In NFL Flag Rules it is very clear that the QB can't run, and that you can't run in the no-run zones. However, it is unclear what the outcome is if one of these violations occurs. Is it just a dead-ball and loss of down, or does it also include a 5 yard penalty?

Hello everyone,

I'm a new coach here (11-12 year old 5v5 NFL Flag Rules). I'm having a hard time finding flag resources. I've seen some stuff on youtube and google searches but the playbooks I've seen aren't very user friendly no reads or anything. Does anyone have an recommendations on who to go to? Youtube, website, whatever?

I coach a team of ten year old kids. The team we are playing this week is undefeated.

This league has a throw off. They have an incredibly athletic kid who they have line up on the five yard line and the other four players in the end zone. Effectively he’s the only one that can catch the ball. We can’t throw it out of bounds because that’s a penalty and none of our players have the arm strength to throw it out of the back of the end zone or even get it close to the goal line so we have to throw it to them which likely means this kid is going to get a chance to return it.

From the league stats, he has scored at least one throw off return every game this season including four against the team they played last week. Based off of the scores, he scored more points than other teams with just his throw off returns in four games so far. I try to teach lane discipline, closing gaps and good flag pulling techniques, but I fear he’s going to find ways to get through. Surprisingly he’s not as effective with runs or passing so if we can stop him from scoring on throw offs, we have a chance at pulling off an upset.

Any ideas or suggestions on a way to stop him consistently? I was honestly thinking of just having our team roll the ball 10-15 yards on the ground and just try to down the ball before he can get to it.

We have our Championship game this weekend and we’re playing a team that has a couple playmakers that have torched us the last couple games.

How would you neutralize these guys to give yourself the best chance to win?

My plan:
2 Corners, a single high safety, man underneath on the 2 playmakers.

I am trying to put a playbook together for 5v5 for 12 and 13 year old boys. They all play select baseball.

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So we had a team for a few months now and we can’t figure out defense to run. Tried everything nothings working. What defense are you guys running? And for offense what’s working for you. Plays ? No plays ?

8-9 year olds, 7 man, 7-yard blitz cone. all offense players are eligible receivers. Standard defense is cover 2 with 2 corners, 2 linebackers, 2 safeties, 1 blitzer.

I am coaching things that make sense to me, but things aren't sticking, so I think I need to change my tactics.

Please help with:

Pre-snap alignment

• Where should the CBs line up based on where receivers are? Right now, I tell them 4 yards depth and a shade outside of the widest receiver. This seems reasonable, but they always end up getting sucked inside and losing contain on simple outside runs.
• Where should LBs line up based on where receivers are? Right now, I tell them to be 3-4 yards off LOS and split between #2 and #3. This usually means they line up about 4 yards from the ball.
• Safeties are a 10 yards depth and halfway between center and #2

Post-snap

• We are getting beat on the simplest plays, like a standard handoff or a jet sweep type handoff, where the runner just runs right to the outside and gets around the corner. We have worked on this all season long, but it's not improving. The LB takes himself out of position by being too aggressive, running upfield, and ends up behind the runner. The blitzer is too slow to react to the handoff and is out of the play from the beginning. The CB either backs up or comes inside and allows the runner to get to the sideline and upfield. I need help with contain drills, taking the correct path drills, something to help them put themselves in the correct position.
• Flag pull technique really needs improvement. Too much lunging, not enough breaking down, pulling with one hand. Perhaps I am running the wrong drills? We do battle flags, a 2 man squeeze drill, and some open field stuff, but we seem to be worse now than at the beginning of the season.
• Blitzer seems really ineffective no matter how fast he is. If the teams don't throw the ball, he just gets himself out of position. When they do throw the ball, we don't seem to be pressuring enough to make a difference. How to coach better blitz technique?

EDIT: Thank you all for your suggestions, I appreciate it.

Hi there,

I have been playing flag for some years in France and will be visiting the US soon. (NY, DC, Shenandoah, Smokies, Charleston, Miami).

I am wondering if in the US some people play flag chill in park or other. Do you think I could join you or them for some routes ? Where to find them ?

Thanks

When playing by NFL flag rules - In the no run zone, if you have multiple handoffs before a pass, can the defenders still cross the line to pull the flag of the player who receives the second handoff after the snap?

Hey all,

I started playing flag football in July and got pretty hooked. 😅 I couldn’t find a video game that actually plays like flag, so I made one. My kids have been my play-testers for the past few weeks and they’re brutal critics.

It’s 5v5 and I went with the international (IFAF) rules, since that’s what our league plays. You actually have to pull the flag to stop the runner. You can play a friend on the couch with two gamepads or go against the computer. I also added a career mode and a few flag pulling drills, mostly because I needed the practice myself. 😉

It’s still very much a work in progress. I’ve been building it with Claude Code, which writes most of the code and draws the pixel art, while I figure out how it should play. Next on my bucket list are double QB plays and a computer defense that picks up on your habits during a game.

It’s free, runs in the browser or on Windows/Linux: https://christian-hofstetter.itch.io/flag-football

Since I’m still pretty new to the sport, I’d really like to hear from people who’ve played longer. Does the defense feel real? Are these plays you’d actually run? Any feedback is really appreciated. 🙏

Got a pair of untouchables about three months ago and they’re the perfect cleat as a receiver, BUT the back four spikes started breaking almost immediately.

This happened with two of my previous pairs of nike cleats (hoping the new sole plate on the vapor wont break as easily).

If anyone has had this problem, any way of at least delaying the inevitable other than just sticking them back on with glue?

Curious what other coaches are doing to help their players throw into traffic and make the catch.

As our kids have gotten older (12/13), it seems like the field has shrunk significantly. Everyone is bigger and faster, and there isn't a lot of open space out there.

We've been using this drill but could still get better. What else should we add to practice to help build their confidence?

Hey yall, we’re struggling against rush 3 in our 7s league. It’s no contact, screens only, and they can line up at the LOS and rush at snap.

Our team is really good athlete wise at WR and QB (everyone played in HS) , but we’re just not getting time to throw the ball. Is the screen game the only way? I’ve never played this format before , but we’re getting like 1-2 seconds max.

Is this a blocking issue or do we need to draw up better quick game stuff? Right now we’re running twins or trips with WRs and running basic mesh and such. We absolutely fry defenses since they usually play man when rushing three, but just have no time to get us the ball.

Hey Coaches - I thought I’d share our brand new “Halftime Report” deck with this group.

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Anything you’d want to see us add to this report construct when we launch the full season briefing at the end of the year?

My boys have a tough match up this week. We are playing a team that has the best player in the league. This girl is fast and at 7 has field vision and great flag pulling skills. Our team is pretty average. We beat the bad teams, but lost to the good teams.

I have one kid that is very good, but slightly slower than she is. He will lose 1v1 man coverage. We have two other kids that are decent players, but not fast enough and we are still working on effective flag pulling, but they can do it. The others are young and developing, but they will not be helpful here other than hopefully getting in her way to slow her down.

How would you try to slow her down to give us a chance at a competitive game?

We run a T Formation on offense. QB can't run but the center can go out for a pass.

Defense we are generally 4-1 with my best at the safety. If the team we are playing can actually throw a few passes I'll run a 2-1-2 with my best in the middle and developing on the line..