At training camps around the NFL, the whistle is a powerful instrument, keeping practice on time and orderly. But it’s not the whistle that builds culture. It’s not the whistle that teaches skills. It’s not even the coach himself, necessarily.
It’s the repetition of targeted drills.
Of course, there are an infinite number of football drills. But the right drill can instill toughness alongside technique. The right drill can create confidence through preparation. The right drill can help a team win games and, ultimately, the Super Bowl.
So we asked a dozen NFL head coaches for their favorite drill — and we also asked them to explain why it’s their favorite. Their answers provide a window not just into how the coaches tick but also into the kind of teams they’re building.
Los Angeles Rams Coach Sean McVay
(Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)
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Favorite Drill: Offensive Ball-Security Drill
Drill It Down: As they weave through agility pads placed on the ground, offensive skill players focus on protecting the football while coaches try to poke the ball out with a utility stick (basically a pad on a pole).
The Story Behind The Drill: There’s a reason the Rams are the overwhelming favorites to win the Super Bowl this season. Los Angeles boasts one of the most talented rosters in the league and is led by one of its best coaches.
Still, injuries and inconsistent play can derail teams during the meat grinder of an NFL season. One way the forward-thinking McVay prepares his offense for the bad things that can happen is to start each practice with a ball-security drill, driving in that muscle memory to protect the football.
It works. Last year, the Rams tied for fourth-best in the league with just 15 giveaways, their third straight season ranking in the top 10.
“It’s important that what we do is in alignment with what we’re emphasizing,” McVay told me. “Are our words in alignment with our actions? And so, when we start every single practice and we’re going full speed with a ball-security circuit, it shows the importance of ball security.
“It takes all 11, and [Rams OC] Nate Scheelhaase and the offensive coaches do a great job with those different ball-security drills. We ultimately want to have every drill translate to game reality and make sure we can emulate those game-like situations.” — Eric D. Williams
Jacksonville Jaguars Coach Liam Coen
(Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
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Favorite Drill: Mamba Period
Drill It Down: Competitive 11-on-11 period pitting starters against each other in simulated down-and-distance game situations.
The Story Behind The Drill: They say imitation is the highest form of flattery. Well, Coen showed his respect for former boss Sean McVay by adopting his Mamba drill. After Kobe Bryant’s tragic death in 2020, McVay established the drill to honor one of the fiercest competitors ever to play pro sports. Coen was a Rams offensive assistant at that time.
“It’s kind of stolen from the Rams, but we do a Mamba period every Wednesday and Thursday in homage to Kobe Bryant,” Coen told me. “It’s three plays, good on good, ones vs. ones and twos vs. twos. On Wednesdays, it’s first down, second-and-8-plus. Best out of three wins. We score it the whole day. And then the loser has something to do at the end of practice.
“And then Thursday is third-down day. It’s five-man rush, man coverage. Let’s lock up ones vs. ones. Let’s play man defense, no meshes or runaways. Just play. Just win.”
Last year, in his first season leading the Jaguars, Coen was looking for ways to challenge a franchise that has long struggled to establish a sustainable winning culture. Drills like the Mamba period helped him flip the script, with the Jaguars winning 13 games to reach the postseason.
“I think that’s something that helped our team become more competitive as a group,” Coen said. “And it also allowed us to just go play, in-season, where a lot of coaches are like, ‘I ain’t doing a lot of good-on-good in-season.’ We did that for a long time.” — Eric D. Williams
Detroit Lions Coach Dan Campbell
(Photo by Allan Dranberg/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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Favorite Drill: Catch-And-Run … With A Twist
Drill It Down: Two receivers run their routes together, and when one catches the pass, the other is in charge of serving as a blocker downfield.
The Story Behind The Drill: Campbell might have one of the highest-scoring and flashiest offenses in the league, but he’s still that same guy who said in his 2021 introductory press conference that he expected his players to “bite a kneecap off” their opponents.
