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Safeties Need This One Thing Over Everything Else

By: Chad Wilson – All Eyes DB Camp

I have written several articles about safeties and what it takes to be elite in this blog. Playing safety isn’t just about one thing but there is this one thing that I would take over everything else if I had to boil it down to just one. This article is about that one thing.

When people think about safety play they usually think about one of two things and that is either ball hawking or hard hitting. Don’t get me wrong, having those two things are definitely a part of making a player elite at the position . However, I am talking about that one thing you need over everything else. Furthermore, having those two things I just mentioned are born out of the one thing I say you need over all the others and that is intelligence.

You can be the hardest hitter and have the best hands but if you don’t know where to line up, where to go to and what is coming, those things are literally useless. You won’t often find yourself in position to get that big hit on a ball carrier or wide receiver without intelligence. Furthermore, lack of intelligence may cause you to hit a player the wrong way or go for the big hit instead of the pick. Lack of intelligence will often have you in the wrong spot so those great hands that you have won’t see the kind of action that could help your team much.

There’s nothing worse than a defense that can’t line up right in the secondary or continuously busts coverage. While coverages can get busted for a number of reasons, they seem to get busted less often when a safety or both safeties are working with a high IQ. Many times corners get zeroed in on what’s right in front of them. After all, their job could demand that they get in a WRs face and be everywhere he goes. That can make their focus very microscopic and they may miss things. That’s when a safety has to come in and give the alerts, check the coverages and redirect a cornerback’s focus.

Of all the positions in the secondary (corner, nickel and safety) playing safety can be the most difficult one for a freshman. Safeties are literally the last line of defense and must make sure that everyone is lined up right and alert them of what may be coming. This should be an indication to you that experience and intelligence is key when playing safety.

So how do you acquire this intelligence? The same way you acquire all intelligence and that is through study. Some safeties have been playing football for such a long time that they can pick things up cerebrally. Other safeties may have spent some time playing on the offensive side of the ball so they can recognize the movement of an offense and figure out what is coming. Whether you have these traits or not, you can certainly do yourself some big favors by studying your opponent and offenses in general.

Studying your opponent allows you to pick up on their tendencies and give your teammates a clue of what’s coming. You must know your team’s playbook inside and out. You also have to know the game plan each week. A safety fully aware of the game plan is a defensive coordinator’s best friend. After all, the rules don’t allow the defensive coordinator to be on the field with you so guess who’s the coordinator? The safety. There may be times where the coordinator has made a mistake or the offense has done something unexpected. A high IQ safety can fix it on the fly simply by knowing the game plan, the opponent and the playbook.

Having the ability to make the quick changes, notice the movements of the offense and what the entire unit should do about it makes everyone better. Most of all, it makes the safety better and thus he’s able to make more plays consistently. Kansas City’s Tyrann Mathieu is not out there balling off of his elite speed and outstanding measurables. His 5’9″ stature and mid 4.5 speed is not what athletic freaks are made of. What allows the “Honey Badger” to be everywhere the ball is located is his elite football IQ. If his play doesn’t inspire all players short and tall to crack open the playbook and rev up the film study then being elite is just not your thing.

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When Studying Film, Don’t Forget the Quarterback

By: Chad Wilson – All Eyes DB Camp

First of all, let’s hope you are studying film. If you aren’t doing that then you can go ahead and start counting the days until your defensive back / linebacker career is over. Now that we have gotten that out of the way, let’s talk about a crucial part to the game that a lot of guys fail to study and that’s the quarterback.

Often times in our studies of the opponent, we get caught up in formation study, down and distance recognition, route combinations and releases by the wide receivers for my press man junkies. Lost in all the film prep can be the guy who calls the plays in the huddle. Guess who makes the whole thing go on that side of the ball. Yes, the quarterback. He’s the one with all the girls, money and responsibility. As he goes usually so goes the offense.

Quarterbacks are under a tremendous about of pressure every game. As such, they need certain comforts and security blankets. Finding out what those things are so that you can get a clue or take them away from him can upset his flow and give yourself an advantage. Studying the quarterback intensely can reveal little things that may seem silly at first glance but could be very important. There have been quarterbacks who will lick their fingers on pass plays. There are others that will look two or three times during the cadence to the side they want to throw to while only looking once to the other side. Little silly things like that can mean an awful lot during the course of a game.

