How to Teach Blitzes in the 3-4 Defense

Meet the Coach:

With more than 23 years of football experience, Head Coach Aaron Brady has been training St. Mary’s at the south of Washington DC. He was Washington Catholic League’s 2010 Coach of the Year, when he went 29 and 16 at Gonzaga. A defense coach at heart, he has won so many state titles that this 2021 was his third in a row.

Washington Catholic League:

Being a very tough conference, Washington Catholic League stretches to three different states: Maryland, Virginia and DC. Several Catholic schools, including some from USA Today’s top 25 teams, are coming all together in this competitive league. Though the conference entails traveling (around an hour and 15 to two hours), the league is great that it produces guys continuing on to play college football. And to win a league such as this, one must go back to the basics.

Scrimmage the Best

To train is to be the better, but to compete with the greatest is to be the best. This is why Coach Aaron and his teams travel and go their way to play and be challenged by the most competitive teams out there. Another good thing about competing with teams above ones’ level is to challenge both the average and excellent players within the group.

Playing a game and traveling as a team will also help the kids once they join college football and have division one games (since they also get to see different kinds of colleges during the trips).

“You can take your kids and go. The maturation process of being on a trip, taking on different sizes, levels and areas in the country… Those experiences are important for any program and gives a lot to our kids.” – Coach Aaron Brady

It has always been preached to the kids that to be a champion, one has to see it, believe it and achieve it. But to start the seeing part, they need the following experiences:

1. Allow the players to compete with stronger teams for exposure and better visualization

2. Just like Washington Catholic Conference is doing, let the kids play all over the country

3. Teach the kids to love competitions as venue for learning

This method of empowering the kids is equally important as teaching them the techniques. And there are great reads and blogs on AllAccessCoaching.com like Rick Stewart’s “Worst to First” program building which is a kind of deep dive boot camp.