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OT: Youth Head Coach.

Kn[]_[]ckles3o5 said:
At that age passing the ball should be used to attack a specific weakness or bad habit a player or scheme is showing. Set teams up for a pass off of some bread and butter run looks. You should be under center >90% of the time, which means you are asking a 9/10 yr old to drop, set, and hit moving targets accurately.

From my experience I find it hard to believe you could throw the ball with any real consistency at that age. If you go to the gun I'm just going to destroy your center every snap and the ball will be on the ground shortly. Unless you have a very teachable, talented kid throwing the ball you are going to throw away a lot of possessions and maybe even games trying to pitch it around the yard.

If you have a high level of execution in a good run based system you should be able to scheme up a handful of plays a game that will get your receiver(s) wide *** open and get your QB a simple read and throw for a big gain. Beyond that I think the passing game at that age is fool's gold.
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If He was coaching 7-8 I might agree, but a properly coached passing attack would do damage at 9-10...I'm talking hitches, hitch & go's, slants, curl routes, & maybe even posts.

Offense is rote, you don't need Super Duper Future Olympians to play offense.

Kids can learn the same things adults can learn, just not as much.
 
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JerseyCanes said:
LOL .. thats a 'um' tough area to get alot of kids interested thats not playing soccer.. I had a State Basketball game (Referee)there about 2 years ago after never hearing of the place.. Good luck

JC
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They have a lot of football talent here, they were going to other townships to play football, long story short the parents liked me from coaching the defense last season, a lot of the parents of the “better” kids agreed that if I’m head coach then they’d bring their kids....then boom.
 
Kn[]_[]ckles3o5 said:
At that age passing the ball should be used to attack a specific weakness or bad habit a player or scheme is showing. Set teams up for a pass off of some bread and butter run looks. You should be under center >90% of the time, which means you are asking a 9/10 yr old to drop, set, and hit moving targets accurately.

From my experience I find it hard to believe you could throw the ball with any real consistency at that age. If you go to the gun I'm just going to destroy your center every snap and the ball will be on the ground shortly. Unless you have a very teachable, talented kid throwing the ball you are going to throw away a lot of possessions and maybe even games trying to pitch it around the yard.

If you have a high level of execution in a good run based system you should be able to scheme up a handful of plays a game that will get your receiver(s) wide *** open and get your QB a simple read and throw for a big gain. Beyond that I think the passing game at that age is fool's gold.
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I’m basically running the wishbone and wing T out of the pistol, so yes most of my focus will be on running, like 90%, but I will have precisely designed pass plays to counter.
 
Bud, these are 4/5 graders, fundamentals, FUN, fundamentals, FUN, fundamentals,FUN. That said, line them up, evaluate and figure out where y’all at and where y’all wanna be. Know what ya know, Read, study great coaches, good /bad.Good coaches are neutral. If you have a vested interest,GOTTA BE NEUTRAL. Have fun, BE BEST😁
 
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Hurricane23 said:
So I just got voted to be the head coach of a 9-10 year youth football team here in New jersey. Being from south Florida you see that football is different here, but I want to bring the south Florida style of play here, fast, aggressive, relentless, attacking. I am going to use some of our own tatics ( Coach Manny's approach). This is my first time being a head coach, last year I ran the defense, and our defense was top in our league. If anyone have any suggestions that they think would help me please feel free to indulge. Wish me the best guys!
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Depends on type of league. In house, select, weight limited? You can run anywhere between Wide Tackle 6, 5-3, or 4-4 stack depending on your talent. I had success running 4-4 stack with select teams. On offense, you can run Single Wing, Double Wing, Wing T. I even ran modified flexbone. I primarily ran single wing, pistol though. Good luck. Remember the kids are terrific. Some of the parents are insane. Remember, if you do nothing more than teach tell them how to properly block and tackle you've done a great job and these kids a real service.
 
