Ok, I'm detailing my trip to the greatest football rivalry on the planet, the Army-Navy football game. I have ALWAYS been a fan of service academy football. There is just something about the way they play the game that is "pure". The game, to the service academies has not been infiltrated by big business, and therefor there is this sense of purity in what you are watching. The relentless way the players play the game, the never say never attitude is contagious. So much so, it's hard to watch them during the season, and then go coach a bunch of high school kids or youth kids, because that "relentlessness" just isn't there yet. It almost disappoints, but I digress. Anyhow, I'm laying on my couch this summer taking a break from yard work or whatever I was doing, and I'm watching some old cutups of Army-Navy from 2012. I get to the end where Army QB Trent Steelman fumbles the ball, and basically the game away. The look of pain on that young man's face was hard to watch, but it spoke of how much the game and the rivalry means to those that play.
My wife walked in and asked what was I doing (uh oh), and I told her, then said "Man, I'd love to see the Army-Navy game, it's definitely on my bucket list". She walks out of the room without saying anything, so I go back to watching. About a minute or two passes and she walks back in and says, "Well, you can cross something off your bucket list!". I thought she was being a smart ass because I was slacking and laying around when there was yard work to be done. She says, "I couldn't wait until your birthday, I'm just too excited. I got us tickets to the Army-Navy game!!!!". I like to have crapped myself. I couldn't believe it. She had gone and gotten the tickets the day they came out, and not bad ones I might add, only 26 rows up on the Army side, at around the 14 yard line. So begins our story....
Oh boy!
The Trip Now, my wife will not fly, so this meant that the trip from Florida to Pennsylvania had to made on the road, requiring roughly two days to drive up there and two days to drive back. I know, we are insane, but both of us are control freaks and it's hard to be in control of a 747 jumbo jet, when "Sleepy" is in the cockpit running the show. So, we basically have planned to take a week off work, because we aren't just going to see the game. If I'm going to Philadelphia, I'm going to see me some history...and the Rocky Statue! Anyhow, we leave out our small town in Florida and drive up I-95 for basically the entire trip. I do have to say, if you are ever on I-95, around the border between North and South Carolina, there is a little place called "South of the Border". They have some very funny billboards. My favorite had a picture of a large hot dog, or sausage on it, with the caption "You Never Sausage A Place, Every body's A Wiener at South of the Border!". Classy. Anyhow, the trip is awesome until you reach Washington D.C. At which point I-95 does it's best to become a parking lot. Took forever to get through Baltimore as well, but the tunnel under the harbor was pretty cool to drive through (yes that was me honking as we went through).
Of course, being from Florida, and having had the recent weather events they've had in the northeast, we got to see some snow, starting in and around Washington D.C. It did make me a bit nervous driving, but the roads were nothing less than stellar.
Getting into Philly is a bit of a tricky situation, but isn't too bad. Hell, I've had a worse time navigating around Savannah or Nashville than I did in Philadelphia. My wife did a good job picking our hotel, as we stayed at the Double Tree, right smack dab in the heart of Philly.
Looking South down Broad Street
Anyhow, this was just a good lead into my next part of the story which is the actual visit we had in the City of Brotherly Love. I was very impressed. I'm not a big city guy, but I've been in and through several big cities and I'll be a 100 percent honest with you, Philly did not disappoint.
Coaches, I don't normally post stuff like this, but I'm really really struggling with this one. I just learned that perhaps our best player has suffered a devastating injury, that will end his career as well as potentially threaten his life. He was involved in a severe accident that could have been prevented. I do not want to go into detail in case any family members may read this blog, however writing is one way I choose to cope with things.
This young man was to be our first ever Division I football player in school history (Over 40 years of football). I won't mention the university, again for anonymity. Not only a tremendous football player, he was even better person. Young, scrappy, smart, and had the world by the tail. All that changed when a decision to go to a party involving alcohol turned into a life changing event. In a mere seconds, this man's life has now forever been changed. I am still yet to come to grips with the event, as having coached this player since he was a freshman, we've talked about his goals and aspirations and dreams. He had one day hoped to play in the NFL, and then become a coach. He absolutely loved the game. He will survive, but his quality of life will now depend on how well he responds to treatment and rehab.
There is a "coaching moment" to be had here though gentlemen, and it is this. This situation can be one of those stories you tell your players about. You think they don't listen, and a lot of times they don't, but you MUST keep rehashing these events. Keep on your players about making good decisions and how their decisions have consequences. Also teach about how these consequences are like throwing stones in a pond. The bigger the stone, the bigger the ripple effect. The bigger the consequences, the more people they have an effect on. There is an entire town involved in this tragedy, and it could have been prevented with a little bit of thinking that would have led to better judgement. I know I know, we've all been there, but as coaches I believe it is out DUTY to teach these young men how to make these decisions. This is what's so hard about this situation, is that, as a coach, you feel as though you've failed. You've let this young man down, by not helping him learn to make better choices. There is always, and will always be that inner voice saying "You could have done more".
