If you’re like most defensive backs, you probably hate your individual period at practice. However, if you want to be elite, you need to slide into the minority group that loves indy for what it is and that’s the key to your success.
Yes, I know, I played the game too. Some days you just don’t want to practice and even when you do, your position coach getting you tired to start off practice just seems like the thing you least want to do. Hell, you’re half way trying to figure out if you even want to do this practice thing today and your coach has your quads on fire with some new drill he came up with to fix all the trouble you’ve been having in the game. On top of that, all these same drills that we do every day is just boring the hell out of me. I get it already “knees over toes in my backpedal”.
Unfortunately for many, the time they realize the true importance of an individual period is when they become a coach and must now face the players he coaches trying to half-ass their way through his drills. Life can be cruel like that.
Allow me to bend your ear on this. Your individual period is the most important part of practice. Indy period is where you get the tools to go do the job. Once you hit 1-on-1’s, 7-on-7s and team period, you are being asked to fix the car. If you didn’t get the tools you needed in your indy period, you won’t be giving that car the tune up that it needs. If you do that routinely, your coach most likely won’t ever let you get behind the wheel of that car.
Elite players know that to master a skill they must do it 1,000’s of times the right way so that there is little chance that they can do it the wrong way when the moment calls for it. As much as you can put on auto-pilot when the game starts, the faster and more reactive you will be to the things happening around you. If you have to spend time thinking about your stance, your pedal, your kick slide, where your eyes are and where to place your hands, the less you are thinking about what the offense is doing. That turns you into a slow player that lacks anticipation and is totally reactive.
Here’s the other thing, your individual period is where your coach is evaluating you the most. It’s his 1-on-1 time with his group. It’s his time to really teach you what it is he feels you need to know to play at a high level. Disregard his drills, disrespect his time and he’s forming an opinion on you that will only result in a relationship that won’t be in your best interest.
Most of the greats in sports like Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali and Usain Bolt talked about how much they hated training but how they tricked their minds into loving it. If the thought of indy makes you sick then you need to change your mindset. Adopt the thought process of the greats and trick yourself into loving it. Kobe Bryant was in the gym at 4 AM on most days doing the drills he learned in high school. Wrap your mind around that. When you do, I am sure you can grind your way through your individual period and develop to your true potential as a player.
As with anything, knowing the basics gives you a solid foundation that sets you up for any twists, turns, tweaks or new inventions that may come at some point down the road. Football and playing defense in football is no different.
There has been plenty of passing over the last decade in football at all levels and there have certainly been some new inventions especially when it comes to pass concepts and attacking defenses through the air. What hasn’t changed though are the areas of the defense that the offense would like to attack in their passing game.
In this video which will be part of many others covering the basics of pass defense, I go over the pass zones and where they are located on defense. It is important to know these because every zone coverage that is run on defense is concerned with defending these areas on the field. In all zone coverages, you can defend some of these areas while others you can not. That’s the reason why there are several zone coverages because one can’t do it all. Knowing the terminology for these areas also goes a long way in helping you understand zone coverages as well as what the offense is trying to do to you in their passing plays.
I made the video using my ReMarkable pad that I received at the beginning of the year. I really like it and thought it would be useful in helping me explain certain things to you while using. Please give me your feedback on me using it and let me know if it’s an effective teaching tool. You can send email with your feedback to me at: cwilson@alleyesdbcamp.com
Knowing history can give you an understanding of the where and why of the now. It is with that in mind that I bring you series like Dynamic Duo, Boss Unit and Know Your DB History. Continuing with the Dynamic Duos, you know I have to give you one on a part of the Legion of Boom which was the cornerbacks, Brandon Browner and Richard Sherman.
When Pete Carroll took over the ailing USC Trojans football program in the late 90’s he separated the program from it’s Pac-12 mates by building a tough defense to counter the flashy offenses of the conferences. The biggest place he made his mark was in building the defensive lines at USC to push around the Pac-12 offensive fronts and disrupt all their fancy offensive plans.
