Let me just say something that might ruffle a few feathers right off the bat: winning JV or sub-varsity football games doesn’t mean squat if your players aren’t getting better.
There, I said it.
Now, don’t get me wrong—it feels good to win. It feels really good. And I’ll admit it, I’ve gotten caught up in it before. There’s nothing quite like watching your kids put it together and come out on top. But at the end of the day, our job at the JV level isn’t to win the league (what league?). It’s to build varsity football players.
And how do you build varsity football players?
You build them in practice.
Everything starts there. Practice is the backbone of your program. It’s where kids learn how to move, how to think, how to hit, how to take coaching, and how to take ownership of their development. It’s where kids grow.
So today we’re talking about how to create a development-based practice plan. One that doesn’t just go through the motions. One that’s structured to maximize reps, teach fundamentals, rotate players, and build a culture that understands what JV football is really all about.
Because when you get your practices right, everything else starts to click.
Let’s start with something simple but often overlooked: tempo.
Too many JV practices feel like organized walking tours. Players stroll to drills, coaches are too busy talking to start the next period, and water breaks turn into social hour.
Listen, I’m all for keeping the game fun. I’m all for football mirroring lessons in life. Hell, I’m all for goofing off with the coaches at midfield while my kids run 110’s. But you can’t develop players without urgency.
Urgency doesn’t mean panic. It means creating a practice tempo that tells players, “Hey, this matters. Be locked in.” It’s about getting kids to sprint from drill to drill, and give reps at 100%.
Here’s how we do it:
The goal isn’t to rush through learning. It’s to keep kids moving, thinking, and growing. In development-based practice, there’s no such thing as wasted time. But how do we go fast-paced, up tempo during indy’s without rushing? Easy, don’t plan too much! Focus on 1-2 skills to work on during your indy period, and rep the hell out of it. That’s how you develop younger players.
If tempo is the motor, repetitions are the fuel.
I can’t say this loud enough: You have to rep it to develop it. And then you have to rep it again. And again. And again.
As teachers, we all learn that it takes around 300 repetitions of something in order for true masterful learning to occur. Obviously, as coaches, we don’t have the time to get each kid to rep something 100 times, but we can do our damndest to get them more than 1 rep an indy session!
Development at the JV level isn’t about drawing it up perfectly on the whiteboard. It’s about getting kids to do it right 100 times until they don’t even think about it.
Here’s how we structure our reps:
For example, when we teach OL stance and start on Day 1, we start by teaching the stance, then the first couple steps. After we teach it, and ensure each player is doing it the correct way, we’ll spend the next 5-10 minutes getting down in a stance and repping our first steps in both directions We’re looking to build muscle memory.
Our rule? If you put a concept in the playbook, you better be repping it three different ways during the week. We don’t install for fun. We install to teach. That means not slowing things down during your sessions if possible. Keeping tempo for reps can be a challenge, but there is a way to make sure that you’re not overburdening your players. It’s really simple, I promise, just lean in close and I’ll tell you: KEEP IT SIMPLE!! High quality reps lend themselves to simple systems, because when we don’t have a stuffed playbook of concepts, we can rep our concepts to perfection.
What’s that old Bruce Lee saying? Oh yeah; “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”
One of the easiest mistakes to make is jumping straight to Team Period.
I get it. That’s the fun part. It looks like football. It feels like football. But here’s the truth:
Team period doesn’t make you better unless the individual pieces are sound.
That’s why we dedicate serious time to Indy and group work before we ever get to team. You can’t execute zone blocking if your linemen can’t take a proper first step. You can’t run Power if your running back can’t mesh cleanly. And you sure as heck can’t play quarters coverage if your safety doesn’t understand leverage.
Here’s our breakdown:
Indy is where you coach. Team is where you evaluate. Group is the bridge. Skip that bridge and you’ll be building your team on sand.
In our Offensive practices, for example, we break our time up into multiple Indy and group sessions. We start with Indy run, focusing on key parts of our run game with each position (footwork, QB/RB Mesh, Stalk Block, etc.) Then, we’ll move to inside run with a QB, the RB’s and Line, with Routes on Air for the receivers and another QB. Then, we transition to Indy Pass, with our sessions focusing on different parts of the pass game, leading to 7v7 and Pass Block drills, or we’ll go 7v7 Inside with no DB’s, focusing on the QB throwing under pressure. Either way, we’re using our group periods to build off of our Indy periods, as we finally progress to team.