Once in studying an opponent as a coach, I noticed that a certain highly productive quarterback was only comfortable throwing to his right. It was astonishing to watch and I didn’t want to believe it. However, after five game films of seeing the same thing, I was forced to believe it. Every time the ball got to the right hash, the coach would call a run play, jet sweep or quick screen to get the ball back over to the left hash so they could run their pass offense. Off of that nugget, I dialed up edge pressure consistently off the left when the ball was on the right hash along with a couple cloud coverages and corner blitzes to ruin the screen and jet sweep game. It worked and the QB had a bad day.

Sure, all of the other things I mentioned need to be studied but the most important guy in pads on the offensive team is going to be the quarterback. You are doing yourself a disservice if you don’t develop a book on what he likes and dislikes. Knowing these things can help you formulate a game plan that makes him uncomfortable and the entire offensive unit inefficient. Pressure in the face or off the edge can rattle certain quarterbacks. Other QBs may stare down wide receivers all the time or in certain situations. Do your best to crack the case and find what makes him tick. The prize may just be a big time defensive performance vs. a guy who never saw it coming.

For more on studying film, try these articles:

– Amp Up Your Game with Film Study
– Great Secondaries Watch Film Together

4 Keys to Covering the Back Out of the Backfield

By: Chad Wilson – All Eyes DB Camp

One of the most menacing things to defenses over the last few seasons has been the running back’s involvement in the passing game. If you’re playing a ton of zone, he becomes a check down that runs for first downs. Play him man to man and with one wrong move he could go 80 yards for a touchdown. This article will show you how to protect yourself from the latter.

As we all saw on Sunday, San Francisco’s Raheem Mostert toasted the Arizona defense for 71 yards on a simple route out of the backfield. Of note was Arizona having super athletic “defensive player’ rookie Isaiah Simmons covering Mostart man to man. No matter how athletic you are, if you aren’t deploying the proper technique vs. a route running back, you will have major issues. The principles I am going to detail for you in this article are easier said than done, however, there are few, if any alternatives. When mastered and executed properly, your value as a defensive player rises dramatically.

(1) Stay Square to the Line of Scrimmage

This one is the hardest of the four. The reason for that is that it takes courage. Having a back screaming out of the backfield at you without the ability to open early and match his speed down the field is nerve wracking. However, opening early and closing yourself off to one side or the other is what the back feasts on. Many of the routes out of the backfield are option routes. So when you open to the left, they go right and vice versa. The longer you can stay square and patient, the longer you delay his decision and ruin the spacing + timing of the route.

You can achieve this objective in two ways. First you can set up and shuffle side to side as the back approaches according to his left to right movement. This is more of a “catch technique”. I recommend this for the more physical types. The other method is the “scooch method” where you give ground slowly while staying relatively square. This allows you to buy time and attempt to close on any breaking route while giving yourself some insurance against a route that goes vertical. I will expand on the details of the scooch technique in a future article. I recommend this technique for guys who have good feet and may be a little less physical than say a hardcore linebacker. Ultimately, you defeat the wide amount of space the back has by remaining square in it. A soccer goalie does not defend the wide net by facing one way or the other. He defends it by staying square until the ball is kicked.

(2) Think Contact

Whether you are using the catch or scooch technique, the mindset should be make contact. If you are in high school or college where the rules of play are different then the contact you seek can be more intense. If you are a pro where contact beyond 5 yards is frowned upon then you will have to adjust your technique slightly. Either way, if you don’t have the mindset of “make contact” then you will undoubtedly open too early and allow the back to play you. By that I mean he will most often attack your back and spin you around putting you in bad position. To make contact you have to think “contact” like a baseball player in the batter’s box. If he doesn’t think contact, there’s a good chance he’ll bail out of the box and won’t have any chance of striking the ball with his bat.