This drill demonstrates that attitude — because Campbell doesn’t want the drill to simply be about who makes a play for the ball. It’s just as much about who makes a play without the ball. Big passing plays often come when a receiver serves as a willing blocker. This is a test of toughness and grit — in hopes of generating explosive plays.
With each other’s help, Lions receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown (14) and Jameson Williams (9) caught a total of 182 passes last season for 2,518 yards and 18 touchdowns. (Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)
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“It’s basically our catch-and-run, but it’s catch, knife, and both receivers … are running around the bag,” Campbell said. “One of them is going to get the ball, and then one of them has to immediately turn into a blocker for that runner.”
He added: “I love that drill. Because you come out, you don’t know who’s getting [the ball], right … and the minute that one [receiver] catches it, man, [the other has] to turn and burn and make the block. And then [the ball carrier has to] make the adjustment off of the blocker, so it all happens fast. It kind of initiates the run after catch, the block after catch.” — Henry McKenna
Los Angeles Chargers Coach Jim Harbaugh
(Photo by Jordon Kelly/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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Favorite Drill: Blocking Drill With A Rae Crowther One-Man Sled
Drill It Down: Position coaches use a movable blocking sled to work on player fundamentals and technique.
The Story Behind The Drill: Rae Crowther, a former college and professional lineman who went into coaching, invented the blocking sled in 1932. Nearly a century later, his invention still helps players focus on proper hand placement, playing with a low base and exploding through contact.
It’s no surprise that an old-school coach like Jim Harbaugh would lean into a simple drill that focuses on basic football fundamentals and physicality. In his introductory press conference with the Chargers in 2024, he said: “We’re going to earn our winning as a tough team, a resilient team, a relentless team, a physical team. That is what we’re going to aspire to be. Don’t let the Powder Blues fool ya.”
Even into his sixties, Harbaugh is still a hands-on coach who wears cleats to practice and likes to participate in drill work with players.
Harbaugh, a former quarterback, said he also has an “anticipation throwing drill” he likes for QBs.
“But the Crowder sled is probably my favorite. The one-man tackling sled, yep.” — Eric D. Williams
(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
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Green Bay Packers Coach Matt LaFleur
(Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
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Favorite Drill: Hitting The Sled
Drill It Down: If you played football at basically any level, you know what this drill looks like. Whether it’s an individual or a group of players, they work to hit and move the sled. Different sleds teach different techniques.
The Story Behind The Drill: LaFleur, who’s known as an offensive guru and scheme creator, knows that football games are actually won and lost by the big guys in the trenches.
“It’s what they do,” LaFleur said. “It’s hand-to-hand combat.” — Henry McKenna
New England Patriots Coach Mike Vrabel
(Photo by Summer Lamont/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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Favorite Drill: Open-Field Tackling
Drill It Down: Two players start back to back before running away from each other toward a cone. They then circle the cone and head upfield into a confined space, where the ball carrier can make a move while the defender tries to get a two-hand tag.
The Story Behind The Drill: It’s fair to say that New England’s defense wasn’t very good after two weeks of the 2025 regular season. At the heart of the problem? Tackling. That’s why Vrabel, a former linebacker, values this drill so much.
To open last season, the Patriots missed 11 tackles and lost to the Las Vegas Raiders, who ended up picking first in the NFL Draft. In Week 2 against the Miami Dolphins, New England missed 14 tackles against what would eventually be one of the weakest offenses in the NFL.
“We were terrible in Miami last year,” Vrabel said when asked about his favorite drill. “You guys all know. You guys all reported on it, and we worked hard to improve it. There’s so many great athletes in this league with the football, and missed tackles just end up leading to [explosive] plays.”
On their way to the Super Bowl, the Patriots wound up finishing fourth in total defense (yards allowed per game) and in scoring defense (18.8 points allowed per game).
