What a Rookie Coach Learned Putting in the Single Wing to 7, 8, and 9 Year Olds

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What a Rookie Coach Learned Putting in the Single
Wing to 7, 8, and 9 Year Olds

• Jerry Nivison
• Head Coach
• TORNADOS
• Gilbert Pop Warner, Arizona

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• I think the most important point in our
  organization has been to stress the items that
  directly affect winning.
• Ara Parseghian, 1967 COA675
• COROLLARY Players win football games.
• COROLLARY 2 Make things happen (i.e., coach)
  through the players.

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DISCLAIMER

• A good portion of successful football stems from
  defense and special teams.
• Since this talk is on the Single Wing, defense or
  special teams is not mentioned.

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Acknowledgements

• Jon Benjamin, ROPERS
• Keith James and staff, AVENGERS
• Gary Canez and staff, LONESTARS
• Mike Thompson, MONSOON
• Last, but not least, my own staff
• Eric Rohde
• Paul Suzy Phoenix
• Hernan Rueda
• Others

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And of course the PLAYERS!
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Overview

• Focus
• Properly Functioning Staff
• Planned, Organized Practice
• Basics First
• Dependable Snapper, x2
• Select Offensive Line
• Daily, Pure Hitting Drills
• Simple Playbook

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1. Focus
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Focus

• You must be clear in your heart and mind why
  youre coaching you must believe in it.
• I struggled with myself early in the season.
  Basically the question needing answered
• Are boys 7-9 too young to play full pad
  football?
• SCORES SEASON RECORD
• Season Total 113-127 (5-4)
• First two games 6-50 (0-2)
• Third - sixth games 46-51 (2-2)
• Last three games 61-26 (3-0)

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2. Properly Functioning Staff
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Properly Functioning Staff

• As stated in most military theory texts Without
  an excellent officer corps, its difficult to
  have a successful military. CLA32, JOM38
• Similar with football coaching staff.
• If the coaches and staff are ignorant, immoral,
  mean - spirited, or contentious, a successful
  football season is less likely.
• RESULT Boys suffer.
• Football coaching is TEACHING first and
  everything else second.

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Knowledgeable Football Staff
Fools learn by experience. I prefer to profit
from others experience.
Bismarck HAR673 From
knowledge to competence is a great step from
ignorance to competence an even greater still.

Hans von Seekt CRE00frontpaper

• Obviously, first-hand experience is a vivid way
  to learn competence.
• However, book knowledge is a fast way to an
  intermediate state between ignorance and
  first-hand, experiential competence.
• Were not professional coaches so our experience
  is less by definition of amateur help yourself
  and offset this by study.
• Ex Col. Joshua Chamberlain 20th Maine at The
  Battle of Gettysburg.

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3. Planned, Organized Practice
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Planned, Organized Practice

• Several smaller groups of 3-10 boys with 1-2
  coaches per group is best way.
• One coach coaches
• At this age group, often need other coach to
  supervise the boys in line.
• 3 to 5 groups, each with 1 or 2 coaches.
• Alternate Offense and Defense daily emphasis
  throughout season.
• See next page for example practice.

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Example Practice Schedule


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4. Basics First
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Basics First
The most important offense team fundamental is
proper execution of the starting count. -- Bud
Wilkinson WIL87125

• Means, be able to EVERY TIME PERFECTLY
• form huddle.
• Including ALL offense replacements and MPPs.
• move from huddle into formation right.
• move from huddle into formation left.
• change from split end left to right.
• move at proper cadence time (always 1 count).
• Down -- Set -- Hit!
• How to accomplish? Repetition, repetition,
  repetition, repetition, repetition,

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HUDDLE!
The most important thing in the huddle is to
remain quiet and attentive. -- Bud Wilkinson
WIL87
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5. Dependable Snapper, x2
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Dependable Snapper, x2

• First few games we had around 6 bad snaps each
  game!
• Painful way to learn.
• Stops drive cold.
• Backs need to be partially responsible for good
  snap.
• Changed snappers during second game.
• Helped remainder of season immeasurably.
• 50 to 100 snaps EVERY practice, ALL SEASON.
• Do while other linemen in blocking drills
• Snap first block second.
• Needs to be mentally tough not necessarily a
  great blocker.
• I tell them The guards will seal your gap.
• NEED TWO. (Good chance starter will miss.)

