5 Reasons Your Defense Is Giving Up Big Plays

1. Misalignment
One of the biggest reasons defenses give up big plays is misalignment. When your defense is not properly aligned, offenses can easily outnumber or out-leverage you to either side, creating instant
advantages. Never allow the offense to outnumber and /or out-leverage you to any side.

Coaching Points:  Practice alignments every day – Ensure players understand leverage and spacing – Alignment should be automatic and fast.

2. Poor Pursuit Paths / Lack of Swarm
Bad angles turn small gains into explosive plays. When defenders take poor paths to the ball carrier, they lose leverage and allow cutbacks, bounce-outs, and extra yards after contact. Contain players need to set the edge, wall players / pursuit players need to run track the near hip of the ball carrier- pursuit inside to out.

Coaching Points: Set the edge and force the ball inside – Pursue inside-out with a near-hip aiming point – Do pursuit drills every single day – Swarm the ball carrier with multiple defenders

3. Too Static / Not Aggressive Enough
If your defense is predictable, offenses will pick you apart. Sitting in the same looks and not applying pressure allows offenses to get comfortable and execute without stress. Don’t stay in the same alignment and don’t attack the same gaps with the same defenders. Mix it up and keep the offensive line guessing.

Coaching Points: Mix up fronts and coverages – Bring pressure consistently – Force the offense to react to you – Use defensive line movement (STEM)

4. Eyes in the Backfield
Getting caught watching backfield action leads to blown coverages. Linebackers and defensive backs bite on play-action and defensive backs lose receivers, resulting in wide open plays.

Coaching Points: – Maintain eye discipline – Read your keys and trust your assignment – Understand down and distance – Don’t get nosy in the backfield. If you’re playing man coverage, eyes on your guy!

5. Not Creating Turnovers
If you’re not taking the ball away, you’re giving the offense more opportunities to create big plays. Turnovers shift momentum and stop explosive drives. Many youth football defense don’t force any turnovers. When I say force turnovers- that means stripping the ball or getting an interception- not receiving a botched snap from the QB/ C.

Coaching Points: Emphasize stripping the football – Attack the catch point aggressively – Turn every play into a takeaway opportunity – Build a takeaway mindset into your defense.

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3-4 Defense (under front): Twist Pinch 

This is a great stunt that will take away interior and off-tackle plays. The Twist side E will slant B-gap and the S will slant C-gap. This will generate blocking confusion and it will almost always leave your M backer free off of the edge. Against the TE and WB flank I do like to roll the cornerback up to match numbers. I rather roll the CB up because then I do not have to shift my linebackers and / or linemen over to match numbers (this would leave us vulnerable to the twins side). I do like playing cover 2 behind this stunt. If you decide to play cover 2 behind this, make sure your CB keys the TE, if the TE releases he knows it’s a pass and then he can drop into his flat zone. If the CB is on the boundary, he plays more of a hook to curl zone. Also, make sure your CB is tight on the line, on the outside shoulder of the W. He cannot allow himself to get hooked or sealed, as he is the primary force player.  You are somewhat vulnerable to a TE (Y) Quick Pop. However, you can have your S jam the tight-end to throw off the timing if it is a TE Quick Pop.

Coaching Points 

• C is the primary contain player, he must always keep his outside shoulder free. On run he is responsible for contain, if it is pass, he has the flat.
• The E and S must dip and rip through the inside shoulder of the offensive linemen they are lined up over. You don’t want them to just shoot the gap and get themselves washed down.
• You can very well play man to man coverage behind this blitz/ stunt.
• To the Twins side, the CB must not allow an outside release by the #1 receiver (X). He must jam and funnel him inside to defend against concepts like Scissors (Post by #1 and Corner by #2) and / or double verticals. 
• Once the QB begins his cadence, the M will start creeping up. You don’t want him to rush from 4 yards back!
• N will two gap the A (responsible for both A-gaps). He will shock and shed.

See Also: 3-4 Slanting Defense 

Playbook: 3-4 Defense for Youth Football 

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3-5 Stack Defense: Leo Storm 

This is a stunt right out of my playbook. This is one of our best stunts that we use to defend against off-tackle plays. This is a stunt / blitz we love to run to the Tight-end side. Our L is called Leo and our R is called Rip. Leo Storm tells our kids that we are executing this stunt to the left side and with our Leo linebacker. If we call Rip Storm, this would be executed to the right side with our R and W backer. This is an awesome play against ISO and Power. To defend ISO (or lead) you need to pinch your defensive linemen and get the play spilled. One this stunt our L and E are both slanting down one gap. Our E slants B-gap and our L slant C-gap. This is a great way to spill the ISO outside to our looping S and scrapping M. Against Power, the FB will see pre-snap that he is going to kick-out the L, but post snap my L slants, which confuses the FB (this works all the time on the youth level). The L and E will naturally squeeze the down blocks or double teams on Power and get it spilled to out L and M. It’s my go-to answer for off-tackle attacking plays.

Coaching Points

• N will two gap the A. This will also allow your M to be free to read and react. N will shock and shed.
• The L and E need to dip and rip- do not get washed. Many times you will see youth football players slant themselves right out of the play.
• I do recommend that you play man to man coverage behind this blitz. The S will play a peel technique. The peel technique means if it is pass, he will come off of his blitz path and cover the back coming on a swing pass to his side.
• This is a stunt that your kids need to executed with full effort- half-hearted execution will get your defense beat. This play does leave you vulnerable to big plays if your kids don’t do their job.
• Only when the QB begins his cadence does the S break his stack and cheat out over the L.

