00:00:00Running Back Skills and Techniques
00:07:16Importance of Running Back Vision
00:15:45Football Fundamentals for Running Backs
00:25:15Running Back Responsibilities and Insight
INFORMAZIONI SU QUESTO EPISODIO
Uncover the secrets of football's most elusive position as Coach Mikki and the knowledgeable Coach Jay Williams break down the anatomy of a powerhouse running back. Get ready to elevate your understanding of the game as we impart the blend of speed, agility, and mental prowess required to excel on the gridiron. This isn't just about brute force; we're talking about a lion's heart and a saint's patience, the vision that starts beyond the line of scrimmage, and the instinctual 'running to daylight' that separates the good from the great.
Join us on a tactical journey through the battlefield of modern football, where Coach Williams shares his rich insights on how smaller, quicker running backs are shaping the future of the sport. You'll learn why football IQ and vision drills are more critical than ever and how the art of reading blocks can make or break your path through the chaos. But it's not just about what happens on the field; it's also about setting personal goals and pushing the limits of your potential - this is where true legends are made.
Feel the adrenaline as we dissect the strategies that keep running backs one step ahead of the opposition. From pre-snap reads to the split-second timing of cuts that can throw off even the most formidable defenders, we're peeling back the layers of what it takes to thrive amidst the evolving responsibilities of today's offensive formations. Coach Mikki and Coach Williams serve up a compelling playbook of commitment, vision, and decision-making that will inspire any athlete, coach, or football fanatic to look beyond the stats and appreciate the cerebral game played by those who carry the pigskin.
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IN QUESTO EPISODIO
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Speaker 1:
0:14
Hey, team, come on in and take a knee so glad you guys are here on our field today. I'm coach Mickey, and today I have with me coach Jay Williams, and we are so glad that you joined us and, whether you're a first-time player or you're a seasoned player or your coach or your team parent, we've got a little bit of something for every, each and every one of you and on our podcast. So Today we are going to cover what does it take to be a running back and I'm really excited because coach Williams is a run game coordinator. He's been working with running backs for many, many years and To get his insight and his expertise today. I'm really excited about that. So welcome, coach Williams. How are you?
Speaker 2:
0:56
Good, good, glad to be here.
Speaker 1:
0:57
Yeah. So I was kind of like I was gonna call you coach Jay, and then I caught myself.
Speaker 1:
1:04
I'm glad to be with us today because I've had an opportunity to work with you and I absolutely love the way that you coach and any any team that I've been on with you, or parents, or even the players Everybody gets something out of what you, what you do and how you coach, and To me, it's always a pleasure to coach with you because of the way you coach and your insight and your expertise. So, with that being said, so what does it take for someone who really wants to be a running back?
Speaker 2:
1:37
Um, realistically, it doesn't take much, it doesn't? You know you got to have some of the basics, you got a little bit of speed. You know size is important but it's not the end. All I Think, out of all of the offensive positions, the running back in today's football, because they've mainly passed, and I run that much the running back has to be, has to have a really big heart and a lot of determination. You know, to be successful, because it's just something that is kind of on a back burner now in this whole spread offensive thing. You know it's like coaches run one is very short yardage or To keep a defense honest, so they're not just passing. You know the entire game, you know and and most coaches don't really spend a lot of time on you know the stats and everything when it comes to the run, you know. So, with that being said, you know you just you got to have patience, that's for sure, because it's not like when I played where I run about the care of the wall between 20 and 30 times a game. You know you're looking at more like five or six, if that you should be able to be a receiver. You know you got to have hands because of the passing game and they like the throat of the running backs a lot and Running backs really need field of vision. Just because of the way the defensive are, defenses are in today's football and the way the offices are structured. You know there's not too many teams that have some form of a lead blocker for running back and I can say, with the style of defenses that teams play, you know you're gonna hear talk of in the trenches, you know the battle being one of the trenches and stuff like that. But realistically, for running back, their game starts five yards past the line of scrimmage and I teach that to all my running backs. Yes, it technically it starts with the minute, the quarterback with the ball in your hands, but you don't really engage, so to speak, the enemy, the opposition, until you get to the linebackers. And that's where the real fight is with the running back. And we have, you know we call it levels, level one, two and three will. Level one is the line scrimmage, level two is the linebackers and level three is the secondary.
Speaker 2:
4:12
And I'm finding more and more running backs have a hard time running the ball at the second and third level and to be successful and you know, have colleges. Look at you. You have to be successful. The second, third level, and that's takes time, it's very hard to teach. You know there's so many factors that go into it. You know field of vision, shiftiness. You know can you make a guy miss, can you take on a guy and win that battle? You know you gotta have leg drive, high knees, a lot of the basics, a lot of fundamentals that should be taught.
Speaker 2:
4:46
You know when you first start football as a little kid and in ball security, you know there's not a lot to it but it is kind of I don't know intense, a little difficult. You know, like I said, if you want to be that standout person, you want to. You know, whatever you have a goal I want to score. You know 100 touchdowns in this season. Or I want to be the I had the most yards in the state for the season, or the county. Or you know you should set goals and try to reach those goals and try to.
Speaker 2:
5:25
You know push yourself. You know always, always. You know push yourself to be better. You know, and we're all human, it happens, things happen in games, you know, and you just try to not make those many mistakes and rebound, you know, from whatever bad that happened the week before, you know, turn that into a positive in the upcoming weeks. You know, other than that that's pretty much football, you know. For a running back it's because everybody runs inside outside zone. You know they keep it real simple and the defense is know that. So it's hard to, you know, really be a game breaker. It is.
Speaker 1:
6:05
I want to kind of step back for a second. You had mentioned something about field vision and that is something I know that is really important for running backs. And again, obviously, everything that you mentioned, you know doing the drills, the high knees, being able to, you know, push through and have that perseverance. But the vision on the field, can you elaborate a little bit more than that? Because I see over the, over the years and even in some of the games that you know, you and I've had an opportunity that always seems to be something that our running backs struggle with. But what can, what can players do to practice that can give them an opportunity to even excel a little bit more or have kind of the edge when they step out on that field? You know to practice that or you know elaborate a little bit more on that so they understand it.
