Dum Coach Questions

Do you only conduct tackling drills one night per week (on the defense night)?

Yes.

And, what tackling drills do you use in practice?

There are two group tackling drills, one for sideways pursuit and one for head-on. The first is "mirror" where the defender must keep a sweeping ballcarrier from crossing the goal line by "meeting him". I don't know the name of the second but the tackler takes a runner on "head on" with the intent of causing a fumble (Not recommended for amateur coaches but we do it all the time and lead our league in forced fumbles as well as interceptions). Sometimes we'll run Oklahoma. Otherwise, we break into groups and train by position.

How do the tackling drills change as the season progresses?

They don't except we become more careful. We make certain we match up players of equal speed and size. If not, my boys will knock the snot out of each other.

How is the practice organized?

In the first ten minutes we practice lining up against various different formations. Since I coach four teams I bring over one of the teams practising offense and have them huddle, come to the line, and align in one of 10 different formations. Defense must find their men before the ball is snapped. There is no play or contact. After this, we run a team drill, like "mirror" for 20 minutes, then group drill for 20 minutes (drills for individual positions), then come back for a team drill of 20 minutes (Forcing fumbles) then back to group drill for another 20, then Oklahoma (or whatever) for 20. Then we'll do 10 minutes of punt/kick block and then 20 minutes of speed drills.

What are the specific drills/stations that the O-linemen go thru on O nights?

We start out with making them execute 12 perfect blocks to simulate a 12 play drive. If one kid fails to make a perfect block, it doesn't count for everyone and we do it again until they reach 12. It's our version of a sled drill. We then line up the offensive line on cones representing defenders (usually our next opponent's defense) and, while they catch their breath (12 perfect blocks is TIRING) they point to the cone they have on the play call or sometimes, if they're older, we make them walk out and touch it (The little ones like to pick up the cones and then can't remember where to put them back).
Once they master this, we remove the cones, put in coaches with bags at the LBer positions and live defenders on the defensive line (But no DE's). A coach assumes the QB position while another coach in a LBer position holds up a flashcard with the play call for the offense to read (The defenders can't see it). The QB/coach calls the cadence, takes the snap, and then lays the ball down on the ground in front of the run hole called and then steps back and out of the way. We then count how many seconds it take the defense to get to the ball. If the defense gets to it in under four seconds, we find the culprit that missed his block, correct him, or switch him out for someone else who can get the job done. After twenty minutes the TE will change and we start over, pointing at cones and then running plays. After forty minutes we bring the line together with the receivers and backfield and run plays on air. Then scrimmage - which lasts until someone makes a mistake and then we're back to our groups again. We'll go another 20 minutes and scrimmage again for 20 or until someone makes a mistake. After that, they run speed drills. On nights we add a new play, we will donate ONE HOUR to just that one play. This is when we focus on technique versus execution.

Can you list in bullet form? (I have some of your detailed stuff already)

Being a "Dum" youth coach I don't know what bullet form is.