(3) Use Your Help

This is where knowing the coverage and the situation comes in. It’s also how smart football players win in the game of football. Each coverage has it’s help built in. Cover 1 has help in the post and sometimes in the low hole. 2 Man has help over the top on either hash. Bracket coverage has help either inside or outside. Even cover 0 has help in that the ball must come out quickly. A dumb defender lines up without knowing where the help is. A smart one is aware of it and guides the back to that help. For instance, a player knowing he will have a robber in the middle of the field could stay square but on the outside shoulder of the back releasing. This should induce an inside release where you can now squeeze the back to the robber forcing a pinpoint throw by the QB or offensive disaster will ensue. A defender with no inside help should switch to inside leverage and force the longer throw to the sidelines.

(4) Maintain Eye Discipline

Finally, the most important of them all. Keep your eyes low. This is also hard to do but ultra critical. As a play unfolds and there is such a delay before the back reaches you. It is difficult not to peek at the QB or raise your eyes to the head and shoulders of the running back. I understand all of that but I am here to tell you “DON’T DO IT!” The moment your eyes get high, get ready to get ran by. Keeping your eyes low on the hip of the back allows you to zero in your focus and react quicker to his change of direction. This puts you in better position to mirror him, get close and make contact. Once your eyes start rising you start seeing too many things. You will be mesmerized by what may be unfolding behind the running back. You will be caught up in the head and shoulder fakes that move much faster than a hip. It will also lead to panic. If you can train your eyes to get low and stay low at least until contact then you will see a dramatic increase your ability to cover backs out of the backfield.

As I said, these things are easier said than done but if it were easy then anyone could do it. Like all skills on the football field, they will require some extra time, effort and drilling to master. However, master it you must if you want to be elite.

Check out this clip of Simmons in coverage vs. Mostert and ask yourself based on this article what things he could’ve done better.

I have more information on catch technique and man coverage + more in my Member’s Area. I highly recommend that you join if you are serious about reaching your potential as a defensive back. It’s well worth the investment. Click here to join.

Dynamic Duos: Troy Vincent & Bobby Taylor

Sometimes you just have to go hire guys to help you out with a problem. No this is not the beginning of the script to a mafia movie but back in the 90’s the Philadelphia Eagles, along with the rest of the league, was getting hit mob style by some guys from Texas. To handle the problem they had to go get some guys and that’s who we’re going to talk about in this article today.

The 90’s were known as the Cowboys era in the NFL. Three times from 1990-1999, the Cowboys raised the Lombardi Trophy and popped the champagne. There were many strong elements to those Cowboy football teams but the trio known as the triplets (Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin) got the attention. It was rightfully so given how well they produced. Another important part of those Cowboy championship teams was wide receiver Alvin Harper. Harper combined with Irvin to provide a formidable force out wide that forced teams to keep safeties back to handle their downfield prowess. Irvin checked in at 6’2″ 207 lbs. and was easily the most physical wide receiver in the league. Harper was 6’3″ 210 lbs. and made a living just taking the ball off the top of the head of defensive backs.

Front and center for all of this greatness were the Philadelphia Eagles who watched their fellow NFC East foe consistently win the division and everything else. After three straight seasons of this, Philly started acquiring talent to match the problem. Most notably was upgrading the size of their cornerbacks to deal with the basketball team Dallas was working with every Sunday.

In 1995, Philadelphia Eagles drafted Bobby Taylor a 6’3″ cornerback out of Notre Dame in the 2nd round. Taylor was not a guy that racked up a lot of INTs for the Fighting Irish (5 career total) but he was remarkably athletic for his size and would thus serve the purpose for the Eagles. Taylor would pay immediate dividends providing tough coverage on future Hall of Famer Michael Irvin in their matchups his rookie season. Overall, he was solid as a rookie totaling two interceptions and bringing a tough bump and run presence to Philly. The problem for the Eagles as it pertained to their nemesis the Cowboys was that while Taylor was the tallest cornerback in the league and up for the task with one of the Cowboys’ wide receivers, the corner opposite of him, Mark McMillan was the shortest in the league at 5’7″. McMillan, who had a solid career, was at a disadvantage against either Harper of Irvin. With that in mind, the Eagles moved to gain another important piece.

