NFL Special Teams Coaches & You Have This In Common
It’s NFL training camp time and believe it or not, you’re not hearing about some of the most important competitions going on. Special teams coaches are about to make important decisions about the final 53 man roster and who gets cut. Football coaches and scouts will do battle about this over the next three weeks.
Sure, we get daily “insights” into our favorite NFL teams and their training camps. We hear about all of the stars and who will play in the pre-season games and who is holding out. You hear more about this because the people reporting have no idea about the real conversations in the coaches office.
Putting together a roster after NFL training camp is an extremely complicated thing. You are selecting your football team at the same time that every other football organization is doing the exact same thing. You are not only evaluating your players but you are also evaluating everyone else’s.
Championship High School Head Coaches Do This Too
The overall strength of the different positions on your football team also comes into play. This video critique is a grueling process that requires the scouts to not just evaluate receivers vs receivers but also receivers vs linebackers. Special teams often is the deciding factor.
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You are also evaluating how your linebacker room stacks up against the other thirty one teams. There may be fifty seven linebackers in the league better than your best linebacker. Yes, some teams might have two or three players at a position that are better than your best player!
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It is a General Manager’s job along with the Head Coach to take all of these different moving parts into consideration. My first year in the NFL with the Chicago Bears, I was extremely surprised when we cut what I felt like was a clear choice for the fifth receiver roster spot.
NFL GM’s, Head Coaches & Special Teams Coaches Are Looking Hard At This Chart. So Should You.
Turns out that the player we kept brought more value with special teams. He ended up playing on the four core phases of special teams that entire year for us. He also was available as a wide receiver if we needed him. In fact this player often dressed on game day when the fourth receiver did not.
This importance also reaches a different level 90% of the time late in the season for the NFL. Your team’s best players will more often than not, get hurt. Your NFL team is going to suffer injuries. The special teams player that survives the final cut will have progressed to a viable backup in December.
Special Teams Play A Huge Role In NFL Training Camp Roster Cuts
So what does this have to do with you as a high school football coach? You are going to have to slot your players into six special teams phases too. The video below dives into this more and if anyone is interested in hearing one of the all time best special teams coaches discuss how he approached all of this just click here. Bobby April not only talks about this but he also addresses some of the things a high school head coach needs to be aware of as he handles special teams on game day.