Anyhow, I wanted to just put this small blurb out there about my situation. I'm not looking for pity or condolences, I'm trying to help other coaches and young coaches just getting into the profession. Don't coach from August to December and then disappear until spring ball rolls around. Don't ever let a coaching moment or teaching moment slip by. Don't ever pass a player in the hallway without saying hello or shaking their hand. You never know what kind of impact that has on a young person. You may never ever know how you effect people, but just know this, it does matter, and it does make a difference. Please take that with you as you enter the off-season. Don't go into hiding, our young people need coaching and teaching daily, regardless of whether or not your stipend covers that. Keep teaching, and molding these young folks. It was your duty when you signed up to be a "coach".
You can also follow me on Twitter @FballIsLifeBlog.
Hopefully that will help to make me a more "modern day" coaching site, LOL. Anyhow, share on there what you want me to write about, or just hit me up for a chat. Anyhow, off to get ready for some Monday Night Football!!!!
Haven't had much time to write, but I wanted to share this one for sure. My former head football coach, Dan Haley has passed away. Haley, like many other coaches, was more than just a coach. He was a father figure, mentor, and life-long friend to anyone he ever coached. I had the pleasure of both playing under and coaching for, Coach Haley in the late 90's. I learned a lot about, not only the game, but about how to treat players, and that a coach can give his players so much more than X's and O's. Coach Haley, who has a very impressive record to say the least, was even more impressive when he was doing what he did and loved best, mentoring young folks.
When I first met Coach Haley, I had no clue what to expect. He was a large man, but very humble looking, and then he spoke. He had this booming voice, and he enunciated everything with perfection, despite having that traditional Kentucky drawl. I've had several football coaches through the years, and worked for several others, but Haley was a guy that didn't speak at you, he spoke to you. He deeply cared for his players, and he made that known, right up front. He made no bones about the fact that you were his players, and that he was going to do everything within his powers to not only make you a good football player, but help to make you a good person. I always liked that, and a lot of my coaching nowadays reflects that same dedication that Coach Haley gave me.
Some things Coach Haley taught me as a player were the triple option, to be detailed in your preparation for your opponent, the way defenses defend offenses, and how to properly execute a trap and a log block from the guard position. There were countless other items he taught within the scheme of the game, but these I remember the most. He was very no nonsense in his approach to the game, very business like. There was time for fun, but when he was teaching, it was all business. I liked this very much about him, as his professionalism was unparalleled by any coach I had before or since. I liked the way he made me feel like I didn't want to just play for him, myself, or my teammates, but the fact that he taught us to go out and be the best it is at whatever is being asked of us. It didn't matter if you were a scout team linebacker trying to give the offense a look, you go out and you do that to the best of your God-given ability to help the unit as a whole, and because that is how EVERY man should embrace EVERY task he's faced with. This has stuck with me through the years, so much so, that I even just used it yesterday when talking with our third string quarterback about his lack of motivation. Anyhow, Coach Haley taught me an awful lot on the football field. I remember him taking over an hour to show our quarterbacks how to take the snap from center and to step properly on the inside veer play. I truly credit my love of triple option football to Coach Haley. He was an absolute master of it, and knew exactly how it should be run, and knew exactly what needed to be done to adjust it when it wasn't working.
Off of the field, Haley was a man who could talk your ear off about anything. He loved when players would come by and see him in the off-season. He'd talk til' you could'nt stand it anymore and then talk some more! I always was ready when he sat down to tell a story, or just shoot the breeze. I knew that hidden somewhere in his talks, was a message. Every time he opened his mouth to talk to young people, there was a purpose to it. I remember our running back, after getting a big first down run against our rival one year, jumped up and flexed his muscles, almost drawing a flag. Later, on the next week, after we won (of course) and our coach was reviewing the film of the same run and stopped the tape (yes, it was tape back then) and said "<> was that really necessary?". Our running back looked down, and then back up at coach and said "No sir, I was just in to the game and happy we got the first down". Two plays later he fumbled on the 14 yard line, and again, Haley turned to the running back and said "Son, this is why you don't do what you did two plays earlier. You need to learn to be humble. Being humble is one of the greatest skills anyone can learn in life". With that, he proceed on with the film. I never saw our back draw attention to himself again the rest of the season. He did fumble a few more times, but he didn't make the focus of the game on him, and again, that really stuck with me over the years. When a player scored a touchdown, there were no end zone dances, you simply handed the ball back to the official and went to celebrate with your team. Team was always important to Coach Haley, he was completely about it, and totally committed to making the team his and every body's main focus.