In 1996, Philadelphia picked up Troy Vincent in free agency after a solid start to his career with the Miami Dolphins. Vincent at 6’1″ 200 lbs. was built for the task. Already a tough bump and run style corner, Vincent was coming off back to back five interception seasons and was full of confidence. Together with Taylor, Vincent and the Eagles finally started putting the clamps on the Cowboys offensive attack. What Philadelphia found is that Vincent and Taylor weren’t just good against Dallas, they were good versus everybody. This dynamic duo started making big cornerbacks a thing in the NFL.

After a couple of seasons of Taylor battling injuries, Vincent and Taylor really began their strong run in 1999. In the first year keeping the statistic “passes defensed” both Vincent and Taylor appeared in the top 20 in the statistic. In 2000, the duo had their finest season together. Vincent was third in the league with 22 passes defensed to go along with 5 interceptions. Taylor was 6th in the league in passes defensed with 20 and added 3 interceptions. They spearheaded the defense for a Philadelphia team that finished 11-5 and made it to the second round of the playoffs. 2001 saw their strong play continue with Vincent leading the league with 27 PBUs and Taylor adding 17. The pair would go on to play solid defense for the Eagles for two more seasons before going their separate ways. Vincent and Taylor’s success led to a trend of cornerbacks becoming bigger and taller in the NFL. Before there was a Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner, there was Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor.

Check out other dynamic duos like this one on Sam Madison and Pat Surtain

3 Things Great DBs Must Have

So you want to be a great defensive back right? Well, as I have told you in countless articles on this site, it’s going to take some hard work. Playing DB is not easy but the thrill that comes with the success one achieves by mastering the position has few equals in the feeling department.

Defensive backs have thrived at the position with all kinds of different attributes. Some have been tall, others not so tall. Some have been vicious hitters, while others would just get you to the ground without trying to end your career. Despite the contrasts in tools and styles, there are some things that I have found to be constant in all of the defensive backs that we have called great. In the interest of giving this article a focus, I have narrowed down those tools to three of what I have found to be the most important.

(1) Athletic

Notice I did not say fast. However, I am not saying slow either. There have been some great defensive backs that have not had World class speed (far from it). This does not mean that they weren’t athletic. You simply can’t be at the top of playing this position and not be athletic. Typically the guys who weren’t fast had some solid change of direction or leaping ability. These things fall under the category of being athletic. Chasing a wide receiver around the field requires that you not be born with two left feet. Having outstanding speed will certainly be a major plus but being athletic is an absolute must. What you will find out about many defensive backs is that they played multiple sports in high school and many of them were exceptional in another sport other than football. If you are going to defend the air ways you have to have some bounce to you.

(2) Awareness

Can you survive at defensive back without awareness? Yes you can but you won’t ever be called great. You can be a hyper-athletic speed guy that the rest of the secondary or some coach will have to babysit. This kind of player will eventually drain the energy of the people around him and will get called a bust. Deion Sanders, Ronnie Lott, Ed Reed, Charles Woodson, Rod Woodson, Darrelle Revis, Richard Sherman, you name it, all would get high marks in the area of awareness. Some of these guys were all time athletes but didn’t choose to just rely on that. They coupled that athleticism with outstanding instincts to be in the right place at the right time. Some others on the list of names I just rattled off had some physical shortcomings but made up for it with a football IQ that was off the charts. You simply can’t be the best at this game without knowing what’s going on around you. Athletic talent can only take you so far.

(3) Ball Skills

The easy thing to put as the third skill would be something heroic like a “tremendous burning desire to win.” That sounds good when said with a deep voice over a symphonic melody. That kind of stuff goes without saying for all players. I wanted to be specific to playing the position of defensive back. As such, great defensive backs have really good ball skills. How many times have you been frustrated with a player who doesn’t get his head around on deep balls or makes a habit out of dropping can’t drop interceptions. This does not happen with great defensive backs. Many of the greats could have made a living playing wide receiver. Even the ones who don’t or didn’t have 5 star hands, at least know how to track the ball and get a hand on it so that the wide receiver they are covering can’t. Ball skills don’t just involve the actual catching of the ball but also involve tracking and judging the ball as it arrives. Guys who struggle with that eventually have to find another position or sport.