“I’ve seen guys improve with that drill,” Vrabel said. “That has nothing to do with any sort of contact. It’s just about a body movement and being able to play balanced and be able to change direction.” — Henry McKenna
Washington Commanders Coach Dan Quinn
(Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
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Favorite Drill: 2-Minute Drill
Drill It Down: Highly competitive, 11-on-11 simulated end-of-half and end-of-game situations between offensive and defensive starters.
The Story Behind The Drill: Quinn’s reasoning for his favorite drill is simple: It’s all about creating competition, something he learned from his mentor, Pete Carroll.
“I like that everybody is heightened,” Quinn told me. “There’s a clock. There’s a down and distance. If you get into field-goal range, are you going for a touchdown? The pressure’s on, with the offense going against the defense.
“For a long time, that’s been my favorite one. Sometimes, it’s 2-minute at the end of the half, and sometimes it’s the end of the game. I always like to see the O-line and D-line pass rush, so we don’t get into that until later in training camp. But we’ll work that drill every day, offseason included.” — Eric D. Williams
Seattle Seahawks Coach Mike Macdonald
(Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
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Favorite Drill: E.A.T. Drill
Drill It Down: Fundamental defensive drills Seattle performs each week that focus on Effort, Angles and Tackling.
The Story Behind The Drill: The Seahawks emphasize a detailed, methodical approach to practice time and to being consistent each day, stacking strong performances. The result of that approach was Macdonald leading the team to a Super Bowl victory in just his second season as head coach.
At the heart of Seattle’s approach is something Macdonald calls the E.A.T. drill. This tackling drill focuses on taking the right angle to the ball carrier to get him on the ground while other defenders swarm to the football.
“It’s basically how we finish plays,” Macdonald told me. “So, it’s always about angles and tackling, things like that. To the naked eye, it looks like a tackling drill or a takeaway drill. But it’s applying our E.A.T. curriculum to the guys. It’s a way of life.”
Macdonald used this core drill to construct the top defense in the league last season, holding opponents to a league-low 17 points per game. — Eric D. Williams
Indianapolis Colts Coach Shane Steichen
(Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
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Favorite Drill: The Sudden-Change Drill
Drill It Down: At any point in practice, Steichen interrupts the session and announces a game situation for the offense, which has to take the ball and score.
The Story Behind The Drill: Sometimes the problem with practice is that it can feel routine. It can feel inauthentic. It can come up short of addressing the randomness of football.
The sudden-change drill focuses on football’s randomness.
“Basically, I call it up in the middle of practice at any point in time,” Steichen said. “I lay out the situation for our guys. It could’ve been the defense gets a turnover, they scoop up a fumble, and get it down to the 15-yard line. It’s a sudden change, so our offense has to react and go score.
“I do different sudden changes throughout practice … just to get our guys in the right mindset, because it’s going to happen in the games.”
It’s a way to sneak in situational work. Oftentimes, the Colts will inform quarterback Daniel Jones that he’ll be doing third-down work. Or that he’ll be repping first-down situations. But in the sudden-change drill, Jones & Co. are not prepared for what Steichen has up his sleeve. — Henry McKenna
Carolina Panthers Coach Dave Canales
(Photo by Matt Kelley/Getty Images)
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Favorite Drills: 2-Minute Drill & Open-Field Tackling Drill
Drill It Down: The 2-minute drill is, of course, an 11-on-11 scrimmage that simulates the closing 120 seconds of a half or a game. For the open-field tackling drill, it’s one tackler and one runner staying within an area marked off by cones. The runner must use what space he has to avoid the tackler. The tackler is drilling pursuit angles.
The Story Behind The Drills: The Panthers played 10 one-score games last year during the regular season and finished 7-3 in those contests. In the postseason, they once again found themselves in a one-score game — and they lost, 34-31, to the Rams. So it should come as little surprise that Canales likes the 2-minute drill.