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Early Morning Pregame
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Mechanics of Snapping
"A dependable snapper is the key to any single
wing offense.  You will not have an effective
attack if this boy cannot learn to pass the
ball. -- Ken Keuffel KEU0423
Photos from Kueffels book. KEU0423-24
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6. Select Offensive Line
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Select Offensive Line
If theres a secret to successful coaching, it
must be the coachs ability, possibly innate, to
place the right boy in the right position a great
majority of time. -- Joe Blount BLO6527

• Most coachable area IN SPORTS (IMHO) is American
  football offense
• offensive line most coachable position
• Assignment of players high on coachs TBD list
• Select O Line from pool very carefully
• 7 select boys includes backup TE, but not SE
  (FB?)
• FB (ie, Blocking Back) at times practices with
  O-Line
• INTELLIGIENCE A MUST usually 9 or mature 8 yr
  olds
• Usually top 33 of weight class

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Offensive Line (cont)

• Four classifications of players
• MPP (SE 3 Defensive Line 5 to 12 players)
• Replacement (1 to 2 at each position group)
• One-way Starter (Backs/DE/LB and all 6 starters
  of O-line here)
• Two-way Starter (only 4 at MM Level usu.
  Backs/DE/S)
• Coached and well-trained in only these basic
  block techniques
• Interference (ie, Downfield or stalk DO NOT CLIP
  or BLOCK IN BACK!)
• Drive
• Double-team
• Wedge
• Pull (IT and WG only usually faster)
• Outside Tackle is King of Offensive Line Pecking
  Order
• To know, in addition to drills watch behavior at
  water breaks.
• Inside Tackle usually next
• Also needs speed and agility to pull good
  basketball/baseball player
• Tight End usually next
• Need a good player here for double teams with OT
• Funny thing OL usually very gregarious,
  temperate boys

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Head Coach Has O-Line

• At least a great deal of focus should be directed
  in that area by the Head Coach.
• If O Line controls LOS, your team will control
  the tempo of the game.
• By that I mean you can run and know youll get
  sufficient yards to continue a long drive, eating
  time AT THE PACE YOU WANT.
• This means your team keeps initiative.
• Warfare
• Chess

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TORNADOS Momentum
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7. Daily Hitting Drills
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Daily Hitting Drills

• For many Mitey Mite boys, its their first
  experience with contact football.
• They need to learn what hit means.
• Best way Do EVERY DAY until becomes second
  nature payoff HUGE on game day.
• Learned this late in season after 6th (of 9)
  games
• When the players know how to hit safely, its
  more likely they will hit harder.
• Either hit or be hit. (Newtons Third Law)
• Dont fight Dead Cockroach Syndrome
• Goes away when boy is ready to hit.

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Hitting Pair Boys Equally

• Pair boys having roughly equal momentum with
  each other.
• Tangibles (F dp/dt) Weight, Quickness/Speed,
  Strength
• Intangibles Desire, Coachability,
  Skill/Knowledge
• Learned doing otherwise is ridiculous.
• What is the small boy learning?
• What is the large boy learning?
• I erred early in season took advice of another
  coach to NOT do equal pairing.
• Some teams use this to thin their ranks.
• Im disgusted by it, and dont believe in it.

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Why Disgusted?
Research has shown that children physically
mature at different rates and that two players of
the same chronological age can have great
physical differences. It is important that late
maturers receive the same skill instruction
from coaches as their more physically mature
counterparts, as these late-bloomers will often
outgrow the early maturers in high school.
-- NFL Coaching Academy
NFL04281 Note this does not say nor mean
game time.
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8. Simple Playbook
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Simple Playbook
Everything starts with the end-run force. --
Gene Stallings

• At this level, only need six PERFECTLY EXECUTED
  plays (number is order put in)
• 1. Sweep Beast Sweep (TB End Run)
• 2. Blast (TB Off
  Tackle)
• 3. Wedge Beast (HB Dive)
• 4. Counter (TB Inner
  Cutback)
• 5. Reverse Fake (WB Outer Rev.)
• 6. Play Action Pass (Sweep, TE pass)

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Offense Keys

• Blocking is more important than ball carrier.
• To approach it oppositely puts your destiny in
  fate.
• Therefore, walk-throughs are more important than
  running the play in scrimmage full-speed with
  hitting.
• If defense shuts down all of your 6 basic plays,
  then others probably wont work either.
• Offense aims to put strength vs weakness.
• Defense wants strength vs strength.
• Take what the defense gives you.
• Rarely can a defense take away everything.
• Most important thing during game for offensive
  coordinator is an open pair of eyes, and
• adjust, adjust, adjust, adjust, adjust.

