loe Roman

THEGOMPTETE
GUIDETO
I]USTAIIIIUG
THE
44SPLITDEFETUSE

JoeRoman
+ l*+
+
I
+
+
COAGHES
=Glt0tGE*
Ol999Coaches
Chojce
Books.
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ISBN:
1-57167-370-g
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99-60472
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Coaches
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I
I
lothenenoryofnyfuotleaRobert
Bonan. sister
Shann
Jacobson,andfathet, Eevey
JoeRonaaSr.;tony livingsister
Bunalandnother, Peggy
Bonan.
loalltheWung nenwhoplayed
football ofquPage.
at theCollege

K
 tothemanv
Iamorateful coaches withandtha* th€mfortheirflEndship'
worked
lhave
Bob
i,liitiriiirrll*.rri r*.ir ttt*foorhedcoach. Msc0ougall' giving
torboth m€the
andteadngmehw tocoadr
tocoach
opportuniti
Dedication

ffi
larrivedat theC0legeof DuPagein1975
asthedefensivecoordinator
andheldthis
positionfor23years.
Fr0m thebeginning,
ourbase deiensewasthe"44Split."During
those23years,Our teams won75perceftoftheirgames(182-61).
Duringthattime,we
suffered onlyonelosing
season.Wealsoplayedin14bowlgames andwonj0ofthem.In
addition,wewon12statejun orcolegechampionships
andsettheNationalJuniorCollege
AthleticAss0ciat
ionrec0rdfofconsecutive
vict0ries
with36.

From 1986 to 1996,

theColegeofDuPagewas 10722.Wewoneightconsecuttve state
championships andwerefanked inthetop10inthenationseventirnes,
finishino
second
rwiLeardfourI'1'eet "1esD-'ing thesame ttneper'0d.
oL.teandelersewlsrated
among thetop10if thecountry
eighttimesh 1995,ourbestyearforteamdefense,we
wereranked No.1inthenat0ninteam defenseThatseason.weqave u0atotalof5l
oo|r'sIn12ga'les. l0'a"aveageot 4.25p0rts oerqar,e.0u.op"poner'ts
averaged132
yardsintotalofiense pergame-35 yardsrushingandgTyards passing.
Forthree
seasons,
inthemidstofour36'gamew nningstreak,
0!r 0pponentsaveraged5.9points
pergame
and179yards pergame.
intotaloffense

Greatfootbaprograms aremeasuredbyrnorethan theirw0n-l0strecord.0n

averag€,92
p€rcert0f oursophom0resreceived
schoarshipsto !n versities
andc0lleges.
Someof
thoseatheteswentof toplayintheNFL, whlleothersfinished
schoolandentered
the
professionaworkforcena w despectrum0fprofessions.Wealsoenjoyeda number
of
"wins,"
intangible asmany ayoungmanlearnedsomething aboutthevalue
ofhardwork
anddiscipline
throughoufprogram.
Champi0nship'caliber
staiistics,
rnemorable
achlevements.andthepersora "wins"ofourplayersallindicate
ourovera
lsuccess
asa
wlnnlngfootbaljpfogram.

Thisbo0kdescribes 0urparticular
f0rrnulaf0rsuccess,withanemphasisonthedefensive
side0fthefootball.Afygood coachwilltellyouthatthesuccess0fafootba lprogramis
based onseveral factors, withagr0up
lleginning 0f c0mrnitted, profess
talented onas.
Undoubtedly, theC0llege
ofDuPage hadagreat footbalprogram,
thafkstothededicated
work0fourhead coach,
BobN,4acDouga . TheColegeofDuPage employedagroup0f
talented andcommittedcoaches put
who theif que
ownun stamp oftechnlque
and
leadershiponboththeoffense andthedefefse. l learned
agreat
dealfromthem.lam a
bettercoachandpersonbecauseofpeopl€likeBobMacDougall,Bil Duchon,
JohnPersons,
Kenl\,4i
ls,TimHelnrich,
Randyl,y'c0ue,
EdN,4iler,DarrylBichards0n,
JohnUrban,Tom
[,4irnick,
GefeBenhart,ScottKelar,andl\,4att
Foster,just
to nameafew

W€alsohadsome outstanding playforus.Havlng

athletes greatathletes 0ny0urtearn
doesnt alwaysmakefora great
team.You
musthave t0 puttheatheteinthe
theability
bestpositontomake thep ay.lfwewere
successfulasadefensive team, t wasprimarily
because ofourplayers
andthed€fenseweused,the"44Splt" Wefaced €verytype0f
offensefromthewshbonetotherun-and-shoot.afdwewereabletostoothoseoffenses
byp ayingo!rbasedefense.
ffi
 Making
theChoice

Inemostlmp0rtant thingyoucandowhen selecting

a defense isto makea
comn rlneflIo oredefenstvea'.qrme,rt
Ar Ihecoain. yournust nake,t.lea,to
vou'prayers ardyourfellow( odLr
estnatthedeierse yornave .s
chosenlhe
0elerse yoJaregoinglohdlgyour hat01 \oual.dyo,tDrayprsrnustbecorfioerr
tt"" *nut' noeoi offenseyo,face.youroase defelle w I oedbe ro
ilif f,o

tnorder to properlyinstall
yourbase defense,youmustteach jt to yourathletes
each.of on
three differentlevels:individual,
unit,andteam. Horever,leforernouinn
to otherdlignmenls, stunrs,a1dcove,ages "nn
of th. UrrcOrt.nrr,vo.lnri, rnriJ
surey0Jrplayers unde'sta1d tfeirIndividuatresponsjotlir:es,:ncrj0tn0
their
a|qnnenr-s theirLEs.arorhprr ass,grnerts.0n ani,fooror,firu",,'i*jVO"fan.,ua
0raver musIknowtfe rpspo.]srbiltties ofedch deipns:ve,n I {rnefroqrtrp
I T e D a c ke
ants.
d th e .se coy)d
n d .l
a d h ow
Ihoseuntlscometogelher asawnole
0erenstvp team. Wtthlhtsap0.oacr Iodefer!e. yo,canovercome arysnorrcomings
yourplayers mayhave.

D",ing ny 23years al rrreCol.egpoi DuDage,lreqularlyexplained mvdefensrve

byusirgrhe{ot,owtns n titaryanat0gy \ea.rheendot
ljl:,:r,?lv l:ly:]"^yr",r
u vvd_.,,.u c u J.Arrny
:vu AlrForcewasrespofsible iormdktnq bombira runsorer
ue-marv. lneseratds occuled durnglreddytightrou,s. wh.ch naoerhe-ooloers
easyra'gets t0r-Ue.man ftglterprdresfora wh,le.theU.S. oomoe.s
(::ll:l rishre' sui,preo
Drd.,ps
Lru.the u.s.sta, red us .rew
rsa a,rpta.re.
if::1,::.:t:
ureo-tr | /ytrgl: F0 .ess I htsplane hadIh,eet:mes t.tp.tLnber of machrne0uns
asrne0t0ptanes, andtralsohadgurroJ.lls:ntrs,nderca,riage. Whenrhe8"29s
flewina.formation, thefirefrom;ll theirmachine gr", ,"o.li i;;
German fighters get
to to theB,Zgs withoLrt
themselves ^p;.riii;jor
gettinosiotdown.
flowever, whenever one0f those U.S.bombers brokefromtheformation, it wasieft
dJ]a^cl bi, Gernan fighters
and a,ro *..rl.ro tr,.e;g torrr,ion.
)/^llrgr:bt:
vvfal(epltTel0 lhe
U5.b0nbprs e'lecttve
wasthdtevetyoody inthebonber faoa iob
:1,d^:f,l , ir lheforrna r:o.r
tr*as, ,;r!,.O"utrp.oposir,ii-"
L r ( eI n e cT"*r
Je w Fl.d
l e mbila^ce
aeBro
-2f 9 .e d ch oe.ens,vepaycr hasajobtodo.The
dpler"srve
Lnits-thefrott_rhelinebac^ers,
a1dtheseconoary_
p0s'uons
Inlre ove'ali format.on "n,stconltol
lhe.r
defersrve Thesuccess
ol theoveratJ
delense
depends
ontheabilityof elevenplayers
to actasone.
 W
When youprepare yourteamforan0pponent, yourbase defense lsthedefenseyou
prep.
I cannot recall,
forinstance,
a singe gamewhef we didn0t prep0ur players
t0
beata teambyusing ourbasedefense.Wealways presented adlustments,stunts,
coverages,andfroftsasa means of takingadvantageofanopponent's weakness.
Yourbase defense should bethefoundationonwhich a I ofyourstunts, covelages,
fronts,andadj!stments, aswellasyour game plan,arebuilt.Thisbase defense s
"
your sland ina storm" whenthings aregoingbadlyforyou.f fors0me reasonyour
oppon€nt is0na rol andyour game p anlsa bustandyouneed your
to restart
yoir go
attack, must back to thestartingpoint,
whlchisthe defense yo!rplayers
knowbest-your base def€nse.

Asa coach whoiscornmitted svstern,

to hisdef€nsive t is mp0rtantthatY0unstill
thatsystem inyourplayers'
minds you
before begin your
to expand d€fensive
package. Your d€fensesho!ldnever becomea smoke'and mirrorsdef€nse Too
often,I have 0bservedcoaches whoeitherchange theirdefense every we€kor
abandon thelrbase defensesotheycanmake anadjustment thattheythinkwill
stopanopponent evergiving
ina partlc!arsituation-without theirbase a
defense
chance to showwhatit cand0.Whatkindof message areyousending t0 your
p ayers whenyo!desert thedefense y0!'vebeent€aching thern
slnce thebeginning
of theseas0n, andwh€re doVouturnwhen yoLlr
alternatlve planfails?

Whatyouasa coach should isthatwhen

und€rstand y0urplayers knowtheLr r0Les
w thifVour base d€fenslvescheme,anyadjustmefts youmay havet0 make dur
ng
thecourse of a game involve Youmustbeready
transiti0n.
simple andableto adjust
you'0elense 0L I g o ganei_ordert0rne!ld-loc_d1geL.enoreltLno{vou'
opponent'sattack. 0f DuPag€,
At theCollege we0ftenhadt0 rnake adjustmentsln
certain
situatl0ns thatwerenotino!rgame p
p an0rour aybook. Theabiity0i your
p ayersto adapt to specia ispossbleonlyif theyhave
circumstances a tota
understanding 0f thedefense. That
f is
exibilitythemark 0f a greatdefensive
0ackaoe.

ffiM
1n
 The44SplitDefense

When buildinga championship program,

football youshouldstartwithyor.rr defense.
0ffensewinsgames; defensewinschampionships. it isyourdefense
Clearly, that
mustriseto theoccasionevery weekto stoptheopposing oflense; if it failsto get
thejobdone, thenyourteamwillnotbeableto beattheopposition. norderto
workproperly,yourdefensive
scheme mustbeeffective,versatile,andeasyto
teach.
Asa coach, youmustkeep inmindthatit isyourathletes whoaretheones
wh0actually playthegame;consequently,it makesabsolutely n0difference what
youkn0wabout y0!rdefenseif yo!r
playersdon'tunderstand it.

Thesubiect of thisbook,
the44Spit detense, meets allthecriteria
of a defense
thatwi I make yourteama champion. At theCollege of DuPage,wefound the44
Splitto bea balanceddefense
thatlends itselfto easyalignments
and
adjustments. Mostimportant,
it isa defense thatiseffectiveagainst
alloffensive
scnemes.

The0uestio0 mostoftenasked bvcoaches whowerec!rious abo!tourdefense

was "What your
are reasons forusingthisdefense?"Myanswer wasalways the
same:The airgnment issimple, thedefensivepersonnelarereadily
availableonany
football team, andit iseasyto teach.cautioned, however,thatdefensive players
need to knowthree components ofdefensive
footbalbefore theycanbe
accomplished at playing
the44Split:alignments, assignments,andkeys.lfp ayers
cant getthealignment right,thentheymayaswel forget abouttheothertwo.At
a I levelsof iootball,
fromhighschool to professional,
defensivemlstakesin
a ignmenl aretirrnedintooffensive to!chdowns.lfyoudon'tbelieve
rne,geto!t
your game iilmandhave a look. A go0ddeaiof youropponent's
offensivescheme
andgame planar€devoted t0 gettingyourdefenseto misalign
bykeepingit off
guard withanassortment of formations,motionploys,
andtheshiftof forrnations.

0nceyouchoose the44Splitasyour defensive yourprobemswillbecut

alignment,
inhalf.The44Solitisa balanced defense thatuses fivedefendersononesideof
thebaI andfiveontheotherside, withthesafety inthemiddleof thefofrnatlon.
A
goodsafety withrange,whocanbring it to either
side.givesyourdefensethe
f avorof Canadian
footba l,where youhave twelve players0na side.
The44Split
defense isstrong
against therun,bothinthemiddle andto theoutside.lt
coversthe
passing2ones withfourlinebackers under anda three-deep secondary.
Neitherthe
runnorthepass strength of thisdefense iscompromised byhowtheoffense !ses

ffi
theiield.,t does10lnatlerwhelher lheorlersedeproys Ihatstletcl"
lolrnations
thedefense oruses to change
rnotion alignment
theoffensive 0uradjustmentto
offensiveformations,includingthemovementof and
receivefs backs' a
involves
simplewioenrrg in
o'sl'orten,ng of oneoItwoplavers
tnealignmert

Thekindof personnel youneed inorderto runa 44Splitdefense areusually onhand

onalmost ailfootball Theundersized
ieams. overachieveralways seem to finda
sD0lonIlis 0efense,andasit tL|lso'I everv leamseems lo l^aveaTabJn0arce
uroersi/ed
ot tnose b'gget
linebackets. slower de'ensvebacks orfJ lback"nd
iaihack Infact,sixof theeleven
reiects. positions
n the44 are
Split bestfilledby
types
linebacker ot Players.

Themostimoortant qualitY
welooked wasspeed'
for,of course, Sincespeed can
look
nustlirst fo'alhleres
coaches
oestrovIhe;00osition, wl'ocal runlf they
s.ue
can'tr,,n.wniteuer tne\/have
advantage is ln
useless tt'e44Sp"tlhetwo
tacklesaretheonlyplayers stance
wholineupina four-point and therefore are
usuatty players
tneontyaeiensive inthissystem whohave size
considerable

The44Splitdef€nse doesnotrequire players to fillwhatareknown as"tweener

oo, ,,r('n tn"dropeld.whose Iesoons bilitiesmayinclude rJsnilgt\e
',onr,
passe'otdropprrg lto coverage Another exdmple of a lweenel" 00sition:s the
stronosa'etv.wl^oisca.led lporto p'ovide ot,rnarv 'unsup0orl ordeep oass
cou"'iqein ornercirrarions. ihcse types of oositiols 1ocoach
a e dilficult ald lo
play.
T[eVcause problems inpractice scheduling during runand pass breakdown
iim;.ForexampLe, if thedefensive frontisworking on pass rush and linebackers
andthesecondary areworking onpass drops, to whichgroup
whilethelinebackers
doyousend thedropend? lf thesecondary isworking on pass'coverage allgnmenl'
rur
anothe suoDorl olaye s areworkirgon opllon coverage whe'edoyoJserdLhe
stronosafelv? ilesF lweene player)erldJp qelting on'y half thecoacl'lng that
theotherplayers get

Wrtnlhe44Sp'1.teacnrlgthedefense bytheo eaKdowl

s simplified ol unitsald
esoetween
thes milaril theweaksroe andslrongside posltlons Llv0unave tTIee
coachesonvourdeJpns:vesla'f.tnedealunitbreakdow l isasfo lows:
delelsrve
linebackers
ardtackles),
iront{ends {outside and'nsideland {''lalIbacks
secondarY
ina three-coach
Also,
andsafety). scenario, thedefensive should
coordinator be
theonewhocoaches thelinebackers At timeslhave successtully c0ached the
Jeiensewithtwodefensivecoaches lf youhave onlytwo defensivecoaches'the
coach
should
coordinator thelinebackers and and
front, the coach
other sh0uld
overseethesecondarY.

assignments,
lnalignments,
Thesirnilarities theweakside,and
andkeysbetween
stronqside them
Dositions;ake interchangeable end,
A weakside forexample'
would"haveno playino
oroblem end.
theslrongside Thesimilarities the
alsomake
 ffiffiW[

r.rfits
flexibe,which increases the0pp0rtunities
forteachtng. Whenbreaking the
defense downforgroup work, forinstance,youarenotconfined t0 thestandard
br€akdown ofdefensiveline,linebacker,andsecondary.During unt w0rk,the
balance 0i thedeferse makes it possible
to mixpositionsina varietyofways, such
asthenslde linebackersandthetackles working p
ontrap ays;the outside
linebackers andtheends working plays;the
onopti0n secondary w0rking0nthree'
deep c0verage; theends,thetackes,andthelnside linebackersworkingonrunand
stunts; andthe0utside inebackers andsecondaryworking onlwo-deep coverage
anda ignment Inadditionto a betterteachingenvkofment, theunitworkprovides
anopponunity fortheplayers to workinsmallqroups consrstingofa widerrange of
defensive positionsthantheirowf.This0pportunity makes fora better
understanding andknowedge of thet0taldefense.t supp0rtsthetransitionsof
p ayers pos
fromone ti0nto another linebacker
{0utsid€ t0 efd,0rhalfbackto
outside linebacker).

Themanner inwhich theplavers inthe44Splitareifstructedto home

inoneither
ther!n0rthepass pfovides thern wrtha clearprogression
to f0ll0w:The
defensive
frontplaysrunfirst,thenooks to rushandcontain thepassef.Theinebackers
a s0
play.unfirstandth€nreactt0 pass. The!ndercoverageisa pattern
readthatis
slmpleandals0makes it easyto f ndreceivers
intheunder-cove.age
zones.
The
secondary p ayspass firstlt hasnoprimary supportoneither orthefun.
theopti0n

0theradvaftaqes
0f the44Spit defense thef0llowng:
include

It gives
yourdefense
theab rtyto r!na variety
of stunts,
defenslve
fronts,
and
covefageswithout personne
changing .

It confuses
the0pponent
anddisrupts
itsoffensive
blocking
schemes.

Itsstrength
isstopping thepass.
therunandcontaining

It requifes
a balanced
a ignment, int!rngives
which player
every a greatangle
to theball.

Thankst0the44Split defense,
durlfg
0ur36'gamewinning
str€ak
attheCollegeof
DuPage,Ltwasa rarityforour0pponents
t0 break p
a ayformorethana z()-yard
galn.

W
13
 Personnel

F00tbaI p ayerscome inal shapes s0 t would

andsizes, bef00lish to suggestthat
a p ayer'S
heght,welght,0r speed
mightprohibit
himfromplaying a particular
posit0n.Granted,a lackofphvsica
attributes
woud make it diffcultforsome
players
to fi c€rtain positions,
defensive butt would bea mistake to sela kid
shortbeforeyoucanseewhathecandounder f re.0neof ourbest-ever defensive
tackl€sat DuPagewas6'1",215poufds,buthewasspecia . Wealsohadanifsrde
inebackerwhowassoslow,woudn'tlethimruna 40-yard dash ontestday
because ldidf'twantt0 kn0wjust
howsl0whewas.Nevertheless, hehadgreat
antic0ation.
aswellastheabilitvto knock
ballcarriers
ontheirbacks. Hewas4.7
ongarne day.

STRONG
ANDWEAKENOS

Whenl00king iofathletes to fil thedefefsiveendpostj0n,th€phys calattributes

to ookforarespeed andheight.0ur defensive
ends,0n average,weighed between
210and230pounds ands100d from6't0 6 4' tall.N,4ost
oiten,forrnerhighschoo
inside
oroutside inebackersarethebestiit at thedefensive end0ost on.SDeed
ardsizewil determlne whowl I playe therthestrongsid€ orthew€akside
defensiveend. Thestrongside endaligns 0nthetightendsid€0f theoffensive
formatiof.
Thisa ignmeft wlllmake th€strongendthewidest defender 0f the
str0ng
sideWhen it comest0 choos ang strongend, youshou d p ace more
importance onspeed thanonsize. Thereason isthatthestrong efdsa gnment
pLrts
himat a qreater distancefrorn thequarterbacks pass-drop p0nt,makngspeed
moremportant thansizeat thatposition. Eecause of thestrong end's wlde
aligfment,heisrarely subjected t0 trapbl0cksand, consequent y,does f0t feed
thesizethatlsnecessary when taking ontrapbl0cks. Thew€akendwillbeb ocked
byofiensive g!ards andtackles, which makes slzernoremportant fofa p ayerat
thatposition.Thes owerof thetwoends shou d play theweak side,because his
a ignmentisnearer to theball,which meansthatthed stance hewlllhave to travel
inorderto reach thequarterbacks pass-dr0ppolntwil beshoner thanthatof the
strongsideend. Although these endpositionsaretaught asstrongside endand
weakside you
end, canteach right
themas eftendand end, as 0rg bothpJayers
as
areeoua lv fast

W
15
RIGHT
ANDTEFT
TACKIE

Inthe44S0lit, vo!rdefensive tacklesarethecornerstone of yourdefense. The

0ele si ve
tacl.es n.!l havp ql c\ne) ar
) d s ze( ' 0l Iobe con' useowitl !peed and
height).When assessln! quickness,a 40 tlme can be misleading F0rty yards isa
longhaulfor a bigkid.At DuPage,welncorporated anagility driI wecaledthe"Pro
Agility'andverticaljump t0 eval!atequckness. TheProAgilitys a 20'yard agility
runc0m0 etedovera 1o'yard course.
Three con€s afe placed of a line
thats 10yards
ong,0ne 0neach endand0neinthemddle. Theathetestalts at the mldd e cone
and,oncommand, spriftsto thec0ne 0ntherlght, th€nsprLnts t0 thecone 0nthe
left,andthensprntsback to therniddle f histimeforth€"Pro Agility'isnrore than
five't€nthsof a secondfaster thanhistlme n the 40, it isan indlcati0nthat the
athlete Dossesses ouickfess.

Onlre basis of vearsol e\Deie1ce, we0Ple'r'fe0 lhdI tallatlleles ldved \ard

timeplaylng defenslve tackle.Heightcanbea hindfance t0 a defensive tackle,
particuarlyif hisheghtkeeps h mfromplayngl0w.Wefound thatthedealhelght
fora defensive tackles inthe range0f 6'to 6'4";anyta ler,
and theplayer tends t0
loseeverage. Thepreferred weightforthetacklewil depend 0n h s t0
ability
m0v€, yetstillhave en0ugh bodyweight to preventhlmflomgettngknocked ofl
theball.Th€tackle mustbeableto contr0theoffens veguard afdth€I neot
scrimmage. Your besttack e play
sh0uld at leftdefensive When
tackie. your
deiensivetackles aregood, theyimprove th€ play
at the otherpositions

SAMIINEBACKER

TheSarn linebackeristo the44Splitdefense whata power fofward s to a

basketballteam.Sarn must beone of your
best athlet€s.He must have theathletic
to playth€pass,
abiLLty plusthe physicalsizeand quickness
t0 takeon th€ blocks
of offensvelinemen.Heought to beabe to strkea bl0wfromar upright position
andreadmutiplekeys. t takesmore timeto develop a Sanlinebacker thanit does
to develop p
a ayerat any other pos
linebacker t 0n We p ayed anathlete whowas
undersizedat thispositior,buthehadthecornb of
nation greatq!ickness anda
good footballmnd.A good SamI nebackerwl I cause offensesa l0tof problems.

MIKEANDMEGLINEBACKERS

0urllnebackers0il0t0uroveradefense, andourinside linebackefs lead0ul

linebackercorps.TheN/ike inebackerplaysonthestrong sideof thedefense.l\'4lke,
asa rule,isthebiggerardsl0wer of thetwolnside lifebackels;he cangetaway
wltha ack0f speed because, withthe stf0ngend and the Sam inebacker playing
0ntheLine of scrimmage,theM kelifebackerwillhave m0fehe p to the0utsldeHe
ismoreof a pluglinebackerthanlvlegis TheMeglinebacket should befaster
than
theMikelinebackel anda sobetter thepass.
at p aYing Hew I have open
rnore
gro!ndto cover thanMike wil.
ffiw
16
 w
Foryou,thecoach,thefirstconsiderationwhenselectinga linebackerishisability
togetoff01blocks andmake thetackle. Asfarason-fieldleadershipisconcerned,
youshouldleavethedecisionmaking linebackers.
to theinside 0ngameday,they
your
are voice onthefield.Sizeandspeed area bonus,
butthese attributes
should
nottakepreference to getto theball.
overtheabilityof thelinebacker

SABAI-II{EBACKEB

TheSara linebacker
istheweakside
outsidelinebacker.
Whenlooking to fillthis
position,
thefirstattribute
voushouldlookforisa linebackerwhoiscomfortable
playinginspace. position
TheSaralinebacker isverysimilar to a strongsafety
position,
exceptthattheplayerwhoassumes thisrolewillnothaveto gointoany
kindof deep passcoverage.
TheSaralinebackershouldbeyourmostathletic
linebacker.Hemustbeadeptat playing
thepass, andhemustalsobea goodopen.
fieldtackler.

SECOl{DA8Y

Thedefensive halfbacks
andthesafety need to bespecialists at playing
thepass.
Although speed andheightarequalities
thateveryone looksforindefensive
backs,
above all,theymustbegood athletes.Theathlete youshould belooking
forinthe
secondary musthave thecapacityto backpedal, flipturn,break ontheball,and
tackleintheopen field.
Thesafety isusuallya team's bestathlete. Hedoesnot
need to beasfastasthehalfbacks, buthedoes need to have enoughrangesohe
canmove andbreak ontheball.Thesafety isto football whatthecenter fielder
is
t0 baseball.lf you
canfinda defensiveback whohits likea linebacker gets
and a
greatbreak ontheball,youshouldmake himyoursafety.

Hffi
 WhatWeDoDifferently

.. :i l L P a gded n o tfl entthe44Sp1defense Asa yor ng coach,

''.i :tb . a tl h e co€ g eevewaslim lted,butldid!r r der sland
that
', r:lersveiootbathafa good pfeganr€speech When Bob
. :-.l JP a gaesl h eh e adfootballcoach,heinher
tedmeasa
,,:aia rd,,'rehav€ b€en together for
22 yearsBob hasbeen a
. : ..ffN teacher, andanurdefstand ngh€adcoach to urork for Boll
. . ,lime44Splt d€fense withh mfrom[,4chigarT€ch University,
, ,:fensle coord nator.triedto l€arneveryth
ng coud ab0ut the
-- n BoLandanyone elsewhowoud ta k to meabout it Tfe
-
' q l" o50 t ^ o . o r " [ " , . o e p o o o o p io r, 0 .
, -: .f lfe 44 Sp t werelh€Wld€Tackle 6 afd the46defefse
= ,rs0..ad€a comeback lirthe44SpLit, teamsp ayeda lol 01
. -- aa!sedth€mprobems.ltwashaidl0 findatheiesurhocoLr d
. . .rn,/r'henthe0fi€ n s € b ro k e a p la y ,yltwe
! s Lf tra
a t h e t \ ra y

, ' ,..Paile, if wehada uniqLre scheme 0rapproach to i€ach ngth s

r' .!e to beI thewaywepresent€d t to oufathlet€s FOr 23
.r ii5tthifga Colegeol DuPage footballpLayeI
heafd ffom the
, :-: tt e thirgsrightandthebigthn!swil belakefcafeof " The
, :: lr !e hom€ !\rasthatthep a]ersm!stunderstafd theflrsl
' .l i before theyev€n thifkaboutwhatcom€s fext Wel0ufd
. . . .enrirnd ngw th thedetaJs,ourp ayers became d sciplifedn
:;n rgandp aynglhe44Spt def€ns€ Asteachefs, \',/e
' rlre:sffornonedefens vesk to anoth€r rft th€p 0yers
-
, . ,'.er" re re n g
w o rk o n Wehavegoneinlogam eswithonlyoLlf
. :0lefa!€andtwostunts asa defefs vepackage, b€cause that
i r a :i h a tp a rtl c!
a fp ointn theseas0n
. . . . - - . .:
T H ED E T E N S E

J .'! defenseismaklfgthedefense s mple€noLrgh l0r lhe

: : ,,,'ie a Iowing theoppoftufity
thec0aches to m x c0rlrpex
:. a iCt0v€fages players
0nceyoLrr ha\re
anunderstafd ngof Lher
, - .:!, al!nm€nls,assignm€nts, yoLr
!nd keys, shoLr
d thennOveto

ffiffim,
19
ff*:l'".Ti,ff :lil'J
Jff:lff ll!#'l'J'liilxli,"
i::il$::T;','jj'i"Y,,li
rnev;i"f *''
:;:: ;;;-;;; words
;;i.;;e; Inotne'
i'i.$;::J:i;*"
iT[$',T.tn{tiil{dii$drurtu$}
;;';;;;;;t;;r;;;piaver
bilir.lTr'e
run'espons
hasa sapthalish's0r'ma'v

::f ,';,lfl
ffi::i::TJli:ilitr,X'J: $T,1 l;:;::::l:H #i:',Ti"'.,.
bilitv:rush
orrespons
areas ard
c0'ltain a pass zone
cove'dge
inreed,fferent

::f
:ii:J:,";: I n?ff
:;: :fJ;ll:.'f
i';'f;iJ';::J,"'i l:3ilT3f
lli;: ;,|
ln
sKlll
J'
checking
dou0le
are.{This lsa bas'c
andurderstandrng
fo'\rowteoge

i;,TfJ,l'*','Jil',lX:li',i::Xl;;i::;'11
l:X'L'.',ilffi
poss,b.irydettl:,J"1
th€ Ti,^1-fi ii,,^iilillill,il#;,l,llHl'
;..1:llT:li
andtheirpositlon
defense
base defensive
thedifferent
i"ffin.i"re *tn lt,r,r,h"e
be
can
it*t,,,na.o*'ases
i.nt,, adiflffi[|!j|fi
tawht€s"n
becornes
thedefense
Thus mac
awell-oiled :ffiijfiT
possibilities,since
stiveforunlimited mae^these
'7o!c.an
;;il. il;;;;r;;i;;;

ll',',',',Tjl'jml
ru:*ilffiTl;li:Il,,ji3i#'-"*T:J::i':
"'
i;r,'*nn:*:'lif'x?ii:iiiifr
coverages,
stunts,
it':d"
:'il;ri[lii#;tft
t
andalsohave
orfronts

lil's';t'",.u!r:i4!!nill'1':.l'il:sp
o*r.,
ifll.:;;;;iias
;::'JilffliH.l'iffJJiil"''iiTil ortr.
iiepositions
andwasadept
0lavers, withhisteammates
at comrnunicating

CATIS
STRENGTH

:Xxl:fl
Hff;',:l ?.li.i'il,J'J'rii
;i,ff:[T,';,H:,:i'J"','::i
::'ff"',1':ff
:J;'Jil:l:'f:[i::;l'#'*il'.xi
*:l*;:lmllrulr:l calrlothetiqhlenosideo' lhe0'fens've
.ri"noif,u,fr,i'1V." slrerglh
"
;,:'ilffi:iJ.T::::iIll"',i
ilff::l;HFJj ['lifffi';l[:$;i'i,
3i::lff
tgt*',l.ti*l:Ni:J:fr lli'
,ll:?flY,xill:J:'fiL'J:
w
20
 r.epthedefensebaianced bydeployingtheeleventh
defender t0 therunorpass
::fefgthof theoffensive
formation. Thestrengthcallisalsoused to direct
ihe
-ovement of thedefense
ILst priorto orafter
thesnap of theball Thestrenoth
d qivesd recijontoyou.frorts,srults.anocoverages

:1 DuPage,
afteranalyztngthetwomostc0mrnon typesof strength
calls,wesaw
:. opportunity
to double o!ropttonsinthemovement of thedefenseanda means
,.1_preventing
offenses frornrestricting
ourdefensive package throughtheuse0f
lrfferent
formations.
0urdefense hadsixpositions thatcouldalign
ioward oraway
'r0miltestrengthc€ll,whiletheotherfivepositions remainedreatively
inaffected.
Wemake the"strength call"to thetightendsideof theofiensive
iormation.
Keep inmind thattheeleventh manisthesafetV whoaliqnsif themiddle
o l.e offelsrve
forndtiollwh.(h isLsual y a fewya.dsto o.eort;e orferstdpo,
ihebal).

The44Split.alignment isbalancedto begin with;thus thestrength callwillputyour

strongside players, whoarebettersuited t0 play therun,to thetightendsideoi
th-e.offensive formation. Ylurweakside players, whoarebetterat playing thepass,
willgoto thesplitendsideof theoffensive formation. youthenmake a second
strength call,which willbeto thetwo-receiver side,a ertin0thedefense to the
passing strergtl. ol rheotlelstvefotmar.o.l.lt ;srecon me.tJeo rhatyouusea coro.
to identify thesecond strengthcal. At Dupage, wehadthestrongside inside
l , - e b a c ke
mdr l eth estre n gca
t\ , S trongr ghtlStr ongr ightl,Alte,lhestr engtn
cd t'lesalery andlhehdlfbacks 1s6sthsqst61 cal: 'B.own leftlBrown lefti,fhe
benefit of making thetwostrength callsiswellworththetimeit takes to putthem
ln.Theconcept isquickiy picked
upbytheplayers, which increasestheirawareness
of boththerunandthepass strengths of theoffensive formatio|

Asa r!le,yourdefensive fronthasnoproblem seeing ,,smali

the world,,'
but
sometrmes it hastrouble bringingthe"bigworld'intofocus. Bymakinq two
suengrh calrs. lhep,ayers or thedefeTstve Irottbecome more aworJof rora
offensive deployment andhowit affects them. lnaddition,yourgame plans and
adlustmen tsbecome enhanced bytheopening upof more opportunities
to take
advantage of offensive tendencies At Dupage, wewereableto employ different
combinati0ns of defensivefronts,stunts,andcoverages. Anyn!mbef of defensive
lronts,stunts, orcoverages canbecalled to attack eithertherunorthepass
strength of anoffensive formation lf youwanted to putpressureonthepasser by
stunting.forexample, youcould calltwostunts andthenruniustoneof those
sIJtts toonereLe,ver s 0e.YoLco,tda'sonal.twod;,le.ent irontsdn0theralign:n
thedefensive frontthatbestmatches therunstrength of theoffensiveformatLn
Theupshot isthatbyidentifying runandpass strengths,youareableto bemore
c0mplex withyourdefense, whilekeeping it simple foryourathletes.

