Ask Pat Kirwan

Pat Kirwan, former NFL Executive, and his team of Football Mentors are available to answer your questions about skills, techniques, training, nutrition, leadership, college preparation and anything else related to football.

Read more about the mentor team – or ask a question!

Tips and Things to know

Our mentors offer tips for both school and football issues. See a few of the tips below, or view all tips. Have a question for our mentor team? Just ask!

• Improving academics
• Moving better when you’re big and slow
• What to do if you coach switches your position
• Improving your time
• Pass rush techniques

Improving academics

I'm in 11th grade and play varsity football. I am 269 lbs and 5 ’11”. This is my third year playing. I play the entire offensive line and defensive tackle. I hope to go to college after graduating and play football there. However, I have trouble with two of my academic subjects, math and science.

Football Mentor’s Response:
A good junior year can make up for some of the troubles that you had in your first two years in high school. That being said, you might want to start preparing for this school year over the summer. Perhaps you can work with a tutor in the coming months in order to get better in the subjects where you don't feel too confident. Does your school offer any kind of tutoring services? You should look into that. If not, tell me where you live and I can help look up some tutoring resources in your community.

Also, have you identified someone that you can speak with in your school yet? If not, try to do that soon. Maybe he or she is at the school over the summer teaching summer school. If not, make sure you seek someone out in the fall when you return. Think of it like this, just like you need a coach in football, sometimes you need a coach in school too. Having someone that is checking up on your progress and challenging you to do better is sometimes an important part of being a good student. Don't be afraid to tell someone that you want to be better and then ask them for help.

Lastly, as soon as the school year begins in the fall you should schedule meetings with both your guidance counselor and football coach. Talk to them about your goal of attending college and playing football. They can hopefully help you determine the type of school and football program that is right for you, and then they can help to make sure you're preparing properly. After those meetings you should be able to say, "Okay, this is what I need to do to prepare for college." Then you can set goals for yourself. You should also know that you're going to have to take the SAT's or ACT's. You should ask your counselor to give you insight into registering for and preparing for the tests.

One more thing, it might be helpful to spend some time looking at the NCAA clearinghouse guidelines. These will help you understand what it's going to take for you to be eligible for college sports when the time comes for you to apply to schools. Check it out: http://www.ncaaclearinghouse.net/ncaa/NCAA/common/index.html

Dominic Robinson, the College Mentor responding to this player, is a college admissions counselor and the son of an NFL coach.

Moving better when you’re big and slow

I'm an offensive tackle and guard. I'm 5'11 " and 260 pounds. I can carry my weight well. I have been in the weight room since the off -season and I have become stronger each day. I did track and field and threw discuss and shot put. One thing I lack is stamina. I want to become quicker, faster, and last longer during games next year. I'm currently a sophomore and will hopefully be a starting junior on next year’s Varsity squad. I’d really appreciate it if you could give me some advice or drills.

Football Mentor’s Response:
It sounds like you are a big man who is looking to get a little lighter on his feet and put a little more gas in the tank. What you need are some drills that will not only improve you quickness and your agility, but will also improve you stamina. Here are a few that I think could help.

First, you should jump rope three to four times a week. You should bring a clock out with you to keep time. Start by jumping rope continuously for two to three minutes without stopping and then rest for two to three minutes. As the weeks go by you should be able to increase the jumping intervals and decrease the rest time. This will improve both your footwork and your stamina.

Secondly, you should practice your takeoffs out of a three-point stance. You should have two friends hold a piece of string a yard in front of you to make sure you’re coming out low and hard. If you hit the rope during your take off, you are playing to high.

Another drill to improve your takeoff is to have a friend stand five yards in front of you while you are in your stance. Have him drop a tennis ball right before you take off. You must catch the tennis ball before its second bounce. Once you are quick enough to catch the ball every time, your friend should move further back. This will help you always be the first man off the ball.

Lastly, another important football skill is lateral movement and the ability to change directions. So the last drill is the pro agility drill. It is performed every spring by pro prospects at the NFL Combine. The best place to practice the drill is on a football field. Stand on the 50-yard line facing the sideline. You start the drill by opening up you hips and running to your right five yards to the 45 yd line, and touch the line with your right hand. Then open up the other way and run 10 yards to the opposite 45-yard line and touch with your left hand. Finish the drill by running back and through the 50-yard line. After each rep give yourself about 30 seconds rests. This drill is sure to improve your agility and you ability to change directions.