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Formation Right SE Left
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Formation Right SE Right
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Blocking Scheme

• Blocking is most complicated part of football.
• Many blocking schemes. Which to use?
• We use assignment. Why?
• Its simplest when only have a few
  plays/defenses.
• Every defense we faced (except one) was a 5-3!
• Easier to teach to young linemen.
• Disadvantages
• If face many different defenses, and/or have many
  plays, then assignment blocking is a lot to
  remember.

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Power Sweep
Every football team eventually arrives at a
lead play. It becomes the teams
bread-and-butter play, the top-priority-play. It
is the play that the team knows it must make go,
and the one the opponent knows they must stop.
Continued success with the play, of course, makes
for a No. 1 play, because from that success stems
your confidence, and behind that is the basic
truth that it expresses the coach as a coach and
the players as a team and they feel complete
satisfaction when they execute it and its
completely right. My No. 1 play has been the
power sweep, sometimes called the Lombardi Sweep.
It began to be part of me during my days at
Fordham. I was impressed playing against the
single-wing sweep the way those Pittsburgh teams
of Jock Sutherland ran it. And I was impressed
afterward when I attended coaching clinics and
the single wing was discussed. But maybe its
my No. 1 play because it requires all eleven men
to play as one to make it succeed, and thats
what team means. -- Vince Lombardi
LOM73191
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You need speed

• to successfully run the sweep.
• HORSE HOOEY! Lombardis Green Bay Packers were
  known to be slower.
• However, they BLOCKED the play correctly and it
  worked without great speed.
• It was a HB option run outside or off-tackle
  depending on the DEs slant.

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The Lombardi Sweep
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Power Sweep
OUR No. 1 play. We teach it first. We teach no
other until it runs perfect.
If DE stays inside, then Power Sweep is VERY
attractive.
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Off-tackle Blast
If DE moves outside, then off-tackle play is
attractive.
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Off-tackle Drive
If defense does not shift, then off-tackle play
is VERY attractive!
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Summary

• Focused Heart and Mind
• Properly Functioning Staff
• Planned, Organized Practice
• Dependable Snapper, x2
• Basics First
• Select Offensive Line
• Daily, Pure Hitting Drills
• Simple Playbook

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REFERENCES

• Also see http//football.phxsim.com/references.h
  tml for a comprehensive list of football
  literature.
• This presentation file available at
  http//football.phxsim.com/2006/presentations/sw20
  06.ppt
• BLO65 Joe Blount, The Smorgasbord Offense for
  Winning High School Football, Prentice-Hall,
  1965,
• LCCCN 65-17814.
• CLA32 Carl von Clauswitz, On War, Everymans
  Library, 1832, ISBN 1-4191-1211-2.
• COA67 The Coaching Clinic, Best of Football,
  Parker, 1967, LCCCN 67-16406.
• CRE00 Martin van Creveld, The Art of War War
  and Military Thought, Casell Co., 2000,
• ISBN 0-304-35264-0.
• GIL02 Joe W. Gilliam, Defensive Football
  Fundamentals and Techniques, Coaches Choice,
  2002,
• ISBN 1-58518-596-5 .
• HAR67 B. H. Liddell Hart, Strategy, Meridian,
  1967, ISBN 0-452-01071-3.
• KEU04 Ken Keuffel, Winning Single Wing
  Football, Swift Press, 2004, ISBN 0-9744022-4-9.
• JOM38 Baron Jomini, The Art of War, Military
  Publising Co., 1838, ISBN 0-85367-249-1.
• LOM73 Vince Lombardi, Vince Lombardi on
  Football, ed. George L. Flynn, Galahad Press,
  1973,
• ISBN 0-88365-303-6 .