The offseason can be a good time for many reasons. For the players it is a time to rest, recover, and prepare their bodies for the torturous season about to start when training camp begins in just a few weeks. For the coaching staff it can be a time to put the final touches on the plans for training camp, the preseason, and the regular season.

For the fans, it can be difficult. No news is good news during this time of the calendar year, but it can also be a time when fans can learn about the game of football. It is at this time when I’m thankful to have someone as knowledgeable about the game of football as our own Coach KT Smith.

On our YouTube channel Coach has been doing some Steelers Playbook videos which help diagram an aspect of the Steelers offense or defense to help fans better understand the game better. In the latest installment Coach Smith dove head-first into the Wide-9 defensive alignment which the Steelers deploy to let T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith loose on quarterbacks.

But there is so much more to this defensive strategy than just letting the outside edge rushers get after the passer. It has to be set up all along the defensive front, which everyone doing their job to make it effective.

Football is the ultimate team game, after all.

With that said, you’ll want to check out the video. To see more about the Wide-9 defensive formation, check out Coach KT Smith’s breakdown in the player below: