- Marketing - Superbowl Ad Review Special with EXCLUSIVE Kia Ad Premiere!

In Studio this week is David Angelo, CCO of David and Goliath. But even better known for all those awesome Kia commercials. We get the world premiere of KIA's new Superbowl Ad and Scott Skypes in Live from the Superbowl...kinda.For more information, show notes, and schedules visit www.thisweekin.com.



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

Nuts Video: Lucy Pinder Football Special

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Football Special Teams Punt Coverage Used by Big East Football Team

I was talking with a friend of mine who is a Big East Head Coach about Special Teams. Specifically, punt coverage.

This particular article is about the spread punt.

The spread punt is the easiest to teach. It can be broken down into five S's.

If you can get those five things down, I think you can build your base for putting in the punting game. Here is more detail about the five S's:

• Punting and Punt Coverage

• Zone or man set -
  
  
  

Our punter lines up 15-yards deep. You must have a snapper that can get the ball back to him. If we can get the snap and kick away in 1.9 seconds, I feel very good. If the kick is away in 2.0, we have done our job. We break that down on the snap at .8 and 1.1 for the kicker. It is difficult to block the kick if you can get the ball away in 2.0 seconds.

Let me give you the two rules for the center on our spread punt:

• The center blocks away from the punter or to the right or left call.
  
  
  
  


• If a man calls (3-3) he can release.
  
  
  

The personal protector is expected to count the defenders. He counts from our left to the right. He must declare which way he wants the center to block. Here are the rules for the personal protector on our spread punt:

• The personal protector is responsible for the overload player. The personal protector will always go away from the center on a 44 call.
  
  
  
  


• 
  Only count those players whose feet are on the line of scrimmage with linemen or in a threatening position.
  
  
  

• The personal protector reads left to right.
  
  
  
  


• The personal protector scans if there is no man to pick up.
  
  
  
  


• The center is always counted.
  
  
  

The magic number is

Again, 8

We have five defenders to our left side. We have three defenders to the right side. Left tells the center to block to the left.

The center snaps the ball then steps back to get width that keeps a seam from forming. Everybody still takes a zone step to help the player to the inside. Once the wall is formed and secure, the blockers drive out on their primary defender. The left slot has number one. The left tackle has number two. The left guard has number three. The center will always have number five in anThe center snaps the ball and then steps back to get big or wide to keep a seam from forming. Everyone still takes their zone steps and to help the player to his inside.

For example, the guards help the center, the tackles help the guards, and the slot helps the tackles. Once the wall is formed and secure, then you drive out on your primary defender. The left slot has the number one, left tackle has number two, the left guard has number three, and the center has number four to the left. The right guard has number three, the right tackle has number two, and the right slot has the number one man. The personal protector has the fourth man to the right side. If we call three it is automatic man blocking. If you are in a 33 protection you can release the center. You have them outnumbered. You are able to block them man-on-man but you never change your steps. three they yell twist alert.

It may be conceived as man protection, but you still take the zone steps. If the defense is running a three-man rush on one side, then they are going to try to run some type of game on the overloaded side. If we get a three-man, we communicate it from the guard outside to the tackle and to the slot back. When our blockers hear

This is an overload situation. The personal protector has number four to the left. We only count the players who have their feet on the line of scrimmage. We do not count stacked outside linebackers.

This is where zone and man protection come together. I have made it clear in our special teams meeting if you are on the punt team you had better get your three steps down. You handle yourself relative to the zone element. You must zone the area and stay square. You must use good three-step mechanics. Now, from there everyone is working together. If two defenders come at the blocker he is going to help inside with his hands before he works out to his primary man. The three steps help take the pressure off the man inside. After we take the three steps, then we set up to take on the primary rusher.

Most of the blockers tend to rush the block. Most of the time they want to go get their man. If they do that they leave the inside man on an island. If the slot man goes out after the number four man outside, he leaves the tackle on his own against the number three man. If the number four man comes inside, the tackle has to take on both number four and number three rushers. The tackle cannot let number three go because he has to help out inside. I try to overemphasize the zone steps before we talk about the man steps. If you talk about the man steps they'll want to one-step set and jump their man. It goes against the principles of the three-step set and keeping the shoulders square.

