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Coach Tom Bass brings more than 30 years of coaching experience to USA Football. Along with answering youth coaching questions, he also receives emails from young players. You can email the coach at NFLAskTheCoach@aol.com.

QB #18 sent the following question:

Hi #18,

First of all, I hope that your rehabilitation is going well for you and that you have all the facilities available needed to gain the strength back in your arm and have a full medical clearance to begin playing again.

Living in Arizona, you have the opportunity to gather information from the three colleges in the state as to their summer camp programs, especially any quarterback specific camps that they may offer.

All three have excellent coaching staffs, and I am certain the experience you gain by attending any one of these camps will be valuable to your continued development as a quarterback.

I would also check with your present coach and see if your team is going to take part in any passing league tournaments, as your participation would seem to me to be important if this is the case.

Losing a year to injury will certainly not stop you from playing in college. What you do these next two years on the field and in the classroom will be the most important factors in determining if you continue to play once your high school career is over.

Check out any summer programs you need to attend at your school, then check out the summer camps offered at the universities in Arizona and see if you can attend at least one this summer.

Coach Tom Bass

Blain sent the following question:

I play quarterback in central Texas. I play at alarge 5A high school, and I'm in ninth grade. I am the best quarterbackin my grade and the grade in front of me, although I have a pretty goodquarterback that will only be a senior next year, so I'm not going tostart on varsity until I am a junior.

I want to start gettingnoticed before then. Can I e-mail colleges asking them to come outand watch me play on JV? If so, can you please give me a layoutfor an e-mail or letter and tell me what I should say to them?

Hi Blain,

It probably is going to be premature to ask a college coach to come out to watch you play in a JV football game; they just do not have the time. There is so little time and so many high school varsity players that they need to evaluate, that it is impossible for them to allocate recruiting time to a JV game.

As we have mentioned before, one way to introduce yourself to a college coaching staff is to attend any summer camp program that they may be conducting. In this setting, the coaches have the opportunity to see your skills first-hand, have a chance to meet and get to know you and you have the same opportunity to become familiar with each coach.

If you have a college that you are really interested in attending, you might send a letter to the quarterback's coach, introduce yourself and ask him if he has any drills or information on quarterback play that can he can send you that will help you in your development. This is often a great way to start a relationship with a college coach.

Good luck, and remember, in the eyes of a college coach, your grades will be just as important as your skills on the playing field.

Coach Tom Bass

The following question was sent:

I'm 21, with no organized football experienceexcept for tearing it up backyard style or play. All my friends tell me I was stupid for not playing while I was in school. I'm starting to wonder if I should try in some way to get into it, but I don't really know how or if it's even worth it. I'm in good shape - I'm 6-foot-2, 180 pound, fast and have good hands. What do you think I should do?

Hi,

I am not sure what options are available for you in the area that you live. If you live in an area of the country where there are football teams at a junior college level, then that may be a place to start.

Playing on an organized team, learning the terminology, offensive plays, defensive schemes, practicing long and hard every day, absorbing the contact of the game and maintaining the grades in the classroom all require a certain amount of dedication and drive.

Will it be worth it for you to go through all of this to experience being part of the team? Only you can answer that question. Will it be easy? The answer is no, if it was easy more people would be willing to make the commitment.

I do know that people who have a dream and are willing to work to see the dream come true can accomplish great things and this may be true in your case. I wish you the best of luck and hope the journey is good for you.

Coach Tom Bass

Nick sent the following question:

I am an outside linebacker for my JV football team. I will be moving up to varsity next year, and I plan on converting to strong safety. What do you think I should work on in the off-season to become ready to play strong safety? I would also like to know if the conversion to strong safety from outside linebacker would be a hard one.

Hi Nick,

The biggest adjustment you will need to work on is your pass coverage. Depending on the coverage that your team uses, you may be asked to cover a deep ½ or 1/3 of the field in zone coverage, cover a tight end man-to-man or drop into an under-zone area.

You will need to work on running backwards (back pedal), recognizing pass routes (pattern recognition) and breaking up or intercepting the pass. The more you can do between the end of this season and next season in these areas, the easier the transition will be for you.

Playing strong safety will be a challenge. You will have to be in very good condition because you will be running more than at the linebacker. The good news is you already know how to tackle, take on and defeat blockers and rush the quarterback (blitz) on passing plays.

With hard work you should be able to make the change, and I am certain that you will enjoy playing the position.

Coach Tom Bass

Rob sent the following question:

I have a problem - my parents say that if my grades suffer at all from playing football that they will make me quit and lately its been hard to do my homework after practice because I have been tired. Do you have any advice I could use to help me catch up and get my homework finished?

Hi Rob,

Your parents are right. Your grades are more important than football. So the challenge is for you to work out a system that allows you to keep your grades up and still play.

One area that you may want to start with is to take a close look at how you spend your day. You may find that there is free time that you can devote to studying during the day if you plan for and focus on accomplishing part of your homework.

If you find that it is hard to study at night, you might try to do some work at night and then get up an hour or so earlier in the morning to devote to your studies.

Use the weekends to get ahead and to work on any big projects so that they are finished on time. Never let an assignment slide to the last minute - work on planning ahead.

Keep a daily record of the time you spend on your studies, manage your time so that very few minutes are wasted, adjust your daily schedule and accept the fact that keeping your grades up is as important as practicing hard if you are to continue playing the game.

Just as your coach prepares an efficient practice plan and game plan to succeed, you need to learn how to do the same with your schoolwork. Ask your parents and/or teachers if they know of a time management instruction course as well as "how to study efficiently" instruction course. It could make a tremendous difference for you.

It is possible to do the job in both areas of your life if you really focus on what you want and need to achieve for the year, so best of luck.

Coach Tom Bass

Coach Tom Bass, the technical writer and advisor for USA Football, is a 30-year NFL coach who has also authored several books, including "Play Football the NFL Way" - the first "how to" book ever authorized and published by the NFL. Coach Bass is happy to personally autograph his books to you. Book ordering information can be found on http://www.coachbass.com/.