Speaker 2:
6:54
Okay. What I mean by field of vision is you can, in the process of taking the handoff, in going that to the direction of where the place designed to go, you or your eyes are moving in your skin, the whole field. You're watching what everybody's doing so that you know when you can make your cut, your break and get down, feel Okay and you're right. All the up and coming running backs, the majority of them, they don't have that. They, they are either looking down or they're looking straight ahead. You know, and part of that is and I don't mean to, you know, put down anybody for the way they do things, but part of that is due to coaching. You know, at the lower levels, you know, because now it is just so important to go north and south. You know you get the ball, get down and feel as fast as you can. You know as many yards as you can and it's just like take it and go and get what you can get. You know, and the successful ones, the kids that you hear about, you know, in the ESPN, 100 and 300 and all those, those are the kids that can do that and still shake and bake, be shifty, you know, use all the other assets. They have spin, move, stiff, arm. You know, even lowering their shoulder and taking on a safety or corner and winning that battle. You know, and those are the kids that these colleges are picking up, and they're not big. You know, the average right back size for today's football is 5859, somewhere between 180 and 200 pounds. You know it's not like, yeah, you're going to have that one in a blue. You know, like Derek Henry from Alabama, you know they'll. Alabama always picks 6263, 230, 220, 240 running backs. I don't know where they're getting them from because I don't see them around here. They're hired them somewhere. We're building them in a factory somewhere. But you know, everybody else gets stuck with the 59510 guy, 5a guy. You know this little sweaty guy and he's fast and strong, you know, and that seems to be the norm, you know. So I just like to say anybody can play it. You just got to.
Speaker 2:
9:09
The one thing that that a coach can't teach you is the heart aspect of it. They're going to be a lot of times when you run it up inside and you know it's a melee, you know, or do you have the heart to to? You know, get through it or are you just going to take the hit and you know, go down and yeah, I got two yards and, okay, next play. You know, so I do a lot of. It's very simple.
Speaker 2:
9:35
No matter what drills you run as a coach with your running backs, you know, during practice and these are things that the players can do at home to the running backs but if I'm running the cone drill or ladder drill or eating like that, jump cuts, whatever I always stand at the end of the drill. You know somewhere, whether it's directly at the end or a little off to the left, a little off to the right, with flashcards, and I put numbers on the flashcards and I hold them up and you know and everybody can do it their own way I like to flash it right when the right, when they start the drill. You know, because I'm I'm watching to see how long it takes them to look up, see it, call the number out and acknowledge the flashcard and when you can run the drill and you say blow the whistle or say go, and they can do it right away. You know they're going to have more field of vision If they're halfway through the drill or getting towards the end of the drill and then they call it out. Well, now there's a couple, you know, question marks going off my head. Is the kid have a vision issue where he needs glasses or contacts, or is he just not looking, you know? And so now I need to work with that kid, explain to him why it's so important and everything else, and keep you, just keep working on it.
Speaker 2:
10:55
But they can do it at home if they have a brother or sister, you know, mom, dad spend 10 minutes, you know, and to have somebody out of kid take the ball. And you know he say I'm going to do this. You know, I want to run from here to here in the backyard or in the driveway or whatever, and have them just flash the card, you know, with whatever they want to do, and watch and see how long it takes them to respond with the number on the card. You know, now, don't get me wrong, don't get in three by fives. And writing pencil yeah, that's going to be very hard to see close, you know, I take a full sheet of paper and I printed it out with a big dark black font, you know, and I had zero through nine, you know so. But you can see him from 10 yards away because it's odd, the size of a piece of paper. I'm not. Hey, get a microscope and look at this little tiny number, this little dot over there. So you got to be realistic, you know.
Speaker 2:
11:51
And then you know, with the field, division is also there. There is also football IQ and I think, next to the quarterback, the running back has to be as smart, you know, or he's going to be second in line as smartest on the field. You know, receivers get a lot of attention, the ball thrown away a lot. They run a lot of routes and the better routes they run, you know, more opportunities they have of getting open and catching the ball and so on, so forth. But what they don't get, what running backs have to do that receivers don't, is when they call that run play inside and everybody has their own, whether it's a gap be gap or you know the one, two, three or four hole.
Speaker 2:
12:38
However you call your plays, you know football one on one, fundamental one. One is the running back gets the handoff and you look for your linemen's backside Because in theory, if you can see his backside, he's between the ball carrier and the defender and it's going to make it very hard for the defender to make the tackle and if you don't see his backside, then there's a line blocking issue. You know, but that's what you look for. You know, and I teach that all the time If, if your linemen turns is but this way, this is the way you go. If he turns it that way, that's the way you go.
Speaker 2:
13:21
The play might be called, you know, like a gap, or the one hole, or the two hole, or the, you know, a gap, whatever, depending on how the defenses are lined up and the stunts they're running. You know that's what you. You can try to practice that all you want. You'll never get it 100% because defensive coordinates are always changing. You know, and they're looking at filming, they're trying to go ways on how to stop, you know that offense. In the next week you've got to play, so you can only go on what you saw in the past and prepare as best you can. But you don't know what new stunts are going to be out there, that on that Friday night or whatever day you play, so that's a good statement.
Speaker 1:
13:58
I mean, that's really a good insight because I've seen just in the past you know again, we call a play, you know and you're set to go, and they know where they're supposed to go, but if that hole closes up too fast, you got to have somebody running back that can make a quick decision If he sees maybe it's the big gap or he has to bounce out because he sees something, just because that's the way the play is designed and that's what you're supposed to do.
Speaker 1:
14:22
You got to be able to adjust, and that is. That is something that you're really good at, because you've you've teach these, these guys, you've teach these players. You know, don't count on just because this is what we're going to do. You got to have a plan. You got to have a plan B, c and D, just in case something else opens up on another side, you know, and that that's really important too.
Speaker 1:
14:42
So you got to be able to make quick as a running back. They got to be able to make a quick decision if if plan a doesn't work.
Speaker 2:
14:49
Right and that once again the field of vision comes into play. You know, like you said, you run this design hole. They just happen to be running a stunt, that whole, because they, you know, called your play. You know. And now the whole stuff, what do you do? You know, if your eyes are moving, you can see it. Before you run into the car accident, you can try to avoid it. Like you said, you know the end and we use the term in the three B's been banging bounce, you know bend is to to bend it back. You know, cut it back to the backside, you know just lower your shoulder and you know, get very physical and bounces. There's nothing to the inside and my, you know the four holes clogged up. So I'm going to bounce it to the outside. And you know the running back has to have all three of those to be successful. Been banging bounce, you know, and they should always remember that, you know, so that you can turn a negative play into a positive play. And another thing that I teach the running backs, that's basic football, one on one, and that's how it's all. It applies to all the players, you know. But because I work with running backs, it's it's a running back thing, but the QB coaches teaches their quarterbacks to.