W
21
COMMUNICATION

Pnvs,cal e rorswll.neveoeatyoLlf YoLI leans olaynqgoodteam delerse

0l-but
a
mertalet orswillrit,youqarelv wil voLseea l0otballgame loslbec"lse
0hvslcal mismatch;most thewinner
often, s thetearn that makes the lewest
errorsrnaYstopa driveora score, butseldom dotheyresult Ina
liltakes.0ffenslve
doesnothave theluxury of making a rnjstake
rroi. ioi opp**t. fhedefense
'. Lpwl'e1yoJ
,n.\tus lFast expecrit Tnese er ors.nade by
I irir*
", ^iitr.
ardolavets a e mosto'lenlu'ned'nto louc\downs by tf e 0' lelse lt s lne
coaches
outol theendzoneMentalmistakes are made
ori.rr.ii"lir l".pln" opponent
;;.;r;; ackoifocus andcommunication lnorder to prevenl mental errols'
"'i. unapractice thesklllof game communication This must
skill be
uo,rrrt Oru.too
l1ecoLrse ol a game you nust be able
.oiei"o anq*o kedor evey dayDuring
eva'
ro rn d kF adjuslr enlstoVoLr de' ense uatelhepldv 0[your plav- eandanay
rs ze
Defensve lootoa'' isa gare of redclor' I he corsclous
tneattacko' Il_eoflense.
occuo
ifougt',t on tytetorethesnap andafterthewhistle-everythinq inbetween
lsreactLon.

A fooloa'Qonps p'ayeoInwFaIseen5'(esecords Duirga qamewlle']Y0larp

t''neandwords dreir sl'orlsJpplvThe
-iuno,oa'o."u',uO,utt"enl. l /l
eeleverl0
co mri u ntcatir qn.,sioccur qJiLllyandonllrflonolaye s:pay
(ll e
irot oluvrtt**rn, *d (3)from coachto coach These linesof communicatr0n
mustbetwo-way, cannot
andthere bea breakdown at anylevel

Asa defens:ve cood nator,youshoJ'o 0' Infot'nalior

bea co'lecl0r ardnota
o,.iri.j.v., *trro o, i.olhi'oyto cr,tol'ary sourceoi irfornation\ouneed.,
I slenIo.eva'uale.d'10 cooldinaleall nfomatiorfronplavers andcoacres wren
yoLsl_oul0 expect ard listprto wl'at hdve
Il'e\/
uo"aar, *',n yo.r, ,ourhes. 'nput
Forh'spalt eac'olayemust l"avea 0r
'eelrrg llp
0wne's
tosavaboulLhe delense
and\row ll'at\is op'nonsarewo'lhwh le l havehads0ne greal
inLhe defense
game adjustments come fromtheinput of a player'

lwouLd tellmvplaYers thattheymustlearn a newlanguage thattheywillbe

....f,to i" "t6,ituiff
tf'orthand A word,a number,or a phlase mustbeableto
iroorti,nu,*0, o sentelces aTdoaragrap\s to say "\edIo use
we
caii\words Lhat 'a^,
teya response Io eithera'ig1nenl,lech'liq"e0ra bl0cllrg
redto (eep l1eexp ardliolol olay
€r 0 Je.lslve
sc'enewl el poss,ole. vleorefe
ot resDonsbillLv.ora lecFn oLeto o1e wordol unoet labels When we
"n ated dl ofrFnsiveb ocklng scneme wewo-rdqiveil a nanet\dI t0ld
;antedto relerto
ii . pL1ltt*lut gtpth. playwasgoingtowhowasgoing to carrytheballand
whattheblockinq scheme (ice,power, tear)was to be

player
Ive v 0elons.ve nave
s\oulo anoffersiveposri01ne wrllp ayonlle- pre0
lo beoLr"scoJtleam| le
wedion0l elyor t\e oflense
lea-1iAt DJPaqe.
:elensive
Dlaversh0uldberespons positonthatwi I most
blefortheoffensive
r'tenbeblocking Theinside
him: mustknowthecenter
linebackers andthefulback
(thestrongside
:ositions inside beoomes
Jinebacker andtheweakside
thecenter,
becomes
is delinebacker thefullback).
The defensvetacklesaretheoffensive
t!ards.andthedefensiveends tackles
aretheoffensive The outside inebackers
3rethetightendandthetailback(specifically,
thestrongsideoutside 1s
i nebacker
:hetightend,andtheweaksideoutsidelinebacker Thetwo
isthetailbackl
ra fbacks and
arethewidereceivers, the safety
lsthequarterback Eachplayer
nustknowtheblocking schernesandassignmentforthedlfferent plays.
offensive

When wewereworking onteamtime, oursecond defense waso!roffensive sco!t

buteveryone
iearn, tookhist!rnonthescout squad Wehadthescout team weara
withthesame
ersey number astheplayer whowasto playtheposition forour
opponent.We hada complete set of numberedjerseys thatcould be put onand
iaken Thissystem
off 0uicklv. a lowed usto pickuptendencies insubstitutions.
speclaplays,b ocking
schemes, afdtherolesof keyplayers lnorder to runthe
oD0onent's play,
offensive a I lhe coach needed to saywas "B ue right,
splt backs,
tearweak,'andthescout teamwo!ld know how to runthisp ay We found this
rnethod ngteamtimeto beveryusetul
of runn Inmany ways.

0nceyousubscr betothissame sYstem, yourplayers

willlearn veplays,
offens
b ockingschemes, andformations much morequickly
The players
seetheoffensive
playsfrombothsides of thelineof scrimmage andhave a good ngof
understand
theoDoonent'soffense. When discussing theoffensiveattack ongame day t
reducestheneed forverbal cornmunication.Timeisvery important andthelast
thlngyouneed isa longexplanation of anoffensiveplayWhen yousay,"lce,"
"Tear,"
"Power," or"Base,"thep ayers willhaveanimage of anentire
offens ve
if yousay,
p ay.Likewise, "Brown left,"theplayerswillhave a mentalpictureof an
offensiveformation witha tightendontherightside. twosplitwidereceivers to
theleftside,and the "strength"to the right.

Wheneveryo!change thedefensive f0rmation youwillforce

orruna stunt, a
change
insome of theplayers'opiion, gap,
andpass As
responsibilities previously
theplayers
mentioned. rn!strelayto oneanother gap,andpass
theiroption,
lf twop ayers
fesponslbilities. come upwiththesame numberfortheiroption
respons thevwillautomatically
bilitv, knowsomething iswrongandbeabe to
thelrfespect
correct ve responsibI t es.

Wemade whenbodyfatlgue
it a pointto w0rkoncommunication began t0 setn
Youprobably have heard the "Fatigue
saying, makescowardsof usall."
Actual y
makes
iatigue you
youthinkback, surely
usstupld.lf canrecala timewhen on€ol
youibestandmostdependable players
made error
a mental toward theendof a
hard-foughtgame. The mental
errorwasmade the
because athiete's
bodyreached a

ffim
11
fatiouelevelwhere hewasunable to concentrateonhisassignmentAt theendol
niu.iil".*h"n *. ,un.0rints,wewould break unitsThe
downintoo!r individual
pla\/ers
would align stance,
intheirdefensive andthecoach check
would those
stances.one of fivecommands-pass, ball,
screen draw ttap-was glvenl0 tne
olavers.0n thatc0mmand, theywould reactto ballmovement yell
and out the
;ommand astheyleftthestaftinglineTheendof practice iswhenplayefs startt0
losetheirconcentration.Wefound thatthatwasthebesttimeto practice 0nthelr
tocusbVinstalling thattheywould
a discipline beableto call durrng
upon a game'

THEEATL
TRAPPING

When coaches telltheirplayels thattheyneed greatpursuit to thefootball' they

a e nolactually elayngll'ecorectneaning of pLrsu I' lhewod pufsuit's,
de'i1ed n t1edrctrorary asandlte"10l '
to [olow n a1e'l0 t t0 overtaKP 0rcnase
WhatYouact!ally wantyourplayers t0 dowhentheyp!rsue lst0 trap conlaln
ano
thebaiLcarrier. Truepursuit isa skilthatyourplayers need to beta!ghtYo-u can
bestteach your defense howto learn p!rsut by usinga progression ol tackllng
starting
drills, withindividua tacklingtechniques andending withteamtackling
Thepurpose of thesedrils isto teach theplayers howto tackle, howto cLose
quicilv onananqe thatfolces theball carlierto and
redlrect, how to w0rk
to o e L h e rlrt0
attnebdlcar ier .Asap ayerlcalr
' emenber hear ilcgou 0ac hs av
pusJit.Never forlow tl'esame color .ersey " 'h nkaboLlI
wlierre wasteach'rq
thouqh. Howdoes thaiinstruct onhelpa player takea proper angle to the-ba I
carriir?Youmustfacethefactthatthere will be tirneswhen an athlete of lesser
abilityisgoing to beasked to tacke anathlete of superiorabilityThatlesser
a moteconcrete planthana reminder neverto foLlow thesame jersey
athleie needJ

ThefLrst stepisto teach yourplayers t0 takea direct angle to theballcarrier and

to thenclose onthatangle at f!llspeed. Theangle should beaimed at oneoi three
0oints.which willdepend onthetackler's approach angle to the ball:outside
shoulder, head-up,andback hip.Thetackler shouldclose quickly ontheballcarrier'
forcinghimto eiiher runintothetackler you
orredrect.When thinkabout it,a ball
cariieihas onlythreeoptions:stfalght. right,orlelt Therefore, it isnota good idea
io g,* tneUo'l.a''ie,Lher thet ie ot tr" opportunitv to worx on tne I acller' Tle
roe;app'oach;s "
lo thelacler lo taleanangle thatwilltake dway tw0 0l the ball
carriertoptrons. When closingfromtheoutside, thetackler sho!ldrunat the
outside shoulder 0f thefunnel, forcing the runner to choose the inside lf the
tackler's tearnmate lsat hisproper angle of attack,the ball carrier will betrapped
andcontained. Theprogfession ol teaching isonfoutlevels: individual, group'
unit
andteam. When yo;te;chtheimpoftance 0f tackling within thecontext 0f a team
0lan d n dwor Ktoqethe' LoIa( eaway a Io' Ihe ba' car iel!optiolsbv l hear gl es
if approach. its e-.eueraqainsl one. andeve'yole s lraop ng tne guY with lhe bal

@
ta,
 W
COVEBAGE
PASS BEAD
ANDPATTERN

Yourphilosophyonpassdefenselnthe44Splitissimple:
Nevergetbeatdeep. At
theCollegeoi DuPage.wep ayeda threedeepzone defense.
Asa change upor
weransome
adiuslment, two-andfour'deepzone.0urundelcoverage consisted
ol
sixzones,andwe would"pattern
read'intheseunderneathzones.We ransome
fiveunderzones and"man"coverages.
0urdeep coveragewasneveressthantwo
deep.Wenever fanany"manfree'0rtotal"man" coverage,
because thosetypesol
coveragescanproduce touchdown
one-play Weiriedto keep
drives. it simple.
0ur
defensivebacks 0nt0pof alldeep
stayed routesandwouldbreak 0nandcontain all
otherroutes.0ur under
coverage, played
thelinebackers, under thedeepest
receiver
intheirt0neandbrokeup0nshortroutes.When ta kingto ourplayers
aboutpass coverage,westressedthreeimportaftpoints:

isyourbiqgest
Panic enemy.
Have inyourself,
confidence thedefense,andVour
teammates. pass
A completed doesnotspelltheend.
Theoddsareonyo!f
side.
Evenif theopponent
hasa greatpasser,
hewilloniycomplete
a littlemore
thanhalfhispasses.

Break it.Trapthebal.Nilake
ontheballandcontain paytheprice
thereceiver
anddoit at fullspeed.
Whenyou'regoingfullspeedona good
ange to theball,
youmake things Inmostpass
happen. plays
brokenupbya defender,theba
wasinthereceiver's A good
hands. break youthere
0ntheballwillget intime
to makethereceivercough
uptheball.

of "smallworld,bigworld."Focus
Keepinmindtheconcept onyourkey.geta
runorpass
readquickly,
andthenopen yourvisionandseethefullpicture.

Wealways numbered thereceiversfromtheinsideout.TheNo.lreceiverwasthe

firstreceiver
onoroffthe ineof scrimmage whowasnearest theball.(Sincewe
didnotnumber across theformation.
therewereNo.1receiversonbothsides of the
offensive
tormatlon ) TheNo.2 receiverwasthefextreceiver
to theoutside.ll
therewasonlyonereceiver to a side,
No2 woud bea backinthebackfield ora
p ayerfunning
a pass route,
whowascoming fromtheoppositesideof the
offensive
formation.TheNo.3 receiver sidewould
oneither beoneof two
possibilities-the
thirdreceiver onor0ffthelineof scrirnrnage,
to theoutside orthe
backc0ming outof thebackfield ona passroutelorona pass
routefromthe
oooositesideof theformation).

0urunder coveragewasa pattern

readsystem-a matchupzone
defense We
playedmancoverage onthedeepestroute and
inthezone would up
break onthe
shortroutesinthe2one.
When passshowed, thelinebacker
found
thedeepest
inthezone
receiver whowashisresponsibityandlocked
onhimuntilthereceiver

W
25
 thezone. When located
thelinebacker hekepthiseyes
theIeceiver, onthe
cleared
receiver anddidntlookback at thequarterback the
untiL made
receiver cut
hls 0r
would
inwhilhthelinebacker for
look was
receivers
runori ol tr,,tont.rn" order
irltf',rirrtiu." to i it tiOe,(2)thoserunning from
routes hisopposite and{31
side'
backs runningroutes outof thebackfield

dsandanalogies areuselulto0ls inhel0i'lg learr'Themention

players of d
Catcnwo
woo ora 0l'rasecal leya Iesporse thalanenti'e paragraph
c0Jldn t succeeo'n
forexample, thatif I tooktimeoutof practice
to tella joke
0ra
i iound,
evokinq.
p
ine ayet,
sto'v, wold hang oTevery wo0 keep'l mindthatn0rnatter how
lt-moreIn00rlaTt Iney
sl-0.dtneiokeorstorynaybe yourpldyers w lrremenber
willremember themessage
Il"eforlowing analogy ro'
Wnenleacn nqourpatlern teaounde' coverage ' useo
sone'edson, iouanda fr;end areapproaLhed by'iveindividuals whowantl0lrgrt
voudndvoLrfriend. There isa lotoi talkinqb|,tvouseetl'atnolall0llnenw'l'
cone'iqhtat vo . Youfigure ir wouldbeto You'advantage to d'vide ihenInt0Lw0
q ouos:'t\ose wl'owillattack fist andthose wh0willsneak a'ound andium0 y0J
ThebLl tne
;esa' e guYsdo'ngal the l
i h rl e vo ruer otloo<,ng{ bulliesandIatsl
ta.kn0andaretnemo;Iconspicuous {receiversl fherdls arelhe g'Ys Vou musl
.rrl ,'"i'|" ; ,l.v *if, rc the guys wno w l corneat You wh levou re lot looking.
(receivers f omLne oppos le sioeardbdcks IUnnng routes) When pass sn0ws Ilr0
andlookfortneiirstoneto you'outside while you move toward nln ll
rheburlies
i^,i outot '/or'tone.lookfortheseco
t',to. rdbL"v{'l the" aret*:-1":,el::'_'^t0^.^
vo Jrsi oe) .r fIheb' l,es0onotr unar outeinyour zolethel pul l upl 00k l 0r
aLvourbacx(l tsr.tnose oncrosslng routes iromtheopoosite sldea'ld'secon0'
UuJlrr|,n,nq..,ttt ort orlhebaLifeld)Therinebac[eri eyes sno'ild notbe
throughout theentire0layWnentneIeceiver nakes hisc"t
Lileo or rtre'rec"iue,
sloud loo\bacll0rtheballandthe qLarterback ll ttleIecelver r!ns
tne,inebaclel
out0' Lhezone, tne,rne0ache' shoLld for
pullup andlook ralsthe l the barl "10
finaLlv, to the q!arterback ln pass
actuality, coverage isnotthissimple' butif yo!
.unrut. u orit of lt ,i.plebyusing a corny analogy'players willrespond

readasourunoer coveragefor15years andwould nevel navego'le

Weuseo Datlern
Dac( lo a srraiqhtdropcoverage dropcoverage
Straight istheconventlonal
,neoac'<er rea-ns ofd'opping lo anareaandkeylng lhefrontshoulder 0l the,
ouarrerback. alongwitnnlsrelease, whilegettirga goodb'eak-10 tneDal I lls
metnod wol(s0Lite welllorthesecondarY notonlybecause ol thedlst?nceIne
b"talsobecause lhe'eceiverwillbe i1 hont 0J thedelensrveodcK
ba,lmuslltavei.
intothemiddle of a largeateaand looking
t lr liilirrii. irc tn. pointofdropping
;;;;;;;;;tg t irontof vou io what
determine is going on behind vouwhen
andIhe essence of oassp'0leclon
ir'" o;rui., out, ,rr..rureof iootballrules
quane'back lo a smal areaBydesign the qJal terbackdoes n0lwanl
conilrerhe
tomove tronthatalea{tne pociet) andif heooes, it is theresp0lrlbrlltv0'lne

%
zb
 ffiffi

::fefsive
endsandtackesto keep thequafterback theball.The
f[omIunning
arethe
isnothardto find.Thereceivers
:-arterback guys whoarernoving,
andif
getclose
.oLIdefenders to them,theywillfindtheball.

At theCollege whenweevaluated
of DuPage, of pattern
themerit read.lhefirst
ihingwenoticed
up0n at ourfilmwasthelinebacker's
looking movement inthe
receiver's
zoneandhowmuch moreouicklv reacted
thelinebackers to thereceiver
routes.Wecouldseethelinebackers
cutd0wn0rwiden theirzone
astheV reacted
to thereceiver
movingthrough
thezones.

0ffensive
alignment
andreceiver's routeswillchange 0f yourpass
theconfigurati0n
zones;
thusthesizeof undercoverage 2ones ontheposition
willdepend of thebaI
andtheoffensive
formatj0n.lf thetightendisthewidestreceiver
onofesideof an
offensive
formation,
theballandlhetightendareintothehash, withtwowide
receivers
to theopensideof thefield.The"flat'2oneonthetightendsidewillnot
beverywide.andthe"flat'to theoppositesidewillbestreiched
bythisformation.

Whathasbeen described hereisa basiczone coverageconcept. Wefound thesarne

to betruewhenreceivers ranpass routes outof underneathpass zones.
Specifically,if thewidereceiver ontheoneJeceiver siderunsa deep pass route,he
n effecteliminates theoutside threat "f
t0 the at."Therefore, whyshou d the
defense dropto anareaofthefieldif theoffense doesnothave theabilityto runa
pass route to a zone? Asthelinebacker makes getting
hisdrop, depth andwidth, he
sees thereceiver leave thezone, andheisthenfreeto workbackinside. Wecoined
a term, "pulling theshade," asinpullingdowna window shade. Wewoud tello!r
linebackers thatwhentheoutside receiverisnolongera threatto the"f at,"they
should thinkof thesideline asthetopof a window andthen"pulltheshade' down
to thenextreceiver to theinside{lookingforrats).
The patternreadwillmake your
linebackermore activeonthepass andgivethedefense m0re help-and fasier
help fromtheback sideof thepass play.

FUNDAMENTALS

Wealways worked
onfundamentals everyday:f0otwork, getting
tackling, olf
blocks,andballskills.
Before starting
a drill,wealways made eachplayer
sLrre
knewthefollowing:what fundamentalwe wereworking on,thepaceweexpected
it runat,andhowthedrillw0!ldhelpimprove theskillwe on.Wea so
wereworking
keptinmind thatevery point
drillhasa starting point.
anda finishing

Wemade andsawthatthose
thedrillscompetitive players
notperforming
thedri
weremaking
a mentalrepwhie watchingtheirteammates.
Wemade the
fundarnental a Drioritv.
skills andourathletesknewthatthefirst15mlnutes
of
practice
every would bedevoted to fundamenta I
drl work.
Everyday,
we practiced

ffi
27
 ourpuntreturns
Wepracticed
game. forfieldgOals-and
and0urblocks
thekicklng
J,'#ii::;'i?i
:lJ:lf
lun:ltlL:rm*m,"I't;;:i
"#m*t*.lffi','r':'l*'.nti{i
"'
willtakecareofthernseLves
thentheblgthings

PLAN
GAME

weprepared
whenever o' qST,
0,"191!y:i?i;|rXi:11:ou[;|:lte:[
?:x:H,,,
'.iltJ'hrdtillr,'
fi:t:,Hil'"i'Hfiil#'tifi'si"'lffi atfilm'th€betteffeelwehadforhow0ur
looking
,i flit. ir.',to" tltt *e spent

I'tll:l;l'l!:.Tlt:ji:l
:li:nll llil,#,,,Hiii::'ifi'l#*:1,,,,
.no*
.nJ
l"-H:;ii,ilii;;;;;.
fi:';iflil'ii:iJill,xl,"lil to
no' u*.v
tur.
whatyouroPPonentdoesbest.

i:id
t.t:;
rrnll,}r w;
ml]uf{fi
:;ii;itlli:ft,""'.ffi
ff
gii{il:i'1'i1
;W:l:',li:ll1,rumniHi',xluiJli:;
:lnillili,truT}'i::i:; :i:1?
Ji:iff
i11ifl1il::
Ji$ ;[1,ix31:':',ffff your
prepare
youshould
entire
ieanto stopyouropponent's Rather'
playb00k
j":,:ti1:1:x
:ii:m jl":lo,''.l"lj
i'[l'J"""
1X'J,*i:Xlfl':J:i:::x
t0 thellowofthegame
yourdefense
to adiust
""'J,
::'Jl\:ii?:ii::'J;ffi
t';:'iifi
J[x i";:il',,il:
';ilfi]::ffilli:f;xl,T
:,ffi
:*ru, llltli;iilil:liff
*:,l;mi:";','l;;ltlffi iil"
have
theinto"rmatio"nyou
ill:lyil:i?:l',llixi{:r.,',i',
:liil*,',.',:',,li:w;T,','-le
opponefirli:liil:::tlil
upcomins
onvour ffH'
jl:i#jffi
:f,1flT?.ji::{l .'ou
l:llllifi:ffi;;;i,iio'ini,'ro'i"'li*
thefollowing:
mustdetelmine

w
28
 WKffiffiBfEwreHgE

lhepersonnelyou
willface,
including lineup,
thestarting thegoal
thebackups,
personnel,
ine andtheplayers
involved
inyour
opponent's garne.
kicking

of personnel,
Thesubstitution which
especlally piayers
come intothegame on
quick
punts, fieldgoals,
kicks, punts,
fake fakefieldgoals,
andspecial r!nor
passplays;plus
changes formation
inoffensive andtheinsertionof anyp ayer
yo!needto keyinorder thetypeof playthatwillberun.
to tellyou

Anytendencies
information, fieldpositl0n,
personnel, downanddistance,
and
receiver
andlinesplits.

0f theirbestplayers,
thepositions
0f keypersonnel,
Thematchup andtheplays
used these
t0 showcase athletes.
standout

Their
mosteffective
offensive plays.
runandpass

you,whoyoumuststop,andwhatyouwantto takeaway
Howtheywillattack
Tr0m
Inern.

Aiterbreaking downthefilm,yoush0uld compilealltheinforrnati0nyouneed fol

thescouting reportthatyouwillgive to yourplayers.Thescouting report
informationsh0uldbesimple to readandcontain onlythose things theplayels need
to knowThescouting (see
report sarnple onpp.167)is made upmostly of diagrams.
formations,
t contains backfieldsets,offensiveplays,theopponents kicking game,
anditsgoa lineoffense.Thefirstpage containsformatlon and backfield setsand
theierseynumbers of theopposing team's receiversandrunning backs. At the
bottornof thepage isa spaceforcovering motion.Inaddition,space isprovided for
anythingspecialthatneeds to bementioned Thepersonnelpage hasyour
opponent's starting
lineupanditsbackups. Theplayersarelisted byposition, iersey
number,name, andweightBelow
height, thelineupisa space forinformation onthe
q!arterbacks,includingtheirjerseynumber andwhether theyareright-handed or
left-handed.Als0listedbyjerseynumber arethe 0pponent's best rLinningback, best
bestlineman,
receiver, andbestoffensive player.Information
ontheopponent's
game
kicking islistedonthispage aswell,including whichfootthekicker and
punterkickwith;thenames of theholder, thelongsnapper. andtheupback
protectingthepunter;and thejerseynumbers foreveryone Diagrams of thepunt,
andfieldgoalforrnations
kickoff, aredisplayed at thebottorn of the page

Thenextfewpages of thescouting showdiagrams

report of theopponent's runand
passplays.
Therunning plays
arelistedby"gaps,"
andeach (e.9.,
playisnamed ice,
orpowed.
base, Thepassing playsareistedbytheaction,
whether it bethree-step
drop, drop,
seven-step rolout,play-action,
orboot pass.
The pass routes aregiven
names{anow, orhitch)These
curl,dig,searn, runandpassp ayscover onlythose

ffi
29
plavs oftenseeTheopponentsgoallineoffenseisdiagramme
thatVouwlllrnost
onthe astpage report
of thescoutLng

s offenseto seeil youneed to adjusl yoJr

fne1exI stepis tolookaI Iheopponerl
iew to]oLrbasP de'ense w'llbe
oui"Jrfrn.J.Vo.r ot ,netime, otnochanges
a goodidea Io prepa'e
trrst y0Lr 0ase
re0u reo.Keep''l mindt\atil isalwavs
deiense to piaythe game. After that, you shouldlookatyouropponents bestrun
andpass nlavsto seewhatfronts, stunts, andcoverages youwillwantt0 run
ine;ead;ustnenls areeamarked lo takingadvaqlage o'al offens vewedl'rpss
o rrcl p n qyor ,ir <eysitr - r alr onsAsar aldVoLslouldL' sl r l 'epl dy s Youw
selecith-e defensiveformations, stunts, covefages, ora combination of allthree'
ihatvouwillneed to useinorder to stoptheparticular offensive playWhen
'orn10ll'isrisl,Vousnould ieFprtassinpe as possiole and th ow outanv
0namong p'ayers
yo-r -lne
aoi.rsients thatnaynave a charceol caJsngconfus
ait tnnqvor,wanl's'ota player togointoa game Jnsure oi h'sresooTsrb lltleJ
TneadtuitmenLs vouw'shlo ral'erusl fi'st be d scussed dmong alltne c0acles'
evetyone must belnagreement thattheplayers willbeableto comprehend the
and
p an.

Before vouQohon'e o1SLndav yo-sl'0uld f avpLl'eqonep ana1otl'escoLtirg

,moiio'eni'.0to t'onoilq o,rlIo lle pldye s:you sno'd d'sol^d!etneqdme-[iln
o vo-roDDolerls cutardready tosl_owlo voLrp avers-he0lepdled I lmol y0ll
s r ol iTa gam 'eolm atW neryous l 'ow
o o o o .e niit' ar is+ o*n' oyo' r pldyels
filrnsinagame format, evenif itsjusttheopponents offensiveplaysthepLaye(s
oercauot'i r,pintre qanealddor'ra waysseewhatyouwould I LelhenI o see'n
iner mlEuen tnouqn a
it takes l'Illemore ime 't islimewell spert wheny0' brea(
thefilmdowninto;sequence of offensive pLays.

At t1FCol'ege of Duoage.lhe 0'ayswepreoared wereor'ythoseplavswe ..

those piaysweneeded to stopWe startedwith "A'
anticioated ieeinqa loiof and
oaoolavs. oJIIo "D gapThepass
wortir-q,nside p'aysweledt theeld ol the
r00k
iioFotaDe, wlich;dsapplor'male'y 20-liluleslongWenadrheplayers at
W e' e,tlhatwnpntheplaye' ssaw
h i s i mbefor eeachpr ictice lhedi f'er enl
theywould concentrateonthe play
andnoton
flay,ina gupbygapprogression,
howthegame went.

possble.wel;^eo go'ng aduslmelts

irlod ganewithlwoor three l0r
Wlerever
eac\o'lersive p'ayWnatevei we\eptn theqdme ola-deoendedonourDldvers
aorlv roqra50 anounde stanothedd,uslmeTls AdiLslnentscanbe comp el0r
'epl6ye'r''esporse dur'nq
lo oLradjuslneTls rhe weenol praclice
l;,ros
h e l o prodeter
d fir
"1,r eou' ganeplan
a' W Ihega"1ep
ewolleoon dnthr 0J g'l 0Lt
theentire weekol Practce.

wemdde
adiJsl'nents
Sorce naolo d0w'thlhewavwewoJrd\ey iheoflerse
on0 65)lna ( ouole
{0u'reyigsystencanfouldn Iheolayooo( 0tgaflesole0-
rrffiffi
1n
'-e offensive players would oiveusa keywecouldn't passup lnfact,we0nce
: ayed a teamthathada balanced attack,with a good runn ngback'1w0900d
'.c;lvers,anda finequarterback whocould gettheballto them 0nSunday, when
,.,elooked at thefilmof thisteam, wecould seethattheyhad a high-powered
:ffense. Wealsonoticed that thisteam's entireoffensive linewould sitbackin ts
stance onpass plays andthelinemen would have theirweight out overtheirfront
^andonr!nplays. Thatoffensive linewasreally big,andwehada few rnismatches
r ourdefenslve front.Forthat partlculargame, we made anadjustment to ourkeys'
0neach play, wehadourdefensive ends make a that
call would tellthe rest ol the
Jefense whether theoffensive linemen weresitting back in theirstances 0r keeplng
iher weight out overtheirhands.lf the ends made a "birds" ca , thatmeant the
oftensive linemen weresitting back intheir stancesand preparing fora pass play ll
theends made a "pigs"call.thatmeant theoffensive linemen were lean ng lorward
n oreparation fora runningplay. Wecaleda cornbination of twofronts, stunts, and
coveraqes inthedefensive huddle-one forrun("pigs')andoneforpass {'brds"l
Thedeienslve callsounded something likethis:"Pigs,60cover 3, Mike and l\'4eg
'eao o:rds, slac(cover 5.'Wewould rLnt\e frolt stunl orcove'age accord nglo
whatever thecallwas-"birds" or"pigs." Theiroftense never hada chance We
werealways intheco[rect defense.

Theplayers
really gotintouslng and"pigs"
the"birds" call,andwehadsuch great
ihatthisiyitembecame
resuits somethingwelooked forward t0 implementing
against opponent.
every Wehadtwoends got
who so good at makingthesecals
theycould
th-at even telleach
otherwhichsidethetrapblock wascoming from
(Wth "pigs"
ononeside and"birds'
ontheother the
side, trap blockwascoming
fromthe"birds"side.)