Carroll sought to do the same when he arrived in Seattle in 2010 as the new coach of the Seahawks. However, his way of bullying teams on the defensive side of the ball was in the secondary and in particular at the cornerback positions. His plan to do so was to get bigger at the position in an unusual way and get more physical in an undeniable way.
Enter Brandon Browner and Richard Sherman. Browner had a decent college football career playing for two seasons with the Oregon St. Beavers. The most remarkable thing about Browner in the college game was that he lined up at corner while standing at 6’4″ and over 210 lbs. This type of size on a defender was suited for outside linebacker or safety. It was rather unheard of to park a corner out on the island at that size and have him cover speedy wide receivers. Nevertheless, Browner did well enough to have 6 interceptions, 16 pass break ups and 1 touchdown as a humungous cornerback.
Not used to having cornerbacks at that size, Browner was overlooked by the NFL and signed as a free agent with the Denver Broncos out of college. After two years of nothingness in Denver, Browner went to Canada to play for the Calgary Stampeders for five years (2006-2010). Browner’s All Star status in Canada netted him a workout for the Seahawks when Pete Carrol came into town looking to change things up in his secondary. Browner seized the opportunity and in 2011 became the starting cornerback for the Seahawks, all 6’4″ 2011 lbs. of him. This move by Pete Carroll would pay immediate dividends.
Browner would tally six interceptions in his first season with the Seahawks to go along with 23 pass breakups and two interception returns for touchdowns. How’s that for a street free agent signing? Browner totally fulfilled Carroll’s vision of being physical in pass coverage and changing the way offenses had to play. Bronwer’s physical style and overwhelming size consumed wide outs and frustrated opposing teams. He would spend three seasons in a Seahawks uniform and during that time, he and Sherman would team up to be one of the most fearsome cornerback combos the game has ever known. Browner’s personal life would be his undoing but when he was on the field his play was undeniable. In three seasons with Seattle he would intercept 10 passes, defend 39 and score twice. After year one, teams made it a point to avoid going in his direction.
Having added Browner in free agency in 2011, Carroll was looking to add a potential running mate at the cornerback spot for Browner and that opportunity came in the 5th round when they selected Richard Sherman from Stanford. Sherman spent the first three seasons of his college football career as a wide receiver for the Cardinal. He then made the switch to cornerback in his junior year to some pretty good results. Sherman intercepted two passes as a junior and then improved on that mark with 4 as a senior.
Similar to Browner’s situation when he was coming out, the NFL was not in the mode of playing guys that looked like basketball players at the cornerback position. As a result, Sherman slid to the 5th round where Pete Carroll saw a chance to fulfill his vision. It should be noted the Carroll also drafted another big corner in Byron Maxwell in that same draft in the 6th round. Maxwell would later go on to fill Browner’s shoes when he departed. Sherman was 6’3″ and 200 lbs. Carroll was well on his way to doing something that had never really been done before and set a trend in the game.
For things to work out the way Carroll wanted, he needed Sherman to perform well enough in camp to take the job and that he did. Like Browner, Sherman paid immediate dividends for the Seahawks’ new look defense. In season one with Seattle, Sherman would use his wide receiver skills and high intellect to pull down 4 interceptions and defend 17 passes. Between himself and Browner, they would grab 10 interceptions and have 40 pass breakups. Sherman used his length and size to be physical against opposing wide outs. Quarterbacks had very little room to fit balls in versus Sherman as he smothered pass catchers at the line of scrimmage and into the sidelines.
Sherman would go on to have three more very strong seasons with the Seahawks which culminated with a pair of Super Bowl appearances and a championship in 2013. Over his first four seasons with the Seahawks, Sherman would have 24 interceptions and 65 passes defensed. He would also add two pick sixes, four forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. It was a Hall of Fame type run.
