with Tom Radke,
St. James Academy (KS) Head Football Coach & Special Teams Coordinator;
2020 & 2021 Kansas 4A State High School Football Champions;
2020 & 2021 Kansas 4A Football Coach of the Year;
2020 Kansas City Chiefs’ Eric Driskell Coach of the Year;
Piper High School (KS) Head Coach from 2006 to 2010;
St. Thomas Aquinas (KS) Assistant Coach from 2004 to 2005;
played college football for Iowa State University
Tom Radke, head football coach at St. James Academy, knows what it takes to build a football program up to win state championships and position it for long-term sustained success.
The highly acclaimed Coach Radke relies upon an experienced staff of knowledgeable, dedicated coaches who are all on the same page and stay true to the Thunder’s mission statement goal of playing ‘Physical, Fast, Fearless Football’ in every phase of the game.
With reliable assistants and coordinators who oversee the offense and defense, Radke leaves nothing to chance when it comes to another, often overlooked phase of football – Special Teams.
In this video, Radke offers an inside look at how to build and develop a special team’s unit that can execute their assignments in dominating fashion and fulfill its potential as a critical component to a championship team.
Coach Radke taps into his deep well of knowledge to share the secrets of building superior special teams’ – including must-see presentations that cover topics such as: organizing your ST practices to maximize time and hone key skills, the best drills to use in the ST install process and a tested game plan for improving your field goal and PAT units.
This video arms you with real world information and game-tested information that will help you make an immediate, positive difference in your own program’s special teams’ units.
Kicking Game Philosophy & The Importance of Field Position
Coach Radke lays the groundwork for how a special teams’ coordinator should approach special teams. Radke shares his kicking game philosophy and outlines why it’s critically important for a special teams’ coordinator to look at special teams analytically – as this approach dictates the steps you need to take to get your special teams where they need to be from an execution standpoint.
Providing an excellent explanation on why a coach with his experience and pedigree of success still serves as special teams’ coordinator, Radke outlines how the ST coordinator’s role allows you to not have any excuses for mistakes in the kicking game. (In other words, the buck stops with the head football coach/special teams coordinator.)
Coach Radke also shares insight on other key areas of special teams, including: the impact of field position on games, specific coach responsibilities for special teams, tips for developing a special teams’ depth chart and more!
Special Teams: Install Plans, Drills, Kicker/Punter Workouts
Offering critical information you’ll need for installing your ST schemes, Coach Radke provides a complete overview on practice plans, weekly install charts and the best drills to use for ST skill development.
In addition, Radke highlights an extremely useful ST scouting report and provides an up-close look at his kicker and punter workout charts. Radke also utilizes game film clips to highlight examples of proper technique and offers coaching points to improve the performance of kickers and punters.
As a head coach who also serves as special teams’ coordinator, Radke shares his unique perspective on the best ways to ‘steal’ practice time whenever possible to get players extra ST reps and improve in key areas such as kicking, holding, snapping, returning and more.
This is a must-watch video for all football coaches at every level of competition, whether you are a young, hungry assistant or a veteran coach.
Coach Radke’s video provides viewers with the rare opportunity to learn from a championship-winning, highly regarded head football coach – a coach with a long list of prestigious accomplishments – yet, he still serves as an example of a man who holds special teams in the highest regard.
Coach Radke is a long-time, battle-tested head coach who is willing to invest time, effort and rolls up his sleeves every day to put in the work necessary to fulfill his duties as a hands-on, detail-orientated special teams’ coordinator!
54 minutes. 2025.
FD-06296M:
with Tom Radke,
St. James Academy (KS) Head Football Coach & Special Teams Coordinator;
2020 & 2021 Kansas 4A State High School Football Champions;
2020 & 2021 Kansas 4A Football Coach of the Year;
2020 Kansas City Chiefs’ Eric Driskell Coach of the Year;
Piper High School (KS) Head Coach from 2006 to 2010;
St. Thomas Aquinas (KS) Assistant Coach from 2004 to 2005;
played college football for Iowa State University
St. James Academy’s Tom Radke knows what it takes to build a football program installing a detailed infrastructure that positions the program for long-term, sustained success. Coach Radke is also the special team’s coordinator for the Thunder, which is a testament to the importance he places on the special teams’ phase of the game.
In this instructional coaching video, Coach Radke equips you with the knowledge and tools necessary to elevate your team's kicking game to new heights.
By providing a deep dive into the kicking game basics – using a combination of special teams stats, examples of the importance of field position and ST coordinator strategies – Radke offers a game-tested approach to improving your special teams./p>
Coach Radke employs a combination of engaging visual aids, such as kickoff-return diagrams and easy-to-follow game-film clips, to arm you with a clear understanding of the process involved to install a kicking game that fits the parameters of what you want to accomplish.
Kicking Game Essentials
The video begins with Coach Radke laying out a plan for building a solid kicking game foundation with a comprehensive exploration of kicking basics, as well as essential kicking techniques, rules and kicking game strategies that every coach needs to know.
Radke explains that once you possess a deep understanding of kicking fundamentals, you can build a strong base for your team's kicking game development.
Coach Radke presents a deep analysis on the importance of field position in football and how strategic kicking decisions often impact the outcome of a game. Radke explains how building a kicking game that consistently wins the field position battle, creates advantageous situations for your team, while applying additional pressure and stress on your opponents will set your team up for long term successes.
