Kickoff return schemes

Setup

1. Contact level: air, then bags, then thud. There are no live kickoff collisions in this drill; full-speed kickoff hits cause more injuries than any other play.
2. Full helmet and shoulder pads, and a coach watches every rep. Count the thud reps towards the week's full-contact time limit.
3. Line up both units to your competition's kickoff rules: where the kicking team stands, the receiving team's setup zone, and who may move before the ball is kicked or lands.
4. Return team: a returner (KR), a front line of blockers and one lead blocker (B5). Kick team: a kicker (K) and coverage players L1 to L3 and R1 to R3.
5. The diagram shows the middle return with the key blocks only; add the rest of each unit for full reps.

How it runs

1. The coach calls the return before the kick: middle, right or left. Each blocker has one coverage player to block, counted from the kicker out (L1, L2 and so on).
2. Air: walk, then jog the return with no coverage, so blockers learn their landmarks and the returner learns the alley.
3. Bags: coverage players run down at three-quarter pace holding hand shields. Blockers fit on the shield and stay with it for 2 seconds.
4. Thud: coverage players run down at three-quarter pace and start no more than 10 yards from their blocker. Blocks are made at thud and both stay up.
5. Middle return: the front blockers kick out L1 and R1 to open an alley in the middle, and B5 leads through it to block the kicker.
6. Run 8 to 10 reps, switching the call between middle and sideline returns.

Coaching points

• No wedge: two or more blockers shoulder to shoulder forming a wall is illegal at most levels. Single blocks only.
• Block from the front or the side, with hands inside and the head up and out of contact. A block in the back is a penalty that kills the return.
• No blocks below the waist on kickoffs.
• Drop, turn and find your man before you engage. Get between the coverage player and the alley.
• KR: catch first, then hit the alley at full speed. Don't dance.
• Know your fair catch and touchback rules, and call the decision early.

Common mistakes

• Two blockers on the same coverage player and one running free.
• Blockers chasing a coverage player who has run past them, and blocking them in the back.
• The returner drifting sideways instead of hitting the alley.
• Blockers lunging and falling off the block.