Haley was also very, very detail oriented. Me being an OCD cat like I am, took to this with earnest. He was ALWAYS prepared. I NEVER once went to a meeting, practice or film session and saw him unprepared. I came in one time, as a young coach, who's job it was to break down the kickoff and kickoff return teams for our opponents, with nothing in my hands but a blank notepad. He gave me an off stare at the beginning of the meeting, but that was Haley, he always did things like that. When the meeting got to my part where I was supposed to get up and show what I'd learned, he stopped me about halfway through me drawing on the grease board and said "How do I know this is what they are going to do?". I turned and said, "Well coach, I've watched three films and this is what they've lined up in every time". To which he replied, "I know you know it son, but you haven't given us anything to look at. All the other coaches have printouts for me to look at, what did you bring?". I said "Nothing, coach, just my notepad." He looked at me and told me he noticed it was blank and was wondering how I remembered all the stuff I'd watched on the film yesterday without writing it down. I told him I had written it down so I could commit it to memory, which he liked, but didn't care for the fact that I didn't bring it with me. After an awkward five minute exchange he let me continue with my presentation. I felt humiliated, especially being the youngest coach on the staff. I took a hell of a lot of ribbing anyways, but this was worse, this was the boss! After the meeting he asked me to stay for a minute. I just knew I was fired and hadn't been on the job but three months. That wasn't Haley though, he saw a moment he could teach a young coach something and he used it. Even with his busy schedule, he stopped and took 10 to 15 minutes out of his schedule to make me a better coach. "You need to go into any endeavor you go in to, prepared. When you come to a meeting next time, I expect handouts and notes. I don't want any chicken-scratch either, I want nice illustrations and good notes on what information you are presenting." The next week, I was on, I had handouts and a ton of data on my part of the game plan. Once the presentation was over, even the old salty defensive coordinator came up to me and said "good job". Again, Haley stopped me after the meeting and he looked me in the eye and said, "Way to take coaching son, good job", and turned and walked away. He had that impact on you though. I've never been unprepared for another meeting for the rest of my career, and I've been called "detailed", "OCD", and a "mad scientist" for my over-the-top attention to detail approach, but I will not change. If Haley wanted it that way, and he coached me to be that way, then that's the way I'll be!
Yeah, that's me...
The part I really regret about writing this, is the fact that after I left coaching for Coach Haley, I never saw him again. It's been 15 years since I've seen those glasses looking at me out from under that all-too-familiar skull cap he always wore to keep his bald head warm. I really regret that. I called him when I was interviewing for my first head coaching job and got him to send me a letter of recommendation. With it, he attached a book he'd written, entitled The Difference Between Winning and Losing, of which I plan on sharing with you once the season is over. He told me to read it, before I took my first job. However being right up at the time of the deadline to apply for my job, I didn't get to read the book. I actually didn't read it until after I got fired. I sure wish I'd have read that book, I wouldn't have even applied for that first head coaching job. The book is full of Coach Haley, and his perspective on the greatest game ever invented by man. As I stated earlier, I plan on rereading it this off-season, and sharing with you some things I've taken from it, that will hopefully make you a better coach yourself.
If I could get one more chance to talk to Coach Haley, I'd thank him for helping make me the coach, teacher, and most notably the person I am today. Coach Haley had a profound impact on my life and he will be missed by countless others. Again, thank you Coach Haley for everything you did for me, and I promise, to stay humble. See you over the goal post coach...
Looks like the 8-2-1 KOR is here to stay! Unfortunately I could not talk the ol' HBC into using it this year where I'm at, but that's fine. The 8-2-1 is not the only game in town, but as you can see from Coach Hoover's post, it's more than likely here to stay.
Anyhow, just a nugget for the folks that check back here often. Once the season is over, I will get back to posting more often, so please be patient with me!
I wanted to take a minute and discuss some things as I've been getting several emails wondering where I've been. I'm currently the DC at a small school with very few coaches, so I wear more than just one hat. I also manage all the paper work, I'm the video coordinator (thank you Hudl), run three special teams, handle the managers/trainers and help coach the wide receivers too! Anyhow, I've been busy, damn busy. We are only a staff of five guys, so it makes it tough, but well worth it.
On to the topic at hand about the blog. I am by no means shutting down the blog, but the direction and content may take a bit different direction. I'm going to start mixing in some more stories of experience and things we are going through mixed in with the classical technical article. I'm not sure if I'll lump all that stuff on here, or put some of it over on The 12th Man or not. I may just do that so that this remains pretty much a football tech. site and The 12th Man is where we go to drink beer after the games! Anyhow, I did not want to leave my audience hanging on anymore as it had been a while since I've posted and I do apologize. During the season, postings will be low, of course, but after the season I plan on sharing things I did, things that worked, things that didn't work etc. I hope ya'll understand, and I really appreciate all of the emails I've been getting.
To get technical a bit here, just to wet your whistle, we are about 90% TCU defense (4-2-5...shocker, I know), and we run Nevada's offense with a bit more option thrown in than they do, but very similar nonetheless. I had never been around that offense very much, and to be honest it is very neat to see it come together. As for defense, the kids have picked up on things well, we have probably 80% of the playbook installed right now for where we want to be. We play this Friday night against a juggernaut of a team and it will be a good measuring stick for us to see where we are at, and where we need to be. Anyhow, like I said, just wanted to keep my readers informed on things and where things are headed so I didn't get burned at the stake!