Speaker 2:
16:00
As you're coming to, the line of screen is using the defensive formation and you know where the place going to go, because you called in the huddle. You should already have somewhat of an idea on the direction you're going to go before the balls even snap. You're going to you should see body shifting. You know it's not a perfect thing. You know some teams can mask it and wait till the ball snap, if the players are good enough, and then make their shift. But you'll see a linebacker walk up like he's going to blitz or you know you're going to see got bodies on the give his line slide one way or another or sit in a gap. You know I'm running this way, okay. Well, if that guy is in the deep, it's alignment is in the gap or in the hole where I'm supposed to run and I see a linebacker started to keep up behind them. More than likely that's not going to be open and you should be able to see that before the ball snapped. You know. So in my mind it's okay. Now I'm scaling everything and how many people on the right side of the defender are coming and closing down and how many people on the left side more than likely, you know and that's where you can get an idea of where you probably going to have to go. You know you'll have to bend it back or bounce it out, but it's a quick decision.
Speaker 2:
17:06
I. One thing I don't do, you know, or I told my players not to do is because the decision is so fast. Don't hesitate. It's not perfect. You might think you saw something to the inside and bend it back and get ran over like a mattress. That's okay. Okay, that's okay, because you thought you saw something and you could have. I won't know until I go back afterwards and look at the film. But I'm not on the field and if you saw just a hint of daylight, okay, but it just closed on you too quick, so it didn't work. But I'm okay with saying okay, at least my running back is starting to process information with his brain. The more brain process you can have, the less physical you can have.
Speaker 2:
18:00
Football, especially for running backs, it's a 70, 30, but except for really lining, because there's always contact the whole time.
Speaker 2:
18:13
They're almost nose to nose with each other and the defense is fighting to get back in the backfield and the offense is fighting to keep them out of the backfield.
Speaker 2:
18:21
But receivers, running backs, qbs the more information you can process pre-snap, the more successful you will be. And, like I said, you guys just gotta take care of the ball and you won't always make the right decision. You know we use the term run the daylight. You know well, that's a hard thing, that's really. You know that's more like football 102, but it goes. You know you can start teaching it at football 101, you know the earlier you can, the better off they'll be as they develop and get older. Just because it's hard to, without being in the play with them, to get them to, you know actually look up and see where there's opening. Nowadays the kids, they want to run to the hole and if the hole's clogged they just automatically run wide. And I've seen so many running backs run east and west. You know, going from sideline to sideline and the football field is 53 yards from sideline to sideline, you're absolutely, absolutely gaining no yards running 30 yards west or east to try to outrun somebody and then turn up to you.
Speaker 1:
19:35
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
19:36
I'd rather you just get maybe five yards out. You know that you can't outrun the pursuit and just turn up and get what you can get. You're wasting energy trying to get to these sidelines. It's not going to happen unless you're you know your exception, you're, you're going to four, two, four, three, 40, you know, yeah, then you can do whatever you want. You could probably, with one leg, you know hot, and beat somebody because you're so fast, but you know so it's. You know it's just one of those things.
Speaker 2:
20:05
It, as a coach, has been doing this a long time. I can definitely day one with a group of running backs. I can tell who's a natural, who who. Who's a natural for this and those that we're going to need a lot of help and I don't favor one over the other. You know if the kid doesn't, if the kid's determined to be a running back and he wants to be successful, you know he's willing to put the time to work in or I'll work pretty until the sun goes down, you know. But keep in mind that, and I tell us all my players every pregame you know tonight is game time. You know you worked hard all week. I'm not out there, I'm never putting on another uniform and shoulder pads.
Speaker 2:
20:59
I had my days. I had my fun, you know, and now I'm teaching it and I've given you all the necessary tools. I taught you how to spin, move. I taught you how to jump, cut. I told you, I'll tell you how to set up a block. I taught you how to, you know, lower your shoulder and and and shade a defender and everything else that goes with it. But it's up to you to use it in the game. Either you're going to use it or you're not. I can't go out there and do it for you, you know, and that's another, that's the other aspect of it. You know, there's the actual teaching of it in the physical part of learning it and then there's the application part. You know, in a game but I don't want you to sit there if the holes filled and dance around for five minutes. You know wasting time. Just make one move and this is what I teach it to all my ready backs One cut and go as you advance down the field to the next level and the next level you might have to get a little, you know a little dance, happy feet.
Speaker 2:
22:03
You might have to do a spin move. You might do other things, but that first from the live scrimmage and first by yards. It's once that one cut and go If you need to, if not, if the holes open, just hit it. It isn't one cut and go and make in. Stick your decision and give that decision 100%. If you choose to See, if you think the holes clogged or you missed the close before you get there, you need to go back to the cut to the inside or cut to the outside, make a choice, live with it. You give it 100%. Don't hesitate to ah man, I've cut outside, that should have gone inside and just give up on the play. I've seen that happen too much too. You know and you just you'll learn and it's one of those more experience you get, the more you'll learn.
Speaker 2:
22:51
You know football is, is physics and in basic you know geometry, it's angels, it's. You know the body can only do certain things. You know now, unless a kid I know that can a Defender can get out there and he can turn his hips one way and turn his body completely around in the other direction. You know, like some kind of exorcism. You know you can't really do that right. You know so if the guy is pursuing you and you can get him to turn his hips. If he turns his hips he can't turn around the other way.
Speaker 2:
23:21
I tell the kids that you know when we're doing the passing, once the ball's in the air, there's nobody over there with a remote control, you know, like the drones, and they can make the ball change direction in midair. Once it's in the air it's going to. You know it's destination, it's not gonna change direction. Yeah, you, you have some games and it's very ticky-ticky, yes, I'm games where the winds are 60 miles an hour and it might, you know, push the ball a little bit, but not to. If the guy's running the go route and the next guy to him is running a post, it's, if you throw the go, the ball's, not the winds not gonna blow it to the post. She's not gonna happen, you know.
Speaker 2:
23:59
So there's certain things that just and and that's a really a much football 102, 103 is Really getting somebody to be able to turn their hips. You, if you can Get a defender to flip his hips, they would call it flip his hips. But what I would say up front, initially, in the, in the beginning Of teaching the basics, he just teach the basics. You know ball security. Make sure their their hands are open the right way. Put two hands over the ball. You know, when you're going through the hole, keep your head up, stay low, keep your legs driving. You know, and you know as you like to, as you as you get it and and you see success. And Now you run more and you run more and you run more. You'll get better at it. You know it'll get a little easier. Like I said, the more you can process pre snap, the better your odds are. You know that. 810 or even breaking it, you know, and that's that's football. There was one more thing I was gonna bring up in regards to that, but I lost my track. But you know, oh, that's what it was, and you know you can never start too soon.
