Block More Kicks and Win More Games

Back when we took over a program where we were at a huge talent deficiency, we needed to do things that would shorten the field offensively. We needed to lengthen the field defensively. Special teams was the way were were able to win games we should not have won on paper. A big part of this is blocking kicks. 

If you look at big games of every level, special teams always play a factor. At the high school level special teams can give you an advantage over your opponent when you are at a talent deficiency. We won a lot of games over the years because we had really good special teams. We also lost a few because of poor special teams. 

Block Kicks

Blocking kicks will help you win more football games. Get really good at blocking kicks. You can't just do this with scheme. You also have to teach your guys how to take the ball off the kicker's foot. When you block a kick, you are going to greatly shorten the field for your offense. 

Most high school punt teams do not have an efficient operation. The snap is not necessarily very consistent. Every single punt should have guys going for a block. Few high school punters are good enough to punt a ball that is going to be returned. Less than 20% of the balls punted to us were returnable. That means on 4 out of 5 punts we were not going to have a chance to change momentum. 

We made a decision we were going to block kicks. In our first year we blocked 9 punts. In our second year we blocked 11 punts in 11 games. We had one game where we blocked 3 punts. 4 blocked punts were returned for touchdowns. The other 7 gave us a short field. 

We also blocked extra points. We won a game 28-27 on a blocked extra point. We won another game 36-35 because we returned an extra point for 2 points early in the game. Too many teams treat extra points as a play off. You can tell a lot about a team by the effort they give defending extra points.

How do you teach guys to block kicks? We worked a drill on blocking kicks from different angles. It was a 5 minute drill that we did with our guys at all levels. We could get 25 guys through this drill in 5 minutes, getting every guy good reps. 

We would work the drill, then we would work our scheme. We worked different angles, and the result was being able to block kicks. 

You Have to Call The Block

Here is a big key. You have to actually call the block in a game. You need to commit to sending guys to block the kick. If you are worried about getting a roughing the kicker penalty, you probably haven't coached your guys on the technique of blocking kicks. Invest time working your blocks to the point you will have confidence sending guys to get the block.

One way we did this was we had a block side and a return side on our punt return. We always sent one side or the other. If you were on the block side you were going for the block. If you were on the return side you were a hold up guy. Many of our blocked kicks came off our base look. We had two calls for our block side. Base, Pirate, and Ex. On base, we were going to rush the gaps they were aligned. On Pirate, we were going to crossface one gap inside. on Ex, we were going to run an X stunt. We would call Ritchie or Louie to determine the return side. We could tag a Pirate or an Ex to the call to add movement to the block side. 

Every time you block a punt you change the game. The last several years we got away from blocking punts, and that is something I regret. We did not commit to blocking kicks. Invest a few minutes in practice to give yourself the confidence to go after kicks in games. 

Celebrate Blocking Kicks

You have to celebrate blocking kicks. You need to emphasize it and make it something very special for your guys. Every time a guy blocks a kick in a game, the guy who blocks the kick should get something special. We used to give them a six pack of Gatorade on Saturday morning, and put their picture on our Kick Block Wall of Fame. It was special to be on that wall. 

Find a way to celebrate guys blocking kicks. Find time to teach guys how to block kicks in practice. Use pre-practice time. Use post-practice time. Find 5 minutes before you work punt block to work punt block drills. 

Back in the early 2000's when we were committed to blocking kicks, our guys called our Punt Return team the Punt Block team. We still returned kicks for touchdowns and had some big returns, but blocked a lot of kicks that completely changed games. We built a mentality that we block kicks, and it showed on the field. 

Here is another piece I wrote about 3 Keys to Great Specials

Build Great Special Teams!

To help you with your special teams, I put together an AWESOME special teams download that has EVERYTHING you need to be explosive on special teams and win more games. Here is a screenshot of everything included:

Coaches tell me this is EXACTLY what they have been looking for to improve their special teams. This has everything from video cut-ups to practice footage, to scouting packets, to teaching presentations. If you want to be more explosive on special teams, this is what you need! Click here to order yours today! Special Teams Resource

Here are a couple of additional screenshots!

If you are looking for specific resource you can use to help you be more effective with your game planning and more explosive on offense, check out my offensive game planning packet at  https://sellfy.com/p/AndN/ 

It includes everything from a scouting report template, to practice plans, to a two-sided color call sheet, and more! Each of the nine documents are fully editable and customizable! Order today and start preparing for your first game right now! This helped us be able to be prepared to attack the defense and put more points on the board. It also helped us be much more efficient and targeted on the weekends when we were game planning. 

When I was a defensive coordinator we adapted this to our defensive preparation! 

Here is a link to the defensive game planning documents. It includes 12 fully editable and customizable documents. https://sellfy.com/p/AY1u/ These are what we used to post 6 shutouts when I was a defensive coordinator. Defensive coordinators at all levels of football are using this. 

 Last year I got hooked up with CoachTube, and put together three courses for offensive football coaches. I put together two courses on RPO's, and a course on Building An Elite System of Communication. All of these courses will help you to score more points! 

https://coachtube.com/users/coachvint

All three of these courses are detailed, with everything you need to be more explosive and to score more points. 

The course on communication gives you a detailed approach to your gameday communication. I give you a system and a process to improve the quality of conversations, leading to improved play calling on game day. This course has received outstanding reviews from coaches at all level of football. A coach with multiple state titles told me this course helped them to be much more efficient and explosive this season. 

My two RPO courses take you through a systematic process of installing RPO's into your offensive system. RPO's put the defense in conflict, forcing them to defend all 53 yards of width and all 6 skill players every single play. I not only give you a system, but I teach you the methods to develop your own RPO concepts. 

https://coachtube.com/users/coachvint