Sherman and Browner were directly responsible for the trend in the mid 2010’s which saw defenses at all levels switching to 6′ + cornerbacks with long arms to imitate what the Seahawks were doing. While the trend still exists to this day, it was at it’s height during their time on the field together in Seattle. It wasn’t unusual to see a team try putting a 6’5″ defender at corner just to see what happens.
Another trend that Browner and Sherman were responsible for were rule changes. Nowadays it is more common to see flags thrown for defensive pass interference for contact down the field due in large part to how these two stunted point totals for offenses. Low point totals are believed to be bad for business for the NFL and as such, they’ve gotten tougher on cornerbacks trying to do their jobs. You can thank these two bullies for that.
It should be noted that both Browner and Sherman competed in track in high school and spent time playing offense in their prep days. In my opinion, both of those things helped them excel on the field as defenders in the National Football League.
By now your season is over and your mind has shifted into offseason mode. That means getting yourself prepared for the next season on the horizon. While you are making plans on what you want to be and look like physically when the Fall rolls around, it is important to craft a plan to enhance the way your brain operates during the game.
The majority of our in season studying each week has to do with studying our opponent. What are their formations, what are their tendencies, how do they use personnel and what are their favorite plays? Your opponents are doing that on you as well. If you study something long enough you start to get a really good idea on how it works. It would be a shame for your opponent to know you better than know yourself. However, that is a sad reality for the majority of guys that play this game.
One of the greatest things that go unstudied by most defensive backs is themselves. Most only watch their highlights or take a quick look through the previous week’s game to see where some corrections may need to be made. Once the offseason comes, guys will spend very little time actually studying themselves and instead let their opponents do it. It is vitally important that you study your own self in the offseason. Learn your tendencies. Discover some of the ways that you may tip off coverages or techniques. It is also important for you to get a firm grasp on what your weaknesses are. How are you going to go into an offseason of training and betterment when you don’t know what you need to improve on?
Some players may have a general idea of where they need improvement because it was obvious during the season or your coach has routinely pointed it out to you. Even if that is the case, you still need to study yourself. You will undoubtedly find other things that you need improvement on and can fix during your offseason training. If you aren’t spending at least one hour per week looking at your games from the previous season then you are doing yourself an injustice. Chances are you will repeat a good amount of the mistakes that you made in the season that just passed.
During the offseason, many of your opponents are taking a look at the games you played this past year. They will be formulating ideas and ways to defeat you. Wouldn’t you like to have a good idea of what they are seeing? It only makes sense. So while you are planning for them, you can also build a plan for yourself that will confuse your opponent that thought he knew who you were. All of this may seem obvious now that I have put it plainly in this article. However, you would be surprised how many guys go through an entire offseason without looking at a single game that they played the year before. Looking at highlights is fun but seeing how you flowed and moved during an entire game gives you a great benefit.
“You gotta understand your vulnerabilities as well,” Sanders says. “And what you’re great at. And what you need work on.” – Deion Sanders. Now, that you also heard it from GOAT, let’s get to studying the most important person on the football field, you.
Football is a stressful game and we all know that. Not only is it taxing from a collision stand point but it is taxing on a cardiovascular level. Some guys prepare for the latter better than others. The elite ones are never lacking in this area.
You may have heard that football is about math. I have to tell you that life is about numbers. In anything you do, it just stands to reason that the more cracks you get at it the more chances you will have to obtain success and that applies with running to the football.
Strip away all of the terminology, the routes the schemes, etc. that you must learn and constantly carry in your head. What is the ultimate task of the defense when they are on the field? Get the football. When you break it down to just that, it’s simple isn’t it? Get the football.
I often use baseball analogies when training my defensive backs and linebackers. Surprisingly, a lot of things translate. So here’s a baseball analogy for you. The chances of you getting a hit as a batter increases with the more at bats you get. Running that back to football, the chances of you getting your hands on the football increase the more times you are able to get around it.