So that’s it. Now ask yourself how you measure up in those very important defensive back skills? Whether you have a shortage in those areas or not, you need to be making sure that you continue to work on those skills. The good thing about these three skills is that they are things you can control. I did not say you needed to be tall or have exceptional speed. Those things might be hard for you to obtain from a genetic standpoint. Everything I mentioned in this article can be achieved if you are willing to put in the sweat equity to obtain it. Time to get to work.

3 Ways to Become A Better Safety Instantly

There’s nothing like a quick fix right? We live in an instant society where we are just not used to waiting for things. As such, coaches and teammates don’t have a lot of patience when your play is not at the level it should be. If you are a safety that wants to get better at the position right now, then read up.

Playing defensive back involves a lot of aspects both physical and mental. Reaching your potential requires an improvement and focus in a lot of areas but if you want to improve in a hurry, I have three ways in which you can make that happen seemingly overnight.

(1) Know Your Defense

Do you know your defense? I mean, do you really know your defense? Chances are you don’t. You just know what you are supposed to do. That’s enough for you to be an average safety at best. Really good to elite safeties know what all 11 guys on the defense are supposed to be doing at all times. There’s nothing worse than lining up at corner on the side of the field with the safety that doesn’t know the checks when a man goes in motion. Know all the checks. Know what area of the field everyone is going to drop to in a zone and know who has who in man coverage.

A Funny thing will start happening when you do that. First of all, you will make sure everyone knows what to do. That prevents them from getting attacked all the time and redirects balls in your direction. Second, it will stop you from being tempted to abandon your responsibility for someone else’s that you might think is yours. Watch how plays just start coming to you.

(2) Study Opposing Quarterbacks

Lost in all the studying of formations, splits, releases, route combos, etc. is the studying of the most important player on the team, the quarterback. Quarterbacks are creatures of habit. In order for them to be comfortable, they must repeat certain things over and over. It’s difficult for them to get into a groove or rhythm if they have to constantly change what they do. As such, studying their habits will give you a lot of clues on what they and the offense is going to do both before and after the snap. Does he lick his fingers before a pass play? Will he look twice to the side he’s going to throw while he’s calling the signals? Does he stare down his receivers when a blitz is coming? Knowing things like this can put you in position to jump on a route and make a play. Don’t forget to study the homecoming king during your film sessions.

(3) Work on Tackling

Safeties are the last line of defense. There’s nothing like having a guy at the back of the defense who can erase a mistake by getting a runaway ball carrier to the ground. Not many guys like to work on tackling. Furthermore not too many know how to. Most young safeties think that working on tackling is simply working on the point of attack like where to put your head and how to wrap your arms. However, as a safety, there are several different types of tackles you will be required to make.

There is the traditional straight ahead 1-on-1 tackle. Most people know and work on that one. However, there is the open field tackle where a ball carrier comes through the line and has a ton of space to either side. You must learn how to break down, focus on his waist and mirror his moves until you are close enough to wrap him up. There is also the sideline tackle where you are approaching a ball carrier who is running down the sidelines and you must pin him to the sidelines to either get him down or push him out of bounds. As a safety, you must have the ability to make everyone of those tackles consistently. Missing one or more of those tackles in a game could result in a loss and or you getting pulled for a replacement. Working on tackling is not sexy but tackling is a big part of the game and is very crucial for safeties.

Improving in these three key areas can instantly turn you into both a playmaker and dependable player. Of course, it’s work so that means you can’t sit around and watch it happen magically. Pre and post practice work will be required for these improvements to take place but believe me when I tell you the pay off is big.

As a DB Play to Your Strengths

Football is a bit of a game of war. In war there are many strategies but the the major strategy is to attack where you have an advantage. The same is true when you are playing defensive back.

That first paragraph was kind of vague wasn’t it? Let me clarify. Many times I watch defensive backs (cornerbacks in particular) line up and play to the strengths of their opponent rather than to their own. A prime example of that will be an undersized cornerback going up against a big wide receiver. Often I will see an athlete in this situation go up and press when what he should be doing is playing off. The big wide receiver has the size / strength advantage. The smaller defensive back has the speed / quickness advantage. Playing press in that situation lends itself to the wide receiver’s strengths. The prudent thing for the DB to do is play off. Starting off with space and using quickness to mirror the route gives the smaller DB the advantage.