Take care, and good luck this season coaches!!!!
Yeah that's pretty much me at the beginning of football season!!!!
A poem I wrote in 2008. I know, I'm a man of many talents...
It’s only a game
Sweat runs down a tired and bloody face The coach sends the signal in “40 base” The defense aligns on the offense ready to go The outcome of the play they do not know The offense has been pounding the ball all day But as coach says…”we must find a way” As in life you must find the answer to your questions And do so without doubt or hesitation For when the ball is snapped and the play is run It is now your turn to go and get the job done To make the tackle and stop the play for no gain Seizing the moment, regardless the strain This burden you bear on a Friday night in the fall Will make the difference in success or none at all Someday a similar opportunity will come within your grasp Will you remember this time and be up to the task? The crowd noise disappears and your mother’s voice booms “Do your best” you hear as toward the ball carrier you zoom “Don’t be uptight” again you hear your mother say But you are tense as you run along your way He’s squaring his shoulders to run to the alley If I could only run faster, I wouldn’t need to hurry But he is good and one of the best you’ve faced He’s rounding the corner at a feverish pace He’s done it all night, and done it so well It would be so easy to give up and never live to tell Your mom wouldn’t be mad she would understand But you know in your heart the opportunity is at hand To make a difference, to make an impact By tackling the often elusive scat back All week long you’ve heard how good he was You’ve seen all night how quickly his feet buzz As he’s cut and darted and dashed around You know if you fail it will be all over town You know this is the chance to make a play And as in life coach says “you better seize the day” For opportunities only come along once in a while If you miss them, you can only look back with a smile And say I could have or I should have as those have before And never know success or hear the crowd roar The time is getting near, the back getting nearer and nearer Mom’s voice comes in but you don’t want to hear her “Your coach is too serious, it’s a game played by boys” The crowd disappears and your breathing is the only noise You hear his breathing now as he is upon you Eye to eye with this terrorist in pads When he is tackled you will certainly be glad At the very last moment you see you don’t have the angle And in a last ditch effort you dive at his ankles Only to see him hurdle you and gallop to victory Could someone tell me where is the free safety? He is now cheering with his teammates You are wishing it was you who could celebrate But he saw the opportunity and he seized the date Starting in the summer with lifting weights He beat you months earlier when you were out on a date He was lifting, working, and preparing for this moment Because he feared losing, having victory stolen That is why you failed to win the game you desire He was better than you, had more competitive fire As you watch him run down the field Hearing the crowd moan groan and squeal You’re hoping somehow it would be a dream But you hear through the noise your mom’s voice beam “You did your best and shouldn’t be ashamed… …remember son, it’s only a game”.
Well, it's finally here! For those that have doubted the technique, a dear friend of mine, and colleague, Coach Barry Hoover, who runs Coach Hoover's Football Coaching Site, has done all the leg work for me in finding the proper cut-ups for the film and putting it all together. I can take no credit here, Coach Hoover's a fine individual, who by the way, can tear up some BBQ!!! Anhow, here is the film, hope everyone enjoys it!
These are just a few in my blog roll. Great stuff out there written by great coaches that take time out of their busy schedules to help us out. Thanks guys!!! Dog days of summer are here, don't get lacidasical!!!! Season's right around the corner.
In some recent discussions on the Huey board, I decided to dust off a post that was actually supposed to have been posted over a year ago! It was a thread that was to go along with one of my first posts about the Down and Up stunt against the zone read. As with many things, I shelved it and haven't been back to it. Well here it is, and here are a couple of other stunts that may help you against the zone read by giving different looks to the offense.
Setting the Three Technique This one topic has been debated countless times. The offense has the upper hand because by setting the three technique away from the running back they have an easy cut back lane if the ball is handed off to the running back. Not to mention an open B gap to the weak side that they can exploit if they have a running QB by running QB iso to that side. If you set the three technique to the back, then the blocking on the front side of the zone play becomes a bit easier because of the soft B gap. So what to do? The two stunts discussed here involve moving the three technique in a manner that allows the defense to dictate what the offense will do. If your defense is not flexible enough to move the three technique around, you need seriously reevaluate what you are doing defensively.
Stunt 1- Using the Three Technique as the QB Player The first stunt is where the 3 technique is set to the RB. On the snap, the defensive end will slam down hard into the B gap and attack the near hip of the offensive guard. This will do two things. To the QB it looks like the end has come down hard and this should be a pull read. Second, if the ball is given, then the DE will have the B gap for the cutback run. The Tackle, will loop outside and replace the DE to contain the QB. Again, if the QB pulls the football, then he will run right into the unblocked three technique. Obviously the success of this stunt lies in the ability of the three technique to tackle in space. A good rule is to do this when the offense puts the RB into the boundary, which gives the QB less room to operate in.