For more information about football coaching go to my football website listed below.

Todd Krueger is a former NFL Quarterback that was a 8th round draft pick in 1980 by the Buffalo Bills. He also played with the Houston Oilers, Minnesota Vikings and the Arizona Wranglers in the USFL.

He now runs a football coaching website at http://www.footballtools.com and quarterback training website at http://www.playqb.com were they offer low cost football coaching products such as NFL Football Playbooks, Youth Football Practice DVDs, Quarterback Training DVDs, Football Scouting Software, Football Playbook Software, Free Quarterback Drills, Football Special Teams DVDs, Football Workout DVDs, Football Practice DVDs.

You can also get a free football newsletter at his websites.

Football Special Teams Training - How to Bust the Wedge

Special teams can make the difference in who goes home with the win and who suffers the loss.

Simply put the receiving teams job is to advance the kick off return as far down the field as possible. With a couple of key blocks, put the ball in the end zone. Setting up those key blocks starts with the wedge.

The wedge as we all know is a wall of players the return man screens behind hoping to find the opening that can spring him for big yards or a 6 point run back.

The kicking team sends down its rushers and wedge busters, running full speed, risking life and limb as they hurl their bodies at the players making up the wedge. Sometimes the wedge busters are successful, stopping big run backs. However there are many times they are not, allowing the big momentum changing run back. Momentum that can change the out come of the game.

How do we become more effective in busting the return teams blocking wedge? Don't try to run over or knock down the blockers. Instead split the blockers.

Run straight at the blocker full speed, sell him on the fact you plan to run over the top of him. No matter how skilled and practiced he is, at the last moment he will be bracing for the impact. Rather than make head to head contact, split the blockers, run between them taking the best angle to the ball carrier. Not only do you reduce injury risk to yourself, you will frequently find yourself in position to make the tackle, stopping a long kick off return and staving off any momentum changing returns, like a 6 pointer.

Are you football player or coach looking for the most current football training videos and football training equipment?

Visit http://www.scoretouchdowns.com for explosive football training videos and football training aids.

Youth Football - Winning Special Teams

Kickoff Team: Make sure your kids are ten yards behind ball. It is important that they get a running start down the field. The team must stay onside (do not cross before the ball is kicked). Every player covering the kick needs to stay in their lanes. Practice kicking the ball off in practice! Practice onside kick recovery team as well.

Kickoff Return Team: Bring the wall to the ball!! Front line stays alert for an onside kick and then runs back to the returner. The players in the middle and back return rows run back to whoever fields the kick and creates the wall (wedge like), then blocks down field. Do not have your players try to block the kickoff coverage team too early. The coverage team will just go right around your blockers. There is too much space to be blocking too early, the kick returner must cut off your player's blocks. Make sure you prepare a hands team, to prevent teams from recovering an onside kick.

Punt Team: Foot to foot splits. Your team must block down to the shoulder of the linemen inside of them, staying low while stepping down & inside. Blocking backs line up on outside shoulder of the tight end or the last guy on the line of scrimmage. The blocking two blocking backs must have a nice wide base (make yourself big) and block inside to outside. The middle blocking back calls the snap count, lines up on kicker's foot side. Practice long snapping & punting the ball every day (make sure you have a few kids that can snap and kick). Make sure your players fan out when the ball is punted. Your coverage team needs to cover the whole field. The returner will likely go right outside with it so cover the whole field! Your punter should yell go when the ball is kicked so that blockers know to fan out down field & tackle the guy with the ball. Your punter should always yell the direction the ball was punted.

Punt Return Team: Punt block or Punt return? Punt block; your player's need to rush through each gap while linebackers line up right behind the D-linemen & they need to loop or cross. Also coaches need to make sure you have containment defenders to stop fakes. Keep someone back to field the punt so the punt team doesn't get a nice bounce their way. Punt return; your players should go to where the ball was kicked and lead block, bring the wall to the ball. Coaches you will still need containment players to defend against any kind of punt fake.

