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 Drills To Effectively Use Tackle Rings

The first drill that we do with our rings, and the one that is one of the most common, is the tackle profile drill. Here we are working with our players on tracking the near hip, making solid contact, and wrapping the player up. We can do this from a variety of different positions, but the general idea is that we will roll the ring and the defender will go to tackle the ring with his head behind the near hip. After the player executes the tackle, we have a rule that they have to stand up while holding the ring. This ensures that they are wrapping the ring up and guaranteeing the tackle.

The next drill that we like to do is designed to force the player to keep their weight and drive their feet through contact. This drill can be very effective for players who are making contact and then losing their feet or not driving through the ball carrier. In this drill the player will approach the tackle ring from the front (you will want to start with the tackle ring stationary here and slowly start to roll it at the defender). When the defender makes contact with the ring, he will wrap it up and drive it across the grass for five steps. One of the most common mistakes you will see is the ring collapsing down. When you see the ring collapse down you know that the player does not have control of their weight and would not be able to drive in a tackle.

Related Content: Teaching your Defenders How to Maintain leverage with the Vice Drill 

One of our other primary drills with the tackle ring involves the defender transitioning from block destruction to making a tackle. In these drills there will be two different phases that the defender must work through. In the first phase he will need to get off of some block, this is normally done through our Escape Drill progression. After the player has established a strong position on the block the coach will roll the ring and the player will have to disengage and make the tackle. This is a great way to teach players to not only work on their escapes from a block, but also ensure that they are keeping their eyes up while destroying a block.

Really the use of the Tackle Ring is only limited by your imagination. It is one of the most versatile tools and can be a great addition to your practice plans. While these drills are some of our main drills, it’s very easy to find new creative ways to use the tackle ring.

Related Content: Practice Tracking the Near Hip with the Approach Drill 

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Practice Tracking and Tackling the Ball Carrier with the Sideline Drill

Drill Set up

The basics of the drill are that two players lie on the ground head to head with their feet going in opposite directions. The players should be lined up about 7-10 yards from the sideline and their should be a cone 5 yards behind each player. The coach will start the drill by tossing the ball to either player. Whoever gets the ball is the ball carrier and the other player is the defender.

When the Coach throws the player the ball both players will run around the cone on their side of the field. The player who got the ball is the ball carrier and has the option to beat the defender to the sideline or cut the ball back at any time. The player who did not get the ball is the defender and will work to track the ball carrier and make the tackle. This can be a fit up tackle or a hip tap depending on the level of physicality you want the players to have that day.

Related Content: Burst and Buzz Tackling Drill 

There are a couple of key points for the defender when doing this drill. The first thing they have to do is get around their cone and get their eyes on the ball carrier. It’s critical that as the come around the cone they start to survey the scenario and determine the leverage they must work with to make the play.

Normally the defender will make it to the cone first because he does not catch the ball. The ball will cause the ball carrier to struggle standing up and will slow him down enough that the defender will be in front. This means that the defender, if he does not adjust, will be outside of the ball carrier and open up the lane for the cut back. To avoid this we work with our defenders on coming forward to gain leverage and start tracking the inside hip. When players get cut back on several times they learn the lesson that they have to adjust to the ball carrier to get depth and they can’t just run out of control. This shows up on the field as defenders learn they need to be patient in getting their leverage and approaching the tackle.

Related Content: Open Field Tackling Technique 

By changing up who gets the ball this tackling drill is easy to make fun. As a coach it’s important to show players that they can have fun while still working on the essentials of the drill and working their fundamentals. The effect is that you get players bought into a drill that is teaching and working the fundamentals that they need to master.

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Teach your Defenders how to Maintain Leverage with the Vice Tackle Drill

The setup of the drill is pretty simple. There is a ball carrier and two defenders space about 15 yards apart. On the whistle the ball carrier has the freedom the run and try to break contain of the defenders. The defenders must work together to keep their leverage and make the tackle.

The tackle can be defined differently depending on the amount of pads that players are wearing. If players are not wearing any pads or just helmets, this can be defined as the ball carrier being forced between the two defenders. If the players are wearing pads then this can consist of a wrap up. The main part of the drill is not the tackling segment, it is the players working up to be in a position to tackle.

One of the key elements for this drill is to teach the defenders the importance of their hips. Ball carriers are always looking to get defenders hips over committed so they can break clean. To this end, the defender’s must keep their hips turned out so they can protect against the defender trying to break to the outside. The best way to do this is by keeping their inside foot in front. This allows them to adjust to any break the ball carrier makes to try to get outside of them. The result is that the ball carrier is forced back to the team mates and the defender has maintained outside leverage.

Related Content: Burst and Buzz Tackling Drill 

In this drill the ball carrier plays a critical role. He must provide a good look for the defenders by juking and making moves to throw off the defenders. We have always like to use the fastest young players for this. It’s a fun role for them and allows them to highlight their ability to make plays.