Stunt 2- The Read Blitz The Read Blitz was introduced to me a few years back as a well to "mess" with the option QB and give the defense another easy way to defend the option. Against the spread, the defense will set the three technique away from the RB, inviting the cutback. Pre-snap the weak side LB will walk up to within a yard of the LOS into the open B gap. This LB is keying the near hip off the offensive guard. If the hip moves inside, the LB attacks right off this hip and flat down the LOS, looking to prevent the cutback. If the hip attacks to him, either vertically or laterally, the LB will work to get up field and wall off the play coming to him (could be power, iso or QB zone). The DE to the side of the read blitz will now become the QB player. In similar fashion to the down and up stunt, the DE will still squeeze the tackle, but with hands only, being aware not to get his shoulders turned so that he may be in a position to contain the QB if the QB pulls the football (which will more than likely happen due to the DE "squatting").
The beauty of this stunt is that even if the LB gets washed, he's done his job, because he's eliminated the cut back lane in the weak side B gap (which is what most DC's are worried about by setting the three technique to the back). The major coaching point here is to have the DE squeeze with his hands, and then shuffle down the line, being prepared to tackle the QB.
The read blitz can be used against many types of options and was introduced to me as a way to mess with the triple option QB on inside veer. Against the veer, the LB simply tackles the dive back if the guard's hip goes down inside. The DE will still squeeze and sit for the QB. This is a simple stunt that doesn't take a ton of teaching time to develop and can really foul up an option QB's reads.
A word of caution, be well prepared and know when to run this stunt as it's not the best in the world against isolation runs to the opposite side of the stunt for the lack of the extra player to make up for the extra gap presented by the lead blocker. It's also a bit tough vs. the pass because now the LB must drop to his zone, being only a yard off the LOS. This is where detailed film study is really crucial in game planning.
So, that's it! Just a couple of tidbits to keep you rolling along. Sorry it's been so long between postings, but life is back to that glorious busy buzz of high school football. Never thought I'd ever say it feels good to be underpaid and overworked!!!!
Since taking some time off at the end of spring football, I had a dear friend deliver me a gift. A copy of a book about football in a town like no other. That town is Muck City, as the book is titled, or better known as Belle Glade, Florida. Reading this book was an eye opener to the way of life in Belle Glade. I have coached teams that have played in that area, and even as a player played teams from over there. Never did I know what went on in that area in terms of the history of not only the town, but also the football program. This is no Odessa Texas, or De La Salle by any stretch of the imagination. This is one of the roughest, poorest towns in all of America. It's literally like driving into a third world country when you go there. One thing they do well there is play football.
For those that don't know, "The Muck" is the area around Lake Okeechobee, that boast some of the most fertile soil in the world. However, as much as the land grows, the townspeople taketh away. In reading this book, it is amazing the despair, and the jealousy that abounds in a town like that. One bothered me the most was how when an athlete would "make it", others would try to pull him down, or resent him to the point that many folks felt this star athlete "owed them something". I can remember a quote from a movie, talking about people leaving poverty stricken areas and talking about the people there as "crabs in a bucket". When one crab makes it to the top, the others will climb on his back and pull him back down into the bucket. What's weird to me is, this is NOT the American way. How does one even think like that? I guess I'm wired differently, but the crabs in a bucket analogy, one I thought was just a joke, rings true throughout every ink laden page of the book Muck City.
The author, Bryan Mealer, does an excellent job in the telling of football history, daily life, and overall town history of Belle Glade. He is very detailed in his accounts, and you can tell he spent quite some time living and working in Belle Glade. My hats off to Mr. Mealer for writing such a quality book. The historical parts drag you back to a past that talks of hurricanes and floods, the beginnings of a rough town carved out of the Everglades on the southern border of pristine Lake Okeechobee. He also does an excellent job talking about the football history, even going back to when there was segregation and two schools in the tiny town. The best part is when he describes the games themselves, or being at practice. Mealer does such a good job, as a coach, I think I'm sitting right there with Jesse "The Jet" Hester listening tell the players much needed life lessons. You actually get tensed up and nervous in the parts about the games, because of Mealer's attention to detail when describing them. Mealer even knew the play calls and talked about the game as though he were a legendary coach himself. Again, I have to tip my hat, because Muck City is a very well written book.
The part that hit home, and bothers me the most is the fact that a football coach, such as Hester, who went 34-6 at his time at Glades Central High School was fired six days after appearing in his second state championship. This man had brought a sense of stability to a storied program, he'd make the young men believe in his coaching staff, and more importantly, believe in himself. Only to have a community, one who I'd think would eat their own young if they had to, tear the ground out from underneath him. Again, crabs in a bucket. It is through a book like this, that you finally realize that "misery loves company" and people in despair are that way by choice, not because of some unseen force, or a greedy capitalistic society hell bent on keeping the poor man down, or even by politics. These people are where they are because they do not have the intestinal fortitude to get out of their current situation. It's sickening to read chapter after chapter of players who get out of Belle Glade, only to be ridiculed, made fun of, or even berated to the point of some never wanting to come back and help out there hometowns folk. Who does that? Having not lived it, I can tell you maybe I'm just some snooty outsider who doesn't have a damn clue how things work there, but I'm telling you, there are far worse places in this world that some of our great leaders, athletes and politicians have come from. If they can do it, so can somebody from Belle Glade.
