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How to Run a Football Tryout: A Coach's Step-by-Step Guide

To run a football tryout, you measure every player across a set of athletic tests (speed, agility, and explosiveness) plus position-specific skill drills, score each one on a consistent 1-to-5 scale, and use those scores to build your depth chart. This guide covers tackle (American) football; if you run the non-contact version, see our flag football tryout guide. The hard part is rarely the scoring sheet. It is organizing the whole event so the evaluation stays fair, the day runs on time, and you can defend every roster and position decision afterward, especially when you are moving hundreds of athletes through in a single weekend. This guide walks through exactly how to conduct a football tryout from first planning to final offers, whether you are a youth league running placement evaluations, a travel club selecting a competitive roster, or a school program putting 300 players in front of 15 to 20 coaches.

Coaches running a youth tackle football tryout with players rotating through the 40-yard dash, agility cones, and position drills on a field

What Skills Should You Evaluate at a Football Tryout?

Evaluate two layers at a football tryout: combine-style athletic tests that apply to everyone, and position-specific drills that show whether a player can do the job. The athletic tests (the 40-yard dash, the shuttle or 3-cone agility drill, and a jump for explosiveness) give you objective, comparable numbers for every athlete. The position drills (catching for receivers, three-step drops for quarterbacks, blocking and get-off for linemen, tackling form for the defense) show football-specific ability that a stopwatch cannot capture. A short, shared list keeps a large evaluation panel focused and consistent.

Here is what evaluators look for in each skill and how each is typically assessed at a tryout:

Skill	What evaluators look for	How it's assessed
Straight-line speed	Acceleration and top-end sprint speed	40-yard dash on a stopwatch; younger or line players are often timed at 10 or 20 yards too
Agility and change of direction	Ability to accelerate, decelerate, and cut without losing balance	5-10-5 pro shuttle or the 3-cone (L) drill, timed
Lower-body explosiveness	Leg power and explosion out of a stance	Vertical jump and standing broad jump
Catching	Soft hands, tracking, and securing the ball at different heights and on the move	Hands drill and route-and-catch reps for receivers, backs, and ends
Quarterback play	Footwork, release, and accuracy to stationary and moving targets	Three-step and five-step drop drills; throws to set and moving receivers
Blocking and line play	Get-off, pad level, hand placement, and staying low every rep	One-on-one or sled work; coaches grade leverage and effort
Tackling and defense	Approach angle, breakdown, and safe form-tackling technique	Form-tackle drills and one-on-one open-field reps
Intangibles	Effort, technique consistency, coachability, and football IQ	Observed throughout and in a scrimmage; used to adjust the overall score

Watch for consistency, not just results: a receiver who runs the same route the same way twice, or a lineman who stays low on every rep, tells you more than a single highlight play.

How Do You Score a Football Tryout?

Score each player from 1 to 5 on every test and drill, where 5 is the best, then total the scores to rank players objectively, usually within their position group. A simple, shared 1-to-5 scale turns subjective impressions ("he looked fast") into comparable data you can sort, defend, and revisit. Convert raw combine numbers into the same scale so a fast 40 time and a strong catching grade can sit side by side, and handle effort and football IQ as adjustments that nudge a player up or down.

Two rules make the scores trustworthy at scale. First, align your evaluators on what each number means before the tryout, so a "3" route and a "4" route mean the same thing to every coach on the field. With 15 to 20 evaluators grading the same players, this calibration is what keeps scores comparable across position groups. Second, score immediately after each rep while it is fresh, and add a short note next to the number. "Quick feet, drops eyes on contact" tells you far more in a week than a bare "3."

How to Set Up Football Tryout Stations at Scale

Set up one station per test or skill and rotate small groups through them so the field is always busy and every player gets identical reps. Use cones and markers to define each station: a timed 40-yard lane, a 3-cone and shuttle area, a jump station, a catching and route lane, a quarterback throwing area, and position-specific drill zones for lines and defense.

