Nani Getting Back - The Quickness Challenge

In football, you're quick or you're dead. The modern game relies heavily on creating your own space, and pre-season is the place to work on it. Manchester United fitness coach Tony Strudwick runs Nani through a drill that requires quick change of direction and numerous different touches within tight spaces. Now it's your turn. You and your team will be better for it.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVHfxrC7s4w&hl=en

Getting Kids to Want to Play Offensive Line in Youth Football

This past weekend we had the pleasure of speaking at the Baltimore Glazier Clinic.

Not only were there at least 20 youth football coaches there that are running my system, I got to sit in on some excellent presentations myself. There were even two brave souls from North Carolina that had driven about 6 hours to get there. No wonder these gusy team had gone 9-1 last season, they were two focused guys.

Worst to First Story

Scott Burton from Richmond University really impressed me and I'm going to share a couple of very simple things he talked about that you can do to help develop your offensive linemen. Scott just started at Richmond this season. The past 10 years he has been the Head Football Coach at Highland Springs High School in Virginia, a very down, low on numbers inner-city team. Before he got there the program had fallen on hard times, the team was 1-19 the two previous seasons before Scott got there. Under Scott they made the playoffs 7 of 10 years and were even District Champs twice. He finished 72-26 at a place most thought no one could win at. He is the kind of guy I like listening to, he's had success, he knows how to get the job done and did it from virtual scratch. My kind of football coach, a real up and comer, he is one of those young on fire, no excuses types I would love my kids to play for.

His first order of business as a head coach of this 1700 student school at age 25 was to get the kids to believe in his processes and system. He suffered a lot of initial resistance both from players, parents and imbedded coaches. The way he sold it to them is that while he was only 25 he had been successful with his previous team, and he was very confident he had a "recipe" for success, those were his exact words. He said "I told the players all cakes need oil, flour and eggs, but if you put 18 eggs into the cake rather than 2 that the recipe calls for, the cake probably isn't going to turn out very well. If you follow me I'm going to give you a recipe that if you decide to follow it, is going to make a very good cake". Scott got the kids to believe in him because he was consistent, had a vision, a concrete plan and they trusted him.

Offensive Line Tips For Those Coaching Youth Football

He also had a real tough time with his offensive linemen, he didn't have any, no one wanted to play offensive line on this team. Scott was a defensive back in college, but became the offensive line coach out of necessity and made the offensive line something very special at Highland Springs. He did things like: all the lineman drank water first during breaks, the offensive linemen were written up in the newspaper each week, no individual pictures in the newspaper all team shots and the linemen got to do special drills that no one else got to run. For conditioning for the offensive linemen he did 40 yard fumble "scoop and score" drills, where the lineman were allowed to spike the ball as they entered the endzone. He had special t-shirts made for his offensive linemen and gave them an acronym ACT, he would not share with us what ACT meant. His linemen were also not allowed to tell ANYONE what it meant. It was like the offensive linemen were in some type of exclusive fraternity or something. The more exclusive they became, the more kids wanted to be an offensive linemen and the better they played.

Haven't We Heard This Before?

For you that have my book, doesn't that sound familiar, and aren't all of those specific points in the book, minus the scoop and score drill, which we will add next year? I was amening the heck out of him like he was some type of on fire Evangelist and I was in church. I was nodding so much during this presentation, I think I hurt my neck.

Scott didn't talk about a single scheme, playbook or even any football plays, he talked about developing trust and having fun with his football team. It was his opinion that this had much more to do with the turnaround than did his schemes or football plays.

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Football Plays Copyright 2007 Cisar Management. Republishing this article is allowed if this paragraph and links are included.

Dave Cisar-

Dave has a passion for developing youth coaches so they can in turn develop teams that are competitive and well organized. He is a Nike "Coach of the Year" Designate and speaks nationwide at Coaches Clinics. His book "Winning Youth Football a Step by Step Plan" was endorsed by Tom Osborne and Dave Rimington.

With over 15 years of hands-on experience as a youth coach, Dave has developed a detailed systematic approach to developing youth players and teams. His personal teams to using this system to date have won 97% of their games in 5 Different Leagues. His web site is: Football Plays

Wake Forest Demon Deacons - Getting to Know the Teams For the Tobacco Road

Tobacco road is not just a road made of tobacco plants. Aside from having a name that could equate to a haven for smokers, the name itself implies the rivalry. This is the rivalry of the four universities within the area. These rivalries are from the Big Four universities that is one of the main attractions in College Games.

It is no doubt that these schools result into having intense rivalries with each other due to their locations. If you want to get to know these four universities, check it out below:

1. North Carolina State University- This school is located Raleigh, North Carolina. Their team is known as the Wolfpacks. Their biggest rivalry among the four universities is the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This is evident on their lyrics and how they tweak their words, in order to phsyc out the Tar Heels. Their team won four National Championships but most of their victories are accounted for the ACC Championships. Their fight song is known as the Red and White song.

2. Wake Forest University- This is one of the two private school members of the Big Four. The school is located in Winston-Salem. According to wfu.edu, this is a school run by the Baptists and tobacco growers. Nevertheless, what is so surprising about this school is the name of their athletics group. Their varsity team is called Wake Forest Demon Decons. This team grabbed eight national titles from different sports. The most recent wins are from their hockey team for women.

3. Duke University- This is the second private school that is a member of the Tobacco Road group. Located in Durham, North Carolina, this school was founded by a tobacco tycoon, which the school was named after in their honor. The name of their varsity team is the Duke University Blue Devils. Their best teams are their women golf team and their basketball team for men. Their biggest rival is the Tar Heels. They have produced many players that qualify for the Olympics since 1956.

4. University of South Carolina- It is located in Tar Hills, North Carolina. This is the last member of the Big Four Universities. It is one of the oldest schools in United States since it was established in 1795. The name of their varsity team is North Carolina Tar Heels. They have an excellent record in NCAA as they have 33 National titles. Their best team, grabbing the most titles for NCAA, is their soccer team for women. Their greatest rivalry is the Duke University.

It seems from all of the Tabacco Road universities, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons least attracts rivalries. And every school considers Tar Heels as their greatest opponents. There is no question about the performance of their team. No wonder the different schools are eager to beat them.

Nevertheless, all of these teams have provided great sports entertainment for the people of North Carolina. Tobacco Road Group is not only a haven for smokers but it is also the haven of the best players in the history of sports.

Freddie Brister is a huge fan of the ACC and the Wake Forest Demon Decons. His love for the game of football started with an older brother passing the pigskin around in the backyard with cousins and neighborhood friends. He later played in high school, college and coached high school football for 25 years, before retiring to write for Sports Fan Treasures. Check out his. Wake Forest Merchandise