Coach Bass brings his 30 years of NFL coaching experience to USA Football. Email Coach Bass your question.
How do I improve my quarterback's footwork?
Hi Lamont,
Repetitions and demanding that they be done right are the keys to refining his footwork. Having him walk through each movement alone. You may need to put chalk marks on the ground in the beginning to show him where and how to step. Set aside time before practice where you can work with just him on his footwork. Call the play and then have him do the correct steps.
Anytime he is involved in a drill at practice, try to watch his movement or assign another coach to focus on his one area. Don’t stop the practice of the other players but pull him out of the practice and correct him between plays if he does it wrong.
He has to understand that this is an important part of being a quarterback and if he wants to be successful and have the opportunity to lead the team it will require his concentration and practice until he does it right.
Fortunately this is one technique that can be worked on in the off-season without the need of any other players in the drill. Between now the fall, he should walk, go half speed, and then full speed through the movements over and over until they are automatic and done correctly each time, Coach Tom Bass.
We are thinking about running the I option this year because our linemen our young and inexperienced and we do not have a QB who can throw it with any consistency. How hard is it for a kid who has never played QB (he's been a RB his whole life) to pick up the proper steps and ball security issues?
Hi Coach,
I do not believe that it will be difficult for a good running back to pick up the correct footwork and ball security issues as your quarterback, especially out of the I Option attack.
It may be important for you to clearly define when the pitch is to be made and when you want him, probably your best runner, to keep the ball. The greater number of times he keeps the ball, the better your chances will be for a successful play.
I have known high school coaches who start out by having the QB always keep the ball and only pitch it if it is called from the sideline. I am not sure that I would go that far but if he is your best runner you should convey to him that you want the ball in his hands as much as possible.
I would be very slow in introducing the entire offense so that your new QB has to learn and digest every play. If he starts to have mental errors, you may want to scale back until he is ready for new material.
It will be important to spend extra time with him during this time, going over how to handle the huddle, call the plays, and the cadence that he will need to use to get the ball snapped correctly. You may even want to walk him through the footwork for the plays that you will start with in the fall.
Try to give him as much coaching as you can right now so that he has the opportunity to become comfortable with the new position and everything that goes with it before you start up next season, Coach Tom Bass.
What exactly is the "spread offense"? I grew up in a different neck of the woods so to speak, compared to where I'm living now, and it seems that the lingo is different here than from my home town. Also, is this a good offense to install for a peewee aged (9-10) football team? What offence would you recommend would be the best, in your opinion, for kids this age? Thank you, John.
Hi John,
I am not surprised that you have questions about the term “Spread” offense. This is one offensive scheme that has really evolved in the past few years. It was not so long ago that the spread was only used at the end of the half or the end of the game.
Then it became an every down passing attack with very limited running attack. Now, it is an every down attack but there is much more emphasis on the running game, especially the use of an “Option Series” both inside and outside. It utilizes four receivers [one who can also run]; one running back and one quarterback who usually lines up in the shot gun position four yards off the line of scrimmage.
I am not certain that this would be a good attack to feature in that it is very complex, requires a center who can accurately make the snap every down, plus a great deal of coaching time to develop a quarterback who can not only throw but has the running skills to direct an option attack.
For youth football I have always liked the Wing-T in that you have deception, blockers that do not have to hold their blocks for any length of time, can attack every hole with different ball carriers, and that you can teach a fairly effective passing game using play action passing.
As with everything else, you should first teach what you know and understand rather than try to implement something new that may create more questions than answers, Coach Tom Bass.
I have a very talented quarterback who will be a sophomore next year. He is both an excellent runner and passer. What offense should I run with a talented quarterback like him?
Hi Benjamin,
I would think that you should feature an offense that includes some option plays that can feature his running, a number of play-action passes, and some movement passing where he can either run or pass.
You could get all of this with a good wing-t package that would give you some deception with the ball handling, allow you to hit every hole across the board, and most important, allow your quarterback to use the gifts he brings to the team.
This to me would be better than going to a spread offense and putting too much pressure on him to always accurately throw the ball. Try not to make it very complicated so that his natural talents are not lost with indecision and confusion. Please let me know what you decide to do, Coach Tom Bass.
Hello Coach, I am a defensive line coach at a local high school that has had some success. My team has had difficulties against opponents that use a zone-blocking scheme on offense. Do you have any recommendations for me and other coaches on how best to defend this blocking scheme?
Hi Coach A,
Zone blocking is based on the premise that whatever you do defensively, the offense will have a blocker in position to effectively block your players. We found that the best way to counteract this form of blocking was to have well defined gap responsibility by our down linemen and our linebackers.
We then asked our defensive players to attack the offensive blocker that was occupying their assigned gap. When we encountered a zone between a guard and tackle versus a defensive end and inside linebacker, we would teach our reaction in the following way.
If the end was responsible for the gap outside of the tackle, we wanted him to fight to maintain outside control on the offensive tackle. At the same time we asked the inside backer to attack the guard and physically knock him off of the zone block and keep on the outside shoulder of the guard.
When the end had the gap inside of the tackle, we asked him to fight into the inside shoulder of the guard and then re-direct his body across the line into the backfield. We coached the linebacker to see the guard start the zone and to be prepared as he moved behind the defensive end to attack the offensive tackle who would be releasing up the field.
In practice we worked all of the two-man combinations that might face a zone blocking scheme to react in this fashion. The key being to force the offense to give up the zone by attacking the line of scrimmage and the blockers and always keeping good gap control, Coach Tom Bass.