Defensive backs are supposed to be not only the most athletic players on the football field but the most well conditioned ones. Unlike wide receivers, cornerbacks don’t get to run off the field and take a break for a few plays during a drive. We also don’t get to jog out a route if the ball is not coming to us. Elite defensive backs understand that getting to the football every play increases the chances at team success as well as personal success.
Have you ever noticed that some guys just always seem to be making plays? That’s typically a combination of a couple of things. The first his high intelligence and second an overwhelming desire to be a part of every play on the field. That desire makes them run to the football on each and every play.
Of course I know there are some situations in the game where this can become next to impossible. With so many teams running hurry up offense these days, the thought of running to the football at all times can be exhausting just thinking about it. However, it is a necessary evil. Offenses are counting on your fatigue. They’re banking on you having not put in the necessary work in the offseason and during the week leading up to the game. Don’t let that be you. Get in shape this offseason and stay in shape when the season arrives.
What you are trying to do is giving yourself more chances to make a play. If you want to be that guy that is always getting his hands on the ball every game then there is a price to pay to get there. Remember the baseball analogy. The more times you come to the plate, the more chances you have to get a hit. When you think about it in those terms then making plays in a game just got a little easier.
How many times have you done everything you needed to do at the snap. Your eyes were in the right place, your footwork was on point, you drove on the man like you were supposed to but when the moment of truth came, you dropped the football and got a P-B-U instead of an I-N-T?
Dropping an interception is no laughing matter especially when the offense is in scoring position on the football field or they turn around one play later and convert a third down into a first down. Add up all the dropped interceptions in your career and write that number down. It can be depressing. One thing I have learned over my career as a player, coach and now trainer is that the elite players of this game don’t drop many interceptions. Just being in position is not enough.
If you want to call yourself one of the best to play this game then you must take the ball away when the quarterback makes a mistake. Guys who are satisfied with just being there and knocking the ball away are doing a disservice to their team and themselves. Every time you give your offense another chance at a possession you increase your team’s chance at winning the game. The more times you can take over possession of the ball in your opponents territory the more likely it is that you will walk away victorious.
Many defensive backs spend a good amount of time working on their footwork but precious few actually work on catching the football. Maybe some of their footwork drills incorporate catching a football at the end but when you carefully consider how much time you spend catching the ball versus how much wide receivers spend catching it, you’ll realize that you don’t have much of a chance come game time.
Whatever amount of time you are currently spending catching the ball, I am telling you to double it. Perhaps there are too many other things you have to go over during practice for you to catch as many balls as needed. You must make up for that lost time with post practice work. Catch balls at your face, catch deep balls, catch balls that you see late, catch balls over your shoulder, catch balls that are low. Make catching the football a priority because when the ball is in the air on game day and approaching both you and a wide receiver, fortune favors the one who is most prepared.
Keep this in mind the next time you head out to a training session. You do all of the work that you do so that you can intercept the football. That is the ultimate prize for the defensive back. When you think about it that way, it just makes sense to prepare yourself vigorously to receive that prize every time a quarterback feels the need to give it to you.
Check out this video on improving your ball skills from my YouTube Channel:
You’ve heard the saying “It takes a village to raise child”? Well, in that same vain, it takes a whole unit to stop a passing attack. In this article, I am going to talk about one third of that unit and how they can help the back third in slowing down passing attacks hell bent on ruining your stat sheet.
Linebackers can be forgotten souls in the attempts to slow down big time passing attacks. Often times the talk is about the amazing pass rush or the outstanding lockdown coverage by the cornerbacks and safeties. Few times do linebackers get noticed unless they are getting handled in 1-on-1 coverage by a running back or tight end. The truth of the matter is that linebackers are a big part of holding the quarterbacks in check and here’s how they can do that.
