Complete Linebacking - Lou Tepper

Complete Linebacking

by Lou Tepper

NEW, 328 pages

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About Complete Linebacking

The linebacker position is more challenging than ever, whether a player is taking on a 320-pound lineman or covering a speedy receiver. In Complete Linebacking, Lou Tepper tells and shows how to excel at one of the game's most demanding positions.

Tepper has coached three Butkus Award winners-Alfred Williams, Dana Howard, and Kevin Hardy-plus one Butkus runner-up and 20 linebackers who have gone on to play in the NFL. In his 30 years of college coaching, Tepper's defenses have consistently been top-ranked nationally.

The book describes in depth and illustrates clearly the fundamentals, pre-snap keys, and techniques used by any inside or outside linebacker in a specific defense. A special teaching section explains how to prepare quality practices and meetings to maximize learning and performance.

Complete Linebacking provides full coverage for coaching and playing the position, including:

• the qualities needed to play linebacker;
• fundamental skills for all linebackers, regardless of the team's scheme;
• keys to look for in an offense for clues about the upcoming play before the ball is snapped;
• tips for teaching the linebacker position in team meetings and practices; and
• a grading system to evaluate performance.

The book also includes four key linebacker ability tests and 33 drills to measure and improve position-specific skills. More than 200 diagrams and photographs illustrate Tepper's detailed explanations.

No other book has ever addressed this subject in such depth.
Complete Linebacking is an essential book for every coach's library.

About Lou Tepper

Lou Tepper is one of football's most widely respected defensive coaches. He has coached 20 linebackers who have gone on to play professional football, including three Butkus Award winners-Alfred Williams, Dana Howard, and Kevin Hardy-and one Butkus Award runner-up. He directed nationally ranked defenses at the College of William and Mary, Virginia Tech, the University of Colorado, and the University of Illinois, the last of which became known as "Linebacker University" during his nine-year stay.

After serving as Illinois' defensive coordinator and as assistant head coach to John Mackovic from 1988 to 1991, Tepper was promoted to head coach. In five seasons he guided the Illini to three bowl appearances, including a 30-0 victory in the 1994 Liberty Bowl. During his tenure as head coach at Illinois, 91 percent of the team's seniors graduated. Tepper also developed a racial harmony policy for which he received a Martin Luther King Jr. Award.

Tepper graduated from Rutgers University, where he was a standout defensive back. He went on to assist Jim Root at the University of New Hampshire and the College of William and Mary from 1968 to 1977, Bill Dooley at Virginia Tech from 1978 to 1982, and Bill McCartney at the University of Colorado from 1983 to 1987.

Tepper was named the 1990 Assistant Coach of the Year in the Big Ten Conference by The Sporting News. He served as chairman of the Big Ten Head Football Coaches organization in 1996. For three years he was a member of the American Football Coaches Association Ethics Committee, headed by American Football Coaches Association executive director, Grant Teaff. A charter member and chairman of the Illinois State Board of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), Tepper is an active speaker for FCA and Promise Keepers, an organization headed by his former coaching colleague Bill McCartney.

Tepper and his wife, Karen, have two children, Matthew and Stacy Ann. His favorite leisure activities include reading, jogging, and racquetball.

Reviews of this Book

"One of the most comprehensive position books I have ever read, by one of the game's best to have ever coached the position! Lou Tepper's book on linebacker play is a must for every coach's library and also would be a great supplement for their players' notebooks. Some of Lou's ideas and concepts and drills have certainly influenced our thinking about linebacker play here at the Academy."
Fisher DeBerry
Head Coach
United States Air Force Academy

"Lou's linebackers consistently play as well or better than other linebackers I've seen, and they aren't always the most talented. The answers to how and why they perform so well are in this book. You're in for a learning experience."
Dick Vermeil
Head Coach
St. Louis Rams

About American Football

American football, known in the United States as football, is a sport played between two teams of eleven. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. The ball can be advanced by running with it or throwing it to a teammate. Points can be scored by carrying the ball over the opponent's goal line, catching a pass thrown over that goal line, kicking the ball through the opponent's goal posts or tackling an opposing ball carrier in his own end zone.

In the United States, high school football, college football and professional football are played under slightly different rules. High school football is governed by the National Federation of State High School Associations, college football by the National Collegiate Athletic Association and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, while the major professional league is the NFL.

The sport is also played in Europe, Japan and Mexico. The International Federation of American Football acts as an international governing body for the sport. American football is closely related to Canadian football but with some differences in rules and the field.

Because the game stops after every down, giving teams a chance to call a new play, strategy plays a major role in football. Each team has a playbook of dozens to hundreds of plays. Ideally, each play is a scripted, strategically sound team-coordinated endeavor. Some plays are very safe; they are likely to get only a few yards. Other plays have the potential for long gains but at a greater risk of a loss of yardage or a turnover.

Generally speaking, rushing plays are less risky than passing plays. However, there are relatively safe passing plays and risky running plays. To deceive the other team, some passing plays are designed to resemble running plays and vice versa. These are referred to as play-action passes and draws, respectively. There are many trick or gadget plays, such as when a team lines up as if it intends to punt and then tries to run or pass for a first down. Such high-risk plays are a great thrill to the fans when they work. However, they can spell disaster if the opposing team realizes the deception and acts accordingly.

The defense also plans plays in response to expectations of what the offense will do. For example, a "blitz" (using linebackers or defensive backs to charge the quarterback) is often attempted when the team on defense expects a pass. A blitz makes downfield passing more difficult but exposes the defense to big gains if the offensive line stems the rush.

Many hours of preparation and strategizing, including film review by both players and coaches, go into the days between football games. This, along with the demanding physicality of football (see below), is why teams typically play at most one game per week.

Complete Linebacking