The Vice Drill is a great drill to teach players about leverage and working with their teammates to make a tackle. These are skills that have become even more important in the modern game with all of the perimeter screen passes that are thrown.

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Burst and Buzz Tackling Drill

One of the trademarks of any great defense is to have all eleven defenders flying to the ball. This means that as soon as the ball has declared a side, all eleven players need to take off and get to the ball using a path that will keep them in a position to make a play. By having all 11 defenders close to the ball the defense is in a position to adjust to any instance where the ball pops out or a tackle is missed.

The only problem with defenders flying to the ball is that if they are not under control they will never make the play. Instead, as they approach the ball carrier they must start to come to balance so they can adjust to any change of direction that the ball carrier attempts. The best drill to teach this process of coming to balance is the Burst and Buzz Drill.

Related Content: Eye Opener Tackle Drill 

The Burst and Buzz Drill is designed to simulate an explosive movement towards a ball carrier followed by the defender coming to balance. There are a variety of ways to do this drill but we will start with the version that is best to work the teaching progression.

In the basic Burst and Buzz Drill players will be aligned on the sideline on a line. On each line at the first hash there will be a bag held by a team mate. On the coaches first whistle the defenders will take off on a sprint. It is critical that players work to get up to full speed so they learn how to decelerate. When they begin to approach the bag they must work to decelerate by dropping their hips and coming to balance. When they have fully stopped they need to buzz their feet. This helps to teach them to stay under control and work their hips down. On the coaches second whistle they will execute the tackle on the bag.

Related Content: Practice Tracking the Near Hip with the Approach Drill

To build the drill and get players to develop the drill in a more dynamic environment the coach can add multiple times where the defender must come to balance. This is a simple change to the drill and lets players double or triple the number of times they go from a full sprint to a balanced position. To do this players should line up on the sideline on one of the five yard line marks. On the coaches whistle they will sprint across the field. On the second whistle they will come to balance and chop their feet. The next whistle the coach blows will tell them to accelerate out. The coach can blow the whistle and have players come to balance as many times as he thinks is necessary.

The Burst and Buzz Drill is a great way for players to work the transition of closing on the ball to adjusting to the ball carrier’s moves. Too many times defenders work hard to get in a position to make a play on the ball but come in out of control. By teaching players how to come to balance these players now have a chance to make a play on the ball and be rewarded for pursuing the ball.

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Practice Tracking the Near Hip with the Approach Drill

The setup of the drill is very easy. To setup the drill all you need is four cones spaced out in a 10 by 10 yard square. The players should align with the ball carrier on one cone and the tackler on the cone that is next to them. To execute the drill the ball carrier will run across the line towards the cone at about 50%. While the ball carrier is running at the cone across the square the defender should be closing in on him. The key is that the defender needs to stay within balance and keep his eyes on the near hip of the ball carrier. When he gets to the ball carrier he needs to tap off with two hands and finish the drill.

Related Content: Using Yoga Balls to Practice Tackling

After going once where the ball carrier is going on a straight line the coach can give the player the ability to add some complexity to the drill. As the ball carrier is jogging along the line he has the ability to drop his hip. If the ball carrier drops his hip at all the tackler must come to balance and stop his pursuit. This trains the tackler to watch the near hip of the defender and respond to any change. When the hip drops on a ball carrier, normally some sort of move is coming. By practicing tracking the near hip and coming to balance when it drops, the tackler is preparing to adjust to any moves from the tackler.

Related Content: Practice Tackling with the Eye Opener Drill 

The Approach Drill is a simple drill that allows tacklers to get their eyes fixed on the correct positions and respond to a limited stimulus. By working on this limited skill the player’s minds begin to focus on their specific task and what they need to do to maximize their skill set.

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Practice Tackling with the Eye Opener Drill

The two critical components of the tackle that the Eye Opener Drill focus on are the unloading of the hips and shooting the arms through. These are two critical components of the tackle because they stop the ball carrier’s forward momentum while also ensuring that he doesn’t bounce or spin out of the tackle. When these two elements are combined effectively they can create a picture perfect tackle that stops the ball carrier in his tracks and does not allow him to gain the extra yard in contact.

The problem with these two components of the tackle is that they are the hardest elements to practice. They must be done simultaneously so timing them up takes multiple reps. These reps can be hard to come by because it involves the body on body contact that can wear players down over the course of the season. To focus on these two movements while limiting the contact we use the Eye Opener Drill.

The Eye Opener Drill starts with two players facing each other with four cones spaced a yard apart to their side. One player will be the defender who is making the tackle and will be in an athletic position while the other player will be the ball carrier who will simulate holding the ball in one hand. On the go command the offensive player will step sideways to the first gap. The defender will take a drop step and then approach the ball carrier and shoot his arms while unloading his hips. After he has unloaded his hips he will drop back behind the next cone while the ball carrier steps to the next open space for the next rep. The players will continue down the line until they have gotten four reps done.

