Description

Benny Boyd, Assistant Coach, TCU

Full video on Glazier Drive: KO Coverage: Drills for Success

OVERVIEW

This is a coaching breakdown from former Wyoming special teams coach Benny Boyd, covering two core kickoff coverage drills: the Landmark Drill ("Punishing Party") and the Bully Drill. Both are designed to build discipline, leverage, and physicality in kickoff coverage, with an emphasis on celebrating good execution to build game-day energy.

DRILL 1: THE LANDMARK DRILL ("PUNISHING PARTY")

Purpose: teaches proper horizontal spacing in coverage lanes so returners can't find vertical creases, and reinforces landmark discipline using the 50-yard line as a checkpoint ("magic barometer") for lane integrity.

Setup:

• Cones placed at the right hash, bottom of the numbers, and across eight total spacing points.
• The kicker has no assigned landmark.
• The L1 and R1 (safeties, per scheme) target the inside shoulder of the leverage player on their side as their landmark.
• All other coverage players count in from the outside toward the middle (R2 to L2), each sprinting over their designated cone.

Key coaching points:

• Coverage doesn't begin moving downhill until the kicker passes them.
• The team plays "left deep, left" — bending left to reach landmarks.
• If every player hits their cone, it's a clean rep; if not, they repeat it.
• After leveraging the ball, the group performs a full-speed "celebration" ("the party") — intentionally building habitual enthusiasm so it becomes natural on game day, even if it starts as manufactured energy in practice.

DRILL 2: THE BULLY DRILL

Purpose: teaches players how to attack and defeat blocks once within 15 yards of the football, replacing generic "button press" language with a more physical, mindset-driven term: "bully."

Setup:

• Blockers start three yards inside each hash.
• Defenders start seven yards away, aligned on leverage (never head-up).
• On the snap/command, defenders sprint to attack the blocker.

Technique cues:

• Eyes below the blocker's eyes.
• Hit on the rise, uncoiling the hips.
• Use inside hand to shock and shed.
• Always play through half the blocker's body, never straight through the middle.

Fit rules based on ball carrier direction:

• Ball carrier works toward the defender → cage (get outside and leverage the hip).
• Ball carrier works away → capture (sprint to the near hip).
• Ball carrier runs middle → both defenders cage, forming a "two-man vice."

Additional coaching points:

• Defenders shouldn't slow down after winning the block — hit with speed and drive the blocker back, since the blocker is often stationary.
• Don't peek for the ball early — win the block first, then find the ball.
• Successful reps are finished with the same "punishing party" celebration used in the Landmark Drill.

CLOSING PHILOSOPHY

Coach Boyd closes with a mantra tying both drills together: "If you're juiceless, you're useless" — reinforcing that competitive energy and celebration are trained habits, not just game-day reactions.

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