youth football 9-13

Question
Bill,
I am a 1st year coach. Could you tell me what type of off + def would you use at the age brackets 9-13. Can you point me in a direction as far as drills are concerned, blocking ,tackling,footwork ..etc..... Keeping practices as productive as possible. Thanks in advance....JOE

Answer
God bless you Joe - you have taken on quite a challenge.

First go out and get "Coaching Youth Football" (Baffled Parent's Guides)by Paul Pasqualoni.  It is the best general youth football coaching guide out there (and it includes extensive sections on football drills).  Most of the best material published is really geared towards the college and junior college levl of football, but this book is geared specically towards youth football.

As to what kind of offense or defense to run:  No idea on offense - maybe after you read the above mentioned book you will havea better idea.

On defense, here is a general philosophy framework that may help you naturally decide what base defense makes the most sense:

Figure out who you are, and who your opponent is, and that will guide your defensive efforts.

Who your opponent is: Will you be facing teams that throw the ball or run the ball?  At that age, there tends to be more emphasis on the run, and less on the pass, but you may have a really dynamite football situation there, and they may be more advanced, and do a lot of passing.  Find out from other coaches in the league, are you in a "wad-ball" league or will you see a more HS game that includes pass catching wideouts and tight ends?

Who you are:  What kind of players do you have?  Do you have big kids that would be suited to the line?  Smaller, faster kids?  Kids with good instincts and high atheletic ability who can move quickly to the ball?

I think of defense as three segments: the D line, linebackers, and defensive backs.  Three segments, and they always total up to 11.  My base alignment should play to my strengths.  If I have several big, strong kids, maybe my natural strength is the defensive line, and I should run a 4-3.  Maybe I have great, mid sized kids who can really move and and flow to the ball (Linebackers), and since LB is my strength I play to that and have 4 LBs and only 3 D linemen (a 3-4 defense).  Maybe passing isn't a big part of your league, and you can run a "46 D" like the '85 Bears did (6 down lineman, two LBs, two cover corners and a safety over the top).

What I am trying to say is:  See where you are strong, and play to that, and see where you competition is weak, and exploit that.