Open Practice: 'Team 44' & Drills

with Kevin Donley,
University of Saint Francis Head Coach from 1998 to 2024;
356 career victories, the fifth most in college football history;
2024 Midwest League Coach of the Year;
2016 & 2017 NAIA National Champions;
3x NAIA National Runner-Up ('04-'06);
3x NAIA National Coach of the Year ('04, '16, '17);
2005 Schutt NAIA National Coach of the Year;
11x Mid-States Football Association Mideast League Coach of the Year;
back-to-back AFCA NAIA Region 4 Coach of the Year ('16 & '17);
14x MSFA Champions;
2013 NAIA Hall of Fame inductee;
2008 University of Saint Francis Hall of Fame inductee;
2005 Indiana Football Hall of Fame inductee;
California University of Pennsylvania Head Coach from 1993 to 1996;
Georgetown College (KY) Head Coach from 1982 to 1992;
2004 Georgetown College Hall of Fame;
1991 NAIA National Champions;
1991 NAIA Coach of the Year;
5x Mid-South Conference Champions;
Anderson University (IN) Head Coach from 1978 to 1981;
2017 Anderson University Athletics Hall of Fame inductee;
2x Hoosier-Buckeye Conference Champions;
Anderson University (IN) Assistant Coach/LB/DL/DC from 1976 to 1977;
Washington High School (IN) Head Coach from 1973 to 1975;
played college football at Anderson College

One of the biggest challenges for any football staff is maximizing the number of repetitions that offensive and defensive units get during practice. In this video, Coach Kevin Donley and his staff break down their own practice footage to help you learn how to get the most out of each practice, be ready for different situations, and improve your third down conversion rate.

Running an Up-Tempo Practice

Coach Donley and his staff put their national championship pedigree on display as they aim to help you improve your team. This video covers how to get maximum reps for units with the 'Team 44' approach. In Team 44, you'll observe two offensive units competing against two defensive units on opposite ends of the field at a rapid pace, which provides an excessive amount of reps for all athletes.

Covering Key Situations

Next, Coach Donley and several of his assistant coaches spend considerable time talking through various coaching points for position play. You will also see a third down drill with key coaching points discussed throughout the video. Additionally, Donley and his staff break down how you can use the Team 44 drill to focus on specific game situations that often need attention.

One of the great things about this video is that Coach Donley and his staff use four different camera angles to help cover the entire field during their practice. This allows coaches to focus not only on the plays that are being run, but also on the positions players are in on the field. This creates a unique learning opportunity to allow athletes to learn from watching themselves.

If you want to learn how to maximize practice time and create many situations for your players to learn from, this video is for you!

127 minutes. 2020.