A normal football work week will consist of the following:

Monday: Lifting weights, a necessary evil.  After a game you normally feel like you have been in a ten car pile-up.  Lifting weights helps work out the kinks and soreness and will get you back into playing condition.  Meetings, meetings and more meetings.  My guess is that the normal corporation doesn’t have as many meetings as a football team.  Film study, this of coarse is what all the meetings are about.  Each play from the previous game is graded on a sheet and watched, sometimes over and over depending on how funny you look.  After all that, you then put on your cleats and hit the field for a short and intense 12-14 period practice.  With lifting and meetings and everything, it takes about 4 hours of your day.  Then you have to factor in the time in the training room, classroom, individual film study and the ladies, and well, your out of day light and out of energy.

Tuesday: is the dreaded full padded full period practice.  During this practice all the installation occurs.  That’s where the offense and defense put in the week specific plays that will help them win against the upcoming opponent.  This practice will also be the only time that you practice against your own teams 1st string offense and defense.  Oh yeah, this 18-24 period practice is also accompanied by all the meetings from Monday.  During the week this is the heaviest work day of the week.

Wednesday: is again a longer practice but done in shells. (shoulder pads and helmets)  This day is heavy on playing against the scout teams, practicing the best plays of the upcoming opponent.  After Tuesdays practice Wednesday should be more polished, and most of the kinks should be workout.  By Wednesday the coaches will have a good idea of what kind of defenses are going to work and how they are going to call the game.  It also gives them time to make adjustments to the game plan before they are supposed to hit the field.  Again, all the meetings are the same.

Thursday: starts out early with a morning lift, and then it will be off to class, and everything else that the players have to do.  This practice is again a shorter practice, usually 12-14 periods and is needed to correct mistakes from Wednesday.  It should also be a crisp practice with few mental mistakes.

Friday: is a rest day and we have meetings and one hundred walk-throughs.  By the time game comes along you are so sick and tired of walk-throuhgs is no way you could be surprised by the other team.  The defense would also have a test each week that consists of the most used formations and plays.  The test is timed and graded and helps gauge the teams readiness for Saturday.

All in all, it should account for about 20 hours a week, but if you’re hitting the training room and watching film on your own then you’re around 35 hours a week, sometimes more.  It’s a tough schedule, but Saturday makes it all worth it.