Ron Vanderlinden, now approaching his seventh year as Linebackers Coach at Penn State, has developed a reputation as an outstanding linebackers mentor. Over the years, he has coached Penn State All-Americans Paul Posluszy and Dan Connor, Pat Fitzgerald and Barry Gardner of Northwestern and Chad Brown of Colorado. He also helped the Nittany Lions defense rank in the top 15 nationally in rushing, pass efficiency, scoring, total defense and sacks in 2005. Similarly, his Northwestern defense in 1995 led the nation in scoring defense. He answers your questions on defense and, more specifically, linebacker play… Q. What is the first thing you and your defensive staff look for on film after you have established the basic offensive philosophy of your opponent? Justin Dixson, assistant coach, Warren Central High School (IN). AFM subscriber since 2007. The step in game planning is to adjust our
Continue Reading
This article is available to American Football Quarterly subscribers.
Get instant digital access to this issue and the complete archive.
