This article was written by Darrin Sheffer, Coach at Brentville District HS (VA), and founder of the Obsessed with Offense Blog. Coach Sheffer has recently transitioned into coaching defense and provides great insight for anyone that has coached on both sides of the ball…
Are you an Offensive Guy? Do you want to become an even better Offensive Coach? I have a solution for you: coach Defense! Here are 5 reasons why (in no particular order)
1. You get to study a different offense each week
As the LBs Coach/Co-Defensive Coordinator part of my responsibilities this season include breaking down our opponent’s offense each week. How does this help an Offensive Guy? I get to see and study more offenses this way than I would as an Offensive Coordinator.
2. Better understanding of how D-Coordinators think
Do you ever wonder what goes through a Defensive Coordinators mind mid-game? Well, if you coach defense you will get first-hand experience as to how a defensive coach would think and react to what you are doing on offense. Consider this: what would you do on defense to try and stop your own offense?
3. Know the true weaknesses of each defense
How would you change up your offensive attack facing a 33 Stack? What about the next week when you face a 4-3 Defense? Each Defense has weaknesses and strengths. Want to know how you can best learn them? Coach each defense, you will quickly learn where you are weak and where you are strong.
4. Better understanding of different coverage
Kind of piggybacking on #3 how do you attack a Cover 3 vs a Cover 2? Do you know where the holes in the coverage are? How will the D-Coach on the other side react when he sees you are attacking their weaknesses? If you have coached defense then you will have a better understanding of all of these.
5. Insight on which offenses are more difficult to defend
Each defensive coach will have at least one offense that they HATE to defend. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Wing-T or the Air Raid, each coach has one offense that they struggle against. So how do you choose an offense for your team? Maybe pick the offense you hate to defend!
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