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AFM Magazine


Increasing the Efficiency of Your Practice and Video Time

by: Adam Dorrel
Offensive Coordinator, Northwest Missouri State University
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“Time stands still for no man.”
I’m sure you’ve heard this quote before. If you are like us, you are constantly looking for ways to optimize your team’s practice and video time. Doing so will greatly improve your team’s chances for success.
Our offensive philosophy at Northwest Missouri State University is to “Be Balanced.”
• 2006 run to pass ratio: 55% to 45%
• 2007 run to pass ratio: 52% to 48%
• 2008 run to pass ratio: 50% to 50%
(These ratios exclude sacks and we stop charting at the end of games when we have a lead.)

We have adopted this philosophy for a few reasons:
1. It highlights all of our offensive personnel
2. It makes it difficult for other teams to prepare for us
3. It allows us to adapt each week to our upcoming opponent and to attack their specific weaknesses

If we are going to play like this, we must be able to practice all facets of our offense (3-step, intermediate passing game, deep passes, play action, screens, inside run, outside run, zone ride, goal line and short yardage package, no huddle, two minute). The challenge for us while working on all facets of our offense is being efficient. At Northwest, we believe in reps and creating a tempo that looks as realistic as a game on Saturday.
Monday, players watch opponents’ tape on their own in the morning. Each offensive position coach makes an evaluation sheet for each specific position (OL, TE, RB, WR, QB) to fill out while watching tape. These sheets are designed for a few reasons. When I was a player, coaches told me to watch tape, which I did, but I struggled to know what I was looking for. I have always kept this in mind as a coach. These evaluation sheets are designed to teach our kids what to look for on tape. Let’s take offensive line, for example. Some questions asked are:
1. Is this a read-and-react defense or a penetrating up-the-field defense? This changes the angles of our steps.
2. Do they react to influence blocking (2-point stance with wheel block)?
3. Based on the front, who tips the blitz? We have found that at least one or two defenders will give blitz away.
4. Pass rush moves are grouped by spin, bull rush, rip, spike. The O-linemen will tally each pass down.
5. Jersey number of the defender across from them and their back-up (each does something different).
6. Defensive line stunts. Do they go right now or do they stem? It changes the way we switch and the depth of our set.

We require three different games to be charted by our players before Wednesday’s practice. Our players then turn around and seek out the scout team position player they will be going against that week and give them a scouting report of who they will be mimicking. “Hey, I need a lot of inside moves,” or “really try to swim my snap hand,” or “this guy loves push pull.” Along with this, on Monday afternoon, I meet with our Scout Team Defensive Coordinator. We watch tape and discuss major defensive schemes that we need to see that week. This is important because our scout team does not use scout cards. He signals all the calls to our scout defense using our actual defensive signals so our scout team gets carry over to the next year.
“Going Green” starts at 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday. Each position coach does dynamic flexibility drills. We start Early Outs at 2:50 p.m. During Early Outs, we work on 3-step, play action and the intermediate and vertical passing games. The QB’s throw to the WR’s and slot WR’s on the right side and throw to the TE’s and RB’s on the left side. While this is occurring, our QB’s coach has a zone ride drill going with RB’s and QB’s on one side of the end zone. On the other side of the end zone, our RB’s coach has the hose drill going with RB’s and QB’s. He goes over all inside and outside run plays (See Diagram 1).


The QB’s and RB’s rotate from station to station (Pass, Zone Ride, Hose Drill). This frees up ten minutes of individual time allowing QB’s to focus on mechanics and certain throws while RB’s gain valuable time to improve pass protection. They are an integral part of our success in pass protection. This also frees five minutes to run screen drill with the O-line. This process proceeds until 3:15 p.m. It is repeated on Wednesday and Thursday. This is up-tempo drill work. We don’t walk around. Reps-Reps-Reps!

TTO (Team Take Off) at 3:20 p.m.
Ten minutes of 20-25 reps on air. Two groups going, 1 and 2 offenses. We run special plays, new formations, and mostly no-huddle using long snap counts so we don’t jump on Saturday. Our no-huddle practice “on air” is valuable to our success.

