The single most important job for us, as coaches, from a fundamental and technique standpoint, is to give our players as many tools as possible to make them successful on the football field. I tell my players on a weekly basis that they need to have as many tools in their “tool belt” as possible, and it is their responsibility to know which tool is needed to do the job on each particular play. We often try to make the game more complicated than it needs to be, thus slowing the speed at which our players can play on game day.
For wide receivers, as for any position, the key to the game is playing as fast as possible with great technique. The key for a WR to play fast is to have a plan, as soon as the play is called, for which tool he is going to use to defeat either press or off coverage that correlates to the route he is going to run. The player must recognize the technique that the defensive back is utilizing, and what he is trying to take away with that technique. Defensive back coaches continuously stress to their players to maintain leverage on the wide receiver. If the wide receiver can recognize the leverage that defensive back is using, then he can use the tools necessary to break down the defensive backs leverage and thus gain an advantage. In an attempt to keep things simple for my wide receivers pre-snap, we break the defensive backs leverage into two categories - press or off coverage.
DEFEATING PRESS COVERAGE
Although we rarely face teams that exclusively use press coverage, release drills are something we do during individual periods twice a week, regardless of the opponent. My theory is that press coverage is much more difficult to defeat than off coverage, so time must be dedicated to beating it every week. We want to practice releases so much that our mentality as a receiving corps and as an offense is that we hope the opponent attempts to press us.
The wide receiver must recognize the technique that the defensive back is using, and what tools he is going to use to break down that technique. When we talk about press coverage, we discuss the possible techniques that a defensive back will utilize when in press. He can either use an aggressive two-hand jam, leverage the wide receiver slightly inside at the snap, leverage outside at the snap, or give ground until the WR commits. Regardless of the technique the defensive back uses, we break down defeating press coverage into three phases:
1. Stance
2. Foot fire
3. Release
Stance
Defeating press coverage begins with the stance. Once again, to keep things as simple as possible, we utilize the same stance regardless of whether or not the defensive back is in press or off coverage.
Coaching points of the stance -
• Chest over knee, knee over toe.
• Hands up and be ready to fight.
• Feet arm pit width apart.
• Be balanced.
• Your head should be below his head.
There are several reasons why this is the only stance we teach at Morehead State. The first is that only teaching one stance minimizes the amount of time a coach has to spend teaching how he wants his players to line up, and the players get in the habit of getting in a stance to defeat press coverage every rep of every practice. Secondly, even if the defender is playing off coverage, this stance encourages the wide receiver to have a good burst off the line of scrimmage without any false steps.
Foot Fire
The foot fire is a technique that we use to both give us a split second to recognize what press technique the defender is going to use and to also attempt to get the defender off balance. At the snap, we will bring our back foot up even with our front foot and rapidly move our feet three to four times. During this momentary span of time, the defender will tip his hand as to whether he will attempt to jam, give ground, or leverage the wide receiver either inside or outside. If the defender remains square during the foot fire, the receiver will jab opposite of the direction he intends to go before using his release move. If the defender leverages either outside or inside during the foot fire phase, the receiver will jab towards the defender to threaten the leverage he is attempting to gain and then release. Lastly, if the defender is playing press, but the receiver is lined up off the ball, it is crucial to gain ground during the foot fire so you can get the defender on his heels. It is during the foot fire phase that the WR will decide the release move he will use (which tool) to counteract what the defender is attempting to do.
Coaching points of the foot fire -
• Fast hands and fast feet.
• Balance the feet and weight.
• Keep the chest down.
• Attack his leverage at all times.
Although we use the foot fire almost every time that a defender is in press, we do give our players the option to utilize what we call the “just go” release occasionally as a change-up if we are playing a team that gives us a lot of press coverage.