I don't mean to talk harshly about the town, but to be honest, the nature of things there are anti-American. To embrace despair, show jealousy, and downplay the success of others is not what we were founded upon. The one thing is true, some of the absolute fastest of the fastest football players come out of this region. Great names such as Fred Taylor, Jesse Hester, Reidel Anthony, Rickey Jackson, and Anquan Boldin just to name a few. The statistics of NFL players that have come from Belle Glade is staggering. Another disturbing notion in the book is how players nowadays feel entitled to this treatment as though they are gods and all they have to do is "show up" to be recruited. The game, in the book, takes an ugly feel to me. It's not longer a game in Belle Glade, yet a means to an end. This fact, is starting to branch out all across America I'm afraid. What used to be a game among young men, is now a pipeline to money, fortune and fame, and it was trickled down into even our youth programs. I have coached football long enough to see this demise and it is steadily withering away at my love for the game. Coaches, especially head coaches, are now looked upon to facilitate the recruiting process, and severely scrutinized when the process breaks down or the athlete being recruited simply isn't "good enough". The pages of Muck City echo this sentiment, even more than I imagined.
I recommend anyone read this book, but be prepared for an eye opener. I may simply be so naive that I've been holding on to the game, trying to look at the landscape through glasses meant for an earlier time, and this book as slapped these glasses off my head. I look at the game and wonder..."what am I doing here?". I have seen this entitlement change drastically over the past four or five years, and like many I have thought it just a phase, but I'm afraid folks it's here to stay. Several parts in the book have interviews with old war hero's from decades past that talk about the new wave of football players with great concern, and even some disdain. For years I've heard even the old greats around my area talk the same way, and often chalked it up to "they don't understand kids", or "they're just too old to understand", but more and more I'm beginning to believe these old timers and what they are saying. I guess that's because I'm becoming one of them. I see what's happened to our game and the players in it, and see how the money has crept in and made everything about a once beautiful game ugly. Everything has a peak, an apex if you'd say, and I think football is on a downward slope from it's once grand mountaintop. I may be a lone voice, but football, much like our country, is crumbling from the inside-out. The very foundation us as coaches preach has slowly been eroded away to where the whole thing stands to collapse. I mean, read the sports columns everyday and you see where somebody or some team is getting slapped with a violation of some rule. There's a fine here a fine there etc. You can also read the high amount of arrests in both the NFL and college and now people turn a blind eye to it, as though "It's ok, he's a football player". To this I say bullshit. A case in point is the Tyrann Mathieu, better known as the Honey Badger, is now on the Arizona Cardinals roster, simply because "he can play". He was arrested in possession of marijuana and failed numerous drug tests, but because he "can play", he gets entry into what is supposed to be the most hallowed fraternity in all of football, the NFL. Am I the only soul in America that sees this logic as flawed?
I watched a program on Lombardi last night, and Jerry Kramer, legendary guard for the Packers said these words "They don't make men like that anymore", when talking about Lombardi. I was thinking, you know, he's right, they don't. These men are shunned as "old school", and tossed out and away from the game because players don't relate to them. Players don't relate to them because they want everything handed to them, and the only thing Lombardi would hand you is a swift kick in the ass if you felt entitled to ANYTHING! I often wonder what Lombardi would say if he could gaze upon the landscape that has become college and pro football. My thinking is the famous line of "What the hell's goin' on out here!!!" would come to mind. All I can say is, he would be gravely disappointed in us for what football has become.
Like I said, buy the book, it really speaks more volumes about football in general than probably Mealer knows or intended. The book is a great look at football in a dark corner of America, where there are few fairy tales and even fewer happy endings.
Sorry I've been gone so long, but the new gig has me off and running, we have already started our summer stuff, but hopefully I can get some of these archived articles finished up and posted. Have patience with me!
Today's the big day! I step back into high school football after a two year hiatus. I can tell you this, I look forward to it with great anticipation, yet I'm very nervous. A lot has changed since I worked where I'm at now, so I'm having to adapt to that, but hey, change is a good thing. I'm looking forward to getting to work with some great young men, and having a chance to show my stuff again.
You've got to love spring football. For those of you in states that do not allow it, it really is a shame. We get 20 practices here, which even includes a game. We will play an inter squad scrimmage and a full game against an opponent from around the area. It is very good work, and allows you to evaluate your talent going into the fall. To be honest, I've never put much stock in the game itself, but the game can be a big stepping stone when growing a program. Winning that game is a good spring board going into the summer workouts, conditioning and camp. I use it simply for an evaluation tool of where we are at as a team or as a unit (offense/defense/DL/OL etc.).
