You've seen NFL coaches with laminated sheets filled to the brim with color coded entries of plays, formations, options and more — so that they're ready for anything. That's too much for me. And especially for Specials... and especially for high school. Just getting your KO kids to stay in their lanes is hard enough. 🤣 For 17 years, I was a varsity high school special teams coach. To prep for the next game, here's what I would do: SUNDAY — HUDL film available to view. Go through our Friday night game and review what worked, what didn't with attention on what to fix and personnel that should be switched out. MONDAY AM — Go through next opponent's film, expressly watching each KO, KOR, P, PR, FG, FGBlock. Take a single piece of paper and basically divide it into 6 parts for each of these. Watch the film enough to see how they diagram their plays — offensively and defensively. Look for the areas where they were successful (so that you can counter or protect) and the places where they are vulnerable (so you can exploit). Mark your sheet with the key aspects of their play and the #'s of the players who are difference makers. MONDAY, TUESDAY PRACTICE— Take that paper from your back pocket and use it on-field in-practice to refresh yourself on what you're looking to do and to alert your players on how they can take advantage of a weakness, or know how to prevent a problem from occurring. Monday was typically kick and kick return. Tuesday punt and punt return. WEDNESDAY — No specials, other than a few FGs at the start of practice to continue giving the FG operation live snaps to work with (and some pressure from full team). THURSDAY — Situational. Map out about 20 plays in a game. Easiest way is to just treat it like a game. Have everyone on the sidelines and call out what's happening on the field. "OPENING KICK OFF". Team comes out against air (but two return guys to catch the ball), team does their assignments and reacts to the play. Immediately, "PUNT TEAM!" and run that. "Nope, he dropped the FC, we got the ball and now we have FG from the 30". And so on. Call out, "Need a right guard for Olson on PAT!" #2 better be running on to the field to do the job. Keeps everyone on their toes. Don't be afraid to replace key players. "Punter is down, Gunner is down, Snapper is down..." Are we ready? Which kids show the most enthusiasm to simply PLAY for your TEAM.