Coach ,

North Shore High School in Texas just won their second state championship under head coach Jon Kay.

Bear Bryant’s saying, “Defense wins championships” has become popular, and most successful programs will point to it as a fundamental truth.  

Coach Kay certainly values what the North Shore Mustangs have been able to accomplish on the defensive side of the ball to lead them to two state championships.

For the Mustangs it starts with the Pillars which he feels are important regardless of the scheme any particular program runs.

He explains those 4 pillars in this video:

Video: Pillars of Defense

We all have goal boards whether that’s for our offense, defense or special teams. Coach Kay explains how most of those do not define defensive success. He points to a statistic call “toxic differential” which he learned from listening to former NFL head coach Brian Billick. He talks about defining success and statistics that matter here:

Video: Defining Defensive Success

While the 4-3 has become the defense that has worked best for Coach Kay and the Mustangs, these principles he talked about in these video clips apply to any defensive system. All have the same objective - to help their team win.

Good luck to you as you refine and evolve your systems for the 2022 season!

Always be growing!

Coach Grabowski