WEEKA]'IDPRACTICE
GAME

At DuPage,during theplayers
ourweekof practice, workedonthetechniques they
neededto learnsothattheycould makethe necessary lor
adjustments that
Saturday's They
opponett. alsoworked onouroverall gameplanduring
indivld!al,
qroLo.
andteantine.At Monday s practce.h"lfthelimewassperli1ll^e
i16s519qm l6s previous
qames film wasviewPd whilprl e coaches
bythe0ldyers,
bothproper
highlighted andunacceptable play.
The report
scouting andthegame
pl;nwerepassed outi0 theplayers.Thelasthalfof Mondayb cewasspent
pract
onthefield,whelewewould walkthrough aswe I as0!r
offense,
our0pponent's
game plan.

practice
Before theplayers
onTuesday. watched theprepared fllmof ouropponent-
t0 come
werereQuired
TheDLavers to thefilmroom alreadydressed andtap€d, and
theywould
fromthere gooLltontothepractice field0ur prework was
tirne a l5'
minute that
oeriod 0receded the time blocked o!t forstretchingexercises We
devoted
usually o!rprework
time to improvingsuch as
skills comrnunication and
alignment. weliked
Consequently. tarunadrill "
calledFlash Cards." Thisdrill

ffi
31
iTvo!e0rheJseol five'Looer welcome nals'epreserlingollensive linenenand
|nesolils.At ll'eoutsPt of tnedrill.theLoacn woulonoldLp a flashcarddlsolay ng
u oi#a., of tn"oooo..nL's ollelsiveforrlalonandbackf e'dsetto lhesecord
o,ouJo'o't.nriue t;..uackers an0 secondary0laye s Tl'e
0layers Intnesecond
byo ealingfronLhe nJddle anoalignng on
Il"emselves
i:ouo*or,oth"n
'espono
ih. iuoo"'latr. ut versandof'ensive baclsintheo['ens vetormat'0r
reflectedontheflash'ec"
card.Our base defenseselvedastheallgnment, andthe
detensiveteamwould lineupquickly, makingallthepropercallsAftera q!ickcheck
wewereready forthenextoffensive formation Weusually got
bvthecoaches,
tilro!0h
three setsof 10formations. Weworked onevelytype0f folrnation we
that
thatway,thelew0uld
rnighisee; benosurprises

0'ar;nvolved
lf o"r0ame anyreddtechnqJeo alignmerl movempnt'wewould
level;
fitstaLtl^ei10ivid'a
wor'r6ntnose finallyal lhe
ll'e1alIl^eunit'evel:and
teamlevel.
Duringteamtime,our"scoutteam" (asmentioned oursecond-
earlier,
unit)would
teamdetensive weareach oppone jersey
nt's number' thesc0ut
When
teamworethose jerseys,
theplayerscouldmore clearlyseetheothertearn s
iheiruse0f
patterns,
substltution pelsonnel,andhow all movement
that fit into
theiroffense.

t0 usthatalltheplayers
It wasveryimportant und€rstoodtheIoleof thisscout
team anowhalweleeded tedmt
Io occompls'lotlrl'lg me0'rrp'ayers knewlhalir
order forouroppone'lt
to bep epdred wemJslhave ourscout tean 'esemble that
opponent asposslb
asclosely e.Duringfilm'thecoacheshelpedthatcause by
pointing thatweneeded
outtendencies to seefromouIscoutteam

DuringteamtirneonTuesday, westayed inourbasedefense andtriedto get15

Dlavswithourfirstunt and10withthesecond unit.Running teamtimewlth
defensiveplayerss more thanusngoffensive
productive players lora scoutteam
Theolayers onthescout tearn
have a vestedinterestinwhattheyaredolng and'as
aredetermlned
a result. to prepale
forthe game When they lunthe0fiensive
0lavs.thescoutteam js also ouropponents
learning offense Als0,whenthelirst
uniitakestheplace of thesecondunitonthescout teamit presents an
0pportunitytoseetheopponent from the side
otfensive of theball

Wednesday's pract
andThursday's iceswelethesame but'wlththe
asTuesdays'
of teamtime,w; added
exceotion thefronts, andcoverages
stunts, to theteam
Also.
t.me'sc,ipl weworkeo ol Il^eDass19 ganed"rinqgroupt'ne Wewalked
ar0ranl1eoppone'lt)
lnrouql^ pass plays coverages-{l
agansto-rdilferelt 0ra
oiouir.nltoln* tourtage deienses,t'irckelDog D0gand65Dog'
andPrevent we
usedthesame andassignment
allgnment forthe coverage
under Whenevel
posslble,
wekeptihe same personnel;that way,whenweworked ononecoverage'
wewerealsoworking onallof theman-to-man coverages
)

ffiw
-
,,,
 ffi

:r Wednesday andThursday w€hadteamtimeforourgoalneunit.0n

ivednesday thecoaches would rnakethedecsiononwhatisinandwhatisoutof
:hegame plan. practice
Friday's wasshort, afdwehadanextended teamtime.
lLrringteamtirne,
wematched the0ffensive plays
to thedefefsiveadjustmentwe
.^/!uldpossrb
y coufterw thlnthegarne. Aftertearn
timeonFriday,wecame
:!gether asa t€amto q0through "sudden change."
n suddefchange,al theplayers
!ot togeth€ronthesideineardCoach |\ilacDougaLl
calledoutto themiddl€
of the
i e d,ofebyone,al spec a tearns,
bothQff€ns€ anddefense.Thecoaches would
rakethlsopport!nityt0 checkto seeif evefything
wasallsetasthedifferent
ieams cameontothef e d andhrdded.

n addition,
theoffensive
anddefenslve
teams would
meetintheirclassrooms
to
writteftestonthegame
:akea shoit, p anandscoutngreport.
Bytheend0f
practice
0nFriday,
thecoachesandp ayerswerewel prepar€d
forour0pponent

GAME.WEEK DAY(TUESDAY
PRACTICE THROUGH
THURSDAY}

2 OO_TBEATI\,4ENT ANDTAPNG
(20
2 45-FLMS rninutes)
Come to c assroom readyto goto thepractice
lield.
3:15-PBEWOBK 115 minutes)
3130-TEAM STRETCHING ANDF0Rl/l RUNNING(10mirutes)
3140-THUD (5 mifutes)
0ffensiverunning playsagainstthedefense linegoing
fromthe20'yafd in.Live
blocking,
andthebacks arenottackled.0ffenseanddefense
isscr pted.
3:45-INDIVIDUAL PEB 0D115 mlnutes)
Workonfundamenta s
4:00-UN (15
T W0RK minutes)
Workngas ndrvrdual defensive (front,
units linebackers,
andsecondaiy).
4:15-GR0UP W0RK (20minLrtes)
Linebackersandsecondary 7-on-7vs.0ffensive;tackles
andends I on1;and
unitpass rush vs.offefse.
4:35PUNT WoRK (15minutes)
Puftreturns andblocks vs.offense.
4:50-TEAN/IT N/lE125 minutes)
Opponefts plays.
5115-KICKING GAIME (10rninutes)
Fe d g0abl0cks afdkick0ifvs.0ffense.
5:25-SPR NTS(10mlnutes)
Runlnoffensive anddefensive Al offensive
units:1. anddefensivelinemen.2.
Lifebackers,t ghtends, andf!llbacks.3. quarterbacks,
Tailbacks, and
secondary.

M
33
 BOXMANAGEMENT
ANDPRESS
GAME

ll
3l*iT,'"',"1 iH',',Hi::#L'.IH J:ili:H,X1.o",';:l:
lo
Youmustbeable the
see
$'.ffi:,)""i'i"..
ano
olcture
complete
undti"'e'syourenemy
t esirore.
:[:il,Y1;:i;q:i','^""'l
m::"*n*;*::*i*:,:lTi;;:lj
I I3:.'"'l
#J.lT:"if
i::::*fli.',Tffi '1.:J J,,'.,;;
J#3i:i ;3:'.1'.i.':i;H;
to
atethekeys
andcommunication
organ-ization, onestepIn
staying
tieparation,
frontof youropponent

When vounave hada qood isprepa'ed

wee(of practce You'team 'oryou'
nnnnnpnt Theworstthin0voucando-0qtheheFls - s I0
0[alllh'spreparatr0r
lheolavandlhemanaqenenL
lo control 0l lle
oiJ* ii.t' ovnott.ingp ;pared (21
oameAsa codch. voulacetourareasot concern
ll)YoJr andpe'sonnel
sioelire

;:ff1li';ih:?llf
::m:;ll';;::ru1 iiilfiiliJi,,,
:;iriliTSilf,li;
:i:8iili
:li:'-H:T',:iiil
:*tl;lll,**:lnlTi t
J:lt:::l'i':l'.i.'
a,a'r
i.";;;;;;;;;;;;i';
s,ne tines
t::,yff li:llJ[fllii!?,?1li139i
[i!'*,;lffi
:.il';l'*h';*['d:f
tr.'',,",,l;l'r+iT*il'J:lfu arenotplaY;ng
i,or lainot ttu'tff fhoseVvho
beheroilg
inlhegameshould lhe'r
for
Il'emselves when gel
they rne
l''lI0
teamratiswhoarep,ay19ald 0repatrnq

tf:i:l"ff
t;s,m*:;ir*fl lil:ft*il1ffi;]:l
,li;[:J;#il'ff Thebackup
anytendencies plaYers
sh0uld
isshowing
uro*n.tf,ri tl, o'p'pontnt
alsotakethetimeio with
theplayof theopponent
discuss thestartel

leams
inspecial
afeinv0lved IogoInIothe
nLstbeprepdreo
Those
oersonne'wl'o
ji;ln'##il'
fliffis:ii'.::ffi T#TH
illilixil:"'x''l il:J,ry
Jil:
fhese s0ec,alteamsp aYersneedto lorlow ll'e0ldVof thegame dnd-altlclpale
learscoac\isLsually vou'delenslveIr0rI
rhprrnoinointotheqa"lp. You'special
andplaYers nuslbeor tnesarne oage 0 a step
to.rat t.uts coacl"
.o*r'".it'".
:;;"it; ;;;;;;;;;o,dinu,o' il", will to tnespecral
re'orr
'ptt "'ttans teams) beforegorng
chartofallthe
i.ur, ,o"if,t"r,oi,u.. depth differentspecial
ontothefield.

iiy::$tiiJ:[:::::f, i#[3Jl:i'J'il1f,
:;iii: li:^'?#:
:"I,'i,H J'
ii'"'f
o'
side
;';;;;;it;;;;;rensive pravers theoflersive
allowacross
'"!ould

W
24.
 ffi

:re5o-yard Asyouwellknow,
line. arepoints
there inthegame whereyoumustbe
35e to sendintothegame oneof these
special
teams,dependingonwhatyour
.0ponentelects a game
to do.I canrecall whereweused fourdifferent
specra
leams anddefenses onfourconsecutivedowns.

ihedepth chartsforallspecial
teams anddefenses wereposted onthedefefsive
iearn's
bulletin
boardeveryTuesday.
Duringthegame week, wepracticedthe
'suddenchange"substitution
withourspecial tearnsanddefense. Wedrdthis
ngteamtimebyp!ttinga special
dLrr tearnplayinthescript points.
at different We
worked onsudden changeduring
ourtwo-minute dfill,which
isrunagainstthe
cifenseandsimu atestheactiofthatwouldtakeplace withtwominutesleftinthe
game. game
0urkicking periods
weredevoted to specialteams,andsudden change
!,!as
thelastthingwedidonthefieldat Fridayspractice.

f anyplayerhasanequipment problem orisinjured,

it istheresponsibility of the
playerandhisbackup tonotifythecoaches. Thesubstituti0ns resultingfrornthese
equrpment problemsorinjuriescanbea disaster,rfthebackup p ayerisnotprepared
go
to intothe game.Assoon aswefeltwehadthe game inhand, westarted to
substit!teourback!p players Infact,wetriedtogetourbackups rntothegarne as
soon aspossible.ForthebackLip playerto beableto gointoa game ina key
andperform
situation asa starter,
hewillneed game experience. Fortheirpart,the
p ayerswhoarecoming outof thegame aret0 keep gear
their onandtherrrninds on
thegarne;itisnowtheirjob to helpthebackup players whohavereplaced them0n
thefield.
Keep inmindthatwhensubstitutions aremade, it isimportant thatthe
areacoaches have mostoftheinput regardingwhoisthestarter andwhoist0 be
substitutedintothegame. You mustgivethese coaches theresponsibility t0 make
ihose
declsions,
andtheymust
bewilling
totakeontheresponsibility.
Although
the
' ra decision
isthecoordinator's,
heshould
make
it onSunday,
andnotongarieday

,'t'fen
thep ayers came offthefieldafteranopponent'sofiensiveseries,thefirst
:r'ngwewouLd do,before anything
else,wast0 have theDlaversbeseated onthe
:enchattneiarrighto{thedelensiveside\ine Wehada\earingLharr. andthe
trontfourplayers satontheground inf(ontof thebench,
withtheendsonthe
outside andthetackles inthemiddle.Thelinebackerssatonthebench. andthe
insidelinebackerssatinthemiddle. Thesecondary stood
behind theothers, with
thesafety inthemiddle. Theremainingdefensiveplayets
gathered around those
whohadiustcome At thispointthecoaches
off thefield. would talkto themabout
theirp ayandtheiradjustments andgothrough theopponent playbyplay.
s series
0urln!thistime, play
thedefense's wasevaluated bythetieldcoaches,thecoach in
thepress box.andtheplayers themselves.Thisinforrnation
mustbegathered
quickly,cleary,andfromallavailable sources.Theplayerswil beoneof yourbest
sources, providedyouhave suppliedthemwitha means of communicating thatis
fastandsirn0le. Youmustthendecipher fromthisinformation
whatneeds to be

ffiffi
35
done to alterthesuccess ofyouropponent. Youneed to knowwhatisgoing onout
tnere:voJ doninee0 coacnes andplaye'syelling
oJis0lu t onsadjuslnenls
loyou.lf
stu n l ;;o 'cover ages ther esap' oblenyoushot' ldfindoJ tw hatthdt
Droblem s ardtnenfix:l Youwi'lbe in
su'ccessfulIhisendeavor l' tl]e'nl0rmal'0n
crear,ano preserreo tovouina
iorlrrriu.r'0" rf" ptass boxisunde'standable,
pieuuia.a,orOetryilanner lf youarenotgettinginformationthis way' thenyo!
aret0 0Lame.

A coachin0 lrienq olceasledmeIo worklnepress boifornrmdJling hisga'ne'

becarse h-e washaving p oblensgetIng ll'etypeof nl0rmati0n heneeded l0 hel0
himmake adiustmentsl WhenLgoito thepress boxlsawsixcoaches andtwosets
lii,l.Jpr'onrr. ortingtle enti;garne alildidwasobserve what went on'The
oame wasa htqh schooqane. anotl"elnIeeoe'ensive coaLhes worl lle press
nq
io, *.,t u uu:r',y,rruiantanoa f'esnmal anda sop\omore coaLn WhaL | ""w
*u, tt ut it, infoitttion thatwasgoing downto the fieldwas ineffectiveand
,o"l"tno. in;t oruvrt k'l'
ng us,; Ihe 'elereemaoe a rearbadca'l Weleedlo
,"nCo*i, rnri, *", " thetipesot ll'ings lwasnealng calreddownIo tnel.eld,
b va n yo newnocoulogetthetielocoach' AIter lhegam e'fi 'y l rl l0l
sattenllon e400
mehewasnotooing to lettheunder'level coaches inthe press box anymore'
because they wiereiausing confusi0n ltold himhewast0 blame fortheconluslon
because hehadn't given those coaches instructi0nontheintormation heneeded
nothing is-wrong withhaving twice thenumber of people inthe pressbox
Aciually,
asmvfiiend had-aslonoasyougiveeach of thema specificjob t0d0

Yourinformationfromthepressboxmustbeasclear Ln
to youasif youweresLttlng
thefilmroom watching of theplay.
a video Youneed your
to teJl what
coaches you
need to hearsothatvouare to
able seetheplay

At DuPaqe.lhad a selorder of 'nlormatiortnatlhec0acn ir lheoressborwoJld

dureir gar dalter Il^e0layr ne{ ir slbitofInr or m atil ron
eededI0
'e l a vto - m eoefor to
neaiwas thepostionofineball.theyarolire,anothehashNe^tlwanted
th eoown andthedstance followeobVtnespecficsoftheof{ens es
^formarion,
n o w ,tsbackfreld seLanda description oftneplayWl'enreferring t0lhe
o,rv,tL"u'r*po,nt *ortd0elromtheollensive sideo' lnebalr'B'gnl drd efl
*o'l'otato"" roptO ootiomasrlooked at tne lield lrom Ihe s'der'neTheareaof
the0rav woJldberelayed bystrong orweakgapsl nefi lalth;ng lwanted t0 hear
wasthe0a:n anda shortcorme'lt. lf necessarv Tne'ollowing comnentary 15a1
neartlomd c0ach inIl"epress box "Ballonlhe25,l'ash at
e^ampteif whal
tnebottom, 'woulo
lstalo10,brLe sprrttothetop learslro'lg lhe tackleg0l'eacned
Thismessaqe waswhat Ineeded to hearinorder to seetheplayinmyrnind
tanquage iJveryimportant whensomeone istrying todescribe a playt0 you
0utcKtv.

@
JO
 ffiffiffiHwgffiW

--e press boxcoaches ookforf0rmation patterns,

andsubstitution andtheyalso
, - arttheoffense.
Withtheirhelp.
wearebetter ableto pickupandverify
:.fdencies. onthebasis
Furthermore, of whotheopponent issubstitutingintothe
;.ne,thecoaches inthepressboxcantellthecoordinator
on thefieldwhat the
r'lensive isgoing
formation to be-beforetheoffensive
teamiseven initshuddle.

:: DuPage. wecharted theoffensiverunningandpassing attackduringthegame.

-r€ rufchartisreallysimple jersey
andeasyto keep:The number of thebackwho
:,rriedtheballiswritten ina spacethatbreaks downtherunning playby
sirongside andweakside gaps. Thepass chartisalsosimple. Wereferredto it as
:re "shot chart,"
because it wasborrowed fromthebasketball coaches.0ur shot
:iartwasa diagram of ourpassingzones, withspace provided belowthechartto
n thetypeof pass
,.rrite playthatwas!sed.When a pass wasthrown to a
-eceiver,theierseynumber ofthereceiverwas recorded at theapproximate pointin
ihezone onthechart.The jersey
numbet wascircledif thereceiver
caught thepass.
:romthese wewereableto geta series-by
charts, series tendencyof the
strongside andweakside gaprunning plays,whichballcarrier wasrunning to which
gap, andwhere thequarterback ikesto throwandto which receiver.

Beforeeachgame, lwoud diagram ouropponents topsixorseven runningplaysand

passplaysI thenmade twocopiesof thislist,withthepass plays noted onone
s deandtherunplays ontheother,
andeach playwasfumbered. I caIedthisour
"quck st,"which I woud aterreferto during a game, whenever needed to verily
play
anoffensive byouropponent
ordrscuss with the pressbox coach. nstead of a
engthydescription scheme
ofa blocking ora pass route,thec0ach inthepress box
.: c0uldsimplytellmethenumber of thep ay0nour"quick list."Thanks to thismeafs
of communication,I couldnowseethegame fromtwovantage points. Whatthe
offensewasdoing to attackourdefensewasnolonger a guessing game, andwe
wereearning to takeadvantage ofallourresources andeverybody onourstaff.

Wegotto thepointwhere o!rplayers

would come offthefieldandgivethe
coachesa clearpict!re
of whatwentonduring theprevious seriesof offensive
plays.Theplayerswereableto verifythetype0f playthatwasrunandunderstand
howit wasbeing b ocked.They alsoknewwhatgaptheplayhitandwhocarried
theballorwhoranwhattypeof pass Thecommunication
route. between the
sideline
coaches,thepress box,andthep ayerswillgiveyoua clearpictule0f what
ishappening.When theoffense washavingsuccess inrnoving
the ball,the
adjustments weused werealways andmosteffective.
thesimplest The
adiustments werebased of theinformation
wereceived andwereprepared
countersto anattackat thegap,blocking
schemes, orpassplays.Thep ayers
theirinput
realized wasimportant andwerehonored thattheywere asked about
theirplay.
They !nderstood to knowhowtheoffense
thatrtisimportant s
arracKrngy0u.

ww
31
Theplayers were moreconfident, theysawthesameielseynumbers,lin
because
splits,formati0ns,
sets,andofiensive thattheyhadpracticed
plaYs against
during
theweek. Theplayers
andcoachess00n theycould
believed the
stopanything
offense mightihrowat us,because prepared
wecouldseeit, andwewerealreadY
forit.

rf,5w
38
 Tackling,
Footwork, TiappingtheBall.
Drills
andInterception

Toooften.
weascoaches make judgmentsaboutyoungsters
andsaythingsike
"Thekidcanltackle,"
whileat thesame, we haveneglected
to teach
himhowto
tacke.Your
tearncanbecome better butt rnust
at tackling, betaughtfromthe
groundup-andfromstartto finish.

Every timeI either thinkorta k about teaching tacking,'malways reminded 0f this

oneparticular player wehadat theCollege of DuPage. Thiskidwasoneof those
undersized overachievers whowasnota greatathlete butwhosomehow rnanaged
to beatgreatathletes. Heplayed a weakoutside linebackef, a position thatcalsfor
a good open-fie d tackler.Asa freshman, Timcould notmake a tackle; asa resut,
hedidnotgetmuch playingtime. Thenextseason, whenTimwasa sophomore, we
found thatwewerefourdeep athis position.Because hewas the only sophornore
at hisposition, hewasrunninq withthefirstgroup about thetimewestarted
practice.I recalltellingtheother defensive coaches thatit wasgoing to bea long
yearif wehadto startTimat theSaralinebacker position.After our fifst
scrimmage. I moved Timt0 thefourth unitbecause histackling hadn't shown any
signsof improvement. Afterpractice,Timasked if hecould talkwithrne. Hewanted
to kn0wwhathehadto doto gethisstarting jobback. I toldTimtheotherthree
p ayers werebigger andfaster thanhewas.Although needed
they to improve their
tackling,I wasgoing to givethem a lo0k.I toldTimthatinorder forhimto move up
onthedepth chart, hehadto become a better tackler.Thenextfewweeks, thatkid
drove menuts. When werana drll,hewould bethefirstinline. DLrring those drills,
if everyone woud gettworepetitions, Timwould get
somehow four. lf I would
correct Timonhistechniq!e, hewould goback to thefrontof the ineanddoit
again.lwould seehimworking before andafterpractice ona certain ski with
which hewashaving problems.Through hardwork,Timimproved histackingand
once again became ourstarting Saralinebacker-just intimeforourseason opener.
TheSunday before ourfourthgame. at ourcoaches meeting, I recaI oneof the
coaches saying, "lfTimgetshurt,weareintrouble.' When wereached midseason,
notonlywasTimmaking openJield tackes,buthewasals0 knocking the ball
carrieronhisback.

Inourlastgame
of theregular wewereplaying
season, a teamthathada wide
asa freshman.
whowasanAll-American
receiver wasalsohaving
Thisathlete a
 ffiW

greats0phornoreyearandwasleading therati0n andpuntreturns.

inkickoff
Undoubtedly,hewould repeatasan A I'American.Going thegame.
int0 ourteam
andhiswereboth9-0.Because of thewaytheirtearnaligned,
Timwas responsible
fortheflatto thesideof thisstand0!treceiver.
Their qua(erback
triedto getthe
bai intothehands ofthisfeceiverwithhitchroutes,
flanker andslants.
screens.
Wewound upw nning the game.31-6,andthisA l-American
managedon y six
catches for15yards.

N0w,Timwasn0ta greatathlete, norwashefast.Hewasjustdeterm nedto doit

rightandwasableto hurnbe a great Themofal
athlete. of thestorys thatany
playercanbetaughtt0 bea good tackler.

Them0stimp0rtantthing've earned inmy30years0fcoach 23years

ng,including
asthedefensiveco0rdinator
at th€College isthatyourteamcanand
0fDuPage,
mustbetaught howto tacke asa team. Tackling
mustbetaught frorntheground
up.ltalsomustbetaughtonthreelevels-ind vidual,
unit,andteam. When your
defenseisattacking
thebaI carrierwitha teamplanafdworking t0gethert0 take
awayall0f theballcarrier's
options bytheafglesofapproach, you'r€
making it an
eleven0n onegame:evefybody s aftertheguywiththeball.

Afterreading andistening to rn0st0f whathasbeen wrttenorsaidab0ut tackling,

'vec0me to theconcluson that there s some kind of conspiracy qoing on in
defensivef00tball.Theorigln 0f thisconspiracyliesinthefactthatm0stdefensive
coaches, myself included,
areold,frustrated offefsive linemen.Mybasis forthis
presumption isthes milaritiesbetween how0ffenslve lnemen aretaught to move
g00d
andwhatisconsidered tackingform. Ascoaches, we needto thinkabout
whatexactlv wec0nslder "0roDer" formandwhat0urathletes aleablet0 do
physicaly Whatissometirnes consider€d propertechn quecanactually bea
contradlctionof bOdymechanics Take.for example, the fo lowingd€scr ption, which
isgenerallyconsideredexceentadvice f0rtacklersiKeep feetshoulder-width
apart,takesh0rtsteps, drive through theballcarrier, putyourhelmet onthe
football,keep yo!rheadup,andwrapuptheballcarrier withYour arms.1f youl00k
closelyat thisstatement. afdthenthink aboutwhat a tackleractual y must doin
ordert0 takedowna ballcarrier. I'msure youwi I findflawsinthistacklng
technique.I've oOkedat a lot0f fl m,andthe0r y timeI'veseen a player make a
tacklefroma posit0nof "feetshould€r'width apan"hasbeen whentheback has
runoverthetopof thetackler orth€rewasnop acef0rtheback to 90.lJnder n0
circurnstancescana tackler c oseatfulLspeed to thebalcarrier andcome lo a
balanced p0sitionwithh s "feetshoulder'width apart"just beforemakn! contact
withtheballcarrier.Fora tackler runningat fullspeed to assume a balanced
posltionwithh s feetthatdistanc€ apart, hemustfirstcome to a complete stop-
andwithhiswei!ht0nh s heels. Forthetackler to thenfedirect to theballcarrler,
hemustdosowhilestationary, andwhilekeeping hisweight onhlsheels.

Kffi
40
 wffiwwwffiffi!
'::: atheteswantt0 dotherightthing, sotheycornpromisetheirtackling
formif
. r.'to adh€re to theaccepted tackling
techfique:They
come to a baanced
-: : cn,withfeetshou derwidthapart,fiveormoreyardsawayfromtheball
:: er sotheycanhave t meto reactandgetstartedmoving again. Haveyouever
:..- ofeof your players
defensive c oseona ballcarrerinanopen areaandcorne
': : baanced positr0n
five0rmore yardsfromtheball,waitingforthebaI carfier
t0
-:(e hismove? Thrnkabo!tit.Therunning backhasbeenchosen to playhis
: - i I or because
of hisability inthispostion.Whygivetheball
to beatdefenders
:: ' erthe0D0ortunitv to makethefirstmove?

.rel]olegeof DuPage,wetoldourplayers thatif weseethembreaking down

.- ,'afds
ffomthebaI carrier,
theyarecomifg of thegameWealsotoldthem
oLrt
-:: as ongastheyareforcing thebaI carrier
to redirect,
themissedtackle isnota
:-pletelossWhen thetackler iscomin!hardona good ai'tg
e,themissed tacke
:. ngto f0rcethebailcarrierntos0meone e se{elevenagaifst 0ne)Theproper
.,r to teachyoultacklers
isto instruct
themto always c oseto thebalat ful
::edononeof three angles-the outside headup,orthebackh p of the
shoulder.
: carref.Which oneof these aimpointsthetackerwillusedepends onhisangle
' approach andthepaththeballcarfiertakesThetackler mustadjusthisangleon
-. baI carrier
astherundevel0ps. Hisaimpoint,
forexample, canchange frornback
a tooutsideshoulder.

hena tackertakes anaimpoint, hetakes awaytheballcarr er'soptiofs and

-:rces himto make a decis0n,usualy before therunner woud liket0.Justbefore
-. makes contact withtheba cafrer,thetackertdles downwithhisfeetunder
s hipsandthendrOps hishipsaslf heisgoing tojump. Theanaogywe ikedto lse
'. thourplayers isof a widereceiver making a passroute c!t whoidles downby
:r nging hisieettogether anddropping hiships. When thereceiverredirects.his
' rststepisa power st€p,andhisbody welght isshiftedforward. Thetackler
:herefore should takea path,at fu I speed,to thebalcarrier, which willlorceh m
:o erther Tunntothetackerorchange hisdirection.When thetackler feaches the
ile-down point(wthintwoyards of thebaI carrier),thetackler should drophis
n ps,squeeze h s knees togethef,andstagger hisfeet.At thispoint,thetacklef
shou d either
explode ntotheballcarlier 0rredirectto theballcarrierwithpower
andspeed. Using thistacklingform, thetackler canreactquick y andpowerfully. He
hasalsoreduced thenumber of optiofs f0rthebaI carrier.whomusteither runinto
thetackler orfedirect inthedirection thetackerisforcnqhirn tnorder t0 avod the
tackler

Weemphasized thistypeof footwork fortackling

andtakingonblocks
if theopen.
0urfootwork drillsworked
onteaching theathlete
theproperfootwork
used in
tacking,idling
down. andstepping intotheba carrier.
When wedriledonour
footwork,wetoldourplayers to "sq!eezeknees, andget ittlefeet"
dropthehips,
(i.e.,
keep yourfeettogetherarduseshortsteps).Weused tackling
andtrap-the-

ffiffi
41
 to workonclosing
balldriilsdesigned t0 theballcarrier, theproper
taking angle,
gettingto theidle-downpoint,
redirecting,and!singtheproper technrque.
contact
Evervdav, wewotked onthese inanindividual
skills orcombinedsituation,
depending onwhichdrill
weused.

I a sofindfaultwithwhatisconsidefed good techniquefora tacklerto useup0n

impact When
withtheballcarrier. you tell
a tackler
to p!t hishelmet ontheball
andwrapupwithhisarms, to mind
it brings a swimmerdiving intoa poo . Afteral ,
whena defender theballcarrier
strikes ortakes 0nanoffensive blocker, heuses
simiarbodymechanics.once again.
when weworkon0netechniq!e, weare
worklng 0nbotn.

Weused to tellour0laversthatwhentheytackle theilupper-body

a ballcarrier,
movement shouldresemble a two'handedpunch,with theirelbows pointing
down
Thefrontoartof theirshoulder Dadshouldmake conlact between theballcarrier's
numbers. Thetackler'shelmet shouldcornelowto highandthenupandunder the
baI carrier'sshoulderoadtothe ball
side.
The should
tackler then punch through
withhisarms andgrab thebackoftheopponentsiersey wilhhishands (i.e,grab
cloth). number
lf theballcarrier's is27,thetacklershouldhave thebig2 inhisleft
hand and thebig7 inhis Next,
right. thetacklershouldrun throughtheballcarrier,
usingshortsteps0neof thebiggest problems athleteshaveiskeepingtheirhead
upwhilegetting under pads.
theballcarrier's Wedon'twantthemto knock theball
carrier
backwards. Allweneed themto doispoptheballcarrier upanddrive him
0acKWar0s.

Wealwavs t0ld0!rplayers thatit sho!ldbeeasyforthemto grasp theconcept ot

making "pop
theballcarrier up."Alltheyhave to do isunderstand that it is
leverage-not f0rceorstrength-that accomplishes thatgoal.Wew0uld usethe
following
analogy to pointouthowsimple lt isto gettheballcarrier to popup:lf
youtryto pick!p a 45-pound platethat'syingfacedownonthefloor, youwill
efcountergreatdifficultygetting yo!rfingers Lrnderneath
it to grip
it and liftlt up
0nceyo!manage to getyourfingers underneath it,youcanpopit !p withony two
Thekeyto lifting
fingers. theplateisto getunder thesurface soyoucantake
advantage of leverage.

Thepointisthatwithout leverage,
f0rce andstlengtharenotfactors. Therefore, if
thetacklerisgoing
to besuccessful,hernust the
strike ballcarrierona linethat
r!nsundertheballcarrier's pads
shoulder andtravelsupandthrough him.In0rder to
gaintheadvantage,thetackiermustdrop hiships,
using a front"foot-to-back'foot
squeeze
stagger, hisknees, andgetlittlefeet.oncehishelmet ievells
below the
pads,
shoulder thetackier
ballcarrier's canthen use hisown shoulderpads to "pop
u0"theballcarrier. strikes
lf thetackler between
theballcarrier thenumbers, goes
underandupthfough therunner's
shoulder pads,andrnoves lowto high,hewi I

*ffiffi
r!€ theballcarrier
backwards. don'tIUnlowtotheground
Ballcarriers allthe
r€ iikethetackler.
theymustlower theirbodyon contact-but
theydosobY
:.ndrngatthewaist.Because
hebends athiships
andknees, will
thetackler
:eneratemore power
striking thanthe carrier.
ball In this thel0wman
scenario.
.,rns.

lf youwantto make
sureyour
tacklerisalways youmustdrillhimon
thelowman,
thepropertechnique,
teaching
himthrougha progressi0n
thatbegins
withfootwork
andends withtrapping
theballasa team.

FOOTWORK
DRIILS

drill,theplayer
n thisf rstfootwork should
stepoverthetopofeachbag,keeping
hisfe€ttogether feet
andboth downbefore movingonto thenextbag.
Keeping
his
hipsdown, hisshouldefs
overhiships, hiships,
andhisfeetunder theplayer
should
refrainfromhopping.

---+

Inthisdrill,theplayer
should
sidestep keeping
andshuffle, hisfeettogether.
He
shouldexplode upt0 midpoint
andback hisleettight.
o!t,keeping Heshouldalso
keephishipsdown, hissh0ulders hiships,
0ver andhisfeetunderhiships.

$*ffi
43
i,.xill;:liil ,t:
i#:;J:fl:'H ?i::1 ,T:JI;'.j
:l:'ji,l:"'J:iiIiJil[f;
npsard
ove'nis
downhisshour'ers
i;: tl;i,;;;:;;;k;;ure ro\eepnsh'os
hishiPs
hisfeetunder

---'>

ljfi*l',l:,{il#itrliilirr",T'*#
{ffi i'.{';{,l;
aJ*
:fi:':"'li'i:i"i;
:::ff
*rl r,ti:"*mul*",t;:
nmtru:l to thecone
redirect
signal,

col{f,
CONE
COACH

ORIttS
TACKLIiIG

**:llf*ln,lr***tlltl' ;;:,
Hd,'i#lii',i;ffi'.r,t*,*HtT
aftercontact.
 ffi

o
o
I cone
o
O bal cr.rier tr€ sydsEl
T trcklcr
T
T
T

Wake-up
Thebalcarrierandthetacklersetupbyfacing eachotherinsidethefive-yard
triangle. ispositiored
Theballcarrier infrontof onecone, andthetackler is
between
oositioned theothertwocones. 0nthecoach's command of "hit,"
theball
carrier
shouldfuntoward theinsideedge of oneof thetwocones infrontof him.
Theballcarrier
shouldbesureto givethetacklera l0wtarget.0nthemovement oi
theballcarrier,
thetackler
should attacktheballcarrier,
driving
forhisoutside
shoulder.
{Thetacklershould
usethetechnique thatwascovered earlierinthis
chapter.)
Thetackler drive
should hardoff of hisoutside
footandsquare hishipsto
theballcarrier.
Thetacklershouldnot putthe ball
carrier
down.

o
o
o
o
X
5yds 5yds
/
E cotre
o b{ll carrier E
\
T tr
T trcklel 5yds

w
45
 ru**mmm**,m
E**
O ballcarner
T bckler
o

DRILIS
TACKLING

orrow'nsrhreetaLkr'9d"lr"l::.'j'.s^l9io"lot;',X'
Thef '*
technique
0roper t0 andre0rrecl
whenclosing

l;*ll,::.1',,;iff
liilll#;ll:iln*: 5il1;
::illi''Jil'll::#:'J
Hi#n
tffii:;*r,': ;;i*iilrl*:::i ?llJiiSi:i'i:""
iil'?l
to beshortandoffbalance

l;,:::#eJi:;"'lll3Jil.',','.i';liT,,li
ff
i,Tfiii{:i
,'""'.111,'.,",''"
::::JJiil:Rliil;'iilio.""lfi
@
....'-...'.-....'-----
-....-.....-......-------_-48
 #38
o
ran.f
**'l
I
I
l0
T
-aI
E t/^

trckt€r
I
I

o
I i
THEBAtL
TRAPPIl'IG

0ften.whencoaches telltheirplayersthattheyneed greatpursuitto thefootball,

thevareteachinqthemthelast'resort methodto get to thefootballTheword
"puisuit" inthedictionary
isdefiried {inpart}as"followIing] n aneffortto oveftake
andchase..."
Accord a defensive
ngto thisdefinition, teamthathas great pursult
ls
chasing iniotheendrone.
ballcarriets theopposite
Actually' istrueRather than
teachpursuit,
youshould beteachingyourp ayersto trap and the
contain ba l
carrier.