Release
The release vs. press coverage is all set up by the proper stance and foot fire. The defender in press can do one of four things, and the receiver has to know in a split second what he is going to do to counteract the defender. That is why the foot fire is so important for the receiver to decide his counter and appropriate release. One of the biggest keys to the release is not only that the receiver uses proper technique, but also that he must be more physical with his hands than the defender. The number one rule of the release, or any aspect of receiver play for that matter, is to never, never let the defender put his hands on your chest. This is accomplished by always stressing that no matter what the release, the receiver must always keep his chest down while facing the defender and turn his shoulder away while passing by the defender.
Coaching points of any release -
• Take the easiest release.
• You must be more physical than the defender.
• Never give the defender your chest.
• Be violent with your hands.
• Get through the defender as skinny as possible.
• Stack the defender.
Release vs. The Jam
If during the foot fire the defender attempts to use a two hand jam, this is when the receiver must be the physical. He should still use a jab stab opposite of the side he intends to release (jab inside for a fade release) at the end of his foot fire. For the sake of discussion, let us suppose that the receiver is on the left side of the line of scrimmage and intends to outside release to run a fade. He should jab to the inside with his right foot and simultaneously use his left arm to attempt to break the outside elbow of the defender.
This move can accomplish one of two things: it can knock the defender off balance, or it can at least cause the defender’s shoulders to turn, thus opening “the gate” for a clean release. There has been a lot of discussion as to whether or not the receiver should aim for the wrist or the elbow, but I maintain that the elbow is both a bigger target and has a bigger effect on the defender. After using the outside arm, the receiver should then use his inside arm to rip through on his release. While ripping through with his inside arm, the receiver should turn his shoulders so that his back is presented to the defender. This insures the number one key to the release, which is never letting the defender put his hands on your chest.
The final step in the release vs. a two-hand jam is the step through. As the receiver rips through with his shoulders square, he should step his inside foot through the defender as skinny as possible. The goal here is to get the receiver’s hips past the defender’s hips and stack the defender. We must constantly correct the receiver’s tendency to “run the hump” when releasing vs. press coverage and allowing the defender to catch up. By stressing the step through and the stack, you can continually stress the importance of getting on top and stacking the defender.
Coaching points of release vs. the jam
• Keep chest down.
• Balance up the feet during foot fire.
• Break the elbow with outside arm.
• Rip through with inside arm.
• Step through with the inside foot.
• Get WR’s hips past the DB’s hips.
Release vs. a Leveraged Defender
During the foot fire phase, one reaction a defensive back may have is to leverage the receiver either inside or outside. When the defensive back does so, the receiver must recognize what the defender is attempting to take away and then attack that leverage. I always tell my receivers to take the easiest release regardless of the route they are running. The defender leveraging one way or the other makes the decision easy, but we still want to threaten the defender’s leverage during the release. For instance, if the defender hops inside during the foot fire, he has been told by his coach not to let the receiver run inside. Therefore, even though we are going to take an outside release, we still want to jab inside at the end of the foot fire. This will either cause the defender to work further inside or cause him to square up on the receiver with inside leverage. Either way, I feel that it will make the release for the receiver that much cleaner.
The release vs. a leveraged defender does not require the two hand physicality that a release vs. a press, two-handed jam requires. After threatening the leverage of the defender that chooses a side to defend, the WR should be able to release vertically with no threat of a two-hand jam. What I tell our receivers to prepare for is the defender to use the one arm closest to him to get a jam as he runs with him, maintaining the leverage he established after the snap. To defeat the defender, after using a jab at the end of the foot fire to threaten his leverage, the receiver should simultaneously use his arm closest to the defender to chop down on the defender’s arm and turn his shoulders so that his back is presented. The chop of the arm should knock off any one-armed jam that the defender attempts, and the turning of the shoulders goes back to never allowing the defender to put his hands on the receiver’s chest.
As a coach, what you have to always be conscious of vs. a leveraged defender is the receiver’s tendency to run a hump during the release, thus allowing the defender to catch up and wall the receiver. You must continually stress that although you want the receiver to take the easiest release, the goal is to stack the defender, and this can only be accomplished by getting through the leveraged defender as skinny as possible.