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In a press situation, within five yards, the defensive back is going to have his back turned to the quarterback. The bigger wide receiver can see over the smaller defensive back and thus has an advantage when the ball is coming. Even before that, the bigger wideout, more times than not, will win the strength battle at the line and move the DB out of the way on his release. Mind you, I am not saying that this is always the case but most of the time it will be. Some shorter cornerbacks are well built and strong. I am not talking to those guys here.

By playing off, the smaller cornerback can face both the wide receiver and the quarterback for a longer period of time during the play. Using superior quickness, the smaller defensive back can also utilize a fluid back pedal to increase the amount of time they can stay square and face the WR and the QB. This allows the defensive back to come downhill on his breaks if he needs to and decrease the amount of time his back is turned on deep balls. It also allows the defensive back to get into the WR’s space better once the ball is delivered on deep throws.

Another example of not playing to your strength comes when I see big corners using soft press exclusively. What’s the point of being a big corner if you are not going to….. “play big”? A smaller wide receiver is going to have the advantage of quickness over the big corner 9 times out of 10. Backing out at the line giving space to the smaller wide receiver plays to the advantage of the quicker man. You know what neutralizes quickness? Physicality and contact. You know what doesn’t allow for physicality and contact? Playing soft press and backing out at the line of scrimmage.

One of the reasons the famed “Legion of Boom” secondary of the Seattle Seahawks was so successful was because their cornerbacks used their strength (which was size) to re-reroute WRs and funnel them to their big hitting safeties. Similar success has been achieved by secondaries with smaller corners who played off, used quickness and instincts to create turnovers.

In summary, it’s all about using your advantages. It is in all defensive backs’ interests to have multiple techniques at their disposal just like a defensive coordinator has multiple defenses he can call. It’s great to have a primary technique but have something available that makes use of what you do best. If you are a small corner that presses well, more power to you but the time will come when another man’s size can be overwhelming. If you are a big corner with fast feet, congratulations. The time will come when you won’t be able to match the quick twitch of a man lower to the ground. Be prepared. If you are a coach, it’s good to have core values but it’s also good to let your players do what they do best. Don’t let a disaster happen for you to learn this lesson. Give a man the tools to do his job.

Important Tips on Catching the Ball for Defensive Backs

Playing defensive back can get complicated.  There are so many things for you to think about.  What’s my assignment?  What’s my technique? What’s the down and distance?  What’s their personnel?  What’s the formation?  Lost in all of that is one of the key ingredients to being a great defensive back and that is catching the football.

It seems simple and common sense but with so many other things taking a defensive back’s focus away,  actually catching the football can take a back seat.  99% of defensive backs out there don’t spend as much time working on catching the football as wide receivers do.  However,  when the game comes and the ball is thrown,  defensive backs are expected to be equally as skillful in catching the pigskin as the guy in the opposite color running right next to them.

Of course,  there is a right way and a wrong way to catch the football.  I don’t think I have just made any great revelation by saying that.  However,  working on catching the football for defensive backs may look slightly different than that of a wide receiver.  Once the ball arrives,  things are pretty much the same.  In the video shown below,  I talk about those important things that must be done when the ball arrives.   However,  let’s talk about the differences in working on catching the football for DBs as opposed to WRs.

The biggest differences has to do with being able to see the ball late and track it quickly when we are playing DB.  The major reason for that is because often times,  defensive backs must drive to the WR out of a break instead of looking at the QB to see the ball thrown.  Because of that,  defensive backs will find themselves in the position of seeing the ball after it has already been thrown.  This puts them at a disadvantage as you have less time to track the ball before it arrives.  As such,  a good amount of time should be spent by defensive backs on ball drills in which they have to get their head around after a ball is thrown to find it quickly.  I call these blind ball drills.  An example of a common blind ball drill for defensive backs would be back pedaling towards a coach and making a full turn after he says ball to locate the ball in the air and make the catch.  Another would be pretending to be in press and turning up on a fade.  Your coach throws the ball then yells ball when it’s in the air for you to turn your head around and locate it.

So,  it is important for you to work the blind ball aspect of your ball drills.  So far as when the ball arrives,  that is something that must be worked on too.  Many times,  a defensive back will drop ball that hits them right in the hands.  So that means you actually got yourself into position to get your hands on the ball but you just failed to secure it.  For this reason,  you definitely need to check out the important tips that I give in the video below on catching the ball when it arrives to your hands.  It is often the ones you miss during the season that haunt you all offseason.