Extra Point Kick: In youth football the extra point kick is worth two points! So it is important that you practice this everyday or at least a few times a week. The line splits should be zero (foot to foot). The linemen block down to the hip of the linemen inside of them. Linemen need to stay low while stepping down & inside. The two blocking backs need to have a wide base "get big" and step down to the inside linemen's shoulder pads, always blocking inside first. Snapping, holding, and kicking needs to be practiced often. Snap count should be a fast count (silent count, ball movement, or on first sound) do not want the defense to have time to set up and try to block the kick.

Extra Point Block: The best area for your defense to block the extra point attempt is through the A (Between center & guard) & B gaps (Guard & Tackle), don't waste time trying to block it from the outside. You need to load up the A & B gaps on the side of their snap holder. You need to double team the A gap blocker (guard, do not hit the center it is a penalty in youth football), driving him back. Double team the B gap blocker (tackle), drive him back. Send linebackers right behind the double teams. If this is executed properly you will create penetration right up the middle, allowing linebackers to block the extra point. Also prepare your defense for fakes, containment and coverage schemes are needed.

Special Teams is one of the three main phases of youth football. You must practice all phases of special teams daily. One of the biggest mistakes a youth football coach can make is to overlook special teams. Youth football coaches should always make time for special teams. For example; there is one minute left in the game, you're losing by a touchdown you need to recover an onside kick! Coaches will either be glad they practiced it, or they will wish they had practiced their onside kick recovery more.

Coach Jeff Hemhauser is the co-creator of the one stop youth football site: http://www.YouthFootballOnline.com. Contact Coach Jeff at: YouthFootballOnline@gmail.com

Special 1 TV - The One About Liverpool

They're back. New managers, new teams and a new suit. Plus the Special 1 does his best to get to the bottom of the Liverpool fiasco.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3WKKLvtEkQ&hl=en

Fantasy Football Defense & Special Teams Secrets - Draft Day Do's and Dont's

DEFENSE ... DEFENSE ... DEFENSE ! The crowd loves screaming it, some teams love playing it, and you hate drafting it! One of the hardest things for some owners to decide is when to draft a Team Defense in their Fantasy Football League. I have never had a problem in this area, and really love watching people get hung up on picking one of the elite Defense / Special Teams every year. In this ongoing series of Fantasy Football Draft Day Do's and Dont's, I tackle Team Defenses next.

Do...

...check your 2009 NFL schedules! Find out which teams have the easiest Defensive schedule. It helps to know that the Saint Louis Rams have the league's easiest schedule, and Denver has one of the toughest. Green Bay has the most favorable schedule for a Defense this year, and has 11 Interception Returns for TDs since 2006.

Do...

...understand your league's scoring format! I played in a live league last year that was HEAVILY slanted toward Defenses. The owners who did not do their math were blindsided by defenses posting negative scores some weeks.

DON'T...

...forget to take into account the Defensive Coordinator moves! Everyone is talking about the changes in Green Bay with Dom Capers going from a 4-3 to a 3-4 scheme. But don't overlook Jacksonville and Arizona, who are revamping their teams Defenses into more of a hybrid D. The Seahawks, Chiefs and Colts all have new head coaches. Watch the Pre-Season games and make sure you know if these are positive or negative moves.

DON'T...

...pick too early! Ask any owner who nabbed the San Diego Chargers with a middle round pick last year, and then saw Shawn Merriman go down, if they are drafting a D early this year. Wait until everyone else starts the D train rolling, and if you are comfortable with your starters and backups at your skill positions, look around round 10 or 11 for a Defense, and if all the elite teams are taken, wait another couple of rounds.

Picking a Team D / Special Team can only hurt you if you go too early. The top 3 or 4 teams are better than the rest, but not by much. It entirely depends on how your league scores Defenses. To get your up to the minute stats and opinions, check out the NFL website and The Sporting News Fantasy Football Guide. I have used them for years, and that is where the above stats come from. Remember, waiting is the key for Team D.

Patrick O'Neill, an 18 year Fantasy Football Veteran, endorses only one Fantasy Football League
"Would you be interested in a league in which half the owners win? Weekly updated info for starts and sits? How about a whopping 90% payout and unlimited FREE trades? One low up-front fee and no hidden charges? SIGN UP TODAY and get paid in 2009.

Coaching Football Special Teams

I called a friend of mine who is the Head Coach at a Big East Football team and we talked about how his football team coaches special teams., these are some of the comments made during that interview.

