Scott Shafer - Coaching and Defensive Philosophy

Coaching and Defensive Philosophy

Shafer said his father was his greatest coaching role model. He noted: "My dad always said a good coach can coach any position, and a good coach can coach any scheme. We'll come up with an excellent scheme that is simple enough to let the kids attack and play with great aggression." Shafer explained his defensive philosophy this way:

"Scheme is overrated, I've always believed that. What's not overrated is getting your kids to play with great effort, great attitude and great enthusiasm. Those are things we can control on a daily basis, and that will be my primary goal. . . . The philosophy of our defense is attack-oriented, attack and react. We want to be a defense this is multiple, that is always putting pressure and forcing the hand of the offense. We want to be a penetrating defense. If you're going to (ask) what our objectives are? The one thing we want to do is stop the run, force them to throw the ball on first down, create negative plays on first down . . . and get ourselves in position to force them to throw the ball. Get them one-dimensional. We don't want to be a defense that sits back. We want to be a defense that creates turnovers and scores touchdowns."

Similarly, he told the Detroit Free Press:

"We're an attack defense; scheme is overrated. All schemes can work if you tackle and keep the ball in front. We're an aggressive defense, force the offense's hand. We're going to stop the run on early downs and force the pass. We'll get situations where when we are forcing the pass, we hit the quarterback, forcing him to throw the ball into coverage."

Shafer's defense philosophy has also been published to DVD. He is the author of eight instructional videos that are distributed by Coaches Choice and teach lessons such as tackling, press coverage, and different defense packages.