4 Kickoff Returns, 10 Effective Kickoffs
Coach Radke provides valuable insights into coordinating the kicking game, including how to effectively integrate the kicking units into your overall game plan. By developing a plan to coordinate your kicking game, you can maximize its impact and improve your special team's performance.
This video features four highly effective kick returns – each designed to enhance your team's starting field position, while keeping opposing kick-coverage units guessing and on their heels. Kick returns showcased in this section include: a sideline kickoff return, the middle-wedge kick return, the squib-kick return and using your hands team to thwart opponents’ onside kicks.
Radke also details 10 different kickoffs designed to keep your opponents on their toes and set up kick coverage units to defeat blocks and swarm returners, limiting their options and pinning them deep.
An exciting onside kick is also showcased, with Coach Radke offering an in-depth look at it in diagram form while providing objectives, player responsibilities, tips to help onside-kick recovery and onside-kick execution coaching points for kickers.
This video by Coach Radke is a must-have resource for any football coach seeking to improve their team's performance. By providing a comprehensive overview of the kicking game, including key fundamentals, strategies and effective drills that improve performance, this video empowers you to make informed special teams decisions and achieve success.
Don't miss out on this opportunity to elevate your team's kicking game to the next level!
56 minutes. 2025.
FD-06296N:
with Tom Radke,
St. James Academy (KS) Head Football Coach & Special Teams Coordinator;
2020 & 2021 Kansas 4A State High School Football Champions;
2020 & 2021 Kansas 4A Football Coach of the Year;
2020 Kansas City Chiefs’ Eric Driskell Coach of the Year;
Piper High School (KS) Head Coach from 2006 to 2010;
St. Thomas Aquinas (KS) Assistant Coach from 2004 to 2005;
played college football for Iowa State University
Punting is perhaps the most overlooked play in all of football. Consider the following scenario: On the heels of a failed offensive drive, your offense comes off the field, and the momentum has clearly swung toward the opposing team, as their defenders’ head to the sideline fist-pumping in celebration of their defensive stop.
Your punt-team unit comes onto the field for fourth down. On the ensuing snap, your punter strikes a booming punt with great hang time – the opposing team’s punt-returner backpedals with no hope of fielding the ball, watching helplessly as the ball sails over his head and rolls backward before coming to a stop. The end-result is a field-tilting punt that just pinned your opponent deep, leaving them with poor field position.
In an instant, your punter has just singlehandedly swung the field-position game back in your team’s favor, ending your opponent’s momentum after a single play. Conversely, a blocked punt or big-time punt return in that same scenario may cause a catastrophic chain of events that your team never recovers from.
Tom Radke, head football coach at St. James Academy, serves in a dual-role capacity as head football coach and special teams coordinator, a testament to the importance Coach Radke places on the special teams’ phase of the game.
In this instructional coaching video, Radke shares his approach to developing a top-notch punting game – both in punt coverage and punt returns – providing key strategies to help you build rock-solid, special teams across the board.
Special Teams’ Overview, Developing a Punt-Team Plan
Coach Radke provides a detailed summary of St. James Academy football, the importance of building a winning culture and their dedication to playing ‘Physical, Fast, Fearless Football’ in all three phases of the game. Radke also provides his thought process as he begins to construct his special teams plan prior to every season and offers statistical insight on the important role that field position plays during games.
Next, Radke shares an in-depth description that outlines the duties and responsibilities of a special teams coordinator, as well as how he organizes special teams practice segments on an annual, weekly and daily basis.
Providing a deep-dive look at how he develops his punt team units – in terms of both return teams and punt coverage units – Coach Radke provides a wealth of information on punt-team related topics, including: how he handles on-field special teams’ huddles, the sideline signal system used to communicate with the punter, planning potential punt fakes and more.
Punt-Game: Best-of-the-Best Tactics
Drilling down on the specifics of potential punt situations, Coach Radke outlines a fourth down ‘QB Roll-Out, Punt-Pass Option’ play he installs that’s ready to use in short or medium down-and-distance situations.
Using a highly effective teaching combination of diagrams, explanations and game-film examples, Radke shows how to execute this possible punt-fake. On fourth down, the QB stays on the field and aligns in the shotgun. On the snap, the QB is poised to roll out to his right, looking to either run for the first-down marker, hit one of the receivers on a pass route or execute a rugby-style punt while on the run. In this situation, the defense almost always aligns itself without a punt returner to focus on stopping any possible fourth-down conversion attempt. Without a returner set up deep, even a poor rugby punt by the sprinting QB usually sails over the defense and into the cleared field. At that point, a fortuitous bounce and roll may pin your opponent’s deep. In the best-case scenario, you’ll gain the first-down yardage necessary to move the chains.
Coach Radke explains that even though your punter never sets foot onto the field during the QB punt-pass option play, the fourth-down situation still falls under the jurisdiction of the special teams coordinator. As such, it’s imperative that you build time into your ST practice plans to rep the play and work on executing it.
Other punt-team topics covered in this section of the video include: an effective punt-block call, swarming punt coverages, an explosive punt-return package and key coaching points to improve techniques specific to the punt game.
With the information covered by Coach Radke in this excellent special teams coaching video, you’ll never short shrift your punt game in terms of time or attention. This video provides highly valuable special teams information that will help coaches at all levels of football!
54 minutes. 2025.