The Eyes are the Window to Good Football

      It's been great to get back on the field coaching after a season recuperating.  One of the big challenges, I had when watching from afar last season was actually vision. I didn't see things as clearly as I had in years past.

A quick test - Can you find the fault along the offensive line?
Answer by email to coach.mcraft@gmail.com

     I mean that in both the physical sense and in the literal sense.  Over my career, one of my strengths was standing behind the offense and seeing when something was out of place. Whether it was a false step by a lineman or a missed blocking assignment.
A fellow coach once asked - "How do you see all that?"
     The answer lies in both extensive film study and
a foundation as a videographer for more than 30 years.   When a "photog" films a scene like the picture, below, he learns to look at the bigger scene and then break it down into several different shots.  One scene like this may yield a wide, medium and a number of close up opportunities.
      When it comes to football, I have an image in my mind of what the play should look like and anything that doesn't fit the template stands out like a sore thumb.

       Last season, I spent a lot of time in the press box watching games.  It was very revealing to see the game from that perch.   I would advise any offensive coordinator to head upstairs and not rely on getting second hand information from a box coach on defensive formations and schemes.
      Unfortunately, players don't have the advantage of seeing the big picture other than looking at stills or game film when they prepare for a game.  However, as a coach you can teach them see exactly what they need to see by training their eyes.  In fact, training a players eyes, no matter what position, could be the single greatest thing a coach can do to ensure his players success down the road.
      Once I got back on the field this season, one of my main goals was to train my offensive players to "get your eyes in the right place." Here are some examples of these lessons:

1) "Hands on the lineman. Eyes on the Linebacker." - When we combo block it starts with a double team on the defensive lineman.  The lineman will work that double team up to the assigned linebacker.  If both linemen focus their attention on the defense lineman they will often times be late to collect the linebacker or miss him all together and he will make the tackle.

Drill: When you work on the fundamentals of double teaming stand in the position of the linebacker and show the lineman a number one through five. The offensive lineman are supposed to call out the number. If a player is late giving the call you know that he is not getting his eyes on you as quickly as he should. This drill is also useful when working on pass blocking as well especially when working on blitz pickup.

2) "Read one player and make your initial cut" - How many times as a coach have you asked about a running back - "Why did he make that cut?"  The answer is because he is not making an initial read and/or he doesn't have a full understanding of what you are trying to accomplish on the play. Let's deal with the initial read.  I coach my running backs to take a good first step, take the hand off, make your initial read and get to the second level.  After that it's on them to be a great athlete.  As an offensive line we want to give the back the first three yards, but if he miss reads what's going on in front of him then the play is likely to fail.  It's impossible for even the best runner to read more than one or two players at a time but if they can learn to read the key block at the point of attack, it's a good start.  One inside zone, we teach our backs to press play side and  read the block on the first down lineman past the center.  This gives him a three way go -- "Bang it, Bounce it or Bend it." If the center and guard overtake the nose tackle, the choice is to hit it through the play side "A" gap.  If the nose is pushed pass the gap, the play can hit through the void created.  If the entire line slants or is pushed to the play side, our running back can bend it back behind the back side tackle.

Drill:  Break it down into small chunks. We bring the running backs and offensive line together during individual drills and work on that initial read with two lineman working their combos.  Some would say going over this read over and over again would build muscle memory, but I contend that we are building visual memory.  Over time you can see the running backs, making decisions sooner and being able to make the cuts with more certainty. One of my biggest pet peeves is a running back hesitating to make a cut or "tap dancing".  It just makes him an easier target for defensive players.

3)  Quarterback Keys -  I am a firm believer in teaching quarterbacks to adjust their reads to the structure of the defense.  For instance, if we are running the "basic" concept -- a vertical by the number one receiver and an out by the number two or running back.  If the corner is up in press coverage, we will make a high/low read on the corner.  It amazes me how many times the corner will bail leaving the flat wide open and the quarterback will not take advantage of it.  My belief is that the QB in some cases fails to get his eyes on the corner to determine his posture.  One thing we instruct QB's to do is if the corner turns away from you to run with the go route, throw the out route immediately and let's take the five yards or more that the receiver can get in open grass.  Wait too long and you lengthen the throw and put the receiver in a bad position especially if the corner comes off the deep route. With the ball in his hands early the receiver has a chance to break a tackle get a bigger play.

Drill: Once again, work small to large. Have the quarterback go over reads for each concept with only the two receivers and a coach or fellow qb's standing in as the defender.  Set up each scenario and have the coach turn to give the qb a read and see how quickly he can make the proper throw. This is a drill that can be done in the off season, even in the gym during the winter.

With all of these drills repetition is the key. Another important factor is that they mimic actual game situations.  Add these type of drills to your every day drills because you always get what you emphasize.