Chad Wilson
December 9, 2025
A great athlete once said, “Never get bored with the basics.” That athlete would reach the top of his profession, winning five championships, becoming one of the all-time leading scorers, and achieving legendary status. That player was none other than Kobe Bryant. Though Bryant played basketball, there’s a lot we can learn about reaching our peak on the football field by adopting some of his principles.
The Power of Ritual and Consistency
Bryant was well known for his early morning workouts. He had an intense desire to be greater than all those that came before him. To do so, he was willing to do what others were not, like waking up at 4 AM to hit the gym. Part of Bryant’s regimen was going through drills that would improve his basketball skills.
Even after he achieved legendary status, one of the more amazing things about this ritual were the actual drills that Bryant would perform in these early morning workouts.
Perfection is the Opposite of Complexity
One would think that once you reach a certain level, your drill work would need to become more complex. I am here to tell you that the opposite is true. Bryant is on record as stating his early morning drill routine was the same that he adopted in high school.
Bryant found it necessary to sharpen the very principles that were taught to him when he first was learning the game. The goal of basketball hasn’t changed—put the ball in the basket. It is still essential to shoot, drive the basket, play defense, and make your free throws.
Defensive back play is no different. You still need to be able to backpedal, get out of your breaks, move laterally, catch the football, and make tackles.
The Problem: Mastery is Hard
I have been training defensive backs for over a decade now and prior to that coached for 15 years. I have come across few—if any at all—who have mastered those very basic skills that I just named. It’s not because they aren’t good; it’s because mastering the basics is hard. Your defensive back skills must be constantly fine-tuned.
Mastery comes through consistency. This means those basic drills which are at the core of the moves that you need to make on the field must be constantly drilled and perfected.
As you are progressing through your season, these basic skills must continue to be honed, or you will lose them. When you reach your off-season, these skills must be continued to be sharpened. You can always get better at these drills than you were the season before. When you accomplish that, you give yourself an opportunity to be better the next season than you were in the one before it.
So no matter where you are in your preparation, whether that’s in-season or off-season, don’t find yourself getting distracted by the need to make your drills more complex. It’s OK to add a drill here or there to work on something specific that you may feel is new in the game. However, the bulk of your time should be used to come to the point of perfection in the basic moves that you will be executing over and over during competition. Perfection is never truly obtained, but the best in this game chase it with the most intensity. Set yourself on that journey for perfection in the basics.
For a list of the best drills for defensive backs complete with Video and explanation, join me in the All Eyes DB Camp members area – click here for more info.
Chad Wilson is the owner of All Eyes DB Camp and author of "101 DB Tips". He played college football at the University of Miami and briefly in the NFL for the Seattle Seahawks. Over his 15 year high school football coaching career, he tutored over a dozen Division I defensive backs and as a trainer has worked with NFL All Pros, first round draft picks, college football All Americans and Top 10 ranked high school football prospects.
