Coach ,

Regardless of the level you coach, or the side of the ball, the season can be broken down into phases.  That’s the approach that former defensive coordinator of the Florida Gators and current secondary coach for the Arizona Cardinal Patrick Toney takes.

In order to focus on all the aspects of what it takes to develop players and a unit, he breaks it into eight phases. He gives an overview of those  phases in this video:

Video: 8 Phases

Creating an identity is an important part of developing a position, unit, or team.  We could do that with slogans, graphics, or branding, but that’s not where the heart of identity exists.  Identity is in actions; for a football player, that identity can be found in how well he executes fundamentally.  Coach Toney shows that framework for identity through fundamentals in this video:

Video: Identity through fundamentals

In college football, spring ball is in full gear.  For high schools that start soon or in some places in a few months.  This phase is used by Coach Toney to get better at fundamentals, not to go crazy on the scheme. He explains here:

Video: Spring Ball

We are about halfway through the off-season, but the phases can fit the calendar with how you develop your team.  For a small high school that may not be until summer while the college programs can follow a schedule similar to Coach Toney’s regardless, the calendar is not as much the key as is the way you use the phases to focus the development of your team.

Coach Toney provided a great framework for development in his clinic given at the Texas HS Coaches Convention in 2022.

Always be growing!

Coach Grabowksi

P.S. This clinic is part of a 50clinic bundle “The Ron Roberts Coaching Tree”