Thefirststepforthetackler should beto takea direct angle to theballcarrierand

thenclosethatangleat fullspeed. Theangle should beaimed at one of three
which
ooints. willdeoend on the tack,e"sapproach angle to lhe ball:the ba'l
outside
carrie''s head-Lp.
sho,rlde', ortheba I carrier\back hip T\e t"c'ler should
closeq!icklyontheballcarrier,forcinghirnt0 eitherrunlntothetackler orredrect
When youthinkabout it,a ballcarrierhasony three options: straight, right0rleft
Theta;klershouldnot give theballcarrleran opportunity to work on the tackler'
thetackler
Instead. should force theballcarrler to reactto the tackler' Thefefore,
thetacklershouldtakeanangle thatwilltakeawaytwoof theballcarrier's
Whenclosing
options. fromtheoutside, thetackler should runat theo!tside
the
limiting
oi theballcarrier,
siroulder runner'schoice to the inside lf oneof the
teammates
tackler's takes thesame apprOach. thebalicarrier will be trapped and
c0nlarned.Defelsive
0lavers should i1
keep n nothalil l\eYwo'l Loqel\el lhey
.antakeawavallof theballcarrier's optionsbyusing theproper angleof approach
0ndefense, it'seleven one-everyone
against isaftertheguywiththeball These
lrlllswillteach players
howto trap theball However,
carrier. it isimportant
ihrouohout thedrillsforcoaches to remind
their playersto employ thetackling
techn:que they lear']ed
flomthetacklilg d'ill:

should
Theballcarrier runforward andmake
at fullspeed therightor
a cutto either
theleft.Thetackler
should ontheballca(ier
close at fullspeed anoutside-
taking
angle.
sho!lder-approach When the ballcarrier
makes hiscut,the tacklershould
ashecloses.
adjust When thetacklerreachesthe he
ballcarrier, shouldextend his
handsuDint0theoads of theballcalrier, himat armt
keeping length.

o
o
o
**l
hip I

tr 15
yNrd3
corch

0nthecommand of thecoach. make

should
allofthetacklers a passdrop
{Defensivelinemenshould thecoach
doa hiprowinthedirection points
)Thecoach
willhand theballto theback,who should either
then to
break the 0rg0
outside
outsideandcutback Thetacklels
inside. work
should good
using
together, angLes
to traptheball.

oubide out3ide back

shoulder hesd-up shoulder heid-up hip

A
/l
/l
ol
?,)
 re
DSItTS
TRAP.THE-BAtt

These drillsinvolve
thesame andtechniques
skills inthe
thatwerediscussed
sectionontackling Thedrillsarerunononesideandthentheother.
drills. At the
startofthedrills,thecoach willsignalthesnap, willmake
andeveryone a pass
drop.Thecoach whoshould
willhandtheballto theballcarrier, outside
bobteaking
orcuttingback. Thesecondary andthelinebackers shouldbreakupontheball
carrier,
using theproper andangles.
technique Thesecondaryandthelinebackers
mustworktogether shoulder,
{outside head-up,andback Thecoach
hip}. should
also
runthedrillwith oneposition tunninga stunt.

S = cooes

re
50
;ir
r..t -
 ffi

astheprevious
Thisdrillisthesame thatit alsoworks
dril, except 0ntheback-side
Thedefense
an0les. fromthisdrill.
canalsorunstunts

Thesedrillscanberunwiththetackles andtheends.Thefront'side
tackleandthe
endshouldrushpass to theconeandthentraptheballfromtheback The
side.
back-side
tackle andtheendshouldtaketwostepstoward theball.Thetackle
should
close to theballdowntheline0fscrimmage.Theback'sideendensuresthat
theballcrosses andthentakes
thelineof scrimmage to theball.
a cutoffangle

wffi
51
 TEAMTRAP-THE-BAtL

= Rubb.rdmr ors for ofidn. fimr.! lim rplt&

'd
=@tr6
E
-

Trep i.narvputpose ot lhisdriI isto teach thefundanentals lheball

of Irapoilg
asa team.
carrieT I necoaches should beass g ledlo l'c
spec playerposliorss0
theycancheck foraljgnment andangles once
to theballcarrier' theplayers
have an
thecoach;s
ot the-drill,
und'erstandino canincorporate otherteachingintothe drill'
alignment,
lncluding assignment, stunts,and adiustments.

Thesetup forthedrillincLudes fiverubber doofmats which represent theoffensive

linemen andtheirsplits. Four cones areplaced 12yards fr0m the ballon thenumbers
andhashes. The"scout teamwillbemade upof thesecond'unit llnebackers and
seconda.y. Tnecoach w.l bring rhescout teanIogelner ina hLqqle where w'l' ,
he
te I thepiayerstneback'rel0 sel, tl^elo matior' lhedirection of theballcarr er'and
theconetheyshould runt0.Afterthescout tearn breaks from the huddle and a Lgns
ontheball,thecoaches willmake a quickcheck of thedefense t0 ensure proper
alionment. Thecoach will stepin the direction the ballisgoing and hand off theball
toiheballcarrier. Theballcarrier shouldalways break to the outside ol the
defens veformation andrunto thea$signed coneTheballcarrier sh0uld befunnlng
at three-quartersspeed andthenincrease hisspeed asthedefensive players
bec0me accustomed to the drlll.0n thernovement of thecoach andtheplayers'key
thedefense should react to the play. Thedefensive iront {the ends, thetackles and
thelinebackers) t0 theballcarriel's sideseat-rolls and "buzzes the When
ball,'' we
tellourplayersto "buiz the ball," we want them to close hafd to thebalcarrler 0n
a orooeiarqlesorl^atthevconeclose to lim will"outactLally toucl'irg 1i-1T\p
i,iniio the'backsioeo-tie p avsl^oulo atrac\tl^elireof scrrnmage llo seat-roll
 W
-neendandthetackle sh0uldcrossthelineof scrimrnage.
collect,
andthenclose
-ardto theballona goodangle.Thetwolinebackers shouldattack
theI neof
scrmmage, collect,
and thenclosehard to theball
on a good
angle.
0nthecoach s
novement, thesecondary shouldtakeltsthree'stepdropandreactto theball
:arrier. hardto theballona go0d
cl0sing angle.

INTERCEPTIOI{S,
RETURNS, ANDBIOCKEO
FUMBtES, KICKS

onwhich to score:(1)aninterception, {2)a

-hedefense
(3)
hasfouropportunities
punt
'umble, a blocked kickorD!nt,and{4)a return.lt hasbeen saidthatclose
games aredetermined bythekicking garne andtieldposition. thedefense
Certainly,
wantsto make good on every chanceto score, 0r at least to putits ownoifense ina
positlon to score.Whenanopportunity to score occurs,wewillseta "wall" return
to thec osest sideline.
Thereason wewantt0 $etourwallto theclosest sidelineis
that after every down, the p
ballis aced somewhere between the hashes. rnaking
thisareathesiteot thebiggest concentratr0n 0f offensive players. Whenthe
offensive teambecomes thedefensive teamduring a play, it hasto fanoutand
cover thefield. 0nourwallreturns, wewantto setthewaI quickly andt0 thepoint
farthest awayfrom the concentrationof offensiveplayers. 0n turnovers,fumbes,
nterceptions. andblocked wewiLlsetthewallonthefly.Wewillmake
kicks, a
"bingo" callto theclosest "Bingo
sideline, left."Everybody should getto the
numbers of theside0f the"bingo" callandseta wall.Aftermaking the"bingo" call,
thereturner get
must to thewall,even if hehasto give ground to do so.
0nce the
retufner isat thewall,heshould turnit upfield,staying about a yardinbounds.
Players should keepinmind thatwhenblocking 0na return, theycannot bLock be0w
thewaistorfrombehind. Sometimes "no
a block" is better than an attempt that
g0eswr0ng.

ORIII
I1{TERCEPTION

2nd gre.F l@rd.ry B.iE ser,

lb'.. fdrt hold rhi.Id!

wffi
53
 rc
Thecoach begins
thedrillbysignaling forthesnap.At thatpoint,thesecondary and
thelinebackers
make a 0assdrop.
Thefrontshould make a pass-tush
move on a
playerholding
a shieldandrushto anupright bag0ra cone. Thecoach willthen
throwtheballto oneof thelinebackers ora playerfromthesecondary. Whoever
makes theinterceptionshouldmake the"bing0" callto thenearest sidelineandthen
runthereturnupthesideline.Thelinebackers andthesecondary shouldtake the
nearestreceiver (i.e.,
off theball theplayer holding
theshieldl andleadupfield. The
back'side andthesecondary
linebackers shouldgetacross Thefront
andupfield.
shouldforma wallonthenumbers to thesideof the'bingo" call(thenearest
Theprimary
sideline). coaching pointisto alwayscheck thattheplayersunderstand
alignmentandassignment.

w
 Read
Drills

Duringmyfirstfewyears at theCollege
of DuPage,
I emulated
mostcoachesbV
!singdriisthatwoud isolatecertatn
skills
andtechniques.
When werandrillsthat
weredesigned garne-day
to improve performance, rnyplayers
lexpected to display
a game-likeintensity

0urread a game,
drillsbecame andtheplayers andthecoaches werealways
!oking
fora winner.
Bead drillsbecame likescrimmage,andif thedrillsdidn't
reach
:hedesiredintensity.
thecoaches woud reprimand players.Aswesoon discovered,
i/ewereworking onwinningdrillsandnotonlearning howto win.n otherwords,
wewerenotteaching players
ourdefensive t0 respond to theoffense's rnovernent.
\"4y
mistakewasconfusinga player'semotional andphysicalresponseto a drillwith
a player
teaching howto respond to a game situation.

Defensive isa garne

football of reaction
to anoffensive stim!lus.BeactionmLstbe
taughtthroughrepetition.Aftera time, wi I quick
athletes y andapproprlately
feact,
astheybecome more familiarwiththestimulus through repetition.
When we
realized
ourmistake,wechanged oufapproachto practice anddrills.
Wemade it a
pornt
tonevereave theplayer inthedarkonwhatweweretrying to accomp ishby
Congthedril. Before
each drill,thecoachwentthrough thepurpose, thepace, and
theexpected outcorneof thedrillWhen wedecided to teach a certain
skil, we
soughtto identify
andisolate thatparticular
skillortechniq!e. Weused a drill
whichis0atedandrepeated thatskill0ncetheskilwasmastered, weexparded
onanddeveloped thedrillsto incorpofateotherskills.

Thepurpose of readdrillsisto teach speedinreacting

to movement, asweilas
recognition
of offensiveschemes thatenabesthedefensive playersto locatethe
bal. Wearenotworking ongetting offblocks
ortacklingtheba carrier. Thedrills
startoutsrmple byisolating smaI segrnentsof thetotalp ay.Thedrillsarelmited
tojusta fewoffensive plays, andthese playsaregivenaname. Whenpossib e,
neithera ballnora quarterback isused during
thedrills.
Those twoomissions
enablethedefensive playerto recognize playbythemovernent
theoffensive of
keys,thebackfie d actron,andtheblocking schemes.Moreoffensive players and
playsareadded to thedrillasthedefense progresses.
Thefollowingd11 Isshow
howweteach our0laversto read andreact.

ffiffi
55
 A1{0EI{DS3-0N-2DBltts
TACKTES
frontThecoach
drillsforthedefensive
read
Thisdrillisoneof themosteflective
,.n,un int*v oifferent
ir'.utirr ltisquicknd:iliLTi
wavs
canberunthrough time
thedrillatthesame :irl:t"tfl,i;,
*:l';;::
lil;**:,ylhnilt,titil.rul'ru ixl,.
]i'Tl',11",*iJfl
0r0u0s.

telr

€Q p
o' t \ / -r pi -WE

\*
tighfend cetrter

tear fold tell trNP

r"€
ffi' -,**"

turnbtck sprint turtrback spnnt

A6e Lr
.LL.
' Bgo
Rr wE
f."

zone zotre
I ?

."€de
6K*
 ANDENDS3-01'l-2DBItLS(CoNTl
TACI(LES

TBtrae
Qn"'"" P

.f'*,,.YTP*,
swe€p 3W0ep

rga-b
SE LT
F 5FI WE

*'.^,

drop blck
drop b.ck
gE5'

-""&.
-<1-6

ao6dL T RT WE
I*

;+" p"o
P"* !_----O
"u"
."Pli*Q*"r,? \"
 DiItI.S
READ
TIl{EBACKEB
plactices
two'a-day
daYduring
lo betunevery the
and,in
twodrillsneed
These

:ill:ti] J:ilili:i:l Jli lfi

:lH[lf
be to
able
li:::tliffi
locate reacling
theballbY "",
keys
lo their
lr .'i"rifi. r^t'o.iitttshould
"iillH]ll3"llil,:li'
= Robbermrtr ofierilve lircm'n rnd split!
E
SM = tiSlt cld
MK = ccnter Powcr $rong
MC = fullb.cL
SR = trilbdck

!tr QA A
\k-\

F""""*
SR
"lH%,
MG MK
I,.ftBACKERREADDBITLS
{CONT}

SM = tight etrd
MK = center
MG = fullbrck SpriDt passwerk
SR = t ilbrck (H
H
bx bxb

Balc rreak
H

/
Q trO E O'
\ MG \+"r
MK

ffi
 TRONT
DEFENSIVE BEADDRILLS
ANDLINEBACKER

frontcoach anda linebacker coach

Forthlsdrill,a teamthathasbotha defefsive i
p i, totwogroup)'nerac,res ardlne ide s c"r
li'leb"Ll'p
."n 59f;1-p 'np ayes s anoLl'eeroscar vvorL or opriol
;; k;;i;;de r:r'e.ds I neo-ti rleltrebac"e
isfortheoutslde
possibility linebackerto jointhe
unli* il'd"
"iat.,lnoti,.,
lri".or' , io *. . o. ,*o oeep uoue agewhtetneoeiel'ivelrolI dndthe rlont
-".our*rlt ihe coa(;al'onasrl-eo0t'oro'1a\l1ohe
*o'i o'ttu',
'eads
intuu,rr,*ottingtogether onrunreads Theonlydrillinwhich a
unoi-n,
quarterback ora ballisutillzed works
isthedrillthat 0nopton leads'

INSIDELINEBACKER& TACKLES
FB zone Q- FB trap Q- rce

MK MG MK MG

OUTSIDI LTNEBACKER & EI\DS

b{3€ optiotr lerd option

€i(D------> <--Oi(F

pe SE SM
SE
Wheo running thb drill t|rn one SR
side,theDthe otber.
power

ww
60
I'€TENSIVE
FRONT
ANDI.INEBACKER
READ
DRITLS
ICONTI

I\ISIDE LII\EBACKER & f,RONT

q*r

)Qp g-wE
Lr
lRr

FRONT& LINEBACKER

blse f----->

qq q9
srsM LLry'

-$13,7
 RUil/PASS
SEC0l'IDARY DRlttS
READ
readthrough
should
inthesecondary readas
fora run/pass
thelinemen
TheDlavers pickupthe
t";;";;iil;it';;;;;0.. AsrheplavdevelopithesecondarYshould
0uaiterback. thebacklield andthe'eceivets
action, andthenreactt0tneplaYlnrs
l"iiir'oulo o"tt *"voavduringtw0-a-day als0ehrly
p'acticesand inthe
seas0n.

I - nbb.. m.i! otlodrc lilcncr

a = onciliv. i!cld.!

O = b.ck! .ld r...irtr!

plq.
? S8x$e
I
I
i
tu
o5f8xb ?q
"\==--*
\ ir
)T
o
\\

TP
I
stcot{DABY
A1{D
0UTSt0E
u1{EBACt(ERS READ
RUl{/PASS llRlttS
-" s drillisespecially
helpfulto a coach
whoisworkingonhisteam's
two-deep
:nerage andreads.
Thedrillwortsonalignment,
spacing,
funnel
technique,
and
-.n/passreads. Thedrillcanalsoberunusing
theinside
linebacl(ers.

E - Ebh.rD ! ofi.Biv. lir.D.n

trctrta
O - otTcrsiw
r.\ |
O - bm k!.id'*in' {{

da x trlr
^P 'I

"?
sRl'r
t n,
\

o
O;,
aa

/'
I
IIB
I

$I!m
63 ;
 Playbook

Do the litt/e Thingsnight, and the Rt? rhhgs Wnt aakeCare of rhemsetyes

TEAMGOALS

. Maketheplayotfs
. Wintheconference
championship
. Playina bowlgame
. WintheBegion
lVchampionship
. Winthenationalchampionship
DEFEItISIVE
TEAMGOATS

. Ourdefense
mustnotallowanyopponent foran"easy"
a longpass
to complete
t0uchd0wn.
0urdefense
mustnotallowanyopponent arunof over20yards.
to make
0urdefense
mustnotallowtheopponent
to scorebywayof therunfrom
withjn
our1o-yard
line.
ourdefense
must
hold
theopponent 240yards
tounder oftotaloffense.
ourdefense
must
hold
ouropponent
tounder (punts
plays
60offensive not
included).
0urdefense atleastl pass
mustintercept forevery
10thrown.
0urdefense 10yards
mustaverage onreturns andpunts.
of interceptions
0urdefense to lessthan15yardsperkickoffreturn.
mustholdouropponent
ourdefense
must
either
score
orturntheballover
toouroffense
inside
the
opponent's
25-yard
line.
0urdefense
must
forcethe
opponenttofumble
threetimes.
mustproduce
0urdefense sixplays yardage.
ofnegative
0urdefense
must
hold
ouropponent points
to'10 orless.

ffi
65
 P0slTl0l{S
DEtEl'lSlvE

STRONG SIDE

"n*"o*.'*"6o"
o"^o"'o.'o""
WEAKSIDE

SAM LB
X
sE Siih'" Lr Rr WE
STRONGEND LEFTTACKLE RIGHT TACKLE WEAKEND

MK MG SR
MTKE LB MX,CLB SARALB HB
HB RIGtrl
LEFT IIALFBACK
HALFBACK s
SAFETY

AltlDC0t0RCAtt
STREiIGTH

Strenofh CaiirWe willmake tightendlf thereare

callt0 theotfensive
thestrength
ihestrength
iiorri*oi t to tightend, willdependonourscouting
"iih.it*r
report andourgame plan-

oo3&3o.
"STRONG RIGITTI'

CoiorCallWewillmake callismadeThecolorcall
thestrength
a c0lorcallafter
willbemade side
to thetwo'receiver

'o3R3oo
EfEI{SIVEHUDDTE

BALL

MK
SE LT SM RT WE
H B SSR M G H B
' TheSamlinebackerwillfolmthehuddletwoyardsofftheball

2 Theplaversinthefrontrowwillkeeptheirheadsupandtheirhandsonthelr
theplayers
kneesi intheback up
rowwillstand with
straight. hands
their
behind
their back.
3. TheMikelinebackerwill make callandgivethebreak'
thedefensive

BALL
MK
LT SM RT
SE SR WE
MG
HB S HB
Afterthebreak:

ontheirsideof theball
willgoto oneknee
t. Thetackles
areaofthelield
willgoto itsnormal
2. Thesecondary
thetackles.
endswillmoveinbehind
3. Thedefensive
belooking
should
4. Everyone huddle
at theoffensive
break
5. Whenthetightendandtheotherreceivers huddle'
fromtheoffensive
willgivethestrength
Samandl\,4ike call.
sprints astheSaralinebacker
to hisalignment give
andthesecondary
6. Everyone
theircolorcall.
COMMUNICATION

When wespeak of commun catl0n,wearenotrelerfngto thetfashtalk0rthe

veroalconleslS 5on-e qel
p alFrs l'"1sel!es irlo W'e d p avprgetscaJgll.Jp-i1
dr oppo- lneell' ngs
e11. ' l"poe1- drdldo tfe .r ar eD o0rlJ
d ve r0 aloaLtewi' l
Theplayer's focuschanges fromd0ing whatit tak€s t0 getthebaI back t0 the
offense,to gettingeven w th sorneone.(2)The time spent bytl'leplayer
comn uricairqwitr n s oppolprl oelacts l'orn lLeI ne le s'ouldbespedrrg
co n -r-cat,ni
r w \ "i, tpanl"lesl3lATv' ebalco lFslbe om es r ou\l o
c ons pi
theofficia s,andanyclose caI isgoirgto goagainst theplayer'-Theendfesut s
thattheplayef s c0mlng 0utof thegam€PERF0RIV. DoN'T andpe0ple
lNF0Bl\'4.
wl I getth€polntmuch quicker.

mustc0mmun
Plavers catewithoneanother at alltimesdurjngthegame' both0n
andoffthelield.They mustbeableto understand each lt
other' lsvery irnportant
thatcoaches andpLayersuseandunderstandthesame language When a playet
heafs"blueri0ht"or"tear," picture
a rnental 0fanoffensive formatl0n anda
blocking scheme
should appear.Beloreanddurlngthe offenslveplay,the wh0le
,
teamrn'ust towlnover
0urabillty
communlcate. a superl0ropponert wlll depend 0f
0ufab ltyto c0mmuficatewithoneanother.0n everydown, wh€ther na game 0r
ina practice,
thetearec!rrent"calls" must
that be rnad€whlch informthe players
andasslgnm€nts.
bilities
0l theifrespons

thatmustb€exchanged
isa listof callsandinforrnati0n
F0llowing anddurng
before
a play:

. STRENGTH CALL TheSAI\.4 andM KElineback€rs make thestrength calltothe

lelt,strong
tightend-"strong left "
. COL0F CAtL:TheSEC0NDARY andtheSAFA lln€backermakethecolorcallt0
sid€-"blLr€
thetwo-feceiver left,blu€1eft"
. BACKFIELDSET CALL:lf necessaty, theMIKE andNIEGnebackers andthe
SAFETY wlllmakethebacklleld setcall-'ace' ace
. M0TION CALLiTheSARAinebacker andtheSECONDABY make call
a motion
go
orbacks ln
whene therfeceivefs motion-"motlonmot 0n
. COVEHAGE lf weneed
CALL: t0 change ouIcovefag€to thecurrent offenslve
theSAFETY
formation, wl I mak€ thecal-"ace,ace,check lll,
check lL
. FED Those
CALLi whenweneed
tim€s a stunttne
to getoutof running
theca -"Ied,r€d
willmake
LINEBACKEBS "
. When
CALL;
BUN/PASS player
a defensive theplay,
reads hewilllet€veryOne
krowbymaking a r!nora
eith€r pass
call-"pass'pass
. lf a player sees thattheballlseither 0rIn:i' a' -E
onthegrouno
:.LL CALL:
l l l -" b abl la, l l "
, , t l m a kaeb a lca
. AnYone whoreads theplaywillyelloutthetypeof play-"reverse'
'LAYCALL:
':vetse.
. iB0SS IINEBACKERS seereceivers crossing
running under
routes
CALL:When
rurcoverage, theywillgivea cross call-"cross'cr0ss
. i0UTECALL:The SECoNDABY callsouttherecelvelt to theunder
routes
:overage-"Post, Post.
. BNG0CALI:Anytlme weintercept a pass'wegivea "bingo'calltotheclosest
.iA"fin, ,o ,in ttt ,p a return-"bingo left bingoleft
". theoptron
incovering
involved
. oPT10N BESPoNSIBILITY Onevery down. those
responsrbilitvtxi;[illit^tiflii::i:l:i,.
tt.iroptlon
',rii.ri..tnotr,"
tells
'-;;;;ii"it
END,
theSTR0NG "l've
got
#2 ' anc
plavers
piav.iiwho should
responsibilitv
iaveanoption letthe
;roundthemknowwhatit isl
KEYS

:ti l:;
ljj:::: i::l ;j::ii'#i[;Ji3iJll.'il':iifj'""",TT:
Jf f ;:i'tll
[0
hastaken f rslsleoWe able
are
,a-Jlt, o',^t att"t,heofrensF 'ts
of leys we use
a series
playsbYusing
orlri t"r.q.itionof offensive theplav
"i."rrir-r,
;;ilfi;;;; krytl;d;terminewheretheballissoinsbefore andduring
o. totioii.ntii,. pr"1rt, wewillonlyneedoneortwokeysinolderto kn0wwhat
Iheplayrs.

Offenses
ANDALIGNMENT: withtheir
canbeverypredictable
F0FMATI0N
irr',r''.J.u*'",w9 *l1rtry,'-9il',ipJ:1,,'.1,1l'oo.'l,i,l?fililiii.,,,"n
examples
tendencies.Two tendt
of ateams
bafoutofthit" The
habit
andtheir
iiiiriir"jt ttl tit-pilio..ks the
ofrunning
u.offensrve
roiuli'rrio'i,i*,ln can
formation
fJl5il'il::;n
llrti,TlX1
:T":i::^:ij:j'"fliil,i,,:X'i#li',lllllJ',"
n,,,rance he,s
wner so,ns,o
-,
bacrwho
purrlforl.otprff,anou tunninq is "
arwavs deepe'
arigned ne s
whelever
tipsomethLng
a teamthatdidn't
itti it g.itt. b.tt th.veyeitosee
isgiven
position pre-snap
0neof three (1)the,foot
keys; ot the
PRE-SNAP KEYS: Each
;niu,luif;lziti'. r'trtet0ftheoffensive
plaYer
whom the player
defensive rs
wewillkeytheball.for
dlineman Atthe-
rnovemenr
ijiiri tr,'.ti fir ii".overe tomaketheplaY0r
"r ktvwillgetusmoving
irlp .i ir,riLtrr,in* intheriqhtdirection
block
anYimmediate
defeat
 ACTIoN:
BACKFIEI-D Wewillreadthiskeywhileweareonthemoveto theball
wrl'oeterm.ne
e d action
Backl andtypeot playandgiveLsa run/oass
Ihediteclion
read.

BLOCKINGSCHEMES: Hun0rpass,thereareonlya fewdifterentwaystheoffense

canblocka play.
Therefore, schemes
blocking canbea good keyindeterminingthe
ofiensive iherewillbetimes
Dlav. whena defensiveplayerwillableto determine
theplaybeforehepicks ldactioniust
upthebackfie byseeinghowhe-is being
andbywhom.
bloiked Thedefensemustlearnandunderstand theoffensive
blocking he
schemes;if cannotd0this,
a player
isgoingto have a hardtimeplaying
0ur0elense.

BAtiLEVEL: of theballduring
Thedepth whattypeof play
theplaywillindicate
isrunning.
theoffense

4 to 7 yards deeP= Pass

2 to 3 yards deep= run

level one
a)
o o o X d"O*n="0n""
Thekeysshould beused t0 findtheballandgetthedefensive plaYer
movng t0 t
AIIGNMENT,andPHE-
Plaverishouldthinkof thekeYs intwo groups:FoBMATION &
SNAP Thesekeyswill provide a goodideaof wheretheplayisgoingandalso-get
ACTl0N,BL0CKINGSCHEMES,^
thedefensemoving iniherightdjrection. BACKFIEtD
andBAttLEVEL wijltakethedefense to theball.ourplayers stand
cannot around
fortheball-they
looking mustread onthe rlnl
 SETS,RECEIVER
BI/CKFIEID AItIDAtIGl{MEiIT
SETS,COI-OR,

BoNEOO o
o o
o oa
a oo8000 oooaooa
SE 9f LT RT IYE IfE LT RT 6I SE
8R flG fK
[K {G SR
HB HB
Ha
s a
sTRoNcLEFT oousn trcgr srRoNcntcl{t sLacx
RIGFT

o
coDr____+a o o
o
aooaooo ooEooo
Rl s[ 6E
AE 9|| LT RI WE wE Lt
[K fc sR SR fG IK
HB HB
HB
s
STRONGLEFT GOLD STRONGRiGE:T ra!{
LErI LEFT

BROWlr
X* o o sPrxr oor[w
,.\ la
o 'rooEoo o a ooEooo 9[
AE 9f LT RT WE IYE LT RT SE
fi K re SR 5R xG s<
HA HB
8B
s a
STRONG LEFT BLOE STRONG RICIIT BROl},|{
LEFT LEFT

O rrP

aooaooa ooaoo a
SE IT RT WE LT RT 3€
ST [K fG SR 3R [<t [K sx
HB HB

DOU'LI BLTJE GREEN

STRONC LEFT LEI'T
 (GO]{T'}
Al{DALIGIIMEIIT
RECEIVEB
BAGKFIETDSETS, COTOR'
SETS,

ACE o
AcE O
ta .- ooo' 8oo ' a
o ooEOO RT 5E
a WE LI RT 3E
rlE LT
rc rt( 6ll
sR HB
fK sf
SR [c HB
HB
DOtJBLf, TAN
SIRONG TIGS:T
sTRONGllcEl ItouBl',tBROWN

o o
ta o
-o a ' *ogBrx Pro ugfo .
sR rlc
" Es?o3"Ro*t
XK fG AR
HB r.. .Igttdt lor T'r Tnt'
BB ('dt dd tb.l o! rr! h'r' HB
s .TIIPS
STRONOBIGITI DROlvN
STRONCLEFT BLUA/BROWN LEFT

o
'.oo8ooo'
se si lr Rr wE--
" to g Bl||( go* SR
9x flG
TK XG HB
tlE
HB
s BLUETRIPS
STRONGIIFT
STRONGLEFT DOTJELEWTNG LEFT

ACE o

. t t*.o g8"? o". a

'.oo8oo'
SE Sf LT RI IIE
.
fx f,G sR SR TG II(
HB
HB
s
srnoNcRrcn 9ll#*
STRONC LEfT
I.l SUPPORT

-:':rsrvefootball isverysimple andquite unlikeoffensivefootball.Withthe

::':1se,everybody isafterthesame person*and guy
thatisthe withtheballl
:i'ensive players
mustdojusta fewthings whenstopping anoffensive (1)
runplay:
: -! thebaliquickly whileonthemove. Infact.a player
isbetteroffmoving inthe
,,':rgdirecti0nthannotmoving at alll12)
Always closequickly to theball.while
,-:ercontrol. PJayer shouldnever stopmoving theirfeet,slowdown, 0rwaitfor
:-: ballto come to them. (31Always takea force anglet0 theball.Thedefense
:-.Lrldoverplaytheangle frorn theinside ortheoutside.Thedefensive players
i-rLid takeawaytheballcarrier's options andforce himto either redirectorcome
:,:r thetopof thedefender. lt isirnportantforthedefense to traptheball.14)
,'.henplaying offblocks andmoving to theball,playersshould keep theirshoulders
to
-i:rrare thelineof scrimmaoe.

BACKSIDE FRONTSIDE

HB

FBOl{T
SIDE

Halfback: theplayfromoutside
Forces fortheplayto bounce
in;looks outside.
Strong theplayinside;closes
end:F0rces fromoutside
in.
Samlinebacker: "C"gap;forces
Closes theplayfromtheinside
out.
Bight
tackle:
Closes"8"gap;forces
theplayfromtheinside
out.
Mikelinebackefl
Closes
fromtheinside from'4" to "8"to "C gaps.
out,working
Safety:Works
upfield
through
the'Alley";closes
frominside
0ut.

ffi
13
 SIDE
BACK

Squeezes "8"gapdownthrough "A";playsacross thefaceof the

Lefttackle:
blockerandcloses theplaydown fromtheback side
through th€head of theoffensive center; closesfrom"A
Meqlinebacker: PlaVs
qa; working to theoutsidel looks forcutback anddoes notover-pursue
checks forfeverse'bootleg'orbroken
Weak end:crosses thelineofsctimmage;
play.Takesa cutoffangle to stoptheplayii it breaks'
bootleg'0IbrOken playTakes t0
a cutoffangle
Sara linebacker:Checks forreverse.
theballitth€PlaY breaks
Takes
Halfback: a cutolfangle to theballto stoptheplayii it breaks

BLoCKING
PASS
READS: PLAY
THEPASS
ANDREADING

|7h \o ri \-1 a!
^<
5
-X-) \ P€e 4
P
HB
I
IVE
SR
ooEro
LT
MG
RT
MK
bq
"]"I I
I
IHB
T
H8
\*.
"*\
Lr
tl l c
RT
flK
SE
HB

s i
J STEPDROP
DROP BACK

tst r{
a,,rD'dgvg oo.
)/ IIIE LT RT tul"t
'/l
""1
ts
sR MG *.K

SPRINTOUT (TIIR.IIBACK BLOCKING)

r
 l:l$:"".,',.i[!fl
?#Tj,:tiHHfi
:refot difficult ill]J?;i::i:
Ii:litil:i:i*T:i
to spot,if youknowwhatto looktor.

pass
block'
thev
willsitrlatintheir
stance,
pop !p,and
: ::3:J,,Y:i'fJ:Hlto

flJfflffi#,i,T?I?
riiii:ll]iiqifl J:fi
if,..'iiyi::Jfi
rJf,ii:tJ,
".;:
;,ll,nrhll ]i"
'li{,{il}fi!'Hlic;11,';JH,":'*ii:''';i,,:[:n
,ewrse,
jj;ru*;{i:,'.1ffi
=,
if thereceiver
isrunning
a,,post..r"o

T.'l'd,ffiii:fi
#l[:f,1ii,i:li$i:11:
:';r$iJ[,#rffi jffij.x,,i'J,.il:l:iJ*',
i:,HlJit'Iff
?i;
l,.lnffi
::j5#iil:: #[[,ffffi,[l?ji?fJil:fr'#
LT$,-,[':1iil ji?:ff-
:-arter-batk;
Howthequarterback
carries
theballwilltellthedefense
the
fiT'iff
ff:ilSJi,:liffi
:rij:jrld"l'ijlili ll:#,,,lnl:li,',i"j,,;l'
o'ip
soins rh; ;,'
=; llii,iLYiii,llfll#:iifi;fflt;';'x:.o'
'' 'ho,[;':
:.,'i.'n.'",ii"r'iiilil';iii:iX;iJflX1'#,ff1?i;[',',i.j,li,',,,.,.J
 SCHEMES
BTOCKING

can0lock oLrde'elseor'ysomanv vlaYs t0.

