Pre-Season Practice: The Importance of Making Every Minute Count

by: Dan Weil
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Pre-season practice plays an important role in getting your team prepared for the upcoming season. We spoke to two successful head coaches – Mike Leach of Texas Tech and Terry Hoeppner of Indiana University – about how they conduct their pre-season practices and what they hope to get out of them.

    NCAA rules dictate that teams can begin practice about a month before their first game. Teams aren’t allowed to practice in full pads for the first five days. Also after that five-day acclimation period, teams can conduct two-a-day practices, but only every other day. Practice will start the second week in August at both Indiana and Texas Tech.

    Leach said he wouldn’t run two-a-day practices more than every other day even if the NCAA permitted it. “I think you get more productive work by just doing it every other day,” he said. “Obviously in two practices a day you’re getting more reps. But you beat everyone up to the point that they aren’t as quality reps as you’d like, and it increases injuries and all that.”

    While Hoeppner said today’s players have it much easier in terms of the rigor of pre-season practice compared to years ago, he too is careful not to overwork his players. “As a coach you want to push them and be demanding,” he said.

    “But you also have to be smart, so that you get them to their first game with fresh legs ready to play. You can wear them out in camp. It’s harder to do that now. I’ve been part of three-a-days before, but now you’ll definitely give them some recovery time,” said the Franklin (IN) College alumnus and former Miami University (Ohio) coach.

    Conditioning is an issue at pre-season practice, but not the way it used to be. Players are expected to report in excellent shape. “If your team is any good at all, they should be in shape when they start two-a-days,” Leach said. What’s necessary is “to put them into a position where they hit the fatigue wall and have to push through it,” he said. “The team pulls together. They have to perform when they’re sore and tired. Doing that is important, and two-a-days provide it.”

    At Indiana, conditioning is an important element of pre-season practice too. Hoeppner runs his practices at a fast pace, so that specific conditioning work isn’t needed. “We practice fast,” he said. “From the time they hit the field until we end, no one walks. What we say is that we practice at a tempo that precludes conditioning [drills].”

    Hoeppner said the heat of late summer also is conducive to getting players acclimated to the conditions they may face in some early season games. “That’s why we generally want our one-a-day practices to be in the afternoon. You put that gear on in 80-degree heat and humidity – it gets a lot harder,” he said. “That’s why it’s not for everybody. We’re like the Marines. We just need a few good men.” The Indiana coach said mental preparation is just as important as physical in the pre-season. “I think it was Napoleon who said mental preparation is to physical preparation as three is to one.”

    For example, Hoeppner said, on offense, “a big part of it is adjusting to what the defense shows you, particularly stunts and blitzes. Being able to recognize that is important. You have to make the play work regardless of what the defense does. A lot of that is mental – being on the same page.” He spelled out how that reaction can work: “A receiver is supposed to run a pattern, but the defense blitzes, so he changes the pattern, and the quarterback knows and throws to him at the right spot, and the linemen see the blitz coming and protect against it. That’s why walk-throughs are so important.”

    One important mental aspect of this year’s pre-season practice for Indiana players will be developing trust in each other, Hoeppner said. “Trust will be the main theme,” he said. “Coaches need to be able to count on players. Players need to be able to count on coaches, and players need to be able to count on each other. It’s something that’s easy to say but hard to develop,” Hoeppner said. “It requires a level of confidence, and a measure of self-esteem is involved. When you have enough confidence and self-esteem so that you can trust each other, then you really have something special.”

    Leach said that Texas Tech’s two-a-day practices are helpful in determining his line-ups. “You want to get extra reps, because you have a lot of people to look at and make decisions about,” he said. “You know who your top guys are coming in, and as you work through your two-a-days, you can prioritize who does what.”

    The first task for Leach at pre-season practice is installing his offensive, defensive and special teams packages. “A lot of people know them already, but you want to be sharp on it,” he said. “There is a period where you break it down and get all your stuff in. You’re installing and teaching. We start out with just a few plays a day and feature drills to work on them specifically. As the period goes on, it may be become more general. We want to feature each play for at least four days.”

    On offense, the team has about 30 basic plays, Leach said. “Within those 30 plays we can run it out of all formations. We are showing those plays and formations. Your execution should get better and better.” On defense, Leach said, “it’s the same way. We are working the defense versus various formations and packages. We may work out of an odd front or an even front. We work against the option one day and other offensive formations they’ll face in the course of the season.” On special teams, “we try to feature different ones every day and then prioritize,” Leach said. “Punts are the most important, so we do that the most. Punt returns and kickoff returns are next. Some combinations of kickoffs and field goals are next. We work on snapping and holding every day.”

    Hoeppner likes to run a special teams drill that he learned from Ohio State Head Coach Jim Tressel. “We’ll have a scrimmage that’s just special teams,” Hoeppner said. “You start with a kickoff. If the return team scores a touchdown, they kick the extra point. If not, they punt. It’s a way to practice full-speed and develop depth, because you have two teams.”

    Given the rapid action and hitting, the drill generally doesn’t last for more than 40 minutes. “It’s a gasser,” Hoeppner said. “You find out who can play special teams at full speed live, who can make plays when they are tired like they will be in a game.”

    In terms of how players prepare by position, “it’s pretty much the same,” Hoeppner said. “Everyone warms up. Then each individual works on skills unique to their positions. Linemen run blocks, defensive backs work on back-pedaling, wide receivers work on their routes and catching. Then you build up to group work.” In specific terms, he said, “You start at one-on-one where the quarterback throws to a wide receiver guarded by a defensive back. Linemen are working against each other separately in a pass-protection or run-blocking scheme. The next thing would be a seven-on-seven drill, adding linebackers [and running backs]. Now you’re practicing the passing game without your offensive or defensive line. Then you eventually go to 11 on 11. That’s pretty standard for almost every practice.”

    At Texas Tech, Leach also builds upward from the individual base. “A practice is going to start with a lot of individual skill stuff,” he said. “Receivers will start up with a good stance, catch, tuck, turn and go straight up field. We emphasize simple skills at the beginning,” he said.

    “Then we go to the quarterback putting the ball over the receiver’s outside shoulder. Then we work on quick game stuff, where four quarterbacks are throwing and four wide receivers catching. We rotate quarterbacks so that they throw to everyone. Then we have five quarterbacks and running backs, so the quarterbacks have seven receivers. Then we do screens with half-lines and full lines. The basic idea is to start with the simple stuff and then go to the more complex group stuff. You’re getting a lot of repetition, covering a lot of ground where you can specifically teach that skill over and over. And we get it on film as much as possible.”

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