See Also: The 3-3 Stack Defense Base Rules and Blitzes 

Playbook: 3-5-3 Stack Playbook for Youth Football 

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4-3 / 4-4 Defense: Sam Twist 

This is a simple Twist that can be executed at all age levels of football. This is a great stunt to defend against off-tackle and sweep plays. It’s a simple gap exchange that the vast majority of youth football offensive lines won’t be able to pick up. Pre-snap, the S shows that he is the contain player. Post-snap, he dips and rips across the OT’s face and into the B-gap. This will create blocking confusion. It’s only a two player movement that creates a ton of blocking issues for the offense. Big return on your investment.

Coaching Points 

• S needs to dip and rip through the Offensive Tackle and anchor B-gap. He cannot just shoot to the B-gap and get washed down. Getting washed will create horizontal space for the offense.
• This stun can be executed against any offensive formation.
• This is a great stunt to mix in because it will throw something different at the offense and keep them guessing.
• This Twist can be execute with any defensive linemen and linebacker. This is a defensive linemen and linebacker gap exchange- two player movement / slant.

More Stunts & Blitzes: 4-4 Defense Blitz Packages 

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5-3 Defense: Razor Stunt 

This Razor Stunt is one of my favorite stunts. We run something very similar out of our 3-5 Stack. This is a great stunt that will take away one side of the field. It is great against interior, off-tackle, and edge plays. It’s basically an overload blitz- we’re sending more than the offense can block. This is a blitz I like against compressed offenses. This is also a very deceptive blitz as the M shows that he is going to blitz A-gap (pre-snap), but when the ball is snapped, he is blitzing B-gap (gap exchanging with the T). I highly recommend having this blitz in your playbook. This stunt is great because the backside is still strong if a team runs away from your stunt side. Also, if the offense breaks past your pressure side defenders you will at least still have you cut back defender pursuing to the ball carrier.

Coaching Points

• Fantastic blitz against off-tackle plays. It will completely take away one side of the formation. This great against Double TE formations.
• N and T need to dip and rips- do not get washed.
• Man to man coverage can be implemented, safety would have to roll down though- so it will be cover 0.
• Defensive ends will play “peel” techniques. Peel means that if a backfield player runs a swing or release for an outside route, the Es must come off and take him.
• When the QB begins his cadence, that is when the linebackers start creeping up. You don’t want them to give away where they are blitzing and you don’t want them to blitz from 4 yards back.

Playbook: Swarming 5-3 Defense Playbook 

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6-2 Defense: Overload left & Twist Stunt Right 

Here’s another one of my favorites! This is a great play because you are executing an overload blitz to one side and a twist stunt to the other. You don’t have to run both at the same time, but it’s always fun when you do. This play is sending more than the offense can pick up. I love this blitz against compressed formations. This blitz / twist is a high risk, high reward type play. If for some reason your defenders don’t get there you could give up a big play. I mean who doesn’t like to send the house every so often?!?

Coaching Points 

• Once the QB begins his cadence that is when the linebackers start to creep up. You don’t want them to give away where they are blitzing but you also don’t want them to blitz from 4 yards back.
• Slanting defensive linemen must dip and rip- do not get washed.
• M shows blitz over the B-gap, then once the ball is snapped he blitzes C-gap (as the E slants in front of him).
• The B and S should play peel techniques in case of a RB screen or swing pass.

See Also: Cross Blitz out of the 6-2 Defense 

Related Content: Razor and Laser Defensive Line Slants 

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5 Principles of Aggressive Defensive Line Play

Playing Aggressively While Being Fundamentally Sound

1.Be First with Hands and Steps

Establish contact with the offensive lineman before his second step. It’s important that you work on your defensive lines get-off. They need to fire-out on ball movement and win inside hand placement. The first two steps are critical. Everything we do with our defensive line starts with attacking on ball movement (practice drills). We focus on coaching up a good stance and taking what we call fire-out steps. We are always working on developing that quick reaction time- “attacking on ball movement”.  This applies to defensive lines that shoot gaps and/or slant. Whether you are launching on offensive linemen or you are slanting or shooting through a gap- fast get off is critical. Work on defensive line get-off EVERY single practice, it will be well worth the time invested.

Related Content: 10 Fundamentals of Defensive Line Play 

2.Stop O-Line Movement on Contact

Being first with the hands is critical. However, if you are not able to stop or alter the movement of the offensive linemen than get-off doesn’t really matter. When launching on an offensive linemen, it’s important that your D-linemen get their hands inside, elbows in and locked (extended), thumbs out, and they bring their feet with them. Many times you’ll see kids execute a good shock, but it is more of a reach and their feet don’t stay under them. We do something we call shock and shed. Depending on what techniques or gaps they are responsible for does determine hand placement and what leverage must be maintained.

Related Content: Defensive Line Stances & Techniques 

3. Get Separation

Once your defensive linemen get-off on ball movement and they power step and win hand leverage, jolting the offensive linemen, it is important that they extend their elbows in and don’t get caught “dancing” with the linemen. We want to shock, get separation, find the ball carrier and shed the block. You don’t want your defensive linemen tangled up chest to chest with the offensive linemen. Your defender will not be able to find the ball carrier and that will make it much easier for the offensive linemen to get their hands inside and block you.

