Drills And Fundamentals For Quarterbacks And Receivers

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roy State University would like to thank the AFCAfor allowing us to be a part of this year’s convention. Our head coach, Larry Blakeney, would like to extend an invitation to you to come visit us for our spring practice and coaches clinic. We start practice everyday at Troy State University with a 15 minute pre-practice special teams period. During this period, our quarterbacks will warm their arms up with form throws. They will line up 10 yards across from each other and loosen up for about five to seven minutes. During spring ball and summer camp we will go through the normal routine. 1. Feet together 2. Feet apart 3. Open shoulders 4. Closed shoulders 5. Step and throw 6. Plant and throw 7. Hitch and throw 8. Long ball (20, 30, 40, and 50 yards) Do not overthrow the long ball, but you must work on it to develop arm strength and accuracy. This is also a great time to work on the center/quarterback exchange. During this time, our receivers will work on stance and starts. We work hard on developing stride length. We emphasize getting up the field and closing the cushion on the defensive back. We work on three steps in five yards, five steps in 10 yards, and seven steps in 15 yards. We will also have our receivers do a set of quick foot agility drills on the ladder. After our five-minute form period, the quarterbacks and receivers will come together for PAT and GO. I think this is a great drill that allows the quarterbacks and receivers to continue to warm-up while working on throwing and catching the football. We will divide our quarterbacks and receivers in half and start on opposite sides of the field. We start on the numbers and throw across the field. We will separate the lines of receivers by 20 yards. We work on eight different fundamentals catches: 1. One hand, right hand (eyes and fingertips) [one time]. 2. One hand, left hand (eyes and fingertips) [one time]. 3. Two hand, right hand lead (stretch catch, outside shoulder) [one time]. 4. Two hand, left hand lead (stretch catch, outside shoulder) [one time]. 5. On the line (frozen rope, hands off the body) [two times].

6. Over the top (track the ball) [two times]. 7. Frontal attack (hands off the body, attack the ball) [two times]. 8. Concentration (towel, dummies/hand shields, pop-up dummies, etc.) [two times]. We use four pop-up dummies to allow the receivers to work on their releases during PAT and GO. Make sure you change the angle of the quarterbacks throw by moving his launch point from five, 10, 15 and 20 yards away from the receivers. On Mondays we will change up and have the receivers run the gauntlet going across the field. After PAT and GO, the entire team is called up for form run, stretch and announcements. Following the stretch, we have a 15 minute special teams/individual period. During this time the quarterbacks and receivers will start working together on game-specific agility drills. We work five different cone drills: Stick, Burst, Jab, Diagonal and Speed Out. The Stick drill is used to work on east and west movement. We are trying to have our receivers make a full-speed cut without rounding his break. We want the move made on three steps. This move is used on the square in, crossing and diagonal routes.

Drills and Fundamentals for Quarterbacks & Receivers

Diagram 1: Stick Drill

John Shannon Offensive Coordinator Troy State University Troy, Ala.

The Burst drill is used to work on the receivers coming back to the quarterback and coming back to the ball. We want to make the move in three steps, making sure we are driving our arms and dropping our center of gravity. This move is used in the hooks, curls, digs and seam reads.

Diagram 2: Burst Drill

• Proceedings • 79th AFCA Convention • 2002 •

The Jab drill is used to work on the receivers making a one step move getting in and out of the break going full speed. This move is used for the slant, post, flag, etc.

Diagram 3: Jab Drill

The Diagonal drill is used to work on up field change of direction. We ask the receivers to make this move as quick as possible with total body control. This drill helps us in releases, avoiding defensive contact, and change ups in route running.

Diagram 4: Diagonal Drill

The Speed Out drill is used to work on east and west speed movement. We want to make this move as close to full speed as possible. We do not want to take choppy steps. A correct speed move will take three to five yards to execute. You must learn to slightly drop your hips and shoulders while continuing your full stride.

Diagram 5: Speed Out Drill

After the cone drills, the quarterbacks and receivers split up for 10 minutes of individual work. The quarterbacks will work on different drops while throwing for accuracy into the nets. We work on the three-step drop, gun catch and throw, gun three-step drop, five-step drop, gun five-step drop, seven-step drop, scramble, sprint out,

nakeds, bootlegs, and all our different play action passes. We divide our quarterbacks into two groups and throw each different drop three times. I don’t think that you can ever work your quarterbacks too much on drops and accuracy. During this 10-minute period, our receivers will work on several different fundamentals and drills. They will rotate from the blaster, ball protection, stalk blocking, cut blocking, crack blocking, hot reads, releases, or use the jugs machine. Immediately following the 15-minute special teams/individual period, the entire offense comes together for five minutes of team takeoff (TTO). We will work a particular emphasis each day. Examples: man blitz, zone blitz, new plays, screens, two back runs from the gun, one back runs from the gun, new codes, pass protections, special plays, cadence, substitutions and changing formations, or motions. Our next 20 minutes will be with the quarterbacks and receivers working on RVA, routes versus air. We will throw individual routes working on proper alignment, route depth and adjustments. We will also work on two-man combination routes and three man combination routes. The last drill I want to talk about is the box drill. This drill allows the receivers and quarterbacks to work on beating bump and run coverage. To be a great passing team, you must be able to be successful against man blitz and bump coverage. We teach the quarterbacks to throw the ball two yards over the outside shoulder 18 to 22 yards deep, no more than 25 yards. The five-yard box forces the receivers to work to get open. We teach the receivers six important keys to beating bump and run coverage. 1. Alignment 2. Release 3. Hands 4. Get vertical 5. Look 6. Body position/stretch catch We will teach the receivers five different releases and ask them to master and use at least two of them. 1. Speed 2. Freeze 3. One step 4. Two step 5. Diamond We will teach the receivers five different hand movements. 1. Slap-slap

2. Slap-rip 3. Slap 4. Rip (strong arm) 5. Jam Through film study, we want to be able to counter inside arm pressure and outside arm pressure by the defensive backs. After five minutes of the box drill, we will have one-on-one versus the defensive backs. We script one-on-one everyday and work hard on getting 30 throws in a 10minute period. We follow one-on-one with a 25-minute pass skeleton versus our defense. We script out different field positions, working down the field and finishing with five plays from the five, four, three, two, one. We finish practice with a 40-minute team period. We break our offensive team into different situations: team runs, team pass, team screens, team blitz, team play action or team special plays. We will also break our team period down by using the different formations and motions that we have game planned. Troy State University would be happy to visit with you in more detail about how we train our quarterbacks and receivers in practice.

The American Football Coaches Association Promotes Positive Recruiting Practices All Coaches: Be positive. Talk about your institution and not other institutions. Head Coaches: If you have a recruiting problem with another institution or have rumors flying that should be stopped: Call the head coach of the institution involved and talk straight. It will eliminate a lot of problems and hard feelings towards one another.

• Proceedings • 79th AFCA Convention • 2002 •