One of the first things they try to do is to let the kids know there are areas where we can achieve certain goals on special teams. Clearly the skilled players want to be on the special teams. They want to touch the football. But the question is how do you draw the interest of the other players on the special team who do not get to touch the football? How do you keep the left tackle on the extra point team interested? We came up with an award for the special team player of the year based on a point system. We went out and got the largest trophy we could find. It is about three-feet high. We wanted to get the biggest and gaudiest trophy we could find. We wanted our players to see the trophy every day. The trophy cost us about $100. The bang for our bucks came from the fact that we saw our kids change their attitude on how they could win the special teams player of the year. If you are going to emphasize something you must give the players a carrot, and we did that with the trophy.

In our team room we have three distinctive goals and the goals are displayed on banners. The banners are 12-feet wide by eight-feet tall. They are prominent in our team room. When you walk into our team room it is unmistakable that we have special team goals, offensive team goals, and defensive team goals.

Let me go over our special team goals

Win

Better than average field position after kickoff than opponent

Better net punt average than opponent

Score or set up a score

Give the offense the ball at least one time on the plus -50-yard line

Never give the opponent the ball on our side of the 50-yard line

Perfect execution on holds, snaps, and ball security

Have at least one game breaker - score, block a punt, block a kick, recover an onside kick, cause a turnover, recover a turnover, down a punt inside the 10-yard line, 60 yards of field position change

No penalties

Win the hidden-yardage game - kickoff - kickoff return - punt - punt return

First is to win. That is our first goal. The reason we try to stay away from numbers on the net punt average is the fact there are so many obstacles that may not allow us to achieve these goals.

If we get someone who kicks the ball in the end zone or there is a penalty after the kick, it can eschew the numbers relative to better kickoffs for the opponents. What we want is the average. The same thing is true with having a better punt return average than our opponents.

If you break down the film, you will find the special teams set up a lot of your scores. And a lot of the times the coaches do not even talk about that point. You do not build the creditability into your special teams. You tend to lose it in its perspective.

We want to give the ball to our offense at least one time on the plus 50-yard line.

There are several ways to make this happen. It could be by a punt, pressure, or on any of our kickoffs. We want our kids to understand what we want in this respect.

When we had all of the numbers as goals, such as getting the ball on the 25-yard line, or return the ball 25 yards, they do not remember those things.

On the other hand, we do not want to give our opponent the ball on our side of the ball.

We want to have perfect execution on all special team plays.

We want to have at least one game breaker.

The one point here that we think is big is to down a punt inside he 10-yard line. To us, that is a game breaker. If you do the job on defense you will probably set up a score or get into a potential scoring situation.

All of these are great goals. But the one goal that we work on more than any other is the last goal: win the hidden yardage game.

Let me categorize hidden yardage. Here we are talking about the kickoff, kickoff returns, punts, and punt returns.

We use the 25-yard line on kickoff returns and 35-yards net on punts and calculate the yards. Let me give you an example. If we have a team that kicks the ball out of the end zone on us, it means we would start the ball in play from the 20-yard line. This means we are at a minus 5 yards in hidden yards against our opponents. Conversely, if we had a kickoff that we returned to the 50-yard line, we would have a plus 25 yards on the hidden yardage.

We do the same thing on punts. We use 35 as the magic number.

If we had a punt that netted 50 yards, we would be plus 15 yards in the hidden yardage.

If you keep track of these hidden yards, you will find they make a difference in winning and losing.

Those numbers are going to come back to you better than some of the other numbers you may throw at your players when you put up your goals. You want to make sure when the players leave the meeting that they know what hidden yardage is. If you can get your players to understand hidden yardage, you are going to win a lot of battles.

We want to put some competitive goals into the special teams, so we came up with a point production chart.

On the chart we have team points and individual points. We feel it is important if you are on a particular team to have a chance to get points on the special teams.

Our long snapper came within four points of winning the award this year. Our left guard was in the top three for the special team award. So we have team points that we give out for punt and extra point as well as individual points. If you do not do this the skilled players will run away with the award.