Speaker 2:
25:15
The best way for running back to Freeze of defender and we're talking like a linebacker or something like that or blitzing safety or whatever, whatever the play is called Sweep is a little different, you know, because you just have all this open area outside of. You know the guy on the end of line scrimmage, so you can make your cut at any time and you've probably got a 20 plus yard window to make that cut, but between tackle, tackle or tight end to tight end. However, you often to set I teach my running backs to attack the whole. If the place called let's say it's called 24 Our man whatever that means, ready backs can run through the four hole, which is the second hole or second gap between the players from the center on the right, and run straight at that hole, even if it's clog. Because if you're running straight in that hole now, you're freezing the middle linebacker and whatever linebackers are on the right, whether it's the will or the same. If you get the ball and you automatically start dancing, they're five yards deep. That's why I say the play doesn't really start till five yards down the field. And now they're sliding their feet and they're shifting with you and now they say, oh, he's going to cut back. If you make it too soon they're going to cut the backside and you're probably going to get tackled in the backfield. But if you go straight at them, they don't know what you're going to do. So they have to stand there and then at the last second, either cut stiff arm, run him over, do your dance, whatever you want to do, but don't do it too early, and that's very critical, especially when you're running out of whatever the formation is.
Speaker 2:
27:04
Usually, like I said, in today's football it's a single back set. A lot of teams are starting to slowly migrate some of the old school football that I came from, where they have two backs in the backfield and they have a wing and a lead blocker, but that's just a handful of plays. At this point in time Everybody's still holding onto the spread. They use those plays more when it's inside the red zone goal line. Then you get touchdown of that two-point conversion. Other than that, you're just running single back set, so you have to be your only blocker and your own runner.
Speaker 2:
27:38
I had the luxury of growing up in an era where I had a lead blocker, so I would always get right behind him, put my hand on the shirt, we'd go through the hole and at the defender game I would grab him and push him in that direction and then bounce off and go. It was real easy for me. It's not so easy when you don't have anybody and you have to take on linebackers by yourself. And as you get older those linebackers get bigger, stronger and a little faster and you're going to have to learn how to adjust that and dealing with running back to the varsity level. That's one way I teach their blocking for pass, blocking a little different than I do at the lower levels.
Speaker 2:
28:23
Because now you're getting the big discrepancies the defensive end is 6'6" and he's 250, and he runs a 4'7" 40. Well, you're still 5'9" and 185. You can't take him head on. You're a concussion protocol. He's going to run you over. So how do you block him? You've got to be smart enough. You have to take an angle and you have to get him at that angle and get him in his hip so that you can slow him down, move him off track a little bit. It's just different Lower levels, the kids are premature on the same side, so it's a little different. In the blocking Everybody's pretty equal. But that's something to think about. Hey, I'm this side and that guy's a linebacker, 6'3", 250. There's no way I can run him over. What are you going to do?
Speaker 1:
29:14
Well, that's not all I got, like you said before that's when you're planning ahead and you've got your field of vision. If you see that coming down the pipe and you're going to have to run into that.
Speaker 1:
29:25
you better make your game plan so one you can get those couple yards or, like you said, avoid a middle of cost. Or, if you're going to take them on, at least take them into a point where you can handle it. But that's really good insight. There's a lot of responsibility for a running back, but they have to be one of those people that think on their feet. They've got to be competitive, they've got to have the mental toughness, like you said, take a good hand off that. There's nothing worse than seeing something screw up in the backfield because they didn't open up correctly and, like you said, that field of vision. So there's a lot to it, but I do like the fact that you said anybody who really wants to be a running back can commit to it. If you commit, well, if you commit to anything, but you really got to want it and you got to put the work in to do it and get it. Because when you do have those plays, like you said, if it's four or five out of the game, you better make them count.
Speaker 2:
30:25
Exactly. Yeah, everyone is precious, make everyone count. And that's where that heart and that mental toughness comes in that you just can't really teach. You can guide the player down that path so that he wants to do it versus a receiver. Receivers are usually getting tackled by safeties in corners, so they're about even in size and speed, where the running back has to deal with defense and linemen that are twice in size and linebackers. So the hitting is different. And if you're that guy that doesn't like to get hit or is afraid to get hit or you can't take a hit, that can't be taught you. Just running back is not for you.
Speaker 2:
31:14
And that's what I mean by that mental toughness. You got to know you're going to get up in there and it's going to get nasty and you're going to be OK with that. You're going to get hit by two or three guys, whereas, like I said, receivers out to the outside it's one on one and you don't make the catch and then he could tackle by the corner or safety, whoever's covering them. So, one on one situation. There's no running into each other and slamming into each other and getting low, and low man wins the battle. And driving your legs to push somebody back. You don't have that for the receiver, so it's just totally different and that's all part of that desire in that heart. What do you want to be that guy? Those are the successful running backs, the ones that know that it's going to get physical. But I'm willing to get physical with you. You don't always win every physical bout, but if you can take a hit and get that done, you're going to have some success.
Speaker 1:
32:07
Well, I appreciate you being here with us, coach. You gave a lot of great insight and I know it's going to help a lot of people especially because we're still preseason, you know and it's going to give everybody an opportunity to start. You know, start with the weightlifting and doing the drills, and, you know, working on your stamina, because if this is the position that you really want this, this is the time to do it. Don't wait for day one of practice, you know. You know, as coaches, we all know who's been working off season compared to those that walk on the field. You know the first day Exactly.
Speaker 1:
32:40
Yeah, I mean if it's a position you really want. But thank you so much for joining us. You've always got some great insight and I love all the tips that you had to offer. And you know it's always such a gift to have somebody you can give some in. You know, a lot of the people know, because off season is hard, especially for somebody who's just starting out, or parents that are like, well, what do I do? You know, my kid wants to be a running back. Well, learn the responsibilities that go with it. You know, because, like you said, it's not a position to take lightly. You know, if that's the position you're going to take, then you really got to commit to it and be serious about it. So all right.
Speaker 2:
33:14
And, as a parent, don't be afraid that's going to tell you the quality of coaching that you have for your child. You know, if you want to know what it takes, like you just asked, you know, come out to practice, you know, day one or whatever, and then after practice go to his position coach, the running back coach, and ask him hey, you know what, you know, what can I do at home? Or what can my son do at home, you know, to make himself a better running back? You know, and if he's willing to give you an answer, you know, and not a over complicated answer, you know, then you know he's got a pretty decent coach. You know, if he says, well, you know, don't want to give you an answer, or he says something that doesn't make any sense, you know your son's in for a long season, you know.
Speaker 2:
34:00
That's just you know, and that's part of common sense and that's another thing that needs to be taught on the football team football field as well. You know, get us some common sense. Like I said, that guy's running this way, I'm not going to try to run. Go, run that same way towards him. You know, I'm going to run the opposite way. Run, it's called run the daylight. You know, and I'm going to try to get down the field as without being touched, as much as possible. You know you have a longer career.
