It's all Ball Security these days! Perhaps you need a refresher course!
Thanks to Chris at Smart Football for giving me a refresher course with this article link he provided. After reading the article I realized, "I was wrong! There is a better way to hold on to the football!" Let me show you the old way that I learned from a national championship coach (who is wrong too, lol):
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I have two hands on the football in the picture above and this is not awful, but I have both an upward force and a downward force on the football. Tyrone Willingham has a RB video that talks about the instability created by having your arms work against each other with the football in the middle. Below is the way that LSU RB Coach Frank Wilson describes from the above article link that I believe is the best way to hold onto the football:
Besides the superior picture quality of my new laptop vs. my old laptop, the new method has some advantages over the old method. First, both of my arms are working to press the ball upward against my chest. This helps to keep the football tighter to my chest (Fundamental #3). Second, and even more importantly, this method helps to keep my wrist above my elbow (Fundamental #2) unlike the previous picture where my top hand is pushing my wrist down to where it is almost below my elbow. I re-did the video and added the corrections.
This link should allow you to download this video. To download any Google Drive file from this website, go to the top left of the page, click on File then on Download.
Fundamentals of Ball Security:
1. Two Finger Claw
2. Wrist Above Elbow
3. Ball Tight to Chest
4. Tuck Elbow In
5. Opposite Hand Over Football on Contact
6. Keep Pads Low
This Sports Science video with Rudi Johnson has MMA guys trying to knock out the football in an old-fashioned gauntlet drill. To see how they do actually knock the ball out, go to the 7:00 mark.
I believe that Duece's 8-2-1
Kickoff Return can be the solution to the NFL's concussion problem. Not that he needs me to validate him, but this idea should not be so
easily dismissed without evaluating it on its merit. Let me start by
saying that when I first heard about the 8-2-1 KR that I thought it was the
Special Team version of the A-11 Offense (read: gimmick), but I let Duece
clinic me on the subject recently and I became convinced.
Roger
Goodell had a conversion with Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach Greg Schiano
about some "outside of the box" ideas to make the game safer (Time
Magazine article). Schiano proposed that if a team scored, they would
get the ball on their own 30-yard line and it would be 4th and 15. They
could "go for it" or Punt in this situation. I would guess the
percentage of converting a 3rd or 4th and 15 is higher than that of the onside
kick, but this still is not a bad idea to get the ball rolling on possible
solutions to the problem at hand. The idea that I have heard a few times
is that the Kickoff needs to be more like a Punt Return, which is exactly where
the 8-2-1 Kickoff Return fits in.
There
are two things I really like about the 8-2-1:
1. Better Production - as evidenced by statistical data (albeit limited)
a. Increased Block Efficiency - less whiffs and
easier blocks than with the standard KR
b. Better Field Position
c. More TDs and more KRs returned past midfield
2. Increased Player Safety - the 8-2-1 is more like a Punt Return with less
high-speed
collisions. The blockers are running with their man and they
"cover" him like a CB would
cover a WR.
The talk of eliminating the Kickoff is evidence of how drastic the NFL's safety problem is and will continue to be. Moving kickoffs from
the 30- to the 35-yard line was an okay idea, but a better solution would be to make a rule that teams have at least 8 men within 15 yards of the line of scrimmage.
It is important that we preserve our great game by maintaining a play that is an essential part of the sport itself, and this idea is just crazy enough to work.
The Bullets concept is the final primary passing concepts of the Urban Meyer and Dan Mullen Florida Spread Offense (the others being H Option, Follow, Follow Pivot, Houston). Chris Brown of Smart Football / Grantland wrote a post on this same concept here that I would recommend reading as this article is quite brief. Bullets is a Play-action Pass concept that was Florida's "home run" play during the Tim Tebow era.
The #1 WR runs a Post unless he sees Cover 2, then he will run a 12 yard Curl route. The play doesn't need to be run with Jet Sweep action, although this action is very good for putting the Force player in a bind if he comes up for the run.
