University of Virginia-Wise defensive coordinator Shap Boyd discusses how he makes defensive adjustments

The guest on today’s Coach and Coordinator podcast is defensive coordinator at Division II University of Virginia - Wise, Shap Boyd. Boyd and host Keith Grabowski are no strangers to each other as they have coached against each other in the Ohio Athletic Conference while Boyd was at Muskingum and Grabowski at Baldwin Wallace.

On today’s show, Boyd and Grabowski talk about how he makes adjustments and evolves his defense over the course of a season.

Show Notes

Entering his third season at UVa-Wise, Shap Boyd’s defense has become one of the best in the Mountain East Conference. In 2017, Boyd’s unit ranked top 25 nationally in third down defense (13th), defensive touchdowns (15th), tackles for loss (18th) and interceptions (22nd). Overall, opponents posted just 315.7 yards per game against the Cavaliers last fall.

In his first season, Boyd’s defense ranked second in the Mountain East Conference against the run allowing just 100.1 yards on the ground per game. Additionally, the Cavaliers were third in the MEC in getting off the field on third down as opponents converted just 32.8 percent of third down chances.

Twitter: @shapboyd

Topics discussed:

Coaching Journey

His high school experience

Morphing his defense into a three man front

Lessons that impacted him as a coach

Protecting the Mike LB and using line movements

Why everything is a spill defense for him

The process of evolving a defense

How many reps can you get in practice? How to make coaching concepts similar

Continuity in a game pan and giving the offense “eye wash”

Deciding how much defense to put in

Practicing a game plan

Having answers for different offensive formations

Repping what they do vs. what the could do

The cumulative effect of reps

Tips to evolve over the course of a season

When things go wrong go back to base

Show Notes - Best of Sports Science and High Performance - Pre Season and In- Season Considerations

Dr Douglas Casa

Dr. Casa has studied and educated people on exertional heat stroke, heat-related illnesses, preventing sudden death in sport, and hydration. He also developed Korey Stringer Institute (KSI) at the University of Connecticut. The KSI serves the public to work toward preventing sudden death in sport by mean of education, advocacy, public policy, research, media outreach, and publications.

Topic: Why the first few days of practice our crucial

Anna Turner

Turner is a registered dietitian with St. Vincent Sports Performance. She works with the Indiana Fever, Butler University basketball and assists with the NFL Combine prep program.

Topics:

The game-day meal

Foods to help inflammation

3 recommendations for coaches on nutrition

Erik Korem

Korem is the Director of Sports Science with the Houston Texans.

Topics:

Sleep recommendation for athletes

Implications for early morning workouts

Helping athletes with rest before and after a game

Micah Kurtz

Micah Kurtz, a nationally recognized Strength and Conditioning Coach, is currently the strength and conditioning coach AC Flora High School, and he previously worked at the University of South Carolina. Kurtz has been named the South Carolina Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year in both 2013 and 2014.

Varsity athletes’ in-season program

Brett Bartholomew

Brett Bartholomew is a strength and conditioning coach, author, consultant, and founder of the performance coaching and consulting company, Bartholomew Strength.

Topic: Combating “copy and paste” coaching

Dr. Greg Myer

Dr. Greg Myer. He is the Director of Research and The Human Performance Laboratory for the Division of Sports Medicine at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. He maintains his primary faculty appointment in the departments of Pediatrics and Orthopaedic Surgery in the College of Medicine at the University of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Over the past decade, Dr. Myer has published over 300 articles in peer-reviewed medical journals and has published books and several book chapters related to his research on the biomechanics of knee injuries, sports performance and knee injury prevention training.

Topic: Integrating injury prevention into practice

Andrew Murray

Murray serves as the Director of Performance and Sports Science at the University of Oregon.

Topic: Coaches need to monitor loads in practice

Dr. Ken Clark

Dr. Clark has a PhD in Applied Physiology and Biomechanics, researches human performance and is a strength and conditioning coach. He is also serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at West Chester University.

Topic: Drills to help top end speed

Shawn Myszka

Shawn Myszka, the pro performance director of Explosive Edge Athletics in Minneapolis, where he consults several NFL athletes.

Topic: How you teach agility and reaction on the field

Show Notes - Best of Sports Science and High Performance - Pre Season and In- Season Considerations

Dr Douglas Casa

Dr. Casa has studied and educated people on exertional heat stroke, heat-related illnesses, preventing sudden death in sport, and hydration. He also developed Korey Stringer Institute (KSI) at the University of Connecticut. The KSI serves the public to work toward preventing sudden death in sport by mean of education, advocacy, public policy, research, media outreach, and publications.

