I t is a real honor for me to have this
opportunity to speak to you this morn-
ing. The first time I had the opportunity to
speak at our national convention was fol-
lowing the 1975 season, almost 24 years
ago. We had finished No. 1 in the country
on defense and I was asked to speak at the
convention that was held that year in
Washington D.C. I was so excited to get
the chance, as part of our staff, to speak at
the AFCA Convention. I have to tell you
that today, after all those years, I'm still just
as excited and honored to be allowed to
talk to you.
I'm proud of our association and the
progress that we have made over the years
in promoting the coaching profession.
Grant Teaff has done an excellent job in
leading our Association. He was a great
coach, he understands our problems and
the issues surrounding our game. We
could have no one who would be better in
articulating these issues in leading our
Association. I think it is meaningful that the
theme of this year's convention is "Victory
with Honor." We should all take personal
responsibility in promoting in our profes-
sion and our game.
Each of you have a tremendous public
posture at your respective schools and
communities. Many people look at you and
form opinions about coaches and the
coaching profession.
I hope that each of you will keep that in
mind in everything that you do and say and
that you will always reflect the highest ideals
of what coaching is all about. I think this is
especially important with the young men
who are entrusted to us to develop. I've
often said that the truest measure of
whether a coach has been successful for
that matter, is what his players have become
five or ten years down the road, and how
they have benefited from being in a particu-
lar program.
I hope that the young men who have
played in our program at Texas A&M will
look back on the experience and feel that it
was one that was beneficial and helped
them to become better people, better citi-
zens, better husbands and better fathers. If
so, then my work will not have been in vain.
As you all know, football coaching is a very
time consuming occupation. We literally give
a big part of our lives to our professions. If
the only reward is saying that we won "X"
number of games each season, then that is
a very shallow, empty reward for the amount
of time that we spend. I think that if we sin-
• Proceedings • 77th AFCA Convention • 2000 •
cerely spend our careers dedicated to the
development of the young people and the
betterment of the young people, who are
Winning With the
A&M 3-4 Defense
under our leadership, the wins will come as
a by-product, but more importantly, we will
have a very rewarding experience and can
reflect back on our careers with great pride
and feelings of satisfaction.
I mentioned earlier that it has been
approximately 25 years since I first spoke
here. As I look back over those years, our
game has changed in many ways, but in a
lot of ways, it remains the same. Offenses
run more formations today than they once
did. I can recall about 1973 we were getting
ready to play Clemson in our opening
game. We were concerned about what for-
mation they were going to run. They had
shown the year before to run either a pro
set or twins. In two-a-days, we worked
against both of those, but in the opening
game against us, they ran the pro set the
entire ball game. Now, I can tell you,
matching up blitzes and defenses to one
formation was a lot simpler than it is today.
As a result of the multiple offensive forma-
tions, defenses have also become a lot
more multiple.
Many offenses utilize multiple personnel R.C. Slocum
groupings to get into their various forma-
tions and defenses, again, have had to do Head Coach
the same thing in reacting to the offenses.
From a defensive perspective, other than Texas A&M University
the formation adjustments, I still see the
same defenses I saw 25 years ago. Most College Station, Tex.
teams fall into a 3-4 weak eagle configura-
tion, a 4-3 over/under, or a true 4-4 eight
man front.
Regardless of the scheme of defense,
there are some fundamentals that have
remained the same for all these years and
they are what really makes a difference
between the good defenses and the bad.
Some of these coaching points are so sim-
ple, yet we see them violated every day.
For the next few minutes, I would like to
discuss some philosophy of defensive
techniques with you. While I cannot say to
you that a 3-4, 4-3 or 4-4 will make you a
good defense, I can say without a doubt,
that if you coach and have your players
master the following concepts, you will be
very good regardless of your scheme.
First, in coaching style, I think you must
be a perfectionist. You must have a clear
picture or model in your mind what you are
trying to get done. Every stance, technique
and movement must be thought through.
The challenge then is to find the best way
to teach so as to achieve the desired result.
