Basic Sixman Kick Off

I was asked recently to share how we cover kick-offs and when we opt to on-side kick the ball. The question stemmed from a coach who heard me speak at a sixman conference and shared with folks that I am opposed to onside kicking which gives the other team the ball at midfield.

While I am not a fan of the onside kick, I do recognize that kicking deep is dependent upon the other team's returner and my team's ability to effectively cover. However, I do hve some basic rules on covering KOs:

If we feel the returner has a better than 20% chance of housing it ... we onside.
If we cant kick the ball to inside the 10 yard line we might onside it (depends on the quality of coverage).
The six best tacklers will be on the field (no exceptions). This is not a place to put in second team players. If we don't have enough starters (injury or fatigue) then we onside it.

We often have several players going both ways, so to get a breather for KO coverage we leverage the rules. In the NCAA rulebook (which governs our play), there is no rule (so no flag) for delay of game after an extra point try and before a KO.

So, our coaching staff meets the players at the goal line following the extra point attempt and we give them water and kill as much time as possible. We then have them walk to the KO scrimmage line. This is a great way to get an extra timeout and rest your players!

We try not to over complicate kick coverage. We kick to the right corner (usually dont have a kicker that can kick to the left corner). We never kick to the middle of the field (unless by mistake). Players 2,4 and 6 (see image at bottom of the page) are told to sprint as fast as possible to flank (2&6) and mirror (4) the returner.

We determine in practice what yardline the kicking team players will start breaking down because this has to do with the timing of the kick (how high can the ball be kicked) and the depth (can he kick it to the goal line?). For example, if we can get a three second kick that lands inside the 5 yard line then we will tell them to break down at the 15 yard line.

The other three fast jog down the field.. they form a wider protective arc where they only need to be employed if the returner tries to bubble or we have a missed tackle. 1 & 3 have contain while 3, the kicker, is limited by how good a tackler he is as to what we ask him to do. If 3 really can tackle then 4 has to not miss and cant be as aggressive.

We practice KO coverage at every practice (great way to get in some conditioning) and use the rabbit drill (full field) in the spring to get the concept across where we have only a returner (no blockers) so they can practice the timing and spacing needed without having to account for blockers. The thought process is that if you can't be successful with no blockers you are never going to be successful with blockers.

Lastly, the most important part is finding a kicker. You will not believe what I have gone through to find and convince soccer players to play sixman football. Let's just say that it's just short of offering gold or Bitcoin!