Football Wide Receiver Coach Joe Osovet Featured In "American Football Monthly"
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (July 7, 2011) - C.W. Post football wide receiver coach Joe Osovet is featured in the latest "American Football Monthly" magazine. Osovet contributed an article about wide receiver plays to the magazine. The article, complete with pictures, can be found at www.gridironstrategies.com.
Wide Receiver Play….Flying on the Perimeter
Most people sitting down on Saturday afternoon after a pass is caught don't realize all the fundamental things that go into that reception. I use the analogy of playing wide receiver to flying an airplane. Flying a plane you have 3 parts. You have the takeoff, flight, and the landing.
The takeoff is the stance. I teach the pigeon toe stance this prevents any “false steps” and gets the weight on the ball of the lead foot. Good forward lean head over chest and chest over toes. Hand placement should be above the waist. This will help us when facing hard leverage. The analogy I use is you ever going to go into a fight with your hands by your side?
The next phase is the flight we will use a combination of releases based upon hard or soft leverage. Open or closed access.
Hard Leverage Releases:
· Slam Release
· Freeze Step
· Angle Release
· Cloth Rip
SLAM RELEASE- We will use a forceful strike with both hands. The contact point will be the chest plate of the defender. We then will take the best possible release based on progression of route either inside or outside.
FREEZE STEP- We will put 3 steps down before we take any vertical release. The key to this release is to get the defenders to be on their heels before they can shoot their hands on us “FREEZING them”. I will teach “The head is attached to the feet” when putting 3 steps down.
ANGLE RELEASE- This release is for any type of slant concept routes. We will take 3 hard outside steps to widen the leverage to give us room to get “back under the route”.
CLOTH RIP- Very similar to the slam release we will be forcefulwith our hands. We will grab the defenders cloth. The aiming point is just above the armpit of the defender. Once we grab cloth simultaneously the other hand follows with a rip technique or a pin and punch.
Soft Leverage or Attacking Over hangs Defenders:
• Skin Swipe
• Leverage Release
• Take Release
SKIN SWIPE- Used vs. overhangs looking to use the funnel technique. When we watch film as a unit I want our players to visualize the concept of what overhang defenders are trying to accomplish (disrupting route stems). They are looking to funnel you to the strength of the coverage. If you watch enough film once an overhang defender stops his feet (Dead Feet) he will then shoot the hands. We will look to combat this by getting on the defenders toes as soon as possible causing “Dead Feet” and “catching his hands”. Once the defenders feet are dead I tell our receivers the defenders “hands are going to shoot”. Our hands must be thrown simultaneously with the defenders in a swiping down movement while we get “Skinny Hips”. This gets the defenders hands away from our body while giving the defender less of a target to contact. In addition, this will cause the defender to lose all leverage at route break points.
LEVERAGE RELEASE- The leverage release is used at the top of any hitch curl concept when the defender is squatting on us and when we must sit the route down with no option attached to it. We will be physical at the top of the route. On contact we will aim for the inside shoulder pad and make contact with the forearm and shoulder. We will “sky out” with the shoulder and forearm in a very aggressive upward motion maintaining low pad level. When teaching the leverage release make sure your wide receivers know we DON'T want full arm extension. This is what the referees are taught to look for when calling offensive pass interference.
TAKE RELEASE- This release is used vs. cover 2 when we must widen the corner. We will not take any vertical stem steps. We will immediately depart for an aiming point of 3 yards from the boundary to elongate the corner. If the corner has outside position pre snap we will aim for outside shoulder and incorporate the “Skin swipe” technique.
Break Points: This is the most significant part of the “flight phase”. Proper body mechanics and position is a must. We must come out of breaks as quickly and efficiently as possible. Keep your arms moving to create an illusion of speed. Keep low pad level and have a balanced forward lean. DO NOT raise pad level at breaking point or drop arms. DB's are taught to read these 2 factors.
The Landing:
· Stack the defender whenever possible, know coverage's and find open windows.
· Proper hand placement when catching balls (Above waist –thumbs and pointers create triangle)
(Below waist- pinkies together)
(Side- Inverted Triangle Thumbs and pointers)
· “Pluck and tuck”, “Tuck before 2” are some of the catch phrases I use. Constant reminder to catch and secure the football. One move and get north and south!
These are some of the important points of playing on the perimeter. I'm going to build a toolbox for my wide receivers. We are going to cover every possible scenario that they will see on game day this way there is no hesitation in them. They can just be athletes! Eliminate any cognitive process. Give them every answer in that toolbox. Let them have a safe flight!
Wide Receivers's Stance:
Joe Osovet's Bio:
1995-2005: Wide Receiver Coach Nassau Community College
2005-2009: Offensive Coordinator Nassau Community College
2010-2011: CW Post Wide Receiver Coach