It’s Clinic Season!!!
Outside of the first day of double sessions, clinic season is my favorite time of the football year. The chance to listen to guys smarter than you, free swag, good conversations, and time around football? You can’t beat it.
Clinic season is one of the most exciting—and dangerous—times of the year for a JV or sub-varsity football coach.
It’s exciting because ideas are everywhere. New drills. New schemes. New terminology. Everyone has answers, and every session feels like it might be the one thing that takes your program to the next level.
It’s dangerous for the exact same reason.
For sub-varsity coaches, clinic season can quickly turn into information overload. You walk in with a simple offense and defense, and you walk out wanting to install a dozen new concepts that your players don’t need, can’t handle, or won’t ever run on Friday nights.
The truth is this: clinic season is incredibly valuable—but only if you approach it with intention. JV football has different needs than varsity football. Our players are still learning how to play the game. Our job is development first, clarity second, and competition third. That perspective has to guide how we consume clinic content.
Go In With a Plan—or You’ll Leave With a Mess
The biggest mistake JV coaches make during clinic season is wandering.
They flip through the schedule, bounce from room to room, and chase whatever sounds interesting in the moment. That almost always leads to a notebook full of unrelated ideas that never make it to the field.
Instead, go in with a plan.
Before the clinic even starts, ask yourself a few questions:
What does my team actually need right now?
What problems did we struggle with last season?
Where did our players lack confidence or execution?
What areas do I need to grow in as a coach?
Once you answer those, build your clinic schedule around them. Pick specific sessions that align with your goals. If you need better tackling, don’t spend three sessions on exotic third-down pressures. If your offense struggled to block, prioritize OL, RB, and run game talks.
Every year, my JV staff and I go to the New York State High School Football Coaches Association Clinic at Turning Stone Casino in Verona, NY, and every year we sit down ahead of time and answer those same questions. Once answered, we look through the schedule of speakers to see which ones align the best with what we need, and we divide and conquer. It’s a plan we’ve all bought into, and every year we’re better because of it.
Clinics aren’t about seeing everything. They’re about seeing the right things.
Prioritize Skills Over Scheme (Every Time)
If you’re a JV or sub-varsity coach, skills should always beat scheme.
Always.
Schemes change. Skills travel.
You might not run the same offense next year. You might not even be on the same staff. But if you learn better ways to teach stance, starts, blocking leverage, tackling angles, ball security, or route fundamentals, those things will help your players no matter what system they’re in.
The best clinic sessions for sub-varsity coaches are often the least flashy ones:
Indy drill progressions
Teaching progressions for beginners
How to simplify complex techniques
Practice organization and rep structure
If a coach spends more time talking about how they teach something than what they call it, that’s a session worth attending.
And when you’re done watching, GO TALK TO THAT COACH! I have yet to meet a coach at a clinic that isn’t willing to talk to you about their drills, or even share their slides/videos. It’ll help in the long run, trust me.
Choose the Right Coaches to Listen To
This one matters—a lot.
Not all clinic speakers are equally valuable for JV coaches.
That doesn’t mean great coaches don’t exist at the college or D1 level. They absolutely do. But their context is often completely different from ours. They recruit. We develop. They have 105 players. We might have 28. They get kids who already know football. We get kids who are still learning how to put on shoulder pads correctly.
For sub-varsity coaches, high school and Division III coaches are gold.
High school coaches live in your world. They deal with multi-sport athletes, limited time, varying commitment levels, and community expectations. DIII coaches are developers by necessity. They teach fundamentals, build culture, and maximize what they have.
When a DIII coach explains a concept, it’s usually built for teaching—not just execution. That’s exactly what JV football needs.
If you do attend a D1 session, listen through a filter. Ask yourself:
Can I teach this to a sophomore?
Can I rep this with limited time?
Does this fit our personnel and reality?
If the answer is no, appreciate it—but don’t steal it.
Rules, Principles, and Teaching Frameworks Are Clinic Gold
One of the best uses of clinic season for JV coaches is finding rules-based systems and teaching frameworks.
Any coach who explains their offense or defense through rules—Gap-Down-Backer, ASKA principles, coverage rules, run-fit rules—is someone you should listen to closely. Rules simplify the game. They reduce thinking. They allow young players to play faster and more confidently.
If a speaker can explain their system without constantly saying, “On this play, you do this, but on this one you do that,” you’re probably in the right room.
At the JV level, we don’t need more plays—we need clearer rules.
Attending Clinics Alone vs. With a Staff
There’s value in both.
Going alone gives you freedom. You can chase your interests, fill in your personal knowledge gaps, and focus on areas you specifically want to grow in. This is especially valuable for young coaches or coordinators.
Going with a staff, however, can multiply the impact of clinic season—if it’s done intentionally.
If you attend with your staff, divide and conquer. Don’t all sit in the same room. Assign sessions based on roles and interests, then regroup later to share takeaways. This prevents everyone from hearing the same ideas and expands the collective knowledge of the staff.
More importantly, talk about how clinic ideas fit your program. Not whether they’re cool—but whether they’re useful.
Online Clinics: A Blessing and a Trap
Online clinics are incredible resources. They’re affordable, accessible, and easy to rewatch. But they come with a major risk: passive consumption.
Just watching clinic talks doesn’t make you better.
Treat online clinics like in-person ones. Take notes. Pause and reflect. Ask how each idea fits your context. If possible, watch with a purpose—one topic at a time, not ten tabs open with random sessions playing in the background.
Rewatching one great talk and actually applying it beats watching five and using none.
Also, when you’re done, follow that Coach on their socials, and don’t be afraid to reach out to them. Again, Coaches love talking ball, and more often than not they’re willing to help you with whatever you need.
Vendors, Swag, and the Reality of the Exhibit Hall
Let’s be honest—the vendor area is fun.
There’s nothing wrong with grabbing some swag, checking out new equipment, or talking ball with people outside your program. But remember: vendors are selling solutions. Your job is to determine whether those solutions fit your reality.
Ask questions. Ask about sub-varsity use. Ask about teaching progressions. Ask how it works with limited numbers and limited practice time. If the answers don’t align, enjoy the conversation—but don’t feel pressured to buy into something just because it looks professional.
Free shirts are great. Clear teaching systems are better.
Oh and if you’re stuck with a vendor, use the ultimate get out of jail card: I’M JUST THE JV COACH. You have no purchasing power in the program. You don’t make the shots. Once you say that, they’ll stop talking.
Filtering Everything Through the JV Lens
The most important skill a JV coach can develop during clinic season isn’t learning new plays—it’s learning how to filter information.
Every idea should pass through the same questions:
Does this help my players learn football?
Does this simplify or complicate?
Does this fit our time, numbers, and personnel?
Does this align with our varsity program?
If it doesn’t, let it go.
Clinic season isn’t about becoming a different coach. It’s about becoming a better version of the one your players already need.
Final Thoughts
Clinic season should sharpen you—not overwhelm you.
Go in with a plan.
Listen to the right people.
Prioritize skills and teaching over scheme.
Steal ideas that fit your level.
Ignore the rest without guilt.
JV and sub-varsity football isn’t watered-down football—it’s foundational football. Clinic season is your chance to build better foundations, not taller walls.
Learn what helps kids play faster, harder, and with more confidence.
That’s the clinic season win that actually shows up on the field.
Speaking of Clinic Season, next Saturday, January 31st, Coach Ian Tatum’s FREE all day O-Line Clinic will be live! Check out his Twitter (@CoachTatum90) to sign up!
Have a great week, and remember
Teach it. Rep it. Build it. That’s the JV Way.
