The Football Coaching Podcast With Joe Daniel

Are you getting all you can out of your practice time? Practices need to be geared toward winning football games. Not looking at your practices that way? You're leaving something on the field.  Listen to Episode 125 to find out... How to plan a practice with a purpose What drills you should be using and what drills you don't need How to progress your players through a practice to learn a skill set they need for the next game (or needed last game!) How to create a competitive atmosphere while still accomplishing game planning goals How to know if you should install a new play or leave it out And you'll learn about the latest Live Web Clinic from Joe Daniel Football!  Questions & Answers What coverage should we use on the Goal Line with our 4-2-5 Defense? Do you use a 6-Technique Strong End or a 30 technique Will Linebacker in your 4-3 Defense? Show Links To sign up for the May 19, 2015 Web Clinic, 15 Critical Keys To Planning Perfect Practices For Your Football Team Every Week This Season, visit http:

Coach Rob Patterson sat in with me for The Football Coaching Podcast in this episode. He's currently the JV Coach for Southern Lee High School in Sanford, NC.  Coach Patterson has been on a path a lot of coaches want to know how to follow. He started coaching youth football when his son was playing. And he fell in love with it. After many years of coaching, he's moved to the Middle School and now High School coaching ranks. And he's winning. Rob is a Joe Daniel Football Insider member as well as a member of the 4-3 Defense eCourse. His youth team won their Pop Warner championship. He took his defense to the Middle School level and allowed just 8 ppg.  Currently, he is coaching with the Junior Varsity at Southern Lee and also working in the box and as Quality Control for the Linebackers on the Varsity.  Special Bonus: How To Build A Whiteboard, or... Why I Cannot Drive My Truck Right Now.

Episode 123 of The Football Coaching Podcast is the start of something new. This is our first Success Stories interview with members of Joe Daniel Football.  Coach Donnie McDonough returned to his alma mater after college, and took over as the head coach at Western Wayne High School in 2013.  After a rocky start, the team finished 6-4 in 2014. Their first winning season, and first playoff appearance, in 20 years.  Coach McDonough is a member of The 4-3 Defense eCourse, and a Joe Daniel Football Insiders member.  Hear how his football team made the turnaround in this episode!

Earlier in the week I wrote an article about the true nature of the 4-3 Defense. The way I see it, anyway.  The 4-3 Defense has certain rules. A few years ago I wrote about the 8 Laws of The 4-3 Defense. Block down, step down. Spill the football.  7 Man Front. Mike Linebacker has to be a 2-gap player.  I know a lot of people don't see the 4-3 Defense this way. That's OK for them. For me, the Miami 4-3 Defense as it was designed by Jimmy Johnson and his staff at The "U" is where it's at.  And it is still one of the best defenses in football. So sit back and listen to How To Coach The 4-3 Defense! Show Links My interview with Shap Boyd on Quarters Coverage (includes the link for his video, assuming it's still available) Download my Defensive Installation Manual Want to learn more about the 4-3 Defense? Check out my eBook, Installing Football's 4-3 Over Defensive Front.

There's more to getting ready for a football season than printing out a pretty playbook. Your football team has to execute fundamentals if they're going to win. That means you need to have your drills ready. And this week, we're looking at how to build your defensive drill package for the upcoming season.  Follow this 5 step process to decide how you're going to put your drills together. And know that your package will be a forever growing and changing entity.  If you are going to follow these steps, you need to get Step 1 nailed down first. And that means you need the Defensive Installation Manual. 

I get a lot of emails asking about the Install Schedule. There's more to it than that.  While most of my eCourses give an in-depth look at the install schedule for the scheme, there's a key. Those courses include why you install each piece. That is why I'm not real excited to email you a spreadsheet of our install schedule. It changes every year.  So check out episode 120 of The Football Coaching Podcast to see the 4 questions you need to ask when setting up your install schedule.  I look at this specifically from the standpoint of Spring Practice, because it is April here as I record the podcast. But you should apply the same logic in the Fall as well. One last note. I just moved into a new office with it's own little studio. I recorded this without thinking - I knew there'd be an echo, just not how bad it would be. I'll hang up some blankets and put a couple books on the shelf before the next episode. But I thought this episode was too good from a content standpoint to just throw out (they're never as good

Our coaching staff is considering a two platoon system for the 2015 season. That's not unusual, since it comes up every year. We just may be closer to it this season. It's time to look over the pro's and con's of the two platoon system in Episode 119 of The Football Coaching Podcast.. On the surface most coaches view the concept as being either "The Solution" or a complete impossibility. We have to dig deeper before we make the decision one way or another. Here's the hardest part. Once you make the decision you have to stick to your guns. You'll be tempted to play a lot of guys both ways. Two Platooning only the kids who are not good enough to start, however, won't change much. And then you have to be ready to play kids both ways when it's absolutely necessary, or the right decision for your football team. See the fine line? I'd love to hear your experiences with coaching a Two Platoon football team at the High School level. Post it in the comments! Show Notes The Football Coaching Podcast, Episode 80 - there