(1) Pre Snap / Post Snap communication
When everyone is on the same page, the defense has a tremendous chance at doing what it is designed to do. Getting on the same page has a lot to do with pre-snap communication. Linebackers must talk to the guys around them and that includes the cornerbacks and safeties. Communicating motions, cut splits and odd alignments are the first step in getting them defended. When playing in a zone, talking to the defenders around you to communicate when a player is entering their zone is a must. When teams align in a bunch or nasty sets and you’re in man coverage, reminding a cornerback or safety of the rules in their combo / banjo coverage could go a long way in preventing a receiver from running all alone down the football field.
(2) Get Your Pass Drops
Ask any defensive back, especially a safety, what their pet peeve is when the quarterback takes his drop and he’ll tell you that it’s the linebacker not taking his. Some linebackers act like they have a shock collar on around their necks that will activate once they move beyond five yards from the line of scrimmage. We’ve all seen the linebacker who retreats exactly five yards deep and starts buzzing his feet like he’s doing something. He’s doing something alright, he’s letting the dig, over, crossing and curl routes sink in behind him and put pressure on the safeties and corners.
Any linebacker worth a damn in the passing game knows deep drops equal interceptions. Besides, linebackers like to hit. Isn’t it a whole lot easier to boom a guy when you take a deep drop and come downhill on a shallow route? That definitely beats chasing a dig route when the ball has been thrown over your head. You want to force the quarterback into making mistakes? Take a deep drop into your zone and work your way down from there after the ball is thrown short.
(3) Use Your Help in Man Coverage
Yes, we know, man coverage is not really your deal. This is why most man coverages that involve the linebacker being on the field have help built into it. In the rare occasion when there is no help then best believe all hell is being unleashed on the quarterback in the pocket so your services as a man to man mercenary will only be needed for a couple of seconds.
Whether it’s a full on zero coverage blitz or something with help, it is important to know where your friends are. Know the coverage beyond the fact that it’s man to man. Some guys just hear man and they think it’s them and the receiver with no one else in the stadium. You him and 100 x 53 yds of grass. That’s not the case. Study the intricate parts of the defense and understand where the dropper is that you can funnel your receiver to for some assistance. It could be a safety deep in the post or on the hash. It could be a linebacker or safety posted up in the low hole or another defender you have combo coverage with.
Even when the coverage is zero and the defense is bringing six or more, knowing that the sidelines or back line of the end zone are your friend is important. Make sure you are playing the proper leverage to decrease the chance of a completion and a big play that will most likely require a defensive back to go run down.
(4) If You’re Blitzing then Blitz
The only thing worse than the five yard pass drop by a linebacker is the two yard blitz into the line where you stop the moment you meet resistance. In the words of the immortal R. Kelly “I’m fighting for my $&@# life man!” Defensive backs are out there doing their best to lock down some super twitchy, highly athletic ball magnet. They can’t do it forever so I know you are disappointed that the guard sniffed out your blitz or that the running back won’t mind his business but please continue applying pressure. If the guard is barreled chested like Quinton Nelson, work through half of him and get around him to at least make the quarterback move off of his spot. If it’s the running back ruining the fun, turn into a bully and push him into the quarterback’s lap to force an errant throw. Whatever you do, don’t just stand there in “no man’s land” where you aren’t in coverage but you aren’t rushing the passer either. You might as well be standing next to coach with a headset on at that point. Work through the adversity and help the secondary out by affecting the quarterback.
These are some simple but very effective things you can do as a linebacker to increase your worth when the balls start flooding the airways. Being able to do these things with consistency and efficiency also makes it more likely that you will be on the field during obvious passing downs. Effective linebackers do these four things on a regular basis. Be a part of the village.
Most cornerbacks that you run into will tell you that they prefer to play man coverage over zone coverage. There are a number of reasons for this. One is because they think it shows their worth at the position. Second, it’s because zones can be confusing and require a little more discipline than man coverage. Intelligent corners don’t think this way as they know that zone coverage is necessary and can provide a pretty big payoff for guys that know how to run it.