4. Get off the Block

We teach what we call shock and shed. Shock entails all techniques from 1-3, shed means once they see where the ball is going and they have secured their gap, they need to shed the block and get to the ball carrier in their proper pursuit path. It makes it much easier for your defensive linemen to shock and shed when they fire off on ball movement, they win inside hand leverage and they bring their feet with them. We don’t want to dance with these offensive linemen, we want to be physical with them, but also be able to get to the ball carrier. Shock and shed while ripping through the blocker!

Related Content: Technique Football Camp | Defensive Line Progression Drills 

5. Keep Gap Integrity

We talked a lot about being physical and shocking and shedding, but it’s critical that your defensive linemen understand their gap responsibility. Your defensive linemen must always control the gap side shoulder of the offensive linemen. Say your defensive tackle is B-gap responsible and is playing a 4 tech (head up on the offensive tackle), he must win inside hand placement and launch through the inside shoulder of the offensive tackle.  A lot of this has to do with winning inside hand placement and moving your feet to the gap your defensive linemen is responsible for. When your D-line is slanting, it’s very important that your defensive linemen do not allow them selves to get washed down. If you slant your defensive line a ton I’d recommend teaching the dip & rip technique.

Overview 

• Attack on ball movement.
• Inside hand placement, shock the blocker.
• Get separation- hands inside, elbow in, arms extended and thumbs out.
• Get off of the block, get to the ball carrier in proper pursuit path.
• Be gap responsible!
• Go make a tackle or get a sack!
• Be great at these fundamentals- execute your technique, maintain gap control then AGGRESSIVELY pursuit to the ball carrier.

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Running the Hoop: From Drill to Game

Understanding the drill and how to run it effectively is the first step in creating the skills that players will be able to translate into the game. To run this drill correctly you will need a large hoop. While they are available online, we have had success using irrigation tubing and taping it together to make a large hoop.

We really like to create a progression so that our players not only know the drill but can feel what it is training their bodies to do. This progression is very simple and start with an easy drill that helps players learn how to bend their bodies. We start by putting two hoops about 3 yards apart from each other and having one player in the middle with another on the edge of one. On the coaches call the player in the middle will run away from the player on the other side of the first hoop by running a figure 8 around both hoops. On the whistle the roles will switch and the player that was being chased will now chase the other one.

While this is a very simple drill, and one that players tend to love, it’s the perfect buildup for starting to apply running the hoop to the game. What players should be feeling as they are running figure 8’s through the hoops is how their body is bending in towards the center of the hoop. Lots of times kids will do this on their own without having to think about it. Once their bodies have started to do this, you can explain it to them and then have them do the drill again looking to feel their body’s movement.

Related Content: 10 Fundamentals of Defensive Line Play 

On the next stage of the drill we will add the get off out of a stance to the drill. Players will align on a ball on one edge of the hoop. When the ball moves, they will burst forward and run around the hoop and finish on the same line that they started on, just on the opposite side of the hoop. The key coaching points here are to get players to feel their body bending and staying tight to the hoop. As players become more advanced, you should add in some hand fighting as they start to bend the hoop to simulate getting past the linemen.

The last component is getting players to translate the movement into the game. For this you want to explain to the players the concept and how it should relate to the drill that they just did. Where most players tend to struggle is that they start to run the hoop right at the snap of the ball. This causes them to turn right into the blocker and they never gain an advantage. Instead they must burst vertical to get even with the blocker. Once they are even with the blocker they can start to bend their path in and start moving towards the Quarterback.

Related Content: Best Defensive Line Drills for Youth Football 

Running the Hoop is a classic drill that tends to suffer from overuse. The major reason why coaches struggle with making this drill effective is that they only do it because it’s what their coach did with them. As a result, they do not understand the purpose of the drill and how to teach it’s relation to the game. When you are teaching a drill, it’s not just important to run the drill correctly, you also must show how the drill applies to the game and where the skills can be put into play.

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Teaching the Rip Move in Youth Football

The thing that allows the Rip move to work is the defenders physicality. In order for the defender to successfully rip through a block he must present enough of a threat of destroying the block the blocker will load up and attempt to throw a physical block. If the blocker doesn’t have to worry about being physical in his block than he will sit back and adjust to the rip. This is why we always talk to our players and tell them that their primary block destruction move must be to press the blocker. By pressing the blocker they control their leverage and set up the rest of their moves.

The other issue that comes from the Rip move is the timing of the move. If the defender rips too early the defender will simply cut off the block and go opposite of where the defender has ripped. Again this is why we teach our defenders to press any blockers and then resort to the rip move when the runner has committed either inside or outside of the block.

We begin our rip move progression by teaching it from a Press position. We have our players take on a block with their inside foot forward and pressing the chest of the blocker with their inside arm. This allows them to keep outside leverage. As they are driving the blocker back they need to get their eyes on the ball carrier. Once he commits they are clear to rip.

Related Content: 10 Fundamentals of Defensive Line Play 

The major coaching point for us to have the rip move start with the non-ripping hand. If the defender is going to be ripping to his left, then his right arm will rip through the blocker. This means that he needs to start the move with his left arm. He must press his left arm first to open a space. Once he has pressed the opposite shoulder he is free to rip through with his arm.

The second coaching point we use is to get the hips through. We want the defender to rip and get his hips clear of the blocker. We teach this by telling the defender that he needs to step with the ripping side foot all the way through to the heel of the blocker. This will put him in a situation where his hips are through and he is in a position to make a play.

The rip move can be an effective move but it’s critical that it is combined with the pressing block destruction. This allows the defender to put the blocker on the back foot and control contact.