In A Coverage Slump? 4 Ways to Get Yourself Out of It

Being a defensive back,  especially a cornerback can be much like a batter in the game of baseball.  Sometimes you are really on point and other times you are off.  While being on point 30% of the time is good in baseball,  it’s definitely not as a cornerback or safety in coverage.  Either way though,  some times you are hot and some times you are not.

Really good batters in baseball do get in slumps but the difference between them and the average hitter is that they don’t get into prolonged slumps.  The same applies to cornerbacks.  They get into slumps too but they don’t last very long and there are some good reasons why.  Here are four things that can help you get out of a coverage slump as a defensive back.

(1) Have Good Self Awareness

Ever been to a doctor and he asks you to cough?  Or have you been to a mechanic that asks you to start the car?  Often times they can tell what’s wrong with you just by you doing those simple things.  As a defensive back,  you have to have the awareness of a doctor or mechanic.  Certain mistakes in coverage relate to certain things you are doing or not doing.  The better and quicker that you can realize that,  the faster you can make adjustments and turn things around.  So for instance,  missing the jam all the time at the line of scrimmage typically means you are letting your eyes drift up the moment the wide receiver moves off of the line of scrimmage.  Or getting stacked all the time means that you are not turning and getting up the field at the proper angle.  A really good defensive back can quickly take the result and relate it back to a specific action he is doing wrong and correct it.

(2) Study Yourself of Film

I am amazed at how many guys don’t do this.  If your practices are filmed and they should be,  you have to study yourself on film.  You won’t get better at the rate you want if you don’t go back and watch your actions on film.  Often times we are so wrapped up in the moment and the fast moving action that is happening in front of us that we don’t realize a lot of what we are doing real time.  That’s where film comes in.  Many times you will watch yourself on film and see yourself doing things you didn’t think you were doing.  Sometimes you think your coach is lying or picking on you only to watch the film and realize “oh yeah my feet are too wide”.   Listen to your coach but also watch yourself on film to pick up on things he may have missed.  After all,  you should know you better than anyone else.  After watching your movement on film,   you should be better able to make corrections.

(3)  Get Back to Basics

When a batter gets in a slump in baseball,  they usually don’t go to a pitching machine to have it throw 120 mph.  You know what they do?  They go all the way back to childhood.  The drag out the tee and start hitting balls off of it.  They start all over and climb back to their hot spot.  Sometimes we get so bogged down in details and trying new things that we lose ourselves.  Also,  wide receivers make adjustments to what we’re doing and our tactics stop working as well. In the midst of trying all of these new things and trying to improve we forget the basics.  When the slump hits and we can’t get jams or we can’t get in phase or even make a play on the ball,  it’s time to go back to all the basic drills.  Re-introduce yourself to the basic things that you have probably moved away from doing.  As you do that,  you climb back to where you were before and can sometimes get clues as to where you went wrong before.  It might keep you away from the next slump that was coming your way.

(4) Put in the Extra Work

You watched yourself on film and you have good self awareness so it’s time to make your corrections.  These corrections require some extra time.  Along with your daily drills and routines with your team,  you are going to need to carve out some extra time for self improvement (you should be doing this always anyway).  If your steps are wrong or your eyes are wrong, etc., spend some time pre-practice and or post practice drilling yourself on the corrections.  These problems don’t just solve themselves. It will take some extra time to get back into the groove.  So while everyone else is going into the locker room to tell lies about the girls that like them or the offers they’re getting,  stay out on the field doing the things that get the girls and the offers to roll in.

You Had Great Coverage So Why Didn’t You Turn Your Head Around

Amateur fan and professional coach alike will tell you that one of their pet peeves when it comes to defensive backs is not looking for the football.  There’s nothing like a guy being in a player’s hip pocket and having the wide receiver catch the football for no reason other than the defensive back just refused to look for the football.

We’ve certainly all seen that situation play itself out hundreds of times as we have watched football games whether as a player,  fan or a coach.  Having played,  coached and now trained defensive backs over the course of several decades,  I have been able to determine some very solid reasons as for why this happens to defensive backs.  All of the reasons trace back to one word and that is fear.