Topic: Why the first few days of practice our crucial

Anna Turner

Turner is a registered dietitian with St. Vincent Sports Performance. She works with the Indiana Fever, Butler University basketball and assists with the NFL Combine prep program.

Topics:

The game-day meal

Foods to help inflammation

3 recommendations for coaches on nutrition

Erik Korem

Korem is the Director of Sports Science with the Houston Texans.

Topics:

Sleep recommendation for athletes

Implications for early morning workouts

Helping athletes with rest before and after a game

Micah Kurtz

Micah Kurtz, a nationally recognized Strength and Conditioning Coach, is currently the strength and conditioning coach AC Flora High School, and he previously worked at the University of South Carolina. Kurtz has been named the South Carolina Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year in both 2013 and 2014.

Varsity athletes’ in-season program

Brett Bartholomew

Brett Bartholomew is a strength and conditioning coach, author, consultant, and founder of the performance coaching and consulting company, Bartholomew Strength.

Topic: Combating “copy and paste” coaching

Dr. Greg Myer

Dr. Greg Myer. He is the Director of Research and The Human Performance Laboratory for the Division of Sports Medicine at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. He maintains his primary faculty appointment in the departments of Pediatrics and Orthopaedic Surgery in the College of Medicine at the University of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Over the past decade, Dr. Myer has published over 300 articles in peer-reviewed medical journals and has published books and several book chapters related to his research on the biomechanics of knee injuries, sports performance and knee injury prevention training.

Topic: Integrating injury prevention into practice

Andrew Murray

Murray serves as the Director of Performance and Sports Science at the University of Oregon.

Topic: Coaches need to monitor loads in practice

Dr. Ken Clark

Dr. Clark has a PhD in Applied Physiology and Biomechanics, researches human performance and is a strength and conditioning coach. He is also serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at West Chester University.

Topic: Drills to help top end speed

Shawn Myszka

Shawn Myszka, the pro performance director of Explosive Edge Athletics in Minneapolis, where he consults several NFL athletes.

Topic: How you teach agility and reaction on the field

Home Team - Kurt Hines, Head Coach, Coronado HS by USA Football

Home Team - Kurt Hines, Head Coach, Coronado HS by USA Football

This is the weekly recap of this past week’s Coach and Coordinator podcasts! Host Keith Grabowski was joined by a high school football state champion, an FCS wide receivers coach and various coaches talking about defending the RPO. On the shows were Danny Freund, Geron Stokes, as well as several guests on the “Your Call” series . Listen in to hear a preview of each show!

This is the weekly recap of this past week’s Coach and Coordinator podcasts! Host Keith Grabowski was joined by a high school football state champion, an FCS wide receivers coach and various coaches talking about defending the RPO. On the shows were Danny Freund, Geron Stokes, as well as several guests on the “Your Call” series . Listen in to hear a preview of each show!

Today’s Coach and Coordinator podcast is the second part of this week’s “Your Call” series looking at defending the Run/Pass Option.

Yesterday looked at defenses that use a 1-high structure when defending the RPO and today we tackle defenses in the 2-high structure. As we mentioned in yesterday’s show notes, which can be found here, our Twitter poll had 38% of respondents favoring the two-high structure. 19% of respondents use man coverage defense and 19% use zone coverage. Five coaches are featured on today’s show, sharing how they defend the RPO with the 2-high structure. Here are the guests on today’s show.

Woody Blevins – Safeties coach, University of Northern Colorado – Twitter: @CoachWoody2

Mike Giancola – Defensive line coach, Bridgewater College (Bridgewater, Virginia) – Twitter: @CoachGiancola

Klint King – Defensive Coordinator, Richland High School (Richland Hills, Texas) – Twitter: @klintking

Joel Taylor – Defensive pass game coordinator, The Citadel (Charleston, South Carolina) – Twitter: @KoachTaylor

Ryan Descrochers – Outside linebackers coach, Liberty High School (Peoria, Arizona) – Twitter: @CoachRDes

In today’s show, the guests and host Keith Grabowski discuss using the 2-high structure to defend the RPO and how that can be implemented in practice.

Show Notes

0:28 Hearing from previous guests how they use the 2-high structure

0:49 Chad Braun talks about knowing the right coverage to use

1:21 Dave McFarland defends the RPO with a movement defense

2:19 Scott Power explains the importance of personnel

4:23 SP: Drills he uses to practice defending the RPO

7:14 Van Malone describes how he balances defending the RPO

10:22 Starting lineup for the new guests on today’s show

11:19 Interview with Joel Taylor

24:02 Interview with Mike Giancola

37:47 Interview with Ryan Descrochers

47:22 Interview with Klint King

1:02:55 Interview with Woody Blevins

Today’s Coach and Coordinator podcast is the second part of this week’s “Your Call” series looking at defending the Run/Pass Option.

