Trinity College
By Coach Kip | October 28, 2007
It happens again. It is never over until it is over. Check out the video clip.
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Cover 2 Shell
By Coach Kip | October 23, 2007
I heard a commentator use this term this weekend and it struck me that not everyone who was watching would know what this means.
A Cover 2 Shell is a defensive coverage using maximum coverage underneath, or for the shorter routs, with two safeties helping on the deep halves of the field.
A Cover 2 Shell is typically run with a nickel or dime defense. The defense will try to match skill players with skill players. The cornerbacks will take the wide receivers man to man. If there is a slot receiver or inside receiver this is where the extra defensive backs come in to play. The extra DB’s will take the inside players man to man. The linebackers will take the running backs man to man. There will then be two safeties who will help with coverage for the deep pass patterns.
If your linebackers are fast enough, and if you are able to get the right personnel on the field then it can be a very good defense. With the remaining players who are not locked up in man coverage they are free to put pressure on the quarterback. With this pressure the quarterback should not have enough time to throw the ball down field. If the quarterback does try this the safeties should have a good opportunity to make a play on the ball.
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Being In Control
By Coach Kip | October 16, 2007
We have had two really big games in a row and are now tied for first in our Region. In these two games there was about 5 minutes that were pivotal to winning the game. The crowd was screaming, the players were yelling and jumping around, the cheer leaders were cheering, the band was playing, but what do the coaches do?
It is very simple. The coaches need to be the exact opposite of what is happening. If the team is flat, and there is no emotion, no excitement, the coach needs to portray that. The coach needs to be the one to fire everyone up. It is an emotional game, sometimes you as a coach need to provide that emotion.
If it is loud and crazy like it has been for us, the coach needs to be the one in control. They need to be the calming force. If everyone gets over excited mistakes are made, and there is a lot of confusion over who is in control. The team and the game can get out of control. You are the coach, you are the controlling force.
It is ok for you to get excited when your team scores, it is ok to get mad when the other team does, but over all there must be a balancing attitude on the sideline. It is up to you to be this for your team.
Have fun, it can be a wild and crazy game, and that is why we love it so.
Coach Kip
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Give Your Players a Job
By Coach Kip | October 6, 2007
Teach everyone a job, and then let them play. Doing this lets your players think less, and play more.
There is no need for the linebacker to know what the cornerback is doing. It only has him worried about things that he does not need to be worried about. The linebacker should only be worried about reading the guard and tackling the ball carrier.
In teaching players that they have a job, and that they only need to concentrate on that job, you also have to teach them that everyone on the team has a specific job to do. You do not need to tell everyone what that job is, just that everyone has one. The big point that you have to emphasize is that they must trust each other to do that job. If everyone works together they will be unstoppable.
Many of the problems with defenses that I see is that the players begin to worry about everyone else’s job. They may be right that someone else made a mistake, but if they begin to worry about everyone else then they will soon begin to not do their job.
Have you ever seen a big college or a pro team begin to get beat, and then the wheels completely fall off and they get killed? The other team scores touchdown after touchdown, and all of a sudden a good defense looks terrible. When this happens watch the players on the field. It is nearly guaranteed that they are yelling at each other. Now everyone is making mistakes because everyone is worried about everyone else’s job. There has been a complete breakdown.
Your job as a coach is to prevent this from happening. There are two things you must do to prevent it.
- Correct Mistakes Immediately — If you correct these mistakes quickly then your players will not feel the need to do it for you. This prevents any arguing between your players, and lets them concentrate on their own job.
- Make Adjustments – If your defense is not performing well it is on you. You must make adjustments so that those who are doing their jobs well are in the best positions to make plays. If you have players not doing their jobs you need to either sub or adjust your game plan. Doing this puts the blame on you. It is part of your job. They players may all blame you but at least they will not be blaming each other. Take the burden and move on to the next play or next game.
It is much easier to do on defense then offense, but it can be the same for both. If the players have a well defined and specific job, and they know that everyone else does too, then they don’t need to think, they can just play.
