Practice Planning: Organizing Your Team Period | FBCP S21E11

Team periods should be more than putting the ball down and running plays, they should be the final step in a practice built to solve specific problems. Joe Daniel and Daniel Chamberlain explain how to script efficient team sessions, build situational football into practice, improve pre-snap communication, simulate opponent looks, and get game-ready reps without wasting time or unnecessarily beating up your roster.

10:07 - Planning Team Periods as Culminating Event14:01 - Self Scouting to Solve Practice Problems18:05 - Coaching Off Film With Fast Feedback22:38 - Scripting Team Sessions With Seven Play Blocks24:35 - Third Down and Short Yardage Situational Practice28:02 - Scripting Special Teams Into Team Periods32:11 - Game Situations and Clock Management in Team38:35 - Defensive Formation Alignment and Adjustments41:43 - Pre Snap Communication and Checks Practice48:01 - Full Speed Team Periods to Reduce Injuries Build Team Periods That Prepare Your Team for Game Day

1. Start With the Problem Your Practice Needs to Solve

Use your self-scout to identify the biggest problem from the previous game, then make that problem the focus of the week. Every period should move players toward solving it, rather than becoming a collection of unrelated drills and plays.

READ: 10 Keys To Preparing a Football Practice Plan that Wins Games

2. Build a Progression From Individual Skills to Team Execution

Break the week's focus into individual skills first, then add the reads, reactions and combinations players need during group periods. Team should become the final step where those pieces come together against a complete offensive or defensive look.

LISTEN: Practice Planning: Group Run Drills for Skill Progression | FBCP S21E05

3. Make the Passing Game Carry Over to 11-on-11

Progress quarterbacks, receivers and defenders from routes on air and half-field work into 7-on-7, then reconnect those skills with the run game during team. Keep the same reads and reactions throughout the progression so players are practicing what they will actually see on game day.

LISTEN: Practice Planning: Group Passing Drills for Game Day Execution | FBCP S21E08

4. Organize the Entire Week With a Repeatable Practice Shell

Build Monday through Thursday around a consistent structure so you
can change the focus, scripts and situations without rebuilding the practice schedule every week. Give every period a defined amount of time and purpose so team periods can move quickly without players standing around.

DOWNLOAD: Perfect Practice Plan Template

5. Turn Team Periods Into Game Situations

Stop simply putting the ball down and running plays. Script down and distance, field position, third downs, red zone, goal line, special teams transitions, clock situations and other scenarios so players and coaches practice making the decisions they will face on Friday night.

LISTEN: Our Players Don't Execute on Game Day | FBCP S18E21

6. Script the Opponent Without Abandoning Your System

Give your players the formations, fronts, motions, blocking reactions and unusual looks they need to recognize without asking the scout team to learn an entirely different system. Prepare for what the opponent can show while reinforcing the rules and communication your players already use.

LISTEN: How to Defend the Spread Option Offense | FBCP S21E07

7. Make Every Practice Rep Transfer to Friday Night

Evaluate drills and team periods by whether the skills, reads and reactions actually appear in the game. Keep coaching cues short, maximize repetitions, film team periods when possible and build every practice period toward execution under realistic conditions.

READ: Complete Guide to Coaching Football Drills that Win Games