Related Content: Coaching Tips for Defensive Line 

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Drill # 1: Stance 

Every defensive linemen will begin the play in their stance. Having a good stance will allow your defensive linemen to fire out on ball movement. Solid defensive line play starts with a quick get off. When the kids are in the correct stance the get off will be explosive.

Drill Setup

Line the defensive linemen up across the field and fix their stances. Once the stances are good, we’ll give them numbers 1-2. You can line the kids up across the field or you can get them in lines.

Technique Focus

• Dominate hand on the ground.
• Hand that isn’t down cocked and up ready to engage.
• The same foot is back. ( hand side foot is back).
• Back should be flat, weight on toes.
• Head turned inside, ready to explode on ball movement.

Related Content: 10 Fundamentals of Defensive Line Play 

Drill # 2: Rip Move for Block Destruction 

We teach our players how to utilize the Rip Move when it comes to beating blocks. We teach our kids how to dip and rip. We will never teach our players to swim because when you use the swim move, you lose leverage and come up too high. Many times kids that utilize the swim move will just get washed.

Drill Setup

Put the kids in 2-4 lines and have them execute the rip move on ball movement. Make sure that the stances are good, the get off is good, and that the kids are executing the proper technique for the dip and rip move.

Technique Focus

• Rip move demonstration for players.
• Players will get into two line based on the numbers they were give after drill # 1.
• Focus on first step, dipping shoulder, ripping arm up, and bring feet through.
• Do this a couple of times until the kids have good form.
• Kids rip move on air. After they rip through they run to the cones (cones set up across from them).
• We will rip to the right 3 times, then rip move left 3 times.
• Coach that is snapping the ball turns around and does the same thing coming back.

Drill # 3: Stance, Fire-out, and Rip Move

This drill will work all the techniques taught in the previous drills. It’s important that you take everything you taught and make the kids put it all together in game like situations. This drill will do just that.

Drill Setup

Put the kids into two lines. You will need two blocking shields and two tackling dummies. If you don’t have access to field equipment, put a coach or another player in front of the players.  Have a coach hold the ball and once the ball moves, the players execute the rip move on the dummy/blocking shield.  If you don’t have enough coaches have the kids hold the blocking shields.

Technique Focus

• Coaches need to make sure that all techniques that were taught in the previous drills are being implemented by the players.
• Need a good stance.
• Need a good get off on ball movement.
• Need a good dip and rip
• Aggressively tackle the dummy.
• Be upbeat, make it fun.

(See Also)  Best Defensive Line Drills for Youth Football 

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3 Things We Need To Do Better On Defense

1. Pursuit /Swarm to the Ball Carrier 

Last season we worked a ton on pursuing to the ball carrier and instilling the mentality that when we play defense all our defenders must be able to get to the football. We gotten a lot better at our pursuit, but it’s an area we still need to get better at if we want to play championship defense this season. As coaches, we have to do a better job of making sure the kids understand the importance of maintaining pursuit lanes and gang tackling the ball carrier. If we are able to get numbers to the ball carrier we will deter big plays, demoralize offense, and naturally generate turnovers. The fact of the matter is that if a player doesn’t have the ability and/or desire to get to the football then they will not be playing defense for us.  Pursuit angles are important, but the kids have to want to run to the ball carrier, a lot of it has to do with effort. This season we will be holding the kids accountable for their effort.

Pursuit Drill 

Related Content: Utilizing the Pursuit Drill in Youth Football 

2. Forcing Turnovers

Championship defenses do an excellent job of forcing turnovers. If we can generate 3 or more turnovers in a game we will have a great chance of winning that game. Creating turnovers is something that needs to be practiced. The art of creating turnovers is a combination of effort, technique, and mindset. First off, the kids need to understand the importance of turnovers. You have to make sure that the kids understand the importance of turnovers and put forth the EFFORT required to generate those turnovers (like getting to the ball carrier!). Secondly, there are several different techniques that can be used to force a fumble, techniques like the punch and club/rip. These are techniques that will be practiced daily. Lastly, the kids have to have the mindset that they will force a turnover this drive. They have to come into every game thinking that they will generate at least 3-4 turnovers. Every game that we generated 3 or more turnovers are games that we won.  Our goal is to generate 3 or more every single game.

3. Block Destruction/Beating Blocks

Block destruction is just as important as tackling. If you can’t beat blocks, you won’t be able to get to the ball carrier and make a tackle. As a team, we need to do a better job of beating blocks. We need to do a better job of maintaining leverage as we physically beat the block. We have to teach our defenders that they have to be violent with their hands. They just can’t try to go around the blocks, they must destruct them. We want our defensive linemen to dip and rip and we want our linebackers to shock and shed, while pursuing inside-out. Our linebackers understood how to shed the block, but we didn’t do a good enough job SHOCKING and then shedding the block.

Shock and Shed Drill

(See Also) 4 Things Championship Defenses Do Well 

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Developing a SWARM Mentality on Defense

It’s important to understand that it is getting getting players to the ball carrier is a fundamental aspect of successful defense, but gap integrity and pursuit lanes are just as important. You can’t just have your defense disregard their gap and pursuit lanes by just recklessly chasing the ball carrier. We want our players to get to the ball carrier through their pursuit lanes. We try to be disciplined and aggressive at the same time. We aggressively get to the ball carrier through our pursuit path. If our players take the proper angles and pursuit paths to the ball carrier they will be able to get to him.

