Catch Man Technique (Part 2)
This is the second part of Darren Garrigan’s informative article on catch man technique. If you missed part 1 you can find it here.
I first introduced the catch man technique in the spring, but after the spring was over I was not happy with myself coaching it, so I went back to the drawing board. I studied all summer and tweak it to where the kids had more comfortable and had more of a rhyme and reason behind it.
Catch started out to only be in cover 0 and that was because we was bringing pressure and the QB had to throw the ball quick. By playing with depth and ball coming out quick, all the DB had to do is drive hard downhill and the outcome would be an interception, pass break-up or a tackle to stop the sticks and all that could be done without a backpedal.
We actually got through a whole season without any back pedal really because of the catch, press and shuffle. Players will buy in to anything that will help them make plays, so it was an easy sell to them. Once they see how it can help them drive fast on routes and still play the deep ball, they were all in. Players will always buy in if it helps them, if it does not help them they will not buy in. So my job was to coach, teach, motivate and show them how catch man can work.
WATCH THE CORNER AT THE TOP
Defining the Comfort Zone
Comfort zone is a behavioral state within which a person operates in an anxiety-neutral condition, using a limited set of behaviors to deliver a steady level of performance, usually without a sense of risk. That sums it up right there with that definition. Sometimes coaches tend to over coach and I caught myself over coaching my guys sometimes. When you make it simple and the kids believe, they will perform at a high level.
The better the athlete the quicker he will be more confident in catch. The depths for all the players are the same between 8 & 9 yards. The hardest sell to the players are staying put from depth and breaking on routes once they see it develop. DB’s are used to pedaling and shuffle then making their breaks, but with catch tech they do less and in reality get more results.
Check Out The Video To See The Catch Man Technique
The DB will have his inside foot up, hips facing the WR. (See the video above) Once WR breaks on quick route, all the they have to do is drive on the route. If they get a vertical route, shuffle/slide their feet, try to collision and run. We did not do much practice drills because they need to see the WR routes at full speed so we did all practice vs. our offense. The comfort zone is simple, what they feel best works for them, do it, and I will coach that off what they like. Comfort zone is a feel for the player, so the alignment, assignment and goals don’t change. Only thing that change is how they “feel” doing it.
Players can change their depth and footwork if they are comfortable with it. The more they have experience with it, the more comfortable they are and can execute it at a higher level. I got this technique from the NFL by just studying and watching Revis. It is a hard Technique to get but once they have figured it out, it can work magic. Harder for a freshman, but my true freshman who played over 100 snaps loved the technique (it helps that he was 6’0 190).
Darren Garrigan is a FirstDownPlayBook guest blogger. He is the defensive backs coach and just finished his 2nd season at East Central University where he mentored 1 All-American, 5 All-Conference and 2 All-Region players. While there, the East Central defenses lead the conference in takeaways back-to-back seasons. Prior to joining the staff at East Central, he coached at Freedom High School in Woodbridge, VA for 2 years. Coach Garrigan has worked over 15 Division one football camps (Including working with Deion Sanders)