USA Football Coaching Members can get some assistance with their practices by utilizing the Practice Planner, which can assign responsibilities; schedule warm-up periods, integrate drills from the Drills Library and list the plays that best attack opposing schemes.
Mike Clay had a daunting task entering the first football season in the 183 years that St. Frances Academy has been open in Baltimore. The school opened in 1828, with a founding mission to teach "children of color to read the Bible" - an illegal act during an era of American slavery.
You can imagine the difficulties, then, of teaching proper football techniques in 2008. Even so, Clay embraced the challenged, and saw his team go 4-4 in its inaugural season.
The energetic Clay took some time out of a busy schedule at the American Football Coaches Association convention in Nashville, Tenn., during January to talk about how he and his assistant coaches prepare for a practice.
"The first thing we do is all the coaches sit down and we break out our time slots," said Clay, who previously coached at St. Mary's High School in Annapolis, Md. "Then we develop what we're trying to do in the practice. As we build the staff, everybody takes a position, and we sit down and talk about timing, what we're going to do, moving guys from station to station. Then we talk about what's going to make us better this week."
For a program in its infancy like that of St. Frances Academy, that approach can mean a number of things.
"Planning goes by who we're playing, and what we're doing ourselves," Clay said.
"In a league like ours, we see every different offense and every different defense. So we have new things to put into our practice plan every week, based on the defenses we're going to see, the formations and sets we see."
Clay has a general outline that includes film study followed by conditioning and drills on Mondays. Tuesdays are reserved for offense, Wednesdays are for defense and Thursday is pre-game.
"One of the drills that we work and have to continue to work is line play and bird-dogging the line and getting the snap count down. It's line, line line," Clay said. "You can only do so much at the other positions. A running back is a running back. Receivers are going to run and catch the ball.
"You're going to work on the quarterback and timing on the pass play, but after that, it's line play. That's where you spend most of your time because you see different guys on that line every week."
Clay got some help this season from a couple of his former players in the youth and high school ranks. Malik Johnson is only 23 years old, but brings enthusiasm and passion that Clay wants to have in his assistant coaches. Malik's older brother, Jamar, a former basketball player, is also an assistant coach.
"We try to keep our kids focused on gameday - keep them lose," Malik Johnson said. "Me, as a young coach, I try to keep them open minded, pumped up and psyched up for the game. I like to get them focused in on the game no matter who the opponent is. Kids can lose focus a lot. Being young, I've noticed that."
For a new program, Clay has had to bring out the basics on a daily basis.
"We started from scratch," Clay said. "We're teaching baby steps. We were teaching three-point stances this year. The kids met on July 17 for the first time, and 25 kids showed up. We got up to 49 kids, which is good. We're a small Catholic school of 275 students. It's a special place to be."
Clay has found that having former players on his staff to be nothing but positive.
"I coached [the Johnson brothers] from youth all the way through Southside Academy," Clay said. "They're passionate and they're loyal. And they want to learn, which is why I brought them here. I have six guys with me here at the AFCA this year.
"One thing I've taught them is don't get so crazy trying to coach. Coach the kids up and be respectful to the kids. They're starting to see that. When I used to coach them, I used to knock them on top of the head, you know what I mean. Well, there's a different way of doing it now. That's one of the things I put onto them. Work hard. Sit down. Listen. You don't have to talk much. Don't be afraid to do anything."
At the same time, Clay knows that things like practice planning will be enhanced by having his coaches learn from other coaches.
"They're still a little uncomfortable talking to the kids, because they're so young, but that's why we're here - so I can get them surrounded with some of the other coaches that I know, and get them to talk up," Clay said. "They're not afraid to ask questions, and that's what you look for."
Especially if that means coming home with more practice planning ideas.
Story courtesy of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
