Coach and Coordinator Podcast

Leadership Journey Show Notes: This week in the Leadership Journey series, Keith Grabowski and Brian Kight talk about the variation of effort and commitment in a team. They discuss how coaches get the effort desired from their players. Throughout the course of a season, coaches gain an idea of who is giving maximum effort and who is committed as well as those who are not. Keith and Brian discuss what that looks like and ways to respond to it. Also, how to get the effort and commitment from these players without it being overbearing to them. 02:10 Looking at effort and commitment levels from players 03:25 Feeling like you care more than the players 04:23 The different types of players 05:40 Compliant or defiant 07:27 You always want more from the players 09:05 Let go of players wanting it like you do 11:17 Be a great observer without judging 13:00 Can’t use command and control 14:33 The gap between coaches and players 15:00 Applying standards by decision 16:00 Structure and freedom 17:05 Educated freedom 20:25 Brian’s coach conversation 22:24 Most people must learn to work like a champion 22:49 Don’t view structure as control but as guidance 24:33 It’s a live dynamic 25:38 Flipping the switch 26:25 You must observe 29:05 The why scale 30:12 Being skillful with discipline 31:11 National Conference

Deliberate Practice Sharpen the Sword Show Notes: On today’s episode of deliberate practice, Keith Grabowski and Andy Ryland continue to build on the ideas of juice and momentum by talking about sharpening the sword. It is late in the season and most coaches in the country are dialing back and saving players' legs. We still want those quality reps and for your players to get something out of these practices, whether it’s for playoff preparation or confidence going into the next season. 00:20 National Conference 01:40 Juice and Momentum 06:00 Social Feedback 06:23 Sharpen the Sword 08:22 Finding the indicators on defense 09:41 Keith’s coaching example 11:00 Indicator helps everybody 11:25 Working it into practice 12:00 Fitting it into drills 14:55 Reps gained 16:13 Taking it to defense 16:22 Inside run 17:00 Working with a slot 18:50 Bringing in safeties 22:00 Art Kaufman’s practice idea 24:30 Keith’s inside example 26:06 Looking at special teams 26:28 Looking at levels 26:50 Keith’s kickoff example 28:00 Andy’s practice example 31:00 Blogs.usafootball.com 31:52 Twitter

Keith’s Coaching Notebook Show Notes: This week in Coach Grabowski’s notebook, we look at the last play of the game. This is a situation all coaches will find themselves in at some point during a season. It’s often something that can be overlooked until you’re in the situation. Keith provides some options for coaches to use in this situation and how to execute these plays. 01:12 Keep your composure 02:05 Situations 03:05 Big Ben Hail Mary 06:30 Little Ben 07:26 Hook and ladder 09:45 Rugby technique add Video 10:10 How to practice this weekly 13:00 Think of the situations 13:50 Twitter: @FBdevcoach 14:00 Football Development 14:05 National Conference

The Game Plan Show Notes: This week in the Game Plan series, co-host Keith Grabowski and Charlie Coiner discuss the defensive side of the ball. They have former FBS defensive coordinator, Art Kaufman on the program. He gives great perspective on how to defend the option game, up-tempo and checks on defense. He reminisces to his coordinator days facing some of the best option attacks and some of what worked for him to defend it. Having a wealth of knowledge in this style of defense, coach Kaufman gives specific examples and ideas that can apply to defenses going forward. 02:05 Art Kaufman bio 05:00 Recognizing formations and what they can do 08:33 2 high and 1 high vs. option 10:12 Breaking down defensive line technique 11:40 You have power or position 14:00 Dealing with up-tempo 16:30 Always check the sideline 18:18 All on the same page 19:05 Coach Coiner’s story 21:00 Commit to what they commit to 22:30 Take your scheme and adjust 24:00 Assignment football 25:15 Unique practice ideas 28:30 Coach Kaufman & Coiner’s Music City memory 32:10 Find a way to keep it simple 32:40 First Down Playbook

