The playoffs are a magical time for football coaches, players, and teams. But, they do not come without their own hurdles. It’s always great to coach the extra games, but you’ll find there’s a little more to it than your regular game week.

On this episode Joe Daniel and Daniel Chamberlain breakdown the advantages and disadvantages to playing a new or unknown opponent, as well as some things you can do to better prepare for the game.

Bracket coverages are an advanced way to help lock down, or eliminate the threat of, a star WR. You can also use it to cover a bunched group of WRs.

On this episode Joe and Daniel talk all things double coverage, what it is, why you need to carry it, and how to best utilize it in your base defenses.

Three Safety Defenses have started making a name for themselves at places like Iowa State University. But, high schools across the land are also incorporating more of the scheme in their defense. Sometimes a new thing is good, especially if it fits the “Coach Simple, Play Fast, Win!” ideology.

On this episode Joe and Daniel are joined by PJ Gibbs, the creator of the Fast and Physical defensive system, to discuss the Three Safety Defense, how it can help your team, and how to sprinkle some into your current scheme this year.

This week Joe and Daniel are fielding questions from you, the listeners. Our topics on this episode include increasing player and parent buy-in to the offseason process, how to get your O-linemen to block the right guy, and how to see more of the game as a future coordinator.

If you would like to send in your questions, click this link and let us know!

Calling defensive plays on game night may be one of the most stressful jobs in football. You have a limited amount of time to assess the situation, identify what call you want to use, and get it signaled in before a much more regimented offensive system goes to work.

On this episode Joe and Daniel discuss exactly what it is that goes into a defensive play call, and ways to guide yourself into making better calls based on your skill level and what you see on game night.

It’s week 7. You’re down by 4 against your crosstown rival in the 3rd quarter. The wind is in your face, your starting Right Tackle is gimpy and not playing as well as usual. You’ve been a step ahead of the defense all night, but you’re quickly running out of bullets. With the season and bragging rights on the line, what call do you signal to your QB?

In this episode Joe and Daniel break down the important pieces that go into any given play call on Friday night; from why every call matters, to what weaknesses the defense is giving.

Not every high school takes the field on Friday night with the perfect kid in every position. Sometimes they have a SR Linebacker who never learned how to get downhill. Sometimes they have a freak speedster who doesn’t have the confidence or ability to make a tackle. Coaches at many levels are usually trying to prevent one player from losing them the game and need to hide them in the scheme to eliminate them being exposed.

On this episode Joe and Daniel are joined by Coach David Lane as they discuss what kind of player needs to be hidden, how to hide him on gameday, and what you should do to prepare your players for such a scenario. 

Special teams can be both frustrating and time consuming. It’s a part of the sport which can be so simple, but seems to be made complex by coaches trying to gain a competitive edge.

In this episode, Joe and Daniel break down what changes make sense to make and how your game plan should be altered from week to week.

There’s no worse feeling for a coordinator than to get to Friday night and our team can’t match the opponent on the field. It doesn’t matter what side of the ball you’re coaching on, if you can’t gain yards against their defense, or can’t stop their offense, frustration and embarrassment will quickly set in. You need to have an answer as soon as possible. Hopefully, it’s that night, if not at least being able to get right before the next opponent copy-cats and hits you with the same exact problem.

On this episode, Joe and Daniel discuss what comes next after you’ve been exposed. It may be what your choices are on game-night to solve the problem and move on, or a plan for next week to ensure you never suffer that fate again… or at least because of the same problem.

Injuries are an unfortunate part of football that can truly derail your season if they happen to a key player. Maybe it’s your QB. Maybe it’s your 5th QB. Maybe it’s your lead tackler, or the best Offensive Lineman your school has ever had. If you haven’t been struck by the injury bug yet, keep doing what you’re doing because that’s likely helping. But, understand that it will happen at some point.

In this episode, Joe and Daniel are joined by NFL Great Dominique Franks as they discuss what to do to salvage your season when you have a key injury, and how you can help yourself in the offseason before the injury ever happens.

Football is a game of adjustments. Whoever can make the correct adjustments the quickest will generally prevail in a game. The ASKA Principle and Pulling Levers is just an incremental adjustment system that allows a coach to make changes on the fly, or build a game plan throughout the week, and knowing exactly what they changed and why.

