Special teams organization, quality control and practice preparation are the foundation of this excellent lecture-style presentation. Coach Matsakis begins with program overview, discussing commitment, personnel, importance and winning the kicking game. Coaches must set evaluation tools and benchmarks as well as monitor statistics to remain consistent. Day-to-day organization involves practice schedules, meeting with different units and setting scheduled meeting. Developing successful special teams comes first from a supportive head coach and a committed assistant coaching staff. To make an impact on players, Matsakis' first meeting is dedicated to building special teams. Players must be urgent, focused, detailed, passionate and consistent. This DVD will spell out the steps to success in building your special teams unit to see success.

56 minutes. 2008.

The 'Whole-Part-Whole' method of practice helps players understand the big picture on special teams. In this lecture-style presentation, Coach Matsakis uses practice footage to show the drills he uses to make his players fundamentally sound in the punting and kicking games. Starting with the first "Whole," coaches sit down with players in the meeting room and discuss the overall concept for the team using game footage and visual text reinforcement. Moving out to the field, the team breaks into units. Each position works on the elements of the game vital to their unit. Matsakis shows a variety of drills for every position on the punt and kick return and coverage units. To wrap up practice, the team comes together to work on full 11-on-11 drills. Several game-like practice situations are covered, and execution is shown in actual game footage. No detail is left out in this excellent presentation.

56 minutes. 2008.

The punt game is on display in this DVD presented by legendary high school coach, J.T. Curtis. The "Five S's" form the foundation of winning special teams play. They are split, stance, set, strike and sprint. The center's first responsibility is to deliver the ball to the punter with perfect timing. Protection in this case is secondary. The center is given a zone to protect rather than a man so he can focus on the snap. The tackle and guard use a jump technique, jumping and hitting their man high. This technique eliminates the twist. The wider the end rusher gets, the more vertically set the wing gets. In Blue protection, all assignments are simply flipped to the opposite side. The Load call is used when the fifth man has any piece of the center. In high school, the 6-2 look is countered by the defense and their Man 33 Call. Another alignment is White Protection, demonstrated by Coach Curtis on the field with his players. When coaching the gunners, the split, shake, sprint, and stack techniques must be mastered. Little things are required during several drills, shown by Curtis.

58 minutes. 2007.

Coach Curtis believes that special teams are essential for winning football. Kickoff coverage drills make up the first segment of this DVD. The three ways to beat blocks are speed, back door and two gap. Players must decide which technique to use in each situation. The first drill is set up in an area 17-foot wide. Curtis teaches to always pursue with a proper angle to defend against a cutback. Alignment and positioning are the next skills taught. Three kickoff return plays are middle, right and left. Keys to kickoff return presented by Curtis are the angle of the block and the timing of the block. Another strategy is to preset your keep players to the tendencies of the kicker. The fullback should position himself about 5-8 yards from the ball. The side return is an option for successfully returning the ball on kickoffs.

28 minutes. 2007.

The punt game is on display in this DVD presented by legendary high school coach, J.T. Curtis. The "Five S's" form the foundation of winning special teams play. They are split, stance, set, strike and sprint. The center's first responsibility is to deliver the ball to the punter with perfect timing. Protection in this case is secondary. The center is given a zone to protect rather than a man so he can focus on the snap. The tackle and guard use a jump technique, jumping and hitting their man high. This technique eliminates the twist. The wider the end rusher gets, the more vertically set the wing gets. In Blue protection, all assignments are simply flipped to the opposite side. The Load call is used when the fifth man has any piece of the center. In high school, the 6-2 look is countered by the defense and their Man 33 Call. Another alignment is White Protection, demonstrated by Coach Curtis on the field with his players. When coaching the gunners, the split, shake, sprint, and stack techniques must be mastered. Little things are required during several drills, shown by Curtis.

58 minutes. 2007.

FD-02827B: with J.T. Curtis,
John Curtis Christian School (LA) Head Coach,
2006 USA Today National HS Coach of the Year;
21 State HS Football titles

Coach Curtis believes that special teams are essential for winning football. Kickoff coverage drills make up the first segment of this DVD. The three ways to beat blocks are speed, back door and two gap. Players must decide which technique to use in each situation. The first drill is set up in an area 17-foot wide. Curtis teaches to always pursue with a proper angle to defend against a cutback. Alignment and positioning are the next skills taught. Three kickoff return plays are middle, right and left. Keys to kickoff return presented by Curtis are the angle of the block and the timing of the block. Another strategy is to preset your keep players to the tendencies of the kicker. The fullback should position himself about 5-8 yards from the ball. The side return is an option for successfully returning the ball on kickoffs.

28 minutes. 2007.