The calendar has flipped, the whistles are about to blow, and JV football season is here. If you’re like me, you’ve been juggling the balance of development, preparation, and managing the unique demands of sub-varsity football. You’ve got limited practice time, players with varying skill levels, and the constant pull between preparing your team for games and preparing your players for varsity down the road. It’s a unique challenge, but one that can be extremely rewarding when approached with the right mindset.
In this post, I want to share some last-minute reminders, tips, and strategies for JV coaches who are about to begin their season, or who have already started and just need the reminders. These are things I’ve learned over years of running our JV program, many of which I wish I had known earlier. My goal here is to help you simplify, focus, and set the right tone for a season that develops your players while still being competitive and fun. Let’s dive in.
Before we get into the nuts and bolts of development, reps, safety, communication, and culture, I want to start with practice planning. Because at the end of the day, practice is where your program is built. And at the JV level, nothing matters more than maximizing your time and ensuring that every kid is getting better every single day.
One of the biggest traps JV coaches fall into is overstuffing practice. The temptation is real—you’ve got a million things you want to cover, and only a couple of hours to do it. But when you try to cram too many drills into small spaces of time, practices become chaotic, players don’t get quality reps, and development slows down.
Instead, your practices should be fast-paced but streamlined. The goal is to keep kids moving, keep the energy high, and focus on repetitions over variety. It’s not about how many drills you can fit into 90 minutes. It’s about how many meaningful reps you can get for your players in that time.
For example, instead of running six different tackling drills in one session, pick one or two that cover the skills you need and hammer them home. Rotate players quickly, minimize standing around, and create stations if necessary. Kids learn by doing—not by watching. When you keep the plan simple and focus on reps, the results speak for themselves.
Another key to effective practice planning is clarity. Every coach on your staff should know exactly what’s happening, when it’s happening, and what the goals are. If you’re using assistant coaches, give them the freedom to run drills in their style, but within the framework of your overall plan. That way, practices stay organized but not rigid.
The last piece I’ll stress here is building practice plans that flow. Avoid big transitions where players are standing around waiting to see what comes next. Think about how you can structure your drills so that one flows naturally into the next. For example, if you’re working on run blocking in Indy, transition into inside run as your next period. Or if you’re drilling coverage drops on defense, flow right into 7-on-7. Those connections make practice smoother and more efficient.
Bottom line: don’t try to do everything. Do less, better. Keep practices fast, rep-heavy, and player-focused. The rest will take care of itself.
Let’s really dig into what makes a JV practice plan effective. Think of it this way: every minute of your practice is currency, and you want to invest it wisely. The key question you should constantly ask yourself is: How many reps will my players get from this drill, and how directly does it connect to what they’ll need in games?
Far too often, coaches run “cute” drills that look good on paper but don’t translate directly to football. At the JV level, you don’t have the luxury of time for fluff. Every rep must matter.
When you’re in individual (Indy) periods, resist the urge to turn them into lecture time. JV kids learn best when their hands are in the dirt, their feet are moving, and they’re executing technique. Keep lines short, have coaches or managers spotting reps, and build quick feedback into every rep. A lineman might go through a stance-and-start drill six or seven times in a five-minute period if you keep things snappy. Compare that to a practice where he only gets two reps because lines are too long—there’s no contest in terms of development.
After Indy, group periods should feel like the natural extension. If your O-line is working down blocks in Indy, roll right into inside run where those same down blocks are critical. If your receivers are working on releases, move into a one-on-one or skelly period where they can apply it. Don’t teach in silos—connect the dots.
Team periods should never feel like wasted time either. The temptation at JV is to run endless plays just to “get through the script.” But if players are walking back to the huddle, standing around, and waiting, they aren’t developing. Consider a two-huddle system or split the team so that backups are getting nearly the same number of reps as starters. That’s gold at the JV level.
Another mistake is separating conditioning from practice. JV players don’t need gassers at the end of practice if you structure things well. Build your conditioning into the reps. Fast-paced drills, quick rotations, and up-tempo team sessions naturally condition your athletes while teaching football. It’s efficient, and it keeps the kids engaged.
Finally, write everything down. A written plan, shared with your assistants, ensures that everyone is on the same page. Share it digitally if you can, and review it quickly before practice starts. Nothing slows practice down like coaches huddling to figure out “what’s next.” Preparation breeds pace.
At the JV level, players crave structure. A good practice plan gives them the framework to thrive. When practice is crisp, reps are maximized, and energy is high, you’re not just building better players—you’re building a culture of efficiency and focus that carries into games.
