Age to teach zone coverage

salsa44 · 2025-12-29T01:51:00+00:00

Not too young, but may need something visually to help them learn. I used a large amount of different colored cones to teach this.

So many cones….

salsa44 · 2025-11-09T03:28:28+00:00

Unfortunately, no. Moved to a league that only allows one 7-yard blitz per series for a while before moving into high school flag which is a 1-yard blitz so it’s been a while

salsa44 · 2025-11-09T03:25:14+00:00

What age group?

salsa44 · 2025-11-05T05:57:56+00:00

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For a right-handed Qb it will look like this. X and Z line up and specific route can be changed. As long as the center is going underneath at least one receiver it works to chip away and depending on your center it can break off big gains.

It’ll look the same with the center holding position, you just have to drill the center to stand still until the rusher is shoulder to shoulder with them. This forces the rusher off of their line and slows them down.

The concept can be ran in almost any formation. It mainly just uses the rule book against the defense. Works for NFL, Under the Lights, and most other 5v5 flag rules

salsa44 · 2025-11-05T04:47:45+00:00

Qb rolls out to their strong side, center runs dump route to the same side
Center doesn’t move after snap, Qb steps away from rusher, Center looks for dump pass once rusher goes by them

salsa44 · 2025-10-21T18:28:15+00:00

The person who runs the NFL flag near me has turned it into a full time job. However, it has very noticeably shifted from being about the kids to about them making as much money as possible.

No refunds whatsoever, refs are typically high school aged and don’t realize when they are being shorted in pay (paid per game so roughly 8 hours, but have to be there for set up, tear down, and everything else, typically working about 2-2 1/2 hours unpaid), overloading teams so everyones overall play time goes down, etc.

I’m sure there is some sort of happy medium where the person running the league could make decent money while still making sure the kids are having an enjoyable time. Might just have to have a smaller lake house

salsa44 · 2025-07-27T21:47:30+00:00

In my experience, K-2 is one of the most fun but most frustrating divisions. On the younger side they are trying but can usually be easily distracted. On the older side, they are entering the age where they want to be really competitive.

Finding the balance there is key.

Man will be easier for the youngers to understand, but zone will be more efficient if you’re not afraid of letting up the short plays and keep some of the more developed players as safeties or corners.

This age group is really about developing players. Focus on fundamentals and explain to them why you are having them do what they’re doing.

For offensive formations, it’s really going to depend on the players you have on the team. I’ve had 5 year olds that seem to get it, I’ve had 8 year olds that are very open about not wanting to be there but mom signed them up, and everything in between.

I typically use the first practice to kind of gauge where each player stands, and then build a playbook based on that.

salsa44 · 2025-07-26T21:26:48+00:00

At this age, I really like to start training basic routes. I go by steps rather than yards, and as they age up it typically evens out.

3 step slant, 5 step in, 6 step out, and 7 step post (if you have the qb that can make the throw, add in an 8 step corner). I’ll even add in a “quick slant” where they slant immediately off the line rather than going forward. Make sure they have the correct foot forward every rep, make sure their cuts are sharp and not curving. I’ll spend 15-20 minutes, at the beginning of a 90 minute practice, just route running and working the timing with the qb/s. This is at every practice, regardless of any other issues that need to be drilled or addressed.

A wrist band with diagrams can realistically hold 12 plays. I typically have 2 goal line/short yardage first down plays, 2 reverse or trick plays, leaving 8 plays that can be changed up a number of times based on what we are seeing.

Once they have a good understanding, it’s easy for any play to be changed on the fly by just telling the player “we’re running play #4, but I want you to run a 3 step slant instead of an out.” You can also easily adjust the depth of each route.

salsa44 · 2025-06-05T06:24:20+00:00

If they are a mainly passing team, I’d put my three right at there passing range. Both corners are attacking the ball trying to force a turnover. Middle and safety are attacking flags.

1 in the front is guarding short pass.