When you are young (little league / high school) and you are athletic, there is temptation for coaches to just have you do what is best at the moment and that is use your athletic superiority to dominate the opponent by playing man coverage. What gets lost sometimes on coaches at that level is that part of their job is to teach the young athlete the game. Unfortunately, the desire and for some, the pressure to win, will lead them to do only what is necessary to win the game and not so much what is for the long term development of the player.
As a result of what I just described, the young player grows into a mature player that struggles with the intricacies of playing zone coverage. The biggest issue out of understanding the coverage is having the discipline to play it and cover their zone. When offenses are plotting on secondary members by running routes in front of them or taking a player that is in one zone and running him off to another, being where you are supposed to be can become a big problem.
Athletes who struggle in zone usually have one of two major things happening to them. One is they don’t totally understand the coverage and or they don’t understand what it is the offense is doing to them. To be more effective in man coverage, you have to be willing to play zone. However, a coach is not going to be willing to run zone if his players are not disciplined.
The first thing you have to understand when playing zone coverage is that you are now covering with your mouth. Whereas man coverage is all about your feet and your hands, zone coverage forces communication into the equation in a big way. When a player leaves your zone, you must resist your man tendencies which is to chase and activate your zone intelligence which involves you telling your teammate that he is coming. Learning to communicate is a big key to excelling at zone coverage.
The next thing you have to do is totally understand the zone coverage. Of course you are going to know what your job is or I assume your coach won’t have you out there. However, understanding who has the surrounding zones will prevent you from being tempted to move into a zone that is not yours. Understanding that the linebacker has the flat when you have the deep 1/3 will make you less likely to jump a route in the flat and instead call out to the linebacker that there is a player there.
Finally, knowing what the offense is trying to do will allow you to plan ahead as the routes unfold. Being able to plan ahead gives you the anticipation you need to remain in your zone. Knowing that a team likes to run a seam route by the slot WR when the outside receiver runs a dig will keep you from chasing the dig when you should be helping on the seam. Knowing that the route combo is coming will do wonders to keep you out of a zone belonging to someone else and in the zone that you are supposed to patrol.
If you are struggling with your zone coverage, try taking care of the three things that I described in this article. Before that, understand why it is you may be struggling to play zone coverage in the first place. Knowing these things will really help you in getting the problem corrected.
If you want to increase your knowledge of zone coverages and offensive concepts, join the All Eyes DB Camp member’s area. I have a ton of info and videos on those topics in there.
If you played defensive back and safety in particular, you have likely had a coach tell you this when discussing a coverage. “Be as deep as the deepest”. There’s nothing worse than getting a ball thrown over your head as a defensive back and knowing that there is someone from the other team back there all by hisself.
For safeties there are a number of coverages in which being deep as the deepest would come into play. If you are a true free safety then this likely applies to all of the coverages that are in your team’s playbook. Whether you are in Cover 2, Cover 3 or something similar, your job as a safety in those situations is to be the man furthest out from the quarterback. First of all, you want to discourage the throw from the quarterback and second you want to be there in the event that he develops the courage to launch one.
Most defenses are set up to take away the big play from the offense and make them “earn” their way down the field. This means not blowing a coverage on defense that puts you underneath a receiver running deep through your secondary. While it is important for you to know all of the coverages in your team’s playbook, it is extra important for you to pay attention to the ones that require you to be the last line of defense.
Some defenses play Cover 3 from a two safety look meaning both safeties start off on the hash. One of those safeties will be dropping down after the snap, while the other will be rotating to the middle of the field or otherwise staying deep. Other teams will play split coverages which means one coverage will be played to one side of the field while another coverage will be played on the other. Often times one side will have a safety deep and the other will have a safety down. In both of these scenarios, it is not uncommon to see miscommunication as to which safety will be down and which safety will be up. In both of these situations, it is of extreme importance that the two players communicate with each other as well as with the defensive backs to their side of the field. When in doubt, stay deep and / or call out what you are doing. It is better for you to be right and have the offense know what you are doing than to keep your responsibility a secret to the offense but make a mistake.
