Featured courses
- How to Be an Influential Football Coach by Grant Young
- How Football Coaches Can Build A Game-Changing Special Teams Unit by Grant Young
- Master the Art of Quick Passing for High Completion Percentages by Keith Grabowski
- 3 SPO’s to Protect the Passing Game and create opportunities in space by Keith Grabowski
- The Art of Running the Corner Route- Coaches and Players Prespectives by CoachTube Staff
- Evolve your Defense with Quarter, Quarter Half to Stop RPO by Coach Grabowski
- 5 Core Offensive Priniciples for a Winning Football Formula by Keith Grabowski
- Win Downfield - Attacking Different Areas Deep with 3rd Level RPO by Coach Grabowski
- WAKE FOREST’S UNIQUE RPO GAME by Keith Grabowski
- Adjustments to Defeat the Tite Front by Keith Grabowski
- Attack Defenses with The Versatile Y-Cross Concept by Keith Grabowski
- Play Action is a Cheat Code! - 5 Play Action Concepts to Increase Your Expected Points by Keith Grabowski
- Question from Rutgers OC - What does your offense say about your coaching? by Keith Grabowski
- Gap Schemes vs. Tight Fronts, Play Action Shots and Misdirection by Coach Grabowski
- Setting up your young Qb for success by Keith Grabowski
- The Hot Gap plus 3 Gap Scheme RPO’s to Stress the Defense by Keith Grabowski
- Unlocking the True Potential of Your Special Teams Play by Keith Grabowski
- The Most Important Components of Air Raid by Keith Grabowski
- 4 Plays that Benefit from Bunch Formations by Keith Grabowski
- 3 Third Level RPOs for Explosive Plays by Keith Grabowski
- The Role of the Screen Game in Explosive Offense by Keith Grabowski
- The Chess Match: Win on the Perimeter (Part 1) by Coach Grabowski
- Unlocking the Power of Gap Manipulation to Limit Explosive Plays by Keith Grabowski
- TCU’s 3-3-5 and facing bigger personnel by Keith Grabowski
- Elevating Your Team: Strategies from Coach Matt Ruhle by Keith Grabowski
- 7 RPO’s for your playbook by Coach Keith
- Beyond Quarters - The Need For Additional Coverage Concepts by Keith Grabowski
- Top 10 College Football Players to Watch for in 2022 by Alec Burris
- Clemson vs. Syracuse Matchup of the Week by Keith Grabowski
- Sprint Out Passing: Move the Pocket for Success by Keith Grabowski
- How to Maximize Tackling Efficiency within Scheme by Keith Grabowski
- Offensive Drills of the Week by Keith Grabowski
- How a Stoplight Can Make Your Fly Sweep Takeoff by Keith Grabowski
- Keep your Drills Fresh and Your Skills Developing - Offense by Keith Grabowski
- Coach Kevin Kelley, Outside The Box by Keith Grabowski
- Want your defense to get off the field after third down? Sims and Creepers are the answer! by Keith Grabowski
- Create More Turnovers with Circuit Training & Win More Games! by Keith Grabowski
- Devastate the Defense with TE RPOs by Keith Grabowski
- Red Zone adjustments by Keith Grabowski
- CoachesClinic.com Featured Matchup: Cincinnati vs Indiana by Caleb Hopkins
- 3 NFL ZONE RUN PLAYS FROM WEEK 7 by Alex Kirby
- Sonny Dykes Teaches You How to Put Together an Offense by Coach Grabowski
- FIVE REASONS TO RUN THE 3-3 DEFENSE by Alex Kirby
- Getting Your Defense Ahead - 1st and 2nd down Pressures from Noah Joseph by John Grayson
- Chad Morris Teaches How To Builds an Offense by Coach Grabowski
- Get Your Offense a +1 With the QB Run Game by Coach Grabowski
- Are You Causing a 14 Point Turnaround...Against Your Team? by Coach Grabowski
- Learn How to Improve Your Offense with USC’s “Harrell Effect” by Coach Grabowski
- The Power of Influence - Rick Jones, Mizzou by Coach Grabowski
- Easy QB Runs to Drive Defenses Crazy by Ryan Eisenberger
