Don Brown: Coaching Primer

Don Brown - Michigan Defense Coordinator

Jim Harbaugh wanted 3-4 defenses, and what he got was a 4-3 / 3-4-looking guy who looked like former defense coordinator DJ Darkin (Update: He then took 3-4 more turns during SM before moving on. At -3, Michigan hit a 4-3 early, almost just 3-3 defensive style, before hitting about 40% UM at the end of the period). If she wants to, she has a husband. He also recruited a man who started Ivy League training in Dartmouth and even had a head coach (record 26-10) as a coach at Yale Baseball, where he was the defense coordinator. Yes, he sounds like Jim Harbaugh's son.

Since then, he has served as defense coordinator at Brown, Eumas, Maryland, Yukon and Boston Colleges. He has also held senior positions in Plymouth, Northeast and UMass. But that's enough from his Wikipedia page. Let's take a closer look at this delicious and attractive mustache and what it brings to the table from a football point of view.

Philosophy

Don Brown is a coach with two strikers, but his philosophy is to attack with space. He wants to

1. Attack the LOS and break the blocking schemes
2. Move the ball and stay on the edge of the blocker
3. He stopped fleeing on his way to Cuba
4. Hurry pedestrians on the descent

This is the essence of his defense. I want to get the rest of the details with my own hands.

Politics

In a study by Dave Arender, Wisconsin's defense coordinator, I had the privilege of learning and getting to know Don Brown's defense, and I've seen him a lot in the last few years. Don Brown is 3-4 years old [update: many fronts], but his one-sided vision expands the whole range, and he will decide at will (formerly known as Buck or WDE) by putting his hands on the ground and running 4 - 3 down, 4-3 up and go ahead.

I've covered space defense 3-4 in more detail before, and the essence of what Brown is trying to do. He will lead a united front

He will run on 3-4 (under 4-3 below) fronts, which he calls the Eagles (usually 2 high defenses), mainly targeting ISO, power or selection teams (Jack in the picture below). .

It will distribute 4-3 of the Eagle's defense, which has support positions outside of Dog Insurance (DS, otherwise known as strong security), primarily cover protection 3.

It has "spark" protection, which is actually an eagle guard, a DL on the nose and an outer shadow on both OGs. He can then shout "spin" and put the ConEC in the middle of the field to let the man play for free. He likes this defense against teams of 12 and 20 staff.

And of course, it has a beer guard like the eagle's front, but it only shows the TE MIKE on the inner shoulder and takes the DS to the LB level. It usually uses a typeless cover on the back.

They will also make real 4-3 overs and 4-3 under defense.

Everything installed looks like this

It ultimately prefers a unified high-security approach and prefers to play without people (update: this coverage he calls "City" where deep security can be established by leaving a separate receiver). But even the territory is more based on human policy than the protection of most areas. Cover 3 is a dense cover 3 similar to Darkin's in Michigan (rarely played in Michigan). Its two heights combine safety features with cover 2 with an interesting view of cover 2 [bracket scheme below 3 (often ending as cover 4 depending on road division)), combining press and territorial responsibilities.

Moving part

The most common thing that comes to mind about Brown's defense is all the moving parts. This is not a static "march" defense. This protection has a continuous working part. And with these moving parts, the full range of attack comes from every defender on the field. If you watched the previous video, you said that the CB lights were on from the square and the border. You will see DS Blitz, LB Blitz, curls, tricks and everything to be thrown in the attack. Brown uses block motion and entropy to mix blocking patterns and get free strokes at the point of attack. B. Blitz gives tasks like homework, telling his people to play fast. Be the first on the offensive point and you will win the most (the problem arises when you can't reach the first attack point or when you can put another person in a more difficult position to defend).

It's a blitz zone where Brown will take advantage of almost every opportunity.

Fast transmission
When I talk about all the moving parts and offensive defense, I also note the weakness of the defense. To be successful, cross-country skiing must be intelligent and integrated. Foreigners cannot go deeper than the deepest (otherwise it opens a great way between them and the inner); Must incur internal costs. Bubbles should be protected; Bubbles (pockets) and fast-moving roads through Paris.

Protect placement

After Michigan was injured by Indiana, fans feared it would be difficult to spread. After the match with the Buckeyes, Wolverine fans were convinced that they could not do it. Brown was aware of this concern even before he applied for a job at Michigan DC.

To save the area, Brown leaves the stage in a bracket covered with high security and a type 2 trap and two high covers. He does this so that he can turn the guard into a support to protect the floor (outer face / TE, inside # 2) or while walking (outside # 2, inside # 1). Sometimes he will choose a look with height and set a deep security folding / alley. His deep security is not as deep as Durkin's; This places a greater responsibility on the CB for success, as the buyer can often exit the defense without much support from above. The box is primarily responsible for the operation (including security) when the CB is almost completely closed before assisting the CB and in some cases in a supportive manner.

