Coaching Flag Football

[oneamongthefence]

So I'll be coaching a flag football team for the Intramural league on base. I've never coached before and never really played Flag Football. I am familiar with all the rules tho. Does anyone have any pointers to flag football or coaching in general?

[adice15]

Re: Coaching Flag Football

So I'll be coaching a flag football team for the Intramural league on base. I've never coached before and never really played Flag Football. I am familiar with all the rules tho. Does anyone have any pointers to flag football or coaching in general?

Teach them how to tackle while making it look like they're going for the flag. That's what they did when I played flag football.

[TDenverFan]

Re: Coaching Flag Football

So I'll be coaching a flag football team for the Intramural league on base. I've never coached before and never really played Flag Football. I am familiar with all the rules tho. Does anyone have any pointers to flag football or coaching in general?

How old are the kids? If they're little, I'd focus on simple pass patterns and a few runs.

[Scott]

Re: Coaching Flag Football

Make a Custom Playbook, unlike Madden, it would actually work

[buckeye02]

Re: Coaching Flag Football

You have to get the kids in shape first. Have them do suicides and up downs for the first week of practice.

[oneamongthefence]

Re: Coaching Flag Football

I should add its gonna be for adults.

[TheShizNo1]

Short dink and dunk passing. Simpler, and the team won't get tired as much.

If you're allowed to rush the passer, make it your fastest or quickest guys. It'll rush the QB more obviously.

The flag football league I was in, everyone liked playing man to man. We played cover 3 and man, and it confused teams.

Eye hand coordination needs to be stressed for reaching for the flags.

[Trevytrev11]

Re: Coaching Flag Football

We ran a real simple offense based off the phone pad.

123 were deep routes
456 were mid range
789 were short, line of scrimmage type routes

At the basic level, it's just run to the spot that QB tells you...however, to get a little more complicated, the route you run depends on both the spot you are lined up at and the number you are running to.

(Ex...if you are split out wide left, a "4" is a 10 yard stop route. If you are lined up inside the left hash, it's a 10 yard out and if you are lined up on the right side of the ball, it's a slant).

Also, you can put numbers together...a 4 +1 (Forty One, Four to the one, etc.) is a stop/pump and go (Stop at the 4, get a pump and go to the 1).

The system is super easy to learn and if you disguise it just a bit, the defense will likely never catch on...unless you play the same team over and over again.

To call plays, we would pick a simple word and assign letters of that word, left to right across the field...then we'd include a two or three digit number and only one of those numbers are live.

(Ex: 5 Receivers, the word is BENCH and the last number is the live number - B245, H133, E289, etc....Your left WR is running a slant right to the middle, your right WR is running a go route your left flanker is running a quick out right across the field).

If your number wasn't called, you just run the same route.

Also, as the QB, if you make eye contact with a receiver either at the line or between plays, you can just tell him real quick what to run by showing him the right number of fingers.

Stacking WR's works great...send one guy long and keep one guy back and then rotate on the next play...one of them will be wide open. We always had one guy, kind of just move across the line and line up next to or behind othe receivers and just were able to do all sorts of stuff with him...usually made this person the fastest kid with the worst hands...clear out the defense and then give him little short passes and let him run.

[TheShizNo1]

We ran a real simple offense based off the phone pad.

123 were deep routes
456 were mid range
789 were short, line of scrimmage type routes

At the basic level, it's just run to the spot that QB tells you...however, to get a little more complicated, the route you run depends on both the spot you are lined up at and the number you are running to.

(Ex...if you are split out wide left, a "4" is a 10 yard stop route. If you are lined up inside the left hash, it's a 10 yard out and if you are lined up on the right side of the ball, it's a slant).

Also, you can put numbers together...a 4 +1 (Forty One, Four to the one, etc.) is a stop/pump and go (Stop at the 4, get a pump and go to the 1).

The system is super easy to learn and if you disguise it just a bit, the defense will likely never catch on...unless you play the same team over and over again.

To call plays, we would pick a simple word and assign letters of that word, left to right across the field...then we'd include a two or three digit number and only one of those numbers are live.

(Ex: 5 Receivers, the word is BENCH and the last number is the live number - B245, H133, E289, etc....Your left WR is running a slant right to the middle, your right WR is running a go route your left flanker is running a quick out right across the field).

If your number wasn't called, you just run the same route.

Also, as the QB, if you make eye contact with a receiver either at the line or between plays, you can just tell him real quick what to run by showing him the right number of fingers.