“It’s just the heightened arousal state. It’s the shortest amount of time depending on the field position, the situation, making guys have to perform quickly, do something after the catch to respond,” he said. “The referees are involved. The coaches are also in a heightened awareness.
“I think it’s one of the greatest things you can do in terms of just getting your team to play good football, making them have to think on the fly and make critical decisions and critical plays.”
The former offensive coordinator’s other favorite drill, interestingly enough, is a defensive drill.
“It’s open-field tackling — it doesn’t even have to be in pads, but tracking the near hip. I think it’s one of the most critical parts to having success,” Canales said. “… Just learning how to take a banana path to track the hip in different positions. All of our players will face some type of a tackle or blocking people in space that makes you have to take a good angle and eliminate the field and create a one-way go for the opponent.”
Canales said that even quarterbacks will participate in this drill at times. After all, they become would-be tacklers after a turnover. — Henry McKenna
New Orleans Saints Coach Kellen Moore
(Photo by Derick E. Hingle/Getty Images)
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Favorite Drills: Screen Drill And Scramble Drill
Drill It Down: The screen drill simulates a screen pass, a play in which a few offensive linemen drift toward the sideline in front of a running back. And after the back catches the ball, the linemen form a wall of blockers he can run behind. The drill works on the most important part of any screen: timing.
As for the scramble drill, it’s about teaching the offense how to operate when a play breaks down. Different teams have different rules for their receivers about where to go when a quarterback breaks out of the pocket. Similarly, there are different techniques and assignments to practice for defenders when dealing with a scrambling QB.
The Story Behind The Drills: The common adage about screen passes is that they are an extension of the ground game. They are a way to help a passer who is constantly under fire from the pass-rush. In 2025, the Saints were far from an elite offense, but they did have the 15th-best quarterback pressure rate allowed (33.7%), per Next Gen Stats. That’s a vast improvement from 2024, when they were eighth-worst at 37.4%.
That’s surely thanks to the team’s offensive line improvements. But maybe those screens paid off, too.
“It’s hard to replicate screens from an offensive perspective in practice — just because of the tempo at which you practice,” Moore said. “That’s a little bit of a challenge, but we do as many screen drills as we can.”
New Saint Travis Etienne Jr. was one of the most targeted running backs in the league last year with the Jaguars. He was second among all backs with six receiving touchdowns. (Photo by Tyler Kaufman/Getty Images)
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As for the scramble drill, Moore said it’s a focus “for both sides of the football just because it shows up so much in the game, so you’ve got to spend as much time as you can on it.”
More and more, we’re seeing mobile quarterbacks around the league get creative beyond the structure of the play. So it’s fitting to drill the second break.
The initial play doesn’t actually matter in this drill. Often, the closest pass-catcher to the QB takes off downfield. The rest of the receivers are supposed to work across the field with the quarterback. Anyone who was going vertical will actually return to the QB. For players on defense, they often need to get into “plaster” coverage where they plaster themselves to the nearest receiver. — Henry McKenna
Cincinnati Bengals Coach Zac Taylor
(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
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Favorite Drill: Basketball?
Drill It Down: Basically, it’s a game of H-O-R-S-E.
The Story Behind The Drill: Taylor is a coach who likes to score. He’s also a coach who’s working on generating more energy from his teams early in the season, which is primarily when they have struggled during his seven-year tenure. So perhaps this unusual “drill” makes sense, in a way.
Especially for Pro Bowl receiver and former high school hoops star Tee Higgins.
“I think outside the box, not necessarily a drill,” Taylor said. “We wanted to start our season fast last year, and so we started our training camp every day … meeting in our basketball gym. We have a hoop in our gym — in our weight room — and two guys, offense and defense, competed. … Just to kind of get the adrenaline flowing a little bit going to meetings, going into practice.
“It’s maybe a little unorthodox, but that’s something a little bit unique that we did.” — Henry McKenna
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