Speaker 1:
34:24
You know you have a long career. You know you have a long career, you have a long career, you have a long career, you have a long career, you have a long career. Yeah, coach, thank you so much. I appreciate your time and effort and also your insight. You know, it's always, it's always fun having you here on the field with us and you know, again, our parents love hearing this stuff because this is like an inside, inside information so you guys can understand what's happening out on that field.
Speaker 2:
34:45
So thank you again.
Speaker 1:
34:46
Oh, thanks for having me. I had a blast yeah it's always fun. All right, guys, remember you know you're always proud of yourself at practice, you know. So go out there, start strong, stay strong and finish strong, and we'll look forward to seeing you guys next week.
Speaker 2:
34:59
Bye, all right.
0:14
Hey, team, come on in and take a knee so glad you guys are here on our field today. I'm coach Mickey, and today I have with me coach Jay Williams, and we are so glad that you joined us and, whether you're a first-time player or you're a seasoned player or your coach or your team parent, we've got a little bit of something for every, each and every one of you and on our podcast. So Today we are going to cover what does it take to be a running back and I'm really excited because coach Williams is a run game coordinator. He's been working with running backs for many, many years and To get his insight and his expertise today. I'm really excited about that. So welcome, coach Williams. How are you?
Speaker 2:
0:56
Good, good, glad to be here.
Speaker 1:
0:57
Yeah. So I was kind of like I was gonna call you coach Jay, and then I caught myself.
Speaker 1:
1:04
I'm glad to be with us today because I've had an opportunity to work with you and I absolutely love the way that you coach and any any team that I've been on with you, or parents, or even the players Everybody gets something out of what you, what you do and how you coach, and To me, it's always a pleasure to coach with you because of the way you coach and your insight and your expertise. So, with that being said, so what does it take for someone who really wants to be a running back?
Speaker 2:
1:37
Um, realistically, it doesn't take much, it doesn't? You know you got to have some of the basics, you got a little bit of speed. You know size is important but it's not the end. All I Think, out of all of the offensive positions, the running back in today's football, because they've mainly passed, and I run that much the running back has to be, has to have a really big heart and a lot of determination. You know, to be successful, because it's just something that is kind of on a back burner now in this whole spread offensive thing. You know it's like coaches run one is very short yardage or To keep a defense honest, so they're not just passing. You know the entire game, you know and and most coaches don't really spend a lot of time on you know the stats and everything when it comes to the run, you know. So, with that being said, you know you just you got to have patience, that's for sure, because it's not like when I played where I run about the care of the wall between 20 and 30 times a game. You know you're looking at more like five or six, if that you should be able to be a receiver. You know you got to have hands because of the passing game and they like the throat of the running backs a lot and Running backs really need field of vision. Just because of the way the defensive are, defenses are in today's football and the way the offices are structured. You know there's not too many teams that have some form of a lead blocker for running back and I can say, with the style of defenses that teams play, you know you're gonna hear talk of in the trenches, you know the battle being one of the trenches and stuff like that. But realistically, for running back, their game starts five yards past the line of scrimmage and I teach that to all my running backs. Yes, it technically it starts with the minute, the quarterback with the ball in your hands, but you don't really engage, so to speak, the enemy, the opposition, until you get to the linebackers. And that's where the real fight is with the running back. And we have, you know we call it levels, level one, two and three will. Level one is the line scrimmage, level two is the linebackers and level three is the secondary.
Speaker 2:
4:12
And I'm finding more and more running backs have a hard time running the ball at the second and third level and to be successful and you know, have colleges. Look at you. You have to be successful. The second, third level, and that's takes time, it's very hard to teach. You know there's so many factors that go into it. You know field of vision, shiftiness. You know can you make a guy miss, can you take on a guy and win that battle? You know you gotta have leg drive, high knees, a lot of the basics, a lot of fundamentals that should be taught.
Speaker 2:
4:46
You know when you first start football as a little kid and in ball security, you know there's not a lot to it but it is kind of I don't know intense, a little difficult. You know, like I said, if you want to be that standout person, you want to. You know, whatever you have a goal I want to score. You know 100 touchdowns in this season. Or I want to be the I had the most yards in the state for the season, or the county. Or you know you should set goals and try to reach those goals and try to.
Speaker 2:
5:25
You know push yourself. You know always, always. You know push yourself to be better. You know, and we're all human, it happens, things happen in games, you know, and you just try to not make those many mistakes and rebound, you know, from whatever bad that happened the week before, you know, turn that into a positive in the upcoming weeks. You know, other than that that's pretty much football, you know. For a running back it's because everybody runs inside outside zone. You know they keep it real simple and the defense is know that. So it's hard to, you know, really be a game breaker. It is.
Speaker 1:
6:05
I want to kind of step back for a second. You had mentioned something about field vision and that is something I know that is really important for running backs. And again, obviously, everything that you mentioned, you know doing the drills, the high knees, being able to, you know, push through and have that perseverance. But the vision on the field, can you elaborate a little bit more than that? Because I see over the, over the years and even in some of the games that you know, you and I've had an opportunity that always seems to be something that our running backs struggle with. But what can, what can players do to practice that can give them an opportunity to even excel a little bit more or have kind of the edge when they step out on that field? You know to practice that or you know elaborate a little bit more on that so they understand it.
Speaker 2:
6:54
Okay. What I mean by field of vision is you can, in the process of taking the handoff, in going that to the direction of where the place designed to go, you or your eyes are moving in your skin, the whole field. You're watching what everybody's doing so that you know when you can make your cut, your break and get down, feel Okay and you're right. All the up and coming running backs, the majority of them, they don't have that. They, they are either looking down or they're looking straight ahead. You know, and part of that is and I don't mean to, you know, put down anybody for the way they do things, but part of that is due to coaching. You know, at the lower levels, you know, because now it is just so important to go north and south. You know you get the ball, get down and feel as fast as you can. You know as many yards as you can and it's just like take it and go and get what you can get. You know, and the successful ones, the kids that you hear about, you know, in the ESPN, 100 and 300 and all those, those are the kids that can do that and still shake and bake, be shifty, you know, use all the other assets. They have spin, move, stiff, arm. You know, even lowering their shoulder and taking on a safety or corner and winning that battle. You know, and those are the kids that these colleges are picking up, and they're not big. You know, the average right back size for today's football is 5859, somewhere between 180 and 200 pounds. You know it's not like, yeah, you're going to have that one in a blue. You know, like Derek Henry from Alabama, you know they'll. Alabama always picks 6263, 230, 220, 240 running backs. I don't know where they're getting them from because I don't see them around here. They're hired them somewhere. We're building them in a factory somewhere. But you know, everybody else gets stuck with the 59510 guy, 5a guy. You know this little sweaty guy and he's fast and strong, you know, and that seems to be the norm, you know. So I just like to say anybody can play it. You just got to.
