Ruthless Aggression-Football the Don Brown Way
Ruthless Aggression- A term associated with the defense Don Brown loves to play. He loves to show different looks and if allowed, will play a ton of man coverage. At Michigan his defenses were top 10 with one exception, the 2020 season. He is one of the best teachers I have seen and his defenses are very fundamentally sound in all aspects of play. They are fun to watch and will be at UMass in 2022.
Don Brown's defenses at Michigan the five years he was there in national ranking (yards per play allowed)were: second (2016); sixth (2017); eighth (2018); 10th (2019) and 56th (2020) which had a ton to do with covid and several key players sitting out.
Before that he took a BC unit that was very bad in 2013 and turned into one of the best defenses in 2015. They were #1 in yards allowed per game. That's a pretty good improvement from 93rd in 2013 where they were 93rd. They were also #1 in rushing defense in 2015, holding teams to a whopping 83 yards a game. That is pretty impressive from a stats pont of view, considering they were 3-9 on the year and struggled on offense.
Last year, Arizona was 56th in the country after being 116th in 2020. Every place he's gone his defenses have improved and it's a credit to him and his staff.
The defense all starts with defending the run and being slid in their run fits. They are a 4-2-5 defense that will convert to a 4-3 depending on the alignments and what you present offensively. They will also play a ton of man, both man and man free, some trap coverage and some cover 2. Those are some of the basic premises of his defense. They will bring 5 man pressures and some 4 simulated pressures and their simulated pressures really give teams trouble.
Run Philosophy
Michigan is committed to stopping the run. They play a 4-2-5 and are very gap conscious. They are 1 gap with their LB's and have specific responsibilities as they take care of the A through D gaps.
DE will primarily be in a 6i if he has a tight end on the ball to him. This helps them spill everything.
The secondary is responsible for alley and out in their run defense with one of the cb or safeties designated for run support. Lastly, a key component is from the DE and ILb, they will spill everything on any slice blocks or kick out type blocks.
They play excellent run defense even though they are in man concepts with some cover 2 trap and some cover 2 mixed in.
Spill Technique
Michigan plays spill technique.
Rules:
Playside DE stays flat, tries to play off the heels of the tackle and get inside of any puller or slice block to get it to bounce.
Playside LB will scrape off the DE and also spill any Guard, puller or block by the fullback.
Viper/Sam Lb is the D gap player. Secondary will play alley and any perimeter type runs.
Their technique is excellent though as they don't do it with shoulders but actually play the technique with their hands. They use no shoulders which allows LB's and De's to make plays rather than just force the ball kicked when they spill it.
Here is an example vs Wisconson. Watch the DE spill it, then the playside LB spill it, and the overlap LB make the tackle. They do a great job executing their technique.
Here is the film with the pics above:
Michigan vs Wisconsin 2018 The LDE plays great technique, squeezes off the tackles heels, blows up the slice block and makes the tackle. The LB scraping over the top is there to clean it up. The safety plays it outside in.
THE DE CAN MAKE THE PLAY BECAUSE HE'S NOT GIVING HIMSELF UP WRONG ARMING!
Watch the DE on this play stay square and on the line of scrimmage after denting the OT.
Perimeter Run Support
IN 2019 Michigan beat Notre Dame 38-7. Notre Dame tried to attack the boundary on a few occasions and the Defense held strong. The first is on toss crack, where the CB does a nice job crack replacing and forcing it back inside. Michigan CB can play the run. 6i does a great job and really plays the defense well.
On the very next play they run split zone. This time Michigan has a game on with the DE playing B gap and LB playing C. works great as they get the ball forced back to the ILB. Excellent run scheme.
(see clips below)
Later on they run Jet sweep again to the boundary. Again everyone does their job. DE plays QB, Viper is D gap, head to the gap and the CB is the run support with the nub side.
Awesome defense vs jet to the boundary.
2 plays from above
Fullback kick out
Here's how it looks vs a fullback and a kickout block. They play it the same way. They get inside the kickout with their dent technique. Viper is there to play the QB. Great job by the defensive end. Down his job inside and plays great technique.
Fullback ISO/spill technique
Here you see them spill on an inside iso play
Bonus clips Spill technique Dual read with the safeties
Another aspect of his run defense used to be his city technique. This was a dual read of the h back vs 11 personnel. They used to run this more in earlier years and now they seem to be spinning more with the secondary. It is a great philosophy as both safeties read the h back for run and have rules based on where the h back fits.