WeruJl be,able
Ineol'pnse r0
plav0ytneb oc(i1q Schane A S0wenLrl beaole
recoqnzea10lfP1sive
te'nstnatwilrqivpJSa visuar 0l how
i'nage
.*i.'uniu,r,o orr "norl'eoyusing
Tnese oiaqrans ll'enoslconn0n
illLslrale 0loc\rrq
a Dravs benqbroc\ed.
schemes thatteams us.
willuseto bl0ck

ICE $T^K
ICE STRONC
a
.g
.o o.$\o ap
wEr LrY/I YRr/ 7sr
uo*l-rt

ZONE STRONG ZON'EWXAK

o -t
o-o.,8\oqp I o q.e
JK t*/
we ii{ \-"nl 'su se lfE'
ff t* "'
ncy' -ml- flGK

FB TRAP STRONG
*-o o--

SE

.]:.\ TEAR WIAI(

TEAR STRONC
/.4q.p
-ile YRr / 'sr sE 9p
$rE'/l-rr
ff \.1
*K., '

G
1A
 wwwreffi

o- > BASI STRONC "B"GAP O

a
o\+
n
-. 1 4
Q/t a o
wd Li/ FiA Sr. sE we{rrr fnr
uc- r,rf 'irc -mx

POWER STROI\G

9',,
sfl SE

TB TRAP TT'EAK

,P
s[ sE

SWXEPSTRONG

wi<

W
71
 BaseDefense,
FISTlll

FISTIII I.ETTANDRIGHT
TACKTES

BLUE rlGIIT O TAN RICqT oo

o oo aooo ooEoo
LT LT AT

STRONC
ruCHT STRONC LEFT
BROWN LEFT
oo CR'EENRTCNT oo
oo o oEo oo ooEoo "
IT RT LT BT

STRONGRICI'I STRONC LEFT

STANCEiBoth tacklesshould
usea three-pointstance,
withtheiroutside
ioot
back(heeto toe).
slightly Their
weightshould beforward
ontheirfingertips,
and
theirbackshould
beflat.Their
feetshould beshou der-width
apart,withtheirheels
upandtheirweightontheballsof theirfeet.

AUGNMENT:
Thetackles shou
d head-up g!ard,
theoffensive crowding theball
{Wernay
adjust
theira ignment
to nose shoulder
ontheoutside 0f theoffensive
guard.i

KEYThetackles'key guard,
isthehemetoi theoffensive asweI astheb ocking
schemes
to thebackfie
d action.
Theyshoud usetheballformovement

BESP0NSIBILITY: Thetackles shouldplaytherunfirstandthepass secondlf the

playisa fun.theyareresponsib e for"B'gapandshould sq!eezetheplaydown
from"8"gapt0"A'gap.lf theplayisan"option," theywil have#1(thediveback)
p
lf the ayisa pass,theyareresponsible pass
fortheinside rushanddraw. As
defensivetackles,theywi I seetwotypes of blocks,
bothof whichtheymustplay
anddefeat onevery down: the"drive,"or"reach," andthe"trap"blocklt is
block
veryimportant to ourdefensethatthetackles areableto control
theoffensive
guard anddefeat thoseblocks.

ffiffi
19
+F+

TRAP BI,OCX z0NE BLOCK

DRIVE OR RDACIT
BIl)CK

oQEq o
li ar
o'ry'o OOFQ,9
)rirf 6-n'
Y
cur orr FOI,DBI,oCX
DOIJBLETEAM
BLOCK BLOCK

o 9F 9"o o tBqS- **"

x 'LT l' Rr
LT- RT'
RT'

DROP BACX TURNBACK

scooP BI,OCK BLOCI'ING BLQPXING.
YYr IY l/ |/ ' o9 8 9 0
O O.E Pt-a dbaoo Lr RT
Rr LT
ti

tlST lllSTBOl'lGANDWEAXEltlDS

wnrcnelrucxr O
BLIJE RIGIII o.,o .1 /\ i.\ 1\
- o "oo6o o o -
oo oEooo wE sE
WE strk !q!rE"rP
li.t fi3t

STRONC RJGIIT
GRIENRIGET O O
BLACKLEn .\
\.,^-
^
ooSo o o'
rl(J
-o o o EIo o o o
WE
sq!tr.d_!P nlcr(
STRONG LEFI
 ffiffiffi

STANCE: Thedefensive endsmustbeableto playoutof twostances-a two-point

siance anda three-pointstance.When using thetwo-point stance, theirinside
foot
should beback, with mostof theirweighton their
fr0nt foot.Theirfeet shouldbe
:rside
theirshouldersabout6 to10inches apart. Theirfrontfootisthedrive foot,
andtheirback f00tisthebalance foot.Theirstance isnota contact tv0eofstance;
ihustheir!pperbodyshould berelaxed andpoised formovernent. Thethree-point
stance, whichwewillcall "STACK," isa stance thatwewantthetackles to usefor
making contact. stance,
Inthethree-point theirinsidefootshould beslightly back
lheelto toe),withtheirweight ontheirfingertipsandfrontfoot.Their back should
beflat.0na fewoccasions, wewillcallonthemto usea "S0tlARED-lJP" stance.
Theonlytimewewillusethisstance isto a "WING SET," and.even then, onlyon
thestrong side(see the"WING/TAN" set).The"squared-up" stance isa twO-p0int
stance inwhich theplayer's
feetandshoulders areparallelto thelineof scrimmage.

ALIGNI\,4ENI
Thestrongandweakends mustbeableto usefourtypesof
alignment:FlslSTACK,SoUABED Ue "40."Wewillusethese
and to
alignments
to thedifferent
adiust offensiveformationsfromourFIST
llldefense.
Wewillalso
usethese fouralignments
to align defensive
ina different forrnation.
Bothends
needto knowonlythesefouralignmentsandhowto !sethem.Theiralignment
will
dependonthedefense called
and theoffensiveformation.

FIST:Inthistwo-p0int theends
stance, shouldhave theirinsidefoota yardoutside
of theoffensive 0na linethatisat a 45-degree
tightendortackle, angleto theline
of scrimmage.Theyshouldberunning
throughthestance 0f theoffensive
back to
theirsideandcrowdingtheball.

STACK: stance,
Inthisthree-point theends beheadupthetightendortan
should
backandbecrowding theball.When
FIST call,weusethe"STACK"
isthedefensive
alignmentonlyto theweakside-when forrnation
theoffensive haseither
a tight
endora tanback.

Theends
SoUABED'UP: sh0uldassume parallel
thistwo-point stance,head'up
the
wingback, theball.The0nlytimewewillusethisalignment
andbecrowding is
whenweseea wingback
onthestrongside.

"40":The ends assume

should thisthree-point
stanceontheoutsideshoulderof the
offensivetackle. inside
Their footshould ontheoutside
bealigned footof the
offensivetackle.
andtheyshould cfowdtheball.The"40"alignment
willbeused in
two0f ourotherdefenses.butwewillusethisalignmentasanadjustment forthe
defensiveendsagainst
some offensive 0urscouting
formations. andgame
report
planwilldictate
ouruseof thisa ignment.

ffi
8l
FISTATIGNMENT
nearback

o
X
SE
Get should be on either f€el shotrld b€ oD either
side of this line at a 45 side of this line at a 45
degreeangle degreeangle

KEY:Theends willkeYtheballlormovement,n0rnatterwhattheoffensive
is.Thedefensive
ailqnment ends willuseoneof tw0keys,depending0ntheir
aliinment:the footofthe"n€ar
outside (the
back" 0ffensive runningbackclosest
toi player andthehelmet
s side) 0n'
p ayertheyarealigned
0f theoffensive

F0OT 0FTHE NEAR BACK:When inthe"FlsT"

alignrneft,theends willkeythrough
t1edowrli1prnel, l0 l1el0oIol lhe neor
bacn -l"ev vv;|,
useIh keylo qettiem
'
movinq T1eendsslepswill0epend
lo theodlr. 0n ll^e 0n
direct ol tl'enearbacks
f,rstsi"o.Afre Inefirslstepof tl^enearbac<theeno,should pickup lhe
backlle scheme.
theblocking
d action, andthelevel0f theball

dE-Mt| 0FOffF\SVt oLAYIR. Wnen usirgdrvoI lhe01hethree rs

aLrqnmer
-p.or
{std(I. sqLareo '40J.theendsshouro Ihere'Tret topi'\ upIheblocl19
(ev
scheme, andthelevelof
action,
thebackfield theball

0fthedefensive
responslbilities
RESPONSIBILITIES:The w ll
aresimple;they
ends
anO
onatiqnment
OepenO whlch endofweakend
theyareplaying-strong
position

STBOI\G EI\DRJ1lespors.oilitv to I1esl onqerdw I be D gaprleshould t ose

f tl e p'ay'slo h s 0pp0s he
le.sde srouro.
e!e-yln,rg oowrfl0ntheoutsioe,n
llrst'makesure a reverse,
lt isn'ta bootleg, ora broken plaY, and thentakea cutotl
pursuit
angle.lf the0flensive playis"option," hewillhave #3 (the pitch)li pass
e o' ls.de
s\o w q .l'\ds 0assr uihar dconta n onr heqLar le' back r lEV J ST ( EEP^,
-l'e
CONTAI\I ol'yerce0lron woJd beif hewas a rr sw lcl 00'ltlof A JVvrun
pOSfifOrtr" *if f ori,t *iy whentheoffensive formation hasnotight TheSAM
end
linebacker willmake a "switch"call,which willchang€ thestrong enos gap
responsib lityt0 "C"gapand#2{thequarterback) onoptl0n plaYsi everyth ngelsers
p ayedthesame.

WEA(t\D:oLr esporsib ty'ottl'ewed.erdis C qapriesf0uld cl0se,

r
t' e p ay s IOh s oppos
p \eyl l ^;g 00,\- ' tonte o ttsioe,n,l es de l e s l ^oLl d
 'if:i make
suretheplayisn'ta bootleg,
a reverse, play,andthentakea
ora broken
r-:3ffpursuit
angle.lf theweakendisina "stack"alignment,
hecannot letthe
:gri endorthetanback blockhjm.
Hesh0uldplaytheblock
straightupandnotpick
:: de.andheshould thenworkto "C"gap. Hisoption is#2(the
responsibility
lf passshows,
l-erterbackl. hecanhaveoutsidepassrushandcontain onthe
llalerback.THEWEAK END|\,4UST
KEEP CoNIAINI

Clot{ Blocl(llllc SCHEMES

AGAI STTHEEIT
DS

Srl|ONGSIDE WEd$IDE

of *^ TE R

6\ t u
r&{R

\o
-o..\\r
E OIO O
t lsu)'sr
-flwE {wE

POWER
f5{ow* t\
{
FN" < 'syse F)"q

o-7-
swEEP srRrNTpAss l
y-----r
s*fu.
tooT PAss

9J--------\ lH
Eirt\1\
' srtrsF
-EBb*,
sMI sE

=
 FISTIIISAMANDSABALINEBACI(ERS

TAN LEFT BRoWNRIGHT O O

alt.\
OE ooo6oo "o
SE SM WE
WE SM SE
SR
STRONG RTGHT
BLUE TRIPS cRf,f,NrRrpsRrcHr
8 O O
R IGH T oo E oowE
oo oEo oo 9* o*
WE SE switcn ""oo
SM
SR SM
STRONGRIGIIT

STANCE:
TINEBACKEB:His
SA[.i] feetsh0uld beshou der-wldth w thhisheels
apart,
theground
c earing andparalelt0 th€lineofscrimmageHisweight shouldbe
foot.Hishlpssh0u
0nhisoutside d be bent hafwaybetwe€n a and
srttLrg a
standlngposition.
Hs handssh0!ld becarredjustoutside
of hlskneesir a
relaxed p0st 0n,ready
andcornlortabLe a blownt0thet
io deljver ghtend

heels
SABA TINEBACKEB:Hisfeetsh0uld beshou der-w ' w thhis
dthapafl
theground
c eafirg andparalelto thelineofscrmmage Hisweight shouldbe
evenly onhisfeet.Hishipsshould
distributed bebentha!fwaybetween a sitting
afda standingposition.
Hishandsshou d becarr
ediustoutslde0f hisknees Ina
relaxed post on.
andcornfortable

ALIGN[/]ENI
SAIV LNEBACKEF:Whef theoffensjveformatjof hasa tightefd,theSarn
llnebackerwillalign
head-upthetrghterd0nthestrong side,crowdingthebal
Hisaligfment wil chargeony whenweneed to adlustt0 the0ffensive
lormaiior.0ur will
adlustment beofe of threealignments, dependngonthe
0ffensveformat When
on:(1) theres not ghtend n the0ffenslveformatior,
Samshould allgronthe0ne'receverside,hafwaybetween theoffensivesplit
endandthetackle (GBEEN,GREEN TBIPS) {2)Theinside sho!lderof theirside
widereceiver to Sarn's
side(D0uBLEBflOWN, BLUE TflIPS){3)Stackeda yard
outsrdeof thestrongefd(D0UBLE TAN)Thedepth of these alignmentswillbe
louryards

SABA LINEBACKEB:Hisalignmentwil beto theweaksideinofeof four

algnments
difl€rent at a depthoffo!.yards. J0rmation
f theoffensive hastwo
tightends (BLACK,
ortanbacks IAN,D0UBLE TAN), Sarashou d stacka yard
outsideof th€weakendat a depthof f0!Iyardsf thereisiustorewide
receivef
t0hissid€(PlNK,BLUE,D0UBLE BLUE). Sarash0!d algnhalfway
between theoffensvetackle orthetightendandthewidereceiver.lf thereare
ffi
 ffiffiffiEEmffi@ffiffiH

twowidefeceiversto hisside(BRoWN,
D0UBLE BBoWN),heshould align
on
theinside
shoulderof theinside
receiver
fourvards
dee0.
lf there
arethreewide
s tohisside(CBEEN
receive TBlPSl,
hesnould ontheinside
arign shoLldeof rhe
middle 0urgame
receiver. planandscouting
reponmaychange thealignmentof
theSaralinebacker.

KEY
SAMUNEBACKEB: When alignedoverthetightend.heshouldkeyhishelmet
andtheballformovement. Samshould keyhishelmetinorderto seeif thetight
endisblocking
him.0ncehehasmade s!rethetightendisnota blocking threat,
heshouldpickupthebackfield action.
theblockingscherne,
andthelevelof the
ball.WhenSam'salignment isfouryardsdeep,heshouldkeytheoutside footof
thenearback.Thefirststepof theneafback willgetSarnmoving inthe
direction
of theball.Heshould thenpickupthebackiieldaction,
theblocking
scheme,andthelevelof theball.

SABA LINEBACKER:Sara shouldkeytheoutsidefootof thenearbackto his

side.Thefirststepof thenearbackwillgetSaramoving inthedirection
of the
ball.Next, pick
heshould upthebackfield action,
theblockingscheme.andthe
levelof theball.

BESPONSIBILITIES:
SAMTINEBACKEB: Hecallsthedefensive huddleandmakes thestrength callto
thetightend. lf theoffensive f0rmation hasnotightend, Samshould make the
strength callto theone-feceiver side(GREEN, GfiEEN TBIPS).lf theoffensive
formati0n isbalanced (DOUBLE TAN, D0UBLE BB0WN, DOUBIE BLUE),heshould
make thestrength (our
callto theshortsideof thefieldort0 theright. game
planandourscouting report maychange Sam's alignment, aswellasthe
strength.)When Sams alignment is0nthetightend andtheoffense shows run,
hehas "C" gap,andheshould assume thetightend isblocking him onevery
down. Samsh0uld playthetightendstraight up,heshould notpicka side, and
hesho!ld cl0se down"C'gapandbeinposition to helpif theplaybounces
outside.lf theplayisto Sam's oppositeside,heshould takea pursuit angle
lookingfora cutback. lf the play isanoption. hehas#2 (thequarterback). His
pass responsibilityistheflat.When thealignment isfouryards deep{not ght
end),hemustfirstmake a "switch" call.Thiscallwillinformthestrong endthat
Samisswitching runand option responsibilities
with him. As a result,
Sam will
"0"
have gapand#3ontheoption pitch). (the Heshould playrunfromoutside
in;hispass responsibility istheflat.

SABA LINEBACKEB: Hewillmake thecolorcallafterthestrength callismade.

plays,
0nrunning Sara isresponsible "D"
for gap, andheshould closeit down
fromtheoutside
in.Heshould notpursue untilheissurethep ayisn't
inside
bouncing lf theplayisto theopposite
outside. side,
heshould takea cutoff
pursuit
angle
andlookfora cutback. lf option
shows, hehas#3(thepitch)His
passresponsibility
istheflat.
ffi
85
 SCHEMES
COMMOiIBtOCKIl{G I.INEBACKERS
AGAINSIOUTSIDE

OPTION
F-
a
EO sx; <^ we
'
o*on
Q. $...rrrn^r
.=----
EO \ pq sg-As
<1,w E
{' se
srC-
\{l *'""*
re rr*
]p\-.. '},(

F#"\". EE9
Y /sE <r $rE
l' su
o-l-, o**t ^ / srnnrr
PASS
"n"" .---{
q; O?,-\ \ ,-,

I
Elooo\
"tt
""\ "'

.a
 HSTIIIMIKEA]{DMEGIII{EBACKEBS

1TI RIGHT o
o oooE oo
c oo E o oo
MG MK
STRONGRIGI STRONG LEFI
no\r:{ LEI'I o
o GREENTR]PS O
o
o o oo 80
o- ooE o oo
MK MG
K
STRONG LEFT

STANCE: BoththeMikeandMeglinebackers shouldassumea two'point

stance.
withtheirfeetparallelandshoulder-width Their
apart. weightshould
be evenly
withtheirheels
distributed, the
clearing ground.
They bebentat thehips
should
hafwaybetween position.
anda standing
a sitting Theirhandsandarms be
should
carried
infrontof them ina relaxed
andcomfortableposition.

ALIGNMENI TheMIKE willalign

linebacker sideof theoffeosive
to thestrong
while
formation, thel\,4EG will
linebacker alignto the side.
weak Theirinside
foot
should
splitthestance guafd
of theoffensive at a depth of fourto four
anda half
var0s
oeeD.

KEYS:Thevshouldkevtheoutsidefootof thenearback.lf thefootof thenearback

isnotvisible theyshould
of hisalignment,
because keyhishelmet. Whenever
possible,
theyshould
keyhis because
foot, by so,
doing they willget
a betterjump
ontheplay.Theyshouldkeytheballfo[m0vement.

BESP0NSIBILITIES: TheMikelinebackef willmake thestrengthcallandanyother

callsheisresponsible for(see"Communication" of theplaybook).
section Theinside
linebackers "A'gap,
areresponsiblefor aswellasallrunning playsfromtheinside
to theoutside. [,4ike
shouldfeadthefirststepof thenearback; whenthenearback
steps toward him, Mikeshouldmirror hisstepandattack thelineof scrimmage,
w0rking "A"
from gapto "8."
"C," "D"
and gaps. lnstead
of workingunder blocks,he
should workthrough theoutsidehalfof theblocket whileonthemove, moving from
theinside out.lf thenearback steps awayfromhim, Mikeshould workthrough the
'4" gaps andtakethecenter's (or
block anyotherblo€kl straightupwithout picking
a side.Heshould pursuetheplayfromtheback butheshould
side, notover-pursue.
Heshould lookforthecutback. lf theplayisanoption,Mikehas#1{the dive)His
pass responsibilityisthecurlto the seam, thehook,andthe hole.

EW
81
 SCHEMES
BTOCKING IIiIEBACKERS
AGAII{SIII'ISIDE
COMMOl,I

ornon srrolro H .-a oPTroNwEA(

1EARsrRoNG !]
/o-\ . *-=4t
G \\ A-_
.+YN\.,s"FT
*X*. x'.t
o/ b E 9 o o
\o
m*l r.le( r,at - / 4;/|g >'ttK
"el
+T--O rt Tr t STRONG
POWERSTRONC
\*

'P6,/"
md trl

rrrl.{lwE I(
rE iRAP WEAK TA TNAP STRONC
*.

{m
-a\
"n{
nn*Yf

\,'
ZONE .A
b' tq
o-qq I p ooFp p o
fi\ '>"rrl >'tTl 1rl
ud r.ats ucY m'k
 ANDHATTBACKS
SATETY
FISTIIISECONDART

o 13 t nrt od3
or2
O O rl
ooD l o o o # r { r o o o Eo o o fl
H8
MID'POINT HB --MD;;;'i-------.-
-€ STRONGRIGUT S STRONGLEFI S
rtOWN LEFT GRTENXIGEI O 12 O#3
od3 o#2
o
Olr o o 8000e1 o*r ooEoo o12
O*r
H8 MID.POTNT
MID.POINT HB
s f,IGIIT
STRONC STRONGLEFT

STANCE:Thesecondaryplayersshould
assume a two-pointstance,withtheirlnside
(for
iootkeptback thesafety,
thefootto thewide sideof ihetieldshould
bekept
Their
back). weight beontheirfrontf00t,andtheirknees
sh0uld shouldbebentand
squeezedtogether. hipsshould
Their behigh,andtheirchinsh0uld beoutoverthelr
Their
toes. feetshould about
beheel-to-toe sixinchesapart.

ALGNIVENT
HALFBACKS: Thehalfbacks willalign
0nthewidest receiver to theirsideof the
formation.
offensive When on
aligning a wide receiver.their alignmentshould be
sevenyards deepandtwoyards outsideof thereceiver. lf theformalion is
closed(thismeans thatthewidest receiver isa tightend), theiralignment will
befiveyards deepandtwo yards outsideof the tightend. Because theywill see
somanydifferent typesof formationsindifferent areasof thefield,the
halfbackswillfollowa fewsimple rulesthatwillchange theiralignment
These
slightly. ruleswillputtheminthebestposition to make theplay.

. NumbersBule:
Anytimetheyhave receiver
a single onoroutside
thataligns of
the"nurnbers,"
thehalfbackswillchangetheiralignment seven
to theinside,
Vardsdeepandoneyardto theinside.

. BracketRule;Anytime theoffense hastwoormore splltreceivers

to thesame
wewantto
side, "bracket" thereceivers fromtheinside alignmentlto
{safety's
withthealignment
theoutside of ourhalfbacks.0ur undercoverage
willalso
helpinbracketing
thereceivers.Theideaisto c!t downonthespace thatthe
willhave
receivers availabJeto run routesby our alignment.The
ha fbacks will
align yards
seven deep andoneyardoutside of thewidest receiver.
Wewilluse
thisaliqnmenteven
if thereceiver isonoroutside of thenumbers.

ffi
89
SAFETY:The safetys alignmentwilldepend ontheoffensivefofmation Asimple
;Lleol thJnblnatwillpit thesafetvn tl'ebesl lo
positron na(e ll-e0layrsto be
12vards deeD01ll'e 'midpointbetween thew destleceiverlo eachslde lle
saietvshould thinkof himself andthewidest receivers forming a l2-yard-hioh
ov,unilO *iti tn, ,utttyat thetop0f the pyramid Most 0f the time, thisrulewill
irelpthesafety puthimielf inthepropel position;however' there exceptions
are
When twootmore areputto oneside,
splitreceivers thesafety mayhave to cheat
bevond themdDoinr il thereceive's stretchthef'ed howlarthesafelY m"sl
cheat l'isa ignment willdepeno onIhe positionof lne ba'lln'ddle orhash) onthe
fieldandthJwide receivers'alignment Thesafety needs to remember down
to cut
thes0ace thereceivers have aviilableforrunningroutes pastthesafety's
allqnment. Anexample of whento cheat alignment and when notto isastollows:
Wientworeceiveri splitintothesideline' thesafety should stay onthef ields
midpoint;thesideline willcutdownthespace When tworeceivers splitto theopen
sideof thefield, thesafety should cheathisalignment to the[eceivers The
hafback, theSaralinebacier, andthesafety should "bracket" the receivers They
should cheat theiralignment untiltheyareinposition to make the playon the inside
routeif allgodeep.

KEYS:The secondafys order of keyswillbe(1)the nearestuncovered offensive .

(Z)
iinrrun. tt'" U.ritirtO actlon,(a)
the of
level the ball.
{4)the and(5)
quarterback'
thereceivers. Astheballissnapped andtheplaydevelops players must'backpedal
theplayisr unorpass
u r! l n e ydeler ni' leil - heyslouldpr aytl" epas s .r i r s tand
tnerunsecond.lf linemen arereleaslngd0w1f;e,d fola blockthebacktield acll01
andtne'evel ol lheballwill give lheseconoarV a "run read lf linemenarepass.
b ocking. orif backs areblocking orreleasrng,
theouarterback and'ecelverswlll
oivethJsecondarv a Dass read.When a passplayisrecognized' thesecondary
;hould kevthereceiv;rs and the quarterback's
releaseof the ball'They read
should
rl^roLQn the#1rece;ver tothe quarterback Plckingupthe #l receiver's can
toule tell
tnes;co']darv a lotaboJltheotnerrecelvers routeslhesecondary playerssr0uld
notloox ati,.riione teceiver'srouteorat thequa'terback Tnev nJsIkeep
everything inviewandseethe so
field theywillhave time to react'

NUN,4BEBING:
BECEIVER

.) #3 Oflz
- r'r\.,t
O#zu*'OOElOO O#r
#1RECEIVEB: to each
Thefirstreceiver closest
onoroffthelineof scrimmage,
side.
to theball.

to theoutside
Thenextreceiver
#2RECEIVER: orthe
side,
0f the#1receveroneach
nearest inthebackfield.
back
 ffiFereffiffiww$
#3BECEIVER:The of the#2recerver,
to theoutside
nextreceiver orthenearest
back
inthebackfield.

#4RECEIVEB:The
nearest inthebackiield.
back

secondary's
BESPoNSIBILITIES:The mai0j0bisto defend
against pass
thedeep and
play Thesecondary
stopanyrunning thatbreaks. should
keep that
inmind a missed
onanvrunoroass
tackle willmean
a touchdown.

PASS: Threedeep zonessplitthefieldintothirds.Thehalfbacksareresponsiblefor

theoutsidethirdsandthesafety forthemiddle third.
Thehalfbacksandthesafety
shouldplayoverthetopof thedeepest route intheirzoneandbreak uponroutes ln
theunderzones.They should stayintheir backpedaluntil
thereceiverbreaks their
"cushion"
(theyshould keepdeeper thanthereceiver bythreeto fouryards whilein
theirbackpedal)i
theyshould"zone flip"(droptheirhipsandturnupfieldtoward the
quarterback). ovefthetop0f thereceiver
running andpinning
himto thenearest
Z0NE
sideline.IBED BULE:The "redzone" istheareainsideour20'yardline.When
theoffensehastheballin0urredrone, thesecondary shouldplayunder the
deepestrouteinourzone inmancoverage. Wewillemploy thistypeof coveraqe
onlywhentheballisinthisione.)

BIJN:
HATFBACKS: Whenrunshows,STAY 0UTSIDE; theplaydownfromthe
close
in.lf therunisawayfromthehalfbacks,
0utside d takea p!rsuit
theyshou
to cuttheplayoffincase
angle it breaks.

SAFETY Whenrunshows, thesafety

should
workupfield the"a ley"
thr0Lrgh
(theareaonthefieldwhichopens guard/tackle
of theoffensive
upoutside
closing
area). fromthe inside
out.

ffi
91
 BaseGoverage, lll
Cover

-lJrbase coveragewil beC0VEB ll.Thiscoverage separates thefieldintotwo

:'easof deepand short zones.The deep area willbe divided intothree deep
::nes left.right,andmiddle-calied "thirds."Thedepth of these zones willstart
a1thealignment of thesecondary andrunthelength of thefied.Thetwo
-a fbacks andthesafetv areres0onsible forthese zones. Theshortzones willbe
:aled "!ndercoverage," andthe inside and outside linebackers areresponsiblefor
:hs area. Theunder coverage willbedivided intoonemidd e zone andfivezones to
each sideof theball.Theunder coverage hastwolevels: a topanda bottom.
Voving fromtheballt0 theoutside. thebottom zones are"hook,' "seam," andthe
'f at"ontheoutside. 0ntop0f thetwohook zones isthe "hole."L4ovingfromthe
theotherto0zones
ro e to theoutside. arethe"curl" andthe"crease-and'fade"
rones. Thedepth of thebottom levelis 10yards, andthetop evelis15yards from
theball.Thesize,width, anddepth of allzones willchange depending (1)
on the
ofiensive formation,(2)thenumber of receiverst0 a sideof a formation, {3)the
rypeof pass routes,and(4)the position of theballonthefield. Wewilladjust our
alignment andcoverage zonesto these fourfactors. Wewillnottryto cover the
entirefieldwhen defending against thepass. 0urpass drops willbemade onlyto
those zones inwhich theoffense hasthecapabilities to runroutes. Wecanandwill
eliminate zoneswhenthereisn0threat of pass routes inthose particular
zones.

n order
t0 make thenecessary adjustmentsforpass coverage,wemustbeableto
thepassing
recognize of anoffensive
strength formation.
lt isforthisreason
that
wemake a colorcallafterthestrengthcall.Thecoorwillidentifythereceiver
set,
andalsoto which arealigned.
sidethereceivers Ineachoffensive formation,
wewil
dentify
each receiver andhisp0sition
intheformationbya number.

RECEIVEB
NUMEERING:

o#3 o#2
O *r O utO O & oo o#1
#1Receiver: to each
Firstreceiver onoroffthelineof scrinmage
side, c osestto
thebal.

#2Heceiver: to theoutside
Thenextreceiver of #1receiver
oneach
side,
orthe
nearest
backinthebackfield.

ffi
93
/JB e( ei\,et LoIheoutsioeo
TtsF4exlr ece' vel o' the
*2 r ece' ver t in
' nea'es!a$
thebacklield

Thenearest
#4Beceiver: inthebackfieLd
back

(Thepass forthesecondary
responsibilities
coverage I
inChapter
areexplained
ioveraqe
ihe linebackers' inthischapter')
willbedescribed

TORTINEBACKERS
COVERAGE
THEUNOER

Thelinebackers areresponsible fortheunder coverage, withSAlvl linebacker

res0onsible forthestrongside flatzonel\,4lKE linebacker has the strongslde curl'
linebacker hastheweakside curl'seam' hook' and
r.Jr. noot,.nOn"f,,onis.MEG
holezones. SABA linebacker hastheweakside f latzoneourpass covefage willbe
I rrirf,uotan-to't., pattern-read, zone pass defense Thismaysound likea lot'
brt it isr;allvvervsimole. When thellnebackers determine that the play ls a pass
andthevmake theirpass drop, theyshould findthereceiver intheifzone wh0rs
a l0ned closest to theball(the #l receiver) lf the#l receivel isrunning a pass route
hlmand thequarterback and play rnan
inii, .n.. tn. fintl*l.r mustgetbetween
. y'l
...i. lf Ine receiver s parsparlern rursto ar area wliL\is
"ar.."rl.ql
Tott1e neoac(e s coveragp area,le sl'oLld loo^ {or elthe' lhe12 ecelver 0l Ine
*:-r"rriu"riotrnuput.ro'uteinhiszone lf al thereceivers to thelineback€r's sLde
i"norr, 'ouiesor, i 'istone. hesn0u'o I
pu r,pandlo0( for leceivers {'0m the
onoosrLe siderunn;nq in
ro'lres his zone lf nolhing snowsheshoLld readlhe
ouarterbac^ ardb'eikor tl"eballwl'er:lislhrowr'Whenthere aretwotecevers
rrnntaoti, tlrtr"lrt,f,elinebacker's zone, heshould cover the deepest oneBefore
eainolav. rnetineUacters nustknowIhereLelver alignment andwh'cl's'de s the
i*oliei" ue,s.1..wr,.nmarrng theirpass dtoo, it isveryimporlant Il"alIhe
rineDaclets lf t'leya'eontheore_ o two rece vers de Also tley mLsl110!!
^row andw destpass roLte lharcanbe'un to lt'e'rione lromthe
wnals tnedeepesl
to,".it. 0 tcethelirebac(ers delerrine thattne prav is a pass' thev
"1i..*. should aimforthearea0f theirzone where the
rr,"rioii"tt tf'ritpttt orop.They
deeoest andwideitpass route couldber!n.Next, they should adjust t0 theJ0utes
iunivit'e re,.iuers. fne linebackers should thinkof thetwoJeceiver sideof the
offensive formation asthe"work'side. Thenumberof receivers andthe
0ossibilitiesfordifferent pass routes wilLmake iob their harder' The one-receiver '
;ideisthe"help'side, because wehave twodefenders against one recerver and
ma!beabletoo.vehelplo thelv1/o_rece vers de l'l tne#l receveror Lhelwo_
sider r n'asc ossing
re re ,uer palter n lle\elpsr oebeco"lesr l 'ew or k s i deI
r|I ROUTES ZONEONTHEONE.ANO
THATARERUI'IATIIIE TOPOTEACH
IWO.RECEIVER
SIOES

sI
o a
o42
ou,

Eiddl.1Il

& hol. S 5 td!.

-- fld. I

fLl tht
HB HB
l0 ]d&

a
[G

ooE oo Oo,
IK
sf I
tl o q,
WEAXSIDE
oro or3
STRONGSIDX

ffiffi
 LETTBLUEIEIT SPI.ITBACKS
STRONG

clrl
_t.
s

nnt
HB
filt HB I
0 yds.
MG SR

SM
MK
I
oo o 8 0 "a
STRONGSIDE #2 o#3 Wf,AKSIDE

TEFT"I"
RIGHTBROWN
STRONG

I
IB niddle V3
l0

s curl

Iht HB
25

oo oS oo
# to
o

W
96
 ffiffi!

-. oifensive
formatlon
cancutdownthesizeof thefieldwehave The
to defend.
-
r 31€d arearepresents
thearea0f thefieldwheret wouldbehardto runrnore
:-:i onepassrouteTothissideoftheformation,
wecancutdownthewidthofthe
::,ii 0t0ps

UNDER ZONES,
COVERAGE RECEIVER
ROUTES,
ANDROUTES
RUNINZONES

#2 FI-ANKf,R #1 TIGEIEND #] BACK

l. fly T.nitcb l2.rmw l6.pGt l9,sirg
2.po6vcom.r EiLna l3.c'erie l?.[@k 20-hd.
3.nry 9-dig l4.sern l8.drrg zl.sn
4.cMs l0.curl rs.Iry 22.h@k
& s.frde ll.post 23.crG€
\rr

thg

sire
23 stant

ffiffi
97
 pod.o,'cf '.r0id
ffi;

dlg hook tl'it

""4
 ffiffiffi

AtIGNMENT
F0RSEC0]tlDARY
ANDTINEBACKER
VERSUS
RECEIVER
SETS
( ITI]MBERS ) ( EASH ) (rIASg) ( NUMBERS)

I ELTJE on o#l
o
o OE
lD w^!