TEAM POINTS - (10)

Score

Block a punt

Block a kick

Recover an onside kick

Successful fake

TEAM POINTS (3)

Stop a fake

Down a punt inside 10-yard line

TEAM POINTS (2)

Kickoff return of plus 30 yards

Punt return of plus 10 yards

INDIVIDUAL POINTS (10)

Cause a turnover

Recover a turnover

60-yard field position change

INDIVIDUAL POINTS (5)

Game winning field goal

Involved in 15 or more plays

INDIVIDUAL POINTS (3)

De-cleater

Tackle

Key block on return

Exceptional effort

4.0 hang time on kickoff or touchback

4.5 hand time on punt or 40-yards net with fair catch

INDIVIDUAL POINTS (2)

Assisted tackle

INDIVIDUAL POINT (1)

Doing your job on every play on a special team Victory award.

The coach who is responsible for that particular team grades the film. There is some flexibility in the system and we do have minus points. If you get a penalty you get minus 5 points. On any missed assignment you receive minus 5 points. The kids are going to see the chart on Sunday. That is the first thing we talk about in our team meeting.

We have the chart in our team room. You can see how we chart the players each week. On the left-hand side of the chart we have all of the players listed. We grade the film and give the players the points they earn in each area. On the left side of the chart are the team points and on the right side of the chart are the individual points. Also on the right outside of the chart we have the players' total points for the last game.

I think it is important to have this information displayed in the locker room so the kids can see how they are being graded on the special teams. We are trying to build some ownership in this team. This chart will help you build your case for special teams.

We have another chart where we keep a running total of all the games. Each week the kids can see where they rate on the chart. They can come into our meeting knowing they earned a certain number of points from the last game or knowing they lost a certain number of points. We think the chart is good because the kids can see where they stand game by game.

This system really works for us. It keeps our kids motivated each week about the ranking for winning the special teams trophy!

For more information about coaching football special teams go to the website listed below.

Todd Krueger is a former NFL Quarterback that was a 8th round draft pick in 1980 by the Buffalo Bills. He also played with the Houston Oilers, Minnesota Vikings and the Arizona Wranglers in the USFL.

He now runs a football coaching website at http://www.footballtools.com and quarterback training website at http://www.playqb.com were they offer low cost football coaching products such as NFL Football Playbooks, Youth Football Practice DVDs, Quarterback Training DVDs, Football Scouting Software, Football Playbook Software, Free Quarterback Drills, Football Special Teams DVDs, Football Workout DVDs, Football Practice DVDs.

You can also get a free football newsletter at the website.

Football - Special Teams

If you're a big football fan, probably one of the most frustrating things you can watch in a game is when two teams are going at it, head to head, evenly matched, no score, both defenses doing their job and then suddenly a kick off is returned 100 yards for a touchdown because a guy on special teams missed an easy tackle. The game is lost because of somebody who is on the field maybe a total of 2 minutes in a 60 minute contest. It's enough to make you pull your hair out of your head.

The truth is, special teams don't get the recognition they deserve. They aren't glamorous like a high powered offense with a star quarterback like a John Elway. They aren't in the spotlight like a famous defense led by somebody like Lawrence Taylor who was probably one of the greatest middle linebackers to ever play the game, with all his drug problems. No, special teams don't get all the glory like the other guys do, but they sure get all the blame when a kick off is returned for a touchdown, or they fumble on their own kickoff return. Special teams are under such a microscope that their coaches often lose their jobs because of big blunders on the field.

Special teams have a lot of duties to perform. They return kick offs and punts and on the other end of the spectrum, they kick off after they score and punt the ball when they don't. So many kickers have had careers ruined because of a missed field goal attempt or a blocked punt. Just recently in the playoffs a kicker missed 3 easy field goals that would have given his team the victory. Instead they went down to a bitter defeat.

Everybody has their theories as to why special teams are sometimes so dreadfully awful. One theory is that enough attention isn't given to them during training and practices. Another theory is that they just don't get enough playing time during a game and therefor don't have enough time to really get their heads and bodies into the game. Still another theory is that these guys really aren't that good. That's why they're on special teams. If they were better players they'd be on the starting offense or defense.