- How many different ways can you make the defense cover everyone? by Ryan Eigenberger
- Win Passing Downs with Creepers and Sims by Coach Grabowski
- Always have a plan to play your best 11 by Keith Grabowski
- Dominate the Defense with Double Teams by Coach Grabowski
- Buffalo OC teaches his model for game planning by Keith Grabowski
- Put your 3 Deep Coverage in a Better Position with Zone Alert Rotations by Coach Grabowski
- 5 Keys to Using Trick Plays by Coach Grabowski
- Learn from 'Juggernaut' Offense by Keith Grabowski
- Bob Wylie - Offensive Line Breakdowns by Coach Grabowski
- Utilizing the Hybrid Linebacker to take away Offensive Advantages by Coach Grabowski
- Always have a plan to play your best 11 by Keith Grabowski
- Coachesclinic.com Featured Matchup: #6 Oklahoma vs #21 Texas by Caleb Hopkins
- Easy for You - Difficult for Them Adjustments by Keith Grabowski
- Coachesclinic.com Featured Matchup: Davidson College vs Presbyterian by Caleb Hopkins
- Week 5 National High School Football Rankings by Keith Grabowski
- Protecting Aaron Rodgers (and your own QB) by Caleb Hopkins
- Defensive Drills of the Week by Keith Grabowski
- Woo Pig - Add a wrinkle with these Arkansas Downhill Run Variations by Keith Grabowski
- Coachesclinic.com Featured Matchup: #7 Cincinnati vs #9 Notre Dame by Caleb Hopkins
- Offensive Drills of the Week by Keith Grabowski
- Coach Jason McEndoo Teaches #12 Oklahoma State’s Top Running Play by Keith Grabowski
- Adjustments - Attach Screens to your best plays, defend star receivers, & movement to stop the run by Keith Grabowski
- Coachesclinic.com Featured Matchup: Army vs #16 Wake Forest by Caleb Hopkins
- How To Implement A Running-Back-By-Committee Scheme by Brandon Ogle
- How To Become The Most Feared Offensive Lineman In Your League by Chrisian Benavides
- Wylie, McNally and Alexander Key Coaching Points on the Wide Zone Play by Keith Grabowski
- #21 Coastal Carolina’s play that is a whole offense within itself by Keith Grabowski
- 4 Plays that Benefit from Bunch Formations by Keith Grabowski
- Best Mesh Concept Plays by Ron McKie
- Forming Families For Football by Darryl Page
- Top 5 Things Coaches Should Strive To Get Out Of Spring Camp by Darryl Page
- 10 Tips To Know Before Attending Football Camps by James Breland
- Offensive Line Drills by Rick Bouch
- You’re a captain, now what? 5 Tips to bring your team together and establish yourself as a true leader by Lester Crafton
- COACHING THE 4-2-5 DEFENSE VS SPREAD TEAMS by Alex Kirby
- Gifts From Grinch by Coach Grabowski
- A Package to Help You Win Mid to Late Season by Coach Grabowski
- The Future of American Football: How to Run the Spread Offense by Coach Scott
- Chris Ash teaches Longhorn Tackling by Coach Grabowski
- The misunderstood Yet Powerful Run Scheme - Duo by Coach Keith
- THE GUS MALZAHN QUARTERBACK COUNTER PLAY by Alex Kirby
- FIVE TIPS FROM GUS MALZAHN ON HOW TO BUILD YOUR PLAYBOOK by Alex Kirby
- LITTLEST KID ON THE FIELD TRUCKS LINEMAN – YOU CAN’T MAKE THIS STUFF UP by Jacob
- HOW TO MAXIMIZE YOUR OFFSEASON FOOTBALL TRAINING by Dominic
- BAD CALL, GREAT COACH: THIS IS WHY PLAYERS LOVE PETE CARROLL by Jacob
- How to Get Recruited for Collegiate Sports by Brandon Ogle
- How Offensive Coaches Win with Pre-Snap Movements by Trevor Strong
- HOW VAN HALEN AND CHIP KELLY CAN MAKE YOU A BETTER COACH by Alex Kirby
- FIVE REASONS TO RUN THE JET SWEEP by Alex Kirby
- THIS GUY’S DESIGNS ARE MAKING NFL HELMETS LOOK LIKE RELICS by Jacob
HOW VAN HALEN AND CHIP KELLY CAN MAKE YOU A BETTER COACH
- By Alex Kirby
As coaches, we’re problem solvers. When one problem goes away, there always seems to be a new challenge right around the corner.
