Kickoff Coaching Strategies

Being aggressive on kickoff coverage while maintaining lane integrity is critical for successful kickoff coverage.

Our kickoff strategy starts with the following:

    •  We have a plan.
    •  We believe in the plan.
    •  We sell the plan to our players.
   
The players that make up this unit need to be athletic in the open field and understand that the bottom line is getting to the return man with an all-out effort. When an opponent attempts to block us while covering a kick, we rip and replace the early blocks, then press, squeeze, and compress the blockers that are between the return specialist and our team over the last ten yards. We work on keeping the ball carrier on our inside shoulder and in front at all times. We believe these fundamentals need to be emphasized for every position and for every player on our kick coverage team.

Kickoff 1: Left to Left, Avoid Left

We kick from the left hash and aim to pin the ball deep in the corner on the numbers between the hash and the sideline. All players getting blocked must avoid their blocker to the left as the call describes.

Each player is responsible for maintaining lane integrity while covering the ball downfield. Positions #2 and #8 are the contain players and the kicker and #10 are the safeties on each hash mark. Positions #1 and #9 are ultimate contain players if #2 or #8 lose contain. They also are positions that ‘fold’ on the second level when the ball is inside of positions #2 and #8. These positions make numerous plays by taking proper angles and keeping great leverage on the return man regardless of where the ball is returned (See Diagram 1).

Kickoff 2: Left to Left, Avoid Left ‘Sting’

Similar to kickoff 1, all players avoid to the left and we aim to kick the ball deep in the left corner. The tag word ‘sting’ now tells position #7 and the player in the #7 position that he is an additional ‘sting’ or tackler going right to the ball with no lane responsibility. This position is coached to front up and/or square up the return man and mirror his path until the kickoff tackle is made. The player running this #7 position needs to have a great knack of tracking and weaving as necessary to get to the ball. Positions #1 and #9 are still fold players. With the ‘sting’ coverage, you have six players on the first level, three positions and players on the second level, and two safeties on the third level (Diagram 2).

Kickoff 3: Left to Left, Avoid Left, ‘Hawk’

This kickoff is very similar to the sting kickoff with one exception. The position #7 rather than going to the ball with an attack mentality, now becomes more of a mid-level safety. The term ‘hawk’ instructs him to get to the middle of the return area and be able to make the tackle as needed if and when the ball carrier breaks through the first level of coverage (Diagram 3).

Kickoff 4:  Middle to Middle, Avoid to the Ball

In this kickoff, the ball is kicked from the center of the field and the goal is to pin it deep in the middle of the hashes. The kickoff cover players now avoid to the inside of the player assigned to block them. Positions #3 and #8 are contain players now and positions #2 and #9 are ultimate contain or fold players, depending on the course the return takes. Positions #1, #10 and the kicker are now the safeties with the three of them dividing the field equally. It is crucial that the kick goes deep and in the middle so our coverage team has a great opportunity to tackle the returner inside the 20-yard line (Diagram 4).

We coach an attacking and aggressive attitude on our kickoff team. We know our players may get blocked but we stress getting back up and hustling to the ball while maintaining their lane responsibility. We emphasize keeping great leverage and being great tacklers once we arrive at the ball. We know this unit will start the game or start a half each and every game and we know our tempo and attitude with this unit will carry over to the rest of our team. 

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Want more? Here are more articles from American Football Monthly

Kickoff Block Destruction Progression - October/November, 2012
Maximizing Your Kickoff Coverage - December, 2011
Secrets of Central Florida’s Elite Kickoff Units - February, 2011

About the Author: Greg Polnasek serves as the Athletic Director, Special Teams Coordinator, and Receivers Coach at Albion College. It is his second stint as a coach at Albion. A graduate of Wisconsin-EAU Claire where he played defensive back, Polnasek first coached at Albion from 1983-87. He coached as an assistant at both Illinois State and Bowling Green and served as head coach at Wisconsin-eau Claire and Colorado College. Polnasek returned to Albion in 2003 and was the Defensive Coordinator for the 2005 team that won the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship.