Best of 2025 Re-Air, Art of Practice – Scott Strohmeier and Keegan O’Hara
Throughout The Art of Practice conversations, GoRout didn’t serve as a fix for poor design. Rather, it acted as a tool to strengthen good design. Coaches didn’t replace teaching with it; instead, they used it to remove friction, protect valuable teaching time, and keep players aligned within well-structured environments.
That distinction mattered. The principles always came first. The tool simply helped those principles survive the real-world pressures of the game.
Why Practice Matters
Across fourteen conversations presented by GoRout, coaches from all levels and roles shared how they organize practice to build transparency, confidence, and consistency. While schemes shifted and terminology evolved, the core principles stayed the same.
Rather than providing a collection of drills or tempo preferences, the series revealed a shared philosophy: practice operates as a system, not a schedule, a mindset rooted in the most reliable, effective football practice principles applied at every level of the game.
Practice Starts With the Game, Not the Clock
Every conversation in the series began in the same place — the game itself.
Coaches designed practice by working backward from what the game demands, rather than pushing forward from a preset template. Situations like down-and-distance, red zone, two-minute and four-minute drills, and tempo response shaped the practice structure. Consequently, these real-game scenarios determined rep sequencing and controlled what players faced each week.
When practice matched the pressure of actual games, players learned faster. Confusion dropped, and performance steadied. Practice became true preparation, not just repeating drills. This idea stood out throughout the series.
Efficiency Exists to Protect Teaching
Efficiency appeared in every episode, but never as a race against the clock.
Instead, coaches pursued efficiency to safeguard teaching time. They eliminated wasted movement, confusing transitions, and unnecessary setups, enabling instant feedback. This sharper organization created more space for coaching.
Moreover, technology like GoRout played a supporting role by streamlining logistics, allowing coaches to focus on instruction rather than operations. Efficiency existed to serve learning, not for speed’s sake. This reinforced the key football practice principles behind successful programs.
Reps Are Only Valuable When They Have Purpose
The series often questioned the belief that more reps automatically lead to better results.
Instead, coaches focused on purposeful reps with a clear goal. They used short time frames, clear coaching points, and set standards for success. Players always knew what they worked on and why.
This approach helped players apply what they learned. Film sessions improved because drills were linked directly to real plays. Over time, practice felt less busy and began producing measurable results, proving another key football practice principle.
Communication Must Be Trained, Not Assumed
Communication emerged as one of the most critical outcomes of practice.
Coaches taught players how to identify situations, make calls, echo information, and respond to tempo. Walkthroughs slowed the game to allow precise communication. Then, practice sped the game back up.
By embedding communication into practice design, players moved faster and played with confidence amid chaos. Communication stopped being a variable; it became a skill developed through consistent application of effective football practice principles.
Consistency Is the Competitive Advantage
Across all fourteen episodes, one principle rose above the rest:
Consistency beats creativity over the long term.
The best practices never chased flash. Instead, standards stayed steady. Language remained constant. Structure held firm, even as opponents and circumstances changed. Creativity thrived inside the structure, never in place of it.
Because of this, consistency sustained performance across a season. Players trusted the system because it never shifted week to week. Coaches trusted it because it held up under pressure. Ultimately, those outcomes form the foundation of all effective football practice principles.
Why Strohmeier and O’Hara Fit the Best of 2025
For that reason, the conversation with Scott Strohmeier and Keegan O’Hara earned its place among the Best of 2025.
Their discussion about tempo and practice structure revealed an important point: good practice design isn’t just about creativity. Instead, it relies on consistency, clarity, and trust in the system, especially when things get tough.
They said, “Tempo only works if there’s a strong structure. In the same way, efficiency only matters if it helps teaching.” Their insights aligned perfectly with the series’ main ideas and the football practice principles that lead to long-term success.
This episode is paired with the Coach and Coordinator AI – Practice Design Companion
A practice design and audit tool built entirely from conversations in the Art of Practice series. This companion is designed to help coaches step back from the daily grind and evaluate how their practice structure actually supports execution on game day. It focuses on practice organization, sequencing, communication, tempo, and teaching efficiency, not scheme or play design.
The ideas inside this companion come directly from the recurring patterns shared by coaches across the Art of Practice series, presented by GoRout.
What This AI Can Do
- Help you audit your current practice structure using the shared principles from the Art of Practice series
- Identify sources of friction such as wasted time, unclear transitions, or misaligned periods
- Help restructure practice to better reflect game situations and decision-making
- Clarify where to slow teaching and where to speed up reps
- Support intentional tempo without sacrificing communication or alignment
- Reinforce consistency in structure, language, and expectations week to week
What This AI Cannot Do
- Install offense, defense, or special teams
- Create or recommend drills, plays, or schemes
- Diagnose position-specific technique or mechanics
- Replace coaching judgment or staff decision-making
- Offer advice outside the scope of practice design and organization
- Use information beyond the Art of Practice series transcripts
If a question falls outside this scope, the companion will tell you directly.