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Do What You Are Good At
By Coach Kip | October 4, 2007
It is frustrating as a coach when you have a good play but your team just can’t run it right. You know it will work, but for some reason it just does not. We have a play right now that we can only run to the left. It does not matter who the lineman or the back is, the only way we can run it is to the left. So what do we do? We do what we are good at and only run that play to the left.
Do what you are good at and do that often. It is the same for defense. Are you good at cover 3 or Zero coverage? Do what ever you are good at most. If you are best at Zero, run that coverage often. If you are best at Cover 3 then do that.
As a coach you must be able to put your team and your players in the best position as possible. You can’t run a play just because it is your favorite if your team does not do it well. You can’t call a blitz that theoretically works every time but gets you in trouble every time you call it. On the other hand if you run a stunt that does not seem like it will work and it does, keep calling that stunt.
It all comes back to knowing your personnel. Put them in the best position possible to make the best play that they can. Don’t be selfish and try to do things you are not good at.
Find out what you are good at and do that often.
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Tap Games
By Coach Kip | October 1, 2007
Whenever a team runs any type of stack defense, whether it is a 4-4 or our preferred 3-3, the question always is: “Do you let the players play tap games and go on their own, or do you call the blitzes?”
It is a matter of trust. Do your players have the ability, and do you trust that ability to be able to change things up and be unpredictable. Let’s face it, the whole reason to stack up and play games is to be unpredictable and get the offense to be confused and not know who to block, giving your defense penetration and the ability to tackle behind the line of scrimmage.
Calling the blitz – If you call the blitz you guarantee the players will be going to the right spot, and it will be random enough to be unpredictable. Also when you game plan your opponent you can call the proper blitzes to stop what you expect them to run. In other words if you know they run to the right a lot on 3rd down, you know you want to send your best linebacker or lineman to the side to give you the best opportunity to stop it. Letting your Players Decide – Letting your players just play tap games is beneficial because your players know what they do best. They will always try to give themselves the best chance possible to make plays. They will always try to be the hero. If you trust your players enough they will make the plays.
The best way to do it is to develop a play calling system that will let you both call the blitz, and let your players do it themselves. This way you can have different combinations of linebackers and linemen blitzing. Lets say you want the Will, and Sam to blitz, then you can either call a blitz that puts them exactly where you want them, or you can let them choose where they want to go.
So the debate goes on, I say it is a matter of trust, more than it is a matter of preference.
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Belief
By Coach Kip | September 25, 2007
So you have had a good week of practice. You have prepared, and done everything you can to get ready for the game. You have a great game plan, you have great new packages for offense and defense, you even came up with some great drills for you players. You know you have done your part. You believe you are going to win. But what about your players?
What do you do when your players do not have the same belief as you do? Ok if you do not have the belief it is your job as a coach to act like it. If you already have belief then you need to get that belief to your players. Telling them is not enough. Your actions, your body language, your posture, your energy level, your whole being will tell them what they need to know. You do not have to speak a word.
But if all else fails, fallow these pointers and get your team ready for the game.
- Act as if you have the belief
- Act as if you have already won
- Tell them you believe they can do it
- Lay out the reasons why you can win
- If they are really tense – smile. It will relax them and tell them it will be just fine.
- Get fired up yourself. Run around, have fun, act like you are the champ and you love every second of it.
Remember you are the coach. If the players are not prepared physically and mentally it is on your shoulders. It carries over into all aspects of life. If you are a business manager, a doctor, a teacher, or just have a good job that you are happy in, your actions tell more about you than any words. Acting like you believe in whatever you are doing will go a lot further than anything else.
Believe It
Coach Kip.
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Quarters Coverage vs Quarters Defense
By Coach Kip | September 21, 2007
Quarters coverage should not be confused with a Quarter Defense.Quarters Coverage is also known as Cover 4 or 4 Deep Coverage. This is where a defense will keep its current personnel on the field and deepen its coverage. A typical look would be as such:
As you can see the Corners have the deep field from has mark to Sideline, the Free Safety takes from the middle of the field, to the other side of the hash, and the Strong Safety takes the other half of the middle of the field to the hash. I always like to slightly overlap coverages so there is no confusion where one player starts and one stops.Quarter Defense is where there are 7 defensive backs. Nichol Defense has 5 defensive backs, Dime Defense has 6 Defensive backs and Quarter has 7. Typically arranged like so:
Any Coverage can be called in Quarters’ Defense but it is typically run during the end of the game where it is almost guaranteed that the opposing team will pass. Every player just keeps all the offense in front of them and does not let them score.