How you staff those stations depends on size. At a small tryout, one coach can grade a whole drill. At scale, with 300 players and 15 to 20 coaches, you do the opposite: put several evaluators at each station so a large group keeps moving, and have every coach score the same drill against the shared rubric. Some programs run it in panels, splitting evaluators across stations, while others move all coaches to one station at a time so everyone grades the same drill together, which is common for the 40-yard dash and the jumps. Either way, the goal is multiple independent scores per player, which you average for a more reliable result than any single grader could give. Keep a staffed check-in table at the entrance so you always know who has arrived and who is still expected.

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Football Tryout Timeline: From Planning to Finalized Teams

Plan to start two to three weeks before tryout day, then move through registration, check-in, evaluation, review, and offers. Here is the full end-to-end checklist for hosting the event:

Two to three weeks before: Planning

Lock the date, field, and rain date; reserve the facility
Decide age or weight groups, number of teams, and roster sizes
Build (or reuse) your evaluation form with the athletic tests and position drills above
Recruit and brief evaluators; align all 15 to 20 coaches on the 1-to-5 standards
Open online registration so you have a confirmed player count

Registration

Collect each player's name, age or birth year, height and weight, primary positions, and contact info
Assign every player a tryout number (pinnies or bib numbers) so evaluators score by number, not by name, which keeps scoring objective even with hundreds of players
Send a confirmation with arrival time, location, and what to bring

Tryout day: Check-in

Check players in against your registration list and hand out numbers
Group players by age or position and brief them on the station flow

Tryout day: Evaluation

Run players through each station; evaluators score 1 to 5 and add notes in real time
For multi-day tryouts, repeat key stations on day two so a single off-day doesn't sink a player
Run a controlled scrimmage if time allows to see game instincts and compete level

After the tryout: Review and decide

Combine every evaluator's scores into one ranked list per position group
Discuss bubble players as a staff, using notes alongside the numbers
Finalize teams, depth charts, or draft order

Offers: Accept, decline, and finalize

Extend offers to selected players with a clear accept-by deadline
Track accepts and declines, and go to your next-best player when a spot opens
Send respectful, timely notice to players who weren't selected
Confirm final rosters and communicate next steps (practice schedule, equipment, fees)

Run Your Entire Football Tryout with Rizzler Sports

A tryout at scale is a logistics problem before it is a football problem. Three hundred registrations, hundreds of check-ins, a stack of evaluation sheets for every coach, then the follow-up: inviting selected players, tracking who accepted, and back-filling spots as players decline. Rizzler Sports handles all of it in one place, which saves coaches and administrators hours of work per tryout. Players register online, coaches score evaluations on a phone or tablet at every station, results rank automatically, and you send and track offers without a single spreadsheet or group text.

Running a larger program, a full youth league, a travel organization, or a school district? We will set your tryout up end to end and show you how much staff time it saves.

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Running a tryout at scale? Let's talk.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How long should a football tryout be?

Most youth football tryouts run 90 minutes to two hours per age or weight group. Competitive programs often hold two sessions across two days so a player's evaluation isn't decided by a single off-day. Build in time for check-in and a proper warm-up before the timed tests, since cold athletes run slower and risk injury.

How do you staff coaches at a large tryout?

At scale, do not assign one coach per drill. With 300 players and 15 to 20 coaches, put multiple evaluators at each station, or move all coaches through one station at a time, and have everyone score the same drill against a shared 1-to-5 rubric. Averaging several independent scores per player is more reliable, and far faster, than a single grader working through hundreds of athletes.

What should players bring to a football tryout?

Cleats, water, athletic clothing, and any required protective gear your league specifies. For full-contact evaluation reps, follow your league's equipment rules; many programs run combine tests and skill drills in helmets and shoulder pads only. Tell players to arrive early enough to check in and warm up before evaluations begin.

How do I tell a player they didn't make the team?

Communicate quickly, privately, and respectfully, and keep it about the roster decision rather than the player's worth. A short, kind message with an offer to share specific feedback goes a long way, and it protects your program's reputation for next year's tryout.

Do I need a 40-yard dash to evaluate speed?

No, but a timed sprint gives you an objective speed number instead of a guess. The 40-yard dash is the standard football speed test, and for younger players or linemen a 10 or 20-yard time works too. Use the times to nudge overall scores up for the fastest players and down for the slowest.

See also: Player Evaluations in Rizzler → · How to Run a Flag Football Tryout → · How to Run a Rugby Tryout →