Trust Instincts, Take Chances in Practice
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Featuring: Marcus Klund — LB Coach, Calgary Stampeders
Podcast: Football IQ — Mastering Defensive Strategies with Marcus Klund
Website: americanfootballiq.com
"Trust your instincts, don't hesitate. In practice, trust them and take your shot." — Marcus Klund, CFL Linebackers Coach
Introduction
Marcus Klund has been coaching football for over two decades. He currently serves as a linebackers coach and run game coordinator with the Calgary Stampeders in the CFL — a league where reads happen faster, the field is wider, and every mental error gets exposed faster than most American players are used to.
When Doug Brady sat down with Klund on the Coach and Coordinator Podcast, the conversation landed on something foundational: the players who build real football IQ are the ones willing to take their shot in practice — and learn from what happens.
That's not a feel-good message. That's how instincts are actually developed.
Why Hesitation Is Costing You More Than You Think
Most players know what to do. The problem is they don't trust themselves enough to do it without thinking twice.
That pause — the half-second where a linebacker second-guesses his read, or a corner freezes on a route stem — is where plays get given up. Not because the player lacked talent. Because he lacked confidence in his own instincts.
Klund's message cuts right to it: trust your instincts and don't hesitate. It sounds simple. But for a lot of players, it's the hardest thing to actually do — because hesitating feels safe. Committing feels risky.
Football punishes hesitation. If you're still thinking when the ball is snapped, you're already late.
The cycle is predictable: a player afraid to be wrong plays slow. Playing slow means missed plays. Missed plays kill confidence. And low confidence makes the hesitation worse. You don't break that cycle by thinking harder. You break it by taking reps with the right mindset.
Practice Is Where Instincts Are Built
There's a reason elite coaches emphasize practice habits over everything else. The game doesn't teach you how to react. Practice does.
Klund is direct about this — and it's something he applied throughout his own playing career before carrying it into coaching. The players who develop the fastest instinctual awareness are the ones who go into every rep trusting what they've prepared. Not playing cautiously. Not protecting their stats. Taking their shot.
"If you don't make the play and they make a play on it," Klund said, "it's practice."
That's the whole point. You are not going to lose a game in a Wednesday walkthrough. But you will build something in those moments — because that's where players find out what they're actually capable of.
Klund has watched players surprise themselves. A guy who didn't think he could make a certain play makes it — because he trusted his reads and committed. Now that play is in his arsenal. Now that confidence is real. And when the same situation shows up in a game, he doesn't hesitate.
That's instinct development. And it only happens if players are willing to take their shot in practice first.
The Mental Rep Is Just as Real as the Physical One
There's a layer here that doesn't get enough attention in football development.
Film prep builds the blueprint. Practice reps convert that blueprint into reaction. One without the other only gets you halfway. A player can watch film all week and still freeze on the field if he's never actually committed to a read under live conditions. And a player who just runs reps mindlessly — without understanding what he's looking for — is just burning time.
The combination is what builds true football IQ: study what to look for, then trust what you see.
American Football IQ was built around exactly this philosophy. The mental rep is real. Pre-snap recognition, formation tendencies, leverage reads — these can be trained off the field. But the confidence to execute them under pressure? That only comes from doing the work in practice with full commitment.
Klund said it plainly — that's how he played, and that's how he coaches. Use your football IQ. Understand the game. And when you're in a rep, trust it.
Why Football IQ Changes Everything
Confidence on the field doesn't come from being the fastest or the strongest. It comes from knowing — and trusting what you know.
When a linebacker knows what formation tells him a lead draw is coming, he attacks without hesitation. When a corner recognizes a receiver's stem, he's already breaking on the route before the ball is thrown. When a safety reads the backfield keys he's studied all week, he's in position before the play develops.
Recognition drives reaction. And reaction drives results.
Klund's message — trust your instincts, take your shot, learn from the outcome — isn't just advice for individual plays. It's a development philosophy. Players who commit to that process don't plateau. They stack wins — one rep, one recognition key, one confident decision at a time.
"We don't sell cards. We sell mental reps." — American Football IQ
Final Thoughts
Marcus Klund applied this philosophy as a player, and now he coaches it every day. The message is consistent: trust your preparation, take your shot in practice, and let the game teach you.
The players who grow the fastest aren't the ones who play it safe in practice. They're the ones willing to commit — to a read, to a move, to a decision — and then honestly evaluate what happened. That's how instincts are sharpened. That's how football IQ compounds over time.
See the field before the play unfolds. Train the brain the same way drills train the body.
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Podcast Source
| Clip | Trust Instincts, Take Chances in Practice |
| Full Podcast | Football IQ — Mastering Defensive Strategies with Marcus Klund |
| Guest | Marcus Klund, LB Coach, Calgary Stampeders |
| Website | americanfootballiq.com |
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