I got to the chance this Christmas vacation to watch Nebraska practice in Orlando, FL before their bowl game against Georgia. Nebraska has a pretty sweet deal where they also do a free Coaches Clinic wherever they are at for their bowl game since they recruit nationally. I took some video of a few LB and DL drills and I got some of Terry Joseph's DB clinic talk. Nebraska led the nation in pass defense this year and Coach Joseph does a nice job of explaining the fundamentals of DB Play.
This is my first post on the 4-2-5. I'm no expert on the defense, but I am smart enough to know that I better have a plan to defend the Option. I will not do an entire series breaking down each position like my guest writers and I did with the 4-3. The front 4 are still obeying BDSD (Block-Down-Step-Down) rules like with the 4-3 and the two Inside LBs will be very similar to the 4-3 Mike LB in terms of Open and Closed Window reads. I will instead focus solely on the Secondary Play, specifically how the Safeties adjust vs. the motion of the Flexbone offense. Duece also has a great posthereon the 4-2-5 vs the Flexbone both from a 2 Hi look and a 1 Hi look that you need to read. The motion of the Flexbone Offense makes it difficult to defend, however, the 4-2-5 has three Safeties that will adjust vs. the motion of the two Slot Backs. Before I go any further, it is important to make sure you are allotting sufficient Group Time in practice for your Safeties vs. all of the possible motions, especially Counter motion. And of course, you cannot expect your players to be able to defend the Flexbone the week of the game, but Spring practice is where this teaching process of defending the Option needs to begin, and these skills need to be refreshed periodically throughout the season.
The
$ and WS will key and mirror the Slot Back to their side, and there are 5
different looks that they will see.
1. No Motion
2. Motion Away
3. Motion to You - Slot Arcs
4. Motion to You - Slot Releases Vertical
5. Motion to You - Slot Folds
1. No Motion
The
base call is Cover Brown, which is a Man-Free coverage with the FS as the Deep
Middle player—pretty basic stuff.
Whether they line up in Double Slot, Slot Trips, or whatever, the $ and
WS will cover their Slot man-to-man and the two CBs are man vs. the two WRs. This can be vs. a Drop-Back Pass or a
Sprint-Out Pass.
2. Motion Away
If
the $ / WS sees his Slot motion away, he will run to the MOF (Middle of the
Field). He will help erase any mistakes
by the FS and provide help defending the Post route to the opposite side of the
field as you will see in the cut-ups. He will key the opposite Slot as he is
runs back to the MOF for any type of Counter coming back to his side. Note: you can also have the $ / WS stay home
on the backside of the motion instead of running to the MOF and the frontside
reads would still stay the same.
3. Motion to You - Slot Arcs
Slot
Arcs - Run
Vs.
Slot motion to you, if the Slot Arc blocks, the $ / WS will want to push the
Slot back vertical as he is running sideways.
The $ / WS is the Force / Pitch player.
This will often be vs. Rocket, which can get to the perimeter quickly. The 4-2-5 allows for great leverage by the $ and
WS to surround the run game and Force the ball back inside. The other play that Flexbone teams like to
run with the Slot Arc blocking is the Counter Option. The $ / WS will see their Slot motion away
and then return back and Arc block to their side. The $ / WS needs to make sure he does not run
too far to the MOF, or he will be out of position to defend the Pitch.
Slot
Arcs - Play-Action Pass
The
$ / WS will be man vs. the Slot if he should Arc and then run the Wheel route.
4. Motion to You - Slot Vertical
Slot
Vertical - Run - Block Inside or Load FS
If
the Slot releases vertical, he can blocks a DE or LB inside, or he can Load
Block the FS. The $ / WS then becomes
the outside 1/2 of QB to Pitch player.
The cut-ups show the $ / WS slow-playing the QB to give the FS time to
get to the Pitch. Your FS has to be a
very good tackler who can run in order to adequately defend the Flexbone.
