Last time we talked about how we use the freeze cadence to get the defense to jump offsides and create free plays, but it isn’t always that simple…

Being able to use different cadences variations is a great weapon for a no huddle offense to have at its disposal, but without proper teaching and discipline, this has the potential to do more harm than good to the offense using it.

That’s why today we’re going to talk about how to solve this problem using a simple drill that prepares your entire offense to stay disciplined and mistake free!

Master the use of different cadences while play calling for a No Huddle Offense in our latest release: The Complete No Huddle Playbook

The Cadence Variation Drill

Learn how to effectively practice different cadences in your no huddle offense with a simple yet powerful drill. Ensure your offense stays disciplined and mistake-free with these techniques from The Complete No Huddle Playbook.

This drill is a great asset to our program because it allows us to rep every single one of our cadences by creating a game-like situation with something on the line. Different cadences that we practice with this drill include hard counts, quick, delayed, freeze, and our standard cadence, etc.

The base drill is set up by bringing the offense to the line with QB in the gun.

The offensive linemen look for the tempo & cadence signal and get into their stances accordingly.

Once the offense is set, the QB will deliver the communicated cadence and the offense won’t move until the desired start signal is delivered. If the cadence is on freeze, the QB will give dummy cadences until the coach communicates a new call to go on.

On the desired start signal, the OL explodes off of the ball for 2-3 steps to simulate starting the play at full speed. What this does is allow the offense to lock in mentally and anticipate the snap while forcing them to stay disciplined.

What we like so much about this drill is how simple it is, and how easy it is to adapt it to our needs in a given practice or week of preparation.

For example, it’s really easy to modify this drill to practice it out of different formations and incorporate skill players into the mix. The concepts and ideas of this drill can also be applied to team period which makes it very versatile and easy to work consistently.

The best way to get your athletes to buy in every time you practice your cadences is by putting something on the line during practice for everyone just as if it were a game with wins and losses on the line.

An easy way to do this is with positive rewards like reducing conditioning during practice if everyone stays disciplined and there are no mistakes during practice. Conversely, increasing the conditioning period according to how many mental errors were made during cadence practice can also incentivize players to stay focused during each rep.

In The Complete No Huddle Playbook we go into more detail discussing how we practice using different cadences to put extra stress on the defense!