Organizing Your Notes From “Clinic Season”
It’s clinic season and whatever clinics you go to, schools you visit, coaches you talk to or magazine articles you read, you are sure to have a bunch of notes on new ideas and new thoughts for your defense whether…
Use “The Ball Carnival” to Emphasize Creating & Recovering Turnovers
As the myriad of bowl games across the television screen begin to wind down, it amazes me just how many errant passes are dropped by defenders and how many lost fumbles end up going just past or through a defender’s…
Fit the Screen Play
A year ago, as a pressure team on defense, we were getting hammered by the screen play. In one of our biggest games of the season, against one of our biggest rivals, we gave up a screen play for a…
Prepare for Pre-Season with the “Drill Checklist”
With pre-season a little over a month away, this is a great time to start to get your drills squared away for August camp. One thing I have found helpful in this regard is putting together a drill checklist for…
Finding The Big 5 Pass Route / Combinations vs. Your Defensive Scheme
My blog last month discussed defending the Big 5 run plays. Putting any new defense or scheme up against those 5 run plays to make sure the defense is sound versus the run and trying to eliminate any issues before…
Defending the Big 5 Run Plays
When installing or designing defenses, all of us line up our defenses vs. an assorted number of formations. That is, formations specific to our opponent’s offensive tendencies. We do this to make sure our defense is sound vs. the formations…
Playing the QB versus the Spread Option – Is it time to go back to “Fast Playing”?
Years ago before spread offenses were fully out there, defenses were “fast playing” the QB vs team’s that showed option. Meaning the defensive player that the offense left unblocked to “read” would go as fast as he could to tackle…
The Importance of Off-Season Self-Scouting to Keep Your Defensive System Evolving
By Jeff McDonald, Linebackers Coach Wesleyan University The off-season gives us the opportunity to review the season while in a non sleep- deprived, and/or heavily-caffeinated state where we can think more clearly. By coming up with a self-scout plan, you…