Coach and Coordinator Podcast

The “Movement Myagi,” Shawn Myszka, joins Keith Grabowski on the Coach and Coordinator Podcast for a weekly segment highlighting an NFL play of the week from a functional movement perspective. Myszka discusses the play from a perspective of what movements the player performed and then extracts and gives tips for coaches to allow them to make their players better in game situations. Keith adds the football coach’s perspective in how those suggestions fit into practice. Show notes :48 introducing the player of the week 1:02 movement skill executed highlights need for movement authenticity in training and practice 1:52 The play - 3rd and 19 for the Eagles 2:41 Agholor barely breaks stride 3:02 Agholor stiff-arm and move 3:55 The spin move 5:00 The play highlights the need for creativity within movement 5:35 The need to create opportunities to problem solve and be creative 6:28 A favorite way to design a drill to simulate this 7:21 The work space for the drill 7:53 Manipulating the drill so no two reps are the same 8:46 A more representative learning environment 10:15 Focus on staying on the move on a deep ball 10:43 Pump the arms to the ball and shoot the hands 11:00 Drills to work the hands 11:11 Replicating the angle of the deep ball efficiently in practice

State Champion: Rick Jones, Greenwood (Arkansas) High School coach by USA Football

Brian Kight and Keith Grabowski team up for this special Leadership Journey edition of the USA Football Coach and Coordinator podcast. This podcast will occur weekly throughout the season, focusing on issues that teams face during the season. Kight, the CEO of Focus 3, discusses the how to handle stress in today’s podcast. Show notes 1:33 The “survival” mentality 5:18 Viewing “just get through it” mindset as a weakness 6:55 Acknowledging personal struggle is a strength 9:22 What lights your fire? 11:47 Understanding emotions 15:52 Kight’s “Post-dramatic growth” idea 22:24 Foundation for managing stress 25:22 Fear, anger and love 30:57 3 takeaways for the survival coach 34:49 “We need great coaches” 35:04 The practices of the elite 38:12 The USA Football national conference

Today’s Coach and Coordinator podcast, The Game Plan, features former coach Terry Shea, who does consulting work for future NFL Draft prospects. He’s served as the Chicago Bears offensive coordinator as well as quarterbacks coach for the Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins and St. Louis Rams. The Game Plan is a weekly in-season feature that shares thematic ideas that can help coaches and teams once the season begins. Today’s focus will be on how to approach the last part of the season. Show notes 1:40 How to approach the last quarter of the season 3:58 Going back to old material 5:23 Maintaining focus 7:08 Determining when to practice without gear 9:02 USA Football’s Practice Smart course 11:47 Keeping the mental edge 15:26 Changing the coaching staff routine 18:24 Discuss film with the whole staff 20:09 How to boost team morale

Rich Alercio, head coach at St. Johnsbury Academy (Vermont), joins today’s USA Football Coach and Coordinator podcast with Keith Grabowski to discuss game scripting and communication. Show notes :46 Top tendencies to look for in an opponent’s defense 1:44 Alercio’s scripting philosophy 4:02 Working the script closer to game day 6:56 Methods of communication 10:33 Concerns with signaling 13:43 Two-minute periods 16:02 Scripting the last play of the game 18:07 Addressing the team after a game 20:46 Preparing breakfast for the team

Today’s guest on the USA Football Coach and Coordinator podcast is Tony Testa. He is the offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator at West Virginia Wesleyan. In addition to successes on the field, Testa guided an academic turnaround that improved the team GPA by .8. He also helms WVWC Football’s community service initiative, which has accumulated over 2,000 man hours of community service in the past 15 months. He previously worked as an offensive consultant and running backs coach at Baldwin Wallace University. In the podcast, he discusses the OODA Loop concept, communication and team culture. Show notes 1:14 The OODA Loop military concept 4:45 Breaking down West Virginia Wesleyan’s offense 7:32 Teaching players quick communication and ownership 12:05 Go Army Edge and other virtual reality tools 14:53 How Testa sets up film meetings 17:50 Getting the most out of walk-throughs 21:33 Building team culture 25:45 The winning edge

The “Movement Myagi,” Shawn Myszka, joins Keith Grabowski on the Coach and Coordinator Podcast for a weekly segment highlighting an NFL play of the week from a functional movement perspective. Myszka discusses the play from a perspective of what movements the player performed and then extracts and gives tips for coaches to allow them to make their players better in game situations. Keith adds the football coach’s perspective in how those suggestions fit into practice. Show notes 1:00 introducing the play 1:45 a wider movement toolbox - carrying it out at the right time 2:25 possessing tremendous movement skill as a big man 2:40 The play 2nd-and-6 3:30 The agility skills of Blount - interaction with safety at 34-yard line 4:15 Several options available for which Blount finds the right tool 4:50 Affordances of action - what does the problem present? 6:08 Keeping the defensive back hesitating 6:23 The “Beast Mode” stuff 6:57 Skill acquisition carry over 7:14 Authentic movement for useable, problem solving, movement skill 8:05 Advocate for emergence of movement signatures for players 9:02 Representative task learning - how closely does training act and look like the game? 9:56 LeGarrette Blount at the NFL Combine 10:45 Make the practice environment and offseason tasks more like the game 11:45 Game applicability - creating downhill runners 12:31 Drill to create downhill runners with young running backs 14:30 Get exposure toward scanning the environment 14:50 Resources for this drill

