In just his third season of coaching the defensive line at Miami University (Ohio), Coach E.J. Whitlow has already produced three All-MAC honorees. Last season, the Warhawks had 38 total sacks, 28 of which came from the defensive line. A former defensive tackle at the University of Findlay (Ohio), Coach Whitlow was named First-Team All-GLIAC and team MVP during his playing days. On today’s episode of the Coach and Coordinator podcast, hear how Coach Whitlow has instructs his defensive linemen on their pass rush moves, gap control, hand placement, block shedding and more. 

0:20 Intro

1:05 Beginning of Coach Whitlow’s career

2:24 Developing as a coach

4:06 Transition to Grand Valley State (Mich.)

6:15 Expectations for defensive linemen

7:12 Coach Whitlow’s catch phrases

8:31 Keys to playing upfront

9:21 Gap control

11:30 Art of hand placement

12:56 Using your hips

14:11 Traits to look for 

15:43 Identifying strengths in players

17:01 Utilizing movement upfront

18:07 Maintaining gap while moving

19:33 Defensive line tackling drills

20:51 Shedding blocks

22:07 Pass rush progressions

24:30 Keys to footwork

25:20 Tipped passes at the line

26:11 Powering through offensive linemen

27:48 Combining pass rush moves

28:31 Scouting offensive linemen 

You can follow Coach Whitlow on Twitter here @CoachWhit_MU

Check out our systems for skill development in blocking, defeating blocks and tackling at footballdevelopment.com. Follow us daily on Twitter for content and interaction @FBDevCoach and be sure to check out X's and O's analysis at blogs.usafootball.com.