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In today’s offensive game, it’s becoming increasingly important for defensive play callers to have the speed to match the pace of the offense and communicate effectively across the field. In this article: Dan Owen, the defensive coordinator of Presbyterian College, covers his one word coverage system that allows for easy communication amongst his players and translates to success on the football field. Coach Owen uses the same terminology as Kirby Smart, who names his coverages after the mascots of teams in the Big 12 College football conference. For example, if he wants to reference something relating to his safety unit, he will...

One of the biggest misconceptions surrounding the defensive football world is the complexity of teaching Rip & Liz match coverage concepts.Dan Owen, the defensive coordinator of Presbyterian College, believes that this coverage is simple and over complicated by a lot of people. He feels that teaching match principles is easy to teach to his players and that his guys pick it up quickly. So much so in fact, that he installs it on day 1 each year.Of course there are plenty of questions that come about, but after those are all answered and clear roles and responsibilities are defined, the defense is...

Having solid technique amongst your defensive back room is vital to prevent big plays over the top or to stop the offense from having too much for free underneath. Subtle differences in alignment, hip position, and coaching tendencies can make all the difference on your team’s backend.The ability to disguise your coverages can also give you an equalizer against a high-powered offense by not tipping your hand pre-snap, and forcing the opposition to make a quick post snap read.In this article: Dan Owen, defensive coordinator at Presbyterian College, teaches you how to install trap coverage into your defensive system using...

Having a strong special teams unit is by far the most effective way to give yourself an edge on gameday at all levels of football. Whether you’re at a talent disadvantage, are weaker on another side of the ball, or need an ace up your sleeve to be the difference, special teams is one of the easiest ways to have a big impact on the outcome of games.Not every team devotes the proper amount of practice time and game planning to their special teams units each week, and with the variety of phases of special teams play, there’s multiple opportunities...

When teaching players how to run option routes of any kind, it’s important they understand the principles invoiced, as well as the fundamentals. When adjusting route concepts, the receiver will base his decision off of the defender (or defenders) in his portion of the coverage. This means that a player at the receiver position is not responsible for reading the entire coverage concept, and he doesn’t have to see the entire field. The only thing he has to be able to do is keep his eyes trained on a specific area of the field in order to make that decision...