03sm Rick Coles

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would like to thank the Summer Manual Committee and the American Football Coaches Association for the opportunity to present this article. The AFCA Summer Manual, as well as the other AFCApublications, has been an important source of learning and inspiration for me in my 18 years as a member of the AFCA. I am privileged to share some thoughts with the membership. I am a firm believer in teaching movement skills in a progression. Motor learning and educational research demonstrates that the building of skills upon previously learned skills, gradually building into the whole skill, leads to more complete and permanent learning. Buck Nystrom’s drive block progression is a great example of this concept. His principles guided the development of this pass protection progression. My college offensive line coaches, Roger Schlegel and Rick Hartzell, along with many others, have influenced my thinking and teaching of offensive line play. One last thought before I get into the progression. I do not teach holding. At the risk of sounding sanctimonious, I believe it is unethical to teach illegal “little secrets”to your players. Not only are you encouraging (demanding?) your players to break the rules of football by doing this, you are giving them the green light to break rules (laws) in other areas of their life to gain an unfair advantage. Holding is a crutch for poor footwork and lack of effort. The first phase of the teaching progression is the hand fit and punch. We teach a thumbs up-fingers out punch. This allows some lateral control, with the hands less likely to slip off. The blow is to be delivered with the heels of the hands at the base of the defender ’s chest plate. We emphasize a narrow punch. If the punch is too wide, the hands may slide off the ribs of the defender. A punch that is too high can cause the hands to slide off the top of the shoulder pads. Knees: The blocker assumes a position on his knees, with the defender across from him also on his knees. The blocker sits back on his heels to get as low as possible, but with his chest tall and eyes up. The defender is a tall as possible on his knees to simulate proper leverage. The blocker then fits his hands onto the defender to develop the feel for where they should be. As with all phases of pass protection, the blocker’s eyes are focused on the defender’s chest plate base. The block-

er then retracts his hands six inches (the “six inch punch”) and punches through the base of the chest plate. As he punches, he pulls his eyes back, and does not lean forward with his upper body. This is an important point of emphasis. The blocker’s facemask should never touch the defender in pass protection. If the facemask is that close, then the defender is too close and the blocker is beat. We have the blocker freeze in his punched-out position to check his body position. Feet: We then put the blocker on his feet in a pass protection position. The outside foot (power foot) is back, so that the toe of the outside foot is slightly farther back than the heel of the inside or up foot. The weight on the outside/back foot should be on the meat of the foot, with daylight under the heel. The inside/front foot is nearly flat, with the bulk of the weight on the meat of the foot. The feet are slightly wider than shoulder width, and the knees are flexed. They must “sit down in the chair” with their rear end “between their knees.” This position gives the blocker stability in four directions. The power foot resists up field pressure, the front foot balances the defender’s pull, and the width of the feet help resist being thrown laterally. The rear end being “between the knees” lowers the center of gravity, which increases the stability of the blocker. We want an arched back, with chest and eyes up. The eyes should never get higher than the defender’s chin. If they do, the defender gains the leverage advantage and will win that battle. The hands are carried high, not at the waist. The blocker must be ready to punch at any time. Once the position is established, the blocker again fits his hands on the standing defender’s chest plate bottom, retracts them six inches, and punches as he pulls his eyes back, and freezes to check body position. The punch comes from the shoulders, not the torso. Overextension will get him beat. The “force” of the punch mentally comes from the power foot (back/outside leg). The up/inside leg provides balance. We then have the blocker assume his pass protection position and back the defender up two yards. The defender walks toward the blocker. When the defender is within the “six-inch punch” range, the blocker punches, pulls his eyes back, and freezes to check position. We repeat this several times, with the defender coming