On this episode, Joe and Daniel discuss what levers are, how to determine which ones you should pull, and a checklist to start solving whatever problems you’re facing today.

Sometimes we find ourselves in a position where change is necessary in our depth chart. Maybe the injury bug has hit your team, suspensions, grade troubles… The list is endless. Regardless of the reason, you need to be ready to move players around within your scheme. 

In this episode, Joe and Daniel are joined by Coach James Vint to discuss how to make changes to your lineup, when the foundation for a “We not me” team is best to be laid, and how to prevent backlash from players, families, and fans when making those changes.

Self scouting is hard to do midseason. You have 2-3 films from your opponent that you really need to start deciphering immediately. You still need to work in family time this weekend, and draw up the next magical offensive play (what was that play that the Chiefs ran last Sunday anyways?) that’s sure to lead to victory. But, self scouting is an investment in yourself and your team that may be more beneficial than ever turning on the opposing team’s film.

On this episode, Joe and Daniel are joined by Coach Matt Allen to discuss all of the pros to breaking down your own film, finding and fixing your weaknesses, and using last week’s film to determine what you need to schedule in practice this week.

It’s week 8, your playoff chances are on the line. Your star Running Back is deemed ineligible because he let his grades slip. What do you do? Well, hopefully you put some plans into action long before this happened.

On this episode Joe and Daniel discuss the ways you can fill holes in your depth chart well before they happen. They talk causes for players to miss time, why you need a plan in place, and what those plans may look like.

“Football is a game of adjustments.” I’ve probably said that phrase 25 times in the last 5 weeks. Some weeks we’re better at it than others. If you’re not make adjustments throughout the week, or on Friday nights, then you may find yourself playing less efficient football and in need of evolving what you’re doing as a play caller.

On this episode, Joe and Daniel discuss what it takes to identify the things you’re doing right or wrong and how to begin altering the game plan you’re using to put your kids in the best position to be successful.

Across the United States, approximately 1,161 teams are playing 8-man football. Compared to the approximate 16,000 11-man teams and another 700+ college teams, 8-man coaches are at a disadvantage when it comes to adding to their offensive and defensive systems. You can’t turn on the TV on Saturday and watch the local college team tear it up in the 3-2-3 defense. So, they have to be able to take new content from the 11-man teams and adapt it to fit their situation.

On this episode, Joe and Daniel are joined by Coach Kenny Ridley as he discusses his path from college player to 11-man DC, and then the foot-first jump into the 8-man world and all the new challenges that brought his way. Coach Ridley discusses the origin of his defensive scheme, how he adapted 11-man fundamentals to the 8-man game, and he breaks down the basics of 8-man football to those of us who not had a reason to dig into it.

The evolution of football, particularly on the Offensive side of the ball, is something that just about anyone can google and read the history of. However, very few coaches have lived the game and experienced those changes first hand.

On this episode, Joe and Daniel sit down with NE Oklahoma and NW Arkansas coaching legend Bill Blankenship to get his perspective on the evolution of the game, what’s made him so successful over the years, and how he’s kept things simple at multiple levels of football.

Similar to making changes in life, making changes in football can be hard, difficult, frustrating… the list goes on. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” is a mantra that comes to mind. But, if it is broken you definitely need to fix it. You can’t sit on an unsound system just to claim simplicity and not wanting to confuse the kids.

On this episode Joe and Daniel discuss the reasons why you should, or shouldn’t, change your defensive front midseason, what key pieces need to stay the same after the new front is installed, and how to execute a change without muddying the water so much that your players can’t play.

Gaining information on your opponent is always beneficial, and for many reasons. But, it’s only as beneficial as what you do with the information. Putting all of their formations, plays, and personnel evaluations in a binder and tossing it to all of your coaches may not provide the edge on Friday night that you think it will. You have to know what to take out of all of that data, and how to make adjustments to your own defense to defeat it.

On this episode, Joe and Daniel talk with Jamelle Byrd about breaking down your opponent’s offense, how to organize the data and gameplan off of it, and the do’s and don’ts of adjustments to what you do best.

Opponent scouting is an event that can quickly eat up most of… if not your whole weekend. In fact, if you don’t know what you’re looking for, it could steal your whole week away. We’ve all fallen into the “just one more watch through” trap as coaches. We want to make sure we’ve taken everything we can from the film to help us win.