Accountability: We demand at least 5 or more defenders around the ball carrier every play. We hold the kids accountable during film sessions, the tape doesn’t lie. I count how many plays in the game that we had 5 or more defenders around the ball carrier. It’s important that we track this so that we can see if we are getting better at swarming. This season we will great incentives for our defense, if 70% or more of our defensive snaps we had at 5 or more defenders around the ball we will do one less suicide on Friday (for example). I’m still trying to figure out some incentive ideas, so if you have any suggestions please comment below.

Benefits of the SWARM Mentality

Prevents Big Plays 

The more defenders that are able to get to the football the less likely a running back will break tackles and gain big yardage. One on one tackling is difficult on any age level of football, so it’s important that defenders get to the ball carrier to help their teammates out. When you get a bunch of defenders to the ball carrier it will close down field space and you to smother the ball carrier.  When you are getting 5 to 6 defenders to the ball carrier every play, the defense will prevent the offense from gaining big plays. Developing the SWARM mentality on defense isn’t just about stopping the run, whether it is a run or pass, we demand all of our players run to the football. I don’t care if it is a 20 yard pass downfield, we want our players hustling to the football. The best way to deter big plays is having relentless pursuit to the ball carrier. 

Pursuit Drill (executed every practice) 

Pursuit Drill- Blitzes and Slants 

We also practice execute our blitz and slants during our pursuit drill.

(See Also) The Pursuit Drill in Youth Football

Frustrates the Offense

There is nothing more demoralizing for an offense than having a defense that is flying around are swarming your ball carrier. It not only frustrates the players, it frustrates their coaches as well. It’s not a good feeling when every single play there are 5 + defenders around your running back. It isn’t hard to frustrate kids and once they are demoralized they will not play well.  In youth football, so many offenses rely on big plays. The likelihood of an offense going 10+ plays and scoring is slim. When you make the offense have to drive the field it will only be a matter of time before they take a penalty, fumble, or make a mistake.  Don’t give anything easy.  

Generates Turnovers

The more defenders you have around the football the better chance you have at forcing a turnover and or recovering a fumble. When you have 5 defenders around the ball carrier you have defenders to secure the tackle, force a fumble (rip at the football), and recover the fumble. Generating turnovers is a numbers game. The team with more players around the football will have a better chance at recovering a fumble or getting an interception off of a tipped pass. How many times have you seen a tipped pass in youth football that falls on the ground or an offensive player is able to catch it? A lot I bet . A youth football offense will give you at least 4 chances (per game) to get a turnover because of a mistake they make (unforced turnover). If you instill the mentality to get to the ball carrier, swarm the ball carrier, and rip the ball out, then you will generate a ton of turnover. If you win the turnover battle, you have great chance to win the football game.

It’s Fun

The SWARM mentality is something that your players can own. It’s fun to play defense, it’s fun flying to the ball carrier, it’s fun forcing turnovers, and it’s fun frustrating offenses. It’s important to make the pursuit drill fun, have the kids flying around with energy. It’s important that all coaches share that same energy and enthusiasm. Celebrate plays that you had 5 or more players around the football. Celebrate the pursuit drill in practice, overtime it will be a drill the kids will actually look forward to doing.  Playing defense is fun and every player should want to get to the ball carrier and be involved in the play.

(See Also) 3-5-3 Stack Playbook

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Reading the Guards Hip for Defensive Tackles

When coaching the defensive line coaches can give a player too much information. At the end of the day the assignment for these players must be clear so they can use their athletic abilities to battle out of the negative position that they start every play in. By reading the hip there are only four possible scenarios that can occur, the hip can come to them, the hip goes inside, the hip goes back or the hip tries to get around them. If the defender has an immediate reaction drilled into him for each scenario he can react faster and gain the advantage.

When the defender sees that the lineman’s hip is coming to him he knows that the run is more than likely coming to him. In this situation he needs to fight force with force and not get moved. There are a variety of specific techniques that coaches teach to combat force but the base rule is to get extension, locate the ball, and get off to make the tackle or pursue. The defender increases his chances of getting extension if he is able to get his hands on the blocker quicker by reading the action of the hip.

The other most popular action is if the hip goes inside. In this case the lineman is blocking down into the gap inside of me. This means one of two things is going to happen. There will either be a lineman outside of me blocking down or I will be left alone for a trap or read. When I see the hip go away my immediate reaction must be to brace for a down block. Obviously this can vary from week to week but the worst case scenario is that the lineman I am reading blocks down and I get washed down to create a wall for the runner.

I group being trapped and read together because they both depend on the coaching point for the unit. Some teams will always have their linemen take away the dive and wrong arm any trap block. In this case when the lineman goes away the defender must stay tight into his hip and look for the the next phase. If the team believes that defenders should condense any trap block and force the QB to give the defender will still step down in an athletic position but be ready to deal with the QB or trap block.

If the hip goes back one of two things will occur but both have the same reaction for the defender. If the hip goes back the lineman is either pulling or pass protecting. In either case we are going to attack that near hip. Again this can vary from team to team, but we tell our linemen to attack the hip either with a pass rush or by getting on the inside hip of the puller because he will take you to the ball carrier.

The final thing that can occur is if the hip tries to get around me. If the hip is trying to get around me there is an outside run play coming and the blocker is trying to keep me to the inside. In these scenarios the defender must again fight force with force and maintain his leverage on the blocker to make a play on the runner.

By narrowing down the possible events it makes teaching and drilling the defensive linemen easier. The defensive linemen know the possible scenarios that they will reacting to on every play. This lets them play fast and use their athletic abilities to beat the blockers.

