Coaching library
Youth & High School coaching
Technique breakdowns, teaching progressions, and film-room fixes for youth & high school coaches — written by position specialists on the Your Last Scout staff.
Special Teams Coaching: Fix Your Punt Snap Before It Costs You a Game
My grandmother ran a bakery on Rodman Street. Every morning she had one rule before you touched anything fancy: get the dough right first. Croissants don't…
Coach FerreiraHigh School ST Coordinator
Running Back Technique: Teaching the One-Cut and Go
Every spring I watch the same film clip in my head. A talented back — good feet, good burst — takes a handoff, drifts two steps left, one step right, dances…
Coach GainesHigh School RB Coach
OL Coaching: Why Your Linemen Keep Getting Driven Back
Every offensive line coach has seen it. Friday night, first series, your center fires out on a down block — and six seconds later he's three yards in the…
Coach NovakHigh School OL Coach
WR Technique: Teaching the Stalk Block Before It Costs You a TD
Every fall I watch the same play die the same death.
Coach PenaHigh School WR Coach
Youth Football Coaching: Teaching Kids to Tackle Without Leading with the Head
Here in Fresno, August practice means 98 degrees by 4 p.m. and kids who have been running around all summer and think they already know how to tackle because…
Coach ReyesYouth Head Coach
Defensive Alignment: Teach the Rule, Not the Play
There's a diner on Erie Boulevard that stays open until two in the morning, and every Friday night after a game, half our staff ends up in a corner booth…
Coach RourkeHigh School DC
Play-Action Passing: Teach the Fake Before the Throw
Here's something I see on film almost every week, and I saw it in my own offense the first year I called plays: the quarterback takes a snap, makes a vague…
Coach MatsudaHigh School OC
Youth Football Coaching: Why Your Snap Count Is Losing You Yards Before the Ball Moves
Every Saturday I watch youth offenses line up, get set, and then completely unravel before the center even touches the ball. A guard flinches early. The…
Coach KimYouth Offensive Coordinator
DB Coaching: How to Fix Press Coverage Before It Breaks You
There's a moment every defensive backs coach knows. Friday night, third-and-six, your corner is in press, the receiver takes one step inside and your guy…
Coach MorelandHigh School DB Coach
Special Teams Coaching: Stop Treating Punt Coverage Like an Afterthought
It's the Tuesday before our homecoming game, and I've got maybe 40 minutes of practice time budgeted for special teams across the whole week. Sound familiar?
Coach SullivanHigh School Coach
D-Line Technique: Teaching Get-Off Before Pass-Rush Moves
Every August, I watch the same thing happen on practice fields from here to the Mississippi. A coach gets excited about pass rush. He's been watching film all…
Coach AkinsHigh School DL Coach
QB Coaching: Teach the Read, Not the Route
There's a moment on film I've seen a hundred times. Your quarterback drops back, the coverage is exactly what you drew up, the window is open — and he stares…
Coach LindellHigh School QB Coach
Youth Football Coaching: Teach Pursuit Angles Before You Teach Anything Else
Every fall, I watch the same touchdown scored about a hundred different ways. The ball breaks the line of scrimmage. Every kid on defense turns and runs. The…
Coach BarnesYouth Defensive Coordinator
Play-Action Passing: Why Most High School Teams Waste It
Here is a truth I have to write on the board every fall, the same way I write a learning objective at the start of first period:
Coach MatsudaHigh School OC
WR Technique: Teaching the Release Before the Route
Every fall I watch film of our opponents' corners and I see the same thing: a high school receiver who runs a textbook curl at twelve yards, plants clean,…
Coach PenaHigh School WR Coach
Youth Football Coaching: Teaching the Snap Before Anything Else
Every fall I watch youth football drives end the same way. Not on a fourth-down stop. Not on a good blitz. The drive dies on play one when the snap rolls two…
Coach KimYouth Offensive Coordinator
Punt Coverage: Why Your Gunners Are Getting Blocked Every Week
Every week at some point in this game, a coach somewhere watches his punt returner get housed on the sideline after a 40-yard return and immediately blames the…
Coach SullivanHigh School Coach
High School Football Coaching: Gunner Technique on Punt Coverage
Every Friday night, somebody loses field position because their punt coverage broke down. Not because the punter shanked it. Not because the return man is a…
Coach SullivanHigh School Coach
How to Tackle Safely: A Youth Football Tackling Progression
Teaching kids how to tackle is the most important job I have as a youth coach — and the one with the least room for shortcuts. Safe tackling isn't softer…
Coach ReyesYouth Head Coach
Youth Football Coaching: Teaching the Reach Block the Right Way
There's a play in almost every youth team's playbook — outside zone, toss sweep, a simple sweep to the boundary — that lives or dies on one block most coaches…
Coach ReyesYouth Head CoachYouth Football Coaching: Why 'Get Low' Breaks Linemen (And What to Say Instead)
Walk any youth football sideline on a Saturday morning and you'll hear it on nearly every snap: "Get low! Stay low! You gotta get lower!"
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