On this episode Joe and Daniel are joined by Southside’s HC Kenny Simpson in a discussion about the benefits of breaking down your opponent’s defense, what changes you should make to  your scheme to attack them, and exactly how film breakdown is most efficiently done.

Yes, Special Teams is one-third of the game of football. If ST hasn’t won or lost you a game as a coach yet, it’s coming. There are times that Special Teams practices can feel chaotic, like no one knows what’s going on, and 1 coach (whomever had that ST Coordinator role thrown on them) is coaching 11 players, and the other Coaches are standing around watching the kicker. 

On this episode we’re talking to Coach Joel Mathews on ways to prevent the nightmare written above. We talk not only scheduling a special teams practice, but having it scripted ahead of time. Let everyone know where to be, who to coach, and what they’re responsible for.

The first drive, or the first few of them, of any game of football can give you nearly all the information you need to be successful the rest of the night if you use it right. Although we’d all love to run our bread and butter ad nauseam and hope to put some points on the board, you have a low risk situation to ask several questions of the Defense and see if they have answers at all, and what those answers are. 

On this episode we dive into the science and art of scripting your first drive with Southside Southerners Head Coach Kenny Simpson. We discuss what questions you should be trying to ask, how to dress up your common plays to confuse the Defense (and next week’s DC), as well as the benefits of having the first drive written down well before the first kickoff.

Now that just about everyone is back to practicing football (with real helmets and everything), it’s time to streamline our schedules and get them into the most efficient formats. You don’t have to make that a daily chore either!

On this episode Joe and Daniel talk with Coach Justin Dottavio about the makings up a practice schedule shell for each day of the week, what key components you need to add, and how to adjust them as the season goes on.

Injuries are very much a part of football. We coach a contact sport, and that contact can create a vast number of different injuries to players of any age. A part of being a coach is mitigating the risks that lead to those injuries by modifying the practice schedule to get the most out of our kids without unnecessary risk.

On this episode Joe and Daniel talk with Antoine Smith about how he keeps 5 teams of youth players healthy in practice to ensure they stay in love with the game, their parents don’t pull them out completely, and how we keep teams ready for a playoff push.

In this episode of the Football Coaching Podcast, hosts Daniel Chamberlain and Joe Daniel engage in an insightful discussion with new Owasso Rams head coach Antonio Graham about his coaching journey and key principles in football coaching. The conversation highlights essential coaching values such as adaptability, maintaining core beliefs during schematic changes, and fostering a strong team culture.

Getting your players in game shape is usually held as one of the highest priorities in Summer Pride and pre-season practices. There is without a doubt a benefit to being in prime shape as the season kicks off, but maybe it shouldn’t be as high of a priority as we make it out to be.

On this episode Joe and Daniel are joined by Southside ( Batesville, AR) S&C Coach Deerick Smith (www.smithperformancellc.com) as we discuss the mistakes coaches make by forcing the conditioning issue too fast too soon, when your team should really be in the best shape of the season, and ways to measure your players’ fitness level without killing them with some ridiculous fitness test.

Your Pre-camp practice schedule is, as it should be, its own beast. Getting your players ready for the first camp, and laying the foundation for the rest of your season is possibly one of the most important things you’ll plan and execute until your first Friday night snap. 

On this episode Coaches Dave Dugan and Rick Stewart join Joe and Daniel to discuss pre-camp practice planning. Listen to identify how these coaches use the time leading up to the first camp with installs, drills, packages, and basic football information.

The Dunning-Kruger Effect is a scientific phenomenon in which people who are relatively new to a field, such as coaching football, often think they have all the answers when they actually have little to no knowledge of the subject at all. This effect is seen in nearly all aspects of life, even growing from a child into an adult (think about a 4 year old who has ALL the answers and a teenager who is frozen from fear of getting into the real world). It stems from the fact that you generally don’t know what you don’t know, and a false confidence in your ability to control what you do know. All of this can lead you to believe that you’re the smartest man in the room.

On this episode, Joe and Daniel discuss the challenges of believing you’re the new greatest thing in football, what to do if you find yourself actually being the best coach on staff as an assistant, and the unfortunate situation in which you’re a Head Coach with a subpar staff.

Linebackers could be considered the most important players in your defensive scheme. Regardless of how you rate them in importance, they can definitely make or break your defense if you aren’t playing the right kids in each position.