(See Also) 10 Fundamentals of Defensive Line Play

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Defensive Line Drill-Typewriter

There are several key points for defensive linemen when they make initial contact. The first point is that they must make a small step with their back foot. Many young linemen will be tempted to take a big step thinking it will get them further. While this large step will bring them further, it puts them at a position of weakness because they only have one foot in the ground. This means that when they make contact with the offensive lineman they will have half the power, be off balance and will lose the initial contact. Instead of taking a massive step forward, the defensive linemen should take a step that brings the back foot in his stance slightly ahead of his initial front foot. This will give him the power position to deal with a offensive lineman trying to block him.

Related Content:  10 Fundamentals of Defensive Line Play 

The next major coaching point is that the defensive lineman wants to make initial contact with his hands. The goal of the offensive lineman is to eliminate space. When the defensive lineman has space he is able to get off the block and make the play. By using hands to make the initial contact with the offensive lineman and extending his arms the defensive lineman has now created separation. This separation will allow him to get off the block and make the play.

The Typewriter Drill is about developing these two coaching points, feet and initial punch. The only equipment that is needed is a 5 man sled. While the drill can be done with a two man sled it is difficult to get the amount of reps needed to master the drill. The defensive linemen will line up on each of the pads in a great stance with their eyes on the ball. When the coach moves the ball the line will take their initial step, deliver a blow and reset. In the start of the drill the coach can have them deliver the blow and keep their hands on the pad so he can check their position. After the linemen have reset, the coach will move the ball again and the linemen will repeat their initial step and strike before getting back into their stance. On the third rep the linemen will continue to drive the sled with their eyes on the second coach who is behind the sled to simulate the ball carrier. This second coach will point a direction and the linemen will rip to that side and run through the sled.

This drill is a great conditioning drill that teaches the linemen to work the initial punch and drive that is required to dominate the line of scrimmage. By mastering the Typewriter Drill your defensive line will learn the techniques that will let them win the initial contact on the line of scrimmage.

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Defensive Line Slants “Razor” &  “Laser”

Razor Slant 

N: Slants to the right, has A-gap responsibility.

DT (right): Slants to the right, has C-gap responsibility.

DT (left): Slants to the right, has B-gap responsibility.

D (right): Force player, must maintain outside leverage.

D (left): Back-side (away from slant) force player, must maintain outside leverage.

M: Read step, backside A-gap, then pursuit.

R: Read step, slant side B-gap, then pursuit.

L: Read Step, backside C-gap, then pursuit with backside angles/leverage.

CB: Deep 3rd coverage.

CB: Deep 3rd coverage.

FS: Middle 3rd coverage.

Laser Slant 

N: Slants to the left, has A-gap responsibility.

DT (right): Slants to the left, has B-gap responsibility.

DT (left): Slants to the left, has C-gap responsibility.

D (right): Back-side (away from slant) force player, must maintain outside leverage.

D (left): Force player, must maintain outside leverage.

M: Read step, backside A-gap, then pursuit.

R:  Read Step, backside C-gap, then pursuit with backside angles/leverage.

L: Read step, slant side B-gap, then pursuit.

CB: Deep 3rd coverage.

CB: Deep 3rd coverage.

FS: Middle 3rd coverage.

 Coaching Points 

• Slanting defensive linemen need to dip and rip to reduce their blocking surface (surface that OL can get their hands on you).
• When the DL dips and rips, they must maintain their gap responsibility. They cannot slant themselves out of the play or get washed by offensive linemen. They need to hold their ground.
• Attack on ball movement, violent hands. Attack! Attack! Attack!
• Linebackers must take their read steps. You they cannot overflow to the slant side because that will create cut back lanes.
• Scout your opponent! When you know where they are going to run the ball, slant that way!  However, don’t just guess, scout and breakdown the opponent’s film!

Here is a great example of how to teach your defensive line to dip and rip:

Weaknesses 

• Slanting defensive linemen tend to slant themselves out of the play, leaving massive cutback lanes.  It’s critical that you teach your kids to dip and rip, while maintaining their gap responsibility.
• Linebacker will tend to overflow to the slant side for some reason. They need to understand that every defender has a gap and they must read step to make sure there are no running threats to their gap before they fly to the football. One read step, then attack.
• Try not to guess very much. For example, if you call “Razor” and they run or execute a counter play to the left you could be in trouble.  Don’t slant your defensive linemen out of the play. Scouting is critical.

(See Also) 3-3 Stack Defense Blitzes and Slants  

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Making the Strip Drill Applicable to All Positions

The heart of the strip drill is that the defender is going to try to pry the ball away from the offensive player. This will stay the same regardless of the position group doing the drill. The other thing that has to be emphasized is that they must secure the tackle before going for the strip. Many times defenders will sell out trying to get the strip and allow the runner to break the tackle and gain more yards. It must be clear to the players that they only go for the strip once the tackle is guaranteed.

Defensive Line

The first strip drill is for the Defensive line. In this drill the linemen will execute a pass rush move on a coach or player. After they complete their pass rush they will come to a coach or player positioned like a quarterback looking down the field. The position of the quarterback can vary depending on the skill you are working on.

The most common way is for the quarterback to be in the wind up portion of his throw. For this the lineman must chop aggressively downward with the arm that is closest to the ball while wrapping up and taking down the quarterback with the other arm. It is critical that the lineman takes the QB to the ground. By taking him to the ground he will not be able to recover and the offense will have to rely on offensive linemen to recover the ball. Many times the linemen aren’t looking at the ball which gives the defense a huge advantage.