Although Quarters is not taught very often in High School and Youth Football it is not a hard defense to learn. My advise would be to leave you current personnel on the field and teach Cover 4 defense. It is easier to understand.
Best of Luck
Coach Kip
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The Tampa 2 Coverage
By Coach Kip | September 18, 2007
The
The corners have deep halves of the field, hence the cover 2 name, but they do not cover the middle most part of the field. On the snap of the ball if the Middle or Mike linebacker reads pass, he turns and runs to a depth of 10-15 yards and then plays like a Free Safety. Since he has a hard enough time getting back there usually they are only asked to cover the middle most part of the field and not hash to hash like a free safety does, but it is a cover 3 instead of a true cover 2.
The reason for this new coverage (it has been around now for 8-10 years but is new to most people) is that Mike linebackers are becoming more and more athletic. Take Brian Urlacher who played Free Safety in college for
This defense is done to fool the quarterback into thinking at the snap of the ball that the middle of the field will be open. Since the Linebacker is only expected to cover the middle of the field usually it is not the pass deflection or interceptions that count down here, but it is a big linebacker putting a big hit on a small receiver. Now the receiver will think twice before he goes across the middle to catch a ball.
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Football Lingo
By Coach Kip | September 14, 2007
I wanted to start a quick post on the Lingo of football. These posts will be mirrored on the new page called - surprisingly – Lingo. It is the football season and all the announcers and commentator will be using all the lingo that they can, usually right, but sometimes wrong. I just wanted to start a series of posts that will hopefully clear things up.
I know that there will be some interpretations that differ, and there will be slight differences in philosophy, but I hope that you at least get an idea of what is happening out there.
Coverages – I will start with different defensive coverages. The basic coverages are as follows:
Man – Man coverage is where the defense matches up with an eligible receiver and that defensive player has to cover him where ever that player goes. There are two basic man coverages
- Man or Zero – This coverage has everyone on the field locked up with an eligible receiver. If the defender does not have a receiver to cover that man will automatically rush the passer
- Man Free or Cover One – This is where everyone on the field has a man covered except for the free safety. There are many variations on this coverage due to the fact that free just means that the defense is set up so that one of the defenders is able to play free from pass responsibility. More and more I am seeing that man free means that the middle linebacker, not the free safety is free, but that is a matter of game planning.
Zone – This is where the defense does not cover a particular man, but covers a part of the field. There are hundreds of different variations of the zone coverge and this is where most of the deception and trying to fool the quarterback come from. There is only two that I want to cover today
- Cover Three or Three Deep Zone – This zone is known simply because there are three players responsible for the deepest part of the field. The rest of the cover players simply spread out and cover the rest of the field. Usually the responsibilities are as follows:
- Free Safety – Has the middle of the field usually from the Hash Mark to Hash Mark. The general rule of thumb is that no one gets deeper than the free safety. I think every coach has yelled “deep as the deepest” while coaching this.
- Corner Backs – The corner backs are responsible for the rest of the field. Usually each one is responsible for the third of the field from Sideline to Hash Mark on their side. The same rule applies, no one on the field gets deeper than the Cornerbacks.
- Linebackers and Strong Safety spread out across the field depending on how many are involved in the coverage. That will be explained on a later date.
- Cover Two or Two Deep Zone – This is where there are only two men to cover the deepest part of the field, usually from sideline to the middle of the field. Responsibilities are as follows
- Free Safety – Usually on the Weak side of the field and covers from the Side Line to the Middle of the field. No one gets deeper than the free safety.
- Strong Safety – Really can be anyone on the field, but it is typically the strong safety that takes the second half of the field. The coverage is from Sideline to the Middle of the field and again no one is deeper that this player.
Hope that clears up the basic coverages and the lingo that goes along with it.
Coach Kip
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