Yesterday looked at defenses that use a 1-high structure when defending the RPO and today we tackle defenses in the 2-high structure. As we mentioned in yesterday’s show notes, which can be found here, our Twitter poll had 38% of respondents favoring the two-high structure. 19% of respondents use man coverage defense and 19% use zone coverage. Five coaches are featured on today’s show, sharing how they defend the RPO with the 2-high structure. Here are the guests on today’s show.

Woody Blevins – Safeties coach, University of Northern Colorado – Twitter: @CoachWoody2

Mike Giancola – Defensive line coach, Bridgewater College (Bridgewater, Virginia) – Twitter: @CoachGiancola

Klint King – Defensive Coordinator, Richland High School (Richland Hills, Texas) – Twitter: @klintking

Joel Taylor – Defensive pass game coordinator, The Citadel (Charleston, South Carolina) – Twitter: @KoachTaylor

Ryan Descrochers – Outside linebackers coach, Liberty High School (Peoria, Arizona) – Twitter: @CoachRDes

In today’s show, the guests and host Keith Grabowski discuss using the 2-high structure to defend the RPO and how that can be implemented in practice.

Show Notes

0:28 Hearing from previous guests how they use the 2-high structure

0:49 Chad Braun talks about knowing the right coverage to use

1:21 Dave McFarland defends the RPO with a movement defense

2:19 Scott Power explains the importance of personnel

4:23 SP: Drills he uses to practice defending the RPO

7:14 Van Malone describes how he balances defending the RPO

10:22 Starting lineup for the new guests on today’s show

11:19 Interview with Joel Taylor

24:02 Interview with Mike Giancola

37:47 Interview with Ryan Descrochers

47:22 Interview with Klint King

1:02:55 Interview with Woody Blevins

Today on the Coach and Coordinator podcast, it is another edition of our “Your Call” series. We talk with several coaches from across the country at the high school and college football level. The topic for the podcast is defending the Run/Pass Option. This will be a two-part series on defending RPO, starting today and concluding tomorrow. Today’s episode talks with coaches who employ 1-high solutions when defending the RPO.

We recently conducted a Twitter poll on this very topic, where there were over 250 responses from coaches. The breakdown was as follows: 62% said they used a 1-high structure, with 48% favoring man coverage and 14% siding with zone coverage. And the remaining 38% went with a 2-high structure, with it split even 19% for each man and zone coverage defense.

Four coaches called in to share their specific strategies and tactics for defending the RPO with the 1-high structure. Here are the guests on today’s show.

Grant Caserta – Defensive Coordinator, Husson University (Bangor, Maine) – Twitter: @GCaserta1

Kyle Bakken – Defensive Coordinator, Concordia College (Moorhead, Minnesota) – Twitter: @KCBakk31

Nick Davis – Defensive Coordinator, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Terre Haute, Indiana) – Twitter: @Spread_Defense

PJ Gibbs – Defensive Coordinator, Palmetto Ridge High School (Naples, Florida) – Twitter: @coachPJGibbs

In today’s show, the guests and host Keith Grabowski discuss defending the RPO with the 1-high structure and the differences between using man and zone coverage.

Show Notes

0:24 Responses from the Twitter poll on defending the Run/Pass Option

2:00 Insight on defending RPO from previous show guests

10:16 Your Call starting lineup

12:16 Grant Caserta talks about breaking players up into defending pass or run

13:36 GC: Influencing the offense to give the ball to certain players

18:03 GC: The importance of the Free Safety in defending the RPO

19:14 GC: Drills and practice periods used to practice RPO defense

22:36 Kyle Bakken looks at his defensive philosophy against the RPO

25:30 KB: Giving players one assignment in defending the RPO

28:58 KB: Using a split coverage with the 1-high structure

32:45 KB: Preparing defense for the RPO in practice

37:19 Nick Davis on how he uses the 3-3 stack defense against the RPO

39:37 ND: Defending quick concepts with the level two defenders

46:06 ND: Advantages to using the Bear front against the RPO

48:43 ND: Best advice to defending the RPO on a consistent basis

50:51 PJ Gibbs explains how he uses the Rip Liz concept to defend the RPO

51:46 PG: Using the Rip Liz with a 4-2-5 formation

53:49 PG: Drilling his players to have discipline on defense

55:36 PG: Dedicating specific time in practice to defending the RPO