Sports Illustrated Football: Defense by Bud Wilkinson

This is, of course, the companion volume to Wilkinson's book on Offense, and I must say that I found far more points in this book that helped me to understand football better than before. In fact, I was watching one of the bowl games and pointed out to my wife one of the things that the defense "keys" on to decide how to counter an offensive play. One would think, though, that experienced camera people would know about this, too, and wouldn't end up filming a spot on the field where nothing important was happening so often, but...I suppose not.

"...(linebackers and secondary men) must 'read' or 'key' as the ball is snapped. These terms mean watching one or two offensive players whose movement at the start of the play usually indicates the type of play to be run...
1) Offensive linemen downfield means the play is a run.
2) Offensive linemen pulling out either ot the left or right indicates that the play is going in that direction.
3) Offensive linemen drop-stepping back to execute a pass-protection block indicates that the play will be a pass."

On avoiding being "juked" or faked out,

"Most running backs have excellent balance and an uncanny ability to fake with their head, eyes, shoulders, arms and even legs. But it is difficult to fake with the belt buckle. Even O.J. Simpson will be where his belt buckle is."

Is his belt buckle in the slammer these days?

One of those things that seems obvious, but which I often hear from color commentators before the game,

"It is one of football's truisms that the team controlling the line of scrimmage wins the game."

On the topic of "swarming to the ball" which seems to be a sign of an effective defense,

"It is an essential of team defense that all linebackers (and linemen) pursue the ball when it is in the air, regardless of their distance from it. If they stop their pursuit, they become mere spectators."

I have this problem in racquetball some days.

I'm definitely going to see if I can find some more recent books by Wilkerson - they're making me a far better "consumer" of football. Unfortunately, the season is almost over...long time to wait for the next.

Sports Illustrated Football: Offense by Bud Wilkinson

Heh. This book is so old there's no picture on Amazon to go with it.
I was talking with my friend and supervisor, Chip, at work the other day and mentioned that I'd always wanted to find a book that outlined basic football strategies. The following day, there were these two books laying on my desk, he said he found them in the break room - a fortuitous coincidence.

This book really has some good information on basic offensive strategies and technicques for the offensive team, including blocking, pass patterns, and the responsibilities of each position. It doesn't have a lot of info on the latest developments by modern teams, but I'm pretty certain that the basics haven't changed, and that teams that teach and practice these basics probably have good success.

Often, when I'm watching a football game, I note that much of what the announcers have to say is the same thing over and over, such as,

"Well, the offensive line really needs to protect the passer today."

or,

"The amazing thing about wide receiver Smith is that he runs a very consistent pattern, so the quarterback can throw the ball before he reaches that spot on the field."

And I think to myself, "I could say things like that. Why aren't I making the big bucks announcing games?"

This book is filled with just those sorts of basic things.

In Blocking Techniques:

"The position of the head is of paramount importance. Most poor blockers fail to bull their neck. Instead of holding their head directly over their shoulders, they tend to tilt it to the outside and look at the ground. They lose sight of the opponent and consequently miss the block."

and,

"As the ball is snapped, the blocker moves directly at his opponent, keeping his eyes squarely on the belt buckle. As he approaches the area of contact, he should be in a low hitting position and have nough momentum to meet and if possible overpower the defender."

There's some good description of proper positioning of the arms on a handoff, which could explain many fumbles, when it's not correctly executed:

"The outside hand should be curled in slightly just inside the hip to block the ball if the quarterbsack extends it too far. The inside elbow should be up, with the forearm parallel to the ground, opening the target for the quarterback...A good ball carrier takes the hand-off from feel, watching only the defensive players in the area he will hit. If he looks for the ball, he'll lose sight of the defense and miss the holes."

There are some more recent editions of this book out there. I'd suggest reading them for any student of the game.