On this episode Joe and Daniel discuss what the ideal backer looks like, what the player you’ll likely be playing there looks like, and what type of player to fit into the inside backer positions in the scheme you’ve chosen.

Picking a defense doesn’t have to be a very difficult task, but it is one that can easily be overthought. Some guys get stuck looking for the “perfect” defense, when that simply doesn’t exist.

In this episode, Joe and Daniel discuss the varying levels of difficulty and complexity in running each of the most prominent defensive schemes and what factors you should consider when picking one to run.

As coaches, we’re constantly performing a balancing act; run plays vs pass, playing time for our players, time at the office on the weekend… the list goes on ad nauseum. Only one small part of that list is the number of touches our players are getting. 

On this episode Joe and Daniel are joined by coaches Kenny Simpson and Max Wilson to discuss the pros and cons of spreading the rock around in your offensive scheme to maximize experience, minimize wear and tear, and have your team ready for the high pressure moments on Friday nights.

Our teams are composed of athletes of a large range of experience levels. In football especially, players pick up skills and abilities throughout their career that usually result in them being more experienced and seeing the game differently than younger players. This leads to complications during practice when it comes to running drills that have to benefit everyone on the team.

On this episode we talk with Coach Justin Dottavio about the importance of differentiating drills and how to add to and take away from your drills to ensure every player is getting max benefit from them.

You cannot expect, through any amount of drills or training, for an incoming freshman to show up and be the stud on the team. Realistically, you probably can’t even expect them to be game ready with a single fall camp under their belt. However, you can and should have a plan to make them serviceable as a player.

On this episode Joe and Daniel are joined by Lynn Shackleford and Antoine Smith as we discuss developing your team, and building them physically and mentally.

“I run six plays, split veer. It’s like novocaine. Just give it time, it always works.” - Herman Boone

Although Coach Boone had T. C. Williams rocking and rolling to a 13-0 season and a state title in 1971 with the Split Veer… Most of us can agree that you likely need more than 6 plays in today’s football game. Not that the split veer, wishbone, or other offenses won’t work. But, you can at another level to these schemes with a simple RPO or or mixing in a little pass game to keep defenders honest.

On this episode Joe and Daniel discuss how many of each play type you should carry in a playbook vs a system, how to decide how much to install each year, and the benefits of keeping things simple.

As the school year winds down, and football season gets ever nearer, you may find yourself as the newest defensive play caller on your team. Or, maybe you’re a new DC on a different team than last year. Regardless, if you’re in a position to determine which defensive coverage your team will use, you’ve come to the right place. Defense doesn’t have to be complicated, and it often starts with keeping your coverage package(s) simple.

In this episode Joe and Daniel discuss why you need to stick to a base coverage, which coverage you should likely be using, and whether zone or man coverage is right for you.

College Football 25 is taking the world by storm in 2024! After 11 years of waiting, the “boys are back in town.” We’re all playing just as much as you… except for when we’re in practice of course.

On this episode Joe and Daniel are joined by friend of the show, and YouTube gaming sensation, Ron McKie to talk about the new game, the pros and cons, and how we can use the game to teach football.

In small town high school football, where the running game reigns supreme, the cornerback position is often greatly overlooked. Many coaches don’t know how to properly coach the position, so they’re schemed into a deep third of the field and forgotten about until they give up the big play that seals a win for the cross-town rival. However, if the proper personnel are used, you may find the confidence in your players to get them more involved, and even break free from the overly-common “we don’t have the players to run man coverage” ideology.

On this episode Joe and Daniel are joined by Dominique Franks, DB coach for the USFL’s New Jersey Generals, to talk all about how to pick the personnel you use at the cornerback position based off of your scheme and ways to identify who your best corners really are.

The offensive line could be considered the most important “team” to take the field on Friday nights. Sure, special teams is one side of the ball and defense wins championships, but you can’t win 0-0 and the offense goes as your O-line goes. Piecing that team together can be a daunting task, especially for small schools where you may or may not have five guys that look the part.

On this episode Joe and Daniel are joined by Coach Jack Dingus and Coach Matt Allen to discuss the personnel of perfect O Line positions, and what the “right guy” looks like for each one.

Coaching kickers seems to be one of the most overlooked and underappreciated skills in the football world. For a team that’s supposed to entail the figurative third side of the ball, it seems there is very little info out in the football world about how to take the average high school athlete and make them into the one kid held responsible for all of your special teams situations. It’s even been said that some very large colleges will not staff a kicking coach throughout the year.