Stacking WR's works great...send one guy long and keep one guy back and then rotate on the next play...one of them will be wide open. We always had one guy, kind of just move across the line and line up next to or behind othe receivers and just were able to do all sorts of stuff with him...usually made this person the fastest kid with the worst hands...clear out the defense and then give him little short passes and let him run.

This is sweet!

[untrugby]

Re: Coaching Flag Football

id suggest a playbook with numbered plays and you can use the qb style wristbands for everyone so you cant really forget the plays. and use basic audible signs for changing routes inside leg pat for slant, stacked fists for hitch, top of the head pat for fade, hand behind the back for hot/go route. for the plays use basic combos that work well corner and hitch, out and slant/fade. backside outside deep post for for any plays not taking the main side to the deep center, otherwise go/fade route. If you have a real fast guy a 14-12 comeback route after they get used to his speed will be money.

[Evan_OS]

Re: Coaching Flag Football

We ran a real simple offense based off the phone pad.

123 were deep routes
456 were mid range
789 were short, line of scrimmage type routes

At the basic level, it's just run to the spot that QB tells you...however, to get a little more complicated, the route you run depends on both the spot you are lined up at and the number you are running to.

(Ex...if you are split out wide left, a "4" is a 10 yard stop route. If you are lined up inside the left hash, it's a 10 yard out and if you are lined up on the right side of the ball, it's a slant).

Also, you can put numbers together...a 4 +1 (Forty One, Four to the one, etc.) is a stop/pump and go (Stop at the 4, get a pump and go to the 1).

The system is super easy to learn and if you disguise it just a bit, the defense will likely never catch on...unless you play the same team over and over again.

To call plays, we would pick a simple word and assign letters of that word, left to right across the field...then we'd include a two or three digit number and only one of those numbers are live.

(Ex: 5 Receivers, the word is BENCH and the last number is the live number - B245, H133, E289, etc....Your left WR is running a slant right to the middle, your right WR is running a go route your left flanker is running a quick out right across the field).

If your number wasn't called, you just run the same route.

Also, as the QB, if you make eye contact with a receiver either at the line or between plays, you can just tell him real quick what to run by showing him the right number of fingers.

Stacking WR's works great...send one guy long and keep one guy back and then rotate on the next play...one of them will be wide open. We always had one guy, kind of just move across the line and line up next to or behind othe receivers and just were able to do all sorts of stuff with him...usually made this person the fastest kid with the worst hands...clear out the defense and then give him little short passes and let him run.

That's a nice little system there, might try this out if I ever coach Pee Wee like I've been wanting too.

[oneamongthefence]

Re: Coaching Flag Football

Seems easy enough. These are all adults in the AF.

[bgeno]

Re: Coaching Flag Football

From playing Intramurals and a summer tournament, I can tell you that most teams will simply try to launch the ball deep or run with the QB (this may or may not happen in your league, depending on the rules).

When I coached flag football teams, I always liked to keep it simple on offense. In 7-on-7's, we ran the option a lot because most other teams had no idea how to defend it. Just a simple speed option from shotgun gave defenses fits. When passing I tried to use a lot of bunch formations or mirroring routes. Make it simple for the QB. Make it so he basically only has to look in one direction to figure out who is open.

In 4-on-4's, we used short routes from bunch formations. Have everyone break off in different directions. Get the ball in the receivers' hands and hope the defender can't grab the flag. It's as simple as that.


Defensively, we ran a 2-3-2 in 7-on-7's. Two linemen rushed the QB every play, and two corners had the flats every play. Those were the simple positions. The safeties played 2-deep coverage, but they had to be very aware of where the receivers lined up and what routes were being run. They may have to start closer to the LOS depending on the offense being run and always needed to keep an eye on the QB run. The hardest position on the field in a 2-3-2, though, is the linebacker. He has a TON of responsibilities. He has the middle zone, QB keep, run, AND has to keep an eye on lineman going out for passes. Plus, the middle zone tends to be a large one. This is where I always played--not because I was good, but because I didn't trust anyone else with all the assignments. I would put my best/fastest (there isn't much of a different between "good" and "fast" in flag football) players at the safety positions.

If it's 4-on-4, you don't have much of an option defensively. You just gotta man up. Your only decision is whether to play a free safety or to rush the passer. I strongly suggest rushing the passing unless you don't have a defender that can keep up with the QB.