Three weeks ago, we wrapped up a tremendous weekend in sunny Southern California for our annual SoCal Coaches Summit. This year’s Summit featured coaches presenting on a wide range of topics, from analytics and pace to scripting rotations, play calls, PNR defense, program building, and everything in between.
Now, we’re excited to start rolling out those clinics on SGTV.
Over the next three weeks, we’ll be releasing presentations from the Summit and giving coaches who weren’t able to attend a chance to experience and learn from the clinics.
This week, we’re honing in on University of Utah Assistant Martin Schiller and University of Idaho Head Coach Alex Pribble.
Martin Schiller: Building Pick And Roll Defense With Advanced Shell Drills
University of Utah Assistant Martin Schiller has coached across professional, college, and youth levels, and his clinic was less about one specific PNR defense and more about how to build, teach, and develop whichever coverage a team chooses to play.
One idea sat at the center of the presentation:
“Good teams have one thing that they’re good at, and then they have alternative coverages.”
For Schiller, that starts by building the coverage from the ball outward.
His progression begins with the two defenders directly involved in the PNR, developing the technique, positioning, and communication required by the coverage before adding the responsibilities of the defenders behind the action.
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Only after those habits are established does the work become increasingly random.
The larger takeaway was useful: the drill should reflect the coverage. A team playing drop has different problems to solve than one hedging or blitzing, and the practice environment should account for those differences.
SG+ Members can watch Coach Schiller’s full clinic, including his 2v2, 4v4, and 5v5 progression for building PNR defense, now on SGTV.
Alex Pribble: Program Building And Five Decisions That Drive Improvement
Coach Pribble has been part of four program rebuilds over the last 12 years, with each eventually winning a championship by year three. At Idaho, that process has taken the Vandals from the bottom of the Big Sky to the NCAA Tournament in three seasons.
His clinic centered around what he calls the “belief-building business” and five decisions that have helped Idaho improve year over year.
One of our favorite ideas was his approach to roster construction:
“Build your best five, not your five best.”
For Pribble, that means creating clarity around how each player helps the team win, then connecting their development back to that role.
That same thinking carries into the larger program.
Rather than simply talking about improvement, Idaho has built systems around it: identifying where the team needs to get better, putting accountability around those areas, and keeping them present in the daily work.
Pribble also spent time on two areas coaches often treat as fixed parts of their identity: pace and defensive system.
His view is much more flexible. Pace can change with the opponent and game situation, while the defensive system has to fit the roster actually sitting in your locker room.
That lesson came from experience. After attempting to bring a defensive system from a previous stop to Idaho, Pribble and his staff eventually rebuilt their approach around the personnel they had.
SG+ Members can watch Coach Pribble’s full clinic, including all five program-building decisions and a deeper look at Idaho’s Big Help, No Sep, and Solid defensive designations, now on SGTV.