi-
vidual routes working on proper alignment,
route depth and adjustments. We will also
work on two-man combination routes and
three man combination routes.
The last drill I want to talk about is the
box drill. This drill allows the receivers and
quarterbacks to work on beating bump and
run coverage. To be a great passing team,
you must be able to be successful against
man blitz and bump coverage. We teach
the quarterbacks to throw the ball two
yards over the outside shoulder 18 to 22
yards deep, no more than 25 yards. The
five-yard box forces the receivers to work
to get open. We teach the receivers six
important keys to beating bump and run
coverage.
1. Alignment
2. Release
3. Hands
4. Get vertical
5. Look
6. Body position/stretch catch
We will teach the receivers five different
releases and ask them to master and use
at least two of them.
1. Speed
2. Freeze
3. One step
4. Two step
5. Diamond
We will teach the receivers five different
hand movements.
1. Slap-slap
2. Slap-rip
3. Slap
4. Rip (strong arm)
5. Jam
Through film study, we want to be able
to counter inside arm pressure and outside
arm pressure by the defensive backs.
After five minutes of the box drill, we will
have one-on-one versus the defensive
backs. We script one-on-one everyday and
work hard on getting 30 throws in a 10-
minute period.
We follow one-on-one with a 25-minute
pass skeleton versus our defense. We
script out different field positions, working
down the field and finishing with five plays
from the five, four, three, two, one.
We finish practice with a 40-minute
team period. We break our offensive team
into different situations: team runs, team
pass, team screens, team blitz, team play
action or team special plays. We will also
break our team period down by using the
different formations and motions that we
have game planned.
Troy State University would be happy to
visit with you in more detail about how we
train our quarterbacks and receivers in
practice.
The American
Football Coaches
Association
Promotes Positive
Recruiting Practices
All Coaches: Be positive. Talk
about your institution and not
other institutions.
Head Coaches: If you have a
recruiting problem with another
institution or have rumors flying
that should be stopped:
Call the head coach of the
institution involved and talk
straight. It will eliminate a lot
of problems and hard feel-
ings towards one another.