We drill every day to teach our receivers how to protect their routes and allow proper route distribution in our pass concepts.

Before getting into specific techniques, let’s define specific terminology that is part of this skill. In general, we talk about this skill as “releasing the alley defender.”

Many times, players must use this skill to defeat a defender in the alley, also defined as the area outside of the tackle box over or inside a slot receiver. This technique also applies to any defender inside or over a receiver who is trying to collision or reroute the receiver.

That defender, especially when positioned inside of the receiver, will use one of two techniques, referred to by us as “hard shoulder” or “soft shoulder.”

The receiver needs to get past the defender and across to a point behind the defender. The defender opening now presents a challenge, and without proper strategy and technique by the receiver, the route will be disrupted.

A soft shoulder is one in which the defender stays square to the line of scrimmage and gets a late read or doesn’t open to disrupt the stem of the route. As a general rule, our receivers will always want to cut “butt side” of the defender.

The general coaching points for our release of the alley player are outlined below:

• Presnap. Identify the player who you will need to release.
• On the snap. Close the distance. “Step on his toes.”
• Take what’s there. If there is little or no movement from the defender onto your path, take what he gives (soft shoulder).
• Keep moving. Stay on the move and do not check your feet.
• Get small. Make yourself small as you near contact with the defender. Contact is OK and will happen, but collisions must be avoided. Give the defender a six-inch target by turning your shoulder as you attack as opposed to staying square and providing an 18-inch surface to hit.
• High then low. Your first thought versus a hard shoulder is to aim high and slip low.
• One-handed. If done right, you will only use a one hand hit. Having to use two hands means you have done something incorrectly, and you are using two hands to win back the route space.
• Eyes onward. After releasing the defender, your eyes go to the next defender key if you have one or to the quarterback, looking for the ball.

Release against hard and soft shoulder defenders is something we drill every day. Initially, we teach and drill the skill in isolation, but as the season progresses, we incorporate this skill into other drills.

By this time of the year, we no longer run routes on air, at least not in a pure sense. We will incorporate defenders we must release into our “route timing” segment. Our players are good about studying the opponent and identifying the technique they will see and being sure that they give their teammates the correct look in drills.

Here is an example of the drill being run by outside receivers working to their hash landmark in our four vertical concept. You can see the players working the shields simulating both hard and soft shoulder techniques. The idea again is to cut butt side into route space.

The videos below show the technique being used and resulting in big plays that are the result of correct technique. There’s nothing more satisfying as a coach when the drill you work in practice shows up as a big play on film.

Keith Grabowski has been a football coach for 26 years, currently serving as an offensive assistant and technology coordinator at Oberlin College in Ohio. He previously was a head coach at the high school level for eight years and the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Baldwin Wallace University. Grabowski serves as an advisor for several sports technology companies. He is a columnist for American Football Monthly and writes his own blog at thecoachesedge.com/blog. He’s the author of “101+ Pro Style Pistol Offense Plays” and five other books available on thecoachesedge.com and operates Coaches Edge Technologies. Follow him on Twitter @CoachKGrabowski.