The importance of “creating turnovers” is as much a staple of the defensive coordinator stump speech as a presidential candidate tossing out platitudes about the American spirit. For Alex Grinch, the Oklahoma Sooners’ new defensive coordinator, talking about turnovers is his version of kissing babies.
Ask coaches about effective tactics for causing turnovers, though, and they start to sound like they’re trying to explain how to bring peace to the Middle East. Frequently, the conversations about turnovers turn to soft factors like team culture and messaging. Take Jason Kersey’s excellent piece for The Athletic in which he rounded up players from recent teams that excelled in stealing the ball from opponents.