Slot Receiver Training: Techniques and Skills

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Coach Eric Van Tassel is considered one the most complete receiver coaches in the country. During his professional playing career Van Tassel had workouts with the San Diego Chargers of the NFL, Toronto Argonauts of the CFL and was invited to the inaugural NFL Europe Combine. In 1989 and 1990 he played in a professional developmental league called the Minor League Football System where he set records for the longest T.D. reception (77 yds.) and highest average per catch (20.3) and was the offensive most valuable player in the 1989 MLFS Championship Game. Van Tassel finished his career playing and coaching for the Wolfsburg Blue Wings in the German Professional League in Europe.

Van Tassel began his coaching career at Oceanside High School in 1991 and spent 6 seasons as their Receiver Coach where he worked with several players that earned All-Conference honors. Two of those players are still in the top twelve in receiving in the C.I.F. record book. Van Tassel went on to coach receivers at Fort Lewis college in 1996 and 1997 where he helped produce three All-Conference players, one of which was a Harlon Hill Trophy candidate, the division II equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.In 2000 Coach Van Tassel was hired to coach receivers for the Los Angeles Dragons of the newly formed professional league the SFL (Spring Football League). They played their games in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It was here that he coached with former NFL players Doug Cosby, Keith Millard, and Guy McIntyre and learned the nuances of the West Coast Offense.

In 2002 Van Tassel coached receivers for the San Diego Riptide Arena 2 football team where, in their inaugural season, he helped the Riptide advance to the league quarter-finals in the play-offs. In 2003 and 2004 Van Tassel coached receivers at Palomar Junior College where, in his first season, he had three All-Conference receivers and helped Palomar finish the season with a top ten national ranking.In 2007 he was named the Receivers Coach/Assistant Offensive Coordinator for the expansion San Diego Shockwave of the National Indoor Football League. Van Tassel helped the Shockwave to finish first in the Western Conference and Pacific Division with a 10-1 record. Later in that year he was named the Head Coach of a franchise in the United Indoor Football League.