Tony from Ontario sent the following question:
Hi Coach, I have a major problem. I live in Canada and I am pretty good at football. Do you think I would be able to make it to the NFL as fairly as people who live in the US? Or should I move to the US.
Hi Tony,
Moving to the US would only be a positive move if you were moving to attend and play football in college in the states. A number of players from Canada do this every year and while it will not guarantee a future in the NFL it will increase your exposure to the pro scouts.
Having a successful football career in a US college will increase your chances of being evaluated for the NFL, the first step in eventually being invited to an NFL camp.
I would also keep my option open of being selected by and playing for one of the CFL teams. They play an exciting style of football and it would allow you to continue playing without making the move south to the US, Coach Tom Bass.
Zach from Paradise, California sent the following question:
Hey coach, my name is Zach, and I live in Paradise, and what my question is how do you become a coach in the NFL?
Hi Zach,
Different coaches have taken different paths to become an NFL coach. One path is to enter coaching after having a career as a player in the league. Ex-players will often begin by coaching the position they played, then working into a coordinator position and then finally becoming a Head Coach.
The other path is working up through the college coaching ranks, meeting and getting to know pro coaches or college coaches who move on to the pros, and then being brought onto an NFL staff in this way.
The third way is by starting out working in the personnel department [often as a scout or doing film evaluation] or in quality control and then when the opportunity presents itself, moving out onto the practice field as a coach.
Because here are only a limited number of jobs available as a professional coach it is very difficult to gain one of these spots and once there the job is very demanding, with a great deal of pressure and very long hours of work throughout the entire football season.
All that being said, coaching in the NFL is a great job, it is very rewarding, and your interaction with all the players is what makes it fun, Coach Tom Bass.
The next three questions all deal with the quarterback position. If you are thinking about wanting to change positions [move from your present position on the team to another spot] for next season you might want to read the next question and answer.
John sent the following question:
Ok Coach I've really wanted to play QB these past few years. I have been lifting the whole winter, ran track and have been throwing every chance I get. I have called plays before on defense and plan to run, lift, and throw all summer. So how do I tell my coach I want to try and play QB?
Hi John,
Any time a player has a desire to move to another position on the team it is very important that you discuss the move with your coach as soon as possible.
I always encourage players to ask the coach for a private meeting where both of you have time to really go over the move.
Discuss and explain what it means to you [try to have your thoughts, desires and how you have been preparing well thought out in advance - write them down if necessary].
Talk about what it means to the team [express your willingness to play more than one position if necessary].
And finally, have a dialogue about what your contribution can be to helping the team achieve success [be prepared to listen to and try to understand the coach's position and point of view].
Approach the meeting with an open mind, stay positive and be prepared for the coach to have valid reasons why playing at another position is best for you and the team.
Without this discussion the coach may never really know or understand that you have this desire to compete for another position [he really has no other way of knowing] and by having it right away it will give you the opportunity to really perfect all the techniques that you will need to compete in the fall
At the same time it gives the coach, if he agrees with the move, the opportunity to begin training you for the position and adjust the team depth chart to reflect the change. Good luck and set up the meeting as soon as you can, Coach Tom Bass
George sent the following question:
Coach, I play QB for my school and yesterday I was playing football with my friends. I was pretty accurate but I seemed to over shoot my target. How can I fix this? Thank you.
Hi George,
You might start by checking the release point of the ball when you make the throw. You may find that you are holding the ball with the front tip of the ball pointing up rather than level with the ground and even with your helmet.
Also it is important to understand that as time goes by and you have the opportunity to work with your receivers more, you will be able to know the speed of each receiver and have a much better idea of how far you can lead a player as he comes out of his break.
As a general rule any receiver coming to the inside of the field will run six to seven yards before he is in position to make the reception. Going to the outside of the field, the distance will be 8 to 9 yards. Going deep the distance will be 10 to 12 yards. This is where your aiming point should be and where the ball should be thrown.
Any pass like an "up" that is thrown deep on the sideline needs to be thrown five yards inside the path of the receiver, in addition to the10 to 12 yard lead to keep the ball in the field of play and not sailing over the receiver's head out of bounds.
Work on learning the speed of each of your receivers, stay constant in your release point, and practice aiming for the spot that will help your receivers be in position to make the catch, Coach Tom Bass.
Adam from Longview, TX sent the following question:
Hey Coach, I'm going out to be my school's quarterback. My throwing form is solid and I have a good set of wheels. I am having trouble reading defenses. What do some of the basic coverages look like and what do the DBs and Linebackers do? Thanks.
Hi Adam,
When trying to understand any coverage, the first thing to do is to determine if the defense is playing man-to-man or zone pass defense. In man-to-man the defensive players [defensive backs and linebackers] are assigned to cover and run with one particular receiver all over the field to the entire play.
Usually the two corners will cover the two outside receivers, the strong safety will cover the tight end, and the linebackers will be responsible to cover the running backs. All the defensive players with coverage will be focused on the player they have in coverage.
In a zone defense both the linebackers and defensive backs are asked to cover a designated section of the field and react to any ball thrown to any receiver in that zone. In zone pass defense the defensive players will focus on you and the ball and not on any one particular receiver. They let the ball take them to the intended receiver.
You may have a two-deep zone [where you will see prior to the snap that both safeties are lined up deep, one on each half of the field and backing up on the snap. With this coverage the two corners [in both outside medium zones] and linebackers [in the medium zones more in the center of the field] will be assigned to medium zones [10 to 12 yards deep from the line of scrimmage] on the field.
The other most common zone will be a three-deep zone where the two corners each cover a deep outside third of the field and the free safety covers the deep middle third. The remaining strong safety and linebackers will drop into a medium zone across the field.
You may also see a variation of the three-deep coverage where the corner and free safety will cover a quarter of the field deep [on the side of flanker and tight end or to the wide side of the field] and the other corner [to the side of the single receiver or the short side of the field] will cover the deep third on his side.
As you come to the line of scrimmage it is always good to see if there is a defensive back deep directly in front of you or if his area is vacant. If the area is vacant and both the free and strong safety are deep you can anticipate some form of two deep coverage giving you the opportunity to throw to the center and both sidelines of the field.
If there is a free safety deep in the center of the field and both corners are off the line you can anticipate a form of three deep zone pass coverage. If the free safety is deep in the center of the field and the corners are lined up tighter to the line of scrimmage you should anticipate some type of man-to-man pass defense [possible even a blitz].
One important way to learn to recognize pass defense is to become a student of the game, go in during the summer, study as much video as you can, look at the defense prior to the snap and try to see if you can pick out the coverage before the play actually begins.
All great quarterbacks have an understanding of pass defense, and through video study, learn to see [as they come to the line] how the opponent is lined up for each different coverage.
Ask your coach if you can start spending some time watching video as soon as possible, take notes, and write down everything that is different on every coverage.
Don't get discouraged in the beginning, take your time, ask your coach for help, and start your own notebook on every team that you will face in the fall.
Coach Tom Bass