If you can coach up your team to use motions and not get sloppy or penalized for it... 9-10 year olds aren’t stopping it they get distracted too easy.
 
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Hurricane23 said:
So I just got voted to be the head coach of a 9-10 year youth football team here in New jersey. Being from south Florida you see that football is different here, but I want to bring the south Florida style of play here, fast, aggressive, relentless, attacking. I am going to use some of our own tatics ( Coach Manny's approach). This is my first time being a head coach, last year I ran the defense, and our defense was top in our league. If anyone have any suggestions that they think would help me please feel free to indulge. Wish me the best guys!
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Makes sure the kids have fun!!! Have drills where they're moving. I hate seeing all those kids standing around in the background
 
Avoid the “my kid plays this position “ parents. At that age it’s about learning the game and the role all 11 players contribute to team success. Also. If a kid gets in trouble at school up down the s**t out of him and make the team do extra gassers. Teach kids early about being accountable for the people depending on you.
 
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Luke Caneswalker said:
Avoid the “my kid plays this position “ parents. At that age it’s about learning the game and the role all 11 players contribute to team success. Also. If a kid gets in trouble at school up down the s**t out of him and make the team do extra gassers. Teach kids early about being accountable for the people depending on you.
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Yes I had a mom tell me her son is 10 and he's only allowed to pitch. She said I have perfected his swing so don't worry about that. Real tears a female told me she knows more about baseball which can be possible but **** mom. Lucky she is fine.
 
CaneSince4Ever said:
If He was coaching 7-8 I might agree, but a properly coached passing attack would do damage at 9-10...I'm talking hitches, hitch & go's, slants, curl routes, & maybe even posts.

Offense is rote, you don't need Super Duper Future Olympians to play offense.

Kids can learn the same things adults can learn, just not as much.
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Good luck with that, brother.

Any team that ever attempted to pass on my defenses caught some embarrassing shutout Ls

Even teams that pass down here at the youth level aren't running much. 9s and slants. FTL Hurricanes would run some mesh. And at 10u? Nah.

Youth football offense...big proponent of old school, basic offenses. The BONE all day. Get the ball into the hands of your athletes and let everyone else do their job (block). If you want big plays, get some trickeration in there. If you don't have the athletes, shorten the game, keep it close.
 
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Good stuff. I've coached 4-5 grade aau ball for the past few years now.

My only advice is show passion but never lose control. I love to win as much as the next guy and I'm not a good loser, but you have to lie to the kids sometimes and tell them losing sucks bad but it's not the end of the world (it surely is).

The kids have taught me how to let my mourning be short lived (a few seconds) because at that age the competitive kids are taking it alot harder than you. Don't get me wrong, we win... Alot... But that's not the point lol.

Have a good time, cause that's what it's all about.
 
BoxingRobes said:
Good luck with that, brother.

Any team that ever attempted to pass on my defenses caught some embarrassing shutout Ls

Even teams that pass down here at the youth level aren't running much. 9s and slants. FTL Hurricanes would run some mesh. And at 10u? Nah.

Youth football offense...big proponent of old school, basic offenses. The BONE all day. Get the ball into the hands of your athletes and let everyone else do their job (block). If you want big plays, get some trickeration in there. If you don't have the athletes, shorten the game, keep it close.
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Conversely, most of the bone type offenses I coached against caught L's...the only vintage offense that gave me some fits was a Maryland/Triple-I.

Trust me Bro, I speak from experience, kids can pass at that age, 9's & slants is child play to me.
 
-Incessant up-downs, monkey rolls and bear crawls.

-Withhold water as a punishment.

-Single out your weakest links to go against your biggest players in Oklahoma drills.

-Step on your players stomachs during leg raises.

-Whip you players in the *** with your whistle during the previously mentioned bear crawls.

-After 48-0 wins still punish your team because you said "I want ZERO 1st downs given up."


If you need any addl tips I can see if any of the Vietnam War vets/raging alcoholics that coached me at that age are still alive and coherent.
 
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