Coaches Keith Grabowski, Andy Ryland and Richie Gray discuss skill development and how that affects the game. The coaches emphasize the importance of putting a focus on skill development and finding ways to develop skills year-round. Gray introduces the philosophy behind USA Football’s Advanced Tackling System and explains how the system quickly moves from theory to practice by understanding key performance indicators.

:00 Advanced tackling system

02:15 Skill development

03:30 What makes up a scheme?

04:12 Are we making players better?

04:50 Is the whole building working to better the player?

05:50 Andy’s observation of skill development

06:55 How much does scheme dominate practice?

10:00 Working skills all year round

11:20 How much time do we have?

13:10 Shape drills

14:10 The players must be comfortable

15:20 Bias of scheme taking over skill

15:55 Technique errors

17:15 Reframe coaching

17:20 Designating a contact coach

19:15 Its about the evolution

20:20 After you grade a player how do you make them better?

21:20 Be prescriptive

22:15 5 fights of tackle

23:18 Time

24:50 Injuries

25:33 Poor technique

26:20 Using film for knowledge

28:15 It’s about how you go about coaching it

29:40 Skill development

31:00 Angle tackle drill example

32:10 5 fights tackle system

35:36 Must understand why you’re doing it

36:05 Breaking down the “fight” in 5 fights of tackle

38:25 Make it simple

40:05 Andy’s thought on the tackle systems

42:40 This is a coaching system

44:05 KPI helping coaches

46:26 Football development initiative

47:28 Safety through superior technique and coaching

48:20 Wanting the players to play better

49:25 It goes back to practice

50:35 Everybody needs to be involved

51:28 The players write the practice script

53:05 Addressing the individuals

53:56 Individual ownership

54:45 Individually prescribed work

58:50 Football Development

1:00:00 Advanced Tackling System