Obviously, this will not always happen
quickly, however, there must be steady
progress toward the desired outcome. The
coach must have a clear picture of what he
is trying to accomplish with a player and
must be persistent in moving the player in
the desired direction. Every play on the
field or video, the coach must be correcting
or reinforcing the actions and techniques of
his players. The coach must be relentless
in this part of his job. The object is to per-
form a desired behavior or action until it
becomes a habit.
From an overall defensive team stand-
point, I would like to point out some basics
I think are important.
First, I think a starting point is the hud-
dle. Setting the huddle in an orderly, disci-
plined manner. This sets the tone for a dis-
ciplined play. Doing the little things right
sets the stage for doing the big things right.
I played for a coach in high school by
the name of Ted Jeffries, who is in the
Texas High School Coaches Hall of Honor,
and I can still remember that Coach
Jeffries, every Thursday afternoon after
practice, had us take our shoes into the
fieldhouse and polish our shoes on the
buffer, take our shoestrings out and put in
new shoestrings and then present them to
the coach. The interesting thing about the
shoe strings was that we had to put the
shoe strings in with both ends coming over
the top through the first eyelet.
After we had laced the shoes up, before
you could leave on Thursday afternoon,
ever player had to present his shoes to the
coach, polished with new strings and the
strings had to be put in exactly right. At that
time, to a high school youngster, it was
hard to understand why it was so important
to put your shoe strings in a particular way.
Coach Jeffries told us on many occa-
sions that the shoestrings themselves don't
make a lot of difference, but learning to do
the little things and being disciplined to do
those things exactly right is vitally important
to winning.
If you learn to put your shoestrings in
just right every time, then there is a good
chance that you can learn to run a pass
pattern to exactly 14, back to 12, or to line
up in a shade alignment exactly like your
coaches ask every time.
Setting the huddle at the start of each
play and making each player hustle back
into the huddle, I think, is a good way to
start off with some discipline. We begin our
• Proceedings • 77th AFCA Convention • 2000 •
defensive practice each day by having the
players jump into the huddle, get the call,
break the huddle, get out and get set.
I think a point of emphasis is getting out
of the huddle with intensity and getting
lined up. I like to see defensive linemen get
down on a knee and be waiting when the
offensive man comes out and gets down,
he's ready to go. I like for defensive backs
to hustle out to their respective alignments
and line up with intensity. If there is a shift
or change in formation, I hate to see guys
walking through those adjustments. You
like for your defensive back and lineback-
ers to hustle and show some excitement
and getting lined up on their respective
guys. In other words, don't be too cool in
your adjustments.
The next point of emphasis is getting
your players to play hard and give effort.
That is the one thing that every team is
capable of doing and a lot of teams don't
do. I hear coaches talk about trying to get
better, but when you look at their teams
and see how they play, I would say to them,
it doesn't matter how good your players
are, your team won't be very good until you
get your team playing hard. If your players
don't play hard, that is coaching and that is
on you. Regardless of ability level, you can
demand that your players play hard and
give you effort.
Great defenses chase the run and great
secondaries and linebackers break on the
pass. I think in watching tapes and video,
you should, on every single pass play, slow
motion reverse it and look to see if you
have every single player on zone coverage
breaking on the quarterback's action, chas-
ing the football on the passes.
Another point of emphasis is getting on
and off the field. I think the way you go on
and come off the field, particularly with as
many substitutions we now have to make,
is extremely important. We like to talk about
coming straight off to your sideline. Don't
come at the angle because it takes longer,
but sprint, get off the field and then you can
walk down the sideline to the bench. Don't
come jogging off that field in that slow trot
and have me over there pulling my hair
worrying about whether the ball has been
snapped.
The organization of your sideline is
another area that is very important. We
often talk about our game plan and, in real-
ity, what is normally called a game plan is
really a preliminary game plan. You study
your opponent’s tapes during the week and
see them play against other teams with dif-
ferent personnel from yours, and you for-
mulate a game plan based on what they do
in these games and in anticipation of what
they will likely do against you.
The reality is, on game day, you see
first hand what their real plan is against
your personnel and your schemes.
Coaches really earn their money on game
day in adjusting to what their opponent is
doing that day, at that time against your
team. To effectively carry out these adjust-
ments, you must do a great job with your
sideline organization.