I'm back coaching the position I love, which is the secondary, and coordinating defense. We'll see how this goes! Here's a couple of motivational videos to get you going this morning. Don't sit, get up, don't walk, run, don't wait, seize the moment! Just thought I'd share this with you, and for those that are starting up spring ball around the country, good luck and GATA!!!!
I get a lot of questions about this topic, especially regarding TCU's Blue coverage and how they deal with crossers. Now, I've not heard it from the man himself, but from what I've watched on film and broken down, here is what I've come to find out. To first illustrate, we need to look at how traditional zone coverages, that are not split field in nature deal with crossing routes.
Traditional Zone In a traditional zone, much like in basketball, routes get passed off to other defenders when the run through a zone. In the early years, if you were to have run with the receiver after he passed through your zone, you surely were getting yelled at as a player. The idea behind zone is that all eyes are on the football and that in an attempt to minimize spacing, you pass routes off to one another. This works good in basketball where things work on a much tighter scale, however in football, OC's found out that there was just too much ground for a traditional zone player to have to work with to effectively control passing concepts by simply passing one receiver from zone to zone. This "passing off" is where many zone coverages fail and it's for two major reasons. Reason one, is sheer athleticism. Most underneath zone guys are linebackers or inverted safeties who are not as fleet of foot as their cornerback counterparts, yet they are still having to cover receivers within their zones. As the spread has evolved, instead of the number two receiver being a tight end or a running back, he's now a slot receiver, which makes this match up that more lopsided in the offenses favor. Secondly as offenses have advanced through the years, passing concepts have become more and more advanced, and are using this "passing off" technique against the defense by overloading zones with multiple crossers and/or high lowing a zone AND adding a crosser. These two factors are the single most important reason to pattern read in my opinion. That's for another post however...
Anyhow, in traditional zone, if a hook to curl defender expands to his landmark and gets a receiver coming into his zone, he runs with him, until something makes him stop. Now this can be the edge of zone, or another receiver entering his zone. A lot of people call this passing the route and looking for work. In the beginning of pure zone coverage concepts, I'm sure this was the bees knees, however as offenses have figured this out, the stress put on these underneath coverage guys by both horizontal and vertical stretches have become so great, most folks are not using any "pure zone" concepts anymore (if you are, please proceed to the nearest mental hospital, put on one of their fancy white coats and stay awhile). With two speedy receivers crossing in a linebackers zone, or high-lowing his zone, the idea that you ask him to split the two and rally was a good answer in the beginning, but as QB coaching has progressed, even in high school football there are kids who can fit the ball into the tightest of windows. So now you get pattern reading. But how does pattern reading and the split field concept tie together? Let's take a look.
Reading...you're doing it wrong!
Pattern Reading I would venture a guess that ALL major college football defenses pattern read. I'm sure there are a few that still use some landmark drops, but most are now at least using a progression type read, reading from two to one, or one to two and so on. Other pattern read schemes have very definitive rules, such as "all of number two vertical and out", which gives a clear cut picture of what the defender is doing. This pattern match principle can be easily seen on display every Saturday afternoon in the fall. Pattern matching is not really all that new either, but it's refinement is what's really taking pattern matching to new heights here lately. Anyhow, what I really like about pattern matching is the definitive answer to reacting to what a receiver or offensive player is doing. This leaves very little gray area for the defender to have to deal with. Gray areas are what force your players to play slow, because it makes them think. Now many of those that argue against pattern matching, don't really understand the concept and just how concrete it is. It's the best of both worlds is what it really is. It's zone in nature, which means we have all 11 eyes on the football at the snap of the football, helping immensely with stopping our opponent's run game. Secondly it's man in nature in that once the man trigger has been pulled by the defender, he simply covers the receiver man to man. We all know that man is one of the simplest coverages out there, so all you are really doing, when pattern reading, is giving qualifiers to man coverage. Anyhow, I could go on for days here, but even in pattern matching, defenders can still pass off routes to other defenders. In Saban's Mable adjustment to trips, if there are two crossers, the inside linebackers will pass them off to one another, they do not run with them man necessarily, even though their base rule would say to do so. This can lead to some confusion though and lead to open receivers. It can also allow the offense to use this passing off feature against the defense, much like offenses exploited it back when it was still a pure zone concept. So how does the split field concept alleviate the stress put on a defense by crossing receivers?
Split Field and Crossing Receivers Now I'm speaking of how TCU's split field concept works and what makes it so solid, I'm sure there's plenty of split field coaches out there that will disagree with this approach, however the TCU scheme is by far the BEST I've seen for dealing with crossing routes. Let's set up a two-by-two set up playing Blue to both sides (though TCU does not do this, we could simply say playing quarters to both side etc.). Anyhow, does not matter where the read side is, just keep in mind what the underneath players are doing. Let's look at the following concept (similar to the levels concept) out of the two-by-two formation shown below.
