Special Teams

Design It and Step Back – Kyle Schmitt, Head Coach, Archbishop Spalding High School (MD)

In this episode, Kyle Schmitt emphasizes the importance of looking in the mirror and taking responsibility for coaching decisions, which for Coach Schmitt led to more focus on special teams and game management on the way to back-to-back state championships.

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Personnel, Workload, and Positive Morale on Special Teams

Charlie Coiner, Bobby April, and Brett Arkelian share important considerations for personnel management, practice workload, and maintaining positive morale during the last weeks of the regular season and into the playoffs.

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Tips for Being Special on Special Teams

Bobby April, Charlier Coiner, and Brett Arkelian discuss simple ways to gauge special teams success, prepare for the unusual, and coach kickers and punters, especially if your background is not in kicking or punting.

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Work Your Special Teams with a Kicking Scrimmage

In this episode of The Season, host Keith Grabowski goes into his coaching notebook to talk about practicing special teams, specifically running an entire scrimmage around third down offense/defense and the kicking game.

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Setting Clear Expectations and Procedures for Camp

Chris Softley, Chris Kappas, and Brett Arkelian share insights into how they set the stage for success as camp kicks off and build the foundation upon which they operate.

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From the Military to Coaching: Leadership & Innovation – Ben Kotwica, Special Teams Coordinator, Denver Broncos

In this episode, Ben Kotwica shares his influences and the importance of our roles as coaches, developing a leadership style, innovation, and the use of technology in teaching and developing players.

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Teach Tapes with Steve Hauser (Week 9): Walking the Field – Open Field First and Ten

Steve Hauser continues his “walk down the field,” this week focusing on how game plans, play calling, practice plans, and individual periods are built around the base situation of open field first and ten.

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Teach Tapes with Steve Hauser (Week 8): Walking the Field – Backed Up

This week on Teach Tapes, we begin a “walk down the field,” highlighting situations that occur in all field positions and the techniques showcased in each area, starting with the backed-up area of the field.

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Teach Tapes with Steve Hauser (Week 7): Training Penalties out of Your Players

Coach Hauser identifies the techniques required for avoiding penalties and finding the little edges necessary to win games decided by smaller and smaller margins.

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Teach Tapes with Steve Hauser (Week 5): Explosive Runs and the Similarities Between All Phases of the Game

On this latest installment of our Teach Tapes series, Coach Hauser reviews explosive plays, how they take shape, when they don’t, and the related coaching points connecting the run game to special teams returns and defense to coverage units.

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