One of the youth football coaching drills we run for our 95 pounder squad is a variation of a school yard game. This teaches angle of pursuit, proper tackling, agility for the runners.
Four Corner Pizza Drill
There are four corners, each one with a different label, such as love it, hate it, never tried it, and it’s okay.
Each station is 15-20 yards apart and there is a player who stands in the middle and he calls out “pizza”. And the players have to decide whether or not they like pizza, hate pizza, love pizza, or have never tried it. Then they run to the corner that coincides with their choice, while the player in the middle tries to tackle them.
This goes on until all players are tackled. if you have the players carry a football, it will also teach ball control.
There is a lot you can do, and the kids love it! They are learning and they are having fun! (TIP: for a variation, the first two tackled can also become tacklers to speed the game along.)
**Coaching Idea: In the Gap 8 defense, instead of always lining the interior linemen in the gap, have them play man up, and call stunts, such as a slant to the formation side or wide side of the field. At all ages of play, the element of surprise is one of your best weapons. If you become predictable by always lining up in the gap, you just made the O-lineman’s job easier.