Pass Defense
Michigan Db's understand route concepts. They are well coached on what to expect based on alignments and do a great job passing off crossing routes especially mesh and shallow concepts. They are very good at this.
Basic Coverages
A. man free
B. man
C. 2 man hole or 2 man double
D. trap
E. cover 2
Here's some analysis of his some of their pass concept schemes. Michigan will play some man to man free concepts. On 3rd down you will see some more 2 high looks that becomes man free with a hole player.
They also like to show some exotic looks to simulate pressure and force indecision by the quarterback. Coach Brown is a master of sim pressures and causes confusion at times for a qb.
Man free concepts
Michigan is playing Penn state with the Nittany Lions coming out in empty. The #1 wr is off the ball and that's KJ Hamler, a dude! He runs a mesh concept out of empty. THE Cb and safety exchange responsibilities on the crossing route. The Safety takes the crosser and the CB ends up playing the hole. Nice job on 3rd and 6 as they hold Penn State to a 3 yard gain.Seems like this game they did some things with #1 who was
KJ Hamler NFL. Great defense and execution.
The CB #24 makes an in call, the strong safety #20 takes #1 and the CB now becomes the hole defender.
The Safety reads it and makes a great play on the crosser up top for a 2 yard gain.
Great defense above as they stop a pivotal 3rd and 6 vs Penn State.
Here Michigan plays the concept away from 3x1. Again they show a 2 high look.
They do a great job with it as they take away the mesh concept with excellent man coverage. THE CB and FS exchange on the crosser. The CB becomes the hole defender.
Vs Notre Dame 3rd and 9
You see how they pass off the shallow inside routes and play straight up on routes more than 5 yards.
Great job playing the crossing routes.
Man Double teams vs W Michigan
Michigan likes to double a good wr or 2 at times. W Michigan #2 wr was their best.
In the picture below they are in man with a clear double team on the slot #2 wr on the bottom of the screen.
You can see the clear double with the safety and Sam linebacker on the #2 wr
Nice job on the double team on the bottom of the screen. regular man concepts up top. Viper falls down
Here's a 2 man double vs Northwestern. The #3 WR in the trips is Northwestern's best player. They bracket and double him with the safety and the Mike LB. Great design by Coach Brown.
You can see the MIke and safety doublling vertically with everyone else in Man. LB has the back but gets tied up inside.
Cover 2 trap coverage
Cover 2 trap is a coverage where the CB show blitz but are looking to play run. The qb has a tough time because he doesn't know if the CB is blitzing or going to cut the #1 WR and get underneath him. It causes a cloudy picture in the RPO game. This is another part of Coach Brown's arsenal.
Cover 2
Michigan will run some cover 2 and is a good change up for them. They like to bring some simulated pressures when they run cover 2. Sometime it will be a 4 man pressure and other times it will be a 5 man pressure with 4 under and 2 deep. They will play it vs 2x2 and at times 3x1 formations.
Here's some cover 2 pressures vs Rutgers in 2019 They went cover 2 vs Rutgers on early downs, especially vs 2x2 formations.
Looks like the sam is coming but they bring the will and he gets a clean hit. They play 2 read without the hook defender. (clip 2 on the film below)
Lastly, Don Brown is known for his exotic pressures.
3rd and 8 vs Rutgers, he brings two LBs out of their odd front. They cause confusion, run cover 2 with it and get a great pressure. (clip 3 on the film below)
Here are the 3 clips discussed above. All 5 man pressures with cover 2
cover 2 clips
More analysis to come on Don Brown and his great Michigan Defense. Umass is lucky to get a great coach like Don at it.
Other resources:
Lone star Clinic
https://matchquarters.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Don-Brown-–-Lone-Star-Clinic-PDF-1.pdf
Eleven warriors 3x1 checks
https://www.elevenwarriors.com/college-football/2017/04/81264/film-study-how-don-brown-led-michigan-to-the-nations-1-ranked-defense
MAIZEN BREW BREAKDOWNS
https://www.maizenbrew.com/2018/11/7/18071718/film-focus-michigan-defense-vs-penn-state-offense-mcsorley-harassed-under-pressure
Don Brown Pass Rush Twist
http://www.blitzology.com/2016/11/don-brown-pass-rush-twist.html
Don Brown Youtube Video-Solve your Problems with Aggression
https://youtu.be/xdHNhmhTwLA