On this episode Joe, Daniel, and Coach Joel Mathews of Headcase Kicking talk through some of the easiest reasons to get involved in your kickers training, the basics of kicking a ball off of a tee and punting, how to identify your next punter and the proper practice plan to make them better without burning them out.

Not every player learns best the same way. I’ll say that again. Not every player learns best the same way. Some of your players cannot sit down with a playbook and learn how to play football. The white board looks nothing like a football field to some of your players. You’re writing Greek up there. Your practice schedule, as well as your coaching style, should incorporate as many learning styles as possible to ensure every player on the team is taking something from it.

On this episode Joe, Daniel, and Coach James Vint discuss the types of learning styles there are, why they’re all important, and ways that we’ve been adding them all into our practice plan to get the most benefit for the most players.

A hybrid position on defense can bring something different to the game of football that other positions simply can’t, flexibility. These positions, and the players that fill them, have begun to pop up on both sides of the football and for some of the same reasons. A “jack of all trades” is more versatile in your defensive scheme than a “master of one”. Coaches have quit prioritizing size in an effort to get the best 11 players on the field, and letting their athletes play more positions and techniques.

On this episode, Joe, Daniel, and guest HC Kahn Chace talk about using hybrid defenders in their defensive schemes to better equip them to face the ever changing offenses in High School football.

Regardless of your offensive scheme, the person who touches the ball nearly every play is the Quarterback. Regardless of his skill level, you have to build your offensive scheme around him. Your overall system should include plays and packages to make any QB successful, once you identify what he can do, and what he can’t.

On this episode Joe, Daniel, and our guest Patrick Taylor discuss the reasons you have to build around your QB, ways to accommodate your QB, and how to change your play calling mindset depending on who your QB is.

Having absolute studs on your football team sounds like a dream come true. But, the truth is, even having absolute raw talent in the huddle comes with its own problems. Maybe your best players are pulling an Allen Iverson, “Practice? We talkin’ about practice man.” Or perhaps they’ve begun shutting it down with a scholarship already in hand and those around them telling them they’re better than they may be.

On this episode we’re joined by former Texas HS Coach Randy Jackson to discuss ways to motivate your star athlete throughout the season and beyond. We tackle some of the major concerns associated with coaching extremely talented players and a few solutions to getting over those hurdles.

We’ve all had that one player who just HAS to test the limits. We know it’s only natural, but it can definitely test us as coaches. Whether it’s your star running back showing up late consistently or a youth player whose parents just can’t seem to get them to practice on time, we all have to have a plan in place to ensure the discipline of the team doesn’t falter due to our “problem child”.

In this episode Joe, Daniel, and guests Antoine Smith and Bill Weiss share years of combined wisdom on dealing with the situations above and many more that you may have had already or need to have a plan for in the future.

Just like the offensive episode from last week, this episode is all about trimming down that expansive playbook you’ve built over the last 12 months. 

On this episode Joe and Daniel discuss the process of playbook management, what you can do to trim your playbook without cutting it too much, and when to expand what you’re running.

Regardless of the record, history, or size of your team, something all coaches have to deal with is parents. Some can be jet fuel for your system, and some can feel like an anchor dragging you down. But, parent involvement is a currency that every team needs to help maximize their potential in the fall.

On this episode Joe and Daniel are joined by Coach Rick Stewart to discuss some successful ways to communicate with parents, how to get to know them, increase involvement, and what to do if you have a parent already going sour. 

On this episode we’re talking to Dale Baskett, a renowned speed coach with over 40 years of speed training experience in the NFL, MLB, and numerous collegiate and high school powerhouse schools, about the intricacies of training speed throughout the year, how little time it can really take away from you, and some mistakes of guys who are trying to do it on their own. Dale is a big part of our “If you don’t know, hire an expert” philosophy. 

No matter the size or level of your program, adding players to your roster is always a good thing. Maybe you’re under the roster size expected for your school size, or you’re seeing kids in the hallway that you know could help you be successful. Either way, you have to be able to recruit the building to add numbers and hopefully talent.

On this episode Joe and Daniel discuss the importance of recruiting your school, which kids you should aim to recruit, and we talk about a few ways to make you a successful recruiter and team builder.