Tryouts by William Carpluk

Tryouts

Coaching Youth Football – Tryouts and Evaluations

______________________________________________________________________________________

The Iron Man drill is a very basic drill but the coaches need to keep a close eye on this one. It is very important that the players realize they must go hard to avoid injury. I know that sounds strange but the player that hesitates or slows down just before contact is more likely to get hurt than if he goes full speed. This drill is one man versus the team. You run this drill at the goal line and set your tackler (the “Iron Man”) at the 2-yard line in a two-point stance. Then you line up the entire team at the 10-yard line in a single file line. You then use the sideline as out of bounds and cones for the other boundary. You want to make the width of the drill no more than 2 yards. You form a very tight alley for the running back to run at the defender. Each teammate takes turns and carries the ball directly at the Iron Man trying to score while the Iron man must tackle him or push them out of bounds. The running back moves up to the six or five-yard line to start the drill, since we are not looking to kill anyone. We want to make sure there is good contact. The drill starts on the coach’s whistle. The goal of the tight lane is to make sure there is no way a running back can go around the Iron man. The running backs must go through him, and not run away. You will instantly see which players want no part of being the Iron Man and which ones strive to defeat the entire team. It is very important that you do your duty as a coach and DO NOT force anyone to continue in this drill. All drills need to be in a positive reinforcement manner. You should never insult, belittle or guilt any youth football player into this or any drill. You also should never consider running this drill until mid to late season. By that time, you will have a handle on your team. You will also know which players you need to protect. The only reason you should ever be coaching youth football is for the kids. When running the high intensity or heavy contract drills please pay attention to your weaker players and look out for them. I have noticed that most of the time they will take themselves out of the drill, so please be supportive of them. You will definitely see players rise to the challenge, and again, please be a coach and make sure they are not over doing it. It is a great drill to give your players self-esteem and push them to a new level.