Coach ,

"Football is two things. It's blocking and tackling. I don't care about formations or new offenses or tricks on defense. You block and tackle better than the team you're playing, you win." - Vince Lombardi

Two big takeaways from this past weekend come from coaches who shared these ideas in our clinics. Like Coach Lombardi’s quote, it’s about the fundamentals and having high standards for their execution.

Defensive Coordinator Dan Quinn shared every detail of how he builds a culture of accountability for high standards in his past clinic talk at Lauren’s First & Goal, and Head Coach of the Fighting Illini Brett Bielema and staff talked a ton of fundamentals at the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Clinic just about a year ago.

Let’s take a look at what we can learn from each.

#1) The Standard is the Standard

For Dallas Defensive Coordinator Dan Quinn it begins with setting the bar high and having every team member hold each other accountable for the standard.

You can bet that Coach Quinn refocused the defense on this as the Cowboys shut down a red-hot Vikings team 40-3.

It’s something that he has done for a long time as a head coach, coordinator, and position coach, and how he does it is certainly a template for any coach to use with his group, unit, or team.

The standard provides the edge for Coach Quinn and his players. He feels it is important for a coach to define it in writing and put everyone on the same page. He defines “the standard” for his team in this video (click on image for video):

Video: Set Your Standard

#2) Fix it with Fundamentals

Though they came out on the losing end, the Illini have been impressive all year long in a complete turnaround of the program, and the work the staff does on fundamentals is evident.

Success always starts from the top, and behind a strong defense, the Illini go into their final regular season game as the #2 Total Defense holding opponents to 258.6 yards per game, and the #3 Scoring Defense allowing just 13.09 points per game.

And it’s certainly true for the Illini. Brett Bielema sets a strong foundation upon fundamentals which he calls Football 101. In his course, he shares how they practice these daily during ILLINI Drill (click on image for video:

 

Video: Illini Drill - Skills 

With a focus on the fundamentals that make a difference on game day, the foundation is laid for the defensive staff to create a tough defense. 

The lesson to be learned from both teams is that attention to detail in the fundamentals and accountability to the standards can go a long way in producing success on the field.

Always be growing!

Coach Grabowski

P.S. Check out Coach Quinn’s clinic and the Illini Defense Clinic Bundle which kick off our Black Friday savings.