Some
people have the $ / WS always stay outside and be the Pitch player, but having
them read it this way allows you to better defend the QB run and causes him to
have to pitch the ball to the third option, which is to the defense's
advantage.
Slot
Vertical - Play-Action Pass
Vs.
motion, Cover Brown (Man-Free) becomes Robber (TCU Cover 2), and the FS will
obey his Robber rules. If #2 comes
vertical, he has him. If #2 is not
vertical, he will rob Curl to Post of #1.
The $ is a Flat player if his Slot releases vertical with motion to him.
5. Slot Folds
If
the Slot Folds inside of the OT, the play will be Midline Lead. The Flexbone offense is able to insert both
Slot Backs on this play to create two additional run gaps that the defense must
be able to account for. The $ / WS and
FS will account for those two additional gaps in the 4-2-5 defense. Rutgers got gashed by this play a couple of
times at first vs. Army in 2009 before they started fitting it up correctly.
Corner Play
It
is important that the Corners understand that although they are Man vs. their
WR, they will need to Crack Replace and help defend the run vs. a good Flexbone
team. The cut-ups show some good
examples of how Corners are to Crack Replace and how to shed the block of their
WR and make a tackle when the ball crosses the LOS on a run to them.
You
either win with fundamentals or you get beat with fundamentals. Georgia was reminded of this bitter lesson in
the 2012 SEC Championship Game that saw them battle toe to toe with defending
national champion Alabama. They
valiantly drove down the field in the last minute, only to see the clock run
out because of a tipped pass in an awful and surreal ending for the stunned Bulldogs,
who expected to be able to see Aaron Murray throw two plays into the end zone
with the ball at the 8-yard line and 15 seconds left (Chris Brown at Smart
Football analyzes the clock logistics of the play here). The tipped pass by Alabama LB, C.J. Mosley,
was seen as horrible luck, but really the play was preventable with proper
fundamentals from the RB position.
Most
young RBs have trouble getting on the field because of pass protection—not understanding
the scheme of what to do and not being to execute it correctly. The game of football depends on the execution
of all 11 players and a freshman RB made a poor play at the worst possible
moment for the Bulldogs (one of many plays from the game that Georgia would
like to change, not to pin the entire loss on one player). I will analyze the play by using the RB Pass Pro
fundamentals that I got from a clinic talk by Tony Ball, the RB Coach (from 2006-2009) and now, WR Coach at Georgia, so you will get coached up with the same coaching points
this player will be hearing as he watches this film with his coaches.
Here's the film, courtesy of CBS Sports and the SEC Network:
Check. The RB scanned the defense and knew who to
block.
2. Step with Inside Foot First.
Check.The
RB stepped first with his inside foot to get inside leverage and to get his
body turned correctly.
3. Close Space Quickly.
Big
mistake here. Both the RB and the LB
started off 5 yards from the LOS (line of scrimmage), so theoretically they
should meet halfway—at or near the LOS.
Instead of expanding the pocket to give room for the QB to throw, the
pocket is condensed.
4. Punch.
Even
with the mistake of the RB not closing the space quickly, he can still do his
job and block his man if he punches him at all.
Instead, the defender takes off at the 11-yard line and continues in the
air relatively unimpeded and tips the ball at the 13-yard line.
5. Expand the Pocket.
After
the punch, the RB should continue to force the defender outside to expand the
pocket. The RB "opens up the gate" and lets the pass rusher get upfield vertically instead of widening him. On a drop-back pass that takes longer to develop, the RB would need to keep his feet working to widen the rusher and expand the pocket.
A
critical error was that the RB did not take the protection into account on how
he attacked his defender. The Fade-Flat
combination on this pass play is designed to be used with quick
protection. The Georgia Offensive Line
did a terrific job of firing out and stopping the Alabama Defensive Line at the
LOS. The Left Tackle cut block the
Defensive End, making him a non-factor in the play as well. All that was left was the RB's block on the
blitzing LB to give Georgia QB Aaron Murray's pass a chance to reach its
intended target in a play that will torture the Bulldogs for what could have
been.