Now, if Indy’s so important, why doesn’t it take the bulk of our practice window? Well, first of all, stop being good at math, it’s annoying. Second, team is still important because it’s where we practice the situations that we are actually going to see on a Monday or Thursday night. You wanna get better at playing football? Then practice playing football. Indys help build the base, but team strengthens the structure.
Now let’s talk about something that makes coaches uncomfortable.
Rotating weaker players.
I know, I know. The temptation is real. Keep your best eleven on the field, move the ball, win the game. But ask yourself this:
Are you trying to win the JV game, or win the varsity game next year?
Here’s the deal:
You don’t rotate to be fair. You rotate to develop.
Practice is the perfect place to work on rotating your weaker kids in order to develop them, rather than just giving them their charity plays.
Some strategies we use:
If you only play your “best” kids, you’ll never discover who could become your best. As JV coaches, we always need to be prepping for the future.
Alright, this is where I might lose some folks, but it has to be said:
Winning JV games is not the goal.
That’s not a typo. It’s not the mission. Winning JV games is a byproduct of good development. Not the destination.
Let’s look at an example: a JV team that absolutely bullies teams, I mean puts up 56 points a game easy. They play their starters until they’re 50-60 points ahead, then they give their backups charity plays.
We all know the team, right?
But I ask, what’s the point?
First of all, doing that, they’re destroying the game of football by turning kids from other schools away. We get it, you’re good, but you don’t need to piss pound the team that’s barely holding on to a JV team into oblivion. Sure, you look like hot stuff at the JV level, but no wonder your varsity team keeps getting beat when they get to the sectional and state tourney, you’re not preparing everybody, and everyone hates your guts!
Second, there is a very distinct difference to that team from when their ones are in versus their twos, and it doesn’t help them. When they go into their substitutions up 67-0, and end the game 67-20, you haven’t developed your kids.
I’ve seen undefeated JV teams that fed zero kids into varsity. I’ve seen 2-win JV teams that produced championship-level talent the next season.
So be honest with yourself. Are you skipping Indy time to add in more Team just so you can prep for Thursday night? Are you keeping the backups on the sideline all game because it’s a close one? Is any of that helping your program?
You’re not developing. You’re gaming the system.
Let your practices reflect your mission:
And the wins? They’ll come when they matter.
A lot of us practice with varsity. Same field. Same coaches. Sometimes even shared periods. Some of you may even have to wait to see who your varsity uses on a Friday night before you know who you’re gonna be able to have in your game.
And yeah, it gets complicated. Maybe you lose your best DT to scout team. Maybe you have to cut your Team Period short so varsity can get their two-minute drill in.
But here’s the thing:
You are part of a program. And that means you’re a support beam, not a separate building.
Here’s how we make it work:
And most importantly: don’t complain. If varsity needs a guy, give him up. If you have to run a drill short, adjust. You’re not being ignored—you’re being trusted.
At the end of the day, your practice plan is more than just a schedule. It’s your development manual. It’s how you grow JV players into varsity contributors.
So build your practices around:
That’s how you create a JV program that feeds the beast. That’s how you coach for development.
We’re not here to win every Monday night. We’re here to make sure we have the horses to win Friday nights a year from now.
So go teach it. Go rep it. Go build it.
And as always, if you want to talk practice plans, drills, or just vent about your backup quarterback forgetting the snap count again, you can find me on Twitter @CoachEaston268. Let’s talk ball.
Also, find me on Youtube @CoachEaston268 for my new weekly video series, “One Play the JV Way”, where we take a look at different offensive plays and work with you on how to simplify them for the sub-varsity level. If you’re interested in sharing a play yourself, shoot me a message and we can make a video!
Wanna join the movement? Join “The JV Community” on Facebook, where coaches can share ideas and collaborate on ways to make their sub-varsity teams better. https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1C4p7CuGUf/
Next week, we’ll be discussing the idea of being simple but looking complicated at the JV level. Because just like the cross-eyed goat at the petting zoo, it might look pretty mindless, but under that hard head are probably some pretty complex ideas.
Thanks for reading. See you next week.