Speaker 2:
9:09
The one thing that that a coach can't teach you is the heart aspect of it. They're going to be a lot of times when you run it up inside and you know it's a melee, you know, or do you have the heart to to? You know, get through it or are you just going to take the hit and you know, go down and yeah, I got two yards and, okay, next play. You know, so I do a lot of. It's very simple.
Speaker 2:
9:35
No matter what drills you run as a coach with your running backs, you know, during practice and these are things that the players can do at home to the running backs but if I'm running the cone drill or ladder drill or eating like that, jump cuts, whatever I always stand at the end of the drill. You know somewhere, whether it's directly at the end or a little off to the left, a little off to the right, with flashcards, and I put numbers on the flashcards and I hold them up and you know and everybody can do it their own way I like to flash it right when the right, when they start the drill. You know, because I'm I'm watching to see how long it takes them to look up, see it, call the number out and acknowledge the flashcard and when you can run the drill and you say blow the whistle or say go, and they can do it right away. You know they're going to have more field of vision If they're halfway through the drill or getting towards the end of the drill and then they call it out. Well, now there's a couple, you know, question marks going off my head. Is the kid have a vision issue where he needs glasses or contacts, or is he just not looking, you know? And so now I need to work with that kid, explain to him why it's so important and everything else, and keep you, just keep working on it.
Speaker 2:
10:55
But they can do it at home if they have a brother or sister, you know, mom, dad spend 10 minutes, you know, and to have somebody out of kid take the ball. And you know he say I'm going to do this. You know, I want to run from here to here in the backyard or in the driveway or whatever, and have them just flash the card, you know, with whatever they want to do, and watch and see how long it takes them to respond with the number on the card. You know, now, don't get me wrong, don't get in three by fives. And writing pencil yeah, that's going to be very hard to see close, you know, I take a full sheet of paper and I printed it out with a big dark black font, you know, and I had zero through nine, you know so. But you can see him from 10 yards away because it's odd, the size of a piece of paper. I'm not. Hey, get a microscope and look at this little tiny number, this little dot over there. So you got to be realistic, you know.
Speaker 2:
11:51
And then you know, with the field, division is also there. There is also football IQ and I think, next to the quarterback, the running back has to be as smart, you know, or he's going to be second in line as smartest on the field. You know, receivers get a lot of attention, the ball thrown away a lot. They run a lot of routes and the better routes they run, you know, more opportunities they have of getting open and catching the ball and so on, so forth. But what they don't get, what running backs have to do that receivers don't, is when they call that run play inside and everybody has their own, whether it's a gap be gap or you know the one, two, three or four hole.
Speaker 2:
12:38
However you call your plays, you know football one on one, fundamental one. One is the running back gets the handoff and you look for your linemen's backside Because in theory, if you can see his backside, he's between the ball carrier and the defender and it's going to make it very hard for the defender to make the tackle and if you don't see his backside, then there's a line blocking issue. You know, but that's what you look for. You know, and I teach that all the time If, if your linemen turns is but this way, this is the way you go. If he turns it that way, that's the way you go.
Speaker 2:
13:21
The play might be called, you know, like a gap, or the one hole, or the two hole, or the, you know, a gap, whatever, depending on how the defenses are lined up and the stunts they're running. You know that's what you. You can try to practice that all you want. You'll never get it 100% because defensive coordinates are always changing. You know, and they're looking at filming, they're trying to go ways on how to stop, you know that offense. In the next week you've got to play, so you can only go on what you saw in the past and prepare as best you can. But you don't know what new stunts are going to be out there, that on that Friday night or whatever day you play, so that's a good statement.
Speaker 1:
13:58
I mean, that's really a good insight because I've seen just in the past you know again, we call a play, you know and you're set to go, and they know where they're supposed to go, but if that hole closes up too fast, you got to have somebody running back that can make a quick decision If he sees maybe it's the big gap or he has to bounce out because he sees something, just because that's the way the play is designed and that's what you're supposed to do.
Speaker 1:
14:22
You got to be able to adjust, and that is. That is something that you're really good at, because you've you've teach these, these guys, you've teach these players. You know, don't count on just because this is what we're going to do. You got to have a plan. You got to have a plan B, c and D, just in case something else opens up on another side, you know, and that that's really important too.
Speaker 1:
14:42
So you got to be able to make quick as a running back. They got to be able to make a quick decision if if plan a doesn't work.
Speaker 2:
14:49
Right and that once again the field of vision comes into play. You know, like you said, you run this design hole. They just happen to be running a stunt, that whole, because they, you know, called your play. You know. And now the whole stuff, what do you do? You know, if your eyes are moving, you can see it. Before you run into the car accident, you can try to avoid it. Like you said, you know the end and we use the term in the three B's been banging bounce, you know bend is to to bend it back. You know, cut it back to the backside, you know just lower your shoulder and you know, get very physical and bounces. There's nothing to the inside and my, you know the four holes clogged up. So I'm going to bounce it to the outside. And you know the running back has to have all three of those to be successful. Been banging bounce, you know, and they should always remember that, you know, so that you can turn a negative play into a positive play. And another thing that I teach the running backs, that's basic football, one on one, and that's how it's all. It applies to all the players, you know. But because I work with running backs, it's it's a running back thing, but the QB coaches teaches their quarterbacks to.
Speaker 2:
16:00
As you're coming to, the line of screen is using the defensive formation and you know where the place going to go, because you called in the huddle. You should already have somewhat of an idea on the direction you're going to go before the balls even snap. You're going to you should see body shifting. You know it's not a perfect thing. You know some teams can mask it and wait till the ball snap, if the players are good enough, and then make their shift. But you'll see a linebacker walk up like he's going to blitz or you know you're going to see got bodies on the give his line slide one way or another or sit in a gap. You know I'm running this way, okay. Well, if that guy is in the deep, it's alignment is in the gap or in the hole where I'm supposed to run and I see a linebacker started to keep up behind them. More than likely that's not going to be open and you should be able to see that before the ball snapped. You know. So in my mind it's okay. Now I'm scaling everything and how many people on the right side of the defender are coming and closing down and how many people on the left side more than likely, you know and that's where you can get an idea of where you probably going to have to go. You know you'll have to bend it back or bounce it out, but it's a quick decision.
