Developing Your Quarterback

What I would like to share with you is the Quarterback Fundamentals section directly from the 1999 Seattle Seahawks Offensive Playbook. It is presented basically in an outline form to allow me to cover and expand upon each element as time permits.

I hope you find this to be a usable structure for your own presentation, with some room to personalize it to fit your situation (sorry, not a lot for you option guys!). Please feel free to contact me in if youre interested in discussing the section. Best of luck with your 2000 high school football season.

I. Introduction

A. Philosophy

1. Team
2. Head Coach
3. Assistant Head Coach
4. Offensive Coordinato
5. Position Coach

B. Competition

1. Personnel Decisions
2. Learning Classroom/Field
3. Repetitions Executed, watched, wasted
4. Improvement Effort, extra effort, film
5. Roles on Team
6. Communication

C. General Section
Review

II. Play Calling

A. Huddle Control

1. QB in Command

a. Take charge of your team
b. You are the offensive leader
c. Do not allow talking in the huddle
d. Get everyones attention
e. Speak slowly and clearly
f. Display confidence in yourself and in the play called

2. Proper sequence of Calling Play

a. Shifting
b. Motion
c. Formation
d. Play
e. Snap Count
f. Ready, Break!

3. Huddle Break

a. demand a sharp, loud break
b. This breeds confidence
c. The play begins here
d. Hustle to the LOS

B. At the Line of Scrimmage

1. Must be poised and, most importantly, confident
2. Bark out the signals

III. Quarterback Procedure at the Line of Scrimmage

A. Arrival at LOS

1. Check formation
2. Think of play (reads, progression, etc.) and visualize it
3. Personnel (offense and defense)
4. Hands under center

B. Under Center

1. PSL of front and coverage
2. Look for uncovered receiver
3. Check secondary
4. Aware of hots, pressure alerts

C. After Snap

1. Insure coverage
2. Correct drop
3. Make good decision
4. Correct fundamentals
5. Be a great leader!

D. Quarterback Make Up

1. To play QB in the NFL, you must be a leader. It must be in your nature to lead our offense to score every time we have the ball.
2. You also have to be tough! Football is a rough game, both physically and mentally.
3. You must be a great decision-maker. As QB, you will fade decisions that will affect the outcome of the game on every play.
4. Finally, you have to be a winner!

IV. General Techniques

A. Stance Comfortable stagger stance, with bend in knees and not in waist

1. Feet Shoulder width apart. Opposite foot of throwing arm is back and has stagger of approximately toe to heel.
2. Knees Bent comfortably. This allows push off.
3. Hips Dropped slightly. Remain tall.
4. Back Keep back straight, tilted forward and slightly arched.
5. Arms/Shoulders Arms bent at elbows to enable hands to ride center. Shoulders over front knee.
6. Balance Weight distributed on the back foot but attitude is on the front foot, receiving snap from center.
7. Poise Be relaxed and confident. Dont hurry a play.
8. Head/Eyes UP! Scan defense for PSL. See both sides of defense twice.

B. Hand position Throwing hand pressed firmly with fingers extended against centers crotch

1. Throwing (Upper) Hand Palm parallel to ground. Receivers laces. Index finger is directly centered.
2. Lower Hand Thumb knuckle inset in curve below upper hand thumb knuckle. Fingers extended. Support hand off to side, closed after upper hand receives snap.
3. Timing Place hands under center immediately after you arrive at LOS to make the defense declare.

V. Run Game

A. Ball position GET THE SNAP!!

1. Look PocketStep sequence
2. Snap ball to pocket, keep tight to body, elbows in

B. Hand-Off

1. 100% QB Responsibility
2. See the execution
3. Place ball firmly and slowly into ball carriers pocket

C. Faking

1. Finish all fakes in the run game commitment!
2. Two basic fakes
a. Naked away
b. Set to pass
3. Fakes are coordinated with our play action game

D. Toss Technique

1. Dead ball toss
2. Stay low, in FB position ball will not rise
3. Step to target, not the player
4. Aiming point is front hip waist level
5. Follow toss at least two steps to insure ball protection

VI. Play Action

A. Attitude

1. Must sell run in every way to affect the defense
2. Timing may be thrown off some defensive players react differently you must adapt

B. Three basic actions

1. Point ball fake Point ball with 2 hands, turn tip at mesh point, set to pass by play
2. Hand fake Point ball with two hands, reach front hand into RBs pocket and allow it to follow through as if youve given him the ball, then get it back on the ball. Hide ball in front hip pocket as long as possible, set to pass by play
3. Show ball fake Show ball with one hand, yank ball back to other hand at last second. No close calls.