Speaking of which, one of the biggest problems in sports right now is keeping players focused on what you’re trying to teach them.
Whether you’re installing the 2 Back Inside Zone, or just going over the mechanics of the quarterback mesh in the run game, player attention spans are at an all time low. No young person can leave the house without being plugged into something and keeping their minds constantly occupied.
(Speaking of which, there’s a good chance you’re reading this on your phone while you’re supposed to be paying attention to something else)
This problem won’t be going away anytime soon, so how do you compete with all these distractions?
You’ve gotta be creative.
Creative people can seem odd, because, well, they are. You don’t get something different by trying the same thing over and over again. So it’s no surprise that what often looks random or chaotic is actually well thought out and serves a real purpose.
Don’t believe me? How about an example?
Brown M&M’s
During their heyday, the band Van Halen got a reputation for having some, let’s say “weird” demands in their rider. The most famous example had to do with a certain flavor of M&M’s:
Buried amongst dozens of points in Van Halen’s rider was an odd stipulation that there were to be no brown M&M’s candies in the backstage area. If any brown M&M’s were found backstage, the band could cancel the entire concert at the full expense of the promoter. That meant that because of a single candy, a promoter could lose millions.
This story has been told a million times already by now, but you may not know the other half of it. As it turns out, there was a method to the madness:
In now-departed arenas such as Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens, the original Boston Garden and Chicago Stadium, Van Halen was loading in massive amounts of staging, sound equipment and lighting. Unfortunately, these buildings were never built to accommodate a rock band of Van Halen’s scope. Without specific guidelines, old floors could buckle and collapse, beams could rupture, and the lives of the band, their crew and fans could be at serious risk.
To ensure the promoter had read every single word in the contract, the band created the “no brown M&M’s” clause” clause. It was a canary in a coalmine to indicate that the promoter may have not paid attention to other more important parts of the rider, and that there could be other bigger problems at hand.
Van Halen came up with a very creative solution to a problem they’d no doubt faced over and over again, a lack of focus and attention by the promoters and others they dealt with.
If they got to their dressing room and found brown M&M’s, they knew there were a lot bigger safety issues that needed to be taken care of.
As it turns out, 49ers Head Coach Chip Kelly had a similar system in place all the way back during his time in New Hampshire:
On Mondays, Kelly distributed comprehensive scouting reports, so detailed some players were tempted to gloss over certain pages – at their own risk. In those scouting reports, Kelly inserted paragraphs that read along the lines of, “When you get this, see coach Kelly and say the word elephant.”ephant.”
What’s the message here? Trust, but verify.
There’s a good chance your players may not understand right away the importance of what you’re trying to do, but you’ve got to show that you and the rest of the coaches believe in what you’re doing.
Chip Kelly said it best:
“I’m not governed by the fear of what other people say. You have to have belief and conviction in what you’re doing.”
You can’t be with your kids all the time, and as soon as they walk off the practice field, out of the locker room and back into the real world, they’ve got a million other things competing for their attention. They may truly love football and want to do what you tell them to do, but it never hurts to give them a little more incentive.
Your success as a team depends on your ability to get your players to focus on what you’re trying to teach, and retain it. You can’t do that if they’re not paying attention to the scouting report each week and not preparing like they’re supposed to.
Be creative. Find ways to integrate this type of thinking into what you’re already doing, and you should start to see some immediate results.
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