Coach,

I was watching a clinic last night with Brian Polian, Special Teams Coordinator at The University of Notre Dame, and he said something that is simple but powerful when it comes to training your players.

For the purpose of teaching

 “I’m going to show them the drill (on film) so we can teach it correctly. The next thing I am going to do is to show them examples from games so they see what we are doing here matters. That it translates to the game.”

Practice makes perfect and being able to see translation of a drill to performance on video is a powerful learning tool.

That’s the theme of this mini-series you will see over the next few days. I will be sharing some great examples from popular schemes that give you ideas on how to put together your teach progression from film to field.

Today’s installment focuses on the offensive side of the ball.

Running backs

In his course, The Outside Zone - Executing the Play, - retired NFL and college coach David Walker shows the outside zone drill he used to train running backs to make their cuts against an odd defense. In the video, he shows the drill and followed by game film and exactly how it translates to the game.

Issac Reed, running backs coach at Buffalo also likes the outside zone and shows how their drill work for blow delivery with the ball is done in this video from his course Buffalo RB Fundamentals:

He shows the translation of the drill to the game in this video.

Here’s some more outstanding resources to get your RB to translate practice to game:

Complete Running Back Series - Tim Albin, OC, Ohio University

Developing the Complete Running Back - David Walker

Inside Zone from the RB Perspective - Drew Svoboda, Memphis

Running Back & Wide Receiver Drills - Kelley Lee, Eastern New Mexico U.

Running Back Drills for Zone Run Offense -Jason McManus

RB Philosophy and Drills- Ben Buys

Quarterbacks

Phil Longo is a master of getting his players to translate their individual work to the game. In this video from his clinic “QB Drills and Techniques in the Air Raid” he teaches what he calls a “top gun.” The purpose is get their foot turned to be able to set their feet correctly. They want the ball out quickly using this drop and he explains why this drill helps completion percentage to a QB backside:

He show the translation of “top gun” to the game in his breakdown of game film here:

Get your drill work showing up on game film with these video resources:

QB Throwing Mechanics & Drills - Ian Shoemaker, OC, Eastern Washington

Quarterback Answers - Robert Weiner, QB Coach, Toledo

High Octane QB Development - Zach Tinker, OC, Central Washington

Game Week QB Prep- Kyle Ohradzansky, QB Coach, U. Findlay 

QB Mindset/Preparation- Jake Plummer

QB Drills to Improve RPO and Pass Game - Josh Lindke, QB Coach, Toledo Central Catholic

QB Academy - Jeff Steinberg, Beaumont HS

Offensive line

Allen Rudolph, Offensive Line Coach at Ohio University has put together a series of courses on offensive line play. In his latest, “TRANSCENDENT OL PLAY - The REACH” he illustrates practice to game application with the reach drill:

Rudolph shares all of his resources in this bundle:

The Rock OL Play Series

Here are more detailed offensive line series showing drill to game application:

Jim McNally Ultimate O-Line

John Strollo Line of Scrimmage Series

Paul Alexander Offensive Line Series

Loren Endsley Offensive Line Bundle

Tight Ends

Tight Ends are making a resurgence in the game, and training this position properly makes the position a triple threat in any offense. Tyler Roehl does it in such a visually concise way in his course “Tight End Training for a More Dynamic Offense”

 In this video Tyler Roehl shows how the Tight end works the backside cut off in individuals drills:

The next video show application of the work done in the drill:

More tight end resources to move your skills from drill to game:

Building the TE from the Ground Up - Jeff Gallo, OC/TE, Monmouth U.

Tight End Fundamentals - John Strollo, Former Penn State TE Coach

TE Technique in The Pass Game- Chris Monfiletto, TE Coach, Rice

Receivers

Receivers seem to have the largest library of drills available. There’s a million drills on youtube, but how many really translate to a game?  Rob Ianello shares his entire teach tape in his clinic.

Ianello introduces the entire library here:

These coaches have put together detailed resources on WR play:

Press Releases & The Art of Route Running - Drew Lieberman, NFL WR TRainer

Wide Receiver Fundamentals- Eli Keimach, Duke

Ultimate WR Drills - John Weaver, WR Coach, MRA (2020 state champs)

Simple WR Drills for Indy - Jordan Hogan, Arizona Cardinals

Triple Threat Wide Receiver System From A-Z - Bobby Acosta

Wide Receiver Skills & Drills In Up-Tempo Systems - Tyler Dorton

Your effectiveness is ultimately judged by what shows up on the video. As the old saying goes, “You are either coaching it or allowing it to happen.”

Ensure all the work you do in practice translates to game day!  Now is the time to put together your resources and teach tapes so that all the time you spend on the practice field is an effective and efficient use of your players' time.

Next up: Defense

Always be growing!

Coach Grabowski