On our defensive bench, we have the
defensive linemen all together, next to the
linebackers, then the secondary. When our
team is not on the field, I want each of
those groups of players, sitting together,
paying attention to their coaches who are
on the sideline in front of them, making the
adjustments and keeping their focus on
playing defense. I don't want to allow their
minds to wander or become distracted by
things that are on the field or in the stands.
These things that I have talked about
are simple ideas but they must be continu-
ously reinforced in coaching, or you lose
them. I think they are vitally important to
playing good defense.
I would now like to cover some coaching
points and defensive fundamentals that I
think are very important to various positions
on defense. I will list them and will elabo-
rate briefly on each. First of all, before I
mention techniques or drills, I would like to
comment on my philosophy about drills.
The only reason to use any drill is if it is the
best way to teach a particular skill that your
players need.
Each year before the season, you
should go through the various positions
and write down every specific technique
that a player needs to know to be able to
play and execute to play that position.
Once you have your list of techniques, you
should create a drill that helps you effec-
tively teach that technique.
I have often seen coaches do drills that
I had a very hard time correlating to any-
thing that the player he was coaching
would need to do. Don't do drills just to be
doing them or because they look pretty.
The time that you spend on the practice
field is extremely important. You have limit-
ed time to get done all the things that you
need to get done, so it is critical that you
have your drills well-organized and use the
most effective drills.
 At this time, I would like to talk about
some fundamentals that I think are impor-
tant to playing the game of defense.
Defensive Line
1. Stance: Toe heel stagger, down and
ready, eyes up.
Teach your players to get good stances
and to have exact alignments. If you are
talking about a crotch alignment, a wide
five, loose five, tight shade, those align-
ments, have a specific way a young man
can tell if he is aligned. It may be to put his
foot down the middle of the offensive man's
crotch, or to put his foot on the outside from
the lineman. Whatever alignment you are
trying to reach, make it specific in nature
and check him every time that he lines up
to see that he is doing it exactly right.
2. Hands: Placement, grab cloth.
So many times we, in passing, talk to a
player about where to place his hands, but
play after play we watch him and he does-
n't put his hands in the right place. I think
every single down, you should coach your
players on hand placement. Each play you
watch on video, you should check the play-
ers you are coaching to see that they have
proper hand placement because it is vitally
important. Not only is placement important,
but using your fingers, which you are
allowed to do on defense, in grabbing hold
of the offensive linemen is extremely impor-
tant in trying to escape blocks.
3. Movement Key: Man, ball.
You should start every play with a visual
movement key. Whether you are keying on
the man or keying on the ball, every drill
should start with using a visual key, not an
audible key. So many times in the off sea-
son program or pre-practice routines,
defensive coaches start the drills with set,
hike, or other audible sounds instead of a
visual key. All you are doing is training your
guys to jump off sides on an audible cue.
4. Separate: Object of defense is not to
play blocks.
I don't like to see a lot of one-on-one
drills unless the ballcarrier is used because
I think the players develop bad habits and
get an unrealistic look. You should practice
one-on-one with the object of separating off
the block and getting to the ballcarrier.
5. Penetrate - React down the line.
How many times have you seen the
defensive lineman get penetration in the
backfield and then round off his turn where
he puts himself in a chase position against
a 4.4 tailback that he never catches. The
• Proceedings • 77th AFCA Convention • 2000 •
Former Texas A&M All-American Dat
Nguyen is one of several Aggie defend-
ers now playing in the NFL.
same guy, if he flattens his path down the
line and uses angles, can get back into a
position to make the play. This must be
drilled. An effective drill that I've used over
the years is to lay three bags down about
three yards deep in the backfield. Stand
behind the defensive lineman with a back
lined up opposite you behind the three
bags. Have a manager give the defensive
line a visual cue with the football. As they
come off the line and get penetration
across the line, you give the back a direc-
tion where he goes right or left, laterally
and around the end of the bags. The line-
man then must turn flat when they cross
the line and go flat down the line and try to
cut off the back before he can cross the line
of scrimmage.
