Coaches Clinic a Success

AMES, Iowa ? Iowa State's Friday football practice and its Saturday scrimmage had an audience of knowledgeable onlookers. The interested group was made up of high school football coaches from across the state of Iowa that were in town for the 2010 Iowa State Football Coaches Clinic.

Last weekend's event was the second clinic hosted by ISU head coach Paul Rhoads and his staff. The two-day event began Friday morning with a welcome and introductions. The Iowa Football Coaches Association presented its Regional Coach-of-the-Year award. Then through lunch and into the early afternoon, individual ISU assistant coaches held breakout sessions relevant to their assigned coaching position.

“It is a way to meet coaches from around the state of Iowa and beyond Iowa's borders,” Rhoads said. “We can impart our knowledge about the game and learn from them as well to our own benefit. It is a key component of collegiate recruiting.”

Assistant Director of Football Operations Markus Alleyne is the primary administrator for the clinic.

“We had more than 280 coaches attend the clinic this year, which is an increase over last year,” Alleyne said. “We had many positive comments from the participants. The prep coaches told me they really appreciated the openness and availability of our coaches for one-on-one discussions.”

Friday afternoon, the majority of the coaches went to the Bergstrom Indoor Facility to watch demonstrations of defensive and offensive drills followed by an ISU spring football practice.

Friday night, John Levra, a coach with 44 years of experience, much of it in the NFL, was the keynote speaker. The former defensive line coach for the Chicago Bears spoke on pass rush fundamentals and techniques.

ISU coaches were available for discussion for the balance of the evening.

Saturday morning's program included discussions on eight-man football played by many small schools.

The clinic ended with ISU's scrimmage. By all accounts it was a great success.