Related Content: Using Yoga Balls to Practice Tackling

There are a few critical components for the defender to focus on for this drill to be truly effective. First, the defender must shoot their arms at the same time as they throw their hips. The best way to see this as a coach is to stand on the cones and watch the players hips. The defenders hips should follow a natural upward swing as they engage in contact and make contact with the ball carrier. One way to help the players understand this is to tell the ball carrier to give a small hop so the defender can get the ball carrier off the ground. It’s important that the ball carrier just takes a small jump, just enough that he break the inertia of the ground. This jump will allow the defender to lift the player and get his hips through.

The second major component of the drill is the defender shooting his arms. We tell our players we want them to shoot their arms through to the shoulder blades of the ball carrier. This allow them to get their arms all the way through while also allowing the hips to come through the tackle.

The Eye Opener Drill is one of the best drills for getting players to understand how to make effective contact using their hips and arms while not getting players hurt and banged up.

(See Also) How to Tackle with Proper Technique 

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How You Can Use Yoga Balls to Practice Tackling

These changes have hit defensive coaches especially hard. The truth is that it is very difficult to practice tackling without making contact with another player. So, when the coaches are trying to minimize contact time, the amount of tackling segments is the first thing to get cut. The effect of this is players that are not only bad at tackling, but have also not had enough drill work to tackle safely.

Related Content: Open Field Tackling Technique 

Coaches are getting very creative in finding ways to drill the tackle without having player on player contact. Tools such as the tackle ring and agile bags have become popular across all levels of football as tools to work the tackle. Another tool that has been gaining popularity, especially with USA Football, is the yoga ball. These large balls make for great tools to work tackling without having player on player contact.

A great drill to use yoga balls with is the form tackling drill. In this drill players start by coming straight at the coach who has the yoga ball. As they are approach the coach he will bounce the ball to them so they can execute a form tackle on the ball. The key coaching points here are to keep the elbows tight as they shoot the arms and unload the hips through the ball.

One of the major advantages of using a yoga ball is that it will bounce up and down. This allow players to track the ball and react to it’s movements. This ability to track and react to movements is a skill that great tacklers must master.

Related Content: How to Tackle with Proper Technique 

Once players have mastered the form tackle from straight ahead they can move to making the form tackle at an angel. They do this by coming straight at the coach. When the coach is ready he will bounce the ball at an angle. This will force the defender to work on making the tackle from the side and ensuring he wraps the players up.

There are a million different possible drills that can be done with the yoga ball. It should not be thought of something that replaces the tackle ring or agile pads. Instead it should be used as a supplement that will allow the coach to work on the same skill multiple ways. As coaches it is our job to teach the safe fundamentals that allow players to be successful. The yoga ball is just another way that we can teach our athletes in a safe environment while limiting the potential for injury.

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The Golden Yard Drill | Goal Line Tackling Drill

The set up of the drill is very simple. The coach takes an agile bag and places it perpendicular to the Goal Line with the edge of the pad right on the goal line and a ball on the end away from the Goal Line. Each player starts with their hands on the pad and their feet behind them. The drill starts with the offensive players movement. He makes a move to pickup the ball and get across the Goal Line. He can go either way so the defensive player must adjust to his move.

There are a couple of coaching points for the offensive player on this drill. The first one is that he needs to run with a low pad level. It’s critical that he get his pads under the defenders pad level. This will allow him to fall forward and gain the Golden Yard. Besides running low he must keep his legs driving and run his feet through contact. These skills are critical for Running Backs to learn. Many times a running back will make contact with a defender in the hole two yards down field. The last major coaching point for the runner is to deflect the blow and find a way to twist forward. When a tackler makes contact with the runner he wants to hit him square, while this happens in most tackling drills it rarely happens during the game. The runner needs to feel where the defender has made contact and twist away from it so he can fall forward. In this drill the majority of times the defender makes contact on the inside of the runner so the ball carrier can twist to the outside and fall forward.

The defender has several key coaching points that translate to game scenarios. First and foremost he must drive his legs through contact. If the defender makes contact and stops foot fire a good running back will drive forward and win the golden yard. Instead he must continue to drive his feet and finish on the runners side of contact. In addition to foot fire he must shoot his arms to help corral the runner and stop him from spinning out of the tackle or twisting for additional yards. The last coaching point for the defender is often missed. The tackler must work to keep his hips in front of the runner. As the defender works to get to the outside edge the defender needs to keep his feet moving so that the runner can’t get the edge and fall forward.

