Coach ,

Known as “Dr. Blitz,” Don Brown, the new head coach at Massachusetts, has coordinated the most elite defenses in all of college football, year in and year out.

Coach Brown runs an aggressive attacking style of defense.  He likes to blitz 62-65% of the time, thus the Dr. Blitz moniker. 

In being so aggressive, there has to be something that keeps the offense off-balance. A blitz-type of defense becomes easy to attack if you know that the pressure is all you have to prepare for.

Therefore, when facing a Don Brown defense, you can also expect him to bluff the blitz and create confusion with "blitz simulators." He believes this is a concept that can be adopted by any defense to create pressure on the quarterback while remaining sound in coverage.   

A blitz simulator presents a perceived threat to the offense which they have to adjust to even though it never happens. Coach Brown explains why blitz simulators are an essential part of a pressure defense in this video (click on image for video): 

Video: Defining a Blitz Simulator:

Ultimately with all Coach Brown does, he wants to “wreck the decision-maker” which was the topic of a recent clinic talk.

That can be done in a number of ways including simulators. You can bet that Coach Brown has plenty of ways to do that in his arsenal. The result is the quarterback on the ground or being forced into poor decisions.  He explains what this has looked like for his defenses here (click on image for video):

Video: Introduction to Wreck the Decision Maker

The first way Coach Brown illustrates is twists. He is a proponent of the twist game in how it clogs up the lanes and “mucks up” the quarterback as well as keeps him in the pocket which is important against the QB who likes to escape. He explains how the twist game works, gives his favorite twists, and illustrates that with practice video here (click on image for video):

Video: Twist Game

Don Brown has the experience you can learn from. Whether it's Simulators, Twists, or 5 Man pressures, his approach to the game has proven successful at all of his stops.

Always be growing!

Coach Grabowski

P.S. Coach Brown shared all of these in this clinic talks “LB Drills and Blitz Simulators” and “Wreck the Decision Maker.” I highly recommend these presentations which are available together here.