LSU Defensive Back Highlights 2011

LSU Defensive Back Highlights

Check out this link to see how defense needs to be played.

Be Perfect

The top concept on our team is to “Be Perfect.”  This is the first lesson on the first day of practice.

Perfect. Being perfect. Perfection.

Be perfect in everything you do.

Everything we do revolves around this concept of perfection.

The perfect repetition
The perfect play
The perfect practice
The perfect game
The perfect season

We are on a quest, a journey, an adventure.

It is a season long hunt for perfection.

We might never achieve perfection, but that is what we strive for every day.

We are a team, a company, a business that produces perfectly executed plays.

Robert Neyland’s Maxims

Robert Neyland is commonly referred to as the greatest defensive coach of all time.

Coach Neyland’s 1939 University of Tennessee team shut out every opponent they faced.  He led his teams to nine undefeated regular seasons and four national championships.

One of his greatest contributions to the game are his maxims.  A maxim is defined as a general truth or a fundamental principle.  These maxims are how Coach Neyland thought the game should be played.

1. Thou shalt charge a block.

2. Thou shalt charge a fight.

3. A good interferer (blocker) never looks back.

4. One good interferer (blocker) is worth 3 ball carrying stars.

5. A team that won’t be beat can’t be beat.

6. The team that makes the fewest mistakes win.

7. Never stop till the referee’s whistle blows.

8. Press the kicking game.

9. Make and play for the breaks. One comes your way, score.

10. If the game or a break goes against you, don’t lie down, put on more steam.

11. Don’t save yourself. Go the limit. There are good men on the sidelines when you are exhausted.

12. Football is a battle. Go out to fight and keep it up all afternoon.

13. A man’s value to his team varies inversely as his distance from the ball.

14. If the line goes forward, the team wins; if it comes backward, the team loses.

15. Never lose the ball on downs.

16. You can’t fight like a man with less than 100% loyalty and college spirit.

17. You can’t do yourself justice without getting and staying in condition.

18. At least 3 men make every tackle, “Gang Tacklers.”

19. Let none escape!

20. 1st rush equals 6 yds.

21. Eleven men in every play.

22. Use your head. 75 percent of football is above the neck.

23. One increasing purpose.

24. A quitter never wins & a winner never quits.

25. Keep everlastingly on the job.

26. Be the first to line up.

27. Never stop fighting.

28. No good blocker and tackler was ever kept off a football team.

29. Use your eyes, your hands, your legs, and your head.

30. Be aggressive, you can’t win the game on your side of the scrimmage line.

31. If the game is going against you, keep your head up, set your jaw, and dig in. This is what tests the stuff you are made of.

32. Hate & abhor the scrimmage line; it is a restraining mark.

33. “Turf” their defense! Get them down!

34. A winning team quickens its play as it nears the goal line!

35. Get the jump on your teammates on the charge.

36. Follow the ball!

37. Play your own position well first.

38. Line — charge with the ball!

Nick Saban Quotes

-“Focus on the process of what it takes to be successful.”

-“We’re not going to talk about what we’re going to accomplish, we’re going to talk about how we’re going to do it.”

-“I’m tired of hearing all this talk from people who don’t understand the process of hard work—like little kids in the back seat asking ‘Are we there yet?’ Get where you’re going 1 mile-marker at a time.”

-“The scoreboard has nothing to do with the process. Each possession you look across at the opponent and commit yourself to dominate that person. It’s about individuals dominating the individuals they’re playing against. If you can do this…if you can focus on the one possession and wipe out the distractions…then you will be satisfied with the result.”

-“Focus on the play like it has a history and a life of its own.”

-“Success doesn’t come from pie-in-the-sky thinking. It’s the result of consciously doing something each day that will add to your overall excellence.”

-“You can’t get from A to Z by passing up B.”

-“It’s not the end result. Don’t think about winning the SEC Championship. Don’t think about the national championship. Think about what you needed to do in this drill, on this play, in this moment. That’s the process: Let’s think about what we can do today, the task at hand.”

-“One thing we need to do differently in motivating players and helping them be successful is not to talk about results. Our goal next year is to be a dominant football team.”

-“If you don’t get result-oriented with the kids, you can focus on the things in the process that are important to them being successful.”

Defensive Game Planning

Check out this post on Defensive Game Planning from Strong Football Coach.com.

Its a great article with a lot of interesting information, but my favorite part is this passage about keeping it simple and just reading your keys.

“The Bucs under Kiffin and the Bears under Lovie Smith, never had players rely on stats. Their read key was always their primary indicator, so it was all post snap. When Warren Sapp went to the Raiders, they tried telling him that the opponent ran 50% of the time out of a certain set. His response? ‘So I’ll be right 50% of the time? If I follow my key, I’m right 100% of the time.’ ”

What I’m Reading

While I love clicking around on the Internet, nothing beats reading a good old fashioned book.  Never forget to get lost in the world of the written word.

The Essential Smart Football – By Chris Brown.  This book is a collection of some of his best posts from his website, smartfootball.com.  My personal favorite articles from the book have to do with Alex Gibbs and his zone blocking scheme and The Impact of Troy Polamalu and Ed Reed on the Safety Position.

Blood, Sweat, and Chalk– By Tim Layden.  A great book that explains the history of some of the games most influential plays.  I loved the chapters on USC’s Student Body, Lombardi’s Power Sweep and The Zone Blocking Scheme of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Infinity Gauntlet – By Jim Starlin, George Perez and Ron Lim.  Not everything needs to revolve around sports.  I love the drawing style in this graphic novel, especially the scenes involving Silver Surfer.  A great story about power.

Ravens 3-4 Defense 2005

 

Zen Football

There are times when I notice struggling coaches over thinking the game of football or just sports in general. This Zen Koan/ parable helps keep me grounded when I am feeling overwhelmed.

“Once there was a well known philosopher and scholar who devoted himself to the study of Zen for many years.

On the day he finally attained enlightenment, he took all of his books out into the yard, and burned them.”

Attack this Day like a Harbaugh

“Grab your lunchboxes and attack this day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.”

-What Jack Harbaugh would tell his sons, Jim and John, every morning as he dropped them off at school.  This week, the Harbaugh brothers meet in the Super Bowl.  Here is a link to a great article on their childhood.

Desire

If you are a football fan, then you need to respect this run.

Marshawn Lynch. January 9th, 2011.