With 37 years of experience to his name, Bill Young's success and knowledge of defensive football is hard to match. Coaching stops at Ohio State, USC, and the Detroit Lions dot his resume as one of the nation's top defensive coaches. In this DVD, he shares his thoughts, diagrams and drills on zone blitzing. At KU, blitzing has been a huge part of their overall defensive scheme. Blitzing is an attitude and requires an aggressive, attacking style. Players must commit to getting up the field and making things happen by putting pressure on the quarterback and penetrating the run. The element of surprise and disguise are keys to a winning defense. Areas covered are the blitz vs. the pass where the goals are to hit and harass the QB, create confusion and deflect the ball. Blitz vs. the run makes any team's base defense better. Keys are tackling for losses, stripping blockers for LB's and safeties and disrupting offensive timing. Coach Young spends time breaking down and analyzing his #1 zone blitz, the Smash. In great detail, Young explains roles and coverage for all 11 defensive players. The Field Smash is a variation that features the "Check Jam" for the tackle. Also, the "Switch" call is used for the safety and Mike backer. "Check Strike" and "Swap" are additional variations that are used with success. Following the diagram segment, Young accentuates his instruction with game footage to completely unwrap his zone blitz system. The progression of teaching new blitz technique allows players to learn all positions on the field. This process takes coaches and players through several stages, from the meeting room to the turf. This DVD will help any coach build a winning blitz package from the ground up. As Coach Young can attest, great defense is the foundation of winning football.

52 minutes. 2006.

When Mississippi State Head Football Coach Sylvester Croom tabbed Ellis Johnson as his defensive coordinator, he was also getting a veteran teacher with head coaching credits on his resume. In his first season with MSU's defense, his group whacked more than 100 yards per game off the opponent's total output from the year before. Within two years, the Bulldog defense rose from the bottom of the NCAA defensive rankings to 29th. A big part of this major improvement comes from the blitz package that he presents in this DVD. Coach Johnson's blitz philosophy comes from pieces that he's picked up during his years of coaching. All zone blitzes are given team names, both pro and college. Mascot names signify man-to-man blitzes. For example, the Temple Owls are used because it represents a zone blitz to the Tight End side. To further simplify the system, coaches tap all zone blitzes with colors, and man blitzes with numbers. Philosophically, he feels this is a great teaching tool and it allows coaches to group common movements together. In great detail, Johnson dissects Temple and Owl by showing actual game footage. Jet Ohio/Jet Buckeye are explained and analyzed, as are Split Arizona/Jet Wildcat. The S/W/M concept describes an odd look on passing downs that has been very effective. Safety blitz options are named after super heroes like Zorro and Batman. Defensive improvement is a slow and painful process in the game of college football. Coach Johnson's presentation symbolizes the need for simplicity and execution when developing a zone and man blitz package. Use the concepts in this DVD to accelerate your teams' defensive execution and improvement!

36 minutes. 2006.