How Denton Ryan Builds a Defensive Game Plan with Coach Will Cockerill

Denton Ryan DC Will Cockerill is back on the pod. In two seasons as the defensive coordinator at Ryan, he has gone 25-5, finished number one in scoring defense in the Dallas area at just over 12 points per game, and posted a 70 percent third down stop rate back to back. This episode is not about scheme. It is about the process of getting 16-year-olds to execute at a high level from one Friday night to the next.

Coach Cockerill walks through his entire weekly system: the post-game summary he sends to his head coach Saturday morning, the position-specific Google Docs that structure his Sunday staff meeting, how he scripts and sequences practice Monday through Thursday, how he organizes film in Huddle for players and coaches, and how he builds a call sheet that leaves nothing to chance on game night. Kyle and Matt break it all down with him.

If you are a coordinator trying to build a more organized weekly structure, this one is required listening.

0:00

Introduction and welcome back to Coach Will Cockerill, DC at Denton Ryan

2:00

16 years in Texas, a 25-5 record as DC, and the three keys to success at any program

5:30

Defensive metrics, stop rate, havoc rate, third down efficiency, and the Sons of Ryan identity

9:09

Game planning philosophy: target their best, attack their weakest lineman, make them go left-handed

12:00

The Friday night to Saturday routine: grading, player stats, and the game summary to the head coach

15:30

The defensive awards system: BGO, Honey Badger, Ball Hawk, and building the templates to save time

19:54

How the sideline trash can dunking tradition changed their takeaway numbers

21:00

Saturday scouting: bucketing run schemes as zone or gap and how that simplifies the whole week

26:00

The staff Google Doc: four position-specific questions that structure the Sunday meeting before anyone walks in

31:00

Sunday staff meeting, finalizing the scouting report, and getting it on Huddle and the facility TVs

34:00

Monday practice: helmet only, tackle circuits, bread and butter run scheme, and team tempo

39:00

Tuesday is third down day: scripting every situation with the opponent's actual plays

44:00

Wednesday is red zone day: scripted from plus 20 to inside the five, and scouting next week starts now

48:30

Thursday: trick plays, situational football, and finalizing the call sheet

52:49

The WAR Cut-Up explained: Winners Are Relentless, a three to five game sample, and how film is shared in Huddle

57:57

Call sheet breakdown: fronts, movements, hash-based tendencies, and built-in answers before Friday

1:03:00

Why Coach Cockerill says process and teaching matter more than scheme

1:11:10

Unique program differentiators, short practices, giving players the answers all week

1:13:51

Community, purpose, and what it means to coach kids who need you

1:14:49

The pancake brigade and why nutrition is the next real competitive edge

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