Coach,

Happy Halloween from CoachesClinic! We put together some Tricks and a Treat to celebrate this day.

The Tricks

Living in Cleveland, we are always treated to Myles Garrett’s Halloween display. It started with his QB grave yard with a tombstone for each QB he had sacked during his time in the NFL.

That year he showed up on the Sunday before Halloween dressed as the “Sack Reaper.”

Last year, Stranger Things was the inspiration for the display. Garrett's “Vecna” had the quarterbacks he had sacked that season—Ravens' Lamar Jackson, Patriots' Bailey Zappe, Jets' Joe Flacco and Panthers' Baker Mayfield—wrapped in the vines.

Of course, he showed up on game day dressed as Vecna. Scary!

This year, “Jeepers Creepers” is the theme. Garrett sprinkled his football touch with this year’s decorations, including five quarterbacks mounted on corn stalks. 

Prior to the Browns game against the Seahawks on Sunday, Garrett showed up dressed as the “Creeper.”  

Which brings us to our topic today, “Creepers.”

Creepers do plenty to scare an offense into keeping the RB in protection, attacking various run schemes while playing traditional coverage behind. They allow for multiplicity for the defense in giving the appearance of all out blitz while bring just four.

Let’s take a look at three Creepers…

#1) Don Brown shows one from a three down structure which overloads one side and gets a rusher home with zone coverage behind. The QB feels like he is getting pressure…

Video: Blitz Simulator Example 3

#2) Jenks HS Defensive Coordinator Adam Gaylor shares his Weak Interior Buzz Cover 3 Creeper in this video. It allows for the safety to get down into the run fit and is a good 1st or 2nd down call.

Video: Weak Cv 3 Buzz Interior

#3) Minnesota Vikings Assistant Head Coach Mike Pettine likes to create the illusion of blitz with a double A mug. In this example he brings six up to the line of scrimmage but only brings four and drops into cover 3 behind.

Video: Double A Mug Cover 3 

It would be great to have a Myles Garrett scaring the QB on every play. He doesn’t even need his Halloween costume to do that.  

Since you don’t have Myles Garrett, Creepers provide you a way to make a QB uneasy and feel like you are bringing the house.

Let’s change our focus to the “Treat.”

The Treat

The treat on this Halloween is SPEED.  There is nothing better than a fast football team full of dynamic skill players and explosive linemen.  

That’s where Track Football Consortium comes in, This is the premier event each year held in multiple locations throughout the country and the first is TFC-Chicago.

There are two ways to participate in this event - in person and via on demand video. The inperson option is December 8-9 at Elmhurst University in Chicago. Your ticket gets you access to the event with year long access to the recordings from the clinic. That ticket is available here:

In Person + On Demand Ticket (save now with early bird special)

If you are unable to attend, the next best option is the on-demand video library membership. The second option is available here:

On Demand Ticket

Here’s just a few of the speakers (entire list can be seen with the links above)

Tony Holler - Feed the Cats - Tony Holler is the track coach at Plainfield North High School. Tony retired from teaching chemistry after 38 years in the classroom and has 43 years of coaching experience (football, basketball, and track). Tony Holler is a member of Illinois Track & Field Hall of Fame and Co-director of Track Football Consortium along with Chris Korfist. Holler created the revolutionary "Feed the Cats" in 1999.

Chris Korfist is an international speed guru who works championship caliber athletes on a daily basis. Consultant for multiple NFL teams including Jaguars, Bengals, Jets, 49ers, and Eagles. Consultant for NCAA football programs Texas, Ohio St., and Clemson.

Brian Kula has worked with thousands of athletes in his career as a track & field, sport performance and football coach. He has coached multiple National Champions, All-Americans, Gatorade Players of the Year and State Champions in a variety of sports including Christian McCaffery.

Bobby Stroupe - is the Founder and President of ATHLETE Performance Enhancement Center (APEC). Coach Stroupe has directed human performance systems for over 20 years while expanding his influence as a consultant, speaker, author and educator. Among many accomplishments by his athletes, Bobby has been credited with supporting arguably some of the best in the game of baseball and football including NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes and was recently featured on “Quarterback” (Netflix)

Dr. Ken Clark - the Speed Doctor - In addition to teaching and conducting research, Ken has nearly two decades of speed and performance coaching experience. He has coached in the private sector (Lightning Fast Training Systems, Summit Sports Training Center, and CES Performance), the high school level (Jesuit Prep in Dallas TX), and in the college setting (Dickinson College and Haverford College).

Year-in-and-year out this is the premier clinic for developing speed in football treat yourself to this clinic in-person and on-demand and develop freak speed in your team for next season.

Happy Halloween!

Coach Grabowski