They used to run what they called suicide drill during practice and they did more of them when the defense had played poorly in the previous game. It was basically a defensive conditioning scheme to teach hustle.

Bronco would create a line with dummies for the Oline. The ball was attached to a stick that one of the other coaches would pull to start the play. Before the play the defensive team in full pads would line up in 3 point stance at the edge of the field. Bronco had a whistle and when he blew it they had to run an all out sprint to their positions. Bronco was holding another ball as quarterback and when the ball on the stick was hiked they had to flat out sprint to the side of the field he was pointing the ball to. Even if they were near the out of bounds they had to move their feet as fast as they could.

It would go on for a minute or two and if he pulled the ball back behind his head could the players would then sprint to the finish by racing over the line of scrimmage to him or another coach. The only other way it ended was if he threw the ball, it was caught by a defender and everyone raced across the line of scrimmage. If any one player gave less than 100% effort in Bronco's opinion he would huck the ball where no one could get it because a missed ball meant the drill started over. This was a drill where skill would not fake it. if you had been up late with your girl friend the night before it showed. First through 3rd team defense each had to run these separately, which is relevant because the 3rd team inevitably has more low effort guys so this drill killed them nearly every day.

The genius was the players were holding each other accountable, yelling at each other throughout and after to pick up the effort and catch the ball because no one wanted to run again. The ultimate sin was when a player dropped a ball he should have caught. You would have thought the guy with the errant drop had slapped every other player's sister. Guys would get absolutely livid but not more livid than Bronco.

The day I recall most visibly was after a loss when the starters weren't giving their all and someone missed a catch. He made them run it 4 or 5 times in a row throwing impossible balls all over. by the end nearly everyone on the field was throwing up their lunch and trembling on the ground in exhaustion. Bronco yelled something like "If that's our effort we will do this every day." Guys lived in fear of suicide drill.