Back line training

Although Brown coached DB and BC, he also coached LB. I'm not going to go too far here, but here's a video about the experience and basics of BC under his guidance.

and so on.

Ian Boyd did a good job in BC against FSU in the football office

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Inside the Playbook: More depth into Don Brown's Defense

Delve into the schemes of Don Brown

Yesterday, Brian (mgoblog) talked about some spring drills, where he talked about the estimate that Michigan would cover more than a quarter, like OSU and MSU.
I strongly deny that statement.

Brown was the single with the most coverage throughout his career. SAM hybrid players have nothing to do with front or quarterback coverage, some teams use it this way, like the bottom team and some 3-4 (3-3-5) teams.
Brown has always been under 4-3 players / 3-4. It looks like he's running a bit further towards the end due to his cane, but I still wouldn't be surprised to see Taco at 2 points (even though he would nominally speed up pedestrians in 95% of cases). . This brown deal.
Pepper will play some SAM. He covers some TE and the shooting guard above him rotates into deep midfield (the remote shooting guard has SKY support in coverage 3 and men cover the slot or back in coverage 1 and can help control the TE in entire lineup). I would be very surprised if Michigan Base took a 4-3 lead because what I am describing is that Brown's last MO and QB never existed.

While I still support it as basic coverage in Michigan, I want to clarify a few things.

Don Brown has focused on the game in his defense, especially the idea of ​​two high-security games. He also has a cover 2 concept to his defense. Brown will play a two-tier safe in certain situations. This probably won't be the base, and in most cases it won't be the default target during the game.

For the choice structure, I made a little mistake there. The default, as I see it, is 3-4 or 4-3 with a policy interval, but it often does what I call an exaggerated "jam" combination (this is the MSU term). But he uses what he calls an anchor. I've also used the word "anchor" as a tactic in the past, which is basically "spacing out." I have used it with an external space support or barrier against area blocking schemes. Brown uses the SDE "anchor" to close the gaps in his defense. You'll also notice that WDE is often in the colon position.

Here Brown uses a different strategy than most.

Here is the standard alignment up and down from my observation of Brown

Brown, for example, regularly overflows from James Light's blog (which he has linked to more than once on the front page). It is called the Brown "72" model.

This is Brown's "Eagle" cover, which is basically a trap for cover 2. CB is not responsible for WR #1, his eyes search for someone in the back row to lead the way to the floor. He will jump into the room when nothing threatens to take him down, and basically push players to the ground, his tactics will be somewhat flattering and he will crash hard into each player.

However, pay attention to the front "over" with the anchor position. SDE line in 6i or TE technology. This gives SAM more protection so the blocker can't get to him. SAM compatible with SDE inner thighs. Just as often, SAM is a 5x5 by 3x3 technique at the outside shoulder of the TE or wider. But it is extra for the feeling of the DT.

This is a lineup that uses WR differently than playing SAM in the first place.

Note that this object is deck 6. One side touches the "cloud" lever ("side" up) where it is in the apartment, whatever. The other side plays the "vision" strategy (a cheat strategy I've come across in most terms), resulting in either a Cover 2 or a Cover 1/4-1/4-1/2 6.
This is a button handling formation where SAM plays a "lean stance" (basically a forward SAM strategy).

And in almost all of these cases, if the anchor tilts outwards, SAM is responsible for the external gap. From the SAM point position, Peppers will not be a nominal box defender (like a kick box). Play somewhere other than TE.
As I was saying, Brown has two high-security decks. He basically drinks them in one case, but does different tricks (from MEG and MOD cover 4 to trap and 1/4-1/4-1/2). It has coverage of coverage 3 and coverage 1, on which it is usually based. And you will have your combined coverage. Why do you like the top single look? Because it's easy to present multiple printed images with high security. Barrels are easy to adjust (less dependent on DB, which is usually limited to barrel adjustment), you can apply pressure from more places, etc. This allows them to stay in the base space while doing something else with the front. And a lot of that pressure comes from the front or from 3-4 fronts.

But after all, he's the "very" coach Michigan has almost always known for a long time. This in itself is very different from what MSU and OSU do. These groups greatly simplify their purpose (basically cover 4 bases and then cover 0 or 2 low, 3 high (MSU) or 3 low, 3 high (OSU). Michigan won't. You mix and match matching covers with your opponents.

But, I add, Brian is not wrong here. Michigan will play a cover 4. You play ahead. But it will not be the base. A "4 heights" scene would be part of the plan (again Cover 2 Trap, Cover 4 MEG, Cover 4 MOD, Cover 6), probably a base height, but some would.

Etc.
James Light recently put together some excellent sources for Brown.

Philosophy

against vacuum

Ash Lightning Package

Spring

Install 2014 Don Brown BC