Joe Daniel Football Quick Clinic

There are a number of ways to get your blitz calls into your players. Using Partners & Patterns is… a way. I’ve done a lot of experimenting over the years, and one of those was the Partners & Patterns blitz calling. It’s an idea I got from Shap Boyd for our 4-3 Defense System several years back. I’ll explain how the Partners & Patterns system works. We don’t use it anymore since I didn’t feel it was as ‘simple’ as we needed. But you can evaluate the idea for yourself in this episode!  Today’s question was sent on Twitter. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.

Is this a 21 Personnel Twins Formation, or a Single Wing Formation? Offensive Coordinators are bad people... It’s back to normal on this episode of the JDFB Quick Clinic, for a look at defending a 21 Personnel… or maybe an unbalanced Single Wing formation… with the 4-2-5 Defense. When you’re looking for ideas on how to shut down a weird offensive set, there’s no black and white answer. OK, there’s no black and white on defending anything. But these weird ones… yeah, the question is unbalanced? Is it Single Wing? Is it both? Check it out, we’ll decide. This JDFB Quick Clinic question was sent in on Twitter. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.

Rapid Fire! Hitting all of those Twitter DM’s we didn’t get to. Or not even close. But getting a lot of them. Another week of blasting through the DM’s before we get back to our usual Q&A on the show. This week hit a ton of topics. Good, bad and ugly. What’s the best defense for the Single Wing? How can you get your players recruited? What’s that barcode inventory system you talked about? All the good stuff… and more. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.  

Time to catch up on the huge backlog of questions in the Twitter DMs this week! I get a lot of questions through Twitter and email. They don’t all make the Quick Clinic just because some of them don’t seem like they’ll work for an episode.  But it’s time to catch up! I’m going back through the log of Twitter DMs. Lots of random topics. Offense, Defense, Special Teams, Program Building and Career Building. It’s all here. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.

You want to get pressure on the Quarterback. What’s the best defense for bringing unstoppable pressure? Prepare to be disappointed. There’s no secret to putting pressure on the Quarterback. No special formula that puts him on his back.  Today’s question is all about getting pressure on the Quarterback without sacrificing coverage. The Holy Grail. And what the best defense to find that Holy Grail is. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.

Time to get ready for next season! But not so fast, you need to take a good look at last year, first. This time of year, everyone’s looking forward to next year. Looking for the keys to winning for the 2020 Season. But you’ve got to take some time to review last year before we get to that. Let’s take a look at what you need to study when you review your 2019 Season. And why you might not need to change the whole playbook just because last year wasn’t all you ever dreamed of. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.

Can you adjust your 4-2-5 Defense to defend the Power I or Wishbone Offense? Yes, and it’s pretty simple. Great question today for the JDFB Quick Clinic on defending 32 Personnel formations with a 4-2-5 Defense. Specifically, how to handle off tackle runs and outside sweep plays with compromising either one. In fact, it’s all built into the foundation of the defense. It comes down to having each defender do his job, and then knowing how to adjust from there. Pulling the right levers.  And yes, this episode turned into a bit of a rant.  This was a response to a listener question sent by email. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.

How do you get your Linebackers to defend the run without getting lit up by a great RPO play? You don’t. Great question for today’s Quick Clinic on coaching Linebacker key reads against run-pass options. It’s a chance to remind ourselves that we can’t stop everything!  We also get into coaching your underneath defenders in pattern match coverages. That’s right, it’s another 2 for 1 football coaching question!  This was a response to a listener question sent on Twitter. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.  

Not a minute to spare. Practice time is valuable. How can you get more players involved during Team sessions? Whether you’ve got a lot of players on one team, or you’re combining your JV and Varsity just to have enough to run a team session, almost every team has some guys hanging out on the sidelines not participating. In today’s JDFB Quick Clinic, we look at ways to get everyone involved (within your 90 minute practice plan!) and actually produce better football players doing it. These are some tricks that can really help your younger football players develop. This was a response to a listener question sent on Twitter. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.

Head Coaches can wear a lot of hats. How can you see other position groups when you’re coaching the Offensive Line? This week’s JDFB Quick Clinic hits close to home, since it’s something I’m pretty familiar with. How can you be the Head Coach, Offensive Coordinator, and Offensive Line coach at the same time and still make sure everything is getting done? It takes a lot of organization and planning to do all of this, and keep a fast paced practice. Check out this episode to find out how you can handle all these roles at once!  This was a response to a listener question sent by email. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.

How do you get better pulls from your Guard in Power? How can you help receivers run better routes? It’s a 2 for 1! The rare 2 for 1 question on JDFB Quick Clinic! Today’s questions are all about the Pistol Power Offense System and how you can get more by focusing on the details. The first question relates to the Guard wrapping to the front side linebacker in the power. The second question looks at receiver get off, timing, and improving the break on the Curl route.  This was a response to a listener question sent by email. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.