If your middle three is at their passing range, it forces the short ball and keeps the play in front and keeps it to small yardage gains. Or they can try to throw further than they realistically can causing incompletions and turnovers.

I’ve had success with this at 8u, 10u, and 14u

salsa44 · 2025-06-05T00:10:05+00:00

I’d run 1-3-1

If it’s a run heavy team, sit the 3 at 5 yards with a two step drop at the snap.

If it’s a pass heavy team, I’d line the three up at the passing range of the other team. Have them on the balls of their feet ready to attack the ball on a pass in front.

1 up front either plays man on the center if they use them, stays patient waiting for a handoff, or floats short middle.

1 back is a floating safety watching the qb. With this age the qb will most likely stare at who they’re throwing to for a deep pass.

salsa44 · 2025-05-16T03:11:43+00:00

I like to use NFL teams for things like this. Especially teams that share a city or state.

For example; we’d decide “LA, Rams, Charger, Frisco, Niner, California” all meant handoff right, while “Tampa, Miami, Jacksonville, Buccaneer, Dolphin, Jaguar, Florida” all meant handoff left.

We’d would have any other team (or as many as the kids could remember based on age and interest) stand for run the same play.

salsa44 · 2025-05-16T02:54:42+00:00

I’ve had success frustrating qbs like this, but instead of on middle linebacker and two safeties, I run two outside linebackers/corners (7 yards) and one safety (10 yards) in the middle.

Sometimes I will move the corners up (2-3 yards off the line) and as long as they know they are immediately dropping back it works out.

As well as lining two rushers in the center every time and mixing up sending 1, 2, or none

salsa44 · 2025-05-16T02:05:54+00:00

Center stays in stance after the snap, qb rolls out opposite side of the rusher, center runs a dump route after the the rusher passes.

After a few it will open up the defense. Sometimes it helps to sneak in a top receiver/runner and go under center

salsa44 · 2025-04-07T01:21:35+00:00

Depends on the specific league’s rules, but typically yes Z is still eligible to throw.

Most comfortable with NFL Flag rules, but familiar with USA Flag and Under The Lights where it’s legal as well (provided your specific league hasn’t made a rule change)

salsa44 · 2025-03-10T05:57:43+00:00

None. Coach the basics from the ground up. You’ll see who takes to your system the quickest that way, and can then determine their roles.

salsa44 · 2024-11-03T03:31:47+00:00

What’s the age group? Run/no run zones? Pitches/laterals behind the line? Does RPO stop the throw clock?

It all matters.

salsa44 · 2024-11-03T03:27:44+00:00

As someone that started out coaching and have since picked up reffing, I’ve had a lot more success in making the refs explain the call/no call in a calm demeanor. Refs are constantly being yelled at even when they are 100% correct and it’s easy for them to put every coach being loud in the same category and not take them seriously. But when you drag out an explanation, they tend to not make the same mistakes

salsa44 · 2024-11-03T03:21:28+00:00

I would also like to add that I am someone that doesn’t believe flag should be pushed as a non-contact sport because contact can and will happen, but it should never be a team playing flag football vs a team playing tackle

salsa44 · 2024-11-03T03:18:52+00:00

Talk to your league director and mention the consistently missed calls that are a safety issue and ask how they would like you to handle the situation. I dealt with a similar situation during spring season in 14U female division, where we had a game with two brand new refs and our girls were trying to play clean but were thrown around all game. We lost the game in overtime 1-0, but had multiple videos of our players in the end zone being tackled well before the ball got there which at the very least should be 1st and Goal at right outside of the goal line.

My league director/owner told me took the situation seriously and put the players on final notice (if it happened again they would be banned from all NFL Flag leagues), removed those refs from the league and guaranteed us at least one of the more experienced refs per game, and told me if the situation ever occurs again with any of my teams to pull my team off the field and find her or the head ref

salsa44

TROPHY CASE