Linebacker
1. Strip Drill: One-on-one, two-on-one.
The drill we work on every day with all of
our defensive players that has paid great
dividends for us is the strip drill. We do it
one-on-one where the defender runs
behind the offensive player who has the
ball tucked away. The defender from
behind puts his off arm over the shoulder of
the offensive player and takes his own side
arm and either punches from behind or
clubs from over the top to try to knock the
ball out while insuring the tackle with the off
arm.
The next drill we do is a two-on-one strip
drill where two defensive players are facing
an offensive player. The offensive ballcarri-
er comes straight ahead, the first defender
fronts him up with a form tackle straight
ahead while the second defender comes in
and goes directly to the ball and tries to pull
the ball loose. This not only helps our
defense create turnovers but we do it all
the time in practice and I think it has made
our offensive players much more aware of
ball security and thus, has helped reduce
turnovers from our offensive side.
2. Stance: No hands on knees, no
bobbing.
One of the things I really hate to see a
linebacker do is squat with his hands on his
knees. I don't think you can move from that
position. Invariably, when a guy gets tired,
he tends to rest by putting his hands on his
knees and applying his weight downward.
From this position, the only way one can
move is to raise up, lift the weight and then
move. This allows for wasted time.
Linebackers on every play should get in a
good stance with their weight over the balls
of their feet and in a position where they
can move without altering their vertical
position. I don't know where some guys get
their stances, but I see them and they are
all hunkered down in an abnormally low
stance from which they have to pop straight
up as soon as the ball is snapped before
they can go anywhere. At other times, you
see guys who are so high, they have to
drop down before they can move. What
you want is the guy to be in a stance where,
when the ball is snapped, he is ready to
move without any vertical movement of his
pad level.
3. Shuffle: Don't cross over.
Unless a play is an absolute straight
ahead play coming at a linebacker, every
step should start with a lateral shuffle. I
hate to see a linebacker start forward, get
caught up in all the traffic and then try to
work outside on an outside running play.
Our base alignment is four-and-a-half
yards deep. I would like for that linebacker
to shuffle laterally at that depth until he is
ready to come downhill and take on a
blocker or tackle the ballcarrier.
4. Communicate.
On every play, I think the linebacker
should mentally focus on identification of
the strength and the back set. Is it I-backs,
weak back, empty, etc?
5. Key Progression: Back, linemen,
flow, run or pass.
I think linebackers should have a pro-
gression on every single play that they use
to get from the huddle to proper reaction to
the play. Since we have always been a
multiple front team, and the object of
defense is to get the ballcarrier, our prima-
ry key has always been our backs and we
have under-keyed linemen. I think if you
put too much emphasis on keying linemen,
linebackers can get too tied up in taking on
blocks instead of going to make the play
based on the path of the ballcarrier. We talk
in terms of keying backs and under-keying
linemen. We study our key to determine the
flow of our play. Is it fast flow or slow flow?
Is it inside flow or outside flow? Is the ball
on or off the line of scrimmage? Coaching
players to think in those terms down after
down is a way to develop a consistency of
play.
6. Hat in Hands: Grab cloth.
I think it is important when linebackers
are taking on blockers to take them on
square with hat and hands and to use the
fingers to grab cloth so that separation may
be facilitated.
7. Jugs.
How many times have you had a line-
backer have the ball hit him right in the
hands on the field and he dropped it? How
do your linebackers practice, catching the
football? For a lot of coaches, the line-
backer coach does some ball drills on a
daily basis and feels like this is getting the
job done. There is no question that this is
better than nothing, but the reality is that
very few linebacker coaches have an arm
sufficient enough to duplicate what we see
on Saturday afternoon. A good way to
accomplish this is to have the jugs machine
set up and each day, take a short period of
time to run your linebackers over and catch
some high speed balls like the ones the
quarterbacks they face will be throwing.
8. Option Techniques: Slow play, Fast
play.
The game has changed and today we
see far less option than we once did. As a
result, our techniques in defending the
option are not nearly as good. One of the
problems is that you may go for several
weeks and not see an option at all and then
you play a team that is a heavy option
team. It is very difficult for you to get the
techniques you need perfected in a week’s
time.