The truth, if there is a truth to this problem, is that it's probably a combination of all three things. Let's face it, the offense and defense is what drives each team so much more time has to be given to them. Plus, since special teams aren't on the field as much, you wouldn't give as much attention to them. As for their heads being in the game, there is no denying that these guys don't get to play as much. It's kind of like a pinch hitter coming off the bench in baseball. It's not an easy thing to do. And as far as special teams players not being the best on the field, while it is true that some players double on offense and special teams, this is the exception and not the rule. Sadly, your special teams players are not your top players.

Whatever the reason, there is no denying that many a game is lost because of special teams play. But isn't it great to watch when a special teams player wins a game for you?

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Football [http://football-guides.com]

Football Special Teams Training - How to Bust the Wedge

Special teams can make the difference in who goes home with the win and who suffers the loss.

Simply put the receiving teams job is to advance the kick off return as far down the field as possible. With a couple of key blocks, put the ball in the end zone. Setting up those key blocks starts with the wedge.

The wedge as we all know is a wall of players the return man screens behind hoping to find the opening that can spring him for big yards or a 6 point run back.

The kicking team sends down its rushers and wedge busters, running full speed, risking life and limb as they hurl their bodies at the players making up the wedge. Sometimes the wedge busters are successful, stopping big run backs. However there are many times they are not, allowing the big momentum changing run back. Momentum that can change the out come of the game.

How do we become more effective in busting the return teams blocking wedge? Don't try to run over or knock down the blockers. Instead split the blockers.

Run straight at the blocker full speed, sell him on the fact you plan to run over the top of him. No matter how skilled and practiced he is, at the last moment he will be bracing for the impact. Rather than make head to head contact, split the blockers, run between them taking the best angle to the ball carrier. Not only do you reduce injury risk to yourself, you will frequently find yourself in position to make the tackle, stopping a long kick off return and staving off any momentum changing returns, like a 6 pointer.

Are you football player or coach looking for the most current football training videos and football training equipment?

Visit http://www.scoretouchdowns.com for explosive football training videos and football training aids.

Football - Special Teams

If you're a big football fan, probably one of the most frustrating things you can watch in a game is when two teams are going at it, head to head, evenly matched, no score, both defenses doing their job and then suddenly a kick off is returned 100 yards for a touchdown because a guy on special teams missed an easy tackle. The game is lost because of somebody who is on the field maybe a total of 2 minutes in a 60 minute contest. It's enough to make you pull your hair out of your head.

The truth is, special teams don't get the recognition they deserve. They aren't glamorous like a high powered offense with a star quarterback like a John Elway. They aren't in the spotlight like a famous defense led by somebody like Lawrence Taylor who was probably one of the greatest middle linebackers to ever play the game, with all his drug problems. No, special teams don't get all the glory like the other guys do, but they sure get all the blame when a kick off is returned for a touchdown, or they fumble on their own kickoff return. Special teams are under such a microscope that their coaches often lose their jobs because of big blunders on the field.

Special teams have a lot of duties to perform. They return kick offs and punts and on the other end of the spectrum, they kick off after they score and punt the ball when they don't. So many kickers have had careers ruined because of a missed field goal attempt or a blocked punt. Just recently in the playoffs a kicker missed 3 easy field goals that would have given his team the victory. Instead they went down to a bitter defeat.

Everybody has their theories as to why special teams are sometimes so dreadfully awful. One theory is that enough attention isn't given to them during training and practices. Another theory is that they just don't get enough playing time during a game and therefor don't have enough time to really get their heads and bodies into the game. Still another theory is that these guys really aren't that good. That's why they're on special teams. If they were better players they'd be on the starting offense or defense.

The truth, if there is a truth to this problem, is that it's probably a combination of all three things. Let's face it, the offense and defense is what drives each team so much more time has to be given to them. Plus, since special teams aren't on the field as much, you wouldn't give as much attention to them. As for their heads being in the game, there is no denying that these guys don't get to play as much. It's kind of like a pinch hitter coming off the bench in baseball. It's not an easy thing to do. And as far as special teams players not being the best on the field, while it is true that some players double on offense and special teams, this is the exception and not the rule. Sadly, your special teams players are not your top players.

Whatever the reason, there is no denying that many a game is lost because of special teams play. But isn't it great to watch when a special teams player wins a game for you?

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Football [http://football-guides.com]