Quarterback Development (off-season)

© More from this issue

          
Many kids want to be the quarterback when they begin playing the game of football. However, few realize how much time, effort, and pressure come with the position. In today’s game, it is essential to establish an off-season “training” program for an incoming or returning quarterback. There are three areas that we focus on during the off-season. They are: mental preparation, mechanics, and recognition.

The mental preparation is one of the most important aspects of the off-season. This helps get their minds focused and ready for both football and their everyday life. The quarterbacks are first brought into the classroom to go over expectations and responsibilities that are associated with the position. We firmly believe that they must know their roles/responsibilities and what is expected of them in order for them to be as successful as possible. This helps them understand why they face the pressure that they do and are in the spotlight most of the time whether it is during or in the off-season.

They must be the hardest working person on the team. During this time, we also introduce basic defenses/coverages that they will see the next season. This is done in conjunction with papers they will be preparing on different defenses/coverages throughout the rest of the school year and summer. I give them one paper per month to complete (typed, double spaced) on various topics concerning both football and personal goals. We will periodically talk about what was in their paper and questions they may have throughout the school year and on the field during the summer. It is extremely important for them to understand that they must be the smartest player on the field. For them to be that, they must study and understand the game of football.

The most obvious of the phases is the mechanics phase. We first video tape the players doing their three-step, five-step, and roll out mechanics. We evaluate each player from head to toe and share what we see and need to work on with the players as we watch the film together. We emphasize the importance of good footwork and ball placement while moving our feet and/or escaping out of the pocket. There are a couple of quick drills that we frequently do to help emphasize this (Diagram 1 and Diagram 2).

The first drill focuses on the QB’s eyes staying downfield and escaping from the pocket while it is being collapsed (one of the defensive ends). The QB will go through his cadence and do his 5-step drop. If one of the defensive ends crushes the pocket, the QB will escape and make the throw. An important side note: we have the QB reverse out and make the throw if the rush comes from his back side. I have included another example (Diagram 2) that illustrates both defensive ends running past the QB where he has to step up into the pocket and make the throw to either receiver.

The final phase of the off-season training is the recognition phase. This is a two-step process. We first review different keys to look for to help you recognize coverages during your pre-snap read (2, 3, 4, and man). We then progress to a powerpoint program that is used on a digital projector. We do many things with this. However, the main points of emphasis is recognizing the coverage, knowing the weaknesses of that coverage, and executing certain plays. For example, I will call a play. The quarterback goes through his cadence, simulates a snap, does his drop back, calls his open receiver, and goes through a throwing motion. During this time, the receivers and defensive backs are moving on the screen. We also run some motion during his cadence to see if there are any shifts in the defense. This is only to help the quarterback recognize things downfield and understand weaknesses of certain defenses/shifts. Obviously, this is not extremely realistic, but it does force the quarterback to go through the entire play and keep his eyes “downfield” in going through his progression. This is used until we can go outside and do some work on the field. It serves as a good foundation for your quarterback and it allows us to fine tune things during the summer workouts and 7-on-7 sessions instead of starting from scratch. This is what we have implemented throughout the years for our quarterbacks during the off-season and it seems to be working quite well.

Nate Danicek is the Quarterbacks and Receivers Coach at Oakridge High School in Muskegon, MI. He can be reached at ndanicek@oakridgeschools.org.

NEW BOOK!

Digital Download - 304 Pages of Football Forms for the Winning Coach