This is the weekly breakdown of USA Football's Coach and Coordinator Podcast Series by Keith Grabowski. These short clips highlight snippets of what the episodes from the week feature and the different guests on the show. Highlights from this week on Coach and Coordinator: The Game Plan - Taylor Mehlhaff, Kicking Specialist Coach Grabowski's Notebook -3rd Down Deliberate Practice - Momentum Smart Coaching - Effective Coaching for coaches Coach Grabowski's Notebook - Opening Series

Coach Grabowski’s Notebook Show Notes: We go back into Keith’s notebook to look at how he establishes an opening sequence. He refers to some ideas he got from Bill Walsh’s article about game planning. Keith explained what worked well for him while coaching in the college and high school level while providing those examples. 00:30 Bill Walsh and Brian Billick influence 01:45 You can plan before gameday 02:20 Establish Formations 02:45 Establish base offense 03:33 Establishing sequence 04:30 Using wristbands 05:05 Ian Shoemaker’s influence 06:40 Keith’s opener examples 07:15 Using technology for game planning 09:00 What Keith was looking for 11:20 Getting buy in from coaches 13:20 National Conference

Smart Coaching Effective Coach Show Notes: This week in the smart coaching series, co-hosts Keith, Dr. Gearity and Dr. Kuklick follow up last week’s show about the athlete’s perception of effective coaching to the coaches directly. Common knowledge would tell coaches to focus on the technical and tactical things, but the job demands so much more. Keith asks for ways to help coaches develop in being more effective, and the doctors provide insight from the research. The doctors harp that coaches should study themselves while also getting insight from various sources to help them be more effective. 02:15 Keith’s observation of coaches 04:00 Keys to effective coaching 04:50 Looking at knowledge areas 07:55 Abusive coaching 08:30 Think about the athlete 10:00 Media representation of coaches 11:25 Integrating knowledge and character traits 12:12 Mentoring relationships 14:00 Keith’s different coaching example 16:00 Finding the coaching relationships 17:45 Understanding why? 19:30 Coach each other up 20:20 Being open-minded 21:30 How can coaches develop the staff? 25:15 Diversity in the organization 26:30 Different lenses in reflection 28:50 Film as a resource 30:30 Strategies to overcome barriers 33:40 Eclectic approach to coaching 35:45 Final thoughts

Deliberate Practice Momentum Show Notes: On this weeks Deliberate Practice Keith Grabowski and Andy Ryland follow last week’s topic of juice with momentum. How can coaches have the momentum needed in practice to get quality reps in practice without the extra collision? Keith and Andy talk about some unique ways to get as those reps without the extra collisions. They provide resources from coaches as well as our football development site that can give new ideas to coaches that they can implement right now. 02:00 Andy’s thought of momentum 03:30 Losing the contact but keeping the quality 04:10 Keith’s work with shields 08:20 Coaches using bags 09:15 Adding the elastic bands 10:55 Making the drill real 11:48 Using the physioball 13:35 Getting that force with little to no collision 16:00 Extra point and field goal 17:15 Using distraction for focus 18:30 King of the ring drill 20:40 Resources 21:55 Twitter 22:00 Football Development

Coaches Notebook Show Notes: This week in Coach Grabowski’s notebook, Keith lets us into his idea of effectively managing 3rd down, and highlighting downs and distances with different plays available to cater to those situations. He talks about the importance of working these situations into the practice week, and even resources his personal call sheet that he utilized on 3rd downs. 01:15 Game plan in sections 01:35 3rd-and-long or extra long 03:15 3rd-and-medium 03:50 Maintain timing 04:07 Stick route example 06:25 3rd-and-short 07:08 Have an idea of what the defense is doing 07:20 Breaking sections into playlist 09:27 Game plan in practice 10:00 3rd-and-extra long 10:55 Work in practice 2 & 3 11:26 3rd-and-long 12:10 Watch flow and continuum 12:50 3rd-and-medium 13:13 Looking for opportunities 13:50 3rd-and-short 14:45 Work in team period in practice 2 & 3 15:35 Keith’s mindset going into gameday 16:16 1st practice work base, quick game and play action. 16:43 2nd practice red zone, goal line and 3rd down. 17:20 Bring the chains out for situational practice 17:40 3rd practice simulate drives 18:30 Work a section of 1st 19:15 Work a section of 1st 19:30 Coaches to thank 20:25 Keith’s call sheet 20:40 National conference

