Customer Reviews

For Kid's Sake : Teaching Tackle Football - The Youth Coach's Field Manual

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Another reviewer referred to this book as a "bible". This is completely inaccurate. The book looks great on the surface, but offers no meat beneath its pages. For example, none of the defensive responsibilities, or how to teach them, are discussed in descriptions of defenses. Only alignments are shown, against only a two tight end set, and several of these alignments are inaccurate, making the defenses unsound. There is NO description of what to do when your opponent shows the single wing or "run and shoot" or any other slightly non-standard offensive systems.

Offensive plays are ridiculously simple, and yet still rely far too much on individual blocking efforts by solo linemen with no advantages in leverage or positioning. The playbook featured here has little power and less misdirection, and could easily be scouted and demolished by a competent defensive coach. (Yes, I scout in youth football. If you know what you're doing, you do too, but Coach Leiber doesn't bother to mention how important this is.)

The author also completely disregards special teams. If you purchase and read "The Hidden Game of Football" you will discover that special teams are more important than OFFENSE to a team's success. Coach Lieber includes no special teams information whatsoever in his book, possibly because his league does not allow kickoffs or kickoff returns. Generally teams also do not punt in this league. Point After Touchdown attempts are normal offensive plays rather than utilizing the kicking game.

The league Coach Leiber coaches in castrates the sport of football by demanding that all teams run the same defense: a 6-2-3 zone with linebackers five yards from the line and corners at eight yards, effectively removing more than half the defense from playing the running game with any kind of success.

He has no experience in other leagues that do not offer these restrictions. He cites several rules inaccurately, such as neutral zone infractions. He also inaccurately states that the offense can not put more than seven men on the line of scrimmage (there is a minimum of seven, there is NO maximum).

In short, he is absolutely NOT knowledgable about the sport of football, the rules of football, or the responsibilities of coaching football, and thus, is completely unqualified to write this book. Reading it will NOT help your team. Find John T. Reed's books instead.

I have read nearly two hundred books on coaching football in the past year, and this book ranks near the top of my list of ineffective ones. You'll note that the editorial reviews by D. Michael Phahl, Rick Wolff, and, Rodereick West are all positive, and yet NONE OF THESE MEN ACTUALLY COACH YOUTH FOOTBALL!

Having a job with Sports Illustrated Magazine or being president of the Notre Dame Alumni Association does not qualify you to judge the effectiveness of a book written about coaching the game of football at the youth level. When was the last time either of these men were at a youth football GAME, much less on a youth football practice field? How can either of these men accurately weigh the usefulness of this book if they do not coach the sport themselves?

I don't recommend trusting them, and I don't recommend this book to youth football coaches. There is no excuse for the author of a book on coaching football to be ignorant of the rules of the game. There is no excuse for the author of a book on coaching football to not place accurate alignment rules for his defenses in its pages. There is no excuse for the author of a book on coaching football to completely ignore special teams.

Coach Wade

This guide is the "bible" for all youth coach's! A must for anyone coaching or teaching children the art of the sport.