Clarence Holley, Defensive Coordinator at Shiloh Christian School (AR) and the Creator of the Eat The Captain Defense, has built a scheme that applies such unrelenting pressure on offenses that over half the plays they've defended have gone for zero yards or less!
This system is so disruptive that Coach Holley has won state championships in two different states with totally different groups of kids, including this past season in 2025 with Shiloh Christian!
The Eat the Captain Defense specializes in PRESSURE - and in this series Coach Holley explains how he attacks pass protections and blocking schemes, and lets his players make the final decision on the field!
The Eat the Captain Defense: Installing Smart Pressure Packages
- Part 1 - Superhero Blitz Rules
- Part 2 - Rush Front Pressures & Coverages
- Part 3 - Defensive Line Movement Techniques
- Part 4 - Shark School: How to Teach Tackling
- Part 5 - DB Blitz Techniques
- Part 6 - Linebacker Blitz Techniques
Part 1 - Superhero Blitz Rules
Topics covered include:
- The Wolverine technique that reads the offensive lineman's movement after the snap so you can generate a guided blitz that's nearly impossible to design a protection scheme around — because the path isn't predetermined.
- The Jungle call's Gorilla/Zebra read system so your players can identify gap scheme runs vs. zone scheme runs on the field (and you don't have to make a perfect call every time)
- A plus-one backer built into every pressure so you always have an unblocked cleanup player tracking the ball carrier in the box, turning good knockback into tackles for loss.
- And more!
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Part 2 - Rush Front Pressures & Coverages
Topics covered include:
- A six-man rush front that looks identical whether you send two or six so you can force the offense to account for maximum pressure without ever tipping your hand pre-snap.
- The "X" call that knocks the center out of the slide protection so you can put four rushers away from the back and generate a free runner against the most common six-man protection in the game.
- A "rush the launch point" coaching cue so your players always know their aiming point and never stop their feet chasing a moving pocket or a scrambling quarterback.
- And more!
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Part 3 - Defensive Line Movement Techniques
Topics covered include:
- The Iron Man/Hulk combo with specific gap-cancel assignments so you can knock the guard into the center, eliminate two gaps at once, and leave your unblocked guys clean to make plays.
- Same-as teaching built into the system across every blitz family so when a linebacker has to play D-line — or vice versa — he already knows the assignment.
- Topic 3
- And more!
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Part 4 - Shark School: How to Teach Tackling
Topics covered include:
- The Down and Through cut tackle so your perimeter defenders stop getting their butts run over on 50-50 open-field tackles and start putting skill players on the turf.
- Five defined tackle types with specific aiming points and finish cues for each so your players can recognize what the situation demands and execute the right technique on instinct, not guesswork.
- A practice circuit that covers all five tackle types with bags so you're building fundamentals and muscle memory every day without putting your starters on the ground in practice.
- And more!
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Part 5 - DB Blitz Techniques
Topics covered include:
- Seven families of pressure all fully explained with DB roles and technique assignments - so your secondary players know exactly what family they're in, who else is blitzing, and how fast the ball is coming out.
- A 50-50 tackle read built into every Wolverine rep — cut him when he's coming at you, wrap and roll when he's running away so your DB blitzers aren't guessing at the goal line — they're reacting to exactly what they drilled.
- The "make them throw you down" principle for down defenders behind a corner blitz so you're consistently putting the offense in the least favorable throw against your pressure.
- And more!
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Part 6 - Linebacker Blitz Techniques
Topics covered include:
- "Wolverine techniques" that put a single lineman in conflict and attack his reaction so you can get a free hitter in the backfield by exploiting protection gaps the offense didn't know they had
- Zone coverage philosophy paired with high-pressure fronts so you can generate explosive sacks and turnovers on the front end while limiting big plays on the back end — pressure with protection
- Two-edge pressure designs with non-conflicting aiming points for each blitzer so you can run two-edge pressure without the nightmare of your guys running into each other in the backfield
- And more!
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