The other scenario to work with the Defensive line is when the QB has not started the process of throwing the ball. Here the QB is holding the ball in front of his chest with both hands. In this scenario the lineman should come over the throwing shoulder and chop down and away from the QB’s body. The goal of this is to not only get the ball out and deeper in the pocket where the defenders have a better chance of recovering it. Again the lineman must make sure he secures the tackle with the hand that is not chopping.

Linebackers

The strip drill for the linebackers can take a variety of different forms but the majority of times it will not be in a pass rushing situation. Instead linebackers make the majority of their tackles in a confined space. As a result when they are working on strip drills they will use the stick and strip drill.

In the Stick and Strip drill there will have a ball carrier running at the linebacker. Once they fit up on the tackle they will look to get a hold of the tip of the ball and rip it back towards them. The important part of this drill is that the linebackers keep their feet moving through contact and while ripping for the ball. By keeping their feet moving they will continue to drive the ball carrier backwards and allow more defenders to join in on the tackle.

An important note on this drill is to make sure to use a progression. The best way to introduce the drill is when the defender is already fit up on the ball carrier in a heads up tackling position. As they begin to master the leg drive and rip from a fit up position slowly start moving them out of the fit up so they can work on making the tackle while getting the strip. Another important thing is to never run this drill full speed. By running the drill full speed technique suffers and both players are only focused on running the opposition over which increases the potential for injury.

Defensive Backs

Defensive Backs going for a strip is one of the most dangerous attempts at a turnover. This is because they make the majority of their tackles in open space where, if the ball carrier breaks free from them, there are no extra defenders to make the tackle. The other part of defensive backs is that they are normally the second man to the tackle on most run plays. So instead of working on a Stick and Strip they will practice the Second Man Strip.

In this drill the ball carrier and the original tackler will be fit up in a tackle with the DB about 5 yards away. The DB’s relationship to the tackle can vary as he will find himself in multiple different situations. As the DB arrives to the tackle he wants to use one arm to secure the tackle while grabbing for the ball with the other arm. Once he reaches the ball or the hand of the ball carrier he should rip outward to try and pry the ball loose. The phrase that we use is to “start the lawn mower.”

There are a few key coaching points with this drill as well. The first is that the second man wants to, if at all possible, join the tackle in a way that will force the runner backwards. This helps eliminate any extra yards. The second one major coaching point is for the second defender to make contact and keep running their legs. By continuing to run their feet they are hopefully pushing the runner back to their own end zone but also opening up the potential for a strip as the ball carrier has to fight harder to gain ground.

These drills are far from the only strip drills but they serve to teach position specific skills for situations that each position group will find themselves in. In the end each of these drills can be used for each position group but the key is to tailor the situation so that it fits what the players will be seeing in the game. The Second Man strip should look a lot different for the DB’s than the Defensive Line so that they can apply it to the game.

(See Also) Football Philosophy – Defense 

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Chase the Chicken Youth Football Drill

The setup of the drill is very simple. There is one chicken (normally a DB or another fast player) and three defensive players. The chicken is lined up in the middle and 10 yards away from the defensive players. On the coach’s whistle or command the Chicken is free to run anywhere from sideline to sideline in a space of 10 yards. While the Chicken is running wherever the goal of the defenders is to get all three of their hands on him at the same time. While it is a very simple drill to set up and learn it teaches many skills that players use on defense and special teams.

From a coaching perspective you should be focused on the defenders, the chicken is just there to make the drill work. The defenders start the drill with great leverage and they must maintain it to corral the chicken. As the chicken takes off running the defender who is on the side he is running must expand to keep the chicken on his inside. He should do this using the Inside In Front technique that we work on in our Special Teams drill time.

The defender opposite of the side the chicken runs has a very important and tricky job. He must work to shrink the area that the middle defender must cover while still maintaining leverage on the chicken. He needs to pursue the Chicken and close space but he has to stay in an athletic position in case the Chicken changes directions. If the Chicken changes directions and is able to get outside of the pursuit man the defenders are in trouble. This leaves the pursuing contain main with a difficult assignment, he must quickly shrink down the space the chicken can run while still maintaining leverage to stop the Chicken from running outside.

The final defender is the middle defender. His job is to move forward and cover the area between the two leverage defenders. If the two leverage defenders are doing a good job this man will make the majority of tackles by wrapping up the chicken and letting the two pursuit men touch him. The difficult part of the middle defender is that he is responsible for all of the area between the two leverage defenders. If they are doing a good job eliminating space this makes for an easy wrap up, but if the leverage defenders aren’t able to squeeze the space, the middle defender is forced to cover a large area and make a tackle in space.

If the chicken does get away from the initial alignment of the defenders, either by breaking contain or through the middle, the drill keeps going. When this happens the defenders must work together to establish leverage and corral the chicken into a tackle.

While this drill seems very complex in the description the best part of the drill is the minimal amount of coaching that is needed. While it’s important to show the players Inside In Front position and how they must maintain leverage, many of the other ideas they learn on their own. They use the drill to quickly figure out about maintain leverage angles and working together. It is an incredible process to watch because they learn from the drill and do not even realize they are improving.

(See Also) Tricking Youth Football Players into Hard Work 

(See Also) Tap the Hip Linebacker Drill 

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(See Also) 10 Fundamentals of Defensive Line Play
(See Also) Defensive Line Stances 
(See Also) 3-5-3 Stack Defense Playbook 

The post Defensive Line Gaps and Techniques appeared first on Youth Football Online.