Another common thing that happens in coverages where a safety is supposed to be deeper than the deepest is getting caught up with what’s happening in the backfield or directly in front of him. When the coverage requires you to be in a deep zone, the quarterback handing the ball to the running back should not be your concern. On a coverage like that you are not the primary force meaning you aren’t supposed to be the first one responding to a run play. The quarterback handing or faking the ball to the running back should not stop your feet or your movement to your deep zone responsibility. Reacting late to the run play is not an error. There are several men that the running back needs to get through before he gets to you. Let those men do their jobs.
Offenses are also designed to distract defenders. To do this, they will often run a receiver in front of a defensive back to draw his attention away from another one that is running behind him. Defensive backs at all levels get caught by this. However, the most disciplined safeties are rarely ever fooled by this. A firm grasp of your responsibilities and careful film study will keep you away from getting caught up in this mistake. Beware of the shallow route being run in front of the deep defender. Nine times out out of 10 it’s a hoax.
I hope that this has cleared up for some what being deep as the deepest means and has been a refresher for the vets who have been made to look like amateurs by getting caught in the scenarios I described in this article.
One of the biggest keys, if not the biggest key for a defensive back’s success is not only knowing the defense but understanding it. Knowing the defense is knowing where you are supposed to be on a certain coverage. Understanding the defense is knowing why you are supposed to be there. Your ability to grasp the latter comes from learning the lingo.
If you are not familiar with the term lingo, it basically means the terminology used by a certain group of people. In this case, the certain group of people would be the current team you are playing for. It would be very difficult for you to thrive as a citizen in France, if you don’t understand the French language. Likewise, it is very difficult for you to thrive in a defense if you don’t understand the terms that the team uses to describe what the offense is doing and what your responsibility is.
First of all, you have to have a common understanding of football coverages as well as run gaps. At it’s core, football is a very simple game and is basically an exercise in mathematics. There are but only so many run gaps and there are but so many areas to be covered in pass defense. A team can either run the football or throw the football on a given play. Pretty simple right? The complication of the game comes when teams attach terminology to tell it’s personnel where to go and what to do. Different teams have different terms they use to describe the same thing just as the french have a different word for car than American do.
Being able to learn a particular team’s defense or adjust to new coverages and responsibilities that are added is enhanced when you have a firm grasp of the basics. This is because you are going to attach the new terminology to the basics on everything. At the end of the day, the coverages are all the same. There are covers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Everything outside of that is born from those six coverages I just laid out. So for example, some of you have never heard of Cover 6. Well, I didn’t mention Cover 6 in that list did I? The reason I didn’t is because Cover 6 is the combination of Covers 2 and 4. Cover 2 to one side of the field and Cover 4 to the other. It makes things a whole lot more simple when you are able to say that instead of adding something new, I am instead just tweaking something that I have already learned.
For those of you who may not have heard of Cover 5 because not all teams call it that, Cover 5 is 2 man. The offense has 5 eligible wide receivers. Five defenders underneath will cover those 5 receivers while two safeties will stay deep over the top. You see how much more simple that is to understand?
I once sat in a coach’s clinic where Nick Saban was a speaker. He spoke for 45 minutes about a coverage that he really liked. If I’m not mistaken, it was called “Seattle”. Fifteen minutes into the presentation, after he had laid out the responsibilities for all of the defenders, I realized that Seattle was Cover 3. So for the next 30 minutes I could focus on the tiny details he had added onto the basic Cover 3 instead of saying, I now need to add Seattle to Covers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
So, morale of the story here is, nail down the basics of coverage and then gap responsibility. Then attach any new lingo being used to those basic coverages. It will speed up the process of you learning all the new tricks that a current coach, a new coach or a new team will throw your way. Inside of the All Eyes DB Camp Member’s Area, I break down all of the basic coverages on defense in a simple way that you can understand. You may want to consider joining – Click here.
