8-Week Flag Football Season Plan (week-by-week install)
A free week-by-week install for an 8-week youth flag football season: which plays to add, which drills to run and which defense to teach each week, with swaps for younger and older teams. It is built for 8U and 10U teams playing 5v5, the most common youth setup, and every week lists what to swap for a younger or older team. Free, printable, no sign-up.
How to use this plan
- One practice a week. Each week, run your age group's practice plan (6U · 8U · 10U · 12U · 14U) and swap in the plays and drills listed for that week.
- Two practices a week? Use the first practice to install the new plays and the second to review them and scrimmage. Each week number is still one week.
- Short practice? Every plan has a 45-minute version that shows which block to cut.
- Missed a week to rain? Do not skip ahead. Push everything back a week and drop the trick play in week 7.
- By the end: 8 plays, two kinds of defense and a set of drills every kid knows by name. That is plenty for a youth season.
The season at a glance
Week 1 Flags, handoffs and one pass
Goal: Everyone can pull a flag, take a handoff and line up for two plays without help.
New plays
Drills
Sharks and Minnows Flag Game all agesSideline Flag Pull Drill all agesHandoff Exchange Drill all agesDiamond Hands Partner Catch all ages
Run the First Flag Football Practice of the Season as written this week.
Defense
Keep it simple: every defender picks one player and follows them. Leave the rusher out until next week.
Game day: If your first game is this week, call only Sweep and Curl-Flat, and give every kid a turn at QB or ball carrier.
Week 2 Snaps, routes and the rusher
Goal: Clean snaps, routes cut at the right cone, and one or two kids who can rush the QB with their hands up.
Drills
Two-Line Passing Warm-Up all agesCenter-QB Snap Drill all agesRoute Tree on Cones 8U+7-Yard Rusher Drill 8U+
Defense
Add one rusher from the rush line (7 yards in NFL FLAG; check your league). Pick kids who like to chase and teach them to get the hands up, not to grab the QB.
Game day: Rotate the rusher every few plays. Rushing is tiring, and a fresh rusher is a fast rusher.
Younger team (6U)
Some leagues do not allow rushing at the youngest ages. Check your league, and skip the rusher drill if so. Add Double Back Dive instead.
Older team (12U and up)
Add Drive, a crossing route with a receiver underneath, so the QB learns to read one defender.
Week 3 Run game with a fake
Goal: The QB fakes to one runner and hands to the other, and defenders learn to watch the ball carrier, not the fake.
Drills
Handoff Exchange Drill all agesHandoff Relay Race 6U+Cone Weave and Juke Drill 6U+Cone Box 1-on-1 Flag Pull all ages
Defense
Run Crossbuck against your own defense. Whoever chases the fake learns fast: stay with your player and find the ball.
Game day: Call Sweep once or twice first. Crossbuck works best after the defense has seen a runner go wide.
Younger team (6U)
Crossbuck is the whole install this week. Walk the exchange five times before running it live.
Older team (12U and up)
7v7 teams can add Draw, which uses the same fake-then-run idea against a rusher.
Week 4 First zone defense and a play to beat it
Goal: Defenders understand the difference between guarding a player and guarding an area, and the offense has a play for each.
Drills
Two-Line Passing Warm-Up all agesRoute Tree on Cones 8U+Sideline Flag Pull Drill all agesZone Drop and Break Drill 10U+
Defense
Teach zone as "guard your area, not a person." Put a cone in each area and have defenders touch it before the snap. Zone Drop is marked for 10U and up; 8U teams can skip it and walk the drops instead.
Game day: Watch the other team's defense on the first series. If defenders follow receivers across the field, it is man. If they stay put, it is zone, and Snag and Curl-Flat are your calls.
Younger team (6U)
Stay in man, or line up in the 1-3-1 and simply tell each kid which cone to stand near. No new play this week.
Week 5 Beat man coverage
Goal: Receivers cross without running into each other, and the QB throws to whoever comes open first.
Drills
Two-Line Passing Warm-Up all agesThe Gauntlet all agesRoute Tree on Cones 8U+7-Yard Rusher Drill 8U+
Defense
Crossing routes are the hardest thing to guard in man. Teach defenders to keep chasing their own player through the traffic instead of stopping.
Game day: Against a man defense, call Mesh and Stack Go-Out. Both make defenders run through traffic.
Younger team (6U)
Mesh is a lot for most 6U teams. Spend the install time on handoffs and running Sweep to both sides.
Older team (12U and up)
Add Bunch Slant-Flat-Corner, another man beater that starts three receivers close together.
Week 6 Beat zone coverage
Goal: The QB sees a zone, picks the side with more receivers than defenders, and throws there.
Drills
Route Tree on Cones 8U+Zone Drop and Break Drill 10U+Over-the-Shoulder Catch Drill 10U+Diamond Hands Partner Catch all ages
Defense
Move from the 1-3-1 to a 2-2 zone with two defenders deep. The deep defenders' first job is to never let a receiver get behind them.
Game day: Against a zone, call Flood and Snag. Against man, go back to Mesh.
Younger team (6U)
No new play. Rerun your best three plays from both sides of the field so kids learn left and right.
Older team (12U and up)
Add Slant and Go. It only works once your team has thrown the slant for a few weeks.
Week 7 One trick play
Goal: Run a Reverse that looks just like Sweep, and teach your own defense not to fall for it.
Drills
Handoff Exchange Drill all agesHandoff Relay Race 6U+Cone Box 1-on-1 Flag Pull all agesThe Gauntlet all ages
Defense
Show a new look late in the season: three deep, no rusher. And teach the defender on the far side to stay home instead of chasing the first ball carrier, so a reverse cannot beat you.
Game day: Call Sweep two or three times first. Then call Reverse once, and only once, per game.
Younger team (6U)
Reverse works for 6U too because there is no throw. Walk both handoffs many times before running it at speed.
Older team (12U and up)
7v7 teams can add Halfback Pass instead. Check that your league allows a forward pass from a player other than the QB.
Week 8 Review, situations and a fun finish
Goal: Every player knows their spot on your best five or six plays, and the team knows what to call in the red zone and on the last play.
Drills
Sharks and Minnows Flag Game all agesThe Gauntlet all agesTwo-Line Passing Warm-Up all agesHandoff Relay Race 6U+
Defense
Play whichever defense worked best in games. 10U teams that want a new look can try the Two-Rusher Zone on key downs, if your league allows more than one rusher.
Game day: Pick one play for the red zone and one for the last play of the half, and practice both in the scrimmage so nobody is surprised.
Younger team (6U)
Finish with the plays your team runs best, and end the season with a game of Sharks and Minnows.
Older team (12U and up)
Run a two-minute drill: the offense gets four plays to score, with no huddle and wristband calls only.
After the season
Write down which plays worked in games and which ones the kids liked. Next season, start week 1 with those. If you want to hand players a card with every play, the playbook builder prints wristband cards from any plays on this site, and the practice plan template is there when you want to write your own practices.