Guest Shawn Liotta sits down with Keith Grabowski in this episode of the USA Football Coach and Coordinator podcast. Liotta, who served as the offensive coordinator for Clairton (Pennsylvania) when it scored 958 points during the 2014 season, pulls back the curtain on his offensive philosophy, which all starts with the Jet Sweep. Now the head coach at Albert Gallatin (Uniontown, Pennsylvania), Liotta also discusses how he keeps his team accountable and use of RPO. Show notes :55 Holding players accountable for their academics 4:48 Adding value to players’ future 5:41 Conditioning without running sprints 8:02 Using shifts and scatters 12:41 Limiting verbiage in play calls 14:48 Defenses that struggle with Liotta’s offense

Brian Kight and Keith Grabowski team up for this special Leadership Journey edition of the USA Football Coach and Coordinator podcast. This podcast will occur weekly throughout the season, focusing on issues that teams face during the season. Kight, the CEO of Focus 3, discusses the challenges adversity in today’s podcast. Show notes :55 Opportunity and adversity :3:25 Adversity is different for everyone 7:52 Coaching staff will face different types of adversity 10:23 Processing and training for adversity 13:40 Formula for success: E+R=O 15:05 Examples of adversity training 17:32 Putting pressure on variable moments 22:12 Skills needed to overcome adversity 24:35 Detach from the event of adversity 27:19 Maintaining a healthy perspective

Today’s Coach and Coordinator podcast, The Game Plan, features former coach Terry Shea, who does consulting work for future NFL Draft prospects. He’s served as the Chicago Bears offensive coordinator as well as quarterbacks coach for the Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins and St. Louis Rams. The Game Plan is a weekly in-season feature that shares thematic ideas that can help coaches and teams once the season begins. Today’s focus will be on how to implement and defend trick plays in a game. Show notes 1:32 How trick plays give you an edge in a game 3:15 Communicating special plays to your team 7:05 Shea’s tips for practicing trick plays 11:20 Creating a trick play with the right personnel 14:18 When to call the play 19:14 Using a special play after a turnover 21:35 How to defend special plays 26:55 Discipline defense and overtime periods 27:39 Favorite trick plays

Jordan Neal joins the podcast today to discuss his prodigious offense at Hendrix College (Conway, Ark.). Neal, the program’s offensive coordinator and assistant head coach, pulls back the curtain on his offense that averaged more than 600 yards per game in 2016. He gives tips for game planning and play calling in the podcast. Show notes :52 Setting weekly goals 3:41 Mapping out the opponent 6:02 Game planning the 3rd and 4th down 10:40 Tips for play calling 18:04 Goals for games 20:06 Explosive and efficient plays 22:57 The winning edge

Mark Speckman joins today’s USA Football Coach and Coordinator podcast. Speckman has more than 36 years experience in coaching football, and currently serves as the assistant head coach at UC Davis. In the podcast, he discusses halftime adjustments, game day communication, and perimeter blocking. Show notes 1:10 Effective communication on game day 3:49 Process for making halftime adjustments 7:06 Delegating coaching staff duties and recruiting volunteers 10:56 How to share information with players 13:50 Practicing perimeter blocking 17:57 The winning edge

The “Movement Myagi,” Shawn Myszka, joins Keith Grabowski on the Coach and Coordinator Podcast for a weekly segment highlighting an NFL play of the week from a functional movement perspective. Myszka discusses the play from a perspective of what movements the player performed and then extracts and gives tips for coaches to allow them to make their players better in game situations. Keith adds the football coach’s perspective in how those suggestions fit into practice. Show notes 2:00 Looking at the play through a different lens 2:18 Washington Redskins’ Chris Thomas about to be a breakout star 2:40 Comparison to Percy Harvin 3:12 The play: late third quarter, 3rd & 19 3:38 Just get the ball to the most dynamic player in space 7:22 What can we learn from this play 7:38 How to surf along the acceleration-to-deceleration continuum 9:28 Training acceleration from different body positions 10:47 Changing acceleration in context to accumulate repetitions 11:40 working on game application 11:50 Using skill sets as part of strategy 12:20 Drilling plays without contact 12:55 Screen drill 13:16 Simulation in smaller area and less of a run 14:38 How do you deal with a defender who has an angle?

Today’s guest on the USA Football Coach and Coordinator podcast is Dr. Greg Myer. He is the Director of Research and The Human Performance Laboratory for the Division of Sports Medicine at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. He maintains his primary faculty appointment in the departments of Pediatrics and Orthopaedic Surgery in the College of Medicine at the University of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Over the past decade, Dr. Myer has published over 240 articles in peer-reviewed medical journals and has published books and several book chapters related to his research on the biomechanics of knee injuries, sports performance and knee injury prevention training. In the podcast, he discusses ACL injuries and his research on preventing brain injuries. Show notes 2:16 Preventing ACL injuries 5:04 Preparing athletes for sports 6:20 Integrating injury prevention into practice 10:12 Research on head injuries 14:03 Wearing a collar to protect the brain

Brian Kight and Keith Grabowski team up for this special Leadership Journey edition of the USA Football Coach and Coordinator podcast. This podcast will occur weekly throughout the season, focusing on issues that teams face during the season. Kight, the CEO of Focus 3, discusses distractions in today’s podcast. 1:47 Homecoming is a potential distraction 3:28 Apple Watches and finding clarity on what to focus on 7:57 How to block distractions 13:20 Training players on how to focus 15:08 3 tips to processing distractions 17:41 Eliminating doubt 21:15 Choosing to be distracted 23:03 “Snow plow” parents 25:06 Distractions are valuable in choosing what matters 28:23 Build confidence in your team 30:22 Handling anxiety 33:54 “Attention is not captured, it’s given”