Speaker 2:
17:06
I. One thing I don't do, you know, or I told my players not to do is because the decision is so fast. Don't hesitate. It's not perfect. You might think you saw something to the inside and bend it back and get ran over like a mattress. That's okay. Okay, that's okay, because you thought you saw something and you could have. I won't know until I go back afterwards and look at the film. But I'm not on the field and if you saw just a hint of daylight, okay, but it just closed on you too quick, so it didn't work. But I'm okay with saying okay, at least my running back is starting to process information with his brain. The more brain process you can have, the less physical you can have.
Speaker 2:
18:00
Football, especially for running backs, it's a 70, 30, but except for really lining, because there's always contact the whole time.
Speaker 2:
18:13
They're almost nose to nose with each other and the defense is fighting to get back in the backfield and the offense is fighting to keep them out of the backfield.
Speaker 2:
18:21
But receivers, running backs, qbs the more information you can process pre-snap, the more successful you will be. And, like I said, you guys just gotta take care of the ball and you won't always make the right decision. You know we use the term run the daylight. You know well, that's a hard thing, that's really. You know that's more like football 102, but it goes. You know you can start teaching it at football 101, you know the earlier you can, the better off they'll be as they develop and get older. Just because it's hard to, without being in the play with them, to get them to, you know actually look up and see where there's opening. Nowadays the kids, they want to run to the hole and if the hole's clogged they just automatically run wide. And I've seen so many running backs run east and west. You know, going from sideline to sideline and the football field is 53 yards from sideline to sideline, you're absolutely, absolutely gaining no yards running 30 yards west or east to try to outrun somebody and then turn up to you.
Speaker 1:
19:35
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
19:36
I'd rather you just get maybe five yards out. You know that you can't outrun the pursuit and just turn up and get what you can get. You're wasting energy trying to get to these sidelines. It's not going to happen unless you're you know your exception, you're, you're going to four, two, four, three, 40, you know, yeah, then you can do whatever you want. You could probably, with one leg, you know hot, and beat somebody because you're so fast, but you know so it's. You know it's just one of those things.
Speaker 2:
20:05
It, as a coach, has been doing this a long time. I can definitely day one with a group of running backs. I can tell who's a natural, who who. Who's a natural for this and those that we're going to need a lot of help and I don't favor one over the other. You know if the kid doesn't, if the kid's determined to be a running back and he wants to be successful, you know he's willing to put the time to work in or I'll work pretty until the sun goes down, you know. But keep in mind that, and I tell us all my players every pregame you know tonight is game time. You know you worked hard all week. I'm not out there, I'm never putting on another uniform and shoulder pads.
Speaker 2:
20:59
I had my days. I had my fun, you know, and now I'm teaching it and I've given you all the necessary tools. I taught you how to spin, move. I taught you how to jump, cut. I told you, I'll tell you how to set up a block. I taught you how to, you know, lower your shoulder and and and shade a defender and everything else that goes with it. But it's up to you to use it in the game. Either you're going to use it or you're not. I can't go out there and do it for you, you know, and that's another, that's the other aspect of it. You know, there's the actual teaching of it in the physical part of learning it and then there's the application part. You know, in a game but I don't want you to sit there if the holes filled and dance around for five minutes. You know wasting time. Just make one move and this is what I teach it to all my ready backs One cut and go as you advance down the field to the next level and the next level you might have to get a little, you know a little dance, happy feet.
Speaker 2:
22:03
You might have to do a spin move. You might do other things, but that first from the live scrimmage and first by yards. It's once that one cut and go If you need to, if not, if the holes open, just hit it. It isn't one cut and go and make in. Stick your decision and give that decision 100%. If you choose to See, if you think the holes clogged or you missed the close before you get there, you need to go back to the cut to the inside or cut to the outside, make a choice, live with it. You give it 100%. Don't hesitate to ah man, I've cut outside, that should have gone inside and just give up on the play. I've seen that happen too much too. You know and you just you'll learn and it's one of those more experience you get, the more you'll learn.
Speaker 2:
22:51
You know football is, is physics and in basic you know geometry, it's angels, it's. You know the body can only do certain things. You know now, unless a kid I know that can a Defender can get out there and he can turn his hips one way and turn his body completely around in the other direction. You know, like some kind of exorcism. You know you can't really do that right. You know so if the guy is pursuing you and you can get him to turn his hips. If he turns his hips he can't turn around the other way.
Speaker 2:
23:21
I tell the kids that you know when we're doing the passing, once the ball's in the air, there's nobody over there with a remote control, you know, like the drones, and they can make the ball change direction in midair. Once it's in the air it's going to. You know it's destination, it's not gonna change direction. Yeah, you, you have some games and it's very ticky-ticky, yes, I'm games where the winds are 60 miles an hour and it might, you know, push the ball a little bit, but not to. If the guy's running the go route and the next guy to him is running a post, it's, if you throw the go, the ball's, not the winds not gonna blow it to the post. She's not gonna happen, you know.
Speaker 2:
23:59
So there's certain things that just and and that's a really a much football 102, 103 is Really getting somebody to be able to turn their hips. You, if you can Get a defender to flip his hips, they would call it flip his hips. But what I would say up front, initially, in the, in the beginning Of teaching the basics, he just teach the basics. You know ball security. Make sure their their hands are open the right way. Put two hands over the ball. You know, when you're going through the hole, keep your head up, stay low, keep your legs driving. You know, and you know as you like to, as you as you get it and and you see success. And Now you run more and you run more and you run more. You'll get better at it. You know it'll get a little easier. Like I said, the more you can process pre snap, the better your odds are. You know that. 810 or even breaking it, you know, and that's that's football. There was one more thing I was gonna bring up in regards to that, but I lost my track. But you know, oh, that's what it was, and you know you can never start too soon.
Speaker 2:
25:15
The best way for running back to Freeze of defender and we're talking like a linebacker or something like that or blitzing safety or whatever, whatever the play is called Sweep is a little different, you know, because you just have all this open area outside of. You know the guy on the end of line scrimmage, so you can make your cut at any time and you've probably got a 20 plus yard window to make that cut, but between tackle, tackle or tight end to tight end. However, you often to set I teach my running backs to attack the whole. If the place called let's say it's called 24 Our man whatever that means, ready backs can run through the four hole, which is the second hole or second gap between the players from the center on the right, and run straight at that hole, even if it's clog. Because if you're running straight in that hole now, you're freezing the middle linebacker and whatever linebackers are on the right, whether it's the will or the same. If you get the ball and you automatically start dancing, they're five yards deep. That's why I say the play doesn't really start till five yards down the field. And now they're sliding their feet and they're shifting with you and now they say, oh, he's going to cut back. If you make it too soon they're going to cut the backside and you're probably going to get tackled in the backfield. But if you go straight at them, they don't know what you're going to do. So they have to stand there and then at the last second, either cut stiff arm, run him over, do your dance, whatever you want to do, but don't do it too early, and that's very critical, especially when you're running out of whatever the formation is.
