Matt Hennesy is today’s guest on the USA Football Coach and Coordinator podcast. Hennesy is the head coach of Locust Grove (Okla.), a program he’s turned around and guided to a 12-win season in 2015. Hennesy is also a U.S. National Team Regional Development Camp director and led the Under-18 National Team to a victory over Canada in the inaugural North American Championship in January. He discusses the unique experience (and challenge) of coaching the National Team, why coaches should never pull out a playbook in an interview and how to achieve success with man coverage when you don’t have elite athletes.

Show notes

• :42   Role as Regional Development Camp director
• 2:20   What makes USA Football camps unique
• 3:30   Coaching the US National Team
• 5:01   Building culture on an all-star team
• 8:36   How coaches can get involved in USA Football
• 12:13   High school football in Oklahoma and the areas where Hennesy refuses to compromise
• 16:49   Evaluating players you inherit in a new program
• 23:18   The value of "points per possession" metric
• 24:17   Everyday teaching
• 25:15   Why DBs need to watch a receiver's hips--not his head or shoulders
• 26:09   How Odell Beckham and one-handed catches are changing the way Hennesy coaches DBs
• 27:54   Player pathway
• 29:47   The winning edge

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