Developing Dynamite Quarterbacks (7 pages, PDF)

A kid with a strong arm is not a quarterback yet. As Jeff Trickey puts it in the opening article, if that player relies only on his arm and never develops the techniques of the position, he will not make it at the high school level. Developing Dynamite Quarterbacks is the digitised edition of the printed Gridiron Strategies Special Coaching Report on closing that gap — 7 pages, four articles by three coaches, 12 numbered diagrams and 18 drills in all, with a searchable text layer so you can pull up a technique cue or a drill by name in seconds. It covers what to teach, in what order, and how to drill it: stance and hand position under center, the exchange and the handoff, option pitch mechanics, the two passing platforms, every drop back in use today, a 13-point release checklist, a full drill catalog, and a six-step method for teaching a young quarterback to read defense before you teach him your offense.

What's inside

• Quarterback Fundamentals — "Mastering The QB Basics" Key To Developing A Rock-Solid Field General (Jeff Trickey, Director, Jeff Trickey Quarterback Camps, and Quarterback Coach, Waukesha West High School, Waukesha, Wis.; pages 1–4). Why most real QB development happens in the offseason, and how to run short 30-minute gym sessions with the incoming seniors leading them. Then stance under center broken down feet, knees, hips, arms and shoulders, head and eyes, poise and setting early — including the 55-to-45 weight split that lets him explode off the snap without the defense reading it, and the progression of looks he makes leaving the huddle.
• Hand position and the center exchange — the support hand a half knuckle below the top hand for a natural locking position, where the second knuckle of the index finger sits, how the lower hand triggers the snap, and how both hands rise with the center so the ball stays sealed.
• Handing the ball off, and option fundamentals — the quarterback as a "dealer" pressing the ball onto the soft spot of the stomach at the near jersey number instead of jamming it in; letting the eyes control the feet on the option; carrying the ball peck to peck into the closing defender's outside shoulder; the Thumb Down Technique for an end-over-end pitch that leads the back 1 to 2 yards; and the fade off the pitch that keeps him clean. A sidebar gives four rules for the moment before the handoff — the "third hand", elbows in, eyes on the near number, shoulders parallel through every pivot.
• The 2-platform system to passing — the upper platform (finger placement relative to the laces and the extended ring, air under the palm like a dribbled basketball, the ball loaded behind the right peck 6 inches off the chest, elbows in and not chicken-winging) and the lower platform (anchoring the final steps with the feet closer together, keeping the feet moving instead of standing like a lame duck, weight on the back foot, the hitch step into the visual passing lane, and a short open step that does not overstride).
• Drop backs — eight keys to the traditional 1-, 2-, 3-, 5- and 7-step drop: head up and moving people with the eyes, weight distribution, curing tie-ups with the center, the 11 o'clock / 1 o'clock reach step for depth, no dancing, ball movement (and when not to move the ball at all), anchoring the back foot at 90 degrees to the point of reception, and reading coverage before the throw. Then the dash, sprint out (with depth, anchor point and the first step out of an "I" formation), roll (full and short, and why you do not lead the receiver), bootleg and play action — selling the fake with the eyes, hiding the ball on the inside hip with the index finger down, and the run-pass option that follows.
• 13 Keys To Releasing The Football — a numbered checklist for the difference between a tight spiral and a lame duck: separating the support hand, keeping the ball above the belly and never patting it, the elbow below the ball for a quick release, everything facing the point of reception, the inside edge of the index finger last off the ball, thumb finishing down, and where the throwing hand ends up.
• Quarterback Drills — "Drilling Your Quarterback Into A Winner" (Jeff Trickey; pages 5–6). Seventeen drills with 11 diagrams: 2-Step Separation, Quickness (cones, weighted ball, jump rope), Take-A-Knee, Step-And-Punch, Drop-Progression, Net, Changing-Lanes, Wall, Goalpost, Circle, Pass-On-The-Run, Flash, Quick-Punch, Look-And-Deliver, Option-Pitch, Post-Snap-Defensive-Read — where the QB, the three receivers and the back all signal their read on cue while the defense rotates through five coverages — and the Vertical Game run 2-on-1, 3-on-2 or 4-on-3 from a 3-step, 5-step or shotgun look.
• "Spot-Passing Drill Keeps QBs Sharp, Accurate" (Jeff Shutter, Quarterbacks Coach, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pa.; page 7, with diagram). One pre-practice drill that works several position groups at once — centers and quarterbacks get reps under center and from the shotgun, the QB gets 3-step, 5-step and sprint-out drop work, and receivers, tight ends and running backs get catch-and-tuck reps — while teaching the QB to throw to the spot where the receiver will be coming out of his break.
• Coaching The Position — "Teach Young QBs The Principles Of Defense First" (Rick Bouch, Head Coach, Kane High School, Kane, Pa.; page 7). A six-step order for teaching defense to a JV or junior-high quarterback before you teach him your offense: identify each defender by position name, the defensive-technique numbering system, the gap-lettering system, front recognition, coverage schemes, then front-and-coverage coordination.

Who it is for

High school, junior high and youth football coaches who coach the quarterback themselves — head coaches, offensive coordinators and quarterback coaches who need a teaching order and a drill bank rather than a scheme. The material is technique and drill work, so it transfers to any offense: there is drop-back, sprint-out, roll, bootleg and play-action work for passing teams and pitch mechanics for option teams, and Rick Bouch's defensive-recognition progression is written for a quarterback at any level of your program. It is written with the young quarterback squarely in mind — the player being converted from thrower to field general, and the offseason gym sessions where most of that work actually gets done — so it also serves as a self-study reference you can hand to a quarterback or a position volunteer. This is a 7-page reading-and-teaching report, not a playbook and not video.