What are the usual approaches taken with Spring Ball?

[AssistantFBCoach]

What is everyone trying to accomplish every spring? I always take the approach of getting your basic scheme and terminology completed on both sides of the ball as well as get a read on position battles, but I am curious about other approaches.

[ChiefSmoke]

Spring is the time for us to have as much live contact drill work as possible. And, as much 11 vs. 11 live work as possible.  With no game to prepare for, getting banged up is not too big of a deal. 

A great HS coach once said, "Every time a HS player gets a live rep, he gets better."

And that would be everybody's favorite old FB coach on BGPreps...THE Chuck Smith. ....who has now moved on to Fame & Fortune with his podcast. 😎

https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-coaches-office--5374773

https://www.youtube.com/@T.C.O.P/videos

[Westernside]

Spring Ball I would think is much different approach from most smaller schools to larger schools. I would think Most A-3A teams would not have enough kids to do 11vs11. With only having 3 classes able to participate and sharing athletes with track and baseball. I might be wrong.

[New Colonel]

I agree with both statements above.  

If it were up to me, I'd really use spring ball as experimentation and to mix things up ...... This is some of what I mean....

 

1.  Try out those new schemes/wrinkles that randomly come to you at 3 am.  Try them out when there is no game to prep for.  Find out what it looks like at full speed.  It could be a gadget play, special teams makeover, new coverage concept, different way of blocking a certain play, or a pressure package.  This would be a great time to get those creative juices flowing and try out some of those things that maybe you've always wanted to do.  Get your assistants involved too.  There's no pressure or game prep to worry about during spring.  It would also get the kids pumped and what a great way to break up the monantony of practice.

2. This is also a great opportunity to try kids out at different positions.  Maybe you have a backup LB and you want to try him out at safety, to see if he can get the job done there.  Whatever it may be, move those kids and give them an honest and fair shot and honest assessment.

3. Have some fun with the boys but in a productive manner that conditions them.  An example would be having all the OL/DL participate in a Big Boys 7 on 7.  Have the skill guys do 1 on 1 pass rush drill.  Hype it up. Kids eat that stuff up.  It helps with comradery, team chemistry, and buy-in.  Make the kids want to be a part of your program.  

4. Amp up the competition.  Make the boys compete in as many things as possible during spring ball.  Tug of War, relays, wall-sits, ball security/strip drill, etc.  Use your imagination, have them compete their tales off and keep score.  Have teams of 5+ kids depending on the size of your program and get Tshirts made for the winning team (2025 Spring Ball Champs).  The Tshirts will cost you 100-150 bucks, but your kids will be amped out of their minds to get one.  

5. One day should be purely a crazy day of conditioning.  Give it a cool name... I've seen teams use names like "Braveheart," "Dog Soldiers Day," "Iron Man," or "(Mascot Name Day)."  It's just a grueling 90 minutes to 2 hours military style physical activity designed to test the kids' resilience and fortitude.  Rotate through stations of body squats, pushups, partner carries, tractor tire flips, hitting a sledgehammer on a tire, plyometric box drills, hills, etc.  Again, get creative.  Make it thru without quitting, get dog tags or T-Shirt that says something like "I survived Iron Man 2025."  Again, something cheap but will mean a lot to the kids.  You will get invaluable information about your team as a coach with something like this.  You will find out really quick who your mentally tough kids are and who your quitters are.  You will find your leaders.  Who is encouraging their teammates and who is mad and complaining?  You will find out what kids are in great shape and what kids need to work harder on strength and conditioning.  You will find out how the older players treat the younger ones..... Do they build them up or tear them down?  You will also find out a ton about your staff during this.  Do your assistants just dog the players during this?  Or do they help them reach new heights and do things the players never thought they were capable of.  

 

Anyways, that's my 2 cents on this topic.  I think Spring Ball should be about building up the program and finding ways to experiment and really increase your buy-in, team chemistry, competition, and work ethic.  So, coaches, use the spring to step out of your comfort zone a bit and you will probably be really surprised how beneficial it'll be to your program.

[jester270]

Do track programs typically allow athletes who play football participate in Spring Ball? I have heard stories about some allowing and some against it. What is everyone's opinion on that?

[TimeWillTell]

Some of our kids at Owensboro do not participate in Spring Ball. Not sure what Coach Demar will do next year, but I know this year they are not letting kids that run track participate in Spring Practice. 

Not sure about other schools in Kentucky, but I would also like to know what other schools do.

[ChiefSmoke]

4 hours ago, jester270 said:

Do track programs typically allow athletes who play football participate in Spring Ball? I have heard stories about some allowing and some against it. What is everyone's opinion on that?

It can be tough to navigate. We want our guys to run track & play baseball, but some will not if they know they can't do spring football. Our track coach is letting our guys do some spring football, but when they miss is his call... his season. 

At Mason, we had a great setup. It usually worked out...Indoor Track has Mason-Dixon games. Then we did spring football for two straight weeks and they went back to track in late March. 

 

Had a baseball player throw a fit one day because he could not play in the spring  🏈 game. It was bad. But, did not want to run him because he had baseball games. Made him come in over spring break, he had to put in the knee pads and thigh pads into the practice pants for all of his teammates. Took him a couple hours at least.  

He said to one of our assistants, "I can't believe you are doing this to your best player." Our coach said, "There's the door, you don't have to be on the team."  He did them all but he was mad. Lol 

 

[jester270]

1 hour ago, ChiefSmoke said:

It can be tough to navigate. We want our guys to run track & play baseball, but some will not if they know they can't do spring football. Our track coach is letting our guys do some spring football, but when they miss is his call... his season. 

At Mason, we had a great setup. It usually worked out...Indoor Track has Mason-Dixon games. Then we did spring football for two straight weeks and they went back to track in late March. 

 

Had a baseball player throw a fit one day because he could not play in the spring  🏈 game. It was bad. But, did not want to run him because he had baseball games. Made him come in over spring break, he had to put in the knee pads and thigh pads into the practice pants for all of his teammates. Took him a couple hours at least.  

He said to one of our assistants, "I can't believe you are doing this to your best player." Our coach said, "There's the door, you don't have to be on the team."  He did them all but he was mad. Lol 

 

Love that philosophy!