Even though I chose to stop playing football, my love for the art of defensive back is still there. Defensive back is not just a position, it’s a delicate art; one false movement, then the band is playing and you’re on twitter being clowned. It’s so easy to hide on the field when you have help behind you but at defensive back, it’s just you on the island. Not “the” island, but YOUR island; claim your land. It’s the hardest position on the field. Sorry, not sorry quarterbacks. It’s 90% mental, and 10% technical.
Mental:
To become a master of your craft, you have to shape your mind to be the sharpest on the field; almost like another coach. Everybody doesn’t run a 4.2 40 yard dash, 4.0 shuttle, 38 inch vertical, or any absurd numbers to turn heads at the combine. Shit, half of the time you’re not even 100% healthy. Being mentally prepared helps you stay ten steps ahead and know what’s coming next before it even happens.
You need supreme confidence. Defensive backs are the rockstars. Even if you’re not openly boastful or cocky like a lot of athletes, Deion “Primetime” Sanders for example, you still have to know in your heart and in your mind that the receiver in front of you can’t fuck with you. Look at Darrelle Revis or even Vernon Hargreaves, never openly boastful but still shows supreme confidence. No matter what that receiver’s rank is, how many stars, offers, followers, or retweets, know that he can not fuck with YOU.
Swag is not what you have on. It’s a lot of people who look sweet with sleeves, bands, visors but scared as hell to check the best receiver on the field. A lot of people who look sweet get exposed. Swag is all in your confidence and how you carry yourself. You have to want to check the best receiver so you can expose how weak he is and help sharpen your craft. To be the best you have to go against the best and iron sharpens iron. Personally, I went to certain camps around the country because I heard certain receivers would be there and I wanted that work. 
Competition against the best is everything. Swag and confidence comes from putting the time in to sharpen your skill set, reading the playbook to understand your responsibilities in every coverage and coverage check, and watching film on your opponent to know what route he’s about to run just by knowing the formation in relation to down and distance, his alignment on the field, and looking at his eyes to see if he’s looking behind you or more so inside around where the linebackers and safeties are. (Quin Blanding, Safety, UVA pictured making an interception against rival Virginia Tech)
Studying your opponent is everything. I watched more hours of film than I’ve ever watched movies and tv shows. The average American watches 3.5 hours of tv a day, you need to replace tv with whatever program your team uses to watch film. I used to watch film during free periods at school, in class when I’m finished my work, or even if I’m at a game and it’s halftime. There’s been times I’ve been hanging out with a lady and I’m watching film clips, not tweeting or texting other people, but watching film. Film is your best friend. Watching film is what’s going to put you ten steps ahead. Film is how on 3rd and 7, when they’re in a trips set, and you can jump the route of the second receiver for a pick six even though he wasn’t your man as you hear the crowd scream your name. While everybody in the crowd thinks that was merely an instinctive and supernatural play, in reality you watched film for a whole month and knew that play was coming. Go back and watch my tape; a lot of the plays I made came from knowing what was already coming. A few plays on ESPN against Miami Central you will see I broke on the ball before it was thrown because I KNEW it was coming. I knew the hand signals from watching film, I recognized the down and distance, and I recognized the formation. Funny story, my dad still cursed me out after the game. He thought I should have picked it off. I probably should’ve but hey, we beat the shit out of Miami Central and those were still some amazing plays.
Even coming to college at ASU, as soon as I got my iPad I began watching film. Ask a few upperclassmen DB’s like Armand Perry (pictured to the left wearing #13) or 
Laiu Moekiola (pictured to the right wearing #28) for confirmation if you don’t believe me. 
During the summer I watched spring ball to get a feel for the receivers I would see in fall camp. It helped me have an amazing fall camp as a true freshman. Film is the cheat code to success.
A lot of kids go to camps in the summer now, or even 7v7 tournaments. Film doesn’t stop when the season is over. Look over the camp sheet to see which receivers will be in attendance or which receivers play for the 7v7 teams at the tournament. Watch their hudl and watch tape from the previous camps they’ve been to. I promise you, their releases and routes will be ran the same unless they work with Framp Camp then that’s a whole different monster. Even though it’s a lot of bullshit and unrealistic routes ran at camps, generally, everything will all be the same.
Study the receiver’s favorite and most frequent releases. Recognize if he takes an inside release he’s running an inside breaking route, and vice versa if it’s an outside release. Understand their alignment on the field and distance from the end of the line of scrimmage. If they’re under the numbers, more than likely it’s an inside breaking route. If there’s some distance above the numbers with room to the sideline, understand there’s something going to the outside more than likely. You have receivers who change their alignment to manipulate you but that’s a rare crew of receivers. Watch his body language leaving the huddle if it’s a pass or a run, even watch the offensive tackles pressure on his fingers in his stance to give you a pass/run tip. Studying for me was so big I have a couple of notebooks full of notes on receivers in my 2016 high school graduation class. Notebooks full. So yeah, get on the film.