Who wins this contest determines who will win the play. If the defender is able to stop his momentum and limit the gain to two yards this will create a 2nd and 8 which puts the defense at a huge advantage. If the runner is able to maintain a leg drive and fall forward for another 2 yards the offense will be in a 2nd and 6 situation which allows them to have a significantly wider playbook selection.

(See Also) Linebacker Read Drills 

(See Also) Goal Line Offenses 

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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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Open field tackling techniques are difficult to execute successfully at any age  level of football.  It is even more difficult to tackle in the open field when the ball carrier is a good athlete.  Here are some tips on how to get your youth football players tackling in the open field:

1.Take a Good Angle

It is important that the defenders take good angles to the ball carrier when using open field tackling techniques. You do not want your players overrunning or under running the ball carrier.  You should do angle tackling drills every single practice. To avoid huge collisions when doing angle drills, just have your players form tackle the ball carrier.  Teach your players to take good pursuit angles to the ball carrier.  Even if the ball carrier has good speed your defenders can still run him down by taking a good angle.

2.Run Under Control/ Aiming Point

Many times you will see defenders take a good angle to the ball carrier but they will over run the ball carrier. The RB will just cut it inside. It is important that defenders run under control and breaks down.  One of the most critical open field tackling techniques is making the aiming point the inside hip of the ball carrier. Say the ball carrier gets a toss outside to the right (defense’s left) the aiming point of the pursuing defenders needs to be the running back’s left inside hip towards the defender.

The aiming point is the inside hip of the running back because if the running back tries to cut inside, your defender is right there.  Watching the inside hip will allow your defender to stay on their pursuit angle path. This is important because the ball carrier might fake cutting in and try to outrun the defender.  Running under control (not over running, keeping feet under you)  and keeping eyes on the inside hip will make sure your defender does not fall or lose balance when the ball carrier fakes or tries to make a move. Also, make sure when your defender initiates the contact  his head is up! The tackling defender’s shoulder pad needs to get into the ball carrier’s inside hip (same foot/same shoulder).  When it’s all said and done the kids need to pride themselves on getting to the ball carrier and not dive or reach.

3. Be smart

Successful open field tackling tackling sometimes just requires your players to be smart.  Teach your defenders to understand where they are on the football field and where their help is coming from. Say a cornerback is pressed up for run support,  he has to know that he has no defenders outside or behind him. That means he needs to force the running back inside.  Say  a linebacker is running to the ball carrier and he knows he has help outside, he then needs to spill the ball carrier outside to the corners/safeties playing hard run support.  Make sure your defenders understand your scheme and what their responsibilities are. Long story short, defenders need to have field awareness and know where their help is so they can turn the ball carrier to pursuing defenders.

Good coaching also factors into whether or not your team tackles well in space.  Make your defense understand that the sidelines is like another defender, do not be scared to string the RB outside (make him run laterally) and force the RB out of bounds.  This is especially important for boundary side cornerbacks (short side of the field corner) because there is less field.  Wide side CB needs to force the play inside. Short side CB (boundary corner) can play a little bit more aggressive because there is less field for the ball carrier to work with- it is less distance the pursuing defenders need to run.

4. Pursuit to the Football

Team pursuit is probably the biggest overlooked coaching point when teaching open field tackling. You have to instill the defensive mentality that we need to get to the ball carrier. Our motto on defense is “swarm”. Proper pursuit will help deter big plays in the open field.  All players have to fly to the football and do not assume their teammates will make the tackle. Many times a safety or CB will slow up or get a piece of the running back in the open field, but if no one else hustles to the ball carrier the running back can score.

Relentless pursuit is a trait of any successful defense. Swarming to the football will deter big plays and will help with open field tackling. In the open field odds are the running back will break a tackle or make someone miss in space. If your defenders are running to the ball they can usually run down the defender after one defender slows or alters the running back’s path.  Sometimes the best open field tackling technique is good team defensive hustle and swarm to the ball carrier.

Listen, open field tackling is tough and doesn’t happen on a consistent basis. We tell our players to make sure you get a piece of the RB and try to grab cloth to slow him down so our pursuit can clean it up.

Open Field Tackling Techniques Summary:

• Take good angles to the football.
• Run under control. Players need to keep their feet under them and maintain balance.
• The aiming point is always the inside hip of the ball carrier. Do not want to get caught looking at the head, shoulders, or the feet of the running back.  Do not get caught up in the head and shoulder fakes a RB will throw at you in the open field. Defenders need to get their head across the body, shoulder pad through the inside hip, head up, and grab cloth (jersey) as you wrap up.
• Be smart, understand and know where your help is on the field.
• Team pursuit is the best form of open field tackling. Run or pass, teach your players to get to the football. Never assume your teammate will make the tackle in the open field.

(See Also) 5 fundamentals of youth football defense.

(See Also)  Proper Tackling Technique 

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