Take Care of the Ball!

 I watched a couple of scrimmages this weekend and one thing that stuck out was how many fumbles I saw. I saw teams putting the ball on the ground far too often. If you want to win more games, start by not turning the ball over. John Heisman had a quote that resonated with me about fumbling. It might sound harsh, but it is also very true. 

A young OC reached out to me to look at their offense after the 2021 season and figure out how to make improvements. He wanted to talk about their scheme, but the real issue was that they turned the ball over too often. They lost 21 fumbles in 11 games. 10 of those were in the red zone. They fumbled 31 times and lost 21 of them. I asked what they were doing to coach ball security. He said they "talk about it" all the time. Talking about it resulted in 21 giveaways. Let's find a better way. 

My dad is a retired coach, and he used to tell me all the time that talking isn't coaching. You can talk about things all day long. What are you doing to coach the skill? Scheme wasn't their issue. Their issue was making a commitment to coaching the details. We started by focusing on taking care of the football. 

We put a plan in place to teach ball security. First, we defined ball security. You must define ball security for your coaches and your players. If they don't know the definition, they don't know what ball security is. Our definition is "Wrist about the Elbow, Elbow tight to the body, ball glued to the chest." We show them pictures of good ball security and bad ball security. Then we have them hold a football properly and coach them through this in a stationary position. 

Second, we have a coaching cue. This is a two or three word phrase that communicates the definition. We used "Chin the ball." Chin the ball reminds them that the wrist is above the elbow, the elbow is tight to the body, and the ball is glued to the chest. 

Third, we establish that ball security is everyone's responsibility. Every single coach is responsible for coaching ball security. Every single rep someone carries a football, whether it is during a drill, during a play, or returning the ball to the coach after a drill, we are going to chin the ball. Every single coach is going to remind the player to chin the ball. If you are picking up balls on the sideline to put them in the bag, you will chin the ball. 

Fourth, we will hold you accountable for your ball security. If you let your wrist drop below the elbow, or you let your elbow come out from the body, you will be held accountable. We are going to give you a reminder every single time. We will not take a rep off from coaching ball security. Ever. The standard is the standard. Chin the ball is our standard. "Chin The Ball" is our ball security standard. 

If you let people deviate from the standard without accountability, then your standard isn't the standard. It is a suggestion. 

As coaches, we understand what the common mistakes are with ball security. These are things that we are going to look for. Guys will let the wrist drop below the elbow. This pulls the football away from the chest. They will let the elbow separate from the body, this will leave a window for a defender to knock the ball lose. 

Listen, holding guys accountable is going to mean uncomfortable conversations. It means you are willing to call someone out for not meeting the standard. Sometimes we have guys that don't like to be called out. You have to establish that it is because you care that you are willing to hold them to a standard. You must establish that you will not change the standard to massage their feelings. The football is too valuable. It's all about the ball. You can't score without the ball.

In addition to emphasizing the coaching points and holding guys accountable, we put in place a ball security circuit. We had a series of drills to practice ball security. All offensive skill players went through this circuit two days a week during the season. It consisted of six drills. We would do 3 drills a day. This was in addition to every single coach emphasizing the ball security standard. 

Fumbles are a choice. If fumbles are a choice, then you need to choose to do everything you can to take care of the football. You need to establish with your team that lazy ball security will not be accepted, tolerated, or allowed. 

When this young OC put this plan into place last fall, they cut their fumbles down to 8 in 13 games. They increased their points per game by 14. They didn't add new scheme. They didn't have a move-in with P5 offers. They made a decision to coach ball security, and hold guys accountable to their ball security standard. Because they didn't fumble the ball away, they scored more points. 

If you want to see more on ball security, including the drills, I put a YouTube video together. 

What do you do when a guy fumbles in a game? Do you bench him? Do you not give him the ball? Each case is different. You have to know what is best for your team and that player at that moment. Is he a guy that is lazy in practice with ball security? If he is lazy with ball security in practice and you have allowed this, then why are you surprised he is lazy in the game? That's not a him problem, that's a coach problem. 

In most cases, our guys felt horrible about fumbling. I didn't need to beat them up. I needed to build them up. I needed to get them back on the field and put the ball in their hand. It is the same thing with drops. Coach them up, build them up, and get them back on the field. If you hold guys accountable in practice, you won't have to try to hold them accountable in games for things they should have been accountable for before the game. 

I wish you the best as you prepare for the season. Taking care of the football takes zero talent. It takes zero talent from players, and zero talent from coaches. 

Want To Be Better Prepared For Success? 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. 

And finally, I put together a special teams resource. This has everything you need, included drill tape, practice tape, and game footage. It includes teaching presentations and scouting forms just for special teams! https://sellfy.com/p/tJwz/ This helped us to build dominating special teams! 

I wanted these to be available at a very reasonable cost. These can help you to be more successful on the field and more efficient in the office! 

A while back 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

Installing Post-Snap RPO's

Installing Pre-Snap RPO's To Get Your Skill Guys More Touches

Building An Elite System of Gameday Communication

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. 

Books

I published a couple of iBooks that can help your program with X's and O's. The first is on Installing RPO's into any offense. Here is a link to the iBooks version: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1078061959. The ibooks version includes explanations, diagrams, and video clips on multiple RPO Concepts. It will give you a simple process for implementing them into your offense.

If you don't have an apple device, you can order the paperback version! It is available on Amazon! 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1520447485

I also wrote a book on Tempo. It will greatly help you build a multiple tempo system with simple communication that will allow your kids to play with confidence. It also had over an hour of video clips! You can order the ibooks version here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1075902270.

Order the Amazon Kindle version here:

http://www.amazon.com/Using-Multiple-Tempos-Create-Explosive-ebook/dp/B01ATOL46A/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

New Book

Over the last several months, I have stepped out of my comfort zone and wrote a new book about faith and purpose. The book is available as a paperback on Amazon, and as an eBook for the Kindle App. The cool thing about the Kindle app is that you can read the book on any device. I invite you to read it, and discover the power you receive when you make a decision to walk with the Lord. Here is a link to the book: Finding Faith

Since publishing the book, I have received numerous texts, calls, and emails, from people who are going through similar trials and tribulations. They were feeling many of the same things I was feeling. The found comfort in the book. They also found they had a desire to change and to live better. They wanted more joy. 

I would invite you to read the book and discover the possibilities that God has planned for your life.