Teaching Pr ogr e ssio n for Pass Protection

faster each time. This teaches the blocker the proper timing of the punch, as well as the delicate balance of punching forcefully without becoming overextended. The second phase in the progression is the stance and set. Because we also run the ball a great deal, we use a balanced three-point stance with the weight evenly distributed between the hand and feet. The outside foot is back (toe even with the up foot’s instep to heel) and the outside hand is down. This facilitates dropping the outside foot (power foot) back and out in pass protection. The feet are arm-pit width apart in their stance. This is a narrower stance than some teach. I want our players to be able to move out of their stance laterally as well as forward and back. Too wide of a stance hinders this. We do widen our feet on contact in a drive block, and widen them on a pass set. But they don’t have to have a wide stance to have wider feet after they come out of their stance. Set vs. Air: We have the blocker assume his three-point stance. On cadence, he snaps out of his stance into pass protection position. To accomplish the movement, the blocker drops and widens his outside foot while SNAPPING his hands up into the “ready-to-punch” position, “sitting on the chair” with chest and eyes up. He freezes in this position to check body position and balance. Quick Set Drill: Getting out of the stance and into pass protection position as quickly as possible with hands up ready to deliver a punch is a must. To drill this, we place a stand-up defender as tightly as possible across from the blocker in his three-point stance. On the snap count (which the defender knows), the blocker snaps out of his stance properly and punches the defender who is trying to drive his chest through the blocker’s nose. When the blocker delivers his punch, both blocker and defender freeze to check the blocker’s body, hand and eye (pulled back) position. If the blocker does not snap out of his stance and get his chest, eyes and hands up with his tail between his knees, the defender will knock him on his rear. This also cures blocker of setting by stepping forward with the inside foot rather than backward with the outside foot. After we have repeated this a few times, and for the rest of the season, we execute this drill without a helmet (the rusher also is not wearing a helmet, which prevents head col-

Matt Trickey (No. 10) was fourth in the nation in Division III in pass efficiency, and the Ripon offense ranked 15th nationally in total offense. lisions. The defender is simply trying to drive his chest through the blocker). If you want to teach a blocker to set quickly and pull his eyes back as he punches, there is no quicker or better way that I have found than to have him do it without a helmet. In addition to being a practice drill, this is one of our pre-game warm-up drills, which we also do without a helmet. I got this drill from Kirk Ferentz, head coach at Iowa, when he was the offensive line coach at Iowa and I was at Coe College in the late ‘80’s. It has been a great drill over the years. The third phase of the progression is incorporating the above with foot movement. Quick Set and Shadow Drill: To teach proper footwork and body position after the punch, we do the quick-set drill between five-yard lines. After the punch, the defender shuffles back and forth between the lines while leaning on the blocker. The blocker must maintain a locked-out punch position and kick-slide laterally while maintaining bent knees, outside foot back, proper foot relationship, chest up, eyes up and back and lower than the defender’s chin, reacting and changing direction in response to the defender. Effort on the part of the defender is essential in this drill. Shadow-Punch Drill: To train proper shadow before the punch, and reinforce proper timing of the punch, the defender is off the line two yards. The blocker quick sets against air. The defender moves back and forth on the coach’s direction as the

blocker shadows the defender. On the coach’s signal, the defender sprints into the blocker attempting to drive his chest through the blocker. The blocker punches and freezes when the blocker gets within the “six-inch punch” range. The coach checks for proper punch (eyes up and pulled back), no lunge, and proper balance. Push-Pull Drill: One of the most difficult reactions for the blocker is when the defender uses a “push-pull” technique to get the blocker off balance. When the defender pulls, we simply want the blocker to run up the defender’s toes, pushing hard with his hands, and fighting to keep his eyes up. The defender is taking himself away from the quarterback, so there is no sense in fighting it. Maintaining balance is the key. When the defender pushes, the blocker drops his hips, eyes lower than the defender’s chin, power foot back, and resists. To drill this, we have a defender lock up with the blocker, put the blocker in good initial position, and then the defender pushes and pulls on his own. Again, great effort by the defender is a must. We look for and correct body position, hand position, chest position, power foot position and relationship to the up foot, and eye position. Note on the Pass Set: In real situations, the defender will line up in a variety of positions; head up, inside shade, outside shade, and wide outside. We want the blocker to pass set so that his crotch is on the inside number of the defender. This sometimes

means a two, or even three-step set. If the defender is tight inside shade, the blocker slide steps with the inside foot and step back (and possibly in) with his outside (power) foot to achieve proper position on the defender, with power foot back. If the defender is head up, it is a similar set, but the steps are small. For a tight outside defender, we simple “quick set” because we already have crotch to inside number relationship by alignment. For a wide outside defender, we kick step with the power foot and slide step with the inside foot to achieve proper alignment on the defender prior to the punch (ShadowPunch Drill). The wider the defender, the more “kick-slides” we take, and the more we will move off the line (usually the offensive tackles). We want to stay on the inside number of the defender. If we get beat, it had better be to the outside.Never get beat inside. We want the guards and center to take on the defender as close to the line of scrimmage as possible. Run or Pass Drill: One concern is that the offensive lineman will change his stance slightly for a run or a pass, tipping