LB d to {&12 yd& dep

i 7&2

12 .a mid-poirt betru.n tbe wid6t reivet to d.h sid€

'ards
BROWN 43 O Ot2

qt?
o
OOE IOOO# r

LB ,l lo 4&l/, yrrd. dc.p

7&l( bncket rule )

HBi
r,r I to lcra yrtr ae.p
5&2 |

#l o*2
o*oot ooEoo

LB ,l to 4&12 dep
'rrdr

tro or n|oi. wide B.iv.B lIe sfety Eln chst to tb. 3ideltrt
hs tu or rore rcc.iv.n i

ffiffi
99
 SETS
RECEIVER
VERSUS
ANDLINEBACKER
TORSECONOARY
ATIGNMENT
(NUMBERs) t@
o43
BLUr,/BROWN O#r O o#2
|!! ^ ^.._'
a\r\r)dl -
e E Y
v
^n Jv
,si
I iNideshoulder
,* GrrK i

-- |
i 7&r( brftket rule)
ir - -
rhe sdest re€eiverto dch side
i 12 yrds rt nid-Poirr be$;er
. ..^-. t2 .
d4 O
BRo\IN TRIPS i
i OezOlt i
Oc2- O#r
- /.\.r
(J v H.\oc)
16r v v Frv_
OOEOOqn'
^:Jf:-
(o!l - "*I i
i idsidesbourdei
- i
;s*tlo*,- H :".
. : ..
LB 1 to 4&rz Frft deeP 5&2
I i
"r
t&lt bnckd rot' ) ,
rbal
it" **""" rt' efett DNt chet to tbe3ld'
i *"
: i"" "'*" '*" '*" **t""rs :t.
i -
BLUETRIPS i - ^ ",

ooEoooo' i
o* r i
,"-"' i ove.ce.l€r or(r ttckle inid' shouldet I
'- $( xG *
,
-l I
I LB 4 to 4&12 Yrrdsd'ep hB i
HB i .. 7& r(bncketru1.) i _
7&1 (!uhe.! rule)
-1gl lllsl:lirjz i . _- .
t*o r nore*oc re.ei'cn rh' sr'tv Dr cte'trothelidetD{l
I
i traseoor oot recmc* i
:^
D OU B LE : Y- ^. . i
er o w\ ,_ Oo, Ool O{ 2
:Oal - - v^ . .\'r
,9O O\
16r
i- iNide 3houlder
I i
iNide3boolder
, " " rc ry " f l.
i ,tnto 4& 12 } {dsdeP I H6
' 7&l( brt'ker rlte t
 ffiffiffiwl

PATTEBN
READS
- re nebackefs
wl | !sea setofderinreadingreceverandpass routes,
witha siight
r ilerence
inthewaythattheinside andthe0!tsideinebackerswillreadthose
:.ssroutes.Thegoalofeachlinebacker ist0 findandcover
thedeepest routeinhis
: !ne.Themostefficient
wayof f ndingtherecelverheshouldcoveristo usea set
:atternthatp!tsther€ceiversina sequencethatiseasyt0 f0ll0w

SA[/LINEBACKER: When heis0nthetworeceiver side,hesh0uld firstl00kforthe

.1 receivert0 runa passrouteto the flat.f #1 rufs a route t0 another zone, he
shouid continue hs passdropt0 theflat,looking #2
to the receiver to runa r0utein
- s zone.f #2clears hiszone,heshould p!l upandookforroutes corning
fromthe
rppos te sid€.f nor0utes sh0wheshould lookforthe#3feceiver comingout0f
rhebackfield andfunnrng foutesto the flats.lf#3 is not a threat, he shouldstart
lvorkifgback toward themiddle. lf theSarn linebacker isontheonereceiver side,
the#2receiver wrI beintheoffens vebackfie d andSam should lookforhimto run
a r0uteintheflat.Heshould thenlo0kforpass routes c0mlng fromtheopposite
side

N,4
KELINEBACKEFTWhef heis 0nthetwo-receivers de,hesh0uldflrst 00kfor the
#1receiver to runa passroute lntheseam 0rh0okzone. pass
lf the#1receiver's
routerunshifiroutof his2ofe, heshou f0rthe#2r€ceiver
d lookoutslde to r!na
post,curl,s ant,ordig.lf#2clears hlszone,heshouldlookto the0pp0site sidefor
routescomlng to thehoe. f nothn! shows, he should
check forthe#3receiver,
who,m0sI0f thetime, wi I bea backfromthebackfield,n thehookorseam. lf the
[,4ike
linebackef is0nthe0ne'receiver side.
heshouldl00kforthe#1receiver to run
a postordig.lf the#1receiver runsa routeOutofl\,4lke!
zone, heshould check fora
fouteto theholefromhisoDoosite side.Next,heshouldlookforthe #2 receiver,
wh0.mostof thetime. willbea back fromthebackfied,to runa routeintheseam
0t n00K.

[/EGLNEBACKER: ]f heis0f thetworecelverside.hesh0uld firstlookforthe#1

t0 runa pass
receiver routeinthecurl,seam,0fhookzone. lf the#1receiver'spass
routeruns himoutofMeg's he
zone, sho!ld lookoutside for the #2 receiver
to runa
post,cufl,slant,
0rdig.f #2clears hisz0n€,heshou d o0kt0 the0pp0site sidefor
r0utesc0mifg to thehoe.llnothing shows, heshou d check forthe#3receiver,
wh0.m0st0f thetime. wlllbea backfromthebackfie d,inthehookorseam. lf the
Meglinebacker is0ntheone-receiver side,
heshouJd l00k for the #1 receiver
t0 ruf
a postordig f the#l receiver runs
a routeoutof hiszone, heshould checkfora
rouleto theh0lefromtheoDoosite side.Next,heshould lookforthe#2receiver,
most0f thetimea back to rura rout€
fromthebackfleld, lntheseam orh00k.

SARALNEBACKEF: lf heisonthetw0-receivels de,heshou d firstl00kfofthe#1

receiveT
to runa pass r0ute
t0the f at.
lf #1rLrns
a route
t0 another zone,SaIa

ffiffi
101
shouldcontinue hispassdropto theflat.looking t0 the#2receiver to runa route in
hiszone.lf #2clears hiszone, hesho!ld pullupandlookforroutes c0ming from the
o0oositeside.lf none showheshould l00kforthe#3receiver coming outof the
backfieldandrunning routesto theflats.lf #3isnot a the
threat, Sara linebacker
shouldstartworking backtoward themiddle. The#2receiver willbe in the
offensivebackfield, andtheSaralinebacker shouldlookforhimto runa route !nthe
flat.Heshould then lookfor a passroute coming from the oppositeside to thetlat

READS
PATTERItI

MG

sl

oo'"*o"u"'o
't \ o809
e)tr o-*
!,

#1,callshimacross,
SAMLINEBACKEB:Checks looks thesearn
to #2,andcovers
route-

MIKE Checks
LINEBACKEB: #1,callshimacross, to #2(who's
looks nota threat),
looks side,
fromthe0pposite
fofroutes sees
none,breaks
!p on#3comingo!t ol
side.
fromtheopposite
thebackfield

MEG #1,sees
LINEBACKEB:Checksthefade, thecurland
to #2,sees
iooks covers

SARA LINEBACKER:Checks#1.runswiththefade.
andlooks andbreaks
back
withthe
onthedragafterrunning
upfield fade.
 ffiFruMW

l0ydi

o o a /o
-b
T
SAM #1,sees
thearrow
LINEBACKEB:Checks andcovers
it.

MIKE
IINEBACKER:
Checks notathreat),looksto #2,seesthecurland
#1{who's
covers
it.

MEG
LINEBACKER;#1.plays
Checks thedig.

SABA
LINEBACKEB:
Checks on#2intheflat.
#1,slideswiththedig,andbreaks

#1BUNS
WHEN A HOUTE
TOTHEOPPOSITE THEONE.RECEIVEH
SIDE, SIDE
BECOIVES
THE
TWO.BECEIVER
SIDE.

ooEo
nQ /
/2 0 | or3
SAMLIN€BAC Checks#1,getsunder
KEB: theout.

MIKE
LINEBAC
KEB: ks#1andpicks
Chec upthedragcoming
fromtheopposite
side.

MEG
LINEBAC Checks#1,sees
KEB: andmakes plays
hisdrop. thedigby#1.

SARALINEBACKEB: #1(whorunsout),
Checks with#2onthedig,andpicks
slides up
#3running
thefade.
ffi
'103
SA[,,4 #1,callshimacross,
LINEBACKER:Checks slides #3,andpicks
with#2.checks
thedragfromtheopposite-side
back.

MIKELINEBACKEfl: #1.callshimacross,
Checks with#2onthepost,and
slides
upon#3inthehook
breaks (He
zone. a ways playsthe route
deepest inhiszone,
andthenbreaks
uptheshortr0utes.)

MEG
LINEBACKER: #1,p aysthedig.
Checks

SABA LNEBAC(EB:
Checks #2,picks
#1,s ideswiththedigandchecks upthedrag
fromtheopposite
side.

COVER
IBOBSEB

Covef I willbeused to change 0!rbase coverage intoanattack coverage.Wewill

begoing forthe interception
or a "Big
Hit."The coverage will attackthe two-
receiver sideof theoffensiveformationandmustberunto a two-back set.lf the
offensive backfieldsetisACE, wewillcheck t0 Coverlll.lf theoffensive piayisa
running play.wewilluseournormal FIST Thesafety
llltechnique. willkeythe#1
receiver sideandjump
to thetwo-Teceiver thereceiver whorunstheinside pattern.
Keep inmind thatwewantto gofortheinterception "Big
orthe Hit. lf thesafety
reads runaction, hesho!ldworkthrough theinside receiver to the"alley"to make
sureit isnota play-action
pass. {Note:lfthe #l receivet
runs a dragorcrossing
ro!teto theopposite theone-receiver
side, sidewillbecome thetwo-receiver side.)

ffifif;H
104
 wsffiffiffiffiffi

*\-<^/
tD's
*I
t,r's

\fi K fl G
si nmL^ol. sD/crrl flrrf.d.
n.r
a aooEloo,
(J
a
d2 o o*3

SAFETY: a ignateightyards
HeshouLd deep side.
onthetwo-receiver rob
Heshould
pass
t'reirside ro,lelo lhelworeceiver
s:de

HALFBACKS:They
should
align
head-up
the0utside eightyards
receiver, They
deep.
areinhalves
coverage.

SAN,4 Heuses
LINEBACKER; thenormal
FIST
llltechnique.

MLKE Hispass
LINEBACKEB: drop zone.
willbeto thehook Heshould
thenopen t0
sideanddropt0 thehole.
theopposite Heshouldreadthequa(erback
andlookfor
routes
coming
inbehind When
thesafety. heis0nthe0ne-receiver
side,heshould
usethenormalFlST
llltechnique.

MEG LINEBACKER:When side,

heis0ntheone'receiver heshoud usethenormal
FIST When
llltechnique. side.
heisonthetwo-receiver hispassdropwillbeto the
h0okzone. Hesh0uld
thenopen sideanddropto thehole.
to theopposite Heshould
readthequarterback
andl00kf0rroutes inbehind
coming thesafety.

SABA LINEBACKEF: lf heisontheone-receiver

side.hesh0uld hisalignment
cheat a
littlewiderto helpp aythefaderoute.In
a I other heshould
situations, usethe
normaltechnique.

l/2.s mbi$id. mui. rn,.

thnhmk
i"a
\
S[
lf,K
h@k^olc
c
sb/bd.
sR-
n rftd.
:J
aooaoo a
o a
o Qn

RffiUES
105
 IOBTHESATETY
TECHNIOUE
ROBBER

Thecurlareaisthezone inourpass defense thatwewillroblt isimportant that

tt'.,,ndei.overag"sellouropponent thatwearenot dropping anyone tothe curl
\1,/ecanenployaTumbet of options, includingstunting a linebacker or locking th.e
linebacker on;nybackrunning a pass route. Thesafety should usenormal FiSTlll
alignment, withiheexception of thedepth, which should be I yards instead of 12
uaids. pt"
Th"rame .na0kevs areuseo lo determine run or pass Wher pass
;hows.lhesateryshould prckuprherouteot rheinside receiver (' 1\'\ LeYing
'hi\e
fortherelease of
thequarterback's nearhand, which isontheballWhile looking
theball,thesatetyshould openhisvision andtindthedeepest inside routeto the
two-receiverside.0ncethesafety hasestablished this route, he sh0uld slideand
drop.positioning
himselfona straight linethatrunsthrough the receiver to thehand
of ihequarterback.When thequarterback dropshisnearhand offtheball,the,,
safetyreadstheflightof theballandbreaks onthe ball through thereceiver' lf the
receiver's takishimona course
route thatwillcarry himbeyond the curl 20ne' the
safetv should"nanf l;p'withthereceiver, playing
ulderthe'eceiveI,n man
covera0e. Wnenever possible.the safely shoul0 raybac(, align ald poise h msei
forthe-break ontheball.Thesafety mustbesensitive to two key situations: (11
When theinsidereceiver(*1)runs a route to theopposite sideof the formation (a
dragroutebythetightend), thesafety should slideacross withthereceiver andr0b
the-curlzoneandtheinside route onwhat was the one-receiver side (2) When the
tworeceivers runshortandsideline routes move to the flat and the outside third
with the route
inside coming from the one-leceiversidelout'flag,anddrag), the
safety shouldsettleinthecurlzone andlookiorroutes coming flomtheone-
receiverside.

;. -_-- .-_--"x.
 xs
HA
HA
f,G SR

oo FEo
#l
o "o

rl
covER
Cover ll isa run-s!pport coverage. Thealignment wil bethesame asit iswithCover
, withtheexception of thesafety, whosealignment wil beoverthecenter at a
cepthof eight yards.
When thebackfieldaction is"fullf l0w"t0 a side(all backs
gonginthesame direction),
thesafety wi I attackthe"alley" toward thefullf 0w
Thesafety should workthrough theinsidereceiver to make sureit isnota play-
action pass. Heshould attacktheballand workfrominside out.Thehalfbacks will
readthebacks forful flowto a sideanddroptohavescoverage, looking
foreither
a p ay'action pass orplays thatbreak.Thedefensive frontwillplayn0rmal FIST ll
technique to reactto theplay.lf thebackfieldaciion is"split f low"(backsgoing in
different d rections)ordrop-back pass
acti0n, thesafety wi I yell,"Check lll"and
everyone wi I !senormalFlST to react
llltechnique t0 thep ay.

HB s HB

sfl
*^ "N ""
aa ooEqo a
#2q 6*r

ffiffi
107
 aooEoo on, .
a#1 ,o
rxl^a
fl2

IISTIII
TIGHT

''GdTFIS-ll'i, a pass
tovoragewewil uspou'ingganes 0 avFdn bddwedller'
Wnelprayi.lgint\e air.wind. il isnaldlo th-owthebal t0 lle
andco'ou/edll'er,
flatirea.ThLs
outsidi t0 cover
isdesigned
deiense thoseareas of hlgh'percentage
inbadweather.
completion

& & 5ra

s

r
fade frde
X
HB 1 \
MK MG SR
HA
l0
atL,
Ilat

a oo800 or o*
#l o
,2 O O#3

108
--',tLINEBACKER:Hedropst0 thestrongside thequarterback,
curlzone,Ieads
:.::<sontheball,andtrapsthereceiver.

,',.: LINEBACKEB:
Hedrops zone.
to thestr0ngsidehook reads
thequarterback,
thereceiver.
r:.ks ontheball,andtraps

Hedrops
'.':: UNEBACKEB: t0 theweakside
hook
zone, thequarterback.
reads
,.:aksontheball,andtrapsthereceiver.

::RALINEBACKEB: to theweakside
Hedrops curlzone, thequarterback,
reads
:':aksontheball,
and traps
the receiver.

aoo E
#l o
#3
o o*

srAcK
c0vE8
tv
situations,
Incertain weneed tohaveourbestpass defenders onthefield. This
strategywillrequire subbing ourbetterpass defender intothegame forthose
linebackers
whowould beat a disadvantage
incertain coverages. Thebackup
safetyandtheSaralinebacker arethetypes of playersneeded to playcoverlV This
coveragewillbeused insituationswhere wewanta four-man pass rushandt0 still
beablelo defend against thfee'0rfourdeep routes.Wewillals0usethiscoverage
inlongyardage situations.Therun/pass keys f0Ithelinebackers andthesecondary
arethesame astheones weuseinourbase defense, FIST lll.Thesecondary run'
supportresponsibilitiesarealsothesame astheones used inFIST lll.Thesafeties
to theformati0n
willalign andthefieldat a depth of 10yards. Their pass
responsibilit\/
istherniddle fourthsofthefield. pass
Thehalfbacks' responsibility
willbetheoutside fo!rths.Thehalfbacks alsohel0break onandtra0routes to the
flat.Thealignment of thethreelinebackerswilldepend onthe0ffensive formation.
Theoutside linebacker's alignmentwillbe,depending ontheformation, halfway

ffi
109
ililu'*I:*l*[ft ;
tit#{,[[itrit*:*l
liliiii]',?fi!]ili;e midJre
:ili:J[i;f?fr:.Y,!?l arignment
rinerac*ert

;p
6dtra1qi;fiTililftf
pil:lffi#fll;**lnltuff
t/4
HB

ll4 u4
u4
c l/4
BB HB

SM MK AR
curl hook & hole corl
oo Eo ot
-.'
-rf
 ffisflffiffiffiffiffi

STACK
IVCOVEB
IROBBER

,Veusethiscoverage to takeadvaftage 0f theofferse whenit triesto attack the

:ur andf at zOnes whenweareinCover lV.Weneed to selouropponents thatwe
3reinCover lV Justbefore thesnap,thesafeties should move upto a depth of eight
/ardsTherunsupport isthesame asinCover lVWhefpass shows, theoutside
nebackerwilldropto theflats,andthemiddle linebacker willmake thesarne drop
asinCover V playinq
hook afdhole.Thehafbacks goto halves coverage andthe
safeties"r0b"thecurlzones onbothsides,usngthesame techniques asinCover I
Fobber.0ntheone-recelver side,
thesafety shouldkeythe#lreceiver andth€
r!nningbackto hrsside.lf the0ffefsiveformatton isa tripsset,wewillrobonly0n
thetlipsside. Thesec0ndary wilicheckto ournormal Cover ll , withtheone-
receiver-side safety
rnthernidd e thirdandth€tw0halfbacks intheoutside thirds.
Tiipswillnotchange theunder coverage foreltherthelifebackers, the0utside
lifebackerto theflats,0rthernidd e tnebackerto theho0k andhole. Thetlps-side
safetvsh0!ld kevthemiddle receiver
androbthecurl.

t #s 3 tn
HB
SU MK
flat hook & hole flat
-i-
y f"oe{to I
#l

1n s 1n
HB s
HB
SU 'ux s R' -
llat hook & hole llst
aooE O o a
! #l (J a4r
o

ffiffi
111
 v t0cK
covEB

:i;:i"::Jf
il:i:::",ri; il:ifff ::;"x"::i,T:
i,:ilii:t1#1i"il:'J,:l
j{r*}ft
:'-T#+trl:+lil11r*1,",!i"
,'J".*'1;r#
$',ffirrffiu*ilm
;x!ff
i,[.'l"ul!i,.:i,1,'ii{lil?lfr
ii}ilni#tril:il."J;H
:T;:tr:::[|"ilTfJil?#liiiil;;
ftechnique.
',,xfi c*"rv
p'"',
*,ri,r,g;.'J

tn,3

inside hrllb*k .uns

 I)VERV

- -,:' V shouldnotbeconfused wjthany0fourmancovelage defenses W€willrun

, :,,' V withthepersonnel wehaveon the field.lt isa five'under zoneand tw0'
:::: zone defense.Wewill "roli"
upt0 thjscoverage asthe quanerback isgetting
- -::i th€ We
center. willrunthisdefense t0 formations withtwoorrnore backs in
--: :ackfeld.Normally, wewill"check" t0 Cover ll t0 one-back sets;however, we
.:- ,fd willrunCoverV t0 an"ace" backfjeld set,but0nlywhenwehave it jnour
"roll
side, left,r0ll
.:-e plan. Thesafetywillmake theroilcallto thetw0{eceiver
:': andthehalfback to thetwo-receiver sidewillmove !p to become partof the
,-ier c0verage."Anytime theoffense sends a receiver in motion,we willr0ll back
:: :he0thersideorcheck to Coverlll.When weareinthiscoverage. we ne€d deep
-.$ antheinside rcceiverl#1)onthetworcceiver sideandanybackoutof the
..ckfieldrunning a deeptoute.Because weareinatwa'deep coverage,
thts
,.'teragewillrcquiealinebacker t0 run deep with the insidepass routes.

IUTSIDE FUNNEL PoSTl0N{FLAT): 0nthe"r0ll"call,thehafback to thetwo-

'eceiversideandtheoutsidelinebackerto theone-receiver sidesh0uld moveupand
of oneyardoutsdeof thewidest
cutto a position receiverandfo!ryards deep.The
two"funne'positions wlllkeythenearback fora run/pass readjonr!nningplays,
theywillhaveD"gapand#30ntheoption. When theplayisa pass,theywilihave
thefadeandflat TheroJled-uphalfback and the outsideiinebacker
on the0n€'
receivet sideshoulduse"nan"technique withtheirhands andfeetwhenplaying
thereceiver onpass (See
piays. thesection of theplayb00k thatcovers "man"
techniques forthe"undercoverage'JThey should force to theinside
thereceiver
withtheirhands andfeet.They shouldlookthrough thereceiverandstaywithhim
untiltheyseea route c0mngto theflatfrorntheifside.li therecelverclears
their
zone,theysh0uid keep workngto theinside,l00king forroutesfromtheinside or
oppositeside.When thereceverreLeasesoutsde,theyshould use"man" techfique

ffiffi
T3
 butwhenthey"inside himaro!nd," gettheir
theysh0uld
to ! avthe"fade,' hand
corning
,uJil'irla..f*hng fotroutes shou
to theflat They wlth
d stay thereceivel
untilthevreach thetopof theirzone-15yards

CURL ZONE: Theo!tside linebacker onlhetwo'receiversidewillplaY thecurlH€

shouldtakehlsnormalFlsT lllalignmentand.0n plays,
alltunning usehisnormal
iechnlque When theplaylsa pass, heshould readthe#l hetunsany
receiver;if
tuo.oi Ot* .utr, tfi"outsid; lineback€r usemancoverage'
should wallhim off
-lonrnei"ilde, staywitl lin 'he on'yexteplion #l
iswnerthe recerver ls,a
"nd InaI tneouts;0e will\aveinslde
lineOac'er lelp ll tne
tionren0o tal backir case.
+iirrrit rt tttrrrrt ,ptield,the0utside should
linebacker qivehimup to the insid€
iinrturt.i unout, t t Cover lllreadsto pickupthenextf€ceiverto hls zone lf the
#l receiver releases to theflat,hecanpickupthenextreceiver t0hls zone by uslng
Cover ILJ
reads

HO0K Z0NE: Theinside onthetw0-receiver

linebacker sidewillbeina ho0kzone
heshoJ0 readIne/1le(eve:if here'eases Jplie'otl-ei'sioe'inebacler s'lolld
wal,l'ir ol' - on il e lsidea1dslaywil' l^in"sngmancove'dge I ll'e#l
,r..iur,tn, , ,ort, outofhiszone, linebacker
theinside shouldplckupthenext
receiver t0 hiszofebyusing Cov€r Heshould
lllreads. keep inmlndthat'slnce we
havesomeone lntheiurl,hedoesn't ne€dto maket0o wide a passdrop

H0OK-TO-CUBL Z0NE: Theinside sidewillplaythese

0ntheone'Ieceiver
linebackef
Theonlythingdifferentisthathe
to findreceiv€rs
llltechnique
-lrrti using
zones Cover
forthemandpicking
looking them
ori iflr', iunning
mtf,iirld, deeproutes,
upusLng mancoverage.

HALVES COVEFAGE: Thehalfback willbe12yards

andthesafety deepanda yard
0ulsioe0l -nevsnollostaydeeo
Ine\ashill^drvescOverage ard0laythepdss
e playe's
fist.A1vt.n naveInree-deeppassroLtes, help0r lnell sr0p
Iheywilll^dve
t1esalely
lhatl1efa tbac.a-rd
'aceiver.is,-rporlant gela g00dbreal0r lne
ball.Anymrss ina touchdown
wil result
 ffiffiffiw
COVER
V

ROI,L LEFT
lD'.

CREEN SPLIT E CKS

5R&
l@L/curl t@l d.l HE f.d.

-o,"oi, - {l
dl O Oca

ROLL RJGET
ll2'.

DLI'E SPLIT EACKS

cBl
!x gD f@L/cr.l
!
a 'trO-.
P2 *O O*z

MOTION ROLLBACK
[2't
BLT'E SPT,IT B CI(S ,
MOTION

/ & \d
orl \ rhd.
,/ r'dc .K . re.

ROLL STRONG
1,4'r 3 riB l/r'!

DOUBLEBROWNACE MKIgwerrv
pc* dop frld

td r L ,,e 5 v- tn
a a' _
cZ . l4J tl

ffiF
115
 (DOGI
MAiI-TO.MAN COVERAGE

willdealwithourman'to-man
Thissection coveragedefenses Wehave three
mancoverage,
thatwillincorporate
defenses NICKELDoG,PBEVENT DoG, and65
DOG (Theword"dog"wiilreferto mancoverage).
Thealignment for
andtechnique
the"under
coverage"willbethesame for three
all coverages Whenplaying
man
good
coverage, techniquewilloffsetanymismatch inspeed thatwemay
However,
encounter. wemustperfect inorder
fourskills to playgoodmancoverage:
thetrail,andthebreak
release,
thereceiver's
thealignment, onthecut

ALG\MFNT:Wl^en p'ayitgnancovetage. we'nustcover eve'y'ecelve' andevery

backwhoiseligible fora pass.Although alignment formostoffensive formations
canbefound inthlssection,if welookat the alignment as out
adjilsting to the
widest it wil make
receivers, thingssimpLe. Als0,thenumber of backs the
in
willtell!s howmany
backfield receiversweneed t0 adiustto.Thehalfbacks will
alwaysalignonthewidestreceiver. Sam linebacker isthe nextto adjust out to the
followed
receivers, byMeg.l\.4ikewillalwaysbeovera back. Anytime we play man
wewantto takeawaytheinside
coverage, pass routebyouralignment. Whena
receiver
0r backgoes inmotion, ourdefensive players must runwith him andals0
keeD position.
theirinside When coveringa receiver who goes in motion,we need t0
hugthelineof scrimmage. When themotion manis goingintothe formation, we
m;t stayinfrontofhim;when heisgoing awayfromtheformation,we need to
staybehind him.
Theimportant thingist0 always take away the insider0ute

BECEIVEB'S BELEASE:The mustbemade

receiver to releaseto theoutside lf the
patternisto theinside,
receiver's 0urdefensiveplayersmust forcehim outand
around them.Inorder to accomplishthisgoal,
thedefender mustusehisfeetandhis
hands.Yethishands andhisfeetmustbeused separately.Hishands shouldbeused
to redirect
the receiverto theoutsideardto kn0ck thereceiver off hisroute The
defender shouldusehishands thewaya boxerdoes when he throws jabsihe should
n0tcornmit hisfeetbytrying to throwa knockout punch.Thedefender should use
ouick,shortstepsto frontthereceivelandguide himto theoutside Asthereceiver
goes aroundhim,thedefender shouldlethisinsidehand guide hirn
around untilheis
wjththereceiver
hip-to-hip andheadingupfieldinthesame direction

THE TBAI[:0ncethedefender hasredirected thereceiver andthereceivelisrunning

thedefender
hisroute, should trailthereceiver without trying
t0 catchup withhim
A goodruleof thumbisforthedefender to stayat leasttwoto three yardsbehind
anda yardto hisinside.
thereceiver, lf thedefender getstoocloseto thereceiver,
hewillrunoverthet0pof theroute assoon asthereceiver makes hiscut.The
reas0nthedefendershould stava vardto thei0side of thereceiver him
isto enable
t0 alwaysbeinpositionto bebetween thereceiver andthequanerback.

BREAKING
0NTHE CUT:
When reacting pass
to thereceiver's has
cut,thedefender
going
twothings forhim: pass
l\,4ost patternshave 0n
only0neroutecut,and,
w
116
 Hw$Wffiffiruf,FeEs

average,thequarterback releasestheballon thesixthstepof thereceiver,after

hehasmade hiscut.Thedefender shouldtrailthereceiver
andconcentrate onhis
hips.
When a receiver
makes a cut,twothingshappen: Heshortenshisstride,andhe
dr0DshishiDs.Whenthereceiver makes hisroutecut,thedefender shouldmake the
samecutat thesame timebutshould go
not to the pointot thecutto make his
break.
Next, thedefender should make upanyloststeps byanglingtoward theball,
inmind
keeping thathehasabout sixsteps beforetheballwillbethere. oncethe
receiver
hasmade hispass cut,thedefender should q!ickly
turnhishead back
towardtheball,looking forthereleaseol theballbythequarterback. Inmanfill
typesof coverages,thedefender istaughtto watchthehands andtheeyesof the
receiver
sothatheknows whento lookback andbreak 0ntheball.Thistechniq!e ls
unnecessary inourmancoveraqe scheme, because thedefenderwillalways have
deephelplfromhalfcoverage players.
oringoallinesituationswhentheoffense is
workingina shortfield).

MAI'I-TO.MAN COVERAGE
IDOGI

the QB' 3 throw

br€ak
poiDl

brerk
poirt HB On r sYenge the 6th
step froE thtu point

ffi
117
 (rul0t rHE
oa ru( Burllll{tiaRourE
cotus(nmNl a 0TEAlLl
BAGIGIELD

o
o I
o qo
o
n\
"ll
rl

DOG
NICKET
two'deep delense
zone technique
Thealignment.and
Thiscovorageisamanunder '
inour
used
isthesame
inthisd€fense
rou.,agt'used that's
covelags
io,tt'r;unUi,,
65oOG andPBEVENTDoGdefenses'

rD,. tn.
w3 8S
 ffiwffi

STBoNGANoWEAK Theyhavehalves
SAFETIES: 12yardsdeepandone
coverage
outside
vard of thehash.

STBoNG ANDWEAKHATFBACKS: onthewidestreceiver

Theyhavemancoverage
rotheirside.

LINEBACKER:
SAN,4 0nthetightend.lf therei5notightendin
Hehasmancoverage
onthemiddle
hehasmancoverage
thefofmation, to thestrong
receiver side.

Ml(ELINEBACKER:Hehasmancoverage to hisside.
ontheback set
lf thebackiield
isace,hehastheaceback.

MEG LINEBACKEB:He hasmancoverageonthebackto hisside. set

lf thebackfield
isace,hehasmancoverage to theweakside0rtheinside
onthe#1feceiver
receiver
to thetripsside.

whogoes
onanyreceiver
arealigned
lf ourdefenders inmotion, gowith
theyshould
him.When whogoesinmotion,
a receiver
theyarecovering hugtheline
theyshould
of scrimmage.
When manisgoing
themotion thedefenders
intotheformation. need
heisgoing
to stayinfrontof him;when awayfromtheformation,
theyneedto stay
behind him.

players
Thedefensive mustremember inside
to keep onthereceiver
leverage sohe
doesn't
oetinside
them.

1,2's 1r's
ss ws

I{K I||G
sil SH WH
a . o r ) r " r a ) .) a
#l Ou, #2
#3" On

sffi
119
PREVENTZONE DOG
ANDPREVENT
2OYARDS
SATETIES THIBDS
DEEP, ATSIX
ANDLINEBACKERS
COVERAGE.
YARDS

PR,EVENTZOI{E
IB
ts
Atry motion by rec€iversgo wiih rnd pull up in ctrrl or

Sam€zonesard cov€rrge

curl
f!de 5H&
llat
fl!t

PREI'ENI ZONE
IB IB l/3
ws'us
Atry Eotion by recdven go w h NDdpull up in crrl ol

f!de SNne zonesard coverage

&
flat wH sH , flG !!
clrl ' look hook/curl frde
sE sr &
"-o T
a o E O O rl----i3!
#l a
#2
#30
o Us. "40" sligrn€nt lo ! tight
etrd aud I'Stack. to r lln b.ck

lt3

srne "und€rcoverage" as Nick€l Dog.

[G l{r su sH #2
SE WE
ooaoo a
BACKTIEID SETS
ANDRECEIVER
AiID 55OOG
FORNICKEI,PREVEI{T,
ATIGNMENT

aa "," a
a a
oa
a o o E o oa oooEoo a

a !" 4
aa a
ao
-ooEooa
a ooE'o oa a

aa aa
a ao
a oo Eoo a ooEooa

a
a O. a
o o o E o oa a
a ooaoo a

ffiffi
121
ry-

RECEIVER
A1'ID
BACKFIEID SETS
FOR
AIIGI{ME]{T Al{D65OOG
]{ICKEI,PREVEiIT,

a o
oa too9oo' a
."-t * o o I o o a

a a
t ta a ooEooo
.oo8oo a'

a a
aa I
ao o E o o
'. o o I o oo'

o ra
a aa
a a oodoo o
'oooEoo
*4"
 Defensive
Fronts

STACK
ALUERICHT O SIRONG RjCET TAN RJCIIT STRONGLEaT
o
tso oo o
WE LT RT SE
OOOEI oo o
sE LT RT WE
fG IK sfl l|K l|G SR
HS
sH B
BROWN LEFT STRONG
o o GRIEN RTCTIT SIRONG LEFT

oo E O o o ooEo
UIE LT RT SE LT RT
SR MG f,X SI' tK l uc
flB
SHB

STB0NG END:Hewillbeina "switch position" withtheSamlinebacker.

