Spring Football: Good on Good
Spring football is an interesting time of year for a coach. There is no one on your schedule for next week, not even next month. However, there you are out on the field, grinding away for two hours, three or four days a week. Odds are unless you are at Georgia, Alabama or Michigan, your spring football involves a lot of “good on good”.
Good on good is just another way of saying that your first team offense will be practicing against your first team defense. Often times you will run your scheme against one another. After all, as Nick Saban likes to say, you are trying to figure out how to get the right players on the bus, in the right seat. You are also trying to figure out who needs to not be on the bus. You are not focused on your opponents as much yet.
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A lot of young football coaches get a misconception about what their actual job will be once you get to the fall. In the spring, that young coach may be told to watch one certain player, say the strong safety. It helps to have an extra set of eyes on a player. That young coach may also be tasked to take a young player and work on a specific technique.
Spring Football Can Be Misleading For A Young Coach
As the young coach leaves spring, he feels like he has a pretty good understanding of what his job will be. At some point between walking off the field for the spring game or scrimmage, that young coach will be opened up to a whole new world. The world of scout team and the practice scout cards that go along with it shows up.
Now the young coach will be challenged with breaking down opponents on tape and getting a scout team to simulate it at practice. It is honestly the hardest job on the field. You are dealing with lesser talented and experienced players at practice every day. You must get them to do what is on the card. It is called “Giving a good look”.
Make no mistake about it, it can be intense. The young coach is now held accountable for the look that the scout team gives. Bad look equals a bad practice. Too many bad practices equal bad games. Too many bad games and…well, we all know what that means for a coaching staff. This is why who and how you do your practice cards is critical to your football program.
Bad Practices Lead To Bad Games. Too Many Bad Games Lead To…
Keep in mind that the young coaches who run your scout team will have a hundred other things on their plate once you get to the fall. Your entire staff will be pressed for time. If the proper attention is not given to this area of your football program, you have no chance. You will fail because your players will not be prepared.
So to be direct, FirstDown PlayBook offers you the best practice card solution on the market. Is this all that FirstDown PlayBook can do for your football program? No, not even close. However, as a practice card solution that will save you time and possibly save your job, it is hard to overstate the importance.
Your Assistant Coaches Know If You Care
If you are a head football coach or a coordinator, you have been there. No way you became a head coach or coordinator without running a scout team at some point. Look back on your experience and give yourself a chance this fall by practicing better. Yes, spring ball is spring ball, but the fall is coming soon. Let FirstDown PlayBook help you be ready.