I think it is important that you incorpo-
rate some option technique drills through-
out the year in your workouts. You should
have some in spring training and through-
out your practices, you should take a brief
• Proceedings • 77th AFCA Convention • 2000 •
amount of time on a regular basis to keep
your option techniques oiled up. For your
linebackers taking the quarterback, there is
definitely work to be done in learning the
effective way to slow play the quarterback
by shuffling to the outside, never being on
the same plane as the quarterback, and
after the ball is pitched, opening flat down
the line to take a cutoff angle on the pitch
man. A key coaching point on the fast play
of the quarterback is to go for his deep
shoulder and not the front side shoulder. In
this way, there is a chance to disrupt the
pitch and secure the quarterback.
9. Shed Drill: Contained.
A basic part of playing outside line-
backer is to be able to contain plays com-
ing your way. This must be drilled on a reg-
ular basis and drilled in the right way. The
key coaching points are to keep the inside
leg up, get the eyes on the target at the
point of contact, lock the arms out and keep
the blocker away from the body. Do not put
the hands on the top of the back. In other
words, don't lock down on the blocker, lock
out on the blocker.
I see coaches from time to time do this
drill, but in the drill they may have one
guy who does it right and four who do it
wrong; they run through that drill and
then it is on to the next drill. All you are
doing when you do that is ingraining bad
habits. It must be perfected and if a
youngster is pushing down on the block-
er, you must stop the drill and demon-
strate proper technique and demand per-
fection in doing this drill. If you do that on
a regular basis, then you will get better at
doing it. The second point on contain-
ment is on a play like the zone play away
with the boot coming back. How many
times do you see the outside linebacker
shuffle down, see the boot, and then run
a circle again in a trail position where he
has no chance of getting containment?
The proper technique is to shuffle and
when he sees the boot, to retrace the
steps and get flat to the outside to a point
where he has the ball contained and then
to close the gap on the quarterback. It is
actually possible to do a good job of help-
ing on the zone away and still get back
and contain the quarterback if you con-
tain the right steps.
Defensive Backs
1. High Point Drill: Tuck away after
interception.
Again, here, I would make the same
point about throwing the ball to defensive
backs that I made with the linebackers.
Very few secondary coaches have arms
strong enough to give a good picture of
what a defensive back is like to face on
game day. I think the Jugs machine should
be used on a regular basis with defensive
backs so they can get used to catching
balls with the velocity that they will see on
Saturday. Another point, how many times to
do you see a defensive back make an inter-
ception, start down the field, and then
someone strips the ball? My question is,
how often do you work with defensive
backs on tucking the ball away? I think that
this is something that should be drilled
when you go through the jugs machine,
also coach the point of ball security after
they have caught the ball.
2. In Phase - Out of Phase.
We spend a lot of time each day work-
ing on releases with our defensive backs
against the wide receivers. One of the
things we do is put the defensive back in a
good coverage position with the receiver at
this side, and let them run down the field
like that and play the ball when he is in
what we call the in phase position, where
he is using the sideline, reading the receiv-
er's eyes and then turning to look for the
football and squeezing the receiver into the
boundary.
The next drill we do is called out of
phase. In this drill, we line the receiver up
with a considerable lead on the defensive
back. He has beaten him. We tell them to
go and as they start down the field, we
throw the football to the receiver and make
the defender catch up and play the ball
without looking back. In other words, play
the ball in the pocket as the receiver puts
his hands out to catch it. This may be the
most critical drill that you can do with the
defensive back because it is inevitable that
your defensive backs from time to time, will
get beat.
As good as receivers are today with
speed and accuracy, you can rest assured
you are going to have some guys that are
beaten. The big thing is, after they are
beaten, to run full speed at the receiver and
never, never look back.
One of the worst mistakes a defensive
back can make is to look back after he has
been beaten on a route. In that case, he
almost always looks back just in time to see
the ball go over his head. In most cases on
those plays, if he will turn and just focus on
the receiver and run full speed, he will have
a chance to recover and get back in posi-
tion to make the play.
3. Square In.
Another common mistake made with the
defensive backs is when defending the
square in route, the defender wants to look
back at the quarterback on the break
instead of driving to where the receiver is
going, getting into position and then finding
the football. This must be coached on a
regular basis and the coach must be a per-
fectionist in demanding that the defender
not look back at the quarterback on the
break.
