Formations
Doubles, Spread, Trips, Bunch and Pistol on offense; Cover 1, 2, 3 and 4 on defense — each with when to use it and the coaching points that go with it.
PlayLook Academy
A coaching classroom built into the platform — with a track for flag and a track for tackle. Learn the concepts, watch them move, then pull them straight into your playbook.
Two tracks. One Academy.
Pick the game you coach — the lessons, drills and rules match your roster.
The same nine lessons coaches and players use inside PlayLook — built around 6v6 flag, with plenty that carries over to 5v5 and 7v7.
Reading the playbook
How to read a play diagram — routes, motion, the ball carrier's path and the coverage picture — so players can study a play on their own.
Terminology
Motion vs. shift, play action, primary read, zone vs. man, shell, leverage, blitz vs. simulated blitz — the words your team will hear all season.
Practice drills
Popcorn, Gauntlet, Four-cone cuts, Route tree reps, Mirror & pull, Angle pursuit, Pass-off drill, Read the QB's eyes, Swarm to the ball and more — sorted by skill.
Offense: the route tree
Every route on the tree, how to run it, and how the routes fit together into concepts.
Defense: playing zone
Guard an area, not a person. Animated lessons on passing receivers off across the field and up the field: drop and read, pick him up, carry him, pass him off, reset.
Special teams
Punts and extra points the low-risk way — clean snaps, sure catches, disciplined lanes — with drills like Catch everything and Screen block fit.
The rules
Flag pulls, no contact, the no-run zone, the QB run rule, the pass clock, the 7-yard rush line, flag guarding and why the center is an eligible receiver.
Film Room
A diagnosis game: watch a play, spot what went wrong and pick the fix — the between-practice reps that make players think like coaches.
Try a sample lesson
A taste of the Academy — pick a concept and watch it move, no account needed.
Academy lesson — Why smash beats cover 2
What you tell your players
- Tell your QB: read the corner — sink means throw the corner route
- The hitch must sell vertical first
- Works in 6v6 flag and 11-man tackle alike
Learn the route tree, one branch at a time
The numbered tree every receiver grows up on — pick a route, watch it run, and learn what to say.
Quick game
Deep game
0
Hitch
5 yards
What it beats
Soft zone and off-man — the corner sinks, the hitch catches the ball in the vacated spot.
Say this
"Five steps upfield, plant hard, turn and show your hands. Catch it before the defender closes."
Flag & tackle
In flag, the rush clock makes this a free release — catch and turn up in one motion.
Zone coverage, played the right way
Watch six defenders drop into their Cover 3 zones — depth first, eyes on the QB, break on the throw.
1 · Set your depth2 · Get your eyes on the QB3 · Break on the throw
What you tell your players
- Get your depth before you react — flats at 5, hooks at 10, deep thirds at 12. Shallow zones get picked apart.
- Eyes on the QB, not the receiver — read the throw, not the first move.
- Break on the QB's front shoulder. The ball tells you where to go.
- Talk to each other — flat, hook and deep defenders call out every route they see.
The receiver's curl runs right into the hook zone — watch the Mike sit on it instead of chasing. That's zone discipline.
Lesson: Playing zone defense
In zone, you guard an area, not a person. Anyone who runs into your area is yours — until he leaves it. That works across the field, when a receiver crosses into the next zone, and up the field, when a receiver climbs through your zone going deep and the defender behind you takes him.
1. Drop and read
Get to the middle of your zone and look at the QB. Know where the receivers around you are lined up.
2. Pick him up
When a receiver enters your zone, he's yours. Call it out and get between him and the QB, a step deeper than him.
3. Carry him through
Stay with him while he's in your zone. Keep your eyes on the QB and break on the ball when it's thrown.
4. Pass him off
As he leaves your zone, yell "Crossing!" so the next defender knows he's coming. Don't chase him — let him go.
5. Reset
Get back to the middle of your zone and look for the next receiver coming in.
Zone rules to remember
- Eyes on the QB. His eyes and shoulders tell you where the ball is going.
- Deep defenders: stay deeper than the deepest receiver in your zone. Never let anyone behind you.
- Talk. Call out "Crossing!", "Going deep!" or "In your zone!" every time you pass someone off.
- Hand off up the field. A receiver climbing through your zone belongs to the deep defender behind you — call "Going deep!" and let him go. Chasing him upfield leaves a hole behind you.
- Hand off down the field too. When a deep route breaks short into your zone, the deep defender calls "Coming to you!" and you take him over.
- Empty zone? Help out. If no one is in your area, drift toward the closest threat without leaving your zone.
- Break on the throw. Once the ball is in the air, go get it — the zone is over.
The same classroom, either way
Wherever you coach, every Academy track also covers what carries over to both games.
Route concepts, explained
Why a smash concept beats cover 2, when to call a flood, how spacing stretches a zone. Each concept comes with a diagram you can open straight in the Offense Builder and make your own.
Coverage shells, demystified
Cover 1, 2, 3, quarters — what each shell is trying to take away and where its soft spot lives. Watch the shell rotate in the Coverage Animator instead of reading it off a static page.
Practice planning that works
How to structure a 90-minute youth practice, when to install vs. rep, and how to build a week that peaks on game day — for both flag and tackle schedules.
Get your staff on the same page
New assistant coach? Point them at the Academy instead of forwarding a dozen group-chat screenshots. They learn your terminology and your system, in the tool they'll actually coach from.
Flag vs. tackle, side by side
The concepts that carry over and the ones that don't — like why blitz rules change your pass concepts in 6v6 flag, and how gap schemes replace them in tackle.
Coaching points, not just Xs and Os
Every lesson ends with the two or three things to actually say to your players — the cues that make a diagram stick on the field.
Learn it, then draw it
Every Academy concept opens in the builder, so learning and coaching happen in the same place.