Technical:
Master your skill set. It’s a lot of bullshit videos online and over social media with people doing the most in workouts. All of that stuff looks good, but it’s useless. People do a ton of cool footwork drill and you pop the tap in and none of it translates. Stay simple, and do what you know will translate. 
Jason David with STARS SoCal is a great guy to follow on Instagram (@stars_socal and @sensei_david42); all of his drills are effective and translate. I even had the opportunity to work with him a couple of spring breaks ago. (Jason David, former NFL star corner and founder of STAR SoCal pictured)
Your stance and your back pedal is most essential. You’ll be surprised how many DB’s (even in college) don’t know how to back pedal. Everybody’s not the same height, so the height in your backpedal may not be the same as your teammates. Be sure to be at a comfortable height so when you get out of your break and explode, you don’t have to raise up or drop and have any wasted motion.
There are different ways people teach planting/breaking and driving out of it. I’m a fan of simply putting your cleat in the ground and getting the fuck out your break. No wasted motion, no shifting your momentum, no getting stuck. Put your foot in the ground and change directions. Do what best fits you. Don’t change your entire technique up because you seen someone on tv plant a certain way, or something on social media looked cool or fancy. Do what’s comfortable for you, then master that.
The 45 degree break for the slant as well as the post and flag should be implemented in every workout. The box drill is amazing for that. There are different variations of the box drill, but make sure you add that to your workout. Another one to always add to your workout is the 88 degree break. A lot of people say 90 degree break, but I say 88 because if you go 90 then you’re even with the receiver. As a DB we want to break downhill, not side ways. No matter what you choose to work on for the day, always add a variation where you are working on planting and driving. (Adoree Jackson, former USC star corner, pictured above with interception against Stanford)
You don’t always have to put on cleats and go to the field to work on your craft. You can work on your breaks at home, in your room, or even (subtly) in class. Before you go to bed, squat down to the height you’ll be in your back pedal, and plant your foot as if you’re breaking in a 45 or 88 degree angle 100 times each foot. It doesn’t have to be overly dramatic, but stay controlled and stay inside your frame. When you’re in the grass wearing cleats, focus on being violent in your breaks, exploding, and staying in your frame. What’s your frame? Your frame is the one inch radius around you. Stand up straight and imagine there’s a circle around you with a one inch radius, that’s your frame. If your foot is outside of that radius when you plant, that’s how you slip or even hyperextend something. Don’t over think it too much and make it a practiced dance move, react. Defensive back is about reacting. Work at your craft so much it becomes muscle memory. You don’t know when or where the receiver may be going, so don’t cheat any drill you’re doing.
Tips:
- You won’t win every rep, but that doesn’t mean you lost. An “L” is not a loss, it’s a lesson. Learn from what you got you beat and fix it the next rep.
- Diagnose yourself with short-term memory loss. Not in real life, but on the field. You won’t make every play and you may give up a couple catches. Fuck what twitter says, fuck the jokes, forget it and make the play back. Your legacy isn’t broken from one play. The people who question your skill set from giving up one catch are idiots, just keep working.
- If you have trouble with judging if it’s a back shoulder or a jump ball, look at the chin of the receiver. If it goes up to the sky with his eyes following, the jump ball is coming. If his chin stays down with his head slightly turning back, the back shoulder is coming. Some receivers know how to turn and adjust last-minute, in that case it’ll be hard.
- Staying square as long as possible and keeping your leverage makes your job a
thousand times easier. Don’t speed out in a back pedal but keep a comfortable distance with the 3 second clock in your head without letting the receiver break your cushion or leverage, it’ll help you jump routes a lot easier. - Disguise your coverage every single time. Change your depths in between the cadence of the quarterback to throw off the idea he had of what coverage you were in. It’s a game of manipulation.
- Understanding your playbook and coverages like you know your last name helps you take more rational chances. You know where the hole in the defense is if you jump this route, so you know where the quarterback eyes will shoot towards if you need to recover (if you guessed incorrectly). Make plays, earn your coaches trust, and take chances.
- This is your summer. This is your fall. Every year is your year. Name your island, claim it, wear it proudly. You’re a rockstar!
(Levonta Taylor, Hyrbid Defensive Back, FSU pictured above in the garnet uniform)
Stay classy, stay conscious. Bless up 🙏🏾
Be Carefree, Be You 