Coach ,

The virtual clinics of this past year have provide a wealth of knowledge on all aspects of the game including ideas to help get the defense ahead of the offense. That’s not an easy task given the way they try to conflict defenders.

We went through and added up and organized who your fellow coaches upvoted as the best football clinicians. With over 800 clinic talks there was a lot to go through. 

To help you understand how we picked them were not just by number of upvotes, but we looked for anomalies that stood out on that day or week. For example, Clinicians who speak early in the week typically have more upvotes than the last day. 

These are the top-rated defensive X&O clinic talks from each clinic. The list includes high school, college and NFL coaches sharing every aspect of defense.

Click on the image for the course created by these talks which received the most upvotes in the Defense X&O’s Category.

Virtual Coaches Summit - 206 clinic talks

Top HS (tie): 

Kyle Cogan, Head Coach, Lexington HS (MO) - “Rip/Liz Coverage”

Kyle Cogan presents Zone Match One High Coverage vs 2x2 and 3x1 Formations. Zone match = Dropping to an area and relating to WRs after the pattern distribution with zone integrity. Pattern reading with eyes on WRs and QB, playing with a no cover zone and passing off crossers to the other side of the defense. This is often referred to as rip/liz match cover 3. 

Jason Born, Head Coach Saugus HS (CA) - “3-4 Fire Zones 2.0: Going Beyond the NCAA Blitz”

Coach Born goes beyond the typical blitz covering many different aspects of Fire Zone: Principles of Fire Zone, Fire Zone Blitzing, Fire Zone against Pass Protection, andFire Zone Coverages.

Top College:

Dante Bartee, Assistant Coach, Southern Miss - “Split Field Man Match Quarters”

This young coach is an outstanding teacher of the game! In his talk he covers Man-Match Quarters Coverage with Breakdowns of: Steeler/Seahawk, Cut, Cone/Poach, and Sail Technique. He goes over Bracket Coverage and Linebacker alignment and depth.

THSCA Convention - 188 Speakers 

Dave Aranda, Head Coach, Baylor - “Defending the Spread Offense”

You will learn how to effectively teach your players ways to stop the spread offense including various styles, strategies, and progressions. Coach Aranda will take you to the whiteboard and draw out multiple types of fronts and plays teaching you how to counter any type of front. He shows the game film to show how it actually works and flows in real-time.

Lauren’s First & Goal Clinic - 153 coaches presented

Mike Elko, Defensive Coordinator, Texas A&M - “Developing a Championship Defense”

Mike Elko, Defensive Coordinator of Texas A&M, details the drills, fundamentals, and coverages he uses to lead the Aggie Defense including Ball Disruption, Fumble Recovery, QB Defense. Elko starts with the essentials of great defense in this talk.

Wings & Things Summit - 36 Coaches presented 106 talks

Rick Stewart, Consultant - “Stopping the Wing-T in the 4-2-5”

Using the DIVORCED concept and the SPLIT FIELD ALIGNMENTS, Coach Stewart teaches the Front 6 is independent of the Back 5, so coverages are not married to blitzes & movements. The split field system allows the right side of the defense to act independently of the left side....which means you can teach alignments & run fits in just a few days.

Alabama Football Coaches Association Clinic - 14 Speakers

Nick Saban, head Coach, Alabama - “Q&A”

Have you ever wanted to get inside the head of the goat of college football? Well, we did it for you! This clinic is filled with questions answered by the legendary Coach Nick Saban. He offers his advice on Philosophies, Defense, Coach Development. This talk is a must if you want to learn first hand by one of the best!

NYSHSFCA Clinic - 72 talks

Lou Anarumo, Defensive Coordinator, Cincinnati Bengals - “Two Versions of Tampa 2”

Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo teaches two versions of Tampa Two Coverage illustrating the concepts with game film.

PSFCA Clinic- 49 Talks

Eric Kasperowicz, Head Coach, Pine-Richland HS - “Defending Tempo and Spread RPO’s”

Coach Kasperowicz is a wealth of football knowledge, and he continues to share it on his courses on CoachTube.

Maryland Football Foundation - 35 talks

Sal Sunseri, Outside Linebackers Coach, Alabama - “OLB Play”

Coach Sal Sunseri reveals multiple drills to increase your Outside Linebackers' potential and make them more effective during the game. He includes drills over the following topics: Get-Off, Reaction Drills, Playing a Bunch. On top of all of that, he backs up the drills with game evidence that these drills truly work and help maximize your Outside Linebackers' effectiveness.

Louisiana High School Coaches Association Clinic - 135 speakers

Terry Joseph, Pass Game Coordinator, Texas - “Secondary Game Planning”

How to develop a weekly pass game defense game plan...Coach Joseph will take you through the entire process, starting the day after a game to get prepared for their next opponent. To be an expert in creating a defensive game plan, you have to first become an expert in your opponents game plan.

SoCal - 80 Speakers

Nick Davis, Defensive Coordinator, Rose-Hulman - “Multiple Defensive Fronts and Movements”

Coach Davis uses his creativity and football knowledge to create a multiple system with simple learning. He can use a multitude of fronts paired with a variety of movements and he shares it all here.

Louisiana Football Coaches Association - 11 speakers

Patrick Toney - Defensive Coordinator, Louisiana - “Press Man Progression”

Coach Patrick Toney reveals different progressions you need to know to make your players' press technique more efficient. This will help your team get more interceptions and maximize a no-fly zone defense.

Illinois HS Football Coaches Association - 132 Speakers

Top HS Coach:

Robert Pomazak, Head Coach, St. Charles North (IL) - “Taking Your Game Plan Virtual”

All coaches want to increase collaboration, competence, and creativity within their coaching staff. Building an electronic ecosystem will do just that. Take your game-planning online and make your coaches gameplan specialists. In this presentation, Coach Pomazak goes in-depth into how he builds a defensive gameplan from the ground up. Along the way, Coach will show you how his program has built a completely digital platform that allows all coaches to collaborate and communicate as they build a winning defensive gameplan. 

Top College:

Lou Tepper, Retired - “LB Fundamentals and the 3-3 Defense”

They do not come much better than Coach Tepper. He delivered the details in his 90 minute talk on developing linebackers and the 3-3 defense.

Kansas Football Coaches Association - 18 Speakers 

Adam Gaylor, Defensive Coordinator, Jenks HS - “Creepers/Simulated Pressures”

The 2020 Oklahoma state champion gives an overview of: What Is a Creeper? What Is a Simulated Pressure? He provides instruction on: Daylight Rush and LBs, Creepers with Extensive Film Review.

Take that chalk last with the knowledge you will learn from these talks! Have a great summer and keep learning.

Always be growing!

Coach Grabowski