What to do if you coach switches your position

My coaches are switching me from running back to defensive back in my senior year. What do I do?

Football Mentor’s Response:
I understand that you will be playing in the secondary for the first time this year. I think that this is a terrific challenge for any football player, because the secondary more or less forces the player to truly learn the game and the tendencies shown from the offenses you will play against during the season.

The first thing that I would recommend for you is to discuss with your coaches just what they expect from you. Ask them as many questions as possible as to their defensive philosophy so that you can understand WHY they are doing things in a certain way. Then you will want them to recommend some drills for you to work on during the off -season. You will need to work on footwork and agility drills (especially drills that get you changing directions while back peddling so you can get used to basic cross over steps and proper drop angles), and you should work out with some of your teammates so that you can work on shadowing them when they run routes.

You will also need to become comfortable with closing on the ball. Reaction to the ball carrier/pass receiver needs to become second nature to you. With work it will be!

As far as tackling, you will become an effective defensive player when you become comfortable with closing on the ball. Defending through to the ball will allow you to become familiar with hitting rather than being hit. When you can react and close on the ball, tackling just becomes something that is natural for a defensive player. Since you have had success as a running back, you must have had success blocking at times. Tackling can be thought of as blocking with your hands!

Have fun, because playing on the defensive side of the ball has some GREAT rewards. Remember the old saying – defense wins games!

Improving your time

I am a high school DT and my 40 time is 5.9. What should it be and how can I improve it?

Football Mentor’s Response:
For a Varsity high school DT you should run the 40 between 5.2 and 5.4. As you move onto the college level you need to be around the 5.1 level to play at the lower level schools and around 5.0 at the top schools, but remember 40 times are not everything.

To improve your 40 time you must run 40's. You must be on the clock and measure you scores once a week. Do you need to drop a few pounds? Many schools are playing with lighter and quicker DT'S. Train running down hills to increase your stride length. Work on your starts. How quick is your reaction? Do you come off the ball with a flat back or do you stand up? Film yourself running. Film from all angles and check your form. Increase your lower body flexibility. In the weight room you must do the following lifts: squats, lunges, straight leg dead lifts and power cleans. Finally have your coach teach you some lower body plyometrics to develop your fast twitch muscles.

Pass rush techniques

Could you explain some pass rush techniques?

Football Mentor’s Response:
When you bull rush, don't attack the O-Lineman straight up. This means don't just charge him face to face. He will just hold on for the ride and you will never get to the QB. You'll just have to pray for a holding penalty, which probably won't be called. Instead, attack the side of you man when you bull rush. Attack one shoulder with all your power. This will force him to turn his shoulders if he wants to stop you, and this will open himself up to getting run over or will leave himself open to a swim or rip move.

The swim move is very popular among pass rushers. However, it’s hard to land it, especially playing inside, if it’s not executed correctly. Most players just run to an edge of the man and try to swim by, only to find themselves getting caught up because the O-Lineman grabs a piece of jersey with his outside hand. YOU NEED TO CLEAR THE OL's OUTSIDE HAND BEFORE YOU THROW THE SWIM. When you come off the ball you have to watch the OL's hand to the side that you're rushing. At some point, he will punch out at you with that outside hand and you need to slap it away. The best way is to chop in a downward motion at his wrist (it is the weakest part of the arm). If done correctly, the OL will lean towards you exposing his outside shoulder. You simply grab his shoulder pad with your outside arm and swim with your inside arm. Then you are free to light up the QB.

In pass rushing situations (2nd and 3rd down and long) it is helpful to confuse your opponent as to where you are rushing. If, for example, you are playing three techniques on an OG, instead of rushing up that B Gap, you can attack his inside shoulder which is the A Gap. This puts you at a great advantage because he is expecting you to rush the B and is probably tilting his weight in that direction. By coming across his face to his inside, his lean and his foot placement will not allow him to react to his inside in time to stop you. It is important to note that you should only do this when it doesn't affect your pass rush scheme. You don’t want to rush the same gap as one of your teammates.