Show Notes This week on the Game Plan series, co-hosts Keith Grabowski and Charlie Coiner get some in depth knowledge on coaching specialists. The coaches talk to specialist coach Taylor Mehlhaff, who himself has had great success in his career as an All-American kicker with the Wisonsin Badgers and then the Saints and Vikings. Coach Mehlhaff gives some specifics on how to coach up the specialists. He breaks down specifics to give those players quality reps in practice to be successful going into games. Prior to the 2017 season, Mehlhaff was selected to attend the NCAA and NFL Coaches Academy, an event aimed at assisting in the development of up-and-coming college coaches. He is one of the greatest kickers in Wisconsin Badgers history. Mehlhaff was twice a Lou Groza Award semifinalist. He earned first-team All-America honors and was named first-team All-Big Ten when he converted 21 of 25 field goals as a senior in 2007 before being selected in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints. 00:50 Taylor Mehlhaff intro 02:50 Mehlhaff bio 05:55 Working with specialists 06:30 Workshop in Wisconsin 08:04 Maximize the specialists time 11:44 Putting the guys in position to have success 12:00 Getting all the feedback possible 13:25 Letting the player know his importance 15:30 Using specialist in O/D practice 18:00 Watching the reps 19:30 Game like reps 21:00 Importance of being fresh 23:00 Working in field goal 25:00 Virtual reality work? 25:45 Be good with your eyes 26:44 Timeout to ice the kicker 29:30 Place kicker drills 30:00 There’s no one right way to kick 31:00 Visualize the steps for muscle memory 32:10 Practice it the right way. 33:50 Steps are foundation 34:30 Control the steps 35:00 Working the 90-degree angle 37:00 The longer the approach the more room for error 37:33 Making good contact 39:55 Punting 40:30 Make it your job 41:10 Working on the flat drop 42:15 The catch 43:30 The swing 45:00 The more linear you are the more consistent you are 46:25 Monitor your specialists 47:20 Getting an organized plan 48:00 Focus on the small mechanics 49:15 First Down Playbook

This is the weekly breakdown of USA Football's Coach and Coordinator Podcast Series by Keith Grabowski. These short clips highlight snippets of what the episodes from the week feature and the different guests on the show. Highlights from this week on Coach and Coordinator: The Game Plan - Steve Fairchild, Former NFL Coordinator & College Head Coach Coach Grabowski's Notebook - Redzone Deliberate Practice - Juice Smart Coaching - Effective coaching to athletes Leadership Journey - Elite Coaching

Leadership Journey Show Notes On today’s episode of the leadership journey Keith and Brian talk to coaches about the gap between average and elite coaches. They go past the Xs and Os to find a deeper reasoning of why so many coaches even with success miss the mark of elite. They express how having behavioral skills are what push coaches to the elite level and give examples of those who have succeeded in those skills. 01:03 James Franklin great to elite 02:05 What separates average from elite 03:55 Behavior skills 04:55 Job skills are for your effectiveness behavioral skills are for your excellence 06:05 An average coach can have a job 07:55 Ability to create discipline 08:50 Wins and losses count 10:15 The NFL’s elite 12:10 Its not the quick fixes 12:40 Who has the behavioral skills 13:35 Coaches get too locked in and lose it 14:10 Zero in on the behavior skills 17:00 Thinking command and control is the answer 17:50 What do you obtain from control 19:15 Trying to force discipline 20:40 Urgency with patience and empathy with understanding 22:00 Under every tactical execution there are behavior skills involved 23:00 3 categories of behavioral skills 25:00 The kids behavior skills come from the coach’s behavioral skills 26:35 Learn by doing 27:00 National Conference