It’s easy to get caught up in the scoreboard on Thursday nights. After all, football is competitive, and no one likes losing. But as a JV coach, your role is different than a varsity coach. Your main job is to develop players. That means teaching fundamentals, getting everyone reps, and preparing kids for when their name is called under the Friday night lights in the future.
This doesn’t mean you don’t coach to win—you absolutely do. But it means you never sacrifice development for a JV victory. If a younger player needs live reps, you give them those reps, even if it means you’re not putting your absolute best 11 on the field every single snap. Those reps are investments in the program.
Think long-term. The ultimate scoreboard for JV coaches is how many players are ready to contribute when they move up. If your best sophomore lineman only played one side of the ball because you wanted to win JV games, you’re shortchanging the varsity team later. Rotate, develop, and don’t be afraid to let kids make mistakes.
This is one of the trickiest balances to strike. You want your team to compete, and you want to win. But never lose sight of the bigger mission: creating varsity-ready athletes. Be intentional in your rotations. Maybe your top corner plays both sides in a close game, but in the second quarter of a game that’s out of reach, you let younger kids take snaps. Find ways to prioritize development without entirely sacrificing competitiveness.
One of the great challenges of JV football is roster size. You may have anywhere from 20 to 50 kids, all of whom need meaningful reps to improve. The key is finding ways to maximize touches, snaps, and opportunities.
Here are a few ways to do this:
The important thing is to avoid having large groups of kids standing around. A JV practice where half the players are inactive is a wasted opportunity. Remember: every kid who comes to practice is there to get better. Give them that chance.
This approach pays off when injuries happen. A team that has given meaningful reps to its second and third stringers won’t collapse when a starter goes down. That’s another reason maximizing reps matters—it builds depth for the varsity team down the road.
At the start of the season, especially in the first two weeks, it’s critical to manage how you transition into contact. Players are often excited to hit, and coaches are often eager to see who’s physical. But rushing this process can lead to injuries and bad habits.
Start with technique. Teach proper tackling form, blocking form, and body positioning before you turn up the intensity. Use “thud” and controlled contact periods before you go live. Make sure players understand that safety and fundamentals come first. Once you’ve established good habits, then you can let them cut loose.
Also, remember that at the JV level, you have players who may be brand new to football. Throwing them into full-speed contact too early is a recipe for disaster. Go slow, build confidence, and gradually increase the physicality.
A great way to structure contact is with progressions: 1) Teach stance and fit. 2) Move to controlled thud. 3) Ramp up to live but limited contact. 4) Finish with full scrimmage situations. This scaffolding ensures kids learn safely and build confidence before things get physical.
At the JV level, parents play a huge role in the experience of your players. Open, honest communication goes a long way in avoiding problems and building trust.
Be clear from the beginning about your goals: development first, winning second. Explain how playing time will be managed, how you’ll prioritize reps, and what your expectations are for behavior, academics, and commitment. The more transparent you are, the fewer surprises parents will have.
And when issues do arise, always handle them with honesty and respect. Most conflicts happen because of miscommunication or unrealistic expectations. By being proactive and consistent, you can avoid a lot of headaches.
Transparency builds trust, and trust creates a better environment for players.
Football is supposed to be fun. JV football, especially, should strike a balance between hard work and enjoyment. Kids should want to come to practice. They should feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves. They should leave the field tired, but smiling.
As a coach, you set the tone. If you bring energy, positivity, and focus, your players will follow. Create traditions, celebrate small victories, and make practice something the kids look forward to. That doesn’t mean being soft—it means making the grind enjoyable. Competition, energy, and camaraderie all help create that balance.
Kids remember the fun moments as much as the hard ones. You can demand excellence while still making football something they love.
As we head into another JV football season, I want to leave you with this: enjoy it. JV football is messy, unpredictable, and sometimes frustrating. But it’s also one of the most rewarding experiences in coaching. You’re teaching kids who are still learning the game, shaping future varsity players, and giving young athletes memories they’ll carry forever.
Here’s to a season full of growth, hard work, and fun. Here’s to keeping players healthy, developing their skills, and preparing them for the next level. And most importantly, here’s to enjoying the ride.
Good luck, coaches. Let’s make it a great season. I’ll be back in two weeks with my thoughts from my own pre-season camp and thoughts on how scrimmages should actually work. In the meantime, keep checking out my socials (@CoachEaston268 on X, Insta, and Youtube), and check out the JV Community on Facebook, where JV coaches can share their opinions, questions, playbooks, etc, in an effort to continuously make us better!
As always, don’t forget; Teach it, rep it, build it, that’s the JV way.