So here are the 3 main reasons that defensive backs don’t look for the football when they are in coverage on a wide receiver.

(1) Fear That the Ball is Coming

That one seems wild doesn’t it?  Well it’s actually true.  Some defensive backs have resigned themselves to the thought that if they have great coverage then hopefully the quarterback won’t throw it to their guy.  Typically this defensive back doesn’t really trust their ball skills especially vs. that of a wide receiver.  They either don’t trust their ability to track the ball effectively or actually catch the ball once it hits their hands.  So literally,  their mind is saying “please don’t throw it to my guy.  Please don’t throw it to my guy.”  For some,  this is how they feel all the time.  For others,  this is just limited to certain situations and or against certain wide receivers.

How do we fix this?  Endless ball drills.  Simply get used to catching the football especially from far away.  Learn how to track a deep ball and settle into the right place to catch the ball with some efficiency.  If you have a quarterback friend,  have him throw you routes like a wide receiver,  with a special emphasis on the deep routes at the top end of the route tree (7, 8 and 9 routes).

(2) Fear That Ball Will Pass Your Head As Soon As You Look

We have seen this happen before right?  As soon as the defensive back turns his head to locate the ball,  the ball is passing right by his helmet and into the hands of the wide receiver.  Hey,  this happens.  Some guys have a hard time recovering from that especially if it happens to them often when they first start playing defensive back.  Suddenly,  the answer becomes never looking for the ball to avoid this happening.  That’s a bad move.  Sure you can turn your entire strategy into just playing a wide receiver’s hands in all situations but guess what,  that’s not going to work all the time either.  Some wide receivers will put their hands up late.  Sometimes the ball will be thrown to an area that you can’t defend unless you look.  What will happen most often though is a lot of pass interference penalties as you hit the wide receivers’ hands prematurely,  face guard him or run into him on under thrown balls.

How do we fix this?  Incorporate a lot of blind ball drills.  Blind ball drills are when you don’t see the ball thrown and have to pick it up in mid-flight to judge it and catch it.  One of the most often used blind ball drills for DBs involve them back pedaling towards a coach facing away from them and having the coach throw the ball then yell “ball!” so they can turn around,  locate the ball quickly and catch it.  Another good one is simply running a deep 9 route looking straight ahead,  have a coach or a friend throw the ball to you and yell “ball!”  once it is already in flight.  These drills will get you more comfortable judging a ball in flight and will give you the confidence to turn your head sooner and make a play on a throw.

(3) Fear that the WR Will Change Direction

Sometimes this is a legitimate fear.  Sometimes it can be overdone.  Double moves can plague a defensive back’s mind.  Play defensive back long enough and you will get hit by and beat by one or more.  It’s one of those things that happen.  Some guys have a hard time getting over it.  This is why a coach tells you that you have to have a short memory.  Getting beat by a double move does not mean that you should never look for the ball again.

Guys that get hit with this disease will sometimes take it to the extreme.  They will be in coverage for four seconds and be paralyzed with fear that the route will change by the wide receiver the moment they look back for the ball.  You simply can not be an effective defensive back playing this way.

How do we fix this.  First,  train yourself to have proper eye discipline.  Learn how to drive your eyes from the quarterback to the wide receiver out of your breaks if in zone or drive to the wide receiver out of your breaks if you are in man.  Typically taking 2-3 steps with your eyes on the wide receiver will be enough to determine if the route you are breaking on is true or if it’s fake.  If you are further down field,  keep a clock in your head.  After a certain amount of time in coverage on a route,  it’s time to buy what the wide receiver is selling you.  If you are in close contact,  turn your head around and grab the prize.

One of the best ways to know when to look,  outside of proper discipline,  is through careful film study.  Many times film study can tell you when a team is likely to pull a fast one.  Film study will also tell you what downfield routes may have several twists and turns.  Knowing a team’s tendencies will always be your friend when you are trying to play great defense.

So take heed my last line of defenders.  If any of these situations describe you,  get to work on the solutions I proposed.  Those two interceptions you were going to have this season can now turn into six and put you into rock star status.

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