His
alignmentwillbe"stack." isa tightendn thegame,
lf there heshouldb€ina three-
pointstanceoverthetightend. Inaddition, hehas"C"gaponrunning
playsand#2
(thequarterback)
if theplayisanopti0n. lf pass
shows,thestfong
endmustkeep
containonthequarterback.
LEFT
TACKLE:
Hewillbeinthesame
alignment
asinFIST
lll.
FIGHT
TACKLE:
SameasFIST
lll.
W EA EN sF IS lTl .
K D :S aame
SAN/ LINEBACKER:Thisdefensivefront,
Stack lll,willputhimina switch positi0n.
Thisalignmentwillhavehima yardo!tsideof thestrOng endor halfway between
thewidereceiverandtheendI neman 0nthelineoi scrimmage at a depth0f fo!rt0
fouranda halfyardsdeep.
Sam's runresp0nsibility is"0"gap, andhehas#3{the
pitch)0n Hispass
the0pti0n. coverage isthesame asinFIST lll:theilatandthe
seam.
N,4lKE
LINEBACKEBiSamell.
asFIST
MEG asFIST
LINEBACKEB:Samelll.
LiNEBACKEB:Same
SARA asFSTll.
HALFBACK:Same
LEFT asFSTlll.
asFIST
SAFETY;Same lll.
RIGHT
HALFBACK:
Sam€asFIST
lll.
W
t lJ
 OFFSET
BLUE RTCHT O SIRONG RICIIT TAN R]CITT oo STRONC LEFI
o
oo OE ooo oootro
LT R T S MS E SiI LT Rf
SR IIIG itK irK luc SR
HB ftB HB
s
GREtrN RICIIT STRONG LEFT
BROW}I LEFT
o o STRONC O

o- OE ooo oo Eoo " o

LT RT SII SE SE LT RT WE
WE
SR itG MK llx iIG SR
HB

END:
STB0NG asFIST
Same lli.

LEFTTACKLE:When thelinebackermakes the"shift'call,

thelefttackle should
move0uc<lvto ll-eQaDI A or"B ) -oward sideAt l\e sr"pof t\e ba'l
t1estrong
penet'
nesno,ld gap
ateire t0 lne lee s 0' tne 'lnenelPesh0uld
ollensile read
to theplaY
andreact andn0tgettrapped Allelseisthesame asFIST lll

BIGHT TACKTE:When makes

thelinebacker should
theshiftcall,therighttackle
'B
y to r\" qapt A or Jtowao lheslro'gsroe
noleq.-rrci Al lnesnapot lheball
of rheoffersveIneren
pererdlell"egaproIl'eheels
l'esl"0uld

Heshould t0 theplayandn0tgettrapped
readandreact as
Allelseisthesame
IL].
FlST

ENDr
WEAK Same ll.
asFIST

asFISTll
Same
SAMLINEBACKER;

LINEBACKEF:He
N,4lKE makes theshlftcallandsees and
rnove'
t0 it thatthetackles
A I elseisthesame
intherightdirectlon asFISTlll

[,4EG mak€s
LINEBACKER:He surethatN/ike theshiftcal]Hisgap
makes
"8"
to gapAllelselsth€sarne
willchange
r€sponslbility asFIST lll

LINEBACKEF:Same
SABA ll
asFIST

HALFBACKi
LEFT SameasFIST
ll.

ll1.
asFIST
SAFETY:Same

HALFBACK:
RGHT asFIST
San're ll.

w
124
 wffiffiffiw

'50"
BLL'EfuCIIT O O S'IRONGRIGET TAN RICIII STRONGLf,FT
o
o o oa oo oo oo oo o
WE LT MK RT sit sE sE s[ LT IK RT II/E
flc SR
flB
BROWN LEFI
o o srRoNc RrGlIT GR'ENRICIIT O O STRONG LEFI

oo ooEooo o oo
WE LT TK RT STSE sE LT MK RI WE
SR flG IG
HB SHB

STB0NG
ENOSameasFISTill.

LEFT TACKLE: When thelinebacker

makestheshifrcall,thelefttackle
should
move
quicklyto the"B"gapandalign
ontheoutside
shoulderof theoffensiveguard.
At
thesnap. heshouldcome theearof theguard
downthrough andkeep square
with
thelineof scrimmage.
Hesh0uld to theplayandnotgettrapped.
readandreact All
elseisthesameas FISTlll.

RIGHTTACKLE:When thelinebacker
makestheshifrcatt.theriohttackle
should
move to the"B'gapandalign
quickly ontheoutside
shoulder oi lheoffersive
guard.
At thesnap, heshouldcomedownthroughtheearof theguard andkeep
square
withthelineof scrimmage.
Heshould
readandreactto the playandnotget
traDped.
Allelseisthesame asFIST
lll.

WEAK
END:Same
asFIST
lll.

SAIVIIINEBACKEfl:
HisdutiesarethesameasinFISTlll,exceotforpass.
Whenthe
playisa pass, give
Samshould uptheflatontheone-receiver sideandplayinthe
seam andcurlzones.
0nthetwo'receiverside,
heshould playthepassthewayhe
does inFISTlll.

MIKELINEBACKERTHemakes theshiftcallandmovesto a three-point

stancehead-
uptheoffensive
center. isboth'4" gaps.
Hisgapresponsibility Heshouldread the
helmeJ playthrough
ofthecenter, thehead ofthecenter,andstaysquareto the
Ine0t scnmmage.

MEGLINEBACKEB: Whenl\.4ike
makestheshiftcall,l\y'eg fiveyardsdeepover
aligns
theoffensivecenter.
Hehasnogaporoptionresponsibilityandgoesto theball.lf
theplayisa pass, playthehook
heshould andcurlzones to thetwo-receivef
side.

ffiffi
125
 :1 forpasswher the
!iq dLlPsarelhe\aneos l-'s| 'll e^cep1
sAHA.,NEBAC(Eq:
ilul,'...,,
".,.",os'* rl:l!ll.'i"1;,'ii?;1?iliilili',il
lp,:' l,1lili'
He
leamandcurlzones should thepass
play
lll
it inFIST
heplays
thatthereisnounder
lll Heflrusl,remen]bet
asFIST
HALFBACK:
LEFT Same
sl0e
inthellatontheone'recelver
coveraqe

Same
SAFETYT lll'
asFIST
tnalthprPs r 0 under
RIG\TdALFBAC\ saflea( l-rsr lrrHe1 's' rarrenber
rr 're lralor theonerecervel 1'0e
"o.Frage
"40"
OUTOF
TOSHIFT
WEWILLUSEA SIACKIIt ATIGNMENT

o aTRoNcRrctll TAN RTCIIT o

BLUE R]GIIT o
o oootr
o ao oo S{ SE LT
- WEL T RT sE stl
ltK
tlG HB
HB
s
PINK RIOttT
BROWN LEFT o O STRONGRICtrr
o ooa ooo
^o oo 8*Pn"ro* str SE LT
LT MK taG
SR G

*$fi***$*
i*']
ilt'r,':l'
Hi$iil1'6lffiffi
 ffi

BIGHT TACK[E:When Mikemakes should

theshiftcall.therighttackle movequicky
to the'4"or"B' gaptoward theweakside. lf hisalignmentisontheweakside,he
shouldmove to the"8"gapjif hisalignment
isonthestrong side,
heshouldmove to
the'A gap.At thesnap.heshould penetrate thegapto theheelsof theoffensive
nemen andreadtheplay.Heshould make
sure notto gettrapped.

WEAK END: When theMikelinebackermakes theshiftcall,theweakendshould

move quickly to a three'point
stance,aligning
hisinside
footontheoutside f0otof
theoffensive tackle,crowding is"C"gap.
theball.Hisrunresponsibility At thesnap,
heshould penetrate "C"to thehipof theoffensivetackle,
keep square,
andreadthe
play.
lf option shows, #1 #2
hehas to {thedivet0 the quanerback),whichever
shows first.Hewillstillhavecontainonpass plays.Whenthereisnotightendor
tanbackto hisside, heshouldusehisFIST andresponsibilities.
lllalignme0t

SAMLINEBACKEB: When theMikelinebacker makes theshiftcall,theSam

linebacker
should move quickly to thelineof scrimmage. Heshould alignhisinside
footontheoutside footof thetightendorthetanbackandcrowd theball.Hisgap
is"D"gap.lf theplayisanoption,
responsibility hehas#2or#3(thequarterback or
thepitch);
hisoption responsibility willdepend ontheoffensive alignment. lf there
isnoreceiver
t0 the0utside of hisalignment, Samwillhave #2(thequarterback),
andthehalfback willtake#3 (the pitch).lf there to hisoutside,
isa receiver hewill
have#3{thepitch}.andthesafety willtake*2.lf theplayisa pass andthepiayer
Samisalignedonblocks downonoufend, heshould rushthequarterback andkeep
contain
onhim.lf thetightendorthetanback releases,heshouldplaythepass the
same wayhedoesinFIST lll.lf theoffensive alignment hasnotightendortanback,
Samshouldplayeverything thesame asinFIST lll.

MIKE LINEBACKEB:Hemakes
theshiftcallandthenmoves to themidde of "8"gap
fouryards
deep. is"8"gap.
Hisgapresponsibility lf theplayisanoption,hehas#1or
#2{thediveorthequarterback),
whichevef shows first.Heplaysthepassthesame
ashedoesinFIST l1l.

MEGLINEBACKEB:Heplays
everything
thesamewayhedoesinFIST lll.Theonly
istheoption,
exception hehas#1or#2{thediveorthe
where quarterback),
whichever
showsfirst.

SABA LINEBACKER: lf theoffensive

formation hasa tightendora tanbackto his
side,theSaralinebacker moves quickly
to thelineof scrimmage whenhehears the
shiftcallfromtheMikelinebacker. Hesh0uld align
hisinside f00tt0 theoutsidefoot
of thetightendorthetanback andcrowd gap
theball.His responsibility is"0" gap.
lf theplayisanoption. Sarahas#2or#3(thequarterback orthepitch).
Hisoption
responsibility
willdepend ontheoffensive alignment.lf there
isnoreceiverto the
outsideof hisalignment, hewillhave#2 (the quarterback),and thehalfbackwi I
take#3 (thepitch).
lf thereisa receiver
to hisoutside, theSafalinebackerwillhave

ffiffi
127
#3(thepltch),andthesafety willtake #2(thequarterback) lf theplay is€pass
andt\e Dave;heiso.'gneo 0noLrerd,
o''lblocksdown Sarash0'rldr'sh lhe
rl releases he
o"itieiJ.r'.onot.rp ionail or hiT thetighlend0rIhetar0ack
pldvlnepass ll^e."mewd1l l"edoesinFSTrllll theolrelsivea rgnmentras
;houlo
notiqhiendorianback, heshould thesame
playeverything asFIST lll

LEFT HALFBACK: Hehasthesame lll,withtheexception

asinFIST
responsibilities
of ll.eo0tion. eil nason'v
a':g'ln
'f t\e ollFnsive a end
t'ghl tohissioe'hewill\ave
# 3(tn e0 i l ch) on
0pl,onp' aystne' eltl' allOdckmusttemembe r l opl dy oas s tl 's t

S A F E Il .r lisd"l,esar elnesa' nFlSf l' ,wilnthee^ceplior

neas lheopti
0l and
on
onlvwhenlheol ensive isPl\K0'BLlJtWnenll'e001
lo matron on isru1 t0 the
i *i -:.l t;" rt,.*,' *,r ' e y m usl
l' el0coverr l' eopliol dnak es LIethe
Hesnou
playisnota pass play, thenworkthrough the alley t0 #2(th€
quarterback)

RIGHIriALl-BACK: Fel-asthesarne of
hehasInFISf lll w lhtheerce0tior
dJries
endtohissioe,
alqrnenthas0"'ya 1:ghI
tneopror.l' tl'eof'ens:ve hewillhave
#3loitcl')olopLrolp'ays. mu"lrenember
halfoack
Therrgnt t0 play
passIlrsI

"60"
III AtIGI'IMENT
WEWILI USEA STACK OUTOF
TOSHIFT

TAN RICET oo o
STRONG L'FI

o o o EO oo
sI sE LT RT WE SR
IK IG
HB
STRONG LEFT
BROWN I,'l,I O
SIRONC RIGIIT PINK RIICI'| ooo
oo o Elo o.o o
ootroRT oo
sE sll s[ sE WE SR
LT RT
WE LT
ItG
tac
s
s

(TheonLy
thing "40"and"60"isthealignment
between
different and
of thetackles
theMeglinebacker.)

STR0NG END:When theMikelinebacker rnakestheshiftcall.thestrong endshould

move ou.cklvt0 a Ihree0oint stanLe al'g1irg hs ilsioefooton tne foolol
oLtside
t*i .. rg tnebalr'rlisrunespors bilityis"C"gapAt tl"esna0
fi, o'l"r"siu,
heshou o pelelrale"owo
C t0 thenip0f the0fiensive tdc['e,keep and'ead
square l"e
p.ayll opiiors\ows. re sl'oLld #1t0 #2{Il^e
have diletotnequarterbackl
 whchever shows first.Hewil stillhave onpass
contain plays.
When thereisnot
tightendor tanbackto hisside,heshouldusehisFISIlllalgnment
and
resoonsibilities.

LEFT TACKLE:When theMikelinebacker

makestheshiftcall,thelefttackle
should
move to the'A gap.
quickly At thesnap, penetrate
heshould thegapto thehees
of theoffensivelinemen
andreactto theplay.
Heshould make surehedoesn'tget
traD0ed.

BGHT TACKLET When thelvlikelinebacker

makes theshiftcall,therighttackle
shouldmove quickly '4"
to the gap. At thesnap,heshouldpenetrate thegapto the
heelsof theoffensive
linemen andreactto the0lav.Heshouldmake surehedoesn't
gettrapped.

WEAK END: When the1\,4ike

linebacker
makes theshiftcall,theweakendshould
move quickly to a three"pointstance.
aligning hisinside
footontheoutside footof
theoffensive tackle,crowding theball.Hisrunresponsibilityis"C"gap.
At thesnap,
hesh0uld penetrate "C"to thehipof theoffensive tackle,
keep square,
andreadthe
play.
lf option shows, hehas#1to #2(thediveto thequafterback), whichever
shows first.Hewjllstillhave contain
0n pass plays. Whenthereisnotightendor
tanback to hisside,heshould usehisFIST lllalignmentandresponsibilities.

SAMTINEBACKER: When theMikelinebacker makes theshiftcall,theSam

linebacker
should move quickly to thelineof scrimmage. Heshould align hisinside
footontheoutside footof thetightendorthetanback, ctowding theball.Hisgap
is"0"gap.
responsibility lf theplayisanoption, hehas#2or#3(thequarterback or
thepitch).
Hisoptionresponsibility willdepend ontheoffensive alignment. lf there
isnoreceiverto theoutside of hisalignment. hewill nave$2ltheouat I efiac(l,and
thehalfbackwilltake#3lthepitch). lf there isa receiver to hisoutside, hewillhave
#3{the pitch}.
andthesafety willtake#2lthe quarterback). lf theplay isa pass,
andtheplayer Samisaligned 0nblocks down0nourend, heshould rushthe
quanerback andkeep contain onhim. lf thetightendorthetanbackreleases, Sam
play
sh0uld the pass thesame wayhedoesinFIST lll.lf theoffensive alignment has
notightendortanback, heshould playeverything thesame asinFIST lll.

IVIKELINEBACKEB: Hemakes
theshiftcallandmoves of "B"gapfour
to themiddle
yardsdeep. "B"
is gap.lf theplayisanoption,
Hisgapresponsibility hehasll or#2
(thediveorthequarterback),
whichever
shows first.Heplaysthepass thesameas
hedoes inFISTlll.

N.4EGLINEBACKEB: WhentheMikelinebackermakestheshiftcall,lv4eg
moves
to the
middle of "8"
gap at a depth yards.
of four gap
His responsibilityis"B'gap.lf
the
playisanoption,hehas#1or#2(thediveorthequarterback),whichever
shows
first.Heshouldplaythepass thesameashedoesinFISTlll.

Effi
129
:iiliil*?lf#ii*":l!:"'l:{:;;
rllllt*:'1..
* i
;?;r""
;i?;Tl:::i:r
Hifi-i'mtfffi
ii;
ntd#,il#ilu,+trim
tmm*rt*+***[n
lll.
inFIST

GOAttINEOEFENSE
65DOG

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run{gapl'
qesponsibility
lhere three
aleonly about
lo think
tnlrgs
pass.

'i!'lil',fl
passrush.
inside
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 gap.At thesnap,theyshould getunderthepads tacke,stay
of theoffensive
:.. andkeep fromgettingtrapped.Theyhave #1to #2onoption plays,
butif the
::: (leblocksdownandtheballisinlevel one,theyhave#1.lf thetackle
blocks out
,- :hem andtheballisinlevelone.theyhave #2.When thep ayisa pass,
they
i lu d rushthepasser,butdoit ontheinside,
coming underthetackle.
The0nly
: -e theiralignment
wil change iswhenthere isanacebackandnotightend
,',renthebackfieldsetisace,theywill'?educe, which willmovethemto the
- ddleof "B"gap.

STBoNG END;Heplays everythingthesame asinFIST lll,with"D"gap.#3onoption

: ays,andcontainonthequarterback.Hernust keepinmind, however, thatthe
nostused plays
misdlrection at thegoallinearebootlegs. lf theplaygoest0 the
.ppositeside,thestrong
endshould notpursueuntiheiscertain it isnota bootleg,
a reverse.
ora brokenDlav.

WEAK END: Heuses a stackalignment ona tightend0ra tanbackandtheFST

alignment t0 an open formation.
When there isa tightendora tanback, theweak
endsh0uld readhisblock.lfthetightendorthetanbackbl0cks down, theweak
efdshould come hardto theinside t0 whoever hastheball.1fthetightendorthe
tanback blocks himorreleases, thentheweakendhas"D"gap,#3ontheoption,
andcontain onthe quafterback.
lf theformation isopen lnotightendortanback),
h s playisthesame:#3, "0"9ap, andcontain. Heshould keep inrnind,
however, that
themostused plays
misdirection at thegoallinearebootlegs.lf theplaygoesto
theo0o0site side.
theweakendshould not0ursue untilheiscenain it isnota
bootleg, a reverse.ora brokenplay.

Thealignment forthelinebackers andthehalfbacks canbeconfusing if thecoach

a lowsit to beconfusing. Theimportant pointto keep inmind
isthatourdefenders
needto cover allthebacks ande igiblereceivers.
They should
nevera ignintheend
zone.When a back ora goes
receiver inmoti0n,someone hasto run
with him.lt is
imperative,therefore, thatthedefenders knowhowmany backsareinthebackfield
andto which sideisthestrength.Allthese things wi I helpourdefensegetaligned
properly.

MIKE LINEBACKEB: Hewillbeinthemiddle, andhisalignmentwillbeoverthe

running back onthestrong side.Hehasthe"B"gaponrunplays and#110#20n
p
optionays.Hiskeyisthenearback. work
andhesh0uld fromthe inside
to the
outside, taking whatshows playmancoverage
first.Heshould onthefirstbackout
t0 hisside.lf theplayisa pass andthebackspassb 0ck,l\y'ike
sh0uldmake a pass
dropandthenlook insidefofcrossingroutes.

MEG IINEBACKEB: Whenthere

aretwoormorebacksinthebackiied,hewillalign
overthebackto theweakside.
Hehas"8"gap p
onrun ays ard#l to #2onoptiof
plays.
Hiskeyisthenearback,
andheshould
workfromtheinsideto theoutside,

W
r31
 ,
*I,'gtffifr;flrffifr
receivers.
more

#l!,.i,,:ffi #*.'im,f
$ililil*ilF"li'ffi
ormoretecelvels

F*u**ffi:l;,;lnn
htffi#fr1;f,*ttr$
ffi:ffiggi*ssrl
theball.

dp##;*g,*#qT
l.,' if{iff
*$ili;{*fi 5ff*i*[:4
side
beto thesame
always
BACKFIETII
Al{DBECEIVEB
SETS
ANDAI.IGiIMEiIT
FOR55DOG

f,oNE a a a
a a
o oa
a o o a oo a aoo EO O a

a "r" o
aa a
a o o Eooa . oo o I o o.
re **t

aa ao
a o ao
a ooEo o a ooEooa

a
a Oa a
a ooEooa ao
a ooEoo o

tsw
133
 SEISATOAIflTEf,I
AIIDRECEYER
BACKFIETD fON65DOG
{C{'TIT.}

a a
tgpEoot o
an t* o o I o o * t a o|ll rH

a
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a
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***
 Stunts

Thepurpose of thestuntisto create andforce turnovers,interceptions.bigplays,

sacks, andhurries. When runninga stunt.wewantto putpressure ontheoffense,
at littleornofiskt0 thedefense. Toaccomplish thiswemustknowouralignment,
responsibilities,andcoverage of anytype0f offensive play.lf wehave to giveup
something to gainsomething, thenletit besomething thathasa low'percentage
rateof completion andwillnotresultina touchdown. Ensuring lowriskwillrequire
thedefense to communicate andplaytogether. Each playelmustknowhisrun
support, option, andpass responsibilities.
Thelinebackers andthesecondary must
knowwhatzones wearegiving upin0ur"under coverage."Each positionmustknow
howthestuntwillaffecttheplayoftheirposition andthedefense asa unitlWe
cannot have a member of thedefensive frontsayto himself, "Thestuntist0 the
opposite side,it doesn0taffectme,'orthesecondary say,"Wedon'tchange our
coverage whenwestunt,soit doesn't affectmy play."When we stunt,we are
changing theattack of 0urdefense,which willcause theoffense to react
differently to ourdefense. 0neach stunt, wemustkn0wandcommunicate run,
option, andpass Thefrontandthelinebackers
responsibilities. mustcommunicate
witheach other-who hascontain,whohaswhatgap, andwhoisresponsible for
#1,#2,or#3ontheoption. Thelinebackers mustcommunicate witheach other
aboutwhoiscovering whatzone("Youie going,l'vegottheseam"). Thelinebackers
musttellthesecondary whicharea of theunder coveragewill not be covered.

PASS FoRSTUIIITS
CoVEBAGE
When westunt,
theshaded willalways
zones have
under
coverage.
A linebacker
willberesponsible zones.
forthese

aoo E oo
o

|sEffiAI
135
ffi$#ii#ff
SPtIT.
OFTHE
$i'$triiii
Hnli,EvT'J'#
fl'ti,siiil#ffi
*5{i-ili*:
STUNIS
INSIDE

MII(E IN otrbe dtr

' -
MEC ET
oPfEloJo ^

srnorctrclr o
o oo
o o\o a\o

o ----> o o
o o\o a\o o
o o)a o)o

GAP OPITON PAIL

sf, D
SM c
LT
RT B
c

D
 ffi

STR0l'lGSlDE
ANDWEAKSIDE sTUt'lTs
0UTSIDE

TIIIJNDER O IIIiINDER
1tren t "*:tcn",/ '\-
a oo posirio.)
,/ o o EOO

scrssoR O f'R[D" to HOT o\

O .'\r ch" stl)
toJo oEo o oo E oo\
sE4d

GAT OPTION PASS

WEAK CROSS
o
MEGOUTTLY O
,.' o\
oo OE o\o \ ooo E!-ota\
("RlD" il tro

POS. GA? OPTION PASS

SE D
SM c
LT B
RT
o
MK
MC c
SR B

ffi
131
 STUNTS
READ
ourattack
theideaist0 cho0se of anoffensiveplay0n
When werun"Ieadstunts."
of howlnatplayisbeirgblocked Thepos'lio'ls
invorledir lhesluntw'Ll
thebasis
a predetermlned
minelheirpatl"totheba'lbykeving
reactandderer 0'lerslve
player's
blockorrelease.

SOUEEZE
STRONG

Thetackle0nthestrong end,
thestrong
side, theSamlinebackel'andtheMike
squeeze
willallrunthl strong
linebacker formation
stuntlf theoffensive d0esn0t
*a ru, O*s have;tanback
f'uu.ltlor,, to thestrong thestunt berun
side, will
fromthe:'swltch wlththeendandtheSamlinebacker
position," exchanglng
theformation
resoonsibilities.lf a
hasneither tightendnora tanbackto thestrong
sid;,thedefensewilleither"RED"outofthestuntorchange stuntt0 strong
th€
Sally.Wewillgiveuptheflatto thestr0ngsrrie

to the"A"gap.using
Hestunts
TACKLE:
STfloNGSIDE thesame as['4ike
technique or
Megout.

SAMLINEBACKEB: willbe"B or"C";hisoption

Hisgapresponsibility respons bility
ontheblock 0f theoffensivetackle'At the snap' he
;ill be#1or#2,depen;ing lf lhetac\leturns
shoul0 ste0oowr hard throughtheea'of tneoffensivelacklP
ouito t'oit Lin,Sut ttouldgetJ,']oern s padssquare upt0 the|neoI scrim"]age'
B' qap,a1dplay
co n stri cl C gapalo#2ollheoplr thelackle
lfon bl 0c l00\!n
s
SamsnoJd close it oownto "B"ga0 a1d#l0n 0ptr0n p ays
orrereases downfield,
te sl^ouldkeep outside'everageonanv0locks com'ng frorntheinslde theI!.1'Dac\'
thetackle pass blocks'Samhasaninside pass
oitheguard tiyingto kickhimout.lf
rush.

SfB0NG END: riisqapresponsib lnywillbe'C or"D ' plus#2or#3onootiorplays

Lornoino ontl" o'bloc(orlhelghtendAl thesrapthestrong end
'i,fiurc gnlend ll the pndturls oul toblocl
,ri, Jl,ioo"*..r,o,hroughrl'eearo{ihet
hin.Ihestronq e''ld shourdgetJnder h s oadssquare upIo the hne 0l sclnmage'
constrclC ;ap,and p'ay"D gap a10 /3 on thPo0tior'lf Il^eerdbl0cks dowl0'
theslrong endsnou'o "C'
c oseit downlo ga0and/z 0l 0pll0-
re,easesdownfield,
olavs.Hesho,,ld keep ortsideieverage onaryolocks comirg fror lhens'de' lhe
ortheguaro
iull'back, tryngIo I.ick
I'inout rl theplayisa Dass, l5e end las conlalr
onthequarterback.

MIKE LINEBACKEB:The should

Mikelinebacker usehisnormalkeysWhen hiskey
pic(uptheottensive
t"f,.t.i" io i." i,'ongrioe,Mikesl"ould b'ock
tackles ll t'ei'
oulot tl-eSar I nebacler.
Vikesh0Lldcome hdrdt0 B gapkeep0uIs 0e
bloclr'r0
teveraq; onattllocks, andmake theplayMikehas"B"gapand#1ontheoptionl
thetaJkle comes outonhim,Mikeshouldtakehimonhead-up andbounceit outto
 lf theplayispass,l\,4ike
'0" gapand#3 ontheoption. checkth€t{hi ac
should
anddropto theseam hook.
and lf theplayisto the side,
weak heshouldplaYrtes
re wouldinFISTlll.

MT sa

'4" gap
TACKLE:Stunt
uP,"C"gaP
Square
SAMTINEBACKEB:
up,"D"gaP
END:Square
STB0NG
N.4IKE Bust"B'gap
UNEBACKER:

0PTl01{

Stunt?" gap,#1option
TACKTE:
thehipof thetackle"8"
Gohardthrough
SAMLINEBACKER:
gap,
*1ontheoptaon
STBONGEND:Gohard thehipof theend"C"gap,#2
through
ontheoption
MIKE thetackleonstraightupandbounce
IINEBACKER:Take
to"D"gap,
#3onthe
option
Powa

Stunt'A"gap
TACKLE:
thehipof th€lackle"8"gap;
Gohardthrough
SAMLINEBACKEB:
outside
keep onth€fullback
lovefage
END:
STB0NG uP,"0"gap
Square
th€tacklent st{€igm
Taks to "C"
upandbounce
MIKE
UNEBA0KER:

$lIIFTSE

A
QAT b
ItG

Stunt"A"gap;Pass
TACKLE: rush
thehip0I thelackle"B';inside
hardthrough
SAMLINEBACKEfl:60
pass
rush
rush;
EN0:Pass
STBoNo thequaltsrback
contain
MIKE
UI,IEBACKER: andhook
Fsadpass,chscklh€tightsnd,sgarn
WEAKSOUEEZE

Wewillrunweaksqueezeonlyt0 a two-tightendsetora tansetToanyother

set.wewill'red"outof thestuntorchange
offensive thestuntto weakSallyThe
weakside the
tackle, weak end,the Sara and
Iinebacker, willrun
theMegIinebacker
theweaksqueezestunt.

WEAKSIDE TACKLE: to "A"gapanduses

Hestunts thesame asIlikeor
technique
l\,4e9
0ut.

WEAK END:He keystheoffenslve tackleforhismovement Theweakendsgap

"8"
willbe ot
resoonsibilitv "C," #2
aud#1ot onthe option,d€pendingontheblock
of iheoffensive At thesnap,
tackle. theweakendshould stepdownhardthrough
theear0f theoffensivetackle. lf thetackle turns 0utto blockhim,theweakend
get
should under pads,
his square up to theline0f scrimmage, "8"oap,and
constrict
"C;
play gapand#2ontheoption.lf thetackle blocksdown or downfield,
releases
ihewealiend shouldclos€itdownto"B'gap, and#1onoption playsHesh0uld
keep outsideleveraoeonanybl0cks coming fromtheinside orthe
thefullback,
guard him
to kick out.
trying lf th€ tacklepass bl0cks,he has pass
inside rush.

SARA LINEBACKEB:Just befOte thesnap, hemoves upt0 theline0f scrimrnage'

outside0f theweakend. Heshould keyeither thetightendorthetanback forhis
movement. TheSaralinebacker's gapresponsibilitywillbe "C"or"D,"and#2 0r#3
0noption plays,dependlng 0ntherelease orthebl0ck of thetightendortanback
At thesnap. theSara lineback€r shouldstep down hard throughtheearof thetight
endorthetanback. lf theendorthetanback turnsout t0 him,Sara
block should
getunder hispads, square upto theline0f scrimmage, constrict"C" gap'andplay
"D"gapand#3ontheoption. lf theendorthetanback blocksd0wnorreleases
downfield, Sara should closeit down t0 "C"gap,and #2 on plays.
option Heshould
keep outside levelage onanyblocks coming fromthe inside,thefullback,
orthe
guard tryingt0 kickhim0ut.lf theplayisa pass, theSara hascontarn
linebacker 0n
thequarterback.

MEG LINEBACKEB: TheMeglinebacker should usehisnormal keysWhen hiskey

takes himto theweak side,
Meg shouldpickup theoffensive tackles bl0cklf heis
blocking outontheweakend, heshouldcome hardt0 "8" gapHe shouldkeep
outside leverageonallblocks andmake theplay; hehas"8"gapand#1onthe
option.lf thetacklecomes outonhim, Megsh0uld takehimonhead-up andbounce
it outt0 "D"gap;he has #3 onopti0nplaYs.lftheplay is pass,
he shouldcheck the
(0r
tiohtend tanback) anddropt0 thesearnand hook lf theplayisto thestrong
slde.heshould 0lavit ashewould inFIST
lll.
 m
WEAKSOUEEZE

"A"gap
TACKLE:Stunt

WEAK
END: up,"C"gap
Square

SABA
LINEBACKEB: up,'D'gap
Square

NIEG Bust'9" qap

LINEBACKEB:

oPTr0r{

"A"gap,
TACKLE:Stunt *1option

WEAK END:Go thehipofthetackle'9"gap,*l on

hardthrough
th€optron

SARA LINEBACKEB:G0 th8hipof thetanback"C"

hardthrough
gap,
*2 ontheoption

MEG LINEBACKEF:
Take
thetackleonstraight to
upandbounce
"D'gap,
#3ontheoption

E
142
wEAKS0UEEZE
{C0l{T.}
POWER

TACKLE: "A"gap
Stunt

WEAKEND| thehip0f thetackle"B"gap,keep

Gohardthrough
outside onthefullback
leverage

MEG thetackleonstraight
Take
LINEBACKER: to
upandbounce
"c"

PASS
SPRltrlT

(V>-i
-,)
frt

,ob69aL{
.. l* G ? '*=\.:"
*
,,, *'\

"A"gap,
TACKLE:Stunt pass
rush

WEAK G0hard
END: through "8,"inside
thehipof thetackle pass
rush

SABA passJUsh
LINEBACKEfl:Keep onthequarterback
contain

NIEG pass,
LINEBACKEB:Read seam
thetanback,
check and
n00K.
 WWW
STBONG
SAIIY

Thestrong squeeze.
Sallystuntlsv€rys mlafto thestrong Thesame positions
wlll
berunningthestunt.Thestr0fgendandthel\y'ike gap
willexchange and
linebacker
Wewilln0t"fed"outofthestunt.
responsibillties.
option N0TE:ln a "swtch
positl0n,'
theSamlinebacker wil exchange gapandopti0n withthe
resp0nsibilities
end.0nthepass, theMlkelinebacker andtheSarnlinebacker
willexchangepass
responsibilities;Mike
willhave containonthequarterback,
andSamwil have the
s€aman0n00K.