4. Angle Tackle: Finish the tackle and
square up.
It is not enough to get the head across
the bow on the angle tackle. I want to see
the drill finished up when the defender
squares his butt to his goal line and stops
the forward progress of the ballcarrier.
Finish the drill.
5. Open Field Tackle: Close the gap.
One of the big areas of making an on-
field tackle is that the defender wants to
break down as soon as he sees the ball
coming his way. The back makes valuable
yards before he is ever contested. The
coaching point is that the defender should
quickly close the gap as much as possible
until he gets into close proximity to the ball
carrier, then break down, tackle him high
and make the sure tackle. This is not the
place for the kill shot. The object here is to
get him on the ground.
6. Stalk Block: Close the running lane.
When the defensive back is being
blocked by the wide receiver on the outside
running play, it is important that the defend-
er close the running lane as much as pos-
sible. Start back to the line on an inside
angle, make the blocker come to you and
then front him up and contain the play.
7. Arc Block: Squeeze the running lane.
Another common error is made by the
strong safety or corner to the tight end side,
with the outside running play coming their
way. They see the blocker coming and the
first instinct is to run straight up the field, or
in some cases, gain width in trying to box
the play. In a lot of cases, this technique will
allow the ball to be contained, but the run-
ning lane inside is so wide, that it immedi-
ately hits up the field and back to the out-
side. The running lane must be constricted
in this situation. The blocker will come to
the defender so the defender should come
on a tight angle, squeeze in the running
lane and make the blocker come to him.
• Proceedings • 77th AFCA Convention • 2000 •
The Texas A&M defense has consistently ranked as one of the top defensive units
in Division I-A. In 1999, the Aggies finished No. 13 nationally in total defense,
holding opponents to 300 yards per game.
8. Crack Back Block.
Today, a lot of defenses play consider-
able quarters coverages and, as a result,
many offensive teams do a lot of cracking.
The key coaching point in defending the
crack block is for the player being cracked
upon to aggressively drive toward the line
of scrimmage, make the crack declare. As
the blocker nears, the defender should
front him up with hat in hands and aggres-
sively take on the block. By making the
crack declare quickly, the corner can get a
good read and replace by engaging the
blocker, you can prevent the crack and go
past.
9. Speed Turn: Post corner.
Another bad habit of defensive backs is
when they get a post corner route run on
them, the first instinct is to look back at the
quarterback. The defender, after he is
made his speed turn, should look for the
receiver and sprint to get back in phase
with him before looking back for the ball.
I recognize that these are not startling
new techniques that I have just discussed
with you, but I am convinced that these fun-
damentals are the essence of coaching.
Regardless of the scheme of defense you
run, if you will go out and grade your prac-
tices daily and every time you watch tapes,
evaluate how well you are coaching these
techniques, I think you will have a great
chance of playing good defense. Coaching
the little things and coaching the players to
do exactly right on a daily basis will, over
time, allow you to be a great fundamentally
sound football team. That will have a lot
more to do with your success than whether
you have a 3-4 or a 4-3.
In closing, I would like to remind you of
how fortunate we all are to be football
coaches. We have great, great jobs. I
know from time to time we all have things
that don't go our way; we have disap-
pointments that come along, but I would
like to call your attention to a man on my
staff who has done a great job this year in
displaying the kind of courage that all
coaches would hope to have. We spend
our lifetime talking to young people about
being tough, hanging in there, reacting
positively to negative situations. Ray Dorr
has done just that this year. He has been
diagnosed with ALS, but coached
throughout this season, was never late for
a meeting, never missed a step, did
everything with a very positive attitude.
He has been a great inspiration to my
staff and my team and all of our fans. I
hope that all of you guys, as you go
through your coaching careers, when you
think you have been dealt a bad hand or
feel disappointed and think things are not
going quite your way, I hope you will
remember Ray Dorr at Texas A&M and
the courage he has displayed to all of us
in battling this dread disease.
I've enjoyed being with you and, once
again, appreciate the opportunity to talk
with you about the game of football.