Many Youth Football Defenses are geared toward stopping the run. How do you adjust when teams spread you out? OK this question goes all over the place. We’re talking about the 5-3 Defense against the Beast Formation. And against a Double Formation. There’s a lot happening here.  We’re also talking about keeping it simple. Having a philosophy. Not changing your defense. Having principles within your defense that adapt to absolutely any Offensive attack. Really, that last one is everything going on in today’s episode.  This was a response to a listener question sent by twitter. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.

How do you shut down the best athlete on the field? There’s a few tricks you can use to minimize the damage. High School Football has a big range of talent on the field. You’ve got guys who will never play a down of college football (and maybe shouldn’t have played any High School downs), against kids who are going to be in the NFL one day. The elite of elite athletes. On the Quick Clinic today, I’ll talk about a few defensive strategies for shutting down those really special players. Or maybe a better way to put it, slowing down those standout athletes.  This was a response to a listener question sent by twitter. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.

Can you use the right blitz call to destroy a blocking scheme? Maybe. But you better be ready for the offense’s answer. Is there a ‘right call’ for the defense to make in any given situation? Will calling that perfect blitz at the right time bring the offense to its knees? Sure, there are situations where you can dictate to the defense with the right blitz call. But that call could get you in a lot more trouble down the road if you don’t execute correctly. This episode of the JDFB Quick Clinic takes a look at both sides.  This was a response to a listener question sent by twitter. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.

Injuries happen in football. It’s a part of our sport, or any sport. When a key player goes down during practice, how do you refocus your players to get back to work? It’s a hard task. Kids are emotional and… well, kind of over dramatic sometimes. But when there’s a significant injury during practice, how do you get your guys to get that fire back? This episode shares some strategies both short and long-term to get your players back on track. Whether during a game or in practice, you’ve got to have a plan to get the attention back on the task at hand. This was a response to a listener question sent by twitter. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.

Stacked receivers require some adjustments for your defense. Let’s take a look at zone and man tweaks for those stacks. Offenses are always trying to use formations to break the defense. Get you in a position where you’re not as effective. Stacked receivers are one example.  When the offense stacks two or three receivers up, how do you adjust? What can you do to tweak your man coverage or zone coverage to handle the stacks? I’ll give you some suggestions on this episode of the JDFB Quick Clinic. This was a response to a listener question sent by email. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.

What’s the most critical position on your defense? You need to invest your best coach on one specific group. Are the force defenders the most important players on your defense? It seems like these are the guys that can really break your defense if they’re not getting the job done. Outside linebackers or safeties, whatever you call them - they’re critical. But are they the most important players? Where should you invest your best coaches on staff? Check out this episode of the JDFB Quick Clinic to find out which position gives you the biggest returns on defense. This was a response to a listener question sent by twitter. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.

You want to go fast, but how do you get your Hurry Up Offense signals in from the sidelines? Here’s the easiest way. Those signs on the sidelines with funny pictures are great. Unfortunately, many coaching staffs don’t have the man-power to run an operation like that. We want to go fast, but what’s the most efficient way to get the calls in? In today’s episode, we’re answering a listener question on Hurry Up communication. Hand signals, wrist bands and other methods to get the call in are discussed. Check it out! This was a response to a listener question sent by twitter. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.

If you want to get to the top of the profession, you’ve got to ‘grind all the time,’ right? Maybe that’s not the best way. Great question and topic for this week’s JDFB Quick Clinic. One that I’m kind of passionate about. It’s the ridiculous #grindallthetime #nodaysoff stuff we see on Social Media all the time. For a young coach trying to move up in the ranks, it might seem like the right way. Spend all your time in the office Outwork everyone. Climb the ladder. This week’s questions comes from a new coach who wonders if he’s letting himself and his team down by not being the last one to leave the office every day. Check out the show to get my perspective on this ridiculous, old school mentality.  This was a response to a listener question sent by email. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.

Which hand do you put down in your Defensive Line Stance? That depends on what job needs to get done. Does it matter which hand your Defensive Linemen put down in their stance? Well, that all depends on what you’re going to ask those guys to do.  There’s a big difference between the stance for a 2-gap lineman in a 3-4 Defense or a slanting 33 Stack lineman, compared to your shaded 40 front guys. We’ll look at all the differences in this episode of the JDFB Quick Clinic. This was a response to a listener question sent on Twitter. You can send in your questions for the JDFB Quick Clinic by messaging me on Twitter @footballinfo or sending an email to me at joe@joedanielfootball.com.