Coaching points of release vs. leveraged defender -
• Threaten his leverage.
• Be violent with chop of arm nearest defender.
• Turn shoulders so back is to defender.
• Don’t “run the hump”.
Although the goal is to stack the defender, what often occurs is that the receiver gets through clean but the defender is able to maintain his leverage, whether that be outside or inside. Because the receiver is taught to take the easiest release regardless on the route that is called, he will have to utilize either a push off or a push by at the top of his route depending on the leverage of the defender.
Push By
For sake of discussion, let’s assume that the defender hops to an inside leverage at the snap and the receiver is not able to stack on top of the defender on his release. If the receiver intends to run an inside route, such as a dig, he will still take the easiest release, which is outside of the defender. At the top of his route, the receiver will sink his hips and have his shoulders over his toes. He will take his inside arm and place it on the rear of the defender and shove it past. He will then rip through violently with his outside arm and turn his shoulders through. The key for the receiver when getting to the top of the route is that he does not want the defender to put his hands on him and slow down the route. At the top of the route is when the receiver wants to gain proximity to the defender so that he can utilize his push by technique.
Push Off
The push off technique is used when the defender hops inside, but the receiver is going to run a route to the outside. Because the defender is attempting to take away the exact opposite of what the receiver intends to do, this makes the push off much easier to execute than the push by. Everything is the same as the push by with regard to getting to the top of the route and not allowing the defender to put his hands on the receiver, thus slowing down the route.
At the top of the route now, if the defender is on the inside hip, the receiver will create contact by leaning into the defender with his inside shoulder and elbow. At the moment the inside foot contacts the ground to make his outside cut, the receiver will push off the defender using his inside arm. The key to the push off is using the elbow and forearm to execute the push off, never allowing the angle formed by the inside arm to become greater than 90 degrees.
Release vs. a Defender Giving Ground
Often a defender that likes to utilize the two-hand jam will vary his technique by giving ground at the snap to keep the receiver off balance. If the receiver uses a foot fire, he will recognize after the snap that the defender is not going to jam right away, but instead give ground until the receiver commits to the direction he is going to release. To counteract this move by the defender, our receivers will continue to foot fire straight ahead while gaining ground toward the defender. This forces the defender to show his hand as to what he intends to do and often forces him back on his heels, both of which help give the receiver a clean release. Once the receiver gains ground and closes the gap on the defender, he simply uses the release technique previously mentioned that is most appropriate.
Just Go Release
The final release is what we refer to as the “just go” release. Meant to only be used as a change-up vs. a team that is playing a lot of press coverage, this release can be used sparingly to attempt to keep the defender off balance. Instead of using the foot fire at the snap, the receiver does what the name indicates – he just goes. Although the receiver is not using a foot fire, he still needs to use his hands violently and turn his chest away from the defender as he releases to keep the defender from placing his hands on him.
Although the information seems like a lot for a receiver to process, it is my belief that through repetition it will become just like any other skill you are trying to teach - second nature. The pre-season, when considerably more practice time is dedicated toward individual skill development, is a great time to implement these release techniques on a daily basis. Regardless of the opponent, we dedicate two individual periods per week to keeping sharp on our release techniques. This will make sure that when the opponent does decide to come up and press, not only will your receivers remain calm and confident, they will get excited by the fact that they have the potential to score.
About the Author: Tom Duffy enters his third season on the staff of Morehead State University this fall. He is the wide Receivers Coach and became the Recruiting Coordinator in the spring of 2011. He came to Morehead State from Fairhope High School (AL) where he was both Quarterbacks Coach and Offensive Coordinator. Duffy also spent three years as head coach at Franklin County High School (KY) where he had a 32-7 record. A four-year letterman as a defensive back at the University of Ohio, Duffy earned is bachelor’s degree in 2001.