TEAR
K
\\

wE
..oqBk\hlq.\
rv *l r$ sE
MG MK
gap
TACKLE:Stunt'4"
SAIVTINEBACKER up,"C"gap
Square
STR0NGEND up."D'gap
Square
,,8,'gap
IVIIKE
LNEBACKEB
BUst

OPTION

^ \-- * |

qFqlh\ nY sM sE
7

Stunt"A"gap,
TACKLEi #1option

SA[ilLINEBACKEB] thehipof thetackle,"B"gap,#1

Gohardthrough
0nlne0pIlon
STB0NG gap,#3onoption
ENDi"D"
N4IKELNEBACKEBiTak€ thetackle
onstraight t0 "C"
upandbounce
gap,#2ontheoption
ffiffiffi
144
 ffi

SAttY(C01{T}
STR0l'lG
POWER

+
\

gap
TACKLE:Stunt'4"
LINEBACKEB:Go
SAl,4 thehipof thetackle,"8"gap,
hardthrough
keep leverage
outside 0nthefullback
up,"D"gap
END:Square
STBoNG
MIKE Take
thetackleonstraightupandb0!nceto
LINEBACKEB:
"c"gap

DROP
BACK

" Al
,-;ob
6 0a
LT

TACKLE: "A"gap,
Stunt pass
rush
SAIVLINEBACKEB;
pass
rush
thehipof thetackle"8,"inside
Gohardthrough F
pass{ush
END:Keep
STBoNG onthequarterback
contain
MIKE pass,
LINEBACKES:
Bead thetightend.seam
check andhook

W
145
WEAKSAI.LY

TheweakSallvstuntisvervsimil totheweaksqueeze Thesame positlons

will
thestunt.TheMeglineback8r
berunning andtheSaralinebacker will gap,
exchange
andpass
option, Wewillnot'?ed"
responsibilities. outofthestunt. TheMeg
linebacker
cannothesitate
whenhis ksy to
steps thesideof th8 he
stunt;instead,
come
should Thisstuntisnota slowreadtype
hatd. of stunt

t p194 Pa9
J* U
Stunt'4"gap
TACKLE:
up,"C"gap
EN0Square
WEAK
\'
a(
l*-
IINEBACKEB:
SABA uP,"0"gap
Square
MEG "8"gaP
LINEBACKEB:Bust

0PTt01{

I
R9ap *
li
Yl-*
*I
'4"gap,
TACKLE:Stunt r1oPtion
WEAK ENo:Go
hard
through "8"gap,{1on
thehipofthetackle
theoptron
gap,
#3ontheoption
LINEBACKEB:"0'
SARA
MEG UNEBACKER:Taketh€tackleonstraight to "c-
upandbounce
gap,*2 ontheoption
 ffi

WEAK
SATTY
ICONT.I

POWER

gap
TACKTE:Stunt'A"
WEAKENo:G0hatdthrolgh "8"gap,keep
thehipofthetackle
outside onthefullback
leverage
SABA
LINEBACKEB:up,"D"gap
Square
MEGI,INEBACKEB:
Take
thetackle
onstraight to 'C"
upandbounce
gap

SPRINT.OUT

+#€
WEkpo".
*Y Lt 5r !E
/
/*reMx

TACKLE:
Stunt'A' pass
gap, rush
WEAK END: thehip0fthetackle"8,"inside
Gohardthrough pass
rush
Pass:
seam
TINEBACKER:
SABA andhook
MEG Keep
LINEBACKEB: c0ntainonthequalterback
passJush

t[ffi
147
FISTIIIMIKEANDMEGREAD

Itt
0z6- / 9(rrK l ,
. a6 ,/
I Aab#i-'{'*
sE*'!* Y kdV*
*l/*
'
/_"."
-y "-1
I "1
TheMikeandMeglin€backers andthetwotackles willbeinvolved inthlsstunt
Justbefofe thes;ap,th€two insidelinebackers willrnoveup t0 the heels of the
rl'e
tac{les. li.ebacker tapIheracke
sl-0'ld ol rhe hioso to nove h m l0 tne
r'lebac(ers "s
outside shoLlder 0' rheof'elsiveguaI0Tne willrpad thF \elnel 0' tf e
offensive center.Thec€nter willa waYs block to onesideoftheball,either 0r right
feft.When thecentef makesh s steptohisblock, the inebacker to theopposite
side0f theblock should "A
stunt gap. Thelinebacker t0 theside 0f th€block will
EIST w lhI'e exceptior 0f0asslf the plav is a pass
0lav'ris n0rna' 'I Iechrique.
i h e n ebaclets\ou' odtoplotle' 0e T1e two oLr side' 1ebacs\el sd pr av
''l ou
everything thesame astheywould forFLST lll,withtheexcept 0nof pass' arlddrop
to thes€arn andhookzones.

FISIIIITHUNDER/HOT

I o
o\
o qoo :^a\
1 ^^
6oo8oN
SE 6iI LT WE SR SE SII LT
RT

"RED" "RED"

wewillcalltwostirnts,
lnthlsscenario, butwillIUnonlyone0f themThe
willcalloffthestuntto the
linebacker twoJ€celversidebyyellng'"Bedl";
femember,thetwo'receiversldewillbethesideoi thecol0fcall'Thestuntwillbe
runt0 tne0ne_Tecelvetsloe.
 ffi

FIST
IIIMIKEANDMEG
SPY

-e
hho
+l
,oootr
*fl* "J
Mx
It
\

Thisstuntwillbeused onlywhentheoflensive playisa pass. lf theplayis

somethingotherthana pass, then0rmal FIST llltechnique willbeused. When the
playisa pass,theinside
linebackerreads the"near back";if thenearbackpass
bl0cks,
thelin€backersh0uld rushthepasser. lf theback r!nsa route, the
linebacker play
should mancoverage he
0nhim-and should not hesitate togeton
thenearback rightaway.Heshouldjump theroute 0ntheoffensive sideof theline
of scrimmage.Theoutsidelinebackers should playnormal technique, withthe
exceptionof pass.When theplayisa pass, theyshould dr0pt0 theseam andlook
play
forand theinside route to theifsidefirst.lf thereisn0 inside route,theyshould
lookforcrossing andthenplaytheroutes
routes, totheoutside.

ffi
149
FISTIIISNAKE

Thisstuntwillbeused onlywhentheoffensive playisa passlf th€playis

something otherthana pass, thennormalFlST llltechnique willbeemployed When
theplayisa pass, thedefensive endtotheone'recelver sideshould step int0the
offenslvetackl€as if hewere passrushing, and then step back and readtheneaf
(the
back backt0 hisside). lf thebackruns a route t0 his then
side, the defensive
endshou d playmancoverage onhim.Thedefensive endshould nothesltate;rather,
heshould getonthenearbackfightawayandshould iump the[oute0nthe .
offensive;ideof thelineof scrimmage. lf the back blocks,thedefensive endshould
lookforroJres lr0nlneo000sile T\ede'ersile
si0e. tac^lesontheone-teceive'
sidemlrst getcontain onthequarterback. Thetackle onthetwo'receivef side
should rush"A'gap.lf thereceiversetlsba anced (double brown 0r tan),thenwe
w 1lgoto thesh;rifieldorgame (Wemayalsostuntaninslde
plan. linebacker')
 ffi

flsT t TW|ST

0ntheopen
Thetwistisrun00ly side; firstto"8"gap,
theendgoes andthetackle
goesbehindto"C"gapandhas
contain.

a'\
(J
o
".?o?8"M IK IC

TISTIII TWISTMIKE& MEGt GO

Theinside ontheoneJeceivel
linebacker "A"gap;theoutside
sidestunts linebackef
hastheseam andhook.

\J
(J

o \o,619o o,\J^
"
*-.r/ Rr wE

S( IG

TIST MIKE
IIITWIST & MEG
2 GO

Bothinside
linebackers
stunt"A"gap,
andtheoutside have
linebackerstheseam
andhook.

pq*t"u
(J

o u^
\J

@u
151
 Kicking
Game

PUl{TRETUBl'IS,
INTERCEPTIOI{S,
TUMBtES.
A1{DBTOCKED
KICKS

Wehave fouropportunities to score: onaninterception;

11) 12) ona fumble; (3)ona
blocked (4)on
placekick;and a puntreturn. lt hasbeen saidthatina close game, the
decidingfactors willbethekicking game andfieldposition. Wewantto make good
oneverychance to score,orat leastputtheoffense inposition to score. Whenan
opportunity to score occurs, wewillseta "wall" return to theclosest sideline.
The
reason wewantto setourwallto theclosest sidelineisthatafterevery down. the
ball;splaced somewhere between thehashes, making thisareathesiteof the
biggest concentration of offensiveplayers. Whentheotfensive teambecomes the
defensive teamduring a play,itsplayershaveto fa0outandcoverthefield.0nour
wallreturns, wewantto setthewallquickly andto thepointfarthest awayfrom
theconcentration of offensive players.
0nturnovers, fumbles, interceptions, and
blocked kicks,wewillsetthewallonthefly.Wewillmake a "bingo"callto the
closest sideline:"Bingo leftl"Everybody should getto thenumbers of thesideof
thebingo callandsetawal'. After making the bingocall, the returner mustgetto
thewall,even if hehasto giveground to dos0.oncethereturner isat thewall,he
should turnit upfield,staying about a yardinbounds. Animportant coaching point
thattheplayers need to keep inmind-on anytypeof return-is thatwhenthey
block ona return, theycannot block
below thewaistorfrombehind. Sometimes a
"noblock" isbetterthananattempt thatresults ina penalty.

PUIITRETURIIS

Wehavethreepuntreturns, purpose,
eachwitha certain forsituations
thatwemay
seeduring thecourse 0fa game.0utwalltetrrnisthereturnweusethemost. 0ur
middle return whenthepunter
isused theballlowanddeep.
iskicking Wewillalso
useourmiddle return
asa change'up.oursafereturnwillbeused whenteamsare
tryingto kicktheballto thecorner.
Wewillalso useoursafereturnwheneverthere
mightbea fake,oronbad'weather days,whenweneedto make surewecatchthe
ball.

WAIt RETUBN

0urplayers
need to keep 0nthewallandalsokeep
theljnestraight thedistance
betweeneachothert0 fourto fiveyards.
When a player
locates
theball,andthe

ffi
r53
 W

DUnt heshould
isa shortkick, yell,"Shortl"Inthatcase,heshouldpromptlyget
awayfromtheball;thebestplace to goisoutof bounds.
Heshould alsoletthe
playerattackingthewallcome to him;andheshould holda count
beforehepulls
lf theballiskicked
thetrigger. to theotherside0f theopposite
hash,thesafety or
theSaralinebackershould givea "Go"call,andthewallshould move outto the
nearhash.Theh!ddleforourpunt-returo teamshould bethesame as0urdefensive
huddle.Withtheexception of thetworeturners, theyshould begetting
theirdepth
andtheiralignment.

MIDDTE
RETURN

0urmiddle
return Theplayers
isverysimple. simply
need to remember t0 occupy l
andfunnel
to theoutside.They gettheirbodybetween
should player
theoffensive j
andthemiddle
of thefie1d.
They a sostaywiththeirblock
should aslongas
possible.
Theiralignmentonthemiddle isthesame
return asit isonthewallreturn.

SATERETURN

Thefirstthingwewantto accomplish withoursafereturnisto stopanypuntfake.

oncetheballispunted, weneed theballfirst,andthenwewillreturn
to catch the
ball.Thealignmentof thesafetyandthehalfbacks willdepend onthe of
strength
thepunter'sleg,aswellasthepunting team'sfieldposition.
0urplayersneedto
remember the"10-yard rule."
Thedistancebetween thehalfbacks andthesafety
shouldbeabout 15yards. TheSara andSamlinebackers shouldsettwowallsonthe
numbers to each Thereturn
sideof thefield. willbesomewhat likea binqo
call.

Bffi
154
 ffiru

PUNTRETUBN

WEAK ANoSTB0NG ENDS: Their

alignment ofthe#1offensive
isoutside player.
Their areto put
responsibilities pressureonthe punterwithacontain rusJ!=t€
+ook
fora badsnapora mishandled lf theyhave
snap. aclearshotatthebJdk, they
shouldgoforit,buttheyshouldmakesure theydon'tmissit.lf tlgLlreto theside
ofthereturn,
theyshould andblock
circle the punter.
Asthedefensive endstothe
sideawayfromthereturn, theweakendandthestrong endarethelastmenonthe

SAFETY ANDSABA TINEBACKEB: Theiralignment ishead'up the#1offensive

player.
Thesafety andtheSara linebackerwilleither besetting thewallorblocking
thefunnelmanopposite thereturn.When setting thewall,they should release
fromthelineof scrimmage asthepunter startshispunting motion.They get
should
theirwidthfirstandthengodownthemiddle of thenumbers. They shouldsetthe
wallfiveto seven yards infront0f thepointwhere theballwascaught. 0ncethe
balliscaughtbythereturner, thewallshould notbemoved. Theonlyexceptionto
thisiswhentheballiskicked to theother sideof the0pposite hash,inwhichcase
thesafety andtheSara linebackershould givea "Go"call.Thiscallwillmove the
wallto thehash. lf #1has a wide split,
the alignment of thesafetyand theSara
linebacker
willstillbehead-up.

IEFTANDRIGHT TACKLES:Theyshould
align ontheinside
sh0uldet of the#2
player.
offensive At thesnap,
thetackles
should stayonthelineof scrimmage,
check
fora fake,
and,asthepunter
startshispunting
m0ti0n,releaseto thewall.
ffi
155
 W
Thetackles gettheirwidthfirstandthengodownthenumbers
should to their
position
onthewall.

MIKELINEBACKEB:
Heshould alignhead-uptheoffensivecenrer.At thesnap,
Mike
should
stayonthelineof scrimmage,check forthefake, asthepunter
and, starts
hispunting
motion,
release to thewall.Heshould gethiswidthfirstandthengo
downthenumbersto hispositiononthewall.

MEG UNEBACKER: Heshould alignin"A"gapto thelefrside, asif wearegoing fora

puntblock. Justbefore theballissnapped, heshould back outto a depth 0f five
yards.Whentheballissnapped, theMeglinebacker should startto backpedal,
lookingforeithera fake,a badsnap, ora shortpunt.lf thepuntisshon,heshould
yell,"ShortlShortl"andgetawayfromtheball.Jfthere isa badsnap, orthe
offense isrunninga fakepunt,Megshould yell,"FakelFakel"ashereacts to the
piay.When theballispunted andit isnotshort, heshould open to thewall.He
shouldrunat anangle to thewall,passingthrough somewhere between thetwo
tackles.Megshould block player
thefirstoffensive coming upthesideline.lf noone
comes, heshould leadthereturn upfieid.

SAN, LINEBACKEB: Heshould alignin'A"gapto theleftside. asif wearegoinq fora

puntblock. Justbeforetheballissnapped, heshould back outto a depth of five
yards. Whentheballissnapped, theSamlinebacker should startto backpedal,
looking foreithera fake,
a badsnap, ora shortpunt. lf thepuntisshort, heshould
yell,"ShortiShortl" get
and awayfromtheball.lf there isa badsnap, 0rthe
offense a fakepunt,
isrunning Samshould yeil,"Fakel Fakel'ashereacts to the
play.Whentheballispunted andit isnotshort, heshould open to thewal.He
should runat anangie to thewallt0 a pointwhich ishalfway between thesafety
andthe punt returner.
Samshould block themanmostdangerous to thereturner. lf
noonecomes, heshould leadthereturn upthewall.

RIGHT ANDLEFT HALFBACKS: Thedepth of theiralignment willdepend onrhe

of thepunter.
ability Thedistance betweentherightandthelefthalfback should
beabout 15yards.oneof thetwohalfbacks willbeassigned to makethecallthat
determines wh0isgoing to make "Me,mel"or"You,
thecatch: you!"
Whoever
catches theballshould faircatchanyshonballandgetawayfromanyballthat
cannot becaught. Thehalfback whoisnotcatching theballshould position
himself
liveto sevenyardsinfrontof thecatch. Heshould alsoblock thefirstmandownin
thepathto thewall;if nooneisthere, heshould return upthewali.Thehalfback
making thecatchshould getto thewall,giveground jf heneeds to,butgetto the
wallandturnit upfield,keepingoneyardfromtheboundary. The10-yard rulecomes
intoplayanytime theballisat ourendof thefieldandthepunter's legcould putth€
ballinsidethe1o-yardline.Thehalfbacksshouldstand onthel0-yardline,
andanv
ballthattheycancatch infront0f themshouldbefaircaught orreturned.
0nany
ballthatisovertheirhead, theyshouldsignalforthefaifcatch andlettheball
bound Intotheendzone.
w
tcn
 ffiffiffi

MIDDTE
RETURN

!r
4

25

Themiddlereturn andfunnel
Thekeyisto occupy
isverysimple. 0ur
to theoutside.
players get
sh0uld theirbodybetween players
the0ffensive andthe middle
of the
field.
They aslongaspossible.0ur
alsostaywiththeirbl0ck
should alignment
is
thesame oneweuse0n0urwallreturn.

LEFTANDBIGHT asonthewallreturn,
responsibilities
ENDS:Same theleft
except
thepunter
endwillbl0ck the"upback."
andtherightendwillblock

ANDSABA
SAFETY #1.
block
LINEBACKEB:They

ANDBIGHT
LEFT TACKLES:They#2.
block

LINEBACKER:
IMIKE #40ntheright.
Heblocks

MEG Heblocks
LINEBACKEB: #3or#4onth€left,whoever
eithef first.
releases

SAMLINEBACKEB: #3ontheright.
Hebl0cks

LEFTANDflIGHTHALFBACKS: Thehalfbackwhois notmakingthecatchshould

move whoismaking
upandtakethefirstmant0 theball.Thehalfback thereturn
should
tryto move upfield.
straight 0nce he breaks
thefirst
wave of thepunt
coverage, findclearsailing.
heshould
 ffiwffiffiFffiffi

SATE
RETURI{

Thefirstthingwewantto accomplish withoursafeleturnisto stopanypunttake.

0ncetheballispunted, weneed theballfirst,andthenreturn
to catch theball.The
alignmentof thesafetyandthehalfbacks willdependonthe strength
ol the
punter's
leg,aswellasthefieldpositionof thepuntingteam. Players
should
remember thel0-vardfule.Thedistancebetween thehalfbacksandthesafety
shouldbeabout 15yards.TheSara andSa0ilinebackerswillsettwowalls0nthe
numbers t0 eachside0i thefield.
Thereturnwillberunsomewhat likea bing0
call.

$Effi
158
 WffiffiFHffiffiKffi

PUNT
BIOCK

LEFT
HALFBACK:Go
fortheblock
0nthe0utside.

SABA
LINEBACKERTCome
inside
thedeep fortheblock.
back

END:Come
STRoNG inside
theback
forthebl0ck.

theguard's
WtAKtND:Conelhrough forthebl0ck.
stance

TACKLE:
LEFT Come thehipof thecenter
through fottheblock.

MIKE
LINEBACKEB: 'A"gapfortheblock;
Gothrough if theballispunted, the
block
punter
onthereturn.

off thehipof theMikelinebacker

SAMLINEBACKER:
Come fortheblock.

BIGHT
TACKLE:Lookforthefakeandkeep 0nthepunter.
contain lf theballis
punted,
helpsetupthewalltotheright.

SAFETY theendif herunsa pass

Cover lf theballispunted,
route. keep
contain
on
thepunter
andsetupthewalltotheright.

w
159
 re
MEG IINEBACKEE:Justbefore
thesnap,slideovertoa position
thatishead-up
the
theendif herunsapassroute.lf theballispunted,
end.Cover onthe
keepcontain
punter,
gothrough
thewall,andblockthefirstman to theoutside.

RIGHT
HALFBACK:
Faircatch
theballorrunareturn
totheright.

lf thepunter
getstheballoff,wewillseta wallreturn
totheright.

Att-OUTPUI{T
BTOCK

@
160
 ffiruffiHws

HEroGoAtBtocKs#1,#2,#3
BASE ALICNMf,NT FTELD GOAI BI'CK IT

K K
H
I I
o d 6 6a 66bo
RS HB WEWT JG JPS BTSE HB BB

FIELD GOAL BLOCK {2 FIf,LD GOAL BLOCK *3

K K

,c;iaN.,
Rir$iE wr JP
_JP
\ bT SE BB
-#zlruR,
8 H 6 W E fi JP JP i .A T S E H BB B ,

STB0NG ENo(SE): endisthesecond

Thestroflg maninonthesideof theblock.
At
thesnap,heshould comehardthrough lineman
thehipof theoffensive andthe
tootof the"wingback."
inside lf heisblockedfromeither orthe0!tside,
theinside
thestrongendshouldbounce outside andlookforthefake.Thestrong endshould
neverassume thatsomeone isgoing to block
him. andhismind
Hischarge mustbe
focusedongettingthroughuntouched fortheblock.

BLoCK TACKTE Theblock

{BT): tackle isthethirdmaninonthesideof theblock. At
thesnap,heshould
come hardthough the hipof the lineman
offensive and theinside
footofthelineman lf heisbl0cked
to theoutside. theinside
fromeither orthe
theblock
outside. tackleshould
bounce outside andlookforthefake.Like
the
strong
end,heshouldneverassumethatsomeone isgoing
to block Hischarge
him.
andhismindmustbefocusedongetting through fortheblock.
untouched

JUI\,4PEB alignment
{JP):Thejumper beto either
should sideof a linethatruns
from
where to themiddle
theballwillbekicked Thejumper
of thegoalpost. time
should
withthekicker
hisiumo andtheballs0thathe willbeableto block any lowkick.

WEAKEND ANDWEAK TACKLE

{WE/WT): Their willbeontheside
alignment
the
opposite block.
They hold
should ground
theil andlook
fora fake.

SAFETY (S);
Thesafety align
sh0uld in"B'gaponthesideof theblock. When the
halfback the"move"
makes call,thesafety
sh0uld dropto themiddle thirdandlook
forthefake. alsohastheoption
Thesafety thekickif it isshortor
of returning
blocked.

ffi
161
 ffiffiffiffiw

BLoCK BACK (BB):Theblock backistheprimaryblock player

wearesending forthe
kick.
Hisalignmentwillalwaysbeontheoutside, t0 thesideof theblock.
At the
snap,
heshould come hardthrough thehipof thewingbackandgof0rtheballby
laying
outjustinfrontof thekickpoint.

BETUBN BACK (BB):Thereturnback's

alignmentis0ntheoutside,ontheopposite
sideof theblock.
Hehastworesponsibilities: At thesnap,
11) heshouldrunat the
holderandposition
himselfto stopthefake.Heshould nottryto block
thekick.(2)
When thekickisblocked andit goes
to thesideorbehindthekicker,
heshould pick
uptheballandreturnit.

Weutiizethree fieldgoalblocks.
different called
#1,#2,and#3.Fieldgoalblock #1
istheblockthatwewillusemostoften. goalblock
Field #2willbeused whenwe
wantt0 puta littlemorepressureonthekickerandmake somethinghappen.Field
goalblock#3isanalJ-out block,where wesend everyoneaftertheblock.
Wewill
alwaysaligninourall-outblock(field
goalblock#3)alignmentandthenshiftto the
blockweareactually running.

FIELD
GoAL BLoCK #1:When theballisinthemiddle
of thefield,
wewillrunthe
block
to therightagainst
a right-footedkicker
{totheleftagainst
a left-footed
kicker).
Whentheballisonthehash,theblock should
come fromtheopen-field
srde.

FIELD
GoAL BLoCK#2:0nthisblock,
wewiJlrunmore blockefsat thekicker
from
theblock
side.
Thesafety
andthe jumperto thesideof theblock
should goonthe
block.
Thehalfbacks play1/2tcoverage.
shouJd Thejumper should gothrough"A"
gap.
andthesaletyshorld
gorhrough'8 gaf..

FELDGoAL BtoCK #3iThisblock to takethegapto hisinside

callsforeverybody
andgofortheblock.
Thereturnback
andtheblockback shouldcomeffomthe
outside
oneither
side.

w
't62
 ffi

KtcKott

---> 2!d ur. + 3rd nv.

First
waverFlatouttotheball, forcontain,4's
2bareresponsible andR5stayon
linewith2b.

Secondwave:13 comedownthenumbers, 3'sinside

ofthehash;
stayonlineand
traptheballif thereturn thefirstwave.
breaks

Thirdwave:L5andthekicker halfwaybetween
arethesafeties, thehashandthe
numbers;if
thereturnbreaks.
thetacklemustbemade.
w
163
DEEPOItISIDE
KICK

-{> 2!d r.E + 3rd mv.

JI'

Thedeep onside
kickisthesarneasOur
kickoff,
exceptthatthekickerkicks
theball
t0 theboundary
0nthe35-yard line.
TheLjrunsflatoutto theball.

w@
164
01{srDE
KtcK

+U*rh! ---+ !!lr!ror

brI

w
 SCOUTING REPORT
IEAM. IIARPER DATE: ltDD6

FORM\TION: BLUE SEI: "1" & SPLrr

r44
,23 al rf'
o
-'oo-oRJo o
FORMAIION: BROWN c11 sET: 't & llEArY
O
ssO

ooox o o r)
FORMATTON: GRf,EN
*o
d'
o d" oo Q o o o
FOFIT {T[ON: BLLIE/BROWN *nO SET:ACE

a)
o o oxo o
FORMAIION: BLUF,/TRIPS *oO SET: ACf,

t2t
o o -boo9oo
NOTES: COA,! LIN& BLACK, PINK BROWN, BLUE/BROWN AN'D MOTION
FROM ALL SEI

MOTION: BLUE TO BROWN AltD DROwx TO Bl,uf,' BLAC( MOTION AND BLIIE BROWN
MOTION TO TRIPS BLACK SIIORT MOTION' LEAD BLOCXXR

ffiffistr
167
 ffi

DEFENSIVE
SCRIPT

PERSONNf,L BACK-UPS

POS. NAME & YEAR NO. HT. wT. NO. ITT. wT.
J.ANDf,RSEN FR 2n6 195
QB
RB R, DA}'TDSON FR. 5 10" 210 zl0

FB SEANBROWN FR. 5'10' 232 5'9" 210

Sf, JOITNLOWLOR FR t35 195

FL TYWONrvt{Ni{INc FR.

TE KWA,\METRTWEAIIIER FR.

ST PAT ITICCE:IS FR 6'8" l1{

SG SAMWIIf,ILER IA. Jr0

CHRISBAZZELL FR. 210

C
SO. 280
WG JOE CINQITEPALMI

\I/T CERISCOAI,SON FR. :80

QB'S & TIIROWING TIAND PTINTf,R & PUNTINC FOOT

STARTER BACK-UPS STARTIR BACX TTP
4? RT. #4 LT. it2 fl26
KICKER & KICIONC FOOT
BESTBACK fq4 & r.t5 STARTER BACK-UP
#16RT. #I2 RT.
BEST RfCErt'fR #9 & #23
LONC SNA}PDR
PLNTS FIELD 6OALS
BEST LINf,MAN #?I & *68 c55 *65
IPBACK HOLDf,R
BEST PLAI'ER C.II & #.lt #t
'23
XICKOFF PI]'NT FIELD GOAL
#16 C,

433 - ,21
oo
o o oooaooo
ooooo Th.y iill huddleztrd brcrk lo
tfi€ l.o-s.1*!y lron lh€ ball,lhe
artei kickcr rtrd boldd rc

E&WM
168
 ffiwffiffiffiw{

RTJNPI-AYS
TEAM HARPf,R

O- "^" cAP ----o

.Y
RT wE' -9
SM
SRM
iB EASEWXAK FB TRAP STRONG

"8" GA}

q Qo pq
sE sri- yt' WE' LT,
MK SR MK
rlAR WEAK IIAR STRONC

"E"c^r <------O
n
<----=o
a\
t$T
A/P 4P Qp
wE'Lr .t
Yt l
SR MG MKI
POWER STRONG

sFsESm
 rc
RIJN PLAYS
Tf,AM IIARPER

o.o
*'o1 nrl/ wr
v
MG'
p
SM
SR MG
S\,TXP WTAX QB BOOTWXII<

.>r .Y
wE SE
MG MK
BOUNCE STRONC ZOI\II STRONG

DROP EACK

ol Y-{
.A
,Y ,A
Y.wE /v)<
, . \ r \ |v
a
WE LT RT
SR Mc MK
POTT'ERSTRONC

ffiffifi
170
 f
I

PASSPLAYS

BROWN/"I'OI'T/DIG /'t- rL^G r(I:t

s \"*

,*4-:*1 l* --{> tl\

*l
I ls*
I
s

MG *. \o
S F II

h*'" " dJ Eto

slt

BROWN / "I" qtoss PASA

BROWN/ "I" FOST/FADf,

"\i ,r' a
*ll
"""/d-;;)) I tsR MCf MK

O F AO tl
"6
P+"
EROWN / "r" Lf,f,R PASS AROWN/ IIEAIry DOUBLESEAM

s f . i
sB I +I * "" 1-{r
II
MX
It
HBI
MK MC SRI I ISR MC II
sMll jl F.' V)
?61
g\ X'"--''
BROwl{ / llI^try CROSSPASS DROW]! / II'A!ry FLOOD PASS

s
{-\
I
MK lt"
SM,l
ao
f"

F
 rc
PASSPLAYS
TEAM I'ARPf,R
BLUE / SPLIT DOT]BI,E SLAIYI' DLUE/ APLNTruPEOOK

* t'*-f
*a;,,\-
s s

n "J1-
BLUE / SPI,T SITCI| PASS -x6
BLUX / NIN B@T PASS

s
al
7l*.MG
| [sM
*l l'^*

d ! x8, o
o td
DLUE/ SPIJTDOUBLE
FADE

j
| ,--.-.
l(sf
tl
ts
ttM(
l MG SR
[ [sM
\)cF
bl 4
DLUE / " I" YEER PASS BLTJE/ EEAYY WEAX FAI'f,

s
rult\sa
llMxMCsR\

"l\ u\ s, u \
 ffiffiffiffiftHww|

TEAM H,{IU,ER PASSPLAYS

BL!'E / SPLTT AII, EOOK

nul
n ( ", a
|
-,/---\.

,--. l*
| "1,'
o (
g/ *r *fo
I
d \
rromrr,otgun O I O
"r*
CREEN / BLTIE/TRIPS CURL/FADE

t *l 'r;\""
'1
t E
?
MG SR

J ?J€ t
GREEN /SPLIT 3 LEI''LS BLUX/ TRIPS DOT'BLE EITCE

"\h
IY
TJ ,V X
R\
f)_.\""
o

CREEN / SPLXT JET / DIG GRXEN / SPLIT DOUETLEPOST / CORNER

ltB
SR
)",*

'f,

113
 GOAL LINE PI,AYS
TEAIU I'ARPER
POWXR\T-EAK "c" caP

SE SM LT LC -RG RT
p -v
RT WE
x

Y
qq I
t?
SE SM LT LG RG 1
SEI
SE SM L'I LG RC
-( .{
MK Mc MK MG
TEARWEAI( OPI1ONWEAX

BLUf,/BRO\}N MOTTON PICK PASS BRO14,NDOTJELESI, NI \I'EAK

Mx Mc
SM

I
BL!ts I'EERTASSSTRONG BLUE FLOOD STRONC

d" -nl
,/ McMx +
*l i
*€ffiJ
t6ffi
174
 HrcWrrcW

COLIEGEOF DUPACE

DEEEIEIIESCRIPT

tteatAIlQr !5 |
DATE: snuallcN: PRaCEICE: _ tb,E;

DEFEEIVE FROIIIT cova!68 MfulI&N PIA1

t.

14.
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175
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ffiffi
171
JoeRoman a longandillustrious
enjoyed asdefensive
career at the
coordinator
College inGlen
of DuPage Ellyn. For23years,
ll inois. beginning F0man's
in1975,
wasa maj0r
coaching DuPage
reason won75percent games.
0f ts football

Enrouteto a compositemark 0f182-61,theChaparra in14bowlgames

s played and
won10of them; won12Stat€Juni0r College andwon36
charnpiofships;
consecutivegarnesat onep0int,settinga Nati0nalJuniorCollegeAthletic
Associationr€cord.
From 1986 t0 1996,
theCollege 0f DuPagerackedupa rec0fd 0f
107-22.
woneightconsecutive statechampionships, andwasranked inthetop10in
thenati0nseven times.Duringthatsame span, DuPages teamdefense finishedif
thetop10inthenati0n eight
times.ln1995, theChaparrals'defenseeni0yed its
mostsuccessful season,givingup0nly51points in12games (4.2pointspergame).
0nthewayt0 finishing No.1inthecountry inteamdefense, theChaparrals held
theiropponentsto anaverage of 132yards of per
total0ffense game (35yards
97yafds
rushing, passlng).

Prior thepostat DuPage,

to taking Boman highsch00l
coached f00tball
foff0!r
years.
Duringgraduate
sch00lat WayneStatelJnlvefsity,
Boman coachedthe
inebackers th€teamto a g-2record
andhelped intheNAIA
anda berth Mlneral
Water B0wl.BomangraduatedfromMoorhead StateUniversity n
inNy'innesota
1969,
where helettered I andwrestling.
n fo0tba

AftertheCollege0f DuPageannounced in1996thatit wasdroppingitsfootbaI

program, Romanspenta yearcoaching
high schoolf0otball.
Inthespring of he
1998,
retiredfr0mteaching
andmoved to Chand er,Arizona,whefehebecame linebackers
coach at MesaC0mmunity Colege.Followingth€1998 reguarseason, the
ThunderbirdsadvancedtotheValley0f theS!nBowl, wheretheyl0stt0 Garden
Cit\/{KS)Communlty 14.
College,lT

MesaCCss€as0nmark I record
theovera
of 7-4brought thatRoman
0f theteams
hashelped
coach
t0227'70.

ffiffi
179
 THIC0illPltilGUIlft
T0 ilt$TflllilrcTHI
44 $PltTltfftllst
(;(; Every.high schooland,college coachin the counlry
- - shouldhavea copyof this book.TheCompleteGuide
to lnstallingthe 44 Split Defenseis an invaluable
teaching tool fullof drillsandtechniques requiredto ..
successfully installandexecutethis sLyleof defense.Z7
DaveHice
HeadFootballCoach
Mesa ColleaetAZ)

(;(; CoachJo€ Flomanis oneof the finest Leachersof

' the 44 detensein the country.Thisbookcan
providean instant playbookfor anyonecoachingthe
44 defense. lt s a must addilionto th-elibraryof ..
anyonecoachingthe 44 defenseor a 4-manfror't. /7
Jon Cooper
A ssistan t He ad C oach/Def ensi ve Coordinator
Aurora University uL)

5( JoeFloman hasput togethera bookthat offersthe total package

for all
successfuldefensivecoaches.TheCompleteGuideto lnstallingthe 44
Split Defensecoversall formationsandadiustmentsthat a
coachshouldaddressin hisgameplan.As such,this bookshould aa
defensive
be readbYallcoaches. ' '
Bob MacDougall
HeadFootballCoach
Collegeof DuPagetlLl

(( Havingpreviouslycoached the 44 defense, I havehadthe opportunityto see

CoachFloman practice, install,andcoachthis defenseand hedoesit welll
Foranycoachthat hastakenon a highschoolor a iuniorcollege program
usingthe 44 defense,Joe Boman'sbookwill providehim with the
informationhe needs.lt's oneof the bestbookson the marketpertaining to
the 44 defense. -
Jim Johnson

lillilllilllllj
Defensive Coordinator
Philadelphia Eagles

GOACHES
- =GHOIGE., $rt5
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