Stuck in the traditional football coaching mindset where harder, longer practices equal better teams?
What if there was a better way that resulted in fewer injuries, higher participation numbers, and more wins?
In my recent conversation with Coach Brad Dixon, I discovered an alternative that's transforming high school programs and challenging conventional wisdom about how to build championship teams.
The standard approach to football coaching has long emphasized grueling practices, extensive conditioning, and a "tougher than everyone else" mentality. Coaches pride themselves on weekend film sessions and full-pad practices throughout the week.
This traditional methodology often leads to player burnout, increased injuries, and depleted rosters as the season progresses. As Brad pointed out during our discussion, many programs are seeing declining participation rates, with athletes choosing other sports or activities that don't demand such sacrifices of time and physical toll.
Brad shared that in 2015 and 2016, his program at Camp Point Central High School faced a crisis. Despite previous success (44-5 record in four years), they experienced six season-ending injuries and disappointing 5-5 and 7-3 records with playoff blowouts. The traditional approach was failing them. They were practicing harder and longer than everyone else, but their players weren't performing when it mattered most.
Something needed to change.
Everything shifted in 2017 when Brad began coaching track and encountered Tony Holler's "Feed the Cat" methodology. Holler's article "New School Ideas for Old School Football Coaches" resonated deeply with Brad and opened his mind to a different approach to performance.
Instead of equating winning with outworking opponents, Sprint-Based Football values rest, recovery, and sleep while emphasizing max velocity, vertical jump, and acceleration training with weekly testing and GPS monitoring.
As Brad explained, "We practice a wave theory where we ramp up the CNS with some sprint work on Monday...then Wednesday we ramp it back up...and then Thursday, obviously like everyone does, you back off."
The results have been remarkable.
Since implementing Sprint-Based Football, Brad's team has played in three state championships and three semifinals, averaging 9-10 wins yearly with a nine-game regular season. Most importantly, their injury rates have plummeted. In their small rural school of just 230 students, they maintain a 58-player roster—the largest in school history—while other programs are co-oping or dropping to 8-man football. They've kept their core coaching staff together for 18 seasons, and parents appreciate their no-weekend-practice policy that respects family time.
For coaches interested in implementing a Sprint-Based approach, Brad suggests:
What if there was a better way that resulted in fewer injuries, higher participation numbers, and more wins?
In my recent conversation with Coach Brad Dixon, I discovered an alternative that's transforming high school programs and challenging conventional wisdom about how to build championship teams.
The standard approach to football coaching has long emphasized grueling practices, extensive conditioning, and a "tougher than everyone else" mentality. Coaches pride themselves on weekend film sessions and full-pad practices throughout the week.
This traditional methodology often leads to player burnout, increased injuries, and depleted rosters as the season progresses. As Brad pointed out during our discussion, many programs are seeing declining participation rates, with athletes choosing other sports or activities that don't demand such sacrifices of time and physical toll.
Brad shared that in 2015 and 2016, his program at Camp Point Central High School faced a crisis. Despite previous success (44-5 record in four years), they experienced six season-ending injuries and disappointing 5-5 and 7-3 records with playoff blowouts. The traditional approach was failing them. They were practicing harder and longer than everyone else, but their players weren't performing when it mattered most.
Something needed to change.
Everything shifted in 2017 when Brad began coaching track and encountered Tony Holler's "Feed the Cat" methodology. Holler's article "New School Ideas for Old School Football Coaches" resonated deeply with Brad and opened his mind to a different approach to performance.
Instead of equating winning with outworking opponents, Sprint-Based Football values rest, recovery, and sleep while emphasizing max velocity, vertical jump, and acceleration training with weekly testing and GPS monitoring.
As Brad explained, "We practice a wave theory where we ramp up the CNS with some sprint work on Monday...then Wednesday we ramp it back up...and then Thursday, obviously like everyone does, you back off."
The results have been remarkable.
Since implementing Sprint-Based Football, Brad's team has played in three state championships and three semifinals, averaging 9-10 wins yearly with a nine-game regular season. Most importantly, their injury rates have plummeted. In their small rural school of just 230 students, they maintain a 58-player roster—the largest in school history—while other programs are co-oping or dropping to 8-man football. They've kept their core coaching staff together for 18 seasons, and parents appreciate their no-weekend-practice policy that respects family time.
For coaches interested in implementing a Sprint-Based approach, Brad suggests:
- Start with a "wave theory" practice schedule: CNS stimulation Mondays, helmet-only Tuesdays for football skills, ramped-up Wednesdays with full pads, light Thursdays, and let Friday games be the week's peak intensity
- Eliminate traditional conditioning—build sprint capacity through football-specific work-rest ratios
- Implement one-way players or "one-and-a-half-way" players instead of exhausting your best athletes
- Focus on quality over quantity in practice time
- Use technology (GPS, free lap timers) to monitor and optimize player loads
- Prioritize recovery with days off and smart practice scheduling