Here are the 10 Fundamentals of Defensive Line Play:

Alignment

If your defense isn’t aligned to the opposing offense’s formation properly, it does not matter how technically sound your defensive line is.  It is critical that your linemen understand formations and adjust to the strong side of the formation. Most teams have their middle linebacker align the defense, but we teach all our players to recognize and adjust to unbalanced formations. The kids need to align properly based on their defense’s scheme as well. If on a certain call or defense you need your defensive tackle to line up head up on the offensive tackle, then your DTs needs to align head up on the OT. It’s important that kids know where to line up every snap.

Stance

Once your defense is aligned properly, it’s important that they have good stances. Some coaches will put their defensive linemen in 3 point or even a 4 point stance. Good stances will allow your defensive linemen to get off the football quickly, play with low pad level, and good technique.

Related Content:  Defensive Line Stances

Pre-snap Read

Teach your defenders to notice if the offensive linemen are sitting back in their stances. If so, this implies that they might be pass blocking. In youth football it’s very easy to tell if a kid is pulling or pass blocking.  Kids will typically give away what they are going to do because they will lean one way. If a guard is going to pull, then you may notice him leaning to the way he is going to pull. If he is going to execute a pass block, the offensive linemen may sit back in his stance. If the offensive linemen is in a good stance and looks ready to go, that means the play is probably coming right behind him. The line splits are also excellent tells for your defenders. For example, if the OL cheats their splits down, it could be wedge, or even a pass. Teach your players and coaches how read body language.

Get off on Ball Movement

We want our defensive linemen to be aggressive. However, they have to key the football. It’s important that the defensive linemen get off of the ball quickly. It’s all about winning leverage and inside hand placement.  If your defensive line is slow off of the ball, they won’t be very effective.  Any defensive drill we do in practice we ALWAYS begins on ball movement. The only time a whistle is used in a defensive session is to kill the play or the drill rep. We do EVERYTHING on ball movement. In order for them to get off of the football quickly, they need a good stance!

 Hands

When coaching our defensive linemen we use the phrase ‘violent hands’ frequently. We want to shock the blocker with a powerful jolt with our hands inside and our thumbs up. It’s all about hand power, speed, and placement. The hands will be used to shock and shed the blocker. We want our players to engage the blocker with their hands and either launch or dip and rip. We do this shock and shed drill every practice.

Low Pad Level

Everyone knows that the low man will always win. We work a lot on violent hands and maintaining low pad level. We practice jolting/shocking, sinking our hips, and ripping through the blocker on a daily basis.  We need our defensive linemen to keep their feet under them and maintain a low center of gravity. In youth football, so many offensive linemen will come out of their stance high. With that said, if we teach our defensive linemen to keep a low pad level we can take advantage of those high offensive linemen. Low pad level: pads under pads, bend knees. In addition, narrow feet will get your defensive linemen off balance. Their feet should be shoulder width when engaging. Wide base, choppy/active feet.

Active Feet

When players stops their feet that is when they will be defeated. When a defensive linemen stops their feet they will give up leverage, ground, and will end up getting washed down or pancaked. It’s important that your defensive linemen always bring their feet with them when they execute their rip move. Meaning, the dip and rip technique should be quick, violent, and executed with active feet. It’s important that you make sure the kids never stop moving their feet. No reaching or looking, move your feet and get there.

Squeezing

The squeeze technique is the best way to beat kick-out and/or trap blocks. When an offensive linemen blocks down, leaving you unblocked, that means you are going to be the target of a trap or kick-out block. To avoid getting trapped or kicked out, the defensive linemen must get their hands on the down blocking offensive linemen and squeeze down with him, closing the horizontal space.  This will allow your defensive linemen to take on the trap block and it will close down any space. If a defensive line gets a good launch and squeeze on the OL, it won’t allow them to block down or get onto a linebacker cleanly.  You don’t want your DL completely following the down blocking linemen down because he will just wash himself out of the play. Hands on the blocker, squeeze down, close the space, and look to blow up the trap blocking (up-field shoulder aiming point).

One of the biggest reasons the Wing T, Double Wing and Single Wing work so well in youth football is because not many youth football coaches teach or even know what squeezing is (or wrong arming). Against these offenses that use down blocks, if you don’t squeeze, you’ll get gutted.

Here is an excellent drills that works squeezing and wrong arming:

Rip Move

We teach our defensive line to dip and rip. We tend to stay away from the swim move because it will force our defensive linemen to come up too high. We want our defensive line to get their hands on the offensive linemen and the swim move doesn’t allow us to do that. I think the swim move is great in the open field and on pass rush situations. In youth football, its all about anchoring gaps, stopping the run, and block destruction. Utilizing the rip move will allow us to do all of that.

Related Content: Rip Move for Block Destruction

Effort

Regardless of position, football is all about effort. We want our players to play hard every single play. We want a never quit attitude and we want to be relentless. If a kid wants to play defense for us they better be able to hustle to the ball carrier on run and pass plays. In order to get to the ball carrier and play defense with our “swarm” mentality (gang tackling) they need to give effort. We focus on technique and all that good stuff, but we also coach and demand effort!  Regardless of technique, if you have a kid that is a good effort player, he will end up being a solid football player for your team.

(See Also) Eat Philosophy for Youth Football and Life (Effort, Attitude, Toughness)

If you are able to coach up these 10 fundamentals of defensive line play you will be real tough upfront. Remember, if you control the line of scrimmage you control the game. There is nothing more demoralizing for an offense than a disruptive defensive line.

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