C. Head and Eyes

1. Must sell run Follow it with your head and eyes
2. Must see coverage reaction and your receivers

VII. Pass Drops

A. Basic technique on all drops

1. Weight Distributed to rear foot for push off
2. Ball position Comfortable for help on drop and possible hot throws
3. Open Steps Strive for depth, not height
4. Crossover Steps Quickness, not depth
5. Head and Eyes Downfield, see the entire field
6. Shoulders Downhill, keep front shoulder lower than back shoulder
7. Hitch Steps last two steps shorten to set up, gather
8. Set Keep depth, stay tall, position ball close to release

B. Five basic drops

1. One step - Uncovered receiver, smoke route
2. 3 (Quick)
a. Ball usually thrown on the plant
b. Timing is 1 2, 3
c. Try to get five yards for a cleaner angle and throw
d. Aim for .9 set up time

3. 5 Quick

a. Ball usually thrown on the plant
b. Timing is 1 2 3 4, 5
c. Try to get 7 yards for a cleaner angle and throw
d. Aim for 1.3 set up nine

4. 5

a. Ball is thrown at different time after set
b. Timing is 1 2 3 4, 5
c. Try to get 8 yards from the LOS
d. Aim for 1.5 set up time

5. 7

a. Ball is thrown at different times after set
b. Timing is 1 2 3 4 5 6, 7
c. Try to get 10 yards from the LOS
d. Aim for 1.75 set up time

C. Ready position set-up

1. Weight On balls of feet, more weight on back foot
2. Feet Parallel to LOS, shoulders width, up on back toe a little
3. Ball position On top of pec, close to release, two hands on ball
4. Knees Slightly bent, stay tall
5. Shoulders Front shoulders lower, perpendicular to LOS
6. Arms Close to body
7. Head and Eyes Scan the defense until last possible moment

D. Other actions

1. Set to Pass play action like dropback only on an angle
2. Nakeds
a. Gain depth and width after fake
b. Square shoulders to possible targets
c. Get front shoulder downhill
d. Never throw behind yourself

3. Sprints

a. Get width fast to create better throwing angle
b. Depth by play

VIII. Throwing Mechanics Accuracy and Velocity

A. Five parts of the throwing motion

1. Step At target, normal step, stars weight transfer
2. Hips Front hip torque, must be allowed to open to target
3. Front forearm Starts the throwing sphere, rips down
4. Throw As high of a release as is comfortable
5. Follow through Torque action of entire body should take rare foot past front foot, toward target.

B. Other Keys

1. Head and eyes Head straight, eyes level through the throw
2. Wrist Straight and stiff
3. Shoulders Front shoulders lower to facilitate throwing action
4. Focus On target, dont watch the flight of the ball
5. Create good habits and fundamentals They dont let you down
6. Release J motion, the quicker the better, high elbow
7. Anticipate Repetitions and study
8. Aiming Point Above the waist and below the armpits, on the numbers

IX. QB Reads

A. Understanding defense

1. Philosophy
2. Personnel
3. Schemes/Responsibilities
4. Game Plan
5. Film Study/Tendencies (great players master these)
6. PSL
7. Disguise
8. Anticipation
9. ASL
10. Adjustments

B. Principles of reading coverages

1. PSL

a. Situation
b. Personnel Groups
c. Tendencies anticipation
d. Tips
e. Safeties, corners
f. Fronts

2. ASL

a. Confirm
b. Adjust
c. React

C. Basic Pattern Reads

1. Progression read
2. Rotation read
3. Coverage read
4. Best look side read
5. Cushion read
6. Sucker read

X. Ball Protection

A. Run Game

1. Get the snap make it important!
2. See the hand off exchange hesitate if not smooth
3. Practice recovery technique

B. Pass Game

1. Two hands on the ball all the time
2. Master pressure reactions
3. Confusion come off
4. Anticipate collision cover it up five pressure points
5. Awareness of ball protection and tight throws

XI. Leadership

A. Off the Field

1. Personal Professional
2. Camaraderie Purpose, Methods

B. On the Field

1. Natural Be yourself
2. Aggressive
3. Encourage/Celebrate
4. Follow the Play
5. Toughness in the pocket, on the run
6. Execution allows you to lead better production
7. Huddle
8. Positive Correction You run the show

C. Extra

1. Film
2. Post-practice
3. Off-season
4. Locker Room
5. Does the team play better when you are the QB?
6. Production Guide