John T. Reed’s football coaching blog

I have lately found a number of games where teams lost as a result of passes thrown that stopped the clock. Had they kept the ball on the ground and inbounds, they would have won the game. I need to modify my clock management rule 1.20(c) which says prefer running plays to passing plays when the running play in question is adequately effective to gain the yards needed on the first three downs of a series except on the last play of a quarter Normally, near the end of the first half, my rules, which are in my book Football Clock...

 “My honor is my loyalty.” Football head coaches are frequently ignorant of the best ways to coach their team or they know the best ways, but deliberately choose not to use them. They remain ignorant of things they ought to know simply because it’s easier and they can get away with it. The decision to hire and retain them is typically made by non-football people—NFL owners, college presidents, high school principals, youth boards. Those non-football people are often intimidated by the playing and/or coaching experience of the coach. But even when their ignorance is eliminated, head football coaches often still...

I just saw AZ screw-up an on-side kick. They had two guys lined up as kickers. The left one approached the ball but jumped over it instead of kicking it. Cute. I’ve done it, but the guy who fakes the kick has to stop short, not go past the ball. Anyone being in front of the ball before it is kicked is offside, and that’s what was called. AZ coach was really pissed. I guess because he told the fake kicker not to go past the ball. Not enough reps. I cover special teams in my Coaching Youth Football and...

Front matter for Coaching Youth Football Defense Second Edition by John T. Reed Copyright 1993, 1996, 2006, 2009 John T. Reed All rights reserved. Published by John T. Reed 342 Bryan Drive Alamo, CA 94507 925-820-7262 Manufactured in the United States of America Other material by John T. Reed Visit www.johntreed.com About the author John T. Reed has coached six high school football teams: four freshman, one junior varsity, and one varsity. He also coached nine youth football teams. He coached at three different high schools. One had 1,000 students; one 1,500, and the other 2,500. All were in California...

Index to Coaching Youth Football Defense, 2nd edition by John T. Reed You can search this index by using "Find" under the edit menu. The found text, which can include spaces, will be highlighted. See more on Coaching Youth Football Defense. Index Symbols 4-4 154 6-point, shoulder-hitting drill 52 8-2-1 7, 11, 47, 60, 124, 141, 147 10-1 3, 7, 11, 50, 60, 74, 141, 147, 155, 156 10-1 Even Pressure Defense 155 25-second clock 107 1991 Big Game 61   Articles on defense by John T. Reed John T. Reed's comments on different youth-football defenses Man or zone pass...