the defense. To try to combat this, we do a drill that forces the blocker to become comfortable using the same stance regardless of the play call. We put the blocker in his stance with a hand-held shield across from him. After the blocker is in his stance, the coach declares if it is a run or a pass. If it is a run, he drive blocks the shield on the snap count. If it is a pass, the quick set drill is done on the snap count. Keys are to look for any subtle shift in weight or posture after the run or pass is declared, and the proper execution of the appropriate technique from the stance. The fourth phase of the pass protection progression is live one-on-one and fiveon-four. An offensive lineman cannot learn to pass block without doing it live ... a lot! During the pre-season, we go live pass pro/rush vs. the defensive line nearly every practice after we have taught the previous progression phases and drilled them vs. offensive linemen. During the season, we go live vs. the defensive line twice a week early, and once a week later (Ripon is a Division III college and therefore does not have spring practice).

The drill is as follows. The offensive line takes their normal alignment with normal splits, with a defensive lineman across from each. We go one on one down the line. Then, the defense takes their alignment, and we go five on four, working twists/stunts. This is where we get the majority of our twist/stunt pick-up work. The defense obviously has the advantage in this drill, but I don’t care. If we can win in this situation, we can win on Saturday when the defense doesn’t know what’s coming, and screens and draws must be accounted for. Talking Points: If your eyes are down, you’re beat. If your feet stop, you’re beat. If your eyes are higher than the defender’s chin, you’re beat. Pass protection is a whole lot of “want to”. It’s effort, tenaciousness, and just plain refusing to get beat. I hope you have been able to take something from this article that will be useful. If you would like more information or I can be of assistance in any way, please email me at [email protected] or call me at 920-748-8773.

Caution Your Team About Player Agents A problem for all coaches is the proliferation of agents and would-be agents who seek to make agreements with players prior to the completion of their eligibility. The activity of these people has increased, and it is imperative that all of the consequences of making an agreement with an agent are known by your players. Contact with players by agents almost always is done without the knowledge of the coach. Some agents openly admit they will continue to make contacts and agreements with players before their final season has been completed. This could lead to forfeiture of games. Some agents are advising players not to risk injury by playing. Your players must be warned about this problem. Do it more than once.

American Football Coaches Association Code of Ethics Summary “The ultimate success of the principles and standards of this Code depends on those for whom it has been established — the football coaches.” Ever since the AFCA adopted its first formal Code of Ethics in 1952, the organization has had a keen awareness of its importance and has done all in its power to keep the public aware of the AFCA’s concern with morality and integrity.

“PURPOSE: The Code of Ethics has been developed to protect and promote the best interests of the game and the coaching profession. Its primary purpose is to clarify and distinguish ethical and approved professional practices from those considered detrimental.

A complete copy of the Code of Ethics is sent to every member.Vital tenets include:

“Its secondary purpose is to emphasize the purpose and value of football and to stress the proper functions of coaches in relation to schools, players and the public.”

“PREAMBLE: The distinguishing characteristic of a profession is its dedication to the service of humanity. “Those who select football coaching must understand that the justification for football lies in its spiritual and physical values and that the game belongs, essentially, to the players.

The AFCA Code of Ethics deals at length with the following subject areas: Article One: Responsibilities to players Article Two: Responsibilities to the institution

“The welfare of the game depends on how the coaches live up to the spirit and letter of ethical conduct and how the coaches remain ever mindful of the high trust and confidence placed in them by their players and the public.

Article Three: Rules of the game

“Coaches unwilling or unable to comply with the principles of the Code have no place in the profession...

Article Six: Scouting

“The Code should be studied regularly by all coaches and its principles should always be followed. Violations of the Code should be reported to the Ethics Committee.”

Article Eight: Game day and other responsibilities

Article Four: Officials Article Five: Public Relations

Article Seven: Recruiting

Article Nine: Acceptance of all-star assignments and other all-star coaching honors

Be A Responsible Member Of The Football Coaching Profession Follow The AFCA Code Of Ethics