Lessons Learned - From an NFL Assistant Coach

Besides coaching on defense, my most valuable learning experience took place while working with the quarterbacks. Prior to my NFL coaching days, I worked a summer football camp for two years at a Big Ten university where I befriended the QB Coach, (Presently an Assistant Head Coach in the NFL) who taught me the QB position. We spent hours upon hours watching film. The first words that came out of his mouth were, “If you want to learn football, this is the position to coach.” He first started down low with the linebackers. If the shoulders were open / gate = zone coverage. If the shoulders were parallel /slide = man coverage. He wouldn’t go to the next segment with me until I mastered it. That took about two days. Then he jumped into reading body posture. Many cues and indicators for quarterbacks are mannerisms of defensive players. In the secondary, most players when in