Screen Drill
We started running this drill in 2006. It has definitely improved our screen game. Screens are successful for two reasons - timing and spacing. Running screens in team settings are not enough, so we incorporate two groups to maximize practice time (See Diagram 2).



We then run our different screens to RB’s and WR’s in a rapid-fire fashion. Right-Left-Right-Left! All defensive positions are run by coaches. This provides the different looks that we will see on Saturday. We shoot for 20 reps in five minutes! Half way through, the O-line switches sides while the RB’s, WR’s and QB’s rotate sides after every rep from right to left.

Skelly Drill
Every Tuesday and Wednesday we set it up with two offensive groups back-to-back in the middle of the field. Each group gets 20 reps in 15 minutes. Group one is veterans running all offensive pass plays with different motions and formations. Group two is young guys, usually redshirt freshmen and sophomores. Here we try to teach them the nuts and bolts of our formations, motions and pass concepts. Like our team session, we down and distance every play in skelly. Every player needs to know the situation. We even practice 4th down situations (QB’s cannot take a sack).

Team
Our team segment is upbeat with great tempo. We down and distance each play. We also have different segments we practice each day (redzone, 3rd down, etc.). We activate the 40-second play clock. It starts as soon as the whistle blows to stop the previous play. If we huddle, the ball needs to be snapped with at least 15 seconds left.
We have two variations of our no-huddle check system. The first is one play with our quick cadence, and the ball must be snapped with at least 25 seconds left. The second is a two-play check system. Here we want the ball snapped by 15 seconds. We have found this greatly increases the tempo of team time. We can physically show our offense if they are too slow.
Our scout team consistently rotates to stay fresh so they can provide great effort. This up-tempo practice really increases our team’s focus, conditioning and our ability to provide more reps for our #2 offense. Our entire practice is split 60-40. Sixty percent of the reps go to the 1’s while 40 go to the 2’s. We believe in getting our #2 offense reps. This philosophy comes from our game day rotation.
We rotate at the WR position every three plays. We have three RB’s rotate six, two and two plays. We have three TE’s, but their rotation is based on play type and personnel. In 2008, every fourth series our #2 QB rotated into the game. Also in 2008, we played seven O-linemen and they rotated after two offensive possessions. The exception to this rotation is the TE, WR and RB rotation. If it’s 3rd down or we’re in the red zone, we tag the personnel (veteran). This tells our 1’s to get into the fight.
What has amazed us is the amount of work we get from our #2 offense. If a kid knows he’s going to play 20-30 snaps a game, he is much more focused at practice. Plus, if the #1 player gets injured, you are not throwing a puppy into the fight with no experience. By late season, our #2 offense has taken significant and meaningful reps. They were in when the game was still “in question.” The following diagram is how we split our team reps up throughout the week.

Tuesday
Team-Down and Distance 31 Plays
Red Zone 12 Plays
3rd Down and Short 3 Plays
3rd Down and Medium 8 Plays
Goal Line/Short Yardage 4 Plays

Wednesday
Team Down and Distance 31 Plays
Red Zone 12 Plays
3rd Down and Short 3 Plays
3rd Down and Medium 8 Plays
Goal Line/Short Yardage 4 Plays

Thursday
1st and 10 10 Plays
2nd and Short 3 Plays
3rd and Short 5 Plays
3rd and Medium 8 Plays
3rd and Long 6 Plays
Red Zone 18 Plays
Goal Line 10 Plays

This is a glimpse into a practice at Northwest. We are not perfect, but we will continue to strive for perfection. We want to be efficient each and every practice. u

I would like to thank our offensive staff: Charlie Flohr (QB’s, Passing Game Coordinator), Joe Holtzclaw and Jon Goss (TE’s), Jeff Kietzman (RB’s), Joel Osborn (WR’s), Jordan Brown and Kyle Dunn (OL), and Ramsey Atieh (Scout Team Defensive Coordinator). The information that I discussed is a combination of all our ideas. These men are good coaches, good people and great friends. They are extremely positive role models for our players. They continually critique our practice habits and offensive schemes. How can we get better? How can we become more efficient? How can we get greener?






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