It's been used as a dirty word. A "system" guy.  Quarterbacks lose draft position. Coaches get dismissed as being uncreative or unoriginal.  They're probably not too upset. After all, you don't get labeled as a "system" guy until you start winning football games.  I've just released my video series this week on The Pistol Power Offense System. You can check out the first free video here: http://joedanielfootball.com/pistolpower As I was putting it together, I thought about what it means to run a "system".  It means you believe it what you do. You have a playbook, not a stack of plays.  You know how you want the job done. Your players learn exactly what the job is. They gain confidence. They play faster.  System coaches win more games.  And you don't have to BUY a system. You can systematize your own offense. You SHOULD.  Socheck out The Football Coaching Podcast Episode 118 to find out how you can turn your football offense into a SYSTEM. 

Tons of new stuff on this episode of The Football Coaching Podcast. Among those, this is the first episode coming from directly from Joe Daniel Football.  I'll announce some of the changes that are taking place and explain - for the first time - why I made the switch from three sites down to just one. And some of the behind the scenes that made this change so... errr, exciting. Ranting? Yes there is a rant or two. Specifically, what not to ask when you have the chance to meet an offensive guru. Or any genius, for that matter.  And finally, I'll dive into the mailbag for a few questions: What do you think about the Hawk Tackle (rugby style) of Pete Carroll versus the USA Football tackling style? How do you coach press man technique for defensive backs? All that is this week on The Football Coaching Podcast!

Back to the mailbag! Well actually, the voicemail bag. I’ll be answering a couple questions that came in from our voicemail line – the best way to get your questions answered on the podcast. First, we’ll look at how to coach the hand-off for the Zone Read, and also for the Power Read or Inverted […]

  We’re back this week with MORE of your questions on Coaching Football’s 4-2-5 Defense! This all surrounds the release of 3 free 4-2-5 Defense videos I’ve put out this past week – and are available for a very limited time (like, if you’re reading this a couple weeks later, they’re gone). You can get […]

This week is devoted to answering your questions on coaching football’s 4-2-5 Defense. With thousands of copies of my Coaching Football’s 4-2-5 Defense eBook sold, I’m kind of a self-made expert in the thing. Not to mention that in 2014 we had 107 coaching staffs join up with the 4-2-5 Defense eCourse. In total, there […]

I’ll keep this really short. This podcast is all about one thing… The 10 Best Football Coaching Books I’ve Ever Read I make no claims that these are the best ever. I’m open to suggestions. So put those in the comments! Listen to Episode 113 here… These are my favorite Football Coaching Books. They have influenced […]

We’re continuing on with our off-season in preparation for the 2015 Football Season. Yeah it’s early, but time’s wasting away! Today it’s time to talk about your offense. Do you have the right scheme or is it time for a change? The answer isn’t always easy. I’m not a big advocate of constantly changing your […]

This is the short, short Thanksgiving version of a post! I’m only putting this up so that the audio gets into the ear buds and iPhones of you guys that are travelling this weekend. Happy Thanksgiving! Want to hear your question on The Football Coaching Podcast? Click the “Send Voicemail” tab on the right and […]

One season ends and almost immediately, another one begins. Hopefully you took my advice in the last episode and took a little break. Feel rested now? Great! Get back to work! It’s time to evaluate the season. What went good, what went bad. In this episode we’re looking at 4 areas of your football program […]

So the season is coming to a close… ours is over. You feel a certain emptiness. And a certain freedom. Is that free time? Nah, can’t be! Look, don’t jump right back into football mode. Take an off-season. Even if it’s only for a few days. Coaches, we need to unwind. We need to step […]

Most of our seasons are winding down. It either ends unceremoniously at the end of the regular season, or better yet – in the playoffs. Even better, you’re holding a big trophy. But in any of those scenarios, it still could be time to move on. This is a tough time of year for some […]

The Football Coaching Podcast is back with Episode 107. The season is winding down, but we’re still working. Today’s focus is on the Game Day coaching jobs. What are all those guy wearing khakis on the sidelines actually doing? More importantly, what are they supposed to be doing! It’s not uncommon to have a few […]

This one just had to get out. My recordings have gone to crap on my computer, and after a long bout of fiddling with it, I just recorded. If the sound quality is unacceptable… well, I apologize. In this episode, we’re hitting up the listener feedback questions… Question  & Answer Tips for running the Muddle […]