When I found out that Don Brown was going to speak at the Lone Star Clinic in College Station (a great annual clinic too), I jumped at the chance to go see him talk. There is no argument that when it comes to stopping the run, Don Brown is near the top of the list. His defenses continue to produce no matter where he is. From UConn to BC to Michigan, the Don Brown defense has been a unique challenge for offenses.
His defensive mantra is, “Solve your problems with aggression.” For most defensive coaches that mantra hits home. Coach Brown’s clinic covered several topics from his base defense to LB fundamentals, even doing a breakout session on his “trap” coverage. He didn’t hold back either, talking all ball and no “fluff.” It was a great time, and Coach Don Brown was awesome to listen to. There is no doubt that the man can coach defense and has a unique scheme. Below is a PDF of my clinic notes. Enjoy!
Don Brown – Lone Star Clinic [PDF]
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Can you explain the “shuffle and dent” technique more in-depth?
DE keeps his shoulders square to the LOS instead of wrong-arming the puller. He will hit the puller thick on the inside shoulder & “peek” to find the RB. Coach Brown doesn’t believe in 1-for-1 spilling. He wants to DE to fit inside the puller & shock him – then find the RB. Kind of like a “heavy” technique for a puller.
I sat in on Don Brown at Lone Star also, really enjoyed it. Wished I could have heard more about his “spin” coverage during the breakout but I thought his trap stuff was good also. He seems like a big spill guy, I like the same concepts while defending the run game.