How Pete Jenkins teaches the pull slide

I've recently got my hands on some Pete Jenkins clinic tape and I'll tell you what, I wish I had this guy as a coach.

Not only has Coach Jenkins coached at every level (He's coached in the SEC for 26 years and NFL for 7), but he also has a knack for making the complex simple. One of my favorite drill progressions of his pull-slide progression.

I really admire the way he breaks down this deadly pass rush move into simple manageable chunks for his players.

With that being said, today I will be giving the Craig Roh treatment to Jenkins' pull slide progression and hopefully build upon the solid foundation Coach Jenkins has set.

Break it into smaller pieces

What I realized from Coach Jenkins' drill progression is that he breaks every pass rush move into 3 phases...

The Approach: The point at which the rusher gets off the ball to the point where the rusher contacts the blocker

The Contact Point: The point at which the rusher executes a move on the blocker

The Decision Point: The point at which the rusher decides whether to stick with the rush or counter

With the understanding of these 3 phases, he then drills each one of these phases separately...

Drill the approach

The get off is the #1 fundamental to great pass rushing. So, every D-Line needs to be drilling get off as much as possible and if you can add a competitive element like in the drill below even better!

Drill the contact point

Have the rusher start in a position as though he has already made first contact. From there have him execute the full move violently.

Drill the decision point

It is extremely important to recreate the feeling of the decision point because a rusher will only have a split second to decide whether or not to counter.

So, have the blocker purposely overset to engrain the feeling of when a rusher needs to counter.

Practice the entire move in 1 on 1s

There is going to be a lot of failure with any new pass rush move before success. Make sure the rusher practices and perfects his new move in 1 on 1s before bringing it into a game.

Bring the move into the game

This is the fun part! Once the rusher is comfortable with the move and has executed the full move successfully in practice it's time to use it in game situations.

Support

If you liked this breakdown, I have more just like it in my book The Pass Rush Bible.

It features 31+ chapters with 100+ GIF examples on how to become a top tier pass rusher. You can get it now by clicking here.

-Craig over and out