Where can I go to understand the Xs and Os of football more? Any educational sites out there I can go to?

[Victory Formation]

I hope the title is descriptive enough. First off, I'm not a moron when it comes to football but there is a lot about the game that I do not understand. Are there any websites I can go to that break down the game a little bit more for amateurs such as myself? Different coverages, schemes and assignments. I crave a deeper understanding of the game. Please help.

[Jauronimo]

Cover1 has had good content on coverages and scheme.

[Rc2catch]

This may sound stupid.. But playing John Madden football is actually a decent way to learn about formations for both sides of the ball. You can only learn so much but honestly that’s how I taught my wife defensive differences like 4-3 and 3-4 and dime and nickel coverage etc etc..

Seeing the formations is a good way to learn what the sets look like. 

If you’re looking to get more in depth for say gap coverages and stuff I can’t help there 

[Bing Bong]

This guy is making hot takes great again

https://www.barstoolsports.com/chicago/is-there-a-collusion-case-against-nathan-peterman

[thebandit27]

Cover 1 is great.

 

Also give Matt Bowen (former Bills' safety) a follow on twitter--he does a lot of work explaining coverages, route concepts, etc.

 

Lastly, there's just no substitute for All-22 film study. And I mean STUDY. Terminology and concepts are great starting points, but seeing for yourself how assignments play out in live action is the best way to learn.

[26CornerBlitz]

12 minutes ago, NewDayBills said:

I hope the title is descriptive enough. First off, I'm not a moron when it comes to football but there is a lot about the game that I do not understand. Are there any websites I can go to that break down the game a little bit more for amateurs such as myself? Different coverages, schemes and assignments. I crave a deeper understanding of the game. Please help.

 

YouTube is a great source with countless videos for X and O explanation on any subject you might be interested in. 

[boater]

Books from the American Football Coaches Association.

 

https://www.amazon.com/American-Football-Coaches-Association/e/B000APOUJ2

[MiltonWaddams]

3 minutes ago, boater said:

Books from the American Football Coaches Association.

 

https://www.amazon.com/American-Football-Coaches-Association/e/B000APOUJ2

This is exactly what I was going to recommend. As a player, I understood basic concepts and knew where I had to be and why. Transferring that to coaching was a challenge. Understanding the whole concept of the D, O and special teams was a tough assignment and reading coaching books was a game changer. Also, consider coaching youth football. It is rewarding and informative and will have you watching games a different way.

[whatdrought]

Just spend a ton of time on TBD. You’ll find a lot of realistic and helpful football insights from the compilation of great minds here. 

 

 

 

[msw2112]

I highly recommend the book "Take Your Eye Off the Ball" by Pat Kirwan.  It was recommended to me, I bought it and read it and really liked it.  I played HS Football and know a lot about college and NFL football, but I still learned some new things from this book.  It is dead-on in line with what you state you are looking for in your original post.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910

Edited December 27, 2018 by msw2112

[row_33]

Not really, a fan couldn’t last one minute discussing a basic play over a drink with a college coach

 

all the announcers do is react after the play and tell you what you already saw

 

just enjoy the game as light entertainment until you have to go back to school or work on Monday.....

 

[Alphadawg7]

24 minutes ago, Rc2catch said:

This may sound stupid.. But playing John Madden football is actually a decent way to learn about formations for both sides of the ball. You can only learn so much but honestly that’s how I taught my wife defensive differences like 4-3 and 3-4 and dime and nickel coverage etc etc..

Seeing the formations is a good way to learn what the sets look like. 

If you’re looking to get more in depth for say gap coverages and stuff I can’t help there 

 

Yeah, if you have a modern version of Madden like this years or last years, there are some good tools to learn the schemes.  Do the practice sessions because the tutorials will actually teach you the different coverages on defenses, how to attack them, how to recognize them, etc.  same on offense as it goes through different blocking assignments, route trees, running lanes, where the play should go, how to attack different coverages with routes, etc. 

 

Sounds silly, but it’s actually quite a lot of quality info and in depth coverage.  Then getting to practice and see all the player movement helps hammer it home.  

[LSHMEAB]

It's really tough if you never actually played.

 

I played every major sport other than hockey but really only excelled at kickball. I was 2x All State as Pitcher in High School and rolled 7 consecutive no kickers in 1999.

 

The Madden suggestion is probably a good one.

[NoHuddleKelly12]

For some reason this thread reminded me of SI's article on Hoodie's inherited football library that he then donated to the Naval Academy in Annapolis in 2006--a collectible vault of sorts for football knowledge:

 https://www.si.com/2015/01/28/bill-belichick-library-steve-belichick-naval-academy

 

Hoodie is like the Borg from Star Trek--constantly assimilating and absorbing all in his path 

[teef]

for the guys mentioning madden, i don't remember who it was, but a player mentioned that he truly didn't grasp the x's and o's until he began playing madden.  this is a player...so there has to be some learning benefit to it.

[Gugny]

58 minutes ago, NewDayBills said:

I hope the title is descriptive enough. First off, I'm not a moron when it comes to football but there is a lot about the game that I do not understand. Are there any websites I can go to that break down the game a little bit more for amateurs such as myself? Different coverages, schemes and assignments. I crave a deeper understanding of the game. Please help.

 

Someone upstream said it in a tongue-in-cheek manner, but I will say that there are a lot of knowledgeable users on this site (I'm not going down the road of naming names).

 

In the past, when I've had questions, I've started threads and gotten high quality answers.  Generally speaking, many here are more than happy to share knowledge.

[NoHuddleKelly12]

5 minutes ago, teef said:

for the guys mentioning madden, i don't remember who it was, but a player mentioned that he truly didn't grasp the x's and o's until he began playing madden.  this is a player...so there has to be some learning benefit to it.

In other news, Kelvin Benjamin's new position coach in Kansas City locked him in the conference room "by accident" with an XBox last week... 

[Freddie's Dead]

Mark Kelso is excellent for explaining coverages in the defense and pre-snap motions.

[26CornerBlitz]

1 minute ago, Freddie's Dead said:

Mark Kelso is excellent for explaining coverages in the defense and pre-snap motions.

 

Did he explain that running your punt team on with the offense still in on 4th down isn't cheating? 

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

6 minutes ago, NoHuddleKelly12 said:

In other news, Kelvin Benjamin's new position coach in Kansas City locked him in the conference room "by accident" with an XBox last week... 

 

Is that going to teach him to block... run routes... line up properly... catch... or generally exhibit any effort whatsoever?

3 minutes ago, Freddie's Dead said:

Mark Kelso is excellent for explaining coverages in the defense and pre-snap motions.

 

Romo is usually pretty good to watch too.  I try to watch his broadcasts every week because he really does talk through the QBs head.  Audibiles, what he's reading on coverage based on alignment, etc.