Coaching The “Nasties” (Young Linemen)
Asks any experienced football coach or player to name some of the best position coaches they have ever come across and you are very likely to get names of some offensive line coaches and defensive line coaches. It is not a coincidence that this cross section of coaches teach players who play across from one another. If you are out there coaching young linemen on either side of the ball, this is for you.
You will hear a lot of reasons that offensive line coaches and defensive line coaches are respected immensely by their peers and players.
Yes, they have to get a group of four or five players all on the same page in tight quarters or bad things like a sack or a 35 yard run are going to rear their ugly heads.
Of course they are both tough physical position groups who take pride in words that describe themselves as “Hogs” “Nasties” “Steel Curtain”.
They do things to one another like “Bull Rush” and “Pancake Block” and of course they do these things “In the trenches” and “Between The Tackles.
That is what I want to focus on today. Simply put, offensive linemen and defensive linemen play a game within a game and they do it in a world unto their own.
If You Coach This Group You Only Want What Is “In The Trenches” On Their Mind.
Good line coaches understand this. They condense their teaching to include only what is necessary for their players to win their battle at the line of scrimmage. Everything else is fluff.
Good line coaches don’t normally teach off of drawings or video that has a wide view. Why? Well, it’s harder to see what matters to them and the receivers and secondary often have nothing to do with their world.
If you coach the offensive line or the defensive line ask yourself this question as you watch this short video. Am I including things that are a distraction as I teach?
Watch and learn how this one simple FirstDown PlayBook coaching tool makes it simple to narrow your “Big Guys” focus “In The Trenches”.