Speaker 2:
27:04
Usually, like I said, in today's football it's a single back set. A lot of teams are starting to slowly migrate some of the old school football that I came from, where they have two backs in the backfield and they have a wing and a lead blocker, but that's just a handful of plays. At this point in time Everybody's still holding onto the spread. They use those plays more when it's inside the red zone goal line. Then you get touchdown of that two-point conversion. Other than that, you're just running single back set, so you have to be your only blocker and your own runner.
Speaker 2:
27:38
I had the luxury of growing up in an era where I had a lead blocker, so I would always get right behind him, put my hand on the shirt, we'd go through the hole and at the defender game I would grab him and push him in that direction and then bounce off and go. It was real easy for me. It's not so easy when you don't have anybody and you have to take on linebackers by yourself. And as you get older those linebackers get bigger, stronger and a little faster and you're going to have to learn how to adjust that and dealing with running back to the varsity level. That's one way I teach their blocking for pass, blocking a little different than I do at the lower levels.
Speaker 2:
28:23
Because now you're getting the big discrepancies the defensive end is 6'6" and he's 250, and he runs a 4'7" 40. Well, you're still 5'9" and 185. You can't take him head on. You're a concussion protocol. He's going to run you over. So how do you block him? You've got to be smart enough. You have to take an angle and you have to get him at that angle and get him in his hip so that you can slow him down, move him off track a little bit. It's just different Lower levels, the kids are premature on the same side, so it's a little different. In the blocking Everybody's pretty equal. But that's something to think about. Hey, I'm this side and that guy's a linebacker, 6'3", 250. There's no way I can run him over. What are you going to do?
Speaker 1:
29:14
Well, that's not all I got, like you said before that's when you're planning ahead and you've got your field of vision. If you see that coming down the pipe and you're going to have to run into that.
Speaker 1:
29:25
you better make your game plan so one you can get those couple yards or, like you said, avoid a middle of cost. Or, if you're going to take them on, at least take them into a point where you can handle it. But that's really good insight. There's a lot of responsibility for a running back, but they have to be one of those people that think on their feet. They've got to be competitive, they've got to have the mental toughness, like you said, take a good hand off that. There's nothing worse than seeing something screw up in the backfield because they didn't open up correctly and, like you said, that field of vision. So there's a lot to it, but I do like the fact that you said anybody who really wants to be a running back can commit to it. If you commit, well, if you commit to anything, but you really got to want it and you got to put the work in to do it and get it. Because when you do have those plays, like you said, if it's four or five out of the game, you better make them count.
Speaker 2:
30:25
Exactly. Yeah, everyone is precious, make everyone count. And that's where that heart and that mental toughness comes in that you just can't really teach. You can guide the player down that path so that he wants to do it versus a receiver. Receivers are usually getting tackled by safeties in corners, so they're about even in size and speed, where the running back has to deal with defense and linemen that are twice in size and linebackers. So the hitting is different. And if you're that guy that doesn't like to get hit or is afraid to get hit or you can't take a hit, that can't be taught you. Just running back is not for you.
Speaker 2:
31:14
And that's what I mean by that mental toughness. You got to know you're going to get up in there and it's going to get nasty and you're going to be OK with that. You're going to get hit by two or three guys, whereas, like I said, receivers out to the outside it's one on one and you don't make the catch and then he could tackle by the corner or safety, whoever's covering them. So, one on one situation. There's no running into each other and slamming into each other and getting low, and low man wins the battle. And driving your legs to push somebody back. You don't have that for the receiver, so it's just totally different and that's all part of that desire in that heart. What do you want to be that guy? Those are the successful running backs, the ones that know that it's going to get physical. But I'm willing to get physical with you. You don't always win every physical bout, but if you can take a hit and get that done, you're going to have some success.
Speaker 1:
32:07
Well, I appreciate you being here with us, coach. You gave a lot of great insight and I know it's going to help a lot of people especially because we're still preseason, you know and it's going to give everybody an opportunity to start. You know, start with the weightlifting and doing the drills, and, you know, working on your stamina, because if this is the position that you really want this, this is the time to do it. Don't wait for day one of practice, you know. You know, as coaches, we all know who's been working off season compared to those that walk on the field. You know the first day Exactly.
Speaker 1:
32:40
Yeah, I mean if it's a position you really want. But thank you so much for joining us. You've always got some great insight and I love all the tips that you had to offer. And you know it's always such a gift to have somebody you can give some in. You know, a lot of the people know, because off season is hard, especially for somebody who's just starting out, or parents that are like, well, what do I do? You know, my kid wants to be a running back. Well, learn the responsibilities that go with it. You know, because, like you said, it's not a position to take lightly. You know, if that's the position you're going to take, then you really got to commit to it and be serious about it. So all right.
Speaker 2:
33:14
And, as a parent, don't be afraid that's going to tell you the quality of coaching that you have for your child. You know, if you want to know what it takes, like you just asked, you know, come out to practice, you know, day one or whatever, and then after practice go to his position coach, the running back coach, and ask him hey, you know what, you know, what can I do at home? Or what can my son do at home, you know, to make himself a better running back? You know, and if he's willing to give you an answer, you know, and not a over complicated answer, you know, then you know he's got a pretty decent coach. You know, if he says, well, you know, don't want to give you an answer, or he says something that doesn't make any sense, you know your son's in for a long season, you know.
Speaker 2:
34:00
That's just you know, and that's part of common sense and that's another thing that needs to be taught on the football team football field as well. You know, get us some common sense. Like I said, that guy's running this way, I'm not going to try to run. Go, run that same way towards him. You know, I'm going to run the opposite way. Run, it's called run the daylight. You know, and I'm going to try to get down the field as without being touched, as much as possible. You know you have a longer career.
Speaker 1:
34:24
You know you have a long career. You know you have a long career, you have a long career, you have a long career, you have a long career, you have a long career. Yeah, coach, thank you so much. I appreciate your time and effort and also your insight. You know, it's always, it's always fun having you here on the field with us and you know, again, our parents love hearing this stuff because this is like an inside, inside information so you guys can understand what's happening out on that field.
Speaker 2:
34:45
So thank you again.
Speaker 1:
34:46
Oh, thanks for having me. I had a blast yeah it's always fun. All right, guys, remember you know you're always proud of yourself at practice, you know. So go out there, start strong, stay strong and finish strong, and we'll look forward to seeing you guys next week.
Speaker 2:
34:59
Bye, all right.
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