Smart Coaching Show Notes: Keith and the doctors investigate the athletes’ perception of effective coaching. The coach and athlete relationship are one of the strongest in a person’s life and the impact is larger than the sport. They point out the importance of having balance in being personable and teaching athletes. Dr. Gearity gives insight from his personal research on players dealing with what they believe were less affective coaches. Dr. Kuklick also added supportive knowledge from academic research and points out what coaches should be aware of in that instance. This information is useful for such an important relationship and what coaches may overlook while in the profession. 00:50 Keith’s observation 02:35 Dr. Kuklick relates it to the research 03:40 Dr. Gearity’s research 04:32 Leadership scale for sport 04:55 Always difference in perception 05:20 Quality instruction 05:30 Democratic behavior 06:00 Positive feedback/reward 06:22 Scolding behavior 06:30 Cohesion 06:45 Social support 07:00 The perception of tough love 08:35 Being mindful of abusive behaviors 10:05 Breaking down what effective coaching is 10:50 Effective coaching according to the research 12:05 Dr. Gearity’s research on athletes’ experience of poor coaching 13:40 7 Qualities of great coaches 14:00 Qualities of poor coaches 15:10 Keith’s example of good coaching 16:30 How to get perception from the athletes 18:00 See the signs from the athlete 18:20 Gerald McCoy quote 18:45 Balance the instruction and empathy 19:30 Motivation displacement 20:10 Think about the care of the athletes 23:15 Relationships with private coaches 27:30 Practical effective coaching

Deliberate Practice Juice: This week in deliberate practice Keith and Andy talk about having juice as a team. One of the biggest things during a long and hard-fought season is keeping high energy. As coaches you want to see your team be high energy guys to keep morale high in the team, but that’s not always the case. So, Keith and Andy provide different tips and ideas of how coaches can achieve this idea during the season. 01:35 Internalizing juice 02:15 Players bringing juice 03:15 Practical stories with juice 04:10 Letting players take ownership 06:15 Player buy in creating motivation 07:15 Keith’s practical example 09:15 Work on your own time 10:42 Beware of surface coaching 11:15 Hold on to getting better 11:35 How to apply getting better personally 13:10 What happens when the goals disappear 13:40 Get into the players internal drive 14:10 Coaching juice 15:10 Don’t get comfortable 16:30 Make the individual goals stay within team 17:00 Watch adding more 19:35 Be who you are 21:20 Trick plays 22:30 Football development 23:30 Twitter information

Keith Grabowski’s Coaches Notebook Show Notes: This week in Keith’s coaching notebook he talks about the red zone. This is where every team want s to capitalize and come away with points. A lot of teams find themselves struggling to be efficient due to lack of creativity and personnel issues. Keith explains some of his personal favorite concepts when working into and within the red zone. He gives some great resources of how you can enhance your red zone efficiency and put some of these ideas into your game plan going forward. 00:50 Notes from Steve Fairchild 01:25 Keith’s method in red zone 02:30 4 vertical package 03:30 Ideally want to carry plays without adjustments 04:25 Thinking about pre-red zone 35-25 yard line 04:50 Andrew Coverdale insight 06:00 High red zone 25-18 yard line 07:20 Working 17-12 yard line 07:30 Work horizontally 07:50 Working 11-18 yard line 08:24 Protected play action 09:05 Personnel and formations 09:50 Looking at goal line passes 7yd to the endzone 10:14 Working 2pt plays 10:38 Specific packages 11:50 Empty red zone package 12:10 3 by 2 empty set 12:45 Keith’s play call 25-17 yard line 19:20 Including a quick route 20:00 Adding the draw 22:50 Thinking overtime concepts 23:30 Include 7on7 in red zone practice 24:00 Get reps 24:30 Football development 25:00 National Conference