Special Teams Archives:

The kicking game seems to be an afterthought for most youth football coaches. You have such limited amounts of practice time and so much to get done, that kicking gets ignored. Hey, I understand that completely. Most of us have 25 kids on our teams, about half of them have never played before, heck some [...]

While much of the football you watch on TV on Saturdays and Sundays don’t apply to the youth game, some strategy approaches may. I watched a real ugly game last season where the main feature of the game were the 35 mph winds. These winds were very consistent and heavily influenced the play mix of both teams. [...]

This year the NFHS changed it’s rule concerning onside kicks. NFHS sets the rules in 48 of our 50 states- excluding Texas and Massachusetts. Youth football leagues in those 48 states abide by NFHS with a few minor exceptions. NFHS Rule 9-3-8 now prohibits members of the kicking team from initiating contact (blocking) against members [...]

Little things separate youth football teams that finish 12-0 and those that finish 10-2, that also applies to football at other levels of play. Often times these little blunders are on special teams and are very preventable if you know what to look for. Last weekend one of these preventable mistakes happened during the Denver [...]

Many youth football teams relegate the job of Special Teams coach to one of their least experienced coaches. While we all need to find real coaching duties for everyone on our coaching staff, Special Teams Coach is NOT the place you want to put the rookie coach. Against top flight competition, Special Teams is often [...]

PATs and Youth Football  In many youth football leagues, the Point After Try (PAT) kick is worth 2 points and a run or pass is worth just 1 point. That is the case with both Pop Warner and AYF leagues as well as many independent leagues throughout the country.  Many youth coaches feel they are [...]

More Data on Onside Kicks When Coaching Youth Football   Onside kicks are often the difference between average teams and good teams in youth football. They are especially important when your team is less talented than those in your league.   Why Onside Kicks?   I’ve been a firm believer in onside kicks for the [...]

  Quick Placekicking Tip for Youth Football Coaches A very simple way to improve your placekickers effectiveness is to make sure he is striking the ball in the proper place.  Just like a baseball bat or golf club, the football has a “sweet spot” a place in the ball which allows for maximum distance and [...]

Punting Tips For Youth Football Coach Kohl from the Kohl’s Kicking Camps presented three times at the Chicago Glazier Clinic and did a great job. Kicking is an area we admittedly have yet to develop a core excellence in and Coach Kohl showed us why or better yet, maybe why not. Like most youth football [...]

Drilling Your Kickoff Teams Many youth football coaches don’t spend a lot of time with special teams, which is a huge mistake. With proper practice priorities and a good practice methodology, every youth coach should have plenty of time to devote to developing good special teams. While we are proponents of the onside or “pooch” [...]