90 second drive
Why it works
Two-minute drives are lost on rules, not talent: a runner who stays in bounds, a huddle that takes thirty seconds, a quarterback who does not know he can throw it away. A short field and a real clock make every one of those mistakes cost something, in a period small enough that the whole team gets reps.
Run it
10 MINTen minutes, about four drives each way. Stop after a drive that scores so the period ends on a win, and do not run it more than once a week or the clock rules stop feeling special.
Say this
“Get out of bounds.”
A catch on the sideline that stays in bounds costs the offence the clock it was trying to save.
“Two plays, no huddle on the second.”
The second call is what saves time; the huddle is where drives die.
“If nobody is open, throw it away.”
An incompletion stops the clock; a sack or a stop in bounds lets it run.
Good looks like
- Sideline catches end out of bounds.
- The second play of each call snaps within ten seconds of the first one ending.
- The quarterback knows the time left without asking.
- The timeout is used, not saved.
The mistakes
Receivers turning upfield for an extra yard and getting stopped in bounds. Count any in-bounds catch near the sideline as a lost ten seconds.
Say: “Get out of bounds.”
The team jogging back to huddle after the first play anyway. Have the quarterback say the second play loudly before the first snap, and stand the coach where the huddle would be.
Say: “Two plays, no huddle on the second.”
The quarterback holding the ball and taking the loss. Allow a deliberate throwaway out of bounds and praise it as loudly as a completion.
Say: “If nobody is open, throw it away.”
Give the offence two minutes instead of 90 seconds and let the coach be quarterback, so the players only have to learn the out of bounds rule and the no-huddle call.
Start at 60 seconds with no timeout and add a spike rule: the quarterback may spike to stop the clock at the cost of a down.