The corner to the away side has to honor the vertical of one to help the weak safety get over the top, so the out will inevitably be open, however the Mike, is the slice player so he will exit 90 degrees in an attempt to undercut this route. Now, if the read side linebacker (Sam in my illustration), passes off the shallow crosser, the QB can have a field day! Here's where the man trigger of pattern matching comes into place.
As we can see from the illustrations, if the read side linebacker passes the crosser off, there's a large void and an open area for that receiver to sit down in. If he runs with the crosser, which he should, then this window is immediately closed. Also, from the illustrations, you can see there are still elements of pure zone coverage as look at the strong safety, who sees two go inside and knows now I look to work under number one's route. He is, in effect, "passing off" the crosser to the inside linebacker, which as stated above, is a pure zone concept.
Now, the other beauty of the way TCU plays things, is that behind everything they do, there is a "common sense rule". Which basically means, "don't do anything stupid". For instance, one would say, "What about mesh coach?". This is a valid question, since now you have two crossers and as we all know (or should know), crossers can severely damage man coverage, ESPECIALLY when they cross. Here's where the common sense rule comes into play though.
The two linebackers will communicate to each other on the crossing routes and come off and switch. Here the switch makes sense because Mesh attempts to beat the tar out of man coverage with these crossing routes. Had the two defenders stayed locked in man a natural rub would occur and one defender, or both, could be compromised, thereby leaving a receiver open.
The Weakness Much of the questions I get on the subject of underneath coverage defenders has to do when one of these defenders is assigned to the vertical of a certain position. For instance, in Blue, the read side linebacker is the middle hook dropper and will have all of number three vertical. This scares the hell out of folks, because they are not accustomed to having their linebacker run with any vertical threat. This is not a big deal IF you've done your scouting homework. I once faced an OC in that would get in stacked twins, two-by-two look with the receivers out on the top of the numbers and would run the running back vertical down the seam because he knew we were running quarters. They had a major down and distance tendency for doing this, and had a damn good running back who could catch as good as any receiver on their team. When we saw this look, or expected it, we simply rolled into good ol' country cover 3. They ran fade/hitch with the other receivers which cover 3 took care of nicely. The safety would roll to the MOF and we ended up picking off that route once and breaking up another to where they quit running it. My point is, don't make one coverage fit everything. That would be like you waking up in the morning, trying to find an outfit for the office that would also look good for your job interview that afternoon and be comfortable enough at your son's Little League game later than night. CHANGE YOUR FRICKEN' CLOTHES DUDE!!! C'mon, don't ask one coverage to cover everything, I mean that's what everybody supposedly loves about cover 3 is that it aligns to everything. BIG DEAL, it covers NOTHING, so why use it? If you know a team likes to do a particularly thing you need to have an answer for that. It may mean another coverage, it may mean tweaking what you have, but Lord knows, whatever you do, don't just "hope" your linebacker can run with their back if he can't.
We have found a weakness!
The other thing I get, is coaches saying "Well that's just man, I don't like my linebackers to play man". Well why not? I mean, the best way to see man to man coverage, is to go to a playground and watch kids playing tag or a pickup game of football. If you watch, there will be mismatches everywhere, hell that's LIFE. But watch closely and time up the time that the kids begin to run or chase the other kid and the time that one either separates or closes the gap between the other. You will see this time will be around three to five seconds. Sound familiar? Any kid can run with a receiver for three to five seconds, anywhere on the field. This is not a major issue in my book, and I always roll my eyes at that question, but go check it out for yourself. The other thing to remember is that 75 percent of pass defense is pass rush. So if your guys can run with their guys for three to five seconds, you need to be able to apply pressure in that same amount of time. That, my friends is EXACTLY how good pass defense works.
The face of your pass defense.
To me, the major weakness of the underneath coverage in the split field concept is communication. If communication is missed it can lead to open receivers or defenders running into each other. It is imperative that you, as the coach, make sure that your players know not only why they should communicate, but how to effectively communicate. I worked for a guy that used to have underneath guys yell "crosser" when a receiver would cross in front of them and leave their zone. I always wondered why, because trying saying the word "crosser" with a mouthpiece in. I came to him one day, and said "Why don't we just say in, instead of crosser? It's shorter and easier to say than crosser." He looked at me, as though he'd never thought of that, which to find out, he hadn't and we immediately changed that and our communication with our underneath players got much better. These are the things that you, the coach, can do to facilitate your players and help them be successful implementing the underneath coverage in a pattern read scheme.
Conclusion The underneath coverage in the split field concept is not as tricky as folks make it out to be, especially if you build communication into your system and a set of fail-safe rules. I always tell folks, using the word "always" in building your rules is a bad thing, because good OC's find out your "always" and then exploit it. Keep your rules open and flexible as possible to allow for your players to adapt to what they are seeing. Just as in the example above, both the inside linebacker's man keys were triggered, but because of communication and common sense (which should be ingrained in how you coach the coverage to your players) these players knew what was coming and were able to adjust.
