Coach ,

Week 10 promises to be another exciting weekend of football. This week Coach Hopkins shares some insight from the coaches of this rivalry. There’s plenty to learn from these staffs. Enjoy!

Coach Grabowski 

With the first College Football Playoff rankings officially out, 8-0 Wake Forest came in ranked #9, the first time in program history the Demon Deacons have cracked the top 10, and the first time being ranked in the College Football Playoffs.

A huge congratulations and good luck to Head Coach Dave Clawson, Cornerbacks coach Paul Williams, and Defensive line coach Dave Cohen! 

#9 Wake Forest travels to Chapel Hill to take on the North Carolina Tarheels for the ACC matchup. Wake Forest’s high power, high scoring RPO offense looks to maintain course after scoring 70 points against Army while only having the ball for 17 minutes. But the Tar Heels look to flip the script after last year’s loss in which they allowed more than 600 yards and 53 points.

Wake Forest

The Demon Deacon offense is no laughing matter. Two time ACC player of the week Sam Hartman threw 3 passing touchdowns and 2 rushing touchdowns in their win against Duke. Last season, Hartman threw for 429 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions against the Tar Heels defense. 

Their offense is no secret: RPO. Head coach Dave Clawson and the Demon Deacon offense have set over 300 school records, including points scored, points per game, total offensive yards, first downs, and passing yards over the last 4 seasons. 

He breaks down exactly how they’ve been so successful below 

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Wake Forest RPO System - Dave Clawson

Moving to the defensive side of the Wake Forest program, Defensive line coach Dave Cohen has been preaching physical, fast, and disciplined defense all season. The Deacon defense has only allowed an average of 23.88 points per game and 191 yards. Pair that with the 24 sacks on the season, and the Tar Heels could be in trouble Saturday. 

Up front, he runs double 3 techniques, using the 3 C’s: Closing, Condensing and Cutbacks. 

Listen in as he shows the ‘Get Reach’ technique, using the Nickel in coverage and the defensive end to contain and be the force player. 

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Dave Cohen - Movements and Stunts to Stop the Run  

Defensive backs coach Paul Williams will have to call a tight game, as Tarheel QB Sam Howell has averaged over 549 yards and a 61% completion rating against AP Top 25 teams. But the secondary play from Wake Forest has been stellar, with standout redshirt freshman cornerback Caelen Carson leading the team with 7 pass breakups and 2 interceptions, 2nd in the ACC.

Coach Williams DB’s are fast, agile, and smart. He needs them to be physical, have their eyes on the hips, and be driving out when the receiver breaks. Being physical, tough, and disciplined. 

He breaks down his ‘Match the Hips’ Drill below, great for mastering the fundamentals of man coverage 

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Paul Williams Wake Forest - DB Drills and Techniques 

University of North Carolina 

Mack Brown, Head Coach for the University of North Carolina, coaches with a charisma and discipline that really turns programs around. With over 47 years of coaching experience at the college level, Coach Brown realizes that every player is going to respond differently to leadership. 

That's why he has based his approach in a way where the players are so involved in the program: they pick the jerseys, they pick the movie for Friday movie night, the choose the pregame meals. He is an excellent example of coaching your players as people, and creating leadership within your program 

He explains his philosophies on trust and respect, which he learned from his grandfather and all time coaching great, Jim Wacker, below

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Mack Brown - Program Building, Culture, and Leadership 

Co Defensive Coordinator and Safeties Coach Jay Bateman is going to have his hands full with the high powered RPO offense Wake Forest is going to bring. When asked “How do you defend a running quarterback?” At the Lauren's First and Goal Clinic, Bateman explained the Tarheel defense plays match coverage, so they would have to transition to a 1 high look or 0 coverage, or use a defensive front to force the QB to a weaker side.

Coach Bateman plans to use multiple packages to keep both the defense fresh and offense mismatched, which he explains below 

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Jay Bateman | Tarheel Defense & 3rd Downs

Phil Longo, Quarterbacks coach of the Tar Heels, has a strong veteran QB in Sam Howell to lead the team on offense. So far this season, Howell is averaging 9.9 yards per pass attempt, with 20 touchdown passes and 6 rushing touchdowns on the season. 

Coach Longo wants to keep the Wake Forest defense spread out, covering sideline to sideline, and using vertical routes, taking advantage of Sam Howells arm strength. To achieve this, the QB drops back and moves parallel, getting more of an honest drop out of the defense., achieving a cleaner read from the pocket.

He explains more about seeing the field and incoming pressures below 

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QB Drills and Techniques in the Air Raid: Phil Longo

We can’t forget the third phase, Special team in this one. If you can flip the field or return a kickoff for a touchdown, that's a HUGE momentum changer. 

Special teams coordinator Jovan Dewitt needs his kickoff unit to stay locked and loaded Saturday, as Wake Forest has returned TWO kickoffs for 95+ yard touchdowns.

He brings you the ‘Butt n Press Drill’, zoning in on the bully phase. The coverage defender stuns the return blocker with his hands, getting to the defender with staggered feet, staying low ready to shed the block

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Jovan Dewitt UNC Tarheels - Special Teams Drills and Fundamentals

Another way the Tar Heels can come out on top Saturday? Be the bigger, faster, more physical football team than Wake Forest. Brain Hess, Head Football Strength and Conditioning coach, uses less than 25 minutes a practice to get the Tar Heels in game shape.

He breaks down the in-season lift program below.

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Brian Hess - Make Gains In-Season

According to Las Vegas, the Tar Heels are favored to win by 2.5 points. The last time Wake Forest won in Kenan Stadium? 2006. Can they spoil the undefeated season, or will the Demon Deacons take the Tarheels to church?

You can catch these two teams on the gridiron this Saturday, 12:00PM EST on ABC!

Never. Stop. Learning.

Coach Hopkins

Ps. all of these clinics will be 50% off for lifetime access