How to Get Started
Use the companion like a thinking partner. Bring it your real constraints, real problems, and real practice plans. The more specific you are about your situation, the more useful the output will be.
Conversation Starters
- “Audit my current practice plan using the Art of Practice principles and tell me where it breaks down.”
- “Help me restructure a two-hour practice so tempo increases without losing teaching or communication.”
- “Our practices look good, but execution drops in game situations. Help me diagnose whether this is a structure or communication issue.”
“Build a practice framework for this week based on our biggest game-day problems, not our playbook.”
Coaches Featured Across the Art of Practice Series
The Art of Practice series brings together championship-level coaches from high school, college, and professional football. Their combined experience reinforces the core principles behind effective football practice design.
Noel Dean
Noel Dean leads Chelsea High School in Michigan as the head football coach. A Michigan High School Football Hall of Fame inductee, he brings over 25 years of head coaching experience. Noel builds organized, efficient programs focused on preparation, structure, and player development.
Eric Kasperowicz
Eric Kasperowicz heads Mars Area High School in Pennsylvania after a championship run at Pine-Richland High School. He’s known for detailed practice scripting, situational preparation, and disciplined execution.
Kevin Wright
Kevin Wright coaches at Carmel High School in Indiana and is in the Indiana Football Hall of Fame. Across multiple championship programs, he emphasizes structured practices, strong culture, and long-term player growth.
Nick Holeton
Nick Holeton serves as assistant coach, co-offensive coordinator, and offensive line coach at McKendree University. A former collegiate offensive lineman, Nick zeroes in on daily improvement, technical consistency, and intentional practice design.
Phil Kleckler
Phil Kleckler leads Lindsey Wilson College’s football program as head coach. He previously served as defensive coordinator during their national championship season. Phil stresses efficient practice structure, competitive environments, and roster development.
Scott Strohmeier
Scott Strohmeier built Iowa Western Community College’s program as its founding head coach. He has turned the Reivers into a national junior college powerhouse through consistent standards, efficient practice design, and player development.
Keegan O’Hara
Keegan O’Hara coaches quarterbacks as an assistant at the University of Minnesota. His work focuses on tempo, communication, and practice structures that translate seamlessly to game execution.
Patrick Walsh
Patrick Walsh leads Junípero Serra High School in California as the longtime head coach. He has built Serra into a national powerhouse through disciplined practice structures, competitive standards, and sustained program excellence.
Brad Spencer
Brad Spencer coaches North Central College’s football team, guiding them to multiple NCAA Division III national championships. His programs emphasize disciplined practice habits, depth development, and consistency.
Kasey Teegardin
Kasey Teegardin serves as co-defensive coordinator and defensive ends coach at Eastern Michigan University, where he also manages special teams. He brings deep experience in building structured defensive and special teams units through detailed preparation.
Rob Stover
Rob Stover leads Sycamore High School in Illinois as head coach after more than a decade on the defensive staff. He focuses on communication, walkthrough efficiency, and organized practice environments.
Ryan Luedecke
Ryan Luedecke coordinates defense and coaches safeties at Lake Travis High School in Texas. He designs practices around situational football, visual teaching tools, and efficient weekly structure.
Dean Pauley
Dean Pauley coaches defensive backs and coordinates the defensive pass game at the College of DuPage. He maximizes practice efficiency despite limited staff by focusing on rep quality and preparation.
Drew Robinson
Drew Robinson has worked with GoRout since 2020. He brings over a decade of experience in FBS football operations and administration, including senior roles at Western Michigan, Syracuse, and Rutgers, and has participated in eight bowl games.
Matt Stanzione
Matt Stanzione serves as defensive coordinator at Mountain Lakes High School in New Jersey. He helps build a consistent Group 1 championship program through scout team accountability, communication, and competitive practice standards.
Malin Webb
Malin Webb leads Tell City High School in Indiana as head coach. He maximizes scout team development at a small school by promoting shared terminology, intentional reps, and clear weekly roles.
Cody Moore
Cody Moore acts as athletic coordinator and head football coach at Round Rock High School in Texas. He oversees one of the state’s largest programs, using efficient scout team systems to maintain tempo and competitive depth.
The Lasting Lesson
Practice is leadership in action.
Structure creates confidence.
Consistency sustains performance.
Teams never discover who they are on game day. They reveal exactly what they trained for all week.
See our sponsor GoRout in Action!
Related:
The Art of Practice- Building a Practice Script- Eric Kasperowicz, Head Coach, Mars HS (PA)
The Art of Practice- The Blueprint for Efficient Practice- Noel Dean, Head Coach, Chelsea HS (MI)
More on Coach Scott Strohmeier & Keegan O’Hara
Scott Strohmeier bio