Tools of the Trade: Sprint Out Pass Protection

Hey, Coaches, back again to wrap up my discussion on pass protection.

I could go through screens and other parts of the passing game, but I just wanted to go through the basic pass protections that I used the majority of the time in a game.

To finish things up, I am going to discuss how I coach Sprint Out protection. I will be talking about the reach type of sprint out protection, not turn back. I have never ran or coached turn back protection, but my initial view on it is that it requires a solid RB to seal the end and it leaves up the possibility of a LB flowing over top of the blocking and getting in your QB's face. I know people run it and run it effectively, but I am just not familiar with it enough to talk about it specifically.

The goal with my Sprint Out protections is to seal off the play side and give the QB a lane to run outside and look to either pass or run with it. Yes, there may be a few chasers from behind, but that is why the QB is taught to continue to run as he throws or just tuck it in and run with the ball. I would rather has someone having to work from the backside to get the QB, then a play side LB has a clean shot at him as he is sprinting out.

I usually teach Sprint Out protection similar to how I would teach zone blocking, specially OZ. If you are covered, you are looking to attack the outside shoulder of the defender and work your butt around to reach him. If you are uncovered, work to the next DL, looking for stunts by that DL or a blitz by a LB. If you do not get any work, peel back and look for work. So most time the backside Tackle will be stepping and hinging to get the backside rush, while there is usually 1 or 2 other OL that will be free to help pick up any chasers. The RB will fill the play side edge and take any extra blitzer to that side or help the PST with his block. He needs to clean a path for the QB to get outside and do his work.

I am not going to break things down based on front because it shouldn't matter what front they run. If you are doing a full slide like this, it is not so much what front you are playing, but if you follow the proper rules/protocols to execute the blocking scheme properly.

Here are my rules/protocol for my Sprint-Out protection:

1. TAKE YOUR STEPS AND TRUST YOUR STEPS!!!
2. ID any blitzer or overhang player
3. Communicate your blocks or scheme.
4. If you do not get work, FIND WORK!!!
5. If you got work, you work it until the whistle blows or you dump him into the bleachers.

I am going to discuss these in reverse order, working from #5 to #1.

#5 - If you take your step and you have a guy in your gap, you must work to get to his outside at all costs! If that means your ride him to the sideline, so be it. We must not allow him to get to the QB, so stay with him until the echo of the whistle. Even if you do not get him hooked, but stay with him, that gives your QB time to throw or an alley to step up and throw/run.

#4 - This is the fun part. If you step and no one comes to your gap, you now look backside to see who can pick off. First, look for any buddies that are struggling to get their man hooked...take your steps, turn back, and light him up!!! If your buddies are good, peel back and light up any chasers of the QB from the backside. Usually it will be a DE from the backside, thinking he can chase the QB from behind...Again, peel back and light him up. Always find someone to hit, never just stand there, looking around.

#2 & #3 - This two rules/protocols go together and could probably just be one step. We must ID any kind of blitz/stunt/overhang the defense is giving us. We must then COMMUNICATE the defense and who each of us will pick up. It shouldn't matter if the defense knows or not, they will be coming no matter what...now you just need to take your steps and man up! We need everyone on the same page with the scheme, so no one chases a defender and we leave up a gap for another defender to shoot through.

#1 - The most critical part of this protection is taking your steps and trusting your steps. If a team is any good, their defense is going to try to stunt/blitz you when they think your are sprinting out to try to get you to mess up your protection and give them an opening. If you take your steps, someone will be coming to your gap...it may not be the one that you thought would be there, but if you step with authority and slam into anything that comes your way, you will pick up the stunt/blitz. Over the last couple of years, I have played against one of best small schools in the country, Marion Local. They love to stunt/blitz out of their 3-4 look, especially on passing downs. I have seen some of the most exotic blitzes from them over the years. We have always been able to block up their looks if the OL trusted their steps and stepped with authority (our OL didn't always do that, but when they did, we were success).

Those are some rules and protocols that I lay out to my OL when we block Sprint Out protection, or any protection for that matter. The big thing with any protection is know your job, take your steps, and step with authority. Just because it's pass protection, doesn't mean you can't be aggressive and violent with your movements.

OL must be aggressive and violent in every action they do in the trenches...it is not a place to be passive or you are going to get hurt. Only the real men get in there and get the job done!!!

Tools of the Trade: "EDGE" drill to get max reps

IT'S FOOTBALL SEASON, BABY!!!!

Just got done with our first week of 2-a-days and things are looking really good for the Jeffcats!!!

It is this time of year when you are looking to see if you can get max reps for your players and get them ready for that first game. You want to see who is ready to play and who still needs more time to develop. Also, you want to see all the stuff you planned for during the off season can be implemented and used effectively, especially drills.

The "EDGE" drill is something I came up on the spur of the moment when we designed our practice schedule.

It was not planned...but it has been so effective and gets all guys reps on offense.

First, before I explain the drill, you have to understand the program I am with. Delphos Jefferson is a Wing-T offense with a High-Tempo Huddle. We break the huddle, align, and snap the ball with 3-5 seconds. It is FAST!!! We run most of what you would call a "traditional" Wing-T offense, but with a few different blocking assignments or wrinkles in the "traditional" plays.

I coach the Tackles and Tight Ends, so we work a lot of down blocks, reach blocks, and double teams. While planning practices, our OC wanted the Halfbacks to work with the Tackles and Tight Ends on blocking assignments, especially to the strong side of the formation with a TE and the HB playing the wing position. So I have 20+ minutes to work both my positions and the Halfbacks at the same time (which is 27 kids, a little less than half our team)...How am I going to do this?

This is where the "EDGE" drill comes in.

I set up 3 cones to represent the Center and 2 Guards, so our Tackles could align properly and have the right spacing. I have one set of cones on one line and I align another set of cones 10 yards away from the 1st set.

We orient most of our backs and line as either being on the left side or right side (so right HB, left tackles, etc...). So I had anyone who was on the left side, align on the left side of the cones, and anyone who was on the right side, align on the right side of the cones. The reason I had two sets of cones is that I had the older guys on one set and the younger guys on another set.

So in reality, I have 4 "edges" of a formation, with 2 left sides and 2 right sides. I have 4 groups who can go at one time.

I took the extra guys and made them defenders, aligning them into 1 of the 5 most common fronts we will see against our offense. I did not have enough guys to make a full defense, so I would only do half of the defense and only included a play side safety from the secondary.

So how can I get all four groups reps, but only half a defense for each set of cones?

I would alternate between the old guys and the young guys, with the defense switching to the other side as running a rep with the opposite group. I would start with the old guys on the right side, then turn around and run the young guys on the left side, then back to the old guys on the left side, and finally end up with the young guys on the right side. As I would move from old to young or young to old, the defense would just switch over to the over side and play the same position, just on the opposite side. So when I went from old guys on the right to the young guys on the left, the old guys defense would flip over to the left side and align.

It gives me such a flexibility to give many people reps and cover a large percentage of our plays with a simple drill that the guys can set up easily and rotate themselves in and out of, so everyone gets reps. I can run Trap, Sweep, Down, WB Counter for the strong side and even work the weak side with Dive, Belly, Toss with some modifications to the drill. I can take each play and isolate what each man is responsible for and rep it against base looks or variations like stunts or blitzes.

I have not timed how long it takes me to go through one rotation of the four groups, but I bet I can get through 2 rotations in a minute if I do not have to coach up anything and everyone is set right away.

So you are talking about getting every group 2 reps in 1 minute!!! That means, theoretically, that if I had no transitional breaks and didn't change the defensive alignment, I could get close to 40 reps for every group in that 20 minute period!!!

Now, in reality, I have to stop and coach up some things and there are some transitional breaks in there, but you are getting the picture on how this gets max reps for all our players and focuses on specific skills of the 3 positions. I can run any of plays out of this drill and show them any defensive front they may come across throughout the year.

The best part...the drill has translated into more effective blocking! Our guys are getting into better position and knowing what they are responsible for. That is the key...can the drill give your guys the tools and knowledge to block any defense or situation.

A very simple drill that works all 3 positions, works tempo, and gives everyone (including young guys) reps. It didn't take much to develop the drill, but just required me to think about how I could MAXIMIZE my players reps.

Next time I use this drill, I plan on timing how long it takes to make a rotation and how many reps I can get in for each player. I may even go as far as taping the drill so you can visually see how it works in action.